The Pollyannaish-Jabez

Issue 159# "A new enemy! Standoff vs Jabez!."

{Los Angeles} 

--9:30am-- 

'Hate, power, strength, fear, confusion, lament.. it surrounds a single city, holding a singular hero.' An entity had formed up from the intangible forces surrounding this specific section, without the works of technology or quantum. Its substratum belonged to all equal sides; good and bad, its intentions could be misinterpreted via perception of other things. Its full-blown entirety became physical, its body was like a whole mixture of the half-light and darkness. 

Its feet gently prods up against the tallest building. He goes thru his memories, unveiling upon past events that occurred in a single place. "I shall.. call myself Standoff." Standoff's aura winked for a brief moment. Lacking genitalia it hadn't worried about itself, shrill screams drew his attention to face it. "Justice must be served." He atomized himself in nanoseconds, and once again appeared before the people causing the problems for the person. 

"Leave the woman, alone." He hardly touched them, their essence had been sucked up fastly into particles. "What.. have I done?" Standoff looked down to his own hands, horrified of the things he had done, he didn't intend it to happen. The woman ran away, not wanting the exact same thing to happen to her at all. "I can't be good if I've done this! I'm EVIL just like THEM!" His memories alternated and fixed on the supervillains swamped in this certain city. 

"Wonder why'd that lady run away from that alleyway." Jabez deliberately turned his head towards the woman scarcing in the distance, screaming loudly. "Might be Oriel taking care of the part aah missed, shouldn't bother with that!" Jabez shrugged his shoulders, turning his head to the opposite side. 'Jabez..' The raspy and static voice echoed in his mind, he froze his tracks for a moment. He slowly turned his head over a shoulder if there was any other present being lurking this junction, brushing it off after a few minutes of utter silence. 

He shook his head, that was oddly ominous for a moment. The supervillains heard their own names echo in their minds including, since Jabez lacked a physical brain inside, they experienced short flickering images in their minds. 

"Jabez!" The voice heard greatly far from Jabez, the albino paused himself from continuing. "That's no ghost! It's someone!" He darted towards the source of the sound, he assumed that it was a call for help. "But something's telling me aah shouldn't go down thataway for an odd reason. Someone said mah name, but.." He halted next to a light post, fingers sunk thru his albino strands. 'Jabez.. come to me. I am the thing that will save you of this unending cycle once and for all..' The voice knew exactly what Jabez's job line was as a superhero, he arose his head up hyperactively. 

"Sorry, aah don't think aah can." Jabez was about to turn to the other side, not wanting to continue about the subject. Whatever it is, it'll have to come after him, he isn't aware of what threat this one might be. He's faced many enemies during his time as a superhero, already gave him the notion that there will always be a greater force than he himself is. He chose to weasel out of it this time, he knows how powerful his enemies are usually are, so he doesn't know how powerful that one is. A few people watched oddly at what the albino did, confused why he went that way and turned around instantly.

'Aah'm not gullible to lead me into an inevitable thing like that!' Jabez hadn't noticed a figure flew overhead. A shadow creeping over him, it swooped inwards Jabez's direction. 'Izzit me, or does it feel like its geddin' closer?' Jabez wasn't about to turn his head over a shoulder, without thought or action. He inexplicably averted the clutches of Standoff with ease, heck, he did it without concerning if he was in range, just assumptions. 'It is him!' Standoff hurtled past the albino, he's sent away over high up. 

He didn't want Jabez to know of what he was, so it'd be just a blur. Except for Jabez, he was able to perceive things even at fathomless speeds. 'That's something! Whatever it is, my ken says its real dangerous! And aah caint let 'im gedaway!' Jabez looked upwards at the fleeing figure from above. 'I can't let him assume me for being a villain! I failed to make things right! I just want to look like the good guy! But all of this is messing me up so badly!' Standoff continued to fly far away from Jabez. 

"Where do YA think YOU'RE GOING?! BUSTER?" Jabez's voice was drawn to him, the hero was running along the air like solid surfaces. 'The urge to absorb everything out of him! I must resist it!' Standoff had been absorbing the intangible emotions of humans without contacting them, it's causing him temptations. 'This guy tried to assassinate me on fell swoop! Aah'll show him that won't work!' Jabez shoots an array of arteries and veins via fingertips, they stick on the entity's back and feet. 

"Stay AWAY FROM ME!" Standoff swung his back to the left side to hurl Jabez towards a water tank. 'Aah caint even get ahold of this guy! He's something else!' Jabez found himself being overpowered by this unknown attacker, he decoupled the arteries and veins so that he can smoothly land on the water tank without destroying it. He clutched on its surfaces like its nothing, he searched over to the side of the water tank. 

He lost sight of him. 'No.. aah failed to stop him! Just when aah've returned as a hero, oh well, who says failure is a reflection. Its another understanding of one's failure!' Jabez continued onwards, he needed to take care of this city. Rather than go on about whoever that was, it must've been just some otherworlder. Right? 

'Aah just need to find a way around him next time! Whoever that was, it's just perplexing to have a villain tell me to bug off.' Jabez added in his thoughts.