The Earl's injuries were slightly visible. He was burned a little bit on his cheek, but nothing too serious. He sneered, exposing his razor sharp teeth. I was on the floor in pain. Blood seeped from my side. The pain, the pain it was unbearable. The cut on my side felt like a thousand bees stinging me all at once. My limbs shivered like as if I stood in the death of winter with only but shorts and socks. I've never experienced this level of pain and The Earl was giggling at it.
Blood exerted from my throat, "Dammit!" I coughed.
"Oh, you have never experienced pain before. Unlike the records, your father has pain tolerance. But you? You are an interesting breed indeed," he said. I struggled to get up. I wiped the blood dripping from my mouth, my eyes locked on him like an enraged dog wanting to pounce.
"Shut up," I said.
"The Badge of Alpha is never for an amateur. Your body is rejecting its power. Give it to me boy!" The Earl said.
"How about you eat shit," I tried to stand, "How's that?"
"Oh, that was a poor choice, son. Very poor choice!" He jumped off the counter about to hammer me with his feet. I rolled out of the way. I grabbed my Badge and shot a blue energy ball at him to which he barely dodged. He jumped on top of the pole of the bed, much like a demon, he leaped from column to column gaining speed. He lunged at me from the bed. I pulled back my fist, now glowing in a deep shade of blue and smashed his face through the air in a spectacular explosion. The house shook for a brief minute. The minute I hit him, a trail of blue flames followed. I flew after him; finally caught up I smashed my fists into his body. I knocked him into the jaw sending him flying into the sky. He stopped midway and smacked me downward like how a hammer does to a nail. I could feel the air waving around me. The initial shock blew a few building back, blowing windows off from their frames, and bricks from their cups. I crashed to the ground and leaped back into the air. My arms started to burn, my anger reached its peak. My Badge glowed blue hot. I pulled back my arm, gathering the energy around me and shouted...
"ALPHA BLAST!" A powerful, blue concussion beam exploded from my Badge stampeded in the sky, freckled with yellow electrical charged particles swinging around the beam rushed towards the Earl. He barely dodged the attack. He free fell at a high distance using his head as a missile before he used his body's velocity upon impact to gain speed, using his legs as a buzzsaw.
I flew over towards him to counterattack but instead, he wrapped his legs around my neck, dragging me down to the Billard Room where both our bodies splashed on the pool table.
He roped his hands on my neck; I tried to gasp for air.
"How does it feel, human?" he asked, "How does it feel to feel pain? Does it feel nice? Does it feel exquisite? Does it feel divine? That Badge you're holding is killing you, boy! Hand it over and all of this will be over!"
"And why should I trust you?"
"Because I own you," he said in my ear, "And like it or not once I get that Badge from your hands, the only thing you'll be seeing is an iron box. And as for your sister, she will belong to me too. Everything you own. Everything you care about will belong to me you understand that?" he tightened his grip, "Give me the Badge boy, or you will die."
"Go. To. Hell!" I blasted him off me. He slid on the floor. I got up and popped my neck. I got in my kata with my glowing Badge at hand. I was not gonna let him hurt me, my sister, or anyone else.
"You're making a mistake, human!" he spat, "My patience is wearing thin. Talking to you isn't going through your head. So in lieu of that, I might as well beat it out of you."
"I'm waiting," I said. Enraged, he roared, charging at me with enough energy he had. Whence he came, I countered for a short while until he caught up. Eventually, my arm twisted at an odd angle, I was slammed to the wall then soon smashed through it while getting pecked mercilessly by this inhuman garbage. I tried defending myself, but there was no use. My left arm was of no use.
I was a literal punching bag.
...
"I hung on for dear life. My God, how my face echoed the screams from my enemy's hands. I didn't see it coming and here I was watching them confront each other from a hanging glass panel across from me. Samantha, as what she was named was knocked out. She lied on a panel above me. It cracked, but it stood in one piece. I tried to get up, try to calm Michael down. Try to educate him on how to defeat such a fellow.
"To be honest, I've had never met or seen such a being in all my life. And the knowledge of King Mungfalme's return makes me petrified for me to see further out into the future, for it remained bleak. A monster such as this Earl creature, loyal and devout servant to this tyrant is nothing new but fanatical. He was a Reptilian nationalist leading a horde of zombies no less, preying more than just their empire, but their lust for power and greed. A mindset belonging to those of Ghengis Khan. Those with the conquest mind behave like Barbarians on a boring day.
"King Mungfalme, a demagogue, has returned to us. This is an evil not met since Satan fell from Heaven and created the Kingdom of Hell since foretold in the Bible. Maybe this was Satan reincarnated onto the Earth to spread his evil.
"I was no religious man. God heavens no. But when I see evil, there was no comparison that I could ever match. Dictators like Hitler and Stalin were mere cartoon villains compared to this monster's atrocities.
"I was slipping through the glass; my heart raced, 'Oh dear.' I tried to grab hold but the glass tore my sweat-drenched skin allowing for the blood to slowly drip from my wounds.
"Just above me, Samantha was waking up. I hadn't paid her any mind. I was trying to cling to the glass, but my weight was causing the glass to sing with crease.
"'Oh dear God,' I prayed, 'Hold on Dalton. Hold on.' Just when I thought my life flashed before my eyes, Samantha woke up. Her eyes widened in horror at my predicament. My hands slipped and immediately she thrust into action. Like a rock, I fell and crashed through several glass panels. I heard my bones shattered upon impact. Samantha landed and dropped off falling panels all headed straight for me.
"Our distanced lengthened apart the faster I had fallen in the air. Samantha gained speed as a familiar white flame engulfed her. She slid on one of the panels, ducking her neck from an upcoming shard shot directly at her neck. As my body spun around in the air as I neared the ground, I saw Samantha transform in a bright white light. Her grew bigger. Stronger. Her skin erupted in dark gray fur. She formed a muzzle and white flaming eyes. Armour generated within this power.
"I recognized this power. I recognized this! This was the Zeta! The same form his mother possessed whilst holding the Zeta Badge! I thought they were extinct! Gone from existence and yet one is risking her life to save mine.
"As the Zeta got closer, it punched through one glass panel in the way, opened its arms, wrapped me around them as we splashed into my Root Cellar down below. The glass easily plugged the hole in the roof, but some breached in. She held on tight and generated a white energy dome around us, protecting us from the hail of glass.
"When it was over, I opened my eyes to see Samantha on me sleeping, 'Jesus Christ.' I crawled away and hugged my knees.
"'I did good? Yes?' she asked.
"I nodded, 'Yes you did.'
"'Help the Alpha?' she asked.
"I nodded, 'Yes. Let's.' I said struggling to get up; Samantha pulled me up from the floor.
"'Follow me,' I said leading her to the door. I just hope that Michael fares well against this monster. I have to warn Pappy. King Mungfalme's back.
...
I tried to defend myself against this tyrant. He was...he was too strong! I dodged most of his hits, but every time I tried to use my Badge against him, he would try to counter to prevent me from using it.
He kicked me in the stomach forcing air to blow out of my lungs; I flew out to the Balcony where he continued to deliver me a dreadful kick to the face and multiple jabs to the face. I tried blocking his attacks with my right arm, but seemed to be more than a challenge. It was impossible. With the final blow
, he kicked me off the Balcony into the pool of warring species. I splashed into the ocean of wet cake batter. I tried to swim, but I couldn't. A Neoman carrying a Spear was on top of a surface ready to throw it until it was shot by a stranger. A stranger name Pappy.
"You looked fucked up!" Pappy yelled.
I wanted to smile until I heard a scream. I saw this creep fly from Chandelier to Chandelier. He landed where...where Nya was at!
"Oh my God!" I panicked, "Pappy!"
"I see it! I got it! You stay right there!" Pappy instructed. He was about to turn around until a woman pointed a gun at him, "And wherrre do you zink you'rrre going?"
"Not now doll! I gotta kid to save!" Pappy disarmed her but their hands were hooked together. They were fighting on top of a solid surface. I tried to swim to higher ground to catch up to the Earl before he does something to my sister.
"Michael! Help!" My eyes were tidally locked on them both. Susie and Jullian were knocked out. Everyone were flying over towards him; His army held them back trying to slow them down to stop the Earl from doing what I am thinking what he was going to do. He had her picked up by the hair. He had a knife pointed to her neck! I had to hurry! I just had to hurry!
"Nya! Hold on Nya I'm coming!" I hurriedly tried to swim, trying to ignore my broken arm.
"This is what happens when offspring of terrorists become heroes!" the Earl announced, "I hope you are watching Son of Alpha, this is the revenge MY PEOPLE and I have been hungry for! The moment of decadence of our race will decline! Because if you won't give us the Badge, Son of Alpha, then you'll give us what you care most!"
I froze in place when he did what he did. He took his knife and dug into my sister's back. My skin grown cold. My felt my heart stop; my limbs shook. I had no idea how to respond. He broke the blade from the hilt.
Watching this freak hold my sister's cold body sent a mix of emotions racing to my mind.
Sadness.
Fear.
Denial.
Anger.
Rage.
"The soul of the heart," he said.
My body went up in flames from all the rage I felt from inside. He was going to die.
THIRTY
"THE CREATURE I FACED stood up to your realm as if he was such a big shot. Lucky for me my Lord, this human didn't stand a chance against your Earl. Him or his Sky-Titans. This Son of Alpha was no threat to you, or as I thought. His aura rose significantly fast. Faster than his Father your rival did, Mopy whenever he powered up with the Badge. Humans are so strange and primitive. It's a wonder on how they survived for millions of years.
"This Child I'm afraid has potential, my King. And in this report, in this letter I am writing to you, all I could describe was an atmosphere of hatred. I saw murder in his eyes as I held his carcass sibling. This animal who dared to lay a hand on me dared to have me on the ground. Not if I send him there first.
"I could feel his anger.
"His hatred.
"His hostility.
"It was red hot like the blade of a knife sitting on a heated coil. I could see speckles of matter lift from the ground around him. Blue gas spewed from his aura; his eyes leaked yellow smoke. All the others I suspected tried to calm him down. I observed this creature as his emotions riled up. I expected this. I wanted to see the true power of this Alpha.
"Droplets of matter that rose up from the ground earlier soon became globs of ruined batter populated by floating corpses. This power was terrifying; and at the hands of an animal, chaos would rain.
"I have tried warning of the consequences of having me to give me the Badge. He didn't listen. As always with these humans, they always choose the hard way instead of what's being told. Countless of their empires lay wasted because of their primitive actions. As for I, I must leave and regroup to escape from this wrath this human would likely to inflict.
"I am proud to say that this mission was not a failure. It was only the beginning, to say the least. I have found the Sky-Titans, their location, the Son of Alpha and their little pet I had to put down. Clearly, this human lacked knowledge of the repercussions on possessing a powerful Badge such as the Alpha. His friends warned him to calm down. But their pleas were too much too little to tame the human. His power rose exponentially to dangerous levels.
"'Michael, calm down! You're going to kill yourself if you release too much power!' I heard one green female.
"'Michael, come on! Come on buddy!' His power slightly fanned them, pushing them away a little bit minute by minute. I stood and I watched. I wanted to see how far this human can sustain this much power. As I held the human female higher, his anger exploded. He pushed his friends further out. His sanity slipped.
"'You're dead,' he said in an echo, two voices dominated this time in unison, 'You've killed an innocent. Now it's time for you to pay.'
"'I killed her?' I asked, confused, 'Catch me if I'm wrong but had I warn you on the implications of what would happen? Funny how..."
"'SHUT UP!" he roared. Large quantities of blue flames explode from his aura. He levitated, a thick trail of blue flames swirling around him. Yellow charges sparked, striking the walls. The Sky-Titans below took cover. I shielded my eyes from the bright light.
"Then from the light came a roar that echoed darkness. Walking in the air from the cloud of blue flames stood a muscular lion with a thick blue mane, yellow face, wearing armor coated in glowing yellow and blue paint steel. The Faceplate bore the Badge's insignia. It's flames...the yellow flames spilled in the air, some trailed to the back of its head. It gave me a murderous look. For the first time, I have felt what many felt. My hair froze in place, my skin peeled off, dying in a massacre. I held the corpse tightly in my arms, knowing that this body is what this creature is after.
"'You killed many. Ruined nations. Invaded villages. You do not deserve to live," it spoke with a soft booming tone in its voice. It pulled out its giant, flaming golden battle-ax; it swung the blade following the trail of blue flames. It tightly held its raven-blue hilt: it had three golden rings evenly spread apart. Each glowing brightly than the other.
"The Alpha got on its kata; I prepared my escape. I jumped off the ridge just when the lion shot a powerful, blue concussion beam at my wake. A pterodactyl caught me just before I landed in the ocean of bread. I flew low avoiding the blasts from this monster. We flew through the cracks and out of the collapsing palace. I looked back and the place blew up before my eyes, a straight blue trail painted the black skies. My army from the back fought this creature as much as they could.
"They were all annihilated. The Alpha shot a series of large, blue concussion beams at them trying to strike me. In the air, it spun around as it roared. In front of me, a T-Rex ran towards the blue light as the rider on the said beast shot at the lion floating in the air.
"This only angered it.
"It was at this moment on why I joined your service my Liege. One of my leading qualms would be the annihilation of our proud race. This child possessed a powerful Badge that could end us, and for what I witnessed was a preview of what would happen if we do not stop him.
"He finished off nearly most of my army. They didn't stand a chance. They were just dominoes to this demon! My pterodactyl flew high to escape the rampage.
"The creature spotted me.
"It drew close.
"The lion powered up to dangerous levels. Levels that I nor anyone had ever seen before. It was something I would never forget.
"The power the Alpha generated lit up the night sky. Whole stars vanished. With a single gasp of breath, the creature screamed: "ALPHA!"
"A large concussion beam was fired from the soul of the creature; the Earth violently shook. At an instant, half of my pterodactyl, as well as my arm, were caught in the blast. I barely made it. The beam was so hot that I didn't feel anything but the sting of losing a limb. From what I could remember, I fell headfirst to the ground drowning in the dead the monster massacred.
"My sight was gone at that moment, but from
what I could be garnered from the moment before my eyes shut was that when the stars returned. I didn't see the lion again, but the Son of the enemy holding a weapon that could destroy us.
"This was no boy; this was a threat. From what your records had told us. Mopy was the threat. His son made it so that Mopy was no threat, but an annoyance. His son bore no civility. No justice. Only vengeance. More like I am. I was humiliated. My whole armies I was gifted with, my authority: challenged. All by a boy. I gave him orders and he completely disobeyed them! How dare he? My title is everything! My authority over the humans should be absolute!
"I won many battles! Won many wars! Not one that was as pathetic, and as abysmal as this sorry boy! He took my arm! He took my army! He took my soul! For I, King Mungfalme, your loyal servant, I wish that you grant me the strength to annihilate the humans once and for all! They are a parasite! A cancer to this world. Mopy's son was just the beginning.
"This Son of Alpha would soon be nothing but rotten flesh and bones underneath the ground of a graveyard. I want my revenge and I want it now.
...
"Holy shit. I never thought I would see the day I get to see the Alpha transformation again. However, I would have to say that Michael's sudden transformation was dangerous. Even for my liking at best. It had been a few days since the fight. We were underground, deep inside of The Base waiting for our ship to arrive. I was in the back having a smoke outside the room where Michael was recuperating. The young lady in there, I believe her name was Sam? Funny, her name sounded familiar. I wasn't sure what exactly.
"The Base was an underground airport, well it was anything but an airport since it was underground. It was more like something you would see in a post-apocalyptic setting really. You know all them shits. There were earth pillars here and there. It had a river that flowed here, pretty clean to drink off of since it was fertilized by a facility out yonder. The people here looked more like Gilded Age factory workers. Everyone was getting their things packed for some kind of war. Arms and missiles were packed. I'm guessing it was a war against the Neomen.
The Son of Alpha (The Legend of the Sky-Titans Book 1) Page 19
