A/N - Look out for the Sylar/Bank scene.
SHELLSHOCK
Ministry of Magic
London, England
November 21st
2022 A.D.
Lily and Ginny were standing in the 3rd floor corridor of the Ministry. They were both watching everyone like a hawk, strangely dutiful about their assignment but at the same time, using it as a reason not to communicate. How do you comfort a mother about being cheated on by her husband? How do you reassure a child about an impending war?
"Was it like this for you?" Lily finally asked.
Ginny looked at her daughter with a kind of mild sadness. "No...I mean...in a way it was...the uncertainty, the knowledge that a battle was approaching but no...this is different." she said.
"How?"
"Well, for one thing...we didn't have a Colossus." Ginny laughed.
"Were you afraid?" Lily asked.
"I was terrified. But then...that's what courage is...it's different for your brother, he's fearless. There's nothing he can't stand up to...courage is being afraid and standing your ground anyway." she smiled walking over to her daughter.
"I'm not sure if I can do that." Lily admitted, looking away in shame.
"I don't want you to. I never wanted this for you, Lily."
Lily felt tears forming in her eyes. It had taken a while for the realism of what was happening to hit her but it seemed to be finally arriving. Everything in France and at Hogwarts had happened so fast that she had only had time to react, not think. But now, with the steady built towards the inevitable, she could think all she wanted and all she could think about were the possible horrors that lay in wait.
"All the times I heard the stories about you and dad and Ron and Hermione. Your fight against Voldemort...it seemed like a fairy tale. Everyone has talked about it at some point but it...it never felt real. Like it had happened to someone hundreds of years ago or something..." their chocolate brown eyes locked. "I don't know if I can do this Mum...I'm so scared..." she finally allowed the tears to leave her eyes and begin rolling down her freckled cheeks.
Ginny immediately took hold of her daughter, hugging her tightly. She released her but only so she could look her in the eye again. "Listen sweetheart, anyone that says this kind of thing is easy is a liar! But it is worth it. I wanted, more than anything, to make sure that you never had to experience this...but somethings are simply beyond our control. You don't deserve this...and I'd give anything to shield you from it but I can't. When we were at war, my family tried so hard to keep it away from me but in the end, I was right in the middle of it. It was hard and it was horrible, but it was worth it! And at some point, we all entertained our worst fears...but we fought through them and overcame them and you will too." she hugged her daughter again but this time she had tears in her eyes as well. Tears of pride.
"I love you so much and I could never be prouder of you than I am now. You are so much stronger than I could ever be...and one day you'll see that strength."
She embraced her daughter again.
A few floors below them, Hugo and Amelia were standing in an identical corridor, doing the same job as Ginny and Lily but unlike the two red heads, Amelia was receiving nervous looks from the Ministry personnel that passed her. Most people seemed to find it difficult to act naturally around Vampires.
"All that stuff true...what you said?" Hugo asked without hesitation. "You actually decompose if you don't drink blood?"
"Yeah," she admitted. "it's a lot like Gangrene. We rot from the inside out. It starts off with just bruises and stuff, then your actual skin, flesh, bone, it all starts to die. Of course, if we keep drinking blood on a regular basis, we don't age, get sick and heal up from just about anything...except silver and sunlight."
"Why silver?"
"We have some kind of allergic reaction to it, like Werewolves. Silver to us, is like sulfuric acid to you." she said conversationally.
"What about stakes and garlic and crosses?"
"I don't know about stakes. I've never had one stuck through my heart and I'm not really planning to try it out. Their weren't exactly a lot of Vampires around to explain this stuff to me. Hell, I was only turned by accident. They were trying to kill us. Unlike my brother, I couldn't phase-shift so he got off easy. I think Anomalies are immune to becoming Vamps and Werewolves anyway. And unlike my brother, I'm agnostic. I quite like garlic, well, not too much. Too much garlic will ruin any meal."
"So Lincoln is part of the God squad?"
"Nah, Anomalies have this weird belief about a supreme being. The door. They think that's what gave them their powers. He doesn't talk about it much though." she said as a few more Ministry workers slipped by her as quickly as they could, trying not to make eye contact. "They think it's here. The Locked door in the Department of Mysteries. They think that's what they see when they die."
"Do you think there is life after death?" Hugo asked sounding unusually vulnerable. It was obvious why. He was scared.
"I don't know...they seem pretty certain of it. I suppose it's like asking if there are Aliens out there. There's no hard evidence but it's certainly a possibility. Personally, I quite enjoy living and I'm hoping not to have to find out what happens after you die."
"Touché." he said absently. "But I'm more worried about missing something important. I don't want to leave others to fight while I go and relax in some cushy cloud place."
Amelia smiled. "You know Hugo, I think there is a bit more to you than just a penis."
"It's mostly penis." he grinned.
"I'll take your word for it."
"I can prove it!" he volunteered.
"We're are suppose to be on guard. I don't think now is the best time. Besides you're too young for me." she said happily.
"I hate being young!" he remarked grumpily.
"It only happens one. Enjoy it. Of course...if you were a few years older, I'd ride you like seabiscuit." she winked seductively causes Hugo's trousers to suddenly become very uncomfortable.
"Can I get that in writing?"
Halifax
Manchester, England
November 21st
2022 A.D.
Police officers swore and jumped out of the way as one of their own cars came flying at them. The noise was so power that it almost burst they're eardrums. The siege had begun only a few minutes ago but they already knew that they were out gunned. After having one of their cars melted right in front of them, none of them were willing to try and approach the bank. They watched as the man that had just tried to kill them with their own car walked back into the bank.
Suddenly a massive bolt of lightning struck the ground in front of them. They were complete wide eyed as a girl, more beautiful than most magazine models, walked over from the blast. Only seconds later, a man they all knew very well, dropped out of the sky and landed next to her.
"Told you." she remarked with a cocky grin on her face.
"I'd like to see you try and out run me when there's no clouds in the sky." Albus snapped back. He was still annoyed that he was no longer the fasted thing alive.
She just smiled sweetly.
Albus turned and looked at the bank for a second before speaking to the police. "Keep your men back, we'll handle this."
"Be my guest." one of the cops breathed.
The two of them walked towards the bank, no the slightest bit worried about what their fellow Anomalies had already inflicted. The alarm was still going wild as they marched through a short corridor inside.
"Take care of that."
Athena sent a bolt straight at the source of the noise which died immediately. As they moved through the bank, the rancid smell of burning plastic crept into their noses.
At the bank of the bank, standing next to the vault were two men. One, a short but tough looking man with dark hair and his hands clamped over his mouth was leaning against a wall as another man which long messy hair and a big built was in front of the giant metal door. He had his hands pressed against the huge hinges and there was smoke rising from his palms.
He took his hands away revealing that the parts of the vault that he had just been touching were completely melted away. Acid.
"Hurry up!" the man with his hands covering his mouth mumbled. He sounded Greek.
"You want me to risk melting the money?!" the acid man shot back.
Suddenly they both turned and spotted Al and Athena. Both of them seemed far more interested in the girl or more importantly, the pheromones she was still putting out. The acid man grinned. Albus was afraid that this might happen. The acid man was clearly not a very old Anomaly and mating was still one of his primary objectives. The other one seemed to have a little more control.
"You can have the money, I'll just take her." he said causing Albus to feel a strange twang of annoyance in his stomach.
"Sorry, you're not my type." Athena said in a sweet and dangerous tone.
"You don't get a choice!" he said moving towards her.
Albus raised his hand causing the acid man to freeze on the spot. "That's not gonna happen." he growled.
Athena shot a look at him. She seemed almost angry that Albus had automatically objected to even the idea of her being with another Anomaly. Then it became a devious smile as she realized he had just shown her his weakness. Jealousy.
"Hey, look," the Greek spoke up. "we ain't gonna fight our own but we need money."
"Speak for yourself!" the acid man hissed. Suddenly a huge spurt of yellowy-green sizzling liquid shot from his open palm. It flew directly at Albus but he was too quick. The liquid suddenly came to a halt in mid air where it remained floating for a second.
"That's not very nice." Albus grinned before flicking his fingers.
The floating acid shot back through the air and hit the man straight in the chest. His clothes sizzled and were quickly eaten away but his skin was left untouched. He looked up and grinned.
"That can't hurt me!"
"This can!" Athena hissed, sending a bolt of lightning straight into his chest.
The acid man was blasted across the bank and into the wall where he remained motionless and bug eyed.
The Greek opened his mouth wide and started to yell but there was something strange about the sound. It sounded like a jet engine powering up. A second later it was so intense that the windows began to shake. Before it could overwhelm their ears, Albus raised his hand at the Greeks throat and used gravity to squeeze. The Greek didn't have time to yelp in pain as he was choked by the invisible force.
"Sshhh." Albus grinned, holding him in place as he struggled for air.
He looked over at the acid mans body again and then at Athena. "I said alive!"
"What? He was an asshole!" she whined.
He turned back to the choking Greek that was actually starting to turn blue. "How about you? Join us...or join him." he nodded to corpse.
The panicking Greek only managed to nod his head. Albus released him and he flopped to the floor, gasping for air.
"What's your name?"
After panting for a few more seconds he managed to look up. "M...Minus." he coughed.
"Cool." Athena chirped.
Ministry of Magic
London, England
November 21st
2022 A.D.
Lincoln and Aurora, who had been put in charge of guarding the doors to the Court Chamber, watched as the many world leaders started exiting the meeting. Hermione and Harry walked over to them as Aurors arrived to escort the officials back to the Atrium.
"So?" Aurora asked.
"It's gonna be a lot of work and will take a pretty big chunk out of the economy but we think we could manage an evacuation." Harry said. "Albus back?"
"Not yet."
"You think he can handle his own kind?"
"There's nothing Albus can't handle." Aurora stated proudly.
"Come on, let's get the others and get back to Venice. They can meet us there." Lincoln advised.
"I can't. I have to stay and get started on the plans." Hermione sighed.
"Lincoln, you stay with her." Aurora ordered. He gave a little nod and escorted her away.
Manchester, England
November 21st
2022 A.D.
Albus and Athena were just moving past Old Trafford football stadium in a car that they'd 'borrowed'. They had to make it look like they were officially in charge of policing their own kind and decided to mimic the way the cops would have made and arrest. Minus was sitting in the back seat, looking bored and still rubbing his throat occasionally. Athena, like wise, didn't seem to like being in a vehicle with Albus again but this time it wasn't because of his insane driving skills but because they were both fully capable of getting back to London a lot more quickly.
"Can you just fly the car back to London?" she groaned.
"They'd think it was enchanted Wizarding car. There's a blanket ban on them, you want us to get shot down?" he also sounded pretty bored.
He was right about the ban of flying cars. It's of the many things the Muggles had been outraged to find out about. They flat out demanded that they be banned, especially around cities with airports near them. Albus had experienced first hand just how jealously the Muggles guarded their airspace.
"Good. I'm not a fan of flying." Minus mumbled in the back.
"That's because you can't do it." Athena rubbed in.
"Flyings your thing, sound is my thing." he brushed off.
"Yeah, well consider yourself muzzled until I can trust that you can behave." Albus said sternly.
Athena scoffed. "Oh, Minus, this is serious Albus. Serious Albus, this is Minus." she said sweetly. "let me know when cool Albus gets back." she spat the last part.
Albus ignored her.
"Err..." Minus looked puzzled.
"Oh, you'll see that Albus has two sides to his little world. One side where he is a ass-kicking Colossus and the other where he a prissy little goody-two-shoes."
"Enough Athena!" Albus snapped. "I'm getting sick of your bullshit! I'm trying to prepare for a war, you know!"
"Wow...war? Nobody said anything about war!" Minus objected.
"Shut up!" Albus barked quickly at him as he stopped the car at a red light.
"Exactly, you want to fight a war! Wars can't be fought by pussies! They have to be fought by vicious, die hard soldiers!" she was again refusing to back down. "you are training a bunch of kids to be your soldiers and then trying to act like a little angel! How is that gonna work?!"
"Well, I'm starting to think that they'll be better than a whiny little Pikachu!" he shot back.
Athena's face dropped. "What did you just call me?!" she was actually more in shock than anything else. Minus was behind her trying desperately hard not to giggle.
"You heard me cattle prod!"
Athena looked like she was about to let off a Lightning bomb right then and there. Instead she simply turned, pushed open the door and stormed away from the stopped car.
"Hey! Athena!" Albus immediately jumped out and went after as the cars behind him start to beep in protest. "Athena stop!"
"Fuck off!" she hissed back, moving through the traffic.
"Why are you acting like this?" Albus called out.
"Why?!" she suddenly turned and wheeled around. Her face was bright red with anger. "Because you are going to get yourself killed! That's why!" her voice broke slightly but she didn't stop. "you can't just expect to be all happy-go-lucky, law conscious citizen and then turn around and become super warrior at a moments notice! Well, you can, but everyone else can't! If they could, then you'd be able to recruit librarians and nursery teachers to be in your army! You need to be a tough, vicious, calculating bastard to fight a war! And the only way your friends and family are going to get that way is to learn from you!"
A Manchurian in the car next to them beeped his horn and swore loudly at the bickering pair. Athena turned, raised her arm and send a bolt of lightning at his bonnet. Sparks flew everywhere and the car completely powered down. The poor bastard inside looked terrified and immediately shut up.
"See! Works!" she hissed.
"Did it ever occur to you that maybe I don't want anyone else to be like me?! That maybe they didn't deserve to be turned into tough, vicious, calculating bastards?" Albus yelled back.
"Well either you are going to do it or the war will do it! If they are lucky enough to survive the first few minutes, which I doubt they will, the war will eat away at them until they are just like you! If they are prepared then they stand a much better chance of actually living through it!" she shot back.
The nasty part was that she was right. He hadn't failed to notice how terrified his closest people were. The exceptions being Lincoln, Amelia and Aurora simply because they been forced to survive this kind of stuff before. They had been hardened by it and would now kill their enemies without a moments hesitation.
He couldn't imagine Hugo or Lily or Rose or any of them not freezing with fear at some point. They had stood their ground against the soldiers at Hogwarts but they had also had a lot of support at that fight. They were in a place they knew better than the enemy with their parents and teachers and more powerful allies around them. If they were isolated and alone and forced to survive with only their own wits, would they be able to? There were always moments when the fear would grip you so hard that it was like being suffocated.
Then there was the basic nature that had been drilled into their heads since before they could speak. To be nice to each other. To follow the rules, listen to your peers, stay out of trouble. That violence was wrong and killing was evil. That sort of thing nearly got his father killed more times than not. He imagined him storming Utah beach on D-Day, running up to the Germans and trying to disarm them. He wouldn't have lasted ten seconds. And judging by the Prophecy, the coming war would be just as bad, if not worse than that one.
Albus's face softened slightly. "I know they need to be strong for this but I will not rip away their innocence just on the off chance that it might help them out later on! Do you remember how you felt when your mother died? You real want them to feel like that?"
"Yes! Part of me does! It may have turned me into a selfish whiny bitch but it's kept me alive!"
"That's not how an army works Athena. They watch each others back. They protect each other."
"Ha! They can't stand me! Like they'd ever protect me?!" she scoffed.
"They would," Albus said proudly. "because they're good people."
She didn't look completely convinced but could see Albus's point. "I've been trying to be nice." she mumbled.
"I know. It's been a bit weird to be honest but we'll get use to it." Albus smiled.
Athena was starting to cave. She knew she had over reacted and may well be a little prejudice because of her own past. She never had friends that would die to protect her and the only person that had ever truly loved her had been murdered right in front of her face. She had been forced to survive on her own, not trusting anyone and just taking what she could get. Now she had the power to take what she wanted but the only thing she truly wanted was still out of her reach. It would make anybody frustrated.
"Come on, we'll figure this out." Albus tried.
Athena nodded looking slightly guilty because of her behavior.
It was only then that they both realized that, although the car next to them that had been shocked wasn't moving, the others were. They both turned to see that the car they had 'borrowed' was gone. Minus had escaped and Albus looked pissed.
"Whoops..." Athena said looking sheepish. Albus glared at her. "What?! You left the keys in it!"