I sent, intent on annoying him until he broke, it had never worked before, but why stop now?
I rubbed my wrists, feeling the circulation returning. Karakatos circled the room, slowly closing the distance between us.
“I have been told many amazing stories about you Raiphaim. Or would you prefer Jack?” He asked, using my father’s name.
“I don’t care what you call me, so long as Kim and Arendiol are alright.” I said.
“Oh yes, your friends are fine. I wouldn’t hurt my own people, so long as they are viable and able to bear children.” He stopped in front of me, about ten feet away.
“Where are they, I want to see them.”
“You really are in no position to make demands Jack. You have no weapons; you cannot use your power and are far outnumbered here.” He reached out and Neal handed him my blade.
He pulled it out of its sheath and inspected the blade, testing its balance and turning it over.
“This is a wonderful sword. You made this yourself didn’t you?” He asked.
“Yeah and I make a killer margarita also.”
Karakatos’s smile faltered slightly, before he became serious.
“This is but one room of the royal suite. A place where your parents lived and where they struggled for months to keep the city protected from the vast ocean that would have killed us all.” He stopped for dramatic effect, I wasn’t impressed.
“Cool, you think my dad ever had to fart while he struggled? I imagine it would be a lot of straining.”
I saw a flash of anger race across Karakatos’s face; Neal was as impassioned as ever.
He looked over at Neal, seeing me watching him.
“Your friend has come around.” He said, trying to get at me.
“Yeah, I was curious about that, what did you do to him; offer him a better dental plan?” I took a few steps side to side, getting the blood pumping in my calves.
“Ah, I wondered when you would ask about him. It was surprisingly simple, really. I ensured there was only one working interface and knew he would want to access one upon returning to the city, so I recruited some help from the surface. It was amazing how willingly the human programmers were in coming here once they realized how advanced we really are. Once they got over the fact that we actually exist, that is.”
“They helped us design a virus, one that wormed its way into his central programming and allowed me to rewrite it. Making him my tool, one I can use as I deem fit.” He had walked over to Neal and stood next to him, like a dog owner would a champion bitch.
I knew he was in there somewhere, and that he was struggling to get free, I had to believe it; if not there was no way out of this alive.
“Let’s quit beating around the bush, what do you want with me?” I asked, tired of all the games.
“You think I’m just going to give you all the answers, just like that?” He snapped his fingers, the sound loud.
“Yeah, I kinda hoped you would.”
“No, I think not. First we have to readjust your attitude. You have grown weak on the surface, accustomed to being stronger and faster than everyone. It has poisoned your mind, made you difficult. I intend on fixing that.” He nodded to Neal, who took a few steps back.
“I already went to public schools, if they couldn’t beat the sarcasm out of me, I doubt you can.”
“Sentinel, or Neal, is it? Do not interfere; just ensure he does not bring to bear any of his unnatural tricks.” He said, walking over towards me.
“I’m going to begin your first lesson. One that will teach you to respect your betters and to realize you really have no hope in escaping your fate. You will learn that you are mine and I will use you as I see fit to bring our people back into the world, not just to be part of it, but to rule.” He slowly came closer, closing the distance between us.
He pulled his rod from his belt and tossed my sword to me. I caught it easily and shifted my weight, ready for him to attack. He didn’t rush in; instead he circled me slowly, biding his time. He twisted something on his rod and it tripled in length, the tip split into three pieces. Within a fraction of a second he transformed his simple weapon into a large trident. That type of weapon had a long range, and was hard to fight against, the three forks, if used correctly, were great for disarming a person, right before you ran them through.
I knew my best chance lied with keeping my distance, allowing him to think he had me at a disadvantage and lulling him into a false sense of superiority and then moving inside his offence when he least expected it.
All of that was only important if he was skilled in using his weapon and I didn’t doubt that he was.
We continued to circle each other, never turning sideways.
“I still don’t understand why you had Sigmund brainwash those people, or why you sent that girl to me.” I said.
Karakatos smiled, it was creepy.
“I will give you an answer if you survive my first pass.” Man he was arrogant.
I no longer finished that thought than had to defend against his trident. He stepped forward and faster than a snake lunged at me, his trident flying towards my face. I brought my sword up and twisted, deflecting the attack right below the three forks, not wanting to get my sword tangled in those things. I spun a few feet to the side, facing him again.
“Very well done.” He said.
“Thanks, I watch a lot of Chuck Norris movies.” I taunted him.
He again looked at me quizzically, not understanding. It didn’t matter, I still found it funny.
“I promised you an answer and so I shall give you one.” He said instead of responding to my jibe.
“I am a man who does not leave things to fate. I have done my research on you, after the failed attempt to capture you when you were a child. I realized from my men’s reports that you were in the company of a special animal, one that drove me to find answers.”
“I had already uncovered the truth of your ancestry, but your protector was something I hadn’t expected and it drove me crazy not knowing.”
“After years of painstaking research I finally found the information I was looking for. I realized what he was and that’s when I knew what I had to do. By this time you had taken to rescuing children who had been kidnapped and I knew that was the angle with which to use with you.”
The entire time he kept his distance. I listened to his story but at the same time analyzed his movements, hoping to find some flaw in him that I could exploit.
“So you used a child to trick me? What a guy.” I said.
“You will soon realize the purity of it, the sheer righteousness.” He said right before attacking again.
He used the same offensive strike, and I again blocked it, only this time he pressed the attack, using his trident’s shaft to come at me. I had to work to keep him from landing a blow, his power was staggering as each attack rattled my bones.
He was powerful and fast and I reeled from him as he was able to slip past my defense and land a devastating hit to my face. I backpedaled, getting some distance between us. He didn’t advance on me.
I felt a new trickle of blood from my broken nose and anger filled me, I was tired of all the bullshit, tired of the games and tired of this bastard’s crazy schemes.
I snarled and threw caution to the wind as I wildly rushed him. He seemed somewhat startled at my change in tactics but recovered quickly as he was the one forced back by my aggression. I lunged, sliced, hacked and stabbed, but he always seemed one step ahead, one move in front of me. I over extended and he backhanded me, causing a new wave of pain to wash through me.
I ig
nored the aching in my face and went after him again. This time we exchanged offense and defense, both of us defending and attacking as we each saw fit. He was extremely skilled with his weapon; I had never fought anyone with his level of mastery before. I slowly began to get worried, afraid I may not be able to beat him.
I sliced low, forcing him to bring his weapon down to keep his leg from getting chopped off, but he surprised me by raising his shin and deflecting my blade with the armor on his leg. My blade bounced off and the slight distraction allowed him to hit me in the neck with the dull end of his trident and then follow it up with a powerful blow to my chest.
I felt a rib crack and I was helpless as I sailed through the air, only to land hard on my back. I immediately rolled onto my feet, and had to bring my sword up to defend as he instantly began to press the attack again. His movements came faster and faster and he soon broke through my defense again, this time catching my sword between the forks of his trident and I could do nothing as he sent it flying from my grip, coming in hard. He hit me once to my head and I saw blackness around the edges only to feel as he kicked my legs out from under me and I went down hard. Before I could recover he did something to my arm and I felt red hot pain lance through it as I felt as much as heard the bone break.
“Ahhhh!” I yelled out in pain, rolling away from him.
Scrambling like an insect away from the boot of the exterminator.
I saw him come for me again, like the tide, relentless and unyielding.
I leapt to my feet and brought all my martial arts training to bear, attacking him with everything I had, ignoring the pain of my broken arm. He reeled from the sheer aggression of my skill, but soon regained his ground. My arm made it hard for me and it made my technique flawed. I landed kick after kick, but he used his armor to keep the power of my assault from doing any real damage. I spun, putting everything I had into a devastating roundhouse only to have my leg caught in mid-air. The position left me extremely exposed and I was helpless to do anything as the Warlord kicked out with his own foot, forcing my knee to bend in a way it was never designed to.
I screamed out in pain again and this time collapsed with no ability to scramble, between my broken rib, arm and knee, I was completely hobbled. I laid there, in defeat, just trying to catch my breath. I was pretty sure he wasn’t going to kill me, not after all the hell he went through to get me here.
He stood over me, breathing heavily, the bastard.
“You are a skilled adversary.” He said approvingly, it only made me furious.
I glanced over at him, only to see his emotionless expression. He was not going to be of any help.
“Now that we have established my superiority, I will attempt to reason with you. There should be no further need for violence, since we all know where that will lead.” He snapped his wrist and his trident shrunk back to its original design.
“You will use your gifts to open the trans-dimensional rift. You will do this because it will allow me to harness its power and use it to raise our people from the bottom of the ocean.” He stated, not an ounce of doubt filled his voice.
“No, I will not.” I said in mute defeat.
He may have beaten me physically, but I wasn’t going to bend on this.
“I know the idea is hard to fathom, we have been sequestered to this fate for millennia, but we are destined for much more. We are a far superior people than those who dwell on the surface; it is our right to rule them. Your parents set in motion the seeds for our Fall, you will do the same for our Rise.” He walked over to a large wall, pushing something on it.
The wall slid apart revealing a strange looking machine. It resembled a jet engine, but was much larger, it had hoses and tubes running off of it and there were all kinds of dials and buttons on it.
“Sentinel, begin the startup sequence.” He said to Neal, who obediently walked over towards the device.
“You know there is one thing I admire about the humans. They can sometimes be extremely stubborn; I think that is something that has rubbed off on you. The people we have become are disgraceful, hiding in the dark depths of the ocean like a scavenger, growing weak and complacent.”
“Well no more, I will see our people rise and begin to grow the next free generation from the wombs of the last fading clones. A people who will inherit the earth I will have prepared for them.” He stood looking out over the city, his hands clasping the balcony rail.
“You’re insane; the humans will never let you. They will come with their armies and weapons and their sheer numbers will overwhelm you. You will condemn Atlantis to ruins, again!” I tried, hoping he’d listen to reason.
I needed to buy time, time to figure out a way out of this.
“Normally you would be correct, but you are overlooking one thing.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” I asked.
“Have you ever wondered how your friend over there was able to do what he does? How he had such immense power?”
“Yeah, I feed him cat food, it’s great for muscle building.” I couldn’t help it.
Karakatos smiled patiently, I really hated him.
“He was created with some of your genetic material, he is the closest thing to a brother you will ever have. This allows him to manipulate the dark energies much the same way you can. He cannot tap into the energy, but he can mold the energy once it is available.” He let the words sink in.
“You two, working together can do things no one has ever dreamed of. It is this cooperation of which I seek, and I will have it.”
“Again, go fuck yourself.” I said, tired of this crap.
He looked disappointed, good.
“I had hoped it wouldn’t come to this.” He sighed as if he was genuinely upset.
He went over to the small control panel on the wall and punched a few buttons.
“Julake, bring them in.” He said, turning and standing in front of me, watching.
A few seconds later the door opened and Kim and Arendiol were pushed inside the room. They looked much as their holograms did. They were both somewhat dirty, their clothes were the same and their hair was disheveled and they looked frightened and nervous.
“Jack!” Kim came running over towards me, kneeling down and hugging me tightly.
My heart twisted, I knew what he was going to do and I also knew that I would do anything to make sure she was safe.
“Are you hurt?” I asked her, checking to see if she had any injuries.
“I’m fine; they haven’t done anything to us.” She reassured me
“Of course we wouldn’t, Jack. I wouldn’t allow it. They are healthy female Atlanteans, destined to raise our future; I would no more hurt them than I would myself.”
“Liar! I have seen you kill with my own eyes, you are a monster!” Arendiol screamed, coming to my side.
“I assure you, I only did what was necessary to ensure our ascendency. I have had to make some sacrifices, that is true, but now is the time for us all to unite, for us to embrace the dawn of a new age.” He spoke with true conviction, it made me sick.
“Tell me Krackpot, what kind of a world do you think you will be able to build on the backs of millions of human bodies?” I asked.
He turned and looked at me, his eyes shone with a fevered light, madness swept through them; it was fleeting, but there.
“A glorious one!” He said, in euphoric ecstasy.
“I will stop you, if it kills me, you will not live through this day.” I hissed through clenched teeth.
“Ah! Now he is passionate, now he is righteous!” Karakatos spun towards Neal.
“How long?” He asked him.
“Five minutes.” Neal answered; all the while he manipulated the knobs and worked the controls.
“Neal was the last piece to the puzzle. You know with him controlling the energy you will release, I can create a shield that can withstand a nuclear attack? I can produce weapons that can destroy entire cities before anyone can so much as muster a response?” He turned back to us, narrowing his eyes at Kim and myself.
Julake came back in, walking up to Karakatos.
“Everything is ready.” He reported.
“Very good.” Karakatos answered.
“It’s a shame that you will not cooperate, logic would dictate that your only avenue for survival would be in doing as I ask, but I see your time on the surface has corrupted you, you have been infected by the humans illogical disease. It is no matter, I have prepared for this eventuality.” He walked over and grabbed Kim.
“Leave her alone!” I yelled, my arm and leg throbbed in pain.
I was helpless to stop him.
“I think you know what happens now. It really is a shame that I have to do this, but the greater good is far more important than this one child.” He held her tight, keeping her near him.
Kim tried to struggle, but Karakatos was far stronger than her.
He was a mad man, I could see it in his eyes. He wanted to bring Atlantis back to the surface only to use its advanced technology to usher in a new age of darkness and death. The humans would not go down without a fight and it was very likely that half of the planet would be inhospitable when the dust cleared. Millions upon millions would die, but none of that mattered. I couldn’t sit and watch Kim die, I made her a promise.
“You will do as I ask, you will do it or I will kill the girl.” He said, staring at me.
I looked at him for a moment, really looked at him and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was right. I would do as he asked, even though what may come because of my actions and I would do it just to save Kim. I know it wasn’t rational, it wasn’t practical but it was right. That’s one of the things about love, it didn’t always follow logic.
I took a deep breath and slowly made my way to my feet, favoring my bad knee. Julake stepped forward, intent on protecting Karakatos, but was waved back.
Lost Son Page 20