by Kipjo Ewers
“I finally fainted a month after officially becoming Freedom remember?”
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To be more accurate as Sophia remembered it, everything went black while flying from the states back to her island. When she finally woke up, she was being fished out of the ocean by the Regulators. Vincent, her A.I., had alerted them to her predicament and location.
She remembered going into severe distress after seeing the second scan, believing it to be some form of incurable cancer until Erica calmed her down revealing to her, that her cells were slowing but surely replicating new ones to replace the dead burnt out cells within her. The replicated ones were also absorbing the dead ones, no doubt attempting to use whatever materials could be salvaged.
Her near nervous breakdown was ignited with the fear that something could possibly separate her from her daughter again, that by saving the world once again, she almost cheated herself out of the life that she wanted. She did not deny that Peace had to be stopped, she did not regret putting her own life on the line to stop her, but when the dust settled, and order was once again somewhat restored, Sophia claimed her prize, the only thing she wanted.
Time.
It was her time, to be a mother, and she did not want anyone or anything to take that away from her.
After the initial shock and fear had passed, and her rationale had returned, Sophia asked Erica to keep her diagnosis between the two of them. She even kept it from Kimberly. She took her time making sure she did not overstrain herself, limited her flying or anything else that would cause her to overexert herself, and scheduled monthly scans with Erica to examine the progress of her recovery. After a month and a half, the dizzy spells disappeared altogether.
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“I wish I could research the difference between the time I was in … ‘World Buster mode’ for a straight twenty-four hours until I figured out how to power down and what had to be a five-minute final battle with Peace.”
“I have a theory.” Erica turned to her, “You weren’t in a fight for your life.”
She pulled up a simulation of her final fight with Peace focusing on Sophia’s body and its effect on the planet.
“As we previously discussed, your energy reserves when independently regulated by your body serves to grant you an additional boost of strength and power when needed. This is usually triggered two ways, by overexertion or long periods of physical activity. The first regulates additional energy to you in massive boosts in cases where the weight you are lifting exceed your base strength, the second is slow and gradual based on for example physical combat. This means the longer you exert yourself, your body begins to increase the amount of energy circulating through your system until it rests. You would have eventually surpassed Peace in strength, but based on her massive power levels, you two would have to been fighting non-stop for hours for that to have happened. We both know the planet would not have been able to withstand such a drawn-out battle.”
“Obviously,” Sophia nodded in agreement.
“By you mentally or physically tapping into those reserves, you shut off whatever governor your body has put on this stored energy supply. That’s why it was building at such an exponential rate; it’s not the type of power you can control by yourself. By the time you left Earth’s atmosphere with Peace, you were generating three-quarters of this planet’s gravitational force within you. In a near-dormant state, you kill a couple of cells, no harm no foul, but one punch was like setting off several megaton nukes within you. At best guess you had three, maybe two more minutes before you went supernova.”
Sophia swallowed deeply as she watched the worst-case scenario play out before her in a holographic image. Erica froze the image with a tap and left it up so that it would sink in.
“Basically, your body is like a race car Dennison,” Erica huffed, “it’s built for speed, and if you treat it right it will take you to the finish line. If you don’t, well …this happens.”
Erica pointed to the holographic image.
“The diagnosis is quite simple; if you want to continue to live and watch Kimberly grow up …Don’t ever do this again.”
Sophia huffed and as her eyes remained fixed on the image of her simulated death.
“So, how are you doing?” Sophia cautiously slid her question in.
“You want the lie or the truth?” Erica turned to her with a blunt stare.
“What do you think?”
“I think I’m the last person you want to use the Jedi Mind Trick on,” Erica sarcastically smirked.
She rolled her eyes as Sophia narrowed hers indicating she didn’t appreciate the sassing she was giving her.
“What do you want me to say?” Erica shrugged. “That I’m alright? That I don’t space out in the middle of a conversation or work? That I don’t wake up from night terrors? I do, and it sucks. Even after I decided to hang up my cape, I’m not the first nor will I be the last person to suffer from PTSD.”
Sadness fell over Sophia's face as her mind replayed the events that brought on Erica’s grim mental state and demeanor.
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Eight months ago, the Regulators were involved in a joint investigation with the F.B.I that started with encrypted chatter that Lady Tech intercepted about a massive human trafficking shipment coming in through the ports in Miami.
Apparently, from what she picked up, the Chinese Triad was making the delivery which would be divided between the Russian Mob and Brazilian Cartel. Each organization was bringing its own form of superhuman muscle for back up.
Seeing as how human trafficking and white slavery was a particular interest of Freedom, she was invited to take part in the raid.
It was an intense battle that was luckily centralized to the seaport with minimal damage and casualties, the majority of human and superhuman criminals were captured and arrested while at least three EVOs fled. A total of three containers were opened as frighten teenagers and children as young as seven huddled together unsure of their fate. Freedom, Rogers, and other agents who had experience with this situation went to work coaxing the children out of the containers assuring them that they were safe.
Lady Tech exited her S.A.M armor heading toward a mini trailer. With a wave of her hand, she ripped away the heavy-duty lock that kept it secure.
“Lady Tech, what are you doing?” inquired Rogers who got Freedom’s attention.
“Maxine just told me there are two Rottweilers and three pitbulls in here,” Lady Tech turned to him.
A frigid chill shot through Freedom’s spine as she locked eyes with Rogers.
“Erica, do not open that trailer,” he commanded.
“I can handle a couple of rapid dogs Rogers,” she glared at him. “Maxine detected something else in there with them, but could not make it out.”
The squeals of the children who saw what Lady Tech was doing made the horrible feeling in Freedom’s belly even worse.
“Erica, do not open that trailer!” She roared her own order.
“I thought I only had one set of parents?” She scoffed at them.
Her telekinesis at that range was faster than even Freedom’s speed as she turned the latch and flew the heavy steel door up to take a look at what was inside. She was prepared to mentally put the dogs to sleep, however, what she saw inside shattered her concentration.
She gripped her heart as if she was about to have a stroke while blood thick tears fell from her eyes filling up her goggles as she went into an autistic shock.
The blood on the floor of the trailer was molasses thick, which matted the fur of the animals.
At their feet were torn, chewed up, mutilated body parts and ripped clothing, explaining why Maxine could not determine what else was inside with the dogs.
All fo
ur animals savagely growled with mixed blood and saliva dripping from their jaws as they rushed to turn Lady Tech into their next meal.
They would not make it out the trailer as Freedom got to her first and unleashed a salvo of highly concentrated atomic eye beam blasts turning them to a cinder.
Lady Tech collapsed to her knees repeatedly screaming the same word over and over.
“Blood! Blood! Blood!”
Rogers was already by her side picking her up and cradling her in his arms.
“Dammit girl,” He groaned pressing her head against his own. “It’s going to be alright. Someone secure this goddamn trailer!”
As Rogers walked away with the S.A.M armor following him to take a hysterical Lady Tech back to the Tornado, Freedom’s ears picked up chuckling from a couple of the gang members sitting on their rears. It ended as she made a beeline in their direction with eyes ablaze to do to them what she did to the dogs.
They were saved by an intercepting Sister Sledge and Heavy Element jumping in her path.
“Hey girl, whatcha doin?” Sledge asked with a held up a hand.
“Get out of my way Shareef.”
“You know I can’t do that.”
“I said move!”
Her enraged voice rattled a taller Sister Sledge endowed with Titan strength even though she stood her ground.
“Miss Dennison, please don’t do this,” Heavy Element in metallic form pleaded. “Don’t sink to these sons of bitches’ level. Think about the kids watching.”
She slowly turned locking eyes with some of the traumatized children looking in her direction and forced herself to power down as she wiped away the tears that did not evaporate from the heat she generated.
“Get them out of my sight … now!”
Heavy Element took charge coordinating the movement of the arrested into prison transports while Sister Shareef stayed by her friend’s side.
By the account of the children who were able to talk despite the horrors they endured, the trailer was a sadistic warning implemented by their captors. Before they were loaded into their containers, they were forced to watch as they pulled a random child tossing them into the trailer. The traffickers then brought in the dogs and forced the children to watch what would happen to them if they made a sound while within the containers.
Sophia made her way to the Tornado to see Rogers with a face of impotent rage attempting to rock and sooth Erica still in a near catatonic regressive state.
She had pulled off her goggles throwing them to the floor and was either repeating the word “Blood,” or just screaming incoherently as she gripped the straps on Roger’s combat harness.
“Give her to me,” Sophia motioned to Abe. “Rogers, give her to me.”
“What are you going to do?”
“There’s a song her mother sung to her when she’s in this state,” she whispered.
As she took her in her arms, Erica still screaming grabbed a hand full of her braids. An unfazed Sophia held her close singing a lullaby in Spanish while mimicking Erica’s mother’s voice. She wailed louder at the sound of her mother’s voice but eventually began to calm down. After a couple rounds with the songs, some soft kisses on her forehead, and rocking her like an infant, Erica came out of her episode.
“Put me down …please,” Erica requested.
As Sophia set her back on her feet, Erica took a seat on one of the chairs affixing her eyes to the floor of the Tornado. Rogers walked over kneeling in front of her.
“You don’t have to tell me,” She whispered. “I screwed up.”
“That was the last thing coming out of my mouth,” Rogers gruffed. “But you’re done for the night. Is that clear?”
With tear filled eyes she nodded in agreement. Rogers gave her a pat on the shoulder before heading back out to help supervise with clean up. Sophia walked over taking a seat next to her.
“I’m not going to say a word,” She whispered.
“Thank you,” Erica’s voice cracked.
It didn’t take long for her to burst into tears.
“I saw it all,” she whimpered. “I saw it all. Through each of their eyes …I heard their screams and cries …tearing of flesh and snapping of her little bones… her brother …was forced to watch …and those fuckers out there …they just laughed …they just watched and laughed …”
Erica lost her voice to the sobs and wails flowing out of her lips. Sophia spun her chair around so that she faced her.
“I don’t need a hug …I’m fine …I’m fine.”
Sophia ignored her as she took her in arms again and held her tight, while Erica’s little body trembled as she buried her head in Sophia’s chest and bawled hysterically gripping her bodysuit.
“What’s wrong with us? What is wrong with us?”
“I don’t know,” Sophia said as her own tears fell. “I don’t know.”
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After that night, Erica removed herself from active duty. Maxine became the designated pilot for the Tornado taking the Regulators on their missions while she expanded the S.A.M’s Artificial Intelligence, removed its cockpit, and converted its body into a fully functional automaton providing the team extra strength and firepower during missions. She focused on her research, R&D, and maintenance and upgrade of the base.
It was a partial relief to Sophia and especially Rogers, except on that night the light within Erica was dimmed giving birth to a type of cynicism that came out in irritation and ice-cold sarcasm.
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“So, how’s that kid of yours?” Erica asked wishing to end the subject about her.
“Growing too fast,” Sophia sighed.
“She still trying to be the strongest there is?”
Sophia answered her with fluttered eyes of disgust.
“Well at least she’s not still shattering asteroids with one punch,” Erica shook her head.
“I still remember your voice when you called me on that day,” Sophia said before mimicking her vocals repeating the message. “Dennison, go get your kid! She’s out there, busting asteroids and some of them are getting too close to Earth!”
“Yeah, that was crazy,” Erica chuckled with another headshake.
“I have a kid who attempted to go to Mars,” Sophia gave a hurt look. “Not Disney Land, Mars! And she would have made it if I didn’t stop her before she got there!”
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It was the Mars incident that put the strain on her and Kimberly’s relationship, changing her from the cool mom with superpowers, to the strict and stern mother who was still stronger than her daughter, and not afraid to show it.
A regular outing to the International Space Station turned into Kimberly taking it upon herself to go on an interstellar trip to Mars.
It was not the first time her daughter had gone orbital, it cut down a lot of travel time from continent to continent. There were the “minor” incidents that Sophia overlooked like fly-bys over military bases, or visits to the International Space Station which initially startled the astronauts and scientists until they found out who her mother was.
Sophia handled them with sit downs and compromising productive talks. Kimberly promised to not fly by military bases, and after speaking with representatives from NASA, she was allowed visit the station once a week for half the day and even help with repairs and projects.
Smashing asteroids was deemed as a no-no, the punishment was two weeks of supervised flights, no video games, and no phone.
Sophia understood the burden of having a child with an array of powers and abilities that were nearly limitless. It would have been insane to expect her not to attempt to test her potential. She also knew that Kimberly like any other child was pushing the boundaries of what she could get away with.
So, she used textbook parenting and reasoning skills to rear her, doing her best to balance between being a responsible parent and allowing her to cut loose.
Until Mars.
Apparently, Kimberly’s visits to the space station provided her a free education on Mar’s orbital trajectory from Earth. With her superhuman eidetic memory, she believed she had a ballpark idea where it was, all she had to do was look for a red planet.
It was a perfect plan, except she miscalculated the distance from the Earth to mask the power she generated to obtain near light speed flight. The force of her thrust lit up every energy and radar detection system around the globe, including Vincent.
Sophia didn’t even answer Erica’s calls as she suited up and went after her daughter. It wasn’t that difficult to track her flight pattern. Although Kimberly had a head start, it wasn’t that hard to close the distance. Rage and betrayal bolstered her speed as she tore through the solar system to catch up with her daughter. After two hundred sixty-five million kilometers of straight flight time, she was on her.
Seeing her daughter strafing through space without a care in the world pissed her off to no end, melting away the calmly reasonable doctor with a Ph.D. and Master degree, revealing the fury of a half Central America half Caribbean mother.
Kimberly looked over her shoulder on instinct. Her eyes widened to the size of silver dollars as her face displayed fear, shock, and surprise to see her mother upon her. Sophia slammed into her daughter sending them spiraling violently through space. Eventually, Sophia managed to stabilize their out of control spiral within the harsh environment.
Sophia’s eyes blazed brighter than any other star as she held Kimberly by the front of the flight suit given to her by Erica. She felt her daughter shaking like a leaf in sheer utter fear of her mother. Her first inclination was to shake her senseless in the deep void of space.
She chose instead to calm herself.
Without a word, she pointed back into the direction of Earth, which Kimberly quickly propelled herself back to after her mother released her. The return flight felt longer, mostly because Sophia wasn’t pumped with maternal anger. As she looked at the infinite universe around her that she was flying through having traveled distances no human has visited before, Sophia understood why Kimberly did what she did.
