I Am Power Chapter 2

Sveta looked at her distant cousin. She had been practically raised by her cousin, but she was sure that Tanginique Townshend Chen-Li hated her.

"You killed over one hundred people." Tanginique said. "What the hell do you think Laura's going to think?" The exceptionally young looking woman looked Sveta right in the eyes. "You will be shunned. We do not kill unless we need to. I never thought that I would have to do one of Laura's famous 'you should have known better speeches.' I took you in when there was no one else."

"They were holding me captive."

"I don't give a fuck about that. I taught you better than that. We all taught you better than that. This is how you repay everyone? By murdering top scientists and government agents? You are beginning to become the very thing I was trying to save you from. You're becoming on of the evil Minaari's."

"You go on and on about 'evil Minaari's.' I think you're…messed up."

"Were you ever told about how I killed two of the most evil people Nightshade has ever dealt with? I'm pretty sure you were. I froze Virginline's heart. I made it stop beating. I shot Zora Vladislav with Percia's vaccine. I shot her with it until there was no chance that she would live."

"They could have reformed."

"There is no way for an evil Minaari to 'reform.' Once they become evil, they stay evil!"

"I think that will be quite enough, Tangie." A voice said from the doorway. "I can handle her from here."

A woman with long red locks strode into the room. Laura Vanoldened stopped a few feet from where Sveta sat, with her head now bowed. "Sveta, look at me."

"Wait," Tangie said. She took Sveta's chin in her hand and brought her head up. "If you have become the very thing we have endeavored to save the entire universe from, I will kill you myself, just like I did Virgiline and your grandmother."

"She was your relative too," Sveta protested.

"She was evil. She deserved what she was given."

"Enough." Laura said. "Either go or stand silently."

Tangie straightened, wanting to continue her lecture.

"Sveta," Laura began, "by the order of our president and the world powers, I am ordered to arrest you."

"You can't!" Sveta protested.

"There's a witness to the murders. Dr. Lee's robot assistant Hana. He made her flame retardant. She can withstand any heat. She recorded the event. I watched it with my own eyes. You ruthlessly burned all of those people to death, and you destroyed billions of dollars worth of equipment. Most of the people on this earth could die because of you. We have the portals here and at a few other places, but not everyone can use them. In order for us to make it so that an ordinary human could used them could take too much time. They don't know how to use the portals. They could end up in the Stone Age. That's why the use of the portals is almost completely banned. Even with someone who knows how to use them, it could go very wrong. If the sun burns out, most of the human race will die. They won't be able to withstand it. Some of us have body heat that will sustain us for years, even without food. But water? That will have to be generated by people like Tangie. She would have to make ice and someone would have to melt it. Tangie has a history of becoming ill from over use of her abilities."

"She's weak," Sveta said, looking at Laura's face.

"That statement is a sign of an evil Minaari. We cannot allow you here. You are under arrest. If you refuse to come, we are ordered to kill you if need be. You have already been sentenced. You are sentenced to allow science the use of your powers for the rest of your days."

"They're my powers!"

"With the powers we were given by the gods and evolution, there's a great responsibility. You've abused what you were given. If you still refuse, I will speak to the president about using the vaccine on you until you are dead."