by Zack Archer
I thought about the people, about Aurora, Atlas, and all the others. And what about Kree and the children and her people who were still being held captive far underground, who had no idea about the battle that was unfolding above them? What would happen to them if the Harbinger was victorious?
I couldn’t let them down. I wouldn’t let the villain win and butcher all of those innocent people.
The sonofabitch might kill me, but I wasn’t going down without a final fight.
I muscled myself up and searched for the others, but they were nowhere in sight. The Harbinger was present, however, roaring in anger one street away.
Kneeling, I fisted the dirt from my eyes. That’s when I spotted two objects lying on the ground fifty feet away: Aurora’s rocket launcher and the yellow shell I’d pocketed down in the underworld.
Both were covered in dust, but otherwise in good shape.
Suddenly, an idea struck me.
A half-baked idea, but an idea nonetheless.
If I could find a way to create a magnetic shield, to siphon off a portion of the antimatter that remained in the trap bottle and channel it into the yellow shell, I just might have something capable of bringing down the galaxy’s worst villain.
Tremors gripped the ground under me as the Harbinger turned and plodded toward me. It was obvious that he’d spotted me and was coming to finish what he’d started.
I rose and a final storm of energy gripped my body, electricity running up my arms, giving me a much-needed jolt.
I took a step and felt a pain in my right leg. It was blackened from the explosion and the smoke, but I appeared to be all in one piece otherwise. But then I took another step and it gave out completely and I fell to my side, unleashing a savage, brutal shriek. A fireball of pain shot through my right knee and I knew that the tendons in my knee were likely shredded.
Sucking in a lungful of air, I grabbed a metal bar from the twisted remains of the building and used it as a crutch as I stood again. This time I maintained my balance, and pushed my left leg forward, dragging my right behind me. I did this again and again, using the crutch for leverage and soon I was hobbling down the street.
The muscles in my arms and back were tightening, and I wondered how long I’d be able to maintain my pace before the pain became too overwhelming.
Small sounds reverberated underfoot, and I looked down to see something moving. With much effort, I dropped to the ground and saw a pocket, a small area covered by the aftermath of the explosion. Someone was down there.
My hands clawed at the rubble which I brushed aside to reveal Aurora. She was cowering down in a hole in the mountain of refuse, a space large enough for a handful of people that had been carved out. The trap bottle was visible at her feet. By some miracle, the antimatter stored inside the bottle hadn’t been detonated during the explosion.
Groaning, she thrust up a hand. I took it and pulled her up out of the hole.
“Thermobaric,” Aurora muttered. “The bastard used a thermobaric weapon.”
“We’re going to give as good as we received.”
“How?”
“Just…help me,” I said.
“It’s over,” she gasped.
I shook my head. “Remember what I said before? As long as we’re grooving, we’ve still got a chance.”
The Harbinger was closing so, with Aurora’s support, I shuffled toward the olive-colored tube, Aurora’s launcher. The pain suddenly ebbed because I had one goal left in life: to reach that launcher and make the Harbinger pay for all of the death and devastation he’d caused.
I reeled like a zombie, my forward progress measured in inches. In my heart, I knew that even though I might not have amounted to much back on Earth, at the very least I was standing up for something. I finally had the guts to stand in the face of evil and be counted. If I were crossing over, I would do so boldly.
The Harbinger was just ahead of me, raging over a rise like a beast eager to taste my blood. He was screaming about the trap bottle and the antimatter, but I could barely make him out. I’d crept down into my zone and was focused solely on the olive-colored tube that was a mere four feet away from me.
I collapsed in front of the launcher and groped for it.
The tube was smooth and surprisingly cool to the touch.
I pulled it around and felt the weight of the weapon and the rocket that was still secured inside. I hoped to God that it hadn’t been damaged during the blast and would still fire when I needed it to.
Aurora opened the back of the weapon and removed the explosive rocket slotted inside. I dropped the yellow shell on the ground and unthreaded it.
“What now?” Aurora asked.
“Now we open the trap bottle.”
She shot me a look and I nodded. “We have to do this.”
The Harbinger was wildly firing bolts of energy at us as I took Aurora’s hand and then closed my eyes. A pins and needles sensation gripped me for a moment and then the same warm surge of power began down at the soles of my feet and continued up my spine toward my outer extremities.
Blue fire appeared at my fingertips, enveloping my hands.
I pinched my fingers, grabbing the ends of the blue fire, pulling them back like a sheet, expanding the energy’s mass.
The energy became like molten glass and I was able to spin, stretch, and shape it into a powerful magnetic field that soon covered Aurora and the trap bottle.
Aurora opened the bottle and the inky black cloud of antimatter escaped.
The antimatter stopped like a butterfly trapped in a net.
It was snagged in my magnetic field.
The antimatter remained suspended in mid-air as I reached down and grabbed the yellow shell. A portion of the magnetic field had entered the interior of the shell, and I was able to use it to channel a portion of the antimatter into it that was no larger than the head on a nail.
I screwed the shell back together and handed it to Aurora who used a tendril of energy to tether it to the tip of the rocket.
I assumed a shooter’s crouch as the Harbinger fired another projectile at me that churned what was left of the street down below.
A gust of wind from the explosion knocked me over and it was only by sheer luck that I maintained my grip on the launcher as Aurora steadied me.
Fighting off the waves of pain shooting through my body, I brought the launcher back up and this time there was another set of hands to assist.
Kree was there.
She looked like a mirage for a moment and I wondered whether I’d become delusional. But then I saw her bloodstained clothing and the crimson bandage wrapped around her midsection, and knew she was real. She’d risked her life again, coming back to help us a final time.
She moved to my left and Aurora sat on my right, and the three of us, acting as one, positioned the launcher over my shoulder.
The Harbinger had turned in the other direction for an instant.
He was distracted by Atlas and the others who were standing in the middle of the ravaged street, waving their hands and shouting. Big Dread was hovering in the air, offering him her middle finger.
I knew our moment had come.
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We pulled the trigger and there was a puff of smoke as the rocket leaped from the end of the tube.
It seemed to hover in the air for a second and then a tongue of flame erupted from its exhaust and tiny wings deployed before it zoomed off.
We watched it curl down the street and there came next a great stillness, a span of three or four seconds where almost anything seemed possible.
I could hear the blood rushing in my ears and the tom-tom-like heartbeats of Kree and Aurora.
And then the rocket dipped down and slammed into the Harbinger’s chest just as he turned back at the sound of our rocket firing.
The villain’s arm cut an arc in the air, just as he’d done before when engineering a protective barrier.
But this time he was too late.
I saw t
wo things happen at once: Big Dread manufactured a dome of white light that covered her and the others, and the rocket exploded.
A sterilizing column of fire burst forth from the villain’s stomach.
An enormous rending fireball shot hundreds of feet into the air and fanned out, the back-blast rattling the city streets as the three of us gimped back and dove into the hole under the rubble pile that I’d found Aurora in.
We covered up as the blast-wave roared over top of us.
I felt something on my hand and looked down to see that it was Aurora. She was clutching my hand and Kree was holding hers. I’m sure all of us looked very tiny and terrified, huddling in our makeshift foxhole, expecting the worst and praying for the best.
I glanced through a gap in the debris pile as concussive thunder rolled through the city, the shockwave vaporizing any structure within thirty yards, turning the buildings to ash, sucking the oxygen from the sky.
Only by providence did Atlas and the others survive, shielded by Big Dread’s protective barrier.
As for the Harbinger, a hole had been hollowed in his chest by the warhead and when the antimatter disintegrated, his body did as well. The kinetic energy in the explosion ripped the villain’s body apart. Shards of his corpse sprayed outward, like a light bulb that’s been dropped on the ground. What was left of it, his headless trunk and legs, glowed with surreal colors for several seconds before catching fire and then winking out.
The three of us crouched and from above came a surge of light and boom that echoed off of what was left of the city and then a cool breeze painted my face.
I closed my eyes and silence followed.
I knew it was over.
We remained where we were for several seconds just to be sure. Then, with the skill of a contortionist, I crawled out of the hole and peered at the road.
Where the Harbinger had been standing was gone, and in its place was a black smoking ruin, a landscape of destruction. There was a colossal crater where the villain had stood, and it was as if he had never even been.
I looked down at Kree and Aurora and smiled because we’d done it.
We’d defeated the Harbinger.
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The cool breeze picked up, blowing down the street and then I saw all that remained of the Harbinger, down in the crater where he’d once stood, was a large pile of ash.
The wind carried the ash, scattering it across the city as Aurora and Kree helped me to my feet.
“We did it,” Aurora said softly.
“We did,” Kree nodded, smiling.
The ladies supported me as we moved down from our position, following a gully carved in the street by the fighting.
The scale of the destruction was shocking as we gimped down through the wasteland. Every structure for at least eight to ten blocks in every direction had been destroyed or severely damaged. We’d done our best to warn the city dwellers, to tell them to sequester themselves underground, but scores of them lay scattered about, arms and legs protruding from an avalanche of building debris.
But even in the midst of so much destruction, there were signs of life.
A few people, then a few more, popped their heads up out of the entrances to the underground sections of the city. Kree left my side and sprinted back up the street toward a relatively unscathed entrance, an archway that led to the underground. We stood and watched as she entered, vanishing from sight. I heard her call out in her native tongue and then reappear.
Behind her were the children we’d rescued.
All of them.
Emotion gripped me, and even though Aurora would deny it, I swear her eyes were red and just a bit misty as she watched the children walking single-file behind Kree.
Atlas and the others staggered up the street toward me. They were road-filthy and sported the haunted eyes of a pack of combat veterans. Even Big Dread, whose hair was plastered to her forehead, looked completely drained, leaning against Atlas at one point for support.
“What say?!” Atlas shouted, his lips pulling back in a broad smile.
“I wish it had never come to this,” I said, studying the partially demolished city.
“The old order has passed away,” Atlas said.
“Say goodbye to the fallen,” Splinter added.
“For they’ve gone on to paradise,” said Kaptain Khaos.
“To prepare it for the rest of those who still live,” Lyric said.
I could see that those words had great meaning to Atlas and the others who’d closed their eyes and then everyone bowed their heads.
An explosion rocked the street.
I started and looked up to see Aurora had blasted Big Dread with a pulse of energy. The explosion flung the villainess back on her ass as Aurora swooped down on top of her.
Red-faced with anger, Aurora grabbed Big Dread and whipped her around like a centrifuge. She cast her down to the ground with such force that Big Dread’s body made an impression in the city’s wreckage.
She strode forward and summoned a whirlwind of light, adding to it in a blur of motion, building it up, shaping it into a coil of pure light that she held in her hands like a lasso.
She hopped up onto a metal girder and whipped the lasso around, intent on bringing it down on Big Dread who was splayed on the ground, wounded from the initial blast and attack, blood crowning her head.
Aurora brought the lasso down and Atlas flew at her, grabbed it, and yanked her back.
The lasso shattered and Atlas grabbed Aurora with both of his hands and lifted her up.
“STAND DOWN!” he screamed.
Aurora writhed in his hands, shaking her head. “SHE MURDERED HIM! THE FUCKING WHORE MURDERED HIM! WE SHOULD EXILE HER TO HALJA!”
“It’s over!” Atlas replied. “The battle, the fighting, it’s all over!”
“Not for me,” Aurora said, tears in her eyes as Atlas released her and she slumped to the ground. “He wasn’t perfect, but he was my father.”
“The time for vengeance is over.” Atlas crouched, holding Aurora’s hands in his. “Either you stand down, Aurora, or gods help me, I’ll destroy you myself.”
“You’re not strong enough.”
“Try me,” he replied, bringing his mighty fist back, absolutely no emotion in his face as he readied to smote her. “This is bigger than you now, and your father would’ve recognized that.”
“That’s a lie.”
“I served the man for more years than I can remember, Aurora. I know how he thought.”
“I need this,” she said through bared teeth. “I need to see her bleed.”
“There’s been enough blood spilled, girl.”
Nobody said a word as Atlas and Aurora stared at each other. Then a look came over Aurora, and she closed her eyes and whispered something to herself that sounded an awful lot like a prayer.
“So what happens now?” She finally capitulated.
Atlas let out a big sigh (as did the rest of us), and lowered his fist. “We rebuild. We rebuild and repair the Caul and then—”
“We try to find a way to forgive and forget,” Big Dread broke in as she rose, wiping the blood from her forehead. “It won’t be easy—”
“But we have to try,” Atlas replied, finishing her thought. “For the sake of everybody…we have to try.”
The tension was palpable, but eventually, Aurora nodded.
We turned and began moving back down the street. Several additional city-dwellers had appeared from their hiding places and were moving around, eyes wide as saucers, like a group of survivors who’ve just emerged from a cave-in.
“What will you do, Q?” Kaptain Khaos asked. “I mean, seeing that you’ve done what we set out to do.”
“I hadn’t even thought about it.” It was true. In all the excitement, I’d totally forgotten about what might happen if we actually accomplished the impossible and defeated the Harbinger.
“We could use you around,” Splinter said.
“Sure could,” Lyric added with a wi
nk.
Kaptain Khaos pursed his lips. “But I’d understand if you’ve got to get back to your world.”
“From what I remember, Earth is in desperate need of a few good people,” Splinter commented.
I stood there taking everything in as I watched the Shadow Catchers set out. Then I saw Aurora and everything became clear. After considering all my options and Aurora’s original promise to transport me back to Earth just as quickly as she could, I decided to stay in Fiasco Heights, at least for a while. I could go back anytime to visit my mother and the few people I considered friends, but I had new friends now, a new family.
I’d grown up while fighting alongside the Shadow Catchers. I’d finally found some purpose and that, in and of itself, was reason enough to stay. Also, there were feelings of guilt over playing a role in the destruction of the city, which created a sense of obligation on my part to help with the rebuilding efforts and the plan to chart a new way forward.
Then there were the children.
The children of Kree’s people and the city dwellers who were crowding out into the streets, taking everything in.
A strange thought came to me, something someone famous had said in the past. That children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see. They’re our future, something to build around. I hoped like hell that they wouldn’t make the same mistakes that Atlas, Greylock, the Harbinger, and all the others had made.
I hoped they’d see the futility in dividing rather than uniting. Kree looked back at me and smiled. I walked toward her as the children gathered around us, and more people appeared from the underground. Aurora whistled to me and I turned as she held the trap bottle up. I smiled because I realized there was one last mission, one final thing we had to accomplish.
And so it came to be, that later in the day, after working to secure the release of Kree’s people underground, that I found myself seated in the back of a wave sled piloted by Aurora, the wind whipping through my hair. She’d worked her magic on my knee, rubbing a salve into the flesh that restored my body and spirit. My knee still throbbed, but it had miraculously improved. Given where we were headed, I was going to have to walk.