The Storm of Apocalypse

Chapter One: Part Five [3]

AFTER A SERIES of attacks, Mycenia felt she was running out of strength to use her psychokinesis. Her head ached, her hands trembled, and she was catching her breath. She gestured her hands and flew herself down to the cleared area near the wall. She landed on the charred ground and her soft impact released a pulse of psychokinetic force that made the fire grow wilder, illuminating the area. Using the back of her hand, she wiped away the blood crawling out of her nose. The crackling of fire filled the air along with the cries of the dying guards, distant explosions, and gunshots.  She walked through the once lush forest. The aftermath of the attack left a haunting landscape of fallen and burning trees,  with bodies of soldiers lying everywhere.

She extended her right hand and a rifle flung to her. She held it and started shooting the approaching soldiers and those who fired at her. Even those who were bleeding on the ground and were still breathing, she made sure she buried a bullet in their foreheads. Only then could she feel satisfaction from years of suffering. She left no one alive behind.

Up ahead was the wall that stood tall. She expected to have guards standing there with automatic guns, but there were none. She saw Valtor unleash tendrils of crackling electricity to the ground, with the surge of energy propelling himself upward. He soared over the towering wall. Mycenia, with a subtle movement of her hands, enveloped Renie with a psychokinetic force and carefully flung him over the wall. She remained outside to regain her strength. While alone, she was troubled by how easy it was for them to infiltrate the island. She was expecting many creians will attack them and not these human soldiers.

"Mycenia..." She heard a faint voice.

She looked over her shoulder but there was only darkness. She looked around, trying to find the man calling her name, but she was alone.

"Mycenia." The voice grew louder.

"Who's there?"

"Mycenia..."

"Show yourself!"

"You need to stop this."

She felt something behind her. She spun around and saw a man, wearing a black uniform just like a soldier of the Herozoan. She quickly aimed her gun at him and pulled the trigger. But the bullet just passed through his forehead. He stood still and looked her in the eye.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Myross. Just like you, I'm also a creian. I'm a telepath and right now my body is inside the Executive Building where Valtor and Renie were about to destroy and massacre everyone inside. I don't know how much time we have but while Arlette's distracted, let me tell you the truth."

"What  truth?"

"You have been manipulated. Arlette has been altering your memories so that you'll hate Herozoan and do what she wants. She chose you because you're the only one who can kill everyone here."

"Lies." She shook her head. "Herozoan took Vinceo. I'm here to break him out."

"We took him away from Arlette. He's too powerful to fall into her hands."

"He attacked me right after you planted an implant!"

"The implant was designed to block him from any telepathic connection and stop him from ever using his abilities. Like I said, he's too dangerous. He never attacked you. It was one of Arlette's manipulations."

"How will I know you're telling the truth?"

"Close your eyes and let me show you what happened the night she used you to destroy this place."

"How is this not a trick? I don't fucking know and trust you. You're a telepath. You could manipulate my thoughts."

"Well, I could...just like Arlette. But trust me...Let me share what I saw that night. You deserve to know the truth. You've been fighting on the wrong side."

"No. Leave me alone."

"I'm sorry but I have to do this."

She screamed in pain. Her head was like pounded by a hammer. Before she could even move, her vision blurred until darkness enveloped her eyes. She woke up inside the Harvest Pod where she slept half-awake for months. Her vision started as a blur. She blinked repeatedly and everything turned vivid. Her heart raced when she heard faint noises she couldn't piece together. She knew something was wrong.

"You're part of the apocalypse mapping program they called Species Survival Program. You volunteered to be part of it because that was our purpose since we were born on this island. But Arlette altered that," Myross spoke through her mind.

"N...No." A hoarse voice came out of her mouth. "No! No! No!" she cried when flashes of memories flooded her mind.

Outside her pod, she saw a woman, a scientist with no expression on her face, who pressed something on her tablet. The pod opened and she finally heard what was happening around her clearly. There were gunshots, screams, and blaring alarms. It was unpleasant and she felt shivers. She wanted to jump out and run away, but she was paralyzed and strapped to the chamber.

"What's happening?" she asked but she didn't get any answers.

The woman pulled out a pen-like injection from her pocket and buried the needle in her left thigh with force. She grunted in pain. The woman pressed the tip of the device and she felt the burning sensation spreading all over her body. The drug counteracted her paralysis. She could move but then she was still strapped. The woman moved closer to her and pulled the glowing roots of the Sacred Tree wrapping around her head. She groaned in pain as the roots had attached to her skin. When she was finally freed from the roots, the woman walked away and was replaced by another woman she didn't expect to see.

"Hello, Mycenia."

"Arlette..." she said weakly.

"How would you like to become my soldier?"

She touched her forehead and everything went black. But from another's perspective, a soldier's point of view, Mycenia saw what happened after. The straps were removed. Her body stood and she jumped out of the pod following Arlette's order. She had a blank face and lifeless eyes. She was not alone, Valtor and Renie were with her; they were Level 3 creians that were under the spell of Arlette's telepathy.

The soldier attempted to stop them but Valtor unleashed a bolt of lightning that burned the soldier. Her point of view jumped to another soldier on the field, trying to shoot at the creians who were targeting the soldiers, scientists, doctors, and other innocents. An explosion behind them caught the soldier's attention. He turned around and saw herself hovering above and began blasting psychokinetic force to the ground, crushing anyone she saw as a threat. Valtor and Renie began attacking too, joining the others in wreaking havoc.

"How did this happen?" she asked herself.

Her point of view changed again. This time, it was from Myross' perspective. He was looking at Arlette who was holding on to the root of the Sacred Tree. She was reading her future, at the same time, drawing power to amplify her telepathic abilities. She was manipulating several minds at the same time, doing damage as much as she could. Myross closed his eyes and Mycenia woke up from viewing the past. She gasped for air and looked at Myross.

"Arlette won the yearly quell after your victory. She became so good that she only targeted the minds of her opponents and effortlessly defeated them. The instructors subjected her to the Averius Program for she was a threat. But before they could even activate her Inhibitor, she controlled those creians she defeated and used them like puppets to attack the officers of Herozoan. Turns out, while they fought in the Pit, she began establishing and strengthening telepathic connection. No one had successfully restrained her. She left the Pit in bloodshed and went to the basement to pick up another Level 3 creians to do her bidding–you, Valtor, and Renie. She went to the Sacred Tree while you three and the others started destroying the island. I tried to override your minds, trying to push out Arlette, but it affected your memories–it was all suppressed. She's too powerful. I lost my consciousness. And when I woke up, you're already gone, everything was destroyed, and only a few creians survived. According to the survivors, Arlette used you to escape after she failed to do what she wanted. And now, she's back to finish what she started."

"Why? What did she want?"

"She wants to weaponize the Sacred Tree. If you want to prevent further bloodshed of our kind and save this world, help me stop her. You know our purpose; we're here to stop Apocalypse and Arlette is one of them."