ic I Know What You Did Last Summer

[Raveled]

February 25th, 2015

Outside Silberman’s Books, Freedom City

Dawn

The city was never really quiet at any point in the day. Tona Baudin had crawled through the city’s guts and swung over its rooftops, and it never became entirely quiet. In the morning, though, before the streets were clogged by cars and the sidewalks were clogged by pedestrians, there was a sort of peace and calmness and attention that the city possessed. The fact that it was a dozen degrees below freezing also helped keep the streets clear.

The cold didn’t stop Tona from taking her morning jog. She was wrapped up in a fleece jacket, a torque, a scarf that wrapped around her face twice, thick socks with warming pads, and mittens with warming pads. She was also carrying her bow and quiver tightly lashed to her back, though to most people it probably just looked like a Camelback. The archer had finished her first circuit and was returning to her apartment above Silberman’s, to wake up Mali and set out on the second circuit. As she closed on the building she noticed someone standing outside the store, which should not happen. The store didn’t open until just before noon, so there was no reason anyone should be here this early. Tona’s fingers twitched in her mittens and she adopted a looser, more rolling gait as she approached the tall, pale figure.

[Electra]

Erin stared in consternation at the hours sign posted in the store window, then looked down at the note clutched in her glove. Picking up a book for Headmaster Summers hadn't seemed like it would be a big deal, since she was coming and going from campus for this mentoring deal anyway, but he'd told her she could drop by first thing in the morning when apparently the place didn't even open till noon. Sure, maybe even the freezing weather didn't require more than sweatshirt, gloves and headband from her, but it was still cold and dark and very dreary out. She'd have to come back tomorrow, or maybe try to squeeze something in on her lunch break. At least her particular skillset meant rarely having to deal with lunchtime traffic, and maybe she could pick a book up for herself. 

 

She was just turning away when the noise of footsteps on the sidewalk caught her attention. She looked up at the vaguely familiar but very well-covered figure loping down the sidewalk. Under all the cold weather gear, even a uniform would've been impossible to make out. "Blue Jay?" she asked tentatively. "Is that you?" 

[Raveled]

Tona blinked as the pale woman turned around and saw who it was. "Wander?" She pulled down her scarf, revealing her own face, pinched with the cold. "Yes, it's me." She paused an arms-length away, not sure how to feel. On the one hand, the Brave setting foot anywhere near her home was a lot more than she had expected today. On the other hand, she had no idea why such a hero would be coming to her home. She wasn't dressed in anything Tona recognized as combat gear -- in fact she barely seemed dressed for the weather at all -- so she wasn't just on patrol. Which suggested that she had come here for a reason. Try as she might, though, Tona couldn't think of anything in Silberman's that should interest a tyrant-dethroning hero.

The young archer felt the cold beginning the seep into her muscles, and she knew enough about exercise to know that if she just stood out here she was going to get cramps. She started bringing each leg up and squeezing it in sequence, trying to keep her blood flowing. "So. Um. Why are you all the way out here, Wander?"

[Electra]

"Running an errand for Summers," Erin replied with a half-smile, waving the slip of paper in her hand for explanation. "There's this reference book on..." She read off the page, "The Metaphysics of Metahumanity, that I guess he ordered here awhile ago. I was down on campus and he asked if I'd run by. He must have forgotten the hours though, cause he told me I could pick it up in the morning." She shrugged, "I'll just have to come back. What about you, are these your srtomping grounds now?" 

[Raveled]

Tona wrinkled her nose at the title of the book. “I don’t know if Lynn carries anything like that,†she said. “I don’t know what metaphysics is, but most of the books we have are… normal things.†She tugged the edge of her scarf back up over her nose, trying to keep warm. “I live up above the store,†she said, her voice muffled by the wool, “with a friend from Claremont. And I guess I’m working at Silberman’s now, but I don’t really have a key to open it up or anything like that.†She considered, for a moment, that she could probably pick the lock open if Wander really needed it, but she wouldn’t bother the Brave with that if she didn’t ask for it first.

“Are you working for Headmaster Summers, now? I thought a hero like you would be…†She groped for the right words. She imagined Wander striding across dimensions, striking down demons and freeing the oppressed. The idea of her running errands across town for a mere mortal was too normal for someone of Wander’s caliber, too mundane, too everyday, too… small, for the sort of person that the Furians still sand about. “... Busier,†she settled on, feeling rather lame about it.

[Electra]

"I kind of got the impression it was a special order," Erin replied with a shrug. "Easier to do with a bookseller he knows, maybe?" She wasn't terribly concerned about it, though she did hope the book was actually going to be there. The mention of being busy did get a quick grin from her. "I keep busy enough," she assured Tona. "I run security at Halloman Advanced Experts, one of the supertech companies. Lot of late hours, but they give me a flexible schedule when I need to go do, you know," she waved a hand, "all the hero stuff. This is my morning off. Summers asked me to do one of those mentorship things, working with a student who has similar powers to mine, giving her advice and helping her train some. You still doing the hero work?" 

 

She looked at Tona, still bouncing from foot to foot. "Do you, ah, need to keep running?" she asked, bouncing on her feet to indicate she was willing to continue the conversation on the move. "Or go inside where it's warmer?" 

[Raveled]

Tona considered heading inside. It would be warmer, and she could even offer Wander a smoothie, but she didn’t want to disturb Mali. If she was truthful with herself, she might admit that she didn’t want to share any of the time she had with the Brave. However, she was starting to really feel the cold. “Let’s start walking,†she said.

The sidewalks were clear of snow, so Tona felt safe by setting a brisk pace. It started to warm her blood up again, and in a few minutes she was feeling more human and less like an icicle. “So you have a… job.†That seemed like a weird situation. Tona had seen security guards at Millenium Mall, and sometimes at the more expensive stores that Mali or Sam took her to. Wander should be striking down evil with her bat and her bare fists; the idea of her standing around in a boring uniform with nothing but a radio on her belt didn’t fit that image. But maybe these Halloman Advanced Experts knew something that was keeping Wander in bondage to them. “Is it… are you okay with it?â€

[Electra]

Erin gave Tona a confused look for that tone of voice, wondering if the younger girl disapproved somehow. "Uh, yeah, its' a good job," she told her, automatically avoiding a small patch of ice on the sidewalk. "You met Steve during that whole thing with the Curator, he works with me. A lot of times it's preventative work, making sure the scientists don't go off the rails and explode things with their experiments, but there are plenty of supervillains who'd like to get in and steal whatever they can find, so it keeps me busy. What are you up to these days?" 

[Raveled]

Tona thought back to her day on the Curator's false Earth, and when she connected the dots about Steve she nodded sagely. It made sense that Wander would want to keep an eye on the Omegadrone; if anyone could destroy one without much warning, it would be her. "I'm working at Silberman's," she said, "and living in the apartment above it, with a friend of mine. Um. I ran some errands for UNISON and AEGIS. And then there was the thing at Halloween." She ticked each one off her fingers, sure that the Brave wouldn't be interested in such mundane doings. "I guess I'm sort of at loose ends. I mean, I saved my people from the Terminus in the summer -- I'm not really sure what else I want to do."

[Electra]

"I heard a little bit about that," Erin nodded, "that was good work, getting all those people away from the Terminus. Most worlds aren't nearly so lucky." She took a long breath at that, let it out. "It's hard when you finish up what you've spent years trying to do, even if you manage to succeed in doing it. Kinda leaves you at loose ends for what to do next. After that thing with Omega, when somebody told me I'd fulfilled my life's destiny, my first thought was, 'I'm only eighteen, what am I supposed to do now?' But you'll figure it out, and hey, now some of the pressure is off. You could always try joining a super team." 

[Raveled]

Tona frowned at the mention of a superteam. "People are trying to introduce me to Bowman, but I don't think I want to be called Bowlady for the rest of my life." She shrugged, picking up the walking pace a notch when she noticed that Wander wasn't exerting herself in the slightest. "I think Mali's going to the University next year. I don't know if my other friends are going to stay in the city once we graduate Claremont. I just... want things to stay the same, you know?"

 

She shook her head and turned the corner towards the river. "And Dr. Marquez won't leave me alone! Ever since we got back from the Terminus, I've been talking to him every week. It's all because I killed that Annhilist, I don't get why everyone is so worried about that."

[Electra]

"Change is hard," Erin agreed. "It feels like you've finally got everything going the way you want, and then suddenly it's all in flux again. But you've rolled with worse changes before, you'll find your feet again. Plenty of people stay in Freedom City after graduation anyway, you might end up going to college with all your high school friends." 

 

She hmmed at the mention of Dr. Marquez. "I know how that is. He just doesn't let go," she empathized. "I heard about the Annihilist thing, but only in passing. How did it go down?" 

[Raveled]

Tona didn't answer for a long minute, simply walking next to Wander and gathering her thoughts. Finally, when they were standing at a crosswalk waiting for the light to change, she started her reply. "It was... harder to get out then it should have been. The world was being eaten as we escaped. The Anhhilist, the Steam General, caught up with us and... and asked to come with us." Tona clenched her teeth, fighting the urge to spit or swear or lash out. "I told him no, and I killed him, and I escaped through the portal to Sanctuary." She took a deep breath. She hadn't dared to looked at Wander through the entire explanation, and when the WALK sign flickered on she took off again at a good clip.

[Electra]

Wander didn't seem upset by the admission, or pleased either, just interested. "You got them out right in the nick of time, then. The Terminus doesn't waste time once it starts devouring a planet. Monsters, but really efficient ones." She kept pace with Tona effortlessly, not even breathing hard as they jogged along. "This Steam General, I don't really know anything about him. Steelegrave and Mandragora yeah, and the Madrigal Martinet and Omega, but I haven't dealt with any of the rest of them. Was he the one in charge of taking out your planet?" 

[Raveled]

"Yes." The word was curt and clipped off. Tona's walk was slowly changing from an easy gait to something stiffer, harder, angrier. "Mon pere told me how he betrayed everyone on the planet, built an army for the Terminus and conquered the planet even before a single Omegadrone appeared. That all happened before I was born, but I grew up fighting his clockwork drones and tanks. I ran away when his ships were in the skies. I watched him take people I had known my entire life and turn them into soulless monsters." She took a deep, shuddering breath, suddenly wracked by anger and sorrow and anxiety and doing her best not to show it in front of her idol.

 

"So yes, I killed him. And even if everyone else hates it, I would do it again without blinking."

[Electra]

Erin was silent for a minute, letting Tona pull herself together while she looked up at the sky. There was a superhero flying overhead, just a dot against the white clouds and too far away to tell who. Given the time of day, probably someone commuting to work to avoid the traffic. While she waited, she contemplated what to say and how to say it. Finally she turned her head to look at Tona as they walked. "Do you think he was still dangerous at the moment you took him out?" she asked mildly. 

[Raveled]

The question threw Tona, and she opened and closed her mouth several times as she tried to come up with a reasonable response to it. "He was an Annhilist," she said finally, "trying to get onto Sanctuary! All he cares about is machines and power, he would ruin that world. And even if he didn't, he would have told the Terminus all about it, and my people would be in danger all over again."

 

She clenched her teeth as emotions swirled inside her. She didn't want to consider more about her last encounter with the Steam General. "I guess... he was standing on a planet that was dissolving. He wasn't going to do a lot to us before we got away"

Edited March 1, 2015 by Raveled

[Electra]

"I killed Physician Friendly," Erin told her, her voice oddly conversational for the subject matter, almost meditative. "I don't know if you've heard that part of the story before. It was just before the fight with Omega. We were standing in the ruins of my world, and he was the one who had caused all of it. He wanted to show it off to us, like it was some big accomplishment. Right as he was starting to boast, I took my bat and I drove it through his skull. I ended up having a bunch more counseling because of it, and I was afraid later of how my friends would react, but it had to be done. I couldn't save my world, but I could stop him from doing it to anybody else. When you killed the Steam General, was it to stop him, or was it for vengeance?" 

[Raveled]

Tona stopped suddenly, standing on the snowy cold sidewalk, her breath coming in harsh gasps. She turned to Wander, an irrational amount of anger surging through her. "The Steam General was an Annhilist," she pointed out, her voice barely below a shout. "He betrayed my home planet, he killed billions -- he killed my mother! And then when the world was coming apart around him, he wanted to jump ship and come to a new planet to start it all over again!" She poked Wander in the chest, driving her point home with sharp gestures. "I was trying to keep my people safe from him. I wasn't about to let him follow us! He killed that Earth, he deserved to stay there and die with it."

[Electra]

Erin didn't flinch at the poke, instead reaching up and grabbing Tona's hand very carefully by the wrist. "Of course he did!" she responded, her voice much quieter but no less intense. "He deserved to die and nobody mourned his death, and it's very likely that the world is a better place because he's gone. But it's not about him, Tona! It's about you, and about the kind of code you have to follow if you want to live your life as a superhero and not let it break you." 

 

She let go of Tona's hand, ran her own through her hair. "There are terrible people out there, even just here on Earth Prime, and you're going to run into them a lot. Some of them will have done things that are so bad that they deserve to die, and even that won't balance the scales. But no matter how clear that is, it's not our job to hand out that kind of justice. You try and take that kind of responsibility on yourself and it'll drag you down, till you don't even know what's right and wrong anymore. And you'll stop being a hero. I'm not sorry for what I did, because if I hadn't, nobody else would've been able to stop him. But I won't do it again. I can't." 

[Raveled]

Tona snatched her hand back. She took a step back from Wander and shrank back into her big, fluffy parka. "I wasn't passing judgement on everyone," she said. "The Steam General... He had attacked my people, my family. If he survived the destruction of that Earth and had gone on to attack another world, to destroy more people, then it would be my fault. Because it was my job to stop him, and I couldn't do it." She clenched her jaw and her hands; the anger was filling her with nervous energy, and she didn't have an easy way to spend it. "The Steam General wasn't some purse snatcher or bank robber. He killed planets, he killed superheroes and turned them into monsters. He was too dangerous to allow to get away." She eyed Wander, suspicion suddenly creeping over her. "I thought you would understand that, at least."

[Electra]

"I do understand that," Erin insisted. "Does it sound like I'm asking you to feel sorry for what you did? I'm not. But you understand why people are worried about you, right? Marquez can be a jackass, but he's a competent psychologist under the layers of smarm and smile."

 

She hopped up to sit on a ledge next to the sidewalk, ignoring the snow that immediately started melting into her pants. "When I killed Friendly, it was the right thing to do, but the reasons were all tangled up, and I think it's probably the same way with you because we both did it for the same reason. Yeah, it was because he had to be stopped, but it was just as much because he had destroyed everything that was important to me and he never lost a minute's sleep over it. He didn't even care. I spend years thinking about it, and when I finally saw him face to face, the rage... it was unspeakable." She rolled her shoulders in an uncomfortable shrug, not quite looking at anything in particular. "I did what needed to be done, but I would've done it anyway, even if there was no way he could ever hurt another person. Because he deserved it. It took me a long time to untangle those motivations, and to have any kind of faith that I could feel one without the other." 

[Raveled]

Tona clenched her teeth, trying to figure out what she was thinking. She looked to the side, up, down to the sidewalk, anywhere except directly at Wander. “I don’t go out looking to hurt people. I don’t hunt down purse-snatchers so I have an excuse to break their teeth. I look for people who need protecting, and I help them.â€

Her hands found each other and she started twiddling her fingers. It was hard to maintain anger, especially when it burned as hot as she was feeling it. She could feel that fire was flickering out, leaving Tona hollow and slightly nauseous. “I’m still talking to Dr. Marquez. I’m not skipping sessions or running out early.†The instant the clock said the seassion was over with she was heading out the door, but she never tried to cut out early. “But killing the Steam General was the right thing to do. I saved people by doing that, I know I did.â€

[Electra]

"You're probably right," Erin agreed. "I've seen Omegadrones freed, but Annihilists, they don't change. Marquez probably knows that too. He was around for the last invasion." She hiked up a leg onto the ledge, wrapped her arms around it casually. "Now this is just my advice, so take it for whatever it's worth, but I was in sessions with him for three years, sometimes five days a week, so I've seen a lot of him. You gotta tell him why you killed the Steam General, but at the same time explain why he was unique. Killing someone because it saves lives isn't always going to be a justification. They don't buy it at Claremont, and the Freedom League won't buy it either, or the heroes you have to work with. And it's sometimes frustrating." The honest emotion in her voice said she was speaking from experience. 

 

"But the Steam General, he was different, right? Other heroes weren't going to have a chance to pick him up, and you probably wouldn't be able to keep him under arrest. Holding him would put your people in clear danger, but you couldn't let him go. You didn't have the choices that you have on Prime, and with a bad guy on Prime, you wouldn't have had to do it. Reassure him that you understand the difference, and he can check the little checkybox on your dossier." 

[Raveled]

Tona made to sit next to Wander, but after a moment's thought simply leaned against the wall and huffed. "So I just have to tell Marquez something and he'll leave me alone? But... c'est des conneries. I don't want to lie to my friends. It just... it seems like sometimes that they don't understand. I don't want to have to tell them that I regret what I did, because I don't. I just want them to understand that this wasn't just some criminal robing a bank or some supervillain tying to conquer the world. He had already won, and if I let him go free... he might try it again." Tona put her head in her hands. She suddenly felt depressed, drained, She wanted to crawl into bed and sleep for a hundred years, until this all just blew over and she could come out and not deal with it ever again.