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Act 4: Uncontrollable Rage
[Some time ago – Etibar Aurel-Terran: Age 19]
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“Kile kinachofanywa mmoja kinaeneza chuki kwa mamia. Chuki inaenea kama sumu.” – The words of Professor Haida in the feature Athari ya Wagaidi.
Translation: “That which is done to one person spreads hatred to hundreds. Hatred spreads like poison.”
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Location: Giza Forest.
The forest was burning.
There is a common statement in the Kingdom of Toro, “Jua to the East, Giza to the West” which translates to “the Sun to the East, Darkness to the West.”
Nevertheless, the Giza forest was more accurately in the North Western part of Toro rather than the West.
In this great forest, one man was facing off against an entire family consisting of hundreds.
This family was the Zabibu or Mzabibu family. The word ‘Zabibu’ meant ‘vine’ and most of this family’s martial arts involved the Wood Style.
Within Toro, the Zabibu family was under one of the elite Chiefs in the capital city. For this reason, many in the family held government jobs.
They were genuine political elites.
The leader of this family was a man by the name Zabibu Koroma. He was tall and bony which gave him a scary appearance like the ‘Slender Man’. Standing behind him were 2 teams each made up of 7 people. These people were dressed in different-colored clothes representing their position within the team.
Within the family, these 2 teams went by the title – the 7 Deadly Sins.
There were two teams of these ‘Sins’ with the first team consisting of Mlafi, Pupa, Mzembe, Kiburi, Wivu, Hasira, and Harara.
As for team 2, the members were Kiburi, Tamaa, Ashiki, Husuda, Ulafi, Hasira, and Uvivu.
Their names were different variations of the 7 deadly sins – Pride, Greed, Sloth, Envy, Lust, Wrath, and Gluttony.
In addition to the family head Zabibu Koroma (koroma – snore), there were also 3 elders standing beside him each with a code name that corresponded to ominous plants and flowers – Night Jasmine, Peacock Flower, and Nightshade.
Further, apart from the family head, the elders, and the two teams of the 7 Deadly Sins, there were also hundreds of warriors hidden within the trees and the bushes of Giza forest armed to the teeth with all kinds of weapons.
All these warriors were aiming their weapons at one man.
This man actually had the family head’s son, Zabibu Manemane (also named Myrtle), pressed firmly into the ground by stepping on his neck. If this man was vicious and applied any force, Manemane’s neck would be crushed under his feet.
‘She spent years combating demonic beings yet it was a human being who harmed her!’
“What is the difference between you people and demons then!?” Terran asked in rage as he applied more pressure to the whimpering excuse of man crushed beneath his feet.
Witnessing his son in distress, Zabibu Koroma shouted sternly, “Terran, if you dare to harm my son, even if it’s at the ends of the world, my Zabibu family will hunt you down relentlessly. We will use the cruelest criminal law to make your life a living hell!”
Zabibu Koroma’s voice was hoarse like grinding gears on a bicycle. His voice made anyone who heard him extremely uncomfortable.
When Terran heard Zabibu Koroma’s words, a strange expression appeared on his face before he shouted, “What a joke. After today, your despicable family will no longer exist in the world!”
“No, don’t kill me.” Hearing Terran’s murderous words, Zabibu Manemane who was in immediate danger cried out in fear.
His current expression was far from his initial arrogance when he first met Terran.
“Father, save me!”
The confrontation today originated from a tragic event some weeks before. Shortly after Terran had left Black Terrace after completing his apprenticeship with Udona, he had gone to find Nawiri.
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Terran had learnt his lesson and was no longer a hesitant youth anymore. That is how the two love birds got engaged.
What Terran did not know was that the Zabibu family, specifically the family head’s son, had noticed Nawiri when she worked in the capital city Suna. The Zabibu family had tried to coerce Nawiri into marriage which she naturally refused.
After Terran and Nawiri got engaged, Terran introduced her to his family including his father Nu-Yuga, his mother Raikar, and his younger siblings Etibar Aurel-Yok and Etibar Aurel-Rodin. At that point, Terran and Nawiri even started living together at his father’s home.
However, they naturally did not spend much time at home but instead on missions. Terran took on missions assigned by Udona while Nawiri worked as a surveyor visiting places across Toro to look for and detect any demon signs.
Life was good, but not for long. Neither Nawiri nor Terran could predict the evil in Zabibu Manemane’s heart nor the enabling actions of the Zabibu family.
When Terran was out on a mission, these wolves had actually arrived in his home and severely injured his fiancé after she refused Manemane’s advances again! Worse of all, when Terran’s father, Etibar Nu-Yuga stepped in trying to protect Nawiri, he was heavily injured by the Earth Rank elders of the Zabibu family.
Unfortunately, as an alien refugee who had been on the migratory road for half his life, Etibar Nu-Yuga was already old, weary, and sick. After getting assaulted violently, it was not long before he died. The injuries he got were the final nail in the coffin. When Terran returned home after completing his assignment, he arrived to find a dead father, a fiancé confined to bedrest, and a grieving family.
Back to the Giza Forest…
Seeing the crying Zabibu Manemane beneath his feet, Terran was even angrier.
He shouted at the man, “If you are going to be a villain, be a villain to the very end! Why are you crying like a baby NOW?!”
Terran’s words were said while grinding his foot on Manemane’s face and neck which released creaking sounds, almost breaking!
Nawiri was terribly harmed and even now, her health was not out of danger.
Nu-Yuga had sadly passed away. Now Terran’s younger siblings would grow up without a father.
And his mother, Raikar, was now a widow. No matter how ‘strong’ his mother was, Terran knew she loved his father more than anything. Right now she was holding the family together, but deep down Terran knew she was broken for having lost the love of her life.
The worst thing was that after harming his father and lover, the Zabibu family actually got away with the crime because of their political connections.
On one hand, the members of the Etibar family were aliens, refugees, and outcasts from their own people in the White Marsh. On the other hand, the Zabibu family had political support in the capital; they were also humans and natives of Toro.
It is a no brainer who the courts were biased towards.
In an example of a gross betrayal of justice, the Zabibu family only had to pay a little “Blood Money” for their crime. This was like pocket change to them!
Remembering their smug looks when the decision was made during the court hearing, Terran was extremely disgusted. His only thoughts were, ‘They must all pay. They must all die!’
Terran’s mind was filled with uncontrollable rage. That was why he lured them to the Giza forest today. With their overconfidence, Terran was sure that they would come.
He was going to get his revenge, and in the most cold-blooded way possible!
“Attaaaaaack!”
Seeing his son in peril, Zabibu Koroma quickly ordered an attack on Terran. Suddenly, over a hundred men jumped up from behind the trees armed with swords, spears, cross-bolts, slingshots, clubs, and bows and arrows. All these men were dressed in dark green camouflage clothes that blended in with the vegetation in the forest.
Looking at the green tips of their weapons, it was evident that each and every one of these weapons was dipped in highly poisonous concoctions!
However, who was Terran? How could this shake him? He was more than happy to meet his opponents head on.
Hundreds of arrows were launched at him.
“They are experts.” From the attack trajectory alone, Terran knew these people were not amateurs.
The arrows targeted him while narrowly missing the man trapped under Terran’s feet. To dodge the archers’ attacks, Terran was forced to fly back. As he retreated, the spearmen arrived from his side pushing him to defend himself. At the same time, the swordsmen rushed down from the treetops attacking Terran from above.
It was a perfect three pronged attack!
Any regular warrior would be skewered to pieces by such a well organized formation.
And even expert warriors would still be in a world of Hell if they were scratched by any of these poisonous weapons.
In one well planned move, Zabibu Koroma was able to pull away his son from Terran’s clutches.
However, there was one thing that Koroma did not account for – Mr. Magnet!
In this world, there is a legend about Mr. Magnet, the strongest human magnet.
Not only is this man said to be the strongest human magnet, but he also possesses great power that defies normalcy and logic.
Human magnetism is an ability that allows some unique individuals, even if they are regular untrained humans, to attract metallic objects with their skin.
The individuals with this power are called human magnets. And among them, Mr. Magnet or the Magnetic Man is the best – a regular human with NO powers who is able to lift up over 100 kg (220 lb.) of metal upon his body.
Terran is not a human magnet. After all, he is not human.
However, back at the military institution, Terran was given the nickname “Magnet Man” by his peers – such as Zeri. This is because the Arun have the inborn ability to control 2 forces – shadow force and magnetic force. Expectedly, as the Shadow people, manipulating shadows and darkness is like eating and drinking to them.
But another power that the Arun have is the control or possession of Magnetomotive Force.
This force is also known as magnetic potential, and it is the property of certain substances, objects, phenomena, and in this case, individuals, that gives rise to a magnetic field.
Due to his magnetic body, the weapons aimed at Terran actually accelerated towards him and along with them, their users!
Suddenly, everyone was panicked but this only lasted an instant. While Terran was not the true “Magnet Man”, he could do more than just attract metal weapons to his body.
In one swift move, Terran not only attracted all the weapons to his body but also robbed his opponents of their control on any metallic weapons.
With a twist of his body, all the arrows flying towards him, all the spears and even the accompanying spearmen, the swordsmen, the metal clubs, and even metal balls and pellets shot towards him using slingshots, ALL these weapons and even warriors, they were all redirected towards Zabibu Manemane who had just escaped from beneath Terran’s foot!
Today, Manemane was destined to be a porcupine!