A Hero's Tale

Chapter Eight: Mind Over Matter

Shane's eyes snapped open as he felt the ground rumble beneath him. After he regained his balance, he looked around. His memory felt fogged up, and he couldn't remember much of what happened before just then. He thought he had been in the Protector's Courtyard about to take the second Entrance Exam, but now Shane found himself in the middle of downtown Neo Civitas, at the busiest intersection from what he could see. He shook his head to try and clear the fogginess he felt, but he was still unable to remember how he had arrived in the city. The ground shook again, which snapped Shane back to reality. He looked past the people fleeing in fear, and his eyes widened once he saw what was causing the chaos. Malice, one of Valiant's all time enemies, casually strolled down the middle of the road, flanked on both sides by members of the Covenant.

That doesn't make sense, Shane thought to himself as he stood frozen. All of the Covenant should be in prison, especially Malice. How the heck are they free? And why aren't there any heroes here yet? Someone must have seen these guys before now. Why has no one showed up to stop them? Shane didn't have much time to think further as the man on Malice's left raised his foot and then stomped on the ground, which caused the ground to shake once more.

"It feels good to be free, doesn't it guys?" Malice said with a smirk. The other men nodded in agreement. "What do you say we have some fun?" The two nodded again, both with wicked grins. "Alright then. Quake, let's start this show." The man on Malice's left nodded and walked over to a nearby skyscraper. He put his hands to the ground and shut his eyes. The ground  began to shake much more fiercely than before, and Shane fell backwards as the world around him shook. His eyes shot up to the building in front of Quake as the wall cracked all the way to the top. Windows shattered and glass began to rain down from the sky as the building collapsed in on itself, which sent out a large wave of dust that clouded Shane's vision. As he coughed from the dust he inhaled, he stood back up and began to move with the running crowd.

Where are the heroes? The question continued to bounce around in Shane's head as he ran with the other people around him. He saw a shadow rapidly grow larger overhead, and he turned to find a car flying in his direction. He pulled people over and ran to the side just before the car would have hit them, and they all managed to escape without getting hurt. He looked back at the Covenant members as the people he had saved continued to run away. Quake was destroying buildings left and right, Demolition was blowing up whatever he decided to, and Malice was throwing cars around with a grin.

"No heroes around to stop us this time. This city is our playground. We can do whatever we want!" Malice yelled. He punctuated his sentence by throwing another car. Shane ducked into an alleyway to avoid that car and leaned against the wall. His heart pounded inside of his chest as the sounds of destruction echoed into the alley around him.

I'm sure the heroes are on their way, but how long will that take? How many people will get hurt before then? Shane asked himself. He shook his head. He couldn't just wait for someone else to swoop in and save the day. But what can I do?  He contemplated his options for a few moments then nodded before he walked back out of the alley.

"Hey, Malice!" Shane called out. Although he felt fear creep up the base of his spine as he walked towards the super villain, he ignored it. Shane had a plan, and it had to work even if he was scared. The villain stopped and looked over at Shane before he shook his head with a grin.

"So some kind citizen has the gall to try and talk to me. How quaint. What do you want, kid? I'm a bit busy if you couldn't tell," he said as he gestured to the city around him. Shane took a breath before he spoke again.

"You're a coward, you know that, right?" he asked. The villain's smile turned into a frown as he clenched his fists.

"What did you just call me?" the villain questioned.