Chapter 16

“So… Is there anything else I should know?” Elizabeth asked.
The petite woman leaned back in a chair that was seated next to Thomas. The room they were in was one of the many briefing rooms within the Association. A large circular table filled the majority of it. In the center of the table was a raised platform, a second generation holographic display. It was an older version of the tech that many of the higher end smartphones now had. While the Association had more than enough funds to upgrade, Whitley, the Association's lead tech advisor, always had an “If it's not broken, don’t fix it.” mentality.
“I don’t think so… But I’m really tired right now, so maybe I’m forgetting things.” Thomas said as he inserted a USB drive into a slot on the side of the table.
A holographic photo of Cassidy displayed, hovering in the center of the table. Around it displayed some generic information on her.
“Is this an old picture? She’s 13 now right?” Elizabeth asked as she looked down at the hard copy of her file that she held in her hands.
“Yeah, It’s a photo we took of her when the Association first received custody. She’s basically in a witness protection program so we never updated her photo in case it somehow got leaked.” Thomas told her.
“I see… Passive Probability Manipulation… man, reality warpers can be such a pain.” Elizabeth said looking through the file.
“She’s actually a really nice girl, but we have to keep her pretty isolated in order to cut down on possible... accidents.” Thomas sighed.
“Hmm… What the fuck?! Is this right?” Elizabeth asked pointing to one of the pages.
“What? Oh, that… yeah, it’s right.” He said leaning over to see what she was referring too.
“You're telling me she was responsible for the crash of American Airlines Flight 273 two years ago? How did that happen?” She asked.
“Well, she apparently overheard two maintenance workers through an air conditioning vent. One wished that an opening at some hotel in Hawaii would happen so he could vacation there… And then… Plane hits a flock of birds causing its engines to go offline and then it crashes into the west side of the hotel.” He said.
“Jesus… “ She said looking through the rest of her accident log.
“Yeah, 234 people died in that crash. We had to wipe the memory of the wish from her mind…” He said.
Elizabeth looked up at him. She glanced down again at the accident report and then closed the file.
“How many times have you wiped her memory?” She asked.
“Haaa… More than what is normally permitted. Any time death is involved. As I said, she’s a nice girl. She had a goldfish in her room that she forgot to feed once and it died, she cried for like a month.” Thomas said sighing.
“After ever death?!” Elizabeth said before flipping over the file again and began counting.
“We didn’t do it after the fish died…” Thomas said as he waiting for her inevitable rant to start.
“22 times?! You wiped her mind 22 times?! Holy fuck! She's 13 years old! You know what kind of psychological problems that could lead too? No wonder she ran away… She probably has a whole bunch of false memories now.” She said slamming the file on the table.
“What else could we do? None of it's her fault but she’s the kind of person that would… Well, let's just say she feels too much empathy for others.” Thomas said.
“You're sheltering her too much… I know she's young, but you should have let her remember.” Elizabeth said.
“You don’t know her.” He said as his tone got a bit defensive.
“I know that she is going to find out one day. And every single one of those deaths is going to hit her at once. A young maiden’s innocence be damned… You guys made the wrong call.” She said to him.
“... I guess time will tell if we did or not, but right now we just need to find her.” He said.
“...I think I know where she’s going.” Elizabeth said with a sigh as she leaned back in her chair.
Thomas blinked and stared at her. He then nodded his head and leaned back in his own chair.
“Of course you would know… Where?” He asked.
“... Wait, you really don’t know? It's so obvious!” Elizabeth said chuckling at him.
“Pretend that I haven't slept in last 72 hours and that my critical thinking skills have vastly diminished… so please just fill me in.” Thomas said as he rubbed his eyes.
“Okay, you have a girl that most likely hates her ability who escapes at the same time a ‘Silencer’ shows up in the city… Are you following where I’m trying to lead you?” She asked.
“Oh god… shit, of course.” He said, dropping his hands to his lap.
“You really need to get some sleep.” She told him.
“I wish I could, but I’m currently the head of the Association until Victoria wakes up.” He said.
“Victoria? You hiding more people from me?” Elizabeth asked cocking an eyebrow.
“Victoria Whitelighter, Her alias is Demon Star. You might have heard of her.” He said to her.
“Demon Star?... Oh yeah, she’s the girl with the horns right? What happened to her? I thought she was being hyped up as the next Light Star. I never hear about her in the news though.” Elizabeth said.
“She is actually stronger than Warden is... was. But there is a small problem with her using her powers at full strength. It sort of forces her into a kind of hibernation coma.” He said.
“Stronger than Warden? How long does the coma last?” She asked.
“About three months.” He told her.
“... And how long ago did she last use her full strength?” Elizabeth asked.
“About two and a half months. Remember that tropical storm that suddenly disappeared back around that time?” He asked her.
“Uhh, I think so…” She replied.
“She was the one that blew it apart. Every predictive model had it developing at least to a Cat 4. So she stopped it before it could.” He said.
“She destroyed the entire storm? I don’t remember it that well, how big was it?” She asked.
“About 40 miles wide.” He said.
“... Oh.” She said thinking about the kind of power that would take.
Thomas sighed and stood up from his chair. He stretched and looked down at his watch. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back. With another deep sigh, he turned back to Elizabeth.
“I’m going to go get someone to head over and watch Reeves Street.” He said.
“Don’t bother, I’ll be heading over there anyway. I’ll let them know what's going on and tell them to contact us if she shows up. I could be wrong. She may not have heard about him, and her running away was just a coincidence. No use pulling someone off of active duty for that. Just have them comb the rest of the city.” She said.
“You know, for someone that is so adamant about not being a member of the UHA, you sure do a lot of work for the UHA. ” Thomas said with a tired chuckle.
“What can I say… The Association went to shit after I left.” She told him.
Thomas let out a small laugh and then rubbed his eyes. He sighed and looked at the hovering picture in the middle of the table. He then looked back over to Elizabeth who was flipping through the file again.
“Do… Do you think you can take over for me? Just for a few hours.” Thomas asked.
Elizabeth looked up from the file and stared at him. She thought about it and then looked back down to the file again.
“I would but… I don’t think that's a good idea.” She said as she looked up to the holographic display and the glanced down at a small control panel on the side of the table.
She began to fiddle with the buttons until the display flipped over to show a small list of video files. She clicked on the first file which had the most current date and an hourglass displayed with the words ‘Processing’ underneath.
“Why not?” He asked.
“I get the distinct feeling that many in the Association don’t like me here. I am a ‘disgraced’ Hero after all.” She reminded him.
“You technically resigned.” He said.
“Yeah… ‘Technically’.” She said as she made quotations with her fingers.
The hourglass disappeared and a three-dimensional video began to play. It showed a small blond girl sitting at a table. Elizabeth looked down at a small trackball on the side of the control panel and began to rotate the holographic diorama until she could get a clear look at the girl's face.
“File number 1893302. Date September 9th, 2011. Subject Cassidy Widdle. Age six.” A middle-aged man's voice rang out.
“Are these her ability assessment tests?” Elizabeth asked.
“Yeah. ” Thomas said
“This is Dr. Murdoc Lenn, The following is classified as an ‘Ability Assessment Test’ and is to be filed as such. Copies are to be held in both physical and digital forms and is only authorized to be stored in the United Heroes Association and The Department for Metahuman Affairs databases. Unauthorized replication and dissemination of this video or related files can carry heavy legal ramifications as stated by The Metahuman Registration Act.” The man stated.
A slight squeal came over the audio which caused the young girl to look up. Elizabeth manipulated the trackball and zoomed the video in to see the girls face clearer.
“I’m sorry for that. Cassidy, do you know why you are here?” The man asked over the intercom.
Cassidy didn’t say anything. She just looked down at the table where a few pieces of blank paper lay.
“Lenn, that idiot. I’ve told him that when you're dealing with small children you need to be in the room in person… Otherwise, they feel like they are in trouble when you talk to them over an intercom.” Elizabeth seethed.
“I want my mom…” Cassidy said in a low voice.
“You will be able to see her when test we are about to conduct is over. So can you try your best till then?” Lenn asked.
Elizabeth began flipping through her file again.
“Let's see, her father was already dead by the time this test took place. Her mother already signed over custody to the UHA… There is no mention of her after that though. What happened to her mother?” Elizabeth asked.
“We don’t know, She went missing soon after the tests began. We tried finding her but nothing turned up.” He said looking at his watch.
“You can go. Let that telekinetic guy be in charge for a little while.” Elizabeth said.
“Zane?” He asked.
“He is a bit lazy but he seems like he would be trustworthy in this sort of situation… Plus it's for what, a couple hours while you sleep? He will be fine.” She said as she looked up at the video.
“Fine… I’ll leave this to you then. Just return the file and USB drive to the records room before you leave.” He told her.
“Sure, good ni-day?” She said to him.
Thomas sighed and waved his hand up and left the room. Elizabeth glanced at the door and the focused her attention back on the display.
“Okay, can you flip over the paper on your left?” Lenn asked.
Cassidy looked at the papers and then raised both of her hands. She made L’s with both hands index finger and thumbs and then reached for the paper on her left. Elizabeth couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Can you read what is written on the paper?” Lenn asked.
She nodded and leaned over the table a little to look at the paper. After a few seconds, She looked up waiting for instruction.
“Can you read it out loud?” Lenn asked.
“... I wish to be normal.” She said.
Elizabeth sighed.
“Do you remember writing that?” Lenn asked.
Cassidy nodded.
“Please note that the ability of the subject will not activate for herself. Whether written or spoken.” Lenn seemed to say to the recording as Cassidy didn't seem to hear him.
“Can you flip over the paper right next to that one?” He asked her.
She nodded and flipped it over. She looked down at the paper and her eyes suddenly widened. She clasped desperately at her chest and slammed her head down onto the table. She slipped to the floor, a streak of blood leading from the paper all the way to the edge. With a loud gasp, she screamed.
“W-Wish Denied!”
Elizabeth bit her lip watching this. She manipulated the trackball and rotated the camera to a bird's eye view. Thomas had told her that she would experience pain when her ability activated but seeing it happen was something else. She was in pure agony. The door flew open as two nurses rushed in to tend to Cassidy.
“As we demonstrated in file… 1893301. Her ability to manipulate probability is limited to what is possible at the time the subject hears the wish. As this test concludes, even a written wish is susceptible to her powers as long as it was not the subjects own wish. Unfortunately, the pain she feels is not at all lessened by the delivery method. Due to child protection laws, we can no longer proceed with this line of testing. This will be the last ability assessment test for this subject. It is in my opinion that she be classified as an Alpha Helbert level threat. And please note that Alpha may not be a sufficient classification.” Lenn said.
Elizabeth paused the video. The frame froze on Cassidy screaming, blood smeared face. It was hard to believe that this girl was practically a walking nuclear bomb.
“Poor girl. No wonder you ran away…” She said to herself as she looked down at the file.
She sighed and closed it, she then turned off the display and took the USB drive. She placed it in her pocket and looked over at the wall. A row of digital clocks displaying times for various cities around the world hung. She glanced through them all. Moscow, Beijing, Shin Tokyo, Cairo. She finally found Carver City and sighed when she realized how late it was already.
“I guess I’ll go drop this off in the records room, then head out.” She said to herself.
After leaving the files with the receptionist, she walked the way she always did to the parking garage. She fumbled for her keys as she got to her SUV. After unlocking her car and getting in she looked in the back. Various weight lifting equipment was loaded in. She had got one of the Association’s strong men to carry it all for her. She figured if she was going to start training Darius, she would need some of this. It wasn’t anything fancy, mostly barbells and other weights lifting equipment.
She turned back around and started the engine. She reached down and pulled up her sunglasses that were hanging from the neckline of her shirt and pulled out of her parking spot. She drove up the ramp that exited the parking garage and slammed on the breaks as she almost hit someone walking in the street. She beat down on her horn and rolled down her window.
“Get out of the damned road! The sidewalks are clear now!” She yelled.
She ignored the middle finger the person threw her and rolled her window back up. She sighed as she waited for the person to finish walking across the street when she began to hear a muffled voice. She looked down at her radio but saw that it was turned off. She blinked and remembered that she had one of the UHA’s walkie-talkies in her pocket. She pulled it out and listened.
“Please send help! Anyone! We are under attack at the Caster Trading Post on Reeves Street! There are like a hundred people outside! Elizabeth! Mr. Alexander! Zane! Anyone! I repeat, we ar-” The sound of a large explosion could be heard as the transmission cut off.
“Fuck!” Elizabeth yelled as she pressed down hard on the accelerator and speed off towards Reeves Street.
~~~~
“Are you okay!?” Darius yelled out as he tried to wave some smoke away from his face.
Mary slowly sat up, debris falling from her clothes. She looked over her shoulder to see a brown barrier between her and a small crater in the marble floor. Green electrical discharge seemed to randomly arc from the crater for a few seconds before dissipating completely. Visible cracks riddled the energy barrier and it was starting to dissolve in several places. She looked around, the lobby was in ruin. Heaps of clothes were burning. The tables holding the water coolers was upturned, the contents spilled all over the floor. The water began to pool in in the many cracks and holes.
“Uh… Yeah. I think so.” She said out as she could see Darius shooting water to douse the flames.
“Can you gather everyone that can’t fight and take them down into the bomb shelter?!” Darius asked.
Mary looked over at a group of people huddled in a corner of the lobby, a couple of barriers had been erected to protect them. Mary nodded her head and got up and ran her way over to the group.
“Everyone! Please follow me!” She said to them. She began leading them towards the stairwell. She stopped when she saw a younger boy holding two duffle bags eyeing the front of the store.
“Hey! Hurry up! This way!” She yelled at him.
Augustus looked back to her and then got up. He began to walk towards her but then stopped.
“Sorry! But I gotta get out of here! It's been a pleasure but I’m too important to die here! For you see my fair lady, I have many adoring fans out there th-Ahhh” His speech was cut short by Mary as she grabbed him tightly by his arm and began to pull him towards the stairwell.
“I don’t know what the heck you're talking about but we need to get to safety!” She told him as they heard an explosion outside of the building.
“L-Look ma'am. I really can't spend more time here… I was supposed to be back at my base an hour ago.” He said.
“There is a war going on outside! Shut up and follow me!” She said.
“A-As much as older, demanding women turn me on… I’ll have to decline!” Augustus said as he pointed his finger towards the front of the store.
A white beam of light shot forward and hit a wall by one of the broken windows. As soon as the beam made contact, the light began to quickly envelop Augustus. Mary pulled her hand away in surprise as his body that now seemed to be made of nothing but pure light shrank and began to coalesce around the wall he had aimed at. The light reshaped itself back into his form. His back was now facing her with his arm outstretched, finger touching the wall. He turned to her and winked then looked out the window.
“D-Darius!” Mary yelled out as he pointed at the kid.
Darius turned from the fire and looked at her, then to who she was pointing at.
“Goddamnit!” He yelled as he turned and began to run towards him.
Augustus aimed his finger at a clearing through the crowd outside. The same white beam shot out.
“Trevor! Grab him!” Darius yelled out.
Trevor was busy hitting flaming books with a faux fur coat to try and extinguish the fire. He turned his head to see the boy turning into light and without saying anything spun around on the ball of his foot and jumped towards him. Trevor reached his hand out to stop the boy and is his arm was an extra inch or so longer he might have been able to get ahold of him. But instead, his hand caught empty air as Augustus’ body zipped out the lobby carryed on a beam of light.
“The fuck it that!? Are they shooting lasers at us?” One of the men outside shouted as they watched the light beam hit a wall on the other side of the street and began to form a person.
“I think it’s someone trying to escape!” Someone yelled out as the brought up the shotgun and leveled it at the being of light.
“No of those fuckers leaves!” Another man shouted as if giving an order.
A barrier erupted from the ground, hitting the shotgun knocking his aim off. Reflexively the man’s finger pulled the trigger. The wall next to Augustus exploded into chips of brick and mortar as the light faded from his body. He yelled out, staggered and almost fell over but he caught himself on the wall. He then quickly pointed his hand down the street and let another beam off.
“Stop him!” The same man yelled out.
“Leave him alone! He's just a kid!” Darius shouted as he ran out of the building.
He began to bring up as many barriers as he could in the middle of the crowd. Doing this brought everyone attention back to him. As the group began to close in on him, he placed both of his hands together. He steadied his legs and let a large jet of water rush over them. While it had the right effect in pushing them back, it also was proving too much for Darius to handle and he too began to fall backward. As his jets of water abruptly stopped, the crowd again began to rush him.
“Fuck!” Darius shouted as he spun on his ass and tried to get up as quickly as he could.
He heard a loud bang as a portion of the wall behind him exploded. He winced and covered back of his head as pieces of the shattered brick pummeled his skin. He turned to see a young man aiming at him again with a handgun. He snapped his fingers and a wall shot up right between his legs. The man let out a scream and did a full backflip into the crowd.
“You okay?” Darius heard beside him.
He looked to see Ashton running up. The black sword he was caring had streaks of blood on it. Darius looked him over and other then a small scratch over his left eye, he seemed fine.
“Y-Yeah, You?” Darius asked.
“I’m good. Is it okay to kill them?” Ashton asked.
“What?” Darius said a bit confused.
“They are trying to kill us, so it's okay to kill them right?” Ashton clarified.
“Uhh… Try not to, but if it comes down to it…” Darius said.
“Got it. Only when necessary.” He said as raised his sword, aimed the blade downwards, and stabbed it into the ground.
The tip of the obsidian blade sunk into the asphalt with ease. Darius watched as he began to walk forward. Ashton clenched his fist and plowed it into the stomach of the of the first person that came at him. The unlucky soul that received the blow thought he could take him on since Ashton had abandoned his weapon. He only realized his mistake once his feet left the ground. The man flew back, toppling people behind him as if they had been lazily set up dominoes.
Darius shook his head to clear his mind and looked around the street. The kid from earlier was gone. He breathed out as it seemed that he at least escaped. Darius turned his head just in time to see a fist fly at his face. He stumbled back as it grazed the tip of his nose.
“Shit!” He yelled as he could start to feel a warm trickle falling from his right nostril.
He looked at his attacker and uttered the same words again. The man was huge and he immediately recognized his face tattoos. It was the same man that he forced out of the interview office earlier. Darius glanced around and noticed quite a few faces he had seen come into the office in the crowd.
“Stop dodging you little shit!” He said as he reached out grabbed Darius by his shirt and lifted him a few inches off the ground.
The cloth tightened around his neck and was beginning to make it hard to breathe. Darius reached up and grabbed his wrist to help relieve the pressure on his neck. Then the man’s other fist plowed into his face. The world went dark for a moment than he opened his eyes again. The taste of copper filled his mouth. He blinked a few times and angled his head down a bit to see the man still holding him. He had pulled his hand back for another punch.
“S-Stop!” Darius yelled and to his surprize the man’s fist froze.
“Oh? You want to talk to me now?” The man asked.
Darius blinked a few times to clear his vision as the pain in his face became more noticeable.
“Why are you… you attacking us?!” Darius asked even as it was getting harder to breath.
“Why? You charge 100 fucking dollars for a gallon of water! You won’t give us food unless we have something else you think is worth trading for! People are starving and you fucks don’t give a shit about anyone but yourselves!” The man yelled as he threw his fist forward as if he was trying to punch someone directly behind Darius.
Darius’ head flung back from the impact. The world spun and for a split second, he thought everything was in black and white till he opened his eyes again. He could fill the blood flowing down his throat. So much so that he dry heaved. He could feel something hard laying on his tongue and after a little bit of feeling around, he realized it was one of his K-9’s. He breathed in as much as he could and then spat the tooth into the man's face. The man winced a bit but then wiped the blood and spit from his face.
“We can’t feed everyone, you idiot...” Darius said as his head began to spin from the lack of oxygen, and as the man brought his fist back again only to stop when a pair of hand wrapped around the man’s face.
“W-What the fuck?!” The man yelled as Darius could feel himself become weightless for a split second until he hit the ground.
Darius blinked groggily as he reached one hand up to touch his face. He hadn't felt it at the moment but now heat and pain now began to pulsate throughout his cheek and mouth. He looked up to see Trevor covering the man's mouth with his hand and forcing his fingers into his mouth. The large man thrust his elbow back and made solid contact with Trevor’s ribs.
“Ghaa…!” Trevor coughed out in pain as he stumbled backward.
The large man covered his mouth as vomit sprayed out from between his fingers. Darius quickly pulled his legs up to avoid the projectile and got back up to his feet. He swayed slightly as his blood began to transfer precious oxygen to his brain.
“W-Wha…” The man yelled out as his bent over and vomited once more.
He took a few steps into the road, his body still bent over. Darius blinked and looked over to Trevor who had already shrugged off the jab to his ribs.
“What did you do?” Darius asked him with a slight slur to his words as his jaw hurt like a mother fucker.
“I changed the flavor of his saliva. His mouth is full of the taste of rotting meat mixed with the smell of shit and skunk…” Trevor said as they watched him vomited for the fourth time before falling to his knees holding his stomach.
“Remind me never to piss you off.” Darius said.
“Sure… You okay?” Trevor asked looking at his friends busted lip and bruised cheek.
“Yeah… Lost a tooth but I’ll live.” Darius said.
“On your left!” They both heard shouted from behind them.
While they both had the urge to turn in the direction of the voice, they instead followed its advice and turned to their left as a man with a baseball bat came running at Darius. The man raised the bat over his head and swung down at Darius’ head. Darius reflexively snapped his fingers. A barrier shot up between them. The bat hit the top of the barrier and bounces back into the face of the man. They both watched as the man fell to the ground with a thud, unconscious.
“N-Nice one…” Trevor said blinking.
“Uh… No… That was pure luck.” Darius said he looked around and could see Beatrix peeking her eyes above the window seal, Alejandro sitting on top of her head.
“A-Are you okay?” She asked.
“Uhh… I guess… Thanks for the heads up...” He said to her.
“I-I-Is he… Is he okay?” Beatrix asked.
Darius looked back at the man again. He dismissed his barrier and reached down and felt for a pulse on his neck.
“Yeah, He’s just knocked out. You can go down to the Shelter… we’re okay now.” He said to her.
“A-Are you sure?” She asked looking at his bruised and bloodied face.
“Trust me, He’s fine. Darius has a hard head. Please go to the shelter and help protect everyone else. ” Trevor said as he walked behind Darius and bent down to pick up the baseball bat.
“B-But…” She said, her eyes widening as she suddenly turned her head to the side.
“Watch out!” She yelled.
Darius looked to where she was looking as a green orb hit him in the chest and bounce off. Darius gasped and jumped back in response. He watched as the orb began to emit a bright light. Darius gritted his teeth and snapped his fingers as fast as he could as his legs tripped over Trevor’s crouched form. His energy barrier began to rise from the pavement. The ball of light had just gone behind the rising shield when it suddenly exploded. The barrier shattered, throwing both Darius and Trevor a few feet back as tendrils of green energy hit whatever they could reach like mini bolts of lightning.
“M-Mr. Darius!” Beatrix yelled out as she brought her head back up from behind the window seal.
Darius began to cough and groan as he rolled on the ground. Pain seemed to be the only thing that his mind seemed to be able to process at the moment.
“Your walls are getting really annoying!” He could hear somewhere in the direction the explosive originated.
Darius coughed and spat out some more blood as he opened his eyes and tried to look at the man. He was wearing a tank top that hung from his body loosely. The man was scrawny, and if it weren't for the fact he had amazing teeth Darius would have sworn the man was some sort of crackhead. Darius glanced out into the war zone and could see Ashton doing rather well. He was targeting anybody with a gun, taking them out first and bending them, rendering them inoperable once he got his hands on them. Most of the people in the battle seemed to be ignoring the explosions and focusing on him.
Darius looked back over at the man who had his hand out to the side, green electrical energy surged down his arm, arcing off his fingertips and forming into a ball in the man's hand. Darius remembered how that energy grenade didn’t explode when it hit him, It instead bounced once and then exploded. Why would he not just make it explode on contact? Despite how little of a delay it was, it still gave him time to react. He could just be playing with him, but the noticeable annoyance in the man’s voice told him otherwise. Darius forced himself to sit up and watched the man ready his attack. When the electricity stopped the man brought his arm back to do an underhand throw. Darius snapped his fingers. His barrier shot up catching the man off guard, but it was too late. The man let go of the green ball and slammed into the energy wall. It seemed to bounce upward at the man's face.
“Got yo… What?!” Darius said as the man quickly raised his hand and caught it before it could hit him.
The man pulled the orb away from his face and whistled.
“Wow! That was close!” The man said with a small laugh as he looked at the orb.
“What the hell! Why didn’t it explode?!” Darius yelled out as he forced himself to his feet.
The man looked at him through the clear barrier as placed his free hand on it. He slid his hand on its surface and smiled.
“Normally it would have. But…” The man said as he tossed the orb back over the wall, and towards Darius.
“They only explode after they hit something solid!” He said as the orb arked in the air and came down right where Darius was standing.
Darius felt a hand grab the back of his shirt and pulled him backward. He tumbled down on to his back as Trevor stood there with the baseball bat in hand. He got into a position as quickly as he could and swung as energy ball came down. The wood of the bat made solid contact, Trevor held his breath as the energy orb seemed to deform. He prayed to whatever god was out there that the properties of the energy would still hold up even being hit this hard. The orb shot off towards the man, its brightness building with every moment as it neared the barrier that was in front of the thin man.
“Fuck!” The man yelled as he dove out the way.
An explosion rang out across the battlefield. Darius got back up to his feet and blinked as he watched the thin man also get quickly up to his feet.
“Nice one…” Darius said.
“All skill.” Trevor said with a relieved grin to Darius’ slight annoyance.
They both looked over to the thin man and saw him making not one, but two more energy grenades
“Got plan?” Darius asked.
“None…” Trevor said.
“Can you hit them again?” Darius asked.
“One of them maybe… I don’t know what to do about the other one.” Trevor said to him.
“Okay… I think I got a plan. We just need one of us to get on his other side.” Darius said.
“How do-” Trevor was asking before they saw the man stop charging the grenades.
Darius snapped his fingers erecting a barrier in front of the man where the destroyed one had been and made some more besides them so he couldn’t throw them low or to the side and try bounce them off the ground or wall. The man took a step back instead lobbed them over the wall. Darius watched as it soared high in the sky and began to descend. Darius raised a hand and shot a stream of water at them hoping to blow both of them back at the man. But as they made contact with the water a violent explosion occurred.
A cloud of superheated steam and green lighting engulfed the street. Everyone ducked down as the sudden sauna-like conditions flowed over them. After a few seconds, the steam dissipated and everyone began to stand back up. After a few seconds of looking around confused they refocused back on Ashton who seemed to have completely ignored the explosion and had managed to knock a two more people unconscious when they were distracted.
“Shit…” The man said as he waved away the hot mist and looked forward at Darius.
“I guess you’re ability doesn't mix well with water!” Darius said as he snapped his fingers and dismissed the barrier in front of the man.
The man took a step back and watched as Darius began to walk towards him. He had on hand outstretched at the man. Darius was waiting for any sign that the man was about to try to make another bomb. The man simply gritted his teeth and then began to walk towards Darius.
“Fuck…” Darius thought as they both stopped with about ten feet of asphalt between them.
Being so close to each other Darius could now see that the man wasn’t scrawny at all, it was just that the man's body was incredibly lean. He didn’t seem to have an ounce of body fat on him, but his muscles looked well toned.
“So then… Just want to punch this one out then? No abilities? Just man against man… Fair and square.” He asked with a shit eating grin.
Darius gritted his teeth. He looked the man over and concluded that he was in far better shape then he was. The odds of him winning in a fist fight were probably nonexistent especially if the man knew how to fight.
“Sure… Just one condition.” Darius said.
“And what's that?” The man asked.
Darius clenched his fist.
“It will be man and man, against man.” Darius said.
“Wha-” The man said as he realized the guy with the baseball bat was nowhere to be seen.
A sudden pain exploded in the man's knee as a baseball bat made contact from behind. The man’s legs folded from the impact, sending him falling forward towards Darius. Trevor had used the cover of the steam cloud to run through the larger group of people fighting to get behind him for a pincer attack. The thin man had been so focused on Darius’ hands that he had forgotten about Trevor. Darius took a large step forward and brought his hand upwards in an uppercut. His fist met with the man’s forehead and given that the man was falling forwards, it only served to amplify the force of the punch. The man's head rocked back and forth in the air until he hit the ground. Darius spun around and held his hand tightly with his other.
“Shit that hurt!” He said out loud.
Darius quickly looked over his shoulder at the man. He didn’t seem to move. Darius leaned down and rolled him over. The skin on the man’s forehead was split, blood trickling down in a small stream.
“You guys attack us by surprise and think we should fight fair… Fuck you…” Darius said as he looked around for something sharp.
“Break your hand again?” Trevor asked.
“No… Shut up…” He said back.
“M-Mr. Darius?” Beatrix said out looking on from the window.
“Yeah?” He asked as he picked up a piece of glass and examined it.
“Are you okay? You look really beat up.” She said.
“That's because I am really beat up…” He said as he sighed and tossed the glass down and instead reached up and touched his busted lip.
“Oh… Umm… Everyone is doing well in the shelter.” She informed him.
“That's good. Where is Sir? The old guy that was with us in your interview.” He said as he irritated the split in his lip with his teeth.
“He’s on his way here, he was carrying an elderly woman to the…” She said as Darius bent down and kissed the man on his forehead.
“... To the shelter. What are you doing?” She asked poking her head up more.
Darius breathed deeply as he pulled away and wiped his lips with the back of his hand. He smiled as he could feel pure power thrum through his body, his muscles tightening in response. He laughed a little at the feeling. This was such a different sensation than the other abilities he had sampled. He stood up looking at his hands as green electricity arched upwards between his fingers.
“I'm just getting started…”