Beginning of the Fall
#3 of Etheral City
"From what I could tell, he is a noble spirit who's only intention is to help those in need. He is the embodiment of our heroes in the past, and has no intention to make their mistakes. He told me that the only reason for helping the innocent is so he could feel better. Unfortunately, my loyal readers, he made me promise to not reveal his troubled past with anyone, and I plan to keep that promise. The mystery hero of Etheral City has no name, and said that we could call him anything we would like. I ask of you: Be creative and come up with a name fitting for him. If it's good, send it in so I can tell the world!"
Penny leaned back in her chair and cracked her knuckles. After a quick sigh of relief, her thoughts went back to the human. She made it seem like she knew more about him than she really did, but it was a lie. She knew more about quantum physics than him. Bill stormed into the room, along with Paul and a few of the office workers. "Amazing!" Bill screamed, "How did you get an interview with him? I can barely find him with a search party!" Similar praises came from the others.
Paul cleared his throat, silencing his employees, "This truly is a fine piece of journalism. You should be proud, Penny. You are the only one who has been able to hold a conversation with him that lasted more than two words. Take the rest of the day off, my treat." He never let anyone go early.
"Thank you sir, but I was just doing my job." Penny said as she packed her backpack, "Maybe one day he'll let me tell the people about him." It was a walk filled with applause and cheers. Compared to the office, the busy street was silent. She was wearing street clothes, as she was in a rush to get to work. The human left before she had realized it.
It wasn't long before a group of men approached her, praising her about her articles. She was used to it, but every time she tried to leave, they blocked her path. (Something's not right here...) she thought, eyes darting back and forth. "Young lady, our employer would like to speak with you about this... super human. If you would kindly follow me, we will take you to him."
Penny was visibly nervous and shaking, "N-no thanks. I'm sure that your boss is a nice guy, but I have to get some bread and food for my apartment. So, please excuse me." The rat who talked snapped his fingers. In an instant, Penny felt a sharp pain to the back of her head, then darkness.
She awoke several hours later, her hang still pounding from the hit she endured. As her mind became more aware of the surroundings, she realized that she was in a dark room with a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling. She was tied to a wooden chair, and could feel someone behind her, also tied up. "H-hey! What's going on! Hello?! Are you okay?! Answer me!" The body wasn't moving.
"Huh? Whu? Oh, newspaper lady... it's you." it was the human from earlier, "I didn't take you for the kinky sort."
Penny was infuriated, but her fear still ruled her emotions, "It wasn't me! I don't know what happened, people surrounded me, then hit me on the head. It really hurts... wait a second! I thought you could read minds? How the hell did they get you?!"
A short pause, then, "Sleeping."
"What?! You just slept at my house all night long! Why were you sleeping?"
He laughed, "I wasn't sleeping, I was too hungry to. Now, let's get out of here..."
Penny thought he had completely lost his mind. They were tied with a high strength rope and didn't have any tools to escape. A crack, then a loud popping noise and the hands that were touching her back were gone. She turned her head and saw that the human's left hand hung loosely from his arm, "Oh my god! What did you do!?"
He popped his hand back in place without so much as a flinch, "Blocked the pain receptors in my brain. Then I sped up the reconstructive parts around my wrist. Easy." He proceeded to untie himself then walked into a darkened corner. Penny was about to scream at him, but he put a finger to his lips, asking her to be quiet. She shook her head and out of the corner saw a replica of him tied to the chair (Wonders of the mind, huh?) she thought as the door swung open.
In walked the Invisible Viper and Fire Panther. They walked around to the human's side of the chair and the Viper smacked his face. The false body acted like a normal one. "Maybe they overdid it on this one... " she said. Then the two stood in front of Penny and just stared at her. In the corner, the human opened his eyes, the only thing that could be seen was the red glow. "You, Penny is it? Tell us everything you know about the freak. Every time you refuse, we'll stick a sharp object under you're fingernails, got it?" (These were the superheroes I wrote about! They're threatening me with torture?) Penny thought scared out of her mind.
"Don't take all the fun, Viper," said the Fire Panther, "Every other time you lie, I'll burn off some fur." (They were corrupted and sick in the head!) Penny thought, her eyes widening.
"Yeah, whatever he said. Now, what exactly can he do?" the Viper sneered. Penny kept her mouth shut, quickly angering the Viper. She pulled out one of her daggers and grabbed Penny's hand. Just as she was about to thrust it in, The two froze. Their eyes and mouth could still move, however, but all they could do was express the confusion and horror. The human walked out of the shadows and used the dagger to cut Penny loose.
He looked at the two heroes, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, threatening to harm a trusted journalist? And an innocent one at that... how shameful. Your parents must be disappointed. Who knew that I could summon enough ice to stop even a fire hero in his tracks?" he ended up laughing.
Penny looked around, but no ice was to be found. It wasn't even cold. She looked at the human, and a voice echoed in her head, "The power of the mind is a terrible thing." (Impossible! He did all this in their minds?!) She looked at them. They were shivering violently. Fire Panther tried to melt the non-existent ice around him, but nothing happened. The human walked in front of her, "Do you still think that your 'heroes' are good? It doesn't matter, I have a plan."
Penny followed him out the door and found herself in an abandoned storage facility. She had to ask, "What's going to happen to them? What's your plan? Are you really just another villain?" Her barrage of questions closed his eyes again and forced him to put on his headphones. Penny was upset, but mostly because she was almost tortured and killed.
He stopped for a second and turned his head towards her, "They'll be fine... for now. And no, I'm not a villain. Probably not a hero, either."
Penny was frustrated, "Well what the hell are you, then?! A friggin' monster with a conscience?!"
"... yes... splitter..." was his quiet reply. Penny was confused. "... they called me splitter... something to do with personality..." (You got that right, angry, talkative, and now almost silent.)
"So Splitter, where do we go from here. I don't exactly know where we are, and I doubt that many people come by here that often. Even IF someone did roll along, they would take one look at you and keep on driving. So what's the plan?"
Splitter looked over at her, "... no plan... just walk..."
Penny was about to lose all self control. Splitter had confused, angered, calmed, amazed, and enlightened her in a short period of time and her mind couldn't take it much longer. They walked through a small covered area and she felt some resistance in her legs.
Tink-tink-tink-tinktinktinktink
"Shit! Hold you're breath!" Splitter screamed, but was too late. Penny had just breathed in a large amount of the gas that erupted from the canisters. She fell to the ground, but before she completely faded, she heard a muffled, "...dammit..."