Jax: “Before we left for Earth, Father told me to make sure nothing disrupted your union with Grier. You will not tell Grier what I have done, otherwise, Louve may not be around much longer. Not to mention, it will cause war.”
Kalana: “Grier will eventually find out.”
Jax: “I already have the letter written and it looks just like her handwriting, might I add. He will think she just ran off.”
Kalana: “You’re a monster.”
Jax: “I am your general and am following the instructions of our father.”
Kalana: “I am queen.”
Jax: “Just in title. You know Father is still in charge.”
Kalana: “So you want me to betray my best friend and then open my legs to him.”
Jax: “You don’t have to be so vulgar, Kalana. Now make us invisible and help me carry the body to the woods.”
Kalana: “This is so wrong.”
Jax: “If she had just died like a good girl by the gunman’s hand, then we wouldn’t have to dispose of the body. Blame Sashee’s failure.”
Kalana: “Sashee’s dead. He was one of our best marksmen.”
Silently, Sona, Emery, and I watched as my body was dropped casually into the middle of the woods. It was a bit hard to follow them as anything Kalana touched couldn’t be seen, but we could still hear their footfalls and voices. After dumping my body, the siblings walked back to my house, still invisible, and again, didn’t bother with using a door; they just walked through the wall. After a few minutes inside, they reappeared and exited through the front door. Waving and joking, they exited, which I assumed was just in case there was a camera outside, which there wasn’t. I had refused any form of cameras in or near my home. I didn’t want government type to watch my business.
Not wanting to see any more, I opened a portal to the morning of May 20th. I waved for Emery and Sona to follow. While the right thing to do would be to send the girls back to their proper time, I had to see what happened next almost as much as I needed to take my next breath. Things went just how I expected; Grier woke up alone with a letter next to him, which, after reading it, made him sob. While I desired nothing more than to comfort Grier, once again, my powers failed me so all I could was observe.
Once again, I skipped ahead a day in hopes of stopping the spaceship from leaving, but I couldn’t. Over and over again, I tried to figure out why my gift failed me. Could whatever poison I was given have destroyed some of my abilities? No, I didn’t think so … the only logical reason I came up with was because of how far the spaceship was from Earth. If I modified anything involving the aliens, it would literally affect time not just on this planet, but maybe even in another galaxy. In other words, perhaps it was time, itself, stopping me.
Emery: “Riley, Riley, you are blue.”
Riley: “Girls, when we go through the portal, I need you to get far, far away from me. Do you understand?”
The girls nodded their heads in unison, showing that they understood. Then I opened the portal and sure enough, Emery sped off, carrying Sona. At that point, I dropped to my knees and I was not even sure what, exactly, happened. It was like all the pain and hurt I felt shot out of me like blue electricity into the sky, calling for Grier … beckoning for him to return. We were mates.
Suddenly, I became aware of cheap perfume and someone trying to creep up on me. I knew that it was Vegas, and she’d picked the wrong time to try and mess with me. As soon as she was within arm’s reach, I quickly spun around and hit her with time energy, which knocked her to the ground. I saw power- inhibiting shackles on the ground. Did Vegas really think she was going to get them on me?
Angered by Vegas’ actions, I trap her in time energy so she could run away. Abruptly, I picked up the shackles and slapped them on her wrist. Then I forced Vegas to look me in the eyes.
Riley: “The last person who put shackles on my wrist no longer exists. So choose your next words carefully. Do you understand?”
Vegas: “You are out of—”
I punched Vegas.
Riley: “I’m going to leave you like this to think about what you did. Don’t worry; it will eventually wear off—maybe.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see several Superhero Resource Initiative Agents staring at me and they weren’t sure what to do. It didn’t matter how many times I had saved the world; these people viewed me as some kind of weapon or monster. I might be losing my shit, but that didn’t mean I would hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it. Suddenly angry at not just Jax and Kalana, I wanted these people out of my face.
Riley: “Attention! Attention! I’m going to my home and will be putting a barrier on it. Anyone who touches said barrier will be erased from time. This is your only warning. Do. Not. Follow Me.”
I ran over to a nearby golf cart; we kept several on site because the Pennsylvania Security Safe House was expansive. Typically, I preferred to walk, but speeding off in a golf cart seemed to be much more practical in the minute. As I drove off, I put up my middle finger and made my way to my home. Once inside, I sealed myself in and just collapsed in bed.
May 25th, 2:00 p.m.
Riley: “Damn phone won’t stop ringing.”
I decided to pick up.
Riley: “What do you want, Agent Richard?”
Agent Richard: “Come out.”
Riley: “Fuck off.”
I heard Agent Richard arguing with someone and then it sounded like whoever it was took the phone. I was not in the mood for games. Yesterday, Ruperto, Ruby, and Tersina had tried to convince me via text and calls to either get out of my house or let someone in.
Vegas: “Riley, you’re acting like a spoiled—”
Click. I hung up the phone and blocked Agent Shepherd’s number. Vegas was lucky the only thing I’d done was put the shackles on her and freeze her in place for a few hours. What didn’t she and everyone get? I just wanted to be left alone. Suddenly, the phone rang again and when I looked down, it was Arcadia, so I decide to pick up.
Riley: “Surprised it took you so long to call.”
Arcadia: “I know you needed your space, but enough time has passed. Let me in.”
Riley: “So you can take my powers?”
Arcadia: “I don’t think I could handle absorbing such massive energy.”
Riley: “The Nital will kill you for sure. It only accepts the body that it’s intended for blah, blah, blah.”
Arcadia: “It’s not the end of the world, Riley. You will love again.”
Riley: “Really? What would you do if you lost Mac? Better yet, what if you bonded to someone and the only thing you had left was this hole in your chest that keeps aching? It’s like a constant festering feeling.”
Arcadia: “The further away Grier gets, I think the more the ache will dull. You will eventually meet someone else; sure, he won’t be your soulmate—”
Riley: “Do you want me to hang up on you too?”
Arcadia: “No, and honestly, the whole situation sucks, but what can we do?”
Riley: “Mac invented teleporters which can get us from one side of the world to another. They have the same technology in Reirg, except they can teleport to any planet in their solar system. Mac needs to find a way to tap into the system so I can go there and—”
Arcadia: “Riley, that was the first thing Mac and I thought of. We have the coordinates to Reirg, courtesy of the general who was hitting on Honey’s daughter, Betsy. He told her if she was ever in his galaxy to look him up.”
Riley: “And?”
Arcadia: “Dammit, Riley. Can you please just let me in?”
Riley: “Fine, but no funny business or else.”
I waved my hand and removed the energy field from just around the front door. Emery must have been waiting for me to open up a way for her to get in, for she zoomed in. While I knew it was in her nature to try and save me, the fact of the matter was that I didn’t want Emery to see me like this. I liked the idea of Emery only knowing the hero in the mask and cape that rescued her thre
e years ago, as that was a person she could look up to.
Emery hadn’t had many role models; her parents had ended up owing the wrong people money and had been going to sell her to them in order to pay off their debt. Those bad men had taken Emery, but she’d managed to escape. But as she was running away, she had gotten shot. Despite being injured, she’d kept on going until she’d reached the bar I was in and collapsed in the middle of the room. Arcadia and I had run into the bathroom, where we’d swiftly donned our hero uniforms.
By the time we got to the girl, she had lost a lot of blood and I knew she was going to die if I didn’t act. So I made a snap judgment and injected her with the formula my future self had given me. Mac didn’t know that I swiped one of four injections from his lab, for situations like this. Suffice it to say, I did not regret saving Emery.
Emery: “Riley …”
I patted the bed next to me so she could lie down. Emery decided to take me up on the offer, after pushing the junk off the side of the bed and onto the floor. Arcadia should be here any second, so I resealed the house so no one else could enter and just waited in silence for her smiling face or frown. Yep, it was a frown when Arcadia finally walked into the room.
Riley: “You can have the foot of the bed if you want.”
Arcadia: “Are you really going to fall apart because of some guy? You are stronger than this.”
Riley: “You have no idea the shit I have seen. I have cleaned up so many messes that you don’t remember, that no one actually remembers. I have saved the world countless times and the one time I need someone to save me, fucking Vegas tries to put shackles on me. You know how much I hate those things.”
Arcadia: “That wouldn’t have been a decision I would have made.”
Riley: “You can tell all those pricks out there they can kiss my ass. I’m done.”
Arcadia began changing into various members of the Superhero Resource Initiative. It wasn’t too often that Arcadia was silly and amusing. I didn’t know why Arcadia and Mac always had the ability to cheer me up. While I tried to be a good friend, I really needed to do better by them.
Arcadia: “I can tell all the jackasses off for you, but I have a much better plan than retirement. You just have to do one last thing for the Superhero Resource Initiative.”
Riley: “I should rip their hearts out of the ones they love.”
Emery: “You don’t mean that.”
Arcadia: “Emery, not now, sweetheart.”
Riley: “What do they want?”
Arcadia: “Well, it’s more so for me. I agreed to go to a charity event and my daughter is scheduled to have a C-Section that day. So I just need you to go there dressed in costume, shake some hands, and kiss some babies. You know, the usual meet and greet.”
Riley: “At least under Broderick’s rule I didn’t have to do this shit but because it is for you and your future grandbaby, I will.”
Arcadia: “Perfect. I have a feeling that things will only get better from here.”
Riley: “It’s not like I can get to Reirg, so I don’t know about that.”
Arcadia: “You might not be able to leave the planet, but like I said I have a plan to at least make things better on Earth. Now, I’m going to write down the information, you go have a shower, and breakfast will be done by the time I get out. Just go with whatever happens.”
May 27th, 9:43 p.m.
Turned out Arcadia’s plan was having her very pregnant daughter, Arianna, erase almost everyone’s memory of my meltdown. Only a select few, including Mac, Arcadia, Sona, Emery, and of course, Arianna, knew the truth. Not sure why Arcadia made me go to the charity event, when she could have easily had some more memories blanked out. I didn’t argue too much as I owed Arcadia and her whole family, so I donned my Vicis costume and made my way to the event.
It was lots of smiles and small talk while at the overpriced manor, which was rented for the charity function. The pictures and the autographs weren’t an issue; as a matter of fact, I enjoyed that part of the job. What I hated was the rich asshole types who thought it was okay to ask me to perform like I was some circus monkey.
Eventually, I had the need to escape for a bit so I put on a waitress uniform and turned back to my normal self. To my shock, as I was walking around, I saw Jordan at a table drawing. Why was he at this event? Well, okay, maybe it did make sense as he drew Team Occurrence comics and seeing us in the flesh probably helped his artwork.
Against my better judgment, I decide to approach Jordan after about fifteen minutes of trying not to stare. He did not stop drawing as I glanced at his work. If I hadn’t been leaning on the table, I probably would have fallen over because he was drawing not just any girl, but me, standing in front of the Eiffel Tower.
Riley: “That’s me.”
Jordan: “Sorry. I had this dream, well, several in fact, of this girl whose face I never see. Now, I am happily married, don’t get me wrong, but every once in a while, I get this pang in my heart for a girl who haunts my dreams and probably doesn’t even exist. Last night, I dreamt we were kissing in front of the Eiffel Tower and it was such beautiful imagery that I had to draw it to get it out of my head. The problem was, I didn’t have a face, so I stole yours. If that’s an issue, I can erase—”
Riley: “I love it. Can I have it?”
Jordan tore the page out of his sketch pad and handed it to me. Carefully, I folded up the sketch and put it in my pocket. Then I took a seat next to him, waiting for Jordan to talk.
Jordan: “Have you ever had one of those nights?”
Riley: “A few days ago the man I love left because of a cruel lie that someone spread. I wasn’t even home to stop it.”
Jordan: “Shit, you are having a worse night then me. I will tell you the same thing that I would tell my kids if they were in a similar situation. If it’s meant to be, it’ll happen. Who knows, maybe he will come back or someone will crash land into your life.”
Crash land? Did Jordan know about Grier? No, that was impossible.
Riley: “Crash land?”
Jordan: “Sorry, I am currently drawing a Team Occurrence in outer space book, so I have been thinking a lot about spaceships, stars, and really cool alien designs.”
Event Planner: “Excuse me, waitress, they need more bacon-wrapped shrimp at table one.”
I glanced over to the table the event planner was referring to. The senator and his wife were sitting there. When we had taken pictures earlier, he had made an inappropriate sexual joke. It had taken a good deal of willpower not to punch the senator in the face.
Riley: “Tell someone who cares. I’m on break.”
The event planner started sputtering before walking off. Jordan chuckled and took out a vape pen. Then he gestured for me to follow him outside. We ended up walking a little bit away from the building, kind of hidden in the darkness and shrubbery. Jordan and I began bullshitting about our life. He told me about his wife, family, and how he wanted to retire within the next five years. His daughter’s personality even reminded me a lot of Alyssa, which made me miss her. Even though talking to Jordan was bittersweet, it also made me feel normal, whatever the fuck that is, but it wasn’t meant to last.
Unexpectedly, the roof of the historic manor was torn off by a giant metal robot with a machine gun for one arm and a standard hand in the other. No doubt Blaso, a billionaire kingpin, was in charge of this attack. On more than one occasion, Team Occurrence had traced weapons back to Mr. Blaso, but due to his money and connections he remained untouched. Not sure what Mr. Blaso’s plan was, but I assumed it was to make the heroes look bad in front of the politicians, movie stars, and other influential types.
Jordan: “We’ve got to get out of here.”
Ignoring Jordan, I began undoing my shirt.
Jordan: “Whoa, I know that thing is tearing shit apart, but I am not going to have sex with you.”
Riley: “I just wanted your clothing to help mask my identity but we are out of time.”
; I let out a sigh and turned into my blue time form. I knew I was supposed to keep my identity hidden, but this was Jordan and he would never give my secret away. Sure, Jordan had forgotten me, but I knew I could still trust him based on our conversation and the picture he had drawn.
Riley: “No one can know my identity. Now, run!”
Jordan nodded his head and took off. As people fled the building, I shielded them from falling debris. When the robot saw me, he began firing his machine guns and, FYI, they weren’t typical bullets being spread. Someone seriously needed to get the fuck here as I couldn’t protect people on such a large scale, take a beating, and also attack.
Worst-case scenario, I could always go back in time and phone in the attack prior to it happening. Before the forced charity event, I had tested my abilities and as long as it wasn’t pertaining to the aliens, they worked. So it appeared that my theory of time stopping me from manipulating other planets and galaxies was correct. My powers only worked on the planet that I was on.
Hurricane, Vegas and Ink come flying in. It was seriously about damn time! I thought Ink was retired but I guessed she didn’t want her daughter, Millie, aka Hurricane, to have all the fun. As soon as they landed, Hurricane began to create high gusts of wind while Ink’s robotic birds, which she must have drawn prior to arriving, flew off the page. The birds and wind were used to distract so that Vegas could get close to the robot to fry its circuits. Typically, Vegas’ abilities could work from a distance, but not with the new technology that Mr. Blaso had invented. He called it “hacker pro tech.”
Then There Was New York Page 21
