by Jamie Hawke
“Good, then—” A blast hit, knocking us back. We turned to see Charm hitting the last Dex with a double-handed stroke, bringing two of her energy balled-fists together a second time, now sending a shock wave through it in a way that floored the bastard.
This time, when a second tail glowed to life behind Charm and she turned to look at it, it didn’t fade. While the others cheered at our victory, I was still trying to get over the shock of what I’d done. Charm, meanwhile, stared at her second tail for a long moment, waiting, then looked up at me with confusion. Her eyes moved to Laurel, then back to the tail. Both tails swayed, the second then going back and forth. Clearly, she was moving them to see what her level of control was.
“Wow.” She pursed her lips. “This is…?”
Strange, I almost said. Good thing I didn’t, because she suddenly looked up with the widest smile.
“This is awesome!” She ran over and hugged me, then Laurel, before jumping up and down, tails waving about. She even made them spin behind her like helicopter blades, for fun.
“What’s happening?” Shimmer asked, confused.
“Is this an illusion?” Gale asked, looking from me to Shimmer. “One of you doing this?”
We both insisted we weren’t. Charm grinned even wider, if that was possible.
“Why’re you so happy about it?” Aegriss asked. “I do not understand.”
Drew’s team was looking at us like we were a bunch of nut jobs, all except Threed who was smiling wide, but seemed to only be doing it to see if she could match how big a smile Charm wore. I wanted to believe her crazy smile meant she was over the connection of us to her sister’s death… but ultimately had to pass it off as her simply being nuts.
“All my life I thought I was some freak,” Charm explained. “I thought I was just another super, but one who had this strange mutation. If I remember correctly, Laurel’s theory—back at Supralines during the, like, three days I went there, yeah… I remember that now—anyway, her theory was that…” Charm stopped, scratched her left ear and pulled on it a second, then shrugged. “You tell it.”
Laurel nodded. “I’ve still thought it true, after all this time. Recent evidence reinforces my belief.”
“Which is?” Drew said, glancing around. Apparently, we had to get moving, but everyone was far too wrapped up in this to just drop it and move out.
“Aliens, right? Well, there are all manner of them, and I’d read about the old gods and other myths, and my thought was that maybe they had visited Earth once, that maybe we had all these stories and myths for a reason. It wasn’t just random. Kitsune were one of the main areas of interest for me, in my readings, because they were so spiritual, sensual… sexy.”
She blushed, clearly not having meant to say that last part.
“I agree.” I smiled.
“What I’m trying to say is that… it’s entirely possible there were actually kitsune, and other beings, who would visit Earth from time to time. Some are still around to this day, out there in the universe… and somehow one ended up in our midst.”
“All eyes turned to Charm,” Charm mock-announced in a silly way and waved at us with her tails, hands folded in front of her. “Isn’t that cool? I mean, me… a spirit, or alien, or something cool—something so much cooler than just a freak? Yay!”
Threed laughed and nudged the cat woman, Feruz. “Nothing wrong with freaks, am I right?”
“As she said, though,” Feruz interjected, “alien disqualifies me from being a freak. You? You’re out of luck.”
“Fuck that,” Threed replied. “I wear the freak title proudly. Like that crazy team with Ezra, calling themselves the ‘Psychobitches’—I say we get a team name and call ourselves something freaky, like…” She stood there awkwardly for a moment. “I got nothing.”
“Later then,” Drew said. “We’ve taken up too much time as it is.”
The rest of the teams started to move toward what I guessed was the front of the ship, but Drew held out a hand to Threed and me.
“Threed.” He spoke firmly. She glared at him, then turned to me, glare deepening. “Threed…”
“Fine, whatever.” She stepped up to me, arms folded. “Drew thinks I shouldn’t be resentful over something that you really had no control over. It wasn’t like you had a choice, I get that. Plague made her bed and all that shit.”
“So… we’re cool?” I put out a hand.
She stared at the hand, a line of green starting to trace hers.
“Threed!” Drew pointed. “Don’t fucking poison my brother.”
“I wasn’t gonna,” she countered, pouting. “Just… a subconscious reaction.” The green faded and she shook my hand. “We’re cool. But if you ever kill anyone else in my family, you’re a dead man.”
“Can you give me a list, just to be sure?” I instantly regretted the snark.
But she grinned, putting me at ease, then gestured around. “You’re looking at them.”
I looked over at who she was indicating—Drew and the other ladies of their team. Sacrada stood like an angel protecting my brother, Sakurai on the other side of him like the playful demon who’d whisper for him to ignore his conscience. It was almost humorous. Then there was Navani, who reminded me of Shimmer in some ways, but had more of a purple thing going on, and darker skin. Add Lamb and the cat girl, and I had to smile at the team my brother had formed. “We won’t ever have a problem again, I’m happy to say.”
“Fucking right.” She spoke as if it was a threat, but the smile took over again. “Truthfully, my sister was the biggest bitch around. I’m kinda glad she’s dead.”
“What?”
“Shit, yeah. You know she once put ground-up glass in my juice as a joke? Fucking hurt, and if there hadn’t been a healing super nearby—I assume she knew there was… Well, if there hadn’t been I’d probably be dead.” She stared at me a moment longer, then her eyes went wide. “Fuck, she tried to kill me, huh? I mean, there was that, but this other time I thought she was playing around with this toy guillotine and I put my head in it… Nearly took off my neck, but I saw it coming and broke the damn thing in my escape. Always thought it was this horrible mistake and not her fault.”
“I…” I looked at Drew for help, but he shook his head. What was that supposed to mean? That he wasn’t going to help, or that I shouldn’t say anything? I went with the latter.
“Shit, now I kind of wish you hadn’t killed her, so I could,” Threed said. “Damn.”
“Well, that’s done with.” Drew nodded at Threed, so that she got the hint and walked on. Then he grinned at me. “You leveled up, right?”
I checked to be sure, only now vaguely remembering flashes of a level-up screen I hadn’t processed at the time, too caught up in it all. “This high, I figured I’d reached the point where leveling up would take ages.”
“It should,” he admitted. “But here, against them? It’s different.”
“You mean…” I frowned, not sure where to go with that.
“You talk XP and nerd talk?” Drew scrunched his nose, still not allowing himself to realize “nerd” meant “cool” up here. “Yeah, if the other guys were worth like ten experience points, these fuckers are worth one hundred. The guy with the crystals? One thousand.”
“Damn.” I took a second to process this, then frowned. “If I didn’t have to get to Earth, I’d say we go find more of them and level the fuck up.”
Drew laughed at that, nodding. “I’m needed here, but trust you can take care of our home. Don’t let me down.”
“I don’t plan on it.”
He clasped my shoulder, then nodded for me to follow him to the others. “Now we get back to business, taking this ship for one of our fake routine movements. Now it’s time to really make it one of our own and prepare for battle.”
6
Having reached our own lines, we landed on the docking section of the forward base and then emerged from our new ship victorious, our faces plastered with grins. My p
arents were there. The others returned with other supers, explaining that they had been discussing strategies and where their next moves would be. Ezra looked especially excited, though his eyes kept darting about. Excited and nervous, I had to guess.
These other groups welcomed us as victors, and I felt the part. A glance over at my brother and the look in his eyes made me even more proud. A look down at Charm’s two tails made me confused.
“Before you all head off, please mingle,” Hadrian said. “Get to know some of the supers—eventually, you’ll be back here, fighting alongside them.”
“All of us?” Gale asked, skeptically.
“Especially you,” he replied. “And yes, all of you. If you are so willing. I also…” Hadrian hesitated, looking nervous—a look that didn’t seem to belong on him. “Well, Andromida, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.”
“Oh, shit, that’s right.” Threed’s hand suddenly went to her mouth.
“Let him do it,” Navani urged, but Threed was squirming, grinning, about to explode.
“She’s our sister, she has to know!”
“Know what?” Andromida asked.
“The person I’d like you to meet—” Hadrian tried again.
“Our mom!” Threed interrupted, letting it explode out and then standing like a proud, victorious hero.
Andromida frowned, totally caught off guard by that.
“Wasn’t she…?” I asked, confused.
“Dead?” Andromida shook her head. “That was my stepmother.”
“And your biological mother is here,” Hadrian confirmed. “It’s complicated, but… you should get a chance to meet her.”
Andromida still looked completely caught off guard as she turned to speak more on the matter with Hadrian. The rest of us gave them some privacy.
“Let them catch up.” My mother put her arm through mine and drew me away. “And let us talk.”
I nodded, leaving my team to relax while I joined my mother to walk over to my father. He was laughing and talking with Drew. When he saw us, he patted my brother on the arm and excused himself to join us. They led me to an area by the metal tents, where we could look out at the stars and the myriad ships.
“Soon they’ll all be gone, and then what?” my father asked. He turned to look me over, offering a smile. “If I have my way, nothing. We settle down, get to know you and Drew…”
“But that’s not going to ever happen,” my mother interjected. “We’re not so naïve to think that’s a reality.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“You’ve heard the saying about power corrupting, no doubt? It’s hard, all this power supers have. Every once in a while a new super will rise, thinking he or she is special, and they’ll try to make a move for complete dominance. As Elders, you will have an obligation to stop them.”
“But…” My mom hesitated, wrapped her arms around herself now, and turned away. “Not that we’d ever ask this of you, but we have to let you know that you have an option.”
“What sort of option?” I asked.
“The sort that means you could walk away from all of it. You’d be powerful—a Tier One, in no time. But you don’t have to be an Elder with the Citadel, just because they picked you.”
I gulped, not liking this conversation one bit. “After all of this…”
“You don’t have to make any decisions right now,” my mother said. “But… think about it.”
“And Drew?” I already knew the answer.
“He outright denied any option. In fact, he’s already had the ceremony. He’s an Elder, and we’re proud of him for that. But it doesn’t mean you have to do the same, is all we’re saying.”
I nodded. Of course, he was the hero of the family, at least back home. Here, I was too. “I don’t need time to think. My destiny is to become an Elder of the Citadel, and I’ll do so proudly.” They both looked let down. After the byplay between them in the tent before our training mission, and now this, I had to ask, “Why not you? Why didn’t either of you choose the route of the Citadel?”
My parents shared a look of hesitation, then my father turned to me. “I’ve seen those who would fight for greed, those who would kill for the fun of killing. They are evil. And I’ve seen those who would enforce their rules through equally evil means. Just because you’re in charge and make the rules doesn’t mean you can abuse others. The Citadel may have been as just as it could have been, but that doesn’t mean we agree with everything they’ve done.”
“You’re saying you didn’t join because it wasn’t perfect?” I scoffed. “What organized group is? They’re government, basically… to expect them to be so well-oiled is ridiculous. But unless you’re on the inside, trying to make a difference, how will anything ever change?”
“We’re… a different kind of hero,” my father replied. “We sacrificed ourselves, against an outside force. When true supervillains raised their heads, we fought. But we did it at our choosing, not someone else’s.”
“That and… Drew must’ve told you about the origins of the Citadel,” my mother added. “You must’ve heard about how it was established as part of this outer ring of defense against any future alien invasions? You can’t tell me you think the Earthers won’t try to influence the Citadel once this has all been sorted out and calmed down a bit.”
“You two don’t know me, clearly. I was raised on Earth—if part of my responsibility involves fighting for the safety of Earth, you can be damn sure I’ll play my role.”
They sighed, and my father nodded. “Very well, son.” He stared hard at me, then smiled. “Your mother told me how you saved her. For that and so much more, we are eternally grateful.”
“And you?” I asked.
He shook his head and licked his lips. “That’s a story for another day. It’s still… something I’d rather not talk about.”
“Drew knows it well enough,” my mother added. “When you return, the two of you can sit down and share stories.”
My father nodded. “He at least knows the parts he was involved with. He saved me, you know? I was lost… having sacrificed myself, the darkness almost ended any part of me that remained.” A shadow went over his eyes and he shuddered, turning away from me.
“We look forward to your return.” My mother placed a hand on my father’s back in a way that made me feel for him. It was strange, thinking that these people who I barely knew were my biological parents. I could never understand what they’d been through, but would do my part to ensure it wasn’t ever necessary again.
I took that as the end of the conversation, so, unsure what to do here, went in for hugs. When they returned the hug, it was like finding my way home. For the first time, I was almost thinking going to Earth wasn’t necessary. A voice in the back of my head said they had their military, their defenses. But that wouldn’t be enough, and if the world was destroyed while I was off in another galaxy, I would never forgive myself.
“Until then.” I released the hug, feeling a swelling sense of relief at the looks of pride they gave me as I turned and walked away. At times through this journey I’d thought I wasn’t sure of the Tier Ones, whether they were these godlike beings who were too full of themselves. My parents, based on this brief interaction, didn’t seem that way. But what felt nice in that moment was that all of that didn’t matter.
These were my parents. Parents who were willing to be part of my life. I’d love them no matter what. But the next step was ensuring Earth and my other parents—those who’d raised me—were safe. Emotionally, I was definitely more connected with these supers. Especially my team, but also the others I’d met up here. They seemed to get me more than anyone on Earth ever had. But that didn’t take away that I couldn’t stand the idea of any of my old associates back on Earth suffering or being killed by some asshole aliens and traitorous supers like Muerta.
I was hit by an image of my old supervisor giving me a handjob behind the factory. That day seemed so long ago. In my mind, just as I start
ed to cum, all of our surroundings evaporated, Muerta rising behind her and tearing off her head.
What the fuck? I shuddered at the thought, hoping no imagery like that ever entered my mind again.
“You’re troubled,” Laurel commented, observing me as I came out of my daydream and returned to reality.
“Maybe.” I shrugged. God, I hoped she hadn’t seen my thoughts a moment earlier. “All of this feels so epic, so much like what I’d have imagined as a young teen and wanted above everything else. But…”
“But we need to get to Earth.”
“We?” I considered her and then Charm, who eyed me with uncharacteristic apprehension. The question of them, and what would happen next was one we’d have to get to sooner than later. “Can I ask… I mean, is now a good time?”
Laurel’s eyes darted to Charm, then back to me. “Our history is complicated.”
“Not so complicated,” Charm countered.
“Well, complicated enough that our future might be more complicated.”
“Meaning what?” I asked.
“I’d like her to come with us.” Charm bit her lip, hands folded in front of her in a way I’d noticed Laurel often did. She suddenly leaped forward, grabbing my hands and putting them to her mouth. “She was… is?... such a big part of my life. If I’d never met Laurel, I don’t know if going down this superhero route ever would’ve been the one I took. Now that my memories are back, and,” she turned to Laurel, dropping one of my hands to take one of her hands and kiss it, “you are too, it’s like I can embrace this heroic side of me again.”
“You mean all of that?” Laurel asked, looking on the verge of an emotional explosion.
Charm nodded, then kissed my hand she was still holding, too. “But that doesn’t change how I feel about you or the team. Nothing changes except that now she’s with us… Oh, and that I have cooler powers and a second tail, strangely—but I mean her coming along doesn’t really change anything about what we’re doing in the universe. So… Please? I mean, what do you think? Please?”
“There’s just one thing I don’t understand.” I turned to Laurel, still holding Charm’s hand but lowering it. “Don’t you have a role here at the Citadel?”