Battle of the ULTRAs

by Matt Blake

  I squeezed my eyes shut as the blast echoed through my skull.

  Then I teleported behind the ULTRAbot before it could fire at me.

  I fired ice into its back and sent it flying into oblivion.

  I saw what I had to do then. There was a sphere of ULTRAbots all around me. I had to use my powers to teleport all of us away from here. This fight couldn’t go on above the island. I could do with the aid of the Resistance. This wouldn’t be easy.

  I fired two blasts of ice up into the sky to distract the ULTRAbots.

  Then, as time slowed down, as I focused down to the nearest millisecond, I poured all my anger into creating a sphere around us. An invisible sphere, starting in my hands, then widening. I felt it getting bigger. Felt its energy spreading. I could get us away from here. I could—

  “Help!”

  I heard a shout down below and I lost my grip of the sphere.

  When I looked down, I saw Ellicia’s dad, Mike. He was on the sand, lying on his back.

  An ULTRAbot was above him, gun to his chest.

  I wanted to get out of here, but the thought of Ellicia losing anyone pained me too much.

  So I threw myself back down to the island.

  I slammed into the ULTRAbot’s back before it could fire at Mike, and I held it down on the sand.

  I saw something, then. Something that made my skin go cold. This ULTRAbot. I recognized it. In fact, I’d seen it very recently.

  And then it dawned on me in a sickening turn.

  It wasn’t an ULTRAbot at all.

  It was a human.

  One of the humans Saint had brainwashed. One of the ones I’d seen lying on those beds.

  The woman beneath me punched me, hard, her powers way stronger than a human’s. I went flying back into the air. I didn’t want to hurt her. She was just a human, after all. ULTRAbots were robotic, so I didn’t feel much sympathy when I took them down.

  But humans… brainwashed humans. That was just wrong.

  Still, I had to stop her.

  I stretched out my hands, but then I felt something grab my shoulders, drag me up into the air. All around me, ULTRAbots and… well, I didn’t want to think how many of those converted humans there were. I had to fight; I knew that much.

  I pushed off a few of the ULTRAbots. I felt more cautious about blasting them with ice. I didn’t want to be responsible for any death.

  But Ellicia. Dad. My friends. They were down on that island. They needed protecting.

  I looked back up at the circle of enemies above. I could still get them out of here, get them far away and put them somewhere they couldn’t escape from. It’s the only option I had.

  I lifted my hand and focused my energy.

  One by one, instead of ice, I fired those wormholes right into the chests of my enemies. I saw them vanish into thin air. Some of them exploded before they could vanish, and I knew for certain they were the ULTRAbots.

  I kept on shooting them away, one by one. I knew it wouldn’t be a permanent measure, but it’d buy me some time to save this island and make sure the people here got somewhere safe.

  I was about to fire another blast when I heard an explosion underneath.

  When I turned around, I saw all the houses in flames.

  I felt a sickening blow cover me. A flashback to the fire at my house, which had taken Mom’s life. I had to go down there and I had to help. I couldn’t lose anyone else.

  But then I saw the ULTRAbots and the humans move in front of the burning village, blocking me from getting through them.

  They all stood there, shielding the burning buildings. I heard screams below. Screams for help. And I felt totally and utterly defeated.

  It was only then that I became aware of a presence behind me.

  I looked back.

  My fists tightened, and anger took over completely.

  Nycto was hovering over the island.

  His hands were filled with flames.

  22

  When I saw Nycto flying above the island, flames in his hands, I felt the urge for revenge tighten its grip once more.

  I flew up toward him, into the dark sky. I could smell the smoke below and hear the cries of the people. But I had to make Nycto pay. He’d fought me, all this time. He’d caused so much hell, and he’d keep on causing hell if I didn’t stop him.

  If he’d hurt anyone else I cared about, I’d make him pay.

  If he hadn’t… well, I’d make him pay anyway.

  I saw him just meters away. The flames in his hands were larger. He wasn’t wearing his mask, and he was smiling.

  “Catch,” he said.

  He threw the flames right at me.

  Instinctively, I dodged them. But then I realized they were flying down to the island village, rapidly increasing in speed.

  I flew back at them and fired them with ice.

  The ice missed and hit a building down in the village.

  It was then that I got an idea.

  I fired a thick wall of ice right above the village and kept on going when I didn’t think I could fire anymore. Kept on creating that gap between the village and the oncoming flames.

  Nycto’s fireballs blasted against the ice.

  The ice soaked up the fire. It started to melt.

  Then, in an instant, as the heat spread, it all turned into water and rained down on the burning village.

  The flames diminished. The smoke got thicker, but at least it would give people down there more of a chance to get away. I’d be back to help them. I just had something else to do first.

  When I turned, I saw that Nycto was gone.

  For a moment, I felt total anger and frustration. I squeezed my hands together and let out a cry. I needed to stop him. He wasn’t getting away. He wasn’t causing any more pain.

  Just as the anger totally controlled me, I saw a flash. It was of Nycto disappearing through a wormhole. He appeared somewhere… somewhere light. The desert.

  I saw these images like they were things I’d witnessed with my own eyes, then I flashed back to reality.

  I knew my powers were strengthening. I could feel myself doing things I hadn’t been capable of before.

  Maybe that was an advantage to my desire for revenge that Orion just didn’t accept.

  I went through a wormhole of my own and focused on where I’d seen Nycto in that vision. A desert. Africa? Yes. It must’ve been. I’d seen animals like elephants in the background. I’d seen Kilimanjaro looming above.

  I blasted myself to the exact spot I’d thought I saw Nycto.

  When I got there, Nycto was already waiting.

  He punched me right across the face. I fell back, smacking my head on the ground.

  “You’re like an annoying flea,” he said. “You just never know when to stop biting, do you?”

  I spat out some blood and stood. “I’ll never stop. Not until I’ve made you pay.”

  “And the rest of your people. The rest of your freaks. Where are they now you need them most?”

  “I don’t need them. Not to take on a weak little shit like you.”

  Nycto grinned. Laughed. “Weak. Yeah. We’ll see about that.”

  He lifted his hands, his fingers curled. I felt the ground beneath start to shake. Dust kicked up. In the distance, elephants and wildebeest ran away, terrified of whatever was coming.

  “You put me at the bottom of a mountain and you showed me mercy,” Nycto said, as the earth below started to crack. “I’ll put you at the bottom of one. But I won’t show you the same mercy.”

  It was then that I saw something in the corner of my eye, right behind Nycto.

  Kilimanjaro was lifting into the air. The entire mountain was hovering above the ground.

  It shifted in my direction as Nycto moved his hands.

  I went to fire ice at Nycto to stop him. But then I saw all the animals under its shadow. I couldn’t just make him drop Kilimanjaro. It’d cause so much death, so much destruction.

  So I did the only
thing I knew.

  “You’re not the only one with no more mercy, ‘Daniel.’”

  I lifted my hands and focused on Nycto. I felt my arms shake as I poured out energy into him. I wanted to teleport us both away from here. Not just us both, but Kilimanjaro too.

  Wow. I was actually doing this. I was actually moving a goddamned mountain.

  Kilimanjaro drifted further overhead. I felt its shadow cover me as I held my ground and tensed as hard as I could.

  “You aren’t stronger than me,” Nycto gasped.

  “Let’s let actions speak louder than words.”

  “They are doing right now. And they’re showing you aren’t stronger than me.”

  “Just… just bear with me, at least. Give me a chance to find my footing. Jeez.”

  The more I pushed back, the more it felt like that shadow was surrounding me, blocking the sky above completely. I knew I was stronger than Daniel, but he was showing serious strength. Still, I had to keep on pushing. I couldn’t just give up.

  “Any last words, Kyle? Anything you want me to tell Ellicia and the other idiots who made the mistake of caring about you when we take them in? If they survive the fire, of course.”

  A sickening guilt washed over me. I was going to die. I was going to die and I wasn’t going to be there to help the people I loved. “It’s you who should think about the last words.”

  Nycto laughed. “Cute.”

  “You know what is cute?”

  Nycto started lowering Kilimanjaro.

  “Antarctica.”

  I blasted the pair of us—and Kilimanjaro—with as much power as I’d ever known over to Antartica.

  When I landed on my back in Antartica, I saw Nycto hovering over me.

  But above him, Kilimanjaro wasn’t all solid anymore.

  It’d broken up into small—well, still damn massive—but smaller meteor-like pieces.

  “Hope you’re better at dodgeball than you used to be,” Nycto said.

  He paused all the rocks in the sky. Re-directed them right over me.

  And then he vanished.

  The moment he did, the rocks started falling, flying down toward me like asteroids.

  I guess that’s the repayment I got for moving a mountain.

  23

  I held my breath as the remnants of Kilimanjaro fell down toward me.

  Yes. I really was in a situation where one of the biggest mountains in the world had smashed to pieces and was heading in my direction. Lucky douchebag, right?

  I raised my hands and fired a blast of ice at the massive rock nearest my face. I bolted to the right, sliding across the snow, and stopped three more huge pieces of rock slamming into the ground. It was like a game of Asteroid. I couldn’t let this rock slam into Antartica or it might just split the continent in two, and who knew what that’d mean for the world.

  I steered another of the large masses of land to a standstill. I heard more of the smaller rocks behind crash into it and couldn’t see the sky for all the rocks above me.

  I twisted my hands together, biting into my lip as the crumbling rocks all stuck together in the sky above. My arms shook. There were too many of them for me to hold. I wasn’t sure what to do. One way or other, these rocks were going to collapse onto me. Nycto had gone. Back on the island where my family, friends, and girlfriend were, anything could be happening. I needed to get back to them and make sure they were safe.

  The image of their homes igniting into flames filled me with fear.

  I felt my arms getting weaker. I couldn’t hold this rock much longer. The whole of Kilimanjaro hung above me. If I let go, even if I got out of the way, just the impact alone would cause chaos.

  I lowered the fragments of Kilimanjaro down nearer to me, slowly. The closer it got, the heavier the weight grew. Soon, the first of the rocks were just meters from my face. Then inches. Then centimeters.

  I felt a few little stones tumble against my face. I wasn’t confident about what I was doing, but what other choice did I have?

  I felt a lump swell in my throat and I pictured Ellicia, Dad, Damon, Avi.

  “I’m coming for you.”

  Then I let my powers go and teleported above the debris.

  I saw the rocks fall down and heard a massive bang crack across the landscape. I waited for the entire continent to split; for a shockwave to ripple across the planet.

  It didn’t.

  As the snow fell, I looked down at the remains of Kilimanjaro, out of place in the middle of the South Pole. I’d come close to losing that time. Too close.

  Now I had to get back and make sure those I loved were safe.

  I teleported back to the island. The sudden darkness was jarring and took me by surprise. Rain fell heavily. There was a humidity to the air.

  Part of the reason for the humidity? The smoldering embers of the buildings below.

  I floated down to the island. The air smelled of smoke. The buildings weren’t burning as badly anymore, but there were still little flames. The foundations of the buildings had turned to ash.

  There was no one around.

  I lowered down to the ground, staying invisible even though I knew it wouldn’t keep me hidden from the ULTRAbots. I snook past a few falling buildings. I had to check on Dad, Ellicia, Damon, and Avi. Of course it mattered that everyone on this island was safe, but they were my priority.

  I got to Damon’s place and my stomach sank.

  There were flames crawling up the side of the building.

  I wanted to go inside and see his fate for sure, but I knew what I’d see. I was too late. The battle with Nycto and then the wrangling with Kilimanjaro had taken too much time. I’d failed the people I cared most about.

  Letting my guard drop, I floated over to Dad’s house.

  That too was in flames.

  I couldn’t bring myself to look inside, nor could I face checking Ellicia or Avi’s houses. I knew exactly what I’d find. And yet the horror of the situation gnawed at me like a parasite. I was culpable in this. I’d had the choice to stay and fight for my family and friends, and girlfriend. Instead, I’d gone chasing after Nycto. Orion was right all along. Revenge was driving me to a place I didn’t want to go.

  I’d chosen to go after Nycto, and it’d got everyone I cared about killed.

  I didn’t know how to feel as I stood in the rain. My heart pounded. My invisibility had dropped completely. I didn’t care whether someone came for me and took me away. All I cared about were the people I’d lost. The people I’d let down.

  I went to walk away when I heard a noise above.

  I activated my invisibility right away. There was a humming sound. The sound the ULTRAbots made.

  But when I peered into the sky, I saw more than just ULTRAbots.

  The ULTRAbots were lifting some of the island’s people into the skies. Some of them were unconscious. Others were kicking and screaming.

  They were taking them away, and I knew where to.

  I took a step forward when I saw more ULTRAbots elevate. In their arms, more people. I knew that attacking them would only put the people at risk. As eager as I was to go and get my revenge and get these people back, I knew I needed a better plan.

  When I saw the next group of people the ULTRAbots lifted into the air, that need for a plan grew all the more urgent.

  First, Avi. He was kicking around, trying to fight free of their grip.

  Then Damon. Ellicia. Dad.

  All of them, eyes closed.

  None of them aware of what was going on.

  I tightened my fists and resisted the urge to fly up there and save them. They could’ve had their final thoughts before they were brainwashed and turned into Saint’s slaves.

  No. I wasn’t going to let that happen.

  I loosened my fists and watched them disappear into the sky as the rain lashed down all around me.

  They were alive.

  I was going to get them back.

  I wasn’t going to fail anyone else.<
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  24

  It took four straight days of tracking Nycto’s movements before I finally found him.

  He was in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. He sat there alone, the birds singing around him. I wasn’t sure what he was doing here, but I knew attacking him while he was in the tower was too dangerous. Orion was right—there were way too many defenses, and I’d only go and get myself killed. With everyone I cared about imprisoned in that tower and on the brink of being turned into mindless automatons, I couldn’t take a risk like that.

  So I was going to make someone take a risk for me.

  “I’m still not sure I can do what you’re asking, Kyle.”

  I looked to my right. Vortex hovered by my side. She looked concerned. I’d reached out to her individually and asked for this favor. I knew Orion wouldn’t sign off a Resistance move like this. Vortex and I saw eye to eye on a lot of things. Besides, I’d saved her life more times than she’d saved mine, so she owed me a favor. “I’ve seen what you’re capable of. I know if you just focus, you’ll be able to control his mind.”

  Vortex shook her head. “It doesn’t work like that.”

  “It doesn’t? Or are you just too afraid of what might happen if you push too far?”

  Vortex looked me in my eyes. Her ginger hair looked dull, its glow weakened by the stresses of war. “You’ve no idea what it’s like to be in my mind.”

  “You make people have nightmares. I imagine you’re pretty used to seeing horrible things—”

  “When I create the nightmares in other people’s minds, I have to… I have to let my own demons in. Now I’ve got to a point where I can just see them in the corner of my mind, locked away. But… but when I try to push further, I have to let them out.” Her hands shook. “And I don’t know if I can let them out.”

  Vortex’s eyes were wide. She rubbed her arms. I’d never seen her looking this uncomfortable. “What are your demons?” I asked.

  She opened her mouth to respond. Then, she closed her lips and shook her head. “They’re something I’d rather not talk about right now.”

  I wanted to push Vortex further, but I respected her decision not to speak. I looked back down at Nycto. He was sat there in his gear, all but his helmet. He looked totally at peace, like he was meditating or something. “We go down there. I pin him down. You get inside his head. And when you’re in there, you go back to Saint’s tower and you get my people to safety.”