The Berion army outpost was a skyscraper in the middle of a metropolitan. On that clear, blue day, fire engulfed the building.

Inside the outpost, Gabriel Honor tore through soldiers like a reaper of death. The 14 year-old had hair like snow and wore metal armor not of this world. 

The hallway had been painted red with the soul of all but one soldier.

Gabriel grabbed the soldier's neck, and with a single hand, hoisted him into the air.

"You blew up Grid 0047!" Gabriel said. "Who ordered you to do it?!"

Gabriel was not able to peer through the tinted visor, but he knew under that helmet was the face of a terrified man.

More faceless reinforcements had arrived. Just a few of them, but they were armed and desperate. Gabriel did not care about the vermin with guns. He knew at his chosen moment, they wouldn't be going home to their families.

The environment had miraculously sprouted makeshift armaments. Swords, shields, axes, all coated with nearby elements like concrete and rebar, were fixed to stalks and formed a barrier to protect Gabriel from gunfire.

"I asked you a question!" Gabriel continued. "Who is your boss?!"

The gunfire overpowered his hearing.

"I don't know! I swear!" the soldier managed to scream.

Muscle tendons snapped in Gabriel's grasp. In seconds, a life was gone.

Upon removing his newly-formed weapons from their ceiling-mounted stalks, Gabriel charged the remaining soldiers. With ferocious speed and supernatural agility, he quickly dispatched them.

 

*****E V*****

 

Outside the Berion outpost, the surrounding buildings were on fire. Gabriel didn't care to take in his work, but Oliath did.

A baldheaded tank of a man with a beard grown for ages, Oliath was pleased.

"Did you get an answer?" the tank asked.

"No," Gabriel responded coldly.

Oliath had convinced Gabriel that a secret organization was behind the assault on Grid 0047. No matter what, no matter how, Gabriel swore he would find the mastermind and make him pay.

 

*****E V*****

 

Oliath had a private island. It was home to only wildlife. Travel to the island was prohibited. He didn't want the stench of humans tainting his home. And all the better as no one would've survived the destruction of Gabriel and Oliath's training. Their uncanny strength and agility was the stuff humans fantasized about. Just like he did in the Berion outpost, Gabriel relied on weapons he molded from the earth itself. Oliath, on the other hand, relied on a single wrecking ball he created from an alien alloy; he despised earth's elements.

"You've grown so much!" the elder warrior said. "You would've made a decent soldier in the last war."

Gabriel retorted, "If I was on your side in the last war, you wouldn't have lost!"

A ferocious backhand knocked the attitude out of him. Dazed, Gabriel slowly rose from the ground. When he waved his right hand in front of his face, he saw three.

As Gabriel humbly wiped the blood from his lip, Oliath stared down at him and recalled the 200 lbs. wrecking ball with ease. Nothing had to be said. Gabriel knew he overstepped his boundaries. He had always known he was an Eon Viant, but he never had anyone train him. To wield his kind of power was exciting if not also scary. It was too easy to become overconfident.

Gabriel went to the fields to hunt dinner. The island was devoid of human beings, but it was not absent of life. There were plenty of animals. He found a bear at the river, pawing at fish. There were few deer on a hill, but Gabriel reminded himself of how much Oliath fancied bear.

Gabriel quietly got in range, hiding behind a stone. While he could no doubt take on the bear with only his hands, he didn't want to risk it. He miraculously placed his hand into the stone and pulled out a spear. It had a jagged point and weighed 50 lbs.

The bear locked onto his scent. Before it could react, Gabriel had already hurled the spear. The momentum forced the bear through a series of trees.

 

*****E V*****

 

It was a warm night, at the campsite, made warmer by the fire. Gabriel and Oliath feasted on bear meat. Bones had piled up at Oliath's feet, and in his giant palm was the bear's skull. He held the notion that one demonstrated their status as alpha by being the first to partake of the animal's head. There was something about tearing away flesh that gave him pleasure.

As Gabriel sat on the uncomfortable log, he was overwhelmed by the smell of bear roasting over the fire. As much as he had eaten it, he still had not acquired a taste for bear, or shark, or lion, or any other beast Oliath's pallet desired. Gabriel had to wash down every bite with water to keep from regurgitating.

"Oliath, where do Eon Viants come from?" Gabriel asked.

"I told you, a world far from here," Oliath said. 

Gabriel was used to Oliath dodging personal questions. It bothered him sometimes, Oliath being so guarded. But he hoped to find a way to get more than rehearsed answers.

"You know, you never talk about yourself," Gabriel said.

"You don't need to know anything personal about me," Oliath said. "I took you in to train you. I'm not your friend, I'm not your uncle, I'm certainly not your father. We're allies, nothing more, understand?!"

That night brought back memories of Gabriel's mother. During summer nights like that, sometimes she played video games with him. She wasn't good at them, particularly RPG games, but she couldn't stand him being lonely.

Gabriel fought through the emotions, trying to come up with the right words.

"Is it supposed to hurt this bad?" Gabriel asked.

"It's as I told you, when all of her murderers are dead, the pain will cease."

Gabriel was getting used to destruction by his own hands, the chaos and death, but he didn't enjoy it.

 

*****E V*****

 

Structures, like igloos, were grown on the side of the mountain, each for a single Eon Viant to sleep in.

Gabriel tossed and turned as usual, his pleasant dreams suddenly haunted by the contorted faces of soldiers living their last moments. He woke up in a cold sweat. As usual.

Under the moonlight, Gabriel sat at a nearby lake. A year ago, he never would have imagined taking away fathers from their daughters and sons from their mothers.

Gabriel had taken a picture frame he kept hidden under his igloos' floorboard. Parts of the frame were charred from fire; however, the woman in the picture was untouched. She had the kindest eyes and that warm smile that once encouraged Gabriel now pained him.

He imagined if she were still alive, she would listen to him. It was because she was gone that he had done unspeakable acts. I'll make things right, he thought. I promise, Mom.

 

*****E V*****

 

In the morning, Gabriel was awakened by his alarm -- Oliath's booming voice. Gabriel had quickly jumped out of bed. He wiped the sleep crust from his eyes.

"I located our next target," Oliath said.

The pair of Eon Viants took Oliath's plane. It was completely automated. Anything that didn't require humans, Oliath supported it.

Gabriel never had breakfast before noon per Oliath's orders. He did, however, drink a bottle of water. The quiet ride usually gave him time to meditate on his plan of attack. Oliath never gave input, he just sat across Gabriel, he, too, supposedly, meditating. But, Gabriel caught the tank snoring a time or two.

The target this time was the Diolay army base. According to Oliath, every soldier there was connected to the bombing of Grid 0047. Ever since Gabriel started his attacks, the amount of enemies had exponentially grown: 17, 31, 78, 102. It was like there was no end in sight.

"As always, it's wise to slaughter them all," Oliath said. "While you have your fun, I will break into their database, see what information I can find on their mastermind."

"It's the same thing all of the time," Gabriel complained. "I'm always attacking a base and fighting soldiers, and we never get any closer to finding this mastermind."

Gabriel had quickly regretted what he said. One had to trust everything Oliath said or else face his wrath.

"I don't care what you think!" Oliath responded. "We stick to the plan until we get a name. And the next time you even think of forming an opinion, ask for permission."

Most would have left Oliath. Gabriel was indebted to him. It was Oliath who had taken him in after the demise of Grid 0047.

 

*****E V*****

 

There was a perimeter fence surrounding the Diolay base and a security checkpoint at the entrance. Gabriel was down the road, keeping out of sight. He buried his hands into the dirt.

Through interfacing, or connecting, with their surrounding elements, Eon Viants willed armaments into existence. Gabriel needed blades of stone and metal, and that was exactly what had blossomed.

Gabriel's assault on the Diolay base was without warning. The alarms sounded, soldiers scrambled. Some barely had time to get to the armory before Gabriel set it ablaze.

Oliath was not searching the computer database as per his plan, however. He observed the bloodbath from afar, proud of his work. When he first trained Gabriel, he found the boy weak, frail but saw fire in his heart. After a year of nurturing that rage, Oliath basically unleashed a living bomb on the world. Still, he saw that the boy was becoming anxious. If he didn't learn a name soon, Oliath reasoned that he would go his own way. Fortunately, Oliath had a name in mind.

 

*****E V*****

 

After 17 minutes, it looked like Diolay was hit by a bomb. Oliath followed the trail of corpses to Gabriel. His young student heavily breathed and was trying to calm down. Only his armor boasted a few scratches. 

It was different from Gabriel's first kill. He once just stood there, his blade still lodged into an enemy. The soldier couldn't utter a syllable, but his eyes spoke plenty. And Gabriel was in shock as his tears overtook the bloodstains. Now, he looked more focused, like death was routine.

"I found the mastermind: Kirby Cortez, " Oliath said.

Finally, Gabriel thought.

Before they could leave, there was a tremor. It wasn't from Gabriel, though he and Oliath were more than capable of causing them. Whatever it was, it was getting closer.

A massive metallic pincer burst out of the ground. There was nothing graceful about how the machine climbed out of the abyss.

The Pulse Emission Uniform was a machine three stories tall, weighing at least 30 tons, and completely armored. It was like a giant crab fused with metal plating and razor-sharp pincers.

Gabriel had fought plenty of humans, never a monster.