ALEXiThymiA: Interlude III: Master / Judge and Warder

Interlude III

Master

Cat’s Paws

All were pawns to the Master. Originally from a broken lineage, meaning anyone whose family once had the gift of awakening and then lost it. Master himself had been from the most prestigious of lineages. His great grandfather and grandfather alike were both extreme mages. Wielder of Shadows and Light Magic both.

Then there was the disgrace of a human that was Master’s father. Born of such a lineage but being unable to carry on the legacy. Worse, the man had been content to be a null. As if all he had ever wanted in life was to be ordinary. Master himself could never accept that fate. He loathed his parents for merely accepting the fate life had given them.

His mother too came from a lineage, not as prestigious as his father’s but a lineage, nonetheless.

Yet, despite these odds Master had made something of himself. He had not only found a way to gain a super strain of the Lykanthropy virus but managed to infect others with that very strain. As the progenitor, he would be able to control any werewolves under his command without an alpha. Better still, any werewolves who were subsequently created by his created children would also be under his command.

His plan had been perfect.

His plan of luring weaker women to parties, dousing them with Lykanthropy then watching them succumb to his will had been intoxicating.

Then he set his minions free.

He was still developing as a pack leader, trying to gain more to command so he could improve his range of control. Little did he know that his range was limited, that his connection to his subjects would break within a week.

Worse, somehow, they found an alpha. One who was able to turn them back, despite having fully succumbed to the beast. Master had heard that such a thing was impossible, but of course the government would keep such a cure secret. Still, it didn’t matter.

Master still had his sources. He already knew who the new alpha was. Now all he had to do was eliminate the fake alpha, and reestablish control over the pack, his pack.

Ring.

“Hello.” Master answered the phone.

Panting.

“Boss, it’s bad. They somehow found out about the cousins. Well, they found Austin at least, Peter is still with us.”

“With you?”

“Yeah, the fuzz got him.”

Rustling leaves and branches.

It was clear that the caller was running through a forested area.

“Where are you now?”

“We are leaving campus now. We ditched our cars as you said. We have our go bags and are heading to the spot.”

“Good. Go and I will meet you there.”

“He said go to the spot, and he will meet us there.” The caller said. After a second, the breathing on the phone let Master realize the caller was once again ready to talk.

“I must ask. Are you all ready to take the next steps of power?” Master asked.

There was a pause, but finally the caller replied. “Yes.”

“Good. Then we will proceed with the final phase of our plans.”

“Okay.” There was a note of fear in that voice, but that was all right. Master could deal with fear. Fear was the way he intended to establish dominance in the first place.

Click.

***

Judge and Warder

Twenty Years of Service

No one knew about the supers known as Judge and Warder. At least no one was supposed to know about their personal lives. That was the deal, if they did everything, they could help make the world better, the media let off. There was an unspoken agreement, one that the government enforced with sanctions, cuts, and often arrests for interfering with federal and state safety regulations.

There had been many laws passed to protect supers who devoted themselves to protecting the government. Mainly because the government wanted more people to volunteer for the positions. When less than 10% of the population has a chance to turn into an awakened, the world watches. Then when less than five percent of those become supers, not just powerful but true supers, the world watches. The government also learned that it is a lot easier to have those people working for you, than against you.

As one Senator put it, “it is much more cost effective and beneficial for the world and society as a whole to pay for the day to day living expenses of Destructor. So, he can be a regular pencil pusher. Rather than letting him try to find ways of entertaining himself, in a city where even minor damage from his energy waves could result in billions of taxpayer dollars and lives. There is also the fact that with our Supers initiatives, war has been minor at best. No one wishes to spark a revolution, of world-wide backlash, as was the case with the former Red Machine to the East. A country so broken now, that they are dealing with even more splintering of their once indomitable forces. That is the world we live in. That is the power that having supers working desk jobs provides us. That is why we as a people and as a government should not only thank those that choose to work for the government. But we also take a moment to acknowledge those who do it with honor and virtue.” - (Then Senator) Kilpatrick.

The speech was projected as the background noise to mask the festivities that were going on.

Cheering!

A large crowd had gathered for this, the celebration party. Two of the Tri-state’s finest were coming out to be recognized for their contributions.

“Judge and Warder!” Senator Colston said. For this meeting all three states had a representative in place, each wanting to let their political careers back in the limelight of this joyous occasion.

With the announcement of the two heroes’ names, the heroes themselves came out.

Judge was in her traditional form fitting black leather, with her mask covering most of her face, except for her captivating lips, and her award-winning smile. At this occasion she was absolutely beaming, as a large smile filled her face.

Following closely was Warder, who also wore matching form fitting leather. But while Judge had managed to maintain her trim and slender figure, Warder had more than a bit of a paunch to his suit. It was clear for all to see that he was still strong, still muscular, but that he was nearing the end.

Of course, that was what this gathering was about.

“Today, we are gathered to celebrate the careers of two of our greatest workers, the Tri-State region has ever known. We were fortunate enough to snatch up Judge and Warder before the Feds could get their sights on these two, and we have only prospered from their dedicated service to our communities and to promoting peace overall.” The Next Senator Calhoun said. This was the deal, each would be allowed to give a speech commemorating the work for the three, for each state. As such each senator got to bask on the coattails of this momentous occasion.

“Judge! Judge! Judge!” A chant began, as many male admirers began calling out for Judge.

Judge for her part just smiled brightly and gave a slight wave to appease her fans who were in attendance.

“I’m sure I don’t need to go over their powers. Many of you here, likely know the extent of their powers better than I do.” The Third Senator Paxton began. “So, I won’t bore you with their details. Instead, we have established a montage of their most heroic deeds over the past twenty years.”

With that a montage of videos began playing. Some were from films that were so old, that they couldn’t be touched up, and clearly looked archaic, especially as time went on and more and more scenes of their heroics were displayed. There was the time when Pyro Lord went wild and burned down half of Springfield. In the video Warder could be seen charging through the flames and punching Pyro Lord so hard that his flames went out. With that the scene cut to a picture of Judge jumping into the flames to save innocent people. The event was over eighteen years ago, but even now the survivors were on stage. The montage paused, after showing the survivors and their names. Then the scene cut back to the stage where those same survivors were on stage crying tears of joy as they got to thank their heroes once more. Everyone felt the need to hug Judge, while everyone got a crisp shake or a hug with Warder.

Then the next clip played, this time showing another tragedy that was averted by Judge and Warder. Survivors from that event also came across the stage.

“In all, over one hundred and forty-seven people got to say thank you to you two today. That means that over one hundred and forty-seven people have you to thank for their being here.” It was Senator Colston’s turn to speak again.

“So now that you have reached that age of retirement. We have to ask; will you take off the masks to remain with the government as the next generation of auditors? Or will you choose to slip into obscurity?”

That was the option, if they hung up their masks, they could be hired on directly to work as oversight and compliance. These were the Supers who made sure the laws were carried out by their own. These were also the people that would come in to fix any messes that junior supers would create when they got too carried away during their duties.

It was a great position, and the one time when the media was able to actively film a known super without their mask on.

“Take it off! Take it off!” People had begun to give the chant that was now synonymous with these retirement parties. It was rumored that movie executives were ready to hire the duo right now, if they quit, but decided to go into acting instead. Former Supers were a huge draw for films, which was why two local legends like Judge and Warder would be a perfect team to hire.

Judge for her part looked regal as always. She smiled and gently waved her hand to calm everyone down. Then stepping up to the podium, she smiled her dazzling smile. Accentuated by her ruby lips.

“Wow, seeing your entire career laid out like that really puts into perspective just how important this job truly is.”

Cheers!

This was great, as it meant she really enjoyed her career.

“Many of you might not know, or maybe you all do know. Warder and I have been married for eighteen years now. Eighteen wonderful years.” Judge said, as a tear began rolling down her face and out her mask. She made sure to wipe it away for the camera to see everything.

“In fact, it was that first case with Pyro Lord where I met the big lug and realized this was the man I wanted to risk my life with everyday.” Judge said, gesturing to the first survivors who walked across the stage.

“I have to say, that this is the hardest decision I have ever had to make. My heart and soul scream for me to continue. But my body is telling me it is time to call it a close. That is why they make it twenty years, the wear and tear on our bodies is too much at times. But know I do not regret this for a minute. I can see clearly the one hundred and forty-seven beautiful lives that were made better thanks to my actions.”

More tears.

“Sorry, it feels like I have to say goodbye after just getting to know you all. Know that Warder and I will not be moving on with our careers. That we will take a few years to reconnect with our friends and families and decompress. This is not a goodbye forever, but a goodbye for now.” Judge said, as still more tears fell.

With that she turned to the embrace of Warder.

Warder held her tight for a few moments, before finally letting her go and having his own chance to say goodbye.

“What she said.”

Chuckles.

“No, I wow. Twenty years. It seems like only yesterday I began my career by running through traffic to catch Buggatron. Crashing off cars, getting dragged on pavement.”

With that an image of his brief stint solo appeared, and the video showed him catching and then punching Buggatron to slow him down. But only after half of his uniform had been ripped away, showing him nearly naked from the waist down. Only a pair of white boxers could be seen protecting his modesty.

Laughter.

“Yeah, thanks for that.”

More laughter.

“Fortunately, I remembered mom’s advice, ‘always wear your boxers under your suit.’ But why ma’ it’s super-hot in those things. ‘Trust me’…”

A slight pause as he then pointed over his shoulder at the jumbotron. “Well, she was right, as usual. In fact, she was right about so many things I can’t even count them all. There was something else she was right about, when she first saw Judge she fell in love with her on the spot. It was clear that she loved her more than she could ever love me. Then she told me, ‘Son, don’t you ever disappoint that woman. And if she tells you to do anything, do it.’ Well, once again she was right. When Judge asked to marry me, I was totally…”

“Did not!”

“Hey, whose telling this story. You had your chance already.” The duo bantered for a moment. The audience was awestruck by their presence and poise. But the true meaning of the moment was clear. The two who had been the top duo for the Tri-State region were finally calling an end to their illustrious careers. In the blink of an eye twenty years of dedicated service had passed. Now it was their turn to pass the torch onto the next wave of supers.

Still, it was important to note the success stories like Judge and Warder, for every case like theirs, there are hundreds of other cases of supers who wash out or worse, those who get corrupted by the service, by the thrill of absolute power.