Chapter 3: A new friend?
Cain is walking down a side street on the outskirts of town. The area is almost a ghost town with very little going on. The old homes surrounding a closed factory are boarded up with overgrown yards. A musty odor makes the air heavy on the lungs and the sounds of the city are faintly heard in the distance. He looks at his hands as he walks.
"What came over me? I cannot believe that I would be capable of such destruction. Was I the one responsible for the telephone pole?"
"Hey mister."
Cain turns to see a small child approaching him. He is very skinny; seeming mal-nourished and is swallowed by an old, brown, men's suit jacket. A pair of tattered, oversized dress shoes engulfs his feet. He holds out a dirty hand toward Cain and as he uncurls his fingers, he exposes a small piece of candy. Cain accepts the prize from the child and pretends to eat it only to toss it aside when the boy isn't looking.
"What's your name, small one?"
"People call me Azreal. Why are you wandering around over here? We hardly ever see anyone around here any more."
"What do you mean 'we'?"
"My family. You want to meet them?"
"Well, I don't know if…"
Azreal grabs his hand and begins to pull him along.
"Come on! You'll love them. They are all like me. We get to do whatever we want now. They will like seeing you too. How tall are you anyway?"
"I don't know."
"Well, we'll be there in a couple of seconds and you can meet the others."
"Where are your parents?"
"We don't talk about that."
The two keep walking into the abandoned neighborhood until they get to the opening of an old three-story house. The windows are hung with rags in a feeble attempt to create curtains and the wood siding's old eggshell paint crackles away a bit with each passing breeze. Cain looks around before he squeezes his massive body through the door. As they enter the foyer of the old house, voices can be heard coming from the other end of a long, dusty hallway. Cain looks at the boy.
"Who is that?"
"That is Bryson. He's kind of like our leader here."
Cain has to duck his head to fit through the hallway as they walk down the hall. When they get to the end, they enter a large room filled with children of multiple ages. The walls are covered in old wallpaper, some of which is peeling. A rusty ceiling fan spins slowly and sunbeams break through the rag-tag curtains that hang from the windows. In one corner of the room, an old recliner has been transformed into a makeshift throne. A teen-aged boy sits on top of the back of the chair with his feet in the seat. He is red headed and covered in freckles. He smiles at Cain when he looks up and sees him.
"Holy crap, dude! You are HUUUGE! Where'd you find this guy, Az?"
"He was just walking down the street. He looked lost so I thought I would bring him to meet you. Maybe we could show him how to have fun and take him on the run with us tonight."
"We certainly could use his might to our advantage."
Cain gets a puzzled look on his face.
"What are you two talking about?"
Bryson hops off the chair and walks up to Cain.
"Listen big man, we make the rules around here and we ask the questions. Get it?"
Cain begins to laugh at the boy, which infuriates him. As Bryson's anger grows, Cain only laughs harder, which in-turn keeps the anger level rising. Bryson's face is turning red ans hebacks away from Cain, keeping focused on him. Cain's laughter begins to subside when he realizes the iris of Bryson's eyes seem to begin to glow.
"YOU DARE JEST ME? FOOL! NOW WITNESS THE POWER OF DARK ECLIPSE AND PREPARE TO MAKE AMENDS…..OR SUFFER!"
Bryson's voice is intensely deep and loud. The house begins to shake and the rest of the children in the room scamper into various holes in the walls. As each one passes out of the room, the walls close up behind them. Cain is watching this go on around him, not believing what he is seeing. When he looks back at Bryson, he sees the boy'sbody is growing. Electrical surges jump from point to point on his body. His muscles crackle as they swell. The room seems almost black in comparison to the unyielding light emitting from Bryson's body. Bryson's once pale skin is now such a dark shade of blue that it is almost black. His hair has become white and glows as if it were filled with neon. His transformation complete, he now stands at about seven feet tall and would appear to weigh about 350 pounds in pure muscle. Cain is slowly backing away.
"Uh…..what the… how did…HAS THE WHOLE WORLD GONE MAD? Are you some kind of alien or something?"
"SILENCE, CAIN!"
"How do you know my name?"
"SILENCE!"
Dark Eclipse begins to slowly pace a circle around Cain. Cain is surprised, but shows little fear as he stares right back at Eclipse.
"You have no idea what you've walked into, do you, Cain?"
"I can't say that I do. What are you? How did you get like that?"
"I am the next ruler of the world, my friend. It is very simple. Join me or die."
"Is that a threat or an offer?"
"DO NOT BE SMART WITH ME! I HAVE THE POWER TO DESTROY YOU WHERE YOU STAND!"
"Maybe so. Let me say this…I may not remember who I am or where I come from, but I will NOT be forced into anything. I know that much about me. Your light show and growing trick was impressive, but I don't even know what you stand for."
"I stand for destroying the humans that hunt us. I stand for taking the throne among the mutants. I stand for myself."
"Destroying the humans? I'm a human!"
"THEN YOU SEAL YOUR OWN FATE!"
Eclipse raises his hands and lightning begins to bounce back and forth between them. He lowers his head to look Cain straight in the eye, smiles out of the corner of his mouth and says…
"Good-bye, human."
xX-BAMF!-Xx
Cain disappears in a puff of smoke.