Chapter 167: Halo's Mistake
During the battle with the Beast...
The shelter shook, and rubble rained down from above. Any lights that had been on had long since lost power, leaving them all in the dark, left only with the constant shaking of the city.
"Who thought staying in this place was a good idea!" One of the elites from Oleander hissed out.
"Y- Yeah! I- It's not going to hold." A wealthy woman said, shivering, as more of the roof above gave out.
"Aren't you two heroes!" The vice mayor asked, turning to the two costumed people who were within the shelter. "Do something! That was the only reason we let you in here!"
Halo took a cautious step back as dozens of eyes all turned to her. Things hadn't been looking good outside. The Beast was seemingly winning. She had decided it was best to cut her losses and chase after Pretty Face. The handsome hero had delivered a single blow to the Beast, then proceeded to pose for the camera before running away once the perfect shot was finished. She had followed after him once she saw the Victorian get casually bitch-slapped away. That was enough for her to decide this battle wasn't worth it.
That was where she found herself now.
It was some sort of vault, one created by the late Mayor Grove. Most of the wealthy and elite of Oleander were already out of the city, and the Hero Branch was personally getting them all out. Those who had missed the flight or weren't as lucky, however, had this bunker to rely on. It was built into a large wall that sloped down beneath the city, and the inside of it was very dark. It hadn't been finished; Grove died before it was truly done, so the vault was mainly just a massive square room of stone and metal. It was packed to the brim with hundreds of rich folks and Hero Branch officers. Outside of the vault would be the other rich people who hadn't arrived on time, the door sealing shut.
"Now, now!" Pretty Face called out into the crowd. He and Halo had managed to get spots in the vault. He had always been planning to escape to it once his heroic display of bravery was caught on camera, but Halo being here with him was a welcome surprise. He had gladly kicked some mother out so she could take the woman's place. Like him, he viewed Halo as someone too beautiful to die at the hands of the Beast. "Let's all just do our best to stay calm. I'm sure the heroes outside can handle it."
"Yeah, right!" The rich man from before hissed. "We all know they're dying out there! And then we're next!"
"We don't know that for sure." Halo winced a bit as more of the eyes turned to glare at her, and she did her best to hide behind Pretty Face. "I mean, who knows... Maybe they're doing better. Boy Genius and the Victorian are both up there. Surely..."
"I just wish we knew for sure." One more said quietly.
"If only there was a way." Another man agreed.
Pretty Face gave a grin and suddenly clapped Halo on the back, causing the woman to jump a bit. "Well, as a matter of fact, this lady here can actually help us out and let us know how the battle is going."
Halo stared at the other hero with wide eyes. "What do you mean?"
"I've studied up on you and your powers." Pretty Face explained. "I know what you can and can't do. You could go outside, walk through this vault door, and tell us the state of the city. I'd like to know if I should be planning my own escape plan in case the heroes aren't going to win."
"Y- Yeah!" Someone else said. "That's a good idea. We need to know if they're winning or if we need to figure something else out! T- This vault won't hold if the B- Beast wins."
"Tell us how it is out there!" Another person stated.
Halo shook her head and stepped away from the crowd. "Are you guys crazy? Do I look stupid to you? If I go out there, I'll die!"
"You're a hero, aren't you?" Pretty Face cocked his head to the side. "Well, look around you. These people need to be saved. So save them."
"You're crazy." Halo hissed out and clenched her fist. "You go do it then."
"I can't." The handsome hero lazily shrugged his shoulders. "I'd have to open the door to get out, and that could put all these people in danger. You can phase through it, though, with your powers. Besides, if you don't do anything and that Beast wins, then we're all dead either way, so get to it."
"W- Why can't you just check the live stream or something?" Halo demanded. "Boy Genius's drones were recording the entire thing!"
"All the drones are down right now." Pretty Face shrugged.
"But- But-"
"No buts." Pretty Face grabbed Halo by the shoulders, and he spun the woman around. "Look, it'll be quick. Just go out there and take a look around and then phase back in here. If it's real bad, I'll call in a couple of favors and get us out of here."
"If you had another way to get us out of here, then do it," Halo growled.
"No can do." Pretty Face wiggled his finger. "It's a one-time-use trump card I've been saving. I can't ever use it again once it's out, ya see. That's why I came to this bunker to hide out in the first place. I figured the heroes could handle it, but by the sounds of it, they're getting their asses handed to them. If you get out there and it looks like they're winning, we'll all stay cozy up in here till the battle is over. If it looks like they're losing, though, then I'll go ahead and pop my trump card and get us all out of here. Of course, it'll cost ya." Pretty Face gave a sly grin as he looked at all the people. "I'm thinking... Ten K. Each person. It might seem like a lot, but you'll all be kept safe if it comes to it."
"We already paid to have you stay here with us and keep us safe!" Someone yelled in outrage.
"And hopefully, you won't have to pay anymore." Pretty Face shoved Halo closer to the vault door. "She'll tell us how things are going out there, won't you, sweetheart? It's getting a little cramped as well, so be a dear and make space."
Halo glared back at the handsome man. "Why'd you even let me in here in the first place if you were just going to throw me out?"
"Well, you were beautiful, but then you got that ugly frown on your face." Pretty Face shrugged. "Besides, I ain't interested in women. You're pretty to look at, but that's all you're worth. Now go on. We're waiting."
Halo took a deep breath and slowly reached out, placing her hand on the wall. "You're an asshole."
"No. I'm a survivor."
"Nope, just an asshole." And with that, Halo's body began to glow with a faint white light as she stepped forward and began to meld into the stone before vanishing out of sight.
As soon as she was gone, a faint beep echoed through the vault, and Pretty Face pulled out his phone, looking down at it. "Oh hey, Boy Genius got his drones back online; guess she didn't need to go outside and risk her life! My bad."
Halo felt herself phase through the stone and metal around her. It was an old speedster trick she was using. Some heroes could move so fast that they could mess with their own bodies. She wasn't really a speedster per se, but her power did allow her to do some things extremely fast. So fast she could vibrate her molecules through the stone, almost bending the space around her as she walked through it.
It didn't take her long to stumble out on the other side of the door, and when she did, she was shocked to see that everything was a lot more fine than she had been expecting.
Buildings were still destroyed, and massive cracks littered the streets. Despite that, though, a large crowd of people remained outside of the vault door, bashing on it, all trying to get in. Her body was still in a distorted state, which made it hard for anyone to actually notice her. It was almost as if she was in a different space that reflected back on this one, so she quickly moved through the crowd and got to a spot out of sight before she let her powers drop.
As soon as Halo became visible, she suddenly found herself surrounded by darkness as something massive loomed above. It was the spaceship. The very same that the Beast had arrived in. The massive UFO hovered in the air, firing out waves of energy beams that tore through most of the street. The heroes were still fighting it, Mister Man unloading waves of bullets into the ship. Halo watched the fight with wide eyes. It took her a moment to snap out of it, and she raised her arm, pressing her pointer and thumb together, and formed a circle, which she placed over her eye.
It hadn't worked on the Beast. Her attack had simply bounced off of that monster. She was betting, however, that it'd at least put a dent in whatever this ship was, though.
Halo never got the time to fire her attack. The ship seemingly sensed her and fired out a wave of energy, sweeping it through dozens of the buildings around them. They were already badly torn apart, but now they were all coming down. Chunks of stone rained down. Halo blasted out, but her power only allowed her to get rid of one chunk, the rock that was heading toward her simply vanishing as if it never existed. There were still others raining down toward the people. She went to dodge out of the way, but someone managed to grab onto her.
"Wait! You can't leave us, we'll die-"
"Get off me." Halo smacked the hand away. "I'm not dying here-" It was too late, though. She wasn't going to be fast enough to fire another attack out, nor did she have time to dodge. Halo watched as the rock fell toward her face. She had durability, but there was so much heavy stone that she doubted it'd matter. At the last moment, however, before it could hit her or any of the other people, a hero finally arrived.
Bright orange fire rammed into the falling building, and with an incredible amount of force, the thing was shattered to bits. Most of the rubble raining down below was reduced to harmless chunks. Halo felt the small pebbles rain down onto her as the heat died down.
"Are you guys okay?"
Her throat suddenly felt dry, but Halo managed to turn her head. She found herself staring at a hero. One who was covered in their own blood, missing a chunk from their side, and badly beaten down but still smiling. A girl with raven black hair and the bluest eyes she had ever seen.
Halo found herself staring at Cinder.
A superhero.
***
Present Day...
Halo grunted and grabbed at the back of her head, feeling a sickly wet sensation. That kick had nearly snapped her neck. "How dare you!"
"How dare I?" Cinder said in a flat tone.
Halo glared up at the younger girl. "Yeah. How dare you!"
Jane held onto Alexander, trying to put pressure on the man's wound, but he was still bleeding. War God was down for the count, and Dust Cloud had taken several steps back, holding his arms up, no longer wanting anything to do with the situation. "Halo." The boy hissed out. "Look at who this is."
"It's not Cinder, if that's what you're afraid of." Halo snorted out. The woman managed to stumble back up to her feet and glared back at the girl before her. Cinder just stared directly back at her. "I heard that there was an imposter running around."
"Word travels fast," Cinder stated quietly.
"So you're not actually Cinder?" Dust Cloud questioned. The girl wasn't wearing a costume, but she had that look. He had watched Cinder and Poseidon battle the Beast. That sense of power and dread was still with him. He had always thought it was the Beast that put those feelings there, but now he was unsure... Cinder or not, he was smart enough to know this girl was trouble.
"It doesn't matter who I am." Cinder closed her eyes, and she took a deep breath, doing her best to calm down. Halo had somehow surpassed Ward in terms of people she hated. "You hurt my father."
"Your father's a bad guy." Halo sneered. "He had what was coming to him for working with that monster over there. If he didn't want to get hurt, he shouldn't have joined the wrong team."
Blood began to drip down onto the sand, and it took Cinder a moment to realize that her nails were digging into her palm from how hard she was balling her hand into a fist. Despite the anger she felt, she turned away from Halo and focused on her dad. "Can you help him, Kevin?"
"I can." It wasn't Kevin who spoke, but rather Meta. The grey-haired girl stepped forward and reached for her sword.
"Why didn't you do anything to stop the fighting?" Cinder demanded, staring at the other girl. "You could have taken them all out easily but didn't."
"I only want to fight the Lord of the Sun," Meta stated in her usual emotionless tone. The girl drew her weapon and sliced it through the air, cutting into Kevin.
"Ow!" Kevin hissed as a chunk of him was taken off. "What the hell was that for, you bitch!"
"Don't be a baby. You heal." Meta twirled her sword around as the piece of Kevin began to wrap around her blade. It glowed with various lights, and she jammed it into Alexander's side, causing the man to howl and groan for a moment, but a second later, the piece of red flesh moved over his missing chunk and began to mold into him before fusing with his body and stopping the bleeding. Alexander's eyes rolled into the back of his head as he blacked out. "He'll live but will need rest." Meta sheathed her sword.
Cinder stared at the other girl in silence for several moments before she turned to look back at Halo. Halo had watched the exchange, and the older woman had a frown on her face. Halo's attention was no longer on Cinder but rather on Meta. "I've seen that power before, but why do you have it? It belonged to someone else last I knew." Meta didn't say anything; in fact, the woman didn't even bother to look at Halo. "It was a man. He carried a sword just like that and could do things with that blade. Do you know what his name was?"
"It's the same name I have now," Meta said casually. "I took his name when I took his powers."
"Took his powers?" Cinder shot a look toward the other girl. "What does that mean?"
"It means I've just stumbled upon a really big villain." Halo stepped forward and lifted her hand up, forming a circle with her fingers, which she placed over her right eye. "You guys aren't just a couple of bad guys. You're all total scum if someone like the girl is in your group. I'll just go ahead and kill you all here and now."
"Wait-" Jane yelled out, but it was too late.
In an instant, everything around them seemed to flatten and crush, as if a wave of invisible force came crashing down. Cinder gritted her teeth as she felt herself being shoved to her knees. It was like being under the effects of Poseidon's gravity; only she could actually feel the weight that was pressing down on her. It was heavy and thick, as if she was lifting an entire building. Meta was unaffected and casually picked up Kevin and the Pod. The grey-haired girl moved closer to Jane and Alexander and, with a flick of her wrist, put a green bubble of energy around them that stopped whatever the effect was.
"I assume you want to deal with her yourself," Meta said casually.
"You're damn right I do." Cinder managed a grin, and she slowly forced herself to stand. She wasn't at the barrier with Meta, but that didn't matter. The ground around them was literally being caved in as if they were in a crater that was growing deeper, but she ignored it and forced herself forward. The poor van also wasn't doing well; part of it was beginning to get flattened and crushed, many of the windows exploding. So, much for Meta fixing the van... "That's enough!" She yelled out.
Much to her shock, that seemed to actually work as the intense pressure ended. She climbed out of the crater and made it to the top. Still, across the beach, Halo remained standing. The woman's eyes were filled with annoyance.
"You're tough for a faker."
"And you talk a lot for someone who's going to be spitting up their teeth." Hope cracked her knuckles and got ready.
Halo just laughed at the other girl. "Please. You won't even get close to me-" Halo saw red as, in an instant, a fist rammed directly into her face. Hope was already on her, faster than the super could even follow. Hope smashed her fist down into the pretty woman's face and twisted her arm, spinning Halo into the ground and causing the woman to gasp. It became hard to see, but Halo forced her eyes to adjust, and she found Hope standing above her. Blood began to softly pour down the side of Halo's face, and the girl now sported a very nasty-looking black eye. "H- How dare you-"
Hope ignored the girl's whining and pulled her fist back, about to strike once more. She wasn't given the chance, though, as Halo managed to form a circle with her pointer finger and thumb. There were no flashing lights, nor was there any build-up of energy. It was instead instant and without warning. All Hope felt was a powerful, sharp pain in her gut, and the next thing she knew, she was sent flying back with tremendous speed, smashing back first into the wall around Daisy City.
Her back sunk into the stone, leaving an indent on her body, and she let out several painful coughs. A fist-size hole went directly through her T-shirt, and her belly had turned a nasty red, leaving a circled bruise that was smoking. Whatever had hit her had done so fast and hard.
Halo managed to stand back up and placed her makeshift circle over her eye. "Let's see how you like this!"
Once more, there was no sign of any attack. One moment, she was pressed against the wall, and the next thing Hope knew, she was being blasted through it by a wave of force. It hit her a lot harder this time, flinging her through the entire wall and right through Daisy City. She was flipped over, rolling through the road, badly ripping it up, before she finally crashed back first into the window of some store. The glass shattered around her, and she rammed into the back of the wall, her momentum finally dying down as a shelf full of heavy items rained down around her.
She could hear the screaming of the shopkeeper, but she barely glanced his way and instead rubbed at her stomach, which was starting to hurt a lot more now. Her shirt was also starting to get badly torn.
But what exactly was it that was doing this to Hope Lauren?
A halo is a phenomenon that can sometimes cause a large ring to appear in the sky where the sun or moon is suspended. This effect, at times, can almost look like a rainbow and is caused by the reflection and refraction of light, bouncing off of tiny ice particles in the orbit of the atmosphere. Halo's power allows her to reflect and refract objects caught in her circle. She reflects an image of the space in front of her and forces it to refract into the object caught in her circle, causing an implosion-like effect when, for a moment, two layers of space are forced to compete.
Another way to explain it would be for your mirror image to suddenly gain its own physical form, and then that physical form is suddenly placed inside of the space you stand in, causing you both to be standing at one point at the same time. Since something like this can not happen, it unleashes a powerful blast that is not only coming at you at the speed of light but hitting you, and only you, with a tremendous amount of force.
This power is what made Halo so strong. Almost no one could react to the speed of her attacks or survive the sheer impact. The downside was the destructive property of her attacks. Throwing any attack at the speed of light would wipe out everything around you. Halo's power, however, causes the damage to only be inflicted on what is caught in her circle, ensuring the world around her doesn't get harmed. However, should she be faced with a foe or object durable enough to survive being hit by this, that person will likely be flung back at extreme breakneck speeds and likely destroy everything they come in contact with from how fast they are moving.
Unfortunately, Halo does not care about casualties or the destruction she causes.
"Why the hell would she blast me in the direction of the city?" Hope crossed her legs and frowned as she wiped some blood off of her chin. "Wouldn't it have been smarter to send me flying in the direction of the ocean or something? This girl is such a pain."
She wasn't one for holding back as much as she should have. In a fight, she could sometimes have a little too much fun and destroy the street or building she was on, but she always made sure it had no people around it while she was doing it. When she had been flung through Daisy, she had destroyed several streets and a few buildings. Halo was lucky she hadn't rammed into anyone. At the speeds she had been going, she'd kill someone on accident.
Speaking of people, there were a bunch of them all around her. She had crashed into some store that had several people screaming at her, but she mostly ignored it. Outside were more of Daisy's people, many of them dressed up in their odd costumes, though a few were in suits and stood next to heavy vans, no doubt the Hero Branch of this city. Some of them were screaming at the Giants, who remained motionless. Even in Mr. Larison's new state of mind, he didn't consider her a villain, so neither would the Giants, and since Halo also wasn't considered a villain, at least right now, it basically meant the Giants weren't going to be doing anything any time soon.
"Get the hell out of my shop!" Someone screamed at her as loudly as they could, finally snapping her out of her thoughts. "Or at least get a broom and sweep up all this glass!"
Hope turned her head and found herself staring at a small, plump man with a heavy beard. He sort of looked like how you would imagine a dwarf to look in some fantasy novel. She had seen him before earlier today. He was the blacksmith-
"Wait!" Her eyes lit up and turned into stars as she looked around. "I'm in the sword shop!"
All along the walls, many blades, each crafted in a different way, resided. They were hung up all around her, and she had actually crashed into a shelf full of them, which had crashed down around her, but thanks to her durability, none of them cut her. The shop owner was red in the face and looked as if he was very, very mad at her.
"Get out of my shop! You already destroyed one of my windows and made a mess!" The man yelled.
"Sorry about that, sir-" Her eyes went wide, and she grabbed the man by the beard, yanking him down along with herself. Her enhanced senses kicked back in, going on full blast, and she heard Halo's familiar heartbeat. She had memorized it earlier on accident when she caved in the girl's face, and that sound had alerted her just in the nick of time. A powerful force rammed at the spot she and the dwarf had been, blowing a hole through the wall and sending debris flying everywhere at high speeds. Some people screamed out in pain as jagged wood or stone stabbed into them. "Stop! What are you doing? Are you crazy!"
"Well, if you wouldn't dodge, none of them would be getting hurt." Halo sneered and stood outside of the store. Dozens of Daisy's people all stared at the hero in shock. Her beauty was mostly gone, replaced with a look of rage, and her dress was stained black and red. "Stop staring at me!" Halo screamed and fired again.
It was only through pure reflexes that Hope was able to dodge. She grabbed the small man and dragged him with her as more of the building came down around them, the walls blowing up. "I have a civilian with me!"
"This poor hostage you took will be remembered fondly as a hero for his sacrifice!" Halo gave a wicked grin as she got ready to fire again. Blood was smeared down her face from the blow she took, and she looked completely insane, not even bothering to properly aim. She nearly took some poor guy out but luckily only took a chunk of his shoulder. "It's your fault all of this is happening, you know! If you just sit still, I'll kill you nice and painlessly! Every time you move, though, you cause more and more damage!"
"You're the one causing the damage!" Hope screamed. She jumped across the room, dodging another strike, but the last wall came out, and the entire store began to fall apart, the roof caving in.
"So what if a couple of people get hurt, or some buildings get torn down!" Halo let out a loud laugh. "I'm not going to actually kill any of them or destroy the entire city. We have healers like Paragon and the Cleanup Squad to fix our messes! Do you think the Victorian cares when she kills some giant monster and leaves its corpse behind to be cleaned? Of course not! We keep the people safe, and because of you villains and how destructive you all are, we sometimes have to get a little destructive ourselves! That's the only way we can play fair and nice with your kind!"
She had liked the store.
It had only been for a few moments, but Hope had enjoyed her time looking through the window at all the different blades. Now though it was gone. The roof crashed on top of her, but she withstood it and kept the man she held safe, shielding him with her body. With a slap above her, she blew the roof off of her and shattered it. None of the pieces rained down on the people, though, as she placed the man down and blasted into the air with a super jump and swatted all the broken pieces with her hand, sending out a shock wave that blasted the debris out of the city and far into the ocean. As she landed back down, she let out the sigh she had been holding.
"What's wrong?" Halo laughed as she took in the other girl's appearance. "You're not looking so tough now."
Her clothing was a torn mess, and she had a few bruises across her body. She mostly ignored it, though, and kicked her foot through the rubble. "You know what?" Under the rubble, her foot found what she was looking for. One of the swords that had been hung up on the wall landed in her grasp. "I don't think I'm going to feel that bad for what I'm about to do to you." She promised. The blade she held didn't look like it was anything special. It looked like your average longsword, though formed out of a strange black metal. "In fact, I think I'm going to enjoy this."
Halo once again took a nervous step back for a moment as she saw the look in Cinder's eyes. The hero's ego soon won out, though, and the woman shook her head and raised her hand, placing the circle over her eye. "Good girl. Now sit nice and still!"
The wave of force blasted out, and Cinder raised the sword she held. Behind the hero, the dwarf let out a yell. "No! Not that sword! You can't use it!" It was too late, though. Cinder was already swinging it out to protect herself.
He wasn't a human. He was a Super. His name was Dense Iron, and he was the owner of this shop. He used to be a hero back in the day, one who had been inspired by the late Red Iron, but he wasn't anymore. Now, he just made gear for heroes. Or at least he wanted to...
There were many heroes who used the name Iron. Red Iron hadn't been the first, but he was the most well-known nowadays. He had died a few years back at the hand of the Beast, and as a way of honoring him, many people had taken on the mantle of Iron. Heavy Iron, Light Iron, Medium Iron, and even he, Dense Iron.
His power was pretty simple. He could cause things he created from metal to grow heavier and more durable when they were used. That sadly also made his power basically useless. He wasn't born with strength, and so he couldn't actually use any of the blades that he created. In fact, almost no hero could. It was easy to carry; it had the weight of a normal sword, but as soon as you would try to swing it, all at once, it would become so heavy that not even War God could swing it around. And at that moment, Cinder was swinging her sword in an effort to save her life.
Dense Iron felt himself trip as he stared up at the girl with wide eyes. He was sure that at any second now, it would happen. The weight of the sword would become so heavy her arms would be torn clean off her body, and then she'd be blown to bits by whatever Halo was doing.
That wasn't what happened, though.
Cinder swung the blade and held it in front of her at the last second. The attack Halo launched at her was always small, using its intense speed and weight to cause damage, so the blade was large enough to withstand it. She expected the sword to shatter, but it didn't. Instead, she was pushed back a few feet as the attack died down. She hadn't been sent far, managing to dig her feet into the ground and remain in place for the most part.
Halo looked like she was about to lose it. "That shouldn't be possible!"
"No offense, but you're just not that tough," Hope said flatly. She placed the sword on her shoulder and sheepishly shrugged. "I mean, I've been hit by Battery, the Beast, Green Wolf, and even the Emperor."
"So what! I fought the Beast as well!" Halo screamed and launched out another attack.
Cinder focused her power for a moment. She felt her senses grow sharper, and then, all at once, she found herself seeing things she shouldn't have been able to. When she was a kid, she had done something similar: she saw colors and twisted lights as her eyes gained new senses. She could see the light reflecting and building up. It wasn't as unseen as Halo had thought. Once more, she twisted her body and raised the sword, smacking it into the small orb that fired out of Halo's fingers. She shattered it and then, in a flash, appeared in front of Halo.
"You might have fought the Beast, but there's a big difference between me and you." She said in a blunt tone as she pulled her sword back. Halo's eyes went wide with fear. "I'm the one who killed it this time." She swung the blade as hard as she could.
Halo's breathing reached a pitch, and the girl's legs shook as she stumbled back in fear, screaming. The sword never sliced into her, though. Instead, it stopped inches away from her face. Halo was flat on her butt, staring up at the blade, her body shaking as fear overtook her. Despite how easy it would have been, however, Hope stopped her attack at the last second. She couldn't bring herself to kill the other hero.
That didn't mean she was letting Halo go without consequences, though. "Boop." Cinder brought her hand up and jammed the sword handle down into Halo's head, hitting the woman hard enough to send her crashing face down into the ground unconscious. "I win."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone