"Hey, system, can you see the wish board from here?" I asked her softly as Guy poured a burning orange liquid down my throat.
[I can. Apparently it's caught on since you took on Voss's wish.]
"I see." Erek still had an arm around my waist as the cure worked its way through me. I won't pretend to know what Wyatt told Guy in order to make this thing but I'll always be grateful for his mind.
My breathing was no longer labored. And my fever vanished along with the pain.
"You can let go now." I murmured softly to Erek as Guy grinned.
"Feeling all better finally? I'm so glad." He leaned in and kissed my forehead, bringing warmth to my cheeks. It reminded me of the first time he kissed me in Ernie's bar.
Testing myself just a little, I flexed my wings and hopped off the ground. Once I floated for a minute without getting sick, I felt satisfied and hopped back down.
[Easy mama.]
"I know, I know. Couldn't help myself. Anyway, I could really use a change of clothes."
[Do I look like a fashion designer?]
Guess I'm not the only one feeling better.
"Glad to have you back,System." I smiled softly, glancing down at Erek's lingering hand with a frown.
"Erek?"
He blinked his crimson eyes, once wide open and dazed, now he shook his head and ripped his hand away.
"Yeah. Figured it's best to stay a minute until you get yourself situated." His mouth was a hard line, and his brow furrowed on something I couldn't see, just below my fingertips.
I smiled at his poor attempt to hide his concern.
"Right. Hm, about those clothes though..."
I glanced around the remains of Beacon and sighed. I used to have so many pretty dresses and jackets. My closet was always stuffed with gifts from Wyatt. It got so bad I had to expand it twice.
Wait. Expand...construction.
Fuck. Duh, Sapph!
I smacked my face and dragged my hand down, cheeks darkening in embarrassment.
"What's got you redder than a tomato?" Erek asked, adjusting his mask back over his face.
"Something I should have done ages ago. System see if I have a blueprint for Beacon."
[Of course you do! Bitch that's your whole domain!]
I chuckled at her, "damn right it is. It's time I put it back in order."
Guys eyes widened and he stepped out of my way. His tail wagged like an excited puppy and his infectious grin lit up the room.
"You're gonna refurbish Beacon?"
"Ain't the sky orange?" I winked at him and flew out the building and into the sky.
Guy and Erek followed not-too close behind me. I'm happy they gave me room to breathe, even if I hated being followed with a passion.
"Vacuum!"
All that remained of Beacons swirled into my void, big pieces included. Thank God for that upgrade, I was getting sick and tired of breaking down debris by hand.
[Blueprint: Beacon Headquarters. Three hundred floors. Private helipad. Five movie theaters. Three hundred bathrooms. Ten pools , eight world class spas and five saunas. Nine golf courses. Four Armory's and four shooting ranges. Sanctuary. Ten Cafeterias and four cafes.]
[Customizations?]
Hm...I always wanted Beacon to have a better physical training room, a gym that could withstand my strength. Sanctuary was built as a digital training room that could build a hard light simulation of anything you could dream of. It worked...a little too well, I'd say.
But there's nothing like lifting jumbo jets over your head as a warm-up.
"Customizations: a durable gym with white dwarf star equipment. Add it to the 100th floor, right down the hall from my bedroom." I almost said our bedroom but Wyatt won't be joining me anytime soon.
I'm almost done feeling sad about that.
[Noted boo, but um, we might have to take a rain check on that.]
"Raincheck? What for?"
[ The Wishboard has quests lined up that conflict with Beacons old designs.]
I groaned and rubbed my temples.
"Pull up the quests,Sys."
["I wish there was a school for my children. Quest:Build a school.]
["I wish we had healthy food to eat."Quest:Build a Farm.]
["I wish I could have a safe home for my family." Quest:Build dorms or apartments for residents.]
I quickly cut her off.
"I take it there's more than that?"
[Those were just some of the easiest ones.]
"Okay." I sighed. "So I can't build Beacon unless I add these quests in?"
[Now you're gettin' it. Good girl.]
"Kiss my ass." I flicked her off, she chuckled and pulled up a blueprint of the old Beacon.
"Most of the stuff they want can all be stuffed inside of Beacon but we can't house the entire city in one building."
[A building with three hundred floors that you're willing to work with...but not the 10 underneath.]
I shook my head, mouth twisting downward.
"I don't go down there, not unless I have to. you saw what happened the last time we went."
I'm still pissed off about the note Rupert left me in his own coffin.
[It's your call babe. I just live here.]
"It doesn't sound like such a bad idea."
And yet I was still stalling.
"Sapph, angel whats up?" Guy asked, sliding his arms around my waist. Out of the corner of my eye I caught Erek gripping his arm tight enough to turn the knuckles white.
Shouldn't he have left already?
"I don't know. There's just something about the Wishboard and how everyone seems to not need me to save them anymore. Now they just need me as a construction crew."
"What's wrong with that? They still can't really function fully without you ya know? It would take ages to build anything and nothing would stay clean..."
Pursing my lips, I turned towards him, clearly pissed off.
"You'd better be joking." I growled through clenched teeth.
His eyebrows rose and he stepped back, freeing himself from me.
"I'm not. I thought it'd make you happy?"
"Being needed? Yes. Just...not like this." I lowered my gaze and focused on the task at hand, telling myself that I was still useful to everyone even if I wasn't a hero anymore.
"Refurbish."
No sooner than the words left me, a torrent of material cascaded out of my void and molded itself into Beacon. A skyscraper that reached to the heavens, wider than three football fields and covered head to toe in a special metal Wyatt made.
Just like the door that held Barbie.
If I was still a superhero, would I have found her faster?
[Three Quests complete at once!]
System carried on, revealing some rewards I'd gotten but I wasn't paying attention.
Guy smiled at me and said...something. I was too busy looking at the Wishboard. Erek mumbled something, floating closer to me.
But the only words I could hear were Barbies.
"You need only wish for it."
Would it really be so bad if I wanted to be...me again? To be the old me?
[Sapph? Sapphyra--]
I muted System.
I spat up a piece of debris and flew to City Hall before the others could stop me....or I could stop myself.
I slammed the debris into the wall and felt a weight lift off my shoulders as the words fell from my lips.
"I wish I could remember how to be a superhero again!"
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