Juno Osbourne watched the levels on her controls tick beyond their limit as Anne’s power levels escalated. Florence and Clark looked up at the eye, the three of them and the equipment sitting in the middle of the street by a condemned red masonry building. The area of activity crept toward the rest of the city, taking up any debris that wasn’t laid in foundation on its outer perimeter. Water, cars, twirling power lines dependent on their connections and large chunks of building in the epicenter were gobbled up. The vortex was getting stronger.
“Florence, I have no idea how to handle this. I have no idea how she can for that matter. Anne’s’ power is miles off the charts.” Juno said, her nasal voice whining.
Florence nodded.
“Is it possible that her vortex can grow large enough to eat the planet?”
Juno flipped her lengthy braid across her shoulder.
“No, Anne would die in the process. Even then, the power would need to go somewhere, and the inhabitants of the earth would feel the psychic effect of a dead little girl for years to come, provided that we survive, that is.”
Florence nodded.
“Can we get anyone near her and subdue her?” Clark asked.
Juno shook her head.
“We already lost our current EnWol, and any further hope of more EnWol with it. I’ve kept any ancillary metas from approaching the vortex so that we don’t lose more lives. As of now, Dogpatch is quarantined.”
Florence wrinkled her nose.
“This game is all about risk; that’s how it goes. We just need to find the right way to take advantage of the situation and act on it.”
Levan came up from behind them.
“I’m risky, I’m heroic and expendable. I could go up and save the little girl from the dastardly vortex.”
“She’s causing the vortex.” Juno said without looking up at him.
Levan’s brow furrowed.
“Excuse me? That can’t be right.”
Juno nodded.
“I know. It violates the laws of conservation and mass. She shouldn’t be able to do this.”
Levan held his hands up and chortled.
“Okay, look, I know that, Juno, you are the smartest person in the land…”
“Who other?”
“…but that can’t be right. I don’t know anything about physics, but if Hollywood has taught me anything, it’s that that vortex should be bigger.” He pointed at the swirling mass above him. In the context of a Hollywood movie, it was very small.
Clark shook his head and Florence hid her face to moan.
Levan pulled on his spandex as if he were wearing suspenders.
“In any case, I can still rescue that girl up there. Perhaps that’s just what she needs to end this storm; a hero with good PR.” He rocked on the balls of his feet.
Clark walked up.
“Levan, don’t. Lora and Sarra are gone. We don’t want you to go either.”
“No please. Levan don’t. Listen to the veteran.” Juno said. There was no emotion in her voice.
Levan ignored Clark.
“It is too late my lady, Osbourne, for my decision is made. I shall, nay; I might rescue the little girl from her own peril.”
Juno rolled her eyes and mouthed the word ‘might.’
“No, don’t. The world needs you and your special sarcasm detecting abilities.”
“What?” Levan asked and then flew away without regards for an answer.
Florence shot off and left as quickly as Levan did. Juno quietly got back to her readings, adjusting them to compensate for hitting the maximum levels. Clark crossed his arms and glared at Juno. She shot a glance at him.
“I’m not sure if his use of the word expendable back there was deliberate or not.” Juno muttered.
“Why did you have to feed him?” Clark asked.
Juno held her thumb and index finger close together.
“He gets his egging on from a pea. He hardly needed my help, Clark. Without me, it would have just delayed the inevitable.”
Clark pursed his lips, defeated.
“That may be so…”
Florence readied her arm to catch Levan. The gap closed in between them and she threw. Her arm sailed past Levan, and then it was violently pulled on by the vortex. She gasped and pulled it back, thankful that she did not lose it. She wiggled her fingers and watched Levan approach Anne. He seemed unaffected by the vortex. Watched as parts of her body bubbled in and out like a lava lamp; the vortex was teasing a craving for EnWol silver.
Florence curled her lip and looked up at Levan. His hair remained motionless as he hovered in front of Anne. Levan was being his ‘heroic’ self, apparently unaffected by the vortexes pull. Florence decided to leave him be. She flew back to her husband and Juno.
“Young Anne, I have arrived to rescue you and relieve you of your misery.”
Anne’s face was ablaze in distress. Her eyes were shut and she was trying to regulate her breathing. She shuddered out every breath. She opened her eyes a crack and stared at him.
Levan grimaced behind his smile. He cleared his throat, unsure of what to do beyond what he was taught about dealing with meta children. Usually they had some degree of control over their powers.
“Well, young Anne, we should get going.” He reached for her hand. Anne held her breath and mewled, trying to talk. She found that her intangibility was failing her. Levan grabbed her hand with a smile on his face, and then his expression went slack.
“Oh cheese…”
Levan felt Anne’s powers loop up his arm like a flash of numbness and into his head. He saw flashes of Anne’s pain, her fire, Morgan and Garner, Jack, and reserves of hope and trust buried away so that she could recover from her torture. Levan’s head felt like it would split open. He grabbed it and shouted.
Anne gasped, her headache gone in an instant. She looked up at Levan and covered her mouth.
“Great Apple Trees, Mister, I’m sorry!”
Anne looked up at the eye of the vortex, its power being shifted from her to Levan. The eye shrunk and inside, she saw the unconscious forms of Pink Lemon, Crimson Cherry, The Electric Beaulieu, and cousin Tench very slowly falling out of it.