**ATTENTION**
All Bleednet services are restricted to emergency use until further notice. Please remain in your homes until the emergency is lifted. Keep doors locked and do not answer unless it is emergency services personnel.
Roxanne exhaled forcibly through a cloth mask; things weren’t going well. She was dressed head to toe in baby blue colored hospital scrubs. Across from her, Azonne stood by, also dressed in similar colored garb. Between them was an operating table housing an energy visage of Lady Steel, free from all the equipment attached to her in the actual verse. All of them were in an operating suite within Roxanne’s mind palace.
Azonne’s eyes darted fretfully to take in all the detail this room provided. Perfectly tiled mint green walls surrounded them both, while above was stadium seating, not that anyone could come and watch. They focused their eyes back on Roxanne, who was severely deep in thought over the ethereal body of her friend.
“Um,” Azonne began. “Is all this really necessary?”
“What do you mean?” Roxanne asked without looking up. Azonne narrowed their eyes, incredulous that they were even asked to clarify.
“Do not get me wrong, Roxanne, your eye for detail is amazing but” they replied while motioning to their surroundings. Roxanne looked up and took it all in herself. She sighed heavily.
“It helps me, okay?” She replied while resuming her attention on the patient. “Same reason why I have a fake apartment; now focus!”
“I am focused,” they replied. “We’ve learned all we can here.”
“Have we?”
“Yes: The Quantum Plague violates the All or Nothing law of biochemistry. It causes neurons to fire halfway or weakly, making them burst and die. From there, catastrophe.”
“Right, I got that much, but how can we help her? You said we may be able to.”
“Well,” and they paused for a minute. “Corina Kyle is certainly powerful enough to fight this as new neurons keep growing for her, but…there isn’t enough biokinetic energy to fully recover and beat the disease. I theorize, much like Ordlach, that we could potentially increase that energy charge and, to speak within your vernacular, push her over the top. And we have.”
“Nothing seems to have changed, though?”
“It’s not something that will work at the snap of a finger. By my calculations, we are bombarding Lady Steel with 5 billion milliwatts of energy, but it's not a quick process. It may not work at all.”
“Fantastic,” Roxanne sighed and continued to watch the energized body of her friend and essentially sister. The visage had an apparent human form that resembled how Roxanne saw Lady Steel but was mostly translucent and shimmered occasionally. The two were standing in silence when the room shook. Roxanne snatched the mask down off her nose.
“What the hell...?” She asked. “What could be causing that?”
“I must admit, Roxanne, that I’ve spent some time wondering what the consequences of someone like Captain Steel cutting loose would be,” Azonne responded without looking up.
“Meaning?”
“Think about Ms. Kyle here and her rumored powerset. Historically, they have the same abilities, no? Surrounded by a quantum field that allows them to bend the rules of physics if not outright break them?”
“I’m aware of the rumors,” Roxanne replied. “Corina doesn’t think that.”
“No, she chooses not to know—there is a difference.”
“So, what are you getting at?”
“Well,” Azonne paused. “Consider what Ms. Kyle was doing as essentially the safety on a gun, a self-made block on what she may truly be capable of.”
“I get it.”
“Now conceive if that block is gone…or worse yet, doesn’t exist because he doesn’t belong here. How would reality react to that?”
“Probably not good.”
“No, and you’ve seen examples already. When Captain Steel screamed and then when he attacked you, I worry that his displays of power could tear our reality apart at the seams.” The room shook again.
“Gresh, you think that’s why everything is shaking right now?”
“It’s a theory,” they replied with half of a shrug. “More of an overarching thesis, really. Per the room shaking, I have other tangentially related theories.”
“Such as?” and the room shook harder this time.
“He’s close by.”
A section of the room imploded, followed by an intense bright white light flooding in. Roxanne was fully blinded and weakly tried to block it out with her hand. A sharp blade of shadow cut across her face while the entirety of the operating theater crumbled and fell apart. In reality, Roxanne was alone in the hospital room and surrounded by silence.
But then this room shook too.
She stood up alert and whipped around; Chris was nowhere to be seen. She burst from one room to the next, and still no Chris. Roxanne noticed the viewscreen was blank save for a bright red triangle graphic.
“Tell me something,” she said softly. Within seconds it was clear what had happened to the civilian Bleednet and the lack of news coverage for what may or may not have occurred outside. Roxanne exited the room and entered the main hallway of the floor. Nurses, doctors, patients, and even family were shoulder to shoulder at the windows; they were all looking up.
Roxanne pushed through the crowd, vaulted over the sill, and hovered. Above her a tiny dot that she zoomed in on within her HUD; a stray breath caught in her throat. Captain Steel floated high above Saint Century, holding Chris’ limp body by their collar like a bag of trash. He was peering around and eyeing the rows of towering skyscrapers as if he were searching for something specific. Roxanne shut her eyes, breathed out slowly through pursed lips, and ascended upward.
Captain Steel noticed her, and a smirk grew slowly across his face like a rotten rubber band. He let go of his grip on Chris and watched them drop gently into Roxanne’s arms.
“They’re fine,” he said. “I figured this would get your attention.”
Roxanne didn’t say anything; nothing he had done got her attention—it didn’t hurt to let him think that, though. She looked down at Chris and brushed the hair from their face. They were fine, and scans bore that out. Chris’ eyes fluttered open and, after a moment of coming to grips with where they were, locked eyes with Roxanne.
“I’m sorry!” They said. “The Bleednet was down; I felt like I needed to be out here to keep an eye out. He was so fast-”
“You’re fine,” Roxanne said softly, thankful they were alright. Chris roused thoroughly and removed themselves from Roxanne’s grip. They looked up at Captain Steel, who resumed looking around as if neither mattered. Immediately Chris took a combat pose; Roxanne stopped them.
“What are you doing?”
“Go back to the hospital,” Roxanne said. “I don’t need your help; I just need you safe.”
“But-”
“Seriously. I know you’re eager, and I know it’s probably frustrating, but please, for me, go back to the hospital.” Roxanne turned her attention from Chris and back to Captain Steel. “I got this.”
Roxanne floated upward toward Cap as Chris slowly drifted away. Cap’s head was still darting in every direction but stopped as Roxanne got closer.
“You see it don’t you?” He asked.
“See what?”
“I know you can see everything,” he replied, ignoring her. “I read up on you, the Sight, right? I can see it too. All the seams that hold us together…the atoms, the molecules, the matter; it’s almost like computer code. No wonder I didn’t believe you; it’s all just a little different here.”
“Cap…you need to stop this,” she ignored him back. “You’re sick; can’t you see that?”
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“Sick?!” He bellowed. “Considering the state of your world, you’ve got zero standing to diagnose anyone! I feel fine; No, better than fine—I feel great! I see where I fit in amongst the seams; why can’t you?”
Roxanne watched while the white-hot fire inside him spread throughout his body. Whatever powered him was going haywire and turned his visage into violently mixed paint. Blue, white, orange, yellow—they were a formless mass within his frame.
“Don’t you see? You don’t belong here! It’s messing with you!”
“Or,” he shouted back. “Or that’s exactly why I’m here!”
“All you’re doing is adding to more death!” She shouted. “People are dying by disease, and you’re condemning them to more death via war. Do you honestly believe you’re here to do that?!”
“You said it, Roxanne; they’re already dying!” He screamed and pointed all around him. “You all need this!” He held his hands out in front of his face and curled his fingers as if he’d had a muscle spasm.
“Urrghhh—this is it, Roxanne! You’re either with me or with the status quo – I won’t debate this with you!”
“I choose neither,” she charged him, aura bright and pulsating with power.
The two collided in mid-air in an intense display of powerful energy that shook the air. Roxanne fired a volume of plasma that was promptly swatted away with his bare hands. In a second, he was on Roxanne without her realizing he had even moved; Captain Steel grabbed her by her collar and threw her back toward the ground at a thousand miles an hour. Five city blocks imploded from the impact, but Roxanne was no worse for wear aside from the shock.
She brushed the dust off and rocketed toward the sky full of piss and vinegar. In her mind, it was best to be over-the-top aggressive. A show of force over technique, something she learned from the 35th holder of the mantle:
When in doubt, overwhelm the opponent.
It didn’t work.
Captain Steel overwhelmed her within a split second and threw her again through another set of buildings. Cap floated triumphantly. His eyes swelled with blue light, and he relentlessly painted the nearby ground with his plasma vision until he heard a buzzing. A black mass the size of a small moon approached him. Captain Steel used his telescopic sight and saw that it was actually a swarm.
A swarm of deadly robotic drones.
----------------------------------------
Central One had barricaded all outlets into the north of Saint Century save for one checkpoint. A massive 12-lane interstate cut right through the mega city leading directly into Government central. The rest of the population below Roxanne’s neighborhood were forced to fend for themselves after the pretense of offering sanctuary collapsed under the weight of one panicked mob. Only Giant machine crabs mechs and a small platoon of human soldiers were left to guard the area. Those who managed to get past the checkpoint huddled in buildings further north, with the Maury Ocean at their backs.
The remaining guard stood no chance against the oncoming OH mob. When they first arrived, Chris saw the crowd, but Captain Steel himself was not far behind. He ignored the initial confrontation and made a beeline straight for Chris, incapacitating them quickly. It humbled them fiercely; the voice in their head, too, went quiet.
Momentarily.
IT IS SMART TO GO BACK TO THE HOSPITAL; THIS RECKONING IS OF THE PRETENDER’S OWN MAKING.
Chris ignored that bait and avoided huddled masses of patients, doctors, and other survivors. All were transfixed by the TV, where Roxanne was confronting the mighty Captain Steel. Chris found it hard to watch. They couldn’t help but feel like they had let Roxanne down. Let so down that she had no choice but to send them back amongst the civilians, where they belonged.
RIDICULOUS. WHEN SHE IS GONE, YOU CAN CLAIM THE MANTLE AND BE BETTER THAN HER IN EVERY WAY. I HAVE ALREADY ACCEPTED YOU AS MY HEIR.
“Okay, enough,” Chris whispered as they picked a free spot in the hall to loiter. “It’s back to the pants pocket for you if you keep this up.”
YOU WOULDN’T DARE. YOU ENJOY THE POWER.
“I’ll live.”
YOU ENJOY MY COMPANY.
“Vaguely,” Chris rolled their eyes. “Seriously, zip it. I’m worried.” They stuffed their hands into their jacket pockets and ruminated. Roxanne was alone out there; so many people were dead. Chris glanced at the TV and saw the rioters were, at best, 30 minutes behind Captain Steel. He and Roxanne were still locked in the discussion, although it appeared to grow animated.
THE REDHEAD IS FORMIDABLE. WE CAN GO OUT THERE IF YOU SO WISH.
Chris wanted to answer. They caught sight of Danielle; she was fretting about with her eyes darting everywhere. Is she looking for me? Probably Roxanne…. Chris pushed off the wall and made their way; Danielle spotted them instantly. She approached with purpose. She grabbed Christ by the shoulder.
“I need you to take me out there!”
“You? Why? To confront Captain—” There was a flash of light, and the hospital shook; Captain Steel and Solar Flare collide for the first time. Chris stands frozen in fear alongside the other gawkers. Danielle grabbed their shoulder again and forced Chris to look at her.
“No! My damn kids are down there!”
Chris swallowed hard and nodded. “O-Okay, I should go do that. You stay here—”
“Hon,” Danielle interrupted. “You may be wearing that fancy armor, but I was doing this for a long time, and my babies need me. Now, take me down there!”
DO WHAT THE HUMAN SAYS; TIME TO PROVE YOURSELF, EH?
Chris nodded and took Danielle’s hand. They cut through the crowd and lept out a window. Above them, Roxanne fires off a stream of plasma energy. Chris’s aura crystallized around them, and they arced toward the ongoing melee. The crowd had swelled beyond its original size from when it was purely an OH mob. Three hundred grew to one thousand, then five thousand became ten very quickly, and their number grew with every inch taken. All kinds were on that side of the riot; anarchy was infectious, too.
On the other side was a mix of military and civilian safety services and police; a mix of human and machine—OHs were likely to be on that side too. The sides clashed violently below Chris as they traveled. Energy beams and lightning bolts spit out in all directions, people scream, and metal crunches; it was literally hell. Beyond the central mass sat an open-bed truck. Two people lean against the front of the vehicle cab. Both carried large pipes just in case anyone broke through the line. They were blessedly unaware that if everyone in front of them fell, they might as well be dead. On the flatbed of the truck, huddled together, sat Athena and MJ. Both were tied up, and their heads were down.
“Hey!” Danielle tapped Chris on the shoulder. “Land right there! On that roof!”
Chris landed with a modicum of grace; Danielle and they stood on the roof's edge. On one side, a bloody brawl. Thanks to their new enhanced vision, Chris barely caught a glimpse of a speedster running afoul anti-gravity weaponry. The wet snap of bone somehow outraced other sounds of carnage and rocked their bones.
“My babies,” Danielle said, snapping Chris back to the present. “They’re wrapped up like cattle. I can't believe I let this happen. Oh god, so stupid. Stupid.”
“We count three more behind the truck and four more watching nearby.”
“We?”
Chris smirked. “Got a weirdo in my head; you want us to…?” And Chris threw a quick one-two punch combo instead of words.
“Eventually,” Danielle grinned. “I want to make sure the kids are free first, alright? Can you get me down there? I’ll distract them.”
“How?”
“I’m going to talk to them. I’m the wife of Captain Steel. They won't dare touch me.”
Chris nodded quickly and surrounded Danielle in a hard-light bubble. They gently lifted her in the air and shifted Danielle to street level. Chris watched her approach the two by the truck’s engine before making their way around and behind. The two guards quickly noted Danielle but did not know what to make of her. They gripped the pipe handles and lost the relaxation in their posture.
“She looks familiar,” one of them said to the other.
“That’s right! He wants to know just what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Danielle had her hands planted on her hips, her brow lowered, and her lips curled, ready to snarl. The two guards looked to each other, searching for a lifeline. The other guards came behind the truck; slowly but surely, the other watchers emerged curious.
Was it really her?
Could she really be here too?
But not every watcher was mesmerized by Danielle’s presence; two had the foresight to move closer to the truck. Chris hunkered down low behind the lip of a building. They tapped their fingers against the brick and wondered what to do.
A NEAT TRICK, FLEDGLING: MANIPULATE YOUR AURA TO CREATE A TANGIBLE HOLOGRAM OF YOURSELF. PUPPET THE FOTOKINETIC CONSTRUCT TO YOUR LIKING. YOU ARE WELCOME.
“No kidding? Is this something you did to Rox?”
I COULD HAVE, BUT ANGER IS A CRUEL MISTRESS; IT MAKES ONE PRONE TO MISTAKES.
“You forgot, didn’t you?” There was no answer. Chris closed their eyes and pictured a copy of themselves escaping from their body and getting their wish. The shimmering duplicate stood by their side, ready for orders. Chris told the construct to pacify one while they attacked the other. The takedown was performed smoothly; neither combatant had been aware of their presence until it was too late. Chris lit up inside, proud to have proved their mettle.
“Slay! Is there a limit?”
OF COURSE, HOW MANY SEPARATE COPIES DO YOU THINK YOUR SMALL HUMAN BRAIN COULD REALISTICALLY CONTROL?
Chris pursed their lips and rolled their eyes. Ahead, Athena and MJ wait. Chris untied Athena first, followed by MJ. Athena hugged them firmly, grateful for a friendly face finally. Outside, Chris could hear Danielle addressing the small group.
“You think the real Captain Steel would have wanted this?” The two lead guards looked at each other and back to her; they tightened their grips on their heavy pipes.
“That’s not the real Captain Steel, though…,” one said.
“…so you’re not really with him….,” the other said.
“She’s with us, jerks!” Athena Steel shouted and grabbed their attention; Chris blasted Athena with a bolt of plasma energy and watched her cells come alive with power. Athena made short work of the small group, punching them into the post-apocalypse. Thunder claps overhead as a building nearby starts to pancake. The sound is bone-chilling, but the mass melee ahead continued. Danielle ran to Athena and hugged her hard enough, almost to topple the teen over.
“Your brother??”
“He’s still in the truck….”
Danielle broke away and ran around to the back. MJ was still in the corner, his head buried in his hands. Carefully, his mother lifted herself onto the bed and approached. Tears streamed down her cheeks until she couldn’t control herself anymore; she got down next to her son and held him close. Another thunderclap and the entire ground shook. Chris and Athena looked skyward and caught Roxanne thrown across the city. His plasma vision painted the neighboring section of the road before they saw the huge black mass of drones charging Captain Steel.
A small chunk of that mass peeled off the source and made its way to the riot.
Like a Japanese Hornet amongst a honeybee hive, the machines rended limb from limb. Athena Steel and Nebula Blue readied themselves should the murder machines make their way to them. Above, another concussive explosion signaled another building’s crumbling descent.
It was going to land on top of them all.
Chris shut their eyes quickly. Duplicate hard-light constructs of themselves spat out all around them and part of the crowd. Nebula Blue thrust their fist into the air, and all the copies followed. Blue-white energy coalesced upon a single source and covered a large area.
Everything went black.