Gatekeepers Unlimited: Reverse Darwinism
Just Another Day At The Office
Foreword: Wow, 5 reviews so far for something conjured up in 15 minutes. Here's where the action starts. Continue to support me!
23/1/2002 Maniscus Institution, Class 4D
He hated the air-conditioning.
Already a few days into his year as a graduating student and he started to hate it. Rising from his chair, he went towards the air-conditioning control panel and changed it from a freezing 16 degrees Celsius to a more humane 23 degrees Celsius. As he turned back to head for his seat, a disgruntled classmate called out, and he went to the panel and returned the settings back to what it was less than a minute ago.
"You may feel cold, but WE don't." emphasising the fact that he had friends who would help him if he dared to challenge him. He sighed and shook his head as he saw his classmate retreat to his seat triumphantly, before flipping him an obscene sigh with his right hand.
The teacher, having witnessed the whole incident as it happened literally under her nose, just continued like nothing happened. Oh well, forget it, he thought, no use fighting with unreasonable people. Even though I could wipe the floor with all of them.
The teacher droned on, and he glanced at the wall clock. Five more minutes. He mentally mapped out his programme for the afternoon. For the first time in a long time, the commander had given him time off and he did not need to report for training. He was a bit surprised, but he was not going to argue with the prospect of some rest.
That apartment of mine needs some cleaning up, he thought, and there are some A.E.G.I.S material I have not finished reading..
The sound of the bell ringing brought him back to planet Earth. Immediately, the students stood up and bolted out of the classroom before greeting the teacher. Nor did they collect their homework. He packed slowly, and out of the corner of the eye he saw the student who challenged him just now draping his arm around one of his female classmates. He rolled his eyes, before turning back to complete his task. However, he was too slow. The boy had spotted him looking at them, and strode forward to confront him again, this time with fawning female in tow.
"Do you have a problem?" He asked in a menacing voice.
"No." He replied, in a soft but assured voice. With that, he slung his backpack over his right shoulder, and left the classroom briskly.
My public relations must be improving, he muttered to himself as he searched for something in his locker. Just then, a girl brushed past him, and thus dropped her book. Seeing that she made no attempt to pick her book up, he bent over and retrieved it for her.
However, on standing up, he thoroughly soaked as he failed to notice five of his classmates holding water guns and drenching him with them. They laughed as they squirted him. Not amused, he slammed his locker shut and turned to leave.
"Oh, so sad...Do you need a towel to dry yourself with?" It was the sneering voice of his classmate.
Unable to take it anymore, he turned around and glared at him. The cocky boy just stood there, arms akimbo, almost as though he was taunting him to a fight.
How he wanted to bash his sneering face in.
In the end, after a minute of entertaining thoughts of unleashing his Gate power here to whack him into orbit, he turned away and walked out school. He could hear their triumphant laughter.
Well, so much for that. Sometimes I wish I did not have so much self- control, he thought.
***
When one takes the public train, there are many rules. One, do not make eye contact. Two, look as though you are intently focusing on a task at hand, like reading one's newspapers or playing with their cell phones. Above all for a male, keep your hands to yourself, lest you incur some unwelcome accusations of wandering hands.
He slouched against the connector of the train, eyes focusing intently on his scuffy sports shoes. He stood out like a sore thumb, as his clothes were drenched, but little by little, he willed the water away, slowly as he did not want to attract any attention.
I am really starting to enjoy school life, he muttered to himself sarcastically, as he reached into his backpack for a file. He started to make use of the time to study, but the sound of an irritating ring tone from a cell phone caught his attention. He pinpointed the source, and realised that it was two girls, both of whom had just minutes earlier taken part in his humiliation in school. They were playing ring tones, which resounded in the enclosed train, and giggling at the same time. Annoyed, he mentally blocked out the noise.
"Attention..we have reached Orchard Station. Passengers alighting please get ready. Do not leave any belongings behind and we hope you would have a nice day." The train's automated voice system activated as the train neared his destination. He picked up his bag and proceeded to the doors. To his ire, the two girls also alighted and spotted him, and were now sharing a private joke over him. Nevertheless, he continued on, moving towards the escalator, trying to get some distance between them.
What were their names now?, he thought as he struggled to remember. Oh, Gail and Fiona. With all the A.E.G.I.S stuff to memorise, it is inevitable that I will most probably not know the names of my classmates. After all, they are only classmates, not friends...
He mouthed a silent curse as he saw the two girls following him. Obviously they were up to something, but he could not just stop them like that, although he was very nearly reaching his threshold.
Maybe I can create an "accident", he thought. He felt the warm sunshine fall on him as he finally left the underground train station. He could feel the strong humidity in the air, and strangely enough it invigorated him.
However, he suddenly felt an ominous rumbling, almost causing him to lose his balance. That's strange, there are no earthquakes in Singapore. He kept his balance, and turned around. Whatever was causing the tremors, it was coming in that direction.
***
Gail smiled slyly as she neared him. She could see that he was suspicious, but now for a brief moment, he had let his guard down. She grasped the water-bomb in her hand and proceeded to hurl it at him.
This will make me popular with the guys, as I got back at that stuck-up idiot, she thought, referring to the classmates who had challenged him.
Peculiarly, the water-bomb took an impossible trajectory, arching downwards immediately even though the line of force was straight ahead. It burst harmlessly on the paved road, and Gail just stared in disbelief and curiosity.
Just the, she felt a tap on her shoulder, and she wheeled around impatiently to see what Fiona wanted. All she saw was an overgrown cannonball, which gleamed so brightly that she for one second there it was a giant's personal bowling ball. The worst part was, it was heading straight for them.
People screamed as they frantically tried to avoid the strange object, but Gail and Fiona were rooted to the ground, legs frozen by fear.
She willed herself to move, to run away, to preserve her miserable existence, but she just could not move an inch.
A shadow then cast itself upon them. He stood in front of them, right hand in pocket. The slight breeze made his cropped hair sway a little, and his eyes were looking straight into theirs.
"Run."
They did not. They just could not.
Then she witnessed in silent horror as she watched him move faster then she had ever seen him move, whipping out a silver pistol from his pocket and firing a shot at them. She could feel the part where her hair was singed. The sound of the gunshot echoed in her ears, and she focused on his eyes.
They still were the same brown eyes, giving one a peaceful feel, but now it displayed a greater intent, greater purpose. He looked ruthless, murderous even.
"Run." He repeated.
They needed no second invitation.
***
Satisfied, he turned back to face his adversary.
IF-069, cannonball invader.
Classified: Moderately dangerous
He grasped his Gate Pistol with two hands. It was a remodelled Desert Eagle, designed to draw energy from the Gatekeepers Gate and project it in the form of energy bullets. It was the latest invention by A.E.G.I.S laboratories to further equip the Gatekeepers with the best tools to do their job: eliminate the Invaders.
He let of three shots quickly, which struck the external armour of the Invader. It stopped in its tracks, and from within the red Invader's head emerged, speaking a mechanical monotone.
"Gatekeeper detected. Terminate, with extreme prejudice." With that, it fired ball-like projectiles at him.
As they neared, he merely smiled.
"Gate, Open."
The black bullets were brought to an instant halt as they reached him, blocked by an invisible barrier. He stood still, head bowed, right arm extended, an ocean-blue Gate opened in front of him.
Concentrate...
His left hand held a brown object, and slowly he placed it near his Gate. Then, he pulled it out slowly, as a line of blue energy trailed after it. He switched the weapon to his right hand, and a split second later the nearest projectiles were cleanly cut into two.
The projectiles retreated, and he held his weapon in the air.
A sword.
They came at him again, this time as razor blades, deadly flying objects that could decapitate him in one careless moment. He nimbly avoided them, slashing some of them as they came too close for comfort. Each razor blade yielded a white crystal.
Tired of defending, he struck away the blades, and with a quick sweep of a sword he fired three blue energy bolts at the centre of the cannonball. They exploded one after another, and he took this opportunity when the Invaders were confused to destroy the rest of the blades.
However, even energy bolts could not take out its main core. Its only response was, " Switching to extermination level 3."
Two huge cannons immediately protruded out of the cannonball, and it was evident they were ready to fire. Reacting instantly, he opened his Gate with his left palm.
A jet of pressurised water emerged from his Gate, engulfing the energy beams fired by the Invader. It scarcely had time to evade as the water stream struck it square in the centre, removing a large chunk of itself from it and revealing its glowing central core.
He knew this was his chance. He brought his sword close to his face, and another Gate opened in front of him. Slowly, he could feel the humidity in the air leave, all water molecules were instead being summoned by his Gate. His sword glowed with a dark-blue glow, as he now took up an attacking stance. He ran through his Gate, feeling a great cooling sensation come over him as he charged, sword lowered and ready.
He debated with himself whether to call out his attack, just like what his teacher had done when he was still alive and fighting Invaders. He decided to do so, just to honour his late teacher's memory.
"Ultra...."
He could feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins as he swooped for the kill. This was what he was kept alive for.
This was the reason why he is still alive.
This was the only thing so far that validates his existence.
His ability to control a Gate.
His ability to defeat Invaders.
His ability to be a soldier in this unseen war.
He raised his sword in preparation for the strike.
I am a soldier.
I fight.
That is what I do.
The temporal storm of energy he summoned converged on his sword.
"...Whirlpool.."
The sword sliced cleanly, with no sound, almost like a silenced pistol. The red invader's face contorted, and the fusion form collapsed.
"Slash." He ended, in a voice that was almost a whisper.
***
He wanted to smile, he really wanted to, as he saw the white crystals shower down from above. He could vaguely see his muted expressions in those shiny objects. The crystals gave a soft sound as they fell to the floor, like wineglasses hitting each other. He bent down and picked one of them up and peered at it.
"Everyone of these is a human." He thought, as he started to collect the white crystals in a plastic bag he always carried around. He could still remember his teacher telling him about the true nature of these Invaders.
"Invaders are humans who have lost human forms."
He shrugged it off. Although that was true, his job was to defeat the Invaders. And he accomplished that, many times before. The best way was not to think about it, and just go on with your job.
But somehow, he could never shrug off the feeling that he had just taken human life, albeit in a much more twisted form.
***
The sound of crunching crystals alerted him, and he spun around to point his pistol at the source. Before he even completed his turn, a flash of light blinded his eyes, and the pistol was blown off his hand.
"Is that how you treat a girl?" Standing a few metres away was a girl, with long flowing black hair, wearing a pair of worn jeans and a loose brown T- shirt. But that was not what was startling about her.
In front of her was a brilliant gold Gate.
***
He sized up his options, but not before cursing his carelessness allowing himself to get caught. Moving stealthily, he pressed a concealed button on the tip of his shoe, which sent a signal to A.E.G.I.S, informing them that he was in need of help. He stood up slowly, eyes focussing for that chance he needed to save him from his predicament.
She is too far away for me to take her down, and the pistol is blown to bits. Looks like I have to talk my way out of this.
"Why are you working for the Invaders?"
"Me? Hah!" She snorted, before elaborating. "I don't. My orders are to take you out. And don't move unless you want your right leg blown off first before you die."
He winced. He was running out of options and time. Obviously he was dealing with someone who had some form of training. Why hasn't backup arrived yet? "You posses the Gate Of Lightning, don't you?"
"Quite sharp are we."
He shrugged off that snide remark. He had to keep her talking to distract her. "Why are you supposed to kill me?"
"My superiors have told me that you are a dark Gatekeeper and have to be killed." This time, her voice was softer, as though she was unwilling to kill him.
"But I don't have a negative Gate." He replied.
He glanced at her. She was a teenager like himself, not surprising as Gatekeepers are mostly teenagers. She wore a confused look on her face, most likely confused by his last remark. Seizing his chance, he somersaulted in front, spraying a jet of water from his right hand Gate, before ducking under a nearby boulder.
He succeeded, but barely. He felt the sting of her lightning in his palm as she had fired a bolt of lightning out of reflex.
She is obviously well trained, he thought.
"Looks like what the Commander said was right! You are a dead person after I am done with you."
"Bring it on." He muttered under his breath, as he formed his water sword again to battle a human, not an extraterrestrial adversary.
He could still appreciate the ironic humour in that.
But he would hate to take human life.
That would be wrong.
Isn't it?
***
Start Music: "Duel" by Bond
***
She recovered from the initial shock, then anger at her carelessness got the better of her. She retrieved two handles from her back pocket, and concentrated on them.
"Gate Open." The golden Gate opened, and yellow electricity flown down to the handles, curving, melding, before forming two distinct entities. She called them her electro-whips, and now she held them back to be ready for the first strike.
He charged, sword in hand, slicing three times in front of her. She backflipped out of the way, and lashed out with one electro-whip. Expecting that, he attempted to block the attack with his sword. But, unexpectedly, the glowing trail of energy snaked and coiled around his sword, and wrapped itself around his waist. He howled in agony as he felt the paralysing power of the Lightning Gate.
Desperately, he tugged hard at the restraining coil. His wild movements caused her to be dragged towards him, and as she neared, he launched an uppercut at her face. However, she was prepared. She loosened the electro-whip, and twisted herself expertly out of the way. In one swift movement, she countered with a hard kick to his face and a quick lash of her right hand whip.
He slumped to the floor, with not so much of a whimper.
She went up to take a closer look.
Instead of a motionless body, she saw a puddle of water.
And in it, she saw his reflection.
Behind her.
She only had enough time to duck slightly when she felt the cool sword blade strike her shoulder. As she somersaulted away, she felt a strange sensation. His sword blade did not feel metallic. Instead, she felt, it was made of something much cooler, like.
Ice.
And there he stood, charred from the electric attack, but eyes as cold as ice, bleeding wrist gripping the frost blade. His blood oozed slowly down the sword, giving it a deep red hue.
For a second the two adversaries stared at each other, neither moving.
Then it began again.
***
He changed his attack pattern this time, surging forward, body bent, hoping to land a strike on her legs. She leaped up, evading the attack, and then attempted to lash at him from above. But instead he twisted around and opened his Gate. The blue flash blinded her momentarily, and the next thing she felt was a jet of pressurised water pushing her away. She landed heavily on her injured shoulder a few metres away, sending paroxysms of pain through her body. But he fared no better, having hit himself on the head after landing awkwardly.
She clutched her injured shoulder and winced. She mentally willed the pain away, and then summoned her Gate again. This time, the two electro-whips changed from being fully motile whiplashes to recurved katana blades.
He watched in mere amusement, and took up a defensive stance. She came at him quickly, thrusting with her right hand and holding the other one back. He parried the thrust with his sword blade, and she brought the second blade upward to trap his sword in a cross-shaped formation. He could not move his sword an inch.
"Give up?" She managed, flashing a smug smile. He merely threw her a careless smile, which made her wonder for a spilt second why was he still so confident.
The answer came a heartbeat later. His sword disintegrated right before her eyes, like an ice cube melting under intense heat. She watched in horror and amazement, and the pressure she applied on the sword caused her slip and lose her balance. Seizing the opportunity, he executed a perfect roundhouse kick at her face. She took the blow head-on, and with an agonised scream she fell back again.
He walked up to her crumpled body. Her clothes were bloodied, torn and dirtied, and she was bleeding from many cuts. Her shoulder was badly wounded, and she had lost her right katana, which was lying some distance away, no longer illuminating its strange yellow glow.
He activated his watch to use the direct com-link he had with headquarters. After all, it was the first time he has encountered a Gatekeeper that was bent on wasting him.
"They never wrote about that in the protocol." He muttered under his breath. His watch whined and beeped, but still he had no connection. "Work, damn it!" He cursed, but the stubborn watch just responded with more static.
Suddenly, the shiny surface of his watch gave an image on what was behind him.
A gleaming katana, heading for him.
Moving gracefully, he created his sword again, turned around and parried with the sword blade. In one fluid motion, he flipped his sword around, so that now he was holding it backwards. Before she could recover, he placed his aqua blade next to her neck.
"Your call." He said, his voice as smooth as silk.
***
"That's enough! Both of you put your weapons down!"
Both of them turned to see the source of that authoritative, booming voice.
"Commander?" They said in unison.
"Both of you, in case you haven't realised it by now, are both A.E.G.I.S agents."
"But." He started. "She tried to kill me!"
"Correction. She was following orders. Now, both of you, let the medics patch you guys up. I will see you at the base."
"So much for that day-off." He groaned inwardly. He cast a glance at the girl. She was staring intensely at him.
He was mad, of course. Why did the Commander not intervene earlier? They could have killed each other. And it seems that she was totally unaware of what the Commander was doing as well. Why do something so crazy and pointless? What purpose does it serve?
As he pondered, he remembered an incident with his teacher years ago, as he returned looking troubled after talking with the Commander. He had asked what was wrong, and his teacher gave him a pensive smile, before saying those immortal words.
"In A.E.G.I.S, not everything is what it seems."
He seemed to understand the meaning of that now.
***
Fortunately, their injuries were not too serious, except that her shoulder needed to be bandaged. An hour later, they both turned up at the command centre. The Commander sat at the command chair slightly elevated above them. As he saw them enter, he stood up and walked towards the edge.
"Good. You are here." He snapped his fingers, and an assistant passed him a file.
"I assume you met each other."
"In rather controversial circumstances, I say." Was his icy reply.
The Commander shrugged that off, face constantly maintaining an indifferent look. He flipped a few pages, before peering at the two of them.
"I presume that although you exchanged blows," he gaze intensely at him, before continuing, "you have yet to exchange names."
He cleared his throat in a rather ceremonious matter. "Agent Jason Lee, meet Agent Karen Ristle-Lim. She just transferred from the American Branch, and has been a Gatekeeper for only three months. Please try to guide her along and help her settle here in Singapore. I believe the two of you will make a good team."
Before Jason could say anything, Karen bounded forward and looked at him. "You..you are Jason Lee? The number one Invader Hunter?"
Jason shrugged. "In the flesh."
"No wonder I could not defeat you! You fought so well, so much so I thought you were trying to kill me!"
Staring right into her eyes, he moved his face close to hers. In a controlled voice, he said, "I was."
The Commander coughed, and spoke up. "I believe Agent Ristle is tired after the exertions of today. You are both dismissed. Agent Lee, you are now Captain of an Invader Hunting Unit. Please organise yourselves and meet me here tomorrow morning sharp at ten o'clock."
Wearing a confused and weary look on her face, Karen left the command centre. Jason stayed behind.
The Commander realised that he had not budged. "Anything else, Agent Lee?" "What was all that about?" He asked in an accusing tone.
"What do you mean?" He replied in an innocent voice.
"Don't play games with me. You set us up to fight each other! Maybe the new one does not know, but I quite pissed by the fact that you did such an irresponsible thing!"
"I do not tolerate insubordination, Jason." His tone hardened.
"Still, you own us an explanation."
The Commander sighed. "That was all planned to test both of your abilities against each other, since both of you would never fight to your maximum capacity in a sparring match."
"Like I will believe that. Then why is she here in the first place? " He asked in an incredulous tone.
"She is here to help you, Jason. Invader activity has been on the rise recently. I sent for her as you will need her help."
"I don't see the need, given my track record. It seems you are trying to pursue your own agenda to me."
"I do have my limits, Jason. I believe that my actions are justified. Whether or not you think so is none of my concern."
Jason fumed. "I could have killed her." He said in a soft voice.
"You didn't. And you probably wouldn't have done so."
Jason kept quiet. He had nothing to say about that. He turned to leave.
"One more thing Jason."
He turned his head back. "Yes?"
"She's a good girl. Take good care of her."
"Babysitting was never on my resume."
There was a period of awkward silence.
"Think of her as a human being, not a Gatekeeper."
***
As he stepped out into the warm rays of the sunset, he pondered the Commander's words.
Think of her as a human being, not a Gatekeeper.
He clenched his fist.
They never treated him that way.
How hypocritical.
The first chapter ends, finally. Now that my exams are out of the way, I can try to write more. Post more reviews to keep me motivated!
Just Another Day At The Office
Foreword: Wow, 5 reviews so far for something conjured up in 15 minutes. Here's where the action starts. Continue to support me!
23/1/2002 Maniscus Institution, Class 4D
He hated the air-conditioning.
Already a few days into his year as a graduating student and he started to hate it. Rising from his chair, he went towards the air-conditioning control panel and changed it from a freezing 16 degrees Celsius to a more humane 23 degrees Celsius. As he turned back to head for his seat, a disgruntled classmate called out, and he went to the panel and returned the settings back to what it was less than a minute ago.
"You may feel cold, but WE don't." emphasising the fact that he had friends who would help him if he dared to challenge him. He sighed and shook his head as he saw his classmate retreat to his seat triumphantly, before flipping him an obscene sigh with his right hand.
The teacher, having witnessed the whole incident as it happened literally under her nose, just continued like nothing happened. Oh well, forget it, he thought, no use fighting with unreasonable people. Even though I could wipe the floor with all of them.
The teacher droned on, and he glanced at the wall clock. Five more minutes. He mentally mapped out his programme for the afternoon. For the first time in a long time, the commander had given him time off and he did not need to report for training. He was a bit surprised, but he was not going to argue with the prospect of some rest.
That apartment of mine needs some cleaning up, he thought, and there are some A.E.G.I.S material I have not finished reading..
The sound of the bell ringing brought him back to planet Earth. Immediately, the students stood up and bolted out of the classroom before greeting the teacher. Nor did they collect their homework. He packed slowly, and out of the corner of the eye he saw the student who challenged him just now draping his arm around one of his female classmates. He rolled his eyes, before turning back to complete his task. However, he was too slow. The boy had spotted him looking at them, and strode forward to confront him again, this time with fawning female in tow.
"Do you have a problem?" He asked in a menacing voice.
"No." He replied, in a soft but assured voice. With that, he slung his backpack over his right shoulder, and left the classroom briskly.
My public relations must be improving, he muttered to himself as he searched for something in his locker. Just then, a girl brushed past him, and thus dropped her book. Seeing that she made no attempt to pick her book up, he bent over and retrieved it for her.
However, on standing up, he thoroughly soaked as he failed to notice five of his classmates holding water guns and drenching him with them. They laughed as they squirted him. Not amused, he slammed his locker shut and turned to leave.
"Oh, so sad...Do you need a towel to dry yourself with?" It was the sneering voice of his classmate.
Unable to take it anymore, he turned around and glared at him. The cocky boy just stood there, arms akimbo, almost as though he was taunting him to a fight.
How he wanted to bash his sneering face in.
In the end, after a minute of entertaining thoughts of unleashing his Gate power here to whack him into orbit, he turned away and walked out school. He could hear their triumphant laughter.
Well, so much for that. Sometimes I wish I did not have so much self- control, he thought.
***
When one takes the public train, there are many rules. One, do not make eye contact. Two, look as though you are intently focusing on a task at hand, like reading one's newspapers or playing with their cell phones. Above all for a male, keep your hands to yourself, lest you incur some unwelcome accusations of wandering hands.
He slouched against the connector of the train, eyes focusing intently on his scuffy sports shoes. He stood out like a sore thumb, as his clothes were drenched, but little by little, he willed the water away, slowly as he did not want to attract any attention.
I am really starting to enjoy school life, he muttered to himself sarcastically, as he reached into his backpack for a file. He started to make use of the time to study, but the sound of an irritating ring tone from a cell phone caught his attention. He pinpointed the source, and realised that it was two girls, both of whom had just minutes earlier taken part in his humiliation in school. They were playing ring tones, which resounded in the enclosed train, and giggling at the same time. Annoyed, he mentally blocked out the noise.
"Attention..we have reached Orchard Station. Passengers alighting please get ready. Do not leave any belongings behind and we hope you would have a nice day." The train's automated voice system activated as the train neared his destination. He picked up his bag and proceeded to the doors. To his ire, the two girls also alighted and spotted him, and were now sharing a private joke over him. Nevertheless, he continued on, moving towards the escalator, trying to get some distance between them.
What were their names now?, he thought as he struggled to remember. Oh, Gail and Fiona. With all the A.E.G.I.S stuff to memorise, it is inevitable that I will most probably not know the names of my classmates. After all, they are only classmates, not friends...
He mouthed a silent curse as he saw the two girls following him. Obviously they were up to something, but he could not just stop them like that, although he was very nearly reaching his threshold.
Maybe I can create an "accident", he thought. He felt the warm sunshine fall on him as he finally left the underground train station. He could feel the strong humidity in the air, and strangely enough it invigorated him.
However, he suddenly felt an ominous rumbling, almost causing him to lose his balance. That's strange, there are no earthquakes in Singapore. He kept his balance, and turned around. Whatever was causing the tremors, it was coming in that direction.
***
Gail smiled slyly as she neared him. She could see that he was suspicious, but now for a brief moment, he had let his guard down. She grasped the water-bomb in her hand and proceeded to hurl it at him.
This will make me popular with the guys, as I got back at that stuck-up idiot, she thought, referring to the classmates who had challenged him.
Peculiarly, the water-bomb took an impossible trajectory, arching downwards immediately even though the line of force was straight ahead. It burst harmlessly on the paved road, and Gail just stared in disbelief and curiosity.
Just the, she felt a tap on her shoulder, and she wheeled around impatiently to see what Fiona wanted. All she saw was an overgrown cannonball, which gleamed so brightly that she for one second there it was a giant's personal bowling ball. The worst part was, it was heading straight for them.
People screamed as they frantically tried to avoid the strange object, but Gail and Fiona were rooted to the ground, legs frozen by fear.
She willed herself to move, to run away, to preserve her miserable existence, but she just could not move an inch.
A shadow then cast itself upon them. He stood in front of them, right hand in pocket. The slight breeze made his cropped hair sway a little, and his eyes were looking straight into theirs.
"Run."
They did not. They just could not.
Then she witnessed in silent horror as she watched him move faster then she had ever seen him move, whipping out a silver pistol from his pocket and firing a shot at them. She could feel the part where her hair was singed. The sound of the gunshot echoed in her ears, and she focused on his eyes.
They still were the same brown eyes, giving one a peaceful feel, but now it displayed a greater intent, greater purpose. He looked ruthless, murderous even.
"Run." He repeated.
They needed no second invitation.
***
Satisfied, he turned back to face his adversary.
IF-069, cannonball invader.
Classified: Moderately dangerous
He grasped his Gate Pistol with two hands. It was a remodelled Desert Eagle, designed to draw energy from the Gatekeepers Gate and project it in the form of energy bullets. It was the latest invention by A.E.G.I.S laboratories to further equip the Gatekeepers with the best tools to do their job: eliminate the Invaders.
He let of three shots quickly, which struck the external armour of the Invader. It stopped in its tracks, and from within the red Invader's head emerged, speaking a mechanical monotone.
"Gatekeeper detected. Terminate, with extreme prejudice." With that, it fired ball-like projectiles at him.
As they neared, he merely smiled.
"Gate, Open."
The black bullets were brought to an instant halt as they reached him, blocked by an invisible barrier. He stood still, head bowed, right arm extended, an ocean-blue Gate opened in front of him.
Concentrate...
His left hand held a brown object, and slowly he placed it near his Gate. Then, he pulled it out slowly, as a line of blue energy trailed after it. He switched the weapon to his right hand, and a split second later the nearest projectiles were cleanly cut into two.
The projectiles retreated, and he held his weapon in the air.
A sword.
They came at him again, this time as razor blades, deadly flying objects that could decapitate him in one careless moment. He nimbly avoided them, slashing some of them as they came too close for comfort. Each razor blade yielded a white crystal.
Tired of defending, he struck away the blades, and with a quick sweep of a sword he fired three blue energy bolts at the centre of the cannonball. They exploded one after another, and he took this opportunity when the Invaders were confused to destroy the rest of the blades.
However, even energy bolts could not take out its main core. Its only response was, " Switching to extermination level 3."
Two huge cannons immediately protruded out of the cannonball, and it was evident they were ready to fire. Reacting instantly, he opened his Gate with his left palm.
A jet of pressurised water emerged from his Gate, engulfing the energy beams fired by the Invader. It scarcely had time to evade as the water stream struck it square in the centre, removing a large chunk of itself from it and revealing its glowing central core.
He knew this was his chance. He brought his sword close to his face, and another Gate opened in front of him. Slowly, he could feel the humidity in the air leave, all water molecules were instead being summoned by his Gate. His sword glowed with a dark-blue glow, as he now took up an attacking stance. He ran through his Gate, feeling a great cooling sensation come over him as he charged, sword lowered and ready.
He debated with himself whether to call out his attack, just like what his teacher had done when he was still alive and fighting Invaders. He decided to do so, just to honour his late teacher's memory.
"Ultra...."
He could feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins as he swooped for the kill. This was what he was kept alive for.
This was the reason why he is still alive.
This was the only thing so far that validates his existence.
His ability to control a Gate.
His ability to defeat Invaders.
His ability to be a soldier in this unseen war.
He raised his sword in preparation for the strike.
I am a soldier.
I fight.
That is what I do.
The temporal storm of energy he summoned converged on his sword.
"...Whirlpool.."
The sword sliced cleanly, with no sound, almost like a silenced pistol. The red invader's face contorted, and the fusion form collapsed.
"Slash." He ended, in a voice that was almost a whisper.
***
He wanted to smile, he really wanted to, as he saw the white crystals shower down from above. He could vaguely see his muted expressions in those shiny objects. The crystals gave a soft sound as they fell to the floor, like wineglasses hitting each other. He bent down and picked one of them up and peered at it.
"Everyone of these is a human." He thought, as he started to collect the white crystals in a plastic bag he always carried around. He could still remember his teacher telling him about the true nature of these Invaders.
"Invaders are humans who have lost human forms."
He shrugged it off. Although that was true, his job was to defeat the Invaders. And he accomplished that, many times before. The best way was not to think about it, and just go on with your job.
But somehow, he could never shrug off the feeling that he had just taken human life, albeit in a much more twisted form.
***
The sound of crunching crystals alerted him, and he spun around to point his pistol at the source. Before he even completed his turn, a flash of light blinded his eyes, and the pistol was blown off his hand.
"Is that how you treat a girl?" Standing a few metres away was a girl, with long flowing black hair, wearing a pair of worn jeans and a loose brown T- shirt. But that was not what was startling about her.
In front of her was a brilliant gold Gate.
***
He sized up his options, but not before cursing his carelessness allowing himself to get caught. Moving stealthily, he pressed a concealed button on the tip of his shoe, which sent a signal to A.E.G.I.S, informing them that he was in need of help. He stood up slowly, eyes focussing for that chance he needed to save him from his predicament.
She is too far away for me to take her down, and the pistol is blown to bits. Looks like I have to talk my way out of this.
"Why are you working for the Invaders?"
"Me? Hah!" She snorted, before elaborating. "I don't. My orders are to take you out. And don't move unless you want your right leg blown off first before you die."
He winced. He was running out of options and time. Obviously he was dealing with someone who had some form of training. Why hasn't backup arrived yet? "You posses the Gate Of Lightning, don't you?"
"Quite sharp are we."
He shrugged off that snide remark. He had to keep her talking to distract her. "Why are you supposed to kill me?"
"My superiors have told me that you are a dark Gatekeeper and have to be killed." This time, her voice was softer, as though she was unwilling to kill him.
"But I don't have a negative Gate." He replied.
He glanced at her. She was a teenager like himself, not surprising as Gatekeepers are mostly teenagers. She wore a confused look on her face, most likely confused by his last remark. Seizing his chance, he somersaulted in front, spraying a jet of water from his right hand Gate, before ducking under a nearby boulder.
He succeeded, but barely. He felt the sting of her lightning in his palm as she had fired a bolt of lightning out of reflex.
She is obviously well trained, he thought.
"Looks like what the Commander said was right! You are a dead person after I am done with you."
"Bring it on." He muttered under his breath, as he formed his water sword again to battle a human, not an extraterrestrial adversary.
He could still appreciate the ironic humour in that.
But he would hate to take human life.
That would be wrong.
Isn't it?
***
Start Music: "Duel" by Bond
***
She recovered from the initial shock, then anger at her carelessness got the better of her. She retrieved two handles from her back pocket, and concentrated on them.
"Gate Open." The golden Gate opened, and yellow electricity flown down to the handles, curving, melding, before forming two distinct entities. She called them her electro-whips, and now she held them back to be ready for the first strike.
He charged, sword in hand, slicing three times in front of her. She backflipped out of the way, and lashed out with one electro-whip. Expecting that, he attempted to block the attack with his sword. But, unexpectedly, the glowing trail of energy snaked and coiled around his sword, and wrapped itself around his waist. He howled in agony as he felt the paralysing power of the Lightning Gate.
Desperately, he tugged hard at the restraining coil. His wild movements caused her to be dragged towards him, and as she neared, he launched an uppercut at her face. However, she was prepared. She loosened the electro-whip, and twisted herself expertly out of the way. In one swift movement, she countered with a hard kick to his face and a quick lash of her right hand whip.
He slumped to the floor, with not so much of a whimper.
She went up to take a closer look.
Instead of a motionless body, she saw a puddle of water.
And in it, she saw his reflection.
Behind her.
She only had enough time to duck slightly when she felt the cool sword blade strike her shoulder. As she somersaulted away, she felt a strange sensation. His sword blade did not feel metallic. Instead, she felt, it was made of something much cooler, like.
Ice.
And there he stood, charred from the electric attack, but eyes as cold as ice, bleeding wrist gripping the frost blade. His blood oozed slowly down the sword, giving it a deep red hue.
For a second the two adversaries stared at each other, neither moving.
Then it began again.
***
He changed his attack pattern this time, surging forward, body bent, hoping to land a strike on her legs. She leaped up, evading the attack, and then attempted to lash at him from above. But instead he twisted around and opened his Gate. The blue flash blinded her momentarily, and the next thing she felt was a jet of pressurised water pushing her away. She landed heavily on her injured shoulder a few metres away, sending paroxysms of pain through her body. But he fared no better, having hit himself on the head after landing awkwardly.
She clutched her injured shoulder and winced. She mentally willed the pain away, and then summoned her Gate again. This time, the two electro-whips changed from being fully motile whiplashes to recurved katana blades.
He watched in mere amusement, and took up a defensive stance. She came at him quickly, thrusting with her right hand and holding the other one back. He parried the thrust with his sword blade, and she brought the second blade upward to trap his sword in a cross-shaped formation. He could not move his sword an inch.
"Give up?" She managed, flashing a smug smile. He merely threw her a careless smile, which made her wonder for a spilt second why was he still so confident.
The answer came a heartbeat later. His sword disintegrated right before her eyes, like an ice cube melting under intense heat. She watched in horror and amazement, and the pressure she applied on the sword caused her slip and lose her balance. Seizing the opportunity, he executed a perfect roundhouse kick at her face. She took the blow head-on, and with an agonised scream she fell back again.
He walked up to her crumpled body. Her clothes were bloodied, torn and dirtied, and she was bleeding from many cuts. Her shoulder was badly wounded, and she had lost her right katana, which was lying some distance away, no longer illuminating its strange yellow glow.
He activated his watch to use the direct com-link he had with headquarters. After all, it was the first time he has encountered a Gatekeeper that was bent on wasting him.
"They never wrote about that in the protocol." He muttered under his breath. His watch whined and beeped, but still he had no connection. "Work, damn it!" He cursed, but the stubborn watch just responded with more static.
Suddenly, the shiny surface of his watch gave an image on what was behind him.
A gleaming katana, heading for him.
Moving gracefully, he created his sword again, turned around and parried with the sword blade. In one fluid motion, he flipped his sword around, so that now he was holding it backwards. Before she could recover, he placed his aqua blade next to her neck.
"Your call." He said, his voice as smooth as silk.
***
"That's enough! Both of you put your weapons down!"
Both of them turned to see the source of that authoritative, booming voice.
"Commander?" They said in unison.
"Both of you, in case you haven't realised it by now, are both A.E.G.I.S agents."
"But." He started. "She tried to kill me!"
"Correction. She was following orders. Now, both of you, let the medics patch you guys up. I will see you at the base."
"So much for that day-off." He groaned inwardly. He cast a glance at the girl. She was staring intensely at him.
He was mad, of course. Why did the Commander not intervene earlier? They could have killed each other. And it seems that she was totally unaware of what the Commander was doing as well. Why do something so crazy and pointless? What purpose does it serve?
As he pondered, he remembered an incident with his teacher years ago, as he returned looking troubled after talking with the Commander. He had asked what was wrong, and his teacher gave him a pensive smile, before saying those immortal words.
"In A.E.G.I.S, not everything is what it seems."
He seemed to understand the meaning of that now.
***
Fortunately, their injuries were not too serious, except that her shoulder needed to be bandaged. An hour later, they both turned up at the command centre. The Commander sat at the command chair slightly elevated above them. As he saw them enter, he stood up and walked towards the edge.
"Good. You are here." He snapped his fingers, and an assistant passed him a file.
"I assume you met each other."
"In rather controversial circumstances, I say." Was his icy reply.
The Commander shrugged that off, face constantly maintaining an indifferent look. He flipped a few pages, before peering at the two of them.
"I presume that although you exchanged blows," he gaze intensely at him, before continuing, "you have yet to exchange names."
He cleared his throat in a rather ceremonious matter. "Agent Jason Lee, meet Agent Karen Ristle-Lim. She just transferred from the American Branch, and has been a Gatekeeper for only three months. Please try to guide her along and help her settle here in Singapore. I believe the two of you will make a good team."
Before Jason could say anything, Karen bounded forward and looked at him. "You..you are Jason Lee? The number one Invader Hunter?"
Jason shrugged. "In the flesh."
"No wonder I could not defeat you! You fought so well, so much so I thought you were trying to kill me!"
Staring right into her eyes, he moved his face close to hers. In a controlled voice, he said, "I was."
The Commander coughed, and spoke up. "I believe Agent Ristle is tired after the exertions of today. You are both dismissed. Agent Lee, you are now Captain of an Invader Hunting Unit. Please organise yourselves and meet me here tomorrow morning sharp at ten o'clock."
Wearing a confused and weary look on her face, Karen left the command centre. Jason stayed behind.
The Commander realised that he had not budged. "Anything else, Agent Lee?" "What was all that about?" He asked in an accusing tone.
"What do you mean?" He replied in an innocent voice.
"Don't play games with me. You set us up to fight each other! Maybe the new one does not know, but I quite pissed by the fact that you did such an irresponsible thing!"
"I do not tolerate insubordination, Jason." His tone hardened.
"Still, you own us an explanation."
The Commander sighed. "That was all planned to test both of your abilities against each other, since both of you would never fight to your maximum capacity in a sparring match."
"Like I will believe that. Then why is she here in the first place? " He asked in an incredulous tone.
"She is here to help you, Jason. Invader activity has been on the rise recently. I sent for her as you will need her help."
"I don't see the need, given my track record. It seems you are trying to pursue your own agenda to me."
"I do have my limits, Jason. I believe that my actions are justified. Whether or not you think so is none of my concern."
Jason fumed. "I could have killed her." He said in a soft voice.
"You didn't. And you probably wouldn't have done so."
Jason kept quiet. He had nothing to say about that. He turned to leave.
"One more thing Jason."
He turned his head back. "Yes?"
"She's a good girl. Take good care of her."
"Babysitting was never on my resume."
There was a period of awkward silence.
"Think of her as a human being, not a Gatekeeper."
***
As he stepped out into the warm rays of the sunset, he pondered the Commander's words.
Think of her as a human being, not a Gatekeeper.
He clenched his fist.
They never treated him that way.
How hypocritical.
The first chapter ends, finally. Now that my exams are out of the way, I can try to write more. Post more reviews to keep me motivated!