by Jason Levine
“My people,” The General began. “We have done many great things. We have spread our influence to many people and obtained the assistance of individuals with amazing abilities. I appreciate all that you have done to aid my rise so far.”
The General paused and walked around the stage, looking down. For a brief moment, Murray feared the General would spot him, but he turned back to the audience.
“This is why it disheartens me to say that my time is coming to an end.”
A single, unified gasp echoed throughout the crowd.
“I have felt it approaching for quite some time. My abilities are incredible but they come at a price. I can possess the body of any individual, but those bodies degrade the longer I possess them. The last body I was in lasted a full year before I needed a replacement. This one has only been in service to me for four months.”
The General turned his back towards Murray and began walking down the stage, his arms folded behind his back.
“Those of you with medical backgrounds have examined me. You have helped bring your colleagues into the fold as needed until you arrived at a diagnosis. I know it was a difficult one to process, but you aided me immeasurably in telling me the truth about my fate. I am dying.”
A chorus of “No!” and sobbing echoed throughout the crowd. The General allowed it to proceed for a few seconds before raising his hand for silence.
“Do not grieve yet, my people. For those same physicians who told me the truth about my death helped save me. We found a compound that others had developed. A compound which granted people injected with it powerful skills. We brought the scientists who worked on this formula into the fold and they were able to modify it. Now it can be used to stabilize my mergers.”
The General moved to the center of the stage.
“Not only stabilize them but increase them immeasurably. Right now, I weaken as more people join our fold. The strain of maintaining our links wears on me day and night. It is a burden I willingly bear, but soon it will be a thing of the past. Once I am enhanced, I will only grow stronger the more links we have. Right now, I can only directly communicate with you one at a time. It is only with great concentration that I can see through your eyes or hear your thoughts. After my treatments, though, I will see all and hear all.”
The General raised his hands and another bout of thunderous applause echoed throughout the courtyard. The General dropped his hands and the applause fell silent once more.
“Do not think that I will be the sole beneficiary of this treatment though. Once our link is bolstered, I will be able to grant each and every one of you abilities as well. You will each act as my agents, finding those who are not in our ranks and welcoming them in. You each will be given the means to bestow gifts upon others in my glorious name.”
The General hardly had to raise his hands this time. Each and every person in the crowd cheered as loud as they could. Murray hoped that Ruth was cheering as well. As distasteful as being fully merged with the General was, she had to keep up appearances for the moment. Silence fell again over the base. The General motioned towards the rear of the stage and his guards dragged Thomas up the stairs. They sat him down on a chair and fastened the cuffs around his ankles to metal rings bolted to the floor. They removed his blindfold, but kept the duct tape over his mouth. The guards then quickly moved down the stairs where, Murray guessed, they hurried to see what was coming next.
“While I am sure each of you would gladly volunteer to be my next host, I sadly could not take you up on those offers. I must use a body that has not yet tasted my influence. That is the only reason why I have not bestowed the gift upon this man. Once I have been given the treatment, I will merge with him. Sadly, our combination will end his life, but his sacrifice will spur my rebirth!”
Murray hadn’t thought that the cheering could get any louder, but the General’s men proved him wrong. Murray ducked back below the stage and de-ghosted. He removed the satchel from his shoulders, opened it up, and slowly emptied the contents. He set the general dampener on the ground beside him along with the small box he had made at William’s apartment. As quickly as he could, Murray unscrewed the cases for the cartridges nearly all the way. They would still remain closed, but it would mean that he could open them up quickly if need be.
More shouting came from the courtyard. Murray placed the last case back into his satchel along with his small box and closed it up. He refilled his air tank, ghosted again, and moved back into position so that his eyes were above the stage.
The General was sitting in a chair similar to the one Thomas was chained to. Instead of chains, though, an IV was being hooked into him by one of the General’s men. Next to the chair stood a small machine with the vat of black goo connected to it.
As the man turned around, Murray realized that it was Sean. He had traded his customary gray shirt, sweatpants, and hat for army fatigues like Ruth and the General wore. His cybernetic components were fully on display for all to see instead of being hidden by sunglasses or gloves.
With the IV needle in, Sean switched on a machine. It hummed to life and pumped the goo out of the container, through a tube, and into the General’s arm. Murray decided that he didn’t want to know what effect an injection of powers-inducing goo would have on someone who already had abilities. He needed to act now before it was too late.
Chapter Twenty Eight: His Plan Goes Awry
Murray silently moved up upwards until he was level with the stage and de-ghosted just behind Thomas.
“Ah, Murray,” the General said, calmly examining the intruder on his stage. “I was wondering when you would arrive. I was beginning to worry that you wouldn’t get here in time to witness my ascension.”
“Sorry, but your ascension’s canceled. I’m not going to let you hurt Thomas,” Murray replied.
“Hurt him? I’ve treated him excellently. I wouldn’t want my future vessel to be damaged.”
“He’s not going to be your vessel.”
Thomas voiced his agreement with Murray, though it was muffled by the strip of duct tape keeping his mouth shut.
“What I am offering him is so much greater than a small, insignificant life alone. He will become part of a greater whole.”
“It’s not going to happen.”
“And what do you plan to do? You can’t stop me and all of my men all by yourself.”
“I don’t have to stop you. I just need to do this.”
Murray wrapped his arms around Thomas.
“Quick, hold your breath.”
Thomas inhaled deeply through his nose. Murray ghosted and began to rise in the air. The crowd shouted in outrage, but the General and Sean remained calm.
When Murray was about five feet off the ground, the General nodded at Sean. Sean pulled a remote control out of his pocket and pressed a button on it.
Murray felt piercing pain as a beam of blue light shot through the two of them. Thomas cried out, letting out the breath he was holding in the process. Thomas began flailing as attempted to breathe but found no air available. Murray almost dropped him but somehow held on. He tried to move them away from the stage, but his backpack’s boosters sputtered and died.
Murray’s air supply went next. He attempted to remain ghosted, but hadn’t had time to draw in a breath. Murray de-ghosted, took a deep breath, and then ghosted again. His brief time de-ghosted caused him to slowly descend. When he was close to the stage, he de-ghosted again. He and Thomas collapsed to the ground taking big gulps of air. Thomas struggled to remove the duct tape from his mouth. Murray unfastened his pack, and tossed it aside.
“Oh dear,” The General leered. “Did something go wrong with your device? Have trouble breathing? Did you think Sean wouldn’t give me information on your abilities and how to defeat them once he fully accepted his new role in my army?”
The last of the black goo entered the General. He yanked the IV out of his arm.
“Sean did put up quite a struggle. It is true that Originals are very
powerful. He thought he could overcome my control but he made one crucial mistake. He assumed that he and his ex-partner were the only Originals.”
The General stood up and began walking towards Murray. Murray positioned himself in front of Thomas and drew his staves.
“Oh, please. You’re not going to be able to hurt me with those. You see, I’m an Original as well. In fact, I’m The Original. I’m the first one granted abilities all those years ago.”
“You were a colleague of theirs?”
“Colleague? I was their superior! Always have been and always will be. Those idiots didn’t realize what they had. They didn’t realize the potential for turning it into a weapon. Though, to be fair, I didn’t realize the full extent of the meteorite’s contents either. Still, even in the days before I was gifted with these abilities, I knew there was power to be had there.”
The General closed in. Murray wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but the General seemed to be getting bigger as he approached.
“When I give the signal, run,” Murray whispered to Thomas. Thomas’ eyes were fixed on the General striding across the stage at them.
“I was the one who demanded they speed up their process. I was the one who pushed them forward when they would have given up. And when they proved unable to go faster, I took matters into my own hands. I found a way to crack a hole in the sphere to examine it myself. I wouldn’t realize what it did to me for quite some time, but that is when it gave me these abilities. It’s my destiny to spread my control over others and no petty thief is going to get in my way.”
The General reached for Thomas.
“Run,” Murray shouted, pointing to the rear of the stage with one of his staves. Thomas and Murray ran towards the back of the stage, but the General’s arm grew longer after them. It reached around them and blocked their exit. Murray could see that his arm was composed of swarms of wriggling leeches. They kept splitting into two and absorbing each other as the General changed his arm’s shape.
“And where do you think you’re going?” The General roared. “You can’t escape me. You can’t... can’t…”
The General doubled over, roaring in pain. His elongated arm retracted and gripped his midsection. Thomas took advantage of the opening and ran down the stairs. He headed away from the stage as quickly as he could. Murray stopped and turned to face the General.
“What’s the matter?” Murray mocked. “Did something go wrong with your goo?”
“YOU!” The General roared.
He tried to reach for Murray but collapsed onto the ground. His men let out a gasp and were paralyzed in shock. the General propped himself up and turned to Sean.
“Defend your general. Kill him!”
Sean hesitated, looking from Murray to the General and back again. “Yes, sir,” he said as he ran at Murray.
Sean covered the stage’s length in mere moments. He leapt into the air to cover the last few feet and brought his hands up. Murray held his breath, jumped towards Sean, and ghosted. He passed through Sean and de-ghosted behind him. Sean landed on the ground, pounding his metal fists into the stage floor, smashing it into splinters. Murray backed up and raised his staves.
“Sean, fight it. You’re stronger than this.”
“I will defend my General,” Sean said, turning to face Murray before slowly advancing on him.
“He’s controlling you,” Murray said.
Sean brought his arm down to strike Murray. Murray blocked the blow with his staff, but it nearly shattered in the process.
“Sorry about this,” Murray said as he dodged one of Sean’s strikes. He put his staff to Sean’s neck and pressed the button. Instead of being injected, though, Murray saw his sedative running down the side of Sean’s neck. Where there was once skin was now covered by metal. The needle on his cartridge had broken and was leaking the remainder of its contents.
“You cannot hope to defeat me,” Sean said. “Your only options are glorious servitude to the General or death.”
Murray considered his other staff. He looked behind him and saw the General still struggling against the effects of the sedative. He had made his way to the chair beside his injection machine and was using it to steady himself. Murray turned back to Sean and smiled.
“I choose option three,” Murray said.
He pulled a few small pellets from a pocket, squeezed them, and tossed them at Sean. They exploded in Sean’s face, momentarily stunning him. Murray lunged at Sean and moved his second staff towards Sean’s neck. At the last second, Murray ghosted and pushed his arm into Sean’s neck before pushing the button. As with the vat before, the sedative gushed out and de-ghosted. It entered Sean’s body full force as Sean’s eyes widened with the realization of what happened. He reached for the still-ghosted Murray but collapsed through Murray and hit the ground. Murray de-ghosted, landing on top of the unconscious Sean. He sat still for a moment, attempting to catch his breath.
The General roared behind him. He turned to his assembled troops. “Defend your general. Bring me his hide!”
The crowd started to move forward. Murray put his staves away and ran towards the General. As he moved, he pulled a cartridge from his satchel and removed it from its case. He reached the General as the first of his troops made it on stage. Murray jabbed the General with the needle and injected the entire contents into the General.
The General and his troops screamed in unison. Some of the closest ones passed out.
“No!” The General cried, swatting Murray away. He landed halfway across the stage and scrambled back to his feet.
“Your men share your pain, don’t they?” Murray asked.
“I’ll show you pain,” The General roared, trying to charge at Murray before crashing to the wooden floor.
A cry came from the crowd. “Get out of the way. Let me at him!” The crowd parted and Ruth came running up.
She leapt onto the stage and her fists began to glow white hot.
“At last, a champion comes forward. Tell me, boy. Do you think you can defeat her as well?”
“He doesn’t have to,” Ruth responded as she blasted the General.
The General’s screams were echoed by his troops as more and more began to pass out. Brawn charged forward but quickly stumbled, tripped on the unconscious body of one of the guards, and fell on his face. He continued to crawl towards the stage for a few seconds before passing out completely.
Murray quickly took his staves out, emptied them, and put new cartridges in.
“Cover me.”
Ruth blasted the General as Murray charged forward. The General attempted to lash out, his arm growing larger as it moved, but Murray ghosted through the limb. He de-ghosted in front of the General and jabbed both staves into his chest. Murray pushed the “Brawn button” on each staff, dumping eight doses of his sedative into the General’s body. The General roared in pain and the last of his troops collapsed to the ground. Murray ran back as Ruth hit the General with more blasts of energy.
“Think that did it?” Murray asked.
Even doubled over in pain, the General laughed.
“No, that did not ‘do it.’ You have hurt me, boy. You interfered more than I thought anyone could. I’ll give you credit for that. You are only an annoyance, though. The effects of your concoction are already wearing off. Soon I’ll tear you limb from limb.”
“Get Sean and Thomas out of here,” Ruth roared. “I’ll keep the General busy while you get them to safety.”
Murray looked up. The last rays of the Sun were disappearing over the horizon.
“No,” Murray replied. “Take Sean and get as far away from the stage as you can.”
“I’m not leaving you. Your sedative’s not going to slow him down for much longer.”
“Trust me,” Murray said. “I can stop him. I just need you away. At least fifteen feet away.”
Realization flowed into Ruth’s eyes. She hit the General with one last blast sending him crashing to the ground. Ruth ran to S
ean’s side. Lifting him up, she moved to the rear of the stage as quickly as she could.
Murray put his staves away and pulled the small box from his pocket. He flipped the switch to turn it on. The General picked himself off the ground. His whole body began to ripple and grow. Murray fought back nausea as he saw millions of leeches multiplying within the General’s body.
“Ugh, you’re disgusting. Do you know that?” Murray said. He glanced backwards and saw Ruth half carrying and half pulling the unconscious Sean. He needed to buy Ruth more time.
“My physical appearance is only temporary. I will bond with someone and gain their form.”
“And so you picked Thomas.”
“Yes. I had hoped to harness his ability to see the future. You ruined that. However, let it not be said that I’m not adaptable.”
“Adaptable?” Murray questioned.
He didn’t like the sound of that. Glancing back, he saw Ruth further back now. He hoped she was far enough away.
“Yes. You’ve proven yourself to be quite the adversary. Perhaps you will make an adequate host.”
Murray moved his finger towards the button on the small box, but it was quickly knocked out of his hand. It clattered to the ground near the stairs. Murray looked at the General in shock. Dozens of tentacles–made from leeches which were strung together–had emerged from the General’s body.
“And just when I thought you couldn’t get more gross,” Murray commented.
A tentacle whipped out from the General’s body and wrapped around Murray’s wrist. Another wrapped around his ankles. He tried to hold his ground, but could feel their strong tug pulling him towards the General’s writhing form.
“You will make a fine host,” the General sneered.
“Sorry, I’m really not interested in a permanent relationship right now,” Murray replied as he ghosted.
The tentacles passed through Murray and returned to the General without their prize. Murray de-ghosted and reached for the pockets that held his staves.