Until We Break Read Free Page B

“For once, can’t you just say, ‘Congratulations’?”
     
    Jaysin held up his half-empty bottle of beer which had been sitting on the coffee table in front of them. “I’ll do you one better. To Ev Bannen and Maya Brünhart. May they live happily ever after.”
     
    “Thank you.”
     
    Jaysin decided to change the subject. “So, did you stop any crimes tonight?”
     
    “Hell yeah, I did. I saved a woman and her daughter from being turned into sex slaves. Actually, I’m not really sure what was going to happen, but it would have been bad.”
     
    “Way to go. So far, you’re doing a bang-up job as the new god of justice. Better hope the profs don’t find out about it, though.”
     
    “You sound just like Maya. How could they possibly find out?”
     
    Something on the TV caught their attention. Jaysin hit the volume. A news anchor was onscreen. “Breaking news tonight in Seraphim City.” Judging by her accent, she was clearly Morovian. The Academy TVs could pick up broadcasts from anywhere on Narska. “A mysterious super-powered vigilante has been swooping around the city stopping crimes.”
     
    Uh-oh.
     
    The broadcast cut to a scene with a woman talking into a mic in front of an apartment complex. Although he hadn’t gotten a good look at her before, and although her face was now blurred, he recognized the place as Marli Drezowicz’s. “These men were threatening me, and in comes this man—I think he was pretty young based on his voice—and they shot him, but the bullets didn’t do a thing! He took them out without any effort. Those men were threatening to do horrible things to us. He’s an honest-to-Bethos superhero!”
     
    From off-screen, someone asked her, “Did he tell you his name?”
     
    “Yes. He called himself Ev Banner, the god of justice.”
     
    Jaysin shook his head. “What?” Ev said. “There are probably a hundred people in Seraphim City named Ev Banner. Be glad she didn’t get my name right.”
     
    “And you think one letter’s difference is gonna keep people from finding out about you, mate?”
     
    There was awkward silence for a second. “Possibly.”
     
    The anchorwoman continued, “But the mysterious super-powered vigilante didn’t stop there. He later made a dramatic entrance at a popular restaurant which was hosting a late-night eating contest.” They cut to a middle-class establishment where two morbidly obese men stuffed their faces with bacon cheeseburgers while a crowd of onlookers cheered. Suddenly, a figure came crashing through the ceiling, breaking parts of the floor as he landed between their tables before pointing an accusing finger at each. “How dare you! People are starving in this city, but you insist on wasting precious food while turning a blind eye to their plight!”
     
    “Love the commitment to the role,” Jaysin said.
     
    “Shut up.”
     
    Meanwhile, the onscreen Ev took things to the next level by swiping the large trays of burgers and flying off through the hole he had just made. The anchorwoman’s voice again narrated, “The vigilante then made his way to the poorest neighborhoods in the city and distributed the pilfered food.” The new scene showed Ev handing out burgers to shocked homeless people stationed around burning drums.
     
    “‘Pilfered’,” Ev scoffed. “They make it sound like a crime.”
     
    Jaysin had to point out, “Technically, it was.”
     
    “What those fat-asses were doing was the real crime. I did what nobody had the balls to do. Besides, it was hard flying while holding onto all those burgers.”
     
    The anchorwoman was somewhat less sympathetic. “The owner of the restaurant is demanding city authorities crack down on super-powered vigilantes and reimburse him for the damages inflicted tonight. The governor has yet to comment on the situation. For News 8 in Seraphim City, I’m Ali Sandols.”
     
    Jaysin turned off the TV. “You’ve really done it now.”
     
    “Relax. I wore a mask. No