I calmed my mind, as much as I could, using the mental techniques I’d been taught and had used over and over until I could do it on demand. They all did need to die, but the rage I felt had lessened, and was simmering in the background as my mind focused on the job at hand. I also had no illusions I’d enjoy killing them, no matter how much they deserved it I didn’t have that in me.
I protected anyone on the street I saw as I passed. There didn’t seem to be a limit that way or I hadn’t reached it yet, except in the ability to defend. The shields would only be enough if only three, or maybe four of them were hit at once. Of course, that protection would fall if they got further than three fifths of a mile from me.
That second time we arrived simultaneously, and several shields were projected at the speed of light as two of those assholes had citizens fleeing the building. So much for making them safe by abandoning the street, the enemy was blasting into their backs, cutting people in half. I had a lot of people protected just inside already, but I couldn’t see or sense them all yet.
It was my turn obviously, because Janna couldn’t get inside the building, not past all the people streaming out, she was tough and strong, but not strong enough to go through a cement wall.
I concentrated on my own shield and dove at a good percentage of the speed of sound. I hit the brick wall fifteen feet to the right of the front door, as close to the edge of the building I could get. Bricks exploded before me as I flew inside, and my shield flashed brightly as all that force and momentum was redirected away from me.
The men fired again, as my shields hit everyone in the room simultaneously, just from wanting it to happen. I really loved my power. The beams hit and my shields absorbed it, routed it to me as my reactive shield enhanced it. My reactive shields could absorb from anywhere, even the projected ones, but I could only counterattack from my personal shield.
The two assholes smirked at me as they reached for a device secured on their tactical vests. No doubt it was some kind of teleport system, and they were going to teleport out since they couldn’t kill anyone else, or me. That was smart of them, but it was also too late.
Their arms froze halfway there and then fell, as the two blue beams I’d absorbed into my shields left my hands and hit them right in the face. It not only burned a hole clean through their heads, but the radiating heat of them disintegrated the rest of their heads, which honestly wasn’t much. The beams were thick.
I really wanted to throw up. Well, that’s not quite right, I didn’t want to throw up. I just felt like I needed to as I swallowed the bile rising in my throat. I raced forward and grabbed the teleport device off his vest. Touching the headless body almost made me lose it, but my mental exercises and a deep breath kept the remainder of my breakfast in place.
“Can you scan this? Maybe jam the frequency they’re using to request a teleport out?”
I was half tempted to hit the button, and let it teleport me to their lair so I could destroy their teleportation equipment and kill the head asshole. I didn’t for two reasons. One, saving lives was always the priority, that meant stopping the terrorist kill teams first. Secondly, I had no idea what kind of setup the psychopath had on the other end. For all I knew I’d appear in a room with fifty automated beam weapons, which my shields wouldn’t have a chance of defending from.
Chances are he’d considered that scenario while taking losses, and the teleport room of his base would be very well secured. He was a murderous nut bag, not an idiot.
Point being. The small devices partially acted like a second teleporting device, but without communicating with the home device to teleport home, the system wouldn’t work right. It needed to know the exact coordinates, or the safeties wouldn’t allow transport. If the smaller devices were jammed, they wouldn’t be able to pass the coordinates.
A flash of white light filled the room and one of Prisma’s stealth probes appeared.
Prisma said, “Go to the next target. My probe will activate it while scanning for frequencies. It’s a good idea if it works. If we can keep them from teleporting out, we can end it much more quickly.”
I flew out the hole I’d made, completely ignoring the stares, comments about how young I looked, and other things. None of it was important, and they were all alive thanks to Janna and I.
Janna waited for me to get back out, but she looked impatient to be off and blurred as she started to run, and I took off and followed. Our paths converged with Debra’s and Jermaine’s, Mindgrip and Angel, for a few blocks, before we both turned our separate ways. I also caught sight of Thad and Stacey flying over the buildings to the right a few blocks away until they dove toward the ground.
My mind and perceptions were incredibly detailed, and I had an almost surreal focus of the area around me. Between the adrenaline rush, the simmering rage, and my mental exercises I’d never felt more focused. For the moment, that intense focus was staving off the guilt and horror I knew was lurking beneath it.
I’d taken two lives, and I’d probably take more that day. While they no doubt deserved it, I knew I’d lost something precious by being the one to do it. I had no doubt it would hit me hard later, when the adrenaline rush crashed, and I had a solitary moment to absorb it all. But for the moment I was running strong. The intensity and importance of what we were doing kept me alert and my mind on where it needed to be.
So many had died already, but I was focusing on the hundreds of thousands left, and the ones I had already saved and could still save.
The next two that came into view were in the middle of the street about three blocks up, and they were firing into the buildings around them at the crowds no doubt gathered in there. I couldn’t see anyone to protect them, so I did the next best thing. My power raced ahead of us at light speed, and I put a shield around the whole damned set of buildings that they were firing into.
They didn’t fire again, perhaps startled by my shield.
Three tenths of a mile wasn’t all that far at the speed we were going. The men had enough time to follow the golden thread with their eyes and see us, before they went down under a flurry of blows and died from impact trauma. Janna also destroyed the weapons again.
Prisma said, “Message to all. Jamming enemy’s teleport signals, now. None of the rest will be able to retreat. There are thirty-six groups left, assigning two to the sixteen fastest teams. I’ve also passed word onto all the other cities’ A.I.s so they can do the same.”
I frowned, the math immediately making my stomach twist, that would only account for twenty teams, not twenty-two, “We lost two teams?”
Janna said in brittle coldness, “Not now, Wynn. We’ll mourn later.”
Then she was off in a flash, and I followed. She was right of course, I pushed it out of my mind.
Of all the emotions in my chest in that moment, it was the hope that was most devastating to me, that made me feel so incredibly guilty. Because I hoped it’d been two of the teams that I didn’t know that died, and I also hoped that it was anyone else besides the three teams in my mother’s super team.
How messed up was that? I had survivor’s guilt, and the damned thing wasn’t even over yet.
Our speed accounted for five teams that day, I wound up taking one more, once again only because they were in a place Janna couldn’t get to. That left three of the teams as Janna’s take downs, simply because she was faster than me by a mile.
I also felt a flush of guilt and joy, when I learned I didn’t know those two groups at all. It wasn’t actually all that surprising. The city’s hero teams, and my mother’s team, all had years of experience, and it was the inexperienced that met their deaths that day. Two teams comprised of supers as part of the militia. No doubt wonderful and sacrificing people, who didn’t deserve what they got.
Four of the Militia, thirty six of the city’s official superheroes, and close to four thousand others who had just been innocent bystanders died that day. All the support personnel, politicians, and others that were simply to
o close to the three large explosions in the city. Not to mention the fifty teams of killers that had opened up on just about everyone in the city.
That was just in our city. The total losses were closer to forty thousand in the ten other cities attacked. It was such a big number I just felt numb.
It was a senseless slaughter, meant to terrorize and undermine, to bully us into accepting an insane solution for a problem that wasn’t truly a problem in the first place.
Prisma was able to backtrack the attacks, using the frequencies, but the hero teams that went to take the bastard down only found an empty bunker and destroyed equipment. It was suggested that it was expected, and that the leader and his family, and probably others, had fled to another base before the attack even started. No evidence was found as to where though, or again, even who he really was.
The psychopath had no more army, thanks to Prisma executing my idea not one of the attackers escaped in any of the cities, but he’d escaped with his wife, son, and who knew how many others. We were all sure he’d be back. Whoever he was.
Chapter Eight
“I’ll be alright,” Janna said in a voice that told me she was anything but alright.
But then, neither was I. I wanted to go home, cry for my innocence at taking those four lives, and bury my head under my pillow. I wanted to curl up in my mother’s arms and weep. I couldn’t though, we were expected back at Liberty after lunch. I know that sounds cruel, but it really wasn’t. It was just another way to weed out those that weren’t ready for a superhero life and didn’t have what it took to be the guardians of the innocent. In the real world, as a superhero, I wouldn’t get days off just because a supervillain got away, or because they killed someone I couldn’t save.
That meant sucking it up and getting it done even when I really didn’t want to.
It took discipline and fortitude. I could fall apart later, when the work was done. It wasn’t easy, nothing worth doing was, and there was nothing more worthy than a life of service and sacrifice where I got to save others.
So, I knew where Janna was coming from, perhaps we’d both fall apart later that night, but for the moment we were holding on with everything we were. We tried to focus on the ones we had saved and that did help a little, but not nearly enough.
One thing was for sure, I was looking forward to the deadly threats of supervillains and their crimes, that’d be easy after today’s mess, if more dangerous. Today… war… was just stupid and pointless. It was a victory in the sense that we’d taken down his whole army and destroyed his weapons, but it felt like a loss. So many dead.
“Me too,” I lied, which of course she saw through.
That also meant we were avoiding any discussion of what we’d just been through, we’d both break down if we did that. Anything else seemed so… unimportant. So in short, we were mostly silent, which was unlike both of us, as we forced down our lunch.
Of course, we would be alright, eventually. But not for a long while.
The afternoon was hard, but bearable.
Later that night was quiet, save for the sound of my breathing. The bed was both warm and cold at the same time as I existed in the fetal position. I felt numb in both mind and body, when I’d finally let myself fall apart at some point, I wasn’t sure if it would ever stop. The tears, the ripping sobs, the overwhelming guilt I felt in the joy that no one I loved or cared about had died. Even Stacey had made it, and I didn’t like her at all. The anger, and the sorrow and empathy at all the lives lost over some insane man’s plan to save humanity from the great promise of its future.
I also felt guilt for mourning my own innocence, and the empty place in my soul for taking a precious life. Misguided life, evil men who had taken a twisted joy in their deadly cruelty, but it wasn’t about them. Not about what they deserved. It was about what bringing justice had stolen from me. It felt incredibly selfish to mourn that loss, when so many had died, so many had lost loved ones, not just in my city but nine others.
I felt empty, when it’d finally stopped. Hollowed out and vacant. My head had ached, my chest felt raw from the crying, but even those sensations were denied me in short order with my super healing easing them away. I just felt numb, empty, like a void of emotion and sensation. I already knew I’d get back up, get on with life, be ready for the next thing to come while pursuing my dreams and calling to be a superhero, but tomorrow morning. When I had to. For that night I had no need to pull myself together. No need to reach for that passion and need to protect that my mother had inspired in me.
I didn’t even feel the hate anymore that I held for the psychopath, but I was sure that would come back too. The disgust, confusion, and knowing that I’ll never understand why. I don’t think I even wanted to understand, or to be able to relate to such a monster on any level.
Sure, survival instinct was probably mixed up in it, but we were their children, we were the next ones that would carry on the human race. It wasn’t like our race was dying, it was transforming. Maybe that was part of it, that instinct, but it had to be mixed with something dark for him to go to such lengths. Fear, bigotry, racism, towering ambition and arrogance, and who knew what else.
I sighed when the door knocked, and I didn’t answer. My door opened and closed but I didn’t have the heart to chase her away, I felt too numb. I sighed again, when I felt the bed move, and my mother wrapped her arms around me from behind.
She didn’t talk, not at first, and I supposed the way she brushed my hair with her fingers felt nice enough.
She said, “It never gets easier dealing with evil, but today was one of the worst that way that I’ve ever seen.”
I sighed, “For me maybe, but you had the SAB to deal with, and you lost dad.”
She replied, “But I had you, and you held my heart and determination for me.”
Mushy much, mom?
“So, I should have a kid for my mental health?”
I’d meant it to come out teasing, but it came out in a serious monotone, because I had no emotions left to put in my voice.
She gasped, then said, “No, absolutely not.”
I snickered, but there was no real humor in it.
She said, “I just meant… when you come out the other side, you’ll be a lot stronger.”
“I’ll be alright, tomorrow. Did Debra send you up here?”
She shook her head, I could feel it, “Like I needed her to tell me what a mess my own daughter would be after today?”
I snorted, “Thanks, mom.”
She said, “You know what I mean. I’m very proud of you, Wynnie. Terrified and upset you had to face all that today, but very proud. You are the woman I always knew you’d be and more. Prisma told me your idea saved hundreds if not thousands of lives. I also watched what you and Janna did. Just… don’t let him win, don’t let it make you hard.”
She watched? Prisma must’ve been tracking us with a stealth drone the whole time. Of course she had, she must’ve done so for all the teams. Obviously, she hadn't watched while it happened, but after it all ended. She’d have been too busy then taking down enemy teams of her own.
I sighed, “I have you, the rest of our family, and my best friend.”
I didn’t think it would make me a hard person, but I knew I’d never be the same again. No one was, after taking a life.
Her presence was somewhat of a comfort, but I still didn’t really feel anything, just the warmth of her body, and her presence.
Janna was going through something similar I think, but this was the kind of thing that really couldn’t be shared, even if I did appreciate my mother’s presence that evening.
The next morning, I got back to work. I was slow to smile that first day. The world seemed a little washed out that first day after, but I approached the course with a hunger and paid attention to everything. There was a selfish component to it, it was what I wanted, but it was also about being there to stop nut bags like the psychopath.
There was a lot of speculation on the
news, but it looked like the bad guy had escaped us for now, again. We just needed to be ready for his next move.
I swore I would be.
It wasn’t until the following Monday and the start of the second week in the superhero training course when I started to feel like myself again, a little bit.
The underground training area was about a tenth of a mile square. Basically, a square city block. It had mock buildings all the way around the edges, as well as a park in the center though the apparent life both human and animal was all holograms, and most of the buildings were as well. The ceiling was cavernous, around two hundred feet high and domed for support. The walls themselves were reinforced and shielded to prevent collateral damage that might cause a collapse.
Our enemies would be small holographic drones, very little real danger but the computer would record collateral damage and even deadly hits based on our powersets and their strength.
In that moment, the hologram of a cloudy sky covered the ceiling. Thad, Stacey, Janna, and I were teamed up for a simulation. We didn’t know what it’d be about yet, exactly, at the moment we were in patrol mode.
Stacey and I were flying side by side on opposite sides of the room as Thad and Janna, to simulate a normal patrol of pairs. She was in a pair of black jean shorts and a tight pink top with her lustrous white blonde hair up in a ponytail. I was similarly in blue jean shorts and a snug red shirt. Not as good as super suits but the snug fit would prevent clothing mishaps.
There were holographic people down below, some ignoring us, a few looking up and waving, taking pictures even, and all acting independently. It was impressive, they must’ve had an A.I. for it. We’d also been doing it for nearly an hour, just floating around the large cavern in a big circuitous route time and time again.
Stacey said, “Maybe this time they’re trying to show us what a boring patrol with no action feels like?”
Her voice was humorous, and soft. It wasn’t worth the cost of course, but Stacey seemed to have gotten the entitled and haughty bitch knocked out of her by last week’s crisis. Still, she was almost pleasant to be around now, but I didn’t really trust it. I was just starting to get back my own sense of humor and upbeat nature, who knew if it would last?
Lady Aegis: Origins of Supers: Book Two Page 8