Adam Mason

We waited in a dark, blown-out construction site. It was one of those buildings that were abandoned half-finished when the bombs fell. All around us was concrete, steel beams, and plastic sheeting. And all of it seemed to be covered in a thick layer of dirt. One wall was left to the open air, rain puddling where the wind blew it in. Up above wasn’t faring much better, water trickling down from where it had eroded the ceiling.

Daniel paced in the dimly lit ruin, impatient to get on with it. He was always impatient. It was one of the things I liked about him. I leaned against a girder, watching the rain fall over City 57. I was surprised how calm I was, despite my headache. The pounding in my head was a new constant, a reminder that I was dying, and yet, I was strangely unperturbed by it.

I suppose there was no point in worrying or crying or panicking. It wouldn’t help things. It would just be wasting time—time that I was alive. Every second mattered now, and I didn’t want to spend it in fear. And even if I walked away with the serum to extend my life, sooner or later I would be right back where I started.

Glancing down, I saw a sun-bleached hardhat left lying on the floor. I wondered who it had belonged to. There were other things scattered about as well, tools, wheelbarrows, electrical equipment. All of it left behind after the bombs fell.

When the construction workers fled, I wonder if anyone knew it was for the last time. They probably knew they themselves would never be coming back. But did they know that this was what would happen to all their hard-earned work? Did they know the ruin this place would become decades later? Maybe. Did they know what their city would become?

I don’t think anyone imagined no one would come back. It’s a hard thing to wrap your head around. It’s easy to think about the end of the world, not so with what happens after. That all of it would just be left here—not destroyed or reduced to glass in nuclear fire. It’s just that no one came to rebuild, and no one came to tear it down.

Nothing happened. And nothing would continue to happen until the elements had finally reduced City 57 to dust.

All we were left with was an unfinished world slowly being eroded back down to grave. I suppose there’s a lesson in that. Do what needs doing now, because you might never get the chance.

Blood dripped again, splattered from my nose onto the wet concrete. It was happening slowly, but more and more as time went on. I held out my hand and caught a few drops. They felt strangely warm in my palm.

So what was left that needed doing? Was there anything I could do that would make a difference? Was there anything I even wanted to do?

Before I had time to consider the question further, the phone buzzed in my pocket. I clenched my fist, feeling my life literally bleed out from me, and I answered it.

Seattle’s voice came in clear. “ASA regional headquarters. Do what you do best.”

I shut the phone off. In the darkness, I glanced at Daniel Peterson. He had stopped pacing.

Breathing in deeply, I tried to brace myself for what was to come. “Do you have any regrets?” I asked Daniel, cracking a smile.

“Too many to count,” he responded. “…but this isn’t one of them.”

“Hm,” I snorted, smiling at him.

I wish in moments like these I knew what to say. It felt as if something profound ought to reveal itself, like speaking your last words on your deathbed. But I was terrible with words. Instead, I silently nodded and turned towards the building’s edge. Peering out over the ruined city, broken skyscrapers worn away from decades of neglect, streets filled with refuge and garbage and husks of old cars, I wondered if any of it meant anything. Maybe I might hear a secret answer carried on the wind. But none came. Only the relentless downpour of the rain.

Ah well, no point in wasting time.

I exploded from the rooftop into flight. The impact left a crater where I once stood, and I hurtled through the air towards the ASA headquarters. Daniel followed me as best as he could, but even his teleportation couldn’t keep up with my speed.

Wasn’t trying to ditch him, but I wanted to see what my superpowers could really do one last time before I went into the thick of it. For once since becoming ultra hobo, I wanted to flex my muscles and see what my limits were. I pushed myself further and further on. The wind became a cacophony in my ear. I could actually feel the rain again, tiny pinpricks of cold against my skin. I flew faster than a bullet, the air offering little resistance as I sped up still.

And then there was an explosion. It took me off guard, causing my heart to a skip a beat—the first time that had happened in a long while. I didn’t stop, but I stopped pushing faster as I felt a force and noise ripple out from me.

It echoed across the city as the loudest of thunderclap. I saw windows break in the skyscrapers next to me. It took me a minute to realize what it was. It was one of those things my parents used to try to teach me about the old world. The parents of my generation often did that, recounting the miracles you hardly believed to be true. It was like landing on the moon, diving to the deepest depths of the ocean, going faster than the speed of sound, I never really cared about any of it.

But here I was. I had broken the sound barrier. And I had done it without breaking so much as a sweat.

I was still flying impossibly fast over the city, so much so that I realized I had overshot my target by miles. I slowed down to a standstill. My heart was still beating a little quicker in my chest, a rush of sensation that was more precious to me than that last crummy cheeseburger I had before becoming what I was now. .

As I turned back to the ASA headquarters, I found myself wishing I had more time. I wished, just once, I had the opportunity to show the world what I was really capable of. Who knows? Maybe I would still have that chance.

…

I landed just outside the building. Daniel was waiting for me, and he grimaced as I landed.

“Could you have made our entrance any more discreet?” he asked sarcastically.

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“Sorry.” I shrugged my shoulders. “Wasn’t thinking. Besides, it wouldn’t have been long for them to get to us, anyway.”

I glanced around. The city was ringing out in alarms. The ASA building in particular was blasting noise. But despite that, from down on the street, everything seemed oddly peaceful. I knew the Alpha Trio were already on their way, and things were about to get ugly. But for some reason, it felt like they also wouldn’t, that everything would just carry on as it was. I suppose it was the quiet before combat, I guess.

We were both drenched. Daniel and I were wearing stolen secondhand clothes, and we were already both soaked through—though mine had taken more of a beating with the sonic boom. We waited there, standing in the middle of the street like two random fuck-ups with their thumbs up their asses, hanging around for whatever was supposed to happen.

A minute passed.

I could detect people in the ASA regional headquarters. Not enough to pick out individual identities, but I could sense about a hundred or so people in the building. I even sensed tiny children, trapped in pits in the basement.

Many of the people in the ASA headquarters were rushing towards the stairs or the lower levels. There was a tunnel which led out of the building and stretched out for a distance until I lost track of it. I presumed it was for situations almost exactly like the one right now. Someone dangerous with superpowers had gotten loose.

There were other people in other buildings, obscured by the shadows. Some ran—many did—but others stayed to watch. They were curious of how things were going to play out. I don’t know if Daniel sensed it, but I suddenly felt like I was being put on a stage, a spectacle for people’s entertainment. Some of those people were recording us with their phones, streaming our appearance to the internet.

And there were others. They were strange, couldn’t quite make them out. Like static or something.

Eh, I figured it was the rain. That, or it was another symptom of me literally dying.

Well, if they wanted a show, I wasn’t one to disappoint. I strolled over to a nearby car and boredly picked it up. Weighing the object in my hands, the metal tore in my fingers. You know, I was wondering earlier just how much damage I had caused to this city.

I smiled. Time to cause a little more.

Flinging the car at the ASA headquarters, the building exploded in glass shards and wrecked steel. The alarm went really loud now. The structure shrieked as I carved a great wound up its side. No one was injured, however. Even with the ASA, I didn’t want to be a killer.

I didn’t like the thought of taking so many people’s lives, especially since I would be meeting them again so very soon. So close to the end, I realized death becomes an enemy in a way. It’s not just some inevitable thing you put off until you can’t anymore. It’s to be fought back against, with every breath you have in your body. I didn’t want to die today. And strangely enough, I didn’t want anyone else to die either.

I wish the world were simple, that we could’ve moved on with our lives without fighting and just made peace. If we could go our separate ways and live the lives we wanted. But even as I thought that, I laughed at myself. I’ve had a lot of bizarre thoughts over the past few days, but that was the most ridiculous one of them all. No. As I stood in the downpour, I realized that just wasn’t how things were, no matter how much you truly wished it to be. There was no peace, not in this life anyway.

But I realized there was a chance here, in all this bloodshed and violence. Something better could come out of this twisted situation we found ourselves in. And in this tragic life I had lived, it would be an even bigger tragedy if I didn’t take it.

Turning to Daniel, I said to him. “You know, the thought occurs, you’re not going to last long in this fight.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “So?”

It was his apathy that really got to me. I was the man dying, and yet it was Daniel who was the one who had already given up everything. Despite everything, City 57 had broken him first. That only made my resolve stronger. I didn’t come here to kill people. I knew I would, but that wasn’t the reason I wanted to be here. If it was at all possible, I wanted to save someone—anyone. And then maybe my eventual death would’ve been worth it.

“There’s children in the ASA building. I know you know too.” I nodded down below my feet. “Go get them out of here.”

Daniel looked surprised at my suggestion. “What? Just leave you alone against the Alpha Trio?”

I grimaced. I had no idea whether I could take them. I don’t think anyone did. But if I couldn’t, it wasn’t likely Daniel was going to tip those odds back in my favor. The fact was, he was simply outclassed here. And as far as I saw it, he shouldn’t just throw himself into the meat grinder.

“Listen.” I put a hand on his shoulder. “We have no idea how this is going to play out. But all in all, it’s the same if I die here or a few months from now. But if I am going to die, I don’t want you to die with me. And I want to go out making a difference.”

“What difference?” Daniel spat with surprising spite. “I want to fight, and I wanna die. I want to get this shitshow over with.”

I was utterly shocked for a moment, and then surprising even myself, I slapped him. Not too hard, but it was enough to send him off his feet. I dragged him back up, and I leaned in close. I could barely believe the words coming out my mouth, but this time my tongue wasn’t tied.

“Fuck dying. You hear me!? We’ve both got screwed over in this life, but I’ll be damned if we don’t go out tearing the ASA a new one! And if we can’t do that, we can at least go out doing some good along the way!” I breathed heavily, my heart racing in my chest.

Daniel seemed a little shocked at my change in mood. To be honest, so was I. A new fire had lit in me, and I wasn’t going to fucking give up at this final juncture.

He nodded and disappeared, leaving me alone in the street. Just in time too, a spotlight suddenly shone down from above. The bright flare would’ve blinded the old me, but it was no different from looking into a worn out flashlight. Several helicopters kept their distance, their noise obscured in the increasing downpour.

Three figures detached. I say detached, because I wasn’t quite sure what the right words were for it. I saw light contort and contract in a beam of impossible angles. It was like staring into a fractured mirror house. Even my amped up senses couldn’t quite make out what I was staring at.

And then the three were standing in the street right in front of me.

Cosmic Warrior.

Iron shield.

And in the middle, Lance Bain.

The three looked like hyped up versions of the Urban Defenders, even in their costumes. Cosmic Warrior was a darker skinned man in his forties with a black goatee. He wore purple translucent armor with little specks of light suspended in the plating. Underneath this was black garments which too were speckled with strange lights. Nothing my eyes couldn’t handle, but he looked like an ethereal knight of the stars come down to do battle. He even had a knight’s visor and a sword.

Iron Shield, surprisingly unfaithful to his name, had no such shield. But then I realized that wasn’t the gimmick. It was his whole body that was supposed to be the shield. He was a hulk of a man covered in metal like a second skin. And it might’ve literally been a second skin for all I could tell. In places it writhed and pulsed almost like water. In others, it seemed firmer and more sturdy than the toughest steel. As he stood, a crest of metal formed into an impressive chest plate emblazoned with a symbol of three circles inside a triangle—their logo, I should take it.

Lance Bain was the smallest and less impressive of the three. He wore a simple red jumpsuit. Must’ve been flame-retardant too. Anything else would burn up with his powers. With a shock of red hair and a bristly crimson 5 o’clock shadow, he seemed to be the most veteran of the three, even though he looked to be the youngest in his thirties.

“So what now?” I asked, stepping towards them. I’m the supervillain in this scenario, right? Do you need me to do anything for the cameras, give some speech about how I’m evil and destroying the world? Or are we just going to get down to the fighting?”

Lance nodded his head, sizing me up. “Don’t take this personally,” he said, bracing himself for combat.

I chuckled at that. It was so obvious it was written on their faces. They didn’t want to be here anymore than I did. I recognized Lance’s face then. It was Daniel’s, only a little older and more than a little weary. It made me wonder how far it went. Were there any true believers in the Democratic Union left? I assumed someone at the top must’ve cared. But every time, it seemed like this theory was proven more and more wrong.

But unlike Daniel, I could tell this was the man who compromised at the critical moment, the man who gave up and did his lot. There was no talking it out this time around. There was fighting and seeing who came out on the other end.

And I struck first.