Bodyguards filed out of the elevator and took their positions flanking the doors. A thin, almost skeletal man in long silver robes stepped off the lift. Brad tried not to stare at the exaggerated coif of white hair that was obviously very thin but combed to fluff it and give it artificial volume.

“Report,” the old man croaked and Brad explained all that happened. When he mentioned his own personal message the man’s passive expression contorted into an unsettling rictus. “And what motivated you to do such a thing?” Brad lowered his eyes to avoid the maniacal stare the leader of Manticorps directed at him.

“I just wanted to scare them,” Brad said, the explanation sounding idiotic when it came from his own mouth.

“So you took it upon yourself to warn them that we would soon be arriving. After over forty years, we have no idea of the advancements the Traitor has made. He might take this as an act of aggression and attack us first!” Archon said, anger leaking around the feigned smile and civility in his voice. “We have much to do!” He spun, his silver cape billowing with the motion. Reaching backwards he let loose a bright flash of energy from his extended palm. Where Brad had been standing, a small charred pile of dust remained, which was stomped flat as the bodyguards resumed formation and exited via the elevator, surrounding their leader.

------

Aurora lifted her head and surveyed the darkness. Time had lost its meaning with the lack of any feedback of any light at all. Even her interrogations were completed in total darkness. Somewhere there was the noise of water dripping. Was she in a cave? The area lacked the earthy stale smell of air trapped underground, but perhaps this was a base of some sort. The ground underneath her was not smooth like a typical room and felt large cobblestones or large smooth pavers, damp and slimy.

She tried to shift to get comfortable, but it only made the pain in her shoulders and arms worse. They had manacled her arms behind her, in an exaggerated swan-dive position that allowed no relief. A rubbery material completely encased her hands, which made her unable to focus her power, and she could not activate any of her skills. Manacles were bound around her wrists below the large rubber spheres. No way she could flip or get her body positioned with the cuffs in front of her. And she had tried. Anything to get some relief.

She tried to stand and lean slightly backward to relieve the tension but her leg muscles were unreliable. Wobbly and exhausted from electric shocks, being stabbed with foot-long needles and other horrors that brought her low on health, but never enough to finally be done with it. When they buckled, her arms felt like they were going to be ripped out of their sockets, so she slowly sank to a kneeling position for as long as she could tolerate it, even though it stretched her arms out even more.

The only break in the routine is when they would come and ask her questions: Where is the island? What is in the manor? What have your scans revealed? Aurora had held out due to her training, but she was becoming unraveled. Truth was, she had no idea what they wanted. Sure, Graviton scanned the areas below his station and sent information back to the Purple Faction, but there did not appear to be a concerted effort to find anything in particular, and since she was one of the highest-ranking officers onboard, it wouldn’t make sense for that type of information to be withheld from her. Still, they would not relent in either their questioning or torture until she was near death. Having an HP bar that told the sociopaths just how much they could push her was a huge disadvantage that she never thought would be a liability.

She tried to cast her mind back to better times when things changed from her horrible childhood to a less horrible tween-hood. Then to the academy. That was when she truly came into her own. She focused on that feeling and embraced it, and the pain became a bit less present.

-----

“You go now,” the short woman shooed her out the door.

“What are you doing Mama? “ the skinny girl asked, irritated that she was interrupted from her book and pushed out the door. Mama had her quirks, so Cass decided to take a walk. Maybe she was going through menopause or something. She had been on edge and acting strangely for the last couple of months. Short for no reason, prone to strange outbursts at the slightest provocation. Cass just tried to give her space when she went cray and she would usually revert to her normal self.

She kicked a bottle down the garbage-strewn alley. It had just rained, which washed the air clear of the odd combination of food smells that always permeated the area, but new ones took their place as the water revived smells from the ever-present garbage. Usually, she had her music with her, but her Flik and headphones were back in her room, and Mama hadn’t given her time to pick them up. It was probably the reason why she heard them coming from behind. One stepped on a discarded styrofoam package, alerting her to the presence of the three men tailing her.

The large one on the right scowled and threw an angry glance at the hot-stepper and both girl and men simultaneously broke into a run. Since Cass had lived in the area for six years, she knew the shortcuts and was able to get a little space between her and the men, even though their long legs chewed up the distance quickly in the straight alleyways. Cass knew where to climb a dumpster to vault over a fence or the narrow areas she could slide between where two of the sheet-metal-shanties almost touched corners. Of course, no one got involved, even though she was running for her life, or virtue, or whatever these animals wanted. Just confused stares, rubbernecking after them but no one alarmed or motivated enough to step in and help.

She could probably easily take these guys out with her powers, but she didn’t want anyone else to know. To have the stigma that it carried, especially in the Chaos Gardens. Semi-sentient plants that ate vermin, people could handle. Humans with super abilities they would ostracize forever. She wouldn’t be able to live here if they knew, no one would sell her anything.

That was primarily how she and Mama had survived. Cass would buy the things they needed and pay the few bills, Mama supplied the cash. Since she was essentially a mail-order bride, Mama was totally lost and didn’t speak the language. When her elderly husband died shortly after she arrived she was lost. She understood nothing of what the nicely dressed men were telling her and having her sign with her fingerprint and DNA confirmation.

In the end, she received a plastic tokencard and was shown off the property. She had not realized that they had liquidated all of her husband’s assets, including the house where she lived and gave her the bare minimum they were required to do by law, then promptly disappeared.

Cass was beginning to get winded, her skinny frail frame unaccustomed to such a long pursuit. She usually could stay under the radar and not be noticed. Still, the men came, unrelenting in their chase. What did they want? She yelled for help as she passed a group of teenage boys. They just whooped and cheered, apparently rooting for her pursuers. The burst of anger she felt gave her a bit more gas in the tank.

After a couple more turns, she had the uncomfortable realization that she was in unfamiliar territory. She made a couple more blind turns and the alley opened onto a cross street. The spray-painted plywood and cobbled together hovels gave way to clean walls, textured and painted. It was like crossing some invisible barrier from the slums to the burbs.

Those damn guys are still chasing me? What gives? She ducked down another cleaner alley. It turned midway and as she bolted left she found that it ended in a large door, used for truck deliveries. No other exits were visible. She saw security cameras above the moving door but harbored no illusions that some white knight would see anything and actually deign to come help. People were sick. They probably would watch like an MMA fight or worse.

With her back to the wall, Cass turned, raised her hands, and pulled inward. Energy flowed into her, invigorating her. The effect caused her hair to raise as the energy built up, she really needed to find a workaround for that. At the worst of times, it got in her face and she couldn’t see. She was tempted to cut it in a pixie cut, but she had those when she was young and they just made her look too mousy and small.

Focus! The men ran into the alley and skidded to a stop, knocking the first man down as they crashed into him. “Yep, you were right,” the guy on the ground said to the leader, who threw another scowl to get the guy to shut up. They turned their predatory eyes to her and slowly began to inch forward.

“Come on now, lass. Let’s not do this the hard way,” scowler said. Hot-stepper licked his lips in a slightly crazed way. His lazy eye didn’t help his look and made his already creepy vibe even worse. Cass started to extend her hands and began to move the energy out. Energy arced between her fingers, emitting an occasional hue of red or green as the oxygen molecules in the ambient air reacted with the rising charge. Blues and purples began a bit later as the nitrogen in the air began doing the same thing. The men were mesmerized by the light show. Most people typically were. That is, until she sent the energy out in a spray.

Not only was it spectacular to see, but it did a number on attackers. She had actually become more powerful since the last time she had to use her powers. The men clutched at their eyes, and Cass could see where the spray had etched the men’s skins like they had been sandblasted. Pockmarks littered their exposed skin, which began to bleed. There was a pretty good chance they could be blind too, but she wasn’t sticking around to find out. She sidled out the alley as the men writhed on the ground from their wounds. As she was trying to sneak past one of the men who was reaching out around him with his eyes tightly closed, the security camera pivoted to keep her in full view. She flipped a bird at the camera as she continued to move out of the alley. The closest man moved his arms as if questing for a towel to dry himself. He almost grabbed her, and she inhaled, holding her gut in to make her profile that much slimmer. When he moved on she finally tiptoed out of the alley.

As she turned back, she ran headlong into a burly, muscle-bound man in a purple suit. He had a big smile on his face and said simply, “We need to talk,”

-----

“aurora…” someone whispered. She broke from her memory and lifted her head. Her stomach tightened at the thought of another impending cycle of torture. Opening her eyes, everything was quiet except for the occasional sound of water dripping. Aurora swept her eyes left and right in the dark, but no one was there.

“Great, I’m going insane,” she said, voice cracking a bit as she fought back the exhaustion and pain that had brought her to the brink.

“Aurora,” the voice said again. This time she could tell it was in her head, becoming more distinct.

“Who is this?” she asked, wondering if this was some mental super from the Purple Faction, come to rescue her.

“Aurora, are you able to hear me at last?”

“Yes, yes! Who is this?”

“It has been so long! I haven’t been able to communicate with you due to your training. I am the source of your powers, and we need to talk!”