Chapter V: Rise of Mordred

Chapter V: Rise of Mordred

Slowly Dwayne opens his eyes and finds himself lying over the floor.

“What happened last night…” he says as he slowly stands up. “I think this power has its limits…” he says as he looks at the digital clock by his side, revealing the hour: 8:14pm. “I am late!” says Dwayne as suddenly someone knocks on the door furiously.

“Dwayne! Dwayne are you there?” asks a familiar female voice. “Alexandra…” he whispers. He looks at his own body and no marks are found whatsoever. “Did I heal?” he thinks as the knocking of the door continues. “Dwayne open the door!” she yells. “I am here Alexa!” he finally replies opening the door.

“My God Dwayne you scared me! I called you several times and you were late for class. You scared me dammit!” says Alexandra, scolding poor Dwayne.

“Gosh I am sorry, I guess the alarm didn’t sound. Sorry to worry you Alexa!” he says. There she gives him a hug. “I thought you had done something stupid” she shouts to his ears. “I am fine” he softly whispers. “So are you going to the university?” she said as he let go of him. “Yeah, give me a few minutes and I’ll dress up!” he says. “Alright” she replies. The minutes fly by and the young couple walk towards the University.

“So, did you hear about last night?” asks Alexandra. “What?” asks back Dwayne. “The weird guy! He saved a woman and helped capture the leader of the Erheitz gang. It was amazing! You should have seen the videos they showed on the news; he jumped from roof to roof and even resisted bullets. Plus he even shot lightning from his fingers. It was really amazing” says an overly excited Alexandra.

“Oh I saw something about that. Impressive indeed” replies Dwayne with a smile in his face. “Yeah, the news are saying that he’s some sort of super hero” continues Alexandra. “A super hero…” whispers Dwayne, reflecting on those words. “Yeah! Even though the woman he saved says he’s the devil, the officers who saw him face to face say he’s abnormal but in no way the devil. The zoomed in footage was amazing too” finally concludes Alexandra.

“So, did you miss the Biology class?” asks Dwayne. “Actually the professor said he was sick. But I got worried because you were late, totally weird for you and I kept calling you but didn’t answer so I decided to come see you” she replies. “The professor was sick again? He’s being absent a lot lately, even cutting time of class to go to some place” he replies. “Yeah, it is very weird. Have you noticed he enters the classroom extremely sweaty and breathing heavy?” she asks. “Yes I have…” he whispers. “Maybe he’s into drugs or something…” she replies already making a plot in her mind of the professor smoking cannabis in Central Park. “Weird indeed….” Says Dwayne.

“So, we are going to the Grand Fiesta right?” she asks. “Of course!” replies Dwayne. “4 days.. I am counting them. I want to see how you do in a date” says a really teasing Alexandra. * gulp * “Yea—yeah.. a- a date” replies a staggering Dwayne. She just smiles.

The night eventually falls. Dwayne meanwhile looks outside his window. “Time to do it again…” he thinks. So he transforms and goes crime hunting.

Meanwhile, in a place not known by us, Professor Arthur Longheart continues a weird experiment of his.

“Andy… pass me the needle” he says to Andy, who seems to be a guy of around 30 years bald and tall. Andy gives him a needle with a black bottle.

“We’ll see if the experiment I’ve been working on for so long finally works! I’ll have my revenge on those idiots of the Genes and Nanotechnology Bureau! No one can fire me!” says Arthur as he injects the needle in his left arm. He takes a deep breath after injecting the black substance. Finally.. he lets go a grin and begins to maniacally laugh. His muscles grow bigger and so does his whole body. Not to exaggerated proportions, but definitely a difference.

“The Substance works…” smiles Arthur. “Andy… bring me the pair of wings” he says. Andy opens a cage and takes out what seems to be a jetpack. “Put it on” says Arthur. Andy finally puts the jetpack on Arthur’s shoulders and snaps it on a mechanism implanted in Arthur’s body.

“I have enhanced myself to the maximum potential of a human being….” Says Arthur as by using mind waves he turns on the jetpack, rising from the floor. “I am a god now!” he yells.

“Impressive master” replies Andy, seeing his master fly.

“I think the rest I can put on myself” says Arthur as he stops the jetpack and grabs another object. It seems like a small robotic arm which reaches all the way to the elbow.

“This will enhance my strength…” he says as he puts it on the right hand. The robot hand activates and beeping sounds come from it. “Gotta test it!” says Arthur with a smile as he suddenly turns around and punches Andy straight in the chest, sending the tall man towards a nearby wall.

“You have been loyal and have paid your debt to me… now Andy, you must die for my secret must never be revealed” said Arthur as with one final blow he broke Andy’s neck. His body falls to the ground, lifeless.

“Now I just need to put the other robot arm and my armor…. And I shall become Mordred, my own enemy… my own monster… the enemy of Arthur! I will have my revenge on the people of the Genes and Nanotechnology Bureau for having expulsed me from the BIO experiment. No one betrays me like that… now I shall betray the trust of the United States of America! But before that… I need to impress them, give them a warning… but how……. I know how” and he finally smiles.

Meanwhile, on some other place, Dwayne returned to his apartment. Immediately after he enters through the window (making sure no one saw him) he returns back to his normal form. “Alive again” he says as he walks towards the bed and throws himself over it. There his body begins to tremble again.

“Not again… why is this happening!” he says as he tries to constrain the pain. “It must be that my body isn’t yet ready and tires easily…” he thinks as the pain grows bigger. Eventually he closes his eyes and goes to sleep.

“Beep Beep”

The alarm sounded, but Dwayne didn’t get up. At 7:55AM he finally wakes up.

“Again…” he whispers as he hears his earphone ringing. “Hello?” he asks. “Dwayne, you alright?” asks Alexandra. “Oh yes I am! Something showed up” he said as he let go a nervous chuckle. “Oh alright… you are coming to the University right?” she asks, “Yup, I will” replies Dwayne. “Alright then, I’ll be waiting for you in the centre” says Alexandra. “K, bye” finally concludes Dwayne.

He looks at his hands. “What is going on… why do I tire so easily”. Then he looks at his right shoulder and sees a red mark, similar to that of a bullet. “This one didn’t heal…” he says.

He takes a quick shower, eats something quick and heads directly to the University, saluting Uncle Martin on his way (who still gave him free food by the way). He heads to the Centre, a place for students to relax where many fast food chains are located. He calls Alexa who quickly answers the call.

“You here?” she asks. “Yup” he replies. “Well, look behind” she says. Dwayne turns around and to his surprise sees Alexandra with a red clown nose. “Interesting” he says, letting out a chuckle. “Just bored” she replies as she got off the nose. Kevin waves his hands while in line to a McKing, where Mac Whoppers were at the whooping special of $14.95 a medium combo.

Eventually the line end and the trio sits in a nearby table and begin devouring their Mac Whoppers, who now have 50% more lettuce and 10% less beef (plus bigger bread).

“So, I don’t need to remind you.. the Saturday! 2 days left! Grand Fiesta!” says Alexandra as she grabs a fry. “Of course” says Dwayne. “I think I will need to teach you a few love lessons” says Kevin. Dwayne stares at him for a few seconds; “What do you mean with … love lessons?” “No! Don’t misunderstand!” replied Kevin as a few seconds of laugh fell on them three. Time passes and they finish their food.

“Have class now, so see you guys later or tomorrow” says Alexa as she stands from the table. “Alright, bye” replies Dwayne. “Bye” continues Kevin.

“Anyway, did I miss something in the Biology class?” asks Dwayne. “Nope, the professor was absent” replies Kevin. “Again?” says a surprised Dwayne which is then interrupted by his nerdy friend, “We are not here to talk about class… it’s about Alexa!”. “What about her?” asks Dwayne. “Dude! You have known that girl for a long, long while, why are you so shy with her. If I were you I would be on the attack every single day” says Kevin. “Well, she was the first person who talked to me when I first arrived here, having forgotten everything” says Dwayne with a gentle smile, looking at the table.

“Oh and that’s another thing man! Haven’t you tried to check anything related to you? Family? Papers? Something!” says Kevin. “Wow… what a topic switch. Well… I am not very interested right now” replies Dwayne. “How come you are not interested in your own past Dwayne” Kevin says. “Don’t know… something in me doesn’t want to know” answers Dwayne.

“Weird… anyway! Have you seen the new footage of the weird demon guy! He trapped like 15 last night! He’s amazing!” says Kevin. “Heh… yeah” concludes Dwayne.

The night falls again, and Dwayne, as he has been doing for the past two days, stands by his window looking at the city.

“Third time…” he says, when he sees his reflection in the window, revealing his already tiring face. “I’ll do this…” he finally says…. And transforms once more into Crnobog.