Time Spent

by J. David Clarke

  "Amber, wait!" she called. "Where are you going?"

  "She said it would all end. She promised," Amber said.

  When Amber reached the building, she stepped up on the wall, and her foot froze to the surface. She took one step after another, straight up the wall.

  "Wait!" Mia called. "Damn it!"

  She yanked on the big double doors at the front of the building, but they were locked. She pulled back one fist and the yellow energy balled around it. Then she threw it forward, shattering the glass doors. Her left temple throbbed. She stalked through the lobby and toward the stairs.

  Mia began the long climb up the stairs to the roof.

  ______________________

  The red woman stepped down as if walking down a flight of stairs, only there were no stairs. Her legs moved gracefully downward until she stood on the roof.

  Mia stood transfixed by her. She was naked like the others, with pale glistening skin. Her skin was crisscrossed by tattoos which traced a strange symbology across her naked body. Her hair fell like a red waterfall down her shoulders and back, and floated off the ground where it trailed behind her feet.

  The woman approached. She looked at Mia for a moment through blood red eyes, as if considering what to do about her. Then she reached out a hand, and touched Mia's forehead.

  Red light exploded in Mia's mind, and she lost consciousness.

  ______________________

  She couldn't hear or understand much of what Kevin told them. Her hearing was still muddy from the sound wave Amber had used to destroy Brock, and what hearing she had was blocked out by the sound of the energy in her head. All she really understood was that they had to split up, and that Amber and Brock and the others did not belong in this reality. They had come from somewhere else, and Kevin had to take them back.

  "No, wait," Mia had said angrily, "you can't take Amber away!"

  "She's not your Amber," Kevin said. "She doesn't belong here."

  Mia tried to argue, but her head hurt too much. The sound and the throb in her temple were too much for her. Before she could muster any resistance, Kevin had disappeared, taking Amber with him.

  "Nooo!"

  "Mia, come on, we have to go," someone said to her.

  "Get away from me!" she said, slapping at them with the yellow energy.

  They said something else, called her crazy, said they were leaving her. Mia didn't care. She sat down on the rooftop and buried her head in her hands. She stayed that way for a long time.

  The next sound she heard were the steps of the S.W.A.T. officers as they came onto the rooftop and surrounded her.

  Mia was sitting on the floor of her cell when the guard came for her.

  "Lozano, visitation," he said.

  She stood. "Okay."

  The guard escorted her to the visitation area. She was not allowed in the same room with her visitors, instead she had to sit down in a booth, in front of a plate glass window with a phone to the side. She sat down in the hard plastic chair, and looked through the window.

  Her father sat on the other side.

  Mia picked up the phone, and he did the same.

  "Dad?"

  "Hi, honey. How-" His throat closed and he choked up for a moment. "How you doing?"

  She pulled one lock of her hair over the left side of her face. She didn't want him to see the strange metal lines growing there. "Um, I'm okay."

  "Good."

  "Dad," she said, tears starting to form, "I don't - I don't think you should come here anymore."

  "Honey...."

  "No, Dad, no." She stood. "You should just go, just leave me here..."

  "I can't do that, Mia." Tears ran down his face. "I can't do that. You're my little girl!"

  "Just GO!" she screamed, slamming down the handset on the cradle. The yellow energy flared from her hand, and the plastic casing of the phone handset shattered.

  Guards rushed in, dragging her away from the window and placing chained handcuffs on her. Her father stood on the other side, hands on the plate glass, tears running down his face, mouth working soundlessly.

  Removing the handcuffs, the guard shoved her into one of the solitary cells. She sank to the floor as the heavy door clanged shut, and she wept. She could destroy the door, the walls, the guards, their guns, everything. She could walk right out of this prison and go wherever she wanted, but she no longer wanted to leave.

  She lay there, in her cell, and she knew: this was where she belonged.

  ______________________

  "You should have left me there," Mia said.

  "Don't say that," Brandon said. "That's not where you belong. You didn't do anything wrong."

  "I'm tired," she said. "I'm tired of fighting, I'm tired of being angry all the time."

  Tyler snorted. "You know, none of that would have happened if you had just listened to us and stuck with us instead of just attacking!"

  "Tyler..." Becca touched his arm, but he pulled it away.

  "No! I'm sick of her bullshit. She was the one who went crazy and attacked us instead of sticking with us!" He pointed at her. "What happened is your fault!"

  "What are you talking about?" Mia said.

  "Tyler!" Becca said, angrily.

  "You think you're the only one who got hurt?" Tyler asked.

  Mia was silent.

  "Well you're wrong," he said. "Dead wrong."

  CHAPTER THREE

  "LEAVE HER ALONE!"

  Mia slapped a hand at them and yellow energy lashed out, knocking Tyler and Becca to the ground. Amber stumbled forward, looked confused, then turned to the right and began shambling in the direction of the base's main gate.

  "Amber!" Mia called, chasing after her.

  Tyler crawled painfully to his feet, and extended a hand to help Becca stand up. "What the hell?" he said. "Why did she attack us?"

  "She doesn't need a reason, haven't you noticed?" Becca said, watching Mia run after the pale girl. "She's a crazy fucking bitch."

  "Never mind her, this could be bad," Tyler said.

  The wall of the hangar shook with a massive impact, and a large section of it broke free and crashed to the ground. Two men, one hugely muscled, the other pimply-faced with greasy brown hair, ran through the opening. Both were completely naked. They ran past Tyler and Becca and toward the base proper. Once Tyler saw what was behind them, he understood why they were running.

  "Holy fuck," said Becca.

  The thing that had been Brock Kenney emerged from the hangar, his massive form towering above the others who came forward around him, soldiers who had been transformed into circuitry-covered cybernetic zombies.

  "facialrecignitionengaged. Ooo BeccaLICIOUS! targetacquired."

  "You have got to be kidding me," said Tyler.

  ______________________

  When Tyler opened the door, the sight of Becca standing there the hallway surprised him. He hadn't seen her since the rooftop.

  "Hey," he said.

  "Can I come in?" She looked like she was dressed for a night at the clubs: black top, tight gold pants, and thigh high black boots.

  "Sure," he said. "How did you find my apartment?"

  She stepped inside, looking around. "Are you kidding? I went to your house, your mom said you moved, I asked where, and bam, it all popped into her head. Like always."

  "So you read my mom's mind. Nice."

  "I do that," she said with a grin. She looked like she wanted to sit down, so Tyler moved a pile of scripts off a chair. She sat. Tyler sat on the corner of the bed, facing her.

  "I thought Kevin said it was dangerous for us to be together. Something about the end of the world?"

  "I remember." She bit her bottom lip. "Look, I just...this isn't easy, but after everything that happened..."

  "Ah it's...don't worry about it."

  "I think about it a lot. I thought I'd come here, we'd go out, have a few drinks?"

  "Oh. Uh, sure." Tyler stood. "I know a good club, couple of blocks over. Let me get dr
essed."

  She nodded.

  "Oh," Tyler said, "one thing though: this isn't gonna end with you making me wash your hair, is it?"

  Becca laughed. "Play your cards right, gorgeous."

  All eyes were on them as they made their way on to the dance floor. Tyler was wearing a long sleeved blue shirt, black slacks, and black leather shoes. Atop his head of jet black hair was a black fedora.

  "Are you serious with that hat?" she said.

  "Dead serious."

  "You look like Matt Bomer," she said.

  "I get that a lot," he said with a smile, revealing perfect white teeth.

  Becca rolled her eyes. "Oh lord."

  Tyler laughed. "Come on. Let's dance."

  He spun her up against him, one hand slipping behind her back. His feet moved smoothly across the floor as he whisked her to the center of the crowd.

  "You're a good dancer," she said.

  "You ain't seen nothin' yet," he said.

  After the song ended, space began to clear on the floor. Another song began, and Tyler stepped away from her. "Watch this," he said.

  He began with a simple tap step, one of the earliest things he'd learned in dance. Others backed up and formed a circle around him, Becca joining it. Tyler began to slide back and forth, mixing his tap with a hip hop swing of the arms and hips, finally bringing his arms backward and dropping to the floor, flipping his body over and rising, facing the other direction, still tapping. His audience applauded.

  Tyler tipped his hat to them and stepped over to Becca. "How about that drink?"

  Suddenly, her green eyes were all he could see.

  II HAVE A BETTER IDEAA

  Their lips met the instant the elevator closed. Becca pushed him up against the wall, her body pressed against his. When the doors opened, they stumbled out, their arms wrapped around each other. Tyler fumbled blindly for his keys, finally fishing them out and fitting them in the lock. After several seconds of blind jiggling of keys, he successfully opened the door and the two of them stumbled inside and to the bed, Tyler flinging the door closed behind them. Becca sat on the bed's edge, Tyler standing before her.

  "Wait, wait," Becca said, breathlessly, "hold on..."

  "What?"

  "Max! Out!" She pointed to the door.

  Tyler heard a distant whimper.

  "No argument," she said. "Out!"

  Tyler laughed.

  "Okay," she said. "Now..." She reached up, pulling Tyler's shirt up over his head and flinging it away. His fedora landed somewhere behind him. On her way back down she yanked down on his trousers, pulling them down to his ankles, allowing him to step out, kicking off his shoes. She slid her hands up his smooth, toned thighs, making her way up his boxers, tented outward by the pressure of his cock, which hardened at her touch. She pulled them down, and brought her hand back up to stroke him. Tyler leaned down to kiss her as she did so. His eyes dialed open, and he saw the worlds spinning inside her clothes.

  One thought, and they spun away from each other. Becca's clothes blew away like dust, leaving her naked body exposed underneath him.

  "That's so fucking hot," she said, sliding back onto the bed, pulling him with her.

  Tyler spread her legs wide and entered her, rocking back and forth on top of her. He propped himself up by his hands, looking down on her body. She moaned, and as her mouth opened, he saw down into her throat and deep inside her. Her skin glistened, and he saw inside the tiny pearls of sweat that beaded there. Her nipples thrust out from the tiny brown circles of her areolas, and his eyes dialed open, showing him the intricate weaving of the cells within.

  The world blurred, and soon he saw nothing but the worlds spinning within her. Moreover, he felt her inside him, her green eyes drifted into his mind and nestled inside his consciousness there, and soon she was seeing the worlds within him as well. They were universes of seething passion, galaxies burning and rushing into one another. Finally, there was an explosion, worlds mixing and crossing into each other's orbits, a cosmic collision in the endless void.

  He collapsed on the bed next to her, the room filled with the sound of their panting breath. Becca's eyes were gone from his mind now, and he saw nothing but the endless cosmos spinning and whirling through the night above him. Eventually, the moon and clouds returned to visibility, then the top floor apartments, his ceiling, and finally, his eyelids.

  Tyler slept.

  TYLER

  "Keep an eye on this one."

  "It was chaos," Tyler said. "Soldiers were running everywhere, some toward the scene, some away from it. There were these zombies or whatever that Brock had made, they were all over the place. And there were others, people with powers, like us."

  "Not like us," Brandon said. "Tommy, Russell, those guys? They're not like us."

  "How are they different?" Tyler asked. "They were as lost and confused as we were."

  "They're villains, that's how," Brandon said with conviction.

  "Villains." Tyler looked him in the eye. "What do you think we are?"

  ______________________

  "My God," Becca said, "that's Brock Kenney!"

  "What?" Tyler had never seen Brock, only heard him. The voice that emerged from this thing's throat could be Brock, but it could be any male voice.

  "It's Brock. From school."

  "But Brock wasn't on the bus," Tyler said. "Was he?"

  The tiny antennae in Brock's eyes whirled. "threatdetected. Well, WELL, if it ain't OL' STINKY, stinkin' up the PLACE. countermeasureinitiated."

  Two metal prongs popped up on Brock's chest with a whisshh of released air. They then sprang free and hit the ground, sprouting tiny legs. The two scrabbled in Tyler's direction, but then whizzed past him toward the main building. One of them fired a beam at the wall, scorching it, before the two of them passed directly through the wall.

  "What the hell was that?" Becca asked.

  "I think...I think they just went after Max!" Tyler said.

  OOKAY, THAT'S IT. I'M SHUTTING THIS GUY DOWNN

  Brock stood straight up with a jolt. "alertalertunknownenergydetected. WHOA, what you tryin to DO there, BeccaLICIOUS? mainframeunderattack. countersignalinitiated."

  Another small antennae sprouted from the metal dome atop Brock's head.

  "AHH!" Becca clutched her head and fell to the ground.

  "Becca!" Tyler ran to her. She writhed on the ground, in obvious agony. "Hold on, I'm gonna try something." Tyler's eyes cast about, finding a rock on the ground. His eyes dialed open, and he observed the worlds spinning within the stone. "Okay, now..." He looked up at Brock, and concentrated on the worlds within him. He shifted them around, so that they looked like the ones in the stone.

  "alarmalarmunknownthreatdetected. Nuh uh GAY BOY! alarmalarm"

  Brock lifted a hand, but it was too late. Stone spread out from his chest and enveloped him before he could act. His entire body was transformed in less than a second.

  "You okay?"

  "Ah, my head." Becca pressed her hands against her temples. "I don't know what that was, but it hurt like hell." She looked up and saw the statue Brock had become. "How did you do that? You can turn people to stone?"

  Tyler shrugged. "I don't know, I just thought of it...I didn't want to...well anyway, it worked. Come on." He helped her up and she put an arm around him, leaning against him.

  One of Brock's cybernetic zombies stopped in its tracks as they moved past it. Suddenly it cocked its head, and Brock's voice emerged. "primaryhostdisabled. secondaryhostengaged."

  Its body went through a dramatic transformation, shifting and mutating, growing in size and sprouting metal shapes that wrapped around it, until it looked exactly as Brock had, head to toe.

  "Oh, Jesus." Becca looked at Tyler.

  Tyler's eyes dialed open.

  "newtargetsacquired. Forget the FAG, let's pay our favorite LEZBOS a visit. targetacquired."

  Brock walked away in the direction Mia and Amber had gone.

  Tyler allowe
d his eyes to return to normal. Super powered and all, and that idiot still thinks I'm gay, he thought. "It's okay, come on."

  "He's going after Mia," Becca said.

  "She can handle herself," Tyler said. "She sure as hell doesn't want our help. Come on, let's get inside that hangar."

  "Why?"

  "Because I saw where these guys are all coming from, and I saw who's responsible."

  "Who?" But by now Becca could see for herself: the hangar had been converted to a warehouse, and inside it were three identical school buses, and tables lined in front of them. Some of them had corpses on them, some of them were empty, and in the middle of them stood a blond man she recognized immediately.

  Zachary.

  ______________________

  "Action!"

  The sprinklers overhead began showering them with light "rain". Tyler dashed across the make believe street, meeting his commercial co-star, Trina, in the middle. Once he met her, he held up the container of mints and smiled at the camera. Instantly the rain stopped and the lighting changed. The rest of it, rainbows, sparkles, or whatever, he supposed would be added in post.

  "And cut!" the director called. "Okay, let's reset, yeah?"

  Someone handed Tyler a towel and he dried his hair. As he handed it back, he saw Becca standing in the rear of the studio.

  "Hey Dario, can we take a short break?" Tyler asked.

  The director turned and saw Tyler walking over to Becca. "You take ten minutes, yeah?"

  "Thanks!"

  Becca walked over to him. "So this is what you do now?"

  Tyler laughed. "This is it."

  "This your girlfriend, Tyler?" the director asked, looking Becca up and down. He was a pot-bellied man in white pants and a purple shirt, top three buttons open and a gold chain nesting in his graying chest hair.

  "No, I'm just a fan," Becca said.

  "You a model, yeah? No, actress! Yeah?"