by Kipjo Ewers
They followed him down a long, bland hallway through a set of double doors making two left turns followed by a right turn. They entered the examining room with harsh medical lights that exposed everything. Dr. Barnes walked over to the body of Flaming Jay lying as if sleeping on the examination table with just a thin white sheet covering her body up to her chest.
Erica glanced at Rosann whose demeanor did not change the slightest at the sight of Flaming Jay’s body. She stood at the foot of the table in a relaxed state of attention, while Erica made her way to Flaming Jay’s head to examine the body.
“Yep, that is definitely a burn mark, not self-inflicted.”
“Which based on her physiology would not be possible because of her immunity to heat.” Dr. Barnes interjected for confirmation.
“Correct Dr. Barnes, Ms. Samson is able to generate and survive heat up to eight hundred eighty thousand degrees Fahrenheit.”
Erica pulled out a pair of glasses from her jacket putting them on. She touched the right side of the frame causing the lens to light up as she did a scan of the burn mark on the body’s neck.
“Well that’s a handprint alright,” she sighed. “The size of the handprint indicates a male assailant. However, the heat generated has burnt away any possible chance of taking a DNA sample. This is definitely not a suicide. I’d like to see the inside of her.”
“As you can see,” Dr. Barnes gestured. “We have not opened her up yet.”
“Won’t need to,” Erica pulled a small metal rod from her large smartwatch.
The rod became malleable and began to move like a living Earthworm.
“What in the world is that?” Dr. Barnes asked with raised eyebrows of amazed curiosity.
“It’s a mini medical drone of my creation,” she explained. “It will enter through her nasal cavity, and work its way through her body while transmitting a visual map that we can view.”
She laid the medical drone on Ms. Samson’s chest.
The drone went to work quickly scurrying up to her face before slithering into her right nostril. Erica used her telekinesis to turn off the lights in the room and pressed a button on her watch projecting a holographic image of Flaming Jay’s body from the inside.
“Well this is not good,” Erica swallowed.
“She appears to be completely burnt from the inside,” observed a mystified Dr. Barnes.
“It’s a lot worse than that Dr. Barnes,” Erica double checked the data. “By these readings …every single cell in her body …is dead.”
“That’s not possible,” Dr. Barnes shook his head in disbelief.
“Why is that not possible?” inquired Rosann.
“When a body dies many cells continue to function after death,” Erica explained. “White blood cells can last up to three days; stem cells can remain alive with a corpse for at least seventeen. Ms. Samson here has only been dead for two days, and I’m not picking up any activity, not even on an atomic level.”
A baffled Dr. Barnes kneaded his forehead as he attempted to comprehend what he was seeing before him.
“What kind of superhuman can do such a thing?”
“I have no idea, Dr. Barnes.”
“Erica, are you there?” Rogers came over her comlink.
“I’m here.”
“You and Esposito need to wrap up what you’re doing and meet us in the UK,” He ordered.
“Why, what’s going on?” She asked.
“Are you two alone?”
“No.”
“Secure the room.” He instructed.
“Doctor Barnes,” she looked at him with a pleasant smile.
“Say no more, I’ll be outside,” The doctor complied.
As Dr. Barnes exited the room, Rosann locked the door behind him.
“Jammer field has been activated within the room,” informed Maxine.
“I was just contacted by Director Mansfield of MI6, Knight Light from the Lions of Elizabeth has been murdered,” Roger’s bluntly informed them.
“Say what?” she asked with a raised voice of concern, “How?”
“I wasn’t given the details,” continued Rogers. “What I do know is that the government is keeping a tight lid on this and that they are requesting our assistance, mainly yours. We’re en route as we speak.”
“We’ll be there in an hour,” she swallowed.
“Roger that.”
As the transmission ended, Erica looked up at Merge with an uneasy expression.
“Rosann, why did you touch the body?”
Merge’s eyes widen at her straightforward accusation.
“What the hell are you talking about? I didn’t …”
“Don’t lie to me, I saw you touch her foot during the examination.”
A chill of disquiet filled the room as the two stared each other down.
“We have to go;” Erica broke the tension while turning away from her. “Rogers is expecting us to meet him in London.”
˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜
Twenty minutes later, the strain that was as thick as molasses came back during the drive back to the airport and stayed in the cockpit of the second Tornado along with the painfully awkward silence as Erica flew the two to the United Kingdom.
“So, are we going to talk about this?” Rosann softly asked while not making eye contact.
“What’s there to talk about?” Erica sarcastically snorted. “You just decided to jack a dead girl’s powers during her autopsy.”
“You know I didn’t steal anything,” Rosann glared at her. “I just have the ability to duplicate her powers.”
“You stole her DNA, Rosann, that’s f’d up.”
“It’s adding another weapon to my arsenal! She’s not going to need them anymore!”
Erica turned to Rosann as if as she reached over and slapped her.
“Autopilot.”
Upon command, the ship’s A.I. took over piloting the Tornado as she turned to confront her teammate.
“Seriously chica, what the hell is up with you?” Erica asked with a voice laced with concern. “Some lines just should not be crossed, and you are hurdling over them.”
“She deserted her team,” Rosann turned answering her with a dull ice-cold glare. “She left them to die. You were right there with me as we watched it happen. She didn’t even try to save them.”
“She would have ended up like the rest of her team,” Erica answered back in the dead’s defense, “None of them was a match for Peace.”
“Neither were we,” Rosann scoffed, “But we still never left a man behind …at least I didn’t.”
Erica fell back in her seat from Rosann’s verbal gut check. A sardonic smirk slowly formed on her face as she shook her head.
“Now we get to the truth of the matter. I asked you time and time again during our sessions if you carried some ill will against people you’ve been fighting beside in regards to what happened to Oliver, and you’ve been lying to my face.”
“I’m not carrying ill will toward anyone Erica,” Rosann nonchalantly responded while falling back in her own chair. “I get it; hard decisions were made, people did what they thought they had to do. I just plan to make it my business to do what I have to do, to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Rosann extended her right hand concentrating, as her skin, eyes, and hair changed to match the deceased Flaming Jay. Her hand slowly began to glow as sparks of flames burst from her pores and swirled around her hand.
“Flaming Jay was a Class Nine Apollo, with practice I can become at least a seven or eight.”
She broke her concentration causing the flames to disperse as her features returned back to normal. Rosann locked eyes with Erica again.
“Should I expect you to rat me out, recommend that I get benched for a psyche evaluation? The courtesy of a heads up would be nice.”
Erica made a long obnoxious sucking sound with her teeth, before spinning her chair back aro
und and assuming control of the Tornado again. She mentally activated her music playlist as the two flew once again to the UK in silence for the remainder of the trip.
˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜
United Kingdom, MI6 Headquarters,
Erica landed the second Tornado at the Royal Air Force base in Lakenheath, Brandon where the first Tornado was parked. It was a two-hour drive from there to the MI6 office in Embankment, London. Fortunately, the sports vehicle Erica built came equipped with a short-range vertical take-off and flight package cutting their travel time to twenty minutes.
They entered into the facility escorted by two MI6 agents where they met the rest of the team along with Director Mansfield who was accompanied by Jack the Giant and Lady of the Lake, the Titan and water wielding Apollo of the UK’s Lions of Elizabeth super-soldier team.
After the initial professional introductions, the Director got straight to the point.
“Thank you all for coming here at such short notice, as I debriefed Sergeant Rogers and the other part of your team, seven days ago Major Henry Butcher’s body was found at eleven A.M. in the morning within his flat after he failed to report in, or answer any of his communication devices. An autopsy report revealed that his neck was broken, his trachea crushed, while his organs, muscle tissue, and bones had severe burn marks. The assailant who appears to be male left a burn mark print of his hand around the front and side of the Major’s throat. We were, unfortunately, unable to recover any DNA for identification. However, our team identified grains of sand on the Major’s fingertips which trace back to Egypt.”
Both Erica and Rosann glanced at each other as they both wore mirror visages of dread in the middle of the Director’s run down.
“What is it?” Rogers asked.
“I’ll have to examine the body, but based on the Director’s report we might have a serial killer or an assassin on our hands,” Erica said while biting her bottom lip, “Whoever killed Knight Light used the same method on Flaming Jay.”
“Are you certain?” asked Director Mansfield.
“About one hundred percent certain, may we see the body?”
“We’ll take you to it now,” Director Mansfield nodded.
˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜
The Regulators followed Director Mansfield and the two members of the Lions of Elizabeth taking an elevator three levels down to a highly secured section of MI6. There they entered a guarded room used for medical forensics and autopsies. The covered body of Sir Knight Light laid on one of the autopsy tables.
Eric sadly pulled back the sheet to examine Sir Knight Light, only to jump back startled at the sight of the body. The rest of the Regulators had similar expressions on their faces as they turned to the Director and his team.
“Director Mansfield, what is going on?” Erica nervously swallowed. “You said the Major was killed seven days ago, based on the rate of decomposition this looks like a body that’s been deceased for several months.”
“I said that the Major’s body was found in his apartment,” Director Mansfield answered stepping forward. “I did not divulge to you the exact time of his death because it was something that you had to see for yourself, and we were standing in an unsecured location.”
“This doesn’t make a lick of sense,” Heavy Element spoke up. “We saw the Major alive on television two weeks ago. He was reported attending a youth charity event with the rest of his team.”
“You are correct, Private First Class,” The Director answered turning to him. “This does not make, as you phrase it ‘a lick of sense,’ because I spoke with the Major face to face in my office the day of that event. Our own autopsy has confirmed that this is one hundred percent Major Butcher’s body, which means there was an individual in our midst who killed a highly decorated Special Forces trained super soldier, and then physically mimicked him down to his fingerprints, speech pattern, mannerisms, and even retina scan. They were able to recall things from his past in intricate detail that only he and those close to him would know, which means whoever this person is both compromised and violated this organization and possibly others within our government.”
“I take it the day you found the body, this individual also disappeared without a trace,” Rogers deduced.
“You are also correct with your assessment, Sergeant.” Director Mansfield confirmed turning to him. “Our investigation of the crime scene revealed no additional fingerprints or DNA aside from Major Butcher’s, close friends and associates who visited which we already ruled out.”
“Do you know if people visited his apartment during the months this person was impersonating him?” Erica asked.
“Many times,” Lady of the Lake spoke up. “The team celebrated New Year’s Eve there last year, and we threw the Lieutenant’s surprise party there last month.”
A silent Jack the Giant lowered his head looking at the ground upon that revelation. Erica turned back to the body giving it a look over.
“That means the body was stored in a different location. Whoever this is either completed their mission or was compromised, it’s the only logical explanation for the return of the Major’s body.”
Erica moved closer examining the damage around the neck.
“Aside from the crushed trachea and broken neck, this is the same MO done to Ms. Samson.”
Erica took out her glasses putting them on, and activated them scanning his neck.”
“An exact match to the handprint on Flaming Jay, our assailant is definitely male.”
“Are you sure the assailant was a male?” Director Mansfield sternly stressed his question.
Erica turned to him with a “What you are getting at?” expression.
“Uh …yeah, my scans are flawless.”
“I was under the impression that only one superhuman currently on this planet had the ability and strength to get close enough to the Major to inflict this kind of wound.”
“I can assure you, Director Mansfield,” Erica said with a defensive tone looking him dead in the eye. “Who you are thinking about has nothing to do with this, she also doesn’t have man hands.”
“Seeing as how you are all chummy with her, would you really tell us if it was her?” a hostile Jack the Giant asked stepping forward.
“Alright people,” Rogers brought forth a tone of authority. “We’re all on the same side, let’s not do something cliché here. Erica, is there anything else you can tell us?”
Erica maintained her professionalism as she pulled out her medical drone for the second time. She activated it once again causing it to become malleable. She then placed it on his chest allowing it to make a beeline for his nostril.
“Whoa! Whoa!” Jack the Giant scowled. “What the bloody hell is that?”
“Calm down,” Erica said holding a hand up toward him. “It’s a medical drone.”
As it entered his nose making its way into his body, she used telekinesis cutting the lights to the room and tapped on her watch projecting an interior holographic map of Knight Light’s body through her watch.
“Although he’s been dead longer, the damage done on a cellular level is the same as Flaming Jay, every single cell in his body was burnt out before he died,” she said while slowly moving her head to scan his body. “The burn mark handprint shows no foreign DNA; may I see the sand you collected from his hands?”
“It’s over here,” the Director gestured.
“Maxine.”
Upon Erica’s request, Maxine walked over to the table where the additional evidence laid. She picked up the specimen container opening it up.
Maxine cracked open her finger vacuuming up some of the sand like she did the ash in Mexico. Her eyes glowed brighter as she analyzed the evidence.
“The exact location this sand derives from is Luxor, Egypt.”
“Luxor?” Director Mansfield asked while stepping closer.
“Yes, with the vicinity of the Valley of the Kings.”
“Could it be that Egyptian that fought in DC?” Jack the Giant asked with an interrogative tone.
“He’s not Egyptian, he’s Annunaki,” Erica stepped in calmly turned to him. “And his power set is different.”
“You seem to have an excuse for all of your friends,” he snapped at her.
“Look, I understand you're angry and for a good reason,” She said turning and standing her ground with him. “But pointing fingers at the wrong people is not going to solve anything.”
“Then use dat wonder brain of yours along wit your female Gobot over there and point us in the right fuckin direction,” Jack the Giant erupted. “We brought you here to tell us who da fuck put our leader on a slab, and been impersonating him all these months! Not tickle our assholes and tell us who didn’t!”
“Lieutenant!” Director Mansfield stepped in admonishing him.
An enraged and emotional Jack the Giant stormed out leaving an awkward silence to blanket the room.
“Apologies for the Lieutenant’s reaction,” Lady of the Lake somberly spoke on her teammate’s behalf. “The Major and he were really close.”
Erica nodded as she read what she meant by her facial expression.
“Is there anything else you can tell us about this Egyptian male?” Director Mansfield inquired focusing back on the investigation.
“Whoever he is, he’s not a pure EVO, by the handprint alone he’s too old to be one,” Erica concluded. “The fact that he drained both Sir Knight Light and Flaming Jay who are clearly two different energy types means we’re dealing with a possible mutation, someone who developed a one and a million-power set from others that we have successfully recorded.”
“Why not a booster?” Lady of the Lake asked.
Erica quickly glanced at the Sarge while answering.
“No boosting agent on the planet will get a regular human to that power level. Whoever this was physically overpowered a class nine Apollo EVO with the ability to channel and unleash massive amounts of photon energy backed with years of Special Forces training without a struggle. This individual has monstrous capabilities, especially if we’re adding shapeshifting and mimicry to his arsenal.”