The God of Gravity part 3: Apocalypse

New Squad Leader

The day I hate arrives. We're going out on a mission. Normally, we like to go out for a mission but not this time. This time, Shui will be commanding us. I think I can barely keep my temper because I know how he will treat us. What I'm worried about is Darius. Returning to the base with Shui in broken bones could be possible. What's worse that he might stab us in the back while no one is watching. We can't trust him.

“Reporting for duty,” we bow in front of him. I intentionally make my voice less enthusiastic to show him I don't like this.

He smirks at us and says, “Both of you will be under my command.” Here it goes… “That means everything I command is your duty to follow. Understood?” We just nod.

Raising his chin, he expects us to respond to him with more respect. I just wanna be free as soon as possible to find Hera. Falling in line is the best I can do. My pride is nothing before her.

I bow and say, “Yes, my lord.”

Darius didn't go along with me and I can tell he is disgusted at me. And I'm sure Shui likes this the most.

“What about you, Darius?” he asks him.

I still keep bowing, waiting for permission to stand straight. That could be after Darius bows. Like a branch that is hard to bend, he bows. Shui chuckles for a bit. Then he turns and walks away without permitting us to ease up. The rule in being under someone's command is you can only stop bowing after your superior tells you so. Thus, we will be here bowing forever unless he acknowledges us.

And I'm right, Darius is at the edge of losing his temper. His blood boils in his veins. His clenched teeth and fists are cracking. I find it strange that I'm feeling less angry about this. Did I get used to suppressing my emotions? If so, this is good. I'm beginning to follow what Lord Enzo has taught me. At first, he told me to stay calm at all times to not let Zol take over my body. Now that he is not a threat, I unconsciously abandoned that teaching. That's also the reason why I almost killed myself when I found out about Mom and Dad's death. 

“When I get the chance,” growls Darius. “I will teach him a lesson!”

“Darius,” I say to him. “Feel nothing.” He doesn't answer but I know he gets it. That's just how he is. 

Almost an hour later Shui left us, we are still bowing. He comes back to this room with his friends—Han and Liang.

They laugh at us. 

“Nice dogs you have,” says Han.

“Not really,” answers Shui. “I found them in the streets, after all.”

Squeezing his fist, Darius is keeping his patience as long as it can get. I feel nothing though, like I can live with this forever. It's strange that I can do this after all I've been upset with Mila. She follows what the House Leaders say and following the rules. Sometimes the rules go against her and that upset me. Now, I've come to realize what she feels. Once you know what's more important, you abandon everything for it. Pride and honor… anything with value means nothing.

We managed to get through minutes of teasing and abusing from the three of them. Sometimes they punch us over nothing. Maybe they remember how we beat them in the tournament and seeks revenge right now. Nonetheless, we can't break our bow no matter what. Breaking them would mean insubordination. They went on and on until Shui gets a command. 

“Alright,” he says to his friends. “that's enough. We gotta go.”

They stop hitting us. Before even fighting the real enemy, we already have bruises. 

“Both of you,” He means us. “you may stand at ease and follow me.”

“Good luck, dude,” says Han.

“Lead us to victory,” Liang encourages.

“I'll be back with it in a bag,” says Shui, giving them fives. 

We run on our way to the airlock after him while I wear my helmet on. The displays are not working anymore. Nobody wants to fix it for me after they think we're traitors. Shui's armor is new and his House insignia is on his cape and chest. He has privilege after all. And every time he does something so awesome on the battlefield, everyone must recognize him to bring honor to his House. Although, there are only three of us in this squad. Him ‘shining’ will be so easy.

We finally leave the shelter and the air is making my armor freezing cold. My temperature regulator is broken. No worries, I can boost my metabolism to counter the cold. This will make me tire easily but I think this mission will be short and effortless. He told us that we are just going to patrol the beaches in the south, watch out for intruders. They need me this time because of my senses.

Flying in the sky to the south, we pass over where Jasper and the others are. They are hidden deep below the ground. As I decided, I'll let them be.

From the east, we fly above the coast then go scanning to the west. The ice and ashes hide where the shore is. We can only guess that it is between the bumpy terrain and the smoother one. Under the smoother one must be the sea since it is at the south.

Then I catch something. There are three of them to the southwest. I can't see them with the n***d eye but I can tell that they're there. 

“Three people to the southeast, my lord,” I report. 

“Let's take them out,” he says. And it's a bad idea.

“Let's find out first if they are enemies, my lord,” I suggest. “They must be good people seeking refuge.”

“No, they might be impostors. I'm your squad captain! What I say, you follow!”

I sigh a little then nod. “Yes, my lord.”

“And you two sit and watch.”

What? “Pardon me, my lord?”

“I don't want either of you to get in my way.”

“Yes, my lord,” we answer.

Before we leave him, I inform him about their location. “They're hiding under that wing of the airplane, my lord.”

 We break off from him and stand on a boat stuck in the ice. As we watch him fly from down here, I got a better sense of what the enemies are. There are two deities and one human. 

“I would be glad if he dies,” says Darius.

“Then we would be blamed,” I counter.

“Nah, that's nothing. If he doesn't die here, I might be the one to kill him sooner or later.”

“Let's just watch out if something happens to him.”

“It's like we're babysitting him. I don't like it.”

“It's better than spending time in a prison.”

“I would rather spend my time in a prison!”

I see blue light coming from his relic from afar. Then tons of glass come raining down on their position. They're still alive. None of the glass hit them. Then the human comes out in the open. He has a rifle and fires it. Shui blocks it with his glass. The bullet explodes. Explosive rounds, eh? And what's weird is that the human has strange limbs. I can't see well from this distance.

I could tell Shui that a god is sneaking up behind and from below him but we're too far. The god punches his back. Shui gets knocked up and seeks revenge. He sends a glass dragon to the flightless god. And suddenly, the god turns into a very massive polar bear! The glass dragon shatters like thin biscuits!

“What in the world?!” I exclaim.

“Yes! Go, white bear!” cheers Darius.

This is unlike the fauna deities I saw transforming. The size of the polar bear is almost like a titan! The depth of the water is its knee height. You need massive amounts of prayers to get that size! He roars and the ice around him gets destroyed. Even the boat we are standing on breaks free from the frosty clutches of the ice. We hold on to it while I'm amazed and Darius is laughing.

Shui is in trouble! Wait, Shui is in trouble? Shui is in trouble. Meh… he said he can handle it.

The polar bear swipes with his giant claws. Shui dodges it because it's so slow. But then gets hit by the explosive bullet of the human aiming from the unstable iceberg below. Damn, that human has an eagle eye. He managed to hit him from down there!

Shui is fine, of course, because that's not enough to kill him. He's hurt but not too much. Then the smoke concealed the polar bear's next attack. His paws are so wide that doesn't give Shui time to dodge in the air. He coats himself in a glass ball. It shatters and he's alive but I think that hurt so much. Then another deity from below prepares to jump. It's a goddess. I see the future where Shui is dead. 

“He's gonna get killed, ” I speak. “Give me your dagger, Darius.”

“Ugh…,” he complains, giving it to me.

I prepare, “Throw of Five:” My target is to save Shui. “Artillery!”

The boat rocks while Darius waits for another second before disappearing. He is in time to grab Shui out of the way. The goddess misses her attack. I fly there to help them. The polar bear is attacking them and barely hanging on.

I'll send help in advance with, “Fist of Seven: Millenium Punch!”

My punch hits the polar bear but it's so massive that my most powerful punch only makes him take a step back to absorb. Nonetheless, it gave Shui and Darius time to counteract. They begin attacking the beast. That human all this time is some kind of a cyborg with robot hands and legs. I need to take him out so he couldn't stall. 

He points the rifle at me and shoots. I repel it with my power. He c***s the rifle and shoots again. I repel it again. He jumps away from the iceberg when I crash on it. Then it explodes from a bomb. Crap! He put a bomb in it! I'm on an unstable footing and he's in close range so his bullet hits my chest. It is painful but I didn't let it make me blind for another one of his attacks. I dodge and then the water bursts from under me. Under it is the humongous foot of the polar bear!

“Argh!!” I scream, holding on.

I can't fly yet! Ice and water come flying into the air with me. I dodge them while under fire from the human. Damn! He's so good! How can I beat him? Oh, his limbs run on electricity, right? Okay. I didn't practice using the Magnetic Force for nothing! 

While dodging, I focus my power to distinguish the Magnetic Force. I point my finger at him. “Magnetism: EMP!”

I can sense the EMP screaming from the tip of my finger. He kneels on the ice. It worked! Although, he recovers instantly but not early enough to dodge my punch to his stomach. I did it not as powerful as usual to avoid killing him. Then to make him less threatening, I rip off his limbs so he can't fight anymore. I had a good look at the limbs. The electronics are protected with foils. Maybe that's why the EMP didn't work that much. He frowns at me through his goggles as he lies on the ground.

I grab him away from the fight. I can tell that they're not one of the masked men that's why we just need to capture them. I put him on the shore. It's Shui's fault for attacking them. They just defended themselves. 

Returning to the fight, it seems that the polar bear is trying to protect the goddess. She is inside his mouth as Shui and Darius attack his tough hide. Even his eyes are like steel. Darius has used his Cessation but the relic of the god is hidden. Flying around, I look at him, baring his huge teeth at us. Then I see the relic. It's his left upper fang!

“Darius!” I shout. “Punch it!”

I had a glimpse of his nod before he disappears. He retreats to a far distance to accumulate momentum. I go under the chin of the polar bear while Shui is distracting him. 

“Let's go!” I scream.