Wrath of Mary Sue (eBook)

Chapter 1:

The World-Changing Project

The moon shone brightly in the quiet night sky. A helicopter flew by, its propellers interrupting the momentary silence. Five soldiers wearing navy-black armor looked up and saluted as it landed in front of a research facility. Each soldier held a semiautomatic shotgun in case the visitor wasn’t who they were expecting. The helicopter’s propellers slowed down as it reached the ground, and the side door opened. The propellers stopped their movement, allowing the sound of a black boot stomping on the landing platform to echo in the air. A hand reached out and closed the door, revealing a middle-aged man wearing a black trench coat and black baggy pants. One of the soldiers marched up to him and gained his attention.

“We’ve been expecting you, General Tibald,” the soldier greeted. Tibald simply nodded; he then signaled the soldier to follow him. The soldier then told the others to return to their guarding duties. You could never be too careful.

“Status report,” the general ordered, beginning to walk toward the research facility. The facility was a two-story building that was four buildings wide; it had glass windows surrounding the first floor, while the second floor was unviewable. The walls outside were a bright shade of gray, which was strange since it was supposed to be a secret location.

“Everything is going smoothly. In fact, according to the AI, Project Earthworms should be a success in a matter of minutes,” the soldier reported. Tibald chuckled at this; even though he thought this project was silly, he was still glad that it may yield results. They entered the building leading into an active hallway with silver stairs in front of them. The general faced the soldier, keeping his professional yet intimidating stare.

“That’s great news, soldier. However, I want you to contact the surveillance team just in case,” he ordered. “It’s better to be safe than sorry.” The soldier nodded in response, understanding the general’s doubts.

“Yes, sir! The laboratory is just up those stairs,” he said. Tibald nodded before dismissing the soldier. The general looked up the flight of stairs and sighed; he wondered why he was even assigned to this project in the first place. Tibald eventually shook his head and began climbing the stairs; he knew that if this project succeeded, then it would change the world forever. Upon reaching the top, Tibald noticed a white door with a gold knob. Above it was red letters spelling, “Authorized Personnel Only.” The general paid it no mind; being a general in the US military had its perks, after all.

Upon opening the door, Tibald was greeted with multiple rows of people from multiple walks of life typing on their keyboards and looking at their computer screens. Some were walking down the facility’s open pathways with a notepad in hand, all uniformly wearing white lab coats and black slacks. The technology in the laboratory looked so advanced it bordered on alien. Tibald narrowed his eyes at the giant glass sphere in the center of the lab. Holding it there were two fat, hexagonal holders on each side that were balanced by long mechanical legs. In front of the sphere was a skinny man with short brown hair. The general grinned at the sight of this man as if he was an old friend the general had not seen in a long time.

“Doctor Alexander!” he yelled, walking up to the physicist. Alexander’s ears perked up upon hearing the general’s voice. He quickly turned around with an excited smile on his face.

“Welcome, General Tibald! I have been expecting you,” he greeted. Tibald walked up to him, noticing his messy hair and the bags under his eyes. He seemed to be hiding how stressful this project was. Tibald was very concerned, wishing Alexander wouldn’t work himself so hard.

“I’ve been told that Project Earthworms is going according to plan?” the general asked, facing the giant sphere with a curious expression. Inside three bolts of electricity were being produced on each side of the sphere; they all seemed to be striking at the center. The physicist saw the curiosity on Tibald’s face and remembered that some people didn’t actually understand quantum physics.

“Yes, everything is going smoothly . . . for now . . . ” he answered. Tibald glanced at him, wondering what he meant by “for now.” Dr. Alexander noticed this and sighed, knowing full well that the general wasn’t going to understand.

“I’m just saying that this whole project . . . could fail at any time. This is something we have never done before; I doubt I’ll be the one to accomplish this task,” he admitted. It was obvious that his self-doubt was taking control of his voice. Tibald hardened his stare at the man, realizing that Alexander hasn’t changed at all. The general put his hand on the scientist’s shoulder.

“C’mon, Alex . . . Don’t be so hard on yourself!” he said, trying to cheer the scientist up. He understood the kind of pressure a job like this could induce in a person. “Listen, you’re going to make history today. People will know you as the man who created the bridge between fantasy and reality. So stop being so modest; I didn’t come all this way to see my cousin beat himself up,” he claimed with a calm smile on his face.

Alexander sighed at this; however, he felt a little better. “Heh, maybe you’re right,” he said, looking at the giant dome. The cracking electricity rang in his ears, reminding him of the progress he’d made so far.

“Dr. Alexander, the project is ready!” a scientist announced. Alexander glanced back at his group of working physicists and smiled. It was finally time to show Tibald just what exactly Project Earthworms was about. Reaching into his coat pocket, the head physicist pulled out two pairs of black goggles.

“Put these on, general, unless you would want your retinas fried,” he explained, handing a pair of the goggles to his cousin. Tibald glanced at them, noticing a blue streak on the hinges. Letting out a slight chuckle, the general put the goggles on, immediately noticing that his view had gotten a lot darker.

“Alright . . . AI . . . Begin Project Earthworms!” Alexander commanded while putting his own goggles on. Tibald noticed that the lightning went from white light to a purple hue, causing his brain to sense danger. The general took a few steps back, preferring to watch from afar. Dr. Alexander, however, stood in place as he had become comfortable with this dangerous setting. The focal point of the purple lightning turned into a small black ball of energy. The black ball slowly expanded, causing the purple lightning to strike at the sides of the glass dome. This was when Alexander stepped back; a feeling of uncertainty started crawling down his neck. The black orb continued to increase and was now the size of a football. The sphere began cracking, unleashing loud shockwaves in the openings that were created. Tibald stared at Alexander with a confused look on his face; he wondered why he hadn’t told the AI to shut the project down.

He was about to yell at the mad scientist when the glass dome suddenly shattered. The lightning dissipated, and the lab was covered in an eerie red light.

“ERROR! ERROR! ERROR!” a male robotic voice, presumably the AI, announced. The black orb stayed inside the broken dome.

“Err . . . WHAT HAPPENED!?” Alexander growled, hoping that this wasn’t another failed attempt. Tibald looked at the physicist in shock; he had never seen his cousin so frustrated before.

A Canadian scientist stood up; he looked confused, as if he just learned something strange. “Sir . . . the AI has picked up something on the other side that seems to be causing some sort of interference!” he announced, sitting back down in his seat to continue his work.

Alexander’s eyes widened upon hearing this information. “Interference? But that can only mean . . . ” he speculated, turning around to face the black orb with curiosity in his eyes.

Tibald glanced at the black orb before looking back at Alexander. Just what was going on here? The general’s eyes darted back to the orb, noticing that the thing was still growing.

“Something . . . is entering our world,” the scientist claimed. Tibald looked at his cousin in both shock and fear; he then looked back at the growing orb with his hand on his semiautomatic pistol handle. Who knew what would come out of that thing? The black orb began morphing, turning into the shape of a five-foot-eleven human being. A slimy green hand reached out of it, grabbing the edges of the humanoid orb. The strange specimen pushed its body out and landed on the floor with a sickening thud. Both Tibald and Alexander looked at the thing in confusion. Just what were they looking at?

The strange specimen began to spasm, separating parts of its body to form what looked like limbs. It first formed arms, which slammed on the floor as though it were in pain, then its legs, which showed that the creature was on its knees. The creature transformed itself into what looked to be the body of an approximately thirty-year-old female. Tibald took off his goggles to get a better view of the strange woman. She had long yellow hair; however, the strands that covered her ears were a deep black. She wore a medieval breastplate with sleeves made of white cloth; her baggy black pants looked as though they haven’t been ironed in years, but the most eye-catching thing about her was her bright purple eyes.

The woman scanned the area, which...