Heroes Rising Fiction: Seething Shadows part 3

 Crowds of tourists and locals alike milled about on this fine sunny afternoon. The Left Bank was at its prime again after two years of reconstruction from the last incident in Paris. The sight of all those heroes battling Cupid was a fading memory to those who experienced it.

This was the least of concerns on the mind of Maurice, the head server of the oldest and most luxurious sidewalk bistro on the Seine. He hurried off a couple from Texas that were loud and annoying and breathed a sigh of relief when he set eyes on a high fashion woman of elegance.

“Welcome.” He said in French.

The lady in black approached with all the glamour in the world. Her stride was graceful, her appearance impeccable. “Ah, a table, my good man. One with a view of the Eiffel Tower.”

“Oh, but madame, the only tables with a good view are occupied. Perhaps one with a lovely view of the river.” He offered her a table.

She reached up and brushed her gloved hand down his chin. He gained an amorous smile. With a little pout, she said, “But I wish to watch the tower this afternoon.”

“Oui, Madame, it will be but a moment.” He rushed over and rudely demanded a gentleman to give up his table and leave. This was met with loud yelling from the rich customer, but Maurice was immovable in his passion. Once the table was free, he quickly ushered her over to it. “Will this do?”

She sank down in the chair like a cat slithering onto a perch before pouncing. “It will do just fine. Now, bring your finest wine.”

“At once, my lady.” He bowed and ran.

Another man approached from outside the cafe, wearing a fine black suit and with a little mask over his eyes, like he was going to a fine masquerade ball. “It is done, my lady.”

“Good. I shall enjoy this. Go, tell the others to move on. I will meet you in Ka’an Dorado. The party will begin there soon.”

“Yes, my lady.” He bowed and rushed away as if her order was of the utmost urgency.

She pulled out a pair of gilded opera glasses and looked through them. A figure of a woman stood on
the edge of the tower many stories above the ground. She had glorious butterfly wings and a purple outfit to match the extravagant colors. The dark lady cooed, “Now, my pet, let’s see how this little hero deal with you.”

Screams and a mad dash erupted throughout the heart of Paris as a monstrous shadow beast arose out of nowhere. With heavy growling, Krampus loped across the city, scattering people and objects in his path.

To the dark lady’s delight, the butterfly winged woman jumped into action and confronted this foe.

Director Nova walked with Justin and Arx as they gave him an update about the Atlas project.

Arx pointed at a tablet in his hands. “We have a complete registration from all the Leagues. Everyone wants to get the Atlas alerts.”

“Good. I like to hear the cooperation.” Nova said.

Agent Justin added, “This is the best PR BADGE has had since before the World Corps situation. The United Nations loves this, the people are praising it, heroes are all getting great poll numbers.”

Nova said, “I never wanted this work to be about popularity. But I understand the need for public approval. Good work, I...”

Gar’s voice came over the comm. “Director, it’s Krampus again. This time, he’s attacking Paris.”

Director Nova swore under his breath and clicked his comm. “I’m on my way to Operations. Get in touch with all the Leagues in the area.”

“Already trying.” Gar said.

Nova left the pair and rushed back toward the operations center. After a brief ride up the elevator, he raced out to the floor of the command.

“Report!” He came to a quick stop when he saw the monitors filled with images from Paris of the attack as it was happening live.

Gar said, “We have lots of images and readings from the local security systems.”

Nova frowned. “Who’s he attacking? I don’t recognize that hero?”

On the screen, the same butterfly hero fluttered around Krampus, keeping away from him and responding with blasts of pink energy from her mouth.

“We don’t know, sir. She appears to be an unregistered meta-human.” Gar said.

Nova asked, “Where is BADGE support? What Leagues responded?”

Gar said, “None. We couldn’t get through.”

“What! Give me that!” He grabbed the tablet out of Gar’s hands and typed furiously onto the screen. Nasty buzzing sounds was all he got in return for his attempts to contact someone. “What’s wrong?”

A robot answered, “Comm lines to Paris are down. Comm lines to surrounding areas are down. Fight Club comms are down. System in completely lock-down.”

Nova slowly looked up with a realization in his eye. “This was planned. Robot, use the bypass protocols to send a signal directly to that heroes comm unit. It should get through...”

“Negative. Hero is not registered. Hero must be registered to...”

“I know. Damn.” Nova looked up at the screen as this butterfly winged girl was now trying to run from the battle. “This is why I want heroes to register with us. We can help, we can do something to make sure they have all the support they need. She shouldn’t be alone. I...”

Both he and Gar gasped when they watched Krampus grab her, rip her wings off, and then slam her to the ground. The scene on the pavement was gruesome.

“Oh, my god.” Nova whispered.

Gar said, “I will try to get through to medical teams.”

“There’s nothing left to save. This... this just changed everything. This creature is willing to kill.”

While citizens were still in an uproar, the dark lady sipped her wine with one hand and continued to watch through her opera glasses.

“Wonderful. They’re just as weak as I knew they would be. You can go now, my little baby.” She said, and Krampus faded on the breeze.

Maurice approached her, also in a state of calm. “Will there be anything else, my lady?”

She set her empty wineglass down. “No. Sadly, I have work to take care of.” She stood up.

“Take me with you.” He begged.

“Now, now. Mustn’t be so vulgar. I need warriors right now. But, when I am finished, I will return for you so that you may serve me.”

“Oh, thank you, thank you.” He was kissing her hand between each word.

She strode away, a fabulous air of serenity while Paris recoiled from yet another attack on their fine soil.

Across the world, from every comm unit that BADGE still had control over, Nova’s voice came out. “This is Director Nova. The situation with the Shadow Krampus has turned much darker. Do not engage until further notice. If he attacks you, your first priority is the safety of the surrounding people, your second will be retreat. At this time, we are in retreat until there is enough information to deal with this. Nova out.”