16 years later

February 6th, 2018

Afternoon

Amazon Complex

Seattle, Evergreen

 

The voices of the instructors shouting could be heard throughout the arena of female students. Sounds of metal hitting metal drowned out by the battle cries of the advanced students battling it out with training weapons in separate groups. Some listened and fought in teams or against multiple opponents, most of the girls here were disciplined enough and paid attention; however, there were some looking in rapt attention at the duel happening before their eyes between two superhuman girls. Two girls in shiny light armors were battling full contact in the sand of the underground arena, they were at its center. 

From the long exchange of strikes, parries, evasions, feints, and counter-attacks people would say they were evenly matched, but in a blur of speed, the shortest girl charged and bypassed the reach of the taller girl’s staff; then in a series of accurate and dexterous moves disarmed her and made her opponent relinquish her weapon with a fancy move of her short sword. The staff laid on the sand and the young woman let go of her short sword to tackle the tall girl at an impossible speed. The short young woman caught the tall one's wrist and swiped her leg under her foe’s feet, making her fall. 

The battle devolved into grappling on the sand, and finally, the short girl had the tall girl in a sleeper hold.

Thirty seconds later, the fight ended with the tall girl falling unconscious, the Amazon instructor came to inspect if everything was alright, making sure the unconscious girl was just put to sleep. The worst thing that could happen would be a broken neck. She took off the tall girl's helmet, an eighteen-year-old brunette with her eyes closed who was thus revealed to be asleep after the instructor took her pulse.

“Elissa wins!” The instructor said while taking the younger girl’s arm and raising it.

“Yes!” The soft soprano voice of the winner cried in joy.

Some students cheered and clapped, but none were louder than Elissa’s little sister Cassandra. Like a missile, the little girl jumped in the arena and was a blur as she tackled her older sibling who was standing up just now but found her bottom on the sand yet again. Cassandra hugged her sister with all her might, everyone felt that the little girl was too clingy, and she might be too spoiled.

“CANTBREATH,” Elissa said, slapping her hand on the little girl’s shoulder.

Cassandra disengaged and looked decently sheepish. She was much stronger than Elissa, as she just triggered her superhuman powers last month, and because their dad was a Titan type superhuman; weirdly Elissa thought her powers were different because she had other types of gifts that must be from her maternal line. The magnitude of Cassandra’s strength was completely different from her older sister’s but there was no jealousy between the sisters. 

Elissa’s mother, Malicia told her that she will grow in strength each year and reach a comparable power to her sister.

“Sorry.” The girl said with an embarrassed little smile on her freckled face.

“It’s ok little tyke, just don’t do-” The older girl looked into Cassandra big puppy green eyes and realized who she was talking to and sighed heavily. “Let’s go.”

When her little sister looked at her this way, she could not say no to her, she was eight and a half and everyone in the family doted on her. When Elissa decided to do something fun, Cassandra was always there to follow her; when practicing martial arts, studying magical arts, or looking for weapons in the magical market, weren’t just hobbies to them but their way of life. Their mother was a sorceress, everyone in the house worshipped Hekate, the Dark Goddess of Magic and Sorcery, the proof was the matching necklace showing their faith. 

Elissa knew what it was like to live in a normal household and she found it boring. If she was a normal girl she wouldn’t be able to do half the things she’s used to, like martial arts, but her favorite activity was alchemy. Elissa liked alchemy more than sorcery, but Cassandra sucked at it and left her alone in her basement lab.

Still, going to the Amazon complex to learn how to fight was one of the things they enjoyed doing together, and it gave Elissa a break from thwarting her sisters attempts at stealing her makeup and blackmailing her into going to play with the faeries and find unicorns in the parks of Seattle, where those magical denizens roamed en masse. The girls spectating congratulated her for showing that older girl her place. Sharice was an older black girl that was one year her senior in this complex and she used to lord over the normal girls, as she was the most talented in her age group. But just because she triggered her superpowers, she thought she could do the same with the powered members. Elissa showed her the errors of her ways when she came to her looking for a fight. 

The young woman didn’t have a lot of friends, even though she was loyal to them, but she had big ideals, was honest and raised with honor. Elissa and Cassandra were raised in a way that wasn’t compatible with today’s society.

“You showed that cow who’s boss, now can we go have pancakes at Daisy’s?” Yes, Cassandra also had a mouth on her.

Elissa looked at the little glutton, sighed and recovered her short sword to sheath it securely. The red-haired older girl took her little sister's hand in hers and left the sandy arena. The two sisters went toward the elevator that will bring them to the locker rooms in the upper level of the complex.

*I can’t wait to take a shower and get all this sand off me.* Elissa thought.

The sand inserted itself in places she didn’t want to think about. Girls everywhere minded their own business; some played in the media room or gossiped with their friends in the rec room when they weren’t training. The complex was a place that combined relaxation and hard work. Elissa loved this place for the freedom and learning that the complex offered, here she felt fulfilled and could really let go with her strength and body, no one here was fragile. 

The equipment here was tailored to resist superhumans with powerful strength, speed, and stamina. The goal was to teach people how to handle their superior bodies. But it wasn’t the only goal of this place. The Amazon Complexes all over the world were open since 1994; it was founded after the Vadwaur Alien invasion and boom in superhuman triggers or legacies. 

Queen Dorina let the Amazon fighting style spread to permit younger women to know how to defend themselves, not only from aliens but from domestic threats too. At first, the service catered only to women, but now there are separate classes for men and women of seven to sixty-five years old. Seven is the youngest a child can trigger superhuman abilities or activate them if they are legacies. Elissa and Cassandra were legacies with the first being a late bloomer. 

Elissa triggered at twelve years old and was teased for it by her dad, Heracles.

The two girls arrived at the floor they wanted and went towards the locker rooms farther in the center of the complex. Once there, plenty of girls Elissa’s age came and went out of the third locker room where she stored her clothes and shoes. Elissa entered followed by her sister who began to undo her Amazon issued martial uniform, it was a black and tight kind of tank top with stretchy pants that also served as under armor when novices move up from basic training. 

The older sister began by taking off her bracers. Once near her locker she placed them inside and began taking off her armor piece by piece in the emplacement designed for it. It possessed its own maintenance pod that cleaned and repaired the silvery armor.

Elissa seized her bath towel and looked for her sister who appeared like a ghost behind her and pinched her butt.

“Ouch!!” Elissa screamed.

Cassandra giggled and stuck her tongue at her older sister.

“Cass! Come here!!!”

The little girl fled toward the showers, avoiding the girls getting out with her superhuman reflexes and casting an antiskid spell on the soles of her feet to avoid tripping on the slick beige tiles. Elissa caught her by doing the same and pinched her back on the same body part.

“Noooo, mercy pleash.”

“There is no mercy for you today, tyke.” Elissa declared smugly and took her sister into a shower booth.

---

Once showered and clothed, the girls left the complex and found themselves before its gates, snow crackling under their feet while they giggled and joked about today’s activities. The atmosphere between them was happy and warm. Cassandra wore warm winter clothes as she was completely different from her sister and couldn’t handle the cold temperatures. 

Elissa was immune to the cold winter of Seattle and flaunted it for all to see. The girls were interrupted when they heard someone running towards them from the gates with their enhanced senses. To no one’s surprise, Sharice appeared before them and glared at Elissa, fists clenched, she approached them aggressively; she was still wearing her issued armor, so she must have just regained consciousness, Elissa guessed.

“Great, she’s a sore loser,” Elissa said rolling her eyes and her mouth forming a flat line.

Sharice wasn’t someone worth knowing to Elissa, the more she interacted with the older girl, the more she thought of her as a cliché villainess from a teen movie.

“You! We are not-”

“Of course we are done, I defeated you publicly, you lost and our wager was that you will not bully the other students anymore.” Elissa interrupted her.

“Look, bitch-”

The younger girl stopped her with a hand, then pointed a finger toward her.

“No you listen, if you don’t desist with your foolish acts, the gloves will come off.” Elissa felt frustrated by this girl’s behavior. She was like a pitbull, never letting go once she had her jaw around something.

“Why do you always talk like that? Do you think you are in a Shakespearean play or something?!” The older girl retorted.

“Ok, I will deign to stoop to your level and use words that your beastly brain can understand. Heya bitch, did you come for more? I brutalized your ass and I can do it again. Back off or else!” Elissa made her knuckles crack and was about to tell the stupid girl to come at her.

To Sharice, Elissa didn’t look like a threat at all, in her sky blue tie-front crop top, white denim jacket, tight leather biker pants, and ankle length black boots. Sharice felt envious of Elissa, she was a gorgeous redhead, fit and curvy; she was the most popular girl in the complex, and this was why she wanted to humiliate her. Sharice remembered how she sadly lost to her in the arena.

Pride and stupidity raised her courage though.

“Why you…” Sharice began to say.

“What is going on here?” A voice shouted from behind them.

The two girls looked and saw a dark-skinned woman with raven black hair, wearing a black leather jacket, painted on tight jeans and combat boots. She was African American with a mix of Greek ancestry in her genes and looked familiar to Elissa. The woman was beautiful, but her feline golden eyes made the two girls feel like they were staring at a predator.

“Ah, miss Selena!” Elissa’s sister exclaimed.

The hard gaze of the woman melted when she discovered the presence of Cassandra. Gone was the predator, welcome mother hen.

“Aww Cassandra, sweetie, c’mere.” Selena opened her arms and Cassandra blurred into them at her usual super speed.

The woman began to hug and kiss her as if she was her own daughter. Cassandra often had this effect on adults, it’s like she had a protective aura that made people like her. Elissa asked herself if it was a defense mechanism? Through her mage vision, she could just see her pink and golden aura.

*I need to brush up my aura reading, there is something I am missing.*

*Selena King, the director of this complex and one of the combat instructors for the children division.* Elissa memories clicked.

“So what was happening here? Was Elissa picking another fight?”

“No miss, this loser here didn’t want to respect the terms of the duel they just had and came looking for her.” Cassandra shook her head and pointed at Sharice with her finger.

Sharice began to tremble under Director King’s gaze. Elissa glanced over at Cassandra and noticed an evil looking smile on her face. It appeared Cassandra had a sadistic streak towards those she disliked.

“Is that right?” Selena King said glaring at the young woman. “Then she won’t mind accompanying me to my office. I am not asking, by the way, young lady.”

Sharice stared balefully at Elissa but kept her tongue, turned heel and left while ‘humphing.’ The three watched Sharice leaving as her shoulders slumped and a defeated atmosphere surrounded her. Elissa's attention fell on the director who was shaking her head in disgust.

“I don’t presume to tell you what you should do, Miss King. Sharice is too angry and prideful, maybe she has some problems at home that make her act like that, but this is no excuse to poison the atmosphere of the complex for the rest of us.” The young girl reasoned.

Selena was struck by the maturity of this young girl. She remembered that she was one of the better seeds they had recruited four years ago.

“I will work on her don’t worry, have a safe trip girls.” Selena smiled at the two sisters, waved and went back into the complex.

“Now that it’s resolved…” Elissa took her sunglasses from the inside pocket of her jacket and put them on.

“Let’s go have pancakes at Daisy’s!” Elissa giggled.

“Yay!!” Cassandra jumped in joy.

They called an Uber and went towards Broadview to their favorite family dinner.

---

Seattle Broadview

Daisy's was a family diner with a retro feel from the 1950s, it was near Haller Lake on Aurora Avenue between a Krypsi Kreme and a DIY store. There were always clients there, from morning to evening; Daisy is a retired superhuman from the Seattle guardians who wanted peace from the fights with the enhanced gangs that warred and the Chinese triad doing whatever they wanted. 

She is a tall blue-eyed blonde and as it often was with superhumans, Daisy was fit and beautiful, but she tended to dress conservatively. What was a surprise to Elissa and Cassandra was to find their favorite chef being held at gunpoint by a man with a shotgun, on the checkerboard tiles, a costumed superhuman was slowly being emptied of his lifeblood. Without thinking, Elissa raised her left hand and sent a focused beam of Frost that encased the man’s weapon and his arms into ice, with her right one she did the same to his lower body.

“Stay here Cass, and call the police.” She said to her sister who nodded to her and took out her smartphone.

Daisy burst into action and slugged the man in the face, Elissa cringed when she heard the sound of breaking bones and saw the assailant fall like a sack of potatoes onto the ground. The woman didn’t stop there, she kicked him in the stomach repeatedly. Elissa focused on the costumed guy and went toward him, knelt at his side and tried to apply pressure on his wounds, but it was impossible with the multiple entry-wounds from the shotgun pellets.

The young woman sighed and resolved herself to do something that her mother had forbidden unless the situation was dire. She put her hand on the blue-costumed man and focused her will on his body and scanned him. There were sixteen punctures, she saw the .22 pellets inside the wounds, and used a telekinesis spell to extract them and, at the same time, closed the wounds on the man’s abdomen, repairing the damages. 

It was slow at first, but Elissa put more mana in the process, the operation caused white light to burst around her and the man. One minute later, the light subsided and Elissa sighed in relief, her hands and jacket bloodied from her work.

“Eli, is he going to be alright?” Daisy asked.

She looked worried and dangerous, her eyes were still on the man that attacked her diner waiting for him to do something. The man was leaking blood through his mouth and moaned barely able to move.

“Yes Mrs. Daisy, I did what I could.” Elissa stood up.

Daisy looked at her with a raised eyebrow, she looked surprised by the array of gifts the young woman possessed. She has known her since she moved to this city and her parents got inducted in the Superhuman community in Broadview; from the League network, she knew that the girl was registered as a super with higher than average speed, strength, and resilience, but those ice and healing abilities would make her a really sought after recruit for superhero groups, villains, and law enforcement. 

Or maybe it was that fancy magic that their mother teaches them, the woman thought.

“I didn’t know you were a healer too,” Daisy said, curious.

“Ah, yes... I am, but it really takes it out of me, and makes me hungry.” On cue, Elissa’s belly growled.

The young girl’s cheeks reddened at this, and Daisy laughed. Her red swing dress twirled when she turned toward Elissa.

“Oh dear, I will fix that when the cops arrive and take this piece of shit on the ground.” The matron smiled at Elissa and disturbed her hair.

“Hreint.” Cassandra’s voice echoed behind them and pink light enveloped Elissa and blood came off her clothes and hands, pooling on the tiles.

“Thanks, Cass.” Elissa smiled at her sister.

“You’re welcome, the police are coming I kept them on the line.”

“Give it to Mrs. Daisy.” Cassandra complied with her sister.

The woman took the phone and put it to her ear and began to converse with the police. “Hello? Yes, the situation is resolved but we need EMTs here.”

It was ten minutes later when the SPD and EMTs appeared to take away the criminal and the costumed superhuman; the girl filled in the cops on what happened, they congratulated her and gave her a recruiting pamphlet. They were always in high demand for superhumans with peculiar gifts like her, Elissa has never been interested in becoming a police officer so she left the pamphlet on the diner's table and sat on the red and white chair near her. Elissa dreaded the next hours when her mother will argue with her about the use of her healing gifts on strangers, weakening herself. 

Elissa thought that she was right, of course, but the man she saved today must have a family he needs to come back to. Like her father, Heracles. She wanted to help him in his superhero career and was a bit afraid to ever see him on the ground leaking out his blood and slowly dying. Well, she also knew he was super tough and bulletproof, and she shouldn’t worry about him, but villains, and weapon makers, always invent new weapons or processes to compete with superheroes.

The goal of the young woman was to be a superhero. Elissa was interrupted from her train of thought when Cassandra and Daisy appeared with two mountains of pancakes on a rolling tray.

“Hum it’s too much, Mrs. Daisy!” Elissa’s eyes widened with the pile of food coming her way.

“Nonsense, it’s on the house, you saved one of my ex-teammates.”

“Yeah, don’t refuse the food!” Cassandra said smiling.

“Oh, the blue guy? Who was he?”

She knew a lot of costumed supers, but the one she helped didn’t ring any bells to her. The young girl heard about Mrs. Daisy’s career as the Rainbow Cat and her control over the emotions of people hit by her different colored psionic beams. But the woman wore a superhuman inhibitor as an accessory to block her powers. She depowered herself this way to not be tempted back into the cape world, but she still had the basic superhuman body that’s superior to normal people in speed, strength, and health. Daisy was forty years old but still looked twenty-five.

“Blue Falcon, he can fly and use sonic attacks but as you could see he isn’t all that bulletproof,” Daisy informed her proudly.

Elissa wasn’t impressed and she showed it on her face by pursing her lips and adopted a pondering mien.

“Sound good on paper, he is a damage type, but more glass cannon like, I guess,” Elissa muttered.

“Ah, yes like that. He was attacked first when the guy entered the diner.” Daisy’s shoulders fell a bit hearing this.

Meanwhile, Cassandra began to eat her mountain of pancakes with maple syrup, stuffing her face happily. Her smartphone rang and she looked at the caller ID and almost choked. Elissa helped her sister by slapping her back and taking the call.

“No don’t!” Cassandra whined.

Elissa didn’t listen to her sister, she was aware that if she didn’t answer the phone they were going to make the situation worse with their parents.

“Cassandra Von Braun-Halliwell, what is this! I heard that you and your sister were involved in a shooting?” The voice was cold, yet feminine and promising hell on earth.

“Hi, mom. Funny that you just called!” Elissa chooses to be her upbeat self.

“Elissa! Are you ok? Are any of you wounded?” Her mother, Malicia Von Braun-Halliwell sounded worried and ready to teleport to her and her sister.

Malicia was a powerful sorceress, able to manipulate the elements and the other forces of nature; she was also a good enchantress that helped a lot of businesses in Seattle and beyond with security and other mundane types of services.

“Come on, mom. It’s me, do you think I would let something happen to Cass? The situation is resolved, it was just a guy that attacked Daisy’s to take her money, and he shot that Blue Eagle guy.”

“Falcon.” Daisy corrected her.

“Sorry, Blue Falcon.”

“Never heard of him,” Malicia answered mercilessly.

“Same.” Elissa giggled and slapped her hand on the table in mirth.

Elissa told her mother what happened in detail on the phone, without lying about the use of her healing magic. Malicia wasn’t happy and chewed her out for five minutes, Daisy closed the diner and went back to the register, called the on-call cleaning staff to come to deal with the mess in her establishment.

“I want you to come back home when you are done eating, your father just returned from work. He is worried about you two.” Malicia said in a tone that didn’t let others think she was asking.

“Ok, mom.” Elissa sighed.