by Michael Todd
The council all started speaking among themselves. They all seemed to be nodding their heads. The German president, once everyone had turned back around in their seats, leaned forward. “We agree with your recommendation and are putting in an order as we speak with the council’s strike forces. Jets must be dispatched to take the plane down. Do we know where it currently is?”
Brushwood grabbed his tablet, flipping it over and allowing the tracking map to reload. “It looks as if they are currently over Greece and moving into Serbia.”
The German president nodded. “Alert both countries of incoming military forces. We will stop this in its tracks.”
Sirens blasted on an airbase in Greece. The closest forces to the plane were Greek. The US planes were just too far away at that point. The roar of jet engines echoed across the field as several of them burned down the runway and took flight.
Inside the Legion jet, the men sat unseeing or slept as they made their way to Romania. The pilot came over the speaker. “We have company; three Greek jets blasting toward us, all highly armed.”
Legion turned and looked out the window at the planes coming for them. He tried to take control using his powers, but he was too far from them. For items that large, he would need to be closer and more stable. Suddenly shots rang out and the jet veered right and left, attempting to avoid the battery of bullets, but the jet wasn’t made for fighting. It was a luxury vehicle.
The fighter pilots had spread out behind the jet and switched from guns to missiles. The center pilot called over on his comm to the other pilots, “Locked and loaded.”
The one to his right gave him a thumbs-up. “Locked and loaded.”
The pilot to his left did the same and repeated, “Locked and loaded.”
The center pilot pulled down the visor on his helmet, holding the stick firm in his hands. “On my count, take this sonofabitch down. God bless our soldiers and the innocent men aboard. The angels will weep tonight. Three, two, one…FIRE!”
All three planes sent missiles at the jet. The first one hit the tail of the plane, knocking it off. The other two took out the wings and half the cockpit, maiming the pilot. The three fighters backed off, watching the plane immediately begin a spiral, both debris and the pilot dislodging and flying out of the plane as it went down. The pilots kept their eyes on it until the plane hit the ground below and burst into flames. “Target is down.”
The crash sent a fireball shooting high into the sky. The mountainous terrain was covered with bodies and debris. Those in the front section of the plane had been incinerated on impact from the temperature of the jet-fuel-fed flames. A few people in the back corners were still alive, but very injured. They pulled off their seatbelts, climbing over pieces of bodies and stumbling away from the wall of smoke.
Vinders shook his head and opened his eyes. He was staring at Legion, who looked to be unconscious in his seat, which was no longer attached to the plane. Another guy came running up, reaching for Vinders’ belt and unlatching him. He turned to leave, but Vinders grabbed his shirt, nodding at Legion. Their eyes sparkled purple as they raced through the flames, unbuckling the Leviathan and pulling him from the wreckage and out of the smoke.
Legion coughed and wheezed, floating above the ground with his back to a tree. The other survivors stood at his will, waiting for instructions. Legion’s eyes opened and shimmered, and he let out a deep and profound laugh. Slowly the gauze began to unravel from his face, falling into a pile at his feet.
Vinders glanced up but immediately looked down. Legion was no longer a decayed corpse, but had the face of an emaciated little boy with deep purple eyes and a smirk on his lips. Vinders grabbed the fallen gauze and began to wrap his body again, leaving his face free. The gauze clung to his decaying skin. He led the survivors forward, marching through the valley to the base of the mountains. As they entered you could hear the men whispering,
“We. Are. Legion.”
Brock, Korbin, Pandora, Katie, and Juntto sat around the bed, talking about the Leviathan, as well as a slew of other things. They were waiting for word from the general.
Juntto held up his hand and turned it front to back. “So, you see, if you use the palms, it will smash, but if you press with the backs of your hands, you will keep the juices in the dish while still creating a smoky flavor.”
Korbin’s phone rang and he held it up, quieting everyone and turning on the speaker. “This is Korbin and the rest of us.”
Pandora snorted. “I love being grouped into ‘the rest of us.’”
Katie shushed her as the general came over the speaker. “We have taken the plane down. It took just a few maneuvers and three missiles. The pilot tried to evade, but the jet was incapable of that type of maneuvering. It exploded in a ball of flames on the ground.”
Brock spoke up. “Any survivors?”
“We are unsure at this time.”
Katie nodded. “All right, we’ll go take a look and see what we can find. We’ll report back to you, sir. You did the right thing.”
Brushwood cleared his throat. “Let’s hope so.”
They disconnected and Katie got up, joining Pandora and Juntto in the middle of the room. “We’ll be back soon. Rest up, Korbin. We need you in one piece.”
Pandora opened up a portal and stepped through, followed by Juntto and Katie. Before the portal could close, Brock jumped through as well, grabbing Katie by the arm. She stopped and looked at him in confusion. “You should stay with Korbin.”
Brock nodded. “I am, but you can’t go there. I’ve seen what they do. Legion might take you over. It happens in an instant. That would be a really terrible thing for you, and not just because no one wants to go through that.”
Katie pursed her lips. “Then why?”
Brock’s eyes shifted to Pandora and back to Katie. “Because you are one of the most powerful beings on Earth. With someone like Legion controlling you, there is a chance you could destroy entire cities and civilizations. And…” Brock looked down at the ground. “And because I love you. You have so much love and compassion inside of you, and that is exactly what Legion feeds off. He takes that and twists it, focusing it only on those within his army. You literally cannot feel for anyone else. Legion will use your good side against you until it is gone. What I saw with Korbin was not only unbelievable but fucking terrifying. Let them check it out first.”
Katie stared at him. She had heard everything, but was still stuck on the fact that he’d said he loved her. She wanted to say it back, but since she was standing in some random dimension up to her knees in what looked like orange juice—but from the smell, she knew it definitely wasn’t—she figured it might not be the right time.
His words filtered through her brain, not just the love part, but all of it—the effect Legion had on other people and the way he used compassion and caring. She did care a lot. She did do what she did for the love of humanity. “Gabriel, the angel? He told me something one time, and until now it just sounded like one of those sweet memes you scroll past on Facebook. He said that my greatest strength would also be my greatest weakness.”
Brock nodded. “And I would say that two of your greatest strengths are your compassion, and caring for other’s lives.” Brock put his hand on her cheek. “We all care for you so much, and you have to allow us to try to keep you safe when we can, even if it’s little things like this.”
A smile pulled at her lips and she leaned her face into his hand, feeling the warmth of his palm. In reality, the only thing she wanted to do at that moment—besides get out of the OJ pool—was be with him and let him protect her.
Pandora sighed, rolling her eyes, and opened a portal into Serbia. She grabbed Juntto and pulled him toward it. “Let’s leave these two gross lovebirds in their own dimension.”
They stepped through and let the portal close, leaving Katie behind. Pandora’s aim had become pretty good. They came out just a hundred feet from the wreckage. It was blazing and smoking, and there were small pieces al
l over the place. They steadied themselves and walked through, looking for any sign of life.
Pandora picked up the headrest of a chair with what seemed to be a part of a hairy scalp burned into it. “I don’t know if anyone could have survived this, but if they did, they aren’t here anymore.”
Juntto’s eyes narrowed, looking at tracks leading away from the blaze. “He made it, all right. The question is, what will his next move be?”
Back in the UK, things took on a rushed tone. Powell pulled his suitcase from his closet and threw it on his bed, shoving balled-up clothes in. He was going to escape; he wasn’t going down for what had happened. He had done what they wanted him to do—for money, but still. How was he supposed to know they hadn’t had the proper permission?
A knock on the door echoed through his condo. He groaned, shutting and latching his suitcase. Hurrying over, he looked through the peephole to see his dominatrix standing there with bright red lipstick on her pursed lips. For a moment, he thought about just one more time, but he wasn’t sure he would have that time to spare. He unlocked the door and opened it as he walked away. “I appreciate you checking in, but I don’t have time to play today.”
“I don’t know about that. I think you’ll have plenty of time in prison,” a man’s voice said.
Powell froze and turned around slowly, finding his domme standing there with four military men in full uniform. He swallowed hard, staring at them, unsure of exactly what to do. However, he didn’t really need to think, since the RAF was there to take him in. Two of the guys approached with their hands on their guns, but Powell didn’t resist. He put his hands up and allowed them to search and then cuff him.
One of the other guys walked up and smirked. “You are under arrest, by the authority of the RAF. If you want counsel, you may ask for one. You have the right to remain silent, and anything you say can be used against you in a court of law. I don’t think you’ll be needing that suitcase. We have an outfit laid out for you.”
His domme, her arms crossed and a smile on her face, gave him a wink. “Looks like you’ve been a very bad boy.”
General Brushwood plopped down in his office chair, splashing bourbon on his pants. “Goddamn it! Fucking shit. I can’t catch a damn break.”
He swiped at the wet spots and shrugged, taking a long sip. He was drinking for two reasons: his guilt for shooting down the plane, and in celebration of catching Powell. He was a small fish, though; just some guy hired to pull off the deal. Now what they needed to do was catch the whole school of sharks and show them exactly what kind of punishment awaited those who put the entire world at risk.
15
Katie beat her wings hard, giving herself a boost high above the Serbian landscape. Pandora flew beside her, looking around for any sign of Legion and his army. Brock and Juntto were following them on land and Juntto had grown to twelve feet, putting Brock on his shoulders so they could not fall too far behind the girls. They too had their eyes peeled for any sign or evidence that Legion had come that way. Things were starting to get dreary, everyone depressed by the thought of the Leviathan building a new army of followers.
Pandora glanced at Katie, who was staring to the left, combing the tree line of a small patch of woods. “You okay?”
Katie looked at her and nodded. “I’m fine. I’m not happy that we had to kill all those people, but we figured there was no way we could let them get on the ground and mobilize quickly. We may not have stopped Legion, but we have to have slowed him down to some extent. There were a lot of bodies—and ashes of bodies—at the crash scene.”
Pandora looked to her right and flipped her feet down. Katie glanced over her shoulder and swerved around, flying up next to her. “What are you doing?”
Pandora pursed her lips. “Looks like it didn’t slow him down too much.”
She pointed, and Katie followed her finger. In the distance, they could see a huge mass of people moving across the countryside. Katie narrowed her eyes. “They are headed straight for Romania.”
Pandora nodded. “That they are, and by the looks of it, the Legion army has grown exponentially. They must be picking up Serbs as they go.”
Someone whistled below them, and they glanced down to see Juntto setting Brock on the ground. As Pandora and Katie descended, Pandora clicked her tongue. “Juntto is faster than I thought he would be, especially carrying a grown man on his shoulder.”
They landed, and Katie nodded in the direction of the army. “There is a huge group right over that hill, and they are heading for Romania. I think we need to figure out where Legion is and come up with a targeting plan for them.”
Brock nodded. “What the hell is in Romania that Legion wants?”
Pandora shook her head. “Not wants, but needs. Legion’s whole MO is to build his army as fast and large as possible, eventually bringing everyone into it. Once that is done, he can rule whatever he wants. But he is a scavenger, and always has been. Romania has something that not everyone has.”
Katie tilted her head back. “Ohhhh—the fort. The first one Korbin built, and the one that has the biggest group of Damned soldiers because they’ve been recruiting since Korbin moved on. They want the Damned for their army. They want the humans with the most strength and power, and those are the ones with a smidgen of hell inside them.”
Brock groaned. “Romania was where we started. He built that fort to keep demons out, and this is the second one to attack it.”
Pandora cracked her neck and her knuckles. “Legion doesn’t give a shit if the town is already devastated. He cares about what he can get from it. There will be a lot of compassion and caring there at this point. The attack was very recent, and a very sensitive topic for the people. These Damned are built for this, selected carefully from those who applied.”
“And Legion wants the ones that are the strongest. He doesn’t want the regular humans when he can have those with superhuman powers, and that means the Damned,” Katie replied.
Brock put his gun in its holster. “Look, I know all of you want to roll in and take them out before they can do more damage, but we are setting ourselves up for disaster. It is not a good idea for any of us to engage Legion’s army. They are far too strong, especially with Legion in their ranks. They have nothing to fear, and nothing to lose. Legion can assimilate any of us with a few words.”
Katie groaned. “There has to be some way around this. Obviously, he was awake at some other point in history, but he didn’t kill off the human race or turn us all into zombies. There isn’t a creature alive that doesn’t have a weak spot somewhere. I will not be forced to be some mindless drone.”
“Remember what Korbin said,” Brock replied. “They don’t force you to join. There is no pushing or bullying. Whatever Legion does to people instantly makes them want to join. They want to be in what they feel is their family. It’s apparently a no-brainer, and you cannot turn away from them.”
Pandora snickered. “Man, I wish I had that power over men. There would be dicks flying everywhere. I could give them as gifts. You get a dick, and you get a dick.”
Katie turned to Pandora with a deadpan look. “Could you maybe try to contribute to the discussion?”
Pandora rolled her eyes. “Fine. I actually have an idea. It definitely has the potential to work, but it also has the potential to be a really bad idea.”
“Korbin,” one of the young officers said, nodding as he passed.
Korbin nodded back, continuing down the corridor in a US Army shirt and a pair of PT shorts. He didn’t have any of his stuff with him, and his pack had been abandoned in the rush to get him away from Legion. When he finally had felt well enough to move, the army had sent a convoy out to pick him up and drive him over to the US Army base nearby for the time being. They had all been really nice, but he was starting to get antsy.
He made his way back to his room and closed the door, letting out a sigh. It had been a long time since he had slept on a military bed with bad springs and scratchy blanke
ts, but it was better than cuddling up to Legion. He sat down on the bed and picked up the phone, dialing out to the US. His line was secure since he talked to the general as well as the mercenary base, so he wasn’t worried about it.
“Hello?” Stephanie’s voice was like music to his ears.
“Hey, beautiful,” he replied.
He could hear her let out a long sigh. The general had kept her up to speed on what was going on, but it was the first time he had gotten to talk to her. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”
Stephanie scoffed. “Like I could sleep with everything going on. I have been dying to hear how you are doing. I’m assuming you made it to the base safely?”
Korbin ran his finger over the bubbled paint on the bedside table. “I did. Then I saw the doctor, and I just got back to my room. He said everything looked good. My demon handled the gunshot wounds, and there were no other side effects that he could see.”
“Good,” she said with relief. “I still don’t understand what you were thinking, busting into the group like that with no idea what they were capable of.”
Korbin chuckled. “You would have done the same thing—made sure the civilians were okay. Well, military and civilians.”
Stephanie huffed. “Yes, well, do as I say, not as I do.”
Korbin laughed. “Yes, ma’am. I actually called to tell you something.”
“What’s that?” she asked in a softer tone.
Korbin leaned back against the wall. “When it all happened and Legion got me, for a minute there I wasn’t Korbin anymore. My only thoughts were on the Legion. But that only lasted for a minute. When I came back to my old self again, I realized how much I love and miss you. I yearn to be near you. When I got back from the doctor and was by myself for the first time in years, I just needed to hear your voice.”