The Red Baron
Megalomaniac
The area was known for the most beautiful sunrises, even with the large city in its boundaries. So colorful and bright it was that some would awaken and completely forget all their troubles and worries. For the hard working citizens, it's a beacon that guided them toward their day. It shone as a symbol for the people and reminded one and all that life meant something, and it was meant to be lived.
However, the sun did not rise that morning. High above the tallest building, dark and gray clouds had rolled over in the night, overshadowing the entire populace, preventing the merciful and radiant glow of the morning sun to shine through. Instead, in the wake of this day came clashing storms. Thunder and lightning clashed in the heavens, as if a fierce battle lay hidden above the clouds. The true battle had yet to begin at all.
Master Janus had sensed the eerie feel as she sat outside her dojo's interior, meditating on the old wooden porch that lay between the inner studio and the outside training ground that lay within the main structure. The wind blew with fierce gusts that threatened to tear down the rare cheery blossoms that Janus had devoted much time into growing. However, her concern was not with the trees.
She opened her eyes. She tilted her head up into the sky, looking up at it, watching as the clouds were visibly moving and the lightning jumping along them. Any other day, this would have been a wondrous sight, even if it did upset the regular morning sunrise.
"But that's just it. This type of whether seem a little funny for this region. While it's true the season is here, it doesn't explain how incredibly early this storm is coming in."
She stood up and walked to the edge of the porch, switching on the small radio that she had left there for easy listening during her own exercise. As if reading her mind, a whether report was the first thing that came clear.
"…the sun clearly not giving us a friendly smile today with those clouds in the way. Of course, this is strange weather for our neck of the woods and it doesn't look like its going to pass soon with the way the pressure moving the way it is. As for how the rain will affect traffic, it look's like…"
Janus's focus turned away from the radio. She sensed something. Unsure of what it was, he simply walked up to her radio and switched it off, unplugging it like it was any other day. She put the cord into a neat roll and carried up with her and she headed for the door, even tapping her foot cheerfully.
As she turned right into the door, a figure appeared behind her suddenly. It rose its arms up, as if ready to strike or grab her. However, Janus quickly spun around, smashing the radio onto the figure's head with such brutal strength that the radio shattered into hundreds of pieces. This was not the only attack she made. Showing no mercy to this person who snuck up behind her, she instantly launched her foot into this creatures gut and sent it flying backwards several yards behind, landing on the floor with a loud crunch and finishing with a long screech and trail on the ground.
Janus was calm, even smiling. She walked toward the figure that was lying on the floor to investigate. As she closed in, she noticed that the figure wore some sort of gray outfit. It was definitely none of her student had worn but she continued to examine the situation as if it were.
"Think you could pull a fast one on me, did ya? I suppose you thought it would be comical to sneak up on your defenseless master? You should be ashamed-"
She paused and gasped suddenly. The person on the floor had looked up and for a split moment, it appeared as if it had no face. The shock was enough to distract Janus and she did a double take only to see the figure had disappeared.
"Wha…Where did it go?"
The creature appeared in front of Janus. It was shocking. Janus did not react in time as the faceless, gray figure launched its own physical attack, adding to his reappearance a swift uppercut. Shockingly, the strength of the attack was powerful enough to send Janus off her feet and a little off the ground.
She quickly fell back to earth, landing square on her back and bouncing onto her side. Her eyes lay open, her body shivering, sweat pour from her brow.
The gray creature walked up to her and lifted his leg. She appeared stunned, if not unconscious, from the attack and the creature meant to finish off Janus quickly. A bright light formed around the leg of the creature. It was dark, purple color and it began to flow around his leg like a shining aura around a body.
Without further warning, he stepped down hard toward Janus. A loud crash was followed as the area was covered in dust from a strong gust of air produced by the force of the attack. It was as if someone had used dynamite on the grounds.
Soon, the smoke did clear and in the wake of the attack, under the gray creature's foot was a crater, the width of a normal sized person. But there was no Janus to be found. The creature then saw a shadow appear under him and overcast above him. It quickly looked up and saw Janus in the air above it. Janus' smile revealed all to well her confidence in this battle.
It was justified. She began an onslaught off attack starting with a powerful kick while still in midair into the face of the faceless intruder. While the impact was enough to send him flying, Janus did not let him go anywhere. She quickly grabbed onto its legged and pulled it toward her. Right when it was underneath her again, She set it that she would land on top of it, digging her knees into its body. While it did not scream, it was obvious from its violent movements that it was hurt.
"Time to end it."
Janus lifted up her arms and began to rain down a fury of punches that sounded more like small explosions then anything else. Janus let out a set of screams to accompany her rage as she struck the creature and what were hopefully all its vital points, from the center of the chest and the ribs to the dead center of the face, hoping to destroy in this manner. The shockwave emitting from the blows were proof enough that the attacks were devastating by any standards.
Soon, Janus stopped and jumped back. She waited for the possible next move. It didn't happen. The figure just seemed to melt and be absorbed into the ground. With it was a subtle scream of shriek of some sort, as if it was in the distance but clearly coming from the dissolving enemy's position. Eventually, it was gone, leaving only a small cloud of purple smoke that floated into the air. Janus approached it and instantly smelled something horrid and forced her to step back again and hold her breath. He knew exactly what she smelled.
Sulfur…
Before she could further analyze the situation, she suddenly felt something. She looked around her, as if looking for something around her. She seemed almost frantic but she quickly calmed down and held a focused frown on her face. She was indeed in search of something but not with eyes, but with her mind.
"I sense something. Energy. I haven't felt this type of spike of energy in decades. But it isn't him. It's someone else. Others. There are two large powers along with hundreds of other smaller powers. The smaller ones are similar to the one here but the larger two were something different altogether."
She went back inside and stepped back out, wearing a black vest and pants with a white undershirt. It appeared to be some sort of martial arts uniform, not unlike what is used by other martial arts masters in the world. Now out on her front porch and the front of her dojo, she looked toward the city, now able to visibly see destruction in the distance. The dojo was not so close to the downtown area but was close enough she was able to see rising smoke and some small flames and even the faint cries of people from its general area.
"It appears that there is trouble in the city and that that gray beast was involved. I am going to have to investigate."
Janus began to run toward the city.
The Dark Baron stood on top of the tallest building of the city. He looked down, his face stiff, lacking any emotion, as he witnessed the destruction his minions caused hundreds of feet below. On this rainy day, he could reach out and touch the clouds themselves. However, his vision was not at all impaired by the weather and he could clearly see the havoc from high above.
It was then Kane instantly appeared behind him, but he was anything but silent.
"My Lord! We have encountered many of defenses and as you predicted, they are unable to hold off our forces. While we initially lost some of our men to their weapons, it was not long before we were able to counter with simple energy attacks that apparently their men are unable to perform in retaliation. We will have this city within the hour."
"Excellent. Then we can make this a new staging ground for in our campaign of domination of this world, a world that should have been rightfully mine over a thousand years ago had it not been for him. While we are on that subject, have you located the necklace and its owner?"
"No, my lord. I have not been able to locate the signature emitted by his powers. Without the technology at our disposal, I have been forced to simple sense for his energy and it seems either no one is in possession of the necklace or the owner has not made a move toward our position."
"I cannot blame the poor soul. With the noise being made by the Soldatos, the bearer of the necklace must be hiding, probably unable to comprehend the powers of the necklace. It requires proper training, of which I'm sure no human in city has mastered considering the level of resistance we're facing."
"Your orders then, my lord?"
The Dark Baron turned around and faced the kneeling Kane. A small gust passed by them as the storm approached the rain grew stronger.
"You're orders are simple. You will order the Soldatos to search for the necklace, destroying everything in their path; we are in no need of anyone here, dead or alive. Plunder the city of any useful resources to use at our disposal. Once the necklace has been located, report back to me immediately. Understood?"
Kane smiled, revealing the large size of his grin.
"Of course, my Lord."
Kane vanished again. The Dark Baron turned again and faced the streets below, again observing the movements of his men as they searched for the necklace and dealt with the city's defenses.
However, within a few minutes, a powerful explosion erupted from the bottom of the tower, so much that it rocked the very foundation. The Dark Baron looked around, undaunted by the rupture but curious as to where the sudden increase of might came from.
I had sensed it for just a moment. There was something powerful down there. Perhaps some actually made use of that necklace…
The Dark Baron stepped off the building and slowly descended toward the ground below. As he made his way down, the small explosions of power continued, again only in short bursts, too short for the Dark Baron to tell from where they came. He simply followed the destruction as he saw it happen.
He then came in range of a figure he did not notice. It appeared to be a woman, wearing black, surrounded by the demolished bodies of Soldatos. She was looking up at the Dark Baron, keeping a stern and focused look. The Dark Baron landed near her and spoke.
"So, you must be the bearer of the necklace? A shame it was a woman that came to possess it."
Janus' look did not change. However, she was puzzled and asked for clarification.
"Of what necklace do you speak? I own many necklaces, as I am a woman who enjoys a little of the finer things in life."
The Dark Baron laughed.
"Oh, so one with a sense of humor. However, you cannot it from me. Seeing my men at your feet means you possess some power and I can only imagine the one who bears the necklace has any chance at defending themselves against them, much last destroy them."
"I don't know who you're talking about but I am not the one whom you speak of. I'm just a teacher."
Janus went into stance and powered up. A transparent aura of gray color surrounded her and her body began to glow. The Dark Baron looked almost pleased.
"Well, it appears I was wrong and that, in fact, this world does have decent abilities in defending itself. It's a shame that only you dare to show up. Are you really the only thing this planet has to offer, you old witch?"
Janus showed her teeth and suddenly disappeared. She reappeared in front of the Dark Baron, already in mid-air, so close to connecting with a powerful kick to the face. Janus smiled as the attack made ready to connect.
However, her attack was stopped. A hand had wrapped around her ankle. She looked to her side and saw a large man, even bigger then her target, holding on to her leg, easily his hand wrapped around it. It was Kane.
Before Janus could react, Kane yelled as he threw her in the opposite direction, putting her straight into the department store near by. She crashed into the wall and it broke apart, brick and dust flying at all angles. However, Janus was able to land on her feet, stopping herself from going all the way through the wall, standing on the side walk trying got regain her bearings.
Kane locked his eyes on Janus. The Dark Baron spoke to him.
"Kane, it would appear that this pest is something of an overlooked defense of this city. It doesn't appear like the Soldato is up to the task. I'm afraid you're going to have to get our hands dirty,"
Kane's body shook with excitement.
"Thank you, my Lord. I have been dying to grind my fists into someone's face and not break after on try."
Janus looked up and saw the giant monster slowly walk toward her. He smiled with his teeth, making a soft but audible chuckle. He moved with such balance, amazing that someone of his size could move so precisely. He cracked his knuckles and clutched his fist, eager for a fight. Janus pulled herself up, dusting herself off and cracking her neck. While it was true that this guy was tough, she knew that she was just getting started.
With a smile on her face, she looked toward as he stepped close to her.
Mr. and Mrs. Figueroa talked to the doctors outside the room. Josh was outside, ready to take off for a while, having been there for most of the late morning.
"I'm going to go and grab a bite to eat somewhere else. Even on the weekends, I totally can't eat the food here."
He was speaking with Dawn, whom looked anxious to join him, not wanting to have to eat a meal in the hospital as well.
"I think you're right. I really don't want to eat here. Carlos wouldn't mind us leaving anyway. He'd probably eat the food here if he woke up while we were gone. Hey Dev, you want to come with us?"
Devyn was sitting on a chair in Carlos' room. She was watching the local news with it on mute, reading the closed captioning that appeared at the bottom of the screen. While they were waiting for Carlos to wake up again, no one there really though it should be television grabbing his attention first moments he woke up.
"No, that's alright. I'll go ahead and keep Carlos company in case he wakes up while you're gone. But could you bring me back something?"
She stood up and walked over to them. After they decided what place around the area was best, she gave them her request. As they were discussing, the television began to play back a breaking news story from downtown. It showed a camera man and a reporter out in the downtown area, covering the story of the invasion of the Dark Baron's minions.
The camera man was filing the report give details of the scene. Explosions and people running were the majority of the shots taken by the cameraman. While they seemed to be hiding in a building, it wasn't long before they were discovered, the first target being the news reporter. Apparently frightened, the cameraman began to back away and appeared to drop the camera, the camera pointing in his direction as it fell to the ground, recording the cameraman being jumped by the creatures. It cut to fuzz.
As the screen went to gray, Devyn walked back into the room and seeing the fuzz on the television. She watched for a second, then looked outside, seeing the thick rain clouds.
"The signal must not be getting through…."
Without much thought, she changed the channel to a cooking show going on and decided to just keep it there.
Josh and Dawn were making their way out the front door. They were looking around as people were beginning to crowd around the front of the building, sparking their own interest.
"Hey, Josh, what's going on outside?"
Josh started to pay more attention, squinting his eyes as he tried to look past all the heads in front of him. He tried to push his way through to get to the front. Dawn stayed back, unable to squeeze her way in.
"What do you see?"
Josh looked in amazement as much as the people around him. As the rain poured down on them, tall, gray, faceless figures began to make their way toward the hospital. Behind them was smoke and crushed and crashed cars. Fires coming from building and even some of the other cars. People were running away from them, most in a state of panic while others seemed to think it was wise to fight back. As Josh and the other in this hospital witnessed, that was not such a wise option.
The men apparently rushed toward of the gray figure and hit them square in the face. However, in quick retaliation, the gray figure grabbed the pole and ripped it from the man's hands. Another gray figure was behind the man and grabbed him by the shirt and followed through with a quick swipe of the head and threw him straight through the window of a nearby grocery store.
The others behind the door began to move away from the door and run toward the interior of the hospital. Josh moved back as few feet from the door until he reached Dawn. The tow of them watched as a group of five security members rushed outside the doors and began to go into a firing formation.
Josh and Dawn there heard the news on the television near by, one that wasn't silent, playing in the clinic's waiting room. It was turned up by one of the women in the waiting room as the news anchor attempted to explain the situation.
"It appears the beasts that have appeared in our downtown are in search for something, as stated by our man on the scene shortly before…before he was attacked. We have no word from him yet and we have not sent anyone else into the area. However, we've just been given word by authorities that we are at the highest level of threat and are asking all citizens to seek shelter as far away from downtown as possible or to barricade themselves within their homes. Those of you in the downtown area still able to hear us are asked to be patient in their homes and wait for local military to come in. Do not engage the enemy as they are extremely dangerous and possess fantastic weaponry-"
Josh and Dawn were quickly distracted by the sound of gunshots coming from the front of the hospital. The armed security had begun firing on the gray figures. However, bright flashes of light were being seen and one by one, the men were being blown back by some sort of energy.
One crashed through the front door and landed near Josh. The man was unconscious, the front of his short seemingly burned off and his chest bruised and appeared to be swelling. Blood was running from his mouth and nose, his eyes wide open. Josh kneeled down to check his pulse. Dawn looked down only to have Josh look up and shake his head. The security guard was dead. Josh stood up and looked to Dawn.
"Dawn, you have to go upstairs and tell Carlos' parents to get out of here and tell the doctors the same. These guys mean business."
"What are you goin to do?"
"I'm going to tell everyone on this floor to get out too, just in case they didn't get the message."
Dawn nodded and head back up the elevator. Josh turned around in time to watch the Soldatos rip through the entrance of the building. A few remaining security officers rushed in trying to take them out with their sticks, only to be again blown away by the energy attack of the creatures. Josh gulped, stretching his arms and legs and getting into fighting stance.
"Looks like security's been slacking."
His voice caught the attention of the Soldatos. They seemed to look up and stare at him with their faceless heads. The Soldato in front raised his arms and aimed it at Josh. A drop of sweat dripped from his brow. He gulped again. Without any additional warning, the Soldato in from opened fire and shot a ball of white energy at Josh.
As it came closer, Josh extended his arm behind him. His eye focused on the ball of energy coming toward him. As the ball reached only a couple of feet in front of him, he swung his arm fast, incredibly fast, and smacked the energy ball into the ground, making a small explosion and creating a haze in the room. Josh smiled at the Soldatos.
"Sorry guys, looks like you're gonna have to go through me. He He!"