“The hell…?” I thought to myself. “I’m not supposed to be
here…”
I rose from the ground, trying to ignore what felt like an
impossibly painful hangover. So much of my surroundings looked the same, but
new buildings were standing where others existed moments ago. The people even
felt strange, and not just because of the weird looks they sent my way.
Something was fundamentally off in the world.
The last I knew I was in a lab. I went in guided by some
random instinct. When I first saw the building, I didn’t think anything of it.
Yet, something was inside that was calling for me. It turned out to be more
than just some empty building. The further I went inside, the more I saw vivid
lights bouncing from the walls. Soon, I found what was making my senses go
wild.
“And we didn’t even have to look for you,” a tall man with
dark skin smiled at me. He adjusted his glasses and placed a small metallic
device in his pocket. “Right on time, my friend! Things should be moving along
shortly.”
I scanned the room to see if I could piece together any
information, but I was still clueless. Except for a familiar woman. She was the
image of an Amazon: tall, darkened skin, dressed in an opulent tunic.
“You.” My voice turned cold when I realized who she was. “I
thought they dealt with you.”
She smiled as though I was insignificant, a non-factor.
“I told her to behave when you showed up,” the man shrugged.
“I hope I don’t have to,” I let my aura loose from my body.
My scarf and hair began to flow with its slowly moving energy. “I tend to wreck
things that might be dangerous.”
“Making a wreck of my lab is something you won’t do today,”
the man sent me a stern look. “Besides, you should be leaving soon.”
“Wha--?” I managed to let out before I saw a portal open in
the wall. The light would’ve been blinding to most people; for some reason I’ve
never had a problem with that. As the brightness peaked, I noticed a body come through
the portal. I inched closer as it landed on the floor. I couldn’t fully make
out who or what it was as it laid in a heap, but it was about my size.
“Now,” I heard the scientist say near me. I turned to see
the woman right before she pushed me with immense force and sent me toward the
portal. Just as I completely fell through, I noticed that whoever laid on the floor
looked eerily like me.
Wherever I ended up, I knew it couldn’t be the same place,
no matter how familiar it felt. It wasn’t time travel; too many smart phones. I
couldn’t put a name to it, but things just felt different. I needed to find
some place I could recognize, maybe after getting a painkiller first.
This was one of those times I wished I could fly like Orion
or Spotlight. I needed to get a better idea of where I was.
“Excuse me,” I stopped someone on the street. What else did
I have to lose? “What town is this?”
“Aris?” she gave me a weird look as she passed me with a
friend. “You’d think someone dressed like him would know about this place,
especially with all the weird stuff that’s been happening in the past months,”
I heard her mutter in the distance. The name of the town didn’t ring any bells,
but her snarky comment did. What weird stuff had gone down here? I typically
knew weird as a codeword for ‘metahuman.’ I didn’t get to seethe at her for
long because the ground rumbling took my attention elsewhere.
I could hear screams coming from the distance. Metal
crashing against metal, a faint roar. Maybe this was the weird stuff the woman
mentioned. I was glad. This is the kind of weird I’m used to. As I prepared my
aura, I noticed a new sensation. Manifesting my powers never felt quite like
this. It was disorienting, but I’d have to examine this strange feeling some
other time. Just as I arrived on the scene, a car flew right in my direction.
“No sir!” I yelled as I caught it. The impact made me wince.
My powers weren’t working the same, which I knew could make me a liability to
this town and myself. Yet, there were no other metas around to deal with the
issue so I had to do what I could. I launched the car back at the monster, who
had turned around to wreak havoc on other people’s poor vehicles. He grunted
and turned to me, his eyes blood red.
“You’re nothing new for me,” I smiled. I sped toward him and
landed a swift kick to his chin and prepared another attack as he grabbed my
legs. Reflexes down, too? I’m screwed. He slammed me into the ground and one of
the cars around us. My aura kept me mostly protected, but the changes to my
powers meant I got more of a sting than I was used to.
“Your bravado is uninspiring,” he threw me into the air and
punched me so hard I nearly leveled the building I flew into.
“The hell…” I could feel the damage inside and out of my
body. This battle and wherever I was were just too much of a surprise. I could
hear Orion now: You were too rash. Why didn’t you figure out your powers were
out of wack first? I could also hear the smart ass reply I usually gave when he
talked to me like that.
“I didn’t know, but that doesn’t mean I can’t handle it!” I
dashed toward the monster and slammed my elbow into his stomach. Even with a
decline in strength, I sent him reeling into the nearby park. “You know I’m not
letting you get up from that, right?”
I built up speed and landed a kick to his head as he tried
to get onto his feet. He flew to the side before I grabbed him and slammed him
into the ground, returning the favor from moments ago. He groaned, surprised
that I was able to deliver such a devastating blow to him. His anger was
visible as he struggled to get back up.
“Nah,” I leapt into the air, ready to put him down for the
count. Using my aura, I shot myself back down, slamming my feet into his
midsection and making a crater around us. Besides twitches from his fingers, I
knew he wasn’t going to move.
“I wonder who cleans up messes around here,” I ran my
fingers through my hair. People began to gather around, but they didn’t look
like what I typically saw. Most were shocked at seeing us go at it, let alone
part of their park destroyed. Others were scared. I thought people were
typically happy to see us put down monsters?
What struck me the most was seeing two men run toward the
crater. They had a sense of urgency about them until they stopped in their
tracks. I could tell they were surprised that the monster was down. As the
smoke cleared, I could make out who they were. It was nice to see familiar
faces. Orion and Saph were looking at me.
“Did you do this…?” Orion asked as they both approached.
“Of course,” I raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t this my typical
style? Why are you so surprised when you usually…” Then it struck me. I wasn’t
looking at Orion and Saph. I wasn’t seeing anyone I really knew. They were just
as clueless about me as I was about my location, even though they were nearly
identical to the two men I knew. Something felt off. Considering the bond
between me and Orion, that alien feeling wasn’t supposed to exist.
I had already known, but the truth had become incredibly
more clear: I wasn’t home.
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