Noble Revelations

by Adeleke Kayode

  “Oh you speak. Any who you should be thanking me and my colleagues we saved you after your ah your...Accident yes after your unfortunate accident.”

  For a moment I actually wanted to laugh was this guy serious I should be thanking him seriously? Who’s to say that he wasn’t responsible for the attack in the first place and why the hell was he dress like he was on vacation?

  “So who are you and your colleagues anyway? And why am I being handcuffed by my so called rescuers.”

  The man in front of me smiled just for a second before stroking his beard after that he paced in front of me like he was trying to come up with a good answer then he just shrugged.

  “Orders. As for colleagues you will see momentarily.”

  I don’t know if it was this guy’s nonchalant laid back demeanor or what but he was getting on my nerves. So instead of focusing on being angry at the guy in front of me I decided I wasn’t going to wait to meet these colleagues of his. I took in a deep breath then exhaled while pulling my hands apart zeeeet hot electricity ran through my body attempting to pacify me but I wasn’t going to give in….zeeeet zeeeet zeeeet.

  “Aaaaaah.”

  I started gritting my teeth as I pulled my hands apart zeeeet, electricity surge through my body longer each time making me feel incredibly numbing pain.

  “You have to stop zat now. I will not tell you again.”

  Ignoring the man on vacation I continued to pull the cuffs apart while a sudden warmth worked its way into my eyes. I took in as deep as breath as I could, then screamed in pain just as I broke through the cuffs. Both cuffs hit the ground with a loud clank almost like someone threw coins to the ground. I stood up slowly with my heavy breathing being the only sound that filled the air at the moment. Then the sound of a number of guns being raised entered the air. I looked around to see that I was surrounded by fifteen or more people.

  “I told you zat I would not ask again.”

  My eyes were glowing green as I stared the man in front of me in the eyes then something weird happened. He looked uncomfortable for a moment then started craning his head around as if he was searching for something the others in the room definitely took note of it.

  “Enemy approaching arrival in…”

  There was an odd zooom sound just before one of the men on the far left was thrown forward baaarp baaarp baaaarp. Gunfire erupted suddenly while I noticed a blurry silhouette move around the room.

  “That’s not…”

  Before I had a chance to finish my sentence bullets grazed the pillar behind me. Which was my signal to stop standing around and start moving. I ran toward the closest table which ironically had my stuff on it. The table was only a few feet away when the man in the vacation clothes appeared in front of me. How’d he get there? I didn’t notice it at first but he was moving his hands toward me. He was a good ways away so I wasn’t worried which seemed reasonable until…

  “Sorry Monami.”

  Buuush…I was flung backwards violently, air whistled in my ears as I flew back. My chest burned as if something hot had hit me. I was more confused than in pain, that only lasted until I hit a nearby wall. There was a cracking sound which I hoped wasn’t from my back, it took me a moment, then I slumped forward nearly falling. But then I picked myself up and returned to normal while shaking my head vigorously side to side.

  “Ok, that was weird.”

  While shaking my head I noticed something odd so I looked in the direction of what I saw and there he was the vacation man, he looked strange to say the least. His skin looked like it was cracking with various lines running through it. Then his skin became darker, being me this didn’t deter me from moving closer which allowed me to see that his skin had become dark gray and resembled granite in color and texture. The cracks in his body had lava flowing through them. His eyes became large pools of yellow which seemed to have no end.

  I blinked once before saying. “Great now I have to deal with this.” I cracked my knuckles while sighing. Then ran forward ready to engage in battle. The lava man stomped toward me, his movements were slow so they wouldn’t be too hard to read.

  “So what part of this? Is not getting too rowdy huh?”

  My body tensed up when I heard the voice, not only that but everyone stopped moving except the blur which slowed down after a moment revealing Tessa.

  “Maybe putting the cuffs on you Alexander was a bad idea. What do you think luv?”

  It was Juliette who spoke her words got under my skin but I didn’t let it show on my face instead I turned toward Juliette and stared at her with a blank uncaring expression. There was a sudden gust of wind along with it came Tessa who had zipped across the room to stand right next to me. The thought united front came to mind but I let it slip because I had other things to focus on.

  “So you’re lava man’s colleague.” I asked with a plain voice.

  Lava man looked at me for a moment then at Juliette who was standing on the far right side of the room. He shrugged for a moment while focusing his attention on Juliette.

  “I assume you mean Howard. Yes one could say they are my colleagues.”

  I glared at her for a moment what was with her and never giving straight answers all the time it wasn’t that hard and would cost her no time at all. But instead she would speak while tiptoeing around and being as round about as possible she wasn’t much for being direct so there was usually a double meaning behind the things she said, not always but usually.

  “So the bounty I warned you about seems there are people here to collect.”

  “That’s obvious you want to say something that I don’t already know Juliette.”

  “Juliette, so that’s Juliette she’s pretty.” Tessa said as if it wasn’t a random comment.

  Juliette smiled. “Well aren’t you precious. If only Alexander here could be half as sweet.”

  Tessa cocked her head to the side as if something about Juliette’s statement was weird maybe it was just weird to her. Either way Juliette still hadn’t told me anything, all I knew was that she saved me but Carter and AJ. It was strange until this very moment they had slipped my mind, my heart sank for a moment, I was angry.

  “Why’d you save me? If you and your team were there when we were being attacked you could have saved Carter and AJ.” I spoke with restrained anger.

  Juliette responded first by staring at me with a blank expression as if she had no idea what in the world I was talking about then she decided to say something. “I instructed my men to bring you so we could talk. What do you mean could have saved Carter and AJ as far as I know they are still alive?”

  For some reason or another I felt like yelling right in her face. “Really you’re supposed to be part of some special agency with networks of information and you don’t know that Carter and AJ were still in the car when it exploded.”

  Juliette yawned for a moment which made me take a quick step forward. I stopped immediately when a bunch of guns were raised and pointed at me. I looked around then gave Juliette a look which said you’re lucky they’re around. She gave her men a quick look then they lowered their guns.

  “Sure the car exploded but my men found no bodies, that and the fact that I highly doubt a car explosion could kill someone like Carter maybe this AJ fellow but Carter unlikely.”

  For a moment it sounded like Juliette was complementing Carter but I knew her better than that she was just stating what she knew. More importantly if that was true then Carter and AJ were alive. That only made me wonder what Juliette wanted to talk to me about instead of Carter, for some reason or another I felt that I partially knew the answer to that. Carter would be less incline to listen to what she had to say, I mean yeah, I didn’t really like Juliette either but if she knew something that could help then I wanted to hear it.

  “Well I hope your right. Now what did you want to speak with me about, no B.S.”

  Juliette smiled. “Prometheus is after you, you and your friends are in obvious danger. So I thought I would offe
r you and your friend’s sanctuary if you would like.”

  I narrowed my eyes on Juliette while moving my head back emphasizing the perplexed look on my face.

  “In exchange for this sanctuary?”

  “You back away from Prometheus completely. You don’t attempt whatever it is I assume you are planning to do and you can live peacefully.”

  I smirked then laughed for a moment just before my expression became serious. “First my concerned is killing Adam and getting this bounty off my head. Secondly, it’s not like I even know where to find Prometheus anyway…wait a second why do you want me to back off.”

  Tessa looked at me for a moment then at Juliette as we waited for her reply, she chuckled for a moment then began to speak. “Your government, my government and a lot of other governments benefit from Prometheus’ research and certain assets it creates. They are aware of the more, shadier things that they muddle in but turn a blind eye for now. Before you ask I have no idea what they plan to do with that syringe of blood they took from you in South America.”

  I was about to say something but Tessa beat me to it. “So this is an offer from the government. What happens if we refuse?”

  Juliette smiled. “Simple really you lot end up dead. One of these mercenaries will probably get lucky if not, you will more than likely be charged with a number of crimes like the countless loss of life that will occur if said mercenaries continue to attack. Lastly my team and I could just stop you right here and now.”

  Tessa and I stared at Juliette wide eyed with our mouths open. This wasn’t a choice not really, they were going to blackmail us or attempt to kill us if we didn’t comply. So we were just suppose to let Prometheus walk all over us. There was no way I was going to let that happen but it wasn’t entirely my decision what would Tessa, or Carter want. I glanced over at Tessa who looked at me with concerned eyes. I felt trapped in a tight place, there was a whirlpool of emotions swirling within me right now. For one I was sad, even a little scared but mostly I was angry. I knew Juliette could be cruel but this, this was insane what the hell was wrong with her. If this was why she was in Re gahn why the hell did she even come to my home earlier to warn us about the bounty. Now that I thought about it something about that seemed odd, why didn’t she just explain the ultimatum then instead of here?

  “Why didn’t you explain this when you saw us earlier.”

  Juliette had a perplexed look on her face. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  For a moment I was surprised then I wasn’t if only for a moment because once I truly thought about it I was even more surprised than I was earlier. I wouldn’t have been able to tell if I didn’t know Juliette. She was lying she remembered meeting us earlier which made me wonder why someone would lie about such an insignificant meeting. That’s when it dawned on me it might have been a long shot but I didn’t think Juliette agreed with this. She might not have been completely on board, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to follow orders. It just meant I couldn’t be as angry with her. When I laid it out like that it made sense but that didn’t mean it was easy for me to stomach what was going on and even if Juliette didn’t agree with this I was still angry. There was a silence in the air while I was busy delving into my thoughts, that same silence was interrupted by Tessa who ended any further conversation by saying the following.

  “Yeah no deal. You jackbooted thugs and British Barbie can try to stop us but no one shoots me with a helicopter and gets away with it. Without me sticking my foot so far up their ass that they have to get their mouth sown shut.”

  Even though Tessa was being serious I couldn’t help but chuckle for a second and just like that I felt a wave of calm flood over me. It was like that a lot with Tessa I would be feeling one way and something she said managed to turn how I felt around, it was a gift really one that I at the same time appreciated and hated. Juliette looked at Tessa with an expression that seemed to mean that she thought less of her, she gave her guys a look and they raised their guns.

  “British Barbie, I can honestly say no one has ever called me that before…”

  Tessa didn’t wait for Juliette to finish speaking before zooming toward her and sending a right handed punch to Juliette’s face. Tessa manage to move Juliette’s face to the side before Juliette moved her head to face Tessa.

  “You have interesting taste Alexander, you really do.”

  “Don’t call me Alexander.” I yelled.

  Baaaarp baaaarp baaaaarp, gunfire roared toward me while I jumped to the side rolled then began running parallel to the people firing at me. I waved my hands in front of me like I was pulling a sheet from a bed. And just like that several gunmen were blasted back with telekinesis. I continued running while firing green balls of energy at the furthest person which happened to be Howard. He responded by tanking the blasts and slowly trudging toward me. It wasn’t long before I was standing face to face with one of the gunmen not wanting to waste time. I punched him to the ground then moved on only to be surprised when the man sprung up again.

  “Ok, so this won’t be that easy.”

  The man charged at me and released a combination of attack which appeared to be both fast and strong, he put me on the defensive so I maneuvered my way passed each hit while searching for an opening. One of his swings toward me was too wide once I noticed that I stuck his shoulder with an open palm, grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him toward me throwing him against the ground. Baaarp baaaarp, my arms covered my face while hygrometal coated them. Without removing my hands I ran forward baaaarp baaaarp tiink tiinnnk…tink. Bullets bounced off as I charged through two gunmen, Howard was approaching fast he must have gotten closer while I was dealing with the other gunmen.

  Once I turned my attention to him it was quickly diverted, buuush the sound of stone breaking flooded the air. I turned toward the sound to see Juliette’s hand stuck in a nearby wall, Tessa rushed toward Juliette with her blades drawn. Juliette didn’t bother removing her hand instead she dragged it through the wall then pull it out just before she reached Tessa throwing a cloud of dust in Tessa’s face. Tessa moved to the right attempting to regain composure but Juliette was quick sending a high kick toward Tessa’s head. Tessa reacted expertly and slid under the kick and passed Juliette completely. Once she was a good distance away she wiped her eyes then turned toward Juliette who was rushing toward her.

  Juliette had picked up a good burst of speed to close the gap between Tessa and her. Tessa not being one to shy away from a battle of speed lunged forward completely on the offensive. Juliette struck Tessa in the stomach knocking her backwards, but Tessa came back just as fast. Juliette tried the same punch but Tessa evaded it by ducking and moving in close then raised her blade up. Juliette took a step back just barely evading the blade, then she thrust her palm forward hitting Tessa in the face. Her body lurched back immediately, she slid backward then stopped suddenly just before dashing forward.

  If I hadn’t taken a moment to look around I wouldn’t have notice that I and the other gunmen had completely taken a break from fighting to watch Tessa and Juliette fight. I felt a little bad for a moment then realized it was the perfect opportunity for me to deal with them. First I moved my hands close almost like I was about to give myself a hug then I focused, imagining a wave of energy wrapping around me. After a moment or two I launched my hands forward one to the left the other to the right. A large telekinetic wave of energy burst forth knocking away the remaining gunmen except for Howard, he was pushed back but clearly not as far as the others. I stared at him for a moment then glanced over at my stuff then back at him. Without wasting another second I booked it toward my guns while I did I saw that Juliette had been side tracked by my telekinetic wave, she was only just returning her attention to Tessa which was a big mistake.

  I hadn’t notice when she had done it but Tessa had sheathed her blades, she was currently running full force at Juliette. The second she got in front of Juliette she unloaded a crazy surreal amount of
punches to Juliette’s gut. While she did Juliette and Tessa were visibly moving backward at a pretty decent rate. It wasn’t long before they had reached a wall where Tessa continued to pommel Juliette. The only difference now was she was putting in body shots as well. It was impressive to see that Tessa could do this much damage, it was also a scary reminder of how much it takes to drop Juliette. Tessa was doing well until she threw a hard right forward toward Juliette’s head, Juliette moved her head out of the way only for Tessa to smack her fist against the wall.

  I could tell she was in pain because she staggered backward and there was this weird twisted expression on Tessa’s face. Even so she didn’t yell or scream instead she moved in close attempting to keep Juliette pinned to the wall. Juliette however had other ideas in mind, first she struck the side of Tessa’s stomach then her face after which she moved in close to Tessa so that they were only a few inches away from each other. I couldn’t tell what Juliette was doing at first until she managed to place a hand on the back of Tessa’s neck. She pulled her in close until there didn’t look like there was any space between them. After a knee to the stomach bucked Tessa, she nearly dropped to her knees. Her head was by Juliette’s side while Juliette arm was still around her neck. She moved her hand positioning it in a way that looked like she was carrying a large fruit or ball something round. In place of the ball was Tessa’s head, I could tell she was trying to choke Tessa out or worse. Without even thinking I ran toward Juliette.

  “You won’t be doing zat Monami.”

  Before I could even come close to Juliette, Howard had knocked me down with an incredibly hard right hook. I attempted to get up as fast as I could then I noticed from the side of my vision a stream of red liquid coming toward me. Immediately I rolled to the side and continued to roll as the spray of lava followed after me. Tessa started moving forward, at first Juliette tried to stop her by squeezing harder but it didn’t work so she started hitting Tessa in the stomach and the face. Tessa continued moving forward until she and Juliette reached the wall, once they did Tessa ran up it flipping herself over. The second she landed on the ground she grabbed hold of Juliette and started running. Zoooom, zooooom…zooooom Tessa ran across the walls and ran fast. She was moving so fast in fact that a breeze start to blow from the wall, it was only seconds after the breeze started blowing that it felt like something was pulling me around.