Multiverse: by Nick Venomz (best books to read for beginners .txt) 📕

Orville, meanwhile, headed into another section of the basement level. He passed through the series of white hallways, noticing one stained with pinkish-red. It had been scrubbed, but the blood wouldn’t leave the walls. It was stuck there, staining it.

He continued, stopping at a fork - one hallway leading to the backdoor while the second led somewhere else. Orville took the second path. He headed further down the hallway, exiting into a large room that held fifteen cells. With the cells being underground, no natural light entered the cells, only artificial light from a few lightbulbs in front of a few cells.

In one of the cells was Aaron, his strength, spirit, and oxygen returning to him. He was back in action but lacked his armory. They were stripped from him.

“Aaron James?” He asked.

Aaron looked at him, scowling. “What do you want from me?” He grumbled.

Orville menacingly smiled. “Nothing much… just to watch you squirm in pain.” 

Aaron spat at him, the spit landing on Orville’s cheek. He wiped it off, giving the now-prisoner a disgusted glance. He turned away from him.

“Have you ever wondered why we had so many people kidnapped? Or what the overall mission was? Was it for a cure to cancer? Or to STDs?” He started before turning around to face Aaron, grinning. “It was to build a monster. Like Frankenstein. I called him… her… I called it Project Fully Loyal Titan. A funny name, ain’t it?”

Aaron glared at him, not speaking.

“Well, that monster is the collective efforts of the many experiments. Asura Industries’ medicine and every other brilliant invention were created from the backbone of kidnapped people, people like you..” He pointed a hand towards Arron. “The experiment that you were going to be used for was Project FLT. You escaped before your turn in the grinder, however, you came back. Almost like a little puppy returning to its owner. You returned to become part of Project FLT, but you’re too late. The experiment succeeded and Project FLT has arisen.” Almost on cue, large stomping sounds shook the prison cells. Aaron bounced slightly on the concrete prison cell floor. The shaking intensified as the culprit revealed itself. It was a huge… beast. The gender was unknown, a fusion of many people. The face, if it could be considered a face, was an unequal blend of different skin tones, some patches white on one cheek and some patches of black on the other cheek. There wasn’t a single nose, but a fusion of different shapes with the mouth, eyes, and ears in the same situation. Everything was a mix of people’s bodies.

The torso was a large piece of flesh, surpassing Hound’s size, appearing to be six hundred pounds. However, the legs and arms matched the size of the torso, allowing the freak to walk normally. 

It let out a loud shriek as it neared Aaron, not terrified of him, but curious. The monster shrieked frequently, once every five seconds, as it got closer and closer to Aaron - a piercing shriek mixed with a low grumble. An inhuman sound.

Aaron shuffled backward, pressing his aching back against the cold relief of the cell walls. “What the hell is that monster?” His eyes widened.

Orville chuckled. “Project FLT. He’ll be your guard, but-” He leaned in. “-I wouldn't put my arms anywhere outside the bars. If he sees limbs disconnected or flailing around, he gets a… a bit hungry.” He went into a short laughing fit before turning away. “Before I leave, I should explain why you got picked.”

Aaron inched forward, the sound of his body skidding to a stop, attracting Orville. He chuckled loudly, glancing over his shoulder. “What a curious boy.” He turned around to face Aaron. “There was no reason why. You were just some kid found by himself. Random luck, I say.” Orville smiled with excitement as a wave of emotions flooded Aaron. He was just unlucky, no other reason aside from that. He nearly experienced death multiple times and was forced to commit multiple sins, because he was… unlucky?

“Well, goodbye Aaron.” He turned around, taking a step forward before stopping. He glanced at Project FLT and ordered it to guard Aaron. The monster didn’t respond, walking towards the door of the cell before turning around. It made some grunting sounds, but they were overshadowed by the shrieking. 

“Oh, Aaron,” he started, not turning around, “goodnight.” He smiled to himself before walking into the hallway. However, he was suddenly tossed around. The building was shaking, both Project FLT and Aaron feeling the rumbling and screaming. Something happened, an explosion of sorts. Where did it come from?

Orville glanced at Aaron, knowing that he had no explosives on him, before rushing through the hallways. Oh God, hopefully, it’s an accident and not someone to break Aaron out. It can’t be, right? It sounded like a plane. Aaron’s friend couldn’t have done this? No! Is he this reckless or did he intend to… kamikaze into the building?

Orville knew for sure, something was wrong. The explosion wouldn’t be a simple accident that he could cover up from the media. With all of the attention on Asura Industries with Hilliary and the guards’ deaths, a kamikaze attack would be the final straw. No more officers he could bribe. Nationwide attention would be on him.

He needed to figure out the cause quickly before it acted too fast to cover up. He was running out of luck.

TBC...

Ty handled Cupid, nearing Asura Industries. He was a thousand feet from the skyscraper, slowly getting closer to it. What am I doing? He questioned himself. He racked up his thoughts on how to save Aaron with no solution in sight. What could he, a normal human armed with a half-loaded pistol, do against the mysterious military force and metahumans that Asura Industries had. Nothing - that’s what he could do.

Even so, he continued to pilot Comet, now overhead the building, somehow passing by the enormous skyscraper. I passed the building! He thought. He made a U-turn, taking some time to complete the move. 

I have to hurry. They’ll notice an airplane flying over these skyscrapers soon. Plus, personal aircraft aren’t allowed to be here, especially this close. He was some distance above the roof, but close enough to see two guards sitting down on a makeshift bench. They noticed him instantly. Ty could barely make out their hands, seeing them take something out of their pockets. It has to be a walkie-talkie.

They radioed in his presence, exposing him. He had limited time before his aircraft was shot down by the army or he was forced to surrender and be arrested by the police.

He decided to take the third option - crash into the building and disrupt everything,

Now preparing himself, Ty passed by the building, flying a good distance away, before doing a U-turn and flying lower. He aimed for the middle point of the building. Cupid was headed towards the building at a quick rate.

Ty put the plane into autopilot before grabbing a parachute from the co-pilot’s seat. He equipped the parachute before rushing to the door. He grabbed the door handle, stealing a glance at the front window. He was closing in on the building, tens of seconds before committing a terrorist act.

He jumped out of the airplane, feeling light. His body was taken by the air, taking him high into the air. He pulled the parachute instantly, watching as Cupid, a plane that he invested his time and dedication in, slammed nose-first into the building. It didn’t go through the building but exploded on impact. Something was protecting the building, but the explosion shook every floor horrifically. 

“I did what I could. Do your best Aaron.” He muttered while descending quickly. If he didn’t escape quickly, the police or army would’ve swarmed him.

***

“A plane hit the building?” Orville shouted. He stood outside of the headquarters, looking at the debris of the airplane. It was completely charred by the defenses and the explosion, removing any evidence that it belonged to Ty.

“Yes,” Barry said. “It has to be Ty Kooris’s plane from Stars Airfield. I have men sifting through the nearby blocks for him, however, we can’t find him.”

Orville balled his fingers into a fist, slamming it against his open palm. “Find them!” He growled. Barry nodded, returning into the building. He quickly called on their personal security unit and the Time Task Force, a separate unit from the team dedicated to the rift and the metahumans.

“Owl.” He muttered, an owl-themed metahuman appearing behind him. Owl was half-human---human legs and torso---with owl arms and face. He was freakish.

“Yes, sir?” Owl asked, his slave collar apparent. “You need me?”

“Help the TTF to find Ty. Capture him alive and torture him. I want him to die in my hands.”

Owl nodded, showing no emotion. He wasn’t enjoying his new life as Orville’s slave, but he couldn’t do much with the collar over his neck. “As you say.”

***

That sounded like a large explosion. Please, please, please don’t be Ty. He’s so stupid, I shouldn’t have involved him. Man, I’m an idiot! Aaron thought to himself. He sat cross-legged in his cell, staring at Project FLT guarding him. He rose to his feet, creeping towards the results of hundreds of experiments. “Can… Can you talk?”

The monster didn’t move. It remained guarding him, a word never escaping its lips. Or what was supposed to be its lips.

“Well, I guess you can’t, monster.” The monster glared at him but quickly faced forward. Aaron chuckled softly before turning around, facing a blank wall. He was underground, so a window wouldn’t do much but invite insects.

Then a thought entered his mind. I hid string in my shoe. He dropped to the ground, pointing out his right shoe and digging out the string he hid. He pulled up the short one-foot piece of string, looking around for something else he could use to create a tripwire. He picked up some pieces of debris, tying the string around the rocks and placing the trap in front of the door. The string was made of extremely tough materials and would snap a hundred sets of ankles before it broke. However, it could be destroyed by fire and water.

Aaron then turned towards Project FLT, opening his mouth wide. “Aye! Monster! Ungodly being! Freak! Ugly bastard!” Project FLT turned towards him, Aaron noticing its nose flaring. It grabbed the door cell with one large arm and tore it off. It then stepped into the room, now facing Aaron. There were no bar cells to separate them.

“Yeah, come get me monster!” He shouted.

Project FLT took a step forward, stomping harshly on the ground. It took another step, landing on the string. Its foot stepped on the unbalanced ground, throwing the monster to the ground. It hit the ground hard, but no actual damage was inflicted.

Aaron used Project FLT’s fall to his advantage, grabbing the string and sprinting out of the cell. He ventured into the almost-endless corridors, each spitting him to another corridor, the process repeating several times before it spat him to a useful location - the armory.

Well, that’s lucky. He thought to himself. A guard standing in front of the armory