Designation: Training Ground
He set foot on the planet in his power armor. His brothers would be unharmed, but the planet was likely ruined.
He blinked.
They were lying on the ground around a crystal-clear pond, surrounded by greenery, with chirping birds and nice, sunny weather. An impossibility in this arid world. A golden finch flew close. He held his index finger out, and it landed, chirping and preening itself.
"Not bad."
"Thanks," Kael said, straightening up.
"How do you two feel? Know your limits, your capabilities?" After a month, they hopefully had learned enough.
"Yep."
"Come on then."
"Yeah." Sky got up, stretching. "I got me some revenge to take," he said, suddenly beside him, patting his shoulder.
Kael followed, letting the illusion fall apart, exposing the true state of the planet. Thairon nodded slowly at the continental chunks in the orbit and the cooling seas of molten metal.
—
Subterranean Labs
His brothers were in the shower before he even crossed back into the lab seconds after them. The destruction on the planet was within the expected range. Both had a lot to work through; letting loose like this was the perfect way to vent.
If a bit over the top.
"A rupture in Taglion in four days. RIC Central and Carbedon base will respond," Nax reported, which meant one of two things. Either there was an issue or…
"Your girlfriend is going too."
He clicked his tongue. She was being sent to almost every arrival point these days. Still, they were able to meet when time permitted it. "Monitor the situation as always."
He turned his attention to the matter of the genetic lock. Since there was no female DNA to work with yet, he only worked on the male samples. The temporal stasis went into the Y chromosome, while the augmentations were in the X, while he still worked on a definitive solution.
Any female would have both the temporal stasis and the augmentations in each chromosome. Daughters would have both abilities of the parents. The extra temporal stasis gene wouldn't mean much for the boys.
His musings were cut short as his brothers came, a stupid grin plastered on their faces.
"Well, I am done with my studies, for all that they are worth now. Soon as I pack up, I am off to a grand new adventure," Kael said, giddy, eyes shining.
"What about your job?"
Kael put his elbow on Thairon's shoulder, giving him a flat look. "They fired me because someone in the upper management heard that a certain vigilante carved a bloody path through Aurum City because I got hurt."
Skyler crossed his arms, turning his head away with a whistle. "Man, that sucks."
He glared at them. "On the bright side, you can travel freely."
"What about you?" What would his older brother be doing to save the world now?
Sky's right hand curled to a fist, landing on his left palm with a meaty thwack, his teeth showing. "Some people, a lot in fact, need to pay. I am going to collect what they owe to the people," he said, punching his palm.
Kael snorted, and a wave of green washed over Skyler. Suddenly he stood in a full-body dark spandex suit, with a capital V on his chest and a blood-red cape with "vengeance" written on it.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the newest vigilante of our planet, the blood-haired edgelord himself, the Protest Man," Kael announced with heavy, theatrical sarcasm, all in good spirit.
Skyler rolled his eyes. "Really? This is the best you can do?"
He waved his hand, breaking the illusion. "Hey, you are my bro; I am just going easy on you."
"Here, I prepared this for you. It has essentials, warm food, camping supplies, and everything else I could think of."
"Damn, I was trying to make an inventory for myself, but this works until I figure it out."
"As for you, these will be useful to keep your identity secret. This one makes you invisible to all digital tools, and this one makes people forget you after five seconds of no visual contact."
"Alright. I am off to rest and put some affairs in order."
—
Retrol
Skyler returned home, not even taking the teleporter. From Glassport to Retrol, it took him ten seconds to fly.
And he was going slow.
He took his phone, sending a message to his group. Tomorrow, there would be a protest in Solmar, one that he wouldn't be joining because of personal reasons. He ignored the messages, divided between well wishes and complaints. He closed his eyes, remembering the exercise his brother had taught to sleep.
—
Setum 23
The day was a somber one. One hundred and three miners had died due to an accident. The necessary security measures weren't in place. No one important was held responsible beyond a few years in prison. They all had underlings who took the fall for them.
It would end today.
Today, Humanity First would gather in front of Jason Velgrad's mansion. He wouldn't be there, having taken the entire week off to avoid the protests. Skyler wouldn't be there as well. Nax discovered the secret whereabouts of Jason, who had taken his family on a vacation in the Serral Islands.
It was time to pay him a visit.
—
Serral Islands
If paradise were on Earth, the Serral Islands would be the closest place to it. Its pristine golden beaches or the azure-colored waters in its vicinity weren't what made it unique.
It was the trees.
Supposed to have arrived with a particularly violent rupture, the rainbow trees had a proven, psychologically calming effect on people and animals. It even affected the predatorial animals on the island.
It was the perfect place to destress, if only for the rich. The island was full at all times, and getting a reservation not only required a lot of cash but also connections.
Jason's vacation was about to turn into a nightmare.
He strolled into the congo the man had rented. Since no one who wasn't supposed to be on the island wasn't there, no one would question why he was there. Not that anyone would remember him.
He looked at the two-story green and white wooden building, cracking his neck. His vision darkened, the birds in the air froze midair, and the single, multicolored leaf blown by the wind stopped in front of his face.
He flew to the balcony, passing by Jason's sunbathing wife. The man in question was dressing, having just come out of the shower, his blonde hair damp.
—
Jason took the new t-shirt he had bought, just about to put it on. When it went down to his head and he could see again, the confines of his room were gone. He screamed as gravity suddenly took hold. His heart dropped, his eyes widened, and he only understood one thing.
He was falling.
"What the fuck?!" he screamed, seeing the quickly approaching clouds. He began to spin, but a firm hand on his shoulder stopped it.
"Hey Jason, how is your vacation so far?" a voice called out, cutting through the deafening wind. There was another man, falling like him, though he did not seem worried, hands tucked behind his head, enjoying the moment.
"What's happening?!" How did he get here? He was just in his room?! What the fuck was happening?
The man tilted his head, eyes glancing down as they fell through the clouds. "Isn't it obvious? You are falling to your death."
Jason screamed again, begging, praying for God to save him. "No, not like this. Please, god, make it a dream. Make this a nightmare that I'll wake up from!"
"I wonder, do you think the miners that died in Shöne were praying to be saved too?" He shook his head, his short, unnaturally red hair reflecting the sun. "Silly question; of course they were. Just as there was no salvation for them, there will be none for you. Unless…"
He left the sentence unfinished, and even in his panicked state, Jason caught up. "I'll give you whatever you want; just make this stop!"
The man's smile was predatory, as if he were a tiger ready to crush his neck with a single bite. "You'll go and reveal everything about the incident. Your part, the lacking security measures, and everyone responsible for all those deaths."
He stared at him in silence as the idea of falling to his death was pushed to the back of his mind. "They'll kill my family."
"Your family will be fine, unlike you. And don't worry, I'll make sure you don't die either, not when you can rot in prison for the rest of your life."
"Hurry up, Jason; the ground is getting closer. I can always force someone else to spill the beans. You'll just end up being a bloody mess on the floor," he said, smiling, while grimacing internally. Wrecking a planet was fine, but the idea of killing a man, even if he was Jason Velgrad, made something squirm in his heart.
"I'll do it! I swear I'll do it. Please just..." he said, becoming incoherent towards the end. He slowly reversed the gravity, stopping Jason midair. "See? That wasn't so hard."
"I'll be watching Jason. One wrong move, I will forget where I dropped you from."
He nodded frantically, sweating and pale like the ghost trees of Zargon, mumbling something that did not exist in any dictionary, and fell on his face.
Sky left the vicinity, whistling. All those years of protests, trying to gather evidence so justice could be served, and yet he had succeeded in less than five minutes. His heart soared, higher than where he could rise.
This felt good, better than good in fact.
—
He wasn't going to trust Jason's words like that. When he passed out on his bed, he left a note on the pillow in case he thought it was a dream. When his wife called him for dinner and he woke up, the first thing he saw was the red sticky paper.
I am watching.
Jason felt his throat dry, and he stumbled out of the room. He washed his face, gazing at the mirror to inspect himself. He wasn't alone in the reflection, the face in his nightmare appearing behind him with a wink. He snapped around, yelping, but saw no one.
"Jason, are you alright?"
"Yeah, just slipped. I am fine."
"Be careful, dear."
—
When he was in the middle of the dinner, his nightmare appeared outside the window in his sight, winking again. He inhaled sharply, coughing as the meatball went into his windpipe.
His wife hit his back, and he coughed it out, bleary eyes locked on the window. The man was gone again.
"Here, drink some water," his wife said, rubbing his back, filling a glass.
—
When his tormentor's face flashed on his face as he opened his eyes, Jason decided it was time to face the music. He flew back to Retrol with the first available flight, leaving his family behind and calling the press for a conference.
—
Retrol
Jason Velgrad always made sure to disappear during the commemoration of the mining accident. No social media trail, no sight at work or anywhere else. Everyone knew he did it on purpose.
Which made the day even more confusing for the citizens and the media. The families of the dead miners were there, as were representatives from Humanity First.
He glanced at the crowd, meeting the eyes of his tormentor. Every time he glanced at the red eyes of his, Jason shuddered, feeling the echoes of the rushing wind on his skin.
"I called you here today," he began, pulling on the collar of his shirt. He stopped for a moment. Familiar faces from the management were there, faces that would end up in prison once he spoke. He considered leaving for a moment.
The piercing gaze numbed his feet.
His lips parted and all hell broke down.
—
Thermion
Moonrise Palace
Octavian watched the minister quiver like a rat before him. "All the responsible parties were punished," you said. "This tragedy would not be left unresolved," you said. Now, look at this mess."
The lacking security measures in Schöne were not only exposed, but the man in charge, Jason Velgrad, had named everyone who embezzled the funds for it, including himself. The prosecution scrambled to act, the people hit the streets, and the industrial production in Retrol had ground to a halt.
Humanity First, their second youngest son's little environmentalist group, was there, though Skyler was absent for some reason.
"Your Grace, I can explain," he said, his bald, shiny head reflecting the sunlight directly into Octavian's eyes.
He smirked. "You can? Excellent. I was worried for a moment."
"Melias is too critical for our energy infrastructure. I was pressured by the cabinet to make this appear as the fault of a few rotten apples in the company."
"It appears you did not take into account that someone might grow a conscience," the queen responded, her heels clicking on the floor as she paced.
The minister shook his head. "I don't know why Velgrad did what he did, but I can assure you, it wasn't out of guilt. Someone threatened him."
"Who?"
He looked down. "We don't know. He said nothing, which makes it all the more suspicious."
"And now, because this was hidden so thoroughly, the backlash is even worse. We might even have to bail Melias out. Get rid of the administration, rename it, and all that work." Leonora glared at the simpering man. As the biggest company on the energy market, both sides of her family had ties to Melias. Politically and economically, they could not let it take the fall.
Octavian dismissed the minister of justice, closing his eyes. "It appears we are having early elections as well."
He knew about the entire event, of course. He also agreed with the cabinet's decision to keep the matter contained. The incident was a tragedy, but the rising energy prices would be worse for the billions he was responsible for.
The current revamp of safety measures in all mines across the kingdom had progressed well, but this had cast a large shadow over it. A change in the cabinet would do wonders to soothe public opinion.
—
Yeleen Towers
He stood atop the monument to the Kelmar Kingdom's industrial might, looking down at the capital. The tallest building in the world, it was built at the same time as Eternal Peaks in the Union and the Star Anchor in the Republic.
Yeleen Towers was the tallest by a few meters, Eternal Peaks was finished first by a month, and the Star Anchor had the best design.
All part of a show of power.
The billions spent on this insipid project could have been put to better use elsewhere. He couldn't do anything about the towers, but at long last, he could make a difference. Just as he had done so today.
The arrests and the mass protests had doused the fire in his heart, though there were thousands more burning.
He disappeared from sight, off to the next task.