The Awakened World

Part 8: A Deadly Sermon

After the awakened had gained power over the whole world, people were separated into different groups that would receive different treatment. Those lucky enough to have awakened were naturally at the top. The non-awakened, or commoners, as they were sometimes addressed as, were divided into three classes. On top were the people who had high positions in the old world or simply had been rich. They lived a comfortable life, usually working in leadership roles. Class 2 people formed the vast majority of the population, working in factories and in the service industry. Class 3 was reserved for those who dared to oppose the new world order; rebels and criminals alike could ever only hope to work the lowest and dirtiest jobs and lived in slums under constant surveillance. As expected the slums were in an eternal condition of disrepair. This could be seen just by looking at the walls of the church where the awakened know as the Benevolent was holding his sermon: rotting boards were dotted here and there, and the windows were cracked. Linda Jones switched her gaze from the window and looked around the church. Six armed guards were scanning the room, looking for any sign of unrest. The guard closest to Linda happened to look her in the eyes. Linda quickly turned her eyes away, and for a moment she feared that she was caught. Luckily, the guard kept looking around as if nothing had happened. Five years ago, Linda had been a renowned journalist. Unfortunately, she had made the mistake of criticizing the methods the awakened used during their rise to power. As a result, she had been stripped of all her possessions and condemned to live in a slum. "Indeed, we are the chosen ones. And we shall lead mankind to unto the new paradise! But you, the lost lambs, tried to stop us, tried to stop humankind from reaching salvation! This is why you must repent!" yelled the Benevolent, standing at the altar at the back end of the church. He was old and short and shouldn't have been intimidating in any way, but as he was an awakened, so no normal human could hope to do anything against him. In addition, two other awakened stood near him, giving everyone else a condescending look.

As the Benevolent continued on his rant about the "lost lambs", Linda took the bible in front of her. A week ago, a resistance member had contacted her, and told her about the assassination of the awakened preacher. Linda had decided to assist, since she saw this as a way of getting payback. She shifted her position nervously. Back then it had felt like a good idea, but now, as she was about to spring to action, she was nervous. What if it goes wrong? What if I get captured? She didn't have time to finish this train of thought, as a loud explosion rattled the church. Time seemed to slow down. The guards were clearly surprised and started to run toward the entrance. Quickly, Linda pulled out the flashbang hidden inside the bible, pulled the pin and threw it in the air. Then she covered her eyes as instructed. A dizzying light filled the room accompanied by a loud bang. Linda's ears rang, and she felt disoriented, as she opened her eyes. The guards were worse off though, and the awakened were also rolling on the ground. The other members of the resistance hiding among the normal people soon attacked them. Linda got up and prepared to run away when she felt an impact on her back. She looked back and saw that a guard was blindly firing his gun. A resistance member soon tackled him, but the damage was already done. Soon Linda noticed that her clothes were stained with blood. As people around her scrambled for the exit, she fell to the ground. She could just about see three figures emerging from the door, the closest one clad in green flames. "Go on, get him. I've done all I could," was her final thought before dying.

The explosion outside wiped out the guards standing by the APCs. It took Brian and his comrades only a few seconds to dispose of the survivors and reach the doors, and soon a loud bang could be heard from inside the church. After breaching through the doors Brian was met with a chaotic display. The churchgoers were running toward the exit, as the infiltrated resistance members dispatched the armed guards. A lone woman lying in a pool of her own blood caught his attention for a moment, but it was cut short as Mercury and Minerva dashed forward to fight the awakened guards. Brian, too, rushed forward to meet his enemy. In a blink of an eye the church was almost empty. The regular guards were dead, and all the non-awakened had exited. Meanwhile Mercury and Minerva had both grabbed the target's bodyguards and blown through the walls. The Benevolent had finally gained his bearings, and a look of confusion formed on his face as he saw that he was alone in the church, facing a masked assailant. However, much to Brian's surprise, the expression soon switched to one of smug satisfaction. As the preacher started to manipulate his energy, which manifested itself as crosses on the sides of his hands, Brian prepared his defences. His strategy was not to attack, but to defend and then surprise the attack with his immense power. The attack never came, however. Instead, his target started to speak. "You poor, misguided fools. You fail to understand that the current state of the world is the will of God, and instead just lash out in the vain hope that you can plunge mankind back into the darkness. I don't' know why your manifestation colour is wrong, but you should despair, heathen, for this is a trap! Soon you shall die, and this world will be better off for it." As soon as the Benevolent ended his ominous speech, a huge presence flared up.

The Crimson Witch was had been meditating in a small room at the back of the church. She reminded herself that if she managed to capture even one member of the resistance she could finally gain a lead in her search for Brian. As a strong explosion was followed by a second, smaller one she finally entered "battle-trance"; a state where she could commit any atrocity needed. It was taught to her, albeit forcefully, during the initial war for dominance, when the name "Crimson Witch" first struck the fear into the heart of everyone who would oppose the awakened. She hadn't used it for nearly five years, but soon she felt a great indifference and focus replacing her raging emotions. Initially, she felt three presences enter the church. Two of them were rather large, while the third was fairly average. Soon, two of the presences, including the average one, vanished alongside the bodyguards of the Benevolent, leaving the church with only one attacker. The Witch grinned under her mask as she ramped up her energy and entered. Red triangles started to orbit her arms and legs as she dashed forward to strike. The attacker had a solid defence, so the strike didn't connect, he was sent hurtling backwards.

The attacker manged to get back on his feet and adopted a defensive stance. It was apparent that he had received some training, but not an extensive one. "Not enough," she thought as she used her powers to pull the entire ceiling down on him, with the benches added for good measure. This strategy, a blitz of strong attacks was used to exhaust the opponent, and it had served the Witch well during her service days. Many a foe had fallen for the next attack, and this one should've been no different. However, something about this particular one was giving her pause. First of all, the colour of his manifestation was all wrong, it was green, not red. She could've sworn that there was something familiar about this, that she was making some kind of horrible mistake, but her battle-trance didn't allow for much thinking outside of battle. As such, she prepared her usual killing blow: hundreds of knives around her body exited their sheathes and started to levitate around her. However, she was puzzled to notice that her opponent's presence wasn't showing any signs of weakening. In fact, she could've sworn that it was growing. Her train of thought was interrupted, as she heard the preacher let out a cry of pain. As she turned around she saw that one of the two other attackers had snuck back in and shot a bolt of lightning at the Benevolent. He fell to the ground, and it was apparent that he wasn't going to survive. "Annoying, but not real loss," she thought to herself and prepared to battle the newcomer. Yet again, she was interrupted, as the rubble on top of the original attacker exploded. The presence she felt was unlike anything like she had felt before...or not. "Oh no," Susan Abbot said to herself as the trance lifted. Without a doubt, the entire reason she had become the Witch again, her childhood friend, was standing before her, bathed in green flames.

Brian had had a tough time. The initial strike had been heavier than he anticipated, and the falling ceiling had come close to breaching his defences. Soon he was ready to re-join the battle and did so with almost theatrical flair. Soon he was staring down the witch-like attacker and noticed that Minerva had returned and made quick work of the once so proud preacher. He shifted his gaze toward the enemy and prepared to attack, but soon noticed that something was off. The attacker's presence, that had been very large and very stable, was fluctuating wildly. Soon she gave of an ear-piercing scream and jumped out of the church. Brian was about to give chase when Minerva caught him by the arm. "No time, we must escape. It's pandemonium out there," she said and started to move toward the broken doors. Soon Brian, too, noticed that gunfire could be heard everywhere, and followed her. Outside Mercury was already waiting in his van and they soon rushed away. Along the way they had to clear some roadblocks but were soon clear of the fighting. "What happened?" Brian asked, "Everything was going so well." Mercury sighed heavily, and Minerva spoke up. "It was a set-up. As soon as we started, all hell broke loose outside. When we were done with the guards, APCs were already appearing all around. That's why I instructed Mercury to go straight for the car." Mercury shook his head. "But I never would have guessed that even the Crimson Witch was there...". As he finished speaking, Mercury spat out of the now broken window. "The awakened I fought, right? Is there something special about her?" Brian asked. Sure, she had been strong, but not unusually so. "Look, kid. Because you're so hellishly strong and inexperienced, you have no perspective," Mercury started, but was cut off by Minerva. "To sum it up: during the war and the subsequent clean-up she was the scourge of this sector. You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone in the bunker who didn't fear her. She is very strong, but the scary part is her surgical precision when applying it. I'm thankful of her bizarre escape, as I'm not sure if I would've survived the battle". The van fell silent, and only the sound of the engine and the distant gunfire could be heard. Brian closed his eyes. The mission was a success, but he feared that the amount of lives lost would be colossal. In addition, he couldn't explain the sense of familiarity he had felt about the Witch.