by James Maxey
“Truly?” he said with a smirk. “There is value in prayer, even when there are no answers for the question you ask. Cherish your newfound wisdom while you may.”
“Oh, I will,” I said, as Jenny reached me. “So, as near as I can tell, sound has no trouble at all getting through his force field.”
Jenny clenched her fists, drew back her shoulders, and started singing “Amazing Grace” at the top of her lungs.
The Prime Mover laughed. “I’ve walked through hell, child. You truly think fire will vanquish me?”
“She doesn’t really need to vanquish you,” I said, as the Eden seed glowed bright red, before bursting into a ball of flame.
Prime Mover dropped the burning seed, jumping back, shouting, “No!” The flame died out as the remnants of the Eden seed smoldered on the ground.
Chem Queen knelt over Arc, waving her fingers under his nose. He coughed, his face wrinkling in disgust, and sat up suddenly.
“What?” he asked, still coughing.
“Smelling salts,” said Chem Queen. “Prodigy told me you’d know how to get rid of a force field.”
“Yep,” said Arc, pointing his hand at the Prime Mover, who was kneeling over the smoking remains of the seed, looking as if he still hoped to save it.
The pale light surrounding the Prime Mover grew brighter, then brighter still. With a sizzling sound it broke into a shower of sparks.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Sacrifice
Harry’s Story
The Prime Mover took a deep breath, no doubt getting ready to turn us all into toads or something. I was already in the air, throwing myself at him, grabbing him by the face. My hand clamped over his mouth before he could utter a syllable. He scratched at my fingers as I jerked him off his feet. I slammed his head into the concrete, once, twice, three times. Sure that he wasn’t moving anymore, I dropped him, wiping blood from my hands onto my fur. He gurgled, blood bubbling from his nose. He was still breathing. I wasn’t sure if I was happy or sad about that.
There was a loud “Ooof!” as Smash Lass suddenly unfroze from where she hung in midair and fell to the ground.
She got up, brushing grit from her outfit. “Man, an all-black uniform is impossible to keep clean. I’m definitely going back to my old costume.” She looked at me and grinned. “I could see and hear everything. What a baller move. You just beat the crap out of the Prime Mover!”
She raised her hand for a high five. I raised my hand and slapped hers. Only later did I realize I was lucky not to break every bone in my hand.
The ground beneath us shook in the aftermath of our hand slap, but I didn’t think we were the cause.
“Was that us?” I asked.
“Golden Victory is still slugging it out with War!” Arc shouted. “The force of their blows is tunneling them into the bedrock. The shockwaves are like an earthquake!”
“Right,” I said, looking at the skyscrapers filling the skyline as they swayed like trees in the wind. “What, exactly, are we supposed to do about that?”
“I’ll go pitch in!” said Smash Lass. “Between Golden Victory and me—”
“You won’t even dent him,” said Arc. “That neutron star armor of his shrugs off everything. You’ll just make the shockwaves even worse.”
“I can gas him,” said Chem Queen.
“He travels through space. He doesn’t need to breathe.”
About this time, a big pink ball landed on the plaza beside us, then bounced back up, a hundred yards high. It started to fall again and I held out my arms. The ball changed into Nimble and I caught her.
“I was kind of far away, but it looked like you took out the Prime Mover,” she said.
“We all did our part,” I said.
“And it’s going to take teamwork to stop War,” said Arc.
“You have a plan?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said. “We find Retaliator and find out what his plan is.”
Retaliator was presently standing near the edge of the pit where the fight was unfolding, studying the action. Prodigy and Echo stood by his side. We raced across the plaza and as we neared, Nimble shouted, “What’s the plan?”
“This is the plan,” said Prodigy, holding up a black golf ball.
“We’re going to challenge War to golf?” I asked.
“This is an entrapped black hole,” said Prodigy. “We need to get it into a gap in War’s armor. If we can break through the black hole’s containment shell, the singularity should gobble up the horseman.”
“I tried breaking the shell earlier,” said Echo. “My most powerful explosion didn’t crack it.”
“The data I analyzed after that blast leads me to believe that was nowhere near your most powerful explosion,” said Prodigy. “Tempo didn’t keep you isolated from the flow of ordinary time long enough.”
“But Anyman is gone now,” said Echo.
“We could free the real Tempo from Malebolge,” I said.
“Or we can just take advantage of the time dilation generated by the black hole itself,” said Prodigy. “Arc, you can probably see the time dilation field surrounding the singularity.”
He nodded. “I see it, but it’s tiny.”
“Can you magnetically expand it?”
“I can try,” he said.
“Then it’s your move, Doppelganger,” said Prodigy, tossing her the golf ball. “We have one shot at this. If they keep fighting, they’ll eventually break through the bedrock and into the mantle. New York will be destroyed by the resulting volcano.”
“Okay,” said Echo, staring at the ball. “What do we have to lose?”
“New York City,” said Prodigy. “Weren’t you paying attention?”
“Right, said Echo, triggering one of her laser bracelets to sever her arm. The second her popped up before us, nearly falling into the crater before I caught her.
“Thanks,” she said, giving me a kiss on the cheek. “It would have been embarrassing to accidently kill myself before marching off to die.”
Jenny gave me an ugly look.
Then Echo’s doppelganger was grabbed by Nimble and twanged off into the pit. They went down a long way, then seemed to be moving in slow motion, before they stopped completely.
“I’ve expanded the time dilation,” said Arc, beads of sweat on his forehead. “Not sure how long I can hold it.”
“Is Nimble going to be okay?” asked Smash Lass. “She’s got to be experiencing different tidal forces, not to mention different time rates, between her head and her feet while she’s stretched out like this.”
“Nimble’s body can take the abuse,” said Retaliator.
“And you would be the expert when it comes to abusing her body,” said Chem Queen.
“What?” asked Retaliator, giving her a murderous look.
“Jenny says you sleep with Nimble even though you know she’s been brainwashed. What a perv!”
Retaliator stepped forward before anyone could react and punched Chem Queen right in the mouth. She fell to the ground, eyes rolling in her head.
“She wasn’t wrong,” said Jenny, jumping between Retaliator and Chem Queen. “You may as well punch me too. I know what you’ve done.”
Retaliator glared at her.
“Would someone care to explain to me what’s going on?” asked Smash Lass.
“Nimble came out of the Butterfly House,” said Jenny. “Her true memories have been erased. She’s been brainwashed to be a hero. But, if a person can be programmed like that, can they truly have free will? Retaliator knows that Nimble’s mind has been altered but sleeps with her anyway. He’s a pervert at best, possibly even a rapist.”
Retaliator balled his fists, but just stood there as I moved to Jenny’s side.
“Holy shit,” I said. “That is one heavy accusation you’re making.”
“And maybe right now isn’t the best time to be making it?” said Arc, his voice wavering. “I’m not sure how much longer I can keep the time dilation expanded.”
“
Two more seconds,” said Prodigy. “One… now!”
Arc dropped to his hands and knees, panting hard, his face dripping sweat.
Valentine opened her mouth, then closed it. “If the explosion is going to be that powerful, isn’t it going to destroy the city anyway?”
“No,” said Prodigy. “The density of the neutron armor and the black hole will create an implosion.”
“And, unshielded, won’t the black hole devour the Earth?” Smash Lass asked. “Why was this the plan again?”
Prodigy rolled her eyes. “Do you really think I haven’t planned for all of this? Magnetism is a much more powerful force than gravity. That’s why the tiny pull of a refrigerator magnet can defeat the gravitational pull of the entire earth. Arc will use his control over electromagnetism to guide the black hole out of our solar system.”
“I’m worn out from dilating time,” said Arc, still on his knees, his voice still strained. “But, if it has to be done, it has to be done.”
With a sound like a guitar string snapping, Nimble bounced back into her ordinary form. Only, it wasn’t quite her ordinary form. Her normally smooth, doll-like face was now covered in cracks and wrinkles.
“That was horrible,” she said. “It felt like forever! Doppelganger, you need to send your clone away now! She’s dying of thirst and in terrible pain!”
Echo put her hands over her ears and shouted into her headset, “Go away!”
Nothing happened.
“No boom?” asked Nimble.
“No boom,” said Prodigy. “Implosion, remember? Any sound or shockwaves have been sucked into—”
She was cut off as Arc suddenly gasped, falling to his side, clutching his chest. “I… I can’t hold it… the magnetic storm is… is…” His body went slack as his face turned ashen.
“I’m on it!” said Smash Lass, leaping into the crater.
“Not necessary,” said Golden Victory, zooming skyward, holding a glowing orb the size of a grapefruit between his hands. “I’ll get this thing a safe distance from Earth.”
“So, now we’re all getting cancer,” said Prodigy, staring at readings on her arm monitor as Golden Victory boomed through the sound barrier on his race out of the atmosphere. “That thing was giving off gamma rays like crazy.”
“Seriously?” asked Jenny. “Cancer?”
“Unless I find a cure,” said Prodigy. “I’d been wondering what I should do with my next free weekend.” She frowned as she studied strings of numbers flowing across the tiny screen on her forearm. “I didn’t have precise mass estimates for War’s armor. It’s not enough to stabilize the black hole. I’m afraid the radiation pressure is going to be unleashed in an explosion like nothing we’ve ever seen before. Let’s hope that Golden Victory has got it beyond the Van Allen belt so that the gamma rays don’t sterilize this side of the planet.”
“Simon!” Retaliator screamed into the radio woven into his mask. “Throw that thing while you can!”
“I’ll never escape the black hole’s gravity well,” said Golden Victory. “Every mile I put between me and Earth buys you a better chance of surviving the blast.”
“Don’t do this!” said Retaliator. “We didn’t save you from aliens just so you could sacrifice—”
“I’m not sacrificing anything,” said Golden Victory. “If I don’t survive this, it’s been an honor to serve beside the rest of you. I’ve no regrets at all. Tell Laura that I—”
There was a flash and the sky filled with sheets of pastel light.
“No,” Retaliator said, his voice a groan.
Nimble went to his side and put her arm around him. I didn’t know what, exactly, was going on between them, but I could see compassion for him in her eyes.
“Maybe he’s not dead,” said Smash Lass, still watching the sky.
“Alien or not, he was a living being,” said Prodigy. “That much energy would have shredded any organic molecules. He couldn’t have survived that.”
We all fell silent. No words felt important enough to break the solemn quiet that settled over us. Of course, my phone started ringing.
“Who the hell is calling me?” I asked. “Everyone I know is right here.”
I looked at my phone, saw the ID, and realized that, no, not everyone I knew was here.
“It’s Blue Bee,” I said, lifting the phone to my ear. “Yeah, I can hear you. It does sound windy. The GPS in your Bee Wing says what?”
I looked at Retaliator and said, “She’s at the South Pole. Fortunately, her Bee Wing has a satellite uplink. Do we have a tachyon tube near there?”
Retaliator shook his head. “We’ll use our contacts in the navy to dispatch a chopper.”
I relayed the message. I listened to her response, then said, “She says don’t forget to call Davis. She’s not going to make it to tomorrow’s client meeting either.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Stockholm Syndrome
Echo’s Story
We got Arc to the hospital. He looked so frail and fragile that I almost forgot to be angry with him about the whole Butterfly House thing. I mean, it sounded like he’d gotten this whole brainwashing program started, and I was here to make sure that it got shut down. But it was hard to hate a man who had just helped save the world. Harder still to hate Golden Victory, who’d sacrificed himself to save us. Would I have done the same?
Compared to figuring out my complicated feelings, saving the world from the Prime Mover, War, a black hole, and a bunch of aliens seemed like the easy part of the day. I was completely exhausted as I followed the rest of the team back through the tachyon tube to Sea Base Seven. We hadn’t heard anything from Golden Victory. Prodigy was frustratingly confident that he was dead, but none of us had seen a body yet, so I wasn’t the only person who still secretly hoped he was okay. With Tempo in prison, Arc in the hospital, and She-Devil fighting some kind of war in hell according to Harry, Retaliator was the only one of the founding five left. He wasn’t making eye contact with any of us, but Nimble might as well have been invisible. He acted like he couldn’t even see her, and she just hovered around the edge of the group, looking like she had something to say, but not saying anything. Her face had healed from the damage the black hole inflicted, but she still had this weary, haunted look in her eyes.
I knew how she felt. Harry had his arm around Jenny’s shoulder. She had her arm around his waist. They kept whispering back and forth. I was the invisible girl, the person neither of them seemed to see. In addition to feeling invisible, I also felt blind. How had I not seen this coming? What made me think that Harry ever would have chosen me over her?
I felt like a damned idiot. I felt most of all like I needed to get the hell away from everybody, but when Retaliator growled that we were all to report to the conference room, I went. To my surprise, Atomahawk was waiting for us, sitting in his chair kind of slouched down, like it was taking all of his energy just to be there.
“Are you all right, dude?” asked Harry.
“I’ve felt better,” said Atomahawk.
“I’ve brought you all here to address the allegations made against me,” said Retaliator as we took our seats. He crossed his beefy arms. “The first thing I should confirm is that it’s true. Some of you have had your memories altered in the Butterfly House program.”
“And you were the lucky ones,” said Chem Queen. “Y’all got to be heroes. Some of us got turned into lame-ass villains whose only job was to be your punching bags.”
“Even with the advanced brainwashing techniques of the Butterfly House, it’s seldom possible to change a person’s core personality. Those of you who became heroes had life experiences that provided the right core value set. You possessed empathy, courage, and a willingness to work together in pursuit of a greater purpose. These are not universal qualities, Chem Queen. This doesn’t excuse what was done to you.”
“If empathy is a heroic quality, can you not begin to imagine how I feel?” asked Nimble, her voice barely audible.
“The past is past sounds ironic from someone who’s spent his whole life trying to avenge his father’s death,” said Jenny.
“Your point is taken,” said Retaliator. “Which is why I’m resigning.”
“What?” asked Atomahawk. “But… with Golden Victory gone, you’re our leader now. The chain of command—”
“Would ordinarily fall to Arc,” said Retaliator. “Then Anyman. With them out of commission, you’ll have to choose a new leader from among those of you who remain on the team.”
“Of course,” said Prodigy. “And logically, I—”
“I nominate Smash Lass!” Harry blurted out.
“I second the motion,” said Jenny, raising her hand. “All in favor?”
Nimble raised her hand. Atomahawk raised his hand. I didn’t know Smash Lass well, but I gave in to peer pressure and lifted my arm.
“Logically,” said Prodigy, continuing as if she hadn’t been interrupted. “Smash Lass possesses the courage and charisma we require in a leader. I’m glad the rest of you agree with my recommendation.”
“Don’t I get a say in this?” said Smash Lass. “I mean… I’m currently on leave. I’m still trying to process losing Elsa, and now with her father dead as well…”
“The work will take your mind off things,” I said. “And if you don’t lead us, who will?”
Prodigy opened her mouth to speak.
“Fine,” said Smash Lass. “So our first order of business is for someone to please tell me what the hell is going on with this Butterfly House stuff?”
“Retaliator probably knows more details of the program than anyone,” I said. I looked to where he’d just been standing. “Where did he go?”
“He slipped out when you were all looking at Smash Lass,” said Nimble. “You all think he’s got this semi-mystic vibe to him but once you know him you realize that half of his tricks could be pulled off by any semi-competent street magician.”