Wilderness hannah, p.17
Wilderness Hannah, page 17
part #3 of Damsel Series
She didn’t really care. Taking their money was probably a way to keep that sort, the government, from feeling like they didn’t have a say in things. That private citizens were more important than they were, when it came to fighting certain types of threats.
This way, they could act as if they were in control, or at least could fight, after a fashion.
It was a thing to keep in mind for her, as well.
“Now, I need to go into a trance. Then you should... Probably throw things at me. Balled up paper, or something. Debbie used bean bags.”
She sat for a while, trying to focus her mind. For no more than five minutes, then Hannah suddenly felt a strong urge to throw herself over the back of the sofa, so did that, even if it meant looking insane. She didn’t open her eyes, a blurry, very hazy, mess of things flowing all around her. The objects, slightly silvery streaks, floated in the air, and started to come at her faster and faster. She was getting them moving about ten seconds before they hit her. She had her eyes closed, so noticed when an entire half of the room suddenly became a mess of moving things she wasn’t able to track at all.
That meant, still in a trance, she dove toward the other side of the room. She was hit, three times, doing it. The silver bits were hard, where they connected with her, not bits of paper or tinfoil at all. Even if they had been gotten from the kitchen.
She opened her eyes as she cleared away, scooting on her backside, across the floor. Like a crab.
To see half a dozen of her silver handled, rather sharp, kitchen knives floating in front of her.
“Oh, this looks safe. I couldn’t tell what they were. Just kind of silver moving things.”
Kate stuck her tongue out.
“It was enough. You were dodging them pretty well, for someone with no powers. Now, try it with your eyes open? I’ll go slow.”
That was harder, and took a lot more focus. Kate also, apparently, was willing to actually cut her, to keep her on the task at hand. It was being done on purpose, too. The floating blades were under perfect control. Hannah could tell that, because she was being cut, but the blades were leaving fancy papercut like lines, not deep gashes. They stung a bit, but would have killed her, if Kate had really been trying.
An hour later, she was, finally, doing a little better. Mainly because the blades slowed way down, coming at her at about one every ten seconds, instead of hitting at her twice a second. After doing that pretty well, about a hundred times, the speed doubled. Then did it again.
Finally, when the sky suddenly started to glow, Kate made the blades fly into the other room. With a clatter, as they were put back into the rack, on the counter. A thing that wasn’t visible at all. Not from the living room. Meaning that Kate could, if she knew where things were, control objects she couldn’t see. At least at those distances. Possibly further away as well. If she could teleport objects to her that way, there was no reason she shouldn’t be able to move them with her mind. Not that Hannah knew of, at least.
Hannah didn’t let her mental state drop, so noticed that it was just Nate coming in. Shrouded in a nimbus of light. Dressed up in a fancy gold costume as well.
That was clear to Hannah, though there were a few different ways he could have landed. It was messy, but a lot clearer and sharper than the sense of blades flying around. It was, she knew, responding to how she moved. He’d land differently, if she was watching him, than if she was looking away. The same was true of Kate, but her friend wasn’t looking at him, still facing the kitchen. Hannah turned then, so got the slightly showier move, with one foot lifted and his hands going out to the sides.
Then the light faded.
The sliding door was unlocked, so he walked in, his face seeming a bit blank. Mainly because Kate was there.
“Kate, this is Mr. Sparkles. Mr. Sparkles, Kate. You know each other?”
Her brother, wearing a full, gold colored, face mask, sighed, audibly.
“Way to keep my secret identity, Hannah. Hey, Kate.”
She went fake wide eyed.
“Wait... Are you really calling yourself Mr. Sparkles? That’s... Perfect. You know that, right?”
Nate waved at the woman and took his mask off.
“Well, I was going with Luminous, but that works, too. It sounds like a kids’ show host, but that does have a certain harmless air to it, which is what I’m going for. How are you doing?” That was directed toward Kate, who shrugged.
“Same as always. You?”
“Not bad? Anyway, I’m going to shower, change and make something to eat. What do you two want?”
Hannah didn’t know, so they were having breaded and fried chicken. That was fine enough with her, really. She wasn’t that picky. Not anymore. Hannah kept trying to hold to seeing the future. Not just seeing, but experiencing what was about to happen, as best she could. That meant she stood there, concentrating, with nothing really going on, for a long time. When her brother finally came out, she stepped to the side, to avoid the line of light that came from his right hand. That didn’t do anything, really, but there was a strong sense of her having dodged the move.
The beam of light.
She had to do that several more times, before he stopped.
“So, I can’t just tease you that way? I... wasn’t aware you could move faster than light. What’s going on here?”
Kate sighed.
“She’s learning to see the future. Very near time. I’d get you to keep going, but I’m kind of hungry. After dinner?”
Nate acted as if it was normal for Kate to know that kind of thing, or even be there, helping his sister with high level psychic training. It probably meant that, even if he wasn’t mentioning it, Nate knew who Wisp was. Hannah didn’t bring that up.
After all, the fewer people talking about that kind of thing, the less likely it was to make the papers. That happened, occasionally. A supe was outed. Then came the lawsuits, and sometimes arrest. That, or the person fleeing the country. That was the real reason for the masks, after all. Not just protecting their loved ones from harm. Oddly enough, even the bad guys generally didn’t try that kind of thing.
When they did, everyone else in the world would come down on them like a load of bricks, after all. It was kind of like shooting the family of a cop. Even people who didn’t love that sort of person wouldn’t support that kind of thing.
No, it was that any superhero who was known publicly, was open to lawsuits. So not allowing that to happen in a provable fashion was a good plan. Plus, even if the police couldn’t handle a lot of things, they really didn’t like that other people could. It made them feel small, she guessed. A thing she understood, in a lot of ways.
Still, she wasn’t going to respond to that kind of thing by trying to lock up the Red Cape or one of the other people who had saved her behind, in the past. The police really would do that kind of thing. Even setting people up for arrest, using tricks.
Rallying a bit, out of her deep mental state, Hannah scowled.
“Wait, you just tried to hit me with a blast of light. I mean, not one that would hurt anything, but you’ve never done that before.”
Nate looked at her for a bit, then tried to tap her with a bit of light, a single, very straight, line of it, in a nice golden color. She shifted out of the way.
“You hadn’t moved, since I went in to shower and change. I was checking to make certain you weren’t a hologram. I could also try to touch you, but this way is faster, if I had to fight.”
“Oh. That makes sense.”
The weird thing was, that to her, it honestly did.
Kate guided her into the VR room, and helped her set up, for a few matches, while they waited for food. She had to mainly fight zombies and bots, but it was pretty clear that she could tell where they were going next, without even half of the distortion that real life held that way. When she tried going against real people in VR, that blurriness came back.
She got the idea of course. People were going to do things a little differently at any given moment, based on what she did. It was why she’d been able to toss a coin and then do random things to mess up a psychic before, on her own. That same trick, clearly, would work against her. Though, if that ever started to happen, she was just going to run in the other direction.
It was the wise thing to do.
She did get when dinner was going to be ready, about five minutes before they were called, so didn’t start a new game, just packing things up first. The meal itself was pretty average, though the food was good. She was given too much to eat again, of course. That was, she thought, just her life for the time being. It wasn’t comfortable for her really, but she was a bit too full, not stuffed.
She got up, as they were being served a single scoop of ice cream each, which was vanilla, with no toppings, since that was her favorite, and moved to the other room, where her phone was on the coffee table, in front of the sofa. She tapped it, just as it rang.
“Red Cape? What’s needed?”
She knew it was him, but didn’t have a single clue what he was planning to say. She understood that one, after he didn’t talk for nearly half a minute.
“I... need someone found. Doctor Sendra?” The man did not sound friendly, as he spoke. Almost like he was fighting tears. Something else as well. He normally managed kind of sweet, or at least like a normal person. Now there was a tonality to his words that screamed of something rather dark. As if he planned to kill the woman.
“Has she been taken?”
There was a shuddering breath then. Eventually the man spoke.
“No... We... There’s video. She took a video, of her... Killing my wife and son. I need to know where she is. Right now.”
That was barely controlled sounding. As if the woman was dead already, and simply didn’t know it yet. Which was true, Hannah decided. Even if the Red Cape was too good of a person to make that happen.
“Come here, now. I’ll find her. Then... We’ll handle this. Come.”
The cell phone went dead.
“Fuck. Nate, Kate? Um...” She didn’t know the Red Cape’s family, but that hardly mattered, in the moment.
They both ran in.
“Superion X... His wife and son were killed. Murdered. I’m going to find the person who did it. Doctor Sendra. We need to make sure it was really her. Nate, get with Alistair on this? Superion is coming here. Kate... Leave. We need... Everyone who...” She shrugged.
Her voice sounded cold, suddenly.
“Get me... everyone you know who isn’t going to whine about someone being murdered. Now.”
Kate simply vanished, and Nate glanced at the air, but didn’t act shocked. Not by that.
“I’m in. We won’t let this go. Let me... Al!” He started talking out loud, as a man, not in uniform, dropped onto the balcony. Hannah waved him in.
“We have Alistair in for this. Telepathically. We need to make sure that Sendra did this. Video isn’t proof. Not anymore. Then, whoever did this... We’ll handle it the way you want. Whatever that is.”
The man, possibly the most powerful person to have ever lived... An alien, or so she’d heard, was shaking. Why that was, she wasn’t certain. In anger, in grief, or even in fear. She might have done the same, if it were her loved ones having been killed. Then, if that had happened, she could bring them back.
Hannah went wide eyed.
“Wait. The bodies, are they still largely intact?”
The man scowled at her, breathing hard.
“Yes. Why?”
She looked around then and did her own hard breathing.
“Because I have two amulets that will bring the dead back to life. We have to go into the Never, with the bodies, but if we have those, it will work. I can’t get there by myself and you may not be able to either, but... Let me see if I can find a way?”
She wasn’t certain if anyone would help her do that. It was kind of a big thing to try, even if she knew, for certain that it would work.
Hannah already had the jewelry for it. They had been made to save Lash and John, but both of them had come back alive.
She dove for her phone, as Alistair spoke, a thing she heard.
~It was her. Doctor Sendra. Acting alone. That... She’s not well, mentally. Right now, she’s on a plane, heading home. To Little Paradise.~
Hannah spoke out loud.
“Keep tabs on her, Al. I have something else to do first. I need Debbie.”
She was about to dial, when a voice came up, in her head. It wasn’t Alistair’s this time.
~Hannah? Report.~
She did it, trying to fight for calm.
“We have two down. At least two that we know of so far. I have two reanimation charms, for the Never. Tortured to death, but that will be fixed. Um, they’re the Red Cape’s wife and son. I don’t know if you’re willing to help with that sort of thing... He’s here. We need the bodies and transport.”
~Incoming. Tell him to hang on.~
Hannah looked at the man, who was still shaking.
“We have transport to the Never. We need the bodies. We’ll send Wisp for that. Hang on for a bit. We have Al watching Doctor Sendra, so she won’t get away. She’s headed to Little Paradise. That’s Doctor Pond’s island...”
Which meant that Veronica’s dad was involved in the situation, for some reason.
She had to make that call, herself. Alistair was obviously too busy for that.
“Veronica here.”
“This is Hannah. Doctor Sendra just...” She looked at Red Cape, and made a face. A very sad one. “She murdered Superion X’s family. Wife and son. She’s heading toward Little Paradise. We’re tracking her. Al is.”
“That stupid fucking witch! I’ll handle her. I need Diaspora. We’ll need a plane.”
Hannah wasn’t tracking all of that, not at all, but tried to hold her mind together. She was fully out of her trance now.
“We have that. We need to get into the Never, with the killed people, so I can bring them back, first. Then we go and settle the score. I just... I know your dad lives there, so I wanted you to be in the loop.”
She growled.
“Sendra is my sister. Diaspora’s, too. Only one of us still talks to Dad. Guess which?”
“Got it. I need to find Wisp.”
That happened fast, since Al was busy, but that, setting things in motion to save people, was what he was doing. That meant, rather quickly, that Hannah, Red Cape and Nate were all suddenly in Lash’s basement, about a minute later. Along with two rather red and mutilated bodies.
Hannah was impressed, but waved to the man in all blue.
“Wisp, I need to grab some things, from my safe.”
Debbie was already chanting, dressed in casual evening wear, not having bothered to waste time, changing her clothes.
Lash yelled at Superion, when he tried to pick his family up.
“No! You won’t survive the Never. Your negative response to magic would be fatal there. I’m not sure if your son can...” She looked visibly pale. Ashen, for a moment.
Red Cape nodded, then took a deep breath.
“He’s not biologically mine. We adopted. He should be fine on that score.”
Hannah grinned then. She tried to seem fierce, even if she wanted to shake in fear at the idea of what she had planned. The hubris of it.
“He will be. One second here.”
Wisp got her to her bedroom, knowing where the safe was, there was no pretending, this time. Hannah hit the combination, fast, and selected the correct pieces, then some others, just in case it was needed. Blanks pieces with no magic, and some shielding she’d made in the past, as well as a few trade items.
Then she waved, at Kate.
“You can carry the bodies in for us?”
Wisp didn’t even nod, just taking her back, making the two corpses float in the air, collecting their blood as well, since they might need that.
A moment later, Debbie grunted, ripping the fabric of space open with the force of her will and her personal energy. The instant they were across, Hannah placed a piece of jewelry on each of the people, knowing that it would work. That the magic would take place. Because it had to.
She wasn’t certain what an unstable, angry, Superion X would plan to do to the world in his rage, but she was kind of certain what everyone else would, to keep that from happening. It involved a lot of death. Mainly of anyone even close to whoever had harmed his people.
It was a real problem. Even Hannah knew that SX didn’t kill. Never, in fact. The man always went out of his way to protect even the most evil of people. It was, in part, why the world trusted him. He could have killed them all, but he was always safe, that way. Always.
She watched as the bodies healed, then as a faint slip of silver energy moved into each one. The boy first, but then, a bit more slowly, the woman. They both gasped, as they came back to life. Then the dark-haired woman, who was thin and cute, in a pretty average sort of way, smiled at her.
“Um, ow? That bitch was cutting me. That’s...” She was still healing, but moved well enough, as she grabbed her son. “Reese? Are you all right?”
The boy was about fourteen or so, and coughed a few times.
“That sucked. Jesus was just telling me to go back, away from the light. That I have some things to do here first... What’s going on?”
Hannah waved at them, and tried for a shorthand version of things.
“You died and came back. We need to get back home now. We’re in a different dimension, for the healing portion of things. Now we need to go and see to the other part of this. Are you two helping us track down Doctor Sendra?”
She didn’t know if that was the right thing to say, but the boy nodded. Instantly and hard.
“I am. That wasn’t fun. I don’t normally go in for hitting women, but I’m suddenly willing to make an exception. Do we know where to start looking?”
Debbie took over then, barking at them a bit.
“Back through the portal first? We need to make some arrangements.” The formerly dead people went first, then Lashondra and Wisp. As Hannah moved to go through, Debbie cleared her throat, hands up with tendrils of red energy coming from them.
