Blaze of Glory

by Sheryl Nantus

The alien, on the other hand, fell silently without any effort at controlling his descent, his eyes closed as he smashed into the middle of the street on his back.

  “Lock ’im up!” I dove towards the impact site.

  A lion leapt from the shadows and landed directly on the man’s chest with an angry roar. Meltdown appeared at his side, pressing his fingers into the asphalt.

  “Alive! We want him alive.” My stomach lurched as the static in my mind increased. “Don’t kill him.”

  Limox looked up at me with what could almost be scorn before shaking his head. The street surface around the fallen man began moving, waves of darkness rippling out from the super’s fingers.

  The feline let out another bellow as the body started sinking under his weight, collapsing into the fluid mass. Jumping free, the lion fled down a side alley. The alien let out a deep sigh, only his face still visible under the black asphalt now trapping his body.

  I looked upwards at the alien ship. There was a fluctuation in the waves around it, a shimmering that I wasn’t sure if anyone else could see. Then the large green craft…well, the best way to describe it was that it folded in upon itself and vanished, sort of like an origami crane.

  A ragged cheer came through my link, no more than a handful of different voices. I could make out Peter and May, Limox and Stephen and maybe two or three more. But that was all. Some of the ones I had heard earlier weren’t there anymore. I hoped they had decided to go silent and back underground. I hoped.

  Landing a few feet from where Limox still knelt by the captured invader, I forced a grin onto my face. “Good work.”

  Limox snorted. “Guess you want to talk to this joker.”

  “You guessed right.” I stumbled slightly, grabbing the nearest lamppost to stay upright.

  “You okay?” Limox almost sounded like he cared.

  “Yeah. Just a little breathless.” I didn’t want to touch the side of my head again and risk fainting at the sight of more of my own blood. Other people’s blood didn’t bother me—mine, very much so. I’m funny that way.

  “Rocking moves, Meltdown.” Slammer picked up the smaller man in a bear hug from behind and shaking him like a dog with a rag doll. Limox laughed, waving his fingers in the air.

  “Still got the touch, dude. Still got the touch.” He glanced over at me. “I think we should just take him out.” A low growl entered his voice. “Payback and all that.”

  “Huh.” Slammer looked down at the unconscious man trapped in the concrete, then over at me. “Man might have information.” He pressed one huge fist into the palm of the other. “Then we take him out.” He grinned, coffee-stained teeth and all.

  I activated the link. “Any one else want to come along for the ride, we’re at…” I stared at the street signs, wanting them to stop shaking. “Fifth and Wood Street. You’ll see us, I’m sure. We’re only going to be here a few more minutes, so if you want to join up, get here now. Or call out so I know you’re on the way.” I waited. No answer.

  “Are you okay?” May was suddenly there, whispering in my ear as she helped me sit on the curb. Hunter moved in beside her, kneeling down.

  “Nice cut on the ear. How’d you get that?” He reached up, pinching the top of my left ear. “Not worth stitches, but I’d like to get that cleaned out.”

  Peter’s elephant stood in the middle of the street, trumpeting victory tunes as the super rode him like a rajah of old. He looked like a kid who had just ransacked the candy store.

  “Okay.” I got to my feet. “Get that guy out of the street and let’s get out of here.” I drew in a few shaky breaths, feeling my stomach start to settle down. “I’m willing to bet that his friends are going to be back with reinforcements to pick him up, and we need to get him someplace safe and start asking him questions.”

  “Right.” May nodded towards the assembled men. “Well, you heard the lady. Dig him out.”

  Slammer chuckled. “Yes, ma’am.” He slammed his fists into the ground near the embedded body, ripping up the asphalt in large chunks. “Hey, Limox—give an old man a hand here.”

  Within seconds the two had pried the trapped man upright. Torn and jagged edges of concrete surrounded the still unconscious man.

  “Any idea how we’re going to get him out of here?” Limox groused to me, stepping back to let Stephen hold the slab upright without much effort. “Are you strong enough to haul all of us out of here?”

  I put my hand back over the throbbing part of my head, stopping when I remembered about the blood again. “I’m not sure.”

  Hunter moved closer, inspecting my wound. “Not that bad but you should probably get some meds and lie down for a bit.” He surveyed Slammer. “Heard about you. Tough guy.”

  The large man let out a huff. “Heard nothing about you.”

  “He’s May’s Guardian.” Limox’s words held a note of scorn. “But he’s still useful.”

  “Huh.” The grunted response brought no reply from Hunter.

  Ignoring Slammer, Hunter continued. “We should get going before the military roll back in here.”

  Peter slid down off the elephant, looking worried as he approached me. “You’re looking rather crappy, if you don’t mind me saying so.”

  “You really know how to talk to a lady.” I turned to Slammer. “Tell me, how far can you jump?”

  “Pretty far.” He nodded. “Where are you located?”

  “Toronto,” Limox replied before I could. “Other side of the border.”

  “Always wanted to travel the world.” The man laughed. “Tell you what—I’ll grab old Stony here and start jumping and you follow along.”

  May bit her lower lip before speaking. “It’ll be a bit longer if we travel overland, and I’d like you to lie down as soon as possible. Don’t want to start messing with your noggin, take it from me.”

  I didn’t feel like arguing with the woman, not to mention she was probably right.

  “Okay, this is how we’re going to do it.” I pointed at Peter. “You, you’re riding with Slammer.” My hand snapped up as I saw Stephen open his mouth. “You should be able to carry him without much effort. He’s pretty light. Carry him on your back if that works for you.” I continued. “You yell if anything goes wrong. Anything. Jump your way to Toronto.” A weary sigh broke free. “I guess our cover is kind of blown at this point.”

  “You think?” Limox snorted. “Bet we’ve got every television crew outside the bookstore before we get back.”

  “Bookstore?” Slammer chuckled. “That’s your big secret base?”

  “Works for us.” May put her hands on her hips, standing in front of the brute. She turned to me. “I’d like to go with the three of them.”

  “Don’t you trust me?” Stephen spread his massive hands, a sheepish smile on his face.

  I nodded. “Trust, but verify. May, you go with Stephen. Better to have two of you along in case he wakes up again. If you have to slam his mind again, go ahead—don’t wait for us to get there.” I checked the harness on my jacket. “Limox, Hunter, come on over here. Time to get out of here.” Raising my voice, I made one last appeal over the link. “Anyone else want to come along? Even if you can’t fly we’d like to have you along.”

  Silence.

  “They’ve probably run for the hills again. Or some of the abandoned mines.” Slammer tapped the back of his neck. “Waiting for the plugs to go off.”

  “We turned them off,” Limox said, a note of pride in his voice.

  “You what?” The words came out as if we had just announced we were angels.

  “Tell you about it on the trip back.” May moved next to Stephen. “We better go.”

  “Right.” The large man looked at me with a new air of respect. “We’ll see you on the way.”

  “Right.” I charged up, sucking energy from the fields around us. “You two, grab on. Limox, on the back. Hunter, my right hand and hold tight. I’m not feeling great and I don’t want to drop anyone.”

  Meltdown n
odded, grabbing one of the loops and tucking his arm into it. “Guess I get to be on your back after all.” The heated whisper made my skin crawl.

  “Until she rolls over and dumps your ass in Lake Ontario.” Hunter smirked. “Then I’ll be on top.”

  With a laugh I grabbed Hunter’s hand and began to rise in the air, listening to Limox’s annoyed huff. Below me I watched as Slammer gently pulled Mayday close to him, his other hand on the makeshift handle of the cement slab. She let out a girlish laugh as she put one arm around his waist. Peter reached up from behind, wrapping his thin arms around the mammoth man’s neck with a nervous giggle.

  Suddenly Stephen leapt into the air, higher and farther than I had tossed him before. As they disappeared into the clouds I gathered more energy and sped up, not wanting to lose sight of them.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I had hoped to make it to the border before hitting some trouble, be it our own or otherwise. Of course I was overly optimistic.

  Peter chirped over the link that the alien was waking up. I sped up, catching up with the trio a few minutes after Peter’s hurried request for assistance.

  Slammer and his team had stopped in a field full of grapevines, the thick berry-laden branches twisting around row on row of fences, waiting to be harvested for wine.

  The good thing was we were out of the city and away from civilians.

  The bad thing was I wasn’t sure if we could take the alien down again.

  I sprinted over to the pair as Slammer laid the black slab onto the dry soil as if it were a fragile egg in his hands. “Are you both okay?”

  May nodded. “We’re fine. He opened his eyes and Stephen got worried.” Her voice held a slight tremor, belying the calm look on her face.

  Slammer shuffled his feet in the rich soil, kicking a clump of dirt through the fence. “Not exactly worried. Just concerned.”

  “Good call.” I moved into the alien’s range of vision, noting his wide eyes that darted from side to side, focusing in on me with visible alarm. At least, what I thought was alarm. If he were human, it’d be alarm. But since he was an alien, it might not be.

  My mind began to stall, threatening to shut down over the simple process of identifying what emotion was on his face. I knew the sensation, a tendency to hide in my mind and not live in the moment. It doesn’t sound dangerous, but for a super it can be fatal. I’d found that out in our first fight.

  “You think too much.” Mike tossed me the first-aid kit, shaking his head. “There’s a time to think and a time to act.”

  “But you told me it was all prearranged.” The iodine had to have come from a World War II kit. It burned like a bastard when I dabbed the brown-soaked cotton ball over the gash on my forehead, right at the hairline. “It’s all faked, right?”

  “That doesn’t mean that you get to stand there and try and choreograph your moves to make sure you get the best shot.” He jabbed at the buttons on the television remote. “Posing for the camera is going to get you hurt and maybe killed. Don’t assume that just because no one’s going full throttle that no one can get hurt.”

  I stared at the angry one-inch cut reflected in the bathroom mirror. “Bastard could have at least warned me he was going to toss that car.”

  “I’ll send him a memo.” Mike stared at the television screen. “Next time act, don’t think. Too much thinking will get you killed. End of speech.”

  I stared down at the alien fighter. His hands were trapped in the melted asphalt, but that was no guarantee of safety. “Hi, there. Remember me?”

  He smiled back, one edge of his mouth twisting up way more than what was normal. “Yes.” His gaze flew around the circle of people. “You bested me in battle.”

  “That we did.” My gloves were fully charged, the static sizzling along my fingertips and making them itchy. I flexed my fingers, trying to look intimidating.

  Limox leaned over and interjected with a sneer, “We kicked your ass.”

  I glared at him, sending him back a step. Hunter put up his right hand, hiding a smile as May let out a loud sigh.

  I looked down again. “Your ship is gone. They left you behind.”

  “I fell in battle.” The tone was as if he were talking to a child. “They conceded the city, as per our rules of engagement. We will not be attacking that city again.”

  “But you’ll attack others.” Now it was my turn to growl at the captive. “Right?”

  “Yes.” The calm tones did nothing for my blood pressure. “Each city has a warrior assigned to it. It was my glory to not only be chosen for one of your main cities, but also to represent us for this battle.” A note of pride crept into his voice. “I fought and won over the assigned warrior. It was a glorious fight, but eventually he conceded and allowed me to take his place.”

  “How can you speak English?” Peter broke in.

  The alien’s light blue eyes studied the young face for a second before responding. “We monitored your transmissions for years before beginning our Trials.” The man smiled. “It was not hard to master.”

  “Monitored,” I repeated. “So you were watching us before you attacked.”

  “Before the Trials, yes.” A confused look appeared, his forehead creasing. “Did you not receive our Challenge? Were you not aware of the rules?”

  “Ah…I’ll say no.” I saw one hand begin to twitch, the melted asphalt around it bending and flexing. “Stop that right now.” Raising my hands, I pointed them directly at his face. “At this range I don’t know if I’ll kill you, but I’ll sure singe that smile off your face.” May’s buzzing began in the back of my mind, diluting the anger in my voice.

  “Sorry.” The tone was almost sheepish as he pressed his lips together for a second, then continued. “I was just feeling a bit uncomfortable.” The movement stopped.

  “Right.” I didn’t slacken off on the charge, letting a few lightning bolts break free from my fingertips to singe the dirt at the bottom of the nearby vines. As Mike said, it was all about show. “So, as we were discussing, a Challenge? Trials?”

  A frown appeared as he stared at me. “We issued a Challenge to the planet, as is allowed by the Rules of Engagement. If you didn’t receive it…” He focused on a point in the sky over my shoulder. “Then the Trials are invalid.” The note of sadness in the words had my stomach lurching.

  “Still not getting it.” The injured side of my head had started throbbing again. “Let’s pretend that I’m an idiot and you’re explaining this to me for the first time.”

  The blond man rolled his eyes upwards, falling silent again.

  “Jo?”

  Stepping away from the concrete slab, I put one hand to my ear. “Jessie?”

  “You might be getting company in a few minutes. There was a newsflash a few minutes ago about the government sending choppers out after a bunch of rogue supers leaving Pittsburgh, dragging some hunk of cement with the captive alien. I’m assuming that’s you guys, and if it’s not, you should still get your asses in gear.”

  “Damn.” I looked back towards the small group clustered around the captive. “We’ve got to get moving. Now.”

  Jessie’s voice began to fade. “Whatever you’re going to do, do it fast. Don’t know how much the Agency’s involved in this, but you know the military isn’t going to let you keep your new friend.” A burst of static signaled the loss of contact.

  “Fuck.” I turned around. “We’re about to get company. And I don’t think they’re bringing coffee and donuts.”

  “May I make a suggestion?” the alien asked. “I am your captive. You don’t really need this to keep me under control.”

  I paused, studying the slab. There was no way we could get out of here in time unless we left him behind, and I wasn’t going to lose this edge. “Can you fly? I mean, without your ship being nearby?”

  “Yes, of course.” His forehead furrowed. “I thought more of you did, to be perfectly honest.”

  “Okay, let’s get him out.” The statement b
rought a shocked look from May, a gasp from Peter, and Limox stepped forward, his mouth hanging open. Hunter, strangely enough, said nothing and stood there with arms crossed.

  “Are you fucking nuts?” The bald man pointed at the alien. “We’re going to let this guy out?”

  “You promise to do whatever I say?” I stared at the captive. He nodded. “There you go.”

  “You’re going to believe a fucking alien?” Limox’s face grew redder with each syllable. “As soon as we let him out he’s going to either split and go back to his ship or kill us.” His hands waved in the air, his fingertips crimson. “What are you thinking?” I could feel the heat waves rushing over me as he continued his tirade.

  “I’m thinking that we’re about to be overrun by a bunch of very pissed-off military types who are going to toss our asses in jail, if not someplace worse.” I tapped the back of my head. “There’s worse things than having them set this off, you know.”

  Slammer stepped forward. “I don’t want to go back to jail.” He looked at Limox, shaking his head. “Dude, we can’t go back. Not to that.”

  “Fuck.” Meltdown stomped his right foot in the thick lush soil. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” May pressed her lips together tightly in disapproval.

  I turned to the alien. “You’re going to carry Limox and Stephen here. You make one move to change course from following me and they’ll take you down. I don’t care if you drown in the lake.” Out of the corner of my eye I saw what almost passed for a satisfied look on Limox’s face. It wasn’t great, but it was a start.

  “Understood.” The alien stared at me. “May I get out now?”

  “Sure.” Pointing at Slammer, I started to say something about breaking him out when the blond man stepped free of the concrete prison, melting the asphalt as easily as chocolate in a microwave. Climbing out, the alien warrior nodded at me, brushing pieces of cement off his torn shirt.

  You could have caught a ton of bugs in my mouth it was hanging open so far. May let out something that sounded like a squeak as she watched our former captive shrug himself free with little effort.