The man began walking back through the lines of his army, and seeing no choice, Sam followed. Eduardo and Lao followed behind him in silence, studiously ignoring the faceless ranks to either side. They walked towards the base of the Eiffel Tower, where a group of ten larger Legion members waited. All of them were silent too, and General Mar ignored them.
Sam recognized them as being similar to Johannes had been, and saw that they were his compatriots, the other Swords of the Legion. Hugo had really pulled out all the stops for this meeting. Most of the Swords were still out in the world, but ten was a sizable portion, especially considering their strength.
Hugo paused at the base of the tower and then leaped upwards, propelling himself to the top in one go. Two footprints were left in the solid concrete beneath him, each charred black. Sam and the others decided to take the lift instead. A few minutes later, they emerged at the top, where General Mar was waiting. The man looked off into the distance, only turning when Sam cleared his throat.
“You may be wondering why I am meeting with you alone. That is because I have nothing to fear from ants like you three. I transcended your strength long ago. Come, sit with me. Let us speak.”
Not sure about what to say to such a proclamation, Sam sat down on the ground. Hugo sat as well, and the others followed shortly after.
“Now. You may think of me as evil, but I am merely practical. Similar to you in many ways,” Hugo said.
‘We are nothing like each other. You are responsible for the enslavement of millions of human beings and their conversion into unthinking drones. That is evil in my eyes,” Sam responded, gritting his teeth.
“Everything I do, I do for the sake of my people. What do you think the aliens whose families you butcher think about you? ‘Oh, Sam Atlas. He killed my son, but he had a good cause so it’s all right.’ No, they loathe you with every fiber of their being.”
“That is not the same thing! They were the aggressors, not me. You did this against the wills of everyone in the Legion,” Sam responded hotly, starting to get angry. His Dao surged within him, and a few sparks of red light struck the floor around him. Hugo’s lip twitched, and a sudden wave of power canceled out Sam’s.
“Do not posture in front of me, Sam. I will not stand for such disrespect,” he said, grinding Sam down with his aura as he did so. Sam tried to resist, but it was like holding off a ten ton boulder. He was able to keep it at bay, but he could barely expand his aura beyond his skin. The force cut off a moment later, and Sam gasped.
“You will listen to me, and appreciate what I am saying, for it is the sublime truth. The only freedom is in utter servitude to a caring master, and I am that master.”
“You-you’re insane! What happened to you? Your Dao and soul is in shambles,” Lao said, unable to hold his silence any longer.
“What happened to me? Reality happened to me. The only thing that matters in this brave new world is power. Power, and nothing else. After all, have you ever heard of a god going to hell?”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“I have not, but that does not mean it is impossible,” Sam spat. “You will meet your downfall one day, Hugo Mar, whether at my hands or those of someone else.” Sam’s eyes sparkled with the light of his Dao as he spoke these words, and Hugo flinched involuntarily before gaining control of himself once more.
“I see that you refuse to understand me. Very well. Let us complete our trade,” Hugo said a moment later,all traces of weakness gone.
“Where’s Jane? You’re not getting anything until we see that she is safe,” Sam responded.
“As if you could keep my prize away from me. Still, I am a generous man. Here she is.” Hugo snapped his fingers, and a small rift opened up in the air. Jane fell out a moment later, unconscious. “Now, give me my weapons and the money, and I may let you live.”
“I have a better proposition,” Sam said, before throwing one of the grenades at Hugo.
The man’s hand flashed out to catch it, and it exploded, barely budging his fingers. He opened his mouth to say something, but Sam and the others were already scrambling for the lift, with Jane draped over Sam’s shoulder. The engine that had powered the lift was long since destroyed, its only legacy a small nub of metal lodged in the middle of the lift shaft, but that was not why Sam wanted to come here. He made sure that Jane was positioned securely on his back and then leaped into the lift shaft.
The air whooshed around him as he fell, lifting up his hair in a jagged halo around his face. Eduardo and Lao followed closely behind, the two men falling through the air. About halfway down, Sam shot out his left hand, arresting his fall by gripping a small piece of metal on the side of the shaft. Eduardo and Lao did the same, before letting go once more. They descended the rest of the way in a span of seconds this way, and as they raced out of the lift shaft, a tumultuous noise erupted from the top of the tower. A pillar of white fire shot up into the clouds, and then a wave of black energy expanded out to the sides. The silhouette of a man, limned in dark energy, stood in the air above the city, staring down at Sam and his companions with eyes of a luminescent red. Hugo Mar was coming for them, and he was pissed.
All this time, Jane had remained unconscious. Sam was not sure whether to view this as a blessing or a curse. It could be the sign of long term damage, but it was also convenient for their escape. The woman was far too slow and weak to be anything more than a liability in their escape. No, better to have Sam carry her for now.
The streets around them reverberated with the heavy tread of a myriad of booted feet as the Legion began to move, prompted by some unseen signal from their leader. With a muttered curse, Sam started to run. The buildings faded into a distant blur as Sam edged up to his top speed, just in time to avoid a large group of soldiers pouring out from between the street behind him.
Lao was flagging by now, and Sam could hear the man’s heavy pants coming from behind him. Just as he was about to double back and lift him up too, there was a surge of blue light and Lao seemed to stabilize. The ground underneath him took on a strange quality, almost as if it was made out of rubber, and it bounced his feet along, speeding him up. With a smile, Sam kept to his course.
A moment later, he was hurtling through the air, slamming into a shop front. He maintained the wherewithal to keep Jane safe within his arms, but he was slightly dazed from the blow. It had only grazed along the side of his breastplate, and as such had not injured him severely. The problem was what such an attack entailed. Two hulking figures stood in the middle of the street, each of them surrounded by a faint mist of energy. Lao and Eduardo faced them warily, but the figures ignored them. Sam leapt out of the hole in the wall of the shop, and set Jane down. For this fight, he would need every advantage he could get.