Broken Hero

Chapter 4

Two months passed with Volt continuing to visit, much to Eclipse's annoyance. Each time started with Volt trying to pry into Eclipse’s past while Eclipse ignored the young woman until she would give up and read for a few hours or end up napping. While Eclipse tried her hardest to dissuade the young woman, she often found herself looking forward to the weekly visits, and that scared her. Her job took all her attention, and she couldn't do that if she started falling for a bright-eyed hero with a curious nature.

Eclipse hangs her coat in the closet as she returns, going to her desk and turning on her computer to send a quick email. She’d been up all night debating whether this was the right decision. She was tired of running around and pretending to be something she wasn’t. The reply came quickly, making her sigh in relief as she read the answer. She took notice of the time and quickly got to work, taking out the USB devices and wiping the ones that were no longer needed while putting the newer ones into her pocket realm.

A thought suddenly occurred to her as someone pounded on her front door; she took a breath before going to answer it. Vinyl jumps on her, wrapping her arms around her neck as the other Syndicate leaders push past them into the house. Eclipse grits her teeth in annoyance as she goes to close the door, her shadow zipping through unnoticed before it shuts completely.

The Shadow moves through the trees and turns into a copy of Eclipse as it reaches the edge of the river just in time to intercept Volt.

“And where do you think you’re going?” They lean against a tree with a smirk.

Volt pauses, studying her for a second. “You’re not Blackout.”

Their smirk widens, “I am not! Good eye. I am a shadow clone of her. She sent me to stop you.”

“Stop me? Why would she send you to do that?” Volt frowns, crossing her arms.

The clone stands up as she steps closer. “Why do most people stop others from visiting?”

Volt stammers as she steps back and gulps. “But... she...”

“But... she...” the Clone mocks before snickering. “She’s busy and has asked that you leave.”

“Oh, well... I could come back...” Volt mumbles as she steps back.

The Clone groans. “You just don’t get it, do you? She doesn’t want you coming around here... ever. So go back to your academy and don’t come back.”

“What? That can’t be ri...” Volt is interrupted as the ground shakes, and she falls backward.

The clone stands over her, a dark aura radiating off her that causes Volt to scramble back. “I said, Go Home!”

Volt scrambles to her feet, dashing over the rocks that lead to the other side of the river. The Clone waits for a moment before melting back into a shadow and zipping back to the manor, where Eclipse was listening to Piercer drone on. A sigh slips from her lips as she sees what has happened. She hated that it had to be this way, but with the syndicate here, she couldn’t risk the hero visiting.

“Are you even listening, Blackout?” Dart’s annoying, snarky voice interrupts her thoughts as she rolls her eyes at him.

“You’re pretty hard to ignore, Dart,” she snaps back, making Vinyl giggle from her left.

Dart rolls his eyes as he leans on the table. “I know you and your w***e want to get back to f*****g, but don’t take it out on me.”

“Could you two take a break for one meeting?” Sylvana sighs, her breath sending a small gust of wind over the table.

Dart grumbles as he sits back, crossing his arms in front of him, while Eclipse shrugs her shoulders.

“Anyway,” Piercer continues, “Some military documents are being distributed through the civilian district tomorrow, and we have a client that’s interested in them.”

Dart flicks his finger, sending a drop of his poison at Eclipse, which she dodges effortlessly while he makes an oops motion. “So why are we here? Isn't that Vinyl and Blackout’s jobs, or are they quitting?”

Piercer ignores the snark in Dart’s tone. “Because, unlike the other jobs, the heroes have caught wind of this one. They are planning on ambushing us, and their leader will be joining them. If this has any chance of succeeding, then we need to have Blackout free to hold off Warfalcon.”

Dart grumbles but concedes, his face suddenly lighting up. “Well then, I have something that could help.” He picks up his briefcase and opens it to show a gun. “One of my scientists got hold of some Hero’s Bane recently. We were able to not only synthesize it into a bullet but also create a gun that can shoot said bullets.”

Eclipse perks up a bit at this. Hero's Bane was created by using specific rocks from a world that had once been home to beings of chaos. Their aura had tainted the rocks, making them poisonous to anyone who was even slightly pure. Even a small scratch can be disastrous, and the purity of a person determines the severity. The poison also discolors their veins depending on the person's purity, with silver being the purest anyone's ever seen. However, it was hard to get a hold of these rocks as the Galactic Council forbade anyone from going there and protected it religiously.

"Unfortunately, we only had enough to make one bullet, but if we can find a supplier with enough pull to get more..." He cuts himself off with a laugh. “Anyway... I say we give this baby a try tomorrow.”

Eclipse frowns, but Sylvana beats her to it. “You said there’s only one bullet? I don’t think that’s the best idea.”

“I agree with Silvana. If you miss Warfalcon or hit one of us, then we’re screwed.” Eclipse sighs, twirling her pen.

Piercer nods in agreement as Dart groans. “Fine... I won’t take the gun.”

Eclipse stands up with a groan as she stretches. “Now that we’re done with that.... I’m getting in the shower. You guys can show yourselves out.”

She left them on their own and made her way upstairs. The warm water running down her back loosened the tight muscles as she leaned her forehead against the wall with a sigh. As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t stop thinking about Volt and how scared she’d been of her clone. She had probably burnt that bridge, unfortunately. The bathroom door opening and closing pulls her out of her thoughts. Usually, she’d be irritated with the unwanted company, but this time she was grateful for the distraction as she pinned Vinyl to the shower wall.