Ascended and the End

            The situation had grown more dangerous than either Jake or Don originally thought.  The Ascended Chambers wasn’t just a reminder to the public of the their presence and it wasn’t just a place to file reports and keep secret information. The Chambers were actually door that brought the Ascended to earth. Since the Ascended seemed to fly, Don didn’t think they needed something like this, but he was wrong. Not only was he wrong but he also sent his entire team into a building that could easily be flooded with Ascended within seconds.

            Five Ascended came from the pillar of light at first, then Don used his powers to kill one and stun the other four. Then he sent the bulk of his team to retreat, scatter and regroup at base to defend it. Jake, Sid, Samantha, Gregory and Don stayed behind. Just as Don feared the room quickly began to fill up with Ascended. Some of them stayed to fight others flew off after the escaping rebels. Sounds of heavy gunfire and screaming could be heard outside of the building. The bullets whizzed through the air and every hit only seemed to stun the pursuing Ascended. One of the rebels threw a grenade into the air then used is power of telepathy to shoot it straight at the ascended. The grenade hit and exploded. The Ascended chasing him was torn in half, but the half with the most intact seemed to remain functional and continued pursuit. The legs and half a torso ran after the rebels until it finally collapsed. Rebels with Telepathy used their power to make their guns shoot with pinpoint percussion and can even aim their grenades, but there weren’t any rebels that were strong enough to lift cars or affectively fight the Ascended.

            Back inside the chambers, Jake, Sidney, Sam and Greg were preparing to fight. Jake whirled his arms through the air, fire building up on his body as he moved. He had to concentrate and motion helped him use his fire attacks. He thought of it like he was catching fire out of the air and holding onto it. It built up more and more until his body was a pillar of fire. Not only was he surrounded by fire, but his body actually looked like it had been turn to flames. The odds were against him so he put all of his power into this fight. Jake let loose and began throwing fire around and even started to punch and tackle the ascended. Anything he touched seemed to burn instantly.

            Seeing Jake jump into action the others followed his lead. Samantha focused her power and set out into a full sprint, charging at one of the Ascended. Before the mighty angel like creature could bring its sword down, Sam encased herself in ice armor and collided with the Ascended. The tackle stunned the creature, then Sam whipped her arm to deliver a back handed punch, but this punch had an icy spike jetting out of it. She pummeled the light creature with her spiky ice gauntlets and tore it to shred, the scraps disappeared into the air as they were torn from the Ascended. As she fought a flaming sword came down and struck her. The flame melted her armor and she crumpled to the ground. Sidney wasn’t the bravest man, but he sprang into action anyway and delivered a shadow kick to the ‘head’ the attacking Ascended. Then lifted his hands up, summoning shadows from the ground to cut into the Light being like razors.

            The room was quickly getting flooded with Ascended to the point that it was difficult to see were one light body ended and another began. Greg lifted rock from the ground and made walls around his team. These rock walls were getting ripped apart but having a chunk of stone between them and an Ascended blade, even for a second, made the difference. Jake was burning out as he used his power to its fullest, Gregory couldn’t fight because he was so busy protecting everyone else and Sam and Sid were fighting together because they both had a habit of getting overwhelmed. Don hadn’t done much since his first attack but instead seemed to be recovering from it. He watched the battle and studied the pillar of light closely. Then something clicked in his mind and he ran full speed at the light. Fire and lighting jumped off his body and hit any Ascended that got too close to him. This didn’t kill or even stun them, it just kept them at bay as he ran by. Then without giving it another thought he jumped into the light and disappeared.

            Jake and the team exchanged glances. They realized that the light might not be a generated that made Ascended, but instead a portal to their home. The group decided that they weren’t winning this one battle and Don was the strongest, so they all ran for the light and jumped through it. When Jake jumped through the light blinded him, but when his vision returned he noticed right away they were in a different land. The stood in a green meadow, with a bright blue sky, with apple trees dotting the landscape. It was a sunny day and all felt calm. It was a nice change from the battle they just escaped from.

            Jake walked through the serene landscape and as he saw his teammates appear, he noted how beautiful the meadow and trees were. Samantha gave him a strange look and said. “All I see is a peaceful beach and ocean waves”. Jake looked back at the meadow and for a split second the world twitched, as if it was unsure of itself and doubted its own existence. Gregory finally appeared. “I’m home! I can’t believe it. Guys I want to show you around my town. I practically grew up in these hills” Greg said. Everyone gave Greg a strange look and the world shifted and twitched. Then as if it knew the lie wouldn’t last, it gave out completely. When reality kicked it, the group began to wish it hadn’t. the real world they were teleported to was a war torn city with a sky choked out by smog and at the center of it, Don stood over an old man begging for his life.

            Jake ran to Don to see what was going on. “Don, who is this? what are you doing?” Jake asked. Don just sneered at the old man. “It was your fault!” He yelled as he kicked the helpless man. As Don grew more angry, his elemental powers began to spark and burn all over his body. “I was trying to help, I didn’t mean for it to be this way” the old man pleaded. Jake’s body roared up with flames and he shoved Don backward to get some questions answered. Even protected by flames, the intensity of Don’s power injured Jake a little. The Ascended came from this world, a war torn, crime-ridden world that eventually destroyed itself. This man created the Ascended to bring peace and used a perception filter so people would accept the Ascended as their protectors. People would believe what they wanted to believe. The Ascended just energy held together by a core of robotics” Don explained.  Jake was baffled. “but how did they get to our world, and why? And why are they after us and, and how do you know any of this? you just got here!” Jake asked Don. Shook his head. “I’ve been here for hours, that transport as a time lag. so if you jumped in a few minutes after me it would be like hours, or something like that. Everything I know I have been beating out of this little twerp’ Don replied kicking the doctor another kick.

            “Please, a don’t hurt me” the old doctor pleaded. “I made the machines to keep order. I made them to look like our ancient protectors from the old stories, but used a device that let people see whatever they wanted. Same device lets the weak and tired trick their brain into believe this world isn’t a wasteland. Once our world was beyond help, the guardians left to seek out other worlds to protect. They went all over the galaxy and settled anywhere they could to protect intelligent life from themselves. They are good! Why do you hurt me?” the Doctor explained and pleaded. “Because your THINGS are hunting my people for having special powers” Don said, lighting shoot off his shoulders and disappearing into the sky. “They probably saw your powers as dangerous as my planets advanced weaponry. The more destructive a species gets the harder it is to protect them. Bombs can be dismantled, but only way to get rid of special power is remove person with power. That is very logical” The doctor explained, almost sounding proud of his creations. “LOGICAL?!” Don shouted then grabbed a hold of the doctor and released his elemental energy through his hand into the doctor’s body. The poor old man, was electrocuted, burnt, frozen, and over all torn to shreds by Don’s mix of powers.

            “You went too far man!” Jake yelled fire burning around his body. Don just dropped the smoldering body and began to walk toward the portal. “We need to close the portals and cut the Ascended or guardians off from our world. I get that they want to protect, but if they are going to kill every mage or scientist that might be ‘harmful to humanity’, they gotta go” Don said, ignoring what Jake said earlier. “But what about our powers? We still don’t know why we have them” Samantha chimed in as she followed Don to the portal. “Maybe its just part of humanity. Some people are just gifted” Don replied, not really knowing the real reason. One thing was for sure, their powers weren’t related to the guardians.

            “So what now?” Sidney asked. Don shrugged his shoulders. “We keep fighting. We have a goal now. it wont be long before we destroy every teleport platform and destroy every Ascended we see” Don replied. After that the team was quiet. They got their answers, but were a long way away from a solution. Jake was hopeful, even if they didn’t stop the Ascended today, he knew that day would be close. Pretty soon Mages and regular people could live in peace and the human race could get back to governing itself. Until then, the Rebels and all the other mages would fight.

The Ascended and the War

            Jake spent months with the rebellion of mages, learning better ways to stay undetected and how to fight the Ascended. Spending so much time with the rebels and the regular outcasts was an enlightening experience. He heard all the stories of the people who tried to escape the Ascended, some made it, and many didn’t. He found confirmation of when the first Ascended was spotted in an old book one of the refugee mages had. The first recorded sighting was in the early eighteen hundreds. When a criminal fleeing the law was struck down with lighting. Since then the Ascended talked to the world leaders, helped protect the streets without becoming an over powering force and slowly earned the peoples trust. Once the Ascended were trusted and widely welcomed, they started becoming more involved in the lives of humans, and protected the world a little more strictly. Then in the 1900 hundreds the first of the ‘damned’ appeared and was declared as a risk to humanity and since then the Damned have been hunted. The general populace accept that the Ascended know best and buy the story that the Damned have their powers because of a deal they made with the forces of darkness. Jake learned so much, but no matter how many books he read or stories he listened to, he couldn’t find any information on where the Ascended came from. The religious citizens of the world claim the Ascended are sent from their god, but the Ascended never confirmed or denied this.

            Don had a plan in motion, the rebellion would stop hiding and running and collectively attack the Ascended chambers in the biggest city in the country. New hope city, was originally Newton burg, was the location of the first Ascended sighting. Since many believe the Ascended chose this city on purpose, the largest Ascended chamber was built here. Since people figured the Ascended like the area, businesses and residence started popping up all over the place, trying to be as close to the ‘central hub’ as possible, desiring the increased protection they would get from being close to the source on earth. All of this information was assumed and again the Ascended never confirmed any of this, they just went along with it. Regardless if the central hub was important to the Ascended or not, the rebellion would attack this one to send a message that they are not backing down and they have the power to strike at the heart. Don hoped the rebellion will also get answers when they crack the Ascended chambers open and see what the inner workings really look like.

            Jake and the team was preparing for the big mission, even though they all had powers they were going to bring equipment with them too, like communicators, flashlights, explosives and rations incase they get trapped somewhere. Some of the rebellion carried guns and used their powers to enhance the bullets because their powers alone weren’t strong enough. Now with the right equipment, people and the right plan, they were ready to take the fight to the Ascended.

            Under the cover of night, Don, Jake, Sidney, Samantha, Gregory and the rest of the rebellion moved through the capital city with stealth and ease. Soon they approached it, a large square structure, white marble walls and gold edging and a gold ornamental roof, this was the ‘crown’ and it was more than decoration. The whole structure looked like a white and gold treasure box with a door in the front. The rebellion of mages ran between buildings and made one mad dash for the golden door of the Ascended chamber. They were worried that while they ran for the door they would be exposed and struck down before they could enter the building. Luckily everyone made it inside without alerting the guards or the Ascended.

            Once inside, Jake looked around the first room. It was a simple room, decorated with silver statues and silver edgings around the walls, but simple nonetheless. With a few chairs and desk that sat behind a clerks window. During the day someone would sit behind this wooden paneled window and receive reports from civilians. The reports would be entered into the computer and sent to who knows where.

            Don cracked the lock of the wooden door with his elbow, the door swung open and everyone rushed into the back part of the room where the clerks worked and processed orders. Then Jake saw it, the only important thing in this room, and the door to the rest of the building, a mysterious back room that no one had ever seen. Fire began to burn around Jake as his excitement grew. “Calm yourself Jake, we need to be careful” Don warned. Jake wasn’t listening. Fire burned in his eyes and now engulfed his whole body. “This is it guys, lets break this shit down and get some answers! Everything we all went through, the secluded lives and the hunting, the reasons will be behind this door. Jake approached the door and touched it, his mind racing with possibilities of what lays beyond. “How do we open this thing anyway? I don’t see a handle or lock” Jake asked as he turned to his team. Then he saw Sid cover himself in shadows and launched his body at the door. Jake jumped out of the way. Sid hit the door with incredible force, Sid kicked the door then did a roll in the air sending shadows out to grab the before it fell. The door was torn off its hinges but not a single sound was made, thanks to the shadows that covered the room.

            Beyond the door was another room, larger than the first, white and empty. The only thing in the room was a platform in the center of the room with lighting rising up from it. The group approached the platform, but as they did, light shaped like people with wings began to flow out of the light source in the center. It was the Ascended and this platform and pillar of light seemed to be where they came from. Jake understood a little, it made sense why no one was allowed in the back room and why the chambers were needed in the first place, but he still couldn’t figure out what the Ascended were or why they ‘protected’ earth. “I sense you are all damned. Have you come to turn yourselves in?” Asked one of the Ascended in a calm, emotionless voice. Jake and his group held their ground, but the non-elite members looked nervous and gripped their specialized guns tightly. Don stepped forward “No, we came to demand answers! Why do you hunt us? We haven’t committed any crimes and we never choose to have these powers” Don told the Ascended. “You are a threat to humanity and yourselves. The damned should not exist and we are trying to remedy this problem” Replied the Ascended. As it spoke the five of them all slowly raised their arms and created flaming swords. as soon as the swords appeared the Rebels with guns opened fire.

            Bullets infused with different elemental abilities shot out from a dozen different guns. The five Ascended twitched and shook as to be expected of anyone being shot by a machine gun. But when the firing stopped The Ascended didn’t seem damaged that badly. Wings rose up from the backs of these beings of light and they held their swords out ready to strike. Don’s fingers lit up and five different type of power shot forth from his hand. Don’s hand produced a swirling, twisting energy beam of, Ice, Fire, Lighting and shadow energy. The fifth was a strange pale blue light that no one had ever seen before. The beams glowed and after the blast was finished the energy left a trail that hung in the air like a ghost that didn’t realize it had to pass on.

            Don’s elemental strike reduced the first Ascended to ash and knocked the other four backward. Don held onto his hand as it throbbed and looked burnt after using all that power. “Rebels, retreat and protect the fortress. Elites, stay with me” Don said, trying to catch his breath. Jake figured the back room to the Ascended chamber was going to be important, but by the look on Don’s face and the fact that he told almost his whole unit to retreat showed that this chamber was not only important, but going to be incredibly dangerous.
 ------

Sorry everyone for the delays. this is the third part of the Ascended series and looks like there will be just one more to finish it all up. I promise it will be worth the wait.

The Ascended and the Damned

            It had been two months since Jake discovered his powers and was labeled a damned by the Ascended. Since the Ascended were widely accepted as earths protectors, most humans hated the damned and would report anything they knew to the Ascended chambers. The Ascended Chambers was a large building in every major city that supposedly housed the Ascended that protected the area. The only thing humans ever saw of it was the outside of the building and the first room, which was the reception room, where people would give reports and claims about criminal activities or Damned sightings.

            Jake had to lay low, so he quit his job and left his apartment. He even had to stop using his fancy wrist communicator because the Ascended could track any technology. The only way they could track Jake now would be if he used his powers or someone spotted him and shouted for help. Since the Ascended were global there was no point in leaving the city, Jake had to just lay low. He used the dark corridors to get around the city. These routes were perfect for criminals and refugees that needed to disappear. It was difficult enough being on the run, but on top of that real criminals surrounded Jake, like rapists, murders and thieves. Jake was only a criminal because he was born with powers, he hadn’t actually done anything wrong, except maybe kill an Ascended, but that was self-defense.

            After some time living on the run, Jake heard rumors and whispers of a den were people lived that had powers like Jake. After questioning drug dealers and informants he eventually located the place. Down an alley, move a dumpster and drop down into the sewers, walk a mile until you see a broken wall that connects to a caved in train station. Jake followed the directions exactly until he came to a large open train station. The walls had been repaired and the whole place was cleaned the best it could be. Inside were dozens of men, women and even children going about their lives.

            Someone spotted Jake and the air grew tense. A burly man walked up to Jake and without saying anything, his eyes flashed with a spark of electricity. Jake realized that it was a way to show his power without actually using it. So they wouldn’t be found by the Ascended. Jake tried his best and a little spark of flames shot from his eye. His first try was a bit clumsy, but it did the trick. “I see you are one of us. I will bring you to Don, he leads us” the man said. Jake followed the large man through the main room of the train station. Different people of every age and race could be seen. They were all just people, who happened to have powers or something that made them different, and now they were hunted just like Jake was.

            Jake walked through the crowd, up some stairs and into an office to the left. Through the door and sitting in a large chair was Don. He wore casual clothes like everyone else, but seemed a little more knowing and alert. He was bald, had dark skin, brown eyes and his finger tips sizzled with three different kinds of energy. Tiny little sparks of energy that looked like ice, fire and lighting glowed at his at fingertips. Don didn’t seem to be able to hide his power any better than that. “please, sit down” Don said quietly. Jake sat down and the two began to talk. Jake explained everything that happened to him and even mentioned having to kill an Ascended and the guy he tried to rescue. “And that is pretty much my whole story” Jake explained. Don just sat and listened carefully. “I am impressed that you were able to kill an ascended. You’re the third person I know of that has been able to do that” Don explained. “third?” Jake said. Don nodded. Yes, first there was me, then a little from our group killed one but died in the process, then there was you” Don explained. Jake flinched a little when he pictured a little girl standing up to those things and dying fighting. “Children shouldn’t be involved” Jake muttered. “None of us should be involved. These Ascended creatures forced us to act. That is our life right now” Don snapped back. He cleared his throat and went back to the important business at hand. “So I would like to welcome you into our little circle. You may live and hide here with us, but if you would like to be more active to our cause, I strongly encourage you to join the rebellion. We call ourselves the mages. Because I refuse to believe we are anything more than humans who have magic. We are certainly not damned, or evil.” Don said, getting very worked up as he talked. “I will join your rebellion. I will do anything I can”

            Don then decided to introduce Jake to the team in the rebellion. They walked down a hallway and into a large training room where some of the most powerful mages trained. Gregory, the large man from the door moved earth and rocks around with ease. Sid, darted quickly around the room, using a strange shadow power to warp and strike out at practice dummies, and Samantha, or Sam. She could cover herself in ice armor and created ice weapons, fighting with savagery and precision. The rest of the rebellion was also fierce and loyal, but worked together like soldiers and left the heavy lifting to one of the main rebel members.

            Jake was formally introduced to the group and after talking for a few minutes, Gregory started looking familiar. Then it hit him. Gregory looked like a larger version of the guy that Jake tried to save. When Jake mentioned it Gregory was silent for a while before explaining that it was his brother, who had been missing for a while. Gregory left home and went into hiding, assuming his brother and parents would be safe with him gone, but since his brother also turned out to have hidden powers, the Ascended continued to hunt his family. Jake and the others tried to comfort Gregory, but he needed space and went off into the tunnels to clear his head. Jake never had close family, but by the looks on their faces, the other rebel members did. This just made the mission that much more important. They needed to figure out why the Ascended hunted the Damned, and stop them anyway they could.

Now that the rebellion had strong enough forces to appose the Ascended and even more reasons to fight, this would be the beginning of the war with the Ascended. With Don leading the mages and Jake an even stronger alley then even he realized. The battle for freedom and peace had just begun.

The Ascended

            It was a quiet night in the city. the gentle glow of street lamps and lights from inside the buildings pushed back the darkness. then a shriek could be heard, piercing the silence. The scream was quick and then all was quiet. In a dark alley away from the soft light, a man had cornered a woman against a wall. She had screamed once, but now her mouth was covered. The man rummaged through her pockets and took her purse. He seemed nervous, but determined to get what he needed.

            A light pierced the dark alley, soft at first but then bright and blinding all at once. When the robber could see again he saw a human figure with bird wings. It was one of the Ascended and this is what the robber was so nervous about running into. The Ascended usually have beautiful skin and hair, with a wide variation of shades and colors, with eyes that are always either bright green or blue. Anyone who sees an Ascended says how beautiful they are, no matter the race or gender of the person seeing it, they all agree. This Ascended looked down at the robber with pity, as a parent looks at a child who has done wrong. The robber began to plead. Then with blinding speed the robber had been impaled on a golden spear. Still alive the robber screamed as his torso was skewered. The Ascended lifted the spear above its head and lighting struck the spear, incinerating the criminal instantly. Without a word, the woman’s rescuer turned and flew off into the night, bringing the glow of morning and the gentle light with it.

            Jake left his apartment, wearing a black hoodie, blue jeans, black running shoes and a white t-shirt. He has dark brown hair, reddish brown eyes and pale skin. The night had grown later, but Jake didn’t seem to mind. He was one of the few people he knew that preferred the night over the day, night was also so quiet and as long as you knew where you were going, you would be perfectly safe. Jake wasn’t really afraid of murders or thieves. It was the Ascended that bothered him. While everyone else was overjoyed to have angels defend them in their darkest hour, Jake saw it as a threat. Anyone who can pass immediate judgment and kill someone without thinking can’t be as good as everyone says. Just being the Ascended shine and have wings, people assume they are holy. Jake also never understood why everyone says how beautiful they are. The few times hes seen one, they were just light shaped like humans with wings. He never saw the hair and eyes and wonderful skin people would go on about.

            Jake was on his way to work, he worked late hours into early morning, hours most people didn’t want. Jake was twenty and living alone. Jake didn’t have a car and the bus didn’t make regular stops by his street, so he had to walk everywhere. On the bright side he did have one of the newest wristband phones that besides calling people, it could bring up a calendar, calculator, messaging system, clock, internet, bank account, pedometer and voice recognition. It could also check your blood alcohol levels and pulse. Jake wondered if maybe he should have bought one of the basic phones or communicators and instead saved for a car, or put all that time and money into finding a girlfriend.

            After about twenty minutes of walking, Jake arrived at his work, a twenty four hour bar called “drink till your dead”. Jake wasn’t sure about the name, but gave the owner credit for honesty. Before Jake could get into the bar he saw someone run past him in a panic. It was a man in his mid twenties, dark skin, black hair with brown eyes. Chasing the poor guy was one of the Ascended, which was quickly catching up to the frightened man. The Ascended had been around so long ‘keeping the peace’, that most people wouldn’t have given this situation another thought. Almost everyone believed that if an Ascended was chasing you, you deserved it. Jake didn’t agree with this and decided to see if he could find out what was going on. If this man was guilty he needed to know for his own sake and if the man was innocent, Jake wanted to help.

            Jake saw the back of the Ascended, just pure light and rippling energy, that seemed to be holding a large jagged, golden sword about its head. “Stop!” Jake shouted. He didn’t know what he could do, but hoped that the protectors of humanity and the planet could be reasoned with. The Ascended turned around in a flash and flew straight at Jake. “Stop! Why are you attacking him? Did you even ask this man his side of the story? Do you things have any compassion?” Jake shouted, letting his emotions get the better of him. “It is not a human’s place to judge. It is the place of the Ascended to Judge those living on this planet. Order will be held, justice served. The only side of the story needed is ours” The Ascended replied. Its voice echoed through the air and sounded more like someone speaking through a microphone than what others have claimed they sound like. Jake remembered people say the voice of an Ascended was like honey for your ears. This felt like sandpaper on the ears.

            The Ascended didn’t seem eager to attack Jake, probably because Jake hadn’t done anything wrong. Jake still had the chance to save himself if he wanted, but if he did, this man would be murdered. The death penalty was used for anyone who sinned, it didn’t matter if they stole a piece of bread or murdered a whole family. “You can’t help me” said the scared man. Jake gritted his teeth. “No! Listen. What did he even do? He doesn’t seem like a criminal” Jake told the Ascended, to which it replied very flatly. “This man is one of the damned. A subspecies of human that threaten the order and balance of the world”

            Jake was confused, he didn’t know what these “Damned” were, but he didn’t believe being born a certain way was a crime. “I’m not a damned, I don’t even have any powers!” Shouted the Man. The Ascended turned around and decided to resolve the situation. He shot a bolt of lighting down striking the man dead and incinerating his corpse. “No! what are you things? He wasn’t a threat to anyone!” Jake shouted. Anger boiled in his soul at the injustice of the world and how everyone chooses to ignore it. “Another damned has been located” The Ascended announced. Jake snapped out of his fit of rage to realize he was on fire. His whole body was engulfed in fire, yet he wasn’t burning. He stretched his hand out as a reflex he didn’t know he had and fire shot forward in a stream. Fire poured out of his hands like water from a high-powered water hose. The flames surrounded the Ascended, setting it on fire and eventually burning it to ash.

            All the fires quickly went out after that. It was just Jake and two piles of ash at the end of a quiet street. Jake was finding more questions than answers right now, but decided to leave quickly. No one knew the Ascended could be killed, but it would make sense that killing one was the worst crime imaginable in this world.  Jake wasn’t sure what to do with his new powers, but he did know that if an Ascended came looking for him, they would have a bigger fight on their hands then they could imagine.