I Am Become Death

by Rocco Ryg

  Esteban stiffly replied, “Yeah.”

  “Then that is the cause of our mutations. If we remove and hide the stone, that will be the end of it.”

  “But the statue’s hard, man, and the rock is in there tight.”

  “Then get a sledgehammer. We can blame the damage on erosion.”

  Just then, one of Max’s guards burst into the hospital, holding his hands around his ears and moaning in pain. “Sir... Mr. Chillingworth... I’m hearing things... I’m hearing everything. It’s so loud.”

  “We’re all experiencing supernatural changes, Ernest.” I couldn’t believe he could say that with a straight face. Maxwell seemed to accept everything that happened without question.

  “But sir, I’m hearing something far away. It sounds like cocking guns and jeeps. I hear singing. It sounds like the rebels.” We all froze in our tracks. Just the mention of the Sierra Leone United Militia would make the villagers panic. They had heard all too well of the barbaric atrocities SLUM had committed in their war against the government. The rebels would massacre entire villages and amputate the arms of the survivors as a warning against voting. They would castrate young boys, or coerce them via drugs into joining their army, and they would force young girls into prostitution.

  Maxwell took the guard outside and commanded everybody to be silent. When the noise died down, he asked Ernest, “Now what do you hear?”

  Ernest pulled his fingers from his ears and concentrated on the far-away sounds. He pointed to the east. “They’re coming from that direction. Six jeeps. No, seven. They’re singing a war song. Yeah, they’re SLUM. Can’t be more than two miles away. One of them is talking. He says they’re taking the black stone. It will make them rich.”

  “Damn. Somebody must have tipped them off.”

  The village chief angrily approached Maxwell. “You said they would not come.”

  “Yes, for the diamond fields, but this priceless stone is sitting in the middle of the village. They think it’s worth the risk.” He then addressed the crowd that waited in line for treatment. “If those rebels get that stone, they will become just as powerful as we are. They will give these extraordinary abilities to all of their soldiers and topple the government, and maybe all of Africa. We must stop them before they succeed. I want everybody with an offensive attack with me. The rest of you hide in the medical center. Move!”

  The old Maxwell Chillingworth would never have been this brave and commanding. I realized then that the nomoli had changed his personality. He gathered his guards and sent them to the huts surrounding the statue. He then went after villagers who demonstrated threatening powers, like the man with burning hands and the man spitting acid, and told them to assist the guards. One villager showed off his ability to fire pulse blasts from his hands. Maxwell said, “Good man. Join the others.”

  When I heard the first shots being fired, I ducked down along with the rest of the villagers in the medical center. My headache didn’t bother me anymore, and the rest of them didn’t seem to be in pain either. We were all just scared. Truckloads of armed guerillas were waging war on our land and only a small team of inexperienced superheroes stood in their way. I couldn’t believe this was happening. Why did we have to dig up that cursed thing?

  One villager couldn’t stay quiet. The chief stood up and cried, “Where is my daughter? Mary?”

  I had forgotten all about her. “She’s still in her hut. I’m going to get her.”

  Neuhaus said, “No, Mika! Maxwell told us to stay here.”

  “The hell with Maxwell! I’m going!”

  Esteban followed me out, having regained his mobility. “I’ll go with you. Stay low.” The two of us maneuvered our way to my hut, keeping as far away from the battle as possible. Taking refuge behind a wagon, I peeked through the wheels and saw a villager I had served meals to throw a glowing ball of light at one of the jeeps, blowing it up and taking three rebels with it. Before he could take cover, they shot him, only to receive return fire from another man’s pulse blasts. My body started to freeze in panic. My horrible nightmare had come true.

  Remembering Mary, I slapped myself back to reality. Esteban grabbed my arm and led me behind another hut, where Chillingworth ordered his men to open fire on the pack of rebels that approached the nomoli. When I got a better look, I saw that they were just boys, probably kidnapped from their massacred villages and forced to join SLUM. I noticed something small fall from the sky, followed by an explosion that blew the boys to pieces. I looked up and saw one of the flying men dropping grenades from fifty feet up. Unfortunately, the rebels noticed him. They fired into the air and shot him down, making him land on and detonate another jeep.

  When we finally got to my hut, I could hear Mary screaming from inside, followed by a panicked shriek from a man. I ran inside and saw the icy statue of a militant standing over my friend, a horrified look frozen on his face. The man then fell over and shattered into a thousand pieces of ice, leaving Mary to scream in terror, “He just touched me! I didn’t do it!” The hut’s temperature started to rapidly fall. I couldn’t touch her, lest I wind up frozen too.

  The objects in the room started to freeze until the moisture itself crystallized around her, forming an impenetrable shield of ice. I escaped before the entire hut became a frozen fortress. At least she would be safe in there. I then saw James being shot by a large man in a mesh vest and red beret. In his final breath, he raised his hands to his assailant and released a blast of microwave heat, cooking him until he exploded.

  Esteban ran to me and reached for my hand. Before I could take it, several militants dashed towards us and unloaded their guns into his chest. He fell on his back, making me shriek in terror, but as quickly as he fell down, he got back up. Bullet holes adorned his shirt, but the exposed skin didn’t show a scratch. Realizing he couldn’t be hurt, Esteban said, “Run! I’ll distract them. Hijo de putas!” He ran to the closest militant, bullets bouncing off his invincible skin like BBs. With a mighty right hook, he punched his attacker’s face so hard, his head ripped off and rolled backwards. I had seen enough. I dashed back to the medical center as fast as my legs could take me.

  The remaining militants concentrated their fire on Esteban as he tore through them. Maxwell noticed this and shouted, “Open fire! Take them down!” His guards shot into the scene, killing the guerillas and making Esteban mad. “Hey! I’m on your side!”

  I bolted to the hospital, confident that I would be safe. Before I could make it to safety, I felt the sharp, agonizing pain of a stray bullet burrowing into my belly. I fell on my back and held my oozing wound as my vision and hearing faded. I must have gone through the five stages of grief right there in the dirt. I denied that I could die so young. I felt angry at myself for signing up. I bargained with spirits to let me live, and I sunk into depression as my mind began to shut down.

  Jeremiah kneeled over me and shouted, “Mika! Stay with me!” He put pressure on my bleeding wound and encouraged me to live. I would have thanked him if I could have spoken, for I knew this was the end. Just as I accepted my demise, I felt the agonizing pain in my stomach lessen after the bullet squeezed itself out. Within seconds, my wound sealed itself until the pain disappeared, leaving no trace of a gunshot. Jeremiah’s healing touch saved my life. He held his cross and smiled. “Still don’t believe in miracles?”

  The fire fight continued, growing fainter with each passing second. It seemed as though Maxwell’s plan would work and the rebels would lose, saving Africa from their genocidal ambitions. Just then, Jeremiah pointed to a new problem. A little girl wobbled around the front of the medical center, searching desperately for her family. I called out for her to come back to safety, and she acknowledged me before a bullet entered her shoulder. Kneeling down in pain, she shrieked and begged for help.

  Before I could build the nerve to rescue her, the child’s terrible gift emerged. Above the crying girl, the air began to swirl in a large circle that rapidly gained speed, pulling everything and everyo
ne in the village closer to it. We watched in horror as the violent twister created a gigantic rip in space, a black hole that threatened to devour everything in its path. Immune to its vacuum, the child stared at the vortex and tried to shut it down, but the portal had grown completely out of her control. I heard Max shout, “Everybody hold something!” and saw him grab on to a tree. His guards and the SLUM soldiers were not as lucky. They lost their grips and flew directly into the center of the vortex, disappearing forever in its hungry maw.

  The villagers ran for their lives from the growing vortex. I held on to the nearest tree and closed my eyes, unwilling to see the poor souls who got sucked into the vacuum, screaming all the way. The terrible cries of those poor men, women and children still haunt my nightmares to this day. The vortex also caught the huts and vehicles, swinging them around in the whirlwind. The screams died down as villagers and aid workers flew into the black hole, and tears ran down my cheeks as I accepted that I would soon join them.

  Through all the unbearable noise, I heard the faint sound of a gunshot. The power of the vacuum died down, lowering me to the ground. I watched as the spiraling vortex collapsed on itself and disappeared, taking almost the entire village with it. Maxwell holstered his pistol and climbed down from the tree to join the rest of us in the darkened medical center. I saw the bleeding body of the little girl and realized what Maxwell had done. He looked at Jeremiah, Shannon, Esteban and me and asked, “Any more survivors?”

  Overtaken with rage, I slapped him. “You killed that girl, you bastard!”

  Unfazed, he turned back to me. “Did you want to get sucked into that black hole, Mika, because I didn’t. It was the only way.” This was not the same man I once had feelings for. He had turned into a creature of pure logic, with no emotions affecting his decisions.

  Esteban answered his earlier question. “I’ll check on Mary.” He ran to her frozen hut and punched the ice walls down, finding her safe inside. When she learned that her entire village, everything and everyone she knew and loved, had been destroyed, she dropped to her knees and cried in anguish. I couldn’t imagine the pain she felt. Shannon and I hugged her tight and didn’t let go.

  Jeremiah reconnected the spotlights while Esteban looked around the area with his flashlight. “Hey, the statue’s gone. They took it.”

  Maxwell said, “No. I saw the nomoli get sucked into the black hole. It’s gone.”

  Shannon, still clutching the sobbing Mary, was glad to hear the news. “Good. This should never happen again.” Mary’s crying turned to slurred speech and uncontrollable wobbling. I started to feel funny as well, like I had taken some kind of drug. The others felt their heads and looked around in a daze, apparently feeling the same effect.

  Maxwell deduced the cause of this strange feeling. “Shannon, stop that. I need to think.” He walked away from Shannon’s delirium-inducing pheromones and thought of how to explain this. “We can’t mention the powers or the vortex, but we can’t account for the lost village and destruction without them. Our only option is to feign ignorance. We’ll tell the world the rebels came for the diamonds, and shot into the village. We fought back, and the villagers ran off into the forest, so the rebels followed them. Other than that, we don’t know the specifics. It’s not air-tight, but it’s the only plausible story I can deduce.”

  “So what do we do after that, man,” asked Esteban. “Put on costumes and fight crime? Be the Fantastic Six?” Having just been through hell and seeing dozens of people die, nobody laughed at his joke.

  “No, Esteban, we go our separate ways and never tell a soul about this. Agreed?” Maxwell looked at each one of us, silently commanding us to promise. Except for Mary, too traumatized to think, we all nodded.

  When the rescue teams arrived, we told them our cover story. As expected, they didn’t believe us after surveying the destruction, but we stuck to our tale. After we flew to the United Nations HQ in New York City and personally told them our tragic story, they cleared us of any wrongdoing. I suspect Maxwell’s persuasive words and political connections had something to do with that. As soon as I was cleared, I said my goodbyes to my friends, grabbed the first plane back to Japan and never looked back, even when the weakened SLUM reorganized into the Revolutionary United Front and brought Sierra Leone into civil war.

  As time went by, I became more proficient with my ability to see the future. I regret to admit that I used it selfishly. I started to gamble, which brought in some easy money, and then I moved to stock market investing. At least with that, I could help small businesses prosper while benefiting myself. I even used my gift to find the right man for me. I saw my possible futures with hundreds of men before I settled on my classmate Kaminari Masakazu, who I married after a year of dating.

  That all changed when Maxwell Chillingworth, then the US ambassador to Japan, paid me a visit, still wearing the necklace I had bought him. He lied to us all. When nobody was looking, he chipped off two samples of the nomoli’s black stone and hid them before the attack on the village. He presented me with a gold ring made from one of the fragments, probably as an apology for starting this whole mess. I could tell he still cared about me, even though he had gone ahead and married Karla Kloors.

  When I shook his hand to say goodbye for the final time, I saw the vision that would haunt me forever. I saw millions of people under the control of a tyrant. I saw entire cities destroyed by tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanoes, caused not by natural phenomena, but by others with these terrible abilities. I heard the dying screams of tens of millions, all crying out for a hero to save them. This horrifying vision became my obsession. I accepted the ring and vowed to use my gift to prevent such a future from happening. After foreseeing thousands of possible scenarios, I set in motion my plan to save this world. That is where the three of you come in.

  Chikara, Renka and Gen... when Robert Oppenheimer saw the blast of the first atomic bomb, it reminded him of an Indian story where Vishnu revealed himself to an evil king and said, “Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.” I understand this quote. He realized that through technology, mankind can now destroy the world. However, thanks to the gifts granted by the nomoli, now it only takes one man to destroy the world. It is up to you three to stop this terrible future from coming true.

  That’s why I gave you this power. That’s why I gave my only daughter an uncommon male name... so you would stand out and grow to be the strongest, most courageous hero the world will ever know. Chikara, remember that an evil man can do a good deed under the right influence. No matter how much you hate him, show mercy when you can. I’m counting on you, and I know you will succeed. After all, I’ve seen it.

  ***

  Chikara put down the manuscript and tried to process what she had read. Gen and Renka did the same. It all sounded too insane to be true.

  Gen broke the silence. “So that’s it. She chose us to save the world. I wish she were more specific.”

  “This is unreal,” said Renka. “How are we supposed to stop earthquakes and volcanoes? I don’t get it.”

  Chikara knew her mother well enough to answer, “She wants us to learn as we go. She never told me the whole story… she just dropped hints so I’d figure it out.” She choked up as she finally realized the gravity of her situation. “I have to save millions of lives. Why me? Why did she put that burden on my shoulders?”

  Feeling her every insecurity, Renka hugged Chikara and projected happy thoughts into her head. “Because you’re the greatest, Chi. You can beat anyone in school. That tyrant she wrote about won’t stand a chance against Kaminari Chikara, the greatest superhero in the world.”

  Gen added, “And we’ll be there holding up the globe with you. Of course, first you have to fulfill your promise.”

  “What’s that?” asked Chikara, though she already knew the answer.

  “You need to wear the ring. You’ve put it off for too long. Take what’s yours and help us fulfill the destiny your mother wanted.”

  Chikar
a couldn’t keep the tragic secret any longer. She sighed and revealed the truth. “When I spoke to Neuhaus, he told me that everyone who survived Sierra Leone died of cancer. He’s dying from it right now. The radiation from the rock poisoned them... the same radiation coming from that ring.”

  Gen and Renka felt their pulses stop. Nobody said a word for what seemed like forever until Chikara broke the silence. “Maybe you’ll be fine. It wasn’t the whole rock, just a small piece, but... now you know why I’m scared. I’m sorry.”

  “Yeah, your mom wouldn’t give us something that would kill us,” said Renka. “That’s crazy.”

  “What if she saw it as a necessary sacrifice?” Gen had never been this scared. He had to appreciate fate’s sense of humor for giving him a magical gift that would kill him. “My grandfather saw the effects of radiation poisoning in Hiroshima. When they cremated his mother, her bones had softened into mush. I don’t want to end up like that.”

  “I guess we won’t know for twenty years.” Chikara could tell that nothing would cheer them up now. “Think you can spare us some happy feelings, Renka?”

  “For some reason, I can’t think of any.” Renka’s fear for her own mortality started to leak into the others’ minds.

  Just then, Chikara’s father poked his head through the attic’s entrance. “Are you still here? It’s 10:30.”

  “Sorry, Dad. Guess we lost track of time. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, thanks for the story. Come on, Renka-chan, I’ll walk you home.” Gen led Renka out, leaving Chikara alone with her father.

  “Dad... did Mom ever tell you about Africa?”

  “Not too often. She would always change the subject when I asked. Why?”

  Chikara didn’t want to tell him the whole truth, but she knew it was the only logical option. He would find out eventually when she went off to somehow stop earthquakes and tsunamis. She swallowed her fear and said, “I think we should have a talk.”