P A S T - P A R T O F T H E W O R L D A T W A R S T O R Y
P O R T S M O U T H E N G L A N D
August 24th, 1940 - 11:39PM | A Small Pub in Portsmouth
Jay sat in a quiet bar, the room full of smoke and old men sitting drinking beer. Some of them had initially been wary of the American that sat in their midst, a winged helmet sitting on the bar in front of him and wearing a red shirt with a lightning bolt on the front in contrast to his blue 'trousers' as they called them. He sat sipping a pint of beer, not that the alcohol had much of an effect on him ever since the accident though it did have a nice psychodelic effect in calming his nerves. He tended to stay in these towns in the south of England, technically he could easily run home though it was a long and tiring journey so he tried to do so sparingly. Joan understood what he was trying to do, and while France had surrendered two months prior there was still a lot of death and killing going on. A lot of work for the
fastest man alive to do.
That said he had been hearing rumours of late, of other powered individuals acting out against the invading forces. He hadn't met any of them yet but then maybe that was a blessing, he feared the day that they had to be in one place together. As that would indicate facing a foe far stronger than anything he had faced to date so far. Just when he considered retiring from the night he heared the droning sound of an air raid siren. After the French had signed the treaty the Nazi strategists had turned to bombing the United Kingdom, he had first noticed it when running across the channel and saw the Luftwaffe bombing a supply convoy heading out of the country. That was just the start, since then he had a hard time dividing his attention.
Every life saved was a treasure, and each lost was a vacuum that would never be filled. He couldn't be in two places at once and the hardest part of what he was doing was deciding what lives had to be saved. As people ran out of the pub, no doubt to head to their shelters. Jay just looked up to the bartender, placing a handful of coins on the counter. "Keep the change, gotta run." With that he picked up his helmet, spinning it between his two hands before placing it on top of his head. Standing up he felt the power surge through him, as he ran out of the door, taking a sharp turn he headed towards the harbour where he could look out towards the ocean. The cloud cover was heavy, but he could faintly see the planes as they moved from one cloud to another.
Then he heard it, the faint whistling sound.
The bombs were dropping. Now, evacuating an entirely populated town was simply out of the question, and he had no way to take down the planes so that left him one option. Running to the nearest house he passed from room to room.
Empty. With little hesitation he ran out, and straight into the next.
Empty. He kept repeating, the high pitched whistle of the bombs getting louder and louder, by this point the searchlights had been turned skyward in a bid to try and spot the planes for the anti-aircraft batteries. Of course to everyone else these were quick actions. To him they were slow. As he approached another building he came across a family hiding under a table, likely one of the families who couldn't afford or were yet to build a shelter. He made several stops, carrying them all to the edge of town. In minutes, which to him seemed like hours, the first bomb struck. Decimating a street as the explosive tore a hole in the ground sending debris flying.
That's when he noticed something odd on his second pass through the town someone running towards a building, he could see the bomb falling towards the roof. No-one would go back with a bomb so close. Not unless there was someone inside the building. He took off, his limbs feeling electric as every part of him moved in sync. Entering the house he tore through the bottom floor, his wake pulling lighter items in the room out of their place. Next he turned his attention upstairs where he found a mother and her three children huddled together in the corner of a bedroom. Swearing to himself he ran over and pulled one of the children into his arms, running the child out of the house and down to the end of the street outside the blast radius. Running back he looked up as the explosive neared the roof. Pushing himself on harder, he tore into the building. Grabbed a second child. Turned, and literally had to fight against the drag he had created to keep his speed up towards the end of the street. Barely stopping he dropped off the second child, then the third. As he ran into the building for the mother the explosive made contact with the roof.
The combination of substances in the bomb gave him a split second, which was all he needed. Grabbing her he picked her up and ran down the street dropping her off with her children.
Stopping, there was a look of confusion upon all their faces and only the mother spoke out. "What the..?" Then her face turned to horror as she looked up the street at the bomb impacting their house. Her husband standing outside. Her voice burned itself into his very brain "Walte
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" The last letter of the name seemingly dragging on, as Jay figured out what was going on. He turned as he ran down the street towards him, the explosion had already went off. Scattering pieces of house outwards, while being followed by a raging inferno. Lightning flew out behind him as he raced down the street, he was going to make it. He just had a little bit further to-
Then he noticed the shards of glass. They said that you were lucky if the explosion killed you, as it was quick. Near painless so long as you were caught in the middle of the blast. He reached out with his hand, though it was too late. He grabbed the man by the soulder, and twisted his own body around to shield the man. He felt the impact on his back from the heat, to the debris. Stifling the urge to scream, his wounds would heal after all. He turned his attention to the man in his arms and his heart stopped. Blood covered the mans face, centred on his left eye where the glass had impacted before shattering even further.
He just knelt there for a moment, he couldn't see it himself but the lightning coursed through him as his anger boiled and became concentrated. He sparked slightly, lowering the mans body to the ground he took off.
This time he had been too slow.
Never again.
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