by Simon Archer
“Godfather is so not the same thing, Andie.” He gestured at the screen which was still rolling credits that were wrapped in and out of sinister black and white tentacles. “This is a classic!”
“Look, Eric, if you’re gonna obsess over monster movies, at least go for something on the par with Tremors.” Andie put a hand on her hip and wagged a stern finger at him. “Or even The Toxic Avenger.”
“That was a hero movie, Andie!”
She snorted and rolled her eyes. “Sure... framed as a monster movie.”
Aylin giggled very sweetly at their debate and nodded to herself. “Art is not so easily defined,” she said with a knowing smile. “You remind me of me and my litra.”
Both Andie and Eric said, “Li-what?” at the same time.
Aylin blushed a little at that and shrugged self-consciously. “Someone who... who cares for children?”
Eric’s eyes went wide. “Like a parent?”
“No, doofus, she means like a nanny.” Andie and Eric playfully elbowed each other. “Makes sense, you were royalty.”
“Ah... nanny... I understand. On our world, we have what you call theatre? With the stage and the—” Andie nodded, and Aylin’s smile was warm in response. “My litra enjoyed them and would take me to many as a child. We would always argue which was the best one.”
“So what you’re saying,” Andie chuckled, “is that nerd rage is a universal concept.”
“Makes sense to me,” I called out from the seats. “You’re big enough nerds to qualify.”
Andie wasn’t impressed. “You slept through the whole thing, Nick, I don’t think you can talk.”
With a yawn, I stretched my arms wide. Kara giggled at that and then held out a hand to help me up. I didn’t let that hand go when I stood, and neither did she. When we were both standing, we locked eyes for an extended period. Hers were a beautiful blue ocean that hid depths I wasn’t sure I’d ever know. Somewhere deep in that gaze was the girl who’d forced me to play house with her. I would play the father, she the mother.
Like she’d said back in rescue class, those were... simpler times.
I was the first to look away. I glanced to the door of the theater and scratched the back of my head.
“So, I was thinking,” I muttered, “Do you remember what kind of doll Stacy was? I wanted to replace it. You know, as a peace offering.”
I wasn’t expecting Kara’s giggle again, because I was utterly serious. She, however, seemed pretty certain that I was joking.
“That’s so random!” She laughed. “I only mentioned Stacy as a joke. You okay?”
“Yeah, of course.” I smiled back. “I’m just curious.”
Kara’s blue eyes tipped back while she struggled to remember. Her finger tapped her chin in thought. “I think... I think it was a Faraway Forest doll. The box that it came in had this forest theme on it, and I was pretty big into elves at the time. She was a princess, I think.”
“Wait, Stacy was an elf?”
Still holding my hand, Kara led me out into the brighter lights of the lobby.
“Yeah,” she said as she rolled her eyes like it should have been obvious. “You remember, she had those little pointy ears? I loved that doll. She wore this pretty floral dress—”
“Oh yeah,” I perked up then grimaced at the memory. “I’m pretty sure I tore that dress to shreds. Uh, sorry.”
She gently bumped my shoulder. “You did. After running her through the mud a bunch. I never did find her other leg, by the way. God, you were such a little shit. Stacy didn’t come cheap, you know. Mom was so mad.”
I ducked my head and remembered how ashamed I was the day after. Kara hadn’t spoken to me for days after Stacy’s untimely death.
“I was... okay, fine, I was probably a little bit jealous,” I admitted with a light blush. “You really liked those dolls. I guess I wanted to hate them on principle.”
“You were six,” she pointed out. “I suppose I might forgive you, eventually.”
“Eventually?”
“Yeah.” She grinned and looked me up and down. It wasn’t hungry like Andie but playful all the same. It reminded me of when we were kids. “I like the idea of you being indebted to me. Pretty sure I can get a whole set of Stacys if I keep it up.”
“I’m not buying you a whole set of Stacys.” I snorted. “Why d'you even call her Stacy, anyway? She was Barbie, it’s on the label.”
Kara shrugged. “Barbie’s anorexic, and she’s got unrealistic life goals.” I thought that was a bit unfair to Barbie, but Kara seemed pretty firm on her stance. “Stacy’s more down-to-earth. I like Stacy.”
“But Barbie’s represented in all sorts of...”
“Nope. I like Stacy,” Kara interrupted. She nodded to herself as if to reassure the stance.
I chuckled and squeezed her hand in mine. “Whatever you say.”
We headed toward the front door to wait for Andie, Aylin, and Eric. A flat-screen was playing the news on a wall nearby. My heart skipped a beat to see my father dressed in a suit and tie while he spoke to some journalist about current events. On the bottom of the screen, the heading read EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH LORD INFERNO.
Thankfully, the sound was muted, because I was in no mood to hear his excuses. I could read some of his lips and could tell that he was discussing the incident on the beach. He claimed ignorance, and I sighed. Kara followed my gaze, and then gently turned me around so that we weren’t facing it anymore.
“Ignore it,” she said. “That’s not you.”
I wished that were true. I crossed my arms, my mood firmly killed now. Kara rubbed a gentle hand up and down my spine, and repeated, “Seriously, Nick. Let it go.”
“Trying,” I admitted. “It’s just hard, that’s all.”
“I... I know,” she said, her tone a bit softer this time. She tsked in sympathy and continued to rub her palm along my spine. “It’s going to be alright. I don’t care what everyone’s saying, the attack isn’t your fault.”
I wanted to tell her that I believed her and that everything would be fine as soon as we got back to the academy and I could go on pretending that the outside world and all its politics didn’t actually exist. But that’s when Matt of all fucking people walked into the theater, flanked by the telltale thundering footsteps of Jack.
At first, the four of us gawked at each other as if we couldn’t believe we were inclined to meet in the same city like perfectly normal people. I watched as Matt’s expression morphed into his typical resentment, and his eyes flicked to the newsreel behind me.
“You see the news yet, Inferno Boy?” Matt growled. “He says he’s really proud of you.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as I remembered Gemma’s words. “I really don’t care, Matt.” I tugged Kara’s hand and started walking out the door. I was in no mood for a fight, not tonight. “Come on, let’s go.”
“Nuh-uh,” Matt spat. He closed the distance between us and roughly yanked my arm back. He spun me around so we were eye-to-eye.
I sighed and shoved him away from me, already sick of his bullshit. “The fuck you want from me, Matt? Jesus, just stop!”
“Not yet, Nickie.” He shook his head and gestured outside. “I wanna ask you something. I’ve got a cousin who got injured in that attack. I told him I’d break your arm to keep the world in balance.”
I scoffed and rolled my eyes at him. “Matt, just fucking leave me alone. I’m done playing your stupid little games.”
“But the attack was your fault, and turnabout is fair play.” He either couldn’t understand what I was saying or plain didn’t care. “We all heard what Fulgurite said. She came here and endangered all those lives just to see if you were making progress at Valcav. You’re their little warrior in training. The second you’re done here, you’re going to take over his fucking empire, and—”
I shoved him back again then balled my fists at my sides. He snarled and shoved me in return. I wanted to punch him square in the nose, but
then I noticed Aylin entering the lobby with Andie and Eric trailing behind her. She started and looked from me to Matt and back again. Andie brushed past her when she noticed what was going on and flipped Matt a rude finger.
“Yo, you can’t even drop it out in public?” she snarked. “The fuck you want, Matt? We were just watching a movie.”
Matt gestured at the flat screen behind me, to my father and his ridiculous suit and tie. “You can’t tell me you don’t see what’s going on here. He’s using you! He’s using all of you! Nick’s going to turn, just like his old man, and I’m sick of taking the blame for being a bully when he’s the real problem! He’s a fucking Gateon!”
I gritted my teeth, but Kara’s hand kept me from attacking. She was a calm, steady presence at my side.
It was Aylin who spoke up, her face troubled. “I do not understand your point, Matthew Barbur. A name does not equate to incrimination.”
“Shut up,” Matt hissed at her as he slashed angrily at the air. His eyes were crazed, and it was clear he was beyond reason now. “His father took over the world, murdered hundreds, including my mother! It’s in his blood to turn, and he will, believe me!”
Aylin tilted her head, glancing at the news feed. Her eyes lingered on the way my father quietly spoke to the journalist like he wasn’t the most feared man in the world.
“Anyone can be reformed,” she said firmly. “Even him.”
Matt swiped at her with his claws in response while snarling like an animal.
I quickly dove in front of her to protect against them, crying out, “What the hell, Matt? This is between you and me, leave her out of it!”
“Don’t be a fucking idiot,” he glared at Aylin over my shoulder. For once, he ignored me entirely. “You’re an alien. You don’t get it. He’s a murderer. That’s the end of the goddamned story!”
That was it. Matt could punch and kick and shove me around all he wanted, but threatening Aylin was going too far. I heard the cashier’s noise of protest beyond the concession stand just as I pounced on him and kicked him hard in the gut. Matt grunted through the pain and reacted with claws to my face, but I swerved out of reach and then knocked him down on his ass with a sweep of his legs.
“You’re way out of line, Matt,” I growled.
He was back on his feet in seconds. Jack rumbled in between us to defend his friend, but Matt ignored the attempt and shoved me backward again, all aggression and raw hatred.
“Then don’t put stupid ideas into her pretty little head!” Matt cried. “You can fool everyone else, but I know you’re gonna turn! I won’t let you hurt them, Nick!”
“Hurt them?” I asked, suddenly confused. “You’re one to talk.”
He flew at me, and I rolled out of the way. He crashed into a sign, cursed, and scrambled back to his feet again. When he tried to go after me a third time, Andie tripped him with an extended, stretchy leg.
That’s when Jack decided to get involved personally. He roared to Matt’s defense like a bull in a china shop and managed to smash a window accidentally while barrelling towards Andie. She easily stretched out of the way, and Jack was unable to stop, having overestimated the ability of his brick feet to find purchase on the slick tile floors. He crashed into the concession stand, and the cashier behind it screamed in horror.
“Stop it! This isn’t the place!” I yelled as I stepped between Jack, Matt, and the innocents now fleeing the scene. “If you want to kick my ass, you do it in the gym! Not out here!”
“You’re not going to make it back to the gym,” Matt growled and charged at me yet again. His claws were out, and his rage seemed to give him even more speed than he had. He managed to catch me in the shoulder as I dodged out of the way again. To make matters worse, the broken glass on the floor made the terrain treacherous, and I cut my hands as I stumbled on it.
“And you wonder why I called you a fucking bully,” I shot back as I caught my balance, on guard for Matt’s next attack.
“Call me what you want, Gateon, I know the truth.”
“You think you know the truth,” I cut back.
“I know enough!”
“Do you really?”
He roared again, but this time, he abruptly stopped, frozen in place. I felt an odd sensation in my bones and realized that whatever had happened to Matt had happened to me. I simply couldn’t move.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Triton dressed in casual attire, flanked by Judgment. Apparently, they’d heard the commotion and had come to investigate. Neither one was happy to see us at odds in the middle of the lobby.
Efraim’s scowl could mellow even one of Matt’s tantrums, apparently. “Matthew, what have I said about these little tirades of yours?” The disappointment in his tone was quite evident. “You put your family to shame acting this way.”
My body was finally released from Triton’s legendary grasp, and I sank with relief at the sudden feeling of freedom. It was an awful feeling... my entire body frozen from the inside as Triton seized control of my blood and froze me temporarily with it. He could kill someone with that move, force them to do anything against their will, and it had single-handedly saved Alexandria many times in the past. But it was a move meant for villains. Not for me.
Shamed for similar reasons, Matt scrambled away from me and headed toward Judgment with slumped shoulders. He was pale and terrified in the man’s presence, desperate to please his mentor after his wrongdoing.
“E-Efraim, sir, I swear I didn’t—”
Judgment’s glare could freeze even my father’s raging fire. For a moment, he said nothing, but after Matt looked like he was going to suffer a breakdown, he spun on his heel and headed back out the door.
“Don’t play me for a fool, boy,” Efraim uttered. “Come. I overheard your ridiculous ranting. We will speak on these matters in private.”
“Be gentle, Efraim,” Triton called to his back. “He is just a boy.”
“I will train my students how I wish, Douglas,” Judgment responded with utter coldness. “You settle your own matters. I will speak to you later.”
Jack’s thunderous footsteps rocked the lobby, but he followed Judgment and Matt back to Valcav. Triton waited until they left before he scanned each of our faces. He settled on me last and clicked his tongue softly.
“I believe Gemma told you to keep your distance, hm?”
I ducked my head in shame as heat rose on my cheeks. Disappointing her was one thing, but disappointing Triton was another entirely.
“I-I’m sorry,” I stuttered. “It’s just, he keeps doing that, and I...”
“Lars believes in a ‘boys will be boys’ policy where the two of you are concerned,” Triton interrupted, “but I have never been so convinced of such crude philosophies. You cannot control Matt’s anger, but you can control your own.”
“I-I’m really, really sorry, sir—”
“And to that end,” Triton continued as he ignored the desperation in my voice, “I would like to begin training you in private.”
I was still in the middle of babbling an apology, but then the world slammed back into place again. I blinked, staring at him, and then heard Andie cheer behind me. Her arm came around my shoulder.
“He’d love that,” she said for me.
I nodded in agreement, unable to speak. Personal training with the greatest hero in the entire world?
Wow.
“Good.” Triton smiled and looked utterly pleased with himself. “Because you are all going to attend my lessons.” He looked at each of us in turn. “It is clear that Mr. Barbur is building his own power base, and I have something of a... bet going on with Efraim. Your team would do very nicely.”
Andie grinned. “You mean, you want us to compete at some point?”
Triton’s expression was mysterious, but I caught maybe the slightest hint of a mischievous twinkle.
“I didn’t say that.” He gestured to the surrounding mess. “Now. Please help the staff clean up this mess, and meet me bright
and early tomorrow morning, Mr. Gateon. Can you do that?”
Helplessly, I bobbed my head again.
“Good.” He smiled and walked right back out the door.
Chapter 20 - Kristen
My father held great respect for Judgment, but only in so much as anyone ever acknowledged their mentors. His reverence had been strained by unspoken demons. When he left for the Arctic, Dad arranged another mentor for us, wanting to guide Matt and me along a much different path. That mentor later died painfully at the hands of Inferno. It was said to be an unrelated event, but sometimes I wondered.
Did Inferno even know the mark he’d left on our family?
Judgment took us under his shadowy wing in the aftermath, caring not just for our training but for our shelter too. It became impossible to escape his good intentions, such as they were. Despite everything, Matt respected Judgment’s mentorship and chased after the older man’s long black coat like a boy obsessed. Judgment was ever determined to deny him that affection, repeatedly citing the wrongdoings and inconsistencies of Matt’s actions instead of praising whatever he did correctly. This gave birth to a very insecure creature inside of Matt’s soul which grew throughout the year the longer he was forced to fight someone clearly out of his own league.
The more Nick Gateon continued to rise above the expectations of his tutors, the more annoyed Judgment became at Matt’s inability to do the same.
And then there was me. I couldn’t help but wonder why we had to compete with Nick at all. I’d come to the academy angry at that family for all they’d taken from the two of us, but Nick had proved to be a decent human being who cared about saving innocent people, even at great risk to himself. He respected us both even as Matt ridiculed him, which was far nobler than Judgment would allow us to believe. Every day, Nick fought to overcome the demons his father had created, and with every little victory, the Gateon name became less of a curse and more a source of admiration.
If I wasn’t the product of a man who ran from his children and his problems, then surely Nick wasn’t the product of the man who’d terrorized the entire world. Why did their past have to become our present, anyway?
