RE: Eclipse, The Story of One Man and the Apocalyptic Future
Chapter Four: Nemesis
The sun shone through the cracks in the ceiling above the two sleeping men. Zack smeared his hands across his face in an attempt to relinquish his sleepiness. He turned to his still-sound asleep friend and shook him a bit.
Delroy turned stomach side-up and stared at Zack, still half-asleep. "Wha-what is it?" he said in his half New York-half Southern accent.
"We have to go down to the sewer. Brown's orders" Zack replied. He had no emotion on his face, but inside he was curdling with rage. "Come on get up. The faster we do this the faster we'll be out of this hell-stricken town.”
Delroy managed to pick himself up from the uncomfortable, rough surface he had been sleeping on. It was still early; Zack was hoping to strike James at an unexpected time and get a cheap kill, although from his past experiences with the shadow man, it wasn't going to be that easy.
The two made their way across town to the sewer entrance where Skylan was living. On the way there, people looked at them with fear and anger in their eyes, as if they were part of the blame for this mess.
"Seems like we've made ourselves known around town because of your-our abilities. This ain't a good time to get a bad reputation, especially in our town where the person next to you could have twice the abilities you've got" Delroy said.
Zack opened the sewer entrance allowing the disgusting and rotten stench to exit and roam freely through the town. "Cover your nose" Zack said with a chuckle and jumped in, with Delroy following suit.
Their footsteps made echoes through the sewer tunnels allowing anybody from even 100 meters away to hear their presence. Zack lit up a flame on his hand to light the way through the dark tunnels.
Suddenly, they came to a dead end. There were a bunch of posters and signs plastered onto the wall with "DO NOT ENTER" written on them. "Doesn't look like a dead end to me. If it was a dead end, there would be no need for these damn signs" Zack said. He charged a small fireball in his hand and backed up a few feet away from the wall. He lunged the fireball at the wall, creating a small explosion, but big enough to break down the wall.
They entered the hole they had made, surprised that they were actually right. The tunnel continued, but only for a short while. They found a small camp area big enough for one to two men.
A man came through the clearing that Zack and Delroy had just made. "Clever idea, but I won't let robbers steal my things" he said.
Zack and Delroy turned around, but before they could see the man, he was gone. "Skylan? Are you there?" Zack asked.
The man sprinted in an incredibly fast speed and grabbed his two swords. He put one against Zack's neck and the other on Delroy's. "What do you want from me?"
"Put the weapon down. We mean no harm" Zack said calmly. "We share the same goal. You want to kill James. We do too."
Skylan moved the swords away from the mens' necks. "And how did you know I was after him?"
"Devin told us. The guy you 'scratched' up" Delroy responded, before Zack could.
"Devin? Now why would I scratch up the only guy keeping my wife alive?" Skylan said. "These swords have yet to hurt anybody. I am saving the first blood for James."
"Son of a-, he lied to us this whole time! All to do his dirty work!" Zack thought. "And if that isn't how he got his scar, identical to Delroy's, then how did he?" Questions raced through his mind, but he turned to look at Delroy who seemed to be as confused as he was.
"Looks like he played a trick on you, so it seems. But I wouldn't mind help taking him down. You guys do know what you're up against, right?" Skylan asked.
"Trust me. I've been against this guy before and he's a force to reckon with. But I don't understand one thing. Yesterday he was fully vulnerable. You had a perfect chance to zoom in and cut his head right off…but you didn't" Zack said.
"I was hunting down a time traveler, a powerful one for that matter. Only today did I get the orders to hunt James. Are you one of his workers, too?"
Zack was shocked; his fist closed, the rage piling up inside. "He has your loved one too? What the hell is he up to?"
"He's got me getting blood samples of people with powers. At first I refused, but when he told me he had my wife, I had to comply with what he wanted."
Delroy laughed, finding the whole situation comical. "That's funny cuz he's got us doing the same thing."
"Then let's be on our way, we don't want to give him more time to get away."
The darkness lifted off of Skylan and his face was perfectly visible. He was old, full of wrinkles and white hair plastered over his small-sized head. He picked up a small necklace on the ground and put it in his pocket.
Skylan sighed. "It was my wife's. It's all I've got to keep my memory of her…" A small tear drop sprinkled down his face, but he wiped it off immediately.
As they group made their way to James' hideout, Devin and Brown were talking to each other.
Devin and Brown stood in a small laboratory, filled with tubes and computers and different kinds of buttons. "Is everything going according to plan?" Brown asked.
"Perfect, sir. The space-time continuum is flowing. Things are going just as they did before" Devin replied. "The three have acquainted themselves and soon, James will be dead and we won't have to worry about him meddling."
"And then we'll have creation, for the future that you foresaw, and that same one that we won't let happen" Brown said. "Soon we'll gather all of the powers we can get and then…well, we will create our super soldier. Our super beast."
"There he is" Skylan said, pointing at an intersection of the three tunnel openings. He had two men with him, each covered in a ski mask to cover their identities. "I'll super speed and cut them all. Just stay here."
Skylan pulled the two swords out from the pockets on his back. He ran to the intersection and hid in the shadows without any of them seeing him. "You know, hiding in the shadows isn't so smart when you're facing someone who manipulates shadows" James said.
James locked eyes with his foe, freezing Skylan in the shadows. "Even a man with incredible speed cannot kill me. Not in my territory, at least" he said. He put his palms out facing towards Skylan. "So sorry to see you go like this. It really is sad."
The shadows became darker and thicker, suffocating the trapped man.
"We gotta go do something, Zack!" Delroy exclaimed.
Zack charged a fireball in his hand and blasted it at James' henchman, setting him on fire instantly. He fired a second one at the other henchman and it had the same effect.
James turned to see the disturbance, freeing Skylan from the shadow hold. "So you didn't die? I guess I'll have to teach you a real listen this time!" His hands turned into shadows and extended towards Zack. He wrapped his palm around his neck, shadows releasing and engulfing themselves around Zack.
"Zack!" Delroy exclaimed, trying to grab the shadowy hand, but his hands only went through the shadows.
James' other hand became shadows and extended to choke Delroy. "Wow, I expected much more. Fools don't deserve to live!"
Skylan regained consciousness and grabbed his swords that he dropped. "Expecting this?!" He jumped up and put his sword on James' neck. "You're dead!" He pulled his arm back and extended it again, puncturing James in the stomach. The sword cut through the appendix causing it to erupt. Skylan pulled the sword out and lunged again at the top of James' head. His head cut in half and the extended shadow arms disappeared and returned to regular sized arms.
The body fell to the ground, motionless. Zack and Delroy gasped for oxygen and slowly stood up. "Is he down?" Zack asked.
He nodded and fell to his knees. The shadows were gone and a small, but harmful hole became visible in Skylan's chest.
Zack ran over to Skylan trying to help him up, but it was no use. He was as good as dead. "As much as I hate do this, but I was ordered to" Zack said. He pulled out a needle and extracted the blood sample from Skylan's wrist.
"Heh, it was all a trick" Skylan said, with a cough in-between his words. "Should have seen it coming. In my honor, kill me with my sword."
Zack trembled and slowly moved his hand toward the sword. "I…I can't do it!" he shouted.
Suddenly, a figure appeared from one of the tunnel openings. "If you can't man up to it, then I will" he said. He walked over to Zack and Skylan and picked up the sword. "Good working with you." He slashed the sword across Skylan's face, killing him instantly.
"Devin! Why did you tell us he was the one that slashed your face? What other secrets are you going to keep from us?!" Zack shouted, bursting into a rage.
"None anymore" he responded. The three gathered themselves together and Devin put his hands on their shoulders. In a flash, they were gone.
"Welcome to the lab. If you could, put the blood sample on the table right over there" Devin said. "Brown, they're here."
Brown walked through the doors to the lab. "Good to see you guys are still alive. Let us show you…our project!" he exclaimed.
Devin cleared his throat, trying to get Brown's attention. "Brown, if you can, could you see me outside for a second?" The two exited the lab, leaving Zack and Delroy alone.
"Why have they brought us he-?" Delroy asked Zack, but his sentence was cut short by an explosion. Smoke covered the lab; the two inhaled it into their lungs, making them cough.
The smoke cleared and a tall, skinny figure appeared in the light. It was at least seven feet tall and cloaked in a big jacket and long hood covering his face. Only its glowing green eyes could be seen.
"Who are you?" Zack asked.
The figure ran towards Zack and placed his palm on Zack's head, paralyzing him in place. "Ahhhh!!!" Zack screamed out.
Delroy looked around the lab and tried to find something to stop the figure. "The blood samples!" he thought and ran over to them. He grabbed a handful and injected himself.
His body began flashing brightly in different colors. "Ahhh!" Delroy exclaimed. "My body can't handle all of these powers at once!" Delroy blasted a blue aura blast from his palm at the being, releasing Zack from its hold.
"GRAHH!" it screamed. It ran to Delroy, but Delroy's strength was far more powerful than that of the creature. Delroy punched the creature continuously and the hood fell off, showing a creature with a green face, clear of any wrinkles or marks. The creature squirmed its way out of Delroy hold and ran out of the hole where the explosion occurred.
"Delroy, what did you do to yourself?!" Zack shouted. Delroy's body was still flashing with aura and other bright colors.
"I can't control it Zack! Helllppppppp!!!" Delroy screamed in pain. "I…I can't control myself!" His body exploded into a flash of aura, blinding Zack.
When the flash of light and aura dimmed down, Delroy was nowhere to be seen. "Delroy? DELROY?!!" Zack screamed.
Devin and Brown ran back into the lab. "What in the world happened here?" Brown questioned.
"Where's Delroy?" Devin asked.
Zack shrugged, still in shock of what just happened.
Delroy opened his eyes and looked up; all he could see were tall buildings and two airplanes. He got up, only to see himself face-to-face with Agent Brown. But Agent Brown was ageless. He had a wrinkleless face and what used to be white hair was now vibrant brown.
"Brown? Agent Brown?" Delroy asked.
"How do you know my name? Are you from the agency?" Brown responded. His expression was clueless, unaware of who Delroy was.
"It's me, Delroy. We work together. You hired me! Don't you remember?"
"I'm sorry, but I'm drawn to a blank."
"…where are we?"
"New York City."
"What year?"
"1976."
Delroy took a few steps back and looked at his hands. His body was under control; wherever the powers were, they weren't in his system, or at least under control. "I don't understand. Is this a dream? The last thing I remember was fighting off some sort of creature!"
"Sir, you don't seem mentally stable. Let me help you. I'll take you back to the agency. Maybe they have some answers."
"NO! I want answers NOW!" Delroy exclaimed. Hollow spheres of energy began to form in his palms out of anger. "I saved my best friend and this is the payment for my deeds?!" A purple force field began to form around him.
Brown fired his gun, but it was blocked by the force field. "There's a problem! We have an active super soldier! He must have escaped from the lab. I need reinforcements now!" Brown spoke into a small device hanging from his ear.
"Tell me Brown, how do I get back to my time?" Delroy asked as he grabbed him up by his collar.
A helicopter flew overhead of him, dropping soldiers armed with guns. "Put your hands in the air" one of the men in the helicopter said through the megaphone.
"The hell with you" Delroy said and fired one of the hollow spheres at the helicopter. The impact caused the helicopter to erupt into flames, causing the helicopter's remains crashed onto the soldiers it just dropped.
The impact with the ground causes another explosion, hitting Brown in the process. "Weaklings. Foolish, foolish weaklings" Delroy said. The powers he got made him into a different person. "Looks like the powers I took morphed the powers I had before. My power…is unimaginable." He closed his eyes and concentrated, and disappeared.
Brown looked at the destruction around him. He could barely feel his legs; the cold treacherously wrapped itself on his body. "Ahh. We-I need emergency help. Send a chopper right away! Soldiers and civilians are dead and the culprit is gone. I repeat the culprit is gone!"
"Zack, who attacked you?" Devin asked.
"He was a tall man and bald. His face was completely green and clear of any marks. No facial hair, either" Zack explained.
"I told you he wasn't dead" Brown said. "The leech is still out there. He must've already drained the powers of countless people that were hit by the meteor's effects. We're in deep trouble. We told them we exterminated him years ago!"
"Then it seems like we've got a new target on our hands" Devin said.
"You still haven't told me anything! What is this all for?" Zack asked.
Brown cleared his throat. "We're creating…a super soldier. Devin saw the future. An apocalyptic one. We won't let that happen. Whatever tries to kill us won't with a super-powered soldier with hundreds of powers."
"So that's why you need me. To do your dirty work. Why don't you give me the powers? My body is already fit for powers" Zack suggested.
"Don't you see what happened to your friend Delroy? Just because you have powers doesn't mean your body can handle more" Brown said and glared at Devin. "We need to artificially create a being that can handle these abilities without dying."
"If you want to keep me working, then you better show me Rebecca, because there is no way I will continue working without some proof" he said. "For all I know she's dead!"
Brown led Zack into a small room. Rebecca lay down on a small bed, completely unconscious. Her usual long blonde hair was now short and brown.
"What have you done to her? Why?"
"It was part of the side-effects from what we gave her. We put her into a coma. She will only awaken with another pill" Brown responded. "But don't worry. When the time is right, we will awaken her. You need to focus on your next target, though. We'll try to see if anybody else spotted him. When you do find him, be careful and try to dodge all of his attacks, because if he lays one hand on you, you're a gonner. He paralyzes you and drains your life, and worst of all if you have a power, he takes that too. We call him: 'The Leech'."
Chapter Four: Nemesis
The sun shone through the cracks in the ceiling above the two sleeping men. Zack smeared his hands across his face in an attempt to relinquish his sleepiness. He turned to his still-sound asleep friend and shook him a bit.
Delroy turned stomach side-up and stared at Zack, still half-asleep. "Wha-what is it?" he said in his half New York-half Southern accent.
"We have to go down to the sewer. Brown's orders" Zack replied. He had no emotion on his face, but inside he was curdling with rage. "Come on get up. The faster we do this the faster we'll be out of this hell-stricken town.”
Delroy managed to pick himself up from the uncomfortable, rough surface he had been sleeping on. It was still early; Zack was hoping to strike James at an unexpected time and get a cheap kill, although from his past experiences with the shadow man, it wasn't going to be that easy.
The two made their way across town to the sewer entrance where Skylan was living. On the way there, people looked at them with fear and anger in their eyes, as if they were part of the blame for this mess.
"Seems like we've made ourselves known around town because of your-our abilities. This ain't a good time to get a bad reputation, especially in our town where the person next to you could have twice the abilities you've got" Delroy said.
Zack opened the sewer entrance allowing the disgusting and rotten stench to exit and roam freely through the town. "Cover your nose" Zack said with a chuckle and jumped in, with Delroy following suit.
Their footsteps made echoes through the sewer tunnels allowing anybody from even 100 meters away to hear their presence. Zack lit up a flame on his hand to light the way through the dark tunnels.
Suddenly, they came to a dead end. There were a bunch of posters and signs plastered onto the wall with "DO NOT ENTER" written on them. "Doesn't look like a dead end to me. If it was a dead end, there would be no need for these damn signs" Zack said. He charged a small fireball in his hand and backed up a few feet away from the wall. He lunged the fireball at the wall, creating a small explosion, but big enough to break down the wall.
They entered the hole they had made, surprised that they were actually right. The tunnel continued, but only for a short while. They found a small camp area big enough for one to two men.
A man came through the clearing that Zack and Delroy had just made. "Clever idea, but I won't let robbers steal my things" he said.
Zack and Delroy turned around, but before they could see the man, he was gone. "Skylan? Are you there?" Zack asked.
The man sprinted in an incredibly fast speed and grabbed his two swords. He put one against Zack's neck and the other on Delroy's. "What do you want from me?"
"Put the weapon down. We mean no harm" Zack said calmly. "We share the same goal. You want to kill James. We do too."
Skylan moved the swords away from the mens' necks. "And how did you know I was after him?"
"Devin told us. The guy you 'scratched' up" Delroy responded, before Zack could.
"Devin? Now why would I scratch up the only guy keeping my wife alive?" Skylan said. "These swords have yet to hurt anybody. I am saving the first blood for James."
"Son of a-, he lied to us this whole time! All to do his dirty work!" Zack thought. "And if that isn't how he got his scar, identical to Delroy's, then how did he?" Questions raced through his mind, but he turned to look at Delroy who seemed to be as confused as he was.
"Looks like he played a trick on you, so it seems. But I wouldn't mind help taking him down. You guys do know what you're up against, right?" Skylan asked.
"Trust me. I've been against this guy before and he's a force to reckon with. But I don't understand one thing. Yesterday he was fully vulnerable. You had a perfect chance to zoom in and cut his head right off…but you didn't" Zack said.
"I was hunting down a time traveler, a powerful one for that matter. Only today did I get the orders to hunt James. Are you one of his workers, too?"
Zack was shocked; his fist closed, the rage piling up inside. "He has your loved one too? What the hell is he up to?"
"He's got me getting blood samples of people with powers. At first I refused, but when he told me he had my wife, I had to comply with what he wanted."
Delroy laughed, finding the whole situation comical. "That's funny cuz he's got us doing the same thing."
"Then let's be on our way, we don't want to give him more time to get away."
The darkness lifted off of Skylan and his face was perfectly visible. He was old, full of wrinkles and white hair plastered over his small-sized head. He picked up a small necklace on the ground and put it in his pocket.
Skylan sighed. "It was my wife's. It's all I've got to keep my memory of her…" A small tear drop sprinkled down his face, but he wiped it off immediately.
As they group made their way to James' hideout, Devin and Brown were talking to each other.
Devin and Brown stood in a small laboratory, filled with tubes and computers and different kinds of buttons. "Is everything going according to plan?" Brown asked.
"Perfect, sir. The space-time continuum is flowing. Things are going just as they did before" Devin replied. "The three have acquainted themselves and soon, James will be dead and we won't have to worry about him meddling."
"And then we'll have creation, for the future that you foresaw, and that same one that we won't let happen" Brown said. "Soon we'll gather all of the powers we can get and then…well, we will create our super soldier. Our super beast."
"There he is" Skylan said, pointing at an intersection of the three tunnel openings. He had two men with him, each covered in a ski mask to cover their identities. "I'll super speed and cut them all. Just stay here."
Skylan pulled the two swords out from the pockets on his back. He ran to the intersection and hid in the shadows without any of them seeing him. "You know, hiding in the shadows isn't so smart when you're facing someone who manipulates shadows" James said.
James locked eyes with his foe, freezing Skylan in the shadows. "Even a man with incredible speed cannot kill me. Not in my territory, at least" he said. He put his palms out facing towards Skylan. "So sorry to see you go like this. It really is sad."
The shadows became darker and thicker, suffocating the trapped man.
"We gotta go do something, Zack!" Delroy exclaimed.
Zack charged a fireball in his hand and blasted it at James' henchman, setting him on fire instantly. He fired a second one at the other henchman and it had the same effect.
James turned to see the disturbance, freeing Skylan from the shadow hold. "So you didn't die? I guess I'll have to teach you a real listen this time!" His hands turned into shadows and extended towards Zack. He wrapped his palm around his neck, shadows releasing and engulfing themselves around Zack.
"Zack!" Delroy exclaimed, trying to grab the shadowy hand, but his hands only went through the shadows.
James' other hand became shadows and extended to choke Delroy. "Wow, I expected much more. Fools don't deserve to live!"
Skylan regained consciousness and grabbed his swords that he dropped. "Expecting this?!" He jumped up and put his sword on James' neck. "You're dead!" He pulled his arm back and extended it again, puncturing James in the stomach. The sword cut through the appendix causing it to erupt. Skylan pulled the sword out and lunged again at the top of James' head. His head cut in half and the extended shadow arms disappeared and returned to regular sized arms.
The body fell to the ground, motionless. Zack and Delroy gasped for oxygen and slowly stood up. "Is he down?" Zack asked.
He nodded and fell to his knees. The shadows were gone and a small, but harmful hole became visible in Skylan's chest.
Zack ran over to Skylan trying to help him up, but it was no use. He was as good as dead. "As much as I hate do this, but I was ordered to" Zack said. He pulled out a needle and extracted the blood sample from Skylan's wrist.
"Heh, it was all a trick" Skylan said, with a cough in-between his words. "Should have seen it coming. In my honor, kill me with my sword."
Zack trembled and slowly moved his hand toward the sword. "I…I can't do it!" he shouted.
Suddenly, a figure appeared from one of the tunnel openings. "If you can't man up to it, then I will" he said. He walked over to Zack and Skylan and picked up the sword. "Good working with you." He slashed the sword across Skylan's face, killing him instantly.
"Devin! Why did you tell us he was the one that slashed your face? What other secrets are you going to keep from us?!" Zack shouted, bursting into a rage.
"None anymore" he responded. The three gathered themselves together and Devin put his hands on their shoulders. In a flash, they were gone.
"Welcome to the lab. If you could, put the blood sample on the table right over there" Devin said. "Brown, they're here."
Brown walked through the doors to the lab. "Good to see you guys are still alive. Let us show you…our project!" he exclaimed.
Devin cleared his throat, trying to get Brown's attention. "Brown, if you can, could you see me outside for a second?" The two exited the lab, leaving Zack and Delroy alone.
"Why have they brought us he-?" Delroy asked Zack, but his sentence was cut short by an explosion. Smoke covered the lab; the two inhaled it into their lungs, making them cough.
The smoke cleared and a tall, skinny figure appeared in the light. It was at least seven feet tall and cloaked in a big jacket and long hood covering his face. Only its glowing green eyes could be seen.
"Who are you?" Zack asked.
The figure ran towards Zack and placed his palm on Zack's head, paralyzing him in place. "Ahhhh!!!" Zack screamed out.
Delroy looked around the lab and tried to find something to stop the figure. "The blood samples!" he thought and ran over to them. He grabbed a handful and injected himself.
His body began flashing brightly in different colors. "Ahhh!" Delroy exclaimed. "My body can't handle all of these powers at once!" Delroy blasted a blue aura blast from his palm at the being, releasing Zack from its hold.
"GRAHH!" it screamed. It ran to Delroy, but Delroy's strength was far more powerful than that of the creature. Delroy punched the creature continuously and the hood fell off, showing a creature with a green face, clear of any wrinkles or marks. The creature squirmed its way out of Delroy hold and ran out of the hole where the explosion occurred.
"Delroy, what did you do to yourself?!" Zack shouted. Delroy's body was still flashing with aura and other bright colors.
"I can't control it Zack! Helllppppppp!!!" Delroy screamed in pain. "I…I can't control myself!" His body exploded into a flash of aura, blinding Zack.
When the flash of light and aura dimmed down, Delroy was nowhere to be seen. "Delroy? DELROY?!!" Zack screamed.
Devin and Brown ran back into the lab. "What in the world happened here?" Brown questioned.
"Where's Delroy?" Devin asked.
Zack shrugged, still in shock of what just happened.
Delroy opened his eyes and looked up; all he could see were tall buildings and two airplanes. He got up, only to see himself face-to-face with Agent Brown. But Agent Brown was ageless. He had a wrinkleless face and what used to be white hair was now vibrant brown.
"Brown? Agent Brown?" Delroy asked.
"How do you know my name? Are you from the agency?" Brown responded. His expression was clueless, unaware of who Delroy was.
"It's me, Delroy. We work together. You hired me! Don't you remember?"
"I'm sorry, but I'm drawn to a blank."
"…where are we?"
"New York City."
"What year?"
"1976."
Delroy took a few steps back and looked at his hands. His body was under control; wherever the powers were, they weren't in his system, or at least under control. "I don't understand. Is this a dream? The last thing I remember was fighting off some sort of creature!"
"Sir, you don't seem mentally stable. Let me help you. I'll take you back to the agency. Maybe they have some answers."
"NO! I want answers NOW!" Delroy exclaimed. Hollow spheres of energy began to form in his palms out of anger. "I saved my best friend and this is the payment for my deeds?!" A purple force field began to form around him.
Brown fired his gun, but it was blocked by the force field. "There's a problem! We have an active super soldier! He must have escaped from the lab. I need reinforcements now!" Brown spoke into a small device hanging from his ear.
"Tell me Brown, how do I get back to my time?" Delroy asked as he grabbed him up by his collar.
A helicopter flew overhead of him, dropping soldiers armed with guns. "Put your hands in the air" one of the men in the helicopter said through the megaphone.
"The hell with you" Delroy said and fired one of the hollow spheres at the helicopter. The impact caused the helicopter to erupt into flames, causing the helicopter's remains crashed onto the soldiers it just dropped.
The impact with the ground causes another explosion, hitting Brown in the process. "Weaklings. Foolish, foolish weaklings" Delroy said. The powers he got made him into a different person. "Looks like the powers I took morphed the powers I had before. My power…is unimaginable." He closed his eyes and concentrated, and disappeared.
Brown looked at the destruction around him. He could barely feel his legs; the cold treacherously wrapped itself on his body. "Ahh. We-I need emergency help. Send a chopper right away! Soldiers and civilians are dead and the culprit is gone. I repeat the culprit is gone!"
"Zack, who attacked you?" Devin asked.
"He was a tall man and bald. His face was completely green and clear of any marks. No facial hair, either" Zack explained.
"I told you he wasn't dead" Brown said. "The leech is still out there. He must've already drained the powers of countless people that were hit by the meteor's effects. We're in deep trouble. We told them we exterminated him years ago!"
"Then it seems like we've got a new target on our hands" Devin said.
"You still haven't told me anything! What is this all for?" Zack asked.
Brown cleared his throat. "We're creating…a super soldier. Devin saw the future. An apocalyptic one. We won't let that happen. Whatever tries to kill us won't with a super-powered soldier with hundreds of powers."
"So that's why you need me. To do your dirty work. Why don't you give me the powers? My body is already fit for powers" Zack suggested.
"Don't you see what happened to your friend Delroy? Just because you have powers doesn't mean your body can handle more" Brown said and glared at Devin. "We need to artificially create a being that can handle these abilities without dying."
"If you want to keep me working, then you better show me Rebecca, because there is no way I will continue working without some proof" he said. "For all I know she's dead!"
Brown led Zack into a small room. Rebecca lay down on a small bed, completely unconscious. Her usual long blonde hair was now short and brown.
"What have you done to her? Why?"
"It was part of the side-effects from what we gave her. We put her into a coma. She will only awaken with another pill" Brown responded. "But don't worry. When the time is right, we will awaken her. You need to focus on your next target, though. We'll try to see if anybody else spotted him. When you do find him, be careful and try to dodge all of his attacks, because if he lays one hand on you, you're a gonner. He paralyzes you and drains your life, and worst of all if you have a power, he takes that too. We call him: 'The Leech'."
