Save State Hero -Ch 7-

Slowly, the police let their weapons fall. Clearly realizing that the recently arrived, and destroyed vehicle, was supposed to be here.

It didn’t hurt that Edmund had his hands up in the “I surrender” type of pose.

“I don’t even know how it’s possible but you drive worse than Daria,” groaned Alina in the back of the car. “She manages to avoid and bounce around everything. You just took the path of least resistance it felt like. You ran over so many bushes and signs.”

Edmund didn’t respond to that.

Instead he smiled, reached for the door, and opened it. Stepping out of the vehicle he kept his hands up.

“Good morning. My names Edmund. I’m part of the Association and I’m here to administer an unregistered Super registration,” he said, still smiling as wide as he could. “Sorry about arriving the way I did, but I wanted to get here as quickly as I could.”

An officer in uniform came over to Edmund.

“You are? Great. We’ve got some psychopath going ballistic in there,” growled the officer as he closed on Edmund. He had short cropped brown hair, hazel colored eyes, and a mustache. He had a lean and wary look to him that spoke of too many years seeing the worst of people. “Far as we can tell he didn’t directly attack anyone, but he ended up hurting some people.

“He blew up a bunch of stuff and… and… I honestly don’t even know. Things just started exploding as he yelled. A few of the people who escaped said that even a person even exploded.”

Edmund frowned at that and turned to look at the building that the disturbance was at. It was absolutely surrounded by police and a number of reporters with cameras at the edges of the cordon.

Err… as he yelled? Is it like a sonic attack? A form of telepathy maybe?

Damnit.

I hate this shit and I just saved before this. I already feel kinda sick.

Chewing at the inside of his cheek Edmund was contemplating how to tackle the situation. Information would be key and he needed to know what he was going up again.

He really wanted to put down another save-state but he really wasn’t sure he could handle that. Of what’d happen to him if he tried or pushed himself that far.

Alina and Dorothy exited the car as he’d been speaking with the officer. The two women looked unhappy about the situation, but also very curious.

Their response didn’t have any shock, worry, or concern for what’d just happened. Whoever they were and whatever they’d gone through in their life was obviously filled with similar incidents.

They were used to situations like what Edmund had just put them through.

Tough cookies. Guess I won’t have to worry about freaking them out.

“Alright,” Edmund said with a sigh and looked back to the policeman. “I guess that’s just the way it goes.

“I was under the impression there were some other people from the Association or Legion around? Any chance you could point me in their direction?”

“If they’re here, I don’t know where,” answered the officer with a shake of his head.

Err… in other words… they’re going to be here, but not yet.

I outran them or whatever.

Okay. That’s fine.

Sounds like for the time being the situation is contained. I just need to wait a little bit and they’ll arrive. Then I can start moving on this.

“It stinks,” hissed Alina, staring off toward the building. Her eyes were glued to it and weren’t moving away. “Everything reeks.”

“Uh… I don’t smell anything?” Edmund offered, looking at the odd woman curiously. “I mean, I can sometimes I can smell an open stink around Bullseye. I swear they construct their washouts in a way that just invites standing water.

“I don’t smell anything right now though. Well, I take that back. It smells a bit smokey but that’s it.”

“It’s injustice,” whispered Alina, her face lifting up fractionally. Her nose was twitching at she sniffed at the air. Her eyes began to glow faintly. A gold color that almost appeared to seep into her iris from deeper within. “A great deal of injustice. So much so that it’s hard to miss.”

“Err, injustice has a smell?” Edmund asked blankly. “Is it like burnt toast or something? Or more like someone dropped a deuce?”

Alina blinked, then turned to face Edmund.

There was no glow in her eyes anymore.

Her eyes had simply become golden.

Behind her, large golden wings had slid out of her back and were spreading out.

“Good god,” murmured the policeman next to Edmund.

Around them, several other officers abruptly made a sign of faith across their torso while staring at Alina.

“Alina, we can’t just rush in there,” Dorothy warned. “Just… reign it in and let’s—”

The angelic woman was obviously not listening to her friend. Instead, she turned her head back to the building.

Then abruptly began walking toward it.

“Alina! No, wait!” called Dorothy, but she didn’t move to go after the woman. Then she looked to Edmund. “There’s no stopping her when she gets like this.”

“Fuck!” growled Edmund realizing he was out of time after all.

Making a snap decision, and already regretting it because he knew how sick it’d make him feel, he took hold of his super-power. Before he could consider what he was doing, he flung down a new save state over the one he’d put down just before they’d driven off.

Within seconds he felt like his world had been rocked to one side and then flipped over on it’s head. Leaving Edmund feeling a lot like he was underwater but didn’t know which way was up.

Blinking several times while fighting off the extreme vertigo Edmund stumbled to the back of the vehicle. He’d gotten it as a loaner from Legion.

By and large almost all of them had emergency supplies in the trunk. He knew that a few of them even had firearms in them.

This qualified as an emergency.

“Are-are you alright, Edmund?” asked Dorothy, suddenly coming up to his side.

“Yep. Just… ah… yep. Yep, I’m alright. Just need to look for stuff I can use,” grumbled Edmund. His tongue felt awkward and stiff in his mouth.

Hitting the trunk latch he took a partial step back as it swung upward.

There was an armor rack in the trunk unbelievably.

Except it was all missing but the helmet.

Instead of armor, there was a laptop that had a light-brown colored mess over the lid, and an empty plastic bag.

Picking it up, Edmund realized it was a used “pre-made pancake batter” bag.

Which meant the stuff splattered across the laptop was pancake mix.

Andrea! I swear to fuck that-I-you-argh!

There was no under-staring how deep Andrea’s love for pancakes went. If you were to ask her to choose a life without Felix or a life without pancakes, he imagined she’d have to actually think about that one.

Shoving the laptop to one side Edmund grabbed the helmet. Picking it up he looked at the faceplate for it.

It was intact, though one of the lenses covering the eyes was shattered.

Fucking hell, Andrea. What’d you do with this?

Edmund flicked out the broken remnants of the lens then pulled the helmet down over his head. Realistically it’d protect his brain from being exploded and that was what he needed most.

So long as he could think, he could load a save-state.

Suddenly the laptop began playing music.

In his haste to get it out of the way it’d popped open.

Edmund saw there was at least twenty tabs open on the browser that was left up. Music was coming from somewhere and the tab it was on was a recipe for pancakes, except all the images were broken and there was a large glob of batter on the screen.

Not waiting any longer, Edmund rushed off after Alina.

“Edmund!” Dorothy called after him.

He didn’t bother to respond. He’d likely be reloading fairly quickly. There was likely no way he’d be able to get through finding out what was going on and what they were up against, without screwing up.

Alina had outdistanced him by a significant distance. Having just now entered the building, her wings folding up behind her as she did so.

Edmund was trying to move as quickly as he could but his legs felt wobbly. His head didn’t feel completely attached to his neck, either.

He’d pushed his power to the absolute limit at this point and he wasn’t sure how long he could hold out before the exhaustion ate him.

That or he lost his sense of balance and crashed to the ground.

Almost doing just that Edmund bounced off a police cruiser and chased Alina into the building. No sooner than he’d entered then he realized this was already fucked.

His hesitation had cost him some time and distance on Alina.

The gold-winged woman had gotten ten feet away from the entrance by the time he’d entered. She was moving into the aisles in front of them and aiming herself to the back of the building.

Given that there was a great deal of screaming coming from that direction, it seemed like the likeliest place for the unregistered super to be. Alina’s determined march only made it more obvious.

Racing after her as best as he could, he caught up to her just before she made it into the aisle. Grabbing her gently by the elbow he came to a stop.

Only for her to drag him onward.

Though she did glance at his hand on her even as she kept walking.

“We should put together a plan!” Edmund stated in a low voice.

“A plan isn’t needed. This just needs to be solved,” Alina countered, looking ahead again.

Apparently this was just an unlucky day for Edmund because a man covered in blood, clothes torn apart, and sporting a left arm that resembled an overcooked and mangled turkey leg, stepped into the aisle.

He looked as surprised as Edmund felt.

Then he yelled at them.

A physical projectile that looked almost like a heat shimmer in ball form flew out at them. It struck Alina directly in the face.

Her head promptly exploded followed by the rest of her body a moment later as a second projectile slammed into her chest.

Whatever power and strength she held was no match for what she’d been struck by. Liberally coating Edmund in golden blood and meat chunks.

“Shit,” he whispered a second before his body was turned inside out, though the project shot at his head bounced off the helmet.

It was just enough of a window for him to activate his power even as he lost his grip on his consciousness.

Returning back to his body being whole was a blessing.

Edmund rushed toward the trunk as best as he could. He still felt weak from over-using his powers, and that wouldn’t fade with each load, but he could at least get used to it.

Or try to.

Popping open the trunk he snatched up the helmet and stuffed it down over his head. He reached up and picked out the broken shards of the lens as he hustled after Alina.

“Edmund?” called Dorothy after him.

He still didn’t have any idea of what to do with the situation, so he just ignored her for now. Once he had a better handle on it he’d give her instructions.

This time he entered the building a step behind Alina.

Grabbing her by the elbow he braced himself against the ground and planted his feet. Managing to bring Alina to an actual stop this time.

“What?” growled the golden-eyed woman.

“We need a plan. His power can kill you,” Edmund stated. “Ryker told you to work with me, didn’t he? So work with me!”

Alina’s chin came up and her eyes narrowed dangerously.

Then she sniffed, nodded her head fractionally, and let out a slow breath.

“Well?” she asked instead.

Except time was up.

The unregistered super had appeared in the aisle once again.

Edmund grabbed Alina by the back of her head and yanked her down.

Which dodged the first attack, but not the second one. It entered the top of her head and blew her skull up.

Rewinding time again, Edmund once more chased after Alina even while getting the helmet situated on his head.

“He can kill you,” Edmund declared, grabbing Alina again. “Work with me as Ryker said!”

He didn’t wait for her to answer him this time. Instead he grabbed her with both hands and tried to jerk her to the side.

Which she resisted completely.

A moment later her head exploded.

Fucking stubborn monster!

Once again, Edmund reloaded.

Rushing once more through the opening steps he got back to Alina.

“He can kill you, he’s coming, we have no time. Work with me, please, Alina,” begged Edmund, changing his tactics. When he pushed at her to work with him and invoked Ryker’s name, she hadn’t resisted him, but he’d lost time.

When he’d tried to force it, she’d dug her heels in and fought him.

Once again, time was up. The unregistered super showed up.

Fuck. When I grab her I don’t have the strength to move her around well. If I force it, she digs her heels in. What do I—

Before he could finish the thought, Alina blew up again.

On top of everything else, the constant drone of big-box store elevator music droned on. Though it sounded like something Felix or Andrea would listen to given how old they were.

Edmund reloaded the save-state again.

Once more he caught up to Alina.

“Alina, please trust me. Work with me,” pleaded Edmund, shortening his message even more so.

Then he heard the same audio-cue he’d heard every time just before the super appeared.

Stepping in close to Alina Edmund wagered that while he couldn’t make her move the way he wanted to, so long as he held onto her and moved his own body, he could make this work. He could memorize and move through whatever came their way to get them out of harms way.

His arms locked around her hips and he pivoted to the side, pulling her out of harms way.

A second after he did so, the ball of violent noise tore through the space she’d just been in. Though it did go through her wings instead.

Ripping them apart completely and scattering the golden bits in every direction. Thankfully it didn’t seem to pain Alina, though it did obviously surprise her.

There’d been a modicum of resistance in her as he moved her.

That was gone now.

Moving out of the aisle, Edmund pulled her up into an end cap and pushed her back into it.

Unfortunately the aisle itself detonated and most of it came flying at them. Tearing Alina apart and knocking Edmund’s legs out from under him.

Okay, fine. Don’t stay on the end-cap.

Hustle, helmet, enter, beg, audio-cue, grab, twirl.

Nodding his head even as Alina died Edmund reloaded.

Moving through the paces he got right back to where he’d grabbed her.

This time when he bumped her up into the end cap, he paused, then rushed back into the aisle they’d come from. Moving in the opposite direction the super would expect.

The music paused a moment for the chorus right before the end cap exploded.

It’d been an aisle filled with glass blenders.

Blades and glass exploded outward.

Well, apparently Alina will indeed blend.

Ha.

Edmund had a hand on Alina’s back and the other held tightly to her wrist.

He’d taken a moment to glance down the aisle to see if he could spot the super as they passed.

The super hadn’t left the aisle and had seen them come across.

Not hesitating, Edmund began pulling Alina along. End cap to end cap and rushing along. Then he paused at an extra large end-cap and pushed Alina’s shoulders up against a great many insta-pot boxes.

The aisle two to the left blew up and just about became nothing but strewn bits of microwaves, shelving, and boxes. A lot of it blasting across the open floor and slamming into a wall.

Looking back to Alina he found she was staring at him with wide eyes. Obviously she now understood the extent of how dangerous it was right now.

Okay… okay. Now what happens? Where’s the next touch point and how do I make it work?

“I’m okay,” whispered Alina. “I’m… I’m okay. I’m in control.”

Edmund nodded his head but didn’t let go of Alina. If they needed to move he’d have to direct her again.

There was a clang off behind and to the right that pulled Edmund’s attention away from what was going on with the super and Alina.

Dorothy had stepped through the front door and was now inside.

She looked around briefly until her eyes landed on Edmund and Alina.

Then the super shouted and the young woman exploded. Most of her torso and head being flung about in every direction.

Only for her legs and waist to fall backward and hit the ground. Sliding several feet away.

“Fuck me,” grumbled Edmund. He really didn’t want to have to deal with trying to save two people. “Instructions. Give her instructions for next time.”

Alina was breathing rapidly now. Staring at where Dorothy had just died.

“Hey, hey,” Edmund said, pulling his hand off Alina’s wrist to put it to her face. Her eyes jumped to his and stayed there. “How do I keep Dorothy outside? What could I say to her to keep her from coming inside?”

“Wha-what?” asked the angelic woman, her golden eyes staring into him.

“If I had wanted Dorothy to stay outside, what would I have said to her before I came in?” Edmund asked.

“To keep her… she’s dead,” whispered Alina. “She’s dead.”

He at least knew how to get Alina to a modicum of safety. Now he just had to work the other side of it.

Sighing, Edmund looked back to Alina.

“Hey, any way I could get you to listen to me faster in the future? Something I could say to make you snap to attention?” asked Edmund. “Some type of secret I could say that’d snap you into listening? Super special code word? Something you only give to partners your banging in bed or something?

“Oh. What’s your full name? Your middle name, too. You only ever hear your middle name from your parents. Like when they’re pissed off at something you done and you get the whole birth certificate thrown at you.”

“I’m-I-I’m so confused,” Alina whispered, staring at him. “Dot’s dead and you just… you’re asking me… what?”

“What’s your full name?” Edmund pushed.

“My full name… it’s Alina Devan Fusch,” mumbled the Angel.

“Right. Alina Devan Fusch,” Edmund repeated. “Alina Devan Fusch. Devan… that’s a bit of an odd one.”

Then loaded the save-state again to go save ‘Dot’ as it were.