Ultimate Sacrifice

by Damien Benoit-Ledoux

  Quinn shook his head. “Far from it. Being normal got me a boyfriend; not being normal got me dumped. Tears formed, and he quickly wiped his eyes. Shit, when does this stop?

  Loren and Ravone’s excited faces became grave, and Ravone spoke. “But you can do so much good as Blue Spekter, Quinn. Your normal is just different.”

  “Yeah,” Loren said. “It’s kind of like having two dads, it’s normal but not normal.”

  Quinn glared at his friend, ready to challenge her use of the word normal, but she continued.

  “Just like me,” Loren added. “I confuse everyone. I look like a girl and dress like a boy, while other days I look like a boy and dress like a girl. I use he and she interchangeably, just like the restrooms I use. That’s my normal—it’s normal, but it’s a different normal—and different isn’t bad.

  Quinn smiled. “Okay, I see what you’re saying.” The bell rang and they groaned.

  “Here goes nothing,” Quinn said. They grabbed their bags and joined the horde of students filing into the hallways and walked to their first class of the day.

  ❖

  “Why do I even need the suit if everyone knows who I am now?” Quinn asked, slouching in one of the desks in the front row of Ron St. Germain’s science lab. He spun his phone around in his hand.

  “Superheroes wear super suits because the suit embodies power, trust, leadership, and responsibility. Superman’s suit is iconic, and people know exactly who he is and what he represents when they see him. That’s what you want when people see you dressed as Blue Spekter. Otherwise, you’re just a kid in jeans, a T-shirt, and a hoodie. It’s not very inspiring, is it?”

  “I guess not.”

  “And, to be honest, people aren’t going to remember your face. Have you noticed the news hasn’t revealed your name or identity to anyone yet?”

  Quinn stopped spinning the phone around and looked at his mentor. “What?”

  “They’re not sharing your name, Quinn. Sure, your classmates and the faculty know who you are, but they won’t officially broadcast it on the news. You’re welcome.”

  Quinn tilted his head to the side. “Did you have something to with that?”

  Ron nodded. “Yup. Using my massive command of comic book knowledge, I convinced Applegate and Potter that revealing your identity would undermine everything they wanted to do and create targets for people to go after, including your dads, me, your closest friends here, and of course, them…all for helping you or being close to you….because that’s how you hurt someone who is practically invulnerable…you take out the people they love.”

  Quinn looked down at the desk. “Yeah, it really hurts losing someone you love.”

  “Ah,” Ron replied.

  Quinn’s eyes watered. “Uh…Keegan and I…um…”

  “You’re not together because he discovered your alter ego?”

  “Yeah.” Quinn glanced at the boyfriends ring on his hand. He hadn’t removed it because he still hoped Keegan would change his mind.

  “Ouch. I’m so sorry.”

  Quinn sighed and wiped his eyes. “I’ll be fine.”

  “Want me to talk to him?”

  “No thanks, but we do need to get the team together, so we can discuss stopping Blake.”

  “You have something in mind?” Ron asked.

  Quinn cleared his throat and nodded. “Yup, and if I’m lucky, he won’t see it coming.”

  16 | They Won’t Be Expecting This

  Blake

  Dark Flame opened his eyes and found himself sitting in the middle of an empty, dark room.

  That’s not right.

  He realized he was inside a cube-style cage made up of shiny silver metal bars on all sides except the bottom, which was a flat metal floor. The cage had a door that was closed and presumably locked.

  His eyes adjusted to the darkness and when his super vision kicked in, he realized the room wasn’t empty. Around the cage, a number of marines posted guard and pointed their TaseBolts at him. He groaned and tried to scratch his nose, but his hands and ankles were shackled to the metal chair. His feet felt cold, and when he looked at them, he saw his bare feet had been placed in a metal bucket of ankle-deep water. Two wires were duct-taped to the insides of the bucket, their exposed copper leads secured under the water.

  “What the hell?” he angrily asked.

  “Oh good, you’re awake,” a man said, then snapped the fingers of his left hand.

  A significant current of electricity passed through Dark Flame’s body and his eyes popped open with surprised as the shock incapacitated his muscles and mind.

  Just as suddenly as it started, the electrical jolt stopped and he breathed heavily, like he had just run a six-minute 5K race.

  “If you try to escape, we’ll push more current into you through that pool of water than you can handle. Given your track record, I don’t really care if it kills you or not.”

  Dark Flame tried to look at the voice, but the man’s face was obscured by darkness. “Who are you? What do you want?” he asked, shaking against the metal restraints.

  The man snapped his fingers and Dark Flame’s body convulsed as a second dose of electricity tormented him. When it stopped, Dark Flame’s shoulders heaved with pain and agony. His head drooped, and his chin rested on top of his sternum.

  “It’s you I want, Dark Flame.”

  Not for long. Come on, Ira, don’t fail me now.

  Dark Flame discreetly looked at whatever he could see in front of him, remembering Ira’s training about observing a room to understand what options were available to him. Using his super vision in the dark, he followed the dim light on the floor to a closed door to his left. A camera was mounted in the upper left corner, and he presumed more people were on the other side of the door or wall, watching him.

  Dark Flame looked at the man, but still couldn’t make out his face. To Dark Flame’s right, he followed the wiring to another man in a suit who stood near a makeshift plywood frame that supported an industrial electrical switch in an exposed blue plastic electrical box.

  That’s what’s controlling the electrical shocks. Wherever I am, it looks like they scrambled to build this. I bet I’m still on Seavey Island…

  The man’s hand rested on the blue plastic of the electrical box, ready to flip the switch at any time.

  Idiots. They’re not shocking me now, so they don’t know what Mother Superior knew about keeping a low charge running through me.

  He reached out with his mind, sensing everything in the room—including the room—that he could manipulate with his telekinetic powers.

  The rebar in Prescott Park…if those guys fire their TaseBolts at me, the metal bars of the cage will attract the electricity and I’ll be safe…oh wait…metal floor and metal chair…shoot.

  Enough of this foolishness. Time to tear this place apart and show them what happens when you play with fire.

  Dark Flame’s eyes and body ignited with bright orange fury as he reached out with his mind and shattered the hand bones of the man standing near the electrical shock switch. As the man screamed in agony, Dark Flame swept his mind through the room and broke the legs of the soldiers surrounding the cage. They collapsed to the floor with shouts of pain and agony and their TaseBolts clattered to the floor next to them. Then, he ripped the wires out of the bucket his feet were in, whipped them across the room, and snaked them around the electrical man’s neck, finishing off by puncturing his cheeks with the exposed copper leads. Dark Flame grimaced, threw the switch, and fried the man at the controls. The man’s body involuntarily convulsed and smoked as it instantly burnt and charred into a stiff corpse.

  Then, rapidly superheating his body to nearly three-thousand degrees so he could keep his super tights intact, Dark Flame watched the metal shackles on his wrists and ankles melt and drip to the floor. The incapacitated soldiers around him tried to move away, but their exposed skin was already scalding hot and melting from their faces. When he stood, the chair beneath him m
elted and warped into a disfigured metal blob.

  He glared at the leader. The man had backed away and tried to shield his face from the oppressive heat by covering his face with his elbow, but the air in the room was too hot to breathe and soon everyone was dying or dead, their lungs burned to a crisp. The metal bars of the cage around him melted and the cage dripped to the floor into puddles of molten metal. The dead body of the leader collapsed to the floor near the door.

  Cooling himself off, he saw his purple sneakers near the door and took a moment to put them on. On the other side of the door, he heard shouting voices and the squeaking and scuffing of boots on the concrete floor.

  More soldiers are coming…

  He turned away from the door and looked up at the ceiling. Though it was high above him, it looked like a commercial ceiling one might find in a warehouse-style department store like Target or Walmart.

  The door unlocked, but Dark Flame held it shut with his mind. Soldiers pushed at it, but he ignored them and launched himself upward and tore through the roof. Looking around, he found himself hovering in the middle of the Naval Shipyard.

  I was right, they didn’t have a chance to move me very far.

  Alarms rang out beneath him, but he paid no attention to the calamity below and became invisible.

  He flew toward the employee parking lot near the prison and searched for Alex’s car, but since most of the cars were covered in snow, it required a closer inspection.

  I don’t know why I am doing this. Why do I care about what happens to Alex?

  At last, he spotted a blue car and brushed away the snow from the license plate with his mind. It read Yoda.

  Perfect. I care because when I take over The Order, I’ll need people with access who are loyal to me.

  Looking around the dimly lit parking lot to make sure no one was watching—which he couldn’t be sure of because of the unusual military presence on the island—he jumped onto the roof of the car. Then, reaching out with his mind, he levitated himself and the car straight into the air until he was at least one hundred feet up. Still invisible, he moved forward with the car, carrying it over the shipyard and Kittery until he lowered it into an empty parking space near his condo.

  There, now you can go home.

  Then, he flew around the building and landed on his snow-covered balcony. When he opened the door, he startled Alex, who had fallen asleep on the couch.

  “It’s done,” Blake said.

  “That’s awesome, thank you so much. Um, why do you look like shit?” Alex asked.

  “When they figured out what I was doing, they ambushed me in the barracks at the third conduit. I also learned that their stun guns are called TaseBolts and they really like using them against me.”

  “Do they work? Wait, stupid question. What happened?”

  Blake explained how they used the TaseBolts to capture and imprison him until he broke out. He left out the part about how he incinerated the soldiers because he suspected Alex was squeamish.

  “Wow, that’s intense. So, not to change the subject, but do you mind if I…”

  “You can stay the night, but I brought your car over from the island for tomorrow,” Blake replied, anticipating the question.

  “Thanks. I know I told you I don’t have my car and the storm is too bad for my boyfriend to risk driving to come get me.” Alex froze, then looked at Blake. “Wait, did you just say you brought my car over? Over what?”

  Blake smiled. “Over the island, the river, and into a parking space outside.”

  “Holy shit.”

  Yeah, I figured you’d think that was pretty cool.

  “So, you don’t mind if I stay? The roads are pretty bad and…”

  “It’s not a problem. You can sleep on the couch or there’s a second bed upstairs.”

  “I’m okay here, for now. So, um, do you want to watch a movie?”

  Blake looked at Alex with surprise. It had been several months since he hung out with someone and chilled, let alone watch a movie with a friend…not that Alex was a friend, but he was here and the opportunity was in front of him. In fact, he hadn’t watched a movie with someone since he and Quinn broke off their friendship.

  “Sure,” Blake replied, fighting a smile. It was nice to socialize again, and he didn’t realize how much his life and become focused—obsessed—with The Order and his mission to take it over.

  Why am I doing that again?

  A fleeting but heart wrenching emotion tugged at his soul and for a moment, he missed his friends and Quinn. He shook his head and pushed away the momentary confusion, scratching the back of his head. “I need to shower and get into some comfy clothes. I’ll be back in 15 minutes.”

  “I’ll be here,” Alex said.

  Blake pointed to the kitchen. “There’s microwave popcorn if you want to make some.”

  “Awesome, thanks.”

  Blake went upstairs, turned on his shower, and stripped off his sneakers and purple tights. When the shower water was warm, he stepped under the stream and washed away his battle with the soldiers on Seavey Island. His thoughts briefly turned to the present moment.

  You know, when I’m not angry at the world or Quinn…I feel like my old self a bit. Alex has shown me something I didn’t even know I was missing.

  After, he dressed in comfy clothes and went downstairs to pick a movie with Alex.

  ❖

  At first, there was nothing, only darkness. Then, there was a powerful, exhilarating sensation…then another…and another.

  Slowly, Blake pieced together the sensations he felt; rushing cool air, his hair flapping in the breeze, the extended fingers of his outstretched hand cutting the air like the nose of a supersonic fighter jet.

  I’m flying, holy crap, I’m flying! But…I can do that already…

  He opened his eyes and saw the horizon in front of him, the green forest below whipping past.

  Wait, I’ve had this dream before…I know how this ends…I think.

  It was daylight, and he was flying through the air. Laughing, he rolled, soared, and executed various tricks in the air, always bringing himself back to level flight. His super vision provided clarity of sight and he saw the earth beneath him in exquisite detail, but suddenly it was black, charred, and dead.

  What the hell happened?

  And then, far in the distance, he saw the faintest hint of red light.

  Quinn!

  Blake accelerated and tried to catch up, only to find himself tossed about by violent winds that didn’t exist, as if something was pushing him away, keeping him from getting to his best friend. The air around him became thick like Jell-O, and it took all of his strength to push through.

  A horrible sense of dread descended upon him when he realized the red light was flying toward him.

  Oh shoot, that’s not Quinn. I need to get away from…whatever that is…I’m pretty sure it wants to kill me.

  He turned and flew in the opposite direction, moving away from the thick air toward open darkness.

  Ahead of him, he saw a familiar blue light.

  Quinn! I have to get to Quinn…I need his help.

  “Quinn!” he shouted.

  He checked behind him and saw the glowing red light was gaining on him. Blake poured on the speed, but it seemed to have no effect.

  “Quinn!” he shouted again, but the blue light kept moving away.

  Then, like the first time he had a version of this dream, he was pulled to the ground. The red light behind him was almost on top of him, and the sense of death and dread made Blake’s stomach churn with aggravated nausea.

  Come on, dammit, fly! You can do this, you’re not new to flying any more.

  Behind him, maniacal laughter caught his attention. Realizing he would never make it to Quinn, he decided to fight whatever was coming at him, so he spun around to face the oncoming attack.

  “Blake!” a man’s voice yelled, but it was distant and far. The voice did not belong to Quinn.

  Bla
kes eyes widened with surprise when he stared at a Ghost Rider-like burning skeleton head attached to a man in a tattered black super suit who glowed red. The demon-man screamed an awful, earsplitting, and disgusting scream and then reached out to him with ragged, bony, claw like fingers.

  “You’ve always been mine,” the demon-man cried out, his voice thunderous and deep.

  “Blake!” The distant voice yelled again.

  One of the demon-man’s extended fingers touched Blake’s chest and sent a wave of excruciating pain through his body. Losing control of his flight, he spun and fell, the charred earth and dark sky spinning wildly in his vision. He shut his eyes and yelled when the ground rushed up to meet him, expecting a painful end.

  “Blake, wake up!” the distant voice yelled a third time, pulling him from the nightmare.

  Blake yelled in surprise and sat up, clutching his bedding with terror. His eyes blinked at the bright light coming from the hallway where a silhouetted, unclothed man stood in the open doorway of his bedroom.

  “Who the hell are you?” Blake asked defensively.

  “It’s me, Alex,” the man responded. “Remember? I’m sleeping over tonight because of the bad snowstorm. You were having one hell of a nightmare.”

  “Yeah,” Blake said.

  “You’ve been yelling and thrashing for the past ten minutes, and it woke me up. I finally decided to wake you up.”

  “Sorry.”

  “No need to apologize, but it must’ve been one hell of a dream. You’re all sweaty.”

  Blake looked down and dragged a hand across his chest. Sure enough, he was soaked and felt like he had just come in from a 10K run in humid and hot July weather.

  Gross.

  “I guess I’ll, uh, take a shower and dry off.”

  “Okay,” Alex said. “Have a better night’s rest.”

  “Yup. Thanks.”

  Then, Alex shut the door behind him and Blake crawled out of bed and made his way to the master shower. When he finished, he climbed into the other side of his bed and settled in, wondering why the dream changed and introduced such a scary element.

  ❖

  “So, um, not to be nosy but I was bored while you were infiltrating the facility last night and I saw all of the stuff on your dining room table,” Alex said, holding a cup of steaming coffee in his hands. He was still wearing Blake’s clothes and his hair was rustled from sleep.