“Great,” Manning said.
“I have flyers coming in from the midwest tonight,” another voice announced from somewhere in the room.
“Florida is on it’s way,” another voice sounded.
“Ireland is coming. They are halfway over the Atlantic as we speak,” another announcement sounded off.
“Los Angeles!” another voice declared.
“Several dozen from Australia, but flyers and tech is limited. They will be another few days,” another voice called out.
“Mexico, on its way!” another voice sounded off.
“Chicago!” another voice sounded off.
“Peru on it’s way,” another voice sounded off.
“The Stirling Forty are en route.” Silvercord announced.
“The Stirling Forty?” Manning asked, amazed. “I thought that a myth.”
“You of all people should know better than to doubt myths.” Silvercord grinned.
A phone was raised above the heads in the middle of the room.
“A group from Slovenia on its way!” the man announced.
“Don’t forget us.” a voice came from the doorway. Everyone turned to see who the new comers were. Five huge men walked in. Manning did not recognise them but Warstone obviously did. He extended his hand to the first man and they clasped wrists.
“Sup boys?” he greeted them. Manning smiled and turned back to the room.
“There may yet be hope,” he said
“Excuse me.” Elaine stepped forward. “Do we have the time to wait for more? Every second we wait that thing out there grows bigger and bigger. Every second we wait, for all we know, more people are dying or being turned into God know what inside that lab of Kennedy’s.”
“Sadly… it is true.” Manning sighed. “Every moment we wait could be another life gone. Another chunk of the city destroyed. The police, army, all sorts of emergency personnel are down there trying to fight their way in and losing their lives in doing so. Many of them died inside the wall.” Manning looked around the eyes in the room. Everyone was hanging on his every word. “We march on Skyborn tomorrow.”
A loud murmur of approval sounded throughout the large group of super powered beings.
“Metalcore! Warstone!” Manning called. Both men stepped forward. “Let’s go get Israel.”
Josiah Versette saw no hope whatsoever. This dome, this forcefield, whatever it was, seemed unstoppable. Vincent Kennedy had declared sovereignty over his empire which was growing every second by centimetres and inches.
Leaning against his squad car a hundred meters away from the wall he drank deeply from his water bottle. Looking around him he could scarce believe the devastation that had ravaged New Belfast in such a short space of time. The world had been turned on its head. Vincent Kennedy publicly outed as a psychotic maniac. What next?
The exodus of the people leaving the city had to be left basically unmanaged and unpoliced. The priority was the inner city and this damn dome. The fighter jets were dropping missiles on the energy dome every few minutes. Every piece of heavy artillery from the surrounding states army bases was brought in to bombard it to no avail. Constant failure. Every few minutes another building crumbled.
“Marcus where are you?” he thought to himself. “Where are your flying friends? We could really use some help here.”
Bleep… bleep… bleep… bleep… bleep… bleep… smash!
Israel's room in South City Hospital was violently invaded by Warstone the helmeted wrestler. Floating outside the room Metalcore held Manning in his arms like before. It was a relief to let go of Warstone. The guy weighed as much as a car. Stepping inside Warstone walked straight to the door and stood in front of it, leaning his huge weight against it so as not to be interrupted from their mission. Within seconds hospital staff were trying to open the door, banging their fists on it.
“Who is in there?! Is everyone alright?!” a voice shouted through the door.
“Fine, just fine. Just fell out of bed,” Warstone answered.
“Let us in! The man in this room is in a coma! If you do not let us in we will have no choice but to force our way in!” the voice shouted.
“Pfft. Good luck with that,” Warstone said to himself quietly.
By now Manning and Metalcore had entered the room via a freshly smashed hole in the wall courtesy of Warstone. Manning approached Israel and put his hand on the young man’s head.
“Hi Israel,” Manning said to him, fighting back any strong sign of emotion he might have felt rising up inside him. “We’re getting you out of here.” Manning looked up at the monitors and read all the info available on Israel's condition. Reaching down he picked up one of the backpacks he had collected earlier. Opening it on the bed he began lifting out small tubes and containers. Some contained liquids, others contained powders. Opening two he began to slowly mix a powder and a liquid together inside a larger container and shaking them together. Manning watched as the two substances reacted and slowly began to change colour from grey to dark blue. Reaching into the bag he pulled out a tiny box. Opening it he pulled out a tiny pill and inspected it carefully. After several moments he dropped the pill into the blue liquid which immediately began to dissolve in a cloud of effervescence. Shaking the container to mix it all together the liquid turned completely clear.
Metalcore, curious as to what Manning was concocting, clicked his fingers and pointed to the mixture, obviously expecting an explanation.
“It’s something I worked on briefly in Kennedy’s lab. It was something he wanted to market as an immediate ‘get well’ potion. If for nothing else, it would have been mostly for hangovers. It never made it to market because it had too many ‘unknown substances’ in it, or to you and me it had weird super power stuff in it that the health type people didn’t understand. It can’t fix a broken bone and it wont cure cancer, but it will pick you up out of whatever physical slump you’re in whether it be the common cold, a hangover… or hopefully… this.” Manning gestured to Israel.
“Hopefully?” Warstone repeated.
“Yeah I’m not totally sure this will work, but it won’t do him a lick of harm,” Manning answered as he pulled the syringe out of the backpack. He opened the container and dipped the syringe into the liquid, sucking it up until filled. Lifting the syringe upwards he pressed down so that a little came squirting out so as to avoid air bubbles going into the blood. Manning took a deep breath and looked round at Warstone and Metalcore who were watching intently, heart rates raised. The banging on the door and shouting had become a mild background noise by now.
“Please God,” Manning said. Raising his arm he opened his eyes and plunged the syringe downwards into Israel’s heart, injecting the liquid.
Israel immediately jolted and sat upright in his bed.
“America!” he yelled at the top of his lungs and punched Manning in the face who hit the floor. Metalcore ran to pick up the older man while Israel looked quickly around the room, confused. Warstone spoke up.
“Israel man, it’s us! Manning, Daniel and Ronan. We’re getting you outta here.”
“Son of a bitch!” Manning exclaimed as he was helped to his feet by Metalcore. “Well you haven’t lost your reflexes that for sure!”
“Manning! Manning I’m sorry!” Israel opened his arms and Manning leaned over the bed to embrace him. The two shared a long and tight hug.
“Aw man I missed you boy. I’m so glad you’re alright,” Manning said as they finally let go.
“Yeah what the hell happened?” Israel asked.
“You were in a coma. Israel there is… well there is a lot to fill you in on,” Manning told him. Israel thought hard for a moment to remember anything that happened to him recently.
“Uh guys? We good to go yet?” Warstone asked.
“How you feeling kiddo?” Manning asked Israel who was now getting out of the bed.
“Like a million flipping dollars. Wait, did I yell America?”
“You did. Let’s go,” M
anning answered. Metalcore pointed at Warstone and shook his head. “Uh Ronan, you good to go on foot?” Manning began. “Daniel says you’re too fat.
Warstone looked at Metalcore who shrugged and nodded.
“Yeah whatever,” Warstone sighed.
Manning wrapped his arms around Metalcore’s neck and held onto him from behind. Israel facing forward was embraced by the metal singer on the front and the trio took off out of the hole in the wall. Warstone walked over to the hole and looked down at the city street several stories below. Suddenly security staff came bursting in the door behind him.
“All right what’s…” the guard shouted but immediately stopped and stood still at the sight of the huge man in his green and black helmet. The two men stared at each other for a moment before Warstone spoke up.
“Wanna see something cool?” Without warning he stepped casually out of the hole in the wall and fell with a crack to the pavement below. The security guard ran to hole, careful not to step too close to the edge. By the time he was looking down Warstone was casually jogging down the sidewalk away from the broken paving stones he had just landed on.
“Israel!” Greyfall bellowed as he clasped the younger man by the wrist. “It is good to see you!”
“It’s good to see you too ‘Fall.” Israel smiled as he glanced around Warstone’s apartment at the faces who were all now staring back at him, some new and some familiar. Manning was in the corner working on his neck restraint from PATMOS with small tools. After a minute it popped off.
Greyfall, let me get that off your neck,” He said as he walked to the time traveler.
“How are you feeling? I would have thought you would be barely able to stand,” Greyfall asked Israel as Manning began to tinker with the restraint.
“You know Manning, always got something up his sleeve.” Israel nodded to a smiling Elaine, whom he had just spotted in the sea of faces, then turned back to Manning.
“Could I talk to you alone?” Israel asked Manning.
“Of course… uh, roof?”
Up on the roof the two men stood looking out into the night at the devastation spreading across New Belfast. Israel sighed deeply.
“Hard to believe isn’t it?” Manning asked.
“Yeah,” was all Israel could say.
The two men sat in silence for a while before Israel spoke up again.
“I’m remembering what happened now,” Israel said and Manning’s attention was obviously heightened. “Frank came to visit me in the hospital.”
“Frank?! Kennedy’s Frank?!”
“Yeah. He put me into that coma or whatever it was. Said it was something they developed in their lab. I was their guinea pig. He then told me that… I was always meant to be one of Kennedy’s experiments, that I was to ask you about it.”
Manning had his head down, looking straight into the ground. The two men sat in silence for a long time. The explosions of artillery against the bulwark echoed through what remained of the city.
“I didn’t know your parents,” Manning began. He didn’t see the point in beating around the bush so he simply explained himself bluntly. “You were a child who had the extreme blessing of being put up in one of Kennedy’s orphanages. You were a toddler when I met you, cute as all hell. You were introduced to me as patient six four two one. You were placed in a chair in the corner of a lab and told to sit and wait for someone to come bring you into the next room.”
Manning paused for a moment. “The next room was one of the many places they injected all sorts of super powered crap into people to watch the effects on them. It was all for his quest to create ‘The Masterpiece.’ You were probably going to die. Either that or turned into God knows what.”
Israel couldn’t take his eyes away from Manning’s who were still boring a hole in the ground in front of them.
“Rebellious and unafraid as ever, you climbed out of your chair and came waddling over to me with a smile on your face. I knelt down and looked you in the eye and saw only one thing, my future. This was around the time I told you, the time when Kennedy revealed Alicia’s powers to me, the time my stomach was twisting in knots every time I entered the Skyborn building, ashamed of myself and terrified of what would happen to me if I revealed what Kennedy was up to to the world.”
Manning finally looked up at Israel.
“I gave you a mild sedative, bundled you up safely in a large bag, kinda like hockey players use, left the lab, ran from the building and have been living in hiding ever since.”
A huge explosion sounded from the dome, another failed airstrike which the two men ignored. Tears had formed in Israel’s eyes.
“It’s why I called you Israel. We escaped at night, running from those who would seek to harm us and set up our own little kingdom in our hideout.”
Manning and Israel both looked back out at the dome for a long time. Minutes passed before Israel spoke.
“Thank you.”
Manning looked to the young man, tears were now forming in his eyes.
“You’re welcome son.”
“I have about a million questions.”
“Save them for after.”
After another moment the fire escape door opened slowly and Elaine appeared, checking first that it was ok to intrude. Manning gestured that she came over to them.
“The guys are wondering if we should put together our game plan for tomorrow?” she said from the doorway.
“Yeah. Yeah that would be a good idea. Can they come up here?” Manning answered. “Get Greyfall, Warstone, Metalcore, Silvercord, Marcus, Maggie, Dustin and Simpson.”
“Ok. Who is Simpson?” Elaine asked.
“Just ask for him. Oh and get Greyfall to carry up the long package sitting in the corner next to the fridge,” Manning answered and Elaine disappeared back down the steps.
Manning and Israel sat in total silence as they watched the barrage of artillery and air strikes fail to penetrate the dome which was glowing brightly in the night. They didn’t have to wait long. The selected group Manning chose had ascended the stairs and quietly joined Manning and Israel on the roof. Without instruction they formed a semi circle around Manning, awaiting his guidance. Manning took a moment to look each one of them in the eye. Though cold outside, no one felt it.
“This is both the beginning and end of something huge. Something world changing. Nothing will ever be the same again.” Manning turned to look at the Skyborn Building, standing intact under its protective dome.
“Tomorrow we attack what appears to be the most impenetrable fortress ever known to man. Inside stands a man whose evil would be at home in the darkest depths of Hell. Vincent Kennedy is pawn of Satan, so powerful that it appears no laws of man can apply to him. He has waged war on this Earth. He has waged war on all of us. Inside that building our friends, our families lie bound and gagged. Mutated and tortured, used for the growth of his empire. By now he’s spawned thousands of vile creatures and created men and woman so powerful it would be foolish and damn near suicidal to even resist him and his army. Yet… tomorrow we march right to his doorstep with whatever band of freaks we have… and in open defiance we will resist. We will fight to save our people within those walls. We will die to protect a world that has shunned and outlawed you because of what you can do.”
Greyfall was holding the package Manning had instructed him to bring. Manning approached him and tore open one end. Reaching inside he began to slowly pull out what initially appeared to be a sword. A large leather handle was protected by an ornate stone crossgaurd. As Manning slowly slid the weapon out of the package it turned out to not be a sword at all but a long, four sided stone staff with Hebrew engravings upon it. As the weapon slid out in its entirety Manning gestured for Greyfall to take it.
“What manner of weapon is this?” Greyfall asked as he inspected the stone more closely. “What are these markings?”
“Hebrew. Second Corinthians ten verse four,” Manning answered. “For the weapons of our warfare are not of t
he flesh… but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.” He recited. “Kennedy was always into his miracles and curses. All things supernatural and hocus pocus. He sent a lot of men throughout the world looking for that weapon, afraid of it. You will know when to use it,” Manning instructed and Greyfall nodded.
“We live in a world that shouldn’t exist. Our friend, a man named Jessen Hade has the power of creating incredible and terrible energy blasts. So powerful he could wipe out a city all on his own. In Greyfall’s world Jessen had done just that. He accidentally destroyed New Belfast because he could not control his powers. It was supposed to happen during the recent peace talks and in Greyfall’s world it led to world wide war and destruction. It was called the Hade War. Greyfall travelled through time to stop him. He succeeded. We currently stand in a New Belfast that isn’t meant to exist, in a world that should be torn apart by war. Vincent Kennedy has captured Jessen and turned him into a power source which has wiped out a chunk of the city anyway. It’s as if Jessen was always destined to destroy New Belfast.” Manning pointed to the beam of light coming from the top of the Skyborn Building which was giving birth to the huge forcefield around it.
“That… thing… is Jessen. He’s being used to power it. Tomorrow, as well as rescuing the innocents in there that are in line for experimentation, we have to get Jessen out.”
Manning took a moment to look around everyone again slowly. “If we can’t rescue Jessen… we have to take him out.”
The tension on the rooftop could have been cut with a knife.
“Manning no…” Elaine began.
“No,” Greyfall interrupted her. “If we can’t get him out… if we can’t stop this madness… then we end it.”
“Sadly correct. Metalcore,” Manning gestured to Daniel. “Downstairs in one of the bags I filled with you are a number of small cameras. I designed them myself. I need you to place them on the buildings all around the dome, all pointing inward. You need to vary the distances of them so they don't all get destroyed at the same time if that thing expands any more, which I imagine it will.”
The Hade War Page 24
