Out of the Tower

Simon and Lazar were walking around the main river which leads from the base of the tower into three different directions with the tower itself having been built on a large island. It is hard to notice the river underneath as there are buildings around every bit of exposed water, cornering it inside private gardens. The river does pass through the tower's private garden but that is closed off to the public as well and because of the underground tunnels it had to be further deviated to the point only far down town it is fully exposed. It is pristine as dumping anything in the river would immediately alert one of the 100, a certain number 44 who has a deep love for aquatic habitats in general.

Although their influence is deeply imbedded into the city, the 100 are larger than life figures rarely seen outside their tower, with the exception of a select few who love to show off or haven't been infected by the virus of popularity to the point of thinking themselves as gods. Still, the people need to see their protectors on the streets, in flesh and blood and not just on screes and pictures. That is why the 100 are further divided. The bottom 10 are constantly changing and rarely have enough time to make a name for themselves or to participate in actual missions to help humanity. Therefore the remaining bottom 10 have to take the responsibility of making public appearances, interacting with the people and keeping the city safe. Hence why the heroes numbered from 89 to 80, are required to do daily rounds around the city, looking for criminals, hidden threats and more. For Lazar at that time, it was just another reason to leave the tower and take a walk under the late sun of summer. It might be summer, it might be the season when the harvest is in bloom and the nomads are travelling the endless fields working their hands to the bone to collect their bounty but for Lazar it was cold. Nobody ever saw him wear clothes with short sleeves, ever. His pace was slow and comfortable yet steady and relentless. He didn't always took the same path but by now he took every path at least once in the city.

"I wouldn't expect there to be many criminals in the city. Since the shadow of the tower looms over everything and such."

"Oh, but it is where the light shines brightest that the deepest darkness is born. It is unfortunate that humanity cannot share in the bounty of this city, in the protection of this tower but we are the plate from which all of humanity eats while out brothers at the front protect our borders from alien incursions. There would be no humanity without the Sea of Grass but people cannot help but be jealous. It is in their nature just as it is in many people's nature to concentrate this bounty. Those inside do not want to share the heroes with the world. Unless it is a planetary threat, the top 10 cannot even leave the confines of human territory, even though one such as Star Gazer could help us retake the wastes so much easier."

"Is there something more human than being a glutton during a famine?"

"Never blame humanity for our nature Simon. It is easy to be selfish, it is hard to be selfless."

"Is it? My parents died because they wanted a place inside the tower. I'm living inside the tower since I chose to be selfless. Being here for my brothers and sisters is what made me reach this point."

"Wouldn't you give some charity to your parents? Perchance they were doing that for you."

"I wish that to be true, but my mother left my father the chance she got to get closer to the tower. My father then abandoned me when the same opportunity arose for him too."

"I see, I must have spoken out of lock. I'm sorry."

"Do not be, for although they are factually my family, those with who I do not share blood are closer to me than them."

"I see. Tell me about your brothers."

"I'm confident it would be a dull tale. Many of them are still children, coming in from all corners of the Western Silk Belt. Just like with me, their parents abandoned them or died fighting. Be it to reach the centre of the world or to reach out beyond the walls we've built for ourselves. There is so much here, there is life in these plains, such bounty for ten billion of us. If humans would be patient and bind our time until we have a way to fight against the Oortians we could live peacefully inside our fortresses. Without so much death we could grow stronger. But people do not want to have their own place, they want to have the place above the person next to them. I think, if this tower were to be toppled down, humanity would be better off."

"That's good, that's good. Never have I seen a young man with such a strong desire to kill himself!" Lazar laughs heartedly. Inside the Century City, talking bad about the tower in public would be enough for one of the 100 to swoop down from the sky and kill you instantly. Yet nobody came. Number 4 must be away on a mission.

Speaking of missions, theirs continue with Lazar leading the way. He stops by many shops and salutes every shopkeeper. He has his favourite coffee shop where a freshly baked pastry and a cup of coffee awaits him every day. It is a shop by the river, far from the tower but not far enough to escape its shadow. Lazar climbs down a flight of stairs and reaches a wooden platform with several small round tables and high chairs. He sits in one of them and that very instant a man with a plate is already there to serve him.

"Could you bring the same to my companion here? Or, by any chance would you like something else?"

"Would you sir?"

"No, no. I'm perfectly fine with whatever."

"Very well, then here is what I know." The waiter says giving the metal plate to a second individual and pulling out a piece of paper and a map of the city.

"We've identified another Oortian smuggling ring in the city." Simon looks bewildered as the waiter starts presenting the information to them.

"Sit quietly Simon, you're already in this." Lazar, was after all a member of the 100 too, and he also had his quirks. His favourite shop was serving more than just extra chocolaty pastry but were also a front for keeping an eye over illegal operations. The most lucrative field was that of smuggling alien technology outside the city's vaults. Since the 100 were always fighting the most advanced and evolved Oortians or Kuipers, their technology or biological tissues were always the most advanced. Since quantity wasn't an issue as there are always more aliens to kill, sometimes pieces go missing and people turn from workers into owners over night. Once the details were set Lazar takes out his phone and without missing a beat he was already in contact with Leo.

"Transport?"

"Secured."

"Prepare an extraction team. Send them with one more set of tools, I already have one with me."

"Enzo told me."

"Good, good. Then you won't mind, if I treat his mind a little rough." Lazar was having a terrifying expression on his face. It was an old man making the same expression a young child does before doing something mischievous. A gate rises up from the waters of the river and Lazar beckons Simon to follow him. Not long after the two are inside a tall and quite wide tunnel made out of marble, lighted up by torches with a blue carpet on the floor.

"It feels like we're inside a dungeon."

"Have you too experienced the Sword of Hate?" Lazar shouts shocked!

"I don't know what that is. I'm talking about a game we were playing at the orphanage. There was this old book with characters and powers and you'd roll dices and there were pictures and some looked exactly like this."

"Oh, you were about to make me have a heart attack Simon. There are three threats humanity has to face on a daily basis. First, there are the aliens which rain from the sky or spring out from the ground. Those who would steal their corpses and use them for their own gain are our enemies today." Lazar says arriving in front of a door with numerous looks, chains and padlocks attached to it.

"On the other side there's the compound where alien technology is being smuggled." Leo's voice was echoing throughout the tunnel.

"Simon, you are not allowed to touch anything which resembles alien technology or tissues. Not until the extraction teams arrives. Until then however, if you feel like it, you might pass judgement over those who would steal it." Lazar says as a shroud of cold darkness envelops his back, making it look like he has a pair of wings resting over his shoulders. His expression was so scary he looked like he had no eyes and his bent back was straight for the first time.

"You are about to face the enemy." Leo's voice says as he touched the door knob.

"I accept." Lazar says and all the chains fall off and the door opens. A blue smoke like substance blows from the other side of the door and Lazar enters holding onto his hat. The door is fully opened and they are in the middle of a large brick, industrial room. There are humans weapons reconfigured with alien technology on the table.

"What the hell is going on?" One of the men shouts as he picks up a gun and slams it into the floor. The weapons 'bites' into the floor and it is suddenly loaded and ready to fire. They looked like regular rifles with a bulky magazine instead of the regular long ones. It was square and looked like some sort of tumour which grew over the weapon itself. The sights were wavy too and the barrel of the gun wasn't perfectly straight either yet the weapon was fully capable of firing. On the stock the weapon had a 'mouth' so to speak, which could recognise inorganic material from the rest. Whenever struck into the floor, it would bite and chew on the concrete, turning it into especially powerful ammunition. Although the weapon could recognise when placed against a human arm, there was a lever to stop the mouth from activating as to keep the user's mind safe.

"It's one of the heroes. Kill him!" The men shout and Lazar pushes Simon down before raising his hands into the air. He was completely impervious to damage as the bullets were passing through him with extreme precision. So much was his control over his own power he could phase out of reality when the bullet entered his skin, rematerialise while the bullet was inside his body but not in contact with any tissue then phase out again for the bullet to exit him. He lets out a grunt and with one step Lazar was already in front of one of the men.

"Do you think me cruel Simon?" He asks smashing the man's head with his cane. "Such is dispensing justice." His face changed back to that of the old man he was before. The adrenaline before battle disappeared and he had once more full control over his subconscious expressions. It was a reflex to make that face, but it was no longer needed of him to be the person he once was.

"Get away from him!" The smugglers shout as they kept firing but their shots were useless. He grabs the weapon from the man he just bashed to death, rolls through his corpse and fires a singular bullet with incredible penetrative power. The weapons can fire different type of bullets based on the desires of the wielder.

"Shotguns! Machine-guns! Fire with something to hit him damn it."

"It is useless, my powers grant me the ability to phase through objects for a short period of time." He says standing up and throwing the gun away. Once again he appears before another smuggler and prepares to smash his skull with the cane. The smuggler raises his weapon to protect himself from the imminent blow.

"Clothes and weapons included." ...but the cane passes through and rematerialise before breaking another skull.

"Do not look on me with evil eyes Simon. These two are the fastest ways I can kill them. This is the pity I can afford to spare."

"Stop!" A voice shouts from above as another person enters the basement. Lazar lets out a deep, disappointed sigh before looking up at the man in front of him. That was the second danger facing humanity. Outside of the alien threat which is always looming, there are always...

"Poor fools thinking they deserve a place inside the tower. The worst of the worst, some which were allowed inside, tasted heaven and now declared war against the world for being thrown out of the tower. It is a dog eat dog world out there but that is the most basic of rules and one which is rarely followed."

"I have earned my place fair and square in the tower and then you threw me out because I've lost a single fight!"

"By the rules you were allowed in, you were thrown out."

"Give me back my place in the tower!"

"You're free to try again."

"No way, I've already earned it!"

"Then be judged for your actions and earn a place inside the tower the same way the lad behind me did."

"What if I beat the hell out of you? That will put me at number 89 without a problem. I know how 4 acts, I've seen number 52, 48. I've seen them all behave like monsters and nobody bats an eye at them. If I take the number 89 from you nobody will care I stole from the tower when I left."

"You will not make it." Lazar says shaking his head in disappointment.

"You will not see the outside of this room old man. When fighting for a place inside the tower there are rules, barriers from killing your opponent. Out here there are none! I can use my powers to the full extent and nobody will stop me. Not you, not that newcomer hiding inside the tunnel!" The man touches the handrail from the upper floor and it starts unravelling, twisting on itself from right to left. With a kick the mangled mess of metal flies towards the bottom floor, creating a ladder of sorts. Impractical and virtually useless as there were stairs just a couple of metres away, the challenger chooses to use those instead regardless.

Lazar steps in front of him and attempts to hit him with his cane but this time the blow is rejected and pushed back.

"Do you think I'm not prepared for you old man? Do you think I haven't studied your attacks? I was ready to take you down, I was ready to move into the 80's I was ready to ascend the tower!"

"It must be nice knowing so much about your opponent."

"You didn't even bothered to learn my power? Of course not. You kept your position out of pity. You're so far gone there is no need for you to fight properly any more. You're just a mascot for the Tower aren't you? A hope for the heroes which are and for those to come. Survive long enough and we'll take pity on you and keep you around. The Earth has need of people like me, new people, strong people ready to..."

"You were number 100 for a single day! You drove Leo mad by decorating your whole room with spikes and leather and wanted an authentic polar bear pelt for your bed. Thank goodness he didn't went out and hunted one for you since you were kicked out so fast."

"My lair of the Metal King! Oh, how it will shine from the top of the tower once I reach to the top."

"Do you even know what the 100 strongest are? The 100 through 90 are mere pretenders, chaff used to give people hope while not bothering the proper denizens of the tower. Numbers 88 through 80 are required to be one hundred people strong. One of them should be able to take down a tank by themselves. Can you do that?"

"Hell yeah I can!"

"I'm not talking about a human tank you fool." Lazar says attempting to pass through the man and hit him from the back but he is pushed back by powerful winds and starts rolling onto himself.

"I told you I've studied your powers. You cannot pass through objects forever, you must materialise to hit me! I can keep the air around me rotating for as long as I want, you cannot hurt me! Besides, 88 through 80? Don't you count yourself on that list too? Just how weak are you?"

"Numbers in their seventies must be able to destroy a building by themselves. Numbers from 69 through 50 must be able to defend a fortress by themselves. Numbers up to 40 must be able to defend a regular city by themselves. Numbers from 30 downwards must be able to take out a province, a state and finally the numbers from 10 onwards must be able to take down a whole continent. Number 6 can destroy the planet."

"Why are you telling me this you senile old man?"

"I never managed to make it past the low thirties."

"You couldn't what?" Lazar's cane was already firmly planted into the man's chest. He materialised it inside of him.

"Tell me. That girl, did she made it far into the tower?"

"Yes. She is strong, she is so very strong."

"Then I'm not a failure for losing to her?"

"Why have you chosen this path? It makes me sad?"

"Why haven't you show me your true powers sooner? I would have been more humble..." The man says spitting blood all over the floor with his last breath. Lazar takes out his cane and proceeds to finish off one by one every last man inside the room. Once done he sits on a nearby crate and awaits the extraction team to arrive. He lets out a deep breath and looks at his left arm while taking a sip from Enzo's soup.

"I wonder how far he could have gotten?" He says with his left arm completely twisted twice over itself.

"Are you alright Lazar?"

"Do not worry. I've been through worse and knowing Enzo's cooking can put me back on my feet, along with my old age got me in a really bad habit of no longer caring about the wounds I take."

"Was he someone who entered the top 100?"

"He was, but the very same day he entered he got beaten by another challenger. Instead of struggling for the 100th place he got mad and left before his potential could be put to the test. It is unfortunate that it happened, isn't it? He had such an interesting power too. He could forcefully spin anything he wanted. A single touch from him and he could have broken my neck ten times over."

"That's an incredible power. One more reason for me to never become a fighter. One touch and you're broken like that."

"The girl who defeated him, did so by punching him again and again until he went unconscious."

"That is terrifying to think about."

"You say? Ha. The tower could make billions by televising the encounters, but unfortunately our enemies could watch those matches too..."