Joshua was back at teaching after a week in the hospital. It had taken a while to tell his students that he did not mean to be that aggressive; it may have worked since they offered him flowers and good well-being, so that was a plus. However he did remember a conversation he had with Prime in the hospital,.
"What are you reading?” Joshua asked, lying down and rubbing his forehead upward.
"Just a book on our history, published by some dumb shit on the surface.” Prime scoffed.
Joshua laughed as he reclined his seat upwards and leaned to see the pages in the book.
"There is not much that is interesting in this book, just some old myths and tales, not very important things.” Prime sighed, though Joshua could read that he was heavily interested.
"Shoot me with one, anyone."
Prime looked up at him, and he felt excited to share this knowledge, but he kept a straight face and straightened out his posture.
"Alright, Enorma Serpente means Massive Snake in some old language; most call it Hydra,” Prime said. “Hydra was considered a god among the reptilian people after they evolved on this planet thousands of years ago, but once human settlers arrived, they captured Eso and killed him in his castle, but the prophecy says he will come back as a creature of mass destruction, multiple solar system-type destructions."
Joshua felt the need to laugh at this outrageous statement, but then he saw how Prime felt about this topic.
"You think it's true, don't you?"
Prime paused and stayed silent for a moment.
"Do you know where we come from, Joshua?” Prime asked.
Joshua shrugged his shoulders, rested his back on the bed, and shook his hair, putting himself in a comfortable position. The commotion outside grew slightly louder, and marching footsteps echoed into their room.
"We were sent to this planet as animals to test conditions, and when humans finally arrived on this moon planet thousands of years later, we had evolved and become our race, and they just took everything from us, ostracized us, and we lost, and we became subjugated for hundreds of years.” Prime sobered.
Joshua did not react; he did not need to react, but Prime was sorrowed by his statement, but he hid it well, reading his book. His mind raced with thoughts of conquering the humans and subjugating the humans who had done this to them.
Joshua did not want to pry into this business; he just wanted to get funds to leave this planet and enter a new one. As isolated as this planet was, he soon knew more terraforming would happen on the moons around them, and it didn't help that this was a mini-city planet, with other smaller ones popping up in different places.
"So, how would you free them all?” Joshua asked.
Without a thought and a pause or stutter in his words, he said, “I would kill them all," haunting Joshua for a while. Those words had spooked him for a while.
Joshua sat in front of the class as they sparred with one another. They grabbed each other's legs; some were in bad positions, some were in good positions.
"This martial art is called Brazilian Jiu-Hitsu, an ancient martial art that focuses on groundwork and making your opponent submit through bad positioning." Joshua walked around in circles around the mats, observing. “This can save your life if you end up on the floor, but you must not rely on it; only use it for the appropriate parts in battle.”
Hailey and CC made a full effort to try and impress Joshua, but all he gave was a nod of approval, which was maybe all they needed. The others were reprimanded. Boo and Bam had repeatedly kept striking each other, which was against the rules. Man and Mal were simply not doing the art, focusing on the positioning too much.
"Hey, you’re arms slipping off him,” Joshua told Man, who was on top of Mal. "Look, if Mal was more experienced, he could just slowly bump you off him, and then you’re going to be knocked back, and he’ll just grab you back. Focus on locking yourself to his body and overpowering him also.”
The man nodded in acceptance as they stood back up in their stance. Joshua had his hands crossed, looking at Boo and Bam, who at this point were gassed out, and he seethed in disappointment as he walked to them.
Then the clock started buzzing, and everyone started to climb to their feet, using their hands to push off the mat. Everyone's sweat fell all over the mats and panted heavily as Joshua started to read off their results.
"Hailey & CC" Joshua looked and said, “CC wins.” He said, flipping his paper to look at the other sparring results.
Hailey paused for a moment, surprised by her result. She thought she had beaten CC, and as she looked next to her, she saw CC’s smile, a slight grin, and it hurt her.
"Mal wins against Man, and Boo & Bam, the both of you lose; you need to work on the martial art." He pushed, slapping the backs of the heads of all of them.
All the students started to chat with each other, and CC jogged up to catch up, and only Hailey stayed back as Joshua started walking to the furnace that heated the room.
"I get something is on your mind," Joshua questioned.
Hailey held in a deep breath and put her hands in her pocket, slightly nervous to ask.
"How did I not beat CC? I believe I had her in multiple locks, which she could not have escaped from; it almost made her tap out twice."
"That's where I have to cut you off.” Joshua poured water into the furnace; heavy steam pushed out as he wiped off the sweat from his forehead.
"You're focusing on what you did right; CC had gotten you in many positions where she could have broken your leg; she's a reptile, so her grip was tighter, which in turn means in a real battle she would have beat you.”
Hailey seethed in anger, and she lunged her body at Joshua. In a moment, she was flipped over and ended up on the ground. Joshua’s leg was flexible enough to wrap around the two legs and apply pressure. His other leg maintained his control as he pressed Hailey’s arm to her own throat.
Hailey gurgled and started patting Joshua’s hip the instant he had done his move. Once he had let go, she gasped for air and turned around.
"Round Two.” Joshua smiled.
The furnace lost its light, and the two fought in the dark. Joshua was unable to see, but it was obvious Hailey could. From all directions, her fists rampaged across his body, yet for him, it felt only like a few pinshots.
When the air behind Joshua blew past him, his arm turned, and suddenly Hailey's head was in the air. He felt the need to slam it into the ground, but he kept his composure and let her down slowly.
"Fine, you win.” She muttered.
Joshua laughed and taunted, “Say it again.”
"YOU WON!” She screamed in anger and ran right out of the room, silently sobbing.
Joshua followed her out, only to disappear. He sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"What the hell’s wrong with me?" He taught. A woman passed by with a tray, nodding her head, and Joshua replied the same way.
"Hard cookie.” He heard behind him.
Joshua quickly bowed, noticing who it was, and raised his head to meet with Grand Commander Lios of the Revolution.
"I do not mind; stand up; I wish to converse with you.” He politely asked, but an order hinted in his voice, and Joshua reluctantly.
Lios quickly walked and strutted past Joshua. Joshua stood up and lightly jogged to him.
"How are the children’s training going?” Lios asked.
Joshua analyzed the past few weeks of training and made a quick assumption: “Few have made amazing progress, Hailey and CC especially.”
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
"Not them,” Lios said his eyes showed no sense of remorse as he downgraded Hailey's and CC’s achievements.
Joshua gulped. “All four have made no apparent progress; there is also no sign that the four of them will ever combine into the amalgamation that you wanted them to be.”
Lios showed no emotion, but his eyes held regret and anger.
"Another failure… Try putting them through more training; they could still be useful for the revolution, but they are just another form of bad.” He stopped in the middle of the hallway and said, "Product.”
Joshua could not hold back his words; in fact, he was lucky he did not explode on him.
"They may not have made progress, but those children are doing more than any one of you on the council.”
Lios replied with no reaction, only observing Joshua’s body language.
"Remember, the people fighting for your cause can always leave,” Joshua explained.
"Joshua, know your place; I hold all your cards.” Lios testified; his words stuttered slightly, and it was obvious he was anxious.
Joshua almost chuckled at his words.
"Where I come from, the powerful order the others around, not the weak.” He glared, looking down at Lios.
Lios legs slightly shook, and he butted his finger on his tight, wondering what action to take next. Joshua scoffed and walked away.
"I know you can't, and you won't kill me; you regret too much,” Lios revealed, and Joshua turned behind him to see Lios smiling anxiously at him. “And that will be your downfall.”
Lios hurriedly scurried away, but Joshua wondered if those words did not feel like his own but, in fact, somebody else's.
–
Parades bustled in the streets, marble skyscrapers and political buildings were shown under the bright sun, and high festival lights expressed the joy in the city. Today was election day, a welcome surprise to the people.
It was not uncertain (or unknown) knowledge that the old mayor had expressly been disliked by the people of Caldera. He expressed weakness and diplomacy, uncanny to the more barbaric and warrior-based citizens of Caldera.
Cold saw the celebrations from his open wagon as he waved his hands, kissing his palms and pushing his hands out.
"Commander Cold, please show a little more dignity.” Commander Pohl expressed disdain.
Cold laughed wholeheartedly, slapping Commander Pohl’s shoulder very roughly.
"I thought you were the life of the party, Pohl,” Cold said sarcastically. “Is it because of the election or the announcement of your promotion?" Pohl laughed, making finger-gun hand signals to him.
Pohl only sighed, and Madam Bourget felt disgusted by this type of behavior. Only Birch giggled at Commander Cold’s comments. Inside the wagon were also Lieutenant C, who was dragged here to assist Madam Bourget by force, and Prime, who was going to be second in command to Commander Pohl, not in a higher position than the other three but high enough to be on the same level as them.
"When will we arrive?” Prime said impatiently, "I want to watch a new game in like 45 minutes.”
Madam Bourget was about to rage on him again, but Pohl held her back, and the wagon had become even more tense.
"So I guess we are the final protectors of Caldera. Feels good.” Madam Birch said it heartily.
"Means bigger burdens, which'll suck.” Prime yawned, “Still a great step into my career, I guess," he muttered, his mind only filled with the thoughts of the revolution and an idea he created.
"Guard, please keep an eye out; the parade may get too crazy.” Madam Bourget told me in her microphone watch.
"Order accepted, Madam; nothing we’ll get passed up.”
"Make sure.” Madam Bourget said tensely that she felt very anxious and could not expect what could ever happen next, since every good thing has one bad thing come after it. That's what always happened to her.
Lieutenant C held her shoulder and gave her a slight smile, and she reciprocated with one of her own. Noticing the others judging her from the corner of their eyes, she quickly swatted away his hand. C had known that it was for the best; he was a reptile, and she was a highly respected commander. The thing was that all this time they hung out together made them more than colleagues, or boss and employee, but maybe friends.
She looked at Commander Cold aggressively, and he recognized this, but he knew the reason why. His strength had ruined her and everything she worked for, and she was going to hold him down and make sure he watched everything he worked for crumble like he did to her all those years ago.
The wagon made an abrupt stop, and everyone tumbled forward. Pohl, Cold, and Prime were the only people in the carriage to quickly recover themselves. Everyone walked outside of the carriage, holding their wrists as a camera flashed across their eyes.
Lieutenant C, Prime, and Cold had covered their eyes, not used to these flashing lights beaming on them while the others walked forward into the capitol building.
They walked through the empty halls, surrounded by crowds of spectators, standing or sitting. Some had even made their way to the windows on the side of the building to watch the upcoming election. Some learned and shrieked in excitement while watching their idols pass through the halls.
A child called for Madam Bourget and Prime, who turned to the child, who smiled and offered a flower to the two of them.
"I hear you protect us.”
"No matter what, kiddo.” Prime smiled.
The baby got a flower and offered it to both of them.
"Here, just for you two, you can give to the other one if you want.” The boy chuckled.
Madam Bourget blushed in embarrassment and immediately said, “No way am I going to take a flower from him.”
To her surprise, Prime offered her the flower; his scar seemed to have been deeper than before.
"Fine."She said she snatched the flower from him and walked away to the center podium, where everyone was ready, waiting for them.
They all smirked and waved, keeping up a happy exterior, before they finally reached the center podium.
Everyone, except Pohl, took a seat. He stood up in front of the podium, ready to introduce the next candidates. The technical engineer gave him a thumbs up, and Pohl nodded in acceptance.
Pohl coughed and cleared his throat, and the building went silent. Everyone watched and listened in anticipation of what Grand Commander Pohl was going to say.
"Hello, the people of Caldera; I come to you with great fortune.” He smiled.
Everyone clapped, and even Madam Bourget clapped slowly with the others. Pohl turned his head to face her and said, “Trust me, please.” He seemed to plead.
Madam Bourget was confused by this statement.
"The mayor is dead, gone."
The entire building almost erupted into questions, but before anybody could stand, he held out his finger and intimidated all those who felt the need to question him.
"Caldera has become a weak nation, I am afraid to say; vigilantism, rebellions, and criminals, all run amok on our streets because we as a city are afraid to go against our Empire, but now we shall no longer be scared.” He announced loudly, and his voice boomed across the building as people watched in awe.
"WE HAVE RECEIVED NO AID.” The crowd’s hearts pumped even more as he screamed.
"NOTHING… Nothing has come to us from the Grand Republic. We have hundreds of moons for resources, hundreds for terraforming, and a solar system in which we could dominate just by ourselves. We will live through strength, integrity, dignity, and our indomitable spirit and might.”
Nothing could have controlled the crowd after that; Pohl had not even finished speaking. Madam Bourget grabbed his shoulder and whispered, “What in the golden man’s name are you doing right now?" She said she was confused.
Pohl pushed her away and back to the chair in one fell swoop.
"I'm in control now,” Pohl ordered, but a scent of remorse was also seen, but only for a brief moment. He turned to continue speaking to the crowd.
"THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WE AS CALDERA CAN ACCOMPLISH; WE WILL RID THESE STREETS OF FILTH; WE WILL CREATE A LAND OF ACCOMPLISHMENT; WE WILL CREATE THE CALDERAN EMPIRE UNDER MY RULE AND EXTERMINATE THE REPTILES.”
The crowd had only erupted more, and he ordered with his finger for the commanders to rise upward. A sense of fear built in them; none could have expected this. In an instant, he had maybe become the most powerful man in Caldera.
"My generals will help control this city; we will no longer be separated by sections, only separated by class, and you all are on top and the reptiles on the bottom.” He laughed crazily.
Pohl's psychopathic nature had revealed itself, but the people were eating it up. Prime could only watch in anger, looking at the man he had once thought of as a good person and saying words like this. and then somebody pressed a button.
An explosion ruptured the building, and fire and ash rained across the rubble being formed. Crowds of people were sent flying away, some burning to a crisp in an instant. Pohl quickly covered the commanders with his own body, absorbing the burns. People screamed in agony as their bodies fell, becoming only black. Pieces of fabric rained everywhere in the building, and glass sank from the dome.
Fingernails and skin were ripped off people's bodies, revealing only the flesh before it also turned into ash. Dusting away and waving away outside. Leaving the rest of the people, whose legs were crushed by rubble or destroyed by the scene in front of them.
Lieutenant C could not make it to the shield and faced harsh burns. He screamed for someone to help, but nobody did. Madam Bourget was held back from her shirt by Pohl to make sure she would not retaliate. Lieutenant C burned, almost to a crisp, as he finally fell on his back from struggling against the flames.
Madam Bourget opened her eyes, except only one could open up, and cried, dropping to her knees. Cold and Prime could only laugh. Lieutenant C rested on the floor, heavily burned, and Madam Birch was unconscious. A rose swooped from the air, the one Prime and Bourget had given to the child, ash filling in. Prime regretted what he had done; maybe, just maybe, it was never supposed to go this far.