| abstract
| - Simon Jeffers, one of the most respected scientists in history. From the planet of Rotas which had a particular chill in the air. It was always frozen with snow seemingly to permanently fall but trees still remained green despite very little sunshine. There were few inhabitants which made it quite easy to hide buildings and even large labs. Dr Jeffers, as he was referred to, went into one of his three different labs. This lab contained his worst creations but this was the research that he would be remembered for. He steadily opened the door not wanting the cold to get in for too long he would close it the instant that he was in although doing this has caused considerable damage to the door as it had been slammed for the last 5 years every day and night in the same way. “What took you so long? The test subjects are getting active,” Psycho asked as he shook his head. He looked to his clipboard and examined the results “I came here to recruit some warriors for something amazing.” “You talk about it all the time. How you were responsible for the Doctor being dead and your ultimate plan to wipe out the Controllers. It gets boring. The test subjects are the main focus and you can use them when I have finished my experiments,” Dr Jeffers went to one of the test subjects as he put a hand to her back. He fiddled with her hair in his hand “she would look far better with purple hair. I will install it. We need them to all be iconic in some regard.” “I’m a Human. Not a lab animal,” Grace Valkry shouted as she tried to escape but felt far too weak. “Your name is very boring. Grace is such an ordinary Human name and we need your name to strike fear,” Dr Jeffers thought. “Electrix. I can just imagine our enemies screaming that name as she kills them,” Psycho chuckled as he then left the room and went outside. “Let me go,” Grace ordered as Dr Jeffers picked up a small touchpad and turned on the gasses towards Grace as a rush of sleeping gas went over her “you are a monster. Let me go. We are not even adults.” “Sleep. Please do not speak,” Dr Jeffers then did the biggest mistake off his life up to that point. He looked into one of his subjects eyes. Grace’s eyes shone a violent blue as Jeffers became overwhelmed with guilt. He felt tears pricking his eyes as he could finally see the Human in his experiments. There were four others and he looked towards them one by one suddenly having a weird affection for each one of them. He looked back to his touchpads as he changed the air currents and the various gasses. “I’m awake,” Martin grinned as the surrounding glass which was used to trap him then opened up. He could then walk outside off his cage as his foot hit the floor. He had not stepped outside off his tiny cage for as long as he could remember as the other five were also released. “No time for discovery. We need to escape,” Grace jumped up as she grabbed several coats which seemed far too big for them but they put them on anyway. They then opened the door which had seemed to have been unlocked when Psycho had left earlier. Grace looked back to Dr Jeffers and wanted to hurt him whilst he was vulnerable but knew they did not have enough time for such a meaningless act. “We do not know the outside world,” Mark pointed out to the others. “Then we do what we were made to do. Adapt and survive,” Stacey pointed out as Grace then opened the door. Outside was a frozen wasteland with strong wind causing an uproar of snow to go inside the science lab. “Shut it with the talking. We need to escape not have a tea party,” Kevin butted in as he grabbed a coat as they all stepped out of the door. They shut the door behind them as Kevin made sure that it was locked. “We need to go out into the wilderness,” Grace looked across the vast mass of snow that was ahead of them. It seemed to stretch on forever as they all began walking through it. The snow was being pushed forward by the wind as a snowstorm had picked up as it threatened to pull them back. “There is something in the mist. Perhaps it will kill us or could help us,” Mark saw through the mist as the others all looked the same direction. “They are the two options,” Kevin pointed out as they continued to move forward. The something in the mist began to become clearer as they approached it. “Some sort of vehicle?” Stacey was curious as an outline of a car emerged. “A car by the looks off it,” Martin touched it to see if it was real. “Just like on the TV. Awesome,” Grace chuckled as they all got inside. Kevin took to the wheel as he tried the engine. Nothing happened. “The electrics are knackered,” Kevin said to the others. “Well Grace has her power of electricity,” Stacey pointed out “zap it up Grace.” Grace put her hand on the front of the car. It was freezing as the snow continued to fall. The temperatures were well below zero and the snow was half way up the tires of the car and almost covered all of the cars inside. Grace was thinking about all the training that she had hated to do as she tried to channel the energy from her entire body into one hand. “I have not had any electricity for a few days. So I am running low,” Grace pointed out as she then felt several sparks at her hand. This then turned into a bolt as she could feel the electricity running through her. Then it burst out of her hand as Grace went flying into the air. She landed in the snow as Kevin tried the car again. It rumbled to life. “Good job. Now get back in,” Kevin ordered as Grace quickly got out of the snow and jumped back in the car. The group were throwing the snow out of the car so they could sit down without being entirely frozen. “So cold. At least it is not too hot,” Mark pointed out as he felt something tickling in his hand. Then he saw it, an orange tint had just come out. He tried again as this became even larger. “Fire?” Martin asked as he inspected it “is that your power Mark? Fire?” “Would seem so. I just have to improve it,” Mark then let out a metre long flame as the snow around them quickly went away. “What the hell do you think you are doing?” Kevin shouted from the front “there is a bunch of flammable gases in cars and you are just playing with fire. Enhance your ability later but for now just be quiet and do not try to use your powers until we reach a civilization.” “Killjoy,” Stacey chuckled as Kevin shot her an angered look which instantly made her quiet. *** They had been driving for over an hour in silence. There had been a few attempts at conversation but each one had been ruthlessly stopped by Kevin, this often took the form of a rant or a steely glare. In the distance there was smoke pouring out of a group of houses. “Over there,” Martin pointed out as Kevin looked to his right. He could see the smoke as he turned towards it “you really are a good driver for someone who has never driven before.” “We all used the simulators for this kind of thing,” Kevin pointed out “so all of us should be quite good drivers.” “Or loud drivers,” Stacey shouted into the wilderness. The snow showed no signs of letting up as the temperature stayed about the same at well below zero which is freezing to a group that had never been in anything below room temperature. “You know that I did not mean literally quiet drivers. There is no point in bothering with you sometimes,” Kevin neared the village as several of its citizens came out. They stood with daggers at their side ready for any danger that may present itself. “We come in peace,” Grace shouted making sure that the villagers heard them. “You do realise we are not an alien species?” Stacey pointed out. “This is exciting,” Mark squealed in excitement. He always wanted to be out of the lab that they had been placed in. Now they were out he felt even hungrier than ever for adventure. “Get out of the car,” one of the villagers ordered. They wore large coats which seemed to be made out of an older fabric, sheep’s fur was the fabric. “We want no trouble,” Kevin indicated for the others to get out of the car as they all did so. “Get on your knees with your hand on your head,” the same villager ordered as the five did so “now turn your back,” the villager continued as the group followed his orders now knee deep in snow. “Stop playing with them Chenko,” the other villager chuckled “you can get up. Welcome to the village of Hundai.” “Sounds like a car,” Stacey pointed out. The villagers seemed confused by this statement. “I’m Chenko as my friend Lytus has already pointed out. We are peaceful individuals who live the simple life along with the rest of Hundai,” Chenko pointed them over to the gates as they were opened electronically. “We do have advanced technology here which is only used for special circumstances and when it is needed. Like for security to keep away the Lukton’s that terrorise this place,” Lytus continued from his fellow villager. “All cool but can we stay in this place for a few days?” Martin asked as he looked towards Kevin who did not react despite having been undermined. “Of course. The more the merrier,” Chenko smiled. “You lot are seriously messed up,” Kevin said as the two villagers laughed at this, “Well that is a lot less strong that what most travellers go with when they meet us,” Lytus laughed as the group went past the gates. The gates then shut as several men and women were patrolling the area with machine guns by their side, they were laser powered which gave an increased chance of killing any invading forces that tried to make it through the gates. “Lytus could you take our guests to the guest houses? I have to go run some errands,” Chenko asked as Lytus nodded. “Sure thing. Come on you lot. First the registry office,” Lytus then led them to a building only a few metres away as they went inside it. The houses were made from wooden materials “I know what you are thinking. Wood houses for a group that have laser powered guns? Well it is all about supplies and no bricks get sent this far as the costs are no longer worth it.” “I am feeling exhausted. Just sign us in and let us rest,” Grace complained as she could barely feel her feet because of how cold her body had gotten. “Your names and age?” Lytus asked as he took a large book and got a pen out of his pocket. “I am Kevin, 18 years old, Stacey is 17 years old, Mark is 16 years old, Grace is 15 years old and Martin is 14 years old,” Kevin told Lytus as he quickly wrote it down. “The years old part was not needed. How about last names?” Lytus looked up from the book. He had put on a pair of think glasses which magnified his eyes. “Only Grace has a last name that we know about. Her full name is Grace Valkry,” Kevin waited as Lytus wrote this in. He then looked towards a large desk as behind it was a bunch of keys. He then grabbed one set of keys and threw it towards Kevin. “I can see that you are the leader in this group. Of course staying here is not entirely free. To earn your keep you will have to work for us but it is not very difficult. Just a few hours a day, three at most but we cannot just be giving houses to unknowns,” Lytus explained “now are you all okay with that? If so then sign here.” “We are,” Kevin analysed the nodding of the group as a means of agreement as he grabbed the pen and signed at the bottom. The group then did the same as they went up one by one. “Great. That is just boring administration nonsense that we have to do. Now enjoy your stay and be sure to come to the festival tonight,” Lytus grinned as the group left the building and went back out into the snow. “He never told us which one of the houses we were allowed to borrow,” Stacey pointed out as the group looked towards one another, seemingly perplexed. “This way,” Chenko joined back up with them as he brought them towards a house “do not try to leave the gates at night as the Lukton’s will rip you a part.” “Is this another joke?” Mark curiously asked. “Nope. Now enjoy your stay and remember to get a good night’s sleep as you have your three hours to work tomorrow and you do not want to be tired for that,” Chenko advised as he quickly rushed away once again, always in a hurry to get to something. “Weird place,” Grace muttered to herself. “Who are you?” A woman asked. She was over 40 years old as she seemed to be in a panic. “A group trying to live,” Mark told her. “You must leave before they get to you. People have been going missing that is why they are giving away houses for such little work. No one want to stay in Hundai anymore. It is dangerous,” the woman looked around “I am Tretka. Otherwise known as your only hope. Try and leave tonight before they take you as well.” “Are you serious or crazy?” Stacey asked as Tretka looked at her with blood shot eyes. “I am being serious and going crazy. Lytus is a lying weasel and Chenko will trap you. The houses are only made out of wood because it is easier to rebuild them after they burn them down with screaming people still inside,” Tretka quickly looked to her sides making sure that no one could hear her “you have one chance to get out of here. I am going to leave before I attract any attention. Make sure you take your chance.” Tretka ran off into another house as the soldiers looked towards the group who still had not entered the house. “Let’s go in,” Martin advised as Kevin put the key in the lock and unlocked it. He then went in with the others. “What is a weasel?” Mark asked the others. “An animal I think,” Grace thought for a moment “yes. Definitely an animal. We really should have went out more.” “I’m sure we would have if we could have,” Stacey pointed out “at least we were allowed to watch TV for a few hours a day which was always heavily censored. Although it was only to make us slightly more obedient test subjects.” “What do you think Tretka was talking about?” Mark asked the others “I think she seems a bit crazy. Perhaps just trying to terrify us like how Chenko and Lytus were joking with us earlier on.” “Whatever she is we better keep an eye out. Make sure that we do not get sent back to that place. We will grab supplies and then be off,” Kevin told them “but we will need to sleep first. Do the three hour work requirement and then get as much food as possible and fuel for the car then we will be on our way.” “Sounds like a plan,” Grace quickly ran up the stairs as the others quickly followed as they were deciding their rooms. “One room downstairs and four rooms upstairs,” Kevin called “Grace you will be downstairs.” “Why me?” Grace complained as she grudgingly went down the stairs. “You have been able to utilise your powers far better than any of us have done,” Kevin pointed out as Grace took a large double bed downstairs. “Big bed so that it is not too bad,” Grace chuckled as the others were still squabbling over who should have the biggest room. “It really doesn’t matter. We will hopefully only be here for a night,” Kevin shouted but it did not seem to lower the constant arguing between them. Kevin went towards the smallest room as he got into the bed and instantly went to sleep just happy to be sleeping on a proper bed. *** Grace could not sleep. She was far too excited to get too sleep after they had escaped the lab. It had been the greatest day of Grace’s life as she had thought about how they had escaped. “Dr Jeffers may have had a change of heart,” Grace tried to reason with herself “perhaps we triggered the last remnants of humanity within him.” Grace began to doubt this as he had not done it for the last previous years that she had been in there for. Then she heard a scream. Grace wondered what to do as she stayed still. Then the screaming continued. There were no windows inside as Grace got up from her bed. She was still in the same cloths as the previous night having not found any other clothes. “Please, help me,” Tretka screamed from the square as Grace ran out of her room and towards the front door. “Let’s save someone,” Grace tried to open the door but it was locked. She saw a key on the side and grabbed it “now I can do this.” Grace put the key in the door and turned it, nothing happened. Like it was one way. The screaming had now been reduced as they placed a hood over Tretka’s head. Grace ran back and then ran towards the door as it buckled. She then ran back and then ran towards the door again as she went straight through it. The door was in pieces as Grace looked towards two men who were holding Tretka and pushing her away from the houses and towards the gates. “Don’t let them kill me,” Tretka screamed but her voice was mostly muffled by the hood that she wore over her face. “I won’t,” Grace muttered under her breath. “Shut it. Your time is up,” one of the men muttered in a gravelly voice. They both wore masks over their faces as the soldiers looked to one another as they let the men past. The gates opened as Grace reached the soldiers. They pointed their guns towards her. “On your knees. We are getting rid of a contamination. This citizen has been found to have a disease which could wipe out the entire of Hundai. This is purely to save our community,” Lytus said from above as the two masked men then threw Tretka outside of the community and out of the gates. “Doubt it. Excuses,” Grace spat as Lytus chuckled. “Enjoy your stay. We have the communities best interests at hearts,” Lytus pointed back to the main area where some people were getting some decorations ready but they could not see the gates well enough to know what was going on. The soldiers were blocking their view. “She is innocent. You’re corrupt,” Grace felt the energy from one of the guns as she tried to drag it out. Grace had practised this for years in the lab but actually being there was entirely different. “You cannot do anything now,” Lytus pointed out. Grace took the energy from one of the laser guns as she then used it as electricity as she pointed it at the gate. The gate then stopped from closing. Grace felt more energy coming in from the weapons they had as she began storing it. “Why did the gate stop?” Chenko pulled off one of the masks, he had been one of the two who had carried Tretka out. Tretka ran towards the partially open gate. She was met by soldiers who were pointing their guns at her. “Let her in,” Grace pleaded feeling the energy bubbling towards her hands. “No,” Lytus simply said as a growl could be heard from the distance. “If we do not get her out there then the beast may be able to get in here,” Chenko told Lytus as he saw Grace “hello there. Go back to your house. We are just keeping you safe.” “Are you?” Grace then let out a wave of electricity as it poured out of her. It hit the surrounding soldiers as they went off their feet and into the air. The soldiers all fell to the ground, unconscious. Tretka took her opportunity as she ran back into Hundai. “Thank you. I have no disease. We need to escape as the beast will go through that gate soon, perhaps even before the soldiers get to us,” Tretka sounded panicked. “Exactly,” Grace murmured as she pointed her hand towards the gate and shut it. “That is at least one less problem to worry about,” Tretka ran past the various decorations which were going up, getting ready for the festival that was going to happen later on in the night. “Back to the house where my lot are staying at,” Grace ordered as she jumped over what was left of the door. “You really went to some extent to save me,” Tretka spotted the broken door. “Every life deserves to be saved,” Grace smiled as she ran up the stairs “wake up. You lot of idiots wake up as our lives depend on it.” “What is the shouting about?” Stacey poked her head around the door. “I saved Tretka. Soldiers unconscious. They will kill us when conscious, probably,” Grace simply explained as the others started to go into the hallway. They were all tired having been woken up after just a few hours’ sleep. “Hurry up,” Kevin was instantly up and raring to go as he quickly ran down the stairs as the others started to follow his example. The group went out of the door as the soldiers were starting to wake up. They ran towards the group as their weapons were recharging as they moved through kinetic movement which was converted into bolts of electricity. “Get back here,” Lytus shouted to the group as he pulled a handgun from his side that was not laser charged. Chenko did the same as they started to run after the group. They stopped for a moment and slowly started going backwards and towards the gate knowing that was the only way out. “Why would we do that?” Stacey asked the others “I mean. We are trying to escape from then why would we go towards them?” “Just bad guy talk,” Martin pointed out. “Fire,” Mark shouted as fire came out of his hand. “Not this again. Just don’t over use it,” Stacey warned “we do not need to have someone on fire because you got carried away.” “How will we escape? There is only the gate and that seems to be pretty well covered,” Kevin pointed out as he looked towards the soldiers who were standing at the gate. Some were searching for them but most of them were waiting. “I’ve got food and petrol if you need it. Come to my house. Over the years I have created a secret escape compartment,” Tretka told them as they ran into a small house. She walked through the door which had been broken down earlier on when she was taken. “Why did you not use it?” Martin asked as they continued down the hallway and into a side room. There were food rations which covered the ground as the group carried as much as then could take. Drinks were also there along with petrol tanks. “I did not have enough time to make it. They grabbed me when I was sleeping it is only because of your friend that I was not fed to the beasts that roam this place,” Tretka opened a lid at the bottom as she lifted it up revealing a tunnel “I got fuel in case I had some travellers who I could escape with ideally having a car. Do you have one?” “Yes. Around the front we parked it. A bit away from the gate,” Kevin remembered as they jumped down to the tunnel. It was a cold, damp place which smelt horrible. “Not the best of places but at least we are escaping,” Mark evaluated the positives and negatives of the situations which he always liked to do. He saw everything good and everything bad in anyone and anything. “It has been so long since I have planned this but you need others when you want to survive out there,” Tretka sighed as she realised how long she had spent there “they never took action until now. Because I dared warn others about the horrors of this place.” “Let’s just get out of here then we can talk,” Kevin told her as Tretka could already tell that Kevin was the leader of the group. *** The group went on for another twenty minutes until they came to the end. A small ladder awaited them as they climbed up it and into the snowy wastelands which they were starting to get used to. They were just outside of the large walls which surrounded the entirety of Hundai, except the gate which was for imports and exports. “So we just have to get to the car?” Grace asked as she looked to see where the village ended, it seemed more like a town with the size that it was. “Exactly. We can go there quickly,” Tretka touched the large wall and hit it five times. She then started to move around the wall without moving her legs as the others did the same. “To allow the guards to move around the perimeter as quickly as possible. Very smart,” Stacey figured out as she was enjoying the speed off it. It seemed to increase the longer they stayed on it. Within five minutes they were near the gate as they jumped off one by one. “We’re here,” Martin chuckled as he could see the front gates. “They must be around here somewhere. Search that vile Tretka’s place,” Lytus shouted as the soldiers did as they were told. “How did you make that underground tunnel?” Grace was curious about how one women could make a mile long tunnel. “It was there before. Me and husband who died last year renovated it and planned an escape,” Tretka smiled as she remembered how her life used to be. “Lukton’s,” Kevin looked around “a Lukton is a beast to these people. We have even heard it mentioned. But what are they and how can they be defeated?” “Don’t say its name. Too many bad memories,” Tretka shivered at the thought as she remembered how her husband had been savagely killed last year. “Let’s get going,” Kevin told them as they all got into the car. Kevin then started the engine as Lytus and Chenko looked around as they saw the car going away. They both were shooting at the car. “Open this gate, NOW!” Lytus ordered as the gate opened and Lytus and Chenko along with a few soldiers then ran towards the car. They were shooting at it as Kevin struggled to get it going in the snow. The car choked back into life as Tretka was pouring petrol in the fuel tank. Kevin got the wheels going as they had spikes on them for better grip in the snow. “Run at them,” Chenko ordered as they ran towards the car. The car started to pick up a bit of pace. “Hurry up, you always wanted to be a race driver so be one,” Stacey urged as this got on Kevin’s nerves. “I mentioned it once when I was watching F1 when I was seven,” Kevin shouted as the car roared as it launched forward in a quicker way than it had done so before. “Shoot the tires,” Lytus advised as the tires were getting shot at. The spikes in the reflected most of them but they were not invincible “it is working. I can see them slowing.” “Nope. Just giving you hope,” Kevin shouted above the engine as he launched forward and went well ahead of the runners. They gave up soon afterwards as Lytus threw his gun to the ground and stamped the ground whilst as Chenko just turned back and made sure that no one else escaped the village as there were questioning minds as the festival had just started. “Where are we going?” Mark asked the others. “I will tell us where to go. In a route well away from the various beasts. Let’s go to the biggest city in the world, Platinum City,” Tretka smiled as Kevin nodded as Tretka leaned forward and started to give instructions “I cannot drive but I do know the way. Just lean left for around a mile and then I will give you more instructions.” *** A large black four by four rolled up to the gate. The figure looked at it as he awaited for it to open. When it opened the four by four went through it as Lytus and Chenko were both waiting for it just a bit away from the festival that was going on. The figure got out of the vehicle and stood in front of them dressed all in black, with a large coat and hat to suit the weather. “We are sorry,” Lytus was already on his knees. As was Chenko as they had their hands held forward. “Not good enough. At least your hands are empty,” Psycho walked towards them as he took out a gun and put it towards Lytus’s head. “Please don’t. I beg off you not to kill me,” Lytus felt tears pricking at his eyes. “You both failed me. I told you to keep them hear for a few hours. I wanted to observe them after Doctor Jeffers let them out,” Psycho loaded the weapon as he continued to press it towards his temple as he felt like passing out. “What happened to him?” Chenko felt weirdly safe at this point as the gun was not pointing towards him “is Doctor Jeffers still alive?” “Of course he is. A genius of a man whose mind can in some areas even be able to outdo mine,” Psycho looked from one of them to the other “the brothers who look nothing like each other. I guess that is because one of your parents slept around quite a bit.” “Don’t get angry Chenko,” Lytus ordered. Chenko quickly went from his pocket and pulled a pistol out. Before he could fire it Psycho shot him in the hand as Chenko let go off the gun. It fell to the snow. Psycho stood over him as he pulled the trigger five times. Three times in the brain and twice in the heart as he was lifeless within moments. “Do you wish to defy me Lytus?” Psycho asked as Lytus was too shocked too answer. He saw the redness of the blood as it poured onto the white snow. “No sir. I will try to improve,” Lytus nodded. “I really did not want to kill any of you as what help are you dead but when one of you tries to kill me, well, let us just say that there is only one option,” Psycho put his gun back into his inside pocket as he walked away from Chenko’s body. Lytus instantly when to check if there was any way that his brother may have survived as he shouted into the night sky. “That girl. Have you seen the footage? She was the one responsible for them escaping,” Lytus uttered as Psycho turned back. “I know. Her powers are very good in high pressure situations. This was all meant to show how their abilities can work. Well it turned into an experiment after Doctor Jeffers had let them out because off his turn o heart,” Psycho explained as Lytus went back into the town “you will go to Platinum City and get them back. Alive. Or your village will be destroyed.” “Can we stop having to give you people? The people are turning on me,” Lytus shouted as Psycho got back into his car. “I will be in contact,” Psycho shouted back as the black four by four poured away from the Hundai. *** “What is the problem?” Tretka asked as Kevin was still in the car. The others had gotten out and were heading towards the entrance. It was still dark outside but in a few hours it would begin to get lighter once again. “This place seems to be familiar. Maybe I was from there,” Kevin pondered as he tried to remember the entirely metal exterior which extended for hundreds of miles with the entire area being closed off. There is a roof at the top which can be opened to let it sunshine. Platinum City was created to battle the vast amounts of scavengers and numerous gangs that had entered the city before the time that it had the vast amount of steel placed around it. “We can go in there and see what will happen,” Mark suggested, “Perhaps you will find your parents. We all hope to someday,” Grace pointed out as Kevin gave in and came out of the car and towards the entrance of Platinum City. “Let us in,” Tretka called at the steel wall as she hit it with her hand several times. “Identification required,” a small speaker placed in front of the metal wall called as Tretka walked up to it “identification will be required if you want entry into Platinum City.” “I’m Tretka. You know that,” Tretka said as there was a small pause. “Welcome back. It’s been several years but your voice is recognisable anywhere,” the voice called as the metal doors opened as several soldiers with guns were waiting the other side. “A great greeting,” Stacey shouted as the soldiers left their guns hanging in the air. “Sorry about that. They are safe,” a man stepped forward, the same from the small speaker. “Jeffrey. Nice to see that it is still you answering the communications,” Tretka hugged the man as he smiled briefly. “I know. I am only here a few weeks a year to make sure that the city is running well. I am actually a big shot agent now,” Jeffrey grinned as he pulled out a badge “a badge and everything! I am only an agent at the moment but I have my eyes on being a captain soon. Captain Avery sounds cool.” “Just let us in or kick us out,” Mark shouted as he felt annoyed by the standing around in the cold. The soldiers lowered their guns as they then walked away as the steel doors closed once again. “What brings you back? The last time I saw you a city by the name of Hundai was waiting as you wanted to retire in your late 30s,” Jeffrey asked as Tretka sighed deeply. “That was the plan but the city is corrupt and my husband is dead,” Tretka felt tears pricking her eyes at the mere mention of his name “now in my early 40s and I am back.” “Less chit chat. Let’s sleep,” Kevin ordered as Jeffrey showed them the way back to his house. *** After a good night’s sleep and the dark skies finally changing to their light ways which was normal for the daytime on most planets. Jeffrey Avery was in his mid-30s as he often contemplated what he would do next. His life had taken some pretty wild turns but now he felt safe despite doing the most dangerous jobs that he had ever done. “There has been an unprecedented amount of chaos in the last few weeks,” Jeffrey sat the group around a small fire in the middle of his living room “after the death of the Doctor the universe has seemed to just given in to violence.” “The TV makes him sound like a god-like figure,” Grace remembered. “He was. For a time. I’m sure if you have had any access to any TV then you would have seen it on the news,” Jeffrey remembered when he had heard the news, he had been partying earlier on in that day after being shortlisted for the captaincy of the intergalactic squad. But the news made his day far worse than any other that he had ever lived and probably would ever live. “We’ve had first hand accounts of the events,” Martin told Jeffrey “Psycho often referred to his part in it and how he would destroy the universe with his plan of making a whole new force.” “What force?” Jeffrey sat forward in his seat. “Us,” Grace answered. “You?” Jeffrey scratched his head in confusion. “We all have some sort of powers,” Kevin started “Grace has electricity, Mark has fire abilities, Martin can sometimes mind read although only in some situations. Me and Stacey we are still unsure about.” “You are thinking that you feel left out as you do not have any powers,” Martin observed “you are emotionally vulnerable when you start talking about us. I think that is when I can read minds.” “So you two may have powers which we do not know about?” Tretka asked as she felt pulled into this situation. “Perhaps,” Stacey thought. She wondered what sort of power she would like. “I can check,” Jeffrey went into another room. When he came back he had a small machine with a tiny prick on the end “this may hurt but can tell us what sort of powers you may have or even activate them.” “Why do you have a cat?” Kevin asked as a cat strolled into the room. “It may be hungry, or dying,” Mark said as he was unsure of what to think off this cat that he had only ever seen on the TV. “Hungry. I have a cat as they are good luck. Lucky is her name. I lost a bet and he decided to name the cat that’s been hit by lightning three times and has been hit by a car four times as Lucky. She also pushed some of my poker chips onto the table and I ended up losing my house,” Jeffrey stroked the top of the cat as Lucky purred. “Get back to experimenting on them,” Martin urged. Jeffrey went away from the cat and pushed the end of the device with the prick towards their hands. He quickly pressed as a drop of blood went out of Stacey’s hand. “At least give some warning. That hurt,” Stacey complained as Jeffrey analysed the results. “It did not hurt. Nothing more than a small prick,” Jeffrey could see what the results were telling him as he double checked to be sure “your blood appears to be changing into the same material as this machine and the data proves it. You can turn into anything you touch if you really think about it.” “Really? Awesome,” Stacey touched the floor as she tried to really think about it. “You have to be less tense for this to work,” Jeffrey advised as Stacey went into a happier place. She felt calm as she could feel a part of her hand turn into the wooden ground of below as she lifted her hand and felt it. It was wooden. “How do I get rid off it?” Stacey felt freaked out, not wanting to stay that way for the rest of her life. “Just think that you want to be back to normal. And relax when you are doing it. The more practise you get the quicker you can be at becoming the material and getting rid of the material,” Jeffrey then went towards Kevin who already had his hand out. Jeffrey pricked his hand as a drop of blood fell onto the machine. Jeffrey then began analysing it wondering how to interpret the information. “What is the news? Do I have abilities?” Kevin asked as he felt excited for what the results would be. Jeffrey tapped a few buttons on the machine as the blood turned blue. “Tell Lucky to get out of here,” Jeffrey asked. “Lucky. Get out,” Kevin ordered but nothing happened. “In a calm and soothing voice. The voice that hypnotists often use,” Jeffrey said as Kevin took in a deep breath as he looked straight at Lucky. “Lucky,” Kevin sounded calmer than before “get out.” Lucky walked out of the room without hesitation “can I do that to Humans?” “Highly doubtful. Perhaps one day when you enhance your abilities you could,” Jeffrey informed Kevin as he looked around the room at the other’s expressions “what are you all looking at? Never seen someone figure out the powers of super humans before?” “Well … no,” Grace answered as Jeffrey shook his head. “Sarcasm. Learn it. Most Humans use it and other species. Except the Lukton’s as they only know the language of how to eat,” Jeffrey turned on the TV that was settled at the end of the room. “Can you get any good channels or even bad channels?” Mark complained as several channels featuring aliens came up. Jeffrey went through the channels. “Never anything good on at this time. Bad channels come in their truck loads but none of you would really want to watch bad TV. I would just go to somewhere like Earth if I really wanted to bore myself with bad channels,” Jeffrey got up “I need to go and continue my post. We will need to talk about Psycho when I get back.” “Psycho? Well he is a villain I suppose,” Stacey muttered as the group turned to watch TV that would be something different to some off the other dreadful programmes that Psycho used to put on. *** Jeffrey Avery took up his post as he sat on a chair with a speaker on it. We wished they had camera but the Major of the town did not believe in cameras, how could someone not believe in cameras? Jeffrey pondered to himself, I mean. They are clearly real so how could you not believe that they were not real, ridiculous. “Hello there,” Lytus spoke quietly as he went next to the small speaker. He felt near to freezing as he rubbed his hands together. He wore black gloves but they seemed to be having little effect on his overall body temperature and wellbeing. “Hello to you too. How may I help you?” Jeffrey asked in his happiest and most cheerful tone. “Well, I need to get in to see a cousin of mine,” Lytus tried. “Name of cousin, both first and last name and could you show me your permission slip?” Jeffrey had gotten good and knowing when people were telling him a lie or were telling the truth. “Grace Valkry. I am her cousin Tommy Valkry,” Lytus lied as Jeffrey pondered this for a moment. “We have no occupants with that name,” Jeffrey told Lytus who began pacing, it was what he did when he was nervous. “Thank you for your time. I will be off then,” Lytus turned around and started walking back. “How strange,” Jeffrey went away from the microphone so that Lytus could not hear him. Lytus’s feet crunched in the snow as they went away. Jeffrey got up and headed out of the door. *** “Are you Grace Valkry?” Jeffrey asked as grace looked up from the sofa which was being heated by the fire that continued in the middle of the living room. “Yep. Why?” Grace was curious as she sat up to hear the explanation. “Because I heard someone who claimed to be called Tommy Valkry claim to be your cousin,” Jeffrey told them. “Why is that weird?” Martin asked. “Because how would this cousin know where she was,” Stacey explained before Jeffrey could get a word in. “Exactly. I am unsure if this man is who he says he is and I highly doubt it which means that it must be someone chasing you,” Jeffrey thought back to what the others had been talking to him about. “It’s Lytus. Always a slimy snake,” Tretka spat on the fire to show her feelings towards Lytus “always trying to impress his brother Chenko or the mystery employer.” “That is Psycho. He was spotted in the village of Hundai earlier on by one of our undercover agents,” Jeffrey pondered what this could all mean as he tried to add it all up “that means he is after you lot and if he thinks you may be there then he just may attack this city just to find you. He will rip it a part to find his Special Ones.” “Special Ones?” Kevin raised an eyebrow at this. “Could mean we are gifted or it could be an attempt at patronising us,” Mark was waiting for Jeffrey’s answer as he would decide whether to relight the fire. “I was thinking of calling you Special One but then thought there are five of you, so Special Ones in order to stop calling you the group of having to refer to you individually every time I am talking about all of you,” Jeffrey explained “and I meant it in a good way of course.” “Special Ones it is,” Grace chuckled at their new name “feels like we are supposed to wear capes and save the world.” “At least leave a bit for me or I will be out of a job,” Jeffrey laughed along. Tretka was stroking Lucky examining the cat. “Your cat looks a bit beaten. Perhaps it is dying,” Tretka observed as she investigated the cats eyes “bloodshot eyes. Limp when it walks and poor response.” “Old age. Every species has to experience it eventually in one form or another,” Jeffrey looked towards Lucky, he was concerned for the cat but unsure what they could actually do to help it. “On this map there appears to be a missile moving towards this large area,” Kevin pointed out as Jeffrey turned to observe it. “Not very encouraging,” Stacey gulped “it says that it is heading towards Platinum City.” “This city must have defences,” Grace tried as she looked towards Jeffrey for an answer. “It may be the biggest city on the entirety of Rotas but it is just a bunch of steel. Perhaps it will dampen the effect that the missile could have,” Tretka observed as she tried to find any sort of hope that they could cling onto. “Down here,” Jeffrey jumped from his seat and went towards a flight of stairs. He observed them for several moments and then decided to go down them. The others quickly followed as Martin brought the map with him as the missile was nearing. The map was a 3D representation of Rotas and made in order to protect the world but it would be no help when a missile was coming, the map was more of an early warning alarm that had forgotten to go off. “Underground bunker?” Martin asked. “For this sort of emergency,” Jeffrey pressed a hand on the door as he had reached the bottom of the stairs. He waited until the touchpad had turned green and then opened the door. The others were quick to follow. “Do you have way of stopping this or are we all going to die?” Mark asked as Jeffrey went towards the centre of the bunker which had piles of food and several seats along the middle. Jeffrey then looked towards a table and sat on the chair going into it. Martin laid out the map on the table as they tracked the missile heading straight towards Platinum City. “No. The only help there is available has already been called but we only have a few seconds until it hits and they were alerted only a few minutes ago,” Jeffrey explained as he tried to think of ways to stop the missile. It then came within centimetres of impact on the chart. Everything fell silent. Then the missile hit. “I hate this,” Tretka complained. “We all do,” Grace shouted as the bunker shook violently. On the map there was a collapse of the steel box which surrounded the city. The steel shook several times as it leaned onto the left side. “It looks fine,” Stacey breathed in. “More missiles incoming,” Jeffrey called as the others looked as worried as each other. “Can you call Psycho? Or communicate with him?” Grace asked. “Perhaps. We may be able to isolate his area and communicate with him,” Jeffrey moved his fingers around the 3D map as he looked to where the missiles had been coming from “opening a communication channel. Get ready.” “Hello?” Psycho’s face appeared on top of the map. The group looked towards him in utter shock. “Stop this,” Grace ordered as Psycho turned to face her. “Grave, Kevin, Stacey, Martin and Mark. All of my Special Ones,” Psycho started laughing manically as Jeffrey was wondering how he knew. “How did you know what I called the group?” Jeffrey shouted at Psycho. “I have been watching you. I will only stop these missiles if you all come back to the lab,” Psycho demanded as the group looked to one another. “Be right back,” Jeffrey turned off the communication channel as the others looked towards each other in shock. “They will all die if we do not,” Stacey pleaded to the others. “But if we give ourselves to him then we will either be killed or have our minds completely wiped to make sure this sort of thing does not happen again,” Kevin pointed out “he will then use our stupid minds and have our abilities and kill so many more people than this one city.” “If we do not leave then he will hunt us down until he has killed us,” Martin said “I cannot allow anyone to die because we are too stubborn. Let’s see who can kill who first.” “So we could die or live?” Mark pondered. “This is crazy,” Tretka stroked lucky “no kid should have this sort of choice to make.” “But they have to and them alone. It is them who this effects,” Jeffrey got up and started to frantically go around the 3D map. “Or we could kill him,” Grace looked towards them, one by one “we all have powers. Like Martin said we have to kill him before he kills us. I believe that we can do this. I have electricity, Mark has fire, Stacey can turn into objects around her, Martin can get into minds of the emotionally vulnerable and Kevin can control animals and lead this group to victory. So let’s stand up against this vile man. The one who has experimented on us for years with help from the devil of Doctor Jeffers. Let’s defeat him and be free from him. Who is with me?” “I am,” Stacey went towards the middle of the room as Grace put her hand out. Stacey joined her as she put her hand on top off Graces. “Why not?” Martin muttered as he put his hand in the middle as well. “Well we could die but the whole city will collapse otherwise,” Mark weighed up his options as his hand was hesitant to go into the middle “I will,” Mark put his hand in the middle to join with the others. “How about our group leader?” Grace asked as she looked towards Kevin. He sat with his arms crossed, looking away from the rest of the group. “Our options show a clear path. We are special,” Kevin stood up as he walked towards the door “so we are the only ones who can stop Psycho.” “Put your hand in the middle,” Stacey urged as Kevin stood still at the door. “There is no point. When the decision has already been made,” Kevin argued as the group waited for him. He looked at Jeffrey and Tretka as they seemed to be expecting him to do something. “It is symbolic,” Grace said as Kevin walked towards the middle and put his hand on top “our hands being up here mean we all have a sense of duty. We all agree to kill Psycho ourselves. To stop this city being bombarded. Let’s kill a madman.” “You kids cannot do this alone. I will get support for any such encounter,” Jeffrey looked back to his 3D map as the missiles had stopped on the map. “Fine. But try to be discreet as he may just send missiles to any support that you may send out,” Kevin pointed out. “Will do,” Jeffrey went back to his 3D map to plan the attack. “Hello there,” Psycho’s head appeared on top of the 3D map again “have you reached a decision?” “They have agreed to surrender on the condition that this city is guaranteed to be safe from your missiles and attacks,” Jeffrey demanded. “Fine. But you may have a little help in getting here,” Psycho’s head disappeared from the 3D map once again. There was silence in the room as they looked to one another. “Help?” Tretka asked. “Not a clue,” Jeffrey admitted. There was then four quick knocks at the door. “Did you leave your house unlocked?” Martin asked as there were another four knocks. “You may want to open up, Jeffrey Avery,” Lytus’s voice came through the door. Jeffrey looked around the room as he found it, a pistol, he quickly checked if it had any ammunition in it, it did. “Why would I possibly want to open the door to this room?” Jeffrey shouted back as there was a growl heard from the other side of the door. “Tick, tick, tick,” Lytus muttered. “No. Impossible,” Jeffrey then heard a quiet clock like sound as he inspected it “how did you get a bomb in my house?” “There is a bomb in every house. Sometimes two bombs deciding on rooms because if one of the citizens dares opposes Psycho then they will be killed. A guaranteed death,” Lytus chuckled as Jeffrey went to open the door. “You lot ready?” Jeffrey asked as the Special Ones smiled. They got out of their hands in the middle bit and went into fighting stances. The lights flickered as Grace took the electricity from them. Stacey put her hand to the ground as her hand began turning into steel. It then stopped as she could still move her hand like she could before. But this time it was made of steel. Mark felt the flames from his hands begin to rise up whilst Martin and Kevin waited in the background. “Try to make him emotionally vulnerable,” Martin said “then I can control him.” “Sure thing. Mind games,” Jeffrey whispered as he was near towards the door and did not want Lytus to hear what they were saying. “Hurry up already. I could make the bomb explode at an earlier time,” Lytus threatened. Jeffrey opened the door as he held his gun up. He was hit backwards as a Lukton hit him backwards. It ran into the room as Grace shot a bolt of electricity at it, but she had not gotten enough as it only momentarily stopped. Stacey hit the Lukton with her steel hand as the Lukton pushed Stacey backwards. It went towards Kevin as it scratched his face leaving a large cut. Kevin forced himself to feel calm as he looked towards the Lukton as it raised one of its arms in the air, about to take another swing at him. “Stop,” Kevin muttered as they were now all facing Kevin. The Lukton looked confused as it went away from him “leave the room. Get out of here.” “What is happening?” Lytus shouted as the Lukton pushed past him and left. Jeffrey s=then shot several times at Lytus. The bullets stopped before they hit him seeming to disintegrate before they made impact “force field. Keep up Jeffrey.” “Chenko. Where is he?” Grace asked. “Dead or alive?” Mark continued from Grace as Lytus looked uneasy. He raised a weapon up. “None of your business,” Lytus muttered as Martin got closer “try to do one more step.” “Okay,” Martin took another step as Lytus backed up. Lytus felt strange as his head began to hurt. He put a hand to it not understanding what was happening “you are under my control now. You will disable your force field.” “Yes,” Lytus closed his eyes for a moment. The visual space around him seemed to change as Mark stepped towards him. He had a fire bolt in his hand as he put it towards Lytus’s face, burning his face as Lytus then screamed out and collapsed towards the ground. Kevin walked in with a large cut to the left side of his face. “I’m sorry but you were trying to kill us,” Mark explained as his voice felt chocked. He then walked past Lytus who was on his knees. “Go away,” Lytus demanded as his hands were on his face. “The hypnosis breaks when pain is involved,” Martin observed as he made a mental note off it. “What do we do with him?” Tretka asked as she felt no sorrow towards this man “he deserves to be shot and disposed off. Then perhaps we can finally move on from this whole thing.” “It may be the best way,” Jeffrey raised his gun up and loaded it. He pushed it towards Lytus’s head. “Please don’t. I have information,” Lytus begged as Jeffrey looked back to the others. “You should hear him out, or kill him, it is your choice,” Mark struggled to decide which way he wanted it to go like with so many decisions that he had to make in the past. “Depends on the information,” Kevin muttered as he winced with the pain that his face was enduring. It had just been ripped a part by a gigantic beast so a plaster would not go amiss. “Tretka’s husbands whereabouts. He hid in this city. I can bring him to you if you promise to let me go afterwards,” Lytus begged for his life. The others wondered whether he was telling the truth “I would not lie when my life is at stake. What would be the point?” “A trap,” Martin muttered. “It’s not,” Lytus looked around, he looked into each one of their eyes. “Perhaps it is not,” Stacey tried as she tried to see if Lytus was telling the truth. “Your decision Tretka,” Jeffrey gave Tretka the choice. She thought about it but to make the decision would be very difficult as she hated Lytus and would like to see him lying on the ground with several bullets in his head and perhaps a few in the body for good measure and that it would be fun to shoot him over and over again. “My husband meant the world to me. If he somehow escaped death when I saw him getting ripped a part then why would he want to fake his death?” Tretka asked. She faced Lytus who was still covering his face attempting to seal his wounds. “He didn’t have an option. We saved his life from certain death and he promised not to return to Hundai. We had to make sure that he did not rally up supports for an escape that he had been planning,” Lytus explained. “We?” Tretka asked. “Me and Chenko,” Lytus gulped as he felt his eyes begin to get blurry once again. “Is he dead?” Grace asked. “Yes. Psycho shot him to teach me a lesson about not betraying him. Please believe me. If I disobey Psycho then he will kill me,” Lytus then pulled out a small device from his pockets. His letting go off his face revealed little damage with only a few black marks and cuts from having his face set on fire. “Why are you given me this?” Jeffrey asked, still holding the gun at Lytus’s head. “To stop the bomb,” Lytus smiled as Jeffrey quickly went through the various settings as he found a folder marked bombs and scrolled down to Captain Avery and then disabled both of the bombs that had been placed in his house. One in the bedroom walls which was not activated but had not been disabled and the one in the bunker where they were just at. “Let him show us where my husband is,” Tretka managed to say it all before she could change her mind. Lytus breathed out a sigh of relief. “You are not going to regret this,” Lytus walked towards the front door as the others followed, making sure that Lytus could not escape. The city streets were almost deserted as almost everyone had ran inside. Except the homeless who had nowhere to go. “Here are the keys to my house. Go to the bunker and stay there,” Jeffrey ordered a group of the homeless as they eagerly grabbed the keys “just over there and help yourself to whatever you want. There is nothing of real value in there. Well to me anyway.” “That was a very nice thing to do,” Stacey observed “what are you getting out of it?” “How dare you even suggest such a thing? I am just a nice person. Can no one ever be nice anymore?” Jeffrey asked as Stacey raised an eyebrow. “No they cannot. It is not going to be reported if you tell me,” Stacey promised. “Money hopefully. It is near impossible to fund anything that we need so the only way to do it is hope that some of the homeless population will trash your house and take as much as they can except the stuff I bring,” Jeffrey explained “but the stuff I bring I still claim was stolen. All very smart if you think about it.” “That is wrong. Lying to your superiors,” Kevin shook his head as drops of blood went onto the ground below. “Only to do the right thing,” Jeffrey pointed out. “Just around this corner,” Lytus muttered as he tried to remember the route. He turned a corner and then went up to a small garden with a red door at the front. He knocked on the door four times which was his usual pattern. He felt somehow secure by this “open up Krodik.” “One moment,” a deep and gravelly voice shouted, often referred to as Krodik. Like sandpaper was going against his vocal cord “why are you here Lytus?” “First open the door and secondly you will find out,” Lytus shouted back as Krodik opened the door up. He looked at Lytus then towards the group. “Who is that over there?” Krodik shouted as Tretka was standing away from all the door. She wanted to make sure that it was truly Krodik and that she was not falling into a trap. “It’s me,” Tretka called out as Krodik pushed past them and instantly went to hug Tretka. They stayed in each other’s arms for several moments as they were finally together after so long apart. It had been hard for both of them but now they were back in each other’s arms. “Thank God you are back here. They told me that you had hung yourself,” Krodik closed his eyes for a few moments “I never want this moment to end.” “Let’s go to Psycho and leave the two alone,” Grace suggested as this seemed to be agreed by the group. They went away from them. “Where has he gone?” Jeffrey quickly looked around. “He escaped whilst we were all seeing how this played out,” Martin observed. “Or perhaps he is inside the house,” Mark added on as Kevin listened to any movement inside the house “or perhaps he has escaped.” “Unsure. He is not our main concern. Our priority is to find Psycho and neutralize him,” Kevin ordered as the rest of the group nodded in agreement. “Once we kill him then we can hunt the inferior Lytus. He is scum anyway,” Stacey said as the group then set off walking towards the exit of platinum City. “I will come as well,” Jeffrey quickly ran after them “you will need protection.” “We have super powers. I think we will be fine,” Grace pointed out as she stopped in front of a neon sign and started taking the electricity from it. “This may take a few minutes,” Stacey looked to her wrist and tapped it twice “hurry up.” “A few more minutes,” Grace felt the electricity flow through her. Stacey realised that her hand was still steel as she thought about it not being steel and it started to change to her normal hand. It was a relief to feel the warmth of her own hand again but it quickly began to get cold due to the snowy climate and low temperature of Rotas. *** In the midst of the wilderness there was an entire species of Lukton’s. Residents of Rotas regularly have security guards who guard the house. They also have fences surrounding their perimeter which are often heavily guarded. The Lukton’s were a wild race which used to be so rare that they were mythical but around a hundred years ago there was an incident. This incident involved a scientist, cloning and drastic mixing of DNA. “That is all these creatures are good for. Scaring, killing and eaten these annoying people on this god forsaken planet,” Psycho complained to no one in particular. There were a few others in the room with him. All of military level that possessed power to other planets. “At least you do not have to hide your operations,” Zelstro complained to nods from the others sitting around the table. There were dozens of soldiers outside guarding the perimeter as the other military leaders did not trust Psycho, especially as he had a small army of Lukton’s at his disposal. “These kids are our future. We need them. Obviously they will come here and then we have to decide how to use them,” Psycho drank from a glass a dark coloured drink. “Hypnotise or kill?” Zelstro asked. He was the spokesperson for the others as they dared not get into an argument with Psycho. Especially after Psycho had killed one of them earlier on for trying to argue which drink was better. “We can change them,” Psycho murmured. “Hypnotising would keep their order and abilities,” Zelstro tried as he tried to stay as calm as possible. This was difficult as he often disagreed with Psycho. “Perhaps. I will carry out the appropriate course of action and then send the various tests that we have done to you. I can now send you the reports into the experiments which will enable you to make more of these Special Ones,” Psycho pulled out a bulky folder of paper and threw it onto the table. “The experiments are still at a rudimental stage,” Doctor Jeffers had entered the room. “But they have been highly successful by Lytus’s reports. They appear to be developing at a quick rate,” Psycho sat back in his chair as the others looked impressed. “In twenty or so years we could make an army of these things,” Zelstro grinned “and we can rule the solar system.” “Hand over the money and give us access to your various planets power,” Psycho demanded. “Of course. We will have to put our own scientists to see if they can replicate the apparent success that you claim they have achieved,” Zelstro was still cautious. “I will show you in the next few days. I expect that they will be trying to do some sort of recruitment mission in order to defeat me and with their new friends Jeffrey Avery they will be able to use military support from Kalossia,” Psycho got up from his seat. “How will you be able to stop that?” Zelstro asked as he was curious to know the answer. “I killed the Doctor. I know it was only a few days ago but you must still remember it. What trouble will a few kids and some military man with a few aircrafts be?” Psycho looked to a computer screen which was in the view of a camera which showed the Special Ones who were in a car heading their way with each one of them looking as determined as each other. *** The Special Ones were on their way back to another lab. Jeffrey had told them that there may be another lab that may have animals that have been experimented upon. This would lead them to having a stronger team to face Psycho in order to defeat him. “Super creatures against the man who killed the Doctor. Let’s see who will win,” Jeffrey chuckled as the rest of the group joined in. “It is wrong to do this to anything, animals, human, just for their own personal gains,” Grace shook her head. She remembered how it was like to be caged up and forced to eat who knows what chemicals that they used to be fed. “Our gain. Let’s use them for a good cause,” Jeffrey encouraged them. “But you must admit that it is horrible,” Grace continued on. “Please stop talking about such a dire subject. Let’s just have some fun before we go into a battle with one of those who run these labs,” Stacey then switched the music on in the car as several songs were playing at once with some talking there as well. “First we go to this lab and get these animals and somehow attempt to guide them towards where Psycho is and then we take him out,” Kevin encouraged them as he shouted loudly in the air “you hear that Psycho. We are coming to get you. Lock your doors and beg for forgiveness as we are going to find and kill you.” “This snow fog is getting extreme,” Martin commented. A few growls were then heard as the car suddenly hit something. It stopped and the Special Ones and Jeffrey flew out from the top of the car. They flew several metres into the air before stopping as they hit the snow. This softened several of their falls. “A Lukton or just a load of snow?” Mark asked as he sent fire out of his hand and held it up “I don’t even feel the heat. Weird but true. All I feel is the thrill and excitement.” “Lukton,” Jeffrey muttered as it was over him. Kevin tried to be calm and control the Lukton, he was calm but he did not have that feeling when he had hypnotised a Lukton earlier in the day. “They are not responding,” Kevin shouted. “Not good. Run!” Grace shouted as the group quickly ran from the Lukton as it continued to roar. Mark then saw that fire was no longer coming out of his hand as he checked his hands. Something hit in the face as he staggered backwards. “Ice?” Mark asked as he aimed his hand at the Lukton as it went back. The Lukton quickly realised to covers its face as it came closer and closer to Mark. “You can run,” Martin reminded Mark as he turned his back from the Lukton and began to run. He followed the others as several other growls could be heard. “They are destroying the car by the sounds off it,” Grace observed. “At least that gives us time,” Jeffrey said taking the positives out of the seemingly hopeless situation. They continued running through the snow which slowed them down due to the unsolid ground which squelched under their shoes. “Why can’t you just mind control them?” Stacey asked as Kevin tried once again as three Lukton’s were now destroying the car. “Not a clue. Perhaps I need better visibility,” Kevin suggested as he stopped trying when it was evident that it was not working. “It should be close,” Jeffrey shouted to the others as the snow storm picked up. “There is a building over there,” Martin shouted as they headed towards the direction. “Run faster,” Grace shouted as the Lukton’s had destroyed the car and were now running after the group. They could smell their flesh in the snow as they were gaining ground on them due to the Lukton’s being used to the harsher conditions than the others were. Jeffrey pulled out a laser powered weapon as he fired one bullet behind. It hit one of the Lukton’s as it went down. It got up only moments later as the Lukton’s went on all fours to continue the chase. They were very similar to werewolves but instead of having a dark coating they had a pure white coating in order to fit into the environment of snow. “Key,” Jeffrey panicked for a few moments as he finally pulled out a key card which made it quicker to get inside. He looked for where to put it and found it. “I can delay them,” Grace turned back and pulled her hands out. The electricity shot out of her as it hit one of the Lukton’s but missed the other two. “My turn or should I wait?” Mark asked as Grace pushed him in front of her. “Set them on fire,” Stacey encouraged as Mark saw the fire going out of his hand as he pointed it towards the Lukton’s as they hesitated. They stopped as they all looked towards the fire. It seemed to fascinate and frighten them at the same time as the waves withered in the frozen blast of snow. “They seem fascinated by it,” Jeffrey observed as his key card was accepted. He opened the door as the others quickly went in. Mark went back slowly and then clapped his hands as the flames disappeared. He quickly ran into the lab. “Brilliant,” Grace observed “now shut the door.” “A very good idea,” Jeffrey agreed as they shut the door. The Lukton’s hit the doors as they were shut. Jeffrey turned the labs lights on. They could see a huge lab which was far bigger than the one that the Special Ones had been trapped in. The animals varied from small rat like creatures all the way to large creatures which seemed to be a wild mash of animals including a polar bear and having wings along with other features like the ears being different and the legs and paws being noticeably smaller than the average bear. “Very wild. Perhaps they need some real animals in here,” Martin observed. “Just cool creatures with awesome powers,” Stacey grinned as Jeffrey went up to one of the cages and let the animal out. “Won’t they attack you?” Kevin asked clearly concerned for Jeffrey’s well-being. “Nah. They know me far too well for that. They are our big hope for defeating that mad Psycho. He seems to have ties with other planets and you were the key to those negotiations,” Jeffrey went into his inside pocket and pulled out a small notepad. “What’s this?” Grace asked as she grabbed the notepad and began flicking through it. “Your files. My purpose on this mission was to attempt to free you and the information we had came from Doctor Jeffers who we had made an agreement with to let you out a few weeks later than when he did,” Jeffrey explained the situation as he let out the smaller animals first. “So is he on our side?” Martin was enjoying this knowing of information. “Afraid not. He just wanted to make sure you lot were fine and then he would continue his experiments. He has grown too attached to you to do you any more pain,” Jeffrey let out the last of the animals as the largest of the animals was at the front of the door. Its large wings were twitching. Jeffrey then opened the door as the largest animal rose up in the air and swooped down as it began attacking the Lukton’s. “Let’s go,” Kevin urged as he went past the Lukton’s as the various animals continued attacking them. “The biggest one is called Rex. It was given a cooler name in order to stand out. Watch Rex go. How he has grown from the development stages,” Jeffrey smiled briefly as he saw his creation continue the attack on the Lukton’s. “It’s cold. We should leave quickly,” Stacey advised as they ran through the snow as the storm was picking up as they could barely walk never mind trying to run. “We will just be around 20 minutes and then we can finish him off,” Jeffrey shouted as the snow was getting louder and louder. *** “Those Special Ones. Where are they?” Psycho whispered to Doctor Jeffers who was looking at various satellites. He finally saw the group but what he saw confused him. “Well they will be here within the next few minutes but they appear to have some strange creatures there,” Doctor Jeffers pointed to a still image that one of his satellites had picked up “they are my animals. How did he get access to them?” “You have been working with him,” Psycho said as Doctor Jeffers felt anxious. “No I haven’t,” Doctor Jeffers denied. “Who would have thought? Jeremy Jeffers would betray me. I have known for a while that is while I decided to counter your plan by using it towards my own ends,” Psycho chuckled “and you are now in the middle of all of this. I know you are still bad but do I know if I can trust you.” “Yes, you can,” Doctor Jeffers begged. He even got onto his knees although this was problematic as he had just been recovering from a double knee operation. “Obviously your plans are equal to my own. We both have similar ambitions and in order to achieve them I will need your complete cooperation,” Psycho stood away from Doctor Jeffers “think about where your loyalties lie as I will kill you the next time you betray me.” “Why are they?” Zelstro shouted as the other leaders were having wine once again. “A few minutes away. We will trap them but let me show you what they can do. You see that steel gate. It is steel for a very specific reason and Doctor Jeffers will be out there to observe,” Psycho pointed to Doctor Jeffers as he quickly left the room and went outside to inspect the Lukton’s. “What is that?” Zelstro asked as a large bear was in the sky with wings in its back. “I have the others,” Lytus pointed to the other teenagers which had been experimented upon. “Send them out. These are the ones who have not developed as well as we would have liked,” Psycho explained “go outside and defeat them.” *** “Rex has went up,” Grace observed as she saw a large steel electric gate as she began taking the electricity out of it. Stacey put her hand on the steel gate as her hand turned steel. Then her entire arm as it went across her body. Her whole body was then absorbed by the steel but she felt no different than she normally would have done. “Doctor Jeffers is over there,” Kevin pointed out “this is really something amazing. If we do not make this then I would like to say that it was an honour knowing you, all of you.” “Kevin being nice? We must really be about to die,” Stacey chuckled as the Lukton’s ran at her. She ran into one as she hit its stomach as it collapsed onto the ground within moments of being hit. “Mark get that one,” Martin squealed as a Lukton ran towards him. Mark put out icy shards as they hit the Lukton’s out. He then felt angered as he then turned the ice into fire and set one of the Lukton’s alight. “Martin. Go and talk to Doctor Jeffers and find out how to finish this,” Jeffrey ordered “I may have sent Psycho a memo that Doctor Jeffers had not been entirely loyal to him.” “Emotionally vulnerable?” Martin asked. “Die,” another teenager whispered next to him. Martin pushed him over as he went to Doctor Jeffers who seemed terrified by the fighting. More Lukton’s came from all around as they surrounded the group. “All teenagers. Let’s fight the one who pulled you away from your parents and fight against Psycho, together,” Jeffrey shouted as the teenagers looked to one another. “Do it. You all know me,” Kevin ordered as the other teenagers turned back to the house that Psycho was in. They tried to use various powers but they were mostly useless. The window did not smash as they kept on hitting it. “We can kill them,” Mark went to the window as he tried to use his fire and ice abilities but they kept on bouncing off, harmlessly “or let them live.” “Stacey. Try to smash through the glass,” Grace advised. The Lukton’s were staying back as they saw how they will being defeated. “I will,” Stacey ran to the window but harmlessly bounced off it. “Doctor Jeffers. It is me again,” Martin stood next to the guy who had made them suffer for all of their young lives so far. I’m sorry,” Doctor Jeffers muttered. “You know he will kill you once he finds out about Doctor Neon in Platinum City. The guy is a genius. Much smarter than you,” Martin told Doctor Jeffers as he appeared to be distraught. “Just use whatever ability you have. My emotional and physical state are not enough to stop whatever plan you may have,” Doctor Jeffers had tears in his eyes as Martin went into his mind. “You will tell us how to break into the house,” Martin looked into Doctor Jeffer’s brain. “What is happening in my mind? Is this death?” Doctor Jeffers went to his knees as he grabbed his head. His brain felt like it was being pushed from all side. “This place has a special machine that is controlled by electricity. Break that and we can get to Psycho,” Martin read from Doctor Jeffer’s mind. The scientist then went into his pocket and fiddled with the gun. “Can you kill me?” Doctor Jeffers asked. He pulled his hand out and gave the gun to Martin. “I cannot kill you. No matter what you have done I still believe you have humanity. And I forgive you.” Martin uttered. Doctor Jeffers grabbed the gun back. “A shame. You are weak and there is no Doctor Neon,” Doctor Jeffers pointed the gun towards Martin. “Cut out the electricals,” Martin shouted “that is the only way in.” “Goodbye Martin,” Doctor Jeffers pulled the trigger. Martin collapsed to the ground. “MARTIN!” Grace shouted as he ran to him. His body was motionless. His pulse was gone. His eyes looked wildly ahead, his brain was no longer active. He was dead. “He was weak Grace. He had to die for the experiments to produce only the strongest,” Doctor Jeffers pointed the gun at Grace “say your prayers.” “I beg off you not too,” Grace felt tears at her eyes, they wanted to come out but they were being prevented by her impending death. She closed her eyes as she heard two shots and then the sound of a body hitting the ground. Doctor Jeffers was dead as Jeffrey stood over her. “We will be arrested if we survive this,” Jeffrey then saw a spaceship in the sky “they have finally come. Whenever I ask for help they seem to take forever.” “Psycho. Step out of your house or we will blow you up,” a booming voice came from the ship. “Sure,” Psycho shouted as he stepped out of his house. Jeffrey pointed the gun at him and pulled the trigger. It went through him as the hologram disappeared. Jeffrey looked back into the house as he could see Psycho with a wicked grin on his face. “He has a shield around it,” Jeffrey called into a small device. A blast then came from the spaceship as it exploded around the house. As the smoke cleared it became clear, the house was still there. Rex was keeping away the Lukton’s as were the other animals as they kept them back. “I’ve got this,” Grace looked to Martin’s body “he told me how.” “What happened to Martin?” Stacey was scared of what the answer could be. “Dead. Doctor Jeffers killed him,” Grace concentrated as she took away the electricity of the house and absorbed it in. “The amount we need to get in could kill her,” Kevin told them. “Kill Jeffrey Avery,” the booming voice in the ship shouted. “I am not the enemy,” Jeffrey shouted into the small device which was his only communication he could have with the ship. “We have been taken over. Psycho now rules this ship,” the booming voice shouted as they changed where there explosion was going to happen as they pointed towards Jeffrey and the others. Grace stopped taking in electricity as she aimed towards the ship. It hit the ship as the underside off it exploded. The weapon of the ship was gone as the ship then went back up and disappeared into the white sky. “Let’s defeat him,” Grace then took in more electricity which clearly worried Psycho. The other military leaders all had guns at the ready, all pointed towards the only door that could get inside the house. Grace felt the electricity running out as she pulled off the door. Stacey was still in her steel body as she ran at the window. This time she smashed it. Kevin was at the Lukton’s as he was controlling them to follow them back into the house. “Come on. This way,” Kevin urged the Lukton’s Jeffrey went to Martin’s body and took off his own coat and put it over Martin. “Shoot,” Psycho urged as they started shooting down the teenagers. Grace shot the electricity at Psycho and the other military leaders as they collapsed. Mark set the house on fire moments as they quickly left the house. Stacey was hitting Psycho on multiple occasions as he was unconscious. Zelstro was barely conscious as he looked through the flames. “You sided with Psycho,” Jeffrey shook his head “I thought that you had the solar systems interests at heart not trying to carry out a plan made by Psycho.” “Help me,” Zelstro begged “you are better than me so act it.” “You do not give me orders anymore. You look a bit hot, the flames are probably not helping. Goodbye,” Jeffrey quickly left the room as did Stacey as the flames took hold of the bodies. “We are back,” a voice boomed from above but this time with several other ships. Two of them landed nearby as the Lukton’s and the animals quickly ran off. “They will be the nice guys,” Jeffrey exclaimed. “I doubt it,” Kevin muttered as he ran off before they landed. The ships landed in a circle around them as soldiers poured out of them. “Get down to the ground,” one of the soldiers shouted. “What is going on?” Mark asked “are they good or bad or just soldiers?” “Bad,” Psycho walked through the flames. He was bloodied and partially burnt. “How are you still alive?” Stacey asked as she had put the steel off herself before Psycho had revealed himself to still be living. “Partial regeneration. I will keep this face or I may change it. I don’t know what is going to happen,” Psycho admitted “arrest them.” Jeffrey, Stacey, Mark and Grace were grabbed as they were pulled into different ships. Martin’s body was also taken into a separate ship. Kevin looked on from a distance as he then headed for Platinum City to find out why he had felt curious about that place. *** The four were taken to separate prisons. Stacey looked on in her cell as she was in a Helmos prison. Next to her was another women who kept on speaking about her political ties and how she had been wrongly persecuted. “I should not even be in here,” Liana complained. “Who are you?” Stacey asked as Liana put a hand out. “That is another story. But Jeffrey Avery is the reason for me being here. You probably do not know him but he just left me,” Liana shook her head “I got the blame for something he done. It must be cool to see how I got in here. If only someone could write that story. Now that would be very interesting.” “Sure. What are you on about?” Stacey asked. Liana chuckled to herself. “Nothing. Just me babbling on about nothing in particular,” Liana brought out a dagger as she pointed it towards Stacey “me and you are going to escape this place and if you do not help me then this will be found in your windpipe.” “All you had to say was please and I would have done it,” Stacey then touched the dagger as her hand turned to the metal that it was. “Cool. How did you do that?” Liana asked as she tried the same thing. She also put her hand on the dagger but nothing happened as a result off it. “I’m a Special One. We are this super force and we all had powers. This time yesterday I was fighting off the guy who killed the Doctor and we almost won,” Stacey put her head up proudly. “You saw Psycho? He is a living legend because of his killing of the Doctor. Apparently he has control of the solar system but it is all secret because he is a genius,” Liana admired. “He is the one who got us arrested when we were so close to killing him,” Stacey then shook her hand as the metal quickly went off. “Lucky you. Hardly anyone can say that,” Liana grinned in delight as she looked towards the end of her cell. A figure then appeared at the end of the cell. “Hello there Stacey,” Lytus grinned at the end of the row. “Go away,” Stacey shouted but Lytus just stood there. “I am. I’m back in Hundai. Everything is going very well here. Don’t worry,” Lytus chuckled to a confused Stacey. “He is a bit of a jerk,” Liana observed. “Don’t worry. None of you two worry,” Lytus chuckled. “Why should we not worry? We are in prison,” Stacey pointed out. “But it could be far worse,” Lytus pointed out “everyone in this prison will be dead soon.” *** Jeffrey Avery looked upon his prison. It was a small place with simple bars around it. He looked around for guards but there seemed to be no one. There were also no other inmates as he tried the iron gate. He pushed it as it opened. “Weird,” Jeffrey commented as he left the room. He looked around to see if anyone was there as he walked down some stairs. A door was on the end of this seemingly medieval place. He opened the door and looked out. Luckily he had not chosen to rush out otherwise he would have plunged to his death. The building was perched on top of a lump of rock which had a cliff at all ends. “Smart?” Lytus asked as he seemed to be behind Jeffrey “hologram. Cool it down.” “Hologram?” Jeffrey tried to push Lytus but it was confirmed to be a hologram. “Do you like your new home? If you try to escape then you will plunge to your death and if you can rock climb then … well … let us just say that there is a nasty surprise at the bottom,” Lytus laughed manically for several moments. “Why do all super villains have to laugh manically?” Jeffrey asked. “Because we can,” Lytus simply explained “you may have been able to guess I am not Psycho. I am merely a puppet in this bit. I am just carrying out his instructions and passing on a few messages.” “So are you telling me that there is no way of escape?” Jeffrey asked as Lytus thought about this for a few moments before answering. “There is two. Both result in your dying,” Lytus pointed to the cliff. “I know about the cliff,” Jeffrey looked around the castle as it seemed to go up forever. “One, you could fall off the cliff but you just said you knew that,” Lytus then walked over to a chest. Jeffrey opened it, there was only one thing inside it “or if you decide that you cannot take anymore then you can just end it with a bullet to the head if you are too scared of heights.” “Why are you doing this? You knocked me and presumably the others out why didn’t you just kill me? It just gives me a chance to come back and get revenge,” Jeffrey pointed out. This made Lytus think for a few moments. “Because this way it is a lot more fun. Especially to watch you die,” Lytus laughed manically again as he disappeared. “There must be a way out,” Jeffrey ran to the cliff edge and looked around. He then muttered “there must be a way out.” *** Mark was in a frozen wasteland. It was a different sort of prison, one that was more open and gave more space to run about. “Hello Mark. I am the last face you will see for a while,” Lytus’s face appeared amidst the masses of snow. His face was almost covered by the snow. “Why am I here?” Mark shouted as Lytus came forward. “I am a hologram. Not real. So do not try to touch me as all your friends have so far it gets rather annoying after a while,” Lytus shook his head from his last encounters when he was a hologram. “Am I back on Rotas?” Mark asked as he put some fire into the air, as if to send a flare out. “No. You are on a different planet. One that currently has no inhabitants due to a disease which killed everyone off,” Lytus pointed to a dying tree “there is actually a full forest of them quite a few miles away. The animals that are left have been horribly mutated, they mainly descend from the experimentations that the planets inhabitants did to try to cure the fatal Jeffers disease as they called it after the man who made it.” “Doctor Jeffers killed all these people or are you talking about a different Jeffers or does that name have no relation to who invented or made it?” Mark asked as he beat off the snow from taking over his head. He found that he had been given a large coat. “He killed them all under Psycho’s instructions. Those two could wipe out any planet in the universe with that disease, well almost any planet,” Lytus paused for a second “well I have to go. We got you a coat so you may be able to survive a bit longer. There is a gun inside the coat if you ever want to end your life. Till the next time.” “A gun? Animals? Survival?” Mark asked as Lytus disappeared. Mark then set off as he brought out a heat flame to make sure he could stay warm. *** Kevin entered Platinum City as the entrance had been destroyed and the city was badly damaged. Tretka stood outside her house as she saw Kevin, wounded and clearly having had a bad day. “What happened?” Tretka asked. “They were all taken. I told them that it was a trap,” Kevin muttered as he wiped the tears from his eyes “Martin is dead. That is the first time I have ever cried.” “Come in. We can look after you,” Tretka encouraged as Kevin stepped into the house. “I also want to find something out,” Kevin sat down “I know there is something else for me in this city. Something pulled me to this city and I swear I know it but how could that be?” “We can try to find out,” Tretka was encouraged “Krodik is out for a bit. But when he gets back he can get on the hunt for whatever you said you were missing. But first I will make you a cup of tea and then you can tell me what happened.” *** Grace was on Falpinos trapped in a prison cell. It was a large prison which had no guards and was a place where the prisoners were kept in the same state that they came into, so that they never felt hungry or tired. Many just sung the Prison of Blood song that had been developed. “Hello there,” the Engineer was on the other side “are you really so dumb as to get yourself stuck in this place?” “You’re a delight,” Grace said sarcastically “where are we?” “Falpinos. In the Prison of Blood. You can escape if you want but this planet will kill you,” the Engineer sat on the ground as did Grace as the song of the Prison of Blood came up again. “What will kill you?” Grace asked. “The Falpins who roam this planet. There are the only things that live on this planet. Nowhere to escape as they know every bit and can detect anyone from anywhere on Falpinos,” the Engineer explained as he threw a ball at the wall as it bounced back “you haven’t said anything about yourself. What is your name?” “I … I cannot remember,” Grace muttered. “Electrix is your name,” Lytus’s hologram appeared “I’m a hologram, nothing amazing. Nice violet hair that you have.” “Electrix? Violet? They seem to ring a bell,” Grace/Electrix agreed. “No holograms. Far too annoying,” the Engineer shouted as he threw the ball threw his cell as it went through the hologram which subsequently disappeared “so your name it Electrix. Nice to meet you but I shall be out of here soon as I am expecting a team.” “A team? Can I come along?” Electrix asked. “Try not to be so happy all the time. Learn to be cruel in this place as being nice does not pay off. You cannot come along. They are coming for me not you,” the Engineer shook his head “this is far easier than what put me in here, the Time War.” “Could you tell me about the Time War?” Electrix asked as the Engineer sighed. “I could do,” the Engineer thought about it “because I do not have long left I will tell you the personal story of the Engineer, which is me, of the Time War.”
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