1.14 Slaughter Part 4

The punch goes upwards, connecting with the Sinister Man’s jaw from below. Unlike Leo’s, Joan’s punch actually hurts the Sinister Man, causing the parahuman to stagger backwards.

Where did she learn to punch like that?

And where did she get that much power to put behind it?

To Leo’ shock, Joan follows it up by grabbing the Sinister Man’s arm and twisting it as she kicks him in the back of the knee. The Sinister Man’s features contort in pain before he violent throws Joan away.

When did Joan learn out to fight?

Those are some good moves.

Guardian has used those moves in battle before.

Wait, did Legacy teach Joan how to fight?

Either that or Ceta is in control right now.

It could easily be both.

As Leo gets to his feet, he moves to grab at the Sinister Man, but the hostile parahuman is already trying to get away. As the Sinister Man flees from sight, Leo stops and blinks.

What is going on? Why does my body hurt so much?

We-we were in a fight?

Yes, we were.

Against whom?

A fellow parahuman?

It has to be. No normal person could beat us so.

Or mess with our memory.

I-I vaguely remember fighting a tall man in a suit.

This is troublesome.

***

Leo drops his school bag on the chair after closing the door. While not injured enough to send off to hospital, the school nurse still sent him home after looking him over.

But right now, I’m not worried about my injuries. What is worrying me is the parahuman.

Indeed, we still don’t know the full extent of the parahuman’s powers.

Even his appearance is still fuzzy to remember.

He was a tall and slim man with short black hair and very bland features.

And he still on the loose.

And once he leaves your sight, you forget about him. Even if you see him on video.

Yeah.

We can remember him.

We’re spreading out of the effects of his power between the six of us. It is only one sixth effective on us than it would be on a normal person.

Joan was able to remember the Sinister Man due to Ceta’s defences in her mind, but pretended it was due to Abby’s power affecting her. The two girls had no memory of what happened, but Leo was able to capture the Sinister Man on video. Even if they hadn’t, there was still the aftermath of the fight.

But as soon as the video ended, people would forget about the Sinister Man. Ultimately the police got their officers to describe what they were seeing so they could record their words as evidence.

Leo walks into the kitchen. While he should probably stay at home, it would be best if Gears hunted down the Sinister Man.

“Father,” says Jaylyn, her voice emitting from Leo’s phone, “The Sinister Man is heading to your house. He is almost there.”

He is coming after us?

In our own home no less.

How did he find us?

Perhaps it is one of his powers?

Maybe he just followed us.

“If it a fight he wants, then a fight I will give him,” replies Leo.

In private, I can do a lot more.

Plus we have all those gadgets you have hidden throughout the house.

We still need to be careful to not trash the place.

Now that would be hard to explain to our parents.

“Be careful Father,” says Jaylyn before the call ends.

Leo dashes up to his room where he has stored a basic set of power armour. He quickly puts it on. It doesn’t consist of much, just an exosuit and some Gardium armour plates. No extra gadgets or devices other than the helmet HUD. Nor is the power armour as strong, powerful or durable as a set of Guardsman armour.

Leo grabs a pair of molecular blades that he has hidden away beneath his bed before deciding to go and confront the Sinister Man. As he turns to exit his bedroom, Leo spots the Sinister Man down the corridor at the top of the stairs.

This-this is actually pretty scary.

If it a choice between keeping our family safe and keeping our secret identity…

We will always to our best to keep our family safe.

And that means removing this fiend from our home.

“Well, well, well,” says Leo as he strides forward, “I can’t say I expected you to follow me home, but when I found out you were coming…anyway, did you really think you could just make forget about you?”

Make myself appear more confident than I am.

Good plan.

The Sinister Man is silent as Leo draws both molecular blades. Once he is within two metres, Leo sidesteps as the Sinister Man strikes at him. Also moving inhumanly quick if slower than his foe, Leo slashes both blades at the Sinister Man.

One blade cuts the Sinister Man across the left cheek while the other nicks the side of his chest. The Sinister Man’s facial feature express surprise and he doesn’t react as Leo kicks him down the stairs.

Landing at the bottom of the stairs gracefully, the Sinister Man and Leo stare at each other for several minutes before the Sinister Man decides to leave, moving swiftly. Before Leo can stop him, the Sinister Man is already almost out of the house and Leo decides to just let him leave.

Well, that could have gone a lot worse.