The thunderous explosions stopped just a few minutes ago, and this hanging deathly silence took its place. The air felt dry. The corridors were lonely and felt eternal. The three of us didn’t say a single word as we passed corpses and destruction, rubble and twisted metal. Blood on the floor, on the walls, dull and wet and dripping. Whatever the ELS had been after, they’d seemingly gotten it and left, and now there were nothing but ruins. To be honest, I didn’t really know much about them. I’d had plenty of my own issues to deal with this year, so you can’t blame a girl for being a little self-centered. All I knew was that they came way, way before the Olympians. Back before Peacemaker.
They weren’t the first group of Capes to come together, but they were the ones who’d lasted the longest. I mean, hell, Alexander the Great had led them for a while (not the one in the history books, but the one I’d briefly met who’d been chugging beers with the rest of the retired Supes) and Cleopatra worked with them before she ever joined the Olympians. We’d never crossed paths because I’d never really had a reason to go over to Europe and try to figure out their problems, because none of them ever came here to fix mine. I guess it was mutual, but I also guess they’d bridged that gap and come over for something they wanted so badly that they left a trail of chaos behind.
The only other thing they had left behind was their symbol spray painted on the walls with black paint. A star with wings attached to it, circled in red. But I barely paid any attention to them. There were people I wanted dead and people I wanted gone. Mom was neither of them, but she was going to have to sit down and explain a lot.
But again and again, whenever I had those kinds of thoughts, Dennie would pop into my head and make them vanish. I had to keep shaking my head and grinding my teeth, trying to focus on what I wanted to do instead.
Except he’d want me to find it in my heart to hear my mom out.
I had to force my hands to unclench several times over.
Rhea suddenly stopped and bent over, black vomit spilling out of her mouth that reeked so badly I also nearly puked. I went to help her and she batted me away. Frankie dug through her pockets and brought out a vial.
“What is that?” I asked, stopping her from handing it over.
“Like I said before, her body and the blood inside of her just don’t match. This is like a booster shot. It’ll keep her alive, unless you, I don’t know, want to drag around a rotting corpse all night long as she withers away.”
I let go of her wrist and let Rhea drink the dark liquid. She struggled to swallow it, her face scrunched and her nose shriveled as she dropped the glass vial and leaned against the wall. She shut her eyes, digging her fingers into the concrete and burrowing into it. She swore and massaged the back of her neck, then she straightened.
“I don’t need your pity,” she said, walking past me. “Now stop staring at me and let’s go.”
I doubted she cared anything at all about my mother, because let’s be honest, these two were here so that mom could fix their problems, not because they wanted to help me. If it came down to it, taking out Frankie would be the easy part. Rhea would be the harder fight. Maybe even the semi-impossible one. All I could do was wait.
But I had enough dignity in me to know that she would want to die a warrior's death.
It’s just a shame that, even in this state, she could break my jaw.
We didn’t make it far before the raw stink of meat stopped us both in our tracks. We stood beside each other as the stench got thicker, heavier—almost tangible. I looked over my shoulder. Rhea narrowed her eyes and looked to her right. Frankie backed up, head swiveling, asking what was going on. My skin prickled as the echoing shriek of something came down the corridor and from the walls beyond. Rhea glanced over at me. I shook my head.
The ground was shaking, and something big was coming.
A second later, and the wall to my right exploded in a hail of stone, dust, and metal. Rhea grabbed Frankie and wrapped herself around her, shielding her from the debris. I crossed my arms and shouldered the stone, stepping back when larger chunks slammed into me. I spat the grit-tasting saliva out of my mouth and looked up, then swore.
A Kaiju towered above me, a beast with a golden mane that ran down its back, and pieces of hardened bone melded to its furry flesh. It reeked of blood, still wet enough to drip from its claws. Its muzzle steamed, hot and wet with blood and saliva. The worst thing about it were those purple worms, the ones that kept its elbows, wrists, and shoulders attached together. Tendrils sprouted from its spine, lingering and lashing, snapping against the floor.
All I could really wonder was, Who the fuck gave birth to this thing?
He bellowed and raised his fists, bringing them down hard where I was standing. I flipped away, landing in a crouch, watching as he didn’t pause and broke out in a wild run toward Rhea. He swung with his claws, gouging out wires and piping from the concrete walls. She threw Frankie aside and lunged at him, bearing her own teeth as her fist slammed into his jaw. I joined in before he could recover from stumbling back, slamming my foot into the back of his shin and making him fall. Rhea slammed her knee into his jaw, snapping his head backward. I swung around mid-air and sent him through the wall with a roundhouse to his nose, smashing it back inside of his skull.
I panted, hovering, as the dust settled in the dark room beyond. Rhea spat a clump of blood onto the floor and dragged her forearm across her mouth. She’s not ready to fight. But we could both still hear his thumping heart.
The cloud of dust in front of us blew apart as he charged. This time, one of his lashing tentacles snagged my leg and smashed me into the ground. He grabbed Rhea by the throat and slammed his forehead against her nose, spitting blood down her face. I swore, grabbed the hive of worms crawling up my leg, sent a current of electricity up the appendage, and sent them sizzling, burning, and smoldering into a writhing, flailing mess. I got up and barreled into his side. Fuck. Pain lanced through my shoulder as soon as I hit the bony plating covering his side. He glared down at me like I was some kind of pest and struck downward. I dodged, grabbed his beefy arm, and used my flight to flip him over my shoulder. He slammed into the ground, then buckled and threw me as hard as he could away from him. I hit the ground, rolled, skidded, flipped and only stopped when a very convenient wall appeared.
I shook my head and groaned, getting myself up off the floor. “Fuck,” I muttered, spitting. “What is he?”
“One of Caesar's pets,” Frankie said, suddenly beside me. Lo and behold, she actually helped me stand up. “We studied you for a long while and made sure that we knew how you fought. Armor in all the right places. Agile. Strong. The Kaiju virus keeps him all in one piece, even if you gut him open, and oh, right, he’s called Xander.”
I glared at her. “You fucking made him? I swear to God, if you set us up—”
“She’s getting hurt just as badly as you are!” Frankie argued. “Besides, he’d kill me if you guys don’t kill him first. Caesar would’ve wanted to talk to you at some point, but he’s past that stage and wants your body and everything inside of it. Your genetic material would get anyone salivating, and for a man chasing immortality—”
“That’s what he wants?” I asked shrilly. I flinched as Rhea ducked, trying to get underneath him. She got kicked in the gut and sent flying, and this time, she was slow to get up. Even slower to realize he was on top of her.
“It’s just one of the things he wants,” she muttered. “Lust and greed are his second nature.”
Then Rhea slammed into me, taking us both through the wall. We lay in a gathering of limbs and aching heads, trying to suck air into our lungs. My head rang as she climbed off of me. Frankie was beside us, yelling something stupidly loud and annoying. I gathered myself onto all fours as Rhea got onto one knee. His shadow appeared over us, bathing us in total darkness. I glared up at him and got to my feet, golden sparks in my hands.
“Hey, Frankie,” I said. “How much did you guys know about me?”
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Quickly, she got onto her feet and stood behind us. “We stopped watching you before you disappeared.”
“Gotta be more specific.”
Xander stepped forward, a deep, guttural growl building in his throat.
“Before December!”
Rhea glanced at me. “You have a plan.”
Not really, but he’s in my way.
I launched myself at him. His mouth had been open in a roar, and I slammed my fist right into the back of his throat and came through the other side of his skull. I pulled my arm out. He fell to his knees, vomiting a slew of blood onto his burly chest, slickening his fur and making sludge out of the broken rock beneath us. I stuck my hand back into his head before the worms could stitch his flesh back together, dug deeper and deeper until I found his brain, wrapped my hand tightly around it so hard that goey, slimy juices gushed from his tear ducts, and filled his head with electricity that fried and burned until his body stopped convulsing and the worms withered and died.
I dragged my arm out of his maw, his brain still in my fist, as he collapsed at my feet. I waited, watching, right beside him. He twitched. But he didn’t get back up. The mound of flesh at my feet reeked of cooked meat.
I hated to admit it, but my stomach growled a little. Kinda starving.
I dropped the grey matter and stomped on it, smearing juices and blood on the floor. Gross, I thought, shaking out my hand to let the slime and the blood get off my arm. I looked over my shoulder, because suddenly, both of them were very quiet. Rhea’s eyes narrowed as she quietly panted. Frankie had a sparkle in her eye, the same kind she’s gotten the first time when she’d clambered over me, telling me about how much she wanted my blood.
“What?” I asked.
“Who taught you how to do that?” Rhea asked quietly, creeping closer. “You’re not supposed to know.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Dunno. I fought this guy called Adam and my powers surged, and then I kinda—”
She grabbed me by the shoulders. “You stumbled upon them? You taught yourself how to use them?” I nodded. She shook her head slowly, her frigid fingers digging harder into my shoulders. “Gods, cousin, that’s—”
“Amazing!” Frankie said, grabbing my wrist. “Oh, if I was still evil, I’d cut you up and keep you in jam jars forever.” She swallowed. I looked at her hand and she let go of me. “But I won’t, because I now know that’s wrong.”
I looked back at Rhea. “Is there something wrong with me using it?”
“Of course there is,” she hissed. “You’re not meant to use it.”
I pushed her off of me. “If you’ve got more Arkathian caste bullshit to throw in my face, cousin, then I don’t really want to hear it right now. There are more of them coming and I don’t want to waste time fighting them.”
“No,” she said, then paused. “Well, yes, it’s true that you cannot use it unless it’s a last resort when any Legionnaire is sure they are on the brink of death, and that’s why he fell so easily. The power you’re throwing around is meant to be revered, taught, and kept secret. Our fathers used it twice in their lifetimes, and the final was against one another, because it’s an assurance of a killing blow.” She got closer. “But we don’t only use it sparingly because of what it means to us, Rylee, it’s because full Arkathians cut down their life spans and weaken their powers over time if they continue to use it. The worst case scenario for a half-breed like yourself is that you stop your development early and entirely at an age when the rest of us are yet to hit our peaks.” I’d fallen silent. The ground shook again, showering us in dust as even the emergency lights flickered. Rhea continued, “You can’t let yourself use your powers to their fullest every time you do something. You’re meant to regulate your output all the time.”
“Yeah, well, dad never taught me that and nobody else has either,” I muttered. “But I’ll deal with—”
“Stop being rash and listen,” she said icily. “You’re not fully Arkathian. Your body is human. It can only handle so much stress for so long before your cells begin to degrade and your body stops supporting itself, too.”
In other words, I thought. I’m speeding right toward an early retirement. Win-win.
As long as the people I want gone aren’t around when I eventually have to stop, then that was fine with me.
I shrugged. “Guess I’ll just have to make sure I get through my bucket list before I kick it.”
“Listen to me!” she snapped, grabbing my forearm. “You’re killing yourself, don’t you understand that? No Arkathian is meant to sustain their powers at such a high level for so long. The Royal Bloodline is capable, yes, and maybe those who’ve fought for centuries have acclimatized their bodies, but all you’re doing is slowly dying.”
“What the fuck do you want from me?” I asked her. “I thought you hated my guts a second ago.”
Rhea opened her mouth to speak, then decided otherwise. She sighed and turned to look away, then faced me again and let go of my shoulder. “If it’s a premature and gruesome death that you’re seeking, then fine. You’re so unwilling to accept help from anyone that you can’t even understand when someone is offering you aid, cousin.”
“Oh, don’t even start with that,” I said, jabbing a finger into her chest. “Everyone I’ve met this year wants to help me out in some way or antoher and then fucked me over. The guy who taught me how to be a superhero killed the man who made me believe I was good enough to be one!” I was breathing hard and fast. I had to swallow and calm myself, pushing the hair out of my face and breathing through my nose. “Not a single person has helped me out this year, and I’ve got to rely on myself to fix things, and if I die, then let me die knowing that I fixed all of my problems. Gods know it’ll be the only time I get some peace and quiet for myself. Now are you coming or not?”
“If you’re asking if I’ll follow you to your grave, then no,” she said. Silence hung between us. I tensed my jaw and slowly nodded, then jerked my head at Frankie to lead the way. Then Rhea spoke. “But I’m better than you in every facet, and I’d like to put you in my debt when I inevitably save you after you weren’t able to with me.”
I scoffed a little. “And even if I was in your debt, what would you want, huh? An apology?”
“A fair fight,” she said, offering her hand. “One on one, just like when we were children. If you win, then you can do as you please—kill yourself faster, by all means. If I win, however, then you teach me how to be a hero.”
I blanked, because that had thrown me completely off center. “…you want to be a superhero?”
Unless I’ve got a concussion (which I probably do), she’d laughed in my face about it.
“Yes,” Rhea said. “So I can prove to you that you don’t have to kill yourself chasing your goal, because if you one day end up dying young, then you can perish knowing that even in what you love so dearly, I was better.”
I found myself shaking her hand out of spite before I caught on to what she was doing, but I barely thought about anything else other than finally getting a square rematch against the one person who’d nearly killed me in front of a planet full of beings who thought of me as a roach. For the girl inside of me, it would be terribly cathartic.
For the superhero I was trying to be, it meant I was just as good as I would like to think I am.
Or as good as I hoped to be. For Dennie’s sake, I guess I’ve got to be even better.
So, so much better.
“But if I win,” I said, “you’ve got to actually teach me how to use these powers properly.”
“So you don’t actually wish to die young?”
“It’s the superhero business,” I muttered. “The good die young, and I’d like to think I am.”
Her eyes lit up a little, with the smallest smile finding its way to the corner of her lips. It’s an Arkathian thing, I guessed, wanting to die with your head held high, but for now, there were still dozens of lives to take.
If that made me sound like a bad superhero, then you know what?
I don’t really care anymore.
“Now that you two have made up,” Frankie said, her hands cupping ours. “I think we should leave.”
“Oh, no you don’t,” a voice said. I shut my eyes as something lurched inside of me. I turned around, and there hovering at the hole in the wall, a dark silhouette made darker by the crimson lights, was the other version of me. Her golden eyes gleamed, the only part of her that shined in the gloomy red haze. She smiled and folded her arms over her chest, covering the golden lightning bolt she’d stolen off me. Bitterness filled my mouth, and before I knew it, electricity was spitting and sparking around my fists. “Oh, hey, you found a new friend! Looks like I might actually have to sweat a little this time around, or not—Ceaser said I should kill you, so it’ll only take a minute.”
Quietly, Rhea said, “What unholy human creation is that?”
“It’s a dead girl flying,” I whispered.
