The Guardians Omnibus

by Damien Benoit-Ledoux

  Let the anger burn inside you…

  He glared at the flame and it grew a foot tall, flaming and flickering loudly as if it had been fed pure oxygen.

  He smiled wickedly and relaxed, allowing the candle flame to shrink back to normal. He brought his hands up in front of him and reached out, his fingers extended like claws. A moment later, flames erupted on his fingers.

  He cried out in surprise and waved his hands rapidly through the air. Then, as abruptly has he tried to put the fire out, he stopped moving and stared at his fingers.

  Wait, my hands didn’t catch on fire…they ignited…

  He focused, and a moment later, his hands ignited again. Though he felt heat, he felt no pain and saw no burn marks. He rotated and moved his hands around, altering and shaping the flame as he learned.

  “Hell yeah!” he exclaimed, flicking his fingers at the same time. Two fireballs leapt from his hands and traveled across the room, igniting one of his Star Wars posters.

  “Oh shit,” he cried out, panicking. The flames disappeared on his hands and he grabbed the pillows from his bed and repeatedly whacked them against the poster until the flames went out.

  He stood in shocked silence, glancing between his right hand and the burnt poster. Then, he picked up his phone and texted Quinn: I can make fire.

  2-9 | His Eyes Opened

  Quinn

  A WEEK PASSED. THE WIND whipped up Congress Street, penetrating and blowing through the cotton material of the navy-blue hoodie Quinn wore, He pulled the hood up over his head, wishing he had brought a jacket along. The late September air turned colder that day and he wasn’t prepared. Work had kept him unusually busy that week, and when he wasn’t working, he attended several track meets in the area.

  “Hey, Quinn!” Keegan called out from somewhere across the street.

  “Hi,” he answered, looking for his crush. A moment later, he saw a striking face jogging across the street toward him.

  “Hi, handsome,” Keegan said, smiling. He extended his arms and hugged Quinn.

  “Oh, you’re nice and warm,” Quinn said, shivering. I so wish we could cuddle right now…

  “We can go inside if you want,” Keegan said, pointing at the Starbucks coffee shop.

  Quinn regarded him with mischievous disdain. “Really? You think I’m going to go into enemy territory?”

  “It’s warm in there.”

  “Okay, you’re right, let’s go.” They laughed and made their way into the shop.

  Instead of heading for the counter, Keegan pulled Quinn to an empty table at the front of the store. “So, I uh, had something to ask you. I wasn’t sure if I should ask, given…well, I mean, you’ll see…”

  “Okay,” Quinn said, grinning.

  “Um…yeah…I’ve never done this before, and I’ll totally understand if you say no…like, I won’t take it personally or anything.”

  Quinn’s grin grew. I’ve never seen him so nervous and awkward like this…it’s usually me who fumbles for the right words. I like not being the awkward one for a change…still, he’s so adorable right now.

  Quinn smiled and reached across the table with his right hand and grasped Keegan’s left hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw an elderly woman look at them. He looked down at their hands, momentarily second guessing what he had done.

  Keegan paused and stared at their hands, too. Then, he looked into Quinn’s eyes and smiled. “Quinn, would you be my date at the Homecoming Dance next weekend?”

  Quinn’s stomach flip-flopped and the two ceramic coffee mugs on the table next to them cracked. Tears formed in Quinn’s eyes as his emotions surged and his heart pounded in his chest. A moment later, he felt woozy and lightheaded.

  He nodded and sniffled.

  “Yes,” he croaked, suddenly embarrassed at his cracking voice.

  “Aww,” Keegan said, smiling. “You’re so adorable when you’re nervous. I was so afraid you’d say no because you’re not out at school yet and I…”

  Quinn squeezed Keegan’s hand. “No, you’re adorable when you’re nervous, too. If I’m with you, I’ll be as out as I need to be.”

  Keegan’s smile grew even bigger. “Cool.”

  Then, Quinn’s face fell. “You’re not going to make me go to the football game, are you?”

  “Uh…” Keegan stammered. “I thought we…”

  “I’m just kidding. Of course I’m going to show my Clipper’s Pride!”

  “Oh, good,” Keegan said. “My friends were hoping we’d go to the game together. If your friends were going, maybe we could all sit together.”

  Outside the shop, a commotion distracted Quinn, his super hearing detecting screams and the frantic cries of running pedestrians.

  “Yes, definitely,” Quinn answered, half-paying attention to Keegan. Although he couldn’t see him, he heard a man’s voice yelling in the street, something about demanding to see Blue Spekter.

  Be smooth…figure out how Clark Kent or Bruce Wayne would have slipped away…

  He pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the screen. “I don’t mean to be rude, Keegan, but I have to…uh, go.”

  “Oh,” Keegan said, disappointed.

  “Sorry, I’m supposed to meet my dad, which is where I was going, and uh, that was five minutes ago. Could we study together tomorrow at school?” Quinn asked, standing.

  “Yeah, I’d like that,” Keegan said, smiling again.

  “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow, then. Uh, bye.” Am I supposed to kiss him? I never know what to do… He turned and walked as quickly as possible to the High Street exit of Starbucks. Behind him, he heard the elderly woman speak to Keegan with a thick, Staten Island accent. “You boys are so lucky these days. My grandson is like you, and I love him and his partner to pieces.”

  As soon as he was outside, Quinn ran down High Street toward the parking garage. Once inside, he ran at super speed up the stairwell to the top floor. He looked around to check for bystanders and when he saw no one, he jumped into the air and soared over the gap between the parking garage and the building that housed Starbucks and a number of other shops and residences. He landed on the roof and peered down at the situation on Congress Street.

  Now, police cars had come in from four directions—Daniel Street, Market Street, Pleasant Street, and even the wrong way up one-way Congress Street—to isolate Market Square. In the center of the Square, a crazed man wearing a vest with lots of colorful protein shaker bottles attached to it screamed at the top of his lungs for Blue Spekter to come. He held something in his hand, but Quinn couldn’t make it out. A number of pedestrians were still standing on the sidewalks, gawking at the man, unsure of what was going on. Some were even filming the spectacle with their phones from a mere twenty-feet away.

  Seriously people? Run!

  Looking further to his right, Quinn saw the Portsmouth bomb squad driving up Congress Street against the one-way. Chief Tina Applegate stepped out of the lead vehicle when it stopped. She wore some kind of flack or bulletproof vest. Quinn studied the other police officers—all of whom wore body armor.

  Oh man…

  Quinn swallowed and looked at the deranged man again. Using his super vision, he saw what he missed earlier—that each shaker was filled with some kind of gray material and lots of small wood screws. The shakers and the vest reminded of something he had seen in the movies.

  “Aw, crap,” Quinn said to the pigeons on the roof with him. “He’s wearing a homemade bomb.”

  “Hello, sir,” an officer spoke into a squealing megaphone. Quinn shook his head, momentarily caught off guard by its loudness. He adjusted his super hearing and focused on the man instead of the police.

  “I want that son-of-a-bitch to answer to me right now!”

  “Sir, we hear you. Who are you looking for?”

  “Blue Spekter! I want that glowing freak, Blue Spekter!”

  “Uh, we hear you, sir. You want to talk with Blue Spekter. Could you tell us why?”

 
Behind the man, Quinn saw two officers dressed in anti-bomb garb making their way toward him. This guy’s distracting him so those two can tackle him.

  “I want to know why he didn’t save my wife from that drunk driver! Why did she have to die instead of the man who fell from the bridge? Why did he choose him over her?”

  Oh man…

  Chief Applegate bent her head down and rubbed her temples with her hands. “Like we even know how to get a hold of the vigilante.”

  The negotiator fumbled. “Sir, we can try to locate him, but we don’t know how to…”

  “You find him!” the man screamed. “You find that blue devil or I let go of the trigger and go BOOM!”

  “Fall back, fall back, contact has a pressure trigger in his hand. Repeat, pressure trigger on scene, fall back.” someone said into a radio. Quinn saw the two bomb squad members approaching the man backtrack to safety.

  What do I do? What would happen in a movie? If this was a subplot, I’d fly over, grab the man, and toss him into the air or fly up with him so he couldn’t hurt anyone. The problem is, I have no idea if I’d survive the blast. If this was the main plot, I’d fly down to him and try to talk him out of blowing himself up. The trouble with that option is, I don’t know if I could reason with this nut job…

  Quinn stood tall. Making a decision, Quinn prepared to launch himself off the building. Well, Chief Applegate, it looks like you can’t do this one without Blue Spekter right now.

  Then, Quinn winced in pain, grabbing the side of his head, overwhelmingly aware of Blake’s proximity.

  ❖

  Blake

  What the hell is going on?

  People were screaming and yelling, running in every direction while tripping over one another and all the little dogs on leashes out for their afternoon poop walks.

  Victor checked his watch and pressed a finger against his ear. “There’s a madman downtown in Market Square. Apparently, he’s demanding to see…Blue Spekter. Something about not saving his wife from a drunk driver. The police have surrounded the area and the bomb squad is in play, but they’re not sure if the homemade bomb-vest he’s wearing is the only danger.”

  “In Portsmouth?” Blake asked incredulously. The two guards with them seemed nervous and fidgety. It might have been because they were ambling down Pleasant Street toward the danger.

  “Can you find Quinn with your sensing power?”

  “No, it doesn’t work like that. We can only sense each other when we’re in range.”

  “When will you be in range?” Victor asked.

  Blake shrugged and gestured with exasperation. “I have no idea. You assume I know where he is right now, but I don’t. The power grows by the week, increasing its range every day. When we’re in range, we’re keenly aware of the other’s location, but if we’re out of range, I got nothing.”

  “Blake, I want to see Quinn in action. Please text him and…”

  “Ow!” Blake shouted, grabbing the side of his head with his right hand. He squatted as pain overtook him for a few seconds, holding his breath as the sensation abated. “Dammit, that really hurt.”

  “What?”

  “Quinn’s here. I sense him now, but it’s like, more powerful than the first time this happened. I thought this thing was getting easier to deal with.”

  “Where is he?” Victor asked, his eyes scanning the ground.

  Blake pointed, searching for the words that would describe his proximate location to Quinn. “He’s over there, no…up there…from your perspective, he’s on the roof over Starbucks, I think.”

  “My perspective?”

  “Yeah, Blake said, standing. “Trust me, my awareness of Quinn is nothing like you’re used to. It’s more than just seeing or hearing him, it’s like an…awareness of exactly where he is. I know where he is in my head, but until I can match his surroundings with my eyes to what I sense in my mind, I’m not sure how to tell you where he is…but he’s that way, and up.”

  “Flying?”

  “No, standing. Well, recovering from this.”

  “You’re aware of what he’s doing?”

  “Only when we first detect each other. Then it fades to background noise in my mind.” He decided not to share the exact workings of the sensing power with Victor.

  “Interesting.”

  “Not really. It’s actually our least favorite ability because it’s pretty annoying, to be honest.”

  They rounded the corner and Blake’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and looked for Quinn on the rooftop. He spotted him and smiled, knowing Quinn’s super vision would see him. “Hello?”

  “You have to be with Victor, don’t you?”

  “Uh, yeah…why are you calling me?”

  “I need your help. I can’t do this one on my own.”

  Blake’s face fell flat. “I don’t want to…”

  “Shut up and listen to me. The man has some kind of pressure-trigger-detonator thing in his hand and if he lets it go, his bomb-vest blows up and takes out all these stupid people who have no clue of what’s going on. But, he’s asked for Blue Spekter and the police have been backed into a corner. I intend to give him what he wants, but only if you’ll help me.”

  Blake glanced over at Victor, who regarded him with intense curiosity.

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “I need you to get close enough and look at the thing in his hand. Then I need you to grab it with your telekinesis and hold it exactly as he has it in his hand, so I can fly him up into the sky. I’ll get the vest off him and toss it into the ocean, so he can’t hurt anyone.”

  “I’ll think about it,” Blake said flatly.

  “Are you kidding…”

  Blake pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at Victor. “Quinn wants me to be his sidekick and hold the detonator in the man’s hand with my mind.”

  Victor’s face twisted with frustration and he shouted at Blake, forgetting he was in public. “You need to get over that right now. You’re not his sidekick, you’re his equal. Go work with him and save this city.”

  Blake blinked and brought the phone back to his ear. “Fine.”

  “Thank you. I don’t have that power yet. I need you, Blake.”

  “I’ll raise my hand when I have the device.”

  “Okay, bye.”

  Blake pocketed the phone and took a deep breath. Victor grinned like a child on Christmas day and folded his arms across his chest, his eyes blazing with curiosity as he watched Blake.

  “Watch him, not me. This part isn’t exciting.”

  Victor spun around and watched the roof where Quinn was standing, but he was gone. “Where’d he go?” Victor asked, surprised.

  “Don’t worry, you’ll see him. He’s making a grand entrance.” Blake stared at the device in the man’s hand. He could sense the spring and mechanisms holding the trigger down. If it really was the detonator, he would have to hold it in place without letting the springs release their tension. He pulled his dark sunglasses out of his jacket pocket and put them on to hide his glowing eyes, pulling his sweatshirt hood over his head and shoving his hands into his pockets.

  Then, he took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, focused, and reached out.

  Crap. It’s got two triggers.

  Blake refocused his mind and sensed the triggers, one under the man’s thumb, the other his fingertips. He reached out and held the triggers in place.

  There’s no room for error, Blake.

  Then, he raised his left arm straight up over his head.

  A second later, people gasped and pointed into the air. The yelling man froze and looked up at the glowing blue man, eyes blazing, that soared up Congress Street, flying fifty-feet over the ground. Some of the police aimed their firearms at him, but Blake heard other officers tell them to stand down.

  “Tell me if I’m just getting in the way this time,” Blue Spekter said as he passed over Chief Applegate.

  “Blue Spekter,” the man yelled, b
ut it was too late. Blue Spekter rapidly descended and landed in front of the man.

  “Hi. Time to go.” Then, faster than the man could speak, Blue Spekter grabbed the man in a bear hug and flew straight up into the sky, taking the man away from the city and out of Blake’s sense of proximity.

  Blake wasn’t able to watch because the detonator hovered three feet over the ground where the man once held it. Blake slowly brought it to the ground, hoping everyone’s eyes were focused upward on Blue Spekter and the man in the sky.

  Police approached the detonator device with caution, and Blake became nervous. If they get a hold of that…come on, Quinn…hurry up.

  Blake sensed Blue Spekter returning to the earth with the crazed man. People were cheering and applauding.

  “You can let it go,” Victor said.

  Blake relaxed as the police picked up the detonator. His super hearing detected a faint explosion, but it seemed miles away. He let out a sigh of relief and felt the power fade from behind his eyes.

  Blue Spekter brought the man down to the two officers who had picked up the detonator. The bystanders erupted into applause and cheers as Blue Spekter turned the crazy man over to the police.

  “I think this guy belongs to that thing,” Blue Spekter said, shoving the man to his knees. Blake smiled, realizing his buddy was finally getting the superhero’s welcome he always wanted.

  “Stop him!” Chief Applegate yelled.

  The police drew their weapons and aimed at the glowing blue man.

  “Whoa, guys, I just saved you and all these people.”

  “You’re under arrest,” Chief Applegate shouted.

  Bystanders began booing and hissing at the police, telling them to back off. Blake booed with them, hoping they would back off.

  Chief Applegate glared at the crowd and then back at Blue Spekter. She frowned and waved the police off, recognizing she had lost the upper hand.

  Blue Spekter ascended, hovering several feet above the ground. “I’m on your side, guys…I’ll never willingly hurt you or this city. You have my word.”

  Blake applauded with the crowd as Blue Spekter soared high over their head and disappeared from view. Grinning, he turned to Victor, who grabbed him by the shoulders and challenged him.