Shatter The Prism

Light and Dark are not Black and White

[shattertheprism]

November 6, 20X6

---

Penny couldn’t help but grin to herself. Preston might not need to eat like her, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to let him waste away in frozen meal atrophy. A moment later and she could hear the creak of his chair. As she chopped the vegetables, she could just barely see him move himself to the couch.

“You didn’t have to break the glass, you know.”

She could hear him chide her from the living room. She rolled her eyes again.

“Maybe not my smartest moment, but it sure was awesome!” She laughed at herself as she threw everything into a pot. An old fashioned stew, easy, hearty, and healthy. Part of Penny’s demands of living with Preston was that he actually had to start stocking his kitchen so she could make food like this more often.

Penny hummed to herself as she looked at the pot. She didn’t have access to stuff like this for a few months when she was out training, learning. It was good to be back in modern society where she had amenities like a stove and spices.

Meanwhile Preston was... Here.

[shattertheprism]

November 6, 20X6

---

A cozy show played on the television. Penny had her feet kicked up on the couch as she stuffed her face full of protein-based treats. Sure, they tasted like garbage, but when she was running and jumping around like she was, she had to keep her intake up.

Her eyes flickered to the kitchen. She could hear the beeping of the microwave, hands reaching up to push the buttons. Penny rolled her eyes and removed herself from the couch.

“You know, insta-meals aren’t healthy for you around the clock. All thar sodium-“

Her quip was quickly answered with a swift punch to the shoulder. Penny yelped, a dull flash of blue flared from her veins as she responded with a slap upside Preston’s head.

“Move, dingus. I’m gonna make real food for us.”

Preston only grunted in response as he pushed himself out of the kitchen, seating himself besides the couch.

[shattertheprism]

November 6, 20X6

---

The door was open, the lights were on. Preston waited beside the couch, his eyes focused on the blue dot in the distance as it neared closer, swooping in through the window. Preston would have caught her if he were able, so he watched Penny throw herself onto the couch.

“Breathe.”

It was a simple request in the words of some people, but not Preston. Through him, it was a command.

Preston reached out to take one of Penny’s hands. He could see her face twist in concern, in fear. It was as if she were at the edge of a rollercoaster, walking the thin line between control and the mercy of gravity.

Preston took slow breaths, another outside force acting upon Penny, but one that she welcomed with open arms. Their breaths, their hearts and minds, all became one as Preston issued a calm, unmoving shield around Penny’s soul.

They had a system, they had to discover it together.

And for now, it worked.

[shattertheprism]

November 6, 20X6

---

When the fog cleared, she stood tall over the three thugs. Normally she would have a quip for when the police came in, but she didn’t have time.

She panted, her eyes now solid balls of light. The lines on her suit pulsed brightly, beating in time with her heart. Even without a mask, there were little tricks she had picked up from her mother to keep people from being able to look at her properly, bending the light around her face to distort it just enough to make her unrecognizable.

She needed to go. As soon as the police had them in cuffs, she was gone. Back to the rooftops, back home. She could feel the thoughts slipping into her mind. There was more to do, more issues in the world that needed solving, a system that would only tolerate outliers like her just long enough for them to be useful before throwing them into a pit.

A fire burned in her stomach, thoughts of justice, vengeance, violence. She was the protector of the earth, not the people that lived on it-

Penny shook her head. Another block. Preston would leave the window open. She could feel him, steady and unmoving like a rock at the bottom of a raging sea.

And she was the ship weathering the storm.

[shattertheprism]

November 6, 20X6

---

They didn’t know what hit them.

In her defense, neither did she.

Penny was quick to shift from one thug to the next, her arms swinging fluidly as her feet glided across the linoleum floor. One hit turned to two, two turned to four, four to ten. Her assault on these men would almost seem cruel if they weren’t caught trying to rob a place.

Half of it was her training, a swift heel palm strike, a disarming swipe to relieve one of the thugs of their rifle. The other half was that echo in her mind, that invisible wind that guided her movements, twisted her wrist to add just a little more oomf into her hits. Penny was dancing two different jigs at the same time, and she could only hope that she had it in her to finish both before she exhausted herself.

[shattertheprism]

November 6, 20X6

---

She dove towards the translucent wall, a hole forming in the center for her to slip through. It was times like these she was glad that Preston had steered her away from a cape.

As she moved past the wall, it faded away into nothingness. Roll forward, spring up, a blue gauntlet punched a rifle upwards, keeping herself far too close for the gunmen to try and shoot her without endangering their fellow thugs.

Penny slipped between them, a grin on her face as she bobbed and weaved between them, expertly moving around as they tried to hit her with their rifles and fits.

But her moves weren’t her own. Penny could feel the reins slipping, her body was reacting to all of the extra information that her brain could pick up, but didn’t consciously process. The teal lines on her black bodysuit pulsed with a dull glow.

She could feel it in her heart, beating in a different rhythm. She needed to slow down-

“Pen. Breathe. Take the guns, kick them out”

The words lacked Preston’s normal growl. He knew when these things happened, he knew it wasn’t the time for his callous aggression.

She nodded, even though she knew he couldn’t see it. She pushed her hands out again, a thick cloud surrounding herself and the thugs. In an instant, the outside world ceased to exist.

She had sealed them in here with her.

[shattertheprism]

Noveber 6, 20X6

---

“Penny, the bullets.”

He felt the need to remind her. Sure, she might have powers now, but she was far from bulletproof.

She let out a swift grunt of acknowledgement. He wasn’t being a buzzkill, he was being a brother… Which might debatably be worse in some ways.

The Dawnwarden, as she was known as, pushed her hands forward with a slick grin on her face. Vapor, a fine blue mist shot out of her fingertips, and coalesced into a blue wall that protected her. While the construct was solid, that blue vapor rose from the wall like steam, trying to escape the construct that it was molded into.

With a moment to think, she could finally get a read of the situation. To be more accurate, Preston was reminding her in her ear what she has just jumped in to. She was in a corner store, three armed thugs shooting at her as a handful of civilians sat near the cash register counter.

Her eyes darted around. It was a cramped scene, but she could make it work.

[shattertheprism]

November 6, 20X6

------

Chaos, screaming, guns.

Preston couldn’t help but let a dry chuckle slip through his lips as he could see through the city. This wasn’t his forte. Not in this role, not with this tech, nothing. He should have known better than to assume that Penny would listen to anything he’d have to say when she was in the moment.

The every camera in the city was an eye he could see through, every radio frequency an ear he could hear from. As much as he hated this technology, all of these back alleys that he could barely understand, he couldn’t deny how effective twenty year old equipment even today. He hated every time he had to roll up to this desk, every time he entered in that old password. But even if Penny refused to listen to him, he needed to be on the line.

“Or… You know. That.”

If anyone could get a smile out of him, it would be the one woman who lived life fearlessly. With a sharp laugh ringing out in the little earpiece, he could hear her announce herself as if the exploding glass wasn't enough of an entrance.

"Come on, guys. Really? When The Dawnwarden is on shift?"

[shattertheprism]

November 6, 20X6

4:36 PM

———

Three monitors. Picture in Picture, news outlets, headline tickers. The faint blue glow of the screens illuminated Preston’s face in the dim room.

His eyes were bloodshot, tired. His features gaunt, tanned skin dry and lighter than before due to his time inside. His hair cut short in a fit of rage, sacrilege he never would have committed before. Nevertheless, he kept himself up. It wasn’t like there was much else for him to do.

Besides, who else was going to look after her?

Another screen, CCTV and traffic cameras, watching as a black and teal figure played around the city as if it were a playground. Jumping across rooftops, weaving around buildings and fixtures.

“Turn the corner, police have set up a perimeter around the store.” He spoke into a microphone.

An armed robbery that stalled into a standoff. Reports claimed that the robber was confronted by the store owner, the two have been holding one another at gunpoint for about fifteen minutes ago.

To think that all of this was right under their noses for so long. Even now it still stung.

Preston hated to admit that this equipment was nice. His eyes flickered to a nearby counter, a litany of pictures turned down to hide the smiling faces and memories.

His eyes flipped back to social media feeds. Of course people were talking and posting. Sure, social media was a web of information that could easily be used to monitor everyone down to the smallest minutiae of their lives, but it was nice in times like these.

“Slip in. The store is at the bottom of a complex, you should be able to take a window in, then sneak down-“

The sound of Raucous laughter and shattering glass told him all he needed to know. He let out a long, drawn out sigh. His tired eyes closed for a moment as his fingers moved to pinch the bridge of his nose.

“God dammit.”

[shattertheprism]

February 22, 20X6

———

The questions after that were short. Catherine sat down in the waiting area. She wasn’t a doctor right now, she was a patient. As much as she wanted to put her trust in the hospital, in her coworkers, there was a horrible feeling welling up in Catherine’s chest as she sat there.

Penny was on death’s door. Catherine had been unconscious for god knows how long, and it took her nearly half an hour for her to take everyone to the hospital. She didn’t know the extent of Penny’s injuries, or if she would even make it.

Preston’s injuries were significantly lighter in comparison, but he was still in pretty bad shape.

However, the more she thought about it, the more she knew that this could never have been an accident. Not with Morgan at the wheel, not with both of them in the car.

If there was danger in the air, Catherine needed to protect her children.

Unfortunately for her, the only option she had was the one that she dreaded the most.

[shattertheprism]

February 22, 20X6

———

The woman on the phone didn’t respond immediately. Faint typing could be heard on the other end for just a moment. The voice was much more somber this time around, as if she knew what wasn’t being said. “Understood. I’m sorry, Catherine.”

The phone call ended, the phone tucked away as she devoted all of her attention to trudging forward. Past the aches in her bones, past the tears in her eyes, past the twisting of her heart, she pushed past it all.

Twenty five minutes exactly. Hospital staff were waiting outside, a young woman gasping as her hands covered her mouth. None of them had any time to question anything. All they knew was that there were two young adults in critical condition, and one dead man.

They took her family from her, the blue tendrils fading away as if they were never there. As the hospital staff moved everyone inside, the young woman with the bright blonde hair and the pink scrubs set a hand on Catherine’s shoulder. She gave the shoulder a soft squeeze.

Catherine’s body tensed up. She looked at the young woman, who only gave her a small nod, and pulled her into the hospital as well.

The police were already inside, waiting for Catherine. It only made sense, she alerted the nurse ahead of time, of course they were going to ask questions.

They asked all of the normal questions that police had. What happened, where did the event take place, did they see anyone else involved.

“I don’t remember, officer. One moment we were driving- my husband was driving, and then there was a sudden jerk as the car moved, then…”

Catherine sighed as she looked away. She used everything she could to steel herself, to keep herself together until she finally had a moment to herself.

“We understand, ma’am. We’re just trying to get a better picture. Now, you said this was… about thirty miles outside of town?”

The officer wrote into a little notepad, the back of which had Avalon PD printed on it. As Catherine nodded quietly, the officer only nodded in response. This was a fantastic world they lived in, and some people simply wanted to live like everyone else.

[shattertheprism]

February 22, 20X6

———

A single sob escaped her lips. She shoved the rest down for later. Her search wasn’t over. It only took a step for her to peer into the back seat.

On the passengers side was a young man, with jet black hair and tan skin just like his mother. His body lurched forward as the seatbelt held him in place, his breathing slow and even as his long hair fell over his closed eyes.

Behind Morgan sat a young woman. She had black hair like her mother, but shared her face with her father. Her breathing was feather-light, her body struggling to keep itself together. Blood trickled from her face, her glasses likely shattered during the impact. She wasn’t going to last long like this.

With a roar, the woman tore open the mangled drivers side door. Blue tendrils snaked out from the woman, glowing gently. They looked like glass, but moved like a liquid as they slithered around the other doors, ripping them apart as well.

She dragged two bodies behind her with those tendrils, her Husband and her Son. In her arms was her daughter, carried carefully so that the woman could keep a close eye on her breathing. Another blue tendril pulled out a phone from her pocket, dialing and holding the phone against her ear.

“Doctor Westfield?” A voice answered almost immediately, a young woman who seemed clearly surprised. “Don’t tell me you’re already itching for work, it’s only been- “

“ER, 25 minutes.” Her words were short, strained as she pulled her family through the snow. Even though her body begged for rest, she refused to stop for even a moment. She could push herself for hours like this if she needed to. “Three beds. Two casualties… One fatality.”

[shattertheprism]

February 22, 20X6

———

Her heart stopped.

Wrapped around a nearby tree was a little green sedan, almost totaled beyond recognition. The front was crunched against the base of the tree, various fluids spilling out from underneath, staining the snow in deep reds and blacks.

The woman dragged her body against the snow. It had been decades since she had been hit that hard. She wasn’t a fan of it back then, and neither was she right now.

“Morgan!” She called out, inching closer and closer to the car, “Morgan!?”

But there was no response. She was too low to see up into the windows. She knew she had to pull herself up to investigate.

She shoved her hands into the snow, a grunt slipping out of her lips as she slowly pushed herself up. With her feet underneath her, she stood up fully to look at the driver’s seat.

Seated behind the seating wheel was a middle aged man, aged 43. His lightly skin from years out under the sun was battered and bruised, blood painting his face and dripping from his dusty blonde hair down to his chest and the rest of his body.

Her breath hitched. She didn’t need to check him, she had seen far too many corpses to dare hope otherwise.

Her husband, Morgan Westfield, was dead

[shattertheprism]

February 22, 20X6

———

Fire and Snow

Before sight, before sound, there was only pain.

Her body burned and ached, her head pounding. With a sharp gasp, life returned to the woman in the snow. Her eyes snapped open wide, she could only see a pale grey sky as snow fell calmly onto her face.

She was upside down, she was quick to realize. Her back hurt like she had been slammed against concrete. As she rolled around to correct herself, she quickly understood why that was.

Behind her was a large tree, the trunk cracked and dented from her body being hurdled into it. She must have been thrown out of-

“The car!”