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It was near midnight, and the two men stared into the empty parking lot. An older man, brown hair that was thinning near his hairline and at the crown of his head, had taken up residence in the wooden chair the watchpost had. The younger man, burly with shaggy blond hair, leaned on the wall. He carved away at a piece of wood with a pocket knife.
Eli was one of the infants injected with Compound V. Jed never liked the whole thing much, but his sister had made up her mind. Vought had given the whole family jobs, and the baby got top of the line healthcare. That was enough to sell the offer to her.
Damn good football player, that kid was. Ate like a bull, and worked like one. Good for hauling deer out of the brush, too. Always willing to lend a hand where he could.
That’s all that mattered, powers or not. Jed could look at his nephew, and feel his heart swell with pride.
He was an alright kid.
The parking lot was still, eerily silent. Neither of the two men glanced towards it. Beyond it were tall pines that swayed against the wind, mountains off in the distance forming forboding shadows against the night sky. Somewhere off in the distance, a bobcat yowled. Above, clouds lazily rolled past, partially obscuring the full moon.
The start of a lazy night. One of many lazy nights, an unbroken chain that had no end in sight.
"Uncle Jed - why they even got us out here? Ain't nothin' ever happenin' - ain't nothin' ever gonna happen." That earned him a swipe on the knee.
"Eli - boy. You're askin' for trouble talkin' like that. 'Member when you did - and that out-of-towner supe had a big ol' hissy fit over the vendin' machine?" The radio crackled - staticky and scattered. The mountains tended to do that, pick up rogue waves, or something. Jed gave it a few good smacks with a fist, and it fell silent.
"Everyone gets a hankerin' for a snickers or somethin' sometimes. Can't blame 'em- but you know how some of 'em folks get when they get too much moonshine in 'em. Darn crazy."
Eli nodded with a sigh, slipping his pocketknife back into his jeans pocket. Out away from the cities, the dress code was more relaxed. Unless one of the big wigs was coming by, of course. Then it turned into a mad scramble to find lost uniforms, get everything ironed, and any repairs done in a hurry.
Nobody liked when corporate stopped by.
The radio began to spit out static again, and Jed raised his hand for another good round of percussive maintenance, though hesitated as the voice became clearer. "Aw, shoot. That's Tucker. The Stevens boy. The kid with the rabbits." He muttered, and Eli nodded, lowering the duck he had carved out.
"Jed- Eli." The radio crackled. "Y'all seein' anything out to the east? Some sorta movement out there?" An owl hooted, and Jed winced a bit. He absentmindedly knocked on the wood of the desk, scanning the parking lot. "Yung'un- come look. You got better eyes than I do." He muttered, squinting.
Eli approached the front of the guard's post, scanning over the parking lot. The sharp sound of glass breaking drew his attention to the left-hand side. "Aw, shit." He muttered, earning another swat that he barely felt. "Darn moonshine. Look-" He gestured loosely with the half made wooden duck he held.
"A woman- I think she's messin' with Johnson's truck. By gummit." Eli muttered, squinting into the night. He rolled his shoulders, stretching his arm. "C'mon, uncle Jed. Let's go 'n get 'er."
"'Lright, 'lright." Jed sighed, popping his back as he reached for the radio, drawl thickening as he tensed. "Yeah, Tanner. We see it. Woman, smashin' up cars. Me 'n Eli are fixin' ta see what she's doin'." He grabbed his flashlight, flipping it on as he and Eli stepped out of the shack, into the cold night air.
He turned the flashlight on the woman. Her head turned towards them slowly, bobbed hair hanging around her pale face. It looked stringy, either dirty or sweaty. Her attire was even stranger, a heavy looking armored motorcycle jacket, battered leather. Her pants were a similar material and style, tucked into worn out combat boots. She had a utility belt around her waist, strapped over her shoulders with various pouches, a mash mash of scavenged bits forming padding and armor on her joints.
A brightly colored toy hung from one of the clips, about palm sized and obnoxiously pink.
She stared at them, the lower half of her face covered with a bandana. A rough looking bag was slung over her shoulder, and she held a metal saw in her hand.
She took a slow step forward, left foot pausing in front of her as her head tilted to the side. A challenge, a warning. It mattered little in the end what the gesture was. They had to run her off before she did more damage.
"Don't like the look of 'er, Eli." Jed muttered, "She doesn't look like no moonshiner."
"Naw- she don't." Eli agreed, but stepped forward. ""'Ey! What're ya gettin' into out 'ere? Go on! Git!"" He waved a large hand, the muscular young man towering over the other two. He always was a big kid. V only made him bigger and stronger.
"Gawd- who're ya? Ya don't look from 'round these parts. Who're ya folks?" Jed asked, drawing her attention. Her head tilted, wide, hazel eyes focused on the Vought logo on the man's jacket.
"I'm Nobody." A Boston accent, softly spoken in a kind sounding voice. It didn't suit her.
Eli could feel his heart thudding in his chest - and nobody could hear it if she focused. Sweat beaded on his forehead despite the cool night air, glistening in the moonlight.
Nobody lunged at the older man, intercepted by Eli. The blonde man was rewarded with a punch to the jaw, which snapped his head to the left and sent him staggering. She tossed her bag aside, followed by the saw.
"Eli! Dammit!" Jed knew there was little he could do as the pair sized each other up. "Don't 'urt 'er- gonna fall fer backup." He instructed, running off towards the guard shack.
Nobody stared at Eli. The large man felt his ears pop, the air sucking from his lungs. Then pain exploded on the side of his head, sending him staggering sideways. His head turned, looking for what had hit him, finding nothing.
"'Ey! This is a Vought lab, miss!" Eli called out. This woman, Nobody, had to be a supe, if she could hit him from that far away. "Uncle Eli! She's a supe!"
That distraction proved a mistake. Nobody lunged, swinging a hard hit for the bigger man's jaw. His head jerked to the right, and his body followed. A second hit landed on his stomach. He doubled over with a grunt.
Eli straightened up, wiping his chin. To hell with not hurting this bitch. He surged forward, catching a handful of hair. His knuckles rapidly turned red, even though he held back. Her head jerked with each hit landed, a new cry leaving her. It was like music to his ears deep down.
The hold didn't last long. Nobody reached an arm up, twisting to his left. She slammed a knee up into his side, before jerking backward. The woman paused as she accessed her newly crooked nose, spitting blood and tooth fragments already.
“Fucking bastard.”
Something unseen slammed into the back of his knees. He staggered forward, heart racing in his ears. Nobody surged forward, delivering a punishing blow to his stomach that knocked the wind from his lungs. She followed it up with another strike to his jaw. Her knuckles stamped bloody imprints on him. The taste of pennies filled his mouth again.
This wasn’t like the high school fights he had been in. This was far from the lazy punches he could throw, halfhearted shoves and throws that left behind devastation. Blood dribbled from his chin. He did the hitting. He didn’t get hit. He was so much bigger and stronger than anyone in town, even as a teenager. But this stranger… This out of towner. She was a new breed.
His hand reached out, grunting as he felt his ribs cry out in resistance.
He took another hit to the side of his head. The ground pitched and rolled under him, like when he had been taken out on Uncle David’s boat. He heard Uncle Jed yelling into the radio, screaming for backup. The massive man’s fist clenched, spitting blood.
His blurring vision focused on Nobody. She bore broken teeth at him in a sneer, bruises covering her bloody face. She hesitated. He caught her arm.
It was easy to send her slamming into the side of Johnson’s truck, hard enough two of the wheels lifted off the ground. She fell to the ground in a heap, and Eli relaxed. She had to be dead after that- that was enough to kill a normal person instantly. The red rusty metal was bent in the rough shape of her back. His windows were shattered.
Johnson would be furious.
Slowly, Nobody began to rise from the asphalt, wheezing and coughing up bright red blood.
“What kinda devil are ya?” Eli spoke slowly as she raised her bloody fists again, moving towards him before stopping. Her head tilted, and he felt the air sucked from his lungs.
Slowly he sank to his knees, grabbing at his throat futilely. He realized finally what her power was. She controlled the air around them. His vision swam with stars. He could hear his uncle screaming his name. It sounded miles away now, maybe his uncle would be safe miles away.
The world went dark and silent.
Nobody was gone by the time the security team arrived. Eli was being tended to by the medical staff, while Uncle Jed was questioned separately. They had the same story- a black haired woman in dark gear coming to steal car parts, becoming violent when stopped.
Their faces had darkened when he said what she called herself, Nobody. A supervillain who had been causing trouble up and down the East Coast- she had never been this far west before. A concerning development to say the least.
Four catalytic converters had been sawed off, and it was doubtful they’d be recovered. A few blood and hair samples had been collected, courtesy of the beatdown delivered by Eli.
The tall youth stared blankly ahead as a cut on his lip was cleaned and bandaged. He had heard of super villains before- everyone had. But what the hell was one doing out here, this far from the major cities? Uncle Jed patted his shoulder gently, the skinny, pot bellied man nodding in approval.
“Y’did well, kid. Fought like the’ bes’ of ‘em.”
It was barely a consolation prize.
The catalytic converters earned Jane, also known as Nobody, a hundred dollars each. Each rattle and roll of the train car sent a wave of pain through her aching body. Her teeth were always first to heal, sealing the raw edges and regrowing at a surprising rate. She took a long drink of the carton of milk- purchased legitimately for once.
The boxcar whizzed past trees, rumbling like a massive beast as it rattled down the tracks. Destination, who knows where. A cold wind blew over her, soothing her aching muscles somewhat.
She didn’t want her body finding calcium in other places, wearing holes into her skeleton. The battered woman ran her hand over the toy clipped to her chest, enjoying the soft fabric on her calloused hands.
The woman winced as she pushed herself up, limping towards where the other vagabonds in the car were. “Evening. Do you mind if I join you?” The wounded woman asked, wondering if they had noticed how her injuries were already beginning to seal up, bruises fading to paler shades of purple.
They didn’t, or didn’t care, waving her over. “You can call me Jane."