Only when the komodo dragon, Lemurian and preteen advanced forwards towards the railings bordering the indoor, man-made reservoir did the creature surface. A large scaly rock that breached out of the water and roared at them, blasting them with spray and spit. The dragon hissed and the lemurian let out a startled cry as the Zak swiftly took out the claw and pointed it at the large marine cryptid, emitting an orange aura that swirled around both him and the beast. A simple display of the power of Kur. The beast's beady red eyes glowed with the same energy and the creature bowed its head, obediently.
"That's it girl," he encouraged, "we're gonna get you someplace safe." He used his hands to keep balance on the creature's mind until he was interrupted by the sarcastic tone of another voice, followed by the clunking of metal.
"How did I know I would find you here?" Francis gloated.
"Gee. Good question, maybe because you've got a satellite tracking my every move," Zak responded, turning to face his peer and rival alongside his brothers.
There was a hissing as the seal on the robotic construction the grey kid was in popped open and he jumped down to the floor with a soft thud from his shoes. "Uhhh actually, we don't, someone destroyed it 17 minutes ago," he corrected angrily, no emotion showing through his green spectacles.
"Weird," Zak said, moving his shoulders into a shrug, "I wonder who could have done that?"
"Yes, yes, yes, very amusing. But I didn't need a satellite to track you," he admitted, "it's just like the files say, you have no self-control."
"You think I'm the one with control issues? Have you ever done anything that wasn't on Daddy's orders?" Zak asked, "You're not his kid, you're his yes man."
"You, have no idea what you're talking about," Francis snapped, "the pressure, the training, the drills…" The cryptids watched on the side lines as Francis advanced. "You just sit comfortably whilst Mommy makes you breakfast and Daddy helps you pick out which uniformed shirt you're going to wear today!"
"Okay!" Zak snapped, putting his foot down. "A, I made my own breakfast this morning, that's right, waffles! And B, my parents let me make up my own mind!"
"They also let you make mistakes," Francis added, "like coming back here when it was so achingly predictable."
The creature growled and Zak turned to steady it. "It's okay, just give me a second."
"Look at you," Francis muttered, "you carelessly walk around with powers that could go nuclear at any moment! You're just a monster loving time bomb waiting to explode!"
"Better than being a Daddy's boy robot," Zak argued, "yes father, no father, right away father, whatever you say father…" Zak continued in a false imitation voice.
Francis' fists began to shake in anger, "he isn't my father!" he blurted, but stuttered as his face fell soon after. Zak stared on in shock.
Francis sighed, "Epsilon and I are the latest in the line of serial clones. Our people found their perfect agent 100 years ago and they've been repeating him ever since. One day, I'll get to be the Epsilon and I'll have a Francis of my own. Then I can teach him to live up to a hundred years of high expectations!"
"Francis..." Zak started.
"I don't want your pity!" Francis said, waving Zak away, "as Epsilon says, personal feelings don't factor into it. This is who I was made to be."
"Francis!" An intercom voice interrupted, "I'm on route to your location with containment team B, hold the prisoner till you arrive, do you copy?" Francis sighed.
"Do you really want to spend the next 10 years with me in some hidden training camp?" Zak asked with a smirk.
"I'd rather eat my own foot."
"Well that sounds like personal feelings to me," Zak smirked. "They can tell us what they think we are, monster, clone, whatever, they can't tell us what we have to be." The large cryptid suddenly nuzzled Zak, who turned around and petted its nose.
"It seems to like you."
"She doesn't care about labels; she just knows I'm trying to help get her someplace safe."
"You should probably get going then." Zak looked at Francis in shock, his mouth dropping open.
"What?"
"I guess it's a good thing that we hate each other so much huh?"
"Well then, this was quite unexpected, it seems I need to update the files Francis." Both boys looked up to see Epsilon and several of his people in the doorway.
"How disappointing, all this time it seems I have been raising and training a faulty copy. Destruction may be an order. We cannot have agents that fail protocol."
Zak was appalled. Francis hung his head. Zak took out the claw and aimed it at Epsilon. "Rules are made to be broken."
"You are in no position for backchat Kur," the Grey man replied, adjusting his mechanical hand.
"It's Zak," Zak growled, activating his powers. The cryptids around him (including the lake van monster) reacted and Fisk put his long fuzzy arm in front of the boy whilst komodo hissed angrily.
Epsilon put a hand to his neck and turned up the frequency on his shock collar. He let out a sonic scream, making Fisk shriek and put his hands on his ears. Zak noticed one of the agents try to reach down and grab him but he ducked out of their grasp and ran beneath the maw of the Lake Van Monster. The beast roared and slapped its great tail in the water, creating a wave that splashed the advancing agents. One took out a ray gun and fired a single energy beam at the creature which climbed out of the well and charged Epsilon. Zak used the distraction to run towards the exit "No! Francis, intercept Kur!" Francis stood there with a muddled expression. "Francis? That's an order!"
"I can't do it," Francis said defiantly, "I don't have to do what you say!" Zak smiled.
"Traitor!" Epsilon howled in outrage. He shot out an electrical cord from his mechanical hand which wrapped around Zak's legs and gave him a nasty shock. Fiskerton and Komodo ran to his aid only to be grabbed and restrained by two agents who had never left their pod vehicles. Komodo bit at the tentacles and tore out a few wires whilst Zak was dragged back towards the group. He shot the claw at a ceiling pipe, landing out of Epsilon's reach. He let out another sonic scream, aiming to knock the boy to the floor. Komodo bit into the man's green trench coat and he sonic shrieked the lizard who hissed angrily. A metal claw grabbed Zak by the foot and tipped him upside down so that the blood rushed to his head. Fiskerton snarled angrily and lunged whilst Francis stood bewildered. Zak cried out and stabbed it with the claw, creating sparks. One of the agents threw a canister towards Komodo and the monster. It exploded into a heavy cloud of gas. Komodo tipped over on his belly unconscious whilst the creature leapt into the water. Zak took the opportunity to turn and run, dodging and hurdling pipes, tanks and other things you might find in a Geothermal power station. Zak could hear the clunking of mechanical footsteps from behind whilst he ran. He jumped under a set of stairs, attempting to hide. Since they no longer had a satellite tracking him, he figured that he could evade them.
"You can't hide forever little Kur; your outcome is dark. Turn yourself in immediately and you will be unharmed. Temporarily," Epsilon's emotionless voice echoed down the hall. Zak ducked further under his hiding place. "We may have lost snake charm one, but that doesn't mean that our organisation won't succeed." Zak watched as the other agents filed in, including Francis who was trailing behind. Epsilon noticed and ordered him over. "Francis! Go and find Kur before I lose any more faith in you!" Francis mumbled something inaudible to Zak who watched in horror as Epsilon forcefully slapped him across the face, making a harsh smacking sound. Francis fell backwards with a surprised cry. Zak was stunned. Epsilon clearly did have no personal feelings towards Francis. Student or not. Francis was right about the pressure he received. It made Zak feel sorry for him. Epsilon proceeded to pick the helpless boy up by the collar. "Pity, it seems the training was wasted at my expense. I should've known better of such a pathetic child," Epsilon said, loud enough for Zak to hear. Zak himself was filled with anger as his powers flared up.
"Leave him alone!" Zak shouted, gripping the claw tightly. Some of the agents looked taken aback but Epsilon lightly chuckled. He shot the hand of Tsul Kalu towards Epsilon, but he let out a sonic screech that knocked him back, dropping the claw in the process. Three agents seized the opportunity to grab Zak and restrain him by forcing his arms behind his back. Zak struggled, but soon found himself being bound against his wishes. The boy's eyes flashed on and off furiously and soon afterwards, Fisk came charging into the room, fangs bared.
"Eeeeeshhhharrrr!" He cried in worry and rage. The surrounding agents pulled out force blasters and Tasers, holding the lemurian at gunpoint. The usually gentle giant batted a few agents away only to get zapped by a few more. Chains shot out from the pods and wrapped themselves around his arms. Fiskerton cried in alarm as he tried to escape to free his brother, dragging the struggling pods a couple of feet. His slowed down pace enabled them to secure him and soon enough, the giant gorilla cat was restrained in chains and ropes just like his brother. Both struggled, but were unable to get free.
"Now," Said Epsilon clasping his hands together, "let's discuss our terms shall we?"
"Let us go! I know what your real terms are! You just want to experiment on me like some lab rat!"
"Eeeesshhharrrbuuu!" Fisk agreed.
Epsilon signalled to two of his agents. "Very well then, if you're not coming quietly…" They grabbed Zak's bindings and dragged him away towards the pods. Epsilon threw another gas canister towards Fiskerton, a cloud of green erupting around him.
I believe I have a spot of what you call writers block on my shoulder. I struggled with this chapter. 2 weeks is pretty overdue. I can't guarantee that the next one will come any quicker. I have a lot of things to get done right now and Fanfiction is my last priority, which means it'll only be worked on when I have nothing else to finish first. Sorry for any inconvenience.
