“Retract faceplate,” I say. The silver reflective faceplate slides up into the helmet, then the helmet folds and retracts into the shoulders of the suit. “Luke?” I call out. “Frank?”
I’m on a hill. It’s hot and sunny and I can make out the ruins around us, but I don’t see anyone else. With a sigh, I limp to the top of the hill, dragging my useless leg up with me. I’m out of breath and aching by the time I get to the top. One of the old stones is newly shattered and I see a booted foot sticking out of the rubble.
“Luke!” I run over, dropping to one knee and digging at the stones. They’re heavy, but I’m strong enough to chuck them over my shoulder like pebbles. I clear his legs, working my way up to his stomach. He’s normal sized, but he isn’t breathing. “Come on, Luke, hang on.”
Finally, I make it to his face, his beautiful non-angry face. I clear his mouth, lean down and start CPR.
“I’ll do chest compression,” Frank says dropping to the ground next to me. He looks even more haggard than I’ve ever seen him. Trails of blood dribble down his face like tears. He puts his hands on Luke’s chest and starts compressing while counting.
“Come on, baby, don’t die on me now,” I whisper between breaths.
A red gleam catches my eye when I look up from breathing for Luke. The Gem. It isn’t attached to him anymore. It sits like a normal ruby; no sparkling, no fire inside it… for now. It worked. In part.
Luke coughs, sitting up with alarming alacrity. I barely get out of the way. Frank leaps back, tripping on rubble and falling on his butt.
“What... what? Where...? Amelia?” he says shaking his head.
“I’m here, baby, I’m here,” I say. For the first time in forever, I have Luke back. I slip my arms around his chest and lay my head on his shoulders.
“It was a bad dream. Tell me it was a bad dream?” he asks.
“It was, but it’s over now, Luke, it’s over now. You’re home.”
I don’t know how long I sit there hugging Luke tight. He does the same. It feels so good to have him back.
“Uh, I hate to rain on your parade, but we have a problem,” Frank says, interrupting us.
“No, no problem, Frank. It’s what I expected to happen when I told you to bring us here. It actually worked out for the best.” I peck Luke on the cheek before pulling myself up. “You can’t time travel. If you had gone back to 400 A.D. like Carlos wanted, you, he, and Kate would have died.”
Luke shakes his head, taking his feet unsteadily. “Somethings wrong,” he says, his voice thick with pain.
I sigh. “Not wrong, you two. Perfect. This is the year 1900.”
Frank shrugs. Luke looks at me for a second—the way he always does when he’s waiting patiently for me to explain it to him. Oh how I missed that look. I pull him up to stand next to me. His muscles ripple with strain behind his torn shirt. I can’t help but smile. He’s beat up, bruised, and worn, but he’s all mine again.
“Oh, come on. This is too easy! 1900? Three years before Tesla turns on Wardenclyffe? It’s three years before superpowers exist!” I say with a ‘duh’ look.
“You mean... we’re trapped in 1900 with no superpowers?” Luke asks.
“Yep,” I say with a smile. “And since this is before any dimensional rifts, that is just a hunk of ruby, not a murderous creature from another dimension. It’s why you’re free!”
“I’m free?” He looks around as if seeing the world anew for the first time. Then he sweeps me up, bringing his lips to mine in a kiss so warm I melt. I don’t care what the next three years brings, right now? This is perfect.
The End… for now.
Afterword
You can find Jeffery and his books in the following places:
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Website: www.jefferyhhaskell.com
Facebook Fan Page: www.facebook.com/jefferyhhaskell
Amazon-Author-Page: https://www.amazon.com/Jeffery-H.-Haskell/e/B01I2W55SO
Patreon: patreon.com/jefferyH
Email: [email protected]
I love talking to fans about superheroes. Please come by and drop me a line! All my superhero books are series, so be on the look out for the next one! Welcome to the Full Metal Superverse!
Glossary
This is through Book 5! Don’t look at it if you want to avoid spoilers!
The Protectors:
Arsenal/Amelia Lockheart.
Domino/Kate Petrenelli: Amelia’s best friend.
Fleet/Thomas Anthony Shaw.
Glacier/Monica Pavlenco.
TK/Tessa Harper (sometimes people call her Tess).
Lux/Augustina Luciana Maxima: Alien with the ability to control light.
The Doctor/Teddy Contee.
Major Force/Luke Lancaster: Amelia’s boyfriend.
The Protector/Carlos Rodrigo Dominguez: Amelia’s longtime friend.
Epic/None: Amelia’s personal AI and friend.
Milton/None: AI created by Epic.
Other Heroes:
Catia Tichenor “Tia”/None: Affiliated with the Buenos Aires Police.
Triple Threat/Dwayne: Formally on the California team.
Aeon/Real name unknown. Last seen in Inescapable Arsenal.
Locations:
The Spire: Home base of Amelia and the Protectors.
UltraMax: The special prison in North Dakota for super powered criminals.
Secret Hospital in Seattle: Where Dr. Grace worked to help Amelia’s parents.
Villains:
The Th’un/None: Aliens that tried to strip mine Earth.
The Red Mage/Ricardo Rico Rafael (D): Wanted to destroy all supers in the world. Last seen in Unbreakable.
The Armory/Unknown: The team that beat the snot out of Amelia in ‘Unbreakable.’
The Engineer/Unknown: Built the suits for the Armory and the giant bank robbing robots from Unbreakable.
The Red Gem/Unknown: Mysterious, mind controlling, power boosting entity that currently controls Luke.
Heart/Unknown: The mind-controlling witch from Unbreakable.
The Death Dealers/Mercenary scum: Last seen in Unstoppable.
Hand Cannon/Unknown: Creates massive explosions from his hand.
Colossal/Unknown: Grows to enormous sizes and gains strength.
Rocket/Unknown: Flies with a rocket like projection and shoot fireballs.
Government Agents:
Bricklayer/Unknown: US Marshal, F4 strength and invulnerability. Seen in Books 1 and 2.
Major Nelson/None: The Airforce officer who is Amelia’s liaison in the Pentagon.
Amelia’s Parents:
John and Hope Lockheart.
Technical Stuff:
ZPFM: Zero Point Field Module.
IP Cannon: Ion Pulse (Amelia’s super-Taser).
Emdrive: Electromagnetic propulsion (Google “Impossible Drive” for more info).
Emjet: Amelia’s private jets, outfitted with her Emdrive.
HUD: Heads Up Display.
ECM: Electronic Counter Measures.
EMI: Electromagnetic Interference.
RF: Radio Frequency.
EW: Electronic Warfare.
Computronium: A nano-particle with atoms that form processors allowing Epic to fully load himself into any of Amelia’s suits.
Faraday Cage: A copper or iron metallic surface with a low-level electrical current running through it; blocks all radio transmissions.
GPS: Global Positioning System.
Sword O’ Doom: Monomolecular blade, can cut through anything.
Lockheed: Small flying drone first seen in Alien Arsenal.
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Full Metal Superhero Box Set [Books 1-6] Page 98