Possessive Behavior

Memories washed over me as I reached the entrance. I had visited this place often as a Hero. The Enlightened would visit the Hall twice a year as a group, to honor Kirin and Ra on the day of their deaths. Some Villains used that as an opportunity to pull of their runs, but most knew better, since forcing us to cut these visits short was a good excuse to take the kid gloves off for a day. I wondered if they were still doing it.

I was rudely ripped out of my reminiscing by being suddenly lifted upside down. For a second I thought everything was over before it had a chance to begin, but I recognized the feeling very quickly.

"Je...Witchling. Let me down, please."

Jess sighed.

"No fun at all, this one." Aprubtly I was turned around and placed on my feet again.

"Thank you."

"Don't 'Thank you', me, MC. Where the hell were ya? Souto was gonna start without ya but I convinced him to wait a bit." She seemed both angry and annoyed. With her full costume and makeup, it almost looked threatening. Almost. Slowly, she floated her broom down to earth and joined me.

"Oh really, now?"

"Yeah. Ya told me how important it is for ya to keep those memories in your braincase, so I had to insist. See, good things happen if ya trust the Witch. Ling. If ya trust the Witchli.....alright, me, okay? Good things happen if ya trust me."

"How much time did you buy me?" I had not expected their preparations to be complete that fast. If they were already ready to go.....I could feel my heartbeat begin to quicken.

"No 'Thanks a lot bestie, you're amazing' or anything? Harsh." She pulled out her phone. "Ya got about half an hour. A bit less."

I exhaled a sigh of relief. More than enough time. Maybe a bit more forcefully than I had planned I grabbed Jess' shoulders.

"Uhm, Mc?...What'cha.." Before she could finish I crushed her in a hug.

"Thanks a lot, bestie, you're amazing."

"I...appreciate...the love, MC....but maybe....a little less pressure..?"

I let her go immediately. "Sorry. Wanted to make sure you feel the gratefulness."

Jess stretched her body. "Oh, I feel it alright. But enough of that, wanna go rewrite reality?"

I took a deep breath. "Nothing more."

With a grand gesture, she pointed at the front door, which opened itself. "After ya, Milady."

I reciprocated with a curtsy and we walked in side-by-side. The light was off on the interior too, giving the normally bright and hopeful graveside an eerie tint.

"Almost like a regular cemetery in here now." I whispered.

"Right? Much more my style." Jess jumped back on her broom but stayed at my height.

The Grand Foyer was full of people, but unlike regular visitors, these ones weren't here to pay their respects. I anticipated that any moment now someone would try to stop me, someone would alarm the others that I wasn't supposed to be here, but all I got were bored side glances and the occasional nod. It seemed Souto really did keep everything between him and Smear. Most of them were idly chatting while others were keeping watch over a group of tied-up security guards. The ropes looked fleshy and wet, probably the result of a Power. When we reached the ticket counter a familiar face greeted me.

"Ooohhh, Miss Chelsea. Are you sure you're ready to grace us with your presence? I already marked you as absent today. My bad." The Velveteria receptionist seemed to have found her niche and stuck to it. "But my, I haven't seen you in your formal attire yet. It's....nice. Simplistic, lots of black, but it works, I guess. If you ever want a redesign that'll force people to pay attention to you, come visit me. I'll give you a Petite makeover you'll never forget."

I crossed my arms. "Force people because of how good it looks or literally, actually force people?"

The Villain leaned back and fanned herself with a pile of money the group probably pulled out of the safe. "Literally; figuratively, it all means the same these days."

"We'll pass." Jess said, to the receptionist's annoyance.

"Your loss. Let me guess, you're here for the big event?"

We both nodded. "Two for 'Incadescence Extinguished' please."

She pulled out her phone and began scrolling. "If you insist, but it might cost you a fortune....oh, look at that. You two are on the guest list." She pushed a button on the desk in front of her and two day-tickets were printed out. These things were ludicrously expensive for what they were, so most people who visited just bought the hour-ticket. Jess grabbed both, threw them away, and dragged me onto the broom. I put my right arm around her waist and held tight.

"Thanks a lot. See ya later." Together, we simply flew over the gate. This method of travel was a good deal faster than walking too.

We shot past Remembrance Chamber after Remembrance Chamber on our way to the very back.

"Can I tell ya something, MC?"

"Be my guest."

"This is so fucking cool, ohmygod." Her voice suddenly shifted up two pitches. "I always dreamed of this. Just waltzin' into a public building, stealing shit, doing what I want, it's so goddamn exciting." I could feel her body shaking. "Like, I went here. As a kid. This is an important place for so many people, and we're just disregarding all o'that and damn the consequences."

I smiled. I had felt similarly when I was robbing my first store. It was so weird and wrong, but that's what made the adrenaline pump. After living both sides I could definitely say getting easy thrills was way, way easier on the red and black than the white and grey. "Calm down, girl. I feel you, but you have to keep your wits about you. The run isn't finished yet."

"Yeah...you're right. I'll try my best. Less giddy kiddy, more vile witch." she said as she set us down in front of the entrance to the Enlightened R.C.

I expected the room to be full with the rest of the crew, but when we opened the door it was empty.

"Where is everyone?"

Jess pointed to the back of the room. At a new door that I wasn't familiar with.

"They're in there. The One got his own little annex when he bit the big one."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course he did...."

As we strode to the new door I looked at the exhibits. Just like the Memorial display in the Tower of Light, the costumes of the deceased were set up in their full glory. Unlike the Tower though, where a clean spare of their latest outfit was put up, here all of their various suits were lined up from earliest to most recent, starting with the very basic barely-a-costume Hero-Intern placeholders and culminating in the actual suit they died in.

Ra's golden cloak had a large tear in it, and half the feathers were stained reddish-brown with dried blood. Kirin's armor on the other hand looked pristine, The only sign of damage was the broken-off horn. I wondered if he would've gone along with my coverup if he had lived. I hadn't known him for long, but from the little time we spent together I felt like he wouldn't have. Probably a good thing he died when he did. I'd rather think well of him in death than risk having it turn out he's just like the others in life.

When we were halfway across the room I stopped. I hadn't noticed the new display before.

"Satori is buried here too?"

"Huh?" Jess stopped and walked up next to me. "Yeah. Man, ya really lived under a rock, didn'tya?"

"....I suppose."

"I think she got murked in that factory that the Society blew up. In the Gas Quarter."

I nodded. "Her costume sure looks the part." I knew this Satori-Suit was just a replica. Mine was probably still lying around somewhere in the Powerbreaker's headquarters. But still....seeing it burned and torn on a stand like this....I didn't know how to feel.

"What I never got with this chick was, why fur? What's that got to do with her Power?"

"Satori are Japanese folklore creatures. They're something like mind-reading monkeys or apes." I noticed Jess staring at me so I added a hasty "....I think."

She chuckled. "Solidarity with a fellow Mindfreak, eh? I don't really care though, The Enlightened are fucking lame."

"Amen to that, my sister in evil." The more looked at this thing, the more ill I felt. "Let's go. The big man himself awaits."

"Sure thing."

The door at the back led to a small hallway, the walls of which were plastered with posters of first Daylighter, then The One. It was eerily silent as we walked toward the large double doors that marked the end. My nerves began to waver, but I pushed through. Time to put Mallory in an extended time-out. Let the Master Controller take the lead.

With a flourish of Jess' hand, the doors swung open, announcing our presence. "Guess who I brought!" Jess yelled and jumped back on her broom. The hall we were in now was opulent. Large displays of every era of Ray's hero career, all with detailed information about major events he partook in, and Villains he defeated were set up everywhere. The founding of the Enlightened got its own life-sized diorama.

All eyes were on us as we walked in. Duchamp hung from the ceiling, pulsating red tentacles protruding from his back and holding him up. The Odd Gentleman stood behind a floating camera, aimed at the pedestal of a huge Ray statue that was placed in the very middle of the room. Below the pedestal and just out of frame stood Nitsch, who had taken the form of a wild west cowgirl, and Boneyard, looking grim as always. On top was Ray's corpse. I could see the large coffin in the back shattered in two.

There was a spell that prevented decay for up to 3 years. It was massively influential in solving the world hunger problem, but it was also used here, to keep the bodies of America's Greatest pristine and unchanged. The villains had taken the time to put him in his old suit. One of Boneyard's finger bones had snaked its way up the pedestal and was buried in Ray's foot, presumably allowing her to have the dead body stand up straight. It was a good setup. If his eyes were open you could easily fool yourself into thinking he was alive. It was enough to make my stomach twist.

Next to him stood Souto, looking down at me.

"It looks like Witchling was right after all. Welcome to the show, Master Controller. I suppose we can finally start then. Bring her up to me, will you? I need to catch her up real quick, and she needs to be close anyway if she wants to keep her memories." His expression was perfectly neutral. I clenched my right fist tight.

Jess flew me up and gave me a thumbs-up after I jumped off. I returned the gesture and she floated back down again.

"So..." I said, quiet enough that none of the others could hear. "I think we have some things to discuss."