I had just finished recounting my day so far when Angelina and I reached the cemetery.
We landed, and I tucked us under a tree as we became visible. I’d scanned, and I had detected no surveillance. We were also the only people present. A cemetery wasn’t exactly a popular spot in the middle of the workday.
"You rushed Venus," Angelina decided. "Emma, you might have played right, but I don't know enough about her."
I countered, "Venus was pushing. By naming myself Void, I gave her enough information that she could come to a clearer decision for herself."
"Yeah," Angelina said dryly. "I'm sure that's exactly how she'll see it." The sarcasm dripped from her tone as she rolled her eyes. "But we are here to deal with your issues now."
I looked up at the sky, wanting to spend more time talking about the others. I hadn’t been in the cemetery since my parents had been buried. And as I looked around, I realized I wasn’t exactly sure which headstone was even theirs. But I knew the general area.
"That one," Angelina pointed. Apparently, she had done more than just a little research.
The one she pointed to was plain, low to the ground, with a square face pointing upwards and names etched on it that were visible as I approached.
Dorothy and Simon Matherson.
I felt my chest go hollow while my skin prickled as if it had dropped a dozen degrees. "Why are we here, again?" My voice threatened violence.
"You really aren't very good at the whole fake identity thing, are you? Miles Matherson… Miles Mathers. Not exactly a gigantic leap."
"Sometimes it is easier to lie if it is close to the truth," I snapped, feeling tense.
Angelina sat down next to the tombstone. "Or you are still attached to who you once were? I can see the appeal of your life back before you had powers. It would have been much simpler."
My eyes flicked back to the headstone. It was so... plain. But that stone seemed to have some sort of power over my feelings.
I grew angry and resentful just looking at it. "How do I make my powers apologize?"
Angelina pulled her knees to her chest as she sat nearby. "Well, since you rushed this, I'll give you the rushed answer. You need to apologize."
I glared at her, feeling uncomfortable. I really wanted to smash something with my powers. "That's bullshit."
"You control them. They are a part of you. And you hold resentment against that part of yourself for their inability to help when your parents died and when your high school was attacked. So, make them apologize." Angelina watched me with anticipation.
"I hate you a little right now, too," I muttered, but she only grinned in response.
Stupid therapist smile. It was soft and unoffensive, while at the same time, it grated at my nerves.
“Good. Then we might just get somewhere. Now, do what feels right. Don’t overthink it.” She went quiet again, and I ignored her, staring down at my hands.
I turned them over, looking at the lines in my palms, trying to decide how I felt and how I should apologize.
I blamed my powers to some degree. They were so powerful, but they’d failed to be there for me when I’d needed them. Without a voice, I needed some other way for them to apologize. They were worthless for undoing what was done to my parents.
I couldn't turn back time.
I couldn't bring back the dead.
I believed actions spoke louder than words. I wanted my powers to mourn them, to show the pain of not being present in those moments of need. Reaching up into the sky, I pushed on the clouds and sapped the heat from them.
Anger, frustration, and an ache filled me as I shaped the weather, but I couldn’t do a single thing to bring my parents back. So powerful and yet so limited.
The rain was sudden as the clouds cooled and lost their ability to hold the moisture. It poured down, pounding into us.
I hated being wet, but it felt appropriate to accept some discomfort.
Because I was uncomfortable. I didn’t want to shield myself at the moment; I wanted to feel all of it.
My powers didn’t work on the past; they only worked on the future. The closest I could get to making amends was to prevent the same thing from happening to someone else, save another kid from losing their parents.
I stared at the tombstone as the rain continued. My mom had been an accountant. My dad had been a chef at a restaurant. They’d been relatively normal people. Just simple, low-grade supers.
Neither of them were “heroes”, but they had made an enjoyable life for me. They were good people, and to me as a child, they were my heroes.
I tried to imagine what it would have been like if they had seen me with my powers. If I’d had these powers while they were still alive, I tried to imagine what they would have told me to do with them.
I smiled as an answer came to me. My mom would probably have wanted me to do something sensible with them. Something that would make sure I had a stable job, a stable life.
I lifted my face into the rain and closed my eyes. Her face was almost visible to me. An old memory from my childhood flickered through my mind. She was shaking a wooden spoon at me. But even in her anger, there was love in her eyes.
That day, I had gotten into a scuffle in school. She was scolding me to focus on what I'd be doing later in life, telling me of the risks I faced if I got into fights.
Meanwhile, my father had taken me aside and disinfected my knuckles while coaching me on how to swing a mean right hook. If I was in a fight, he wanted me to get the advantage in one swift strike. He had tried to tell me that, if I really believed in myself, it was okay to stand up for what I believed in.
Neither of them would have advocated that I hide my abilities.
Power crackled in my hand as I drew on my power, condensing all manner of energy into a black ball in my hand.
They would have told me to use my powers for what I believed in, to use them to better the world in some way.
I popped the little black bead and let my power surge up into the sky, blasting through the cloud. It scattered and then returned the day to its previous charm.
The manicured shrubs and the small trees in the cemetery shuddered with the shockwave of the blast, losing more than a few leaves, scattering them to the wind.
And I stood there. As the wave had flowed into my body, resolve had taken its place.
My powers may not have saved my parents, but there was so much that they could do. I was on the right path now, thanks to Stella, but there was so much more that I could do.
I sighed and felt a weight fall off my shoulders.
"All done? Because we should probably get the fuck out of here." Angelina smiled, barely holding back laughter. "What happened?"
I wrapped both of us so that light would bend around us. "My powers can't bring them back. But they would want me to use them, not hide as much as I have."
"But you don't want the spotlight," Angelina countered as I lifted us both up into the air.
Sirens were already in the distance and racing closer.
"No, I am not ready to put on a cape and go be a hero. But there are a few things that I can do to free up my powers to be used more often.” I already had an inkling of what I wanted to do; now, I just needed to figure out the rest.
But Angelina didn’t pry. She just stroked the side of my face, pride shining in her eyes.
We flew in comfortable silence as she molded herself against me but didn’t push it further. She knew that I needed time to digest what had happened.
I dropped her back off at the prison and retrieved my tablet.
And then I found myself floating slowly over to the BSH. My powers were still secret, but I needed to free them of the shackles I had put around myself.
I needed people I could trust. Then I’d surround myself with them so that I could operate more freely. That was the best way to increase how much I could use my powers. It wasn't time yet for me to be completely out in the open, but there had to be something between where I was now and full publicity.
Landing back by the Chinese restaurant, I walked the rest of the way to the Bureau. The place was a scramble as heroes flew out and analysts were rushing back to The Spine with their lunches.
I cringed. Maybe lunchtime wasn’t the best time to release that power. The poor analysts needed to eat, too.
Checking my tablet, sure enough, there had been a titan alarm that was quickly silenced, followed by half a dozen messages for me to get my ass back to the BSH.
Rather than avoid it, I headed into The Spine where Kim was watching from the balcony.
"There you are. Void just shot a blast in the city. We are preparing all teams." Kim gritted her teeth, staring at the main screens that seemed to be broken satellite imagery.
"What's wrong with the images?"
"His blast is interfering with our satellites. Any of them that were looking at the city had their calibrations ruined," Kim grumbled. "He blinded us."
"Anything else damaged?" I asked.
"Nothing big enough to notice at first. We should get a report from the field teams where the blast occurred." Kim leaned back but held onto the railing. It had been replaced since she had last warped it with her fire. "Why did he blind us, though?"
The information was certainly interesting. I hadn’t intentionally blinded them, but if the blast had done that, I could certainly use it to my advantage in the future if I needed to.
But it also meant she thought he’d been doing something extra nefarious. "Are we sure that's what he meant to do? Maybe Void encountered something, and the satellites are collateral damage. We still have no idea what his goals are."
"He said he wants to be left alone." Kim turned away from the screens. "But you’re right. Maybe he deserves the benefit of the doubt after what he did to the Chimera, but he still scares the hell out of me."
"Director of the BSH? Afraid?" I teased her, trying to lighten the mood.
Kim stared at me. "He killed Fortress. He killed the Chimera, a titan. Miles, he is so insanely powerful. I really screwed up blaming him for Fortress. I just didn’t see another option at the time."
And I understood. My reputation had been the collateral damage to her plan. I wished it had gone differently, but I was just accepting parts of the past.
"You wanted to protect the heroes. Was Fortress the first incident?"
"No. Fortress wasn't the first, but the others were easier to stop. I... I was often called in to deal with them, because of my immortality." Kim squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, like she was trying to force painful memories away. "Anyway, I don't want to talk about that.”
She took a moment to collect herself before continuing. "Void. We need a plan for him," she redirected the conversation.
I shrugged. "If he hasn't hurt anyone, I don't see why we should move yet. Sending Stella after him would be the same as asking her to commit suicide. Unless you have been hiding a secret weapon from me, I see nothing we can do besides get out of his way."
That and I really wasn’t about to start a war with myself.
Kim clicked her tongue. "You are supposed to have better ideas than that."
"Only deputy ideas. You’re the big boss," I teased again, not interested in making a contingency plan to deal with my alter ego.
And I didn’t see many options that she had beyond completely overwhelming me. Even then, it would leave Point City a wasteland.
"If we’re good here, I think I'm going to take my team on patrol. I’d like to deal with issues we can fix."
"Miles." Kim stopped me. "Thank you. I have a little trouble with common sense when Void is involved."
"No problem. And don't forget to take care of yourself." I nodded at her and left The Spine, swiping away on my tablet to tell my team to get suited up.
I’d barely made it to the lobby before Melody caught me.
"Miles." She had a knowing glare.
"Afternoon. I went and did a little therapy with Angelina for lunch." I leaned forward, giving her a kiss on the cheek and enjoying the slight softening of her stance.
She looked up at me. "Really? That's what it was?"
"Cathartic, but more than that. We can talk about it later at home. All you need to know right now is that everything is okay. I'll take you three on patrol. My primary concern is this teleporter and the villains becoming actual monsters. Void isn't a problem," I confirmed, stepping around her wanting to get back to work.
Melody wrapped me in a hug and pulled my head down to squish against her soft chest. "I was worried about you, Miles. As soon as the titan alarms went off, people cried that Void was attacking."
She pressed me once more, smothering me for a second before letting up.
"You have nothing to worry about," I promised her.
"What are we worrying about?" Stella skipped over and landed firmly next to me before leaning in and nuzzling my shoulder.
They were both suited up, so now we only needed Venus.
"Nothing now. Just waiting for Venus so that we can start the patrol and scope out the groups that the analysts have been monitoring." I frowned. Venus was normally far more punctual.
Stella winced. "We might wait a minute. Venus has been mopey since practice."
Melody made a pained face. "She was pretty embarrassed."
"What happened?"
"She basically orgasmed right in the middle of practice." Stella didn't beat around the bush.
"She what?” I asked, surprised.
Stella just continued on, not seeming worried about Venus in the slightest. “Yeah, while she looked like she was enjoying herself, she also lost that fight pretty badly. Hard to fight well when your body is all soft and gooey. She's been in a mood since."
I wondered if that had happened when I’d boosted her power. If there was something sexual tied to it, it might explain the connection. Sex triggered chemicals that could make somebody more attached.
And as her manager, I needed to talk to her about it, make sure she was up for the fight.
Venus came hurrying over in her suit that made her look like a Greek goddess. A mask made of gold and olive leaves hid a good portion of her face, and she wore a white leotard with a loose, white cloth wrapped around her, gold cuffs adorning her arms and legs.
They were all probably high-end materials that could take a punch, but Venus didn’t exactly fight in close quarters, so it was mostly for show.
“You’re late. Let’s get going, and we can talk on the way.”
Venus looked down at the ground but said nothing as she followed us.
I knew she had more than just the incident from training on her mind. She was also dwelling on the conversation I had had with her, and the revelation that Void was her augmenter, which meant her love was not out there waiting for her and only her.
We exited the building, and Stella wasted no time snatching me and hurtling into the air. "Which way?"
Finding the map on my tablet, I pointed east. "That way."
It was easier than trying to give directions. Stella couldn't tell east from west on a good day.
Melody was right behind us, but Venus lagged back. It was like she was trying to remain hidden.
And that would not work. We were a team, and she needed to be engaged when we were on patrol. "Venus, do I need to bench you today, or are you going to buck up when we get there?"
Her head snapped up. "I can do my job."
"So far, it seems like you are too distracted. And if you’re distracted in battle, that could cost lives. So, I’ll ask you once more: Can you put whatever is going on aside?” I kept my voice firm. I wasn’t going to risk Stella or Melody, even if I was part of the cause of Venus’ funk.
She sighed over the comms. "My problems are for later. Right now, I'm Venus, a superhero. My patrol has my focus. I promise I won't let the team down."
"Good, because we have more groups popping up, and we need to weed them out. All three of you need to be at your best. And if we have another instance of whatever happened yesterday, your highest priority is getting your hands on whatever they have been swallowing.”
Stella started giggling, apparently deciding to take that statement differently.
"I met with the scientists that work such long hours that it’s like they live under the Bureau today," I started, ignoring her giggles. "The scientists suspect that it is some new technology trying to improve supers’ powers. Getting a sample of it would go a long way to figuring out where this is coming from."
"Someone can improve superpowers? Like Libertech?" Venus asked, seeming to focus in again.
"We don’t know much, but from the examinations so far, we believe it enhances powers, but also causes physical mutations. And there’s a pretty solid chance of failure. It looks like the two villains from yesterday that became blobs were failures."
Melody spat over her comms. "Who the hell would take that risk?"
"Many people," Venus was quick to answer. "We are all lucky to have strong superpowers, but those without them would do horrible things to get them. Even I am tempted to do terrible things for more power." She got quiet after her statement.
I just let her stew and continued the conversation. "So, getting a sample of whatever they are taking would help the BSH get ahead of this rather than just dealing with the problem. But we don't know if any of these groups will have it. It’s just a hunch."
"Why the hunch?" Melody asked.
"Because of the lizard man teleporter. Given his level of power and mutation, I suspect they have already taken this. He may be part of the distribution. We hadn’t expected him to be around the four other supers, so it would make sense. And who better to serve as test subjects than a desperate group of villains? Hell, they might even use it to recruit. So, I am wondering if these next groups will be the new targets."
There was silence from the team as they processed what I’d said. The ability to enhance powers was a powerful recruitment tool. We could easily be facing a genuine crisis if we didn’t get it under control.