The Cyberbird Episode One

Episode One-An Armored Angel

            His fist flew into the side of the humanoid reptile knocking it back from a woman and her children. Its crocodilian face snarled with yellow eyes glowing in malice as it was thrown up into the air by the metallic figure. Wings flapped out of nowhere as the warrior’s boots became talons.

          “ROAR!” the reptoid snarled with fear as it was thrown towards a water tower.

          The figure shot a Grecian glowing blade out of his wrist, charged with a white light and flickering golden electricity. He nosedived, bursting through the creature’s torso, making it explode. With an easy landing, the hero’s wings retracted, along with a beak and bird eyes that had covered his black visor.

          “Mister?”

          “Yes?”

          “Who are you?” one of the little boys he’d saved questioned in amazement.

          “What are you?” added the mother

          “Some say a cybernetic birdman knight,” he replied.

          The young son smiled, and shouted, “No, YOU’RE AN ANGEL! AN ARMORED ANGEL!”

          “Yeah kid, whatever,” said a voice in the visor.

          “Let’s get out of here,” another voice replied as the warrior ran his hand across a small ruby in the centerpiece of his belt which caused him to float.

          The armored “angel” flew into the air, metallic wings extending once again, and was gone in a flash. About a mile outside of town the figure landed in a dense forest. Some of his armor gathered together, and flew out as a metal eagle-hawk hybrid which stared at the figure.

          Said figure retracted his visor and now non motif helmet to reveal a young man of twenty years old and Caucasian descent. His hair was a dirty brown with hints of blond and eyes of a dull brown; he shook his hair and ran a hand through it. Sweat drenched his neck.

          “Xel, we’ve been at this for two months now, and the guy Venic you mentioned keeps sending them like a bad strategy or something. Also, for once I’d like to reveal my identity to the people we save,” said the young man.

          The bird looked at him and spoke, “Yes, I know Aaron… it can be hard, but you know we cannot be compromised. I dare say, was that the new kick you’ve been working on? Cause it kind of sucked. Oh, also I believe Venic may just be drawing us out in the open, because he knows we have no other choice but to save lives.”

          “Hardy har har. At least I’m not a cybernetic bird part of an ancient armor. You never did tell me the full story of how you came here. I mean I remember meeting you, and almost dying, and you turned into what you are now Xelbrius,” replied Aaron.

          Xelbrius’s hawk eyes viewed Aaron stoically. “Maybe I don’t have to my young padawan,” Xel replied with a strong drip of sarcasm.

          “Ha ha. I’m gonna have to tell, Henrick to quit letting you watch Star Wars. I still think Episode Three is the best out of all the prequels,” answered Aaron.

          “Yes, and believe me I’ve seen stranger things than that. Do you even remember how we met?”

          “Yeah,” replied Aaron. “The day I began to share a telepathic link with a warrior trapped as a biomechanical bird.”

          He started to sit down, then realized he was still in the light armor suit which if his helmet was enclosed would have been a back and chest plate, silver greaves, and the wrist blade from earlier. His right hand, slid back a small part on the suit’s belt buckle, and he pressed a small switch. The belt retracted into a normal one along with the suit going inside.

          “Compact tech. I love it. Glad nobody else knows about,” laughed Aaron.

          “I wouldn’t be so sure about that. It’s pretty well known in the circles I’ve traveled in. Ancient tech it is, and learn its specifications you must,” said Xelbrius in a fake Yoda voice.

          “Seriously, your movie watching time needs to take a break,” answered Aaron as he sat down on the cool grass now wearing a pair of blue jeans, a plain white t-shirt, and sandals. “Enjoy nature, live real, be real.”

          “I am real or have you forgotten?” said Xel waddling towards his friend’s shoulders. “Never did I think, I would be friends with a fired college drop out.”

          “Yeah, never did I think I’d be like a freaking Kamen Rider or Guyver guy fighting evil demonic creations.”

          “Guess, we’re in the same boat, and I will show how I was awakened.”

                “Yep, two months ago, who could have known…” Aaron trailed off, as his eyes closed along with Xel’s both sharing their minds.

An Unknown Time Before

               

                He woke up; wires ran to and from his body now on a medical table. His first natural instinct was to panic; but he knew he had to qualm that fear. “Where am I?” said the man as he tried to get up.

          His body wouldn’t let him and he saw that he was still in his battle armor. “Arcon, Armacon where are you? There’s…wait a minute. This isn’t Atlantis. How in the..”

          “Good, glad you’re awake finally. It has been many years since I have seen a knight such as yourself with a few exceptions here and there,” said a suited man walking into the room. “It has been too long Xelbrius.”

          Xel shook his head; why did this man look so familiar? His beard was trim along with his hair, heck everything. In fact he wore some kind of strange clothing.

          “You do not remember me, I am Venic one of the Kanor Mages from Atlantis.”

          “I still don’t get it. Why am I here? Did you not face trial in Atlantis for terror?” replied Xelbrius.

          “Ahh, I see you’re still stuck in the old days my friend. A Necangel such as yourself to have compassion for others is very interesting indeed. You see we have been experimenting for years using your body as a basis, Xelbrius…nanotechnology,” laughed Venic.

          “There’s a still a few things you need to catch up on. I’m surprised you’re awake like you are right now. You see, Atlantis is now a barren wasteland with great cold known as Antarctica, and my brother and others of Cainor’s pact, well they run the world now with of course somebody kind of late to the show. The Illuminated Ones they call themselves or known to what many dub, conspiracists, the Illuminati.”

          Still groggy, Xel shook his head again, and asked, “Why would you want to copy my body?”

          Venic smiled, and explained with a flourish, “I have my reasons. I am more than human, much like you am I right?”

          “I couldn’t help how I was born or what I was born from, but my allegiance belongs to the Elohim,” he replied as he felt strength going through his arms.

          “Really, and why then can you not break free son of the Fallen? I have learned since Atlantis, you can only be temporarily humanoid,” sneered Venic, his eyes flashing yellow. “I can make you free again if you change your mind. You were an ignorant betrayer before; I don’t see why this is any different. Enjoy your rest Xelbrius, former Knight of Atlantis.”

          Venic left and Xelbrius wondered what to do. “What does he mean only temporarily humanoid?” he wondered. Then he felt it, a pain he could not describe. He saw his arms shrinking, and mutating into something else, like wings.

          “Oh, by the way, if you remain human too long and resist the changes…I know you’ll die. Ha ha, and don’t even think of trying to escape. We have invisible shock and laser lines everywhere that will destroy you or anybody that tries to leave other than an authority such as myself. Ta ta,” Venic quipped before closing the door.

          The pain continued to rush through Xelbrius as tears rushed from his eyes. He tried to resist the change, and he felt his chest hurt. “Damn you, hell spawn. You’ll pay for this…” he whispered as he closed his eyes in torment.

          The Present

         

          Sitting up, Aaron had to clear his head; Xel’s images of how he had awakened haunted him.   “What did Venic mean by son of the Fallen, Xel?” he inquired.

          “In my human form…well I’m not human my dear chap,” said Xel in an imitation british tone.

          “Ok, Mister Ancient Atlantean Knight Bird Man, explain please. In case you didn’t know, I’ve never read about this stuff in the text books.”

          Xelbrius grinned, the best way he could as a bird anyway. His dark eyes gave off the essence of deep thought before replying, “Well, I’m actually the son of the one you call the devil, and one of his two ancient consorts, Lilitu, the first female Fallen. His other was the Nymph, Lilith, and the two were so similar in legends they became one in the same.”

          “See I believed in the promise of the Messiah, and well, Necangel is a term used for a redeemed second-generation Fallen angel. I was born after the Rebellion, so I was given a choice, but the first twenty something years of my life I had no idea of my true heritage thanks to the kind Marzians that reared my brother Kartor and I.  The reason I’m in this form is well, I ignorantly betrayed the Kartarkian Knights in their final battle against an enemy of Atlantis. As a consequence of my ignorance, I lost my natural ability to be in a human form for long periods of time.”

          Aaron scratched his head at the explanation, and sighed as he laid his head back down. “To be honest, I’m not a religious person, but I do believe in Jesus. I think that whole Son of God stuff is pretty nifty.”

          “Ah yes, the Messiah. You don’t seem like the religious type.”

          “You don’t seem like the son of the devil or a Fallen Angel.”

          “Touché.”

          “Why do I get the feeling that a similar conversation took place before just between two different people, like the one we’re having?”

          “No idea. Are you ready to learn more?” asked Xelbrius as his seedy eyes gazed at the sky.

          “Not right now. We should get back to the Doc and see what he has to say,” said Aaron, as he got up and stretched. He flexed his muscles; before he had been just a regular skinny nerd, but ever since he and Xelbrius had become friends and fellow warriors, his strength and natural reflexes had increased three fold.

          He figured it probably had to do with his and Xelbrius’s bond together. Also the extensive workouts and training the Doc put him through had helped change his physique. Aaron felt better about his own life, except when it came to the matter of family; his family viewed him as a dropout idiot failure.

          Xelbrius seemed to have read Aaron’s thoughts because he asked after they transformed again and were gliding in the air at top speed. “Aaron,” he asked.

          “Yeah?”

          “Why are you ashamed to talk to your father?”

          “He thinks I’m a failure and disappointment,” said Aaron, guilt gnawing at him.

          “Well, look at it this way, at least you’re not a second generation Fallen born from the loins of the prince of darkness,” laughed Xelbrius. “You know I’m serious.”

          “Why do I get the feeling certain people would call you an unforgivable Hell Spawn if they knew of us? You can’t help your parentage,” answered Aaron. “I’ve read stuff about the Nephilim, offspring of the ones called the Watchers, do you think they had a choice?”

          “Yes. You can’t help who you’re born to, but you can choose to believe or not believe in the One who loves. It’s not the blood but who you choose that matters,” said Xelbrius.

          The bonded warriors leaned slightly to the left on a huge gust of wind. Aaron’s visor was scanning the ground below looking for any hidden Reptoids. So far so good. He flew in a flash past the forest, when Xelbrius gave a telepathic shock.

          He stopped; below them was a car with a Reptoid on top; causing the driver to swerve in and out, hitting the rails of the bridge. It licked its lips…its large alligator head snarling for blood, and letting out a roar. Several police cars were following at top speed but the driving proved tricky.

          “Time for work?” grinned Aaron under his helmet.

          “Yeah, time for work,” was the enthusiastic reply. “Make it quick?”

          “You got it.”

           With a quick flick of his wrists, small talon like tips came to Aaron’s metal gauntlets and gloves. He shot down, with Xelbrius adding extra speed; they grabbed the creature, and stopped the car before it crashed through the railing. The traffic stopped, as the drivers got out, looking at this mysterious armored angelic figure.

          Aaron walked forward, and got into a basic karate stance. “What classification is it?”

          “It’s an Allocroc. I remember back in Atlantis, Venic created these creatures to be the most savage inhuman soldiers he could sell to certain forces. Don’t worry about the history of it Anders, just FIGHT!”

          Distracted momentarily by Xelbrius’s explanation, Aaron felt a large tail whip him to the railing. His armor stopped the pain yet that did not prevent Aaron’s body from breaking the bridge’s railing. He immediately leapt forward, with his fists clenched gazing at the Allocroc; it was a hybrid made from Allosaurus, alligator and crocodile DNA. How that was possible, well he’d find out later, he just knew that people needed protecting.

          “Come at me you scaly lizard!” Aaron grimaced.

          The Allocroc complied, and its seven foot tall reptilian body leapt with the dexterity of an iguana snatching its prey. With a clenched fist, Aaron opened the center of his belt, and orange-red light surrounded said fist. He leapt, and literally punched a hole into his opponent with Xelbrius chanting, “You can do it! You can win!”

          Reptilian eyes peered down in fear as the monstrous reptile’s midsection was blown through. It fell down, split in half and dead, its blood burned away. Police cars stopped, and all the pedestrians got out, just then a blood curling scream was heard. Aaron ran on instinct, and Xelbrius threw his wings out as they dived over the bridge.

          The metallic wings flapped, and Aaron caught the young lady in time five feet from hitting the river. He recognized her as an old high school friend he’d once had a crush on. He gazed at her pale white face through his visor; Xelbrius said nothing telepathically to him as they shot back up, and Aaron laid her gently on the pavement.

          Down and away, a typical impatient redneck truck driver shouted profanely, “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON DOWN THERE! MOVE IT DAMN IT! I’VE GOT A DELIVERY TO MAKE IN TWENTY MINUTES YOU DAMN SLOW MOVING-”

          Aaron appeared in front of the beefy man in a flash, and the helmet disguising his voice said, “I just saved a ton of lives you ungrateful twit. Maybe I should throw you off the bridge! It’d be nothing to me.”

          Since he was floating in the air and the energy from Aaron’s belt surrounded him the man thought he was looking at an angel.

          “Wh-what are you?” stuttered the ingrate brown eyes terrified.

          “Get some exercise and quit eating so much fatty,” said Aaron as he punched the eighteen wheeler’s engine in frustration. It broke and crushed the whole front end.

          XB, let’s go!         

          Gotcha Anders!

          The winged knight shot off into the sky and disappeared in a flash.

          “W-was that-” the ingrate stuttered in awe.

          “An armored angel who saved me,” said the girl stumbling over with a smile. “An armored angel who saved us all. By the way sir you need a bath.”

          The ingrate ignored the girl as they gazed into the sky not knowing that Aaron Anders and his bird bodied friend were headed off to meet with the one they called the Doc.