The Hade War

by Luke Carlisle

  Jessen stepped over the pile of laundry, knocked over a number of empty beer bottles and opened the fridge which contained three brands of hot sauce and nothing more. ‘Could I be any more of a cliche?’ he thought to himself. As he opened the microwave there was a knock on the door.

  “…the very thought that we could be taking a giant leap forward towards a more peaceful planet makes you glad to be living in this…”

  Jessen opened the door. A skinny man in his forties wearing head to toe denim stood looking at his phone.

  “Hey Gary. Looking good,” Jessen greeted.

  Gary didn’t answer. Jessen walked back into his kitchen area and took an envelope out of one of the cupboards.

  “…China, Iran, Iraq, France, The United Kingdom…”

  Jessen handed the envelope to Gary who was still looking at his phone. Jessen stared at him.

  “So-” started Jessen.“

  “All here?” interrupted Gary, finally looking up.

  “This months and the remainder of last month yeah. I may have taken some out of next months to pay last months though.”

  “Don’t you work at some fancy pants high roller restaurant or something, Hade? What’s the matter, tips not good enough?”

  “They don’t allow tips at the Fordway-“

  “Yeah too bad,” interrupted Gary again. “If next months isn’t all there you’ll be checking into that hotel permanently you hear?”

  “Well… actually if I couldn’t pay rent here I don’t think I could afford to permanently reside at the Fordway. That would actually be awes-“

  “Last warning, Hade,” Gary said turning and walking back down the hallway. Jessen closed the door.

  “…no more nukes, a world of dedicated nations contributing serious aid to poor countries and disarming…”

  Jessen walked back to his micro dinner, covered it in three types of hot sauce and carried it back to his bed.

  “…reporting live outside the Fordway Hotel in downtown New Belfast.”

  Reaching for the remote, Jessen changed the channel.

  “This Sunday you’ll wish you never set foot in this ring, wish you never laced up a pair of boots, wish you never watched wrestling as a kid, wish you were never born!” The crowd booed Ronan, the huge bald man standing in the middle of the NCW ring. A beautiful blonde woman in a business suit beside him took the microphone.

  “That belt belongs around a real mans waist! Although after Sunday I’ll probably have to punch a few extra holes in it due to the fact that it was designed to fit around your pencil thin body.”

  “Yeah, kick his ass Santos,” Jessen said in a lazy, unenthusiastic and monotone voice.

  Santos, the much smaller and masked luchador wrestler at the top of the runway pulled out a microphone of his own. “If they can make a championship belt big enough to fit around your lard ass waist it might throw off the rotation of the Earth.” The crowd cheered as the large wrestler in the ring climbed down and started running up the ramp.

  Without warning or a sound a blinding blue and white light flared up in Jessen Hade’s one room apartment. There was a noticeable and torturous lack of sound for several seconds as if he were in a vacuum. The white and blue flashes were too bright to look directly at but as quickly as it appeared it left again. Jessen uncovered his face, wiped his spilled curry from his chest and looked up.

  “Hade, you are hear by sentenced to death for your crimes against humanity, yet to be committed.”

  A tall, hulking man with slanted eyes stood over Jessen, an over-exaggerated looking gun in his hand.

  “The Earth shall never know the horror you created. The lives you extinguished shall live again. The world you destroyed shall be remade.”

  The man raised the strange gun up to Jessen’s face.

  “For years I have travelled through time to find you, Hade. Wearily I have searched for you and endlessly I have failed. Your filth will be rid of forever. The war shall not begin. The lives shall not be taken. Even if it brings the doom of my own kin, you end now. Do you wish to beg-“

  The man stopped mid sentence and looked down.

  “…Have you seriously just soiled yourself worm?!”

  Jessen became hysterical.

  “What the hell man?! Of course I have! Freakin big ass explosion and giant guy standing with a gun in my face, what the hell?! End of the Earth?! What the hell are you talking about man?! What the hell is that weird ass gun?! Have you customised that thing or something? It looks like something from a bad sci-fi movie! That was my dinner, asshole! And what the hell was that light?! Damn near blinded me! Who are you?! How did you even get here?! What is this?! How do you know my name?!”

  The giant stared into the eyes of the panicking Jessen Hade for a few moments and said nothing.

  “I mean seriously who does that?! And what the hell did I do?! I never did nothing! There’s nothing here for you to rob, moron; can’t you look around and see that?!”

  Eventually the giant lowered his gun. Staring further into the eyes of Jessen the man eventually bent down, grabbed him by the shirt and hauled him up off his bed. He stared at Jessen who said nothing, almost transfixed by the man’s gaze. For several seconds they were locked in eye contact. To Jessen it felt like he had fallen asleep for several hours and had woken again. Panicking, he started to kick the air, trying to loosen himself from the grip of the intruder. A bright spark jolted from Jessen’s hands which made the giant wince.

  “What the?!” Jessen panicked. “What did you do to me?!”

  Holding a struggling Jessen in the air with one arm the man reached down to his waist. Without looking away from Jessen’s eyes he pushed on something attached to his belt.

  “You’re coming with me.”

  “The hell with that! Where to?!”

  The same blue and white light began to surround them.

  “To the world that you created.”

  Then they were gone.

  Chapter 2

  “Burn victim… broken humerus… broken fibula… bowel cancer… kidney stone…haemorrhoids.”

  Marcus lay on his back as still as his body would let him. Twitching in agony every few moments as a fresh new pain would strike his body.

  “Broken nose… knife wound…”

  The roof top of South City Hospital, New Belfast was one of Marcus regular hang outs.

  “Ingrown toe nail. That smarts.”

  He laid his hands flat on the ground beside him as if trying to cling onto the roof, bracing himself.

  “Oh no…”

  He raised his head up rapidly and thew up on his chest.

  “Ahk!-“

  Marcus rolled over and continue to spit up blood. After a moment he stopped and rolled back, breathing deeply.

  “Ungh… sorry, buddy. I could have held it for longer if the surgeons were quicker.”

  Marcus took a few deep breaths, preparing himself.

  “Here we go little guy. Nice and easy, okay?”

  Five floors down a woman began to push her first baby out of her womb.

  The ground shook.

  “They aren’t giving me the belt.”

  Ronan stared out over the city from his twentieth floor apartment window holding his phone with one hand, a banana with the other.

  “Well, that’s what you figured would happen right son?” Ronan’s mother asked on the other end of the line. “That it was too soon?”

  “Yeah yeah. No I’m fine with it, I think for business it’s better to wait, build my heat up with Santos a bit. We’re having a good run but…I dunno, it would be nice at the same time. That’s not the whole problem though mom. Sundays match is a first blood match.”

  “Oh. Oh yes I can see that being a problem.”

  “I’m worried it might expose my uh, problem.”

  “I wouldn’t call it a problem Ronan.”

  “No I suppose not. But how can I lose a first blood match if I can’t bleed?”

  “Could you do so
mething to yourself? I read that’s what they normally do anyway?”

  “Yeah but it would have to entail something like me jumping off the roof onto a bed of nails to work. Mom I’ve only bled once in my life and it was years ago.”

  “You’ll figure out a way. Blood capsule in the mouth?”

  “Maybe. It’s just kinda lame. They always want it coming from the head.”

  “Hmm that’s tricky son. Go with blood capsule for now and think about how else in the meantime.”

  “Yeah I don’t think I have any other choice. Man, when I was called into Solomon's office part of me was so sure they were going to give me the title.”

  “I know son, but it’s coming. You always wanted to win at Superslam right? It’s just a few months away now. Maybe they are saving it for then. Can you ask them?”

  Ronan took a bite from the banana.

  “Not much point, even if I did it’s more than likely they don’t even know themselves. They don’t write too far in advance and even when they do they end up changing it up.”

  “How many times have I told you it’s rude to eat on the phone?”

  “Sorry mom.”

  “Ha, it’s ok son. Does Elaine know?”

  “Yeah I let her know.”

  “Is she ok about it?”

  “Mom, why wouldn’t she be? She’s not my real manager, she couldn’t care less if I get the belt or not. Chances are it wont be long before she’s shifted over to someone else.”

  “Oh but you two look so good together.”

  “Yeah, in the ring. Elaine is nice and all but we’re characters.”

  The ground shook. A sudden flash of light caught Ronan’s attention several blocks away.

  “Well have you ever asked her out? Yunno in real life?…Son?…Son?”

  In her upstate New Belfast home Ronan’s mother only heard static on the phone.

  Israel turned up the TV.

  “…as talks began this morning. As of yet we can’t be certain of exactly what has been discussed but the fact that this week long summit is even taking place is historical progress in itself…”

  Manning came through the door of the loft-turned-lab-turned-apartment.

  “Beer?” Manning asked

  “Eleven A.M.” Israel answered.

  “Beer,” Manning concluded.

  Taking a bottle out of the fridge Manning joined Israel on the couch. Israel was scratching at a bandage on his wrist.

  “I got the parts ok. Should be able to modify the coils to your liking.”

  “Thanks. What do you make of all of this?”

  Manning sighed.

  “My guess is they talk about nothing overly specific, lock down half the city for a week causing traffic mayhem, spend millions of taxpayers dollars on security, then everyone goes home with nothing achieved except a weeks worth of pleasantries.”

  “Hmm. Hope not. What I would expect to see is…”

  It didn’t matter what Israel expected to see. The ground shook. The apartment was filled with light and in moments the ashes that used to be Israel and Manning's bodies blew away in the wind.

  Deadvolt hated the subway. Deadvolt hated the people on the subway. Deadvolt just hated people. Intent on turning the talks into chaos in anyway possible he made his way towards the centre of the city and The Fordway Hotel. The lights flickered and the carriage shook. In one way Deadvolt got what he wanted. There was no subway anymore. There was no city centre anymore.

  “Daniel, I’ve had some ideas about album artwork,” Ryan the drummer said.

  Embers of Earth singer Daniel looked out over the city from the airplane window seat just in time to see the explosion. The plane shuddered and tried to bank right back out over the ocean away from the blast.

  The birds of Nagra soared over the New Belfast skyline weaving in and out of the buildings, searching. Having found an appropriate vantage point the black birds glided down to the rooftop of the thirty story building diagonally across from the Fordway Hotel.

  In a blur of black, the birds swirled in and amongst themselves at a rapid rate until they were gone and a tall, pale man with long black haired stood on the roof ledge looking towards the hotel. Breathing deeply Nagra slowly started to raise his arms. Taking deep breaths his arms raised higher and higher. Concentrating on summoning more of his black flames than ever before was strenuous for him. He was suddenly jolted by a rumble and a loud blast. Beginning to lose his balance on the ledge he was forced to lower his arms and give up on the flames. Before the building on which he was standing collapsed, Nagra jumped off the ledge and the flock of birds flew high into the air.

  Chapter 3

  China was among the first areas devastated along with U.S.A, most of Europe, Iran and parts of Russia. The rest of the world wasn’t long after. Among the ruined cities of China lay ruined streets. Under the ruined streets lay caverns and tunnels, remnants of sewers and drains. Greyfall and Jessen appeared in a blinding and silent blue and white light in one of these tunnels. Jessen was obviously shaken up by the ordeal. He didn’t whimper or cry out but silently curled into himself as if his stomach was about to burst.

  “It will pass momentarily,” Greyfall reassured him.

  Jessen just silently writhed in his own little balled up world on the ground.

  “What is this?” he mustered the strength to ask.

  A voice called out from the darkness. “This was not the plan, Greyfall! You were to exterminate this man!”

  Five men approached Greyfall and Jessen from out of the darkness. Jessen frantically looked all around him trying to figure out just where he was, and who they were. They were standing in a round room, no, a tunnel? A basement? They definitely felt underground. Several tunnelled exits went off in every direction.

  “I know, Captain. Hear me out-”

  “There is nothing to hear! This is the one Jessen Hade?”

  Jessen looked to Greyfall, confused and scared. This didn’t feel like it was going in a good direction.

  “He is,” Greyfall answered.

  The captain and his four guards all raised their guns to Jessen who dropped to his knees with his hands in the air, it was all he knew to do from TV cop shows.

  “Please-“ Jessen began.

  “Silence! You do not speak here! You do not belong here, war bringer!” the captain said.

  “Hear me!” Greyfall boomed. The echo of his voice carried off into the tunnels away from their locations adding authority to his voice. In the few seconds of silence that followed Jessen threw up on the ground in front of him. The guards looked at him in disgust.

  “Oh man, that’s better.” Jessen said.

  Greyfall looked down at him then back up to his captain.

  “I do not believe this man is what we thought he is. I don’t see war within him, no malice, no plot. My discernment tells me he is not what we have been taught. When I Iooked into his eyes all I saw was a man weary of the world he lived in. Unfulfilled, under-utilised, unappreciated, unwanted and unloved.

  “Uh, thanks… dick,” Jessen interrupted.

  The captain glared at Jessen. “If you wish to live you would be wise to stay silent.”

  “He does not intend to hurt. Nor cause chaos and death. I do not know how the Hade War began with him, but one way or another, it was either not with his doing, or not his fault. Either way I saw it unfit to execute him where he was.”

  “The what war?” Jessen asked.

  “Are you taking the moral high ground with me Greyfall?! Your orders were to exterminate the apocalypse, not bring him back here!”

  “Where is here?” Jessen spoke up.

  “This, vermin, is the world that you created with your terror! This is your creation, your legacy on this planet! Are you not proud?!”

  “Well… I’d need to see around the place a little more, it’s hard to tell in here. The light isn’t great.” Jessen found his gift of sarcasm returning. Greyfall rolled his eyes and sighed.

  “You J
oke?” the captain whispered. “You joke?!” the captain yelled. “You will die for this, death bringer!”

  The captain raised his gun once more to Jessen but it was too late. Greyfall, ready for hostility, already had gun in hand and shot him down in an instant. The four guards were taken completely by surprise. Greyfall threw a light grenade from his belt at their feet and dove to cover Jessen. The blinding light exploded into the tunnels completely disorientating the guards. Then it was too easy. Mercifully, Greyfall shot each guard in the leg, each one collapsing in agony grasping their wounds. The captain was dead. Greyfall helped Jessen to his feet.

  “Dude… Greyfall right?… what… the… hell man?!” Jessen panted. “What is this?! Did you kill those guys?!”

  “It matters not at this time,” Greyfall responded, beckoning Jessen to follow him down one of the tunnels away from the guards. The two men quickly walked away from the bodies writhing on the ground.

  “Greyfall please. What is this?! What was he talking about?” Jessen asked.

  “I will explain everything but for now we must get out of here. More will come. If they didn’t hear the shots they will certainly have seen the light.”

  “Who are they?”

  Greyfall took out the same device from his belt that he used to transport them in the first place.

  “Our battalion. There are several dozen men in these tunnels at any time. They will be here in seconds.”

  “What is that thing? Is that what brought us here?” Jessen asked.

  “It’s a time jumper.”

  “Time?! We time traveled?! You have got to be kidding me!”

  “I kid not Hade. Hold on”

  “This is nuts. What about your captain? Are you sure he is dead?”

  “I said it matters not, not where we’re going.”

  “Where are we going now?”

  “I’m taking you home and making sure The Hade War never begins.”

  “Stop calling it that, man! How could I have ever started a war?”

  Greyfall ignored the question and struggled with the time jumper device, hitting buttons and twisting gears. From the convergence of tunnels came the sound of panic and raised voices. The rest of the battalion had arrived with the fallen guards. It would be mere seconds before they were under attack.