DEMONS AND ANGELS
"On your left!" Cassandra cried.
I whirled to the left, fists raised, standing in a defensive posture, ready for whatever might come at me. Moments passed, then from behind a tree a figure sprang, clearly thinking they'd caught me by surprise. Seeing I was ready for him, my assailant swore, but didn't lessen the pace of his attack, hurrying forward, pulling back his fist. As he swung it, I dodged to the side easily, grabbed him by the arm, and used his momentum to throw his small frame away from me. He hit the ground hard, cursed, and struggled to get back on his feet.
"Behind you!" yelled Cassandra.
I spun round, and a few seconds later another attacker emerged from the tree-line, his fists clenched, moving towards me more cautiously than the last one. I watched him warily, staying in a defensive position. I knew I couldn't defeat this one by brute strength alone. He advanced towards me, slowly, and I kept my ground, waiting for him to make the first move. He was clearly trying to do the same thing. I just had to be patient. I had to resist the temptation to rush in with my fists flying. He lost his patience first, and came charging towards me. I waited until he reached the point of no return, then I activated my camouflage mutation. Each cell of my skin and clothing changed to take on the appearance of whatever was behind it, like a chameleon. As I disappeared from his sight, my attacker swore, realising I'd fooled him. He backed off as quickly as he could, but I was already on him, and a sideways kick sent him sprawling to the ground.
I looked over at my girlfriend, and Cassandra gave me a smile, then her expression became deadly serious, "Over this way! They're coming from behind me!"
I ran over, putting myself between her and whatever danger was approaching. Protecting the girl I loved was something I did instinctively. This time there were two attackers running towards us, and I hurriedly tried to formulate a plan for fighting both of them. It wasn't going to be easy. Cassandra was hurrying backwards, getting out of my way, and I saw the first of the attackers lift both of his arms, stretching them out towards me. That was the only warning I got of a huge rock leaping away from the earth and hurtling through the air towards me. I dived to the ground to avoid it, and rolled over, jumping back upright. Another rock was flying towards me, but I was able to duck this one more easily. Breaking into a run, I charged towards the enemy. Just as I got close to him, another huge rock came sailing into my peripheral vision. I had no time to avoid it, and it struck the side of my head, pitching me sideways. I felt no pain, as a result of my mutations, and the only result was that I became angrier. Adrenaline pumped through my veins as my fury grew, and my body was pushed into a sublime 'berserk' state, increasing my strength, speed, stamina, and amplifying the power of my mutations. Within three strides I was upon my attacker, and a single punch knocked him ten feet through the air away from me.
"Get down!!" I heard Cassandra screaming.
I didn't question her, or even think. Cassandra's mutation granted her foresight, the ability to see the future, and when she gave me a warning, I always heeded it. Dropping to the ground, I heard a whish as a throwing knife streaked through the air where I'd just been standing. I leapt to my feet, and ran towards the one who had thrown it. He drew back his wrist to throw another one, but I was too fast, and I grabbed his arm, holding it still. He twisted out of my grasp, and slashed at me with the knife. I ducked and aimed a punch at his jaw. He raised his right hand, holding up a solid metal shield, which my fist impacted harmlessly against. Spinning on the spot, I aimed a kick at his face. He only had time to lean marginally out of the way, and I caught him a glancing blow to the shoulder. It was enough to knock him off balance, and I moved in for the kill. Throwing another punch to his jaw, he reacted with near-impossible speed to bring up another metallic shield, blocking my attack. His other hand, still holding the knife, swooped down towards my throat. Grabbing his wrist, I twisted, and he dropped the knife. From somewhere he found new strength, and pulled free from my grasp, hurrying away from me. Turning, he opened his hands to reveal a throwing knife in each. With a simultaneous flick of both wrists, he skimmed them through the air towards my heart. I knew I didn't have a hope of avoiding them.
Cassandra slammed into my side, knocking me to the ground, and the knives passed harmlessly overhead. I was angry now; I went berserk once more as I wrenched myself to my feet, and ran towards the knife-thrower. Before he could conjure up any more blades, I swung my right fist in a devastating punch aimed at his face. He had to get both hands behind it, blocking it with another metal shield. That was OK. That was what I had counted on him doing. It meant he couldn't shield himself against my next attack. Inhaling deeply, I felt the now-familiar tingling sensation in my throat, and I let the breath out in a short, sharp burst; from my open mouth came a jet of white-hot flame searing through the air towards his head.
"Stop! Stop!" came another voice.
Pyro hurried towards us, his hand out, the fire obeying his command and dissipating into the atmosphere. I relaxed.
"Are you two trying to kill each other?!" he demanded.
I said nothing, letting my breathing and heart rate return to normal. Recyclo was likewise silent. Pyro snapped, "This is a training exercise, not a death duel! The whole point is for you to learn how to fight in pairs! I already know you can kill each other in one-on-one battles!"
By this time the others had joined us. Atlas held his jaw painfully and complained, "Did you really have to hit me that hard?"
"No. I could have hit you harder," I said.
Pyro forestalled any retort, "Shut up, both of you. All right, here's what I thought of today's exercise: it was a failure. You're supposed to be fighting in pairs, but there's almost no teamwork on show. The only exception was Cassandra and Gladiator. Mole, Scarab, Atlas – you guys didn't even try to work with your partners, you just went straight for Gladiator, making it easy for him."
"So what are we supposed to do?" Mole demanded. "We can't take them by surprise when Cassandra can predict our attacks! We can't do anything against Gladiator when he's ready for us!"
"You're supposed to be working in a pair! What about some co-ordination or teamwork?"
Mole was silent, but he and Scarab were both angry. I could sympathise. Pyro wasn't the most patient man in the world, and learning under him was not an easy or pleasant experience.
"The bottom line is, nobody passed today's exercise," Pyro concluded. "Mole, Scarab, you two simply didn't even try to work together. Atlas, Recyclo, same problem. Vertigo, Gemini, you two didn't get a chance, since I had to stop things early before these two killed each other. Gladiator, Cassandra, you know what you're meant to be doing, but you're still doing it wrong. You're moving too far apart when you should be close together at all times. Cassandra was only just in time to push you out of the way at the end there. And guys, stop trying to get each other killed! I know you don't all like each other, but keep yourselves under control for heaven's sake! There'll be plenty of opportunities to draw blood when we launch our next attack on the humans."
Several of the others nodded, and I felt my fists instinctively clench as I thought about it, Humans. Scum. Our chance for revenge, for everything they've done to us.
"All right, that's it for now. We'll meet again in the evening."
Pyro headed back towards the sanctuary, leaving us to our own devices. For a moment we stood together in a group, waiting for Pyro to walk out of earshot, then Vertigo shrugged, "I guess that didn't go too well."
"He's so bloody pedantic!" Mole complained. "He never offers a word of praise to anyone! He finds fault in the tiniest little thing!"
"Yeah – he's a perfectionist," Scarab said.
"Yeah, and too much of one, if you ask me."
"Well, you're not exactly Mr Easy-to-Please either, are you?" said Gemini sarcastically.
"Yeah, but at least I – oh, forget it!"
Mole would complain about anything and everything, given the chance. Vertigo, the cool, laid-back one, said, "It's frustrating, but Pyro knows what he's talking about. He's training us to defend ourselves, and yeah, it's frustrating, and he can be a pain in the ass, but we've just got to stick with it. It might save our lives."
"Not if we keep trying to kill each other in the process," Cassandra said. "It must be a male thing. Whenever we have a training exercise, you guys always end up practically killing one another."
"They're just trying to impress us," Gemini smirked.
"Yeah, you wish," Vertigo said.
She glared angrily at him. Other than myself, Vertigo was probably the only guy in the group who was immune to Gemini's considerable good looks. Well, maybe not Recyclo. I glanced over at our resident emotional vacuum, who stood with his arms folded, a foot or two away, surveying the rest of us without interest, through his half-closed grey eyes.
"Seriously, though, you guys are in danger of going out of control," Cassandra went on. "Recyc and Glad came within an inch of killing each other just there."
Scarab shrugged, "Well, we're being taught how to kill, aren't we? We've got to learn to kill so we can destroy the humans."
"I just don't want any of us to get hurt," said Cassie.
"Huh – if you don't want to get hurt, don't take part in the fight, that's what I say."
Gemini nodded, "Yeah, that's just what a brainless male like you would say."
Cassandra turned to me, and said hesitantly, "Were you really trying to kill Recyc?"
"Well – not exactly," I said. "When I'm berserk, I lose control. It's like the logical part of my brain just switches off, and I'm driven solely by my emotions. When I'm in that state, I'll kill anyone who represents a threat. I'm working on trying to keep myself under control, but…the adrenaline rush is just too much for me to handle."
She frowned, and looked over at Recyclo, "What about you, Recyc? Were you really trying to kill him?"
Recyclo raised one eyebrow, his face expressionless as always, and said in his deadpan London accent, "There's no need to shorten my name. We're not friends, so there's no need to try and be familiar with me."
He went silent, and she said, "You didn't answer my question: were you trying to kill him?"
Recyclo looked at her for a moment, then abruptly turned and walked away. We watched him go, then Gemini whispered, "He's weird. Does anybody else get freaked out when he's around?"
"Yes," I said.
Cassandra and a couple of the others nodded. Vertigo gave a lazy grin, "I don't think he's any worse than the rest of us. This place is a madhouse anyway."
"Said the renowned psychologist," Gemini snapped back.
Vertigo yawned, "I'm so bored. We always argue like this when we're bored. Let's do something interesting for a change. You guys wanna head over to the mainland for a few hours? We're free till the evening, remember."
"Yeah, I'll go," I said.
Cassandra slipped her hand inside mine, "You're not going anywhere without me."
The rest of them nodded their assent. Scarab said, "Should we ask Recyclo to go with us?"
"Do you want to spend time with him?" Gemini scoffed.
"No, but – well, he's one of us, isn't he?"
"That doesn't mean we have to hang around with him. He'd just say no anyway. Come on, let's go."
The seven of us began to head back to the sanctuary, where the helicopter sat on its pad, fully fuelled and ready to go as always, in case of emergencies. As I looked around at the others, I thought to myself: This is amazing. I've only been here three weeks and it already feels as if I've known these people my entire life. I know all of their problems, all of their little mannerisms, all the things that they like and dislike. We can relate to each other so well.
I squeezed Cassie's hand, and smiled at her. I'd never before felt about a girl the way I felt about her. Except once. The only other girl I had ever loved had been murdered before my eyes, by humans. I could still see it when I shut my eyes, could see the bullet hitting her in the throat, could see her falling on to the ground, her hands clutching uselessly at her neck, trying to hold back the flow of blood, as she struggled to breathe through her ruined windpipe. I knew that nothing would ever bring her back. I knew I'd never see her again. My vendetta against humanity wasn't simply about revenge. I wanted to ensure that no mutant ever had to go through what I had. My fight was for the survival of mutantkind. The price of our survival was the death of humanity. It wasn't going to be easy, but all of us were committed to seeing it happen one day. It was a dream of mine, a heavenly image, of a world without humans. It was a dream we all shared.
Plans and actions were already in motion that would ensure the elimination of the sub-creatures. Our enemies were working tirelessly to oppose our efforts, but their struggles would prove futile. Nobody was going to get in our way. Anyone who tried would have to fight the Gladiator. It was a name I had chosen, the name that my Brothers and Sisters now called me. I had abandoned the name my parents had given me: Gary Rosiçky. It was a useless name, the kind of name a human would have. Now I was the Gladiator, probably the world's most powerful fighter. There were none who could stand in my way.
Except perhaps one.
A/N: well this is a trial chapter. If you want to read more, leave a review. If enough people are interested then I'll update when I can.
A/N 2: I'm thinking of starting a web site to upload these stories on to. What I'd really like to do is draw some pictures of the characters I have created, but I can't draw to save my life. Is there anyone who likes these stories, and who has some artistic talent, who might be able to draw some? I can't really offer any incentive but if you enjoyed the stories I'd love to see your impression of what the OCs look like. Drop me an email if you're interested. Thanks.