Revelations (Song of Sophangence Book 4)

by E. I. McAllistair

  Yefferson stretched his legs, did a few jumps, and rolled his head around. Once his preparations were complete, he took a running start and then bound impossibly high into the air. Upon reaching an altitude far higher than most helicopters would typically traverse, he came streaking back down to the earth in an explosion powered spiral. The impact was enough to level the entire block, leaving only a massive crater with resulting explosions and death in its wake. Because his car was in the blast zone, it too caught some of the force, and sank into the crater with everything else. Jeckyl was blown clear of the zone as well, which annoyed Yefferson once he returned.

  Jumping down into the crater, he picked up his car as if it were weightless and climbed out of the pit. He then went about finding where Jeckyl had been tossed. Once he found the man, weeping silently, in far worse condition than Yefferson had left him, he grabbed the soot and dirt sprayed man, tossing him back in the trunk. He was no doctor, but he was sure the man did not have much time left based on the way he looked, which meant he would need to finish things quickly. As he sped away to his next destination, he would never know that of all the scenes Jeckyl could have witnessed, he had picked the best one, as the man’s mother, sister, and nephews ran that particular car wash, and lived in the buildings attached, with their families.

  Pleased to find Jeckyl still breathing, albeit very belabored, Yefferson headed to his final destination. He parked his car, grabbed the rapidly fading man from the trunk, and carried him to the back office. Ace’s eyes lit with delight as he saw Yefferson and the filthy and bloodied present he had brought. He rushed to Yefferson, grabbing the boy by the head and giving him a sloppy kiss on the forehead.

  “Kid, when I told you to go wild, I didn’t expect all this shit. My phone has been ringing off the hook! I haven’t answered none of them fuckers yet, but damn I know they are shitting themselves! My boy, you done did good work!”

  Ace looked down at Jeckyl’s tattered body, as the barely conscious man’s grubby face was clean only in the places streaked by tears. Ace bent down and slapped the man in the face. He then stood back up, kicking him in the stomach.

  “You see what the fuck happen when you mess with me motherfucker?! Scream you little bitch! What’s wrong with you?!”

  The lazy manner in which he answered the question, did not match the unbridled joy Yefferson felt at such praise from Ace. “He was screaming too much, so I burned out his vocal cords. It would have been a pain if he was screaming the whole time I was making him watch everything he owned get destroyed.”

  Ace laughed manically. “You made this fucker watch?! Fuck kid! If I didn’t know any better I’d think you were my own flesh and blood! Sounds like this little bitch has had a rough day! I bet he is fucking thirsty!”

  Ace then unzipped his pants and began to urinate in the man’s bruised, slightly ajar mouth. With little time left for him, he did not even have the strength to try to move his head. His mouth filled with Ace’s bodily fluids, and the two of them heard a ragged gurgling sound as the man convulsed. After a few moments the man fell completely limp, his eyes beginning to glaze. Ace bent down to look at the man more closely.

  “That’s what did it? He went through all that shit, and a little piss in the mouth took him out? I can’t believe this sack of shit thought he had the right to raise his hand to me! Kid, get rid of this turd. I don’t want anything left of him.”

  Yefferson nodded and took out his phone and snapped a few photos. Once he was done Ace looked at him confused.

  “What the fuck are you doing?”

  “Taking pictures. I figured you’d want receipt of the work done since there was no money to count.”

  Yefferson handed the phone to Ace, who then began scrolling through the photo reel. He had heard reports, but seeing the carnage made him proud and terrified at the same time. As he was looking through the photographs, a vibrant blaze and a rush of heat hit him, and before his eyes, Jeckyl was reduced to nothing but ash on the floor, with very little damage done to anything else in the room. He raised the phone and took a photo. He then sent all the pictures to his own phone. Later that night as everyone had come to hear the news, Ace sent out various photos of the carnage in a group text to all the other bosses in the area with only one sentence:

  “Don’t fuck with me.”

  Anaar jerked from his slumber, body slick with sweat, and his chest heaving. Not actively accounting for his strength, the unexpected violent reaction cracked two of Phavian’s ribs, who was wrapped up with him. Waking from his sleep screaming in pain, Phavian held his ribs and began to whine.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you?! The domestic abu-” Phavian stopped mid-sentence once he took in Anaar’s state. “Are you alright?”

  Phavian’s words seemed to pull Anaar back into reality, who immediately noticed Phavian’s injury and healed it without thinking. “I think I just experienced Yefferson’s memories…”

  “What? Are you sure? I mean it was probably just a dream.”

  “Phavian, I can still smell the blood and the burning human flesh… I… lived it.”

  “Maybe you just picked up a new power somewhere or something. You are like one of those dogs with really thick fluffy coats that like to play in bushes. You just pick up everything.”

  Anaar shook his head. “Pretty sure that isn’t it. Even if it were, I can’t think of anything that would let me experience something that vividly of a dead- er, pseudo-dead person. I don’t know what this means, but one thing was certain: Yefferson was one sad, mentally deranged guy…”

  Phavian sat staring at Anaar, fearful of what new trial was coming their way, since Anaar sat completely still with that look on his face which indicated he expected the worst was yet to come.

  26

  Wu left Peter to go gather more materials for their experiment. Science had never been his strongest suit, he preferred literature and history, so he thought it was a great idea to take the class with Peter, as it would be impossible for their labs to go awry with his ability. As he returned, he had another reminder of how far from the mark his idea was.

  “Pete! What are you doing?! You are messing up the titration! If we have to start over again, we won’t finish!”

  Peter puffed out his chest so indignantly he almost fell off the stool he was standing on to allow him to properly work. “I know how to titrate a sample! Those other two times I was simply not paying attention!”

  “Yeah, like you are doing now. I really need a good grade in this class. Can you please keep your head in the game?”

  Peter upturns his nose, but continues his work with renewed focus. Wu continued logging their progress, doing his best to gently steer Peter back on course when he was veering. All the signs were present. Increased attitude over even the smallest of matters, lack of focus, refusal to listen to reason, it was clear something had pushed Peter to the brink. If something was not done about it soon, he was going to break, which would cause the rest of them to spend most of their time cleaning up the messes he made.

  Perhaps it was due to his natural inclination to be skeptical and distrusting of anyone, but amongst their group of friends, Wu found himself often being forced into the parental role. Shonte was responsible, but generally reckless, which would cause them to be frequently led astray. Genny was so riddled with insecurity it felt as if she were only half her age, since everything she did was an attempt to appear more ‘adult’ than she was, which often had the opposite effect. Leo was not necessarily problematic, he simply did not care about anything, which meant he spent most of his time either eating, or daydreaming. Even with everyone’s issues, Peter was by far the worst since he was a horrible amalgamation of the three, but refused to acknowledge it.

  Once Peter had finished his work, Wu took the opportunity to find out what had Peter on edge. “So… something going on with you and Genny?”

  Peter’s expression became one of shock and concern. “No! Of course not! Do you know something? Is there somethin
g I missed? What aren’t you telling me?!”

  Wu’s dry expression bore signs that he was quite used to Peter’s outbursts. “Pete, calm the fuck down. I was asking because you are being more of an unbearable shit than usual.”

  Breathing a sigh of relief, “Oh thank goodness… Wait, what?!”

  “If everything is good there, what is your problem?”

  “I wouldn’t call it a problem, more like, self-reflection.”

  “Right… To whom are you comparing yourself to now and doing everything you can to make yourself feel bad?”

  “I do not do that!” After a long uncomfortable beat where Wu was staring at him, “Fine there might be some truth to that. It’s just that the School Rankings Tournament is coming up, and I am still just as weak as ever!”

  “And? What does that have to do with you? You aren’t even top five. You don’t stand a chance of getting picked.”

  Peter staggers backward, the pain from the blow being genuine. “You have no evidence to support that! Last year they did not pick only people from the top five! There was someone with a lower ranking than me who was chosen!”

  “From what I hear, that guy got hurt so bad during it that he had to leave the school. Even if you did get picked, what makes you think you have a chance? This is a test of strength. You have lots of good qualities, but we all know, that in a fight, you rank pretty low.”

  “This is exactly why I am so insecure!”

  “Yeah… Insecurity is definitely a you problem. You shouldn’t want to be picked in the first place. If you did get picked, there is no question it is a ploy to get you killed. Be careful who you piss off right now.”

  Peter waggles his hand in the air dismissively. “I refuse to entertain your delusions today. I have a plan to get Anaar to help us get ready for the School Rankings Tournament.”

  “I must have misheard you. Us? What do I have to do with this?”

  “You said you wanted to do more to capitalize your fighting potential!”

  “Yeah, I mean like putting the effort into really learning a weapon. Why would he waste time on us anyway? I’m not getting into the tournament either. It’s completely useless.”

  “He has plenty of free time now! He hasn’t been going on missions. He has just been doing his schoolwork and taking it easy. This is the best time to approach him!”

  “That sounds like he is trying to take a break and enjoy it… This would only bug him.”

  “Nonsense! He loves helping people! He has been in high spirits as of late. He has been enjoying his time with Phavian, and his new music is coming along. I’m going to set things up.”

  “Don’t put me into this sh-”

  Before Wu knew it, Peter had already called Anaar, choosing a video call since his lab was in a lull, and everyone was in their own worlds. Anaar appeared in some place Peter could not place, but from what he could tell, it looked volatile.

  “Peter, how did you know I wasn’t going to be in class right now?”

  “Because it got canceled.”

  “That’s exactly what I’m… Nevermind. What do you need?”

  “Where are you? It looks dangerous.”

  “In a volcano.”

  “A real volcano?”

  “Are there fake volcanoes about that I’m not aware of?”

  “What are you doing there?!”

  “Peter, get to the point.”

  “Oh yes. Wu and I-”

  “Don’t say my name first like I even want to do this!”

  “Wu and I would like for you to give us some of your sage training. You are better than Master Shin in that regard since you incorporate our powers into training, right?!”

  “Why?”

  “For the School Rankings Tournament of course!”

  “Peter, you are 49th in your class. It isn’t happening. Jeonwoo might have a shot though.”

  “I told you there was no chance! I’m not even sure why I’m getting any consideration!”

  “Hush you! Anaar, I refuse to have such a defeatist attitude. Even if I am not chosen, this is something that I need to do anyway.”

  “I’m glad you stopped with this ‘we’ shit. It’s the ones closest to you that exploit you…”

  “Fine, we’ll get together tonight.”

  “Is that all? No training schedule?”

  “We’ll see how this goes.”

  Anaar disconnects the call, leaving Peter smiling smugly at Wu. “I told you!”

  “I’m pretty sure he just wanted you off the phone because he was in volcano. Which is crazy hardcore by the way.”

  “It matters not why he did it. We shall see marvelous results tonight!”

  Wu had no faith in what was to come, but he did appreciate what benefits he could gain from Peter’s badgering. Due to their relationship, Peter was completely unaware how inappropriate it seemed to ask favors of the top student in the school, especially with regularity. Wu was not ignorant to how much Anaar had done for others, and was curious what he could do for him. Even though he was being dragged along, he could not deny he was excited for their evening.

  Anaar cross-legged on ground, doing his daily meditations to ensure he would not succumb to Yefferson’s influence. After the vivid dream that he was sure was a memory, he had redoubled his efforts just in case the dream was the precursor to something more sinister. He sensed the boys’ approach long before he heard them, which took them by surprise when a pillar of flame sprung forth directly in their path.

  Peter squealed and jumped in the air, a long string of expletives spilling from his mouth before he had even touched the ground again. “What is wrong with you! We could have been killed!”

  Anaar stands with a shrug and turns to face them. “You are the one who wanted the Master Shin experience. I had to tone it down though. That flame was timed to scare you, but it would have never hurt you. Even if you tripped and fell, it would have extinguished before you could have fallen.”

  “It was pretty obvious it wasn’t going to hit us Pete. He could have just roasted us directly if he wanted to.”

  Even though he had sensed him too, Anaar cocked his head around to the owner of the flat, almost lifeless voice. “Leo, I did not expect you. I guess all of you wanted to get in on the action.”

  Leo shakes his head lazily. “No. I’m fine as is. I do my best to stay away from people. I don’t have a need to practice getting hit. I just wanted to watch, since Wu promised me a family pack of chips and Pete getting flung around like a ragdoll.”

  As Peter stomped his foot on the ground angrily and began yelling at Wu, Anaar was surprised to see he was not the slightest bit fazed.

  “It is true. I bribed him. I have my reasons for needing witnesses.”

  Everyone continued to ignore Peter’s rant, leading Anaar to pick back up the conversation. “That is very self-aware. You are right, as an Artillerite, you would be better served practicing escape tactics and marksmanship. Alright, let’s begin. Jeonwoo, I want you to strengthen Peter with everything you have.”

  Wu nodded and barely had time to perform the task given before in a flash and a flick of his finger to Peter’s head, the small man went sailing into the side of the nearby building. He hit the wall with a thunk, and then slid down. He then immediately sprang up from the ground, red in the face and irate.

  “What would possess you to do something like that?! I had no idea what was happening! Suddenly my world was spinning, and I found myself abruptly stopping! How absolutely despicable of you!”

  Peter’s rant fell on deaf ears as Anaar’s attention was instead focused upon Wu. “He doesn’t seem hurt at all or that he even felt any pain. Does your ability also deaden pain sensors?”

  “I have no idea… I guess… Now that I think about it, I don’t really feel anything anymore when I use it.”

  Anaar nods with understanding as a notepad appears in his overlay and begins to fill with musings. “Mmhmm, I see. So this was not always the case?”

&n
bsp; “No, I used to be able to protect myself, but I still felt most of the pain. Now I recognize the impact, but it doesn’t hurt.”

  Anaar continues nodding as he studies Wu carefully. “How long ago did this change occur?”

  Anaar had been furiously adding to his notepad about the side effect of Wu’s ability not being clear to his Affinity Detection. A chain of thoughts began to emerge, drawing parallels to his own Invulnerability he had inherited from Yefferson that was more than it appeared. His internal dialogue was interrupted by Peter, who had rejoined the group, his still flushed face indicative his anger would not abate any time soon.

  “Mind telling me why you are training for an event you will not be participating in?”

  Wu’s face broke into a grin. “Told you.”

  “I find it quite insulting that everyone feels the need to presume I would not be asked to represent our class!”

  “Peter. I mean this in the nicest way possible, but expecting that is like expecting them to ask you to enter a height contest. The winner being the tallest that is.”

  The gasp from Peter and still open mouth indicated he was truly wounded. “I cannot believe you would be able to say that so easily!”

  “It’s easy to tell the truth Peter. This is not meant to be malicious. I know you grew up being constantly reminded that you could do anything, but you are an adult now. It is time you faced the facts. That is something parents tell children in an attempt to keep them from wallowing in despair about their failures and shortcomings. Though no one would be asking you to be their champion in combat, you would likely be at the top of their list in a battle of wits.”

  “But even you said my ability has amazing potential!”

  “It does. What you seem to be assuming is that I was inherently referring to combat potential. After all this time you still seem to think it is brawn that rules the world. If you keep that thinking, you are going to squander your advantage that truly gives you power.”