Rise

25th april

Dean Archer

I woke up unshackled, the cobbled doorway indirectly passed the light at me as the rays travelled in shafts, like thick threads of light. There was no window, but judging from the room i was in, we were somewhere uncivilised. Of course, keeping a low profile is a necessity, although i was curious to know where we would start our plan to bring down Ennova, and very, very anxious. Last night Gavin simply told me to rest and that he will inform me of everything later. I had no idea, absolutely no idea how i was going to bring down a facility without harming the employees and assassinate a person, let alone one of the biggest crimelords in the world, who is backed up by exceptional influence and wealth. I didn't want to kill. . .not another person. I'm sure if we scare him or cause any sort of mental distress, he'll put himself on the right track.

Then there's the matter of utilising my abilities, are they really that reliable that i can go up against a whole crime organization? I shouldn't think much, and simply put my trust and faith in Gavin, he seemed to know what he was doing.

Just as i was starting to feel reassured, the door creaked open and Gavin walked in; "So then, any idea how we should bring down Ennova?" He asked, and my lips betrayed a humourless smile as i glowered.

"You proposed this, I'm assuming you should know where to start?" I asked, not able to control my odd smile considering the situation i was in and the enormity of the task.

"Chill, mate, i was kidding. So fucking serious. Anyway, I know where the facility is, destroying it is not even the hard part." He said.

"Can't we just. . .blow it up?" I suggested.

"Defiance's moral standards won't allow us to kill, we won't even kill Ennova." He said, firmly.

That was a relief. "Didn't you say the Defiance was no longer intact?" I asked.

"The members are scattered, but the leader is still alive, and we continue to take orders and act accordingly to his will." He said. "There has been a change of plans, first we will deliver the formula for the Ennova serum to the leader of Defiance, Tevan. For now, that's our only task." He himself, felt somewhat disappointed and upset as he leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms.

But i was genuinely glad I wasn't getting my hands dirty or conducting such a destructive task. Making up for my evil acts could come later.

"You will however, join the Defiance. And serve as a weapon." He said, the hint of steel evident in his voice.

"Yeah." I managed.

"You're not going to be living a normal life for a long, long time. You're too advantageous of a weapon."

"Yeah." I repeated. Barely managing to hold my composure.

"Get up, take a shower." He said, then threw some clothes on the bed. "And wear this."

I lifted it, rubbing the fabric between my thumb and index, it was tri-weave kevlar, and as light as a crow's feather. It felt cool to the touch and stealthy to the eye. It was satisfyingly flexible and didn't have much of any pattern, plain black with a single gunmetal grey lining running the length of the sleeve, and around the waist. Besides was a jet black military jacket, as black as abyss. And beneath the black, silver-lined shirt were kevlar pants.

After a long pause, I asked; ". . .What's this?"

"It's for you to wear, for your own sake." He said, almost sounding amused by my expression.

"Like. . ." I ran my finger tips across the fabric. "A supersuit?" I asked.

He let out a genuine bark of laughter. "You could say that. I guess now you just need a cape n' a mask."

We both laughed at that. It felt good, to let some genuine laughter roll out of you, felt like it had been an eternity since i last did that. I silently thanked Gavin, this meant more to me than i appreciated it for being so.

The next few minutes passed in a blur as i made my way to the 'bathroom'. Calling it a bathroom was insult to bathrooms. The white paint on the walls was chipped and the majority of the tiles on the floor were out of their place, their corners jagged, i had to watch my step. The wash basin was metallic, the mirror atop which was in an extremely poor condition, though i could make out my features in the reflection, thankfully. My gaze landed on the toilet and I almost gagged. I whirled around a bit and noticed how the bathroom had vines scattered like lengthy cracks in walls, and the bathroom had enough of the wall cracks too.

It felt like it would collapse right atop me. I shoved the stupid fear away and looked at myself in the mirror, i noticed i had gotten slightly more muscular than before, and had gotten a chiselled jawline, which did little to help with my below average looks.

I remembered enough from my past, bits of information to be able to tell how i used to look, what kind of person i was, how i hated heights. And I definitely didn't fall in the muscular, chiselled category.

I circled the water tap and let the water run, it was yellow and warm at first, eventually the flow transitioned to a better quality of water and i washed my hands, splashing my face with water.

Ah, it felt amazingly soothing.

I put on the clothes and walked out of the door to find Gavin with his back leaned against the other side of the cobbled room.

"Looking fresh." He said.

I mustered a humourless smirk at his choice of compliments. Better stop insulting the word fresh like that, readers!

He walked up to the wooden door and flung it open. And i followed him up to his jet black, toyota truck as he threw a surgical mask at me, that i caught with unfamiliar reflexes. And put it on, not bothering to ask why i had to hide my face.

We both seated ourselves then set out for Tevan.