Tipping Point

"Call!"

Her shout rang out across the empty field, barren and lifeless except for a contraption to her side.

It clanked and spit out a round disk into the air that was so fast that it would just look like a blur to anyone else, but in her eyes, it was as clear as if it was moving at a snail's pace.

Both her hands were at the right side of her waist, the bottom part of for her palms joined together, her fingers open and outstretched to form a globe. Between them, a tiny pinprick of yellow light was revolving slowly, and as she thrust both her hands forward, it shot into the air with not a sound to announce its coming.

BANG!

The disc exploded into tiny fragments when her attack met it. A small inferno blazed in the sky for a moment, and when the fragments began to fall to the ground, she raised her hand to her brow to tuck away the hair that had fallen forward during her attack.

'Still not perfect. It needs to be faster if I want to take my enemy unawares...'

She began to think about how she could perfect the spell, but she was suddenly interrupted by a buzzing at her waist. Taking out the phone, she checked the message and raised her eyebrows expectantly before tucking it away and putting a hand in the pocket on the other side.

A small, red ball with a button on top was soon in her hand. Clicking it, she threw it in the air… and watched on, impassive, as it flashed once and transformed into a podium.

She soon emerged in a room adjacent to the conference hall from where a hubbub could be heard. After waiting a second for the portable teleportation device to transform back into its miniature form, she picked it up and walked into the room where the manager was pacing around, one hand constantly wiping away the sweat beading on his bald head.

As soon as he looked up and found her, he walked forward and sad, "I just got here, too! Like you asked, I've kept myself in the dark about what he's been doing… I just saw the engineers acting all excited, though. The wait is killing me! Shall we just get a hint about his plans?"

Furrowing her brow, Helena replied, "No. As those in charge of this endeavor, we need to experience what he's doing in the same way as the people who will soon see it. Only then will we understand how we might be able to amplify the emotions that his actions will invoke in those watching. Without that sort of vision, we would be just as useless as that damn ideation team which didn't even think up of such a novel use for the cape!"

The manager looked at her sheepishly as she brought up this issue that she was still pissed about. He nodded, then, and took a seat, and it was only after doing the same and looking down that she realized that she had forgotten to switch out of her training clothes.

The sports bra and shorts were presentable enough, though, so she just shrugged and stayed. She had left after instructing the team that she should be told when he was going to do anything spectacular, and as she had been called over, her expectations were sky-high.

After gesturing to an engineer nearby to come over, she said, "Give us the prerequisites."

With a nod, the woman answered, "Yes, ma'am. He has taken charge of the resistance movement of the city, which was formed due to the greed of the governor. All he has at his disposal are a few videos that the resistance managed to shoot of trivial meetings that the governor had with different people, and a large store of weapons and personnel. The latter pale in comparison to what are at the disposal of the heroes and the governor, though. Still, he has leaked information about another imminent threat from the organization, and the governor has just announced an evacuation, again. The people are unhappy, but using a speech, the man was successful in making them fear for the lives of their loved ones, and themselves. The heroes have been combing the city for any sign of plots against the target they are meant to protect. They were the ones who pushed for the evacuation, too, even though the governor was reluctant about it as he feared that the discontent caused might be too much. It is quite obvious that they want the city to be empty again so that it would be easier to look for the villains, or protect the man, if it came to it. That is how it stands, for now."

Helena nodded and thanked the woman. Folding her legs and hands, she pondered on what she had heard, biting her lips in the way that she always did when she was thinking.

Many plans came to mind, but each of them had certain risks and certain drawbacks that she couldn't get around. When placed in Al's situation, she repeatedly found herself falling back on the spells she had learned and the power she had gained using her privileged position, so without any of those means at hand, she wondered about what she could do.

"Something is happening!"

The manager's exclamation made her snap her head up to the image being projected on the wall ahead. On it, a famous video sharing platform was being shown on which a stream had just started.

"He's broadcasting this live to multiple channels! Even if the government tries to block him, they won't able to shut down all of them!"

One of the engineers made this remark that was quite loud, and although she frowned, she didn't say anything as it was important information. Holding her breath, she watched as the screen first showed scenes of the devastation of the city and the evacuation and subsequent poor treatment of the people, and after that, a man wearing a simple, black mask appeared on the screen.

"People of New York. Day by day, you've seen your lives get worse and worse until the governor wants to make you believe that this is the new normal that you have to get used to. I am the leader of the terrorists who he claims are a threat to you and the city… but I'm here to tell you the truth. Rather than hearing it in my words, why not hear it from someone you'll believe?"

In a graceful gesture, he waved his hands and the image went blank, then showed a room filled with four people.

There was a grand table and an even grander chair right in front of the camera, with the person sitting on it not visible because of the POV. The faces of the three in front were vaguely visible, though, grinning wildly while clutching stacks of papers in their hands.

"It's incredible, sir! Our wealth has surged by 320%!"

"This evacuation did wonders! The main government keeps sending us money, and we keep gobbling it up!"

"Quite right!"

So far, the video was quite damning, but Helena knew that it wasn't enough.

Then...the seat swiveled to the side, and the side profile of a man with a long hooked nose became visible.

He turned back in a moment so that only the back of the chair could be seen, again, but because the voice that appeared was not one that had been heard, yet, it was obvious who it belonged to.

"Now, if only there was another threat, we could demand more and go laughing all the way to the bank...well, I guess we could prod things along if they don't move by themselves! Right, gentlemen?"

All four laughed, their eyes twinkling with amusement in the bright light that suffused the room. 'Governor' was the word written on the nameplate on the desk, and Helena knew, at once, that it would suffice.

She didn't quite get what was so great about it, though. If the terrorists had such a bombshell of a video, why hadn't they used it before?

She got the answer when she overheard a discussion between a few engineers nearby. When she heard it, the corners of her lips twitched up into a smile, again, and in her mind, she already began to imagine how that wastrel son of the dragon might look after he got an inkling of how those of his brood were going to be sent right back to their academy, squealing and crying due to the taste of defeat.

"This guy's knack of finding things to use is amazing! This was a harmless video, but he got it dubbed over by a few who were skilled in changing their voice, and voila! He also changed the clarity so that it's almost impossible to spot this...he really thinks of everything! Oh, I can't wait to see those arrogant dragons stomped on..."