The Bermuda island is in sight. I can see pockets of black smoke at different parts of the island. Several helicopters come into view the closer we get. They’re flying high above a bunch of nasty-looking plant monster freaks.
“Oh god! They’re here too?” I say.
“Shit!” Shar’I says and suddenly stops. Nemetoria hits the brakes, nearly throwing me off her back. I slid up her back. My knees catch her armpits, preventing me from jetting through the sky.
“Nikki?” Nemetoria grunts.
“Warn me next time,” I say. I float off her body since I don’t have reason to be holding on anymore. The island is in sight, so there is no reason to catch a ride. “What’s wrong, Shar’I?”
“I never asked Eddie for the results of the samples.” She claws her hands through her hair and groans as if she’s in pain. “Whatever. I don’t have to know that these are Cada made monsters.”
“Huh?”
“You’re joking?” Nemetoria says. Shar’I shakes her head no with her lips pressing into her mouth. “Shit,” she whispers sharply through her teeth. “You could be right. Rayan didn’t have these monsters until you came back.”
“Could Rayan be using some of the meteorite?” I say.
“It has got to be,” Shar’I says. “There’s too many coincidences.”
“Asteria,” Nemetoria says then chokes up on the name before correcting herself. “I mean… Who’s supplying him with that power?”
“A third party?” I say. Shar’I hums, giving me a feeling that she might take my side. I ask to clarify if any other parties hunger for power. She hums again but nods her head, no. “Maybe we should ask Shendour,” I say and look at Nemetoria’s face to judge if she’ll follow along. Her arms are crossed with the right hand clawing the fold of the left elbow. Half of her body is turned towards the island while her head faces me. I can tell she wants to dive in there and possibly wreck shit up, but I want us to make a cohesive plan.
“You want us to talk with that freak?” Nemetoria says.
“Yeah! Why not? If he won’t talk, I’m sure you’ll beat the shit out of him until he does.”
“Or,” she chuckles, floating closer to me. “We kill him and be done with him for good,” she says halfway to me before looking at Shar’I for the rest of it. “Let me do both of us a favor.”
“No, Nemetoria,” Shar’I says. “I’m on her side on this. Let us see what he knows.”
“Alright.” She looks down at the island. I look too but watch the closest monster I can see. It’s in the water, attacking boats that are circling it. The second I’m about to tell everyone we need to attack, I realize I don’t have my mask on my face.
“Guys!” I yell in a panic. “I forgot my mask!” Nemetoria takes off on her own. “Really?!
“It’s in here,” Shar’I says, taking my mask out of the pockets of my hoodie.
“Oh, thank god,” I sigh in relief. “Okay! Let’s go!”
Shar’I takes off and gaps me. We slam into the creature like guided missiles. She kicks it with both of her feet hard enough to make it nearly topple on its side. My flaming punch isn’t enough to make it fall. Nemetoria sweeps in and drives it on its side. It crashes into the sand. The buildings next to it collapse. Shar’I sprays fire out of her hands, consuming half of it in a blazing flame. Nemetoria dive bombs into the burning half and comes out through the same hole with her arms extended out to her side. She splits the damn thing in half like it’s nothing.
“Why am I even here?” I say. They seem to have it under control. The second monster is in their sights. They dart off to it while I float away toward the ocean to see what the Coast Guard is up to. Their boats are armed to the teeth. I can hear the shell casings roll around and smack one another when the waves rock the boat.
“Hey! Identify yourself!” A man says with his gun and others aiming at me.
“Friendly!” I say, putting my hands up. “I – I’m with Wonderous! We’re here to stop those things!” He keeps his rifle up but puts her finger on the side near the magazine
“I’ve never seen you before. Where did you come from?
“Funny story.”
Before I can tell him the crazy experience of what it is like flying on Nemetoria’s back, something hard slams into my back. I crash into the water like someone skidding on the sidewalk after falling off their bike. My back is pulsating in pain. I tread water and look directly at the motherfucker who hit me. It’s a middle-aged man with a clean-shaven face. He’s shirtless wearing grey baggy pants that stop above his black laceless boots and rocking the most hardcore muscular physique imaginable. He has a lean body type. Every part of him is shredded.
“You’re going to regret that cheap shot, asshole,” I say, hovering out of the water while trying to appear as if I’m not in pain. “Who the fuck are you?”
“Probably the man you are after,” he chuckles.
“Shendour?” He suddenly stops chuckling. His head tilts to the left before he rushes me. He grabs me by my throat before I can react and chokes me.
“I don’t know you. How do you know my name?” I try telling him Shar’I is the reason but his grap is making it impossible to get a word out.
“Shar’I,” I say several times.
“Where is she?” He yells.
The coast guard around us start shooting at him. Some of their bullets hit my arm as I try to pull myself out of his hand. His hand opens up when he uses his other hand to block the bullets hitting his face. I kick my feet into his chest to free myself. He charges back to grab my neck but I sock him in the face, sending him into the water. I fly inland as fast as I can to find the monster in hopes that Shar’I or Nemetoria are there.
There are three black smoke plumes I have to choose from. I head for the biggest with one with Shendour hot on my ass. He catches up and grabs my ankle. I come to a complete stop. He whips me several feet into the ground and stomps his boots into my stomach. All of the air leaves my lungs.
“Wow,” he says and laughs while I groan in pain. “You are absolutely not a threat.” He stomps my stomach, pushing me deeper into the ground. “Why did she give you the power when you’re unable to take me out?” I’m in so much pain that I can’t make a sound or move. I feel like at any moment he’ll kill me and the fact I can’t scream for help is making me panic. “What a waste,” he says, grabbing my throat. He lifts me like I weigh nothing. His fingers clamp down. Somehow, I gain enough strength to grip his forearm but I’m too weak to pull myself out. “Stop squirming. Just accept it.” The bones in my neck start popping one by one the harder he squeezes. “Shar’I will regret wasting that rock on you once she finds your body.”
“Please,” I say, trying to mouth out the word. He smirks, turning his head from side to side. For a brief moment, the top of his eyelids open more. The pressure around my neck momentarily collapses inward before something launches him across the street. I cough uncontrollably inside the crator, spewing out spit and whatever little amount of content from my stomach into my mask.
“Nikki?” Eddie says. “I’m gonna get you out of here!” In a blink of yellow lighting, I’m cradled in his arms with my head tucked against his chest while coughing on it. “Who was that guy?” I can’t for the life of me speak. It feels like Shendour’s hand is still on me. “You are not looking too good. I’ll get you some help.”
“Don’t leave me!” I say, managing to finally force a coherent sentence. Christabell comes through the radio on his earpiece, asking if he’s in a neighborhood.
“No. I’m on a rooftop with Nikki,” he says, walking towards the center of the building. “She’s badly hurt. Some guy was choking her.”
“What?” Christabell says.
“Her neck is bruised.”
“What?” She says, screaming. “Is she okay?”
“She’ll live.” He holds me tighter against his body. “Nikki,” he says gently. “Who did this to you?”
“Shen…dour,” I say the best I can. “Tell Shar’I and Nemetoria.”
Before Eddie can radio in the warning, something from behind rams into him. We crash through the side of the roof and into a building down on the street. He scruffles with Shendour inside a tight room. I crawl into a fetal position in a corner of the room to get away from them and shut my eyes.
“Polaris! Send the heavy hitters my way, now!” Eddie says, screaming before a crackling thunder erupts.
Everything goes silent. I open one eye to look around. I’m inside a laundry mat. All of the lights are off. The whole room is trashed. Almost all of the machines are broken. There are seats scattered everywhere and some of them are on their side.
I stagger to my feet with the help of a chair after waiting a minute to see if the coast is clear. My whole body aches but it isn’t as painful as my throat.
“How bad is it?” I say to myself to gauge the damage. It’s raspy. I can hear what I’m saying but doubt people will understand other than Shar’I. “This was a fucking mistake coming here,” I say, carefully walking through all the mess to reach the front door. The streets are clear of people. I can a few people talking on the second floor of a brick bakery building. A man opens one of the windows the second I step into the street.
“Are you okay?” He says. I shake my head, no. “Hold on. I’m coming down.” He moves away from the window before I tell him not to. I can hear him run through the building and stomp down the steps. He rushes outside and holds me more upright. “Goodness… are you okay?”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“I’ll live,” I say, forcing my words so the man can hear. “Go back inside. Wait till the authorities or Ignimas tell you it is safe.”
“Are you with them?”
“No,” I say, gently pushing him away. I hover off the ground and say, “Go inside.”
The man’s eyes open wide as he looks me up and down. He nods and runs back inside. I fly low alongside the sideway up the street just in case Shendour is somewhere in the sky. I continue walking unbothered until I hear faint yet distinctive shouting from Nemetoria. My aching body starts getting numb the more I find joy in hearing her voice. I pick up the pace then stop once I see her, Shar’I, and Eddie all working together to fight Shendour. Their fight takes off to another part of the island far away from the city when Shendour retreats.
I fly after them and gradually pick up speed. My adrenaline is through the roof. I got to see how this fight will end by any means. If I have to get close and expose myself to Shendour, I will. That asshole deserves the greatest spectacle of a beatdown after nearly choking me to death. Just thinking about him on the receiving end is making me giggle like I’m some sort of sadistic person.
“Nah,” I say, shaking my head while trying to not see myself as crazy. “I nearly died.” Sam comes to mind when I picture what she would do if I were killed. I try thinking of other things but somehow my parents come into the picture. Their heartbroken faces are enough for me to stop in the air. “I nearly died,” I say again but touch my throat. “What am I doing here?”
“To help,” my good conscious says. I scoff at seeing it that way.
“What am I good for if one guy took me out?”
“You got unlucky, Nikki,” she says gently. “Don’t let it drive you away.”
“I should just leave,” I say, looking beyond the horizon of the ocean to my left. “You saw them. They didn’t need me here whatsoever.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do!” My inner mind goes silent. I look around, seeking for it to come back. “Hey,” I say, pleading for a hint of guidness. “I’m scared! What should I do?” It doesn’t answer until I see Christabell running down the street under me. She’s screaming at Eddie to kill the remaining plant creature.
“There’s your chance, Nikki.”
“Eddie, I’m nearly all out of juice!” Christabell says. “My rays aren’t enough to burn its thick skin!” Eddie doesn’t answer. “Crap!” She looks up where I am but has her eyes closed. She sighs and questions if the military has the firepower to kill the monster.
“Yo,” I say and clap to get her attention.
“Nikki!” She says, shouting my name. She looks over her shoulder and says my name again softer. “I thought you were injured.” I float closer so she can see me. “God… Your neck…”
“I overheard you talking about the plant monster. I can go deal with it.”
“Are you sure?” She says, turning her head away while keeping eye contact. I ignite my fists and slam one of them into my palm. The fire blooms into my face. She jumps. It scares me too but I don’t flinch.
“Take me to it.”
Christabell rides on my back while navigating me to the last monster. She’s gripping me like a baby monkey holding their mother. Her arms and legs are firmly locked around me. I keep level to make sure she won’t slip off. If I need to turn, I turn horizontally instead of rolling into the direction.
“We’re getting close,” Christabell says. She inches forward, putting most of her tits on the base of my neck to shove an earpiece in my ear. “Testing, testing,” she says over the radio.
“I can hear you,” I say looking at her over my shoulder. The second I look ahead, I barely evade a pointy green projectile. I bend my arms behind my back to lock them on her back to keep her on me as I dodge the green projectiles.
“What is going on?!”
“Something is shooting green shit at us!”
“It’s creating spores again!” I dive into a neighborhood and hide behind a house to catch a break. The last thing I want is to be hit with those, plus I got her on my back. I don’t want to hurt her as I try making quick maneuvers.
“Are you okay?” She says she’s fine but I check to for my sake. “You mentioned you were out of juice. What did you mean by that?”
“My gauntlets.” She points to a slick goldish mechanical guanlet on her hand. “They beam out concentrated light.”
“Like a laser?”
“More like a ray gun,” she says, chuckling.
Interesting. Ray guns are a thing of fiction. Seeing two of them doesn’t seem real. Then again, I’m living in a world surrounded by things that should not exist.
“So, what do I need to do?” I say.
“Burn the spores and what’s left of the monster to burn to a crisp,” she says.
“Got it!” I fly off, zipping around the neighborhoods in search of the spores. “Ah,” I say in my head nearly passing one.
The spore is oval, brown, fuzzy, and has an open hole with a sharp needle-like thorn coming out of it. It’s about four feet tall. When I stop to get a closer look, the hole aims at me and fires. I move in the nick of time. The thorn pierces through the left side of my jacket. I ignite my hand as hot as I can make it and punch the spore once. It explodes in a flash of fire.
“Okay,” I say then light up my other hand.
“Is everything good?” Christabell says over the radio.
“I’m good. I’m going after the rest of them.”
I rescan the neighborhood for the spores. Instead of skimming the area, I check between spaces like alleyways, garages, and trees. I find most of them hiding next to a building or wall. I’m shocked I’m lucky enough to spot these before they get the chance to shoot at me. What’s more alarming is how they’re placed. I don’t think the plant monster put them here. Every monster I know are big ugly monstrosity that won’t fit in small areas where these spores are set up. My money is on Shendour but I can’t help but think about a particular issue. I don’t know him and this isn’t his MO (Mode of Operating).
“Hey, Christabell,” I say.
“Don’t say my real name over the radio,” she says after shushing me. “Call me Polaris.”
“Polaris,” I say with a lack of enthusiasm. “I think I got all the spores.” I quickly run around to make sure nothing is hiding. “But, I haven’t seen the monster. Where is it?”
“In the ocean. Come pick me up and I’ll take you there.”
“I’ll be there in a second,” I say then run to her. “Let’s go.”
“Oh my god!” She says after screaming at the top of her lungs. The wind behind me finally catches up, knocking some of my hair across my face. “Sorry,” she says, covering her mouth. “I get scared easily,” she mumbles through her hand as she walks over to me. I sweep her into my arms and take to the skies. “You want to go there.” She bends her arm back, putting her hand near her face to point over my shoulder. “It’s on the beach.”
“Why didn’t Eddie kill it?”
“He was coming to help me with the spores. I’m glad he found you on his way.”
“Yeah,” I utter under my breath. “I’m lucky to be alive.”
“How’s your neck?” She says lightly touching the side of my neck. “It’s not as red as before.” My neck still hurts but it feels like the day after not working out in months.
“Sore.”
We don’t talk through the full flight. I place us in front of a massive quarantine line. Police and military soldiers use their bodies and vehicles to make a long perimeter to block the civilians. At the of the line, the cars are turned inward, facing the water.
“What a crowd,” Christabell says. I look closer at a few civilians between the cops. Their phones are in their hands with the camera facing my way. I flip up my hood and turn my back to them.
“Let’s kill this thing and go find Eddie and the others,” I say.
“Right. I’ll try to contact him again.”
The monster starts thrashing around the moment I get a foot from it. One thorn comes an inch from slapping me. I back away just in time for it to stab itself. I spare no time ripping it apart and setting it ablaze by a mere touch.
“Good job!” Christabell says.
“Any luck with Eddie?” I say, walking to her with my back turned to the crowd.
“Nothing. I fear something is wrong.”
I’m beginning to get a bit worried. My heart rate is steadily climbing. I flat-out refuse to think he’s hurt or worse, dead.
“We need to find him now,” I say. “Let’s head to the first place we met.” She climbs into my arms before I can tell her to. I find it funny that carrying seems to be the norm way to travel fast for people like her.
“Let’s go.” She says after locking her arms around my neck. I take off backward to keep my face from being recorded. Once I’m out of their range, I roll to the correct flying position.
“Try contacting him again.”
“Okay,” she says then taps her finger on her earpiece. “Eddie, please respond.” Nothing comes through. She repeats herself two times before giving up. “I’m extremely worried now,” she says to me. “Nikki, could you somehow listen for him?”
“Uh,” I say as I think if I’m capable of performing such a specific feat. “I could give it a shot.”
“Perfect!” Before she can another word out, something on our earpiece comes through staticky. “Eddie? Is that you?” The static gets louder. It fluctuates as if someone is talking. “If you can hear me, you’re breaking up.”
“Tell us where you are.” His voice begins to break through. It still sounds like shit but I can somewhat make out what he’s saying. “Is he saying, Bellow?”
“Bellowton!” She takes out a phone encased in a thick case from her utility belt and opens the GPS app. It’s three miles from where we are. The GPS is saying it’ll take us eleven minutes to get there. I bet I can get us there in a minute or less if I hurry.
“Brace yourself.” She locks herself tightly around my body and tucks the side of her face under my chin. “If I’m going too fast, tell me.”
“I’ll be fine. Get to him as fast as you can.”
I take off slowly to avoid accidentally hurting her from the massive amount of Gs she’ll feel. An eleven-minute flight takes twenty seconds to accomplish. The city is in utter chaos. There are cars on fire, rubble everywhere I look, and bodies lying in the street. I catch a glimpse of Eddie’s lightning from the corner of my left eye.
“Eddie, we’re here. Where are you?” Christabell says.
“There,” I say, pointing at a bright white building. Eddie spins out of control through the roof. A woman wearing a white, green, and yellow suit chases after him, catches up, and kicks him higher into the sky.
“Oh my god! Was that Shendour?”
“No. Another problem.” I place her on the sidewalk and chase after Tinara. My speed breaks the sound barrier a few feet above the road. Some car alarms go off. I get about ten yards from her before screaming to get her attention. “Hey!” The second she looks down at me, I sock her between the eyes.
“Ah!” She grunts, holding her face with her hands. She swirls out of control and away from Eddie. I grab him and head down to the city.
“Nikki?” He says. His exhals are labored. He opens his left eye, looks around, then opens his other eye and peeks over my shoulder. “Where is she?”
“Hopefully unaware of where we are,” I say. “That was Tinara.”
“Who’s that?”
“A problem I’ll have to deal with in a minute.”
Moments later, Tinara slams into the street behind me. The ground shakes as if I’m under the epicenter of an earthquake. Her head is down. Her knees are slightly bent and her hands are in a fist surrounded by green flames. She whips her head up, giving me a mean stare. The skin between her eyes is red.
“What are you doing here, Tinara?” I say after igniting my hands.
“You got a lot of nerves striking me like that,” she says. “You made me see stars.”
“Why are you here?” I say, raising my voice.
“Shar’I,” she says then charges me. She aims to punch my face but I catch it from an inch from my face. The force behind her flight catapults us through several buildings. “Shendour mentioned you have the power!” She rolls my hand away from my face and swings for the side of my face with the other hand. I block her punch a moment too late. Some parts of her knuckles hit me in the upper jaw. The force behind her punch tilts me on one foot. I use that foot to kick the side of her left kneecap. She folds over as her legs bend the opposite way.
“Ugh,” she grunts after she falls on her ass. I throw a cash register in her face with the assistance of telekinesis. The cash register shatters into three pieces. Coins and money rain all around her. It does nothing but move her hair.
“Aw crap,” I say. “I’m so fucked!”
“I’m going to break you!” Her entire arms burn green. Her eyes glow green to the point her pupils are consumed by the color.
“Can we talk this out?” She marches over to me. I bring my arms up in defense and accept the fact I might be done for. “Please,” I beg. “I’m not your enemy!”
“You are a follower of Shar’I. Shendour demands that I eliminate you.”
“I am not her follower!” In less than a second she disappears and reappears a foot in front of me with her fist pressing into my stomach. One gut shot has me at the mercy of her next move. My body slumps in her arm. It is limp yet I’m in an ungodly amount of pain. I feel like throwing up and I can’t breathe.
“You got her eyes,” she says, lifting my face. She rips off my mask like snapping a necklace off someone’s neck. “How embarrassing. You’re drooling.”
“Fuck you,” I say like I’m speaking with water in my mouth. “I didn’t want these powers. They’ve been a pain in my ass.”
“Is that so?” She snickers in a low spaced-out chuckle. I answer, yes, tearing at the thoughts of dying to some middle age bitch. “You know what?” She suddenly drops me. The front of my face hits the ground. She rolls me on my back and kneels with her legs between my head. “Shendour,” she says, pressing a button on her right forearm. “Status?” I can’t hear her radio like I can with Christabell’s. Shendour’s voice sounds like high-frequency wavelengths at the lowest volume. “Return to the ship,” she says then throws me on her shoulder. “I found something useful you almost killed.”
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