Sidekick

by Carl Stubblefield

  He tried to push himself up but he felt weak all over. Aurora was screaming again, but Gus hurt so much he couldn’t help her even if he wanted to. He was disoriented and unable to coordinate his own movement effectively. Gus activated Energy Absorption or maybe Absorb, and tried to pull in some kind of energy from the sun on his back to see if he could get enough to move. His HP was at a meager 62/880, and his stamina bar was bottomed out, and did not want to refill. Aurora’s shouts stopped and Gus expected the worst when he was forcefully flipped over.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Hell No

  It was Aurora, and she looked mad as hell. She roughly brushed the sand off his face and cheek and jammed a red and pink gel in his mouth and forcefully closed his jaw.

  “Gus, what the hell was that?”

  Gus slowly bit the gels, sucking out the contents, then spitting out the casings. One side of his jaw was definitely broken. Aurora continued to berate him, even as she gave him more gels as he cleared the previous ones and his jaw became more responsive as the bone knit together and muscles were repaired.

  “What was what?” he croaked when he finally got enough control over his mouth to talk.

  “You swooping in trying to ‘save’ me. You almost got yourself killed! You have to think about the mission. I can take care of myself! I’m not some damsel in distress that you need to rescue. Same thing with the damn manor. It can be rebuilt, dummy. You rushed in and took a big risk trying to put yourself in its way.”

  “Why are you so pissed? We won, right?” he asked, pushing himself up onto his knees and wiping the sand off of him.

  “We won this time. And just barely. That type of sentimentality is ultimately bad.”

  “What about no man left behind? Or woman, I guess.”

  “That works for a large team, not when only you and I are the team! You had better promise me that you will never do that again or we are done!”

  Gus had never seen her look so angry. And he really didn’t know what the big deal was. It was like he had inadvertently pushed a hot button.

  “Say it!” she shouted at him.

  Gus stopped trying to clean the sand off himself and looked up in surprise.

  “Okay, okay, I won’t do it again,” he conceded, putting his hands up, even more confused. Don’t save you when you’re obviously in trouble. Seems legit.

  “Gus, you’re a nice guy, and that’s going to be your downfall. You can’t get sentimental like that. About a teammate, hell, even about the manor. It makes you soft, and you’re too soft! Man up! As you are, you’re worthless to me!”

  “Worthless? Really?” he snarled as his anger flared. He was getting tired of taking this abuse.

  “Yes! I don’t need someone who can be manipulated by an enemy attacking a soft target, and they’ll drop all reason and compromise the core mission. Why is that so hard for you to understand?”

  Gus had never seen this side of Aurora and he definitely did not like it.

  She continued her tirade of abuse. “Do you know how many supers I’ve seen killed because an opponent used their good nature against them? Some people are just evil, and you have to accept that and react accordingly. If you tap dance around them trying to be all airy-fairy, they’ll crush you and everything you hold dear. You probably are a big fan of comic books, and that’s what you’re basing your personal code around. Well, news flash: You’re not a mystical chosen one. You’re not the savior of the world. You’re a naive man-child playing superhero, who has powers he has no idea how to use to their maximum capacity and probably never will. You need to accept reality and your own limits, or you’re going to screw us all!”

  She broke eye contact and it felt like a physical weight had been lifted from Gus. He got to his feet, trying to equal the dynamic. Aurora wouldn’t, or couldn’t, stop talking as she paced in circles.

  “Who knows what hell Basileus will rain down on the world when he gets his hands on the manor, Gus? You’re still clueless about what it could be, so all we can do is prevent him from getting a hold of it. I’m heading to the control room, because I guess I’m going to have to figure this out, since you can’t. You’re just like everyone else, expecting me to do everything,” she spat, turning to leave.

  Aurora stormed off into the manor, signaling that she was obviously done with the conversation. Gus’ eyes narrowed as he stood there stunned. He muttered, “I guess I’ll take care of all these supers. Don’t mind me, I don’t need any help.” He almost expected her to peek around the corner and ask ‘What was that?!’ but she was truly gone. He almost wanted her to challenge him so he could really say what was on his mind.

  First, he retrieved the supers floating in the water and dragged their spheres to the shore. One had a twisted ankle but the other looked healthy. Gus activated Leech and noticed that he could take all of their powers with a single touch, the increased capacity of the hybrid-Nth making a big difference. Leaving these two on the beach, he fished out two others.

  Gus decided to carry the supers instead of making stretchers and ferrying them around. He was still seething from Aurora’s scathing words and needed to bleed off some energy. A bonus was that he could use Leech on them as he hauled them to the courtyard, multitasking the cleanup. He threw a super over his shoulder and carried another by his side. Before becoming a super he never could have done it, but with his new strength it made the task only a mild strain. He hardly got winded as he muttered angrily to himself.

  “Worthless, huh? I am so done with being treated like a piece of crap.”

  Gus threw one of the supers onto the sand like a sack of rice.

  “If you can’t see that I’m doing everything I can to make this work out here, then you’re a damn idiot.” Another toss and he stalked back to grab another couple supers.

  “I bust my ass, and this is the thanks I get. I would expect that from these damn mercs, but we’re supposed to be on the same side.” His body tensed as he remembered other times throughout his life where various people also assessed him as ‘worthless.’

  “Tempest, you were worthless as a father,” Gus growled as he flung another super up onto his shoulder.

  “Graviton, you were worthless at protecting your station and those who trusted you.” He strained as he pulled the metal exoskeleton off another and trudged back to his pile.

  Faces cycled through his mind, everyone who had put him down and made him feel lesser. Girls, coworkers, classmates; it wasn’t a small list. The rage in him began to burn hotter and he became firmer in his resolution that he was done allowing anyone to treat him that way again.

  “I have nothing left to prove to you people!” he screamed into the uncaring sky.

  Gus hit Leech on both the supers simultaneously and absorbed all of their abilities without a thought. They wriggled and spasmed and he gripped even harder, as if they were trying to wrestle free. He clamped down, giving in to the anger and securing them with a stony, unrelenting grip as he stormed towards the manor.

  “Too soft. People have called me things like that my whole life, and I’ve just accepted it. Enough.” Gus threw the two supers unceremoniously to the ground and headed back. He could have flown but he was in no hurry. He needed some alone time. It turned out that the two supers who had fallen from the jet-skies were not dead, but had some major injuries. He used the remainder of his gels so they could be moved. “Yeah, leave me to clean up your mess from the drones, Aurora.” His anger focused on her.

  “If that’s what you want, Aurora, that’s what you’ll get. I’m not your dumping ground for whatever baggage on your end sparked this little tirade, but obviously something else is going on with you.” He grabbed two more supers, but due to their size decided simply to drag them. Sure, they’d get beat up as they bounced against rocks and the ground. Good. Deal with it.

  “I’m tired of always having to be the one who ‘goes along to get along.’ It’s high time someone else works on their issues instead of always being me who has
to make the changes. Try taking your own ego down a notch or two, and stop expecting the world to accommodate you.”

  He pulled and took their powers like a rabid wolf tearing a piece of meat from a kill. He mentally wiped away the pop-ups on his display, unread, and let himself seethe.

  “This. This is the problem with the world. Everyone is so damned entitled that they just worry about having things their way at the expense of everyone else. All the way down the chain, from supers to regs, people are just in survival mode.”

  Gus looked down at the next super with contempt, his rugged and handsome features irritating Gus all the more. He spoke the next words accusingly at the unconscious man.

  “Always trying to maintain power once you have it, or taking advantage of someone else to get a little bit ahead. I’m tired of it. The Factions have done a piss-poor job of making any changes either. Their agendas come first and the rest get the scraps.”

  Gus loaded up two more supers, one on each shoulder, and continued his angry march. His Leech of these two was a little less aggressive as his emotions began to ebb. He took a little more care in setting these supers down as he had a realization.

  “Why am I making this my problem? Who says I ever have to leave this island? Why should I even worry about all those selfish bastards out there? They’ve made their choices, right? Do they even deserve any of my efforts which are probably going to get thrown in my face, just like this? Why do I feel like I owe them anything?”

  The more Gus thought of it as he continued his labor of moving the supers to the courtyard and leeching their powers, the surer he became.

  “Just so stupid.”

  “Talking to yourself is a sign of impending mental collapse,” Nick interjected.

  “You too, huh?”

  “Are you okay, chief? I never took you for someone who’d rage quit.”

  “It doesn’t matter what I do or what anyone thinks, Nick. I’m not doing this to impress anyone. I’ve wasted way too much of my life trying to be something or do something to earn some kind of appreciation or recognition.”

  “Screw those jerks,” Nick encouraged.

  “I’m not going to let them decide what I do—that seems like letting them win. I still haven’t decided what I want. Whether I stay here or go home. But I will tell you this, Nick: I’ll be damned if I let someone else tell me what I can and can’t do. Let them be selfish and petty, I’m through with changing who I am to accommodate their smallness.”

  “Can I get an aaaaamen!” Nick said in a rising tone.

  “I know I don’t have all the answers on how, but I do feel that I’ve found out what I need to be working towards. I just have to believe there will be others out there that are like-minded, and stay strong when people try to tear me down. If you won’t help, stay the hell out of the way!”

  “Preach, brother!” Nick exulted and Gus hung his head, put his hands on his hips, and he finally gave in to a tired chuckle.

  He flicked off some sweat from his brow and looked up at the manor. The budding attraction Gus had been feeling for Aurora had been stamped out. Extinguished by the sudden change in her demeanor, and the realization that he didn’t know her like he had thought he did. The excitement and feelings of limerence gone with the conflict.

  “What was I thinking, Nick? Just because she’s hot, I automatically assumed that she was as good on the inside as she looks on the outside. When people show you their true self, believe them.”

  Who said that to me recently? Had it been her? Was it Dave? I don’t remember.

  “I guess it doesn’t matter. She obviously doesn’t think much of me, and as such, to hell with her.” They could collaborate on this mission and go their separate ways. “Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if she turned around and offered Purple Faction a chance at the manor, deeming them more worthy stewards of the property in her eyes.” He stopped and asked Nick, “Hell’s bells. Am I getting paranoid now?”

  “It’s just a part of your mental collapse,” Nick said with the right amount of sarcasm to lighten the mood.

  Gus stood there, having brought all the supers to the lawn. From there, he began the work of bringing them to the brig.

  “I’ll tell you this: Let them come. Purple Faction or any other arrogant, self-serving person or group, and I will put them in their place, and take their powers to boot. I am only going to get stronger. Even if I have to fight the whole damn world, I’m going to go down swinging. And they’ll be sorry they ever underestimated me.”

  Gus kept stewing in intense emotion as he placed all the attackers in the brig. The physical exertion of moving the supers had given him some time to cool down and a lot of his anger had burned away, but the whole situation with Aurora had left him emotionally raw and irritated. He knew if he saw her right now, he wouldn’t hold anything back this time, regardless of what mood she was in. Better to keep some distance for a bit.

  At least it was getting late. Gus got takeout from the cafeteria, not wanting to see Aurora if she stopped by to eat, and went to his room. He ate and stared out at the majestic view from his balcony but was unaffected by the beauty before him. Finishing his day with a long shower, he relaxed enough to make it into a fitful sleep.

  Chapter Thirty

  Close to the Edge

  Aurora slammed the door to her room, cooling down a bit now that she was in her own space. She had startled herself with how she had reacted and tried to figure out why she was so edgy. She sat on the edge of her bed and then laid back, looking at the ceiling. She knew why but, like most of the painful things in her life, she walled them off, putting them far back in her mind and never revisiting them. Despite not wanting to, the memory came back from her academy days, loud and clear, as if it had just happened yesterday…

  “You can’t just ignore your problems; they won’t go away. You just push them in deeper to rot and fester. As much as it hurts, you have to go in and pull that sucker out,” Rory said, the gentle demeanor seeming out of place on his gigantic frame.

  “You weren’t there, Rory! You get to stay here at headquarters. It was horrible, and I don’t want to talk about it.” She bit her lip, determined to keep this to herself.

  “I see you’re upset, but we need to talk this out. You need it whether you think you do or not. Holding it all in isn’t being strong. It weakens you. We’re here to share the load here in the Faction. Don’t insult us by acting like we’re unworthy to share that burden.” He put one of his massive hands on her slumped shoulders and raised an eyebrow.

  Aurora looked up at this man she admired, grease-streaked face and all, with his genuine look of concern, and gave in. She looked back down at her hands and began, telling the story as best as she could between sobs that became so strong, she had to pause at times, her heart in almost physical pain.

  “It was all because of me! I was the weak link, and because of that we failed the mission and lost three of our team.”

  “It happens. That’s the life we signed up for. I don’t mean to gloss over their deaths, but everyone knows that can be part of the job, and we all go in with eyes wide open. Your job is to not let their deaths be in vain.”

  “They wouldn’t be dead if I wasn’t so weak! If I didn’t need to be rescued, they wouldn’t have been distracted. I think because they are all so strong and were handling everything so masterfully, I got overconfident. Instead of hanging back and being support like I was ordered, I thought I could take on one of the other supers. He had some kind of draining power and he latched onto me with his abilities. It was like a whip that extended out of his hands. He flung it out and caught me by the neck. I couldn’t breathe, it was horrible!”

  Rory folded her into a hug as the sobs came. The words came easier once she had started.

  “Crackshot slid from the side and shot the guy holding me, but it put him in a bad position and the other crew attacked him all together. I was there holding my throat trying to breathe, totally worthless. To help Crackshot, Jade Dr
agon and Polyphemus had to break out of formation and the enemy was able to flank us. El Tigre grabbed me and retreated. The last thing I saw was all three lying on the ground with the other team mauling them mercilessly before I was dumped into the transport and we sped away.”

  “So you feel guilty,” Rory gently massaged her back with one of his meaty hands. She flung it away, not feeling like she deserved his attention, standing in defiance.

  “He should have left me! We lost three higher tier supers trying to protect a trainee. It was such a waste!”

  “No one could have known it would all go south. You are responsible for your teammates, we all know that.”

  “Is that always true? We failed that mission, and from what I’ve heard it will set Purple Faction back. We showed our hand and didn’t get the intel we were supposed to get. That can be exploited.” She buried her face in her hands and more sobs began spilling out.

  “Okay, Aurora, I get the feeling you need to process this a bit more. But I want you to know I’ve been there before. I haven’t always been here at headquarters. Like you, I’ve been in the field, and I’ve had my share of loss and pain. I’m not going to insult you by saying I know exactly what you’re going through. Sometimes you need time to sort things out. As much as I want to erase those emotions, sometimes nothing anyone says or does can lessen the weight of that. But know that I’m always here. You’re going to want to blame yourself, you’re going to be angry. I’m going to keep checking in with you though, because I know you’re going to want to isolate yourself and that is something you cannot do. I know how special you are, and I’m here when you need someone to talk to or just vent. Got it?”