It was the time of night when the full moon stood in the middle of the Dallas sky and could litter its reflection into an otherwise dark alley in the inner city. Illuminated was a struggle between a large, greasy man in a blazer that was so worn it had to be from a second-hand store and the buxom blonde who was screaming as he held her down and tried to undo the zipper on his jeans. As he wrestled with his fly, a strange mist flooded the passage between the streets. What made it most strange was that fog formed and you could see the moonlight despite the fact that it had been raining since yesterday.
“If I were you scum, I would unhand that woman before you call upon the wrath of Luna, Goddess of the Moon.”
From within the mist, an average-sized woman clad in black leather armor and crimson, hooded cloak emerged. Her hair was a long and deep brunette, skin pale like the moon itself, and her lips were painted to match her cape. The color of her irises couldn’t be seen since her eyes glowed like tiny stars planted in her skull. She made a motion as if drawing a weapon from her hip and a sickled blade made of hard light formed in her grasp. The man jumped up and snapped, like coming out of a daze. Looking around, he saw the cloaked woman with her impossible weapon and took off running without knowing what was going on at all.
“Darn. I only suppressed his will to lure you out here, but I was actually hoping he’d get further before you showed up,” explained the women who previously looked to be the victim of this circumstance.
“What… what do you mean, I came here to save you, ma’am.”
“Which is exactly what I hoped for, Luna. Oh, I’m sorry, we haven’t formally met,” She said as her clothing and form slowly shifted. Her long blonde hair shortened to slicked-back look that barely reached the nape of her neck. Her denim skirt became loose jeans as her blood-red fur coat and white tube top morphed into a leather jacket and tee-shirt of the same colors. The heels of her boots flattened down and became more suited for combat as well. And finally, her make up faded away as her body transitioned to that of a lean man only five and a half feet tall. “My name is Mack, nice to meet you.”
Woken violently from his nightly slumber, Valor had a bad feeling about that night. He could always tell when Mack was causing trouble, though up until recently it only harmless pranks on the family and house guests like flicking light switches and rearranging their stuff when they turned around. Normally the windows in his house open without much noise, but with the storm, he’d never get away with it. He’d have to sneak out through the sliding door in the back so his parents might just think the other one was letting the dogs out. Already changed into his uniform, if you could even barely call it such, Valor closed the door behind him and froze up when he saw his dad on sitting on the back porch having a smoke. He didn’t know what to do. If he told his dad what was going, would he even believe him and would he freak out? Even if he didn’t believe it, there is no way a kid his age should be sneaking out this late. For someone who could tank a miniature nuke without being phased, Valor was terrified by the thoughts running through his head.
“So, are you gonna go do what you gotta do or what?”
“Excuse me?”
“Listen, Tommy, I wasn’t born yesterday. It was more like thirty-six years ago. Most people probably don’t want to see it and your mom is just an idiot, but I’m not. I can recognize my own son running around the metroplex helping people and showing up on every news channel. You think I didn’t put two and two together when you started easily earning badges the older and bigger scouts physically had trouble getting?”
“So you aren’t mad?”
“I will be if you aren’t home before your mom’s meds wear off. Now scram before I have to smack you for not doing the right thing.”
Valor took off into the rain, flipping off the fence to their yard and hitting the streets. He summoned his new phone and hit the speed dial.
“Hey kid, wasn’t expecting to hear from you so soon. Checkin’ in on me, cause I swear I’ve been on my best behavior, mostly.”
“No, that’s not it. I know it’s only been a weekend, but I could sure use Diaphanes’ help.”
“I remember the offer, but what could you of all people need my help with.”
“It’s a… family issue. Normally I wouldn’t ask for help with this, but I think there might be more than I could handle alone.”
“Yikes.”
“You could say that again. Just meet me near the West End. Pretty sure you’ll see where to go from there.”
Back in downtown, Mack continued to egg on the self-proclaimed moon goddess while doing what he did best; fighting. With time being so much slower in Limbo, Mack has had more than enough time to study most forms of combat. So while a hooked sword would typically trump most other melee weapons in single combat, he decided to show off by turning his guitar into a pair of chains just because he knew better. Luna swept in fast like Mack or Valor would; quick enough cut through the air itself. The resulting sonic boom sent leaves, litter, and other lesser things flying as well as setting off all surrounding car alarms. An attack that would be unavoidable and lethal to just any mere human, but for Mack…
“Psh, child’s play,” he said wrapping his chain around her blade. “My usual sparring partner is way faster than that. You’re gonna have to step it up, little missy.” He then snagged her waist with the other chain and swung her around. The chains lengthened as she flew into a brick wall. Livid, she rose to her feet and rushed down her opponent once more.
“How is this for stepping it up!?”
“Yawn,” he said avoiding her reckless swings with ease. “You’ve got the strength, the speed, the pizzazz, but you lack any form. You lack experience. And most of all,” Mack uttered slamming his fist into her gut, “you lack the attitude it takes to win.”
Luna popped off the ground and bounced a quarter mile down the road. Mack turned his back and started to walk away. He had bigger fish to fry anyway. Being no great fool, he new Valor would show up soon enough. He has a funny way of finding Mack anytime he shows up on this plain, but the guy wouldn’t have it any other way. As he strolled off to find a more fun place to fight the real challenge, a sudden searing pain arose in his shoulder. All he saw was white light erupt from the other side.
“Ow! Now that was unexpected,” he exclaimed turning back at the girl who gripped a bow of hard light. “If you have tricks like that, you should really lead out with them. Especially against someone of my stature.”
“You’re stature? Bah, you’re barely as big as me. Besides, I am a goddess of the night, you could not com…”
“Hahaha, who are you lying to? Me, yourself, or the other one?”
“You mock me, after that shot?”
“You are no goddess, just as I am no demon. We might spin the fib, but such titles are beneath us.”
“Then what have you call us?”
“A good friend of mine refers to our likes as…”
Mack was cut off by a small fist crashing into his jaw at upwards of Mach 12.
“Anomalies,” Valor said with a rather displeased expression.
“Ah, speak of the devil, if it isn’t my favorite person.”
“Mack, why in God’s name are you back so soon? Any other time you were fine with leaving me all alone for months on end, but now that you decide to start trouble for everyone else it’s a good excuse to ‘play.’”
“Oh, don’t be that way. I told you, I came here to help. It’s just now I found a new plaything and really wanted to take her for a spin.”
“Yeah, right, you sure are helping by making a mess of everything and possibly ruining lives. Thanks.”
“Anytime, think nothing of it.”
“Hey!” They both looked over to Luna still holding her bowstring taut. “I’m still here you know.”
“I’ll deal with you in a minute after I send off this jerk.” Mack gave off a posh look of shock to sarcastically woe toward Valor, but Luna wasn’t happy to be dismissed like that. She came out to help the meek and feels just as capable as anyone else. She released her arrow at Valor to show that she was not to be put off so easily. The arrow flew as fast as the light it was made from. Within a blink of the eye, an explosion of light and plasma let loose at the boys’ location. As the light dispersed, it became clearer to see the tiny star resting in Valor’s palm.
“Very nice, I wasn’t aware your reaction time had gotten so fast.”
“How,” Luna muttered in confusion, “how did you do that?”
“Oh come on, it’s simple. He did it the same way you do.”
“Ease up on her Mack, she clearly doesn’t understand how her powers work, she just acts.”
“Wow, that’s pretty sad. Even you managed to figure out what you were doing without me explaining it.”
“Not that I’d even figure out that I could without you showing up.”
“Oh you, give yourself a little more credit. I only sped things up for you.”
“Will someone please tell me what just happened!” Luna screamed in anger. “Why didn’t my arrow pierce you?”
“I’ll explain it. After all, I came here to have fun tonight and I simply can’t pass up a chance to monologue.”
“I’ll give you this, but make it quick so I can send you home and go back to bed.”
“Ha, that’s if you even can. Like you, I learn,” Mack retorted before vanishing. In a fraction of a second, he reappeared behind the young woman. “Boo!”
“AHCK!” She screamed and fired her bow from the anxiety. Mack easily vanished and appeared again between each shot until she calmed back down and he rested in a nearby tree.
“Physics are a touchy thing you know,” he stated while apparating an apple into his hand and taking a bite. “Lot’s of complicated math involved, but if really make the effort, maybe build a fancy doodad, there isn’t much you can’t do. Smash atoms, terraform planets, reach near proximity to the speed of light; all of this is possible through conventional means. Much of what we do, falls outside of those limitations. And I know what you’re thinking because you’ve had to have been told stories in your life, but it’s not magic either. With magic you can defy the means of thermodynamics, but not the ends. It’s like a shortcut or a backdoor. Magic could bring me everything I need for a fire and spark it up right where I want it, set electrons to fly off for a bolt of lightning from my fingertips, or perhaps even lift someone through the air, though I’ve yet to witness that last one. Even with all it can do, the system still reacts to magic in the same way as everything else and the magic fades as soon as you stop putting energy into it. But there is something more fascinating than anything else. The father-code of the system itself… um, what was it you called it again?”
“Entropic existencience.”
“Ah, yes. Existencience. Such a beautiful word, isn’t it? Anyhow, existencience allows us to mess with the world at it’s most base level. Run at speeds greater than anything built by man without our bodies and clothes being torn up by the forces of friction. Alter our clothes and form without even thinking about it. Creating stars so small they’d burn out instantly or never even form in the first place. Or in your case, condense light into a solid object without it gaining mass or losing volatility. The fabric of the universe adjusts to our actions and unless we will it hard enough it not to, it stabilizes itself to the best of its ability afterward.”
“You’re monsters.”
“Welcome to the club. Sorry, but we’re out of membership cards.”
“So that’s how you guys work.” A familiar voice echoed from the alley Mack and Luna were previously within. “I was awfully curious before, but this really has the gears turning now.”
Comments (1)
See all