Final Ultimatum (Chapter 1)

Chapter One of Final Ultimatum.

Origin of the Species (Part 1)
’’Life’s harsh. Two words that sum up absolutely everything. Whether you’re Captain Britain fighting off terrorist threats, or the Monarchs battling that weird armour guy and the masked…soldier…guy…life is horrific. But no worries, because I’ve got a career set up, I’ve got an internship at Axon Labs, I’ve got a tank full of geckos and got the grades to back me up. So basically, life’s great…wait…I forgot the point of this.’’

Luke Daniels rushes down the corridor. Behind him, the ceiling begins to collapse. Skidding to a halt at a turn, he shoots forward again. A loud laughter booms through the school. “BROTHER…” He slips and slides across the floor, stopping at the feet of a man in a black suit. “…hood…” He looks up at the young man, face shrouded by pulsing red energy.

“Don’t worry, we’re here!” He grabs Luke and lifts off the ground, shooting down the corridor and away from the destruction. Within moments, Luke is thrown out a window, being caught in the telekinetic field of the Brotherhood’s second member, Jumper, and being lowered onto a stretcher. Inside, Synapse (In his black and red suit) and Paradox (With his blue, black and yellow costume) race toward the centre of the destruction.

‘’I know what you’re thinking! “This is about you and how you became what you became, not about a bunch of posers with near god-level strength!” Well, you’d be wrong! These three are awesome! It starts here, because it saves some explanations. Such as why I want to be a…never mind! Now, back to the…story?’’

Synapse and Paradox shoot into the barrier around the villain. The man inside the barrier wears bulky, black armour. Bolts of red energy shoot out of the armour, adding to his ever-expanding shield. “Get away from me!” He roars, “I…” He lunges at the heroes, “…am…” They dodge him, Synapse releasing a searing blast at him, and Paradox disappearing in a static effect.

‘’Also, it helps introduce this guy. He’s nothing to worry about. Can’t remember exactly, but his name should be…”

“INFERNO!”

After mere moments of distracting the villain, Synapse shoots backwards, and Paradox appears with a flash of golden light. “PARADOX!” A blinding purple pulse shoots into Inferno’s armour and causes it to crack, breaking down the force field that had been causing so much damage. Paradox stomps on the villain’s chest, blood splashing up his chest and face, “Couldn’t resist that one.” He grabs the villain by the brim of his shirt and lifts him up, “Synapse, you or Jumper this time?” Jumper lowers in his black and blue suit, face hidden by the hood, and looks at Paradox.

“My turn. Synapse got the last one!” Jumper thrusts his hand out, his eyes turn bright white as Inferno is lifted off the ground, then flies away, dragging the villain behind him.

Looking to Paradox, Synapse laughs, “I’ll explain this to the cops.” He flies away as well. Paradox shoots after him.

“I’m not going back to base alone.”

“Fair enough. Just leave the talking to me” Synapse hits the ground with a loud thud, “No need to worry, we’ve taken care of the bad guy.” As reporters with cameras and clipboards rush over, the two hover up to avoid being mobbed. Luke looks up at them, admiring their glory. “It’s the least we could do, given that we were kids once.” The two laugh, “We’ve been tracking Inferno for a long time, and apologise for the damage caused by his misdeeds. We’re glad to see we’ve caught him now, and he is currently being handed over to the Titan organisation for controlled detainment.”

Paradox nods, then looks up to see Jumper teleport into the area. The three hover up as Jumper yells, “Visit the museum sometime! The only place that hasn’t been attacked.” The three of them shoot out of sight, leaving the crowd in awe.

‘’They’re a bit stuck up, I know. Making jokes, showing off about all their accomplishments. But that’s made up for by being so fucking awesome. Anyway, back to the narrative!’’

“LUKE!” A man in a white lab coat rushes down the street toward the school. “Are you okay?” He stops by Luke.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Luke looks at his internship supervisor and laughs, “Shouldn’t you be with the geckos?”

“Huh?” Having let his fear get the better of him, he doesn’t understand at first, “Oh, sorry. Yeah, I should be.” He turns to walk away, “Now that school’s been cancelled, would you mind coming down to the lab? Everything is set up, so we could start early.”

‘’Yeah, long story. This guy, Samuel (You call him Dr Eli Etch), is my internship supervisor. He was looking for an intern, I was looking for experience. I’m good at science, so I figured I might as well. He specialises in pharmaceuticals at Axon Labs, and we’re working on the drug to end all illness, as impossible as that sounds. But as you’ve probably guessed, our test subjects are…’’

“Geckos!” Dr Eli Etch stands by the 20x20 meter tank, filled with all sorts of platforms, artificial habitats and, obviously, geckos. “Amazing creatures. They can regrow limbs, which might be a bit disastrous in the wrong hands, but would be a great experiment one day. I know a guy who’d be interested.” He sits down in his desk chair and starts typing, “Ready to go?”

Luke spins in his chair, “Sure” He looks to Bart, the other intern, “What about you?”

“I’m set.” He flicks his dirty blonde hair back, “Let’s see what happens!”

Samuel rises to his feet and approaches the control panel. He throws a metal-coated vial to Luke, “Put that in the slot.” He points to one of the tanks bottom corners, where a metal box lies, tubes connecting it to another inside the tank. Luke approaches it and pushes the vial into the designated hole. “Okay, heating the serum.” The machine starts humming and vibrating.

‘’It seems all sci-fi, but it really isn’t.’’

“Come on…” Luke watches in anticipation, as the now-evaporated serum is sucked through the tube, into the next machine. From the vents all around the box, the gas is launched in concentrated jets, not too much pressure, but enough for it to spread quickly. As the tank fills, the geckos become more active. “I wonder how they’re going.”

‘’Well, we’re only exposing them to the gas. We’re not going to see how they go straight away. We still have to expose them to various viruses and whatnot…but…what’s this?’’

Suddenly, the geckos drop from the glass, their bodies slump, like a wave of death, they all drop down. “What happened?” Bart lunges towards the tank. Luke looks away in horror, while Dr Eli Etch rushes to turn off the machine.

“No, no!” The doctor hurries over to the tank, “This can’t happen!” He drops his head, “I’m…I’m…I’m so sorry guys.” He turns away, “Don’t worry, I’m taking credit for this. After all, I’m the one who created the latest serum.”

‘’He whinges a lot. Don’t worry though, that’ll change.’’

Opening the front door, Luke sighs, “Hey mum.” She walks over and hugs him. “It’s okay mum, I’m fine.”

“You say that, but I know you really loved them geckos.” She pulls away.

“I don’t care. Axon will just order more and they’ll be replaced in a few days.” He yawns and enters the kitchen, “What’s there to eat?”

“There’s mashed potato in the oven. Should be ready about now!”

Luke sits with a bowl of mashed potato. Opposite him, his parents stare, concerned. “I’m fine. Honestly, fine.” He takes a mouthful, “Stop staring.”

“You spent almost all of your spare time with those geckos, how can you not have any feelings for them?” His dad asks him, before coughing badly.

Answering his dad with the honest truth, he speaks, “Because right from the start I knew they were going to die. And right from the start I prepared myself for it. Sure I loved them, but I’d already made sure when the possibility of them dying came, I’d be prepared.” He takes another mouthful, swallows it and continues. “So, is there a reason why I’ve got beef in this? Or did you just think I wouldn’t notice?”

His father, Brock, stands and walks out. His mum, Elena, yells to him, “Where are you going?”

“You head him, he’s fine!” The sound of a door slamming, then the click of a television, then the slight murmuring of the program.

Elena looks at Luke, “If you have any problems, remember you can talk to us.” She walks out of the room, leaving Luke alone.

‘’Yeah, they overreact…a lot. It gets kind of annoying, but I don’t really care most of the time. Now for a time jump. Imagine that really cool sci-fi noise where it’s like a weird FOOO sound, and it slides across the screen and you’re like “Woah! That is righteous!” Sorry about the word choice, had to. Well I didn’t, but I did…’’

Lying in bed, Luke stares at the ceiling. He takes a deep breath, and clenches his fists. Breathing out, he jumps up, “I can’t do this.” He slowly walks across his bedroom, carefully stepping over all the memorised obstacles. The handle silently turns, and the door swings open. He starts walking down the hallway. CREAK!

“Luke, back to bed.” He takes a deep breath, leans down and picks several balls off the ground. He throws them, each hitting the ground with a thump, just like footsteps, and roll away. “Good.” He quietly goes down the stairs, making sure he doesn’t make a single sound. Reaching the bottom, he walks to the front door, mere metres away, and opens it as cautiously as he can manage.

Cycling down the road, Luke yawns, “This was a bad idea.” He pedals as fast as he can until he reaches the Axon Labs building. He stops his bike, quickly chains it to the rack and rushes through the doors of the 24-hour organisation and swipes his card for the elevator.

“Is there a reason you’re here at such a late time?” The desk worker, Corey, watches curiously.

Telling the truth straight away, Luke speaks, “The geckos. There’s too much guilt, I have to see the tank.” He takes a deep inhale of air, then out.

“It’s okay. Dr Eli Etch was here two hours ago. Left about half an hour back.” He waves Luke through, “Go.”

“Sorry about all this.” He opens the door to the room. He watches in awe at the sight before him. The geckos roam around the tank, building structures. “How…wow.” The thought suddenly comes to his mind, “The serum.” He pulls the vial out of the machine in the bottom of the tank. “No, what am I doing? I’ll die.” He looks at the geckos, “But it might be different with humans.” He looks back at the geckos, “Then again, it might work.” He throws the vial away. “NO! I’m not…” The geckos stop and turn to look at him, “They’re smarter. So if they’re smarter, then…” He looks at the canister once more, “I’m doing it.” He picks it up, twists the lid and opens it. “There’s gotta be some left…” THUD! Luke’s lifeless body hits the floor.

Brock and Elena stand by Luke’s grave, “I’m sorry son. I’m so sorry.” Tears running down his face, Brock turns and walks away. Elena stays, watching her sons’ grave.

“You were a great son. Better than any mother could ask…ask for…” Her face bright red, soaked in tears, she walks away.

Luke’s parents sit in the living room, hugging each other and crying. DING! Brock yells, “Not now!” Silence. They sit crying for a bit long, DING! “Go away!” He hugs his wife harder, then, DING! Brock rises to his feet.

“Don’t do anything…”

CHIK! The lock on the door slides across, and the door swings open. “What is it? My son just…Luke?”

His son stands before him, in a torn, yet stylish tuxedo, scratches and dirt all over his face. “Hey dad.” He tries to smile, but winces in pain, “What’d I miss?”