Volume 8: Telophase

Issue 10: Wildfire

Jannette Adrian Churchwell

By Nova

To either side of me, machine guns erupted all at once—unleashing a hail of fire into the ashen forest ahead. Other soldiers joined the firing line, scrambling to the sandbags and emptying their guns at Red Queen. The burning red glow of their tracers cut through the night, illuminating the streams of fire that ripped toward the villain…

And all for nothing.

Half of the shots went wide, tearing into the trees around Red Queen. But even those that hit her caused no damage. Bullets ricochet off Red Queen’s crimson aura as she closed the distance between us with frightening speed.

Behind her, Asteria’s energy blasts ripped through the forest. Red Queen just barely kept ahead of the violet explosions as they sparked fires wherever they landed.

This was going to get very bad very quickly. I cast a wide-eyed glance back at the field hospital. I wasn’t sure how many patients we had here, but it was more than one. The scattering of tents could easily hold dozens. We had to get them out of here before Red Queen arrived… The baseliner medics and soldiers, too. If Red Queen wanted she could slaughter them all in moments… and I had no doubt she would seize any opportunity to make an example out of them even if it was the last thing she did.

We had to act fast.

I made a snap decision. “M-Miasma!” I shouted. She looked to me, her beaklike mask expressionless. I gestured at the tents. “Get all of them out of there. Medics, patients…” I pointed at the soldiers, “T-them too! I’ll buy time!”

Miasma didn’t retort or challenge my command; perhaps her self-preservation instinct overwhelmed her rebellious tendencies. “Everyone follow me!” she bellowed, green smoke billowing from her mask. “We’re getting the fuck out of here!” She grabbed one of the soldier’s shoulders—a man a head taller than her. “That includes you, tough guy!”

Fortunately, no one seemed to be questioning her. Maybe their own survival instincts were coming into play, as everyone followed Miasma without question. Soldiers instantly stopped shooting and moved to cover the movement of medics who—only stopping to carefully carry our remaining four patients—began hurrying back to the other side of the clearing. Miasma led the way, green smoke trailing in her wake.

Hopefully I could buy them some time. Out of all of them, I was most likely to survive a fight with Red Queen… Plus, she seemed to hate me personally for beating Sasquatch. If we were lucky, she’d spend a few minutes toying with me.

As the group of soldiers and medics crossed the treeline, Miasma glanced back at me. Her gaze was indecipherable as she, too, disappeared into the green smoke. The group she had gathered followed suit.

They were gone, and not a moment too soon. I spun around to face Red Queen, who had crossed the line of fire and closed the distance between us. In a flash of crimson, she was on top of me.

I didn’t have time to react as, with one strike, I was flattened onto the ashy soil. Instantly, fourteen organs ruptured and my spine shattered into thirty-two pieces. All I could do was gasp—choking for air as my lungs filled with blood and Red Queen stood triumphant over me. Waves of unbelievable pain washed over me. My vision blurred as consciousness threatened to leave me. Red Queen simply stared down at me, her eyes shining from behind her demonic mask with a look of savage hatred.

“At least I can-” she started to say, her voice husky and weary, but she never finished. An earsplitting impact slammed into Red Queen in a flurry of pure white feathers. Seraph had taken her place—Red Queen knocked far to the side, out of sight—blood covered Seraph’s fists and the front of her robes. Pain continued to roll through me as she looked down at me. Her expression was unreadable, eyes narrowed as they scanned me up and down.

“Pull yourself together,” Seraph finally said. Without another word, she rocketed out of sight. To my left, I heard the booming impacts of Seraph’s fists… Clearly Red Queen was still very much alive because of course she was. I needed to follow Seraph’s “advice;” I didn’t have time not to.

Clumsily, I rolled onto my stomach, vomiting blood as I crawled on broken limbs—toward the fight. I pushed my powers into overdrive, mending bones and knitting together organs as fast as I could. It was an exertion I could barely afford, one that risked a disastrous level of exhaustion… But, thanks to the residual effects of Miasma’s energizing green fog, I was able to pull it off. In moments, I was on my feet, limping toward Seraph and Red Queen’s battle.

If I survived, I’d have to thank Miasma for giving me a chance in this fight.

If I survived… It was a morbid thought. While I’d had some close calls over the past few crazy months, I rarely faced death. My powers made me more… resilient to damage than most. I’d been shot in the head, exploded, burnt alive, and gassed more times than I could count. And the worst that had happened was a few minutes or hours of unwanted unconsciousness…

But Red Queen… She was a mixture of crazy strong and psychotic enough to put enough time into ripping me apart in a way I might not come back from. I had no intention of figuring out if I could die, but I had no doubt Red Queen would put whatever theoretical immortality I had to the test.

I broke into a run. Even if Red Queen could kill me, I had to get in there. The First Way was decimated, but if we didn’t bring her down here and now this wouldn’t be the end. Her legend would only grow, she’d become the woman who escaped the army and a coalition of some of the West Coast’s strongest heroes and villains. She would just rally another army of powered supremacists and insane baseliners… and in a few years we would have to do this all again.

We couldn’t let her escape, and—while I wasn’t fast or strong enough to face her myself—I could, at least, help keep those who were in the fight.

I stopped a few yards short of joining the battlefield. I didn’t want to get taken out early by a lucky blow from Red Queen. Instead, I prowled along the edge, ready to spring into action if one of my allies went down.

But, for the moment at least, I wasn’t needed. Seraph had kept up a vicious attack, striking Red Queen with blow after blow that shook the ground under my feet. The villain, while clearly unhurt by Seraph’s punches, seemed to be on the defensive. She was dodging what blows she could, deflecting the others with raised arms. If it wasn’t for the shockwaves rattling off Seraph’s blows, their battle almost looked like a boxing match between two baseliners…

And, all at once, it was over. Perhaps Red Queen had noticed a moment of weakness, or maybe she had just tired of their battle. But, irregardless, in a moment almost too fast for my eyes to see, a long, thin blade extended from the crimson aura over her right hand. Seraph jerked backwards, trying to dodge the strike. But she wasn’t fast enough as Red Queen slashed at her, cutting a narrow gash along her side. Seraph screamed in pain, rolling backwards in a flash of blood.

Red Queen didn’t waste a moment, surging forward to finish Seraph off in a burst of speed that shattered the ground underneath her feet. But she didn’t make it. In a bright flash of violet light, a lance of energy struck Red Queen from the air—knocking her backwards.

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I looked up. Asteria had rejoined the battle; or perhaps she had never left, merely biding her time to strike without also hitting Seraph. She circled in the air a few hundred feet overhead and launched another violet blast toward Red Queen. Hopefully, Asteria would keep the villain busy for a bit… At least long enough for me to pick up Seraph…

I rushed to the angel’s side, her pure white robe and feathers dyed red with blood. Seraph looked up to me, gasping for air as she clutched at her gaping wounds. I gazed back at her, momentarily frozen in place. How many times had she rendered her victims to a similar state? A small, petty part of me wanted to make her beg for help… to put her in her place for everything she’d ever done to me.

But, as violet and red lights flashed around us—urging me into action—I grabbed Seraph’s shoulder and set to work. If I could be cordial with Qilin of all people, I could be cordial with Seraph. Stopping Red Queen was what mattered, not our own issues. My powers traced through Seraph’s body, through the gaping wound in her side. I gasped slightly as I saw it. On anyone else, it would have been a mortal wound, but Seraph seemed to be, at least, barely clinging to life. I sealed the wound, knitting the muscle and skin back together, thankful that the damage was fairly localized.

In moments, the work was done and, as she shakily rose to her feet, I saw her glance back at me, her expression unreadable. Then, without even a muttered “thanks,” she flapped her wings and rose into the air—rocketing back into the fray.

As Seraph, once again, unleashed a flurry of blows into an unhurt Red Queen, Asteria broke off her own assault and rose high into the night sky. She hung there—watching the fight below—a violet dot among a sea of red-orange cinders that rose from the spreading wildfires.

I looked back to Seraph and Red Queen, who remained engaged in an increasingly futile battle with Red Queen. Nothing Seraph or Asteria could throw at her seemed to do anything but knock her around.

We needed more.

There was a great crash to my left; an impact that cast a cloud of ash into the air where it landed. I turned to look and caught a glimpse of a dark shape rushing into battle, spear lowered toward Red Queen. The villain didn’t even have time to react to the surprise, booming, blow—which struck her hard in the side and sent her sprawling. I wasn’t sure if she’d been following Red Queen all along, or if she’d heard the soldier’s distress call. But, as I saw Ripple straighten up—her glossy black helmet reflecting the encroaching wildfire—I couldn’t help but smile in relief. With her arrival, maybe, just maybe, we could bring Red Queen down.

Seraph swooped low towards Red Queen’s prone form, Ripple bounding along beside her. In an instant they were on top of her—before the villain could even rise to her feet. But, before they could strike, I saw Red Queen’s arm twitch as her crimson aura extended into a familiar, deadly shape.

“Back!” was all I could shout, futilely across the battlefield as Red Queen lashed out at the two heroes with her long aura blade. But neither of them seemed to need my warning, nimbly dodging around Red Queen’s swings to deliver blow after blow of their own. Perhaps their past experience with Red Queen’s blade had taught them to be prepared, but—regardless—their counterattack seemed to throw the villain entirely off balance. Red Queen staggered backwards, each earth-shaking blow pushing her further and further back.

“Y-yes!” I shouted, a strange giddiness overtaking me as Red Queen stumbled, barely keeping herself on two feet under the onslaught of the two heroes. Ripple and Seraph were on opposite sides, striking with such ferocity that Red Queen didn’t have a single second to steady herself. While she didn’t look bloody, she was definitely weakening. We could do this.

Then, in one swift motion, Red Queen thrust her blade forward. She stabbed it straight through Seraph’s chest and out through her back, where it emerged in a gush of blood. At the same time, before Ripple could act, Red Queen kicked high backwards, striking the hero in the face with a foot wreathed in a crimson aura. The same aura that seemingly ignored physics—and, consequently, Ripple’s powers. Ripple’s helmet instantly shattered and she went sprawling backwards, a stream of blood trailing in the air behind her. Both Ripple and Seraph dropped to the ground, unmoving, at the same time.

“Ripple!” I screamed, any enthusiasm I had entirely gone. Red Queen had taken out two of the strongest people in California in a single second. I glanced above at Asteria, as if to confirm that she saw the same thing I did. She was lower now—maybe a hundred feet off the ground—her face an expression of pure consternation. I wondered why she wasn’t attacking but, as I looked back to Red Queen, I saw why.

The villain had stepped one foot onto Seraph’s stomach. Any effective attack Asteria could make against her would certainly also kill Seraph in her wounded state. “Still pathetic,” Red Queen snarled. “I can’t believe you beat Sasquatch.” I saw her eyes drift toward me, filled with the same savage hate I saw before. “I haven’t forgotten about you,” she said.

I wanted to charge in, buy a few seconds of time that Asteria or someone could exploit… but I remained rooted to the spot as Red Queen raised her crimson blade high into the air. “This end-” Red Queen started, but cut off with a gasp as a blindingly bright beam of light shot out from the burning forest behind her—striking the villain in the back.

I leapt out of the way, rolling onto the ground, to avoid the beam as it pushed her all the way to the other side of the clearing. Red Queen and the beam struck the ground where it exploded into a bursting ball of fire. It was bigger than a house; a ball of flame still fed by the burning beam from the forest.

I gaped at the bright beam, which gave off an absolutely withering heat from even ten feet away; a heat that I could feel scorching my hair. I realized that it wasn’t a beam of surging energy—like Asteria’s lances—but a beam of tightly focused flame, like an impossibly long blowtorch.

Then, all at once, it cut out. Frigid, cold night air rushed in as if to fill a smoky vacuum. “Sorry I’m late,” a man’s voice said. I turned to look at the source, and saw a dark silhouette against the roaring forest fire. “I cannot fly,” he continued. I heard the man take a deep breath and—as flames rushed around him from the wildfire, towards his open mouth—I saw the green-orange mask illuminated in the fiery light streaming into him..

“Q-Qilin,” I muttered, in a timid, half-assed greeting.

A few final tongues of flame vanished into the villain’s mouth. As he stepped forward into the ashen clearing he himself made only a few hours ago, I saw him lick his lips, smiling confidently.

“So that was Red Queen,” he said. “She’s not so tough.”

“Qilin!” I heard an unfortunately familiar voice shout from across the clearing. Red Queen emerged from the cloud of smoke left by Qilin’s attack, visibly slower than she was even just a few minutes ago—yet, still standing strong. “I gave you a chance to join us… but you forsake it for these weaklings?”

Qilin shrugged, glancing upwards at Asteria just in time to see the hero drop another lance of violet energy right onto Red Queen’s head. “Sorry, your majesty,” he said, too softly to be heard by anyone but me. “You’re crazy and I’m putting you down.”

Qilin turned his attention to me. “Stitch,” he said, “I am glad to see that you’re still alive.”

“L-Likewise,” I squeaked.

He gestured back toward Ripple and Seraph’s unmoving forms. “I would be quite pleased if you could help your coworkers back up. I’d very much like to be the one who kills them and I’d be rather unhappy if our royal friend over there gets the credit.”

I didn’t say anything to his cordial threat, just nodded and rushed over to Ripple. She was still breathing, fortunately, although it looked like her jawbone was destroyed by Red Queen’s kick. My powers confirmed this with just a touch, along with the revelation that she now missed half her teeth and was paralyzed from the waist down thanks to a broken neck.

I hung my head. This would take some time to fix.

But, she was stable for now, so I dragged her body over to Seraph—who seemed in much worse shape. With a touch, I saw she was missing half her heart. Red Queen’s blade must have destroyed it. Honestly, I had no idea how Seraph was still alive, and chalked it up to something with her powers. I had to focus on stabilizing her, then I could get both Seraph and Ripple back in the fight.

I glanced up just in time to see Qilin unleash a burst of flame from his mouth towards Red Queen, which washed over her like a tidal wave. From above, Asteria continued to hammer her with blast after blast, though I noticed she seemed to be careful to keep a few stars floating above her shoulders. If this was anyone else in there, they would be dead or dying. Even Ripple, whose powers made her immune to conventional damage, wouldn’t be able to breathe in Qilin’s flames…

But, in the sea of fire, I saw a red shape standing strong. It was unmistakably humanoid, and had its arms raised, braced against the storm of power it struggled against. Red Queen was still alive. Even together, Qilin and Asteria couldn’t bring her down.

How the Hell were any of us going to stop her?