Ion’s Gate
Louis looked at the printed paper before him. It was from the… current military? It’s been a long time since he’d been outside. Last he heard from the news was a change happening in the military and the rise of NEM’s influence. He wasn’t sure. It looked authentic though…
“What was it you were saying again? “
“If you weren’t listening, then you weren’t listening.” The women interrupted. Military uniform of black and gold in sharp contrast to the grey and uncleaned room. Military-grade Gas mask. NEM operative. Eventually, the women sighed, hands on her face and a muttered something about getting away from leaks. He kept a straight face through it all.
“Look pal, don’t try to play the important asset shit on me because if you don’t sign the papers then I don’t give a fuck if you get sent to the mining crew by the end of the week. You’re not special or anything. Far from it.” The military women sneered, picked something from her jacket, and then slowly lit a cigar. His nose sniffled at the smoke. “In fact, NEM has plenty of enhanced to choose from. Gober? You familiar with him?”
His eyes narrowed.
“Enhanced. Level 2. Able to transport individuals into a pocket dimension for a set amount of time.” He gritted out. The women nodded. “He’s also a fucking rapist.” The women nodded again. Her eyebrows raised.
“What kind of military recruits that kind of people?”
There was another puff of smoke and the women spoke again,” The kind that’s desperate.” She then paused.” However, if the PR can’t handle it then we can always recruit Mordred. Yes, the one in quarantine. Level 3. Has the ability- “
“To stop time at a specific area of her bubbles.” Louis answered. He glared. There was no reaction. “Zaya's a good kid but she's terminally ill. Cancer. She’ll die in the next few months until you have some way to patch her up in the field. Heard Zen managed to figure out his powers back then. Maybe he could- “The NEM operative shook her head.
“Dead? How?” He exclaimed.
The women sighed. “Prime demon. Level 4.” She continued.” He was a valuable asset to Vanguard. To NEM? Just another leak- “
“Fuck you.” Louis gritted out. The women touched her holster. He backed down. “I… I didn’t think Zen of all people would bit the dirt… Space? How about her? She can convert a being’s physical state into its previous state of matter- “
“MIA. Presumed traitor.”
“Blue?”
“Assassinated 2 months ago.”
Louis swore.
“Please tell me that whoever is signing this damn paper is not being sent near civilians?” The woman paused, then shrugged and nodded back. “Then why me? I don’t think my powers can be of any assistance to direct combat? Let alone, from the looks of things- “Louis paused, read the contents of the paper slowly.
“Your sending me to die?”
“I’m sending you to the Cleaning crew.” The woman answered. “Operating on City B. They need a Tail. The previous one died in combat and NEM higher-ups are demanding results before- “
“Do you even know what little my powers can contribute to direct combat?” Louis interrupted.
The women rolled her eyes. “Level 1. Duplication. Also, a…” The women examined the files at her portion of the desk. She raised her eyebrows and look at him with a new light. Disdain. At least some emotion. “It says before you went to the Other, you were a- “
“Distraction. A fucking distraction.”
“Precisely.”
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“Your bleeding.”
“Yes.”
“You want me to staunch the wound and patch you up?” The Doctor asked as Tail paused, leaning at the doorway, watching each side and then closing the door when no signs of hound pursuit. “You do know that I’m quite versatile? Not only am I a Doctor, but I am also quite a good shot- “
“No.”
The Doctor sighed, seeming to look around at the abandoned apartment they were on and promptly walked towards an unused chair. The Doctor hummed, as if examining Tail like some sort of interesting specimen. Tail glared back in response, The Doctor shrugged and eyed the insides of an abandoned apartment they took for refuge. “Is that because of a vision you receive when I actually did patch you up- “
“No” Tail gritted out. Closing the door, Tail walked past the man wearing a lab coat sitting on a chair with their hands cuffed, and proceeded to examine the window. No sign of his team outside. Nothing but darkness lay outside. He checked his radio for the umpteenth time. No response. Tail swore then proceeded to open the cabinets from the kitchen for any signs of supplies. Something usable for his wounds should suffice.
“You know… if you aren’t going to patch up that wound on your abdomen then- “
“Shut up.”
“You know do know that I am invested enough to ensure the survival of the only asset that could protect me while were stuck here?”
“Shut up.”
“This doesn’t benefit the both of us- “The Doctor paused. Tail lowered his gun after a few seconds. The Doctor then proceeded to watch as Tail searched for supplies in the abandoned apartment they were on. Eventually, finding nothing but empty shelves and a desolate fridge, Tail sighed, walked past the kitchen room and grabbed a chair to sat with the Doctor. The Doctor raised his hands but Tail shook his head as he continued to held his bleeding abdomen at bay.
“Your really can’t see anything past a day?” The Doctor asked.
“Won’t.” Tail answered.
“So, were going to die here starving to death while your dead teammates bodies are left to rot in the lower levels?” Tail didn’t respond. The Doctor raised his eyebrows then sighed.
“Is that so?”
Tail removed the dark shaded googles he wore and stared at the Doctor.
“It’s the only way.”
Tail responded.
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“You signed it? You’re an idiot, Louis.”
He sighed. Louis then look away from the mirror and glanced at the muscular built old man with growing white hair sitting at his bed. It was his bunker mate looking at him like he had grown a second head. Louis sighed again.
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“It was either a rapist or a drugged-up kid to do society’s dirty work.” Louis then spent a few more seconds brushing his teeth before spitting at the sink below. “I didn’t have a choice.”
The old man sighed back. “But the Cleaning Crew? Seriously?” Brutus then shook his head, then pointed at himself. “I beat a Level 3 with my bare hands to death because the bastard was a coward and intend to fuck my squad back then. If I didn’t then an entire town would have succumbed to corruption... and my fucking pay.” The man paused. “It ended up fucking did anyways and Thrall himself had to be sent to cleanse the entire town before it’s taint reaches the big cities.” Brutus shrugged. “Got my pay from my boss though.”
Louis raised his eyebrow.” Your point?”
Brutus rolled his eyes. “The point is I’m strong but even I would rather die here than go over there to be in a fucking Cleaning Crew.” Brutus than stared at him, hard.” You know we use to fight each other back in the days. Villains against Heroes. Heroes against Villains. Powers. And then the third Great war happened and our real enemies caught us with our pants down. Those demons over there? The Aliens? Their stronger now Louis. Like they evolved. Terrifying even- “
“All the more reason to not send a kid in a suicide mission, Brutus.” Louis interrupted. He saw Brutus about to respond back. He sighed. “And I’m not sending Gober to a broken city with possible civilian survivors.”
Brutus sighed deeply. “Good point. Besides, why the fuck would you play Hero? Do you know what happens to Enhanced with a capacity to wear capes nowadays? They got enlisted. Forced with no pay. Feed crap about sacrificing themselves to save the world by the fucking Vanguard. Happy little soldiers, aren’t they? That’s why I became a Villain. A damn good one back in the days. Hey! Have I told you that I’ve lived and survived in the times where Magnis was still alive and soared the cities like some sort of corrupt flying brick cop? That fucking prick! Ha! Good thing Thrall shut that asshole down!”
He stared.
“Hell! Why, even accept the damn job in the first place? The worlds already fucked out there and at least we have a roof over our head and meals that we don’t even need to scavenge for!.”
Louis didn’t respond.
“Are you even listening to me!?”
He pointed. Brutus followed the direction past the blaster-proof glass and down to the common room below. Brutus swore as Louis nodded.
“Thrall.”
A figure strolled by. Tired and weary by the way he walks. Yet even then, in the room full of the worst. Every prisoner, enhanced or otherwise, refused to look at the only person not wearing a prison suit. They were all mice and rats in the shadow of a large lion. A very large lion garbed in a tattered white cape and a skin-tight black costume that had seen better days. Concerningly, the figure was staring back. At him.
“Hello, Polity. We meet once more.” Thrall spoke, not in words chanted in the human tongue but inside their heads- No, in their very souls. And by the looks of things, all of them flinched in response. Some even passed out by his sheer presence while others tried to appear small as possible as they take great care to not incur the wrath of the Strongest Hero Alive.
“… Who the fuck is Polity?” Brutus remarked.
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Louis walked with 4 guards near him. 2 on the front, 2 on the back. They were carrying standard issue energy rifles. The black and gold uniform told him that they didn’t bothered wearing armor. Louis understands. Any wrong move at all... Well not that he planned to escape in the first place. The strongest superhero alive was meeting him after all.
The front door then opened. More like a fortified gate as rusty mechanical brakes inverted themselves on the side of the blaster-resistant material. The center split in two, each side pulling itself as light entered. Louis held his hand out to block the beams of the sun. Dust and smoke visited the prison inside while Louis stepped out with guards in tow. Then Thrall himself turned around and met him. The famous cowl was brought back down and a middle-aged man stared with a warm smile and dead eyes.
“Thrall.” Louis spoked.
“Polity.” The strongest Hero alive responded.
“I… I met you before, haven’t I?” Thrall raised his hands, waving the guards away. They complied without complaint.
“You were part of Bastion’s team during the first great war.” Thrall began,” Was I right? My memories are a bit compromised as of the moment.”
“Your… yes, yes you are.” Louis responded.
“Good, good… now I want you to help me out for a little expedition in exchange for your freedom.”
“What is it?”
“Have you heard of the Cleaning Crew?” Louis nodded.
“What do you know of it?”
“Nobody actually knows.” Louis answered.” Although, rumors from the other inmates and the guards said that it was a fate worse than death.” Thrall kept smiling. Louis tried to not let it bother him.” Your sending me to it right?... to die?”
“If I may be frank, Polity. It’s… something worse.” Thrall responded. “Walk with me. I’ll explain everything while I escort you to the helipad.”
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“Can’t believe you actually trusted me.” The Doctor remarked.
Tail coughed. Blood spilling from his mouth as he lay in the ground. His hand gripped the metallic part of his sidearm. A boot crushed his fingers. The Doctor then dragged his body across a corridor as Tail watched the madmen using a stolen rifle to blast the demons at bay. He could see darkness fading in. The sound of maniacal-like screams outside, the frantic cursing the man in the lab coat exuded, and the various possibilities his vision showed him.
There was no other way.
“What was that?” The Doctor gritted out as the man’s calm demeanor eroded in the face of horrors beyond the human psyche. Tail could see one possibility where he managed to fend off the corpses of his dead brethren and escaped the black sector of City B. Another possibility where he and the Doctor escaped. And one where he abandoned the Doctor to his doom while he himself escaped. It was all doomed. There was no escape in the grand scheme of things... No other way.
“Oh. Don’t die now. I need your eyes alive and well.” The Doctor stated as Tail saw him close the door and approached Tail’s body. The Doctor raised his hand, Tail responded with gripping the appendage with the last of his strength. His captor raised their eyebrows. Tail spitted blood at the Doctor’s face.
“I saw… I saw your end.” Tail spoke. “Thrall finds you.”
The Doctor paused, flinched, before chuckling,” All the more reason to have your powers.” The Doctor shook his head as the madmen grabbed something that resembled a syringe and a scalpel. “Now stay still, this will hurt in an unimaginable level.”
I know.
There was no other way.
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Waving the helicopter away Louis turned around and sighed. Scattered debris, broken buildings, and a lifeless park greeted him. It was where they sent him to start off. City B. One of the closest neighbors to the 8 surviving strongholds. Walking around Louis noticed no signs of life, only the hard-metallic curve of an M9 on his hand and his wits as he surveyed the desolate landscape of a once bustling civilization.
“This… this is it.” Louis muttered. No more patrols, confined bedroom, and strict protocols. He stifled a grin. It wasn’t over just yet. He still has a certain someone to meet and a mission to finish. They didn’t send him coordinates. Only that the person he’s supposed to meet is near. Louis sighed. He knows what it meant. They were forcing him to use his powers.
“I… I have no choice.” He uttered as he gazes at his thin, flaking hand. It was malnourished. Just as he intended. Louis then closed his eyes and felt something familiar. Like an old friend reaching out for him on the inside. He ignored the promise of power, the comfort of companionship, and the temptations of convenience. Louis focused on the necessity. Only the necessity. Just as he was trained to do so. And then he opened his eyes and he saw… himself.
5’9. Sunken dead eyes. Dark hair reaching shoulder length and an unhealthy thin physique garbed in a white t-shirt with prisoner trousers underneath. The standard issue brown military boots, wrist-watch, and a fully loaded M9 on the person’s hand showed the only three things he was given. Louis winced and shook his head. He focused again, three more appeared. Four clones in total and they were all looking at him for orders like lifeless drones. Louis grabbed his head, cradling it as the headaches slowly disappeared.
“Okay… okay.” He muttered.” I want you all to spread out. Just run. Don’t be cautious. If something or someone tries to eliminate you. Use the M9. Aim for the head.” Louis paused. “If your still alive after an hour… kill yourself.”
The clones nodded. No signs of complaint as they all went in 4 different directions. Louis waited and watched as multiple versions of him ran. “I’m sorry.” Louis muttered. About twenty minutes, his head twitched at the sound of a gunshot occurring a few blocks from his position. And then another one at a different location. Two things happened as two visions swarmed his head. The last moments of his clone’s lives flashed and he saw himself getting torn apart by crazed civilians and getting eviscerated by a beast darker than the color black itself. “I’m sorry.” He muttered again.
Then another vision of him granted him sight of an altar inside an abandoned supermarket. The altar was composed of a dead rotting corpse with a goat’s head sewed underneath the shoulders. An emblem of a red star appeared on the forehead. Suddenly, whispers of carnage reached into his ears and soon he found himself aiming the M9 underneath his chin. One shot afterwards and he soon find himself sitting on the park, watching the sun going down and the sound of beasts growling amidst the buildings in collaboration with multiple moans of pain like some sort of twisted opera.
Another vision struck him. “I’m guessing you’re the new Tail.” It was the voice of a man in a white featureless skin-tight costume going underneath the shoulders. A tattered NEM military uniform of gold and black with an energy rifle held steady. “Name’s Zenith. I’m the Head of the 4th division of the local Cleaning Crew. Welcome to City B.”
Ion’s Gate