by Riley Tune
Asia began to press some buttons on the register as I tapped my card on the counter top. I glanced at my phone as I heard the loud chime of the door go off behind me again.
Still had plenty of time to make my next stop, and then get to class. Then a sound echoed through the store than sent everybody into a panic. Several rapid gunshots had pierced the silence inside of Ingram’s. Asia screamed as she dropped down behind the counter. I turned around quickly and saw the two guards were down. One was grabbing at his leg as blood pooled on the floor. The other guard was crumbled on the floor motionless. Neither guard seemed to have had time to reach their weapons.
Three gunmen were inside Ingram’s. Apparently, they were the reason the door chime had gone off. They were all dressed in dark green jumpsuits. All had on brown ski masks and black boots.
To add to their uniform unity, each gunman had an assault rifle in their hands. “Ninety seconds,” one gunman shouted out as the other two began smashing cases and grabbing as much jewelry as they could.
“Everybody, right here and get on your knees.” the gunman counting down the time said. Nobody moved, and then he released more shots into the air. The customers, and workers behind the counters quickly moved to the area he had pointed the gun to.
The people in the store cried and there were about thirteen of us total in that little area now. I made it a point to stand in front of them as I dropped down to my knees and kept my hands up. I could have stepped in, but I’d rather let the cops sort this out. I figured it would be over soon, and I had someplace to be.
Glass continued to shatter and fall, as the gunmen ravaged the store.
“Forty seconds,” he screamed again. Of all days, they had to do this today. I glanced outside through the doors. There was a van parked out front with a man sitting inside it. He was looking around in all directions, and he too, had a mask on.
Despite the gunshots going off. People outside weren’t panicking. Sure, they were on the other side of the street and watching, but they weren’t running. No, they were waiting for an Icon to arrive. Waiting for a chance to see a caped hero in action. Or for a flamboyant and colorful costume to arrive.
This sort of thing was too low level for the big names, though. By time somebody came, these guys would be long gone. A woman beside me stood up and tried to speak to one of the gunmen. Before she could finish, a shot rang out and she fell to the floor.
Everybody else screamed as her body hit the ground. I took in a deep breath. These three were either very efficient, or so nervous that they had become trigger happy. Either way, I couldn’t just watch them kill people. I hated that I had to help, but it seemed like it would be quicker than waiting for the cops. Guess it was up to me.
I dropped my hands, and slowly stood up.
“On the damned ground, kid,” the gunman said as he pointed his gun at me. “You want to end up like her?” he said as he jerked his head towards the lifeless woman who was inches from my feet.
“C’mon man, you don’t want to do this. Why would you even do this here? In the Diamond District. Isn’t this more an Ebony District thing?”
His finger applied slight pressure to the trigger of the gun he held. Then he stopped. I could see his face frown behind the mask. He wasn’t looking at me though, he was looking at my shirt. “That’s right, connect the dots,” I said as I twirled my finger, gesturing for him to hurry up.
“You’re one of the freaks?” “I wouldn’t call myself a freak,” I said to him casually. In all honesty I’d been called worse. “I know the laws though, kid. You can’t use your powers until you take the oath. Now sit back down, and shut up. We don’t want to hurt anybody else, but we will if we need to.” he checked his watch again.
“Time, Jerry,” another of the robbers shouted as he stuffed his bag. “No names, you idiot. We gotta go. This kid screwed up my count.” “Poor Jerry,” I said to him. “Every Icon doesn’t follow the laws,” I said with a grin.
The gunman, I mean Jerry, looked at me. As he did so, I felt a faint tingle all over my body as I created a large pale blue force field that surrounded myself and the hostages.
I took a deep breath and tried not to panic. Then I looked at Jerry and watched as the room began to turn blue. Jerry backed up some as he saw my eyes glow and out of instinct, fired at the force field. The bullets bounced off in comical fashion, smashing walls and glass inside of Ingram's store.
I released the energy from my eyes in a rocket- like bolt and hit Jerry square in the chest. As he went flying back, the room returned to its normal colors. With the energy gone from my eyes, my vision was no longer blue. To the people behind me, who were cheering now from the safety behind my force field, it likely looked very heroic.
In reality, I was actually aiming for Jerry’s gun. Not his chest. Despite what the comics or movies show, it isn’t easy aiming beams of concussive force from your eyes.If the beams came from your hands, the more traditional route, then aiming wasn’t as difficult. Eyes, though were a different story.
Jerry slumped to the floor. No doubt his chest would be sore and severely bruised when he came to.
There wasn’t an official name for what I had just done, but I called it my Impact Blast. The blue beams I shot from my eyes were force- based. So, if I wanted to, with these eye beams, I could punch a hole in a wall of steel with ease, but I couldn’t melt or burn things. That’s laser or heat vision.
The gunman from the van came running in. Ingram's door chime went off once more. “I hear sirens, we gotta go.” The driver slowly saw me, standing inside of a large force field, and one of his partners on the ground.
“Bart, this kid shot Jerry with his eyes!” This gunman, freaking out as he was, seemed to be a fan of name- dropping. “Hi Bart,” I said innocently with a wave. I wonder how stupid this guy was. I pointed as I said each name.
“Bart, Jerry, and what’s your name again?” I said as I pointed to the name dropper. “Dom,” he replied quickly. What an idiot he was.
Bart, who was brandishing a normal hand gun, smoothly shot Dom in the stomach. A single bullet casing fell to the ground and bounced around some. It sounded oddly loud because the room was quiet when the shot happened.
The people behind me gasped as Dom fell to the ground. “He talked too much. I knew he’d be a problem before we even did this job,” Bart said as he ran and grabbed Dom’s bag of loot. No honor among thieves I suppose. The door to the store chimed again. I glanced to the door, like everybody else, but we didn’t see anybody.
I smiled.
The remaining two gunmen moved for the door, and then suddenly, their guns seemingly became became intangible in their hands, falling to the ground and through the floor. They looked at each other and then back to me.
I raised my hands again. “Don’t look at me. I didn’t do it.” And in all honesty, I hadn’t. Jen did. I couldn’t see her, but she had to be in here somewhere. It was she that had come in the door unseen a moment ago.
Jen wielded two powers and turning things intangible was her go- to joke outside of scaring people while invisible. As long as she could touch it, and it wasn’t too large, she could turn it intangible.
The gunman, still holding their bags, ran for their van. The door chime went off once more as they made their escape. Tires screeching, they took off down the street, followed closely by cop cars and a purple blur, which I could only assume was an Icon with superspeed.
I took down the force field from around myself and the other hostages. Jen turned visible as she extended her hand and gave me my flowers back. “I can’t leave you alone for a second, can I?
I shrugged. “Wrong place- wrong time.” Jen leaned in close to me. “You okay? I saw the force field,” she said in a whisper. I shook my head.
Jen, was one of the few people who knew my secret. While my force field was a rare power that made me almost invincible, I was terrified to use it on myself. I didn’t like tight spaces and being tra
pped inside an indestructible bubble was almost worse than having a gun pointed at me.
After being thanked by the hostages and workers of Ingram's, Asia returned to business, as she gave me the total for the watch.
“You still want me to pay for this? I just saved your lives.” I said in a low voice to her. Jen cleared her throat. “We just saved your lives.” I said. Asia smiled at me. “And we are very thankful, but-” I cut her off as I picked the box up off of the counter and held it close.
“This is mine. We will consider it payment.” I said as I looked at Asia. “Cool?” As I asked the question, Asia and everything around her turned to a shade of blue. She looked at my eyes, and gasped some. She had seen what my eyes could do when in this state.
She had genuine fear on her face as she backed up. “Some hero you are,” Asia said to me. Jen turned and walked out the store. “I never said I was a hero.” I replied, as I gave her a little salute, smiled, and then followed Jen out the store, watch and flowers in hand.
CHAPTER 1
THE BATTLE OF AGES
“B
efore we go in, I just want to draw attention to the fact that you literally just stopped a robbery, and then turned around and stole from the same store.” Jen said, as she leaned against the brick wall before us. “It was more like accepting payment. They would have lost a lot more had I not stepped in.” I said as I looked at the lilies in my hand one last time.
Jen had agreed to hold on to the box that contained Danielle’s watch. I looked at the brick wall that she was leaning on. No matter how many times I saw it, on this day of the year it always felt different.
It stretched about half a mile in both directions and then wrapped around the block, forming a large square that encased a park. We were at one of the many entrances . Each wall had an entrance, and they all looked the same. The bricks formed an arch of sorts that held two large iron gates in place. Naturally the gates were open now, but at night they were usually closed.
Along with each of the surrounding walls having an entrance, right beside the entrance was a large gold- plated sign. In big letters, displayed under a spotlight it read: Welcome to Ages Park: A Thank You to The Icons That Madethe Ultimate Sacrifice.
Ages Park was well known. Not just in Atlas City, but world- wide. It was here that, twelve years ago, a battle took place that has since became known as The Battle of Ages. Jen and I were both five at the time but, like the rest of the world, we knew the stories well.
It was in this battle that many Icons, hero and villains alike, lost their lives to other dimensional foes of extreme power. According to the textbooks of Purgatory Academy, the battle lasted almost six days.
Six days of nonstop destruction, mayhem, and chaos. A large amount of the city was destroyed, but it was here, in the spot now considered a park, where many of the Icons lost their lives in a last stand. A last- ditch effort to save what was left of the city, so our world wouldn’t eventually be lost.
We still were not sure how we even won., or if you really considered it a win. The attackers suddenly just left. Maybe they realized we wouldn’t give up, and that there was no use in winning a destroyed world. That was a popular theory among some people. All we knew was that the same swirling green portals that brought them to our world had opened up again, and allowed them to just leave.
“You ready?” Jen asked as she placed a hand on my shoulder. “If there really is some person running around killing Icons, I’d rather not be waiting on the street. We all don’t have a force field you know,” she said as she looked at the city around us.
I took a deep breath and shook my head. At almost the same time, we entered the park. At first glance, it seemed like a normal park. Complete with lush green open areas, man- made ponds, fountains, wooden benches, a dog park, and even cobblestone walkways that created various paths for visitors.
It wasn’t until you saw the statues that you could begin to see that Ages Park stood out when compared to almost any other location in Atlas City. For Atlas City, it was a long running tradition to honor a hero with a statue in their likeness, if they did a great deed.
It’s almost like how those celebrities use to get those stars with their names in it for being so famous. These statues were made completely out of marble and were identical replicas of the heroes they honored.
As a hero, there was no greater honor that being immortalized with a statue and a plaque giving an account of the deed. Some heroes were lucky to get one or two statues, but then there were the heroes that had more statues than they knew what to do with.
To date the only hero with statues in the double digits was Mr. Impervious. Perhaps the most well- known and one of the most powerful Icons on the planet. He had statues of himself that stretched across the globe.
Jen and I kept walking. We passed a family of four who were posing with a statue and taking pictures. You know how stupid people look when they are taking selfies alone? Now throw a huge marble statue in the mix. You can get the idea of how weird it looked.
We passed more and more statues of the fallen heroes, and I was surprised at the amount of people that were here.
Jen and I come here once a year, every year, and usually don’t see such a crowd. For some reason, though, today was different. It made me upset. Sure, some people worshipped Icons, and would want to take pictures with the statue of their favorite, and that was okay. But in Ages Park it was different. These statues were all of dead Icons, and to me, taking a picture with one was disrespectful. Like it almost made a mockery of the sacrifice that was made here.
Finally, I found the spot I was looking for. Near a corner of the park, an area that never seemed to have a visitor, except for me, stood a statue of two Icons holding hands and looking at each other. “I’ll wait here,” Jen said as she stopped walking with me.
I moved closer to the statue of the duo. On the right was a man, and to his side he was holding the hand of his wife., a cape wearing Icon who was considerably shorter than he was.
Not many knew of their union. It was considered the highest act of betrayal for a villain and a hero to have relations, as a result a villain and a hero that secretly got married had never been documented before.
Despite what the world had lead them to believe, love had won.
The male was the villain known as Blue Rush. He had a rather impressive set of abilities. From the stories I heard, he was the fastest of the Icons to ever live. He even outran Mr. Impervious on several occasions. An act that had never had been repeated.
To compliment his unmatched superspeed, he was able to generate a blue force field, similar to mine, for protection, granting him a high level of durability and allowing him to plow through objects that would kill a normal Icon with his super speed.
His wife, the lady to his side with the cape, was the heroic Icon known as Falldown. She was able to control gravity, giving her the ability to fly and make things either extremely light, or freakishly heavy.
She was a low- level hero, who normally wouldn’t even be tasked with going up against a villain such as Blue Rush, but despite their differences, together they had created something special. They had created me.
My parents were among the many who, twelve years ago today, lost their lives in the Battle of Ages. By all accounts, many villains fought the other dimensional beings, but only my father fought alongside the heroes. He had lost his life saving her, and in this very spot, my mother stood by his side and fought until she couldn’t anymore.
Despite their heroic demise, people still couldn’t see past their origins. In the early years their statues were vandalized. Eventually, we had their plaques removed so that those who didn’t know their story wouldn’t judge what was left of their legacy.
My mother wasn’t much of a hero, and my father was an infamous villain, and their son, the byproduct of some unspoken forbidden law, was just as well known. Many Icons knew of my heritage, and some even judged me for it.
“Well, only a few more days now guys,” I said to their statue as I held the lilies. I stood back and looked up at them. Hero or villain, in the end, what had it got them? Disrespect from some of the same people they called friend, and a damn statue in a park that even their peers didn’t visit. “I just can’t figure out which path to take,” I said as I continued to look up to them. The sun reflected off of their chest and into my eyes, causing me to wince
“We gotta get going,” Jen said softly as she walked to me. “Hey Mr., and Mrs. M,” she said as she looked at their statues. “I guess you’re right,” I said as I looked down at my feet.
I stepped forward and placed the lilies in a little groove that was between where their feet touched.
I only came here once a year, but for some reason, maybe because I was older, it didn’t feel like often enough anymore. Once, I was just too afraid to come inside the park. I didn’t want to look at the spot where I had lost them.
Now it seemed different somehow. I vowed to myself to visit more often. Coming here made me feel something inside of myself that I couldn’t put a word to. But I liked it, and with the coming days, I would need as many good things to hold onto as I could.
“All set,” I said to Jen. I made a motion to move towards the direction we had come. She held her hands up to stop me. “We are cutting it short as it is,” Jen said. “So, suck it up for a few miles, and get us there.”
Somehow, I knew this was coming. While Jen knew of my anxiety of cramped spaces, she had no problem putting me in that position when it benefited her.