Authors: Aditya Mewati
Gun Katz slapped Luke's back. "You made the right decision," he said.
Luke stared at Sara's body and nodded. "You guided me through it."
"Let's finish our mission," Gun Katz said.
Luke again nodded and shifted his eyes from Sara's body toward the group of missiles on the third-floor. "Prepare for the launch," He ordered.
"What about them?" Tom king said, pointing at Karthik, Lilly and Piper.
"Them," Luke smiled. He walked over to the pillar, where they were tied. "You guys have always tried to stop our mission. Thanks to you we lost our general, Don—"
"He killed himself," Lilly said, "that idiot ordered a bazooka launch in avalanche prone area."
"Maybe you are right. Maybe he died of his own foolishness—that's not the point. I'm fed up with of people. You always keep poking your fat nose in my business. But not today. You'll never be able to stop me today."
"So you are going to kill us?" Piper said glaring at him, "Like you killed her."
"Of course—” Luke pulled out a gun and aimed at Karthik’s head. He pressed the trigger. Karthik closed his eyes and heard a click. When he open his eyes, Luke was smiling at him.
“Maybe not now... I... want... you to witness the death of thousands of people,” Luke said, “I want you to witness the new serum. I want you to witness the failure. This will teach you something."
"We have already seen it. Your big guys—"
"No, It's not the same serum. The old serum’s effects wore out in a matter of hours. But this new serum's effect—Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Sharif—will stay for the lifetime. It will make us immortal."
He stood up and said, "Prepare for the launch. I want them to take off at the right time."
The two men wearing rubber suits moved toward the huge computer and started typing on it. The screen flashed and showed the time remaining for the launch: 36 minutes to go.
"Why are you doing it?" Karthik asked; his voice echoed in the warehouse.
"Launching the missiles during the solar eclipse? We want to send a message to the world. We want to show them that the sun is no longer a go—"
"Not that. Why are you even launching them?"
"Hmm, interesting question," Luke said, "Our Dad dreamed of a perfect world. A world free of disease, a world free of sorrow. After he died we decided to complete his mission.
"But we also wanted to make some money. The anticancer drug would sell easily in the market. But it will not be that quick. So, the other companies will have enough time to reverse-engineer our drug. They will realize that we are using a virus. We are doing this to avoid the competition."
"So you are saying that you will attack Paris with a cancer causing weapon. It will throw the world into chaos and terror. And because of that people will quickly buy your drugs?"
"Exactly! You're a smart man, Karthik. That’s why Ford liked you so much.”
"It's a ridiculous idea,” Karthik cried, “it's never going to work!"
Luke laughed. "Unfortunately, Karthik... it will work. It always does. Because there is no business as profitable as the business of selling fear."
“What are you planning to do with that enhancing serum?” Piper asked, although she knew the answer but she wanted to hear it from Luke’s mouth.
He smiled at her. “The money we will get from the drugs will be used to buy more powerful weapons. So that we can create a powerful army. That serum will be for our soldiers.”
“You’re planning to rule the world,” Lilly said indignantly.
He walked and squatted in front of her. “We are not planning to rule the world. We are planning to change it. And today is the beginning of that change.”
It happened very quickly.
Seven minutes were remaining for the launch. Luke was feeling tense. But he was not worried. He was very sure that no one will be able to stop the launch. He was happily whistling to himself when the guard standing on the second-floor fell on the ground. Then the guy next to him dropped dead. Bewildered, he looked around and then saw armed men approaching from the window, firing at them.
"Snipers! Open fire!" He cried.
Karthik also noticed that the man standing on the second floor dropped on the ground. But he was more quick to realize what was going on.
"You guys are okay?" A voice called. Karthik turned and saw Jack running toward them.
Jack produced a knife and sliced the rope. "How did you find us?" Piper cried delightfully.
More men were now bursting in the warehouse.
"Those rings I gave you before parting, they were trackers," Jack said. He handed Lilly an assault rifle.
"What took you so long to find us?" Karthik grumbled.
"I'm sor—" Everything around them started exploding. Jack ducked and plunged behind the pillar.
Karthik and Piper took cover behind a drum. "Karthik, take it." Jack threw a pistol toward Karthik. He caught it and his brow furrowed deeply.
"I need a bigger weapon," Karthik grumbled.
"That's the only thing I ha—" A man standing on the other side of the wall fire at him. He vanished behind the pillar.
"Piper you stay here," Karthik told her and edged his way along the drums.
But she did not want to left out, she looked around and saw a guard lying on the floor; a gun lay next to him.
"How many men do we have?" Lilly shouted. Everything was breaking around them.
"Fifteen!" Jack replied.
"Just fifteen?" She said and fired at the man who was running away toward the exit.
"More are coming!" Jack said, "Where is the bomb?"
"There is no bomb. They have twelve missiles. We only have four minutes to stop them." She pointed at the supercomputer. “That thing is controlling the launch.”
Jack nodded. "Cover me."
"Where are you going?"
"I'll try to stop the launch." Saying this Jack stood up and ran away from the safety of the pillar. Piper stood behind the pillar ready to fire on anyone, who would try to stop Jack from reaching to the computer.
While people were trying to kill each other, Dr. Sharif turned and ran toward the exit. He was just a few feet away from it when someone grabbed his hand. It was Luke Tesla. Luke smiled and then punched Dr. Sharif’s nose, knocking him unconscious. He grabbed the Briefcase and ran toward the exit. But he realized that he was missing something. Where was Gun Katz? He stopped, spun around, and ran for the stairs.
Jack reached to the supercomputer, unharmed. He quickly got to work. He was hoping that whoever build the system must have included a self-destruction system, but there was no self-destruction system. So, he decided to override the system that will either stop the missiles from launching or will blow them up. He started typing on the keyboard. He only had two minutes to do it.
Karthik saw Tom King hiding behind the barrels. He edged toward him and fired. But Tom King dodged in time, and fired back at Karthik.
Karthik dodged and fired back at Tom, but missed. Tom fired at him but only heard a click. Karthik realized that Tom’s gun was empty. He climbed to his feet and pressed the trigger but no bullet burst out of the nozzle, instead he heard a click. Tom realized that Karthik had also run out of his bullets. He got up and dashed at Karthik.
They both fell to the ground. At first, Tom was over Karthik. Then in a matter of seconds, Karthik was over him. They kept rolling over on the floor. Karthik raised his fist and punched Tom right in his face. Tom king thrust his knee into Karthik’s stomach. Karthik moved back, and doubling over, he fell on the ground.
Tom got to his feet and jump on Karthik. But Karthik raised his foot in time and hit the groin, sending an explosion of pain raising up his insides. Tom grimaced and fell backward. This time, Karthik lashed on him and started punching him. He raised his fist and launched it into Tom’s face. “This one is for slapping Piper!”
Gun Katz stood on the third floor, showering bullets on the ground. He spotted a blond woman edging her way toward a gun. He took an aim on her and fired. But the bullet didn't hit her because a man had jumped between her and the bullet.
At first, Piper didn't understand what had happened. She was damn near to the gun when Karthik jumped in front of her. At first, she thought that Karthik was stopping her, then she realized he was stopping a bullet from reaching to her.
Before she could move, he fell on the ground.
Gun Katz never saw Piper rising from the ground with a pistol in her hand. His eyes were gazing Karthik, the man who had jumped between the woman and the bullet; the man who was now lying on the floor with his chest gleaming red with blood.
He never saw Piper raising her armed hand and aiming the gun at him. He never saw her pressing the trigger.
The only thing he registered was the pain in his neck and the feeling of admiration for Karthik's honesty and bravery. He fell on the floor and died.
"Karthik..." Piper dropped beside him. "Karthik?" She gasped.
"He is losing too much blood," Dr. Alex Bill said. Piper didn't realize how come Dr. Alex Bill was standing beside her.
"He is alive," Lilly said checking his pulses. "We need to stop the blood flow."
The firing had now stopped. All the guards were now dead. United Knight’s agents were gathering around them.
Jack saw Karthik falling on the ground but didn't leave the keyboard. He now had just one minute and thirty-two seconds to stop the launch. Lives of thousand people rested on his shoulders. And he could feel the weight of responsibility—bending him down to the knees—almost pushing him into the ground. Beads of sweat stood out on his brow. He kept typing.
Luke Tesla quickly climbed the stairs, his eyes searching Gun Katz. He reached on the second-floor. He quietly glanced both the sides and only saw death around him. He shivered and resumed his climb.
He reached on the third floor and saw a sight that made his legs lose their bones, a sight that made the hairs on his nape stand straight in fright.
He slowly staggered toward the dead body of Gun Katz. Tears rushed down to his cheeks as he lowered himself and the briefcase beside Katz.
Then he saw his own frightened reflection in Gun Katz’s eyes. He hysterically laughed and a surge of anger rushed over him, clouding his mind. He fumbled with the briefcase, opened it and lifted a syringe from it. He moved toward the railing, peered below him and boomed. "You killed my brother! you'll pay for this!"
Everyone looked up and saw Luke Tesla standing at the edge of the railing with a syringe in his hand. "You'll Pay for this!" He pressed the needle into his skin.
Dr. Alex Bill looked up in terror and gasped. "Someone stop him! If that thing reached his blood he would become immortal!"
Hearing this Piper raised her gun but it was too late. Luke had already drained the purple liquid into his body. He stared at them for few seconds and then shrieked. He started growing; his nails jutted out from his fingers. Boils started forming on his skin. Hair started falling and soon he was a seven feet giant. But not the one like they had fought before. Luke was uglier than all of them, his hands were uneven (the right-hand was double the size of the left-hand), his eyes bulged outward—He looked like a monster. In fact, he had become a one. His ugly, purple skin was gleaming like a skin of a lizard.
He jumped down.
Jack was now very sure that he could stop the launch. He only needed ten seconds for that. And the clock was showing seventeen seconds. He knew he could do it—But the luck was not with him. His index finger was just an inch away from the enter key when a seven-foot monster dropped next to him from nowhere and swatted Jack away from the computer.
Jack rolled on the ground and came to a halt in front of the wall. Spitting blood, he looked up and gazed at Luke, who was stomping toward him. He glanced over Luke’s shoulder at the third-floor where the missiles stood.
There were a flash and the metallic cylinder dashed out of the warehouse through the circular opening. The cylinder climbed in the air and when it reached enough height, the twelve missiles in the cylinder parted away and soared indifferent directions.
The agents fired at Luke. He roared at them. The bullets were having no effects on him.
"So that's how an immortal looks," Piper commented while firing at Luke.
"No," Dr. Alex Bill said backing away, "Something went wrong. The serum was not ready."
Luke swung his giant arms in an attempt to kill the people, who were firing at him.
***
The people protecting their eyes from the harsh lights of the solar eclipse gazed at the sky as the moon moved to cover the sun. Many of them were taking photographs of the eclipse. But not a single person had any idea about a deadly weapon approaching toward them. The sun was now completely hidden behind the moon. A dark circle with a bright ring around it was now looming in the dark sky. And they saw it... a small, dark object swooping down toward them. They didn't know that it was bringing death and misery with it. They never did because the object blasted into pieces in the mid-air (so did the remaining eleven missiles).
***
Jack pressed the enter key. He had somehow dragged himself on the ground and had reached to the computer. When he pressed the enter key, he felt the weight on his shoulders fading.
Lilly, holding a syringe in her hand slowly crept toward Luke Tesla. The syringe contained the serum in it, the older one. The one which effect wore out in a matter of hours. What was she planning to do with it? Well, she was planning to inject it into Luke's body. Honestly speaking, it was not even her plan. It was Dr. Alex Bill suggestion. He had suggested them that maybe... maybe inserting the old serum, which was well prepared and tested could reverse the effect of the newer serum. But he was not sure. It was just his theory.
And it was time to test his theory. Luke's back was facing her. She slowly walked toward him, and when she was close enough—She thrust the syringe, but Luke turned and grabbed her hand.
"Nod toh fasd," He growled, and he felt a little pain in his back. He turned around and saw Piper backing away. The syringe in her hand was empty.
He let go Lilly’s arm and staggered back. Everyone silently stared at him. He looked around and abruptly started shrinking. But it did not stop even when he was back to his normal size—his skin shrank until only his bones were left. His skeleton dropped on the ground and turned into dust.
Piper and Lily ran toward Karthik, who was lying still on the ground. Lilly checked his pulses. She gasped but said nothing.
"What is it ?" Piper asked impatiently.
Lilly shook her head. Her skin had turned completely white.
"What do you mean?" Piper cried.
"He is not breathing."
"NO!" Piper cried and pressed her ear against his chest. She didn't feel his heartbeat. "No! Karthik, you can't leave me like this! You can't!" She wept.
And that's how Karthik Peri had died.