Chapter 1: Reign
“I’m on it,” Reign said, running down an alley, her two blonde twin tails trailing in the wind. The smell of trash punched her nose. Her heart raced as she struggled to keep up. Sweat poured down her face and neck from the summer heat and the fur collar of her Viking-inspired sailor uniform.
Ahead of her, a man in a red hood, silver pants, and black boots barreled toward the street. His hood flopped in the air, revealing blond hair, a black headband, and the face of a white man. He grabbed an Indian woman and pressed a knife against her throat.
“GET BACK!” he roared from deep in his belly.
Reign came to a sudden stop, pulling out her tambourines.
“You… really don’t want to do that,” she said, trying to remain calm.
“You monkeys all look alike. Messing up this country. I can’t get a job because of affirmative action. Diversity and equality, my ass.”
“Geez, you’re racist too?”
Reign got a good look at him now. He had a thin mustache and a landing strip for a beard. His rapid breathing made him press the knife even harder against the woman’s throat. A thin line of blood trickled down her neck.
The woman started crying, tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Help me! Please, help me!”
The man shoved himself tighter against her, leaving no room between them. His lecherous smile widened as he leaned closer. And closer. He was obviously enjoying her terror.
“She can’t help you, redskin,” he sneered, pressing the knife even harder. The woman screamed, causing others to look. Some ran away, while others pulled out their phones to record.
“Especially with those tambourines. What are you gonna do? Shake that cute little butt of yours for me?”
He licked his lips.
Reign shook her tambourines, and a pair of katars extended from the bands.
The man took a cautious step backward, dragging the woman with him.
“She is Indian—from India. Not a Native American,” Reign said.
“Same difference, gorilla. That’s a neat trick, but if you come any closer…”
Reign noticed the tattoo on his forearm.
A swastika.
She smiled and began shaking the tambourines. She could feel the rhythm coursing through her body, its energy flowing through every jingle. She was summoning every image and symbol around the man to her command. She called it Image Summoning, though others called it Animate Images.
The melody sounded like Mary Had a Little Lamb.
The man raised an eyebrow.
“You can’t be serious, lady. You got those badass knives, and you’re playing Mary Had a Little Lamb?”
Reign stopped shaking the tambourines as the swastika rose from the man’s forearm. He looked down in horror. The tattoo was gone.
“What the hell are you doing? Are you a witch?”
The swastika floated around him and the woman, spinning in circles.
“If I were you,” Reign said, “I’d let her go.”
“Stop messing with me! I’ll kill her! Make it stop!”
His arm suddenly jerked away from the woman against his will. He looked down to see the hands on his watch stretching outward, prying the knife from his grip and forcing his arm aside.
Then the swastika slammed into the backs of his knees.
He cried out as it punctured his skin, collapsing onto the pavement. Grabbing the backs of his legs, he watched in disbelief as the swastika returned to his forearm and the watch hands slipped back into place.
“Well, that’s crazy,” Reign said, pressing one of her katars against his neck. “Oh, and this is a katar. Funny enough, it’s an Indian weapon. It pushes into the body really nicely. Want to see?”
“You don’t have the guts, nig—”
SLAP!
The Indian woman slapped him so hard a tear formed in his eye.
“Don’t you dare use that word,” the woman warned in her Indian accent. She turned to Reign. “Thank you, Icon!”
Reign stepped back with a smile on her face.
The man tried to stand but cried out in pain, collapsing again.
“Icon, here,” Reign said into the receiver in her ear. “Subject neutralized.”
“Like he—”
The man fell silent as two hulking superheroes appeared on either side of him.
“I must be dreaming.”
Then he passed out.
“Are you all right?” one of the heroes asked the woman.
“I… I think I will be.”
Police sirens blared as patrol cars pulled up to the scene. The two superheroes dematerialized just before the officers stepped out of their vehicles.
The police immediately secured the suspect while EMTs rushed to treat the woman.
“Thank you, Icon. You and your team.”
Reign smiled as another superhero created a glowing green platform beneath her feet, lifting her onto the roof of a nearby building.
She tapped the earpiece.
“Hey, guys, I’m logging out. Catch you after school for band practice.”
“We don’t need practice, Icon,” a suave male voice said over the comms. “But I’ll be there.”
“That’s because we carry you,” a snappy female voice shot back.
“You two need to get a room—preferably somewhere other than that dreary motel nearby,” a pompous female voice added.
“Gee, why do they have to get a room?” a ditzy female voice asked.
“Don’t worry about it, Icon. We’ll all be there,” said a charismatic male voice. “I’ll update our drops here and get dressed.”
Reign looked around the digital superhero world and smiled.
“Back to reality.”
She faded away.
Darkness surrounded her as she readjusted to the real world. She took off her VR headset and set it beside her computer. Reign stood, stretched, and looked out the window.
She sighed.
“Well… back to being normal.”
