Thunder and Webs C126 [Gold]

Diana. Silvereye. Lilian Rose. The line blurs, the walls melt.

Chapter 126: Di- Sil- Lil-

January 22nd

4:19 AM

Lilian Rose

The night was still young as pressure pounded in my skull, pools of scarlet leaking onto the stony surface of the arena, crimson reflections of the warped cheers around me. My right arm hissed, and I saw my opponent in front of me. They raised a sickle-like arm of metal and charged at me. Crimson vines sprouted through the scarlet blood-forged steel of my right hand and I gleefully charged right at the-

January 23rd

Silvereye

-The MAL slashed as I threw shards of metal at it. Los Diablos had evaporated. They belonged to Soul Killer now. Kim Liyung stood at my right as she manifested an aura of green that blanketed the room, MALs lifting into the air while Dryder unleashed devastating blasts from his rifle. Alex, meanwhile, operated with agile drones that stabbed needles filled with Soul Anchors into those who were untransformed. Two days since the gala, and SynTec was doing good on their promise to give us the resources required to combat the Revenant.

As the raid came to an end, I stared around the apartment complex. We’d had to evacuate the entire building, and downstairs lay confused civilians wondering why they were being genetically profiled. We’d missed some… and Choirmen had to restrain them.

That night, pictures leaked of red-eyed civilians screaming at crowds for help as Choirmen drained their blood out.

January 25th

Diana

The Ricky Tremble show welcomed me with open arms. I talked about recent policy changes as SynTec and the government came to a deal requiring stricter oversight of genetic profiling. Reception was mixed.

In the end, the people had to be distracted. A direct message from the mayor led me to reveal the existence of the pre-production of a movie about my… origin story.

Lilian Rose

Blood trickled down my nose, and the world spun as a mutated fist the size of my torso slammed me into the ground. I loved the pain. His next punch, I tore off a finger as I chewed it between my jaws.

January 27th

Diana

“Given recent compromises in our food industry, I believe these changes will work in our benefit to ensure that the produce fed to our families remains free of any mutagenically altered components.” I reported to the journalist at this press conference.

“What effect will this have on local industry producing foodstuff?” She asked, and I kept quiet as Twilight reported to me the potential effects.

{Local brands are most likely to be affected by Soul Killer, but… we haven’t found any trace of them using that method so far. This… it will put a lot of brands out of business by forcing them to use SynTec-owned produce.}

“The Silver Heart Foundation will do everything it can to ensure that-”

January 28th

“What the fuck do you mean that SynTec has a policy where its meat can’t be used for charity?” I screamed over my office.

Alisha winced. “Look, it’s some stupid thing they came up with. Their meat spoils on a timeline to ensure it can’t be genetically profiled so competitors can replicate it. You’d be feeding them a bunch of spoiled meat.”

I groaned, god… I hated that word so much every passing day. Policy. I just wanted to-

Lilian Rose

Bones crumpled as my fist caved in a chest, but that wasn’t good enough, so I grabbed a rib and, breaking it out of their body to lift it up and stab into their eye and-

January 30th

Diana

My heart froze as I walked away from interview and towards the car parked outside and I felt potent hatred festering from the heart of one man in the crowd of paparazzi and journalists. They jumped over the barricades and guards were ready to subdue them, but they screamed at me.

“You arrested my sister for being nothing other than a victim to Soul Killer, where is she? Why haven’t I heard from her yet?!”

February 1st

“She was a Mutation-addict, that’s why you jailed her?!” I screamed to my father.

“If someone breaks the law, that’s where they go.” He said sternly.

“I looked up her file, her interview transcripts… she said her Mutagen dealer was the one who infected her. She’s a victim! Soul Killer’s been targeting-”

I suddenly grew quiet, before mad laughter erupted from me.

February 2nd

Silvereye

Another investigation led us the Fourth Precinct, Belle was glad to be home, but when Soulless police officers began shooting at us… and proved incurable despite the Soul Anchors, we received the order from Lieutenant Omen.

I stood on top of a massacre of men and women in uniforms.

“Why didn’t they work?” I asked in a hollow voice, fingers twitching as I looked at the corpses around me with no emotion.

Twilight glitched into being, a worried look on her face. “They… they likely developed a stronger strain to combat our vaccine.”

“How do we stop them?”

“By making another version.”

February 3rd

Diana

Leo Hackridge shook hands with me in my office, and hours later, news went out that SynTec was developing a vaccine to combat Soul Killer.

February 4th

A protest erupted, and I saw signs of my face lifted up with caricatures depicting me as a puppet of SynTec. They claimed Soul Killer was a hoax designed for governmental control. The funniest thing?

They decorated their eyes with contact lenses so their eyes matched the Soulless. Even funnier?

There were real Soulless amongst them, and I couldn’t do a thing.

Lilian Rose

Who would have thought, but one of those protesters would be a combatant in the arena tonight. I should have gone easy on her. I didn’t.

I picked a tooth out of my forearm as I drowned in drinks afterwards.

February 5th

A bottle dropped from my grasp and rolled onto the ground as Anthony helped me up, his gray eyes reflected concern and his voice didn’t help. “You need to slow down.”

“I can’t.” I drunkenly swatted him. “Say my name and help me get ready for today.”

“Al-alright, but my aunt says your Mutations are only getting more-”

“Say my name.”

“Fine.” He glanced away. “Go fight-”

“-Silvereye”

Early morning, and we arrived at the location authorities had noted sightings of Soulless.

An elderly care facility. We identified seven of them, but none of them fought, none of them transformed. They just called for their rights.

February 7th

“You can’t handle this by yourself.” The Mayor said over call, “I’ve signed authority to have additional Investigators act in apprehending potential Soulless victims. You just smile and nod when the press asks about it.”

I stayed silent.

February 8th

News reports detailed the arrest of eighteen university students by the investigators put on our investigation by the Mayor, they were based on reports from close friends and families that they’d been acting differently.

Only two of them were Soulless. The other sixteen had written negative op-eds about the government.

February 9th

Diana

“Look, mom, it’s Silvereye!” A young girl lifted their finger towards me as they ran. “My mom says you’re a hero and my dad works in the police with you! Have you met him?!”

I was just grocery shopping, but even with glasses and a cap on my head, some people could identify me. The mother excused her daughter’s behavior, but asked if I could show them zaps.

I wanted to, but I was scared I’d blow something up.

February 10th

“Yeah, your powers aren’t getting better.” Anomaly groaned, glasses on her nose as she analyzed reports of my genes across multiple floating holograms. “I give you another month before you’re a walking bomb.”

“How do I get better?”

“You rest up.” She said, “or at least, stop using your electrical mutations for a few months, give them time to settle down.”

“I can’t.” I frowned, looking down at my shaking hands.

“The more you use them, the less stable you’ll become… unless, we figure out the nature of whatever Warpcode abilities you’ve been given.” She shrugged. “But nothing I’m using is working. You need to link up with Donovick if you-”

“No.” I left it at that.

February 13th

“His mother passed away.” Twilight reported in the mid-day as I prepared for an interview.

“Ripley’s?” I choked.

“Yeah… I… can I take a day off?” She took a deep breath.

“Are you going to see him?” I glanced away.

“No, he… Elsa said better not, right now. I’ll leave the offer there for him, but… I want to spend some time with Starlight.” Twilight said.

“Go. I can handle myself.” I nodded. As she left, I hooked up on a call with Alisha. “Hey, Alisha, you’re handling the transfers to the charities, right? Can I ask for a favor?”

“Oh, Founder, what now?!” Alisha sounded frustrated.

“I want… look, be honest with me, you’ve been thinking of visiting Ripley for a while haven’t you?”

“Uh-” Alisha stammered.

“It’s obvious, he’s the best lead you have to fixing up your legs.” I explained. “Go, but I need you to report to me how he is, what he’s doing… if he’s…”

“Oh, wow, want me to check up on your not-ex?” She snickered.

“His mother died.” I reported, “I’m just worried that… it might… I just need to know how he’s doing.”

“Then ask him yourself, he’d appreciate that more than whatever the fuck this is.”

“Just do what I ask.” I said before adding. “Please.”

“Cool, I’ll head out on the 15th. I’m busy on Valentines.”

As I went for my interview, they all wanted me to share what my plans were for Valentine’s. Per Alisha’s advice, I left it vague but with no concrete plans. But the entire time, my thoughts drifted to Ripley.

Everything that led to our fight… what was it all for? A part of me wanted to reach out, to seek him and…

I couldn’t. Every time I tried to use my powers and felt them betray me, I remembered why.

February 14th

I spent the morning alone, drinking. Alisha apparently had a date… and Anthony was busy too. Dryder was silent as well, probably passed out.

My evening was spent at the office, my only company being Kim Liyung. She had a baby cradled in her arms today, her stern face softer as she shooed the young boy when he cried.

“Is that Sabrina’s…”

“Her mother asked for a day off.” Kim reported.

“Azure Phoenix,” the name rolled off my tongue. “She’s under witness protection, but I never asked. Protection from who?”

“Omen, Skeleton and The First Prince.” Kim said quietly. “Our older brother. Crouching Dagger.”

Even during the raid, there was no sight of him, but there were bodies left. Each of them pierced in the heart or the head. I scratched my head, looking into my desk. I found nothing but old files in there and…

Yvette’s burnt phone from when I got to Tier I, and an envelope from Sabrina’s mother that I never opened. I don’t know why, but I could never open it.

Lilian Rose

I slept with three women tonight. I just… I was such a mess.

February 15th

Silvereye

Today, I unveiled the next steps for my Foundation. I opened three additional centers from the funding acquired in the gala, Chris Blume had been late with his payment until I made sure he knew I wasn’t bluffing with the threat.

Later that night, Alisha reported.

“He’s surprisingly… pretty well, if I’m being honest. Apparently, he’s taking medications to stop his Psyche Feature from acting up.”

“Medications?” I gazed to Twilight, who looked thoughtful.

“Must be from Missy?”

“They’re back in town?” I asked.

“Yeah, arrived not that long ago.” Twilight said. “And before you ask why I didn’t tell you sooner, its because you’ve been having a lot on your plate and I’m not sure that talking to Missy right now would be a good idea. You’d only get more confused, Diana.”

“I- maybe you’re right about that…” I looked back at Alisha. “So he’s self-medicating, and…?”

“Trying to change. Both him and his girl. Per-verbatim.” She shrugged. “I dunno, I’ve got plenty of experience with liars, but he… he seemed genuine. My guess is that he’s taken the loss of his mother as a reason to do good.”

“I see…” I had unwise thoughts building in my head, but I stuffed them away.

“One more thing,” Alisha raised up, putting a Datacube down on the table. “I have his nanites in me, they’re meant to help diagnose whatever problems I have with my Implant. Done a check-up myself, they’re not interacting with my Frame or Implant but you’re welcome to see for yourself. This cube, however, contain deactivation codes for them… better safe than sorry.”

“Oh, he gave this to you?” I inspected the cube, a brief zap of lightning letting Twilight inspect the contents.

“He did… seems like… another offering of peace from him.” Alisha commented, “but whatever, I know you guys got drama.”

“That’s an understatement.” Twilight commented. “But… Diana… he’s-”

“Don’t start, Twilight.” I left it plain and clear. “You know why we can’t involve him.”

Everything I’d heard from Amaterasu, and considering the state of the city, adding on Dreadwire would be too much. “But… keep an eye out for any Dreadwire activity.”

Twilight sighed. “Nothing but copycats, fanatics and a whole lot of speculation.”

“Good.”

Lilian Rose

Copycats… yeah, I could tell. One of my combatants today wore a scrapped-up lookalike of Dreadwire’s suit. It even had semi-functional Arachnodyne-like limbs… but they were more fragile.

I proved an expert in dismantling them.

February 19th

1:14 AM

The night was young and drinks flowed effortlessly as I bounced with bodies to my left and right. Everything was so simple as Lilian Rose. I punched shit and got drunk.

It was an escape, one I’d been loving. Twilight was strangely absent from me tonight, but I couldn’t care at the moment. At times, I felt bad for her, I knew I’d been overworking everyone in ASK. Soul Killer could be anywhere, any time, and how ironic was it that I frequented a club operated by someone who had once been a part of their hivemind.

Bodies bumped, lights strobed, drinks flowed and I was having the time of my life just forgetting about my woes and sorrows. A pretty woman grabbed my waist and began nipping on my neck but flinched back once a flash of heat licked her lips. A challenging but seductive grin grew on my face. “Can you handle the spice?”

“Oh, baby, I can handle anything from you, Bloodthorn.” She leaned closer, but I put my finger up and shook it to say ‘no’.

“Got a fight coming up, maybe later.” Fangs flashed from my mouth, and she flushed red as I turned around and bumped into a wall of steel-forged muscle. I was about to yell, but touching his metal arms felt just right, like a soothing river of water that I was willing to melt into. The drink submerged my mind into a thoughtless lake as I swayed with him and rested my head in the crook of his neck.

I heard his voice talk but I just shook my head at the sound as I let the serenity of the moment pass over me, turning around to press my back into his chest as I pulled up his steel digits and laced my fingers over them. I made sure he could feel me press everything into him. “Fuck, baby, I’m not normally into guys but something about you feels nice. Play your cards right and…”

I blinked as I looked at the fingers I was holding with more introspection, they seemed quite familiar and…

Quickly turning around, my crimson eyes found orange irises staring back at me and the face of man who I’d once beaten the shit out of.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Donovick?”

Ripley had a flustered look at his face, but it quickly became serious. “Your dad and the Mayor visited me…”

My eyes flashed with hidden lightning under the light, but then he spoke further. It was layered in a desperate pleading thing that drenched my soul with the one thing I was beginning to grow numb to. Hope.

“I wanted to talk to you, please?”