Fragmentation 1.11
(Lucas Promer)
May 20, 2005
"Despite what you all may believe, my father was not a fearless man."
The black-clothed tide of people stilled as my words rang out, silence overcoming the murmurs that echoed during my brief pause.
"He was a worrywart," some of the younger children giggled as the men and women who worked with him, towards the front of the crowd, nodded "always picking over every plan and idea to be sure everyone got out alive, to make sure everyone made it home to their families and friends at the end of the day."
My mom was crying into the shoulder of her brother-in-law, who had de-masked for the funeral and was tearing up as well.
"And it worked. Every single man and woman who worked with him is still alive, because my father chose the men and women he cared for as brothers and sisters over himself. He chose to become the sacrificial lamb, and die to save the Laborers."
"But we are lost without him, in more ways than one… He was leader to many, a father figure to others, but most importantly," I paused, as my eyes misted over "he was a hero."
A camera flash lit up from beyond the fence at the back of the field, caused me to blink quickly, and I watched a security guard leave to apprehend the culprit.
"Most of you here knew him as Workforce, of his duty to the city of Portland and its surrounding towns, of his commitment to the protection of the state of Maine, and of his devotion to the population of the United States."
"He was the man who led the largest independent hero team in North America, but he was only one of two parahumans on the team." The team smiled brightly at me from the front row as I revealed the truth behind them, and the rest of the crowd grew wide-eyed and gasped. "My father was not the leader of a similarly-powered family, as many of you were led to believe, but he was the mayor of a community, of the town of Rockland, Maine, James Promer." Thousands of mouths opened, and I was proud I had been able to do what my father once had done before his powers.
"In my father's final will, he asked me to read this letter to the public as an apology to the people of Maine for this deceit." I cleared my throat and opened up the second sheet of paper on the podium.
"'Dear friends, family, and those who showed up to my death day party,'" mom groaned from her seat and put her head in her hands, "'I'm so happy you all showed up, and even happier that I'm not there to see the depressing field you probably shoved my body box in the middle of.'" I started smiling at the next words, trying to hold in my laughs and tears at the same time.
"'So how bad is it? Are there thousands surrounding my dead body like they have a…' I'm not reading that line due to the younger audience. 'Oh wait, are there kids here? Uh, son, if you are the one reading this, skip the last line please. Even though I kicked the bucket, the Laborers have been PG since my brother and I started it, and I don't want to hurt some kid's innocence about the birds and bees even after I'm dead. Anyway, continuing now.'" The adults were laughing nervously, as the kids in the mass of people looked at their parents confused.
"'I suppose you are all wondering why I convinced the country and world that the Laborers were all related, and this letter is here to explain what my brother and I can do, why I did what I did, and who my family really is.'" I could see the reporters outside the graveyard tense in preparation, while the front row nodded encouragingly. "'I guess you must also be really surprised to hear my explanation as to why I 'infiltrated' (son, be sure to use air quotes on that word) the mayor's office of Rockland, as parahumans aren't allowed to hold office, but I'm currently looking at my law book, and I'm sure even the PRT will agree with me on my decision. According to United States law, a parahuman is not allowed to be elected into office, but there is no law against holding office. So, too bad critics, I can do what I want!'" Some people in the crowd snorted and laughed, while those with powers winced at the implications.
"'But back to powers. My brother was known as Organyzer (Why did he decide to go with the 'y'? I never knew if he was trying to seem cool or look like an idiot.) in suit, and had the ability to strengthen any person or a group of people to a high Brute rating, with the strength increasing inversely to the amount of people. So basically, when he focuses on one person, they can be strong enough to lift about 20 tons, but on thousands they can be as strong as a heavyweight lifter in the Olympics of old. My power, as Workforce, was disputed by the public for ages, and nobody guessed it right, even after 12 years of activity. So ha! I told you Marcie! Even with my name, my power would stay secret! Ha! Ha! Ha! I'm getting off track again, aren't I?'" Mom was laughing along with the crowd now, and I noticed the tears beginning to leave many eyes around the field. Seems even after he was gone, dad could always get people to smile.
"'I really wish I could have been there like I expected to be, to explain what I can do, but if this is being read, then I'm dead and gone, and not able to laugh at the idiots in the media who thought I was secretly a master and could control everyone with blood relation to me. Whatever, big reveal time now? Sigh, this is hard. How do I explain this? Well, the media hounds were right about one thing; I was a Master, just not with control powers. I suppose the official rating would be a Master/Brute, but I never was a part of the Protectorate, so I don't really know. My power is (pause for effect) to enhance the bodies of those around me with my own. Including, but not limited to, limbs, hearts, muscles, eyes, and even, um… other things. Thinking of you Bryan!'" Bryan turned bright red in the front row, and covered his face with his hands "'I can also change them back, so the women on the team aren't stuck with a man's physique. This should explain to you all how I made my team, but if not, you're missing something in the head. Just think of me and my brother's power for a second… got it? Good. Now you see how the Laborers came to exist.'" I looked up to see thousands of faces pondering the information they just heard, and the smug faces of the ex-Laborers hugging each other's shoulders.
"'Right, well, I don't want to take up any more time at my own funeral, so I'll let my final written words be these: To my family, I love you all. To my friends, thanks for putting up with me and my crappy jokes. And to the media, fuck off. This is Mayor James Promer of Rockland, Maine, and Workforce of the Laborers, signing off. '" I watched the various expressions flicker across the faces of the masses and smiled, continuing my own speech.
"As you can see, my father likes to make most people smile," I waited for the crowd to settle down, then continued "Other than the media, who tried to frame him for at least twelve murders, thirty robberies, and two charges of possession, he enjoyed the presence of anyone he met. Just because my father was a supporter of legal marijuana, doesn't mean he used it." The happiness of my dad's words were fading now, and I changed tones to match that.
"I said it at the beginning, and I'll say it again, my father, is not a fearless man. He is a man of integrity, a man of compassion, and a man of strength, but one thing he wasn't was fearless. He was scared of death, of those around him meeting it, and of those that could kill with ease. He always told me that strength was useless unless you had the intelligence to back it up, and that without intelligence, those around you had a good chance of meeting an unhappy end. No, my father wasn't without fear, but he was brave. Because every day he went to work or went to lead the Laborers to victory or defeat, he went with that fear in his heart. He chose to go out into the sun with fear consuming him as he worried over how the men and women of the Laborers would make it home at the end of the day." I paused before I read the next words.
"And that was how he died." I could feel the tears rise again "Worrying over how we would all survive the waves from Newfoundland, when they were breaching the walls of our house. He forced us into the sailboat that had washed up into our dining room, while he alone held up the wall that was keeping the water from us all. 'Don't worry everyone.' He said as our group looked from inside the boat 'You'll get out of this, I'm sure.'" I wiped my eyes before I continued "And then he kicked off the boat, and forced us to leave, all while he held up the wall that was keeping us alive." The Laborers had their heads held down as many people were openly crying.
"He was saluting, when I last saw him. We were cresting the wave that doubled the size of the house, and he was standing on the roof, just… saluting at us… completely accepting of his coming death."
Most were openly weeping now, and I had to blurt out the last few words before I broke down.
"Even in the end, he was brave, he was strong, he was… accepting. I'm sure that the fear was present in his final moments, but he saw us go over the wave, and I'm sure… I'm…"
I couldn't do it, watching my mom run up to me and cart me offstage as my uncle went up to speak next, I bawled, and the world grew silent around me.
My dad was dead.
My dad was dead, and I couldn't do anything about it.
Oh god how I missed him.
November 24th 2010
Oh god, how I needed it.
"Mom! Where's the toilet paper!" I yelled across the house from my mother, who was in the kitchen.
"In the pantry! It should be under the paper towels!" She yelled in response, watching as I darted past her to the pantry.
"Gotta poop, gotta poop, gotta poop." I repeated out loud as my mom rolled her eyes at me.
"I didn't need to know that sweetie." She said to me as I ran back to the bathroom. "Oh! And how's that paper you're supposed to be writing coming?"
"Thanks for the reminder mom," I responded with a tad of sarcasm "it's not like you haven't reminded me of it the past few days, even though it's going to be published next month."
"I know Lucas, but you have to finish it eventually," she sighed exasperatedly "you have a rather powerful tendency to wait until the night before something's due before turning in your work."
"Last minute panic is the greatest inspiration mom!" I spoke out before I shut the door "Why else do you think my second paper was so well taken?"
I heard the sigh from beyond the door, and I giggled. It was true, no matter what people say. Panic is a great performance enhancer, more than any drug I'd used before, and I've only written one professional paper without it.
Ten minutes later I was done, and I heard my mom yelling from the kitchen again. "Sweetie can you check the weather channel for me? I think this storm is getting worse."
I stepped out of the bathroom to see the windows flowing with water, almost as if… "Mom? Behemoth is supposed to be the next attack, right?" I asked nervously.
"Yeah, Leviathan attacked Algiers three months ago, why?"
"This storm reminds me of… that night." He face went ashen at my comment "Sorry, it's just…"
"No, I get it. But we moved inland for a reason, Lucas. The oceans haven't been the same since that monster started his attacks. Now, what does the weather say?"
"Uh, we're in a tornado alert right now, but it's saying there's a seventy percent chance that there'll be a tornado warning soon. Does that mean we go to the basement or something?"
"No that's only if the tornado warning starts. Didn't you do drills in high school?"
"We did, but they enforced Endbringer safety over natural disasters. Do you think this storm could be bad?"
"Maine only has about one tornado a year, but this could be a bad one. Let's go to the basement and hunker down for now, I don't want to risk it."
"Sure mom."
I would later think it was odd how nonchalantly we handled the incoming threat. One of the most disastrous events in the country before the Endbringers, and we just shrugged our shoulders, and headed towards the basement. It had to do with the Endbringer attacks, of course, as anything less than city destroying was not to be alarmed about. High schools no longer did tornado drills much anymore, usually once a year, while Endbringer drills were held at least twice a month. A sound mimicking a train interrupted the levity of the situation. The sirens that followed destroyed it.
"Mom, go now!" I screamed at her as we ran down to our safe room. The crashing sounds behind us as we shut the door confirming our fears. The sounds blasted my ears, overpowering the sound of mom's screams next to me. The door was beginning to shake, and I saw the celling begin to crack.
"Get to the back of the room!"
"What?!"
I turned and moved her to the corner of the room, the one place furthest underground in the house, and turned back to see the entrance of the room beginning to fall down. I caught it as my mom screamed behind me.
"Shit, not good." I grunted under the weight of the door and whatever had pushed it down, muscles straining as I was slowly crushed.
'I'm not strong enough' I panicked inside my head as I felt my joints creak 'Fuck, this hurts!'
I looked back at mom one more time to see her with her eyes closed, murmuring to herself. I doubt I could hear her even without the storm blowing up my eardrums.
My legs collapsed (Oh god, the pain! The burning!) under me and the wall fell further towards my mom.
'I am not letting her die. Not her too.' I repeated, even as my arm muscles felt as if they'd snap.
The sound of the storm was dying now, but the weight of the debris felt as if it were continuing to increase. The water of the storm was dripping into the room, sprinkling my face as the sounds of my mother crying behind me finally overcame the retreating sounds of the storm.
"I'm… ok mom… just… resting…"
I turned my head, and saw her white face behind her hands.
"What's… wrong… mom?"
"Your legs, sweetie, your legs are… broken."
I hadn't noticed, too busy straining against the weight of the debris to care about something as petty as pain in my legs. It was my arms that I was worried about, because once they broke…
We'd both be dead.
I had to be stronger that the wall, just until mom got out of this.
If she didn't get out of this, with or without me, I was going to come back from the underworld and attacking some storms.
Then the wall shifted down some more, and I panicked. It wasn't letting up, and my arms were burning, almost as if they were getting ready to snap.
I wasn't strong enough, and I hear my mom scream as the pain caused me to black out.
A campfire with flashing in front of me, and I was calm.
The pain was gone, the strain was gone, and the debris was gone.
I was calm, and wondered to myself if this was heaven, or hell.
I thought I was rather deserving of heaven, but the fire seemed to point towards the opposite.
The sound of a guitar playing interrupted my thoughts, and I looked away from the flame to see a fish next to me. It was playing an odd, but pleasant tune, and stopped when I looked at him (her?).
"We're speeding things up for you, just so you know, so don't be disorientated when you wake up, alright?"
I nodded, uncomprehending, as he pointed back towards the flickering fire.
"Sorry 'bout the legs, kid. Try and get some radiation to fix it."
I watched sparks rise to the sky, and began to see the stars dance.
I then understood what he said.
"What was tha-"
Blackness overcame me.
The scream tore through my mind as I saw the wall begin to push away from me, and I wasn't sure what was worse. The rippling through my upper body, or the terrified screams of my mother.
The wall had blasted through the debris holding it down, and there was a clear path out of the hole we were in. The scream had stopped, and I twisted to look back at mom, who wore shock on her face as she stared at me.
"What happened?" I asked.
"I was… going to ask the same thing."
I looked down to see what she was looking at, and giggled a bit.
"Seems dad is looking after us even now, huh?" She giggled at my words, reaching the same conclusion.
My body had changed, altering itself into a hulking mass of muscle that would have made my uncle's targets jealous. But I looked further down, and winced.
My mother wasn't lying when she said my legs were broken, just understating how bad it was.
I didn't have legs anymore.
Well, I did. Just nothing below the calf.
Broken off at the knee, it seemed like my joint had torn itself apart under the pressure, leaving everything below the smoothed over end missing.
My power seemed to have healed me a bit, but couldn't fix my legs, just stopping the bleeding.
My arms were massive, almost tree trunk in width, and my shirt appeared to have been shredded in my growth.
With the ease that I threw the debris through the house, I figured I grew strength to match the muscles, but I couldn't be sure if I was stronger then I biologically was. Not with the family history of powers.
I heard sirens cut out where the tornado was headed, and wondered if it was a good thing.
"Mom, we need to get out of here, are you hurt?"
"No, I'm fine. But your legs… Can you get out?"
"I think I can crawl my way out just fine, and if I lift my waist up a bit I can walk on my hands."
"Alright, I'll lead the way just to be sure. I don't want you cutting your hands on any glass though, so we'll go to the… what used to be the garage."
"Sure mom. I'm really glad you're okay. I'd don't know what would have happened if you got hurt."
"I don't know Lucas, but I wouldn't have been able to do anything else if you hadn't made it. I was terrified you had died when your legs gave out. I don't know what I would have done if I'd lost you too…"
She looked away and coughed, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Let's… let's get out of here, sweetie."
"Alright mom."
We climbed out of the hole in the center of our demolished house and looked around, observing the destroyed landscape for miles.
"Hey, mom."
"Yes Lucas."
"I think I'm going to have to turn in that paper late."
We both laughed as the rain finally petered out, the sounds of ambulance sirens ringing in the distance.
'We'd be fine,' I thought 'we always find a way.'
