The wind brushed Alyster's hair sharply as they stood in the winter sun. Clothed in their white jeans and jacket, they were safe from the cold and blended in with the snow. They looked forward and whispered to themselves, "Alright, you can do this." Taking a deep breath, they launched themselves up the wall of the abandoned mill, their arms pulling them over the side of the bars. They clasped to the set of stairs ten feet off the ground and ran up them to the roof. They were able to see the Bota restaurant through the trees, and turning around, the silos looked so tempting to climb. They leapt up to the first one, running across all four until the fifth one that went up the tower of the old factory. With a little more energy, they leapt up, grabbed the bottom bar of the silo and pulled themselves up to the top. They scaled the next two floors of the tower by grabbing at the window ledges and clambered up the tower to the highest point of the factory. Stopping to enjoy the view, they were about to make the leap over the gap until an old drone crept inside their head. It was that voice again, a deep rumble that Alyster felt over their whole body.
"I'm glad you've been enjoying your strength. You will truly need it in the months to come. Keep an eye up in the sky for your master will come soon"
"My…what?!" Alyster gasped. The voice didn't reply. Their eyes turned wide and their breathing got shorter. They collapsed on the snowy roof and so many questions were burning their brain, but they knew there wasn't an answer for any of them. For so long they got used to having this power and were just testing out their limits to see if it would amount to anything, something worth telling Cassie about.
Cassie. Thinking of her calmed Alyster right down, and they got back up on their feet. Although they knew not what these abilities were for, they might as well enjoy them while they have them! Backing up to the ledge they just got up, they charged towards the other side, launching off with both legs and flying over the walkway. Landing onto the separate building, they rolled forward through the snow and tried standing up, but slid as soon as they tried! Bailing on their side, they laughed at themselves as they laid on the roof. Not everything went perfectly! Freerunning the rest of the factory was a breeze, and they made it to the entrance of the Lachine Canal without being caught. Blending into the snow was definitely a good tactic. Vice News was only a bus ride away and they needed to finish up a few articles before the week was up. Walking into the office and shaking off their boots at the door, they plunked down at their desk and looked at all their columns that were going to go on the website that weekend. Getting their edits done quickly, they had some time before they needed to go back home so they popped up facebook and checked their messages. The first thing on the timeline caught their attention though. A time hop from a year ago about the article on the missing heroes. Being another front page article they were proud of, they posted it for everyone to see. But this time, something else caught their eye. A warning they put out to keep everyone alert for another invasion. One of the burning questions Alyster had was just answered. The voice warned them of a coming challenge, and the earth was long overdue for another attack. Could something, someone, be right outside the atmosphere waiting for the right moment? The uncertainty gave them even more anxiety, and they wished Cassie was sitting at her desk, but it was late at night and everyone else was leaving for the night. Alyster knew they needed to stop worrying over things that would never happen, and that these thoughts would keep them up all night. Stepping outside into the snow once more, the cold made them shiver all over. This winter could not be over sooner.
Six Months Later:
By ten in the morning, Cassie was at her desk halfway through an e-mail and whittling away at a report. Alyster had just woken up. "Ugghh, what time is it?" They moaned. Switching their phone on, they freaked out when they saw the time and jumped out of bed! They changed, grabbed their things, and grabbed a granola bar for breakfast. Sitting in the metro, they could finally calm down and just wait to see if Carl would scold them for being late. Oh well, what could they do? Walking out of the Lucien-L'Allier stop, they ran through the hot sun until they made it to the front door of the office. The second they walked in they noticed something very different. Instead of everyone being at their desks, they were huddled around the tv wall, and every broadcast was coming from the city, cameras pointed at the sky. Nearing the crowd, Cassie was at the edge and when she turned to see Alyster, the relief showed on her face.
"Aly, you're ok!" She cried, hugging her friend tightly.
"Yea, of course I am, what's going on?" They asked.
"There's been some disturbance in the atmosphere by this red, black ship. No one knows what it is, but the UN's saying it's nothing again! Can't trust those fools at all these days!" Cassie told them, still holding Alyster's arm at their side.
"Has the National Defence said anything then?" Alyster asked.
"Not so far. They're probably as clueless as we are" Cassie inferred.
"Would they be though? They've been tracking this thing for a year, haven't they?" Alyster recalled.
"What are you talking about?" Their friend inquired. Turning away from the tv, Alyster brought her over to their desk, and showed the post that had been time hopped. The front page warned of a second attack, but everyone had forgotten about it after so long. "Oh, I can't believe I didn't think of that! It's been a while though, are you sure it's the same thing?"
"I can't be sure of that at all, but we should put out another warning. Where's Carl?" Alyster asked.
"Over here! What do you need me for?" Carl came bounding over, squeezing his stress ball tighter than ever. Alyster kind've wished they had one right now.
"We need to put another alert out, this is getting dangerous." Cassie said.
"Yea, no one else is and this could end worst than last time if there are no heroes willing to defend us again." Alyster joined.
Just then, another voice piped from the crowd of people around the tv. "What are you talking about, they were good for nothing!" It was Dustin, who looked like he had been a bit late too, with his curls messier than usual and lacking a bowtie with his blue shirt. He really liked his bowties.
"Dustin, not now, this is serious!" Cassie jabbed.
"Oh yea, and so is the reputation of this website! I am not sending out that alert for you guys, it'll just cause panic and it'll be a waste of our resources!" Dustin countered, being the coder for the office, he had some authority on wether an alert would be put out.
"Well, what if something serious does happen? We need to consider that this might turn into an emergency!" Alyster said, raising their voice.
"Guys, would you stop arguing!" Carl butted in. "Dustin, just put out a preliminary alert, I don't care what you think any heroes are going to do right now! Alyster, Cassie, why don't you two keep an eye on this story. If anything happens in the city, I'll send you guys out with a crew to cover this from the ground ok. Am I clear?"
"Ok, I'll do it! But don't think for a second this will be some kind of bat signal that will call those lowlifes to action!" Dustin yielded, leaving the group.
Cassie breathed a sigh of relief, saying "Thanks Carl, this really helps!"
"Yea, whatever, just be careful when you guys get out there, it could get really sketchy." Carl said curtly.
With the looming threat over their heads, them and everyone else in the office tried to get their regular work done. Just some articles about parliament and how local politics was getting along. After being able to put up a few headlines and check the other news sites, their attention turned to the screens once again. Something looked different this time, as the ship was much clearer on the news. It was getting closer and closer, almost teasing it's entrance into the atmosphere! Then suddenly, from the nose of the ship came a beam that landed in the city, and all the news hosts on air started to sound panicky. One guy named BillyBob was especially freaking out. Just then, a buzz took over their body and it rumbled their body so hard it made them shake. The invasive voice spoke even louder than before "My mission is almost complete. I need your help now my novice. Come to me alone." Just as the voice quieted, they heard Carl running over to them.
"Philip, Chris, get the recording gear! You're going with Alyster and Cassie to the Rosemont stop, now!" He hollered at the crew. They were pretty much ready to go, but it had come so soon and no one was ready.
"Why are we going to Rosemont?" Cassie called over the disorder.
"They targeted a beam or something in the Mile End!" Carl answered. "Just go, we need you there asap!"
Grabbing their things, they rushed back over to Lucien, and luckily a bus came as soon as they got to the platform. Getting through all the stations, Alyster couldn't help but worry they were making a mistake. The voice told them to come alone, but here they were with their co-workers and their best friend. Something just didn't feel right. They made it to the meadow just in time for the beam to cease, and before they expected a portal to appear, six odd-looking figures stood in the clearing. Three caped figures, two in white and a robot with a cloak! They were talking amongst each other but the crew was too far away to hear what the were saying. Chris set up his camera and Philip started recording on his mic as Cassie took notes on her phone and Alyster was prepared to start reporting. Once they were all ready, Chris counted to three on his fingers and hit record. "This is Alyster McCrae reporting for Vice News. We are in the mile end of Montreal and an alien craft has just beamed something down to the empty lot behind me here, and we don't know what to expect, so we are keeping our distance. There is a group here who is obviously not doing that however, they seem to know more than we do!" The camera focused on the figures in the distance and waited for something to happen. Alyster's job was done for the most part and Cassie was writing down descriptions of the individuals.
"One wearing purple and black, another white and blue, one all black with a something on fire in his hands, a guy wearing a tie, another all white and an android?" She mumbled to herself as she wrote her notes. Abruptly, a light shone in the alleyway as a hole opened up in space! Three little robots with red claws and giant helmets tumbled out and then even more came, spreading out everywhere! Then out of the edge of the portal, a ten-foot tall alien stood above the little minions.
With a voice that resounded through the entire meadow, it asked "Is that all?" and the rest was inaudible, but that was Alyster needed to hear. With a shock, they recognized the voice they had been hearing all this time. It was this foreign invader with a thousand minions at his disposal. His voice bellowed across the alleyway once more, yelling "Destroy them!" At that moment they thought it was all over, but those six figures started fighting back! They fought off the little guys and dispersed them all over the meadow, and for a moment the whole crew was relieved to see they were people fighting back for them! But then their mood quickly changed when they realized the robots were coming right for them and looked way more intimidating up close.
"Run!" Alyster screamed. Cassie ran straight to their side, and Philip and Chris frantically tried to gather their gear. "Just leave it, it doesn't matter!" they shouted. The techies managed to run ahead of the two friends back over the railroad tracks to the metro, but then the androids cut Alyster and Cassie off from following them. Alyster saw their co-workers were waiting for them, but they couldn't just stand there! "Go ahead you two, we'll find a different way!" They nodded and ran off to safety, but the two friends needed to dart over to the edge of the meadow. They managed to get to the road and Cassie needed to stop to catch her breath. Alyster could've kept going, but they had to protect their friend. "Are you ok girl?" Alyster asked.
"Yea, I just didn't know it'd be this dangerous! Those little things look so deadly, what if we-we don't make it?" Cassie mustered between breaths.
"It's ok, we'll make it!" Alyster assured her "Listen, there's something that happened to me a while back that'll help"
"What are you talking about?" Cassie looked so confused and tired. This was the time for Alyster to tell her friend of their abilities, but they had no time at all. Before they could say a word, the little killers rounded the corner and gave chase. They went around the corner of an abandoned building and through an alleyway full of garbage. Alyster let Cassie run ahead to keep her in sight, and they were almost out on the street but the lead robot shot a fireball towards them and hit a silo with a caution sign on it. It exploded across the entire alleyway with a ribbon of hot, blue, fire. Alyster was caught with the robots and Cassie was on the street. "Alyster?! Are you ok?" Cassie yelled through the roaring flames.
"I'm fine, just go!" Alyster screamed. They knew they could punch their way out of this, but Cassie didn't want to leave them.
"No, Aly, not without you! Just dart through, you'll be fine!" Cassie yelled back.
"Ok, I'll do it!" They knew they were fast enough, and with Cassie's encouragement, it was worth it. Going back as far as they could, they launched themselves through the flames and were almost out, but landed in the middle with a thud. They looked back and one of the droids caught their leg in its claws, and Alyster was left lying in the flames, their body writhing with more pain than they had ever felt. They were healing through it though, and just before they couldn't take any more, Cassie pulled them out of the minion's grip and through the flames with no burns at all.
"How the hell did you survive that?!" Cassie groaned.
"I think I got superpowers from that alien, ok?!" Alyster finally blurted.
"WHAT?! You've got powers, since when?!" Cassie roared.
"Since we went to the porthole, remember? In Grand Cayman? There was this voice that spoke to me and some blue thing hit me in the chest!" They admitted.
"Why didn't you tell me this?! You're my friend!" She countered.
"It didn't matter, ok! Let's just get out of this alive!" Alyster picked themselves up and grabbed their friend's hand. They felt so bad that they couldn't have just brought this up sooner, but it literally never came up till now! Running up the street hoping to make it to Laurier, they passed by the meadow and the alleyway again, but it didn't look good. All six of the heroes that had risen to defend earth were slain on the ground, the alien leader looking over their bodies and laughing in triumph. "No. This can't be happening." Alyster shuddered as Cassie was pulling her over to street.
"Come on, we need to get out of here!" She demanded. But before they could move, the behemoth turned to them, growling.
"Where do you think you're going, Alyster?"
Cassie was appalled! "How does it know your name?!" She urged.
"It's been speaking to me ever since our trip. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, I didn't know what it was!" Alyster replied.
"You could've just said you've been hearing things, I would've believed you!" Cassie cried.
"I told you, I didn't know what it was!" Alyster growled. They felt heat swarming in their heart, something defensive building up in their gut. It wasn't their usual strength. Looking up, they saw the foreign invader up close, it towering above them and every step made the earth shake beneath them. Alyster stood in front of Cassie, ready to defend her and felt that heat flow to their fingertips.
"Great to see you face-to-face, my young novice. I see you've been enjoying your new abilities"
"Yea, and I would enjoy knowing who you are!" Alyster rebutted.
"I'm Dark Red, didn't you know? I gave you your powers long ago so that you would be my envoy to the Blue Core!" Dark Red revealed.
"The-what?!" They choked.
"The Core that gave you strength! When I was able to detect it, I realized it had unlimited power and I needed someone here to hold some for me." Dark Red declared, coming closer to the two.
"Why did you need them though?" Cassie said over their shoulder. Her reporter instincts were kicking in again.
"Because you lived such an empty life" Dark Red replied. "I looked into your head and saw nothing there."
"That was because I actually had a chance to feel at peace, and now you want to take it all away?!" Alyster corrected him.
"No, not exactly. I just need this earth's resources and you humans gone! Except for you, Alyster. I have use of you still." The alien requested. "Now I told you to come alone, so who's this?"
"She's my friend, and if you lay a finger on her, I'll-" They were cut off.
"I'm sorry, I'm not your master." Dark Red interrupted, leaning over Alyster and picking Cassie up by the chest. "I am your master, and if I say no accomplices, I mean it!" Dark Red was holding her up a foot off the ground and the droids surrounded them. There was no escape.
"Aly, HELP ME!" Cassie shrieked, so terrified tears were streaming from her eyes. She tried pulling at the robot's hand, but it did nothing.
"Don't hurt her please!" Alyster pleaded, their hands glowing blue. Dark Red just smiled and raised his claw to her chest, swooping towards her. He was about to make the blow when Alyster yelled "Let HER GO!" They raised their hand up and leapt to stop his scythe when their hands suddenly burst bright blue and when they punched forward, the orbs thrust forward and into Dark's chest. He stopped in his tracks, just as surprised as Alyster was. Crouching at his feet, they raised their head to look him straight in the eyes. Their hair was pure white and their eyes, wide and surprised, glowed a bright blue. They jumped up, threw all of their energy towards his chin, striking him back. He still held Cassie with a tight grip, and tried stabbing her again but Alyster knocked him back. He stopped in his tracks, realizing it would take more to get what he wanted.
"My minions, hold them back!" Dark Red directed. The droids clasped their arms and their legs, making them immobile.
"No, NO! Please, don't, I'll do anything, just don't hurt her!" Alyster begged,
"I don't deal with humans, you amateur! Let me make this clear to you" Dark Red growled. He raised his scythe and stabbed her in her chest. Cassie could only let out a whimper as he dropped her to the ground.
"AGGGGGHHH!" Alyster howled with such ferocity that hot blue flames burst out of their mouth, spewing onto his armoured chest. Knocking him out, Alyster ran to Cassie who only had seconds left. "Cass, I'm so sorry you didn't deserve to go like this, I-"
"Aly, don't worry" She gasped. "You are so strong now." She looked at her friend with nothing but love, and managed to finally say "Keep fighting….for justice…..keep fighting."
"I will. I will. I love you Cassie." Alyster said, their eyes welling up with tears as their best friend drew their last breath. Their hair turned blonde again and their eyes a bluish-grey and all Alyster could do was lie on the ground, bawling and howling in pain. For ten long minutes, they laid by their friends side, wishing they could've done something different, maybe they could've figured out a way to give her some of their strength, Maybe they could've said no to Carl's request for them to go out. Oh god, Alyster would have to return to work all on their own, but then they remembered they couldn't. Looking at their hands, they focused that energy in their hands again and a small, sustained flame flickered on their fingers. They had a new power. A real one that if they were caught using, they would be arrested. Just then, Dark Red had woken up and walked towards Alyster. He had upturned their entire life! "You, you MONSTER!" They yelled through their tears. "You've taken everything from me!"
"Well then, let me give you something back. You will be my envoy to the Blue Core, and help me in defeating anyone that gets in my way." Dark Red offered. He stretched out his hand and said "I will give you back everything in due time."
Alyster looked up, the tears finally ceasing to soak their black shirt. Getting up, they dusted the dirt off their black jeans and looked up at Dark with the faintest glimmer of hope. He had made them as empty as when they stared down the porthole, but instead of peace in their mind, it was chaos. The kind of chaos that made them take his hand and say "I…I will be your servant"