by The Eurostar
Edulcore Cicciotto:
Vampires? Why should I marvel? I have been attacked by a Bigfoot, something like a werewolf lives some levels below me, and another of my teammates is a living Grim Reaper. Why wonder?
One minute ago, the voice of Doc Quantos came out of nowhere inside the UFO, asking me to check for the rest of the members, them being Danny, M'xy, Phil, and Chance, catch them and come back to the complex, which is under attack from vampires.
Right now I am without feathers. Funny, though. What use would feathers be against vampires?
On the multipurpose screen in front of me, a reading shines: it's Chance, near a little houseboat that seems to have no trouble amid this hurricane. Just like my saucer...
Beam him up, UFO.
Just when the beam goes down, the reading doubles. Someone is connecting with Kris; maybe he's holding his hand, or...
"Euro!"
"Jackie?!"
Beside Chance, still with her hand over his arm, stands Jackie, the girl I met over a train in the desert when I was traveling with Turner across America, and that I briefly saw a couple of days ago in Paris at the old man's home. What is she doing here?
"Euro, this man is betraying your team!" she shouts, pointing at my Swedish friend.
"Miss, you are making a grave mistake accusing me of that," he replies.
Oh, good, more arguments. Just what we need now. "Hold on, people. We have a situation at the complex. Let's save the discussion for later."
How I am speaking? Straight out of an old spaghetti western.
"There are vampires attacking the complex, taking advantage of the lack of sunlight. It seems they have to do with Wulf and what went up in the bar, two days ago. Danny, M'xy, and Phil seems unreachable, we must return there right now."
"Vampire?" shouts Chance, very surprised. Jackie seems not amazed by the revelation. But the scientist regains his coolness in a moment. "We need wood to fight them. Fly to the rainforest, quick!"
Now the UFO hovers over the trees. Jackie, or Ameristar, as she wants to be called, has felled a tree and is breaking it apart to create spikes, thanks to her resourceful armour. I am the commander, and Chance is behind me, looking outside.
"You seem troubled, Kris. Two days ago, on the flight to Paris, you seemed happier. I don't know how to say... very positive, maybe. Your face was like I never saw on people at least in the last months. Is the hurricane you are worrying about?"
He turns toward me. "You are an acute observer. No, it's not the hurricane. It's... more. It's this universe. It seems the same compared to the one where I come from, but only superficially. I have talked with Quantos, I have looked at his files about your team, since the beginning. I don't like this place."
"Well, it's not an easy world to live in, especially for metas like us. But you are the luckiest man on Earth. You should be happy!"
"No. It's all wrong. I've been here only a few days, but it's always dark, and there are shadows everywhere. In my universe, the colors were... deeper and brighter. Things here seem more... complicated. Lies everywhere, governments acting like villains, norms hating metas..."
"Wait, wait, wait. Where you come from the metas are not discriminated?"
"No, not at all. Thanks to you, mostly."
"What? How?"
"It's simple. It was when the metagene was discovered, and you were revealed to be a metahuman..."
"And the Olympic Committee asked me to surrender my records and medals..."
"No, Ed. Not where I come from. There, you spontaneously renounced your medals before the Committee could ask."
What?! I renounced my medals... from my whole life... by my own free will? No way! But... it makes sense. It's what I would do... now.
"Kris, what happened next?"
"Well, it caused a sensation. The media was on your side. You became the voice of the metahumans. People who lived in hiding because of their powers went out into the public. You left the stardom of sports to study and become a lawyer, and then went to America to found the MBL, the Metahuman Board of Legitimation. It was founded by Malvan-X Corp., and you worked closely with Quantos to study the potential of the metagene.
"When America, and shortly after most of the Earth nations, produced appropriate laws to secure rights for all people carrying the metagene, you felt you did your part and was about to retire when the incident in Mandelovia happened."
"The meteor?"
"The meteor. Only, it was a true meteor there. And you died, plain and simple. We found the body. But Malvan-X was nevertheless destroyed. I was there those days. Quantos was one of the few survivors of the fall. He had a little, neat idea and asked me to join. We bought this... that... complex in La Perdita and created MBL Consulting, calling it in honor of your previous creation."
"I understand why you seem confused. That's the paradise, and this is hell."
"No, it's not paradise. But surely things are easier. There is good, and there is bad. There is white, and there is black, and gray areas are rare. Here, it all seems gray. Quantos has told me about the EPS. I can't think of a team like that in my world."
A world without Walker, a paradise indeed.
"Beam me up, big potato!" shouts Ameristar.
Big potato? Where I did hear someone calling me like that? Patatone... it was Italian... the dream I had before, when I was caught in the hurricane. What kind of connection...?
"Do you think they are enough?" asks Ameristar, with an armful of wooden spikes.
Chance takes one, balances it in his hands and smiles. Time to go.
MBL, we are coming!