THE ONE

chapter 3

Ace pov.

Twenty-five years ago, I and my team battled the tyrant Umar. He ruled the world for over thirty years, and it took five years for the people to decide their future.

He was the strongest superhuman we have ever faced. I and a handful of warriors survived. But the damage the war left was unfixable.

It was rumored that some people from Utopia were building a superweapon to annihilate Umar before we did. I later heard that the project was called off.

“Is he really up to the task?” Brawn asked.

I looked at him. “If he wasn't, I wouldn't have brought him here,”

“What does that mean?” he counters my response.

“It means he is ready. Just believe in him just as you believe in me.” I was able to keep him at bay with my words.

It's now up to Augustine to prove himself.

Augustine pov.

I noticed that they didn't like me at all. From the way they looked at me and from the way they spoke to me.

I knew I wasn't welcome.

We were six in number, our leader was Josh. He possessed two metallic detachable arms, super strength, and reflexes.

Then our Elenore had the ability to see from a far distance. She was pretty, even I couldn't deny it.

Andy had superhuman speed. Janet had telepathy and psychy. Barnie had force field abilities.

Together we all went to a community in the south. Although it was a long and frustrating journey. But us touring the community made it fun.

Then we arrived.

I won't lie, it was a ghost town. Nobody came out to welcome us. It was as if the place was abandoned for years.

Elenore looks around with her foresight. “That's odd, I can't see any life forms around,” she said.

Josh positions himself for an attack while still keeping his guard up. “Stay sharp guys. Whatever stopped this community may be waiting around to stop us.”

Everyone stayed sharp while I hid in their midst. A cold breeze blew past us. I looked around in fear, shuddering.

Then I sensed something, something I was familiar with.

Danger.

Immediately I ducked and hid behind a wall. Before I did that, I spoke to them, saying, “Everyone take cover!” I yelled.

They all stood there, staring at me like I was deranged and mad. Then Josh looked at me like I was a fool and said, “You see, that's why I wasn't in support of him joining us!” He glanced at me, disgusted.

Then out of nowhere, something came out from underneath Josh's feet and stabbed him. The rest of the crew were able to rescue him, but the damage had already been done.

“What the hell?” Josh cried in pain.

“How did you know that something like that was about to happen?” Janet curiously asked.

I sighed, “I don't know. It's just something I'm naturally gifted with.”

My instincts never failed me. While training with Ace, I was able to unlock the full potential of my abilities. My instincts were one of them.

Looking at what attacked Josh, it has a humanoid feature, but it isn't human. Its body looks weird, too weird.

“I'm sure I used my psychic abilities to scan for life. But I wasn't able to detect a human mind around. Then out of nowhere Josh gets attacked by a human,” Janet reasons out loud.

“That is because it isn't human,” Andy draws the team's attention to Josh's wound.

Josh's blood suddenly turned black.

As the team gasped in shock, I sensed something else approaching us. Then a figured person walked out to the open, but I couldn't recognize the face.

The rest of the team saw him.

“Oh, welcome to my museum, I'm the artist,” the figured person reveals its name, but we were unable to identify its gender.

“What have you done to him?” Bernie asked.

The artist chuckles, “Nothing really, he will be fine if you can defeat me.”

“What happened to the people of this community?” Andy asked.

The artist kept quiet.

“Why are you all not doing anything?” Josh asked the team, but as they tried to calm him down, he snapped and went after the artist.

He threw several punches at the artist, but none managed to graze the artist. Then, out of frustration, he used his special ability.

This ability enables him to detach his metallic arm and control it without it being attached to his body.

He launched them towards the artist, and then he was able to knock the artist down. Dust covers the air, making it difficult to see.

Josh laughs in victory and walks towards the artist to see the damages he had done to the artist. Getting there, he sees a mud carving of the artist's appearance.

I saw the trap from my end, but before I could warn Josh, it was already too late. Another humanoid creature, different from the one we saw earlier, sliced Josh in half.

We all watched as his body practically fell apart. The screams of Elenore beside me startled me. She was terrified, unable to move.

Andy was angry and wanted retribution for Josh's death, but before he could run there, I called out to Janet and Bernie.

Janet was able to suppress Andy's power via psychic while Bernie was capable of creating a barrier, trapping us in.

“What are you doing? Let me go,” Andy demanded while struggling without his power.

Then I stared at him, with a cold look and tensed feeling. “Andy, if you go out there, you will die like Josh. We need a plan for all of us to survive.”

Andy was about to speak against me, but Elenore spoke, saying, “He was the person who sensed them coming, maybe he has a point. Besides, we don't know what kind of abilities our opponent possesses yet.”

“That means,” Janet and the rest of the team stared at each other.

For us to survive, someone has to die. That was the only way out of this situation. I was going to do it because I had something the rest of the team lacked, Indestructibility.

I was indestructible, unbreakable. But still I remembered when they said Josh was somewhat invulnerable. Yet he was taken down easily.

As planned, Bernie brought down the barrier. I rushed into the open, trying to draw the attention of whatever might be around.

Fortunately, I got their attention. Nevertheless it wasn't what I was looking for. Creatures, both humanoid and unrecognizable, emanated from both the walls and the ground.

I saw where they were coming from. They were emerging from drawings made on the walls and ground.

I knew the ability of our enemy. The artist can bring any of its drawings to life, not only that, but anything made of art could also be reanimated.

I was about to signal to my team when the artist attacked me from behind. My body broke through several brick walls.

“No son, you are not going to tell anyone anything,” the artist laughed.

But to the artist's surprise, I landed a perfect punch. The artist didn't even see me coming because of my speed.

The only thing the artist witnessed was dust rising into the air. After receiving my punch, the artist remained standing.

“Today, you all are privileged to witness my power. The one thing that defines life,” the artist teared the shirt on its body. There were drawings all over the artist's body.

The draws began to slowly emerge from the artist's body, but as they emerged, the artist's body started to tear. I could hear the artist crying and laughing at the same time.

“Nobody is leaving here alive, not even me,” the artist uttered with a smirk.

Immediately I ran as far as my legs could carry me. I couldn't tap into my speed like I did earlier. I knew I was screwed.

At least my indestructibility had to end someday. I closed my eyes as the bright light shined behind me. But then something ran past me.

I couldn't turn to see who it was. Then a tremendous force brought me to my knees. A loud explosion occurred, shaking the earth.

After everything had settled, I turned around only to see a man standing. His back view turned against me. The ground was covered in ashes, with smoke ascending into the atmosphere.