The First: EVO Uprising

by Kipjo Ewers

  “Why do we need to rotate?” asked a panicked Adrian. “Rotate to where?”

  “A mini base,” Erica answered, “and a way out, if we can’t rotate we’re good as buried down here. Rogers let Rosann touch you so that she can heal.”

  Abe marched over to her as Lady Tech glided her hand over the digital touch screen pulling up multiple holographic screens. Rogers took Rosann’s hand into his own, but nothing happened.

  “Not responding,” he answered.

  “A rush of adrenaline will activate the barbs in her hand,” Erica responded. “Angie help her.”

  “What are you going to do?” Adrian asked nervously.

  “A slight push on her broken collarbone will activate her pain receptors,” Angie explained. “I can then ensure that it is properly aligned to rebind properly. She will feel some discomfort.”

  Angie eyes lit up as she scanned the broken collar bone. She went to work positioning the bones together. It was painful enough to force a groan out of an unconscious Rosann. Her body stiffened as she clutched Abe’s hand. The microscopic barbs in her hand protruded out piercing his hand sucking in his blood. Her skin color changed to match his own, while her frame became denser duplicating his Titan abilities. Abe’s regenerative healing mended her collarbone, and other injuries.

  She awoke with a gasp attempting to sit up. Her brother and Abe subtly restrained and steadied her.

  “Easy, don’t try to get up yet,” Abe ordered.

  “Where am I, what happened?” She tried to focus.

  “We’re in the central command,” Rogers explained, “a couple miles down from the base, we were attacked.”

  “The Draugr.” She attempted to move. “I was fighting…”

  “Relax,” he calmly ordered, “don’t move, and don’t try to get up. Just stay here with your brother until we figure this out.”

  Rogers rose back to his feet heading back to Erica’s side to help assess the situation.

  “How far down are we?” he asked.

  “Approximately three miles,” she indicated while feverishly working, “and no we can’t bust through the other side of the wall. It’s a ten inch thick wall of dark metal and behind that is sixty inch thick wall of mantle shielding us from a river of lava. That’s why I built this damn thing to rotate, I didn’t calculate on dealing with another version of the Source bringing parts of the shaft down on us while we were trying to escape her turning us to ash.”

  “Oliver,” Rosann said, “where’s Oliver?”

  Silence fell over everyone as Adrian turned to Erica and Rogers for an answer to give his sister.

  “Adrian, where is he?” she asked.

  “Sis,” he swallowed, “he chose to stay behind to buy us sometime.”

  “Then we have to go back and get him.” She struggled to get up.

  “We can’t go back, sis.” His eyes became glassy.

  “Yes, we can!” she snapped at him. “Get off me. Adrian! We can’t leave him up there!”

  Even with her Titan strength being less than Rogers, Rosann was a handful as she fought to break free from her brother’s grip. Angie aided him in trying to restrain her.

  “Get off me!” she screamed. “Get the fuck off me! How could you leave him up there? You know what they’ll do to him! You know what they’ll do to him!”

  Rosann screamed and bawled as if she was dying. It made Adrian wail as he held onto his sister. The fight finally taken out of her, she clung onto her brother sobbing to the near point of hysteria.

  A powerless Abe stood watching as his team fell apart. He turned to see a frantic Lady Tech punching away at her digital keyboard. She pulled up screens and then swiped them away with very little rhyme or reason.

  “Miss?” a concerned tone came from Maxine, “Miss can I…”

  “I got this Maxine!” she snapped at her. “I got this!”

  Rogers stepped in pulling her away from the screen. She fought to get away from him throwing a fit as he held her close.

  “Let me go Rogers!” she screamed. “I got this! I got this!”

  “You have my permission to cry,” Rogers ordered.

  “I don’t have time for this!” She began banging her head against his chest. “I told you I got this! I got this!”

  He continued to hold her, weathering through her useless barrages.

  “You have my permission to cry,” Rogers said again.

  Erica went into a sobbing fit, collapsing into his arms. He held her as if she was his little girl and allowed her to go through it.

  Angie wore a worried look on her face as she placed a gentle hand on Adrian’s back in an attempt to comfort him. She turned to her sisters for answers, but found the same confusion and concern in each their eyes as well.

  Rogers remained the foundation of his team. He could not, and would not, afford himself the luxury of tears for their sake. He would allow them to fall and break down. He needed it out of their system so that he could build them up again. For vengeance to be theirs, he would need them stronger than ever.

  ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜

  Back in Mount Vernon, a very unhappy Nachzehrer arrived at the Dennison residence drawing attention not just from her scantily clad outfit, which was pretty much the same as her original outfit with the exception that the chained bikini she wore had a silver color as opposed to pink, and instead of leather hotpants, she wore a black pleated school girl skirt with rings that adorned the waist, and safety pins that held together a high slit opening in the skirt.

  Parked in front of the Dennison’s residence were two vacated police vehicles. One empty with its doors still open, while the other sat chard and flatted like a pancake.

  Decorating the Dennison’s driveway gate was a female police officer scorched with fourth degree burns nearing death. Her wrists were fused to parts of the gate; placed there as an omen for those that would dare enter. Inside the yard, the steps and grounds were littered with the clothing, gear, and small bone fragments of the other officers that accompanied her.

  Nachzehrer stopped to admire Revenant’s work before nonchalantly strolling over to the front gate entrance. She ripped it from where it was secured with one arm tossing it aside. Walking up the steps she shot terrified onlookers peeping out of their windows and doors dirty murderous looks daring them to say something to her. She then knocked on the door purposely delivering extra force cracking the wood.

  A minute later Revenant opened it looking her up and down.

  “Reporting for coon watching duty,” she sneered, snapping a salute.

  “Thank the devil himself,” Revenant sighed. “The father isn’t too bad, he’s been trying to talk me into turning my life around and converting. The mother can be a handful, she has a knack for hurling insults and scripture verses attempting to ‘cast me out.’ If you want to have fun with her recite just some satanic verses. I’ve never seen a woman’s eyes open so wide.”

  “I could just shove my hand up her…” She grinned.

  “Do remember not to lay a finger on any of them.” Revenant held a finger up stopping her from finishing. “Last thing you need to do is incur any further wrath from you know who.”

  “Remind me again how the fuck I drew porch monkey babysitting?” she scowled.

  “You got caught, my dear, when you weren’t suppose to,” he reminded her.

  “This is bullshit you know.” She pointed a finger at him, trembling. “You promised to get us out of this servitude shit! You promised!”

  He grabbed her by the back of her head pulling her close and kissed her deeply to calm her. She groped his crotch area and licked his lips with sinful unsavory thoughts in her eyes.

  “I am working on it.” He nuzzled his nose against hers. “Till then I need for you to do as you are told and behave yourself like your life depends on it. Do not cut, injure, maim, rape, sodomize, cripple, or kill anyone inside this house. Outside, as you can see, is
fair game. Are we clear?”

  “If I promise to be good,” she asked with a mousey voice, “and you find a way kill that bitch… do you promise to ravage me on their mutilated corpses?”

  He grinned while pulling the back of her chained one piece bikini upwards; wrenching it in between her legs to force a moan out of her.

  “For a whole week,” he whispered in her ear.

  She grinned and then nipped at his ear. During the sordid display of affection, Mrs. Dennison stepped into view making her presence known.

  “Listen here, yuh ole whore,” she pointed to Revenant, “me can barely stand your ugly ungodly mug, but you nah bring ya ugly ass dawg inna me house! Look pon har! Har face wash out like Vybz Kartel! Uno fee come out!”

  “Nopel!” Mr. Dennison walked up grabbing her.

  He attempted to guide her back into the living room, but she refused to move.

  “Wha yuh do?” he scolded her. “Stop ramp! Yuh want dem kill yuh inna here?”

  “Dem nah do nuttin to us babes, if dem know what good fe dem!” she yelled. “Ah, hostage situation dis! Me say gweh botty bwoy wit yuh dutty gyal! Yuh face bumpy-bumpy like jackfruit!”

  Nachzehrer glared at her, and then Revenant, who raised a finger warning her to keep her promise.

  “Step back, and shut the fuck up, you shit slinging old ape,” Nachzehrer warned, “or I’ll gut you slowly.”

  “Ah, who yuh ah talk to?” Mrs. Dennison shot back. “Yuh want me take sometin and open ya head up? Listen you dry-head, picky-picky, jeyes-ears, horse-mouth, buck-teeth, bandy-leg, bat-ears, snaggle-tooth dutty gyal! Ya betta kill me now cus one ah us gone dead inna here today!”

  Revenant slowly closed the door behind him as a full on verbal war ensued within the Dennisons’ house. He prayed for it to remain just verbal for now, knowing Nachzehrer’s hair trigger temper.

  Stepping out into the open, he politely waved to the terrified neighbors looking in his direction before channeling dark matter to propel him into the air to his next destination.

  ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜

  Back at the island, Kimberly now in a yellow and blue two piece sports bathing suit, was on the beach playing with Kyle, Akram, and the rest of the children. From boogey boarding, to volley ball, to tag; she enjoyed the perks of being the daughter of a woman who owned her own island. By playing she learned to control her strength and speed. It did not make her weak to run slower or hit the ball softer. It was okay not to be the first at everything. The rest of the children made her feel normal, a regular, yet taller, normal girl. Although she still missed her friends, she was not sure if they would react to the newly improved her like her new friends did.

  She stopped in the midst of her frolicking to look up at the sky wondering when her mother would be home. It had been almost five hours since she had left. She presumed she would see her flying back home by now.

  Mixtures of emotions overtook her when she realized she had an actual flesh and blood mother who willingly laid claim to her. In the middle of her euphoric realization she noticed a child a ways off not taking part in the beachside fun.

  Three year old Melanie, one of the few children born on the island, stood at the shore of the beach in her pink and white polkadot one piece bikini. While everyone played, she stood looking up at the sky. Kimberly noticing her walked over.

  “Hey Mel,” she said, smiling as she knelt next to her, “what’s wrong? Don’t you want to play with us?”

  “There’s a lady,” the little girl pointed, “floating up there in the sky.”

  Kimberly looked up where she pointed and saw only clouds. She smiled thinking she was using her imagination to see the clouds in the form of a woman.

  “Yeah,” she smiled, “I think I see her too.”

  “No, you don’t.” Melanie shook her head. “She’s hiding in the clouds, but I can help you see her.”

  Melanie touched the side of her face as she continued to look up in the sky. Instantly Kimberly saw what she saw. A pale-skinned young woman with a clean shaven head wearing black hovering in the clouds by some unknown vibrating force. The evil smile she displayed told her she was not a nice person.

  A shaken Kimberly pulled away also realizing that Melanie, like her, was not normal.

  Kyle and Akram, along with the rest of the children, ran up to see why Kimberly had stopped playing with them.

  “Hey what’s up?” Kyle asked. “You found something?”

  “Melanie telling you about the imaginary people she sees?” one of the other boys jokingly asked.

  Kimberly picked her up and fretfully turned to them.

  “We need to get back to the village,” she ordered, “like right now.”

  “What’s the matter?” Akram asked nervously.

  “More people are coming,” Melanie informed her.

  “Show me, honey,” Kimberly asked.

  The child once again touched the side of her face showing her what she saw. Five miles off and getting closer where three more superhumans. Two were flying, one with long black hair, with what appeared to be the face of a demon flew via a column of flames, while the other with long blonde dreads and yellow glowing eyes flew by some unknown form of propulsion that appeared to be similar to her mother’s. She carried a massive man by some form of harness, which looked like a Viking wielding a huge sword and axe. The bad feeling swirling around in her stomach turned into a horrible feeling.

  “We need to get back to the village now!” Kimberly fearfully yelled, “Come on!”

  She tried to run as quickly as possible, but holding a precious bundle and making sure the other kids kept up with her hindered her superhuman speed greatly. By the time they reached the village it was too late. The skies overhead were covered in flames igniting a chorus of screams from everyone below.

  Kimberly was lucky enough to find Earl standing dumbfounded along with other villagers looking up at the red flaming sky.

  “Mr. Earl! Mr. Earl!” she yelled, getting his attention.

  “Kimberly,” he shuddered. “What the hell is going on?”

  “Where’s my mom?” she frantically asked. “Is there a way to get in touch with her? Mr. Earl!”

  He shook himself out of his transfixed state to reach into his pocket for his Samsung Smartphone. He quickly punched in his passcode, hit her number on speed dial, and tapped the speaker option. The phone went straight to Sophia’s voicemail.

  “Something’s not right.” He shook his head. “Wait… there’s a text message!”

  He clicked on the message from Sophia which read, “No to time explain! Evil people are coming! Run! Hide! Get everyone to the boats!”

  Both Earl and Kimberly looked up from the text message seeing that they both wore the same fearful look.

  The next thing they heard was what sounded like a bomb dropping. The gigantic Viking she saw flown in by the blonde-headed dread crash landed into one of the huts leveling it in one shot. Luckily no one was home during the impact.

  “Take her!” Kimberly handed Melanie to Earl. “And get the kids and the villagers to safety!”

  “Kimberly no!” Earl forcibly yelled, “I’m suppose to look out for you!”

  “My mother’s not here,” she tensely returned. “I’m... I’m the only one who can do something!”

  She bolted before he could say anything more to try to stop her.

  The fire witch Jiang Shi cackled hysterically as she used her flames to corral the villagers like a herd moving in one direction. Wendigo’s mere presence and vibrating sonic sphere which shook the huts almost to collapse forced them to move into another direction.

  Peace just strolled as villagers attempting to escape via her direction stopped in their tracks.

  “Wrong way kids!” her eyes blazed. “Back that way! Move! Move!”

  The Draugr was less subtle. With a swipe of his ax, he sliced through one of the huts. He roared like an uncaged lion s
haking the Earth with just his steps. As everyone else ran back to the center of the village, a terrified Mr. Norton sat in the monster’s path. A frightened Zeek, finding a sliver of courage, ran back to his side grabbing him.

  “Mr. Norton!” he screamed. “You got to get up! Get up!”

  “But this is Sanctuary,” Mr. Norton mumbled. “We’re safe here in Sanctuary... we’re safe.”

  Zeek unable to get the old man up, held him tight covering him with his frail body praying that the beast would pass them by. A savage grinning Draugr, with not a pint of mercy in his cells, would not as he raised his sword high.