Mutators Ch. 12
Chapter 12 – Zodiac Pt. 2
Alex felt his feet lift of the ground as they entered the strange portal. This was a sensation he had never experienced before. It was completely different from flying; he didn’t need to do anything but just let himself go. But unfortunately it ended as soon as it began and Alex found himself hitting the floor face first. Alex opened his eyes but saw nothing but pitch black darkness. Then he heard Katie whisper through the darkness:
“Alex? Are you okay? Did you fall?” Asked Katie above Alex.
“I’m fine but I can’t see anything. Is this a side effect of using the portal?” Asked Alex getting back to his feet slowly.
“No, we’re inside a storage closet and the door is closed.” Whispered Leon.
“Right, okay that makes more sense.” Whispered Alex back, feeling a little dumb.
After a moment, Alex’s eyes adjusted to the dark and he could see Leon fumbling around looking for something. After a few moments he found it; the doorknob. He slowly turned it and gently pushed open the door to a small crack and looked through.
“What do you see, Leon?” Whispered Katie.
“Nothing really. We’re clear.” Said Leon.
“Shouldn’t we just bust in there now?” Asked Alex. Leon shot a look at him like Alex was stupid.
“No! Not yet. It’s best we stay invisible a little while longer.” He said.
“So we’re going Rainbow Six here then? All right, sounds good.” Finished Alex.
“Are you two ready?” Asked Leon. Through the little light coming from the outside he saw Alex and Katie nod. “Then let’s go.”
Leon pushed the door open and stepped outside casually; Alex and Katie followed behind him. Outside the three stood in a large empty room the size of a large living room. Leon motioned for them to follow and led them to a door on the far side of the room.
“Nobody ever comes in here because it’s just a storage room.” Leon explained. He opened the door and poked his head around outside the door. He brought his head back in to explain the situation. The three of them kneeled down on the floor and huddled together.
“Alex, you and Katie find Zane’s room. It’s on the 3rd floor, the only room on the 3rd floor. It’s most likely where he’s keeping the Zodiac Orbs.” Explained Leon.
“What about you?” Asked Katie.
“I’m going to find some of the remaining Mutators and attempt to persuade them to join our side. You shouldn’t have a problem running into anyone, most of the Mutators who were living here for Zane have been defeated.” Alex looked down to the floor.
“Because of me…” Said Alex disappointed.
“Don’t worry about that now, let’s go. Oh yeah…” Leon reached into his pocket and pulled out another red marble. “Take this. Use it if things get hairy. Just throw it on the ground like I did.”
“What if they follow us?” Asked Katie.
“Just say ‘Close’ as you jump through and they won’t be able to follow. Okay, that’s all. Good luck.”
Leon bolted out of the door without saying another word. Alex looked to Katie and shrugged. Together they got up to their feet, poked their heads outside, and saw Leon heading down the hall to their left so Alex and Katie decided to go right.
Alex had no idea how large the building was that they were walking through until they left the storage room. Looking up, Alex saw that the roof was very high up and could see a railing that was the second or third floor. His eyes followed the railing down into a spiraling cascade of stairs leading down to the first level. Katie elbowed Alex in the ribs getting his attention. She pointed at the bottom of the staircase some 30 feet ahead of them; Alex nodded acknowledging Katie.
Alex and Katie stood at the bottom of the monstrous staircase looking up. The main set of stairs branched off into two separate spiral staircases around a support beam while the main set continued forward to the second floor. At the top of the spiral cases were paths leading to the third floor. At this rate it would take forever to find Zane! Alex and Katie looked at each other sideways and gulped.
Alex took the initiative and began his ascent up the staircase; Katie following behind him. Following Leon’s orders that Zane would be on the third floor, Alex and Katie continued going up to the spiral staircases. Alex’s intuition told him to take the left spiral staircase, so he and Katie continued to climb.
“Geez haven’t Zane ever heard of elevators?” Asked an irritated Katie. Alex did not answer; he was too busy thinking about what he would do once they found the Zodiac Orbs.
After a few moments Alex and Katie had finally reached the top. They looked down the small halls leading from the stairs only to find dead ends. The only door left on the third floor was straight ahead of them from the center of the two staircases.
Very cautiously the two walked up to the large wooden door. Alex gently pushed open the door and walked inside; Katie following behind him. Inside the two entered a room three times the size of the storage room they had come from. Alex and Katie stood in awe at the large empty room. That’s what made it so strange, it was empty. It took Alex a minute that The Zodiac Orbs weren’t in the room. But before Alex could even open his mouth to speak, the door behind them slammed shut. Bringing them back to reality, Alex and Katie bolted around to see a woman with long brown hair grinning evilly at them.
“Ahh greetings, Fallen Angel, Pleasure seeing you here.”
Alex immediately recognized the cold voice behind him. He and Katie spun back around to see none other than Zane standing before them. They fell right into Zane’s trap and they had no way out.
***
Leon fast walked down the hall in a hurry to get back to Alex and Katie. He turned a corner and continued on down the new hall. Finally he came to a door a quarter of the way down the hall, swung open the door and walked inside. He stopped suddenly seeing a well built man with large muscles throwing blows at a punching bag. He stopped punching suddenly as Leon entered the room.
“Leon?” Asked the man unsure of what he was seeing. Leon walked over to him unsure if Zane had gotten to him or not.
“Ian, Thank goodness you’re here. I need to speak with you…” Leon stopped talking and took a look around. “Where is Eleanor?”
“Leon… she’s with Zane. Obviously you failed to stop The Fallen Angel Mutator because Leslie was sent after him. But why have you returned? Did you see Leslie?” Leon motioned for Ian to stop so he could speak.
“It is true, I did fail. I don’t have a Mutation anymore. And I did see Leslie, she was defeated as well. But I must tell you something…”
Leon told Ian everything he knew about Zane, about Zane’s brainwash on them, about the Zodiac Orbs, and about Double Mutation. Ian said nothing; he just stared at Leon like a scared child. Finally, Leon finished and he could see Ian trying to find the words he wanted to say but couldn’t. Finally Ian spoke out:
“I don’t believe you.”
Leon stood frozen to the spot. He couldn’t believe Ian would disbelieve him.
“How can I believe you?” Continued Ian. “Did you forget what Zane did for us? When the world threw us away because of our abilities he took us in. Gave us a home, helped us, and made us a family. And here you stand telling me that the man who saved us is an evil manipulating person who is using us for personal gain? I won’t believe it!”
Leon backed away towards the door to get away from the heated Ian. Leon couldn’t believe it. Ian was all ready affected by Zane’s spell. Just when did it first take effect? Without another word Leon exited the room and shut the door behind him. It was too late for the other Mutators. It was now up to Alex to defeat Zane and stop him. Suddenly coming back to reality, Leon remembered Alex and Katie and immediately left to find them on the third floor.
***
“So what brings you around these neck of the woods?” Asked Zane.
“We’ve come for the Zodiac Orbs, Zane!” Katie yelled with a fiery passion. Zane looked to the brown haired woman at the door and in unison started laughing out loud.
“What’s so funny?” Asked Alex. The two stopped laughing; Zane gave Alex a very smug look.
“You actually think I didn’t anticipate your arrival? You’ve been fooled from the start…” Zane stopped mid-sentence and looked back to the woman at the door. “…bring him in.”
The woman grinned again and reopened the door. Just as the wooden door opened, Leon came running in and stopped next to Zane. He then turned to Alex and Katie with a worried look on his face.
“Alex! Katie! I couldn’t persuade them!” Said Leon out of breath. Zane chuckled.
“You can quit the act now. Eleanor, if you don’t mind…” Said Zane.
“What’re you talking about?” Asked Alex totally confused. Leon turned his back to Alex and Katie and saluted.
“Everything is ready, Master Zane.” Said Leon.
“Leon! How could… you… you…” Said Alex, rage building inside him. “SON-OF-A-BITCH!!!!”
Eleanor snapped her fingers. Leon began to change form. His skin and clothing began to melt away while glowing faint silver. After a moment it ended and standing before them was Leon no longer. What now stood before them was a silver thin android with long claws for hands. The android looked to Eleanor waiting for new orders.
Alex could hold it any longer. His anger had subsided for far too long. His body started to glow silver; he was mutating from the anger inside him. His black angelic wings appeared on his back, his body grew and his claws reformed, and his spear appeared in his right hand.
“Before you go on a maniacal rampage, wouldn’t you like to know where the REAL Leon Rose is?” Asked Zane.
“Where is he?” Said Alex through gritted teeth. Zane nodded and through the open door came another silver android holding a beaten up Leon. The android threw Leon onto the floor. He had no strength to fight back. Leon’s clothes were torn and shredded from resistance. He also bore many cuts and bruises all over his body.
“Leon… What happened?” Asked Katie.
“Mr. Rose here has been spying on me since he came here three years ago.” Began Zane. “I knew it all along. He had to be stopped. So I simply replaced him with a fantastic copy from Miss Hawkins over there and locked the original away. Of course everything the copy told you is true. I took what the original Leon had found and used it as bait to lure you here. You’ve been deceived the entire time!”
“Katie! Get Leon and get back!” Ordered Alex. Katie nodded and started for Leon but the androids blocked her path. Alex flew full speed to the nearest android and rammed him into a wall.
“Get him! He’s the one we want!” Ordered Eleanor. Eleanor’s body began to glow silver. She pulled out a small knife and cut a small prick into her finger. Blood dripped onto the floor and instantly the blood formed into another of her androids. Katie bent down and put Leon’s arm over her shoulders and hoisted him up. She then carried him away from the battlefield.
“It’s been a blast, Alex. But I have other business to attend to…” Said Zane and suddenly vanished into thin air. Eleanor formed another android from her blood and sent him to attack.
All four androids in unison sprang for Alex but missed. Alex flew up into the air but it proved useless as the androids jumped up to his level and slashed at him. He took turns blocking each android’s slash around him with his spear. He blocked another and just as the android landed on the ground Alex flew full speed for it and impaled his spear right through it. The android gave a loud whine before turning into silver dust. He landed back onto the floor as the remaining three pounced for Alex. He swung his spear and knocked them back but they continued to come back.
“Alex!” Came Katie’s voice. “You have to go for Eleanor! She’s making the robots!”
Right, but its not as easy as it looks. Thought Alex, still swinging his spear and knocking the androids back. Suddenly they stopped attacking and jumped back. Alex could tell they knew their strategy wasn’t working; they were going to attack at once! But it was just the opportunity Alex needed.
Alex kicked a foot off the ground and pointed his spear forward. A surge of energy was forming around him, ready to explode. The androids went in for the attack, jumping forward at Alex at the same time.
“Rushing Falldown!” The energy exploded and Alex flew forward and blinding speeds. He passed right through the androids, turning them to dust. But he didn’t stop there. He continued on and flew right through Eleanor as well! Alex stopped in the doorway and looked to Eleanor. She fell over onto the floor, no longer glowing silver. Above her hovered the Gemini Zodiac Orb. The orb flew straight for Alex, it was his this time. However Alex felt a strong force hit him from behind and he fell to the floor. The Gemini Orb flew through the doorway and straight into Zane’s hands. Alex slowly got to his feet and as he did he returned to normal. Zane’s left arm formed into a sword as he ran toward Alex.
“Alex! Run!” Yelled Katie. Alex took off forward, seeing Zane in the corner of his eye. Katie quickly reached into her pocked and pulled out the red marble. She threw it onto the floor as hard as she could and another portal appeared before them. “Alex! Hurry!”
Katie entered the portal with Leon. Alex jumped and dived into the portal, Zane only a few feet behind him.
“Close!” Yelled out Alex and instantly the portal closed on Zane.
Alex, Katie, and Leon fell out of the portal and onto the ground of the park they left from. It seemed like years ago that they left the park and hard to believe that the Leon with them was a fake.
“What now?” Asked Katie. Alex was still shaken up from the battle. He had no idea what to believe anymore.
“Helllllo? Earth to Alex!!!” Yelled Katie, bringing Alex back to Reality.
“What do we do with Leon?” She asked with a hint of fear in her tone.
“He needs medical attention right now. Let’s get him to a hospital ASAP!”