Conduits vs Supes : Civil War

In Danielle's point of view, her fall seemed to stretch time endlessly : her fear of pain, of dying, but also the adrenaline shooting through her veins made it seems like time had stopped. At the same time, she felt the wind rushing at her, caressing her from the back and the sides, the pull of gravity pulling her inexorably down.

She tried not to close her eyes, to aim her gaze toward the camera on the roof. The cold air stung her eyes however, making her blink and lose track of it. As she fell, she wondered when she would finally land… Or crash, in this case.

Her crashing zone had been previously blocked to all passers-by : didn't want to kill someone by accident. Still, she'd kept an eye on if someone had tried to cross her barriers. No one did. Soon, she was three stories high and the next second, she would crash…

Instead, she felt something crash into her ! But not from underneath her, from the side, as if something or someone had been sent at her, jumped at her… The bones in her body broke, rupturing her skin in some parts. Her organs burst. Her whole world became pain and the only coherent thought she last had was… That this had been a truly foolish idea !

She must have blacked out. Nobody could have withstood that kind of pain otherwise. It didn't last thought as soon, she awoke to another kind of pain : having her chest tasered.

« Ow ! Son of a Bitch ! » She yelled, sitting up as she did.

As she took stock of her surrounding, she was sitting next to her delimited zone, Cole MacGrath crouching next to her. As the bones snapped back in place, the tissues knitting themselves - painfully, she might add - the realization slowly came over her and she frowned :

« What the hell, Cole ? Why'd you… Actually what were you trying to do ? »

The lightning man, a hero and a boogeyman in equal measure for the people of Empire City, rubbed his nearly bald head abashedly. Finally, he admitted :

« I saw you standing on the edge of the roof, your arms out and falling back… I thought you were trying to kill yourself so… I tried to catch you… » He said the last sentence in a low voice, but neither she, nor her viewers missed what he said.

She snorted, chuckled and then outright laughed for maybe a second of two before the pain turned it into wheezes. She swore under her breath, sailors everywhere expressing their approval. Then, she started to stand up, struggling against the injuries in her legs bending them at an unnatural angle as they, too, worked on righting themselves.

« Wait a minute… Did you use you electricity to shock me ? »

« Ah ! Ahem… » He coughed awkwardly. « I couldn't feel your heartbeat so… Yeah, I did. » Cole admitted in the end.

« Huh… » Danielle reacted, watching as her arms seemed… stretchy. To make sure of what she was seeing, she pulled on one of her fingers, which quickly gained more length and made it stop. As she released the finger, it slowly returned to its natural shape and length.

Her expression was obviously lost in her thoughts as she asked Cole :

« So… Why did you try and kill me ? »

Cole spluttered :

« I-I wasn't ! I-I mean… I'm sorry. I was trying to save your life… » Watching her flat expression, he decided to explain why he was trying to find her : « I came to ask for your help… There's this video about me. Only it's not me ! Vought or I don't know who is lying ! They made it look like I've killed an FBI agent ! »

« FBI ? Besides the two people abandoned by the NSA, all the letter agencies fled the city for fear of the disease. People don't believe the video, do they ? » Danielle commented distractedly as she tested her current rubber physiology, wondering if it was something permanent or that would only stay for a while.

Cole shrugged and told her :

« I doubt the government will advertise the fact that they abandoned one of their cities. Besides, according to the Cole from the video, Empire City is now a sovereign nation. »

Danielle couldn't help it and burst into laughter. A few seconds later, she exclaimed between bouts of laughter :

« I'm in high school and even I know that Empire City's economy revolves around import/export. The city doesn't produce shit ! And they want to make people believe that you're moronic enough to cut us off from the rest of the world ? There's no way people will buy that… Will they ? »

Cole was silent for a while, considering her point. He told her tentatively :

« I think people will see a likeness of me beat up someone wearing an FBI jacket to death. They'll see an extremist and a murderer but they'll either don't think about the ramifications of what I proclaimed, or think myself too dumb to do so myself. »

« Hm… You've got a point. Maybe. So, why'd you come to me anyway ? »

« Your brother, Fr… »

« Huh-uh ! Nuh-huh ! No first name. Or last for that matter ! » She interrupted the Lightning man before he blurted her brother's name live. « I don't want people to know too much about me. As much as I love most of my viewers, I don't want them knocking on my door. »

« So… » She resumed. « He told you about me. Why ? »

Cole, a little lost after being cut off, took a few seconds before he remembered :

« He said you're a successful streamer yourself and that I should appear on one of your videos and explain that it wasn't me on the news… »

With a smirk and a shrug, the girl pointed at the mic on her bloodied shirt and then the car with the camera in it :

« Well, guess what, Cole ? That's what you've been doing for the past few minutes ! And it wasn't even planned ! How awesome is that ? »

Cole was left speechless for a while…

* * * * *

*Back to right before Danielle fell off the building. Viewers' point of view.*

Digi-Tale0823 : I can't watch this… Even if it's fake.

DDH-88#1fan : It. Is. Not ! DeeDee said so !

Kaitros : Listen to this fanatic… Oh, my f*cking goat !

The three point-of-views all showed the same thing from different perspectives. DDH-88 disappearing from the rooftop view, appearing in the plunging shot, with her body gradually gaining distance… Only the last one didn't show anything. At first :

VoughtBlessAmerica : Is that the f*cking terrorist ? What's his name again ?

FirstLackey1678 : Yet another Vought sheep. Or is it a Vought pawn ? @VoughtBlessAmerica : Which is it ? Are you a moron or are you on their payroll ? Anyways, I've joined the First Sons recently so I know a little bit about what's really going on. The video on the news was a big, FAT, lie !

VoughtBlessAmerica : You know what they say : takes one to know one ! You'd believe anything your terrorist leader say anyway…

The argument began just as Cole MacGrath appeared on screen, hovering in the air with his palms pointing down, just as he tried to catch Danielle before she landed/crashed. The microphone she attached to her shirt caught the distinctive sounds of her bones breaking and her flesh tearing, as well as the swearing from the Lightning Man.

FirstLackey1678 : Shows what you know… Cole MacGrath is the only unaffiliated and activated Conduit in Empire City. Everyone's gunning for him ! The First Sons most of all on the order of our shadowy leader. He's also the only one who doesn't kill anyone so… Yeah, the video's fake !

Badginator98 : Why ?

Conspiracy_nut_they_say : I knew it was fake ! The man's got lightning powers ! He's got a better way if he wants to execute someone. Much more gruesome too !

FirstLackey1678 : @Badginator98 : Why what ?

Badginator98 : Why's he the only one going it alone ? Why's everyone gunning for him ? Why'd they make a fake video ? @Conspiracy_nut_they_say : Good point !

FirstLackey1678 : Because he's one of the most powerful Conduit. He's unaffiliated because he can afford it and also… because he seems to be a goody-two-shoes. He's rescuing civilians, helping the police, getting cats down from trees for little girls… That sort of thing. They want him because of his power, too. As for the video ? I couldn't tell you. I doubt it's been shot in EC.

The conversation between Cole and Danielle started around this moment.

DDH-88#1fan : Is her body… made of rubber ? DeeDee ! What's happening to you, mah girl ?!

Glasses : According to her earlier explanation, it seems like her body's reacting to the electric shock from Cole MacGrath. Rubber's an insulator for electricity, so it's safe to conclude that her body is developing a resistance to electricity. Though that still leaves the heat problem…

Handsyman : Is what they're saying true ?

FirstLackey1678 : @Handsyman : did you mistype your name or are you a pervert ? Or do you prefer 'man of culture' ? Also, is what true ? The part about the government abandoning Empire City ? 'Cause I can tell you that yes, it is. All we have defending people in the streets are the gangs at the moment.

Glasses : Don't forget the police ! They too, are still trying to protect people… Though unfortunately, they are vastly under equipped to face Conduits. If it's the bit about the economy… It's true, as well : About 80% of Empire City's economy relies on the Import/Export industry. Closing the 'borders', declaring it a 'sovereign nation' is an epically moronic decision… Which I doubt anyone would make.

Badginator98 : So, the video they showed on the news is fake, then… Why the hell did they show it on the news without verifying its authenticity ?

Conspiracy_nut_they_say : Also, does anyone know where VoughtBlessAmerica disappeared off to ? Because I know~ ! As for why they didn't verify, it's easy to guess : they want us to believe that Cole MacGrath's a bad guy since he doesn't work for Vought ! Is it a coincidence that the news channel who got the exclusive video belongs to Vought ? Nope ! They don't want to lose their monopoly on 'heroes' now that Conduits are 'on the market'. You guys should check out VTL's website and channel !

DDH-88's channel started the controversy that day, but it soon spread far and wide. Frederic also saw an increase in viewers on his channel on the same day. Cole's so-called video, seemed to have been a double-edged sword who turned itself unto it wielder…