5: Ace on the lamb.

The general that was being made out to be the bad guy? Turns out he really was a bad guy. Crazy!

Ace’s head was pounding when she woke up, but what got her attention were the white walls of the hospital room she was currently in.

            “What?  What’s going on?  Where am I?”  She said, still groggy from the night before.

            “You’re in the hospital.  Specifically one of our military facilities.” A voice spoke.  The speaker walked into the room.  A man in his fifties, he was tall and well built.  With a square chin the man looked almost unrealistic.  His eyes were grey but showed a kind of wisdom and knowledge you only get from living as long as he had and seeing the horrible things that he did.  His green uniform with its countless stars and medals gave him away: it was general Cambell.  If that wasn’t enough, he introduced himself as such before saluting Ace.  Ace tried to return the gesture but felt too heavy to move.

            “That was one hell of a battle, Ace.  It’s amazing you came out alright.” Cambell said.

            “You were there?” Ace responded.

            “No, I just flew in from DC.  I had heard a short redheaded boy of about twelve had fought off what can only be described as a hydra from a monster book and collapsed, and immediately thought of you.” Cambell tried to keep a straight face, but Ace was extremely unamused.

            “Christ, just what I need.  Well, the thing’s gone so after I feel better I’m going to get over to Italy if you don’t mind.” Ace said.

            “Actually, that’s why I’m here.  I DO mind.  We told you you can’t leave the country, yet you go anyway.  We told you to keep a low profile, and you fight a fifty foot monster and wrecked an entire streetblock!”

            “In my defense, the monster did most of tha-“

            “Shut up!  This is exactly what we were warned against.  You’re dangerous, Ace!  It’s hard enough to handle something such as a few dents in the side of a wall, but you brought down a goddam building!  Two goddam buildings!  Maybe more, I didn’t look at the report well enough.  You left craters in the street- hell, I’d be surprised if any part of it was still flat enough to drive on!  What were you thinking?!”

            “I was thinking that the army of skeletons and the giant demon attacking was a bit more important than a building, seeing how it was a couple buildings gone and not an entire city.  And for that matter, it would’ve killed me if I didn’t stop them.  You can’t pin this on me when I’m the victim!”

            “Oh, you’re the victim now?” Cambell mocked with raised eyebrows, “Yes, because throwing an entire building at an unidentified creature makes you vulnerable.”

            “Oh bullshit, I didn’t throw a building at anyone!  It was the other way around.”

            “That’s not how the survivors see it.  They just see two people fighting and taking their street down with them.”

            “Wait, survivors?” Ace asked, confused.

            “Yes, the survivors who had to watch you, some twenty-ought girl fight Satan himself!”

            “But…but the streets were empty.  Those buildings were abandoned, what’re you talking about?  The only other people besides me were those three kids that started this whole mess in the first place.”

            Cambell’s face and voice became very solemn. “Those buildings weren’t abandoned, Ace.  People were still inside.  Thirty two people died during your fight.”

            The words hit Ace like a truck, and the horror was easily plastered over her face.

            “What…?” She whispered, shocked.

            “You killed people during your fight.  That’s why I’m here.  Now I have to explain to their families what the hell happened.”

            “People….people died in there?”

            “Like you care.  Just another game to you I suppose.”

            “F**k you!” Ace roared.  She could barely see Cambell through the tears in her eyes but managed to focus her gaze regardless. “It was never a game.  I don’t kill people!”

            “What about all those people you, as you put it, ‘brought to justice’?  They nearly died themselves and you just laughed it off.”

            “Crooks, criminals, rapists, murderers- all of them deserved what they got!  But innocent people?  I’d never do that!  Ever!  The monster did that, and it could have been a lot worse if I didn’t show up!”

            “Who are you to decide who gets to live and who dies?  Just because God is within you doesn’t mean you are him.  That’s actually something else I wanted to bring up.” Cambell threw a manila envelope onto Ace’s bed.  She looked inside to see pictures of herself that were taken during the fight, particularly the parts of her flying, using her energy blasts, and of the mysterious aura shaped like a young man.

            “You can fly, you shoot cross-shaped beams, and now you can summon ghosts?  Is there anything else you’d like to tell us, anything you thought would be cute to keep from us?”

            “The flying part I could always do, but the others…it just happened, I swear.”

            “We don’t believe you.  We’ve covered your trail because it’s stayed relatively lowkey- or as lowkey as Superman could be if he went rouge- but now we have at least a million dollars worth of collateral damage and thirty two casualties to clear up!  You’re going to tell us who this ghost is and you’re going to explain what’s going on.”

            “I don’t know!  I don’t know, d****t!  And I didn’t kill those people.  I don’t do that, I don’t kill innocents!” Ace cried out, flailing about.  The general grabbed her arms and forced her to stay still.  He was surprisingly strong for his age.

            “You did kill them, even if it was indirectly, and we can’t cover this up anymore.  You’re no longer a person, Ace.  As far as the government is concerned, you’re a weapon.”

            The words impaled Ace and left her feeling mortified.  She was already horrified with the idea of harming innocent people, but to be classified as a weapon caused her to snap.  She threw the pictures across the room and grabbed her head in frustration, trying with all her might to hold back a torrent of tears to no avail.  The general was not moved by this.

            “You are forbidden from leaving this room until you’re well, and when you’re well you will be quarantined.  You’re too dangerous to let go.  I’m sure various branches of the military will want to study your powers for their uses in defense.  Until then, enjoy the television.” Cambell said with extra slime thrown in on the last line.  He turned on the television in the room and changed the channel to the local news, which was broadcasting the event.  Clips of the fights were shown from different angles, most likely shot from people on the sidelines.  The anchorman went on to explain the casualties and injured, the damage done to the city, and to give his best estimate of what was going on.  Naturally it was written off as a terrorist attack, but considering the damage done on both sides and the supernatural combatants it was anyone’s guess.  Each line she heard between her sobs only made her feel worse and worse.  She was strongly against killing people who didn’t deserve it, and prided herself on that fact.  To hear she was responsible for this many deaths, all because she refused to give herself up (even if it was justified), made her start believing that she really was just a weapon.  A single occurrence of this magnitude this early in her adventure and already things had ironically gone to hell.

            As she was calming down about twenty minutes later, another man came in dressed in a professional outfit.  He looked like he belonged in the CIA.  Strangely enough he was from the CIA. 

            “Mrs. Ace?” He said, pulling out a folder with more pictures in it. “I’d like to assure you the deaths of those civilians are not on your hands.” 

            Ace cheered up a little but still felt broken and guilty. “Is that all you came to say?” She asked.  She didn’t look the man in the eyes.

            “Actually, no, I wanted to tell you that, despite Cambell’s presence, we’re investigating the paranormal activities you encountered yesterday.  I wanted to tell you this so his punishment didn’t seem as harsh, and also that we’re investigating your newfound abilities.  Although Cambell is under the impression you summoned that demon to fight to glorify your own appearance, we know for certain that you had nothing to do with this.”

            “The demons were after me.  If I had just let them kill me I could’ve saved their lives.” Ace muttered to herself.  The man put a gentle hand on her shoulder and she looked up.

            “The demon, the skeleton army- both would have caused much more destruction if you hadn’t shown up.  We believe they would have razed a path straight to your front door if you hadn’t been there.”

            “Who is this ‘we’?  All I know is general Douchebag back there and his government.  What, are you some sort of paranormal branch?”

            “You could say that.  Let’s just say we have a demon of our own.  Big red guy.  Doesn’t talk much, but he gets the job done.”  The man said lightheartedly.  Ace giggled and cheered up a bit.  “Listen, we can’t do anything about your arrest, but we can sympathize with your desire to meet Jesus.   Don’t tell anyone this, but there is a private jet in Maine.  It’s all set up, just in case something were to happen.”

            “What kind of something?” Queried Ace with a raised eyebrow.  The man avoided eye contact.

            “Well, since we don’t report to the general, we can’t really keep track of this room.  And knowing you and your powers, even if we did monitor you there’d be nothing to stop you from just leaving.  Frankly it’s a big flaw in our security- we really need more restraints to hold down little girls with the powers of a god hellbent on seeing the Holy Son himself.”  He said sarcastically.  He gave Ace the folder he was carrying.

            “What’s this?” She asked while looking inside.  There were various pictures of her and the demon with scribbles on them marking key points, reports that were two to three pages long each, and what looked like a map of Main with a giant mark near the coastline.

            “That?  I figured you’d want reading material while you’re incarcerated.” He said before leaving. “Oh and if it comes up, tell them agent Smith sent you.”  With that he left Ace to look at the contents.  But not before rushing back in.

            “Oh, uh, there’s a ton of ‘Smiths’ in the agency, so make sure you tell them Abigail Smith sent you.”

            “Your name is Abigail Smith?” Ace said, snickering.

            “It’s just a code name, I assure you.  Anyway, have a good rest.”

For a couple of hours, Ace was left alone.  Only a few times did the nurse come in to make sure she was comfortable and had everything she needed.  Her tears had dried up, her face wasn’t swollen, and she was feeling a lot better both physically and mentally.  She perused the contents of the folder, especially the parts about her newfound powers.  She was dumbfounded at how quickly the report was released- even she didn’t know she could fire energy projectiles!  And the aura of the man?  It was news to her.  According to the report, there was speculation that the aura was that of God Himself.  The concept left Ace wide-eyed. 

But that was nothing compared to the shock she received when she learned she was not the only one with a god within them.  There had been reportings all over the world of other well-known deities existing within people of various ages.  Some could control fire, or earth, or water, or even shadows and darkness.  Some were just naturally gifted in performing arts or sports, others were brilliant beyond comparison in their field of study.  One man in particular had a god of medicine in him, and as a result was one of the best doctors in Asia.  The notion suggested that not only was God real, but all gods were- that every religion and every god ever reported officially was real!  Or at least it was looking that way as even minor gods such as the Muses from Greek Mythology were being reported.  Suddenly she didn’t feel so unique, but in a way it made her feel comfortable knowing she wasn’t the only one like this. 

There were no names given, and locations of these so-called “deitans” were sketchy at best.  However the papers reinvigorated her desire to find Jesus in Italy.  As such, she took up the man’s poorly-veiled hints to break out of the hospital and head to Maine to get on the private jet.  She waited until around midnight after the last nurse left her room before disconnecting herself from the various monitors attached to her, grabbing her stuff and the folder, and leaving the room.  As the lights in the main hallway began going off, she slowly snuck under the cover of darkness until she was outside the building.

Ace didn’t have a place to stay, so she made her way to the nearest inn to sleep for the ni-

“I knew you couldn’t sit still that long.” A voice called out.  Suddenly giant lamps were turned on and pointed directly at Ace, blinding her.  She had fallen into a trap.  The general appeared from the darkness, his arms behind his back.

“Fun thing about tracking devices, they work even if you take them off, because it means you’re trying to escape.” He said, holding up a tracking device. “You’re under arrest, remember?  You’re not going anywhere.”

“You think you can stop me?  I took down a fifty foot tall hydra with octopus hands yesterday with barely a scratch!  What’re you going to do?  Shoot me with one of your tanks?” Mocked Ace, air quoting the word “tank”.  There was a large rumbling from behind the general, who was stepping aside to reveal a large tank that had been driven up the street to the hospital’s main driveway.  Ace was speechless, then smacked herself in the head.

“If we have to use force, we will.” The general said, calmly.  Ace prepared to fight but had a flashback to the damage she caused in the last battle and to what general Cambell told her about it.  She hesitated, but decided not to fight this close to the city.

“You’re just lucky we’re in a city, otherwise I’d woop your a*s…”

“Yes, yes, just like you did to those civilians when you summoned a demon to play with.”

“I didn’t summon a demon!  It was some stupid brats!  I told you that, you’ve got to believe me!”

“All I know is you’re far too dangerous to leave unsupervised anymore.  Like I said, you’re a weapon now.  A weapon we need alive and in our custody.”

“Oh yeah?  You want me as a weapon so badly?  You’re going to have to catch me first!” Ace taunted.  With that she burst into the air and flew away.  The spotlights focused on her the best they could before she vanished into darkness.  The general didn’t break composure.  Instead he grabbed a walkie-talkie from a nearby soldier and said “bring in Thud.”

Author's Note

From here on out is where it gets hard for me to keep track of everything. If you feel there is a plothole open, or something goes unexplained (and there will be moments where it's intentional) don't be afraid to message me. I'll do my best to explain without giving away spoilers. And yes, the Agency DOES come back later, so they don't count.

Reviews

[Tai Ryens]

The dialogue could have been stripped down to only the most important things. Other than that, this was a great chapter! I'm curious to what Thud is now, and I like how you make the government sound evil. No, wait, they ARE evil. Wonderful job with detailing, but in my opinion, it could have used a bit more adverbs. Keep up the great work!