Victory

by James Maxey

  “All faked,” said Arc. “The CIA is very thorough when creating cover identities. But, not so great about getting in front of unanticipated consequences. Your emergence as Golden Victory seemed to trigger some sort of evolutionary signal that caused people with alien genes to start manifesting powers. I mean, think about it. When we started, we mainly fought street criminals and the occasional Russian spy. By the late nineties, new supervillains turned up in the headlines almost every month. The second wave of Lawful Legionnaires like Anyman and Lt. Laser helped face a lot of these threats, but Tempo and I were worried that most of the people gaining superpowers didn’t show much instinct for being heroes. Then, Golden Victory pitched the idea of the Butterfly House, a place where superhuman children could be taken and taught the values that would ensure they became heroes. He even suggested it would be possible to remove traumatic memories to make sure they didn’t have emotional baggage preventing them from choosing to fight on the side of the angels. We think he championed the Butterfly House perhaps because, on some level, he understood he’d been created by a similar program.”

  While we were all hanging on the details of Arc’s story, I felt like we were kind of forgetting something. I raised my hand and said, “This is all very interesting, but shouldn’t we be doing something about the moon situation?”

  “We are doing something,” said Prodigy. “We’re convincing Golden Victory to turn himself over to the aliens.”

  “That isn’t an option,” said Retaliator.

  “Whether or not I believe I’m Glorgon, they plainly do,” said Golden Victory, “If I can buy us more time by turning myself over to them, I will.”

  Retaliator shook his head. “We can’t negotiate with terrorists.”

  “We also can’t let them steal the moon,” said Blue Bee.

  “I’m sorry,” said Golden Victory, his feet lifting from the floor. “It’s the only way.”

  “Stop him!” cried Retaliator.

  “There’s nothing you can do to stop me,” said Golden Victory. He turned into a yellow blur as he flashed toward the door, then, BOOM! A thunderclap rang through the room, nearly deafening me.

  Golden Victory was lying in a hole on the opposite side of the room, surrounded by shattered electronics throwing off sparks. He was bleeding from his nose and his eyes had rolled up into their sockets.

  I looked back at the doorway and found Smash Lass clutching her right hand, her face twisted in pain. “Ow, ow, ow,” she said.

  “Hey, that’s exactly what I said after I threw a punch at him,” said Harry. He looked at Golden Victory’s limp form. “I didn’t get the same result.”

  “It was a sucker punch,” said Smash Lass, grimacing. “But someone please tell me they got that on film.”

  “This isn’t something to be proud of,” said Prodigy. “Golden Victory could have saved the moon by turning himself over to the invaders. You might have just doomed the world.”

  Smash Lass looked grim as she turned toward Retaliator. “I assume you’ve got a plan to stop the aliens?”

  “We can use their own technology against them,” said Retaliator. “We need to take Prodigy back out to where Golden Victory parked the first moon tower in orbit and let her study the dimension shifting technology. It won’t take her long to master it.”

  “I’ve already mastered it,” she said.

  “Then you obviously haven’t thought of the implications. We can locate a dead dimension and take its moon. The aliens’ math works for us as well. They have an infinite number of dimensions from which to steal our moon. We have an infinite number of alternate realities we can choose from to steal it back. The aliens will see their plan can’t work, and we can enter negotiations with them on an equal footing to resolve any legitimate gripes they might have against this Glorgon entity.”

  “That’s a great plan,” said Prodigy, sounding sarcastic. “Save for the teensy tiny fact it’s going to take time to locate a candidate moon and build a new dimensional tower. Unless we luck out and get this done in a few hours, the planet will suffer irreversible harm.”

  “You’ll have years to pull this off,” said Retaliator. “Anyman can use Tempo’s powers to… to…” Retaliator frowned as he looked around the room. “Where’s Anyman?”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  A Conversation with God

  Harry’s Story

  We raced down the hall toward the tachyon tube bay. We arrived in time to see the tube from Florida flash. Three women stepped from it.

  “Jenny!” I cried out, running toward her, a she ran toward me. We threw our arms around each other and kissed, losing ourselves in the moment. My eyes were closed for the kiss, since I’m not a creep, and when I opened them Echo was across the room staring at us, looking completely heartbroken. My beautiful reunion with Jenny suddenly turned awkward, though, curiously, it wasn’t as awkward as what seemed to be happening between Nimble and Retaliator.

  “Nimble,” said Retaliator, coolly regarding his partner.

  Nimble said nothing, and her doll-like face showed no emotions.

  Before I could say anything to either Jenny or Echo, someone finally realized, oh right, there was a supervillain in the room.

  “Chem Queen!” yelled Blue Bee, pulling out her venom gun.

  “Wait!” said Chem Queen throwing up her hands. “I’m not looking for a fight!”

  “She’s our guest,” said Nimble.

  “I saw the alerts from the medical facility,” said Retaliator. “I deduced you were behind it. The question I have still have is why?”

  Nimble said, “I went looking for answers to questions you probably didn’t want asked.”

  Nimble might have had more to say, but her next words were drowned out as the tachyon tube behind her erupted into sparks. All the tubes were sparking, in fact, before falling dark.

  “Did I cause that?” Chem Queen asked, looking over her shoulder. “Things tend to corrode a little quicker when I’m around, but that’s fast even for me.”

  “It was Anyman,” said Prodigy, walking up to the nearest control panel, opening the log. “He used the tube to Manhattan, then destroyed the station from that end. The resulting feedback overloaded the system.”

  “What would have happened if we’d been inside when they shut down?” asked Chem Queen.

  “That can’t technically happen,” said Prodigy. “Even though you feel the illusion of travel, your transit time is technically a negative number. You arrive picoseconds before you leave.”

  I let go of Jenny. I’d been thinking about nothing but this reunion since I got back, but there really wasn’t time for us to talk. I asked, “Anyone else have any bright ideas on how we’re getting to New York in… uh… how long before the deadline?”

  “Eight minutes, twenty seconds,” said Prodigy. “Even at top speed, Golden Victory couldn’t fly to New York in that time. Let’s hope Anyman’s gambit pays off.”

  “Why would he do this?” Echo asked. “I mean… he told me he wasn’t really a hero. The said he was just an ordinary guy and—”

  “Most heroes are just ordinary people until they confront a crisis where their actions can make a difference,” said Prodigy. She pressed a few buttons and brought up a window on a monitor where we could watch the situation unfold in New York.

  Anyman came down from the sky, landing less than gracefully, knocking a small crater into the concrete plaza in front of the aliens. He shapeshifted into the spitting image of Glorgon that had been projected around the world earlier. Instantly, the rhino spiders opened their mandibles and spewed jets of blue liquid in his direction. The liquid coated him, turning into a translucent gemstone, trapping him inside.

  “A wise choice,” said Sterngeist, facing the camera. “My allies are creatures of honor. The moon is spared. Make no attempt at pursuit. It will not end well for you.”

  An orange light swept across the plaza, and suddenly the screens filled with static. When it cleared, the aliens were go
ne, but the Prime Mover was still standing there.

  “This isn’t good,” I said.

  Suddenly, one of his robotic horseman galloped across the sky toward the Prime Mover. I was pretty sure this was War, the one with super-dense armor. The huge, imposing figure landed next to the Prime Mover, dismounted, and knelt before him. Even kneeling, he was taller than the Prime Mover. He held out his gauntleted fist and opened his fingers, palm up.

  Some brave camera man advanced, zooming in, showing what the horseman held. It looked for all the world like a soybean pod.

  “Prodigy,” said Retaliator. “We need the tubes back up. Now!”

  “I need ten more seconds,” she said. “But the New York station is completely smashed up.”

  “There’s one across the river in Hoboken,” said Blue Bee.

  “It will have to do,” said Retaliator. “I’ll remotely summon a helicopter to meet us there.”

  “It won’t be fast enough,” said Golden Victory, walking into the room, rubbing his jaw. He winked at Smash Lass. “That’s quite the right hook you’ve got young lady.”

  “I’m so sorry,” she said.

  “Tubes are back online!” said Prodigy.

  “Go,” Retaliator said, looking at Golden Victory. “That seed cannot reach water.”

  “Understood,” said Golden Victory, who vanished into the Jersey tube. Ten seconds later, on the monitor where we were watching the Prime Mover, there was a yellow streak flashing across the screen. Unfortunately, War was directly between the Prime Mover and Golden Victory, and swung his fist with blinding speed. What happened after that was anyone’s guess, since the shockwave of the blow took the cameras offline.

  “Assume the Prime Mover still has the seed!” said Retaliator, moving toward the tachyon tube. “Do whatever it takes to stop him!”

  “What’s so scary about this seed?” asked Jenny as she gave chase to Retaliator, who leapt into the tube. Next thing I knew we were all jumping through, even Chem Queen.

  I blinked as I jumped into the tube and when I opened my eyes we were on a rooftop in New Jersey. The roof quickly grew crowded as everyone back at the base filtered through.

  “Ten second rundown,” said Retaliator. “Prime Mover said the plant aliens could terraform worlds using a single seed.”

  “I think you mean xenoform,” said Prodigy.

  “We know that Glorgon used the seeds as a doomsday weapon, wiping out whole biospheres in the span of a few hours. War obviously went into space to steal one of these Eden seeds. If it hits significant source of water, it will overwrite all life on the planet.”

  “Is the East River significant enough?” asked Blue Bee. “Because the UN is directly next to it.”

  “Go!” said Retaliator.

  So, we went. Even though the chopper was on the horizon, I raced to the rooftop and threw myself out into space, rolling as I hit the next rooftop, bounding like crazy toward the Lincoln Tunnel. From where we stood, it was maybe five miles to reach the UN, but we could hear what sounded like explosions coming one after another, which was probably Golden Victory and War trading punches. Arc went crackling across the sky on those crazy lightning boots of his, Blue Bee buzzed across the river on her Bee Wing, and Nimble stretched herself thin as a strand of hair as she reached to grab a radio tower at least a mile away.

  None of us were fast enough to make it to the UN quicker than the Prime Mover could walk across the plaza to the river. On the other hand, the Prime Mover was a supervillain surrounded by reporters. If he was true to form, he’d spend at least a few minutes revealing his fiendish masterplan.

  I leapt to the next rooftop, landing on all fours. A dark figure landed in front of me.

  “Need a lift?” asked Smash Lass, offering me her hand.

  “Don’t I weigh too much?” I asked, instantly realizing it was a dumb question.

  “That’s between you and your physician,” she said, wrapping her arms around my waist. “Hold on!”

  “Holding!” I said, and instantly wished I hadn’t since the force with which she launched us into the air made me bite my tongue. Not that I had much time to feel the pain, since I sort of blacked out for a few seconds as the g-force of her jump drove all the blood out of my brain. When I came too, we were falling toward the UN plaza, which looked as if a bomb had flattened it.

  It wasn’t a bomb, however. It was Golden Victory slugging it out with War. The shockwaves from their blows had knocked over anything not nailed down within a hundred yards, except for the Prime Mover, who looked remarkably unconcerned as he strolled past the fallen TV cameras, heading toward the river. He was surrounded by an aura of pale white light, probably some sort of force field.

  My hunch that it was a force field proved true when Arc landed right in front of the Prime Mover and started throwing lightning bolts with both fists. The glowing light surrounding the Prime Mover grew brighter. Arc’s face twisted in concentration as he changed tactics, using his electromagnetic powers to directly attack the force field, which glowed even brighter. I’d seen Arc take down force fields before, and figured the Prime Mover’s would last maybe another second, but with an almost casual gesture, the Prime Mover pointed toward Arc with his free hand and said, “Sleep.” Arc toppled over, his lightning flow fading.

  Smash Lass and I hit the ground in front of the Prime Mover, digging a fresh crater in the concrete.

  “For enforcers of the law,” said the Prime Mover, “you seem remarkably unconcerned with property damage.”

  “Property damage this!” Smash Lass cried, leaping forward, drawing her fist back.

  “Stop,” said the Prime Mover, and she stopped, hovering in midair, still as a statue.

  He turned his gaze toward me.

  “Wait,” I said, holding up my hands. “There’s something I need to ask you.”

  “Why am I doing this?” he said. “I came to Earth in human form to live among you, to find out if my creation was truly good. It wasn’t. Like an author, sometimes the only possible correction for a flawed first draft is to erase the whole thing and begin again. With this seed, the world will become a new Eden. I won’t make the mistake of placing humans within paradise again.”

  “You won’t get any argument from me that the world is fucked up,” I said. “That’s kind of why I want to talk to you. I mean… you know everything, right? The whole omniscience thing?”

  A sly smile crossed his lips. “You cannot be more transparent. You seek to delay me until your companions arrive.”

  “And what are they supposed to do?” I asked. “I mean, you just took out Smash Lass and Arc. You can’t be worried Blue Bee’s going to knock you out with a karate chop. Look, I just want to talk. How often does a person get to have a conversation with God?”

  “You may pray any time you wish,” said the Prime Mover. “Again, I see right through you. You don’t wish to pray. You seek to test my omniscience with some riddle, or a seemingly impossible question. My child, it is I who gave the sphinx his riddle. It is I who whispered in Alexander’s ear to cut the Gordian knot. Do not waste my time with such follies.”

  Around this time, the Blue Bee was creeping up behind the Prime Mover. Suddenly, what had to be a million bees came out of nowhere, diving right at him. They hit his force field with sizzles and sparks. The smoke of burning bees got thick, and when it cleared the Prime Mover was surrounded by a circle of ash. Blue Bee pulled out her venom gun and fired, but the dart bounced off the shield. She ran forward to deliver a karate chop. Without even looking back, the Prime Mover raised his hand and said, “Go away.” Poof! Blue Bee was gone. As soon as she vanished, the shadow of a giant hand fell over the Prime Mover. It was Nimble, trying to swat the Prime Mover like a bug. It worked about as well as expected, and with a snap of his fingers the Prime Mover turned Nimble into a balloon floating harmlessly overhead.

  “See?” I said. “I knew that wasn’t going to work. There’s no point in trying to distract you.” About this time, the
helicopter carrying Retaliator, Echo, Chem Queen, and Jenny buzzed over the plaza. This gave the question I wanted to ask a sudden urgency. “I’d like to ask you about my love life.”

  Prime Mover looked slightly bewildered.

  “See, I’ve known this girl named Valentine a long time. She’s my best friend, and, honestly, at one time I would have done pretty much anything for a chance to make her my girlfriend. Not so long ago, she died, and when I lost her it felt like part of my heart had been ripped out. It’s like, once she was gone, the true depth of my love became clear to me.”

  “You want to know why I took her from you?” asked the Prime Mover, sounding a little puzzled.

  “Well, the thing is, she kind of survived her own death, and now she wants to be with me romantically.”

  “So… you wish to thank me?”

  “No. Because I’m also in love with this girl named Jenny. She’s like my official girlfriend. But, things are just… just weird with her. She’s kind of crazy. Every time I figure out what she wants, she goes off in some new direction. I mean, she’s dealing with some serious childhood trauma, and I want to give her space to find some peace, but, sometimes, I don’t know, it wears me out, dealing with her mood swings. But she took a chance on me. No matter how tense things get between us, I can’t ignore the fact that she opened herself up to me and treated me as worthy of love when everyone else looked at me like an animal. No matter how I might feel about Valentine, I don’t want to hurt Jenny by leaving her.”

  “Then stay with Jenny, for the seconds you have left,” Prime Mover said, sounding annoyed. The chopper had landed now and Jenny and Chem Queen were running toward us. The others were heading toward the pit where Golden Victory and War were still slugging it out, though what exactly they could hope to do eluded me. The Prime Mover held up the Eden seed. “Don’t you grasp how irrelevant your question is? This world ends in a moment. You will not be part of the world to come. Step aside.”

  I stepped aside, my legs moving on their own.