Noble Revelations

by Adeleke Kayode

  I stopped talking so Adam took that as a sign that I was done. “So what. All you managed to do was tell me stuff I already know and a little that I didn’t. Stuff that I couldn’t give a shit about…

  “Except.”

  “Except what?”

  “Except what if I told you that you’ve never truly experience a shock from me? What if I also told you that the pain I feel when I use my powers when wet is only a fraction of what you think it is, that and I can see the electric currents all running back to you.” The entire time when I spoke I wasn’t looking at Adam until I finished. Lowering my head allowed Adam to see that my eyes were glowing blue.

  The cocky grin on Adam’s face started to fade as it started to dawn on him. I grinned evilly mimicking his signature grin.

  “How much do you think all those shocks all at once will hurt? Let’s find out shall we?”

  I noticed that Adam’s smile had completely disappeared, that’s when electricity surged around my hands while I dove them to the ground. Then the ground beneath me flashed blue while several bolts of electricity snaked in all directions. In a matter of seconds each and every one of Adam’s doppelgangers was hit. While electricity painfully coursed through my body, I started laughing because I simply didn’t care. I lifted my head up watching all of Adam’s doppelgangers light up seemingly simultaneously, Adam craned his head side to side looked at what was happening then I saw it for a moment the look on Adam’s face, he was frightened.

  That same moment I saw the frightened look on Adam’s face that’s the moment Adam’s doppelgangers disappeared. I could see several currents of energy making their way back to the source. It was like watching several small blue suns go into the air and fly to form one large sun. Everything was quiet for just a moment, I couldn’t feel the pain of the electricity and I couldn’t hear or feel the rain, Adam stood still then he broke the silence.

  “Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!”

  Every single one of the individual currents hit Adam all at one, Adam’s entire body lit up he was consumed in the color blue. Zeeeeeeeetzeeeeeet zeeeeeeeeeet. The electricity surrounding Adam eventually shot up into the sky as a pillar of energy. His screaming went on forever but in reality is was only a few seconds. When the pillar touched the sky electricity rippled around the clouds then lightning struck. I have no idea where it struck only that I saw it and could hear it. I looked to see Adam who had been completely fried. I looked at him feeling nothing for him. His body fell to the ground a moment later.

  “You probably know this already but those last words weren’t mine. They were the last ones you were going to hear.” I stood up proudly then dropped to my knees. I wasn’t going anywhere any time soon but it was ok Adam would keep me company.

  A King and His Throne

  Rain was pouring down heavily, Shield and I had only just recently defeated Cross. Both of us headed toward the direction Carter had gone. He was going to be mad but he needed our help, he couldn’t use his powers in the rain. Wait…what’s that?

  “Hey, Shield you seeing what I’m seeing?”

  “You mean a whole bunch of lights in the distance yeah I see them.”

  I was looking at Shield while he spoke then I turned my attention forward just in time to see an enormous pillar of blue energy shoot up into the sky. Once it did I realized it was electricity because it spread across the clouds then lightning struck in the distance.

  “We need to get going.”

  Shield and I moved forward heading toward the area where the pillar came from. What in the world happened? Was Carter ok? The jungle was getting more and more annoying to maneuver through, because of that it was taking a while to reach where I assumed Carter was. The rain managed to keep hitting me, somehow avoiding the trees almost intentionally.

  “Look it’s Carter.” Shield pointed out.

  He was right Carter was up ahead laying in the mud. Even though it hurt I ran toward him, my footsteps squished in the mud as I ran. Being on this island was one thing, it was another thing to be on this island while it was raining.

  “Carter, Carter are you ok.”

  “Nooo, don’t yell my head hurts.” Carter groaned like a child waking up from a nap had I not know better I would assumed Carter was sleeping.

  I looked around for a moment where was Adam did he knock Carter out or something.

  “Where’s Adam?”

  “Oh, Adam says bye.”

  Carter sat up then pointed at a burnt husk, my eyes widened. Was that Adam? He was finally dead I blinked a few times not sure how to feel in a way. I didn’t think it was actually ever going to happen but it did. Carter killed Adam. Even though it hurt like hell I bent over and helped Carter up that’s when I noticed the side of his face was swollen and he had a few bruises across his face and near the end of his neck. I doubt I looked any better but still Carter was one tough cookie.

  “You guys feel up to finishing this?” Shield asked.

  Carter glanced at me for a moment then looked at Shield for a second. Then he raised a hand to cover the side of his mouth while he pointed at Shield with his other hand.

  “Is he really here or am I more zonked out than I thought.”

  “No Carter, Shield’s here.”

  Shield just waved while blinking a few times. Carter shrugged then took a step forward before stumbling. Shield walked over and grabbed Carter’s right arm putting it over his shoulder so he could help Carter walk. Then Shield grabbed my left arm and did the same thing. I was about to argue then realized there was no point. The three of us started moving forward while the cold rain washed over us. It washed some of the blood off Carter and me. It was all so surreal Shield was here and Adam was dead we had one more hurdle to get through let’s just hope Alastor was ok. It looks like we were going to meet the man in charge soon. At least if he didn’t cut his losses and jump ship.

  We needed to hurry and get out of here. I don’t know about Carter, Shield or Alastor but I was sick of this island already and I was sick of Prometheus. I was glad that we were almost rid of them. Until then I couldn’t drop my guard. The three of us strode through the mud making our way toward the path that Shield and I left earlier from there we would move north up the path to where hopefully the Prometheus base was.

  “I forget to ask what did you guys do with that big bastard. Cross was that his name?”

  “We sent him flying. No idea where he landed. Don’t think we have to worry about him though?”

  Carter sort of shrugged. It took us a bit to reach Carter when we were moving at a quicker pace at this rate it would take us a day just to reach the path heading toward the base. I was obviously exaggerating but still moving this slow was killing me.

  “So what do you think the leader of Prometheus looks like?” I asked the question pretty casually considering.

  “Probably a guy with a slick curl mustache that he twirls when he’s bored.” Carter responded.

  Shield chuckled for a moment so did I but I stopped immediately because it hurt way too much. Not much longer and we’d reach the path any minute now, then how long before we reached the Prometheus base itself. The rain was really coming down, my clothes were just as soaked as they were when I came out of the ocean. Maybe even more so. At least I could see the path ahead hopefully Prometheus HQ wasn’t too far off now. I took in a deep breath of air slowly and exhaled slowly, my ribs hurt but I had to do that to make sure everything was ok. Once this was all over I wonder if I had to worry about things like breaking my ribs because some pseudo human monsters attacked me. Or any fractures from cities collapsing from earthquake bombs.

  Anytime I thought about it I realized that our lives were ridiculously crazy, mine, Carter’s, all of lives of the people around us. But soon, soon we would change that.

  “How much further?” Carter asked.

  “I’ve been here the same time as you. I’ve yet to discover any secret passages.”

  Carter groaned childishly while rolling his eyes, Shiel
d just looked at him for a moment and continued walking. The ground started feeling weird aside from the rain, it felt like we were going down. Now that I took a good look I noticed we were going down a sort of hill. If we weren’t careful we’d just slide all the way down. In the back of mind that didn’t seem like such a bad idea it wasn’t like I really wanted to walk all the way there.

  “How much longer now?” I muttered to myself.

  “How much longer now? Carter parroted.

  “You two better not get on my nerves.” Shield stated with a stern tone, Carter and I glanced at each other, then remained silent. Luckily for us I could see a person ahead. Actually that might not have been lucky. Whoever it was leaned against what appeared to be a stone wall. Right next to the person was an entrance into a checkered hallway with silver and gray walls.

  “Who beat the candy out of you two?” Alastor asked with an unconcerned tone.

  Both I and Carter moved from Shield and stepped forward standing on our own that’s when Alastor and Shield spotted each other. It suddenly dawned on me that Mr. Bright might have omitted the fact that Alastor was here. That definitely wasn’t good.

  “Hey.”

  “Hey.”

  Alastor proceeded inside after that. I glanced at Shield for a second before he entered the base. I guess I was worried for nothing. As the four of us entered Prometheus HQ I noticed that there was a number of bullet holes in the walls that and a number of downed soldiers. I continued looking around then my eyes fell on Alastor. He seemed to know that I was staring at him so he turned around and looked me straight in the eyes before saying…

  “I got tired of waiting. Most of the soldiers are either busy fighting around the island or holed up somewhere.”

  “What do you mean somewhere you don’t know?” I asked.

  Alastor simply increased his pace then took a left even though he could have continued forward or taken a right. Carter, Shield and I followed after him without saying anything. I honestly expected there to still be resistance but I guess Alastor had cleared them all out. That’s when I heard footsteps that didn’t belong to us.

  “I think I jinxed us?”

  I turned quickly even though it hurt, I pulled out my CQBR and aimed it forward. Baaaarp baaaarp baaaarp gunfire shot forth even before the soldiers came into view. Shield went in front of me coated in hygrometal causing the bullets to bounce off harmlessly. Baaaaaarp baaaaarp baaaaarp apparently they didn’t understand that their shots weren’t going to do anything. So I moved my CQBR by Shield’s arm and pulled the trigger baaaaarp baaaarp baaarp. A number of bullets showered forth hitting a good number of soldiers. Shield lifted his rifle and started mowing down the last ones standing.

  I was about to ask why neither Carter nor Alastor had joined in. But when I turned around I saw that both of them were gone. I signaled to Shield then both of us ran down the hall. We reached another fork in the hallway that’s when I noticed that there was a black orb resting by the wall on the right side. I guess while Alastor got tired of waiting he kept himself busy. Why did we enter the base if he had already deployed the bombs?

  I closed my eyes listening to the sounds of footsteps coming from a number of directions.

  “Right, let’s go right. Mind the orb.”

  Shield and I ran right until we spotted a group of soldiers who unfortunately for them spotted us too late baaaaarp baaaaaaaaarp. At least three of them managed to turn and return fire grazing me, grazes were the least of my problems right now.

  “Where the hell did those two go?”

  “Over here numbskull?” Alastor shouted.

  Baaaarp baaaaaaarp baaaaarp. If Alastor’s comment wasn’t followed by gunfire I would be more incline to believe that he was talking to me. Either way Shield and I continued right until we reached another fork in the hall. This one was different the path to our right had a number of bodies and the path in front had bullet holes in the wall. While the left path looked completely untouched.

  “Left?” Shield asked.

  “Left.”

  CLANG…CLANG…CLANG. It seems we made the right choice because as Shield and I drew closer we could hear a loud clanging sound which grew louder and louder. The hall started to curve but was oddly shorter than the others, once we reached the end I saw why. There was a large metal wall which had blocked the area. Only now it had been torn opening, Shield and I carefully entered that’s when I saw Carter and Alastor punching at the next wall. Shield glanced at me then covered himself with hygrometal while stepping forward.

  Once he did Carter and Alastor stepped aside allowing Shield to unload a barrage of punches on the wall caving it in. I could already see that there was a third wall. I stepped forward and looked at the others before I hit it denting it in then Shield punched it and then Carter and Alastor and then Shield again. Carter and Alastor went then I punched.

  The wall was a lot more durable than the last ones. I wasn’t going to give up though so I pulled my arm back and punched forward, pulled my arm back then threw it forward. The third time I punched it my eyes were glowing, so when my fist hit the metal I punched a hole in it. Alastor tore it opened after that then we moved forward to a door with a different kind of security.

  “Looks like it has a number of different types of biometric scanners.”

  Carter stepped forward after I spoke.

  “You gonna do some sort of thing with the electricity cause I think they’re probably prep….”

  Zeeeeetbaaaaarp zeeeeet baaaaaarp baaaarpzeeeeeet, Carter interrupted Alastor by running electricity through his CQBR, he shot at the left side of the door starting from the bottom then working his way up. Carter’s shots melted through the bolted down left side of the door. Then Carter punched the door pushing it inward a few more punches and the door went completely inward like a reverse sardine can.

  The four of us entered the room and the first thing I noticed was that it was incredibly spacious. There were various terminals on the walls but there wasn’t much else aside from a man in a white lab coat facing toward a large curtain.

  “Don’t shoot.” The man said while raising his hands and turning around the second I saw him my eyes opened wide from shock.

  “You?”

  “Alex you know him?” Shield asked.

  “Sort of. I met him when I was younger I and Adam did.”

  The man sort of looked at me, looking much older now which wasn’t surprising but I was sure it was the man he was wearing a necklace which I knew was a rosary and he had three rings on one hand.

  “Sorry we’ve never met. Technically you’ve met him not me.”

  “What. What the hell does that mean? Carter asked.

  “I don’t really feel like explaining this to you. Anyway call me Miller, Mr. Miller.”

  “What? No first name.” Alastor commented.

  Mr. Miller just glanced at Alastor lazily. “Calvin is the name. If you were all so curious you should have asked Adam?”

  “Oh that’s not gonna happen considering he’s dead.”

  Calvin turned his attention to Carter, an expression which I took to mean surprise, worked its way onto his face if only for a moment. Shield pointed his gun toward the curtain.

  “What’s in there?”

  The second he asked Calvin gave him a death glare. Alastor lifted his hand and pulled the curtain aside which made Calvin go hysterical. Behind the curtain was a large tube filled with luminescent green liquid and inside was a human being.

  “What is that?” Carter and I asked at the same time.

  Calvin grinned. “It’s mine. It’s mine.”

  Alastor glanced toward us for a moment before turning his attention to Calvin. “Anyone else take that as an admission that he’s the head honcho.”

  He might have been the man in charge but he seemed unstable like he didn’t care that we were here, and he was saying some weird stuff. I looked around the room to see if I could spot anything else that’s when I saw a door. I walked toward it whil
e Calvin watched me but did nothing to stop me so I proceeded to open the door. Once I did I saw a large bedroom filled with papers and a bed with a single frail occupant. It was a man in his late twenty that had a number of tubes through him and some sort of breathing apparatus.

  “You guys should take a look at this.” I announced while heading back to the main room.

  Everyone took a look inside, we were all more confused now more than ever. Who was the man in the room?

  “Calvin, who’s that?”

  Calvin sighed loudly then glanced at the room. “I’m in the room.” Once he said that an odd smile went across his face.

  “What are you talking about? What’s with the man in the tube and who’s in the room over there? What was all this for, why did Prometheus do all of this?”

  Calvin only smiled. “Enough talk. You may leave now.”

  Each of us looked at each other then back at Calvin who only repeated his earlier statement then BANG. A hole appeared in Calvin’s head while a red mist sprayed in the air just before he dropped to the ground. I turned to Alastor who was still holding the handgun, he barely glanced at me when he holstered it and walked toward Calvin’s body placing what I assumed to be the last black orb on his body.

  “Whatever. This is.” Alastor gestured with his hands. “It’s over now.”

  “He could have explained, he could have…”

  “No, Alastor’s right let’s go.”

  Once Carter spoke I could hear a number of footsteps coming our way. I took a deep breath then sighed as fun as fighting our way out of here would be. I wasn’t going to do it.

  “Everyone huddle up. We need to get out of here now.”

  Alastor was about to say something when an expression went on his face oh. Everyone huddled up while I closed my eyes and started thinking about a place, somewhere we could get a good view of the base going up in flames. I took in another deep breath while a green light appeared in the center of my vision and expanded outward then came blackness.