Fallout (Tales of the Other Universe Book 2) Page 10

  “Miko, come on!” Dee shouted. The petite girl stared back at the pair with apathy, her eyes half opened and clear. Dee couldn’t imagine why she wasn’t getting away as the gunman behind her started to get to his feet. “Run Miko!” Adam stared back at her, reaching a conclusion he found hard to stomach.

  “She doesn’t intend to go anywhere, Dee.”

  “What are you talking about?” Dee asked. By now the shooter was getting ready to unload another round of gunfire, and now his delight was replaced with a malicious and murderous look. Adam followed Dee’s example and generated his own light barrier to divide he and Dee from Miko and the shooter. With the wall beside them ripped open, there was a path to enter his bedchamber. He started inside while Dee remained in the hall, looking soulful through the glow of the light wall as Miko stood her ground and the shooter opened fire on them.

  “Let’s go, Dee,” Adam called. Dee started to move, but didn’t break eye contact with Miko until she was past the wall.

  “I don’t believe it,” she said, lost at the idea that Miko would have sided with their enemy. There was little doubt to that fact in their minds now. Miko’s empty gaze was not one that conveyed a desperate plea for help or an attempt to play along with their enemy. It was a vindictive look, one that conveyed a great deal of emotion even if her face remained placid and flat.

  The inside of Adam’s chambers was disordered, just as Dee’s had been, but there was not much structural damage. With their enemies just outside the main door, they wouldn’t have much time. As Adam entered the main living area, he raised his hand towards the door and secured it with steel bars. The clanging sound must have alerted the gunman, who fired through the wooden door but remained trapped outside. Adam moved with swiftness to avoid the path of any bullets and made his way to the closet. There he found the only two things he intended to take during his flight: the light blue jacket worn during his time in the Khazaki and that had survived the ordeal in Kyoto, and the single-edged sword that had once belonged to the former commander of the Khazaki whom he had a deep respect for. He slid the sword through his belt beside the Sword of Magid and donned the jacket before making his way back to Dee.

  “Is that all you’re taking with you?” she asked.

  “There isn’t time for anything else,” he said. “I’m sorry we can’t get any of your things.”

  “I’ll be alright,” she said. At the door, a tremendous banging and scraping could be heard. The two turned and saw something inhuman clawing away at the bars Adam had put in place. It was the same mechanical creature that Adam had encountered at the stock exchange, and it was making quick work of their last defense.

  “How far is the portal system from here?” Dee asked, her eyes stuck on the predator ahead of them.

  “There’s a trick door in the far end of the room,” Adam said, taking Dee by the hand and pulling her across the sitting room to a row of bookshelves along the farthest wall. Adam traced his hand across the titles until he found the right spot and pulled the book out. Behind it was a latch which he grabbed and tugged on, turning the bookshelf and exposing a hidden room behind it as a light flickered on inside. Dee was awed by the hidden passage, forgetting for a moment that they were being hunted.

  The bars at the door flew away as the mechanical monster burst into the room with a shrill shriek. It was followed by the gunman, who had exchanged his submachine gun for a set of concussion grenades. Adam pulled Dee into the room and forced the bookshelf shut behind them. With the latch exposed it would be a matter of seconds before their pursuers got in so Adam went to work at the control panel of the portal system.

  A great metal ring took up most of the wall space, but behind the empty band were just the stones of the adjoining wall. A set of controls sat beside it, which Adam pored over as he entered a set of coordinates. He turned a dial and a pinhole of light appeared in the center of the ring, spinning and swelling out to cover the span of the gate in a brilliant blue-green swirl. The bookshelf shifted and started to open behind them. Adam looked at Dee to ensure she was ready to the leap. Without words she consented and took his hand.

  A gap in the secret entrance opened just enough for their human attacker to hurl one of his grenades into the space. It landed at Adam’s feet as he and Dee stepped into the portal, exploding on impact. The added force propelled Adam and Dee into the portal as it blew apart the controls and destroyed the gateway behind them. The gunman tore open the passageway after the dust settled and gawked when he saw that nothing was left of Adam and Dee. He and the hulking machine stepped closer to the wall to see what had happened and he swore when he realized that somehow they had escaped. Miko strolled into the room and observed the man stamping the floor in frustration. Behind her, another man walked into the room. Miko looked to see Mr. White carrying a tense look.

  “I’m afraid we just missed him, sir,” she said.

  “That’s quite alright, Miko,” said Mr. White. “It wouldn’t have been to our advantage to have caught him just yet anyway. We’ve waited a long time to bring him down, and we can wait a bit longer. Besides, we have to wait for our secret weapon.”

  No sooner than he had finished the sentence did Mr. White close his eyes and smile as a short gust of wind blew behind him. Miko stepped back with wide eyes as she watched the Creator Most High appear behind Mr. White and raise his hand to his back.

  Chapter 8

  Conquering God

  At the sight of the Creator standing behind Mr. White, the mechanized bodyguard took an aggressive stance and took two swift steps forward. Mr. White raised his hand up and the machine stopped, returning to its normal hunched position while staring with its single red eye. The dark haired gunman took this as a sign that his superior had everything under control and kept his weapon at this side. Miko still seemed quite alarmed that her group had been caught by the most powerful entity in the Other Universe, but Mr. White showed no sign of distress, as calm and collected as a monk. He maintained his composure and smiled.

  “I was beginning to wonder when you would show up,” he said to the Creator. “You certainly took your time. I was able to do a lot of damage to this palace up until now. I wonder, where have you been all the while that I was bringing this place to its knees?”

  The Creator said nothing, keeping a steady, careful glare on the dangerous man in front of him.

  “My guess is that you were grievously injured as the attack began and your mortal body wasn’t able to keep going. You should count yourself lucky that you can just re-manifest yourself in a new body while you’re in the Other Universe. Had you been killed during your time in Japan by Rogers or Okita, it would have meant the end of you. There certainly are perks of being the lord and master of your own universe, aren’t there, Daniel?”

  The Creator gasped softly. Mr. White turned around to face him, completely confident in himself. “You don’t mind if I call you Daniel, do you? ‘His Holiness, the Creator Most High’ doesn’t quite roll off the tongue as well, and it’s not very honest, now is it?” The Creator’s face reflected a panic that he had not known in many years, not even when he was threatened with death by Oracle’s assassins. Mr. White recognized that his words had been as effective as he had hoped.

  “You might as well put your hand down now,” he told the Creator. “We both know you’re not going to do anything with it. If you could have killed me, blown me up or had me ripped apart atom by atom, you would have done so before I even realized you were in the room. So make yourself comfortable. I have a few business propositions to discuss with you.”

  With a look of horror still on his face, the Creator lowered his arm. “How are you still alive?”

  “I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean by that, Daniel,” said Mr. White. “I was born, and I have lived, and never have I done anything but.”

  The Creator looked Mr. White up and down, taking in every feature of him. He had the same slender frame beneath his dark suit, the same face, the same pale skin, the s
ame hair, even if now it was pure white rather than black. Then there were his eyes, stained blood red and as if by some foreign influence marked with a symbol representing a smaller eye in place of pupils. It was a mark that the Creator had not seen in thousands of years, and he knew it was no coincidence that it was inscribed in the eyes of the young man in front of him who was identical to the fallen Legend who had once served him.

  Mr. White turned to the gunman standing across the room. “Leave us,” he said. “Take Miko with you and find Evangeline. We’ll be along soon.” The dark haired man headed to the door, sneering at the Creator as he left. Miko followed close behind, obeying without question. The smooth white killing machine remained in place, keeping an eye on its master. The Creator looked over it and judged it to be a foul, unnatural thing.

  “Spartacus stays with me wherever I go,” Mr. White explained. “He is somewhat of a bodyguard, even in times when I am perfectly safe.” Mr. White began to stroll about the room, letting his steps fall lightly as if he hadn’t a care in the world. The Creator followed him with his eyes, trying to assess just what kind of person he was dealing with now.

  “You are the one responsible for the bombings in the palace, that much I can assume,” said the Creator. “Are you, as Iilil-ja believes, also responsible for the attacks in the city earlier today?”

  Mr. White laughed. “‘Iilil-ja?’ Is that what you call him? That’s cute.” He continued pacing about, stopping near Adam’s desk to look out the window at the city in the distance. The trees were still burning in the courtyard. “Yes, I coordinated the attacks on the Stock Exchange Central Building and the bank magnate. Of course I wasn’t going to waste my own people on such a suicide mission. There was another group I found that was more than eager to express their anger towards the government through an act of terrorism. All they needed was the means, which I gave them in exchange for having them follow a few specific orders.”

  “You mean organizing a hostage situation with the intent on framing Iilil-ja?”

  “It didn’t take much convincing. They were so grateful to have a large supply of bombs and automatic weapons that they never questioned when I put them under a box and waited for the prey to take the bait before pulling the stick away.” His eyes moved to the desk and fell on the skull that Adam kept there. His face seemed to light up as he caressed the top of the skull with his fingertips.

  “So you were behind all of this? Even the death of The Baggins?”

  “The bombings, the death of The Baggins, and setting to stage for revolution by instigating geopolitical and economic turmoil for the last five months. All of these things and more were just the beginning.”

  “The beginning of what?” the Creator asked.

  Mr. White picked up the skull and held it out towards the Creator. “The torture of Adam Evans.”

  “And why is the Oracle group so interested in Iilil-ja?” asked the Creator.

  “It’s not so much my group as a whole,” Mr. White explained. “More of a side project, really.”

  “Seems like a lot of time and energy spent on just a side project. It wasn’t just Magid either, right? You were targeting him in Kyoto, not just trying to assassinate a high ranking political leader?”

  “The prime minister was never an important target, though it was necessary that he be dealt with as well, and I assure you that he was dealt with. I had orchestrated everything so nicely so that Adam Evans and the manifestation of his anger would destroy each other. However plans changed, and Evans survived. You can imagine the predicament this put me in. Adam Evans is a Legend, after all, and can only be killed by another Legend. With his doppelganger gone, there was only one other Legend still alive who I could get to handle the task for me: you.”

  The Creator scowled. “What makes you think I would ever do that?”

  “Because I’m telling you to,” said Mr. White. “And I think you’ll find that having me as your enemy will make your life much, much worse.”

  “How so?”

  “I thought that should be obvious, Daniel,” said Mr. White. He noticed that the Creator winced each time that name was used. “You must have been thrown for a loop when you found yourself unable to harm me. We haven’t been sitting here chatting as friends. I’m sure you’d want nothing more than to destroy me and remove the pebble you’ve had caught in your shoe for quite some time now. But you can’t, just like you couldn’t kill The Baggins. Not following the war he started and not in Kyoto. In fact, he even managed to glance you with a permanent mark on your face. Now that’s interesting. Legends aren’t supposed to retain any kind of scar, unless of course they choose to bear it. You don’t strike me as the type of man who’d make that choice.”

  “Do you have a point?” The Creator’s tone turned hostile, something Mr. White picked up on.

  “No need to be short with me, Daniel,” said Mr. White. “Though that’s another curiosity, since you supposedly had lost that emotion when you split Adam Evans off from you. But back to the point. You couldn’t kill The Baggins, but it’s obvious now that he wasn’t immortal, and you can’t kill me, an ordinary human. So what do he and I have in common. Any guesses?” He continued to play with the skull in his hands while the Creator stared at him with contempt.

  “You both have a connection to Fatum,” the deity answered. Mr. White stopped moving the skull and gave the Creator a cross look.

  “I’m afraid I don’t follow you,” he said. “I have no connection with that ancient boogeyman you allowed out into the world. No, the one thing that he and I have in common is that we know your little secret, Daniel.”

  The Creator looked away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Oh come on, we’re wasting time here, so let’s not jerk each other around,” Mr. White said with force. “I know who you really are, who you used to be. I know that you’re not a real god, far from it. The Baggins knew this too, because after all, what kind of god would allow a monster like him to exist at all? It was that rationale that lead him to realize the truth: that you are not a true god, but rather just a very gifted individual. The moment he accepted that truth and denied your divinity, you were unable to touch him. Such is the case with me, and anyone else who should ever find out.”

  The Creator’s heart began to race but he managed to control his composure. “You’re bluffing.”

  “Am I? So then why couldn’t you kill me? I know you tried, and it must have been a terrible shock to you to discover that you couldn’t do it. I must admit it was a terrible gamble on my part, since if I had been wrong it would have meant my end. But more than chance is on my side, Daniel. I have truth, and right now, that truth is the most powerful weapon I possess. If I were to tell the world about you, what power would you have? Would you even still exist at all? Perhaps you would shrivel up, fade to dust, and join the embodiment of your anger here in my hand. Maybe nothing will happen at all, but the odds aren’t in your favor. I was fortunate with my gamble, Daniel. Do you expect you will be, too?”

  The Creator was silent. He could no longer hide that he had been bested and hung his head. “So you intend to force me to kill Iilil-ja?”

  “Not now,” Mr. White said. “It would seem he slipped away with your lovely assistant. I’m sure you can find them for me, right?”

  “Of course I can.”

  “Good. There’s no rush, though. We need to give Evans time to adjust to the shock of things. He’s just suffered a terrible loss, and I need to wait for him to build himself back up before imposing more despair onto his soul. It won’t be enough to inflict all of the suffering at once and destroy him. No, far from enough. I intend to take my time and watch him suffer. In the meantime, I should really restore order to the mess that Evans left behind in his kingdom. I hope you’ll join me as I address the people.”

  The Creator said nothing and just stared back at the man who had managed to take the highest power of the Other Universe as a hostage.

  Mr. White smil
ed. “I appreciate your cooperation, Daniel. Shall we?”

  Resounding cheers could be heard coming from the palace several city blocks away when it was announced that the king had fled and that the old government had been toppled. The palace was left as just a shell of its former majesty after being blown apart by so many explosions, and even after the raid had ended smoke still rose from the openings created by the blasts. The staff and other government leaders who hadn’t been killed were now kneeling in the courtyard, bound and at gunpoint. The mob which had laid waste to the palace now gathered in the front yard, secured by Oracle’s gun toting agents. They waited for official news to be delivered to them from the leaders of the coup, and they wouldn’t have to wait long.

  The remains of the palace’s main entrance creaked open as Mr. White stepped out with the Creator, followed by Miko, the dark haired gunman, another woman with dark, feathered hair and a long red trench coat, and the machine that Mr. White had called Spartacus. Cheers and applause rose up from the crowd as Mr. White raised his hand high to wave to those who had aided in overthrowing the government. He concealed his unique eyes with a pair of sunglasses as he always did when appearing in public. His eyes made him different, and he knew that people don’t like different. Since this was his first appearance in person before the people playing the role of the Western Liberty Movement’s leader, he intended to do nothing that would isolate him or detract from the victory against Adam’s government.

  “My friends, rejoice!” he shouted loud enough for everyone gathered to hear him. With the commotion of the attack, many who had not been involved at all had gathered and the front yard as well as the surrounding streets outside of the palace walls were packed with an audience. “The representatives of reason and justice have spoken! We have called, and our desires answered! The incompetent and corrupt government led by Adam Evans is no more!”