Genesis: World Gone Mad

Friend and Foe Part 2

Chelsea Pov

Waiting is always the worst part. Especially in this world gone mad of ours. One minute you think that things could go back to the way things were and bam, giant sentient cockroaches pop out of the ground. Today was no different as I had to pull off yet another all-nighter to wait and see when the Prophet's horrible proclamation would come to pass. When I chose the name Prophecy, I did it to remind myself that I had put everyone on this uncertain future of ours. Every piece of slander that I received this past year is warranted. I find it even more despicable that some random, meaningless sociopath would even dare use my name for something as perverted as this.

    I made the Champions rebuild a separate world while he seeks to divide even further. And on my soul, I will use every bit of my power to make sure that his perversion will never come to pass. Luckily for me, I didn't have to wait long until to see which one of our ideals will truly last because as soon as morning shone upon the ruined city of Philly, my police scanner got reports of attacks in 3 locations. Once I knew the identity of my attackers, I sent the proper Champions out to each attack and prepared myself.

    Ivan Pov

    Despite Prophecy's orders, I didn't sleep; I was far too angry for any of that. When I came to America, I thought it was to make a new start, but it seems that I hadn't escaped anything. Ursa was still somewhere in this city, free to plan and hide behind any Helix that he pleased. And even when I thought I was free to pursue my freedom, it seems that another person close to me was trapped in a potentially endless cycle. Which makes what I'm about to do so much worse.

    With Chelsea providing Reconnaissance from the air, I was able to get a bird's eye view of the police headquarters I got to work relatively fast. Depending on perspective, my "target" was already busy taking care of the brunt of the scattered police. Knowing that they were mind-controlled victims made my job so much harder as I had to fight them and the cops. Luckily for me, they were unfocused, so obsessed with their mindless mission that they had lost all immediate focus. After half a dozen cops and helixes were down, I quickly piled onto the wrecked and evacuated top floor. Using a stolen police flare, I signaled my final stand as I prepared for one of the toughest fights of my career. Too bad Prophecy decided to interject my clear focus.

    "You only get one shot at this Winter are you sure you can sync up?"

    "I'm sure Prophecy, I just need to make sure your calculations and location are correct as well," I said passive-aggressively.

     A couple of seconds later, I closed my eyes and focused the endless storm inside straight into my arms and let it accumulate over time. The closest thing I could compare it to was sticking my bare hands into a cold bucket of shard-like ice. In this state, the world seemed to slow down to an unbearable crawl with my surroundings fading into the ether. This crawl only stopped when Prophecy in tensed breath said one pivotal word.

    "Now!"

    In that second, my eyes flew open, but I knew that Prophecy was wrong. Three seconds later, I felt my gut cave in from a punch, unlike any other! With my focus finally interrupted, my accumulated power unleashed its full force onto Wildfire! And as our combined might send both of colliding into separate walls, I braced myself for when I would have to get back up again!

Because unlike the other Champions, I knew that my power differed. Besides Alchemist, every other Champion has limits; what they do is what they do. In a sense, there is peace in knowing that. But I know better than anyone that my power is far more significant than my body could ever support. This means that if it ever came to the wire, it would be my will, my resolve that decided life and death. It was a gap I knew that I could never surpass, with the battle against Gyro and Barrier proving that all the more.