Powers Contest Entry: Two Blocks Down

Contest Entry: ID 21320
Prysmatica
Attack: Inner Light
Defense: Prysmatic Shield
Movement: Energy Form
        The field of battle in North Onnatangu could have been a live reenactment of any number of stories her parents told her from Greek mythology. Skelanimal resembled a creature that would be well at home in the Underworld. He and Cerberus could fight over bones beside the River Styx.
        Prysmatica flew high above the five-story monster in her Energy Form, as she could transform into a being of photonic-plasma. Not the actual scientific name for her composition, but she felt it aptly described her perception of her Morphon gift. She considered calling it her Aether Form, in reference the Greek god of light. While in this form, she, like the primordial deity, had no need to eat or breath, no composition beside a glowing human-shaped blob of light.
        She was incredibly fast in this altered state. If she could see a location, she could be there in less time than it took to think of reaching her destination. Movement and observation seemed to be the extent of her ability as living light. Without vocal cords, she couldn’t speak and she had only her speed to keep her safe. She could travel through transparent objects as if they didn’t exist, but anything solid or opaque could block her.
        The top of a tall building outside of Skelanimal’s current path of rampage presented itself as a good place for which she could attack again. There before she finished her thought on how ideal the location was, she paused for an instant to observe the battle from her new vantage point before returning to human form.
        Skelanimal towered over most of the buildings. Heroes who could fly and attack attacked from above. Landbound heroes surrounded him, some firing on him from at range while others battled at his feet. Clearly, Skelanimal had little interest in most of his opposition, using his destruction in the city to give him ammunition to hurl at whatever target suited his fancy. He snatched a military transport from the road as it drove near his foot and threw it at a grouping of airborne heroes.  
        Watching as the heroes dispersed and allowed the vehicle to pass by them, Prysmatica surveyed the path ahead of the transport. She believed the arc of the vehicle would carry it into a small home two blocks past her position. On the porch of the building, she spotted several older citizens of the country of North Onnotangu huddling in fear. There was no way they would see the projectile heading their way until it was too late as it curved over the first row of taller buildings that blocked it from their sight.
        Returning to her Energy Form, she sped to the small lawn before the home. Immediately reverting, she took a deep breath and created a Prysmatic Shield to protect the citizens behind her. She knew it wouldn't be strong enough to take the full impact of the vehicle. She bolstered her intention by talking to herself. “If I can deflect it a few feet, I might be able to keep it from hitting the building.”
        Prysmatica braced her arms before her and concentrated on her shield, making it as dense as she could. Light exhibited qualities of both a wave and a particle, and she hoped she could make it solid enough to make a difference. The barrier she created took on an opaque appearance, making the air look like sheets of thin ice on a frozen lake, stacked one atop another.
  The military vehicle crashed into her Prysmatic Shield, shattering it into splices of rainbow-colored shards, but the transport didn’t pass through. Deflected from its course, it rolled on the pavement of the street until it finally stopped, laying with its wheels spinning and the driver’s side doors pinned closed.
        A thud against her shoulder brought Prysmatica’s attention to a person behind her. One of the elderly citizens had come up from the porch and set his hand on her shoulder. His face was hard and looked as if a smile rarely crossed it. He spoke words she didn’t understand, but his gestures toward the military vehicle and the house read as concerned.
        She nodded to the man. “It’s OK. The fight was going the other way, but I’ll stay to make sure you are safe.”
        A middle-aged woman with dark hair came over to them, carrying a long coat. The man waved his hands before her, emphatically trying to communicate while pointing at the garment. They both shared a worried look.
        “I’m fine, it’s not that cold.” Prysmatica caught herself speaking louder and slower as she spoke the two people before her. For all she knew, they might never have seen a woman dressed in a costume such as hers. Her clothing was an amalgam of colors: red boots, neon green leggings, purple cape, sky blue skirt, light blue top layered with a brown and gold vest. Her bright ice-blue hair likely didn’t meet the socially acceptable norm of the country either.
        A pounding came from within the overturned vehicle. Prysmatica pivoted toward the sound. The woman dropped the coat at Prysmatica’s feet as the two citizens of North Onnotangu backed away and fled into the house. A painful scream filled the air from within the transport.
        “My gods, there were people still in there when Skelanimal threw it!” Prysmatica sped over to help.
       Gas and oil leaked out from numerous broken parts of the undercarriage and mixed with a different, red liquid pooling from beneath the vehicle. The precarious angle it sat on kept her from trying to climb up to open a door.
       She pulled out her BADGE communicator. “Hello, I need—”
       A hail of gunfire pelted the door as someone within the vehicle opened fire.
       Prysmatica squatted down and covered her ears. The bullets didn’t seem to be target at her but getting struck by a random spray of gunfire wouldn’t make her day any better. After the noise stopped, Prysmatica kept low as she shuffled to the rear section of the vehicle.
      The windows were tinted black, but through a section of broken glass in the back window, she spotted a man’s body impaled on rent scrap from the vehicle in the closest seat, pierced by Skelanimal's enormous talons. Feet away from that, she saw a woman in a military uniform trapped beneath another officer’s broken form. She held a sub-machine gun in her hands and pointed it at the upturned passenger door.
        “Don’t shoot.” Prysmatica called through the opening. “I’m trying to help you.”
        The woman shifted the gun in Prysmatica’s direction. Her eyes were wide and wild, frantic with fear. She screamed again as she lined up her weapon to fire through the broken window.
        Prysmatica rushed to take cover behind the back gate of the vehicle and waited out the newest barrage of bullets behind a fresh Prysmatic Shield.
        “How can I help someone who doesn’t want to be helped?” Prysmatica asked herself. The woman would likely die without assistance, based on the wounds and blood Prysmatica observed. The Star Force hero took a deep breath once the bullets stopped flying. “I have one trick I can try.”
        Some powers were easier to use than others. Her Inner Light took time to summon to its full intensity. Hypnotic pastel patterns swirled around her body as she concentrated on soothing thoughts. The buildings making up the city block surrounding her shimmered under the projection, mirroring her hypnotically soothing lighting back to the vehicle.
        Slowly standing up, Prysmatica held her hands out non-threateningly and approached the shattered opening in the glass. “Keep calm, Romana. Keep it cool. No reds. No reds.”
        Looking through the hole, Prysmatica could see the woman still held the gun toward her, but her eyes became more and more sleepy as the muzzled lowered. After less than a minute, the woman dropped the weapon as she passed out.
        “Thank the gods.” Prysmatica let her display of Inner Light sharpen until it became a focused beam of pure white. She cut at the roof of the military vehicle until she created an opening she could use to extract the sole survivor within.
        Behind her, the sounds of battle against Skelanimal diminished as she pulled the woman out. Prysmatica used what skills she knew in first aid to staunch the bleeding. A siren flared in the distance. Looking up, Prysmatica saw flashing red lights approaching from the opposite direction of the main fight.
        “I better get out of here.” Prysmatica returned to her Energy Form. “These people haven’t ever seen people with powers try to help them before. They don’t know the difference between the good ones and the bad ones yet.”
        Flying high into the sky, Prysmatica held herself aloft until a police vehicle came into the city square and pulled up alongside the military vehicle. Not that any of the officers noticed her, Prysmatica waved at them and the elderly onlookers on the porch before rejoining the efforts against Skelanimal.