Noble

By Adeleke Kayode

Despite having lost his memory Carter has been given a mission. Retrieve the secret formula that creates super humans. Virtus. Carter might not know much about the Virtus formula but he does know one thing. Being able to gift powers to anyone you choose sounds like a problem waiting to happen. A problem that Carter and his friends, Hummingbird and Shield have to stop.

Now the trio has to hunt down the thief Scott Dawson and prevent him from using the Virtus formula. The mission seems clear and simple but things are never that easy. As the trio go after Scott Dawson, Carter can't help but question everything. His questioning leads him to more mysteries instead of answers. Yet one thing becomes crystal clear in his mind.

When you don't know who you are. You don't know who to trust.

Noble is a superhero story without the superheroes. No capes, no tights, but with all the action. If you like light sci fi, action or a unique twist on the superhero genre then try Noble.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Adeleke Kayode
• Release date: Oct 15, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463596937

Adeleke Kayode

My name is Adeleke Kayode. I've been writing since I was little. Specifically since my brother told me I couldn't write a story. That day I took out a notebook and started writing. Even though I never quite finished the story I started. I kept changing it and coming up with new and different ideas. Because of that I realized I loved writing, creating characters, worlds and stories. I'm looking forward to sharing my stories with you. So when you have the time check them out. Hopefully you'll find something you like.

Book preview

265

Fade to white

The walls of that hallway were pure white at least that’s what I remember. In fact it’s the only thing I remember. Me walking through a hallway that was surrounded with white walls. There was an overhanging dim lamp swinging in the middle of the room very slowly. The floor was filthy like it hadn’t been cleaned in a few years. I had my right hand pressed against the wall to support my weight as I walked forward. I took heavy breaths, they weren’t exactly pleasant breaths but it was air. It was cold along the wall and all around me.

Blood ran down my left shoulder dripping onto the floor, it was so warm. To this day, I have no idea if it was my blood or someone else’s but it kept dripping though and I was tired. When I turned finally noticing it, my vision was blurred, I heard some sort of blaring sound and I turned my attention forward. Everything seemed warped and distorted. I staggered to the left then an inch or two to the right. When I thought I got my bearing, I took a step forward, then I fell, it felt like I was falling forever, because I lost consciousness just before I hit the cold floor.

Welcome to the Team

A low buzzing sound slowly filled the air growing louder and louder. It sounded like a bee flying through the air while the sound made its way closer to my ears. That buzzing grew until it forced my eyes open. Light poured in from the lamp that was right above me, this one was much brighter than the one from the hallway that I remembered. I turned my head to the side quickly to prevent light from stinging my eyes.

Damn…that’s bright.

My own voice was unfamiliar to me, a silent groan emitted from my stomach just as my body jerked off the bed that I was laying on. The top half of my body slammed into the ground. I hit my jaw against some sort of gray tile. My jaw was throbbing with pain.

Man that hurt a lot.

My feet were caught on something. I turned my head to see that my feet were going through a metal bar that looked like it was part of a bunk bed. I pulled my legs free, pulling the sheets off the bed along with them. The sheets were dark green, I kicked them off freeing my feet just before I stood up. I scanned the unfamiliar room, which wasn’t very spacious. There was the bed in the corner and a lamp above, a small mirror right by the door, the doorknob was rusted. There was a sink below the mirror and a small cupboard on the right wall. There wasn’t much else except a pile of dead bugs by the door and a couple of cobwebs three inches above that.

I walked over to the mirror to take a look at myself. It was strange seeing myself for the first time, it was as if I was meeting someone new. I had shaggy dark brown hair that shaped a sort of crew cut, large hazel eyes, and a slight tan like I hadn’t spent too much time in the sun. I had no facial hair, meaning it was somehow taken care of or it didn’t grow that fast. I had a fairly big nose with medium sized ears and a sort of large forehead. I was wearing a black shirt with a green jacket. I looked down to see that I was wearing faded jeans that were slightly torn at the bottom. When I looked back at the mirror something caught my eye.

What’s that?

There was a sliver necklace around my neck. It was tucked under my shirt, I reached under my shirt and pulled out two dog tags. Looking over at the first one it said, Carter N. while the one under it read A. I suddenly felt light headed and my vision blurred so I couldn’t see the name on the dog tag. I began wobbling a bit before placing my hands on the sides of the sink to hold my weight.

I felt a queasy sensation start to build up in my stomach and work its way up into my throat. My head felt like it was spinning and my mouth filled up with vomit. In a second, it all poured out.

Gaaaahah.

It was like a waterfall of bluish green liquid flowing into the sink. I stopped for a moment to suck in some air before a second wave came out. It was worse than the first. The sink was nearly filled with the oddly colored vomit. I finally stopped but my stomach ached and my sides hurt.

Wha…what did I eat.

My vision began becoming even blurrier while I wiped the remainder of vomit from the side of my cheek. It wasn’t the best use of the back of my right hand but there weren’t many choices at the moment. I looked around again and a curious expression spread across my face.

Where am I anyway?

Suddenly, the door knob began jiggling. I turned my attention to it, while the doorknob turned and the door was pushed open.

Hello?

A man with a full beard and mustache combo entered the room, he had bags under his eyes which were covered behind his thick glasses. He pushed then up with the bottom of his palm. There was a crescent scar that went from the bottom of his left eye to his upper right lip. His eyebrows were furry. He had thick hair on his head, it was slicked back with hair gel. He wore a white lab coat with a dark gray undershirt and black tie. His lab coat was fully buttoned so his undershirt was barely shown. He wore black dress shoes along with white dress pants and black leather gloves.

He stared at me for a moment while a strange overly friendly smile went across his face. If I hadn’t noticed the scar on his face before or his wrinkles, they seemed even more prominent when he smiled. I stared at him for a while before anything was said between the two of us.

Hello, are you feeling alright today?

I stared at him for a moment then looked at the top dog tag that said Carter, I didn’t bother looking at the second one. Before tucking both of the dog tags under my shirt.

What’s my name? I asked.

The man in the lab coat’s smile vanished, for just a second there was a look of disdain before a smirk went across the man’s face.

Carter, don’t you remember me, I am the Doctor.

I looked at him, then the door and back to the Doctor.

Sorry I’m just not feeling like myself, I can’t remember anything.

The doctor smiled then pulled out something from his coat pocket. He held out his hand revealing two pills one blue and one red.

Take these two pills and I’ll get your injection.

I took cautious steps toward the doctor I have to trust him don’t I? I took the two pills from him and swallowed them dry. My head seemed to steady itself almost instantly.

What was in those pills I just took?

The doctor walked passed me and opened the cupboard, inside of it were two silver shelves.

Those pills are just vitamins that will help your stomach and brain activity.

The bottom shelf was empty and the one above it had three thin silver objects. They were almost completely invisible upon my first glance. The Doctor pulled one from the shelf, it was a unique looking syringe with a gray casing. The doctor opened the side and pulled out a light green capsule and placed it into the syringe then closed the side.

You will experience some discomfort but after that you’ll feel two hundred percent I promise.

I looked at the doctor unsure if I wanted this man to inject me with whatever was in the syringe. The man walked toward me.

Are you ready Carter? I won’t proceed unless you’re ready.

I nodded, unsure of myself, the doctor moved forward, but I felt a sudden hesitation in the back of my head which made me raise my hand indicating him to stop. The Doctor shrugged as if he had expected me to do that.

Well it is only normal that you would feel a little apprehensive considering your situation. I’ll just give you your injection once you feel more comfortable about your surroundings.

Okay. I replied with an unsure tone.

Well we should get going we have things to do and I’m sure your friends will be happy to see that you’ve finally regained consciousness.

I looked at him curiously, regained consciousness, how long was I asleep and who was he talking about when he said.

Friends?

The words just sort of slipped while the Doctor walked toward the door, opened it, then motioned for me to go ahead of him.

I’m not exactly sure where to go, maybe you should lead the way.

The Doctor smirked.

Yes yes I forgot follow me then.

He sounded pretty casual as he stepped outside the room, I followed him entering a hallway. There were pipes on the ceiling that spread in all sorts of directions. The walls were gray and the floor was concrete. I exited the room completely closing the door behind me. It blended into the wall since it was the same shade of gray. The two of us walked down the hallway saying nothing to each other.

I gazed up at the light fixtures which were an improvement to the lamp in the room that I was just in. While we walked, I searched the hallway only to find layer upon layer of gray. There were other hallways as we walked, most were empty but some had one or two people standing around in strange black jumpsuits. We walked for what seemed like 10 minutes or more before we stopped in front of a solid steel double door. There was a control panel to the right of the door with various buttons on it. There was a card reader attached to the panel along with a green and red light, both lights were off at the moment.

The Doctor pulled a blank white card from his coat pocket. He slid the card through the card reader before quickly punching in a code. 7517. The numbers seemed to flash into my brain, recollection. I didn’t dwell on it for long once a low beeping noise entered the air. The green light flashed and the door slid apart, opening to reveal a large combat training room. The area looked to be the size of a football field. There were white lines along the concrete designating portions that multiple groups of people were training in. The Doctor walked forward motioning me to follow while I rolled my eyes.

Not like I have a choice. I stated.

What was that? The Doctor replied knowing exactly what I had just said.

There were people doing exercises and there were some that were fighting each other. Each and every one of the men and women in the room looked physically fit and disciplined. I looked around until my eyes settled ahead of me on a large tan tank. A muscular African American man stood in front of it. He had a very short hair cut almost having no hair. He wore a casual silver combat vest and dark blue track pants. He was taller than me by at least four or five inches standing around 6’3 or 6’4. The Doctor stopped suddenly then turned toward me indicating that I should look in front of him. He pointed at the tank once and it moved a few inches forward while lowering its gun to the man’s chest. It was a couple feet away yet he stood there calm and completely still.

What’s going on Doctor, that man…he’s not going to get shot is he?

The Doctor glanced at me with a seemingly uncaring look which didn’t match up with his earlier smiles but was much closer to that look of disdain in the room earlier.

Don’t worry about that, he can handle himself much better than most men can, watch and you’ll understand completely.

I took my eyes away from the Doctor and focused them on the man. I was scared for him. I wasn’t sure what atrocity I was about to witness, but it didn’t look like it was shaping up to be anything, I’d just walk away from or he would either for that matter. The tank set itself while the man exhaled deeply before taking a deep breath.

Now! He yelled in a deep commanding voice.

He didn’t have to ask twice because the tank cannon fired. The front of the cannon exploded with smoke as the round launched toward the man in a matter of seconds. It hit him and exploded with smoke and fire.

Chapter 1

I stared wide eyed at the scene while my body trembled for a moment, but I quickly regained my composure, how, I am not sure. The smoke began to clear slowly, there was a figure standing exactly where the man had been standing. It looked like a person except it was coated in a silver metal, the entirety of its body covered in some type of casing. The silver slid away from its hands and feet turning into a silver colored liquid before vanishing and revealing the man that stood there before. The man exhaled again but slower. This was just before turning his head to look at me.

He had a confident look in his eyes which I felt the need to return with a look of my own. Which either did the trick or made me look scared because he reacted by smirking slightly before turning his attention forward and heading toward the tank. The Doctor was staring at me which unnerved me slightly but I didn’t show it on my face, at least I didn’t think I did.

So Carter are you impressed.

I opened my mouth but nothing came out. He grinned slightly which irritated me a little. I closed my mouth, cleared my throat and tried again.

What the hell…WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? I yelled.

The Doctor’s look turned into a grin which caused me to unconsciously take a step back, almost like prey reacting to a predator.

"What you just witnessed is how the world works. Men and women who are at the peak of what we call humanity. Through scientific methods we’ve unlocked abilities far beyond normal human beings that allows this organization to exists and thrive. Humans beings that are no longer just human but something much, much more they are…Super Human."

I looked down for a second then took a deep breath putting on my game face. I looked the Doctor straight in the eye.

What do you mean exactly? I asked.

The Doctor pushed his glasses up then smiled. Well that man in particular has the ability to release a metal like liquid, from his pores. This liquid or Hygrometal as I have come to call it, hardens upon impact from any force.

Hygrometal that’s a unique name.

It was the only thing I could think to say without seeming unnecessarily rude.

It just means liquid metal or more accurately wet metal. Terms like this are useful for people like…

Carter so you’re back it’s been a while.

I turned to see who had interrupted the doctor and to my surprise it was the man who had been shot by the tank. From what I could tell he appeared to be completely unharmed.

Come on don’t leave me hanging.

I looked at him puzzled for a moment before I notice that he had his hand out toward me, I looked at his hand then his face. I couldn’t quite tell what the expression on it was because he didn’t seem angry or anything maybe he took handshakes seriously.

Sorry about that. I commented while reaching for his hand, shaking it as firmly as possible.

Once my hand was in his grip, he squeezed it tight, strangely enough it was a familiar feeling. I get it. Even though his squeezing hurt, I refused to show it on my face while I began squeezing my hand against his hand. I squeezed as hard as I could while staring him down, he didn’t let his grip up which was almost like a vice ready to take my hand off. As long as I continued squeezing hard my hand wouldn’t be crushed. How long could I keep that up? I stared down at our hands for a moment. Within the periphery of my eyes, I noticed something in his eyes, there were strange green lines extending from his pupils to his iris. I looked away from his hand to see it but it wasn’t there.

Was I just imaging that? He stopped squeezing instinctively while I stopped at the same time. The man smiled.

Nice to have you back Carter.

He smacked me across the back which set a ripple of warm pain across it. I flinched the second I got hit.

Yeah nice to get hit in the back, I mean nice to be back it’s good to be…

The man laughed. I figured since your mind couldn’t remember maybe your body could because you know…

Your mind may forget but your body doesn’t. I stated finishing the man’s sentence.

The man looked at me then smiled.

See you didn’t forget that, well you did forget the phrasing. Your mind may forget the battle but your body doesn’t forget the war.

I looked at him for a moment without thinking and said.

Shield.

Shield’s smirk turned into a big grin then he nodded.

Yup. See a little pain does wonder on you Carter, maybe I should break your back or something.

My eyes opened wide just before I shook my head vigorously.

No thanks I don’t feel like being a crippled amnesiac that doesn’t sound nearly as fun as you think it does.

Shield would you mind giving Carter here a brief reintroduction to the basics of Super Human abilities.

Shield glanced at the Doctor and nodded. Let’s see. Super humans all have enhanced physical capabilities in addition to whatever power they have. Our powers are ranked in a tier system, Pre, Pro, Elite. Basically most superhumans rank between Pre or Pro, I am an Elite which is the highest tier. So that kinda explains why I can get shot by a tank. Uh I think the Doctor already explained my ability.

Shield’s explanation was a lot to take in. I had to think of something to ask, I mean this was all so unreal.

Uh so the tier system goes by physical ability?

Yes and no it also includes how strong your power is. I am physically capable of lifting a car without too much of a problem and my ballistic body makes me quite durable. That’s why I’m considered an Elite.

I stared at Shield with my head tilted to the side, I was going to ask another question. When out of nowhere I heard this strange warping sound like a spaceship going into hyper drive or something, the sound was emitted from very nearby. Suddenly, I was slowly turning my head toward the sound while I did so I saw an orange glow beside me which caused me to jump to the side away from it. I tripped over my own feet and fell landing on my butt. A second later, a young woman appeared where the glow was, she looked at the doctor and Shield then at me with a blank stare. She stood around 5’7 or 5’8 I really wasn’t sure since I was on the ground. Her hair was cut short it was blond with orange ends, she wore a gray wife beater and black baggy sweat pants.

A slight smile went across her face as she turned completely toward me and reached out a hand to help me up. I looked at her for a moment and then at her hand, I couldn’t help but stare at her chest for a moment. She looked to be in good physical condition among other things.

Are you going to stare at them all day or…

Oh I’m sorry I didn’t…

She shrugged off my remark. No I think you meant to or I’d be a little offended.

I cocked my head to the side and gave her a confused look while she looked at me and smiled again.

What! I can’t take pride in my looks Carter?

She knew my name but what was hers. No I just don’t.

The woman grabbed my hand and pulled me up. She was surprisingly stronger than she looked and that was saying something. She also patted me on the back before asking.

Is something wrong Carter?

She was staring into my eyes when she said that. There was something peculiar about her eyes, they were green like emeralds and I couldn’t help but stare at them. I care about you don’t I? I looked away from her for a second to regain some composure.

Yeah there is something wrong I don’t know who you are.

The woman removed her hand from my back and stepped in front of me forcing me to look into her emerald green eyes.

You don’t know me? She asked.

She sounded sad like I had hurt her. I looked at her with as much sympathy as you could muster for a stranger you had just met for the first time.

"Do not be