PRELUDE 1: Grassy Outskirts (Part One)
Rain poured down onto the abandoned factory. Ominous winds rushed through the leaves on the ground and nudged the branches on oaks and birches lined in rows. The lawns around the building stretched toward the lower windows, reaching in through the cracked glass and broken metal. The Pokoten Foreign Sciences factory had been closed down years ago. The middle-aged scientist couldn't tell the difference, nonetheless. He was over eighty years old, yet had the bone structure of one in his fifties – Almost elderly, but not just yet. He'd seen many scientific establishments and workplaces open and shut down. His own had been included in that number – Not because he couldn't have stopped the foreclosure, but because he found promise elsewhere.
The scientist walked the halls of the highest floor, ignoring the sudden claps of thunder that had once made him jump from his skin. He had lost his fear a long time ago when he had practically died at the hands of his own brother. He had wanted to simply die right there. But he couldn't allow the entire planet to be destroyed because he was too scared to act. He had to do something.
A Rebellion Bazooka had been torn to pieces. But it was child's play to get it repaired. The cannon did little damage, but killing his brother was the last thing on his mind – That was impossible for the middle-aged man to do, even back then when he was younger. No… All he needed was a split second to distract him, so that the Modian Relics could fall to the ground.
Right in front of that damn scorpion and his friends…
The scientist held the bridge of his nose. That day was a success… So why was he so angry? The man turned a corner and walked forward a few feet before stopping in front of a large hole in the ceiling. He looked up at it, as if this was completely normal. Perhaps it was to him. Light streamed down from the hole and shot through the floor, straight to the levels below. The energy was so bright and the power was so strong that the scientist could see little to nothing in front of his face.
After a second or two, the light faded, followed by the strinking of a heavenly snare drum that faded the scientist's hearing for a few moments. Thunder that loud couldn't be natural. He paid it little mind though, disengaging his LightShield that protected him from the heat of the blast. The turquoise energy slowly eroded from his body, as the scientist jumped over the large gat in the floor like it was a small, insignificant crack in the ground.
He continued walking, turning once more – eying the glowing machinery through the windows and the frames on the walls that once bore names of employees but now meld with the tan and white pages. At the end of the hall was his bedroom. It was his now, anyway. The only part of the factory that he kept clean. He had urges here and there to activate mor robots to help with this, but had always decided against it. He wasn't going back to that place again. It would just be a robot now, but the next one will be a foot soldier. A guard. A progressive. He had just gotten a lick of his sanity back, and he planned on keeping it. So the factory stays a heap of clutter. It was fine by him.
The scientist gripped the bronze doorknob and slowly twisted it. The scientist walked in, the familiar smell of aloe nonexistent and it replaced with some indescribable aroma. What his eyes rested on was far more out of the ordinary.
"Well, well…" A figure juggled an object in the air – a small trophy dressed in silver – smiling demonically at the scientist, "Look who finally decided to show up…"
Another creature, this one stout, jumped off of his desk, throwing pages and utensils off in the process, "Cool, sir. I was getting pretty tired of sitting around here." He turned to look toward the back of the room, where a wall was placed that concealed part of the sleeping area of the room. A shadow lingered there, spiked at the top. The shadow then moved at the same pace as a dark silhouette that appeared from behind the wall.
"Hmm…" The creature was definitely Xian. Golden spiked hair covered half of his face. He wore black and navy uniforms close to the other two lackeys, though this one had a shoulder plate with a symbol that the scientist swore he'd seen once before. This one must've been the leader.
"Greeting, Matt," The leader spoke up finally, surprising the man once more. He had a voice that sounded normall to most Xian species, only it was lined with some semi-transparent lace. There was something about him that Matt needed to be cautious of.
"Have we met?" Matt asked the Xian, still wary.
The taller henchmen snickered; caressing a spiked bracelet on his right arm that looked like it was digging into his violet skin and drawing blood. Did he even care?
"You've never seen me…" The leader stepped closer toward the scientist, causing Matt to perspire. "But I've been watching you."
"Watching me…?"
The leader laughed, "Watching in the shadows, enveloped in envy. Ever since that day…"
Matt felt his feet leave the doorway, and his entire body leave the scene before him. What were these freaks? The scientist didn't wait to figure that out. He quickly ran toward the hall and swiftly turned the corner. Though he's been alive for a long time, he still had raw strength fused into his body that would take many more years to deteriorate. Matt heard the thunder as he eyed the window to his left for a split second, too late when he finally thought of what was happeing: Three strange Xians were in his bedroom claining to have known him for God knows how long. What are the odds of something more incredulous occurring within that same time frame?
Like, say, thunder occurring before lightning strikes?
Matt shot backwards, recoiling from the pressure of the light energy. On the ground, his LightShield occurred on its own, but he could feel it overheating. This strike was many times more powerful than the last one.
"What the…?" The man didn't have eough time to think, as another beam of lightning roared from the sky, charring another section of the factory hall. Matt swore and bounded backwards again, this time not stopping to see if he would be attacked a third time. He reaced back toward the way he came, bearing in mind that the thugs were still in his bedroom. He ddin't have a lot of options, nonetheless.
The glass out of the large window blasted toward Matt, cutting him in several places. Thunder roared and howled more abundantly as the lighning continued to slowly rip the corridor bit by bit, setting variouos parts of the wall on fire. Matt held his face in agony, letting the blood pour onto the floor. His labcoat stained crimson. The scientist walked backward, his LightSheild barely protecting him from the heat and blinding light.
Was he losing his mind again?
"Hey, sir?" Matt turned to see the three goons in black and blue. The short one had spoken, his hand outstretched toward the mangled hall, as if reaching out to the light, "You can't get away, y'know? It just ain't gonna happen."
Matt clenched his fists, his silver and black hair reeling at the chaos to his back, "What the hell do you think you are doing? Coming to my home – Tearing apart my factory! What nerve the three of you have!"
The taller subordinate grinned, licking his scarred risk with his long, black tounge, "Oh? This guy surprises me. I though he was just some weak quack. But that angry ERating…He's not as weak as I thought he was."
"I told you to never underestimate your enemy, Resist." The leader crossed his arms, "If he was some weakling, I wouldn't be wasting my time talking. Nor would I be allowing Volt here to cage him like a frantic lab rat."
"Heh!" Volt responded, allowing the lighting to crawl a bit closer to the scientist, "Ironic, ain't it Matt?"
The man responded by moving a tad bit closer to the enemy, eying all of them with extreme clarity. Any of them could attack at any second.
"You want me to bring him any closer, Curr? Maybe have you give him a hug?" Volt joked.
"No, no, " Curr responded, waving his hand toward his lackey – covered with blade-like finger covers that looked like they could rip someones throat from their neck, "He's an able old man. He can put two and three together."
"Isn't it two and two, Current?" Resist stuck a finger in his ear, obvioulsly bored with the entire ordeal.
Current ignored him, "So, what do you say Matthew?" His eyes seemed to glow cobalt for a faint second, making the scientist queasy. The lighting had slowly moved back a few meters, so it was no longer making him sweat. In fact, the lighting energy had tunred into some kind of stationary beam of yellow fire. Volt still had his hand outspread, but it no loger looked like he was choking the life out of something. He was calm.
Good for him.
"What exactly do you want?" Matthew spat, "I've been idle for months, and all of a sudden you three appear? Who are you with? The Old Modian Alliance? The New Modian Resistance? The Forgotten? What in the name of sanity do you want with me!?" He felt it. The very entity that keeps him from aging has a knack to seep into his nervous system unannounced – primarily when Matt is stressed. He let it take him over after being rejected and scandalized the way he was years ago. But after what happened with Cobalt…Darkai…Phentom.
Never again would he let that twisted Hyde take over his body again. That was what he promised. Now, with these Xians of some unkown origin in his factory, he couldn't help but believe that this was exactly what these insolent fools wanted. For him to turn into that mad scientist and wreak more havoc on this world and Planet X as well. Why else would they keep him alive unless they needed him? Why not just kill him? It just doesn't make sense!
Breathe, Matthew.
"Made your choice?" Current outstretched his own hand, which made the scientist jump in surprise, wondering what this leader was capable of. "Calm down, Matthew. You thought it yourself…Why would I leave you alive if I didn't find you valuable…?"
What the hell…? Is that Current's power? To read minds?
Matthew waited for a response, while Volt and Resist laughed quietly to themselves. He couldn't keep standing there. If he didn't respond, the three of them could find some other way to get what they want. A way that didn't necessarily require him to be conscious or breathing.
Matthew stood for a few more seconds, staring deep into Current's eyes. If he looked hard enough, he could see electric blue bolts of light dancing along his eyes. Was the leader's soul made completely of electricity? Finally, Matthew sighed and turned toward the lighting wall behind him – still idle, still living.
"What if I say no…?"