Wraith: Origins of Supers: Book Three

by D. L. Harrison

  “Respect our borders, keep your word on your treaties and agreements, and we can work together to move our world toward peaceful coexistence. We can all flourish and prosper in the future, together. That is all I have to say, thank you.”

  Jace snorted, “Bullshit. But enough people will believe it and be slow to act as a result.”

  “How can you be so sure, if Japan really had destructive weapons on that scale, I’m not sure I’d have done differently.”

  He smirked, “See, even you’re buying it, Amber. Of course it sounds reasonable, he’s not dumb enough to declare his true intentions, that would just turn the entire world against him at once. He’d lose.”

  Ella said, “We can’t assume that?”

  He shrugged, “That’s what everyone said about Germany and Japan, leading up to World War two, and even after that we didn’t get involved until we were attacked ourselves.”

  I shook my head, “But that’s just one instance. Any one of the nuclear countries could’ve said the same thing about the cold war, and then started another world war when history shows it wasn’t necessary. It’s just prudent to hold back and make sure.”

  He smirked, “Right, like Dragonfire held back to make sure of Japan’s intentions. Oh, wait, he didn’t hold back. My mistake.”

  I snorted, “Wise ass.”

  He grinned, “Runs in the family, kid.”

  Then he shrugged, “Point is, what he just said will make everyone doubt that he’s really a globalist, with plans to put himself on the ultimate throne. War is deception, and all that bullshit he just said was just muddying the waters. The longer he keeps the rest of the countries from teaming up to take down the threat, the better his chances at winning are. The best I could say about him, is that he isn’t killing people wholesale, but even that is part of his tactics. The world wouldn’t have swallowed his lies if he killed innocent civilians, in fact he might lose the respect of his men and his control of his huge army if he did. The people of China aren’t evil after all, they’re buying his lies too. But don’t mistake that for thinking he actually cares about the lives of innocents next to the heights of his ambition.”

  Ella said, “You might be right, but you can’t know that until he proves it with his actions.”

  I nodded, maybe I was naïve, but until he did it again, it was possible he wasn’t full of crap, wasn’t it? Unless the whole thing was a hoax to justify himself, Japan had broken treaties and laws by building up a stockpile of weapons of mass destruction.

  Jace shrugged, “You’re not wrong, but I don’t think I am either. Only time will prove it either way in the end. I’m positive really, but I can’t deny I’m not perfect and could be wrong. He could have called them out in the U.N. Showed the world proof of Japan’s misdeeds. He attacked them instead, immediately. The man is ambitiously violent, and violence is his first answer for every problem and question.

  “He’s ruthless toward any detractors in the political arena, and he was ruthless toward Japan when world pressures would’ve gotten them to back down. It’s only a matter of time before he comes up with an excuse to invade, conquer, and annex another country into his growing empire. Point is, ignore those pretty words he just gave us, and look at his actions. The man may have started out with good intentions, but his actions define him, and he is ambitious to the point of evil.”

  Lia interjected, “I’m sure our government, as well as others, are investigating his claims even now. If it is a hoax and a thin excuse to invade, then that will come out.”

  He nodded, “But will it come out in time to make a difference?”

  He had good points, but so did we, and only time would tell. Besides, there wasn’t anything we could do about it. He was just armchair quarterbacking. We were an independent superhero team that aimed to keep the people in our city safe, with no influence over the rest of the world at all.

  I just really hoped he was wrong. Even if he was right, his words were nothing but a preemptive I told you so before World War three started.

  I’d rather focus my energy and thoughts on making a difference, though it still made sense to keep an eye on it. I didn’t want to bury my head in the sand either.

  Chapter Twelve

  It was late afternoon, and the music was on low just for background noise. Ella, Lia, Aura, and I were relaxing in the kitchen chatting, the former teaching us how to cook homemade pizza from the dough to the sauce.

  “We should get out of here tonight, between China and that supervillain team walking, we need to let it all go for a while, no boys,” Lia suggested.

  I nodded, “I can get behind that, Ella?”

  Ella smirked, “I haven’t had a girl’s night out in years.”

  Lia replied, “Then it’s overdue.”

  Aura opened her mouth, but then her whole body shook and went out of focus, then popped and disappeared. The satellite music station turned into static then went silent, and our watches blinked out.

  A surge of adrenaline hit me, and we all went alertly quiet as we strained our senses. I was sure in that moment we were about to be attacked, and my heart pounded in excitement and anxiety.

  Aura popped back into being a second later, and she looked… annoyed. The watches and satellite radio turned back on as well.

  “Your boyfriend just figured out how to scramble electronic devices. It was very disconcerting.”

  I took in a deep breath, then we all glared at the door to the basement as it opened up and he walked out.

  He took us in with a nervous face, “Sorry about that. I thought I had the test field limited to a small space in my lab, but I underestimated the field’s propagation potential. It won’t happen again.”

  He was kind of cute all nervous like that, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to forgive him so quickly. My chest was still pounding and adrenaline still surged through my veins, and there were no supervillains to fight.

  Ella chuckled, “These things happen when you live with a mad scientist.”

  I sighed, and I took a deep breath while I let it go. At least, in theory.

  I asked in a forced calm voice, “So, you figured it out?”

  He replied, “Yes, but now I have to figure out how to insulate electronics against it. Once I do that, I’ll fabricate all new suits and watches, not to mention the drones.”

  Aura cleared her throat meaningfully.

  He added with a grin, “And Aura’s mainframe, of course.”

  I giggled, and Aura turned to me and gave me an outrageous wink.

  Lia asked, “What about a field device. Something like that could come in handy if we run into another supervillain mad scientist, or someone with illegal dimensional weapons tech.”

  He replied, “Not likely, the thing is a power hog. Hmm, maybe I could build a drone for Aura to pilot though, something a little bigger than the micro to small surveillance drones. Even then, it’d be a good twenty feet in diameter. It’s not something I can add to a watch or your suits.”

  I sniffed, wrinkled my nose, then looked at the oven in alarm.

  Ella grumbled under her breath as she opened the oven and pulled out crispy pizza which was burned around the edges.

  We all glared back at the door, his little accident had burned out the cook timer, but Chris had already retreated back down the stairs. Smart man.

  Aura snickered.

  That night the three of us went dancing. To an eighteen and over club, twenty-one to drink, and it was a blast. The three of us weren’t the only ones there either. It was obvious someone had leaked when my mother and grandmother showed up, decked out in club dresses. They looked like my older twin sisters.

  Debra showed up, as did Maria and Sara, all three women on grandmother’s team and longtime family friends. My mother’s friends from work showed as well, from Sally and Silvia to Janna and Stacey.

  Three generations of superheroines, all of us looking damned hot and young. I only bring it up at all in this recounting because it was the first time
that I’d gone out with all the adults I’d admired growing up, as an adult. It was a little jarring, but at the same time it was a great time.

  It recharged me, let me slough off our recent failure and the stress for a while, and I had a blast.

  The next morning after breakfast, Jace called us all to the conference room. That morning in training we’d gone back to our normal training, working together and coordinating during various simulations. I had a steaming hot mug of coffee, and I was pleasantly full after breakfast as I walked in and took a seat next to Chris.

  I gave him a warm smile to let him know he was off the hook from his gaff yesterday. Last night was exactly what I’d needed, being a superheroine, helping people, was my ambition, but finding an outlet for the stress involved was obviously something I’d need to keep in mind. It’d be too easy to get burned out and jaded otherwise. I never wanted to be as uptight as Ella was, though she was already loosening up a little already, putting the old job behind her.

  “Job?”

  Jace nodded, “Yes. We’re on bodyguard duty for Judge Luther Wright. He’s an empath.”

  That was normal. The new justice system had empaths and telepaths for the judge and jury. No more sending innocent men or women to jail, or vice versa. The games lawyers played were immaterial, when the judge and jury could spot a liar coming a mile away. Of course, proof was still required to get them there, but the burden of proof was low enough to initiate a trial that it was rare for crooks to walk on reasonable doubt like the old days.

  Jace waved at the screen, and he brought up a picture of a woman who could easily make it as a model. She had straight brown hair, a severely beautiful face like you’d see in a runway model, and a modestly curvy lithe body in perfect proportions. She was beautiful enough to inspire a small amount of envy, even though I was very happy with my own looks and curves.

  Her dark brown eyes ruined it though, they looked dark, cold, and predatory.

  Jace continued after a pause, “This is Siren Slaughter, a supervillain dubbed by the press. She’s a black widow, her first two rich husbands were ripped apart, hence the name. She also got away with it, until the third husband her alibis had held up.”

  “Powers?”

  Jace said, “She’s a strong water wielder, can create ice weapons, with shields and flight. Regardless, Judge Wright was the one that put her away, for three consecutive life sentences for the three counts of first-degree murder. She’s cold and ruthless, and completely remorseless. She promised his death in court, after he sentenced her, and was heard to repeat the threats often in holding. She’s the reason he needs a guard.

  “In the early morning hours, she escaped during a prison transfer. The prison is being updated with newer technologies and renovated. I don’t have all the details there, how she got out of her suppression cuffs. I just know she killed three people on her way out.”

  I nodded, “How much help will the judge be?”

  Jace replied, “He’s not a projective empath like Kara was, just receptive, so almost no help at all. Her shields would stop that anyway, like Ella’s it blocks everything. Physical, energy, and psychic attacks.”

  “You two want first shift, or night shift?”

  It was almost eight, so whoever took second shift would be working eight at night to eight in the morning.

  Ella and Gabriel exchanged a glance, and Gabriel said, “We’ll take first shift if you don’t mind.”

  I shrugged, “It’s only fair, you had the crappy shift last time.

  Gabriel grinned, “But you’re the boss, boss.”

  I snickered, “Go. Unless there’s more to learn first?” I turned back to Jace. I’d perhaps jumped the gun a bit on the scheduling part. But it turns out I hadn’t after all.

  Jace shook his head, “Just be careful, and don’t leave the judge alone for a moment.”

  Chris said, “Aura already has several drones on their way. The only place they can’t cover is his chambers. At least, not on the inside.”

  Aura said, “He should be moving to the courthouse soon, he arrives at eight-thirty every morning.”

  Gabriel and Ella got up and left in a hurry.

  Jace looked at me, “Something bothering you about the case?”

  He was perceptive, but I was just a little lost in thought.

  I shook my head, “Just wondering why he isn’t dead yet. If she’s that cold and crazy. She broke out hours ago?”

  Aura replied, “Likely she doesn’t know where he lives, and is doing her best to avoid any technologies that could tell her because it would also reveal her location.”

  Jace nodded in agreement, “She is nuts. She has no empathy at all and enjoys cruelty, but she knows the difference between right and wrong. Which is why she was sentenced to three lifetimes instead of a mental institution.”

  I nodded, “Want to head to the courthouse Lia? If she doesn’t show up in the first couple of hours, we’ll take the rest of the day off until our shift. Just in case.”

  Lia asked, “Worried?”

  I shrugged, “I think Ella and Gabriel can handle her just fine and keep the judge safe at the same time. But there’ll be an awful lot of people in the courthouse. If we stake out the entrances with Aura’s help, we might take her down before she can get inside. They can’t take that chance, that she might slip by, so they have to stick with the judge. If she doesn’t show right away, then it seems more likely she’ll stake out the place and follow the judge home.”

  My thought process was she’d either hit him hard and fast at the courthouse as soon as he got there, or she’d want more time with him, to drag out her revenge and cruelty. In that second case, she’d want to hit his house, where she’d have some time to enjoy herself.

  It was sick, but it was the two most probable scenarios in my mind. I didn’t get how a person could think like that, but I didn’t have to understand it to know it was true in her case.

  Lia nodded, “I’m in. Shoe shopping after.”

  I giggled despite myself, “I could always use more shoes.”

  Chris squeezed my hand, “Be careful.”

  “I’m always careful,” I said primly, and somehow with a straight face, before I distracted him with a proper kiss goodbye. Mad scientist geek or not, my man could kiss. The distraction also worked, he’d lost that worried look, and I probably had a smug one at that moment.

  Jace snickered at our byplay.

  Lia and I got moving, but we flew to the courthouse, instead of teleporting. We had more than enough time to make it that way, before the judge showed up. We also briefed Ella and Gabriel on our updated plans via comms.

  We made a circle of the large courthouse, just to ensure I’d be able to teleport to anywhere around it, then we settled on the roof to give us a minimum of cover. We’d be paying attention, but realistically our best chance to spot her was Aura’s cloaked mini drones, which had the place surrounded and ran facial recognition on everyone approaching the various entrances.

  We didn’t want to scare her off, by hovering over the building in plain view and constantly scanning the crowds.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Siren Slaughter didn’t let us down. She attacked before the judge even arrived at the courthouse. It happened in the parking lot, which had us slightly out of position. It was earlier than even I had expected. I wasn’t complaining though, away from the courthouse itself lowered the potential for mass collateral damage in building and lives, if not cars.

  The loud sound of tearing metal is what had tipped us off, and we took off from the top of the building and raced toward the parking lot which was behind the courthouse.

  The judge’s car was surrounded in Ella’s bright white bubble shield, with a huge and thick spear of ice that looked more like a stalactite than a spear. The supervillain had impaled the large roof, but her second shot glanced off the shields which Ella had quickly raised.

  “Give it up Siren. You’re going back where you belong.”

 
; She spun in the air to face us with a glowing blue shield around her and small pieces of ice shaped like daggers that orbited her body in a mesmerizing fashion. She had on a seductive red dress, with black shoes. She also had on pantyhose, no doubt so she wasn’t flashing everyone she flew over. She looked fantastic, really.

  Evil bitch. Not that I was jealous of the psychopath or anything.

  She smirked as she took us in, “How cute, kids playing dress up?”

  I hate to admit it, but my adrenaline-fueled beating heart picked up at that, and it also pissed me off. There was no comeback I could make, that wouldn’t make me look like what she’d just accused us of being.

  I focused on taking her down, pushing out all the baggage. I wouldn’t let her bait me into acting in anger.

  Several of the ice daggers launched at us.

  I teleported to the side, and Lia dodged, but the ice daggers homed in on us like heat-seeking missiles. With a thought, they all exploded into pieces with a multiple strike of my telekinesis. My daily practice in splitting my power and controlling lots of small things at once had finally paid off in a supervillain fight.

  The small pieces still hit us, even slightly reforming into a dagger shape at the last second, but they broke against my TK shield and Lia’s toughness easily absorbed the shot.

  Lia dove with her fist back, but when Siren dodged out of the way, she twisted her body and kicked instead. Siren was thrown back toward the ground at an angle, just in time to meet Gabriel’s lighting strike from below.

  Her shields held and she shrieked in anger as more ice daggers shot out toward the three of us and the car. Ella’s shield ate it easily, and the rest I exploded again, focusing on defense while Lia and Gabriel tried to power through her shields.

  Jace hadn’t been wrong, she was extremely powerful, but that’s when a column of energy shot out of the roof of the car, annihilated her daggers, and sent her flying up into the sky wildly. Siren’s shields held, but all her daggers were turned to steam.