Side Story: Marta 1

Side Story: Marta 1

The fact that this was happening spoke volumes about how much things had calmed down since the initial flash. Monster sightings were dropping and more and more light-touched were stepping up as the world prepared for Hero Day. It was incredible to think that a Lurker had been outside the building just a few days ago and there weren’t even signs of battle in the courtyard. It was even more impressive that the staff hadn’t canceled the event. To some, there were things way more important than monsters.

Marta hummed merrily to herself, it was the first day off she’d had in a long, long time. In fairness she had resisted at first but Sonya had insisted that she go and enjoy herself. The disability ward turned supervillain had made it pretty clear that she wouldn’t be leaving ASTA labs for a few days and it was a good chance for Marta to get some fresh air and do what she loved. She smiled at herself in the mirror as her appearance shifted and changed.

Her hair stayed the same length but it warmed a little into a chestnut color. Her eyes turned a muted violet, close to a lavender. She slimmed down a little, her body becoming a bit smaller than her usual frame. She adjusted the red tie around her neck that rested on the white dress shirt tucked into her black shorts. She shifted a bit, the black tights a little more than she was used to wearing. It had been a long time since she’d cosplayed something like this. She stretched her arms a bit and tried to relax her shoulders, she needed to look thoughtful but unconcerned with her surroundings.

She nodded at her reflection, “Perfect.”

She let her arms fall to her sides as she walked out of the small room that Sonya had rented at the convention center for her to use for her many costumes. She’d had to come in with a different face so no one knew exactly who she was, but that didn’t really matter. The goal was to revel in it. She titled her chin up a bit and strode down the hall, passing a few empty rooms before arriving at the elevator. It opened and she swept inside, leaning against one of the rails. She swallowed and looked up at her reflection again, a pang of guilt washing through her.

Is it really okay to have this much fun? She thought.

Then the doors opened, and all those thoughts washed away. There were hundreds of people milling about the open space, dressed in colorful costumes and talking to eachother. It was noisy, music coming from all over the place. People were taking photos, laughing, dancing, some were even singing a theme song with one another. She felt her heart swell and stepped out onto the convention center floor, Where do I go first?

“Oh my god!” Someone shouted nearby and she whirled, instinct cultivated from numerous violent encounters kicking in before she spotted a trio of convention-goers hurrying up to her, their eyes sparkling. One of them, a boy half her age slid to a stop and stared at her in awe, “Holy shit that’s amazing! You look just like her!”

“C-can I take your picture?” A girl asked to his left.

“I want a selfie, please?” The third, another boy asked, holding up his phone.

She relaxed and smiled at them, keeping the expression controlled in order to stay mostly in character, “If you must,” She said and they gaped at her.

“A-are you the VA?” The young man asked.

‘Punish the heroes for their devil pact!’

‘Your debauchery will send you to the pit!’

More and more signs that railed against those looking for a small amount of happiness and fun in this dangerous world and accused the light-touched of being possessed or worse. She felt her stomach twist as she watched their disturbingly handsome plastic-looking leader step out in front of the gathering and began to lead them in a chant. Voices raised, they shouted awful things. One voice in particular caught her ear as she turned away. She froze and looked back.

There he was, standing there with a sign; ‘Freaks and Monsters don’t deserve to live on this earth! You will be damned!’

Her fists clenched.

Why did you have to ruin this for me? She croaked inwardly. Why couldn’t you have just disappeared forever that day?

Murder came to mind, but she reigned herself in. She chewed her lip, it was so easy to turn away and block it all out. But she couldn’t. She just couldn’t.

She marched towards the gathering of animals masquerading as people and stopped right in front of him. He glared at her, unable to recognize her, he only saw another one of the people at the convention come to confront him. She altered her voice back to normal, keeping her changed appearance. She looked him in the eyes.

“So this is where you ended up,” She said.

He froze, his eyes going wide.

“Marta?” He gasped in time for her to grab him by the shirt and hoist him off the ground. There was a shout nearby as he struggled to get out of her grip. She looked him in the eyes and then dropped him.

“No, you aren’t worth it,” She spat and turned away, she walked back to the gathering of other cosplayers, quietly picked up her bags, and left. I’ll come back with a new face tomorrow, I’m not letting him take this from me...