《After Life》Chapter 22.2 The Calm Before The Storm
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Justice reaches around Brody’s neck ready for the flight. With a final glance at The Enlightened Ones, Cole nods signaling for takeoff. The trio rise into the air watching as Cinder, Shado, and Ryder start their way through the valley. From above the mystical land is breathtaking. The stelar galaxy glow from above, and the colorful forest glow from below is fading as the rising sun makes its presence known. A new morning has arrived. Justice looks over at Cole. He’s gliding next to them with his eyes closed and a small grin on his face.
Justice calls, “What are you doing Cole? Are you alright?”
“I’m great. I have my mind back. I’m free. I’m just enjoying the moment.” he calls back.
They rise high above the mountainous tops leaving the protection of the mountain. Now they can easily see how massive the mountain protecting the bowl shaped valley really was. Cole notices once in the valley how secure they were. Even if you could see from above the entire group was hidden under the canopy. Within a few minutes Cole spies Blazer just outside of the forest’s edge. He calls to Brody, “You two keep heading to the base without me. I’m going to talk with Blazer. Stick to the plan. Get as many people involved in this battle as you can. Don’t worry I’ll catch up.”
To the surprise of Justice, Cole switches his kite back into a bowstaff mid air. He accelerates to the ground like a missile. Just before reaching the ground he ignites a blast of air landing explosively next to Blazer. Blazer tumbles into a nearby bush immediately jumping out with his strings swinging in reaction to an attack. He charges Cole with a flurry of colors but his string attacks miss as Cole’s wind instinctively blocks them.
Cole shouts, “It’s ok Blazer it’s me!”
“Cole?! Is that you?!”
“It’s me! Put those strings away!”
Blazer recoiles his strings as instructed.
“You’re alive! Where have you been?! I thought you were one of those creatures! We’re under attack!” cries Blazer.
“Slow down. Where is everyone? What happened?”
Again, Blazer responds by slowing his speech.
“We’re under attack by these black monsters! They are taking us one by one!”
“Just calm down. Who’s been taken?”
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First Rush, then Kid exits the cover of the forest joining the men. Blazer continues in a much calmer voice, “I’m not sure how many, too many. I saw Thunder and Toxic dragged away with my own eyes, but I think more have been taken. We tried to get them back but those things are as intelligent as they are fast. Justice is missing, and we thought you were taken too.”
“Justice is fine she was with me. She’s heading to the base right now. I need your guys' help.”
“Where were you guys!?” cries Rush.
Cole responds pointing towards the forest, “We went to The Enlightened Ones. They helped me uncover my memories and unlock my abilities.”
“Your memories?” questions Blazer.
Kid pushes Blazer, “We don’t have time for that now! We have people missing!”
“I know.” interjects Cole. “Guys you’ll need to listen to me if we’re going to save them. Please trust me. I know where they’ve been taken. Those black creatures, they are called Blood Hunters. They took them to the human bunker by order of Death. This is all his doing. He’s been the one kidnapping people from the start.”
Kid pushes Cole now, “I trust you, but what are you talking about? Why would he do that?! Death was with us when those things attacked.”
Cole’s cross materializes in a burst of sparkles. He clasps it showing it to the men. “Do you see? You can trust me. Believe me when I tell you he’s been the one stealing people from the start. He wants to control everyone at the NGP by turning us into those things. He wants to have control of all of our powers.”
Kid stutters trying to comprehend the conflicting thoughts racing through his mind, “But, but, he even tried to fight them off. He fought to rescue them!”
“Don’t you find that strange? Death is so powerful and yet he couldn’t save them? How is that possible? He’s not our saviour. He’s not our leader. He’s been using us and now he’s sending hunters to take us, to make more of those things.”
“What do you mean, more?” questions Blazer.
“Remember Gemming? Remember how you first thought the demon was taking us but it didn’t make sense? That’s because Gemming was the first Ultra to be taken by Death. He was the first Ultra to be turned into one of those things. Ultra Blood Hunters are magnitudes more powerful than the ones you just saw.”
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A powerful expression of silent anger comes over the men as they try to process the thoughts.
“We believe you. I knew Death was hiding something.” says Rush.
Cole has a moment of clarity having forgotten about his speech power. He forgot that by telling the men to trust him, to believe him, that they were forced into it. It didn’t matter if they truly did, for now, they didn’t have a choice. This causes Cole to go into a silent moment of thought.
How many times have I forced someone to do something they didn’t want to do? How many times have I accidentally used this ability? I can force anyone to trust me, to do my bidding. Can’t I use this power for good? I can use this power to stop Death, I can use this power to create a world of peace. But at what cost? Why does it feel so terrible? I have so much power but the responsibility of it is crushing me.
“Uhh, are you ok there Cole?” asks Blazer while patting Cole on the shoulder. “You kinda spaced out there for a sec.”
Focus. Just think about what you’re going to say before you say it.
“It’s ok guys I have a plan, but we don’t have much time, and, I’m asking for your help.” replies Cole.
“What can we do?” asks Kid.
“Mayhem. Chaos. As much as possible. Remember how everyone at the NGP is just waiting to break loose showing off their powers? That’s what I want. I want everyone using their powers at the same time. I want every personal grudge you can think of to surface. I want everyone on our side of the revolution, and everyone supporting Death to expose themselves. If we can get everyone using their powers at the same time it will cause a drain on Death’s powers. While that’s happening we’ll have a chance to stand up to him in a weakened state. Justice should already be at the NGP. She’s telling everyone who’s on our side to start the rebellion.”
“You’re telling me I get to stir up a good ole bar fight at the NGP? Don’t need to ask me twice. I know exactly what to do.” says Kid.
“Rush you’ll be the fastest so you can help by delivering the message. Then once you're done you can join us for the blitzkrieg on Death.” says Cole.
“This bubble is going to pop!” exclaims Rush excitedly.
Blazer replies stroking his chin, “I was thinking more like dominos... Man I really can’t let you out of my sight and here you go taking off again!”
With a quick spin Cole switches his bowstaff into kite mode, “Before we split up, remember guys, Death has too many powers for him to keep track of. That’s our in. When the pressure’s on he’ll probably resort to some basic powers he likes to use. We have to keep the pressure on. It will expose his weaknesses. Our best guess is he’ll use super speed, flames, force fields, healing, you know easy ones like that.”
“You make it sound so simple! We’re talking about a guy with super speed throwing flames and who knows what else!” wails Kid.
“Exactly. He’s going to burn up his energy faster than he’s ever done before. Plus now I have my secret weapon. A hidden technique The Enlightened Ones revealed to me. We got this. Now I’m going to head to the base, there’s some things I need to get before the fight. Rush and Kid will head to the NGP, Blazer should start making for the human bunker. See if you can find our guys while we converge on you.”
“But what about the Blood Hunters?! I can’t take those things on alone!” says Blazer.
“Don’t worry if those things haven’t been activated with your blood then they won’t hunt you. They will only act defensively if you are getting in the way of their prey. If you can find our guys, I’ll be bringing the calvary.”
Blazer wanted to say something more but it was too late, Cole already launched high up into the swirling air. Feeling overwhelmed Blazer sighs before saying to the guys, “So uh, I guess Cole can fly now...”
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