Chapter 68: Abrupt Visit
"BREAKING NEWS."
"Below the equator, in Sao Paulo, Brazil – the Brazilian Armed Forces are currently engaged with a terrorist cell in the northernmost district of the city. Moments ago, local news helicopters arrived on the scene."
"John, what do you think of the situation thus far?"
"Crime has been on the decline in Brazil –" John replied while looking into the camera, "according to their most recent reports, the country's crime rates have been on a steep decline since the election of President Flores."
"Do you think this attack is political?" John's co-host asked.
"All things are political, I'm afraid."
"I suppose I can't argue with that!"
Just then, the camera feed in the newsroom connected and an image of Sao Paulo appeared behind the two news anchors.
The two turned to look at the screen, but their words were immediately caught in their throats.
"It-It's just black?" John asked.
"Hey!" The woman called their technician, "Is it really connected?"
"Yes ma'am, the signal is reading clear."
Suddenly, a spiraling helicopter burst from the darkness and plummeted towards the Earth.
Smoke rose from the propellers and human corpses fell from the cockpit.
The helicopter crashed into the mountains.
*BOOM*
And an explosion shook the hills.
Within the darkness, Death consumed.
Strips of cloth numbering in the hundreds exploded from beneath his cloak. The pieces of cloth tore through the darkness and ravaged the men on the ground.
The cloth sharpened and strengthened. A black and violet hue coated its edge and pulsed with vitality.
Death's arms struck with radiant intensity. The cloth danced around the bullets and narrowed on the chests of hundreds of men. Then, the cloth pierced their hearts.
The corruption coating the cloth burned against their chests. It devoured their skin and flesh and repurposed that matter into energy for even more carnage.
The smell of blood and gunpowder littered the dark scene.
Completely still, Death turned his gaze towards another helicopter. Beside his hood, a bullet of vantablack materialized.
The bullet of energy hovered in the air beside Death, awaiting his command.
Then, a streak of black lightning erupted from the space the bullet once occupied.
The black lightning pierced the veil concealing the mountainside and struck the sky.
*BOOM*
An explosion spread beneath the heavens. Another helicopter, this one lit aflame, barreled down towards the Earth and crashed into a building.
In a newsroom thousands of miles away – the feed from Sao Paulo was abruptly cut.
In a web of his own design, Death's cloths' moved like threads and eradicated the foot soldiers.
The two helicopters were destroyed and silence engulfed the battlefield.
In pitch darkness, Cain removed his garb. He raced towards the edge of |Blackout's| effect. Half a mile away, Cain reached the end of the black dome.
Cain pushed through the darkness and emerged in the light.
Underneath a street light and beside a bus stop, Cain rummaged through his pockets.
He called the Secretary-General.
She answered before the first ring could even sound out.
"ARE YOU CRAZY?!!" She roared.
"A-S-S-A-S-S-I-N-A-T-I-O-N!" She emphasized.
"Yeah well…" Cain deliberated his words, "that doesn't seem to be my specialty."
Cain heard Barber exhale. She probably pinched the bridge of her nose too.
"Is it done?" She asked.
"No." Cain said. "I still can't find him."
"Just get out of the country. Wait for things to die down. I'll try to handle this from my end."
*click*
Cain remembered the image of Skyler unconscious on the floor. He didn't know why she was here either.
'Whatever.' He mused.
Now two miles away from the cloud of night that Cain himself summoned, he dispelled the Ability and the darkness dissipated.
From high up on the mountain, Cain saw the wreckage of his actions.
Emilio's mansion and all those near it, the entire strip of homes were reduced to rubble. The vegetation was burned and extinguished.
The sidewalk was charred black and the fountains spit blood. The once pristine marble statues that littered the area – blood oozed from their pores and tarnished their beauty.
Cain put his fingers to his lips. Then, he whistled something fierce at a taxi in the distance.
Two days later…
In Greenland, Cain returned to G.U.A.R.D's facility around the first Gate. He took a direct flight to the city of Nuuk and upon his arrival, men in black were preemptively stationed at the airport for him.
They boarded a black limousine and skipped the security outposts built along the streets leading to the facility.
Hand delivered to Sarah Barber's office, Cain was sat in the very same conference room where he received the mission a little under a month ago. Then, Barber entered.
The door burst open and a very visibly haggard Secretary-General stepped in.
"Coffee." She spoke to the ether.
Immediately, a man in black rushed into the room behind her with a glass pot in his hands. He pulled a ceramic mug from his jacket pocket and a cork coaster from his pants. He poured the still steaming coffee into the mug and then proceeded to back away – standing perfectly still against the wall of the conference room.
"I don't have long –" Barber began, "so tell me, what happened?"
Cain looked towards the man in black against the wall.
"Don't mind him." Barber interrupted, "Unless you want coffee."
Cain looked back at Barber's black coffee.
"Does he have cream?" Cain asked.
Barber nodded her head. "He has everything."
After ordering his coffee, Cain told Barber about the mishaps of his adventure. He showed her the pictures, went over the names he recorded, and detailed his infiltration of Emilio's home.
Meanwhile, Barber listened attentively. She constantly sipped on her coffee and tapped the conference table with one of her fingers. She was deep in thought.
"Did you kill his sister?" Barber suddenly asked.
"No." Cain shook his head. "Was there a reason to?"
"I would have," Barber sighed, "but alas – I suppose it doesn't matter. Dead or alive, you've caused a big enough stir to buy us enough time."
"Time for what?"
"That's not your concern. Here." Barber threw a set of keys across the table.
"For the abandoned mineshaft I promised you. We'll consider the job on hold. In the meantime, you should go check out your property."
***
The fated day finally arrived.
In an open field of tall grass and wild dandelions, a mass of women appeared.
They wore various shades of button-down shirts and knee-length skirts. Dressed for the office, the women appeared out of place in the vibrant green hills that encapsulated them.
Meanwhile, beside a tree overlooking the open landscape – Isaac and a few others watched.
"Seventy exact." Teddy said.
"So six more this time…" Isaac muttered.
"And they look young." Darnell commented, "None of them appear above the age of forty."
Then, between the crowd of women, more people abruptly appeared.
Leon and three others miraculously manifested. They wore all black and were equipped with guns and gadgets, helmets and armor.
Leon looked around. He gazed at the endless hills of grass and the bright blue sky above. Then, his eyes stumbled upon Isaac's figure.
Leon pulled his hand from his pocket and doused himself in golden sand. He rose into the air, startling the women around him.
He flew above and soared towards Isaac. In doing so, he caught the attention of all the women. By the time he landed, the women had gathered around him. They stood together in silence with only occasional whispers passing through the breeze.
The women finally noticed Isaac and the men beside him as well, but more importantly, they noticed how Leon looked at Isaac. A gaze filled with respect.
"Isaac!" Leon greeted with glee.
Meanwhile Isaac, forced to ignore the just summoned women, looked at Leon with perplexity.
"What are you doing here?" Isaac asked, "How did you get here?"
"The option to teleport re-appeared today." Leon shrugged, "And Miss Barber told us to go."
"The Secretary-General?" Isaac questioned.
"That's the one." Leon scratched the back of his head. "So where is everyone? Where's Olive and the gang?"
Isaac massaged his brow.
"We'll talk later." Isaac dismissed him, "Ladies! Gather around!"
***
Olive and Koa stood twenty feet apart.
They faced each other and stared at one another. In Olive's hand, she held a crudely crafted blade.
In Koa's, a roughly designed wand.
Through practice, Koa discovered a much easier way to summon his blazing bubbles. By utilizing some sort of stick, or a wand, Koa can aim and launch his bubbles in a direction of his choice rather than helplessly release it from his palm.
His wand was of course made of silver, but it was jagged and muddied. Chunks of dirt and rock remained in its form, but it was good enough to use in his eyes.
Olive's blade as well – she hand crafted it by smashing blocks of silver together until a piece broke off that she felt she could use. Like Koa though, just the feeling of holding a weapon – no matter how dull – gave her a needed dose of confidence.
Suddenly, Koa flicked his wrist and a small bubble exploded off the tip of his wand.
The bubble was no larger than a quarter, but the smaller the bubble was, the quicker it moved.
The yellow tinted bubble flew through the stocks of grass and appeared once again in front of Olive.
On the other hand, Olive was prepared. She slashed the bubble with her silver dagger before it could reach her. Once she did so, however, the bubble imploded.
An explosion the size of her head greeted Olive's blade. It pushed Olive back and burned parts of her fingers.
Olive didn't care though. She would heal.
Koa launched another bubble. Then another.
The two bubbles appeared in tandem, one aimed for Olive's head, the other for her chest.
In response, Olive bent her torso. She narrowly ducked underneath the bubble meant for her skull and then quickly side-stepped the bubble meant for her chest.
The two bubbles flew past her and exploded amidst the air.
Thereafter, Olive dug her heels into the ground. She exploded forth and sprinted across the field. In her eyes, Koa grew closer and closer.
He waved his wand around recklessly, summoning an array of bubbles before him.
Olive slid across the ground and, with her leg extended, slammed into Koa's ankle.
Koa fell to the ground. Olive pounced him.
She wrapped her legs around his waist and squeezed, putting pressure on his diaphragm and weakening his breath. Then, in one fluid motion, Olive pressed the edge of her blade against Koa's jugular.
*boom*
The bubbles exploded behind her, yet she didn't flinch.
Instead, she sighed.
Olive loosened her grip on her dagger.
"You need to move more." Olive advised.
She stood up and patted the dirt off her jeans.
"As a ranged fighter, your weakness is hand-to-hand combat. You should do everything in your power to prevent others from approaching you."
Koa leaned up off the ground. He wiped the sweat off his brow.
"You're faster than me." He said.
Olive scrunched her nose.
"You still have to try." She turned around and walked back to the start.
"Let's go again!" She shouted.
Koa raised his wand. He flicked his wrist and a bubble soared across the field.
///LostNoteFound///
Thanks to moofin and DevilGod_of_Chaos!!!! Couple of stoners you ;*
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