The Guardians of Gaia

Chapter Sixteen

I made some revisions to Chapter Four so this chapter makes a little more sense.

"W-where are you going with that?" Otto stammered. He was sitting in the control room of the holographic chamber inside of the Guardians of Gaia headquarters. Otto didn't understand it and it all confused him, all of the panels and buttons, all of the flashing lights and steady beeps. He sat in a comfortable leather revolving chair while Astroman - whose real name was Emerson Lester - storming in holding a long looking syringe. Today he didn't wear his Astroman uniform but instead a simple zip-up high collared shirt made of a perfectly smooth white material and matching pants.

Lester didn't say anything. He just pointed towards his chest and thrusted the syringe towards Otto. Quickly Lester unzipped the shirt and revealing his bare skin, the veins beneath glowing a luminous blue violet. Lester pointed to the middle of his chest. Otto nearly dropped the needle in shock. "I-I can't!"

Lester's eyes bulged with anger. He was tired of Otto telling him that he couldn't when he was more than capable. Otto's hand trembled and then he plunged the needle into Lester. The needle sank down easily to Otto's horror. The syringe was empty, Otto figured he would have to extract something. His arms felt weak at the thought of blood. He pulled the plunger away from Lester who grimaced as a luminous violet substance filled the syringe. Lester reached into his pocket and took out a glass vial that Otto understood he had to fill. Otto had to inject Lester twice more to fill the vial.

"This is the Cosmic Essence. It's the fabric of the universe in its most concentrated form. This is what makes a man an Astroman." The violet glow started to fade away and made Lester's skin look solid instead of translucent like before.

"So you have no more power?" Otto asked.

"There's a lot more essence in me. This is about forty per cent, enough for you to gain powers but not enough to be more powerful than me. When I'm done training you I'll give you the remaining sixty." Lester's voice sounded weak and strained. "Roll up your sleeve."

"R-r-right now?" Otto stuttered.

Lester groaned. "I think I should have approached Marina." Worry creased Otto's brow and he started to roll up the sleeve of his right arm. Lester opened a sliding drawer beneath the control board of the holo room. He pulled out a fresh needle and an antiseptic swab wrapped up into a little white square. "Your right arm please. Make a fist."

"It's amazing you know how to do this, were you a heroin addict or something?" Otto asked with a grin.

Lester snorted. "I work in a doctor's office. I do this for a living, kid." Lester rubbed Otto's forearm looking for a big enough vein. He pulled out a blue green tourniquet and tied it around Otto's bicep. Otto's heart was pounding hard. He wasn't usually afraid of needles but this needle was large with a deep reservoir, large enough to take the whole contents of the vial in one pull. Otto thought back to when he had taken the fluid out of Lester, he seemed to be in pain. What if the Cosmic Essence hurt as much going in as it did coming out? Otto bit his lip.

Lester poised the needle over Otto's arm. Otto's heart couldn't beat any louder. It was too late to go back now. Everything was about to change in his life. But he felt ready for it, he braced himself for whatever the future was about to bring. Hadn't he always wanted this?

The needle slipped under his skin effortlessly and elicited a blip of pain. Otto realized he was holding his breath. Lester pressed down on the plunger and the essence began to flood his veins. Otto's body felt weak, he felt like his bones were made of lead and when he tried to move his head it was swimming on his shoulders. The essence felt like fire shooting along his veins but later all the places that had gone hot cooled down until he felt like his veins were filled with glacier water. Otto tried to squirm away from the onslaught of the endless fluid but Lester held him in place. "Calm down, you're not in pain." And then a restless feeling settled over him. He couldn't stand to sit a moment longer, he felt like he was connected to some sort of power generator and his body was filled with energy.