Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Destiny's Call ❯ Entry the Twenty Fourth ( Chapter 24 )

Entry the twenty Fourth

 

Leon surveyed the battlefield. Smoke still rose high from the burning fires, it would for days to come. The mountainous tortoises couldn't even be burned. There was just too much of them. They had to be buried, and deep. Somehow. But that wasn't the issue right now. He had to find Rugged, tell him about the enemy they'd encountered. Some kind of mental power, it was like the opposite of Viz. stupid Viz, had to have an F'n nemesis.

 

As he ran further in, he recalled, unbidden, the memory of the attack.

 

He had merely been passing by, surveying the perimeter on his own, invisible as always. Suddenly, a scream echoed through the air. A small group of men who had been carting bodies to the fires were gathered round one of their numbers. He was rolling on the ground, frothing at the mouth. He screamed again, and started bleeding in several places, then shuddered, and died. All 5 of the others started backing away, suddenly, another one of them fell over, his reaction different, but also the same. The same white glazed eyes, the same frightened appearance.

 

A man stepped out of the bushes as two more fell. Leon backed away himself, wary and afraid of what this man could do. The last two fell over. The man looked around, and then called out, “you out there, the one I can't seem to find. Go tell them Envy has come to destroy them for their sins. All of you shall die the most horrible deaths you can imagine.”

 

Leon had stopped once, telling a Pack member to be on the watch for a man alone, with a mad look on his face. The warning would soon be spread. He could hear the howling warning as he as he sprinted off towards where he hoped someone would be.

 

*

 

Walker, at that moment, had a different situation he was dealing with. “You have got to be kidding me.” The entire Neo Iron Brigade, wiped out by plague carrying reptiles. He hadn't even been able to bury them, just burn them. That wasn't even the worst part. They'd wiped out the unit that attacked them, then, still on the radio, had announced they planned to commit seppuku, as the Japanese termed it. Honorable suicide. They couldn't be saved and they would not risk other's being infected. They had turned off the comm. right before the end. He had still heard the shots. Not a man hesitated in the action.

 

The Iron Brigade had been one of the best all normal units, all volunteer, all good, half of them untrained prior to this war. They were the epitome of badass normal. And now they were dead. There wasn't a single unit of Knights that had been quite their equal, at least, not without the armor. The Iron Brigade didn't use hardly ANY of the Tarius made equipment.

 

He'd need to arrange a memorial service. This was not going to help morale… it had been a costly battle, and yet… they could not stop here, they had to keep going. It was that, or extinction.

 

Suddenly, a howl sounded nearby. It was much closer and clearer than the last several he had heard. Samantha turned to him, her face clearly betraying disbelief at the news. “A new enemy has appeared, called Envy. He has some kind of mental power, visions… they're saying he makes visions, kills people with his mind. Leon's on his way with a better report.”

 

“You mean he isn't around here right now? Damn it! I've told him not to just disappear when I expect him somewhere else! Rocky where would he likely go?” Rocky was Leon's best friend, one of them, like Chris, and he was also Leon's partner in battle. He shrugged.

 

“Patrolling? I don't know.”

 

“Leon will be here in five minutes but you don't have that long… Envy is coming this way. Send the Bleach squad… and Viz. use Viz to coordinate them, and drive Envy away. I can see him falling back against people he can't affect. Do it! Now!” Billy almost collapsed as the white film covering his eyes disappeared and he caught his breath. Another vision, they were more frequent now. They had picked up Billy in St. Louis. He'd been waiting for them with his girlfriend and a small squad of people they called, “The Ambushers.” The name stemmed from their line of work. They ambushed people constantly and frequently, well, not people but the enemy, and they were really good. Apparently it stemmed from information gathered from spirits controlled by Tiff, Billy's GF, and Billy's visions, visions of the future.

 

“Right, do it. Relay those orders. Get that Paladin, what's his name?” he turned to Vincent, standing behind him.

 

“Eraser.”

 

“Eraser, put him in charge with Steven, tell them to coordinate everything through Viz. Go Go Go.”

 

Five minutes later Leon showed up, rather upset that his arrival was in part meaningless… although he did give the information he had before being told Walker already knew everything. He was, however, pleased that he had practically organized Walker's planned unit for him by running into Saul, another blank, Eraser, AND Viz before he got there, and informed them of the situation.

 

It appeared that by the time orders reached them, they were half prepared for exactly that. Envy, however, was gone before ever they reached him. Walker did not expect him to stay gone for long.

 

Elsewhere on the field of after battle…

 

“Move that tank over there, get those pumas to the back, we'll get to them later. Matt, I need you to supervise the ROC and Seagull repairs, our senior engineers in the med tent with the damned plague.” Tarius seethed inwardly as he continued to direct traffic. A solution to the problem of the plague continued to allude him. Apparently his power did not extend to “fixing” disease. And no machine to do the job had yet presented itself, at least, nothing he could actually build with his resources.

 

His inner shouting match about inabilities was interrupted by a voice behind him and a large shadow over him. “Hey Tarius! Where do you want this one?” he turned slowly.

 

“hmmm?”

 

Chris was standing a good ways behind him, holding an Armadillo over his head. “hover system got busted by a well placed strike or something. Dead in the water for now. Where do you want it?”

 

“Set it over there next to the Wolf at the end. Same thing happened to it. Thanks Chris.”

 

“Sure thing man.”

 

Tarius was getting more and more frustrated with his limitations lately… he needed to make something… but… what? Just then, he caught sight of a slender dark haired form weaving through the crowd. All the darkness vanished at the sight. Jessie. He smiled, as the girl who not only held his heart, but had the power to make it at peace slowly walked over. And then the idea popped into his head. He needed a better way to fight, to do this job and others all together. And he thought he knew where to start. When Jessie reached him, he smiled broader, and leaned in. “Can I kiss you?”

 

She was caught off guard by the question, but merely because public display of affection was not something either she or Tar did normally. His utterly glowingness at the moment, however, inidicated to her she had sparked some brilliantly insane idea in his head. “Yes.” He leaned in.

 

*

 

Danny stretched, more out of habit than need. His bones being made of titanium, some things were apparently not necessary anymore. He reflected back to his days at school, football and the like, when he'd had no powers. He was really really happy he had this amazing ability, most people would be. Even if he had needed to wait for months for it, unlike Corben, or Isaiah, or Leon, or the others. Again, out of habit, he took out his knife, and tried cutting himself. As freaky an indication of the edge as that might be in most… when your skin is impenetrable, it tends to change the name of the game.

 

He was, as he saw it, the other kind of tank, even more invincible in some respects than the Boulders, like Chris. They changed fat into muscle and muscle into fat automatically, and could utilize 100% of their muscle mass without harm, making them nearly immune to blunt force impact and giving them insane strength. He could take a rail cannon shot, using an armor piercing round, and although it would hurt like hell, it couldn't kill him. He was also impervious to burns and laser fire, bonuses that made him spectacular in battle.

 

Steph, the only other person with his exact ability, was just getting back. They had been drawn together in interesting ways, and he didn't try to understand them. Sometimes being smart meant not racking your head over impossible questions.

 

*

 

Leon sat down, visible for once, at the mess tent some 2 hours later, with Rocky, Chris, Tarius, Jessie, Julia, and even Viz, along with a few others. he was glad he could mimic the powers of the blanks, as he didn't want Viz looking or Julia hearing. She was a freshman, well, had been when this all started. At the time, she was with Chubbs, but now they'd broken up… over the fact she could read minds, hear thoughts, etc.

 

The others had gotten use to his odd appearance, Chris and Rocky were two of the first. Tarius didn't count, nothing ever seemed to freak him out. Chris turned to him. “Hey Radioactive Jew, what are they serving today?”

 

“Venison, or so I hear from the kitchen. And potatoes! Real ones, not chips.”

 

“Chips are real potatoes.” Chris amended sarcastically.

 

“yeah, but he means, well, baked or mashed?”

 

“Mashed.”

 

“there you go. Chips are fried.”

 

“Whatever.”

 

Suddenly, Julia, slightly peeved, looked at Tarius and spoke. “telepathy canceller? Really now? Is it just because you're trying to spare me having to hear what you and Jessie are thinking all the time, or… oh, right, sure, enemy telepaths my foot.”

 

Everyone laughed. It was good to take a break from worry, and care, and the like. Just then Leo turned around as he felt two people he remembered from earlier walk in. “Hey guys, it's that, one dude.” He opened up mind by force of will for a moment, another of the things about his power he'd learned to control, and let Julia have a look.

 

“OH!” she said, having read it from two sources to confirm… Leon suddenly recalled Rocky had been there. Oh well. Julia tossed the thought into the others heads. Their eyes lit up and they looked over. Leon knew everyone here was approved for that kind of information. Especially if Tarius was actually making something that blocked telepathy.

 

Billy steered straight for their table, catching them all looking. Nobody bothered to glance away. “Hey, you're the one I saw with that Corben, when Julie found him.” That stopped Leon cold for a second, and he blinked. Oh right, seer. “you saw that? Seen anything else?”

 

“Plenty. But you mean about Corben don't you?”

 

“Why would we want to hear about our not so fearless former leader?”

 

One or two pairs of eyes glanced at Chris, but that was just Chris being Chris. It didn't make one bit of difference whether he meant what he said or not, he still wanted to hear the news.

 

“Don't know, but He's more or less fine right about now, studying how to be stronger.”

 

“What about Corben getting Stronger?” Isaiah arrived behind Billy, and put a hand to Billy's shoulder. Tiffany eyed him, likely because of the scent of death that, for Shamans, pervaded him.

 

“Hey man where were you?” Tarius asked as he stood up to clasped Isaiah's hand.

 

“Teaching some things trying to kill me why it is not in their life's interest to try.” Everyone burst out laughing at the statement, especially because Isaiah said it in a serious tone with a straight face. He was one of the few still listening to the rumors and reports that would flood in for about a week, then disappear for a while, to reappear again, about a man wielding a red sword called Corben Cypher.

 

“Now, Corben?” he turned and asked once everyone had stopped laughing.

 

Billy smiled, but Tiffany answered. “Corben is with our friend, his cousin,” she indicated Billy, “and some others, and he's stopped to really take a look inside and find himself, he's studying to be stronger. The vision just showed him with books, and him working, and was rather cryptic with the audio too.”

 

Just at that precise moment a woman stormed, well, strode purposefully into the tent, her hair hanging, white tipped, in strange tails that looked more like fox tails than pony tails. She had it tied into 4 such tails. Her brown skin caught the light and reflected it beautifully, his striking blue eyes pierced the soul of each person she looked at, and the short staff she held felt more dangerous than the V-sword Isaiah carried at his side.

 

Behind her, following by seconds, came two on duty guards, shape shifters both. They looked rather burned, and watched her warily.

 

“You!” she called, projecting power and purpose, but the voice felt wrong to the ears, as it does when one not used to giving commands or sounding powerful tries to do so. “I must speak with you, and I'm told I can't do so here. Neither can I take no for an answer.”

 

Billy just turned around and smiled. “I know I know, we're coming. Sorry Isaiah, Leon, Tarius, find me later if you like.”

 

Billy simply fell into step, like he'd seen it coming, which he had. “I've been waiting for you to arrive. You got her fast.”

 

“Guess that proves it. Where can we talk?” she asked, the question directed at one of the shape-shifters. He resumed human form. “over here will be fine.”

 

They stepped into a small storage crate, about 7 feet tall and 10 feet long. The two shape-shifters stood outside, while Billy, Tiffany, and the women stepped inside. “My name is Shawna. I have been told by the voices that you saw a vision of that which I seek. A young Japanese girl, of about fifteen, but blue eyes of a much darker shade than mine, locked up in a cage. When did you see this, do you know the exact details or location?”

 

“Yes and no. I know that she is rescued by a blond haired man who felt far older than he looked, with blue eyes and a booming laugh. His companion was visible scarred with many burns. But I do not know when this happens, or where. I saw the vision 3 weeks ago, and told Tiffany about it immediately afterwards. The scarred man is named Corben Cypher, but I don't know the name of the blond man.”

 

“David. David Snow. Thank you thank you!” she fell to her knees, crying out of sheer unashamed joy. “Ojou-sama will be safe until I arrive. I am coming, Ojou-sama!”