8. Superheroes/Superpowers
((Author's Note: AKA, the surprise InFAMOUS Second Son fusion AU. Contains similar themes to the game and some X-men parallels, such as bigotry, systematic prejudice, martial law, and making things explode. With that said, thank you for reading!))
His blood and body all burn.
Chrom crouches in the shadow of stone arches, wincing at each blast of gunfire pinging off the bricks, and wishing he'd never left the office. He also tries to steady his breathing, and wishes he were anywhere else. And that all he has to worry about are just plain goosebumps rushing over his skin, instead of a surge of weird sparks.
The old cathedral stone stands the test of time, earthquakes, and even gunfire… But Chrom is pretty sure there's only so much punishment it can take. Especially if the Department of Unified Protection decides to switch out their guns, and send in their powered members. He's NEVER had to face one of those super powered soldiers before; he's always obeyed the law, worked within its confines to pass new laws, and never manifested anything that could be labeled as bio-terrorist potential.
Until now.
'Please… Please let this just...' He stares at his hand, trying to will the light tendrils running along his fingers to just… STOP. But no matter how much he tries to pray, and regardless of the location, the gods aren't interested in listening to him.
And he's yet to miraculously vanish off the Department's trackers or searchers. He has to be keyed into their sensors, going by the raised voices outside. They alternately shout for him to surrender himself, and for their own forces to flush him out. And they don't have any interest in leaving him alone; that much is clear when the new hail of bullets slam into the doors… And shatter a few of the windows. Shards of rainbow colored glass scatter down on him, ruining the patterns overhead. Through the broken windows, he can pick out gray, rainy skies, and the skyline of the city. It makes him wish he could vanish among the buildings-
But when a pair of eyes pop up in front of him, Chrom settles for scrambling backwards and trying to cram himself under one of the church benches.
"So you're still alive? Good." The stranger says, watching him… And also ducking down low when another hail of gun fire snaps across the cathedral. Her trench coat flares out behind her in a violet fan, and her pale hair trails after her. There's even a faint crackle of energy coating her as well… Energy that has to belong to a conduit. One of those high powered freaks. Watching her and taking in her odd appearance, Chrom thinks about how he should've known she was bad news from the start. "I was worried those Dupes got you…"
She trails off under Chrom's glare. He's not in the mood for her company, after everything that happened.
"What the hell did you do to me!?" He half wants to grab her by the wrist, and latch on until he gets answers… But Chrom also hesitates in bridging the grasp. Because hanging onto her the LAST time was what led him into this mess, and left him with light and energy crackling beneath his fingertips.
"I'm pretty sure that's MY question." The conduit shoots back, matching him glare for glare. She props herself up on her elbows, holding up her hand. A flicker of dark violet energy dances along her fingers, almost in a contrast to his new power.
"When you grabbed onto me, I… Something HAPPENED to me." She tells him, and Chrom can easily remember the event; how he'd seen the stranger collapse, as power surged through the entire city and tried to blow out every light on the street. And to make things worse, there'd been other conduits nearby, tearing up the city blocks and sowing more chaos. There'd been screams from those creatures, near war cries about the glory of conduits. And they didn't even flinch or break from their rampage when the D.U.P. showed up to contain them. By reflex, he'd gone to the stranger to try and help her up… And gotten a zap of power for his troubles, when they made contact. And that same surge seems to be stuck in his skin now.
It also seems to have done something to the stranger, with how she frowns at him.
"I'm supposed to be calling and controlling electricity. Not whatever THIS stuff is, on top of everything else!" The conduit continues, ending in a frustrated huff.
"And I'm not supposed to be a bio-terrorist at all!" Chrom counters.
"Don't tell me you buy into that propaganda." The stranger groans… Only to trail off, as shouts echo from the cathedral entrance. The glass shards vibrate on across the floor, filling the air with an odd chiming noise. And there's something else soaking into the cathedral space, something that sets Chrom's teeth on edge and makes motes of light dance in his vision. The conduit must feel it as well, with how she winces. "…On second thought, we can save the debate for later. We need to go."
He still bristles at the order behind her words, and digs his feet into the floor, balling his fists. The conduit can only roll her eyes.
"Look. The dupes out there have worse than bullets. You know that, right?" He has to nod; they have their own conduits on the force, even if those are artificially created. "Well, if we don't get going, you're going to see what they do first hand-"
Their only warning is a strange, scrapping sound, like dozens of plates of concrete are rumbling and digging against each other, building up pressure. The next breath, an explosion of impact rocks the side of the building, blowing the doors off their hingers. The ceremonial, metal engraved carved doors crash through benches and dig furrows into the stone tile… And also sends debris crashing down on Chrom. The bench he's under buckles, then breaks from the strain. It feels like the weight of the entire cathedral slams down on him, threatening to snap his back… And yet he doesn't break. There's a strange bolt of strength that crackles along his back, with a similarly strange collection of light motes that dance along Chrom's vision.
They banish any hint of pain. And leave him bristling with a sense of strength; enough to easily hold the shattered stone up, and keeps it from crushing him… Even if he can't fully shrug the wreckage off his back.
"Looks like you've got some healing, along with the usual powers. Good thing for you, too." The conduit tells him. She reaches out, violet light already crackling along her arm. Chrom winces, braces, sure she's about to scour his face off… Instead, she sends the bolts of energy blasting through the rubble, releasing the pressure on his back.
"So I can still control this, like I did with my lightning. Good." She says, before reaching down and grabbing Chrom by the arm. Right where all the sleeve fabric has been torn away, leaving them with bare skin to touch. She doesn't give him a chance to protest, and doesn't even flinch from the sparks; it's just like the last time they made contact, like there's something in them that's reacting to the other.
She tightens her hand around his wrist, and yanks him out under the debris with a skid and a scrape… And in the process, something more seems to jump between them. Flashes of memories and images that all try to take root and blossom in his head. It's something that he's gotten flashes of once before, when they first touched. He's tried to put those images out of his head… Just like he's tried to suppress the powers buzzing across his skin.
And just like the powers sparking through him, he doesn't have a lot of choice. No matter how he scrunches his face up, or tries to curl away, he can't escape those visions.
'I'm not a fighter.' The stranger's voice echoes in his head. 'At least that's what I tell myself. Even though…' He sees flickers of a strange, dark lit place where the lights are little more than sparking, flickering bulbs, and the halls made of old windowless concrete. The stranger looks oddly small against all that… And even more so, when a shadowy figure looms over her. 'Even though that's what they tell me. The Grimleal… And my father.' There's fragments of faces swirling through his vision now; some of them even look like the conduits that had raged through the city. 'They say we're a different breed. That we're BETTER than normal people… And even though they force me to learn how to fight, they can't make me believe that.' The last sight is the stranger, breaking from the conduits and dark figure. Trying to run… And falling in the process-
And that was where he'd found her.
The vision fades out as Chrom gives a broken wheeze, and finds himself staring up at skyscrapers instead of cathedral ceiling. The stranger crouches over him, half shielding him from the light patter of rain, and making sure they weren't spotted or followed during their escape. Strands of her long silvery hair trail over her shoulders, and tickle at his face.
He's still a little shocked she didn't just leave him there, and make her own escape.
"Robin…?" He whispers-
And his eyes go wide when he realizes that he knows her name now.
"Yeah, Chrom-?" She realizes the same thing, with how she stares down at him. "Well… That's new. Is that another aspect of your conduit power, being able to read people's thoughts?"
"S-stop calling me a conduit!" Chrom manages, pulling himself upright and forcing Robin out of his face. "I'm not one of those things…!" He catches himself a moment too late. And tough and resourceful as Robin seems to be, she still winces from his words. "I mean… I'm not one of you… Gods, that sounds even worse."
"Well, would you prefer the term 'bio-terrorist?'" Robin asks, a hurt, tight note settling in her throat. She looks past Chrom, to the old cathedral and the smoke now drifting off it. At the foot of the ancient building, lurk men in uniforms and something that looks closer to SWAT gear than any standard uniform… And they bristle with shards of rock bleeding off their bodies. Chrom has the sinking feeling that all those spears of rocks are meant to find their way into HIM.
"Starting to figure out that the dupes aren't your friend? Unless of course, you'd still prefer their company." Robin says… And gingerly takes him by the clothed shoulders this time, trying to pull him into the nearest alley and out of sight. Chrom winces a little as she tugs at him and puts a few more strains on the seams of his jacket; his suit is going to be a lost cause by the end of this.
"They're called the D.U.P." Chrom feels a need to say, a bit peevisly.
"And you can't spell 'dupe' without them. And they do a good enough job of duping people, when it comes to the public perception. They love repeating 'dangerous bio-terrorist' until that's all anyone believes… And I'd say I've got pretty good proof of that." Robin tells him. Chrom just leans against her with a groan.
"Gods, this is like talking to a super powered version of my sist-" The complaint cuts out, as the rest of his memories catch up to him. That he'd been out walking the city not just for errands, but because his sister had dragged him along and saying they needed to get out of the office. She'd been in the middle of the chaos, once the power surges started happening.
And he doesn't know what's happened to her. His last clear memory of her is seeing her fight through the chaos, catching the glow wrapped around his arms. He half expected she'd turn and run from him at that. Instead she threw herself against one of the D.U.P. agents and screamed at him to run away.
"L-Lissa!" Chrom blurts out, jolting upright and staring beyond the cathedral. There's an open space beyond that; the remnants of a park, where he's had lunches with his siblings. It doesn't look like much of a place to relax now. There's clunky vehicles parked and half driven up onto the sidewalk, looking more like they belong in a warzone than in a city neighborhood. There's even one of those odd, mobile bases parked half against the fountain, buzzing with power-
"LEMME GO!" But over the hum of D.U.P. equipment, there's a voice. One he recognizes, and the outrage in it is familiar enough. But this time it's directed at the soldiers, instead of him. Chrom fights his way to his feet, squirming out from Robin's grip. And even as she yelps and cries out for him to wait, he goes charging. Right back towards the D.U.P. and into the firing line.
But he can't very well leave his sister in their hands. He bolts to the town square, weaving between the oversized trucks and broken up sidewalks. He crunches across street and broken window glass, splashes through rain puddles, and all of it draws the eyes of the D.U.P. The closer he gets, he can see his sister roughly subdued by a group of them, her yellow sundress smeared with dirt and ash, and two soldiers flanking either side of her.
"And there's our threat." One of them says, roughly shoving Lissa to the floor and rushing Chrom with a crunch of stone. A weapon forms in the man's hand, gray stone polished to a razor's sharpness at the edges.
Chrom brings his hand up on reflex, though he doesn't know how he's going to stop an axe of rough hewn stone… But he gets an answer for that fast enough. There's a crackling along his fingers, just like he's seen Robin use… But instead of dark shots of energy, a brilliant blade of light settles in his fingers. It dazzles his eyes, and does far worse to the axe; even rock can't seem to hold up to the blade as it melts the stone, and he slices through the weapon and the stone armor coating the man. The soldier staggers away, bleeding and cursing Chrom-
The soldier has gone weak. And the blade almost crackles in his hands, ready to sink into flesh and fully dismember the man, if Chrom so wishes it… But he flinches away from that notion.
By instinct, Chrom plunges the blade down, twisting hard on his wrist and stabbing the man's shadow. The shadow disperses from the ground, turning to strands of light that tangle the man's limbs, and leave him crashing to the ground, tangled and immobile. Chrom can only stare at his handiwork; for an instant, he'd been capable of taking the man's life. But he's chosen to subdue.
…And yet for his part, Chrom feels a little sick to his stomach, on what he just did. Normal people don't sprout light from their hands, and turn it into a blazing weapon.
'Gods. You really ARE one of them now-!'
He tries to will the blade away. Instead, his reflexes kick in when he sees another figure closing in on him. Chrom tears himself around, needing to block another strike. The D.U.P. soldier looks ready to take his head off, and there's no compassion in the man's eyes. Nothing that shows he sees Chrom as a human.
'Maybe because you're not human anymore.' Chrom thinks, as he stumbles back. One of the soldiers still clings onto Lissa, with such a grip that he looks ready to pop her shoulders out. Lissa gives a pained noise, and he's certain she'll get something broken, before he can break through the soldiers and reach her.
But he's not the only one struggling towards Lissa.
Robin is little more than a shade; he sees a tangle of black strands skating from shadow to shadow, before she materializes right behind the D.U.P. officer. And when she appears, there's a look of red rage in her eyes, like she's ready to tear the man's head off at the shoulders… But then she lifts her eyes, and looks at Chrom for an instant.
Shadows coat her hands, looking like cruel talons for an instant. But instead of plunging them into the man's back, she locks them around his throat instead; and another collection of tendrils, these ones composed of shadow, wrap around the man, pulling him down. She blazes across the fight, crippling another soldier in the process with a quick slash from her hands, and finally pushes down one more and leaves him tangled in shadowy strands.
Chrom sees all this, as he wards off his own soldier; the man bristles with shards of rock, and Chrom grimaces against the strength of his blows. He's heard rumors about this; how the D.U.P. artificially imbues their own soldiers with powers from one of their tame conduits. Even if the man isn't a natural conduit, he has more than enough strength pushed into his muscles.
"Give. UP." The man snarls. "Maybe the chief'll go easy on you… Or maybe she'll decide you and your friends need some concrete in their bones."
"…Okay, that's enough 'protecting the people' out of you." Robin says, materializing behind the man. He barely has time to flinch, before she hooks those shadowy claws into him, and throws him across the park; the stone armor on him means he punches clean through the mobile base, leaving it spitting sparks… And sounding like there's about to be an imminent explosion.
"Leaving now!" Robin shouts to him, dashing over to where Lissa lays crumbled on the ground.
Robin yanks her up. There's a faint violet glow coming off her, and clinging onto Lissa. Chrom wants to yell at her to stop… But then he realizes the energy is strengthening his sister, helping her stand upright.
"Better get going." Robin clings onto Lissa, bolting to the far side of the park and trailing shadowy smoke in her footsteps. Chrom follows her, feeling a similar lightness in his footsteps. The mobile base gives a shrill noise behind them… Before a sharp explosion rocks the entire park, and leaves them both crashing to the ground. Chrom skids along the rain slicked streets, feeling tepid water soak him, and flames from the explosion nip at his back. But through it all, Lissa stays shielded and stares at them both, never loosing that awed expression.
"...Y-you're-?"
"…A Bio-terrorist?" Robin grits the term out, from where she's sprawled along the ground.
"Hell no!" Lissa tells her, sounding the world like one of their friends, Sully. Chrom wants to scold her for language, but she's already talking over him. "You're like a super hero or something. A-and…"
The reality of the situation catches up to her.
"…A-apparently. So is my brother. W-wow." Chrom can only shake his head as he stands, and pulls the two women up in turn. He glances around, trying to figure out where to run. The square sits on a hill, the roads plunging down; below them waits the rest of the city, and hopefully a place to lose themselves in.
'Especially now that Robin gouged out their eyes. That mobile base is going to take time to repair or replace.'
"We should focus on getting away. Figure out what to do next." Chrom tells them. "Are you… Would you come with us, Robin?" Strange, how the name rolls so easily off his tongue. Even Robin stills for a moment… And likely notices the way the wariness has all evaporated off his tongue. But she's still uncertain, with how she frowns at him.
"You sure you want a bio terror-"
He steps in closer, holding a hand up to still Robin. He half reaches out to take Lissa… But his hand also lingers for a moment longer on her shoulder.
"I'm… Not so keen on that term anymore." Not after seeing Robin swoop in to save his sister. She shoots him a surprised look at that.
"…And okay." Chrom groans out. "Okay. So maybe I don't buy into that propaganda after all. Sorry it took me a while to admit that."
"A-apology accepted." Robin tells him, still looking a bit stunned. And it makes him wonder, how rare it is for her to be given fair treatment. It makes shame curl in his gut, and he has to keep his fingers from balling into a fist and pinching at Robin's shoulder.
Instead, he turns them from the ruined square, to the hills and winding streets. They both ease into a jog, and Chrom keeps the pace up even while throwing his sister over his shoulder.
"I-I can walk you know!" She protests.
"Yeah, just not as fast as us! And I remember you during the marathons; you're kinda lousy at running. Or jogging." Chrom shoots back. Lissa just grumbles in response. "And we need to put some distance between us and the soldiers. And the smoking ruins. They're going to figure out we aren't in the cathedral fast enough."
Lissa tries to protest, only to find herself jostled. Chrom looks back to Robin, to see if she's keeping the pace. She's doing better than that, and it almost looks like she's holding herself back, to keep from surging ahead. And Chrom can't help but start running a little faster as well; he knows he's leaving strands of light in his wake, but they're almost like a tailwind with pushing him forward… And turning their fleeing into something that's almost a race. Robin even gives a startled grin at that… But it's also something Lissa doesn't entirely appreciate.
"Okay, okay! Look, cool as the sparkly new powers are, I don't exactly have the constitution for this. Not like you two." She groans. Robin takes note of that, slowing a little as they take another sharp turn. Chrom considers it amazing that she hasn't just cut and run from them entirely.
"What I'm surprised about," he manages, as they duck into a new alleyway, firmly breaking any line of sight with the D.U.P. forces. "Is how you put up with me, initially."
"What do you mean, 'put up with you?'" Lissa manages to ask. "Chrom… Please don't tell me you were being a royal pain towards the super-hero lady."
"Only a minor pain." Robin corrects her. "And the fact is… He stopped long enough to try and help me, the first time. Considering there were other conduits throwing powers around and blowing things up… That's pretty impressive. And… Uncommon, with a lot of people."
"Conduits don't get a lot of help-?" He finds himself asking, as they come to a stop in the alleyway. A steel fire escape is above them, and Robin easily makes the jump. She turns around, holding her hand out to take Lissa.
"Not… Usually. Which made me hope that maybe you'd come around, even if you found out I wasn't… Normal, you know? Plus, I stuck around because I needed to return the favor. Help you out a little as well." Chrom can only nod, as he boosts Lissa up and onto the fire escape.
Together they clamber up the ladders and stairs, until they finally reach the roofs. And in the process, Chrom gets a little time to breathe. No one has followed them up, or even seems to know where they are. The stormy weather has cleared up a little, showing pockets of clear blue sky overhead… And up here on the roofs, they have an entire cityscape stretched out before them.
Looking across, there's an oddly giddy feeling rushing through him, knowing that he can easily run these roofs, and make the jumps now.
"Wellllllll." Lissa drawls, giving him a grin. "I haven't seen THAT look on your face in a while. You're like a kid in the candy store. Looks like you've got a little excitement back in your life."
He'd like to protest that; to say that this day has been nothing but bad luck and worse changes… But he finds that he can't bring himself to do that. Because in a way, it would feel like a lie. Chrom shoots another glance to Robin, remembering how exhilarating that run through the streets had been.
"…Well. It may not be normal." He finds himself saying, glancing over to Robin and Lissa. "But… I'll learn to live with it. Provided I have someone I can ask for help. I need someone to show me the ropes."
"That'd be a decent way for me to return the favor." Robin eagerly latches onto it. "And… I could use someone else watching my back. Or maybe several some ones."
Lissa brightens up at that.
"Once we put in the call and let Emmeryn know everything, you should DEFINITELY get ready to make a lot of friends. Chrom here was… Well. Sorta the exception to our group, with being weirded out by super powers. Guess that's no longer the case, though." Lissa tells her. Robin seems to be fighting down a smile when she hears that.
For his part, Chrom reaches out, offering her his hand again… And not flinching at all when she takes it, shaking hands to seal the agreement. A set of sparks dancing between them, a quick manifestation of their powers. And this time, Chrom doesn't find himself freaking out at the sight.
Maybe because the sight of Robin is starting to feel familiar, as are the powers.
"Well, Robin… Good to meet you. Here's to hoping this is the start of a good partnership."
She nods to that… And he can't help but feel another warm surge along his arm, from where their hands brush together. Something that he feels is unrelated to their powers, but he certainly doesn't mind it.