Chapter five of Altered.
Sorry for the semi-late update, but here is the fifth chapter of Altered
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Oh, and lots of uncensored swearing. Read at your own risk.
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One and a half weeks later…
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Starwall Security Prison, classified area location
The moon was starting to come over the fortified prison. The Starwall Security Prison was quickly erected after there were numerous crimes made across the world by super-powered villains. Fortunately, it only took four days to build the fortress, the speed possible due to generous superheroes willing to have the criminals sealed away, as well as the incredible intellect by some of them. The place was built to house any and all kinds of criminals, ranging from the ones with great strength, to those capable of kinetic powers.
Axton, after being founded guilty of attempted manslaughter, was being escorted down the halls, bound in a metal jacket that could hold the strength of his only remaining arm. The face-mask he wore gone as it was confiscated by the guards, showing a scar running from his upper lip to the lower one. After a bit of walking, he was shoved into a solitary confinement cell, the door slamming shut as a beep sounded out, the jacket starting to deconstruct digitally. Once his arm was free, he brought it around, flexing the fingers before looking around the padded cell, soon spotting a camera in one corner of it, growling a bit before punching one of the cushioned walls in pure anger.
"GOD DAMN ROBOT!" he yelled out, letting out what he held in during court. "SLICED MY FUCKING ARM OFF, AND HE GETS PRAISED AS A HERO?! MY FUCKING ASS HE IS!" he continued ranting, strolling around his cell while letting out a lot of steam he had built up, providing an interesting show for one guard who was watching him.
After a bit, he stopped as he was breathing heavily, sitting down and rested his hand on a knee, beads of sweat sliding down his face. He looked to his legs, a bit glad to have them but with a device attached that disabled the jet features of them. When he regained his breath, he flopped back onto the floor, staring blankly up at the ceiling, the only sound in the room was his breathing since said room was built to be soundproof.
"Ugh…so this is how a veterans life ends…" he groaned, looking to where his right arm used to be, only able to barely feel what was left of the muscles to it. Looking back up, he replayed the events of those days in his head, loathing each second of them.
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Later that night, 3:49 AM
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The sounds of snoring filled the room, the soldier asleep on the floor of the cell for the night. He occasionally shifted a bit, trying to get comfortable on the padded cell's floor, unaware of small glow starting to appear in one corner. Said glow slowly grew, soon turning into a form of rift, a person calmly stepping out of it with arms folded behind his back, dressed in a business-like outfit as glasses rested in front of his eyes. He slowly approached the sleeping soldier, not minding the watchful eye in the corner in the slightest, soon stopping next to him.
"Wakey-time soldier boy." he calmly whispered, nudging Axton's body with the tip of a shoe.
Said soldier grunted when he was poked, shifting a bit in his spot to try and continue sleeping, earning another poke.
"Does the big boy want to rot away, or wake up?" he mocked a bit.
"How about 'Asshole gets a fist to the face and–'!" Axton started, only to realize what was going on, hopping up onto his feet and whirled around with such speed. "How the hell…? When did…?!"
A small chuckle came from the suited man, maintaining his posture. "Don't worry yourself, for I'm not a foe, rather a friend."
"Oh? And why would I trust someone that came out of nowhere and suddenly say that?" Axton countered, folding his arm.
Instead of answering right away, he looked up at the camera, the guard on the other side just now noticing him standing inside before radioing for backup to the cell. After he was done, the man looked back to Axton.
"For one, the guards now know that I'm here, and unless I'm mistaken, they'll think of my being here as a breakout attempt, and would put you for death either by syringe, or firing squad. However…" he paused a bit, adjusting his glasses, a small gleam coming off them. "I'm here to extend a proposal to you."
"And that would be…?"
"You work for me, and not only will I get you out, as well as grant you a replacement for your loss… …but also revenge against Gauntlet, at least, that's what he's known now. I think you should know who I'm talking about."
"Yeah…Wait, how did you know what happened between me and that hunk of scrap?" Axton questioned.
"I have my ways. And please hurry, I don't want to leave someone like you to the guards when they arrive."
Axton closed his eyes, thinking of his decision, not seeing the man extend a hand to him, waiting for his choice. He didn't exactly trust the man, but didn't want to die while Gauntlet was still alive, as well as his family. Outside, several guards with riot shields were forming a small barricade, some aiming rifles at the cell door while one was accessing the controls to open it, each of them ready to fire if need be.
"Time's running out. What will it be?" the man tempted, his hand still held out as Axton reopened his eyes.
"Alright…" Axton started, reaching for the mans hand. "…I'm in." he finished as he grabbed the hand, shaking it as well.
"Very good. Let me do something before we leave though." the man stated, letting go before turning to the door, holding out his hands.
At the ends of them a sphere of dark energy gathered, the air around it shimmering a bit. After a few seconds, the door to the cell slid open as he grinned a bit.
"Sorry, but he belongs to me now." he stated, the sphere quickly pulling out, a stream of dark violet flames spewed out, scorching the wall of guards alive and setting fire to the area around the cell door. Once the charge was spent, he looked back to Axton who had a surprised look on his face. "Shall we get going?"
Snapping out of his gaze, the soldier nodded, a small smile showing on the other mans face before walking to the portal he came in. "Oh, and I highly suggest you stay close to me. The…residents…are a little violent to outsiders without a guide."
Nodding a bit, they both walked through, fading into it as the portal soon vanished, a small violet flame left in its spot before extinguishing.
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Later that day…
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Aleron's/Gauntlet's PoV:
A lot has happened during the week after the meteors came. For one, no one in my hometown's afraid of me any more, which is definitely a good thing in my books. Next is that there are a whole lot more people that were affected by them than I originally thought. Also, it seems there's a whole lot of things that I – being what I am – can do, such as flight with a rather powerful jet-pack. Had to practice in a field, but I was able to – surprisingly – master it within a couple of days. Said jet-pack was able to be built with what I could figure are nano-machines inside me. Normally, I would have it put away when not in use, but it takes a little over ten minutes to build and deconstruct it, which would not be good in a fight.
Anyway, kind of straying from the point; First, I was able to watch Axton be declared guilty of what he tried to do to me and my family, as well as others through a broadcast thanks to one feature I had. I could tell he was beyond royally pissed at such, but he was unnervingly calm during the court trial. Must be the results of whatever kind of training he had to go through before he left the military, able to keep to himself even when angered.
Back to about me, mainly the jet-pack. I kid you not that I literally go as fast as…possibly a supersonic jet plane when I'm using it. No, probably faster since I was able to reach where my brother used to live and back in the time period of only one hour, a little over eight-hundred miles total, give or take a few. The pack itself is pretty powerful, able to lift my whole – I guess two-ton – body into the air for the flight, as well as allowing me to move freely.
During the week, my family has been granted quite the benefits, part of it monetary. One other is that we're pretty much covered should a – and I quote – 'Super fight' occur here. The list does go on, but I'd rather not list them.
"Al, you done messing around up there?" I heard Lucas call up to me, looking down to him from up in the air
"Yeah, was just checking out the view." I answered back to him, starting to lower towards the back yard of my home.
I landed on the ground lightly, looking down at Lucas after.
"Must be nice being able to fly freely like that."
I nodded a bit with a small smile. "That it definitely is."
The both of us talked for a bit, mainly of the places I was able to see, like seeing Lookout Mountain, Miami, and all other spots within a week. I was about to sit down until a small display popped up, showing a ringing phone.
"Uh, hang on a sec." I said to Lucas, answering the call. "Hello?"
"Gauntlet? Need you here!" I heard the voice of one policeman I was quite familiar with.
"Hey Officer Pattington. What needs my attention?" I asked, standing back up and turning away from Lucas, starting to slowly walk away. I conversed with the officer for a bit, soon hanging up.
"Bank robbery on Main Street." was my answer to a potential question to Lucas. "Some Altered punks think they're invincible just because they're like other Altered."
Altered was a term coined recently, mainly for those who were affected by the meteors, like me. Waving a bit to my brother, I switched on the jets and took flight, heading for the scene.
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First off, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to cut the weekly updates, possibly discontinue this story. Truth be told, this story was rather spur-of-the-moment, made only since I was playing Champions Online so much when I first played. Now however...kind of faded and getting dull. Sure, I can make probably a lot of my characters on it, but the replayability of the game overall...not worth it...:S