“Is there anything else you want me to get from the store today?” Theresa asked from our bed.
“Nah, I’m good,” I said, slipping on my shirt. Looking myself over one last time in the mirror, I decided this was about as good as it’d get. “I’d say wait ’til the pharmacy calls and says her meds are ready. Avoid two trips, you know? If I think of anything else, I’ll just text y-” I turned around and found quite the sight looking back at me.
My girlfriend was sitting against the headboard, her sleep shirt nowhere to be seen. The black comforter resting on her lap created a striking contrast to her porcelain skin and wavy, long blonde hair. Her seductive smile was quickly followed by a beckoning finger.
Don’t have to tell me twice.
My hand grabbed the bottom of my shirt to rip it right the hell off, but my eyes caught the clock on the nightstand, and I groaned. If I didn’t leave in the next five or six minutes, I’d miss the bus to work.
“No time, hun,” I sighed, walking over to her. She playfully pouted as she pulled the comforter up to cover her breasts. I leaned in and gave her a passionate kiss, her hand finding the back of my head and pulling me in more.
When she pulled her lips from mine, her hand moved to my cheek and kept me close, her blue eyes staring into mine. “Are you gonna take the suit with you today?” She asked.
My head instantly dropped. “Why you gotta ruin the moment?”
I straightened back up and crossed my arms. I wasn’t angry. Not at all. Just a little disappointed that she was bringing this up again.
“Because you make a difference when you’re out there, babe.” She said as I averted my eyes. “The people around here love ‘The Nameless Hero of District 9.’ Speaking of which, when are you gonna finally tell them your name is Clap-“
“I ain’t using the name you came up with,” I interrupted, my finger raised. “It’s cringey as hell, and I was fine just being The Nameless Hero.”
She rolled her eyes at me. “It’s better than anything you came up wi- oh wait, that’s right, you never came up with a name.” Now it was my turn to roll my eyes.
“Anyways, people throughout the whole district talk about the people you’ve helped and even a few you’ve saved. Over in the alley near your bus stop, I even saw some graffiti art of you in a cool pose.”
“Yeah…a few days ago, I walked past a few kids chilling on a stoop and one was bragging about how he saw me knock out a few guys who’d just held up the convenience store at Franklin and Southby,” I admitted.
“See?” She asked excitedly. “You are a hero to the people here. You don’t have to be as big as Valiant or the others, even though I think you could be.”
I shook my head, and my gaze moved to the poster beside the window. On it, flying through the sky, was Valiant, leader of the Trinity–a hero that I, and every other man my age, have looked up to since he first came on the scene fifteen years ago.
“Look, I won’t disagree with anything you said, other than the ‘big as Valiant’ part, because that shit’s blasphemy–and I fully expect you to apologize to the poster at some point today–but I’m done, Theresa. I mean, the only reason I finally put on the suit a year ago is because you and my mom pushed me for so damn long to do it. I tried, but it ain’t me. The only reason I didn’t throw the suit out is because you two made it for me, and tossing it would be a dick move.”
She deflated with my words.
“Look, at baseline, I’m a little stronger and a hell of a lot tougher than normal people. My powers could make me incredibly powerful, but it hurts me to get them going. Shit, the furthest I’ve ever charged them up was only to about nine or ten percent of what I think is my max. The idea of going much higher terrifies me. That’s part one of why I gave up the whole hero thing.” I held out my hand and stuck up my thumb.
“Part two,” my index finger extended, “is that I don’t want to lose my job. Since I put on that suit, I have constantly been late because I was out all night helping random people who were in trouble. If I get fired, it’s just gonna be you working. My mom can’t because of her condition, and you know we can’t afford the rent and her medication on just one person’s income. And do you know anyone who’s hiring right now? Cause I don’t. Especially not a twenty-year-old Black man with no college degree. And I’ve been looking for a second job for a year now. Even the guy working the drip over at On the Mark Coffee told me they won’t hire anyone with anything less than a Bachelor’s Degree. So, I’m damn lucky to be employed.”
Theresa looked down at the bed, defeated.
I added another finger to the count. “Part three of why I gave it up is that I already did what every hero dreams of. I saved the world,” I said.
She looked at me, confused, and I leaned my face toward hers again. “Because you are my world.” Her face lit up, and I kissed her forehead goodbye. When I reached the bedroom door, I stopped and looked back. “Can I get one more for the road?” I asked with an impish grin.
Her eyes narrowed and her lips pursed, fighting a smile as she dropped the comforter to her lap again.
This is gonna be a good day.
#
“So...you’re really firing me?”
This was the second time that I’d asked the question. Not because I hadn’t heard the answer the first time, but because this happening right after I’d cut off a part of my life to focus more on my job, was just so damned ironic. Maybe unfair would be a better word for it.
Across the desk from me, Frank angled his head down and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Dom, again, yes. I’ll send your last paycheck at the end of the week. Now take off. Let’s not make this a thing.”
I took a calming breath and placed my hands on the edge of the old wooden desk. “I’ll admit,” I began, “that my attendance hasn’t been…ideal, but-“
“You’re frequently late, exhausted, and half the time you look like you got the stupid beat out of you on your way to work!” The portly man snapped. For several seconds after, the only thing that broke the silence was the rickety ceiling fan spinning above us.
“When I’m here, I work harder than anyone else in this warehouse,” I continued. “And these last two weeks, I’ve been on time, I’ve-I’ve stayed late, and helped the others meet their quotas. I mean, even today I-”
“I’ll admit, you’re good at what you do. Impressively so,” Frank held up one hand to stop me while his other hand picked up a half-full glass of what I assumed was bourbon–going off the half-empty bottle on his filing cabinet. The sweat stain on the desk and the nearly melted ice cubes clinking in the glass were good indicators that this was not Frank’s first pour.
“But that doesn’t change the facts. You’re unreliable, and I have no room here for someone like you.” He drained what was left in the glass and set it back down.
I looked pleadingly at my boss. Maybe I should tell him the real reason why I had been late all those times. Why I always had fresh bruises on my face. And why it wouldn’t happen again. But all that escaped my mouth was a pathetic, “Please…Frank, I need this job. You know why.”
Frank stared at me, unmoving, for what seemed like an hour. The chair creaked in relief as he stood and waddled his rotund body toward the door. My heart sank further below the surface with every footfall and groan of the floor. He opened the door and pointed to the space beyond.
#
“The hell am I gonna do now?” I snatched another brick from the ground and threw it. The red missile whistled through the air for almost sixty yards before splashing into the bay.
My former employer was the only business still up and running within a mile of the docks, so abandoned factories and empty warehouses were the only witnesses to me launching bricks nearly two hundred feet. But at this point, even if someone did see me, I wouldn’t care. As of two weeks ago, I didn’t have a secret life to hide anymore. Right now, all that mattered was venting some frustration and clearing my head before I went home.
It took a few minutes–and almost forty bricks–before I calmed down enough to appreciate the final remnants of the pink and orange sky. The sun soon vanished beyond the horizon, and day transitioned to night. The lamps along the waterfront flickered to life, fighting back the darkness. A mile across the bay, the city lights all shone brightly and reflected across the undulating water.
With a heavy sigh and a slap to my cheeks, I decided it was time to head home and break the bad news to the girls. I slipped my hand back into my pocket and retrieved my phone to continue the job search I’d paused a little while ago.
I was serious when I told Theresa that no one in Mark City was hiring right now. Even if I did have a degree, the competition would be fierce with unemployment at an all-time high. It was doubtful that a hiring manager would count the month I’d spent at MCU, before having to drop out. But I didn’t regret that decision. Family came first.
Unfortunately, that was a concept my Father never understood. He’d walked out on us when I was only eight, and Mom had to sacrifice everything to make sure I was taken care of. She worked two jobs and was always there when I needed her. So when the call came through that she’d collapsed at work and was in the hospital, I was at her bedside within minutes.
We thought we’d be okay, regardless of the horrible diagnosis, but then the bills came. Her insurance tried to get out of paying for her hospital stay, stating it hadn’t been medically necessary. Then they refused to pay for the medication she would need every day for the rest of her life, telling us it was “still considered experimental” and “it didn’t fall within her plan.” Without those pills, she’d die. And it wouldn’t be painless.
So I shifted gears without hesitation. I dropped out of school, and after months of interviews, I secured the warehouse job. Now, because of what I’d been doing in my off time, I was unemployed, and we were screwed.
I always told them it didn’t pay to be a hero.
My thumb tapped the next icon on the job search, but an error message popped up.
[Unable to connect to the website. Signal lost.]
My phone had full bars only a second ago, and the waterfront wasn’t near any dead zones, so why did-
The screen went black, and the phone died.
“Of course this piece of shi-” I trailed off, stopping in my tracks as the lamps died for as far as I could see. The distant sounds of car horns and crashes reached my ears. I walked to the edge of the walkway, and a cold wind blew in from the water and pierced through my jacket as I gripped the railing at the water’s edge, watching the skyscrapers in Mark City go dark. The entire city had lost power. Even the lights on the suspension bridge were out, and nothing shone from the cars that had stopped on it.
My pulse accelerated, and the hair on my neck stood up as I took in the scene. “What the hell?”
Something major was happening. I could feel it in my bones. But, whatever it was, it wasn’t my problem. I just wanted to get to the damn bus stop and, assuming the bus was still functional, go home to make sure Mom and Theresa were okay.
Even if I hadn’t hung up the suit for good, this still wouldn’t be my problem. Whatever was happening right now was probably way more than I could handle. This sort of thing was on the level of Valiant, or one of the other heroes in the Trinity. Not some low-level nobody like me.
Mom and Theresa were the only two people who knew my secret. Theresa discovered the truth the day we met back in junior high when I saved her life by diving into a lake and pulling her and her unconscious father free from a car that had sunk to the bottom. We’ve been inseparable ever since.
As I approached the edge of the grey industrial building that was once the Emerson Fishing Cannery, the sound of a car door slamming snapped me back to reality. Then came the sound of a panel van’s side door sliding shut. It had been over a year since I’d seen anyone around these buildings, so this was unexpected, to say the least. Peeking around the edge of the building, my eyes went wide, and I instantly pulled myself back out of view, pressing my back tightly against the cracked bricks.
The men wore expensive black suits with a small red claw emblem over their hearts. Even if I hadn’t recognized the outfits, their grey-tinged skin and glowing red eyes would have been a dead giveaway. The three henchmen walking into the building were enforcers of Maxis, one of the five most dangerous supervillains on the planet. He wasn’t the strongest, not by a long shot, but the intellect and sadistic nature of the demonic creature and his cultists had cost several powerful heroes their lives over the last ten years.
What the hell are they doing here?
This was way above my pay grade. I needed to alert the authorities so they could contact the Trinity. There has to be a way to reach-
“Only a few more minutes until the slaughter begins. Are you all ready? Our lord awaits us.” A gravelly voice said.
“To the beginning of a new world!” Another shouted, and they all cheered.
I froze in place as the door to the cannery squeaked shut behind them. I couldn’t even breathe.
Maxis…is here? Slaughter?
The last time Maxis had surfaced was three years ago in Paris. The time before that was New York City, and Rio De Janeiro before that. Each time, a major city and the body count had been in the tens of thousands before he vanished again.
I stared at the darkened city in the distance. The one where Mom and Theresa were waiting for me at home.
“Oh no…”
Whatever was happening inside this building had just become something I couldn’t walk away from. Even if it was a suicide mission.
#
It took only two minutes to find and scale the fire escape ladder to the roof of the old cannery. On my way up, I noticed that all the windows had been covered on the inside. Above me, with the light pollution from the city gone, stars dominated the night sky. It had been a long time since I’d seen them.
When I reached the top of the ladder, I carefully peered over the stone parapet and surveyed the roof. One enforcer was patrolling far on the other side. I’d almost missed him until he turned, two glowing red eyes cutting through the darkness. I ducked down and cursed. He hadn’t reacted when he looked my way, so I didn’t think he saw me. Which was good, because it was obvious the man was built like a brick shithouse.
Okay, so a minimum of four powered villains and one super villain, against a guy who’s never fought anyone but unpowered street thugs. Should be a walk in the park.
Much slower than before, I peeked over the edge again. The enforcer was nowhere to be seen. The only things on the roof were rusted exhaust vents, rows of steam pipes running the length of the structure, and about three hundred feet away was an access shed. The door was slowly swinging shut.
With the coast clear, I hopped onto the rolled asphalt roof. Crouching low, I trotted between two long runs of pipe and headed toward the access shed. A short distance before my destination, I stopped. A light was shining up from the floor of the roof.
Wind blew against me as I high-stepped over an old steam pipe and crouched beside the skylight. Most of it had been covered by a black vinyl sheet, taped down at the edges–but a small corner had peeled back. Pulling it back a few inches further, I looked down into the building. Somehow, the entire interior of the old cannery still had power. Every light was on, illuminating the space. That was why they’d covered the windows. With every other building completely without power, this place would have become a beacon to every hero in the area.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, I tried to locate the four enforcers and-
A hand grabbed the back of my jacket and pulled. The air rushed by as I flew nearly thirty feet across the roof, crashing through several pipes. Metal shrieked as I collided with an exhaust vent, and the cold steel crumpled from the impact.
< 4% >
I collapsed to my hands and knees, shaking my head. “That sucked,” I groaned.
Before I could collect myself, my attacker yanked me up to my feet and threw me back against the ruined vent. A fist flew forward, and I dove to the side as he punched straight through the steel, exactly where my head had been a millisecond prior. I stood up from my roll and faced the grey-skinned man, who was marching over with deadly intent.
Now, I wasn’t a small man by any means. Excluding an inch of hair on top of my head, I stood six feet two inches and weighed a hair over two hundred pounds. So the fact that the guy coming my way made me feel small said a lot about him.
As soon as he was in range, I feinted a jab, slipped my head left, avoiding a punch, and landed a right counter squarely on the man’s jaw. It felt like I’d just punched a brick wall, but I gritted my teeth and pressed on, throwing the strongest liver shot I could.
The punch found its mark, and the man grunted with the impact, but didn’t drop back a single step. He didn’t even look hurt. If anything he just looked pissed. I moved to create some distance, a grey hand grabbed my jacket and wrenched me forward. The enforcer’s forehead smashed into my own, and an ocean of twinkling lights exploded into existence.
< 10% >
The enforcer grunted as he twisted his body and, with one arm, swung me up over his head. The world inverted as I was slammed down onto the asphalt roof, the ground around me dented and cracked from the impact.
< 14% >
The wind was knocked out of me, and I lay there coughing. The enforcer laughed as he grabbed my jacket with both hands and lifted me to my feet.
As he did, I had three revelations.
The first was that these were the hardest hits I’d ever taken in a fight. It was no wonder powered people rarely used guns when they committed crimes. They didn’t need them. This guy was strong as hell.
The second was that in just three hits, my power “battery” had already reached a higher charge than it ever had before. I stood there on wobbly legs, seemingly held up by the enforcer’s grip on my jacket. He brought his right fist back and smiled.
“Wrong place and wrong time, kid,” he said in a deep voice.
The fist shot forward like a missile, and a loud crack filled the air. His smile vanished as mine appeared. Because the third thing I realized, was that I was stronger than this asshole.
< 14% – 11% >
Heat flooded my body as I transferred the power from storage to active use. My hand was wrapped around the fist I’d caught just inches before it hit my face. He tried to pull it back, but there was no give. My foot shot forward and connected with his crotch. Through my shin, I felt a crunching sensation as his testicles ruptured, and he released the grip he had on my jacket, stumbling backward and grabbing what was left of his manhood. It was time to end this.
< 11% – 0% >
My vision sharpened and the world slowed as my fists flew with inhuman speed, peppering his body with a storm of violence and shattering the bones in his face. He tried to defend at first, but after a few seconds, he fell to his knees, arms hanging limply. His one eye that could still open looked up at me, a furious red glow emanating from a face covered in blood.
“You’re…already…too l-“
I threw one more punch, with every last bit of strength I still had from the charge, and his head whipped violently with the strike. He collapsed into a broken heap on the roof, and I knew that he wasn’t going to get back up.
Pausing to swallow between heaving breaths, I whispered a quick, “Holy shit,” trying to collect myself and mentally force my heart to slow the hell down. Revelling in the fact that I had just fought someone else with powers and won, would have to wait. Whatever these guys were up to needed to be stopped, and unfortunately, I was the only one who could do it.
But if I ran into another one of these bastards, I needed to have a charge built up ahead of time. Not establishing one before I scaled the fire escape ladder had been a stupid move on my part. But, in my defense, having to kick my own ass wasn’t conducive to me wanting to use my powers. My body absorbed whatever kinetic energy and damage I received and multiplied it for me to send back at my opponents. Although if I ever received enough of a beating to achieve my full strength, I was pretty sure I’d die in the process.
As I walked toward the access shed, I knew that whatever charge I built up would vanish in about ten minutes. But it was better than going into this with nothing, so I started punching myself in the face. Hard.
< 3% >
A minute later, I was wiping blood from my lip as I crouched on the old, rusted catwalk, inspecting the scene. My brow furrowed. I didn’t see Maxis or his enforcers. There was an old, broken-down conveyor system, a network of pipes and trash, and a few giant fire-tube boilers. I had expected to find stuff like that in the four-story building, but what I hadn’t expected was the giant machine in the middle.
It looked like a giant golden cylinder that stood nearly thirty feet tall. Three large, sharp mechanical talons came off the top. They angled out about ten feet and then pointed back in at the space just over the top of the machine. It reminded me of a grabber in the arcade game that picks up the stuffed animals.
Maybe if I can just sabotage that thing and then get the hell out of here, it’ll buy enough time for the heroes to find this place.
I crept down to the ground floor much slower than I would have liked, but the damned walkways and narrow staircase creaked loudly if I didn’t move with caution. While I couldn’t see them, I knew there were some very dangerous people lurking around. Fighting those guys was firmly at the bottom of my to-do list.
My ears strained to catch any sound, but I caught nothing as I carefully navigated my way past a rusted steel boiler. The only sounds to be heard were my steps. A cold sweat started to bead across my forehead.
When I reached the golden cylinder, I gave it a quick once-over, looking for some way to sabotage it. I came up with nothing. This entire side was completely smooth, not a single access panel or blemish to the flawless metal structure, almost as if it had been moulded rather than built. Upon closer inspection, it didn’t even look like metal. It almost looked…organic.
I made sure I was still alone before circling to the far side. When I got there, I stumbled mid-step and looked at the horror before me. A large black circle full of runes was painted on the ground. In the middle of it, in a pile with their guts hanging out and looks of terror frozen onto their faces, lay the other three enforcers. A large pool of blood was flowing away from the bodies and up the damn cylinder. As they went, red runes began to emerge and glow on the device. A heavy pulse vibrated away from the golden device, and the three metal talons on top began to spin around it. Small red arcs of electricity began dancing along them. A low hum filled the air, growing louder at an alarming rate.
“It took you long enough to commme downstairs. I was getting tired of waiting.”
I froze, and my heart thundered at the sound of his grating voice. The tap-tap-tap of his shoes echoed throughout the building as he approached from behind me. The pressure he exuded was insane. Raw power and blood lust. My legs trembled as his aura pressed me toward the ground, but I steeled myself and spun around.
There was no one there.
“Youuuu actually, managed to move with that muccchhhh pressure upon you. Most people collapse on the spot, and some even die when they ffffeel my aura,” Maxis hissed from only inches behind me. The heat of his breath coated my neck. I spun again, but he was ten feet away, sitting on the edge of a conveyor, one leg crossed over the other.
I’d seen images of him online before, and even those had been enough to send shivers down my spine. But here he was, in the crimson flesh. He didn’t look as muscular as me, but I knew his strength eclipsed my own. The expensive suit he wore was as black as his hair and eyes. Three short black horns protruded from his forehead, and sharply clawed fingers stroked his goatee as he examined me. The man looked like Satan himself.
“I’mmm a man who believes in rewards and opportunitiesss,” he said. “You’re reward for overcoming the weight of myyy presence is the opportunity to live long enough to witness the barrier fall.”
My heart was beating so hard now that I thought it might shatter my ribs. I had to get the fuck out of here. But instead of doing the sane thing and running, I asked, “What barrier?” I gulped as his smile grew.
“The one between worldsss. The more than fifty thousand soulsss I have collected now power this device, allowing my god and his kind to finally enter this world. Your speciesss shall fall.”
My eyes darted to the cylinder that was almost entirely covered by glowing runes, and back to the demon before me. “The Trinity will stop you.”
“They are following a falssse lead that I am about to commit mass murder in London. Valient has already begun his return, but even he won’t be able to fly back before it’s too late.”
I brought my fists up as I slid a foot back.
< 3%- 0% >
I felt the power surge into my muscles as I declared, “Then I’m gonna take you down.”
A heavy sigh left Maxis as he shook his head. “So you have chosennn…death.” The conveyor he was sitting on shrieked and warped into twisted fragments of metal as he shot forward. I didn’t even have time to block before his palm slammed into my chest. It felt like I’d been struck by a sledgehammer that got shot out of a cannon, and at least one rib broke. I rocketed backward like a missile, howling as I tore into and through an empty boiler, only stopping when I crashed into a brick wall. A pathetic cry flew from my mouth, and I fell to the floor, chunks of broken brick raining down on top of me.
< 36% >
The hum of the machine suddenly became a high-pitched screech. I looked and saw the talons had become a blur of motion and blood red light. A terrific boom rang out, shaking the building as a red beam shot up and ripped off half of the cannery’s roof. High above, the beam slammed into an invisible ceiling. And then it tore that ceiling apart.
A hole in reality was ripped open, and what I saw on the other side of the rift could only be described as hell. A world of fire and death. Demonic creatures and mutants crawling over rocks and corpses. An orgy of violence and blood. There was only chaos, except for the one giant being who wore a crown of flames. Its six yellow eyes gazed down hungrily upon our world, and it smiled.
“Ssstill alive? I guess I shouldn’t have held back.”
My head snapped away from the approaching apocalypse and toward Maxis, who was holding a five-ton steel boiler over his head.
< 36% – 0%>
I pressed off the ground, high into the air with an explosive pushup, wincing in pain and watching the boiler slam through the wall where I’d been only a moment before. When I hit the ground, I dashed in. Maxis’ smile grew, and he held his hands out wide. I gritted through the discomfort of a broken rib and unleashed a barrage of punches, hitting every vital point and knockout trigger I’d ever learned in my years of boxing. Maxis never stopped smiling. Never took a step back. He just stood there and took it while my power slowly depleted.
I threw another left hook, but before I could pull it back, he grabbed my wrist and tsk’d his tongue disapprovingly. “You are strong, annnd quite brave, but it seemsss you’re out of time.” With a sharp twist of his hand, both bones in my forearm snapped.
< 37% >
A horrific scream filled the air as he grabbed my face with his other hand and pulled me toward him, driving a knee into my stomach. I coughed up blood into his palm, just before he threw me skyward.
< 68% >
Before I reached the shattered roof, two fists slammed down into my back, and I felt several more ribs break. I blasted back down, and Maxis appeared below me again. A clawed hand opened, palm to the sky. Five razor-sharp claws plunged into my stomach and out from my back.
< 90%- 97% >
He gripped my hair with one hand and ripped his other free. Blood splattered across the concrete as he cast me aside, laughing. I watched him walk back toward his machine. He took a handkerchief from his suit and wiped the blood from his hands. The same blood that was pooling around me right now. The same blood I was coughing up.
Above me, winged beasts flew out of the rift and toward the city. The being with a crown of flames was nearing the gateway between worlds. And without a doubt, that beast was the size of the damn city. There would be no survivors if it got through. I couldn’t let it end like this.
Images of Mom and Theresa flooded my mind, and the corners of my lips pulled up. This must be what they mean when they say your life flashes before your eyes right before you die. I knew that’s what was happening because they were my life. My eyes shut, and my fists closed. I had to get home. I had to make sure Mom took her medicine. I still had to marry Theresa, god damnit!
I roared as I forced myself to roll over and onto my hands and knees. Blood flowed from the holes in my stomach and splashed the ground as I slammed my forehead onto the concrete.
< 98% >
“It seemsss you’ve lost your mind in these final moments.” Maxis cackled, seeing what I was doing.
“No.” I slammed down again.
< 99% >
“Is it the despairrr? Knowing that everyone you love is about to be a sacrificccce.”
“No!” I shouted, slamming down again.
< 100% >
“Then what’s with the mmmasssichism?” He asked.
I yelled as I struggled to stand. Every movement sparked a new wave of pain. Every breath was agony. But I gritted my teeth and took a wobbly fighter’s stance. Maxis laughed uncontrollably and pointed at me. Then he held his arms out. “I’ll give you one final try. But before you die, just wwwwalking over here, perhaps tell me your nnnname. You put on quite the show.”
“My name…” I could barely stay standing. Everything was turning black at the edges of my vision. And I was cold. God, I was so cold.
“Yesss?”
“Is Clap Back.”
< 100% -0% >
The concrete shattered, and the air around me exploded outward as I shot forward. Maxis’ eyes didn’t have time to widen from the shock before my right fist crashed into his pointed chin like a meteor. His jaw shattered beneath my might, and it sounded like a shotgun was fired as he exploded backward, crashing into his machine. His body was embedded so deeply in the cylinder that only his legs stuck out. They locked out and spasmed as red arcs of electricity consumed him, smoke pouring from the hole he’d made.
The golden machine shook violently and exploded. The shockwave slammed into me, and I crashed through the brick wall of the cannery and straight through the next two buildings beside it, before I rolled to a stop in the middle of an empty alley.
Above me, just as the king of demons reached the rift, the gateway between worlds snapped shut, trapping him on the other side. My vision was fading. I focused on having my final thoughts be about Theresa, but they ended up being about something else. A sound from high above me. It sounded like a sonic boom.
#
“Dom? He’s waking up!” Theresa said, her voice pulling me closer to consciousness. I felt her hand rest over mine as people walked closer to me.
My eyes cracked open, and everything was blurry. I could tell there were a few figures near me, and some lights above. I felt drugged, and everything hurt like hell.
Am I supposed to hurt this badly if I’m dead?
“Sweety, can you hear me?” My mom asked.
My vision finally focused, but what I was seeing didn’t make sense. Well, part of it didn’t. The parts that did make sense were the hospital room, the dozen tubes and electrical wires connected to me, and Mom and Theresa standing on opposite sides of my bed. What didn’t make sense was that standing beside my girlfriend was someone in a red and black, caped suit. It was Earth’s mightiest hero, Valiant.
My eyes shot open wide, and I tried to sit up, but instantly regretted it as pain rocked my body. Theresa’s hand found my shoulder and gently pressed me back.
“You need to rest, baby,” Mom said, stroking her fingers across my forehead. She looked happy, but sad for some reason.
“Dom,” Theresa started, but stopped as tears ran down her face.
I’m alive, so why are you two so emotional?
Valiant must have registered my confusion because he said, “Their reactions are understandable, son. You were gravely wounded, and your heart stopped twice on the operating table. If I had been even a minute slower getting you here, they wouldn’t have been able to save you.”
His words hit me like a truck. I had died. Twice.
“After I saw to it that you were in good hands, I returned to the docks and figured out what happened. Dom, two weeks ago, you saved every single life in this world from a force that even I would have been powerless to stop. You have my thanks.” He put a hand across his waist and bowed to me.
My head dropped back into the pillow. Two weeks? I’ve been out for two fucking weeks?!
“The public has been demanding to know who saved them. All I’ve said is that you’re a hero of the highest caliber.”
I shook my head in disbelief. This was all too much. My brutal fight with Maxis, dying, and the hero I’d looked up to since kindergarten just bowed to me. It took a few minutes, but I finally started coming to terms with everything. Then Valiant handed me a folded piece of paper.
“When they let you out, I would be honored to have you fighting by my side. What do you say? Will you join the Trinity in protecting this world?”
I lay there blinking for several seconds. At first, I thought I’d misheard him because I was still submerged in a fog of pain medications, but when I glanced at the girls and saw their expressions, I knew I hadn’t.
Theresa looked shocked at first, but then her lips pressed into a firm, nervous line. Her eyes met mine and practically screamed for me to decline the offer. Mom looked like she was about to launch over the bed and strangle Valiant. Which I got, because her only child had cheated death and was an absolute mess right now. But this wasn’t their decision to make. It was mine. My path to walk and my burden to bear. And when I thought back to that grinning red asshole looking down on me, I didn’t feel afraid. I felt like I needed to fight. Because monsters like him were out there, and I had the power to do something about that.
But in the end, it all came down to one thing. I looked back at Valiant and asked in a hoarse voice, “You guys offer a good family medical plan?”