The Obscures

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The Obscures

Aditya Girdhar


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Copyright © Aditya Girdhar

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written

permission of the author nor be otherwise circulated in any form of cover other than

that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the

subsequent reader. For information regarding permission, e-mail to:

[email protected]

Astloch font by Daniel RhatiganFont License – SIL Open Font License

All characters in this book are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living

or dead, is purely coincidental.


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Introduction

To The Obscures

The Recondite – The Recondite, as people call him, is the leader of

The Obscures. With his wide array of gadgets, he is ready to solve any

problem, anytime!

The Dauntless Chevalier – His braveness cannot be measured. His

intellect can get him out of any situation, while in combat, his shiny

sword pierces swiftly through his enemies.

The Mystical Manhunter – Don’t think you’re safe if the door is

latched. A tiny opening is enough for his volatile body to intrude a

place.

The Scourge Sea Dog – He might look quite innocuous, but believe

me, no one is safe if he has his 18 th Century cutlass drawn.


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1

The Inception

Our future has not been decided, and believe it or not,

nor our past. I got the responsibility of the future and the

history of the people, to save them from the Sinister Seven,

who had gone a century back to rule the regressed worldwith their superior technology. This could have caused a

time-shattering chain-reaction which could have disrupted

the space-time continuum. I united some warriors from

different streams of time and formed an alliance, whose

name is prefixed to this book, to vanquish the evils, who had

threatened the existence of the world.

With barely enough money, I went through the

turnpike, to reach the ‘Paviour inn’. I went inside and sat on

the stool. I waived my hand. The holster came and asked,

“Want something?” “What are the date, and the year,” I

asked. My voice had become rough. “February 22nd, 1965,”

he replied. Suddenly, the door swung open and in came in


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Bill, the leader of ‘The Sinister Seven’. He took out a 9mm

semi-calibre revolver from his coat’s inner pocket and

aimed at me. “Strange,” he remarked. “A person dies on the

same day he was born, just in the past, a whole century

back!” “Are you sure this is my end?” I asked. “Oh, look at

this guy! A person is about to shoot him and he is asking

that is he sure that it’s his end? Come on man! Don’t you

have any brains?” he replied. “Enough brains to drag my

death out,” I said, “Any last wishes?” “I should be asking this

question,” remarked Bill. “If you have guts, just move one

step ahead, and if you do so, upon my honour, this world

will get rid of a very deleterious scoundrel!”

He looked at me nonchalantly, and then gave a wicked

smile. He raised his left foot, moved it a bit ahead, and

placed it at the ground. The whole place was silent. Then

suddenly, the floor below him burst, he was sent forth flying

and hit the wall. He became unconscious. Suddenly, some

particles in air started combining, and finally, the Mystical

Manhunter was formed. “Who are you?” The holster made

a sort of gasp. He gazed at me for a while. His frown turned

into a smile. “You’re The Recondite!” he exclaimed. I gave

him a friendly look, and jumped out from the window.

Confusing, isn’t it? Let’s track it from the back, or ahead.

It all started in 2065. It was an early, foggy morning.

Winds were blowing alow and aloft. The sun was beginning

to rise and peered redly through the upper edges of the fog.

It was around four in the morning. I was sleeping calmly on


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my bed, though except any rare occasion I’m awake at this

time. After the death of Peter Quill at 102, I had no reason

to watch football. The great player who made more than ten

thousand goals was gone now. My head was indulged in my

soft cushion, until my sleep was broken by the sound of a

greeting bell. I got up, went to the door and opened it. In

front of my eyes was a darksome figure, with his hands

shoved deep in his coat pocket, and the face covered with

the shadow of his broad black hat. “A room,” he muttered,

in a low-pitched voice, and proceeded in my house without

any consent. “Hey, you can’t just walk in someone’s house

without him allowing you!” I vociferated. “A room,” he said,

and this time, his voice was louder, and angrier. “Well,

nothing is free in this world my friend,” I clarified. “Take as

much as you want,” said he, and threw a briefcase, full of

wads of money.

“I’ll take the required amount, not more,” said I.

“I said, take as much as you want,” he said, trying not

to show his anger. I peered at him. He did not look like a

commoner. He walked into the room which I gave him. I

could not sleep, as a thought kept pestering me. What could

possibly be his story? Early in morning, when I had just got

ready for my office, my ears met with some sounds of a

fight. I went out of my house, and to my horror, I saw the

stranger trudging to reach the fence-gate, with his blood all

over the place, and possibly, bullets which looked like were

shot by a man whose aim was not good, or might be that the


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stranger had good reflexes. I went near him and cried out,

“What happened?” “Listen to me carefully,” he said, “Take

this gun, and chase that outlaw. My friend, the fate of

humanity depends on you,” and he handed me a gun “Is this

gun loaded?” asked I, full of fear. “Oh, for god’s sake,” he

muttered indistinctly, “Why would I give you an empty

gun?” he almost shouted. I got up, and ran to my car. I sat in

the car, started it, and tread in the heels of the culpable. He

was on a bike. I tried to run him down, but the rains had

made the roads slippery. I tried to shoot the tires, but any

civilian casualty would leave me culpable for my whole life.

He led me to the ‘Charles Stevenson Museum’. He jumped

off the bike, which later crashed into a fence and eventually

fell down in a nearby stream, and blended into the audience

of the museum. I too followed him, but eventually lost sight

of him. I saw him enter the basement and ran to the door.

As soon as I was about to open the door and see what

lay beyond, a firm hand fell on my shoulder, and pulled me

back. “Careful, buddy. Can’t you see what’s written?” he said

pointed towards a sign-plate. It was written,

‘ENTRY RESTRICTED. TRESPASSERS WILL BE STRICTLY DEALT

WITH.’

“But that guy just went inside,” I clarified. He looked at

me with a weird squint, as if I was trying to hoax him. “Man,

I always keep my eye open for trespassers, and I am not


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going to believe someone whom I don’t even know,” he said.

I felt like something was being concealed by him before me.

As soon as the guard went away, I saw it as the right

opportunity to sneak past him. I quietly went inside the

basement. As ill luck would have it, my elbow hit a cola can,

causing it to fall down. The noise echoed all around,

alarming the guards to look for a trespasser. Unfortunately,

one of them saw me and ran to block the exit. Two others

joined and covered me from my back and right. But what

about the left? I quickly dashed towards the left. I saw a

vault door. I thought it to be locked, but to my surprise, it

was open.


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2

The Travel through Time

I dashed inside and bolted the door from inside, just to

gain a little more time. The guards tried to bash the door,

but to no avail. I looked around inside. The scenario made

my eyes pop out. Hundreds of warfare weapons they were,

along with thousands of ammunition. All were the latest

models. It looked like they were being shipped somewhereelse. Although it’s not good, it would not be prudent to

refrain from telling you what I did. I opened a box, took

around four to five weapons, all best-in-class, and a

briefcase full of ammunition. I saw a bag and put all my

bearings in it. I suddenly saw a gun with a display kept on a

table. It was big, really big.

On it was a keypad, and a display. 1964 was being

displayed. My eyes fell on a button marked – INITIATE. I

pressed the button and suddenly, strong winds started

blowing. Suddenly, I got lifted up. Everything around me

had lifted up too, and slowly faded away. It was looking like

earth lost its gravitational force. I felt that I was nowhere -


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neither on earth, nor in any proper plane of space. I was

feeling senseless. I could not move even a finger.

Filled with despair, I decided to close my eyes and

prayed to god for any miracle to happen, that would save

me. And it did happen, but only to push me into further

chaos. The world around me started fading. Suddenly

everything became blinding white, and either I fainted, or

was at the point of doing so, I felt a sort of jerk. The world

around me had regained its self.

I looked around. I wasn’t in that warehouse. I got out

of the car. The gun was in my pocket. Suddenly a voice

echoed in the place, “Hey, man! New shipment has arrived.”

“A shipment?” thought I, “This must be the place where the

guns arrive.” I hid behind a corner. A strange man came infrom a door. He looked around with partly closed eyes, and

shouted, “It’s empty!” “What?” another man came in from

another door. “The coaster’s empty!” The other one stared

for a while, then exclaimed, “What’s the time?” “It’s seven

ten,” he said. “I’m late for the movie!” the other one

exclaimed, both ran out through a door marked ‘EXIT’.

“Seven ten?” thought I, “Those men must be making a

fool out of me.” It was eight in the morning when I left. I got

out of the warehouse through the exit door. I looked at the

footpath. Among mounds of snow I was. “How could the

weather change so fast?” I thought, as earlier it was raining


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when I went in the Charles Stevenson Museum. I looked

around. Everything looked old, too old. People were

travelling on ground cars. I didn’t see even a single podcar.

A guy went past me, and threw a newspaper in a

nearby dustbin. I picked it up and read it. A few headlines

were, ‘Famous inventor Charles Stevenson turned forty’,

‘Peter Quill scores his 100th goal in his Football carrier’,

‘Henry Smith elected the new president.’ All these people

were dead already, not forgetting the great Peter Quill. I

leafed through the pages, and on the first page was the date.

Or was it something else?

“December 2nd, 1964”

Suddenly, I remembered that console. I had 1964 displayed

in it. Maybe that gun shot a bullet which caused this

teleportation. Maybe, I was really in the year 1964. I was

starting to understand. They were transporting powerful

weapons to 1964. But why? I stop thinking about it. Even

the tiniest thought about it made my body shiver.

In the way, I noticed a man being harassed. “Come on,

quick!” a crook shouted. He looked neither to young, nor too

old. He had a blackish tint with pitch black Mohawk hair. He

was wearing a plain orange jacket and beige shorts, with his

chest partly exposed to the eyes of any person. “That’s all

I’ve got,” the man shouted, and handed him two-hundred


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dollars. “Lie from me, will you?” said the crook, and took out

a gun. A few diodes in the gun lighted up, and a needle-like

structure ejected. He put it beside the man’s throat. “Now

listen. You are going to give me 500 bucks, and if you don’t,

I swear you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

I approached him and said, “Hey, leave him, you scum,

or you’ll lament that you underestimated me.” I tried to be

brave. “Now look who’s here,” he laughed. “Another man

calling his death out.” He was taking me as a pitiful creature.

But how would I beat him? Suddenly, I called to my mind,

that I have some superlatively good weapons, of the most

recent origin, that could kill him in no time. I swiftly put my

hand in my backpack, took out the gun, and aimed at him.

He looked at it queerly, and his face turned pale.

“This, this, this weapon of yours, from where did you

acquire this?” he asked. “Why do you want to know?” I

questioned back. “Are you one of them?” It appeared that

this was clearly involved in a criminal coterie. I saw it as the

perfect nick of time to have an acquaintance with those

thugs and perceive their vicious plans. “You might be theone I was sent for, but I want to consider as certain, that you

undeniably are the one whom I had to meet with,” I said,

trying to make it look as true as possible. “Come on, follow

me,” he said and left the man. While I was following the

victim asked quietly, “Who are you?”


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“A recondite,” I replied. He said nothing, and ran away,

but I could see the gratitude his eyes addressed to a

stranger.


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3

The Sinister Seven

I kept following the crook, but I kept my weapons

handy. At any nick of time he could deceive me. He led me

through some narrow and dirty lanes and stopped near a

stone. It seemed to be locked to the ground through chains.

At the intersection of all the chains, was an inscription. He

took out a token from his pocket and placed it in it. Itseemed to fit perfectly. All the chains got undone. He lifted

the stone and threw it away, exposing an iron ring, which

he pulled with a slight strength, throwing back a trapdoor

which opened close at my feet, and caused me to retire

several paces backwards. Inside was a cold, stone cave. We

both descended down the stairs. I looked around. No oneseemed to be there.

“Dan! Bill has arrived,” he shouted, and another man

named Dan came. “Welcome to the Sinister Seven, Bill. I

hope that amendments would be met with, under your

leadership,” greeted Dan. “So I, Bill, am the leader of theSinister Seven.” I asked, but tried to make it look like an


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assertive sentence. “Yeah,” he said. “So what’s our next

plan?” I asked. “Do we rob a bank and try to get away from

the police?” “The police?” he laughed. “It’s good old 1964

bro. This’ll help,” he said and threw a briefcase at me. I

opened it, and found some powerful machinery, whose

origin was not here, for sure. I knew they were the weapons

of my time, but how the Sinister Seven acquired them, that

was the subject of interrogation. “Where did you find

them?” I asked. “We’ve come from the future, you forgot?”

he replied, and after some time, said, “Come, I’ll show you

your cabin.” I went with him. In the way, I noticed a room,

with a glass door, with DANGER written on the handle. I

looked inside, and I saw a container. It was filled with some

greenish gas. It looked like smoke.

“Hey, why are you collecting smoke in there?” I asked.“It’s that mystical man, Josh.” He replied

“Manhunter” the wind made a sort of whisper.

“Yeah, he calls himself the Mystical Manhunter. He met

with a dreadful fortuity. We went to rob some experimental

lab in 2065. There was this brave operative, who was trying

to stop us. We wanted to make an example of him for others,so we took him in front of every captive, and put his gun on

his head. He was about to press the trigger, but the

operative pushed him in the container, and pressed a

button on the console. Somethin’ happened inside and he

died, I mean we thought he died. There was only smoke in

there. We asked the operative what he did, and he said that


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his body had been transmuted into a volatile substance, and

he could change his shape anyway he wanted, but could not

become a solid human. We killed that operative, and left

Josh to rot in a corner. That’s why you came here. Josh was

the old leader on the Sinister Seven. Now he hates ‘us’ for

keeping him in a corner. Tell me, isn’t it impossible, to leave

him in the open? He could do anything with his lust for

revenge!” I agreed. After all what could we possibly do? We

went to my cabin. I expected it to be like the other part –

stony and cold, but it was like a hotel of the highest class.

Suddenly, the door opened slowly, like in horror films.

There was silence, dead silence, except for the creaking of

that wooden door. It couldn’t be anyone of the Sinister

Seven, for everyone was present in that room. Everyone

took out their guns, and aimed it at the entrance. In came aman, wearing an overcoat, and a sabre cut on his left cheek.

“Who are you?” asked Dan. “Bill,” he said, in a low pitched

voice. Dan looked at me. I had managed to take out a few

explosives from a nearby drawer. “Then who the heck are

you?” he asked. “Well, I don’t k now what name I shall give

myself, but let’s just make it quick, I’m The Recondite,” Isaid, threw the explosives and ran out. The bombs were

way more powerful than normal grenades. The foundation

of the cave weakened, and the whole place started to

collapse.


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Before me came Bill, who was rather provoked. He

tried to punch me but I narrowly dodged it punched him

back. He lay cold on the ground. To some extent, I admit that

I quite liked that oxblood leather coat of his. Thievery from

a thief isn’t thievery, right?

I was about to exit, when my eyes fell of the Mystical

Manhunter. I couldn’t leave him to die. I mean he might

have killed many but my conscience hinted it would help

me in the future. I went inside the room, and tried to open

the container, but to no avail. I called to my mind that I

gadgets of the future. I joined the Tesla Coil on my hand and

it started sparking. As I brought my fingers closer, it

become fiercer. I joined my hands and threw a bolt of

lightning on the padlock. Viola! It opened and at once, and

all the smoke, or the volatile body of that man, escaped, andcombined into the air around me.

I went out from the trapdoor, and ran away as fast as

my legs could. I needed a place to stay. I asked some natives

and they gave me some suggestions. I finally found a hotel,

but a cheap one. I checked in and went to my room. I fell tomy bed, and turned on the television. On it was coming a

fascinating news. ‘The fortunate merchant, Dixon Wells,

made another million in horse betting. The chances of

winning of his betted racer were totally unexpected. He said

that it was just sheer luck.’ “A lucky man, he is,” I thought,

and lay on my bed to take a short nap.


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4

A Knave My nap soon turned into a deep sleep. It was broken

by a dreadful cry. I looked out from the window. A women

was crying with her knees on the ground, near someone’s

body. I had to look upon the matter. Maybe, the sinister

seven were settling their scores with me.

But I had to keep my identity concealed. I had received

an invitation to a carnival, which had a dark mask enclosed

within it. I wore it and took a glance in a mirror. After I saw

myself, a strange feeling clouded my head. I was feeling that

I’m destined to be the eradicator of the Sinister Seven. I

jumped out of my window. From the low roof of a nearby

building, I had a glance at it clearly. Someone had been shot

dead, and the victim’s body was in a lady’s lap, who was

crying bitterly.

I went down, and approached the lady. “Don’t hurt

me,” she shouted as soon as her eyes fell on me. “I won’t.

Just tell what happened,” I asked. “Oh God! A guy came and


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asked for money. My husband refused and he shot him like

he was nothing. He took his wallet and walked away very

casually.” She continued crying. My felt angry. They had

provoked me. “Was he from the Sinister Seven?” I asked.

“Sinister Seven? What are you talking about?” She looked

very disturbed. “Nothing ma’am,” I replied.

I looked around, and noticed a trail of footprints in

snow. I followed it, and it led me to a dark, gloomy

graveyard. Two people were there, and one looked scared.

I suddenly recognised him. He was the one whom I had seen

in the news, ‘the fortunate merchant’. “Quick , give the

payment,” whispered the mobster. The merchant took out

a briefcase, and handed it to the mobster. He opened it, for

the sake of checking. It was full of wads of money. “Done.

Now all you need to do is bet a hundred thousand dollarson Horse no. 7 – ‘Thunderstorm’. I will apprise you of the

changes in the jockeys, if any. Bring me the twenty-five

percent of the money earned as soon as possible. Wish you

the best of luck,” he said and started to go away.

I could not stop myself, and shouted, “Come here, youcheat !” “Who are you,” asked the merchant and breathed

heavily. “The one who’ll be putting an end to your knavish

activities!” I shouted and gave him a sharp punch. He fell to

the ground, and hit his head hard. “I will divulge your fraud,

and I’ll donate all your ill-gotten wealth. And believe me, all

your fame would turn into notoriety,” I said. “Oh, do


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something!” cried the merchant. “I’m afraid that you’ll not

be alive to tell anyone your story. Well you are going to be

an easy opponent. I wish you were strong,” he said, held his

right hand upwards, clutched his fists, and tried to punch

me. I dodged it, held his elbow, pulled him behind me, and

struck his spine with my elbow. He lay cold on the ground.

“Be careful, what you wish for,” I said. I waited around the

corner, pulled their collar whenever they tried to escape. At

last, a cop arrived.

“Why is a peculiarly-dressed man standing in front of

this public-spirited sentinel with Mr Dixon Wells’ collar

gripped in his hand?” he asked. “He’s a cheat ,” I told. “Your

jealousy does not prove his guilt,” he said. He sounded like

a nerd. I vociferated, “But he wins all these bets through

bribes and threats!” “You can’t prove an innocent culpableuntil you have a proof, mister,” he said. Now he was really

pissing me off. “Just arrest him or else.” “Or else what? You

can’t go against the law!” he shouted. “Come Mr Wells,” he

said and escorted him to his house. “Great! Now I need a

proof,” I muttered, and went out.

In the way, rain-drops started falling on me. I looked

at the time - 10:30pm - enough to reach home. I kept

walking. It was really getting dark. In my way, I jumped

over a few fences, well tall ones. With my grappling hook

resting within my wrist watch, no wall was too tall for me.

Suddenly, a loud voice called from my back, “Stop, you


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criminal scum! This is a restricted area.” I gasped, and

looked behind. He was near. I slid my hand into my pocket,

and grabbed the nearest thing. It was the time-gun, but too

bewildered to know, my haste caused me to press that

trigger, a randomized time displayed, and I found myself in

the same white-light and turmoil I have already described.


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5

A Curse, Liberated

I found myself lying in a green patch of land. I looked

around. No signs of any civilisation, accept a small cave

entrance. I went inside. A dead end after barely a dozen

metres. I started to return, but the damp rocks under me

slipped away, throwing me into a pool of water.

I got up, walked out of the shallow pool, and saw

something, which made my body shiver. It was a dead

human skeleton lying with his back against the wall, with a

sword held loosely in his hands, royal and gold laced robes,

a gold circlet and a dark but glowing obsidian, which he

even in death had gripped tightly in his hand. I pulled it, butit stuck. I put a little more force and his finger bones got

detached from the rest of the skeleton. I parted the obsidian

from the fingers, placed it in my pocket and started to look

for an exit. Suddenly, the obsidian in my pocket started

glowing. I held it up, and several rays of bright light started

emerging from it, and suddenly, the whole cave started to


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rumble. It started to quake more vigorously. Suddenly, I

heard a devilish laugh, and the cave shook more violently.

I looked around for a way to escape. Suddenly, my eyes

fell on a ledge, above it another, above the other, another. I

quickly climbed up on the ledges. Good thing I held a

mountaineering camp in high school. But in my haste, I

mistakenly slipped down. My hand reached out to grip the

ledge above, but to no avail. It was beyond my reach. But

years of video games had trained me with quick reflexes. I

pressed the trigger on my wrist watch. A grapple came out,

stuck itself at the borders of the opening from where I fell,

and pulled me body to that point. I had barely got out of the

pit, when my grapple string broke, and down I went. I was

about to touch the ground, when a dragon emerged from

the ground. He shouted and a gust of burning air pushed meout.

I ran as fast as I could, stopping wherever my legs

could not carry me further. At last, when each bone in my

body was broken, after travelling the whole time under the

white, tranquil light of the moon, when the sun had startedto peer redly from upper edges of the clouds, I at last found

a living soul, but before I could communicate a word of my

adventure, I fell to the ground, and lay still.

My first sight after gaining consciousness was a man,

who’s every breath looked brave. “May I know that whom I


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am standing in front of?” he asked in a calm, and noble

voice. “Robert ,” I answered, and started to get up. “Oh, don’t,

don’t. Please give yourself no trouble. You look like you’ve

come from a f ar away,” he said. “Too far to believe,” replied

I. “May I know that how or by what means did you get that

scar on your hand?” he asked, pointed towards the injury

which I got in in the cave. I had almost forgotten about it. I

exclaimed, “Yes! I almost forgot. There is a cave, far from

here. I mistakenly went inside and saw a statue. It pulled a

diamond which I acquired from nearby. It was not a statue.

Its eyes opened and it started shaking violently. Does that

cause any harm to us?”

“Are you dumb?! That cave was supposed to be off-

limits! That dragon was R’taka, and he had a whole army

with him. King Orion II realised the danger that waswandering over its empire, and took certain steps to

protect us from those brutal beasts. After years of

meditating, The Lord had promised to grant him a wish. He

trapped R’taka inside the cave, and his minions beneath it,

and the key was the obsidian, and you,” he left of a trail.

“Bless my soul, Wallace” said the lieutenant , who wasstanding nearby, “for we are in grave danger,” and pointed

outside the window. A huge host of those flying beasts were

approaching the capital with utmost speed. “Ready the

javelins! We’ll give R’taka and his skinks a warm welcome.”


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Two guards in the watch-tower of the castle stood in a

line, and aimed their cross-bows towards the beasts. But

the beasts did not attack. Instead, they headed straight

towards the east, where the king stayed in his castle. They

wanted to kidnap the king!

All ran down the stairs of the watch-tower. I followed

them, but came back soon, for I had forgotten my bag-pack

in the watch-tower. We took the some steeds from a nearby

stable, and hurried there as fast as the horses could. But

alas! It was really a painful sight, that we had reached the

grand gates of the castle, and see the king being taken,

gripped in the claws of R’taka himself.


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6

R’taka’s Boon

We all rushed to the cave where I liberated R’taka.

Nothing. The cave had been erased from existence. Instead,

there was a dozen-metre wide, a dozen mile-deep pit, which

was unquestionably formed by R’taka. The chevalier hung

down a rope, and I descended down. Other lieutenants

followed, and after some time, the chevalier too swung

down. We reached down. We heard some faint noises. We

went a bit ahead, and it seemed to increase. We kept

seeking the source, until ultimately the chevalier found it.

We peered about from a window. Those ferocious dragons

were sacrificing the king!

“Oh great Hirilus!” R’taka seemed to be speaking to a

statue. Accept this small token of tribute from R’taka, and in

return, grant us the invaluable gift of freedom!” and then

followed an onslaught of the cries and cheers. “We have to

save the king!” commanded the chevalier. “Are you

trained?” he asked me. “Um… sort of,” I replied. “That’s


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enough,” he replied. He took out an arrow from his quiver,

and aimed towards R’taka. A drop of sweat went down his

head. He had started to loosen the arrow. His heart

pounded wildly. He shot it, and it went straight towards

R’taka. It struck him on his forehead.

There was silence, dead silence. R’taka held the arrow,

pulled it out, and threw it like a straw of hay. He did not say

a word, for he had noticed us peering from that vantage

point. We tried to run, but behind us was one of his skinks.

He put us in a shiny cave, and took us to R’taka. “Why did

the bow not hurt you?” asked the chevalier. “Because I have

been blessed with a boon,” said R’taka, “that I cannot die by

any living soul, nor any god. Only the great Hirilus can take

away my life.” “How will we defeat him?” the chevalier

asked.

I looked around, and suddenly, my eyes lighted up. I

quietly managed to take a remote explosive from my bag. I

threw it under the statue they were worshiping. “Who gave

you this boon?” asked I. “The great Hirilus himself,” he

replied, looking towards the statue. “Who is this Hirilus?” Iasked. “The lord of the void, the harbinger of doom, the

greatest god of the gods!” he replied. “This statue of yours?”

“I know,” he interrupted, “that this statue is directly related

to Hirilus and possess an essence of his soul.” “He gave you

this boon. Well, now he’s taking it back, with your life.” I

said, and detonated the bomb. “One more thing,” I said,


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“thanks for this fortified cage,” and as I these words came

out of my mouth, the explosive detonated, giving out a

deafening sound which made R’taka f all to the ground. The

foundation of the statue weakened, causing it to fall on

R’taka, and eventually killing him. I quickly aimed my wrist

watch at the edge of the entrance and it pulled us out along

with the cage. After the cave had been doomed, I somehow

managed to melt the bars of the cage with the Tesla Coils in

my gloves. We rushed to the palace and gave the king all the

medical aid possible at our end. “By heavens! What on earth

was that,” asked the chevalier. “Nothing that you would

know,” I said. “You’ve earned my respect. Call me when you

need help. I’ll always be there.” I left him. I now had a friend

in the 12th Century! I reached a faraway place, away from

the prying eyes of anyone and pressed the trigger, to go

back to 1964 and deal with the Sinister Seven. I thought thatthe default time in the panel was the time we came from,

but I was wrong. It had a randomized timer, and it sent me

to the baneful times of 18th Century, when ruthless piracy

ruled the seas.


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7

The Buccaneer

I took me some time for me to understand that in

which stream of time I was currently flowing. Things looked

way different from 1965. Horse-drawn gigs, hackneys, and

cabriolets were all my eyes could see. In a flash I

understood how I got here, but where I was, that was the

subject of investigation. I quietly looked inside my pocket,and looked at the timer. I was ‘1711’ noted on that dial, and

beside it was sentence winking, which filled me with

desolation. It marked ‘power to summon time-portals

consumed. Rejuvenate immediately’. How could I get the

power? I didn’t even know! I tried to power it with my Tesla

gloves. Nothing happened to the portal-gun, but my fingersgot numb.

Filled with despair, I walked into an inn. I sat on a

bench and saw some drunken sailors. They too glanced at

me. “Do you people know any good scientist here?” I asked,

in the hope that I can fix the gun. “Give a ha’penny to thelandlubber!” one of them said and all of them started


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laughing. “Think how much you value your arms before

saying like that,” I returned. “We can cut yer limbs, and keel

haul ye till an inch of yer life. We pr’vide goods to the local

forces, and in return, the let ye enjoy life w’thout any rules!

Ye’ll be rottin’ in a stone jug” another one said. It had

become a grave matter, for everyone had set their eyes

upon us. As a matter of fact, I was scared. One against five. I

was outnumbered.

“I wouldn’t dishonour myself by beating you dogs,” I

quipped, but it didn’t affect the situation. In fact it made

them angry. One of them, who was probably the leader, held

up his clasp knife, and ran towards me. I could have died,

but a stranger, wearing a cocked hat, and a black sea-coat,

slid his knife through the wrist of attacker. The thug gave

out a loud cry, leaned against the wall, and clutched hishand tight. A local sentry, who is usually the last one to

arrive at such situation, observed the inn and then called

out, “Drake! Did you injure this man?” “Indeed,” he replied,

“an’ these brigands be treated as they be, and ye better not

interfere, for this be a matter of life an’ death, ye do yer job,

and me do mine,” he said and went to a corner.

His language was strange. He was using nautical

terms, and anyone could reckon him as a pirate, and

certainly, he was one.


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“This is my job, to punish scoundrels like you!” he

replied. “He saved my life. The real criminals are those

bandits,” I said, but he seemed to be in the favour of the

sailors. The pirate was quietly sitting in a corner and

listening to all this. The sentry told how many times he had

been sent to prison, or what they called a ‘stone jug’, and

how many times the forces had fined him, and even abused

him. He was controlling his anger. The sentry then insulted

his ship, which the pirate called ‘Blackswan’ and he ran out

of patience. He held his sword, and struck him, eventually

killing him.

“Are you mad?!” I exclaimed. “That man be speaking

more than his wits, an’ he deserved it. Me ship be a fine

vessel. She can cover great deals of distances and her hull

be so powerful that even a mountain bows before her,” hesaid and again sat down. People ran out of the inn. Among

the bewildered crowd was a sentry, who struggled to get

past, and sooner or later did. He looked at the corpse of the

fallen sentry, and he shed a few tears. Then he looked at the

pirate, and with utmost strength and an expression of

hatred, he shout ed, “You criminal scum! Such gore will notgo unpunished! The bloodshed caused by you shall be

repaid! Tomorrow, you shall be hanged at the lighthouse by

the docks. You will serve as an example, and discourage all

like you, who dare to defy the Order of the Silver Elites! My

brother was innocent, you scum!”


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8

The Odyssey

That very night, I got some horses saddled up, and

made a vigilant plan of escaping. I sneaked past the guards

between the back door and the pirate. I melted the jail bars

with my Tesla gloves. We both sneaked past the prison

room, but a guard blocked the door. We went upstairs, to

the balcony and hung down. We stepped our foot on a ledge,

and jumped down. We saddled ourselves on the horses, and

rode away as fast as we could.

As we reached the docks, we quickly boarded the brig.

I had already apprised the crewmates of the plan. If we’re

going, then why not a little mischief? We held a fewMolotovs and threw it on the house of those brigands. The

house was made of stone and we intentionally fuelled the

Molotovs less so it gets doused quickly without causing any

damage. Those sailors came out. They were rather

obviously drunk. Drake saluted them and with a wicked


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expression said, “So long, sailors!” We pulled up the anchor,

and went straight towards a destiny unknown.

A few days had passed. Ships were indeed slow. “Tend

hitherwards, to the fo’c’s’le, will yer?” Drake called out.

“Coming!” replied I, and went down to the forecastle. There

was happiness spread in the crew. After all this time, they

were on an odyssey. My eyes suddenly fell upon the crew

gathered around the buccaneer. I sat down near him and

heard what he was saying. He was talking about his life.

“Believe it or not, but this be true. Two tigers they

were, who fought with each other and never died. It made a

timber-shivering show and people made money. But one

day, I s’pose it had to come, they refused to fight. Those

filthy brawlers were beat hard, but they did not fight.People said ‘never the twain shall meet’, but they did, all

‘cause o’ me. I put a fish on both o’ ‘em, an’ they leapt like

tigers! Shiver me timbers, though, for it was there last

fight!”

As he finished, a voice called out, “Ahoy! A letter forDrake.” Drake went to the man, took the letter, and read it.

It was written,

‘ Dear Drake,

Me fine here and hopin’ the same for ye. I heard that ye

escaped the jail, with some foreigner, and congrats on that.


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As yer brother, I know where ye be headed. It be a

prediction that the winds be blowin’ in a way that would lead

ye away from the Black Corpse Island. Not heard of it? I be

pretty sure ‘bout it. It be a world lost in legends.

Well, don’t change yer route, for a catastrophe be

happened. Any ship that treads thar, never reaches back.

P’r’aps ye would go , but as a brother, I warn ye. Don’t

lose yer life in the spirit of adventure. Hope ye listen to me.

yer brother Billy ’

“Black Corpse Island?” I asked. “We would be noted in

history, Robert,” Drake said, with his eyes wide open. “I

don’t like what you are up to,” I said. Well I wouldn’t

embark on a journey to death. “We’ll go head-sea, lads! Me

the cap’n here, and yer duty be to obey me,” he announced.

We lowered the sails, and switched to oars, for thesails would pull us to the opposite direction. It took us a

fortnight for that mystical island to come in sight. In that

period of time, I had started to trust Drake more than

anyone on the ship. As we drew near the island, our vision

started to grow hazy. Fog was all that was visible from our

ship. Drake and I were standing at the extreme front, tryingto make out what’s ahead.

Suddenly, our brig collided with the island. It caused

no damage to the ship but Drake and I fell on the foreshore.

As we got up and wiped out the beach dust, Drake said,

“Lads, me not wantin’ to put ye all in danger, so ye all stay

on the ship, me an’ Robert go to explore the isle.”


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We had barely moved ten paces ahead, and we heard

a deafening sound. It was like a huge mechanism had

stopped due to a malfunction. It had taken us aback. And to

my horror, the crew had turned their back on us. They were

sailing back!


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9

Marooned

“Avast, ye scurvy dogs!” shouted Drake, but no one

seemed to listen. “Great! Now I’m stuck on this island which

would kill us soon, and all thanks to you!” I rebuked. “This’ll

be an adventure for me an’ ye,” he said. I did not reply, and

walked deeper in the island. I had no fear of death, for it had

to come, sooner or later. My time-gun had also given up.

Suddenly, the bushes beside me rustled. I was freaked

out of wits for a moment, but I gradually went near them,

and peered past them. There was a strange man sitting with

his legs folded, protruding-eyes, and over-grown grey hair.

“Run away! Run away!” the codger shouted. “You’re a

survivor! Do you know anything of this place?” I asked. “Go

away!” he seemed to be knowing nothing else. “What has

happened?” asked I. “A fallen king has been unchained from

oblivion to seek vengeance upon the gods who banished

him. He has gathered hordes of powerful soldiers. Only a


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champion, pure of heart, can vanquish the evil that has been

released upon the land! You must run away!” he shouted. “I

can’t. I am marooned on this island like you, and fight I

must, because if I have to die, I will die as a martyr,” I

replied. “I sense, the strength, to tame this realm fraught

with despair, in your soul. Child, you have a long life to live.”

he said, and then lay still. He had died. His eyes now had a

gleam of hope.

“Drake!” I called out, “We have an adventure to

embark on, and as you say, ye be comin’ with me!” His eyes

lit up “That’s me boy!” he exclaimed, and we left for the

heart of the island.

As we drew near the heart, we saw some guards

approaching. I was thinking of a plan to assassinate themsilently, but Drake went straight towards them, and his

cutlass went through them. “That’s how things be done,” he

remarked. I smiled.

But that smile cost us much. We got dreamy and two

soldiers put an anaesthetic cloth on our mouth, and tookour unconscious bodies to their lord. We opened our eyes

to see the faces of some soldiers staring at us. “Where are

we?” I asked. “Welcome to my hell. Stay here as long as you

want, or die.” The Lord said. “I have got triumph over a

throng of dragons. What are you?” I asked. “Triumph is

nothing! I can defeat gods, then what are you?” he


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emphasized, “I can produce enough energy to vaporize this

whole island! I am no lesser than a God!”

Energy. Wait a second. Suddenly I called to mind what

I saw it on the time-gun. That’s it! If I could use his energy

and channel it into the time-gun, the job would be done!

“Show your strength with your hands, not words,

great lord,” I mocked. He laughed and shouted. And then

suddenly, everything started shining brightly. It was an

experience like travelling in time. I could not move much,

but a little. I managed to take out the gun, and held it

towards the exaggerator.

At once everything around me started regaining its

form, and the gun got charged. I held the pirate’s hand,typed ‘1964’ in the input field, and pressed the trigger, and

both of us went booming to 1964.


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10

A Sinister Carnage

We reached the destination, and it was less than a

fortnight to New Year, 1965. A joyous environment had

healed the wounds of misery and sorrow caused by the

Sinister Seven. I had told Drake about the Sinister Seven

and the time-gun. As we walked amid the pedestrian

crossing, many eyes had set upon Drake. He couldn’t movearound attired in such an outrageous fashion. I bought him

a temporary attire, and went to the hotel where I stayed

before. “Let’s teach those scurvy dogs a lesson, shall we?”

he asked. “This is a civilized time, and here we can’t go

about killing whoever we encounter,” I vociferated. “An’ the

culpable ones,” he asked. “You thought I was talking aboutinnocents?” I asked, “No one kills innocents.”

And as these words escaped my mouth, our ears met

with several horrifying sounds. Those loathsome seven

were killing people, and innocents! It was a gruesome sight.

So many people lay dead on the ground, and many crying


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with their utmost strength, with their hands rubbing the

foreheads of their kin, in the hope that they are revived, and

some even dying of strokes, severe ones. The seven were

killing people like crushing ants, mercilessly. It was indeed

a painful sight.

“Ye can’t harm innocents, ye scurvy dogs!” Drake

shouted and went straight towards them, and swung his

cutlass with utmost strength. “Ye pitiless dogs!” he cried, for

the first time in his life. He wanted a redemption for his

scourge nature. “One down, six t’ go!” He had made the

faction ‘The Sinister Six’!

He narrowly missed two bullets and the third one

pierced through his ankle. He cried painfully. I somehow

managed to get him back to the hotel, but it was a horrifyingsight to see the hotel burn. In fact, a majority of buildings

were being burnt down, including those in which we could

take a lodging. Drake motioned towards a sewer and we

both hid in it. We thought we were safe here, but hundreds

of corpses were afloat on the water. Such a violent carnage!

“Those dogs will pay for what they’ve done!” Drakemuttered. “But two against six, both factions equally

trained, how will we defeat them?” I asked. “Imagine if we

had dragons,” Drake muttered. Dragons? The Chevalier! He

could help us in defeating them. I pulled the gun out, typed

1161, and went to the destination, to ask his assistance.


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As we reached there, I saw fell back after what I saw.

Dragons, they were! But gradually I noticed children

playing around, and riding on the backs of that dragon. It

took me some time to understand. It was a statue. The

chevalier had built it as a celebration on the victory we

achieved. I looked around for him. He was sitting in his

quarters, but as I drew near, some guards seized me and

Drake. “Get back, and leave!” said Drake. “We need to meet

Wallace,” I demanded, as I was his friend. He might have

recognised the voice, for he came out by himself and

ordered the guards to leave.

“How are you, and who is this oaf?” he said. “He’s a

friend of mine, and I’m not fine. Well, I’ve been hiding things

from you lately. Do you know my origin?” I asked. “Not

exact ly,” he replied, a bit confused, “Why, are you from theworld of those dragons?” “No. Well, you might not believe

it, but … I am from the future. I accidently came here, and on

my way back, I accidently met him. Now both of you are my

friends, and I need your help, to defeat the Sinister Seven,

sorry, Sinister Five, a group of people who have come from

the future to rule the world. Understand? Well the fate ofthe whole world depends on us.” I said, emphatically.

The chevalier’s mouth opened a little, as if he wanted

to say something but was not able to give words to it. I told

him how those gadgets work, and my whole story. “Well as

friend, I will surely help you,” he said, after I had convinced


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him of the fact which was indeed true, and smiled. I too gave

a smile, and we both went to 1964.


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11

Our Revenge

We reached the city, only to find it in ruins. Nothing

left, and wherever the eyes went, they saw corpses. The

sight of an alive human was a pleasure for sore eyes.

Among those ruins was a very high castle, which was

made by the seven, maybe because their cave had been

destroyed.

We could not let those criminals live. We had to make

them perish. We made a vigilant plan. “We would infiltrate

their castle, the place where they are living now, and at the

right moment, we will do an incursion, and slay them, asthey did to those innocents,” I announced, “but there is a

problem. They have the finest reinforced accesses and

ramparts. How will we cross them?” I asked.

“Let me do,” the wind around us whispered. “Who

dares to eavesdrop on our conversation?” The Chevalier

looked around.


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“An obscure mystic, and The Recondite knows me,

doesn’t he?” another saying came out from the wind it

started uniting at a point. A mystical figure of a man was

formed. “Who be you? Drake asked. “You know me, Robert,

or I should say, the house invader.” I understood. He was

the Mystical Manhunter! “You were one of the seven, and

they might have sent you, so why would we trust you?” I

asked. “Because you can’t infiltrate any building without

me, and I can have an insight into the future and the past.

Travelling to the past is dangerous, for people can kill their

own origin, but having a little insight is what it takes to

win.” he said. “Agreed. But why are you becoming good?” I

asked. “I want a redemption for my sins, and if I kill the

seven, the gods may look upon me with mercy, and may my

soul find peace in heaven.” The fact that he had become

good looked true. “You’re in,” I announced.That very night, we went near the castle door, and the

Manhunter went inside through the little space between

the two doors, and opened it for us. We went upstairs, to

the room where the seven resided, but there was no one.

The room was vacant. We went to the upper floor, and saw

a man occupied a throne. I thought that he was Bill, but tomy horror, he was the lord who lived on Black Curse Island,

1711!

“Surprise, isn’t it? Consider this whatever you want,

but let me make it clear. This is partially my revenge for my

oxblood coat,” Bill said. “You channelled my power there,

but now there is nothing that can save you,” the Lord said.


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“We have to do it. We have to defeat them,” I said. Suddenly,

I thought. The energy stored in the time-gun must be in

terawatts, and it must be stored at some place. I quickly

opened a cover below the trigger, the place where the

bullets are stored in a usual 9mm pistol, revealing a very

tiny glowing ball of light, just like a miniature of the sun. I

quickly stuck it at the end of an ordinary arrow in the

Chevalier’s quiver, and he understood what to do next.

“So you think you can defeat us?” I asked.

“Unquestionably,” he replied. “Again mistaken, and this

mistake will be your last,” and in his anger he opened his

mouth wide and shouted. The Chevalier knew what to do.

He quickly shot his arrow towards the Lord. It hit him on

his chest. “An ordinary arrow? You thought that I would…”

but before he could complete, his body burst and theamount of energy released exploded any electric object in a

mile-radius. Even we went flying and fell down the castle,

maybe breaking a bone or two.


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12

And Last…

“Our time-gun!” shouted Dan. “We are more powerful than

you! You shall repay for this!” “Oh really?” I asked. “What do

you have? I have my intellect, the Chevalier’s dauntlessness,

the Pirate’s cutlasses, and… the Manhunter.”

His face turned pale after hearing of the Manhunter.One of the seven came and said, “Only three of us are alive

– Me, you, and Bill. The others were killed by the…

Manhunter.” Dan’s legs started shaking. He ran out of the

castle, along with the other, but in their way was the

Manhunter.

A human he was, he was desperate with the thirst for

revenge, and reckless with misery. He killed them all in a

single blow.

Bill was left, and he hid somewhere. He couldn’t have

gone much far, and as you know, vices pay dearly, a trail ofhis cigar ashes led us to the border of the state, which was


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not too far, near a turnpike. The person who collected the

toll had been shot dead, undoubtedly by Bill himself, who

was now nowhere in sight. Even his cigar ashes had been

finished.

Admitting it, I was tired. In fact really tired. I looked

around, and saw an inn, the ‘Paviour Inn’. I went inside and

sat on a stool. I asked the holster the date and the time. “22nd

February, 1965” he replied. My birthday. This was my first

birthday on which I was busy saving the world. And I

noticed that my voice had become considerably rough, and

missing months of shave, I had grown a pretty bold goatee.

The door swung open, and came in Bill. He took out a

9mm semi-calibre revolver and aimed at me, as I already

mentioned in the prologue, didn’t I? Dying on my birthday.Hah! Not possible. Not funny, too. I was tired. I didn’t want

to use my Tesla gloves, for it filled my hands with some sort

of strange numbness. “That coat,” he said. “Are you sure it’s

all about that? I liked it man, and I picked it up. I ain’t giving

it back now,” I replied. Really buddy, I loved that coat.

“Anyway, keep it. It would me more fun ripping it off yourcorpse than snatching it now,” he laughed. I laughed too.

The holster was starting to get freaked out. “Well, I’m in no

mood of fighting now, so let’s just make it quick. Back off,

and you’ll live. If you move even a single pace ahead, upon

my honour, this world would be getting rid of a very

deleterious scoundrel.” He laughed and fell to the ground,


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but didn’t deviate his aim. He got up and with a very casual

smile, he stepped ahead. Really, he did step ahead. No effect

of my warning. I pointed towards him and said, “Your fate,”

and then pointed towards me, “in my hands.”

He peered towards me. The tile on which he was

standing burst violently and he was sent forth flying and hit

his head hard. The Mystical Manhunter came. Hey, I told

him to stay out. “Really bro. He was my prey. Anyways, I’m

doomed. Can’t attend that important meeting.” Wait a

second… Am I still thinking of that bullshit? Now the real

story begins!

Bill had died, and the state restored to peace. The

redemption of the Manhunter was complete. The time-gun

was broken. It was certain that we would have to stay there,in that city of crime. We rose against the crime, fighting

criminals as vigilantes, whom the local forces could not

fight. With all our skills combined, we became a force

unstoppable. The power which rested in our hands was

limitless, but we had a conscience which prevented us from

doing the inequitable. We became a voice of righteousnessand justice, a quantum of solace for everyone. We were The

Obscures.

The End

Documents

The Obscures