Liberation
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"But before we begin," Paragon hissed. "Let's let the audience take their seats."
Movement erupted from the alleys as they began to fill with people. The battle field was soon lined with Normals. They blocked the exits and all of them crossed their arms.
"They wanted to see their biggest enemy turn to ash."
"Eric," Ray breathed, hand over heart when she saw the glare on her younger brother's face. "Go back home. Everything will be okay."
The boy shook his head. "I tried to warn you, but you didn't listen. You could have avoided this."
"Bri?" Valenteen gestured for her sister to come over to her. "You shouldn't have to see this. You saw enough from Florice's rampage."
The girl rolled her eyes. "And miss this?" This tone sounded so wrong coming out of the child's voice. "No way."
Valenteen shrugged. "Okay."
"Are you crazy?!" Ray shouted as she turned to the beauty. "They'll be killed! We could hit them on accident! They can't be allowed to stay here!"
The three Villains on the scene exchanged looks before they started to laugh.
"And what is so funny?"
Paragon, Florice and Valenteen just shook their head. "You really think we'd allow them to be hurt?" they all said in unison.
"You may not be able to control that!" Ray continued to argue, noting how no one else was backing her up. "What?" she yelled, turning to the Heroes. "Don't you care?!"
The Lucas family looked away, but they were the only ones to hang their heads.
"They chose their side," a council member said with a raised voice. "They are nothing to us."
"Like we ever were," Eric scoffed, but he was ignored by the woman.
"If they are caught in the crossfire, no one will give them a second thought."
"And they still wonder why the Normals chose us," Florice cackled although there was no humor in her voice.
A new chuckle entered the fray, one that was just as cold as Florice's. "Yes, their ignorance is amusing," the voice spat. "You can't convince them to see things our way."
All eyes were on the teen as he crossed his arms and shook his end.
"So Heroes," Nick spread his arms, face set. "We'll give you the first move."
Two members of the Lucas family shared a glance.
"Something is missing here," Kevin shouted, eyes only on his brother. "Where's the Four, Nick?"
The Normal only smiled. "Watching."
"Watching?" Sandy Lucas shook her head. "Around whose neck?"
"Necrophere's," was Nick's short answer.
The mother and son shared another look. "And where is he?" they both asked, watching the young man carefully.
"Watching."
"This is getting us nowhere!" a council female shouted. She pointed at Nick and gave him her best glare. "Normal," she spat. "You either tell us where the Four is, or you and your kind will be the first to die."
Nick looked the woman up and down before he smirked. "Like I said before, it's your move. But I am obligated to warn you that once you do begin this fight, you will have no hope to win."
"Like a few Normals and disbanded Villains could stop the entire town of Heroes."
Nick rolled his eyes at this. "Blind," he whispered. "That is all you Heroes will ever be."
"Son, I am not going to ask again," she whispered, brow furrowing. "Where is the Four?"
"Just tell her Nick," Sandy Lucas begged. "Tell her and we can go home. Be the family we should have been."
Nick sighed at this and shook his head. "That isn't possible anymore. The Four will liberate this world with or without its puppets."
"Then it will have to be without! Heroes, get rid of our audience!"
Many charged at the wall of Normals, a few stayed in the cluster and concentrated and even less stepped away from the potential bloodshed. Those who seized could see the small smiles on the Normals faces as they watched their own families pounce on the opportunity to kill them. The Malone and Misa families closed their eyes and turned away. Ray spread her arms out to shield her brother. The Lucas's made a wall in front of Nick.
"ATTACK!" the council woman shouted as flocks of birds flew overhead and dove at the Normals. "Leave no Villain or Normal standing!" Snakes, bugs and lizards crawled up from under the street. Rats scurried into the light. Every animal known to the city pounced towards the Normals.
A Hero had grown to an impossible size and raised his foot above the immobile line. Another opened her mouth to draw a large breath before she released her eardrum shattering sonic blast. A third's hands began glow a sickly red as they filled with acid to fling. The fourth was suddenly surrounded by numerous copies of himself. The square was soon filled with every heroic power the city had registered. And it was all aimed at one group.
"Nick, stay behind us!" Tom Lucas ordered his son.
"Dad, it's no use," Nick said calmly.
"Shut up, Nick!" Joe shouted at him. "I am not going through this again! You will listen to us."
Nick sighed, but he decided to hold his tongue. This part was too crucial to become distracted by a simple event such as this. But the Normal would be correct – it was no use. No matter what they did now, during the fight, or even after it was declared to be lost, the outcome would be the same. The Four would fulfill the plan. There was no stopping it. Not this time.
But there was stopping the attacks the Heroes threw. All of them stopped just inches from the Normals. Punches were left to crash into an invisible barrier and mind tricks were stopped cold.
"I warned you," Nick quietly said, his family his only ears. He nodded to the three Villains on the scene before he took a step back from his family. "Behold," Nick shouted to the stunned Heroes. "The true nature of the Four!"
Roots jutted effortlessly thrown the concrete and wrapped many Heroes in their constricting grips. All of the summoned animals turned on the one who called them, egged on by Paragon's instinct. Many of the male Heroes turned on one another, growling as their self control was lost.
"The Four brought us together," Nick revealed. "That is how three Villains can take down an entire city of Heroes."
"Some of us are still left fighting!"
Nick turned to the yeller and nodded. "That's because we are far from done."
"Nick, shut up." Kevin ordered as he turned to grip his younger brother's shirt. "Don't let the Four do the talking."
Nick blinked at this. "Who said it was the Four? Who said that it is the only one who wants to get revenge on those who have done wrong?"
"We've all done wrong!"
Nick shook his head as he nodded to a shadowed alley. "Some more than others."
All around them and all over the world, Heroes began to grow stiff as visions of this battles outcome flashed behind their open eyes. The Normals bowed their head as they listened to Phantom message from the Four. Every Villain smiled and looked to the sky.
Everyone was affected. Everyone but Nick and Kevin. He avoided it because he was so focused on finding his brother in this mask of concealment that he didn't even feel the tug of the nightmare. And Nick already knew the message; he already knew his place.
"Nick, stop this nonsense. This isn't you."
The Normal shook his head. "You don't understand, Kevin."
"No, I understand perfectly. The Four is manipulating you again!"
Nick sighed. "It never stopped, Kev. What you ask of me is impossible. I'm not just a puppet to the Four. Not anymore."
"Then what are you?"
Nick wasn't given the time to answer this, though it was unsure if he was going to even tell the truth. Everyone began to stir once again, their frames with promise, panic and hope. They all turned to stare at the disfigured figure that was hunkered in the shadows behind one giving orders.
"Why are you all so afraid of dying?" Nick addressed the Heroes. "Isn't it your duty to lay down your life for good?"
No one answered this.
Nick shook his head, face twisted in disdain. "Then we have already killed you."
"Enough," growled the female council member. "Heroes, we finish that Normal and we finish the Four."
"No!" Kevin and Sandy both shouted as they finally felt the Four stir within Nick. "The Four will kill you!"
They're already dead.
Words that only three heard. Words that only had one acting.
Sandy Lucas nodded to her husband, who had already thrown all of his power into protecting his son. But now he knew that it wasn't Nick who benefitted from his efforts, but the Heroes who want the young man dead. They pushed and pried and threw everything they could at the boy, but nothing even came close to touching him. And with every missed hit, the frustration in Nick's frame grew.
"Let them, dad," he almost ordered as his patience reached near the breaking point. "They can't hurt me."
But Tom Lucas stood his ground. "But you can hurt them."
Nick nodded once. "That doesn't mean that I intend to."
"But you will. The Four will."
"And it will hurt you if you don't stand down."
Tom Lucas almost took a step back at this. "Are you threatening me?"
"Warning. Threatening. Same difference nowadays," the son shrugged. "So are you going to back down?"
"I can't."
Nick closed his eyes, as if pained by this expected answer. "Fine.
Although he had braced himself for this, Tom Lucas still stumbled back before he dropped. The moment Tom Lucas lost his footing, the Heroes surged forth like the sunrise chasing away the shadows. But this shadow wasn't ready to leave.
Four managed to reach the Normal.
Three cried out in pain and grasped their smoldering hand.
One stared at the empty space in front of him, eyes watering from the new mark on the palm of his hand. In the exact place where he had touched the boy, a black mark was forming. A burn in the shape of a snake.
"What's the matter?"
Everyone's necked cracked as they jumped to look behind them.
Nick leaned against the dark side of a building, a smirk on his face.
"Valenteen, I think they need more persuasion."
The beauty laughed. She spun around and skipped over to Nick and leaned on him. "Jealous, boys?" she called seductively. "He's been mean to me, but I just can't leave him. Stop him, and I will be your reward."
There had never been such a smile on the Normal's face as nearly every male Hero ran forward to attempt and claim their fake trophy.
Sandy forced her way into the minds of those trying to fight and helped break the spell. Kevin managed to help her find the ones Valenteen wanted to target before her influence reached them. Joe held back the Heroes as they tried to break free, but were unsuccessful. Frankie did his best to pull the closest ones away from Nick. And Tom Lucas still sat, shocked from the actions of his son.
"What's the matter," Valenteen pouted. "Am I not good enough for any of you?"
That did it. Even Joe and Kevin wanted to run forward, but they only barely managed to stay still by going to their knees.
The air was soon filled with the sudden cries and the smell of singed skin.
"What is that?!" Frankie yelled, for his height allowed him to see the numerous marks forming on wherever the man managed to touch Nick.
"You'll see, Frankie," Nick whispered. "The finale is almost upon us."
Valenteen laughed once again and slipped away from the crowd. As soon as she vanished, her spell over the men left. They stumbled back, confused as to why a part of their skin was charred.
"Is the Four really that much of a coward?" Ray suddenly shouted as she glared at Nick. "That it uses a Normal as bait? It's no better than we are!"
Nick pursed his lips at this. He looked to the sharks around him, watched their noses flare as they heard the fresh blood pounding through his veins.
"I won't fight until it shows itself. I refuse to fight a Normal."
Nick shook his head. "You still don't get it? The Four has been here all along. Watching. Protecting. Baiting."
"But not fighting."
All of the Normals looked uneasily towards Nick when Ray continued to argue. But if he was fazed by her stubbornness, he didn't allow it to show.
"She has a point, Nick," Paragon finally spoke from her perch on a window ledge. "It's time."
There was a moment of strained silence as everyone saw Nick's eyebrow twitch.
"Fine," he spat. He turned to look at the redhead who stood impatiently on front of the hoard of Normals. "Florice? Finish this."
"With pleasure."
There wasn't time for anyone to say another word. The ground shook and green closed in. Vines whipped over the heads of the Normals and roots began to weave around necks. The only thing missing was the toxic air.
Then the fear set in. Heroes struggled, sputtered and screamed as they tried to flee the girl's rage. They dodged the falling debris as she demolished the city in her rampage. And Florice was lost in a fit of dancing cackles. As faces grew redder, lips turned blue and greenery became stained, she only grew happier.
"Stop this!" Tom Lucas shouted as he protected his family. He glanced at the suffering and instantly looked away. He could have protected them too, but there hadn't been enough time.
Florice only cackled. "New fertilizer, my babies!"
Sandy pulled Frankie closer to her and covered his ears. "Just breathe, baby," she told him as she felt his panic.
"Some have done more wrong than others," Nick breathed again, his fist closing as his red glare fell on Florice. "The liberation has begun."
Her roots stilled and instantly turned yellow. The green began to flake and wither. Her skin bleached and eyes cracked. A scream was fixed on her face, but nothing came from her lips. And the vines that she held so close to her heart, wound around the organ in the form of a shadowed rage. They seized it. And stopped it instantly.
"A plant can't live without light," Nick whispered to himself as the shadows spread through the veins of the girl's children. As he drained the essence of the plants and captured what made her tick. No one knew what to think as the girl crumbled to the floor with her plants, her skin the hue of dust. The ashes in a forest too dry to live.
Silence filled the square, save for the chocking coughs of those who struggled to get air into their chest.
Revenge, Nick thought carelessly. At its finest.
Sandy Lucas slowly turned to face her son, horror on her face. "Nicholas," she breathed. "How...?"
"Could I?" Nick finished for her, eyebrow cocked. "It's simple really. She deserved to die."
Nick was faced with an audience of fishes.
"As do some of you."
"Who are you," Ray stepped forward, horror in her eyes but a snarl on her face. "To decide who lives and dies?"
Nick smirked at this. "No one but a Normal."
"But you just killed a Villain!"
Even Paragon was shocked by this. So shocked that she didn't mention the hunched figure slinking away, disgust and betrayal hurrying his step.
Nick did not defend his actions. He didn't even bother to hide the sick pleasure that had wormed its way into his smile as he stared at the girl's unseeing eyes.
"Nicholas!"
The call snapped him back to reality and had him looking to his mother.
"What's happened to you?"
The boy shrugged once, though the answer was clear on his face.
"Villain," Frankie muttered, hurt. "You're evil!"
Nick looked calmly up to his youngest brother. "Thank you for saying the obvious," he mocked.
"Who are you?" Joe questioned as he tried to find his younger brother within this murderer.
"Who I always planned to become."
Paragon shook her head; even though she knew, she never liked this. She didn't like sitting back and watching him change. She didn't like seeing him like this. But she had never liked seeing him like he was before: powerless, without hope and depressed because he couldn't reach an impossible dream. She knew that seeing him like this should, at least, make her feel something other than this. Other than pity. Other than a small amount of pride. And anything other than the sadness with knowing the real truth.
"Who?" Sandy dared to ask, her voice breathy. "Necrophere?"
Nick laughed at this; the kind of laugh that threw his head back and echoed without humor. "Necrophere? I'm insulted," he stated through his chuckles. "I was once him," he finally revealed. "For a very long time. And for a longer time, I was a simple Normal. A boy you all liked to kick and spit on. Someone named Nicholas. But not anymore. I am something...more."
Macy, Kevin and Sandy all took a step back when they felt what Nick now constantly felt. Now constantly controlled. And now constantly controlled him.
"That's right," Nick whispered coldly. "I am the Four."
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Chibiyu: Well, that was fun. Until Next Update!
