End Boss

by Bryan Nyaude

  “What is about to happen to earth now? What is going on?”

  He didn’t answer at all. Instead, he sighed slowly and looked away. “If my theory is right, the kingdom of Raz finally perfected their inter-dimensional gate, giving them the ability to freely manipulate light space—this is not good.”

  “Whoa! Wait a minute,” I stopped him, since what he said didn’t make sense. “What you are saying doesn’t make sense. How is this related to the terror beasts on earth?”

  “Like I said, it’s just a theory, you’ll just have to wait and find out for yourself. Since you hid the truth from me about earth, I’m going to do the same to you, and let you find out for yourself?”

  True enough, I hid the truth away from him, so it was only fair he would do the same thing to me. Although, keeping such a vital secret from me was rather annoying and downright frustrating.

  “You leave tomorrow morning so get enough sleep, and get to know each other better,” he finished and got out of the room.

  “Wait, when is morning?”

  “In 7 hours from now.”

  “See you boss,” the twins replied at the same time, which was almost freaky.

  I looked back at them and shook my head sloppily. Their carefree attitude was nothing but ruse for their psychopathic tendencies. I had to get out of this room, the air and tension in the room was just too heavy.

  I don’t know what was happening on earth, but whatever it was, it wasn’t good. It didn’t take a genius to figure that much out as time was running out. My body ached so much and my eyes were still a bit blurry.

  “Sit down,” Dalla spoke with a stern face. “Your body is still too fragile and you need to recover.”

  “For once, I agree with you, sister,” the boy commented. “No! No! I can’t agree with you, sister. So I’m gonna say the opposite: you can do it, Den.”

  Oh great! It was starting all over again. I simply had no clue what was wrong with these siblings. Although, the food, on the bed, smelled really good. What to do? I really wanted to stay and eat, but at the same time, I didn’t want to stay in the same room with these maniacs. Seconds later, I left the room and the food, and went to the bathing compartments. For a long hour, I sat in the bath tub, armor and all, just thinking to myself. Everything was in complete chaos. To make things worse, I still had no clue what was happening on this planet. Nothing seemed as it appeared. I was desperate for answers and I knew where to start. I exited the bathing compartments, once I was clean and went around snooping. Suddenly, my eyes came across a lab even I couldn’t get to. It was so highly secure that no one, except for high ranking scientists could access it. Slowly, I tip toed my way to the door as curiosity had gotten the best of me. I took a deep breath and proceeded towards the nearest wall to the door. There were no guards or scientists in the vicinity, leaving the door completely unguarded. The sensory scanners didn’t go off like before, as the com link surveillance center was still static. I didn’t have to hack my way in to enter this time. It was always a mystery to me as to what was inside. Since I was still just a space biologist, I didn’t have enough clearance to get in. Nevertheless, today, I would get my chance. As I got close to the door, I heard a click and it opened suddenly.

  “What’s going on?”

  It wasn’t programmed to do that at all since it only opened with a password. However, I wasn’t complaining since I hoped that it would be easy to get in. For it to be this easy wasn’t exactly giving me the thrill I was looking for. Why was I thinking too much about it? The lab was dark and quiet, as if it had been vacant for a while. There were no signs of life anywhere, and without a helmet, I had to rely on my own eye sight. As I tried to search for a light, I heard a loud thump, coming from somewhere in the room. There was a small red light in the middle that kept blinking on and off silently. The hair on the back of my neck stood up still as a little bit of fear crept into me. Quickly, I began to look for the light access panel or something that could make the darkness go away. Honestly, this was getting annoying. The interior lights inside the lab seemed to be malfunctioning or something. I walked around, but could barely make up anything. My hands fell upon lab utensils as I brushed past them carefully. I felt a silent deepening resonance complement each of my movements. This darkness was rather gloomy and cold.

  “Wait, my armor.”

  There was a light screen system inscribed into every suit for situations like these. I looked all over my arms and legs and did not find it. My leg hit something solid and my gaze fell to the ground. I had no idea what it was or what my legs were standing on.

  “If you wanted light you could have just asked,” a voice spoke, and suddenly the room was bright.

  It was a man from another science department; he was wearing a white lab coat and held a tuna burger in one hand. His eyes fell on me with an intense gaze. I knew this man—I had seen him before during briefing, before our main ship left earth. His name was Dr. Ion Berge and he was the lead expert in space technology, but what was he doing here? He went on the expedition with us, and I remember the entire crew being captured. The man slowly walked into the room and leaned against the table, next to a set of ice breakers.

  “Surprised to see me?” he continued as he ate his tuna burger with one hand, while grabbing onto a video file with another.

  “Well, yes,” I commented with a surprised look.

  “Although, I could say the same thing about you. I heard you were taken down and destroyed after you went berserk and injured one of your colleagues.”

  Darn! That Peter must have spread those lies to everyone after he shot me into that hole.

  “Don’t worry, my bet was on you and I knew you were alive somehow,” he chuckled as he finished eating his food.

  “Thanks, I feel really better now.”

  “Geez, I was just trying to be nice and lighten the tension. You don’t have to be all serious, you know?”

  “I am sorry, been a stressful day. So what is this room for?”

  It was really eccentric seeing all of the equipment and gadgets. Some of it had not yet even been introduced into the world. I was drawn towards everything inside by a strange mixture of excitement and curiosity. Dr. Berge smiled faintly and glided away from me swiftly. He tugged his arms in the air and waved out.

  “This is the future of warfare. Everything you see here was meant to change feud for good.” Okay, he definitely caught my attention. Just what were they working on? I walked a few steps away and started looking around. I had never seen such well crafted equipment before. Dr. Berge vigilantly watched me, walking a good bit distance behind me. There was something important he wasn’t telling me. I figured it was useless to try and pry it away from him. After all, this was supposed to be to secret research staff.

  “So, how did you survive and escape that situation?”

  He looked away, when I asked while lowering his arms down. There was sadness written on his face. I couldn’t tell what was on his mind, but, I knew, it wasn’t good news.

  “It’s rather complicated,” he said and walked out of the lab.

  Honestly, why was everyone keeping secrets from me? It was hard enough to get them to speak, and when they did speak, it only left me confused. I took a small step back and walked to an atom microscope at the far right. I had something I still needed to find out while I still had time. Warily, I took the sample of the terror beast's blood that I had taken earlier and placed it onto the machine. I peered slowly onto the lenses, curious to the bone.

  This blood, it wasn’t normal. I detected no clear color or structure in it which was odd, but to be expected. After all, these creatures were aliens. I ran some tests, analyzing the sample to find some unique traces; however, came out empty. Amazingly, the specimen blood was not only thick, it was lacking in essential components resembling vitamins and proteins. Even against super viruses and bacteria antigens, it still remained untainted. But what did this mean?

  What did they eat? Why were they lacking in ot
her pigmentation? Did they have any true weaknesses? My mind pondered at the new insightful knowledge, hoping to piece everything together. Nothing made sense at all.

  I removed the blood carefully and placed it inside a vial to study later. My arms tingled, causing me to step away briefly. Something suddenly caught my attention and I looked straight ahead. There was a black armor suit hanging up in the left side of the lab.

  “It’s amazing, isn’t it?” the alien man commented, standing next to me. “We finally finished the second prototype model of the End Boss system, based on the blue prints in the crystal core you had.”

  What! Just what else were they doing while I was sleeping? I felt a terrible chilling feeling running deep into my veins. The moment he said “End Boss” everything went dark. Was he joking? I turned my head towards him filled with anger. My fists clenched as my breathing got heavier.

  “Are you serious? This thing was responsible for wiping out several countries and you had the nerve to rebuild it? I mean this is ridiculous! You can’t expect me to put that on.”

  “Like you said, desperate times call for desperate measures,” the old man chuckled and left the room. “Just get some rest and be ready to move out in a few hours. Time is critical now; everything you do impacts the future of earth.”

  Great pressure, his words echoed in my head for a long time. What was he expecting me to do? No matter what, I would not rely on the power of the End Boss. Such power was not something easily controlled, it was too dangerous. If memory served me right, I had been told that this armor had been used in the Planetary Wars. It had been responsible for wiping out armies in mere seconds. I sighed out loudly at the irony of using this armor to save lives, when it had taken out countless lives in the past.

  “Just what is going on here?” I mumbled, placing my head between my hands, before drifting off into nothing. A few hours later, my alarm went off, waking me up.

  Nothing had changed. Outside, it still looked the same in my eyes. I was surprised. I mean no strange crazy dreams with terror beasts or people I once knew. It was safe to say, I had a good four hours of sleep. I could only hope I would have more of these wonderful peaceful nights or days. I rolled over, slowly placing my feet onto the floor. My eyes were still teary as I yawned out loud.

  Someone walked into the room, forcing me to look up quickly. I recognized her instantly even though it was dark in the room. She walked slowly towards me and turned on the lights.

  “Come on, Den,” Dalla screamed, waving her hand towards me. “We have to leave now, if we want to make good time.”

  It was strange to see Dalla act normal. Well, that was when her brother wasn’t around. Leisurely, I stood up and stretched my neck and back. So the mission begins. Everything was falling into place. We were pawns playing for our lives in an unknown game. I really hated being in the dark when the situation was this dire. Dalla gazed at me for a second, with her arms folded, waiting impatiently. I could tell that she wanted me to hurry up, but she said nothing to impose her demand on me. I remembered something important and quickly rushed out of the room.

  “You go on ahead, Dalla, there is one thing I still need to do.”

  I slithered through the halls, headed for the armory room. My suit was still missing some crucial elements in its flight system. Also, much was still needed to be discussed about this mission. It would not be rational to jolt into enemy territory without proper intel or a brilliant strategy. Hours earlier, Ali had told me to come back later and pick up new modifications for my suit. As soon as I entered the armor, I saw him working on a proton assault rifle; his back was tilted slightly, causing him to appear shaped crookedly in my eyes.

  “Just on time,” he commented, stopping what he was doing. He quickly walked right past me to the other side of the compartment. “I know how crucial time is, but I did everything I could to modify it with the short time that I have. I can’t explain everything to you now; however, in time you will understand on your own. I have to warn you, stay away from trouble at all cost—if you can avoid it.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “In simpler terms, don’t stir trouble with the locals, and whatever you do, stay far from the castle.”

  “Relax, I won’t do anything reckless.”

  “I hope so, for your sake.”

  My mind wondered for a minute as to how this would play out. There was a lot more to this than he was letting me know. He glanced at me briefly, before going back to work. His body movements revealed no truth to me. I heard him unscrew a bolt from the rifle clip.

  “So what’s the plan?”

  “I have already told you what you need to know so get going.”

  “No, you haven’t; I mean, do you expect us to just waltz in or sneak in through some unknown entrance into this kingdom?”

  “Don’t worry about that, Dalla and Rick know the plan. I told them everything they need to know. So, please, enough with the questions.”

  “Well, then I have one more” I asked him, getting a little bit depressed. “What about my crew? You seriously can’t expect”

  “Relax, Den,” he stopped me in my tracks. “I took that issue into consideration and made a few more gadgets to your armor, if situations beyond your control arise.”

  “Great, is it a new gun or some highly explosive javelin missile?” I asked, looking very excited to say the least.

  The old man sighed very deeply and said, “If you let me finish explaining things to you, then you could be on your way sooner, don’t you think?”

  Right, I closed my mouth for a little while, although I wasn’t sure how long I could keep quiet for.

  “Take out your com link lenses,” he spoke while opening a new box that contained new com lenses. “I created new lenses based on the design you have.”

  “Okay,” I said, taking out the lenses from my eyes.

  It was easy putting them on and rather difficult taking them out. I slowly reached my hands cautiously to my eyes and removed the lenses from my cornea. I wrestled to take the first one out, while holding back the urge to scream out in pain. I heard Ali weld the titanium alloy into my armory thigh plates, from the corner of my left ear. It was rather gruesome to take them out with him working on my upgrades. After a long hard minute, I got both of them out and placed them both in my right arm. My eyes hurt and were irritated; it felt like I was seeing the world for the first time. I couldn’t believe how bad my eye sight had become without the com lenses. Everything was a giant foggy blur; I could barely see the room clearly.

  “Here, take these,” he said and handed me the new com link lenses. “I upgraded this pair with a 400 mile range communication radius, sonar vision system, and infrared system.”

  “Thanks, that should make things a little easier for me.”

  As I put them on and activated them, I felt a single tinge, then suddenly, my entire vision was different and clearer. Wow, these new lenses didn’t itch or irritate my eyes at all. I squinted my eyes slowly, trying to test their level of firmness and time lag. I was rather impressed, they were far better than my old lenses.

  “You can adjust and readjust your vision based on what you want to see,” he finished and began helping me put on the rest of my armor.

  It took thirty minutes to put on everything and head to the loading bay. There was a cargo hover ship waiting for us, completely loaded with gear and weapons. However, I wasn’t sure why we were taking a cargo ship when a battle vehicle ship was faster. My eyes came across the two duo twins, who were busy loading food onto the vehicle. Dalla and her brother looked at me with a glance of irritation, while continuing with their work. I felt Ali approach me.

  “Remember head east in that direction,” the old man pointed towards the direction opposite to the sun. “If you keep going this way, you will find a kingdom, just get the supplies I listed and come back.”

  “Well, okay,” I faintly smiled.

  Dalla, Rick, and I all got into the vehicle and closed it c
ompletely. A pressurized whiz of oxygen was released into the whole ship the moment the hatch was sealed. Dalla slipped past us, strolling to the main cockpit. She glanced back and waved us forward. Rick and I followed her into the main compartment and buckled ourselves down.

  “Are you ready, guys?” Dalla spoke, adjusting the control to her personal desire.

  “Hey, why are you driving?” Rick screamed out of nowhere. He unbuckled and moved roughly towards Dalla. “I want to drive too.”

  “No, you can’t,” she replied and pushed him back a little. “I was here first, so go sit down and shut up.”

  Crap, this was going to be a long trip. I don’t know how long I would be able to take all of this madness without breaking down. My fist clenched and teeth gritted, I had heard enough from these two idiots. I quickly unbuckled myself and moved swiftly behind both of them. Once within their blind spot, I stunned them both with my new shockers and heard two thumps as their bodies fell to the ground. I didn’t want to do it, but time was crucial for me. Besides, I had to test out my new system shockers on someone, and they seemed to fit the requirements—since they were getting on my nerves.

  “You’ll be fine, give or take,” I whispered and took over the steering system.

  The cargo ship roared out loudly and began to lift up into the air. Silently, all the controls came online, within a few seconds, at blinking intervals. I steadfastly clutched onto the steering wheel, veering the ship out of the docking bay.

  “Remember, Den, the best victory in life is one you win without using violence,” Ali softly spoke through the com link.

  “What do you mean?”

  “In time, you will understand.”

  “If you were not going to tell me what you meant, then you should probably not have said anything to me to begin with.”

  “Oh yeah, I keep forgetting how clueless you are. Anyways, go towards the coordinates I gave you on your com map. Avoid conflict with the terror beasts at all cost. Good luck, Den.”