Mom, I'm Bulletproof

Chapter 11.7: Answers

"You ungrateful little shits," Corruption said to the Mirai students as they surrounded her. "I'm preparing you for the hard, cold realities of life."

"We decide our reality," Liz said. "Not you."

Wendall nodded. "Yeah. Not you."

The students all aimed their weapons and fired. Blasts of various lights, beams, and flames shot toward Corruption. Corruption covered her face while being bombarded by light and energy of various kinds.

Future Girl, whose secret identity was an expert in theoretical physics, could only guess how many different kinds of weapons the students fired at their headmistress. She felt bursts of extreme cold and extreme heat, saw lasers cutting into Corruption's skin, and could smell the stink of biological weapons in the air around the woman.

Corruption dropped to her knees, covering her face with her hands. Her arms and thighs bled while bombarded by her students.

Light and fire and energy burned around Corruption as she stayed on her knees, with the students' attacks bursting and cracking around her.

Future Girl flew straight at the woman, feeling the combined energies swirling around her as she got close. She fought against the students attacks and concentrated on Corruption.

Future Girl decided on the direct approach. She made a fist and punched Corruption in the face. The older woman fell onto her back, in a daze as various student-invented weapons shot at her.

Now right in front of Corruption, Future Girl lifted the woman up, holding her by her bruised and bleeding forearms. In the midst of the swirling covered lights and flames raging across the two of them, Corruption's eyes burned with a brilliant white light, brighter than all the energy crackling around them.

"You cannot defeat corruption," the headmistress said, raising a leg and kicking Future Girl in the stomach.

Future Girl fell backwards, unprepared for the force of the kick. Her back hit a hard surface, which she figured must have been the science building, across the campus green from the mathematics building.

Future Girl braced for the inevitable, hearing the brick and mortar building crack and creak above her.

Liz ran up to Future Girl. "Are you all right?" she said.

Future Girl started to cry out a warning but was not quick enough. The multiple floors above her cracked, snapped and fell apart, an avalanche of brick, mortar, nails, and age-old wood started to fall, collapsing right onto Future Girl. With her skin still stinging from numerous burns and energy attacks, Future Girl couldn't react in time as the multi-story building collapsed around her. Someone else, however, did react in time.

"Liz, look out!" Wendall shouted, jumping toward Liz and pushing her away from the collapsing structure.

There were a few seconds of raw sound as the building broke apart and fell onto Future Girl, burying her under tons of debris. She flew upwards and punched through layer after layer of collapsed building until emerging into the sky and breathing in the cool night air.

Future Girl looked around. The entire building had collapsed, leaving a small mountain of rubble in its place. Way off to one side, Liz was on her back on the campus green. Wendall was on top of her, having pulled her away from the destruction.

Liz inhaled deeply and gazed into his eyes. "You saved my life."

"Yeah," he said. "I did."

Liz placed her left hand behind Wendall's neck and drew him closer to her. They kissed.

The rest of the Mirai students had retreated away from the destroyed building. They readied their homemade weapons again.

"She is not your future," Corruption said to the group. "I am. Reject me and you'll all end up homeless."

Future Girl looked to the students. "Just do what you feel is right," she said.

Most of the students turned their attention to Corruption, firing different forms of energy blasts and cutting lasers at the woman. One girl had a sloppily made flamethrower, which Future Girl hoped wouldn't singe the campus green.

Corruption swung her fists, swatting away various attacks from the student weapons. Future Girl again flew straight at the headmaster. Taking advantage of the students' distractions. Corruption stood her ground, taking some hits while swatting others away from her.

Future Girl, flying low along the ground, weaved through layers of student attacks. Future Girl grabbed hold of Corruption's right arm and flew upward. All the lights and fires of the student attacks faded as Future Girl carried the headmaster higher and higher into the sky.

"What are you going to do?" Corruption said. "Throw me into the sun? Toss me into deep space? Fly me out to the nearest black hole and wipe me from existence completely?"

"Something like that." Future Girl continued flying upward, holding Corruption by her arm.

"I doubt you're a killer," Corruption said, "but if you were, you would not condemn me to lifelessness without knowing what I know about the Temple."

Future Girl stopped and lifted Corruption up so they could look eye to eye.

"You're lying."

"I am corrupt. I will gladly sell out my superiors to survive. That's my way."

Future Girl kept flying. The temperature dropped, and crystalline ice started forming on their skin and clothes. "Oh God!" Corruption screamed. "You can't do this! Don't kill me! Please don't kill me!"

Future Girl continued higher, ice covering their bodies in large clumps, Future Girl could see the curve of the Earth below her and the endless starscape ahead of her.

"All right, I'll tell you, but you'll be disappointed," Corruption said, her voice raw and gasping. "The Temple's leadership resides in two locations, one beneath a museum and one on board a submarine. They have never told me any details beyond that, in case someone gets me to talk. As long as I did my important work and weakened my students, they've paid me well and granted me power. They've changed my life. They'll change the world. All glory to the Temple."

"How do I find them?" Future Girl said. "Who's your contact?"

Corruption smiled, her lips cracking the cold. "One does not contact the Temple. The Temple contacts you."

"Not good enough. Give me specifics. What museum? The British Museum? What submarine? Give me a name!"

"I do not know because I'm smart enough not to ask. All that matters is recruitment, and my great work of corrupting all my students."

"Yeah, let's see about that."

Future Girl grabbed Corruption, holding the woman close to her, and then flew back downward, as fast as she could. The ice around both of their bodies cracked apart and steamed off of them as they fell through the cloud layer. For a few seconds, purple energy blasted out of Corruption, for another burning sensation on Future Girl's arms, but Future Girl did not let go.

Future Girl spotted the Mirai campus green and aimed for it. She pushed Corruption away from her and grabbed the woman's wrist. She then threw Corruption straight downward. Seconds later, she saw a large brown circle replace part of the green.

Future Girl floated down to the ground. She stood on the grass in front of what was now a large crater in the center of the green. Corruption was in the bottom of the crater, shaking in a fetal position.

The rest of the Mirai students gathered around, staring down at their defeated headmaster.

"The future is up to you," Future Girl said. "Do what youwill."

# # # # 

Next: Pajama party.