New At Artifice Comics - http://digitallymystic.com/sites/fiction/ac/
Bush43 #14
“This City Ain’t Big Enough…”
By Jason Kenney
http://digitallymystic.com/sites/fiction/ac/archive/bush43/bush43_14.html
“Jeffery, I believe you feel threatened by this Jet Bastard.”Bush43 is back with a new issue in which stuff is done and our hero does heroic things. Isn’t that supersweet? Hells yeah it’s supersweet.“How’s that?” I asked as I ducked and then pulled back as Alfonse swung and then kicked at me. I pushed my leg out and he leapt over my kick, coming down with another jab that I had to roll out of the way of to dodge.
“You are going awfully far out of your way to talk him out of his heroics,” said Alfonse, “meanwhile you are on a team with quite a few young heroes that you have not even mentioned talking out of their work.”
“That’s different,” I said, coming at Alfonse with a barrage of punches that he deflected for the most part, but I got a quick one in low and caught his gut. He pulled back and I slackened but that was a mistake. As soon as he was back he sprang forward with a jab into my face followed by a low kick that sent me on my ass.
“How’s that?” he asked as I lay there.
“They’re New Mages,” I said, staring at the ceiling of the cave. “Romanov’s passed some sort of judgment on them and if I tried to talk them out of it I’d be contradicting him. Her.”
“It,” said Alfonse, reaching out a hand to help me up.
“Or it,” I said as it stood with his help. “Still, I don’t want to step on any toes. Jet Bastard, meanwhile, has not been sanctioned by anyone other than Virgil Rock who’s opinion is about as valuable as my shit.”
“How do you really feel about Mister Rock?”
“Ha ha,” I said as I bent to touch my toes and stretch my back and legs. “Still, this kid’s flying around with probably little to no training of any sorts and is really putting his ass on the line and for what?”
“Jeffery,” said Alfonse as he walked towards the towels, “if someone had come to you during your first month and tried to talk you out of being a hero, would you have quit?”
I didn’t answer that.
“Or,” he continued as he came back and handed me a towel, “if you knew then what you know now, if you knew what you were going to go through and the effects, would you have quit?”
My silence was my answer.
Alfonse smiled. “But that is a different situation, isn’t it?”
“I’m invulnerable, Alfonse,” I said, looking him dead in the eyes, “and strong. And able to stand up to a hell of a lot more than just some kid with a jetpack.”
I paused and Alfonse just looked right back at me, waiting for me to finish.
“Besides, I’ve done some good things as a hero, saved lives, made a difference.”
“How can you be certain?” asked Alfonse.
And I have no idea what effect he wanted that question to have, but it pissed me off.
“I think we are done for today,” Alfonse said, turning and walking away.
“Yeah,” I said, but I just stood there.
Go get some.
