Earth Warriors (Undergoing Revision)

Chapter 48 - The Reborn

The sight of Jason, fully awake and in motion, has many of the troops retreat step by step into the deepest reaches of the room, and even with the masks on, the mouths fall wide open and others jerk their heads back and forth between each cybernetic being with a human face, incredulous things crossing their minds over this. Has the Zlocu gone that far? Or have the Inquisitors gone too far? So many questions, yet so little to answer.

"So, you're still alive after all," says one of the commandos, who still has the flesh as the rest, not unlike the beings' fate in front of them. "It's been awhile since I've seen you so..upgraded of sorts." 

Jason gives him a grin as he makes his way towards the commandos, and for a second, everyone just stands there, frozen stiff, unable to do anything as they watch him advance forward towards them until he stops in the middle. Then he waves his arms out and wide emphasizing the rest of his cybernetic companions, all standing still and observing the incredulous beings. He and two others sneer as Jason claps twice.

"It's more than an upgrade, it's a liberation. We're here to liberate you from your slavery to your own vices and sins and unleash our own truth. The people we were fighting for, the ones who gave up their lives for us, they're nothing more but self-serving, poor-spirited even, all while using others to cover their actions for something as vague as 'human power'. But at least, we got the chance to fight back, against that one constant that rules over us."

"What kind of sick tricks did the Zlocu play on your mind?" Davidson asks, still maintaining a rigid posture while aiming, the face included. Jason scoffs in response.

"Me and some others are called 'Liberated' for a reason, don't you know that?" he replies. "We were given these abilities, powers beyond any normal person's, and used to defeat the decadent system based on the greed and violence of men." He continues as he walks back and forth with the group of encircled men. "I'm no hypocrite, I admit it, and I'm proud that my comrades stood up and fought to put an end to such an agonizing constant for you all."

"That's nice and all, but I'm sure you're still willing to kill those different from your skin," another soldier taunts, this only makes Jason laugh even more.

"Make no mistake, and believe me, I'll make this real clear to all of you here. We are not the same beings you once knew before, not by any means. We are no longer the same and our ways are no longer the ways of a weakling." Jason then points to one of the reborn near a table. "This one, for instance, is what I can call a true friend now." The figure walks forward, and as he steps into the light, it reveals a face split in half, one with the flesh still intact, and the other being metal, a black mask type of face from the forehead up to the chin, all while giving a wide grin in his face.

"Adam Gordon?! The creationist preacher?" a soldier asks incredulously, wide eyes and all.

"He's one of the few who was able to understand his true self thanks to the Zlocu, and even managed to know the folly of the so-called Almighty. He's one of the living testaments of those who broke their chains to see what they're truly made of." 

"And not just that, why settle for many spiritual beings you call to pray and such, even when you know deep down it's nothing but an exercise in futility over your uselessness?" Adam replies, all while tapping Jason's shoulder and chuckling for a bit. 

"This is so unreal..." a soldier mutters, slightly shaking yet with a steady aim towards his mechanical targets.

"Oh, it is real, don't you even deny it!" another figure says while stepping, revealing Jack Dean himself, wearing an armor of his own, the same as Jason but with green and teal around it, and a gun instead of a hand. "Don't let my reputation deceive you. Because that Jack Dean who boasted about not being afraid of the weak is no more...you will see the true one and not that past version of me who I would spit on the face."