Close Nemesis

Chapter Fifty-Three: A Twisted Hero

LAIVA:

My new lair is located on the white hole ravaged emerald desert world where I convinced Rotcetorp to let Zieré take him to a hospital. Like he was then, he is still the martyr. His stubbornness in his refusal to kill me is what's causing me to kill innocents. For a month, I haven't caused any chaos since my last battle with Rotcetorp. I want my next attack to be big. I want the galaxy to enter a false sense of security before I kill millions.

The government has stopped their hunt for superheroes ever since I absorbed the majority of the galaxy's superpowers apart from half of TeleVisore's and all of Rotcetorp's. Now, when Rotcetorp kills, the powers that remain within me will also die without a host or containment field.

My next attack will be in the next day or so. For now, I am relaxing in my lair, which is located within a vacant house I teleported into an underground cavern. I don't really need to go to my lair. I've been using my mimicked shapeshifting powers to copy the appearance of Jofie Jamda. a dark skinned Namuhsolian with deep blue eyes and fiery orange hair. I killed her so that I could take her place.

I met Jofie at the party, and she was pretty loud. So, I guess I have to copy her in order to keep my cover.

Of course, I'm pretty good at keeping my cover. It's just liked the old times of hiding my secret identity from Xalir.

Since I destroyed the city, "Jofie" is out of work, so I've read Jofie's diary in order to figure out what she likes and dislikes. Before I destroyed Entrek City's CBD, Jofie worked as a retail assistant at the supermarket.

I guess I'll find work at Anthelms, a town located half an hour away from the remnants of Entrek City. Reconstruction on Entrek City has already begun. It'll take a while to rebuild, but for now, those who remain in the outskirts of Entrek can just go to Anthelms for work, school, etcetera.

Anyway, the last entry in Jofie's diary says that her sister Maret was killed by Oppugnant when I destroyed the city. I almost feel regretful. From what I've read in the diary, Maret is far more interesting than Jofie. She owned Maret's Bakery, which sold an abundance of triangular pastries.

Oh, well. I'm Jofie now. So, I guess they'll both be dead soon if Rotcetorp ever decides to stop being a baby and kills me in battle.

ZIERÉ:

My car shop was one of the new structures built upon the flat land left by Oppugnant's teleportation powers. As my shop runs, the city is undergoing total reconstruction. Most of my customers have gone to my other shop in Anthelm, a northern town on Occos II. How there she use my powers for evil! She needs to be stopped. But she is becoming too powerful. Only one person can stop her, and that is not me. That person is Rotcetorp. I haven't pursued a romance with Xalir since Laiva became crazy, since I know he still has strong feelings for Laiva.

I haven't really spoken with his alter ego, Rotcetorp, either. I heard that he killed Lygor out of anger, and so, I cut ties with his superhero alias as well. I've got too much on my plate to worry about Rotcetorp. I had to take Shenelda as my own in order to protect her from hunters who may have noticed Rotcetorp's handiwork at her house. She's still mad at me for abandoning her parents, but I think she's more important. She's the future of this galaxy, and I can't see her potential go to waste just because people think she has superpowers.

She's been begrudgingly helping me fix cars, and I've also been home-schooling her. I had to learn to survive on Garbatrak before Laiva rescued me. I was a stray Garzelagar, and I don't want Shenelda becoming a stray Namuhsolian.

Currently, she is in the room Xalir slept in during his stay here, reading a magazine made from gold paper that changes issues every few days. It's almost her birthday, and I haven't even bothered to ask her what she wants.

Though, I went without presents for all my birthdays. I spent my birthdays alone in a trash container before I was found by Laiva.

I frown towards her. She can't see me, but it still hurts that I don't really know much about parenting.

I have, however, made this house more comfortable for Shenelda. So, I guess that's a start. The unfinished floors of the house have now been covered in yellow carpet and white tiles the walls have been painted a lavender to represent the skies of Occos II, and the windows even have proper curtains.

I stroll into the lounge room, before lying against the cheap grey couch made from the back of a space automobile. I pick up the remote beside me, before turning the 5D TV on. I flick through the channel, until a hologram of Plassilmavern's metallic surface comes into view.

However, something's different. I mean, obviously. There's a huge chunk of earth missing. It seems as if the floor of my house has been destroyed, but it's not. It's just a hologram representing a very real place.

Oppugnant's struck again.