Chaotic Worlds: Book 1

Chapter 7: Seals & Shields

Disclaimer: The only thing original here is the plot and my characters. Nothing else belongs to me.

Universe 1566: Mithril HQ

"So you're not coming back with us, Ken?" asked Jake as he and his friends got ready to enter the warp portal that would take them back to Earth. The six teenagers had just finished lunch with Ken's family and were now headed back home to think about what they had just been told by Karl Fanell.

"Nah, I'm spending the weekend here with my family. This is the organization that my family built, after all, and I wanna know more about it. Besides my parents want me and my siblings to get to know Van and Brian better since they're our older brothers after all. I'll see you guys on Monday at school, alright?"

"Sure thing, man," replied Jake with a wave as he stepped into the warp portal, grimacing at the thought of another unpleasant and painful landing awaiting him. The other four teens followed suit reluctantly, taking turns to wave goodbye at the Fanell family and Isaac before entering the portal themselves. When the portal had closed, he turned to his family. "What now?"

Universe ????

The meeting place was a barren wasteland. The trees had died long ago leaving only shrivelled stumps and whatever grass was there was brown and dry. The harsh wind churned up sand from the ground as it raged on mercilessly. At this place, only darkness ruled. A sole small, distant star that was already obscured by the black clouds provided a semblance of light.

Out of the shadows, black tendrils began to slither on the ground towards on open clearing, converging then winding up in the air to form a human-like figure. A flash of light, then there was an old man draped in shapeless black clothing, a hood over his head. Only his face could be seen clearly, but it was enough to make one turn away. His face was heavily scarred and he had sharp piercing eyes devoid of emotion. He looked around him with a self-satisfied expression on his face. Only a year ago, this place had been home to a race of aliens now dead. The old Warlock had followed his master's orders faithfully and had razed the land, bringing about fire and wind and rain and snow. With his power, he had unleashed earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones and more. He had enjoyed hearing the cries of help of those who had died, savouring their anguish from within the shadows. He had felt that rush of energy that came about everytime he killed without mercy, that feeling of absorbing his victims' life-force and the power it brought him. Those were good memories.

But now he had work to do. This world was of no use anymore to his master anyway. It would eventually crumble, drifting through space, a sad and pathetic reminder of what it had once been. The old man did not care. He was more focused on the news that he had received. The Seven Seals, the mortals who could truly stand up to his master had been found. They were based in Universe 1566, undergoing training from their Mithril allies. The name caused him no end of irritation. Mithril had been a thorn in his side for many generations now ever since James Fanell had founded it and focused his efforts on stopping the Chaos Legion. The old Warlock himself had a personal vendetta against James' heir Karl Fanell.

The old man smiled inwardly, relishing the prospect of a new challenge. He would enjoy defeating the Seals, slowly torturing and killing them one by one and then continuing with Karl Fanell and his family. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost did not catch the pool of dark slimy acid bubbling up from the ground near him.

"You're late, Razorpoint," a seductive feminine voice echoed irritatedly from the pool of acid. "Our father is waiting for you. His dialogue with his children cannot start without you, you senile codger."

"How many times must I tell you, we are not the Master's children, we are his servants!" the old man snapped back. "You would do well to remember that and accord him with the respect he deserves."

The voice only laughed out loud in reply. "How ironic then," it purred, "that you are showing him the very same disrespect at this moment. The voice then became more serious, more business-like. "He is waiting for you. You know he does not like to wait."

The dark acid seeped back into the ground, bubbling as it did so and leaving the old man looking at the spot where it had been. He smirked and stood there as his black hood moved to cover his head. The old man turned into shadow again, breaking up into numerous tendrils which dropped to the ground and slithered away into the darkness.

Universe 1566: Mithril HQ the next day

Ken stood at one end of a training mat in the dojo of the Mithril HQ, facing Van who was standing opposite him, his own body a mirror pose of Ken's fighting stance. Their father stood outside the mat at its halfway mark, acting as an unofficial referee for this practice match. On seeing that both were ready, he signalled the start of the match. "Begin!" he barked.

Ken and Van immediately sprinted towards each other. Ken made the first move with a jumping back kick that threatened to rearrange Van's face. Van dodged and leapt towards the left into a roll. Getting up, he saw that Ken had jumped up and was now aiming a heel drop with his right foot right at him. He blocked Ken with his left arm and then grabbed his younger brother by the ankle and moved to swing him in a circle. His plan was foiled by Ken suddenly twisting his body to his left, the momentum from that overturning him causing both to land on the floor. However, the match wasn't over and both leapt away to face each other again, each relishing the challenge of going up against a formidable opponent. They rushed at each other again, throwing and blocking punches.

It was Van who made the first move this time as he dished out a series of kicks at Ken's left side. Sensing a win, Van faked a front kick then dropeed down in an attempt to sweep Ken off his feet. Ken's reflexes were luckily quick enough for him to lift up the targeted front leg and move a step backward, making all of Van's effort for nought. However, he didn't count on Van recovering so quickly and aiming a kick at his gut, an attack he dodged just barely.

As they sparred, the rest of the Fanell family was standing near the mat observing the fight. Jessica was scribbling furiously on a notepad taking down notes about the fight from Brian who was observing the battle. The younger children had taken sides and were cheering on their elder brothers. As the match went on, Brian noticed Isaac running towards him, an urgent expression on his face. The two conversed quietly and quickly, Brian's face becoming more worried by the second, catching the eyes of his family. Brian beckoned his father and brothers over. "Dad! We got problems!"

Ken and Van faced each other and bowed, then joined their parents and their brother who were discussing with Isaac. "What's up Isaac?" asked Van as he accepted a towel from his sister and began wiping off the sweat.

"The Legion's made a move buddy. The techs just notified me of a Zombie appearance in New York. 50 of them; one Warlock in charge. We also have 65 Zombies attacking Tokyo, although there doesn't seem to be a Warlock there. Lastly there's a small bunch of them, numbering 20, in Kuala Lumpur. There's no Warlock there either."

"What's their objective, Isaac?" asked Karl while going through the print-outs Isaac had given him.

"Unknown, sir, as far as we can tell. They seem to just be attacking people and buildings randomly. The Warlock in the New York scenario is hiding himself too. We're trying to get a fix on his location."

"Hmm, they're really starting to come out of the woodwork now. What about casualties? Do we have damage control down there already?"

"No deaths, fortunately, but reports of many severely injured are coming in fast, sir. Mithril agents within the police forces of the three states are already on location carrying out evacuation. Our civilian agents are also there helping out with the evacuation," answered Isaac.

"Isaac, you go to New York. Set up a spirit shield and take out all hostiles ASAP. Van, you've got Tokyo; Brian will go with you. Eliminate all hostiles, but remember to not be seen by other people since the both of you don't have the luxury of a spirit shield. Ken."

"Yeah, Dad?"

"I'm sorry to rush you, but have you given the possibility of joining Mithril as an agent a lot of thought? Mithril has a lot of agents, but to tell you the truth, we have few metahuman agents and the ones in this universe right now are your mother, your elder brothers, Isaac and I. Your help would be much appreciated for the KL scenario right now although it's still your decision."

"I don't know yet, Dad but…I'll do it, for now. I'll get out there and see what I can do to help. Maybe if I go out there, I'll know if I really want to be a part of this." He replied resolutely.

"Thank you, son," Karl smiled at his third-born then his face turned serious as he accepted a communications earpiece from Isaac and put it on, switching it on at the same time. "Tech division? This is Commander Fanell speaking. Open up warp portals to all three hotspots right now and assign a warp technician each to maintain the portals for the duration of the battles. Contact our agents there to pull out; we're sending in the Metas. Get all that done within two minutes." Having finished giving out his orders, he turned to face the rest of the group. "Move out."

"Yes Sir!" saluted Van, Brian and Isaac who then sprinted off, leaving behind a confused Ken who was stuck on deciding on whether he needed to salute his father and consequently did so awkwardly. Red-faced, he then dashed off after the other three, muttering something about getting used to all the craziness that had happened to him. Meanwhile, the rest of the Fanell family headed to Karl's office where they would be able to observe all that was going on.

Universe 1566: Mithril HQ (Tech Division)

Ken had caught up with the other three Metas as they ran towards Mithril's Tech Division located on the bottom floor of the base. As they ran into the huge room, they were greeted by four technicians, each of whom handed to them four communication earpieces and who then led the four in to the portal area. The whole room was abuzz with noise as technicians dressed in blue and white ran around getting ready for the battles. The portal area itself was divided into numerous portal zones, where three black warp portals, each tinged with specks of gold, had already been set up. Above each portal zone an LCD screen displayed the destination of each portal's pathway while technicians sat at adjacent computer consoles checking the status of each portal. As Ken stood dumbstruck with his mouth wide open, a big, muscly, middle-aged man walked towards Ken's group, followed closely behind by a lanky teenager about Ken's age, both wearing the same outfits as the other technicians.

"Ken this is Jack Blake, Tech Div's head guy and his number two Charlie Jackson. They're the ones who help to keep this place running and also come up with ideas for our vehicles, weaponry, communications and more importantly, the warp portals." Van introduced Ken to the two.

"So you're the Commander's third son and one of the Seals too, eh?" Jack remarked gruffly by means of a greeting. He looked Ken up and down, apparently sizing him up. Then his gruff, unfriendly face broke into a smile. "Yeah, I can sense something about you alright. You're strong. This here's Charlie by the way."

The young technician just stood there and nodded in reply, to the frustration of his superior who remarked to Ken in a secretive voice, "You're going have to forgive him. He's shy." His voice became loud again as he took Ken's earpiece and explained to Ken how to use it. "Right, tap the small knob on the earpiece."

As Ken did so, he was surprised to see a small microphone unfold itself automatically from the small knob and extend itself until its tip was beside his mouth. Jack then reached out and bent a moveable part so that the mouthpiece was positioned in front. "Tap once to unfold the microphone and then twist this part here to speak in the mouthpiece," he explained. "Once the mike unfolds there will be two tiny buttons, one green and one red. Press and hold the green button to speak. Pressing the red button will cause the mike to fold itself up and go back to its original position. You got that?"

"Yeah, I understand."

"This commlink is designed to work in all kinds of environments since we have agents in other universes working under different conditions so these babies are tough. They've got a very large range; the three of you will be able to communicate clearly even though you guys will be in different far-away locations. More importantly, we've just managed to fix on miniature cameras on the earpieces and they'll also now work within a Spirit Shield…now that was quite a tough one. Wait," he said uncertainly seeing the clueless face on Ken, "you DO know what a Spirit Shield is right? Since you're one of the Seals and all…"

"Isaac can help him with that, Jack," Van interrupted. "More importantly, do we have clearance to go already?" In reply Jack looked up at the three LCD screen hanging over the warp portals, each still dispalying the pre-determined locations. A few seconds later there appeared a green blip on each screen, followed by the word "CLEARED". "There's your answer, kid."

"Let's go then," Van said grimly as he headed to the portal heading to Tokyo, Brian close behind. Isaac marched off to the portal headed to New York and was about to step into it before being pulled back by Ken who had a slightly panicked look on his face. "Uh, what the hell is a Spirit Shield?" he asked.

"Remember yesterday we were fighting those Cursed Zombies? I set up my own personal Spirit Shield. It's a power unique to us Seals where we're able to seal off an area of space and replicate it in a temporary alternate dimension. By doing so, we can seal in all intended combatants and prevent innocents from being involved."

"We're that powerful?"

"Damn straight. There's a catch though. A Spirit Shield can either be taken down by its creator or it can be done so involuntarily. This means that the Seal who created that Shield has been incapacitated and so he can't maintain it, causing the Shield to implode. Once that happens all within the shield will be moved back to the original area of space. That's not good if all the hostiles haven't been eliminated. There's more to it but these are the basics. I'll explain the rest when we have time."

"Ok, any tips then? Like how to set up a Shield?"

"Sorry, I don't have any tips. I'm serious," Isaac replied seeing the skeptical look on Ken's face, "It's something you'll find out on your own. Ridiculous as it seems, the knowledge will just…come to you."

"You do know that I don't believe that, right?"

"Yeah I know. But like I said, you'll find out for yourself. Now let's go. We got work to do, kid." With that Isaac turned and ran through his assigned portal, disappearing in a flash of yellow light. Ken stood there, his brain whirring in his head, trying to make sense of his current situation. Then he looked up.

"Y'know," he remarked to the ceiling, "if it's alright with you I'd like to wake up now, 'cos this dream is seriously a weird one." He waited a while before speaking again to no one in particular. "No answer, huh? So that means all this crazy crap is real. Brilliant. Just what I needed," he muttered as he ran towards the portal headed to Kuala Lumpur and dived into it.

Universe 1566: New York

Mass panic was evident everywhere when Isaac dropped down from the warp portal which had materialized in the middle of an abandoned alleyway. As he remained crouched from his landing position, he extended his senses partially around him, checking to see if the coast was clear for him to make his next move. Satisfied that it was, he bounded up the block of apartments in front of him, jumping off stair railings and ledges until he had reached the edge of the roof. Sensing a disturbance, he ran to the opposite edge to get a better view of the situation.

A thick funnel of smoke was making its way up from a burning office building about a kilometer away from him. The flame was growing steadily and Isaac, focusing his eyesight, could make out a few workers still trapped inside screaming for help while police choppers circled around assessing the situation. The fire engines had already arrived to put out the fire but their efforts were seemingly in vain. To his right, there was suddenly a series of small explosions as a number of vehicles which had crashed into each other burst into flames. A small crowd which had begun to gather immediately scattered on seeing inhuman black figures burst out from the wreckage of the and advance threateningly toward them. Isaac swore involuntarily. Cursed Zombies. Looks like that Warlord bastard didn't waste any time.

Isaac extended his senses fully, tryimg to estimate the locations of the Zombies. Once done, he leaped to a building three blocks away, closing his eyes and setting up his purple Spirit Shield, drawing in every single one of the Zombies within it. When he opened his eyes, an area in the shape of a star had been sealed off and the Zombies on the ground were simply standing around, wondering in their own mindless way where their prey had gone. One by one they became aware of Isaac's presence and all looked up at the tall, imposing figure standing four storeys above them. It wasn't long before the outraged disembodied voice of a Warlock echoed out.

"How dare you Seal. Those worthless humans were food for the Master and you denied him that. He will not suffer this lightly."

"I don't really give a shit about what your Master, Warlock. What I do care about are the inoocents who are in danger because of you people." replied Isaac grimly.

"A typical cliched hero response, arrogant and foolish at the same time. Young one, do you really think you can stop us? Do you really think you can win?"

"Why don't we find out?" Isaac shot back as he powered up in a glow of purple light. Without hesitating he leaped off the edge of the roof as Cursed Zombies leapt up on cue from the ground below. A simple incantation, and instantly Isaac's spell cards streamed out from beneath his white trenchcoat and flew around him in a protective sphere. The cards continued to fly circles around Isaac as he leaped from building to building, trying to sense the presence of the Warlock. Each time a zombie got too close to the protective spell, a card would peel off from the circle and target the Zombie, changing once more into a bird shape and tearing the Zombie to shred. This didn't stop the zombies from trying to rip his guts out, so he leaped high above them and for a split second, hung in the sky.

As he sped downwards headfirst in the sky, looking down at the onrushing zombies, Isaac reached inside his trenchcoat then flicked out a great number of spell cards at the zombies. As expected the spell cards again transformed into their bird-shapes and zoomed forward, overtaking their master and attacking the zombies head on. Isaac simply relaxed as he freefell among the occupied zombies, landed on a rooftop and immediately leaping off to another rooftop in search of the Warlock.

Universe 1566: Tokyo

The Zombies were busy causing damage on the streets of Tokyo when Van and Brian jumped out from the warp portal that had materialized in the middle of the Tokyo business district. Fortunately, the civilians had been evacuated by the police, helped by undercover Mithril agents. However, there were still a few stragglers who had been badly injured and could not escape while others were being cornered by packs of Zombies. Van and Brian had to be careful if they did not want to reveal to people just exactly who they were.

"Let's settle this quickly. I'll take the northern area, you take the south. Watch your ass, you hear?" Van barked an order to his younger brother as he ran to the chaos in the distance. As he did so he ran a hand against a nearby wall, creating another mysterious circle etching on that wall and pulling out a broadsword. Without waiting for Brian's answer he pulled out the sword fully then ran towards the disturbance.

Brian watched his brother disappear into the smoke, then turned away and sprinted off in the opposite direction, heading for the rooftops like Isaac to avoid being seen by any civilians. As he ran his right hand glowed red slowly, then spontaneously burst into flames.

Universe 1566: Kuala Lumpur

Traffic had been brought to a standstill. The four undercover Mithril agents assigned to that area had aided the local police in evacuating the civilians and were now secretly helping them in their own way against the rampaging Cursed Zombies. In a back alley, two of them were engaging a single Zombie in unarmed combat. The other two, using weapons from HQ, had cornered a small group of zombies in an abandoned construction site and had opened fire on them.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be working out for the agents. The zombies under fire were obviously hit by the gunfire, but didn't seem to be badly affected by it. The two Mithril agents fighting the lone Zombie were tiring out fast too while their opponent didn't seem tired in the least. Things were looking bad for the four.

It was thus a surprise for the two agents firing on the Zombies when a warp portal suddenly appeared above their opponents and out dropped a terrified yelling teenager who was obviously not used to dropping out of the sky. The boy landed on the five Zombies in a painful heap. A small cloud of dust and ash rose, covering the mess, from which rose a string of angry curses. The teenager then stumbled out of the mess still muttering, a scowl on his face, when without warning the Zombies he had landed on burst out of the smoke attacking him from behind.

Ken rolled his eyes as he kept walking towards the Mithril agents. "Give me a break," he muttered as he suddenly turned and obliterated two of the five Zombies with a roundhouse kick charged up with electricity. The three remaining Zombies, caught by surprise, immediately retreated a few steps then hung back, cautious and waiting for Ken's next move. They didn't have to wait long. In a flash, Ken had somehow destroyed all three of them, each with a charged hand thrust through their bodies. Neither the Mithril agents nor the Zombies saw it coming. Ken himself seemed bewildered by his achievement. "I gotta remember how I did that."

"Thanks for the save, kid. You a metahuman?" asked one of the agents while putting his gun back in its concealed holster.

"That's what everybody's saying. They say I'm one of the Seven Seals," replied Ken sheepishly.

"So…I guess you're here to help us out?" asked the agent again. Seeing Ken nod, he continued. "Two of the other agents ran off in the other direction, who knows what they're up against…better be careful kid. Even if you're a Seal these things are dangerous."

Ken smiled. "I can handle it."

"And I seriously hope you can. Well enough chit-chat. We know when we're being outclassed so we'll go help out with the civilian evacuation while you take care of the Zombies. Good luck sonny," the agent yelled in parting as he ran off in an opposite direction with his partner.

It was only after the two agents had disappeared that Ken realized something. "Ah crap, I should've asked them where the other Zombies are."

Universe 1566: Tokyo

"Yaarrrgh!" yelled Van as he leaped downwards to a Zombie, sword in hand. There was a quick flash of light, then the Zombie suddenly split in two and Van wasted no time in rushing the remainder of the Zombies attacking him, slashing and thrusting through the mob. A couple hundred meters from him, Brian was blocking a barrage of punches from Zombies all around him. He jumped, dodging their attacks and suddenly flame burst from his right hand and engulfed the Zombies, catching them unawares. Upon landing he shaped the flames into a huge armoured glove around his right hand and sprinted towards his elder brother.

A Zombie fighting with Van was caught unawares as Brian rushed in from its right and slammed a flaming fist into it, sending it flying and causing it to disintegrate in midair. Van nodded his thanks to his brother then both turned to face the two remaining Zombies left. The Zombies, realizing their disadvantage, fused into a single Cursed Demon. The two brothers shifted into defensive stances as they slowly circled the Demon. Fighting a Demon was always a tricky business. The creatures were unpredictable opponents; one could never know what attacks it would use, unlike a Zombie which would always try to rip apart its prey.

This one was no different. The Zombie let out a terrifying screech and without warning, its arms suddenly sprouted blades all over and extended themselves towards Van and Brian who were standing in front of it and to its right respectively. Brian reshaped the flame around his right arm into a clawed glove and used it to block an arm as Van raised his own sword to block. The Demon snapped back its arms and swung them around like whips. As the arms came down again, the two were ready and both dodged the arms. Van thrust his sword hard through the Demon's chest as Brian jumped and lopped off its head.

As the Demon disintegrated slowly, Van flicked its blood off his blade and tapped on his earpiece. "Jack, it's me, Van. Any more Zombies left in this area?"

"Hang on, we're completing the scan…done. Confirmed. All hostiles eliminated."

"What about the others?" asked Van.

"Hey, Charlie, how're Isaac and the rookie kid doing?" Jack yelled into the background. Van waited as Jack talked with his second man in the background. "Isaac's finishing up. One more left. The kid's got 13 left, though," the reply finally came through.

Universe 1566: Kuala Lumpur

The 13 Zombies were circling Ken warily as he stood in a fighting stance in a narrow alley. He was alone now, having shooed away any other civilians. A voice suddenly came through the earpiece he was wearing. "Ken this is Charlie Jackson, can you read me?"

"Loud and clear, Charlie."

"How're you holding up so far?"

"I'm doing okay for the time being," Ken replied conversationally as he dodged a simultaneous attack from two Zombies on his right. "But I need to bring this fight to another place. It's too crowded in this alley and I'm way too near civilians, I don't think they're that far away. Plus I still don't have any idea how I'm supposed to set up a spirit shield."

"I gotcha. Hang on a sec…alright I've got something for you. There's a damaged factory to your west, about two kilometres away. It's a pretty big place, all the workers have fled. If you can lure the freaks there, I can direct our agents to keep civilians away from that area."

"Works for me."

"Keep the link open so I can contact you easily."

"No problem," Ken replied as he concentrated his lightning powers into a ball in his right hand. The Zombies stiffened, ready. Ken feinted to the left then abruptly turned around and slammed the ball of electricity at the Zombie who had decided to attack him from behind. Without wasting a second further, he immediately leaped up stairway railings and headed for the factory, the remaining 12 Zombies close behind him.

Universe 1566: Kuala Lumpur

Ken vaulted up a fence into the abandoned factory that Charlie had directed him to, closely pursued by the ten Zombies now left, with two more having been taken out during the chase. Thoughts were jumbled up in his head. I can't keep running away forever. I wanted to draw them away from the city so that nobody else would get hurt. I've done that. So it's time to stop running. It's time to face up to everything.

He stopped running just in front of a warehouse in the factory complex and turned to face the Zombies, fists clenched tightly. Slowly, a blue light enveloped him as he charged up lightning along his arms. His breathing was regular, his face determined. I can do this.

Suddenly there was a burst of bright blue light and all the Zombies stood warily as the faint, blurry image of a blue dragon suddenly rose up from Ken's body and floated up slowly into the sky. It roared and, with a great sweep of its wings, hurtled back into Ken.

Slowly, Ken looked up. Just like the time when he first awakened his powers, Ken's eyes gleamed blue. He gripped his right wrist with his left hand, with the right palm facing upwards. He closed his eyes and concentrated. There was a sudden spark of light in his right palm which slowly shaped itself into a square about the size of his hand. As Ken concentrated harder, the square began to spin in his palm, faster and faster until it was a blur. As it spun, it grew larger and larger at a rapid speed until it suddenly flew out of its hands and expanded on the ground. A flash of light later, the Zombies and Ken were standing inside a cube-like spirit shield.

Ken opened his eyes, taking in the sight before him. Like the zombies in Isaac's shield, the zombies in his spirit shield were staring around mindlessly, figuring out what to do in their own way. One by one, they focused their attentions on him but were caught off guard by his sudden rush. For Ken, it was time to settle this fight.