Then There Was New York

by Kristina Garlick

  King Moss: “Welcome to the October 10th edition of King Talk. I am your winsome host, King Moss.”

  Not sure if he knew the definition of winsome.

  King Moss: “As always, I am here with my lovely wife, Arcadia, who was taken from this Earth over eight years ago.”

  So confused. Broderick had murdered Arcadia. How was she—wait a second; he hadn’t … Mac wouldn’t. Had Mac actually brought Arcadia back as a ghost to rule by his side? Fuck. That meant Broderick was in danger because the special prisoner was most likely him and there was a good chance that, as soon as he saw himself, that he’d be the one getting tortured. Granted, the idea of Broderick being abused appealed to me on so many levels, that also meant Jordan and all the other men connected to the dipshit would be harmed too. I hoped Broderick or Jordan figured this out before it was too late. There was no way for me to save them from this far away, and I doubted Jordan would be able to do that much if poison was coursing through his veins.

  King Moss: “Now, I could go over facts and data of the week, as per usual, but in all honesty, does anyone care? We are all here for the main event and the rest will follow suit. After all, on more than one occasion, I have been told by my advisors to lead strong, give the people what they want, and they will love you.”

  Mac, what has become of you? I knew that it was Arcadia’s death and, I assumed, some kind of misguided quest for vengeance, but he had always been a kind and gentle man. It was hard to believe that Mac had had cities destroyed and was somehow the ruler; I was not even sure how. I was assuming his abilities to control ghosts and tech geniuses was a deadly combination. What of the heroes, though? They couldn’t possibly have gone along with Mac’s plan?

  King Moss: “Without further delay, let me introduce prisoner 001, Broderick Boucher, who, if it wasn’t for him, I would have not taken the steps to be king. So even though he is going to be once again punished for murdering my beloved, we should give him a round of applause.”

  The crowd erupted in a cheer.

  King Moss: “Perfect. Just perfect. I bet you are all wondering what punishment. And let me just say, it was a slim majority, but flogging won out. A personal favorite of mine, to be honest. Guard. Remove his shirt and tie him to the post in the center of the stadium. Yes. Yes. Just like that, but be careful not to damage his wrist or ankle bracelets as we know they prevent his powers from activating and, as always, we want this to be as painful as possible.”

  Shit. Shit. Shit. Where the fuck were Broderick and Jordan? Getting desperate, I began to pace the pharmacy. While it felt like an eternity, maybe a minute or two went by before Jordan teleported back. I was so relieved to see him, I didn’t even care that I was hugging him in his demon form.

  Riley: “Wait, where is Broderick?”

  Jordan: “We have a problem. Broderick is about to be whipped.”

  Riley: “Dammit. I was afraid of this when I heard Mac talking on the radio, but there was nothing I could do. I take it Broderick saw the version of himself in this reality and, poof, he took his place. Why didn’t you sing?”

  Jordan: “It was so loud that no one could hear me. Oh fuck, they are about to begin. I can sense Broderick’s fear.”

  Riley: “I need you to take me—”

  Jordan, still in demon form, fell to his knees and began to scream. Seconds later, blood started pouring down his back. How could that be? I thought only poison was supposed to seep into Jordan’s veins; even when I had temporarily killed Broderick, Jordan hadn’t instantly died.

  Riley: “Jordan, I need you to take me to the stadium. I can’t do anything otherwise. I can’t erase this world with Broderick so far away or he’ll be gone too, and so will you.”

  Jordan: “Let me die! This pain!”

  Riley: “Jordan, teleport us now!”

  I wrapped my arm around Jordan and in a blink, we were lying in the middle of stadium. I was shocked to see Pious was the one whipping Broderick, but then again, he had been very close to Arcadia before his untimely death. I knew it was him from old comic books I’d read, but this man didn’t seem like the noble man I’d grown up reading about. This Pious had been hardened by the years and had only stopped whipping Broderick because I had sent him flying across the stadium with time energy.

  King Moss: “Who are you?”

  Riley: “Let’s just say I am not from this world.”

  All of a sudden, advanced people I hadn’t seen or heard from in years began closing in on Jordan, Broderick, and me. I am talking Vegas, Teresina, Calypso, Ink, Gluestick, and many others; a lot of individuals, in fact, who were dead in the real world because of Broderick. If it hadn’t been for Jordan, I would have let the “heroes” have him, but these characters didn’t seem to have a will of their own. It was quite obvious that King Moss was controlling them by the helmets that they wore.

  There could be a chance that I could take down King Moss’ army, even if they had superpowers, but quite frankly, why should I? With how close I now was to Broderick and Jordan, I was able to fade this world away and bring us home, so that was what I did. The only problem was that neither man was in any condition to go anywhere, having taken a beating. Both Broderick and Jordan were collapsed on the ground, unconscious, and had a faint pulse.

  If I called Arcadia, she would have them sent to a prison hospital and Jordan would suffer. As luck would have it, a hulking security guard came riding up on a golf cart and he looked rather pissed that we were in the stadium. While a golf cart was not my top choice, it would do until I found a vehicle.

  Security Guard: “Hey! Hey! What are you all doing in here?”

  Riley: “These men require medical assistance.”

  Before the guard could utter a word, I trapped him in a time energy field. Then I turned into my blue form, as I was much stronger that way, and lifted Broderick into the golf cart, followed by Jordan. As I didn’t want to waste even a minute navigating the stadium, I decided the best course of action was to blow a hole in the side of the stadium.

  Riley: “What side of the stadium will there be no people? Tell me now!”

  The man was shaking but pointed to the far left of where I stood. Using one of my abilities, I blew a hole big enough to fit twice the size of the golf cart. Then I quickly parted the debris and flew through. Once outside the stadium, I released the security guard from the force field.

  I had maybe two or three minutes before the cops got there. The security guards on site would be running towards the hole in the very expensive stadium. I, meanwhile, continued to drive the golf cart into a parking lot. I saw a man getting out of the car who I imagined was just trying to be a good Samaritan, as it looked like he was gearing up to run towards the stadium, but I knocked him out. Next, I quickly loaded Jordan and Broderick into the car.

  Once I drove off, I made the decision to get on the highway but I made sure that I didn’t stay on there for long. I was sure the Spandex brigade was working on finding me and the villains. When I was ready to say goodbye, I would do the right thing, but at the moment, my focus was on getting Jordan help and that meant Broderick as well. The thing was, I didn’t know where to take the men but I had to come up with a solution quick as they were severely injured. Any time within the last six years would not be a good place to take either of them and that was entirely Broderick’s fault.

  Riley: “Why does my damn phone keep ringing? What is this? Ten missed calls from Arcadia.”

  I picked up the phone on speaker.

  Riley: “What do you want, Arcadia?”

  Arcadia: “Where are you?”

  Riley: “Looking for a hospital.”

  Arcadia: “Are you injured?”

  Riley: “Jordan and Broderick are?”

  Arcadia: “I have a team heading—”

  Riley: “No, you’re just going to lock them up and ten men will suffer, including Jordan.”

  Arcadia: “Riley, he has done a lot of bad things.”

  Riley: “Don’t lecture me, Arcad
ia. I am not one of your students and I am no damn superhero.”

  Arcadia: “You have the potential to be.”

  Riley: “That is where you are wrong. I am morally ambiguous. Sometimes I do good things and other times, well, you get the hint.”

  Arcadia: “I am sorry that you feel that way, but either they are going to die or be taken into custody.”

  Riley: “And that is why I am going with option three.”

  Arcadia: “Riley. Riley. Don’t you dare.”

  Riley: “No, I am done listening. Above all else, I protect the ones I love. Now, take care of Alyssa. I will be back soon. If anything happens to her, I will give you the same warning as I did Jordan. I will destroy all of time if harm comes to her.”

  Then I opened the car window and chucked the phone out. My hands began to spark and I knew what to do. I created a portal to another parallel, fake timeline and drove the damn car through. On the other side, it was eight years prior and, for some reason, I want to say May. I could have picked any year prior to New York, but eight was stuck in my head because of the awful event that I couldn’t erase from my brain involving Broderick and Arcadia. At least that asshole could get that stupid letter from his dad when he woke up. Maybe I could even convince Broderick to be a good boy in prison as every scenario he had come up with had backfired, but I would worry about that after I got the guys to the hospital.

  I pulled into the first place I saw and asked where the nearest hospital was. Luckily, there wasn’t one too far away, otherwise I would have called 911. Fortunately, there were no cops along the way as I sped like a maniac and had there been, I wouldn’t have stopped. Obviously, I was not in the right frame of mind and I wouldn’t haven’t let anything or anyone deter me from getting to the hospital.

  When I finally arrived, I ran inside screaming that I had two unconscious men in my car. As hospital staff rushed to the car with two stretchers, I made up a story about how they were injured and I did my best to sell it, tears and all.

  Riley: “My husband and his friend … were attacked. I was … I was in the bathroom. I came back and—and I saw …”

  Nurse: “What did you see?”

  Riley: “Three men. Three men. Three men with guns and I couldn’t hear what they said. I think they took Jordan and Broderick’s money but then … then that wasn’t enough. I had … I had to watch them get beaten up. Please save them. I can’t lose him.”

  Nurse: “We can do everything we can. Try your best to stay calm and we will update you every step of the way.”

  Riley: “Thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

  As I watched Broderick and Jordan get wheeled by me, I finally could breathe a sigh of relief. Jordan would live another day. Now, I had to let the doctors do their job but that didn’t mean my work was done as it was imperative that I find a solution to the tattoo fiasco. While I didn’t care that Broderick suffered, ten other people were also in pain because of his selfishness. The only comfort I took was that most likely, those individuals were most likely awful people or at the very least, confused, if they were a part of Broderick’s inner circle. Yet was I really any better than them?

  May 3rd, 4:45 p.m., eight years ago

  It had been a little over a day since I brought Broderick and Jordan to the hospital in the alternative timeline. Broderick had woken up this morning feeling chipper but he attributed that to the drugs; of course he would. It was expected that Jordan would come to sometime today as well, which I had mixed feelings about. I kept wondering if I’d made the right decision. On one hand, I loved Jordan, but then there was Broderick, who I didn’t trust one bit. Not sure why the letter that his dad had written him was so damn important but it really made me suspicious how insistent Broderick was that we retrieve it as soon as Jordan woke up.

  Agent Bernard: “Madam, for your own safety, I need you to leave the room.”

  I looked up from the book I was reading to see a man and a woman, who both were probably in their mid-thirties and were wearing black suits. These individuals were obviously government employees. I assumed one or more of the tests that had been run on Broderick and Jordan probably indicate that they aren’t exactly human, which is why the suits were here now.

  Riley: “And I need you to fuck off.”

  Agent Bernard: “Madam, I don’t think you understand the gravity of this situation.”

  Riley: “Then enlighten me.”

  Agent Bernard: “My name is Agent Bernard and that is my partner, Agent Pinne. This patient here, who you claim to be your husband, is not showing up in any known SRI database so we need to take him in for further observation.”

  Riley: “I don’t care if you are a part of the FBI, CIA, or any other organization with a three-letter abbreviation. You touch him and—”

  Agent Pinne: “You are like him.”

  I looked down to see my hands sparking.

  Riley: “Oh darling, I am the most advanced superhuman you will ever meet. The reason Jordan does not appear in your database is because he is from the future; myself and the other asshole included.”

  Agent Bernard: “That explains the haggard look off Broderick Boucher.”

  Broderick: “I resent that statement, Agent Bernard.”

  Broderick was standing in the doorway wearing a hospital gown. I was pretty sure his back wasn’t properly closed either, so he was probably giving the people in the hallway a show. Maybe Broderick wanted to show off the scars on his back or just wanted to bare his ass; regardless, I was more concerned about the agents. I just needed people to go away, at least until Jordan woke up.

  Riley: “You know them?”

  Broderick: “I don’t know Pinne, but I wouldn’t mind taking her out for coffee or helping her out of that standard-issue uniform.”

  Agent Pinne: “Aren’t you engaged to Arcadia Austin?”

  Riley: “Let’s just say it doesn’t work out between them because he is a douche.”

  Agent Bernard: “What exactly happens?”

  Riley: “Long story or short?”

  Broderick: “Shut up, Riley, or Jordan—”

  Riley: “Fine. Sorry, agents, can’t tell you about all the bad things Broderick ends up doing.”

  Broderick: “We travel back in time to undo follies of youth.”

  Riley: “Follies? That is how you are going to describe what you did?”

  Broderick: “Anyway, when will be heading back to the Security Safe House?”

  Agent Bernard: “As soon as we are allowed to move your friend here.”

  Riley: “Fine, but I am coming with.”

  Agent Bernard: “I’m sorry, but we don’t have order to—”

  Riley: “Either I go or he stays, but please keep in mind, you don’t want me as an enemy.”

  Broderick: “Agent Bernard, I think you should let her come.”

  Agent Bernard: “Fine, but only because my kids really look up to you.”

  Broderick: “I thought you were going to say ‘because we are friends.”

  Agent Bernard: “Are we friends in the future?”

  Broderick: “You retired and we lost touch.”

  I think Agent Bernard could tell that there was more to the story. He didn’t come off as a stupid man. Bernard had probably just decided to go with the flow for a bit to discover information from myself and my fellow time travelers. If he only knew that, besides heading back eight years, this reality isn’t real.

  Agent Bernard: “I see. Agent Pinne, prepare the helicopter.”

  May 3rd, 7:01 p.m., eight years ago

  By the time I was shown a room at the Security Safe House, the entire compound was already abuzz. A much older Broderick, an unconscious man and a woman, who they didn’t know much about, had come to their little island. If they only knew what had transpired over the last eight years from where we were from. I found myself glancing at the photo that Seth had given me, which at this point felt like a lifetime ago.

  Agent Bernard: “I know it’s ge
tting late, but I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions.”

  I tucked the photo back into my pocket.

  Riley: “What? No niceties like ‘how are you settling into your accommodations’?”

  Agent Bernard: “You’re not one for bullshit, so I’d much rather cut to the chase. Besides, I haven’t had dinner yet.”

  Riley: “Ah, so you are hangry.”

  Agent Bernard: “What?”

  Riley: “Combination of hungry and angry.”

  Agent Bernard: “Something like that. Now let’s begin.”

  Riley: “Ask away.”

  Agent Bernard: “What exactly are your abilities?”

  Riley: “I am time.”

  Agent Bernard: “What does that mean?”

  I shifted to my time energy form.

  Riley: “Past, present, and future run through my veins along with the ability to move myself and others into alternate timelines.”

  Agent Bernard: “Would you allow us to run your DNA?”

  Riley: “I’m going to pass on that.”

  Agent Bernard: “You didn’t get your powers like the others.”

  Riley: “No. Jordan and I got our abilities from an injection.”

  Agent Bernard: “Injection?”

  Riley: “I was on death’s door and was given an injection that turned me into an advanced person. The people who did it wanted me to use my abilities for evil but I escaped. The end.”

  Agent Bernard: “That isn’t the end of the story, is it?”