Act 7
Prologue Finale part one
Sitting quietly in a helicopter, Angelica was staring at the destruction caused by the equation. She proceeded to break the silence.
Angelica: I swear I cannot stand him sometimes.
Henry: What do you mean?
Angelica: Don't you feel like he always keeps his distance? Like he puts a barrier between himself and us?
Henry: He does that with you too? I thought I was the only one.
Amari: Believe it or not, kids, I have been with him for 10 years, and he still does the same to me unless he really wants help. Please do not give up on him just yet; I'm sure he will overcome his internal problems eventually. Just put your faith in him.
Angelica: It is really frustrating, but still, I can't really be mad at him knowing what happened to him.
Henry: Yeah, he really isn't normal like us, but I do trust whatever he is planning. Did you see the look in his eyes? That man is not planning on dying just yet.
After a short while, Angelica remembered something that had been bothering her.
Angelica: Why did he keep on saying mean stuff about Nana Kelly? Does he really hate her?
Henry: You don't know?
Angelica: Know what?
Henry: Long story short, Grandma thought he and I were dating; she blasted the news all over social media. It even reached his grandparents and uncle. He woke up from sleep with tons of messages congratulating him. His uncle said, "I knew something was different about you; happy for you, nephew." It took him two months to fix the misunderstanding.
Angelica: SO YOU WERE NOT DATING?!
***
Back at the present:
I instructed Socrates to stand by. If I were ever in trouble, I would send him a signal to come rescue me. I entered the camp and started screaming, "I WAS SENT HERE BY DORADORAN TO JOIN THE EMPIRE!" Everyone's attention turned to me; all of them picked up their swords and started sprinting at me. At the very last second, a voice that sounded like thunder shouted at everyone to stand down. One of the commanders walked slowly towards me; his body was covered in muscles and tattoos. He walked towards me slowly and said,
Commander Zerka: I'm Commander Zerka of the Barbarian Tribe. If what you said is true, then you should show me proof.
I opened my backpack and pulled out a curved sword. Everyone's eyes were on it like they were looking at a gold bar sitting on the sidewalk.
Commander Zerka: Not only did he recommend you, you also defeated him in combat? How interesting.
Another commander made a dramatic entrance where he leaped off a building and landed on his feet, chuckling with a smug face.
Commander Malik: Doradoran the Great defeated by a Claudus? What a joke! Hahahahaha! We need to reevaluate our ranks when we are done with this weak planet.
'Did he just call me a cripple in Latin?' I thought to myself. Maybe he is in shock about his brethren's death. If I want my plan to work, I need to be on their good side so they can hopefully listen to my request. They didn't have translation magia like Doradoran and the sorcerer did; they were actually speaking the same language as me. I wanted to ask him if I heard him correctly.
???: Why did you call me a cripple? I'm a fully capable human.
Malik: Don't make me laugh; you don't have a single cell of magic in your whole body! To be honest, I do not know what His Highness saw in you. If you were in Herathia, you would not be worth a rat's ass.
THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!
The third commander at the camp did not sound happy at all from his stomping, which I could feel at the soles of my feet. He was a bipedal black tiger with a trimmed face and a huge scar across his forehead. He gave me gentle giant vibes, even though he looked like... well, a nightmarish bipedal tiger.
Commander Mors Tenebrosa: You have crossed the line, you fool. Doradoran was an honorable warrior unlike you. I will personally dispose of you if you question His Highness again about his judgment on who will be a great asset for the empire.
Malik tensed up and swallowed a mouthful of saliva. Seeing that the situation was getting a bit out of control for my liking, I tried to de-escalate by excusing Malik's behavior.
???: Sir, Tiger, I apologize on behalf of Sir Malik. He is reasonably upset with me because I killed his brother. If it makes you any better, Commander Malik, I would like to give this sword back to you.
Silence; everyone was shocked at my words, and I didn't know why. Did they not understand what I said? My train of thoughts was interrupted when I heard wheezing coming from Zerka, followed by the tiger getting on his knees with his hands on his stomach. Malik's face, which had been the color of pale green, was flushed red.
Zerka: DID YOU HEAR THAT? HE JUST CALLED MALIK A GOBLIN!
Zerka started rolling on the ground from laughing so hard; I even saw a little pee stain on his linen pants. Commander Tiger's face, which was full of fur, got soaked like it was raining. Their laughs alone were causing the ground to shake; I couldn't imagine what would happen if they fought. The other humans in the camp were frightened at the beginning, but seeing their leader's reaction, they joined in the hysterical laughter. Malik's eyes were filled with tears; I could hear his teeth grinding from 15 feet away.
Malik: I have never been humiliated like this in my life; I do not care anymore. I will personally take my time with your torture, human. Fuck THE EMPIRE, FUCK His HIGHNESS, and FUCK THE KING.
An unbelievable amount of pressure oozed out of his body as he shouted like a madman. I honestly do not know what I said to cause everyone's reaction. Malik had similar ears to Doradoran; he was also as tall as him and looked like him too. The only difference was the color of their skin.
Zerka and the tiger ceased their laughing and came to my side to protect me.
Tiger: You did well, human; I can see why His Highness wanted you for the empire.
Zerka: Indeed; Malik was a real problem, and if not for him being from the elves' royal family, we would have gotten rid of him a long time ago. Since he announced his regicide, no one could protest his death.
Malik: YOU THOUGHT I CHOSE TO LOOK LIKE THIS, HUMAN? I WILL WEAR YOUR FACE SO I CAN FEEL WHAT IT'S LIKE TO HAVE EVERYTHING!
Man, he totally lost it. Fuck it; change of plans. I will cause internal conflict between the enemy. Malik has a troop of beautiful long-eared people behind him, so it will take a while to dispose of them. In the midst of the chaos, every monster and human will gather at camp to help their respective parties. I sent a message to Socrates to meet me in the midpoint between my location and my grandma's.
???: Commanders, I fear for my safety. I need you to give me something so the unintelligent monsters don't attack me. Since I am a member of the empire, I want some form of identification.
Zerka pulled out a vial and started pouring it on my head. He turned his back against me and said,
Zerka: Things will get messy, Claudus; I suggest you take refuge away from here while we deal with the goblin.
Malik: FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!!!!
He definitely heard that. I noticed his power keeps increasing the angrier he gets, so I threw one last hook.
???: Even if you get my face, Malik, you will still have a tiny PENIS!
Malik's powers reached astronomical levels; I could feel my blood vessels pop, so I ran away as fast as I could. As I was running, I heard him scream from afar, "HOW DID HE KNOWWWWW." As I was running toward the meeting point with Socrates, every monster was sprinting towards the camp. I climbed the nearest stoplight as hundreds of monsters were sprinting at full speed. If I had stayed on the ground, I would have turned into a smash burger. The plan was a success so far. I hopped into the truck and dialed my grandma as I was nearing her location.
Nizhoni: Neito? Was the monsters running away your doing?
???: Grandma, no time for chit-chat; I want you to go down the street right now; it's completely safe.
I closed the call and dialed in the next number: Amari. He picked up immediately and said, "Already waiting, youngin." Everything worked out somehow; my hands were shaking. I haven't been this emotional since I was a child. I felt alive again. I promised myself to cherish everyone around me like it's the last day.
I arrived, and my grandma was already waiting in the street. I decided to give her a little scare. I got close to her, deactivated the camouflage, and revved the hell out of my engine. I expected a glorious reaction, but she was already used to my pranks.
As soon as I opened the car, she balled her hands into a fist. I risked my life to get her, and she obviously was not happy with that. But instead of a liver punch, I got a really tearful warm hug.
Nizhoni: I haven't seen you in a long time, neito; don't ever leave my side again.
After she calmed down, she started asking me a lot of questions: how was work, what was the weirdest thing that happened, how much muscle mass did I gain.
While I was driving the empty street, I saw a family of three: two middle-aged parents and a teen girl. Since the chopper can hold six people, I said, "Fuck it, why not? My good deed for the day." We stopped by them, and all of them got in and sat quietly. They looked traumatized; I refrained from asking. Maybe they lost a son or someone close. I told Socrates to drive while I went to the back of the truck and pulled out five cans of Serocola. I gave each one of us a can. The dad was pretty surprised I even had one; he hadn't seen one in years.
Serocola was a revolutionary soda/medicine that helped the brain boost serotonin levels, letting it stay high for as long as six hours. It helped people with depression and mental disorders so effectively that big pharma was not happy about it; it got discontinued after an astronomical success. The suicide rate increased by 400% afterward.
Everyone in the car started gulping the drink like they were lost in the desert, except the dad.
He said, "I'm not sure if I deserve this; I couldn't sav..." I cut him off and told him, "There was nothing you could do, and if you want to protect your family right now, you need to be in the best state of mind." The daughter said, "Thank you, Dad, for everything; I couldn't ask for more!" She ran towards him and started crying on his chest. The wife was silent for some reason, but everyone grieves differently; I can't judge.
The dad comforted his daughter and said, "I won't ever forget this debt, son; I will repay you." He opened his can and chugged it down. After a short while, the dad asked if I had any weapons he could use and that he was a cop. I shut him down and said, "With all due respect, I don't trust you. I have a chopper waiting to pick us up to the evacuation point, and all you have to do is be patient."
The dad immediately apologized, and the rest of the ride was silent.
***
Arriving at the border for the second time today, this time everyone was just scared. They thought I was a ghost that came back to haunt them for sending a civilian to their death. Lieutenant Dan came to me and asked if I had any information. I was pretty pissed off that I was working for them for free, so I told him,
???: Hand me back the gold, and I will gladly tell you.
Lieutenant Dan: You are free to go, son.
Are you serious? There is a fucking civil war at the camp, and the streets were empty. You know what? They probably saw everything through their ghost bombers; why do I even bother? At the lift going to meet Amari, Grandma was holding my hand tightly, and the little girl was excited; she only saw helicopters in movies and shows. We finally boarded the chopper and were about to go home. Amari was curious about how everything worked out. I told him when we land, I will gather the whole crew and tell my story from A to Z.
Three minutes into our flight, a colossal pillar of light appeared in the middle of the city. Amari turned around to face the waves of wind head-on so that he could balance the chopper. What we saw was nothing short of a nightmare.
A bipedal-looking giant that resembled a snapping turtle had pairs of menacing human-looking eyes. Something about the abomination triggered primal fear in everyone who was looking at it; I don't know what it was. Was it fear of darkness? Fear of the uncanny? Fear of death? It was like a mix of all of those. Those bastards said the monster was only 1,200 feet? It was two times that! Soon after its appearance, some form of dark energy formed at its core and went into its eyes and mouth. Every living being was paralyzed by fear; it was like our souls were being threatened to be sent to eternal damnation. I couldn't look to my left or right; hell, I couldn't even fucking breathe. Amari was our pilot; the chopper was swaying and soon it was going to crash to the ground and kill us all. Amari fought so hard to control it, but he couldn't.