~ By Adeel Ahmed
Rated PG-13 for violence and language
Author’s Note: These are excerpts from a series of stories by Adeel Ahmed. The world is an alternative history Earth where Mythology and humans with special abilities existed through human history. It combines fantasy, Wuxia and superhero genres into it.
—
Khalid teleported around the arid desert mountain, stepping in and out of his portals by enemy binoculars and telescopes. Stopping, he reached into his pocket portals, pulling out his binoculars and the supplies that he stored there.
Khalid chewed on a candy bar as he looked into his tools.
There was a wolf-headed anthropomorphic woman and a tiger-headed anthropomorphic man pulling a cart full of children. One of the children was a tiny Myth baby, a Griffon. Another was a child with no eyes and mouth.
Mother was right. They’re kidnapping children. Wonderful children, super-humans and Myth both.
Then another, more urgent thought assaulted Khalid’s mind.
Winona. They have Winona. His heart began to pound rapidly.
He stepped through his portal — time to get started
***
The skinny pre-teen tugged and pulled against the steel bars.
“Whatcha doing, Zenon?” asked Winona slithering beside the invulnerable girl.
“Seeing when my strength will come back,” she replied, pulling on the bars.
The tiger-headed guards laughed at Zenon struggled, mocking her, telling her that her strength would never come back. She ignored them, far too intent upon her task.
“Look, Zenon, you’re bending it!” exclaimed Winona, clapping as the other children cheered, “I’m really strong too. But I can’t bend those bars.”
“Uh, Collector. We got a problem,” growled one of the tiger-headed men into the radio,”
Zenon didn’t know who this Collector was. She didn’t care.
The two opened the cell door, and one of them kicked Zenon across the cell. It didn’t hurt, only caused her to lose her footing.
Winona hissed and jumped up toward the wall, using her tail as a spring. Pushing off the wall with her hands, she flew through the air and smashed her tail against the face of the nearest anthromorph guard, knocking him down. The little snake girl showed an ability to fight that astounded Zenon. Tiger type anthropomorphs were very strong and sturdy.
Zenon then tackled the other guard, her super strong legs launching her forward, her head smashing into the anthromorph’s midsection.
“That’s enough from you, child!” A voice seemingly coming out of thin air spoke as a red bolt of energy struck Zenon. It sapped her strength just like it had done when her mother was shot.
The anthropomorph pushed her off violently, throwing her back into the cage and slamming it shut.
It was that man…that man with visor-implanted eyes, pointing at Zenon.
“That one will be first,” said the Visor-eyed man. “She’s too much trouble. Her ability to recover from power draining is far too rapid. We will try the procedure with her now.”
“You! It was you! You killed my momma!” screamed Zenon, pounding on the man’s chest with her fists. She wanted to hurt him; she wanted to hurt him so much, so badly. But she was weak; they took her power from her; they took her strength.
“I’ll help you, Zenon!” screeched a high pitched voice. Winona jumped on the ceiling tail first, then jumped off it into the man’s face, sinking her teeth into his neck.
“Bwahahaha, nice try, princess,” scoffed the man. “You are a brave one, and so talented. You have no idea how special you are, even among your own species. Your turn will come Winona. It will come.” He reached up and shot Winona with his strange gun, and she plopped down to the floor.
“Winona!” shrieked Zenon.
The other kids clung to each other screaming. Each of them was so powerful. Zenon wondered why they didn’t fight back.
“Take her away,” said the visor man. The two anthropomorph guards grabbed Zenon and dragged her through the tunnels, out onto the mountain top. On the peak was a strange chair with wires pointed inward, a station with a collection of dials was beside it. The sun seemed to bother the beast men, but Zenon seemed refreshed by it. It was a part of her; it was like her father.
The two anthromorph humans strapped Zenon into the chair, pressing a button. Bolts of electricity began to fire from the wires into her tiny body. It tickled.
“Weird. They usually croaked and choked with that level of voltage. Is it even working?” said one of the guards.
“No. It’s not scanning or absorbing anything. Not like the other kids,” the second guard replied.
“More power. Give it more juice.”
The guard cranked the dial all the way up.
A bolt of lightning shot from above, striking Zenon. Now the tingly feeling was a little annoying, but it still did not cause real pain.
“Are you crazy? You’re going to kill her!” screamed one guard.
“Does she look dead? Look at her! She’s getting high from it or something,” huffed the guard working the dials.
“Nothing. It’s absorbing nothing. No reading of any ability absorption.”
“Damn it. That Arab bastard is going to kill us!” Finally electric current stopped.
There was a gunshot, and the guard standing in front of Zenon fell to the floor clutching his legs. Zenon saw a black hole in front of the other guard, the muzzle of a rifle peeking out from inside of it. The beastman backed off as a skinny boy, maybe twelve or thirteen stepped out of the black hole.
“Yes, I’m the one who shot your friend. And I’ll shoot you too. I’ll feel bad since I think your people are oppressed as it is. So don’t make me shoot you. I don’t want to feel bad,” said the pre-teen. He was a funny looking boy, kind of geeky-looking. Zenon usually wasn’t attracted to boys that looked like him. His eyes though… they were really pretty eyes. Silver blue and so exotic.
“You think I’m scared of a kid? I’ve walked through gunshot wounds before. I served in the First Afghan War. You think a kid scares me?” challenged the guard, beating his chest. Dangerous claws distended from his fingers.
“No, I suppose not. All that tiger genetics influencing your physiology, your strength and reflexes must be immense. I’m sure a child with a gun doesn’t intimidate you at all. I-” The boy was interrupted by the tiger anthromorph, leaping nine feet in the air, his hands open wide, the claws flashing in the sunlight.
A portal opened up in front of the boy, and the Tiger landed right into it. Zenon’s sensitive hearing picked up a scream far away, then a thud.
“Off to the hospital you go,” quipped the boy. Another portal opened under the injured guard, “I was going to tell him I have powers. Idiot. All of them idiots…” He turned to the girl. “You, with the big stupid eyes. You took a bolt of lightning and your fine. Are you the one they call Zenon?” said the boy. Zenon got a closer look at him. He was dressed in loose fitting clothes, like an Arab warrior. He had a sour, angry face, which Zenon didn’t much like.
“I’m not stupid,” shot back Zenon angrily. She hated it when people called her stupid, like the teachers inferred when they called her “special.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” the boy shrugged, opening another portal. “Jump in. This will take you to my camp. Wait for me there.”
“No. I’m not scared of them,” stated Zenon, as she bolted back into the cavern. “I’m going to go in and rescue everyone.”
“Idiot!” the boy shouted after her.
Zenon continued running down the hole, her sensitive hearing still focussed on the boy. She heard him muttering things to himself.
“She’s very brave,”
There was a pause.
“Allah will bless her.”
Zenon stopped in her tracks. Usually, people said really nice things to her face, but then insulted her and called her stupid behind her back. But this kid? He insulted her, called her stupid in front of her, and made her mad. But then he said all these nice things when he thought she couldn’t hear him.
What a weirdo.
Image Credit: David Liew
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