Ultraviolet

Chapter 19

Full Circle

Ultraviolet emerged into yet another underground chamber, this time it was a familiar control room. It was where she fought Mirage several weeks ago, still equipped with a massive computer in its centre. It was also where she discovered how they were controlling Mirage, through a neural implant, to manipulate her.

Again she wasn't alone in the room; seated at the main computer was the mastermind of it all, the ultimate puppeteer pulling the strings. Ultraviolet closed her eyes and took a deep breath, wishing for the strength needed to stop this evil. As she approached the figure, it responded by standing up.

From the person's figure Ultraviolet guessed that it was a man, maybe in his mid thirties and standing at six feet, with jet-black hair. His muscles were much smaller than her father's was, but Ultraviolet had a feeling his powers didn't come from his strength.

He started clapping, a slow and even rhythm whose echo resounded throughout the room. He opened his mouth, and the voice that came out was deep, much like the one he projected for her when she was kept in his lair. "Congratulations for making it so far, Violet. I was afraid they'd really kill you along the way…"

"And you'd see that I get killed in the end?" Ultraviolet interrupted, stopping about thirty feet from the villain.

"No, no… Wasn't my intention clear enough? I want you to join us, Violet. Those obstacles were to make sure you were up to the mark, and I daresay you've exceeded our expectation."

"For your information, I've just disbanded the Specialists… one member at a time…"

"What's stopping me from forming another? I'm already making an exception accepting such an old student, but your talents make up for it. You can have everything you want; just say the word…"

"Keep on waiting, it'll never happen," Ultraviolet snapped, earning a look of disdain from the villain.

"Rude… I would've expected a girl to be well mannered, but clearly your… upbringing… is not up to standard…" Ultraviolet felt anger welling up inside her. Now he was insulting her parents as well… She charged forward, not even trying to restrain her fury. However, her opponent remained nonchalant to her attack, maintaining his calm as he snapped his fingers once… twice… thrice…

Ultraviolet felt several strong hands grabbing her shoulders, restraining her movement. She snapped her head around, only to stare into the bulges that passed for eyes. She estimated that there were five of them, two of which were holding her limbs, preventing her escape. Her futile struggle was re-intensified as her unknown opponent swept up to her, almost gliding on his legs. He leaned so close to Ultraviolet that she could feel his breath on her cheek.

It was then that she got a good look at his features. The black hair highlighted the long thin scars covering his face, running mainly on his cheeks and forehead. The azure eyes would have looked good on someone less evil. Not that Ultraviolet found him good-looking… he was tainted with something… an aura of sorts… that made him unattractive to her. He was more like a father, with a stern gaze and steady speech.

"I would like to finish you off right here, but no point spilling blood on my hands…" His voice trailed off as his head drew back, smirk spread all over his face. Ultraviolet resisted the urge to deliver a heel to his head, calming herself instead by gulping in air.

"Exactly who are you?" She mused aloud, not expecting an answer, but he did anyway.

"Me? I'm nobody… Nameless, you may say… But you can call me…" Another guard came up to them, whispering something into his ear and interrupting his words mid-sentence. Ultraviolet, not paying attention to the guard, only managed to pick up the hushed reply.

"Send five batches. Use the second-grade troops if you have to, and remember to capture them alive."

Who was he referred to, the Specialists? Or did her family manage to get here in time? Either way, she won't want to know how much five 'batches' of soldiers were.

"Still using robots to do your dirty work? Why don't you just replace your Specialists with robots instead? You did a replica of me that time…" Ultraviolet asked. She had thought of this question long before, yet it was only now that she got a chance to ask him.

"The robots are only for guard duty, training purposes and others… Things you can't get humans to do for free. It's useless to have mindless goons under my charge, even with artificial intelligence, once the programme that holds them together is corrupt, the team is gone. It's important for them to have some humanity as well… the humanity that keeps them loyal…" His voice trailed off as he snapped his fingers again, commanding an unseen projector to emit images on a blank wall for Ultraviolet to see.

For a few seconds she could make no sense of the graphics in front of her… sprays of sparks erupted in random directions, and black smoke was obscuring most of the screen. After a few seconds of intent staring, she made out a streak of yellow from under the smoke… There was a crash as a robot guard was sent crashing to the ground by none other than Serena, also known as Terabyte, of the Specialists. Gunshots could not be heard… And yet the number of guards were not decreasing, merely filling up gaps left by their comrades. Terse commands flew from both sides, most notably from Lance, who was taking out more guards than she could count.

"As you can see, this is the loyalty that makes them return to their master and father. They know that they're indebted to me, and to get them to repay this debt is a characteristic you can't get in a robot."

The logic was warped, yet Ultraviolet understood every part of it. He was just using them, exploiting their kindness. This was how he made them commit such crimes against other Supers. "How can you make them do such things against their will?" Ultraviolet cried, tugging at the arms that restrained her while a tear rolled down her cheek.

"You're right… I can't. They won't do this if they didn't like it, would they? You think they were forced into it? No, naïve Violet, they each have a reason to hate Supers. I taught them how to get revenge. I taught them everything they know. They won't turn back even if you interfered. But I've trained them well… they will remain loyal." He finished his speech with a smirk, stepping in front of Ultraviolet again.

Were they really beyond redemption? It seemed that he had it all planned: save them, then make them work for him. And if it were true that they were returning to him, why was he resisting them by sending troops? Desperate, Ultraviolet took one last chance at stopping the menace.

"Why don't you fight me one on one? Or are you scared of me?" Ultraviolet's taunts were met with a snort of laughter from her opponent.

"I've said it before, I won't want to kill you here. Enough questions. Take her away." The robots tugged at her arms, restraining most of her body movements while forcing her into a march. Ultraviolet's head was held low, lifting her feet barely off the smooth floor and taking one slow step at a time. Then, as though she had come to a decision, she stopped walking completely, turning towards the man behind her.

"Not if I can help it," she muttered, pulling her arms free while following up with a leg sweep, taking down three of the guards around her. The two that managed to jump away were returning for yet another attack, only to come up against Ultraviolet's force field. Ultraviolet stared at the two targets outside her protective sphere, grinning in anticipation of what she can do to them.

They're only robots… You can take them out without any guilt, can't you, Violet? She told herself as she dropped the force field, delivering a lethal kick to one of the converging robots. The other landed safely, only to be taken out by quick strikes to its metal skull.

"Come on, I'll take on any one of you," she cried as she jumped on one of the fallen robots, wrenching its arm and causing a satisfying crunch of broken wires underneath its metallic covering. It lay limp, while Ultraviolet grabbed the weapon laid upon its waist: a dagger, perhaps six inches long, with a gleaming blade. With a swing, she tested the weapon on its former owner, surprised at how effectively it cut through the thin metal.

I've done it… I've found the strength to be a better Super! Smiling to herself in glee, she whipped the blade across her chest level, slicing another charging guard in its torso, before striking it with a kick. As it fell back, she pounced onto it, stabbing the blade straight into where a human heart would be.

"That's the way, Violet." The deep voice came from behind her, yet she found the encouragement pleasing to her ears. Deep inside, she found herself craving for another kill.

The last of the five guards was still on the ground. Ultraviolet stalked steadily up to it, grabbing its head from behind. She looked up, staring into the man who was pushing her on. He was the villain; after this he'd see that she's not one to be trifled with.

Her lips turned into a grin as she stabbed the dagger into the robot's neck area, as all movements ceased at once. That was her new self… The villain will regret this…

Claps issuing from her main opponent broke the brief silence.

What? Ultraviolet thought as she let go of the limp metal body. I just took out all of his guards. Why is he so happy then?

"You know why I choose to use robots?" He walked up to one of them, picking it up with one hand. "You don't think of it as a crime if you 'kill' one of these," he replied in answer to his own question, tossing the robot carcass aside. "It numbs your instincts to kill… until you take the life of a real human… then you don't feel any different from taking out one of these."

Ultraviolet reeled away from the guard in shock, lowering her head to see for herself: the dagger embedded in its neck. She did feel that it wasn't a big deal to do it back then; but now… will she feel the same if it were another human? She was playing into his trap, and now she's in too deep to do anything about it.

"I must say you caught on fast enough, some people just refuse to do it after I told them my intentions… Looks like you are a natural member for us… Just a few more training sessions and you'll be ready I suppose." He walked towards Ultraviolet, holding out a hand for her.

With a slight twitch in her eye she spat into his gloved hand, shoving it out of the way. Rolling under his reach, she stopped by the guard, pulling out the dagger she had driven into his neck. Standing up, she gripped the dagger firmly by her side.

"Then may my first kill be the last," she declared, pointing the dagger straight at her opponent. "May I be forgiven for what I'm about to do," she whispered to herself, closing her eyes…

Trivia: Read this: I did not give my main villain a name. That means… awkward references to 'the villain' every time I mention him!

One of the problems I found after writing ninety percent of the story was how to justify the villain's use of humans for Specialists, while he uses robots for training. The former was answered in the previous chapter, and the latter was answered here. This made me wonder: how much evil genius is there in my head…