Super No More

A portal opened up high in the cloud cover over two thousand metres above the ground as a figure emerged entirely unclothed and fully conscious. She fell immediately as she adopted a head down sky-diving position.

The rush of the wind across her skin caused her no discomfort and she raised an arm above her head and clenched one hand into the shape of a fist. The action was pure reflex and instinct from the woman as she continued to shoot down from the sky.

As she neared the ground she let out a scream, of joy or pain she didn’t even know but it made her feel better at least. And if it warned her prey that she was coming then it mattered even less.

Her mind was operating on largely autopilot as a large bare patch of burned down forest rose up to meet her tightly clenched fist.

‘ARRRRRRGGGHHHH!’

A sound echoed through the vast forest. The woman had climbed out of a metres deep impact crater in the ground. The woman's face creased into an expression of raw anger and frustration as she looked down at her naked body.

Either someone had stolen her clothes, or she had appeared without them. She saw no sign of her equipment or uniform. There was no sign of embarrassment on her face as she stood up and looked at both the sky far above her head seeing that the portal which had opened and let her into this place had closed as soon as she had began dropping.

The sun shone down brightly and she gave it a good glare, holding her position for several minutes without blinking as she noticed a strangeness in the colour of both it and the sky.

There was clear discrepancies in both but she had to prioritise her immediate capture of the target subject. The main issue was that there was absolutely no sign of any equipment drop.

Usually a drone or a dropship would fly in a crate filled with equipment each time she went out on a mission. She usually didn’t need the extra gear but it usually helped and walking around naked wasn’t going to do her any favours.

When her entire mission was normally recorded and reviewed upon successful accomplishment she preferred to do it with clothes on for the sake of formality at least.

Not like anyone cares how I do it as long as the target is captured, locked down and thrown into an eternal cell for as long as their punishment dictates.

She spoke aloud. Her mission brief usually provided early on which was going to make the next part even harder if she was being recorded this time. Being nude was preferable to others seeing her lose control of her own temper.

The obvious fact that she couldn’t even remember the exact target location and details was even worse. She was beginning to realise that free falling through the sky, while not enough to actually cause any physical harm, might had had an additional effect using the portal.

The things usually had a tiny chance of actually causing any issues on bodies like her, fully enhanced genetically and adapted to survive in the toughest environments but there was rumours of side-effects.

A minor re-writing of a genetic code or even an inducement of a fugue state on the consciousness of an individual who went through unprotected.

Yeah. Standing here naked and thinking to myself isn’t helping my mood to improve. Where is my equipment gone? Was this a joke mission? Did they do this to humiliate me on purpose?

The woman knew that she had a few severe issues of her own which mainly focused on anger management. In other words her temper. She took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself down. A deep red began to sink deep into her heart despite her best efforts.

‘Calm down, just relax and...HatehatehateHATEHATEHATEIT!’

The woman lost control as she smashed her feet into the earth beneath her feet. Deep inside her mind a monotone voice rang out as instructions were delivered to her genetic structure and her body immediately responded.

Frustration and anger poured out, slowly, slowly the fire became embers and diminished into nothingness. The rage, the sheer hate which made her want to smash everything in site for hours until it diminished had been caught early on and shut down.

She finally collapsed before looking up into the deep blue skies above her reaching far above the canopy of the trees. The anger was part of who she was. She continually tried so hard to keep bottled inside and never allow it to cause harm but sometimes she just exploded.

The difference had been that back home she would have been able to enter a room that could take the punishment. Sure, it cost her a pretty good part of her paycheck but as a pure stress reliever there was nothing better than it.

When she had access to sufficiently advanced technology that could regenerate metal and stone in microseconds it was an outlet. This place was not on the same level as there, even the ground and trees couldn’t take her punishment.

‘What was the deal with this place? They drop me here with no equipment and...and I can’t even remember why I was here. No. A target. I need to find the target and stop him.’

There was no way that she should have been able to smash into the ground that easily.

‘Something’s gone wrong. I need an evac. Do you hear me? You sent me to a place that is wrong. I need an immediate evac. Control? Hello? My head is beginning to hurt. Your stupid portal went wrong. I….I can’t….I..’

The nude woman's head hurt then. Just momentary then it stopped. She had a specific mission to focus on, locate a prisoner, detain then bring him to a secure facility. She recalled that prison command had given her an assignment to deal with a rogue superhuman then…something had gone wrong. Her memory failed her.

The woman knew that she was an enforcement officer, rather than a protector.

Other superhumans had gotten involved. She had been ordered to arrest the instigator along with his partner. Then…her last memories failed her.

‘Again, what mission is this? To track down a felon?’ The nude woman asked aloud.

‘What failure?’

‘No, not again. I don’t want to start again. This time just let me progress a little bit more. I’ll get it done; I promise.’

The pain began to shoot through her head again. A virus, she remembered now. An airborne disease designed to pacify and control her actions. It had taken root inside her brain when she had been arrested.

‘NO! CONTROL! I’M GOING TO KILL YO-’

The woman attempted to scream once more before she fell to the floor unconscious and alone surrounded by a forest wilderness.