A single light was left on within the large empty room. Within the spotlight lay a smooth and black piano. Sitting at its keys was none other than Paine. He kept his eyes closed as his fingers worked their way across the keys. The soft yet dramatic sounds of Beethoven filled the room. Paine chose it specifically as a tribute to the Alpha team and their unhappy future he was about to create. A series of heavy footsteps entered into the room before the figure of Flesh could be seen at the edge of the spotlight. Paine automatically sensed the large man's presence and rested his hands on the keys, annoyed with Flesh's poor choice of timing.
" What now?" Paine barked as he opened his eyes and turned his head around towards the man.
Flesh gave a small jump as Paine abruptly stopped his performance. The humanoid had a small box in his hands that was covered with a cloth.
"Uhh, here Paine. I got what you asked for," Flesh said as he held out his arms in the light for the criminal to see.
Paine carefully turned around somewhat expecting his subordinate to have the wrong object in his hands. But as Paine saw the veil and the box like shape underneath it, he greedily smiled. The fabric was an old worn purple color with an insignia on it. Paine quickly got to his feet and walked over to Flesh. With his retreat from the piano, the lights of the room brightened back to their original settings. Flesh began to relax as Paine's excitement grew. Paine carefully folded back the cloth in Flesh's hands to reveal an old wooden box that was beautifully carved and stained. He then carefully put his hands at the edges and raised the lid to reveal what was inside.
On the black velvet lining the bottom of the box were three gems. They were a whitish yellow and sparkled like diamonds in the light. They were very small and cut in circular shapes. Paine carefully reached in and picked up one of the gems holding it between his forefinger and thumb. He raised it to the light and watched a rainbow nearly dance across his vision as he looked through the crystal. With eyes sparkling like a child's at Christmas, Paine gave a dark chuckle as he put the gem delicately back into the box.
"Nice, very nice," Paine commented as he turned and walked toward a table across the room.
On top of it was an object covered with a black cloth. Paine quickly tore it away to reveal his gauntlet resting upon a stand. Refitted, repaired, and adjusted, the glove was brand new.
"I'm sure you remember this, don't you Flesh?" Paine said as he reached forward and removed the glove from its holder.
Flesh gave a hard swallow. It was hard to forget the moment when Paine first used the weapon upon the helpless rider Shark. The weapon with green light that sucked away all energy and left nothing but unimaginable pain behind was quite memorable.
"I was able to make a few adjustments since the last time I used it," Paine continued as he fitted the glove over his hand. He opened and closed his fist, listening to the leather and metal creak and stretch with his movements.
"Do you know why I sent you to steal these valuable mineral crystals?" Paine asked as he turned back around and walked over to Flesh who had remained in the same spot.
Flesh shook his head. Paine once again stood in front of the man and carefully removed the crystals one by one, placing them into special crests that had been carved into his glove.
"They are composed of a very rare mineral found in meteor fragments. It's only a one in a million chance that the meteor will retain the gems after it hits the earth. And we know how incredibly hard it is to find meteors, let alone ones of the right composition and size to create the crystals," Paine said as he inserted the last one with a small click. "The properties of the crystal have the ability to refract and reflect my touch of pain in a way that increases its power tenfold."
Paine held out his hand to look at the glove. A green light began to glow within the seams of the glove as Paine activated his power. The glove began to surge and when the light hit the crystals an even more powerful light began to glow. Green and white sparks began to furiously pour out of the glove. The sparks turned into electricity that fused into lines up and down his hand. The lines grew longer and thicker as the greenish electricity flattened. There were several sharp cracks as streaks of artificial lightning flashed out of the glove to hit nearby electronics and pop several lights bulbs in the room. Paine concentrated and concentrated as hard as he could until the sparking slowed and the beam of electricity stabilized.
Paine's eyes became a hellish white lightning green as he lowered his hand. He was entranced by the sight. Over Paine's hand, a short blade of energy hummed over the glove. A greenish after glove could be seen around the white energy blade that engulfed his hand. A vibrant green also lined the crevices of the metal gauntlet where the light began to dim further up his wrist.
"Beautiful," Paine said to himself as he moved his hand to watch the blade mimic his movements.
Paine was unable to clench his fist or separate his fingers if he wanted to keep the current running throughout the sword. Paine carefully waved his hand to watch how the sword bent and moved. It was a bit stiffer than if he had held a blade but in return it was likely to be three times deadlier. Just a mere touch would deliver painful consequences.
"I wonder," Paine mumbled to himself as he lowered the sword in thought. How did it work? Paine glanced over to Flesh who was also entranced by the energy sword.
"Flesh, hold out the box," Paine order as he watched a few small sparks come off the glove when he shifted the position of his wrist.
Flesh obediently held up the box obliviously to Paine's intentions. Paine quickly gave a shout and slashed across Flesh's forearms. The humanoid screamed in fright and jumped back. He then dropped the box and fell to his knees. Flesh would have cradled the two burn marks across his arms if it weren't for the fact that he could no longer move his hands and fingers.
"Amazing!" Paine laughed as he stepped back and looked from the sword to Flesh. "Quick Flesh, tell me, how does it feel?"
Hunched over on the floor, it took Flesh a moment to get through his shock.
"I-I, I can't feel my hands," Flesh mumbled.
The humanoid looked to his hands, unable to move them.
"I can feel my elbows on my legs but anything beyond the burn, I can't feel anything."
Paine opened his fingers, disturbing the beam, so that it flickered and cracked and dissipated.
"Really?" Paine replied as he bent down next to Flesh looking over the man's burns.
Flesh's fingers began to twitch once again but as Flesh regained the ability to move each and every nerve felt as if it had been stabbed with a needle.
"And when you made contact with it, how about then," Paine questioned again, more concerned about what his new weapon was capable of.
Relaxing his hands in order not to stimulate the stabbing pain, Flesh felt a pounding ache fill his arms and hands below the cut that came as a consequence of the pain.
"It felt like I ran into a bar of lightning," Flesh said. "It was like this heaviness passed through my arms, thick like a ghost. And then soon after I couldn't feel my hands and I dropped the box. I couldn't move anything below where you cut and when I did it was like each nerve in my hand was pinching and I couldn't move it."
Paine gave another laugh as he stood to his feet and put a hand to his chin in thought.
"Very interesting. So the sword passes through the body like an invisible knife. The pure energy of the blade acts like a surge of localized electricity rendering all nerves touched by it useless. And with my glove, the wave of energy instantly saps all strength and energy from that part of the body." Paine explained to himself.
"And as the body tries to recover, and nerves reconnect, it only worsens the situation, not only rendering the limb completely weak but leaving a pain so intense its crippling. I wonder how long it lasts?"
Paine looked down to Flesh and reactivated his glove. It took a moment for the electricity to gather into strands and form back into the energy blade but 0no doubt in less time than it did before. Paine then pointed the saber at Flesh's head. The humanoid went rigid and slowly turned towards his leader.
"I bet if this went through your head the electricity would not only render you unconscious but possibly give you a stroke," Paine began to say rather darkly.
Flesh's eyes went wide as Paine kicked his tingling hand which caused a ripple of pain through his arms. Flesh fell back in a cry as Paine kicked his shoulder to turn the man towards him. Paine then proceeded to point the blade at Flesh's heart.
"And if I pierce your heart, you'd probably have a heart attack."
Flesh swallowed hard but relaxed as Paine gave another chuckle and turned away. Paine watched as his energy blade crackled before disappearing again. He wiggled his fingers in anticipation.
"Get up Flesh, We've got a present for that cockroach Manning and his team," Paine wickedly laughed before walking away.