HALLOWED BE THY NAME

by James Somers

  They exchanged hand to hand blows, but Nemesis was simply too strong. He pummeled Jonathan across the torso with a doubled fist. Jonathan flew back into the entertainment center. The live television tube exploded under him, sending a shower of sparks into the dimly lit room.

  Nemesis picked him up before he recovered. The creature ran to the window and hurled Jonathan through it. He had been about ten stories up, inside the apartment building. Jonathan landed two stories down on an adjacent roof and skidded to a halt in the gravel.

  29 SHOWDOWN

  “Look officer, I can’t just let a trunk load of explosives go out of here without someone qualified,” Robert said. “This is my Pop’s business—we’ll get fined like crazy for this.”

  Michael knew he was running out of time to get to Genetic Corp before the creature did. “I already told you I’m a demolition’s specialist from my army days. I’m a police officer. I’ll take care of any red tape.”

  Robert stood there, next to the open trunk, with his meaty arms crossed defiantly. His crew had gathered around him by now. “What if you make a mistake with my stuff and blow yourself up? Then the cops come after me over it.”

  Michael stammered. He didn’t have time for this.

  Robert gave him a self-assured grin. “That’s what I thought.” He turned to his work crew. “Saddle up boys we’ve got a job to do downtown.”

  His men dispersed to their company trucks.

  Michael tried to protest. “What are you doing? You’re hampering a police investigation!”

  Robert stood his ground. “No, I’m doing a demolition job and protecting the public from some half-cocked cop who should know better. Now, would you like to do this thing, or should we all go downtown and discuss it with your boss?”

  Michael knew when he was licked. “Meet you at the Genetic Corp building.”

  •••

  Nemesis watched the body of Jonathan on the neighboring roof—he wasn’t moving. “Poor cousin, Johnny,” he whispered with satisfaction. “You never could cut it.” He waited a moment longer—considering whether he should bother to cross over to the other building and make sure he was actually dead. But his time was limited. According to Tanner, he had to get back to Genetic Corp and retrieve his mutagen. Only when he had dosed himself again would the enhancement’s transformation be complete.

  Nemesis turned, catching sight of himself in a cracked, full length mirror in the ruined apartment. His body had changed so dramatically. The dark wavy locks of Trenton Hallowed clung to his head and neck, matted with sweat and blood. His brow looked like an armored plate beneath his skin, causing his eyes to be recessed in his skull. His jaw had squared, and his mouth drooled blood from new predatory teeth pushing out all of his old ones.

  He flexed his hulking muscles, which ripped away more of the tattered clothing still hanging from his bulky form. His bright red skin seemed ready to burst open under the strain of ever increasing muscle mass. He looked like something from a comic book, not a man. For a moment, the thoughts of Trenton Hallowed interrupted his euphoria. What have I done? I’m a monster—a freak—what have I done?

  Nemesis quickly resumed control. “NO! I am a god!”

  Jonathan flew through the smashed window and hit Nemesis with incredible force. They both sailed through the small room and through another wall. The floor above gave way to the lack of support, bringing the upper apartment down on top of them.

  Water sprayed everywhere from burst copper pipes. Jonathan pulled himself from the mound of wreckage first. He heard the sizzle of electricity and spotted a sparking cable snaking across the debris.

  Nemesis heaved a pile of plaster and wood off his body, rising enraged. Water sprayed the beastly man-thing from a pipe above. Jonathan grabbed the severed power line and whipped it at Nemesis. “Catch!”

  He dove out across the room, landing on a dilapidated sofa as the electricity surged through the water-drenched creature. Nemesis screamed furiously, as sparks of fire and tendrils of smoke rose from his body. Jonathan waited for the beast to fall.

  Instead, it leaped from the wreckage pile and blasted through the wrecked apartment like a juggernaut. Nemesis screamed liked no other being Jonathan had ever heard—otherworldly—unnatural.

  •••

  Jonathan picked himself up from the busted sofa and stood in the middle of the destruction. Nemesis had fled, leaving a path of debris as it went. Jonathan ran to catch up. He had to detain the beast long enough for Michael to get the charges set at Genetic Corp.

  Jonathan reached a dead-end of wreckage. The sun beamed through dust suspended in the corridor. Where had he gone? Jonathan walked cautiously down the hall toward a partially open apartment door. He noticed wet footprints leading toward the place. The floor creaked a little beneath his feet.

  The closed door beside him exploded. Nemesis plowed through, spraying wood fragments everywhere. He hit Jonathan like a runaway freight train and kept going. The impact nearly knocked Jonathan unconscious, as the creature pushed him through a wall and then through a window. Jonathan, couldn’t stop him.

  Both of them fell out of control toward the pavement below. Jonathan saw the beast separate from him, as they cleared the window. Fragments of glass, wood, and brick followed them down. Jonathan tried to rotate his body to see where he would land, but he was still dazed from the tackle.

  •••

  A Branton Transit bus rolled at a good clip down Twelfth Street. The driver had managed to bypass some heavy traffic on the main road where National Guardsmen were conducting an emergency of some sort. He would be able to make up the time he had lost, if he drove it a little above the legal limit.

  Jonathan smashed through the steel roof of the bus, just behind the driver. The driver screamed—partly for the explosion behind him and partly for the massive creature that had landed directly in front of him. There was no time to hit the brakes, though he tried.

  The bus slammed into Nemesis as soon as he touched down on the pavement. He had seen the bus as he fell, had even landed on his feet, but it didn’t matter. The front of the bus exploded upon impact with the creature. Glass flew everywhere. Metal framing twisted into vile shapes and jagged edges.

  Nemesis held onto the bus, holding him. He was embedded in the huge grill of the machine. “Stop the bus!” he bellowed to the driver.

  The driver looked like he might have a heart attack at any moment. He had already tried to hit the brakes, but instead had slipped to the gas pedal when he hit Nemesis.

  “Keep going!” Jonathan roared from behind. He tried to get up. The driver watched the battered, bloody young man grab the steering wheel and jam his foot onto the gas pedal. Nemesis watched him, too.

  The bus sped up, the motor howling its indignation through the vibrating sub-frame. Nemesis tried fitfully to extricate himself from the ruined front of the bus. He drew back a thick right arm and plunged it through the metal into the cabin. Thick, bloody fingers burst through, grabbed the steering wheel, then wrenched it from Jonathan’s hands before he could counter.

  The bus careened into several parked cars and lurched to a stop. Inertia carried Jonathan’s unbelted body through the fractured windshield. He landed among the twisted wreckage of parked cars, unconscious.

  30 PREPARATION

  Nemesis pushed with all his might against the twisted wall of metal. Slowly, but surely, the bus rolled backward until he had enough room to remove himself. The impact with the cars had freed him from the bus. Jonathan was nowhere in sight. The dazed bus driver moaned, raising his head from the steering wheel.

  Nemesis gave a final push and stood on his feet. Sirens wailed in the distance. “I don’t have time for all of this—not now.” He had to retrieve his mutagen from the vault at Genetic Corp, and dose up. Only then would the Enhancement Serum take a permanent hold.

  Nemesis pushed past the wrecked bus and walked into the street. Traffic remained non-existent here, because of the road blocks already in place furth
er back. He breathed deeply, then took off running down the road toward the Genetic Corp building.

  •••

  Jonathan blinked until the world came into focus again. He felt pain—searing pain coursing white hot through his lower extremities. Oil dripped on his face from a fractured oil pan, belonging to the mangled car sitting on top of him. He smelled gas and realized the danger he was truly in.

  The motor of the vehicle hung mere inches from his face. He barely had room to maneuver his arms, but with effort he managed. Jonathan pushed hard, but in his dazed condition he could not budge the vehicle covering him.

  He stopped, trying to get air, the weight of the car restricting his breathing. Every exhale allowed the vehicle to settle further down on him, like a python strangulating its next meal. Panic issued at the corners of his consciousness, but he fought it back and prayed.

  “Father, I need your help. I can’t do this on my own.” He labored to breathe. “I don’t understand why all of this has happened, but I know you’re in control. Please help me to stop Trenton!” He breathed again, finishing his prayer in the name of Jesus.

  Jonathan tried to push the car again. The gassy smell grew stronger. How long would it be before it reached something able ignite it? His arms shook violently. He felt muscle fibers tearing away inside his arms. He tried to keep from screaming.

  The mass of twisted metal sitting on top of him moved.

  Emboldened, Jonathan thrust up with his pelvis to aid his beleaguered arms. He groaned, pushing with all the strength he had left. The car overturned, rolling onto its side away from him.

  Jonathan stood on his feet. He became dizzy, almost falling. He felt so exhausted. How long had it been since he’d eaten something? The mutagen had him burning calories on overdrive. He rested his hands on his thighs and panted, trying to catch his breath, hoping to clear his head.

  “Hey, are you all right?” a voice called out from the street.

  Jonathan looked over on the other side of the crashed bus to find a truck had stopped. The driver stood next to the dazed bus driver, looking at Jonathan. His gaze fell on the truck itself—a donut delivery truck!

  “Sugar!”

  Jonathan staggered over to the truck. “I need to get some food—some sugar—anything.”

  “What?”

  Jonathan pulled out a wad of cash from his pants. He fumbled with the bills—twenties mostly, then dropped the entire bundle into the man’s hand.

  The man stood there dumbfounded. Jonathan—bloody and battered—made his way to the back of the donut truck and raised the sliding door.

  A wall of gooey sweetness lay before Jonathan. He smiled, almost laughing. “Thank you, Lord Jesus!” He snatched an armful of boxes, tore one open, and devoured one after another. He raised one in a toast to the stunned delivery truck driver, then ran down the street toward the Genetic Corp building, mere blocks away.

  •••

  Only a few officers remained on duty at the Genetic Corp building when Michael arrived. “Remember, Jay, you stay with the car. This should be out of the way enough. You won’t be in Trenton’s path, but don’t get out,” Michael said.

  “Do you honestly think I want to get anywhere near that thing again? He almost tore my foot off.”

  “Point taken,” Michael said. “By the way, how’s the pain?”

  “It hurts like crazy, but I’ll live until we can get this over with and kill that thing.”

  Michael removed a pistol from his holster and handed it to Jay. “Here, take this—just in case.”

  Jay looked at it. “Just in case of what—wanting to make him really mad?”

  Michael laid the weapon on the front seat. “Okay, but it will make me feel better about you being left here alone.”

  He opened the car door and got out. Robert and his men had already begun unloading explosives from their truck, along with the necessary rigging devices, and equipment. Michael examined the building, trying to gauge the work that lay ahead for them.

  Robert walked up beside him. “It’s pretty big, but not too big for what I’ve brought.”

  “I’ve already radioed ahead to the officers on duty. They’ll remain until Nemesis enters the building. After that, they know to clear out.”

  Robert scratched his five o’ clock shadow and smiled. “Then let’s get started.”

  •••

  Nemesis approached the Genetic Corp building cautiously. He might have greater strength and power right now, but he wasn’t going to face off against the police, unprepared for a trap. Fewer policemen stood guard at the building now. Undoubtedly, they had been spread thin by all of his recent activity.

  He knew he could do this one of two ways—direct assault or try to sneak in. He realized the authorities had most likely radioed ahead. He wouldn’t be surprising anybody. His encounter with Jonathan had weakened his reserves again, even with the enhancement onboard. He needed food and rest, but not until he got the mutagen again.

  Whatever he was becoming, he didn’t have any intention of stopping the process. He had become far more powerful than before. Even if he looked like a monster, Trenton wanted the transformation to reach his full potential. Being a mere man held no luster for him now. He would become the pinnacle—a god in flesh.

  Nemesis strode through the parking lot littered with police vehicles. He walked right up to the barricades in place before the main entrance to the building. The police officers on duty shuddered at the sight of him. Obviously, they had been expecting the man Trenton Hallowed used to be.

  The policemen aimed their weapons at him. One of the men spoke to him through a megaphone. “Trenton Hallowed, you are ordered to surrender immediately, or we’ll open fire.”

  Nemesis laughed. “Take a good look at who you’re threatening, Officer. I’ve been shot dozens of times, tasered, hit by a bus, crashed through buildings, and busted out of a reinforced titanium vault. I’ve faced down an entire SWAT team and destroyed an entire police precinct full of men like yourself.” He laughed again. “I think you should surrender. Lay down your guns, and I’ll let you walk away. You can go home to your families tonight, instead of the morgue.”

  The police officers looked confused. Some of them were really considering it. The captain had more resolve. He forced his men into action before they could lose their courage. “Fire!”

  Twenty officers opened up on Nemesis with nothing more than machine guns. Some of the men screamed furiously, remembering their fellow officers who had died recently at the hands of this monster. They wanted vengeance. A few others among them had tears rolling down their cheeks. They realized they would not return to their wives and children, today.

  The flesh burst open all over Nemesis’s body as bullets tore into him—mosquitoes. He picked up two of the steel barricades setting before him and whipped them in a circle around his body—releasing them toward the officers. The two barricades smashed through the officers, and then through the glass, and steel façade making up the main entrance. Policemen fell like shattered bowling pins. The fight ended that quickly. “I tried to tell you,” Nemesis said. He walked toward the destroyed entrance. Bodies, blood, and glass lay everywhere peppered with the spent shell casings from their machine guns. He shook his head at the captain’s body, with his broken megaphone. “You killed them by not listening.” Nemesis walked past the carnage into the Genetic Corp building.

  •••

  Michael placed a bundle of explosives against one of the structural supports for the building. He had been working in the basement with Bob, one of Robert’s crew, for the past twenty minutes. Robert had unpacked a stash of C4 that he had gotten his hands on. He had been very hush-hush about where it came from. “Let’s just say, I know people, Officer.”

  Considering the situation, Michael had been more than willing to let it slide. His only concern, at this point, was getting this building to come down on top of Trenton Hallowed. With any luck, Jonathan had been successful in delaying Trenton.r />
  Gunshots popped far away, reverberating through the building to the basement level. Bob looked at Michael. “He’s here,” Michael said. “We’ve got to finish the job, fast!” He heard a crash from outside.

  “What was that?” Bob asked.

  “I don’t know.” Michael listened. The machine gun fire had ceased abruptly. “I have a feeling our first line of defense just went down.”

  Bob stammered. “There were twenty cops out there with M-16s!”

  “I know,” Michael said. “Keep working.”

  31 DEMOLITION

  Nemesis passed through the lobby where a gala banquet had taken place several nights ago. This was also where he had strung up an entire SWAT unit like macabre marionettes. All had been cleared by now.

  He needed to get to the fourth floor to complete the mutation process. The Generation X Mutagen resided safely in his vault. Nemesis only needed to reach it in order to remain a god, permanently. He started for the stairs, noticing that only partial power had been restored to the building. He laughed to himself. They certainly had not sent very many officers to guard the building.

  Nemesis stopped on the stairs. They had only left twenty men to face down all that he had now become. Something was wrong. He smelled a trap.

  Nemesis ran up the stairs. He stopped at the second floor, turning down the dim corridor. He needed to be sure of something before he finished the last part of his research.