Omega

by Riley Tune

  The man, sword in tow, gave a slight bow to Omega, and then to his Warden, and left the room. She stood alone off to the side for a moment. Her heart was heavy at the thought that one of the people of her city, they ones she cared for the most, would be capable of such a thing.

  Omega turned to face the crowd, all of whom were still kneeling, and then found her seat in her chair. “Maridian,” she said but found her aide was already writing in his large book. “I have already made a note to assure the family is able to survive with the father gone. Funds will be given to aid in the process.”

  Omega smiled briefly. “This doesn’t make up for the gang oversight, but it is a start.” She took in a deep breath and then crossed her legs and allowed her booted foot to swing freely. “Now, let's finish your list so we can be done here, and I can face my tributes.” “Yes, Empress,” Maridian said as Omega began to truly smile with the thought of her new tributes and the children, she would gift the world with, from them.

  CHAPTER 20:

  NEW RECRUITS

  A loud noise caused Danielle to wake up. She hated being abruptly forced to wake up, and yet she found herself always waking up this way lately. If it wasn’t for her training, it was from Prism. That damn hologram had it in for her and she knew it. Deep down, she felt Prism had never truly accepted the new leaf she had turned over to be a hero. Honestly, she didn’t know if she had either.

  Danielle loved Hunter. More than she had ever loved anything else, but deciding to be a hero a year ago with him was more so his idea and not hers. She had always considered it, but also always found a reason to not go through with it. Even if she hadn’t done anything villainous at the time, she always knew that deep down, she eventually would.

  Now, she walked the straight and narrow. A life of boredom and mediocrity. A life where she at best could hope for her own line of merchandise, maybe even a cartoon. She would never be infamous. People wouldn’t shake at the mention of her name, and the only people that would fear her would be villains. People she related to all too well.

  As she sat up in bed, she felt herself getting frustrated. Funny how a single loud noise caused her to spiral down the path of thinking about her recent life decisions. Clearly, they were weighing on her more than she thought. “Did you hear that, boo?” She said as she looked to where Hunter slept.

  Or, where he was supposed to be sleeping. His spot on the bed was empty, though. She frowned as she rubbed her neck and then looked around the tiny room they shared. The door was still closed, but they hadn’t been there long. She ran the recent events through her mind.

  Cayden showed them the room. Hunter asked him some questions. Cayden left. Then she ate a candy bar while Hunter started talking about how things didn’t add up. She told him to relax, and he sat down on the bed. One thing led to another and twenty minutes later they were both breathing heavily, and tired. Naturally, they fell asleep. “So where in Atlas did you go?” she said to herself as she jumped from the bed.

  She tossed her clothes on and then opened the door. They couldn’t have been sleeping that long. There were no windows around so it was hard to tell, but it still had to be early. Didn’t it? Once in the hallway, she found her first decision to make. “Which way, which way?” Danielle said as turned and looked down both sides of the hall, and then to the third hall directly across from her.

  She realized this place was damn near a maze when they didn’t have a person leading them. “Who the hell makes a base this complicated to navigate around?” she said to herself. Then suddenly, she thought about it. What if Hunter didn’t leave? What if they took him and she somehow didn’t hear it?

  “That doesn’t make any sense at all,” she said to herself as she started walking down the hall to her left. She felt that was the direction the noise came from. “He’s too powerful for something like that to happen,” she muttered.

  Danielle had been walking down the hall for less than a few minutes when she heard a voice behind her. “Where ya headed?” The sudden voice caused her to jump, as she turned around with dark tendrils springing to life around her hands.

  Cayden stood before her with a spoon in his hand and vigorously chewing. “So, you just what? Blast people with energy when you are startled? They sure raise heroes differently on your world, huh?” he said as he looked at her. Danielle dropped her hands and caused her powers to fade away.

  “Where in Atlas did you come from?” Cayden pointed his spoon to a door she had just walked past. “My room,” he said as he put the spoon back in his mouth, took a bite, and began chewing again. Danielle frowned and took a step back. “Are you, eating that?” she asked as she leaned in some to make sure she was seeing things clearly.

  “Obviously,” Cayden replied. Danielle liked being a rebel as much as a person could, but even she was getting tired of the way Cayden and his brother spoke to people. “But why? I mean how?” she said as she stumbled to find the words. Cayden finished chewing and took another bite of the spoon, and then tossed the last portion in his mouth as if it was a chip.

  “One of my spells,” he said behind a burp as he reached in his pocket to reveal another spoon. This one was old and rusted. “I can eat anything for energy. Literally anything. My other spell consumes a ton of energy when I use it, so I’m pretty much eating all the time. Lucky for me, it doesn’t have to be food.”

  Danielle looked at him as he explained to her this weird ability with a straight face. He was pretty much a billy goat, but she kept that thought to herself. “So where are you going?” He asked as he moved closer to her. She looked down the hall and pointed. “I uh,” she stammered. Hunter had gotten to her and she didn’t know how much she trusted these people either.

  She knew she trusted Perkins, but then again, she had only known her for a year. Then she heard it again. A loud sound followed by a screaming male voice that caused her to look in that same direction. “That,” she replied as she turned and walked towards the sound. “I heard it from my room, and Hunter is missing. So I, decided to sneak down a hallway in an unfamiliar base to find out what the noise was?” Cayden added.

  “Not a great plan, but I get it,” he said as he walked by her to take the lead. “Cord is training the new recruits.” Danielle followed him down the hall toward the sound. “New recruits? That fast?” she asked.

  Cayden took a bite of his rusty spoon and nodded his head. “Yeah, we have a running list of people we rejected over the years. Usually, Cord is dead against them joining. Says they are incompetent, untrainable, or just plain old failures. But this time he was eager to let them join.”

  “Why?” Danielle asked. “It doesn’t sound like a smart plan.” “It isn’t,” Cayden said as he shook his spoon in the air. “Same thing I told him, but he has his mind set and we need troops. Not like him to move without thinking, so I’m sure he knows what he is doing. Or I at least hope so. I don’t want to have to be the powerful one, and the smart one too.”

  Danielle looked around as she continued to follow Cayden through the maze of a base. They went down another hallway and passed a few people in what looked like a kitchen. They weren’t much in the looks department, and she hoped for their sake they weren’t soldiers in Bravados movement. From the tired looks on their faces, they had seen enough of whatever they recently faced, and wanted out.

  Even when she waved at them, they just avoided eye contact and shuffled away. “Can I ask you something?” Cayden said from up ahead. “You just did, technically,” Danielle replied. She heard a faint laugh from up ahead but couldn’t see Cayden’s face.

  “Your boyfriend’s name is Hunter. But he goes by Paragon. According to Perkins, your leader's name is Ryan, but he goes by Flex. They’re your hero names.” “We call them true names,” Danielle replied. “Essentially the same thing, though.” Cayden took another bite of his rusty spoon and finished it.

  “So, what’s your true name?” This question caught Danielle off guard. She had been here before, though. Hunter and she ha
d discussed it at length if she would ever find a true name. Some cool names were tossed around in private, but she never chose one. For a while, she didn’t know why but now she did.

  Once she chose a true name, she would feel like a hero. A true hero. Sure, heroes could go bad, but she just didn’t feel she was ready for that yet. She wasn’t like Zeva. Oh no. As far as Danielle was concerned Zeva was a monster. A monster that she hoped Power Prince was having success with tracking down.

  Danielle wasn’t like that, but she just didn’t go all in with the hero stuff. She liked the gray zone. That was one of the main reasons she feels so hard for Hunter. He practically lived in the gray zone. The middle ground between good and bad. He would still visit that area here and there as he struggled to fit in with her life, but more and more she found herself there alone.

  “I don’t have one. Not yet anyway,” she finally replied. “So, you’re not a hero then?” Cayden asked. “What’s with the questions you little shit? You writing a book or something?” Danielle snapped. “Wow,” Cayden replied as he pulled out a spoon and took a bite.

  “I guess that’s a sensitive topic. But take it from a guy who is being forced to be a potential ruler, that wants nothing to do with command. I get it. Sometimes it’s hard to figure out which path to take.”

  Danielle began to feel bad for snapping. She didn’t intend to, but damn sure wasn’t going to apologize for it. “Here we are,” Cayden said as they entered a large room that smelled like sweat and eggs. “This is where we train.”

  He said it as he opened his arms. As if he was revealing a masterpiece. To Danielle, a person that was accustomed to training with cutting-edge technology back in the New Lords’ base, this room was a shit show. More or less, it was a large room with some mats on the floor, a high ceiling, some lights, and a pile of weapons besides a row of chairs. That was it.

  In those chairs, she saw Hunter sitting beside Cord, talking animatedly with his hands imitating a person throwing punches. As they spoke several people, likely the new recruits, stood before them breathing hard and sweating. Most looked tired and some even had shaky legs, but still they stood tall. “These are the recruits?” she asked as she looked at them all.

  Cayden sighed and nodded. “Slim pickings, but we need the manpower for the plan Perkins has cooked up.” “Cooked up?” Danielle repeated. She had begun to wonder just how long she was sleep if they had time to create a plan and draft new recruits. “Well let’s go see how this unfolds,” she said as she took the lead and made a direct line to Hunter.

  “Oh shit,” Hunter said as he looked up. “Is shit a bad thing?” Cord asked as he looked to Hunter and then saw a glaring Danielle walking towards them. Hunter swallowed loudly.

  “Hey, babe,” Hunter said as he stood up. His reply was a darkness- encased fist to the stomach. The recruits standing in front of them jumped back in shock. Some of them eyes wide at the powers Danielle gave them a sneak peek at. “Sleep well?” Hunter said as he caught his breath.

  From where he was bent over, he could see Cayden walk by him and sit down beside Cord with a smile on his face. “You could have at least told me you were leaving,” Danielle said as her voice got loud. “It’s not like we are on a strange world, with people we barely know or anything.” Hunter looked at the recruits and then to the smirking Cord and Cayden.

  He slowly positioned himself in front of them. “I figured you were tired, so I left you to sleep.” “You’re damn right I was tired, I did all the work,” Danielle replied. Behind him, Hunter heard Cayden conceal his laugh in a cough. He turned to tell him to shut up but was confused when he locked eyes with Cayden.

  “Is he eating a spoon?” Hunter asked slowly. Danielle glanced at Cayden who had yet another spoon in his mouth. This one was golden with a curved design. “Don’t worry about him,” Danielle said as she gripped Hunter’s face and turned it to herself. “What are you even doing here?” Hunter stepped closer to her and moved her to a spot where they weren’t as close to Cord and Cayden.

  “I told you, none of this felt right,” he whispered. “Impervious is, well Impervious. A guy that can literally stand up to anything.” “So,” Danielle replied. “So, why isn’t he here? There’s no way this Omega lady defeated him. Even with those Warden goons. Something is up. So, I went to look around. I figured it was no need for us both to get caught so I didn’t wake you. That’s the truth.”

  Danielle avoided his eyes as her anger began to slip away. She took in a deep breath as she nodded slowly. Making sure to not let the others see her face. “You find anything?” Hunter shook his head. “I do know Perkins and Cord have a plan. That and he trains these damn recruits harder than Flex trains us.”

  “That a bad thing? I hear they aren’t that good anyway,” Danielle replied. “They aren’t. Not even close, but it’s like he’s trying to force skill on them instead of teaching them. It’s like he just wants,” Hunter’s words were cut off. “Hunter!” Cord said from behind them.

  He and Danielle turned to look where Cord was sitting, but only found Cayden with a spoon in his mouth. He gave Hunter a hand gesture, one Hunter only assumed was an insult, and then pointed to the recruits. Standing with them was Cord.

  “Yeah?” Hunter responded as he took a few steps toward the center of the room. Danielle watched. She didn’t know what was going on, but for the rest of the time she was here, she was going to keep her guard up. “The easy way to say it is that our new batch of recruits isn’t much to look at. Especially compared to our previous batch,” Cord said out loud.

  Hunter eyed some of the faces standing near them. A mix of men and women ranging from youthful to early twenties. They all were sweating, dirty, and breathing hard. Still, they stood at attention. Backs straight, chins up, and eyes forward. “I don’t know,” Hunter replied. “They need some work, sure. But they still have tons of potential. I’d go to battle with them any day.”

  Hunter said these last words with a forced smile. He didn’t truly believe what he was saying, but he didn’t want to join Cord in his verbal assault. Encouragement was what they needed. Even if it wasn’t entirely true. “I’m sure you would,” Cord said as he walked up and down the line in front of the recruits.

  “But you’re a special case, aren’t you?” Hunter felt his brow raise. “I don’t follow,” he replied. “Of course, you don’t.” Cord said. Hunter took in a breath. He was just starting to like Cord too. When they were both sitting down discussing hand to hand skills, they seemed to get along fine. Now he was back to being a dick.

  “Recruits,” Cord said loudly. “Hunter here, just like my brother and I, come from a rare heritage. An elite one at that.” The recruits all looked at Hunter. For the first time, they broke their perfect posture. Many of them had brows raised and gapped mouths. “Now don’t think the old days are coming back. His bloodline is all but extinct. Only two members remain in it. One is missing, and one has no intentions of taking the role of leader. Still, he has tremendous powers. Powers that would allow him to be just fine in battle. Regardless if you’re there or not.”

  “Really?” Cayden said from the side chair. “Tremendous power? Laying it on kind of thick, aren’t you? I mean we only know what Impervious has told us. For all, we know it’s a nerfing lie.” “You trying to trick me into fighting you, kid?” Hunter asked. Cayden stood up from the chair.

  “No tricks. We can go at it if you want.” Danielle took a step closer, but Hunter stretched an arm out. Cayden was in front of him now. He was shorter than Hunter was, but he had a devilish smirk on his face. He wasn’t scared. Even with what Impervious told them, he was ready to fight.

  Hunter found himself seeing something in Cayden again, and this time it didn’t surprise him. Something that made him like the boy a little more. Hunter saw himself. Young, more powerful than those around him, fearless and eager to show off. Yep, that was him, or who he used to be. Hunter looked to Cord.

  “So, you cool with this? It’s not my fault what
happens to him next.” Cord, standing behind his recruits smiled. “Sure. A demonstration from the men they will be fighting beside in the field could be good for this sorry batch of losers.” Danielle winced at the insult directed to the recruits.

  “He may be cool with it, but I’m not.” Hunter closed his eyes and took a breath as he heard the voice. Danielle watched Flex and Perkins walk into the room. Flex had a smile on his face, and Perkins’ hair was clearly the result of trying to fix it up quickly. She could tell that they had the same evening activities that she and Hunter had.

  Perkins’ stood beside Danielle as Flex put himself in front of Hunter and placed a hand on Cayden’s back. “Take a seat kid.” Cayden laughed. “Who do you think?” “Shut up and sit down,” Cord said. Cayden glared at him and then returned to his seat as he took a huge bite out of his spoon. “Did he just?” Flex started but shook his head as he left the question for another time.

  “Cayden may have power, but he is inexperienced and young,” Flex said. “If we are going to give the recruits a demo, then it’s going to be a good one. One where the combatants are equals. Even if one is slightly better than the other.”

  Through his smirk, Hunter could see a bit of the old Flex shining through. The Flex that he used to be before he was forced to become a leader. “You sure you want this Ken Doll?” Hunter asked. Flex stepped back and opened his arms with a smile.

  Danielle leaned over to Perkins. “Are they really about to do this here? With everything else we having going on?” Perkins shook her head. “Men and their nerfing egos.” “So, what do you say, Paragon?” Flex said as he slowly rose in the air. Seeing him fly made some of the recruits gasp out loud and whisper.