Body of a Man, Mind of Machine – FINAL CHAPTER

Sorry for any typos.

Just a reminder: Light of Hellfire has been published, and the updated version, Hellsteel, features all new characters, monsters, and themes, and has an overall much deeper storyline. You can find it on Amazon. I’ve also published stories from my previous account, The Man of Sin and My Dear Sweet Slave. Buy a copy today!

Chapter Eleven

It had been ten years since the initiation ceremony and Adrian’s plans were coming along without flaw. For employment, he designed and invented new machines for everything from surgery to energy production. After graduating from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Jenny opened up her own flower shop, just as she had always dreamed. She even had her own line of perfumes. Using her degrees in botany and engineering, she studied the anatomy of plants and learned to make them thrive, discovered optimal conditions for each species, and even discovered new uses for plants. She created ways to derive electricity from plants, crossbreed different species into one edible plant that could fully support humans without any other form of sustenance, and discovered countless medical benefits that modern medicine and even his machines were able to use.

To keep their places in the Illuminati, Jenny and Adrian had to always possess something to offer, and these abilities took the form of their medical skills. With most of the Illuminati members being senior citizens, medical treatment was in constant demand. With his ability to fuse man and machine and Jenny able to genetically control the abilities of plants like a pagan goddess, not even the finest hospitals could give the crippled and sick what they offered.

However, their duties did not end there. On rare occasions, they would be asked to go out and greet a future member, secure business transactions, guard valuable objects or documents, and even intervene to prevent mass casualties such as genocides and seismic blood feuds. They were giving the jobs that couldn’t even be trusted to the Zero Masons.

With a cushy job and orders from the Illuminati council few and far between, Jenny and Adrian had more time than they knew what to do with. Jenny used her time to read every book in the library in her never-ending quest for knowledge, while Adrian spent it hacking into every government defense system on earth. In order for his plan to work, Adrian needed to be able to take down the protection of every nation. If any countries were able to stand up against him, his plan would be ruined and the imbalance of power would cause potential annihilation.

Adrian was sitting in his office, watching a status bar load on his laptop. Classical music was playing on speakers set up throughout the room, but the quality was botched by the blipping of binary code and data being uploaded from over a dozen documents and servers. His whole body was trembling as Adrian watched the status bar. He had bags under his eyes and his skin was pale from stress.

Jenny stepped into the room, holding a cup of coffee on a small saucer. Over the past decade, Jenny had become even more beautiful, something that Adrian thought was impossible. Her body had matured its womanly figure, giving her an even more taut and toned hourglass frame, and while she still had a lean and slender build, daily exercise had given her the muscle tone of a bronze statue. Her breasts had grown to above d-cup size and her ass—while firm enough to bounce a quarter off with enough momentum to send it flying across a room—complimented them with its fullness. Her ass and breasts were the only part of her body that held so much as an ounce of body fat.

Her face would make any supermodel scream from jealousy and any photographer sell their soul for a chance to copy her flawless visage. Her long blond hair resembled threads of gold leaf and her blue eyes held both the sapphire-like brilliance of eternal youth and the wisdom and experience of someone who was four times older. Every inch of her body was a sum of fiery sexuality, a sweet and timid heart, and a modest personality. She was as close to flawless as reality would allow.

Adrian had also developed well since aging out of adolescence, now able to properly bulk up his physique beyond his teenage limits. His looks had matured, and while he had always been quite handsome, he could now make any woman swoon with a single glance.

“Thank you,” Adrian said graciously as she handed him the coffee. She stood behind him and began rubbing his shoulders.

“So how is it coming along? I’ve never seen you so stressed.”

Adrian hummed in relaxation as she massaged away his worries. “I’ll tell you once the loading bar fills.”

The bar was filled in less than a minute, with the completion signaled by a ding. Adrian gave a sigh of relief and stood up. “It’s done, I just finished hacking into the US defense network, the last country on his list. With this laptop, I can shut down the entire world. There is only one more major step in his plan, and then we shall have world peace.”

A wide smile spread across Jenny’s face and she jumped up into his arms, kissing him wildly. “You did it, Adrian! You did it!”

“Not yet, darling, there is still a lot of work to be done. But soon, our mission will be complete. How about we do something to celebrate? We could hop on our jet and go to Paris, England, Berlin, Tokyo, or anywhere else in the world?”

Adrian wrapped his arms around her and they began swinging from side to side, almost as if they were dancing.

“I kind of want to go back to Tahiti, the bar of that hotel they went to makes the greatest Suffering Bastards on Earth. But I’m also in the mood for a little skiing in Switzerland. You decide, honey.”

“I’m fine with anywhere. Since neither of us can decide, I suggest we settle this the old fashioned way…”

A map of the world was spread out across the driveway, measuring six meters long and three meters wide. Jenny and Adrian were each standing on one side, holding a Demium dart.

“Ok, we throw the darts and after they collide in the air, whichever dart lands first decides where they go,” Adrian said.

“You know, for anyone else, this could be considered a really bad idea.” Jenny laughed.

“Yeah, for anyone else. Ok, one… two… three… throw!”

Just as they were about to throw their darts into the air, Adrian’s cellphone began to ring.

“Hold on baby,” he said as he pulled out his phone.

As Adrian talked on the phone, Jenny used her dart to clean her nails.

“That was Medici, the Illuminati has a job for us.”

“I’m sick of being the Illuminati’s messengers, they treat us like the Zero Masons,” Jenny pouted.

“You love it,” Adrian teased.

She grinned. “I do, it’s just so much fun. It’s like volunteer work that let’s you travel all over the globe in first class. So what will we be doing?”

“Some hacker managed to get a member list of the Illuminati like I did. He’s threatening to put it back online but more public unless they buy his silence. The Illuminati want us to make the exchange.”

“So where are we going? Germany? Japan?”

“America.”

“Ten years… we’re going back to America after five years.” Jenny said with disbelief.

They were flying on their private jet across the Atlantic Ocean. Between them was a briefcase filled with the extortionist’s payment. They would be meeting him in New York City. Adrian was excited too, both for the chance to see how things have changed and for the chance to maybe thwart the police if he got bored.

“After we settle this, how about we go back to our home town?” Adrian suggested.

“I was about to say the same thing. My heart rate skyrockets it whenever I think about it. Maybe before we leave, they could even try and find some of our old classmates. We would be over international waters before they could even call in the FBI.”

Adrian chuckled at the thought. Like him, Jenny loved toying with the police. Any time the authorities caught their scent, they would chase after them like cats after mice, but without realizing that the roles were reversed. She liked to thwart them and leave them reeling, always seeking a challenge.

“So what was it you were telling him at the tarmac? You said you knew this guy?” she then asked.

“Well I’ve never met him in person, but we are acquainted. Back when I was searching for information on the Illuminati, I would encounter him occasionally in chat rooms and forums. Like him, he wanted use the Internet to find forbidden knowledge. We would exchange sources, caches of information, and help each other out from time to time. In fact, he was probably the closest thing I had to a friend.

He was pretty bright, I knew it was him once Medici gave him the details.”

Jenny gained a coy smile. “So, the legendary Adrian Ashford had a friend after all,” she teased.

It was just before midnight as they walked through the New York Park, enjoying the spring air. In Adrian’s hand was the briefcase, and because of its important contents, he had it tethered to his wrist with piano wire. With each strand able to hold up to eight hundred pounds and far less conspicuous than a set of handcuffs, it ensured the case could not be stolen without somebody slicing off his arm or bringing powerful wire cutters.

Up ahead was a man in his forties, sitting on a bench in a grey trench coat. Leaning beside him was a red umbrella.

“The umbrella, that’s the sign. That’s him,” Adrian whispered to Jenny.

She nodded and drew a dart from her purse, hiding it in her sleeve. She knew to always be prepared for the worst scenario.

“You must be Mike Reese,” Adrian said with a smile as they approached.

The man scrambled to his feet.

“Do you have it?”

“Mr. Reese, is that any way to talk to an old friend? Or should I call you by your preferred name, Mr. Risen Demon?” Adrian asked without losing his smile.

“How do you know me?” he asked, becoming more suspicious.

“Come now, Mr. Reese, you should remember me. They hacked into the Bohemian Club security system together, remember?”

For a moment, Mike remained skeptical, and then his face went from distrust to shock. “Angel Of Metal? Are you really the Angel Of Metal?”

“Was the Castro Lead a dead end? Yes it’s me, and as you can see, we both found what we were looking for.”

Mike gained a wide smile. “I can’t believe it, I honestly can’t believe it. We did the Bohemian Club job twelve years ago, you had to have been just a kid back then!”

“I was sixteen, but yes. But I’ve stopped skulking around the Internet like a conspiracy theorist, I’ve moved onto bigger things, as you can see.”

Jenny stood by silently with a smile on her face, finally able to watch him socialize with someone else.

“You have got to be kidding! You… you’re really in the Illuminati?!” Mike said, quickly lowering his voice so that no one else could hear.

“Yes, I’ve been a member for the last ten years. Now that the reunion is out of the way, I would like to introduce you to my dearly beloved, Jenny Sinclair.” Adrian said, holding his arm out to her. With a smile, she reached out and shook Mike’s hand.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Thank you. Jenny Sinclair… I can’t stop thinking that I’ve heard that name somewhere.”

“So, how about we get down to business?” Adrian asked, trying to change the subject.

“Ok, but not here in the open. There is a great club I know, we’ll disappear there.”

The club was dark and incredibly loud, much to his dislike. There were colored strobe lights flashing in corners and thumping techno music booming from speakers all throughout the bar. All of the people were dressed up like the entire bar was about to erupt into a massive BDSM orgy. Everywhere you looked, there was gothic make-up and black leather.

“This reminds me of our prom,” Jenny whispered in Adrian’s ear.
“Yeah, the only difference being that the prom charged admission,” he replied, making Jenny laugh.

They were sitting in a booth in the back of the room, waiting for Mike to come back.

“Considering that there is no chance of anyone listening in on our conversation, I guess it is better than the park. With the loud music and the dense population, their sound waves would be lucky to spread past this table.”

Mike finally staggered back, holding a martini. He drank it in a single gulp and then turned to us.

“Ok, let’s get down to business.”

“Really? We’re just going to look past the fact of how much of a freak you are for coming here?” Adrian asked disgust.

“Go fuck yourself. You got the stuff or not?”

Adrian put the suitcase up on the table and opened it, making sure that no one other than the three of us would be able to see inside. The suitcase was completely filled with gold.

“Here you go, the one form of payment literally worth its weight in gold.”

Mike got a greedy smile on his face and reached for the gold, but Adrian quickly shut the case. His tone was icy cold.

“Mike, right now I’m not your friend; I’m a member of the group you’re blackmailing. You’re lucky the Illuminati try to prevent as much bloodshed as possible, because killing you would have been so much easier.”

“How… much easier?”

“The second your message was received, a search was done to find out who you are. You covered your tracks well, but it only took 3.8 minutes for my fellow members to discover every single fact about you. We know names, numbers, dates, associates, school records, your social security number, your pin number, blood type, eye color, every single email, text message, and phone call you’ve ever made or sent, and even your first words.

We had agents watching you hours after you sent the ransom, twice as many when Jenny and I got to New York, and three times as many when we encountered you. You would shit your pants if you knew how many people in this bar were actually subordinates of the Illuminati, ready to kill you at a moment’s notice and make it look like an accident, or just kill you out in the open and buy off all witnesses and authorities.

Even after our deal is completed and you promise to never release the information you have, we will keep a close eye on you for the rest of your life. I was put in charge of this ordeal, and if at any time I decide I want to reclaim this gold, having you killed would be as easy as reaching out to turn off my alarm clock.

We’ll know about every email you send, every phone call you make, every bank transaction you will fill out, every person you talk to, and every activity on the Internet. You have no privacy that we can’t break through. You didn’t send that message to sell your silence for gold, you sent that message to sell your soul for gold, and there is no return policy.

We are the Illuminati, and we are all-knowing and all-seeing.”

Adrian pushed the briefcase over to Mike, and terrified, he grabbed it and ran off, shoving his way through the crowd.

“I am so hot for you right now,” Jenny whispered in Adrian’s ear.

They were on their private jet, flying from New York to Maine. Jenny and Adrian were both silent as they stared out the windows and let memories occupy their thoughts. With the memories came curiosity, curiosity about what could have been.

“Do you have any regrets?” Adrian finally asked, unable to keep his thoughts contained. Jenny looked at him and cocked her head to one side. “Do you regret anything? Do you wish they had done anything different?”

Her eyes darkened with sadness and he closed his.

“I wish our parents hadn’t been killed. Should I have killed Logan and his friends when he attacked us in the park? If I had, should I have pleaded self-defense, covered up the murder, or just ran away? If I had taken care of him then and there, then he wouldn’t have retaliated and I would not have sought out vengeance.

Do you ever wonder what would happen if instead of coming with me, you had gone to live with your relatives and kept living a normal life? Do you wonder what would have happened if your actions had been different? Do you wonder what would have happened if instead of running away with me and the two of us becoming who we are today, I had never killed Logan and we had just stayed in Maine, living like just another couple of teenagers?” Adrian then opened his eyes. “Do you ever wonder what life would have been like… if they had never even met?”

“Where in the world did that come from?” Jenny asked.

“Just wondering.”

“No, no, no, just wondering is when you question how a bee is able to fly. This is like some kind of mini panic attack. What’s wrong?”

“I’m just nervous, I guess. I’m so close to achieving my plan, but not a moment goes by that I don’t wonder if it’s really the right thing to do. I keep thinking back to every day of my life, searching for any mistakes I might have made. It almost doesn’t feel real. If I’m having these doubts, am I really ready to implement this new world order?”

“Adrian, the fact that you would hesitate like this proves that you’ve thought this through, that you’re looking at both the good and the bad and are weighing all the facts instead of just focusing on anything that supports you, shows that you are ready. That is your human side making sure that everything is being done right. Adrian, I love you, and whether or not your plan works, nothing will ever change that.”

Adrian was silent for several moments. “You know, Jenny, I’ve been calculating the time it would take for us to get to and properly distribute the nuclear bombs, and we’ll be able to complete and implement the plan in a month, on May 7th to be exact. I think that maybe on that day… we should also get married.”

A wide smile stretched across Jenny’s face. “Really?” she asked, so excited that she could barely speak.

“I never brought it up before because Adrian thought getting married was cliché and pointless, but on May 7th, we will deliver the world to peace, and I want to live in that new world with you as my wife.”

“I love you, Adrian.” Jenny whispered.

“I love you too, Jenny,” Jenny replied.

Jenny then tackled him and pressed her lips against his, and for the rest of the flight, she stayed curled up in his lap with the two of them embraced in a never-ending kiss.

Jenny and Adrian walked down the streets of their old hometown with his arm wrapped around her. The feeling of nostalgia with every step was almost overpowering. They looked into restaurants that they used eat at when they were dating, walked through the park and stopping at the place where Logan had attacked them but where Adrian had also told Jenny Adrian loved her, and told each other about endless memories.

At one point they snuck into their old school, walking down the halls, looking at the endless rows of lockers, occasionally peeking into classrooms to catch a glimpse of their old teachers, and thinking back to all the people they had known and all of their experiences. After wandering around the school, they knew there was something they had to do. They drove out of town with a rented car and made their way to the local cemetery to find their parents’ graves. They stepped out of the car with melancholic faces and separated, each going in a different direction to find the graves of their parents an mourn in solitude, with the cloudy sky above them mirroring their feelings.

After making his way through the forest of graves and climbing over several grassy hills, Adrian came upon the two tombstones and stood like a statue. He had always believed it to be a childish and delusional act, but he could help but begin speaking as if he was facing his parents and they were alive.

“Mom, Dad… I miss you both. I know I wasn’t the most approachable son, but I love you and I’m grateful for everything you’ve done for me. I doubt you would agree with most of the things I’ve done since you were killed, but I just want you to understand that they were all things that I had to do. I’m working on something big, something that is going to bring peace to the world. I wish you two could have seen it.”

Adrian gave one final goodbye, and feeling at peace, he walked away. He found Jenny sitting on the ground in front of the graves of her parents. He was slow to approach, wanting to give her privacy. Like him, she was talking as if to her parents.

“…And now I run a flower shop in Rome and sell perfume that I make myself. I’m happier than I ever thought possible with my chateau, my business, and my fiancé. Oh! I forgot to mention, I’m getting married on May 7th! I wish…” She then fell silent. Tears began to roll down her face and she gripped her sleeves. “I wish the two of you could come to the wedding. I wish the two of you could have seen me graduate from college. I wish the two of you could meet your future grandchildren. I wish the two of you hadn’t left me!” The pain that had been forgotten for over ten years broke free as Jenny sobbed. Adrian didn’t approach, just waited and listened.

After several minutes, Jenny took a deep breath and collected herself, giving a sad smile. “I hope you’re not worrying about me. Like I said, I’m happier than I thought possible. I love Adrian with all of my heart and he loves me and we’re living the life of our dreams. While I wish you two could see me now, I have no regrets.”

Finally Adrian walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder as she wiped away her tears. “How do you feel?”

She grasped his hand and pressed it against her cheek, clinging to it like a lifeline. “Much better,” she said, wiping away her last tear.

“Are you sure about this?” Adrian asked. They were parked in front of the mall and Jenny was putting her things in her purse.

“I checked Facebook and she’s working here and her shift is now. I can’t leave without seeing her. Don’t worry, I’m sure she won’t call the cops.”

“Well if anything goes wrong, call me and I’ll come back as fast as possible. There is something I have to do.”

Jenny looked at him and Adrian could tell that she was reading him like a book. “I hope you find the peace you’re looking for.” She then kissed him on the cheek and climbed out of the car.

Jenny walked up to the counter in a department store where a pretty brunette in her late twenties was looking through the cash register. Jenny couldn’t help but smile.

“Whatever happened to moving to Hollywood to become an actress?” The woman looked at her and her jaw dropped. “Hey Amanda.”

“Jenny… is it really you?” her friend stammered. Jenny nodded and Amanda gave a girly scream, jumping over the counter and wrapping her arms around her long-lost best friend. The two women fell on the floor, laughing and hugging. Many people were drawn to the commotion.

“I thought I would never see you again!” Amanda said. She then stood up. “Boss! I’m taking my break now!”

An older woman walked up to her. “What the hell are you talking about?! You just got here!”

“Please, if you let him go now, I will work 10 hours in unpaid overtime,” Amanda begged.

“Fine, get out of here,” her boss barked before walking away.

Amanda pulled Jenny to her feet. “If you don’t tell him everything, Adrian will never forgive you.” She said.

Gulls sailed under the gray sky, calling out as Adrian’s car came to a halt. He was at the pier, facing the warehouse that had been the former hangout of Logan and is cronies. A chain-link fence with barbed wire surrounded the building, for it was permanently closed off to the public.

Adrian stepped out of the car with his sheathed lance in his hand. He hooked it up to hang diagonally from the back of his belt, just like last time. Adrian jumped up onto the fence and climbed up like a spider, carefully trying to maneuver over the barbed wire at the top.

He jumped off and made his way to the building. The doors were hanging awkwardly from when he almost kicked them off their hinges. He stepped into the warehouse and moved to the center of the floor. The concrete was stained from the blood of all of the people Adrian had killed. After who knows how many attempts to clean it and a decade of solitude, the stains were as clear as day.

Adrian stood at the exact spot he had been standing on the fateful night. The ground around him was peppered with old bullet holes from when Logan and his crew opened fire on him. Imagining Logan and his cronies were shooting at him again, Adrian crouched down with his forearms shielding his face, the same way he had done before.

Adrian thought back to the fight, counting the seconds from his memory of how long the barrage had lasted. After the same amount of time, he stood up with the same form and drew his lance with the same speed and movement.

“I’m going to kill you all,” Adrian growled with the same tone, slashing the ground with his lance in the same position and line.

Jenny and Amanda were sitting in a coffee shop, huddled in the corner.

“Ok Jenny, I need to know the truth: what happened? What happened the night you disappeared, what happened afterwards, where have you been all this time?” Amanda asked with a serious tone.

“You remember Logan, right? The bully who was sent to juvenile hall?”

“Are you kidding? I used to wish you would get a stun gun or some pepper spray because I was worried he would rape you like that other girl. What about him?”

“As you probably know, Adrian killed him and all of his friends in that warehouse. He killed him because Logan was the one who killed his parents, my parents, and almost killed me.”

“Oh my god,” Amanda gasped with her hands over her mouth.

“I don’t know if it was him exactly or one of his followers, but I was forced off a bridge in a car crash and was put in a coma. Adrian thought I was dead, and to avenge me and our parents, he went to the warehouse and slaughtered everyone.”

“I know, I heard about it on the news. Adrian’s massacre has become so legendary that it’s now the folklore of this town. Seniors tell it to freshmen to scare them and no one dares use his old locker. Some of the pictures from the scene leaked online and I saw them… I honestly couldn’t believe it. It was like something out of a horror movie. I had never seen so much blood in my life.”

“Well I woke up and found him at the warehouse. I watched from the background as he killed everyone. You might call it gruesome, but I was mesmerized by it. After he killed Logan, I made his presence known. That night, we ran away.”

Adrian moved through the warehouse, reenacting every movement from the epic fight from ten years ago. He could see every gang member, every weapon, and every tremor of fear in his victims. There was blood, oh so much blood, filling the air and covering the floor. He stabbed and slashed at invisible enemies, replaying the scene over and over in his mind. He could feel bones shattering from every impact, muscles being torn to shreds with every slash, and life being ripped away with every stab. He could feel the weight of their bodies, smell the sweat, blood, and fear, and hear their dying screams as they fell to the floor. Did he make any mistakes? He had to be sure that he had done nothing wrong, nothing had been missed.

Finally, Adrian came to the final act of the bloody play. Like an actor on a stage, Adrian reenacted his movements from when Logan shot at him, deflecting every bullet with his lance. It was than that Logan called him a machine. Playing his part, Adrian lashed out with his hand, imagining myself stabbing him through the throat just like last time.

“And don’t you forget it.”

Adrian took his original position and repeated the exercise, replaying the fight again and again, slaying his invisible enemies like a blood-drunk warrior. After the fifth time, Adrian stopped. Panting heavily, Adrian put his lance back in its sheath.

“No mistakes.” Adrian then grabbed the handle as he heard the sound of someone clapping.

“Jenny, after you left… there were more stories on the news of massacres like the one at the pier. Witnesses confirmed that it was Adrian, but they also said he was helped by a blonde female accomplice. Jenny, you tell me right here and now: did you help Adrian kill people?” Amanda asked with fear in her voice.

Jenny gave a sad smile. “Yes, I took place in those killings.” She said with the only regret in her voice coming from the tone of the conversation.

Amanda jumped out of the chair.

“Amanda, relax. Sit down. Do you really think I would hurt you?”

Amanda was hesitant, but eventually sat back down.

“Now as I said, Adrian had a plan in the works, but before we could begin and put that plan into action, Adrian needed to train me,” Jenny said, resting her chin on her tented fingers.

“Train you?” Amanda asked with confusion.

“Yes, for a long time, Adrian trained me to be like him. He helped me unlock the full potential of my mind and become smarter than anyone else on Earth and he taught him the secret to his physical strength.”

“Wait, you mean you’re as smart and strong as him? That’s impossible!”

“Well I am as strong as him, but he’s got a good forty IQ points on me. That’s the cost of training too late in my life,” Jenny said casually as she drank her coffee.

“So… what can you do with all that brainpower?”

“Grab your cell and give him two numbers.”
Excited, Amanda took out her phone and opened up her address book. “Ok, 829-4875 and 829-1384.”

“Good, now open up the calculator app and multiply them without telling him the result.

“Ok, it’s done.”

“Ok, is the number 68775993857000?” Jenny asked smugly.

For the second time, Amanda jumped out of her chair.

“Is there a mirror behind me? Did you see it in a reflection?!” she demanded, trying to figure out how it was possible.

“That was nothing, you should see Adrian with credit cards.”

“So what happened afterwards?” Amanda asked, desperate for more.

“Well, we decided to take a break and tour across the country. Adrian had millions of dollars with him and—”

“Wait, MILLIONS?” Amanda exclaimed, causing every in the store to look at them.

“Yes, millions. So with that money, we spent the better part of a year touring around America, seeing the sites, taking some pictures… and so on. After we were done traveling, they knew it was time to put the plan in action, so we headed to Vegas.”

“Las Vegas?” Amanda said with disbelief. Jenny frowned in agitation.

“Yes, Las Vegas. We got a suite in the Bellagio hotel—”

“The BELLAGIO?!”

“Seriously, stop interrupting! You’re making a scene!”

“Sorry… so what was it like?”

“See for yourself,” Jenny said as she pulled out her phone and showed Amanda the pictures she had taken in Vegas. Amanda squealed like a little girl when she saw the pictures of the Bellagio suite.

“Wait until you see my chateau…” Jenny muttered under your breath.

“What?”

“I said to quiet down, you’re impossible to talk to. So in Vegas, we played the games and allowed our fortune grow while Adrian tried to make some business partners. Eventually, he found who he was looking for and we were able to make a deal. Now, just to be safe, I’m not comfortable telling you where we went and who we were in contact with.”

“All right, so what was the deal?”

“Adrian built some special prosthetics for a few people, and in exchange, we were given safe asylum and our own home.”

“Oh, can I see pictures of your house?”
“Fine, but before Adrian do…” Jenny said as she put her hand over Amanda’s mouth so that she wouldn’t make a scene.

“Have you ever been in a chateau?” Jenny asked as she showed Amanda more pictures. Amanda’s squeals of disbelief and jealousy were stifled by Jenny’s hand as she looked through the pictures of every room in the mansion and pictures of it from the outside, along with Vatican Gardens.

“Now Adrian designs new machinery and I run a flower shop. Oh, and Adrian is a billionaire,” Jenny said after pulling her hand away.

Amanda was nearly hyperventilating as she tried to process everything she had seen and heard. She finally controlled her breathing and began speaking with a very calm tone. “Jenny, let me make one thing clear. I have always envied you, ever since they were young. You’ve always been prettier and more popular than me. But now, if you’re honestly telling him the truth that you do indeed live in a chateau with a billionaire and own a flower shop—one of his dream jobs, I’ll be honest too and say that I’m pretty tempted right now to kill you, cut off your face, and wear it myself for the desperate possibility that I might be able to take your life.”

“Thank you,” Jenny said smugly.

“I can’t believe it, it’s really not fair. Rich kids don’t become as successful as you. How is it that you can drop out of high school, run away with your serial-killer boyfriend, and become the Goddess of Awesomeness in ten years?”

“Actually, it only took one year. We got that chateau ten years ago and I opened up my flower shop after I graduated from college. By the way, did I mention that Adrian and I are getting married next month?”

Amanda slammed her head down on the table and began to cry. Jenny waited patiently for her friend to express her envy. At last, Amanda raised her head and took a deep breath. “There is one thing that I’m really curious about though. You said that you and Adrian were getting married next month and—while I try to ignore the dagger you’ve basically lodged in my back by leaving me behind to have such an awesome life—I have to ask: how are you two still together? Adrian was a cold-hearted machine in high school, how is it that you two haven’t broken up?”

Jenny smiled. “He’s changed. He’s changed more than you would believe.” She said softly.

“Really? What is Adrian like now?”

Agent Mason was standing in the doorway of the warehouse, slowly clapping.

“You’re the FBI agent that I stabbed in Las Vegas, Agent Mason. I see that my aim was correct after all, due to the fact that you are still alive,” Adrian said. While his voice was calm, his senses were on full alert, trying to pick up any signs that there was more FBI agents or police officers. As far as he could tell, they were alone.

“That’s right, I’m alive, but my partner isn’t. I transferred to an FBI station here because Adrian knew that someday you would return. I set up alarms all around the building, knowing that you would eventually come back to the scene of the crime. Now I’m here to avenge my friend.”

“This is not the scene of a crime, it’s the scene of vengeance. In this warehouse and countless other hideouts for human scum, I’ve slaughtered the lowest circles of society. I’ve done the one thing that you people never had the courage to do: I took action.

And once again, I am taking action for the betterment of the world. I didn’t kill your partner because of any personal reasons or because I wanted to take a life; I killed him because he was an obstacle in my path that refused to move. He demanded to know what my plans were, even after I told him that I could not let him live if he heard them. I warned him to let me pass, but he was too stubborn. He had no one to blame but himself.”

“That’s enough!” Mason said as he drew his pistol and aimed it at Adrian. “I don’t know and I don’t care what you’re planning, because it ends here.”

Before Adrian could draw his lance, Mason pulled the trigger and a bullet was launched, moving so fast that not even his eyes could catch it. Without a way to defend himself, Adrian was helpless as the bullet struck his chest, instantly causing blood to soak his shirt. Adrian gagged in pain and fell to the floor, unable to move.

“Rest in peace Hoffman,” Mason said as he put away his gun and walked away. But before he could reach the door, he heard something that made him stop dead in his tracks. With cold sweat, he turned around to face his haunting laugh.

“Adrian… it’s really hard to describe him. Like you said, he used to be cold and emotionless. Back when they were dating, I could see him struggling to try and understand me and get into the whole “boyfriend” role. It was like watching an alien try to blend into a frat party. He was always a little cold with his logic and lack of faith in the relationship, but I could see him trying with everything he had to make me happy and be what I wanted him to be. He really jumped into a whole new world and sacrificed his mental balance just to try and make him happy,” Jenny said softly with a tender smile on her face. “You remember when Logan shot him, right?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“The whole time he was in emergency surgery, I was praying that he would survive, and if he didn’t, I was planning on how I would kill myself.”

“You would have really killed yourself if Adrian died?” Amanda asked, almost as if she were worried Jenny would kill herself right then and there.

“Yes, I would have. Everyone is an individual, but he was truly one of a kind and I knew I wouldn’t be able to find anyone like him or love anyone as much as I loved him.”

“So what happened after he was shot? I remember you telling everyone in school that he was alive and that he had completely changed. You almost cried tears of joy whenever you told someone. Then when he came back, he was all smiles.”

“Well he did. I was sleeping next to him in his hospital bed and Adrian suddenly woke up. He woke me up and told me about this dream he had, where he had to choose between himself and me; he couldn’t wake up until he chose to either remain a cold logical machine and eventually lose me, or reawaken his emotions and give up what made him different from anyone else. He told me that he created a third choice, where he would become human enough to be with me, but be far more intelligent and wiser than any human alive.

After he woke up, he was a changed man. I could feel that he actually loved me now. He went from being a cold machine to a cat purring in my lap. But he was true to his words, and he was as logical and wise as before. He used his mind to see the world for what it really was and then he used his heart and will to change the world in his favor.

Ever since he woke up, I’ve been following him on his quest to change the world. I almost feel like his apostle. And Amanda, we’re almost there. Adrian and I are so close to bringing world peace, I can almost taste it.”

“World peace? You’re kidding right? Just the two of you are going to achieve what no one else has been able to achieve?” Amanda asked with skepticism.

Jenny did not lose her smile. “If you looked at him today, you would almost be able to see reality bending under his will. He and I are going to do it. Amanda, it has been so nice seeing you again, but it’s time for me to go.”

“Don’t tell me you’re leaving again, you just got here!” Amanda pleaded.

“It’s time for me to head home, Adrian is probably waiting for him outside.”

Both women stood up and hugged.

“Wait, please take me with you. I’ll quit my job, please just let me come with you!” Amanda begged.

“Amanda, I don’t know… Taking you with us could be really dangerous and I’ll have to check in with Adrian.”

“Adrian am begging you, his life sucks here. Just let come with you, just for a little while!”

Jenny sighed. “All right, tell your boss you quit and I’ll meet you outside.”

“How is it possible? How are you still alive?!” Mason demanded.

Adrian stood up and cricked his neck, then reached into the bloody wound in his chest and pulled out the bullet. “Oh, with just a little help from my fiancé, the pagan goddess of plants.”
Adrian then pulled off his coat before it could get bloody and opened up his shirt. Around every muscle on his chest and stomach was a surgical scar.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Jenny loves plants, she loves them almost as much as she loves me. Personally, what I find interesting about them is their ability to crossbreed. If you can crossbreed plants correctly, then you can isolate and harness fascinating attributes.

Three years ago, Jenny discovered a very interesting fluid in a plant she was studying. The fluid forms a flexible tear-proof membrane to protect its fruit. The strength of the membranes surprised even me, and after crossbreeding it with similar species, she was able to isolate the strongest chemical.

Adrian was able create a synthetic copy of the chemical and create bulletproof sheets. With help from Jenny and my own inventions, I surgically implanted them into my body, just under the skin. I’ve modified my own body to make myself more immune to injuries in battle. In fact, at home I’m even working on a way to convert my body’s bio-energy into power for a stun gun.

Unless your next round is able to strike my spinal column, you can’t kill me, and Adrian won’t allow you to get such a lucky shot,” Adrian said as he drew his lance.

Mason emptied the rest of his magazine, but as he had done time and time again, Adrian was able to predict where his bullets would land before Mason could even fire him. He deflected each bullet, leaving a smoking mark on his lance and several crushed pieces of lead at his feet. He gave a grim smile, taking delight in watching the FBI agent try to figure out what was happening.

“How is this possible?” Mason cursed.

“Quite simply, Adrian have transcended the limitations that make you and all others merely human. While you and I are of the same species, I am far more evolved than you could ever hope to be. I’m not sure if there is anyone on this planet who is at a higher state than I am, but unless you get a gun that can shatter my lance or can hit me with a missile, someone of your level could never hope to defeat me. Our strengths are worlds apart.”

Adrian bolted forward, moving as fast as physically possible. Before Mason could even form a thought for any form of retaliation, Adrian reached out and stabbed him in the gut with his lance, again missing all of his organs. Agent Mason began coughing up blood and fell to the ground. Adrian reached down with his lance and stabbed the radio at his belt, taking away his ability to call for help, then again in the leg, taking away his ability to walk. The two wounds were easily survivable.

“I spared your life because you do not know about my plans and I don’t want to kill an innocent person. However, if you continue to be a thorn in my side, I will take drastic measures. Those wounds won’t even bleed enough for you to pass out, but it will take you almost a full day just to crawl back to your car. Like I said, I do not want to kill the innocent; I just want to remove obstacles in my path.”

Adrian wiped the blood off his lance, put it back in its sheath, and retrieved his coat. He winced from his injury as he reached for his ringing phone. “Hey honey.”

“Adrian, there is something I want to run past you…”

“Uh oh, what is it?” Adrian laughed as he walked out of the warehouse.

“Do you think we could bring Amanda with us back to Rome?” Jenny asked as if she were asking to borrow her parent’s new car.

“There are so many ways that could backfire on us. If anyone finds out about this, Interpol will be knocking on our front door.”

“Please Adrian? I need a maid of honor.”

“All right, but we leave tonight. Tell her to get her affairs sorted out and we’ll leave. Let’s just say that I don’t want to stay here much longer.”

“Thanks darling.”

Adrian went back to his rental car and pulled the medical kit out from under the passenger seat. He sterilized the wound with rubbing alcohol and secured a patch of gauze over the wound with medical tape. Adrian climbed back into the car and drove away.

Adrian found Jenny and Amanda standing in front of the mall, waiting for him. Amanda was as nervous as could be, but Jenny looked like she was getting ready to show him off. Jenny pointed to him when she saw him driving up and Amanda retreated behind her, gripping her hand. She looked like she was expecting him to climb out of the car with a robot body, a glove with claws on one hand, a devil’s pitchfork in the other, and a hockey mask on his face.

Adrian parked the car and stepped out and Amanda clung to Jenny’s arm the way Jenny would cling to his. As Adrian walked towards them, Amanda became more and more nervous, but that nervousness was replaced with relaxation the closer Adrian got. She studied his face closely and she quickly became more comfortable as she noted the peaceful expression his face.

“Hey honey,” Jenny said sweetly as she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.

“Hi,” Adrian replied softly.
He then shifted his gaze to Amanda and she i ducked behind Jenny. “Hello Amanda, it sure has been a while,” he said politely as he held out his hand to shake hers. Amanda nervously held out her hand, but she became calm when she touched his.

“It’s good to see you, Adrian.”

Adrian held out his arm to the car. “Well ladies, shall him go?”

Both women giggled and they went back to the car. Once the doors were closed, Adrian turned to Amanda, who was sitting in the back seat. His tone was serious.
“I just want to make one thing clear: Jenny and Adrian are criminal. We are on the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted List and we have Interpol after us. There are a lot of things we will not tell you for the sake of their safety, and if you turn on us, I will do whatever is necessary to ensure their survival, regardless of any history you’ve had with my fiancé.”
Amanda became deathly pale.

“Another thing: I don’t trust you. It will take a long time for you to gain my trust, and even after I’ve warmed up to you, I will have no interest in a threesome.”

A moment of silence passed by, then Jenny and Amanda burst into uncontrollable laughter. Adrian started up the car and drove away, with Jenny and Amanda laughing until they clutched their stomachs in pain and were gasping for air.

Adrian sat parked outside Amanda’s apartment building, waiting for the two women to come back out. Jenny was helping Amanda pack her things and get her affairs in order.

“Nice place,” Jenny said, looking around the apartment.
There was a small TV against the wall, a dirty couch, stuff all over the floor and coffee table, and an open doorway leading to a mostly-empty kitchen. In the back of the room was a door leading to the bedroom and bathroom.

“Must you condescend me? I know it’s nothing compared to your chateau,” Amanda asked as she emptied her fridge of everything that would spoil.

“Sorry.” Jenny shrugged.

She followed Amanda to the bedroom where an empty suitcase was waiting.

“How many clothes should I bring?”

“Don’t worry about clothes, we can buy you everything you need.”

Amanda turned to her. “Now you’re just rubbing it in.”

“Yep!” Jenny said sweetly.

“I still can’t believe how great your life turned out,” Amanda pouted.

“Well it was all Adrian. He had it all planned out from the very beginning and I just followed him. Trust me, he had it planned out so well it was as if he could see the future.”

“So, you said that he trained you to be like him. What kind of training did he actually put you through?”

“Well, after we ran away, we spent some time in a warehouse Adrian owned to rest and recover. Adrian used chemicals to put me in a near-death coma, causing my brain to freak out and begin rewiring itself to try and stay alive. There’s that old myth that people only use about 30% of their brain, when really, they use their full brain, but it’s only wired well enough to use 30% of its full potential.

I tell you, Amanda, it was like a mental orgasm when I woke up from that coma. Afterwards, he had me working nonstop on all of these mental puzzles, teaching me to think like a supercomputer.

After the mental training was complete, we hid in the woods for a month to do physical training. This… I did not like. It was basically boot camp, but with Adrian with me, it was tolerable, and the benefits… I feel like a superhero now. I can do things with my body that I thought were only science fiction. So are you ready?”

“Yeah, I’m ready,” Amanda said as she picked up her suitcase.

“So since you’re so rich, I imagine we’ll be flying in first class?”

“First class? Ha!”

Amanda stared in disbelief at the private jet sitting on the tarmac.
“I’ve had this one since I was a teenager, still works perfectly,” Adrian shrugged.

Without warning, Amanda tackled Jenny, knocking her to the ground and hitting her over and over again. “I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!” She shrieked in jealousy with Jenny laughing and trying to block her attacks.

While Amanda explored the private jet, Adrian was talking to Jenny with his voice low. “I’m going to have to head back out after we get home. The faster we take care of all the loose ends, the better we’ll be. I have to secure those nukes and begin sending them out as soon as possible, so for the next month, I’ll be working with the Zero Masons closely. While I’m busy, you and Amanda just go crazy planning the wedding. Get whatever you want.”

Jenny gained a wide smile at the last part. “We’ll be like two kids in a candy shop… with their parents’ credit card.”

“All right, but I don’t want the pope to preside over the wedding. I really don’t want the pope.”

“You’re so mean,” Jenny pouted.

Adrian gave a sad smile. “I’m going to be gone for a long time, I probably won’t get back until a few days before the wedding. I have to secure the nukes before I can even consider letting the Zero Masons get close. This will actually be the longest time we’ve ever been apart.”

Jenny lost her bright mood as well, but retained the same sad smile. “When you get back, I’ll try to keep my hands off you, because I want the next time they make love to be on our wedding day.”

Amanda was bouncing around the Ferrari like a dog on the way to the park. “I can’t believe I’m in Rome!” she squealed over and over again as they drove through the city streets.

“If her voice get’s any higher, I’ll kill myself,” Adrian muttered, making Jenny laugh.

Jenny was in the passenger seat with Amanda, pinning her down and keeping her mouth covered for Adrian’s sake as they drove up the long driveway to their Vatican Gardens chateau. Amanda was struggling to break free so she could return to bouncing around the car and squealing. Adrian parked the car in front of the house and opened the passenger door.

“All right, get out.”

Jenny kicked Amanda out of the car and then followed her into the house. Adrian sat in the car, waiting for Amanda to make her rounds through the house and calm down. After half an hour, he could still hear her running around and squealing. Finally, he worked up the courage to go inside.

Jenny was sitting on the stairs with her face in her hands.

“Honey, did we bring one of your friends to Rome, or did we adopt her?” Adrian asked.

“I should have remembered that she acts like a preteen when she’s excited.”

Amanda ran over to them, panting in amazement. “I cannot believe this is your house! This is so incredible!”

“Have you seen the pool on the roof?” Adrian asked.

Her eyes widened and she sprinted off.

“That should keep her busy for a while.”

Covered head-to-toe in arctic gear, Adrian opened up the large bay doors of the warehouse before him. He was on a rocky spit of land, just north of Antarctica, owned by the Illuminati. It was large enough to have an airfield, a natural harbor, and a bunker that went deep underground, but that was it. This island had been picked because it’s size and location made it almost impossible to find if you didn’t know the coordinates. Adrian was probably the first person to step onto the island in decades.

The warehouse was filled with massive crates, all labeled with the symbol of the former Soviet Union. Adrian pulled out a radiation detector and turned it on, instantly causing the device to emit a shrill whine. The levels of ambient radiation wafting from the bunker were approaching notable levels, but were still in the safe zone.

“I’ve finally found you,” he said with a smile.

With a crowbar in hand, Adrian walked over to the first massive crate and pried it open. Inside was a car-sized bomb with a bulbous missile design. “Hello beautiful.”

Adrian had been preparing for this for years and he had finally found his keys to peace, but before he could call in the Zero Masons to transport the nuclear bombs, there was a lot of work he had to do. The loyalty the Zero Masons had to the Illuminati was like samurai to their feudal lords, but that was only if they were well paid, and that was not a comforting thought. The less people Adrian trusted, the better, which meant that he had to do a lot of work by himself. He had even flown his own jet here because he didn’t want the pilot to know of this location.

For the next three weeks, Adrian stayed on that island and worked nonstop. He had brought all the supplies and tools he needed and was using every possible minute opening up the nuclear bombs and examining the interior. He had studied the Illuminati’s blueprints of the bombs closely and had memorized their mechanical anatomy.

Adrian worked for days on end without sleep, opening up nuclear bombs, cleaning out the interior, making sure that they were all operational, incorporating a remote detonator for every sixth bomb, tagging each with a GPS tracker, and painting over the Soviet emblem on the crates. There were almost two hundred countries in the world, each would get five nukes for personal use, and one would be used to gain national attention and act as a demonstration. Adrian had three weeks to open up and modify 1170 nuclear bombs. ‘Stressed’ was an understatement.

While Adrian worked, he would talk to Jenny and Amanda via satellite phone. He would have it set down in the corner, set to speakerphone. They would chat while Adrian worked, they would describe what they were doing in Rome, and Jenny and Adrian would take turns telling Amanda stories from when they toured across America, hung out in Vegas, and lived in Rome. Amanda would talk about everything that had happened to her in the last ten years, but they could hear the jealousy in her voice from her knowing her stories weren’t nearly as interesting as theirs.

“So what are the two of you up to?” Adrian asked as he marked a defective bomb. So many had become unusable after the decades spent in the cold, the desperation of the Russians clear in their shoddy production.

“We’re buying the wedding dress. Well to be more exact, I’m looking for a wedding dress. Amanda is in the changing room and is crying with a wedding dress on.”

“I’m really starting to get worried about that girl,” Adrian sighed as he moved down the shelf to the next crated bomb.

“I know, when I first talked to her in the coffee shop, she said that she wanted to kill me, cut off my face, and wear it to try and take my life. I know she was kidding, but now I can see why she said it. She’s been a wreck without me.”

“Tell you what, before she leaves, we’ll give her ten million dollars and fly her back home on her own private jet.”

“Or maybe we could just adopt her,” Jenny laughed.

“The way I see it, she’ll either burst into tears and thank us, or be insulted and storm off,” Adrian replied as he pried open the crate.

“That’s true. So what are you doing?”

“I just marked another dud. I swear, almost ten percent of these things would never have detonated, even back in the day.”

“Well don’t spend too much time around all that uranium. I don’t want you coming back as one giant tumor.”

“Darling, I’ve survived a car crash, a burning building, a bullet through the skull, and countless firefights. I’m pretty sure I can beat cancer. Besides, there isn’t enough radiation to cause damage.”

“All right, well just come back safely.”

“I will, I promise.”

As Adrian tapped the nuclear bomb, the echo bounced throughout the entire bunker. He looked out and down the dark aisles between shelves. The cold darkness would have sent shivers up the spine of a normal man.

“Honey, have I told you just how creepy it is here? Seriously, even I’m jumpy. I always feel like my flashlight is going to go out, and when I get it to work, there will be some sort of demonic ghost in front of me with its arms outstretched. It’s… it’s maddening.”

“Like I said, come home safely,” Jenny laughed.

“That’s easy for you to say, you’re in bright warm Rome. I’m in Earth’s cold, dark sphincter,” Adrian joked, making Jenny laugh again.

Adrian stepped out of the bunker and gave a large sigh. By working as hard as Adrian did, he was ahead of schedule. He had ten days until the wedding, but he was desperate to get this finished and get home to his dearly beloved. Adrian climbed into his private jet and retrieved his satellite phone. Adrian called up one of the foremen of the Zero Masons.

“Gregory Smith, this is Adrian Ashford. Get every Zero Mason you can find and have them all meet me at these coordinates, the more the better. I also need cargo planes, freighters, helicopters, and anything for mass transport at high speed.”

“Yes sir, we will be there in three days.”

“Adrian need you here faster than that, Adrian want to get home and get back to his future wife.”

“Ok, there are 1170 crates that I need shipped out to specific locations. The coordinates are stapled to each crate on a sheet of paper. If you can deliver them all to the designated locations before May 7th, I’ll pay you extra. Under no circumstances are these crates to be opened, and if they are stolen or lost, I will know. You will look at no other crates in this bunker and you will tell no other people of what you have seen or done—civilian, freemason, or Illuminati. If you follow my orders to the letter, you will never have to work again for the rest of your lives.”

Adrian was facing several hundred men and women, all dressed in arctic gear. Every one of them was a Zero Mason and would do anything for money, ranging from murder to prostitution, and had no problem with an unmarked grave.

“Before the end of the month, your account balances shall have eight figures. Do not fail me,” Adrian said before he climbed into his jet and flew away, back to see his fiancé.

The whole time Adrian had been gone, Jenny and Amanda had been zooming across Rome like a pair of gas molecules. Not only were they preparing for the wedding like two teenage girls with unlimited money and a bridal magazine, but they were also going on shopping sprees, walking around the city, and making up for lost time.

It took Adrian three days to get back to Italy, after having to stop twice in Africa to refuel. The whole time he was on the plane, he was watching the dispersal of the nukes on his laptop. Using the GPS tracking units he had hidden in every crate, he was able to closely monitor their movement throughout the world. The Zero Masons were following their orders to the letter; all of the nukes were being quickly shipped and flown off of the island, none of them were being distributed to any location in suspicious groups, and none of the crates had been opened since all of the GPS trackers were still sending out their signal. Adrian had rigged each crate with a trap that would destroy the bomb without setting them off, if the crates were opened. He would remotely deactivate the traps once the crates were in place.

Adrian finally landed in Italy, where Amanda and Jenny were giddily waiting for him. Adrian stepped off the plane and Jenny instantly pounced on him, riding him to the ground and kissing him wildly. Laughing and pushing her off, Adrian got back to his feet and gave her a long kiss.

“All right ladies, show me what you’ve been up to for the last month.”

From across the globe, Illuminati members were flying in to attend the wedding of Jenny and Adrian. Not only was a marriage between two Illuminati members unheard of in modern history, but also they were still the youngest members, so they were like celebrities of the Illuminati. The wedding was taking place in the backyard of their home. Jenny and Adrian had lied to Amanda and told her that everyone coming were just business associates.

Furniture and silverware were being rented, caterers and cooks were being hired, and endless flowers were bought. According to the news forecast, the weather would be perfect on the day of the wedding. With each day that passed by, Adrian became more and more excited. Not a single tinge of nervousness entered his mind, for never in his life had hen been as sure as he was when it came to spending his life with Jenny.

It was the morning before the wedding and Adrian was standing on the roof of the chateau, watching everything being set up. Tablemats and silverware were being laid out, delicious food from the chefs was being prepared, chairs were being arranged in front of the altar, and tents were being erected. Behind him, Adrian heard the door open and close, and just from the smell, Adrian knew who it was.

“Are you nervous?” he asked.

“I’m as giddy as a school girl,” Jenny replied.

“I’m serious,” Adrian said with a smile.

“Nervous? No. Excited? More than you can imagine. I’ve been dreaming about this day for years and I can’t stop pinching myself to see if I really am.”

“The wedding is in an hour, don’t you think you should… go change your clothes?”

“Five minutes to put on my dress, five minutes to have a little pre-wedding chat with Amanda, and fifty minutes to get his makeup right.”

“So I’ll see you in an hour?”

“The next time you see me, I won’t be you’re fiancé; I’ll be your bride,” she said before giving him a tender kiss.

Adrian stood at the altar with his whole body rigid with excitement. He looked out over the crowds of chattering Illuminati members, waiting for Jenny to appear. An Illuminati member who was also a registered priest would wed them. Adrian had no best man, but Amanda would serve as Jenny’s maid of honor.

Suddenly, everyone in the crowds became silent as the music began to play. Adrian looked out at the flash of white that was Jenny’s wedding dress and gasped in amazement, as never before had she looked as beautiful as she did now. Her long hair was shining in the light of the Roman sunlight like molten gold, her tan skin seemed to radiate with warmth, and her blue eyes glowed with the brilliance of neon lights. Her dress looked like it was made of silver and pearls and in her hand was a bouquet she had personally arranged, using only the most beautiful plants from her flower store. The light seemed to bend around her, as if her beauty was affecting reality itself.

Jenny walked slowly down the aisle with everyone in the crowds as mesmerized by her beauty as Adrian was. Even Amanda couldn’t keep her mouth from hanging open. Jenny stepped up to the altar and blushed as she looked at him. The priest began to speak, reading out the traditional marriage sermon. Adrian did not hear him or what he said, for he was completely fixated on Jenny. He was finally awoken from his trance when asked if they had their vows and Jenny began to speak.

“Adrian, I love you more than you could possibly understand. The day you first opened your heart to me was the greatest day of his life, and every day since then has been even better than the one before it. I have followed you all these years because of how much I love you and because of the warmth I feel, knowing that my life is in your hands. I have devoted my life to you and it has been a beautiful life, and I know in my heart that the rest of our lives will be even more beautiful. I love you, Adrian, and my body, mind, and soul will always belong to you.”

Adrian took a moment to let her words sink in and enjoy the warmth and love they carried. “Jenny, you have always been my reason to live. Before I met you, I just existed as a hollow shell without a true home, but you gave me a form of happiness that I didn’t think I was capable of feeling. You showed me that being human could be a good thing. I became the man I am today because of you and you have made me into a better person. You are what keeps me alive and keeps my existence and mind from shattering like glass. I need you, Jenny, I can’t live in this world without you. You said that your body, mind, and soul would always belong to me. All I can do is say the same and add that my only regret is that I don’t have more to give. I love you, Jenny, and you are the only woman who I am capable of loving.”

Jenny wiped away a single tear and the priest turned to her. “Jenny Sinclair, do you take Adrian Ashford to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do.”

“And Adrian, do you take Jenny Sinclair to be your lawfully wedded wife?

“Adrian do.”

“If there if no one to object to this union, then by the power vested in me, I hereby name you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride.”

Adrian wrapped his arms around Jenny and she pressed her lips against her, kissing him so gently that her lips felt like a summer breeze. All of the guests applauded as Jenny and Adrian held that embrace.

Jenny and Adrian were sitting at the banquet table of the wedding reception, which was taking place in the shade of a massive white tent. Tables had been set up around the dance floor, with Illuminati members situated around each. They were all talking about the wedding and what they all thought about Jenny and Adrian.

Amanda stood up with a drink in her hand and the whole reception became silent. Since there was no best man, Adrian could only assume that she would be giving the wedding toast. She took a deep breath before speaking.

“I never knew Adrian very well, I never knew what Jenny saw in him, and I never knew how they were able to stay together. However, if there is one thing I know, it’s that Jenny has never been happier than when she is with Adrian. I know that no one on earth could make her happier than he does.” Jenny blushed before Amanda continued. “I envy you, Jenny, I envy you so much. You have a fantastic husband, a perfect life, and a figure that cheerleaders would kill for,” she joked, causing everyone to chuckle. “Adrian, I want you to take care of her. I know you’ll treat her in the way she deserves, because you always have. Thank you for giving Jenny the life she has always wanted, it means a lot to me to see her so happy. I look forward to seeing you two together forever and meeting your future super-genius kids. Congratulations.

Also, I’ve been hitting the Champaign kind of hard. Someone should help me to my seat before Adrian pass out in the wedding cake.”

Everyone laughed and applauded as Jenny stood up and hugged her friend.

The dance floor was filled with people, with Jenny and Adrian in their own bubble of space in the center. Every Illuminati member was dancing with his or her spouse or a fellow member. Jenny and Adrian had their arms wrapped around each other and were moving back and forth, just like at their Prom.

“I can’t believe they’re finally married,” Jenny murmured.

“Yeah, I guess we’re now in a committed relationship. So no more dating other people, huh?”

“You’re damn right. There is a ball and chain hooked that wedding ring.”
“Yes dear.”

“So when do we… do the other thing we were going to do today?”

“Tonight. I have everything set up and ready. World peace will be our wedding present.”

“Speaking of wedding present… I can’t believe we’re finally married!” Jenny exclaimed again.

The wedding reception flew right by, and before Adrian knew it, the sun was setting he was carrying Jenny through their house and up to the bedroom. Closing the door with his foot, he walked over to the bed and laid her down. Careful to not rip anything, they pulled of each other’s clothes as quickly but delicately as possible.

It had been a month since they had last made love and their bodies were starved of the pleasure of that bond. Adrian took his assigned rhythm, letting his instincts and emotions take over. He had missed the feeling of Jenny’s warm naked body pressed against his, the gentle tremors of her heart beating and her lungs expanding and contracting, the taste of her lips as they kissed over and over, the sweet smell of her hair across his face when his head was buried in the pillow, the sound of every shaking gasp she gave, and the sight of her unparalleled beauty and the love she had for him in her eyes.

Jenny was equally overjoyed, longing to again be embraced, be exposed. All her life, she had waited for this day, waited to forever link herself to the love of her life, and finally, truly, this day had arrived. Everything had fallen into place, bringing forth happiness that went beyond description. She was where she belonged, where she had always wanted to be, and life had reached perfection.

At last, their bodies each shared a mirrored instant of blissful completion. Adrian collapsed beside Jenny and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close as they both tried to catch their breath.

“I can’t believe we’re finally married,” Jenny whispered.

“I know; it feels like only yesterday they were dancing at our prom.”

“I love you, Adrian.”

“I love you too, Jenny,” he said as his eyelids began to droop. He kissed her one last time and they fell asleep in each other’s arms.

Adrian woke up a few hours later and looked at the clock. It was just after 11:00 and the moon was shining brightly outside.

“Jenny, wake up, it’s time,” he whispered.

Jenny hummed and slowly opened her eyes. “What?”

“It’s time, it’s time for us to bring peace to the world

Jenny’s whole body seemed to jumpstart at his words as excitement fully woke her up. “Oh, I almost forgot.”

With all of the tiredness brushed away, they climbed out of bed, took a quick shower, and got dressed. They silently walked past the guest room where Amanda was still sound asleep and made their way to Adrian’s office. He sat behind the desk and turned on the computer, with Jenny leaning against the back of his chair. Adrian brought up his GPS tracker and checked the position of all the nuclear bombs.

“All right, they’re all in position and none of them have been opened. The Zero Masons followed their orders perfectly. First, to get rid of some clutter…”

Drawing his phone, Adrian opened up an application and processed an activation button. From his phone, a signal was released, being received and rebroadcasted by every radio tower and transmitter it met. Throughout the globe, tens of thousands of assault rifles exploded. For years, Adrian had been selling weapons laced with explosives to terrorist groups, gangs, and mafias. The stocks of AK 47s and other firearms were stuffed with C4 a detonator, with batteries that could last decades. Even weapons in tunnels and caves received the detonation signal. Now they were all going off, killing their owners and ridding the world of a great amount of danger.
“Now to tie up the loose ends…” Adrian then dialed a number. “Commander Leroy, it’s time.”

“Yes sir,” the man on the other line replied before Adrian hung up.

“Who was that?”

“A group of Zero Masons that I did not hire to move the nukes. They aren’t laborers; they’re mercenaries. Right now all of the members of the Illuminati are being assassinated. I can’t allow anyone who could get in my way to live. I’ve also hacked into their bank accounts and drained all of their funds, as well as transferred all ownership of property and businesses to me. From this point forward, you and I ARE the Illuminati.”

“Brilliant, very well done,” Jenny said without any hint of objection in her voice.

In a hotel room in Vatican City, the electronic lock of the door was hacked into. The door swung open, and several mercenaries garbed in black silently moved into the hotel room. With suppressed pistols, they executed the Illuminati member in the bed, took the body, and removed all traces of their existence.

Just down the street, another member climbed into his rental car, drunk from celebrating the wedding with his friends. After several minutes of trying to put his seat belt on put the key in, he turned on the car and drove away, swerving from side to side down the street. But as he approached the first turn, he noticed that his breaks weren’t working. Stomping on it desperately, he tried to stop the car as it picked up speed, accelerating without him pressing down the gas. He drove straight through a storefront window and a massive fireball engulfed the entire building just a second later.

Out over the Mediterranean Sea, the pilot of a member’s private jet thought he heard the sound of a gasping yell. He stepped into the cabin and found his employer dead and pale white. Her drink had been spiked with a chemical that induced a heart attack, untraceable and undetectable by forensics.

A thousand miles away, the rear fins of a similar private jet were shaking erratically, causing the jet to swerve almost completely out of control. The pilot desperately tried to send out a mayday signal, but the radio was malfunctioning. Only the pilot’s boss considered sabotage as the plane fell out of the sky.

Professor Medici woke up at the sound of suppressed gunshots downstairs. Just as he turned on his bedside lamp, mercenaries stormed in.

“What the hell is going on?!” he demanded as the Zero Masons all raised their weapons. Instead of replying, the mercenary in charge held up a small voice recorder. He pressed the play button and there was only light static, but after a few seconds, Adrian’s voice was played out.

“Hello Professor Medici. I believe it is safe to assume that you are wondering why there are Zero Mason mercenaries standing in front of you with their weapons raised. The reason is simple: I am removing you from the Illuminati, and all current members. Don’t even try to bribe the mercenaries, for if you were to check your bank accounts, you would find that you don’t have a single dime and the deeds to everything you own have been repossessed by me.”

Medici paled with fear at his words.

“As I speak, every illuminati member is being assassinated. However, only a few of you are receiving messages like this one, specifically, only those with your disease. For the years up until we met, I had wanted to become a member of the Illuminati, because I knew that you people had what I wanted. All I had to do was watch the board, move my pieces, and encircle your king without you even knowing the game was on. Since I now have what I want, I figure it’s time for me to explain everything.

I am the one to blame for your illness; I am the one that caused the bio attack against you and your fellow members. The owner of the bio-weaponry company knew how to find you because I gave him the list of members and I suggested he use the virus that took away the use of your limbs. I knew that with my record in the Illuminati, you would already know who I was and what my skills were. I knew that you would seek me about to build your prosthetics. It was merely one of half a dozen separate plots in order to infiltrate you organization. My plans have stretched across almost two decades; you and your fellow members never stood a chance.

I would prefer to not have you all killed, but my plans are too important to risk letting you live. Any Illuminati members left alive could challenge me and I will not allow that. At my initiation ceremony, you said that I was a sign that the new generation was ready to replace the old generation. You were correct; you and all of the other members have now been replaced. Goodbye.”
The voice recorder fell silent, and before Medici could say anything, the mercenary in charge raised his gun and shot him.

Throughout the globe, all of the members of the Illuminati were assassinated with deadly precision, making every death seem like an accident. No one would ever know what had really happened.

“Now, to equalize the world…” Adrian said as activated the computer virus he had planted in every government defense system, granting him complete control of every single country on Earth.

All across the globe, sirens blared in military bases as missile silos were activated. Emergency procedures were implemented to shut them down before the missiles could launch, but the only computer on Earth that could stop them was in Adrian’s possession.

Nuclear missiles flew across the sky but not over national borders. They dropped down, striking military bases that held their country’s supply of atomic weapons. Fiery mushroom clouds blanketed the nuclear superpowers of the world, destroying the weapons that had been built to destroy everything else. In the instantaneous explosions, the stockpiled nukes were destroyed before they could detonate and add more death and destruction. Only Adrian’s private stash on the frozen island was spared. Every government knew to keep their nuclear stockpiles away from major cities, but the death toll was still massive.

“It pains my heart to think of all the people I’ve just killed,” Adrian said softly, gripping the middle of his chest.

Jenny placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “It was only a fraction of the earth’s population and all great movements bring collateral damage. You are bringing peace to the world, so feel pain for the deaths, but do not slow down. Their deaths were needed for peace.”

“Thank you,” he replied, kissing her hand.

Adrian gave back control of each nation’s government, so that aid and response could be organized and distributed. Across the globe, national responders were sent to the areas where the bombs had fallen, to help the wounded and civilians within the blast zone. As doctors and rescue workers tried to save as many lives as they could, every government tried to find out what had just happened. Every country with atomic weapons had been a victim, but satellite reports showed that not a single missile had crossed any country’s borders, meaning that none of them were a case of one country attacking another.

After an hour, Adrian retook control of the world, while allowing every country to still send aid and relief to the damaged areas. Across the globe, a lone crate holding a nuclear bomb sat in every country. They were all close enough to national capitals to be seen upon detonation, but they would not cause any deaths. They were meant only to draw attention. In a separate location in each country, there was a cluster of five bombs that would not go off.

Adrian activated the remote detonators inside each demonstration bomb and set them off. Twice in one night, the world was blanketed in nuclear explosions as the bombs were set off, catching the attention of every government. By now, the citizens of the world were awake and trying to figure out what was going on. They were watching the news, staring in horror and disbelief at the explosions and aftermath. World leaders tried to figure out where the bombs were coming from, for now, every nation on Earth had been attacked, but this time, not a single missile had been launched. Jenny and Adrian watched it all from his computer, hoping they were doing the right thing.

“It is time to make my declaration.”

Jenny nodded and moved away from him. Adrian once again activated his viral hacks in each country, this time taking control of every TV and radio station on Earth. He activated his computer’s webcam with the translation option working, and on every TV, his face appeared.

“Greetings, people of the world. As you may well know, our planet has just been devastated by a nuclear catastrophe the likes of which we have never seen before. I am here to tell you now that I am responsible for what you all consider to be a disaster of biblical proportions.”

Across the globe, governments tried to take his broadcast off the television networks, but Adrian had assumed complete control. They couldn’t even track where the broadcast was coming from. People in their living rooms and bedrooms stared at him, waiting for him to continue. In every country, the broadcast was coming out in the national language, having been translated by his computer. Jenny was standing in the corner, giving him a reassuring smile.

“I wish to make it clear that this is not an act of war or terrorism, but the first step towards peace. The first wave of nuclear strikes obliterated the atomic stockpiles of every country on Earth, ensuring that I am the only one who possesses and knows the location of any remaining nuclear bombs.

Currently, there are five nuclear bombs in every, and they are his gift to the nations of the world. Every country shall receive a message with coordinates as to the location of their own stockpile. If any country tries to own more than five bombs, I will find them and destroy them.

I am sure you are wondering why I am doing this. My reason is simple; I want to bring world peace. By controlling the amount of nuclear bombs every country has, I have brought equilibrium to the world. With that equilibrium will come the greatest war deterrent: fear. With all countries now equal in terms of destructive power, the barbaric act of one nation trying to conquer a smaller and weaker nation will come to an end out of fear of obliteration.

I have watched you all fighting pointlessly and I have studied the history of the human race. Only with fear can I force the world into peace, only with fear can I force your national militaries into submission, and only with fear can I take away the illogical and sadistic option to wage war.

Many of you shall consider him a tyrant, due to my actions and the deaths O have caused. You will compare me to Hitler or Stalin because of all the people that have been killed tonight. I assure you that I would have preferred if no one had died, genocide and death are the last things I want. Blame your greedy and war-mongering governments for keeping nuclear weapons so close to your homes and families. Had they worked more on peace and less on war, no one would have died tonight.

I am sorry for the death and destruction I have caused, but out of pain shall come peace. With fear forcing the countries of the world into equality, world peace will finally be created. People of Earth, you have just lost the option of war, whether you like it or not. The future is now in your hands. You can either live with the newly established status quo, or you can go back to fighting and killing for your own greedy and selfish reasons. Though, you will find that the second choice cannot be made as easily and carelessly as it used to be.

My name is Adrian Ashford, and I am the leader of the Illuminati and the bringer of peace.”

Then Adrian opened up his email account and sent out 195 messages, each to a national leader, giving them the coordinates to their assigned stash of bombs. Adrian stood up and walked over to Jenny.

“Have I done the right thing, or did I just cause the nuclear holocaust?”

“Adrian, you have always known what is best. You don’t need to ask me for the right answer, because you always know what the right answer is. I believe what you did is right and I believe you have succeeded where all others have failed because you weren’t afraid to make the tough decisions. I believe in you, Adrian, I believe in what you accomplished today, and as your wife, I will always believe in you.”

Adrian wrapped his arms around her. “Thank you Jenny.”

“I love you,” they both said at the same time. Then with his arm around her, they walked back to the bedroom.

“Adrian don’t believe it, how is this possible?” Amanda gasped in terror.

They were all in the den, watching the morning news. They had subtitles in the bottom of the screen for Amanda, since she did not know how to speak Italian. Jenny and Adrian had learned it right after they got to Rome. Jenny was sitting to his left and Amanda was sitting to his right, and Adrian was drinking a cup of coffee.

Every station around the globe was giving the status of their country and recycling the same information. Every nation had declared martial law and Adrian was now the most wanted person in the world, though they had not actually said his name yet. On the Roman news station, the news anchor said that they were going to replay the video Adrian had sent out. Now Amanda would finally learn whom she was sitting next to…

The second his face appeared on the screen, Amanda turned to him with her eyes as large as dinner plates.

“Greetings, people of the world. As you may well know, our planet has just been devastated by a nuclear catastrophe the likes of which we have never seen before. I am here to tell you now that I am responsible for what you all consider to be a disaster of biblical proportions,” Adrian said on the TV screen.

Amanda jumped to her feet to run away, but Adrian quickly grabbed her by the wrist and sat her back down.

“Just be quiet and watch. It will explain everything.”

More terrified than ever in her life and with him practically pinning her to the couch, Amanda could do nothing but switch her gaze from the TV to her friend. Jenny’s expression merely told her to calm down and just watch. As Amanda listened to his message, Jenny leaned over and whispered in Adrian’s ear. “It was a good idea to take that shower beforehand…”

“Yeah, I didn’t want to look like a zombie when sent this out,” he replied.

After the video was played out, Adrian turned to Amanda. She was taking shaky breaths and her face was pale.

“Do you want to run like an idiot in a slasher film or do you want to talk this out like adults?” Adrian asked dryly. Amanda didn’t respond.

“I’ll go make some more coffee,” He said as he stood up and walked out to the kitchen.

“I’ll take mine black,” Jenny called after him.

“Oh, adventurous!”

Jenny then turned to Amanda. “Come on, say something.”

“How can you be ok with this?!”

“Ok with this? I helped him do it! I knew about this nuclear bomb thing since we left town. True, we both wish that no one had died for this to come to reality, but that was the cost to bring world peace. Just you wait, there might be a couple brief nuclear exchanges, but after that, the conflicts of the world will be crushed by fear.”

“Do you really believe that? Do you really think that peace can come from all this death?!” Amanda asked, trying to get her best friend to see her own view of reason.

Adrian came back in with three cups of coffee on a tray. “One black coffee for my wife, one black coffee with two sugars—Amanda, I’m pretty sure that’s how you like it, and one coffee with one cream and one sugar for me.

Amanda, humanitarian and idealist views get in the way of true goals. Contrary to the belief of political leaders, you can’t have your cake and eat it too. If you want to have world peace, you have to give something up. Like Jenny said, I really wish no one had to die in order for this peace to be established, but if government leaders had worked harder on peace instead of war and not kept their nuclear bombs so close to populated areas, then almost every single casualty could have been avoided.”

“But all that stuff about ‘fear’ and ‘forcing the militaries into submission’… Do you have any idea how tyrannical you sound?”

“That is the only way that peace can be created; you have to force it. To fight is human nature, and those in charge will do whatever they can to get whatever they want. It’s easy to choose the option of war when you aren’t the one fighting in it. With nuclear bombs, every country has the ability to make the leaders of other countries responsible for their actions. No leader will dare attack another country if their enemy will just drop a few A-bombs in retaliation,” Adrian explained as he drank his coffee.
Amanda drank hers, and once she lowered her cup, Adrian could tell that she had calmed down. He leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Amanda, I’m not evil, I didn’t do this to kill people and cause destruction, and I only want peace. I know you probably think I’m Hitler-incarnate, but in no way do I believe in anything remotely like Hitler. I don’t want people to die, and if I had to suffer an excruciating death for everyone that was killed last night in order to save them, then I would do it in an instant.”

“Well not everyone, I’m pretty sure some assholes died last night, so you aren’t quite as guilty as you think,” Jenny added.

“I know, I was telling myself that all night,” Adrian chuckled. He turned back to Amanda. “You have nothing to fear from us, we only want peace.”

Contrary to Adrian’s words, not a single nuclear bomb went off in the following days, but that was all according to his plan. Instead, there were vast protest groups and riots throughout the globe, namely in third-world countries and nations suffering from obscene levels of corruption. Citizens fearing retaliation and war were overthrowing their government leaders, removing anyone who posed a danger to world peace with their finger on the button. A nuclear stalemate was still in place and all the countries were keeping their bombs ready, but no one was stupid enough to start anything. In truth, Adrian and his forces were orchestrating all of these uprisings. Instead of using Zero Masons, he had spent years organizing insurgent groups in all countries he deemed unstable, loyal to him rather than loyal to money. They were his private army, helping to implement the greatest lie ever told. To the world it looked as though Adrian’s prediction of mankind was coming along perfectly, but really, he was pulling the strings from behind the curtain. The first world he left to govern themselves, but the third world was under his control. The plan was complete.

Adrian stood in front of a rented car in the driveway of the chateau, facing Amanda and Jenny. Amanda had calmed down, and while she did not agree with what they had done, she was honest when she told them that she would not go to the police. They had already told her everything, from how long Adrian had been planning this to their information on the Illuminati. He had changed his appearance, once again cutting his hair, wearing colored contact lenses, and sporting a pair of fake glasses.

“I have to go to Bern in Switzerland to meet with the guys who helped me move all of the nukes. There are a lot of people who I hired and I own them all a LOT of money. As rich as I am, I am not looking forward to all the checks Adrian have to write.”

“So what’s with the sedan?” Jenny asked.

“I have to drive all the way there and the Ferrari would be too conspicuous. I need to take the long back roads to cross the border.” Adrian cursed.

“Are you sure you don’t want him to come with you?”

“I need you on the outside in case I get arrested. Besides, I don’t trust Amanda alone with our house. She’ll probably barricade the doors to keep us out in an attempt to take it from us.”

“Yeah, I probably would do that. Jenny, you should stay,” Amanda sighed.

“Ok, everyone form a line. Ten million dollars; that is your payment. Take your check and leave,” Adrian said dryly, standing on a crate and facing the army of Zero Masons. They were staring at him with grim expressions, angry at what Adrian had done. They had all been hired to do illegal things, but he had crossed a line by using them to start the next Cold War. They were all standing in an abandoned warehouse in Bern, deep in an empty district of the outskirts. The warehouse had originally been for a train station, so tracks and hundreds of abandoned railroad cars were spider-webbed across the barren landscape around the building.

The warehouse itself was the size of an auto plant, but had not been used in years. The thick layer of dust on the barren floor, the boarded-up windows, and the petrified rat feces could attest to that. However, there were footprints in the dust that had not been there when the Zero Masons arrived. The footprints belonged to Adrian and they were from him setting up traps throughout the building. He had not come this far to get careless.

“Hey, you’re Zero Masons; your job is to ask no questions and do whatever you’re told. Either take the money or piss off,” Adrian barked, seeing the desire to kill him in many of their eyes. He made sure to have his hand on his lance when he gave them warning. Everyone there was armed, but with his record, it was not in the league of impossibility for him to kill them all with only his lance.

Grudgingly but silently, they all moved into a long line that doubled back on itself over and over again as Adrian pulled out his checkbook. He was going have a really sore hand after today…

“Name?” he asked to the first guy in line.

“Fredric Smith,” the man muttered.

Adrian wrote the check and handed it to him. He stormed off and the next person came up.

“Name?” He asked again.

“Melisa—”

She was cut off as Interpol agents burst through all of the windows of the building. Adrian had heard no cars or helicopters and he had checked the perimeter of the building for any officers lying in wait. How had they managed to show up without him detecting them? They were all wearing black uniforms with Kevlar vests and facemasks, like the SWAT teams of America. As they rappelled down the walls with assault rifles in hands, Adrian noticed something about their uniforms; they were wearing harnesses, but not for their ropes. The harnesses they were wearing were meant for parachutes.

“Paratroopers, how clever,” Adrian said with a maniacal chuckle.

All of the Zero Masons pulled out hidden rifles and pistols and opened fire on the Interpol agents, initiating a fierce firefight. Adrian reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, linked up to all of the traps he had set up throughout the building. He pressed one of the buttons and the sides of the crate below him burst open. Smoke machines inside kicked to life and began filling the warehouse with a curtain-like vapor.

Even with visibility taken away, the number of gunshots did not decrease. Adrian could hear more paratroopers streaming in from the roof and ordering the Zero Masons to stand down and surrender, but their demands were just met with gunfire. The Zero Masons knew what to do when confronted by a tactical police unit. As reinforcements showed up, the sounds of squad cars screeching to a halt echoed outside, followed by the drumming of helicopters.

Adrian jumped down onto the floor and hid behind the crate to avoid the random bullets flying through the air as the Zero Masons and police officers faced off in the smoke.

“This is more than just being spotted while in town, Interpol knew I was coming and has been planning this. Just as planned, it seems the Zero Masons can’t be trusted after all,” Adrian muttered calmly.

In his mind, Adrian was running hundreds of scenarios on how to escape. He was in a smoke-filled warehouse that had become the scene of open war between the Zero Masons and Interpol, and outside were who knows how many squad cars, and at least four helicopters.

“Eh, I guess I’m going to have to wing it,” he sighed as he cricked his neck.

Adrian stood up with his cellphone in hand and called home.

“Hey honey,” he said brightly.

“Hello dear, I was wondering when you would call. How is everything going?”

“Let’s just say that I’ll be a little late for dinner.”

“So late that I should keep it in the oven or put it in the fridge?”

“The fridge will work.”

“Ok, I’m on his way. I knew something like this would happen,” Jenny sighed.

“I was planning on it. Sorry baby,” Adrian hummed as he walked towards the back door of the warehouse.

“No, it’s fine. I’m just worried about leaving Amanda in the house.”

“Yeah, me too. Tell you what, I drove by a nice-looking restaurant on the way here. How about we stop by for lunch when they’re done?”

“That would be lovely.”

“Ok, I’ll see you soon.”

“You too.”

“I love you,” they both murmured at the same time.

Adrian hung up and opened another application on his phone. “Showtime,” he said to himself before opening the door and stepping outside. Spotlights from the helicopters and squad cars shined down on him with near-blinding intensity.

“Step out of the warehouse with your hands behind your head!” the Interpol agent in charge shouted with a loudspeaker.

“I would prefer not to,” Adrian said calmly as he held up his phone and pressed down on the screen.

The warehouse instantly became an island in a sea of flames as well over a hundred explosives detonated in the surrounding area, having been hidden in the train tracks, underground, and in the vast fleet of old railway cars. The explosions ripped apart the railway cars, sending debris and shrapnel in all directions while the flames consumed everything in their path. The flying wreckage knocked the helicopters out of the sky and the flaming shockwaves ignited the gas tanks of the police cars, adding even more carnage.

Even though the Interpol agents were distracted by the blaze, they were still in his path. Adrian reached into his pockets and pulled out two handfuls of darts. With destructive aim, he threw the projectiles at the police officers before him. The darts pierced the Kevlar body armor like paper and struck numerous pressure points, incapacitating the officers but leaving them alive.

Adrian drew his lance and bolted forward, sprinting into the inferno. The Interpol agents all jumped into the few cars that had not been destroyed and sped off after him. Running at his top speed, Adrian was able to easily escape the agents, even in their cars. However, he could not hope to beat them in a linear race and would have to disappear if he had any hopes of surviving.

Adrian zoomed through the burning wreck of an old railcar and ran out into an empty clearing. Before he could come up with a direction to run in, the flames behind him were smothered as a helicopter flew overhead. Inside was an Interpol agent with a high-powered rifle, something that not even Adrian could stand up to.

Adrian reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver gun, seamless and elegant without any marks or moving parts to it. Pointing at the tail of the helicopter, he pulled the trigger and an explosion blossomed on its surface. The weapon in Adrian’s hand was a laser, based on the one he had built as a teenager. In the handle was a power supply: a piece of active plutonium, sealed in lead and Demium, and then wrapped in thermoelectric plastic. The plastic converted the heat of the plutonium into electricity, powering the laser and giving it enough strength to punch through the side of the helicopter and ignite the tail’s gas line, ripping the craft out of the sky.

Adrian continued running between two walls of railcars that were forming an ongoing alleyway. A line of Interpol agents appeared at the end and raised their assault rifles. Adrian drew his lance as they opened fire, with his brain working at top speed in analyze where every bullet would land. Swinging his lance as fast as possible, he deflected the continuous stream of bullets as he charged towards the shooters. With him constantly moving, the majority of the bullets just missed, while the rest flew in a predictable line, allowing him to defend himself.

Unable to believe what they were seeing, the agents panicked, just tossing their rifles aside when they ran out of ammo and drawing their sidearms instead of just reloading. With that quick distraction, Adrian threw a handful of darts at the agents, striking them in exposed areas and incapacitating them. He threw one final dart at the side of one of the nearby railcars, lodging it in the metal. Adrian jumped into the air and used the dart as foothold, making a second leap onto the roof. He sprinted down the line of railroad cars, trying to make as much distance as possible. He looked up as a vast shadow consumed his path. Falling out of the sky were more paratroopers. They landed ahead of him and drew police batons.

“Oh please,” Adrian scoffed without slowing down.

As he approached, the first officer swung his baton, trying to strike him in the back of the skull. Adrian counterattacked before he could bring it down, shattering the bludgeon in his hands. Before he could retaliate, Adrian kicked him in the stomach and sent him flying off of the railcar. He then dodged the attack of the second agent as he brought down his baton like an axe. Adrian lashed out with his lance, stabbing him in the thigh. He yelled in pain as Adrian threw him off of the roof.

Adrian swung his lance to attack the third officer but he blocked with his baton. Without pulling back for a second attempt, Adrian reached out with his hand and struck him in the vulnerable area of the throat, just beneath his helmet. Gasping for air, the agent fell to his knees as Adrian walked past him. The fourth agent drew his pistol, but before he could even pull the trigger, Adrian switched his grip on the lance and threw it like a javelin, stabbing him the gut. He dropped his pistol and Adrian retrieved his lance before he fell off the roof of the railcar.

Up ahead, Adrian could see the place where he had hidden his car. If he could escape to the city, then his chances of getting away would skyrocket. Adrian jumped off the railcar and onto a pile of crates, covered with a ragged tarp. Only the perimeter of the pile was actual crates, they were just used to hide the car.

He ripped off the tarp and climbed through the driver-side window, then turned on the car and pushed down on the gas, plowing out of the pile of crates and nearly destroying the front of the car in the process. Adrian sped away as fast as possible, while trying to avoid crashing into any railway cars. Behind him, the warehouse and the surrounding area were still burning from the all of the explosions.

As Adrian left the outskirts, more Interpol squad cars and helicopters began to arrive. He entered the city of Bern, speeding down the streets as fast as the sedan would let him. The roaring of the engine was greeted with a chorus of honks from all of the cars he passed by. Adrian was swerving from side to side, trying to evade the cars in front of him.

In less than minute, the sirens of the police cars drowned out the angry honks of the civilians. Desperate to buy myself some time, Adrian made a screeching turn into an alley. He pulled two blocks of C4 with primers out of the clove compartment and threw them out the window. They hit the walls of the two buildings, and before the cops could pass them, Adrian detonated them with his cellphone. The sides of the buildings were ripped apart and rubble poured down on his pursuers, bombarding the first two cars into submission and stopping the rest. Adrian burst out into the next street but came to an instant halt as more cop cars showed up, blocking off the street in both directions. The sedan didn’t have enough horsepower to break out of the stockade of cars and it was too large to fit through the nearest alley. Dozens of Interpol agents had him surrounded on all sides and all were armed with assault rifles.

“I know I went easy on them, but wow, they actually got me,” Adrian laughed.

“Put your hands on the wheel and don’t move!” one of the cops yelled with a loudspeaker.

Another cop approached with his rifle ready and opened the door. Adrian raised his hands and he locked on a pair of handcuffs.

“You are going to rot in jail for the rest of your miserable life!” the officer yelled as he dragged him out of the car.

“So should I slip the cuffs now or do it later?” Adrian asked out of spite.

The officer didn’t reply as he pulled him to a criminal transportation truck.

“Just one question; why couldn’t you show up before I wrote the first check?”

Adrian was sitting in a dank concrete room, illuminated by a bright hanging lamp. Before him was a metal table bolted to the floor, facing a two-way mirror with a steel door behind him. Hen was secured to his chair with two sets of handcuffs, which Adrian found to be very interesting. The authorities were obviously doing everything they could to limit his opportunities, but his only problem was when to break free.

Adrian heard the door behind him open and an old enemy came into view. Adrian gave a small but confident smile.

“Hello Agent Mason. I didn’t think they would ever meet again, let alone so soon.”

“It took over ten years but we finally caught you,” he muttered as he sat down with a file in his hand.

“John Dillinger was caught once or twice Adrian believe.”

Mason was unfazed. “That’s interesting… Tell him, do you regret any of your crimes?”

“Qui pro quo, Clarice, qui pro quo.”

“Cut the bullshit!”

“How in the world was the FBI able to get in on this? This is Interpol business. I’m surprised the FBI even allowed you to actually come in and talk to him. You obviously aren’t very stable.”

Mason took a deep breath. “Just answer the question.”

“Like I said, qui pro quo. I’ll answer your question if you answer me first. How is it that the American FBI was able to convince Interpol to let one of their agents jump over all of their red tape, let alone such an unstable one?”

Mason muttered a curse in frustration but answered. “Until a few of your henchmen came in and confessed, they didn’t even know you had left the country. You did well in making sure that no one you hired knew where you lived. They were able to tell us that you were somewhere in Europe, and that was all we needed to know. You are an American citizen hiding abroad, which involved both the US government and Interpol. They combined their resources and worked together to hunt you down, using the information that your subordinates gave us.”

“I assumed that much, but why are you here? Of all of the interrogators and agents, why did they send you? True, we have had a couple of confrontations in the past, but why are they so comfortable with having you represent them?”

“They aren’t. True, I haven’t myself since you killed my partner, but I was able to pull some strings in order for his superiors to look past it. Aside from that, I’m here because Hoffman and I were originally in charge of your case and I know more about you than anyone else in either the FBI or Interpol.

I’ve answered your question, now you answer mine; do you regret your crimes?”

“I have absolutely no regrets in any of the crimes I committed before they met in Las Vegas. The people I killed in this country weren’t victims; they were garbage. They had chosen their paths in life and those paths had led them to become subhuman hindrances to society. I figured I might as well put my abilities to good use before moving on to bigger and better things.

But before I can go further, I must ask another question. Is there any name for the night when I set off those nukes and made my declaration? Please tell him that they aren’t just referring it to 5/7 like the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.”

Mason sighed. “As much as it pains him to give you the satisfaction, I’ll be honest and tell you that there is a name. People around the world are calling it Judgment Day because they thought you were being used by God to bring forth the Apocalypse. Many people are calling you the messenger of God, the son of God, or God himself, while many others see you as the Antichrist riding on a white horse.”

Adrian chuckled.

“You find that amusing?” Mason asked.

“How could I not? True, my life-long goal has been to surpass human limitations, but never did I toy with the idea that I was or could ever become some sort of god. I may be smart, but I’m not crazy and I’m not narcissistic. Besides, in the world of comedic irony, it never ends well for the people who call themselves God, so I’m going to avoid hanging that sword of Damocles above my head.

But as I was saying, there are many crimes that I regret, and they were all on “Judgment Day”. Specifically, they were all the people I killed. Actually, all the people I killed, minus the people who were assholes in their lives, I don’t mind their deaths.”

“So you do regret it…”

“I don’t regret my actions, not in the slightest bit. However, I do regret the people who had to die in order for my actions to take place, but even though my setting off all of those nukes did indeed kill millions of people, the fault does not all fall on me. True, it’s very unlikely that they would have all died in nuclear explosions without me to press the button, but it would have been impossible for any of them to die that way if the governments had done a better job of keeping their nukes at a safe distance.”

“But why did you do what you did?”

“Hold on, you know the rules: I answer your questions if you answer mine. Now tell me how many people are glad with what I did?”

“Like I said, many people see you as some sort of messenger of God. It’s more complicated than—”

“That’s not what I asked. I asked how many people support my actions.”

Mason was silent for a few moments. “Many more than Adrian would like.”

“That is not a proper answer. If you are not going to give me a number or even a guess, then at least tell me how they are supporting me.”

“A number of people in Rome are demanding that the pope declare you to be a saint, web pages and forums have sprouted up all across the Internet where people who agree with what you did argue with those who hate you, and there are riots in almost a hundred towns and cities of your supporters fighting with the general public. You’ve basically started a cult of people who worship you.”

“I don’t want them to worship me, I do not deserve worship. All I want is for people to understand why I did what I did. Everyone who supports me is able to see the big picture. They are able to toss aside the cloud of humanitarian ideals that block their senses of logic and see that while there was a great cost for what I gave the world, it is well worth the benefit. I want people to understand why I did it.”

“Well why did you do it?”

“While my reasons are in his broadcast, I will explain anyway. I detonated all of those nukes to bring world peace.”

“And how does the greatest genocide in the history of mankind—albeit an unintentional one—bring world peace?”

“I did not detonate those bombs to cause deaths, I did it to prevent them. I destroyed all of those nukes because the nations of the world refused to. I obliterated the advantage of the nuclear superpowers and then redistributed them as I saw fit. That first wave of explosions was merely to clear the board for a new game.”

“And the second wave?”

“That was to get the world’s attention, not just the countries that were struck. I had those bombs placed in very strategic locations; close enough to national capitals for the explosions to be seen, but not close enough for people to be at risk by the blast radius or fallout.”

“You also said that you had given nuclear bombs to every country?”

“Yes. After the first wave of explosions, there were only six nuclear bombs in every country. Every sixth bomb was used for the demonstration, while the other five were my gift to the nations. With every country having five nukes, the status quo in terms of military power has reached equilibrium. It doesn’t matter if some of the countries don’t have armies or air superiority; they have nukes, and that is all they need to scare off their enemies.

Ever since the end of WWII, the nuclear superpowers of the world have used their advantage to bully the other nations, but now that their weapon stockpiles have been destroyed and nuclear bombs have been fairly distributed to the rest of the world, the status quo has been locked down. Every nation will fear its neighbor and that fear will deflate their egos, with no one daring to wage war, attack, or intimidate another country.”

“So this peace will only exist because the nations of the world will be too petrified to make a move?”

“That is the only form of peace that can exist. Humans are incompetent when it comes to building their own peace, especially when you incorporate more and more people into the process. The UN has been unable to end wars because the ambassadors only care about their own countries. All of these selfish ambitions come together to form the useless bureaucracy that they put their faith in.

To be frank, I find it to be quite useless. I don’t want to get rid of the UN, but it needs to learn to do its job and I’m tried of waiting. I did in ten years what the UN has been unable to do in seventy. True, you may not agree with my methods and your humanitarian idealism may keep you from seeing the big picture and agreeing with my methods, but I have established world peace.”

“You said in your broadcast that you were the leader of the Illuminati. Would you care to explain that?”

Adrian chuckled. “Well, I have no other questions to ask, so I’ll just answer you. The Illuminati does exist, though I brought it to the edge of extinction by assassinating all of the other members.”

“How did you become a member?”

“I began my search several years ago, looking on the Internet for information. After sifting through all of the conspiracy theories and rumors, I finally found the pure information I was looking for. I found the list of members and tried to figure out a way I could join. The answer came when I found another person after the same goal. He was the CEO of a bio-weapons company who had been denied membership to the Illuminati. He wanted revenge but he had no real information to go by.

I hacked into his company servers and looked through the weapons he could use against them. I discovered a disease that his company had created, which had the ability to cause blood clots in the extremities and inevitable muscle death. Anonymously, I gave him the member list on the condition that he would use that disease against them. With my technological skills, I knew that I could have collateral against them.

It was in Vegas that we finally found the personal doctor of one of the members, and we used him to get in contact with the Illuminati. In exchange for safe asylum and membership in the Illuminati, I built prosthetic hands for the members infected with their debilitating illness.

I used the Illuminati to find missing nuclear bombs from the Soviet Union, and then distributed them to the countries of the world using the subordinates of the Illuminati, the Zero Masons. I assassinated the other members so that I would acquire all of their wealth and influential power, with Jenny and Adrian as the only members of the Illuminati left. And then I came here, under the guise that I was going to pay the Zero Masons for their services. In truth, I knew that Interpol or some other group would catch wind of me, and I needed to eliminate the Zero Masons so that they couldn’t oppose me or leak any more information. I was the bait to draw you people in and I threw you at them to dispose of them for me.

From this point forward, I’ll be watching the nations of the globe, making sure none of them acquire more than their allowed number of atomic bombs.”

“And how are you supposed to do that when you’ll locked up in a maximum-security prison for the rest of your life or dead from being executed?”

Adrian cocked his head to one side and laughed. “Did it ever cross your mind that maybe I wanted to be captured? That maybe this is fun for me? What happened in the train yard? That was just a game to amuse myself. If I had gotten away, the game would have ended, so I went easy on all of you and now I get to play a little bit longer. You would do well not to underestimate me, it has had dire repercussions in the past.”

The government-controlled building was ten stories tall with a chain-link fence surrounding the perimeter. The area within the fence was filled with parked police cars and patrolling guards. The Swiss government had given Interpol use of the building since it was too risky to take Adrian out of Bern. Jenny was standing on the roof of a nearby building, holding a remote control.

“Someday, honey, your boredom is going to get you killed,” she giggled as she worked the controls of the remote.

Down below, a cargo truck full of beer kegs was moving steadily down the road. The driver was a dressed-up mannequin, but controlling the truck were pneumatic actuators hooked up to the gas, brakes, and steering wheel. Jenny’s controller was directing the actuators themselves, allowing her to regulate every movement and action of the truck.

“Showtime,” she said with a smile as she made the truck accelerate and steered it into the fence surrounding the building.

The guards jumped out of the way as it plowed through the fence and slammed into the parked police cars. The mechanical goliath knocked them out of the way as if they were inflatable and then crashed into the entrance of the building. The fenced sides of the truck broke open and the kegs fell out like boulders in a rockslide. They burst open when they hit the ground, spraying the area with brown fluid. But the air was not filled with the smell of beer; it was crushed under the fumes of gasoline. All of the kegs had been emptied and filled with gas.

As gas poured out across every surface within the perimeter of the fence like a flood, Jenny pulled out a flare gun and launched a ball of fire across the street. The flare struck the waves of gasoline and the entire area was engulfed in a sea of flames, setting off the fuel tanks of the police cars and incinerating everything that would burn.

People were fleeing as fast as they could to escape the inferno, but Jenny took a deep breath and jumped off the building as if it were the edge of a pool. She fell through the air and landed on the hood of a car, shattering all of its windows and crushing the metal sheet. By using her heightened reaction speed, she had distributed the force of the impact through every muscle and tendon in her legs and ankles, taking away the crippling strain and avoiding injury.

Jenny drew her lance as she approached the flames.

The building shook from the impact of the truck and the intensity of the flames, sending vibrations down to the basement. As the lamp swung erratically above him and the door rattled in its hinges, Adrian gave a smile. It looked like it was time for him to make his escape. While his hands were kept away from each other by two sets of cuffs, Adrian didn’t need to use them together.

A thin black line with a bright dot on one end could be found on his lower back, but it wasn’t a tattoo or scar; it was a pin, hidden beneath his skin and just long enough for such occasions. He reached underneath his coat and shirt and pinched the bright spot on the end, which served as the head of the pin. He pulled it out, glad that he had made it as long as he did. Adrian inserted the pin into the locking mechanism of the handcuffs on his right hand, pushing up on the catch until it released the teeth of the cuffs. The loop opened up without anything to hold it closed, freeing his right hand. Adrian quickly turned and unlocked the second set of cuffs, opening them up and setting him loose.

The two-way mirror behind him most likely had a reinforcing polymer that would reflect back most of the force Adrian used against it, so his only exit was the door. Adrian gripped the handle and put one foot on the frame. Using all of the strength in his arms and leg, he ripped the door open, shattering all of the locks.

Adrian walked down the cinderblock hallway, listening to the explosions outside. As he turned a corner, a guard spotted him and charged forward with a police baton. He swung it down towards his head but Adrian knocked his arm aside like it was an annoying housefly. Adrian reached up and punched him in the jaw with enough force to shatter all of his teeth, then sidestepped behind him and kicked his knee, breaking his leg. He howled in pain as he fell to the floor and Adrian walked past him.

Down the hall, two more guards heard the exchange and were running towards him. As the first one approached, Adrian pulled back his arm and then slammed him in the chest with his palm, shattering all of his ribs but not causing any organ damage. He passed out from the agony as his second opponent approached.

The guard aimed a stun gun at him and pulled the trigger, firing two darts that were connected to the weapon by a pair of wires. The barbs clung to his chest and sent electricity through his body, his unflinching will allowed him to block out the pain and remain in control of his body. Adrian grabbed the guard by the throat, lifted him off the ground with one hand, and slammed him against the wall.

“Where is the evidence room? Where are my weapons? Tell me and you will live.” Adrian demanded, speaking in German.

“Seventh floor, room 725!” the guard replied in kind.

Adrian slammed him against the wall again, knocking him out. He turned and continued down the hall, while the explosions continued outside.

Jenny walked through the inferno, slashing and stabbing at anyone who raised a weapon at her or came close. The light of flames was making her hair shine like molten gold and made the blood on her lance look like melted rubies. She walked through the entrance of the building and stepped into the lobby, which was no longer burning, thanks to the building’s fire alarm. The receptionist had abandoned her post and the lights were out. There were two hallways branching out to the left and right up ahead and an elevator directly in front of her.

As a guard in a gas mask ran past her, having been ordered to make sure Adrian was still locked up, he spotted Jenny and stopped. He raised his pistol and fired several rounds, but with the same skill and style as Adrian, she raised her lance before the bullets could be launched, predicting where they would strike instead of trying to follow them with her eyes.

Jenny deflected every bullet as she moved closer and closer, finally coming in range to reach out and stab the guard in the stomach. With the flames outside sizzling out from a lack of fuel, she turned and continued down the hall, figuring that Adrian was in a holding cell the basement.

Jenny pulled out three darts as the echo of approaching guards reached her ears. At the next turn in the hall, three Interpol agents stepped out and pointed their rifles at her.

“Don’t move!” the one in the middle barked.

Without slowing down or replying, Jenny threw the darts, striking the three agents in the throats. They fell to the ground with blood pouring from their wounds. Jenny walked up and knocked them by stabbing all three of them with her lance. She continued on, reaching the elevator. The doors opened up, showing that it was full of agents. Without missing a beat, Jenny dove in.

Adrian stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hall, counting the rooms. From seemingly every door and turn, Interpol agents and Swiss police officers were jumping out and attacking him, armed with batons, firearms, and stun guns. As Adrian got closer and closer to the evidence room, it seemed like their numbers were increasing.

One fully-protected agent charged towards him with a baton in hand. As he swung it down towards his head, Adrian caught his wrist and jerked his arm, turning him around and forcing him to his knees. Adrian let go of his wrist and then kicked him in the side of the head. Even with his bulletproof helmet, the kick was powerful enough to give him a concussion and knock him out.

Behind him, a police officer stepped through a doorway with a shotgun in hand. Adrian picked up the officer he had just knocked out and used him as a shield against the first load of buckshot. The ball bearings tore through the man’s Kevlar, and before the next round could be fired, Adrian hurled the corpse at the gunman. Knocked to the ground, the officer dropped his gun and Adrian kicked him in the side of the head.

Adrian finally reached room 725 and stepped inside. The room was dark and filled with rows upon rows of shelves, all filled with boxed-up evidence. Without turning the lights, he scanned the boxes, looking for the most recent addition. Adrian finally found his lance, darts, and laser, wrapped up and secured in a long cardboard box.

Before Adrian could open it, he jerked to the side to dodge a bullet aimed for the back of his head. Ducking down, he drew a dart from the box and spun around, hurling it at the assailant. The metal spike struck the hand of Agent Mason, forcing him to drop his gun. He raised his other hand, his backup in his grip.

“Stay dead this time.”

Before Mason could pull the trigger, Adrian lunged forward and knocked the gun aside, then reached up and stabbed him in the throat with his bare hand. His hand tore through the skin and muscle with ease and crushed his veins and windpipe. Mason fell to the ground, dying just like Logan.

“I can’t afford to die again, after all, third time is the charm,” Adrian said calmly as he got back to his feet.

With Mason’s dead body bleeding onto the floor, Adrian opened up the box holding his weapons. Adrian stowed the darts and his laser in his pockets and retrieved his lance, spinning it around his fingers. Fully armed, he stepped out of the evidence room, ready to find his wife.

Jenny walked through his path of destruction down in the basement, looking for anyone conscious. She came to a police officer that was beginning to wake up. She grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off his feet.

“Where is Adrian?” she demanded, speaking in German.

“He went to the evidence room on the seventh floor,” the guard said groggily, having been the one who directed him. Jenny slammed him against the wall, knocking him back out.

“What the hell is going on here?!” she heard a voice yell.

She looked down the hall and saw and Interpol agent with an assault rifle. Before he could raise it and fire, Jenny switched her hold on her lance and threw it like a javelin. The lance flew through the air like a bullet and struck the Interpol agent between the gut and the ribs, piercing his Kevlar vest like paper. The weapon lodged itself in the wall behind him, pinning him to it.

Jenny retrieved her weapon and made her way back to the elevator.

Adrian was swinging his lance with machinelike speed and brutality, slashing and stabbing at Interpol agents and police officers that were streaming up and down the staircase. They were swarming towards him in such numbers that it almost seemed to defy logic. There were so many that Adrian had stop knocking them out and just go for the easier kill.

Adrian stabbed one agent in the chest, piercing his heart and ending his life. Another agent charged towards him from behind, so Adrian slammed him with his elbow as he pulled his lance free. The agent fell to his knees and Adrian snapped his neck with one hand. One officer raised his empty shotgun above his head to slam him with the stock, but Adrian stabbed him through the lower jaw, with the end of the weapon breaking out of the top of his skull. Before Adrian could pull it free, an agent ran up the staircase with a stun gun in hand. With his free hand, Adrian drew his laser and shot the man in the face, burning an inch-wide hole through his skull.

Adrian finally pulled his lance free and used the swinging momentum to turn around and slash an officer across the chest, the man lacking a bulletproof vest. He looked down and spotted a door across the staircase. It looked like it was just close enough to reach. With all of his strength, Adrian kicked the handrail, breaking it off and clearing a path. He then lashed out and slashed the two closest enemies, buying him a mere second. With that quick opportunity and a small running start, Adrian jumped off of the staircase, falling through the wide expanse of open air. Barely missing the handrail and slamming into a crowd of police officers, Adrian reached the other side safely.

He quickly wrenched open the door and jumped out into a large room filled with vacant cubicles. He closed the door and jammed a dart into the locking mechanism, sealing it shut. Adrian ran to the nearest elevator and pressed the button over and over again, knowing that Adrian had less than a minute before the door was broken down.

The stainless steel doors finally opened up, and Adrian was face to face with Jenny, wearing bloodstained clothes but apparently unharmed. They both gave a gasp of disbelief and then reached out, wrapping their arms around each other in a tight embrace.

“I’m so glad to see you,” Adrian whispered.

“You too. I was really starting to worry.”

They were shaken from their dream by the rattling of the door near the elevator. It couldn’t hold much longer.

“Come on, we have to go,” Adrian said, grasping Jenny’s hand as he stepped into the elevator. They pressed the button for the ground floor and the doors closed.

“Every cop and Interpol agent is gathering down in the lobby to apprehend us and there are no other exits. However, once we get out, there will be no one to chase after us,” Jenny said.

“We’ll be sitting ducks once the doors open up. They’ll open fire the second they see us.”

“Then they just have to make sure that they don’t see us,” Jenny replied as she held up a smoke grenade.

Down in the lobby, every Interpol agent and police officer had a gun in his hand and was pointing it at the elevator doors. The weapons would shake more and more as the lights above the doors showed that the elevator was nearing the ground floor.

Finally, the door opened, but nobody fired. Smoke was pouring out of the elevator and a hissing sound could be heard. In a single barrage, half a dozen open smoke grenades were thrown out of the elevator and into the hall. As smoke filled the room, everyone opened fire on the elevator, pocketing the far wall with hundreds of bullets but leaving Jenny and Adrian safe. They were hiding in the front corners of the elevator, holding their breath.

“By the way, this doesn’t count as a honeymoon,” Jenny teased over the chorus of firing bullets.

“Yes dear,” Adrian laughed.

The second the sound of gunfire was replaced with the sound of magazines being handled and guns reloaded, Jenny and Adrian dashed out of the elevator. Smoke had completely filled the room and taken away all visibility, but Jenny and Adrian could still sense their enemies.

Undeterred by the smoke, they moved through the lobby like ghosts, stabbing at every agent and cop in their path. The room was far too crowded for them to use their lances, so they were each holding two darts and using them like daggers. People began firing random shots into the air as the sound of people being killed grew louder and louder. All the bullets did was add more death and confusion to the mess.

Bodies continuously fell to the floor with carefully placed stab wounds as Jenny and Adrian would pounce on their targets and either strike the pressure points like deadly vipers or try to power their way through to the organs. Once they thinned out their numbers, they returned to their lances, wielding them with masterful skill and terrifying strength. In Adrian’s free hand was his laser, and with each pull of the trigger, a beam of light would momentarily cross the room, the smoke giving the light something to bounce off of before someone was killed. With every stab and every slash, victory seemed to come even closer.

Adrian felt unstoppable with his enemies unable to land even a single counterattack or find him in the smoke. Against his better judgment, he even felt immortal. He had died twice before and been in countless fights similar to this one, and he had always come back. He knew he could still die, but he just let the feeling continue to burn in his heart, granting him even greater strength and speed.

Even with the smoke blocking his sense of sight and smell and the sounds of battle obscuring his hearing, Adrian could tell that Jenny felt the same way, as if there was an open channel between their minds, letting them read each other’s thoughts. She was enjoying the battle as well and relishing the feeling of superiority they had over their enemies. Both Jenny and Adrian took no joy in the killing of these people, but that feeling of invincibility was like a euphoric amphetamine. The knowledge that they had defeated everyone in their path was giving them a vast boost of power.

Whether it was a street gang, the police, the Illuminati, Interpol, or even the whole world, no one could stand in their way. They had overcome everything in their path and brought world peace. How could anyone possibly defeat them when they had beaten the odds time and time again and even defied death? How could anyone hope to kill them when their physical and mental abilities were so powerful that guns were completely useless against them? How could anyone ever hope to surpass their legend?

In only thirty seconds, every agent and cop was dead and the room fell silent. The only presence Adrian could sense was Jenny’s as they both put away their weapons. Their heart rates slowed and they became themselves again. Trying to catch their breath, they stepped out of the smoke-filled lobby and into the warm sunlight. They both stood still, letting the sun wash away their aches and pains.

“I hope that is the last time we ever have to fight,” Jenny said softly.

“We’ll probably have to continue fighting, since the authorities will be after us forever,” Adrian replied, filling Jenny’s eyes with sadness. “But I put my faith in their bond, so I’m willing to put my faith in a peaceful future.” Adrian then reached out and wrapped his hand around hers. “Come on, let’s go home.”

For the next several decades, an uneasy peace settled across the world. People were afraid of attack, but the attacks never came. Similar to the Cold War, international tensions were reduced to little more than countries holding their fingers over the launch button and bluffing. Now that the Third World could fight back, America, Russia, Europe, and the nations in Asia ceased bullying smaller countries out of greed and fighting pointless wars. They had always operated on the belief that they could do whatever they wanted as long as their enemies couldn’t overpower them, but now the nations of the world were forced to be equal. They could either deflate their egos or be annihilated.

Once everything cooled down, Adrian and Jenny began to rebuild the Illuminati. Individuals who were more than smart enough to see the big picture of Judgment Day and supported him were carefully recruited. They did background checks for everyone they watched, making sure that they would not jeopardize the peace that Adrian had installed.

Those that lacked a hunger for power, narcissistic desires, and double-crossing tendencies were recruited one at a time. With their help and vigilance, they watched the proceedings of the world from their computers, always strengthening their hold on the military and informational systems of the world by hacking and re-hacking their way through every new firewall and defense, making sure that no country could ever lock us out, build a vast number of nuclear weapons, and take over the world.

There was no aspect of any government that they did not have eyes and ears in, and whenever they found out that a country had so much as one more nuclear bomb than they allowed them, the punishment was swift and brutal. Taking control of their missile defense system, they would wipe whatever base the bomb was held at off the map.

As time went on, the rage people had originally felt on Judgment Day was replaced with understanding. National tensions were at an all-time high, but the threat of attack was at an all-time low. Fear was the key to peace and that fear was doing its duties flawlessly. With the powers and wealth of all the former Illuminati members, Jenny and Adrian were able to evade capture with ease. They completely disappeared off the face of the earth with layer after layer of aliases, with only their fellow members and Amanda knowing their true identities. Never in her life did she ever tell anyone about them.

With their enemies unable to find them, and the world in the palms of their hands, Jenny and Adrian lived out their lives in happiness and luxury. They loved each other, never forgetting what they had done for each other, their adventures together, and the peace they had given to the world and each other.

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