4.3 - The Starlight Twins

The girl took a step forward and, as if previously rehearsed, struck an unnecessarily dynamic pose alongside the boy.

The girl spoke up first, followed by the boy, and they each continued a line in their bizarre motto. They changed their poses whenever the other talked, until they spoke together on the last sentence.

“When the sounds of evil echo on the streets, only light can rise to quell them…!”

“The shining light that blasts away villainy no matter where it might stem…!”

“Defending the people of Ave Strata is how we shine…!”

“To subdue all foes and bring them in line…!”

“No matter the day, and no matter the care…!”

“If any villain tries to hide anywhere…!”

“The Starlight Twins will be there!”

Of the six or seven other people still present, no one clapped.

I covered my face with my left hand; the secondhand embarrassment washed all over me.

I glanced around at the civilians. One by one, they all continued running away from the site of my battle with Mass Driver, who was slowly regaining consciousness from my last attack.

I had to be quick.

Ignoring the twins, I turned and continued jogging to the blown out bank.

“Ah! Hey, wait!” the girl called after me.

“You! Stop right there!” the boy added. “You villain!”

Suddenly, the street around me glowed with a highly saturated orange light. I dove out of the way in time before a large beam of raw photons obliterated the asphalt I was just standing on.

The girl had flown after me and was now descending in the air, while her brother flew past us and landed between me and Mass Driver.

“Can you guys go home or something?” I complained. “I was in the middle of a fight!”

“Yes,” the boy cracked his knuckles and pointed at me. “With justice!”

I rolled my eyes and made a deep sigh. I felt the cringe jolt through my arms.

The girl pointed at me. “You, Vector, have caused quite enough damage around here, so if anyone’s going anywhere, it’s you going to jail!”

I massaged my temples. “You’ve…got to be kidding me.”

The boy shook his head and pointed a thumb in the direction of Mass Driver behind him. “And don’t even think about causing any more trouble with that guy over there! We’ll handle him and you effortlessly.”

“I think you kids need to go home. Now. This isn’t a place for yo—“

“Kids?!” the girl glared at me. “Marc, I think this guy needs a lesson!”

“Of course, Madi,” Marc grinned. “All villains do!”

Immediately, a blue aura enveloped Marc’s body, and, in a flash, he shot a punch at me. A bright column of light burst from his fist, striking me squarely in the chest.

The impact from the photonic energy blasted me away some forty feet from Marc, who kept grinning smugly as he walked towards me.

“Not bad for a ‘kid,’ huh, you villain?”

I felt sick; a sharp pain pierced my already-disturbed stomach, and I wanted to vomit. I tried to keep my composure, as Marc waved away at his sister.

“Madi, I’ll handle this loser. Go make sure Mass Driver is dealt with.”

“Yeah!”

Like her damn brother, Madi also enveloped herself in an aura of light, hers obviously orange, and she flew through the air towards Mass Driver, who was now getting to his feet.

Marc turned back to me. “We already know about you—the 'Most Infamous' Vector, as they say. Thanks for giving Abnormals a bad name!”

I struggled to stand. “You know, for a couple of brats...you guys sure know how to make a fool of yourselves...with your lame-ass make-believe superhero thing. What’re you guys, like 7 years old?”

“We’re 17, you damn idiot!”

“Ah, damn,” I coughed. “So, you’re both practically my age and still act like that? So much for acting your age.”

“RRRAAAAHHHH!!!”

I was ready for him this time.

Again, he manifested his blue aura, and I was able to see him go supersonic for a moment before I felt another punch at my gut. I let myself vomit on the street as I bent down.

But I focused on his arm, and as Marc retracted his hand from my abdomen, my powers kicked in the moment I grabbed the star insignia on his chest. I glanced quickly at a mailbox behind him and redirected Marcus there. He gasped as his body shot backwards and slammed into the mailbox. I jolted back a few more feet from the momentum.

I fell to my knees and coughed a ton from the previous punch, letting my stomach release.

Kh! This is the worst!

Marc felt his head and growled angrily. “That all you got? You...villain?!”

I squinted at him when he flashed once more. I steeled my right shoulder as much as I could, and I turned my body sideways to grab at his arm—just as he showed up with another punch ready. He caught on to my maneuver and moved his left hand in front of my face. His entire hand glowed with a deep blue light that, had I not shut my eyes and covered my face with my right sleeve, would have almost certainly blinded me.

“Eat this, villain!”

A column of blue light blasted out of Marc’s palm, and there was a sudden burst of extremely hot air to go along with it.

My body shot backwards and smashed into the side of a building.

Incredible. He was able to generate such a force with that column of light.

I tried to sit up and felt my clothes burning. I started to sweat from the sudden blast of heat.

I pushed my right elbow into the tiled bakery floor, and I grabbed hold of a countertop to stabilize myself.

How was he moving so fast? I wondered. And that beam of light…It was like feeling the surface of a star for a second.

I guessed these kids weren’t just talk, after all.

Madi descended from the air next to Marc.

“Mass Driver got away,” she scoffed.

“Dammit,” Marc replied. “Did you see where he went?”

“No. Lost sight of him. Weaved himself between buildings like a rat.”

“Whatever,” Marc grinned as he turned back to me. “At least we got this villain here.”

The twins floated down to my position as I again struggled to stand. I stumbled out of the ruined wall and collapsed to the sidewalk.

“Madi, your turn to take a crack at him,” Marc chuckled. “I’ll sit back this time.”

“With pleasure,” Madi said, and she raised her left hand as a bright collection of orange sparks gathered in the space in front of her palm.

Another beam? I thought. No way I can dodge this one. If I could just—?!"

“Burn this image into your mind, Vector,” Madi sneered. “Know that this is the moment where the Starlight Twins brought you to justi—"

“HEY!”

I knew that voice.

Madi and Marc turned. The gathering orange light particles disintegrated.

“Who’s there?” Madi demanded.

Emerging from the dark alleyway across the street was Elaina. Threads of black smoke drooped down from her shoulders like a cape, then depleted altogether, as her orange scarf blew in their wake.

I breathed a sigh of relief. "...Shadow...Travel?"

"You know it," she answered. "Got worried when you didn't come back within the hour."

"Sorry," I said, focusing back on the twins. "I got...held up."

“Who the hell are you?” Marc scoffed at my friend. “We’re in the middle of something, you know?!”

Elaina’s Spellbook floated next to her, and she glared at the twins. She raised her right hand to them—and immediately her palm burned with purple and blue fire dancing around her fingers and running along her arm.

The twins gasped in terror.

“You…You’re…a Ma-…a Magician?!” Marc said in disbelief.

"You could say..." Elaina's pupils glowed with a cyan light. "...I'm quite the 'Anomaly' in this town."

I smiled.

“No way..." Madi's mouth remained agape. "I thought…Mages were just a myth!”

“Oh, we’re very real,” Elaina replied. “And I’m about to send you both to another dimension if you try anything on Vector again! My Magic can absorb your fancy-schmancy light-based powers, so don’t tempt me to use a hex on your flashy asses!”

She kept her burning arm pointed at the twins as she moved to me.

“You all right, Jace?” she asked, not taking her eyes off the siblings.

“Y-Yeah, sort of. Just…my left arm…might be broken. And my stomach, my…my whole body hurts like hell…”

“I’ll fix you up when we get back home.”

“Gross,” Madi cringed. “You guys live together?”

“There a problem if we do?” Elaina challenged her.

I felt my face get warm for some reason.

“Two freaks under one roof,” Marc laughed. “Talk about self-destructive.”

“Look who’s talkin’,” Elaina retorted. “Ain’t you guys brother and sister? Or do you both actually live in separate apartments?”

Madi folded her arms. “No, we don’t.”

“Then what's your deal then?!" Madi complained. "For the record, I don’t live with Jacen. We’re friends, buddies, homies, partners-in-crime! He watches my back and I watch his…uh, quite literally…almost, yeah.”

The Spellbook floated down to me, rotating to stay flat as a support.

"Thanks," I said to it. I leaned on the book to pull myself up and took a step forward.

The twins readied themselves again and Elaina prepared to blast the siblings into the sky.

I took a deep breath. “Ela? Please, lower your arm...”

She glanced at me and raised an eyebrow. “What? Why? Don't tell me you still wanna fight 'em—“

“Please, just do it, Ela. I wanna...talk to them.”

Elaina looked from the twins to me and relaxed her arm. The purple embers dissipated.

I limped two steps forward and looked up at the siblings as best I could.

“Guys, look, you’re right.” I said.

“...Huh?” Madi squinted. “The hell is this?”

I continued. “Elaina and I…we’re not superheroes or anything, really.”

Marc placed his hands on his hips. “Ha! See! That’s right! We’re the real heroes, Vector! Not you or that mage girl! We—“

“We just wanted answers about the Science Division and its leader, Doctor Molecruel," I explained to them. "That's why we were at the Repository today. To find clues, leads that we could follow as to why they want us both dead."

“Jacen,” Elaina spoke up. "You shouldn't tell them—!"

“It’s all right, Ela. I’ll tell them.”

I looked back at the twins, who didn’t move. They listened intently as I continued to speak.

“The truth is: someone tried to kill me with that bomb a while ago. And whoever it was tried to frame Anomaly for it. We decided to work together to find the perp, which led us here. I don’t wanna hurt you guys, I really don’t. Our enemy is the Science Division. No one else...But if you still insist on trying to stop us from completing our mission…we’ll have to consider you enemies, too.”

I met Madi’s eyes, then Marc’s.

“That’s all I have to say. Have a good night.” I nodded to them and walked back to Elaina. “Let’s go, Ela. We're done here.”

“Huh? W-Where?”

“Old Canal," I admitted. "I’m starving.”

“Eh?! Wait, Jace! What about…the twins and…isn’t your arm broken?! Your body—”

“Just use a jinx or something to fix me up. Isn’t that how it works?”

“Wha—no! Not a jinx!” She kept her hands close to my face, and her palms glowed a comforting white and cyan as I kept my eyes on hers. “For the record, a simple Healing Spell should do the trick. It’ll hurt at first, since I’m basically readjusting your bones and mending broken tissue.”

“That’s fine, that’s fine. I trust you.”

“I don’t!"

Elaina used her Magic to create a portal that linked our current location to the alleyway next to Old Canal.

She stared at me again with concern. "We really should get you to a hospital instead, man.”

I shook my head. “Nah, they’ll just give us trouble. Plus, they might call the cops to tell them we're there. Anyway, what appetizer do you want? I’m thinking of—“

“Vector!” Marc called out to me.

Elaina and I stopped and turned back to him.

Marc looked at his sister and she nodded. Together, they glowed with light and jumped into the air, forming an arc of blue and orange light.

They landed in front of us.

Marc held his sister’s hand, and his face was no longer sour-looking, but eased and almost relaxed.

“Would it…be all right if we joined you guys?” he said.

Madi took a step forward. “I…We...uh...I think we have a lot of questions we’d like to discuss.”

I glanced at Elaina who repeatedly shook her head “No,” then turned back to the twins.

“Sure,” I smiled at our new friends. “But…you guys are paying.”