by Bibbo, The Eurostar, I'm Not Mister Mxypltk and Tobias Christopher
"Amazing," Bobowsky said as he lowered his binoculars and took a drag off his cigarette, "the shapeshifter took the time to save a man that would have killed him. This is turning from a metahuman outbreak into a metahero melodrama."
"Don't let them fool you -- they're still just a bunch of revolutionaries," another man said as he emerged from the boat's cabin. "Don't forget, bleeding hearts usually lead to bleeding heads."
"Don't forget which one of us spent ten years of his life on covert missions," Bobowsky replied. "I'm pulling the boat further north. I don't want any of the metas to spot us yet."
The security chief handed his binoculars to his assistant. He entered the cabin of the nondescript boat that his team was using to survey the fight that the MCCA had picked with a houseful of metas, including Eurostar and several who were at least as powerful as he was. It was this kind of stupid move that had made him decide to work outside of the country after his military tenure had ended.
Once the boat moved out of range, he resumed his surveillance. This was quite the show.
Edulcore Cicciotto:
Still four helicopters, and a dozen of men in black from the MCCA firing at us from behind the trees.
"They are not evil. They are doing what they believe is good. They are misled by their superiors, but not evil," whispers Naecken, as if talking to himself.
"They're bad! Now I'm gonna wipe them all away!" shouts M'xy, with a sarcastic smile on his face.
"No, wait!" I say, putting my hand firmly on the otherdimensional being's back. "If we kill them, their colleagues will want to avenge them, and we'll be their target forever. Their leaders are our true enemies, and we have to harm them as little as possible, just like Danny is showing us."
Naecken turns to me. "Very noble intentions, comrade, but how can we possibly do it?"
"We must disarm them, and leave. I will take care of two helicopters. I can't go near the snipers, because they have that electrical gun that can harm me. You, Naecken, will take care of the other two. Danny will retrieve the pilots from the lake, while you, M'xy, and Tobias will disarm the snipers in the wood. But you must be less destructive than a tornado. Tobias can use his supervelocity to take the guns without being seen, while you, M'xy -- please don't turn them into cows -- maybe you can animate the trees to scare them off?"
The man in the top hat just smiles and walks off. Naecken transmits with his telepathy my suggestion to both Tobias and Danny, and then spreads his wings and flies off toward two of the helicopters.
Time to enter into the action. The adrenaline pumps inside my veins. There is a broken glass window still hanging from the surviving wall. The man reflected back at me is not the Edulcore I once knew. Inside my old runner's vest, with a full red mask for enhanced aerodynamics, I look impressive. The old days of my glory are not so old anymore, I guess.
I turn lighter than air and begin to rise toward the sky. I float in the direction of one of the 'copters, and then stop right in front of the pilot, just outside the glass.
The face of the pilot is hard to describe. And a scream of terror he emits when I pass through the glass, and through him, to turn denser than diamond right in the place occupied by the engine. The helicopter falls straight down, and I see Danny flying to rescue the pilot before he sinks into the chilly waters of Lake Michigan.
The second helicopter is turning back; maybe it has been ordered to retire. Sorry, not now.
No time to scare the pilot. I just touch the shell of the helicopter, and it turns ghost. The pilot suddenly realizes he is sitting over nothing, and falls. Well, after all, I have scared him nearly to death. Danny catches him only inches above the water's surface.
I have completed my part. What are M'xy, Naecken and Tobias doing?
But, before I turn to watch them, a very distant sparkle from the lakeside catches my attention. It's a boat, and the sparkle was the reflection of the sun over... what? The lenses of a camera? A binoculars? Better to investigate.
"I think the meta's seen us," one of the security men called to Chief Bobowsky.
"Then throw out the reels," Bobowsky said coolly as he tossed a fishing rod to each of the men. "There is nothing on our persons or on this boat to connect us to Malvan-X, and there are no reports of telepaths among the metahuman 'revolutionaries,' as you called them.
"Relax, men," he continued, "we're just some friends fishing. We couldn't help but notice the helicopters, and when we saw the scuffle, we pulled back far enough to be safe, but stayed close enough to see what will surely be the top story on the evening news."
Bobowsky smiled as he cast his reel and put on a fisherman's cap. He knew he was damn good. None of the metas would know who he was until he wanted them to.
Inside a department store, Shirley Francis, M'xy's friend from the shop, sat on a couch watching television. She had a sad look on her face. She told herself it was because she was fired from the store, but she knew it was something else... but what?
Then, the show she had been watching was interrupted. "We interrupt this broadcast to bring you a special news bulletin. A fight between metahumans and a group of armed men in military gear is taking place right now on the shore of Lake Michigan..."
She was about to turn the TV off, when it said, "Because of security reasons, our chopper can't get close to the fight, but we were able to catch these images."
The screen now showed several helicopters, armed men, and metahumans fighting them. Suddenly, some tall trees around them started moving.
"It looks like... those trees are developing arms... and feet... and... faces?"
As several men ran away from the trees, the camera turned to a man levitating behind the trees, energy coming out of him and into the trees. He was wearing a top hat and a coat.
Shirley gasped. "Oh, my God... oh, my God..."
Tobias was just disarming the last of the snipers, and was ready to head back, when he heard one of them say, "Your girl was a whore."
"What?" Tobias said as he ran back and grabbed the guy.
"You heard me," he said. "We all had our turn with her. She wasn't that great."
"You son of a bitch!" Tobias said as he prepared to vibrate his hand through the man's skull.
"Tobias, no!" M'xy said as he grabbed Tobias' arm. "No death. That's an order."
Tobias just stood there, trying to decide what to do. "Fine," he said, "I won't kill him."
Instead, Tobias vibrated his hand through man's back and severed his spine, paralyzing him. He held the man up to show the other snipers. "You've got three seconds before I come after the rest of you." The last few of the attackers ran away as fast as they could as Tobias let the man hit the ground.
"Tobias?" M'xy asked.
The boy just fell to his knees and started to cry.