Flicker, Fade, Soar Read online

  Part Four

  “Rose?” Someone was saying. I opened my eyes blearily. The pain in my arm had vanished. I sat up and looked at Cat, who was leaning over me.

  “Oh, good,” Cat said. “I didn’t know if you were unconscious from the water, or sleeping after fighting it.”

  “Both,” I attempted to smile, standing up shakily. Since I wasn’t feeling much up to talking, I painted the picture of my struggles in my mind.

  Cat looked at me. “Can I…” she nodded at my head.

  “Yeah,” I said.

  She searched my mind for a few moments, then looked at me. Her brown eyes seemed to pierce me. “Are you ok? Really?”

  I shrugged. “I mean, I’m still a bit tired and dizzy, but I know I will be.”

  “No, I mean… with… other things.”

  I must have looked confused, so Cat elaborated, “Your… ah… Invisible Paralysis?”

  “Oh!” Things had been so busy I had almost forgotten about my looming fate. “Uh… um… I don’t really think the training was finished before I was rushed off here.”

  Cat seemed troubled, but nodded and left it at that. “Ms. Walker came by while you were resting and healed your arm.”

  “I need to remember to thank her,” I said, flexing my only slightly sore arm.

  “Hey! I found Lily! But she doesn’t look too good…” Nicole said, pulling an ashen Lily out of the remaining six inches of water. Lily’s face was gray, her breathing shallow and fast, and slowly stopping.

  My heart practically stopped beating. I should have tried harder to get Lily out when I saw her underwater!

  Everyone gathered around, then parted to make room for Ms. Walker, who ran towards them.

  I walked towards them, passing Josef, who was just sitting up. He looked confused. “What’s happening over there?” He asked, in a completely non-teasing, honest way.

  I decided to say, “I think Lily’s hurt.”

  Josef stood up, then wobbled, almost falling down again. Almost involuntarily, I grabbed his hand to steady him. “Thanks,” he said, letting go.

  Josef saying thanks? Gosh, what was happening to the world?

  Josef seemed to realize this, because he turned red and said quickly, “I hope her big mouth hasn’t killed her like I always said it would, opening underwater and trying to talk even then.”

  That was more like it.

  We walked over there together. Ms. Walker had put her hands on Lily and closed her eyes. Elias, a worried look in his eye, was checking for a pulse, obviously worried about his friend.

  After a few tense minutes, Ms. Walker stepped back and said, “Ok. I think she’ll be ok now.”

  Sure enough, color was draining back into Lily’s face, though she didn’t wake. With a relieved grin, Elias stepped back.

  Lily woke a minute later, to a chorus of cheers. She looked around, confused. “What? What happened?”

  Everyone laughed and Elias explained what happened to her. An embarrassed look blossomed on her face, then she laughed. “Yeah, I should have said something earlier. I’m a worthless swimmer.”

  We saw someone running towards us. “Alexia!” I shouted. She waved worriedly at us, but when she got closer and could see that we were all there, she broke into a grin.

  “I’m so sorry I ran off on you like that!” she said breathlessly, red hair waving wildly. Her green eyes searched my face. “Are you ok?”

  I nodded. “Lily was almost not, though,” I told her.

  Alexia sighed. “I had hoped you guys would be able to avoid that.”

  “At least she’s alive and well now,” I looked on the bright side.

  Alexia gave me a nod, then got down to business. “We need to make a battle plan for fighting Abomination. The good thing is, I know him. I know his weaknesses, and I know most of his battle plans. But we will all need to work together perfectly, or else we’re all dead,” she said seriously.

  “Cheery thought!” grimaced Winnie, walking up to us. “I’m sure that this bunch will just get along fine and dandy throughout the battle, though,” she sarcastically added, motioning to where Josef and Lily had broken out into an argument, Jonah had thrown a non-charged Spark at the ground in frustration but still managed to start a small fire, and Etty, in an attempt to stomp out the flames, had both her and Ty on the ground in agony. Meanwhile, Sandra sneakily turned Josef’s eyes hot pink from behind him. She noticed us watching and gave a sheepish wave.

  “Sandra!” I chided her, walking over, Winnie and Alexia behind me. “Really?”

  She gave a sheepish but pleased shrug. “He was, like, telling Lily that her new, like, hair I did was stupid.”

  I hadn’t even noticed that Lily’s normal tight braid had an orange streak in it. “I didn’t notice! I was too caught up on the whole Lily-just-basically-drowned thing. Why orange?”

  Sandra blushed. “Orange is, like, the opposite of, blue,” she mumbled.

  I raised my eyebrows at her but didn’t comment on her failed attempt at her power.

  Suddenly, I heard a growl. “You all survived?” I started to shiver. I hated that voice.

  Abomination appeared on the roof, a snarl on his lips. “You must not live! You are all ruining my quest for revenge!”

  Winnie stepped onto a nearby rock. “Why, though?” she called to him.

  I groaned. “Winnie…”

  The super villain’s one vile red eye swiveled and came to rest on Winnie. And then, a malevolent smile formed on Abomination’s wicked face. He laughed his growly laugh again. “Child, you know not of such matters such as revenge.”

  “Nope, like, you’re right, she doesn’t!” Sandra interjected, stepping up on another rock. “And that’s why she’s such a, like, good, kind, fun, positive girl. She would never hurt, like, a fly! You know nothing of, like, this innocence. You… wait, maybe you do, before you, like, changed.”

  Abomination looked confused. “I was always like this.”

  Alexia stood on a final rock, the highest of them all. “No, you weren’t. You can change, right here, right now, back to how you were before. You can be my dad again, different you may look. I’ll never again have a mom, but at least you could be there for me.”

  Abomination looked confused for a moment. “Mom? I had a… wife?”

  Suddenly, he started crumpling to the ground, moaning, “No! No! Stop! Don’t do it!” He rocked violently, finally lying still on the ground.

  Silence reigned for a few moments, until Josef said, “Uh…”

  But what he was going to say next, we never knew. Abomination rose up from the ground, an eerie smile not quite reaching his eyes. “I know who I am now,” he said softly, slowly walking forward towards Alexia.

  Alexia stumbled backwards, quite nearly falling off her rock. “Dad… who are you? What are you?”

  Abomination looked at his only daughter. “I am Abomination, the world’s greatest villain. I have no wife. I have had no other life. This is my life. Stand with me, Alexia, love. Help me fight these monsters that call themselves Supers,” he spat.

  I looked at Alexia, willing her to stand strong, to not give in to her father that was not her father anymore.

  I didn’t need to worry. Alexia looked Abomination directly in the eye and said, “You don’t love me. You don’t even know how to love anymore. You did, once, but those days are over. If you won’t leave us be, then I’ll fight for my real family, the ABC!”

  “Yeah!” most of us chorused. I was touched.

  Abomination was quiet. Then he rose up to full height, walked up to Alexia, and got within an inch of her. She leaned back.

  “Then you are not my daughter anymore,” he hissed, and shoved her off the rock. Alexia fell a good ten feet and lay there, still.

  There was a moment of quiet while ABC’s anger built, and then we roared and came at Abomination with all we were worth.

  The final battle had begun.

 

&n
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