Noble Revelations

by Adeleke Kayode

“I’ll tell you once I’ve figured that out.”

  “You hurt Cross. Cross kill you both.”

  Shield just blinked then put his hands up like he was about to engage in a boxing match, I stood up straight but wasn’t feeling too up for moving right now. Cross and Shield rushed at each other while I stayed on the side lines the second I caught my breath I would rush in to help. I hoped, because right now I wasn’t too sure. My body felt like it weighed a ton and that wasn’t even counting the pain.

  Cross swung wide so Shield raised his forearm and pushed Cross’ arm away, opening him up to two quick jabs from Shield. Cross ignored whatever pain he was feeling and jabbed forward at Shield who ducked and started stepping back. Cross took that as an indication to keep up the attack. He eventually hit Shield a number of times in the chest. Immediately I moved forward only for Shield to put a handout.

  “Don’t go running into a boxing match. Unless you’re ready to tag in.”

  Shield’s tone was surprisingly stern, unfortunately I wasn’t sure if I could help at the moment, that didn’t mean I had to like being a spectator. As if what Shield said was some sort of trigger for Cross he put up his hands mirroring Shield’s stance. Shield threw a couple of jabs forward but Cross evaded in a similar manner to Shield…wait…he was dodging like I was.

  “What in the world.”

  Shield could barely land a hit and Cross was quite pleased with himself. Once he saw an opening he struck Shield’s right side with a hook then a punch to the face. Shield braced himself and stood his ground while Cross wound up for an uppercut. SMACK, the sound echoed in the air. Shield didn’t move an inch because of his hygrometal covering. Who knew it was that strong…huh?

  “Uhhh Shield why is your hygrometal black?”

  Shield turned his attention away from Cross and looked over his body and shrugged. “Hadn’t noticed, not quite sure what to tell ya. Guess I came back new and improved.”

  Before continuing our conversation Shield rotated his upper body hitting Cross with a straight. Cross went flying hitting the ground a second later. Damn new and improved was right.

  “How’d he get stronger?”

  “What’s that?” Shield asked.

  “Shield look out!”

  Cross had appeared out of nowhere tackling Shield down. He pinned him to the ground and started pummeling him. At first I wasn’t worried until Shield’s new hygrometal coating receded.

  “Ok, that’s enough being on the side lines.”

  Taking in a deep breath and ignoring the pain, I rushed forward and jumped into the air sending a kick to Cross’ head. He was too preoccupied to dodge, then he was too preoccupied with the fact he was flying through the air. I reached a hand toward Shield who just looked at me for a moment then took my hand.

  “Stay in close he swings wide.”

  “Ok, noticed that already. How’s his footwork?”

  “Until a moment ago nonexistent. He doesn’t kick though. Wonder if his legs are weak.”

  Shield smiled at me for a moment then we both put our hands up. “I hit him low.”

  “And I’ll hit him high.” Shield added.

  Cross marched toward us while Shield and I carefully stepped forward, Shield moved in first engaging Cross head on. The two of them traded a couple solid blows then Shield faked and stepped back. Cross stepped forward while I kicked his leg hard, he wobbled off balanced while Shield punched him directly in the chest. Then I punched his face causing him to stagger to the side. Cross angrily whipped his arm toward Shield knocking him back then he stomped toward me. I guarded blocking his first punch up high but I was unable to stop the punch to my stomach which sent me rolling.

  “Cross, crush. Both of you. Both of you can’t stop Cross. Nothing stops Cross.”

  “Man, Shut up.” Shield stated while he stood up.

  I pointed at Shield for a moment while I stood up as well. “Yeah, what he said.”

  Cross made a weird face which I assumed meant he wasn’t happy with our comment. I glanced at Shield for a moment then nodded. An obsidian colored liquid seeped out of Shield’s skin it was like tar but much more shiny and fluid. Once the hygrometal covered Shield he stepped forward, and I could have sworn I saw a dark glow come from Shield’s eyes. I didn’t make anything of it while I put my hands up balling them into fists. The warmth in my eyes built up then my eyes flashed the color green.

  “Final bell.” I stated.

  “Score cards are coming up.” Shield added.

  “Time for a combo.” I finished.

  Both I and Shield rushed Cross coming in from the left and right Cross’ attention shifted between us as we approached. Cross eventually decided to rush forward meeting us halfway. The moment we were close enough fists began to fly between the three of us. Shield tanked more hits than I did, while I evaded much faster than he did. Cross didn’t focus on hitting a specific person he just threw widely unfocused punches which only helped us in the long run. Ducking under a rather wide swing I moved forward then unloaded a barrage of punches at Cross’s side. I got Cross’ attention so he rotated his upper body while he brought his right fist toward me. Shield struck him straight in the face so Cross attempted to punch him with his left hand.

  I stopped him in his tracks by grabbing onto his arm with both of my hands. Cross glared at me while roaring in my face. Fortunately that stopped in an instant since Shield hit him twice in the face. Shield threw a third punch forward so Cross grabbed hold of his wrist while I kicked the back of Cross’ left leg. I followed up by punching him as hard as I could knocking him to the ground.

  Of course I was huffing and puffing afterwards but it was well worth it. It took Cross a moment to get up but I saw that the fight was finally taking its toll on him. His body was drenched in sweat and there were a couple of bruises across his body. I waited for Cross to make his move while taking in a deep breath. Cross watched us for a moment trying to figure out who was going to make a move first. No one made a move for what seemed like forever then Cross stomped toward a nearby tree and ripped it out of it roots hurling it toward us.

  “Because things were easy before.” I muttered to myself sarcastically.

  Shield didn’t let the tree deter him. He rushed forward charging through the tree like a linebacker. I followed behind Shield up until he bursted through the tree. Once he did, I picked up the pace. Cross had found himself another tree to chuck not like there wasn’t plenty of them to choose from. Cross lifted the tree above his head readying himself to throw it, I was already pretty close to him when he brought the tree down. He tried to squish me with the tree, luckily he was too slow, by now I was right in front of him twirling around his side. The moment I stopped spinning I struck his side with my elbow.

  The tree Cross was holding smashed into the ground, Shield leaped over it striking Cross directly in the chest. I kicked hard at Cross’s leg unbalancing him while he attacked Shield. So Shield pivoted then smacked Cross’s face with his elbow. I followed up Shield’s attack by sending a barrage of punches toward Cross’s face. Shield gave Cross a number of body shots which caused him to stagger backward. By now he was wobbling, Shield glanced at me while we began mirroring each other’s movements. Both of us pulled an arm down for me it was my left, for Shield it was his right. My eyes flashed green for a moment while the same dark glow came from Shield’s eyes. Both of us sent our respective arms upward like pistons hitting Cross’s jaw. I felt something shatter while Cross’s body started floating up slowly for a second. A wet pop sound flooded the air the second Cross’s body ascended upward.

  Cross flew into the air in an awkward arc, mainly because he started to descend just as fast as he had ascended. By now he was too far from Shield or me to see him, that’s when I felt something touch me. I looked around then it happened again it wasn’t until the third time I realized that it was water. It was starting to rain.

  “Oh no, Carter.”

  Chapter 42

  Carter

  “S
o Carter are you going to start begging…YET.”

  My face turned forcibly as Adam punched me. His punches didn’t hurt as much mostly because I had lost feeling in my face. Adam grabbed my chin and lifted my head slightly while staring at me. Something about his eyes seemed different, like in the depths of them there was something. What remorse? Highly unlikely. Maybe he was getting annoyed maybe he was even scared just a little bit. I bet he figured I would be down for the count by now, but now I was still…..aaaaaaaah that one hurt. It was hard to focus with all the pain Adam knew he was hitting me hard enough that it felt like my brain was rattling, there was no way I could use my powers if he kept that up. Well…no way I could use my powers without straining myself.

  “Beg, beg, beg already.”

  Adam punched me three times then pulled back his fist and threw it forward knocking me onto the ground. My body tumbled for a moment while Adam followed after me. I coughed for a moment while he stepped on my chest.

  “Aaaaah.”

  “What in the world is wrong with? Why won’t you give up?”

  As Adam spoke he pressed his foot harder against my chest. Instinctively I moved my hands to his foot but I couldn’t muster the strength to throw him off. This was definitely not how I pictured getting Adam back…I need to stop lying around and taking a beating.

  “You’re going to die. There’s no hope of yo……”

  Just like that Adam stopped talking once I punched him in the crotch. He stumbled backward while his eyes bulged out for a moment. I got up a lot faster than I thought I would and glared at Adam.

  “What…was it you said…earlier. Oh yeah you talk too much.”

  Adam still hadn’t recovered which brought a slight smile to my now puffed up face. I walked toward him and decked him hard sending him to the ground. The two doppelgangers from earlier approached me so I just aimed my hand at them without turning my attention away from Adam, a powerful arc of electricity jumped forward taking care of the doppelgangers. It was easy to tell because Adam spasmed in pain, he couldn’t hide the pain so easily when it came to my electricity. Once I reached Adam I bent over and picked him up by the collar then punched his face twice before bringing my hand back and hitting him a third time sending him tumbling toward the ground. His body rolled for a bit while I took in a breath of air and ran toward him. Just like that I was getting a little bit of my wind back.

  “Don’t forget Adam to keep your HEAD UP.”

  Just like he did when I was on the ground I kicked his head sending him hurtling toward the tree. My aim was a little off but he still managed to barrel through a few trees before stopping. Each of the trees fell toward the ground with a loud THUD. I wasn’t going to chase after Adam. I wanted him to run at me fuming with rage, seething, seeing red and attacking wildly. Adam couldn’t afford to exhaust any more energy haphazardly. At this rate I’d estimate he was running on empty, it was honestly a guess I had no clue how much energy he had left. As for me I could go a couple more rounds though I hope he’d stay away from my face, no telling what would happen now if he kept hitting it.

  When Adam didn’t come running out I took a step forward that’s when I saw an entire tree hurtling toward me. I wasn’t even shocked not even a little so I just lifted my right hand in front of me. Zeeet electricity jumped around just before a bolt of electricity rocket forth obliterating the tree. Smoldering pieces of bark flew everywhere, that’s when I noticed at least three more trees were heading toward me. What game was Adam playing?

  Without even trying I shot at the next tree adjusted the location of my hand and fired at the next one, rinse wash and repeat. Once I was finished I managed to notice something running passed some of the nearby trees. I turned quickly watching it then pointed my hand toward it releasing an arc of electricity, the blue electricity snaked forward lashing at a nearby tree cutting right through it. I didn’t stop firing instead I started craning my hands taking out more and more trees. I could keep this up all day, I honestly didn’t want to but I really could. If it came to it I might just level the entire forest. Granted that was extremely risky for a number of reasons but with Adam you couldn’t be too careful. I already made that mistake once while gloating.

  “Over here dumbass.”

  Three Adams rushed me from the left, my left hand was free so I shot them down with three quick bursts of electricity. That’s when I decided to stop the arc of electricity from my right hand. I looked at the path of destruction I had caused, there was small fires and a large number of stumps at least I knew Adam wasn’t hiding there. Keersph, a twig broke so I turned my attention in the direction of the sound, it was just a deer. There’s deer on this islan…

  Adam rushed at me from the side. I saw him in the corner of my eyes so I jumped back to avoid his attack only to notice that one of his doppelgangers was there. That’s when I realized that I couldn’t tell which one was the real Adam. It wasn’t a problem until it actually became one. As long as I shot down the doppelgangers then the real Adam would surface unless he was using them as diversion and he was trying to escape. Then there was the possibility that, was exactly what he wanted me to think so I would use up my energy trying to eliminate all his copies. The problem with that was he didn’t know how much power I had left either.

  “So you’re going to hide now Adam. Looks like you’re running scared.”

  I punched out the nearby doppelganger causing it to disappear. Then I looked around, the coast was clear I guess he was just going to hide in the jungle. Great.

  “Who’s hiding?”

  Adam emerged from a nearby group of trees, there were at least first doppelgangers with him. I aimed my hand at them and shot quick bolts of electricity. They maneuvered out of the way so I aimed at them with both my hands and fired.

  “Ok then, let’s try a direct approach.”

  I rushed forward attempting to fight Adam and his doppelgangers head on. I kicked the first one then evaded an attack from two of them then I countered and took them out. The last two rushed me at the same time so I jumped into the air and turned kicking them both in the head. Now it was just Adam. He rushed toward me sending a flurry of quick jabs and a handful of straight punches toward my chest and face. I kept one hand ball while the other stayed up smacking away Adam’s punches. A fast punch from me tagged Adam’s nose which seemed to annoy him, so he faked to my right and then attempted to punch the left side of my face. Except that was a fake too, Adam quickly kicked my leg then punched me directly in the face.

  “Come on Carter. I’m sick of looking at your fucking face.”

  “Uh that’s not what I do with my face.” I replied with an overly sarcastic tone.

  Adam lunged at me hitting my chest then I hit his. The two of us started exchanging a number of punches and kicks, then I lifted my leg and hit the side of Adam’s face, he hit the ground a second later. He slid back then got up, he was about to charge at me when he stopped like he just realized something that’s when he gave me a dark grin. Adam bounced up and down like he was warming himself up for a fight then launched toward me. I threw a left cross to meet him, but the second it appeared that my cross would hit he pivoted around me and elbowed me in the back. I turned to see that Adam was still running, he was heading toward the trees that’s when I pointed my hand at him, a bolt of electricity leapt from my hand. Adam zigzagged avoiding it hiding inside the forest. I was about to follow after him when I felt something touch my face in a second it happened again.

  “Damnit.”

  It started sprinkling and then a matter of moments later it started to come down harder. It was raining which meant the rules of the game had change. So that was his plan, he was going to wait until the area was soaked then attack. I almost laughed instead I turned my attention to one of the doppelgangers that approached. I spun around it and kicked it in the back of the head. Turning quickly and leaping forward I punched another in the head then I rolled into the mud and used my legs to trip one of the doppelgangers then kicked i
t in the face. I stood up and smacked some of the mud off my legs. That’s when I started to hear Adam’s laugh. What was even more annoying was that it was coming from more than one direction.

  I looked to my left and saw a bunch of Adams just leaning against a number of trees then I looked to the right and saw the same thing. I looked all around and I saw them all, there were some further in hidden within the trees but there was a lot of them. And I mean a lot, a hundred, more probably a lot more. One thing that was worth noting was that I hadn’t notice how spacious the area Adam had chosen for our battle was. Now with some of the trees mowed down I could see that where I was wasn’t as surrounded by trees. I was near the center so the trees were an equal distance away probably something like thirty feet. Rain soaked the ground and for some reason or another it brought a smile to my face.

  I looked up and let the rain wash over my face. Adam continued to laugh. That’s when a few squishy steps were taken. The real Adam emerged from the center standing thirty feet probably more away. Adam was grinning ear to ear, he held his arms out to the sides while pointing his hands to the sky.

  “Behold my legion. And your death.”

  “Last words?”

  The real Adam chuckled which, then became an echo as his legion joined in.

  “Why not. No one can say I don’t show mercy.”

  “Did you know I figured out how your power works? But first let me explain something. The human body generates electricity some more than others.” I gestured to myself with my thumb. “Anyway I can feel electricity currents even the small ones from everyday people if I put my mind to it. Oh I can see them too if I try hard enough. Now your power works by creating duplicates that receive electrical signals from you. Because of that you feel what they feel to a lesser extent but hey it’s still annoying.”

  Adam took a step forward so I lifted my hand up with my palm pointed at him. “I’m not done yet. Almost. But not quite. Even my shocks hurt but those hurt a lot more because the electricity travels back to you a lot differently than physical pain. Unlike physical pain each shock works its way back to you through the little electrical signal that connects you to your clones. It’s why you’ve only made a small handful of copies now that I can’t use my powers you decided a couple hundred copies couldn’t hurt.”