Just Cause Universe 2: The Archmage (32 page)

The Archmage shouted in triumph and pointed at it with his good arm. The guitar whirled around and shattered itself against the jagged base of a broken column. Pieces flew everywhere and the cracked and broken carcass of the strange and beautiful instrument landed at Sally’s feet.

“This is how it ends, Kramer! This is how it all becomes mine! With you dying on the floor in front of your friends and me winning the world.”

“Gloat all you want.” Stratocaster coughed around a mouthful of blood. “They’ll never give up. They’ll never stop fighting you.”

Sally glanced down and saw something incongruous amid the wreckage of Strat’s guitar: her missing horseshoe—the one she’d found amid Shannon’s bones all those months ago. Strange figures were inscribed along the iron curve in many colors, layered on top of one another giving the illusion of far more depth than was possible.

She reached down for it and as she did so, symbols illuminated all up and down her arm in a specific sequence, like a computer running self-diagnostics. With each symbol, she felt like a piece of a puzzle locked into place. Her entire body hummed and the horseshoe quivered in her grasp like a living being, eager to fulfill its mission. She looked at it, then over at the gloating Archmage, and suddenly she understood what it was she held. Her stomach twisted. She was no stranger to death, having seen friends and foes die during the past year, but she had never been directly responsible for ending the life of another human.

She didn’t know if she could.

The final symbol illuminated and the horseshoe reshaped itself. The two ends became sharpened lances of crimson light. Bright yellow arcs of energy danced between the forks, and she knew she held the sole, ultimate weapon against the Archmage in her hand.

“I can stop them.” The Archmage used his magic to hoist Stratocaster out of the rubble and made him hover in the air, arms outstretched as if he was being crucified. “Once you’re dead, I can do anything I want.”
Frazier
’s withered arm thickened and strengthened until it was whole once more.

“What…” Stratocaster spat out a mouthful of blood. “What are you going to do, talk me to death?”

Energy gathered around the Archmage’s hands as he prepared to blast Stratocaster into oblivion. “And so my reign shall begin.”

“Wolfgang!” called Sally. He turned his head to look in her direction.

In the space between seconds, she closed the distance between them and hammered the horseshoe into his chest.

Chapter Twenty

“By accident of fortune a man may rule the world for a time, but by virtue of love he may rule the world forever.”

-Tao Te Ching,
by Lao Tzu
 

August, 2004

Rugby, North Dakota

A part of Sally’s brain screamed at her that she’d just killed someone as the magical horseshoe plunged to the hilt into the Archmage’s flesh. She couldn’t believe it would be so simple. The best she hoped was to create a momentary distraction. Maybe it would give Stratocaster an opening, although she didn’t think he could do his magic without a guitar.
Maybe I can go find him one
, she thought frantically. But even at her fastest speed, she reasoned, it would still take her a few minutes to find a music store in Rugby, if there even was one, and return with a suitable instrument.

Surprise was just starting to replace glee on the Archmage’s face when Sally released the horseshoe. The symbols ran off her arm like dust in the wind, spiraling onto the glowing arc of iron which protruded from Frazier’s chest, transferring their destructive power into him.

He looked down at the object in his torso, confused. His fingers explored it as he sank to his knees. “How?” he asked.

Tiny rays of light pushed out of the Archmage’s body, the brightest from around the horseshoe itself. His head sank slowly to his chest and his arms dropped to the floor. The light within him grew brighter and dissolved his flesh into dust.

The world seemed to turn inside out and upside down. A tornado of whirling energy roared in place of the man who had dared to claim the title of Archmage. It consumed his remains until not even ashes remained behind. The castle walls evaporated around them and the mountain dove back into the plain as if it had never existed. Still the magic spun around, like an electrical storm seeking a ground.

It found that ground in Stratocaster.

Years’ worth of magical energy
Frazier
had hoarded so greedily flowed into him. The sum total of the world’s magical power rushed into him as if he were a void for it to fill. His wounds vanished, his hair grew back, and his clothing repaired itself. He closed his eyes, spread his arms wide, and drank in the power like a sun-worshiper on a Mediterranean beach.

The howl of the magic as it spiraled into Stratocasater was deafening, and Sally clamped her hands firmly over her ears. Spinning winds threatened to send her tumbling, but a strong arm wrapped around her waist and she caught the comforting scent of peach pie and knew Jason was with her.

The last of the stray tendrils of power vanished into Stratocaster, who shone like an earthbound star. He staggered, giddy, and held his head as if it might suddenly fly off of its own accord. All around them, Sally could see those people that Wolfgang had converted to his own troops, looking around and blinking in confusion like they had been awakened prematurely from deep sleep. Soldiers rushed in to take people to safety.

Sally saw Doublecharge approach, leading a mass of assembled heroes from several teams, and waved at her to let her know they were all right. Doublecharge ordered the other heroes to create a secure perimeter. She and Sondra dropped out of the sky by Sally and Jason.

Sally released her grasp on Jason so she could squeeze her winged friend and exult in the feel of feathers between her fingers.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” she whispered.

“Likewise, kiddo,” said Sondra in a husky voice. “I’ve been worried sick about you. Hell, I’ve been
molting
.”

Sally laughed. “I’m so glad you’re all okay.” She discovered she was crying, but didn’t mind so much.

“Are you all right?” asked Doublecharge. “You’ve been through a lot.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“What about him?” Doublecharge nodded toward Stratocaster, who hovered several feet above the ground, still glowing like a lighthouse beacon. He seemed transfixed by the play of energies around, between and through his fingers.

“I don’t know,” said Sally. “When we took down
Frazier
, the power all went into Strat.
Ooooh!
” She gasped and her hands flew to her mouth.

“What is it?” Doublecharge’s voice was sharp.

“Strat and
Frazier
were the last two mages. Now
Frazier
’s dead, and all the power is in Strat, and that makes him…” Sally couldn’t finish; she didn’t want to say what she knew was in her heart.

“The true Archmage.” Doublecharge’s eyes narrowed.

“
The Archmage is dead. Long live the Archmage
,” said Sondra.
 

Sally swallowed hard. “I don’t think he’d… you know,
hurt
anyone. He’s not that kind of person.”

“He has absolute power. All the magic in the entire world is at his disposal. We can’t know
what
kind of person that will make him.” Doublecharge clicked on her collar mike. “All team leaders, this is Doublecharge. Stratocaster is to be considered a top level threat until we clear him. Secure the perimeter and stand by for further orders. Do not let him leave.”

The heroes moved in to encircle Stratocaster on the ground and the air.

Stratocaster staggered around and held his head in his hands as if he had a migraine. Strange flowers sprang from the ground around his feet with each step. He lurched suddenly and a sparkling pillar of crystal rocketed out of the ground to support him and sang with harmonic vibrations. He looked at it with interest, and then poked it with a finger. A stream of brightly-colored birds issued forth from the crystalline depths, flying in a long chain of follow-the-leader.

“Will!” cried a voice. “Let me through, goddammit!”

Sally looked to see Ace being restrained by Bullet from the Lucky Seven.

“Stay back, Ace,” ordered Doublecharge.

“
Ace
?” Stratocaster’s voice rumbled with reverberations that shook the land, as if they were standing on a subwoofer. He cleared his throat with a noise like distant fireworks. “
Hey. Cool. I sound like Darth Vader.
Luke… I… am… your… father
!
” He broke into peals of laughter that built up into a feedback delay that soon had everyone wincing.

“Stop it, Will.” Sally could hear the fear in Doublecharge’s voice. They were all afraid; before them stood a man with the powers of a god.

“Scaring you? This is nothing. I could show you things that’d straighten your hair, Stacey. Things that would make you never want to sleep again. Ever.
” A swirling cloud of malevolence circled around Will’s ankles, containing within it shadows and hints that would give them all nightmares for years to come. As quickly as it had grown, it dissipated into nothingness. “
But that’s not important right now. What’s important is that I want to talk to my girl.
”

Doublecharge pointed at him. “Will, this isn’t the time…”

“
Why not
?” He gestured expansively and a grove of trees popped out of the dusty earth; they shook out their branches like dogs after a long nap. “
I’ve done everything I was supposed to do. I took care of your little problem for you. I think I deserve a little
gratitude
!” With his final word, a powerful force pushed all of the heroes apart to leave Ace standing by herself.

Sally found herself nearly paralyzed. Unlike the magic that Wolfgang had used on them, Will’s was somehow softer; she could move slightly if she used only the gentlest of motions and forced herself to slow down. From grunts of exertion up and down the line of heroes she could tell the others were similarly frozen.

Ace was having none of it.

She had her hands on her hips and tapped one foot impatiently on the ground. “William Kramer, just what do you think you are doing?”

“
Ace
?” Will sounded uncertain.

She stomped toward him, anger boiling off her. “These people are your friends, Will! Look how you’re treating them!”

“
I’m… I’m sorry…
”

“The Will I fell in love with wouldn’t do this. The Will I fell in love with was considerate and kind. You’re acting like a dictator.”

“
It’s all this power… it’s making my head spin. I can’t think straight
.”

“You call yourself a hero? This is not how heroes act, Will, surely. This is what we’d expect from
Frazier
. Did we just trade one evil for another?”

Will bowed his head. “
You’re right.
I’m sorry.” His voice shrank back to its normal timbre. Suddenly Sally was free, and so were the others. “I’m sorry, everyone.”

Ace was now standing right in front of him and looked sternly up at him. “Oh, Will… what are we going to do with you?”

He bent down, took her in his arms, and held her tight.

Doublecharge murmured into her throat mike, “Just Cause, stay on alert. Everyone else stand down but don’t go too far away.”

Time passed.

Just Cause remained near Will as he consented to be checked out by paramedics. They pronounced him in perfect health. He offered to heal any wounds anyone else had suffered, to repair any damages, and even to wash and wax all the military armor. The commanders politely declined, instead focusing their attention on getting the civilians back to safety.

Doublecharge handed Sally her cell phone after talking into it for several minutes. “It’s Juice,” she said. “He wants to talk to you.”

“
Sally?
”

“I’m here.”

“
Are you all right? I know we put you through the wringer once again.
”

She took a moment to inventory herself and was both surprised and pleased to discover she was more or less whole on a physical, mental, and emotional level. “I’m fine, sir.”

“
I’m very proud of you, Sally. You’re a real asset to the team. In many ways, I think you’re the strongest of any of us for what you’ve gone through
.”

“I don’t know,” she said and felt herself blush to the roots of her hair.

“
Well I do
,” he replied. “
And I’m putting an official commendation in your file
.”

“Um, thanks.”

“
See you back at headquarters
.”

Sally handed the phone back to Doublecharge just as a nervous-looking Army colonel ran up to them with a field telephone. “Uh, Mr., uh, Kramer? I have the President for you.”

 Will grinned. “Which one?”

The colonel looked scandalized. “Ours, of course.”

“I’m just joshing with you.” Will took the phone and leaned back. A large, overstuffed office chair appeared behind him. As he swung his feet up, a heavy mahogany desk burst into existence beneath them. A cord twirled out of the field telephone to connect to a unit which sprang into being on the desk. “Mr. President? Will Kramer, a.k.a. Stratocaster of the Lucky Seven. How the heck are you?” He covered the mouthpiece and winked at Ace. “Always wanted to say that.”

Stratocaster nodded, grunted, and made lots of “uh-huh” sounds as the President talked his ear off. “Mr. President,” he said at last after taking a sip from the giant cherry cola Slushee which he’d conjured into existence. “I can personally guarantee that Wolfgang
Frazier
is no longer a threat to this country, or any country.” Once more he covered the mouthpiece and nudged Ace. “You think he knows I didn’t vote for him?”

Sally’s phone buzzed to notify her of an incoming message. As she pulled it out to check it, she noticed all the other Just Cause heroes likewise retrieved their own phones. The message was from Juice.