Even in Conflict, Honor Thy Father and Mother: Chapter 1 – Stretching the 5th Commandment

Chapter 1 – Stretching the 5^th Commandment

So many days of fighting, maintaining peace, and performing acts of charity in the busy Sunny City of Tomorrow, Solis, have taken their toll on me. Even the strongest superheroes, who are bulletproof and immune to most injuries like me, get tired and worn out. Instead of traveling to new places, going on thrill rides, or dining at fancy restaurants or bars, I decided to spend my week-long vacation at my parents’ farm in Poca Bellezza. I need a place that’s quiet, isolated, and simple, compared to the constant noise and complexities of the world that always demand more of me, such as rising in the hero ranks and taking on more requests to keep earning a good salary. All I want as a hero is to serve God and help others. That’s my life goal, clear and straightforward, and I don’t care for anything else beyond that.

My sister, Idelle, has been with me this whole time, and we’ve been enjoying the simple pleasures of this rural town. Beyond the hometown food and nice people that you can rarely find anywhere else, I’m happiest when I see my sister happy, since she’s usually moody. It’s strange seeing her not wearing her usual golden armor and crimson bodysuit, but I think her wearing pink and light red dresses, skirts, and girly outfits is cute, even if the white snake and black snake on her back may take away from the look she has. Regardless, this is the best thing in the world. Being with the people I love and seeing them happy.

It's Wednesday now, and I expect it will be another wonderful day until I hear the sounds of vehicles approaching the house and vibrations that shake the ground. When I go outside, I see a small military group of soldiers with rifles backed up by jeeps equipped with mounted guns. Leading the group are a man and a woman dressed in red, blue, and gold military officer uniforms. The woman looks very similar to my sister, except she has black hair and brown eyes, unlike my sister’s gray hair and white and black eyes. Lastly, I recognize the man as the general, the one who has been giving orders to my sister and is a major reason for her misery. Idelle seems tense and surprised that he’s here and tells my parents to hide inside the house while we deal with this. They agree to do so as my sister and I approach the general and the woman with him.

Before the general can say anything, I cut him off, cross myself, and say, “Praised be to God, I’ve been wanting this moment, and you come to me. What are you here for?”

The general and the woman next to her smirk. The general says, “I’m here for you, son. I want our family to be complete."

“Son?”

“Heh. Does our familial bond surprise you? I expected a bigger reaction out of you for the reveal.”

“Not really. You partially gave it away the first time we met.”

There’s also the fact that both he and I have light blue eyes and blonde hair.

“That’s my bad. I couldn’t help it. As I said, I want our family to be complete. Join your mother, sister, and me, and you’ll help the world in ways you couldn’t possibly imagine.”

“Don’t do it, John,” Idelle says to me.

“It’s his choice.”

“I didn’t know either of you would come here or offer him to work for you. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I knew you’d disapprove and get him to hide. I also didn’t want to ruin your good time together. Seeing him happily living a life is why I backed off during his childhood years, and is the reason why I’m here.”

“Are you jealous of what he has?”

“Is there anything wrong with our motivation for being here?” the woman asks.

“Yes, there is, Irlene.”

“I’m your mother, Idelle. There’s no need for you to think we have bad intentions.”

“There are plenty of reasons! You both gave us up for experimentation because you wanted us to be superhumans to fight in battles alongside you.”

“Huh?” I say.

The general sighs and says, “John, I was going to tell you that in better circumstances, but since Idelle already told you, I’ll reveal the whole truth. Your mother and I wanted you and your sister to have powers because we experienced the horrors of fighting superhumans during a battle against villains. We were called to a city where a major battle was taking place, and both our squads were wiped out by superhuman villains and saved by superhuman heroes, making us see the positives and negatives of them in person. Because scientific advancement had caused a craze in obtaining superpowers through artificial and experimental means, we thought allowing you to be tested on would make you into proper superhuman heroes.”

“It was for your own purposes to use us as weapons for the country. You didn’t care what it would do or mean for us,” Idelle says.

“I recall hearing your approval of getting them when I told you about them.”

“That’s because I was a kid and didn’t know better! How could I, especially with what you put me through?!”

“What did you put her through?” I ask.

“Your sister was part of an experiment that tried to separate the evil from a person by putting two snakes in a room with her, one cursed by a satanist and the other blessed by a Catholic priest, and what you see is the result. Instead of separating the good and evil in her, the snakes attached themselves to her and are fighting for possession of her mind.”

“That’s not to forget all the experiments done on me to test the new strength, resistance to attacks, and speed I obtained. These snakes on me also couldn’t be removed, and their constant talking feels more like a burden than a blessing, even with the white snake telling me what’s right.”

“What about me?” I ask.

“Since it was theorized that God is the source of people getting their powers, an experiment was done to see what would happen if a child spent their entire life in the presence of Him, so your mother bore you in an adoration chapel we created, and you were raised in there.”

“You also experimented on him like me. What kind of parents would put their infant child through so much, so they could make him into a weapon?”

“It was to test him for powers, and look what you two have become. You both became wonderful heroes by your own choices.”

“This only happened because I freed my brother while we were being transported to another testing facility. It happened because we chose it to, not because of anything you did.”

“Are you forgetting that we allowed it?” Irlene asks. “Your father and I let you have this freedom of choice because you kept killing the soldiers and heroes we sent to retrieve your brother and you, and because we were touched by how well taken care of your brother was.”

“Don’t remind me. You had me kill, kidnap, and torture so many people so my brother could live happily. This is why you shouldn’t trust them, John. They’ll have you do the same things I did.”

“It was for the good of the country, and I’m starting to get tired of your brother being called John. That’s not his name, so he should embrace his true one. My name is Isaias Kruck, your mother’s is Irlene, your sister’s is Idelle, and as such, yours is I-”

“I don’t want to hear anymore,” I interrupt. “You experimented on children, and most importantly, made my sister miserable. I don’t need any more reasons to not join you.”

Irlene says, “Those experiments done on you were the safest our money and influence could buy. Others were put through the same experiments as you and either died, got nothing out of it, hardly got any powers, or suffered a fate worse than death. We made beyond sure that you could become proper heroes.”

“We’re also finished experimenting on children and youth. Those programs have ended, thanks to people like your mother, our allies in the government, corporations like Coronamento, and me," Isaias adds. “You know that we’re trying to become better people because of how we’re trying to clean house of bad actors and the scum we did business with. I’m sure you remember, not too long ago, the villain you killed who kidnapped a girl with the potential to be a superhuman. I appreciate you handling him the way you did, but I can’t say the same for the people at the waste processing center, who had to remove all the bits of him from the sewage treatment systems. He was one of many targets that day that I’m glad you took care of, while the rest were either arrested or killed, thanks to you.”

“That was only a mutual partnership because I wanted to save the girl. It’s going to take a lot to make me trust you and agree to a lasting relationship. Besides, I don’t feel the push or calling to help you. As far as I’m concerned, God still wants me to be a simple neighborhood hero,” I say.

“I respect your dedication to your faith, but this is an order from a higher place in the government that you serve. Think of it as a sign from above. I know you’re a patriotic man, who does his best not to cause trouble and follows the law to the letter.”

“I was raised to put God first, my family, and my country, but not always the government that rules it. Practicing and acting what I believe to be right is what makes this country, the Columbian Union, the freest and best country in the world.”

“You are indeed free, but you are not free from consequence. You should also remember that you put your family first, ahead of your country, and your mother and I are your family. Again. Your real last name is Kruk, and your true first name is I-”

“My real name is John Elio.”

“And my real name is Idelle Elio,” my sister proudly says.

Irlene looks at Isaias, who looks back at her. She nods at him, he nods back and takes a flare gun out. He shoots the gun into the sky, and his soldiers behind him back away.

“What did you do? Who did you signal?” I ask.

“Your mother and I don’t take no for an answer. It’s the warrior spirit within us that I know you share. Because of that, we’d like to put your powers to the test. If you pass, then we’ll leave you alone for the time being. If not, we’ll have to take you back ourselves. This first test is one to answer a curiosity we have. Your sister’s reports told us about your hair, skin, and eyes turning white and radiating light when you face certain evil opponents, and we’d like to see the extent of that power.”

In the distance, I see a group of superhumans flying in, helicopters, prison vans, and other superhumans running at us on foot. An odd sinking feeling begins to rise in me, and my blood begins to boil. I see that my skin is slowly turning white, and Isaias and Irlene are seeing that they got what they wanted.

“Stop it!” Idelle says.

“Why? Those men and women approaching in the distance are the worst of the worst that the government worked with. We told them that the records held against them, both private and public, will be erased if they defeat you. What they don’t know is that they’re all here to die at your hands, son. You better meet them before they ruin the Elio family's beautiful farm,” Isaias says.

Knowing that he’s right, I reluctantly run off and jump into action to meet my foes halfway before they reach my family’s farm. They throw every manner of explosive, magic, and power at me, including hitting me with their best robots and super strength, none of which even scratches me, whereas my strength takes them all out in one or two punches. The sudden aggression I feel has somehow empowered me beyond my usual super strength and speed, making me more than a match for this entire group of people, and in the end, they’re all down and knocked out, because I don’t want to kill them like Isaias wanted. Returning to the farm, I see Isaias and Irlene watching a video feed, which they likely used to monitor the battle.

“Hmm. It’s a bit disappointing that you held back. How did you do it when you killed others with the same power?” Isaias asks.

“I prayed for them in my mind and held back,” I say.

“Ah, of course, your power would be influenced by supernatural means. It’s impressive to see you come out of that chaos without a scratch on you despite all the damage you took, your shirt and jeans being in tatters, and beating your foes so easily, even though you held back. Well, we’ll see what more you can do when your entire town is under attack.”

“What?!”

“Don’t worry. We’ll cover the damage and heal those who get hurt. Think of it as a real-time sparring session like the ones you had in the hero academy,” Irlene says.

“Except people’s lives are at stake!”

“I’m sure you’ll save them all, like you usually do. We’ll give you an hour to rest and prepare.”

Isaias and Irlene turn to walk away, but I use my speed to grab Isaias’ hand quickly.

“You’re not going to do any of that. You’re going to walk away and leave my family and friends alone. Right now!” I demand.

Isaias smiles and raises his hand despite my trying to keep it down, revealing that he has powers like I do, before he punches me with his other hand, sending me flying across the fields. Idelle stands over me to protect me, while Isaias and Irlene stand above me.

“We went through similar experiments to both of you, but ours were more based in science than faith,” Irlene says.

“We sacrificed too much to let you go. I assure you that I’m a better person than before. Call me selfish, but I want my children back, and I will not have them taken from me!” Isaias says.

Two shots ring out, and Isaias and Irlene flinch. Looking behind them, I see my parents with rifles in their hands, pointing their guns at the two. Meanwhile, the soldiers point their guns at my parents.

“Don’t hurt them!” I say as Idelle and I stand in front of our parents.

“Why shouldn’t my soldiers point their guns at people who shot their generals, and more importantly, your true parents?” Isaias says.

“What kind of real parent hits their son in the way you did?” my dad says.

“You know he can take it. I hardly left a mark. You didn’t seem to mind shooting me.”

“Because I heard what you said and decided to act. No one hits my son that way and talks to him in the way you did.”

“He’s my son. If you knew our powers, then you knew that bullets do nothing to us, and you would die if we fought you.”

“So? Dying defending your children isn’t a bad reason to die, not that I expect you to know what caring for your children is like,” my mom says.

Irlene steps towards us, but is immediately stopped by Isaias. They both look furious and are trying to contain their emotions as best they can.

“Johnson and Josephine Elio,” Irlene says. “You both took good care of our children and made them happier than we have, I’ll give you that, but we’re taking back our children today. After which, neither we nor they will see you again.”

“We were going to go easier on you, but now that you pissed us off, we won’t hold anything back. You two better prepare yourselves if you really want to stay with these two,” Isaias says.

The two leap into the sky as their men retreat from my family’s farm and leave us in peace, for now. I’ve been waiting and wanting the day to finally confront the general, Isaias, for everything he’s done to my sister, but this is the worst way it couldn’t have happened, and I wish it never happened at all.