The newly promoted Lieutenant Ulyssa and her hand-picked platoon of Demigods had arrived at the wildlife park at the outskirts of Paris. Alexis Mara, the daughter of the General, was walking in the middle of their diamond-formation. Her two brothers, Marceus and Gallus were right behind her. The sunset made the war torn city look pleasant and somewhat peaceful. “I would have liked to visit this park under different circumstances.” Alexis mentioned under her breath. “What?” Marceus asked. “This park,” Alexis turned her head to look at her brother whilst walking. “I would have wanted to come here when it wasn’t like this.” She waved her hand towards the rubble and junk that decorated the area. “How can you be thinking about that now?” “Would you rather I keep repeating ‘I’m about to die’ to myself?” she asked, hard on the sarcasm. “You’re not going to die.” He assured her. “I’d believe that if father were here.” “We’ve got thirty personnel escorting us, plus the lieutenant and the two of us.” Gallus pointed out. “And I know you’ve been having secret meetings with father.” Marceus added. “Secret meetings?” Gallus asked. “Hush, you two.” Alexis was suddenly alarmed with what came out of her older brother’s mouth. “You aren’t supposed to know about it, let alone talk about it should you know about it!” “Oh please, it’s so like father to have plans behind other people’s backs. The man has a plan-B for his plan-B’s.” Marceus jested but was still annoyed with the fact. “Don’t you mean plan-C?” “Shut up, Gallus. And no, I don’t.” “Just seems illogical is what I’m trying to say.” “Baah! Fuck are you on about?” Marceus waved his hands frantically in front of him. “You’re assuming a plan-B has its own set of plan-A’s and B’s.” “This is what we’re going to be talking about?” Alexis asked disappointedly.
Lieutenant Ulyssa was on the left side of the formation, keeping an eye out for any irregularities. Every now and then she’d send someone to scout ahead to make sure of clear horizons. Although she had the most important job out of all of them, she couldn’t help but steal looks of Marceus, the loud mouthed brother. He was, unfortunately, a very handsome man. “It makes perfect fucking sense.” He explained. “Plan-A fucks up, you go with plan-B, and should the situation fuck up during this plan, you go with the back-up of the back-up.” “Which is plan-C.” Gallus casually concluded. “Fuck no. Plan-C is non-existent after you’ve chosen plan-B. Plan-C is an option should both plan-A and B be unviable. C isn’t an extension of B.” “But that comes back to my point!” “HOW!?” Marceus threw his hands in the air in anger. “You’re saying plan-C is chosen should plan-B be unavailable and that it differs from having chosen plan-B in the first place and then having to change it again, to a plan-B of its own. Correct?” Marceus tried to make sense of what Gallus just uttered before moving on. “...Yes.” he replied after a considerable amount of time. “Is plan-B then fucked, in your own words, in both scenarios?” “Yes.” “Then that means that even if you choose plan-B and it fails, any plan after that has to be labelled as plan-C.” Gallus stated, quite proud of himself. “As much as that sounds right, dearest brother of mine, you are wrong.” “Do explain.” The younger brother smirked. “Ok, but the moment I even start to, you’re going to slap yourself in the head.” “Doubtful.” “So, you’re walking in the forest and you come across a three-way fork.” “Oh shit...” Gallus swore upon visualising the problem. “Yeah, and it’s a smelly ‘oh shit’ too, Gallus.” Marceus chuckled. “So, you can’t take the first road...” He continued. “Yeah yeah yeah, I understand.” “Who’s the king!?” Marceus yelled out triumphantly. “Kings haven’t existed for a very long time.” “Yeah but ‘Who’s the President?’ doesn’t really roll off the tongue that nicely either.” “Or Prime Minister.” The two brothers giggled that led to Alexis having an embarrassing eye-contact with Ulyssa. “I think I’d rather get attacked instead of having to hear you two bicker about nonsense.” Alexis declared, urging the group to walk faster with the help of the Lieutenant.
Alexis walked closer to the Lieutenant, her hands crossed behind her back like her father would. Ulyssa felt nervous all of a sudden. “So what are your powers then?” asked the General’s daughter. “I can manipulate metals.” Ulyssa replied, trying to sound confident in the matter. “Are you proud to be able to?” “Well... It leaves me weak if I’m not near any kind of it.” “Your body must be able to tolerate some degree physical harm?” “Yes, to a certain extent, up to maybe double or more of the standard human’s.” Ulyssa explained. “How confident are you in your abilities?” “Confident?” “Do you understand how to manipulate the metals correctly?” Alexis was trying to see how good her protector in charge was. “I mostly levitate them... throw them around.” Ulyssa replied disappointedly. “You’re sure you’re not telekinetic?” “Yes, I’m sure. I can only do it with metals.” Alexis smiled as she rested her hand on her shoulder. “You haven’t fully understood your powers then.” “How else could I use them?” Marceus jogged up behind them, who had been eavesdropping along with his brother. “Make it your bitch.” He recommended with a big smile. “I don’t understand.” Ulyssa was confused and startled. Suddenly she found three-quarters of the Mara family giving her attention. “If you control metal imagine the possibilities you actually have.” He continued. “Metal is found in cars, weapons, buildings, structures, tools, accessories, wiring... basically everything!” “I know that but...” “And humans make them.” He interrupted. “Ok?” “Which means you can too.” “But I don’t know how to smith.” “Ulyssa! You’re smarter than this! I know you are!” Marceus articulated. “Stop hesitating and holding your breath. Calm the fuck down. You’re a Demigod!” “I still don’t know how to do it. I haven’t practiced in that way.” “Then grab a small piece of metal. Or...” Marceus spotted a small bit of wreckage that could have easily come from any kind of vehicle. He grabbed a chunk the size of his fist and lobbed it at her. “Catch.” “What do I do with this?” “Like it said before, make it your bitch.”
Everyone was back into formation after a while. It was darker now which meant they had to be alert. The latest scout had nothing to tell the Lieutenant. Maybe they had made their departure successfully, she thought to herself. Maybe no one knew they left yet. Ulyssa looked at the piece of metal Marceus had given her to play with. She had not yet tried to do anything with it other than making it hover above her palm. The metal seemed to be a part of an outer layer of something, perhaps the outside plating of a door. It had been crumpled up by some force. She huffed as she spun it, watching it blur in front of her. Flatten it out, she thought, and see what it is.
Ulyssa levitated the scrap metal in front of her and started to give it her focus, bending it out from its wrecked state. “You know...” Gallus tapped Marceus on the shoulder. “You’d make a good teacher.” “Make?” He popped the collars on his black coat. “I am a good teacher.” “Sadly it’s nothing like maths or science. More like... life in general.” “Maths and science?” Marceus asked, irritated by the subtle heckle. “Yeah, you know what those are right?” “Gallus... There’s tons of maths and biology when it comes to my bedroom.” “I...” “I know so much shit that girls come back every time and no, little brother, you can’t get any tips from me.” A metallic cry suddenly erupted as Ulyssa had finally straightened out the piece of scrap metal. “And now transform it into something.” Marceus suggested from behind her. He walked up right next to her with a smile. “You’re doing good.” Alexis shook her head in amazement at her brother. “How you can be so respectable and yet such a filthy animal is beyond understanding.” She said. “It’s called personality.”
A scout from the north arrived with haste. Ulyssa grabbed the piece of metal in her hand and went to greet the scout. “Trouble?” she asked. “Yes, Lieutenant.” The scout was short on breath and was trying to air his black uniform through his shirt. “Tell me it’s Human.” “It is, actually.” He slightly smiled and so did the rest. “That’s a fucking blessing.” “Yeah well. There’s about two hundred of them.” “We can take them.” “And a tank...” He added. “You can take it.” Marceus added on top of that. Ulyssa sharply turned around to look at him in surprise. “What? A tank is made of metal.” Ulyssa turned back to the scout. “Yeah... we can take them.” “Take positions!”
Comments