Crisis of The Worlds: Weathering The Storm

Emotional Struggle

Upon all the heroes having returned from the other Earths, Night Owl and Lady Lone Star looked over at Dagger. "What'd we miss?" she asked. "Ask Scissors." Dagger said, pointing to another room.

Lady Lone Star ran over and saw Scissors sitting there, looking at the suit.

"What the hell's going on?" Lady Lone Star asked. Scissors just started crying. "Zack...he died. He volunteered to power the machine after I helped him escape from Empress Liy. It should have been me..." Scissors said sobbing.

Lady Lone Star bowed her head in solemn understanding. "As much as many of us may have respected him, we can't grieve just yet. We still got a fight on our hands. We've saved our worlds for the moment, but we've got to fight the cracker barrel behind all this. His courage ought to give all of us courage."

"Yes...I could take some of you with me to her lab. Sage, Kama, and Reglissina would probably be the best to take, though we would need many more to have a chance." Scissors said.

"We'll need to discuss that with the others." Lady Lone Star said, offering a hand to Scissors in order to help him to his feet. They walked out, and as the others were chatting, one person was conspicuously quiet. Soshi, sitting out of the way of everyone else. The two of them didn't care. Soshi seemed to have no emotional investment in the conflict for some reason. His expression was that of tired disinterest. At the same time, The Cape and Kama did notice Soshi's disdain for the setting. The Cape raised an eyebrow, looking at Soshi and then back to Kama. "What's he doing here if he's just going to sit and be depressed when there's still preparing to do?" Kama looked at Soshi. "I actually think we should check on him. I very often worry about him." she replied before walking over to Soshi, The Cape following her in turn.

"Is something wrong?" Kama asked. Soshi sat up before eventually responding. "There's no point in hiding it. My late wife and two late children briefly appeared and then vanished down to the fact that multiple Earths and the Aether are now merging, and then Zack just sacrificed himself... It's just all soul-crushing." Soshi said. Kama frowned. "I'm sorry to hear that, but we're fighting a war. We can't really grieve until we win on all fronts knowing who we're going up against. I have good news, though. We know that the person behind this to be called Liy."

A message came up on the computer. Launch Pad opened it. "It's from the Floral Queen. She wants to see you personally, Soshi." Soshi sighed. "I'll be right back." he said before snapping his fingers and vanishing. "The one other problem we still have is that the Earths are still merging for some reason. I hope Soshi and the Floral Queen can figure out how to fix that." Dagger said. "I'm almost certain Queen Nam Yo Jong is just calling to apologize." Agate said. Dagger rolled his eyes.

Meanwhile, Obliv walked over to where Scissors was. Scissors was sitting against a wall. "Are you okay? I didn't think that Zack's death would affect you so much." Scissors sighed. "You don't understand. He was such a great man. I'm some guy who used to use his super speed to be a criminal. Why would he volunteer to take my place if he knew it would kill him? Why am I alive and not him?" Scissors asked, looking up at Obliv. Obliv knelt down to him. "Scott, he'd have felt the same way if it happened to you. He did what he did because he wanted to save lives, no matter what. Maybe if you're going to honor him, you should take up the mantle."
Scissors looked away. "No. I couldn't possibly do that."

As everyone else was chatting, Soshi returned and retreated to Launch Pad's office. Orb looked at Soshi as he entered said office. Where as most people's auras shone brightly for her when she was actively using her powers to see them, Soshi's was barely even visible, the only colors she could make out were an immensely weak purple, an extremely slight tint of red, and a slightly lighter shade of what looked like light purple. She walked over to Reglissina. "Liq, do you think we should go talk to Soshi? To see if he's all right?" Liq nodded. "Absolutely." The two of them walked into Launch Pad's office, seeing Soshi just sitting there.

"General, is everything all right?" Orb asked timidly. Soshi looked up to see her and Reglissina, not sure how to respond. "Uhh...Yeah. I'm fine. Shouldn't you be with Obliv?" Soshi mentioned, trying to get Orb to go away. Orb could sense Soshi's disdain for her. "Obliv is busy talking with Scissors. Zack the Zipper's death hit Scissors really hard, and you can understand why." Soshi nodded.

"Zack was a hero. A a truly good man. I decided to do research on him, and he always comes up in the American media as this guy who's out there for everyone. He operated mostly in the Bronx, but he was happy to help other places too. Doing research into the man behind the mask was heartbreaking. Zachary Philips used to be a detective, and then started a really large charity organization a little bit after his first appearance as Zack the Zipper.
After Zack announced his retirement due to cancer, people described it as if the world had become a little bit darker. He had a heart of gold. He was only out there to protect civilians. I had him released as part of a prisoner exchange, and he continued to protect civilians. He never picked up a gun, and he didn't need to." Soshi said.

"I'm personally shocked at how well you're handling it. Knowing...well...how berserk you went when your family and CC died. And thinking on that now, I was told you had received a call from your wife. Are you all right?" Reglissina asked after building up to the question as gently as she could. Soshi was slow to craft a response. He understood Liq wasn't the Forsaken that had attempted to destroy the Aether, but he still felt hatred for her. "They disappeared again. I don't care anymore. It's all pointless. I'm angry, but it won't change where I'm headed."

"What do you mean?" Orb asked. Soshi carefully considered his words. "I sent myself to hell accepting Dagger's deal, and I don't see a future for myself once my son moves out. I should have let myself die in the void of the far, far, far future I dragged you into." Soshi said before covering his face. "I hate that a man like Zack died where I survived."

"Soshi, that's...disturbing." Orb said. Reglissina spoke. "General, I know how it feels. I was possessed for centuries before Dagger and his team exorcised me by accident. I know that you're feeling the burden of your past and your brokenness weighing on you, and I'm feeling it too. But Zack would want us to be grateful that we still have our second chances at life." Reglissina said. Soshi sighed. "You're right. We have to keep on so his death wasn't in vain."

To Be Continued....