Thanks for reading so far into my online novel, "Super Derek". In chapter TWO, I hope to reveal more of the powers that had gifted Derek his strength and abilities. Who were the witches really against? Answers to questions raised in chapter ONE. I only had time to write half a chapter but it's interesting reading where it stops. Will add the rest tomorrow if possible. Nuclear war happens!
1. Confrontation with the cloaks
The air in the house at the end of the cul-de-sac was spotlessly clean. Not a string of microbes existed for Derek to enter. But as the monks -what he called them, brushed their shoes, and slipped them off on the large coconut fiber doormat, he materialized through the tiny spores of fungi trapped in it. He jumped into the hall and grew to his full height by an ornate standing vase.
It's me, he said, touching his charred face. The wood had needed some time to burn through. And you desire healing? I don't have enough skin. Well, I have something that might help. The head monk came over with a neatly folded bundle. He unwrapped it. It was a cloak like they all wore. He put it on. It was silky and warm and seemed to cast the right shadows that he appeared normal within. It is charmed, said the monk. Use it well. Derek began to feel their combined energies and it sustained and soothed his damaged body. He would live but as a monster.
Es, Derek called from outside her window. He hung in the air like a dandelion puff caught in a dust devil, let me in.
Something's not right with you... Yes, I'm burnt, but the witches -I got them driven out of the neighborhood. They're out there -somewhere, and it's not safe. I came to see what you think of me. Deep in the shadows of the cloak, his face, hands, and feet emerged, scarred by flame but still alive. Oh, Derek! Esmeralada turned away, nauseated. Do I look so hideous to you? No, Derek. I see what you suffered. You know who you really are. His eyes closed as if to pray, meditate on her wisdom. I cannot touch you anymore. Tears ran down her face. Is who I really am important, anymore -if I can't have you? A wind stirred up in her room and Derek was gone.
*Derek* The whisper came as he hid within the comfort cloak that hung in the air by his lampshade. Do you now know who we are? Monks? A secret coven maybe? He sounded tired. Derek, the skin under your underpants can help regrow your face, and the rest of you. What's the catch? An eye appeared from the shadow of his hood. You cannot ever take off this second skin, nor are you to make love to anyone. Then how will it work!? He almost screamed and the monks' voices faded away. He wondered about the witches and how they'd milked him as he was tied up and tortured. What became of his seed. Perhaps it held a solution.
But little did he suspect it was his greatest weakness -he must not ever leave any of his cells behind, more so live sperm. Perhaps the cloaked monks knew the future when they sheathed him in a second skin. Still the cloak they gave him provided many comforts and additional abilities. He fell asleep and into a torrid dream of making love to Esmeralda, looking like a corpse.
2. Picking through bones
Lotus, Quen, and their family were jeered out of town by everyone young and old but the coven of 6 stopped their MPV just 10 miles from town. At a Texas Chicken joint, open 24 hours. As the other patrons filtered out and the sky was darkening, We're homeless, blurted Lotus almost in tears. And the data -it's all gone? Yeah, all of it. At least we nailed Derek, said Quen with a cruel smirk. Dad said, we got more than our friend -eh, we have his super-powered little men and I think I know how we'll use them.
Their plan, as they crunched though fried chicken, was to get Derek in trouble were he still alive, by inseminating key women in and around the town, maybe in big cities nearby. They kept his sperm on ice. Lotus twirled her hair thinking about it. Secretly, she wanted his child too. And she imagined herself dancing for him again as she partook of his fluids, cradling her womb, bursting with the waters of birth pains. How she would writhe for his child as he looked on like Stupid Derek always did -puzzled and care-free. She kicked her leg onto his and there was nothing. He's on a different wavelength or we're just rattled, said Quen. Finish up here, and we'll sneak back to the house when it's dark. They'll soon know to fear us and obey -again.
Lotus was apt at weaving prophecy. She had woven a tapestry so thorough over Derek, that no one dared contravene it. Kept many a kid and family man in line. Now the symbol of their power -their mansion-like home was burnt to the ground.
The files they kept on his conversations, and the photos they showed kids -him and the little boy kissing, a dog taking him from behind, etc. not a single pixel out of place, though it was in black and white which was easier to forge -all gone.
In near darkness, in their witch cloaks, Quen and Lotus stepped into the ruins of their old home. The hemp bindings are missing. He may have taken those to analyze. Then maybe he'll rip off his underpants and find out a little too late, they both sniggered. God wasn't a crab -He was apparently a chemist. Close, Quen my boy (as we'll soon see), but... no cigar.
There were teeth and bones in Lotus' hand. She jiggled them as they stepped over the debris. The vibes led her to a corner of the basement and they dug under the wood and ash, it was Esmeralda's silver wedding ring. It was damaged from the heat of the blaze. Lotus pocketed it. It would come in handy later when she re-wove Derek's prophecy in-absentia if necessary.
3. Derek's solitude
There was an islet someway off the coast. It was craggy with a slope of rough green leading up to spreading trees clinging for dear life to the precipice. Derek discovered that there was a cave system beneath, a sinkhole which teemed with life as there was a hidden coral ridge that at low tide, was cross-able to those who knew its winding way like the pygmy deer did, and the wildcats.
Close to nature, he took stock of himself. He still had his lips, his eyelids, his nose, but they were a mess. If it weren't for his powers he would have died from 4th degree burns. Batman had the Bat Cave. Superman had his Arctic fortress, what did Nature man have? A sinkhole -he laughed, not caring that anyone heard. And there was someone who did.
Derek, you know me from the past. Who? A cloaked figure stepped into the shaft of light from the sinkhole that Derek was bathing in. He removed his hood and turned his face up towards the light. You're the town tailor -Pete, how long have you been hiding? But the figure wasn't interested in small talk. Derek, we are an order and our work is blessed by the Most High. Order of what? Of cloth, fabric, cloaks -even underpants. Derek's heart began to beat faster. I thought you were powerful, holy, now... Well, everyone has to start somewhere. But we digress, Pete was visibly impatient. Everything we've done for you is correct. Everything you've done for yourself is, well, wrong -I'm afraid you must be trained. Here, on this island -our base -tell no one.
Where does life come from? From the breath of God? Yes, but not precisely. What is breath? Power? No, breath is work. Spirit is power. Work along with power is wisdom. Why isn't wisdom something you read in a book, hear from an angel? Derek, we speak in objective terms, when you work, move heaven and earth even, and that power is provided for it -that equates to understanding the problems you, as a creation, face and have to surmount. An ant will never be very wise though it were obedient, meticulous, loyal. Technology does not take one far either. But it is the restriction, sacrifice of our bodies, our desires that generates true wisdom, and miracles, sometime may they occur. Silence. Derek thought he heard soft penetrating laughter.
Help and permission is given you to restore yourself. And with that, Pete faded into the shadows.
As the afternoon grew hotter, Derek summoned the woman, with Pete's powers. He had been cherry picking females, DNA-wise, to get the ideal one. She appeared, in a haze of mist in which he could see her internals, mostly. He commanded her egg and his seed to merge. They hung the air in a gentle vortex over the pond, in the half light of the sinkhole as the embryo began to develop. Blood pulsed like fire through his veins, he attached greedily to its self-differentiating cells.
He would regrow but perhaps not as the old Derek. Trauma had changed him -deep within he wanted to be someone else. Pete cowered in terror.
I might as well be who I want to be.
4. Miracle at the beach cricket match
Quen and Lotus were at the beach cricket match between the 'visitors and residents'. It lacked imagination but sometimes such things didn't matter. Large hat and sunglasses with tan lotion streaked across their faces. But Derek, he knew their thoughts -dark witches. They couldn't sense him though they had trained the town's radar onto him (before the fire scourged him) because he had grown himself purposely different. The difference ripped at his soul -his love, and being so, scars remained, criss-crossing his face and body. Luckily the cloak Pete had given him hid those marks nicely while everyone else turned to gaze at something else -privacy, another reason why Tailor float cloaks were so prized.
Lotus and Quen passed him at the makeshift bar, nursing a Heineken shandy. I can feel him here but where? Derek swallowed hard as the witch duo plied through the crowd. Perhaps he had been too bold but he loved beach cricket.
Esmeralda was also at the event and she was dressed in a short beach skirt with a necklace of shells over her bosoms. Derek stared at her as yet again nothing stirred. And he wondered if beauty were pointless without the ability to know it, produce / re-produce it. She had never gone topless while he was still in her life. Perhaps it was the prophecy. Let her go, it came from behind him -the Hawaiian and his cousin. Shh, said the pouty bikini-clad woman. Wanna deal, I have some watches on me right now? Not a good time but what the hey. And I broke up with my boyfriend. I'm single -and available, fly boy. But someone else hunkier caught her eye.
Derek, whispered the Hawaiian, I knew it was you -how you been since the fire? You all healed? Something's different -are you Derek? He slapped Derek across the jaw. That's for the bitch you took. I'm sorry, he whispered again. Okay, boss, I don't know how you believe two people so different you have to slap them, are both 'Derek'. Who the heck is Derek to you? Show me those watches. His watch hand peeked out of the sleeve of his cloak and the Hawaiian beamed, it was the boy. Somehow he'd survived.
There's war now. Kyoko's boyfriend left to serve. He laid a hand on Derek's shoulder. You ought to as well. Derek shrunk a little. He could single-handedly win the war for America. A one man disease carrying army. He could do it right from this bar stool. He remembered his comic book heroes with super powers. Why should the world go on so ordinarily while they lived among us. A paradox he would soon explore and need to answer for. Why, he could at anytime become a billionaire or a famous scientist with a mansion and a Stella 'Aire. Serve... it cut him both ways. Just like he felt someone else's hands on Esmeralda's breasts.
And of a sudden he was alone and Pete stood before him. The sunshine turned to a brewing storm with crashing waves that made no sound. Derek, the city's been hit by a ballistic warhead. Why -what should we do? Move I suppose... But you see this town is kinda where we want to be. Favors for favors Derek. What can you do to keep us safe, this bubble won't last forever. Oh, I thought we were dead. You would have been and everyone at your cricket match as well. Is it a nuke? Pete nodded.
5. War until the end
We join forces, Pete. Sure, then what? The bubble, where is it really? Over where we are -all the other cloaks are helping make it as large as possible. Well, we have to move it over the city and scrunch it down small, over the nuke before it goes mushroom. Pete sighed, snapping at him, And how would we do that?
Before it was frozen in time, the explosion had already taken out a city block and glowed like the sun. Derek's eyes darkened naturally as Pete pulled further into his cloak. You'll get us killed! Not true. Derek put his hands to his head. I've found someone with access to another nuke and made him fire it right here. Won't that just make a bigger blast? Then I'll make 200 nukes detonate on top of that. Pete rubbed his chin. Yeah, what if the entire arsenal of the Iranians detonated in a time bubble the size of a city block?
Energy indeed has nothing to do with time, Pete thought. But overloading the famous Einsteinian equation, perhaps that was the only way -that it might cause a tear ever so small in the fabric of the universe, and they'd push the blast through it. The cloaks agreed and Derek mind-controlled the Iranians to do it. He could hear their victory song -many were singing it. He and Pete backed off as far as they could as dozens of ballistic warheads slammed into the containing time bubble. Some from allied nations as well. There was an immense warp, like a shiver through space itself, and in a weak sputter the glowing ball of energy fizzed out. They had almost warbled into another dimension but the war, the ordeal -it was over.
Derek went out to celebrate. He wanted to talk with Esmeralda. Buy her a cocktail down at the beach. The witches and their schemes were far from his mind as they'd ever been. He noticed his cloak had turned silver and thick around him, sealing him in an anti-radiation bunny suit. Then they were gone.
The news that day was frantic. Reporters, out of their minds. The top brass of the military, dumbfounded. Who, -no, -what happened here today? We can't say. Derek and Es laughed out loud as they watched dignified and well-practiced states-personalities flummox their lines, by the beach, on the bar's hanging TV.
You've changed, Derek. And I've been... she turned away. You're tired of waiting for me. Es, I'm super now. I have responsibilities, and I may not always bring in the money. I have weaknesses -things we'll never be able to enjoy together. He slipped his fingers into her hair like treacle and she rubbed her cheek on his palm. She peeled back his hood. It felt like silk and needles against her hands and she touched his face, scarred with fine lines. His hair grown long and tied back in a bun. His eyes were different. And she dreamed of one day removing his underpants -what would she find 'down there'?
6. Weakness is its solution
No Derek, the underpants stay on. That was the deal. What a dumb deal. Derek, that's no way to talk to the Master. Pete forced him to a kneeling posture as the Master floated in the shafts of sun above the sinkhole they had made their headquarters. Weakness, son, is not strength, in your strength -in its weakness is its own solution. Derek screwed his mind to figure what Master had just said. Surely God's strength is what we need when we are weak? No Derek, you're talking about something different altogether. We admit our weakness or we know of no solution. Go back to school if you don't agree. Derek cringed. I know you failed your SATs, said Master. Yes, son, stupid heroes can save the day sometimes.
*We will not live your life for you* he heard as he teleported off the islet. He had decided he needed a suit or costume, a disguise, maybe some cybernetics, side arms, a catalyst for his natural powers. Maybe he should join a government program and be coated in liquid silver armor. Were there other gods he could beseech? What was power worth but to gain more of it so to protect its wielder.
He remembered how easily his mind could be manipulated to undermine his abilities. Hawaiian guy looked over Derek's sketches and shook his head. They had been plucking all the papayas that Derek had ripened early, no sweat, Kyoko happily baking pawpaw mayo rolls.
You want an armor? Yes, like in the movies. Kyoko almost choked on the rolls. I can build a watch, repair a circuit board. Derek, there's nobody in the world can build you an armor, otherwise we'd all seen one or had one. This cloak you always wear -is it bulletproof? Supposedly- but before he could finish, Kyoko unloaded a shotgun at his back. It felt like a soft punch. He turned to her resentfully. Her hand was over her mouth, giggling. I'm not a joke or a fool. What about enhancements? Can you make any of those? We'll think about it tonight, kid. I need some kind of psi-proof helmet...
Es, Derek, and Kyoko looked on as Hawaiian guy unveiled his plan. This cloak was made by Tailors? Yes, they know God through cloth. And these Tailors -they're powerful -how? They won't say. The best power I can think of is to tap further into the cloak they gave you. It needs to be infused with those cells you control so well. He went on to elaborate. Derek sat there, among his true friends, with a broad smile.
7. Ghost town
Lotus had been busy spreading lies about Derek. She had found hundreds of lonely, gullible women and tricked them that 'Superman' wanted them to have his baby. Quen laughed, for all his power, Derek still had to sleep -to dream. You see, Derek, we have perfect knowledge of the human body. You may be powerful, yet in the darkness of every man's soul, completely helpless before us. Why don't you beg, we'll know if you pray.
And I'll be there... be there... be there...
Derek awoke bathed in cold sweat. He could sense dozens of embryos forming, near and far, and they were his children. It must be a dream, he thought. Reach out and snuff them out... had someone been using his powers? Were his gonads a liability -like they were the last time. Flashback to the dog -the bitch who nearly ruined him. Maybe he was never supposed to have them back. Maybe he never was supposed to be hazed and framed. Maybe he wasn't supposed to be so stupid, to be born. He screamed into his pillow like a little girl. Sometimes God can be too kind. He wouldn't make the same mistake. Reaching out, he snuffed out all the embryos he could find, and deactivated the sperm Lotus had collected in a subtle way she would only find out too late -the children would be severely retarded. Let them come around her. But for himself, he reserved 2 and grew them faster until they knew him first -a boy and a girl, perfect in every way.
Quen sat in deep meditation. Their scheme would take some time to hatch and until then, they had to contend with a ghost town. Most of the residents had evacuated to bunkers and salt mines in the foothills. The handfuls who stayed on were expected to work, keep everything going. Lotus was practicing her backhand against the wall, down at the Y. He saw her scissor thighs working the half court from the window of their hotel room. What was cruelty -surely it, as did everything, had its place in the grander scheme of things? But in the cold of a Fatherless existence, the idea lost its appeal, like a can of flat, non-alcoholic beer.
Derek, also deep in thought, turned over his cricket ball. Deep red and sheeny. It bore the mild scars of every game he'd played on the makeshift clay pitch down by the sea. Ball wear was part of the game and an integral part of a team's strategy. Life is like the cricket ball, he thought, be smart and gentle with others' hearts and your hopes will last a long time, maybe see your team win.
He turned on YouTube for the latest on the wars as cool air wafted over his body. The sounds of Mom and Dad going at it down the hall. There was banana cake in the oven. And the afternoon wore on. He reached for the cloak and teleported to the islet sinkhole to be alone.
8. The underpants for God's sake!
Esmeralda was good at chemistry, where Derek had premature boiling tube accidents that wound up on the ceiling of the lab. He could only grow small crystals and was a dunce soldering anything. He showed his girlfriend the hemp rope he couldn't break and asked her why? Was it the same substance that was woven into his underpants by the Tailors? And if it were, how did the witches get it?
Derek, I've put the rope into a vise and ratcheted it in the shop, said the Hawaiian -it held over 4 tons of pressure. Are you a tug boat? I guess not, Derek bowed his head. How much strength do I have? Try lifting this car -he pointed out an old 70s Volks Beetle. It was hard but the super teen managed to jerk it over his head in 5 seconds. Can you do it with one hand? Barely, he reported. Don't you have muscles? You mean I have to work out? The friends nodded. So there's nothing special about the wiener tube either -It just needs a work out? Es laughed as she kissed his forehead. He winced by reflex. It was where the witches flinched him when he erred. Derek, you big stupid.
Back in Derek's home. His father and mother looked on as Esmeralda examined her friend's underpants. Aren't you embarrassed, Son? Not really. Sometimes shame causes dysfunction. To be true, The special material was rather 'fitting' and left nothing much to the imagination though it were dimpled and dark blue. Did he add the wiener loop himself? You some kind of pervert, Son? Derek fumed but he didn't show it. We can take a little of the fabric off there, I'm guessing it won't matter. To her surprise, Es discovered that there was no weave to pick a thread out of. She held it up to her iPhone and magnified the spot. No weave. She ran her fingers over the waistline and tried rolling them down. Then sat back puzzled and fatigued, as if she had struggled with Gabriel himself.
Then how would you do it? Es, I don't know. I can pinch it off a little but I can't say if my skin stretches with it. The cloaks, they insist it stays on -no buts. Everything down there works. I have sperm, I can loo, I just can't get happy the way I used to. You've been working out so hard this past week. Her eyes fixated on his muscles. They weren't Mr Universe big but they looked hard and a little shiny where once they were softer and dull. He took the hemp rope and tore it in half. Son, have you heard of masturbation? No, don't answer, dear, said Mom -we'll leave you two alone, she whispered. I know what Lotus did for you before the attack, Esmeralda's eyes went dusky as her hands reached for him.
*Pain is something we must master -for sacrifice is the gateway to all pleasure that He deems good* What do you mean? Derek felt bathed in love as his girlfriend's hands worked his hips.*What sustains the Universe is not itself, nor anything it can produce. Space is 3-dimensional and thus by nature, profane. But in profanity (Derek stifled a laugh) -lies the possibility of infinite joy. What use is so much cloth without making clothes? What were there to clothe if men had no shame? What if men did no wrong? Pain, Derek -in your heart... sacrifice*
Have you heard of the Mobius loop, Es? It has only one side, one surface and it goes on forever? Esmeralda looked puzzled. God's trying to make one and I don't know if we're on it. She had given up stimulating him. Nothing stirred. Have you tried Viagra? She had a look on her face, like a leprechaun.
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