บท 116: Omen
What a bummer... I didn't get the reaction I expected from them. They didn't even bother getting up on their feet. Well, I didn't expect Professor Xavier to do it in the first place. But still, I pictured them being delighted, overjoyed, smiling as they celebrated my return. That was the least they could do right? Instead...
"Edward, my dearest nephew..."
…My aunt was on the phone.
Nick Fury sipped the tea that Xavier prepared with an obvious smile drawn on his face. He was savoring it with every sip, my predicament.
"Y...Yea?" I replied, timidly.
"Y... Yea?", mocked Aunt Claire, "That's all you got?"
"I'm sorry!" I replied, hastily, kneeling on the ground as if she could see what I was doing.
Yep, she was pissed. I glared at Nick. We had a deal. Anything regarding me and my involvement with SHIELD should not be disclosed to my relatives. Everything should stay classified and be kept as it is because it would only hinder my job and put them at risk, especially knowing how over-protective my aunt had been these past few days.
But, Nick gave me the impression that was saying, 'Don't glare at me. I ain't know no shit either.' Then... there was only one guy that could be held accountable for this.
"Uhh... did Uncle Chris say anything about me?"
Well, my suspicions were based on the fact that he was with me. He also kept a lot of secrets from Aunt Claire, and his current job must have been one of them.
"Him? Oh yeah... I should've tied your block heads together and locked you two somewhere."
Shit... She was serious about it. I could tell it in her voice. A sudden cold chill ran through the back of my spine.
Nick was sipping his tea when he noticed something underneath the table and reached it with his hand. He waved it at me and right then I got my answers.
A newspaper, and one that belong the one and only, The Daily Bugle, a newspaper company which based itself in New York. It was famous for every latest and controversial news it covered. They always put a huge headline and huge picture on the front page, and I was in it.
Nick showed me the front page of the newspaper, and there I was. With a gas mask covering my face, and my long black coat shrouding me. My whole-self was captured staring down from the top of Akropolis Tower.
"Vicious Vigilante!! Is he behind the Akropolis Attack? He was also spotted in New York!" was the word written under my picture.
What the!? I was branded as the villain?
They got the picture of me, looking down menacingly while holding guns in my arms, and flames under my feet. I swear that Flame was edited. I reckon there was no explosion or flame of some sort. Well... was there?
There was also a small picture in the corner where I was spotted with a gun jumping between houses, Batman style, in some friendly neighborhood in Queens, New York.
'Damn it. What the hell is this!' I cursed in my mind.
"Anyways, I'll be coming over next week. You better be prepared! I want a full-on explanation." finished Aunt Claire before she cut off the call.
Clack.
"Haaah.... that was tiring." I sprawled on the sofa as I put down the telephone.
"I didn't expect a small newspaper company could get your picture without us knowing," commented Nick Fury, he was thoroughly impressed.
"Well, I expected it to happen sooner or later. But to be printed on the front page of the Daily Bugle's was the worst thing that could happen." I said as I stare at the wooden ceiling.
"It's fine, give it a day or two. People will forget about this kind of thing, they have much better celebrities to care about rather than thinking about a weirdo in a costume," comforted Nick as he looked at his reflection on the shiny cup.
Ignoring the last remarks, I replied as I got off the sofa, "Naah, it's fine. I was just in the worst place at the worst time. It was merely a coincidence."
I shouldn't have jinxed it, because, in about two days or so, I would appear again on the front page of the Newspaper with the biggest and hottest headline ever, printed by the Daily Bugle. "Maybe a bit of this could lift your spirit," said Xavier as he moved closer with a cup of tea on a silver tray.
"Thanks. That would be nice."
Both Nick and Xavier suddenly flinched and froze as they stare at me. It was the first time that I ever thank them properly without any tinge of sarcasm in it. Heck, it was the first time I ever thanked anyone aside from Sherry.
"A... Anyway what happened to you? Missing for two days, really," said Nick, trying to brush it off as he took another sip of the tea.
I took the cup of tea from Professor Xavier's hand and replied lightly, "Oh yeah. Well, not much happened. This and that. And oh… I kinda died."
"Pfffftttt!!!"
Have you ever seen a human fountain? Well, Nick just became one. Too bad he's black, if his skin was blue, I would've called him Squirtle.
As if counting the list on the grocery note, I continued, "Yeah, and then, I traveled to another dimension, shit happened, and BAM! Here we are."
Although baffled, Professor Xavier was able to stay calm after a few moments. He replied while trying to process what I was saying, "Hold on a second. That's too much information to process and you shouldn't skip on the details."
"Because it's nothing compared to what happened right before those things I listed you, " I said, as I steered the topic.
"Who were they? The people that could… kill you?", asked Nick Fury hesitantly after cleaning his wet pants.
"You see, these people... was very peculiar yet familiar." there was a tinge of worry in my tone and Nick seemed to notice.
"Do you mean..."
"Except one, all of them aren't human, and we've met their kind before."
"Not human? And we know them," said Nick who seemed to recall some past memories. Few names came to his mind.
"Shit..."
As the realization dawned on them, I walked toward the window and let the two thought it out a little bit more. I looked down to notice Eve and the others were still playing. They were playing chase and the big bird kept losing because Eve figured it couldn't properly support its weight when turning, causing it to roll on the ground.
I erased the light smile on my face and turned toward the two in the room. Nick was glad that he was bald before he knew this, or else it would get ugly. It seems like problems keep coming up the more you dig into the unknown.
Nick realized the enemy this time was strong. Not many could fight me toe to toe, not human, and not zombies, of course. But then, he remembered that there was one human among the enemies.
"That human, who was it? He must've been special if he could walk among them," asked Nick, not hiding his obvious curiosity.
"It was our old acquaintance, Nick," I replied, emotionlessly.
"Acquaintance?"
"It was the old man, Spencer."
Of course, Nick couldn't stay calm. The two of us knew well how much Nick wanted to catch him. Not only did he show up now, he somehow got his hand on the most terrible thing that ever existed up till now.
"He wasn't merely special, Nick. I'm afraid he has become even more dangerous than before."
"But, why?" finally, Professor Xavier couldn't stay silent and asked. He knew who Spencer was, but only as the leading figure of Umbrella, not the crazy bastard that made a virus decimating a whole city, "Why he was there? Was it because of you?"
"No, his interest didn't lie in me," I replied.
"Then what is it?" asked Nick.
It was Eve. But, I couldn't utter her name in front of them. I didn't have the heart to do so. I don't care if she was a ticking time bomb. I just want to let her stay like this.
"Remember Paris?" I said, diverting the conversation.
"I saw the footage. The world still mourns to this day," said Nick, leaning on the back of the couch.
Professor Xavier also chimed in, "Jean said they come from the past and intend to summon something or someone. I also saw them, through the vision of others."
I realized I never brought this matter to light, only the people directly involved knew about them.
I leaned on the window sill and start explaining to them, "People simply regarded them as monsters, but they have a name. They were called Genma and were created by a Demon God. They come in all kinds of hellish forms you can imagine, some appeared by nature, and others were created by a demon scientist named Guildenstern, who, thankfully, perished in Paris. They cannot be killed by normal weapons. Guns could only delay their instinct for death and destruction. Even if you bomb the whole city, leveling it to the ground, they would simply regenerate all the damage we caused and resume whatever the fuck they were doing."
"And you're telling me, Spencer, somehow got his hand on them?"
I nodded in silence, and continued, "How did he do it? I don't know. The only thing that I know is that he already became one of them."
"How sure are you?" asked Nick.
"I saw him holding a staff, the Genma scientist's, Guildenstern's staff. But that's not the only thing that made me sure of it."
I hold my hand in front of my face with the back of my hand facing them, showing the round bracelet around my wrist.
"Come."
Just as I instructed, a bright light engulfed my forearm and the Oni gauntlet appeared.
I wasn't aware of its new appearance earlier but it seems the Oni gauntlet was a bit different ever since I came out of Silent Hill. It was still pitch black like before, but it was definitely thicker. Shiny white claws formed lines at the back of my finger, running toward the other end of the gauntlet where a fog-like aura seems to appear. Also, there was a black pupil on the ordinary white ball making it look like an eyeball now. It looked around as if it was alive.
"Ay, yo! what the hell is that!?"
It wasn't Nick or Professor Xavier that was saying it. But it was me...
Well... How am I not surprised? The gauntlet had an eyeball now. It was as if the neighbor suddenly turned from a pretty lady at night into a burly middle-aged man during the day.
It looked around the room, scanning the place we were in, before setting its sight on the two before me who were equally surprised, but not as much compared to me.
I could see question marks up on their head, urging me to explain further.
"Ahem..." I let out a fake cough and continued as if nothing happened, "So anyways, I did explain about this Gauntlet to you too at least once right?"
I started, checking on how much I have briefed them on this before. Nick answered immediately with his hand up as if it was a quiz in class, "Ouh oh! You can use it to summon weapons effective enough to destroy them and absorb their lingering soul."
"100 points for Nick! You better keep up, Professor. There's no next try." I replied, teasing Xavier who seemed to not be affected at all. Meanwhile, Nick acting all smug and that seemed to set something on Professor Xavier's competitive side.
"Okay, moving on. This thing could also detect Genma's presence with or without my command and transferred that knowledge instantly into my head as if it was my own. And when I was there, inside the damned facility, I detected 12 Genma's only, and Spencer wasn't one of them yet."
"What do you mean by 'yet'?" interrupted Professor Xavier.
How should I explain it to them? If I told them what happened, isn't it just the same as exposing Eve? He turned into a complete Genma right after touching her. A complete awakening if I must say.
Unknowingly, I was too deep in thought to notice that the gauntlet was glowing bright, trying to get my attention.
[Sir!]
I sensed Regina's urgent call, waking me from my dazed state. As I looked down on the Gauntlet, I saw it shone ominously bright. I looked around the room, but found nothing suspicious or strange.
"What's going on? What are you looking for?" asked Professor Xavier, concerned at my sudden alarmed state.
I closed my eyes and used my Sonar Sense and scanned the building.
What is it!?
I saw the students in their class, studying under Storm. I saw Jean, in the infirmary, attending to a sick kid. I saw Scott, underground, checking on the jet plane, Blackbird. There was nothing suspicious, except one.
"Sherry!" I yelled.
It was a blunder. Eve and Spencer. His awakening was not a coincidence. Just like him, the same thing could happen to Sherry. She who was now could be regarded as a half Genma, could fully awakened just like him.
I turned around and looked outside. Eve should still be there, at the garden.
"N... No..."
Sherry was also there, walking toward Eve with an innocent smile on her face as Eve seemed to be wary of her.
I gritted my teeth and jumped out of the window without explaining anything to the confused Xavier and Nick. I have to stop them. That was all I could think about, but it was too late.
"Sherry!"
She turned her around as I called her name. It's been a while. It should've been a happy occation, but all I could think of was only tragedy.
It was a light touch, but it was the start of everything.
Booommm!
===°°°===
At the same time, somewhere in Spain.
A huge castle stood majestically, surrounded by sea of trees on a hilly region. A huge lake was the only thing that could rival the grandness of the castle as small villages could be seen not far from it.
The lively villagers were doing their daily task without any care for the outside world. There were a lot of children playfully running here and there. There was light in their faces that would made anyone think that it was not so bad to live in a rural village like this.
However, those light would be soon extinguished by a looming shadow right by their neck, simply unnoticed.
The children stopped their play as they looked to the south. Birds flew in flocks, escaping, like a sign of disaster that was about to come. Sound of helicopters getting louder and louder, piqued the children's interest. To them, it was a foreign sound, as it was very rare to see them passing this place. Not long after they could see them.
Two cargo helicopters, with each of them transporting a medium-sized cargo box, flew toward the castle in the north. They landed carefully, on one of the Castle's garden, before being carried into the underground section. And following close by was a man around his late twenties, with golden hair brimming with healthyness, carrying an ominous-looking staff, an exact opposite of his outer appearance.
"You've arrived, Earl Spencer. We've been waiting," welcomed a woman, who have a much similar appearance as him. Some would have thought that they were siblings.
"I've seen that you've been doing well, Dr. Wesker."
"Oh, please... Just Alex is fine, Sir." replied Alex Wesker, acting as if she wasn't befit of the courtesy shown by Lord Spencer. "To be honest, your current-self surprised me. You seemed to gain an extraordinary vigor since the last time we met."
Lord Spencer just smiled at the remarks. However, Alex didn't miss it. She saw a tinge of regret, a moment of lingering greed, plastered on Lord Spencer's brimming youth face, an emotion that she herself have felt more than she ever counted. Lost in thought, she recalled a meeting with certain kid long ago, but she shook her head to banish those useless thought and tried to ask another question. But she stopped…
Lord Spencer was frozen in his place. His face, warping, contorted, as if disgusted and at the same time overjoyed.
"S- Sir?"
Bam!
A loud banging sound was heard from one the cargo.
Bam!
Followed by another banging.
Bam!
Something wanted to come out.
Bam! Bam! BAm! BAM! BAM!!
It didn't stop. And Lord Spencer started muttering.
"The Queen… Have… Born…"
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NightHowl
NightHowl Yo... Anyone still reading this?
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