Following

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 57 Chapter 58 Chapter 59 Chapter 60 Chapter 61 Chapter 62 Chapter 63 Chapter 64 Chapter 65 Chapter 66 Chapter 67 Chapter 68 Chapter 69 Chapter 70 Chapter 71 Chapter 72 Chapter 73 Chapter 74 Chapter 75 Chapter 76 Chapter 77 Chapter 78 Chapter 79 Chapter 80 Chapter 81 Chapter 82 Chapter 83 Chapter 84 Chapter 85 Chapter 86 Chapter 87 Chapter 88 Chapter 89 Chapter 90 Chapter 91 Chapter 92 Chapter 93 Chapter 94 Chapter 95 Chapter 96 Chapter 97 Chapter 98 Chapter 99 Chapter 100 Chapter 101 Chapter 102 Chapter 103 Chapter 104 Chapter 105 Chapter 106 Chapter 107 Chapter 108 Chapter 109 Chapter 110 Chapter 111 Chapter 112 Chapter 113 Chapter 114 Chapter 115 Chapter 116 Chapter 117 Chapter 118 Chapter 119 Chapter 120 Chapter 121 Chapter 122 Chapter 123 Chapter 124 Chapter 125 Chapter 126 Chapter 127 Chapter 128 Chapter 129 Chapter 130 Chapter 131 The Phone Call Louise's First Costume When Keyla was Here A Day at the Garcia House The Keeper Sibling Bonds Once Upon a Time in High School Lillie's Recipes Lightning the Mentor A Miraculous Medical Aide Louise's Day Off An Ethereal Fairy Eternal Youth A Miracle Manifests Three Generals Deep Thoughts Over Lemonade A Miracle of Science Three Branches, Three Days Dreams of Heroes The Makings of a Thief Girl Time Wishing for More Courtney Larsen, Age 15 A Greenhouse Tour Odin's Evening The Keeper's Evening Cleo's Seventeenth Birthday Never to Thaw Again 2617's New Arx Techs Payday Party Prime's Board Game Party Temperature-Regulating Potions

Arx Nubibus
Ongoing 1487 Words

Chapter 12

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A TV glowed faintly in the night, showing a woman in a studio. Her name was Alyx Turner, and she had a show that aired every weeknight, titled Present Events with Alyx Turner, where she discussed recent news and social media fads. 

Today there was text along the bottom of the screen saying "Achilles attacks! What does this mean for superheroism?" 

Alyx herself was onscreen, laughing. Video from Achilles' recent upset played behind her. 

"I mean, this is ridiculous! The guy wants us to see him as the new guardian of Arx or whatever, and he pulls a stunt like this! I don't care if he blames it on this Phantasma or whatever, this is seriously messed up. The only way I can see this not being totally screwed up and awful is as follows: 

"Achilles hires this Phantasma woman and Mr. Popcorn Bag over there, and everyone coming out of that movie theater, and gets the military to help him out with his little play or whatever. That would make this a publicity stunt and nothing more. But, like, if he had those resources he could just make a movie starring himself. 

"And yet, crazy as this sounds, this seems like it could be the case. If you look at this footage, the rayguns used by the military aren't even scratching him. It looks like they're using practice models, like the ones you use for laser tag. They certainly look real, but they're just a light show. 

"So, I really hope this is a publicity stunt where everyone was involved and happy. If not, this guy has a lot of explaining to do. I mean, holding a kid hostage is pretty low. Look at him! Look at the little guy, with his face all upset like that. What kind of jerk would do something like that? 

"The military says they don't have any leads on this Phantasma woman even though they have footage of her. So, that tells me they're either really incompetent or they're all in on it. 

"I'm not a fan of conspiracy theories. But considering the fact that the rayguns didn't do anything, I think either everyone in this squad grabbed the wrong one on the way out. Everyone. Everyone grabbed the wrong one. Either that or they're in on it. Which one seems more likely to you? 

"I dunno, I'm not here to make a judgement. Or maybe I am. I'm a pretty judgey person. But I won't tell you my conclusion's the right one. Let's see what you guys say. 

"Korbin says 'This just proves that Achilles is a maniac who needs to be locked up. The guy's a public menace. I wish the military would do something more about this psychopath.'

"Strong words, Korbin. But I totally get it. If Achilles is a ticking time bomb, we need to disable him before someone gets seriously hurt. People got hurt this time, but at least all injuries were relatively minor. Anyway, another text. 

"Sam says 'I can't believe nobody here sees the writing on the wall. Superpowers are real. Achilles is invincible. And Phantasma can mess up people's minds. You haven't shown footage of this, but Jumper (the guy in the bag) leaped up three levels after they were done with first aid. I was there. I saw the whole thing. This is not a conspiracy.' 

"Sure thing, Sam. Thanks for the input. What about Shanna? 

"Shanna says 'This is terrifying. Achilles was supposed to be our protector. He saved me from an assault a few weeks ago and I've looked up to him ever since. But if someone like Phantasma exists, who can make him do things like this, I might have to be terrified every time I leave the house. Or if this is Achilles' true nature, I can't believe he hid it so well for so long.' 

"I feel you Shanna. You viewers might not know this, but I've actually been following Achilles for a while now. What can I say? I'm as much a sucker for his theatrics as anyone else. And I honestly believed that even if he's just a nerd in a costume, he would do some good for the world. Arx might need a guy who just wants to do the right thing. The military bureaucracy can stand in the way of the right thing sometimes. So having someone who isn't bound by that, I thought that could be a good thing. 

"But this shattered all my hopes. And I hope they catch all three of them so they can be held accountable - Achilles, Jumper and Phantasma. I really don't - "

The TV went black and the man who'd been watching it put down the remote with a heavy sigh. He dropped his head in his hands. 

"How did it end up like this...?" he muttered. 

The room he was in was dark, and a half-eaten frozen dinner sat on the coffee table. A few empty beer and soda cans littered the tile floor. 

"Right...I gotta get ahold of Jumper." James stood up and heaved a sigh. 

This would only be temporary right? He wasn't the bad guy. He'd done nothing wrong. 

Besides, as much as he wanted to, he couldn't think about just himself. Yesterday while he was patrolling, he'd been approached by another person with a Miracle. One who said he could fix Jumper's hands. Achilles had to take care of his own, so James had to run down to the public library to borrow a computer and post a message on one of those free forums where you didn't need an account. 

It had all been the new guy's idea, probably born of paranoia. There was no way all that would be necessary, but Achilles had agreed to it anyway. The guy wouldn't drop the subject until he did, and Achilles had to keep his promises. 

With a heavy sigh he tried to shake off the dread hanging over him and headed out to leave a message. 

 

Joey heaved a sigh as he stared at his bandaged hands. He'd shakily redone them each day since the incident, but they didn't seem to hurt much less. Long sleeves had hidden them from his family for the most part, and he'd spent most of his time in his room, saying he was studying for when he began going back to college in the fall. 

It was a lie of course. The lies were slowly piling up. The military was looking for a man around Joey's height with second degree burns on his hands, so he had to hide them. The last thing he needed was for his family to find out about the nonsense he'd fallen into. 

He gingerly looked over the news on his computer. The military was still looking for Jumper, who'd been started to be called "Popcorn Bag" by various commenters. Not that he could blame them. His face covering had been improvised and kind of horrible. As soon as he'd gotten home, he'd showered to try and get the grease out of his hair. 

Then he'd stuffed the clothes he'd been wearing into the back of his closet, planning to leave them there until the military quit looking for him. Throwing them out may have been smarter, but that would make his family ask questions. 

One article caught his eye. Apparently Achilles had left a message on a public forum. Weird. There was a bunch of speculation about the message, but the text itself was included in the article. 

 

Jumper

Meet me at the same day, time and place as our last meeting

I found someone who might be able to help you

Achilles

 

Same day, time and place. So Thursday at midnight. That'd be the day after tomorrow. Apparently the military was struggling to find out where the message had been sent from, and had traced it to a public library computer. Their next step was apparently trying to figure out when and where the meeting would be. 

Hopefully they didn't send people to comb the entire city for it. That would be a problem. 

Joey stared at the screen, debating whether or not he should go. Getting mixed up with Achilles had been, and would continue to be, nothing but trouble. And yet, who was this 'someone who might be able to help you'? 

What sort of help? Could this person fix his hands? Or was this a ploy to get Jumper to join Achilles and his merry band of supers? Questions ran though his head as he analyzed and overanalyzed the situation. Would this person have something he hadn't thought of? Maybe there would be a disguise device like in those old sci-fi stories. 

Whatever the answer turned out to be, it was intriguing enough that Joey knew he would go, even if this entire thing had 'BAD IDEA' written all over it in big red letters. 


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