Infiltration

      He ran as fast as he could. The wind whipped through his hair and his clothes. He barely made splashes when he ran over puddles. The capital building was on the northern side of Invena,  Feirce stopped in front of the Capital building. It was the largest and tallest tower in the city, rising nearly to the clouds. The old glowing blue Quitake’ design had been kept on the tower simply because it was just too massive for the, well . . . the New Age Republic to tear down and build a new one. The tower had a wide base that narrowed out as it got higher up.  After the base; the tower went straight up, without any additional support. On the corners of the straight length of tower, lengths of wall jutted out at forty five degree angles, so if you looked straight down at it from the top, the tower looked like a box with a large x in it. The tower, however, wasn’t the main part of the building, (but was still his destination) and aside from a few living quarters and the throne room, it mostly served as an imposing sight to give one the feeling of smallness. The actual main part was built behind the tower; branching of into a vast complex of rooms and offices. The tower itself had rows of windows about thirteen feet long and six feet high. The rows were spaced only about two feet or so from each other, and every one had a small ledge that stuck out a few inches from the bottom of each set of windows. This was Feirce’s way up. He could only hope that the ledges went all the way up the tower, but he didn’t know for certain.

     Feirce went behind a building, out of sight. He took out a role of tape. The feat he was about to attempt was going to be dangerous, and he didn’t want to worry about losing his grip. He removed all of his clothes except for his shorts which were torn to just below the knee. He put everything in his satchel and stored it away behind a garbage can. He felt bad leaving it behind, but he couldn’t take it along. After making sure that it was as safe as possible, Feirce got to work on raveling his hands and arms with the tape. When he was finished, he began  covering his abs for support, then his feet, which he wound to midway up his shins. Then he tied a strip at his forehead just for good measure, (and because he thought it looked cool).

            When he was ready, he climbed on top of the closest building to the capital. He stood steady in the rain and studied the tower. This was going tough, the throne room was on the top floor. Looking up, Feirce couldn’t even see the top floor.

         Taking a few deep breaths, and taking a moment to mentally prepare himself, He sprinted over the side and jumped.

        The building was much easier to climb than Feirce thought it would be. He made it onto the building and had begun the journey within moments. He made his way up diagonally instead of climbing it straight up which would have been much quicker but would have tired him out too fast, and he needed all of his strength. He leaped from one ledge to the other in a zigzag motion by pushing off the wall beneath with his legs and using his arms to slingshot him to the next one.  

         Higher and higher he went. Finally, he came to a ledge that stuck out slightly further than the rest. Feirce reached it and found that the space was large enough to walk on. He cautiously rested and looked out across the city. The view was breathtaking. From this height, he could see farther than he ever had, the blue of the buildings was blurry making it seem like one giant light. It was amazing to look at, but it gave him the feeling of vertigo and forced himself to look away.

         Looking up the side of the building, then down, Feirce imagined that he was about half way up the tower face. He was making good time, but he feared it wasn’t good enough. Soon, the Brikeng would make his way up the tower, most likely using the lift, and then he would kill the government. Feirce would not let that happen.

            He stood up from his ledge. After taking one last look at the city far below, Feirce leaped up to the next ledge and then the next one. It wasn’t until the third ledge that he realized something was very wrong. He was being watched. He couldn’t tell who or what was watching him, but he knew. He knew that he was in danger. His Quitake’ senses were driving him to absorb every detail that might tell him as to why. He continued to the next ledge, not wanting to give away the fact that he was on to whatever it was watching him. He made it one more ledge, then he saw it.

        There was a glimpse of movement. Barely anything, but just enough to catch his eye. The thing was;  it didn’t come from down below, or from the sky. It came from the window, inside the room. Feirce instantly knew that on the other side of that sheet of glass, someone was watching him, but because of the blue glow from the tower, and the fact that the room was pitch black, it was near impossible to see. Feirce hung just in front of the window, he was afraid to push on the glass for fear that if whoever was inside had not seen him yet, they would hear him and respond badly. Then another thought occurred to him. He could be staring directly into someone’s eyes, and not even know it.

     Unfortunately, within the next second, Feirce realized what the movement on the other side of the window was. . . and that it had noticed him too.  

       A blue light suddenly turned on inside the room. Feirce was momentarily mesmerized by it, then heard the familiar sound of a G.O.D. rifle charging up. With a gasp, Feirce ducked away from the blast by pulling himself up midway past the window, just as he pulled his feet up, the glass below him exploded with a great Fwum! Feirce looked down and saw a ball of blue energy shooting off across the city. Then another blue light kicked on in the room above him. In a split second, he realized that the tower rooms were guarded by G.O.D.s. Had this been a trap, or just mere coincidence? Feirce didn’t know, but he did know that he couldn’t risk climbing the outside, more than likely, there was a G.O.D. positioned in every room.

       This time; he was going to take the fight indoors. Feirce had to think quickly. He swung his legs up so he was nearly doing a handstand on the ledge, then with all the momentum and force he could muster, he swung down through the shattered window beneath him, just as a shot fired from the G.O.D. in the room above him flew past his ear. Feirce let go of the ledge at the bottom of his arc and flew at the G.O.D. who had first shot at him. He apparently believed that Feirce would have attempted to climb further up the building, for he was momentarily off guard. As soon as he saw Feirce sailing at him from outside the window, he quickly aimed his gun.

      Not quickly enough.

      Feirce nailed the soldier square in the chest. The G.O.D. stumbled back, but was not knocked over. He recovered fast and moved to fire at Feirce, but Feirce was gone. The G.O.D did a quick 360 to make sure that Feirce wasn’t behind him. The room was an old office. It was medium sized and looked like a dump. Garbage was piled everywhere. Some was random pieces of paper and the like, others were pieces of metal from the walls, even a ceiling panel leaned lifelessly against a pile of rubble, a desk on the far side of the room was cut cleanly in half, the two pieces leaned miserably against one another. He looked toward the door. It was still locked. He couldn’t have left. . . but maybe. . . The G.O.D. moved toward the door. He expected to be jumped at any moment along the way so he walked cautiously.

      Nothing.

      Maybe he did leave?

      The G.O.D. slowly approached the door. He reached it and did one last look around to make sure his scanner hadn’t deceived him. He unlocked the intricate security system and moved to open it. It was the last thing he ever did.

       The G.O.D. screamed in anguish as he was impaled through the chest with a large glowing blue sword. Then he crumpled to the floor; never to move again.

        Feirce hung from the ceiling, his legs hooked around the metal rail where a ceiling panel had once hung. The blue sword he held in his hands was his own creation. It was one of the things his mother had told him he would someday be able to do. The whole thing was one solid glowing entity, but it was clearly defined with a hilt, and a long narrow blade most suited for quick, clean, and silent cuts.  

         Feirce looked at the body. It was the first living thing he had ever killed. He had always thought that it would be hard; killing another human, but then again, he wasn’t so sure that the G.O.D.s were humans. This felt different . . . almost okay.

          Feirce didn’t hesitate for long. He knew that at any moment, a hundred more G.O.D.s would be on him in a minute, and he didn’t think they would be too happy when they saw what Feirce had done to their brother.

           He ran from the room with all haste. The room opened into a long, dimly lit hallway. The hallway was painted black, from floor to ceiling. A single window at each end of the hallway gave a tiny amount of light. It wasn’t nearly enough to see clearly, but he didn’t think he was going to be able to turn on the lights. Other than a few pieces of paper blowing around, the place was pretty much abandoned. No ornaments or decorations existed anywhere along the walls. ‘How strange’ Feirce thought, ‘I knew the people might try to get out after they figured out the speech, but this place looks like it’s been abandoned for a while.’

          Feirce slowed down near the end of the hallway, but he didn’t stop, there was no time for brakes. He headed right for the stairwell. Feirce bashed through the door. The door opened easily, and Feirce ran full on onto the stairwell. It was as dark as the first hallway, with a single blue light on every floor. He started running up the stairs, one floor. . . two floors. . .three. This was taking too long. Feirce stopped on the fourth floor he had climbed, and took a moment to see how far he had to go. He shuddered at the sight. There must have been at least two hundred more floors to go. The tower was even taller than Feirce had imagined. ‘It must go well over the clouds’ he thought. Feirce was starting to feel like this might end in vain, when he heard a noise and snapped back to attention. He looked over and down the stairwell and saw a dozen G.O.D.s heading up the dark stairwell towards him. Without a second’s hesitation, Feirce sprinted up the stairwell, only to have more G.O.D.s heading at him from the door, soon they were coming in from every door. This was definitely a trap. G.O.D.s were coming in from levels above him, at any point, Feirce would be crowded, and then there would be no escape. He could either give up, or fight.

       He made his choice.

       Feirce put his fists together and held them tight until a blue light began to radiate from them He quickly pulled them apart and formed to long streaks of blue: his swords.

         Without a second thought, Feirce sprinted headlong toward a group of G.O.D.s that blocked the passage that led up the stairs. They pulled their guns and began shooting the powerful blasts from their rifles, but Feirce would not be denied. He moved swiftly left to right, then a duck. He dodged the fire with ease, moving around them as if they were nothing more than slow dodge balls. One blast was headed perfectly toward him, there was no dodging it. With a brilliant flash of his sword, he sliced through it. The blast evaporated on the spot. Feirce moved to the first G.O.D. He moved right under him and stabbed upward with his right sword. It cut through the armor like it was nothing. The G.O.D. fell back onto his comrades. There were seven left according to Feirce’s eyes, but more would be there in moments.  He had to move quick.

     Feirce took advantage of the moment that the G.O.D.s took to push the body of the fallen over the railing and into the darkness below. He moved to the second, jumping high and aiming for his neck. The G.O.D. saw him coming and reacted faster than Feirce expected. He grabbed Feirce by the leg in midair and threw him to the ground. Feirce felt his back crack as he landed on the stairs. The G.O.D. leaned over him and aimed with his gun point blank with his rifle. Feirce gripped his sword and sliced at the gun. The G.O.D. laughed as his rifle remained intact.

    Not for long.

    As the G.O.D. pulled the trigger, the weapon backfired and blue the G.O.D.s face to smithereens. It was a gruesome moment, but Feirce didn’t stop to think about it. He hopped back to his feet and moved out of the way as another blast was fired at him. Two guards stood two feet from him, both with guns at the ready. With a single, smooth motion, Feirce sprinted behind them so quickly the guards didn’t have time to react, but then again, they couldn’t. Both guards fell over, dead. A clean slice ran through both of them. Four left, and Feirce was nowhere near slowing down. He ran at the next one, who retaliated with a blast that just missed Feirce’s left ear. Feirce moved in for the kill. He disabled the guard by slicing off his right arm. The guard dropped his rifle and clutched at his arm. Feirce almost felt sorry for the G.O.D., but there would be no mercy. Feirce kicked out the guard’s legs and through his sword into the falling G.O.D.’s body. The screaming abruptly stopped. Feirce shoved off the body and looked up.

     The entire fight had taken place in a span of four feet. In that span, three guards lay dead, another, a few hundred stories below at the bottom of the stairwell. The others: now gathered at the top of the floor, with ten guns pointed directly at Feirce. There would be no dodging this, but Feirce had an idea. He let the sword in his right hand slide down. “Freeze! You’re under arrest by order of the Brikeng!” one of the G.O.D.s shouted from the top of stair. “Then come and get me!” Feirce yelled back. Two of the G.O.D.s shifted as if they were about to move, but the leader of the bunch put his arm out to halt them. This was his chance. Feirce grabbed his sword at the end of the hilt and launched it with all his strength. The effect was perfect.

      The sword spun wickedly through the air so fast; it looked like a great glowing disk. A few of the guards were fast enough to get out of the way, but a few others weren’t. They were sliced to pieces.

      Feirce leapt over the side of the railing, and grabbed on to the next floor. He pulled himself up as a few shots went whizzing by him. He ran to the door that would lead out into another hallway. He thrust it opened and gasped.

      Standing in his way was another G.O.D. and this one wasn’t fooling around. Without aiming, thinking or moving, he pulled the trigger.

      The blast hit Feirce square in the chest. He looked down and saw his chest was torn open. Feirce stumbled backward, gasping for breath, but his lungs would not fill. He was dying.

       Feirce remembered seeing the G.O.D. who shot him flee back the way he had came. It was strange. Why would he run away?  Feirce would have thought about it more, but the only thoughts he had; were that of those of his family, and that he had let them all down.    

       The last thing he remembered, was moving backward. He kept going until he was falling. Falling to his death. The black cloud was moving over his eyes. He knew that this was the end.

          When suddenly, the darkness went away.

          All of it.

          A blue light enveloped him, a quaking anger was rising in his gut, and then; nothing.

           Feirce had a dream. He was running to his mother. She had her arms outstretched to him. He was little. Then, his father was there. He stood over his wife with that same smile he always had. He reached his mother and ran into her arms. She held him tight. Feirce cried. He wasn’t  sad or lonely, none of that mattered. His parents were with him now. He didn’t have to be afraid anymore.

     His father leaned down and ruffled his hair. “Son, look at me.” Feirce looked up at his father, wiping the tears from his eyes. “There there, no crying now, you have to be a big boy.” As he said it, Feirce was taller, the age he really was. “There’s work to be done.”

      “What do you mean?”

      “Feirce, there is something you need to do.”

      “How? I’m dead, aren’t I?”

       His father chuckled, “No Feirce, far from it. It appears there is more to you than you thought, you have more power than we ever imagined.”

        “Why?”

        “That is for you to find out.”

        “How?”

        “Go to the woods far to the west. The four of you will figure it out.”

        “What’s in the woods? And what’s the four of us?”

         But his parents were falling away from him. “Wait! No! Tell me!” Too late, his parents were gone. Their voices chimed in his ear. He started to cry again. His parent’s final message sounded in is head “We will always love you.”

            Feirce woke up, crouched in the stairwell. The G.O.D.s were gone. Feirce knew they would not be coming back. Massive wings sprouted from his back; radiating blue light. The wins filled the entire floor stairway. As Feirce came to his senses, the wings shrank back into his body. When they were gone, the stairwell became eerily dark and quiet.