"Urg."
A painful grunt escaped my lips as my back hit the ground.
The impact stunned me briefly, and in that instant, the air shimmered again in front of my eyes.
Another Willow appeared, and immediately mounted on top of me and pinned me.
The other Willow that had thrown me was shifting to my side.
A leg was thrown across my neck, pinning my head, and she grasped my left arm, straightening it out at an unnatural angle.
I immediately felt strain in my elbow. She had me in an armbar.
'Wait," I tried to say, but only a squeak escaped my throat due to there being no air in my lungs from the throw.
I felt the one mounting me grab my gun from the holster.
At the same time, I heard Ken gasping and being thrown to the floor too.
Damn it! I can't talk! Think! Think! No, just…
Breath!
"Willow! I'm James's brother, Jack! I'm here to save you!"
Upon hearing her name, the Willows holding me down ceased their movement. And by the end of the sentence, the one holding me in an armbar slightly loosened her hold on my neck. Enough to let me look in front of me again, at the girl mounting me.
She was still expressionless, but all the while staring deep into my eyes.
Then, next to her, the air shimmered again.
Another James was suddenly standing there.
He took one last look at me, and then nodded at Willow.
Upon seeing that, she handed the gun she had grabbed off me to James…
And then she disappeared into thin air, together with the one holding me in an armbar. Suddenly, I was free.
I immediately sat up and looked into the room again. The Willow at the couch was gone too, together with my brother.
I looked back and saw that Ken had been thrown to the ground too. I could guess by yet another Willow who had also disappeared as suddenly as she had appeared.
Ken was getting up, so I did too.
And standing up, I looked at my brother, who I hadn't seen in two years.
And he looked at me too, with an expressionless face.
Before I could say anything, I heard a woman's voice coming from the room, from a spot blocked from my eyesight.
"Is he really your brother?"
"Yes, although I can hardly believe he's here," I heard James say from the same spot.
The James in front of me then turned around and walked towards the couch, where yet another James and a Willow came walking towards from the side of the room.
The three arrived at the same time, and the first James handed over my gun to the second one, before disappearing.
And the remaining pair looked at me and Ken. The real ones, because they were the ones with expressions.
Willow was staring intently at me with intrigue, and James was composed, but still looked with sharp eyes.
My brother opened his mouth to say something.
"Close the door behind you and come over here," he commanded.
I looked back at Ken and nodded at him. He looked slightly tense but immediately stepped into the room and closed the door upon seeing my confirmation.
We then walked towards them and finally stood face to face with each other in a circle.
Willow was still mostly looking at me. I looked back at her. She looked the same as in the picture I saw. Curly brown hair of neck length and willful brown eyes. Her cheek scar was also attention grabbing, and she wore simple yet stylish jeans and a gray sweater.
And James…, he looked even more like our father now. His face became even sharper in two years, but compared to my fatner, he was less rough looking and still had his mother's supermodel genes coming through, together with her blonde hair, which he had slicked back, and dark-blue eyes. He still dressed himself neatly, with a blue blouse and black pants, which accentuated his even more muscled body compared to what I remembered.
I had a lot I wanted to say to him, but first came first.
"I'm glad you're alright. It's been a while."
"Yes, but… it's no time for pleasantries now. Why are you here? How did you even get here? And your hands…, are you wounded?" He asked, looking concerned at the end at the slightly red bandages covering my hands.
"We rowed to a park near here, and my skin tore a bit open, but I'm fine. Father sent me to get you two out of here, and we got here by climbing to the roof. We avoided all those other guys."
"...I see. But did you say father? You two are talking again?"
"Yeah… a lot happened, but my stuff can come later. What happened here? Why didn't you two escape? What are you trying to do here?"
"...Well, I'm asking that myself too," he said while giving Willow a compicated look.
Willow then met his gaze before speaking.
"We can manage now that we have two more people, right?"
"Absolutely not."
"We even have a gun now, like you−."
"Doesn't matter."
"Then what more do you want! What have we been waiting for all this time!"
"For you to decide to let go and leave."
"And for the last time, I will never do that!"
"God…" James said with a defeated sigh, before turning back to me.
"Jack, please talk some sense into this girl."
"…Wait, let me just get everything straight here," I said while looking at James.
"Last night…, I saw on the news that the police started shooting at the student assembly, and that led to this riot. Did… did you organize that?"
"I did. We wanted to educate everyone on using their powers ethically, to maintain a safe environment here. But… not everyone appreciated the ideas. Then tensions escalated… things got violent, and the police… I made it out and managed to get back here… but… it wasn't pretty."
"Shit…, that's−"
"I know, but spare your sentiment. This is more urgent now."
I looked at Willow, but she was looking at my brother full of empathy. It really wasn't pretty.
"…Okay, So, you then made it back here. But…"
"We prepared to get out of the city with her, since things were growing more violent. But… we were to late. Those guys downstairs…, they took advantage immediately, and they−"
"I know. Ken here saw the aftermath and told me."
"…I did," he added softly, still looking through the walls and floors at the culprits instead of focusing on this conversation.
"…Alright," James continued. "Once we heard the commotion and the… gunshots, we realized what was happening. So we barricaded the floor with someone's powers, and after things calmed down we evacuated everyone on this floor from the roof. Since then, we've been waiting in ambush here if they make it through."
"Yeah…, my apologies for throwing you two on the ground like that," Willow added in an empathetic tone."
"It's fine. I understand."
"Well…, you caught me off guard, but I understand now. So it's fine," Ken added next to me.
"Thank you," she said with a soft smile on her face.
"…Well, that just leaves one question unanswered," I started with turning towards Willow.
"Why are you still here? What are you trying to accomplish?"
"…Isn't that obvious? They killed my friends, people who were dear to me, and everyone else. I could never forgive myself if I just abandon them."
"…Okay, then what's your plan to deal with them?"
"…You really are brothers. What plan is there to make? Instead of wasting time, I can just attack them with all I have and see how far I'll come."
"…You know they're armed, right? I don't see you succeeding with just that."
"I know. Then I don't succeed, but at least I'll die with no regrets."
…What?
My eyes went wide when she said that.
"We… already got one of them. I can get a couple more. Even if it's not all of them, they'll still be hurt," she continued straight-faced.
I glanced at my brother, but he just shook his head subtly at me. He couldn't comprehend her either.
I… damn it. If she was like this, I could think of no logical argument to dissuade her, and I was sure my brother had already tried everything. But I had to try anyway, maybe from a different angle.
"Hey, I understand your sentiment, and I'm sure your friends would have been moved by your conviction. But think about it. Would they have agreed to let you throw your life away for them now? I can't imagine that. I think what they would have wanted the most is for you to be safe. So please reconsider. Those scum downstairs, they'll face what is coming to them eventually by someone. You don't have to lower yourself to their level and throw everything away."
She had listened to me with great attention, and by the end, the only thing I saw in her eyes was slight disappointment. She had heard this before.
"You also… don't understand my feelings at all. It's not about what my friends would want, it's what I want."
She pointed her finger at her chest, at her heart.
"If I don't do this, I'd be betraying myself. And I think that's even worse than failing to do the right thing."
…Betraying yourself. I… I… didn't understand her. But I… she was still listening to me, perhaps I could push it further.
"Willow…, I… when the Whiteout happened…, wait, you probably didn't see the news. It's what that white flash which gave everyone superpowers was called. Anyway, immediately after, someone kidnapped my mother."
"…What? Oh…, I'm sorry," Willow responded after the sudden change of subject.
And James…, he was thinking and hiding his confusion, until something clicked for him and he opened his mouth.
"Is that why you and father are talking again?"
"He contacted me first…, he's helping. The whole country is looking for her now, and he's also involved himself in the investigation. But that gets me to−"
"Wait wait wait James, why are you so calm?" Willow interrupted me.
"We're half brothers. His mother is Ruby Sporo."
"Wh… what?" Willow said flabbergasted while staring at me again.
"Uhm, yeah, so what I meant to say was that my father and I had a horrible falling out a few years ago, and I left the house to live with my mother. But after she was kidnapped… I had to swallow my pride. I'd take any help I could get. It…, with my father…, it felt like… breaking a promise to myself, but even then I went through with it, because otherwise I would be betraying my mother and everyone who loves her if I didn't do anything at all to save her. So, Willow, don't you have family or other people who care about you, who you'd be betraying if you went through with this and died?"
She took a moment to contemplate the twisted, misleading lies that I was spewing out, and then spoke.
"Jack, I'm sorry about your mother, and although I don't know the details, I think you did the right thing. That being said, I don't think you betrayed yourself at all."
"…What do you mean?"
"I mean, you did what you thought was right for your mother. That isn't about betraying her, but about betraying your love for her. And for me… if I run away from here, I could never justify it to my family. And then…, I'll never be myself, I believe that would be the real betrayal to them."
"…"
Shit… I… I couldn't really make sense of what she was saying, although I did feel it somehow… resonating with me? But even so, I didn't know how to convince her anymore. I… I had to get her out of here, otherwise, my father would go after Elise and Ken again if I failed.
"Thank you for coming here for us. And your hands…, you injured them on your way to us, right? Thank you."
Do I knock her out? I didn't care if she hated me, but how would I get from the roof?
And Elise…, Ken…
My brother would likely understand, but them…
"But it's fine. You two can leave from the roof. You can take James with you−"
"No. I'd never leave you alone here."
"I… I see…, but you two have nothing to do with me, so I won't judge you. You won't have anything to feel guilty about."
…Is there really no other option? I… could we do it?
I looked at Ken, and then asked him.
"What do you think?"
And he looked back from the ground, straight at me, with the same gaze he had at the gas station.
"You already know. Can you think of something?"
"...I think so."
"In that case, I can tell you everything."
"How many are there?"
"Five on the floor below us, at the stairwell. Five in the lobby. All armed with the same automatic rifles, and no body armor."
"…I'll need you to pull your weight too. Are you sure?"
"Yes. If you can think of anything, I'll follow."
"Wait, you can't be serious?" James interjected after he realized where this was going.
I looked between my brother and Willow, then spoke.
"There's more to me being here. Father also sent me here because he heard the army will arrive here soon, at the latest tomorrow, but maybe they'll be here as soon as tonight. If we're not out of here by then…, I don't like our chances."
James's face was shocked upon hearing that…, and Willow's became more frantic.
"James, if that's the case, we have to do something now!"
My brother's expression grew even more pressured, complicated and reluctant. After seeing that, I continued speaking.
"That's why… I can't leave you two here. I… I don't want to. So… I'll help you."
At that moment, Willow's head snapped to me, with surprise in her eyes. And James' expression grew even more complicated and worried. He then finally opened his mouth to speak.
"What can you do against ten armed men?"
"I'll think of something."
"Think of something? Look, I tried to think of something too, and it's all way too dangerous. So, how can you?"
"He already saved someone from an armed robbery a few hours ago." Ken added.
"What… he… did you do that?"
"Yes, I did."
"…How?"
I glanced at my gun that James had been holding loosely at his side all this time.
And I disarmed him and put it in my holster again.
All in a split second.
It took him a second more to realize what I had done, after which his eyes went wide with surprise.
But before he could say something…
"Pft… HAHAHAHA!"
A full-blown laugh came out of Willow.
…What? Why? Was this really the time?
But… her laughter… was quite… pleasing? It relaxed the tension in the room somehow? …Maybe that was good for now.
"Oh… he… haha… he got you good there," she managed to say between snickers.
"I… yeah he did," James responded with a slight…. meekness?
And that…, that was so unlike him. Their entire vibe was, actually. Was he… really in love with her? I… I could still hardly believe it.
"Yeah, I can think of something, but I'll need to know the exact details of your powers. Can you tell me? Yours are those clones, right?" I first asked Willow.
"Yes, haha, they… *ahem*, they are. I call them light clones. I can make five more of me within mine or one of their sights. I can control them fully and perceive everything to them, but they disappear if they come to any harm."
"How much harm?"
"Uhm… something that would make me feel pain, though a little bit is okay. A serious punch or kick would do it. The clone and pain cut off when it's too much."
"Okay… and you can make clones of others too?"
"…No," she said, looking at James.
No? I looked at James too. Did that mean he got the same power as her?
"I can copy other people's powers," he said.
…Copy… other people's… Huh!
"I know, I'd hardly call it fair either." Willow added after she saw my expression.
"I mean… there must be limitations, right?"
"Well, I feel like I can only copy up to five at a time. And I needed to have seen the power at work. But generally…"
James hand shot out towards my gun.
I grabbed his wrist in the motion.
"Tch… it's not superspeed then."
"No, but nice try. You also need to fully understand the power then?" I said while letting go of his wrist. I caught Willow almost laughing again meanwhile.
"Yes, so what exactly is your power?"
"Acceleration of intent. I can also think faster if I choose to do so, but… I'm not sure if there is more to it."
"Huh," James said, contemplating while swinging his arms a few times. All at mundane speed.
"Are you sure that's all to it?"
"…I also don't really notice when I move faster. As I said, I think there's more to it, but I'm not sure myself what exactly."
"Interesting," he said while trying a few more times without results and checking my reaction. In the end, more to his disappointment, we came to the conclusion that he couldn't copy my powers.
"So…, next to her clones, what other powers have you copied?"
"Well… the clones, I can barely manage one of them if I entirely concentrate on it."
"Uh… why?"
"Because he's thinking too much and not going with the flow," Willow added.
"Yeah I just can't manage six different perspectives at once. Could you two?" he asked me and Ken.
"Uhm… that does… sound a bit hard," Ken said slowly.
And I wanted to agree, but, somehow, I felt… different about it?
"I don't know…, but it sounds… interesting?"
"See, he gets it!" Willow affirmed me to James.
"For the love of, he's not the one who can copy your powers."
"But you can imagine it, right!? Seeing things from six angles, feeling six different sensations!" she said to me with a… grin on her face. And somehow, it gave me the chills.
"We're getting distracted. Ken, was it? What are your powers? Seeing through walls?" James redirected the conversation.
"It's Ken, yes. And seeing through walls is just an accidental application. I can basically enhance materials…"
Ken then went on a short discussion about his powers, which I had heard once before, together with what he had done with them. James listened attentively, and then moved to the kitchen within our eyesight and tried to copy making a kitchen knife supernaturally sharp. But when he asked Ken for more details about the process, and that it came down to Ken just doing it on intuition and gut feeling…
"Great… two powers to fill the remaining slots, and both are useless," James concluded with a slight undertone of frustration while walking back to us.
"Oh cheer up, you cheater. Can't have everything now. Be grateful that they came here to save our butts," Willow admonished him with.
"You don't… you know what, nevermind. You're right, I am grateful," he said in an unenthusiastic tone.
"Anyway… that means you copied two other powers, right." I asked before Willow could give another comment.
"Yes. I can make a single, flat, rectangular barrier too, of various sizes, which I'm using to block off the stairs and elevator next to it."
"So is that why they can't come up to this floor? And is it invisible, I didn't see anything of the sort," Ken immediately asked.
"That's right. But it isn't really invisible, it's a bit like looking through glass."
"Alright, and your other power…," I continued to ask him.
"I can fly too."
"F… fly!?"
"Yes. It's how I got the people who weren't comfortable climbing down the rope to safety, together with the other guy."
I… I could hardly believe it. But if that's all true, then I didn't understand.
"If you have all that, why did you wait in ambush here?"
"Because I had no weapon, and even if, it's still too dangerous."
"What was your plan then?"
"Waiting for them to notice that we're all gone, then climbing to the roof to investigate here. And when they opened the door, Willow would ambush them like she did with you, take the firearm and take one of them hostage. And while her clones held them busy, I would fly out the window with Willow and the weapon, circle around them and shoot them in the back."
…I listened to his plan and went through it in my head. I thought it made sense, although it depended on a lot of assumptions and risks. But the main issue was, why did those armed guys not leave yet, and why did James assume they would eventually come here. But then, I realized why, and I looked at Willow.
"You said you got one of them."
"…Yeah…, when it began, my clones and… a friend, we intercepted them. We managed to disarm him and my friend killed one of them, but…, they got him and shot my clone. They then made their way through each floor. I tried to stop them, but they just kept shooting me down with everyone else. I… I couldn't do…"
James put a hand on her shoulder as she was starting to look down.
"You did everything you could."
"I… I know… I know…," she said, regaining her composure.
"To continue, there was a girl here who could make that barrier. In the chaos, we used that at the last minute when everyone that could fled to this floor, and we managed to block those men out."
"…I can't imagine." I managed to say to Willow after hearing everything.
"Animals." Ken cursed next to me.
"...I'm fine, thanks. What matters is what happens now," Willow said to me, looking with some sort of expectation in her eyes.
"So… they have a vendetta against you."
"Yes, I made sure of that. I've provoked them and sent my clones after them occasionally. But I stopped now because of James' plan."
"…What if they just leave, because the riot moves here or is quelled and it becomes too dangerous for them?"
"You're right, but I won't let them leave and get away with this. I'll attack on my own if that happens."
I see. I think I got the full picture. Now… I needed to understand.
I glanced at James and thought. His plan, all this waiting, convincing her to not recklessly attack, and what he was counting on was them leaving before Willow could do anything, to keep them both safe. And if things happened as he predicted, he would likely just flee against Willow's wishes to avoid the danger. Because with that plan, it was James that had all the control between them.
So then…, why did my father send me to save them? He knew what was going on through his shadow. It was a way for James and him to communicate, even if the phones were down.
So why didn't he, especially if the danger of the military was approaching. To keep the shadow hidden even for James? Because… if I told James what he had done for my mother, would James turn against my father.
I… didn't know. But if James knew that shadow was my father, he couldn't deny it. I could convince him. Was my father scared of that?
Or… was this still just a test, for both me and James? Regardless, I'm sure my father was in this very room watching all this go down right now.
If this was all a test, what did he want from me? See if I could manage to persuade Willow, at all cost so her relationship with my brother didn't sour?
But even if, there had to be more to it. What did he want with Willow? And why did he and James incite a riot in this city then? Why a riot?
And then what happened here immediately after… immediately.
Was… was this connected? If so, what could possibly…
…No… that's insane.
I looked back at Willow, and when my thoughts were interrupted by an emotional revelation, the real reason behind everything, she spoke.
"Jack…, Ken…, I know I'm asking a lot, and if you refuse I won't blame you. But please, can you help me? I'm tired of waiting. I don't want to risk them leaving. So please…, I know it's dangerous… but… can you… help me… or at least help to think of a plan to get rid of them?"
I looked into her unyielding eyes. And I knew. I only met her just now. I hardly knew her, but I knew.
She was a good person.
And she was likely being used by my family.
Her friends got killed. She could only rely on James now. And James was equivalent to my father.
She had been isolated. She was vulnerable. And somehow, she was now tied in my family's strings.
But despite their expectations, she was still here. She would not leave.
That was why I was sent here, to resolve this. Because if James acted against her wishes now, she would lose trust in him completely, and then she might break out of the strings placed around her.
I don't know what my father exactly wanted of her, or if James was just following orders without knowing what he was doing to her. If James thought he was just protecting her… I… that was almost more tragic.
But even so, I couldn't stand it. I could not let my father get away with this.
And for Willow to free herself from the web James and my father had trapped her in, I had to give her a new string.
The one she most wanted, the one I would give to her and she would choose.
So that she would start to trust me more than James and choose me over him, so that I could entrust her with the truth, and she would stand against my father. And maybe…, I hoped, at the end of it all, it would get my brother to my side too.
I needed to deceive her for her to trust me completely. I… felt guilty about it, but I saw no other way forward for her to be able to accept everything.
I needed her to believe the truth about my mother, my father…
And that James might have been the one who set up those armed men here that killed all her friends.
"Don't worry, I'll help you," I started to say with my mother's smile.
"And I've already thought of a plan," I finished with, after which I saw hope fully return to Willow's eyes.
I did think of something, based on what James tried to do here. I just had to discuss it with them to hash out the details and convince them.
And… to convince myself. Because despite thinking of every alternative I could, there was one inevitability I couldn't get out of.
I… I had to kill people.