“Sike!” Wide Awake teased.
Instead of piercing skin and fabric, the sword plunged into a small, murky darkness. Remy smiled, imagining his sister’s beaming grin. A horde of sword-wielding assailants concealed in black robes surrounded her, and in their brief moment of hesitation, she sent the initial attacker towards the skies with a freakishly powerful uppercut. They landed on the rooftop with a bone-breaking crunch.
“That was a warning. You can still stop now. There’s always a choice.”
The assailants pounced. Wide Awake ducked, spun and flipped away from every sword strike before leaping off the rooftop. Inches before hitting the ground, a burst of black sparks catapulted her high in the air at a blistering speed.
Dark Energy accumulated in her hands. She swung from building to building using two thin black threads while the assailants rapidly teleported through the air behind her. “I thought so. They’re Collectors. Do you remember what they are?”
Remy swallowed hard. “Yes.”
“What’s their role?”
“Abduction. They’re mercenaries who teleport their target to a location.”
“Correct. It seems I’ve taught you well.”
They were pointless questions, most likely asked in an attempt to calm his nerves. Everyone knew the Collectors. For a highly protected city like Everforge, they were the leading cause behind murders and assassinations. Remy had spent too many hours reading horror stories. Cases typically involved one Collector, two at the most. Never before had he heard of a group of them.
“Don’t let them touch you,” Remy blurted. “Direct contact is all they need.”
“What a shame. I was planning on hugging them.”
Wide Awake soared upwards from one majestic swing. At the peak of her ascent, the Collectors formed a ring around her, their arms reaching out. She released a wave of glowing Dark Energy, sending them flying. Another ring replaced them. One Collector threw their sword, but Wide Awake leaned back, narrowly evading the spinning blade.
High in the midnight skies, the aerial onslaught continued. Admittedly, Remy could hardly figure out what was going on. Yells, sharp crackles, and roaring blasts of energy told him they were fighting intensely, but even from Wide Awake’s viewpoint, everything was a blur. Never before had he seen her move around so quickly and chaotically; it was as if she was stuck in a vortex.
“This is Wide Awake, north of District 37. 12:15 AM. Altitude 48,000 feet. 11 unconscious Collectors in free fall. Impact time approximately 21 seconds. Permission to activate emergency portal system. Over.”
An automated robotic voice immediately replied. “Targets identified. Permission granted.”
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
Wide Awake sprinted through the air, each step slamming onto an opaque, floating black platform. One final Collector rapidly teleported parallel to her. Unlike the other attackers, this
one wielded no weapon and wore a red mask resembling a demonic entity. Wide Awake maintained her distance and threw a continuous barrage of glowing black knives while the Collector teleported at a lightning pace, quick enough for their afterimages to be seen. With each passing second, the two got closer and closer to arm’s length until–
BOOM!
Their fists collided. Remy flinched at the thunderous sound. Wide Awake crashed through multiple skyscraper windows, landing on the roof of a parked hovercar. She rolled off the vehicle just as the Collector teleported on it. The mercenary lunged and teleported and lunged, but Wide Awake dodged twice before delivering a perfect hook to the jaw. The Collector reeled backwards, then teleported far away before she could strike again.
“Give it up, Amelia,” they said calmly. “Don’t make me take a hostage.”
Wide Awake laughed, but the pain coating it was unmistakable. “I never trusted you, Instant, but this? Really? What are you doing?”
Remy frowned, thinking he misheard. Instant? The third-ranked superhero?
“It’s only business.” He stretched out an arm. “Now come.”
“Don’t do it, “ Remy whispered.
A haunting silence lingered for several seconds until, finally, Wide Awake curtly nodded. She teleported to a completely white room. One large, spotless box. The lighting was too bright, and Remy squinted despite not being the actual one in the room. After finally adjusting to the environment, what he saw was so strange to him that he nearly thought it was a hallucination.
In five neat rows, the majority of the top-ranked beloved superheroes stood in their full costumes, as if waiting for a photograph to be taken.
And standing in front of them all was the man widely regarded as Earth’s best protector. Humanity’s symbol of hope. The pinnacle of justice. The sole reason they had managed to survive against the most dangerous monsters the universe could spit out.
It was Endless. With a perfect smile, he waved, dressed in his iconic black and red costume.
“Wide Awake,” he said casually, stroking his silver beard. “I’m glad you could finally make it. How’s your evening been? We’ve been waiting for you.”
There was no response. The short silence sent chills down Remy’s spine because his sister had always been the one to be the heart of the conversation. Shy was not in her vocabulary.
Endless turned partially to face his fellow superheroes. “Everyone, I think we can all agree that Wide Awake has been a phenomenal service for humanity and a decent product for the Endless Superhero Association. Despite the lack of livestreaming and refusing to take on certain sponsors, she particularly helped draw out more customers from the female demographic. Can we give this wonderful woman a round of applause? I mean… seriously.” Endless shook his head as if in disbelief.
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The superheroes clapped but as soon as Endless turned his back to them, they stopped. “But all good things must come to an end. There have been issues which can’t be ignored.” He frowned. “What were they? I can’t even remember. Reminders? Anyone?”
“You’ve forgotten already?” Instant said, suddenly appearing beside him. “Last week, she submitted a resignation letter to your guild and seems to be in the works of creating her own. Due to her popularity and status, this will compete with the Big Three and–”
“Yes, yes, that’s it,” Endless interrupted. “I knew it was something along those lines. Capitalism, am I right people? This is a trillion-dollar industry. We can’t just let someone as powerful as yourself take a big slice of that market share. Now, um, huh, this is most certainly a strange question, but how would you like to die, Wide Awake?”
Remy massaged his temples with two fingers. He couldn’t fathom what he was hearing. Or to be more specific, he couldn’t fully accept Endless’s words because doing so would drastically warp his reality. At fourteen, his view of life was pretty basic, instilled in him by his parents, the media, and the environment; the grass was green, the sky was blue, and superheroes protected Earth from evil threats. They were an integral positive part of society. Without them, they wouldn’t be alive.
And yet… Somehow…
Amelia shook her head. “This can’t be possible. I knew the system wasn’t perfect but you Endless? Why? You’ve done so much good. You’re the whole reason I became a superhero.”
“I was?”
“Yes! I watched you save us so many times on TV. My Mom said no child should be watching the guts and gore but those videos inspired me. I spent most nights training, trying to be like you.” There was a brief pause, during which Remy heard his sister cry quietly, detected by the irregular breathing and sniffing. “This can’t be possible,” she repeated, her voice choked up.
“If it makes you feel any better, I wasn’t always like this,” Endless said. “I used to care more than anyone, but then I learned my efforts were always pointless. Planets like ours are considered slugs by many alien life forms—insignificant piles of garbage—and thousands of them are blown to smithereens every day. We perish a billion times in infinite realities. This is not personal, Wide Awake. This is happening simply because Instant wants you dead, and the coin I flipped came up heads. That’s all.”
“I have an idea for the execution!” Phoenix said excitedly. The second-ranked superhero wore a costume reflecting their namesake. It was primarily a deep, shimmering crimson, reminiscent of a burning sunset, with accents of gold and orange that flickered like tongues of flame. Across his chest was an emblem of a rising phoenix, its wings spread wide, rendered in intricate detail with golden threads. A flowing cape, seemingly made of pure fire billowed behind him. “She can’t fall unconscious so how about we use that to get creative. I can heal her so she never bleeds out.”
The top 100 ranked superheroes erupted into multiple conversations. Remy couldn’t keep track of them all but managed to catch fragments.
“Are you suggesting torturing Wide Awake?” Number 89 said. “You sick bastard!”
“Endless said I could choose how she dies.”
“I would prefer a quick death,” Instant suggested. “Let’s not waste time.”
“I think torture is a great idea,” Number Eighteen said. “An audio recording of her screams would sell well on the dark web.”
“We don’t have to kill her!” one superhero desperately cried.
“This isn’t you Endless. Snap out of it,” another added.
“Stop this madness!”
“Wide Awake doesn’t deserve this after everything she’s done!”
More and more complaints piled on top of each other until Remy couldn’t decipher the words being said. Heated arguments spread across the superheroes, until–
“Silence!” Endless roared.
Everyone froze. No one said a word.
“You are more than welcome to stop me if you have a problem. I’m perfectly fine with starting a civil war right now while the biggest threats to humanity laugh at our demise.”
Still, no one moved a muscle. Remy couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Why isn’t anyone doing anything? Stop him!
“Hm, that’s what I thought. No one leaves until she dies. Phoenix, we’ll go ahead with your–”
With a strangled, broken battlecry, Wide Awake charged and swung down a humongous black sword, one heap of metallic almost twice the size of her body. Dark Energy exploded off her in bursts and even blew away some of the superheroes nearby.
Endless raised a golden shield just in time but the force of the blow flung him backwards, sending him tumbling and rolling. He got up quickly and cackled. "Almost. Better luck next time. Oh, right. There won’t be.”
Before Wide Awake could attack once more, a multitude of superpowers inevitably overwhelmed her. Fire. Lightning. Super strength. Possibly telekinesis? It was impossible to count them all, but in less than thirty seconds, the top 100 ranked superheroes had her incapacitated and restrained.
Amelia’s limp body levitated in the air. Crimson dripped off her torn super suit.
“Leave…” she muttered. “the stream.”
Remy shook his head, tears flowing down his cheeks.
“Stubborn as always.” Amelia closed her eyes, thus blinding her brother’s vision. “You never listen.”
“Shit,” Remy swore.
“Right!” Endless clapped once loudly. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
Bones snapped, and Amelia howled. Remy sat on the edge of his bed, jaw tightened. The sinister symphony of sounds accompanied by his imagination left him frozen: deep, sharp sizzles; relentless dull thuds; unbearable sickening squelches.
Amelia screamed and wept throughout, begging for mercy at numerous points. Begging for death. Begging for peace.
There was none.
Endless inflicted the agony. Phoenix healed her on the brink of death. The cycle repeated. Again, and again, and again. As if another human being wasn’t breaking down in front of them, the two superheroes sporadically discussed various topics– sports, music, and dinner preferences. Business, money and growth.
The superhero audience was mainly silent, but occasionally someone would mutter something. Everyone seemed to be deaf to Amelia’s consistent pleas. When Remy was almost convinced the torment would never stop, rushed footsteps clunked and Endless groaned.
“Just great. Another A-tier invasion. Everyone out! Let’s get this over and done with.”
The top-ranked superheroes left.
“Amelia?”
There was a delayed response but eventually, she spoke, her voice hoarse and empty. “Hey, little man.”
“Amelia,” Remy repeated, blinking too fast, tears blurring his vision. He could hardly think. Silence lingered until she opened her eyes, and Remy shook his head. Congealed blood seemed to be everywhere. “What did they do to you?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It does. I need to know exactly how they hurt you so I can–”
Amelia coughed up blood violently. She lay on her side, slowly tapping one finger against an expanding crimson puddle. “Shut up. I don’t have much time left.” She paused, testing for defiance before continuing. “Whatever you decide to do next, make it an adventure. Enjoy your life. That’s all I ask. Find close friends you can trust, and don’t let those fake heroes wipe away your goofy smile. The world is still… beautiful. Trust… me.”
For the first and last time, Wide Awake fell asleep.