Meeting a concrete pole with my head wasn’t part of the plan. Or was it? Plans are hard, is what I’m saying.
Not every plan goes according to plan.
I tried to return to consciousness. It was difficult. Quirky colors of all sorts swam in my eyes. I focused my thoughts on the plan.
1. Find Martin Kilborne and make him your minion [✓]
2. Die horribly while saving him [✓]
3. Meet your Equalizer overseer [✓]
4. Bring a skinwalker from the future and deliver it to Mr. Canard [✓]
5. Steal Martin's Superstate pen and use it to call his sister while he’s asleep [✓]
6. Convince Ember Kilborne that I’m tech Agatha Myriamm and that I am running a maintenance test on the Tartarus System Sim [✓]
7. Break the pen to hide the evidence [✓]
8. Find infected Mr. Canard and make sure he’s okay [✓]
9. Try not to get injured in the present [x]
10. Make sure that Martin becomes infected with a Skinwalker [?]
Eight out of ten today, not bad at all! Wearing a hardhat was a smart decision.
----------------------------------------
Martin slowly rose, blinking and wiping blood from his mouth. Finally, he had an acceptable body. Being in the bottle was annoying.
"How are you such a blundersome dolt?" Martin the Skinwalker walked towards the trapped Mr. Canard the Skinwalker, speaking with a slight hiss.
"This host is hard to control. It resists. Are you going to help me or...?"
"No. Shed some weight and get out on your own. My parents are looking for me."
"Okay?"
"While you were busy propagating, I was learning, listening. Don't build a hive in such an obvious place next time."
Martin’s hand pointed at the distant bank, which was now surrounded by flashing sirens of police cars. His dad's gray sedan was rolling towards them.
"This world is full of hosts and some of them carry the radiant spark of omniscience," Martin said. "They will grind you into dust with this power. Integrate into their society first, pretend to be your host, blend in, find their weaknesses, and strike only much later upon select targets that no one will miss. Do something about your eyes too. They are far too noticeable - human eyes do not glow in the dark. Infect her when you can grow more shards.”
Martin pointed his fingers at the passed out Alexa.
Mr. Canard nodded, silver eyes shimmering from the darkness of the tube slide.
"Good." Martin turned away from the teacher and started walking towards his dad's car.
----------------------------------------
Alexa yelped into full consciousness as an armored glove harshly slapped across her face. She felt cold metal weight on her hands and saw a pair of oversized, Superstate handcuffs locking them in place. It was a bit of an overkill. She didn’t have any physical powers.
"Wake up, bitch." An icy voice demanded.
Alexa raised her eyes to the speaker. It was hero Resonance, adorned in gold and red. Alexa knew exactly who it was underneath the golden mask. She’d done her research on the Kilbornes when she hacked into the SCA database.
Martin's sister, Ember scowled at her, golden eyes flaring at the teenage supervillain. The hero held a steel bat with the SCA logo glittering on it.
A transparent refraction of her swung the bat at Alexa's arm, breaking it with a crack of splitting bone. Alexa yelled from the pain. She couldn't even move away in time or try to reduce the impact, too dizzy and hurt from her recent concussion.
Another refraction of the hero flashed into existence, bat slamming into Alexa's other arm. The handcuffed girl screamed, thrashing, tears forming in her eyes.
"I'm going to shatter every single bone in your body, over and over until your mind breaks from the agony. I had to erase all of the videos from the bank and make sure none of his prints are on that ice cream van so that shit wouldn't be on Martin’s record! I don't know how you've managed to involve my gullible, idiot brother in your crimes, but it ends here. I’m going to enjoy making you into a vegetable." Ember seethed out, bending down towards Alexa, seemingly uncaring for revealing herself.
She stepped back and numerous copies of the hero flickered into existence all around Alexa. Off-color, transparent bats swung up into the air as Resonance prepared to strike the villain down from every possible angle.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Alexa blearily struggled in the handcuffs, expecting nothing but pain —
"Put down the bat, and undo the damage done to the girl, hero Resonance." An emotionless voice announced from somewhere nearby.
"What?" Ember's head snapped towards the newcomer.
The Equalizer stood 6 meters away from Ember, holding a long, black railgun in her hands.
"Took you long enough." Alexa groaned, looking up at Cottie through tear-streaked eyes.
"I said - undo the damage on her. Now, please. I will not ask a third time.” The Enforcer spoke, ignoring Alexa’s comment.
“You dare interrupt official Superstate business, Equalizer?” Ember barked.
“This doesn’t look like the official business of simply arresting a villain. You look like you’re about to murder her with all of these projections of yours. I have a micro-cam on my person. Give it up, you already lost.”
“No! Screw off! This monster’s existence is a threat to my family!” Numerous flickering, off-color copies turned towards the Equalizer as Ember stepped towards the girl in a gray cloak.
The black railgun in the Enforcer’s hand lit up as she put her finger on the trigger and colors drained away from the world in a bubble all around her - the grass, bushes, and playground equipment turning gray. Cottie took a step forward, her robe billowing. As the grayscale circle emanating from the railgun reached the hero it drained the color from her golden uniform and red hair. In that instant, every single copy of Ember popped out of existence. The hero's ordinarily floating hair fell down to her shoulders and her cape sagged.
“What?! You… you can’t! How?!” Ember yelped, eyes wide with panic. Her superpower had never failed her before.
“Resonance, I’d like you to meet my nullifier - Eva,” the Enforcer said, nodding at her gun. “She's an electromagnetic vector accelerator, also known as the Song of the Void, one of the few weapons capable of shutting down superpowers.”
“But…”
“I will not hesitate to take another step forward and shoot you in the leg if you refuse cooperation.”
“Why would an Equalizer defend a vile supervillain like her?! Do you know what she's done? Who she's hurt?!”
“She is of great value to the Order.” The emotionless voice of Cottie spoke calmly. “You will cooperate with the Paladin of Equality or suffer the consequences.”
“FFffff...Fine!” Ember angrily ground out. Cottie took a step back, releasing Ember from the nullification field. Two of the hero's copies flashed into being, rewinding the bat-motion over the bleeding girl. Alexa’s broken arms mended themselves as if they were never shattered, the pain persisting only in her memory.
“Thanks!” She smiled tiredly, lifting her handcuffed hands into the air.
Cottie let go of the trigger. The railgun went off with a bang of a supersonic rail cutting across the handcuffs, cleaving them in twain.
“Hey! Jeez, at least warn a person before you fire that thing.” Alexa rubbed the flash out of her eyes.
“This isn’t over, Equalizer. I will catch and break her sooner or later, you can’t protect her forever! I will be reporting this matter to the Superstate. I’ll have Equality declared a villain for this!” Ember growled, golden cape fluttering behind her theatrically as she turned, walking away.
Alexa stuck her tongue out at the hero’s retreating form. Cottie approached her.
“You are acting very foolish for a daughter of a super-genius.”
“Don’t judge me! I’m a work in progress.”
“Read this.” Cottie slid the railgun back into her cloak and dropped a book into Alexa’s lap.
“How to survive middle school.” Alexa read the title, looking at the quirkily illustrated girl on the front cover. She looked back at Cottie, raising an eyebrow. “Really?”
“Yes. Really. I’ve been observing you. You’re failing at being a middle school student. Her Eminence Equality personally sent me to supervise your integration into humanity.”
“I don’t need to bloody integrate into bloody humanity! I do what I want. I don’t need no emotion-deprived Equalizers teaching me how to be a better human. Also, your super pope is dumb!"
"Today, you pissed off the wrong hero and nearly died for it." Cottie noted.
"All part of my genius, multi-step, master plan." Alexa said. "Arghhh friggin hell, my arms still feel like they’re broken and also not really.” She rubbed her recently un-shattered parts, wincing from phantom pain.
The Equalizer sat on her knees next to the villainess. Emotionless, emerald-green eyes looked at very tired, silver ones.
“You cannot fight the entire world by yourself, little schemer.” Cottie reached out and hugged Alexa.
“Whu…? I'm as tall as you!” The girl villain protested.
“We all sacrifice ourselves for a greater cause.”
“Do you even know what my cause is?”
“I’m willing to find out.” Cottie said. “You are alone, just like I was once. So very, very alone.”
“I am not!” Alexa shook her head, her face betraying her with a sour expression.
“I’ve been investigating, observing you. No caring parents, no relatives, no guardians, no friends… with the exception of that poor boy you’ve recently bullied into being your minion.”
“I did not!” Alexa protested weakly.
“Are you sure your father is still alive? Nobody has seen him in a decade. When was the last time you talked to Doctor Terranova in person?”
“Uh. Daddums is definitely alive! He’s just very busy with… uhh… global domination plans!” Alexa said, feeling her defenses crack under the relentless attack of the Equalizer.
“I do not believe that anyone has ever given you a hug.”
“I totally had hugs before… uhh...” Alexa whispered, more tears sparkling in her eyes.
“Shush and hug me back,” Cottie told her and Alexa did, sobbing into Cottie’s gray cloak.
Cottie smiled ever so slightly as Alexa slowly relaxed.
“Hey. That’s illegal. You can’t show emotion, Miss Spock,” Alexa sniffed.
“I’ve also never known my family,” Cottie spoke calmly. “Equality saves orphans all around the world. I’m one of her children. My goal is to save you, help you be more human.”
“Oh. I guess we have something in common then,” Alexa said, hugging Cottie back harder. “Hey, um. You haven’t seen Martin by any chance, have you?”