The Last Superhero (51 page)

I
can't help the jump back, the “eek!”

Nor
can I help my reaction when Salvatore Jr. grabs the back of Briggs's
shirt, pulls him up just so he can set his hands around his neck and
start strangling him. A reaction that consists of a fist that sends
out sparks the moment it connects with Salvatore Jr.'s jaw.

He
loses his balance. Lets Briggs's unconscious body drop to the floor.

Brings
a hand to his face, feels the burn, how it must sting.

His
blackened eyes set on me.

They
change, the hazel coming in.

I
stand my ground. Stay still.

It's
like he's studying me.

I
can feel him peering into the depths of my soul, my mind.

It
affects him. Dismantles him.

My
companions raise their weapons, but I signal them not to shoot.

“
Where
is he?” I ask.

“
Where
do you go when you're about to die? Who do you cry for when you're
hurt?”

The
skies darken, drops of rain start to fall and it's not me doing it.

The
moment I glance up he chuckles, “I may not be able to kill you,
but he, on the other hand...”

The
clouds are gathering in a circle, letting only a beam of sunlight
falling through, and there's the light-drenched being with the wings
spread wide, grinning at us as he roars, “Prepare to die!”

And
the sword in his hands sends a thousand lightning bolts that have us
all running off for cover.

This
is war.

55

“
DUCK!” Ross
roars, stopping us all in our tracks.

Turn and see him conjuring a
shield, like a dome, that encases us and, at the same time, deflects
the lightning bolts that make it look like it's a half of a plasma
globe.

“
Will it hold?”
Wyatt asks.

Check on Briggs and he's out
cold.

I'm counting heads. We're
missing Dr. Morgan, but I don't want to bring it up because, right
now, we're under heavy attack.

Boom
.

The shield receives a direct
hit from Salvatore Jr. on the ground while Michelangelo seems to be
waiting, gliding above.

“
Look!” Daphne
calls us to attention. “Dr. Morgan. In the cathedral!”

And Ross goes, “Tiffany!”

See why I didn't want to
mention it?

Feel Dad's coat of thick
hair brushing my side. “I'll take the doctor and the girl to
safety. You take the rest.” He eyes Briggs. “Leave him
there.”

“
Our cannons are
ready. Locked on the angel,” Frances's voice comes through my
earpiece. I think she's the only one actually using the thing. “Bring
down the shield.”

“
But-;” I'm
about to protest.

“
He's only as strong
as we let him be,” is Frances's reply.

I exchange a nod with Ross
and I know he's going straight for Dr. Morgan.

Signal Fletcher and Wells to
cover Dad and Ross from Salvatore Jr., who has now descended, as if
expecting us to come out any moment.

Wyatt loads his bow.

Grab my naginata.

Simon's got... a magic wand?

The shield comes down and
we're all moving in different directions.

Jake and Frances's attack on
Michelangelo's ruthless, but he's super fast in the sky.

Wyatt's shooting arrows at
Salvatore Jr. as he runs around us, a hand down, drawing a circle on
the ground.

What the fuck?

I break into a run once he's
coming near to where I'm standing, the wooden side of my naginata
held in front as weapon and superhuman collide. He's sent flying back
while I skid on the cobblestones.

A giant metal hand grabs me,
helping me to my feet, in time to see Salvatore appear out of
nowhere, using Jake and Frances's Mecha as a ladder to be able to
jump up and grab one of Michelangelo's ankles.

The archangel sways as the
weight of his brother threatens his balance.

Which works as an advantage
for us as Wyatt's able to get a couple of arrows in him.

Salvatore Jr. is trying to
regain verticality, but I'm not gonna let him. Drop the naginata and
go for him, setting my hands that burn on his back and he screams in
pain, falling flat on his chest.

Everything goes black for a
second before coming back.

I lift my hands off him.

It happens again. As if
someone was flicking a switch.

See the burn marks on his
back.

“
What's happening?!”
Daphne's running to me.

“
I don't know! Where
were you?”

“
Dr. Morgan's taken
Hudson and Cane. She's found a way to hide them.”

Feel the
BOOM
when Salvatore drives Michelangelo against the cobblestones, creating
a crater on the ground and sending a rain of cobblestones into us.

Simon's wand is shooting
some kind of ribbon, binding Michelangelo.

The angel's wings flap,
breaking free from his ties like they're nothing and he takes off
towards the cathedral.

Feel a scuffle beside me and
Salvatore Jr. is standing, making his escape.

“
Let him go. We'll
catch him again,” I tell Daphne, who is about to chase him
down.

See in the distance that
Dad's come out of the cathedral, holding his stance, as if waiting
for Michelangelo to run into him.

I'm about to rush towards
him when Salvatore holds me back.

A woman, dressed in black,
stands beside Dad, holding out what looks like yet another magic
wand. She says a word we can't hear and out of the wooden stick comes
a ray of red light, hitting the archangel that drops to the floor,
convulsing in pain.

Dr. Morgan getting her bitch
on.

Salvatore leaves my side.

The Mecha steps on
Michelangelo as if he were a fly, helping Salvatore by keeping the
archangel pinned while he takes his brother's sword.

Pick up the naginata from
the floor and inch my way to where Salvatore's cutting off
Michelangelo's wings.

See the sweat on his
forehead, gluing his hair to his temples.

And the tears streaming down
his cheeks.

Touch his shoulder. “You
don't have to do this.”

He pauses.

Take a look at the beautiful
man who lays unconscious under the robot's foot.

I don't want Salvatore to do
this again.

The scene flickers.

“
You don't have much
time,” Salvatore says right before he pierces Michelangelo's
skull with a swift movement of his sword.

DUDE!!

Eeeeewwwwwwww!!

Agh.

Breathe.

Did I just baby barf?

Talking about babies...

“
Help me find him.”

“
You've been there
before,” is all he says as the scene flickers away like a
strobe light.

Summon the place where we
all want to go when we're dying.

Is it where everybody knows
your name?

Or is it the one you wish
for as you click your shoes three times?

The flickering ceases.

Light.

Gravel path.

Waldorf Manor from back in
the day.

There's no invisible wall to
stop me this time as I open the gate, lead the way for my entourage.

They're all staring at the
place, agape.

Salvatore, in all his
superhero glory, stands at the front door.

Last time the equation house
+ him = things escalating pretty quickly.

That's when a large black
dog comes galloping and charges Wyatt.

“
Fuck!”

Daphne's first to get to
him, hitting the dog's flank, but it's biting into Wyatt's arms as he
tries to cover himself.

Powell, Fletcher, and Wells
are trying to shoot the animal off to no avail.

“
It's a nightmare!”
we can all hear Frances shout. “Think it away, Wyatt! Think it
away!”

Poof
.
The dog disintegrates in front of our eyes.

Give Wyatt a hand and all he
can say is, “She's always been the one coming up with the
writing prompts.”

He's okay. Unharmed.

“
You're afraid of
dogs?” I have to ask.

“
I was six when a dog
bit me and I've never made peace with that.”

Distortion. A sharp pain in
my right leg.

We've got to do this fast.

Jake and Frances guard the
entrance.

Powell leads the way into
the house with Wells while Suárez decides to climb the outside
wall.

I recognize the foyer and
the living room and I'm glad the archangel's statue isn't there.

“
They're outside.”
Suárez's voice in my ear gives me a scare.

“
We've got to
separate,” Ross says. “We'll comb the house for Steven.”
His thumb's pointing at Powell, Fletcher, and Wells. “You go
ahead.”

Get to the doors that
separate the house from the backyard and see there's some kind of
party going on, full blast.

Open the doors, step
outside, overlook the attendants and it's like the Great Gatsby
exploded all over the place.

Feel Dad next to me. He's
seen something.

A child.

The child.

The one from that nightmare
before it all went south.

He's seen us, but he's too
busy playing with some toys under that large tree Steven was
practicing his powers at that day.

Salvatore's joined the crowd
and there's a woman by his side.

“
Diana,” I
whisper.

“
Who?” Simon
asks.

“
Steven's mother.”

We're staring in awe and
confusion when the sound of what I can only explain as a car crash
travels to us.

Broken glass. Broken metal.

Coming from the side of the
house.

Then something falls from
the sky, into the middle of the crowd that is now trying to flee.

Salvatore Jr. has landed,
holding someone under his arm.

The golden hair tied in a
French braid of the unconscious woman he's keeping under a trance
waves at us as he spins her around for us to see.

Frances.

“
Leave her!”
Jake's crawling on the ground, trying to reach where Salvatore Jr.'s
standing.

No robot. No weapons. Just
him.

Salvatore father holds onto
Diana while a boy who is not the one I saw a moment ago but is
definitely the younger version of Steven I met before rushes to stand
between his older self and us.