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Jupiter: The Bringer of a New Life

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Jupiter: The Bringer of a New Day

          “I don’t like the looks of that guy,” Orion said as he paced the room. Artemis sighed, wrapping a blanket around Jupiter. “Neither do I. But we must first focus on getting Jupiter warm. You know how he is when exposed to the cold.

          “I don’t know what else he could want from him, but I know that it isn’t good at all…” Orion laid his head in his hands before his wife laid a hand on his shoulder. The newborn screamed for his nourishment, interrupting the awkward, silent moment.

          “I’ll go get the milk from the grocery store,” Orion suddenly remembered. He mentally slapped himself for forgetting.

          In his heated car, amidst the pouring rain, the bomberman shifted his gear stick and was on his way.

*** Rendezvous at the Store ***

          At the grocery store, he found himself in the dilemma of choosing regular or skim milk. He never had quite a grip on these terminology. As long as it helped his son, that was good enough for the family. So he picked up the regular milk and placed it with a heavy drop in his cart.

          Over to the infants’ care aisle, he couldn’t help but eavesdrop into two different bombermen discussing something quite odd. By scrutinizing their attire, he recognized them as Sirius and Behemos. He slowly walked out of sight, but close to them in a nearby aisle.

Behemos: It’s a pleasure to see you again, Sirius. Everything OK in Rainbow Palace?

Sirius: Of course, the children are always smiling as usual.

Behemos: I’m sure that it’s a delight to see.

As they carried their conversation into the dairy aisle, Orion followed after them in a ninja suit.

Behemos: Really, Sirius, how goes?

Sirius: Not quite so well. Ever since Artemis’s child has been born, rumors surged that Altair is up to his sleeves in the laboratory, lately. I haven’t looked into further details, yet, but I can assure you that it’s concerning the child.

Behemos: *sigh* And just when everything was getting better for the family. You know how he was during the war.

Sirius: Of course, who could’ve forgotten about it? Nobody could escape his grasp. And neglecting his own children, but yet they still manage to live.

Behemos: There’s nothing that I can’t really do without Vega around. It’s always watching over them. I just hope that one of us gets them out of there before it collapses altogether. You know how stubborn Altair is when it comes to his possessions.”

          Sirius began to ponder, rubbing a hand on his chin. “We could pull it off, you know.” Behemos blinked in confusion. “I quite didn’t understand what you mean there.” Sirius continued, “We could pull it off, you know. Adopting the kids for ourselves.” Then he spread out his arms in a careless manner. “We’ll just have to do a trade. Two for two. Or one for two.”

          Behemos began to understand his colleague’s plans. “Ah, I see where you’re getting to.” “That’s the spirit!” Sirius clapped his hands together, “Now… who to trade?”

          By the time that they had finished their conversation, Orion had already picked out the supplies and was at the checkout. But they managed to catch him in the corner of their eyes. They instantly veered to the same line as he did.

          “Orion! It’s good to see you again!” Sirius called out. “How’s the family coming up?”

          “Rather well,” Orion replied lightly. “And you?”

          “Quite fine! Nothing to worry about over here,” Sirius chuckled.

          After some quick minutes, they met under the rooftop of the store. The splashing droplets pitter-pattered rapidly, making the condition of a conversation unproductive at the moment. “Are you sure you’re ok?” Behemos asked Orion, while looking with his solemn eyes, “You don’t seem too well.” Orion slung the bags over his left arm and with his right hand, drew the hood on his head. “I’m fine,” he said, “I can manage just fine.” After he left, Behemos questioned to Sirius, “You think he heard us?” The white bomberman waved his hand airily. “Not at all.”

*** Home ***

          When he got home, nobody was there to greet him at the door. How odd. Orion quietly kicked the door shut. Then he set the groceries down and looked around the room. The fire was put out, yet everything was set in order. Artemis must’ve fed Jupiter already and put him to bed. He peeked into the kitchen to see Artemis stirring the soup. Before he could open his mouth, the phone rang. His wife sighed as she switched hands before answering it.

“Hello? This is she. No, he’s not here right now, but I can take a message.”

As he watched, her stirring got slower and slower as she listened. Her eyes widened, then dropped the spoon in the pot. “E-Excuse me? I don’t believe we… o-okay.” She pressed the end tone before slamming it into the wall. “Crazy man,” she muttered. She placed the pot in the refrigerator without remembering to take the spoon out. She turned around to face Orion. Her hands started to shake nervously and stumbled across to the couch. “I don’t think we can live here any longer,” she stammered. Orion quickly rushed to her aid, bringing an ice-cold glass of water. “What’s the matter?” he asked.

*** The next day ***

            “I am most honored to have you in my company again!!” Altair said with a gleeful grin. “Cut the smack, Altair, what do you want with him?” Altair rubbed his hands together in planning. “Now, I just need a sample of his blood…” Orion was hesitant at first, but knowing the inevitablet, but reluctantly gave him up. The newborn squealed, much to his chagrin. Then with the blood sample, infused it with some sticky goo in a jar. It suddenly writhed, screeching in agony then disappeared. The black bomberman put a hand to his chin and said, “Interesting. Usually it doesn’t respond that way.”

          “What are you getting to?” Orion asked. Altair crossed his arm, lowering his glasses. “Usually this specimen didn’t infuse with the blood of the other patients.” Orion gulped, “So you mean you’ve been drawing blood from other people, too?” Altair laughed, waving his hand dismissively.

          “Of course, my good man. I am only trying to further the cause of humanity by enabling people to infuse with this substance. Once they are joined together, they will make inevitable destruction to those who keep getting in the way of my studies. You don’t understand, obviously, with that dumbfounded look on your face. I will explain, for a rather small price.”

          “No thank you,” Orion said, taking his son back. Jupiter didn’t say anything at all, he was rather silent for the whole time. Before he could ask, the lights turned out.

          “Stand back,” Altair said, he took out a flashlight, working on the generator box. It fizzled and sparked as he used his wrench to fix it. “There, that should i-,“ he was cut off by the lights flickering from on to off again. “What the heck?”

          Orion used it as his opportunity to talk his way out. “So… if this is slowing down your experiment by any chance, then we should probably get going.”

          “No you don’t.” Altair demanded for them to stay put. He paced across the lab for a few moments. “Unless the particles… fused with the generator… and the… Then I have accomplished such a feat. I have done it!” The scientist clapped his hands together and rubbed them. “You are free to go.” Without another word, Orion left with Jupiter in his arms.

          Altair was about to revel in his glory when a knock sounded on the door. “Knock knock,” Sirius said, poking his head in. “The lights went out.” The bomberman rolled his eyes at him, “Don’t you have something else to do rather than nosiness?” Sirius laughed, “I suppose not. Anyways, I got a little curious after seeing Orion leave from your lab. What is this ‘great experiment’ that you boast of?” Altair grunted, only giving a slight acknowledge to the question. “The ultimate potential to solving light problems.” Sirius then spoke in a deeper voice, “What’s wrong with light? I thought you always admired seeing it glint on my palace from far.” The black bomberman continued, “You mean I loathed the very slight of the sun peeking out from my windows. I prefer the darkness to light.”

          “And through this experiment,” he continued, “All the light in the world shall be consumed by eternal darkness. All I have to do is to inject a few shots into the population, and we already 23 years of darkness ahead of us. I figured that I should get headstart while it was still early.”

          Sirius shook his head in pity. “I’m afraid that wouldn’t be possible. You see, darkness always dissolve into light at the end. Your pathetic attempts to control the Earth with your needs will fail. Just like all of your other experiments.” He gestured to the broken creations, which were lying around in a heap of garbage.

          Altair smirked. “You’re wrong. I have gained the upper hand. If my first patient manages to stay alive for at least 3 centuries, then the whole Earth shall be consumed.” Sirius’ eyes glowed red and he grabbed the collar of Altair’s lab coat. With a forceful thrust, they both managed to find themselves resisting the other’s grip on the lab table. “What have you done with Orion’s child!?”

*** Home ***

            “The lights have been flickering on and off ever since you came home,” Artemis noted. Orion sighed, “I know. I’ll call the repairman to fix it.” Artemis took Jupiter from his arms and noticed his silence. “Is something wrong with him?” she asked. He only shrugged in response. “It’s a relief to my ears.” With a glare from Artemis, he didn’t dare to say another word.

          “There’s a bandage on Jupiter,” Artemis’s voice began to waver. “He’s been injected, isn’t he? What has he been injected with?” Orion just sat down on the couch next to her with void eyes. “We just need to get out of here,” he said.

          “We can’t, remember? We have to work for-“

          “One more day. After tomorrow, we’ll finally be released from our debts…”

          Artemis’ eyes widened, shocked and in disbelief. “It’s too good to be true. There has to be a catch,” she murmured.

          “Well then, we’ll just have to prepare ourselves for whatever lies ahead for us.”

          “OH MY GOSH!!” With one arm, she pulled Orion into a tight hold. “I never thought I would live to this day.”

          “And the day won’t come unless we seize it. Now let’s start packing.”

          The lights flickered off, much to Orion’s chagrin. “And there is no way that I’m going back out there to find the repairman in this weather.”

*** The Last Night ***

            Orion and Artemis slept the last few hours away in the dark, awaiting to get back to work for the next morning. They heard a rapid knocking at the door. Orion looked through the peeping hole and asked, “Who goes there?”

          “I-It’s Sirius! And he’s unconscious!” The once grave voice sounded urgent, one that Orion couldn’t resist. He opened the door to let Behemos in. In his arms, Behemos was carrying an unconscious Sirius. The unconscious bomberman gripped the syringe in his hands tightly, as if it was his soul. He was cracked in many places and splatters of blood was covered on his white armor.

          “He’s in serious condition. He was trying to fight Altair for the antidote and succeeded. Did your son get infected, too?”

          “INFECTION!?!” Artemis shrieked. She started shaking really badly. Orion motioned for her to put Jupiter in his arms. The rain fell even harder. Lightning began to strike the atmosphere. She dazily got up and went to get the first aid kit.

          As they worked to help him, Sirius awoke to find everyone hunched over him. “What’s going on?” he slurred uneasily. “You’ve managed to get the anecdote,” Behemos said cheerfully. “But the bad news is that Altair has already injected Jupiter. The side effects is already taking place.”

          Artemis’s eyebrows rose, “In the middle of the night.”

          “Not quite as he expected,” Sirius continued, “Because he was planning to hold it in broad daylight. It’s only light-eating, you know.” He winced when Artemis patted an alcohol-soaked cottonball on his wounds. “And injecting Jupiter was his greatest mistake. Because the substance that he first experimented on was his desired target. The substance has to be in the victim before its full effect can work. You are lucky that he can only take out your house’s lights, and that it will only be his main resource. If he was infused, the damage could spread throughout your neighborhood. Think of the possibilities his experiments could gain!”

          The lights continued flickering as they attended to his wounds. Behemos quickly injected Jupiter with the antidote. “It’ll take him some time before it works.”

          “I don’t know how we can repay you,” Artemis gratefully thanked them. “I resist that option,” Sirius replied. “It’s least we can do to help you repay the last of your debts tomorrow.”

          “But you must leave quickly,” Behemos urged them. “It isn’t long before Altair’s sanity slips completely.”

          “Understood,” Orion said.

*** Epilouge ***

            At Blue Resort, Orion and his family have finally adapted to their new environment. Jupiter grew into a mature and strong bomberman, like his parents have been praying for. The Blue Resort inhabitants were particularly nice to them, unlike their previous settlement. They met an elderly grandma who housed two brothers - one mature and the other... still learning. Months and seasons went by quickly. Behemos and Sirius had visited the family to say hi once in a while. One season went by, and they started receiving letters from the Rainbow Palace. Sirius seemed to be doing quite well... as they hoped.
        One early spring morning, Behemos came by with grave news. Due to an ambush by Black Fortress, Sirius was unable to maintain control of the Palace. He had been admitted into the hospital, putting things under Behemos' care. Regulus and Zoniha were adopted by Behemos, as Sirius previously discussed in case of emergencies like this were to happen. Ashtarth and Baelfael were also withdrawn by Behemos. All the kids were placed under his care. In order to recover from the traumatizing attack, they went to Blue Resort.

    But that's another story... or could it be?

Story commission for HeiyaPumkin.
© 2014 - 2024 RadicalSabbath
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HeiyaPumkin's avatar
Thanks a lot!!! you are getting really awesome writting fanfics!! :D !!!

Someone finally see Altair like a Scientific <3


(i will pay you now ^^ )