***10 years ago***

“Where are we going this time?” Anna asked.  She’d been tagging along with Callie for the better part of a month.  She’d mostly watched but occasionally helped as La Trogón took on arms dealers, mercenaries, and even a man who could throw lightning bolts.

“Arlington,” Callie said, swerving through traffic at her typical breakneck speed.  Anna had only recently become accustomed to how her mentor drove, and that was only through a lot of looking away and pretending she was somewhere else.

“Like, Legendary Consortium headquarters Arlington?” Anna asked.

“The very one, chica.”

“I’m actually going to get to meet some legends?”

Callie raised an eyebrow.  “What the fuck am I?”

“I mean, some other legends besides you.  You never fail to impress me, but you don’t have any more tricks I haven’t seen.”

“I have, literally all of the secrets,” she said.  “And I’d cut the cocky attitude now,” Callie added, more serious.

“Sorry,” Anna was quick to apologize.  “But you know what I mean.  You aren’t just some face I’ve seen on TV anymore, you’re real.  The rest of them are still…”

“Still impressive.”

“That wasn’t the word I was going to use.”

“Bullshit,” Callie said, laughing.  “It’s fine, I get it, I’m old news.  You want to see magic, and mutation, and element manipulation and all that good stuff.  Seeing eight odd seconds into the future is old hat.”

“Old, but not unimpressive,” Anna said, smiling.

“Flattery will get you nowhere with me, chica” Callie retorted.

“So, am I getting my license to be an official super heroine?” Anna asked.

“Oh shit, did I not give you that?”  Anna cringed as Callie took both hands off the wheel to dig through her utility belt.  She absentmindedly grabbed the wheel and steered out of the way of a black sedan as she fished out a shiny badge.  She tossed it at Siren.

“Wait, what?”

“Oh yeah, I got that for you, oh, about a week ago now?”

“Why would you keep that from me?” Anna asked, upset.

A wide grin spread across Callie’s face.  “Because I have higher hopes for you.  But if Stephanie asks, yes I did give that to you last week.”

“Stephanie?” Anna asked.

“Lady Sapphire.”

“Lady mother fucking Sapphire?!” Anna asked, her eyes wide.

“Keep the expletives to yourself around her, but yeah, the very one.  You have an interview with her and Aegis later.”

“An interview?”

“Yeah, to be a Legend.  Sorry for not giving you much heads up, but I wanted you thinking on your feet, and not preparing.”

“Not preparing?  For an interview to join the Legendary Consortium!”  Anna was angry.  Angry didn’t describe it.  She was pissed.

“Cálmete,” Callie said.  “I wouldn’t have recommended you if I didn’t think you were capable.  Just, be honest, and don’t try to use your power on them.  That, might end poorly.  I’m not even sure you could influence either of them, but, better safe then sorry, just answer their questions, and be honest.”

Anna took a deep breath.  A little heads up still would have been nice.  I mean, you didn’t even give me my license,” she said, looking over the bronze emblem in her hand.

“We give licenses out like candy.  I could have given you that two weeks ago and been done with you.  I don’t want you to be licensed.  I can only see a few seconds into the future, but I see you as a Legend.  When I first met you, I told you I was taking you on the most important job interview of your life.  You nailed that one, and you’re about to embark on an even more important one.  Now if you have any faith in me, in yourself, you’ll throw that piece of trash out the window, you’ll meet with Lady Sapph and Aegis, and you’ll get a much more important badge.”

Anna pushed the button and rolled the window down, looking at the license in her hand.  “I appreciate your faith in me, but are you going to be offended if I hold onto it?”

“You going to frame it with your seven degrees you talked your way into?”

“No, I didn’t earn those.  They don’t mean anything to me.  But whether or not I get to be a legend, I earned this.  I earned this from you.  And that means a lot to me, and I don’t want to just throw it out the window on the highway while you’re doing, what, 95 miles per hour.”

“Sentimental fool,” Callie said, staring fixedly at the road.  “Keep your damn garbage.  But you’re going to be a Legend.  I don’t recommend people that aren’t worthy.”

“How many people have you recommended?” Anna asked.

“Me personally?  None.”

Anna stared at her.  “Really?”

“Nope.  I have licensed 26 people since I joined the Legendary Consortium, including you.  You will be the first I recommend to become a legend, and you’ll be the first I recommend who becomes a legend.”

A smile spread across Anna’s face.

“But don’t get all full of yourself, chica.  I’ve met some shitty heroes.  The last guy before you was a shot putter who could throw kind of hard.  I mean, come on, you’re in the worst of company.  Like, the best of the dregs of super powered individuals.”

“Thank you,” Anna said.  “It means a lot to me.”  A tear fell from her right eye.

“Cut that shit out,” Callie said.

“Of course.  Wouldn’t want to embarrass you.”

“You’re goddam right,” Callie said, keeping her attention on the road.



***present***

“What’re we looking at,” the woman asked as Izzy walked up the stoop of the small, run down house.  She sat on the railing, a book in her lap.

“I got nothing,” Izzy said, opening the door.  The woman hopped off the railing and followed him inside.  “Anna’s missing, The Sea Witch is impersonating her, and I believe she has Anna’s power.”

“Yay, more assholes with more mind control!”

“That’s exactly my worry.  One the LC shares with me.”

“And you think they’ll kill her?  Anna?”

“I don’t know, but stealing abilities changes the game.  They can’t afford another hit like Cromwell.  Fuck, no one can, but we need to find Anna first.”

The woman sighed, sticking her tongue out.  “Ugh.  Seriously?”  She hopped up onto the counter next to the fridge, kicking the door open with her foot. She reached around blindly inside until she found a beer, busting the top off against the edge of the counter in a well-practiced maneuver.  “What if she’s already dead?  I know you don’t want to hear that, but we’re talking about someone who steals powers.”

“We cross that bridge when we get to it,” Izzy responded, catching the refrigerator door with his foot before it closed.  He pulled out a beer, blowing the top off with a blast of kinetic energy from the tip of his finger.  “She crossed paths with Anna once before and didn’t kill her, no reason to assume she’d off her now.”

“Except she has her power now.”

Izzy’s eyes narrowed.  

“Sorry, just stating the facts.  I’ll do some digging.  But even if she’s alive, I’m looking for a needle in a haystack.  We know nothing about the Ursula chick.  Oh, except for that she can snap boats to tinder with magic tentacles.  There’s that.  And she might be able to steal powers.”

“Are you going to help me or not?” Izzy asked.

She smiled.  “You know I will.”

“Stay-”

“Stay away from the LC, I got it.  Like I wanna see those clowns.  No offense.”

“None taken.  You got this?  I gotta go back.”

“Yeah, I’ll start looking under rocks as soon as I finish with this,” she looked at the nearly empty beer in her hand, and then eased the fridge back open with her toe, leaning forward on the counter to look inside, “all of your beer.”

“Just get it done.  And hey, I’m counting on you.”

She drained the last of her beer.  “I know you are.  I will do everything within my considerable power to find Siren.”

He nodded.  “Thank you.”  He turned and left.



***10 years ago***

“It’s a lot bigger than it looks on TV,” Anna said, looking up the massive tower.

“TV doesn’t accurately capture our giant metaphorical penis that says we’re better than the rest of the world’s super heroes?!” Callie said with feigned incredulity.  “I’ll notify the architect immediately!  Bigger, thicker, longer, harder!”

Anna laughed.  “I kinda like it.”

“Yeah you do.”

“I’m serious.  It’s… prominent.”

“It’s a fucking eyesore.  But we do good work, most of the time,” Callie said.  “Come on, you get to come in through the back entrance.”

She led Anna through a door at the back of the building.  She pulled off her glove and used her handprint to get into the back door, and in front of the elevators, she stated her name and leaned over a retinal scanner before the light for the elevator started blinking.

Anna hung back.  

“You nervous?”

“Yeah I’m nervous.  I’m, I’m not sure I’m ready for this.”

The elevator door opened and Callie stuck her foot in it, holding it open.  “Good.  I’d worry if you thought you were.  I’d fought the communist regime in Cuba for six years before I came to America and joined the Legendary Consortium.  But unfortunately, there are more factors at play than experience.”

“Why’d you come here?” Anna asked.

“Shut up, I’m talking,” Callie said.  “When dealing with super powers and enhanced people, actual experience tends to take a back seat.”

“So I’m here just because of my ability?”

“No.  You’re here because I think you can do great things with your ability.  Ideally, yes, it would be nice if you had some years of crime fighting under your belt.  But I can teach you that stuff.”  She stepped into the elevator, beckoning Anna to follow.  “Besides, I’m tired of driving out to pick you up all the time.”

“I’d have to move to Arlington?”

“You’d be provided with an apartment here at the tower.  You’d be able to keep your new place with your sister.  You’d be able to afford it easy enough.”

Anna still hesitated, unable to bring herself to step forwards into the elevator.

“You’re lucky you know.  Macy is great, and you have a wonderful relationship with her.  One that I’m sure you’ll be able to keep.  But, well, I’ve talked myself into a corner, and there’s no way to say this without coming across as a complete bitch.”

“I have no one else?”

“Yeah,” Callie said.  The elevator door started to close between them and she shot her hand out, keeping the doors open.  “This life, makes it hard to have close relationships.  This is a calling, and it will always come first.  I wouldn’t have brought you here if I didn’t think you had that same calling.”

“Being a super heroine wasn’t even my idea.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.  Macy sees something in you.  She saw it before you saw it yourself, but it’s there.  She may have gotten you into this before you realized you were ready.  Just like I’m going to make you a Legend before you think you’re ready.”  Callie pulled her hand back from the door.

Anna stood on the other side, steeling her nerves.  The door started to close, and this time, Callie let it.  When the metal doors were mere inches apart, Anna jammed her hand in the crack, wincing as she half expected the door to keep closing, crushing her fingers.  The sensors picked up the intrusion, and the door opened once more, revealing Callie’s grinning face.

“You knew I’d do that,” Anna said.

“Of course.  Now get in.  I want to show you around before you meet with Lady Sapph and Aegis.”

Anna’s jaw dropped and her eyes filled with wonder as the elevator doors opened back up.  They were in a massive room that was three stories high.  The walls were golden, with murals on the walls of the members of the Legendary Consortium.  She saw Callie on the far left, striking a heroic pose in her armor, holding a pistol across her chest.  Going across the room where the larger than life characters she’d only seen on TV or in magazines.  

Beside Callie was Eidolon.  The teleporter was wreathed in light as if he was just popping in, contrasting against his dark green body suit and hood concealing the upper part of his face, his eyes shining from the narrow eye holes.

Towering above him was the giant Mammoth, a solid wall of muscles and wild hair, his thick arms crossed across his barrel chest.  His signature tusks protruded from his lower jaw, looking like they were popping out of the painting.

To his right was the martial arts master Zen.  He wore a simple black gi, his bare arms, feet, and bald head covered in tattoos of Chinese letters.

In the center was the knight Gallant, a handsome blond man in shining silver plate armor holding up a gleaming sword, his face lifted up towards the heavens.

Next to him was Pegasus, the winged woman’s glorious white feathered wings stretched wide, her long platinum hair painted to be blowing in the wind, her hands held out, palms up.  She wore a streamlined white unitard clinging to her voluptuous form.

Barrage stood in the shadow of her wing.  He was turned to the side, his brown stetson pulled low over his eyes, with just that dangerous smile Anna had seen visible beneath the shadow.  He was painted in a white longs leave shirt, a brown leather vest, faded jeans and his cowboy boots, the spurs glinting.  His hand was at his hip, held in a gun gesture.

Next to him was Lynx, the black haired woman in a black tank top, pants and domino mask, her signature chains crisscrossing her torso and hanging down her arms, the metal claws attached to the ends clutched in her hands.  

And the last in the mural was Tempest, the tight gray body suit he was sporting highlighting his muscled form, blurred by the wind painted whipping around his body.

Dominating the center of the room were two giant statues, one of clear blue crystals, one cast in bronze.  The founders of the Legendary Consortium, the two most powerful people on the planet.

The bronze statue, looking every bit like the Greek gods of myth that he may very well have been, was Aegis.  Centuries old, an indestructible, immortal legend.  The greatest Legend.  He looked serenely down, in a pose that said peace while conveying his intimidating power.

The blue statue floated above the ground.  Anna looked for how it was held up, strings, some sort of magnet, but the expertly carved hunk of pure sapphire floated of its own accord, just a fraction of the magic the woman’s whose image was portrayed possessed.  She was carved with her flowing robes, her long hair worn down her back, a confident smile carved into the blue gem.

“Wow,” Anna breathed.  The very idea that she could be up on the wall with these people made her weak in the knees.  

“We do love to look at ourselves,” Callie said.  She looked at her own portrait.  “Tell me, do you think I look cross-eyed?  No one else says they see it, but I swear, I look retarded.”

Anna looked at it.  “I’m sorry, I think you look great.”

Callie shrugged.  “Oh well.  Not like many people see this.  It’s mostly just us and the suits from the government.”

“I’d be number twelve,” Anna said, still looking at the wall.

“Heh, no, you’ll be unlucky number thirteen.  Lini doesn’t have her picture up there yet.  A little spacey, but she’s not bad.”

“Lini?” Anna asked.

“We started calling her that because she’s got liquid nitrogen running through her veins, some sort of freak accident.  Li-Ni.  Anyways, she makes stuff cold.  Now come on.  If you get up on that wall, it won’t be wearing shorts and a damn tank top.”

Callie took her to the armory.  Anna didn’t think she’d be so easily impressed after the entrance, but the massive armory managed to blow her mind as well.  Rows and rows of guns of all kinds, staves, swords, all manners of weapons.  Displays cases housed knives, grenades, handguns, batons, tasers.

“Jesus.  You’d think with all your super powers, you wouldn’t need so many weapons.”

“Most of the time, we don’t, but it never hurts to be prepared,” Callie answered.  She cupped her hands around her mouth.  “Yo Fry, you here?”

A man walked out of a room.  He was lean, his shaggy brown hair held back by a pair of goggles worn on his head.  “Hey, Callie!”

“Anna, this is Adam Fry, our weapons specialist.  Adam, this is Siren.”

“Anna,” she said, extending her hand.  

He shook her hand with his own grease covered hand.  “Pleased to meet ya.”

“Siren needs armor.  You get the designs I left in your mailbox?”

Adam smiled.  “Yup, I think I can do something with it.”

Anna looked at Callie.  “You’ve already made designs?”

“Sí, chica.”

“I’ll just need to take some measurements,” Adam said, ushering her into the backroom.

Anna and Callie followed.  Adam’s workshop was a mess, tables strewn with spare parts and disassembled weaponry, the walls covered with various drawings.  He scanned the wall, ripping a sheet off, and swept a corner of a table clean.  Anna snuck a peak at the designs.

It was a simple drawing, a basic figure sketched out, with arrows pointing to different parts of the costume with labels written in chicken scratch.  She could make out words like kevlar and zirconium before Adam was suddenly upon her with a measuring tape.

Anna blushed as he wrapped the tape around her chest, measuring her bust, without any warning.  

“Relax, chica,” Callie told her.

Adam jotted notes on the diagram in between measurements, manipulating her as he needed.  Despite his apparent forcefulness, he was professional as he took her measurements.

“Thanks, I got what I needed,” he said after measuring her legs.  Anna crossed her arms across her chest and took a step back, putting her legs back together.  “It’s gonna be a whole lot better than shorts and a tank top,” he said.

“Um, thank you,” Anna said.

“Now, you’ve got voice powers.  You need a voice amplification collar or anything like that?”

“No,” Anna said, frowning.  “My power doesn’t work unless you hear it straight from the source.”

“Ah, that’s a shame.”

“Thank you, Adam,” Callie said.

“Not a problem.  Anything for you señorita.  I’ll get right on it.”

He was rewarded with a kiss on the cheek from Callie.

“Alright, come on chica, you’ve got more important people to see.”



***present***

Izzy took his seat in the conference room, scowling.  All sixteen members of the LC were there.  The hubris, the arrogance of it.  He’d warned Stephanie against calling everyone in, but the Sorceress of Sapphires had ignored him.  Rather than actually take the threat seriously, she’d made the decision to make it look like they were taking the threat seriously, and showing that the LC was not to be rattled by the renegade Siren.  Lady Sapphire had more people to answer to than Barrage did.  He understood her decision.  That didn’t mean he agreed with it, or was happy about it.

“Alright, we’re all here,” Lady Sapphire said.  “If you aren’t already aware, the super heroine known as Siren has robbed three museums and a bank in the last four days.  As of yet, she hasn’t killed anyone, but several security guards have been hospitalized.”

“What has she stolen?” Adam asked.

“We’re still waiting on the museums to confirm what was stolen.  Evidently she destroyed quite a lot of stuff, likely to hide what she actually took.  She stole a safety deposit box from the bank; the box was paid for in cash seven years ago, we don’t know who it belonged to.”

“Seven years ago?” Adam asked.

“Yes, that was shortly after she left the LC,” Lady Sapphire said.

Izzy snorted.  “Left?”

“Barrage, we know you don’t believe it was her-”

“It’s not.  We know the Sea Witch was looking for a way to steal her power.”

Aegis cleared his throat.  “We don’t know that.  Other than a few blurry images, Siren is the only one to have seen this Sea Witch.  Given the circumstances, taking her word at face value would be foolish.”

“And not considering it would be worse.  All three of those museums housed books with magical text.  When the dust clears, they’ll all be missing.  Siren has no use for magical artifacts.  She has no motivation here.”

“Motivation or not, we have a mind controller on the loose.  We need to find her, whether it’s the real Siren or not.  We’ve been down this road before, on whether or not to let someone with that kind of power run loose.  For eight years she played by the rules, staying in hiding, and then we sat back and allowed her to start using her powers.  We even licensed her, sanctioned her actions.”

“So this is a liability thing,” Izzy shot back.  “You’re worried more about how this makes us look than what’s really going on.”

Aegis’s amber eyes narrowed  “No, I’m worried about the threat she poses.  After Cromwell we promised the whole world we wouldn’t let anything like that happen again.”

“The threat she poses?  Since when do we start judging based on that?  We’re all threats.  What about you Aegis?  There ain’t a thing in the world that could stop you if you snapped, what kind of potential threat do you pose by merely by existing?”

“I’ve proved my dedication to the protection of this world for centuries.”

“And Siren had two years before we kicked her to the curb.  She helped us beat Cromwell, and as thanks we told her she couldn’t help people anymore.”

“You’re going to want to point that finger of yours somewhere else, Israel,” Aegis said, his voice a low growl.

Izzy looked down, his finger trembling slightly at it pointed accusingly at Aegis.  He curled it into his clenched fist, lowered it slowly to his side.  They were going about this all wrong.  He knew it, and he knew he couldn’t change their minds.  At least not Aegis’s.  And the rest of them would get sucked into the oncoming storm.

“Sorry,” Izzy said.  “I’m out of line.  Regardless if this is her or not, the first step is finding her.”

“And we all want to bring her in alive,” Lady Sapphire added.  “Adam, Pegasus, have there been anymore shipwrecks or sitings of the Sea Witch?”

“The last one was eight days ago,” Peg replied.

Adam shrugged.  “The timeline checks out for the Sea Witch theory.”

“Okay,” Lady Sapphire nodded.  “Tempest, Lini, find out exactly what’s been stolen.  We need to find a pattern, where she’ll strike next.  Sirius, Cygni, if Barrage is right, we need to start locating other potential magical artifacts she might go after.  Call their security teams, advise them to wear earplugs and heighten their security.”

“If it’s the Sea Witch, ear plugs won’t stop her.  We’ve seen what she can do to a boat; she’ll tear through rent-a-cops.  She hasn’t killed because she hasn’t needed to, let’s not go giving her a reason,” Izzy said.

“Protecting these locations is important, not giving them the means to do so is negligent on our part,” Aegis countered.

“Hey, I’d like to be proven right, but I’m not about sacrificing lives to do so.”

“Barrage is right,” Lady Sapphire said.  “Don’t alert any potential targets.  If you come across a likely one, we’ll send someone ourselves.”

The twins nodded.  “Yes Ma’am,” they said in unison.

Izzy watched as Lady Sapphire wrapped up the meeting.  He sat as the rest of the LC got up and filed out of the room, until it was just him and Lady Sapphire and Aegis.

“Did you have something else to say?” Aegis asked him.

Izzy met his piercing gaze.  Stephanie looked back and forth between the two of them.

Finally, Izzy picked up his hat off the couch beside him.  He held it loosely in his hand as he got to his feet.  “Nope, I’m good.  Steph, Aegis,” he gave each of them a curt nod before putting on his hat and walking for the door.

“Be careful Israel,” Lady Sapphire said as he reached the door.

“Always am,” he said as he walked out.



***10 years ago***

“Callie speaks very highly of you,” Lady Sapphire said.  She was sitting behind a massive mahogany desk in front of Anna, her palms flat on the desk in front of her.  Behind her, Aegis stood over her left shoulder.  Apart from introducing himself, he hadn’t spoken.  He looked much like his statue, standing perfectly still, calm, but imposing.

“Yes, well, she’s taught me a lot.  I hadn’t really been doing this, the whole super heroine thing, for very long before she found me,” Siren said.  She figured her best strategy was humility, not that she didn’t feel humbled in front of these two.  She desperately wished Callie had stayed with her, but after Callie had made introductions, she had left.  Anna felt small, keenly aware of how much she was sweating as they scrutinized her.

“And how did you come to start doing the ‘whole super heroine thing?’” Lady Sapphire asked.

“My sister encouraged me to do it.  She knows what I can do, and really pushed me into trying to use my power to do something good.”

Lady Sapphire nodded.  She and Aegis exchanged a glance.  It was brief, but Anna could see that her answer hadn’t impressed them.  Callie had told her to be honest.  Anna however did not have the same faith Callie had in her.

“Your power.  Callie explained it to us, but we’d like to hear from you.  Just what exactly you can do.”

“People have to listen to me when I tell them what to do.  It’s not something I can turn off.  I’ve had to learn to be careful with what I say, how I phrase things.  If I ask someone to do something, there’s no problem, but if I tell them to do it, they can’t help but do it.”

“You can tell anyone to do anything?”

“As far as I know.  I mean, I haven’t really tried to test out exactly what I can do, but, well, in the heat of the moment I’ve said some things I regretted, and well, some people have gotten hurt.”

“Do you care to elaborate?”

She blushed.  “I told a guy in high school once to suck his own dick.  He didn’t actually do it, but he broke three ribs trying before I told him to stop.”  It wasn’t the example she would have liked to give, but in her nervousness she’d blurted the first thing that came to mind.  Given, there were worse examples.

“So you can compel people to put themselves in jeopardy?”

“Yes, but I’ve never really tested how far I can get someone to go.  I, I don’t really want to know.”

“And it’s what you say, not your intent?”

“Oh god no.  I mean, I won’t say I’ve never meant some of things I’ve said in the moment, but no, I never actually wished for anybody to hurt themselves or others.”

“So the interpretation of your orders is left entirely up to the victim?”

Anna shrugged.  “I guess.  I mean, I’ve had people misinterpret what I actually wanted all the time.  I have to be pretty specific sometimes, if I’m vague, people will do all sorts of things.”

She looked back and forth between the two Legends.  She couldn’t read their expressions, but she had a sinking feeling in her stomach that it wasn’t going well.  She silently cursed Callie for not giving her any heads up and time to prepare.  She’d never had to interview before; she was used to being able to get exactly what she wanted.  And then it hit her.

“And what-”

“Since I-”

Anna and Lady Sapphire spoke at the same time, and Anna quickly apologized.  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cut you off.”

“It’s fine, go on,” Lady Sapphire said.

“Since I started doing this, and since Callie started mentoring me, I’ve had to change a lot.  Before this, I never really worked for anything; I got people to give me whatever I wanted.  But Callie insisted I get a day job, and a place I could afford.  I cheated to get that job too.  I’m working as a waitress.  And I hate it.”

Lady Sapphire leaned back in her chair, actually looking like she was interested to see Anna was going with this.

“I hate pretending to be normal.  I hate having to walk around on eggshells, and think twice every time I open my mouth.  I really do.  I can’t see myself living the rest of my life like that.  I have this unique ability, and I need to use it.  I need to use it for something good, otherwise, why do I have it?  Why do I even exist?”

There was a long silence.  Anna had stopped sweating when she started making her pitch, but she felt herself beginning to perspire nervously as she waited for a reaction from either of them.  They regarded her, scrutinizing her, judging her worthiness.  Wordlessly, they exchanged a single glance.

“I think you can quit your waitressing job,” Lady Sapphire said finally.

“Does that mean, does that mean I get to become a Legend?”

“Provisionally,” Lady Sapphire said.  “You’ll still be working closely with Callie, and the other Legends.  But I think you’ll be a good fit.”

“Oh my god, thank you, thank you both so much.  You won’t regret this.”

“Welcome aboard Siren.  You’re a Legend,” Aegis said.



***present***

“HHHHHHHNNNNNGGGGG!!!!”  Anna screamed as 240 volts of electricity surged through her body from two nodes stuck to her temples.  Her naked body convulsed against the tight leather straps holding her to the padded table.

Nurse Delamonte turned off the ECT machine, and Anna relaxed, her chest heaving.  There were bite marks in the thick rubber tube as the nurse pulled it from between Anna’s teeth.  

“You are not a super heroine,” Nurse Delamonte said, her voice flat and cold.  “You have no special powers.  You’re just a normal girl.”

“Fu, fuck you!” Anna managed between labored breaths.

Nurse Delamonte nodded.  She placed the rubbed tube back in Anna’s mouth, and cranked the machine back up, once more sending electricity coursing through the helpless girl’s body.  The electroshock therapy was a more aggressive form of treatment since the stubborn girl still seemed to be resisting her treatment with drugs and isolation.

Blood dripped from Anna’s palms as her fingernails dug into her flesh as she involuntarily clenched every muscle in her body, screaming in agony.

“I will cure you of your delusion,” Nurse Delamonte said as she shut the machine off after six agonizing seconds.

I am Siren.  I am Siren.

The mantra ran through her head as she recovered from the last shock.  Her interior voice was interrupted as the machine was turned back on, shocking her once more.