Super Glitches 3: Stranded

The Freedom Debate

I placed my cards onto the table and grinned. Another round won by me. Fantastic.

"Gentlemen, I think I shall turn in for the night," I said, yawning. "I don't want to leech you all dry before the games have begun."

"What games?" a girl simpered, looking up at me with doe-eyes. I smiled and patted her on the head, standing up and stretching.

"Mind games," I whispered suddenly. "For example, how one can use shadows to kill a cheat?" At that I snapped my palm out and sent a dagger of shadows into one man's heart. Blood bubbled over his lips and he crumpled onto the table, staining the green cloth red. I laughed cruelly and strode off, still cackling.

*

"Sir, put your hands on your head and do not move," a voice announced. I opened my tired eyes and stretched. There was a gun aimed levelly at my head and I sighed.

"When will you lot come up with new ways to take me down?" I sighed, folding my arms. The officer shuffled his feet and cocked the gun.

"I repeat, sir, put your hands on your head and do not move!" he shouted. I rolled my eyes and reluctantly crushed my quiff.

"Good," an older, sterner American barked. "Now take him to the boss."

"What?" I exclaimed, lowering my hands and balling them into fists. "No American is taking me anywhere!"

"It's to sort out your glitch," the first officer explained. I noted that he didn't move the gun. "Y'know, how you keep killing everyone."

"I do that on purpose," I said in surprise. "Like so." Shadows exploded from my fist and wrapped around the gun barrel. I crushed the metal and then sent it shooting into the officer's forehead. He screamed and I drove it in even deeper.

"Stop, I say!" the older officer shouted, face as white as a sheet. "Stop it!"

"Why?" I roared back. "I am the one with the power, not you, mortal! I can destroy the world and not one creature can stop me!" I laughed, a screaming, echoing sound that struck a chord of fear into even my frozen-over heart.

"All officers report back to base," the police radio crackled. "Immediate action must be taken against the demon. Alert. All officers back to base. A specialist team will be distributed to deal with the demons."

"Which unit?" my officer asked.

"They are called Super Glitches," the staticky reply came through. "Alert: all officers back to base. These officers - hang on, these children - will deal with the threat."

"I am not a threat," I scoffed. "No threat can look this good in a bow tie."

"I believe that's my bow tie, actually," a familiar London-accented voice called. I froze, for once lost for words and terrified.

"What's the matter, Shaade?" the Cockney teased. "Are we trapped in a single second of time? I don't believe I pressed the stopwatch."

I started to slowly shake my head. My brain was screaming at me to say something but my mouth was on a completely different planet. After a few seconds of struggling with myself I formed a single word.

"Georgina?"

"That's right, demon," the girl laughed. "But it's not just me. All of us Super Glitches have been roped in to sort you out."

"No..."

"I understand you've had a little bit of trouble with your mind being altered and stuff. That's okay; just don't turn around or look at us and no one gets hurt or killed. Because if I know all the facts then you have been programmed to kill us all on sight. Now, we don't want that, do we? So be a good little demon and allow yourself to be taken back to a mental institution."