Renegades Stories

Chapter 6: Nova

Nova wished she'd stayed at the apartment. She did not want to talk with people whom she'd tried to kill ten years ago. And who'd tried to kill her.

Ruby, or as Nova had known her for years, Red Assassin, was watching her suspiciously. Holding her baby tighter.

"Jackson, come sit next to me, please," she said quietly.

Jackson, the boy, toddled over to his mother and climbed on the couch.

"Your child is very mobile for being so small," said Nova, trying to break the tension.

Ruby glared at her, wrapped her free arm around Jackson's shoulders and pulled him closer to herself.

"Listen. I know you've supposedly 'changed' since last time we met. But I want to make one thing clear. Stay the fuck away from my babies."

"I wasn't planning on it!" Nova said, snapping a little. It had been a long day of dirty looks and questions and assumptions. She was tired. Really fucking tired of all of it.

Ruby opened her mouth, but didn't get to say anything, because at that moment, the glass window in front of them shattered.

Nova sprang to her feet. The lights in the house flickered off, and she heard screaming and crying, probably from the glass hitting Ruby and her children. She tried to move, but someone had wrapped their arms around her neck, choking her. She felt something cold resting on her temple. A gun.

"It's good to see you again, little nightmare. Enjoy your freedom with your new Renegade friends while it lasts, because you're not going to be on this Earth much longer," the person whispered in her ear.

Nova grunted and thrust her elbow into the person's stomach, attempting to dislodge their grip. But they were gone. It was as if they had disappeared into smoke. It all had happened in seconds.

Ruby screamed again, and Nova heard wailing.

The baby.

She tried to make her way towards the sound, but tripped over something – probably one of the many baby toys strewn across the floor – and fell.

She gasped in pain as her head hit the coffee table in front of the couch. Her vision was flickering in and out. One moment she could see the distorted figures of people hurrying into the room, the next moment, nothing.

She was so tired. It had been a long day. She just wanted rest. That was all. From her spot on the ground, she lay her head down and let her eyes flicker shut.

She was chained to a chair in an interrogation room. The five council members faced, their expressions hard and severe.

"Nightmare," Captain Chromium began. "We have some simple questions for you. Please answer them honestly."

She said nothing, just glared at them.

"What is your real name?" asked the Dread Warden.

She licked her lips, then lifted her head. "Nova. Nova Artino."

Hugh stiffened. "Artino, as in Alec Artino?"

She smirked. "The man himself."

Tsunami grabbed the Captain's arm. "She doesn't know," she murmurs.

"Know what?" she asked. "What don't I know?"

They were all silent for a moment.

"Nova," Hugh began.

"Don't call me that," she snarled.

"Fine. Nightmare, why did you join the Anarchists?"

She looked at him, her eyes blank. "Like you don't know," she retorted.

"We don't know," said the Dread Warden. "But if you told us, we would."

She glared at the council. "Fine. I was six. A man with a gun came to my apartment. He threatened my parents, and then shot them. My mom and my dad. I ran. I hid in my closet. But I had forgotten my little sister, Evie. She was asleep. She wasn't even a year old. And you know what that man did? He shot her too."

"My father told me that you would come. That you promised you would come. But you didn't. I sat in my closet for hours, and you didn't come. But guess who did come? Uncle Ace did. And then you killed him too."

Her eyes were wet with tears. She was filled with so much anger.

"You're all liars," she hissed. "You did this to me. It's your fault that I'm where I am right now."

Captain Chromium took a deep breath. "Nova, there's something you need to know. About that night."

She laughed. "I already know everything about that night, Captain."

"No, you don't. We didn't kill your family, Nova. Ace did."

The world seemed to freeze in place as everything she thought she knew crashed down around her.

"You're lying," she hissed. "Ace raised me, he's the reason I'm still alive."

"Exactly. I'm assuming that he saw your potential, what you could do. That's why he didn't kill you."

"You're lying," she repeated. "You're liars. You say you'll protect people, and then you don't. Innocent people have died because of what you don't do."

'"Nova," Captain Chromium said softly.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT," she roared, anger coursing through her. "YOU PROMISED YOU WOULD BE THERE, AND YOU WEREN'T. MY FAMILY WOULD STILL BE ALIVE IF YOU HAD JUST DONE YOUR FUCKING JOB."

"Someone was there," the Captain said, his blue eyes full of anguish.

"Oh yeah? Who? Why didn't they stop him, then?"

"Nova, let me tell you the real story of what happened that night. Will you let me tell you?"

She didn't want to listen, but her curiosity outweighed her hatred. She gave a sharp nod.

"Ten years ago, your father came to us with a confession. He told us he had been making weapons for his brother. You probably know by now that he made your uncle's helmet?"

She nodded.

"He wanted to stop Ace from his conquest for power, and asked us for protection. We agreed, but in return he had to stop making things for the Anarchists. And so he did. We had someone posted there everyday. But Ace had a plan. He sent someone to... deal with your guard."

The captain stopped for breath.

"And who was our guard? Some rookie renegade who didn't know what they were doing? Is that how much you cared?" she asked, her voice breaking.

All this was too much. Learning that her uncle, the one who had raised her and cared for her when no one else had, was the reason she didn't have her mother or father or sister was the worst part of that day.

Captain Chromium looked her straight in the eyes. "Lady Indomitable."

(thoughts? questions? concerns?)