Chapter
2 – Traps and Tribulations
Since my body isn’t in its pale
white form, I can’t run as fast as I should to find the bad actors of Nexum.
Because of this, Timeo takes me into the light and dark, and we travel at the
speed of light to our destination, a vacant and condemned city. Timeo explained
to me on the way here that it was condemned because a substance a villain was
trying to weaponize was leaked and could not be contained. Now, the destroyed
city is left to nature to clean up. It’s sad, really, especially since many of
the bones of the deceased remain on the streets.
Timeo guides us through the city
streets, trying to find the enemy first before emerging from the light and
dark. When we do, we find them in a fallen skyscraper that shields them from
the toxic elements outside. Using his memory reading abilities, Timeo confirms
these are the people we’re after, and then we spring into action, ensuring we
capture them alive. We can take them down easily, just like we do with other
enemies. Timeo’s dark powers gather their bodies and transform them into a
beast that resembles a dog with multiple heads and human limbs in strange
places. As Timeo scans their memories for motives, plans, and any additional
hideouts or allies, he yells out in frustration.
“What’s going on? What did you find
out?” I ask.
“It was all a setup. We’re meant to
lose no matter what we do. These weren’t bad actors. They’re normal members of the
Nexum government and society acting on their permission and with the help of
people within our own country,” Timeo says in aggravation as he paces back and
forth.
“We can still get people within the
Columbian Union to support us against Nexum.”
“We can, but not the ones that can decide
to bring that country’s leaders and influencers to justice. They have those
particular people in their pocket and agree with their cause.”
“We fight them then. It won’t be the
first time we’ve fought against the law being used against us.”
“It’s one thing to do that, to fix
the law in the shadows, and have others within it help us, but this is different.
We can’t go against another country. It would mean the immediate dissolution of
the Dominion and mark us all as criminals who still ally themselves with us.”
I consider what we should do and
come up with only one solution.
“Then we become those criminals for
the sake of justice. I’m not going to take their attacks on the chin and won’t
allow them to use the law against us to bring us down.”
Timeo takes a moment to ponder my
conclusion, and he reluctantly agrees.
He says, “We’re already considered
villains by these people because they’ve faked their kidnapping and will be
blaming us for it.”
All our foes morbidly smile and
mock us. They say that we became too ambitious and will pay dearly for it.
“No one will view you as heroes
anymore, and your history of charity and good deeds will be viewed as a series
of lies and dishonest work to obtain power for your own ends,” they say in one
voice.
Timeo manifests a dark hand,
allowing his powers of justice to flow through him, and make barbed wire come
out of the mouths of these people, silencing them. He then takes me into the
light and dark and whisks us away just as the authorities come. We head to my
home in Poca Bellezza and watch the news footage of impostors of Timeo and me
kidnapping those people. Later in the day, our allies in the media and
government run cover for us, noting the impostors we’ve taken down before and
talking about our many good deeds, but are met with resistance from the allies
of Nexum. Since we’re implicated in the crime and Nexum has all the influence,
the Dominion is immediately criminalized, and everyone is told to disassociate or
be labeled as a criminal.
Over the next few days, many of our
allies and backers comply, while a few staunchly support us. Meanwhile, our
families reinstate their love for us, and Timeo and I pull out all the stops in
learning more about Nexum and how best to get back at them. The secret
government agency that my blood-related parents were a part of, Seventy-Three,
does their part, and Timeo and his wife, Darcy’s, agents also do theirs.
Additionally, our biggest backer, the Coronamento Corporation, gives us the
most public and financial support, calling what happened to us the greatest
crime of the decade. Despite everything that’s happening, I try to keep a level
head and focus on solving it.
Even though I would’ve liked to be
at the funeral of the people who died in the attacks on our offices, I have to
meet with the agents of Seventy-Three to hear what they know. I met them with Idelle
on the outskirts between Solis and Poca Bellezza in the underground with
reformed ex-villains who are still loyal to the Dominion and don’t care about
being against the law since they’re used to it.
One of the agents says to my sister
and me, “This is what your parents and we were afraid of, superhumans and
politics being used against the Columbian Union to enforce their own beliefs.”
“And what have you been doing to
stop them?” Idelle asks.
“Everything we could. We sent you
on missions against them, killed and sabotaged in the shadows, and had our
people in the public talk against Nexum. You can only do so much when the
source of a problem is across an ocean, so deeply rooted in your own country,
and other threats require immediate attention. We know that they’re responsible
for some of the heroes, villains, and criminals going after you, and it wouldn’t
surprise me if they had their eye on you since the beginning.”
“What should we do now?” I ask.
“What can you do, besides what Timeo
and you are already planning? Taking the fight to them in their country may
cause an international incident, but that’s probably a better mess to be in
than the one we find ourselves in right now. As for us, we can do the same as
we’ve done before with a focus on the allies of Nexum within the country.”
“I’ll go with Timeo and you to
Nexum, John.”
“No, Idelle, I want you here
protecting our family. We were already attacked once, and now that we’re criminals,
our enemies have every excuse to attack us again.”
Idelle is reluctant to accept at
first, but my insistence pushes her to. Afterward, I met with Timeo in Meridian
in one of the buildings that his best friend and brother, Lancetto, owns. We quietly
look out at the city, Timeo drinking his favorite red wine, and I having a
simple beer.
“I’m glad that the city of Meridian
still supports us,” I say to break the silence that is starting to bother me.
“How could they not?” Timeo says as
he finishes another glass of wine and pours another. “My friends and I saved
this city from its reputation of being one of the most crime-ridden places in
the world. Still, you can see over there the battered down office of the
Dominion in ruins, and the government wants us to pay for it and the funerals
of the people who died in the attack against us as reparations for a crime we
didn’t commit.”
“It’s the same in Poca Bellezza and
Solis.”
“Yeah, and because of it, we’re
dead broke. We’ve done so much for the country and its people, and this is how
they repay us. We’ve instituted programs to reform criminals and villains,
helped all kinds of charities, saved the lives of countless people, and brought
justice to hundreds, if not thousands, of real criminals and villains, and we
get branded as the worst kind, as if what we did meant less than nothing.”
I hug Timeo, and he hugs me back.
“I’m fine, John. Thank you,
brother. I’m more righteously angry than saddened.”
“I am as well. When are we going to
go to Nexum?”
“Right after our drinks. Darcy will
be safe here with my allies and handle things here. It will just be the two of
us in a foreign land we’ve never been to before.”
“Have you never left the country? I’d
be surprised if you didn’t because of all the money you have.”
“Heh, I have, but the best place for
me was always by my family’s side. It’s better than any wonder in the world.”
“I completely agree.”
“As for our enemies, I’ve heard
about Nexum for years and Giovanni Cornamento’s warnings about them, but never
thought they’d strike against us like this.”
“What are their beliefs anyway?”
“They believe in a mix of modern
values that lean traditional with a thin veneer of respect for God, the Church,
and other religions. Essentially, they’re a product of the times with no real
grounding in truth, love, and virtue, and only seek the glory of their nation
and false truth.”
“What has Giovanni said about them?”
“Besides being a threat to the
Columbian Union and the rest of their natural neighbors, and what I just said,
not much else other than them using superhumans as the primary force in their
military. I’ve also heard they secretly started conflicts in other countries to
get a physical or ideological foothold there as well.”
“I see. I’ve only heard here and
there on the news that they were our allies to some degree, but then again, I
hardly pay attention to it.”
“They are our country’s ally to
some degree, but they also leech off it, taking profit and superhuman research
for their own ends. That’ll all end when we deliver them God’s justice.”
“And afterward?”
“I don’t know. Our survival is guaranteed
given the nature of our God-given powers, but I’m more concerned about the
safety of our friends and family.”
“We’ll get to it when we get to it,
then. There’s no reason to be concerned until the future becomes the present.”
“Ah. I wish I had more of your
mindset, John. Planning for the future always feels like a bad gamble, especially
when things can fall apart at a moment’s notice, like they have now.”
“It’s not the best. I wish I had
yours so I could better prepare for times like this.”
“There is no real preparing for it.
Just dealing with the present moment and leaving the rest in God’s hands.”
“Amen to that. Well then, should we
go?”
“Yes. Let’s not keep the criminals
waiting for their execution.”
No comments:
Post a Comment