The White Feather- A story of infinite worlds

Gladiators And The Beast

“No matter what happens, DO NOT open the f*****g door!” All four brothers screamed at Veda who was already terror struck. He just nodded vigorously.

“I see you didn’t bring any guns in here.” Thomas growled in his demonic voice.

“We knew you would try to pull something off.” The first one said, tilting his neck. He took out a karambit (a lethal knife which is very easy to handle), followed by his brothers.

There was a brief moment of awkward silence before the quadruplets started moving in slowly towards Thomas. Thomas moved his eyes rapidly, watching every move and calculating counter-measures at inhuman speeds. When the brothers came close enough, his eye movement suddenly stopped, startling the enemies for a second.

As soon as the first one swung the knife at the back of Thomas’ throat, Thomas made an impossible flip, still tied to the chair. The knife missed the throat and hit the rope instead, cutting the knot. Thomas was free and there was no running away from him. So the brothers attacked while he was still on the ground and busy in unraveling himself.

Thomas was thundered upon with a fury of sharp blades, but he didn’t stop. His chest had dozens of holes and he was bleeding through his whole upper body. Finally, he unraveled himself and took a hold of the rope.

The third brother went ahead to stick the knife in Thomas’ head, but Thomas turned the situation around at the last moment and trapped the attacker's hand in the rope. He pulled the man down and thrusted his fist inside the man’s mouth with such force that the hand tore the spine and came out from the back of his throat. The body went limp right away.

Thomas stood up and tore his shirt. The remaining three couldn’t believe their eyes and stepped away. Thomas’ wounds were healing! And that too at inhuman speeds. He turned his head at ninety degrees and looked straight at the man standing closest to him.

“So you’re still alive. I guess I’ll have to kill each one of you. Too much fun, Hahahaha….” Thomas said and pounced on the man.

But the brothers were no fools either. The man made a quick reversal and kicked Thomas in the chin, sending Thomas straight into the glass wall behind him. Thomas got up like nothing had happened. His head was swollen, but he didn’t seem to feel it. He was pissed, and flung a big right hand at the man. But the enemy was prepared and barely dodged it. He struck while Thomas wasn’t prepared, and rained down a couple of punches right on his face.

The others joined in and soon Thomas was down on his knees, trying to block attacks from all directions. But he was cruelly outnumbered plus his enemies were furious at their brother’s death.

But you can only punch someone for so long. Finally, one of the brothers decided to push a knife into Thomas’ brain. As soon as Thomas felt the beating slow down, he came into action. He grabbed the villain’s hand right before the knife hit his skin. He looked up and smiled.

“This is how you break a spirit!” He said and broke the hand, separating the broken bone from the rest of the hand.

He jumped up and startled the other two. Then, gripping the severed wrist tightly, he used it to block a punch from the man behind him. Then he turned his attention towards the third one and used the sharper end of the bone to stop his kick. The bone pierced the shoe and stuck inside the foot. The victim fell down and tried to remove his brother’s hand from his own foot.

“I thought you felt each other’s pain.” Thomas said in the short break while his opponents took a hold over themselves.

None of them replied, but they recovered their focus much quicker than expected.

“Oh I see, you have mastered pain. Just like the Shaolin monks from the Himalayas.” Thomas said, shooting an arrow in the dark.

“No, you stupid b***h; didn’t you listen when I said my bodies share pain? It means we feel much less individual pain. We can take pain just as much as you.” All three said together.

“Yes, but you can’t heal like me.” Thomas said and darted at them.

It seemed like they had synced their minds or found some way to communicate effectively without even speaking. They fought just like they described, with three bodies but only one mind. They synchronized their moves to attack and defend at the same time. It was a well oiled machine. Thomas was trying but he couldn’t hit a single shot. His every punch was blocked and retaliated with two blows on his face.

But human body has one basic limitation which differentiates it from machines- it gets tired and cramps. After some time, the brothers changed their approach from aggressive to purely defending. Thomas noticed this and pushed them harder. His body was being fueled by a nuclear cell, so he didn’t have that limitation.

After another two minutes, the tired mind glitched and the synchronization was delayed. Thomas took full advantage of it and threw a kick so brutal on one of the brother’s chest that he was airborne until he crashed into the window in front of Veda.

Before they could get their tired minds to focus, Thomas leaped on the fallen man and sat on his chest.

“You know why they don’t let us use Burning Feather other than rare situations like this?” Thomas said with burning rage in his green eyes. The man tried his best to get Thomas off him, but Thomas had turned into an immovable beast. Saliva dripped from Thomas’ mouth on the man’s face as he continued.

“Because it f***s with your mind. It makes you do things that will haunt you for the rest of your life.” Thomas said and grinned like a hyena.

The man’s eyes grew wider when he saw Thomas’ green eyes grow brighter. His fear was transmitted to his brothers, who were trying their best to get Thomas off him. But Thomas wouldn’t even flinch.

“I have been feeling those eyes on me from the moment I entered this city. Were these the eyes that watched me play your bloody game? I think they are. I need to feel independent. But I can’t as long as these are around. I HAVE to get rid of them. You understand, don’t you?” Thomas almost pleaded. It was all the more reason for the little creature to be scared.

All of a sudden, Thomas’ helpless look changed into an animal’s look who was under the effect of his primal instinct. He held the man’s face with iron grip and pushed his thumbs into his eyes.

“Please, don’t scream. I have to get rid of them if I want to feel independent. IT'S NOTHING PERSONAL.” Thomas said. It seemed like he was feeling sorry for the crying man, but at the same time, he was thrusting his thumbs deeper into his enemy’s eyes.

Blood covered the helpless man’s face and his brothers rolled on the floor beside him, yelling in pain. His eyes were turned into pulp, but Thomas had no intention of stopping. He pressed his hand harder and harder on the skull till it burst open like a water melon.

The man died on the spot and the bits of his brain covered the ground surrounding him. Thomas smiled demonically and got up. The remaining two men were in immense pain, but survival instinct suppressed prioritized fighting over pain. Thomas had broken their spirit in the true sense. He didn’t give them quick deaths. He picked them out one by one, so they could see their imminent death crawling gradually towards them. They thought everyone was scared of them and that they were special, but now Thomas made them feel terrified and weak. They were fighting, but Thomas had already won.

He soon grabbed the other one and ripped his legs off. His brother tried to stop Thomas, but it was in vain. Thomas lifted up the torn off legs and stomped the crippled men with them for as long as he could bear. Finally, the men passed out.

Thomas looked at the last man standing (or crying in pain, to be precise).

“You think you know torture?! Let me give you a little lesson.” Thomas said and took up a karambit from one of the dead bodies.

He then dropped to his knees and put the knife’s blade against the unconscious cripple. His brother was dumbfounded from shock.

“Please don’t! Don’t do it, I’ll give you anything in return.” The man begged and joined his hands.

“Too late, negotiator…” Thomas said and slowly pushed the blade inside the unconscious man’s throat.

The man on the other side of room felt the effect instantly. His begging stopped and it seemed like he was choking on something. He gripped his throat tightly, as if he could stop his brother’s bleeding by pressing his own throat. Soon, his eyes rolled over and his movement slowed.

The man came to life just when his brother’s body started getting cold. Thomas was standing ten feet away from him, holding the same karambit that he used to slice open his brother. The man was terror-struck for a moment, but his brain soon came into action.

“Veda! Open the f*****g door!” he yelled, surprising both Thomas and Veda.

Veda had been watching the whole scene from the beginning. By now, he was sure that there was no running away from Thomas.

“Didn’t you hear me? I said open the f*****g door!” the man yelled again, looking at Thomas, who was just standing there, as if waiting for something.

“I’m sorry sir, but I can’t do that. Right now, his c*****e is constrained within that glass prison. But if I open the door, he will lead an army of time travelers into your beloved city.

Can’t you see? He’s just torturing you so that you open the door and he can wash us all down.” Veda finally spoke. His voice was weak but painfully determined.

“You motherfucking rat! I made you what you are, you clown faced freak. And now you try to lecture me on how to defend my empire? You are all f*****g traitors!” the man yelled. But his voice had more disappointment than anger. It was a like a chicken’s cry who had already seen his impending death by the butcher’s knife.

“And now I can finally kill you. Now that you have seen your own men turning on you, you are already dead. I have taken everything that you were proud of. Now you are just a scared little kid who is helpless.” Thomas said as he slowly advanced towards his prey. He was almost dancing with joy.

And then, the expressions on the last remaining quadruplet changed. His face was peaceful, like a man who had realized that he had lost everything and was ready to accept his fate. He took a look at the bodies around the room and took a final glance at the devil walking up to him. After that, he closed his eyes. But……nothing happened. When he opened his eyes again, Thomas was sitting right in front of him.

“You think I will give you an honorable death after what you’ve done? No, you’ll die by your own people.” Thomas said and got up.

Then, he took a very deep breath. And after that, he charged straight towards the glass window on the other end of the room. He jumped high in the air and pushed his tightly clenched fist with maximum force straight into the window.

The walls vibrated from the impact as Thomas’ hand broke a hole into the 'unbreakable' glass and passed right through it. Veda grabbed the radio on the desk and ran out of the room, stumbling upon the desks and drawers in the dark room.

“I see you, you little b***h. And I’m coming for you. There is nowhere left to run, so just pray that I die before I get my hands on you. Because death would seem like a blessing in front of the terror I would inflict on you.” Thomas snarled, looking in the pitch black room.

Some things fell down and broke as someone ran towards the gate in the darkness. When the gate opened, Thomas saw it. It was Amanda, the imposter who had toyed with his heart and made a joke out of the times they made love.

“Attention all members of The Chakra; a top priority target has escaped from the signal proof chamber. If you see him, do not hesitate. Shoot to kill.” Veda rambled on the radio.

“How will we identify him?” A random guard asked.

“You won’t have to. Good luck!” Veda said and ran towards the exit from the underground stronghold.

“Welcome back, Zeus. I could have used your help a while ago.” Thomas said, looking at his watch.

“I apologize for not being available. How can I make it up to you?” Zeus asked.

“You can start by giving me an automatic shotgun and two Uzis and by sealing off all the exits. No one gets out of here. Also, tell me about this place. I wanna know where in the f**k are we.” Thomas said.

“We seem to be in some kind of an underground safe house. I have sealed off all possible exits and disabled manual take over.” Zeus said after ten seconds.

“Good! Now open this door for me.” Thomas said, c*****g his shotgun and looking at the poor man staring at the floor.

“Welcome to the creed of chaos.” Thomas said as the door lock clicked.