Cybil (2018) #projectsuper

Chapter 3: In the Rain

A heavy clap of thunder served as Cybil's introduction to the outside world.

She had scaled a service elevator and sped her way through a network of labyrinthine rooms to make it outside of the underground laboratory where she'd been born. She had only been running for about five minutes and yet was already soaked.

She remembered clearly the missions she'd just been given.

"Your mission...is to break that man's arm!"

She hasn't given it a thought. She leapt on top of her target and kept wrenching his arm out of proper position until she heard a loud snap.

Mission accomplished.

And then...

"Patch him up. Go to the closest pharmacy and get the bandages you need."

The tenor of that deep voice made her commit to a completely unnecessary motion.

She'd shuddered.

As she stealthily moved from building to building, avoiding rain-obscured streetlights, she had completely focused on the 24-hour pharmacy up ahead, she hadn't noticed that she was being watched.

The watcher, perched on a nearby rooftop, would have raised some eyebrows: a boy, Asian in appearance, in a wheelchair. That alone wouldn't have raised many eyebrows. Maybe the lack of legs dangling from that chair as well as the black canister attached to his back would do it. It certainly did to some...much more than he'd ever desire to remember.

His cell phone rang, piercing his thoughts. He knew the number.

"Hello."

"You finally find your way up there, lad?"

That trademark Scottish accent of hers had always bothered him...

"Now, Raelynn. I've told you over and over again. Stop calling me 'lad'. I'm not your son."

"Would you prefer it if I called you 'The Eternal Wanderer'?" she asked innocently.

"No."

"How 'bout 'Ryu-san'?"

"Stop. It's Ryu. Nothing more, nothing less."

"What about 'The Fist That Knows No End'?"

"Does it look like I'm any good at close..." he began to hiss before the words died in his throat.

"...Uh, what's up?" Raelynn asked after a period of silence.

"I've got a lock on your little sister."

Few things could knock Raelynn out of her happy-go-lucky demeanor quite like this.

"Huh?"

"She's headed into...a pharmacy. Seems like she's on a mission. She's oblivious to us."

"Oh," the girl responded soberly. "So, I'm to assume this is what you've been doing gallivanting off outside of H.Q., then."

"I haven't been out here for fun, I've been finding our family. And I think I've already found out where your dad is."

"R-Really?"

He barely got the word "yes" out before he had to hold the phone away from His ear to muffle the delighted squeals. He couldn't help but smile at this. At least she was enjoying this.

"You think she's...like us?" Raelynn asked after calming down.

Ryu sat back in his chair, stroking a nonexistent beard as he thought. "Well, her abilities seem superhuman, at least barely. Then again, thanks to the antics of some people, I couldn't pay total attention..."

"...sorry."

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure she'll be like us. The others were."

"..."

"You okay, Rae?"

"You keep talking about these guys, my family." She sounded like a young child waiting to open a birthday present. "When do I get to meet them?"

As an alarm rang out through the storm, Rain had already turned his red bandanna into a glorified wash rag.

"Soon. Soon."