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Silent Jury
Issue #14
by Tom Zjaba
Chapter 18
Different Paths
The team materializes inside the fortress to see the other wizards waiting for
them. They are standing on opposite sides of the magical cage that holds The
Fallen One. There is a sense of relief in their faces as their battle with The
Fallen One has gone much better than expected. It is a sense of relief to have
him captured and to be returning to their world. And it is great for them to
finally have their comrade back. Also waiting is Gadget, Charlie and Mr. Smith.
Robert can see that they have worried looks on their faces. Being in the
presence of such powerful men makes them uneasy. Also, having The Fallen One in
the same room makes them very nervous. Even though he is in a cage and cannot
harm them, the thought of someone with that much power and hatred is enough to
make anyone a little scared. When they see The One laying there still, they rush
over to see what happened to him. Connie is still there by his side, still
hanging onto him as if to keep his soul from leaving this earth. Tears are
rolling down her face as she continues to cry. Charlie comes over to her and
puts his hand on her shoulder. He does not know what to say to comfort her, so
he remains silent and just lets his touch say what his mouth cannot. He still
has conflicted feelings towards the One. It was not that long ago that The One
turned traitor and sold them out to Justin Rage. This is a wound that is still
very fresh in his mind. But he does know that Connie still has feelings for him.
He has been her bodyguard for the better part of ten years and has watched her
grow up from a little girl to a woman. She always looked up to him like a big
brother. Being an only child, she always dreamed of having a big brother to look
out for her and he was as close as she would get.
The other wizards then come over to Daniel and ask "Are you ready to return
home?" Daniel nods his head and says "I have longed for this day." Robert walks
up to him and says "I know we cannot talk you into staying. But I wanted you to
know that I was honored to fight alongside you." Daniel turns to him and smiles.
"The honor is mine. You fight with the courage of a true warrior." He then lifts
his hands and does a quick spell. Light comes out of his hands and it bathes
Robert's body. Within seconds, the pain he felt from the battle leaves his body.
The scars and the bruises also disappear. He is completely healed from his
ordeal. "I cannot heal your armor, but I can heal your body." He then does the
same to the girls, who also find their aches and pains healed. Connie rises from
The One and heads over to hug Daniel. Vanessa also comes over and gives him a
big hug. "We are going to miss you." He hugs them back as he feels his own tears
welling up in his eyes. "I will also miss you. You have been my only family in
this world." Charlie and Gadget also come over and give him a hug."
Once the goodbyes are done, Daniel walks over to the other wizards and says "Let
us depart." Together, they walk into the temporary hole to their dimension and
disappear from site. In seconds, all trace of the wizards, Daniel and the Fallen
One are gone. Everyone looks at each other. Mr. Smith turns off the machine and
ends the connection between the two dimensions. As he walks away from the
machine, he looks at Gadget and says "I think it is best if we take this machine
apart." Gadget nods in agreement.
Connie then turns to her father and says "We need to take The One home and bury
him." Charlie looks at her with a sadness in his eyes and says "It is the
honorable thing to do." Robert then looks at The One and then looks at Connie
and asks "Are you coming back?" She lowers her head and begins to cry again. "I
don't know. I need time to think, to grieve." Robert goes over and gives her a
big hug. "I understand. Take all the time you need. Just remember we are here
for you." She looks up at him with the tears rolling down her face and forces a
smile. "I know. Thank you." Vanessa then comes over and gives her a big hug.
"You take care of yourself. I will miss you. You are like the sister I always
wanted." The two girls hug as they both begin crying. Even Charlie and Gadget
are hugging as they know this may be the end of the line. But the goodbyes are
interrupted as Mr. Smith asks "I don't mean to break this up, but how exactly
are you going to move this body? It must weigh a ton." Everyone looks up at him
and they all begin laughing. Soon, the whole room is filled with laughter.
A single motor boat zooms over the ocean as it heads towards an island. The boat
is loaded with supplies and is being driven by Justin Rage. Behind the boat is
an ocean liner that brought them out here. Justin has made a long trip to get to
this point. He is now headed to a deserted island that he bought years ago. His
only contact with the island was a fly over before he bought it. He always
wanted a place he could escape to. With the lifestyle he led, it was only a
matter of time before he would seek refuge here. As he nears the island, the
ocean liner drives off. It normally does not travel past this island. But a nice
bribe was enough to convince the captain to alter his course. Since it is a
cargo ship and not a passenger ship, it was not hard to get the captain and crew
to add a few days to their voyage. Now Justin is leaving behind the last bit of
civilization as he heads to this otherwise abandoned island.
As the boat reaches the shore, Justin climbs out and pulls it on the beach. He
knows it is his only way off the island and wants to make sure it is safe. As he
pulls the boat onto the sandy beach, he looks around at his island. All around
him is a very thick jungle, as far as the eye can see. The trees grow close
together with all kinds of plants sprouting up from the ground. Vines wrap
around the trees. He hears the sounds of birds and monkeys in the distance. The
trees are thick, but he can already see fruit bearing trees. He knows that he
will not starve on the island. Not that it was a big worry as he brought a fair
amount of food as well as some seeds and farming tools. He expects to be here
for awhile and came prepared.
The boat is quite heavy and he can only pull it so far. It is weighed down with
all the supplies that he has packed. When he cannot go any further, he begins to
unload the boat. One by one, he pulls the heavy crates off the boat. As he feels
the strain in his back and arms, he wishes that he had brought some help. While
he has kept himself in peak condition, he is not used to manual labor. Being a
crime lord means there is always someone to do anything you want. As he begins
to sweat, he also attracts insects. From the jungle comes mosquitoes and flies.
The swarm around him, forcing him to swat them away. He curses himself for not
unpacking the bug spray on the boat. He knew it was a jungle island and there
were going to be insects, but his mind was preoccupied with other thoughts.
Allot of his thoughts have gone to wondering what has happened to his empire.
Was Deacon taking care of it or was he taking over? What has become of the The
Fallen One? What was the fate of the Silent Jury? He knows that once he gets
camp up and running, he will set up his computer and with the satellites he has
in the sky, he can tap into the internet and get a good idea what is happening.
While he has left civilization, he does not want to be unconnected with it. He
only plans on staying on this island long enough to insure it is safe to leave.
Once he gets the half dozen crates unloaded, he pulls the boat up and ties it to
a tree. There is no chance that he is letting the boat float off with the tide.
He then pulls out a compass and orients himself. He knows the island is fairly
large and has no intentions of getting lost. But right now, he needs to find a
place to camp. He needs to find fresh water and make camp there. With his
bearings set, he heads into the jungle, in search of an idea campsite. As he
heads into the thickness of the jungle, he begins swinging his machete back and
forth. A path needs to be carved from the thickness of the jungle. What he does
not realize is there are eyes watching him. As he moves further and further into
the jungle, eyes appear in the jungle and watch him.
With the threat over, the police and national guard move into North Harbor. As
they move through the city, they see the damage done from the battle. Smashed
buildings, demolished cars and other signs of battle are everywhere. They march
down the main street with their guns ready. While it is quiet, they are not
positive that it is over. They could be walking into an ambush. As they walk
past the subway, they see that it is caved in. They stop for a moment and look
at it. As they ponder on what caused that, they hear a rumbling sound. They all
step back and lift their guns, aiming them at the subway. The rumbling noise
comes closer to the surface as they see the ground start to shake. The sergeant
yells out "Ready men." While the men are well armed and well trained, there is a
nervousness on their faces. Battling a human foe is one thing. They are trained
for that. But against super powered beings, it is a whole other thing. How does
one battle someone who can lift a bus and fly? As the rumbling reaches the top,
there is an explosion as a hole is made in the rubble. As the rocks and debris
is knocked aside, a powerful beam of light shoots out of the hole and into the
air. After a second, the beam stops. The men all look at each other as they are
unsure what it is. They then hear a voice say "We made a hole. I can see
daylight." The men all raise their guns and point them at the hole. After a
minute, they hear someone emerging from the hole. A man with a miner helmet on
climbs out of the hole and is quickly followed by a giant of a man with a huge
beard. As the Myth and the Miner climb out, they look up to see they are
surrounded by soldiers with guns. Not sure what to do, the Miner waves and says
"Umm...hello!"
Deacon heads out of the Rage Building and quickly ducks into an alley. He sees
the soldiers in the distance and knows that he needs to disappear. He runs down
an alley, but before he can get too far, he is stopped. In front of him stands
The Mob. "Where are you going?" the Mob asks as he blocks his path. Deacon pulls
out a gun and aims at him. "I don't have time for this, now move it." The Mob
laughs as he turns into twenty men. They all look at him and says "Do you have
enough bullets for all of us?" Deacon puts the gun away and says "I don't but
the army does and they are on their way. So you can either come with me and get
out of here or you can try your luck with them." The Mob looks at him and says
"Why should I go with you?" Deacon looks at him and says "I am Justin Rage's
right hand man and now he is gone. That makes me the crime lord. A man with your
talents can make allot of money working with me." The Mob thinks for a second
and then says "You make a good point." He then turns back into one man and lets
Deacon past. He then runs behind him as the two of them make their way through
the maze of alleys and back streets.
Robert watches as the One is loaded onto a plane. The body is in a large crate
that is on a pallet. He cannot but think how disrespectful it is to just load
him up like freight. But it is best to keep a low profile and having a large,
metal man present is not the way to achieve this. He looks over at Connie and
Vanessa. They both have a sad look in their eyes. Connie is trying hard to not
cry again. As the body is loaded onto the plane, Charlie turns to them and says
"Connie, it is time to go." She nods and turns to Robert and Vanessa. "Take
care. My prayers are with you." Robert grabs her and pulls her close. "We will
be praying for you too." Vanessa joins in the hug. After a long minute, they
break it and Connie turns and runs after her father. They both climb aboard
their plane and wave as they disappear into the body of the plane. Robert,
Vanessa, Gadget and Mr. Smith all wave as the plane prepares for takeoff. Then
as the plane prepares to take off, they all move back. They continue to wave as
the plane heads down the runway. Soon, the private jet is up in the air. As the
plane disappears into the horizon, Robert turns to Vanessa and asks "So what
happens now?" She looks at him, staring deep into his eyes. "I really don't
know. Is there still a Silent Jury? Can there be?" Robert looks back at her and
says "I don't know. I really don't." She looks down with a disappointed look and
says "I understand if you want to leave the group." He grabs her by her arms and
pulls her close. She looks up at as he stares down at her and says "I think we
need some time to think about this. Too much has happened to make a decision
now. We need to get away and clear our heads." A small smile comes over her face
as she looks into his eyes. "Are you suggesting a vacation?" It is the first
time in awhile that he has seen her smile. "Yeah, I think a vacation would be a
good idea." She then puts her arms around his waist and says "So where are you
taking me?" Robert gives her an odd look "Where am I taking you?" She pulls him
real close and says "It was your suggestion. You aren't trying to weasel out of
it, are you?" Robert laughs as he replies "I dunno, how about Hawaii?" She
screams "I have always wanted to go to Hawaii!" She then kisses him right on the
lips. It is a closed lip kiss, but it still shocks Robert. It also shocks Gadget
who does not know what to make of it. He knew they were getting close, but he
didn't see this coming. Neither did Robert, who is just as shocked as Gadget.
But Vanessa is tired of waiting for Robert to make a move and has decided to
take matters in her own hands. She then breaks the embrace and says "I gotta go
home and pack. Oh and I have to go shopping for a new bikini. " She then winks
at him and runs out of the terminal. Robert turns and looks at Gadget who just
smiles and says "Just don't break my daughter's heart." Robert smiles and says
"I won't." He then runs after her. Mr. Smith turns to Gadget and says "Now
what?" Gadget turns to him and says "I am headed back to headquarters. There are
some suits of armor that need repair." Mr. Smith looks at him and says "Mind if
I join you?" Gadget puts out his hand and says "Welcome to the team." The two
men shake hands.
Silent Jury © 2006-2007 Tom Zjaba
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