1.
“Are you sure that you want to do this?” Dr. Samosian said to Robert Harris. Harris was about to enter his seventh tour in the Army and it was supposed to be the most dangerous tour, going into a city under siege and helping the few civilians fight back. Harris had volunteered for a super solider-type program that would usher in a new era for the military.Within months, Harris was back on the frontline, about forty percent of his body had been replaced with cybernetic material. His metallic skin glared in the sunlight of the desert. His right eye had been replaced with a glowing red LED that doubled as a computer and a laser. When Harris returned home after almost a year, his wife, Alicia, and children did not appreciate the change in his body or demeanor. His new, almost skeletal look scared his children, and his eye showed no emotion when he looked at Alicia.
“I am the beginning of the future for American soldiers,” Harris said. “I am almost a perfect weapon.”
“I don’t want you to be a perfect weapon,” Alicia said. “Why didn’t you ask what I thought about this before sacrificing your body for...for this.”
“You would’ve said ‘no’,” Harris glared at his wife.
“Of course I would. No wife in her right mind would agree to let their husband do this.”
“It’s for the best,” Harris gently took Alicia’s hands. “You’ll get used to it and everything will be right back to where it was.”
Alicia tried. The metal made Robert heavier which made love-making an unpleasant experience. The metal was also cold and clanged when Robert would move or touch her. It was tolerable but what Alicia didn’t like was the change in Robert’s emotions. He had gotten angrier and every little inconvenience set him off.
“I can’t do it,” Alicia said to a friend over the phone. “Tomorrow, while Robert’s at work, we’re going to leave. I’m so scared of him, I’m not telling anyone where we are going. I’ll let you know that I am safe. Good-bye.”
Robert, using his cybernetic eye, saw Alicia through the walls and heard everything. That night, the house burst into flames almost immediately burning to the ground. Investigators found the three bodies of Alicia and her children still in their beds among the charred rubble. Their throats had been slit almost through to the spine. Suspicion fell on Robert who had vanished into thin air.
“Even if we do find him,” one of the policeman said. “We don’t have the manpower to capture and bring him in.”
“The government created this monster, the government should help find him and bring him to justice,” another said.
For the last decade, Dmitri Sylvester had acquired a team of superheroes that the government wanted to use for your basic police work around the country. They had never actually been used in a major capacity before but with Robert on the run and considered extremely armed and dangerous, the team finally made their public debut.
On the team was their leader, America, the first person that Dmitri contacted. Matthew Coffin was the epitome of the American ideal, at least physically. Super strong and super fast, and very agile. Agent Spider, Miguel Stoll, was like a real-life Spider-Man. Geo-Whiz, Brandon Taggart, who could manipulate the earth and was really smart. Dmitri’s own daughter, Vanessa, who went by Smoke because she was just a wisp of smoke in female form. Lastly, Jerome Cooper, or Database, smarter than Brandon, he could process information within seconds to come up any and all possible outcomes. Jerome was also very opinionated.
“Leave it to our government,” he smiled and shook his head. “They build an unstoppable super soldier but don’t think about installing a kill switch. It’s like they don’t fully think things through.”
“That’s enough, Jerome,” Dmitri said. “They’re still only human. Not everyone can be like you.”
“This is totally going on my blog though,” Jerome said. “The public needs to know this dangerous man is out there and it’s because of the government that he’s so dangerous.”
That night, Jerome had long posted his blog post about Robert Harris, the government’s cybernetic soldier program, and the gruesome murders of Harris’ family. Jerome was alone in his apartment, browsing his favorite social websites. “You wrote some mean things,” a voice came through the darkness and into his office.
Without needing to think, Jerome responded. “I wrote the truth. It’s not my fault if you find something about you insulting.” Jerome turned around to the see the half man, half robot in his office doorway. “Are you going to turn yourself in?”
“No,” Robert was confused by the question.
“I didn't think so,” Jerome said and stood up. He began looking around the room, calculating odds and scenarios on how to escape from Robert. Robert quickly ran to Jerome, grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off the ground. “Whoa! Let’s think rationally here, it’s just a blog post. Very few people read it,” Jerome croaked as Robert’s grip tightened, making it hard to speak and breathe.
“I didn’t hesitate when I slit my own family’s throats and blew them to bits. Do you think I’d hesitate on killing you?” Robert asked.
“I…” and with three cracks, Robert twisted his wrist, breaking Jerome’s neck. Robert dropped Jerome on the ground then left out the way he got in.
The next day, Dmitri and his team were at Jerome’s apartment. “Okay,” Dmitri sighed as Jerome was taken away, covered up on a stretcher. “Now it’s personal.”
2.
Alix Kincaid staggered into her apartment on Essex Street in New York City. As she walked down the hall, she removed her shoes, pants, and belly shirt, leaving them in a trail down the hall. She grabbed an oversized t-shirt in her room and put it on then collapsed on her bed. She had just fallen asleep when the alarm went off. She ignored it and let it beep.“Alix! Can’t you hear that?” her mom shouted from the doorway. “You need to get up. You’re not missing school again.”
Alix slowly rose from the bed and stood up. She turned her back to her mother and removed her shirt, grabbing another one from the floor.
“You should really wear a bra,” her mother said.
“My boobs, my rules,” Alix said.
“What time did you get home?”
“I don’t know. Late.”
“What were you doing out so late?”
“Mom,” Alix looked straight at her mother’s eyes. “I’m not gonna lie to you. What’s for breakfast?” Alix walked past her mom and back down the hall where her clothes were still laying.
“Don’t avoid the question, Alix!” her mom shouted.
“Why does it matter where I was? Nothing bad happened and I came home.”
“It matters because no matter what you think I care about you and love you. I am your mother!”
“I know. You keep reminding me,” Alix rolled her eyes. “There’s nothing to eat here. Can I have a couple bucks to buy breakfast?” she asked, eyeing her mom’s purse.
“I guess. But just take the five. I want you to come right home after school, okay? I’ll make a good dinner and we can talk.”
“Talk? About what?”
“Just talk. We never talk anymore…” she brushed Alix’s short black hair from her eyes.
“We never talked before,” Alix interrupted.
“Regardless. Right after school.”
“So I’m beginning to think those pills Paolo gave us last night were fake,” Traci said, standing outside the stall in the girl’s bathroom at school. “I mean, I started coming down pretty quickly after I took them and normally I get a pretty good buzz going that lasts. Last night I just didn’t feel it as much as I usually do. Jesus, what are you doing in there?”
“They were real Traci, I can vouch for Paolo. Also,” she opened the door to the stall, “what the hell would I be doing in here?”
“I dunno. I’ve seen a lot of things happening in a bathroom,” Traci shrugged.
“Come on. Let’s go outside. I need a smoke.”
Outside, Alix and Traci sat on the basketball court watching some boys play basketball. Alix was slowly smoking her cigarette. “My mom wants to ‘talk’ when I get home. She wants to make a nice dinner and have a mother-daughter conversation,” Alix said.
“How dare she,” Traci said.
“It could be worse,” Alix said, exhaling smoke. “She could want to take me to the mall.”
The girls stood up and began walking back to the school. A basketball flew through the air and hit Alix on the side of the head.”
“Ow!” she screamed.
“Nice catch,” said one of the boys.
“That hurt, Diego!” Alix yelled angrily.
“Not like there’s anything up there to hurt,” Diego scoffed. A couple of his friends chuckled.
“Look Traci,” Alix held up the basketball, “we now have proof that Diego has at least one ball.”
Diego got in Alix’s face and smirked. “I didn’t hear you complaining a couple weeks ago.”
Alix took one last drag on her cigarette and threw it down. “I didn’t have to complain. The bored look on my face said it all.” And she exhaled the smoke in Diego’s face.
Diego stared at Alix as she smiled at him. “Bitch!” he said as he slapped her across the face. Diego turned around. “Come on, guys. Let’s go in.”
Alix felt the warm area where Diego slapped her and got angrier with every passing second. Traci walked over to her and held her. Alix began screaming and running toward Diego. She then punched Diego square in the back. Traci shuddered at the sound of the crack. Diego fell to the ground. Traci saw what had happened and began screaming.
Alix noticed what she did and began crying. She saw a couple of teachers and security officers running toward her. Alix began panicking and ran away in the other direction.
“If Alix comes home, please give us a call,” the police officer said, handing Alix’s mom a business card. “We need to get a statement from her. We’re not sure if the boy will ever walk again or if his parents are going to press charges.”
“Thank you, officer. I wish I knew where she ran off to,” Alix’s mom glanced at the card and sighed. The officer tipped his hat and she shut the door. She went into the kitchen where the table was set and dinner hot and ready. She sat down to prepare to eat. “Damn it, Alix.”
There was a knock at the door. Alix’s mom got back up and opened the door. There was a young boy standing in the hallway.
“Yes? Is this about Alix?”
The kid pulled a gun from his jacket and began shooting at her. Three shots were fired. One went into her leg, the other into her shoulder, and the third into her stomach. She fell to the floor and the kid ran away. Blood poured out of her wounds and pooled beneath her.
Alix ran into the hospital and into her mom’s room in the intensive care unit. She was sobbing and having a hard time catching her breath. “Oh, Mom! I’m so sorry. That should’ve been me. I should’ve came right home. I am so, so sorry. You’ll never forgive me for this and you shouldn’t have to. I am so sorry. Mom, I love you…” she cried on her Mom for several minutes until a nurse escorted her out of the room.
Half an hour later, Alix stood on the edge of a tall tenement, still crying and looking out over the city. Alix braced herself, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. “I’ll see you soon, Daddy,” she whispered.
“It’s not that bad,” someone said behind her, a hand on her shoulder. “Your mother will be all right. You are much stronger than you think. In more ways than one.”
“What are you talking about?” Alix asked.
“Come down off the ledge and I’ll tell you,” Dmitri helped Alix off the ledge and put a coat around her. “We’ve been watching you, Alix. You have a special gift which you demonstrated on that poor boy earlier today.”
“Please don’t remind me,” Alix said.
“I would like to enlist you into an elite team of superheroes. We need your powers to find and stop someone,” Dmitri said.
“What about my Mom? What about Diego?”
“The government will gladly take care your mom both in the hospital and out. She will recover fully. As for Diego, we will pay his medical expenses but we have convinced his parents that they shouldn’t pursue anything legal and we are currently infiltrating and disbanding the street gang that he was a part of. They are no longer a threat to your mom or the neighborhood in general.”
“Who are you?” Alix asked suspiciously.
“I am Dmitri Sylvester. Let’s find someplace warmer and talk.”
3.
Senator Derrick King was the junior senator from Ohio. He lived in Columbus and had served for going on 14 years. Senator King was instrumental in getting the program that created Robert Harris started as well. Harris had discovered a failed early experiment. Mason Tillerson was a young Army recruit who signed up for an early super soldier program. Initially, the government used a serum. The serum worked but turned Tillerson into a grotesque monster with yellow skin and a big, bulky body. Harris took Tillerson from a government facility and thought he would be useful as dumb muscle.At Senator King’s house just outside of Columbus, Tillerson was throwing the dead bodies of the Senator and his wife down into the basement. Harris had crushed King’s neck as soon as he opened the door. His wife, coming to see who was at the door, got a piercing eye-laser beam through the heart.
“What do we do now?” Tillerson asked.
“We can stay here for awhile but people will notice the Senator isn’t around. We’ll stay here a couple days until we figure out what to do and where to go next,” Harris said.
“The feds are sending that superhero team they have after us,” Tillerson said.
“There is no one on that team who can stop me. Most could barely defeat you. Which gives me an idea. We need to take out the military.”
In a facility in Maryland, Dmitri Sylvester was watching Agent: Spider swing his way through lasers and giant metal spiky things. Agent: Spider, alias Miguel Stoll, began developing spider-like powers when he hit puberty. He got stronger, quicker, could stick to walls, got better eyesight. The government built Miguel gauntlets that would be kind of like webbing to go with his spider powers.
Alix, in a new leather-looking uniform, was standing next to another young man, just slightly older than her in a brown and yellow uniform. “Why Agent: Spider?” she asked.
“He thought that he would be an agent for the FBI or CIA, not for a secret covert superhero team. He just never changed the name,” the young man replied.
“And what name did you choose for yourself?” Alix asked.
“Geo-Whiz. Before you laugh, I chose it for a reason. ‘Geo’ because I can manipulate the earth and ‘Whiz’ because I am very smart. When I chose the name two years ago, I thought it was a really good name. Coming up with a good superhero name is really hard. Have you chosen your name yet?”
“Yeah. Superkitten,” Alix answered.
“Mm. That’s much better than Geo-Whiz,” he smiled.
“My dad used to call me ‘Kitten’ so it’s kind of in honor of him.”
“You can call me Brandon.”
“Alix,” she introduced. “It’s nice having someone close to my own age here. How old are you?”
“17. I graduated from high school at 15. Shortly after graduation, Dmitri approached me to join the team and they would pay for my college. I’d be stupid not to take that offer, right?”
“What’s her deal?” Alix pointed to another girl. This girl was pale-colored smoke, floating just a little bit over the floor. “She looks really young.”
“That’s Vanessa, or Smoke. She’s Dmitri’s daughter. She’s 13-years-old. When she hit puberty, she began turning into...that. Dmitri is trying to find a way to at least be able to have her be a solid entity again. Meanwhile, she’s learning how to be a hero.”
Alix watched as Smoke passed through a thick steel wall. She then noticed a tall man standing against the other wall. He was dressed in a gaudy star-spangled uniform but what really intrigued her were his muscles. “Who’s that?”
“Matt, or America,” Brandon said. “He thinks he’s too good to be here. Dmitri says that he needs discipline. He’s kind of a jackass but he might be the most powerful member we have.”
“We’ll see,” Alix smiled and began walking over to America.
“What are you doing?” Brandon tried to stop her but she continued walking.
Alix came up to the side of America, who either didn’t notice her or was ignoring her. Alix thought about how she hurt Diego and held out her arms to America. Within seconds, America was on the floor and sliding across to the other side. Everyone stopped what they were doing in shock.
America got back up and looked at Alix. “You really think so, Little Girl?” he growled but seemed to have a playful lilt in his voice. He began running to Alix who braced herself.
“The name is Superkitten,” she said and was directly hit by America. They tumbled onto the floor and rolled for a bit before America kicked Superkitten off of him. She caught herself in midair and fell back down to the floor, landing on her feet. “That was pretty good,” she smiled at him.
America threw a punch at Superkitten but she dodged him. She was able to land a couple of blows on him. They didn’t really do anything but they might leave a bruise later. After several attempts, America landed a blow on Superkitten who was knocked back a couple feet and fell to her knees. America lept up, ready to give her a downward punch to the face.
Superkitten quickly raised her hands and used to powers to shield her. America’s fist slammed into the invisible barrier she had created. She then stood up, using the same shield to run America over and knock him down.
“Okay, that’s enough,” Dmitri interrupted. “It’s good to know that you have such control over your powers for being a beginner. And it’s good to know that we now have someone who can go toe-to-toe with America.”
“That was amazing,” Brandon said as they all went back to their personal quarters. “I wish I could’ve recorded that.”
“The security cameras should’ve gotten it. Maybe Dmitri will let us make copies of that,” Miguel laughed.
“He probably just wasn’t expecting a little girl to be a match for him,” Alix said. She looked behind her and saw America going into his room. “Hey, Matt,” she ran over to him.
“What is it, Little...Superkitten?”
“Alix. You should give me some pointers,” she smiled at him. “I mean, I thought I was pretty good out there but I could always use a bit more help.”
“Sure. Tomorrow during training we can have a one-on-one session,” he answered.
“I was thinking more along the lines of a private session,” Alix looked directly at him.
“We can do that, too. Come on in,” Matt invited.
Brandon looked back and it felt as if his heart fell into his stomach as he watched Alix disappear behind Matt’s bedroom door.
“That’s illegal,” Miguel said. “Do you want to tell Dmitri?”
“No, why bother? Besides, it looked like she knows exactly what she’s doing.”
4.
The nation awoke to the sight of Columbus, Ohio no longer there. Harris, now calling himself Cybernet, hijacked missiles and launched them at the city. The Senator’s house that he was staying in was spared since it was on the outskirts of town but a good portion of Columbus was reduced to smoldering rubble.“We know where he is now,” Dmitri said. “Senator King’s house just outside of Columbus.” A picture of it came onto the screen. “The military has given us,” he stressed
“120 minutes to go in and take Harris down.”
“We’ve seen what he’s capable of,” America said. “Why not just nuke the son of a bitch?”
“Seriously?” Alix scoffed. “Nuking him would render what’s left of Columbus and everything in a 50 mile radius around it inhabitable. And there’s no guarantee it would even kill Cybernet.”
“Harris,” Geo-Whiz corrected. “Don’t give him the satisfaction of the name.”
“Sorry, I forgot. Having these names is pretty cool,” Alix giggled.
“We have 120 minutes to get in and get out? What will they do if we go over that time or don’t come out at all?” Agent Spider asked.
“They’re going to nuke the son of a bitch,” Dmitri answered.
“Something is coming,” Tillerson said, looking at a screen that showed America, Superkitten, Geo-Whiz, and everyone else arriving.
“Is it the military?” Cybernet asked.
“No, it looks like just five people. They think five people will stop us?”
“You know what to do, Tillerson.” Cybernet, now uninterested, turned away.
“Tillerson is dead,” he grumbled. “I am Smasher now!”
“That’s great,” Cybernet sighed. “Make this quick.”
Everyone arrived at the house. “So, what do we do? Do we just rush in? Do you think they have traps or something?” Agent Spider asked.
“Just go,” America growled and smashed through the front door.
“I guess we’ll just walk on in,” Superkitten said.
America, Agent Spider, Superkitten, and Geo-Whiz went into the house. Smoke stayed out in the jet to monitor the time and make sure they were out before the army launched the nuke or if Cybernet tried to escape. They took a few steps into the house when Smasher came around the corner.
“Of course he has a henchman,” America said. “I think we need to split up. Geo, Kitten, you get past...Smasher...and find Cybernet.”
“Okay. We can do that,” Geo-Whiz aimed his hands at the floor and used the dirt to knock Smasher out of the way. “We’ll stop Cybernet.”
“Cybernet can handle those kids,” Smasher scoffed. “I’d rather play with the big boys anyway.”
Smasher began charging at America. “Seriously?” Agent Spider exclaimed. “Him? Is it because of his American flag costume?” Spider shot his webs at Smasher. When they attached, he pulled on them and Smasher flew toward him and landed hard on the floor.
“It doesn’t matter who they attack first, Spider,” America said. “Just keep him down.”
Agent Spider shot more web at Smasher, attaching him to the floor. Smasher struggled to stand back up. He was able to rip some of the webbing off but more replaced it. America stormed over and struck Smasher with his fist. Smasher was ripped from the floor and flew across the room and through the wall.
Smasher immediately stood back up and charged at America who handedly dodged the large beast. Agent Spider couldn’t dodge in time and so was knocked down but America was over with him quickly and again punching Smasher as hard as he could. Smasher took grabbed America’s head and threw him back across the room. Smasher stood back up and grabbed Agent Spider in a giant bear hug and squeezed tightly.
“I will crush both of you,” he said.
Agent Spider heard his spine crack and pop. He aimed his web shooter at Smasher and then blasted some webbing into his face. America then ran up, tackling Smasher and taking Smasher and Agent Spider down together.
Smasher let go of Agent Spider and tried to attack America. America kept striking Smasher. Finally, Smasher was able to knock America away. Smasher stood up, his face bruised and twisted with anger. He clenched his fists and screamed “Die!” then collapsed onto the floor, unmoving.
Agent Spider rocked Smasher with his foot and when it was clear Smasher was down for the count, began trapping Smasher to the floor with his webbing. “That was a lot harder than I thought it was be,” Agent Spider exhaled sharply.
“I wonder how Superkitten and Geo-Whiz are doing,” America wondered.
“I don’t know but we should hurry after them. If we had trouble with this guy I can’t imagine what they might be going through with Cybernet.”
5.
The hallway seemed really long and had bedrooms, a bathroom, and several closets splitting in several directions. Cybernet had drastically changed the house. The rooms had been remade into laboratories and a couple of munitions hangars. At the end of the hallway was, what looked like, a giant engine.“How did Harris do all this so quickly?” Geo-Whiz asked as he and Superkitten ran down the hall, trying to find Cybernet.
“I am a master of technology. I can mold this place, and any place, into whatever I choose,” Cybernet said as a model of his face suddenly appeared in the wall.
“So I guess you’re kind of master of your domain,” Geo-Whiz smiled at the face. Superkitten gave Geo-Whiz a confused look. He looked at her and noticed the look. “What? I can’t make quip like superheroes in comic books?”
A small beam came out of the wall, where the face-in-the-wall’s cyborg eye was, and struck Geo-Whiz in the abdomen causing him to scream and fall to the floor. “Insolence. I should just kill you and be done with you both and continue on with my plan.”
“Then do it,” Superkitten slammed her fist into the face. The wall dented and the face went away. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. It’s just a little burn,” Geo-Whiz looked at the burn mark on his skin. His uniform was burned and tattered where the laser hit. “But now I want to tear this place apart.” Geo-Whiz began using his power to rip up the floor, pulling the ground from underneath and destroying the metal walls and floors.
“Save your energy for Cyber--Harris,” Superkitten said. “Let’s keep going.”
The two continued down the hall toward the engine room of the house. The door opened and Cybernet stood at a control panel among all the metal and wires. “You think you can stop me?” he said and wires and piping began wrapping itself around Geo-Whiz and Superkitten. The floors and walls began to move and soon they were trapped within them.
Geo-Whiz tried to stop panicking so he could focus his powers on the dirt underneath the metal floors. He calmed down just enough and focused his power to the ground below, quaking the dirt up and ripping out the floor and wall. Both were soon free. Superkitten noticed that Cybernet looked visibly concerned.
“Looks like I was wrong, Geo. Tear this place apart. I’ll get Harris,” Superkitten said and launched herself into the room where Cybernet was. Geo-Whiz began using the earth to rip apart the metallic parts of the house. A door suddenly came down, blocking Cybernet and Superkitten from Geo-Whiz and the others.
“This door will keep your team members out while we have some alone time, Alix,” Cybernet said.
“How do you know my name?”
“I am downloading everyone’s information. Soon I will have all the vast knowledge of this pathetic planet and then I will make it pay for what it made me,” Cybernet said.
“What it made you? You volunteered yourself for the military experiment. You decided to murder your wife and children when she became scared of you and what you became,” Superkitten argued. “This is all your fault. No one else’s.”
“Little girl, you know nothing of what happened. You’re just a scared little girl who feels guilty about her mother, her friend, the kid whose back she broke, and her dead cop father,” Cybernet snarled. “None of it will matter soon.”
“What are you talking about?”
“A pandemic of epic proportions,” Cybernet said. “A simple virus. Billions will be killed. It will be a new Black Death that the world will never recover from.”
“No. Hundreds of thousands have already died because of you and it stops now,” Superkitten threw herself at Cybernet, striking him across the metallic jaw.
“Lucky hit. It won’t happen again,” Cybernet said and grabbed one of the giant pipes behind him. “Creating this virus required a lot of heat. These pipes carry air that reaches hundreds of degrees. I will burn you until you are nothing but bleached bones.” He tore the pipe from the wall and aimed it at Superkitten. The air began blasting her.
She could feel the heat but the pain wasn’t there. She originally thought that maybe the direct hit had already destroyed her nerves but then realized that she was immune to it. Slowly, she began taking steps toward Cybernet. Now she was starting to feel pain as she got closer but within seconds, the air was gone.
Cybernet had used it all and in the process destroyed the lab and damaged his cybernetic body. “How? How are you still standing?”
“I don’t know but now it’s my turn,” Superkitten hit Cybernet full force with her fist. His face splintered and one of his jaw hinges broke. Another punch, into his abdomen noticeably damaged interior mechanisms. “Not as strong as you thought,” she said and laid into him again. Another punch broke his left eye, the one that was robotic, and Superkitten rammed her left arm through his chest and lifted him up over her head.
“How can a little girl defeat me?” he shreiked.
“Maybe I’m not so little,” she said.
“No, it’s not over. I’ll survive--somehow.”
By now, Superkitten’s other teammates were able to get through the door. They saw Cybernet, a weak husk hanging off of Superkitten’s arm, and stopped in their tracks. “If you do, we’ll still be here. I’ll still be here.” Her arm shifted just a bit and Cybernet went quiet and limp. “He’s too damaged so his body shut down. We’ll be able to find a place to keep this thing, right?”
“I’m sure Dmitri will come up with something,” Agent Spider said.
“Someone help me with this thing. Let’s get out of here,” America said as he began to pick up Cybernet.
Alix was sitting in her room, reading, when Brandon came in. “So what happened in there? Fighting Cybernet? I read the report and it was strange.”
“I don’t know. I didn’t know I could withstand that kind of heat. What skin was exposed is a little red--kind of like a wind burn. I thought that maybe it was just new powers or something but now I’m thinking it had to do with how angry I was.”
“Maybe. We should try to test that some time,” Brandon said. He looked down at her arm and saw a bandage around her wrist. “What happened there?”
“I was testing those powers to see if a knife could cut me. The answer was yes,” she smiled.
“Across your wrist?” Brandon was concerned.
“It’s nothing like that,” she reassured. “I just chose there because it was easily accessible, would hurt, and possibly bleed. No other connotation needed.”
“Well, that’s good but if you ever need anything, let me know,” Brandon offered and got up to leave. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Alix.”
“See you, Brandon,” she smiled at him. After he left, she got up, took off her clothes and turned off the light. She got into bed and closed her eyes. ▩
By Brian Hall
Copyright © 2017. Tauy Creek.
Originally published in Supercomics #1-5
