Doctored Chance #NaNoWriMo2019

12|Breaking News

The highlights of events never show what is most important, because importance is subjective. If I were watching the highlights of Tobias's funeral, for instance, I would have liked most to see the private and intimate moments between Mr. Might and a young woman whom he pretended not to know, a relationship that had developed under the noses of all reporters including, at the time, myself. If Tobias was watching the highlights, and he was, he would have liked to see Viola Mae's eulogy, because he knew it was the most meaningful, and he would have liked to see the head of his university's speech as she awarded an honorary doctorate, because he'd dedicated most of his off-duty life to his biogenetics work.

If anyone at all were watching the highlights of the funeral, and being so naïve and insensitive as to deem some moments of the grim and respectful farewell as more important than others, they would find that the "most important moments" presented were a few powerful scripted lines spoken by Vine Voodoo and Mr. Might.

"My partner and my friend Tobias was the most intelligent and selfless person I have ever known. He was called Chance when he served Benediction, saving lives like a second nature, and called Pajama Boy when we joined to appreciate his special quirks, like how he always wore his robe and slippers around the house. He was known for his power to see what was coming before it came," the broadcast buzzed. Mr. Might gripped the podium behind the fizzling screens, behind the window of the appliance store. Tobias clutched his crutch protectively in the crowd, hunched and as small as he could make himself. "This time, it came before he could see it. If there were anything that I could have done to save him, I would have sacrificed everything. I wish there had been more time."

Tobias ground his teeth, listening to the swooning whispers of the people around him. Oh, how humble. Oh, how sensitive. Oh, how brave.

What a load of bullshit, Tobias thought bitterly. The coward could have taken Tobias's twenty-five percent chance of survival and made it one-hundred, but stepping over a few geysers had just been too much to ask.

Then, there was Vine Voodoo.

"In every way, Tobias looked ordinary on the outside, but in no way was Tobias ordinary on the inside. He—"

Breaking news interrupted the broadcast with an alarming trill. The screen blacked out, then flickered with rainbow squares and, after tense seconds of beeping, finally shook out new images. There was a hush over the crowd outside the window, then cheering.

Tobias stiffened and clenched his fists, cursing under his breath.

Just outside of Central Benediction, Mr. Might and Vine Voodoo were opposing a supervillain, live on the television. It was Neville, a pom who had concealed his powers and his schemes for years in order to master volatile chemistry under the radar at a university, then later in the underground. Neville could fly, but his biggest threat was his expertise with explosives, and on the television that day, he taunted the heroes with a detonator.

The cameras zoomed at his face, which hid behind a practical gas mask, and subtitles rolled across the bottom of the screen as reporters on site recorded words that couldn't be picked up clearly by the boom sticks. "Ah, Defiance! I'm a lucky man. Here, I thought I'd find myself against an actual threat. You're nothing without Chance. Please, Mr. Super Strength, what can you do, throw something at me? And little miss flower girl? Should I watch out for falling petals? Oh dear, how dire."

Mr. Might lifted Vine Voodoo and threw her three stories upwards. Vines shot up with her from the ground and caught her in the air, pulling her to the roof of the building. Mr. Might began to scale the vines, while Vine Voodoo reared more nature to their height. Flowers and moss and thorny vines slithered up towards them.