by Blake, Matt
Had his hands centimeters, millimeters, from grabbing it.
And I pulled the ball back and ran around the back of him.
I saw a few wide eyes as Mike tumbled forward. A few uncertain laughs. My heart pounded. By the side of the field, I could see Damon looking on, open mouthed.
“Come on,” I said. “Thought you told me you wanted it?”
Mike turned around and I saw his face was completely red. There was no joy there, not anymore. “Don’t test me, dick.”
He lunged towards me.
I jumped up. Felt that tingling in my mind and jumped right over Mike.
I landed behind him.
Mike fell face flat into the grass.
I heard the laughter then and knew I couldn’t take my powers much further. I’d just about got away with what I’d used without it looking too obvious. I had to give up. At least Mike wouldn’t bother me now I’d shown him up.
I dropped the ball. “Here. All yours. Not my sport anyway.”
I turned around and started to walk, feeling on cloud nine, on top of the world. I swore the pretty girls at the side of the field were even watching me.
When I felt the sharp pain in my left kidney, I realized they weren’t looking at me at all.
Mike punched me to the ground. He knocked the wind right out of my body. I hit the grass with force. Because it was so warm, it was like hitting solid ground.
Mike turned me around. His eyes were bloodshot. “Don’t you turn your back on me,” he said. “Don’t you dare turn your back on me, you little shit. Just ’cause you got caught up in a gunman attack, you think you’re a hard-ass all of a sudden. Just ’cause you lost your sister all those years ago, you think you’re above me. Just ’cause you’ve been through somethin’ I haven’t, you think I should fall in line.”
When he mentioned my sister, in that split second as his fist hurtled towards my face, I wanted to keep my calm. I didn’t want to use my powers again.
But the mention of my sister was enough to make me angry.
I stopped his fist. Twisted his wrist around. I pushed him back and sat atop him, flipping over his strong body with forces I was still amazed to have.
I focused on his neck. Tightened my grip, not using my hands but my mind. Tighter, tighter. And as I held Mike down, I could hear a few laughs at first. And then I could hear a few shouts. Voices right beside me. People saying something was happening to him.
All I could do was look down into the eyes of my tormentor as his face turned red.
Then purple.
Then blue.
And as I looked into his eyes, I knew that I was the one causing him this pain. I knew I was the one choking him.
And I didn’t feel bad. I didn’t feel anything.
I just felt angry at him.
I saw a tear roll down Mike’s cheek. Heard someone by Mike’s side asking if he was okay. And as I saw the tears, as much as I wanted to hold on with my mind’s grip, I let go.
I let go and heard Mike wheeze for breath. Heard him splutter.
I stepped away from him, shaking. Stepped away as some more people from the school ran towards him. And as I stared at Mike Beacon choking, I understood the danger of what I’d done.
I’d used my powers. I’d used my powers to cover up the fact I was a wuss.
But I was still a wuss. Underneath, I was clearly still a wuss, because I was using my powers—not my own strength—to get one over someone who’d made a few jibes at me over my life.
I turned around. Walked away. I knew right then I had to be careful. Much more careful.
If it wasn’t already too late.
He watched Kyle Peters closely from the other side of the field.
He saw the chaos. Saw the panic. Heard Mike Beacon coughing up his lungs.
But more than anything, more than anyone, he saw Kyle Peters.
At first, he wondered if he was the only one. But then he’d seen the footage last night, and he swore he recognized the shape of that hooded figure who saved the woman at the ATM. He’d always been good at recognizing people from their bodies just as well as their faces. But since discovering his powers, those abilities had tuned even more.
He wasn’t totally certain if he was right. But he had a feeling. First, the gunman attack at the stadium. Then the events at the ATM. Now, this.
He couldn’t be absolutely certain, but he’d be watching Kyle Peters very closely.
He thought he was the last one left.
Now, he knew he wasn’t.
Now, he knew he didn’t have to be alone. Never again.
He felt the tingling spread across his body and he forced his invisibility a little longer before disappearing out of the school grounds.
Kyle Peters was worth keeping a close eye on.
But for now, he had more important work to do.
17
“I mean, seriously man. I don’t know what the hell got into you. But whatever got into you… Let it get into you again.”
I sat at Avi’s house playing video games, which had pretty much become a ritual on Wednesday evenings. My eyes stung with tiredness—the discoveries and whirlwind of the last week or so finally building up. My ears rang with the laughter of Damon, with the echoes of his voice telling Avi all about what happened with Mike Beacon on the football field earlier that day. So many people had come up to me, told me I’d done a good job standing up to Beacon—even his friends.
But I could smell the pizza Avi’s mom was cooking downstairs and it brought a sour taste to my mouth, as delicious as it no doubt would be. I felt nervy. Constantly on edge. Even though I should’ve been on top of the world, I was on edge.
“Shouldn’t gloat about it,” I said. “Mike was in… He was in a pretty bad way when I left.”
“Ah, screw him. That was his asthma. His own fault for getting so big on humiliating you if you ask me.”
I nodded. Sipped back some Coke, which had gone flat. I had to agree with Damon in public, but deep down I knew it wasn’t true. I’d caused that “asthma attack”. What happened to Mike Beacon was on me.
And it was that look in Mike’s eyes—that human look of fear—that convinced me I had to hide my powers. I couldn’t embrace them. Not even if I wanted to.
And I kind of really wanted to.
“Anyway, balls of steel,” Avi said. “How’s the chick?”
I frowned. “The chick.”
“Yeah, you know. The chick. The one you been fawning over for like thirty years.”
“Bit of an exaggeration.”
“Only slightly.”
I couldn’t really argue with Avi on that front.
“So go on. Damon tells me you two’ve been hitting it off real good lately.”
“He has, has he?” I glared at Damon. I wished Ellicia and I had been hitting it off. I mean, I wouldn’t know if we had. Had we? We’d spoken a couple more times lately than we used to. But hitting it off? That was probably taking things a bit too far.
“Don’t mind me,” I said. “How about you and your girl?”
Avi shrugged. “Oh, Miri. Yeah, we’re not together anymore.”
“Sorry to hear that.”
“It’s cool. I’m hooking up with someone else now.”
I almost spat my Coke out. “You… You don’t speak to a girl in your entire life and all of a sudden you’re seeing two in the space of a week?”
“It’s that book,” Avi said. “Told you it was gold.”
“Yeah. Right.”
“4.6 stars. Don’t knock it ’til you’ve read it, bro.”
I thought about what Avi had said about us “hitting it off.” Honestly, there had been a few signs between Ellicia and me lately. There’d been the disappointment when I said I wasn’t going to the party. And then when I mentioned I might be going, after all, it was as if she was looking for someone to ask her. Looking for someone to invite her along.
I thought about what happened with Mike Beacon on the field. That wasn
’t me, Kyle Peters. That was my powers. That wasn’t me being strong. That was me using a weapon, just like any bully using a weapon.
The real person who needed to be strong? Me.
And I couldn’t think of a better way to show just how strong I was getting.
I pulled out my phone as the sounds of the video games rumbled in the background. I opened up Facebook. Tapped on Ellicia—something I’d admittedly done in my more private moments. I hovered over the message screen. Wondered what I was doing. But maybe the best thing would be to not wonder at all. Maybe the best thing would be to just exit it. Just leave it. Just…
Hey :)
I felt my stomach turn to mush. The whole room around me disappeared into nothing.
Ellicia had messaged me.
She’d said “hey” to me.
Hey and a damned smiley!
I held a nervous finger over the message area. I thought about asking Avi for girl advice, but then I remembered I wasn’t completely insane.
Just follow your feelings. That’s what I’d heard was the right thing to do. Just do what I felt was right.
I typed in “Hi.”
It looked too square. Too formal.
So I went for: “Hellloooooo!”
Felt like an idiot seconds later. Deleted it.
In the end, I closed my eyes. Thought about what I really wanted to say. Deep down, underneath all my fears, I thought about what words came most natural to me. I’d been through hell the last few days. This was nothing compared to being held up by a gunman.
Right?
I felt my phone buzz before I had the chance to respond.
Going to the party after all. Hopefully see you there. X
When I saw that kiss at the end, I couldn’t help a cheeky laugh sneaking out.
Avi and Damon looked around. Avi’s eyes narrowed. “The hell kind of laugh was that?”
I lowered my phone. Felt my body fill with the most joy it’d filled with since God knows when. “Looks like I’m going to the party after all,” I said.
18
Daniel Septer hovered over his house and felt the power of anger within.
The night sky was jet black. There was a chill in the air, but it didn’t matter to Daniel. He could feel warmth with the click of his fingers. The only thing that mattered to Daniel was the power he felt inside. The fury he felt inside.
The strength he’d been missing out on all his life, all of it swirling around inside.
He looked out over Manhattan Island. He saw all the lights, heard all the voices as if he was walking through the streets. Tourists. Businessmen. Taxi drivers. All going about their lives like everything was okay. All living their perfect little existences without a worry in the world. Making love to one another. Filth. Vermin. That’s what they were. That’s what they always would be.
All because of the way they’d trodden him down like he was nothing his entire life.
He tasted bitterness in his mouth as the memories of watching what happened to his stepdad, Garth, circled his mind. He’d thought about that a lot lately. Thought about the look on Garth’s face as he hit himself with his own fist, again and again. Thought about the fear and confusion in his mom’s eyes.
But that was the thing. Garth was gone now. Garth wasn’t hurting anyone else, ever again.
Daniel had made sure of that.
For the first time in his life, he’d been the one to put a bully in their place.
He felt the anger tingling at his hot skin as he kept on hovering above his house. Mom was inside. He hadn’t meant to lock her away in the basement, but she was just so eager to call the police about what happened to Garth. So keen to report it. He couldn’t have that. Not at all.
Eventually, she’d come round. She’d see sense.
Right now, she was right where she needed to be.
Nobody would hear her scream.
He loved her so much.
He could hear people below, on the streets, but he knew it didn’t matter. He was invisible. Nobody could see him. He’d been invisible in another sense for years already. Nobody paid any attention to him. Nobody took him seriously. And when he did attract attention, it was always the wrong kind.
Not again. Not anymore. Not after he finished.
He thought about all the kids that had trodden him down. Thought of the school bullies and their normal lives. Thought about the teachers, the moms and dads, all of them living their worry-free existences. They were ungrateful, that’s what it was. When the ULTRAs were around, the world had a purpose again. A godless world had a vision of a God-filled future.
And humans had just taken that away again, infested the world, spread their venom further.
Really, the Era of the ULTRAs should’ve been a lesson. A lesson to appreciate life. To be kind to others. But the problem with humans was their memories. They were short term. One day, they could be in the midst of a terror attack, the next day they’d be out in a public place again like everything was okay, like nothing had happened.
Humans thought they were the gods. They thought they could defeat anyone. Anything.
But they couldn’t. Because people like Daniel Septer were the gods.
People like Daniel Septer were going to rule this world.
People were going to fall to their knees for the ULTRAs once more.
Daniel looked over at Staten Island High School and he felt the anger tingling inside. The times he’d been punched. The times he’d had his money, clothes, everything stolen. The times he’d been given poor grades. He was going to make them pay. He was going to show them what it felt like to feel worthless. Powerless.
He was going to make them understand, and he was going to enjoy it.
And nobody was going to stop him.
Because nobody was powerful enough to stop him.
He looked down at his iPad. On it, he saw clips of Saint. He saw his silver armor, shining like a knight. He saw the chaos he’d caused—the explosions in Tokyo, the fires of Berlin. He saw Saint swooping through the city of London, smashing every banker building in his wake. He saw the London Eye fall, the people inside it slip into the Thames.
And Daniel didn’t feel the disgust that most people felt about Saint. After all, Saint wasn’t the villain. It wasn’t as simple as that; as black and white as that. Saint just wanted the world to be a better place. He wanted to free the world from the bully governments. He wanted to lead humanity into a new era—an era where the ULTRAs were the governments, the gods, and the people below served. Sure, he wanted people to fear him. What was any good leader if their people didn’t fear him? That explained the explosions. That justified the killings.
But more than anything, Saint just wanted an end to the old ways. The narrow-minded human ways that had gripped the world like a disease for decades. Capitalism. Materialism. Mass population.
Saint wanted to rescue people from themselves.
Daniel didn’t want that.
Well, he wanted a part of that. He wanted the power. The control of a god. He wanted people to fear him.
But he didn’t want people to be saved.
He wanted people to burn.
And they would. They would. That day was coming. It was approaching. Fast.
Daniel dropped onto his house roof and lowered his invisibility. He looked out at the city, then back at Staten Island.
He would master his powers. The powers that he had been blessed with for a reason.
And when he did, he would tread everyone down.
The more he killed, the stronger he would feel. The more he destroyed, the more he would be feared.
Finally, he was standing up to the things that had made his life hell.
People.
He pulled down his dark silver metal mask, which he’d forced someone just outside the city to weld in a very comprehensive way, and to a very tight schedule. Just like Saint’s. He made himself re-appear from invisibility, just for a moment, and scanned his body. That armor. That si
lver metal armor. Again, welded by the best the city had to offer. He’d thanked the person who did it in his own special way.
Again, just like Saint’s.
No. Better than Saint’s. Stronger than Saint’s.
He took a deep breath from under that mask. Felt the power it gave him. The confidence it instilled in him.
He was starting a legacy of his own.
A new Era of the ULTRAs.
Daniel Septer was dead. Nycto was born.
He opened up the flyer to his school party.
He felt the anger at all the excitement around it, all the positivity around it. All the joy of people who’d punished him. People who’d treated him like hell.
The flyer started to burn in his hands.
He let it drop to the ground below.
And then he disappeared into the night.
Soon, the people who had made him suffer would feel pain themselves.
Soon.
He hoped Kyle Peters would be there to see the fireworks.
19
I looked in the mirror at myself and wanted to puke.
It was Friday night. Which meant one thing: party night. A matter of days ago, I honestly hadn’t thought much of this night. I think I planned on staying at home, getting takeaway pizza, playing video games or watching Netflix or both.
But here I was, staring at myself in a mirror… Suited and booted.
My suit was all black. It was a pretty tight fit, which probably wasn’t good news seeing as I was a five foot six rake as it was. I’d bought the suit with my own savings, though. Not in an actual suit shop, like Damon recommended—I wasn’t fully out of the realms of total recluse just yet. I’d gone online and bought one that I thought would fit me.
Yeah. There wasn’t a lot of time to send it back now. And it’d cost a lot of money.
But if it meant looking moderately good rather than… Well, not attending the party at all, then that’s all that mattered.
’Cause Ellicia was going, and I had someone to impress.
I heard pots and pans downstairs. The sound of the television in the living room. The knowledge that my parents were just in other rooms while I was dressed ready for a party they didn’t even know was on, let alone that I was attending it, made my stomach turn. I’d have to be quiet when I left. I’d have to make sure I got out without them seeing me. Maybe I could use my ULTRA powers to…
