~ 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 moved his small body down the cavern wall nonchalantly. This was part of the routine during missions. He envied Zenon that she even had a mother to mourn. What was it like? To have a mother that cares about you? Kisses you at night? Loves you?

I hope someone kills my mother one day. Then I can do whatever I want.

Khalid looked at the floor, his hyper mind processing his environment at rapid, careful attention. There seemed to be no trip wires, no mines. Just in case, Khalid pulled out a scanner to confirm his calculations and deductions.

Only two things stood in his way: two tiger-headed anthropomorphic guards.           

“Astaghfirullah”, lamented Khalid.

It’s sad to see Anthromorph’s stooping so low. They could do so much more with their lives, if only they could see it if only the world allowed.

Khalid looked over at Winona, her tongue flicking out, her little face turned in his direction.

She can taste me.

Khalid reached into a portal, pulling out a pistol with a silencer. Not a typical silencer. Outside of movies, most silencers only stifle gunshots enough to conceal the presence of a gun in a battlefield. It still made a very loud noise.

But Khalid was smarter than all of those gunsmiths; this was of his own design. This truly silenced all noise from his gun.

I could just fire in a portal to kill the sound. But where is the fun in that? The creation?

Khalid fired two shots, the only sound being two clicks. The two guards fell over, into two opened portals beneath them, they disappeared.

Into my dungeon you go, with the rest of your friends. If they have not succumbed to their injuries. The possibility of killing saddened Khalid. Unless explicitly ordered, Khalid tried to avoid killing on his missions. He took pride, even joy, upon non-violently taking down opponents attempting to kill him. Some of the best-trained law enforcement officers and soldiers could not disable an attacker without using lethal force. But Khalid, a twelve-year-old boy managed this again and again. How could he not take joy from it?

“Nice going, buddy,” said a girlish voice beside him, from the air itself.

“Zenon, you fool. What are you doing here? I told you to wait for me?” snarled Khalid. 

“Come on bro. I’m invincible. What are these guys gonna do? Throw me back in the cage? Big whoop. It’s the other kids you should worry about, not me,” said Zenon, her voice so determined. He didn’t like that tone; it filled him with hope. Hope is bad. Hope always led to disappointment and carelessness.

Khalid approached the doors of the cage. Winona greeted him as the other children fearfully moved out of her way.

“Khalid and Zenon. Together. Yay,” Winona clapped her hands lightly with a genuine smile. The two fangs poking from her teeth made her face seem all the more adorable.

“You can see us? You know this guy?” asked Zenon bewildered.

“Of course she can, boob head,” said Khalid. “Naga and Lamia possess thermal vision.  Winona is my friend. A very irritating friend..”

“Boob head? What are you, six?” Zenon scoffed.

“I’m going to pick the lock. Let me do my work, idiots,” said Khalid, fiddling with the cell room door. The children were uncharacteristically silent. The sound of a pin drop could be heard, along with the clinking of Khalid’s lock pick

“Khalid…” whined Winona.

“Shut up; I’m concentrating.”

“There’s someone behind you!” screamed Zenon.

A booted foot kicked Khalid in the back, smashing the boy into the metal bars.

My mom hits me harder, thought Khalid rolling in recovery. They could see him. How can they see him? Why couldn’t Khalid see his opponent?

Zenon hit the ground with her fists, shaking the ground, Khalid heard something plunk into the floor.

“Khalid, he’s on the floor. To your right!” screamed Winona. Khalid let out a thankful prayer for her thermal vision.

Zenon jumped on top of the invisible figure. She was punching and kicking but didn’t have all her strength back. Creating the earthquake drained her.

Good Zenon. Good. Buy me time.

Khalid reached into a portal and pulled out his multi-purpose goggles, a prototype he had been working on. He wanted to test it in more safe circumstances, but he was left with little choice.

As Khalid slipped his goggles on, a red spark struck Zenon. She was flung away in a flash of red light.

Khalid saw the red-blue blob-like thermal outline of a man. The red and blue blob pointed both its hands at Khalid. It didn’t take a hyper mind to realize it was a gun. Khalid dove out of the way as a beam of red sparks flew toward him.

With the speed of a cowboy, Khalid drew his pistol and fired upon the figure, aiming centre mass– no use risking to make trick shots and fancy targets like feet and hands. 

The figure seemed to come into sight. Khalid deactivated his thermal vision. It was an old man with a visor implanted where his eyes should have been. The old man seemed to have no signs of blood but seemed greatly irritated

“You’re not Human are you?” said Khalid scowling.

“Cyborg. You boy, you’re Human. Super-Human. You haven’t even scratched the surface of your full potential. I want you in one of my cages. What luck,” the old man smiled, displaying surprisingly clean teeth. He pointed the gun at Khalid and opened fire.

Khalid did not dodge. Instead, he opened a portal in front of himself, the beam entered, only to reappear from a portal behind the old man.

The old man screamed as the beam of light made contact. He fell forward belly down into the dirty floor, twitching.

Khalid put his pistol away and pulled out his favorite new gun from a portal. Boomstick, a shotgun specially made by him. At the right range, Boomstick could punch a hole through steel.

Slowly Khalid walked over toward the old man’s twitching body, pointing the muzzle threateningly over the old man.

“I… almost… had… it… all… Super-Human… Myth… Anthromorph… even Pantheon… I… could… have… been…. a god…” spoke the old man, pausing between words to gasp in pained breaths.

Khalid opened a portal beneath the man, watching him fall through silently.

“Move away. All the way to the left and right side of the cage. Now. Or you’ll be hurt,” snarled the young Assassin.

There was no more need for silence. The assassin boy fired Boomstick at the lock on the door. The children charged the door, swinging it wide open and clamoring around Khalid and Zenon, only to clear away as Winona approached, wrapping her two friends with her tail and raining kisses down upon them.

No death. No innocents lost. This mission went off without a hitch.

It was then Khalid noticed something, two statues hidden among the plethora of treasure began to move.

“Run!” screamed Khalid, “Get back in the cage. Winona! Use your strength to hold it shut.”

The Cyclops boy began screaming frantically. “Robots. They are robots. They…they have some of our powers. My eye. My eye, it knows. It never lies.  We’re gonna die.”

The two robots began to move slowly toward Khalid.  

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Image Credit: David Liew