At the Austin penthouse, Sam was in the bathroom and looked through the face mirror while he adjusted his tie. He heard a knock on the door.
"Come in!" He replied.
The door opened and Jonathan entered with a box. He placed it on the basin, and asked, "Where are you off to?"
"I'm heading to the research facility," Sam said and opened the box. He picked up a silver Rolex watch that was engraved with diamonds.
"Ohh, what for?" Jonathan inquired as he (Sam) wrapped the item around his wrist.
"To check out the prototype for the Super Sonic Train." He grabbed a glass bottle of cologne and showered his body with a pleasing fragrance from the spray.
"Well, good luck then," Jonathan said and walked out of the bathroom.
*********
A while later, the elevator opened. Sam stepped out of the squared mechanical room and pottered toward a white limousine that was parked in front of the entrance. A man in a black flat cap stepped out from the driver's seat and adjusted his aviator classic glasses. Once he reached the back of the wiener-lengthened vehicle. He opened the back door for Sam to enter.
"Mr. Austin, the limo's ready for you," the chauffeur said.
"Thank you, Patrick," Sam said.
He stepped inside the vehicle while the chauffeur closed the door after him. He returned to the front seat and got inside the car since he left the door open. He closed the door and switched the vehicle on. He drove out of the parking lot and advanced toward his intended location.
Meanwhile, Sam took out his cell phone from his left pocket and dialed Mariko's number. She answered the call, "Hello...um...hello...."
There was no response until he heard a voice exclaim furiously at him, "I waited three whole hours for you!!! Where the hell were you?!"
His eyes ballooned to great proportions as he struggled to garner reasons behind her sudden outburst. He chuckled once he realized what she was talking about, "Oops.. sorry about what happened?!"
The tone and manner of her voice intensified exponentially, "So you think that this is funny?!"
He spoke calmly and reasoned with her," No, no, no it's not. Look I'm sorry alright. I know that I screwed up. It's just that I had a lot on my plate that's why I forgot that we were supposed to have dinner together."
"She sighed and calmed down, "A simple text or phone call would've sufficed."
"I'm sorry I promise I'll make it up to you."
"It's fine I'm over it. Why are you calling me?"
"Our engineers told me that the prototype is ready and now I'm going to check it out."
"Okay, please send me pictures so that I can my board members."
"Sure," Sam replied and ended the call
*************
A couple of minutes later, the limousine arrived at the Austin Research Facility.
The facility was like a hanger and it had two LED boards outside with the Austin Industries insignia.
The limousine parked inside the building, and Sam stepped out of the vehicle once his chauffeur opened the door for him. He directed his gaze toward the horizon with a smile. Watching the engineers assemble and tweak metallic parts to form the physical shape of the bullet-forged transport brought jubilation to his spirit. It's as if several pairs of white-gloved hands tickled his heart, thus prompting it to pump out ecstasy faster than it normally pumped blood.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" Sam said. The engineers all directed their attention to him, they gazed at him in shock and awe. Then there was chattering amongst them because this was the first time in five years since Sam visited the hanger.
"I know we have many days, weeks, and months before this train ends up running, but wow! Just wow! Please applaud yourselves," he continued.
The engineers applauded, then suddenly, a loud thud echoed throughout the entire hanger.
A pile of rubble abruptly crashed on the ground, and the dust scattered across the facility, obscuring their impairment and the location of the Sonic train. Dread seeped into the latter's bones as he pondered what force was behind this unprecedented outcome. As he glanced beyond the horizon, a red glow fell in his line of sight, thus strengthening the grip of terror laced around his nerve mucles. Once the dust settled, a familiar figure stood before him.
"Oh shit!" he replied.
Seth stood in front of his brother, eyes blood red and teeth firmly clenched. He blasted Sam with his heat vision and sent the latter flying toward his limousine. A smirk filled his countenance once his eyes caught sight of the engineers. Who knew what thought ran around his twisted mind? He looked up and fired his heat vision, melting through the beams that held the ceiling intact.
Of course, portions of the ceiling began crumbling toward the floor. With haste, the engineers burst out of the facility, accompanied by screams of terror, to escape from their demise. Unfortunately, while some rushed to the entrance, they were flattened by the large, heavy rubbles. The outcome of their disastrous outcome was similar to grapes that were crushed.
Sam observed this not far away and furrowed his brows. He groaned under his breath as his wrath incarcerated him to its impulsive will. He flew to Seth and tackled him to the floor. Sam wrapped his hands around Seth's throat and clogged his airways. In response, Seth repelled him with a blast from his heat vision.
Seth looked at the ceiling once more and fired another heat vision at it. In doing so, a beam fell off and collided with Sam from where he lay.
Of course, the latter wasn't crushed. The beam mounted his back. He looked at the train from afar. This was a fatal mistake as Seth followed his gaze and said, "Ah, so that's your most prized possession."
He reached his hand out to his older brother helplessly and pleaded, "Seth, please don't! That's my father's dream."
"How ironic? I begged you to return with me to Codex and avenge our father," replied Seth as he marched off to the incomplete train which was a closer distance away.
He then directed his finger at the train, "And you want me to spare this insufferable machinery for your own life?"
Sam looked down to the floor he was lying on and Seth said, "You're a fool!"
Seth blasted the train with his heat vision, and it exploded.
A few minutes later, Sam crawled up til he stood to his feet. He looked around and bore witness to the destruction that transpired around him. He then heard police and ambulance sirens wailing from the distance. Distraught, he fell to his knees, with tears streaming down his face. He looked up and roared to the Heavens to express his grief.
****************
Later that night, Harrison and his parents gathered around the dining table and gorged on their meal. While the young lad dug through the slice of meatloaf with his butter knife, his mother began the conversation, "So, Harry. When are you going to take your girlfriend out to prom?"
He swallowed and answered, "Mom, I don't have a girlfriend. Plus the school hasn't confirmed the date for prom yet. But from what I've heard, it should be within the next five to six weeks."
She nodded and took a sip from her glass of wine.
Briefly, there was silence until the young lad broke the ice by clearing his throat, "I have something to say."
"I know that I am not your real child and that you sometimes wish that Kristina were here with you. I also know that I might've been a burden from time to time, but thank you for putting up with me for the past couple of years," he said, shagging his shoulders and looking down at the table.
Arthur pursed his lips and furrowed his brows with intrigue, wondering what prompted such utterances, "Stud, where is all of this coming from?" He inquired.
"Nah, it's just that going out and experiencing a couple of things made me realize how lucky I am to be a part of this family. And I want to cherish every moment with you guys." He replied, placing his hand on his mother's shoulder, who sat next to him.
Arthur then said, "Stud, it doesn't matter where you come from, even if you don't have our DNA. You Harrison matter to us in ways you couldn't imagine."
His cheeks flustered red, he was like a lovestruck teenager with his wide-gaping grin. Maria then placed her hand on his hand and intertwined her fingers with his, "Honey, your father is right. I don't care about my miscarriage anymore. I stopped caring the day I mothered you. Had it not been for it, I wondered whether we'd still have you. You mean the world to me!"
She tightened her grip around his fingers and stared deeply into his eyes, just as he did with her, "I love you, your father also loves you. And you will always be a Samson, it runs deep in your blood." She gently grabbed his head and rested her forehead on his.
Just as the bond between the Samsons grew strong, an unforeseen event materialized. A powerful explosion erupted from outside their house, and the force of the explosion gave rise to a shockwave that eviscerated certain areas of their house.
A few minutes later, when the smoke wore out, the young lad opened his eyes. He analyzed his surroundings. A famished blaze of fire engulfed the remnants of the building, while the pieces of the houses scattered.
"My head!" He groaned as he slowly got up to his feet. His impairment was obscured. He lacked balance as he dragged himself forward.
"What happened?" He shook his head, but the buzz that rang in his head refused to leave. Since he was still disorientated, he stumbled to the ground once more. He shook his head and glanced to the side. From there, he saw his father's body lying across the debris, buried under a rubble of wood and stone.
"Dad!" He exclaimed. Adrenaline pumped ferociously in his veins, abruptly energizing him and resuscitating his dulled senses. He crawled up from where he lay and sprinted to where Arthur's body lay. He removed the rubbles and cradled his head. As he looked at his garments, they were draped with a crimson liquid.
"No, no, no, Dad! Wake up! Please wake up!" Arthur was unresponsive, however.
Then suddenly, he heard a quivering scream not far away, "Mom!"
He ran to the exact location where the shrieking came from. As soon as he reached the destination, he found Seth with two of his subjects standing in front of him. He was decked out in black and red-striped metal body armor. He also had a black cape draped over his shoulders. Seth grasped his mother's scruff.
"Seth!" He exclaimed with horror as his eyes bulged out.
Seth chuckled, "Harrison."
Harrison was dumbfounded, "How did you.. how...?"
His heart raced exponentially as fear coursed through his veins and corrupted his normal routine. If his heart did not balance the rate of its pulse; fearfully, it would burst out of his ribcage. At that moment, the young only looked at him with astonishment as he was at a loss of words. The depraved Seth found pleasure in witnessing his terror. He directed his gaze to Maria as she wriggled painfully in his tight grip.
"Well, what do we have here? So you must be Harrison's earth mother. You're the despicable vermin who brainwashed him into despising his heritage. Since you're the disease corrupting his Codexian nature, you must be dealt with swiftly before you spread even further," he replied sternly.
"Please...leave her out of this! You only want me, not her, ok? Not her!"He shouted.
He looked at his subjects and smiled, "Gentleman, what do you suggest that I do with this disease? Allow it to spread further, or amputate the arm that it corrupted."
"Amputate the arm while it's still gathered there, Lord Seth. Before long, it'll reach the heart and the brain, killing the victim after accomplishing its goal," SS1 said.
Seth nodded and commented, "You're right, there is still time to save this child from from his premature death, the death of his Codexian identity."
Harrison stepped forward with his hand reaching out to his older brother. Meanwhile, Seth's right hand morphed into a blade consisting of crystal matter.
"Ah ah ah... Not so fast. Take a step closer, her blood will be on your hands!" Seth said.
"Please Seth, don't hurt her," He pleaded.
His mother wept in fear. The young lad directed his gaze to her and spoke to her, "Mom, listen to me. It's gonna be ok. I promise you, I'll get you outta here!"
Seth imploded with laughter and remarked at her, "Did you hear that Mom? He said that he will get you out of here alive. Nchoo, isn't he so adorable."
In response, Harrison raised his voice at him, "This is not funny your heartless beast!!!"
"Now now, that's not a nice thing to say. Especially from someone with a moral compass."
Harrison stretched his hand forward, shivering at the same time, "Why are you doing this Seth? I thought that we were siblings."
"We were, right until you stabbed me in the back. You remember don't you Harry? My intentions were pure! All I wanted was for the four of us to reconcile. However, you decided to listen to Sam and that damned traitor. You humiliated me, and now I carry that agony with me even at this second. Today, you will know how I felt when you betrayed me."
A stream of tears flowed down his cheeks while Seth laughed hysterically.
"Please, Seth don't, I'm begging you," The young lad fell on his knees with his hands intertwined.
"Have mercy, " he pleaded. " I'll do whatever you want me to do, I'll join you in destroying Codex. Heck, I'll even convince the others to join us. Think about it, this is what you always wanted!"
The depraved Seth nodded and pursued his lips. From his reaction, one was convinced that he was considering his proposal, "You right Harrison, we could join forces and destroy Codex together..."
A grin was placed on the young lad's features. It was so wide, that it radiated the surging energy of his now optimistic heart.
However, the tone of Seth's voice deepened in an eerie manner. His facial expression was as stoic as ever, "...but that ship has already sailed its course.
Instantly, he shoved the blade from her spine and through her gut.
"Nooo!" Harrison screamed.