Part Ranger: Chapter 10 End

“Come on, Franta! See if you can hit me!”

“I’ve tried to, but your manliness is faster than I can move.” He lowered his fists.

“Maybe I should go-” I punched him. He fell on his a*s. “You tricked me!”

“You let yourself be tricked.” All the boys around us cheered for me. I grabbed Jerry’s arm and pulled him to his feet.

“I don’t understand how you fight like this here and act all innocent around your parents.” Sarah walked over. She stood next to her boyfriend.

“Come on, baby! We all understand why she does it. You know her parents don’t want her in the war.” I ran away. Jerry tried to follow, but I was too fast. Ben was right, my parents wouldn’t accept me if I went with them to fight.

 

 

I woke up in a bed. The sheets and pillow were clean. “Where am I?”

“Well, for one, you aren’t dead. Stephen was mad when he heard.” Jerry came over in a paramedic uniform. Charles couldn’t do it. “There was a part of your brain that was lost. Matt says it allowed her to give you your abilities.” My abilities?

Jerry stood to the side of the bed. A display screen was in his hands. “The Unovalitan squad is being moved into here. As of now, you are transferred into that squad as a normal soldier.”

“Aren’t the Unovalitans our enemy?” jerry laughed. Everything was confusing me.

“Not the real species! It’s just a name we gave that squad. The officers think it will encourage other squads to battle better.” He left and the room filled with silence. What happened to the other Mind Soldiers?

Charles came by the open door. An officer was leading him somewhere. “Hey Charles!” He ignored me and continued walking. “What’s wrong? Did something happen on Earth?”

“I nearly killed you. Could there be anything wrong?” He didn’t lock eyes with me. It wasn’t like him to be strange.

“Do you know where The Mind Soldiers are?”I asked. The officer pushed Charles forward.

“Any living Mind Soldier graduated and left.” he replied sternly. He continued down the hallway silently.

I walked back to the bed and laid there. “Why did the boys graduate from here already? They weren’t even 18 yet.” Other boys and girls came into the room. Each human transferred from other squads had an officer with them. Once they entered the room, the officers left.

Most of the children were ten with little training here. I saw two people who were familiar. Aurora and Madilyn were back. “Look whose still alive Madi.”

“Yeah. The suicidal freak.” They both giggled as they readied for the day. “Do you think he will try again?”

“Of course he will! The protective bubble his parents gave him popped. Now he can’t live to see the truth.” They giggled louder now. A hero could be anyone, but those girls aren’t the type of heroes Earth needs.

I walked over to them. Lying about how I am was still there. “Good morning, ladies! It has been a couple of years since we last talked.” I wore a smile to match the sentence.

“Good morning, Ranger!” Madilyn said.

“Have you been well since that chat?” Aurora asked.

“Everything has been good! The only thing wrong is that the squad I used to be on was disbanded. Anything happen to you two?” They avoided my gaze. Both girls didn’t want to answer my question.

Charles came in and everyone got stiff and orderly in front of beds. I sat down with my eyes to the ceiling. He looked quickly around at the different faces. “RANGER?” he yelled.

“What do you want?” Everyone turned towards me.  I could hear his feet stomping across the floor. The anger he held exerted into the air. It scared me to know I could feel it.

“Get up.” He kicked the leg of my bed.

“Why should I? They already marked me dead.” Charles grabbed my shirt collar and pulled me to my feet. “I’m up! Got something to say to me?”

“Why are you like this?”

“Why am I still alive? Officer Benjamin had to die for her.”

“You aren’t like him! He was a traitor to humans because he was a Unovalitan spy. The Mind Soldiers were a storybook species people wanted to believe in.” He turned toward the other. “IN SUIT NOW! Training starts in five minutes.” They all started rushing to put on their suit. I followed Charles out in the casual clothes every dead person wears.

“They’re all going to think your actions are acceptable.” Charles murmured. We were walking down the hallway. Other squads were at breakfast by now.

“Maybe you should have thought about my future actions before you DIDN’T kill me.” We stopped and faced each other. No one gave the other a millimeter to react. I couldn’t figure out why he couldn’t go through with it. With the amount of time we spent together back on Earth, you would think he could give a simple wish to me.

One of the new boys was behind us. “Let’s go. Help me train them for now.” We went over the basics of the simulation room like a group of trainees. Some of them didn’t understand how to turn and go forward when they land.

Charles and I were the last ones to leave. We entered the hallway when I saw Matt on one end. He was in the officer uniform with things behind his back. One was a scythe blade coming out of the right side of his head. The other thing was a yellow sword.

“We need to talk, Charles.” We stopped in front of the open door. His fists were clenched at the sound of my voice. He just about had enough of me.

“I told you already, I AM NOT-”

“YOU ARE! Now wait here while I get some stuff.” I ran down the hallway towards Matt. He was around the corner with both weapons in hand.

The yellow sword was more technological than any normal sword. There was a trigger on the grip for the blade. A glass circle had captured light that glowed with intensity. The middle, where the blade comes out, could cover itself and open on command. It was heavy too. I could have used this as a bat if I wanted to.

I ran back to Charles with both weapons and tossed him the scythe. “Take this! You’re going to learn how to kill something today.” Before he could say anything, I turned towards the door and jumped into the zero gravity.

“Why do you want to die Ranger? You said yourself that technology does all of the work.” I was floating above the floor. Charles walked in with the scythe as I hoped.

“I killed people. A long time ago and recently. If anyone deserves to die, it is me.” The metal opened up and my blade burst out. “If you really want to be a commander, then kill me now!”

Charles gripped the pole of the scythe tightly. “Fine. If you truly desire a death by my hands, then I must strike you down again!” He jumped towards me.

I could see in his eyes that he wasn’t capable of playing the role as Grim reaper. We were face to face when I grabbed the pole and threw him to the ground. I flew over to him and held the blade against his throat. “This is how you should use it. Try again.” He took the scythe back and jumped away.

He came back with a better swing this time. I blocked his attack with the metal side. A loud screech exploded our eardrums. I flew into a wall, holding one of my ears with my free hand. “If you want to die, why are you giving me a struggle?” I looked up at his floating body. It was terrifying to see the monster he will become.

“No death is given without a struggle here. Everything that fights in war makes a struggle to live on.” We continued clashing back and forth. Each attack was stronger and faster than the next.

Matt was standing in a section of the seats. I was floating upside down and Charles was below me. “JUST DIE!” He jumped and clashed with me again. We were on the floor and a blade was against my throat. Charles did it, he won the struggle. The feeling inside couldn’t explain how I felt. “Why?” Charles asked.

“Why what? Why did I want you to learn like this?” I paused. He nodded. “This was just an order I was given. The officers won’t tell me why. Hell, even that boy I met won’t tell me.” Angry thoughts came in. Matt was furious with that statement.

“Is there anything you also haven’t told me yet? Or am I suppose to find out later as ‘part of the plan’?” We stood still for a while. I gave out everything about my parents, my home, the killer… her. By the end, Matt was ready to kill me himself.

“Can I ask you to do something for me?” Charles asked. What could possibly ask when I’m put against a blade by him? “Can we… play one more game.” I chuckled.

“I honestly thought you were going to ask me to push the blade through my neck myself!” The guess was so wrong I almost fell into the blade from laughing.

My composure came back. “After you beat my head that ended in a psychological change, we can’t play games anymore.” I felt bad, though. He couldn’t get his last wish from me, but I could get mine. “I’m sorry for that.”

Charles kicked my heel lightly. “Don’t be. It’s my fault for doing that instead of this like you asked.” He gripped the pole even tighter. “This is goodbye then… Ranger.”

I closed my blade and dropped it. There was no reason to hold onto it anymore. “Goodbye Charles.” I had one more request though. Even though it may be a burden to him later on. “Don’t tell your family about this unless they ask. Who knows how they will be to find this out.”

Charles sliced through my neck He was truly able to kill something for a cause. Blood went flying around the room as it sprayed out of my open neck, along with my head.

This story isn’t over just yet. We still need to get through a lot more about everyone still alive. Who is Stephen? Is him important to us in any way? Did the Mind Soldiers really go extinct? Will she be revealed soon enough? Those probably aren’t answered next time…