As-yet unnamed really dark Superhero Story!
03-12-2014, 09:42 AM
(A little taste of the story I have in the works. This is just a short prologue of something that happens a dozen years before the story itself actually starts, but both Viktor Kaine and Anna Anderson do appear in the main story... you can guess what role they play. Critiques are welcome and very helpful, though this is a very very rough draft.)
Nineteen years ago he'd hidden under a bed in terror as his older brother ripped the house apart with nothing more than his mind. Now Viktor Kaine watched an entire world burn at his command. That single traumatic incident had scarred him, torn his mother and his brother from him and driven his father to drugs. It had set him on path here. It was both cause, and goal.
Pale eyes studied the wall of television sets before him. Some played footage of a press conference set earlier that morning; his own face stared confidently back out at him, speaking words of terrorism and anarchy. Some played scenes of horrific violence currently taking place all over the globe. The sound was off but he didn't need it to know the reporters spoke in a multitude of languages, all proclaiming the same thing: the world was descending into chaos. Children disappearing from hospitals and homes around the world, looting, murder and mayhem. A chaos that he had created, that he directed, and that would serve his purposes quite nicely.
A throaty chuckle echoed through the otherwise silent room. Viktor sprawled back in his chair, the thumb of his right hand drawing absent-minded circles on the armrest. Everything was going according to plan... and the young man laughed again at the classic villain's turn-of-phrase. Yes, no doubt he was the villain now in the eyes of the world. The monster who had shredded the very fabric of society. Quite the change from the charming young genius who had made billions on weapons' contracts and spent much of it on medical research and charities. He'd been America's golden boy then. From poor Russian boy to millionaire nearly overnight, proof positive that the American dream was still reality. Idiots. He would embrace his new identity; the ridiculousness tickled his whimsical side.
His gaze traveled to the only other occupant in the room, curled up on the couch against the far wall. Her face was pale as she watched the screens, but composed. She was a far cry from the timid, terrified child who had appeared at his home in the middle of the night two years prior, all of sixteen years old and desperate for help controlling the powers that were destroying her life. If she was bothered, now, by the scenes of violence and death playing out on the television, destruction she was the catalyst for, she showed none of it. The smile that crossed his face at the sight of her, the pride, held none of the false warmth he'd warn like a mask for years now. She must have sensed his regard, for the young woman turned her delicate face to him and returned his study. Viktor's smile widened; no, she was nothing like the girl she'd been.
"It's happening just as you said it would, Mr. Kaine," she said, her voice still girlishly high despite the core of steel he could hear beneath. "The governments dare not retaliate against you with the world's nuclear weapons at your disposal."
"Mm, yes," Viktor agreed. It was not so simple as that, having much more to do with the sociopolitical state of the world and the so-convenient ability to use the Internet to manipulate the masses, but she was still young. Still learning. She was intelligent - not at his level, very few people were, but very intelligent nonetheless - but she was a decade younger than he and had not had the years of learning, of planning that he had. She had only gained access to a higher level education when he had begun to pay for her schooling two years ago, and still more recently had she become privy to his plans. Her mind worked with an incredible precision and organization; the rest would come later. He spun his chair to face her now, steepling his fingers in front of his face. "We are ready to begin the next phase, my dear."
The girl's face paled further, but her chin came up with staunch determination. She had accepted the need - more, she had embraced it - but the pain that would come would be no less terrifying. "When?"
Viktor's eyes creased in a self-satisfied smile. "No need to worry, Miss Anderson. The mobilization has already begun."
Nineteen years ago he'd hidden under a bed in terror as his older brother ripped the house apart with nothing more than his mind. Now Viktor Kaine watched an entire world burn at his command. That single traumatic incident had scarred him, torn his mother and his brother from him and driven his father to drugs. It had set him on path here. It was both cause, and goal.
Pale eyes studied the wall of television sets before him. Some played footage of a press conference set earlier that morning; his own face stared confidently back out at him, speaking words of terrorism and anarchy. Some played scenes of horrific violence currently taking place all over the globe. The sound was off but he didn't need it to know the reporters spoke in a multitude of languages, all proclaiming the same thing: the world was descending into chaos. Children disappearing from hospitals and homes around the world, looting, murder and mayhem. A chaos that he had created, that he directed, and that would serve his purposes quite nicely.
A throaty chuckle echoed through the otherwise silent room. Viktor sprawled back in his chair, the thumb of his right hand drawing absent-minded circles on the armrest. Everything was going according to plan... and the young man laughed again at the classic villain's turn-of-phrase. Yes, no doubt he was the villain now in the eyes of the world. The monster who had shredded the very fabric of society. Quite the change from the charming young genius who had made billions on weapons' contracts and spent much of it on medical research and charities. He'd been America's golden boy then. From poor Russian boy to millionaire nearly overnight, proof positive that the American dream was still reality. Idiots. He would embrace his new identity; the ridiculousness tickled his whimsical side.
His gaze traveled to the only other occupant in the room, curled up on the couch against the far wall. Her face was pale as she watched the screens, but composed. She was a far cry from the timid, terrified child who had appeared at his home in the middle of the night two years prior, all of sixteen years old and desperate for help controlling the powers that were destroying her life. If she was bothered, now, by the scenes of violence and death playing out on the television, destruction she was the catalyst for, she showed none of it. The smile that crossed his face at the sight of her, the pride, held none of the false warmth he'd warn like a mask for years now. She must have sensed his regard, for the young woman turned her delicate face to him and returned his study. Viktor's smile widened; no, she was nothing like the girl she'd been.
"It's happening just as you said it would, Mr. Kaine," she said, her voice still girlishly high despite the core of steel he could hear beneath. "The governments dare not retaliate against you with the world's nuclear weapons at your disposal."
"Mm, yes," Viktor agreed. It was not so simple as that, having much more to do with the sociopolitical state of the world and the so-convenient ability to use the Internet to manipulate the masses, but she was still young. Still learning. She was intelligent - not at his level, very few people were, but very intelligent nonetheless - but she was a decade younger than he and had not had the years of learning, of planning that he had. She had only gained access to a higher level education when he had begun to pay for her schooling two years ago, and still more recently had she become privy to his plans. Her mind worked with an incredible precision and organization; the rest would come later. He spun his chair to face her now, steepling his fingers in front of his face. "We are ready to begin the next phase, my dear."
The girl's face paled further, but her chin came up with staunch determination. She had accepted the need - more, she had embraced it - but the pain that would come would be no less terrifying. "When?"
Viktor's eyes creased in a self-satisfied smile. "No need to worry, Miss Anderson. The mobilization has already begun."