by Chucho Jones
“How long did it take him and how does it work?” the boy asked, anxious to know. The rest of the crew stood apart from the information near them. Oliver saw great hope. The maiden understood the boy’s wondrous demeanor and the meaning behind it.
“The doctor had a breakthrough in the brink of the nineteen-seventies, that’s the era of the Telephantom,” the display showed a menacing ghostly figure with his glowing skeleton showing through. Oliver was amazed at the information before him.
“It wasn’t until his daughter perfected the technology in the early two thousand that we were able to harness its potential for the well-being of humankind,” she said with a sharp pain behind her words. “By the time I became what I am now, we could do something about humanity, but our chance was lost. Humankind had been eradicated and turned into mutants instead. Rumors of underground human cities spread over the years, but we never found anything. We stuck to understanding this technology until we were able to realize exactly how we would be able to find you,” said the maiden. The holographic display showed a long-assorted list of people in elaborate get-ups in various battle scenarios.
“Through the years we thought that Mr. E and his alien technology was intertwined with finding a solution to this chaos, but it wasn’t until we found you master Hawke, that we completely understood how our paths were supposed to cross. We haven’t got much time to stop Enlumacorp’s monoliths. We will be sent through the quantum gate now that Mr. E has the phantom technology,” she said to the group with utmost sincerity. The team looked at each other, and Leon gazed at the maiden’s beauty – he nodded and gave her a wink. The maiden smiled. Oliver looked down at his alien arm, he was examining his right arm, the slight creases in the design going up his forearm. He noticed the indentation that the mime added in order to sustain the geothermal battery, the vitro-plasma sac that fed off the geothermal batteries and inside the luminous display, an array of alien symbols that would randomly change. He realized there where encrypted messages he wasn’t understanding. He knew he needed to study the intro-phase in order to fully understand the wielder’s power.
“Let’s start from the beginning then,” said the boy genius. The maiden smiled at the team. Greg and Chance stood next to the maiden. The whole group was finally seeing eye to eye.
“I don’t think Mr. E expects you to host the wielder. Your human DNA might have caught his attention but I don’t think he understands what you are yet – we can use that to our advantage,” the maiden said, feeling in high spirits.
10
Chapter 10
The ambient was clear, and the clean smell of the halls made for a pleasant environment – perfect for relaxing a troubled mind, and keeping it from the edge. Chance had often needed to be aware of his surroundings over the past decade, and being able to relax in the comfort of training was a great, and welcome change. The perfect moment to analyze his new team, the perfect opportunity to focus on the next mission, his perfect chance at redemption. He gazed at the maiden as a child would admire their mother. He remembered his time growing up in training as he stood by her on each of team Hawke’s training trials.
Laura stood at the odd side of the shooting range. Connor and Chance stood across by the weapons and shooting stations. Greg stood to the side, he was documenting every moment.
“Ok, so what am I doing here? Do I even get a weapon to shoot back?” she asked as she awaited her orders. The maiden looked back at her as she worked a holo display in front of her.
“Through your recent experience, you have been exposed to countless uneven senerios to hone your survival skills. As the general, you must understand how to take advantage of those situations, and use them to strengthen your skills. Remember, allow your intro-phase to level the situation,” the maiden said as she began the gauntlet. Chance took a grin as he cocked a rifle and began to shoot at the intrepid mother. Laura was quick on her feet. She would duck and roll, she even got creative and grabbed stuff from the ground to toss at the mime. Her face showed a berserk-like demeanor – it caught Chance’s eye. He realized the aggressive lady seemed like a wild beauty set loose in her natural habitat. He kept focused on shooting at her, yet she always found a way to get close. Chance got distracted by the clanking sounds, followed by fallen debris; she then ducked and rolled closer to the edge of the firing stations, throwing a piece of metal at the mime, elbowing him on the jaw, and propping his gun away from him – taking a step back and cocking the weapon at him. All this occurred in a flurry, the maiden was surprised by the tactical display.
“Great use of the intro-phase, you really tapped into your full potential,” said the maiden to Laura.
“It was almost as if a small voice told me when I was doing something wrong,” Laura leveled with Connor, like two women talking in the bathroom, sharing lady secrets. Chance couldn’t help take his eyes off the General as he felt a rushing sensation through his body. It wasn’t hard for him to realize why she was in a favorable position.
Victoria stood next to Chuggy at a dirt field filled with obstacles and tight places, the creature wore straps and a backpack filled with useful gadgets. Victoria had a dual gun strap with a laser phaser on each holster. Chance and Connor looked down at the girl, and creature from a floating platform – along with Oliver, Leon, and Laura. The maiden addressed the teen:
“Your experience has shown you that there’s nothing that can stop you from reaching your goals. You must use your resources and positive outlook into completing this gauntlet, both of you have to make it to the other side together.”
Victoria began the trial-run along with Chuggy. As expected, the limber child displayed exceptional athletic skills through the circuit. She had felt a sense of bliss as she relied on the wits of her companion to pull through. Victoria, meanwhile, was being chased by a group of drones. She and Chuggy split up to distract their attackers. Chuggy goaded the drones into chasing after her while Victoria shot each one of them down, without missing a shot. Chance and Connor were surprised at the feats this girl was able to achieve. Suddenly, her companion got trapped and the girl got distracted by the moment. Chance grunted in frustration. The rest of the team stood behind them – worrying about their friends.
“We’re trusting our future to a group of kids and their mother, I hope we know what we’re doing,” said Connor to Chance. He saw the worried demeanor on his caretaker. He felt a sudden sense of responsibility and, for a moment, he showed a glimpse of sensitivity. He raised his right arm and placed his hand on the maiden’s shoulder.
The walls were coated with plaster and painted beige and a deep brown strap accentuated the walls close to the ceiling of the facility. A classic gym space with an Olympic horse, rings hanging from the ceiling, a boxing ring, assorted punching bags, sets of black dumb bells, and a dojo dressed the room. Leon stood with a smug look on his face wearing a typical sweat suit from his era in front of Chance. Oliver and Greg stood to the side of the dojo.
“Alright, now this is an environment that I can feel comfortable in,” said the confident scoundrel.
“Watch and learn kid, this is how I used to rid of your bullies,” said, Leon. He was putting on a mouth guard, while looking at his padded sparring gauntlets. “I can see my fingers in these things, ring the bell jukebox,” he continued, directing his voice toward Greg. The scoundrel began to rumble with Chance. The pale humanoid took a deep breath and analyzed his opponent. Leon’s form was firm and he seemed experienced, he threw a good ol’ one-two at Chance, and he barely had time to take cover. The punches were firm and strong. Almost on par with Chance, or so he thought. He retaliated with an uppercut combo, Leon could dodge most of the punches but couldn’t get away from a couple of them. The scoundrel took a step to the side and threw a side-swing combo at his pale sparring companion that finished with an uppercut to his opponent’s kidneys. Chance had a hard time breathing, and fell to the ground. He felt surprised at the young scoundrel’s skills. He took a quick step up and decided to show him a
few different moves. As the bell rung Chance scurried through the dojo and grabbed hold of Leon before the young man could move or do anything to retaliate. Chance grabbed him by the neck and gave him a powerful blow to the sternum with his knees. The scoundrel fell on the ground without being able to breathe. Chance pushed his forearm pad with his fingers writing a message. Greg received the message and voiced the words.
“Boxing is a safe fighting choice, but you must learn the nine lethal blows of mixed martial arts if you want to survive,” said the robot. Chance helped Leon on his feet and patted him on the back. He then ruffled Oliver’s hair as he took the towel off the boy and placed it on his neck.
A few days had passed, the team had been beaten into learning the ways of the Intro-phase in order to best themselves as a team. Connor sat with Oliver at a technical lab with assorted biomechanical gadgets around the edges of the room. A holo display of the Intro-phase played in front of them.
“So, as you can see these nine attributes are the ones that drive the phase. You can easily pick out the ones that best apply to each of us. For you, it’s the attributes of science and mental skill: wisdom, intelligence, manipulation… that sort of thing. Look inside of yourselves, and try to understand each endeavor from those viewpoints,” said the maiden as Oliver simulated a strategy on the side. A plan that would help them generate a solid destination for their trajectory.
“I understand now, I see how we can perform better – even in our daily tasks,” said the genius. Chance realized he had been up against the wrong people all along. Enlumacorp had poisoned his mind into making him believe F.A.M.I.L.Y. was a conspirator against progress. Good thing for him he realized he had been wrong – just in the nick of time. The maiden revised Oliver’s thought process.
“It seems as though you still have some headroom to grow, but you and your team are ready to help us get you to where you need, and stop Enlumacorp’s plan. We don’t have much time. Just a few more hours before the monolith’s launch,” said the maiden. Everyone gathered around and agreed to settle in for a good night’s rest.
* * *
The vastness of space was grand. Earth’s glowing rim shining brightly in the distance, contrasting with its dark shadowy penumbra. Titling warm lights shown out through the darkness like a luminous pointillistic painting, infesting the planet below. The sun was bright at its distance, setting the tone like someone had been pulling a red curtain over the sky.
A great day for interdimensional space travel thought Enlumacorp’s CEO, Mr. E, ‘The Faceless’, while he stood magnificently atop his mezzanine, which jutted out from the building’s penthouse. His sector one monolith took its path into outer space while leaving a trail of radioactive compost behind. Various other monoliths left Earth’s atmosphere at a distance, following sector one’s path.
The dark gliding menace stood next to the elegant elusive man, his hoof-like feet gave him an elegant upright posture, reminiscent of the alien beauty of the Gorgazon-X.
“You see my darling, today we mark history! The kind our forefathers imagined in their dreams. For millennia we have followed our mandate. Today, I bring justice to existence, and together we shall rid the collective consciousness of our ancestors’ main brain council – with the human-hybrid virus. Time will be of no matter as we travel through the dimensional light holes,” Mr. E said, calmly to the dark gallant glider.
“Archibald, please meet miss Eve and me on Sector One’s master chamber, and bring the Phantom-Tech with you. Come on dear let’s take a glide among the stars,” said the elusive elegant man as he jumped off the mezzanine followed by the dark glider. They both spread their tunics and soared through the starry sector one cityscape. The man felt the breeze on his face and thought of all the millennia he spent accomplishing his plan. The dawn of a civilization, the discovery of a continent; the dawn of modern technology, and consumerism. The alteration of human DNA. All moments trumped by the biggest achievement: dimensional space travel through light-holes.
The golden and dark glider arrive at a platform that stretched out of the monolith’s dome and into a spherical structure that seemed to control the entire ship. It was like the master chamber at the Gorgazon-X.
The pair waited for Archibald’s arrival. He carried around his green tunic, the blue core that held the Phantom-Tech. The elegant man impatiently held the core in his hands and brought it close to an elevated console next to a circular structure with eight rings. He placed the core inside the console. The platform means to glow as it became powered by the core.
“Perfect, the Nexus is ready,” said the elusive CEO, “now we wait for the wielder to shatter the quantum cosmos towards our destination. Time will be of no essence.” As he spoke the words, a millennium of memories flashed before him, some of them felt only like a distant dream.
An elegant half man half dog humanoid approached Archibald in a padded golden getup, his belt held a couple of phatasfas with golden blades on their edges. The official looking dog-man guard whispered into Archibald’s ears. The subservient dog-man approached Mr. E., and the elegant man’s heart beat raised in frequency – ready for what might come next.
“Sir, The V. I. Police say that Sector one has been compromised. We cannot go into dimensional space travel if the monolith is compromised.” The humanoid beast cried to the elegant CEO. The man scoffed at this information, raised his left hand, and signaled the dark slider.
“Go on my dear, take my finest personnel and your best drones and bring me the wielder so that we can carry on,” he said. The dark glider still hadn’t taken flight. The V. I. Police officer ran out and followed. Dark Eve was followed by a horde of Manta-Drones and got lost in the distance.
“You see Archibald, one not must worry about chaos, who knows what’s good or bad,” he said to the dog-man. “I was counting on this intrusion,” said the man as he stared at the man-beast with his deep black gaze.
* * *
A white light surrounded the environment, yellow specs began to manifest, forming an elegant cityscape with assorted mega buildings, it was a familiar scenario for the traveling group. Oliver began to feel accustomed to teleportation. It still amused him that his uncle couldn’t hold his jitters every time they did it. Oliver recognized the cityscape in seconds, the team seemed ready and on point. They wore single-colored, formatted leotards with hooded ponchos, with fashion masks – enabling them to blend in with the crowd. He could only dream of being in such assorted number of species like his heroes on the atomic comic strips.
“Ok everyone, remember what Connor said: Once we hear the alarm we have only a few minutes to figure out where the control panel is before we get surrounded. If we get caught we wait for their retaliation,” said Oliver to the rest of the team.
“Got it,” they said in unison. Oliver nodded, he examined his forearm’s display and signaled the group to move left. They casually turned as they noticed the crowd getting stirred. They moved carefully, continuing to walk casually among the multitude, making their way through the golden and silver city.
11
Chapter 11
Leon took a deep breath, held on to his weapons, and walked onward with the rest of his team. He held his phatasfa tightly with his right hand, and on his left, he held his modified Lucky bat – turned phatasfa. As the team walked in, Mr. E was waiting for them with a full garrison of V. I. Police officers. The man activated the control panel that held the phantom core. The circular platform with rings began to operate. The maiden got drawn to the device like a moth to a flame. She couldn’t move, and she slid directly to the base of the platform, energy particles and specs began to detach from her body.
“F.A.M.I.L.Y. morons… don’t you understand that the enlightened are the ones with the answers,” said the faceless host to his uninvited guests, “I was expecting you, all of you. Especially the boy with the wielder,” continued the elusive man.
“Who the hell are you?” asked the impetuous scoundrel.
“Ah, you
see, a question for the ages. I’ve been called, Messiah, Death, Lucifer, Nosferatu, but my favorite one has to be from the Mayans. They called me the man from the stars. You see, Captain Thunderbolt, is it? We expected you to come here.” From the distance, the dark glider approached the group. Leon felt the anticipation of a lost battle once their champion didn’t return, but something inside of him kept him moving forward. Could’ve been the boy, could’ve been the glowing maiden suffering for their cause, or it could’ve been the growing alien community before him.
The glider landed next to the elegant man dropping Chance’s shocking knives to the ground. Leon couldn’t resist any longer, the rushing blood coursed through his body enabling his limbs to move with great speed. He went after the elusive man but the glider blocked his strike and kicked him back to his group, he got up and Laura stood next to him.
“What the heck are you doing?” Laura asked.
“I heal faster, I’m stalling.” said the captain, feeling a shroud of confidence. Leon looked at Oliver and winked at him. Oliver nodded. He charged his arm and shot at the platform hoping to cause an anomaly. The commotion gave the crew some time to retaliate. Laura, Oliver, and Victoria ran towards the IFO. Leon reacted quickly and confronted the faceless by charging him with his phatasfa. The man parried elegantly with his golden bladed phatasfa. He pulled out his second phatasfa and put them together, the weapon looked like a reaper from the future. Leon activated the shield on his lucky bat’s modifications. A small energy oval appeared before him protecting him from Mr. E’s lethal blow. Greg, launched himself at the glider to stop her from ganging up on Leon. The team took the chance and went for the IFO, Chuggy followed, and tossed Victoria and Laura more of the shocking grenades. They threw a few towards the guards to shave the numbers. A large group kept following after them. The glider saw the ladies take a run and went after them. Oliver shot at her and she dropped on the ground.
