Date: Thursday morning - August 8, 2024

  Lady of Wrath laid down on the medical bed at Syndicate headquarters. She wasn’t hurt-not physically, by any means. The pair of Syndicate scientists examining her inspected a tablet. One of them exited the room and handed the tablet to Technomancer as he approached the window looking in. The masked sorcerer glanced at it before looking to his right. Earthshatter approached him from down the hall.

  “What the hell happened out there in the field?” Earthshatter asked.

  Technomancer turned the tablet showing images of the brain scans toward his boss.

  “According to the results of our scans, subject 2024L0W exhibited short-term memory loss consistent with amnesia. The cause has not been identified, but that brief amnesiac state caused her to forget how to control her powers,” Technomancer said clinically. Lady of Wrath sat up on the medical bed and looked over to them.

  “Your point? That amnesia shit was just a fluke. I had Omega Woman, the space diva Starfall, and that old magician on the ropes for almost that entire fight,” Lady of Wrath said derisively. She couldn’t see the eyes of Earthshatter or Technomancer through the red lenses and visor respectively of their helmets, but she knew they were glowering at her.

  “You were supposed to leave and come back here after wrecking that VALOR base. You don’t just charge in without a plan against Omega Woman herself or anyone in the Supreme Allies. The boss and I have fought Omega Woman enough times, so take it from us: such moves are reckless,” Technomancer said.

  Lady of Wrath’s eyes narrowed slightly under her mask. The thought had crossed her mind to throttle Earthshatter and Technomancer. However, she decided against pursuing that line of thought any further. Lady of Wrath presumed they had a contingency plan if she tried anything against them. Due to their own histories with Omega Woman, there was no move Lady of Wrath could make with her powers that Earthshatter and Technomancer haven’t seen before.

  “You know, you guys are right. I need field experience. The Supreme Allies have that reserve force, don’t they?” Lady of Wrath asked.

  “The Augmented Allies,” Technomancer confirmed.

  “I can go after a couple of them. Just give me a few of their names,” Lady of Wrath suggested.

  The Supreme Allies had returned to their headquarters the previous day after Lady of Wrath was extracted by Technomancer. The team began a video call with Colonel Fox. The VALOR director appeared onscreen, but he wasn’t alone. Speedfreak was standing just behind him since returning to the Sabre Bastion.

  “The VALOR base I asked your team to investigate was attacked by a clone of Omega Woman. This clone-Lady of Wrath-claimed to work for the Syndicate. She also admitted to attacking our prison transport ship when we were trying to bring Power Thief to the Shadow Citadel. Do I have all that right?” Fox asked.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “Correct, sir. Lady of Wrath is at least as strong as I am, possibly more,” Omega Woman replied.

  “Speedfreak, did you hear any whispers around the Syndicate about a project to create a clone?” Blue Angel asked, though the ex-supervillain speedster shook her head.

  “I admit I don’t remember Chase planning something like that before I broke away from the organization. Afterwards, I never heard anything through old underworld contacts either. Trust me, I wish I had a better answer for you,” Speedfreak said.

  “During the battle, something strange happened. Some form of amnesia kicked in for this clone while Omega Woman, Mister Mystic and I fought against her. She forgot who she was and what she was doing there,” Starfall interjected.

  “We’re not sure how it happened. It does present another problem when dealing with the clone, though. When she briefly lost her memory, she couldn’t control her powers. Superpowers and amnesia are a major risk,” Omega Woman said.

  “Agreed. VALOR will make it a priority to find out anything we can about Lady of Wrath. Anything we find will be relayed to your team. Thank you,” Fox said before ending the call.

  EXTRAORDINARY ENCOUNTERS RADIO BROADCAST:

  August 8, 2024

  10:00 AM

  “Welcome to the Extraordinary Encounters radio show. My name is DJ Witness, and this is the show where I give you the chance to call in and share stories of encounters with Extrahumans and other unusual situations out there,” DJ Witness said.

  “Today’s broadcast concerns the battle reported yesterday on Brightmark News between Omega Woman and some mysterious other woman over the beach of our fair city. Mister Mystic and Starfall soon joined the party about halfway through the fight after our first two contenders arrived by sky from who-knows-where. I want to hear from those of you listening, so the lines are opened up,” DJ Witness said.

  “Hello there, Witness. I won’t be stating my name if that’s okay with you. I am a nurse working for New Eden Medical. Yesterday when I was working, Mister Mystic appeared in the hospital out of nowhere to bring in half a dozen injured patients,” the female nurse stated.

  “That is troubling. Out of respect for doctor-patient confidentiality, I won’t ask for details on the patients. Did Mister Mystic say anything aside from telling you guys they needed help?” DJ Witness asked.

  “No. I don’t know all about what happened before he arrived, but I have a feeling it possibly relates to the battle between Omega Woman and whoever this new player is. That’s about all I have,” the nurse replied.

  “I appreciate calling in. Have a good rest of your day,” DJ Witness said before hanging up. He proceeded to answer the next caller.

  “Hi Witness. My name’s Tony. I live not too far from Brightmark Beach and caught part of Omega Woman’s aerial fight with that other lady. Omega Woman’s opponent picked up some heavily damaged boat-possibly that prison boat that you talked about being found there yesterday-and threw it at her like it was just a rock. After that, she somehow blew the entire thing up before charging into the smoke and fire at Omega Woman. I lost track of them after that when they flew further away,” Tony said.

  “That must have been quite a sight. I appreciate you calling in, Tony,” DJ Witness replied.

  “Thank you for having me,” Tony said before DJ Witness ended the call.

  “I will be closing the phone lines for now, but I am happy to have heard from both people who called in to this broadcast. For the rest of you out there listening, I will keep this story as up to date as possible,” DJ Witness concluded.