Blackjack Messiah

by Ben Bequer

  I turned my head in Apogee's direction, thankful that Epic reached her. He and his Legion were forming a front line, along with the stronger members of Battle and the All-Stars, holding back the tide of villains. Epic barked an order and Bajeera left their ranks, helping a wobbly Apogee to her feet.

  "It's not healing fully," Dixie said, drawing my attention. "We need to get him into a healing cradle." If the wound was too much for her powers, then I knew I was in trouble. The problem was, we were all in bigger trouble if I didn't finish what I had started. "Templar, get him out of here.”

  "No," I shouted, grabbing at them to help myself up. "No evac, no healing cradle."

  Ricochet knelt next to me, "Dude, you're going to die."

  Using his shoulder as leverage, I sat up, "Help me outside," I said.

  "Blacks, man - you're crazy."

  I took a handful of his shirt and pulled him closer, "We have to stop him, Rico. If not, this is all for...nothing."

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  Bleeding All Over the Place

  “He who? Primal?” I didn’t need to answer. Ricochet’s face turned deadly serious. "What can I do?"

  "Get me on my feet."

  Templar and Ricochet got me to my feet, Haha’s remaining servos trying to make up for what I lacked in strength. I gritted my teeth against the pain as Dixie continued to work on me. Blood flowed with ease through the plates in Haha’s armor, down my legs, and collecting in a small pool on the ground. Powermaster ran up to us, noticing the flowing wound on my stomach, "Can't you heal him, Dixie?"

  She shook her head, "I did my best. That's the strangest injury I've ever seen. It's fighting against me."

  "Let's get him out of here," Powermaster said.

  "He says he's not done," Ricochet said.

  "I think I saw him go that way," I said, pointing in the direction of the same archway I had used to enter the cathedral. Now in chaos, the villains, heroes, and Chosen were doing battle, with the good guys forming a circle around where I had fallen and pushing out to gain ground. In the madness, I kept one eye on Primal, knowing he was the end game. "We have to stop him, Terry.”

  "Stop who?"

  "Primal," Ricochet said. "He's going to bring down the island."

  They half carried me as we chased after Primal. Dixie used her power to dull the pain and boost me enough that I could move at a swift walk, but even that would have been too slow. Templar called it out on comms and let Epic and the others know where we were going. The big guy even offered to come, but I thought it a bad idea - he'd tussled with Primal the last time, and was the reason he was in Utopia when Dr. Zundergrub busted up the place.

  As we left the cathedral, Templar left me to Ricochet and Powermaster, taking point with his holy sword leading the way. The hallway led back to the main antechamber where a tunnel bored through the rock wall leading to nothing. "That way," I said.

  We continued down the dark rocky tunnel, lit only by the glow from Templar's sword and light Haha produced from my armor. A sharp breeze rushed through the tunnel, blowing my long hair out behind me and Ricochet giggled. I sneered at him, but I couldn’t keep it up, chortling through the pain. Haha did most of the work carrying me, while Ricochet kept me from pitching over. His attention turned to my blood-stained midsection. "I'm fine," I told him.

  "That doesn't look fine," Powermaster said. He had some of my blood staining his hands and chest.

  "He's right, Blackjack," Haha chimed in. "In fact, you've lost about a liter and a half of blood. I sense you’re anxious and confused due to blood loss. Your pulse is weak and your blood pressure is decreasing. The worst part is that the wound seems to be fighting your body's efforts to heal. There is an undefined magnetic resonance that is eradicating white blood cells and platelets at the source."

  "That sounds bad, Blackie," Ricochet said.

  "It is," Haha said. "I am doing everything I can to provide an external compress, but the internal bleeding is massive. I don't know how long you'll last, Blackjack."

  "Why don't you let us handle this guy?" Powermaster said.

  "They are quite skilled," Haha said.

  "Who is that?" Powermaster said.

  "A friend," I said.

  "Is that Haha?"

  "Hello, Powermaster. We finally meet in the flesh, as it were."

  "You two know each other?" I said.

  "Haha sent the video - you know, the one where you're getting tortured. We didn’t need the extra motivation."

  "I never doubted you guys," I told Powermaster. "And don't worry. I got this. Just get me there."

  I could feel my breathing growing ragged, every step a chore, and wondered if I did indeed "have it," or if I should listen to Ricochet. Templar was worth five of me right now, but in a straight fight against Primal, he’d be overmatched. It would take every hero to stop him, and beating him didn’t guarantee he wouldn’t drop the island.

  Templar stopped at the mouth of the tunnel as four Chosen came into view. One of them powered up an aura that splashed hard white light across the tunnel walls. He fired a beam at us as the other three charged. Templar laughed, pointing his sword in their direction. The blast curved away from us as if Templar's sword was emitting a magnetic field that repelled it. The beam carved a furrow into the cave wall. It sizzled past us as it died. "Step aside," he said, his voice cutting through howling winds.

  If the Chosen heard, they didn’t act like it, picking up their pace. I let Ricochet lean me against the wall as Powermaster moved to join Templar. Templar held up a closed fist, and both men held their place. I could feel Powermaster’s objection about to hit the air when Templar said, “Keep Blacks safe.”

  Powermaster was ready to disobey when Ricochet laid a hand on his shoulder. “Watch this.”

  "Fools! I am Templar!"

  I'd seen him fight before. He might’ve looked like a surfer kid out of some California beach, sunburned with long, flowing hair, but once he got that sword moving, he was Hell on Earth. The first Chosen flanked right and the second went left, with the trailer coming down the middle. Templar swung a wide blow that cut across them. It was an early swing, and not meant to hit anything. Instead, a compression wave formed from the trailing edge of his blade, sweeping into his enemies with enough force to scatter them back into the ground.

  "Last chance to surrender," he said. The Chosen picked themselves up off the floor as the blaster with the energy aura joined them. They spread in the narrow tunnel, clearly thinking that the big sword wouldn’t be much of a threat in cramped quarters.

  "Need me?" Ricochet said.

  "I'm not even going to bloody my sword," he said, summoning a vortex of energy around him that turned into a gale of pulsing power radiating from his body. The tattoos that covered his body came alive glowing with a blinding radiance. The dark, rocky tube was illuminated so that we could see every detail with not a single shadow remaining.

  The Chosen tried to move in his direction, but the force was too strong. They clawed at the ground to keep from being pushed back but the winds increased, split through with raw energy coming from Templar. He landed and started walking in their direction, pushing them back like helpless birds in a hurricane. Behind him, the winds were strong, but light in comparison. Powermaster and Ricochet helped me forward, following Templar as he swept the way clear for us.

  A bright light ahead signified the end of the tunnel. The winds pushed the four Chosen away, battering them against the walls until they swept out of the tunnel into a broad plaza of rock. Templar's wind effect was made more powerful by the narrow confines, but once they were clear, the Chosen quickly recovered and made ready to attack us.

  "Come on," Powermaster said, sitting me on my knees.

  I wish I would have had a camera to record the three heroes against the four Chosen. Ricochet and Templar had hundreds of hours of practice and dozens of fights together, always gravitating toward each other - partners to the end - so watching them go to work as a team was a s
ight to behold in and of itself. What surprised me was how well Powermaster gelled with them.

  Templar charged, with surprising speed, into the two enemies on the right. Thrusting straight at the closest one, Templar got into close range of both men, blocking and parrying every blow, in control of the whole situation. Ricochet rushed back to the tunnel, slamming into the lip of the wall. He bounced off with brutal force, racing past me in a blur, and crashing into the first of the two other Chosen. Bone cracked as he sent the Chosen reeling towards the edge of the plaza. His buddy jumped in the air, about to land on Ricochet, who had already bounced off, heading into one of the two fighting Templar.

  The jumper landed and looked up at Powermaster, rushing him. I forced myself to my feet, knowing that the Chosen were stronger and deadlier than he realized, but Powermaster crouched and fired off a blast that caught him in the chest. The Chosen shrugged it off, but that was Powermaster’s equivalent of a jab because the next dozen shots were all pinpoint accurate, aimed at the legs and hips. The Chosen never stood a chance, losing his balance before crumpling into a heap. He was still breathing, but not moving aside from a random twitch.

  Templar danced with his foe, batting away the Chosen’s strikes with the flat of his blade. He was playing with his food, but the Chosen didn’t realize it, his efforts growing more ferocious as Templar opened his guard. The Chosen was trained and strong, but completely outclassed. Templar could have sliced him to ribbons but drew him in tight before sweeping the blade in a wide arc that drove the Chosen back. The poor guy didn’t even realize what was happening until it was too late. A portal opened behind him, leading somewhere I had never seen, a barren waste colored in crimson and orange. Heat kissed my skin and sulfur tickled my nose as he kicked the Chosen through, walking away before the portal closed.

  Ricochet had his opponent laid out on the floor. He had thrown a pebble in the air behind him and was rebounding between it and the Chosen over and over, a dozen times a second. The pebble seemed to float in the air as he channeled all of his kinetic energy on the Chosen. Each blow was a jackhammer, more than even the enhanced Marine could handle. I saw through the rain of punishment as his nose broke, a tooth went flying, then he was still. Ricochet put another dozen shots into him before he realized the guy was out. It was like an MMA fight with a bad ref who let a fallen fighter take too much punishment.

  The final Chosen, the energy sheathed blaster, took aim at Powermaster. "Come on, Haha," I said as Haha deployed the full armor. It was more formidable now after he'd harvested materials in our travels through the station. The shield was large, but not tower sized, and the axe was the size of a polearm, something Templar would have been comfortable with. I clanged axe against shield, drawing everyone’s attention. “Hey poser, time for the main event.”

  The Chosen stood and charged me. The others tried to intercede, but I shook my head. They held back as the Chosen stopped ten paces from me and fired. He poured all of his energy into it, and I could feel the heat on my forearm behind the shield. Sparks shot over the top of the shield and orange spots began to show as it melted.

  I waited him out, standing in the nastiest pose I could, shield forward, the axe ready to strike. I thought he would tire out, but small fissures were appearing all over the metal disk. I got ready to charge when a figured roared past me in a blur, slamming into the guy. The impact sent the Chosen soaring off the island, and Ricochet stood there in his place. "Fuck him.”

  The next second, Haha's hold on me faded and my armor began to spark. "I'm s-s-sorry, Black....J-j-jack," he said as I stumbled to my knees. His voice was a modulated mess, warbly and incoherent. "Having diff-pulties-s-s..with am all....this appro-pri-ated-ted-ted...tech."

  Rico tried to help me, but without the servos helping him, I was too heavy. Templar created a portal under the last two Chosen, sending them...somewhere, before joining Ricochet and Powermaster as they helped me to my feet.

  "Come on, now it's time to evac," Templar said.

  I shook my head, feeling my mouth dry, my eyes blurry.

  "B-b-blackjack," Haha said, spurting and sparking on my wrist. "More b-b-bloodloss and..."

  The screen blacked out to a thin line to that went dark. Without Haha holding it together, the armor fell to the ground in a pile. I tore the gauntlets off and tossed them aside, grabbing for the boots, but I couldn’t reach them. "Get this shit off me," I said, pawing at my feet.

  Rico knelt beside me and grabbed me forcefully. "Dude, you're going to die if you keep bleeding out!"

  "Don't be stupid, bro," Templar said.

  I got the boots off, the pile of armor ankle high as I stood. Dixie’s power was wearing off, the wound in my gut burning with every move. Blood dribbled out of the puckered wound, and everything below my waist felt slick and sticky. The most unnerving thing was how warm the injury felt compared to the rest of me. I couldn’t quite remember ever feeling that cold.

  "What are you doing, Dale?" Powermaster said. His voice had taken on a fuzzy, far away quality.

  "It's...it's not over," I said, coughing, and pointed out to the end of the plaza. Standing on a dais that overlooked us was Primal.

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  Primal

  Primal faced away from us, and where Father Mike sought acclaim, this guy looked like he wanted to be left alone. He still wore his dark overcoat, and though there was something regal about the guy, I could tell from his posture that he was tired. He knew we were there, hero battles were rarely quiet, but he hadn’t dropped the island. I assumed he made the tunnel to escape before murdering us all, but he stood there waiting. As if he was getting one last look.

  "What are you going to do?" Ricochet said. "You can't even walk!"

  "I have to call it, Dale," Powermaster said, getting in front of me. "We have other people that can negotiate with the guy. I can't let you go."

  My breathing was heavy, and I could hear the blood pounding in my ears. I rubbed a hand across my face and it came back drenched in sweat. I shook my head and Powermaster’s eyes narrowed in dismay. For a moment, I thought he might knock me out for my own good. He could’ve done it. Any of them could have at that moment. I put my hand on his shoulder, "This one's for me, Terry."

  He lowered his head, knowing I was right. I had history with the guy. Powermaster stepped aside and let me pass. Ricochet and Templar flanked him. Nobody thought this was a good idea, but they were going to let me do it. "He touches you, and I cut his face," Templar said.

  I stepped away from them, channeling every ounce of energy into my legs, focusing on one step, then the next. It took all my concentration to keep from falling to the deck, and the only thing I wanted was to make it to Primal. More than anything I'd ever wanted, I wanted to do this one thing. Whatever happened after that didn’t matter.

  The winds were brutal, growing harsher as I got closer to the steps leading up to Primal. He watched me from the corner of his eye, finally turning to face me. His face was dark, downcast, and from his glare, I could only envision this ending one way, he was going to crush me to death. I just hoped to get a few words in before he did.

  I stopped, feeling a massive wave of nausea hit me and heard a cry behind me. Powermaster was trying to walk towards me, held back by Templar. Looking back at them, I saw the trail of smeared blood I left behind with every step. Powermaster and I looked at each other a moment, and I gave him a little nod. It was the only way I had to thank him. This was for him, and for his people, for Esther and the girls, and for the rest of the All-Stars fighting for their lives somewhere in the citadel. And for Apogee, also back in the cathedral. If not for her, I wouldn't be here.

  I gritted my teeth and started back toward Primal, who shaped the rock around him, lowering his platform and consuming the steps as he descended. It cut the distance I had to travel by a lot and those steps...I wasn't sure I could make those steps. As I got closer, he put his hands into his wool coat, the same one he wore when we first met.

  "Y
ou don't look so good, Blackjack," he said.

  When he was done manipulating the rock, the plaza’s edge was a few yards behind him, with a fancy railing. The gusts rolled in with such ferocity that I had to widen my stance to keep balanced. "I've looked worse," I said, continuing past him until I could lean on the railing. That helped a lot.

  "I can probably close that up," he offered, following me to the railing.

  I looked over the side at North America below. The cloud cover was dense, but here and there, a spot of green would pop up. "Doesn't matter if you're planning what I think you're planning."

  "I told them what would happen," he said. "No point in making a threat if you're not going to follow through."

  I laughed and the sharp stabbing feeling inside made me instantly regret it. "Don't be silly," I said. "You talk like you’re disciplining a child."

  “They are children."

  Needling pain pierced my guts spreading across my midsection into the small of my back. My mouth was dry, but the coppery taste of blood and salt coated my tongue and the roof of my mouth. I leaned hard into the railing, forcing myself not to touch the gaping wound. If I did, the pain would knock me out, and that would be the end of me. "Maybe they are," I said. "Maybe we're beyond redemption, but who made you God?"

  Primal didn't answer.

  "Besides, there's no such thing as too far gone, Primal. Not you, and not me."

  "Why are you doing this?" he asked.

  My legs shook with the effort of holding my weight. My thoughts were a boat lost on the ocean, every stray wave threatening to capsize them. Putting words together was difficult, and I felt color draining from my surroundings. "Because...because there are people I love back there," I groaned, gesturing to the citadel. "And down there."

  "I don't know," he said. "A lot of people hate you down there."

  "Maybe," I said. "But I don’t need them to love me. I need to keep them safe."