The Chosen few

A.N. Gore Warning, Layout of “Chapters”: YEAR.Month Time of Occurrence

XX44.4 3:32pm

It was Power that stood in front of Jett. Out of the once six-hundred plus strong of the superior-beings there was one; trembling. Jett couldn’t come to terms with the absurdity of what just happened. He and everyone else knew that this was a winnable brawl, none of them dignified this to consider it a fight. His ability to control lighting, Don’s teleportation, Eve’s psychic prowess, and the rest of the deified’s power were not enough. Their reign to rule the world was just in its infancy; in retrospect, taking over the world with their powers was always fantastical. Jett soon rationalized, even if one of them had the ability of foresight, it was unfathomable that all of them could fall in such disgrace so quickly.

“At least it wasn’t my fault.”

XX36-XX37.5

In just six months, the world was under their submission. A year before their rise the European Space Agency was the first to detect what was initially thought to be a solar flare. It turned out to be the very edge of a gamma-ray burst, attracted by the sun’s gravity enough that traces of its radiation were allowed to spear into our solar system. NASA immediately confirmed this with Earth being a target, and the Space Force did the same a month later which many thought was redundant. What transpired was a global contamination that should’ve killed everything, but instead rose an all too well known cliché and an all too predictable species that created absolute chaos. It soon became evident that those who gained such untapped abilities started gathering in groups. Within a few months all six-hundred and eighty-two of those confirmed to wield abilities united, all of them unique in their powers, and too quickly decided to take over the world. Then they voted on a leader, Grande.

It was the obvious choice to make America submit first. Grande had his hand hovered above the president’s head and in a moment a void in its place, it was to be efficient. North Korea blossomed under their new-found deities. The first ballot in their inaugural election was on their glorious leader’s execution method. When it came to Earth’s political supervillain whose lair rested in Moscow, it turned out he gained the ability of immortality-because of course he did-so Putin was launched to the farthest star known, Icarus. China’s sole chairman took the longest to locate, but out of fear for their own lives those underneath him submitted like crumbs leading home. Ping’s body was petrified and taken somewhere new everyday for people to do as they pleased, he felt everything while he was alive. The six-hundred-and-eighty-two was, for billions of people, an answer to their cries and prayers, and seemed as though these superior-beings were going to lead the world to prosperity and unimaginable progress.

XX44.4 3:23pm

It was six-hundred and eighty-one of the superior-beings versus millions of people, both were ready for a massacre, both knew how one-sided said massacre would be. In the ruins of Capitol Hill, they all braced as the late-spring sun gave everything a layer of vibrance and with it gave everything an ounce more of confidence. How nice it was of the superior-beings to offer the people one last attempt at submission, but the millions wouldn’t falter. Grande’s last word was a war-cry, “watch.”

That was the first time any of them saw red lightning. Slower wouldn’t be the way to describe it, but the smite was red and the thunder pushed the six-hundred and eighty back several feet. There was no dust to cloud anyone’s view because any debris was vaporized on impact and the crater was illogically large for solely lighting. In the middle of the crater stood the being, underneath it Grande was alive, but only due to the willingness of the being. Grande’s muscles screamed louder than his own voice, yet leave it to the predictable species to stare at him and then dared to move forward. The being–with a smile that gave off nothing but comfort– asked one question to the millions of people, “may you please leave?”

XX43.7 Noon

Serene encountered the being first. It was the weekend after they executed their 104th world leader, and the six-hundred and eighty-two were at the peak of their hubris. Outside their headquarters hovered the being, finalizing its judgment upon them and muttering observations about each of them to itself. Grande stormed out and demanded to know many things that didn’t concern him, and in return Grande and the rest of the six-hundred and eighty-two found themselves with their faces smashed onto the ground. There was no time to reason how everyone suddenly appeared outside at the same time, their bodies and the Earth cold-rolled their heads to the brink of seepage.

“This is your only warning.”

XX44.4 3:31pm

It wasn’t raged that filled the six-hundred and eighty, but as the six-hundred and seventy-nine took a second step towards vengeance, Eve’s neck was in between the being’s left hand, and a spear protruded out of the beings left palm and through Eve’s neck.

The next six-hundred and two assumed a fight or flight stance, and by the time the four hundred and fifty-four of the superior-beings flexed their abilities and took their third step, all they registered was the being surrounded by bodies of their kind.

It wasn’t until the fourth step the two-hundred and ninety-nine realized they were being decimated without bias and without thought. The being still in their line of sight as if it never moved.

With the fifth step and a blink unintentionally in sync, the one-hundred and twelve charged and careened themselves to the stationary target and disregarded that death had already taken them.

In their sixth step; the eight could not see past the blood that glazed their eyes, but still held the outright belief that the being had not moved.

Jett alone was in point blank range; he knew how much amperage it took to kill and knew he was the quickest, blended in with everyone until he could guarantee the kill, and thanked the dying around him that he was the one to end it.

XX43.7 Afternoon

They all regained control of their bodies as the being’s words sunk into their psyches, slowly but surely. The being was gone, but left a shared embarrassment that led to a lethal adaptation of finger pointing between several that followed like so;

Rage ignited from the background, it was Jeanne. Serene, still at the footwell where the being hovered was unaware of Jeanne, now a bonfire. Jeanne aimed herself towards Serene; unrestrained, she launched her flames and then herself. Mod charged towards Jeanne from the left of the frame with his hardened-and-spiked body. Jett, stood uphill-right and under Grande’s order tried to paralyze Jeanne and Mod both. Eve, even further back only saw Jeanne and Jett to force down, and Grande, unaware of Eve’s psychic abilities at play, chased the air to embrace Jeanne and relinquish her stream of fire.

Grande was a yard away from where Jeanne’s body was going to be when Mod slipped into Grande’s field of view too soon, but early enough for Grande to push himself away. Mod’s hardened skin chipped just catching the edge of Grande’s reach. It was odd for Grande to have his ability active while dealing with his own kind, Mod thought. Grande still managed to place himself in front of Jeanne, which would’ve let him erase Jeanne’s incoming flame while taking the full brunt of her body, leaving Jett to paralyze Jeanne and, if needed, Grande himself.

It was the piece off of Mod that ricocheted into Jett’s right-eye. Ultimately, his bolt struck Grande instead Jeanne; the initial shock made all of Grande twitch and his immediate surrounding crumbled like mini-craters, a moment later his right arm faced Serene. Just as Grande was about to regain control –by residual shock or instinct– he twitched again.

Serene had the ability to cure anything. Grande had the ability to create voids. The bottom half of Serene could not cure the top. Their first death was by their own doing.

XX44.4 3:33pm

There were still a pitiful amount of the six-hundred and eighty clinging onto the “pre” in their predestined death. Jett had nothing left but to submit. In an instant, all six-hundred and eighty-two were brought back to life next to Jett and surrounded the being. The being stripped them all of their abilities, even Putin’s. For some the immediate loss and resulting shock ignited a hell-lit hysteria that would be unachievable by any human. Others so ingrained and reliant on their abilities just couldn’t process it. Out of this chaos, one of them managed to ask, “why?”

“It’s this easy,” were the being’s last words.

In the being’s absence, footsteps followed. The six-hundred and eighty-two had yet to re-grasp the world around them, but the steps turned into marches and then rumbles; the millions were coming back. The millions that showed up to fight out of the billions that believed nothing could be done. The billions that were once the exact same species as the six-hundred and eighty-two. The six-hundred and eighty-two that were always the same species as the billions, now powerless to defend themselves.

For the one species that was all too predictable, it was ultimately easier to let them perish without intervention.

END