Unbalanced: Phantom's Oct 2010 Vignette

[Dr Archeville]

October 5th

It was a good thing that she no longer needed to sleep as Phantom literally could not remember the last time she'd had any down time. At the moment she was 'meditating' which was to say, she was floating in space over the cemetery, concealed to all mortal and most supernatural senses and intangible with her eyes half closed and waiting. So much of this superhero game seemed to be waiting. The actual conflict was so sharp and so brief, but the sting... that could take hours and hours. So she sat, and floated and considered taking up sudoku. You never saw a superhero flipping through their iphone or working on a crossword but really, if someone came up with a heroic time killer, Phantom rather thought they'd make a mint.

She glanced down at the still earth below and exhaled in frustration. Air, like food and sleep, was something she'd moved past. Still, like Jack, she mimicked her mortal friends habits. The difference, of course, between her and Jack was that his heart no longer beat. Hers still did. She assumed, at least. She hadn't checked but she imagined that Jack would notice if that particular bodily function stopped.

Of course, how long had it been since they'd been... intimate?

Phantom sighed again.

She wished that he could have been here for this stake out but one place Avenger did not go was Lantern Hill. Someone, however, had to be on the lookout and it was one of the most ancient cemeteries in Freedom City. It was only a matter of time before it too was hit. While it did have its own defenders, a little extra couldn't hurt.

Really, though, how different was she from the zombies? She didn't eat, or sleep or breathe. She could sit inert in deep space for eons and remain just as animate as she was today. Certainly, she looked a lot better than the restless undead but then, so did Jack. And he was most certainly no longer among the living. Just how human could she claim to be these days? Her only ties were her family and they seemed to be slipping ever farther away, along with her forgotten mortality.

What set her apart from the shambling hordes?

A groan drew her from her self-focused musing and like some great bird, she unfurled from her hiding place and descended up on them as they rose from the grave. Teeth snapped and met only air or when she was feeling particularly malevolent, another zombie's rotting flesh. Phantom focused and power rippled outward, turning the animated into immobile rotting corpses once more.

What set her apart? Free will. Free will, and compassion. Phantom decided as she glanced around before checking her watch. Well, that and an impacted schedule. No zombie was ever so overbooked.