“Who the hell are you?” I ask, pointing the particle beam at him. Kate is smart enough to port away from me, moving to where Frank is hiding behind Carlos’ poster bed. The cave has changed from its original construction. When Carlos became the Protector, Pythia made it more like a home. A bed, TV, kitchen.
Not-Luke takes a step forward, cracking his neck as he moves and growing even more massive. “The Child of Apollo figured it out too late to help him. I was here before your inferior race, before the gods. When they came they defeated me, throwing me into Hades. Their remnant”—he nods to Carlos—“was the only one who could stop me, but now he’s dead. You will be soon, either here or the next time we meet. Regardless of what you do, the Earth will be mine once again.”
I need to buy some time to come up with a plan that isn’t “run away.”
“How did you know what they were planning?”
Not-Luke grins mercilessly, sending a chill down my spine. His face was never meant for hate. “I’ve spent the last hundred years waiting for Pythia to die. Do you think I sat idle? Since I awoke I have placed eyes and ears everywhere. Now that the wench creation of Apollo, and his precious Protector, are gone, nothing can stand in my way, including you and your toys. Your “science” cannot stand before my might!”
I don’t feel like correcting him about Carlos. Then my stomach flops. Wedged into the wall next to the waterfall is the broken remains of the pod. He’s smashed it into a million pieces. Destroyed it beyond repair. I’ll have to build another one, and that could take a few days. If the future Frank saw comes to pass soon... we might not have the time.
The distraction costs me. Not-Luke takes a swing at me, but this suit is fast and I duck out of the way. I spin around and slam him in the ribs as hard as I can. He just grunts and head butt’s me. I slide along the tile floor digging a deep furrow twenty feet long.
Amelia... he was here before the Greek gods? If so, he may be the Titan, from mythology. If legends are anything to go on, he may be unbeatable.
Stars fill my vision, and everything fades from red and black to normal. I can’t take another hit like that. However, I’m where I want to be. Next to the bed Kate and Frank are using as cover. “Kate, get Carlos out of here.”
She glances at me with a glimmer of hope in her eyes. I give her a nod.
“On it,” she says.
“What about me?” Frank asks.
I ignore Frank for the moment. “We’ve faced unbeatable before, Epic. I haven’t come all this way in my life to lose now.”
You better not. I am wholly within your armor, you go, we go.
Kate vanishes with a pop, appearing behind the approaching Luke as she scoops Carlos up in her arms then teleports again to the lift. Despite the damage it sustained earlier, the ancient mechanism still carriers them up.
To my relief, not-Luke ignores them. He doesn’t care about Carlos, inasmuch as Frank is the key. If he can kill Frank then we can’t go back in time and retrieve Pythia. I glance at the time-traveler then back to Luke. Frank could send Luke back and leave him there, like his car. But then I wouldn’t have Luke. I might as well kill him— and I don’t want that.
He’s had a hundred years to plan this moment... a hundred years... Oh.
“Epic, I have an idea.”
I know what you are thinking, it is a bad idea. I advise that you grab Frank and flee.
“Do you have a better one?”
Luke leaps forward, arms out wide like a linebacker, a snarl on his lips. I trigger the particle beam and flash it across his eyes for a heartbeat before sidestepping out of the way. He screams, hands flying to his face as if he could ward off the burns before running right into the wall. Cracks splinter from the impact and the whole cave shakes. I stumble backward, my knees catch on the bed and I fall, landing on my butt next to Frank.
“We need to go!” he shouts, pointing at the lift.
“You’re right. Take us back,” I say pointing at the ground. I grab and pull him on to me. “Back now!” I shout. A roar builds up in the room, deafening to the point of painful if I didn’t have sound dampeners kicking in.
Frank holds his hands on my head and closes his eyes. The weird shimmer happens behind him as a hole opens up, tears open in the air parting like water. Then we’re falling toward it as if gravity changed direction.
Then Luke hits us. The three of us tumble through the hole, the G’s instantly piling up. Alarms scream at me as the suit shunts all emergency power to the kinetic shields to absorb the G forces. Not-Luke’s hands clasp my armor and he desperately tries to hold on to me. I kick at his face, trying to keep him distracted and away from Frank. All he’d have to do is lay a single finger on that man and we’d be trapped in time.
“How far back?” Frank says over the rush of wind and the roar of Luke.
My glimmer of an idea blossoms into a full-fledged plan. It will either be awesome, or horrible, but either way, the future will be safe from Not-Luke.
“1900,” I say to him.
I kick at Not-Luke again, he dodges and slaps a hand on my shin. His fingers crush the metal around my ankle. Alarms scream as the suit’s integrity fails. His other hand finds the edge of my knee and starts pulling. Alarms warble as he peels back the armor protecting my knee and shin.
“I’m gonna tear you apart,” he growls, spittle flying from his lips like a rabid dog.
Time is a funny thing. If I understand Frank’s power right, and I hope to God I do, then he really does travel to our past. However, when he comes back, everything he changed shunts off into another timeline, leaving the original time unchanged.
“Two seconds,” Frank says, his face a mask of concentration.
A roar, the anger of Luke, drowns out the rush of air and even the sound of my own heart. A massive tsunami of energy approaches us from below. A swirling vortex that outshines the sun and is louder than a train. I push Frank off me, holding on to him with one hand and letting myself slip down to wrap my legs around Not-Luke’s head. His hands come up around my waist and he tries to yank me off of him.
“You’re going to die here,” he yells as his eyes bulge from me choking him with my legs.
I rap my knuckles against his forehead.
“Consider your visa revoked. Get the hell out of my dimension.”
Then we hit the vortex.
Sunlight beats down, warming the exterior of the armor and shining in my eyes, letting me know I’m alive. The HUD is off, which worries me, but if that energy vortex was what I think it was, then I’m just glad we’re alive. Are we? Luke...
The flight suit is light enough that I can push myself up. Arms ache with strain and sweat beads on my brow, but I manage to sit up. “Epic?”
Nothing.
“Epic, retract Faceplate?”
Nothing.
The ZPFMs have nothing to do with dimensions, it’s all science, so they should still be working—
Lights flicker in my helmet and the HUD springs to life as my systems go through a test one-by-one.
Sorry, Amelia, I had to shut the system down to avoid damage. I am attempting to tap into the local networks and see where we came out.
“Oh buddy, I don’t think you’re going to find any wireless networks around here.”
With the power working, I manage to stand. My right knee actuator doesn’t respond; that’s where Luke tore the suit. Oh, please let this have worked.
“Retract faceplate,” I say. The silver reflective faceplate slides up into the helmet, then the helmet folds and retracts into the shoulders of the suit. “Luke?” I call out. “Frank?”
I’m on a hill. It’s hot and sunny and I can make out the ruins around us, but I don’t see anyone else. With a sigh, I limp to the top of the hill, dragging my useless leg up with me. I’m out of breath and aching by the time I get to the top. One of the old stones is newly shattered and I see a booted foot sticking out of the rubble.
“Luke!” I run over, dropping to one knee and dig
ging at the stones. They’re heavy, but I’m strong enough to chuck them over my shoulder like pebbles. I clear his legs, working my way up to his stomach. He’s normal sized, but he isn’t breathing. “Come on, Luke, hang on.”
Finally, I make it to his face, his beautiful non-angry face. I clear his mouth, lean down and start CPR.
“I’ll do chest compression,” Frank says dropping to the ground next to me. He looks even more haggard than I’ve ever seen him. Trails of blood dribble down his face like tears. He puts his hands on Luke’s chest and starts compressing while counting.
“Come on, baby, don’t die on me now,” I whisper between breaths.
A red gleam catches my eye when I look up from breathing for Luke. The Gem. It isn’t attached to him anymore. It sits like a normal ruby; no sparkling, no fire inside it… for now. It worked. In part.
Luke coughs, sitting up with alarming alacrity. I barely get out of the way. Frank leaps back, tripping on rubble and falling on his butt.
“What... what? Where...? Amelia?” he says shaking his head.
“I’m here, baby, I’m here,” I say. For the first time in forever, I have Luke back. I slip my arms around his chest and lay my head on his shoulders.
“It was a bad dream. Tell me it was a bad dream?” he asks.
“It was, but it’s over now, Luke, it’s over now. You’re home.”
I don’t know how long I sit there hugging Luke tight. He does the same. It feels so good to have him back.
“Uh, I hate to rain on your parade, but we have a problem,” Frank says, interrupting us.
“No, no problem, Frank. It’s what I expected to happen when I told you to bring us here. It actually worked out for the best.” I peck Luke on the cheek before pulling myself up. “You can’t time travel. If you had gone back to 400 A.D. like Carlos wanted, you, he, and Kate would have died.”
Luke shakes his head, taking his feet unsteadily. “Somethings wrong,” he says, his voice thick with pain.
I sigh. “Not wrong, you two. Perfect. This is the year 1900.”
Frank shrugs. Luke looks at me for a second—the way he always does when he’s waiting patiently for me to explain it to him. Oh how I missed that look. I pull him up to stand next to me. His muscles ripple with strain behind his torn shirt. I can’t help but smile. He’s beat up, bruised, and worn, but he’s all mine again.
“Oh, come on. This is too easy! 1900? Three years before Tesla turns on Wardenclyffe? It’s three years before superpowers exist!” I say with a ‘duh’ look.
“You mean... we’re trapped in 1900 with no superpowers?” Luke asks.
“Yep,” I say with a smile. “And since this is before any dimensional rifts, that is just a hunk of ruby, not a murderous creature from another dimension. It’s why you’re free!”
“I’m free?” He looks around as if seeing the world anew for the first time. Then he sweeps me up, bringing his lips to mine in a kiss so warm I melt. I don’t care what the next three years brings, right now? This is perfect.
The End… for now.
Wait? What? No epilogue? If you’ve read this far in my series you clearly know that I love a good hook at the end. I don’t do it as some sort of contrived way to get you to read the next book, it’s just the way I love telling stories. However, you also know the next book isn’t far away! My current plan is December! (If you’re reading this in the future I’m sure the book is out already—that’s just the way I roll!)
Trapped in the past! How exciting. Almost as exciting as the next book is going to be. Don’t forget to sign up for my mailing list.
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Full Metal Superhero (Book 6): Explosive Arsenal Page 17