Me and Zeke were pinned at HMV, as we were getting blasted by Drophyds from all sides. Luckily, we have been able to get some well aimed shots at the fish bowls that were housing the main fish. It seems that smashing them would instantly cause the main 'body' to stop working, and explode.
Luckily, we were able to get a couple of guns out of it. They actually had the names on the barrel, in English. Why do aliens speak English, anyway? Why not French, or Incan. In fiction, it's used as a safe way to have the aliens to be understandable without creating a new language (Except in Star Trek). It's justified in Star Wars, which had humanity living with aliens for about 100 years, and used translator microbes for those who didn't learn a language. But, this is real life. We've had no prior experience with aliens, unless the theories about Area 51 are true, then, they better not have done anything to spark a war or I'll kill everyone involved.
Shit! Almost got hit there. Guess I should stop thinking and get back to business.
Yeah, you do that.
"I was projecting the entire time, wasn't I?" I asked Zeke.
Yeah, you were He replied.Now, if you have to break the fourth wall for your ranting, couldn't you use an Author's Note or something?
What?
Oh, come on, I know this is a fan story, so discuss what is relevant during the scene and keep ready for fights. Oh, and if I find any more Rule 34 of me with either Cole or Kessler and me, I will shoot you. The reader. Hello, Lisa.
Okay. But warn me if I do stupid crap, okay? And if you ask me to give you powers, I'll make rule 34, or humiliate you.
Damn. Now, about the weapons?
Oh, righti. First off was a 'GrummelNet™ Combustor', which was a fancy handgun. It had a holographic ammo count, which showed how much ammo it had, and what it could store in a single clip. It had an ammo count of 100, and the gunfire was slow as hell. Luckily, these fiends can't dodge very well, and it packed an incredible punch. It also had a number on the side, 36, which I think might mean the weapon strength, as well as 'V.I' on the side. It also had a gauge that was filling with every kill, but I didn't know what it did. It could also pull in ammo for the gun, which was our saviour, as the Drophyds had plenty. Zeke let me use this, as he still had his rifle, and it could help me because I had no experience with guns.
Next was another model from GrummelNet, the 'Shard Reaper™', which was one hell of a shotgun, and was better up close. Zeke had that. I had powers, so I shouldn't be hogging the weapons of mass destruction. It had a weapon strength of 166, but only held 30 shells, had a slow rate of fire, and a small range. Better to get out of trouble, then. Also had 'V.I', and a gauge on the holographic display.
And, for whatever reason, when we destroy a Drophyd vehicle, they drop golden bolts and crystals. Our guns would pull them in, showing counters for how many we had.
As we were fighting, the headache came back, was getting worse with every time I used my powers, and I felt drained. I could collapse at any time. "Don't use your powers too much, it isn't healthy!" Wow, thanks Zeke, for pointing that out.
You're welcome. "DAMMIT!" Seriously, all Conduits are drained by their power. That outburst almost cost me my life, as a Drophyd jumped me. It had a gun in my face, and was about to fire, if Zeke hadn't used the Shard Reaper to kill him. As he ran over to help me up, the gun suddenly flashed. We were confused, but we went back to fighting. Luckily, all of the Drophyds were dead. The headache was unbearable, though.
"Hey, Ez, that flash must've been an upgrade." What makes you say that? "Because the side changed. '' and the power is at 199." Well that's good to hear. "Hey, are you alright?" No, this headache is killing me, and I can't move from the pain. "SHIT! You're bleeding. We have to get you out of here." As he began to pick me up, my vision got worse, blurred, darker, suddenly on the floor… Look, stilts… "Oh cra…" Great… fireworks… Must be a circus… Now an ange… an…
… Where the…?
Hey, Ezio, you're projecting again.
Hey, Zeke, where did the circus go?
Circus?
There were stilts, fireworks, and an angel.
Well, nice to see you're projecting well. You must have been delusional from that head wound. We were ambushed by a Drophyd walking around in an Enforcer armor. It was blown to smithereens by a hot chick with an RPG-7.
That explains a bit, but, shouldn't I be dead?
She's a Conduit, healing powers. She fixed you up. We got you into the back of a car, drove over to the Odyssey.
WAIT, you drove? Zeke, you could've been attacked. You made us an open target.
Actually, we got out of Drophyd territory just after Victoria Square, straight through Militia territory, and then into Nexus, the Odyssey being our base.
Militia?
Remember how I mentioned a hate rally?
Oh. Think I'm waking up now. Good thing too. When I got up, I saw I was on a foldable bed, usually found in clinics set up during an emergency. But I was in the Odyssey arena. Well, I say the Arena. It was in the reception of the W5 exhibit. Remember it from when I was 10. I feel so freaking old now. Large spinning marble globe, machine for making smoke circles, gift shop, and the broken exhibit that was my favourite that they never fixed in 7 years (Seriously?), the flaming tornado.
As I got up, I was almost knocked over by several kids running around. Between 3 and 12. They're laughing now, but I am sure that when this mess started, they were incredibly scared. How many of them are orphans, missing their parents, and don't even know? What about my folks?
Zeke was nearby, about a couple of feet. Seriously, how powerful are the passive powers? Enough that several people heard your dreams. "WHAT?"
"Relax, I'm joking." Well, I'm not laughing. "Don't worry, you've only been passed out on the bed for 15 minutes."
"So, how many other Conduits are here?"
"Well, there's you now, hopefully, Cole, over there," pointing at a guy wearing yellow bike gear and a rucksack, talking to the woman, "That girl is Elena, some journalist who got big by proving that a war criminal was still alive. She's normal, like me, but good with a gun." She was wearing a light green tank top and a cream buttoned shirt over it. The shirt had a few blood stains, and she had a holster for a handgun. As he finished, some guys with boxes came in, wearing PSNI uniforms. "Jack and Finn, there, helped set this place up. Jack's a Pyro, Finn's a Cryo."
"So, fire and ice?" Cool. When this mess is over with, they could be the basis of a crappy buddy cop show. Zeke started chuckling, most of the kids fell over laughing as well as Cole and Elena… "You all heard that, didn't you?"
"Crystal." The two cops said as they walked past. Elena and Cole walked over to me, probably to say hello.
"Relax, it took me about 10 days to get used to my powers." Cole stuck out his hands to shake them. Good thing about telepathy, however, is that you can tell what people are about to do.
"You shock me, and I scar you for life." He apparently caught on. Elena laughed.
"So, Zeke mentioned our names, huh?" the woman said as she gave me a hand shake. Cole, I expected to be an American, but he was mostly north west, probably New York state. Elena was similar. "That's Cole McGrath. I'm Elena Fisher."
"And I'm Ezio O'Malley."
"And that there behind you, is the girl who saved you." As I tried to turn around, I was suddenly jumped, caught in a hug.
"Oh, my God, you're safe." Wait, I know that voice. As she released me, I was right to recognise it. Brunette hair, blonde dye streak in her jet black hair, large green eyes, and a very athletic build. It was my girlfriend, after all. She was also wearing what appeared to be… medical scrubs?
"Lizzie? You're alive?" I returned the hug in pure joy, having someone that I recognized there made it feel better.
"Ezio, where have you been all this time? I've been so worried."
"Well, I've been unconscious in a hospital for 4 days." At that moment, some paramedics came in with an injured man. She ran over to help, carrying supplies like tinfoil and blankets.
"Sorry, I have to help." As I ran over to see what I could do, I saw how bad the injuries were. Most of his lower right arm was gone, and he was badly burned, with cuts all over his body. Must've been a bomb.
"What can I do?" As I was next to Liz, she handed me a cloth.
"Clean around the wounds." As I was about to start, she pulled me back. "Around. If you disturb any open wounds, they can't heal, and he could become sick."
Somebody, help. Dammit, the guy must be awake. It hurts. What's going on? "Damn, he's awake." Liz was giving me weird looks. "Whatever happened, I have psychic powers. I can hear him. He's conscious, and asking for help."
Can you tell me where I am? I turned down to look at him, to try and let him understand what's going on. "Hey, if you can hear me, tell me you're name." Seamus. Seamus Finnegan. "Seamus, listen. You're at the Odyssey Ice Hockey arena. Do you know where that is?" Yeah, near the river in Belfast. "Okay, my name's Ezio. You've probably been given drugs to keep you stable, null the pain, but probably not enough." I was starting to clean his wounds, when I saw what Liz was doing.
So, that's her healing power. She was holding her hands over Seamus' wounds in order to try and save his life. Wonder what limitations they ha- Oh shit, that hurts! "Hey, Seamus, I know this must be unbearable, if that sudden grasping of his own head by Ezio in any indication." Lizzie said, trying to reassure him. "Listen, this is painful. I'm re-growing your arm, you skin, blood vessels, bones… Nerve endings. Can someone get me some more anaesthetics over here, please!" At that, the paramedics came over to us. They ran out of some earlier, and didn't have enough to keep him properly under. Liz was about to tear him a new one about how they should've waited, and that they couldn't give him anything to help, but luckily for them, she was busy.
As I was cleaning his burn wounds with this gel, it had Aloe Vera in it or something, I could delve deeper into his mind. Liz was re-growing the fingers now, but I could subconsciously see some of his memories. Of school, his childhood, but I could also see his secrets. Including a very big one.
Seamus was a wizard, at home for summer holiday after a very miserable end of school year. A student was murdered, another claimed that it was a supposedly dead evil wizard. He couldn't tell anyone at home, except him mother, because he would be expelled from school otherwise. A big burden. Might as well help him. Seamus, I'm using telepathy to say this. I accidentally saw your memories. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about your magic, or Hogwarts.
As Liz moved onto his burn wounds, he began to shake. Not very pleasurable, is it? Thank you. She managed to heal his burn wounds and moved to smaller cuts. I cleaned more wounds as she healed.
Can you really hear thoughts?
That, and I can also sense a person's location, if I focus. Maybe emotions. Like your fear. How many wounds does he have left?
Not that many left. I can tell what wounds a person has, because when I hold my hands over them, I can feel their pain.
Kind of stupid to give them painkillers, isn't it?
"Oh, shut up." She said. She never liked my teasing. "There's no more wounds. Seamus, you need to rest. Don't try and move until I come back." He was sort of brave. When I broke my leg when I was 14, when I tried to move, she would hit me with a frying pan. He tilted his head over towards us and smiled.
"Thanks." He then fell asleep, as me and Lizzie walked away.
"So, where's everyone else? How many…" I didn't want to say, but I knew I had to.
"Jamie, Kevin, Joe, and Liam managed to get out of the city. Went looking around for survivors in the local towns. They're normal. Rory and Lorraine are over in Newry, held up in the Buttercrane. Holly, Laura, Michelle and Tierna are down in Dublin." She then walked over to me and told me to sit down. All that's left is my brother Raphael…
"Oh, god."
"See most of those kids running around?" Please, no. "Raphael saved most of them." What did that idiot do? "Told them to get on a bus being driven by Elena." She then paused, as she saw my reaction. She sat next to me, and looked to the ground. "He's not dead, luckily. Comatose, but not dead. I did the most that I could. Still am."
"Wait, you have more control over your powers, right? Couldn't you keep trying?"
"That's what I've been trying. But, I feel other people's physical pain. I mend him a little until I can't bear it and have to be pulled away from him, unconscious. But, hey, he was brain dead. Now, he's merely comatose."
"B-b-u-but why did he stay behind? Couldn't he get onto a bus?"
"He lead the Drophyds away. Shot at them to get them to follow him, lead them straight to the Militia. He was hit by shell fire, but the Paramedics got to him in time."
As I heard this, I walked over to a nearby window. Looking out, I thought about his cocky attitude, how he wanted to be a hero, a fireman, save as many people as he could. Looks like he did that.
I punched the wall next to me, did some damage. As I felt Lizzie come closer, I looked at her. "Where is he? I-" I tried to keep as calm as I could, but I knew that I would crack at any time. "I want to see him."
Liz lead me to a locked door, where only employees were allowed. As we walked down the corridor she lead me into a room, and stood by the door. "I can't go in. I'll pass out." As I walked inside, I saw him, lying there, limp. It was sad, in a way. Seeing him, usually full of energy, being a cocky bastard, and he was… Just there. I could feel his thoughts, but not see them. I had to make sure that this was… Real. I touched his head, and then, a flash.
I saw his last memory from before he was turned into a vegetable. He was running behind the kids, carrying a hatchet. "Just keep going!" There was a bus, Elena at the front seat. He helped all of the children onto the bus. I also saw Lizzie comforting the younger children. One was on his back that he handed over to some guy that was with her. Then there was an explosion. Raph saw the Drophyds, and realised that they followed Elena.
"Head back to the Arena! I'll buy time!" He yelled at Elena. She tried to stop him, but it was too late. He picked up a gun, shot a Drophyd straight in the middle of the eyes, and lead them to the Castlecourt shopping centre. Then, a huge battle erupted between guys in white and orange, and the Drophyds. Raph was shot in the leg, and he tried to crawl away, shot in the ass next. As he was turned over, he saw the bastard who did this. A human. Covered in head to toe, except for a single tear in his mask, which showed a scar, a diagonal cross with another scar underneath.
As the memory faded, I lashed out again. Threw a couple of chairs across the room, and stormed out. As I got out the door, I just fell, punching the ground. I let out all of my rage , before I completely broke down. I began crying, as Liz came over and comforted me. She wanted to help, but she couldn't. I was the only person that could feel this. But all I did was let my sorrow take over me. My sorrow and hatred. Whoever that bastard was, I'll make him pay. I promise, Raph, I'll make him pay.
