by Simon Archer
“Nick.” She chuckled, rolling her eyes. “I love you too.”
And that was that.
The tension in my shoulders melted a little, and I started, “Sorry, I... yeah, I love—”
A scream rang out over the hubbub of the carnival. An explosion followed it, and all I saw was a wave of heat and flying debris before the shockwave rocketed Kara and me backward into the dirt. I struck my head on a concession stand. The pain was secondary to the confusion, and I held my temple with a wince, blinking at the blurry chaos all around us. People were stampeding out of the carnival, screaming bloody murder. Desperate feet barely missed me, and I rolled over to check Kara. She was unharmed, holding the various bags of fish with a wide-eyed expression.
“We should do something to help,” I said. “There are a lot of kids here.”
I heard a noise behind me and looked back to see Andie literally flying at us, having likely slingshot her body to close the distance. When she landed, she jabbed a finger up the air. I followed it to Fulgurite.
The villainess floated up high, a black dot in front of the full moon. Her cape fluttered behind her like a living creature as she scanned the carnival for something. Someone, probably. Namely me.
I cursed. “Again?”
Andie nodded, her lips twisted into a frown. “Sorry, Nick. I don’t know how she keeps doing it, but clearly, she has some method to track you down.”
In the age of heroes, it was hard to say. A mind reader of some kind could invade a lot of privacy very quickly, and that was without considering technological means. Kara herself had proven that with her locator device the very first day we were at Valcav. In any case, I didn’t entertain the idea that we had a spy. That didn’t seem very likely.
“Whatever,” I said, slashing an angry hand in the air. “I’ll go up and draw her away from the carnival. There are too many kids here, someone’s bound to get hurt.”
Kara shook her head unhappily, still holding onto all the fish. They seemed fine, though clearly distressed by all the ruckus. With a quiet little grumble, she hid each of the bags underneath the counter of the concession stand, promising, “We’ll be back to take care of you.”
“They should be alright, Kara.”
“That’s not who I’m worried about,” she spat. “You’re not fighting her alone this time, Nick. We work as a team or not at all.”
I sighed. Kara was right, of course. If we stood any chance of dealing with this, it was together. Aylin and Eric found us and ran up to the stand.
“You’re right,” I told Kara, giving a quick nod to the two newcomers. “I’ll play bait, lure her away from the carnival. You guys follow, okay? Hit her while she’s distracted. Kara, keep your... oh.”
I was going to tell her to keep her distance, but then there was a tremendous gun in her hands. It whirred with dangerous energy and flickered with a lot of little red lights. She primed some button near the trigger and then glanced through the scope up at Fulgurite.
“This bitch is going down,” Kara spat, “and I’m helping.”
Andie blinked, a little thrown by that sudden heat. “You’re invested, I see.”
“No one threatens my fish,” Kara said, a little too seriously. “They could’ve gotten hurt.”
Right. I shook my head, chuckling. With a glance to Eric and Aylin who nodded their agreement, I powered up. I wasn’t certain it would even come at first, because I’d been testing so thoroughly under Triton’s orders. When it did, my breath hitched slightly. The dam burst open and power rushed through me like a tidal wave.
“Alright,” I muttered as I took a slow, deep breath. “I’ll lure Fulgurite back to the beach. Should be empty this time of night. Be fast, I don’t know how long I can hold her off by myself.”
I waited just long enough to hear Kara and Andie both say, “Be careful,” before I launched up into the air like a rocket.
I caught Fulgurite by surprise and then spun around in the air and bent over to show her my ass. I clapped it with a hand and hollered, “Looking for this?”
Fulgurite was utterly delighted as she laughed at my display. “What a naughty boy! Sorry about the interruption to your cute little date, but I figured, hey, my master wants me to test you, right? Because I didn’t really test you last time. Actually, I kind of went easy on you. If I test you again and harder, he’ll certainly be happy then!”
“Or you could just go home like a normal supervillain.”
“Ha! I’m not the supervillain.” She tapped her chin and tilted her head in thought. “That is, I suppose I am in this little bit of roleplay, but I’m a hero of the empire. Your dad gave me a little pin and everything.”
She produced a bright red plastic pin that looked like my father pointing upwards in approval. When she pressed a button on the side, his little tinny voice said, “You’re number one!” She squealed with joy and then actually pinned it to her chest.
“Congrats,” I said sarcastically, and she beamed at me.
“Thank you, sweetie!”
I rolled my eyes. “Go home, Fulgurite.”
“Nonsense! This party is just getting started.”
“Go home.”
She raised her fist into the air, summoning lightning from the dark, swirling clouds overhead. I just barely managed to dodge the bolt, then took off towards the beach.
The carnival rested by a series of cliffs on the northern edge of the bay. Ironically, the beach wasn’t too far from the carnival, and I led Fulgurite back there, intending to pull her away from potential victims. The beach was largely empty after the original attack, and there were too many innocents in the carnival for this mess.
“Where are you going, Nicholas? We need to battle proper, and all the innocents are back there!” She followed close behind, nearly as fast as I was in the skies.
“You already injured half a dozen in that first strike,” I called back. “No more!”
“But it’s so much fun!” She slashed at the air with her palm, and a gust of wind blew me backward. I spiraled out of the air and landed harshly in the sand. “You know, you should come back with me to the island. That would be a lovely surprise for my master!”
I used the momentum to roll forward and found my feet quickly.
“I’d rather be dead,” I scoffed, fists balled at my sides. “And we both know you won’t kill me. You like him, don’t you?”
“Actually, things would be much easier if you were dead,” Fulgurite admitted. “I’ve tried to bed him for years, but he’s too loyal to your mother’s corpse. You remind him of her. Maybe I should kill you.”
“Kill me, and he’ll make sure you die slowly,” I spat.
She tried to hit me with a thunderbolt. It clapped with a loud boom and landed not an inch from where I stood.
“Oh, master,” she said, wide-eyed and falsetto. “I don’t know what happened! A freak storm hit, and I tried to save him, but... but then he was struck multiple times by the growing tides...” The bay churned ominously, irritated by the storm she’d created overhead. “I think... I think Triton did it! You know how he is with water! I think he knew your son was going to betray him, and he killed him to spite you!”
“That’s stupid! He’d never believe that!”
“Oh, master, I know you loved him,” she continued, with wide, crazed eyes. “Let me be your comfort tonight. I will avenge you.”
I launched up into the air again. The storm followed me, and the winds picked up incredibly fast. It was getting difficult to keep flying, and I nearly smashed back down to the sand again when she forced me to dodge another bolt.
“I kill you and break his heart,” she cried. “Then I can repair it and make it mine!”
Tired of being on the defensive, I cupped my palms and fired a bright beam of light at her. She reeled backward but then corrected herself far too soon, as the wind picked up tenfold. I cried out, unable to keep flying, and I slammed back onto the beach again. Andie was at my side a second later, and Ayli
n had joined her.
“I cannot fly in these conditions, Starlight!” the princess yelled over the din of the storm.
“I know,” I shouted back. It started to rain, and then the rain became hail. It pounded at us like little icy bullets, and Andie stretched out her body to protect us like a big umbrella.
She grunted in pain. “No, don’t. Eric and Kara need the cover.” Sure enough, Eric slid in underneath Andie’s contorted body, sparkling from head to toe in little bolts of lightning. I shook my head and reached to stop him before remembering at the last second that touching him was probably a bad plan.
“You’ll just feed her energy like you did last time, Eric.” I glanced around. “Where’s Kara?”
He was about to answer when another boom shook the earth. This time, it wasn’t lightning. Fulgurite exploded into a tremendous fireball, and immediately, her storm died down again. She plummeted toward the beach and crashed into the sand, creating a small crater. My heart lurched my throat, wondering for half a moment if Kara had actually killed her.
Andie stretched her body back to normal in relief. I spotted Kara on a cliff’s ledge high above the beach. Her red hair whipped around in the wind. It looked like her gun had become something of a rocket launcher. She fired it again as Fulgurite screamed in rage and got back to her feet. So, not dead after all.
“Thank god,” I muttered. “Looks like Fulgurite has some kind of healing factor. Or maybe it’s Dad’s forcefield?”
This time, Fulgurite reflected the rocket back with a strong blast of wind, and it spiraled back towards Kara’s position. I screamed when it impacted the cliff where she stood, and the last I saw of Kara was a tremendous fireball.
Chapter 23
I was seven. The door to the kitchen was locked tight. It had yellow police tape strung across it in an X, and I didn’t really understand why. I remember reaching to tear it down with small hands, but then my father picked me up into his warm, safe arms and led me out of the house.
He took me to King Kone, a local ice cream parlor with a make-your-own sundae table. I was so excited that I could barely contain it, and the cashier chuckled as I struggled to read each and every flavor. I had a new favorite every time I went there, but that week, it was death by chocolate. I went with the theme and stacked so much syrup into my sundae cup that it spilled over and made a mess on the counter.
My dad chuckled and cleaned it with a rag. I remember complaining that he didn’t order one of his own, but he claimed that he wasn’t hungry.
We sat by a large window that glanced out at Main Street, and he watched me eat for a while in silence.
I bit my lip as the moment went on, and I put the spoon down. I remember asking, “Dad? Are you okay?”
A shadow traced the lines of his face, and he said, “Yeah. Yeah, just... Nick, I love you. You know that, don’t you?”
I rolled my eyes, just like I did every time he did something sappy. My dad was an emotional creature, and I hadn’t really appreciated that at the time.
“Of course, Dad,” I groaned.
He smiled gently and took my tiny little hands in his. He met me eye-to-eye, his own a deep, dark brown that hid far too much pain that day. I felt my shoulders tense, and I pulled my hand out of his to reach for my spoon again.
The chocolate was divine. With it, I forgot about all my troubles... which was more or less the point, but I didn’t know that then.
I took three tremendous spoonfuls, slurping happily all the while, before my dad whispered, “Remember this. Okay?”
His voice had choked a little bit, and I blinked up at him in confusion. Tears swam in his dark brown eyes. Startled, I reached for him. I didn’t know what to do, but I wanted to help somehow. I’d never seen him like that before.
“Dad? What’s wrong?”
“Don’t worry about it.” He palmed the tears with a frustrated hand and then shook his head. “Just remember this, okay?”
“Okay, but... but why?”
“Because I want you to have some good memories too.”
As the memory faded, and the storm swirled all around us, I felt the breath pull back into my lungs. Fulgurite’s eyes had become solid white, and lightning crackled about her form. She twisted to glare at me from the skies, her arms extended out like a black angel sent to destroy everything that I loved.
“Aww. I’m sorry. That was your date, wasn’t it?” she tutted in a mocking tone and jutted her chin back toward the ruined cliff. Aylin launched into the air, screaming with rage, and took Fulgurite by surprise. She punched the villainess hard enough to send her rocketing backward. I used the distraction to fly toward Kara’s position, ignoring the storm, the innocents, even the others still fighting. Frantically, I pulled at the rocks and debris once I landed, screaming her name.
“Kara! Talk to me!”
At first, she didn’t. Scared to death, I began clearing the area frantically. I heard Aylin, Andie, and Eric fighting down below, but I didn’t care anymore. When I caught sight of red hair, I cried out her name again and cleared the rubble one stone at a time.
“Kara, please.”
She coughed and then sucked in a harsh breath. Blinking, she looked all around like a wild animal and scrambled to sit upright. She groaned when her arm protested. It was broken and bent awkwardly.
Carefully, I pulled her into my lap.
“Oh god. Oh my god, why did you do that? Kara—”
“S-S’rry.”
Her voice was hoarse, but at least she was talking. I sank a little with relief. When she looked up at me, her pupils were blown wide, and I suspected a concussion.
“Don’t ever do that, not ever again. Kara, I thought you were... I thought you had... I thought...” I couldn’t finish, because it reminded me too much of that day in the parlor. Death by chocolate ice cream.
She shoved a finger at my lips with a trembling finger, then gestured at the gun to her right. “Gimme,” she slurred.
“No, we’re getting you to a hospital.”
“Shut up. Gimmie.”
I glanced at the gun, then at Fulgurite. My father’s lieutenant had overpowered all three of my friends and was now summoning what seemed to be a huge tornado. I cursed, looking down at Kara again.
“We need to get out of here,” I said, shaking my head. “This is way, way out of our league.”
Kara gestured at the gun with a little more insistence, stubborn to the bitter end. With some hesitation, I brought it to her hand. She sank with relief, and I watched as she turned it into some kind of small contraption with a little red button.
“Th-throw it...” She coughed again, then sucked in a pained breath. I hissed and tried to take her into my arms, ignoring the device she’d made. Kara shook her head and squirmed out of my grasp, flopping painfully back onto the rubble. “Throw it at her.”
“No. I told you, I’m taking you to a—”
“Do it, Nick,” she hissed, and angrily shoved me backward with the last of her strength. The gadget had found its way into my hands. I looked down at it with a dumb expression.
“Press the button and throw?”
She rolled her eyes. “Duh.”
I bit my lip. Despite the chaos down on the beach, I still hesitated.
“If you die, I’m gonna be really mad at you,” I muttered. “I’m gonna get you another Stacy and murder that one too.”
She laughed, but it ended in another small cry of pain. “Just a broken arm, for god’s sake. Go.”
I heard Aylin scream, and my heart jumped up into my throat again. I took off at the speed of sound and my fist connected with Fulgurite’s face just as she was about to zap Aylin with another round of lightning. The tornado vanished immediately when I hit her, and the two of us slammed into the ground. I rolled back to my feet immediately and hid the gadget behind my back. We were only a few feet apart now.
She should have been dead from the impact, but a flicker of red told me that my father’s force field was in place. I
t had cushioned the blow for her. Even though I’d still managed to stun her, the wind was a torrent, slashing us with icy rain. It was still a struggle to even stand. Fulgurite, immune to the storm, recovered easily enough. She looked from me to the cliffs with a curious expression. She had to shout to be heard over the storm.
“Is she dead?” the villainess asked.
I spat at the ground and said nothing.
Fulgurite grinned. She wiped at her chin with the back of her wrist, and it came back bloody.
“That expression,” she gestured. “I fell in love with him because of it. You wear it well, little lord.”
“Wait a minute. You lied. You weren’t trying to kill me.” I was absolutely disgusted, suddenly realizing her intentions. “Is that it, then? You hurt the people around me, I get angry enough, I turn into him?”
Fulgurite had the audacity to laugh. “My darling Inferno is quite proud of his son! Every other sentence is about you and your many feats. He believes that you’re going to take his place soon, but I know better. I know the binds of morality when I see it. Triton has gotten into your mind. Poisoned you.” She spoke Triton’s name like an insult. It was clear they had some kind of history. “I do this deed, and you’ll understand! You’ll serve the empire as you’re meant to! You’ll make him happy, and then I can finally be with him!”
“You need help, Fulgurite. You’re just as delusional as he is.” I sighed tiredly as the rain slashed against my face.
“Fuck you,” she spat. “Don’t spout Triton’s garbage back to me! It means nothing.”
“I’m giving you one chance to surrender peacefully.” I clutched the gadget a little tighter behind my back. “I suggest you take it.”
“Line for fucking line. He really sunk his claws into your skullcap, didn’t he?” She tipped her head back and laughed again. Her hair was slick with rain and ice.
“He’s probably on his way,” I reminded her. “You should stop before the jury gives you a life sentence.”
“I’m not going to prison,” she snarled. She lifted her palm to summon another bolt of lightning, but I threw the gadget before she could do so.
