GODS FALL

BY S.A. COSBY
804-384-7208
blacklion19730804@gmail.com
word count :7,926

I used to be a superhero.
I was a part of a team of superheroes . We had a fancy headquarters and cool
gadgets. We even had a bad ass name. We were the Apocalypse Squad! We were
the ones you called when there was no one else left to call. I used to think it
sounded kind of corny but Miriam thought it had a certain poetry to it.
We fought all manner of threats to mankind. Inter-dimensional
warlord,intergalactic colonist ,and on one memorable occasion a T-Rex with a
the intelligence of a human being. Just not a very smart human being. We
worked for a secret quasi-official off the books government agency known only
as The Corporation. When not saving the world we lived in their headquarters
in an underground complex called The Vault in the middle of downtown
Sterling City Virginia.
We were a team. We were a family . Our code names reflected our abilities .
Miriam was an empath and telepath with an incredible talent to soothe both
man and beast. Dr. Bartok named her Nursemaid. Danny Lipinski could change
his body to sentient dust or hot magma or solid rock . He was a walking talking
embodiment of the planet earth. Bartok named him Granite.

Larry Wakaondo was an immigrant from Chad who was nuclear physicist An
accident at his plant infused every one of his molecules and atoms with
nuclear energy and raised his body temperature to nearly four thousand
degrees. Dr. Bartok designed an exo-skeleton suit for him to wear that was
filled with cryo-fluid and equipped with an oxygen tank so that everywhere
Larry walked didn't turn into Hell on earth. The suit was outfitted with special
ports in the palms of the hand. Two half-moon openings that Larry controlled
via his neurolink with the suit. When those ports opened Larry could unleash
the fury of a dragon's breath on anything in his path. Dr. Bartok named him
(appropriately enough) Inferno.
And as for me
Ever since I was thirteen I could manipulate gravity. I can increase the
gravitational pull on a car until it's crushed under it's own mass or I can
decrease the gravity on bus full of school kids hurtling off a bridge until it
floats safely to the shore. I can manipulate the earth's gravitational field so
that I can fly into the air then use my power to initiate a controlled descent.
And if I really concentrate ,I mean focus all my power and will. I can create a
mini-singularity. A black hole. My given name is Devante Willis but Dr. Bartok
called me G-Force.
We were a team . We were a family. We were pawns. We were fools We were
Gods. So before I shed the mantle of a superhero forever let me tell you how

the heroes became Gods.

We were all seated around a white Lucite conference table while Dr. Bartok
downloaded a file on our hand held work-pads about our latest meglomaniacal
super-powered lunatic bent on world domination. Well all of us except
Larry . He was down in Level 6 of the Vault. When he wasn't wearing his exosuit he had to stay in a room that was kept at nearly absolute zero to
counteract the effects of his radiated molecules. I couldn't help but feel a
little sorry for Larry . When he wasn't a combating a threat to the safety of the
world he was confined to a 20x20 room. Naked and glowing like a dying ember
he would walk around the room like demon caught inside a witchs circle.
Even though the room was kept at -400 degrees if you stood within three feet
of the clear nanocarbonite picture windows that lined his room you could feel
the skin on your face begin to singe like you were kneeling near a wood stove.
Our latest target is Levi Nicaro . But he has dubbed himself online and in
the media AllThought . He is a former neurologist and research scientist
who was obsessed with finding the third eye discussed in many Eastern
religions . Well when he found physiological proof of the fabled third eye Dr.
Nicaro decided to experiment with a cybernetic implant to tap into the
mystical energies of this heretofore unknown region of the brain.
Unfortunately Dr Nicaro experimented on himself. Of course he was not
prepared for the effects tapping into such an unstable and unknown region of

the brain. Dr .Bartok said in his deep resonant voice. He had been in the
states so long he had nearly lost all of his French accent. But it was still there
curling around his r's and his p's like smoke from a dying fire. He clicked a
button on his hand held computer screen and an image of Dr. Nicaro came up
on the screens built into the table in front of us. I saw the picture of a fairly
dour Hispanic man in a plain three-piece gray suit standing near what
appeared to be drone aircrafts . His head was clean shaven and blemish free
except for a large red metallic sphere in the middle of his forehead. There
were several men standing near Nicora . Even though it was a still picture
the body language suggested a stillness beyond the static image of the photo. I
got the feeling they were drones as well.
What are his specific strengths or powers? a disembodied voice said through
a speaker mounted in the ceiling. Larry was listening to the briefing in his cold
room. Dr. Bartok clicked another button the controller in his hand and a video
montage began to roll across the screens. I watched as a crowd of people on
their cellphones all turned as one entity . The began to walk shoulder to
shoulder lockstep down what appeared to be a busy city street.
They look like ants. Granite said. Dr. Bartok smiled a bitter humorless smile.
Yes they do don't they? Dr. Nicaros experiment gave him vast mental
powers. He is a powerful telepath and telekinetic. He has tapped nearly 75%
of his brain's ability . He can analyze situations and encounters with such

speed and accuracy it borders on pre-cognition. He can access data stored in

wireless cloud based skydrives through his advanced telepathic powers. Add
that to an IQ . of 174 and you have a very dangerous and determined adversary
What you are watching are surveillance tapes recorded earlier today in
Richmond. We have determined that Nicaro is somehow using cellular signals
to achieve mind control. Our analysts say there is a high probability that his
ultimate goal is to create a kind of collective unconscious like insects. Just
like you said Granite. He wants to take control of individuals and use them
for his own nefarious purposes . Creating his own soldiers ,drones, and sex
slaves like a bee hive. He has also hacked into the governments central
command computers and accessed control of a number of Predator drones. We
have tracked him to D.C. You roll out in twenty-five minutes. Once you have
subdued him the Black Guard will move in to detain him. Good luck squad.
Bartok said as he stood up from the table.
Well this oughta be fun . Not as fun a Man Rex but fun . Granite said
laughing. I shook my head reproachfully. Miriam just rolled her eyes.
When we get back will you make dinner for me? Miriam's voice said in my
head. Miriam was a telepath of tremendous power. She may not have had any
of AllThought's telekinetic powers but I was willing to bet head to head (pun
intended) she could take him.
Sure. Ill even let us float to the top of the headquarters and eat in the air. I

thought . She smiled. I smiled too. I tried to put the Black Guard out of my
mind. They were the wetwork arm of the Corporation . Clad totally in black
wearing battle helmets with smoked out visors their true identities were
cloaked in secrecy . They wore androgynous one piece uniforms made out of
nanofabric. Nanofabric was waterproof ,fireproof, bulletproof and resistant to
electrical and magnetic energy. They never spoke . They could have been big
flat chested women or small flat chested men . In their battle gear it was
impossible to tell. The only thing we knew for sure about them was that they
were the jailers for some of the most powerful and dangerous entities on
earth. That alone made them a bit frightening.
The rumors that surrounded them were even more disconcerting. Granite said
that he heard that before the Corporation rescued us from the streets and
orphanages their had been another team of super-powered wardens of the
earth. He said that team had gone rouge. Granite said the Black Guard had
taken them out. Of course because it was a rumor it could never be
substantiated . But it did what rumors are supposed to do. It stuck in the back
of your mind like an annoying song you can't get out of your head. I wasn't
afraid of much . Growing up on the streets of Chicago after my parents
abandoned me had made me hard in places that even Miriam couldn't touch.
But the Black Guard scared me. They were the slayers of heroes.
Well this oughta be fun. Granite said again to no one in particular.

We were about to win. We always won.

Nursemaid had simultaneously broken AllThought's grip on the denizens of D.C
while protecting our minds from his mental intrusions. Inferno had melted the
asphalt under the tracks of his drone tanks that were marching down
Pennsylvania Ave effectively drowning them in a pool of black liquid death.
Granite had transformed his body into stone and broken down the wall of his
headquarters on U street then turned himself into a mudslide to short out all
his computers. I had eased gravity's hold on his drone aircraft and watched
them zip off into the sky headed for the far reaches of space.
We had cornered him near Capitol Hill. Inferno shot a blast of heat at him
so powerful the air around it crackled with charged plasma. AllThought used
his mind to hurl a car at him. The small two-door sedan sent Inferno tumbling
head over heels toward the Treasury building. Luckily his exo-suit could take a
pounding. Granite transformed himself into a dust storm and surrounded
AllThought. He plan was to re-solidify behind him and knock him unconscious.
However in his non-corporeal state Nursemaid couldnt protect his mind. He
told me later AllThought filled his mind with his greatest fear. Becoming
incorporeal and then not being able to become solid again. I watched as the
dust storm dissolved and then re-solidified into Granite's body. He was naked
and in the fetal position on the ground behind AllThought. He lay there
twitching and foaming at the mouth. The former Dr. Nicaro turned to face

me and Nursemaid.
Want to take a shot boy? he said. His voice was deep and resonant like a
Shakespearean actor. My head was splitting. Miriam was using all power to
keep AllThought out of my head. I didn't have a pithy rejoinder. I just focused
on his body. I extended my hand toward him. I visualized him in my mind. I
increased the gravitational pull on his body. I visualized his brain . I increased
the gravitational effect on his brain. The human body can take up to 5 Gs
before you black out from the increase of pressure on your blood vessels and
internal organs. The Corporation had trained me year after year to modulate
the G's on a person or animal. I concentrated as hard as I could.
AllThought passed out at 9 G's .His body crumpled like a windsock after the
breeze has died. I heard the whine and whistle of the servos in Inferno's suit
as walked back up the street toward us. I turned and saw him rakishly salute
me. I didn't see Miriam approach AllThoughts prone body. I heard Inferno's
computer generated voice crackle through the air.
No Nursemaid do not touch him.
I turned to see Miriam standing near AllThought's thin frame. That thing in his
head is so gross.she said. I had to concur . I could see the skin around the red
sphere was loose and striated with pulsing black veins. The red eye was dark
while AllThought was unconscious. Miriam stepped closer. Suddenly I saw the
red eye begin to glow with a pulsating light. AllThought's arm snaked out from

beneath his fallen body and his hand clamped down on her ankle. Nursemaid
wore a functional battle suit. A thin Lycra jumpsuit with wide red lines trailing
across a black background. The jumpsuit stopped at her knees. Her red boots
covered the rest of her.
She screamed. It was a scream that came up from her guts and rocketed past
her soul. It was a scream that hurt your heart when you heard it. I
concentrated on AllThought. I concentrated as hard as I could.
I crushed him. If I told you I didn't mean it would you believe me? Hell I was
there and I don't believe me. I lost control I visualized increasing the
gravitational pull on him until it was a thousand times more than the normal
gravity you are experiencing right now. His body flattened out like an invisible
anvil had been dropped on it. The blood and viscera didn't splash on Miriam.
The pull of gravity was too strong. I heard his bones crack as they were ground
to powder.
Bartok won't be happy. He wanted him taken alive. Larry said through his
voice modulator. I didn't say anything. I just looked up into the sky and felt the
warm summer sun on my face . A few seconds passed and The Corporation's
Magnocopters blocked the sun's warm rays. The Black Guard rappelled down
nylon ropes to the deserted street. They walked over to what was left of
AllThought with their Neutralizer rifles locked and loaded .As if he could
resurrect himself and wipe their minds. One of them inspected the remains

with the toe of his or her boot. Then he or she turned to their compatriots and
they put away their Neutralizers and signaled the Magnocopter. Another
guardsmen rappelled down carrying a clear heavy duty container. He joined his
fellow black clad guardsmen or guards women and they began to scrape all of
AllThought off the ground.
Let's get out of here Mir. I said .Miriam looked at me. Her eyes were as big as
saucers. She wiped her eyes once or twice and then nodded. She took my
hand. Granite and Inferno would fly back with the Black Guard. Miriam flew
back with me. I concentrated . In my mind I saw the earth's gravity like ribbons
that moored us to the ground. I willed the ribbons to unfurl. I wore a pair of
goggles on my head. Just before centrifugal force hurled us into the sky I
pulled them down over my eyes.
We shot into the sky like a pebble fired from a slingshot. The wind slapped at
my face. I held tight to Miriam's hand. I willed the earth's gravitational
attraction to increase slowly ,pulling our bodies along a concave flight path.
Soon the Corporation's headquarters were In sight. I let the earth grab us like
a collector throwing a net over a butterfly. I pulled Miriam close to me as we
began to descend. I wore heavy duty shock absorbing boots. The boots softened
our landing. We walked to a door on the roof . We were back at headquarters.
We were back home We immediately headed for my quarters on Level Four.
The building that housed The Corporation was twenty-five stories tall. However

the heart of the Corporation was in the sub-levels. Underground deep in the
bowels of Sterling City . The office building was just a well-maintained cover.
We had ridden the elevator to the parking garage then walked over to a
weathered pillar . Anyone passing by would have thought we were about to tag
it with some graffiti. We stood in front of it as an invisible sensor read our DNA
profiles . Then the pillar opened like a secret door in an old horror movie and
we stepped inside. The small shuttle took us down ,down down into the center
of the only home we had known for the last fifteen years. Miriam was quiet as
the elevator dropped like a stone. I tried to put my arm around her but she felt
stiff and brittle like kindling .
We stopped at Level Four and Miriam walked briskly toward her quarters. I
started to say something but there was a insistence to her stride that made me
think better of it. Level Four was like the rest of the Vault. White tiled floors
and soft white lights lined the halls. The meeting room was at the end of one
of the hall to the left. Our training facility,colloquially called The Classroom
was to the right . My room was the first one on the left as you stepped out of
the shuttle. I put my hand up to the small gray glass plate to the right of the
door and waited as the scanner read my whole life from the palm of my hand.
The door opened and I stepped inside. I began to take off my battle gear
before the door asthmatically closed behind me. In addition to my goggles I
wore a a black,weighted ,bulletproof vest over my red and black battle-shirt. I

threw the vest on the floor and peeled my battle-shirt off like a snake shedding
it's skin. I got a beer out of the fridge. I fell onto a huge yellow bean bag and
began to try and chill. Something was bothering Miriam. She had screamed like
someone had poured acid in her face. I poured some of the beer out of the
bottle. Before it hit the ground I surrounded the droplets with a low gravity
field. The splash of beer became an oblate spheroid. It floated lazily toward
my mouth. I engulfed it like a grouper . I did that until the beer was gone.
Then I closed my eyes and started to drift off to sleep.
My doorbell rang. I ignored it . If it was an emergency someone would have hit
the main alarm. It rang again. I rolled off the bean bag and walked to the door.
Who is it? I asked as I pressed the intercom button.
Mir. Let me in Devante. she said. I hurriedly pushed the button that unlocked
my door. Miriam and I had a bit of a tradition .After a particularly harrowing
mission we would retire to my quarters to make love. We didn't really talk
about it and it didn't really define our friendship. It was just something we did
after coming within a frog's hair of death. I stood there ,shirtless waiting for
her to come through the door and crush her lips against mine. You must have
been reading my mind. I said.
Not this time . she said.
She came in and brushed past me and headed for the only other piece of
furniture in my quarters besides my bed and the bean bag. My recliner that sat

directly in front of my flat screen television set. She plopped down in the
chair and leaned back as far as the recliner would go. Her eyes were closed but
I could see tears silently escaping from behind her eyelids.
Mir,what's wrong? I asked. It sounded lame as soon as it left my lips but it was
the best I could do.
You remember when we saved those Russians on that space station and you
started calling me Mir? And I told you I didn't like it because that was what my
dad used to call me before my powers started to manifest and he abandoned
me in that park. And you said it didn't matter that my dad used to call me that
you were claiming it as your own nickname for me. You said screw my dad . You
said if he loved me he would never have left me . That he didn't own that
nickname anymore. she said . Her eyes were still closed.
I didn't say anything. Abandoned. It was such an inadequate word for what our
parents and Larry's wife and Granite's grandparents had done to us. They had
destroyed us. They had broken us into pieces and those pieces had shattered.
They made us feel like freaks,like oddities,like we werent worth the time it
would have taken to learn to accept our powers and love us anyway.
Yeah I remember. I said finally.
What if I told you they didn't just leave us .Any of us. What if I told you that
the Corporation killed your parents and my parents? And Granite's grandparents
and Larry's wife? she said as she sat forward in the chair and looked up into

my eyes.
I would say you were crazy. I would say that you have had a long day. I would
say the Corporation took us in and gave us a place to stay and food to eat and
taught us to use our powers to help people. I would say you don't know what
you are talking about. I said . It came out sharper than I had intended. Miriam
smiled.
AllThought told me. I mean I saw it in his mind when he touched my leg. I saw
his memories . I saw him interfacing with the computers that hold our records
through a telepathic connection to our wireless data system. I saw what he
saw. He had accessed the files to find our weaknesses. The files ,the dates of
the executions. I saw something called Project Gods Among Us. It had all our
names on it. It said we were a part of an experiment to counteract a Russian
plot to create super powered soldiers. The Russian plan fell apart when the
USSR fell apart but the technology was still out there. The Corporation
manipulated our parents DNA so that they could create us. And not just our
parents. Hundreds of people were given gene manipulation therapy. Some
died. Some gave birth to deformed or crazy children. We have fought some of
those children Devante. Remember Blaster and Morph ? . They have been
manipulating us since before we were born! she yelled.
I walked over to the recliner and dropped to one knee. I pushed an errant lock
of blue hair out of her eyes. I kissed her on her forehead. I kissed her on her

lips.
Mir, you know as well as anyone thoughts can be tampered with. Don't you
think he was just messing with you? We were trained for shit just like this. I
mean the guy could make you see illusions . You don't think he could have
faked some thoughts? I said. My voice was low .She cocked her head to the
side and kissed me back.
I know he was telling the truth. Just like I know when you are lying . Bartok
and the rest of them have fooled me because I never asked them about my
parents. I just believed the story I had been fed. I've never tried to read his
mind. she said.
Mir I just can't believe it. i said. She stood .
Well there is one way to prove it. We could go to the Records Dept. on Level
5.she said. She crossed her arms over her small bosom and looked down at
me. I stood too.
Neither one of us has Level 5 clearance. And even if we did I can't believe
they would keep a record of murder and kidnapping in their files.
They are scientist D. They keep records of everything. she said. She stepped
forward and put her hand on my chest. I enveloped her in my arms in a gentle
embrace. She didn't feel so brittle this time.
You need to see the proof. I need you to see the proof. Because I can't go on
living here being their puppet . And I can't leave here without you.she

murmured against my chest.

And how are we going to get in to the Records depart? I asked. A dark
shadow crossed her face. She stared at me for a long time before she spoke.
Do you think anyone can stop us from getting in there if we really want too?
she asked me.
We walked down to the elevator and pushed the button for Level 5. There was
no secret key or scanner to go down to that level . The Records department
was protected by two members of the Black Guard . If you got past them then
you had to get past a retinal scan and use the proper password. That would
probably keep out most people But we werent most people.
We got off the elevator and walked out into a long hallway. At the end of the
hallway stood the two members of the Black Guard. They were in front a black
metallic door. They had their Neutralizers holstered. I knew they could draw
those weapons in a tenth of a second. The Neutralizer fired a ceramic disk that
had a several unique properties. It would imbed itself in a target's skin and
then send nanobites into the blood stream that caused extreme pain and
nausea. It also could be locked on a subject by the subject's specific genetic
signature. Once they fire that weapon there was no escaping it. It used
nanotech to propel itself after the projectile had lost it's initial forward
momentum. Neutralizers were nasty little weapons.
Mir walked toward the two Guardsmen. I hung back near the elevator . My

power was like a hammer. It could open the door but it would also alert
everyone in the building. Mir was like a scalpel cutting a small hole in the door
to let us work our way inside. I saw her ball her fists . She squeezed them tight
as she concentrated
You do not have authorization to be down here. the Guardsman said in flat
monotone. They really were more like machines than men sometimes. Miriam's
head twitched rapidly as she clenched and unclenched her fists.
Yes we do Abraham . We do have clearance and you and Marcus are going to
let us in the Records room aren't you? she said slowly. Her shoulders shook
like she was crying.
Yes we are . This way ma'am. the other Guardsman said. He turned and
pulled up the visor on his helmet. He placed his face against the scanner while
simultaneously placing his hand against a flat gray opaque screen built into
the wall next to the sliding door of the Records room. The door swished open a
few seconds later. Mir turned to look at me . Her face was flushed ,as red as a
boiled crab. I rushed to her and walked through the door with my arm locked
inside hers.
The interior of the Records room looked liked the inside of a carnival funhouse. The room was a circular in design . The walls were lined with large
reflective rectangles about four feet by eight feet. The ceiling and floor were
composed of some type of flexible white tiles. In the center of the room was a

black metal tripod. A simple keyboard was sitting on a flat plate on the top of
the tripod. Miriam approached the keyboard.
We won't be able to see anything without the password. I said. I began to get
a sour feeling in my stomach. Maybe I didn't want to see anything. Maybe we
should just let sleeping dogs lie. And accept the lie. Because the truth might
just be too much to comprehend.
I already have it. I searched Bartok's mind while we were in the elevator. I'll
tell you what it is. You access the data banks while I keep those boys outside in
check. The password is Titan.she said as she stood near the keyboard. Her
face was slick with sweat. I went the keyboard and held my fingers above it
for second.
Then I accessed the records file and typed the word titan. The glass plates
that lined the wall began to glow like a television in that split second from the
time you turned it on until the signal came through. I saw one of the plates
turn blue. There was a information field on that plate. My breath was coming
in ragged gulps. I typed my name on the keyboard. The plate to the left of me
went black for a second then the file opened.
SUB-FILE GODS AMONG US
SUBJECT : DEVANTE WILKINS
SUBJECT HAS MANIFESTED THE ABILITY TO MANIUPLATE GRAVITATIONAL
FIELDS. DEXTERITY OF THE MANIPULATION IS UNKNOWN AT THISPOINT HIS

PROGENITORS HAVE REFUSED TO ALLOW HIM TO BE TRAINED UNDER LABATORY

CONDITIONS. DR.BARTOK AND THE BOARD OF THE CORPORATION HAVE
DETERMINED PROGENITORS WIL BE TERMINATED .AT THAT TIME THE
CORPORATION WILL ASSUME GUARDIANSHIP OF SUBJECT. SUBJECT IS A LEVEL 7
AUGMENTED HUMAN ON THE SCHELSSINGER SCALE.
I moved the cursor on the keyboard. Suddenly a photo appeared on one of the
panels. It showed a black man with a large Afro standing next to a lovely black
woman with her hair in tiny braids. A young black boy stood between them.
The little family were all holding hands. The picture appeared to have been
taken outdoors. There was an orange hue to the image like the light from the
setting sun had bathed the family just before the picture was snapped. My
family. My real family not some strange amalgamation of disparate individuals.
I moved my fingers across board again. More images popped up on the screens
that lined the room. Pictures of me and Mir and Lawrence and Granite. Pictures
of me and Bartok standing over a birthday cake. I felt sick to my stomach.
I saw a file called God's Fall
I clicked on it and the sick feeling in my stomach doubled in intensity
PER THE DECISION OF THE BOARD AND WITH THE APPROVAL OF DR.BARTOK THE
GOD'S FALL PROTOCOL HAS BEEN APPROVED. PERSUANT TO THE RECOMADATION
OF THE SCHELSSING GROUP EACH SUBJECT IN CLASS 847585111 HAS BEEN
FITTED WITH A K-CHIP EMBEDDED IN INTERIOR SURFACE OF THEIR SKULLS

NEAR THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE. IN THE EVENT THAT ANY OF THE SUBJECST
FROM CLASS 847585111 ATTEMPTS ANY ACTS CONSIDERED TREASONOUS OR
AGGRESSIVE TOWARD THE CORPORATION THE K-CHIP WILL BE ACTIVATED
TERMINATING SAID SUBJECT.
I backed away from the keyboard. I turned and faced Miriam . Her eyes were
rolling around in her head and her face was flushed . Sweat rolled down her
face and over her cheeks. More tears fell from her eyes.
Told ya D. They lied to us all. They killed our parents .she said. Her voice
cracked like new ice on a pond during gentle winter. I put my hand out toward
her.
Mir,we gotta get out of her . I don't know how far the range is on- I started to
say. The asthmatic wheeze of the door to the Records room opening cut me off
mid-sentence.
It was the Black Guard. Six of them entered the room. They had drawn their
neutralizers and had them pointed at us. I wanted to tell them to just let us
go. I wanted to tell them we didn't want to fight . I wanted to tell them we
didn't want anyone to get hurt.
But before I could say anything they killed Miriam. One minute she was
standing their looking at me with her big green eyes. The next minute I saw
one of the guardsman pull out a small black rectangle about the size of a cell
phone. He or she pointed the rectangle in our general vicinity. Miriam

snapped her head backwards .She fell to the ground. Her arms and legs jerked
spasmodically as she writhed on the floor. A thin needle of blood trickled out
her nose. I fell to my knees beside her. By the time I hit the floor she was still.
I looked at the six guardsmen. The one with the rectangle pointed it at me. I
stretched out my hand toward them. The hand helps me focus my powers.
Something Bartok taught me. I increased the gravitational forces pushing on
their bodies by one thousand percent. Their bones and organs and skin and
uniforms could not withstand such force. They were smashed into flat bloody
piles of viscera. The walls and the ceiling of the Records room were not
painted in crimson by their pulverization . The gravity pushing them was too
strong to allow the blood to splatter. I walked through their remains leaving
bloody foot prints as I left the room. I stepped out into the hall . My mind was
numb,my head felt hollow
All these years I had thought my parent had abandoned me. Instead they had
tried to protect me from all this... death. I saw six more guardsman spill out of
the elevator. They drew their weapons. They trained them on me. They were
the experts in death . They dealt it out like a card shark dealt cards. They
were the Picasso's of pain and they were just about to paint another
masterpiece.
Then the laws of gravity ceased to exists in that dark hallway. Suddenly the
six guardsmen and the security detail that had been in the hallway when

Miriam and I had arrived found themselves no longer bound to the earth in a
benign embrace. I released them from the planet's gravity. Centrifugal force
did the rest. They went screaming up through the sheet rocked covered ceiling
like bottle rockets. Floor after floor they flew until what was left of them
reached the steel girders and concrete of the roof of the Corporation's
headquarters. Their remains would stain the roof like blood red Rorschach
patterns .
I closed my eyes and used all my powers of concentration. I increased the
gravity in the entire building a few gs. Just enough to increase the pressure
on every single living thing in the building until everyone passed out like test
pilots in a centrifuge. I took the elevator back up to the third level. I went to
my room and got my boots and my vest and my goggles. I stepped over
unconscious scientists and guardsmen as I made my way to the main elevator.
I took the lift up to the lobby of the building that served as a front for the
Corporation. I stepped over more bodies as my I made my way to the door that
opened onto the street. More scientists, security guards,the lady that ran the
lunch wagon parked on the street. I pulled down my goggles . Then I slipped
the bonds of the earth's gravity and flew straight up into the air. Before I
headed for the the Sun I increased the pull of gravity on my body slightly so
that I flew along a slightly elliptical flight path. I increased the pull of gravity
on my body even more until I landed on the roof of an abandoned warehouse.

The word abandoned would never sound the same in my mind after what had
happened to day. I pulled up my goggles and looked over Sterling City's
antiquated skyline. I focused on the Forrest Brother's investment building. It
was a fine piece of post colonial architecture . A huge clock tower dominated
the roof of the building. I stretched out my hand. I concentrated on increasing
the gravitational forces pulling on that building by five hundred percent.
Bartok had taught me a formula to calculate my power in percentages. 'The old
building crumbled like a child's sand castle. Dust and dirt rose up in the air
trapped in a tight invisible cylinder of gravity On any given day there were
over a seven hundred people in that building. Those people hadn't done
anything to me. They had never lied to me. They didn't kill my parents. But
they weren't innocent. They were a symptom of the disease that afflicted men
like Bartok. That tower was a bastion of greed ,of avarice of what passed for
power in this world. I had just shown them real power.
Did that sound like an oversimplification? So be it.

I figured that would get Bartok's attention. It would also buy me some time. I
had a few things to do before the good doctor came calling with his magic
remote control . I figure the range on the k-chip in my head wasn't over a few
feet. If they wanted to kill me with that little devil they would have to get
close. And that was exactly what I wanted them to do.

I was floating around the inside of the warehouse when the first armored
vehicle showed up in front of the warehouse. I 'm sure there was some sort of
tracker in my clothes . Maybe the k-chip was some type of tracking device.
The inside of the warehouse was filled with trash and modified oil barrels
that served as ersatz fireplaces for the homeless that squatted in this
desolate place. I had covered myself in a zero gravity field. As I let the
natural movements of the earth gently bounce me from one end of the
warehouse to the other I heard loud voices outside and the sound of a lot of
very heavy machinery being unloaded and set-up. .
I floated up through a broken skylight and disengaged the zero g force field
around me. I landed on the roof with a light thump. On any other day what I
saw would have filled me with awe and fear. But this wasn't any other day. This
was the day that I found out that everything I thought I knew was just a
fabrication,like a storyline in a comic book. So I didn't care that the Black
Guard had set up six EMP rail guns in the parking lot in front of the
warehouse. I didn't care that there were at least one hundred members of the
Black Guard staged in various locations around the warehouse with their
weapons drawn. It didn't matter to me that Inferno and Granite were standing
just outside the door of the warehouse in full battle mode. The only things that
mattered to me were the images in my heart. The image of Miriam sprawled
across the floor of the Records room. Of my parents and I with smiles on our

faces. Of Bartok and I arm and arm on one of my birthdays.

Bartok. Mentor. Teacher . Friend . Liar.
BEFORE ANY OF YOU COME ONE INCH CLOSER TO THIS BUILDING I WANT YOU
TO KNOW THAT THERE IS A BLACKHOLE INSIDE THE WAREHOUSE! I AM HOLDING
IT AT BAY BUT IF SOMETHING MAKES ME LOSE MY FOCUS IT WILL SWALLOW THE
WHOLD FUCKING CITY! SO I SUGGEST YOU BACK THE FUCK UP!
'AND BRING ME ANTON BARTOK! I screamed at the top of my lungs.
It didn't take long.
I was floating through the warehouse with my legs crossed when someone with
a megaphone announced they were sending Dr. Bartok in to talk to me. Yeah
I'm sure he wanted to talk. He would have the remote control for the k-chip
and at some point he would try to use it on me. At some point he would try to
kill me. Try is the optimum word.
There was huge roll-door at the front of the warehouse. Just to the right of
that door was a smaller regular metal door . Bartok entered the warehouse
through the metal door. He walked with his head held high and his long gray
hair swept back from his forehead and trailing down his back. He wore a light
tan cardigan sweater ,faded blue jeans and a pair of black chuck taylor's. He
looked like a kindly grandfather who had once been a hippie. Most kindly
grandfathers didn't have two doctorates degrees. Or a an I.Q of 201. And they
definitely didn't kidnap children with special powers and trick them into

working for the government. Bartok looked up at me and cocked his head to
the side. He crossed his arms and wrinkled his brow. I slowly let myself float to
the ground until we were standing face to face. He sighed deeply.
Devante. What are we doing here?he asked . He was trying to appear
concerned yet authoritative. It didn't work. I could see the fear in his eyes.
Dying I think. I mean I have nothing left to live for . I said . Bartok's eyes
flicked to the left. A few feet away from where we were standing there was
something shimmering in the air like heat waves off a black top road in the
summer time. The area of the shimmering was barely a foot across and a foot
high,no bigger than a basketball. Light seemed to move around it instead of
through it.
Is that it? Is that the singularity? Fascinating! We practiced it in the
Classroom but I was not completely sure you could ever create it let alone
control it. he said ,his voice tinged with awe.
They killed Miriam. You killed Miriam. I said. Bartok looked at me.
Yes and I am sorry about that Devante. And you killed those guardsmen back
at headquarters. And those innocent people in the Forrest Brothers building.
There has been far too much killing. Bartok said.
And for far too long .I said flatly. Bartok took an involuntary step backwards.
I took a step forward.You said something about innocent people . My parents
were innocent. They never left me out on the streets. You had them killed.

Because of what ? Some science experiment gone bad? I said. I squeezed my

hands into fist as Bartok's face became flushed. He ran a hand through his
hair.
It wasn't a science experiment. It was a weapons program. The Russian,those
brilliant vodka guzzling bastards,found a way to create super powered soldiers.
They would manipulate the DNA to create ...Gods. Like you and Miriam and
Larry. So we developed our own program with clandestinely procured
information. We built an arsenal for a war that never happened. The USSR
collapsed and their technology was sold to the highest bidder on the black
market So instead of power mad Russians with superpowers we had to
contend with super-powered drug lords and meta-human religious zealots.. I
held up my hand and he stopped mid-sentence.
None of that explains why you killed my parents or Miriam. None of that
explains all the years of lies . None of that explains all the people we have
fought and killed in name of law and fucking order.! I stepped closer to him .
I noticed pieces of debris were starting to rise from the floor along with years
of dirt and dust . I saw the motes reflect light from the setting sun. In my
anger I was generating a small field of zero gravity .Dr. Bartok reached into the
pocket of his cardigan and pulled out a sleek ,black metallic rectangle.
Devante ,don't make me use this! Now step back and close the singularity!
he said . His voice quavered like the last leaf on a oak tree in the autumn

wind.
Or what? You gonna push that button and detonate the k-chip in my skull? I
said . I reached into my pocket . I pulled out a small round plastic disk no large
than a piece of rice. The plastic had once been white but was now a sickly
yellow
i guess I should thank you. Your teachings is what helped me pull this little
ticking time bomb out of my skull without killing myself. I just visualized it
being free of any gravitational forces. Then I increased the gravity. Then
decreased it until it came out my nasal cavity. It was hard so I destroyed that
building to buy myself some time. I said. I watched as the color drained from
Bartok's face. I put my hands on his shoulders and whispered in his left ear.
You took everything from me that made me human. My parents,Miriam
,everything. You are Cronus but now I have become Zeus.
I reduced his specific gravity until he was virtually weightless. I grabbed him by
the collar of his cardigan and hurled him toward the singularity .i watched as
he tumble end over end like a lazy asteroid . I gritted my teeth as I used ever
ounce of power and concentration I could muster to open the singularity. Dr.
Bartok''s body stopped floating and began zooming toward the rapidly widening
black hole. He screamed but even sound cannot escape a singularity. Pieces of
the floor and sections of the wall began to race toward the black hole . I stood
my ground as cinder blocks and steel girders were swallowed by the yawning

maw of the most elemental force in nature. Broken bottles and hunks of rusted
machinery flew past me and followed the oil barrels and Dr Bartok's body into
the depths of that awful chasm in fabric of time. My eyes rolled back in my
head as I strained to close the singularity . When I was able to see clearly again
the warehouse was gone . Along with most of the floor,sucked into the
singularity and crushed out of existence. I was standing on a concrete plateau
in the center of an enormous crater . I could see exposed pipes and stripes of
igneous rock along the walls of the crater. I opened my arms wide like another
god had done many years ago except I wasn't nailed to a cross. . I let the wind
spin my body until I was facing the forces assembled against me. I focused on
the EMP tanks and the armored vehicles in the parking lot. I didn't even extend
my hand .i just visualized each piece of equipment in my mind. The image
split into smaller fractal images like I was looking through the eyes of an
insect. The earth's spins in excess of one thousand miles per hour. Without
gravity to hold them in the place the tanks and vehicles were hurled toward
outer space like a child had tossed them out of toy box. Flying into the sky like
steel eagles headed for a starry perch.
Once upon a time I had been a superhero . For a brief moment I was a super
villain . Now I was a God. And this god does not intend to fall.
Kneel or die. I said.