The Immortal Trinity: Inheritance

by Momchil Yoskov

The pilot was in a state of shock. And it should come as no surprise - seeing your comrades being brutally murdered is a sight that could easily scar your mind for the rest of your life. He took an elevator to the highest point of the ship - the control room. He barged in with the words:

  - They're still alive, your majesty!

  The Overlord was sitting on his throne, surrounded by three females. He leaned forward and the females stepped away from him and the throne.

  - So... they still refuse to die.

  - Yes, my lord.

  The pilot's shock prevented him from doing anything but stay still and answer to his king, his commander. He knew that his crew had failed their seemingly simple task and now he expected to suffer like his comrades. Only this time Ren'ul Furot himself would carry out the punishment and not the Immortals. As brutal as The Overlord may be, he was quite fair in his judgements. He would not blame someone for doing exactly what he or she should do. Such was the current case. The Overlord approached the pilot, put his hand on his shoulder and said:

  - It is not your fault that your crew was incompetent. You did exactly what you were expected to do - drop them off at the landing spot and then return them to our home with the contents of the vessel. You escaped those animals that killed your brethren - the rest of the crew will enjoy your story. By not hesitating and using the only option you had, you have earned my respect.

  Ren'ul always spoke in such a way to encourage and calm those who followed his orders and rules. To them he was a commander, a king and also a father figure at times. After all, he created them.

  - Now return to your duties. Check your vessel for radiation and other types of contamination. And while you assemble your new crew, tell them to carry out their duties with more competence and anger, otherwise either New Hope or I will put them into the ground.

  - Yes, my liege.

  The pilot bowed and left the room. The mother ship was orbiting around Saturn. Furot's engineers did not know what they would encounter, so they opted for a safer approach, which involved sending a small team to retrieve the container and later find out whether or not the planet was inhabited. Ren'ul preferred to use brains before brawn - as big as his army was, he wasn't willing to lose it, let alone hand it over. He was fully aware that many nations would kill for an army of such size and strength.

  The three females who sat by the throne were former nuns who were trained by The Overlord to become assassins and carry out tasks that required a specific blend of brains and muscle. These assassins also doubled as trophies for Ren'ul. They were not reprogrammed through the use of microchips, nor were they killed and later resurrected. The Overlord had an idea, which involved producing offspring once he acquired the power of the Immortals. He did not use anything but his own wits to convince the nuns to join him... apart from dismembering four other nuns before their eyes. Many decades ago he did the same to the only woman he loved; she betrayed him by refusing to join his quest for power and threatening to hand him over to the Immortals and sabotage his activity as a whole. The result of that fairly short-lived love was his only child - a son. Furot took a very sound approach to raising him. Instead of giving him the most powerful weapons and abilities, he sent him to become a part of the Hordes, so that his wits and strength could grow and shine, thus allowing him to rise in the ranks and prove himself worthy of the abilities and weapons his father uses. Ren'ul was worried that his son would not be able to prove himself and at times the assassins chuckled at him in secrecy, so that the Overlord does not hear them and punish them for it.

  ***

  Ronnie's heart was racing. Even though the risk of being killed was gone for the time being, his mother and father were unaware of what was happening to him. The brothers were concerned as well about their respective parents' reactions, but what was more worrying was the reaction of the rest of New Hope. How would they act when they find out that the only remains of the Immortals are now part of three members of an unknown race? Tyler broke the silence by commencing a conversation on that very same topic:

  - I don't know about you, lads, but personally I believe that more than half of those boneheads at New Hope will think of us as nothing more than a joke.

  Garret joined in:

  - You can't possibly blame them for that. I mean, who wouldn't be disappointed when looking for survivors from this uber-powered race and then say: "Wait a minute, those guys are fakers!". What do you think, Ronnie?

  As expected, Ronnie was hardly listening.

  - Ronnie!

  - What? What is it?

  - Answer me!

  Ronnie's face was pale and he was breathing heavily. He had a hard time hiding his fear and Garret found it out:

  - Listen, we'll be by your side. You won't be alone, like it or not. I'll say this again: we're all a part of this mess. Me and Tyler will support you in front of your parents as long as you do the same for us.

  That conversation was kept at a low tone. Along with that the boys were sneaking around, trying to avoid all contact with by-passers. They eventually reached the vicinity of Ronnie's house, but there was a problem - a police car was parked in front of the driveway.

  - Well there's a spanner in the works. - said Tyler.

  - There's no way we're going there. - added Garret.

  - So... I guess we just wait until the cops leave? - Ronnie suggested.

  - Sound like a plan. - responded Garret.

  And so they waited inside some bushes, which were conveniently positioned and which children used as a hiding spot when playing hide and seek. The branches and leaves were big enough for the boys to hide their eyes. Roughly 15 minutes later, the front door of Ronnie's house opened. By that time about two or three cars passed, which was enough to send chills down the spines of the now demi-Immortals. Garret had a brainwave; due to the distance, they couldn't possibly hear anything from the bushes, so he told Tyler and Ronnie to stay still, as he sent a tiny reconnaissance drone to hover close to the house with the hopes of hearing what the police officer and Ronnie's parents were saying to each other.

  - What did you hear, Garret? - Ronnie asked as the police car left the neighbourhood.

  - I'll just repeat what the officer said: "We'll investigate the case. If your son returns tonight, then I'm sure you know what to do.".

  Tyler memorized the movement of the officer's lips and was astonished:

  - How did you hear it so clearly? The distance to the front door is probably about 100 feet.

  - Apparently that crystal allows me to spawn and operate a drone. - said Garret.

  - Since when do you know how to operate something as fiddly as a drone?

  Garret looked at Tyler with a serious expression as if it was taken straight from a cartoon, which turned into a smirk, combined with a short chuckle. Ronnie was never entirely sure when a particular situation was funny or serious. Though upon seeing Garret's expression he quickly understood.

  But the trio were not out of the woods yet. As soon as they crawled out of the bushes, another car appeared in the street and parked in front of the house that was closest to the bushes. Seeing as they were at a junction, the demi-Immortals could not run across the street and have the people in the car thinking: "What are they doing?" or "Ugh, a bunch of pranksters." On the other hand, those potential thoughts would still manifest themselves, even if they ran towards the backyard of the house they were next to, but they could hop over the fence and leave that junction as fast as possible, so that they could lower their chances of being followed. The boys had to make a quick decision and in the end they opted for the jump over the backyard fence. It was a ludicrous idea, but the fewer people saw them, the bigger their chances were to remain hidden from the public's attention.

  The people in the car were a family - unsurprisingly, the owners of the house. Once the boys scurried towards the fence in the backyard, the wife noticed it and told her husband. The children - a boy and two girls - got excited and though that Garret, Tyler and Ronnie were burglar
s. The woman told the kids to stay with her, while their father investigated. The house belonged to the Bronco family: the mother worked as a vet, whilst the father was a police officer. Unfortunately Ronnie was not aware of the man's occupation. Neither were Tyler or Garret. One could say they were in blissful ignorance. The good thing was that the darkness provided some cover and the police officer did not see their faces. He only saw their clothes, or rather what was left of them.

  The brothers hopped over the fence and after a brief struggle on behalf of Ronnie, they all ran towards the backyard of the next house. Thankfully the owners of that one were not there; in fact, they weren't even in town. Garret led Ronnie and Tyler to that house, because he was aware of that fact.

  The police officer was confused and concerned. His family's safety was questionable at that point to him. Though at the same time he was wondering why would anyone hide in some bushes. If they really were burglars, they would have broken into the house ages ago.

  - Honey, are they gone? Have they done anything to the house? - his wife asked him and he answered:

  - No. I don't see any damage to the doors and windows. If they wanted to loot the house, they would have done it forever ago.

  - This has to be investigated. You should tell your colleagues; otherwise they might cause some trouble elsewhere. - she said.

  With those words she entered the house through the back door and told the kids to take a shower before dinner. Officer Bronco was determined to find out what those people's aim was. He believed that there is a reason behind every action.

  Meanwhile, after all that time spent hiding, the boys reached the house, opened the door and ran inside, all within the space of a minute and a half, between waiting for the Broncos to go back inside their house and zipping across the street.

  - Phew... we're safe! - said Ronnie. All three of them gave a sigh of relief. Sadly that moment of peace did not last very long. Ronnie's father was in the living room. The hairs on his back raised one he saw what he described as aliens. As a former military he kept a number of firearms in a few specific spots around the house. One of those spots was under the sofa; that's where he kept a silenced pistol. Even though the boys were now descendants of a race that laughed in the face of death, their human nature and instincts were still present. The trio raised their hands, though Ronnie lowered them slightly.

  - Hey, hey, wait! We're not here to cause trouble! - Tyler tried to assure Ronnie's father.

  - Pops, put the handgun down. - said Ronnie.

  His father recognized his son's voice. As much as he wanted to believe his eyes, he did not put the pistol down and instead wanted Ronnie to prove that he was indeed Ronnie.

  - Dad, seriously, it's me. See these jeans? I left the house wearing these this morning.

  He still wasn't convinced.

  - If those are your jeans, where's your shirt? And what's happened to your hoodie - what's left of it, of course?

  Ronnie's mother heard the yells from the bathroom and went downstairs to see what was going on.

  - Ray, what's going on?

  - He... he claims he's our son, but I don't believe him, let alone the other two bozos.

  - Mom, tell him! - Ronnie begged his mother to persuade him.

  - Very well.

  She stepped away from the stairs and addressed Ray:

  - He's been wearing those jeans for years and that's definitely his hoodie, but... what's with your face? Why did you paint yourself?

  - Macy, do you notice the wackos that are looking at us? - Ray said with both anxiety and anger.

  Ronnie was running out of ideas. Thankfully Garret stepped up and offered a reasonable solution to calm Ronnie's father:

  - Here's an idea: ask him something that only Ronnie would know.

  Ronnie looked into Garret's eyes with an expression of annoyance:

  - I've been interrogated enough for today and I don't want an unnecessary interrogation now, Garret.

  A brief silence filled the room. Then Tyler suggested:

  - I say he asks his questions, so that we can tell you what happened to us and why we look like hobos.

  And so Ray began his interrogation:

  - What is your name?

  - Ronald Raymond Mason.

  - Birth date.

  - 1st of August, 1992.

  - What is your current occupation?

  - Senior year at the university of Frankfort.

  - Favourite musical genres.

  - Rock and metal, followed by drum and bass.

  - What exactly do you study?

  - Will you stop it? How are you not convinced yet? How many answers do you need? Next thing you know you're gonna pester me for a blood test. You want proof that I'm the only child in this family who was born on a camping trip? I'll give you proof.

  Ronnie walked to the coffee table where his father was standing and continued:

  - He's been shot...

  This was directed to everyone:

  - ...in the right leg during his service in Vietnam and the only reason he's still alive, breathing and walking is one of his comrades executing the Vietnamese soldier who almost killed him.

  A moment of silence followed, then Ronnie walked up to his mother and resumed:

  - You told me how you met her at this presentation about saving and recycling water or whatever it was and then you asked her whether or not she was a friend of Aquaman.

  After that explanation, filled with irritation, Ronnie sat down on the sofa and shook his head in disbelief. At that point Raymond believed that it was his son and regretted his doubts partially:

  - Forgive me for threatening you like this, son.

  Ronnie glanced at the pistol and told his father to put it down, so that everyone can sit down like normal, intelligent people.

  Thus he told the story and all about the events - how they were assaulted by the Akeruns, which Tyler humorously described as "space lizards", the conversation with New Hope and Stromak in particular, the brief story of the Immortals and their subsequent demise and the choice that New Hope's commander gave them. Both his mother and father were puzzled because of the amount of information that they received, but they understood that the whole story is on a very big scale. Ray could now ask questions that made sense:

  - Now... let me see if I understood correctly; they told you: "It's either you and us against Ren..."... what was his name?

  - The Overlord. - Tyler helped Ray solve his pronunciation issues.

  - Thank you. "...or you against everyone, including us."

  - Precisely. - Garret said.

  - Did they ask you to give them an immediate answer or did you guys manage to buy yourselves some time?

  Ronnie felt a great amount of discomfort. In that very moment he realised that he made a mistake by taking a life-changing decision without consulting his parents, considering the fact that he still lives with them. His mother lost her mind:

  - What were you thinking, Ronnie?

  - I told them we needed some time to tell you all about this. Did we look like we had a choice?

  The young boy knew his mother would react that way. Once he made a mistake that could result in a lot of trouble, she always brought up the topic that every parent discusses at some point in their lifetime - the future of their child, responsibilities and taking care of a family. Garret noticed how Ronnie was struggling to explain and his mother refused to listen. He decided it was the right time to step up and do as he promised earlier that night:

  - Excuse me, Mrs. Mason...

  - I'm talking to my son, young man, do not interrupt me! - Macy said.

  - For once I think you should listen, ma'am.

  Garret was forced to utilise arrogance to draw the attention of Mrs. Mason. That allowed him to defend Ronnie's actions:

  - Tyler and I asked him, after we opened the container: "What do you want to do with these?". So what if we're deformed and turned into murder machines? We're still breathing, right? Everything is simple
: we help New Hope, eliminate those armies and their leader and in the end, find a way to hand over the technology that is embedded into our bodies. They don't see you as a threat, Mrs. Mason. You don't possess anything that could be called beneficial, let alone lethal.

  - You seem quite arrogant, young man. Is this what your parents taught you? - Macy said.

  - No, ma'am. I'll tell you what my parents taught me. They wanted me, since the very first day I came to this world, to be respectful, to give a hand to those who need it and deserve it, but most of all, they wanted me to grow up as a creature worthy of calling himself a human.

  It seemed like silence was an invisible entity that appeared from time to time and briefly took their voices. Once again, no noise was heard. Ronnie felt like he had just seen the sun pierce its way through a storm cloud. This was the sort of friend he needed - one who does what is right and necessary, one who stands up for his friends. Most of the students on campus were self-serving fakers who acted like they were millionaires and no law on Earth could possibly stop them. Wherever he looked, he saw filth. And now, in the living room, he finally found purity and honesty, someone he could call a friend.

  - Lads, you know that, uh... there are other people who need to be informed... - Tyler said.

  - That's true. - Ronnie agreed.

  ***

  - Where exactly did you say your parents live? - Ray said.

  - Over there, at the end of the street. - said Garret.

  The minivan screeched to a halt. Another car was parked in front of the garage - a Jaguar XK. Ronnie's father always wanted to own and drive a more luxurious vehicle, though sadly he couldn't afford it. The problem was not the money - over the years he saved a lot of money in the bank account with a decent interest rate. Plus he worked at the local tool shop, which wasn't as prestigious as, say, Snap-on, but he, along with the rest of the employees earned the shop a reputation for being a place that contains exactly what it says on the tin and then some. Couple that with the generous assistance of Ray and his colleagues and the end result was a place that gave its customers the right products and service as well as the possibility to form friendships. Their best form of advertisement was their reputation. His wife, however, was the real obstacle. She believed it was unwise to spend a lot of money on some object (in this case, a car) which could lead to overhead expenditures and less money for Ronnie's education and future. Ray asked Garret: