by Mark Gardner
“He’ll do much worse to people like us. It’s a genocide comin’ up on the bright and blue horizon. But I know how to fuck him over,” Joaquin said. His plan was coming into view, the one idea that had tormented him for days under Massey’s roof. The feeling of being useless sitting in the back of the cruiser, hiding, pretending it was fading away, blown to pieces by this new vision finally fitting into reality, finally shaping up to be a chance. The old detective and Anne had a game of their own; they’d use him as a pawn to see their way through, just like they had until now.
But Joaquin had a plan of his own. He would be a vigilante, protecting his city his way. With the help of some people just like him who would no doubt suffer a similar fate to those poor bastards, Globe had already fucked with he could force change. Using the streets to their advantage, they could make people see that people with super-powers weren’t monsters. They would all be forbidden passengers on the Jacob Globe train. No, not passengers—they were banditos. They would derail Globe’s train, or die trying. He had a new message to all forbidden passengers, and that message started right there in the glow of the fire barrel. Right there in the hungry eyes of those that stood before him.
They would take Jacob Globe down and save the world.
“How can we...” The dude with knife tattoo cleared his throat and raised his voice. “Why we talking to this fool? He loco!”
Joaquin shook his head. “You fools have powers and all you’re doing is sittin’ here playing counsel? That’s some lame shit! You should be out there.”
The woman looked up at him. “And what are we supposed to do ‘out there?’ Rob banks like the other supers? Kill someone? We’re no one! And we can barely contain our powers.”
“Contain them?” Joaquin spit back at her.
“What do you think this place is, Fight Club? We’re trying to learn how to control this thing, how to suppress it. We want normal lives,” the woman continued.
Joaquin aimed an impish smile at her. “But you don’t need to do that, mama. Not when you have me. I’ve seen what others like us can do and it ain’t some petty-ass pick-and-run. We’ve led armies, fought nations. We can do some crazy shit! I’ve seen a guy age people jus’ by touchin’ ‘em. I’ve seen this immortal chick take a handful of shells and walk on.”
The silence they returned to him didn’t impress Joaquin. He waved his hand, as if the situation was no more important than swatting an annoying mosquito. They didn’t buy his crap. “What kind of powers do you fools have anyway? I’ll show you mine if you show me yours. C’mon I ain’t bitin’. I’m jus’ like you, earning it hard.”
The teenager was first to raise his hand, though reluctantly.
“Put your hand down mijo, we’re not in a classroom.”
The boy cleared his throat. “I have x-ray vision but it’s kind of like a super-sight. I can see through pretty much anything.”
The languid security guard had remained silent until that moment. He let out a sigh, took a knee and thumped the ground with his fist lightly. Joaquin felt a high-pitched vibration in his ears. The ground beneath his feet vibrated and that vibration threatened to turn into a quake but the man removed his hand. “Can’t do full earthquakes but can sure knock you down on your ass and keep you there.”
The woman looked uncomfortable. “I’d rather tell and not show. My ‘ability’ is to create a vacuum of space around you. As in Cosmos. Crushing you and choking you with absolute zero if I lose my temper. It lasts short though, so...”
Joaquin brandished a wide white-toothed smile. “Imma turn you pussies into superheroes. You’ll be vigilantes tomorrow, payin’ back Globe for Miles and all those of us he turned to enemies of the public.”
“You and what right, mano?”
Joaquin stabbed his thumb at his puffed-out chest. “The right to live a life where I don’t need to hide and go to some lame-ass support group, homie! I’m tired of hiding; I’m tired of being brought down. We are the future, we are tomorrow, man! Look around, esé! The world ain’t forgiving you for no more mistakes. They got their pitchforks ready—but they ain’t special. We are.” Joaquin could still hear Anne’s words careening in his head. We are supreme. We can do more. He wouldn’t abuse his power but he sure would use it. Even Massey saw it was impossible to stray from this life no matter how much it pained him to agree.
The man looked furious. He slipped a knife from his belt that glinted in the fire, reflecting back misshapen flames.
“Xavier, don’t—” the woman tried to say, but he cut her off.
“I’m tired of listening to this clown. Look what happened to Miles when he tried to live peacefully with his power. He was all about nurturing it, harnessing it, showing it off and look what happened, where that led him? He killed people! And now he’ll rot in some tight-ass secure prison for the rest of his life.”
“Miles made this group so we could help each other. He wouldn’t do anything to harm innocent people, you know that, brother,” the guard joined in.
“Yeah and what about his nightmares? Those about him waking up to a world frozen by his own hands? That shit’s messed up!” Xavier insisted.
“But he didn’t kill anyone, Xavier, stop it!” the boy pleaded.
Joaquin fed on his fury, adjusting himself for the impact, hardening his body. They were escalating, about to explode but he was good enough to take the heat.
“Instead of blaming Miles for tryin’ you should get out and avenge him. That’s what I would do. It’s crystal clear he was the smart guy.”
“I ain’t dying for nobody’s cause,” Xavier barked, spitting saliva and fear at Joaquin’s face. He pointed the knife at his face. “And what makes you special, snowflake?”
“I’ll show you.” Joaquin clenched his hands into fists. “Come at me, bruh.”
Ignoring his friends, Xavier slashed and Joaquin steeled himself to not move. The knife cut a vertical line on Joaquin’s stomach but Joaquin didn’t flinch. He grabbed the man by the wrist and twisted the knife away before head-butting Xavier, throwing him back. He touched his stomach where the knife had landed and showed off to the group. There was no gash, no blood seeping out.
“What...ability is that?” the boy asked.
“My skin’s impervious. I ain’t getting’ hurt no time soon.” He moved inside the limits of the circle proud and heavy in his steps. “You guys have potential. Why waste your powers when you can be heroes? I know ya’ll seen people like us getting a beat down. I know ya’ll afraid, but fuck fear, fuck everyone. Aren’t you ready to show off what we were given and...help save humanity by showin’ them we ain’t the bad guys? I ain’t lyin’ down in no grave, not yet.” Not until I make a difference, he thought to himself.
“Why do you think no one’s gone out there to do this thing you talk about? Be a hero; a vigilante? It’s insane!” The guard wasted his words on Joaquin. A different tune was playing in Joaquin’s ears and he shook his head, the sweet, sweet smile of victory widening his grin.
“Simple-minded people do simple-minded things. I see the bigger picture. And I ain’t afraid. I ain’t broken.”
The glint in their eyes, even Xavier’s who was panting while the guard got him off the floor, was reassuring. It was the thing that made Joaquin burst with adrenaline. Today they were intrigued. Tomorrow they would follow him.
Epilogue
Three Months Later
“I: Would you say that the people who came out in support of your kind were out there yesterday because they believe you are some Messiah? Like many tweets say, #NewMessiah? Are we looking at the formation of a new religion?
A: I think they came because they believe we too, are people like them deserving of our rights as humans. It has nothing to do with religion or politics. It has everything to do with morals and ethics and compassion. We didn’t fall from the sky, we were born on the same street as you, went to the same school, unaware of these abilities. We are no different and I have advocated that on many occasions
in the past three months.
I: But you are different. And this is not a difference we’ve advocated toward in the past, it’s not the LGBT community out there, it’s not the Women’s March. You genuinely have superpowers.
A: Yes, we do. They are simply an extension of who we are. They don’t prevent us from paying our taxes, raising our children...
I: I bet the parents of the Madison Seven would disagree with that, with what Miles Jensen did.
A: And that’s the reason why the Movement of Tomorrow exists—to prevent accidents like that one. I speak safely for all of our members: we do not condone vandalism, we do not wield our powers as weapons. I truly believe that we’ve grown enough to accept difference. I believe people understand what we’re trying to do and that’s why they came to support us. We don’t want war. I want to be able to go to the supermarket and buy a carton of eggs and a jug of milk. I want to be able to go to work like I used to.
I: So you agree there are uncontrollable supers out there, a rogue faction that does not settle into your belief system, who resort to vandalism, profanity, and bloodshed?
A: We are trying to unite us all but there’s bound to be a single percent that rebels against both sides. However, I believe they’ll decide that the best thing for them is to join the Movement. But as long as you keep referring to supers as ‘other people,’ as different species, that won’t happen. They’ll feel like aliens and act like that. Look at me, am I different? I breathe the same air, eat the same food. The fact that I can levitate objects doesn’t change that. It’s a part of who I am. It’s not an oddity.
I: It feels to me that you don’t judge the Nightprowlers’ activity within that faction too harshly?
A: In every road to justice there are unfortunate events. People lose patience, they lose hope and they resort to violence. I don’t approve of that. The people who inspired me to be here today, to be the voice of this Movement are street vigilantes. They are the very people you call out as criminals, as terrorists and set an enforcement squad, a Special Weapons and Tactics team to haul them down like terrorists. Some of these people haven’t even shown any signs, yet they’re targeted. How does Mayor Globe know who they are? Why are there no visitations in his clinic?
I: Allegations toward Jacob Globe have been filed on a daily basis...
A: And they should be taken into account. I hope that if the vigilantes of tomorrow are watching today they know the impact they’ve made on this society. We are not a subculture. We are a part of society and we will stand by our rights as humans.”
- Alex Rudolph aka Djin, leader of the Movement of Tomorrow as seen on the Late Night talk show with Fay Peonwhirr.
S: It’s been months since the unspeakable tragedy at Madison Park that took the lives of innocent children. What was then considered an act of terrorism on US soil turned out to be an incredible, even impossible happening of a much, much larger magnitude. You warned us about it, isn’t that right Dr. Globe?
J: It sadly was, yes, Susan. All I wanted to do was speak the truth, prepare everyone for what I thought may be a problem we all would have to deal with in months to come, not right away and in such a brutal, inhuman way.
S: On that day we witnessed the unveiling of a different side to humanity – the birth of what is dubbed the ‘supers genome’, an alteration in human cells, in human DNA that opens the possibility of developing superhuman powers. What could have been a day to celebrate science and medicine turned out to be a day we mourn. How often do you see Miles Jensen’s face?
J: Everyday. I see him in the newspaper, I see him on social media, I see him while I’m walking down the street. People use him as a reminder to me that I failed to protect them. Despite what he did, I still aim to learn his ability, to try and cure it, so I may cure others like him before the condition gets out of hand and more people suffer.
S: Earlier in one of your campaign videos you mentioned opening trial clinics and a laboratory built within Globe Tower with the specific cause of eliminating the supers genome. Is that even possible?
J: It could be, yes. DNA reconstruction of this type - it would take a great deal of tests and therefore a lot of test subjects, but having the latest and best hi-tech in the world should minimize the time and strengthen the golden outcome.
S: What will it take to prove to those citizens that oppose the trials that they will be a benefit to humanity?
J: There’s bound to be a rebellion for a NGO-birthed campaign, but I know very well how to silence that and anyone participating in it.
- Dr. Jacob Globe, candidate for mayor of Seattle on the Good Morning show with Susan O’Hara.
S: Welcome night dwellers back to The Podcast that never sleeps live with yours truly Shane! Streaming tonight with perhaps the two most illustrious guests I’ve ever had sitting across from me, my man Djin, leader of the Movement of Tomorrow and his newest kid on the block, Bionic girl. As usual this stream is being sponsored by all of you guys that want to stay updated on all vigilante activities day in and day out. With that being said…
S: Djin, per your request our viewers can see your face, they know your real name and you’ve talked about being comfortable with that information out in the open. However, Bionic girl is still a mystery. How’d you too meet?
D: The same way most of us in the Movement did – through our shared need of understanding our powers we sought out others like us.
S: I can get behind that. But pardon me for saying so, Bionic girl, you look a little younger than the usual member profile. I gotta ask – are your parents proud of you?
B: They…I’m a part of The Movement of Tomorrow because I want to show people we’re not a threat. We want to be greeted as…
S: Sounds like you rehearsed that. Your parents don’t know you’re a wannabe vigilante, do they, Bionic girl?
D: The transition from a normal everyday life to a life on the streets, fighting an image, fighting a government and fighting society for acceptance is not fluid…
S: Are there a lot of runaway teens hiding behind your back, Djin?
B: It isn’t like that, we…I am not a runaway! And I’m not a “wannabe” vigilante.
S: You’re very much in the background still. Hiding your face and your name. Are you afraid of what your parents and friends might think if they knew you were a super?
B: I want to be free, to be who I am!
S: Easy now, Bionic girl!
D: Bionic girl, let the chairs down gently! SAM!
*loud noises, the sound of metal scraping on the floor and bending. Heavy breathing into the microphone.*
S: Stay tuned, night dwellers! Bionic girl and Djin just left and the studio is in a bit of a wreck. Be back at you!”
- The Podcast that never sleeps with host Shane, blitz-interview with Djin and Bionic girl gone wrong
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading Moonrise. We hope you enjoyed it!
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We look forward to reading your thoughts, and thank you again for taking the time to read our story. If you wish to see what else is going on in our worlds, social media and website links are in the ‘About the Author’ section.
About the Author
Mark Gardner is a US Navy veteran, author and broadcast professional living in Prescott, Arizona. His grandfather introduced him to the alternate history writings of Harry Turtledove at a young age. That started a life-long love affair with speculative fiction. in 2011, he began to write his own stories. His books are favorites among fans of Sin City, The Martian, The Punisher, and Firefly. His work is a fast paced, no-nonsense, thrill ride into many genres, including science fiction, super
hero, dystopian, murder mystery, and historical fiction. His works are available in six languages.
Twitter: @Article_94
www.article94.com
[email protected]
About the Author
Cindy Vaskova lives in Bulgaria from where she operates a small blog at cindyvaskova.wordpress.com dedicated to flash fiction stories of a wide variety and the occasional book review. Cindy has an MA in Online Journalism, is a lover of weird fiction and is the author of the short story "The Year of the Heddagh". She is currently working on her first original adult novela "The Dorley Cycle".
Twitter: @Raptamei
cindyvaskova.wordpress.com
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