Danny often pondered what the true difference between intelligence and brilliance was. The usual answer he came up with was that intelligence led to misery, and brilliance led to madness. Danny was intelligent, he noticed things no one else did. He saw suffering that most people couldn’t even comprehend, and was powerless to do anything about it.
Jacob, on the other hand, was definitely brilliant. But his brilliance pushed him beyond misery. It left him mad and crazed, so intelligent but incapable of doing anything about the world that he lashed out like an injured dog. The concept had never really sunk in. Not until Jacob and Danny were standing around in a gas station bathroom and Jacob had just told him the most insane thing he’d ever heard.
“Are you a moron?” Danny asked in far louder than a whisper.
“Wait, you believe me?” Jacob ignored the question.
“Of course. Why would someone lie about something like that?” Danny answered.
“Because people lie.” Jacob said frankly.
“It’s the suit right?” Danny said with a grin.
“Yes.” Jacob replied.
“Well, put it on!” Danny gestured at him to hurry.
“About that…” Jacob paused.
There was another shockwave that rocked the building. Danny was prepared this time and held on tight to the side of the sink to keep from falling. Jacob fell completely down on his side, tried to steady himself back up, and was rocked by another shockwave.
“Please don’t tell me you didn’t bring it.” Danny said.
“It’s kinda in the van.” Jacob replied.
“You moron!” Danny yelled.
“Dude, how was I supposed to know this was gonna happen?” Jacob said while lifting his hands up in a defensive gesture. The door suddenly opened. Emily walked inside.
“Are you two in here…. Arguing?” Emily asked, confused. Both boys looked at her in confusion.
“This is the boy’s bathroom.” Jacob said.
“There is a supervillain outside!” Emily yelled in annoyance. Jacob put a hand on his face. He spread his fingers so his eyes were visible as he stared at her.
“I have a headache… Look, will you leave for a minute so Danny and I can talk privately?” Jacob said.
“I’m not going back out there.” Emily said, clearly scared.
They’re not attacking consistently. They’re taking breaks between each blow. Jacob thinks they’re trying to lure him out, so why not continuously attack? What’s making him think it’s Amelia? If they have to charge an attack up then all we have to do is…. Danny thought to himself.
“Look, I promise I’ll explain what’s going on as soon as I can, but for right no-” Jacob was cut off by another strike.
“Jacob, run out the back door!” Danny yelled.
Jacob gave him a confused look, so Danny shoved him to give him a jumpstart. Jacob seemed to understand after that. Danny ran out the bathroom door. He was caught off balance by a boom that followed the strike and he wobbled mid run out the front door.
It was a surprisingly peaceful day outside. The sun had risen not too long ago, and birds were singing. Four different cars in the parking lot had been smashed against walls, their windows completely pulverized.
Danny wasn’t exceptional. He wasn’t brave. Danny didn’t have powers or a super suit. Nor would he be able to build one in his free time. So when he walked two steps outside that glass door and took a look around to see cars and trucks smashed against walls like pancakes, he immediately reconsidered everything.
He may have even looked back at the door. But Danny knew that God didn’t want him to let those people get hurt.
So he ran through the chaos. He was sweating up a storm when he made it to the van that had been sent flying end over end into a ditch past the gas station parking lot. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears. And right as he got near the ditch he was sent tumbling down into it by another tremor and boom. He rolled and hit a rock on the way down.
Once he stopped, he let himself breathe before starting to crawl towards the smashed, upside down car. Shards of glass laid in the grass. Danny took special care not to crawl over them. He tried to be as quiet as possible while opening the door. He got it to softly open, then let it slide only halfway so it wouldn’t click at the end.
He reached in and grabbed Jacob’s bag. It had been thrown onto the roof of the car near the driver’s seat. He pulled it over to him and unzipped it. He made sure the suit was actually in it and his friend wasn’t lying to him. As he crawled over in the ditch his body tapped against the van door and it made an audible clicking noise.
She didn’t hear me running. Maybe she didn’t hear that. Danny hoped.
Amelia moved so fast that a cloud of dust formed around where she stood above him. One second she wasn’t there, the next she was. Danny was filled with awe and dread.
“Got you.” Catherine said smugly.
She was wearing an all white costume. It looked like it had a layer of padding all underneath its surface. The helmet of her suit had a blue visor that covered her face, like a motorcycle helmet. From her feet to her shins were two menacing looking metal boots with various gears and parts. They made a constant clicking noise.
“Amelia?” Danny looked up at her from the ditch.
She flinched back in shock. Danny ran faster than he had ever run in his life. He knew he could never outrun her. But maybe she’d be so caught off guard she wouldn’t chase. He clutched the backpack tight to his chest as he ran. His lungs burned like fire. He covered half the ground he needed to in what felt like five seconds.
For a minute everything just went silent in his head. Then he felt a rushing wind come up behind him. He could feel her fingers grasping at his hood. So he took a hard left and kept running, trying to maybe make it behind the gas station in time. The rushing wind momentarily stopped and then came up again.
Inertia, she has trouble suddenly changing direction. Danny made a mental note.
He scrambled back towards the right. He ran toward the front door of the gas station, hugging the wall as he did. The wind stopped momentarily again. Then he saw her appear right next to him. She reached out towards the bag. Danny grabbed her fingers.
“His costume is in there, isn’t it?” She asked. Danny remained silent. “I have to show the world what he really is. A mutant monster. Let me show them, Danny.” She continued.
Danny didn’t respond at all. He just silently threw the door open and ran towards the bathroom. He didn’t make it more than three strides before he was thrown to the ground hard by a rushing force of wind. All of the windows behind him shattered at once. A woman in the restaurant screamed like a banshee.
The wind was knocked out of Danny, but as he gagged on air he kept the bag clutched tight to his chest. He forced himself back to his feet and looked back. Amelia was stationary. Her feet locked to the ground. Danny limped to the back door and practically tackled it open. Jacob was sitting against the wall, waiting. Danny threw the bag at him and collapsed.
…
I owe you a million, Danny.
I put the suit on faster than I had ever before. I was starting to get used to the sting. The mask locked into place and I remembered exactly why I dreaded putting it on. For a moment I was blind and deaf, and when my senses returned a thousand times amplified my enemy was looking down at an unconscious Danny. I stood and ran up the side of the building on impulse. I looked down at her once I made it to the flat roof of the gas station.
I was crouched up, my claws dug deep into the surface. She hadn’t moved from where she was. Chills went down my spine when she looked up at me. This was not the normally cheery popular girl I passed in the halls. It was not the girl that annoyed me, nor was it the girl that joined the academic team to get closer to Danny. It was something new. Something that was looking at me like I was the enemy. Then she jumped. Her metallic boots landed with a thud a few feet behind where I was crouching. I could hear mechanisms shifting around inside the boots.
I turned around as fast as I could, but she was faster. I was ripped from the parapet I was crouched upon. My clawed feet yanked bits of concrete with me as I fell two stories. I landed on my back. The fall knocked the wind out of me and I tried to cough behind the mask. I looked up to see her staring down at me. By the time I was back on my feet she had jumped down in front of me, and turned around to face me. Her boots made a thud as she landed, and again a mechanism inside shifted.
I can’t outrun her, I know that for sure. I can’t escape her by running up walls. I can use my tail, but that might not end well. I guess I’ll just have to do the unreasonable thing.
I charged at her. I heard the mechanism in her boot click once again, and then she reflexively ran to the side to dodge. I turned to chase after her and she kept running around the building, to the front. She had much less fluidity of movement than me. She was as fast as a train in a straight line but turning was difficult for her. She stopped near a gas pump. I could hear sirens in the distance.
She stood completely still like a marble statue. I listened for her heartbeat and it was steady and calm. I looked at her. She was otherworldly in her composure. I charged at her going full speed. She didn’t move at all at first. Once I was close she became a white blur as she raised her foot up to kick me.
Pretty one note aren’t we?
I jumped straight up into the air as she kicked her foot out. I could feel the power emanating from the kick. It was so fast it created a sonic boom. The shockwave it created was so strong that it knocked me off course as I jumped and I flipped backwards through the air and landed on my side behind her. The fall didn’t hurt, but the boom left me deaf. I pushed myself up to my feet and smiled as I saw her.
She was frozen, struggling to get her feet to move. She was rooted in place like a tree. It wouldn’t last long, but I didn’t need long. I walked over to her and grabbed her around the neck. She was yelling something but I couldn’t make it out. I tried to take her helmet off but it wouldn’t budge. There was probably some mechanism in place that I didn’t have time to figure out.
I couldn’t choke her out because her neck was protected by some sort of padding. I stood there trying to figure out what I could do for far too long. I started to sweat as I thought about my time draining away. I heard a click. There was a rush of air and she was gone. Police cars surrounded me.
