“Yes, I'm sure you feel somewhat pleased seeing me in this crippled state. But I'm also guessing, right about now, you're wishing that you had killed me. No?”
“It may have crossed my mind.”
His cane clicked against the floor as he took a few steps closer to her. “That's why you were never going to win, Retina. That's why you were never going to be able to protect your child.”
“Don't you dare talk about our child!” Connor growled as he tried to climb to his feet, right before a soldier knocked the back of his rifle into Connor's face.
“Oh, don't be so sensitive,” Spook said with a vicious cackle in his voice. “I think of myself as something of a parent, too, you know. Any true patriot does. The people of the American Republic, the clueless civilians that wander through their life, getting into all sorts of mischief without a care in the world... those are my children. Those are the people that I'm willing to do anything in order to protect. And not just them, but the ideals they represent. Just like any parent, I'm trying to raise the adult they might become someday. Does that make any sense?”
Lucy glared back at him and said, “Yeah, Spook. You've always made sense. Right up to the point where you apply logic to your arguments. You're a fascist that uses the idea of the greater good to defend your use of secrets and lies to manipulate the world. You're like... as bad as the Zharkovs.”
He slapped her with the back of his hand.
“I am nothing like the Zharkovs. I am protecting the freedom of our citizens, not some communist fantasy.”
“Those are just words,” Connor said. “Call it what you will. You use your power to keep others in line. You inflict your own sense of law and order because you can. Because you have the power to bend the will of the weak. What does that sound like to you?”
Spook was breathing heavy, trying to remain calm in the face of their attacks. He tilted his head back and forth like he was trying to relieve the tension building in his shoulders, then tapped his cane against the floor.
“I feel bad for you, trying so desperately to defend yourselves. But no amount of philosophical manipulation will alleviate the fact that you are, without a doubt, criminals. You are traitors to the Alliance. More than that, you are supervillains.”
Lucy rolled her eyes. “Would one of you throw me in the Pit so I don't have to listen to him anymore?”
“Oh no, Retina. You aren't getting off that easy. See, there was a time when we could have just ended your child's life and let you serve out a sentence, but you crossed a line. Lethal violence against a council member? That's treasonous at best.” Spook crossed the floor and leaned in so close to Lucy she could smell his breath as he said, “That's punishable by immediate execution.”
The soldiers around him all raised their rifles. Forty laser sights beamed across the room and landed on Connor and Lucy. Lucy glanced at Connor, whose eyes looked like they were shaking in his skull.
“Lucy...”
“Shh. It's going to be okay,” she said as tears streamed from her eyes. “I'll see you soon, okay?”
He forced a smile and nodded. “I'll see you soon.” He tried to stiffen his lip, to keep his mouth from losing control as he glanced at her belly and said, “I'll see you both soon.”
Lucy turned away from Connor, unable to face the pain he was showing. She turned her gaze back toward Spook and glared at him from her bloodshot eyes.
“Always remember this day, Spook. Remember the day you murdered a baby to uphold the laws of a dictator. And then see if you can convince yourself you're still a patriot.”
Spook twirled his hand in the air as if her words didn't affect him at all. “We must keep the wolves at bay in order to keep the flock safe. If I need to satisfy the whims of the Zharkovian Empire in order to uphold the freedom of the American Republic. So be it.”
Lucy knew then that nothing she could say would ever break through that man's delusions. Instead of fighting, she took a deep breath and readied herself for the end.
Spook opened his mouth to give the command, just as a thin stream of water burst through the hands of every soldier around him. Their guns fell to the floor as they screamed in pain. Spook turned toward the glowing doorway behind him and saw Mermaid stepping through, just before she punched him in the face. He fell backward, his head slamming into the floor in front of Connor and Lucy, where he laid unconscious.
The shock that ran through Lucy's body was a fearful hope. She didn't want to relax her state of mind just to be crushed again, but when Mermaid stepped over Spook and unshackled her arms, she felt her resolve weaken.
“What... what are you doing?”
“I'm getting the two of you out of here,” the old woman said with a smile as she helped Connor with his manacles.
“But... the Alliance... the Zharkovs...”
“The Zharkovs are dead, honey. The Empire has fallen. Whatever laws this maniac was talking about are out the window.”
When Mermaid turned, Connor grabbed onto her arm to stop her. “You're... really letting us go? We're free?”
Mermaid smiled back at him. “You were always free, dear. Don't let anyone tell you different.”
She stood up and walked back toward the glowing door, stepping over the room of soldiers groaning in pain without even glancing down at them.
“I don't understand,” Lucy said. “Why did you change your mind?”
Mermaid smiled again, looking bashful. “It wasn't about changing my mind. It was about remembering who I am, why I became a hero in the first place. All this killing and bloodshed so someone on a throne can sleep peacefully at night? That certainly isn't how I'm going to spend the last few years I've got left on this earth.”
Connor grabbed Lucy's hand and pulled her to his side, burying his head in her shoulder. They held each other, trying to allow their minds to accept what had just happened.
Mermaid glanced back over her shoulder one last time. “Would you two do something for me, please?”
Lucy looked up from her embrace and nodded her head. “Of course. Anything.”
Mermaid flashed them a smile and as she stepped through the portal with a wave goodbye she said, “Go be superheroes.”
36
MICKEY
The Grand Citadel was completely engulfed in flames, like a meteor that was stuck in the sky. It was beautiful in its glowing chaos, like a sign from a vengeful god declaring the end to everything.
Mickey pushed himself up, his arms weak from the years of pushing Andre across the Atlantic ocean. It was a strange thing, walking on immovable water, but as days passed without the sun moving, he grew used to the blanket of nothing that stretched out as far as he could see. The fear crept in as days turned to months. Fear that he wouldn't be able to speed time back up. Fear that he would be stuck in the void again. Yet there he was, watching Andre battle against the Zharkovian boy. All that time alone would be worth it if they could save Carmen. Maybe the world.
But his hope drained quickly. The boy was too powerful. Andre was thrown around like he was nothing, a mere nuisance to the super-powered child. Mickey tried to get up, to help him, but he was so drained, his muscles aching. As his legs wobbled underneath him, and he took his first step toward the spot where his friends laid together, he realized it was too late. He saw the blood. He saw their broken bodies. He saw the end draw near.
When Andre screamed and the flash of red erupted from Carmen, Mickey didn't even think about what to do next. It was as if his body was kicking into a primal survival instinct that needed to preserve him.
Time slowed to a crawl.
Mickey's legs, one step at a time, pushed him across the beaten earth that was full of bloody craters. By the time he reached his friends, the sphere of red energy was crackling from Carmen's torn apart body, already engulfing Andre's arms, his face. He was disintegrating in front of Mickey. Even with time slowed, he was too late. He watched them both become swallowed by the heat of the exploding star within Carmen's body, and he began to cry.
In that moment, he gave up. He let time crawl forward, waiting for the sphere of heat to swallow him too. Perhaps they'd all find each other in the next life. Perhaps then they could find peace.
But then, through the nearly blinding light of the explosion, he saw a tiny form. Glowing red hot, still held in a melting womb, was Carmen and Maksim's baby. Only a month from birth, the child was fully formed, already stretching out its arms as the ball of light erased its mother from existence. Her power did not harm the child. It remained there as the ball of light inched outward, growing in intensity. He would never consider touching a normal baby when he was affecting time, the slightest touch could cause so much kinetic energy it would obliterate them, but this was a Zharkov.
Mickey did not pause to consider anything else. The baby in front of him represented more than he could possibly imagine. His arms reached out, his skin melting on the bone as he thrust them into the ball of heat and latched onto the child, pulling it from the exploding star as quickly as he could. With legs that barely wanted to move, he ran, holding the child in his crippled arms, now black and scarred.
It took him months to outrun the blast. Carmen's star swallowed nearly the entirety of the Western seaboard, boiling the ocean that bordered it. He ran east, toward the farmlands and mines of the Fatherlands, but he didn't dare stop. Ever encroaching, the explosion followed him, moving a centimeter at a time. He watched as it burned away trees and buildings, erasing millions of lives in its wave of heat. Every man, woman, and child caught in its blast was disintegrated. The death toll became so overwhelming, he felt numb as the days stretched on.
When the day arrived that he saw the blast of energy dissipate behind him, burning away the last remnants of the world it had encompassed, he finally stopped running. He found a small cluster of trees and sat down among them. As he exhaled, time sped up. He heard the sounds of the explosion ending in the distance, and the cries of the baby in his arms.
He knew he only had a few moments before he would have to stop time again. He would need to find a doctor, and gather Lucy and Connor, to make sure they were all safe. But he needed to hear that baby scream. He needed to hear the life that Carmen had created. For all the death and destruction he had seen, for all the things that had come to an end, for just a few moments, he wanted to hear the future.
37
MERMAID
The glow of the portal faded from the door behind her as she stepped back into Power Tower. Voyager gave her a salute from her station in the room of doors and the spherical chrome robot floated across the room toward her.
“Greetings, Mermaid. I trust your mission was a success?”
Mermaid continued walking as the robot buzzed alongside of her. “Let's just say I accomplished my goal. Send a unit of soldiers through the portal to deal with the injured and place Spook under arrest. There is to be no interference with Connor Ford nor Lucy Grae.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
“Is everything I asked for ready?”
“The broadcast center is ready and waiting. We were unable to contact the state-run media officials for the proper clearance, but in light of recent events, we were able to waive the authorizations.”
“With the Empire gone, I believe there will be a lot of 'waiving' of laws. Which makes this even more important.”
Mermaid continued her march through the halls, nodding at the few passing heroes she encountered. The Tower had been filling back up since the war ended, and more were expected soon. A reorganization of the Alliance was needed. There were empty council chairs to fill. Her to-do list felt infinite, yet also full of possibilities.
When Mermaid stepped into the broadcast center, a desk had been setup for her, with the American Republic flag hanging behind it. A series of cameras were facing the desk, their lights blinking red, awaiting her command. She slowly sat down behind the desk, glanced over her shoulder at the flag that would fill the screen around her, and took a deep breath. She took a moment to collect her thoughts, then nodded at the cameras. Every blinking red light in front of her changed to a solid green.
“Good evening, fellow citizens of the world. I am Eleanor Abraham, known to many as the superhero Mermaid. No doubt you have already heard news of the devastating explosion in the Fatherlands from the daughter of Plasmax. It feels like it was only a few short years ago that this same kind of explosion erased most of North America, though perhaps that's just my old age.”
Mermaid glanced down at her hands, the wrinkles folding against each other as she wrung her fingers together.
“I know that many of you are scared and confused, wondering what this means for our world. For so long, we have looked to the Fatherlands, to the Imperator, to the Zharkovs, for guidance and order. With the heart of the Empire seemingly wiped from the globe, where do we look now? Who will lead us into tomorrow?”
A knowing look appeared in her eyes, one that was darker than she may have intended.
“I'm sure there will be many men and women eager to step into this role, eager to raise their own empire, one that reflects their own image and ideals. They will claim that the strength of their super powers gives them the right to rule over those who are weaker. There are already those that call themselves Domini, feigning control in a world that was actually run by one family. Some have even claimed that our own Alliance of Heroes was just another version of this. A claim that I fear may be truer than I want to accept.”
She inhaled deeply through her nose, trying to recenter her thoughts, her focus.
“It is exactly this concept that I am here to urge our world away from. The idea of handing over your life, your nation, your very soul to someone because of the power they were born with, cannot be the future of our world. These abilities do not grant us titles. They do not grant us crowns and thrones at the moment of our birth. Super-strength does not make a king.”
A small, knowing smile appeared on her lips.
“It is our actions that we should be judged upon. It is our ideals, our convictions, our triumphs of righteousness that should elevate us to a position of leadership. The people we guide should seat us in our place of governing, not our birthright. These powers should weigh on us, should demand responsibility, not grant us omnipotence or infallibility.”
She leaned forward, her words moving her own heart, which urged her voice louder.
“There used to be a time when being a superhero was something people aspired to. Donning a cape and costume meant more than just celebrity status. We used to inspire people, not demand their obedience. We used to save people, responding to their calls for help instead of just punching that which could cause harm. We used to be better. We used to be good.”
Mermaid placed her hands flat on the table.
“Today, I'm asking all people of the earth who were born with super powers to no longer look at themselves as bearers of mass destruction. I want you to look at yourselves as bearers of creation. I want you to hold yourself to a higher ideal than all those who came before you. I want you to ask yourself, not what throne your super powers can give you, but what your super powers can give to the world.”
She leaned back in her chair, her hands still firmly placed on the desk in front of her.
“We must all unite, those with super powers and those with the abilities of mortal men, to fight injustice and terror. To shed the shackles of dictatorship and tyranny. To walk hand in hand toward the brightness of tomorrow, and leave behind the darkness of today.”
Her smile grew large, like a proud mother seeing her child succeed.
“I speak to you not from a domain of imperial rule, but the free nation of the American Republic. We may no longer be an empire, but we are still one world. We are united in our struggles and our triumphs. We share our prosperity and our poverty, together. For our glory will not come from the devastation of others, but the achievements of all people.”
She glanced up at the flag that hung behind her, then back at the camera.
&nbs
p; “In the coming days, when you look for someone to guide you, to lead you into this new era, I want you to look to yourselves. I want you all to be the leader you need, the harbinger of that which the world needs. Guide those around you, and follow their lead. Unify. Become a tribe, a community, a nation of one.”
She took a deep breath and smiled into the camera.
“And so, I have one last thing to say to every man, woman, and child around the globe who can hear my words.” The cameras followed her as she rose from her seat and declared, “Welcome to our new world.”
EPILOGUE
Lucy leaned on Connor, her legs burning from the hike up the mountain path. Connor wrapped his arm around her back and let her lean against him. She offered him a smile, letting him know she was doing her best, and wrapped her other arm under her growing belly, trying to offer it some support.
“Maybe we should take a break,” Connor called out.
Mickey stopped and pushed his long gray hair out of his eyes as he glanced over his shoulder and said, “It isn't much further.”
Lucy nodded and said, “I can make it.”
“Just don't push yourself. We don't need you going into labor halfway up a mountain.”
Mickey pulled the glowing red child he held in his bandaged arms a little closer, adjusting the blanket they had fashioned out of the heat resistant material they found in Doctor Chem's lab. The flares of heat from the glowing baby's body had proved difficult and the days had grown long on the boat across the ocean, but the child always seemed content, its eyes searching its surroundings, like it was taking everything in. Lucy hoped her own baby would be half as well tempered as Carmen's.
They kept pushing on, climbing the rocks that eventually formed into steps, a staircase that looked like it hadn't been used in decades. Finally, when Lucy was about to give up, she heard Mickey call out from a few yards ahead of them.
“There it is!”
Fear the Empire Page 24