Days of Boom: Chapter 5

Nolan Swift

V

I Get A Little Lost

Somehow I managed to find the fastest way to a place I had never been to in a city I have never seen before. It was one of the benefits of being Hermes’ child, an internal GPS in my head as long as I was on a road. We got to Notre Dame almost an hour ago and I hadn’t seen anyone for awhile so I wondered what was going on. As I started walking back the way I came, I realized that there was a bit of a problem.

“I have no idea where I am right now,” I said out load as I looked at the twisting hallways. I figured a bomb would be in the highest point and found a few sets of stairs that went up. Every so often I would have to cross over to a different set of stairs by moving down hallways. However, as I turned around, I saw hallways that went in all different directions and wondered which one I had taken to get here. I wasn’t in a part of the church that was open to the public after all, so simply looking at a map or a sign wasn’t an option. “Well, I guess I’ll keep going up. Bombs don’t find themselves.”

I eventually made it to the top floor and began to open the door to the bell tower, one of the only rooms actually labeled on the entire upper level.

“We’re getting reports from some of the lower levels that the invading group has deactivated the bomb,” I heard as I instantly stopped and listened through the crack in the door. I looked into the room and saw about four guys sitting around a radio communicator. They all had the Burning Sun badge on the sleeves of their long coats. All of a sudden I heard the static shut off again on the radio.

“This is Group Three on the lower level. Two demigods managed to get past us. We suffered minor injuries except for one, who was stabbed in the back three times. His armor took most of the blow, but I wonder if the demigod knew he had it on. Waiting for further orders,” I heard on the other line and I wondered which group was the one that took them out. The four however seemed to simply ignore the chatter on the radio. Two of the guys at the table stood up and walked over to the other side of the room out of my site, but I figured they were checking something else as I heard them start pressing buttons.

“It looks like the grunts are as useless as we expected them to be,” the one on the left said as he looked over the radio.

“True, but it did provide us with useful information on their capabilities so far,” the other said. “All data we collect has been sent to the other bases in Rome, Greece, and Florida. The group in Greece has already set the bomb to go off in the next twenty four hours and special precautions have already been made.”

I listened to the men talk and while they seemed to be taking tabs on us, I was taking tabs on them. In the span of a few minutes, I learned where the next bomb was and where some of these guys’ bases were. Just then the point of a sword came at me from the other side of the door and I jumped backward in surprise. The door then flew open and another guy grabbed my shirt and pulled me inside the room by my foot.

“What do we have here?” the one guy at the table asked as he looked at me. While I couldn’t see his face under his dark mask, I felt his smirk crawl up my spine. The other two that had dragged me into the room had swords pointed right up against my chest, preventing me from even getting to my feet. One of them kicked me in the chest and I pretended to grasp at it in pain, but in actuality I placed my hand over my hammer pendent.

“It appears one of them has gotten a little lost,” the other said, with a somewhat feminine voice and I wondered if there was a girl under that mask. “We can’t let him leave, he knows too much.”

“How much he knows is of no consequence, our plans are already in motion and not even Nolan Swift, is fast enough to stop us,” the main at the table said, and I instantly grew to dislike this person. Just the way he said my name was enough to make me feel like this guy was oozing poison with his words.

“We’ll just have to see about that,” I spat back and pulled at the charm around my neck. The two holding swords to my chest were instantly launched across the room by a wave of fire that shot out of my hammer as it took on its full form. However, they landed on their feet and simply patted the ashes from their clothes. They then took stances as if they were getting ready to attack again.

“Listen, my friends have already kicked the butts of all your guys downstairs and deactivated the bomb,” I said as they came closer. “Why don’t you guys just surrender and we can go our separate ways. I’ll head to Rome and you can head to jail.”

Unfortunately, they didn’t like my idea and the two jumped at me at the same time. I managed to block the first strike with the handle of my hammer, while leaning back to avoid the second strike. I watched as a few of my front hairs fell to the floor. No doubt about it, these guys were well trained as most mortals couldn’t even come close to hitting me. I decided that holding back because they were mortals wasn’t an option.

“Alright, you asked for it,” I said before quickly shifting backward, causing the guy I had my weapon locked with to stumble forward and fall right into my knee, which was currently traveling upward to meet his face. When the two collided, the guy dropped his sword and held his face in pain as I saw blood stain the fabric of his mask. Meanwhile I was currently feeling the pain of kneeing someone in the face, especially considering that after hitting him, I think even their faces had some kind of armor. The other guy moved toward me and swung, but I rolled out of the way and back onto my feet. I grabbed my hammer toward the head and moved toward the guy. He had just enough time to turn his head before I slammed by hammer head into his chest, forcing the air out of his lungs. I then brought my elbow down onto the back of his neck and he was passed out on the floor.

“Impressive show,” I heard the girl say as she slowly clapped her hands in mock applause.

“Indeed, I thought you would have been out of practice,” the other guy said. These two were really starting to annoy me and I gripped my sword tighter. The way they talked made me want to just punch their faces in. My blood began to boil and golden light seemed to encase my body as wings appeared on my shoes and a winged hat appeared on my head.

“I’ll show you how out of practice I am,” I said and I rushed forward and went to hit the guy with my hammer. However, much to my surprise, two swords fell from his sleeves as he grabbed them and crossed them to intercept my blow. I had moved at almost the speed of sound and this guy managed to block me, which shouldn’t have been possible. In my shock, the girl flipped over the table and hit me with a kick, sending me back a few feet and I lost my concentration, causing the golden aura to fade.

“Is that all you have?” the guy said with a small chuckle and he moved at me with lightning speed. I just managed to block his strike, but the girl once again move in on me while I was blocking the first strike. She hit my chest with an open palm strike and it felt like a shock wave went through my body as I was launched back through the door I had been dragged in from. I rolled down a small flight of stairs and hit my head against the stone walls, causing me to feel a bit of pain. The guy and girl looked at me from the top of the stairs as in unison they took a step toward me down a stair.

“Hey there you are Swift, we’ve been looking everywhere…,” I heard from down the hall and I turned to see Jared. The two Burning Sun members seemed to be shocked by his sudden appearance and I used that moment to my advantage. Golden energy once again filled my body and in an instant I was running down the hall, grabbed Jared, and I ran with him down the various stairways until I found the front door. “…for you. How did we get outside?”

“Long story,” I said as I looked at the rest of the group, who seemed a bit surprised by our sudden appearance. “Anyway, the bomb is in Rome. We should get going if we plan to stop it in the next twenty-four hours. There should be a train station not too far from here that can get us to Rome.”

Everyone nodded in agreement and filled me in on what had happened with the bomb. I had told them about what I had heard upstairs, but left out the part about me getting my butt kicked. If anything, I was going to keep that part a secret until I got a rematch with them. I prided myself on my speed so to be shown up like that was unforgivable and I did plan on having another go at them. Maybe in Rome, maybe in Greece, but it was going to happen.

Darkcloud1111 ~Fastest Hero Alive