Chapter 99

Operation Brotherly Payback

In the end I had to get a new suit entirely. It seemed that the patented tri-weave blend still has not come to this universe. That is why I am stuck with this seemingly semi-archaic version of a space suit that barely has four hours of oxygen available. Of course, with my powers and abilities, I can theoretically extend that for quite a while.

Why am I thinking about being lost in space, dying slowly as I wait for death to take me? No clue, just something that weighs on my mind, ever since that first death. Of course, now I have ways to avoid that fate. I can always teleport out using Total Recall, a feat that was unavailable to me that one lifetime. Which lifetime was it? I don’t really remember, they all sort of blend together. In fact, I don’t know if I ever actually died from just being left in space? Or if I was on the brink of death, up to and until I was devoured by Prolaxians.

It is odd, the longer I go. The harder it is for me to gain concrete details from my past lives. It is almost as if they are a movie that played in my mind, and now that months have passed, when I need to recall the moments, they are gone.

Still, there is one thing I am certain of. Regardless of the world, universe or timeline, my brother is a perpetual mind rapist.

Also, with me back and having the same facial features as the Kyle Goldman, Wizard me, from this universe, we have come up with a plan.

The plan is simple. Wizard me will show himself to be in public at the Endarian planet with the tree that goes by the stupid name Orgy? Orange? Whatever, the one beginning with an ‘O’. Then once he is done being noticed.

Ping.

There it is. I will get a missed communications notice from him, which means it is now my turn to move.

I also take the liberty of changing my face with Master Tier Shapeshifting, but I don’t want the knowledge of this power getting out. Thus, the subterfuge.

For this operation, I choose to go as Admiral Lemitov. I know, for this universe, the Admiral is an innocent person of my hate. But I can’t help but want to punch that cheap shotting bastard in the face. So, my disguising myself as Lemitov is the next best thing, for me.

Fortunately for me, Captain Chet Goldman is nothing if not a perpetual sycophant. This is why when I happen to run into him in the hallway, by coincidence. He pauses and renders a salute.

I of course salute back, but then pretend like seeing him reminded me of something important I needed to discuss.

“Captain Goldman, a word of your time?”

“Sure, thing Admiral.” Chet says.

With that I gesture him into a disused conference room. If you are wondering why there is a disused conference room, don’t. There are thousands of these rooms and offices that are abandoned at any one time. Some have people’s personal effects in them, signifying they are occupied.

This one for instance has the picture frames and knickknacks of a mother of four about the desk.

Chet goes in, sees the items on the desk and pauses. His mind is clearly working to try to catch up.

Click.

Fortunately for me, I am already ready for this moment. Closing the door behind me, I move quickly, far faster than the Chet Goldman of this universe can react. At least that is what I think, until he turns his head and I see his eyes glowing silver.

“Stop!” He commands. I feel his slimy grip on my mind. This is the equivalent of having a grease stain on an otherwise perfectly clear sliding glass door. You can see it, the stain is disgusting, but does nothing to the glass itself. His feeble attack is the same.

I smile viciously, as I lunge forward, grabbing him. Then using Total Recall we are gone. We make a quick detour to the world tree that goes by Humanitarian? Humble? Something.

“That is Huger, father. I am Hunger.” The tree complains in annoyance.

Still, I use this time to change my features back to that of my regular body. Well, my regular body, sans the butterfly wings. I still have the metal components of the wings within my body, but that just adds density and protection to my organs.

“Father. Why don’t you want the wings that we have bestowed upon you?” Hungarian, the tree states.

“That is Hunger. Dad, why are you so mean!”

With that I sigh, children, am I right?

“Look, I need to see your brother Organ.” I reply.

“Hahaha. Yes, that is her name.” Humor states.

“Dad, now you are just doing that on purpose.”

Well on the bright side, I now know the different names. I am Father when they want something, and I am Dad when they are annoyed at me. This is good to know.

“Wait, did you do all that just to get me to reveal my thoughts to you?”

“I don’t know what you mean, Humid, but I need to go.”

With that, I look around to see that Chet has taken off. I then use Total Recall to get next to him, where I first tackle him to the ground. Then I teleport the both of us to Wizard me’s location.

“Let go of me!” Chet screams.

I do, well after I give him an awkward shove.

“We ready for this?” I ask, Wizard me.

“More than ready!” Wizard me states as he lets a low grumble fill his voice.

With that, I quickly apply Mind Rend-X on the mind of Chet. Though this time something feels off about the mind. I have done this enough to note that there is something more to this one.

On a hunch and mostly out of habit by now. I use Revelation Sight on the recently mind-neutered Chet Goldman.

As soon as I turn on the power, I am met with a golden glowing light that causes not only me but everyone else who was staring at Chet Goldman to turn away. That slight turning away, was enough for me to break my concentration on my power, but the damage had already been done.

When I turned back to look at Chet, I found that he was still glowing. Well glowing isn’t quite the exact way to describe how he looked. It looked like he was a human shaped egg filled with golden yolk that was slowly pouring out. Suddenly I was hungry for omelets.

“So, all this time, you were a Celestial?” I ask. I am about to unleash pent up violence against this monster before me, but fortunately Wizard me beats me to the punch, well kick.

Wham.

A well-placed kick to the ribs sends the Celestial in Chet Goldman’s body to the ground.

“A what?” Chet asks, as if he just now heard my question.

“He is a Celestial. The other annoying part to this whole battle we are stuck in the middle of.” I state.

“We are the heroes.” Chet says through clinched teeth, as he clutches his side where Wizard me’s foot struck.

“Heroes? Of what?” I ask.

“Of all of this. We are the beacon of light, that helps to save the life of each universe.” Chet says.

“So is the mind raping a fringe benefit to your benevolence?” I ask, as I get closer to this monster.

“No,” he says, this time he looks down as if he is disgusted with himself. “How do you deal with it? The urges, the impulses? They are so hard to fight against, to deny. But that only makes it, so the urge gets stronger.”

“Well, maybe it would help if you didn’t try to commandeer the mind of a sociopath. But besides that, you all have no impulse control in general. At least not from what I have seen.” I answer.

“Wait? I don’t get this. What is happening?” Wizard me asks.

Taking a deep breath, I am about to explain.

“Actually, while we have the bleeding expert here, this might be a chance to get much needed answers.” I respond.

“Answers to what?” Wizard me asks.

With that I turn to Wizard me and am about to tell him everything I know. He has managed to remain outside the loop for whatever reason. So having someone else to talk to might be a good thing. I am about to explain this all to him when I notice movement out of the corner of my eye.

Chet, the bastard has a hidden communicator on his uniform lapel.

Chirp.

“I have been made. The target is here. Repeat the target is here. Commence with the endgame.” Chet says quickly.

I mentally rip the communicator off his uniform, with Telekinesis-X. In the process, I end up tearing away a huge chunk of his uniform, but that is a small price to pay.

I am on Chet in a second, using the time to deliver a few quick punches to the kidneys. The sad part is, he doesn’t even defend himself. Instead, he just looks at me with a look of pure contempt.

“Who was that!” I demand.

Chet for his part just smiles and grins evilly at me.

Wham.

My right cross meets his smug little face. With that, his whole attitude changes as he begins to cover up his nose that is now spraying a stream of red blood.

Gods that feels good. If only it wasn’t against the Celestial version, but the real one. No wait, on second thought this is the best of both worlds. I get to punch my brother and a celestial in the face with the same punch. You know what, I’m glad they aren’t fighting back.

With that I go savage.

Wham. Wham. Pop.

“Stop! Stop!” I end up tackling me. Well Wizard me, ends up tackling me off his brother.

I roll to get up, but then see the broken and bloody face of my brother laying before me. I don’t know what I expected to feel at that moment, but empty wasn’t the emotion I had dreamed of. I was empty.

I didn’t care for my brother, forgotten lifetimes of his betrayals wound up in my mind. Then just when I wanted to grasp them to give me strength, they disappeared like evanescent clouds of smoke. I stared down at the monster that was inside the monster of my brother. Well, this universe’s version of my brother, which somehow made the anger I felt even more distant.

Just when I was about to turn away.

BOOM!

There was an explosion, on the outside of the complex we were in.

“What was that?” Wizard me asked, being slightly quicker on the draw.

Chet, with his annoyingly punchable face just grinned and said, “that is the end game.”

“What?” Wizard me asked.

Thinking back, I remember Chet talking about this with the person at the other end of the communicator. That is when I cut in with the more important question.

“Who were you talking to?” I asked.

Chet just smiled that annoyingly smug smile he had. “Don’t you have a princess to save? No time to waste on me.”

At those words, I felt it, the pang of a vision. Doom, that is all I felt in the vision.

“You did something.” I state, more than ask.

“Tick tock.” Chet says, trying to get us to go.

“You know what, fuck you.” I say, as I activate Revelation Sight. This time I don’t turn away at the brilliant light, I stare at it, letting the golden light burn onto my retinas.

“AHHH!”

Distantly I can hear him crying out in pain. Sadly enough, I use his own pain as motivation to continue to stare into what is the equivalent of staring at the sun during a solar eclipse.

Then finally after a long moment the glowing light fades and I am left staring at my brother’s collapsed form. His body surrounded by a silhouette of ash and soot.

“What was that?” Wizard me asks.

“Justice.” I answer.

“Is he dead?” Wizard me asks.

Cough!

Well, that answered that question.

Chet coughs from the ground, his face still looks like hamburger meat, and he is clearly unconscious, but he is alive and breathing.

I am about to say we need to move when Rayquel comes in. “Come on. You two need to move.” She says gesturing to the two of us who are still standing. Then seeing that she has our attention she turns to leave.

“Who sent you?” I ask.

Rayquel pauses for a second, then states. “The General.” A slight pause, before she continues. “She knows she has a lot to atone for. But first she wants to make sure you fix Jessica Childers. Only then will she allow an audience with you.”

I am about to protest, to say that this arrogant general would dare deny me. But then I realize that fixing Jess is why I am here. That to deny that would be pointless. Taking a moment’s breath, I pause, then calming myself I follow her to wherever she needs to take me. I assume it is Jess, as I get no sense of deceit from our pair bond.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

More impacts fire off, rocking our building, but Rayquel and the others don’t seem to care. I wonder what they know about what will happen. I also want to know about this endgame.

Then unable to take the silence any longer, I ask just that.

“Just what exactly is this end game?”