Birth of Light

by Ross Buzzell

  Diving, Konner beats the weapon to its mark and both he and the officer fall through the portal. Konner adjusts himself as they pass through to be on the far side of the officer, effectively catching his body as he exits on the roof of the precinct. The second Konner catches the officer, a beam of light erupts from his chest as Emma separates herself from him. The officer falls unconscious and Konner gently lays him on the ground. He places his fingers on the man’s neck: a steady pulse, his breathing is normal. Konner waves his left hand over the man and a holographic scan of his body is projected before him. Konner reads the scan; there is no sign of injury or distress. He is going to be okay, and the strain of the fusion just exhausted him. Konner stands to his feet and faces Emma, a grateful smile on his face.

  “Thank you for the help. You probably saved a lot of lives down there.”

  The sounds of gunshots begin to fill the air. This time, there are dozens of them. Konner glances over to see Disa’ani pulling himself out of the side of a building as hundreds of projectiles all fly at him in near unison.

  “Don’t thank me; you are the one who got Disa’ani to reveal himself… I really thought it would take longer. It always does in the movies.”

  Konner slowly walks over to the ledge of the building; he glances down to see the dispersed crowd with only a few of the brave reporters sticking around. He glances back at Emma. The weight of the lives lost and the innocents injured at the hands of his friend hit him in the chest like a hammer. He slowly shakes his head as he feels a tinge of guilt tug at the back of his mind.

  “I did not mean for him to hurt anyone. I honestly did not think he would do it.”

  Emma takes a few steps towards Konner; she gently places a comforting hand on his shoulder.

  “You can’t blame yourself, Konner; there was no way to know he would come after you in such a public manner. Come on, let’s get back to the apartment and plan our next move.”

  The warrior looks down to see the commissioner exit the building with a drove of officers around him, weapons drawn.

  “My work here is not done yet. This attack means Xero could only be a few hours away. You go back and make sure Disa’ani cannot reclaim his spears.”

  Emma hesitates for a moment. Eventually, she nods in agreement before slowly drifting off of the rooftop like a balloon, then shooting into the sky in the opposite direction of the press with such speed, she leaves a vapor trail behind her. Konner turns his attention back to the men on the ground and leaps off the roof. He controls his descent as the reporters begin to swarm towards the commissioner. Konner lands next to him, gently pushing one of his arresting officers out of the way.

  “How are your men in there, sir?”

  Konner yells over the now returning crowd,

  “The ones that survived are banged up pretty badly, but we were able to get them out the back during the commotion. How did you manage to get rid of that Disa’whatever character?”

  Konner looks down at his power levels; they are below seventy percent. The micro star drained a lot of his power. The bracer shows the power levels begin to rise again.

  “I used radiation from my home planets sun to create and throw a tiny star, held inside of a force field, into his chest. He can absorb the radiation and heat, but his is not strong enough to resist the gravity one of those have.”

  The commissioner can’t help but laugh and shake his head.

  “Boy, we could really use more people with your powers and sentiment on our force.”

  Konner stops descending the steps, gently grabbing the commissioner’s arm so he does as well.

  “Sir, Xero will be here soon. I do not know how evacuation plans go, but we need to get everyone out of the downtown portion of the city as fast as we can. I do not know what will happen, but I do not want innocent lives at risk.”

  The commissioner nods for a few seconds. It is clear he is thinking. Konner is able to see the idea pop into his head as his eyes widen.

  “Son, you go do what you need to do and try to keep this city in one piece. Let me deal with the evacuation.”

  With a nod, Konner leaps into the air and takes to the skies. He keeps his hearing trained on the commissioner as he takes the fastest route back to Natalie’s apartment.

  “I can now say for certain that the alien known as Konner Lorian is in fact not here to destroy this planet as we were first led to believe. The man known as Disa’ani, who is responsible for the attack on our precinct, and his accomplice, Xero, are the true threats to our safety. Per Konner’s request ,I urge the mayor to order a city wide evacuation until this issue can be resolved…”

  Konner weaves in between the buildings, turning onto 4th Street and flying straight to Natalie’s apartment. He hears a familiar woman’s voice scream out from the ground as he flies past the hotel. It is Kassie.

  “GO KONNER GO!!!!”

  Chapter: 20

  Flights of Fancy

  Emma soars through the air; she flies high, above the cover of the clouds as to not draw attention to herself. Her heart races, not in fear but exhilaration; she just went toe to toe with an alien soldier and survived. Yes, she had help, but her actions directly influenced the fight to end in Konner’s favor. She gazes out over the horizon, and between the breaks in the fluffy mounds of moisture, she can see up the length of the Mississippi river for miles as it stretches over the yawning world that extends below her. On the very end of the horizon, she can’t help but notice a faint blue flash of light; something about it seems familiar and something in her gut tells her to get back to the ground immediately as a sensation of uneasiness coils its dark fingers around her heart. Glancing down, the arch is not far off to her right side, and the apartment building stands below her. In a flash, she dives through the clouds, the water vapor beading up on her causing her body, her hair, and her clothes to get wet.

  This does not bother her; her mind is swimming with thoughts of the skirmish at the precinct, about the injured and dead men. Had she fused with them, would she have been able to save their lives, or would their injuries be transferred to her? Disa’ani held all the cards. Why would he throw his advantage away so quickly and carelessly? Would she have been able to stop it all if she had become one with Disa’ani and forced his own spear into his gut? Her mind drifts to a dark place as she begins to descend on the apartment. She can understand why Doug would want to kill him so badly. There is just something that emanates from him, an arrogant darkness that needs to be put down. She passes the roof of the building. In all the excitement, the pool is abandoned. People left in such a hurry that towels and speakers are still strewn all over the place. Emma descends to the shattered window and enters the apartment.

  “Hello!”

  she calls out to make sure no one is inside. No one responds. Immediately, she walks into the bedroom, peeling the clothes off of her as she does. She drops them to the ground as she slides the shoes off first, followed by the pants and the shirt. She rips them right off; not out of discomfort but out of necessity to be clothed before anyone else gets back. After completely disrobing, she walks to the corner of the room, where her suit sits, folded, on a chair. She put this thing on hundreds of times, never wore it anywhere but around the house except for now. She sits back on the bed, her fingers gripping the thick, heavy material tightly as she slides a foot into each leg. Her fingertips dig into the rubbery and slightly abrasive stitching of the outside of her suit. Her feet poke free from the ends of the legs, after which she stands up, pulling the suit over her thighs. Tugging at it, she wiggles her hips as the material inches its way over her curves. Once her hips are secured into the costume, she slides her arms into the holes and pulls the suit over her shoulders.

  Her chest feels a squeeze of discomfort. Seizing the “window” on the chest of her costume, she grabs her breasts, one at a time, and re-adjusts so that she is comfortable in her suit, which is the entire reason why she designed the costume in such a fashion. She reaches behind her; her fingerti
ps fumble with the zipper for a brief moment before finally firmly clasping it. Emma gives the zipper a tug and as it sails up its rails on her back. Her suit tightens to form around her, fitting her like a glove. As the zipper reaches the nape of her neck, she pulls the strap over that holds the zipper in place. Emma glances at her own reflection in the closet mirror. Her form in her costume, more uniform now, stands tall and strong. It pulls her shoulders back, improving her posture and opening her chest, which gives her a more powerful appearance. Usually, when she would put it on around the house, it would have weightiness to it, but since gaining her powers, the suit feels truly weightless. It suit fits snugly around her like a tight hug that gives her a sense of security. She turns and sits on the chair. Grabbing her shoes as well, she slides her feet into each one.

  “You never see this part of the costume change in the comics,”

  she mutters to herself in a laugh before strapping the footwear tightly around her feet. She pushes off of the slightly bouncy chair and the door to the closet begins to rattle. Her brow furrows in curiosity as she takes a few steps towards the vibrating glass, her hand slowly forming a fist preparing for anything. Perhaps it was the dog that got in and was trying to scratch its way out. She reaches for the closet mirror/door when movement catches her attention from the corner of her eye. Her head shoots towards the living room, and right there, in front of Danielle’s computer set up, is the dog, sitting and looking at her. Her eyes dart to the corner where Danielle placed Disa’ani’s spear. It is not there. Before she can react, the glass shatters as the two spears burst from the closet. Most of the razor-sharp shards of glass are deflected by her suit, but some make their way to her neck since she threw her hands up to protect her face. The melted sand slams into her skin and shatters into even smaller pieces on impact. The two spears shoot from the room and into the air before exiting the apartment through the window.

  Emma slowly lowers her hands and looks at them; there is not a scratch. Swiftly, her fingers find their way to her neck; she rubs around but feels no pain. As she draws her hands away to look at the blood that should be there, but her hands are clean. A moment of realization dawns on her and a satisfied smirk befalls her soft lips.

  “That would have torn anyone else apart… I’m tougher than I thought.”

  Emma leaves the bedroom, only for Konner to land in through the same window she flew through moments ago, and for the front door to open with Danielle, Natalie, and Doug bursting through in full stride.

  “Were those Disa’ani’s weapons I just saw flying out of the apartment?”

  Konner asks. He sounds slightly perturbed, but she cannot blame him. He literally has the weight of worlds on his shoulders, both his and hers. She nods and indicates the shattered glass in the bedroom.

  “Yeah, they broke through the closet door… I don’t think your aunt is getting her security deposit back, Natalie.”

  Danielle shakes her head.

  “I am sorry, Natalie; I put them in there just in case workers came to fix the windows today.”

  Natalie peers into the bedroom and sees the glass. Emma notices a wry smile form on her lips, and she begins to laugh softly. Through that laugh, and while shaking her head, she says,

  “That’s okay. I figured she wouldn’t get the deposit back after the windows anyway.”

  A confused look washes over Konner’s face. He looks at Emma, his eyebrows stitched together, and he leans towards her a little.

  “Why is she laughing?”

  he asks, nodding at Natalie.

  “Probably just stress,”

  Emma replies before glancing back to the bedroom. A worrisome itch begins to gnaw at the back of her mind.

  “What are we going to do? Disa’ani is fully armed and Xero will be here any minute.”

  Konner straightens up; his eyes begin to dart from left to right as he thinks of a plan. What she would not give to merge with him right now and hear his thoughts, know what he is thinking, HOW he thinks. It would certainly be an experience. After a few moments of silence, his eyes lock on to Doug with such an intensity that Doug takes an instinctive step backwards.

  “How is your side?”

  he asks softly. Doug places his hand where the spear struck him and gives it a few hard pats.

  “Fit as a fiddle and ready to kick some…”

  “Easy, boy!”

  Danielle interrupts, placing a hand on his shoulder. Emma’s line of sight falls on Natalie as she moves across the room towards the computer.

  “Let me check something,”

  she says under her breath, more like she is speaking to herself than to anyone else. Natalie leans against the computer desk and wakes the computer up with a shake of the mouse. She pulls up a page; her fingers fly across the board, accompanied with a few soft clicking noises. A news website pops up with a map image of the city on it and red circles gradually expand all over the map.

  “Hey, you might want to take a look at this. This is an evacuation map of the city. The red circles are locations that are certified cleared zones, zero civilian population…”

  Emma leans against the table next to Natalie. Her eyes scan the map as she studies it to the best of her abilities.

  “I am sensing a ‘but’ coming,”

  Emma says softly. Natalie presses the left arrow and another map pops up, this time with hundreds of blue dots all over the outside of the evacuated zones.

  “But… these are the military forces deployed in the area. I have been around enough drunken retired military, and heard enough stories to know how this is going to work.”

  She turns her head, her red locks sweeping through the air and falling over her far shoulder as she looks back at Konner.

  “If they think you are going to lose, they will give everything they have to exterminate the threat without prejudice…”

  A cold hush falls over the team. Natalie’s eyes are locked with Konner’s. The chill in the air sends a shiver down Emma’s spine. She can tell the same happens to both Doug and Danielle as well.

  “What does that mean?”

  Doug finally asks, breaking the chilling silence.

  “It means they will do what they have to in order to neutralize the threat, even if that means collateral damage.”

  Emma’s heart drops. Konner speaks as if he has executed a plan like this before, and having been military his entire life, Emma does not doubt that he probably has. She tries to fight it, knowing what the response is going to be but unable to resist.

  “What do you mean ‘collateral damage’?”

  “He means us,”

  Danielle replies in a somber tone and everyone grows silent once more. Emma’s eyes stay locked on the map. She sees a large concentration of soldiers on the outside of the stadium. Emma places her finger on the screen.

  “What if we lured Xero and Disa’ani into the stadium? The forces there would be able to engage, buying us enough time to get out of dodge for a drone strike. The stadium walls will protect the rest of the city from the blast and keep damage to a minimum while we let the military kill the pair.”

  A small swell of pride rises in her chest. She tried to think like Konner would: strategically, methodically in order to achieve the greatest possible outcome.

  “I am so sorry, you guys. I should have said something earlier.”

  Danielle’s voice quivers with concern. This worries Emma. The sound of Danielle’s voice causes Emma’s adrenaline to kick in.

  “What should you have said earlier, Danielle?”

  Emma asks tentatively.

  “Xero can’t be killed.”

  “What do you mean he can’t be killed!?”

  Emma blurts out loudly as her adrenaline begins to pump even harder to the point she can hear her own heartbeat.

  “He told me the same thing. Is he not just trying to intimidate his victims, alluding to the fact that it will take more to kill him then what we have?”

  Konner asks, his arms crossed ov
er his strong chest.

  “I’m afraid not. In the 1300s he attacked China. The only thing that could stop him was a sorcerer. I do not know his name, but he split Xero in two. The spell took up nearly all his strength and he intended to kill Xero, but magic is just energy that is manipulated. Part of Xero was able to absorb the spell. That part was ripped from him and locked into Mars. What is left is a husk of his former self. All of his hatred, his malice, and wrath distilled into one vessel, a vessel without weakness that cannot be killed by any weapon made by Boronian or man.”