A Most Unlikely Hero, Vol. 2

by Brandon Varnell

  “That makes sense.”

  Alex should have expected this. Of course Azazel wouldn’t have been able to enter Mars City without passing through Karen first. Though he had initially assumed that Azazel and those other two, Kane and Abel, had entered Mars City the same way that Gabrielle had, this way made more sense.

  After all, Gabrielle’s personal transporter had been created by Gabrielle herself. It was unlikely that anyone else had such a device.

  “Hey, hey,” Gabrielle interrupted. “If you’re the commander of the police, does that mean you’re Alex’s former boss?”

  Karen crossed her arms. “That’s right.”

  Gabrielle’s thoughtful expression was perhaps the deadliest weapon Alex had ever seen—at least to him. Karen seemed unaffected by the undeniable cuteness.

  “Then… does that mean you’re also the one who fired him?” Gabrielle asked.

  There was something about the way that Gabrielle had said those words that put Alex on guard. Karen seemed wary as well, which surprised him.

  “Not… necessarily,” Karen admitted. “It was the Board of Galactic Defense that made me terminate him. If possible, I would have preferred to keep him on—if only so I could mitigate the damage that he causes.”

  “Could you please not talk about me as if I’m a walking disaster?” Alex grumbled.

  “You are a walking disaster,” Karen countered.

  “Even if it’s true, you don’t need to say it so blatantly!”

  Heat rose to his cheeks. He didn’t think he’d ever felt so embarrassed in his life. No. Wait. That was a lie. He’d felt like this plenty of times—whenever someone mentioned his propensity for causing destruction wherever he went, or when they made fun of his inventions, most of which never worked the way he wanted them to. He also got like this when he saw Gabrielle naked, but he wasn’t going to mention that.

  Fortunately, before his shame could become overbearing, Yumi returned. “It is just as Alexander said. There is an extraterrestrial over there.”

  “Species?” asked Karen.

  “It looks like a naga.”

  “Naga?” Alex asked.

  “Lizard people from the planet Sceptile,” Gabrielle answered. “I’ve never been there, but Azazel told me that it’s an inhospitable planet, and that the inhabitants are very mean.”

  Alex wondered if the sweat dripping down his face was due to nerves or Gabrielle’s vague explanation. For a princess whose father controlled the galaxy, she didn’t seem to know much about the various species that her father ruled over.

  “What are your orders, Commander?” Yumi asked.

  A short pause was followed by Karen handing out orders. “We take the naga into custody. Alex, pick up your friend and follow me. We’ll take her to the hospital, and then I want you to give me a more thorough debriefing on what happened.”

  Left with little choice, Alex carried his friend as if she was his bride, and he and Gabrielle followed Karen and Yumi to their shuttle.

  He had a feeling that it was going to be a long night.

  9

  Selene woke up to a pounding headache, as though there were little men dancing around inside of her skull. She blinked several times. The ceiling above her was unfamiliar, the bed harder than the one she usually slept on, and someone was holding her hand.

  “Ah, Selene! You’re awake,” a bright, cheerful voice said.

  Selene turned her head. Vibrant green eyes greeted her from within a smiling visage.

  “Gabrielle,” she murmured, her word slurred.

  “How are you feeling?” asked Gabrielle.

  “Fine. Where am I?”

  “The hospital.”

  “Hospital…?”

  How had she gotten here? Selene closed her eyes, scrunched up her face, and tried to remember the last thing that happened before she woke up. She couldn’t.

  Opening her eyes again, she looked at Gabrielle. “What am I doing here?”

  “You don’t remember? You passed out, and Alex and I brought you to the hospital.”

  “I passed out?” Was that really what had happened? Selene could have sworn there was more to it than that, but for whatever reason, she couldn’t remember anything. No, that wasn’t necessarily true. She did remember one thing. “What about that monster?”

  “Monster?” Gabrielle said.

  “There was a monster that attacked me…” she trailed off when Gabrielle tilted her head. Frowning, she wondered if perhaps she had imagined everything. “Never mind. Where is Alex?”

  “Alex is talking to his previous boss,” Gabrielle said, smiling in a way that made Selene think she was hiding something.

  10

  Alex was exhausted by the time he and Gabrielle arrived home. Considering the late hour, he supposed it couldn’t have been helped. Still, at that moment, all Alex wanted to do was take a hot shower, slip into bed, and sleep like a man in cryo-stasis.

  In direct contrast, Gabrielle looked positively excited. Her eyes were glowing, her face was alight, and her very presence seemed to radiate a joy that he couldn’t comprehend.

  “What’s got you so chipper?” Alex asked.

  “Hee-hee, I just noticed that you’re wearing the crisis suit I made.” Gabrielle, her cheeks tinted red, could have parted an ion storm with her smile. “It makes me really happy to see you wearing it for some reason.”

  “Oh…” Feeling self-conscious, Alex looked away.

  “Did it hurt when you put it on?”

  “… Yes…”

  “I guessed it would. I haven’t had a chance to fix the calibration for you. I’m still in the process of going over all your data. It could take a while. Anyway, if you could take it off, that would be great. I’m going down to the lab to study your data again. Maybe I’ll find something new that can help me figure out why the current calibration isn’t working.”

  “Okay. I’ll take it off and send it down to you.”

  “Great!”

  Alex and Gabrielle went their separate ways. Gabrielle headed off for the lab, and Alex decided to take a shower before doing anything else. He reeked from traveling down to the Undercity and fighting Shii-rya.

  “Bro?” Alice said, opening the living room door and stepping into the hallway before Alex could travel upstairs.

  “Oh, Alice,” Alex said. “What are you still doing awake?”

  “I was entertaining your guest,” Alice answered.

  “Guest?”

  Alice looked at him with those perennially bored eyes of hers, and Alex belatedly realized that she was annoyed. His sister wasn’t the type who enjoyed entertaining others. That was his job, according to her. She must have done so as a courtesy while waiting for him, and when he hadn’t shown up, she’d grown irritated.

  “Sorry. Could you tell whoever it is that I’ll be down in just a second? I really need to take a shower.” When Alice continued to stare at him, he grimaced. “If you do this, I’ll take you to Metronome’s this weekend.”

  Alice’s bored expression lightened. Grinning at him, she said, “deal!” before she went back into the living room.

  Alex sighed and, feeling his wallet already growing lighter, traveled into the bathroom and prepared to remove his suit.

  Angelisian crisis suits bonded to their wearer, forming a sort of symbiotic relationship by synchronizing with the nervous system and regulating the body’s internal energy, which it used to boost the wearer’s physical attributes. The downside to this was that if the suit wasn’t properly calibrated to a person’s body, putting it on and taking it off hurt—boy, did it hurt.

  Alex gritted his teeth to keep from screaming. He shivered as the suit peeled off of his body at an agonizingly slow pace. It took everything he had not to cry, and by the time the suit was fully off him, his breathing had grown heavy from trying not to shout himself hoarse.

  Stifling a groan, Alex moved his now stiff limbs before he grabbed the suit and placed it on the teleport pad that Gabrielle ha
d created. The suit disappeared. Alex knew that it had, in actuality, phased out of this dimension, traveled through another dimension, and phased back into this dimension at another location: The lab. He still didn’t understand the mechanics or math behind dimensional travel, but he felt like he was beginning to learn its most basic principles.

  After taking a quick shower and getting dressed in simple pajamas and a T-shirt, Alex wandered into the living room, where he found Azazel sitting on his couch and sipping tea.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Alex asked.

  “Groom-to-be.” Azazel stood up and offered him a bow. “It is a pleasure to see that you are doing well.”

  “Um, yeah, thanks. Wait. What’s this about a groom?” Alex gave Azazel a queer look that went ignored by the other man.

  “Indeed. As you are Princess Gabrielle’s chosen marriage candidate, it is only correct that I address you with the proper courtesy and respect.”

  Alex wondered if the pain of breaking his knuckles on this man’s face was worth punching him. “For some reason, I feel incredibly insulted by what you said just now.”

  Ridiculous nickname aside, it was odd that Azazel was treating him like this, but then again, maybe he was merely being hard on the man because they had fought two days prior. Yes, that must have been it. He wasn’t enamored with that Angelisian for putting him in the hospital.

  “So… are you here for a specific reason?” Alex asked.

  “I am indeed. However, let us not speak here. What I have to say is for your ears alone.”

  With Azazel leading the way, Alex wandered outside, crossing the street and journeying down the grassy hill to the canal. The calmly flowing waters of the outer district lapped at the shore. The canal wasn’t very deep in this section. He could see the bottom.

  “So,” Alex started, “what did you want to talk about?”

  “I have made my official report to his majesty, King Lucifer,” Azazel informed Alex, reaching into a pouch and pulling out what appeared to be some kind of crystal. It was wrapped in an alloy that Alex didn’t recognize. A pair of metallic angel wings jutted from either side. “He has been made aware of your existence and of Gabrielle’s intent to marry you and has sent me back a message that I am to deliver to you.”

  Alex didn’t even think about correcting Azazel’s misunderstanding of his and Gabrielle’s relationship. He was almost positive that the man had realized that Gabrielle was just using Alex to keep from being married off, just as he likely knew that Alex himself was playing along to keep Gabrielle from being married off. There was no point in making remarks to try and correct this man’s erroneous words.

  The crystal object began floating above Azazel’s hand, bobbing up and down as if it had been caught within a zephyr. Light emitted from small cracks within the crystal, which had remained invisible until now.

  Beams shot out from the cracks, all of them aimed toward a point above the crystal. There, the lights merged into a single sphere, which transformed into the silhouetted shape of someone’s head and shoulders—the king of Angelisia, Alex presumed.

  Nothing could be seen of the man except his outline. His entire body remained hidden, a black splotch in the vague shape of a humanoid. The only thing that Alex could make out was spiky hair and long, pointed ears.

  “Yo!” A voice emerged from the sphere, rough and deep, growling with a sort of bass rumble that would have struck fear into those who heard it. “I’ve heard from Azazel that Gabrielle has expressed her interest in marrying you after having rejected all of the suitors that I sent to her. This would normally piss me off, but Azazel has vouched that you are an impressive specimen for a human, and thus, I have decided to give you a chance.”

  Really? How nice of him. He’s decided to give me a chance.

  The King of Angelisia had not endeared himself to Alex. His actions toward his eldest daughter were deplorable, and the lack of social etiquette that Gabrielle showed, along with her general lack of taboos and her inability to understand simple concepts that all children were supposed to have been taught during their formative years, rankled on Alex’s nerves.

  “You are now one of several candidates for Gabrielle’s hand in marriage, and as Gabrielle has chosen you herself, you are in the lead for the throne.”

  Alex almost scowled. What did he care for some stupid throne? Becoming Emperor of the Galaxy meant nothing to him. All he wanted to do was protect Gabrielle from the people who would try to use her. This man clearly did not understand that.

  “However, since you are in the lead, I have decided to change this competition a little. Azazel has spoken quite highly of you, and I wish to see what you’re made of myself. I would like you to prove your worth to me.”

  “What does he mean by that?” Alex asked Azazel, who merely shrugged and gestured to the hologram. His meaning was clear. Keep watching and he would find out.

  Alex turned back to the hologram.

  “In order to see what you’re made of, I have informed all of Gabrielle’s marriage candidates about you and have given them your location. They will be coming to take Gabrielle from you. If you can protect Gabrielle from the other candidates, then I will consider you worthy of her hand in marriage. If you cannot, then I will destroy you, along with the planet that you live on, and perhaps even your solar system. I would wish you luck, but that’s not really my style. I expect you to do your best. Azazel has given me high expectations.”

  Alex glared at the small crystal as the lights died down and it landed back on Azazel’s palm, becoming inert once more.

  “What the hell is this man playing at?” Alex asked harshly, his arms shaking as he tried to restrain his fury. “He’s turning his own daughter into a target for kidnapping because he wants to test me? What the hell is wrong with him?”

  At least now I know why Shii-rya knew that Gabrielle was here. Damn him.

  “I suggest you watch your mouth, human,” Azazel said, causing Alex’s blazing eyes to turn on him. The Angelisian commander was unfazed. “King Lucifer may be something of a callous man, but he is still my king, and he has accomplished great things, including the unification of more than three-fourths of this galaxy. I will not have you speak ill of him in my presence.”

  Alex and Azazel glared at each other, their stares intense and filled with sparks. Eventually, however, Alex was forced to look away under the intimidating stare of the older man.

  “Well, fine. In that case, I’ll just speak ill of him when you’re not around.”

  Azazel clicked his tongue. “If that is your wish, then there is little that I can do to stop you. Regardless of your feelings on the matter or King Lucifer’s decision, it does not change the fact that you now have a task set out before you, especially if you wish to continue on your endeavor to become Princess Gabrielle’s husband.”

  Alex stared at the man with a deadpanned expression. He was seriously beginning to question Azazel’s intelligence. Did this man not realize that his only reason for doing this was to protect Gabrielle? Did he realize that Gabrielle had no intention of marrying him? That she was only doing this so she wouldn’t have to marry scumbags like Shii-rya? Clearly not.

  My earlier estimation of this man has dropped considerably.

  “Right.” Alex ran a hand through his messy black hair. “So, basically, if I want to protect Gabrielle, I need to fight off all of her other marriage candidates and claim the throne for myself.”

  “That seems to be about the gist of it,” Azazel said.

  Was he getting in over his head? Alex had to wonder about his own sanity on this matter. Why was he doing this? What was making him go so far to protect Gabrielle? Sure, he liked the girl, but was simply liking someone enough that he would go to such lengths to protect them?

  He wanted to sigh. Everything had been so simple when he’d first met Gabrielle—protect the girl from thugs, keep her safe, and then reunite her with her family. This would have allowed him to accomplish his dream of becom
ing a hero. Now he was fighting against multiple unknown marriage candidates with unknown powers and abilities and had a callous father.

  It sucked how things in life rarely seemed to turn out the way that he wanted them to. He might not have bothered if the suitors were good people. However, if Shii-rya was the standard, then he couldn’t let any of them come within twenty meters of Gabrielle. Maybe if one of them came along and actually did turn out to be a decent person, he could…

  No.

  Alex shook his head. He couldn’t think like that. He wouldn’t think like that. He had promised to protect Gabrielle. He had made her a promise, so he had to see this through to the end. Yes! He would protect Gabrielle from everything and everyone. Nobody would lay a finger on her so long as he was around!

  “Groom-to-be, are you alright?” asked a concerned Azazel as Alex clenched his fists, his eyes burning with determination akin to the undying flames of an arcane god.

  “All right!” Alex declared. “I can do this! No! I will do this! Nothing will stand in my way from keeping my promise! Hahahaha—BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!”

  As Alex laughed like a raging lunatic, Azazel backed away ever so slowly.

  Who knew humans could be so frightening?

  11

  Azazel left after delivering his message. Alex assumed the man had gone back to his ship.

  Re-entering the living room, Alex was met with an annoyed Alice.

  “Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you to come back?” she asked, hands on her hips.

  Alex offered an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you worry about me.”

  “Who says I was worried?” Alice mumbled as he ruffled her hair.

  The fact that she didn’t pull away from him told Alex that she was merely putting up a strong front. His sister had a hard time sleeping if he wasn’t home. He’d found her passed out on the couch several times when he had to stay late at the police station to file reports.

  “Anyway, now that it’s so late, you should be heading to bed, shouldn’t you?” suggested Alex.