Chapter 12
Jax was exhausted. He looked around the room that now contained the final 24 contestants. He and June had worked together to find their statues and traverse the river basin to the finish line. They had finished late at night in the middle of the pack. It had taken the rest of the night to wait for the remaining contestants to complete the second trial. Some contestants tried to sleep, but with all the adrenaline running through his body, all Jax could manage were a few small naps. It reminded him of flying on a red-eye. No one was talking, moving around, or doing anything that might disturb the rest of the challengers from getting the sleep they were all craving.
In his darkest moments, Jax wondered whether he should have broken his parent's trust and entered the competition with June in the first place. Being a Herald had always been her dream. Growing up, they had talked about how they would join the Michigan Heralds squad and follow in their mother’s footsteps. But, as he got older, Jax started to have other aspirations. He had gone to college for applied mathematics before dropping out to help support the family, especially his mom, as the avalanche of Summerset scandals had erupted in the media. When The Show announced the Top Seed competition, June saw it as their best chance to achieve her lifelong dream. But, Jax looked at it differently. Maybe if he could help June win, he could go back to school and build the quiet life he had begrudgingly given up.
***
Jax stood in the driveway of his family’s house in Detroit, waiting for June, staring up at the stars, trying to peer into the depths of the universe. The bitter cold of the early spring night did not dampen his desire to understand the cosmic ripples and vast mysteries beyond the small plot of land he currently stood on. He liked to imagine there was someone else on some other planet staring back at him and thinking the same things.
June snuck up behind Jax and lightly shook his body, snapping him out of his daze. “Hey, we gotta go now. Mom and Dad are finally asleep,” she whispered.
“Are you sure we should do this? Mom and Dad have been through a lot lately. Breaking their one main rule and trying to join a Herald team might push them over the edge,” Jax reminded.
June scoffed. “This is the only way we can redeem the family name. We have to prove to the world that we aren’t what everyone says we are. Aren’t you tired of all the fake news stories and public smear campaigns?”
Jax paused to think for a moment, still soaking in the night sky and the quietness of the evening. “I just don’t want to hurt them anymore.”
“This is the only way I know how to fix this. Jax, you’re the smart one. If you think we should stay, then we’ll stay, but I really think this could help Mom,” June was being more vulnerable than Jax could ever remember. His sister could be pushy and obnoxious sometimes, but she wasn’t wrong in this case. The public relations campaigns levied against their family would make it nigh impossible for either of them to live normal lives. It was even less likely that they would be able to build up enough political power to fight the media-crafted narrative about their mom and, by extension, the whole family. Success in this competition would allow them to get their story out, if nothing else.
“No, this is the right move. Mom and Dad will understand in time,” Jax said hopefully. He grabbed the bag from June’s hands, threw it into the trunk of their family sedan, and hopped into the passenger seat.
***
The room began to bustle with anxious, exciting energy. Jax stood up from his resting spot next to June to see that Flint Reckoner had arrived in person. Everyone surrounding him gawked and squealed. Jax knew he had to hide his skepticism and shot a look of faux amazement over to his sister.
“Okay, here we go,” June whispered to her twin brother. “Good luck in whatever trial we have next.”
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“You too,” Jax said to his sister. He knew the next and final challenge of this “Culling” would be an individual one. There was no way they would allow contestants to team up to make it to the top twelve. That opportunity had come and gone with the last trial.
“Congratulations to you all!” The Show announced as the room quieted down. Jax noticed a flash of subtle irritation cross Flint’s face. The exhaustion of the metas in this room suppressed any excitement that The Show was expecting. He nonetheless pressed on. “We are going to wrap up this trial with some friendly sparring. A one-versus-one fight! All you have to do is knock out your opponent, force them to tap out, or fully subdue them for five full minutes, and a spot in the final twelve will be yours!” The Show grinned, winking at the camera as the applause finally erupted in the room.
Jax clapped with the rest as he shifted his position in the room away from his sister. If they were going to pair people off, he wanted to be standing physically far away from June in case they used proximity as a factor. Jax also avoided Ken. That guy was a beast, finishing in the top three in the rankings in both trials. And besides, making friends was difficult for Jax. He didn’t want to see either of them go home.
The Show continued, pointing at the set of huge double doors behind him. “When I call your name, step forward and head through those doors. And don’t be alarmed. The doorway is programmed to teleport you into your sparring room. Good luck to you all!”
Jax tuned out the world as he shuffled away from June. He was thinking back on the second trial, trying to remember all the powers he had seen used. Obviously, someone could put people to sleep. He figured it was that guy Zzz, as he heard rumors that Zzz and Hieroglyph had finished as the top two. The name alone was a bit of a hint. Jax didn't have a counter for sleep powers, so he hoped that Zzz wasn’t his opponent. He secretly hoped to be paired with this dude he and June had come into contact with who deployed tractor beams from his hands. Jax was confident he could beat someone with that power.
Growing up, adults would tell Jax that he had an eidetic or photographic memory, but he knew that wasn't exactly true. In actuality, Jax could pinpoint the exact emotion he felt and link that emotion to what was happening at a specific time. He liked to think of it as E.M.R., or empathic memory recall. But before he could delve further into his memory, he heard The Show say, “Borealis and Nega-Ray.”
Nega-Ray? What could that power even be? Jax looked over and saw that his opponent in this match was a tall, athletic man with brown skin in his late twenties. He wore a sea shell necklace, a tank top, and cargo shorts. Jax guessed Nega-Ray was probably on the rowing team in high school but gave it up as an adult to become a surfer. Nega-Ray was half a foot taller than Jax and outweighed him by 50 pounds, probably of pure muscle. “Shit,” Jax mumbled inaudibly.
Jax had loved playing Heralds and Villains with his sister when they were kids. She would dress up as their mom, assume the role of Summerset, and force Jax to play whoever was the scary supervillain of the week. Even though he complained and fought over why June always got to be the Herald, Jax loved those days. As they grew older, June would urge Jax to spar or work out with her, the adult version of Heralds and Villains. But he resisted. His pursuits became more intellectual. He didn’t need, or want, to be a Herald to change the world. Today, he regretted every single time he had turned her down to train or had sent her calls to voicemail, knowing that she wanted to spar. He looked at Nega-Ray and felt hopelessly outmatched.
“Hi, Ray. Can I call you Ray?” Jax asked.
“The name is Nega-Ray. After I beat you today, you will never forget it.”
“That’s a no, then? Got it. Well, Hi Ray, I’m Borealis”
“So your power is that you are going to bore me to death?” Nega-Ray’s irritation seeped into his comeback.
How original, Jax thought. “For your sake, I hope your power isn't tied to your wit. As for my meta ability… I guess you’ll have to wait and see.” Jax shot back before walking through the teleportation door into a small sparring cell. Jax had grown up around these types of rooms. It was a 30-foot cube to allow for some vertical movement. A giant circle, 20 feet in diameter, was drawn in the center of the space.
Nega-Ray followed just moments later. Immediately, Jax felt unsettled. “Alright, kid, I get we’re in a competition, but you don’t have to be such a dick,” Nega-Ray said as he moved to the opposite side of the sparring cell to stand just outside the center ring.
Was he being a dick? Jax felt increasingly unsettled, remembering times he was bullied in school, made to feel less than others, teased, and ridiculed. Was he being that bully now? “I thought we were doing that pre-match banter thing. I honestly didn't mean to make you feel bad.” Somehow, apologizing only made Jax feel worse. His heart was racing, and his hands felt clammy. Jax needed to get hold of his emotions if he was going to have any chance at winning this match, so he closed his eyes and focused on what he considered his three great joys. He breathed in deeply and thought about his family, picturing their faces in his mind. First, his sister, urging him to do his best, pushing him to get a grip so he could win and join her in the top twelve. Jax exhaled and pictured his dad, helping him with his science fair project, calmly explaining the chemical reaction that would allow the compound he created to separate petroleum from water. He inhaled again and thought about his mom, flying him to the top of the Guardian Building for a picnic on his lunch break, overlooking the Detroit River and Belle Isle. They would talk about school and his future, and she would tell stories about being a Herald. As he exhaled, the image of his mom turned into a nightmare. She screamed at him, “You disobeyed me. You are going to lose and dishonor the family even more. Why didn’t you listen to us?” Jax’s eyes flew open as a loud voice boomed, “Your match begins now!”