The New Resistance (The NEW Trilogy Book 1)

by Vee Bosse

  The scene shifts to another time in the past. The Australian beach was nearly empty, except for four bodies that remained lifeless in the sand. The ships of the Eastern Latitude had long since departed with Westin Anderson and his petrified allies, and Dylan Rook was the one that had suddenly teleported to the beach to check on his ally that had just helped him get revenge on Politek.

  “It’s been forever, and yet you haven’t responded, Revenant. What’s,” The reality of the scene sunk in once he got a decent look at it: his friend had been killed by one of the rebels that had seemingly been quashed the previous day. A look of disappointed frustration came over his face, as his shock took full effect. He slowly grabbed and crumpled up his fedora, letting his Jigsaw Staff cane fall clumsily to the sand. He was surprised when he realized that tears were rolling down his face. “I’m...crying?”

  The scene shifts again to another time in the past. “Dylan, tell me what you think! Julius just delivered these to me. I think I will keep them by my side as a trophy from this world’s falling past. Haha,” Dylan had just walked into Jayce’s private quarters, and was now staring at two robotic figures standing lifeless and obedient before him.

  “Revenant, along with this asinine stalwart that had the nerve to create these annoying tin robots, Mary Hubris!” Julius Lengstein was sitting in a chair to their side, and his enormous glasses looked to be ready to fall off his face while he whittled away on his tablet device. “I scored a massive achievement when one of her inferior robots stumbled into the Texas city that Jayce gave me. After these two were killed by those overpowered rebels, she apparently used her Assimilation Sequence to reanimate them. Blue Misty...she was quite saddened when I took control of her functionality, and turned those other robot pawns into my own chess pieces.”

  Dylan remained expressionless as his eyes remained locked on the android shells that were once Felix Revenant and Mary Hubris. “Jayce requested these two trophies personally, but the other chess pieces that I now have in my power will suffice against the scrubs that might wander into San Antonio...gyak!” Jayce admired the creepily staring androids that acted as the lifeless shells of ones he had formerly despised.

  “I might take them with me to Tokyo. Ha...I’d laugh my ass off. Just wait until I appear in front of those Eastern Latitude pricks, and the rebels that just killed these two. Also, Dylan, remind me to summon the meteor while I’m enjoying myself.” Jayce could no longer hold his snickering back, as he burst into an all-out laughter.

  Dylan had decided to cease his silent stare, as he closed his eyes to ask one of the two people in the room that he despised a favor. “Lengstein, I need to ask Revenant a question. Are you able to salvage his original personality?” The nerd scoffed, offended at the idea of not being able to complete such a task.

  “Don’t be ridiculous, you mysterious fiend. Of course, an android like this still possesses its original brain. Allow me to execute a few commands,” Julius went hard at work, pressing buttons on his tablet device. “See, there it is! Ask away.”

  Jayce had become curious as to what Dylan wanted to ask him, and he stared intently to see what it might be. Revenant’s eyes suddenly lit up, and his head moved around like any normal human’s would. “How...how long have I been gone? Why won’t my body move, Dylan?” Julius adjusted his glasses, feeling obliged to answer his question.

  “I have suppressed your nervous system functions, and you are free to speak and think on your own, but I cannot allow anything further, *hiccup*”

  Dylan kept his eyes closed, and for some reason, he was simply not able to open them. ‘Abomination’ was the word that kept bombing his inner conscious, as the memory of his only ally was now becoming fodder for who he would consider a runty, rat-faced nerd, and a pissant, piece of shit tyrant.

  “I asked that you be brought back so that I could ask you a question. Revenant, please tell me, which one of them killed you?”

  Jayce raised his eyebrow, feeling perplexed as to why Dylan would even bother asking that kind of question. “It was...that kid who was able to use Opal Death Energy. Wasn’t his name...Westin Anderson?” Dylan nodded, then proceeded to rocket his Jigsaw Staff into Revenant’s android face. It was a furious impact that sent his robotic body flying into hundreds of pieces, leaving Julius and Jayce to stand up in sudden confusion.

  “You...you damned ruffian! How dare you scrap my pawns in such a manner! I’ll,” Dylan cut off Julius’ shouts by retracting his staff, and doing the exact same thing to the lifeless android that was Mary Hubris.

  “Jayce, you surely won’t let this barbarian get away with this!” Dylan retracted his staff into cane form, feeling relieved that he was able to honor Revenant’s memory by ending his sudden humiliation. He could care less about Mary Hubris, yet he wanted to be thorough to avoid blowing his cover.

  “I’ll have to keep an eye on Westin Anderson then. Essentially, he’s the one we should look out for.” Jayce crossed his arms in confused disappointment, staring at the mess of sparking electronics that had become his new office décor. “I admire your passion against the Western Latitude, Dylan. That’s why I made you my #4 agent. But, I really wanted to humiliate those two, and make an impression on the rebels to help them see our way. I wouldn’t mind having more reliable members of the Shadow Project, especially that one android that Julius said killed Hubris.”

  Julius stared at Dylan in complete anger, furious that Dylan would not be meeting his end that day. “Julius, go back to San Antonio and tune up those other androids that Blue Misty unknowingly brought to you. Dylan and I will now head to Tokyo, and see how we can use those rebels to our advantage. The Eastern Latitude’s Xinling is beginning his assault on California, so now is the perfect time. Let’s begin,” Jayce said, signaling that he and Dylan would take their leave.

  Dylan followed behind Jayce, preparing to teleport them both to Tokyo to implement the next step in his plan of world domination. Julius angrily summoned a few servant robots to clean up the mess while they made their exit. Dylan would follow his plan, at least for the time being. He would stay close to Jayce, and wait for the best moment to strike.

  He remembered what he had thought on that hovership those years ago. He remembered that uneasy feeling, and how it told him that maybe, just maybe, he couldn’t kill Jayce Wolfgain, at least alone. But that feeling had vanished on that beach. Revenant was dead. What he felt now was very simple: it would no longer be like it had been with Adel Bain, but, even alone, he would stop at nothing to find the right opportunity, at the right time. Those words continued to repeat in his head, the same way that they did back on that hovership: ‘Jayce Wolfgain must die’.

  The scene shifts to the present time as Dylan overlooks the site of Derek’s execution. He had tested Derek Maxwell, who had failed miserably in Dylan’s eyes. For what reason Dylan chose to approach him as his group made their way to Washington, he himself wasn’t quite sure of. Perhaps he felt that as the rebels’ senior, he would fill the role of an observant senpai. He had been treading deadly waters throughout his whole life, and he wasn’t afraid to kill whoever would eventually fall to those who would be less sympathetic than he was.

  Perhaps, he was also protective of the spark that he had ignited when he gave Christian the forbidden DNA. He recalled how he had infiltrated Haven Island himself once Jayce’s hijacked ship reached its destination, managing to successfully plant the serum in Derek’s chow before the Western Latitude elites found them out. He recalled that it was the first time that he went along with Jayce’s plans to earn his blind trust, but the only thing that he wasn’t expecting is that Christian and the others would also be able to escape because of their actions.

  The mysterious man picked up his weaponized black cane once again, and prepared to leap away from the place where so many people had just lost their lives. He considered the deaths of Sarge, Jordan, and Woolfing to be mercy killings, yet Derek’s death was something that he considered to be necessary in every possible w
ay. The only thing left for him to do was to resume waiting for the perfect opportunity to kill Jayce Wolfgain. Now, there was very little standing in Dylan’s way, since Christian and his friends would surely give him the opening that he had always needed.

  But suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw an unusual sight appear from out of nowhere as a hole in the time-space continuum seemed to rip open in front of him. “It really is a small world.”

  Christian Rivers had appeared before him, straight out of Hayne’s dimensional rift. Dylan recognized all of their faces as he turned to the side, making sure to give the new arrivals a cold shoulder in silence. Following behind Christian and Haynes were none other than Winkle and Andrea in tow.

  “Dylan Rook!” Winkle shouted, pointing her finger at their reunited foe. “We never knew where you went after Australia! But, we owe you big payback for what you did to Dee and Dane, so hurry and tell us if you’ve seen Derek and his group, or we won’t hold back!!”

  “Winkle, look behind him.” Haynes grabbed Winkle’s shoulder that happened to be equivalent to his elbow in height. “We’ve lost people...I took these three to Texas after I showed them where I buried Dr. Jassa, and we stumbled upon all of them...but now, this!? You massacred Derek and his group, didn’t you!!?” Haynes asked, clenching his fists in anger while his other three comrades gritted their teeth at the sight of Derek and his friends having been utterly massacred. Dre suddenly took the cigarette out of her mouth, and threw it to the dirt below in angry silence.

  “I killed Derek...although I simply put the other three out of their miseries after your co-leader had his way with them. They died like dogs.” At Dylan’s words, Haynes calmly turned around as he tapped on his portal with Portfold to close it off behind them.

  “I don’t feel that I’m ready to believe your story, Rook. Yet, you just admitted to killing Derek with full intentions. I wonder how that would benefit you going up against us. Perhaps that wasn’t a lie, and maybe Derek did turn on his friends for some reason. Can you possibly tell us why?”

  Haynes was as spot on as he usually was, but he turned to look intently at Dylan’s hidden eyes as Christian fell to his knees, staring at the ground in a state of trembling. Dylan stalled for a moment while Haynes carefully dropped Jassa’s medical bag to the ground, along with Dane’s Desert Eagle pistols and Kasper’s shades that they had found next to the bodies of Isaac, Laran, and Milli.

  “I didn’t ask that you be brought here, but since you are, I have just one question,” Winkle scratched her head in confusion, while Dre and Haynes continued staring at Dylan in focused silence.

  “Huh? But, we just asked the question!” Winkle shouted in response to Dylan’s words.

  “Where is Westin Anderson?” Haynes took a firm hold on his sword, not feeling obliged to answer the question.

  “I wonder, why you want to know such a thing? Perhaps, because he was the one who was able to kill your partner, Revenant, after you two decimated us. A personal vendetta...I didn’t know you were the type, Rook.” Winkle suddenly spoke up before Haynes had a chance to cut her off.

  “I sent my fire dragon to go get him, now that he’s just finished taking out the last of the easterners in California.” Haynes adjusted his glasses in frustration.

  “Winkle. That’s need-to-know information.”

  Dylan turned around while Christian raised his head in silent anger, slowly losing his ability to control the rage that come from the feeling of losing so many friends. “Very good effort, just as Jayce Wolfgain would want. Ha....hahaha!! Holy shit...you all,” Suddenly, everyone’s eyes went wide with the sudden and unexpected show of emotion from Dylan. “Let me ask you all another question! What exactly is your plan to kill Jayce?! Are you going to burst through his door, guns blazing! Exactly, old western shoot-em-up style! Yes, very good idea, YOU STUPID FUCKS!!!”

  Christian stood up, suddenly looking perplexed at the massive change in demeanor from their enemy. Dylan suddenly said, “Wow, I guess I am still young at heart. That’s not like me. Okay, I will address the people that I have killed up until now. Your two friends back on that beach and these three here...in fact, the number of people in your group has shrunk by roughly, a third, hasn’t it? This is called survival of the fittest...they were not fit to go against the people that they were trying to take down. That’s why, it is now just you four and Westin.

  It was with little warning that Dylan clasped his Jigsaw Staff between the palms of both of his hands, getting ready to use his teleportation technique to flee the scene in a flash. Dre screamed in sudden fury, “Stay here, you piece of shit!” Haynes seemed to be prepared for this in advance, as he pointed his sword at Dylan with no time to spare.

  “Activate, Dense Fog Technique!!” The dimensional wielder’s aura suddenly scattered throughout the bloody battlefield, surrounding Dylan before his staff could fold together for a disappearing act. “I was developing this for a while after we saw how well you can teleport. It bogs down the dimensional space that makes this area up, ensuring that no one within a mile of this place can teleport in or out. You’re stuck with us.” Indeed, Dylan’s staff had completely shrunk between his hands, and he was terribly shocked to see that his teleportation had been completely countered by Haynes. He snapped it back into its walking cane form, now keeping a tight bottle on his emotions, as he normally did.

  He placed the staff in front of him against the dirt ground, leaning on it like he was the host of an elegant dinner party. “I would have rather let you exert yourselves against Jayce and his top three agents. If I gave you all a pass, and simply told you where Jayce’s headquarters were, I wonder if you all would take it and just leave here?” Haynes was suddenly hit with a perplexed look, as he scratched his head and looked around at his friends.

  “What...what do you mean? You are Jayce’s right-hand man, are you not?” Dylan suddenly allowed a carefree smile to come over his face.

  “What or who I am...that doesn’t matter in the end. Just take the pass I am giving you, and kill the one truly responsible for your friends’ deaths. Hurry along now, time is short.” Christian, Winkle, and Haynes were speechless, as they all looked at each other to see what the consensus was amongst them.

  “Hypocrite.” It was the only word that came out of Andrea’s lips, as she lunged forward for a massive Psych Energy punch. Dylan easily dodged it though, as Dre’s punch created a crater where he had been standing a moment ago. Resolve hit the other three rebels once again, realizing that Dre possessed the silent voice of reason among them in that instance.

  “Yeah, right. We’ve lost too many friends...to just let everything go.” Christian had stood up, and stepped forward with a firm and focused look on his face. “Splitting up to fight all of you means that I wasn’t able to protect all of our friends that died, but, we were able to save countless numbers of innocent people! Not only from the Eastern Latitude, but from your group! But, the last of us are together now, and we won’t be dying so easily. We will make sure that their deaths meant something! WE WILL BEAT YOU!!!”

  Christian’s words brought life back into their eyes once again, as Dre stood aloft to charge her Psych abilities to the fullest extent. Dylan adjusted his tie, regaining his footing in a way that ensured his back remained turned to his opponents. “Christian Rivers, admirable words. I have made my decision: I will test your ability to kill Jayce Wolfgain, right here and now. Don’t falter, or you won’t get the chance to regret it.”

  The rebel leader notched his head in confusion at Dylan’s words, while Haynes suddenly stabbed himself with his own word; he disappeared from Christian’s sight in a flash. “Portfold doesn’t harm me, but I’ve activated my own teleporting ability to match yours. Don’t turn your back to us!” Haynes reappeared directly in from of Dylan, shooting him a wicked smile as he swung his sword directly at his opponent’s head. It was an equally-wicked block, as Dylan calmly brought his Jigsaw Staff up to halt Haynes’ sword with ease. “Remember that
I said you can’t teleport, but I never said that I couldn’t!”

  Dylan thrusted his cane forward, forcing Haynes to gain stable footing as a sword lock had brought them both to a standstill. “My Jigsaw Staff is able to take on any shape that I will it to, which means that I can also change its density at will.” As hard as Haynes tried, he was not able to pierce through the staff as Dylan smiled confidently. “And another thing...I am honestly not interested in any one of you, other than Christian. I won’t hesitate to end your lives in an instant.”

  Haynes was not intimidated from Dylan’s bold words, yet he found himself in trouble when Jigsaw Staff was transformed into a flailed rod, allowing Dylan to knock Portfold away. Haynes made sure to leap backwards, managing to catch his sword in mid-air. “Too slow!” Dylan’s staff retracted back into its cane form, and it instantly began to extend towards Haynes as he remained in the air.

  “Enough!” Dre shot a Psych Bullet at Dylan, which forced him to halt his staff’s extension towards Haynes so that he could leap out of the crossfire. “After having to kill that girl in New York, and the flurry of friends that we have lost, don’t think that we will fight fair,” Dre declared as she gathered a massive amount of glowing Psych Energy in her palms while Dylan couldn’t help but smile in earnest.

  “Yes, survival of the fittest in groups. You are able to use Psych Energy in the same way that I can. Shall we see who is stronger in that category?” Dylan suddenly slammed his staff to the ground, extending his other arm toward his opponents for a show of force. All four of them found themselves being forced to the ground as his immensely powerful Psych powers blanketed the area like napalm. Dre’s eyes grew wide in disbelief, as their bodies were slammed to the ground from the invisible wall that had descended down on top of them. “Andrea Sweet, strengthen your ability to my level, or I am crushing all of you to death!! Do it, NOW!!!”