by The Eurostar
Edulcore Cicciotto:
A few minutes ago, we entered the training room with the joy and the expectations of a pack of kids going to Disneyland. The different settings of the virtual reality chamber were overwhelming. Naecken chose an airport with terrorists, but when we found there was an outer space setting, we switched quickly.
Swarms of giant mobile suits piloted by ugly aliens were shooting at us, but we managed to fight them as a well-oiled team. Nowhereman gave orders, and we all performed perfectly, Marv Velo using his power gauntlets, M'xy his magic, Tobias his supervelocity, Danny his morphing abilities, and me changing my density from superheavy to ghost form. In the end, the battle was won easily.
When the virtual settings wore off, we all cheered each other. Nowhereman was smiling, and Velo shook his hand, saying, "Just like our first time, battling the Boull during the Crux of Ages and Boull Invasion cases!" I hadn't noticed those words at the time. I felt too happy then.
When we returned to the meeting room, we weren't ready for what was awaiting for us. There were dozens of people there, all dressed in colorful costumes, even including a giant. Marv Velo and Nowhereman seemed excited. "Jack Eimann! Dan O'Boyle! Tora! Lance! Zed!" they shouted, along with many other names. There were at least sixty of them. Sixty metahumans, males and females alike.
And then, Velo took off his mask, and his eyes were all black, like obsidian. He turned to me and smiled. And then, all the metas took off their masks, and all had obsidian eyes. I thought it was the end. They attacked.
Nowhereman was not one of them. He was as surprised as we were, even if he wasn't scared like me. We battled. But this time it wasn't like it had been in the virtual room. This time we were inefficient, bumping into each other, aiming badly at our enemies, hurting ourselves. We were losing, succumbing to a sheer power hundreds of times stronger than us.
Until... until the temple began collapsing over us. I managed to maneuver my way over to Naecken. "Is your doing?" I asked.
"Too much evil," he said, with a suffocated voice, while he was irradiating energy from his whole person.
M'xy was shouting at me, "I feel K'TL! But he's not alone!"
And then all went black.
We awoke on the sandy beach of the shore of Lake Michigan, Naecken, Nowhereman, M'xy, Tobias, Danny and I. Now we are still on the coast, looking at the lake. Of the "MBL Headquarters," the only thing that has survived was the old, battered, wooden round table, the only real thing that was there.
Naecken seems sad. It's the first time I see him with an expression like this. "That was not the true Marv Velo, if such a meta indeed exists on this plane of existence. The other metas were all normal people, seduced and transformed by an higher, evil power. And I had to kill them. All," says the angel, with his (her?) female voice.
"It was either them or us," I note, but that causes a tear to run down his blue cheek.
"Was the headquarters created to attract that evil, Naecken?" I ask.
"I... I am sorry," he replies. Just what I was suspecting.
There is a piece of an old newspaper ashore on the sand. "This planet is worse than Hell, Nae..." I say, pointing my finger to a picture of the war in Afghanistan. There are children playing on the sand, very far from here, but we can hear them laughing. "...and holier than Heaven. We can't change it. We can only help it to change itself."
M'xy is talking with Danny and Tobias. The fancy costumes are gone, and we are back to our tattered clothes. "We must find K'tl. He is growing powerful with every day that passes. And, also, are you sure he should be our leader?" says M'xy, pointing to the Brit, who is standing in front of the lake. He's talking to himself, with different voices. Split personality, it seems. One is called Howdy, and the other Jack Nasty.
What happened down in the lake, in that magic refuge? Heaven, Hell, space and time conjured up a fancy universe where being led by a fool seemed very cool. But now, under the sun, all is different, all is so real. The truth, despite how much I hate to say it, is that our group needs someone to give directions, to coordinate our different goals. And it seems that the one best suited, God help me, is indeed me.
"Tobias, scan the place and find a deserted house or factory, or, even better, a disused mine. We need a true resting place, possibly secure from the eyes of the satellites."
Then I walk up to Nowhereman. "The headquarters... destroyed... the MBLers... all traitors. It's horrible. I needed the MBL -- there's something..."
"Later, Nowhereman. They were not traitors, they were... villains in disguise. But we are still here. Maybe we are not the best, maybe we are few and untrained. But we are here. Just don't call us the MBL. There is no MBL, and there never will be one."