Battle of the ULTRAs (3 page)

I
flew
over the island and knew damned well I should be far, far away from here.

It was night. There was warmth to the air, though. Humidity, which I longed to sit in, longed to be a part of. Sure, I’d never been all that good in the heat—I hated how stuffy it made me feel. But since embracing my responsibilities as an ULTRA; since shedding the dual identities I’d worked so hard to maintain, I longed for a break, more than anything.

And a break with the people I loved most in the world was absolutely at the top of my list.

Below, on the quaint island, I saw little flickers of lights inside the small houses. In the distance, the waves crashed gently against the shore. I knew that down there, I’d find my family. I’d find Dad, and my friends, Damon, and Avi, and their families.

And I’d find Ellicia.

I moved down slowly toward the island. I shouldn’t be here, that was for sure. But I felt like I needed their guidance right now. I felt like I needed them to ground me. To tell me what was right and what was wrong; to steer my path.

But at the same time, I knew just by being here, I was putting them in danger. I’d chosen this island for them to stay while the chaos between Saint and us went down not just ’cause I’d saved this island once before, but because of how secluded and out of the way it was.

I knew, chances were, that it’d fall one day. It’d fall just like the rest of the world.

But I was hoping Saint would be dealt with by the time that day came around.

I drifted further down toward the houses. Landed on the sandy ground. Now I was on the ground, I could feel a slight cool breeze, which carried with it the faint smell of cooking meat. I imagined sitting around a barbecue with Ellicia, Damon, and Avi, and my dad. I imagined us all sitting around and laughing, not a care in the world.

I hoped that day would come. I really did. But it seemed so distant. So far away. So impossible.

I lifted off the ground again and hovered nearer to the houses, being sure to keep my invisibility activated. I was still stinging a bit on my right side from where I’d been hit by bullets in the battle for Manchester. That’d fade, though. It always did, in time.

Plus, I knew it was only right that I felt some pain for my part in the loss of that battle.

I moved past the houses and peeked through the little windows. I saw families gathered around fires. I saw parents reading to children. I saw happiness. I saw peace. I couldn’t believe I was actually in the same world as the one I’d fought the battle in not long ago. That was the thing about Saint’s rule. One day, you could wake up feeling like your city, your island, your country was the safest place in the world. The next thing you know, you’re trapped. Imprisoned.

Nobody knew why Saint was doing what he was doing. He wanted total rule, sure. But he didn’t seem to be killing any of the humans. Unlike Nycto, whose goal was to wipe humanity out due to his little-boy-got-bullied issues, Saint enjoyed the idea of total rule. Total control.

That was the thing. He
liked
humans.

Only problem was, he liked them when they were working for him; when they gave him the ultimate ego boost.

I was about to turn the corner to the next house when I heard a voice behind me.

I felt my skin soften. Felt my muscles weaken. Good job it was dark because for a moment, I swear my invisibility slipped.

I looked around and saw Ellicia and Damon walking together.

Ellicia looked even more beautiful every time I saw her. Again, it was dark, so I couldn’t see her properly. I didn’t have to. I could imagine her long, dark hair. I could smell that strawberry flavor from the shampoo she used to use. I could feel her lips against mine, her warmth against my body as we cuddled, like I was reliving those moments all over again.

Damon was the same, too. Well, not the same as Ellicia, but the same as he always was. Tall. Bulky. Walked clumsily and spoke a little loudly.

I stepped to one side and held on to my invisibility as they passed.

“I just wonder if he’s ever coming back,” Ellicia said.

Damon’s feet scraped against the ground. They stopped just outside a house. “He will come back. Man, I’d love to say I know Kyle, but I dunno if I do anymore. Not after all this Glacies business. But if there’s one thing for sure, he’s a fighter. He ain’t gonna lay down and let Saint take this world.”

“How can you be so sure?”

I waited. Waited for Damon to answer. I wanted to step in. To tell them both I was here. That I was back, and the war was being won.

But that would be lying.

The Resistance weren’t winning the war at all.

Damon put a hand on Ellicia’s arm. Even though it was clear he was only being friendly, I couldn’t help the glimmer of jealousy I felt inside. I wanted to be the one there comforting her. I wanted to be the one to tell her everything was gonna be okay.

“I’m sure because I’ve seen what he can do. We’ve both seen what he can do. And we’ve gotta believe that if he keeps on doing what we know he can do, things will get back to the way they were.”

“They’ll never be the way they were. Not for us. Not for… not for Kyle.”

I felt my muscles loosen. With the sad way Ellicia spoke, it made me think of Mom, and the others I’d lost.

“But they’ll be better again,” Damon said. “Anyway. I should probably get some sleep.”

“Yeah. Sure.”

“Avi’s lent me that dating guide.”

“The one with—”

“4.4 on Goodreads, yeah. Or it might be 4.3 now. Is Goodreads even still a thing now?”

“I don’t…”

“Can’t imagine Saint cracking down on book-related social media, can you?”

Ellicia giggled. And again, as much as I loved the pair of them, I wanted to be the one cheering her up. Making her laugh.

“Night, Ellicia,” Damon said.

She nodded. Smiled. “Goodnight.”

I watched as Damon waddled off toward his home. And as I hovered there, totally invisible, I realized it was just me and Ellicia then. Me and Ellicia standing there in the dark. Both of us opposite one another. Staring at one another.

She was so close that I could reach out and stroke her hair. So close that I could lean into her ear and tell her everything was going to be okay.

She stared through me a little longer, then she sighed, and turned around, into her house.

I listened to the door close and I let my invisibility drop.

Then as the lights flickered off in her house, I held my breath and disappeared.

S
aint looked
over the map of conquered territory and he smiled.

It was two a.m., but it could’ve been any time at all. He didn’t go outside much these days. He didn’t need to, not since his tower had been erected. A mile long structure shooting right into the sky from the middle of the Atlantic, towering over everyone. It could be seen from miles away.

And that’s what he wanted. He wanted people to know he was there. He wanted everyone to know he was watching.

He stood in his office and listened to the droning sounds of work beneath him. Not only were ULTRAbots being produced at a rapid rate, but they had other experiments going on, too. Things to prepare for. And things he was working on. Things he was very excited about.

He looked at the date. January 14th. He’d targeted the 1st for the launch of his new project, but some unfortunate errors had crept into their well-oiled ship. But that didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. A few days were insignificant.

What mattered was what was coming.

“Saint?”

Saint turned around and saw Controlla looking at him. Controlla was a lanky guy with longish, dark hair. He’d originally sided with that lame imitator, Nycto, but after Saint had launched his attack, he was one of the ULTRAs to join Saint’s cause in the takeover of humanity, the fight against the Resistance. He was useful. He could get inside minds and change the will of any individual. A very raw power, but one that fascinated Saint. He’d be a handy ally, until Saint needed him no more.

Saint smiled. His helmet suffocated his face, but he was used to the sensation by now. It made him feel powerful. At ease. “Good news, I hope?”

Saint didn’t even have to say those words. He could tell by the look on Controlla’s face that it was a combination of good and bad news.

“A bit of both,” Controlla said, in that Scottish accent of his; an accent Saint couldn’t help admiring.

“Let’s start with the good news. Then we’ll see whether I’m in the mood for discouragement.”

Controlla’s glance broke away. “The—the good news is, we took Manchester and Liverpool. We’ve got total control of England.”

Saint’s smile widened. He already knew this, but he liked to stay coy about the full extent of his powers. He liked the element of surprise it offered him over others. “That’s excellent.”

“It leaves us with just a little territory left to conquer. Mostly the Pacific islands.”

Saint’s smile widened even more. “Indeed it does.”

He knew for a fact that the Resistance had a base somewhere in the Pacific. He didn’t know where exactly, but he knew that soon enough, he’d find it. And when he did, he’d destroy it.

He wouldn’t kill the remnants of the Resistance. Not at all. In fact, he had a much more intriguing fate in mind for them.

All that linked to the next stage of his plan.

Of course, you could be forgiven for thinking it was a coincidence that the Pacific was the last remaining place in the world left to conquer; the place where the Resistance just so happened to be. But that was all part of the plan, too. There was a reason Saint wanted them last. Partly because he wanted to watch their hope and resolve fade, slowly.

And then he wanted them to have front row seats to the dawn of a new world.

“And the bad news?” Saint asked.

Again, Controlla lowered his head.

“Don’t look so sheepish. The good news is
very
good. It’ll take a lot to topple it.”

Controlla half-glanced up at Saint. Saint knew why he was so hesitant. He’d heard the rumors, no doubt. The rumors of what Saint did to the ULTRAs who upset him. Of how worthless they were to him now his ULTRAbot program was in full swing.

The new world order was so close he could taste it in the air.

“There’s someone here,” Controlla said. “He fought through the gates and worked his way up here.”

Saint’s top lip twitched. “How?”

“We’re not sure. But he’s… he’s powerful. And he said he wants to see you. Said he’ll die trying to see you if he has to.”

Saint weighed up his options. His gates were impenetrable. Whoever was here had to be strong. Very strong. “Where is he?”

“He’s just outside.”

“With guards?”

Controlla nodded. “But he insists he isn’t here for any harm.”

Saint paused. Who had the gall to confront him? Who had the sheer stupidity to walk into his home and demand a meeting with him? “Said he’ll die trying, did he?”

“Mhm.”

“Good job,” Saint said, walking toward the door. “At least he’s prepared for what’s…”

The words slipped away when he approached the door. He’d been expecting someone powerful, but not him. He thought he was gone. Thought he was dead. And that was a misjudgment, sure. An error of the moment that if he could turn back the clock, he would’ve prevented.

But he didn’t have to. Because
he
was still alive.

“I’m here because I want to help you. Help you take down the Resistance. Help you take the rest of the planet.”

Saint looked at the ULTRAbots surrounding this person.

He looked at the silver clothing of the boy opposite. Gosh, was it such a lame imitation of his own. He looked at the desperate look in his tired eyes.

This wasn’t bad news. This wasn’t bad news at all.

“Nycto,” Saint said. “How nice to see you again.”

S
ix hours
solid training with the Resistance and already Vortex had screwed with my mind a ton of times already.

The afternoon sun was scalding hot, making sweat drip down the back of my neck no matter how much I tried to cool myself down with my handy icy powers. The island looked beautiful, in all truth. Amazing to believe how different the world could be in a matter of miles—snow in New York, blazing sunlight and luscious greens in the Pacific islands. I looked at the blue sea, felt the warm sand between my toes and wanted nothing more than to throw myself in that water. Sure, water still freaked me out after some weird memory I had of being nearly drowned as a kid—memories I still couldn’t get my head round. But you get the idea. It was lush weather. I wanted to make the most of it.

Instead, Vortex was testing my “resistance.”

“I’d appreciate it if you held off with the flying frogs,” I said, putting my hands on my knees.

Vortex smiled. Even she seemed to be catching some sun. Just a little. “You like them?”

“Not really. I mean, I don’t think they’re funny.”

“They’re not supposed to be funny, Kyle.”

“Well they’re not scary, either.”

“You seem pretty touchy about them.”

“That’s because I don’t like being pasted with flying frogs. How’s that supposed to test my resistance?”

“You’re punching them across the ocean at full strength, right?”

“Well, I guess I…”

“Then they’re testing your strength.” She looked at me like it was just common sense then smiled.

I lifted my fists again. Held my ground. “Go on then. Give me some more.”

The second I spoke, the entire island went pitch black. I felt a shiver run up my spine. All around, I heard groans—the groans that sounded like they came from zombies in the wacky old horror films.

When I turned around, I realized that’s because they were exactly that. Zombies.

They were wading toward me through the sand. I could smell their rotting flesh, taste it on my lips. Some of them had arms missing. Others had holes in their legs.

Their teeth snapped together, echoing through the silence.

As much as I knew they were just creations of the mind—or rather, creations of Vortex’s mind to test my resistance—I couldn’t help feeling a little afraid of these zombies. I’d always been scared of them ever since I’d read some zombie books by a British guy. Dead Days, or something. Enough to give anyone the creeps.

I stood my ground and fired a bolt of ice at the first of the zombies.

But something weird happened.

No ice fired out.

I went to fire again and realized I couldn’t. I was standing there, completely naked. I felt exposed. Totally exposed.

I looked up at the groaning zombies. They were just inches away from me, clawing out at my skin.

“So no ice,” I muttered. “No damned ice. Cheers, Vortex. I’ll just have to…”

I went to throw a boatload of telekinesis at the zombies and realized that wasn’t working either.

The zombie grabbed my arm. Dragged it to its mouth.

I punched it away, suddenly feeling like this whole scenario was very real, and fell back onto the sand. When I looked up, I saw all the zombies surrounding me, getting ready to feast.

I clambered to my feet and ran. Ran across the sand. I felt slow, though. Slower than I’d felt in a long time. I was exhausted. I wasn’t sure how much energy I had in me.

I just knew I had to run.

I kept on wading through the sand but it stretched up my legs. I was sinking. Sinking into the ground and there was nothing I could do about it. Nothing at all.

When I looked back to check how far away the zombies were, I froze.

Mike Beacon’s zombified figure stood opposite me.

Beside him, Cassie.

And beside her, Mom.

They all closed in on me. I felt tears roll down my cheeks. This wasn’t right. This was too hard. Too damned hard, even by Vortex’s standards.

“Help!” I tried to claw my way from the sand. Banged my hands against it as I sank further and further, as the trio of people I’d lost reached down for my head.

“Help!” I screamed at the top of my voice.

Their hands grabbed my head.

“It’s okay. It’s okay—”

“Get off me!”

“Kyle, it’s okay.”

I saw then I was looking into Vortex’s eyes. She was holding my arms. I was on the beach in the sunlight again. In the distance, I saw more of the Resistance looking at me like I was weird.

I backed away, still shaky. I noticed I’d been crying in real life, too. “What the hell was that?”

“Kyle, I don’t—”

“You know damn well what you did just then.”

“I swear, I didn’t… I lost control. Lost control of everything. I dunno what happened.”

“Yeah right. Like this wasn’t some kind of revenge.”

“Revenge?”

“For what happened in Manchester.”

Vortex’s cheeks blushed a little. I was shouting and making quite a scene. “You saved me in Manchester. Sure, you put me in a bad situation in the first place, but you saved me. I don’t want any revenge for that. I forgive you.”

I was the one blushing now. I rubbed my hand against the back of my neck. “Then—then what happened right then. What was it? How did it…”

I saw Vortex’s eyes roll back into her head, like she was slipping into one of her trances.

But something weird happened.

She shot into the air. Shot upwards, right above the island.

I squinted up into the sunlight. I didn’t know what she was doing, where she was going. Only that something was wrong. Very wrong.

Then I saw the second figure.

The sun bounced off their chest in a way that told me who it was. I didn’t even have to see their face to know.

And then I felt that urge for revenge fill my body once again.

Saint was here.

Saint had Vortex.

But he wasn’t going to get away. Not this time.