Post by The Circle Television Network on Nov 2, 2016 8:39:54 GMT -5
Gateway Park
Empire City
Chapter XI: A Question of Angels
Gateway Park was a chaotic scene following the appearance of Anka to the masses and the apparent divine intervention that had saved the life of Detective Stacey Jordan. Authorities rushed to hold back the crushing mob and to give aid to the injured detective, but she waived them off, glaring at Brandon and Anka in wide eyed amazement…and more than a hint of suspicion. Stacey circled Anka, looking at her large feathered wings. She reached out to touch them, then pulled back as they trembled. She grabbed her own hand, unsure of what to do or what to make of what she was seeing.
Brandon put his hand on Stacey’s shoulder, “Stacey, I can explain thi…”
Stacey slapped his hand away, “Seriously, Brandon? You’re going to fucking explain this?!”
Daria Knight ran up, going to her brother’s side. “Detective Jordan, maybe you should be a bit more thankful to my brother. He risked his life for yours!” Her eyes fell on Anka, and suddenly all of the things that she had been told in secret by her ‘benefactor’ about a guardian angel began to make more sense. She had a great deal of experience with metas, and she wondered if Brandon’s so-called angel was the genuine article or just another super-powered human looking to play an angle.
Stacey glared at Daria, then rolled her eyes, turning back to Anka. “An angel? Is that what you’re claiming to be?”
Anka shook her head, “I have never claimed to be anything of the sort.”
Brandon stepped between the two of them, “The people of Empire City need hope, and that is what you gave them tonight! The belief in the One God will never be questioned again. You came to the aid of his children in their most desperate hour! Faith…Anka, that is what people need right now! They need a reason to help themselves…they need…” Brandon’s impassioned speech was cut off as a loud speaker blared;
“CLEAR THE AREA AND RETURN TO YOUR HOMES! EMPIRE CITY IS OFFICIALLY UNDER MARTIAL LAW! THERE IS A STATE OF EMERGENCY IN EFFECT! RETURN TO YOUR HOMES BY ORDER OF MAYOR VESPASIAN TRAJAN!”
A pair of ECPD officers came through the crowd and past the barricade, approaching Stacey. The two men regarded Anka with stares of disbelief before turning to the Detective. The senior of the two spoke up, “Detective, we need to get you and the rest of these people out of here. It’s chaos out there…there’s an army of metas tearing the city apart! I don’t know how we are going to stop them…” he glanced at Brandon and then at Anka, “…we are going to need a miracle.”
Stacey rolled her eyes and glared at the two men, “The people need something alright! They need to be protected…” she glanced at Brandon, “…protected by something more than a freaking fairytale!” Turning her attention to the officers, “Get these people out of here…and I want that ‘angel’ detained!”
“I’m sorry Detective…” one of the officers spoke up, “…she’s gone.”
Stacey turned, and Anka was no longer there. She looked up and saw no sign of the winged woman. She turned back to the officers, “I need one of you to give me your car, NOW!” The two officers looked at one another, and both to them pulled out their keys. Stacey took one and turned back to Brandon and Daria. “You are in violation of martial law, I need you two to get back to your homes! We will get statements from you both later.”
Brandon looked at Stacey earnestly, “Stacey…you’re in no condition to go back out there!”
Stacey turned to Daria, “Get him out of here, before I have his ass thrown in jail!” Daria took her brother by his arm, guiding him back to her waiting car as Stacey turned and made her way through the barricade. Her mind was a mass of confusion over what she had just experienced. She still didn’t believe in Brandon’s One God nonsense, but the question still loomed over her…what was Anka…and what did she want? All of that would have to wait, if this meta threat wasn’t ended…the whole of Empire City would be destroyed and none of it would matter…
Downtown
Empire City
A virtual army of metas which Gaia had freed from prison marched out into the streets and spread throughout the city…attacking at random, driving people into their homes. City leaders organized and imposed martial law, as Gaia knew they would. They sent their forces to protect the people, but the people were not her target…at least not yet. While the humans dealt with the random threats to the populous at the outskirts of the city proper, Gaia was massing for an attack that would cripple the government and leave them all ripe for the picking. Gaia led the group from the sky, with Meepus leading the mob below as they pushed forward, hovercars and people suddenly being flung in the air as to make room for them. Frantic screams erupted as all attention soon focused on the advancing line of metas, chaos brewing all around them as their true goal was now in sight.
Meepus formed a fireball above his palm and launched it through the window of a storefront, the building immediately exploding in flames. "Hope his policy covers fire! HAHAHAHA!"
The streets were filled with panicking people who fled their cars like startled cattle, a stampede of humans forming instantly amongst the halted vehicles as the army of metas left a path of rubble in their wake. From the sky, Gaia watched on in satisfaction as her meta brothers and sisters, now free, took their revenge on the human populace that had jailed them out of jealousy and fear. They would know fear again…they would pay for that jealousy and inferiority with their lives.
The humans had struggled to contain the threat, sending law enforcement and even their military to the far reaches of the city, but now the real threat was unleashed. Gaia would take out the capitol building…and everyone in it!
The radio crackled over the speaker in the police hovercar Stacey had commandeered as she sped headlong into the downtown area, hoping that she could do something, anything at all. After the night she had endured, she just wanted to try to make a difference. The streets were in complete chaos, but her instincts told her that this was only a diversion. She had been at the prison when Gaia broke down the defenses. Gaia had a plan…and it was much larger than just loosing chaos in the streets.
"...Attention all units... Attention all units... we have a code red developing on Capitol Street... Suspects include the highly dangerous metas, Gaia and Meepus, amongst others... all available officers please report to the scene... intercept and contain the situation... Please proceed with extreme caution..."
Stacey’s brow furled as she remembered her confrontation in the prison, “…Meepus…” Stacey's foot had already jammed down on the accelerator before the operator had finished, having set her course for the scene. She was a mere thirty seconds from the capitol building, and she planned to position herself between the advancing criminal hoard and the city center before it was too late. As she made the sharp turn onto Capitol Street, she could see the bedlam unfolding a half a mile in the distance. Debris was flying through the air, as if a twister had set down in the middle of the street.
She could hardly believe her eyes, "Shit..." She responded to the radio call, her eyes glued to the mayhem before her as she sped forward as fast as the hovercar could go. “This is Detective Stacey Jordan, I am on scene at Capitol Street. We are going to need everything and everyone we’ve got!" Stacey slowed the hovercar a hundred yards from the chaos, struggling to formulate her game plan as she jumped out of the vehicle. She turned her eyes to the sky, “Oh…this is a bad idea.” She sighed, as she ran to the back of the vehicle, popping the trunk and retrieving the riot baton from the lock box. She ran back to the driver’s side and pinned it between the seat and the accelerator. The engine whined loudly as she threw the vehicle into drive. As the hovercar surged forward, she half climbed out of the door, judging the distance as she prepared to jump. Fifty yards from the horde of metas, Stacey launched herself from the car, which exploded into flames at the hands of a Meepus fireball.
The flaming vehicle plowed into the crowd of attacking metas sending them scattering in all directions. Those who were not fast enough to move were knocked into the air and sent flying like bowling pins. The vehicle’s fuel tank exploded, killing many more of Gaia’s forces in a spectacular blaze of glorious fire. Meepus had to duck to escape the debris that flew in all directions. As he regained his bearings, he was met by a roundhouse kick square to the jaw as Stacey dashed in.
The commotion quickly caught Gaia's attention from the sky as she beheld her fallen comrades before returning her gaze to Stacey. “Well if it isn't one of Empire City's finest." She glided down to the road. Having expected her to mount an offensive attack, Stacey dove and rolled behind a nearby van, which Gaia crushed into the pavement, flattening it like a penny on a railroad track. Stacey, suddenly exposed, got to her feet and assumed a fighting stance as she grabbed a metal pipe from the debris that littered the roadway. Gaia smiled, “Ewwww, you're a feisty one!" she said playfully.
By this time Meepus was back on his feet, approaching with fire in his eyes as he rubbed his jaw. “That's the bitch who came to question me. Let me finish that pig off!"
Gaia answered as she turned her eyes to the capitol building. “Just make it quick! Our goal is in sight…” With that, Gaia turned and was carried back into the sky as she continued toward the capitol building, which was now only a couple hundred yards away.
Stacey turned her attention to Meepus as he advanced on her, “You’re under arrest!”
Meepus laughed, “You’re funny, for a cop!” The smile disappeared quickly, “It’s too bad you didn’t take up a career in comedy…at least when you die on stage…you can always get a second chance.” Meepus snarled as he shot flames at Stacey, who sidestepped the inferno blast and threw the pipe at Meepus, hitting him right in the forehead and sending him to the ground in a heap. Stacey turned and dashed towards the capitol building, leaving Meepus rolling on the ground in agony as he bled profusely from his forehead…
Gaia looked down proudly at the capitol building…the seat of power within Empire City. Once she razed it to the ground, the so-called government of Empire City would be no more and anarchy would rule…making it that much simpler for her to seize power. Her smile faded ever so slightly as she saw the military presence now amassing at the front of the building. Gaia gritted her teeth in anger, the lone police officer had delayed her assault, giving the humans time to bolster their defenses, but it would only serve to delay the inevitable. The soldiers brought their weapons to bear on the remaining meta that ran towards the building. Gunfire erupted as the area was turned into a warzone. Tanks moved into the area, forming a heavy wall of armor as they began blasting away as well, turning back the meta assault on the capitol.
Gaia lowered herself to the ground, her face twisted into a mask of anger, “Pathetic humans!” Gaia placed her hands on the ground, gathering the full sum of her power. The ground trembled beneath the armored vehicles and they began to compact as if being crushed like empty soda cans…cans with screaming soldiers inside. “Your power is no match for…UGHHH!”
Gaia hit the ground face first as Stacey tackled her from behind. Stacey quickly reached for her handcuffs, “YOU’RE UNDER ARREST BITCH!” Before Stacey could secure the cuffs, a series of explosions rock the area and she is hurled into the air, even as a voice is heard crying out.
"CEASE FIRE!!! CEASE FIRE!!! ONE OF OUR OWN IS DOWN THERE!!!" The commanding officer, General Greenwood barked, having spotted Stacey moments after giving the order to fire on Gaia. The explosion of cannons quickly ceased but the debris from the downtown buildings was still flying in all directions. The damage had been done. Stacey hit the ground, skidding to a stop like a rag doll.
Gaia recovers quickly, turning to look at her attacker, now a bloody mess. She turned her attention to the forces gathering at the capitol. “Thank you for the assist…and for bringing me your leader!” She growled, raising her hand and dropping the General to his knees. “DROP YOUR WEAPONS OR SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I MULTIPLY THE FORCE OF GRAVITY ON YOUR LEADER 1000 TIMES!”
The men all look at one another and they slowly drop their weapons, even as the General attempts to tell them not to. “N-No…d-don’t…”
Gaia grins, “You bloody humans simply refuse to accept the truth! When it comes down to the laws of nature, your species simply doesn't make the cut. Now you will experience firsthand, WHY!"
Gaia starts to turn her power against the General, despite the soldier’s compliance and he screams in agony as he starts to collapse under his own multiplying weight.
“ENOUGH!!” A lone cloaked figure appeared.
Gaia stared at the man, narrowing her gaze. “You desire to die in his place? So be it!” The man froze in mid-stride as Gaia turned her power on him. He collapsed on to his knees, the ground cracking beneath him as the gravitational pull continued to multiply. Gaia grinned and watched as the man strained. “You’re a meta! Fighting against your own kind?! Fool! You can die with the rest of the human cattle!” Gaia held the man in place, using all of her power as the remainder of her forces advanced, attacking the soldiers as they made their way towards the cloaked man…
Meepus staggered to his feet, wiping the blood from his face, still dazed from the blow he’d taken. He was filled with rage as he looked around and saw the detective laying on the ground a few hundred feet away. He started to make his way over to her, but he paused as he saw another familiar figure descending from the sky. The winged woman he had fought in prison. Meepus hid behind a nearby vehicle and watched.
Anka guided down, landing near the injured Detective. Stacey was unconscious, bloody, and battered…gravely injured from the mortar attack. Anka knelt beside her for a moment, the pulled the ring from her finger that had healed her and put it on Stacey’s. Almost immediately she began to heal from her injuries. Once the ring had done its work, she put it back on her finger and pulled Stacey up, preparing to fly the unconscious woman to safety, but she turned her attention to the battle for the capitol building. It did not concern her, but as she looked on…a sight she had not beheld in over 600 years greeted her, and her blood ran cold as she bore witness to it…
Several metas broke through the ranks and managed to reach the cloaked man, grabbing him and ripping off his hood. Everyone seemed to freeze, their mouths dropping open as they beheld the face on none other than Superius, Lord Protector of the city…a man who had become a god.
With hardly any effort at all, the swatted the metas away that attempted to restrain him, sending them hurdling off into the distance. Even Gaia could hardly believe it as Superius, managed to stand, lifting one leg, then the other. The ground cracked beneath him, but she could not hold him. “NO MORE!” he roared as he shot forward and hit Gaia with a right cross that sent her sailing into the air. She smashed into the side of a nearby building and crumbled to the ground, unconscious.
Superius started to stalk towards the leader of the meta insurgency, but suddenly he was surrounded by people flooding out from everywhere, screaming and cheering as many reached out to touch his cloak…
“SUPERIUS HAS RETURNED!!”
“THANK THE GODS!!”
“HE HAS COME TO ANSWER OUR PRAYERS!!”
The words shook each remaining meta criminal to the very core. Those that did not fall to their knees in worship, ran away in terror. At the capitol building, soldiers and officers looked on with desperate hope at what they were seeing, including General Greenwood.
Superius held up his hands, "Enough time for that…first I need to deal with the red haired witch that had threatened our city!” Superius strode though the masses and to the spot where Gaia had fallen, but now there was no trace of her. Superius looked around, narrowing his eyes keenly, then he turned and yelled to the remaining soldiers. “FIND HER!”
“Lord Superius! You’ve returned!” Superius turned, as an already stark white General Greenwood, knelt before him. “We did what we could to stop them…thank the Gods for your return!”
Superius arched his brow as he maneuvered through the crowd and knelt down beside a slowly recovering Detective Jordan. He reached out his hand to her, “If there were more among you with the heart of this warrior woman, my presence would not be needed this day or any other.”
Stacey gaped in astonishment at the man previously seen only chiseled in stone as a statue in temples. She got to her feet, looking him up and down. “Lord Superius…”
She started to kneel, but he held her up, shaking his head. “Stand tall with me this day, fore we have won a glorious victory!”
Several men ran back through the crowd, panting and looking out of breath. “Lord Superius, Gaia is gone…we’ve looked everywhere!”
Superius nodded gravely, “Gaia, is it? We will be ready for her…if she is foolish enough to return!”
Everyone erupted into cheers, surrounding the powerful Demi-God among a battlefield littered with rubble and fallen metas and humans alike…
Gaia moved to stand, enraged over her defeat but she was held still, a hand over her mouth. Soldiers and citizens ran pass her, but it was as if she were completely invisible to them. Gaia looked up into the young girl’s face that held her. She was pale and her eyes wide with a mixture of fear and hatred. As soon as the area was clear, she let Gaia go, standing as her massive wings opened and they were suddenly visible to the world again. Gaia scrambled back, confused. “Who…who are you?!”
Anka looked at Gaia, “If you’re an enemy of Superius…you may call me friend…” Anka rose into the sky, her wings carrying her off like a shot. Perhaps she had been wrong about her purpose being the protection of Brandon Knight…perhaps this was her purpose, as it had been so many hundreds of years ago. She was here to destroy a god…once and for all…
EPISODE CREDITS
CAST (In order of appearance)
Anka … Kenzi Grey
Stacey Jordan … Nina Stokes
Father Brandon Knight … Trace VanReardon
Daria Knight … Missy
ECPD Officer 1 … Stanley Hubbard
ECPD Officer 2 … Ralph Stenson
Gaia … Kate Steele
Meepus … Kaden Kessler
General Greenwood … Bruce Norman
Superius … Seth Jorgenson
Directed by … DubbleFC
Screenplay by … Ron B.
Produced by … CTN Television Studios