Powers Ch. 05

"I will try, okay? I will give it my all."

***

I was eating my chicken and pasta, same as any day, watching the team fights, when a breaking news report came through on the television.

"Join us live for breaking news, this is Josh and..."

"Kate, for Powers news."

"There has been an attack on the Power tribe outside of Nowhereville, Venezuela."

"Warning for our sensitive viewers: The following footage is gruesome."

Slowly pictures of rubble riddled with bullet holes passed by on the screen. A smoked husk where a village once stood, passed by as the man kept talking.

"This is the biggest rebel attack since the incident. We have confirmed 6 dead and twenty missing. Some of whom may be missing in the rubble but for some reason the rebels took all the adults they could find."

"The only images we have from the attack are three stills taken from a satellite."

The satellite images started to go by. In the first one you saw three helicopters landing next to the village. In the next it was like little black ants were spread all over the village and in the last one the helicopters were gone again.

"As you can see the attack was fast, efficient, brutal and performed by professionals."

"Now we have professor Neuron, from the Powers College, joining us via satellite link."

"Yes, hello." Said a picture of the same old professor that was tired of fatherly advice.

"You had something riveting to tell us."

"Yes, I don't think this was a rebel attack."

The anchors face was golden. There was a second of shock, then came the realization that this would be gold. The professor was about to hand her an exclusive storyline, and everyone would run her clips, resulting in ratings heaven.

"Why do you say that?"

"Several factors. First let's look at the amount of helicopters used. Rebels are terrorists with a single purpose, killing Powers. Sending three helicopters doesn't fit their order of operations. Nor do they take survivors. Finally, look at the weapons used."

"Splinter bombs." She stuck in.

"Yes, splinter bombs..."

"Can you tell our viewers what a splinter bomb is? I think I speak for most of us when I say I have no clue."

"Sure, a splinter bomb is an explosive charge with splinters formed around it. It's used as an anti personnel weapon in the second world war. When it explodes it drives the splinters away with a very high speed, covering a large area with deadly debris. No Rebel would ever use it, since a shield would turn it completely useless. They usually favor gas and pyro bombs."

"So who do you think is behind the attack?" She said with a smile, like the cat that ate the canary.

"I don't know."

"You must have a guess." Her smile grew a bit strained.

"I don't guess."

"But if it wasn't Rebels, who could it be?" She was turning straight up hostile now.

"I don't know."

"You said 3 helicopters, military precision and using weapons from the world war. Do you suspect Venezuelan military?"

"I don't speculate."

They cut for a commercial break and the professor was gone. He hadn't given the anchor the sound bite she was looking for. They quickly found a crazy conspiracy theorist to follow him and that gave them exactly what they wanted.

***

The next day every person from a power village wore a creepy white mask. There seemed to be some kind of burial ritual going on where different people prettied up the masks of other people. Sometimes they got something in return, but not always.

It made the hate even worse. It wasn't people hating me anymore just faceless masks and they were everywhere.

The next day the masks spread further as a way to show support. A week after the attack it was weirder to see people out of masks than in.

***

It didn't matter to me, since that Monday I found a note in my mail. Just one note of many, but this one drew my attention. The purple letter with three letters on it, 'Bro', was all it took for me to have a public breakdown outside my apartment.

One of these fuckers had found out how my sister used to send notes to me. They'd done a terrible job copying her handwriting, It was way too big and choppy, but, still, they had the right purple paper. No one should know that.

The anger ran hot as I tore open the note.

'Thanks, now don't fight this month.'

'Love, Eve.'

These fuckers thought they could get me to not fight? Fuck them! I'm going to show those dipshits, every fucking last one of the assholes! I'm going to destroy this school!

***

I stormed into my basement room. People stared but the clear red glove kept everyone at a good distance.

I let my rage power a kick and the bag flew all the way up, hitting the ceiling with a satisfying thunk before it came down. I took a step in and put all my weight into a right straight, punching straight through the bag with a nice scratching sound. Then the sand exploded and spread everywhere.

Tiny small droplets of sand kept dripping down and my anger gave way for what I really felt.

Eve was dead. I knew it, but I was always carrying around a hope. Somehow she had survived and these sons of bitches used that hope to torture me, to get in my head. They were the worst kind of people.

I sunk down into a pile of sand and I remembered Eve, her beauty, brilliance and compassion. If she was here now everything would be okay. She wouldn't have dealt with things this way. She would have been the pillar of hope people needed. She would have been the inspiration Em looked for in me.

Eve was deathly scared of blood and usually fainted. Still, that one time I had came home with a scraped knee and no one was there, she set away her feelings and she took care of me. She led me to the sofa, cleaned the wound, plastered it and gave me an ice cream before she ran to the bathroom, threw up and passed out. I didn't know a thing until mom came home. That was Eve, and that was the memories they used to torture me.

***

Two hours later the door opened and Em stood there, the anger melted from her face when she saw the clear violet shine from my glove.

She sat down behind me without saying a word and shared my pain. Her energy slowly won over and the pain went away until I could talk. It wasn't a meadow under the stars but it worked just as well.

I don't know how or why she did it, but Em got more and more people to come by. The brothers, Jenny, Mellie and Jack, even Amber and Jeong. All the people in my life here that I cared about sat with me as I told stories about Eve -- the stories that hurt so much.

They all laughed at our childish pranks on each other. The fights that had made me so mad back then were now a funny story to tell. The mischief that had left me in tears were now a hilarious retelling of what you could do. The time in the tent had everyone in stitches.

When I looked back at it, most of my time with my sister was spent fighting for one reason or another, until someone was dumb enough to mess with one of us. Then they got the full fury of the Hansson siblings pressed down their throat and they all regretted being born.

Without Eve I was a broken man, but then and there I started to heal, my first step towards being fine. The people around me would make sure I was okay. I wouldn't be alone.

I wouldn't be lonely.

***

The rest of the month was spent practicing and preparing for Christmas. Because every other Power in the world had Christmas break this competition was the most viewed one and the preparation for a good show spanned all through December.

It was also the time when people missed their families the most so everywhere I went people talked on phones or skyped loved ones back home. The lucky few, mostly people with high security clearance, got visitation rights but this month brought people together.

***

I went through the preliminaries like a hot knife through butter, and Em found me in the middle of the break.

"Who are you challenging?"

"I can't make up my mind. How would you feel if I challenged your brother?"

"Don't hold back on my account. Tom could use the ass whooping. Isn't Jarred a better pick though? It's a higher Rank, and you beat him last time."

"I -- I wasn't talking about Tom."

"Luke? The third seat?"

"Strength speaks. I need to prove I belong. I need to prove my Power or the same thing that happened last time will happen again."

Em touched her lips, tilted her head before she nodded at me.

A man in a red santa suit walked onto stage and the lights dimmed. White translucent smoke billowed out from about twenty placed in the crowd.

"Is this supposed to happen?" I asked Em. She shook her head as Santa walked up to the stage.

"Hello and welcome to the Rebel show."

The audience lit up as five thousand Powers ignite their shields at the first mention of Rebels.

"Don't be alarmed. No harm will come to anyone as long as no harm comes to us."

People started to work towards the exits in an extremely organized manner. Just for them to start dropping like flies at the count of ten.

"Don't worry. It's just the Methoxypropane taking effect. Don't worry. You'll all be fine. It's lighter than air so if you lay down you will be fine."

"To the army officers watching this. Methocpropane is incredibly flammable and we have this whole place filled to the brim. So I would advise against trying to interfere. Just one spark and this place goes up in flames. We wouldn't want there to be an accident? Would we?"

Ten youngsters walked down the stairs, when they got down below the audience stands they ripped of their masks.

"The competitions have all gotten so boring now a day so I thought we could spice things up with new challengers. So I brought with me some of my students. First up is Malica Norbert. She wishes to challenge the tenth seat."

He played with a switch. "If you don't want to play, I can just turn on the lights. The lightbulbs up there would ignite the gas though and we would have an accident. No one wants that right?"

The tenth ranker stepped up to his mark as Santa kept talking.

"Mailica has been with us for just six months. She graduated this school last year as one of the worst fighters in school, but with some love and care she has turned into quite the fighter."

Em's phone burred. She showed it to me. Buy time was the message sent. What did that mean? I tried to ask Em but she just shook her head to me and we watched as the tenth ranker took a beating by the overpowering female.

Santa took out a framed picture of a young black man. "She's fighting for justice for her brother Yorell Norbert, 17. He was hunted down by Powered police and shot 7 times in the back as he ran away."

Mailica took the tenth seed and carried him out of the octagon.

Santa pointed to a new person that removed his mask and the show went on.

"This is Buck McCoy. He came to us two years ago, after his brother Rocky was shot fatally by a police officer. Rocky was running around naked on his own land when the officer decided to use his gun on him. Why his state of undress wasn't a sign of mental distress and why he didn't use the taser on his body, no one knows."

Santa gave them a short introduction and then some Powers police related death. Tom, Karateka, Luke and all the other rankers all ate the dirt against the challengers. Something wasn't right. As the fights went on the challenger's gloves grew darker and darker. That wasn't normal. A stronger person should have a brighter glove.

The last challenger removed her mask and my world tilted, my knees felt weak and I leaned against the wall. My breath came in pained gasps. Everything in the world disappeared until I could only see her. It was impossible but at the same time it was everything I had ever hoped for.

One second I wanted to run away, in the next I was keeping in a giggle. My head swam on a pillow of clouds. My heart thumped in my chest and a fluttery feeling traveled through my body. It couldn't be real? Right?

She stepped up to the mark and took her stance. The same one as always. Her feet at a 45 degree angle, a feet apart. Both hands up to cover her face from kicks. The classic Thai Boxer stance but her gloves were anything but classic. They were midnight black.

Kendoll stepped up to the plate and just like any other he was struck down.

Em leaned into me and whispered, "That Girl fights like you."

My hands crunched into a fist. "It would be weird otherwise."

"You know her?"

I tried to find the words, but they weren't there. Em was smart how didn't she see it?

"She crushed the best fighter in school in three seconds."

"No she didn't. I'm standing right here."

"So what are you standing here for? Go buy time."

There was no fucking chance I could win if I went in dry, but Em was there. I reached out and grabbed her hand, stealing her energy, but it wasn't enough. She wasn't feeling enough.

"You know I love you. Right?"

"What?"

I'm an asshole, I know, but I needed her to feel more. I needed to tap into her love.

I reached down and pushed her short hair out of her face. Then I let my fingers slide down her cheek and tipped her chin up.

Her lips were soft and her eyes grew wide with shock. I pulled back while keeping eye contact.

"I love you, Emily Miller."

Both her arms went straight to my neck and pulled me down, stuffing her tongue in my mouth.

A spark ignited in her and she provided me with the power I needed. I'm an asshole all right. Luckily being angry at myself is still anger.

I walk into the ring. My body tingled from the Power I could barely contain.

"It's been a while."

"Sure has. Now get off the stage, bro, I saw your fights, you don't belong in this league."

"Sure, sis, but you've been naughty and need a spanking."

She laughed, and for a second it was weird. Standing in the ring with no sound around us felt wrong.

"Sure. Like that could happen."

I rolled my shoulders and walked up to my mark.

"Get the trash out of the way and let's see how much you've really grown."

Eve looked at me suspiciously before dragging Kendoll out of the way.

I jumped on the spot and took a couple of deep breaths. It felt like everything was going a bit too slow. My body reacted faster as the overload of energy worked through my body.

"Are you ready to have billions of people watch you cry like a little girl?"

Her glove flared for a bit and it looked like when a black hole eats a red star. (If you don't know what that looks like, go look it up, it's beautiful.)

She stepped up to her spot and I inched closer until I could kick. She took a half step closer and kicked as well. By some kind of magic her kick hit first, blunting the impact of my kick.

She's that much faster than me? How the fudge is she that Powerful?

Her leg shot out again in a middle kick and I had no choice but to cut it and take the pain. Her foot slammed into my knee and I was the one winching from the exchange. Then, before I could put down my foot to kick out, she was already kicking again.

It was like I stood still and she trained her kicks. I had to do something. Somehow?

I tried to close in but there was nothing I could do. She was stronger and faster.

For every punch I got in she kicked me twice.

Hopelessness spread through my limbs and they steadily grew heavier as the fight went on.

Eve was still my wall; The terrifyingly high wall that I could never climb. This was the feeling I should inspire in others? Total helplessness?

She pestered me with high kick after high kick, drawing my guard up before she hit me with her only punch of the fight. A wicked uppercut through my guard, and it was like she cut my cords. My eyes swam, my legs felt heavy, and for a second there was only darkness.

Then there was the bright light. The stadium lights in the ceiling. Last time I looked at those lights I was a Ranker.

A Ranker that couldn't defend his Rank. I was nothing. Abigail said that. Wonder if she was watching this fight. I probably made her angry. I never used what she taught me.

I had been drawn into Eve's pace, into the powerless boy I used to be. I had learnt a lot this last year. I had to stand back up. I had to show the world what I was capable of.

I flipped over to my side and my whole body screamed from pain. This was a bad idea. I couldn't do it. It wasn't possible to stand. I had taken too much damage.

There were two hands gripping the fence of the octagon. She had lovely freckles, but something was wrong with them. They were all sparkly. Covered with water? Em was crying?

Who dared make Em cry?

The red hot spark shot through me. All the fuzziness gave way for that one picture. They made Em cry. They were going to be punished.

I took a deep breath. Every part of my body complained, but some idiot made Em cry and they are going to pay. Who was it?

One guy was standing in the middle of a stage holding a microphone and talking nonsense to the camera. That idiot didn't do it. The only other person here was Eve. My bitch sister made Em cry. She needs to be taken down a couple of pegs.

I got up and my energy supercharged. I felt hot all over and my breathing came in ragged gasps. 'To fight you have to breathe.'

Eve and the guy was arguing. I took another stapling step and she pointed at me.

"He can't walk!"

"I don't care, he needs to be humiliated! That's how we show we're strong! If we leave with someone standing they'll use the footage to spin it!"

"I won't do it!"

There was a loud slap as his glove impacted her shield. Hard enough to sting, but not so hard that it broke the shield. That ass hole dared hitting my sister? He's going to die!

The anger ignited and I could feel the energy work it's way through my body. The conversation with the professor played itself back in my mind. My lock was a way to keep me from hurting myself with the power I have. Well, I was getting hurt either way. I needed the power now.

I took a deep breath and I let the power travel through my body. I tried to balance the colors to create a pure White shine. My anger ran hot, my sadness cold, and Em's joy brought them both together. I could do this. With another deep breath the power circulated and grew.

Eve was working her way towards me.

I felt something giving way inside of me. Something I could use.

I got up my guard.

Any second now my lock would break. I knew it. I could feel it. Everything was going to work out.

Eve's fist drove into my shield and my concentration broke. Fuck. I was so close. I could taste the strength. I wanted that Power. I needed my lock to break.

Eve took a step in and her arm reached out and she slapped me in the back of the head. I reacted the same as I always had. I raised my guard. Fuck. She had gotten me with that again.

Wait. She had reached in, gotten close, and slapped me in the back of the head. She used to do that when I lowered my guard. What will happen if I lower my guard?

There was another slap to the back of my head.

Okay, I can use this. Eve didn't want to knock me out. She just wanted me to give up. She wasn't trying to hurt me.

I lower my guard again, but this time I knew what's coming. She might be twice as fast but if I was prepared I could catch her.

She steps in, I meet her with a hip to the stomach. Her arm flies towards my head and I catch it, pulling her forward. Her momentum works for me and she can't stop herself from falling over my leg.

I stand with her laid out on the ground and the training kicks in. I step over her and catch her arm behind my legs and hold her in an arm bar.

I got her. I won. That was that. She can't get out without breaking her arm. She had to tap out.

Eve's eyes are filled with rage and pain as she defiantly stares up at me. She had to tap out.