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Post by Gaia on May 31, 2015 14:56:44 GMT -6
Two masked thugs all dressed in black exited the convenient store with a bag of money in their hands. The first thug was holstering his weapon while the second carried the bag looking it over.
“We got the money,” said the second thug.
Mere seconds later the bag was snatched out of his hands.
“We lost the money,” he continued.
The two thugs looked up to the sky to see Gaia floating on a flat platform, the bag underneath her arm while she waved with her free hand.
“What the fuck!?” exclaimed the first thug.
The two thugs drew their weapons and were about to fire on Gaia until the superhero crashed down against the ground using the vibration to knock the crooks off their feet. Gaia dropped the bag onto the platform and held it down with a pair of vines before lifting herself back up.
The first thug went for his gun only to watch helplessly as it sank into the ground, as if the ground itself became like quicksand.
“What the fuck are you!?” screamed the first thug.
He didn't get an answer. Instead, he found his legs being fused into the concrete the second he got up. The man struggled to break free to no prevail while Gaia turned on the second thug. He took one look at his partner, dropped his gun, and ran for the hills. To his surprise, a piece of the ground shot up in front of him forming a wall and hitting him right in the face. Gaia swooped in and the man looked up with his hands clamped together in a plea.
“Please let me go out with dignity!”
Gaia rubbed her chin in thought, and then seconds later the thug found himself hanging upside down a street light tied up in vines as the police made their way to the scene.
“Not even a shred of dignity!”
Gaia smiled and waved goodbye to the two men before entering the convenient store and dropping the bag of money onto the counter where the cashier was staying.
“I believe this is yours,” said Gaia.
Gaia left the store and took off into the air on her platform. The cashier looked out the window to see her take off and then pulled out the wine bottle from behind his desk. He was going to need it after tonight.
Gaia soared high through the air with the wind in her face, enjoying the rush that came with flying as she continued her patrol above the streets of Kansas City.
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Post by Zira Firestone on May 31, 2015 15:39:36 GMT -6
She told them to stay away. She told them not to touch her. They didn't listen. They never do and it cost them. It cost them their lives.
Smoke drifted up into the night's sky as the flames burned brightly over the psychiatric hospital. If you could even cal it a hospital. Burning. Unforgivable burning! Zira could feel the pain from the victims still trapped inside. Doctors and patients alike. She could hear them screaming. Screaming... STOP THAT WRECTHED SCREAMING!
Fire scorched her flesh and released from her hands rendering the people inside to ash. Silence. Wonderful silence. It was all she ever wanted. Why couldn't everything just be quiet?
Zira climbed up to the roof of the building standing on the ledge. She glanced down to the streets below. All she had to do was take a single step and it would be over. No more screaming. No more trying. No more pain. All she ever wanted.
The Firebird took a breath, the last breath she would ever take, and stepped off the ledge. Falling... Falling... Falling...
Falling to freedom...
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Post by Gaia on May 31, 2015 16:26:26 GMT -6
Gaia's nostrils flared at the scent of smoke and held a firm grip on the side of the platform to steer it to the right and soar faster through the air as she found the burning building up ahead. Just then, emerald green eyes through black goggles saw a woman falling from the rooftop and to her death. With no time to waste, Gaia picked up speed through and hovered underneath Zira's position, grabbing her with her hands and holding her in her arms.
“Got ya!”
She had no idea that the woman in question wanted to die. How could she? All she saw was a person in need and did what any good hero would do. Save her. Gaia flew down a few blocks away from the fire and put Zira down safely on the ground.
“Stay here. I'm going to go see if anyone else is in the building.”
Gaia turned around and lifted up the platform with her hands as she planted her feet firmly against it and flew away.
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Post by Zira Firestone on May 31, 2015 17:08:48 GMT -6
Sweet release – wait, no. Something was wrong. The pain... the pain was still present. Why? Why would the pain still be present!? She was dead! She should be at peace! Zira opened her eyes and saw that a woman in a bicycle helmet and goggles had a hold of her. No. No, no, no, no, no! NO! This woman saved her! This woman kept her from the peace she so longed for. DAMN HER!
"Yeah, save my life even though I wanted to die. Thanks!"
Sarcasm? That was unlike her. It must have been something the woman did a lot. Be sarcastic. She seemed like the sarcastic type. What was this unbearable weight on her shoulders right now? Guilt? No. Zira didn't feel guilty for her actions. It was the woman again. Unbearable guilt. Why such guilt? Zira looked down at the ground she was now standing on while Gaia flew away. The Firebird looked up to her in anger. This was own her emotion. Not something the woman could replace with her own. And anger always led to hatred.
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
Zira outstretched her hand and the platform underneath Tori's feet began to collapse in on itself. Tearing apart and being thrown in several different directions through the air leaving the superhero with nothing to ride on, and the only thing she could do now was obey the laws of gravity.
And gravity said fall down.
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Post by Gaia on May 31, 2015 18:44:33 GMT -6
“W-what?”
Gaia was taken aback by Zira's statement to say the least. All this time rescuing civilians, and she never thought what would happen if one of them wanted to die. But that wasn't something she could focus on right now. She had a burning building full of people to save. While Gaia was heading towards them her platform collapsed and broke apart, causing Gaia to fall to the ground. Thankfully, she wasn't that high up off the ground so she pushed her hands against the streets upon landing and jumped up through the air, spinning her body around and landing on her feet now looking back at Zira.
'Did she do that?' thought Gaia. “Look, lady, I don't have time for you!”
Gaia extended her palm and shot out a vine line that wrapped itself around Zira to hold her in place until Gaia could deal with her later.
“Just sit tight and you can yell at me later.”
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Post by Zira Firestone on May 31, 2015 21:57:49 GMT -6
Did she... did she just tie her down with vines? Fucking vines?! If Zira was the type to laugh she would have been hysterical right about now. Vines! Plants! Grass! This woman had no idea - NO IDEA! Zira could hear her thoughts. Not something she enjoyed. Noise. That wretched noise! It never ended with her. NEVER ENDED!
"No, it was the fucking wind!"
Sarcasm and anger oozed out of Zira's mouth like a poison as her arms were set ablazed and the restraints were incinerated. She charged up the flames and released them in two separate torrents towards Gaia.
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Post by Gaia on Jun 1, 2015 3:09:48 GMT -6
Gaia's cocked an eyebrow when Zira replied. She knew she hadn't said that out loud so that only meant one thing: this woman was a telepath, and most likely had telekinesis powers to boot. Hence her platform collapsing on her. Luckily for her, she played the Mantis boss fight on Metal Gear Solid so she knew to clear her mind. At least, she cleared her mind to the best of her ability. To make matters worse, Zira was a pyrokinetic, too. What's next, empathy?
Gaia pulled up a piece of the ground to create a new platform and hoisted herself into the air and over the flames. Knowing the likelihood of Zira repeating what she did earlier was high, Gaia landed the platform and then proceeded to shift the ground beneath Zira's feet to fuse her into it up to her knee. It wouldn't be easy breaking out of that even with telekinesis given that her legs was now a part of the concrete.
“Now, if you'd excuse me... I really MUST be going!”
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Post by Superwoman on Jun 1, 2015 21:23:10 GMT -6
Gaia wouldn't be fighting on her own for very long. Kara heard the screams of the people inside the burning building and zipped through the air at top speeds breaking the sound barrier as she did so. She came to a halt just outside of the building and used her X-Ray vision to see where all the people trapped inside were. One by one with a combination of her speed and flight she grabbed the people still inside and got them out. Putting them down where she heard the firefighters and ambulances coming, but firefighters wouldn't be needed.
Superwoman flew back into the air and hovered over the building. With a deep breath, she released a powerful gush of wind that extinguished the flames before they could do anymore damage to the property. Her ear twitched and head turned to see the ongoing conflict between Gaia and Zira. The Woman of Steel flew down to where the two were fighting and stood next to Gaia. "Need a hand? You don't have to worry about the burning building anymore. I took care of it"
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Post by Zira Firestone on Jun 1, 2015 21:55:02 GMT -6
People always thought that it was easy to just clear your mind of all distractions, but it wasn't. That required hours of mediation to achieve a blank state, and even if you could manage that, thoughts in the moments were trickier to hide. Obviously, in order to make a move you had to think about the move. Few people could just do something out of instinct. Actual thought needed to be behind the action. That was where Zira held the advantage.
But even if she couldn't read minds, she didn't need telepathy to tell that the ground beneath her feet was changing. She rolled forward and away from where the floor tried to fuse with her legs. Returning to her feet and unleashing another wave of fire at Gaia, her arms covered in third degree burns from the flames. The Firebird's eyes would divert over to Superwoman and something strange occurred. She couldn't read her. No thoughts. No emotions. Nothing.
"Who are you?"
Zira looked back to the hospital to find the flames have been put out, but the firefighters haven't even pulled up in front of the building yet. Zira looked back to Superwoman in confusion. It wasn't everyday she came across somebody she couldn't read, and while it was something she longed for, being exposed to it was terrifying.
"What did you do?"
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Post by Gaia on Jun 1, 2015 22:13:57 GMT -6
Great, this person was somewhat competent. Gaia would just have to keep putting up obstacles to buy her time to save the people from the hospital. Before the flames could come into contact with her, she raised her hands in the air and the ground raised up into a wall shielding her from the flames. However, right when she was about to fly away, Superwoman showed up and Gaia saw that the hospital situation has been taken care of.
Gaia took a good look at Superwoman. Noticing the S on her chest. She'd heard of the Woman of Steel from the Daily Planet. One of the superheroes to appear after Gaia began headlining herself. Shame she didn't have all those abilities that Superwoman had. It's like she went to a power store and bought every ability they had before anyone else could have a slice. Gaia shook out of those thoughts and looked back to Zira.
“I was handling it.”
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Post by Superwoman on Jun 1, 2015 22:37:57 GMT -6
Kara looked over to the wall that was burnt to a crisp. "Yeah, I'm sure." Superwoman turned her attention to Zira in time for her question. "My job." Superwoman began to take a couple of steps closer to Zira while still maintaining her distance. She wasn't concerned about the flames, or anything really. An entire life of repelling bullets and other dangerous things made her more relaxed than anyone else in the world. She was confident the fire would do nothing if she came into direct contact with them. Superwoman was merely trying not to startle the woman too much. "Did you start that fire back there?"
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Post by Zira Firestone on Jun 1, 2015 22:58:28 GMT -6
The woman avoided her first question, but it didn't matter. Gaia answered it for her. Superwoman. That must be what the S stood for. Super. Going off what the red and green costume freak was thinking this woman was a lot stronger than she was, and not being able to read her mind meant the Woman of Steel had her at a disadvantage. She was starting to feel insecure, and that insecurity wasn't just her own.
"W-what if I did?"
Zira backed away when Superwoman made her approach, and stopped when she did. Her eyes were fixated on her. Watching her every move in case she tried something. Eyes were the only thing the Firebird could rely on now.
"It's over! It's done!"
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Post by Gaia on Jun 1, 2015 23:18:59 GMT -6
“Do you see any of it on me?” Tori shot back.
She wasn't about to be criticized when she was the first superhero to lace her boots, running shoes in this case, and fought against crime with the police. Crime which began to lower thanks to her intervention as she liked to point out to her friends. That, however, was quite petty right now. There was still the matter of a hothead who could read minds and Gaia had to be careful what she thought about.
“Is that why you jumped? You felt guilty for starting the fire?”
Zira wasn't trying to hurt either of them, so Gaia had no reason to continue the fight. Superwoman's appearance had been helpful in that fact, and she was grateful that she appeared to take care of the civilians in danger when Gaia couldn't. With any luck the fighting would end here.
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Post by Superwoman on Jun 1, 2015 23:27:15 GMT -6
Curious. Zira was afraid of her, but not Gaia? Why? Did her reputation precede her or something? Maybe she was just frightened in general with everything that happened. This wasn't any ordinary woman, the third degree burns on her arms proved that. Kara turned her head back to Gaia when she mentioned Zira's jump. She tried to kill herself? Kara turned to face Zira again and gently held out a hand towards her as she moved closer. "I don't want to hurt you. I only want to help. You don't have to be afraid anymore."
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Post by Zira Firestone on Jun 1, 2015 23:48:39 GMT -6
"Y-yeah! That's right. I-it was an accident. I didn't mean to start that fire, but - but I couldn't stop it."
Zira was lying through her teeth right now, but if the pair wanted to believe she tried to take her own life out of guilt then let them. Zira knew the real reason and it wasn't something she was going to share with two strangers. One of which she was engaged in battle with until the new arrival showed up. Just when things seemed to be calming down, Superwoman extended her hand. Why would she extend her hand out like that? Unless... Unless...!
"Don't!"
In an instant, Zira's arms lit back on fire and she stood there ready to attack.
"Don't touch me! DON'T ANYBODY TOUCH ME!"
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