Wrath - Wrath (ira) can be defined as uncontrolled feelings of anger, rage, and even hatred. Wrath often reveals itself in the wish to seek vengeance. In its purest form, wrath presents with injury, violence, and hate that may provoke feuds that can go on for centuries. Wrath may persist long after the person who did another grievous wrong dies.
To go on without hope. That's the promise I made to myself two weeks ago after my meeting with Gust, a famed superhero who secretly kills innocent civilians simply because he feels like it. I have a sneaking suspicion he's not the only hero who commits such nefarious acts.
Looking back at my experiences for the last few months, from killing my brother for his power, to being haunted by flashbacks of memories that aren't mine, and eventually losing control and causing good people to lose their lives, I might not have a right to judge other 'heroes' for their actions, but I can't help but feel conflicted. Once, I was similar to the people who have been affected by not only the other heroes, but also myself. I was weak and powerless, being trampled over by everyone around me, and yet I didn't think that society had an issue.
I thought I was the issue.
Then, when it seemed like my problems were solved, I abandoned those who needed me and became the very thing that destroyed us for so long. In the last two weeks, I have come to this realization after dwelling on my meeting with Gust.
I'm going to change. I'll be a hero of the people; no flashy bullshit, no hidden intentions. Just doing a service that was needed years ago, and maybe trying to repent along the way.
First comes the plan. I already know that Gust, as well as several other heroes, knows my ability, my home address, and my identity. There would be no hiding. At least, not as Rio Lopez. As far as the world knew, Rio Lopez could only influence an invisible force capable of exerting itself onto physical objects. This was objectively true.
However, I am NOT Rio Lopez. I'm far better.
In my recent shitshow of a debut, I gained the ability to harness energy within my palms and launch it as a projectile. I've had limited practice with it as I don't want to reveal that I have multiple abilities, however I've already discovered a few cool tricks that might just help me. They go as follows, in order of usefulness; I can control the movement of the orbs using telekinesis without giving it away, I can hold the energy in my hands to make them painful to touch, as well as block strong forces without damaging my hands, and, lastly, I can focus the energy into a singular fingertip to perform as less blunt and more lethal attack with pinpoint accuracy. While the final discovery should be the most useful, it requires a lot of time and energy to use effectively. I found this out after spending several hours shooting cans off my countertop, nearly destroying it in the process.
With my (somewhat) good control of the ability, I had formulated a plan. I would continue to live as Rio Lopez, a hero who stops petty crime and generally avoid conflict. This would fulfill the idea that Rio is the person who escaped that day at the camp, and not his pathetic Disabled brother. However, deep into the night, far later than any of the fake heroes are willing to be out, a new hero would be out. A rogue hero, one who doesn't follow the no-kill code. He wouldn't be happy or smiley, he would be faceless, ruthless, and efficient. At first, he would be able to charge energy into his hands for in-combat usage. The next time he was spotted, he would have something different. And the next, and the next, and yet again, something different. People would start to question who he is. Is he one person? Several? Is he good or evil? Is it one of the top heroes secretly going out at night? Nobody would know. After all, who would suspect a middle ranking sixteen-year-old veteran who tries his best to avoid contact with society to be a ruthless, power-stealing, serial murdering vigilante?
This was only the beginning. Slowly but surely, heroes would begin to question their superiority, as citizens lost faith in them because of their failure to do what I did in only a short span of time. I would target heroes at random, picking anyone who had a decent ability and using it to support my cause, and kill them. Eventually, I would create a world without heroes. A world in which being disabled wasn't a bad thing, but normal. I would create a world without need for men who can fly overhead or step all over people simply because they were born different. I would create a true paradise.
My morning was mostly uneventful. To fulfill my crime-stopping quota and remain undercover as a hero, I stopped some petty crimes in the morning, lifting a purse-snatcher into the air and forcing him to return it to the rightful owner, and breaking a thug's hand after he pulled a switchblade.
It was all so empty. I had already realized that the world of superheroes was nothing but a sham, and yet, the events of the morning were just as painful to dwell on. It was all so easy; so much so that all heroes should have to do twice as much per day. But simply because we were born with the privilege to do such things and make the world a better place, we had been idolized, taking away from the values we should protect.
That's why I couldn't help but tingle when I put on my suit in the night. I wore a black morphsuit I found at the store, putting on a set of lightweight armor and a helmet that I collected from the Hero HQ overtop. while it somewhat resembled the armor used by other heroes, the average person most likely wouldn't recognize it as something any normal hero would wear.
As I leapt out my window, I propelled myself onto the rooftop, looking around as I did so to avoid witnesses. As my new identity, I could use any power I gained besides that of my daytime identity. However, jumping from rooftop to rooftop and sprinting around the city would get tiring quickly. I decided the safest option to remain undercover but also keep up with the events of the city would be to propel myself forward with telekinesis, just enough to clear jumps from each building, and to boost my speed along the way. This way, if I were somehow spotted, a person would think I have a strength or speed-based ability. Even though I was playing my role very safe, the only people who would recognize my telekinesis are those who have already met Rio Lopez. A sharp breeze made me get goosebumps, and I took a moment to look around, as if I expected gust to be right behind me. Nothing.
Just the wind.
I continued my dash, taking in the different features of the city beneath me. The smell of freshly cooked food from several apartments and restaurants beneath me, the sounds of dogs barking, people talking, and cars driving through the city. All of these sounds equally meaningful, and equally fleeting. They were sounds of peace and joy, but they were being overcome as Disabled became valued less and less as citizens. They were being overcome. Overcome by the noise of voices in disagreement below me. I had gained so much momentum that I had to use telekinesis to redirect myself backwards, to where the parting between two buildings housed a conversation.
"The King'll fucking kill us if we don't fuck with some of his brother's goons. Do you want to be killed by the King?!" He made a wide gesture with his hands to express his concern and fear to five other people, all of which were recognizable as gangsters from their ski masks, matching tattoos, and deep loyalty/fear for the man known as the 'King'.
They continued to talk, but from the back and forth between all of them, I had plenty of time to think. From the sounds of it, this was a dispute between at least one gang leader and his potentially gang-leading brother. Regardless of the family dispute, I understood one very important thing; nobody could lead a true gang leader in a highly populated city like Chicago without being Enabled. If I listened to these guys and tailed them for a while, I might be able to find a decently strong Enabled with ease.
I tuned back into their conversation, with a little more attention this time.
"I'm telling you, the way we pull this off and don't get our asses killed is if we strike when they get their monthly weapons shipment at the docks. They can't have any heavy artillery since the dealer don't trust 'em, so if we come in with real weapons before they get their hands on the merchandise, that's a shit load for us." The other guys around the one who was in charge nodded in agreement, thinking this was a great plan.
If I followed them to the docks, I would either have to deal with either both gangs, or only one after they took each other out. In the case the latter happened, the gunshots would most likely attract a different superhero or the police. I decided to take this group out and figure out where both the King was and where the opposing gang would pick up their shipment. While my main goal was finding the King and getting his power, stopping a weapons shipment might be the key to becoming more known as a vigilante.
I decided to take this group out while the night was young. All of them were armed, but only pistols still at their sides. They wouldn't be nearly fast enough to draw them before I could stop them. I charged a large energy ball in both hands, aiming for the middle of the group since they were all pretty close together. I tried not to make it too powerful, as the noise might attract some unwanted attention.
The impact below scattered each member of the group. I tried my best to keep track of the one who was a leader through the explosion. It took me a moment, so a few of them began to sit back up. I wasn't sure who the leader was anymore, so I leapt down, charging both my hands with energy for close-up combat. The first one to recover drew his gun a moment to late, as my fist was already inches from his nose. I hit him once with an energy charged punch, and it was enough force to propel him to the other side of the alley, where he landed against a dumpster with a loud BANG, leaving a human-sized dent in the poor dumpster.
Next was a smaller man, maybe five foot seven inches, who had his pistol drawn and fired off maybe 3 rounds by the time I began to rush him. Without telekinesis, I would've died. I slowed each of the bullets just enough so that I could block them with my energy-reinforced hands. Even though I could safely block his shots without revealing my power, I couldn't get close enough without the others regrouping. I threw the ball of energy wrapped around my hand at him, hitting both of his knees. The attack forced him into an involuntary backflip, and when he landed, both of his legs were pointing in the opposite direction they should've.
Three more. Two had landed next to each other, and were now both standing with their pistols drawn, facing me. They unleashed as many rounds as possible at me, far too many for me to slow down and block. I threw a small portion of energy at the ground in front of me, creating a smokescreen large enough for me to send all of the bullets straight to the ground without being seen doing so. The two attackers both stood on the other side of the smoke, their outlines barely visible. I charged through as their weapons seemed to be empty. I ran slightly to the right side, so I would only have to fight one at a time. He barely had time to react before I hit a hook in the right side of his face. He staggered back, disoriented by the blow. Before he could regain his senses or his friend could help him, I threw an overhand strong enough to plant his skull into the pavement with a crunching noise. I've only heard the sound one other time, but I knew he was most likely dead. The other looked at me wide eyed, throwing down his weapon and putting his hands up. Too late. As he tried to get down on his knees, I kicked him in the chin, tipping him backwards. Then, I shot a small energy blast to send him into the ground and knock him out. One left.
He had gotten the worst of the blast as he was the closest and was only now recovering. Before he could grab his gun, I shot a concentrated beam straight through his wrist, completely stopping him from being able to grab anything.
"FUCK!" He screamed, and then dropped to the ground writhing in pain. "What the FUCK!"
He looked up to face me, and fear completely overtook his pain.
"What do you want? I'll do anything man, please don't hurt me!" He cowered, clenching his bleeding and broken wrist.
I leaned forward with a grin. I could get used to this.
"Why don't you tell me a little bit about your boss, this King guy, huh?"
Time to get some answers.