St. Hughes Shopping Precinct, Wessex
“Peter Smith? Peter Smith?” It took ‘Peter’ a few seconds to realise that the barista was calling him. He made his way over, accepted his coffee, collected his sandwich and joined the queue to pay. Even after all these years, he still didn’t automatically identify with that name, even though he could remember no other. He made his way to a table overlooking the food court below and sat down. It was hardly surprising; he’d been about 15 when he’d been found on a Cornish beach, with no memory of his past or even how he’d got there. He’d subsequently been fostered by Megan Smith, who’d given him the name of Peter. He’d decided to keep the last name of Smith to honour her.
It had actually been a few years later before he’d discovered that his foster mum, Megan, was also the local mystical superhero called Thorn. She’d discovered he had powers too, but in his case he hadn’t wanted them. She hadn’t forced it, hadn’t forced him to register, but she had insisted on training him to control his abilities even though he had never been that interested in them. He’d never used his powers, at least not in that way, and he’d been happy not to take the hero path and live a quiet normal life. At least until Megan had gone missing a few weeks ago.
He pondered what to do next, as he saw in the courtyard below a green three-sided triangle of light appear on the ground then proceed to expand out even as shadowy figures began to appear inside its perimeter. Then all hell broke out down below as weapons were discharged and Peter knew he would have no choice but to participate in order to save lives.
He looked at his reflection in a security mirror as a blast from below started a panicked rush towards the exits. He hardly looked heroic in his old shirt, work trousers and work boots, but there appeared to be nobody else available. Leaving his coffee untouched, his feet left the ground as he faced the unfolding threat head on.
Back in the BASEment, it had been a quiet day so far and Banshee and Jeeves had focused their efforts on a personal issue, Mace’s disappearance. They were worried about the fact that there had been no contact with Mace now for over a month, and her commdot had gone dead the day before. Jeeves had elected to initiate the Barn Door Protocol and activate the tracker in her costume, but it was as though she had vanished off the face of the Earth. He’d even elected to ask Annie to help trace her, but even with her extraordinary tracking skills, she’d come up empty.
While they were pondering this, a call came in from Dispatch that a fight with weapons had broken out at the St. Hughes Shopping Precinct, in the Castle District of the city. Given that this appeared to involve a number of potential hostages and some sort of ‘gang’ fight between two opposing groups, Inspector Marcus Tolliver had elected to prevent the fighting spreading and had called in negotiators as well as sending out an APB for HCP assistance and was personally asking for their assistance. Akira and Banshee responded immediately and within minutes, the Crate dropped into the St. Hughes car park.
A command post had been established outside the now closed entrance to the Wessex Experience, which was located beneath the shopping centre. There were teams of armed response preparing for an intrusion via the emergency stairwells that lead up from the experience to the ground level of the shopping precinct. Banshee and Akira elected to enter through the main doors and would hopefully act as a distraction while the people inside were being evacuated to safety.
Inside, the fighting was primarily occurring in and around a large area of grey space, triangle-shaped, within the main shopping court. This was no mere ‘gang fight’ thought Banshee. Inside the three-sided ‘pyramid’ of gloomy light, the ground and walls had been instantly altered as soon as it touched anything Terran, changed into an alien environment consisting of blood-red sand on the ground and stormy grey skies all the way to its peak, just below the glass roof. It looked as though an area of the shopping precinct had been replaced with an alien landscape. Worse, this area was filled with alien figures battling it out against cursedly familiar cybernetic warriors; the animated dead of the Terminus Omegadrone troops, facing off against demons and devil-like creatures of all shapes and sizes. While the Terminus troops were leaving the alien triangle, their opponents all remained with it for some reason, though their weapon discharges weren’t. Two gliders flew past them overhead. Terminus scouts surfing on their power wings, looking for strategic positions for their reanimated troops.
In the middle of this all was a group of terrified people, a couple with three young kids including a babe in the arms of a terrified mum surrounded by massive and horrific-looking demons and a horde of smaller devils reaching out to snatch them away. They, like the demons, were losing their colour in that hellish environment, turning grey like their attackers.
That’s when Banshee and Akira saw that one figure wasn’t running away. Dressed like a builder on his lunch break, with no mask, a very attractive man stood in mid-air for a second before flying into the middle of the triangle. The hell spawn tried to grab hold of him as he passed above them, only to have their grasp torn free effortlessly as he tried to grab several of the trapped humans. He couldn’t hold that many, so had to settle for rescuing the young boy and pre-teen girl in his arms. He tried to take the baby, but its mum refused to let go, clutching the baby tighter. One of the larger demons tried to grab his leg, but he pulled free and flew back towards the first floor balcony to drop them off before turning, intending to return for the adults and the baby, only to see them float high above the pyramid base and levitate over towards him. Below, Akira smiled, glad to see that the panicking adults now floating in a bubble of hardened air were being restored to their normal colour (if red-faced due to fright and anger were normal) once they left the influence of the energy pyramid.
Banshee was about to turn insubstantial and take the battle to the invaders; so much for being asked to intervene in a ‘gang fight’ she thought, when Akira asked her to try to calm down the people, “especially the screaming kids” they had just rescued. Banshee realised that unless she calmed everyone down, then people would definitely be hurt in the rush to escape the ensuing battle.
She transformed back into Mary, much to Peter’s surprise at seeing an elderly bag lady materialise in front of him and began to strum away on a harp and sing in Irish. Whatever she was doing was having an effect, as he found himself growing tranquil, if more focused. Behind him, the panicking crowd also relaxed and began to ease themselves out of the building using the fire exits in an orderly manner, straight into the protection of the Police waiting to escort them to safety. Even the rescued family walked away calmly.
It was in direct contrast to the conflict below. The demonic host were still encamped inside the triangle for some reason as though they feared to step beyond it onto Earth soil (okay carpet and concrete, but still!) their seeming technologically advanced opponents shared no such disadvantage and were now gathered outside the triangle firing in.
It took him several more seconds before he realised where he’d seen them before, illustrated in school text books about the Terminus Invasion of 2009. If he remembered correctly, a full invasion fleet had come through breaches in the skies above the UK (in particular above London and Wessex) only to be stopped by a gathering of superheroes. It had apparently been a near thing, but they’d managed to close the breaches and eradicate the troops that had already arrived. Most had been reanimated corpses, if he remembered correctly. Was that the same now? Were the demonic forces trapped inside the pyramid under attack by alien forces, trying to wipe out any vestiges of uncontrollable magic? As two winged females in armour swooped towards him on the first floor balcony, he couldn’t help notice that the alien ground and sky were contained within a perfectly symmetrical triangle, reaching inside stores at each corner.
He looked up and saw the female fliers aim some sort of power staffs in his direction even as he leapt up. A blast hit him square in the chest but failed to hurt him, though it left a large burnt hole in his hoodie across his chest. Damn, he’d need to find another he thought as he flew up to meet his armoured opponent, realising as he did so that her wings were artificial.
The other Valkyrie was firing her power staff at a young guy with a shaved head, rushing in from the entrance. Her blast missed him as Akira somehow spun in mid-stride, though it did set a planter behind him on fire instead.
Akira smiled and returned the favour with a mystical blast at both of the flying invaders. The blast was aimed at the Valkyries. It was rushed but still caused them to swerve aside.
Down below, the old lady changed back into Banshee in readiness. She saw one of the smaller demons approach the edge but failed to cross the boundary and she was now convinced that for some reason the demons were unable to leave the pyramid area (though they could fire out) as she noticed several Omegadrones were disintegrated by blasts emanating from inside the pyramid. A return shot confirmed her theory as one of the scouts knocked a demon standing on the edge, out and into the carpeted area just beyond, only for it to turn instantaneously into a cloud of black dust.
Banshee took the opportunity to unleash a shattering shriek. The sonic attack caused one of the flying attacker’s wings to stream smoke, though the other seemed unaffected. The shriek also caused two of the nearby Omegadrones to collapse as their control units failed.
Above, Peter followed through with his attack, flying up towards the roof before hurling down towards the helmeted head of one of the Valkyries punching down. The warrior’s helmet shattered as the punch connected with the top of her head, causing it to collapse unconscious towards the ground with a massive bang.
The other flier had still been chasing after Akira. She fired again only for him to gesture and a blast of energy emanate from his fists hitting his attacker with such force that she flew past her companion pummelling earthwards and hit the roof with such force that she was left sprawled across a roof spar, unconscious and totally incapacitated.
The other flier hit the ground at the same time, Akira nodded ‘Pure symmetry’ he thought even as he shouted out, “she’s a stain on the ceiling while the other is a hole in the floor. Result!”
Banshee responded with another shriek, trying to take out the remaining Terminus forces, only to collapse as one of the demonic imps fired a mystical blast or spell into her back. Unaware of whether her attack had succeeded, she collapsed in agony. Unprotected, she turned insubstantial, as she lay on the ground partially stunned.
From above, Peter could see that another Terminus warrior had arrived in the middle of the pyramid. This one was muscle-bound and seemed impervious to the imp’s claws as he pushed his way through the demons from the rear heading towards him. Several imps were pushed out into this reality, only to disintegrate into clouds of black dust. Akira was convinced that there was something else at play here, a geas perhaps? Exiting the alien landscape had no effect on the Terminus forces yet if any of the demons or imps were exposed to ‘Earth as it should be’ they turned to dust. It wasn’t a general restriction, as he’d known of demons that could physically step across the threshold without vanishing in a puff of black sulphurous dust.
The bodybuilder-type warrior stepped free and instantly ran at a stunned Banshee. Not waiting to see what might happen, Peter hurled towards him using his flight speed and all of his strength to go ‘mano a mano’ against the latest intruder. He slammed down with such force that the attacker collided into the floor with stunning force. Peter punched him again, then grabbed him and tossed the unconscious body back into the pyramid, where it vanished beneath a mountain of demonic bodies.
Meanwhile, the battle between the demons and the Terminus continued unabated.
The pyramid continued to grow ever larger and taller as the tip of the energy pyramid now poked out of the roof and the edges ban to grow more substantial and solid as it expanded outwards. Before any of them could do anything, the remaining Omegadrones began to organise themselves into teams and fire together at the three of them.
Akira unleashed a mystical blast at the nearest group, knocking four of the undead drones completely inoperable.
Banshee forced herself to her feet even as another of the Omegadrone teams blasts shot through her insubstantial form, hitting several of the demonic host inside the pyramid instead. Getting up took more effort than she wanted to admit, but she managed to stay on her feet. She could always sleep in another century, she thought to herself as she looked at the layout and realised that one of the grounded tips of the pyramid reality went into a fountain located beneath the balcony, in the lower food court. If this breach (she assumed that was what this was, even though it didn’t resemble the interdimensional ruptures above Romany Wharf in London or in the sky above Claremont Academy) grew any more solid it might become permanent.
She was sure that magic of this type had to be anchored in this reality somehow for the landscape inside the pyramid to become permanent, replacing the same amount of landscape from here with there, wherever there was of course. It wasn’t affecting sentient beings, they appeared to be unaffected, but were able to cross over if they wanted or step back into their own reality, or at least humans and the Terminus troops were able to. There may be a reason for that; she just didn’t know what it might be though again she was sure it required something physically present to anchor their reality in hers.
Banshee steeled herself and unleashed a shattering shriek at the fountain and watched it explode, flooding the nearby but thankfully empty tables, but it did not affect the pyramids’ solidification.
In response, several imps fired blasts at her but they failed to affect her in her insubstantial form.
Peter was hit by several mystical blasts unleashed by other imps, which just washed over him, though he still instinctively responded to the attack by trying to dodge even though the attacks appeared to have no effect on him.
Inside the pyramid, another Terminus figure broke free, this one had the face of a long-dead corpse. One of the larger demons tried to stop him but died instantly as, with no apparent effort, the figure punched clean through its head. The smaller imps surrounding the figure quickly moved away, unwilling to risk attacking him. He stepped out of the pyramid and looked around.
Nearby, Peter had stopped fighting long enough to enter a clothing store to clear it out of possible concealed Omegadrones but stayed long enough to grab a replacement hoodie to replace his burnt one.
He traced the corner of the pyramid to a fallen mannequin and specifically to its blazer pocket, where he found a large gold coin concealed in it. He took it out and noticed that one of the sides showed a two-faced head that he assumed had to represent the Roman God of doors, Janus.
He crushed the coin in his fist. As he did so, the corner of alien space started to dissipate and the original reality started to be restored all the way to the front of the store, though the rest of the pyramid remained. He put the remnants of the crushed coin in his pocket and headed back out.
Outside, the new arrival was busy shredding the imps that had been forced to the outer edge of the pyramid by their panicking compatriots to act as a shield. The figure reached in and dragged them across the barrier towards him. As soon as they crossed the edge of the pyramid, they immediately began to turn to dust.
It was then something that none of them expected happened, a store alarm on the second floor went off, signalling a robbery was in progress.
Who would risk entering a virtual war zone to steal? Akira had to see and flew up only to see a familiar face staring back at him. A smiling woman in blue armour was walking out of a jewellery store followed by a selection of steel trays floating after her, stacked with her ill-gotten gains. Seemed as though Death Metal had decided this would be a good time for a little shopping. As soon as she saw Akira, she muttered, “Spoilsport, do you want to play a little?” With that the metal railings and security screens from the shops all broke free and immediately surrounded him, capturing him is a metallic ball of scrap metal, crushing Akira’s hastily formed force cage in the process that he’d hoped to use to imprison her and separate her from her ‘bling’.
Down below, unaware that Akira was trapped in a levitating ball of metal, Banshee ran across to the fountain and looked down into the basin. It had obviously been used as a wishing well and had scores of small denominational coins lying in the water. There was one coin though that stood out; it was gold, about the size of her fist and had an engraving of a head with two faces on one side. That looked out of place amongst the plastic flowers and other coins. Banshee substantialised herself, reached in for the fountain and pulled the coin out, turning ghost again even as she did so.
Before she could turn the coin over to see what was on the other side, a cadaverous hand smashed through her thankfully re-insubstantialised form and completely obliterated a pillar instead.
Banshee turned substantial again and unleashed a corrupting touch on her attacker. Not sure what damage she’d achieved, though she was certain he was moving slower, she ran back towards the main thoroughfare and was rewarded by seeing that the pyramid on one of the other sides weaken and fade slightly even as it shrunk in on her side.
Opposite Banshee, Peter had reached a similar conclusion about the pyramid and had left the remaining troops on both sides to fight it out while he searched for the pyramid’s last remaining anchor. He headed towards the last corner in a now deserted cinema. The tip of the pyramid ended just beneath a seat. He found the coin easily using his mystical sense, grabbed it and crushed the coins together, only to find himself flying uncontrollably into the wall as the mix caused a mystical explosion.
Above, Akira teleported himself out of Death Metal’s makeshift prison and created a force cage round Death Metal completely trapping her inside both the remaining scrap Death Metal had pulled around her to act as a shield and the force cage. Akira smiled, “let’s see how you like being trapped inside a bloody big hamster ball!” he shouted in triumph.
The remaining railings came off the wall in response and flew towards him, he dodged and a tonne of scrap metal hit someone floating behind him. Death Metal giggled in response, “Strike!” she shouted in glee.
He turned and to his surprise saw a floating cross-legged woman with unruly hair being bombarded by the flying metal storm he had assumed had been intended for himself. She was obviously not with the Terminus or from ‘around here’, but she was also clearly not demonic or at least, as Akira’s mystical senses revealed, not completely and she gave off the same signature vibe as the gold coins that apparently had anchored the alien reality.
She was definitely linked to the pyramid. Could she have been responsible for placing the reality anchors that had created the dimensional link?
Akira called up the Somnambulant Spell of Sirrion. A thin, pinkish mist, rose up from the ground as well as pouring forth from Akira’s outstretched hands putting Death Metal into a deep sleep. “Sorry!” he said aloud and heard her mutter in response, “You will be, both you and pretty boy down there, you will be.” as her metal trays fell to the ground.
Below, Banshee unleashed a terrorising scream at the cadaverous man in blue. The scream washed over him but he managed to shrug it off, though it appeared to slow him down. He responded by trying to punch Banshee, though weaker and slower this time. His blow missed.
Banshee noticed that her side of the pyramid had begun to shrink even as the other two sides collapsed, trapping the demons. Only the Terminus forces that had crossed over into their reality seemed unaffected as the pyramid began to collapse.
Peter wandered out with the gold mass in his hand, stared up at the woman floating above and smiled, mouthing, “Sorry”. As he walked out into the courtyard, the two sides collapsed while the other side shrunk. He put his chunk of gold in his pocket, flew up and tackled one of the remaining flying scouts. He grabbed one and punched it inside the now-collapsing pyramid, causing it to bowl several demons down just as it disappeared completely.
Akira saw the floating woman’s reaction and heard her say, “Una will be very upset at me, she’ll blame me for this going wrong. Damn you lot…” Nearby, Peter shouted over while giving his best puppy dog eyes look, “Really sorry!”
The floating stranger was clearly upset. She gestured and a portal opened behind her. As she fled through, Akira and Peter couldn’t help notice that the landscape beyond showed a land covered in piles of rubbish, some of which was clearly falling out of the skies onto the stacks below. Despite the scrapyard appearance of the land she was escaping back to, the piles all radiated magic, though of various strengths.
The pyramid had vanished, though some Terminus troops had been left behind and the outline of the pyramid as it had been, was surrounded in piles of black dust. The Police now elected to enter and start the clean-up of any remaining Omegadrones. Adam considered flying away, so he couldn’t be identified as an unregistered vigilante, but at Banshee’s suggestion, elected to stay and discuss interning with the Balance.
As they walked outside, Peter heard Akira explain to the Police, to an Inspector called Marcus Tolliver, that the matter was in hand but there might still be the occasional Terminus invader loose so send in the Armed Response first. Oh, they’d also caught the unregistered meta; turned out to be Death Metal and she was fast asleep on the top floor. There had been a meta breakthrough as well who’d be working with them on his HCP registration. Seems, if he didn’t want to be arrested, Peter needed to work with Banshee and Akira.
Seems they had previous experience of supporting unregistered vigilantes and they were offering him access to the necessary training – as well as room and board in somewhere they called the BASEment? It had to be better than the cheap hotel he was staying at presently.
He turned to join Akira and Banshee as they walked towards their response vehicle, a large gravitic vehicle parked nearby. Akira turned and asked, “So what should we call you when responding? Builder Bob?” Peter smiled, “I had considered calling myself Centurion…” Akira had to know, “Why? Are you planning on wearing a Roman costume and if so will that be with a skirt or do you command a hundred men or…? Given what we saw today perhaps Gladiator might be more suitable if you wanted to go with a Roman theme?“
Peter smiled, “It’s a work in progress,” he reluctantly admitted.
Costume? Damn it, he would need to think about whether he should wear a costume and if so, did that mean a mask or did he care if others knew who he was? A lot to think about and soon if he was to stay legal and find Megan.
Superhero Adventures, UK Style 