After The Apocalypse

by Roseman, Josh

  Fuck!

  At least he doesn't notice me; he's too busy with War. "You betrayed me!" he snarls, still sounding like Q from Star Trek, still wearing the black suit with the red accents. His crown of horns looks sharper and nastier than the last time we met. "You rescued Alexandra, right as Death was going to kill her! We would have won!"

  "Not that way!" War's voice booms like thunder. He's catching every one of the King's blows, but I can already tell that he's getting tired, getting weaker. Though he doesn't look nearly as powerful as War, I'm well aware that the Dark King is the strongest opponent I'll ever face -- stronger than War, that's for sure. "We fight, we lose, we leave!" On that last word, he stabs the short-sword down toward the King's chest, but the King isn't there, and his trident slams into War's spine. The armor must be magical to withstand that kind of a hit, because War's not broken in half or knocked into the lake. He stumbles a bit, but manages to turn and catch the next attack on his broadsword, turning it aside just in time. "We stick to the Agreement!"

  "We've stuck to the Agreement for five million years!" The trident whips around, whirling through the air, and War gives ground. He never gave ground for me; I think he might be stalling for time. "I've had enough of the blasted Agreement!" The trident clatters to the asphalt and the King takes advantage of the opening in War's guard, driving a spear-hand attack into his throat. The armor deflects some of it, but War still gags, letting go of his short-sword to clutch at himself.

  The King presses his luck and it pays off; a flurry of sharp, harsh strikes brings War to his knees. The last is a kick to the back of the bigger man's head; it's so strong that his face smashes against the asphalt before War can do more than begin raising his hand to protect himself.

  I can see, though, that the fight has taken something out of the King, and I ready myself to take him on. But then he turns to me, eyes red and glowing, and shakes his head, pointing a little beyond me.

  Death.

  Shit!

  But Death doesn't come for me. Not this time. He stalks past me -- I flash backward, well out of reach -- and stands behind the King. The King turns War onto his back and I can see the damage. His nose is broken and he's bleeding from it, as well as his mouth. He turns his head toward me and his eyes drift closed.

  Is he... did the King... kill War?

  "Treason," the King says. He picks up his trident and turns it casually in his hand until the pointed end is pressed to War's chest. "Your archaic sense of honor, which you've preserved for five million years, stole this realm from me." He flips the trident and slams the butt-end into War's crotch, but War doesn't move. I wince in sympathetic pain -- I've been kicked there before, and believe me, it hurts girls just as much as guys. "I guess it doesn't matter now." The King glances back at Death. "Go back," he tells the last Horseman. "Deal with him. I'll take care of her."

  Death nods, then steps forward, kneeling and placing his hand on War's shoulder.

  And that's when War's essence -- whatever animates him here on Earth -- flows up into Death's body. My eyes go wide, but not as wide as Death's; his glow bright-red and he screams. The noise startles the King, who grabs Death and tries to pull him away, and the... the whatever-it-is... spreads to both of them. The King's skin goes grayish and he actually looks worried.

  The opportunity is too good to ignore. I flash to War's dropped short-sword, scoop it up, and move toward the King--

  --only to be stopped by some kind of barrier. "No!" I shout, smashing it with the sword. "Let me in, you bastard! Let me--"

  --and I'm suddenly calm, in complete control. War's voice echoes through my head. "I'll bring them back to our realm."

  "Th... Thank you." I don't know how to talk to a disembodied spirit in my head, so I settle for the old-fashioned way. "I'm sorry you had to die like this."

  "I'm not." I can hear the smile in his voice. "I can't keep them there for long -- a week at the most, your time. Prepare yourself." A phantom hand cups my cheek. "Be victorious."

  "I will." I try to reach up and touch him, but he's not there. I have so many things I want to tell him, but there's no time. Tears prick my eyes; my chest aches so much that it's hard to speak. But I manage. "I'll see you in a few years."

  "I'll be waiting."

  War's presence leaves my head. I feel the barrier constrict, see the expressions on the faces of Death and the Dark King, and then they're both gone, leaving me on the dam, standing over War's broken body.

  I'm carefully wiping blood away from War's mouth when I hear the Dr. Colibri and the Professor come up behind me. "Are you all right?" he asks, a hand on my shoulder.

  I cover his hand with mine and get to my feet. Tears slip quickly down the hard surface of the mask, then slide warm over my cheeks. "He saved me," I say. "War... saved me."

  "Would that he'd done whatever he did a little sooner," he says. I see Dr. Colibri walk to the edge of the dam and hold a pair of binoculars to her eyes. "You fought Pestilence, Death, and the Dark King?"

  "Sort of. I stopped Pestilence, then Death tried to take advantage but War's sense of fair play made him save--" My throat closes up and I have to turn away. "He took me back to his realm. Time is... I've been gone a day."

  "Alexandra..."

  "He made me breakfast," I say. My voice is tight and weak, but the words won't stop coming. "He told me about the time difference. About lots of things. He must have felt the King coming because we..." I fight the urge to sniff, to let on that I'm crying more than I probably should be. "He made me this mask, and we came back, and he fought... he fought the King, and he lost."

  "Alexandra, what's wrong?" He makes me turn around, and he holds me gently by the shoulders. "Talk to me."

  "Whatever else he was," I force myself to say, "he was a good man. An honorable man. He saved me... and he didn't have to. He could've... could've killed me. Easily."

  The Professor shakes his head and pulls me into a hug. "We'll talk later," he says, rubbing my back. "I need you to do something."

  "What?"

  "Go to the car and change. There's a spare outfit for you in the black bag."

  I look up at him. "What?" I ask again. Then follow up with "why?"

  "TV crews are coming. We barely beat them here. I don't think you want to see them in..." He touches the fabric of my pajamas. "Where did you get these, anyway?"

  "Long story." I slip out of his arms and head for the car. Though it's more public than I'd like, at least they came in an SUV and I don't have to contort myself to get into my Alexandra gear. The mask War made for me -- my heart twitches, but I shove those feelings down into a box and lock them away for the moment -- comes off easily, and I glue my blue mask in place instead. When I step out, it's just in time to see the first reporter jog up with a camera.

  Thank goodness for superpowers. I hold up a hand and then flash over to Dr. Colibri. "What is it?" I ask when I see the slump in her shoulders.

  "Death," she says.

  "He's here? I don't feel him--" But she's shaking her head and handing me the binoculars. I bring them to my eyes and look out over the lake.

  It takes a supreme effort of will to stay standing.

  Everyone who was on a boat. Everyone who was swimming. Everything living. All dead. Bodies float in the water amid fish and other marine life. If I had a microscope, I bet I would see that even the bacteria in the lake has died as well.

  I pass the binoculars back to Dr. Colibri. "I'll be right back," I say. "I just... I have to check on something."

  "Check on what?" she asks. "We need you here!"

  "Just give me a couple of minutes!" I snap. Then I soften my voice. "I'll explain everything when we get back to the lab, but for now... this is just something I have to do."

  I don't wait for her reply. I just take off, heading for the picnic area where I last saw Jon and Shanna and the others. Don't be dead, I think, over and over. Don't be dead. Don't be dead.

  It's not that I have any particular attachment to them, pe
r se, but they helped me, and they seem to like me in both my incarnations and...

  Please... don't be dead.

  A short time later, I land back on top of the dam and walk up behind Dr. Colibri, who's talking to the news cameras. Gina-from-CNN is damn well here now, that's for sure, along with a couple of local reporters -- one of whom I know from work. Well, my previous job, anyway. Dr. Colibri glances at me and I give her a nod. They weren't dead; they were sitting at a picnic table, except for Jon who was pacing a bit. I kind of forgot that I'd only really been out of their sight for about half an hour. I didn't talk to them this time -- it would've been hard to explain how my costume was suddenly in perfect shape -- but it didn't matter: they were alive.

  I put on my best Alexandra face for the cameras, and I answer their questions. I tell them that I fought the Horsemen demons called Pestilence and Death. I explain to them in simple terms what Pestilence tried to do. I caution them not to touch the hardened, rock-like remains of Pestilence's goo without protective gear, and I suggest very strongly that they test the water in the lake before drinking it -- my guess is that, without Death actively exerting his influence, the water's safe again, but I don't want to be the guinea pig. I leave out the part about War -- to them, he's just a dead guy wearing weird clothes, but to me, he's...

  No. Not going to think about that right now.

  "What about Dr. Prince?" Gina asks. It takes me a second to remember that that's the alias Dr. Colibri created to use should she ever be caught out at a scene. We planned for this question, as well as many others, in the weeks we've been working together. "How come we didn't hear about her when you were here last time? Or when you and I last spoke?"

  I look confidently into the cameras. "Who is Batman without Alfred? Tony Stark without J.A.R.V.I.S.? The X-Men without the Professor?" That last makes me smile; I really do have a Professor of my own, but when I came back to the dam to face the music, he was already out-of-sight. Probably best, since he actually has a day job and no official secret identity, as it were. "Dr. Prince helps me figure out what's going on with the Dark King's minions, tells me what I need to do to stop them -- if it's more than just kicking the crap out of them, anyway." That gets me a little chuckle from two of the reporters.

  Not Gina, though. "Aren't you worried someone will use her against you?" The question makes me a little angry, mostly because it could actually happen -- and because, even though I don't like Dr. Colibri that much, I'd still be obligated to save her. "I think we've all seen the last Superman movie, and we know how that ended for him, and almost for his mother."

  "First of all," I counter, "That was a movie, and this is real life." A couple of the reporters chuckle at that, which is what I'd hoped. Divide and conquer. "Secondly, I'm not in love with the doctor -- lovely woman that she is," and this makes her cheeks color. She's pissed off about the insinuation, but I think I might have just stumbled upon a way to distract the media from what I'm actually doing with my powers -- which is to say, saving all their asses. I put my arm around Dr. Colibri's waist and give the cameras my best smile. "For one thing, I like my partners to be a bit taller." I give the doctor a gentle bump with my hip and feel her tense up, but it's enough: the next question is about my sexuality, not the fight with the Horsemen or what I'm dealing with in the fight against the Dark King.

  Dr. Colibri gets progressively more frustrated with me as I answer the last few questions, but she doesn't have the strength to remove my hand from where it rests on her hip, and anyway she knows it would be a mistake to show dissension in the ranks. My guess is she's letting them think she's embarrassed. I suppose we'll find out when we see how the news spins the story.

  I give the reporters about two more minutes and then hold up my hand. "I don't mean to be a buzzkill," I say, "but if you don't mind, we have to talk to some people." I've been seeing the police and the DNR folks showing up out of the corner of my eye -- it's amazing that the news cameras seem to get to my fight scenes so much sooner than the authorities -- and I know I'm going to need to talk more seriously to them about what happened.

  "Any last words before you go?" That's my former co-worker Paul, an older guy who's been doing this job for a while.

  "Um... don't do drugs?" I flash a goofy grin; the comment gets the desired effect. "No, but seriously: be careful out there, but don't get paranoid. The Dark King is definitely out to take over the world, but after that last fight, I know we'll be safe for at least the next few days." Then my grin turns nasty; I can feel it happen. "And when he comes back, we'll be ready to stop him. Just like last time."

  I can tell Gina wants to ask more questions, but I'm not going to let her. I shake hands with the reporters and the camera-people, and then Dr. Colibri and I walk confidently in the direction of the flashing lights. The moment we're out of sight, she tries to pull me behind an ambulance, clearly forgetting that I'm stronger than her. I let her do it, though. "What the hell was that?" she whispers, her tone sharp. "You're not a lesbian, and neither am I!"

  "Have you never watched the news? Critically, I mean?" I keep my voice low, but I know I sound amused. "Rule number one: sex sells. If they're talking about me dating other women, they're not talking about me fighting the King."

  That mollifies her slightly, but her color is still high. Despite the fact that I'm in no way whatsoever interested in her romantically, I can objectively say that flustered is a good look for her. "Just... just get out of here, okay? I'll talk to the police and the Department of Natural Resources, and we'll make sure the area is clear. I'll call you when I need you at the lab."

  "Oh. Right." I have the decency to look sheepish. "My phone got destroyed when I hit the water. I'm going to need a new one."

  She sighs. "Go buy it. I'll pay you back out of petty-cash--"

  "You have a petty-cash fund?"

  She gives me a dirty look. "Go. Please. I don't want to look at you right now. I need... I need some time to fix all this mess."

  "Okay." I take a couple of steps, turn back, and then add, "thanks. For everything. And I'm sorry about yesterday."

  That puts her head on one side and narrows her eyes, but after a few seconds she nods. "Thank you," she says. "I don't think I've never said that to you before, but know that I mean it, all right?"

  "All right."

  The reporters are milling around, interviewing other people, trying to find witnesses -- what happened here was a tragedy, but at least no one's around to talk to the cameras about it. It's the smallest possible comfort. I walk among them -- wow, now that doesn't sound elitist or anything -- until I get to the scene of the fight. I pick up War's swords, sparing a glance at his large, still form, but move on before my heart gets the best of me. I make a quick stop at the car to grab the duffel bag with the satin pajamas before running for the edge of the dam and leaping into the air.

  It's been a really bad morning. I just want to go home and take a long, hot shower.

  I do get to do that, but after only a minute under the water I find myself sitting on the slick tile, sobbing.

  I never in my life thought I'd cry over one of the Dark King's minions. But that's what I do: I cry for War, for the man who saved me, sacrificed himself for me, and, in less than a century -- his time, not mine -- will have to face his King and be punished again for what he did.

  It's right there, in that moment, that I make a promise to myself: when this is all over, when the Dark King is defeated again, I'm going to find a way to get War out of there.

  After all, I owe him one.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED

  +++++

  It takes the better part of an hour to secure a new phone, mostly because I have to keep telling the guy that I don't want whatever up-sell he's offering. I have to admit, though, that it's very shiny.

  After that -- and after stopping at a sandwich shop for an early dinner -- I make my way to the lab. Both the Professor and Dr. Colibri are already there. I set my purse on t
he lab table and pull out my phone charger. "You mind? They didn't charge this up very much at the factory." Dr. Colibri waves her hand dismissively at me; I plug the charger into the socket on the side of the table and attach the cable to the phone. "Thanks."

  She doesn't reply.

  The Professor, though, comes around the table and rests his hand on my shoulder. "Are you all right?" he asks, his eyes kind. I give him a tight nod and his expression changes to one of mild disbelief. "I didn't think so. I'm here, if you need to talk."

  "I'll be okay," I say, keeping my voice low. Then, at a more normal level: "So what happened at the dam? Everything taken care of?"

  "As much as it's going to be," Dr. Colibri says. "Actually, you speaking to the cameras helped convince the authorities to do what I told them to."

  "And I bet you just loved that."

  She turns to me now, dark eyes hot and sharp. "Except for the part where you intimated that we were lovers." I hear the Professor stifle the smallest chuckle known to man, but Dr. Colibri hears it and flashes him a glare. "Please don't do that again."

  "I hope I don't have to, because -- with all due respect," which wasn't much, given how I've been treated by her for the past few weeks, including when she tried to implant something in my neck to take away my powers for good, "you're not my type."

  The Professor still has his hand on my shoulder. He squeezes gently. "Don't goad her," he says, sotto voce. I can tell he's getting at least a little kick out of her discomfort. "And, Diane? Remember who you're dealing with here."

  "I know," Dr. Colibri says, her lips thinning in a grimace. "The savior of humanity."

  "Well, when you put it that way--"