Chapter
1 – Stretching the 5th 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.
