Carcass 1.2.1

Stardust looked better in person than in pictures and movies. Jay observed her warily, waiting for another beam to come shooting at him. His limited combat experience involved him mostly struggling to stop any blows and pleading for mercy. He felt his hand clench at the mere idea of doing that anymore.

She was a rather recent expansion to the posters that highlighted powerful capes. Her good looks and affectionate demeanor garnered her thousands of admirers and fans. While not at the top of the projected power charts, she was definitely in the top twenty. A powerhouse with enough influence to affect anything in New Seattle.

Jay ran a mental check on his capacity to shift into a giant serpent. He felt like it was possible, but the transformation wouldn’t be able to last for long. Although he wouldn’t be able to use his power, his body felt the strongest it had ever been. He had moved out of the way of Stardust’s blast faster than humanely possible. Despite his frail appearance, there was now a hidden potency within his body.

“Well, well, here I thought I was sent out just to deal with a rogue Cracked animal. Instead, I find some teenage power murdering civilians. How long have you been Cracked? I don’t recognize your move set.” Stardust tapped her fingers by her side, each rhythmic motion sent waves of purple energy crackling outwards.

Jay scowled, unwilling to show weakness but still skittish about the cape’s abilities.

“Just happened,” Jay answered. Stardust lifted an eyebrow and offered a curt, customary laugh. The laughter sounded exactly like Jackson’s, with an underlying suggestion of threat.

“A newborn super! That’s hilarious. I like my story a lot better.” Her hands shot forward and rays of spectral light pierced towards Jay. The sudden movement caught him off guard and one of the attacks punched straight through his left shoulder, severing his arm from his torso. He went down to the ground screaming in agony.

The flesh had been burned and emitted a violet hue. Lines of glowing energy traversed his red meat and turned his blood and bone into a cinder. Jay felt as if he was on fire. He continued to writhe on the ground, praying for the torture to end.

Stardust glanced away from the newly Cracked power and angled toward her younger brother. Jackson avoided her gaze, still clutching the ruined wrist that once held his hand. He cried silent tears and his body shuddered with every heaving gasp.

“Pathetic, Jackson. Mother would be saddened to hear that her son almost died due to his own stupidity. Look at him, he’s a malnourished child, it makes sense you’ve never Cracked, you just don’t have it in you.” She let out a sigh.

“Run in that direction. There’s medics and such that’ll get you patched up.” Jackson shakily got to his feet. A slender leg swept under his and sent him toppling back downwards. Stardust loomed over Jackson, her eyes shining a poisonous purple.

“Just a reminder, Jacky, never say we’re related,” Stardust’s tone was low and chilling. She waved a hand and dismissed her brother, sending him scampering away. She glanced at Jay, who was still clutching at the stump where his arm had just been.

“What to do with you?” Stardust pondered. Her voice still retained the frigid undertone. Jay had overheard her conversation, although he hadn’t had the cognitive capacity to try to comprehend it. Jay now fully realized that Stardust was nothing like she appeared in all her interviews and social media posts.

Stardust was a dangerous cape. In a way beyond just her power.

She smiled as she walked closer, tapping her fingers and sending purple waves outwards. She hummed softly, a tune from before the beast waves. Jay briefly recognized it as something his mother once sang to him. A children’s lullaby.

“I could finish you here. Nip another bud at the stem. I might get some flak from the other Central’s but I could spin it that you went insane during your awakening. Happens more often than people realize. ‘I had to put down the monster before it got into the city,’ I could say.” Stardust muttered something under her breath that Jay couldn’t pick up. He could tell that his hearing had grown by leaps and bounds, but there was a ringing in his ears that was steadily increasing in intensity. A wall of sound that was blocking everything else.

“You’re Jay. No need to confirm or deny. I know it's true. I’ve kept a close eye on Jackson, I know all of his little projects and games. So that means I know everything about you. I know about your mother, your brother in the hospital, and your father missing at sea. I know where you sleep, Jay, isn’t that slightly worrying?” She crouched down next to the teenager. A dark feminine hand reached out and stroked the boy’s long hair.

It was worrying. The cape’s easygoing description of Jay’s life left a chill in his heart.

“I’m going to make you a deal. All you need to do is listen,” she said. Jay gave a brief nod of his head. His current options appeared limited and he was deeply confused about the superhero’s behavior.

“You live in The Docks. The Docks are controlled by a nasty little gang full of misfits and thugs referred to as The Drowned. They have a penchant for recruiting people that grew up in the area, you’ve probably already seen them wandering your streets. Once they learn about you they’ll want to snap you up immediately. I want you to let them.” Stardust tittered a bit and watched as the flesh on Jay’s shoulder slowly began to regrow. Tendrils of blood, bones, and bits swirled together to construct the decimated appendage. Steam blasted out from the wound.

The discomfort Jay was experiencing was lessening, and the booming in his ears was retreating. He could feel his thoughts returning to him. He stared at Stardust in bafflement.

What the hell was she talking about? She’d spare his life just to make him join a criminal gang? The more she talked the more Jay felt as if something was missing from the woman’s mind. A screw or bolt was loose from the machine that ran her biological system. This woman was no hero. Jay thought back to his recent murders and realized that he wasn’t either.

“The Drowned are annoying. Their leader, a madman by the name of Madok, is a slippery fool who’s been escaping me for years. You’re going to kill him,” Stardust stated.

“Why do this?” Jay forced out from behind clenched teeth. She ran thin fingers through her silky hair.

“I could try to explain it to you, but you wouldn’t understand.”

“What will you do if I say no? Kill my family if I don’t do this? Why should I even listen to you?” Jay questioned the calculating cape. The calm intimidation by mentioning his brother had struck something primal within him.

“Hmm, perhaps. I’d rather it not come to that. What I will do is threaten your own life. If you say no, I’ll just end you now, there is a strict policy regarding murdering civilians. I’m not going to pretend I didn’t see you kill the other three,” Stardust snickered like she had said some sort of joke. Jay didn’t laugh.

“But if you agree to kill Madok, I’ll personally recruit you into the Central Pantheon, publicly pardon you of your crimes and such. I’ll have powered healers provided for your brother. You will never want money or status ever again. You could be a hero this city hasn’t seen in decades.

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“All you need to do is make sure one evil man stops breathing, permanently.”

The superhero organization that protected New Seattle ran with the name Central Pantheon It spanned most of the land that was formerly known as Washington and Montana, with portions of Oregon. The city-state was inhabited by these powerful individuals, who also shielded the populace from the horrors of the untamed wilds. In addition to raids from rogue powers and Cracked monsters. Democracy still held sway in New Seattle, despite many other civilizations descending into slave nations under the rule of tyrannical supers. Central Pantheon was formally sponsored by New Seattle and under the authority of its elected officials. They held multiple teams around the city and the outlying territories to maintain control and order within the walls.

Although recent actions from Stardust made Jay question how under control the government in Central was.

“Why make me do this? Couldn’t you force me to join Central and then send me off to hunt Madok?” Jay questioned. The entire scenario felt as if some steps were missing.

“No, Madok is smart. I’ve cornered him dozens of times but he somehow always gets away. I’ve come to the conclusion that it's best to get someone close to strike at him. And here you are, almost presented to me on a pristine platter, the perfect instrument for my plans…” Stardust frowned and furrowed her eyebrows. She appeared confused, connecting dots that Jay had no idea of imagining.

“Why they hell me? Why not literally anyone else?” Indignation filled his chest and he felt the urge to lash out with his remaining hand. The smug look on the cape’s maskless face reminded him of Jackson and every other bully that had made his miserable life even worse.

“A good feeling. Convenience? Take your pick. How I conduct my plans aren’t a concern to you. All you need to do is obey.” She frowned and her gaze got even colder than before.

Stardust cocked her head to the side. Her eyes seemed to glaze over before focusing back in.

“I need you to answer quickly. The others are on their way and I haven’t been responding to their messages. How out of character for me…” She chortled cutely, but Jay likened it to a beast toying with its meal.

“Don’t bother trying to reason with the other capes. I’m extremely accurate when I want to be. Plus, it's your word against mine.” She mimed a finger gun at Jay, he felt his heart skip a beat as he remembered the agony he experienced when his shoulder had been ruined. The limb in question had already regenerated down to the elbow. A feat that left Jay in giddy awe.

Jay supposed that the choice had been taken from him. The last option he wanted was to die so soon after awakening to this power. The promises Stardust offered were also tempting. Healers strong enough to bring back his brother would be rarer than one in a million. Only someone with Lazarus’ powerset would be able to. The super had the power to raise people from near death, back to full capabilities. He was someone that the ordinary man would never be able to contact in their lifetime.

Jay nodded.

“Fine, what do I need to do?”

Stardust beamed and clapped her hands.

“I need you to start running.”

“Huh?”

Jay yelped when a purple bolt zipped past his face, drawing a red thin line across his cheek. He shot to his feet and sped off. Despite his lack of attire, he felt no shame, only the overwhelming need to get away from the clearly psychotic woman.

He shot through branches and vegetation as if they weren’t there, his newfound strength pushed his body to the speed of a galloping racehorse, and his skin deflected mundane materials with childlike ease. He restrained the urge to holler in joy and concentrated on escaping the discharges of energy that pursued him through the park.

His ears perked up as he heard the commanding voice of Stardust echo across the park. A brief shouting match erupted between a pair of voices before it abruptly ended. Jay utilized the distraction to land on a designated path in the park. He looked left and right, struggling to remember the quickest way out.

An impulsive idea popped into his head.

Central Park was located close to the center of New Seattle. The reason for the quick appearance of the capes, or government-sponsored heroes, was due to their headquarters also being located nearby. The football stadium turned Central Pantheon property was a hive of supers on call for any emergency events. The fact that Stardust had appeared out of dozens of other heroes was extremely bad luck.

Central Park was also extremely close to the open water. He might be able to dive into the bay and lose his pursuers in the waves. The dread of the deep no longer affected him, in fact, he felt drawn towards the docks. A primal aspect of him craved to plunge into the ocean and recuperate.

A racket on his right caused Jay to flinch. An ethereal blue chain swept towards him, a gust of wind followed it and kicked up gravel and dust. Jay sank down and managed to evade. The bars of metal swung around and smashed into the ground. The area trembled with the crash and Jay stumbled. Jay hopped over a park bench, his lacking muscles bulging as he sprinted away. The metal chain pursued, soaring through the air like an airborne whip.

The wielder, a sturdy man with board shoulders and a chiseled face grimaced. The man’s lower face was visible, the top half hidden behind a light blue mask. Small scars etched grizzled features, penetrating pale blue eyes tightened in frustration. His dark hair was a tousled mess that fell around his features in tumultuous, unkempt locks.

The cape was dressed in stout armor. A collection of gear that wouldn’t be remiss on a medieval knight. Chains wrapped and connected each plate to another, providing a form-fitting outfit. The attire appeared to be made of a dark-hued crystalline material.

The man move with fluid grace, his steps were certain and confident, each one measured to limit the required motions. The man acted more machine than a human, a weapon constructed to inflict damage. The chain, a fearsome weapon with links that gleam an oceanic glow, could crush wood and bone as easily as a clay pot.

“Surrender! We have you surrounded. There is no escape. Stop your resistance and you will be given a fair trial in accordance with New Seattle Law. If you don’t have a lawyer, one will be provided to you by the state.” The man shouted while swinging another body-shattering blow. The end of the chain struck down near Jay and formed a crater big enough to sleep in.

Jay felt extremely out of his league. It was as if he had ramped up the difficulty level of a new game to the max and was thrown onto the final level with no hope of escape. Jay didn’t know the name of this particular cape, he had been busy with other events and hadn’t had time to brush up on each new face that entered the powered ranks. He felt like he should have taken the time now, especially as another chain came crashing towards him.

He dodged the attack and sprinted off again.

“Final warning! I haven’t been aiming to hit yet. The next one will.” The man advised.

“Wait, I’ll surrend-” a purple blast seared through Jay’s newly regrown lower arm. He cried out in pain. He saw Stardust strolling out of the trees, energy crackling around her in pulsating waves.

“Stardust, hold your fire, I have apprehended the criminal!” The man expressed while pulling out a pair of cuffs from underneath the folds of his armor.

“Oh? I suppose you have…” Stardust raised an eyebrow toward Jay. The teenager got a nasty feeling and immediately shot off, away from both capes. The chain, as if expecting this, snaked forward. A blast of purple intercepted the linked metal and deflected it away, almost hitting Jay in the process.

The young man heard an exclamation of outrage spark up from behind him but he paid it no head.

It didn’t take long for Jay to make it to the sidewalk outside of the park. He briefly noticed Jackson’s cherry red car off to the side. The owner was nowhere to be seen. A flash of disappointment spread in his chest at not being able to finish what he had started. He comforted himself with the fact that he would live to fight another day, and as long as he had breath there would be an opportunity to get his revenge.

It spoke highly of the city that there were no civilians near the park. The evacuation of the powerless had been swift and efficient, as all denizens of New Seattle were used to the blaring sirens and what they meant. The irritating noise continued to ring across the cityscape, along with a mechanical computerized voice.

“Cracked beast spotted in Central Park. Citizens are recommended to remain indoors.” Jay had heard the warning dozens of times in previous years. Beast waves had come and gone, yet the city still remained.

Jay raced into a nearby alley and followed the sound of the crashing tides. This part of the city was higher scale than Jay was used to. Even the crevices that often hid the homeless and undesirables were swept clean. The teenager cut through a path and emerged into a deserted street. He glanced at the multitude of shops, their colorful and inviting signs and embellishments extremely different from what Jay was accustomed to.

Central Lane was where all the attractions were. The rebuilt Ferris wheel spun slowly off in the distance. Jay zipped down the hill directly down the middle of the road. Multiple cars parked on the sides obstructed his field of view. He glimpsed the ocean directly forward, his mind and goals focused on a single purpose.

Make it to the water and he would be safe. As long as he didn’t get captured by Central Pantheon.

Jay couldn’t help the small grin that formed at the corners of his mouth. This was starting to be a little bit fun.