Miss Megajoule/Souvenirs
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
Memento Mori
As the last of the animated cadavers fell, the hero slumped against a pillar and tried to catch her breath. Her lungs ached and her chest felt like there were knives in it. A sudden wracking cough nearly doubled her over. The sputum she gagged out into a paper towel was pink with blood; she looked at it bleakly, no longer surprised, then dropped the wadded-up mess on top of the nearest zombie.
Julie had been feeling bad as early as last night, but chalked it up to another slog through the sewers; she'd turned over the blood samples she'd been asked to collect, then "clocked out" and went home to her small (but terribly expensive) studio apartment in Steel Canyon, to change and take a long hot shower before going to bed. She'd been woken this morning by the insistent trilling of her phone, and had felt so awful that she let her voice mail take the first two calls. It was a good thing that Agent Garnier had finally gotten through. If she'd gone back to sleep...
Now here she was, feeling like death warmed over (an entirely too-apt simile in this case) as she fought her way through a SERAPH medical lab that had been invaded by the minions of Dr. Vahzilok, racing them to a cure for this disease. She was solo on this mission, not wanting to risk infecting anyone else. Agent Garnier had said that he'd try to arrange for a sealed ward with biohazard protocol if she had to activate her Medicom beacon, but she didn't want to rely on that either.
The sickness was already taking its toll. Her sheets had been soaked with sweat when she'd finally gotten up to silence the damn mobile, and she was still sweating, alternately feverish and chilled. She felt weak and tired; to breathe deep was to hurt and invite another coughing fit. A few bruises and a nasty cut on her leg showed where earlier foes had gotten through her guard. She'd have to get the last of those cleaned and dressed when she could, but right now possible infection from a mortificator's bonesaw had to come after the one already raging through her system.
With a groan and a quick wipe of her brow, Miss Megajoule pushed off from the pillar and walked as steadily as she could toward the elevators. Just one floor to go...
The man packing the vials of serum for transport wore a clean labcoat and trousers, not the filthy apron and skullcap typical of one of Vahzilok's reapers, but he had the same manic gleam in his eyes as he turned to the leather-clad figure who was clearly in charge here. It was she, not him, who commanded the cadaver and hulking abomination who held his cringing co-workers at bay against the wall; if he resented her status, he did a good job of hiding it. "That's all of it. We can leave whenever you're ready."
"Thank you, Doctor." She turned back to the captive researchers, not concealing her own contempt at all. "There, was that so bad? We'll be going now; don't do anything stupid, and you won't get hurt." Behind her crudely-stitched mask, the Eidolon known as Patient Zero scowled. "I wish you could see yourselves... weak and afraid, like I used to be. So afraid of death you'd do anything, pay any price." Her laughter rang harshly as she flung her arms wide in triumph. "And look at me now! I'm immortal! A dozen plagues run through my veins, and I feel fine!"
In the fearful silence that followed, a new voice spoke. "That's 'cause a corpse doesn't get sick."
Zero turned toward the doorway in surprise, as did her accomplice, just as a tightly-focused beam of charged particles lanced out and tapped him on the head like a sledgehammer. He collapsed insensate to the lab's tile floor.
"A hero!" Zero shouted, waving her zombie goons forward. "Get them!" The abomination and cadaver obediently, mindlessly shambled through the door and out of sight. Sounds of battle followed: grunts, more energy blasts, puking, a heavy thud. Then nothing. Zero waited impatiently for them to return.
The figure that eventually stepped through the doorway looked marginally better than a sewn-together slab of meat. Her blue and pale grey costume was torn and cut in several places, including a large oozing gash on her left leg, and was stained with blood and vomit - some of it quite possibly her own. One side of her domino mask was peeling away from her face, fluttering in front of that eye. Her hair was a tangled mess. She was very pale and her forehead was beaded with sweat. Yet despite all of this, Miss Megajoule drew herself up straight and pointed at the disbelieving Eidolon. "You're under arrest. You have the right to remain silent..."
Zero laughed again. "You, arrest me? You can barely stand!" She took a vial from the still-open box and held it up. "I'll make you a deal, dearie... crawl to me, and I'll let you have this. I'll give you your life, but I want to hear you beg for it."
"Like you crawled to Vahzilok?" Miss Megajoule retorted, resisting the temptation to lean against the door frame. "Begging him for a way out? What did you pay him? How much did you have to sacrifice?"
"It doesn't matter," Zero said coldly, putting the vial back with the others. "It was worth it. He didn't just give me new life, but new power as well." Inky darkness gathered around her fists. "I gave you a chance. Now you're going to die."
"Not before you," Miss Megajoule gritted, a glowing bubble springing up around her just as the blackness lashed out.
The scientists huddled together for safety as a battle between light and dark raged around them. Zero kept trying to close the range so that she could bring her full power to bear, but Miss Megajoule kept slamming her up against cabinets and lab equipment with torrents of blue-white energy. Picking herself up yet again, the Eidolon growled in frustration and threw another fistful of life-sucking cold at the hero; it missed, splashing harmlessly against a wall.
"You're still afraid, aren't you?" Miss Megajoule said from behind the refrigerator she was using for cover and momentary respite. "Because you know you haven't escaped. Sooner or later, death's going to catch up with you again."
"Never," Zero replied, circling the lab bench for a clear shot. "I'm immortal now, IMMORTAL!"
Miss Megajoule ducked under the dark blast and rolled to safety, personal shield flickering in and out. She fired back with one fist, forcing Zero to keep her head down. She sounded sad but resolved as she said, "No. You're already dead. A walking corpse, just like the others. And I'm going to put you where you belong... in the ground."
Screaming, hurling curses and darkness, Zero charged. Miss Megajoule stood her ground and met the Eidolon blast for blast. Actinic light and unnatural shadows filled the lab. Moments later, it finally ended: Zero, utterly spent, stumbled forward and an equally weary Miss Megajoule slugged her across the jaw with all her remaining strength. The woman in the black gimp suit half-turned with the blow and crumpled.
Miss Megajoule sagged against the countertop as her fellow scientists came running over. One went to prepare a syringe to inject her with the cure, while the others thanked her profusely and asked if she was all right. With a weak smile, she opened a gloved hand to reveal three empty ampules of epinephrine.
"Only way... I could keep up," she slurred. "Couldn't let her..."
The darkness finally overtook her, rushing in from the edges of her vision to blot out everything as her eyes rolled up and she slid to the floor.
Julie was curled up on the couch in her warmest, fluffiest bathrobe, watching television and drinking tea, when her phone rang. She picked it up with her free hand and checked the caller ID before answering.
"Hello, Agent Garnier. Yes, thank you. They've got me on antibiotics, just to be sure... another couple of days. Right. Okay, just let me know if you need me to testify or anything. I will. Thanks, you too. See you in a few days. Uh-huh, bye."
She put the mobile aside again and sighed contentedly, drinking her tea. The cure had worked almost as fast as the disease; in less than twelve hours, she'd felt well enough to join a team of heroes that had tracked the mad Dr. Vahzilok to one of his hidden lairs in the city. He was in custody in the Zig now, stripped of his grotesque "hero suit" and awaiting trial. As an ethical scientist and a decent human being, she was glad to have played a part in bringing him to justice. He and his insane followers had taken so many lives... including, very nearly, her own.
Julie's eyes wandered to the top of the bookcase where she'd begun putting souvenirs of her heroic career (all two months of it so far). The latest addition, lying next to the Skulls bandana and the rusty gear from a Clockwork Cog, was the hypodermic needle from the lab. Rather than simply drop it in a sharps basket, they'd let her keep it.
To her, it was more than a used syringe or even a trophy. It was a reminder of how very close she'd come... and not just to dying, but to a dark place inside herself she hadn't known was there. Had she really threatened to kill the Eidolon? It all seemed like a fever dream now. She'd been deathly ill and riding high on adrenalin, both her own and the extra doses she'd injected to keep her on her feet. But she couldn't just brush the thought aside and dismiss it.
Julie sighed and reached for the TV remote. This hero business was turning out to be a lot more complicated than she'd thought.
