"Pointless. Bridger has met with his son now, we kill him and the boy will seek to avenge him. We don't want another human rebellion." Said a man in a black suit standing in the dark office of President Gorganzorg.
"What are the odds that the boy will be able to even get here?" Gorganzorg asked.
"We have seen what he is capable of, I assume he could get here if he truly wanted to." Said the man.
"What if we kidnaped the boy and brought him here, to the tower. That may lure Bridger into Earthopolis and not have to deal with that fool, Viseige." Gorganzorg suggested.
"No. The last thing I want is Bridger running around here again. Especially when he has reason to believe we're mistreating his son. No, we will stay true to my original plan. Both the boy and Bridger must die. Accomplish that, Gorganzorg, and there may some hope for you yet."
President John Kresc walked down the narrow hallway aboard Air Force One. He was thinking about what he would say if he saw Travis again.
Hello would probably suffice. Travis's voice rang inside his head.
He'd seen Travis about ten years ago, he'd come for a quick visit, and the president, or senator at that time, had no idea what to say. He was only with his best friend for a few minutes before Travis vanished again. It was only after that meeting that Kresc remembered what he'd wanted to say to his friend. He stopped and sat down in a vacant seat by a window. He looked out at the clouds below the plane. So peaceful. He remembered the old days when he, Frankie, Karen and Travis would just lie in the fields and watch them soar by. Those were the days...
"Mr. President!" Someone shouted.
John Kresc flinched as his mind returned to the present. A Secret Service agent ran over and pulled the president out of his seat.
"What the hell-"
"GET DOWN SIR!" He shouted, tackling the president.
Kresc was about to shout at the agent when suddenly-
BANG! Flames erupted around as a missile hit Air Force One. The president was deafened by screaming, shouting and explosions. He felt the agent one top of him's body go limp just before he blacked out...
General Hellzan was overseeing the transport of specimen X-12. A large, clear, cylinder was lifted up by a crane. It was filled with water, and in the water was a young boy, according to Hellzan's internal scanner the boy was eighteen. Hellzan was an android. Seven feet tall, his head looked like a sideways ice cream cone. On his face was a black visor and glowing in the middle of it was a red circle. His shoulders were about three meters apart. He had long, machete-like fingers. He wasn't entirely robotic, however. Inside his head was a human brain, with so many wires running through it that Hellzan could hardly call it a human brain anymore.
The boy in the tank was in a deep slumber. He had cords and wires hooked up to him everywhere. President Gorganzorg had said this boy was extremely dangerous and was to be handled with extreme caution. A man in a suit walked up and stood beside Hellzan.
"Any idea why the President is having X-12 moved?" He asked.
"That is neither my business nor my concern." Hellzan said simply.
"Oh come now, Hellzan, you of all people should know how Gorganzorg thinks. He is your creator, is he not?" The man persisted.
"One would assume that he is taking necessary precautions given the current circumstances on planet Earth." Said Hellzan.
"You mean the Travis Bridger problem?" The man asked.
"I do." Hellzan replied.
"Do you think the specimen has some tie to Bridger?" The man asked.
"I do not know, and if I did I assume the information would be classified. You should use caution when, as they say, sticking your nose where it does not belong." Hellzan warned.
"Hmpf. Well whatever the reason is, I'm going to find out." Said the man, crossing his arms.
"Very well. I suggest, then, that you make a private appointment with President Gorganzorg rather than getting others into trouble for discussing classified matters." Hellzan told the man firmly.
The man looked up at the black clouds surrounding the planet. "When is this going to end, Hellzan? Hasn't this planet suffered enough in G Corporation's rise?" The man said.
"If you do not respect the President's choices, Mr. Keen, then perhaps you should take the time to think about where your loyalties lie before you get past the point of no return." Said Hellzan before putting his hands behind his back and strode off.
Mr. Keen had the feeling everything he'd just said was going to be reported to Gorganzorg.
Mullet Fingers sat at that familiar table in Travis's shack. Beatrice and Roy were sitting there too. Mullet Fingers and Beatrice had not witnessed the ride there as they were both unconscious and Travis made Roy swear not to tell how to find the shack. Travis Bridger prepared several warm drinks and handed one to each of the teenagers. He sat down with a mug and sighed.
"Well...where do I begin?" He asked.
Silence. "I suppose I shall start from the very beginning; shortly before Mullet was born. Lonna and I were engaged. We had not planned on having a child, though I can't say I didn't welcome it, I knew Lonna would never willingly get pregnant. But then, shortly after she became pregnant with Mullet, I was suddenly called away. There was an urgent problem in a distant land that I needed to attend to. For reasons I cannot explain, I couldn't tell your mother where I was going. At this, she assumed I was abandoning her because she was pregnant. This, I assure you, was not the case. One would assume, Mullet Fingers, that that is the reason why you have led such a horrible and unfortunate life." Said Travis sadly.
Mullet Fingers was silent, staring at the floor. Seeing there were no questions at that point, Travis went on with the story.
"I had made plans for you to lead a happy life, however. I assumed Lonna would put you up for adoption, like she planned for your brother." Said Travis, pausing as he knew there would be an interruption here.
And right on cue, "I have a brother?" Mullet Fingers asked.
"Indeed. Or at least...you did. The last I heard of him he'd died in a lab experiment. But getting back to the story, as I said, I assumed Lonna would put you up for adoption. My good friend, John Kresc, was going to take you in." Said Travis.
"John? The president?" Mullet Fingers asked.
His father smiled. "I should've known. I admit, I would've been surprised if John hadn't contacted you. Now then, where was I? Ah yes...our plan failed. Lonna chose to keep you, for reasons I will likely never know, and remarried. I did some work for a few years, when I was finished I had planned to come back and meet you. But my actions caught up with me. I had meddled with a weapon development company known as "G" Corporation. The president of "G" corp, a man named Gorganzorg; a man insane with power, able to do and get whatever he wants, sought to get revenge on me for setting back an important project of theirs. I was forced into hiding. The president of the time was notified of my actions and the country was watching for me. John was able to help me go dark. For fourteen years, I lived successfully in hiding. You did not live the happy life I had hoped, but you did indeed get by. Gorganzorg got his hands full with some other terrorists and forgot about me completely. It wasn't until a year ago that he finally remembered who I was. He got wind that a boy by the name of Napoleon Bridger Leep had saved some owls from a pancake company. How this news reached him I am unsure, but the point is that Gorganzorg is a clever man. He figured you were related to me in some way and decided the best way to flush me out of hiding was to go after you instead. And it worked. That's how we've come to this predicament." Said Travis.
Still silence. Then, without warning, Mullet Fingers jumped out of his chair and went outside, where the hurricane had subsided. Beatrice got up to go after him but Travis stopped her.
"This is a lot for him to take in...he will get through it, but for now he needs space and time to think." He said.
Mullet Fingers climbed onto the roof of his father's house and looked out at the cloudy sunset. His head was ringing. He had just met his father. He was not at all how Lonna had described him.
A lousy drunk who doesn't give a damn about anyone but himself. Lonna's voice rang inside his head.
Then he thought about this Gorganzorg person. He was worried now. Not for himself, but for his friends. Beatrice and Roy had no relation to Travis Bridger; Gorganzorg had no interest in them. It was Mullet Fingers he was after. Suddenly, he felt very isolated. Like he was infected with some contagious disease. He let out a deep sigh and lay back on the roof.
He'd put them in danger. If they got hurt, it was his fault. Gorganzorg was, as Travis had said, able to do and get whatever he wanted. That meant nothing could stand in his way of getting Mullet Fingers dead. Would he kill Roy and Beatrice just to get to Mullet Fingers? Could there really be such a horrible person out there, ready to kill three innocent teenagers just to finish one?
Mullet Fingers leapt off the roof. He couldn't let Roy and Beatrice get hurt because of him.
"Gorganzorg! It's me you're after, not my friends! If you want me then you can come and catch me!" He shouted at the scarlet sky.
He then ran off into the woods.
Meanwhile, sitting at his desk, Gorganzorg was watching Mullet Fingers on a screen.
"Myes. Run, run as fast as you can, Mullet Fingers. You can't escape me." He mused.
Back in the woods, Mullet Fingers ran into a small clearing and sat down on a stump. He was out of breath. He'd gone at least half a mile.
"Poor boy. Poor, unfortunate boy. A danger to others, even himself." Drawled a voice from behind.
Mullet Fingers leapt up and whirled around. A man in a grey suit with long silver hair stood in the woods.
"Who the hell are you?" Mullet Fingers demanded.
"A friend. A man who understands you. Listen, I am not here to harm you; I only want to help you. Right now, you feel isolated, like a virus. And infectious, cursed individual with the burden of inflicting a death sentence on those he loves and cares about." Said the man, striding over.
Mullet Fingers lightened up a bit. "You...understand me?" He asked. Not many people did.
"Why of course! I too was a runaway, a delinquent, an infectious virus. I know exactly how you feel." Said the man.
Mullet Fingers couldn't explain it, he felt drawn to the man, as if he knew him from somewhere before. Suddenly, a large purple sphere erupted out of nowhere. The man held out his hand.
"Come with me, to a world where you belong. A world where your friends will not be in danger." Said the man.
Mullet moved towards him. He walked into the portal, followed by the man. A horrid smirk curled across the man's face as Mullet Fingers disappeared into the portal.
"Perhaps I can ensure the success of that fool, Viseige." Muttered Gorganzorg as he followed his prey into the portal.