Thirty Minutes Earlier

Seeing that Zeel had drifted into a comfortable meditative state, Greenway immediately stood and walked into the cockpit, silently signaling two soldiers to follow closely behind him.

Greenway's eyes lingered on Zeel's body as anger twisted his face.

There was something about Greenway's eyes that faulted Zeel for sins that weren't his own.

Greenway retrieved his phone from his vest and flicked through the classified contents he had been emailed just before they left the ground.

There was a picture of Zeel followed by a big line Bolden red print stating 'TOP SECRET'.

Next, the file detailed all the atrocities Zeel didn't know he had committed since he arrived in this Universe.

Of course, the crimes were fabricated by the US Government, but Greenway had no way of knowing that.

Admittedly, Zeel had probably committed all the crimes in the Multiverse at one point or another, but not in this particular Universe.

Still, it was a fact that the best way to get soldiers to sacrifice themselves willingly was to make the matter personal.

The rest of the soldiers observed Zeel's state with keen eyes and tense bodies that would jump into action even if Zeel's breathing changed for a moment.

Jenny was unaware of all the happenings around her, as far as she was concerned, the only important thing on this entire plane was the Sarcophagus.

Chris sat in a separate corner, crying silently while whispering vague pleadings at Nick's corpse.

Unlike what his tears indicated, Chris was not that bothered by Nick's untimely demise.

If anything, Chris was more grateful that Zeel allowed him to leave the tomb and chose to kill Nick instead.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that Zeel was a murderous maniac, or at least that was the case in Chris's mind.

Had Zeel known, he would have admired Chris's vivid insight into his character.

Chris lamented at the fact that Jenny found Zeel buried under rubble, mumbling about evil suppression and other deplorable things.

If there wasn't a more conspicuous sign that Zeel was evil, Chris didn't know what would be.

But truly, Chris was crying for another reason entirely.

"Nick, Nick!" Chris cried painfully.

*Sob*

*Sob*

*Sob*

"Where did you hide all the things we stole Nick?" Chris whispered crying tears that would make anyone think he had lost a biological brother.

"I will be broke after this… and all your debt will fall on my shoulders!" Chris cursed vehemently, knowing that Nick's death had put him in debt with some very dangerous people.

Nick was the mastermind of their 'Grave-Digging Operation' so when Nick died, their recent stash locations also died with him.

Chris had the intense urge to stab the already dead body of Nick's.

'Nick couldn't just die in peace… he had to drag me down with him!' Chris lamented.

Inside the cockpit, Greenway banged his communicator against the dashboard for the umpteen time.

"Mic check, mic check. This is Tango-99 checking for Semper Gumby channel… are there any further instructions?" Greenway asked once more into the communicator, but all he got as a response was static.

"Mic check, mic check. This is Tango-99 checking…"

"Mic check, mic check. This is Tango-99 checking…"

"Mic check, mic check. This is Tango-99 checking…"

Greenway had been trying relentlessly to transmit his location to the fighter jets that were supposed to intercept their flight path but failed every time.

Unknown to Greenway, Zeel's nanites had cloaked the entire Plane, and they were currently heading in the direction of London, England.

"FUCK!" Greenway shouted, placing the communicator back into his vest and exiting the cockpit, followed closely by his military guards.

It was around this time that Jenny finally noted something strange occurring with the runes on the Sarcophagus.

They were faintly losing their silver color and becoming increasingly darker and darker.

Jenny got up from the seat at the same time Greenway was exiting the cockpit with his escorts.

Knowing that she couldn't cry wolf, Jenny decided to ask for a second opinion before she bothered Zeel.

"Do you see anything happening with the silver lines?" Jenny asked, walking to Greenway's side.

"What is it?" Greenway asked, similarly examining the Sarcophagus.

"You don't see the black lines spreading across the Sarcophagus?" Jenny asked with irritation in her voice, hoping that she could get the confirmation she needed to make sure she wasn't hallucinating.

Greenway replied, "I see nothing in particular-"

However, Greenway didn't finish his statement as his communicator blinked to life from its previous static state.

Jenny simply raised a brow at the strange event but didn't pay it any mind.

Convincing herself that she wasn't hallucinating, Jenny knew it was time to awaken the slumbering beast known as Zeel Crawford.

For some strange reason, Jenny felt a cold feeling engulfing the sarcophagus.

It was one of those strange things you could always feel but never identify, kind of like feeling the eyes of someone trained onto your body unknowingly.

Jenny walked over to Zeel while Greenway wore a defeated expression as he talked on the communicator.

"Sir, my soldiers and I have already secured the cargo… we are bringing him to the classified location in London," Greenway stated, but cringed after hearing the reply over the communicator.

"No Sir,"

"Yes, Sir,"

"I don't think that's necessary sir… we never experienced any problems with transporting the target?"

"Repeat Sir?"

"The Plane was gone from all detection systems for several minutes?" Greenway asked appalled.

'How could the plane just disappear for several minutes at a time?' Greenway asked himself and finally came to the startling realization that Zeel had done something.

The file Greenway received about Zeel had the faint indication that Zeel may have possessed enhanced abilities.

"I understand sir; we are transporting special cargo so you'll have to recover it!" Greenway said through gritted teeth.

Greenway had finally decided to have the ship bombed from the air to lessen the risk on his fellow soldiers on the ground.

He took a sad glance around the plane at his fellow soldiers but hardened his heart the next moment.

Jenny had been smacking Zeel for five minutes in an attempt to startle him awake but it seemed that nothing could wake up the sleeping monster.

Zeel was deep in the recesses of his mind and Jenny was growing eager the further the changes on the Sarcophagus.

Suddenly, the alarms on the plane blared and it swerved on a tilt unexpectedly.

Everyone shared an equal look of horror as if immediately understanding what was happening.

Of course, nobody truly understood that Greenway had given the order for their untimely demise, but they didn't need to know that to acknowledge that a plane swerving in the air was never a good thing.

Jenny's smacking of Zeel's body intensified, but nothing came of it.

Chris had entered a daze as his eyes started to gloss over with white blankness, and Jenny was the first to notice this.

For some reason, she was strangely attuned to the cold energy filling the room, especially concentrating near Chris Vail.

It was not only Jenny who felt the sudden cold sensation brush across her skin, every soldier was uniquely attuned to the expected deaths that came along with battle, but the sensation still made them jumpy.

One soldier lost his cool in an instant, pulled his firearm from his holster, and fired at Zeel indiscriminately.

Jenny ducked away from Zeel, hoping that such an event would wake him up but lightning flickered around Zeel's body, dissecting the bullets cleanly as if it was nothing.

The lightning then lashed out at the soldier who had fired the bullets. Nobody exactly knew what happened, but the dust was all that remained.

Jenny stared appalled at the transparent lightning that surrounded Zeel's body like a guardian protecting its charge.

The transparent lightning didn't feel like an automatic defense system, it felt more along the lines of a sentient being that eyed everyone in the plane wearily.

Jenny felt it more clearly than everyone else, the lightning watching them like a predator, hungering to strike but hesitant like a child who hadn't develop morals as of yet.

Another soldier jumped forward but didn't attack Zeel, instead, he turned his firearm against his own head and pulled the trigger.

It was at that moment that everyone realized that something was wrong… dreadfully wrong… it was like mass hysteria…. No, it was mass hysteria!

"Fuck Zeel," Jenny yelled "Wake the fuck up!"

Jenny thrashed about some more as thoughts about death began filling her mind, but a golden flash from her pocket suddenly reminded her of a trump card.

Jenny flicked the golden, inscribed, crystal from her pocket into the air, and pulled out a firearm Henry had provided for her to fire the crystal-like bullet.

*Pew*

*Pew*

Two missiles were fired by the American Fighter Jets that Greenway had signaled.

Everyone heard the whistling of the missiles and knew that everything was hopeless. Today, they would all die, but at least the death would be swift which was much preferred.

Jenny quickly inputted the bullet into the gun and fired the shot directly at Zeel's forehead.

She was careful not to get too close so the lightning didn't feel threatened but also didn't stand so far that she would miss the shot with her less than stellar aiming.

The moment the golden crystal bullet left the gun, the transparent lightning receded into Zeel's body as if it knew that it could not handle the golden crystal.

It was at that moment that Zeel's closed eyes snapped open, transparent lightning danced and the world around him froze in place.

∞∞

Zeel's mind simulation ended and he murmured "So that's how everything went…. Time to work for a living,"