Jonathan Mashack
JACK, ALIVE?
Meanwhile, at the Umi Tribe infirmary, there were several doctors observing Jack Findle’s body.
Dr. Kyro walked into the room: “Gentlemen. Gentlemen,” He said motioning toward the other doctors. “The princess commands that I view this body one last time before I take my vacation. Do you mind? I need space to work.”
The other doctors immediately left the room, and Dr. Kyro closed the door behind them.
Dr. Kyro slowly walked toward Jack’s body. “I knew you were still alive.”
Jack looked up at Dr. Kyro with fear in his eyes.
“I’m sure that if you could speak, you would be cursing me now, which is why I put a dagger through your vocal cords in the first place! You’ve been a nuisance from the beginning.”
Jack rolled his eyes.
“First, your body rejected my formula, and, to make matters worse, you became more and more belligerent everyday, making it incredibly hard for me to keep my plan a secret. All you had to do was follow my orders, but instead, you wanted to test your new capabilities openly. You couldn’t see this at the time, but your lack of transforming put a major dent in my plan. That’s why I sent you back to Mums Village, to stay out of the way! But, like a lost dog, you found your way back to me, that’s when I found out that you were just a late bloomer.” The doctor said as he pinched Jack’s cheeks.
“Despite your past failures, I gave you another chance, but you screwed that up, too. If you’d just escaped like I planned, you would have never been captured and the princess would have thought that the real Jack Findle’s identity had been stolen. But, NO, you wanted to fight. Now EVERYONE is aware that there are Crimson Bloods, taking away our element of surprise!” Kyro said as he repeatedly poked Jack in the face.
Jack became more and more furious, but there was nothing he could do because he was restrained to a stretcher and bound tight with straps similar to the energy cuffs.
“I know you hate me, but because you are my creation, I’m going to fix you. However, I probably won’t restore your ability to speak because your voice is like nails to a chalkboard.”
The doctor smiled then walked to the other side of Jack. He noticed a flower with a note attached. It read:
Dear Jack,
I’m sorry you’re dead now.
My deepest condolences,
Lucius of Shido.
“What an idiot, that guy.”Dr. Kyro threw the letter at Jack and said, “How could you let yourself be taken down by these pathetic shōkans. To think, I went through all of that trouble destroying my own lab just for you to be captured when you could have escaped… The more I gaze at your face, the more I want to just put you out of MY misery.”
Jack turned his head away from the doctor as he walked out of the room.
As the doctor exited the hospital building from one direction, Lucius approached from the other. Lucius glared at the doctor and said, “Hmm…just as I thought.”
Meanwhile at Kazai’s home, Herona and Dan were having a deep discussion. “I don’t care what the Princess is going to do! I am not one of her protectors! I can leave anytime I want, and I’m going. I’ve packed my bags, and made up my mind. He’s the only one that can help my baby, and I’ve delayed this for too long--Seventeen years too long.”
Dan replied, “If you must go, I’m not going to stop you, but I want you to know this could be a delicate situation. If you don’t play your cards just right, you’ll end up creating bad blood between the Hikari Tribe and the Umi Tribe.”
Herona smiled and said, “Don’t worry, I know Kazan. He’ll figure out what to do.”
“But, what if he decides to keep Kazai in Hikari? Can you handle that?” Dan asked.
“I can’t worry about that now. YOU HEARD WHAT THE PRINCESS SAID! She plans to let my baby just rot in a jail.”
“He’s not in jail: he’s in confinement.”
“What’s the difference? He’s behind bars! I’ll be back as soon as I can. Love you.”
“I know. Be careful.”
That night, as my mother was on a shuttle to the Hikari Tribe, the last person I expected to see visited me. Before he entered the room, I was deeply frustrated. I was dripping in sweat and was finally beginning to focus my energy enough to summon heat to a spoon, but it wasn’t enough to say that I’d mastered anything.
“Salutations! Am I interrupting something?” Lucius said as he snuck up behind me.
I was surprised, “Whoa, I’m not doing anything! What could I be doing? Ha, ha, ha….”
Lucius’ face was disturbingly serious. He looked me right in the eyes and said, “I don’t have much time. Corvi and I are leaving for Shido soon. But, before I go, I have to do this.”
Then he took out some keys and opened my jail cell.
“What are you doing?” I whispered.
“I don’t have much time to explain, but you have to leave. You’re the Umi Tribe’s only hope. Corvi tried to tell Princess Tuyette, but she wouldn’t listen.”
“Tried to tell her what?”
“. . .That Dr. Kyro is the one who created the Crimson Bloods. He’s behind it all!
My face dropped, “What do you mean created?”
Lucius continued, “I’m not sure how, but he created a formula that changes humans to Crimsons. The worse part about it is that I think that he somehow has control over their abilities, too. Think about it, the ones that you fought at the shuttle station had ice powers, electricity, and toxic gas. All are extremely effective when fighting against an ocean shōkan. Based upon the information that I’ve gathered, Dr. Kyro has been creating his own hybrid army designed specifically to take down the Umi Tribe.”
“I knew something wasn’t right about that guy, but I would have never thought that he would want to attack the Umi Tribe. He’s in a powerful inner circle, which includes the princess! This doesn’t make sense.”
“I have no idea why he wants to, but I do know that he does.”
“How do you know, anyway?”
“A flower told me.”
“What?” I paused. Then, I remembered that Lucius has been right every time that he’s communicated with trees. But I thought to myself, ‘This guy sounds nuts. So, why do I believe him?’
Lucius responded, “It’s like this. When we brought Jack Findle back to the Princess, I became really suspicious of the doctor. When I noticed that he didn’t act like someone who had just been injured, and even more so when he threw that dagger in Jack’s throat. Then, as we were leaving, I overheard one of the protectors saying that Jack Findle was in the infirmary, and it looked like he may survive.”
“JACK’S ALIVE?” I shouted.
“Yep, but that’s when I knew for sure that the Doctor could not be trusted. So, I sent flowers to Jack’s room, but they weren’t ordinary flowers. They were flowers that I created. They acted as my personal surveillance system. That’s how I found out for sure about the doctor. He blabbed it all himself while talking to Jack.”
At the time, I had no idea that Lucius was so talented or that the Shido Tribe had such useful capabilities, I was totally impressed yet a little confused.
“As amazing as that is, that doesn’t explain why you’re here breaking me out. Speaking of which, how did you get by the guards?”
“Don’t worry about them. They are sleeping on the job-- thanks to one of my other creations.”
“Seriously, what do you expect me to do? I’m only one guy. Why break me out?”
“Like I said before, I believe that Kyro is manufacturing the Crimsons with powers of his own choice, and those powers are designed specifically to fight against Umi Tribe shōkans. You have Hikari Tribe shōkan abilities, and just 15 years ago a handful of Hikari Tribe shōkans were the difference makers when the gargantuan hybrids attacked the Umi Tribe. I’m setting you free because I believe that you can be the difference maker, just like those handful of Hikari Tribe shōkans 15 years ago.”
“That sounds cool and all, but, in case you haven’t heard, I still don’t know how to use my shōkan abilities.”
“I’m aware, but I have good news. On our way here I saw a sign that read: Welcome to Gomorra City, protected by the Hikari Dragon. From what I could gather, the Hikari Dragon is a Hikari Tribe shōkan who’s powerful enough to protect an entire city all by himself. I figure that if you go to the city and ask for his help and somehow persuade him to train you, you’ll develop the skills needed to protect the Umi Tribe.”
“Wow, that’s a lot of pressure. Thanks a lot. You sound like just like Lady Corvi?”
“What do you mean?”
“She was down here this morning. She implied that I should break out. She even gave me that Hikari magazine over there to learn more about my shōkan abilities.”
“This morning? Why would she? Humph… well anyway, we have to go now. I’ve already been here longer than planned.” Lucius said.
“See, that’s another thing, Lucius. What makes you think that I would be willing to help the Umi Tribe after being spied on and imprisoned for absolutely nothing?”
“I haven’t known you for that long, but you don’t seem like the kind of guy who would desert people in need. Am I right?”
I smiled and shook Lucius’ hand as he said, “Seriously, we have to get out of here now before the guards wake up.”
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It was a clear night, and all of the stars were shining brightly as Lucius and I rushed out of the Umi Tribe Jail.
Lucius said, “Remember Gomorra City is northeast from here. Just follow the white trail of roses.”
“White roses?”
“Yeah. When I saw the sign, I wanted to find my way back there. It seemed like an interesting place to visit, but, since we couldn’t stop at the time, I left a trail of white roses to remind myself how to get there.”
“Cool, and thanks again for believing in me.”
“No problem, but you have to hurry. Dr. Kyro could be striking at anytime, and it’ll take a whole day for you to walk there.”
Some guards came rushing out with flashlights, “Hey, who’s there?”
I ran. When I looked back, Lucius was gone. It was almost as if he disappeared, but, oddly, there was a tree in the place where he was standing. ‘That tree wasn’t there before.’ I thought to myself.
It was so ironic: as I got closer to the town walls, I could hear Yung Pako’s song called “Burning Bridges”. Apparently, he was performing at the same time that I was escaping...weird.