-------------
Chapter 10
-------------
Kyra ran to the back of the dancing studio toward her mother, who was lying on the ground. “Mom!” she called out.
Her mother looked as though she had taken a beating. She barely breathed.
Hours later, they were at the hospital, and the doctors assured Kyra that her mom would be alright. It wasn’t right at all. Not two days had passed since they had last talked, and Kyra entered the studio hoping to break the silence that had lasted since their ferry ride.
She stood in the hallway when a man appeared. He was not a doctor, but he promised to help her mother get the best treatment possible if Kyra could run some errands—deliver messages and packages for the man and his colleagues. When Kyra said her mother had only been mugged, the man said that her mother had a rare illness, and he could help.
Something about the man felt dirty, but Kyra was sorry. She owed her mom.
Kyra agreed to his terms.
She unsheathed the metal claws from her bracelets, and hit the barrier again. The claws slipped. The barrier touched her hand.
A year had passed of running errands for the local crime family. Kyra’s mother never suspected a thing, and had returned to their home in Nerva after one week in the hospital. The same man came around again to offer protection for her dance studio, but Kyra’s mother refused every month. And yet, she was able to afford the medicine that she needed while Kyra remained in the dark as to what ailed her.
Now, Kyra was on another job. She was supposed to pick up the parcel at a pizza place today, and deliver it to her boss.
Upon reaching the pizzeria, a man crashed out of the front window. It was a Vambraceman.
Kyra ran to him in a crouch, unsure of what exactly happened. She hated law figures, but they were still the authorities, and people more importantly.
“It’s you,” he said, delirious. “Ju—“
“Stay still,” said Kyra, “I’m going to get you some help.”
“You don’t have—“
“Shut up, let me save you.”
His hand was on her forearm. “Forgive me. I could not save you. Could not protect—“ He tried lifting his armlet toward her; it was beautiful. However, his arm collapsed. “Forgive . . . .”
Her first death. For Kyra, it was heavy and numbing.
She took the armlet, “I’ll find her. I’ll find the one you lost and give this to her. Please, wake up. Sir?”
“Fancy that,” said a cocky voice behind her. She knew it well as a muscle belonging to the family she worked for. “I never thought you knew any of these creeps.”
“The only creep here is you. What did you do to him?”
“What? He said he wanted a slice of pizza. What Vambraceman eats here of all places? It had to be a lie, so I took out the garbage. Why don’t you show me some respect? I hear you’re finally old enough.”
Kyra stood up, furious at the mobster. She stormed past him to collect the parcel, fighting every last tear daring to flood her eyes. She wished she had some sort of power. She wished she had some way to make him pay for that.
Ohm Wire retracted her claws. They were not going to work. She had to get out of this cell before—
The gun went off.
Enraged, she rammed the barrier.
A caped figure slipped out of view out the corner of her eye. In Nerva, more so than the rest of the Paragon area, Kyra could not tell if anyone was a hero or a villain unless she could put a name and face to what they’d done, but even then it was not a sure thing. Thinking nothing of the one she saw, she entered the dancing studio.
Her mother was crying in a chair with a medicine bottle in her hand. It was empty.
“Mom?” said Kyra.
The older woman looked upon her daughter with sad eyes, and shook her head. She said, “Oh, my darling little girl, what have I done?”
“What’s the matter? You’re scaring me.”
“I’ve been lying to you all year. This medicine isn’t for me. I’ve run out, and the mafia won’t help me get more because I’ve been refusing their protection. Oh, my baby, why did I take this job? Why did I do this to you?”
“Please, stop it. What are you saying. I can’t understand you.”
Her mom said, “I’ve been asking a friend to patrol this place on the weekends. He’s been telling me to tell you the truth for the past couple months now, but it’s so hard. It’s so . . . Please, will you ever forgive me?” Kyra’s mother wrapped her arms around her by the neck.
“What did you do?”
“The studio needed more people, it’s true, but they called me because the Circle told them to. The Circle contacted me as well.”
“The Circle! Then we have to get away.”
“We can’t, not together. They’re looking for you. This medicine was supposed to suppress your powers so they won’t know your body is ready for them. We should have run, but I didn’t have the money then.”
“Mom, I don’t have any powers.”
“You do. You have the thing your father does. It’s why he hasn’t been back home, or else the Circle would have him too. I’ve been sneaking a pill in your breakfast drinks twice a week since we came to Nerva.”
“Then what about that mob boss? He said you had a rare condition.”
“It was a lie. He hates the Circle as much as I do, but he has a business to run. I’m afraid he can’t help me any more without drawing any unwanted attention unless I pay him for his racketeering services. I hate it. I hate everything about this. I don’t even know what they want with you once your powers have developed, but it can only be trouble. I hoped we could get away, but only one of us can with what I have. How can I leave my baby girl?”
“Leave. Mom, just go.”
“Kyra!”
“You said I have powers? Then it’s time I learned how to use them. Tell me what I need to know, and I’ll fend for myself while you get back with Dad.”
“I can’t leave you.”
“I’m eighteen now, and finishing high school, even if it’s in this shitty neighborhood in the middle of the ocean.” Slight exaggeration, of course. “We both know I would have to leave the house sooner or later, so why not leave things to me? You don’t need to keep watch over me forever.”
“You’re my daughter. It’s my right to watch over you until we’re both dead and buried.”
“Then watch me from Europe. I’m going to make the Circle scream for mercy so loud they’ll think your advanced dancing classes are cake in comparison. So, please, leave Nerva. Leave the country, and don’t look back until this is all over.”
“I love you, Kyra.”
“You too, Mom.” They smiled at one another for a length. “Now, what are these powers?”
And again!
Arachne agents made Ohm Wire laugh. Their batons were charged with electricity and laser weaponry, both of which did nothing more than tickle now that she had been off of that medicine for a week. Of course, that wasn’t all she could do. She could use her body’s electric field to trick the light around her, allowing Ohm Wire to strike an enemy or two in a number of vital points before they could fight back because they couldn’t see her.
Ohm Wire took two agents down, and danced about the third with well-coordinated steps and flips. Ninjas and martial arts flicks, eat your hearts out. This did, however, present a small problem whenever she moved fast enough. She was visible, and getting to those vital points were tougher without some means to remove the armor worn by the Arachne agents.
She managed a lotus kick in the third agent’s helmeted face, and it disoriented him. She took the chance to apply some pressure, and yank away the baton. She could resist those electric currents; the agents could not.
The business end of the baton was shoved into the agent’s trousers. He fell with the most painful groan Ohm Wire had ever heard in her life.
When the fight was over—it took place in a shipyard—Ohm Wire heard someone clapping. It was a man who looked like a flaming skull in a military outfit and a cape.
He said, “Impressive. The question is, what brings you this way?”
“Call it a test run,” said Ohm Wire. “And who are you? Colonel Humerus?”
“You have a mouth on you. Good, I like that. The name’s Ghost Fracture, and I can always use someone of your talents in my group of ragtag villains.”
“What makes you think I’m a villain?”
“This is a dangerous place for a hero to try out her powers. A ruling crime family, the Arachne Regime, Circle of Thorns, and more wannabe villains than anyone cares to shake a stick at. My group, Nightmare’s Militia or Soldiers depending on whom you ask, works in the shadows to sabotage the likes of them here and in Striga Isle, leaving no question about our villainy so that the heroes of Paragon don’t try to reign judgment over our methods.”
“Doesn’t stop them from trying to stop you, I bet.”
“Honestly, I’m surprised they haven’t tried to stop each other. It took a pair of villainous sisters and their doctor friend to expose the corruption within the Vambracemen some years ago. That's a story for another time if you're interested in joining us. So, what do you say? Would you like to take part in something greater than yourself?”
“I need a weapon. Some of these bastards wear armor.”
“We can help you there.”
“There’s a specific mobster I wish to take down. Cripple or end him, and I’m yours.”
“My dear, you have yourself a deal. What do you call yourself?”
“Ohm Wire.”
One. More. Time!
Her shoulder could hate her later.
Her mark was in plain view with few guards. They were roughing someone up pretty bad, though Ohm Wire could not see who it was.
It turned out that the same mission to take down this muscle for the local family was the one where she could find a pair of retractable metal claws inside of a weapons crate. They looked like nothing more than reinforced leather gauntlets, which went well with the color of her fingerless gloves. One bonus after another, Ohm Wire marked the crates that the Soldiers had her searching for so they could replace them with dud weapons, all the while she took down the guards in stealth and hid their bodies with various booze.
Everything led to this moment. She hated the man monologuing to whomever it was he had strapped to that chair. He was a creep with more love for violence than the people he worked for, but the family found enough use for him.
That ended here.
Ohm Wire ran forward, learning and incorporating the claws into her method of attack in the process. She struck her main target from behind beneath his legs with enough force to send him flying forward, and then grabbed onto the light hanging above the hostage.
She kicked the two nearby guards right after stabbing the light with her new metal claws. The electric current added to her kick, but she had to let go. The light could only take extra weight for so long, and the gunner preparing to shoot her wasn’t coming any closer.
Continuing to move with the grace of a ballerina, Ohm Wire glided toward the gunner and sliced away his weapon. A punch to the jaw, and elbow to the nose; she did not let up in her assault until the failed gunner was down for the count.
Then the man she’d come here for said, “Stop right there, or the old lady gets it.”
Ohm Wire turned. The hood had been taken off of the woman hostage, and horror hit Ohm Wire harder than a train the size of Saturn’s rings.
“Mom,” she whispered.
“There,” said the creep, “That didn’t take much to stop you, did it? What’s that make you, some sort of hero? In Nerva? Your kind isn’t welcome here, and I just might have to teach you and this nice lady here a lesson as soon as I’m done with what I was saying before. Now, Mrs. Hobbs, tell us where your daughter is so we can give her up to the Circle. They’ll be off our backs, and we’ll be off yours. Deal?”
“No deal,” said a deeper voice. Two arms of ice slammed against the sides of the creep’s head. He had apparently been too surprised to shoot, and now the creep was out cold.
Ha, out cold. Ohm Wire would have to write that one down.
Wait, no, she was angry. This was no time for jokes.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Ohm Wire asked. “She could have died because of you. And this was my assignment.”
“Kyra,” said the icy titan, whose features she could barely see, “It’s OK. Besides, you’re the one who messed up. Rookie mistakes.”
“Who do you think you are? My name’s Ohm Wire.”
Her mother tried to speak through the gag, but it was totally incoherent.
Ohm Wire sighed. “Yes, Mom, I’ve remembered to eat and bathe regularly, and practice my forms.”
More incoherent muffles.
“Yes, I know, you have every right to ask me these things. I’m not saying you don’t. Nut. Now, do you mind telling me why you’re here instead of Europe?”
Kyra’s mom spent about a minute with more muffles. The icy hero scratched his head at one point, shrugged, and walked off to the side while dragging away the unconscious bodies. Apparently, she had been captured by the family at the airport, and they had already received threats from the Circle by then, so she did not make it out of the country as planned. Otherwise she would have been in Europe having a good time with her husband.
“Ok,” said Ohm Wire, “please promise me you’ll never again mention you and Dad getting it on, with or without the rabbits comparison. I’d much appreciate it. So, is this hero the friend you told me about?”
A few muffles.
“Adamast Cross? How do you know Adamast?”
This time, the muffles translated to the effect of her mother knowing the man behind the mask at the school in Steel Canyon. He had started working there while Kyra was a sophomore in high school, so they never met until now, but it did not take much for Kyra’s mom to figure out that her colleague lived a double life.
Adamast shed his ice armor by now. Kyra was unsure whether to shout at him for shadowing her, or telling him how handsome he looked. So, of course, she tried both at once. It was a hand in the bush, so to speak.
She had to push through. Ohm Wire was almost free. Lights were flickering, the two Vanbracemen were freaking out who remained standing, and she moved forward through the mystical barrier.
David sat across from Kyra at an outdoor café table. Neither of them had known they were going to hit it off. It was only meant to be a simple lunch since Kyra was otherwise alone on this archipelago, unless you counted Nightmare’s Soldiers. She stared into his brown eyes, and they chatted about things like movies and musicals. Their four year difference meant nothing at all when their words connected.
Their second lunch was cut short when the Soldiers called her in for an assignment, but David promised to take her out to a movie next weekend.
She heard about rivaling covens within the Circle, and Nightmare’s Soldiers hoped to play that to everyone’s advantage. They spent a couple days provoking hostility between the two covens, and another day putting down a skirmish in the streets between both covens and a number of civilians on three of the ten major islands of Nerva. The Soldiers learned their lesson, and the Circle was both angered and crippled for the time being.
David broke his promise after that, however. He treated Kyra to a musical in Talos instead of a movie. It was one she’d wanted to see for so very long.
Some weeks were less noteworthy than others, and some more eventful, but it went on for a year before David kissed Kyra.
“You never kissed a girl before, have you?”
“Of course I have.”
“Then what took you so long?”
“Kyra . . . .”
Two weeks later, he broke some bad news to her. Kyra could not understand. There were times in their year together when David seemed distant, but then he said they were too close. That he was not ready, as much as he liked her. Kyra was pissed, but she yearned for more of him all the same. That only made her angrier at herself. And at him.
In the months that followed, the Soldiers disbanded, leaving Kyra with nothing but her mom’s Nerva house—the official name of ownership had changed long ago for safety reasons—her belongings, and that armlet, which she found while cleaning the room she hadn’t spent many waking hours in lately.
Then it dawned on her. David had one of these on a few of their dates, towards the beginning.
Kyra pondered over the armlet while pacing around her room. She’d promised to find the girl that Vambraceman had confused her for. Could she find Adamast Cross with it somehow? Could she find more heroes to help her against the Circle, the mystery girl included? A close inspection showed some sort of circuitry, similar to the tag she’d worn to access the Soldiers’ base from time to time.
BANG! Something hit the roof of the house. She looked out of the window, finding a mass of mages and spirits approaching. One of them had fired off a spell too soon, and more were preparing to do worse to this house.
She crammed some clothes and a couple bananas into her bag, and then fled with her trick of the light in effect. With luck, no one would see or trace her. With luck, the house would still be standing when she got back.
One day.
Ohm Wire practically flew at the two men with her claws out. They did not stand a chance against her rampage. One man went down fast, and then she grabbed the one with the gun from behind.
“Tell me something, Vambraceman,” she said in a hiss. “A true hero sacrificed himself to save me. What have you died for?” Ohm Wire rammed one set of claws into his spine. “Think on that while you still can.”
The second man fell to the ground faster than her claws could retract. She crouched by the good sergeant, who was already gone.
“Yours will not be in vain.” she said, touching his armlet.
A surge of electricity filled the room.
Steve stepped out of the shower, wiping his body with a towel. His Arachne agent uniform sat in one corner, and another costume was in a display case. His old armlet from the League days sat in another case with a number of trophies.
The television announced that the city was experiencing a strange phenomenon at the time of its reporting. Metahumans across downtown Paragon were losing access to magic and superpowers. Officials were trying their best to pinpoint the cause and gather a tech-based taskforce to investigate and remedy the phenomenon at once.
Steve snickered. “Losers,” he said.
Then arms wrapped around him. A raspy woman’s voice said, “Traitor.” He saw only a ghastly face with white eyes in the mirror before the metal claws punctured him.
He heard glass break as Steve collapsed and bled on the carpet. It was the last thing he could hear.
Bruno Augustus used to mean something. He still wore the band to prove it. His eye twitched when his own shadow questioned him. And he was going to matter again. He worked it out.
Blow a gust of wind just right to push someone in front of a vehicle, save them, and take in the honor. The time and place were picked out along with the right person. A rich looking woman in a miniskirt and heels. This was perfect. Fool proof!
He went to work.
The woman hit the pavement as planned, though from tripping instead of any wind kicking up, and a bus was coming, turning with little to no visibility of the downed woman. Bruno took a step forward, but stopped. Something electric exploded in front of the bus, causing it to stop.
His eye twitched. It did that when someone stood behind him.
Bruno summoned the wind, as great as he could make it. No one would short-change him, or sneak up on the Gust Brawn. No one!
Nothing came. Not even a wisp of air.
That was when the woman behind him said, “Filth.” Something cold and hard ran through his back. He felt his sleeve being torn apart while his body lay upon the concrete. The band was taken from him, the rich woman screaming as she fled the other way.
The ghastly apparition of Ohm Wire took off with the armlet. In seconds, she joined with her sisters. They became one, a woman with white eyes, and a tally of lives to finally match her record as a villain.
But, she did not feel complete yet. She walked from the Vambraceman base, which was in turmoil now along with the rest of the city. She wandered the city and its outskirts for two days, stealing food from the rich and wasteful, before she felt something as peculiar as it was wonderful.
A presence entered the city. One important to her. It was time to meet it.
