The seven supervillains floated over various stands, all glowing with various nimbus colors. I stared at the one glowing a dark blue, he was the one that would be a problem. He was also holding a cell phone and most likely already talking with the authorities.
The stadium itself was unusually quiet, and a lot of it laid in ruins. Parts of the stands were collapsed where the supervillains had blocked off the large cement exits by caving them in.
I took a deep breath as I flew toward the center of large baseball stadium, this was going to hurt. The first part of the plan was to follow the vision for the most part, and just change the ending. The fear was that we’d make it worse if we did too much differently.
The idea of sports in the future popped into my head. Would there still be sports in a world of supers? When everyone would have a body in perfect shape and powers that enhanced it? I supposed if they could suppress the powers to make it fair, or just let those without enhanced physical powers play. Like the psychics. I almost laughed at that idea, would they know when the pitcher threw a strike or ball before it happened?
I shook my head pushing the distraction out, but I got the idea I hadn’t even come close to considering all the fallout from this new world coming, both mundane and life threatening.
I whispered, “I warned you what would happen,” and it boomed over the stadium, seeming to come from everywhere at once as I struck with highly enhanced sound waves in seven different directions and became visible.
Six of the supervillains just died, in the very first second of the fight. Their craniums and brains literally shaken to death by the violent sonic attack I’d targeted there. I had warned them, and I wouldn’t risk over thirty thousand hostages on the idea they might be bluffing.
The seventh supervillain screamed, “Bitch!” as he shot blue shit at me. It was like a blob of glowing and shimmering light that whirled with dark blue currents.
I could have stayed invisible so he couldn’t have targeted me, but I hadn’t done that in the vision, and I feared if I’d changed that and he couldn’t see me, that he’d attack the crowd instead out of spite. I couldn’t live with taking that chance if it happened that way, foreknowledge was dangerous.
I flew to the side and dodged as fast as I could, determined to evade it, but despite my foreknowledge that it was coming it slammed into my right arm and shoulder. His attack was extremely fast, not light speed, but definitely moving at multiple Mach speeds. The splintering pain that lit up my arm and shoulder, and the side of my body made me scream. Everywhere it touched felt raw, like the energy was trying to eat my body. At the same time, it sent me spinning back wildly in a tumble as well and I lost all sense of direction as I was hit by vertigo from both the pain and wild spin.
My whole right arm, side, and shoulder started to tingle wildly, even as it burned like acid. It was far more painful than I’d even feared it would be, but I managed to stabilize my flight right before I slammed into a section of seating. I flew for a metal pole so fast I had to suppress the sonic boom or deafen and perhaps permanently harm everyone in the stadium, but some of it got through anyway. My focus wasn’t the best as I dove for one of those yellow steel poles filled with cement in the pitcher’s warmup area that were set on either side of the large gate they entered the main stadium from.
“I’m going to kill you. Arrogant bitch, your powers are worthless against me.”
I whispered a very bad word, and delivered it straight to his ear, or as close as I could get.
He was also probably right. I imagined if I tried to punch through that shield it would disintegrate my whole body.
I started to tug the pole right out of the cement with my left hand, because my right arm hung helplessly at my side.
He shot another blue blob of shimmering and flowing blue energy at me, but that second time I managed to dodge but it still made my whole body tingle as it passed by, and the pain in my right side got so bad for a moment I thought I might pass out.
My heart was hammering in my chest like a hummingbird’s, and it was very difficult to concentrate. Far more difficult than I’d feared, and I suddenly doubted I’d be able to pull off the end of the plan. It was like trying to think with a thousand people screaming in agony into my ear, the pain erased most thought.
Discipline, valor, the need to survive, it only went so far. My mind was splintered in pain and my focus almost non-existent. The energy wouldn’t last forever, and would eventually fade, but it couldn’t come soon enough for me. It was also obvious if I hadn’t just been winged by it, I’d be dead.
The blue blob flew past me and hit the huge orange steel foul line tower, with the orange net attached. There was a screech of metal as the energy tore it apart at what I suspected was the molecular level, and the top two thirds of it started to fall toward the stands.
I flew to catch it. It was far too wide to hold securely with just my left hand. I got it under my armpit, while I wrapped my arm around it and stuck my flat palm under the bottom for leverage, and it stopped falling just a handful of feet from the crowd as I struggled to move as fast as possible. It was far from too heavy, it was just awkward, and anything my powers did required a modicum of focus and focusing was very difficult in that moment.
I managed to shoot forward even faster as the bastard took his third shot at me, and he missed by a mile that time because of my stuttering start.
The blue blob raced toward the stands, and I knew that was the moment in the vision when hundreds of people in the stands would be killed when it exploded and the energy ate them, like it was still eating me, only they didn’t have cosmic power to regenerate their flesh.
Except, it was also when we were about to radically depart the seen vision, everything else that would happen from that point forward was up in the air.
Regardless, a powerful shield popped around the whole section, and the invisibility I had around Debra that whole time was cancelled, since my power over light and sound could no longer reach her. It was the first time I’d seen her active power, and it was damned impressive.
A dome of glowing white light took the blue blob of energy while I mentally crossed my fingers. It was anyone’s guess if she’d be powerful enough to take the hit, if her shield was more powerful than the supervillain’s energy. If not, she’d be killed with the rest of them.
It held, the blue energy dying in a splash as it dissipated over the bright white shield of light. I gasped in a deep breath of relief as I flew straight at the bastard, using the pole as the biggest lance ever.
His scowl at the people being saved fell off his face as he saw me coming and laughed. He launched another blue blob at me, and I twisted my wrist and flew to the right a bit, and the blue blob hit the pole at an angle about halfway down. The protest of metal as the second half was cut off was quite loud.
It also made a very sharp end, and it was still quite long.
I focused as hard as I could, and a light as bright as the sun exploded off my face and hit him right in the eyes. It wasn’t even that hard. I could hardly focus through the pain in my side, but a blast of pure light wasn’t very subtle.
He screamed. It was just light, but I imagined it hurt a lot as he was temporarily blinded. I suspected it would’ve permanently blinded a normal human, burned out their retinas, but a super would heal from just about anything through regeneration, except death.
He made the mistake of freezing for a split second, at the pain and blindness, instead of dodging.
A split second was long enough.
The sharp end of the thick metal slammed into his shields. The energy started to eat it but the pole was long, pure steel, and I was going too fast. I bet his shield was good enough to eat bullets, but the thing just had too much mass, and the sharp end of it slammed into his chest and kept going, running him through.
I was going really fast, and as he died with his heart torn apart from the jagged end of the pole, I let go of the pole and started to stop and turn. Problem was,
enough of his shield was left to send blinding pain into my brain and erase all thought.
I fell toward the ground and let out a grunt as overwhelming fear flooded my mind with the thought erasing pain. If I couldn’t focus, I was dead. There was someone screaming too, and I realized it was me after a few moments.
Boom!
The sound of a 7.62 caliber sniper rifle went off, and I knew I was done. That was the end of the vision, a sniper shooting me with a bullet that would ignite at close to five thousand degrees, something similar to thermite. My shield could withstand a bullet, but that much heat would kill me in seconds, especially with both my right and left sides being eaten by blue energy that just didn’t want to die.
The plan had been to create a copy of me out of light, and roll out of it as I turned invisible, to avoid the rifle shot. The government shooter, whoever it was, would’ve shot the illusion instead.
Except, I wasn’t dead. Which was really weird, and it hurt to be alive. I didn’t want to die, but it hurt so much it was almost a disappointment that I was still breathing.
Warm heat flowed through my body washing away the pain, and I heard Debra shushing me in a comforting way. Her healing healed me almost immediately, and also seemed to destroy the energy still trying to eat me.
I opened my eyes, to see a dome of white light above us both.
“This wasn’t the plan, but thanks,” I said with a shaky breath.
She snorted, “Empath, remember? I knew there was no way you could focus through that pain, and I do have super speed which got me down here in time.”
I looked around, “The shooter?”
Prisma said, “I got a good shot of him from a stealth probe. He already rabbited, but I’ve got enough footage from an angle that proves he was there the whole time. It was Sentinel.”
That bastard.
My brain was still a bit fuzzy in that moment. The echo of the excruciating pain had me feeling a bit off and fragile, even if I was anything but. I wasn’t sure at first why that was so significant, but Prisma seemed really happy about it.
Debra dropped the shield as I got up.
I looked at my arm and my suit was barely holding together. Both of the sleeves were gone, as was the sides. It would’ve been a major wardrobe malfunction and I’d be flashing the crowd if the back and front weren’t still connected to the tight collar. I’d need a new suit.
“Promise kept,” I said ominously, as it filled the stadium, then I turned invisible, grabbed Debra, and took off before the superheroes stormed the place.
Chapter Nineteen
I felt those flutters again, at the look of concern and relief in Glenn’s eyes when we appeared in the lair. It wasn’t something I was remotely ready to explore, it was way too soon for me, but it’d give me something to think about. I knew intellectually I was only twenty-three, and I could find love again in my life, but emotionally the whole idea was repellent in that moment despite the attraction.
“Why is that so significant, Sentinel being there the whole time? My brain is mush right now.”
Glenn said, “You need to eat. Your regeneration was working overtime and that burned a lot of calories.”
I nodded as I sat down.
Germaine said, “His presence and obvious intent to kill you when you were most vulnerable from a sniper position, is proof that the government had foreknowledge of the whole attack and knew you’d be on the ground and unmoving, even unaware, for a time.”
I nodded halfheartedly, still not getting it, until the blood drained from my face, “The people.”
Germaine nodded, “Exactly. They were willing to sacrifice over a hundred citizens to see you dead, when they should’ve loaded up the stadium with heroes to take them down as they arrived. They even gave most of their superhero agents strict orders not to breach the stadium, for obvious reasons.
“Most of the superheroes are good people, just deluded. They wouldn’t have stood by and watched a hundred people die for a shot at you. We have no solid proof, but I suspect that means Sentinel is the other superhero in our local SAB office that’s in the know. I don’t imagine there’s enough like that, that they’d have more than one or two in each office.”
I nodded, so he was like Mistral, maybe the only other one. One energy wielder and one bruiser. Even if we were wrong about that, there was proof he’d been willing to sacrifice over a hundred people as well as the assholes giving orders, just to kill me.
“Will people believe it though?”
Prisma said, “Enough of them will. Enough to demand an investigation of that even if they still don’t believe about the conspiracy that the government is killing most of the supers out of fear, instead of the supposed instability. It’s likely that will be found out as well, in the course of the investigation.
“Especially since my boss just agreed to release all the data and proof we have of the massacre of citizens during a crucial part of the investigation. We’ll make it look like a leak. They’ll try to cover it up, but the SAB will go down.”
I nodded, “What will we replace it with?”
Glenn said, “We’ll do what we can. Work with the government, but without the horrific preventative measures. We’ll stop people when they do something wrong, the way it’s supposed to work. It’ll take time to hammer out exactly what that’ll look like, but it will get done.
“I’d like to see volunteer testing and evaluation centers to truly teach control where it’s needed, but not mandated by law. I’d also like to see anyone that wants to be a superhero can be, but there’d need to be some kind of training. Like police, fire, and military have. I think the government will also transform over time, as we take over our new world, and the old humanity leaves us, but it’ll be another fifty to sixty years before that happens.
“The restrictions on mad scientists need to be lifted as well. I imagine in a hundred years there won’t be any need for the healthcare industry, cars, planes, or any number of other things.”
I snorted, “And I thought I was a naïve optimist.”
Debra chuckled.
Glenn replied, “It’ll happen sooner or later, the old guard will only live for so long. The only question is how painful they’ll make it for us, and how many supers they can dupe into working for them loyally merely out of their own ambitions and needs to stay in control.”
He wasn’t wrong, but it was the work of a lifetime. The lifetime of our first generation, and at least half to two thirds of the second.
It wouldn’t be easy, but we’d make it happen, I was just getting started and I had no intentions of quitting.
“Any chance I’ll be free one day to walk around openly as myself, instead of Belladonna?”
Even if the SAB went down, and the nightmare stopped, I was still responsible for killing two agents.
Glenn smirked, “Now who’s being an optimist?”
I laughed.
We were just getting started building our new world, and the possibilities, both good and bad, were endless.
Prisma said, “The press just gave you a hero name. Umm, it’s not bad, exactly.”
“What is it?” I raised an eyebrow.
Prisma said, “Death’s Mistress. Because you come unseen, and you take them without mercy. Like the grim reaper himself.”
Oh. I felt my stomach sink at that, but in time I’d own that name, and be proud of it. I took life when it was necessary, in defense of myself and others. I also couldn’t argue, it was what I’d done, both to the asshole red dwarf and this latest round of hostage takers.
I was Death’s Mistress, and my story was just getting started.
Afterword:
I hope you enjoyed this story, if you did please leave a review. Reviews are the lifeblood of independent authors, and I would greatly appreciate any constructive feedback or opinions.
About the Author: If you have any comments or suggestions you can send me an email at [email protected] If you like my work, or even if you don�
�t, please consider leaving a review of this book. I can also be found at https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7456808.D_L_Harrison
Other books by D. L. Harrison:
http://www.amazon.com/author/dlharrison
The Formerly Dark Mage, by D. L. Harrison – This stand-alone fantasy book follows the life of Silvia and takes place in a world unique and separate to our own.
Silvia is a dark mage. Unfortunately, she finds herself about to be sacrificed. Someone must have told her evil master about her plans to kill him and take over. After that, things just seem to go downhill. She has no choice but to escape the kingdom of Zual, something that to her knowledge has never been done before. She will need to deal with many issues she never had to face before.
Among those issues, the white mages, and her conscience.
The Rise of a Dark Mage - This stand-alone fantasy book follows the life of Cassandra, it takes place in the same world as The Formerly Dark Mage, but happens three hundred years later, long after Silvia is gone and some shocking changes have taken place in the world.
Cassandra is a dark mage in the kingdom of Zual, she’s also a mage prodigy.
She hates both her kingdom, and her master. She wants him dead, not to take his place, but so she can leave and explore the world. Her ambition will drive her to rediscover the secrets of the strongest of magic.
She is determined to succeed, or she’ll die trying.
Celia Winters Novel Series
Witch’s Moon: A Celia Winters Novel Book 1
Celia Winters was raised by her single mother, and her earliest memories are of the store her mother owns and the nearby coven, who have always been her family’s close allies and friends.
She grew up believing her magic was weak, but she was satisfied with her life, and happy. She was a midwife, healer, and supplier of surrounding covens.
Death's Mistress: Origins of Supers: Book One Page 17