The Order of the Acolyte Bonds of Blood Love and War

By Joshua Pinon

This is the third installment of the Acolyte series, The Acolyte Dawn of a New Hero and the Order of the Acolyte Sins of Generations Past. The Order of Acolyte have just resurfaced from the devastation that took place during the Downtown Showdown only to find themselves at war with the Faceless Foe revealed to be The Acolyte’s half twin brother from another mother who is the real enemy prepares for his grand master plan to defeat the Order of the Acolyte. On top of the Orders preparing for the inevitable, The Order of the Acolyte takes on the toughest obstacle during this difficult time, love!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Joshua Pinon
• Release date: Aug 15, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370614769

Joshua Pinon

A gay young man in his thirties born in Los Angeles, CA and raised in Redlands, CA, now a resident of North Hollywood, CA. During his senior year of high school he became a cheerleader leading him to attend Cal State Northridge where he continued perusing his passion for cheerleading. At nineteen, he pursued a career as cheerleading coach at the high school level for eight years working with various high schools in the San Fernando Valley Area throughout the years. Meanwhile this entire time he also maintained a part time job as a clerk at a local community pharmacy, becoming a full time employee after my eight years of coaching. Shortly after he enrolled in classes quickly becoming a national certified and state licensed pharmacy technician now employed for thirteen years still working to this very day. However, after finding himself still ambitious to explore his horizon, he was reminded of a hidden passion, writing a fictional superhero novel. One day he woke up and told himself he did not want to look back at these years down the road and only say he merely worked for a living, that sparked the initiative inside to open his laptop and began writing, starting at the beginning of the year. Seven months he is ready to self publish for free as an amateur fictional superhero novel writer, The Acolyte Dawn of a New Hero and the Order of the Acolyte Sins of Generations Past, the second installment of this soon to be novel book series. Now comes the third installment or Volume Three. I apologize about the mediocre book cover but not really much of an artist here as well as curious on anyone's artistic input. Sorry for the many mistakes in the beginning with the first two book uploads too, fixing some formatting errors, my bad. I am an amateur without and editor besides my own two eyes. Now I am also a part time background actor on top of my regular Monday through Friday!!! To top that off, I am starting on the rough draft for Volume Four, Order of the Acolyte Sins of Generations Future (as hinted in Volume Three Bonds of Blood, Love, and War)https://www.facebook.com/TheAcolyteDawnofaNewHerohttps://www.facebook.com/TheOrderoftheAcolyteSinsofGenerationsPasthttps://www.facebook.com/orderoftheacolytebondsbloodlovewar/

Book preview

This is the third installment of the Acolyte series, The Acolyte Dawn of a New Hero and the Order of the Acolyte Sins of Generations Past. The Order of Acolyte have just resurfaced from the devastation that took place during the Downtown Showdown only to find themselves at war with the Faceless Foe revealed to be The Acolyte’s half twin brother from another mother who is the real enemy prepares for his grand master plan to defeat the Order of the Acolyte. On top of the Orders preparing for the inevitable, The Order of the Acolyte takes on the toughest obstacle during this difficult time, love!

This is dedicated to everyone close to me, my incredible parents who are two of the most selfless human beings in the world, my family, my nephews and nieces, my coworkers, and last but not least all my friends and fraternity brothers for being so supportive throughout the years. I also dedicate this to all my superhero inspirations that sparked this idea in my mind to write this novel.

Love,

JΦshua

(Cindy, Oscar, Brett, Landon, Alexa, Melanie, Ryan, Tina, Shawn, Richard, Kenny, Marta, Brandon, James, Todd, Sara, Eric, Amanda, Christine, Ian, Cisco, Luis (RIP), Kreg, Kyle, Veronica, Jamie, Kimmy, Bethany, Aaron, Robyn, Chris, Mark, Susan, Dominic, JC, Jen, Jeremy, Missy, Vince, Minh, Neil, John, Nathaniel, Kyle, Josh, Sean, Mike, Jesse (RIP), Jessica, Stephanie, Amy, Nikki (RIP), Pat, Brianna, Antoinette, Jennifer, Huitzi, Jerry, Demetrus, Priscilla, Andi, Amanda, Dominique, Jenna, Adam, Eric, Nicole, Maya, Sam, Bouvier, everyone I cheered with and to the cheerleaders I coached throughout the years, any of my family members friends, and fraternity brothers not mentioned but I’m running out of room sorry)

To all readers,

These original stories are written with the intentions of introducing a new superhero character to the world, in the hopes of the main character, the Acolyte, to become a part of the sensational Marvel/X Universe through a series of fictional novels hopefully to one day become Marvel’s The Acolyte and Marvel’s The Order of the Acolyte. This is the third installment of the storyline. I understand that introducing a superhero is typically done as a graphic novel or comic book. However, being an adult in my thirties I wanted to introduce the new superhero into the world through a series of novels. I believe adult aged readers who enjoy the excitement and adventures of superhero stories would prefer to read about these great adventures in a novel form, since graphic novels and comic books are meant for a younger audience, I approached the creation of the new superhero in a very different format versus the comic book approach. I had been inspired some of my favorite novels of our time especially the Twilight series and the Sookie Stackhouse Novels series, book series that more and more we are seeing on the big screen. I want to create something different from the normal superhero typical formality of imagery.

Being a Marvel fanatic throughout my life growing up watching their amazing movies, television series, and comics, particularly the superhero team the X-men, became my leading inspiration to write this story. I wrote these books with the intention of bringing the Marvel Universe back together as well being that the conglomerates who have divided our heroes because of the Disney versus Fox feud, which is terrible. In the eyes of the corporate world these are just character they purchased, but to the fans like me these heroes stand for something much more, hope! It’s unfortunate that the Marvel Universe has been divided and has changed so many storylines to accommodate for this greed mind boggles me. The X-men, Spiderman, Fantastic Four, the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Defenders, etc. are all one in the same, part of the Marvel Universe. That is why I incorporated characters throughout the Marvel Universe because that is how it should be. I would like to thank the two actors who portrayed iconic superhero characters in the X-men movies, Shawn Ashmore who plays the role of Iceman and Daniel Cudmore who plays the role of Colossus are the main inspirations that sparked the idea of the Acolyte. Another superhero that I never mentioned in the last two books that really inspired my particular character was from the TV show Heroes Peter Petrilli, the hero with a heart that inspire a lot of characteristics including the scar. I utilize Iceman (Bobby Drake), Colossus (Peter Rasputin), Northstar (Jean Paul), Magik (Illyana Rasputin), and Marvel Girl (Rachel Summers), Husk (Paige Guthrie), Deacon Frost, Grim Reaper, Avalanche, Karma, Blindfold, Caliban, Lockheed, Shadowcat, Cannonball, Agent Sharon Carter, Agent Maria Hill, and all Marvel characters that are trademark heroes of the incredible Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Chris Claremont, John Byrne. Marv Wolfman, Gene Colan, Joss Whedon, Frank Miller, Roy Thomas, John Buscema, and Jackson Guice. Once again I am publishing this for free following the guidelines according to Marvel’s website with no ill intent, only to share my story to the public that in hopes they would enjoy it:

(While we can’t accept your unsolicited submissions, please know that Marvel is always looking for new comic book artists and writers. We constantly read and review indie, self-published, creator-owned, and web-comics, review popular online art communities, ask other artists for opinions and recommendations, and host portfolio reviews at conventions from time to time. If you are an aspiring comic book artist or writer, we suggest you publish or publicly post your material, continue to create, and if you have the right stuff...we’ll find you. http://marvel.com/help/category/17/topic/30)

Preface

Prologue

Chapter 1 Dark Times Ahead

Chapter 2 Returning to the Scene of the Crime

Chapter 3 Runaway Train

Chapter 4 More Unwelcomed Guest

Chapter 5 Admirers of the Night

Chapter 6 These Battle Scars

Chapter 7 Let the Bodies Hit the Floor

Chapter 8 Defeated

Chapter 9 Witch Hunt

Chapter 10 I Don’t Have Time For All This Bullshit

Chapter 11 Go All Plastic on this Witch

Chapter 12 Intruder

Chapter 13 Take Back the Night

Chapter 14 Dolphin’s Cry

Chapter 15 Eye of the Storm

Chapter 16 Hey Jealousy

Chapter 17 Radioactive

Chapter 18 Flying in Blind

Chapter 19 Chasing Cars

Chapter 20 Seven Army Nation

Chapter 21 Ghost Town

Chapter 22 Let It Rock

Chapter 23 Act of Gods

Chapter 24 Earned Appendages

Chapter 25 Army of Iceman

Chapter 26 When Worlds Collide

Chapter 27 I’m Coming Home

Prologue

The Biography of Joshua Pinon

Prologue

Seven minutes after sundown eight days from now…

My wings flapped rapidly through the air zipping at high velocity towards the iconic and historical Los Angeles monument once I sensed the terrors of the night that was taking place, the slaughtering of the innocent. However my flight path was thrown off course by one of them emerging from the darkness. One of the vamps bolted at me midair that sent me slamming down onto to concrete cement in front of the building. After I shook my head from the massive impact, I glanced up to witness the horror that stood before me that was beyond belief. Bodies of so many slain only minutes by the undead were tossed from several levels of the all white building now drenched with the puddles of blood from the fallen taken only in a matter of seconds. I was just responding to the distress call only to find myself in the center of a bloodbath.

The threat made by Deacon Frost of staining every inch of the city with the blood of the innocent had begun. Puddles and streams of red blood poured out from several areas cascading downwards as if damns of lakes being blown allowing the water to flood the valleys beneath them. Six blurred figures were zipping around from human to human, no matter the age while feasting off their blood viciously as if it was their first meal. Each of them had been feasting before they noticed my presence that brought them to a halt. This was not just a volatile disgusting display of supremacy. Lines had been crossed by this disgusting display their true wrath for those massacred by bonds of blood that have now stained this landmark red with the blood of the innocent; this unholy endeavor of Disorder was now an act of war!

Volume Three

Bonds of Blood Love and War

Act One Bonds of Blood

Chapter 1 Dark Times Ahead

It had been seven days since we had resurfaced from our time underground after the Downtown Showdown that had taken place that tragic night a week ago. The battle that occurred between the Order of the Acolyte and the vampires that had taken hostages of the supernatural persuasion that turned from a resume mission into an uncontrollable brawl that left Downtown Los Angeles o shambles. The true mastermind behind the kidnappings, the Faceless Foe that was finally unmasked to reveal a terrible secret he had kept. I, Josh Lobos, or the self proclaimed Acolyte of Humanity, or just the Acolyte had discovered that the once the cloaked nemesis that was behind every attempt on my life was in fact my own flesh and blood.

Jeremiah Limon, the Faceless Foe is my supposed half twin brother from another mother. We were both fathered by the same powerful yet unknown entity that he claims is an Aztec God. These facts haven’t confirmed entirely however I do believe him for many reasons such as his face did look almost exactly like mine, expect for the scar he left on my face during the showdown. His motivation for this madness is driven by the unfortunate death of his mother when she failed to assassinate me as a child by some arrangement made between his witch mother and the vampires, something he blames entirely on me. His vengeance is clearly misguided by the traumatic events that he endured, however I am not accountable for the death of his mother. I was a child when this occurred to begin with no recollection of this attempt on my life!

The Orders and I discovered his devious plot and uncovered the truth of his lust for supremacy, and not just the thirst for immense supernatural abilities. Now he sits as the hierarchy for the governing body of the vampire race by reviving Deacon Frost, a powerful super vampire to leads the bloodsuckers as his right hand man on top of his secret hidden agenda. Jeremiah had gone to great lengths to obtain several superhuman and supernatural people with one goal, to create a super vampire army. He was carefully about who was selected in hopes that after they turned into vampires along with maintaining their abilities. My devious almost near twin looking brother did not expect for one of his captives, Magik to not only survive the curse of the venom but also managed to teleport onto my car hood as we drove past the area where she had been held captive.

Once the true scheme unfolded before our eyes, we acted quickly, the team scrambled in hours to set up this extraction. That included: Bobby Drake, Iceman; Pete Rasputin, Colossus; Rachel Summers, Marvel Girl; Paige Guthrie, Husk, and I the Acolyte acted that very night, taking down the vampire headquarters level by level. Even though we had accomplished our mission, saving a number of supernatural hostages from the inevitability, the outcomes of the assault was devastating to say the least. My brother scarred my face permanently when he attempted to slice my throat with his wand. I technically died, sort of, stabbed by a Magik’s sword that was intended to kill Bobby. Obviously I didn’t die; instead I earned retractable wings after lying in the darkness for several minutes. Not to mention all the destruction that took place throughout the downtown area, including the freeway incident and the cars. He also scarred my face in a perfect diagonal kind of like Peter Petrelli from the TV show Heroes. Fucking Dick!

In the end, we were able to stop the chaos that was taken to the streets. Unfortunately I was put in an ultimatum when they had used Jean Paul who is my assistant athletic director of the university and in charge of the cheer team putting his life in jeopardy more than once. They kidnapped him and his lover while in route to cheer camp using the two as their last minute insurance policy if things went sour. Once Jeremiah knew he was being conquered, his lapdog used them to bring me back into Vampire Headquarters. They blew up the building with both of us still inside in a last minute effort to bury me alive. I was in the process of extracting the venom out of Jean Paul that had incapacitated me during the explosion that I that for sure we were going to die. We were teleported by a weak Magik back into the Grand Hall, our base of operation were we’ve been hiding out ever since, waiting for the dust to settle.

Today was the first day the seven of us had shown ourselves publicly, but for an unfortunate circumstance. Other than an absolute necessity for any of us to go to ground for any unavoidable task, all of us avoided contact with anyone of the outside world unless it is absolutely obligatory. We traveled by means of the Illyana Express, Magik becoming our teleporting shuttle back and forth from the Grand Hall. It was nice to be outside for once, enjoying the sunlight of good old Southern California. Yet at this moment I felt guilty for being allowed this freedom, sensing the sorrow and sadness that surrounded us as we stood amongst the distraught crowd overlooking the hillside cemetery where many that had parish during the madness in downtown were being laid to rest after the funerals. All these people were dead because of me and Jeremiah!

The crowd is decked out, dressed in all black formal attire standing in sorrow over the open graves with the casket next to them, just one of many victims that perished from the devastation caused that night. I shifted uneasily as the funeral service was taking place on the massive lawn of the cemetery. Jean Paul is in front of the empty casket of his lover Kyle who was slain right in front of his eyes by the hands of Deacon Frost. His life was merely another causality of this chaotic sibling rivalry, fueled over his misguided notions that I was to blame for the Sins of Generations Past. It was hard to hold back the tears when the truth of how Kyle’s life was truly taken had to be kept secret. Once again, another lie to add onto the stack of many made in this supernatural life. It was a necessary evil in order to protect everyone, including our own asses as much as I hated to say it.

Paranoid and distressed, I was thankful we all had our sunglasses on since were on high alert. Even though I wanted to pay attention and give respects to the person whose body was still missing, my mind focused on the thoughts of floating around amongst the group. Caution was the word of the day, since we all knew that there were many unanswered questions for the wreckage of Downtown Los Angeles that would eventually needed to be answered for. There is still the uncertainty of exposure, since the battle was taken to the streets with plenty of eyewitnesses that caught glimpses of me and Jeremiah going at it. The police made some comments to a reporter but nothing majorly substantial. There were stories of a winged man with a large cut across his eye flying around. Yet the story of the young man I saved when my brother sent his vehicle pummeling down onto the One Ten Freeway never made the headlines. Let’s hope it stays that way!

I fidgeted back and forth in place sensing one person’s desperation for answers to what took place that night, another unforeseen circumstance. Officer Barry King, the campus police officer who had been suspicious of Bobby, Pete, and I ever since Halloween Homecoming. While Jeremiah and I were dueling against each other in Pershing Square, the officer emerged from the bushes trying to end our fight with his pistol. Why he was there is still a mystery, but his thoughts were practically screaming it out. Office King in my eyes is just another campus security guard that keeps digging deeper connecting the deadly assaults that had taken place with my newfound friendship with the two faculty members of the university. It was bad enough I had a rocky relationship with the campus officer to being with, knowing me all too well from the fraternity and cheerleading. To my surprise his prick ass didn’t squeal to the real police, how unlike the security guard with a badge!

Today would not be his day to find that opportunity, since this was meant to mourn the loss of loved ones from this tragedy. He was respectful of that, but he is aching to interrogate us, recognizing the fact this was the first time anyone had spotted us since that devastating night. One person in particular is Jean Paul. In the eyes of the law, Jean Paul was technically a missing person up until a few days ago. We brought him to ground once he recovered to prove he was alive and safe, however even in his state of despair from the loss of his lover the real police were skeptical. It tore me up inside as my attention returned to the widow as tears swelled up in my eyes. For being such a great and powerful supposed god I wasn’t able to save Kyle’s life. He would still be here if it wasn’t for me. I failed him and no matter how much he disagreed with me, I hated myself for not getting their in time to save both of them.

Bobby had also reminded me time and time again that this wasn’t my fault, but it was easier said than done. Regardless I felt I am to blame since the whole situation did get completely out of control and I am accountable as the leader. My mentor, the incredible Iceman pointed out that in me that in the heat of the moment when I was put in the ultimatum while I was facing Jeremiah I chose the righteous path. Instead of defeating my half brother right there and then I went to save Jean Paul’s life rather than continuing our lethal take down on the freeway. Throughout our time on the down low, Bobby constantly told me that we would have been at both of their funerals if it wasn’t for me. Not only did I save Jean Paul’s life, I also prevented him from a much darker course that was intended when he was inflicted by Deacon Frost personally. Ever since that night when I extracted the venom from his bloodstream, it created some sort of unusual bond between us. I wanted to stand there with him and be there by Jean Paul’s side, but it didn’t feel right. Nothing about any of this felt right!

During our exile underground in the Grand Hall, the seven of us had spent a lot of time together having all bonded closely more than we had expected. Once Jean Paul had awaken for his recovery, I felt it was my responsibility to inform him of what had taken place since it was because of me they were put in this position to begin with. Being the barer of disastrous news was something I never expected to become routine in my life, but death followed wherever I went these days. It was painful having to go through this emotional ordeal, even worst having to apologize to him for not being there in time to save Kyle.

Jean Paul had taken the news quite well and promised me time and time again that I had nothing to be sorry for after learning all the details of his kidnapping. As it turned out, Jean Paul and I had something in common besides playing for the same team if you know what I mean. It was a secret that was kept from me until our minds were connected from the extraction. We were both of the supernatural persuasion, not to mention the fact I finally discovered the connection between my extraordinary allies and the assistant athletic director of the university, who also goes by Northstar!

I would soon learn that shortly after marrying his past lover Kyle, they had made a pact with each other and moved out to Los Angeles to live normal lives. With the aid of an uncanny telepath at the mansion in Upstate New York, Jean Paul’s powers were repressed in order to remain off the grid and help them live regular lives only to be drawn right back into it by yours truly, good old me. Once Jean Paul had regained consciousness inside the Grand Hall, his abilities had returned to his surprise. Northstar has the marvelous gift of creating photonic energy blast of a brilliance white light as well as superhuman speed and flight. Like the infamous Voice had instructed, save the one that bares the light, and I did just that. It is what started to develop afterwards that was completely unexpected. Within those seven days we grew closer getting to know each other in the aftermath of this tragedy. I wasn’t sure if this newfound likeness had to do with the fact he was in need of comfort, but it felt genuine enough for us to have gotten this close so soon.

My train of thought was distracted by the cries of sorrow coming from Jean Paul and his loved ones once they wept a little louder as the coffin started to slowly descend into the ground. He didn’t deserve this pain, this heartache. None of them deserved this loss. It is internally agonizing to bare the suffering deep inside having felt the emotions tearing at him from the distance. I tried to call out his name telepathically but I could barely let out a sound as I watched the coffin disappear from sight. There was nothing I could say or do to rectify the loss of Kyle and the distress of those grieving internally was overwhelming my telepathy until I sensed Jean Paul’s mind had reached out to my mind for some comfort.

I could barely hold my head up, distraught myself over the body count that keeps stacking up more and more. Not to mention the obvious new battle scar that I acquired from the rooftop battle, another constant reminder of the blood on my hands caused by the anarchy unleashed by my supposed half twin brother from another mother and his quest for retribution. I poked my head up again momentarily when I caught the stare from the young woman sitting next to Jean Paul. The brunette’s expression was skeptical to say the least as if she could sense our telepathic connection. That’s weird! Who the hell is that and did she just feel our mental waves conversing?

The ceremony had ended shortly after our telepathic conversation, as the crowd slowly dispersed while everyone made their way up to the family to give them their condolences. I hadn’t moved from my spot keeping my eyes on Jean Paul the entire time, grieving silently inside. I was snapped out of my mental turmoil when two hands grasped my shoulders pulling me back a few inches into his cool grip. I immediately recognized the familiar comfort being in the arms of my mentor and best friend, Bobby Drake.

How are you holding up kid? Bobby asked after hugging me for a few seconds.

I’m holding up, I think, I responded turning to the group that slowly huddled around me.

The real question is, Pete joined in, how is Jean Paul holding up?

Surviving, I replied. The six of us shuffled away from the crowd finding a large shady tree that we moved underneath as I pulled out a hand rolled cig once we were far enough. Who is that sitting next to him?

His twin sister Aurora, Bobby replied with attitude, or did he not tell you he has a sister during all those long private talks?

Don’t be a dick Bobby, I answered back rudely. What’s her name…?

Jeanne Marie cheerleader, Illyana reminded me as she slowly paced back and forth around us nervously.

What wrong darling? Paige inquired.

His twin brother, Magik stated pointing at me.

I didn’t blame her at all having witnessed some of the struggles she went through when my resentful half brother from another mother captured her and other supernatural individuals with hopes of turning them vampire with their abilities still intact. From our understanding the hostages were the second string batch of extraordinary entourage that meant the possibility of the super vamps building up their militia is still up in the air.

Jeremiah is not my twin regardless of the disgustingly remarkable resemblance even in our facial features, except the scar of course. I answered back turning my head to Rachel this time catching her thoughts while her guard was down. Just because we were born on the exact same time and day on top of the physical similarities doesn’t make us twins, and yes I heard that.

We all spent way too much time together, Rachel muttered under her breath.

Do you think the Faceless Foe is watching darling? Paige inquired the jittery Illyana.

I’m not the telepath sweetie, I’m the teleporting taxi service remember assholes, Illyana snickered back.

Miss Summers, I stated imply the obvious. We both nodded before closing our eyes allowing the strength of our full telepathy to expand. Everyone stood awkwardly quite in our little huddle as the two of us went into a trance of utilizing our full minds. The problem at hand for the both of us was due to the excessively heavy flood of thoughts surrounding us on the massive lawn. The entire cemetery was packed with lines of funeral services from the lives lost during the Downtown Showdown.

If he is here he’s voiding his thoughts out, Rachel spoke first.

There are too many people here, I confessed. That void is there but with this amount of people around us there is no way to tell. All these people are burying their loved ones whose times were cut short by this horrific event. Jeremiah wouldn’t do anything to draw attention especially here of all places.

Relax sis, Pete whispered to Illyana in a low voice.

He’s right Illyana, Bobby intervened, even if he is tracking us from a distance he wouldn’t dare try anything at time like this especially in the daylight.

Besides, Rachel interrupted changing the subject of Jeremiah that was bothering her, we have more pressing matters at hand. The entire group glanced towards the direction she focused on seeing our newest ordeal.

It looks like we are going to have some upcoming obstacles ahead, I answered nodding my head to the side hinting at the prying eyes of our newest fan.

I told you he was going to be trouble. Rachel reminded us.

Don’t remind me, I answered back. Officer Barry King of the university is very anxious for answers from what he stepped into that night in Pershing Square.

It’s now Pershing Circle love, Paige taunted.

I thought it was Pershing Sinkhole, Bobby joked.

During the Downtown Showdown my brother and I conjured such powerful surges of telekinetic energy that rather than cracking the ground like the time we dueled during Halloween Homecoming. The forces were so immense we made a sinkhole that imploded part of the park. Last time we cracked the ground beneath us that happened before he was ever revealed to be this bastard half brother of mine. Fear started to consume me internally once again, now worried of how powerful both he and I are becoming day by day. My silence must have given it away when Bobby said,

Sorry that was inappropriate.

You’re fine Bobby, chill. I responded acknowledging his attempt to lighten the mood.

I know I am, he teased back with a tiny smirk on his face. Tease! Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for Officer King. I’ll do my best on damage control but I doubt being a professor at the university will allow me leeway.

That piggy is going to be a problem, Pete added. Good thing he’s just campus police. Besides, he’s not the authority we should be worried about anyways.

"Add him to