Hidden
Intents
Chapter
One – Controllable Consequences
City
of
By
Eli J. Litzelman
Built to perfection by Crey Industries, the sleek
hull of the nuclear submarine flew through the depths with amazing speed. The interior of the craft was dark and
foreboding. Casting eerie shadows upon
the floor, the light from monitors of various instruments flickered with
information. The sailors directed the
vessel with well-trained precision and accuracy. Dark figures darted through the underwater
craft, all of them with the symbol of the Council on their chest.
The already quiet room became suddenly silent when
the four Rouge Isle villains came through the doorway. It was as if the very air itself had become
more tense and menacing.
Ninjado crossed the room and sat in a chair. He let his muscles shuffle and relax and
began his preparation for meditating.
Just as he was ready to commence meditation, however, he was interrupted
by a voice. “That’s my chair.” Ninjado lifted his head just enough to glance
at the intrusion before bringing it back down.
The man was tall and muscular and, from the various metals he was
wearing, he was an Archon. “I said, that
is my chair!” he repeated. When no
response came, the Council boss stepped forward and threw a punch. Ninjado was standing and pushing the fist to
the side within a flash. The sheer speed
with which he had stood up almost threw the Archon off his feet. With his opponent already off balance, the
Ninja stepped forward and hurled the sailor to the hard ground. He then sunk down with his enemy and snapped
the man’s wrist with one hand while drawing his katana over his shoulder with
the other. The sharp metal flew through
the air with such momentum that it literally sliced the air in two with a loud
whistle. Before the blade could slay its
victim, it stopped just close enough to barely sunder the skin.
Ninjado looked around the room. Everyone present was just barely getting into
action. The Council troopers were just drawing
their weapons and turning to face the villain.
Hidden in Darkness suddenly became infused with dark energy and The
Insane Professor was coating himself in an energy shield. Of course, Ninjado’s apprentice, Banmotsudo,
was already at his side with weapon in hand and, though not very noticeable,
several Ninjas had stepped from the shadows and were simply waiting for the
command, but it did not come. Ninjado
tossed his sword in the air and stood up.
The blade lined up with the sheath and slid smoothly in. Turning down to look upon his defeated foe,
the Ninja spoke, “You have become lucky for I shall not slay you. I need transportation and you supply that
transportation.” With that, Ninjado sat
back down into the chair.
***
An alarm screeched through the hidden submarine
base. “
Ronny Stranafeld heard the call and almost
jumped. Mumbling a curse at himself, he
ran to his position. He looked around
and noticed that twice as many people were running into place behind sandbags
or other obstacles. “What’s going on?”
he asked the person next to him.
“They’re bringing villains in from the Rouge Isle. But, these are no ordinary villains. Requiem himself personally looked into them. I didn’t have the security clearance to learn
much more, but I know Crey has something to do with it as well.”
“Requiem and Countess Crey eh? What could be so important to get both of
their attention?”
“I hear they’re after some hero. What was his name? Robo something.”
They both thought for a moment before Ronny said,
“Was it RoboZon?”
“Yea, that’s it.
How did ya’ guess?”
“He used to be part of the Council. He even bunked with me.”
“No kidding?”
Before Ronny could respond, they were interrupted by
the thunderous sound of the docking bay doors opening. The submarine came through and the entryway
shut behind it. Just as the craft
surfaced, the hatch opened and two guards came out and stood by the
entrance. Next, the four rouges walked
out, followed by the Archon, who was holding his wrist and wincing.
A door in the back of the room opened and clanged
shut. Loud snaps echoed throughout the
base as the unknown figure marched forward.
As he approached the soldiers, the temperature around him seemed to drop. He pointed at the group of troopers with a
long, clawed finger and commanded in a raspy voice, “Follow them.”
The surprised soldiers saluted and hurried off after
the new arrivals.
With an evil grin, Nosferatu retraced his steps and
left the area.
***
The reeking sewers became suddenly dark as a light
above flickered momentarily before blinking out. Ronny was clutching his gun tightly as he and
his comrades moved down the slimy corridors.
Suddenly, a gurgle erupted from the liquid on the floor and one of
Vahzilok’s zombies burst through the surface.
The one he had heard named Hidden in Darkness flipped over the enemy and
stabbed the spikes on his knuckles into the back of the undead. With his other hand, he reached up and
snapped the villain’s neck.
The commander lifted his hand and everyone
stopped. Taking his gun off of his
shoulder and resting in his hands, he signaled for his troopers to line up
close to the wall.
Then, all hell broke loose. Zombies emerged from the pipes and the sewage
while crazed Mortificators dropped from the ceiling. Emerging from the shadows, highly trained
Ninjas charged into combat while battle robots teleported into the area. Council members began shooting their weapons
in loud courses of fire even as Hidden in Darkness soared through the room,
bringing death with every motion.
Ronny was hit from behind with a machete. He spun around, kicked his attacker in the
groin, and blew his head off before falling to the slippery floor.
A Mortificator yelled madly at Banmotsudo and
charged forward with a blade raised. The
Ninja spun his weapon in his hands and sliced his enemy completely in
half. He stepped through the mad man’s
severed corpse and stabbed his Cadaver minion.
Ninjado caught an arrow in midair, strung it in his
bow, and launched it back at its owner.
The Vahzilok lieutenant caught the projectile in the middle of his
forehead and dropped to the floor.
The fight was over almost as quickly as it had
started. Ninjas disappeared once again
into the shadows as if they had never been seen and The Insane Professor’s
drones disappeared in a flash.
Running to Ronny, the commander knelt next to
him. “Medic!” he shouted.
A man ran up and leaned over to check his
pulse. “He’s alive. Pretty badly injured, but he’ll make
it.” He slapped a base teleporter on him
and stood up.
“Well, here’s the exit anyways,” the commander said.
He then held out three pieces of paper.
“This is the RoboZon’s address.”
Hidden in Darkness was the first one to the
commander. He grabbed the piece of paper
and disappeared in a cloud of darkness.
The Insane Professor was next. He scanned the paper with his eyes and
activated a cloaking device around himself.