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Creede Part III

Part III

The Gargantuan stood amidst the rubble and chaos he had caused.  The unconscious Jeremy lying under a mound of debris.

All the piles of rubble lay still as the Gargantuan approached the wile where Jeremy once stood. “Creede, my boy, come out and play,” he laughed, “We’er not done yet.  The Ministry of Carpatha has plans for you.”

As he neared the pile Jeremy erupted with a barrage of punches.  Each one he landed began force the Gargantuan back.  “This one is for all the people you killed…this one is for luring me into this trap…and this one is for the woman I loved!”  The final blow Jeremy struck sent the Gargantuan flying through a thick concrete wall.

Jeremy smiled as he watched the dust settle from the now collapsed wall.  In the wake of the dust Jeremy could make out the Gargantuan’s silhouette standing unharmed.  The smile slowly left his face as the Gargantuan began laughing demonically.

Fear was the last thing to cross Jeremy’s mind as he charged the behemoth again.  Jeremy was met by a fist that stopped him cold.

When Jeremy awoke the Director of Admissions, Mr. Carpenter was standing at his side.  He was talking with a shorter, grey haired fellow.  “You know, Lawrence, I thought that we were cleared to recruit,” he started, “You’d think that the Ministry of Carpatha would be gunning for the big dogs.  Why Creede?”

Jeremy was dazed but he finally realized that the man Mr. Carpenter was speaking to was the man who had just sent him a welcome postcard from Florence, NY, Lawrence Grey.

“Well how do you feel, Jeremy?” Lawrence asked as he looked down at the still dazed Jeremy Creede.

“I feel like…costume…Tiffany?” Jeremy was rapidly coming out of his stupor, “Is she...?”

Lawrence bowed his head as he looked away, “I’m sorry, kid.  I got here as fast as I could and believe me when I say I made it a short trip.”  Lawrence said placing his hand on Jeremy’s shoulder.

Jeremy was heartbroken.  His eyes welled with tears as he thought of his promise to her.  He thought of the costume she had made him with love in every stitch.

“So when do we leave?” Jeremy said as the tears began to run down his face.

“You aren’t ready for him?” Lawrence said. “We will leave now for training.”  Lawrence knew what Jeremy had on his mind.  He had been down that road himself.  When his wife was murdered by the Disciples of Ragnarok, he chased his wife’s murderer to another universe to catch him.  Lawrence knew the pain well, but also knew what it meant if Jeremy were to face the Gargantuan now.  He needed training, focus, and the understanding of what ultimate justice truly was.

“Training? What do you mean…training?” Jeremy argued, “I’m going to find that Gargantuan and kill him.”  Jeremy shot up from the sidewalk were he had been laying and grabbed Lawrence by the lapels of his suit jacket.  “I’m going now and if you have a problem…” Jeremy’s sentence was brought to a screeching halt as Lawrence turned and drove him face first into the pavement.

Lawrence managed to hold him there as he struggled and fought to get up. “Now listen up. I’ve seen a lot of your types since I started with the RBP.  You hunt him down now and he’ll kill you.  I’ve fought the Gargantuan myself and all I know is that I had a hard time getting him locked away the first time locking him away the first time.  Now he’s back and for some reason he working with the Ministry of Carpatha.  So if you don’t agree to training I’ll just kill you first and save the Gargantuan the trouble.  Understand?” 

Lawrence was right.  If Lawrence could render Jeremy useless what could the Gargantuan do?

Jeremy conceded to Lawrence’s command as he dusted himself off.  Jeremy’s heart was on fire.  He had tasted loves sweet embrace and in an instant it had been taken from him.  They made their way to Lawrence’s van as more rescue workers appeared on the scene.

“There’s no telling what the tabloids will say about this one.” Mr. Carpenter chimed in.

Once they were both in the van and on their way Jeremy’s curiosity began to get the better of him.  He noticed Lawrence glancing at a photo of a beautiful woman on the dash of the van. “Who is she?” Jeremy asked as he sipped on a soda Lawrence had provided.

“Well that’s a story for another time.  Let’s just say that her killer is the reason I don’t want you trailing around after the Gargantuan.”

“He killed your wife, didn’t he?”

“No, not the Gargantuan, but his son, Tordal.  He is far more powerful.  Where Tordal was able to hurl a car at you with ease…The Gargantuan can hurl a small building.” Jeremy fell silent at his words.

After that there wasn’t much talking going on.  Jeremy couldn’t argue his way to the monster.  His only path lay at the end of an eight hour trip.  Final destination, Florence, New York.

To be continued…

Creede Part II

Part II

Jeremy took a good long look in the mirror when he came home.  He had only hoped for the chance to go to college.  He had never even considered moving so far away so soon.  He had always figured that he would stay close to home anyway to help his father with the farm.

‘RBP?’ he thought to himself as he sat down at the small computer desk in his room.  He typed it into the web search engine and hit enter.  A very long list came up.  There were numerous reports from news sites on the recent happenings in New York.  He had seen the three letters on one of the folders in the Manila folder.

He pulled the envelope from his bag and pulled out the folder.  Inside there was only one single form.  It looked more like a McDonald’s application than the application to some government agency.

Moments after the search engine loaded its results he noticed that his email had a new email in it.  He was used to getting a lot of email from family and friends, but this one was different.  It was the title that caught his attention. ‘RBP Lawrence Grey’.  It read:

Dear Mr. Jeremiah Creede,

I recently received word on your skills recently and we would like

to offer you a position within our organization.  If you have any

questions or concerns feel free to call me

Lawrence Grey

914-555-6555

Jeremy smiled.  He would not sleep that night.  With recent events in Florence New York the world was starting to notice something.  Not everyone was normal.  He was starting to notice something as well.  Neither was he. 

‘So are they superheroes straight out of a comic book?’ he thought as he began to pack a bag.  As the first piece of clothing fell in it hit him, ‘Why do they want me? Sure I’m a great athelete, but they couldn’t possibly think that…’ He was immediately reminded of what had happened at EKU only a few hours ago. 

It was obvious that he was different and he wondered what this might do to his family.  How would they react?  There had been an outpour of malicious rhetoric about ‘Humananovum’ or New Humans. 

The phone rang and Jeremy’s mind was thrust back into the present.  “Hello, Creede Farm.”  He had become so accustomed to farm life his answer was just reflex.

It was Tiffany, Jeremy’s high school sweetheart.  He hadn’t even thought about what this meant for their relationship.  “Jeremy, I just heard,” She sobbed, “Some place in New York wants to hire you?”

“Well, yeah.  I only found out a few hours ago.  I hadn’t thought to call…” he half expected her to snap at him for not calling sooner.  There was just so much to take in he hadn’t got there yet.

“So, you’re one of them…I mean…a Humananovum?”

“Maybe, but it’s just a job offer.  They’ll probably do a physical and run some blood work and send me back.  I doubt…” Jeremy paused, he knew it was a lie and it killed him to say it. “Look…something happened today on campus…I don’t know how to explain it, but…”

“So you are,” he could hear her sobbing deeply, “Well you go do your superhero thing and once you save the  world…you come back home to me.”

Jeremy didn’t know what to say.  Tiffany hung up before he could even respond.  He didn’t want to leave her, but surely the signs were there.

The rest of the night was quiet.  His parents came home from running errands and started dinner.  The smell of frying chicken soon filled the house.

After dinner there was a knock at the door.  Jeremy answered to find Tiffany standing there.  She had been crying and her eyes were still red, but as she looked at him she handed him a box she had been carrying.  “It’s just a little something I made for you.” 

Jeremy invited her in.  He brought her a glass of lemonade from the kitchen and sat down beside her.  “I know this changes everything, but I think I should do this.”

“Just open it.” Tiffany said fighting to hold back more tears.  The box held a costume.  It was blue and red trimmed with gold.  “I just thought that if you were going off to play superhero you’d need a good costume…do you like it?”

He was amazed at the quality and especially liked the shining star on the chest. “It’s…amazing.  Did you make this?”

She nodded, “Every stitch.”

“I…don’t know what to say.”

“Say you’ll come back when you can.”

“I will,” he said pulling her in close, “when I can.”

That night they lay asleep holding each other tight knowing it could be for the last time. 

When morning came Jeremy found that he was alone.  From the looks of things Tiffany had already left.  Jeremy got dressed and headed for the door.

As he was coming down the stairs the doorbell rang. ‘Tiffany must have just stepped out, I’d better go let her in.’ He thought as he quickened his pace.  The door swung open to no one.  All that was there was a note.  It read:

You had better be on that bus for Florence NY.  If you don’t I’ll see to it that Tiffany…well I think you get the picture.

Sincerely,

The Gargantuan

The shock overwhelmed him.  It wasn’t possible.  He reached for his cell phone and dialed her up only to find that the voice mail had changed.  It was still Tiffany, but now she was reading the note that he had been left.

‘Is the Gargantuan with the RBP? What do they think will come from this? My willing participation?’ he thought as he grabbed his bag and headed out the door.

The bus station was packed to capacity with college students arriving for the fall semester.  Jeremy couldn’t help but wonder if anyone here was just stopping through on their way to Florence.

“One ticket to Florence New York, please.” Jeremy requested as he looked around carefully.

“Are you Mr. Creede?”  the cashier asked.

“Yeah…”

“Your ticket was paid for some time ago, but I have a message that was left here for you this morning.”

The cashier handed over his ticket and a sealed envelope. ’The Gargantuan was here,’ he thought as he quickly opened the letter.

I’m glad to see you made it on time for your bus.  I assure you that Tiffany will be quite alright as long as you get on.  In fact you will see her pretty, smiling face as soon as you pull away.

If you decide to walk away this entire bus station will erupt in a ball of fire.

Sincerely,

The Gargantuan

“Is the person that left this message still here?” Jeremy demanded.

“I don’t know sir.”

“Well if that person returns please give them this message for me…” Jeremy scribbled down a note for the cashier to call the police and evacuate the building calmly.

The cashier eyed the message carefully then looked up at Jeremy.  His face seemed to say, ‘just shut up and do it’.  She nodded to him and retreated back into the manager’s office.

Jeremy picked up his bag and headed for his bus.  There was a good chance that Tiffany’s kidnapper would still set the station ablaze and Jeremy didn’t want those lives on his conscience.  He wasn’t sure if getting on that bus was the right thing to do, but it seemed to be the only way to prevent bloodshed.

As he began to climb on a booming voice came from behind him. “You are so foolish.  Did you think I wasn’t watching you?” Jeremy turned to see.  He knew that he was going to see the Gargantuan.  At least, that’s what he wanted.

Jeremy laughed when he saw him.  The man was sporting red metal armor.  “And you are? Captain lobster? The red rocket?”

As he approached the Gargantuan he was startled at how much taller the man was than himself.  He was at least two feet taller than Jeremy.  His face was covered with a metallic mask like a skull. “I am the bringer of despair. I am the soldier of destruction. I am the harbinger of death. I am the Gargantuan!” the man screamed, “Your little girl friend dies, NOW!” 

In the Gargantuan’s hand was a small remote.  He clicked the button.  The explosion took the entire bus station up in a burst of heat and flames.  The fires of the explosion consumed nearly everyone and those who still remained were now trapped in the inferno.

To Be Continued…