HOPE BRINGERS (Strong superhero women) (Mystical Slayers Book 2)

by Michael W. Huard

  Purcell announced, "Today, soldiers, we will fly out as one. And in each and every location that this blasphemous flag has been erected, we will seek and destroy every single one. Our bombs have been loaded into the space flyers and are ready to be released on the scum of our country. Today is a day when justice will be served."

  His eyes glinted in the morning sun as he scanned the robotic faces of his army with great pride.

  "Are you with me?" he yelled. "ARE YOU WITH ME?" he yelled even louder. "ARE…YOU…WITH…ME?"

  The soldiers called out in unison, "Yes, sir!"

  Purcell and his army began boarding their spacecrafts, knowing there would be no taking of prisoners today, only outright destruction. This time, Purcell's soldiers would take to the ground after a few friendly warning bombs had been dropped. Intimidation would be his order of business. These ridiculous flags would be obliterated if it was the last thing he did in his reign as president.

  During Purcell's mission of search and destroy, all destinations waving such flags were hit and blasted to the ground. Soldiers dropped from the sky to search the wreckage and rubble. Yes, people did die, but not all that many; not because they didn't want to kill, but because their target locations were sparsely populated.

  Chapter Forty- Four

  The reprimanding of the young Slayer girls for digging around in places that they shouldn't be, did make them think twice about getting into mischief, but only for so long.

  They now had the newbie girl, the Native American, that had mysteriously appeared awhile back, and she was fun to mess around with.

  Today, some of the girls again entered the lab that was out of bounds. Assuring Naiera it was safe to peek inside, Sun and Karma led the young girl over to the storage units for the Starigen 6280.

  Karma explained, "This is what we've been taking since we got involved in the sisterhood. It's a special, powerful injection that makes us stronger, faster, smarter, and it also makes you very good-looking. Go ahead, open the fridge and see."

  Naiera looked apprehensive, so Sun emphasized the seriousness of the drug. "This is only given to the most elite people in the sisterhood, so you have to realize it's very costly and rare these days. You may think you've been taking the true formula, but you've probably been getting little, if any of the good stuff."

  Naiera cautiously opened the door and looked inside.

  "Whatever you do," Karma warned, "don't take any of the pinkish red syringes over there." She pointed to a separate refrigerator. "That's the stuff that hasn't been tested enough. It adjusts your cells and does weird stuff to you. But if you are daring enough, we won't say anything if you want to go over there and try some."

  Sun elbowed Karma in the arm, scolding her. "Listen, that stuff is not to be meddled with."

  Karma, however, hadn't got the message. "I say we all try some. I dare you both to do it, or are you chickens?"

  The three girls looked at one another as Karma added with a wink, "It will be our little secret!"

  Naiera folded her arms over her chest. "I'm not afraid. I'll do it."

  Sun, despite her warnings, was out voted. In the end, the pressure got to her so she agreed to go along with their dare. The three girls proceeded to the forbidden fridge.

  Having agreed to try just a small amount, each girl helped another to shoot up some of the new drug. They all giggled and felt like they were doing something crazy and fun.

  Little did they know that the injections had just sparked a change in their bodies; a change that would come about much sooner than they could've ever imagined.

  Karma first, closely followed by Sun and Naiera, started to feel lightheaded and dizzy. Thinking a bit of fresh air would help, they left the lab and made their way back outside, laughing and joking all the while.

  Sun felt amped up. "Let's have a little fight. Come on!" she said, running over to the fighting pit. The other two followed, only to then realize that Gavin had appeared and seemingly tagged onto the group, asking them what they were up to.

  The girls decided to have a little competition, adding the boy into the mix of course.

  They matched it up as Gavin against Sun, and Karma against Naiera. The winners of each fight, they decided, would go at it in a final for the title of champion.

  Sun and Gavin was a good match right off the bat. They circled each other and both threw great kicks and punches yet deflected or slid out of the way of most. Eventually, they grabbed one another and began to pummel, trying to get a better position in order to take the other down to the ground.

  Sun ducked away from Gavin, spun around him and leaped on his back before trying to choke him.

  Gavin tipped to the side, sending them both to the dirt and causing Sun to lose her grip from around his neck. The athletic Gavin then twisted his way out of Sun's grip and climbed up on top of her. Once in place, he grabbed one of Sun's arms with one hand and one of her legs with the other before placing his legs over Sun's shoulders and crossing his feet behind her neck.

  This was a type of spider web hold they had worked on with the older sisters. Sun's arm was being pressured upward to a point where she had no choice but to give up.

  Naiera and Karma were next. The raven-haired Asian girl went straight in at the brown-haired Indian with a series of roundhouse kicks, most of which were deflected, though one barreled right into Naiera's stomach. The impact did no damage, but she was able to grab Karma's attacking leg and twist her around to throw her off to the left.

  Karma smiled at her new sister. "Nice move!"

  The Native American girl stormed toward her opponent but was kicked in the stomach and pushed back, a move that gave Karma a chance to jump up in the air and punch her opponent in the face.

  You'd figure she would be done at that point, but the Indian girl was tougher than the rest of them had realized. With her nose bleeding heavily, she came back hard, placing one hand on the ground and wheeling about in a spinning hook kick that clocked Karma in the head.

  Naiera then screamed a war cry as she tackled a dazed Karma.

  Yet Karma was as tough and crafty as any kid here, and as they hit the ground, she turned into the fall and came up on top of her opponent.

  She placed her left arm under her Naiera's neck and her right arm across her throat, thus making the Indian girl tap out in surrender.

  Now it was Karma versus Gavin in the final fight.

  The two circled one another for a while, grinning and taunting each other while pulling funny faces in an attempt to distract their opponent. Gavin started with a couple of jabs, mostly just fakes that Karma managed to stay well away from while kicking out and dropping low. They again circled about, throwing a few shots here and there, waiting for the other to make a mistake. Then, Gavin leaped on Karma and pulled her to the dirt.

  Both of them wrestled around, spinning and rolling about as they fought for superior position on the ground.

  The strong boy positioned himself above Karma at her side and slapped at her face. Karma tried to block his swipes, but then she decided to grab Gavin and hold him down by wrapping both her arms about the young man's body.

  With both finalists unable to move due to the other's holds on them, nothing much happened for close to a full minute.

  Sun finally broke it up. She noticed the two of them seemed way too content just hugging one another down there.

  It was getting late and already dark, and the noise they were making was sure to rouse the annoyance of everyone else at the homestead. Sun suggested they call it a draw and for all of them to go night swimming instead.

  As they turned to head off for their swim, Tyne and D-Marge emerged from a nearby building and immediately started marching after them. D-Marge called out, "Where do you all think you're going?"

  Gavin and the girls turned and saw the pair behind them. Karma called back, "You'll have to keep up with us to find out."

  With that, the four youngsters in training ran
off, laughing, giggling, and shoving one another about as they made their way down to the sisterhood's main watering hole.

  Tyne and D-Marge followed them.

  As soon as they arrived at the edge of the pond, the youngsters started to strip off in preparation for their swim. Suddenly, Sun spotted a shadow move in the moonlight. "Guys…something is out here. Look!"

  As the weird looking thing crawled out of the pond on the opposite side to them, Karma whispered, "It's a beast…some sort of mutated dog maybe?"

  Squinting through the darkness, they all studied the creature and came to the conclusion that it was some sort of weird sheep, just a single sheep, yet it was ragged and discolored. Clearly not one for hanging around, it quickly shook itself off and bolted away.

  They all soon found out why—something was chasing it.

  Crouched low and crawling out before them were a family of menacing looking hunters. Arriving just in time to see the imminent danger, Tyne yelled out, "Wolverines! Everybody, behind me…quickly."

  "Skunk bears," Sun screamed out as D-Marge ushered the group together and readied them to fight. Standing beside them, was the powerful Tyne Gem.

  The stocky little creatures with beady red eyes, spun around to find out what all the commotion was about. Seeing this tasty looking group of people, the sheep suddenly seemed less attractive and not worth the chase. They quickly began to close in on their new-found prey.

  Tyne Gem was always armed, thank God. She had a trusty laser pistol in her leg holster, and that sucker was out in a flash. The wolverines circled them and would be likely to attack from various angles. Tyne counted eight in total and immediately began to shoot as many as possible before they got too close.

  D-Marge was not just a babysitter, not a chance; she was a tough sucker too. She pulled out two knives and readied herself to protect the younger ones at all costs.

  As one of the demented beasts leaped toward her legs, she jammed both blades deep into its chest.

  Sun drove her foot into the face of an oncoming skunk bear, while Karma did the same to another. Gavin had become so excited at the reality of facing such an attack that he'd already ran over to a tree and snapped off a large branch to use as a weapon. One of the larger wolverines raced toward him, but he spun his new weapon about and cranked it several times in the skull. Fighting for its life, the wolverine bit a chunk out of Gavin's leg, causing a decent wound.

  Sun, seeing Gavin's struggles, rushed to his aid and punched the stinking beast right in the mouth. Her powerful blow was enough to finish it off.

  More shots from Tyne followed, and a few of the animals ran off to seek shelter in the darkness of the woods. However, one remained on the newer girl, Naiera.

  Everyone quickly noticed she didn't have a weapon as the creature bowled into her and knocked her to the ground. Sitting on top of her, the wolverine's drooling jaws snapped wildly at Naiera's face as it prepared to take a bite. It didn't know who it was dealing with!

  Summoning all her energy, Naiera bridged her body and rolled over, coming up on top of the beast. She then slid a pin from her hair and started ramming it into the wolverine's cheek over and over. Fueled by pain and fury, the beast fought its way free and dove right back in for a bite of her thigh.

  But, as it flew through the air at her, she raised her left foot and slammed her heel down in an axe-kick motion that came crashing down on top of the animal's head. Stunned, it dropped down to the ground at her feet. The youngster, wanting to finish off the job, then lifted her weight off the ground and came down with the full force of her elbow, which drove straight through the creature's skull.

  Spurting blood and slithers of brain matter painted the entire area red. Naiera simply wiped the blood from her face and turned back to face her new family, who promptly applauded her hard-earned victory.

  D-Marge and Tyne gathered everyone together and led them back home.

  It was a scary event, though the kids were pretty pumped after such a crazy encounter. Tyne scolded them as they made their way back. "There's really nothing to laugh about. Any one of you could've been killed!"

  The youngsters bowed their heads in shame. Then she got them all wired up again by saying, "Though, I do have to admit, you little shits kicked some serious ass out there."

  Gavin and the girls laughed, giggled, and pushed each other all the way back to the compound. Upon arrival, D- Marge escorted the injured parties to the medical room to fix all the bites and claw marks.

  D-Marge had noticed that Gavin and Karma seemed to be hanging closer to one another. It appeared the boy had made his choice.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Today was yet another lesson for Trevor, taught by Omagus. The Corporation was busy dealing with the golden tickets, so the two were making the most of their time together.

  As they walked down a hall heading to a private chamber, the boy asked, "Do you not miss going out onto the battlefield and fighting in the war?"

  Omagus looked to the child, his green eyes studying the boy's solid facial features. "Sometimes I do, but the new president likes to use me more as an intelligence provider these days. He gets the combat strength he so desires from his favorite soldier Galax."

  Trevor smiled. "Yes, he is very talented. He knows everything about combat and how we have to fight to make this country better, to make people understand what true leadership is."

  Omagus knew Galax was the chosen one. Now was not the time to change the boy's thoughts on the future. He'd leave that for another day.

  Omagus had initially planned to teach math and the various languages of life, but then he changed his mind and instead explained something that Trevor had never heard before.

  "Humans were born with an ego that cannot be fully controlled. They always have an internal struggle for power. It's only a matter of time before humans will cease to exist."

  Trevor was taken aback by these harsh words.

  "I don't know what you mean," he replied to his instructor. The pair had settled side by side in a study area next to an old fireplace.

  The super smart bot knew that robots were simply supposed to enhance the human experience, but he had come to realize over the years that robots would eventually supersede man.

  He paused for a moment and gazed at the child with a serious expression. "Man is always looking to fight man; it's like a never-ending competition. Unless humans learn to work side by side, they will continue to falter and Earth will become a barren wasteland."

  The boy was puzzled. Usually, he would hear good things about the coming future, but Omagus' very different explanation came across in an eerie sort of way. One of his teachers was not so much like the other. Perhaps these visions he continued to have really did mean something after all. He felt frightened; something was not right.

  He wanted all the answers in one go. Trevor had been told his destiny was to be great, yet he wondered if such a destiny was all wrong.

  He immediately changed the subject and asked the super bot what his math lesson was going to be about. Omagus laid out a map of Earth on a table and detailed the latest possibility of a massive asteroid striking the East Coast. The math was easy enough to work with, so Omagus taught Trevor the numbers as they went along. Both came to the conclusion that the odds of the asteroid hitting their New York City location, was one in fifty billion.

  After math, Omagus went on to teach languages. He taught the boy that the robotic language was not unlike the English one. Every word had a simple meaning, but some words meant the same thing. As they went over the various terms of the robotic tongue, Trevor suddenly announced that he already knew of one word in robot language; it was the word "Q-Jin." Omagus hesitated, wondering where the child learned of such a word.

  He then asked, "And what do you think that particular word means?"

  Trevor paused to consider the answer. "I think it means 'resistance fighters,' some sort of group of people that fight against the bad thin
gs in America. Is that right?"

  Omagus nodded his head, once again thinking of Zaey.

  At that moment, Trevor's mind was blasted with a rush of confused memories. Were they memories or just dreams? His past life, the life before here, before now, flickered in his mind's eye like the pieces of a huge puzzle he was yet to put together. Then, it hit him like a sonic boom through his brain. His name maybe wasn't Trevor; he very well could be someone else.

  ***

  It would be a long flight home back to the vineyard. Raegan took to the back seats of the flyer alone; she felt like her brain was going to explode with all the new information. Feeling totally exhausted, it wasn't too long before she fell into a deep sleep.

  When she finally awoke, she found herself back home in the comfort of her own bed. She was surprised but happy to be home. She pulled the blanket covers tightly up to her chin, feeling their comfort as she snuggled her head back down into her pillow.

  Then, she felt someone beside her—the body of a human. Slowly turning her head to the side, she saw a curly-haired young boy asleep beside her. It seemed her son was back home, too.

  She placed her loving arms around him and cradled the boy close. She rubbed his head and enjoyed the beautiful moment they shared; a moment in time, a blessing from God.

  Then the boy opened his eyes and looked at her. "I miss you, Mom. I really miss you."

  Raegan couldn't understand why he was saying this when he was being held so close to her. Smiling, she leaned over to kiss him on the forehead, but her kiss landed on nothing but air. The boy was gone.

  As the plane hit the ground for a bumpy landing, Raegan opened her eyes. With tears rolling down her cheeks, she swallowed hard. He'd been so close this time, so real. She hurried to dry her eyes as she gathered her stuff together and exited the plane.

  ***

  Given that Trevor was still young, he hardly ever took a nap. He was reaching a point in his life where his energy levels were at an all-time high. He would often be found running about or learning new skills, and studying during the hours in between. Today, he'd studied until he could take no more. He was beat as he entered his private quarters in the Empire State Building. Sitting on his bed, his mind still whirring with a thousand things, he fell back and drifted off to sleep.