Spin-Off: Heroes Never Die

Space. The final frontier. The unbreakable silence. The endless abyss of pitch black darkness.

If that was even true anymore.

A drop of cold glistening sweat crawled slowly upon my cheek. Even though I sense this tiny disturbance, my sight was rigidly focused to my front. Another crimson bloom in the distance. I am very lucky to still be here for more than 60 minutes.

An alarm shrilled inside my helmet. Reflexively, I slammed the controls hard left and saw a streak of smoke and fire missing me by mere inches.
Then a voice rang out “Charlie One, status report!”
“Space Five-Zero-Niner have been neutralized, their anti-fighter drone generator is now disabled. Squad still fully intact.”
“New orders, prepare your squad for a bombing run at space Two-Five-Seven, coordinates are sent.”
“Roger that, sir.”
“And Zuskov.”
“Yes, Lieutenant Jones?”
“You still owe me a pint.”
“Yes sir. Charlie One, over and out.”
Superiority has its perks, they say. The legendary Charlie Comets, they say. But all we know, every bombing run is just another way to die. But a sudden ambush by the Alliance, this definitely has never happened to us before. I can’t help but to feel this also might be the last time it will happen to us.
A raspy voice with a thick Portuguese accent buzzed my comm unit. “Charlie One, new coordinates from the Allegiance. They can’t be serious, right?”
“Caue’s right, Ral. We’ve saw some really nasty-lookin’ battles, but this one, we be lucky to get out alive, brother.”
Caue and Naidoo was right, and i just can’t disagree with them anymore. Almost three entire fighter squads were wiped out at the early hour of the contact. If we do this bombing run, we might not get out alive either.
But that’s never in my itinerary.
“Stick to the plan, comrades. We’ve been through the worst, and this ain’t it, so lets do what we’ve always do.”
“Bring down the Comet?”
“Da, bring down the Comet.” I affirmed.
“Alright then. Charlie Dois, vamos la.”
“Charlie Three and Four, in position.”
“Charlie Five, lets kick some ass.”
“Charlie Six, Seven and Eight, we got your back, Charlie One.”
“Charlie Nine, formation set.”
“Lets make this fast. Afterburners, engage!”
The pressure quickly apply itself, both physically and mentally, as our bombers streaked through the battlefield in unison. Our V-39 Firecrash Bombers were specially retrofitted with burst-charge ion booster which glows white-hot upon activation, earning us our nickname. It allows us to move in neck-breaking velocity around the battlefield by depleting the booster’s energy supply. The supply itself is very limited, but regarding the distance and the amount of enemy firepower between us and space Two-Five-Seven, we run first, shoot next, live later.
“Enemy fighters at nine!” Caue shouted.
“Route all powers to shield and turrets, formation Delta, execute!” The twin-linked laser turrets upon the Firecrash’s tail quickly streaked crimson through the dark void as the energy shield flared up, absorbing enemy fire. Formation Delta splits the squad into a constantly rotating triangle-shaped array, catching the unwary enemy fighters within our crossfire and sending them to their fiery death as the laser turrets slices through their hulls.
“Fighters at your six, Ral!”
“Shit! They knew that we’re aiming at their battlecruiser!” I always hated these moments, when suddenly the tide turned against us and I am forced to make choices that I could regret in the future. “All Charlie, Formation Alpha! Route all power to boosters, follow my lead!”
Sacrificing our own defensive capabilities, our bombers zoomed again as the ion boosters are reinitialized. Our pursuers quickly lost in terms of speed, but the Comets have definitely attracted more attention than it should.
“Charlie One, do you copy?”
“Jones, what the hell, one bomber squadron into the fray and no fighter support?”
“We’re trying our best, but all of our fighters are either busy defending Liberty or dead.”
“So how are we supposed to come back in one piece? You’re the-”
“Ralyen, energy spike from the battlecruiser! They’re charging their guns!”
My heart stilled as I heard the latest news. Apparently they saw us as a bigger threat than just a normal bomber squadron.
“Charlie Team, disengage, I repeat, disengage!!”
We were always prepared for the worst. But this, this might be a step beyond it.
Two white bullet sliced the vacuum and buried itself inside the battlecruiser’s hull. A bright explosion ensued, and that was the most comforting feeling Ralyen could feel right now.
“Charlie One, Liberty opened fire. Most of their defense systems are currently down and out, with only their main guns functioning.”
“Its our time, Comets! Full speed ahead!”
There was never a maybe. It is either go, or no go at all.
And so this is our go.
Through the firefight our squadron flew, guns blazing and thrusters burning. All it takes was just one of us to send in an entire volley of plasma torpedoes towards the ship’s bridge.
More and more it felt like none of us are going home. Before, this feeling never occurred to us. But the Charlie Comets were always prepared. From Caue’s girlfriend to Naidoo’s family, it is up to us to do what we do best and allow the civilians to escape first.
The endless barrage of light and shrapnels starts to maim our squadron, one single fighter at a time. My heart sank as Charlie Six took a direct plasma hit that burnt away his shield and burst into pieces. Before thinking what I’m going to say to Redder’s kids, I don’t even know if I’m going to make it to deliver the heartbreaking message to them.
A shock broke me from my thoughts as my ship starts to shudder violently as a line of light struck my shields.
“I’m hit! My shields are down!”
“Rerouting power to main guns, Ral, I got your back brother!” Naidoo replied. Charlie Five broke from its formation and glided quickly to my six, guns blazing.
“Charlie One, incoming plasma bar-” the sound cuts into static. Charlie Nine was gone.
“All units, scatter formation, disengage!!” I swallowed as I delivered the order. There was no scatter formation. Our squad has gone astray behind enemy lines, with no support at all. My fears deepens as the battlecruiser fired all of its guns, impacting the Liberty’s hull head on. Within the chaos, two more ships blinked out from my head-up display. All that’s left is Charlie Two, Five, Seven and Eight.
“Incoming drones!!!” I shouted, seeing dark blots shower out from the battlecruiser’s drone generator.
“We’ll handle them, Charlie One, you’re clear to go! Seven, over and out!”
Over and out. I can’t help but to shed a tear as I know what that sentence means in this battle.
“Ral, we’re close, just one final sprint!”
Allegiance’s bridge was not far at all. But swarmed by enemy fighters and desperately juking the cruiser’s sheer defensive power, our chances are slim.
A bright spark bloomed upon my left side as one of their blindfire hit Charlie Two.
“Merda! My engines are crippled! Their central EMP cannon is back online!!”
“Hang on, Caue, we’ll cover you!”
“…its too late Ral. Tell Luisa I loved her. Charlie Two, over and out!”
“CAUE!”
Charlie Two’s swiftly headed towards the ship’s EMP cannon that disabled his engine. Maneouvering impossibly in such condition, he showed his graceful prowess, launching his full plasma payload to the shielded cannon before finally colliding with it. With a gigantic burst, the only thing left of the device was a smoking crater.
Two lines struck out from Liberty and burned through Allegiance’s shield and destroyed their reactor and engines. It was an open chance served right in front of us.
But could we even make it?
The drones and fighters endlessly pursued us in a brutal game of cat and mouse. Another hit through my empty shields and I’m out.
“Ralyen! We can’t shake them off!”
“Hang on, its just a few meters away!”
“Your shields are down, you’re just a flying space junk now, you’re no threat to nobody!”
“What?? What are you talking about?”
“I know that this day would come. There ain’t no chance that we’re gonna live forever.”
“Naidoo, why are you talking like this?”
“Live for me, brother.”
Charlie Five swerved away from my ship as the enemy horde pursued him as well. He was right, with my low energy signature and my shields knocked out, Naidoo serves as a better threat to handle. I was freely flying inside a firefight.
As the last of my squadron blinked out from the screen, the enemy bridge was finally right in front of me.
“Da svidanya.”
My trigger finger twitched, and smoke quickly trailed forward as 12 plasma torpedoes raced its way to its rightful target.
The burst blinded me as the explosion washed me away with light.
As my vision returned, the gigantic battlecruiser was falling into the atmosphere, smoke and fire trailing behind.
The alarm shrilled again in my head and my mind was blasted again into the battle.
As the missile missed me, I routed all remaining power into the thrusters and start the final phase of our plan.
We ran.
We shot.
I lived.
But for how long?
With the amount of fighters and drones, not calculating the incoming Confederate reinforcements, I realize that this is the true end of Charlie Squad.
“Charlie One, status report!”
My tongue froze as the Lieutenant called me again.
“Charlie One, do you copy!”
There was a painful pause, and finally my mouth opened.
“Space Two-Five-Seven has been neutralized, Allegiance’s bridge has been taken out, sir.”
“Disengage and retreat, all civilians have been safely away.”
“Da. Affirmative.”
“…and the Comets?”
The Comets? Dead. Gone. All of them blasted into motherfucking space.
I wished that it was true.
But what’s the difference? Deep inside, I’m as well as dead.
“Objective secured, sir, that’s all that matters. Charlie One, over and out.”
As my Firecrash bursts away from Confederate grasp, I swiftly punched the Hyperdrive system as Alliance ships starts to blink away from the battlefield. As the ship accelerated into lightspeed, the feeling inside my heart nulled.
After all, comets are just dying rocks, bursting through the atmosphere for one last time.
Yet I thought to myself; at least the comets served as a sign for those who saw their light.
A good sign, or a bad sign?
Thus the war rages on.

Fusion Death – Whatever It Takes

“Battle stations! All assigned units to the launch deck!

“Get your kits! Get your knives! And get your shotguns, ‘coz they’re hunting everybody out there!”

“Rhinos 1,3,5, remember basic procedure! Analyze, regroup, entrench and fuck them up!”

The dispatch bay was high in tension and noise. Everyone was either receiving or giving two things; orders, and high-tech armory.

“Hey you!”

Gabriel snapped out of his wandering thoughts, lost in all the voices around him.

“Yes, you, mechanical guy!”

He quickly turns around to see a thin trooper in glasses motioning to him to approach closer. His blood boils when the stranger called him, intentionally or not, with such an inhuman insult. He quickly stride towards him, and by his surprise, grabbed him by the collar with his powerful metallic arm.

“What the fuck you just called me??”

“Wait, wait, calm down, I didn’t mean to, I haven’t known your name yet!”

“Which part of the squad are you??”

“Panther 7^th squad! I’m just an engineer! I’m sent for~”

With a swift move, Gabriel delivered his other fist to the man’s face with an audible thud, but silenced by the buzzing crowd around them. He fell flat onto his back, clutching his nose in pain.

“Fucking snob kid! My codename was issued to all squad members! You think you’re smart enough to outsmart me?”

“Gabriel, stop!” Another voice rang in. The enraged Gabriel quickly turned around to see Otavio, full-clad in his armour, walking towards him. “What happened here?” he inquired.

“Ask this prick! Why would I even get in trouble unless I wanted to?”

“…Jackson, what did you do?”

Gabriel was surprised. “You know this idiot?” Suddenly, Jackson’s face changes from a painful expression to a sarcastic glee. “He’s a member of the team. Our team, G.”

“What?? But he said he was from~”

“Panther squad?” Jackson interrupted. “Why would somebody like me be in a normal squad? Apparently, the loss of life also causes the loss of sense of humour and sense of perception”

“You fuckin~” Gabriel was close to engage him with his claws when the siren blares loudly.

“Stop the bickering! Its 30 seconds until engagement, get your game face on!” Otavio threw him a helmet, an armour vest and a long rifle. Gabriel felt odd when he didn’t recognize the rifle; it seems that it’s something new, something more deadly. “I remember you were good with scopes. This one, we found it, only one of them, and it’s the best we got, G. If we can get to this weapon vault, there’s gonna be a lot more.”

“I’ll get used to this. So which squad are you assigned to, Otavio?”

“None of these. You realized that all of the squad’s names are usually based on animals, right?”

“Yes, what are you trying to say?”

“We’re the Sapiens squad, new guy!” Jackson said.

As soon as Jackson made his last sentence, the blast doors of the dispatch bay slammed outwards. Whole squads quickly marched forward to their assigned positions. Their goal was clear; claim the hidden weapon vault, and FLARE will finally have a base to stay. This is a shifting point, as apparently Gabriel’s new presence as their human superweapon allows them to make this maneouver.

“Gabriel, do you copy?” his helmet buzzed.

“Marcus, really, you’ve got a lot of things to explain to me.”

“The Sapiens squad consists of our best trooper. The members are only dispatched to one team each only when necessary, so you know how good you guys are.”

“There’s this Jackson who admits he’s a member, is this fuckhead lying to me again or what?”

“This is an open comlink to the team, if you haven’t realized it. Oh, of course, you won’t.” Jackson suddenly said.

“Jackson is a part of the United Nation task force that was dispatched here.” Marcus explained.

“Sonofa…United Nations? How hard has this problem been, global domination threat?”

“Yes.” He gravely replied. Gabriel’s stomach quickly churned in fear. “You don’t know how many good men and women we have lost, Gabriel. This part of the country has been totally overrun by these abominations. We’re not the only city in the world who suffered this apocalypse.”

“So there were barely any survivors?”

“We are at ground zero, we are the only ones. For now. That’s why we have to take chances and find places where there might be possible survivors, or place for us to not just survive, but to live.”

Gabriel sighed. But quickly realizing that he was left behind by the other squad members, he focused his mind and prepared for the worst; slaughtering what’s left of humanity. He strided forward and finally arrived to a whole new world.

“Fuck no.”

Everything was out of place, a twisted image that better describes hell than earth, or more precisely, hell on earth. The terrain was uneven, ravaged with patches of odd green fire. Rubbles of what previously were buildings is a common sight, only to be rivaled with the sightings of body parts, bones and torn remains of what have been a failed conversion from humanity to living death. The sky was tinted with a dim emerald, making him wonder how much of Mother Nature has been corrupted by the apocalypse. Most of all, the questions that needed answers are about who have such power and intelligence to cause this and why they would want to end all humanity.

“Don’t be surprised, G, when you’ve lived through the first impact for six months, you’ll get used to it. Just ready your guns at all times.” Otavio chatted.

“All troops, its one-and-a-half click walk from the dispatch zone to the target. Be warned that you are now on the red zone, and this ain’t any rookie training. Keep your eyes on the prize, your ears on your peers, and your finger on your trigger. Move out, don’t get yourself killed, and best of luck.” Marcus ended his transmission. It was then morbid silence, with only our footsteps on the damp ground the noise we heard.

The communication link suddenly flared up. “This is Jefferson to Sapiens Fusion squad. I have assigned Panther 1^st to your flank your 10, 50 meters away.”

“Copy that, Panther Command, appreciate the extra hand. Just make sure you’re giving us a backup, not a lodestone.” Jackson replied.

“I can assure you these are my best man, Officer Jackson, at least they do not talk so much and they offer results. Real. Results.” As the link cuts off, Gabriel felt quite happy knowing that he’s not the only one pissed with Jackson’s attitude.

“Shit, that guy’s a real bit~ hang on, I see something on scopes. My twelve, 40 meters. Jackson motioned the squad to stop.

“Panther 1^st, 30 meters, 5 ‘o clock.”

“Holy…Vanguard, we got visuals. We’ve never seen anything like this before.”

Gabriel quickly turned his attention to his scope and aimed far at his front side.

“It’s almost…it’s bigger than a Ravager!” The Panther personnel responded. What Gabriel sees is a shocking sight. A gigantic four-legged abomination of flesh, sitting on a pile of rotten cadaver and corpses, mindlessly chewing on what it’s sitting on.

“I’m not gonna ask what the fuck is that.” Gabriel said.

“Panther 1^st, we are not going to take any risk, so we have to circle over this bogey. Who’s your squad leader?” Otavio asked.

“Squad leader Rocky, sir, reporting for duty!” a gruff voice responded.

“Do not engage, I repeat, do not engage even to any response this target makes. Keep your distance to at least 40 meters from the target, we rendezvous 100 meters from my 12 now. Do you copy!”

“Affirmative, sir!”

“Let’s move, we can’t get behind schedule.” As everybody strode soundlessly forward, Gabriel can’t shake the feeling that the monster’s gluttonous ignorance might have lead the other squad to their doom. The silent footsteps continued and continued as they marched on to their destination. Every time he sees the monster again, his heart sank to see how much in common that they share. Its pallid skin, milky white eyes and visible blood vessels, the more he sees it, the more it stirs disgust into Gabriel’s heart, of this ‘new’ world, of the condition, and especially, of himself.

“Wait a minute.” With all his ponderings, he quickly notices that something feels terribly wrong.

One of the corpses blinked.

Suddenly, multiple gunshots were quickly heard from afar. “Fuck! Otavio, it’s a trap!!”

“Vanguard, we’re ambushed! We’re a bit outnumbered here!” But apparently, their problem isn’t just about numbered. The hulk of meat quickly rises up from his throne of gore and crawled towards the vulnerable Panther 1^st squad. To everyone’s surprise, the bodies that the beast was sitting on suddenly rises up and scrambled forward, either following the monster, or towards them.

“Damn! Panther, the big bogey’s coming your way!”

“We’ll handle this, Vanguard, you know your objective!”

“They can handle that freak for so long, we have to go now.” Jackson hastily said.

“Are you fucking out of your mind? They need our help, you egoistic bitch!” Gabriel was furious to see Jackson’s attitude.

“It’s the collateral damage we must take. Now, either you want to go and capture that goddamn vault, or stay here and die, again!” Jackson drew his rifle and rapidly delivered multiple headshots, felling a part the group shambling towards them.

“Well, fuck that, and fuck you!” Gabriel responded. He quickly loaded his rifle and unleashed bullets, tearing the group to shreds. As he leapt and dodged to aid the Panther squad, he realized that every action that he makes feels lighter, and much potent. He aims much faster than he was when his dad trained him. His jumps and rolls were surprisingly powerful. “Gabriel, it seems that your death have indeed transformed you! I can’t believe my eyes!” Otavio said.

“Well, I’m surprised you can’t believe your eyes after half-a-year living with the dead!” With this advantage, Gabriel quickly sprinted forward. It felt weird when he tries to adjust with his new strength and reflexes, but when he finally got in his new shoes, every second he took to aim and shoot precisely at his foes was all the time he needed. When he saw from afar that the menace has started to maul and rip apart the Panther Squad, he unleashed five bullets towards its huge head, hoping that it will at least blow his brains out.

When the monster turned his head backwards to see who shot him, apparently either five bullets is not enough, or it just doesn’t have any to be destroyed. In a fit of rage, it quickly turned towards Gabriel and started to use its massive limbs to rake where he’s standing. Twisting left and right, he dodged the brutal assault until it manages to catch him. With a morbid crack the bulky appendage mauled the lone hero, sending him crashing towards the wrecked buildings nearby.

“No!! Gabriel!!” Otavio shouted, frustrated and desperate. He ripped through several zombies until he managed to break free from the riot and ran as fast as he could to save his fallen friend. But when a metal claw suddenly rises from the rubbles, he quickly skidded to a halt.

A body suddenly bursts through the pile of concrete, battered, wrecked, but alive. His armor was torn, his helmet was broken in half, his gun was destroyed, but amazingly, he was in a very good shape, especially for someone who was sent flying through thick layers of concrete. Gabriel felt a searing pain in his left arm, and when he looked at it, a large gash was leaking green liquid. He quickly assumed that this is his ‘blood’ now, but when the wound started to seal itself, his new blood actually confers greater benefit than his previous one. A smile was quickly formed at his face.

Feeling his face for his helmet’s network system, he quickly grabbed whatever pieces was left there and pushed it to his face.

“Otavio, leave this to me. It is, frankly to say, a…familiar topic.”

The beast, enraged with the fact that it failed to overwhelm his prey, quickly flailed around to destroy Gabriel once and for all. With a quick grace, Gabriel quickly leapt from the ground and tears one of its limbs apart with a swift stroke of his metal claw. Another maneuver and his claws dug into the fleshy carcass and tear apart another one of the appendages. With one final move, he quickly jumped with every force he has and aimed for its head, now shrieking in desperation. He stabbed through its head with his pinpoint fingers and gored through, splattering blackened blood and pieces of rotten meat everywhere. He landed in the pile of flesh, now dormant and silent, looking at a disgusting brain-like organ on his claw.

“It’s small. Not surprising.” He crushed it with his metallic fist, leaving pieces of congealed blood on his body. The Panther Squad survived, but was in shock. Not because of the large monster, but more because of Gabriel’s sheer raw potential, and his sudden sadistic spree. They were startled when he stared at them with those milky white eyes.

“So, ready for the next one, team?”

Fusion Death – Nightmare

“…is not possible!”
“…beat, at least this body is truly alive!”
“…have heartbeat, that’s what makes it different.”
“This is an impossible miracle. Get me the pulse generator, stat!”
“Hey, whoever you are under there, hang on, this is going to hurt a bit.”
ZZZAAAAPPP!!
“AAAAAAGHHH!!!!”

The body on the table suddenly leapt up as the machine shocked it back to life. It tried to compose itself, but all it can see is white. It felt pain, exhaustion, but somehow also rejuvenated by the curious surge of life. As moments pass, the white screen quickly fades as the scene blurs into view. Shockingly enough, it sees two guardsmen pointing their rifles at him, as if it’s inside custody. But a curious figure in front of it scrutinizes it carefully, as if analyzing a test subject.
“What’s your name?” he suddenly asked. The revived body tried very hard to recall its memories, and finally came up with one word passing on its clouded mind.
“Mykaella.” The body answered.
The doctor squinted, waited for a brief moment, and finally made his verdict “Alive and human. I can’t say the same for the memories though.”
“Should we call command?” the guardsmen asked. The doctor nodded his head, affirming the request. “Command, this is Turtle 05, priority Alpha, requesting~ wait, already on his way? Roger that. Over and out.”
As expected, the steel door at the end of the bay slides open, revealing a man dressed a polo t-shirt and jean slacks, surprisingly, not something you expect for a high priority call. But as he walked in, two more armed guards escorted him, until he ordered them to stay outside of the subject’s room.
“I just can’t believe it. You actually survived. No, I take that back, you’re revived!!”
He kneeled down beside the body and his expression suddenly changed from excitement to grave regret. “A lot of things have been going on around here…and I have to apologize. We can’t find your love. I have to regret about the confirmed death.”
“Who are you talking about?”
“Wait…you don’t remember?” the man asked back.
“I find it even hard to remember my own name! What’s going on??”
The doctor quickly rushes in to interrupt the awkward conversation. He whispered something to the observer’s ear, and his face quickly turns pale and desperate. He quickly turns his attention back to the body, trying to explain the best as he could.
“You were engaged to someone before all of this happened. The name of the one you were in love with was…Mykaella.”
“But I AM Mykaella!”
A surge of uneasy cold traveled throughout the observer’s body. “…you are not her. You have to remember who you are~” he grabs a mirror and shows it to the body
“~Gabriel.”
The reflection he saw was one of a freak’s. His eyes were bloodshot, but pallid white, with no pupils whatsoever, yet he sees. His skin’s hue has turned into the hue of decomposing flesh, but yet as smooth as marble. Some stitches were visible under his neck, and when he sees what was holding the mirror, he looked in horror as a mechanical claw has replaced what’s left of his left arm.
In blinding rage, he screamed.
Yet it offered him no relief.
In true despair, he slammed his fist on the table.
Yet it felt no humanly pain.
In pure disappointment, he threw the mirror to the bulletproof glass wall.
Yet it doesn’t repair his broken body.
Memories of pain and regret flood his mind, breaking his emotions to small pieces. He wanted to cry, yet he can shed no tears. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME???” he shouted, now feeling that he’s only a prisoner for them. “We’ve tried our best to save your life, Gabriel. Otavio and Renan brought you in here with the worst condition we ever handled. We thought you won’t wake up and were brain-dead since 6 months ago…yet now you’re alive.” His explanation offers no solution to him. “I have been DEAD for 6 MONTHS???”
Suddenly, he stopped his rage as pieces of his sanity fits itself together. Everything started to make sense for him; he was on his way to save Mykaella when~
“Wait…where’s Mykaella? Is she here? What has happened to our city?”
“It’s a long story, it will take time to~”
“Then I NEED your time…!” Gabriel threatened.
“…I only hope you are ready for this.” The man sighs heavily and starts to explain to Gabriel about how explosive biohazard pods were rained down on the city, containing a mysterious green liquid, now nicknamed “Green Death”, that dissolves living flesh. Anything that weren’t completely dissolves by this will be poisoned, and when they eventually die, the venom takes over their nervous system and brain, turning them into mindless zombies bent on consuming other living creatures.
“…you’re saying I’m a freak combination between a human, a dead cadaver, and a mechanical menace?”
“Personally I think you’re still a miracle.”
Gabriel crushed the metal railing of his bed with his left claw. “Then what about THIS??” He shows his metal appendage at the observer. “Do you think THIS is the kind of miracle I WANTED??”
“The commander still has hopes that you might return someday, Gabriel. That’s why we gave you the privilege. You’re the only half-dead body who has a beating heart. A weak, almost pulseless beating heart, but nevertheless all the hope we needed.”
“Who’s the commander here? How many survivors do we have?” Gabriel demanded.
“First of all, you have to also remember who I am. Do you remember somebody in your high-school era named Raul?”
“…you are Raul?”
“I’m still thin, smart, and a bit lazy, aren’t I?”
“Good gracious, Raul, where’s could the rest of our class be?
“You’d be surprised, wait, actually you won’t be surprised to see most of them have survived and now staying here too. In good condition.”
“Can’t say the same to myself, I guess.” Gabriel sighed. He seemed to calm down after realizing that he’s talking to an old friend.
A loud voice suddenly exclaimed from the doorway as the medical bay doors slid open again. “Commander present!” A tall man strode quickly into the bay and towards Gabriel’s room. “Commander Marcus, glad to see you responded my call.” greeted Raul.
“Marcus?? Is that you?”
“So, you still remember me, Gabriel! I’m truly amazed that you woke up even with all these circumstances…this is hard time we’re going through, brother.” Without any fear or revulsion, Marcus gave Gabriel a friendly warm hug.
“Can you stand?” Marcus asked him.
“I…somehow I feel just fine to move. I’m just a bit mind-boggled of the situation, that’s all.”
“Good, because I wanted to introduce the ship a new crew member.”
“Ship? We’re on a ship?”
“Wait, I haven’t told you, have I? We somehow stumbled into an abandoned mobile command center 4 months ago, so to be exact, we’re on a moving armored gigantic tank.”
“I…I can’t believe that this all is happening.”
“You need to. We need you Gabriel. We know about your history in guns and martial arts, it will be a very valuable asset to FLARE. The Free Living Alliance Resistance Entity. Now come with me to the command deck, we have a lot of work to do.”
Gabriel rose up, still feeling awkward with his body but eventually he regained control. He looked at his claws with an odd stare as he moved his metal fingers one by one. But with determination to find his lost loved ones, he followed Marcus through the sliding door and towards the frontline.
“Commander on deck!” The whole room rises and saluted Marcus as he entered the room. But when Gabriel followed, everyone’s sight was averted to see a familiar, yet awkward figure. It was a monstrous sight to behold, Gabriel knew it too, but yet they can’t shake the feeling of relief to see one of their friends still alive. Scarred, broken, mutated, yet alive.
“Welcome back, Gabriel.” It was the long-haired man who rescued him in the first place.
“Glad to be back, ladies and gentlemen.” Gabriel replied. Those words were quickly greeted with applause.
“Now, I wouldn’t like to interrupt your parade, but since now we have our big guns online, Operation: Armory is active immediately.” Marcus quickly pressed a set of buttons on the conference table at the center of the room. A beam of light shot out from the middle and quickly formed a three-dimensional model of the city. The details of the destruction were not necessary, since most of the town has been reduced to rubble by the explosion.
“Big guns? What do you mean?” Gabriel asked.
“We haven’t got any solution to our problems these few days, but finally we found an abandoned weapon cache on the center of the city. God knows how it gets there, but we’re lucky if we could pierce the zombie infested area and claim the cache, if possible, establish a base.”
“So where would it be?”
“Here.” Marcus pointed at a place which still remained mostly intact. A place truly familiar through Gabriel’s eyes, even after most of his memories has been wiped out.
“That’s…my house??”
“Indeed. You have to be surprised what your father has been keeping under your nose the whole time.”
“So, we’re using big guns to get bigger guns?”
“That’s the gist.”
“So do tell me, what IS this big gun you are talking about?”
“You.” With that shocking revelation, Marcus quickly turned upon the main screen, and three familiar faces quickly appeared. Three men, who before was all but three simple youths. One has a rebellious haircut but a convincing stare, the second one is heavy-built and the third one was thin, tan and with a foxy face.
“Operation: Armory commencing, commander?” asked Renan.
“Immediately. Squads Falcon, Rhino, Panther to the dispatch bay immediately.”
“Copy that, Falcon en route.” answered Paulo.
“Rhino on its way. Welcome back, Gabriel.” answered Valdir.
“I’m not really surprised about you, G, you’ve always been a fighter.” Jefferson said.
The transmission cut off quickly. “All Armory squad units, prepare to escort Fusion to main offensive.” Marcus ended the transmission and looked at Gabriel.
“Its your turn now, Fusion.”

Fusion Death – Prologue

It was a small city, in a secluded place. Very few knew about this town. Its not even included in the highway map.

But when it is a staging point for a doomsday scheme, people will know.

He is a young bisuness man, well-trimmed and well-built, has a knack for firearms, runs his own company in the town and does it all with proficiency in such a young age. 7 years ago, he graduated from high school and passed university 5 years later. And now, every afternoon, he enjoys a fine rest and a staple two shots of classy vodka.

“My life can’t get better” Gabriel thinks to himself. “Maybe i am no Bill Gates, but my life has been more than satisfying, more than enough. I’m going to propose soon to Mykaella, have a great family, and enjoy the rest of my life~”

His thoughts were interrupted when he sees lines of emerald lights streaking from the sky towards the horizon. “What the…” he mumbled. But giving no time to react, the horizon erupted with a neon green explosion, sending vicious tremors throughout the city.

“No!!” Gabriel panicked to see a sudden catastrophy that has came to disrupt his perfect life plan. His lover is the only thought in his mind, since the rest of his family has already moved out of the town. He leapt to his foot and jumped from the balcony where he was. Surprisingly, he landed with a cat’s grace, unflinched by the height of the jump. He quickly revved up his motorcycle and it roared as it pierces through the panic-ridden street.

As the hot air sped up around him, his phone rang loudly. Quickly flipping the cover, he pit the phone on his ear and a familiar voice replied;

“Honey! What is happening?”

“Mykaella, don’t move, i am going to be there soon!”

“Everyone is in panic here!”

“I will be there, i promise y~”

Suddenly, a flayed flesh figure lunged at him from the dark alleyway. The motorcycle flipped and Gabriel was thrown off course, crashing towards the wall with a bone breaking crack.

He felt his body was numb, but in pain. A strange green viscous liquid on the pavement is slowly dissolving his hand, and he can’t do anything about it. His backbone must have been broken, leaving him paralyzed at this dire time. The figure shambled towards him. It turns out that it’s human; but it’s whats left of it. Disfigured, torn apart and somehow decaying, it is a true mockery of the living.

“I thought my life is going to have a happy ending” he said to his mind. Everything was in a mixture of pain and panic. It is going to be a gruesome death as the hungry abomination gets closer to claim another victim.

“GABRIEEL!!!!”

A shocking warcry suddenly send him back to conciousness again. Three shots rang in the air, and the zombie spilled its guts out, shrieking in agony. Dashing into the scene, a long haired man bashed the monster’s head with a curious tool; a bloodied electric guitar, splattering its brains to the asphalt.

“Get him off that cursed pool!!” the man ordered. Another person appeared on the scene andpulled me out. He was tough-looking and tan, a bodyguard’s cliche. Gabriel’s eyes focused on them; it seems that he has previously met them.

As the second man lifted his battered body from the glowing pool, it was just too late. His hands was dissolved and decomposed into a pool of blood, with rare but large strips of flesh and bone remained intact. Other parts of his body was battered and broken by the impact.

“Hang in there, Gabriel, help is coming very soon!”

“Otavio…is that you?” Gabriel whispered faintly.

The other man approaches the battered body, his face in true panic and fear.

“I’m so sorry G, we just can’t save all of you.”

“Renan.” His tongue now is as numb as any part of his body.

“Hang in there man!”

“Don’t die on us!!”

“We can still survive this!!!”

“Gabriel!!!!”

 

Everything fades to black.

Conflict: Chapter 4

Timeout

There are good times and bad times.

The times when you enjoy the sweet fruit of victory.

The times when you taste bitter defeat.

There are also the times when you are desperate to know whether have you won or lost.

But sometimes those times can linger a bit too long.

Just too long.

Its been 1 year since the famous vigilante Ghosthawk disappeared. 366 days since I was attacked by two mercenaries armed with lethal weapons. 367 days since I last heard Crystal’s voice, and since my apartment was ravaged by thugs with AK-47s. 368 days since a friend, almost like a brother, murdered in his mansion.

My life was empty. My hope was void. My mind was desperate. I have searched for long, yet I never find. You would blame me for doing it alone, but I have no choice, I wouldn’t want any one else to get involved in this endless loop. After the pact, the infamous “Pact of Anonymity”, I never encountered any of my former allies anymore. Not even Crossfire, not even Red Ruby, not even my high-school friend Coolio. Everyone disappeared under the radar. The pact was virtually trespassed when Crystal called me, but when Dylan died, the security offered by the pact itself has disintegrated. Not many of us survived the pact, but apparently Crystal did. For no clear reason, I also survived the pact and remembered everything from my past. Leyland was not involved in the pact, but he only knew about my identity, and swore to keep its secrecy.

But apparently he’s not the only one with the information.

The cold wind swept the wet cold earth; its howl pierces through the solemn silence of the cemetery. I stood in front of a familiar marble grave, now a bit dull and weathered. In my black coat I pondered upon my life. Upon my failures, wrong moves, and inevitable endings. Upon all the paths I took that find me here, right where I’ve started a year ago. To make things worse; Crystal is missing, my other allies are nowhere to find, Leyland can’t offer me much help than his best, and nobody is just enough to earn my trust.

Swallowing all regrets, I decided to leave all my doubts behind and go home.

As the scenery blurs around me in high speed, I focused only to the streets in front of me just to get home. Suddenly, my phone rang. The techs I’ve installed on my car quickly identify the caller’s number and show it on the screen.

“What the…unidentified?”

I can’t help but to grimace in my mind since it’s impossible to foil the supercomputer installed in my car. But apparently, that fact is now obsolete. Everyone that I know who knows my phone number is identifiable easily by the computer. This call is definitely not from someone simple. Now I have to decide between not accepting the call and lose my chance to identify someone that is smart enough to foil my technology, or accept the call, and probably get my position triangulated for an assassination attempt.

Interesting.

“Who is this?”

“Its my question. Who is this?” A raspy voice answered.

“This is getting pointless.”

“I have no doubts about that, Conflict.”

That word twitched me like someone put a hot poker on my back.

“What do you want?”

“I would like to say the same thing~”

“Now, you need to stop copying me, really.”

“We have the same interests, Conflict.”

“Oh yeah? What do you know about my interests?”

“I survived the Pact. That’s enough for me to know your identity and this sudden mayhem does not go unnoticed.”

“….who are you?”

“I’m Louis, but they call me Chord, and I live in the eastern area of Prosperus. I need you to come to 744^th Dodo Street, around the dock, this midnight.”

“You want me to go to a place I haven’t been? Why should I even trust you anyways?”

“Because with my name and that address you could just filter out everything from your car’s supercomputer and find me, can you not?”

“You got a point.”

“Good. Until midnight.”

The call ended. After a year of wait, finally something comes up. And I just hope this is worth all the life I’ve wasted. I will find the answer.

My car skidded to a halt on an empty dock. I turned off the light, not to attract attention. It was almost pitch black, save for the half-moon’s dim light. I have pulled all the stops this time; everything that Leyland can offer me, I took it. Ultravision contact lenses, shock gloves, pressure boots, bulletproof trenchcoat and my trusty rapier, folded safely in my belt. I scanned the area through digital sights, and soon enough, my lenses detected the number 744. A warehouse, how typical for a meeting point, but the gates was opened. What a welcome. Still not letting go of my vigilance, I entered with caution.

“Welcome, Conflict. I have expected you here.” A well-built man, dressed in shirt and jeans was standing in the middle of the warehouse, as if he knew that only I will be here on this time.

“Let’s go through the introduction again; Chord, am I right?”

“Louis Luvizotto is who I’m born as, friend.”

“Why are you telling me all of these? If you’re involved with the Pact, that means you were one of us, and no one is supposed to know about each other’s~”

“I couldn’t care less about the Pact, Conflict. It has been broken since one-and-a-half years ago. Dylan is not the first to fall.” My blood quickly stirred as I hear that name. Lightning reflexes quickly flared up, and in split second, my rapier was raised upon him. But a subtle click from behind me quickly informed me that it was not a man-to-man meeting.

“I thought the famous Conflict barely acts by emotion. Are you sure he’s real, Chord?”

“It has been a hard year for him, for all of us, Eight. Lower your guns.”

I dared myself to look back, and 2 rifle mouths were aimed at my head. The fact that I failed to know how he sneaked up onto me only made me feel worse. He was tan-skinned and muscular, well-trimmed and well-suited, giving him the bodyguard-type look. I lowered my rapier as he lowered his guns.

“I will not respond to your statement.” I bitterly said to him.

“You don’t need to, it was all a misunderstanding. You can call me Eightfold.” he said, offering his hand to greet me. A strange feeling urged me to shake his hands, but as if he knew, he quickly withdrew. “Oh, not really used to this, are you? Never mind then. Nice to meet you.”

“Enough with the chit-chat, our time will not be wasted here. The Pact was broken starting from Dustmoth. He was the first one of use who was murdered. We never thought this was an assassination until Hoodwink met his end one month later. I regret being a spectator to this massacre.”

“So you still remember the others, their name and identities? You completely survived the Pact?”

“Apparently you did too, Conflict. It took me months until I can find Eightfold and return his memories. Everybody was scattered all over this metropolis. But somehow, they can find them, and they ended them.”

“Do you know who’s ‘them’ that you’re talking about?”

“This is where I need all the help I could get. Cherry, Gold, you can show yourselves now.”

I heard footsteps behind me, and I looked back to see two women was entering the warehouse. One of them has a smooth curved body, dark hair, stiletto heels and two guns strapped on her belt. But it was the other one who caught my attention; her gold glittering hair sparkles under the moonlight, her skin was pale, combined with her subtle flow, it gives off a ghostly aura. What she wore was a leather jacket, and a curious belt around her waist.

“So…you’re Conflict? You’re not as flexible as I thought. Apparently, you’re so…tense.” the first women told me as she analyzes my looks.

“Stop the flirting, Cherry, we’re here on a mission.” The other said to her. She must be Gold.

“Conflict, we are the ones you can trust on. She’s Cherry Bomb, our demolitions expert, and Mistress Gold, our infiltrator. By this moment, you probably already know about Eightfold’s guns mastery, and you’ll be surprise to see how much destruction I can deal up-close, barehanded.”

“So what do you need me for?”

“Your remarkable fighting capability amuses me, but that is just an extra point. What I need is your~”

A loud explosion tore the night as the warehouse door was blown inside. Three gigantic figures entered through the smoke, red lights glowing from their eyes. From my lenses, I detected no heartbeat or normal body heat. With that size, its almost obvious they are not humans.

“What the fuck?? Are those giant fucking robots???” Eightfold shouted towards me.

“Shoot first, ask later!!!” With my reply, Eightfold unloaded his biggest rifles from his back and fired chunks of anti-tank bullets towards the lumbering machines. With no doubt, the machines also opened fire towards us, who quickly disperse to dodge the bullets and explosives. Cherry quickly drew her pistols and wasted her clip on the robots.

I took cover on the far side of the warehouse together with Chord and Gold, who, like me, lack ranged means possible to destroy this sudden threat. Gold was injured as a stray bullet wounded her leg.

“What did just happen?? How did they know about our meeting?”

“You better be somebody we could trust, Conflict! Or this shall be our end!”

“Then give me a hand! I got a plan! Gold, stay here!”

“Like I can move!!!” she angrily shouted at me.

We ran out from our hiding and saw the huge machines exchange bullets with our teammates. We quickly sprinted before the robots realized about our plan.

“Ready?!?” The feeling quickly subsided into my memories. Classic crime-fighting, just like good old days. Which weren’t so good.

“Hell yeah!!!” I told Chord.

“Go!”

He suddenly stopped in front of me, and I leapt. He took me by the leg and swung me up high with such strength that I stepped on the rooftops. From topside, in that brief glimpse I realized Eightfold and Cherry stopped firing when they saw our insane stunt taking place. And the robots just got into realization when Chord has ran far enough and was almost right in front of them.

With an audible whoosh, I activated my pressure boots and rocketed downwards, flipped out my reinforced platinum rapier and sliced one robot in half with my velocity and the sword’s toughness. While the robots are distracted by the destruction of one of their friends, Chord lunged and unleashed a mighty punch at another robot’s torso, severing its body from its limbs with sheer physical might. The loud noise of steel being crushed was followed with the clanging of the broken body tumbling and rolling. With a swift dash, I sprinted and gripped one of the robot’s leg.

“Don’t get so shocked to see us, motherfucker!!”

I activated my gloves and high voltage quickly crawled through the automaton’s body, shivering to gain control. Loud explosions filled the air as Eightfold fired five Sabot rounds right through the robot’s head, and with a ground-shaking boom, the final robot met its demise.

“Cherry, check on Gold over there. She’s hurt.” Chord said to her. She quickly ran towards the back of the warehouse to aid her friend.

“What did just happen, really?” Eightfold asked.

“They finally know about us. They will pursue us until all of us are dead, until there are no more defenders of justice for the civilians of Prosperus.” Chord replied.

“Either we have a spy between us…or we have to get a move on fast.” They looked upon me as if I said something impossible. “Okay, then, second choice.”

“I concur. We must watch for each other’s back. Killain, I will send you the coordinates for our next meeting to your phone. Gold, are you alright?”

“Its okay, its just a graze. Tomorrow better.”

“Good. Now, Conflict, you believed what I said about how much destruction I could inflict~”

“No need to affirm, I’m a believer.”

“So, trust us. We will find the roots of this.” Chord said. Everybody quickly dispersed to their own ways, into the darkness of the night.

“Chord!” I called him.

“Yes, Conflict?”

“You haven’t finished telling me what you needed me for.”

“After that demonstration, I guess I will need your…self. Until then, Killain Bringend.

Size Matters

Don’t get me wrong, this is not just about any size. Or the size of your, err, brain.

This is more about the new age of science. The science of the small. Not just the smal, but the smallest. The even smallest. Since a long time ago, i’m always fascinated with nanotechnology. Nano-what, you asked? Nanotechnology. Nanoscience. It’s ten to the power of negative 9. You know what, that is a very small number. But imagine what’s its like in size.

All of you who knows science knows that everything is made out of matter. Not just a simple matter. Matter. Material. Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, metals, minerals, and all sorts of chemicals. These are all the building blocks of life (and non-living materials, really) and this is what makes everything acts that way to us. Cold ice, hard steel, knock-on-wood, sticky glue, etcetera, you know it. And this gives opportunity for us to mix things up and see what happens. Acid and base becomes salt. Iron and carbon becomes steel. Copper and tin becomes bronze.

What’s fascinating is that all of these combinations is just on a very very large scale. Call it macro scale. The making of steel is still in a large melting pot. All of the transformations, you can say that it’s crude. But this where the new science comes in. At the smallest scale to date, nanotechnology is able to change the property of what was once the crude transformation into a finer scale. Steel may be very tough and light, but it can still be improved. The spaces between the molecules can be utilized and so, steel can be reinforced further, perhaps to its maximum potential.

Science fiction is not as far as you think anymore. My interest in nanotechnology makes me choose this subject for my majors. I may have a hard time finding a good university which provides the best study for my nanotechnology, let alone to have a scholarship too. But if i managed to ace a scholarship, i may be the man of the century who carved a new discovery in the threads of time. Indestructibility, perhaps immortality too, can be reached. It’s just a matter of time…and size.

Alanda Kariza as CNN Heroes 2010

This is what i’ve went through to submit Alanda Kariza (Indonesian Youth Conference) as a nominee for the CNN Heroes 2010 under the category “Young Wonder”. She deserves it, and i hope for the best.

I hope my English is still as sharp as my wit.

Q: In your own words, why does your nominee deserve recognition as a CNN Hero?

Alanda Kariza deserves recognition as a CNN hero because she has accomplished so much even with such young age of 19. She is a well and established leader and a very active player in an youth organization called Indonesia Youth Conference. Using many media and her organizational skills, she stands for Indonesian young people so that their voice as a legal citizen of the world could be heard and taken into standpoint.

Q: How have your nominee’s efforts made a difference for the better?

At 4th of July 2010, the IYC has established a massive forum consisting of 23 young representatives and some well-known speakers from each of the provinces in the whole country. The conference deals with a total of 16 issues like Education, Environment, Diplomacy, Anti-Corruption, Culture, Creative Industry, Politics, Health, Pluralism and Global Issues. The conference was a great success with a large amount of participants attending the event, and it raised youth awareness on the fact that young people has a great impact towards the global movement of youth. This inspires many youth all around the country, including myself.

Q: Is there a specific incident or turning point that motivated your nominee to take action?

At the year of 2006, Alanda Kariza has applied and tried to join a number of non-profit social organization but was rejected because she was rendered too young to enter the organization. At that moment, she decides that she needs to prove that even at young age, youths can take action on global or regional matters and help to solve it, that the youth community should has a voice to support change.

Q: Is there anything else that makes your nominee exceptional or unique?

Her leadership and academic skills in such a young age of 19 is very exceptional. Her social skills are very remarkable as persuasion and understanding is highly required to lead a youth movement.

Q: How will being recognized as a CNN Hero further your nominee’s cause?

Since the IYC revolves around the solidarity, unity and the willingness for youth to take action to what’s happening globally, Alanda Kariza being recognized as a CNN Hero would let the country, or even the world know that it’s time for youth voice to be heard.

Conflict: Chapter 3

The End

“Killain? Kiiiillain?”

What the… Where am I?

“K.B, wake up man, it’s almost time!”

“Leyland…is that you?”

I opened my heavy eyes and see faces looking at me. “Ah, he’s awake guys!” Leyland said with a smile. “Of course it’s me, hombre! Where were you just now, dream paradise? Come on man, some people have already lit the fireworks!”

Yes. New Year’s Eve. Fireworks. Sleepy.

“Yo big boy! Get off the couch man, I need to sit mah ass down a li’l bit!” Dammit, Francesco. “Fine, F-bomb, you can have the couch all for your ass.” Franky looked at me and did his trademark squint, “What you mean with that, man?” That’s his trademark phrase too. Never sounded more familiar. I got up from the chair and he quickly replaced me. He grinned at me “That’s my boy.”

I looked around at Leyland’s condominium. It was huge, grand, and truly top of the notch. And for this New Year’s party, every one of our friend was invited. I see Sylvester and his girlfriend Angela on his muscular shoulder. Then there’s Red. Wait a minute, who’s that guy? Her chauffeur? I haven’t seen him before.

I approached her, still talking with the new guy. “Hey Red.”

“Killain! I didn’t know you were here!”

“Well, I was asleep on the couch at the other room, back there.”

“Alone?”

“Yes, well~ Wait a minute. Of course I’m sleeping alone, what were you thinking?”

She laughed at my sudden response. “I was just kidding, K! I know that you’re not Dylan, right?”

“You bet. Besides, the couch is too small for~”

Anastasia looked at me, waiting for me to continue my sentence.

“Never mind that. By the way~”

“Yes, I know why you’re here, Mr. Suspicious. Let me introduce you to my friend.”

The lanky guy looked at me nervously. I think he’s intimidated with my unfriendly look. And he doesn’t seem to be attempting a conversation either.

“Okay, let me start then. Hello. As you know, my name is Killain. I’m her friend.”

My initiative seemed to have gained response. He gave a friendly smile and extended his hand, “Fred. Frederick McGee. I’m Anna’s new neighbor, and office colleague.”

“Actually, he’s more like the manager in my department.” Red added with a cheeky grin.

“Anna, you’re not supposed to talk about my job here. Besides, I don’t really like that office.” He frowned.

“Ah, well, it doesn’t matter to me, does it? Well, you two enjoy the party while you can, okay? I’m off to get some drinks.” Fred seems to be quite shocked with my abrupt attempt to end the conversation. As I walked away, I could hear Red whispering to his friend, “Its okay. He’s always like that, but he’s a nice guy.” Not quite right.

I looked around again, but this time, to find the drink bar. I saw some bottles at the corner of the room, and also Randy. Definitely the booze bar.

I sat down the tall chair and grabbed a shot glass. “Hey Randy.”

“Kill. What’s up, brother?”

“You’re getting drunk again?”

“Well, not yet, this is just my fifth bottle.” They didn’t name him Headstrong for no reason, of course. “Sure, break another record. Hmmm, I don’t see any gin here.”

“Sorry man, there’s only 2 bottles of them.”

“Then I’m going for champagne. ….there’s no champagne either. Leyland shouldn’t have~”

“There were three bottles of champagne a moment ago.”

I looked at Randy sarcastically. “Were.”

“Sorry man.”

“Then vodka it is. Man, Leyland’s gonna be mad about this.”

Randy chuckled. “A man like him? Nah, he’s gonna replace his bar anytime soon.”

I poured the vodka into my shot glass and drunk it quickly. “Well. That was good vodka you haven’t guzzled away.”

We laughed together. It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed something as friendly as this. I begin to think, it’s not so cold of a world as long as you have a friend. After all, that’s what friends are for.

Our laugh subsided. My focus sank into the depths my empty shot glass, but Randy was faintly staring at another direction. “Say, Killain. Look at her. Erin’s probably the hottest chick around our circle, right?” I smirked and poured another dose of alcohol. “You can’t ask me man. I’m single no more. And besides~” I gulped the vodka again. “~if you’re not drunk, that means you’re telling a straight opinion. You like her, don’t you?”

“Damn, not too loud man, she might hear us and think wrong!” I looked at Erin’s direction. She’s on a long chat with Carmen, I don’t think she even know that we’re on this corner. Randy continued, “I’m just saying. I mean, look at that perfect face! She got the looks! And look at that super sleek bod, man, you can’t even stop staring at her b~”

“Stop, Rand, I know. Look, if you like her that much, ask her out sometimes! I mean, it’s like she’s going with someone else, no, right?”

“Yeah. Maybe you’re right. Well, I’m going over there, it’s worth the shot. Wish me luck, man.”

“I’ll be here, ready to laugh.”

“Oh, F that man, F you!” He walked away from me, and towards the girl. I didn’t actually fulfill my promised to bother to look though, for I was back to my glass again.

“Hey Killain!”

Damn, come on. I was just going to enjoy a moment with my inner self.

“What, Dylan?”

Dylan grabbed what was Randy’s seat and made himself comfortable. “I can’t say hello to my best friend?”

“Are you?”

“Well, technically, no, but why do I even need your approval?”

I grunted and laid back on the table’s edge, looking far to the surroundings just to distract myself from him.

“So how’s life?” he asked. An attempt to start a conversation, but no. “Why do you even want to know about my life?”

“Well, mine’s quite boring, you know, the same old crime-fighting, the same old girl-flirting, the same old bed-ruining. Same old, same old. How about you?”

“I’m a graphic designer. I draw designs all day long. I didn’t even ask about the details of your life.” I roughly answered. I’m not attempting to shoo him away, I only wanted some time of silence for myself, that’s all. Well, but if shooing away is available, I’m taking my chances.

“Well, that’s my problem. I don’t have a life.”

“What do you mean? You have 2 wives. A kick-ass big-ass mansion. A public reputation as a superhero. A giant company. That’s a fucking life for you.”

“It’s never as it seems. You may see that I’m on the spotlight and everything, but there’s always the bad that balances it out. You know I’ve been lacking sleep in this few months.”

“And you need to know I didn’t sleep at all because of my work, Dylan. Now, unless you have anything important to say, please leave me alone.”

“Haha, I know Kill, I’m quite a loudmouth. But I only wanted to give you a simple advice. Do wake up.”

Now for the first time, his words caught my attention. “What are you trying to say, Dylan?”

“There’s more life than meets the eye. Nothing is always what it seems.”

“What? Why are you suddenly getting all philosophical on me?”

“Well, first thing, if you can manage your life, you can at least enjoy a real one beside your vigilante routine. That’s only if you can get out of this mess.”

“You have no right to call my life a mess, you moron.”

“Who said I was talking about your life?”

“Then what are you talking about? Get clear!!”

“Find out for yourself. Oh, here comes the late girls! Lynda! Crystal! What took you so long?”

No.

“Your man here has been waiting for you all night long!”

This can’t be real.

But there she is.

I can feel the tears that started to well my eyes. But are these tears real?

Lynda approached me and smiled sweetly. I stood there, but my mind was blank. Just blank. “Lynda…is it really you?”

“Of course she is, you idiot. What was that supposed to mean?” scolded Crystal.

Lynda’s expression suddenly changed from joyful to worry as the tears that I’ve held back slid on my cheeks. “What’s wrong, Kill? Why are you crying?”

“I thought…I thought I’ve lost you forever.”

Lynda suddenly hugged me. The warmth that I felt was the warmth that I’ve missed for so long.

“This can’t be real, dear. This can’t be real.” I sobbed.

“Even if it’s not real, doesn’t mean that I’ve left you, haven’t I? You’ll always keep me in your heart, and I’ll be there. But now, my twin brother’s right. You need to wake up, Kill.”

“I don’t want to. Please. I wasn’t strong enough. I’m sorry.”

“You have to, Killain.” Crystal suddenly replied. “I’ll be waiting.”

Dylan smiled at me, just like the time when I proposed to be engaged to Lynda. “What’s past is past, brother. Believe me, it wasn’t your fault. Lynda never blamed you.”

“So this is goodbye, again?”

“It’s never goodbye, Kill. Just make sure you remember us.”

“I never hated you Dylan.”

“I always knew.” He smiled.

Lynda released me from her embrace. Crystal reached out and held my shoulder firm “Wake up.”

Wake up.

….wake up.

“…set it to fatal level. He’ll never wake up.”

“So you mean he’s dead?”

“Totally. Time to report to boss.”

The cold marble floor was on my cheek. The tears I’ve shed were real.

But the warmth that fills my heart is long gone. Pure rage has taken its throne.

It’s time to kill.

Late Night Blogging – Real World?

There’s no such thing as real world. Humans desperately create a collective reality, because without it, they cease to exist.
For example, is an emotion real? Or is just we that manipulate our environment to affect us back? Do i really love you? Or i just wanted to?
If I’m to be jealous for you, am I jealous because i really do? Or do i create that jealousy just to keep existing in your world? Our world?
If you don’t love me, there’s always somebody to fit your missing piece of our reality. Somebody you could love. Somebody i could hate.
Each of us wanted to exist. We create existence by filling in. We exist by pain, we exist by actions, we exist by emotions. Reality doesn’t.
The moment we’re void, empty, or null, our reality collapses. We’ll be angry once it does, but it repels us back to our collective reality.
If we’re not angered, saddened or desperate because of our collapsing reality, we can’t restore it. Forcing us to make our own fake reality.
When that fake reality kicks in, you’re no more a part of a puzzle world. You no longer belong, your piece no longer fits. Insanity happens.

Conflict: Chapter 2

Wings of Reckoning

The sky cried tenderly this afternoon. The fitting parade of smoky clouds, the wind singing requiem, it seems that nature herself attended Dylan’s burial in person. Diamond-like raindrops flowed onto my onyx leather jacket. Men and women in dark outfits paid their respects, or at least what’s left of it, to the hero. Dylan’s coffin was carved white marble, not surprising for a guy who owns a huge mansion. His mother was there, which ironically outlived him, then his current wife, his first wife and her sons. He did outlive his second wife though.

I finally got my turn to approach his coffin after long time queuing. That’s a lot of people to visit a single man’s grave. But it’s not surprising, since in his life, Dylan has made many friends, and also foes, which brought him to this heavy chest right now. His face was definitely a face of peace. For me, it’s a face of an old ally which has been heavily modified by the mortician to make him look good. I looked at his face and remembered every time I spend with him. The good times, and bad times. I find it hard to recall the good times though. All I remember is that he’s always there with his eagle eyes on the prize and his beak open. Now that he’s dead, at least I can have a time where I can be with him, or in this case his body, without any of his incessant blabber.

What’s been bugging me since last night is that this whole chain of events, his death, Crystal’s call, my midnight incident, is definitely no accident. A playboy, a law-breaking citizen, a cheating family-man, an avid businessman, and somebody who just can’t shut his gap. Dylan being all of those gives off all the reason why people want him dead, but him being the Ghosthawk, he just can’t die that easily. Somebody who could kill him must be able to kill any of us, unless combined.

Suddenly a tender hand grasped my shoulder. “Mr. Killain?” It was Dylan’s current wife, Stella Avencrue, with her eyes all teared up. I looked at her and was not surprised to see her with such indecent clothing even in this occasion. Her one piece black dress was definitely low on fabric, with the lower level high above the knees. You could see people staring at her torso as her wide-cut cleavage bounce all over the place as she sobs. She’s definitely Dylan’s type, rubber-chested, curve-bodied, model-figure. I wouldn’t call her a slut, but it seems all Dylan’s wives are sluts. Or slut-like. It’s just all too easy to have the women you want if you have enough fresh cash in hand.

“Ms Avencrue. I am sorry for the loss.” She wiped her tears for a moment, then continued. “It’s okay. I’m just at loss of words right now. Dylan is dead…but why? How? Who would want him dead?” It seems that Stella doesn’t understand anything Dylan is involved with. That, or she and Dylan’s first wife is having an affair themselves. Second choice is more suitable. “Ms Avencrue, please put aside this matters. This affair is none of your worries. Right now, government agents, and my friend Leyland, will take care any of your needs~” unless those that involves bedrooms. Including furnitures. “~so please, don’t interfere, and get back to your normal life as soon as possible.” Stella was taken aback by my words. I am definitely no smart-talker. If you look at Crystal and I, I definitely don’t have my way with women. They’re just too complicated. She quickly left, again, people staring at her, and there was I, alone again, with the corpse of my previous affiliate.

It’s already 6 PM now, and Crystal hasn’t showed up. I tried each and every one of her number. Always a busy tone. I’m going to accept it if she didn’t come because she hated me, but for God’s love, she’s the one who invited me. That just doesn’t make sense. But this shall not interfere with my quest to find the answer. I quickly left the burial grounds and jumped in into my chrome-plated sports car and burst away from the scene. My next stop? Avencrue mansion.

I arrived at the scene of the murder, police lines strapped all over the place. I never cared much about the rules, thus I jumped the line and arrived in front of the door. You would’ve probably expected what I would do next.

The door swings open, its lock broken into two as I kicked it with all my might. The cops should’ve spent more budget cuts into security. I walked in slowly but surely. The place was still clean, since the murder was just in recent. But nobody, even Dylan’s family was allowed to enter. Processing, they said. I don’t believe in that kind of shit. If they want real processing, I’ll do it.

From the information I’ve gotten, everything doesn’t really make sense. Dylan was murdered in front of his secret room. Only a few knows about it, and lucky that I’m one of them. Dylan’s mansion is truly a state of the art complex. Two spiral stairs was laid out in front of me, with almost everything here is either well-polished, or made out of marble. What I’m searching would be something that’s not well-polished. Preferably blood-stained. Information told me that he was cleanly stabbed from the back. Again, this obviously lacks of evidence. The Ghosthawk can’t be stabbed from the back unless somebody flanked him. Not just 2, probably 3 or more, and he was weak and unarmed. He was in front of his weapon room, so I don’t think anybody would request a duel with him.

After a long walk I stood in front of a glorious hawk statue. This is the secret entrance, yet I didn’t see any trace of violence.

Wait. There’s dried blood stains under a pedestal. A minute detail. Something cops would like to miss so they don’t need to continue another boring case. Very well, even if Crystal didn’t evidently order me to investigate this, her discreet hints definitely puts this case in my hand.

“Feathers, are you there? It’s me, Killain. Dylan’s friend.”

It seems that I was talking to nobody but the air. And of course, there was no response. But somebody like me wouldn’t do that without a purpose. There’s supposed to be an artificial intelligence incorporated to the house, but if Dylan can get killed, that means the AI created to take charge of the house’s defense system has been downed earlier.

Suddenly a sound came out of nowhere, “IDENTIFIED. CONFLICT. RESTARTING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.”

There’s suddenly an echoing hum around the room, and the statue’s eyes blazed in front of me. Suddenly the statue turned fluid and alive, moving as if it’s a real bird. But the sight didn’t shock me, I’ve gotten used to it after years of visit. But still, I always regard it as top-notch tech. “Welcome back, Killain Bringend. Your previous visit is dated 1 year, 8 months, 15 days, 20 hours, 31 minutes and 58 seconds ago.” The hawk spoke fluent British English. Dylan always fancies for a butler, but I can’t believe the butler is digital. With a beak.

“Yeah, yeah, I don’t need the detail, Feathers.”

“With all respect, Mr. Bringend, my proper identification is justified as Axipyter.”

“You want me to say THAT name? No thanks.”

“Objection presumed logical based on the complication of my identification.”

“Shut up. Now open the vault.”

There’s a muffled grinding sound when I said the command. The pedestal quickly sank, but marvelously, the stone eagle flew away from its place and quickly swooped inside the now opened chamber. Really, how much did Dylan spend just for this entire robot fad?

As I entered the vault, from the inside it seems that Dylan’s whole mansion is built entirely around this vault. Massive or colossal doesn’t describe its size anymore, for it stores any weapons you ever wished for. From dagger to katana to a scythe. From revolver to high-powered sniper rifle to rocket launcher. From nunchuk to bo staff to battle hammer. From kunais to slingshots to crossbows. Every weapon is specifically housed in the slots of this armory. And there’s only one weapon for each, unless a projectile. But all of this again is built around one single marble throne housing a very special weapon; the Windshrieker. As you can guess, Dylan’s weapon of choice is a tomahawk. He’s always into this kind of stuff, a named favorite weapon, multiple love interests, marble mansion, making him look like a stereotype-playboy-rich-as-hell-vigilante. What he didn’t realize is that too much night exercises can kill you.

But this night exercise seems to take the final cake. The blood trailed directly towards the Windshrieker. And no surprise, did I tell you that almost every one of his weapons was out of order? Blades and jagged edges were scattered all over the floor, and some of their edges are bloodied too, leaving many other small pools of blood on the floor. Ghosthawk didn’t have his last breath without a fight.

I took a bloodied scimitar, hoping that I could sample a DNA with Leyland’s investigation unit.

What I didn’t hope to see was that a severed hand was still on its grip.

Fucking hell, that almost surprised me. I came into a realization that the piles of weapon isn’t all made out of weapon. I kicked one of the small hills and quickly see pieces of human organs saturated with swords, blades and maces. A skewered intestine. A leg, riddled with bullet holes which makes look more like cheese now. And your classic head-on-a-stick. Why don’t people smell any rotten corpse or hear sounds of combat? The whole armory is air-proof, soundproof, and it’s deoxygenated, reoxygenated and sanitized every 3 hours.

After a long and gory examination, identifying which finger’s is which, and head count, I finished my verdict. 10 assailants, 10 mortalities, with one managed to escape, unfortunately wasn’t Dylan. The 9 assailants were taken down with the numerous arrays of standard weapons. But the trail of blood indicated that Dylan attempted to take his tomahawk to bring down his last foe, but failed at the end. Something of great significance lies here.

“Feathers, give me the security camera analysis for this room.”

A silence ensued.

“Feathers? Where the heck are you, you stupid bird?”

Something’s definitely wrong. The AI did not respond to my calls whatsoever. I started to look around, looking for it.

“Goddammit, you stupid AI, talk to me!”

“Do you need me sire?” The squeak shocked me. “What the hell??? I thought you gone missing! Fuck, man, why didn’t you answer?”

“You have explicitly stated a command for me to shut up. For your information sire, I am an AI, not gender-specific a ‘man’.”

“You took it literally?? Oh, go to hell!”

“Destination is unreachable, sire. The existence of hell is pseudo~”

“Oh, fuck, forget it. Cancel command.”

“Command canceled sire. The answer to your question is that there are no cameras equipped in the integral structure of this building. Master Dylan explicitly built a Level-M security policy on this area”

“Level M? So that means it’s the 13^th level of security?”

“The security levels are based on Roman numerals, sire.”

Shish. It’s the thousandth level of security. So that means no electronic interference inside either. I still have the feeling that I missed something. I approached the center of the room, in case I found anything else. His tomahawk is gleaming as usual, indicating that he failed to reach it.

Failed to reach it.

“That’s it! He wasn’t trying to reach the tomahawk! He was crawling out of the room! Feathers, through your security records around the mansion, are there any break ins?”

“If there was, sire, I would’ve notified you in the first place.”

So they have been waiting for him INSIDE the room. Dylan is smart. All of this wasn’t just a random pile of corpse, it was a big collage of hints!

“Feathers! Magnetize the place! I want the weapons to be back in each of their places!”

“As you wish, sire.”

A loud whoosh quickly stirs the air around me. Like magic, weapons quickly flew all around the room and towards the wall. The wall was electronically paired with tags on the weapon, which quickly sorted them out in their rightful slots. Pieces of flesh that are stuck on the weapon are quickly repelled, cleaning the bloody blades.

As the last kunai was returned in place, something horrible was revealed.

The pools of blood were brutally organized. Dylan was the best weapon user I ever known. He may not be able to fight with fists, but he can slice and dice his opponents with such art that he painted the floor with blood. He was never good at classical art. But he’s the best in his art, the art of war.

“The traces of blood on the floor is geometrically similar with that of a hawk, sire.”

“It is a hawk, Feathers. Even in death, Dylan wanted us to marvel at his sight. Dylan, you genius cheeky son-of-a-gun.”

“Letters and words are detected on the collage, sire.”

I could see it clearly now. This big hint leads to a bigger conspiracy.

“Gorerilla, Felyna~” Francesco Xavier and Carmen Marietta. Both of them was in one team with Dylan; the Ferals, a band of animalistic vigilantes. The latter was my ex-girlfriend, now married to Francesco. “~The Jester, Diamond, Temptress, Peacekeeper~” Sylvester Nysmus, Angela Vreeder, Erin Patterhorn, Randy Headstrong. I remembered Syl’s and Angela’s wedding 2 years ago. They were both very happy couple, and they look like stereotypical superheroes. Well-endowed body, and not afraid to show it. Syl work as a car salesman and Angela’s a businesswoman. A very unsuspicious job. “~Coolio, Red Ruby, Onyx~” Zacky Radmoore, Anastasia Dvingrad and Crystal. Red Ruby was one of the superheroine I know to marry a civilian.

“Enough, Feathers. I know all of these guys.” I do know them. What I wanted to know is why Dylan smeared “BEWARE”

“Wait a minute. Where’s my name?”

A deep voice rang behind me. “Find out for yourself.”

A loud thud, a sharp pain behind my skull, and my senses going off as my body hit the floor.

Everything went black.