Struggle Of Powers The Book

[Jake the Sage]

This is my third times posting this work . . . hopefully I will be able to get more people to comment and such about it this go 'round

 

[spoiler=[b]PROGLOGUE,[/b] “A Wish”]

 

"What is War? I was once told that war is defined as a conflict carried on by force of arms, either between nations or between parties within a nation; and is either by land, sea, or air. But what the meaning of the words can't tell is the horrors of war . . .

 

Long before I was born this hellish war had been fought for a cause many have long forgotten. I’ve heard stories of mothers and their children have been separated or even slaughtered in each other’s faces. Those nightmares play through my head nightly with no relief as echoes of distant screams continue to plague me.

 

I’m only a kid and, like my dad says ‘very naïve’, but I honestly wish someone will come save us; Possibly the great savior from the sky. Whoever it is, please . . . I . . . we need a hero . . .”

 

 

[spoiler=[b]CHAPTER ONE,[/b] "An Event That Shook the World"]

 

The televisions flickered as people walked through the bustling city; Christmas was near and the snow fall was heavy underneath everyone's foot. With the last few days of present shopping drawing to a rapid close there was a lot more traffic. “It's always like this,” a young lady says as she clings to her boyfriend her red mittens brushing his blue jacket sleeves, “Why do we always come out when the traffics this bad?”

 

“Because you said you wanted to find that gift for your sister,” the lady’s man reminded her while moving her brown hair away from her face. Giving a smile she leaned her head on his shoulder and let out a sigh as they continued to walk. The snow crunched underneath their winter boots until they stopped, spotting a crowd gathering around the sets of televisions in a store window, “Wonder what’s so interesting?”

 

“Really honey? It can’t be that important,” she protested as she followed. The image of a costumed man saving people from an air plane crash reflected in her wide green eyes as he looked on solemnly. The footage cut away to the news reporter as he read from the prompter, “That was the situation in the skies over down town Los Angelis as yet another of these so called ‘supers’ do the impossible.”

 

The screen in the televisions split and a women, scientist and well known politician appeared in each screen. The conversation shifted from the amazing deed the “super” had done to the supposed origins of this, what the politician had called these individuals, “abominations.” A loud boom shattered the televisions and the glass of the store. People scream and panic as the glass and metal around them breaks, bends and warps. Another loud boom resounds over the atmosphere of panic, causing everyone to stop and look skyward. The sun, at its noon position, is slowly being blocked out by something; yet the moon is also clearly visible. Everyone’s breathing slows while the black disk covers the sun, causing the entire Earth to be plummeted into a shadowy full scale eclipse.

 

This eclipse was different; instead of one section of the world being dark, the whole of the planet was under the shadow of this mysterious force. Like the planet itself, the people of the world thought as one too, "What's going on!?”

 

"What the-?"

 

"Something bad is going to happen."

 

And so it continued that way until the ground beneath them began to shake in a terrible manner. With the “eclipse” now five minute old the Earth grew darker and darker until no one could see a few feet in front of them. As it grew darker, it also grew colder. When you couldn’t see hardly anything it felt as if the entire Earth was below freezing and you could see the faint streams of your breath as you exhale one of the few things you can see; whenever someone spoke it echoed eerily as people lost in the blackness searched out for one another. Then the tremors began to get serious, no one could stand and the echoes of falling buildings were all encompassing. A women’s scream pierced the darkness and that was the last noise anyone heard; for all grew silent. Even when someone attempted to speak, words could not be verbalized- a dead silence.

 

Then in a flash the world began to grow brighter and brighter with each passing second! The blackness had lifted and in its steed was a blinding light, but not from the sun; no, this was from some other source! Those with abilities looked up to see a giant funnel in the sky, but normal humans could not see these phenomena. To all those who posses even the smallest ability . . . it appeared as if the funnel in the sky had came to life. It withered around like a snake and moved back and forth, as if searching for someone or something; that thing it soon found. To all “supers” on this Earth it seemed as if it had locked onto just them . . . and was starring them down with unseeing eyes. Then the world once again grew black. There was no sound, no sights, it wasn't too hot or too cold, and you felt as if you were floating. Many wondered if they had died, others thought they were unconscious. Suddenly everyone was snapped to their senses when various sounds ring out. Gunfire, people screaming, bombs exploding- total war!

 

One of those people who had been brought through the tunnel was a young boy names Omar. Looking around and the panicking people he thought to himself, “What on Earth!?” A bomb went off next to him, killing a man as he stood there in a daze, scared for his life Omar ran to a coffee shop. "I'll be safe in here for now." To Omar’s surprise the coffee shop he had been in so many times had been completely destroyed. In fact everywhere people looked familiar things where foreign and alien. Nothing was as it should have been, and the soldiers marching and firing at each other added to the confusion. Seeing other hunkering down not too far from him Omar made a mad dash and slid into the fox hole and looked at each person’s dirty faces. An explosion caught their attention as all of the soldiers ran off. Now alone Omar stood amongst the ruins and looked around, a news paper smacking him in the face. Removing it read, “Southern Military Counterstrike Leaves Hundreds Dead”

 

“Let me see that!” the man standing next to Omar ordered as he held his hand out, tapping his foot in impatience. Omar, not being one to put up much of a struggle, meekly handed the paper over to the man. Looking at it he handed it to the women next to him, her green nails clasping around the nearly shredded paper. She read it over and then handed it back to the man, “It’s over ten years old!?”

 

“Uh . . . M-my name is O-Om-Omar,” he stumbled over his worlds as he occasionally glanced at the man, who stood at least a foot taller than himself, “And you?”

 

“My name is Eric and she is Pamela,” the man said as he folded the paper and stuffed it into his back pocket. He then spins around and two medium sized rocks flew from the ground to his fists, “Okay! Come on out or I’ll make you!”

 

Omar was stunned to see the person standing next to him was one of the so called “supers” and he didn’t even realize that Eric had been yelling at the group of people he had hidden with. The people knew that he wasn't lying, a few came out at first, and then the entire group. It was mostly women and children, with only a few males; each looked ragged and was very thin. Not a one of them spoke or even looked at neither Eric nor Pamela. A child within the group started to cry and Pamela, being kind hearted, gasped and dug threw her pockets looking for something and then walked over to them, "We mean no harm . . . we only want to know what happened here.”

 

As Pamela spoke the object in her hand, a tiny seed that began to grow and then bloomed into a full grown rose. Seeing the spectacular and amazing transformation happen before their eyes the people fled from her reach and coward away behind anything they could get cover from; it was almost as if they were petrified of them.

 

 

[spoiler=[b]CHAPTER TWO,[/b] “An Unwilling Battle and a Shocking Revelation!"]

 

“Why are they afraid of us?" Eric puzzled as he looked calmly at the cowering people, “We’re not here to hurt you.”

 

He was trying his hardest to appear peaceful, but still the people didn’t get any closer. Pamela put the rose away and took another seed from her pocket, planting it in the rugged soil. Slowly raising her hand a little bush grew until it started to bear fruit. The people looked back and forth amongst each other and then at the bush overburdened with fruit which Pamela had grown. Hunger overcame their terror and they all rushed to the bush, ripping and tearing the fruit off the bush they began eating each one as fast as their hands and mouths would allow. Pamela smiled as the people gorged themselves on whatever the bush had produced, happy to see that even in such a strange situation her powers could help those in need; and the thought caused her to ponder out loud, “I wonder where we are?”

 

Eric wanted to know as well and he reached for the eldest male in the group. The poor old man had been so preoccupied with the fruit in his hands that he hadn’t seen Eric’s hand reaching out for him. Once he had actually laid a hand on the elderly man, he let out a loud scream that made the entire group run into the shadows, but not far enough to lose sight of. Their eyes peered from behind glass, rocks, metal, anything they could conical themselves in. Pamela smacked Eric in his shoulder and glared at him. Omar stepped away from the couple and talked softly to the group of dirty strangers, “Don’t be afraid . . . He didn’t mean to frighten you. He’s nothing but a big softie. My names Omar.”

 

“Did he just call me a softie!?”

 

“Hush!”

 

No one in the group answered Omar or made a motion to go towards the three. Pamela and Eric looked at each other, trying to decide how they could convince them they weren’t here to harm them. Eric had a strange look in his eye and Pamela shook her head to disapprove of what he was implying, started to raise his hand she slapped it down while Omar continued to sweet-talk the people. "Please at least talk to us, Pamela can make you more tasty fruit . . .”

 

The group chatted amongst themselves if it was a good idea to trust them. Finally a young girl, she looked no more than ten years old with fiery red hair and the deepest blue eyes, walked towards Pamela with her hand held out, “Promise you won’t hurt us?”

 

“I promise” Pamela said as she shook the girl’s head. Looking over her Pamela couldn’t help note how beautiful she was, even though she was covered in at least three layers of dirt. The girl smiled and almost squealed with delight, and once the hand shake was finished she turned to the others and yelled to them.

 

“Dad! It's okay! They won’t hurt us!”

 

“Lora! Get back here-NOW! They’re Supers! You know we can’t trust Supers!”

 

"We swear we won’t hurt any of you,” Omar swore as he took all of the bags he, Eric and Pamela had. Tossing them across the gap they parcels landed at the man’s feet. Pamela smiled and tried to make a light hearted joke to lift the overbearing mood, "Just don't eat my seeds, please?"

 

The father picked up the bags and tore then open, then stomped on the contents in anger, “”We know your kind! Even without your weapons you could kill all of us! I will not trust people like you!”

 

Omar looks down as his things are stomped to pieces, pencils, papers, a picture frame, all ruined under the foot of a complete stranger in a foreign land. He was sadder that even with all of his prompting they had not believed he meant them no harm, even going so far as to laugh at him. “Wait? When have these people laughed!?” he thought to himself as he noticed the terror as soldiers with symbolic ‘S’s marched towards the group. Standing on a rock nearest to them was a figure, and the source of laughter, “Did you hear that men!? I think these fools just said we ‘couldn’t’ kill all of them without weapons. Sounds like a challenge to me!”

 

Leaping from his perch on the rock he soared the entire distance until he landed in between the stunned populace. His skin was a light shade of red, nearing a dark colored pink, and his hair had been slicked back to show his horns curving up from his forehead. He had on an old cowboy looking hat which he removed as he peered around, a sharp toothed grin on his face. Eric went to move his hand, bent on drawing the metals to him so he could fight whoever this freak was. However the demon, for his appearance and manor were like that of a beast born within the pits, spit a ball of fire that caused him to stop. “I don’t think none of your fancy ‘magic tricks’ will help you know boy! Soldiers? You can go now.”

 

“Yes, sir!” marching off the soldier filed out as Eric was forced to move back and shook his hand, which had gotten too close to the flames than he intended or wanted. Realizing he didn’t need his bag of scrap metal, for there was plenty around him, he shook his fist as the metal bent and snapped off of the boulders they jutted from. Concentrating he dawned the metals like a makeshift armor and took a defensive stance. Pamela stepped behind Eric as he walked slowly to have the torn open bags behind them. Omar stepped next to Eric, his hands covered in what looked like a black mist, "If you want them, you'll have to kill us first!"

 

“Interesting proposal . . . Oh what the hell! I need a good slaughter today anyways!” the man said as fire erupted in the palm of his hand. He threw it at Omar, who had become too scared to move. A shield covered him as Eric nodded his head to show his support. The man chuckled and raised a single eyebrow as the field grew hotter and hotter, beginning to crack with the extreme heat. “So tell me this, before you die I mean, why are you going to such lengths to protect that pathetic race!? Exactly what kind of Supers are you!?”

 

The man threw one last flame ball and laughed as the shield exploded into pieces. However his laughter stopped when he saw another shield, this one made of the black mist that had surrounded Omar’s hand. Eric and Pamela had retrieved their weapons while the enemy had been preoccupied. Pamela had taken the rose and made it grow to the length of a whip. Cracking it on the ground she answered, "We’re heroes!"

 

The horned man laughed as he saw that one of his opponent's could bend plant-life to her will. He stood upright and began to breathe heavily. Even in the heat of battle the man’s laughter was enough to send chills down all three of their spine’s as he wiped tears from his eyes. “That kind of ideal was lost ages ago! Now power is the only thing that means anything!”

 

Omar, being the virtuous type, had opened his mouth to argue the point but stopped when Eric grabbed him and dove down. The man had taken a deep breath and once he exhaled a large flame spread across the air and fell the ground. Eric had made another shield, this time of steal, to block the flames, "If people no longer use their powers for worthy causes them we will change that!"

 

Slamming his fist into the ground Eric then removed it so that Pamela could insert seeds. Stretching her palms to the ground the roots grew, twisted and caused the earth beneath the enemy to move; causing him to lose his balance. Trying to catch his balance Omar saw an opportunity and decided to take it, dashing towards his enemy. The man had lost balance for a mere second and then caused the earth under his feet to melt and bubble until it became molten, giving him his footing again. Sliding to a stop the man formed another flame and sent it at Omar, who was again saved by Eric’s shield; and as the flames licked at the shield it began to melt away.

 

"Well Pam . . . Omar, looks like he's got us with heat. But let's see if we can out think him!" with a wink he pulled out a dagger from his shoe, a little secret he hadn’t given to those he was now trying to protect. Omar at first as shocked Eric had lied, but in the end was grateful due to the current circumstances. Pamela splashed the dagger with liquid from a plant and they both nodded at Omar. Stepping out from behind the shield Omar and Pamela nodded to each other. Lifting the dagger up Omar threw the weapon at the red skinned man. The dagger moved too slowly and he was able to move out of the way, but the sudden stabbing pain made him pause. Looking down he saw the dagger sticking into his shoulder, blood running down from the wound. Glancing behind him he stared as the first dagger vanished, an illusion created by Omar. Growling in anger he wrenched the blade out of him and threw it to the ground, dashing at them as he spewed more intense flames in their direction. Pamela and Omar leapt and rolled out of the way, stopping behind him as Eric pulled the metals underneath his feet around him again as the flames drew near. Flinging himself at the charging villain he began to spin rapidly, keeping the flames at bay. The man didn’t expect this and was bashed in the chin with Eric’s odd technique, making him fall to the ground spitting up blood and a couple teeth. Pamela and Omar clapped their hands together as vines and shadows covered the man. The vines thorns jabbed and tore at the captured enemy’s skin as he struggled to get free, "Like them? I call them cobra vines, the poison in the thorns are extremely deadly. So . . . have fun."

 

Purple blood oozed out of the man’s wounds as he growled at those who had captured him. With a loud yell and vines turned into ashes, while the shadows vanished. “Did you honestly think that would work against me!?”

 

The air around the man grew to hot that Omar could see heat waves as Eric moved in place. The metals covering his body traveled to his arms and he ran at the demon, while Pamela threw a cloud of seeds from her pockets, “"As far as I'm concerned? Yeah!"

 

Swatting at the seedlings like flies the man stopped as Eric jumped and swung at his neck, Omar behind him to make the attack a two-pronged one. Both hits landed and sent him flying into a mountain, spinning as he went. The cave created from the impact crashed around and on top of him, burying him in a makeshift tomb. All three looked at each other, sweaty and out of breath. They all took a stance, satisfied that they had defeated a powerful opponent. The sound of a crowd cheering erupted! All three spun around to see the once petrified people rushing towards their new heroes. Eric, Pamela and Omar were lifted over the crowd and they couldn’t help but smile, they got a feeling of satisfaction seeing the cheering people. The man who talked to them before stepped forward, his head low and ashamed, “My name is Jessie. I-I apologize for not believing you at first . . . I hope you understand.”

 

“It's okay my friend. We’ve all made bad judgments before," Eric said as he clasped the man’s hand. Pamela looked to the rest of them, "Well . . . since I'm a woman of my word . . . here is the fruit I promised."

 

Letting a seed fall another bush grew within minutes. The people thanked them, went to pick the fruit and walked off to where they lived. Only Jessie and his daughter, Lora, stayed behind. “You’re a lot different than the clips show!”

 

All three looked at the other and got the same confused and puzzled expression. Omar gave a wry smile and was forced to ask, "What?"

 

“The clips show Supers as being very . . . very mean!” Jessie nodded his head as his daughter spoke. He had also been puzzling over the same thing. He had seen many clips of supers committing cruel deeds, but none of them showed them as kind or caring; but then why the change of heart?

 

“I'd like to show you something. Would you mind coming back to our house?”

 

"It would be a pleasure." Omar said with a warm smile, wondering what these clips are and why they would show any of them being mean. Jessie and Lora began to walk away as Omar asked Eric if they were referring to them or supers in general, which he had no answer for. After a long walk through the barren wasteland the group found themselves at Jessie and Lora's house. House must have been used loosely as what they were looking at appeared to be just old mud huts and grass roofing; but it was subject so they couldn’t object. Ducking down as they walked inside the “biggest” hut each one found that they had old fashioned computers there. Lora and Jessie rummaged through everything and finally pulled out what looked like a bunch of compact discs.

 

“Here” Jessie said as he handed each of them one. Omar examined the disc as Pamela and Eric sat in front of computer. Eric went to put his disc inside as Lora told him to stop, laughing as Eric looked at her puzzled.

 

“You don't use them like that silly! You use them like this!” Lora took Omar’s disc and clicked the middle and an image appeared as a holographic form. The video, which is what it is, shows a city in the middle of what looks like a war zone. All three leaned in closer to the holovid and then they heard something they did not expect- screams of terror! A few seconds after hearing the screams they see the source, the panicked citizens as a man tossed aside tanks with ease. Soldiers fired round after round at the man, which only bounced off and struck them instead; Pamela was forced to look away as each man fell in a puddle of blood. Eric was outraged and dumbfounded; he couldn’t imagine one of his kind committing such horrible acts. Something behind the Super smashed it to the ground, causing debris to fly everywhere. Some of the debris destroying the camera as the screen went to white noise, after which Jessie closed and put it away.

 

“The rest are pretty much the same. You can see why we didn’t believe you at first.”

 

Pamela looked as if she was going to cry, all of those people screaming had been too much for her. Eric wrapped his arm around her, comforting her as she cried, "We never did that."

 

"We could never kill innocent people!" Pamela cut in, “When did this happen?”

 

“I understand now that none of you would do something like that, which is an oddity in these hard times. And from the state of the holovids I’d say they are probably over five hundred years old.”

 

"O-Over five hundred, “Eric said as he slumped farther into his seat. He couldn’t believe the reality; a war over five hundred years old and they had somehow landed in the middle of it. The tunnel flashed in his mind, causing him to sit upright and look to Jessie, “Before we got here a funnel appeared in the sky! I thought it was nothing at first, what was until the tremors started. When it stopped we were here!"

 

“A funnel?”

 

"Yeah," Omar replied as his memories of the events returned. Pamela had finished drying what tears were on her face and looked back up, agreeing with them both. Jessie paced back and forth, as his daughter smiles at their new company; he was deep in thought about what the answer to the mysterious tunnel was, after a bit he stops pacing and looked at them. “So a funnel? If we knew what that funnel was we could find out what is going on. But this is obvious; none of you seem to be from this world.”

 

Everyone thought about the answer for a moment and could only agree. One minute they had been in the world they knew and the next had been wisped away and dropped in a horrible place like this. The realization of what had happened surprisingly was easy to accept, after all if they could do what they did then why couldn’t this be possible? Lora jumped off the table and grabbed hold of Omar and Pamela’s hands, swinging back and forth and smiled, “Then you can stay with us until you find out how to get back to your own home? It’s dangerous to be wandering around during a war after all.”

 

 

CHAPTER THREE, “Other Supers and Current Accommodations”

[Zimiri of the Muse]

i like it... as you probably know.

[Jake the Sage]

Yay a first comment ^^

[Zimiri of the Muse]

<.< when do i come in

[Jake the Sage]

Whenever you came in the rpg

[Kenny Bohner]

I like it quite a bit, actually. Too early to rate it, though

[Jake the Sage]

Thank you Kenny. In fact I am probably going to put up some new chapters soon

[Zimiri of the Muse]

Whenever you came in the rpg

 

great...