Seg - Issue 10: Civil War

On the other side of town, Taves slowly approached the tall building. He thought how he hated offices, but if there was any chance Lyle made it out alive last night, he’d probably be at work, doing his normal thing. Taves was vigilant for potential threats. He had learned already in his short period of time as a superhero that keeping his head up was his saving grace. “I’m too fast for them” he thought, “as long as I can see it coming.”

Entering the building’s front door, Taves immediately saw a strange sight. There, having a heated discussion with the receptionist was a tall thug. He was trying to explain to the lady that he needed to go upstairs.

“You see this badge,” the man shouted, “that means I go where I wanna go!” He didn’t look like a cop, but the two guys standing behind were in blue.
“Sir, I’m fairly sure you need a warrant or something, I watch CSI, like, all the time.”
The man was almost frantic, “There might be a criminal up stairs, right now, on the fifth floor;”
Interesting, that was Lyle’s floor. ‘Had they come for Lyle’? As their argument persisted, the fire alarms went off with an agonizing screech. Taves made his way to the washroom, hoping to miss the crowd, and then watch from the doorway if Lyle walked by. The man at the desk turned around at the same moment Taves walked by. The tall man wore a hat, and on that hat the letter “H” was bold black on a white. The bruises on the mans face confirmed Taves’ suspicions.

“Shit, that’s the “H;” the super strong guy Swartz and Seguin told me about. Why is he here?”

"H" spoke over his shoulder to his team.

“Careful boys, it’s him, and this one’s quick; real quick.”

Taves wasted no time, and in a moment he found himself on the fifth floor. People were rushing to a froe; “I wonder what set off the alarm,” Taves thought to himself. He walked slowly; he didn’t want to miss thing. A panicked girl breezed by him, and he asked her a question.

“Excuse me, where’s Lyle’s desk,” She pointed it out to Taves, and ran off in a hurry.

To Taves surprise, the desk was occupied. ‘finally, some luck?’ thought Taves, maybe he had survived the explosion and the captors after all. He approached the desk with optimism. A thin layer of smoke filled the air, and Taves coughed a bit; he then waved his hand about to clear some of it, but the smoke was coming from the desk. The chair spun around and the cackling villain was revealed.

“Behold the sun sets and my power is complete. Sorry for the poetic license, but when you’ve been around as long as I have, you tend to remember the way people use to talk; one becomes quite self-absorbed. Speaking of which, where is he? Where’s the absorber?”

Taves shifted, “Tell me where Lyle is now, or you’ll experience a poetic free fall from the fifth floor.” As his words fell, his hands glowed bright. A battle was brewing.

The dark figure cackled further; his voice turned deep and chthonic, and the room’s air went cold. He stood form his seat,
“You know not who you speak with, boy!”

At that precise moment, as Taves was considering his first move, the elevator swung open, and stepping out from its doors, “H” and his crew immediately recognized the smoking man.

“Erebus, I wondered when you’d get out; but we’re not here for you.”

Erebus laughed, “I’ve come for the absorber, you know it, and I know it. And if you don’t seek him then that means you have him.” The lights in the room were dimmed to near darkness now.

“I’ll never let that happen." "H" screamed out, "I can beat you again.” There was a tremble in his voice.

“That was a long time ago, and as you can see some things have changed.”

The room shook with Erebus’ words. Taves looked to his left; there the smoking phantom was ready for anything, each breath he breathed, the room grew darker. To Taves’ right, the cops were slowly reaching for their pistols. “H”’ cinched his fists. It was clear to Taves now; he was in over his head.

The villian through a flash of smoke so great, that the room was covered in shadow. The cops were against the wall, their bodies shattered like glass before Taves could even think. Erebus was fast and difficult to see; like a ghost, his attacks came from all directions. His strength was augmented too. “How could a person become so powerful?” Taves wondered. “H” grabbed two desks nearby and swinging them around in a circle, he crashed one into the back of the cloaked Erebus, sending him flying into an enclosed office. “H” looked to Taves and shouted, “get out of here, he can’t get you too!” Taves flashed to the street below, where the sun was now all but set, and it was a good thing he stored up lots of energy during the day. As he looked up, the floor he was just standing on exploded with smoke and flame. To the average onlooker, it was a fire out of control. But Taves knew. Out of the window, a body was flung. Taves was in such shock, he simply watched “H” plummet to his death. The fire department was arriving, and Taves knew he had to run, but he rushed to fallen man instead.

“How did this happen?!” Taves shook his head.

“…don’t let him find Lyle…” His words trailed off, as he breathed his last breath.

Just then, a radio from “H”’s pocket echoed kinds words.
“Okay bro. I’m going to the mall now, because that’s where he’ll be; could use some back up...fine, don’t answer me; just meet me at the mall soon.”

Erebus was now standing next to Taves and hearing the message entirely, he simply smiled. And with a cloud of smoke, Erebus was gone. Taves thought aloud,

“Shit,”

At the mall, Vengeance and I were landing. He used TK for flight, but dropped me abruptly.
“Thanks for the lift, but why did you drop me in the trash,” I asked.

“You totalled my car, dick.”

We walked to the food court entrance, and looking around on the ground, we saw no evidence of Lyle; just ash and rubble. Swartz was checking the roof while I was checking the ground.

I called out, “man, if only we had ex-ray vision!”

“Hey good looking,” Called a female voice.
I turned around half expecting to find Swartz messing around. But true to her word, there stood Amy, holding in her hand the retainer I had requested; and in the other hand, a knapsack. She tossed me the bag,

“Check it; half is there. That’s 1.4 million dollars, the rest, when you finish the job.”
I approached her, taking the retainer out.

“It’ll fit?”

She laughed, “Please, this isn’t radio shack.”

At that moment, Vengeance slowly descended around behind her landing without a sound. He wasn’t wearing his costume, but his face had changed expression; he had become Vengeance.

“So who do I have to kill to find retribution around here?”

His ominous words caused Amy to jump back. Realizing that I was in league with Vengeance, she reached into her pocket and grabbed her lipstick, but Swartz was already expecting that. He merely lifted his hand and retrieved the tube from her pocket.
“Nice toy, I always wanted to teleport, but how does it work?” Placing it in his pocket, he continued his interrogation, and lifting her of her feet, the choking noise was almost unbearable.
She was honest in a hurry, “We didn’t want you dead, but you left us no choice.”
Was she talking about me or him, I suppose both. He shook his head, “and what does that make you I wonder, I seem to remember you trying to kill my friend Alastor; seems malicious to me.”

A voice called out, “Put her down please.”
The shock of a forth party caused Swartz to drop Amy. The new figure was familiar to me; I had seen him first in my dream weeks ago at Mount Olympus, and again in the car with Amy yesterday. He straightened his hat and walked slowly, his aged body moved slowly, as one would expect. He dressed in a older, double breasted style of suit, and his eyes seemed wise, and aged with lifetimes of experience. If only we knew.

The man continued, “You gentelmen have found yourself in the middle of something you don’t understand yet. To be honest, most rogues don’t survive a week upon discovering their gift. You see, the struggle for power is both ancient and bloody and its wars are not written in the history books. You are not the first of your kinds, and there will be more to follow once you have died. I assume you, Vengeance, are the mover; and you, Alastor, you are the reader, and your friend Taves is the light. My demands are simple, Comply, or you will die; there is no democracy in the Pantheon of power-bearers; the strong rule.”

Swartz was haste but brave. “If you’re with her, you’re against us; and I’ve learned that you people are the brand that shoot first and asks questions later.”

The old man smiled, “now that’s not true. Will you join us?”

Swartz shook his head. But the sage packed a punch too. Without any warning, the old man lifted his hand, and from it, a blaze of lightning shot forth. I was blown back several meters and crashed hard into the garbage bin behind me. Shit, I was back in the garbage. His second move was against Swartz; the blast hit Swartz hard, but he created a shield out of TK, and the impact was all but absorbed by the ability.

“See, I asked a question first.” The man smiled and continued,

With a flash of light, Taves appeared before us, looking frantic and scared; not his usual self. Taves once again was standing between two foes; this time, Vengeance was faced off with the sage who mastered lightning. The sky’s last linger of sun light dwindled, and day was now night.

“Something’s coming and it’s bad, real bad. He killed “H”!”

"Indeed, I have," Called out yet another voice from the buildings shadows. Erebus emerged and faced off against his old master.

The Sage "Erebus, you and your kind have perverted our existence; I cannot let you leave this place alive."

"Don't worry dad, I had no intention of running."

A thunderous clap of lightning struck a pile of rubble near Erebus, and the battle had begun. Taves grabed Swartz and I, and with a flash of light we were gone.

I saw only light, as if caught in some strange dream, I was moving without motion, seeing with out feeling. And in a second, we found ourself in a strange forest.

"Taves, where are we?" I begged.

"Honestly, I don't know, I just grabbed you guys and hoped for the best; was that bad?"

I laughed a bit, "Well, you probably saved our lives, but I guess we should be thankful we're not in a volcano or something."

"Hey guys!" called out Swartz from a dozen feet in front of us.

We hurried to find him in the dark. In the distance, we saw what looked like a house, perhaps a cottage. We looked at each other, and decided to check it out. Upon approaching the drive way, a women was throwing her belongings in her car. She was startled to see us.

"You startled me, I was just about to leave, are the people for the 8 o'cloack walkthrough."

I spoke without realy consulting the others, but we needed a hidout; we needed to dissapear and this was our chance, "Do you take cash?"