Now, Southern California
“Hey?”
Silence.
“Hey!”
“What?”
“Come here, now!”
Cal rushed into the living room to find Nila and the baby playing. Each held a tiny plastic bat and were smacking the ugliest stuffed animal he had ever seen upside the head and body.
The glee on the two faces was a little disconcerting.
“… um… what are you doing?”
“I’m teaching him to fight monsters,” Nila said.
“Oh… okay… great… why?”
“So he knows what side he’s on.”
“Uh huh and you wanted me to see this because…”
“Oh, not that. I think he pooped. You need to change his diaper.”
Cal walked toward the sliding glass doors and the balcony beyond.
Nila’s eyes narrowed as she tracked his movement.
“Did you just notice the smell?” Cal said lightly.
“Yeah…” Nila’s eyes narrowed.
“Then he might not be done yet. Nothing worse than changing a diaper too early.”
“Yeah, I know. He’s already peed on me before… where are you going?”
Cal opened the door and stepped out onto the balcony. “I would change his diaper, but I’ve got a few meetings with my gangs schedule for just about now… sorry,” he shrugged.
“Get back here you—”
The rest of Nila’s words was swallowed by the sound of rushing wind as Cal leapt off the balcony and into open air. He flared his telekinesis to slow his descent to land lightly on the sidewalk.
He looked up at the ratty and dirty structure that had been home for him, the baby and sometimes, Nila for the last couple months since he and the former had returned from the Philippines.
Commerce Hotel and Casino.
It had been decrepit before the spires showed up and hadn’t gotten better since then.
The only upside was that he owned the whole thing after solo clearing the spawn zone it had become. It gave him a place to stay and keep an eye on the baby for fog tendencies while keeping his sister’s community safe from said possibility. Coincidentally, it placed him in a fairly central location to begin bringing the roving gangs north of Rayna’s lands under control. He did that by pointing the best ones among them to a better life option.
Murderers, rapists and other assorted psychopaths were exempted and with his mental powers it was easy to sift through and exclude those kinds.
As for the rest, they had the choice of joining Rayna’s Rangers in some capacity. It’d take time for them to prove themselves trustworthy and Rayna had wanted a direct hand in their transition.
Thus, Cal had taken it upon himself to act as a sort of warden-recruiter, which is why he walked into the lobby to a small group of hard-eyed men and women. He noted the pile of weapons next to the entrance. A good sign that they had read and complied with the rules he had posted on the door and had circulated through word of mouth messengers, former gang members that had recently taken him up on the offer. Everyone spent a week or two working directly under him as a trial period before he sent them off to Rayna. It gave him a good opportunity to get to know them and their strengths, weaknesses and such. That way he could share his assessments with his sister and set them all up with the best chances for success.
As for the rest of the people in the assorted gangs’ territories, well, they had an open invitation to move south and become part of the community. With Cal’s presence and direct hand the gangs were much weakened and they couldn’t keep the people from leaving. Most had already moved.
“Welcome!” Cal spread his arms wide. “I’m sure you’ve got questions on our offer. Feel free to ask.”
“I hear you don’t let everyone go, even if they pick you up on that deal,” a stocky, tattooed Hispanic man in his 30’s glared.
“Ah, X-Ray, right?” Cal remembered the man vaguely. A quick telepathic scan confirmed the identity. The last time he had encountered X-Ray, the man had been powered up, glowing brightly from the spells Mages had poured into him for the fight. It wasn’t much of one. Cal had grabbed the man in a telekinetic grip and slowly floated him like a moon in orbit until the power effect faded. He recalled Nila launching X-Ray like a home run ball a while back. The man did hold a grudge, but had enough self-control not to act on it if it wasn’t in his best interest. “Well, it’s part of the deal. We can’t take you if you cross off a few boxes.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know that. You don’t let no rapists, killers and psychos in,” X-Ray said. “But, I’m asking, how you decide that them peeps be like that?”
“That’s because I know the truth that’s in your hearts and minds. You can’t lie to me. Oh, and one correction. It’s not killers. It’s murderers, specifically, of innocents.”
“Okay, cause that’s what I was wondering about. You giving me the offer, but I’ve hurt people, killed people. So, I’m thinking this is too good to be true. A free house. As much free food and shit I could want. And all I got to do is fight for you. Shit, I do that already and you’re saying now I’m fighting on your side. No offense, but it sounds like you’re bending me over,” X-Ray said.
Cal regarded the group of men and women using his mental powers to make it seem as if he made eye contact with each individual. “You’ve certainly done bad things. But, are you a bad person? Look, you should be in prison, but who has time for that. It’ll be too much work to keep you locked up and fed. So, you get a second chance. No more bad things, no more bad person. You do good for the benefit of others and you benefit yourself. It’s pretty simple. You start at the bottom like anyone else joining the Rangers or in some other capacity if you aren’t really a fighter. Plenty of valuable support roles. Hell, maybe even find your true passion. Prove yourself trustworthy and reap the rewards. One warning though, this is your only chance. Slip back to the old ways and you’re out like the rapists, murderers and psychos, you can try your luck out here with them and the monsters.”
“So, saying we take you up on this… what happens next?” X-Ray said.
“There is no ‘we’. If you agree to this your gang dies here and now,” Cal said.
X-Ray bristled, but kept silent, which was a point in his favor.
The rest of the gang’s reactions varied.
Cal knew that some couldn’t wait to take the offer, while a few were on the edge of violence. Those he would have to work harder with.
“I’ll interview each of you individually. I’ll give you more information on what’s expected of you and what you can expect. You’ll tell me your strengths. What you’re best at, what you’d like out of life, that sort of thing. It’ll help with placement. If you pass then you’ll spend the next week or two here around here, doing things for me. A trial period,” Cal said.
“What if we fail that?” one of the gang members said.
“There’s no failing after you get through the initial screening for evil tendencies. The trial period is to get you used to no longer being part of your gang and like I said, it’ll help me get to know you better in order to start you off in a good position.”
“What if we don’t like it?” a particularly angry young man said.
“You’re free to leave whenever,” Cal shrugged. “With the caveat that you won’t get another chance.”
“You said we going to be fighting anyways?” a scar-faced young woman said.
“Only if you want to. I won’t push you to it. I’m sure you know how to best level your classes, if you have them,” Cal regarded X-Ray, who tilted his chin back and stared with restrained hostility. “That’s part of it too. The rangers do their best to help their members level in the best, most efficient ways with the knowledge that they have and continue to accrue.”
“Alright,” X-Ray grumbled. He turned to the remnants of his gang. Much of their number had already gone through the process with Cal. These ones had been the last truly loyal ones. “I ain’t going to tell you what to do. I’m taking it. It sounds like a good deal, but you got to decide on your own. We had a good run, but the man says we got to kill it, so that’s what I’m doing. We’re done as a gang,” he sneered, “but we’re still family and it’ll be dope if I could still fight with you guys even if it’s under those people.”
Well… it wasn’t great to hear, but it was a start. Rayna’s Rangers would have to work at breaking those old gang ties and forging a better connection for a better, less selfish life motive.
“Interviews start now. One person at a time,” Cal gestured towards the office behind the front desk, “if you’re a murderer, rapist or otherwise a psycho, you may quietly leave at your convenience.”
Cal turned and headed to the office with X-Ray in tow. Several of the gang members shot rude gestures, Cal mentally subtracted points from them.
Many hours later Cal flew back to his suite as the sun cast a dying orange glow from the west. He found Nila and the baby sleeping in the bedroom. There was a lot he needed to do in regards to that. The baby needed a permanent family. The sooner the better, but there were several glaring issues with finding one and so he and Nila had been taking care of the little guy.
He sighed.
They had never wanted children. Let alone a fog baby, as Eron had called him.
Dinner time was near so Cal started cooking.
Simple fried rice with chicken from the leftovers of the previous day.
Telekinetic hands did the work in the kitchen while Cal opened up his laptop, which was only functional thanks to the Computer Technicians, and began work on the profiles of his older recruits. With the new batch starting it was time to cycle the older ones down to Rayna and he needed to get his final thoughts about them down.
Things were going to get busy in the next couple of weeks, which was part of the reason that Nila had spent the last week living full-time with him and the baby. She would need to take over his duties while he flew north to take care of something long overdue. By necessity the baby would have to go down to his mom. There had been no signs of fogginess, but it was still a risk… was it?
He didn’t let thoughts of regret gain purchase. No matter the struggles and headaches it would always be the right choice to save an innocent baby. His telepathic powers and Lilah’s magic had confirmed that the baby wasn’t the fog entity. And yet…
“He’s fine,” Cal said.
“I don’t know about that, Love,” Nila padded into the dining room.
“What?” Cal rose from his chair in alarm.
“His poo… there was sooo much and it was kind of greenish. Do you know what that means?”
“I— I don’t know what that means. I’d Google it, but that doesn’t exist anymore.”
“Yeah it does. At least a cached version.”
“Not on this laptop.”
“The Rangers have it on the servers at the community college,” Nila shrugged. “You can download it next time you go there,” she yawned. “That smells good,” she eyed the wok and kitchen implements moving about in the kitchen. “I’m really hungry. Tiring day.”
Cal raised a brow. “You spent it playing with a baby. You have superhuman stamina.”
“And fed him, burped him, changed his diapers. Crying and stuff. That’s a lot of work,” Nila said.
“Napping too?”
“Yeah, those were nice!” Nila smiled. “How was your day?”
“Picked up X-Ray and the rest of his gang.”
“Oh… that guy, I remember him, glows,” Nila mused.
“Physically empowered by spell damage. Not as strong as you, but tough enough to survive being yeeted into the sky.”
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
“I only hit him over, like, a couple of buildings… maybe five blocks. Is he still mad about that?” Nila said lightly.
“Yes and at me for floating him around upside down, but my read is that he won’t act on it if it isn’t in his best interests.”
“Sounds like a great guy,” Nila smirked. “You sure you want him?”
“If they aren’t outright evil then they get a second chance.”
“Well, if he gives me trouble while you’re gone I’ll just hit him really hard until he stops,” Nila said.
“I should have about five days to work with this newest batch and I’m not planning on being up north for more than a couple of days. Since me and Eron are teaming up it shouldn’t be too dangerous.”
“Don’t get cocky. I was down in those tunnels… that temple,” Nila shuddered. “Saw it in action, fought it. It’s very strong and tough,” Nila said.
“That’s what Eron’s for. I’m going to attack it from another… perspective. I’ve got a theory that’ll do the trick. I hope.”
“Theory. Hope. That’s not exactly the best things to go on,” Nila sighed.
“I’ve got a promise to keep and I’ve waited too long already. Plus, I’m hoping it’ll help mend things with my brother,” Cal said.
“He needs to apologize to you for being a jerk. Seriously, a baby? A baby? How could you look at him and think its okay to—”
“Please, Eron’s agreed to leave him alone. We weren’t inside the fog. Eron was. For months. He lost thousands of people. Blames himself… anyways. My hope is that in time as the baby proves himself to be a normal human that animosity will fade. Especially once I find good adoptive parents. The little guy can just grow up like a normal, happy little human.”
“Hmmm… you’re not really making any progress on that,” Nila said.
“It’s hard to find time for that. I’ve been so busy here with the gangs. There’s also a few other factors that complicate things. Like I’ve told you—”
He was saved or cursed, depending on perspectives, from continuing by the baby’s cries shattering the peace.
“Ugh… so loud,” Nila winced. “I’ll finish the food. Your turn to change the poop bag.”
“He’s probably hungry,” Cal telekinetically filled a pot with water and set it on the stove, while pulling a bottle of milk out of the fridge to warm as he hurried to the bedroom. One sniff later. “Yup, just as I thought, he’s hungry and there’s poo!”
“Thanks for letting me know that!” Nila called back.
----------------------------------------
“How old is he exactly?” Rayna pointed at the baby in her lap.
“Physical appearance and various scientific and magical tests 9 to 10 months,” Cal said. “Is that okay?” Cal pointed at the baby and handful of Rayna’s long black hair in his mouth.
“Meh, he seems entertained,” Rayna shrugged.
“Not very sanitary though.”
“It’s cool. I’ll just wash my hair later.”
“I meant for him,” Cal said flatly.
“No, it’s actually good for his immune system. Kids should play and eat dirt, build that up. That’s what Mom says.”
“Mom?” Cal sighed at his mother, who was in the kitchen.
“Food’s almost done!” their mom said brightly.
“How’s it going, Rynnen?” Cal turned his attention to his 7-year old cousin.
The boy was staring at the baby with intense concentration.
“Earth to Rynnen?” Rayna said.
Rynnen looked from the baby to Cal several times. “How did you and Auntie Nila have a baby if she was never pregnant?”
Rayna burst out laughing, which triggered the baby into giggling.
“That’s— that’s cause he’s not ours,” Cal said.
“But he looks like you,” Rynnen said.
“No he doesn’t.”
“Kinda does,” Rayna agreed. “Actually, check that. You look exactly the same. Hang on,” she handed the baby over to Cal and went to the closet under the stairs. Only to emerge with an old-school album. A quirk of their mother’s. Which she was fond of pointing out saved all those memories when the spires’ apocalypse made digital mediums wholly unreliable if not outright destroyed.
“What is this?” Cal knew the answer even as Rayna opened the album and flipped through hard stock pages until she found a suitable photo to back her assertion.
“There. You as a baby,” she tapped a photo, “compared to him. Like twins.”
“You look the same,” Rynnen chimed in. “Why?”
Cal considered explaining his theories on why the fog entity had done this, but decided not to. “You’ll find out when you’re older.”
Rynnen wasn’t happy with that judging by his furrowed brow.
“Aren’t you the least bit concerned about what that means?” Rayna regarded him.
“He’s been checked out by everyone I could get. He’s clear of… you know what.”
“I read Sgt. Butcher’s reports. I’m not doubting you,” Rayna said.
“Do they suspect anything? Out of respect I didn’t pick up more than surface level thoughts. No one should think this baby is anything more than a lucky foundling.”
“They definitely think it’s weird, but not close to the truth,” Rayna said.
“Look, no one knows except you, Mom, Dad, Eron and Nila. I haven’t even let Remy know because I don’t trust the security of the spires’ messaging system. I’d like to keep it that way.”
“You’re going to have to tell the adoptive parents the full truth,” Rayna said.
“I know, which is a problem. They say no and the baby doesn’t have parents while two other people know the truth.”
“Mind wipe?” Rayna said.
Cal frowned. “I’d rather not violate people like that, at least ones that didn’t do something deserving.”
“Is it that bad, though? Just remove that bit of information about the fog connection,” Rayna said.
“Slippery slopes,” he sighed.
“Ramen’s ready!” their mom called from the kitchen.
“And that’s my cue,” Cal handed the baby back to Rayna. “Thanks for taking care of him, Mom. I should be back in a couple of days. Maybe sooner if everything goes well.”
“You’re not going to eat?”
“Sorry, Mom. It smells great, but I’ve got a flight with possible fights and a definite one when I get there. I don’t want a full stomach.”
“Why?” Rynnen said.
“Well, when you’re in a fight or flight situation your body might automatically get rid of anything that could weigh you down. It wants to be able to be as quick and fast as possible,” Rayna said.
“I don’t want to puke or the other thing,” Cal said as he stood. “Got to go. I need to meet up with Eron.”
“He’s probably in San Diego. He asked if I needed help with anything,” Rayna said.
“Is it getting worse?”
“Yeah, more and weirder undead are coming from somewhere we can’t find. Hopefully, his supersenses will do the trick,” Rayna said.
“He didn’t want to come here,” Cal shook his head.
“Said that he didn’t want to cause issues,” Rayna shook her head. “For what it’s worth, he sounded genuine.”
“He’s the one that ruined my armor,” Cal grumbled. “Well, anyways, thanks again for watching the baby, Mom. And thanks for sending the ranger squads to help Nila, Rayna.”
“No problem. You’ve, like, single-handedly removed the gang headache from me. It’s been like a dream how easy most of them are fitting in with us. You must’ve really scared the sh— crap out of them,” Rayna said.
“Yeah, I may have been forceful with my demonstrations of strength. However, fear isn’t the best long term motivator. It’s only a start.”
“Right. It’s up to the rangers to show them the long term benefits of being part of the team,” Rayna said. “Good luck up north, Brother! Kick that thing’s ass!”
“Rayna!”
“Sorry, Mom,” Rayna rolled her eyes.
“Be careful, Anak.” His mom kissed him on the cheek.
“I will.”
Cal headed south, but was almost immediately met by his youngest brother.
“Yo, we doing this?” Eron said.
Cal regarded his brother’s flat expression.
“Can we not make this weird,” he sighed.
“I don’t know what you mean. I’m being polite… you can’t tell Mom and Dad otherwise without being a liar,” Eron said.
“Did you find what Rayna wanted you too?” Cal tried.
“Nope. There was some kind of magical effect blocking my senses,” Eron tried.
“Where? How big?”
“Underneath downtown San Diego, like, all of it.”
“I should probably look into it.”
“Yeah, that be a good idea. If you aren’t too busy fixing the gang issue.”
“I think I’m a month or two away from finishing up. The ones that are willing to try better will be gone and all that will be left are the evil scummy ones.”
“They’ll probably band together,” Eron nodded.
“With their recent recruitment influx the rangers will have the human power to expand their patrol zones. Take care of those people and the monster zones.”
“Rayna talked to you, huh?” Eron smirked. “I said ‘manpower’ and she got mad.”
“Yeah, but she didn’t get mad.”
“I… might have laughed at first,” Eron admitted sheepishly.
The two brothers burst out laughing.
“Look, bro… I don’t want to be weird and I feel sorta bad about messing up your one of a kind alien super science armor, plus beating you up. Although, to be fair you hurt me too. You did physical and psychic damage,” Eron said.
“How do you even measure that?” Cal frowned.
“I don’t know,” Eron shrugged. “My head hurt for awhile and I sorta felt hurt on an existential level.”
“Well… sorry for that.”
“Fair. Also, if you didn’t know I’ve occasionally kept an eye and ear on the baby. For— well you know what.”
“Don’t have to say it. I understand and I hope what you didn’t find will help you set your mind at ease about him.”
“Look. I’m not ready to mark him as safe. Best I can say is that I won’t be checking in as often or as closely unless something changes. I’m much too busy now. My getting stuck in the fog for all those months was bad for many communities and settlements around the world,” Eron said.
“Like I promised, once I’m done here, I’ll start doing what you do. At least in North America.”
“Thanks, appreciate that, but I’m not sure that’s a good idea right now,” Eron said.
“Why not?”
“I’m still holding you to the part where you promised to keep an eye on the baby at all times. I’m willing to concede a minimum mileage distance from him once you get him adopted. You can’t be too far that you can’t monitor him with your mind powers and get to him within seconds in case of an… emergency. Sorry,” Eron held his hands out. “That takes priority over doing a patrol of the continent.”
“Okay… well, that’s something for later. We should probably get going. You ready?”
“Don’t you need to gear up?” Eron said.
“I’m all set,” Cal pointed at the pouches and containers on his belt. “Got all sorts of knives, spikes, ninja stars, wires and sundry items. Got my helmet too,” he held up a motorcycle helmet. “A poor substitute…”
“You’re serious?” Eron blinked. “No armor?”
“I’ve got Rayna’s people looking at it.”
“Even partially broken the Threnosh stuff is better than jeans and a motorcycle jacket,” Eron said. “Get some plate and mail. It’s not like they’ll weigh you down. If I was you, I’d go with the thickest steel armor you can get. Not like you need to be that mobile. Shit, with your telekinesis and telepathy you could fight inside of an armored car.”
“You know what… that’s a good idea. Like a giant mech suit thing. It doesn’t need to actually move on it’s own cause I could move it,” Cal mused. “Something to explore in the future. As for now, I’m fine. I’m bulletproof.”
“Remy said that thing was tearing through inches of steel like nothing,” Eron said.
“Good thing our plan is for you to do all the punching while I attack from another place.”
“Fine… it’s your maiming. Let’s go. You’ll pace us, since you’re slower,” Eron said.
Cal snorted as he donned his helmet before taking off to the north followed by several loud bangs that jostled Eron.
“This is going to take so long,” Eron muttered before flying after him.
A few minutes later somewhere high over the mountains north of Los Angeles just before the freeway began its descent into the central plains Eron came to a sudden stop.
Cal was a split-second slower, which meant he had to fly back several miles to reach his brother.
“What is? See something?”
“Drakes. I guess they’re starting to spread south,” Eron said.
“Oh… I’ll add that to the list of things I need to deal with.”
“People can ride them. They’re bigger than those huge beer horses, huge wings, probably a little magical,” Eron mused. “You know, to explain how something so heavy can fly.”
“Yeah, like those wyverns up north. Heavier than an armored SUV.”
“What if I get a couple of eggs? Give them to one of those animal trainers,” Eron continued.
“I think the class is Pet Trainer. Some of the rangers have it.”
“Perfect.”
“You’re going to give them drake eggs?” Cal said flatly.
“Yeah, birthday present.”
“Shit!” Cal said.
“You forgot? Rayna’s turning… whatever she’s turning… in like two weeks,” Eron said. “Might be able to give her Drake Riders or something. That’d be pretty cool, right?”
“Yes, absolutely, but I don’t know if it’s safe. It’s a big jump from training dogs up to be as smart as cats and cats to be creepy smart. Training a violent monster to be safe as a mount is a whole different level.”
“Exactly… it’s a huge challenge, which means levels. I think Rayna would appreciate the opportunity for her people,” Eron said.
“Might as well get wyvern eggs while you’re up north,” Cal said.
“Good idea.”
“Wait, what if they give live birth?”
“Don’t know about wyverns, but drakes lay eggs. I can see a bunch of nests right now,” Eron scanned the landscape several miles below. “Sorry, just had a thought. No more interruptions.”
The two brothers resumed their hundreds of miles journey to the north.
To the city by the bay.