Chapter 1, His Next Victim
7122, the Isle of Thoth, 4:36 am. Rains of nights passed have left the district unusually dark, and wet, raising the stench of the cities poorest high into the air. It's particularly bad tonight, but the smell is a permanent resident on this side of the island.
The streets are vacant, mainly due to the strict nightly Imp curfews that will still be in effect for a few more hours. Set in the center of the great lake Kokytos, and with Ur, the capital, encompassing it, Thoth is the nicest, and safest city on Nibiru. Regardless of their station, and even with the odor of the ghettos taken into account, these Impuissant are among the luckiest ones.
Montu N'naki, a powered Imp, and top intelligence analyst for the Erudian government receives a message he has been expecting, and dreading for years. Attempting immediate contact with his little brother, and receiving no response, he anxiously paces back, and forth in his small third-floor office configuring a message of his own.
Two districts away, Antu wakes, as his communique stops sounding. He picks it up, then sets himself up on the side of the bed.
Opening a message from his brother flashing urgent, he falls into a deep trance, as he reads it.
A door in the front of the dwelling slams shut, snapping Antu from his fugue state.
"Cutting it awfully close brother," Antu says to himself.
He looks over at Gaia, as she lay sleeping next to him. He kisses her lightly on her forehead, then vanishes seconds before Khasis kicks in the bedroom doors, startling her awake.
Shocked, but relieved to see she is the only one lying in bed, Gaia quickly gathers her composure, smiles at her husband, and says, "Hey baby, what are you doing home? I thought you were in Eresh."
"Yes, you did!" He answers, "Where is he?" Khasis demands as he makes his way to Gaia's side of the bed.
"What are you talking about?" She screams as Khasis grabs her by her hair, yanking her head back.
"Antu, I know he's here!" He tells her, as he stretches his other hand around her throat.
"Khasis, no one is here!" she tells him.
"Fucking liar!" He accuses her, tightening his grip.
"Baby, I swear!" Gaia begins to beg in an increasingly raspy voice.
"You call me baby while sleeping with him!" Khasis shouts, as he squeezes even tighter.
In desperation, Gaia grabs Khasis by the groin, digging her nails in deep enough to make him release her throat, and force him to his knees. She leaps from her bed, and races for the door.
Khasis grabs Gaia by her arm, spinning her back toward him, and she sees black. Her body goes limp and falls hard to the bedroom floor.
Khasis shakes the impact of the strike from his fist, as he scans the room for signs of Antu.
Too late to stop it, Antu reappears, yelling, "Enough, Khasis! What the hell are you doing?"
"You!" Khasis roars, "You were supposed to protect my family. Not rip it apart! I gave you more than an Imp has ever dreamed, and you repay me by fucking my wife! You were my friend, Antu! Why would you do this?"
"We were never friends Khasis. You are a murderer and a tyrant!" Antu tells him, as he holds Gaia's head in his hands.
"You allowed me to believe we were close all these years, and you call me the monster?"
"Yes, Khasis and the fact that that shocks you is a powerful indication of how fucking crazy, and out of touch with reality you are! Now, get help! She's hurt bad!" Antu says, as he looks up at Khasis, then adds "And you don't seem to give a shit."
Antu gently places Gaia's head back onto the bedroom floor and stands to face a slowly approaching Khasis.
"On the contrary, Antu. Gaia's death is going to devastate me." Khasis tells him, "Yours on the other hand, not so much."
A blue aura appears at Khasis' shoulders quickly extending to his hands. "I trusted you!" He shouts, thrusting his arms forward, as Antu charges. Steps from Khasis, Antu watches water like light shoot from Khasis fists, hitting Antu in the chest forcing him into the wall behind him, and he falls to the floor.
Re-securing a still unconscious Gaia by her hair, Khasis drags her toward a barely conscious Antu.
"Neat trick, by the way," Khasis says as he approaches Antu. "Now you see me. Now you don't. Learn that shit from your brother?
"No," Antu responds
"What else has he shown you?" Khasis asks
"Nothing! Montu has nothing to do with any of this! I swear!" Antu promises.
"You're a liar, Antu! What the fuck is that supposed to mean to me?" Khasis asks angrily.
"Khasis, please!" Antu begs him.
"Fuck you! It doesn't even matter at this point." Khasis tells him.
"Please," Antu begs Again, "Don't hurt her!"
"I could never hurt any of you, as deeply as you've all hurt me!" Khasis says, then raises his leg, and stomps Antu in the face with the heel of his boot. He kneels in front of him adding, "You did this to us. Montu, Gaia, me, but still, your wife, and son can walk away from this with their futures intact. I haven't the desire you do to destroy their lives over your indiscretions. The decision is ultimately up to you though."
"How's that?" asks Antu, as he spits blood onto the bedroom floor.
"Now, this may sound a bit crazy," Khasis tells Antu with what seemed to be, a bit of just that, in his eyes, "But if you hear me out," he continues, "I'm positive you will see no other option, and that it may be your family's only way out of this mess."
"I'm certain I will regret this but go on," Antu tells him
"Oh, you can count on that!" Khasis growls, then he clears his throat, and dresses in his most menacing smile, adding, "I'm going to kill Gaia and Montu. Then I'm going to cover you in their warm blood, just before you confess to the world, that you murdered them."
"Please!" Antu says. "I've killed enough innocent Nibirians for you. Don't do this."
Khasis doesn't respond.
"I won't!" Antu tells him.
"I don't see you have a choice! You don't think our "friendship" excludes your family from prosecution do you?" Khasis shouts.
"Prosecution for what?" Antu shouts back.
"Conspiracy for one," Khasis Yells at him, "And who would care? Anyone that would give a shit, will be dead!" Khasis takes a deep breath, releases it, and adds, "Look, if I'm a monster, and a tyrant, you really don't want to take the chance that I wouldn't do it?"
"Please Khasis, don't do this!"
"Again, old friend, this is your doing, and nothing can stop what comes next. You know me well enough to know that." Khasis tells him.
"Everything I've done, I've done for Ki, Anu, and a free Impuissant people," Antu tells him.
"Is that what you told yourself every time you fucked my wife? Face it Antu, your no better than I am, and now everyone is going to know it."
Again standing, Khasis stomps Antu in the face twice more.
Gaia looks lifeless, as Khasis drags her limp body back to the foot of their bed.
Struggling to see, and get to his feet, Antu begins crawl-walking after them.
Gaia comes to and sees Antu beaten, and bloodied.
"Antu!" she cries.
"I'm so sorry!" He says to her.
"Shut the fuck up!" Khasis roars, kicking Gaia, returning her to the floor.
"Khasis stop, please!" Antu shouts, dropping back to his knees, as Khasis returns Gaia to hers.
"She's Infanticipating!" Antu informs Khasis, piercing him to his soul. "It could be yours," Antu adds deepening the blow.
"Fuck you, Antu!" He replies insanely, "It could be yours!"
Khasis seems to roar, as his claw-like fingers dig into the side of Gaia's neck. Blood pours from beneath them, as he pulls upward, nearly removing her head completely.
"No!" Antu shouts completing his fall to all fours, in anguish.
Khasis releases Gaia and redirects his anger at Antu.
With her head lying on her shoulder, and the look of terror still on her face, Gaia's body sits eerily peaceful for a moment, then completes it's fall to the bedroom floor. This is the last image Antu will ever have of her.
"Your turn, you piece of shit" Khasis warns.
Weeping uncontrollably, Antu fades to nothing moments before Khasis can reach his next victim.
