Silence Falls

The boy didn't appear the least bit rattled as the other three tactical men contentiously barked out congruent orders for him to follow. He did, however, comply by putting his hands above his head unhurriedly. The soldiers then alternated into a chorus of instructions for him to get down on the ground. One of the beams of the flashlights hurtled over the many locks and chains that held the gate of the Electronic store fixed and secured. “Yo, guys, take a closer look at these…homeboy over here got himself trapped like a rat in a cage!” TJ grinned triumphantly as he peeped at the others over his shoulders who had now quieted to notice the padlocks for themselves. One by one each began to smile. One by one each fell into a laughing racket. The men unprofessionally lowered their guns to clutch at their aching bellies at the young boy who got himself so easily trapped. Inflaming the laughter like he was always prone to doing, TJ cackled out. “What the fuck, man!? You got yourself locked up already? Mr. Big Bad Motherfucker ain’t such a big bad motherfucker after all, huh?”

“Oh no man, this kid ain't no monster! He’s just some drugged out chicken shit from that facility in the swamp!” Brandon rectified, slapping a hand on TJ’s back in friendship as the young boy watched them with a blank look on his face.

“Either way, this piece of shit was an easy catch in the end, boys! So, what should we do with him? Call it in to base to see if he’s the real or not, or hurt his wittle feelings some more for fun?” Will grinned like the Cheshire cat, arching his eyebrows suggestively.

Logan shook his head, dispersing any games that would prolong them from accomplishing their mission. “No. As fun as all this has been, and I agree we did need a good laugh just now, we have our target. So let’s complete this mission and get some of our well-fucking-deserved R&R!” His comrades hurrahed behind him as he retrieved a black walkie talkie from the front pocket of his uniform. “Alpha, this is Tango responding, ove-“ Everyone was unexpectedly silenced when the walkie talkie in Logan’s hands literally exploded in his grip into a thousand pieces. Most of the inner components volleyed everywhere around them except for the largest and sharpest of the outer shell of the walkie-talkie that linger behind to levitate in the air right in front of Logan’s face. Petrified, he froze dead in place. His bottom lip trembling in terror, and his eyes doubling in size as some of the sharp ends turned to aim themselves directly at him. “H-Holy fuck…”

His comrades merely stood behind him, too paralyzed to move as their hearts raced with every passing minute for their friend who was about to get shanked in the face by the sharp pieces that were once his dependable walkie-talkie.

Brandon licked his lips anxiously and attempted to take a small baby step forward in hopes that that wouldn't be the case for his comrade, but it was. Logan let out a scream as a third of the sharp pieces plunged forward and punctured themselves directly into his brown eyes, but was subdued when the other third dived down his throat while the final strays drilled into the flesh of his face. Screams turned into gurgles as blood gushed from his mouth and sloshed onto the floor, and soon enough along came tumbling to the floor his doomed body. Nothing was said or done for several moments, until slowly the three left all turned their heads to see the young boy step through the black metal gates that held him imprisoned seconds ago like a ghost. Holy shit, they all thought, was this kid an apparition!?

From where she was hidden behind a rack of clothes outside some retail store, Otep vigilant eyes were filled with terror as they remained rooted on the perishing body of the soldier named Logan. She was stunned. Her mind couldn’t conjure up a single thought of what to do and so all she could do was stay out of sight and watch.

As if a haze was lifted from over their eyes, the rest of Logan’s men aimed their loaded weapons at the boy and took a few steps back before attempting to shoot him. But then every single one of their assault rifles disassembled into separate parts within their grasps making them unable to be used. The soldiers all let out an incensed curse as they look from each of their dismantled guns in hysteria, their minds devoid of the deep-seated training sessions of reassembling a gun back together. The only thing that crossed their minds at the moment was to drop down onto their knees and pray for their guns to magically assemble themselves back together without them, but neither soldiers wouldn't dare. Instead, clear thinking told them that their only option left was hand to hand combat training. It had to work! The four vastly trained men hurled their gun parts aside and boosted up their clenched fists.

The young boy scrutinized them, considered their dueling stances and then smiled as he notified them. “I see. You want to fight. Very well, you four against me is a fair enough fight I think. I must caution you, however, there were martial art marathons yesterday. I monitored them all.”

The next thing Otep witnessed was a fight that was completely unfair. Hermanni proceeded like he was a martial artist right out of the films! He somersaulted gracefully, evaded with precision, and jumped to unattainable heights while simultaneously finessing his way through his opponents.

Will lobbed his fist hoping to hit the boy right in the face by pure luck. Instead, Hermanni dodged from his sight, and twirled to swipe Will off his feet onto his back with his leg. The soldier strained to get the air back into his lung again after he hit the floor. Hermanni noted his disadvantage and reached out to grab two fistfuls of his vest as he flipped over him and effortlessly launched Will’s larger body over his head and into a marble pillar with maximum force. Will’s spine severed as soon as the pillar forcefully connected with his body, and a second after his neck followed. Motionless, his body plummeted to the floor. TJ took that opportunity to nail Hermanni from behind by snaking his arm around his neck and hauling him up off of his feet. Hermanni’s shorter frame dangled but wouldn’t choke in his suffocating grip, or at least he didn't portray it to be so. Michael surged forward to hurl a steel fist into Hermanni’s stomach, but got a swift kick in the face instead that broke his nose. TJ gaped as his friend rolled onto the floor clasping his blood spurting nose, heedless of Hermanni’s elbow coming down to smash into his ribs and fracturing them. TJ was caught by surprise, bowing over coughing, his arm releasing its hold on his neck. The young boy spun around to place steady hands on TJ’s cheeks, gazing down at him with merciful eyes before bashing his forehead against his, crushing the front of TJ’s skull.

Brandon stepped forward and thundered with two long sharp knives in his hands. “SUBJECT V!”

Otep observed as Hermanni whirled, responding to the name. Oh my god, Hermanni is Subject V, she realized. The very person these soldiers were looking for!

Hermanni bent down to take TJ’s knife from it’s sheath and then turned to grab Logan’s as well. Brandon charged at him the moment his back was turned to get the upper hand, but was flabbergasted when his knives were intercepted by both of his dead comrade’s blades in Subject V’s grasp. Hermanni gave him a smile before shoving him back, the blades rapidly flipping in his hands with incredible savvy. At the exact same time the men rushed at each other, Hermanni was able to envision Brandon’s every move before he executed them, therefore the fight resulted with both of his knives impaled into the sides of Brandon’s neck. The soldier slithered to the floor in a pool of his own blood. Michael was already zooming down the hall to the exit until Hermanni picked up Brandon’s knives and launched it all the way from where he stood to the back of Michael’s head, propelling his body to skid a few feet forward before stopping.

With all the soldiers deceased, Otep took the chance to turn around and sprint back to warn the others, but somehow came face to face with Hermanni instead. She gasped before stumbling back into the clothing rack, causing it to topple over. Hermanni sighed as he reached a hand out to assist her, knowing full well that she was terrified of him now. After all, she now knew that he was the infamous Subject V. Perhaps a different approach on his part would earn her trust again. “Permit me to explain myself, if it is not too much to ask of you.” Hermanni began, his voice gentle. Otep didn’t reply. She just sat there, panting, with her eyes large as they searched him over. “I will take that as a yes. I suppose to begin I should admit that I am the Subject V these men are hunting for. I have always been contained until recent events brought me out here to your surface world, but these men are on a determined mission to get me back into my...room.”

Oh my god, what the hell is this guy, was all Otep could think of, not comprehending his words.

“Oh that question is a tough one.” Hermanni admitted, feeling sort of embarrassed that he knew what everyone else was, BUT himself. “You see, I also am unaware of what I am, or what I am made of. That was a question they never stopped asking me from the very beginning, in fact. ‘What are you, little V?’ I never knew myself and so I have no answers to that question.”