The Fall of the Society

Chapter 50: Devastating Discovery

     Sid glared up at the people standing on the balcony. His hand still on the throwing knives he responded, "If he is dead, all of your lives are forfeit."

     "If you continue to attack, you will be met with much more force than you have encountered so far," the man stated confidently.

     A flash and three silver blurs flew through the air, plunging into the necks of three of the guards surrounding the man speaking. Before any of them could act, Sid lunged into the air, drawing his sword and slashing it across one of the two remaining guards' throats. The only remaining guard raise his hands as they began to blaze red. Sid shot forward and pinned the man to the wall with his blade. Surprise filled the man's eyes as blood trickled down his chin and his arms fell limp to his side. A moment later his head slumped, life having completely left him.

     "Wait!" the final man shouted. "I can help you!"

     "Why would I want your help?" Sid growled at the man.

     Looking around frantically, "I have deep knowledge about this organization, I oversee the splicing research and I inherited Dr. Silmot's research after you caused her death!"

     Sid smirked, "That means you are Dr. Olead."

     Shock exploded onto Dr. Olead's lined face. "So, you know what I can offer you then. I can help you!"

     Sid drew a throwing blade in a flash and drove it into the underside of Dr. Olead's jaw. He spluttered and gasped, trying futility to push Sid away. "The evil you have unleashed on the world can never be forgiven." Withdrawing the blade, he released his hold on the doctor, allowing him to slump helplessly to the floor. The man stared up at him in terror. "Regardless of what you think you could have helped me with you have no worth." Sid turned and leapt from the balcony, landing soundlessly on the floor below.

     He pushed open the double doors that Dr. Olead had referred to when telling him where Maldion was being held. The lights along the long hallway were flashing. His blast in the previous room had clearly damaged something deeper in the facility. Sid was moving quickly, throwing his usual caution to the side, and soon came to a thick steel door. Placing his hand on the door, he pushed, and it swung inward. Sitting in the middle of the room was a man, his gray hair matted to his head with sweat, his head lulling onto his shoulder. If Sid did not know any better, he would think he might be sleeping.

     Sid knelt beside the man, placing his hands on his cheeks and his forehead on his friends. He had not felt sadness like this since he had been forced to help his love move on to the next plane. A single tear ran down his cheek and fell to the floor as his rage blazed inside of him. Sid removed a small blade from his pouch and cut away the ropes binding him to the chair.

     "He did not talk, he held out until the end," a voice said quietly behind him. "I was very surprised with how well the old man held out, but it eventually meant his end." A tall lanky man stepped from the shadows at the corner of the room and began walking very slowly toward Sid. "When I began my work with him, I was trying to get the names of the other leaders within his organization. I was instructed to get the information no matter what, and I was worried I had missed out on the opportunity but in walks option number two." Sid finally removed his head from Maldion's and stood back up. "Will you give me the knowledge I seek or will you meet the same end as your friend there." The tall man moved behind Sid who had not removed his eyes from the sight in front of him.

     In a steady movement, the man wrapped his hand around Sid's wrist, and pain shot up his arm as if his nerve endings had all caught fire at the same moment. The pain continued until the man let go of him. Sid gasped, catching his breath, before he began to laugh. "That was exciting, I must say. It reminds me of the power of someone else I met in the past; a man named Carson."

      The tall man's expression became stony, "How do you know Carson?"

     "I became acquainted with him at the end of his life, he too bit off more than he could handle," Sid replied, taking extra pleasure in the man's disgust. "Your power must be far beyond his though, he wasn't able to hurt me at all."

     "So, you were there when my brother died," the man growled at him. "Cyrus did not deserve what you did to him!"

     Sid raised his eyebrow while donning his signature smile. "What makes you say that? I think he likely deserved worse than the fate that he met, but time constraints you know. Are you not aware of the things he was doing?"

     "He was doing what he needed to do in order to move the Society forward, which sometimes involves eliminating barriers like you," the man growled back. He lunged forward, thrusting his hands towards Sid's face, but he did not move. The man's hands planted along Sid's jaw and his vision went dark as it felt like his nerves had exploded and his vision went dark. His jaw clenched shut and his body went rigid. Removing his hands, the man stepped back and smirked at Sid, who's eyes were tightly shut. "Now, who are you and why are you here?"

     Sid rolled his head, loosening the muscles in his neck as he breathed in deep to regain the oxygen in his lungs. "Those are futile questions," Sid said flatly as he opened his eyes to stare at the man. "This is what you did to Maldion? I raised him from a very young age."

     "You raised him? Don't you mean he raised you? He is far older than you are," the man stated.

      As if he did not hear him, Sid continued his reflection. "He definitely did not deserve to be treated this way, he only ever tried to do good in a world trying to destroy itself." He turned back to the man in the chair and began straightening his hair and wiping a bit of blood from the corner of his mouth. "Those of us stained in blood do not deserve people like him."

      Without a word the man placed his hands on the sides of Sid's head once more from behind. The world faded around him as he was cast back into darkness and excruciating pain. He was not sure how long he was in this state, but when his vision came back, he found himself kneeling on the floor. There was a pool of vomit in front of him, but he could not remember when it had happened.

     "It is okay if you cry," the tall man named Carson told Sid. "Most cannot handle the pain and I must say I am surprised you are not completely laid out on the floor with as much as I have given you."

     Sid stood and faced the man while working his muscles out of their cramped state. "How much did you give to Maldion? Unless you give me more than what you inflicted on him, I will not be satisfied." He reached out with lightning speed and grabbed the man's wrist, ignoring the pain that was now shooting into his arms, and placed his palms on his cheeks. His skin seared and his vision went dark as flashes popped in the darkness. Without knowing how much time had passed, Sid opened his eyes and found himself laying on the cool, hard floor.

     Carson was rubbing his wrist, "You are crazy, and you have a hell of a grip. Damn near broke my wrist." He began pacing back and forth as Sid worked to regain his bearings.

     "You had to have used more power on Maldion, he would not have broken easy," Sid stated flatly. "You need to give me everything you have. I need to know what he felt, how much pain he went through."

    Suspicion flashed across Carson's dark eyes. "What end do you think this will bring about? All you are moving toward is your own death, I can tell that your power is waning. If I give you much more, you will not be able to talk, and that will not solve my problem."

     "If you give me everything you have, I will tell you whatever you want to know," Sid told the man as he climbed back to his feet. "You will not be able to break me, but I need to know what Maldion felt at the end. He was loyal and the best that this world had to offer, it is the least I can do for him."

    "Fine," Carson said casually. "I will do this, and you will likely take your secrets to the grave. Either way it is clear you are a threat given the destruction you left behind you on your way here." Carson placed his hands on either side of Sid's face and closed his eyes as he forced as much of his abilities into his palms and into Sid's body.