Time Heist

Year 2130

All of our heads gazed upon the sky, staring at the drizzling, unidentified flying objects heading in our direction. We saw thousands of undistinguishable aircraft destroying the clouds and even the atmosphere. Before the government and the people could even react, millions of humanoid people descended upon the heavens and landed on the ground.

They armed themselves with special abilities, like us, and murdered everyone they saw as a threat.

These aliens called themselves Sallens, another type of creature that fell upon the Earth. The Sallens had wide mouths filled with razor darkish teeth around the cavity. With their hands used as claws, Sallens could rip through anything.

I saw a Sallen once when it had ripped through a titanic-a ship meant to sail the harshest of seas. With one slash of its claws, the boat split apart like paper with ease.

The mass also caught one Sallen live on the internet, killing billions of families and turning them into nourishments for their bodies.

These extraterrestrial species robbed us of our resources, wanting to claim our lands benefitting their race. The aliens first attacked the oceans, next to the forest, and afterwards the vast terra of the cities.

Without warning, the Sallens invaded our homelands and wreaked havoc along the streets, gnawing down the innocent children and bystanders along the way. These aliens left the crippled corpses on the road and continued destroying anything on their way.

Sallens stopped at nothing, not even the gallants or the superheroes trained under the supervision of the government.

These monsters demolished buildings after building and left not a single person alive from their massacre. Once the Sallens found their prey, they dismantled and beheaded the humans and afterwards turned them into slimes and ate them raw.

I saw one down the road, a man carrying his kids back to safety. However, the bastards caught him and turned his body into an indistinguishable creature among humanity. After the beaming light, the bloke transformed into a pile of icky mud, with his crying child by his side.

We, the Octagon, saved the boy and evacuated him to safety. All of us were fortunate enough to arrive on time and took the kid away towards the ultimate shelter.

Found inside the base were the nourishment we stored and vowed to protect. But the food got stashed away from our hands. We had nothing left but our lives running away from these bastards.

The war between the humanoid creatures and humans lasted until one month after their arrival on our planet. After constantly fighting against these crowds, our Earth crumbled into nothingness.

We were losing the skirmish that we desperately fought with our lives. All human beings came into hiding, and the superheroes that the world trusted vanished.

Our planet shifted into a dark apocalypse. Asteroids and spaceships with distinct size and numbers continued drifting from our atmosphere and eventually hitting the land. Our eyes saw nothing but despair around us. The trees that we loved vanished like dust, and the ocean went dry like an empty pool. And the blue ocean turned grey, with all the fishes motionless on the dry bed.

There were only one thousand people left to defend our planet and protect what was ours.

The only ones who could stop them now were the Octagon.

"Can you keep an eye on that guy, Cait?" I marked my hands at the mysterious-looking person wandering inside the storage room. That man entered himself inside the facility, where we contained our last valuable resources.

The thing that caught our attention was another Sallen, lurking for any nourishment contained inside the shelter.

"Aye, aye, number One!" Caitlyn called me by my code name, knowing that the remaining people left alive were deceitful to us. She felt scared about the scientists lurking around the shadows, hoping to escape the underground research centre.

Number five, or Caitlyn, was the only person who insisted on sticking by my side while the rest of our team kept the enemies at bay outdoors. It would not be too long until the foes breach us with their immense powers and eventually kill us off when an opportunity arises. But before they could do that, we needed to stop them from accomplishing their plans.

"Get to the stations now!" I clicked my tongue and dashed straight through a door.

My pocket vibrated and notified me about something. Upon reaching out for my pants, I grabbed my phone and answered the call.

"This is number two speaking. Where are you right now, Number One?!" The shaking voice of my best friend made it through the line. But the status of his environment was looking damned for his part.

Caitlyn and I heard loud banging sounds coming from his side that rang our ears. We guessed those were gunshots from our teammates that wanted to survive the endless battle. Screams and groans accompanied the frightening sounds from the background, pushing us back to our cave.

"Me and number three are heading downstairs, leader. We will see what we can do to stop those people." Number Two's breathing became quick as we heard him bash the rails of the door.

Humanity's lives depend on our shoulders, so we better make it right to stop these invaders.

"We will wait for you there, Stream."

Before I could turn my cellular phone off, Number Two interjected me and uttered, "I will meet you on the other side."

The two of us hung up, knowing that the plan had already begun.

Caitlyn turned silent after hearing such a noise coming from the phone. She did not want to append more details about the matter, since nobody could prevent this from happening.

As soon as we reached the last door, a man stood tall from the inside, staring back with bloodlust eyes, right at us. The crimson blood continued dripping from his hand, showing that he had fought the Sallens a while back.

He surrounded himself with a sinister aura that sent shivers down my spines.

The man was Number Three, who had already arrived on the scene. On his side was Number Two, fiddling with the electronic machine below the vast screen of the computer.

The shape laid on the corner of the two familiar figures was the corpse of a humanoid person. The tattered sleeves and his right amputated limb greeted our eyes, telling us he had lost a battle against those bastards. Upon inspecting the body, I noticed the obsidian marks surrounding its skull.

Sallens could also shape-shift their shapes and turn themselves into humans, like us. They used their ability to infiltrate the defense of the government, hence the downfall of humanity.

The attack belonged to Number Three, who mastered the element of darkness.

"Well, that was fast," I remarked, flickering the notifications appearing in my system.

[Stream, something is going towards your way] The automated voice inside my head alerted me. Caitlyn and I immediately swivelled behind and unleashed a discharge in the corridor. We did not even need to check who was coming in our direction, since we knew we were alone inside the room.

Fortunately for me, my system activated on its own and warned me about the incoming danger. If it were not for my ability, I would have been lying on the ground by now.

The rest of the Octagon sacrificed themselves so we could make it in this facility. Number Six created a machine that can travel through the endless loop of time. The downside of this technology was that it would kill Number Two during the process, and we only have one chance for it to work.

The machine needed my body, considering that I was the strongest superhero on the Earth could offer against the extraterrestrial species.

"Are you sure about this plan, Stream?" Caitlyn mumbled to my ears as I prepared the equipment needed by the machine.

Her breath became audible and filled with dread. But there was nothing we could do but carry on with our scheme.

"Do you think I want this?" I retorted coldly without batting her an eye.

"Do you think I wish to let Number Two die? To let Nicholas die in vain?"

Everyone who heard my question felt silent. Even Number Two, who was the victim of this plan, could not express his thoughts after hearing such a heavy burden on our team.

"I cannot let you die, Nicholas," I proclaimed.

"I know, Stream!"

With a single phrase, Nicholas shut me down as if I was nothing but a child. Although it was against our rules, I needed that yell, waking me up from reality.

We needed to win this war, and our goal from the beginning of these chaotic events.

"Let's go, Octagon. The world needs us now."

Upon my invitation, Caitlyn lifted the one thousand kilograms of metal from the machine and brought it inside a spacious room. We meant this space for the test drive of this technology, but we wish we would not. The only time that we will use this machine is for dangerous tasks that could change the world, and that was right now.

"Fire this bad boy up, Number three." The shadowy figure heeded my instructions and turned the power on.

Upon activation, the machine glowed with vibrant hues that filled the area. The surrounding colours almost reminded us of Number Three. He could also manipulate both shadow and light and bend them in his will.

As we were about to launch the machine, the humanoid species made their way inside the fort. They broke their way from above, shattering the marble ceiling.

"I can smell you here, Stream." The man who landed on both of his feet gyrated around and met my eyes. He narrowed his orbs and leered at me while revealing his razor-sharp claws.

Following the fall, two of his men came crashing from the sky. These crazed people had the same abilities as him. They unleashed sharp things from their hands, which made them annoying opponents to handle.

"I thought I killed you," I blurted, buying Number Three some time to recharge the power of the time machine.

"Yet, here I am." The man licked his mouth in a crazed manner as he slowly approached our way.

"Let's dance, pretty boy." I bolted in a linear direction, hoping I could tackle the mysterious man. However, he read my movements and eluded my strike.

[Activating Fire Ball] my system launched a sphere made of embers through my palms and directed the blaze towards the man. It costs five percent of my total mana capacity, meaning that it will take twenty more of these spells for me to drain my mana.

"The superhero that possesses the system, Stream Adams." The creature called for my name as he obstructed my attack with the same spell.

"Look who has done his research," I said, with my eyes curving upwards.

"It won't be too long for you to feel crippled on the ground." Just as the man was about to launch his blitz, Caitlyn jumped behind me, taking a blow from one of the hidden creatures who assaulted me.

"Caitlyn?" My meek voice escaped my mouth as I made sense of the image before me.

Number Five fell on the ground, hitting her head first, following the rest of her body. The splatters of blood occluded my vision, and this liquid came from my lover in front of me. Lifeless, like a rock, Caitlyn gave her life to save me as soon as she saw someone ambushing me from behind.

None of us saw that coming, except for the girl who had the ability of heightened senses in her body.

I could not believe my eyes from what I saw on that day. Regret came crashing down a river to my thoughts, denying everything surrounding me. Billions of splinters pierced through my heart, denying everything at my fore. The tears in my eyes rained down upon me, like the time that we lost our members during the battle.

My body dashed to the ground and hugged the lifeless body of Caitlyn with my shivering hands. She meant the world for me, and this bastard killed her without a hint of hesitation.

"You will pay for this," I growled.

My eyes became red, boiling with intense anger. My limbs turned numb despite the blood dripping from Caitlyn's body. I gritted my teeth and met the alien's eyes staring back at mine. All I thought about was to get my revenge on this bastard who killed my lover.

[Warning! System overloaded with skills!] The automated voice rang inside my ears, but I disregarded its message. I discharged the atomic spell that I kept inside of me, killing the person who took the life of Caitlyn.

The bluish light coming from my hand repelled the fragile body of the murderer and hurled him at the wall. Upon impact, his body exploded like a grenade, blowing away every ounce of tissues left inside his cells.

"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," the man whom I fought earlier muttered to himself while gazing at the deceased body of my friend, my lover.

"Push him now, Itsuki!" My best friend called out as he was already inside the damn machine, ready to sacrifice himself at any instance.

Number Three leapt with intense speed and pushed me inside the crate, afterwards strapped me with leathered belts. He knew I would try to avenge Caitlyn on the floor, so Number Three did what he could to prevent me from my rash decisions.

However, I refused to accept what lay in front of me. My mind spelt revenge, and every cell inside my body wanted to clobber the killer with my hands.

"I will send you back a year before this total shit begins." Nicholas, or Number Two, woke me from my nightmare as his face appeared in front of me. "The day we first met!"

The rainbow-coloured lights flickered like disco balls overhead as the machine feverishly beeped from the tune. After a few seconds, a confirmation appeared on the screen, preparing me to send me back from the past to erase these happenings.

"You cannot stop the timeline, Stream!" The rogue man tried desperately foiling our plans. But we already set up the trap and concealed him from underground.

"Good thing I planted that." Number Three evenly spoke as he turned around and said his goodbye.

"Find me inside my house, leader," Itsuki added, and gave me a salute.

Nicholas held my hands while crying a tear, knowing what will happen to the both of us after this occurrence. He will die, and I will transfer myself in the endless vacuum, uncertain what to expect inside the swirling portal.

"Hey, Stream," Nicholas croaked as he locked his eyes onto mine. "By the time you arrive, tell me I…"

"I understand." For the last time, we exchanged gazes and bumped our fist against each other. My body leaned closer to Nicholas and braced him with all my might. "I will call you my brother."

The eerie sounds of the machine signalled my trip as I raced through the black hole created by the power imbued with Number Three.

"I will meet you on the other side, my brother."