Veronica Volt/A Day in the Life
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
Chapter 1
“I’m sorry, could you please repeat that,” the young girl asked, her brow wrinkled, “I thought you said three million…”
“Well, actually Miss, that’s three million, three hundred seven thousand, seven hundred and twenty two.” The balding man behind the counter pushed his glasses up and smiled at the pretty blond standing on the other side of the counter. “In advance, of course.”
“Oh, of course,” Veronica replied, barely concealing the sarcasm she felt creeping in. She looked around the large circular lobby of Paragon City’s city hall. A near constant stream of heroes passed through the sturdy doors leading to Atlas Park, each going about his or her own business, oblivious of the injustice happening right before them. The marble tiled floor shone with the reflections of their wildly colored costumes and uniforms. Veronica stared at the patterns for a moment, lost in thought.
“E-hem, Miss, ah…” the city’s hero registrar began.
“Oh, uh, Volt, Veronica Volt.” she said, broken from her impromptu trance. “I’m with The Youth League.”
“Yes, so you said earlier. Miss Volt, if you have no further questions, I really must ask you to step aside. As you can plainly see, we’re quite busy here today. Several other prominent super groups are also interested in enlarging their headquarters.” The man gestured toward the line that had formed behind the blue and yellow clad teen. Veronica turned to look behind her and saw that already at least a half dozen people stood there, several of them staring at her in exasperation.
Turning back to face the counter, she gathered the few papers she had labored to fill out and swept them into a manila folder. “Thanks for your time.” she said to the gray suited man before her. “I guess that’s all, then.” She turned and walked from the counter stepping around the immense eight foot tall man with bright blue skin at the front of the rapidly growing line.
As she stepped outside, a brisk wind whipped past her catching her cape and trapping it in the closing double doors. With an abrupt jerk, she found herself sprawled on her rear as her folder of papers spilled to the pavement. The wind quickly scattered the loose pages as she tried to untangle herself and pull her errant cape from the doors. “Great,” she muttered, “just what I needed.” She began chasing down the flying pages, trying to capture them all before any got lost or trampled underfoot. She had gathered about half of them when a sudden bright red blur appeared and stopped before her.
“Letmeguess,thesemustbeyours!” the lean looking man in the red costume said as he handed her a small stack of pages. “IthinkIgotallofthem!”
“What?” was all she could say as she took the papers and replaced them in her folder. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I caught that…”
“Heh, sorry,” he said, making an obvious effort to speak slower. “I said, I think these must be yours.” He smiled and continued, “Red Runner, at your service.”
“Thank you,” she replied, “I don’t think I’d have ever tracked them all down.”
“No trouble atall,littlelady.” the man said, his voice speeding up again, “Gladtobeofservice.Haveagoodday,byenow!” He patted her on her back, turned and quickly sped away.
Wow, he may even be faster than Kid Ferret, she thought as she watched the scarlet blur speed through the plaza and up the street. She re-adjusted the mantel of her cape and walked down the steps of city hall. Looking up to the plaza beneath the colossal statue of Atlas, she noticed a television crew setting up their equipment. Curiosity won out and she levitated herself up until she had a clear view of the plaza level. With a quick thought and a flash of light, she vanished from the air and reappeared close to the stone pedestal bearing the plaque honoring one of the cities greatest heroes.
A crowd had quickly formed around the T.V. crew and Veronica angled toward them with a determined stride. She recognized Dahra Riedisham, one of the city’s best known reporters holding her microphone out toward a familiar figure. Streethunter, she thought, wonder what he’s up to now? Her old friend looked a little worse for wear as he proudly smiled for the camera. His bright red and gold uniform was stained and torn in places and his right arm was in a sling. Moving closer, she heard the reporter ask, “…and did you know the mayor’s daughter was in the car when you stopped the clockwork from dismantling it?” “No, ma’am, I didn’t.” came Streethunter’s reply. “I only did what any of this cities fine heroes would have done in the same situation.”
“But didn’t you think you’d need support?” Dahra probed. “What about the other heroes in the vicinity? I understand there were over two dozen sprockets on that bridge.”
“Well,” the marksman drawled in his southern accent, “sometimes you just have to take the situation in hand yourself.” He looked around the growing crowd and spotted Veronica’s face. His usually cheerful smile melted like wet crepe paper and he quickly turned back to face the reporter. Veronica’s heart sank, she was supposed to go patrol Skyway City with her friend earlier in the day, but had been delayed filling out paperwork for a new base plot most of the morning and had been forced to cancel at the last minute. Feeling ashamed and embarrassed, she turned from the crowd and walked dejectedly in the direction of the base portal.
In a few minutes she covered the short distance and stepped into the shimmering teleporter field to reappear in the entry chamber of the Youth Leagues headquarters. Kid Psyche, one of the newer members, was seated behind the reception desk watching her expectantly. Psi Elixer sat on the curved blue couch in front of the large plasma screen television flipping channels rapidly. “Anything to…” she started to say.
“Nope,” Kid Psyche interrupted her, “all’s clear for the time being.” he said. Sighing, she started to speak again. “Has there been..” Again the blue and red suited boy cut her off.
“No, Ameri-Kid is still out of contact.”
Clearly agitated, she rounded on him and demanded “Will you PLEASE let me finish my questions before you answer?!”
Not waiting for an answer, she stomped past the reception desk toward the large meeting room. As she left, Psi Elixer turned and grinned at his friend who quietly said “She’ll be in the meeting room, she doesn’t want to be disturbed.” Both boys burst out laughing.
You know that pisses her off, right? thought Psi Elixer to Kid Psyche.
Heh, of course, why do you think I do it? Kid Psyche answered telepathically. Now quick, back to Socom 3!
Chapter 2
Veronica settled into her chair behind the co-leader’s podium and looked around the brightly lit meeting room. It always seemed so much larger when she was by herself. She opened her desk drawer and pulled out her portable mp3 player and selected a random set of music. After putting her headphones on, she started scanning the latest report from the base computer detailing the Youth League’s accounts. Ouch she thought, those two new work tables really took a bite out of our account. I hope they pay off soon or we’re going to have a hard time justifying them. Already, there had been a rush of members dropping off the various bits and pieces they had salvaged from their numerous encounters with Paragon City’s criminals. The work tables, near miracles of modern science, should be able to analyze and breakdown the now useless trinkets and hopefully convert them into more useful items. So far she hadn’t been impressed with their results. She signed the bottom of the accounts register and moved onto the next folder, this one detailing the current roster of the Youth League.
“So many new names.” she muttered scanning down the alphabetized list. “I still haven’t had a chance to meet many of them. Maybe we should hold a meet and greet soon, give everyone a chance to get to know each other.” She made a notation on her computer screen and moved on to the next item of business. Checking through the roster, she made notes of the members that were due for promotion and forwarded the list to Kid Ferret and Fyre Prism for their review.
Having finally caught up on Youth League business, Veronica replaced her mp3 player in her desk drawer and headed back to the base’s reception room. Kid Psyche was sitting at the reception desk, the reflection of the monitor mirrored across his ruby colored helmet. Psi Elixer had stopped flipping channels, and the two were apparently engrossed in an ESPN special on extreme skateboarding. Shaking her head, she walked past the desk to the transporter beam and called back to Kid Psyche, “Log me in as ‘on patrol’, please…and Psyche, no more video games, OK?.” With a wave and a smile, she stepped through the beam. Peering around the blue wall that separated the area from the transporter station, Psi Elixer keyed the remote control for split screen and the boys went back to playing SoCom 3 while skateboarders flipped and spun in the other window.
As she rematerialized in Atlas Park, Veronica looked around and took note of the increased activity. It was no surprise that on this beautiful Saturday morning, the park was rapidly filling up with both the citizens of Paragon City and the heroes that protected it. Shielding her eyes against the sun, she watched as a team of eight heroes took to the sky and flew toward the Yellow Line train station north of the park. Focusing on the station, she concentrated and quickly began her series of “ports” and within seconds she stood on the platform leading into the lobby. As she waited on the next train to Skyway City, she tested her comm. set with a quick call to Fyre Prism.
“Everything’s fine so far,” came the response to her query, “I’m working with Kid Physics and a few others in the sewer system in south Perez Park. It looks like the Freakshow is trying to establish another base of operations down here.”
“Is everything alright, or do you need a hand?” she asked.
“We’re making good progress,” the young man replied, “we’ll probably be out by the time you could get here…besides, I know how much you like running around in the sewers.” Fyre Prism chuckled, knowing that at that moment, Veronica was rolling her eyes and wincing at the thought of the foul smelling tunnels that stretched for miles beneath the city. Her complaints about the sewer patrols were well known around the base and she tried to avoid them as much as possible. “We’ve got it covered, V. We’ll check in with Psyche when we’re done here.”
“Thanks, Fyre, I really wasn’t looking forward to a swim through that place today!” Veronica said.
“Yup,” he said with another chuckle. “Opps, we’ve got company, gotta go. Fyre Prism, out.” Veronica heard the familiar sound of Fyre Prism’s Tesla Cage crackle in the background as he broke the connection.
Relieved that she wouldn’t be heading into the dark sewers this day, Veronica stepped into the monorail and took a seat near the door. She watched through the window as the train wound it’s way around Atlas Park and through the massive War Walls that separated the various districts of Paragon City. The efforts to rebuild after the Rikti war had made tremendous strides in some parts and the city looked alive and vibrant beneath the brightly shining sun.
Within a few minutes, the train arrived at the Skyway City station and Veronica departed with about a dozen citizens. On the platform outside, she stopped to give one young girl her autograph and then looked to the clear blue sky above the towering bridges ahead of her. She focused her will and began to float gently a few inches above the ground. With a smile, she teleported high above the bridge and turned to the south. She ‘ported further along her path, scanning the area below her for any signs of the Clockwork her friend Streethunter had battled just a few short hours ago. She had covered a little over a quarter mile when a flash of emerald energy caught her eye. In the distance, she could see what looked like a small gathering of mystics from the Circle of Thorns surrounding a pulsating sphere of energy with a young lady trapped at its center.
Veronica shifted her orientation and visualized the space directly in front of the yellow robed figure leading the ritual. This will be satisfying, she thought, I’ll help that lady AND get to ruin the Circle’s day…lousy creeps. She smiled as she contemplated just how much of a charge to direct against her arch-foes.
Chapter 3
Five robed figures stood in a circle chanting in unison. In the center, a terrified young woman floated, trapped in a pulsating orb of green energy. The Circle of Thorns mages changed the pitch of their magical spell as one dressed in yellow robes stepped forward. Starring coldly at the hysterical woman before him, he slowly withdrew a wicked looking, two-pronged dagger from his belt.
Watching from her vantage point over 150 feet above the mages, Veronica Volt had seen enough. Using her anger as a focus, she expanded the electrical field that surrounded her to a huge bubble almost 60 feet across. At the same time, she teleported to the ground, face to face with the Circle’s lead mage. Instantly, the mages reacted as Veronica’s mystical electricity jolted them from their trances. The glowing green field surrounding their intended sacrifice faded instantly, dropping the young woman unceremoniously on her rear.
“Hello, boys” Veronica said with a sneer. Targeting the robed figure before her, she raised her hands above her head and stretched her arms out. Instantly, blindingly bright arcs of electricity crackled between her hands and then streaked down to the mage. The blast jolted him and he staggered backwards, dropping the ceremonial blade on the ground. Turning to her right, Veronica flung her arm, as if backhanding the two mages to her side. She released what looked like a small sphere of lightning that sped to the closest mage and exploded in a powerful blast of mystical energy. Already stunned from Veronica’s initial attack, most of the mages fell to the ground unconscious. Turning back to face the yellow robed man before her, Veronica said, “Huh...still standing I see. I think I can change that!”
She thrust forth her fist, as if to punch him even though several feet separated them. Another blast of lightning snapped from her hand, narrowly missing the mage as he crouched to retrieve his dagger. Suddenly, Veronica was hit from behind by a blast of super cold energy. Chunks of ice formed around her and she was knocked forward. Stunned by the incredible cold and off balance from the unexpected weight of the ice, Veronica staggered to her knees. She looked up unto the face of the now grinning mage and tried to summon a bolt of electricity. Unfortunately, the intense cold affected her concentration and she managed little more than a spark. He swung his blade in a low arc, aiming for her chest. She managed to throw herself backward and avoid his deadly blade. The strange ice encasing her continued to hamper her as it cracked and reformed with each movement she made. Looking up, she saw the source of the unexpected attack and her blood ran cold. A Nerva spectral demon floated from its hidden position behind the nearby rocks, looking for all the world like some nightmare made of smoke. Its howl filled her mind as it swept toward her, ebony tendrils of its own mystical energy flowing around its clawed hands.
This is going to hurt, she thought with a grimace. She tried to rise to her feet and turned to face the dagger wielding mage. He stabbed at her and she jumped back, again avoiding his blade. He slashed again, this time catching her across her right bicep. Veronica screamed and clutched her wounded arm. The sharp pain brought with it the sudden memory of one of her first combat training courses with Ameri-Kid.
“You need to move with the battle, Veronica” he had said. “Learn to watch your opponent’s movements, they’ll tell you where he’s going to be.” Drawing on the memory for inspiration, Veronica stood and adopted the stance the young man had taught her. As the mage lunged at her again, she pivoted, allowing his momentum to carry him within closer range. She grabbed his forearm and continued her pivot, hurling the surprised mage forward and off his feet. She could see the eerie form of the demon as it closed the distance between them.
Got to finish this fast, she thought. Shaking off the strange, mystical ice, she slammed her hands together, unleashing an arc of electricity that smashed both the demon and the mystic to the ground. The mage screamed and passed out, but the demon continued to advance, looking only slightly stunned by the young girl’s attack. She jumped backward as it fired another blast of negative energy at her. The bolt smashed into the rocks beside her and instantly they were covered in black ice crystals.
“That’s quite enough of that!” she yelled as she rounded on the nether-dimensional creature. Clasping her hands together, she jumped up as high as she could. As she brought them down, bright blue electricity surrounded them. She smashed her fists into the face of the demon and with a flash of light it was thrown backwards in a daze. Barely pausing, Veronica grabbed the wrist of her wounded arm to help support it and held it out, fist clenched tightly, pointing directly at the demon. For a second, it looked like nothing would happen and the demon grinned evilly. Suddenly, lightning began to crackle around the blue clad girl and her hair stood out. With a terrific pop, a thick bolt of lightning shot from Veronica’s fist and smashed through the wraith-like form before her. The demon stretched in agony and howled as it quickly faded from sight, its hold on this dimension suddenly severed.
With the danger over, Veronica slumped to the ground, suddenly tired and aware of the pulsing pain in her arm and the blood flowing quickly down her uniform. The young woman she had saved ran to her side and grabbing her cape, wrapped it around the wound in an effort to stop the bleeding. Veronica thanked her and tapped her communicator. Groaning, she took the small device from her ear and looked at it. Scorch marks showed on the casing where the delicate instrument had been fried by her power. She stood, and together, she and the young lady walked down the street to the nearest call box to alert the police and make contact with the Youth League.
Behind them, a young man watched from the bushes, hidden from view. Once they were out of sight, he quickly moved from the bushes to the scene of the recent fight. Bending down, he picked up the blade that the mage had dropped. He held it up and inspected the cruel looking twin prongs. Veronica’s blood still dripped from the enchanted blade. He looked around for a garbage can and rummaged through it until he found a plastic shopping bag left over from someone’s lunch. Dumping the contents onto the ground, he carefully wrapped the dagger in the bag and looked around. Convinced that no one had seen him, he moved back to the bushes and quickly left the area.
Chapter 4
Veronica walked from the meeting room into the expansive library of the Youth League Headquarters. She was sore and tired from her morning’s activities and the wound on her arm was beginning to sting again as the pain relievers the hospital gave her began to wear off. She looked up to see Kid Psyche standing motionless in the hallway, looking into the Youth League’s small indoor garden. Quietly she walked over to him and followed his gaze. There, in the center of the room, Lin Yau Wei moved with an uncanny grace through her exercise program. “What’cha doin’, Kid?” she asked quietly.
Without looking away from the small girl in the garden, Kid Psyche answered her. “I’m meditating...kinda…”
“Looks to me like you’re staring at Lin, not meditating” Veronica said.
“Shhh,” he replied, "step back some.” The two quietly moved back into the library. Lifting the faceplate of his helmet, Kid Psyche turned to look at Veronica. “Listen,” he said, “it’s like this. When I’m around most people, I hear this constant background buzz from them. Even when I don’t hear specific thoughts, I still hear…chatter, I guess. Lin’s different, she’s…quiet. And when she’s exercising, she just exudes this really strong aura of peace. It feels really good, kinda warm and secure.”
“Hm” Veronica said, “I didn’t realize…I just thought you were, you know, watching her. I was going to say that think she’s a bit young for you though.” Veronica chuckled. Kid Psyche’s face turned pink and he looked back toward the garden.
“V!” he exclaimed, “Cut it out, you know me better than that.”
Trying to suppress a smile, the young blond looked back into the garden. Lin was still moving through her routine, gracefully stepping from one stance to the next, holding each perfect form for a moment like the statue of some martial arts master. Watching her for another minute, Veronica was struck by the beauty of the steps. Each one was executed perfectly by the small girl who wore a smile of contentment and peace. “Wow, I’ve never really noticed how pretty her routine is, it’s like some lovely dance.” Veronica whispered.
Kid Psyche turned his head toward his friend and said, “That’s just the surface, this is what you can’t see…” With that, he reached his hand toward Veronica and gently placed it along the side of her face. He closed his eyes and reached out to her with his mind.
The room around her seemed to fade and she was surrounded by a soft white glow. An overwhelming sense of calm flowed over her like a slow but powerful ocean wave. Almost instantly, the trials of the day melted away from her. She saw herself standing before the bureaucratic city hall representative as he explained to her that she was wasting his time and this time she felt only calm. She saw her friend Streethunter look at her in disappointment and rather than guilt, she felt calm. Even the memory of the desperate fight against the Circle of Thorns brought with it only peace, and a feeling of serenity so strong she thought she could reach out and touch it.
Kid Psyche slowly removed his hand and the intense feeling began to fade. Veronica realized that the pain in her arm had vanished while she had stood watching Lin only when it started to creep back. Looking at his friend, Kid Psyche said, “Here, let me take care of that for you.”
He passed his hand over the wound on her upper arm and a pulse of green energy bathed the bandages. He unwound them from her and proceeded to look over her now unblemished bicep. “Not even a scar, you’ll be fine.”
Veronica studied the face of her young friend. “What’s wrong, Dex?” she asked.
“Nothing” he said quickly, looking away and closing his faceplate. “It’s just…I guess I’m just feeling a bit overwhelmed. …and confused.”
Taking him by the arm, she led him further into the library so as not to disturb their teammate in the garden. “Want to talk about it?” she asked. They sat on the soft green couch facing the corner of the large room. Kid Psyche sighed heavily. “Is this about Cryoshock Kid…and Psi Elixer?”
He turned to face her quickly, and turned back to stare at the wall. “Yeah,” he answered. “Look, I know I didn’t find anything conclusive in the Rogue Isles, but V, something just doesn’t feel right about him.” Veronica thought back over the report Kid Psyche had delivered after he returned from his recent assignment in the dangerous territory controlled by Arachnos. She had sent him there to use his telepathy to try and dig up more information on Cryoshock Kid, one of the Youth League’s new members. Unfortunately, after two days in the Rogue Isles, he had returned with little to show for his troubles. “I know you want to keep him close so we can keep an eye on him, but what if you’re wrong? What if he tries to hurt Charlie?! V, I just don’t know what I should do…”
“Listen, Dex,” she said, taking his hands in hers, “Psi Elixer is a big boy, and he knows the risks. He’ll be OK.” She stared at her reflection in the shiny red faceplate, hoping she sounded convincing. She wished he’d take it off, she hated talking to her reflection and wanted to see his face. With another sigh, he reached up and released the seals on his helmet. Lifting it above his head, he looked at his leader and tried to smile. Veronica took the helmet from her friend and with a smile, set it on the couch beside them. Then she pulled Kid Psyche to her and placed his head on her shoulder. Wrapping her arms around him, she hugged him. He reached up and wiped away the beginnings of a tear as they slowly rocked back and forth. They sat there for some time, listening to the soft sounds of their teammate working out in the next room.
I began work on A Day in the Life on February 7, 2006. Each of the four chapters was written over the course of a few days. The original story was posted in four parts on the Youth League's website.
