All in a day's work!

The time after work was a depressing part of Dawn’s day. On one hand work and her college things were already over by the time she left work, on the other there was still all the preparation for next day’s lectures that needed to be done since Dawn was rushing straight to Steel Industries right after college now that she had the job. Working at Steel Industries was something Dawn could never have expected it to be, she was one of the top students in her course and yet she barely managed to keep relevant, only the most intelligent and genius people worked there. Even more so engineering was a branch that had some of the most genius people Dawn had ever seen. She herself was much more of a hard-worker then a genius or a prodigy so she had to try her best to stay relevant in her work.

Then again most of Dawn’s groundbreaking work came not from her intelligence but from her experience, she had seen the technology of the conqueror who ravaged her home dimension first hand and now had the knowledge to understand how it worked and people to bounce ideas off of. The people Dawn worked with where all geniuses and very intelligent people, the only reason that Dawn managed to keep up with their work was her memories of the conqueror’s technology, most of the inventions proved to be groundbreaking for the engineers and they commonly praised the young woman for clever ideas. She was throwing ideas out of the blue like believable concepts for cybernetic skeletons and interdimensional transportation device just because she saw them in action during the siege of Domus dimension. Still these projects would take several weeks to be completed and probably even more time would pass before they enter testing period. And yet any single one of them would push Steel Industries even higher on the breakthroughs in science category.

Another interesting concept that Dawn was supplying that helped her keep her job was anti-matter batteries. Anti-matter was incredibly rare and powerful source of energy which was stupendously hard to contain but its costs estimated in billions per piece. Very few scientists ever managed to make at least one working anti-matter battery and Dawn was pumping them by hundreds, the company could’ve been sustained for some time only by selling the batteries on the market but the woman didn’t know nor care how were the batteries used, all it took to make one was a concept of another ingenious engineer on how to contain it and for Dawn to fill it up with the Domus dimension energy which she could easily project. It was powerful, luxurious and dirt cheap to make. That was the golden egg that helped the woman to not only keep her job but get somewhat of a reputation of a prodigy in anti-matter.

Seeing how her work at Steel Industries was going well and how it’d not be long before Dawn would deliver on what she’s promised to Vergil, the CEO of the company and will have untied hands to travel back home. With such thoughts Dawn noticed the fire trucks standing near a building which was completely ablaze. The woman ran off in a corner and sat down in a meditating position, concentrating hard on her destination. Purple light burst out of the woman’s eyes and powerful dark purple lights started shooting out of the alleyway the woman hid in. Nobody should’ve really noticed the anomalies that were going on – the huge fire emitted enough light into the night’s sky to distract any watchers.

The teleportation always brought some Domus energy into the place she ported in making it react with the matter and combust, it wasn’t dangerous and usually went out as both matters were incinerated, usually it resulted in black burn marks on the pavement or a small round patch of dirt where once was patches of grass.

The woman teleported back to Domus, both time and space worked differently, there were no laws of physics in this dimension – magic was its only constant laws. Magical spirits were the only animals, many of them killed in the rampage of the dimensional conqueror causing immense havoc in the dimension, the magical core got imbalanced and emitted a magical blast which blew the continents into the air, there was no Earth anymore in Domus, just its magical core and the land masses with some remaining buildings floating, had it not been for the magical protections and shields all around the buildings and towns the misbehaviors of Domus’ Earth’s magical core would eradicate even those continents of rock that are afloat. Domus was now a desolate and harsh place to be in but it was Dawn’s home after all.

The woman ran around the ruined house that was once a sophisticated manor. Finally the woman found a chest and opened it magically removing her own clothes in an instant and putting on her superhero uniform. She was now no longer Dawn Smith but Hospe – guide and hero to the Earth’s people, a visitor from a ravaged dimension desperate to fit in, a sage of Earth’s ways, reminding them to misguided people when she could. She was what was called a hero on Earth, something that her own dimension did not have, maybe if it had some things would’ve been much different…

Teleporting from Domus back to New York was quite a lot easier, Hospe didn’t really know why it was so, maybe the present magical forces in Domus enchanted her abilities, maybe she was just much more powerful in Domus… Not that it mattered, there was no one to fight in Domus – it was a ravaged wasteland. And yet still even as it was only a shadow of its former grace it somehow still had its charm. It was certainly no Eden but it had this mystical charm to it with magical spirits disguised as various animals each more beastly, noble and beautiful then the other. Since Domus’s atmosphere was non-existing with the magical core supplying all the conditions for life before the space was visible in its entirety – planets occasionally floated by. Hospe sometimes wondered if there were any sentient species in them, perhaps looking at her similarly to how she was looking at them from her own wreckage of a planet.

With a flash of dark purple magic Hospe disappeared, Domus was once again lifeless. Up until Hospe returned in the late night to change back it would remain to be so. Then Dawn would leave until Hospe is needed, the dimension would be empty for God knows how long. Only mindless spirits acting purely on their instincts and blind characteristics and personalities that they had to interact with one another. They were eternal, they were much more sacred and Hospe could never consider herself to be on their level of existence. These spirit animals that roamed the ruins of Domus’ Earth were forces of nature, kind of what people in Earth dimension call “Gods”. Except in Domus Gods live among men and women… Used to at least, now the Gods of Domus just roam their domain as they have no living beings to rule over or to be worshiped by. Despite Hospe’s blind devotion and love for her home, Domus was a cold and lifeless rock. It couldn’t have been a much different feeling than being alone in space.

Hospe appeared out of thin air in the same alleyway she was in before causing more instability and matter and Domus’ anti-matter interaction. The superhero quickly stood up and ran towards the fire to see if there was anything she could do to help. She was a guest in this dimension, these people may not have been nice to her or treated her like their own but they at least did not kick her out, they gave her a home to call her own. It was in the end Hospe’s own decision to leave Earth dimension after being done with Steel Industries. As a good and grateful guest Hospe had to do whatever she could to help…

Hospe rushed to the brigades of fire men standing near the building, spraying water from some strange devices, in Domus such tasks were accomplished by elementalist spellcasters. Then again both ways accomplished same goals so what difference did it make in the end? “Check this out!” one firefighter shouted pointing at Hospe, “Keep clear lady, let’s just wait till more brigades get their asses here.” Hospe came closer to the man that was speaking to her, he did not appear to be doing any work but commanding the other firefighters, “I can help, are there people inside?” the woman asked, “Look, lady, you don’t answer to nobody, you muck this up I’ll have buckets of shit over my head. Just walk away, go beat up some muggers or whatever you people do.” For some reason the firefighter distrusted Hospe, could’ve been because he hasn’t seen her face on TV, maybe because he felt that Hospe was just… Different.

“You did not answer my question, fighter of fires, are there any people still inside?” Hospe repeated, it seemed that this man was so focused on his dislike for heroes that he didn’t even manage to keep up a conversation with her. “Probably… We’re just spraying water till another brigade arrives, our last daredevil got injured and we had to pull him out, listen, lady, you want to do something good? You want to help? Don’t interfere.” He yelled out. Without listening for him Hospe stepped forward and listened for any noises, she then walked up to the door to the building and pushed it forward gently with her telekinesis spell, the door gave in and went down. The fire was rather weak in the lower floors for some reason, it probably originated higher above. Fires were not Hospe’s specialty or her strong suit, at this point she was just doing what she could do to help seeing how the Earth’s professionals stood still doing nothing.

Hospe wasn’t afraid to lose her life, what did it matter when she’d be retreating into Domus soon enough for a solitary existence surrounded by only the mystical spirits and aliens she wasn’t even sure existed in the first place. “If I used my Domus energy manipulation I could make fire cease but it could also damage the building, my control may not be precise enough to project enough for just the fire.” Hospe tried to think up of a plan of action, she did not use the stairs, the woman chose to simple levitate into the second floor. “INHABITANT! IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, PLEASE SAY SOMETHING, I NEED TO KNOW WHERE YOU ARE!” Hospe shouted out, immediately two voices came, one from the fifth floor, one woman was cornered by rubble and walls of flame.

Hospe elevated herself onto the third floor through the corridor and blasted a powerful Domus blast the anti-matter not only took out fire but also destroyed any rubble, not much precision was needed, the heroine just needed to enter the apartment. Fire burst out of the apartment after the door was blown out, with a wave of her hand more anti-matter based energy greeted it temporarily cleaning the path and letting Hospe to enter the apartment. “EARTH-DIMENSION WOMAN, PLEASE SAY SOMETHING SO I CAN FIND YOU!” Hospe shouted out, a weak voice came from the bathroom. Another blast of energy cleared the fire and bunch of debris, while the anti-matter took out the fire that was there it did not prevent it from re-igniting, Hospe had to be quick, she did not risk to try and blast the door to the bathroom, if the woman was right besides it she’d be incinerated by anti-matter blast as well.

After a kick the burnt door gave in and went down, Hospe used the telepathy to lift the woman in the air and move her out, she needed her hands to be free to blast any fire or rubble blocking the way. “Please do not struggle, Earth female, you are just about the limit I can lift with my magic. If you struggle too much I may drop you by accident.” Hospe said to the woman, it wasn’t entirely true but the woman struggling would’ve made things a lot harder. Carrying the woman down with her as Hospe flew down was much harder than flying alone, and yet much more satisfying, statistically she was now a positive force in this dimension, this woman may have died by the time this “another brigade” arrived. Hospe came out of the blazing exit after blasting the fire source and carried the woman to the firefighter squad without moving too far from the house. “Keep shooting water, fighters of fire, your efforts are moderately successful!” Hospe shouted and ran in front of the house. She could only hear a silent curse from the leader of the firefighter squad, “You heard the alien lady, keep going!”

“Do I certainly sound like an alien? I do not believe I speak like them, I’ve seen much movies of those aliens, I sound nothing like them…” Hospe wondered to herself she levitated into the air avoiding the streams of water yet still getting wet from the splashes off the stream. It didn’t matter, it’d be dried off by the heat. “Another Earth inhabitant was in the fifth floor, most successful approach would be from outside the house.” Hospe thought and flew up to the fifth floor, it was just about the limit of how much her levitation could take her, she was already using her telekinetic magic to lift herself even higher than her flight allowed her. With a weak blast she opened a hole in the wall and let some fire out, another energy projection cleaned the fire enough for her to get in and drag the unconscious man to the hole. “I won’t manage to get us down, it’s just slightly out of range for both my telekinesis and my flight… If I try to just levitate it won’t work, he’s too heavy…” Hospe thought but luckily the firefighters got a landing pad set below. “Here it goes…” Hospe thought to herself as she lifted the unconscious man in the air with her magic and moved him down as far as it let her, then positioned him above the pad and let him go.

The firefighters showed Hospe thumbs up signaling her to move down. Then the woman heard a whistling noise, something behind her exploded and tossed right outside the hole. It was pure luck that Hospe managed to keep conscious and stop her fall with her flight just a couple of instances before slamming into the ground. “Holy shit, no one was filming that?” Hospe heard some shouts, “This’d score me some views on Youtube I bet…” the heroine landed on the ground holding her head and trying to get over the shockwave. She felt the firefighters trying to lay her down on some wheeled thing she hasn’t seen before but she pushed them away. “I feel… Magic. There’s someone still inside there, someone with magical potential…” Hospe thought to herself as she ran her magic scanning spell over the building. Surely enough there was a weak magical feedback from a room in one of the apartments. “Unhand me fighters of fire, I will need to get back there, there is someone still inside.” The firefighters were confused, some tried to stop her and some looked at their leading officer who just shrugged, “I ain’t gonna stop her, didn't you see how she blasted that wall?”

Hospe ran into the building shooting blasts and silencing potentially dangerous sources left and right, this was no more a time for being careful, she could feel the magical source pulsing as if it was in danger or in great emotional distress. The steps the woman was running on collapsed, luckily Hospe managed to start levitating in time. Following her feeling of magical essence she lifted herself up to the fourth floor and blasted at the door, silencing any dangerous fire sources she ran into a room following her magical sense. The sight that greet her got her heart to the toes – a little girl was standing on the edge of the window and fire was so close that there was no doubt – she’ll jump. Hospe charged forward blasting at the fire that was close to her, even if she injured the girl it’d sure as Hell beat letting her jump. The girl didn’t hear Hospe’s shouts or blasts, she just disappeared. Hospe slammed into the wall where the window was located, she used her sense of magic to help aim the spell of telekinesis. She could feel the magical signature several seconds later – she saved the girl from falling.

Ten minutes later Hospe appeared out of the entrance, the sirens signaled the arrival of the second brigade which meant that the fire would be put out soon. Hospe liked to think that she did great that evening. “I wonder why was that girl giving off magical signature? Perhaps it is meant for her to become a great spellcaster at one point… If that is indeed the case me managing to save her may have helped her become a force of good, I may have unintentionally gifted this dimension a person who would use their powers for good… Maybe this dimension actually needs me, why is making up one’s mind so difficult? This dimension’s people like decisiveness and determination. Evidently enough I lack these properties…” Hospe thought to herself as she was resting at a nearby bus stop observing what was going on. She saw a family hug their daughter whom Hospe saved, saw the fire being put out, eventually. A bunch of media vans appeared as well, it was likely that her description would reach the news, “Knowing how I do not wear a mask, perhaps it is best if I avoid attention, if Dawn Smith still wishes to have a private life that is…” Hospe mumbled to herself.

Dealing with fires was pretty much as out of Hospe’s comfort zone as it got. The woman had little control over natural disasters and only was able to provide minimal help. Had she tried to put the whole fire out with her Domus energy manipulation she’d probably have brought the building down herself, hers was a power that destroyed, not created. It was so easy for someone like Hospe to be taken as a destroyer, a villain or a nuisance in general. Whatever she did, no matter how good she tried to make it out to be, her powers will always destroy things, such was their nature. Domus and Earth do not go well together. “[color=#ff0000]My own dimension destroys anything of Earthly origins it comes in contact with… My two homes just do not go well together, perhaps my own dream of living here like an equal is nothing but a foolish dream.[/color]” Hospe wondered to herself.

The heroine was taking a break in the alleyway and observing over the fire, over all the media sensation it attracted. It ended up well, she saved some lives and managed to control the output of her powers just enough to not destroy the house, sure she dematerialized a lot of things out there but it may have been ruined by fire enough to not matter all that much – no people got hurt or killed because of her and the building hasn’t collapsed yet meaning Hospe didn’t dematerialize something important over her rampage blasting her Domus energy left and right putting out fires that were in her way. “I lost control there, saving that girl…” the woman thought recalling how recklessly and out of control she was shooting her blasts. “One badly aimed shot, one particle of anti-matter touching the wrong part of the building and it would’ve all tumbled down…” the woman kept scolding herself over losing control, getting emotional.

“Yo, lady, do you know what time it is?” Hospe heard some men behind her, it was weird that they would be hanging out in such a pitiful outskirt of the town, even weirder that they would not have known the time. “I have not had the luxury of observing a time telling device in my recent memory, I’m sorry.” Hospe replied in a tired tone as she stood up to face the men, they approached her without any fear or respect for her personal space, Hospe looked over her uniform, it was torn, had burns and the cloth had given up in many tighter spots. “Say, what happened to you, lost your home?” another of the group asked, smell of alcohol came out of his mouth. Hospe did not like the way these men were behaving themselves.

“You all give out the smell of alcoholic substances, I suggest you remain indoors so that you do not injure other people over your lack of coordination.” Hospe said, the men started laughing, “Your outfit, is that the only thing left after the fire? You know we could take you in our group, I’m sure you’d have ways to repay us…” the one in the center of the group said over his pathetic grin. “I am afraid you’re mistaken, I am not a citizen left without home by the fire, I am a Guest who helped to save people from it.” The men started getting annoyed, obviously something in Hospe’s behavior ticked them off, perhaps they disliked heroes. Hospe could hear the sounds of knives and one or two guns being sloppily withdrawn from their holsters. “What are ya, some kind of alien? A robot? You sound like a robot!” one of the group asked Hospe as the rest surrounded her.

“You are wrong again, I am afraid, I am an organic, there are no synthetic life forms where I come from. Your behavior is highly rude and stupid, I suggest you stop doing this and go home.” Hospe said, she saw enough crime shows on Earth’s television to know the intentions of these men. There was no way they’d succeed, Hospe just didn’t wish to engage them, she may have hurt them and if she ever had to resort to using Domus she didn’t know if she could tone it down enough to not completely disintegrate there poor and misguided people. “Your grips on your weapons are very sloppy, you are very much affected by an alcoholic substance, this will not end well for you.” Hospe warned them again, if the men would try to hurt her she’d have to defend herself.

One man tried to come closer to Hospe, within the same moment that she heard the noise her telekinetic spell forced the weapons she saw and guns out of the sloppy grips of their possessors, Hospe turned the two firearms at their owners, “I still have enough force left to pull the triggers. Go home, sleep, proceed to the process of the hanging over!” Hospe commanded the men as she released the guns and knives she held, letting them bump on the ground. The ones that had firearms took them and ran off, the ones that carried knives didn’t bother they just ran off without looking back. Hospe pointed her palm at a huge dumpster in the side and blasted a Domus energy wave as weak as she could, the entire dumpster disintegrated in dark purple flames. “I knew it, I’m too tired and stressed out to restrain myself, had it gone out of hand… I would’ve killed those poor men. I need to learn to relax, learn some control after I’m stressed.” Hospe thought to herself as she sat down on the ground and closed her eyes, moment later her eyes burst wide open with purple glow and the woman disappeared from the Earth dimension with only a sign of unstable energetic activity in the spot she was sitting in.

“Domus…” Hospe thought as she tore off her uniform, it was ruined by fire enough for a simple tear to pull it off. There were some rough patches of her skin that felt very painful, she probably got some burns. “Fires are not my specialty…” Dawn said to herself out loud, when in Domus, Dawn loved to speak to herself, helped the woman to forget how alone she was. “Are you injured?” Dawn heard a voice, the woman jumped and turned around it was a white furred tiger “Spirit, why are you here? Do my spiritual protections not protect my home anymore? I do not remember inviting you…” Dawn told to the spirit animal, the large cat gracefully walked up to the woman and licked her hand “I am a friendly spirit, that is why I came in to tell you that your house is no longer in the state that the protections serve, your magical shields will resume working once the house is repaired to the required condition.” Dawn glared over all the burns on her body, the spirit’s lick was healing them slowly, it was a rather painful process but very rare. Spirit animals rarely spoke or interacted with Domus inhabitants.

“Very well, spirit, I shall repair my manor. Thank you for your kindness, you’re bolder than I remember spirits being…” Dawn inquired indirectly, spirits could not have been spoken to like they were animals or mere mortals, they were beyond life and death “I am afraid the time your kind ruled this place has long since passed, our perception of time is slow, we did not adapt immediately but soon spirits will realize that Domus inhabitants are gone, they will consider this plain as their own, most spirits would be happy to share this world with you but there are some that may not feel that generous. That is why I came, they will like to complete the job of extinction of your kind, it will be dangerous for your kind to stay here unless you repair the house.” Dawn changed back into her casual clothes as the spirit spoke, she nodded and offered a useless magical artifact from a stand for the spirit, the artifact disintegrated and it’s energy was consumed by the animal – such was the way they sustained themselves, they did not need it but they enjoyed it.

“I thank you, Domus, last of your kind. I feel sorry for what happened to your people, you possess great amount of magics within you, evil spirits would love nothing more than to consume it from your dead body, I recommend haste in your repairs.” The white tiger said as the spirit just vanished into thin air. Dawn brushed her own hair in front of the mirror to make her hair look less than the hairstyle of her heroine persona Hospe but more like her casual hair. “Now I have this on my mind… I’m sure Cindy will enjoy to have the room for herself for some days, that woman loves physical reproductional activity with highly unskilled males but I have job and responsibilities… This is most unpleasant…” Dawn thought to herself as she finished her changing back into Dawn Smith, sat down onto her meditation position and teleported home. Tomorrow she’d try to repair her home after work, now it was time for rest.

[TOPIC END]