I have arrived in Upton, and am ready to literally smoke Bannen out.
Get started, then. Upton is crucial to our plans. By doing this, we’ll be killing two birds with one stone.
Yes! He felt the sexual thrill at the mention of killing. This is something I can really sink my balls into.
Enough with the sick jokes. Just do the job.
Fine. Spoilsport. There were many things Zagreus and his father did not have in common. Hades saw bloodshed as something necessary; Zagreus saw it as something desirable.
He removed from his pockets several specially-designed cigars and stuffed them in his mouth. After lighting them, he took an extra long drag, inhaling the sweet carcinogens. Humans loved their tobacco and chemicals, but not nearly as much as Zagreus, and he had infused his smokes with the deadliest ones he could come up with. As the son of the Lord of Darkness, they could not kill him, but they could—and would—kill everyone else.
Once he reached the limit of his inhale, he exhaled, releasing an ever-expanding cloud of lethal smoke onto the street below. By now, a number of people had stopped to gawk at him. They were the lucky ones, since they did not have to wait for the cloud to come to them.
Yes, Zagreus thought, they were lucky indeed.
* * *
Anni Bannen was driving up Main Street, heading home from the supermarket, groceries in the back of her lime-green station wagon.
She hadn’t heard from her son lately. Last time she had talked with Ev, he told her he was going to become the god of justice. She was so proud of him; he had overcome so much and was on his way to becoming a full-fledged god.
Suddenly, from an intersection up ahead, people came running towards her. They were fleeing from... what on Narska was that? It looked like a giant cloud of smoke. A few of them pounded on the driver’s side door. “Let us in!”
“What’s going on?”
“The cloud! It’s—”
But before they could finish, the smoke reached the right side of her car, and upon inhaling it, their skin shriveled up and all the blood in their heads left through their orifices in a gruesome exodus. Anni screamed and sped forward, maneuvering out of the way of the oncoming smoke. She didn’t know what else to do, so she kept on going towards home, desperately hoping the smoke wouldn’t make it that far.
* * *
Zagreus had already homed in on Anni Bannen. He intentionally kept the smoke from getting to her; she was the one person he wasn’t allowed to kill just yet. Despite this, he still considered her extremely unlucky.
By now, the smoke had engulfed almost an eighth of the town, and it wouldn’t stop until it had covered every inch except for the Bannen house. He was going to trap her in there, and then Father would have some fun.
* * *
Anni successfully made it home. Unfortunately, the house was soon surrounded by smoke. Primal fear tore through her, and it was all she could do just to fight the urge to panic. She heard copious amounts of screaming, both in the distance and nearby. She ran her hands through her graying hair and let the tears come before falling to her knees and praying. Bethos, please! I need help! Please help me!
* * *
While sitting in class, Ev’s mind was suddenly assaulted by a shrill voice: Bethos, please! I need help! Please help me! It was his mother. He had never received a prayer outside of the Prayer Chamber, but the bond he shared with her helped her to come in clear. He leapt to his feet.
Sitting next to him, Maya said, “Ev? What’s wrong?”
“I have to go!”
He bolted out of the classroom, ignoring the obvious questions lobbed at him. Mom was in trouble, and he would go to her as fast as he possibly could. He soon made it to the hangar where he dove out the door and flew off into the distance.
* * *
The house was considerably darker now with the cloud of smoke hanging over it. Fortunately, it had not gotten inside. Anni was almost ecstatic over that. She continued to sit on her couch, praying to Bethos for deliverance. She knew he was real; Ev had actually met him. He would surely answer her prayers.
But just as she was getting her hopes up, dark shapes rose from the floor. Terror paralyzed her as she got a good look at them. Each of them had a bulbous torso and spindly legs, and their arms ended in claws. Also, their faces were completely black.
A honey-tinted voice called out, “Did you pray?”
She could only respond with fearful moans. The question was repeated. “Y-Yes.” She shook with unimaginable fright.
“Good,” he said. “Then we don’t need to keep you alive anymore.”
Chapter III
Ev made it to Upton. The trip had been an unbearable experience, with him pushing his speed to the limit, but he couldn’t go fast enough. He knew his mother was in trouble and as the seconds ticked away he felt more and more despondent.
He arrived to find the town engulfed in smoke, but he didn’t see any fire. Anni’s prayer hadn’t been specific; apparently she just expected the god on the other line to know what kind of danger she was in. Without any visible landmarks, he couldn’t tell where his house was, so he decided to take a chance and dive into the smoke. He found it very acrid, nasty-smelling and he coughed incessantly inside it. As a god-in-training, it shouldn’t have affected him, but this must have been some special smoke. Visibility was only a few feet.
“Welcome, Ev Bannen! We’ve been expecting you! That’s not too cliché, is it?”
Between coughs, he replied, “Who are you? Where’s my mom?”
“Oh, you’ll see her soon enough. I wouldn’t worry about that.”
“If you hurt her…!”
“Me? No, I’m not allowed to lay a hand on her. That’s an honor my father has reserved for himself. You, however, are all mine. I’m about to sink my balls into you.”
“You really need a less creepy catchphrase,” Ev said. “Are you with Zero Grade?”
“Of course I am. Who else would go to all this trouble just to get your attention now that Arcturus Reich is dead? I am Zagreus, son of Hades of the Flawless Few, and today I have the pleasure of ripping you apart piece by piece.”
Ev couldn’t see a damn thing. “Well, then, remove this smoke and let’s fight.”
“Who said anything about fighting? My objective is to kill you, so why would I give you a chance to prevent that? Use your brain, dumbass!”
If he wasn’t going to get rid of the smoke, Ev would have to get out of it, so he launched himself into the air. However, something grabbed his leg and yanked him back down as if he were a doll. He hit the ground, causing the air to get knocked out of him, only to be replaced by more smoke. He was racked by coughing as the poisonous vapor filled his lungs and stung his eyes.
“How do you like that?” Zagreus said triumphantly. “Even a god will die if they breathe my smoke long enough. And you’re not even that. You’re just some punk who decided to pick a fight with Zero Grade.” Ev couldn’t answer, the smoke was so bad. “There’s no escape, kid. Don’t believe me? Watch.” A few feet in front of Ev, the smoke solidified into a big fist and punched him in the gut. His mouth fell open and more smoke entered. He fell to his knees, choking and in pain. “My smoke can become hard enough to hit you with. Face it, dumbass—you’ve lost.”
Ev’s eyes were watering and he couldn’t breathe. This wasn’t the first time he had stared death in its ugly face and survived, but everyone ran out of luck sooner or later.
However, in the back of his mind he saw his mother, and she was still in danger. He had to get out of here and save her, but first he had to do something about all this smoke. He needed some way to catch a few breaths before he could deal with Zagreus.
A thought occurred to him. In his battle with Arcturus, he had instinctively conjured his gauntlets to defeat him. Perhaps something similar could be done here.
He closed his eyes and pictured something akin to the gauntlets, but more like a gas mask. As before, he made sure to emphasize the danger
of the situation to heighten the need for this. Suddenly, a cold snugness embraced his face. He opened his eyes to find himself staring out of eye holes. But most importantly, he could once again breathe. “Suck it, asshole! I just created a divine gas mask.”
“What? That’s dirty!” Zagreus yelled. “Hmph. Fine; I’ll just rip it off you.”
Another hand materialized out of the smoke and came at him, but this time Ev was ready. He conjured his gauntlets and punched the ethereal hand back into the cloud. Several more took its place, but he easily dealt with those; they didn’t have any muscle behind them.
Now to deal with the smoke. Remembering his fight against Poseidon, he decided the smoke was close enough to water, so he channeled a monstrous wind, wrapping it around the deadly vapors.
Zagreus was yelling now, but he couldn’t make out any words. No matter; the smug bastard’s astonished cries were music to his ears.
After about a minute, a giant tornado had been generated and was blowing debris everywhere. He carefully funneled all the smoke up into the sky, and before long, the streets were clear.
A sickly figure sat atop a house at the end of a cul-de-sac. It had to be Zagreus. The man had a mohawk, yellow skin and ratty clothes. He looked like a homeless rocker that had somehow figured out how to survive on nothing but cigarettes. Worst of all, he had red lines coming down from his eyes, as if he had been crying blood. His whole appearance screamed “corpse.”
Zagreus’s jaw had firmly dropped, and Ev wasted no time capitalizing on his shock by charging in and delivering a savage punch. He felt the satisfying crunch of breaking bones as the Zero Grade lackey flew off into the distance.
Now, then, I’ve got to save Mom.
* * *
Ev wasted no time finding his house and kicking the door open. “Mom?” he cried out, hoping against hope he was in time to save her.
He wasn’t.
His feet splashed in a pool of thickening crimson. Her body was nailed to the living room wall with rusty metal stakes. Her head had been twisted completely around so he couldn’t even see her face. Countless gashes marred her flesh. The seen was so horrific, he didn’t even notice the smell right away. Blood and human waste mixed with other unnamable horrors to create to create a stench beyond imagination.
He approached as if in a daze, trembling at the sight. No—they hadn’t done this. They hadn’t! He buried his face in his hands and gave in to sobs without tears; his body hadn’t quite caught up to his emotions.
He was too late. Zero Grade had made good on their threat and carried out their vengeance. Why? Why couldn’t he have stayed on their nice side? None of this would have happened if he had. Now he was caught in a surreal nightmare he desperately wanted to wake up from, but this was the worst kind of nightmare—the kind you could never escape.
“Mom…” he moaned. “I…” He couldn’t finish that sentence, couldn’t say I’m sorry you died because of me. The agony was too much, the situation too unreal, so he just stood there in silence, hot tears now streaming down his face.
Familiar black figures rose up from the floor. He stared at them. “You did this!” He proceeded to tear them limb from limb, their pathetic resistance an insult to his rage. He wanted a real fight to channel his skyrocketing fury. He thought if they provided a decent challenge, he would somehow feel vindicated. Instead, piles of jet-black gore piled atop his mother’s blood on the floor.
A voice echoed inside his head: Are you satisfied, little upstart? It wasn’t Zagreus; it was sweet like honey rather than boisterous and cocky.
“Who are you?” he roared. “Show yourself! Are you the one who sent the refghasts here?”
I most certainly am. They are my children, in a manner of speaking. I apologize for not using my mouth, but you see, I despise unnecessary noises. If only the entire world could be as quiet as Gehenna…
Ev spun around, trying to find the voice’s source. “Shut up! You killed my mother! Come out and face me!”
As you wish. A black hole appeared in the wall to Ev’s left. Out of it emerged a figure similar to the refghasts with an inky black body and no face, except his proportions and limbs were decidedly human.
“Are you Hades?”
Yes.
“Then you’re the one I’m going to kill.”
In an instant, Ev cleared the distance between them, his gauntlets out, and punched Hades in what should have been his solar plexus. However, it was like hitting gelatin; his fist got stuck in Hades’ chest, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get it out.
It is foolish to punch a doorway, upstart.
“Unh! Doorway?”
Yes. I am not simply a person, I am an entire realm. What you see before you is little more than the entrance to said realm. Nevertheless, being the gracious host that I am, I invite you to visit. Do not worry; your stay will be brief.
A strange force began sucking Ev’s arm into Hades’ body or doorway or whatever the yur it was. He fought against it, but it was useless; before long, his entire body went in.
Ev Bannen was gone from this world.
* * *
The Academy faculty watched the Morovian news report with grim interest in the faculty lounge. The nervous anchors had cut to their helicopter which currently hovered over Upton. It was a grisly scene of death, with thousands of bodies littering the streets, the result of who-knew-what.
“Isn’t that Ev’s hometown?” Freya said.
Brandon nodded. “Yeah. Upton born and raised.”
“And he disappeared earlier today?” Aphrodite said.
“Yeah,” he replied. “Just took off during class.”
Freya furrowed her brow. “You think he knew what was going on and went to go help?”
“Probably. Someone—most likely his mother—must have reached him with her prayers. I’m guessing he didn’t want to involve any of his friends, so he didn’t tell them.”
The helicopter camera panned upward to reveal a great cloud of smoke coming down over the town. “Lots of smoke,” Bethos noted.
Atlas nodded. “And dead bodies everywhere.”
They knew exactly what it meant. “Zagreus,” Brandon growled.
“That means this is an attack by Zero Grade,” Bethos said.
“Poor Ev,” Freya said. “If Zagreus is there, then Hades can’t be far. If Ev meets up with him, he’s dead.”
Atlas held his bald head high. “Bannen can handle himself. I made sure of that.”
Freya slammed her palms down on the table and leapt to her feet. “But this is the Flawless Few we’re talking about! Ev’s still just a student. He doesn’t stand a chance against them. Even if he were a full-fledged god, he might not be able to win.”
“There is no guarantee Hades will make an appearance,” Dian Cecht said.
“There’s no guarantee he won’t,” she shot back.
Suddenly the broadcast went to static and was shortly replaced by a dark blue screen with text:
We are Zero Grade
Upton is ours now
More cities will fall
Bow to us or be destroyed
Brandon got up. “Where are you going?” Bethos asked him.
“Where do you think? To save Ev!”
The president shook his head. “You can’t.”
“You expect me to just stay here while Zero Grade butchers an entire town and threatens one of my students? I brought him here; he’s my responsibility.”
“It’s more than that, isn’t it?” Bethos said. “You failed to protect so many potential gods from Belial’s scheme over the years. You can’t bear to watch another one die. I understand that, but you can’t just go charging in there in an emotional state. We all know they’ll be expecting us to make a counter-attack. They’ll slaughter anyone who goes to Upton without a plan.”
“So what do we do?” Brandon said, desperation in his voice.
The president mulled it over. Finally he said, “We mobilize the troops. Call everyone.
I want all former faculty members and alumni brought in. We didn’t want it to come to this, but the next great war is here, and it’s going to take everything we have to stop the world from being destroyed again.
They nodded, the pain of the last war still on their minds. Bethos hadn’t been around for that one, but he shared their desire to prevent another apocalypse.
Chapter IV
Two hundred miles west of Seraphim City was the Morovian capital of Vinguard, and in the center of that city was the Vin House, home of President Joe Lambda.
The nation’s leader sat inside one of the large white building’s conference rooms with his staff watching the broadcast from Upton. Despite the intensity of the situation, there was no sweat on his ebony skin. Nothing about his body language suggested he faced a crisis of epic proportions. “What does it mean?” he asked after seeing the message from the masterminds behind the day’s attack.
Until We Break Page 4
