text: There’s my star pupil! How’s everything princess?” A booming voice echoed as the elevator doors slid open. The resounding reverberation of the greeting increases in volume as it bounces off the marble walls and flooring of the compound. The small girl in a pink down jacket cups her ears as she steps out from the elevator into the pearl foyer, “Why do you always have to be so loud Mr. Mahoney?” An older man materializes in front of her looking visibly embarrassed “Ahh I'm so sorry Zuri, an old man like me forgets that little girls like you have sensitive ears” the man jested. “HEY who are you calling little, I may be 6 but I’ll still whoop your wrinkly old butt in practice” Zuri interjects defensively. “Well you'll have to prove that, are you sure you’re ready to take on the mighty Richter?” The man asked, pounding his chest. “I WAS BORN READY” said Zuri. “You were born yesterday,” Richter laughingly riposted. The sound of a cackling Zuri bounced off the walls and both parties howled with laughter for a short while before the man trailed off into silence, seemingly distracted by something. “What's a matter Mr. Mahoney?” “Oh... Nothing dear... let's hurry to your training now” Richter responded, grabbing the young girl's hand before both vanishing into an ethereal haze. The two then materialized, still hand and hand in the same position they departed but arrived somewhere entirely different. They stood at the center of a gargantuan amphitheater surrounded by ocean, rubble and vine coated the dilapidated stone benches that once housed an audience. The cawing of seagulls roosting in a nearby nest filled the open air. Zuri shivered as the chill of a sea breeze pushed up through the cracks of a collapsed wall and permeated her jacket. “BRRRR you can go ANYWHERE Mr. Mahoney, why do you always pick this busted old dump?” She asked quizzically. “HEY! I’ve trained countless disciples at this very spot, this is where your mother discovered her powers you know?” “ Plus it's quiet here, now let's see if you’ve been working on your form as much as you claim” Richter added before materializing a neon purple sphere of energy in his palm. “CATCH!” He then hurled the supercharged orb at the girl at point blank range. The orb connected with the ground and the spot where Zuri was once standing now reduced to a smoldering crater. Richter began to charge another orb in his palm but was interrupted by a femine voice above him, “COME ON Mr. Mahoney, I know you’re a dinosaur but that was embarrassingly slow, give me your A game!” Zuri appeared in the air directly above him with her fist cocked back. The small girl unleashed a sharp right jab towards the direction of her sparring partner. For a moment nothing happened and the air was still, but a split second later that once stagnant air was replaced by a torrent of hailstorm winds which became engulfed in flames setting the ground below her on fire. Just as quickly as Zuri, Richter fazed out of the way of the blast and joined the girl in freefall. “YOU PACK A BIG PUNCH FOR A SMALL GIRL... THE FLAMES ARE A NEW ADDITION AS WELL!” The two titans continued to fight it out at supersonic speed for hours. The sound of explosions could be heard for miles. The sun set and fatigue set in, Zuri stumbled and the vetran used the opening to finish this long drawn out battle. Richter broke the girl's footing and judo threw her to the ground. His fists charged with cosmic lightning came in at mach speed towards the girl's face. But before the finishing blow could connect his arm was stopped by an unseen force. Zuri’s eyes began glowing dark green and her skin began to glow red hot. Richter seemed shocked but before he could react his arm was blown out of its socket with a sickening pop and he was thrown 50 feet landing on the other side of the colosseum. Zuri began to hover up off the ground, eyes still glowing and skin still burning a deep red. “I submit” “I SUBMIT!” “ZURI!” Screamed Richter, slapping the ground with his intact arm. The demonic glow faded from the girl's features and her feet finally returned to the ground. After a long pause a quiet “D-Does that mean I win the match?” escaped the small girl's mouth. Still shaken the man responded, “Yes... Yes dear it does.” “Can we go again then, that was WAY fun?” Zuri asked excitedly. “Wh...What?... No... Zuri do you know how long we were sparing?” Richter asked as he put his shoulder back in its socket. “uuuuuuuuummm?” The girl thought for a moment before letting out a surprised gasp as she noticed that the warm morning sunlight had been replaced by a pale moonlight. “I GOTTA GET HOME!” Zuri exclaimed, “Mom and Dad are probably worried”. “Yes, let's not worry them too much” The old man added before grabbing Zuri and materializing them both on the patio in front of a three story mansion. “Run on home now” “Okay, Bye Mr. Mahoney I'll see you for training tomorrow right?” The girl asked as she ran up to her front door. The man did not reply. Richter sat alone in his study writing something in his notebook as he listened to the news broadcasting from his TV. “Today marks the 15th anniversary of the Collapse, an event forever recalled in infamy as ‘the day superabled turned their back on the people they swore to protect”. Today the president held a ceremony for all those lost in the devastating terror attack-” The screen quickly went black followed by the sound of shattering glass as Richter threw his whisky glass across the room. “AHHHHH BULLSHIT!” He screamed, his private study now enveloped in darkness as the light from the TV went out. The old man sat alone in the darkness, his dejection emptied themselves into a glenclairn glass as he poured himself another shot of whiskey. The sound of his self-loathing was interrupted by incessant tapping at his windowsill. Richter turned his head to see a crow pecking at the glass pane. “Rough day today Rick?” A deep foreboding voice reached out from behind him followed by the sick heavy stench of mildew and decay. “She's getting stronger,” Richter responded without turning around. “That’s a good thing right?” the voice asked, the weight of the room seemingly getting heavier with each syllable. “She picked up Pyrokinetics and... something else” Richter added, seemingly becoming more distraught the more he spoke. “Well, that's what you do right...You help the abled draw out their powers?.... I mean...That's what we're paying you for right?” The voice asked slowly, its words creeping into the old man's head, infesting his skull and violating his eardrums. Richter shook his head violently as if to clear the fog forming in his mind. “NO!” Richter screamed “NOT IF THE POWERS ARE NOT HER OWN!” “SHE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT SHE HAS SHE'S NOT EVEN AWARE OF IT, SHE'S GOING TO LOSE CONTROL EDGAR WERE DONE I’M DONE I’M NOT GOING TO LET THIS FACADE GO ON ANY LONGER!” The old man continued. A murder of crows formed in front of Richter creating the silhouette of a man as well as two piercing green eyes. “WE ARE DONE WHEN I SAY WE ARE DONE! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!!” the shadowy figure screamed at an almost impossible volume. “No, Edgar, you don’t understand. That THING you brought back is not your daughter. Zuri died 15 years ago, as did so many other people that day. You were not the only person to lose a family member.” Richter’s voice settled and he adopted a gentler tone. “I’m your friend... you know that. I’m not like the humans on the news, I know Zuri was not responsible for the Collapse like everyone says. But you need to come to terms with reality and let her g-” Richter’s speech was cut short as he began gasping for air. “NOOO!” The shadow interjected “YOU NEED TO COME TO TERMS WITH THE FACT THAT REALITY CAN BE WHATEVER I WANT IT TO BE I AM A GOD AMONG MEN AND IF YOU CAN NOT UNDERSTAND THAT THEN YOU'LL DIE LIKE A HUMAN!!” The old man then collapsed to the floor knocking over the last of his Whiskey and the shadow reverted back into a muder of crows which broke through the window and escaped into the night sky. Richter Mahoney lay lifeless on the floor of his study once again accompanied by silence and darkness.