A Hero's Song (Darkest Secrets Volume 1)

Chapter 24 - True Purpose

The day for Captain's training finally came one foggy morning.

Gabriel donned his armor while Alfred told him to go to the Shield's personal training hall - on the 242nd floor.

When he stepped into the right hallway, he noticed he was in some sort of antechamber. A sizeable armored door stood before him, and humming filled the room.

"State your name." Said a robotic voice from the ceiling.

"Gabriel."

"Hold still for scan."

Blue lights ran up and down his body, and a moment later, the door clicked open and slid upwards. This training hall had a large oval table set at its far end on a raised platform. It looked large enough to hold twenty people, if not more.

Gabriel was not alone. An Asian man in a lab coat sat at the table, fiddling with a tablet and mumbling to himself. The man had unkempt blue hair that hung over his glasses.

He wondered who this could be. His age indicated he might be too old to have been in a Strike Force. Gabriel decided it would be best to simply introduce himself.

"Hello."

The man startled and looked up. "Oh, hello! I suppose it is that time. You are Gabriel." He stated it as a fact. "I've wanted to meet you to discuss the nature of your state as a cyborg."

Gabriel was stunned but quickly understood.

This was Dr. Atomic. His appearance did not suggest he were someone so important, though Gabriel was not surprised that the shaggy-headed man was Dr. Atomic - having seen the very normal-looking Zero.

"Dr. Atomic. It is nice to finally meet you, I have long looked up to you as a colleague." Gabe finally said.

"Thank you, Gabriel." He said, nodding his head in respect. "I suppose I should say the same to you after learning that most - if not all - of Professor Holmes' breakthroughs should be attributed to you."

"I am honored to hear those words, sir. Will you be teaching the captains?" he asked.

Dr. Atomic nodded. "Why yes, I will. In fact, I notice the rest of the Class is all here. We will speak later, yes?" Without waiting for a response, Dr. Atomic walked towards the door while raising his hand.

The door slid open, and in stepped the remaining captains.

Gabriel was pleased to see that he was already acquainted with two of them. Rey and Mystery saw him and moved closer. Beside them entered a super that Gabriel assumed must be Crocodile.

The man looked very similar to a MechaBlitz warrior, standing well over seven feet tall and covered in scales. The differences in their bodies were that Crocodile had an elongated snout filled with many more teeth than a MecaBlitz. His tail was also much longer, looking to stretch the length of his mottled green and brown body.

"Welcome, captains. It is good you are finally here. My name is Dr. Atomic. Mystery, Crocodile, Rey, and Gabriel, it is nice to meet you all. Does anyone have any idea why you are here?"

Crocodile spoke up in a raspy voice. "We're here to learn about being captains."

Dr. Atomic sighed. "Apart from the obvious. I meant why you are here at the Spire. Why is it that we've recruited some of the most powerful Supers ever to graduate from the academy? Why did we place them all here, together?"

Crocodile's snout tilted low. "To form Strike Forces. This is getting on my nerves. Why all the simple questions?"

"Ah, but Crocodile, you don't seem to get it. The answer is you are all meant for something big, great even. Let's try another route. Where are we standing now?"