Earth. A bastion of life alone in the void. Descending closer, one may fully bathe in the wonders of The Blue Planet. The jagged stone forest of Tsingy hides living treasures. The regal peaks of Mount Fuji gaze down from the heavens. The jungle of Borneo overflows with flora. The Atacama desert presents beauty at its barest. Humans thrive in all, whether they erect hives of steel and light or meld villages with the dance of trees.
Across all these lands, we bring you to Zariah studios, where our show is filmed in front of a live studio audience! There she is now, Zariah Michelena!
Zariah walked out under the shade of thunderous cheers of her audience and the tail end of the fantastical music from her intro. The screen behind her transitioned from its montage to a live view of the Earth with the ‘Zariah’ logo stamped at the top of the screen. She stood in front of a sofa and chair to smile and wave as she waited for the cheers to die down.
“Thank you, thank you so much for coming here today, ya know, hosts say they have special guests all the time to the point where it stops being special, doesn’t it?” Zariah let the audience get out their giggles before she continued, “I’m guilty as charged, but I promise today’s going to be truly special, here they are now, please give our guests a warm welcome!”
The screen glittered with starlight and the music strummed organ chords to announce the arrival of The Living Saint. Aaliyah Folious first graced the stage to rapturous ovation from the audience and the music. Her braided black hair veiled a stern and noble face. The white of her cassock gleamed as much as its golden star embroidery did. When she got to Zariah, she did a small bow and rose back up with a swing of her braids that were trailed by twinkles, rejuvenating the applause.
Purple and white blurred through the air over the stage and spun to a burst of sparking orchids with Hannah Vandimion, hands on her hips, twin capes waving, in its center. The screen and music hurried to catch up to the electrifying presence of GalvanGal! The crowd stood to holler for her as she descended to the floor.
Tyler Deimos, in a suit and tie, was already in the middle of the sofa before the girls took their seats on either side of him and the crowd went silent, confused at how everyone missed him. Zariah took her seat in the chair adjacent to them.
“Hannah, Aaliyah, welcome back to the show,” said Zariah, who let the audience clap again before continuing, “would you care to tell the audience what brings you all here today?” Aaliyah was the first to speak up.
“Oracle church will be hosting an open vigil at Colchis park to show support for victims of terrorism in our city and around the world. Everyone is welcome to join us…” Tyler whispered in her ear, “... there will also be grilling, yes.” The audience fizzled some clapping in acknowledgment.
“There’s been a lot of rumors and confusion going around so today is a chance for us to clear some things up,” said Hannah with a smile, “I may have… omitted some things, but my friend is no criminal!”
“Nah, I’m totally a criminal. I’m exactly the big, bad alligator you think I am. If the heroes don’t stop me, I’ll destroy the whole world.” He stated. Aaliyah cupped her head in her hands—today was going to be a long one.
“Hey, hey, this isn’t the time to joke around, silly billy,” Hannah said with a twitching smile.
“I’m not joking. I’m gonna poison your houses, burn your water, and deliver a plague onto your crops.” He stated.
“They already took all your guns, this is just going to make it worse,” said Aaliyah.
“They think they took all my guns. Besides, I’m accused of being a super-terrorist, it could not fathomably get worse. This circus is just to show that Fatman has the situation under control. They can’t put me in Tartarus, or in normal prison, but they put me in the cuffs for dangerous mutants and have me babysat by their best. It's almost flattering.”
“Sounds rough all around but, yes, that’s the elephant in the room that we are here to address, I would know because I can see it,” asked Zariah, the audience started laughing, “it’s right there I can see,” she said under the audience’s noise. Tyler put the cuffs to his head—even if he tried to enjoy himself, today was going to be a long one. Zariah continued when the audience died down. “Seriously, Tyler, you’re at the center of all this, why don’t you bring everyone up to speed on what you’ve told us because it’s a lot.” He composed himself.
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“Right, everything you know about mutations is wrong. Yes, folks you’ve been lied to by your government, big surprise there, but luckily I am here to enlighten the ignorant masses.
What is seen as mutations today was once the natural state of all life but has faded over time. Rather than a mutation, it would be more accurate to say that the rest of us are disabled, especially as humans. My family was one of few that maintained a connection to that natural state and even helped suppress it until the resurgence in recent decades; in China, I spent five years in my mother’s home village in a final effort to contain it to no avail. That was why I helped two of your beloved heroes. If it can’t be contained or controlled, then I would nurture it, guide it. I could draw out hidden talent from anyone in this crowd. If only someone would remove these cuffs, I could show you exactly what an average person is capable of.”
“Sounds tempting but I’m not authorized to do that. Though if that’s what you wanted, why not come to the Pantheon directly and avoid this whole mess?”
“Ask these two. They're the ones who came to me for help. To protect them from you.”
“Yes, that is a concern of ours. Would either of you like to explain yourselves?”
“We were children,” began Aaliyah. “The Pantheon was not well-established at the time. When the Vandimions came to us, it was under a confession requesting our aid.”
“If the public knew about Hippo in those days, it would have skyrocketed the fear of all mutants. All of them would have been snuffed in their cribs,” said Tyler.
“You keep calling Hannah a Hippo, what’s up with that?” Zariah asked to dodge the morbidity.
“It’s just a nickname he gave me when we started my training,” said Hippo, “I thought it was mean at first but I got used to it.”
“And you started you’re training when he just met you, is that correct?”
“Just about yes. Almost every week, once a week, for years on end, he’d beat me down from dawn to dusk while calling me a dumb hippo,” she said with wistful fondness.
“That just sounds like… abuse?” asked Zariah with concern.
“Well, we did other stuff too! Whenever we went to the mountains, he’d teach us about animals and plants, and when he was done hunting, he’d show us the injured body and corpses to teach us trauma care and biology.”
“Oh you used to hunt?” asked Zariah, “my grandpa used to take me with him for his hunting trips. I guess that’s what all those guns were for right?”
“No, the purpose of hunting is to bring one close to death so we use our hands. Bullets might ruin the meat anyways. Speaking of which, have you ever had elk meat? I could treat you to it as soon I’m free; it’s good for you, it’s packed with protein and healthier than beef..”
“I’m happy to see you bonding,” intervened Aaliyah, “but can you go back to what we are here for? The way you’ve described mutations… you make them sound more like magic.”
“Magic. Mutation. Radiation. Extrasensory perception. Witchcraft. Prayer. Ki. Chakra. Curse. Even science. The name does not matter. What appears to be unnatural is actually the purest expression of the spirit’s connection to the world around it, making imagination into reality. Part of what determines the capability, besides natural talent and affinity, is the capacity for intense admiration. Someone truly listless would never develop power. Inspiring that admiration is the purpose of teaching. That is what I did for you two, and what I can do for anyone else who is willing to learn.”
“That sounds like a lot of responsibility to take on. Why get into this kind of trouble for strangers?” asked Zariah.
“Why wouldn’t I?” stated Tyler.
“I just meant… it seems like it’s a family secret. You must have known there would be consequences eventually.”
“The one at fault for consequences is the one who created them, and I can deal with them as they come. Surely, a hero from Olympus is not asking why a person acts for others regardless of the danger, right?” He tilted his head.
“Hey, I just remembered!” beamed Hannah, “as part of our training he had us try different kinds of arts to find what suited us best. He even had us paint his dolls with him.”
“Those were figurines.”
“The ones he painted were so pretty too and he had a lot so he gave them to the library so that other kids could play with them.”
“Since we’re on the topic, Aaliyah did bring us some pictures from when they were kids so why don’t we bring them out now?” said Zariah.
Tyler shot daggers at Aaliyah who turned away from him. The screen behind them revealed that it was his baby pictures that his mom gave Aaliyah. His first snow monsters were as well-sculpted as they were disturbing. His third-grade Halloween costume was of a police officer and he arrested a dog for peeing on someone’s lawn. When his family brought Aaliya to the Everglades, she was terrified of meeting an alligator up close. So much for the Seal of the Confessional.
“Oh I see,” he said as he stood up. Aaliyah wrapped herself in a bubble of light. “If you wanted to die you could have said so from the beginning.” He went to Hannah’s end of the couch and kicked the armrest which shifted the couch with momentum to throw Aaliyah off the other end, out of her bubble. He moved to her but Hannah got up to restrain him proceeded by a cadre of security guards running onto the stage.