The Fall of the Society

Chapter 6: Learning Curve

Once again alone in silence and the black of night, Rose was lost, contemplating everything that Sid had just told her. Her mind was racing trying to put the bits together between what she knew and what he had revealed to her. Sid had mentioned not knowing Tripp but seemed to know an awful lot about him. He also knew a great deal more about her than he should have. If he knew all this information about them, maybe he could find Scion and help her learn more about her past. All that would have to wait, she thought to herself while pushing the information out of her mind. With a flash of orange, she launched into the air and streaked toward the north eastern quadrant of the city. A large building, much larger than anything around it, slowly came into view. She could not help but think of how magnificent the building looked, it appeared as a beacon in the metropolitan landscape. Had she not known what kind of people worked within the tower she would think it beautiful and comforting, but it was not, it was a beacon of false hope. To her surprise, she noticed a few flashing arrow signs on the south side of the roofs beside the headquarter. This must have been what Sid had meant when he mentioned marking it for her.
As she flew, Rose focused and caused her aura to turn to a bright red. If anyone was looking on, they would have sworn a missile hit the building, because the next moment she made her impact. Debris and fire shot into the air and rained down on the ground below. Fire burst out in every direction as she landed and skid across the floor. Flames swirled all around her, quickly engulfing a large amount of interior furniture and decorations. She could hear pieces of the structure continuing to fall to the ground as a new sound caught her ear. The faint sound of someone punching numbers on a phone and then talking frantically into it, they were calling for help. Rose withdrew the fire into herself and began walking down a hallway.
An elevator ahead of her opened and multiple heavily armed men ran out and formed a wall in front of her. "We are authorized to use deadly force if you do not surrender! Put your hands up!" one of the men shouted as they aimed their weapons at her face. Anger spread across her face as one of the men opened his mouth to shout orders, but before he could, a bright flash of super-heated light burst from Rose. The attack had surprised even Rose, and she was not sure how she had done it. All the surfaces around her were smoldering and charred black. Her assailants lay on the floor, their front halves smoking, armor ripped away, flesh mutilated by the flash. Their weapons had fused at every seam from the immense heat. Most of her abilities had come to her instinctually, especially since she burst from the telekinetic shield Tripp had made for her. She could not remember learning any of them, but somehow, she knew them. Moving forward, she stepped over the men's bodies without looking down and pressed the charred button to open the elevator door. A soft tone sounded as the doors opened slowly, exposing an empty elevator to her. Putting her foot against the bottom of the open door to keep it from closing she placed her fingertips together. A moment later a small sphere of energy appeared between her hands. She spread her hands out as the ball grew, the surface churning and shifting constantly while emanating an immense amount of heat that was blistering the walls of the elevator. Removing her hands from around the sphere it floated into the center of the elevator and stopped. Rose reached in and pressed the button for the fiftieth floor, the top floor, which was the only access to the roof and the helipad that was located there. She could not afford to let anyone escape that way and she figured given the time of night there would hopefully be no regular employees on location. The doors closed and with a soft hum, the elevator moved upward.
After the compartment had cleared her floor, Rose torched her way through the elevator doors, exposing the dark and empty shaft behind them. Rose stepped forward and dropped into the inky darkness. Moments later she heard a ding overhead and knew that the sphere had reached its destination. She willed the ball to detonate, leading to a deafening and thunderous explosion to rip through the building above her. As fire shot down the shaft, she burst through the doors leading to the fifteenth floor. The sound of shattering glass was raining down from all around the building as the flash of light lit up the night to the point it appeared to be daylight. She could feel the building shifting slightly as the monumental explosion forced the entire structure to shudder. The elevator and other debris went rushing past the open elevator shaft door and hit the ground with a massive crash. Rose walked to the edge and looked out the shattered window into the night, listening to the many alarms and sirens now splitting the air of an otherwise quiet night.
Stepping from the ledge, she dropped silently to the ground, landing by a now singed and crushed line of bushes that were once carefully manicured. Standing in the dark she peered through the cracked lobby glass and could see a group of guards surrounding the destroyed elevator shaft, waiting for her to appear. Quickly and quietly she closed the distance to the lobby doors. Unfortunately, just as she came into view of the doors, a Socialite looked over his shoulder and spotted her. They stared at each other for a moment, as the Socialites started to discuss something between themselves now while the guards stayed focused on the elevator. She smiled slightly as she realized that these guards did not know she was the one that had caused the damage and she was the one that they were supposed to be guarding the building against. If walking away had been an option, they would have never known it was her and she could disappear into the night, but it was not. The ones responsible for Tripp's death were somewhere in this building and she would find them.
Sending a wave of fire crashing into the doors, one of the Socialites cast a barrier between themselves and her attack. The defensive shield lasted just long enough to protect the group before breaking down. As soon as the shield fell, a Socialite with gloves that looked like obsidian lunged forward and swung hard with a punch. The man was wearing black body armor and had a mask that also appeared fortified with black lenses, shielding his eyes. Rose bent her arms up in front of her in order to block the attack. He hit her as hard as he could as a red barrier formed on her arms, but it was not enough to block the full energy of the attack and she was thrown backwards, skidding on the ground for a moment, before rolling and lunging back to her feet. She quickly side stepped as the man came soaring toward her again, before ducking and rolling back to her right to dodge yet another attack. Raising up quickly she spun just as his fist connected with her cheek and threw her into the air. Her mind grew foggy from the impact and she hit the ground hard in a crumpled mass. Rolling onto her back, the sky was spinning as the man lunged in for another attack. She shot a burst of fire at him, but just as it was about to make contact a shield formed around him and deflected her attack. Continuing his attack, the man jumped into the air, over top of her. In a last-ditch effort, she rolled to the left, barely avoiding his attack. His obsidian clad fist hit the ground, sending out a shockwave of energy and blasting cement and debris into the air, showering Rose painfully. The man stood upright and looked directly at her, taking a moment break for the first time since he had lunged himself at her. Squaring his shoulders, he knelt, preparing for another attack. Rose climbed unsteadily to her feet, bracing herself to continue the fight that she was ungracefully losing.
The two watched each other for what felt like an eternity, until a blast hit Rose in the right side, sending her crashing back to the ground. Blood was flowing freely from multiple cuts on her face and a large gash on her cheek where that man had hit her. Her elbows, shoulders, knees and hands were also bleeding from the altercation. Struggling to regain her bearings, she wearily braced herself on one knee, putting her hands out in front in hopes of deflecting the next attack. She heard a series of pops and felt a sharp pain across her right shoulder as she was thrown off balance. Catching herself before she hit the ground, she was now facing away from her foes. She had been fighting the battle on their terms, and it had cost her a great deal of pain. As she had told herself previously, she would not only be able to rely on instinct, and all she was doing was trying to react to what they were doing. The time for that to stop was now, it was time for her to inflict her will on the battle. Her desire to win, to continue fighting burst from her, radiating brightly.