Soul Shatter (Chapter One) (A J-Clan Novel)

1

Time flows like a river, and history... repeats itself.  Funny, now that I look back, those words echoed into my head on a constant basis.  I should start this story out when I was a young tyke, not more than eight years old.  It is a good place to begin, with all tales, the beginning is always a great place to start.  I remembered sitting in front of the widescreen with my mom in the kitchen baking her self- patented sugar cookies.  Where my dad was at the time, I do not remember.  I would assume he was at work late at the construction yard building something.  They always kept him late on the weekends more gather.  It did not bother me much, but I just assumed he was there making an honest living, making sure all the bills were paid.2

3

Mom set the cookies down on the table.  Peanut butter sugar cookies.  Yum, of course but I would have settled for her famous Chocolate Chip.  Mom always baked the perfect chocolate chip cookies.  They had just enough chocolate chips in each one of them that they just made my mouth water with every bite.  I remember my mother once turned her back on a fresh batch of those warm goodies she had set on the counter.  I sprung to my feet and with quickness, swiped a few of those cookies, and made it back to my original seat on the carpet before she ever noticed.  You see, I have a unique ability of super speed.  Yes, crazy of course saying it aloud I know, however, I can feel the space around me slow down.  I do not know where this ability came from, hell, to tell you the truth; I was scared to even tell my folks.  Freaking out is the last thing I needed from them.  If I even demonstrated it to them, they would lock me up at some crazy house over on Calamity Park.  Do not ask me how I was able to use this power, or the schematics, because, science is not my strongest class.  Yeah, I know this may sound crazy that I am able to use the power of super speed, nevertheless, who cares?  All I know is that here I am, this is what I can do, and let it be.4

5

Anyways, I was watching television on a windy Sunday night.  I do not remember what was on at the time.  It must have been some boring drama show.  It was late and I knew it was coming close to my bedtime.  Just when I was about to fall asleep right there on the floor, a sudden thunderous boom rocked the house.  At first I thought it was one of those massive wars of the world's type of boom, and for a minute, it felt like it was, but I know I was pissed off when the power went off.  When the television cut out, I mean, it was my favorite show.  Mom, startled by the noise, dropped the last batch of cookies that she took right out of the oven and dropped them on the floor.6

7

"Xabien, where are you?" she said moving out of the kitchen and into the living room.  I saw the look on her face and knew something was just not right.8

9

"Over here mom," I replied.  Yeah I was scared, but I was more worried about my father now.  I wonder if he was ok where he was.  At least I was glad when he burst through the door.  He looked like a mess though.  His clothes torn and ripped everywhere.  Dirt covered every inch of his body.  10

11

"Dear, we have to get out of the city," my dad said.  He ran into the bedroom and started packing clothes.  My mom walked in behind him trying to figure out what was going on.  Of course, I was curious as well, so I peeped around the corner.12

13

I could not hear much cause they slammed the door before I have to listen.  From what I could hear, it was more like ‘brothers fighting' and ‘saber cats'.  Yeah tell me about it, not much sense.  I did not know that my dad had any brothers.  Now I am just confused.14

15

My dad came out of the room dressed in a different type of clothes.  He was dressed in a black body armor vest and wearing a huge sword strapped to his back.  He walked over to me and said, "Son, take care of your mom, I am counting on you," and he kissed me on the head.  That was weird because he never did that before but now he does it in a hurry.16

17

"Dad, where are you going," I replied.  Hell I wanted answers too.18

19

"That's none of your concern son, just go pack your bags and follow your mom's orders," my dad replied.  He was angry, no doubt about that.  I could sense a hint of fear in his eyes.  He kissed my mom and headed out.  I turned to my mom, saw her go back into the room, and closed the doors.  Just what is it that is so damn important not to tell me, I wonder.  20

21

She came back out wearing a different type of body armor then my dad was wearing.  She also had a sword strapped to her back and now I was jealous because I wanted a sword just like theirs, but I guess they keep those like guns, you know, locked away without the key.  She came up to me and said "Xabien, I want you to go down into the basement until I return."  Yeah right, I thought, I am not going down there with the rats.22

23

"But mom, I don't want to go down there," I replied.  I was not joking, big, giant rats down there.24

25

"Son, do what I say, I won't be long," she said turning off the television.  Now I was worried.  She never shuts me out of the television.  She shoved me into the basement and I tripped on the stairs the way down.  Grabbing the light switch, I headed down to the spare room below and flicked on the tube that my dad used when he wanted peace and quiet.  I lay down on the old couch.  Flicked the remote to a channel, and watched what was on until I fell asleep.26

27

That was when the trouble started.  I was awakening by the snow on the television.  I wish I had remembered what I dreamt.  Nobody ever does however.  You know, the good memories are the ones that linger in your mind.  This dream was a nightmare and all I wanted to do was to get it out of my head.  I knew better.  28

29

I got up from the couch and ran upstairs out of the den.  The clock on the living room wall said it was after four, and of course I was wondering where my parents were.  I checked the bedroom, nothing.  They were nowhere in the house and a kid my age, yeah now I started to worry.  Just when panic start to settle into my stomach I turned on television.  News reports were covering a story about the United Counsel Building under attack.30

31

"It happened at 2:00 a.m. this morning.  The Archimedean's army made its way onto American soil.  The United Council's army waged a desperate attempt to push the attackers back was no match for sheer number of forces.  In a last desperate attempt of hope, the United Council called on the J-Clan, which managed to hold back the aggressors.  At about 3:45 a.m. this morning, there was a huge explosion, which covered s city blocks and lasted for over 10 minutes.  It has been over 2 hours since the explosion occurred and still, there is no sign of the J-Clan returning from the battle.  There is now a barrier surrounding the whole area of the United Council Building, No one can seem to get in or out of this barrier, and with every single section of the United Council's defense force destroyed.  There is one question on everyone's mind, and that question is where the J-Clan is and why is the barrier up.  Is it for protection of Council or is this a beginning sign of a possible Armageddon,"32

33

Armageddon huh, at the time I did not know what that meant, let alone anything else she was saying on the tube.  What did strike a nerve thought was that the image in the background resembled the direct image of the nightmare that awakens me.  With a deep fear of the unknown, I knew I had to do something.  My parents were in the middle of this, and if there is a war going on right now, and if my dreams were accurate, their fate rests in my hands.  Of course, that is what wanted to believe in.  I grabbed my shoes and using my powers I slowed down time so I can run to the site and save my parents.  I just hope I was not too late.34

35

Running fast while everything around you is going by slow brings a unique experience.  Every step I took I glanced around and noticed the destruction and chaos that was going on around me.  Tanks and soldiers conducted martial law around the city.  At least that is what I thought until they started shooting the civilians.  The screams got louder and the gunfire got more consistent.  My first temptation was to stop and help the weak, but fuck that, my parents were in danger.  I have to do what I can for them and maybe I can go back and take care of others.36

37

Five more blocks, I can see the Council Building in the background.  I was almost there when my foot tripped on something rough and I fell, super speed style.  I went into a roll and at a high rate of speed; I went right through a large glass window of a shopping store.  Recovering my senses, I stood up, knocking glass off my coat.38

39

"Roger, it went in here," said one of the soldiers who went to investigate the ruckus at the store.  Scared, I jumped into some coat racks.  Damn I do not have time for this I have to keep moving.  The soldier inspected the glass shards and stepped into the store.  He turned on his flashlight and started to follow a trail of glass to where I was hiding.  I knew he would find me.40

41

"Beta four-nine alpha," he said when he walked into the store, "Roger, shoot on sight."42

43

He continued to inspect the store, and he was just about to give up and walk out until the unthinkable happened.  He took a grenade from his pouch and tossed it into the store.  I had seconds to react.  I jumped out and ran to the exit.  My powers came on as the explosion kicked off.  I would have never made it without my speed.  I jumped out into the street when the soldier turned aimed his weapon and start firing.  With my power still activated, I saw the bullets travelling to me.  I was able to duck out of the way and continued to run down the street turning a few corners along the way.44

45

I made it to the Council Building.  Soldiers guarded the surrounding area with their damn dogs sniffing away.  Not to mention, there was a huge shield dome surrounding the entire damn building.  I ducked behind a car to get a better look at what I was dealing with.  There was quite of bit of actions going on inside the dome, but the shielding made it difficult to get a better look inside.46

47

I think my luck changed for the better when an object of some sort flew into the air at the top of the building disrupting the shield barrier.  That was my chance; I ran activating my powers to run through the barrier.  I saw my opening and I took it, jumping inside before the barrier reestablished itself.  48

49

The soldiers saw this and try to pursue but as the barrier came on.  Realizing that did not work, they opened fire at me but their bullets could not penetrate the shield.  So feeling good about myself, I started to walk away when I heard a crackling noise from behind me.  Yeah, go me, they rose the shielding and sent their dogs after me.  So I ran.50

51

I jumped behind a small alcove to try to hide from their stupid dogs; however, they sniffed me out.  Two dogs started snarling and growling at me.  I was looking tasty to them right about now.  For a second, my life was just about over, until a large explosion several hundred feet behind me went off.  Rubble covered my small area and all I heard after that was whimpering and barking from the dogs, then silence.52

53

Pushing rubble out of the way, as much as I can, I managed to get through the debris.  Scraped up on all sides, I could feel the blood running down my shoulder.  A sharp pain on the side of my head made me realize that I was still alive.  I put pressure on it with my hand but the pain was just too much.  I looked out into the distance and saw a huge dark man standing there.  "He must know where father is," I thought to myself.54

55

However, the closer I got to the man, the more menacing he looked.  All I saw was no skin, just black, dark black silhouette of a man.  I could not take my eyes of him.  He wore a dark black cloak draped around him.  I saw no hair on his head; his skin was visible against the light.  When he turned and looked at me, I saw his eyes.  No pupils visible that I saw, which made me stopped in my tracks.  Getting ready to turn around, I almost ran back when I saw my father on the ground with his sword stabbed through his chest.56

57

I freaked.  Seeing my dad down there, lifeless, I ran to his body.  "Dad, wake up," I said to him hoping that he would get up.  He lied there motionless.58

59

"Dad," the dark man said standing over me, "How interesting, one of the J-Clan produced a son.  How interesting indeed."60

61

My tears were running down my cheek, I did not care.  My feelings of sorrow turned to rage.  Who did this?  How did he fall?  The man behind me is responsible.  He is still standing and my father is now dead.  So much pain, so much anger.  All I want to do is ... get revenge!62

63

I grabbed the sword from my father's chest, pulled it out, and held it in the air at my enemy, the dark man.  The blood from my father dripped from the sword onto my hand.  I felt angry, and this sword is heavy.  I did not care.  I will have my revenge.  64

65

"This boy is strong, no doubt he will make a fine collection to my army," the dark man said pointing at me.  His voice echoed.  I could not tell whether he was human now or not.66

67

"Quit pointing at me, did you kill my father!"  I said.  The sword is getting heavier but I do not care.  Fear froze me to the ground.  Too many thoughts crossed my mind.68

69

He started waving his hands in the air in some sort of circular motion in front of me.  "Such disrespect from a young boy," he said.  He began to glow a deep golden color, "I will teach you some manners, boy!"70

71

"Answer me, did you kill my father?"  I asked again.  Nobody pushes me around.  72

73

The dark man started mumbling to himself, when his hands started to manifest a glowing energy ball.  I never had seen anything like this, just in the movies.  The glowing sphere left his hands and shot out towards me hitting me in the chest.  The force of the pressure hurt.  The sword left my hand and flew out into the distance.  I flew at least 20 feet into a rubble pile.  I did not know what caused the most pain, the blast of that sphere or me hitting that rubble pile.  74

75

My head was in pain, my body ached, and the thought of me dying was becoming more of a reality with each passing second.  Trying to keep my eyes open, I saw the dark man walking to me, smiling, laughing at me.76

77

"Take him away, I have special uses for this boy if he lives long enough," The dark man said as he motioned his soldiers over.  Little did I know, passing out will be the least of my worries.78