Title: Blackscream Tilogy, Chapter 2
Author: Mikel Midnight
Rating: PG
Genre: Angst/Tragedy/Spirital/Action/Adventure
Type: Multi-chapter
Status: Complete
Chapters: 3
Main Character(s): Blackscream
Secondary Character(s): Super Soldier, Archie Herschel
Pairing(s): None.
Spoilers: None.
Summary: Blackscream, a super villain, starts to become drawn back to the religion of her youth following the 9/11 disaster.
A/N: Please click here if you would like to see a picture of Blackscream.
Blackscream #2: Days Of Atonement
Two weeks later, she couldn't believe her luck.
Blackscream knew the jewelry store well; she had heisted it once, years ago. The wreckage looked practically undisturbed. The building was far enough from the main disaster that the shop owners and customers would probably have escaped; could the basement vault have survived?
She looked around; the streets seemed quiet. Nevertheless, despite her ability to focus it into a tight beam, she didn't want to use her sonic scream so out in the open. She located a loose brick and used it to knock out some of the glass shards from the main window, and crawled through.
She stepped carefully along the glass shards on the floor, her feet making soft crunching noises. The store hadn't been cleaned up. She reached into the emergency pack she had been carrying slung around her shoulder and pulled out her flashlight, scanning the surroundings more carefully.
She reached the first of the display cases, running the flashlight across it. Empty. She nodded, hardly surprised. Either the owners or looters would have been here long ago. Or the insurance company, she smirked to herself.
She walked around the rest of the floor, just to be sure. She used the flashlight sparingly, not wanting stray flashes to attract attention from outside. Behind the counters were the storage cases. She knelt down, opening them randomly, still empty.
She stood up and wiped the dust from her fingertips. Now, where was the door to the basement? There...off to the left, halfway down the hall. Good, good.
She felt the door gingerly, and kneeled down. A tight beam of sound was needed, focussed well enough to not bleed into the surrounding area. She concentrated on the frequencies, and let forth a sonic burst from her throat which disconnected the bolts on the doors. She tested the handle and the door opened easily.
She felt around on the inside of the door for the light switch. It didn't work, which also didn't surprise her. Using the flashlight to guide her way down the stairwell, she reached the lower offices. She couldn't resist a grin. They were immaculate.
She took a deep breath, and went to where she knew the floor safe was. She almost laughed when she saw it in the dim light; they hadn't even changed the type of lock since she had robbed them before. It only took a quick burst of sound to open the door.
She reached her hand in. Beautiful. There had to be several million dollars worth of diamonds in the safe. They sparkled in the torchlight as she ran her hands through them and laughed delightedly.
She quickly emptied the bulk of them into her rescue bag, sealing it carefully. On reflection, she released another tight beam of sound at the safe, enough to wreck it and imitate a heat burn. Let them think a mundane criminal had exploded the safe.
She almost ran up the steps, and deliberately left the door ajar. She crawled gingerly out of the window again, trying to make her face appear sober to hide her glee at her find. She barely saw the flash of blue out of the corner of her eye until it was too late. She sucked in a breath, whirling around quickly.
"L'shona tova, Mimi."
She looked up and saw a heavy-set man carrying a street sweeper's broom, and wearing a yarmulka and an ill-fitting uniform which vaguely resembled Super Soldier's. She sighed in relief. Archie Herschel was an eccentric who had started doing public works around the time of the "Reign of the Super Soldiers" debacle. He was harmless.
"Um, hello Archie. You gave me quite a shock."
The big man smiled, and strode over to her. "I haven't seen you in weeks," he said in his heavily accented voice. "I know you've been busy. Any luck down there?" He indicated the jewelry store.
He thinks I've been looking for survivors, she realised. "No...no. The basement was untouched, but it was empty."
He shook his head, "Such a sad thing." He absently swept some glass out of the center of the street into the gutter with his broom. "I'm glad I ran into you, maydala. Will you be going to shul tonight?"
She blinked at him. "Shul? No, I hadn't even thought of it. Why?"
He shook his head, "It's Yom Kippur. You should join us, you would be a fine cantor."
She winced a little, "It wouldn't feel right."
The older man looked at her and spoke tenderly, "That's so much nonsense, you've been doing good work here, girl. Der mensch iz vos er iz, ober nisht vos er iz geven."
She remembered: A man is what he is, not what he has been.
"I have to go," she said. She screamed, the sound carrying her up into the air.
Archie Herschel shielded his eyes from the sun, and watched her soar.
She landed back at the refugee center, storing her bag in a locker and getting a fresh one to renew with supplies, going back into the field to work on cleanup and rescue and delivering supplies. By the evening, she was exhausted and sore.
Evening, she thought, and switched bags again, gathering the diamonds to her side, and flew to where she suspected the temple would be.
The inside was full of light. She flew up to a lamp post and perched atop it, legs crossed, listening to the haunting song of the kol nidre as it came through an open window.
She tried to focus on the sermon, but little of it was audible. An hour passed and she felt chilled as night fell. She realised the prayer of the ashamnu had started. She wanted to fly away, but she listened, mouthing the words as she recalled them.
We have become desolate.
We have betrayed.
We have stolen.
We have been hypocritical.
We have made things wrong.
We have led others to sin.
We have sinned intentionally.
We have been violent.
We have become inured to lies.
We have given bad advice.
We have disappointed God and ourselves.
We have been contemptuous.
We have rebelled.
We have angered others.
We have turned aside.
We have been impulsive,
We have been egotistical.
We have afflicted others.
We have been stubborn.
We have been wicked.
We have been immoral.
We have erred.
We have misled others.
Her throat was thick. Her face wet with tears. She grabbed her bag of loot and flew off into the darkness.
