Children of the Planet Book 1 - Chapter 5: Cops and Robbers

Alright, here's another chapter. This is one of my favorites; it's longer, and has several great fight sequences. On that note, I completely rewrote Isaac's fight to better reflect his clumsiness and lack of ability. I also rewrote some of the dialogue in Jethro's fight, and updated a couple character descriptions.

If anyone is interested in doing illustrations for my story, of any degree of skill or complexity, please let me know. Also, please feel free to critique or edit my work; you can contact me over Google+, or email me at twebonhawk@gmail.com

Chapter 5: Cops and Robbers

As Emily explained the story of the Children of the Planet to Isaac and his parents, they grew from mildly amused, to very concerned. The Steam Nation was dead serious about this, and they had been conducting research over the past few decades, trying to find the Children of the Planet, and figure out what the disaster would be. Emily wrapped up by explaining that Isaac had been invited to come with her to Europe and hopefully meet the other five Children of the Planet. From there, the nations would decide what to do about the impending disaster. Isaac himself was unsure as to what he wanted to do. This was the chance of a lifetime, a chance that could turn his world upside down. But did he really want a new life? Was there really anything wrong with the life he led? In the end, he decided that he would go to Europe with Emily, and see what his destiny held.

“Oh, Isaac, one last thing.” Emily said as got up to pack.

“Hm, what is it?” He asked.

“Come outside for a moment.” She replied with a smile.

With a shrug, Isaac replied, “Okay, I’ll follow you.”

A few moments later, Isaac and Emily were facing each other on the street outside the Matthews’ household.

“Alright let’s do this!” Emily said, cracking her knuckles.
                “Wait, wha-“ Isaac began, but was cut off when a jet of water flew past his head.

“Defend yourself Isaac!” Emily shouted, throwing another spray of water towards him.
                Isaac raised his hand to shield himself from the water with a gust of wind, spraying it in every direction. His parents, who had been standing nearby watching, quietly walked back inside to observe from the safety of the window, wringing out their clothes as they did so. Emily began to form a bubble of water in her right hand, but as she pretended to throw it, sent a stream of water at the ground. As Isaac threw a gust of wind at where he expected her bubble to be, he accidentally merged the air with the water at his feet, which in turn created a frozen sheet of ice on the road, which he promptly slipped upon. As he scrambled to his feet deflecting another blast of water, the young alchemist brought his hands together to form a ball of ice. Emily halted her assault, and held her breath in anticipation. Was this the moment she had been waiting for? Would Isaac finally show his true power? Isaac thrust his hands out, and a few icicles sputtered out, dropping to the ground with a bell-like jingle.
                “Uh, I guess that counts…” Emily said, scratching her head.
                With a flushed face and downcast eyes, Isaac shrugged and put his hands in the pockets of his hoodie.

“Thanks. So, when do we leave?” Isaac asked, still embarrassed.
                “Tomorrow.” Emily replied. “Let’s hope you can work out the kinks in your alchemy by then.”

               

Annie tried to focus as she watched the police officers surge towards her, launching themselves through the air with pillars of earth, or jetting across the desert landscape with bursts of flame. Annie hadn’t thought of that before, flying with fire; she should try it sometime. No, she had to focus! She was about to start a war, and she couldn’t afford to let her mind wander! She looked around and saw the men she had lead for two years. They had become her friends, her family almost. Annie remembered her mother, vaguely. The woman was little more than a distant memory now, a piece of a forgotten past. As the police got closer, she hid behind a nearby wall, and tried to be patient. She had chosen to ambush the officers instead of fighting them head on, and she couldn’t have chosen a better spot. Just outside their hideout, there was a cluster of ruins from a forgotten era, replete with dilapidated walls, misleading passages, and towering stone pillars. It was the perfect location. So here she was, in an old ruin with an army of bandits, ready to wage war on Australia.

Jeffery ran as fast as he could to try and keep up with the police officers. He was a skilled fire alchemist, but he had never needed to use alchemy for transportation.  There was an assortment of vehicles in Europe, either battery or steam powered. Asia had exported battery powered cars across the world, and there were places where you could go and have Lightning nation citizens charge your vehicle up. However, this trend was not as widespread in Europe as it was in Asia, so they mostly used steam powered vehicles. The Steam nation had its own ways of generating electricity, but it was considered too expensive, so they had stuck with the Steam powered vehicles that had supported them for nearly a millennia. The rest of the police finally came to a halt, landing outside an abandoned ruin close to the bandit camp. Jeffery and Falk, the Sheriff, walked up to the ruins, trying to decide what the best course of action was.

“What are you thinking Falk? I’m not as skilled a tactician as you are.” Jeffery replied, trying to maintain a calm appearance as he caught his breath.

“Well, I’m guessing they’ll try and ambush us as we get further into the ruins. I don’t see any other course of action than to spring their trap, and remain on guard.”

                “Couldn’t we fly over?”

“They would see us instantly, and shoot us down in an instant. Besides, I don’t think the earth alchemists could launch themselves that far in one shot.”

                “Hmmm…wait, what about going underground?”

                “That’s not a bad idea, but we would have no idea where we’re going. That Tom fellow didn’t give us the layout of the base.”

                “Well, it looks like we have a trap to spring then, don’t we?”

                “That we do son, that we do.”

                With that, Falk motioned his officers forward, and they progressed into the ruins.

As Jeffery walked, he couldn’t help but wonder why he was here. His life could end any second, and for what? A rumor about a girl who might be a powerful alchemist? He must be getting desperate. He was still strongly loyal to the steam nation, but this search was beginning to get pointless, and more than a little dangerous. He had also had his doubts as to whether the legend of the Children of the Planet was even true. He hadn’t joined CPRT because of a passion for myths and legends, but rather because he was offered an opportunity for a fantastic career. And here he was, hunting down bandits in the middle of Australia. What had the world come to?

                Jeffery’s head snapped up when he heard someone behind him scream, and turned to see a police officer fly backward as a ball of fire hit him square in the chest. He turned back towards the direction of the bandit camp, and saw a young woman standing in front of them. She had a pair of orange shorts on, combat boots, and a Kevlar vest, but her most striking feature was her bright red hair. And not western Steam red, but an artificial red (he had dated a girl from the western island in the Steam nation, where the capital was, so he knew the difference. The locals called that strip of the island Ireland, so as to distinguish from the rest of the island, which was mostly filled with the buildings and facilities of the massive capital city). She held another fireball in her hand, and a gleaming sword in the other.

“You have one chance to turn around and go back.” The girl shouted.

“Annie Black?” He called out, praying that it was her. “I want to make a deal!”

“Screw that, I’m giving you a chance to run. If you won’t take it, prepare to die.” She called out with a snarl.

With that, she launched the fireball at another police officer and shouted a war cry, summoning the rest of her bandits. Well, so much for diplomacy. Jeffery leapt out of the way as a bandit came charging at him with a stone club. He tripped the bandit as he ran, and the man face-planted into the ground.

“Falk!” He shouted, “What do we do with these guys?”

Falk punched a bandit across the face with a flaming fist, killing him instantly. “They all deserve the death penalty, so don’t hold back!” He shouted.

‘Well, that made things easier’ Jeffery thought to himself. He didn’t enjoy killing, but he had served in the Steam nation army for a time, and was familiar with battle and death. He slammed his foot into the man’s neck, breaking it, and moved further into the ruin.

What were these guys thinking, trying to strike a deal with her? Annie had already given the only deal she was willing to give, and now it was time to spill some copper blood. One police officer jumped down from a nearby wall, hoping to catch her unawares. Instead, Annie threw an earthen fist into his abdomen, and slammed him into the ground. She turned and threw a volley of fireballs at another police officer who was about to kill one of her men, knocking him into the air, burning and screaming. She felt a sharp pain in her back, and turned to see a young officer trembling and holding a small chunk of rock. “Boo!” She shouted, and he turned and ran for his life.

Annie turned and saw a group of three officers, all with big bushy beards, standing over the body of one of her men. They then looked her way, and threw a volley of rocks towards her. She summoned an earthen wall, blocking the shards, and thrust the wall forwards along the ground, spurring the three beards to leap out of the way. They turned and threw another volley of stone at her and she threw another wall up. But the stones curved around it and almost hit her from behind; she threw up another wall just in time to stop it. Having assessed their meager abilities, Annie decided to show off a bit. She put her hands out towards the two walls, and instantly melted them with an intense heat. She drew the newly created magma to her, and formed three balls of it. Then, she let her hands drop, and the balls of lava flew toward the three bearded men. Each one was trapped, and all three were incinerated instantly. She let the magma drop, and it cooled and hardened; its victims were now nothing more than dust and dirt.

Jeffery watched in astonishment as the girl, who he assumed was the leader of the bandits, turned the walls she had summoned into lava. He didn’t care about the three police officers who were melted by it, and was far more interested in the girl. Had he finally found his target? Was this the Child of the Planet? He couldn’t risk having her killed, so he went to confront her himself. As he approached her, she turned and growled at him.

“Look, we’re not negotiating! Do you just have a death wish?” She angrily asked.

“No, I just want you to hear me out; the fate of the world may be at stake.” Jeffery replied, holding his hands out in attempt to show he meant no harm.

“Scoff.” She said, throwing a fire ball at him.

Jeffery blocked the fireball with his hand, shuddering as it flowed into him. The power she held was immense; she was definitely a Child of the Planet.

“Well, seeing as I’m apparently going to die anyway, why don’t you tell me your name?” He asked, slowly circling around her.

“It’s Annie, but you already know that don’t you!” She yelled, yanking up a chunk of earth and kicking it towards him. Jeffery slammed a flaming fist into the boulder, shattering it and leaving him unscathed. He then put his hand forward and trapped Annie in a wreath of flame, binding her with gleaming strands of blue fire.

“Well then Annie, why don’t you call off your men so we can talk.” Jeffery said with a slight grin.

Unable to move, she sagged her head in defeat.

“Fine, I give in, we can talk. HEY, WE SURRENDER!” She shouted, her voice echoing throughout the ruins.

A few moments later, Jeffery and Annie were seated at a table that had been brought out of the base and set in the ruin.

“So, here’s the deal Annie.” Jeffery began. “I assume you know about the Children of the Planet? It’s the only thing the embassy is reporting these days.”

“I do.” She replied sullenly.

“Well, you are Australia’s Child of the Planet. Oh, I’m sorry, my name is Jeffery. I’m not actually with the Australia police, I’m part of a Steam research team formed to research and find the Children of the Planet. So here’s the deal. You come with me to Europe, and the rest of your men go free.”

Falk quickly stood up in protest when he heard this, but Jeffery raised his hand and said, “However, they will not be able to roam free. They will have a chance to flee. But then, my friend Falk here will personally hunt down and kill everyone one of them. You, however, will be forgiven of all your past criminal record, and provided with food and lodging in the Steam nation. So, what do you say?”

Annie considered the prospect of starting her life over, especially as a living legend, and she would certainly go with him. However, she wanted more for her men.

“I’ll go if all my men are forgiven as well.” She replied.

“Preposterous!” Falk exclaimed. “These men are murders, and…”

“Murderers who have no families, money, or homes, and who mostly want to live a peaceful life!” Annie shouted, cutting Falk off and silencing him. After a moment of careful though, Falk replied, “Fine. I don’t like this, but if you give me a list of their names, I’ll see they go off the record.” He then turned to the bandits and shouted, “But I swear on my mother’s grave, if any of you lot so much as steal candy from a baby, I’ll skin you alive!”

“Well, that settles it then. Come along Miss Black, we have a plane to catch.” Jeffery said, scooting his chair back and standing up. Mission success.

Jethro stood outside the building where David Forun was, and, after taking a deep breath, stepped inside. It was an abandoned factory, full of conveyor belts and towering shelves. As he walked among them, he heard a noise behind him. He spun around and threw up a wall of concrete, which was the only readily available earth around, and winced as a shower of bullets hit it. Peering over the wall, he saw David standing there, a sub machine gun in his hands. David pointed it at Jethro and fired, and he ducked back behind the wall. Then, he heard what sounded like a grenade pin being pulled.

“Crap.” He whispered to himself, and bounded out of the way with a blast of water as the wall exploded in a cloud of dust. He turned and threw a sphere of water at David, trapping his leg, but the murderer was able to struggle free. With a sigh, Jethro jumped onto one of the stopped conveyor belts. “David, stop, I just need to talk! I don’t want to…” Jethro was cut short when he felt another bullet whiz past, slicing the tip of his ear. He winced, and jumped back.

“I…said…STOP!” Jethro shouted, blasting a stream of water at David sending him flying. He followed up by launching David into the air with a fist of concrete, and trapped his opponent in a bubble of water. Holding his bleeding ear with his right hand, Jethro squeezed, in an attempt to crush David within the bubble of water. David struggled, clawing at the water, his eyes bulging as the pressure slowly smothered him. Then, with a groan, Jethro let his hand fall, and David fell along with it.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! Please, please don’t kill me…” David pleaded, on his knees facing Jethro.

                Jethro walked over to David and grabbed him by the head. He looked into the man’s pleading eyes as tears streamed from them. He slowly squeezed and brought David’s head up to his own, and with a stern glare said, “I forgive you.”

David looked up in surprise, blinking away his tears, and winced as Jethro dropped him.

“But, that doesn’t mean I won’t turn you in to the police.” Jethro said sternly, his tone implying a jumble of suppressed emotions.

“Th-thank you!” David stuttered, crawling to a nearby wall. “I-I really am sorry about what happened to your folks. I didn’t want to kill them.”

“Don’t’ talk about it.” Jethro said, turning his head away.

Jethro didn’t have to wait long before he heard police sirens outside. A few moments later, he walked out with David Forun, and handed him over to the police, where the man was promptly shoved into one of the cars. Marcus walked over to him, and put a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m glad you did the right thing Jethro.” He said with a smile.

“Me too Marcus, me too.” Jethro replied with a sigh of relief.

“Hey, you look hungry, why don’t you come over to the station for dinner tonight?”

“That would be fantastic, thanks man.” The Alchemist replied, wiping the sweat from his brow.

Later that evening…

“So, do you have a place to stay?” Marcus asked Jethro as they ate.

“Yeah, my Aunt and Uncle’s house. I can support myself, but it won’t be the same without them.”

“Well, it just so happens that I have a little offer for you. Have you ever heard of the Children of the Planet?”

“What, that kid’s story? Yeah, why?”

“Well, I’ve been assigned as a member of the foreign section of the CPRT, the Children of the Planet Research Team.”

“Get out, you’re telling me someone made a research division for a bedtime story?”

“Yeah, basically. But wait there’s more! Order in the next…yeah, whatever. But seriously, we think you’re a Child of the Planet.”

“Wait, you mean…no way. Yeah, I can use wood by myself, but I thought that was just a genetic thing.”

“Nope. And what’s more, the King and Queen of Europe are inviting the Children of the Planet to come to Europe and meet.”

“So, you’re telling me that I can move to Europe and become a living legend?”

“A rich living legend.”

After a brief moment of consideration, Jethro asked, “Do they have clubs?”

“If not, you can make one.” Marcus said with a smirk.

“Then count me in! When do we leave?”

“Tomorrow morning.”

                Mei flew out of the way as a volley of fireballs streaked past her. She countered with a bolt of Em laced lightning from her gloved hand, and it barely missed the fire alchemist. The wind alchemist threw a blast of air at her, but she stopped it with her own, and the resulting shockwave sent all three of them spiraling through the air. She turned and saw a third figure approaching, also using a jetpack, but instead of coming towards her, it shot a stream of flame towards the unsuspecting wind alchemist, setting him ablaze and plummeting toward the ground. As the fire alchemist watched his partner plummet to the ground, Mei fired another bolt of blue lightning twoard him, striking him in the chest and killing him instantly as the electricity coursed through his fragile body. He too fell through the air, and Mei didn’t need to watch to find out what would happen when he reached the ground. She turned to the new figure, and shouted, “Who are you, and what do you want?”

He replied, “My name is Mitchel, and I’m not here to hurt you. Why don’t we land, then I’ll tell you what’s going on?”

A few moments later, Mitchel and Mei landed on one of the many sidewalks in the sprawling city of Tokyo, and Mitchel invited her into a nearby restraunt. They sat down at one of the tables; Mitchel ordered two cups of hot tea, and began to speak.

“My name is Mitchel, I’m part of a research team in the Steam nation, and I have reason to believe you could be very important to us. But first, tell me a bit about yourself.”

“My name is Cao Mei, ah, Mei Cao…uh…just call me Mei. That’s my first name. Anyway, my dad is an inventor, he works for the government, well, the Empire. Um, no, he actually just works for the Emperor…”

The conversation continued like this, and Mitchel listened as best he could. This girl wasn’t very accustomed to speaking with other people. Their tea arrived, and as Mei took a sip, Mitchel began speaking again. “Well, Mei, I have a proposition for you. You see, the research team I work with is researching one thing in particular: The Children of the Planet. It’s a story that says there will be six children who will save the world from disaster. These children will exhibit extraordinary powers, specifically, the power to naturally use both types of alchemy from their nation. Tonight, I saw you use fire, wind, and lightning alchemy by yourself. I can then assume that you are the person I am looking for. So, here’s my proposition. You are officially invited to come to Europe and meet the other five Children of the Planet. You’ll be provided with food, lodging, anything you need. From there, the nations will decide how best to combat the incoming disaster. I’ll speak to your parents, all you need to do is say yes.”

Mei sat silent for a moment, then took another sip of tea. She placed the cup on the table, and said, “I’m sorry, but no. I can’t go with you.”

Mitchel raised an eyebrow in surprise, and was about to speak when Mei interrupted him and said, “Just kidding, I’ll go!”

As Mitchel sat in confused silence, Mei made a weird smile, then coughed and summoned the waiter for another cup of tea.

The next morning, Mitchel and Mei boarded a plane, and Mitchel watched as Mei waved goodbye to her parents. She carried a suitcase with her, and as the plane prepared to take off, Mitchel asked, “What’s in the suitcase Mei? You’ll have everything you need in Europe.”

“Oh, just a little parting gift from my father.” She replied as she took her seat with a smirk, and placed the suitcase underneath her seat.

“Alright, suit yourself.” Mitchel said with a shrug. The plane took off, and Mei glanced out the nearby window. She gazed in wonder at the city of Tokyo as they flew over it. She would miss her home, but she was more than ready to begin her new life as a Child of the Planet.