The Last Hero (Book 2): Rise of the Ultras (8 page)

I
watched
the three ULTRAbots surround Spark and I genuinely didn’t know what to do.

Specks of snow fell from the clear skies above. The sounds of Times Square, the smells from hot dog stalls, all of them blended into the background, all of them faded away.

Three ULTRAbots were heading towards Spark.

Flying at him.

They were going to finish him.

Part of me wanted to just disappear and get back home. To give up Glacies completely. It wasn’t a safe world to be an ULTRA. I knew that now more than ever. I’d seen it firsthand.

But I couldn’t shake off Spark’s words.

I had to choose a side. If I chose the side of Kyle Peters, I’d lose anyway.

No. I had to do something here. I had to help Spark.

I focused my attention on the first ULTRAbot, a man with dark hair a little too neatly parted to be believable.

And I put all my energy into stopping it colliding with Spark. Holding him right there, inches from Spark.

“Quick!” I shouted.

Spark looked around. He ran towards me. Behind him, the second ULTRAbot—the woman I’d seen hovering over Times Square—inched closer.

I used my mind to throw the ULTRAbot I’d frozen into the second ULTRAbot, sent it flying out of the side street, into Times Square.

Spark kept on running. There was still another ULTRAbot chasing him. I knew if I weren’t quick, it’d get him. Sure, he was strong, but he needed a hand right now.

I bit my lip so hard that I tasted the metallic tang of blood.

I tried to stop that third and final ULTRAbot getting closer and closer to Spark, so close to snapping at his ankles.

I could do this. I could stop it. I could—

The ULTRAbot slammed into Spark’s back.

Sent him flying across the side street, right in my direction.

I watched the ULTRAbot lift its hand. But Spark spun around, sent a shot of electricity right into the ULTRAbot’s face. It made it twitch and shake for a few seconds, like a malfunctioning machine.

But then it just returned to what it was doing before.

Lifting its fist.

Swinging at Spark.

I saw Spark hold it off once more. And, standing there, I knew I couldn’t just watch. On Times Square, I could see dust kicking up where the other two ULTRAbots were emerging. One of them, I could take. Three of them at once? Not possible. I wasn’t strong enough right now.

I lurched forward. I had to help Spark.

But then I became aware of what I looked like. I wasn’t in my Glacies gear. I was just Kyle Peters, and if I did anything too crazy right now, the whole world would know I was an ULTRA, and I’d be top of everyone’s hit list.

The ULTRAbot swung a fist at Spark’s face.

Spark’s head smacked against the ground.

I cringed at the sound of the crack. I couldn’t just stand here. I couldn’t just wait and watch this happen.

I had to act.

“Hey!” I shouted.

The ULTRAbot looked up. Its fist was still hovering over Spark’s face, getting ready to deliver one final blow.

“Catch this,” I said.

I slammed my fists together.

Flew in the direction of the ULTRAbot.

Before we could make contact, I crashed into Spark’s body and teleported the pair of us back to my street with the last of the strength I had.

I stood by the side of my home. Spark leaned against the wall of my house, gasping for air. He had a nasty cut on his head, a bruise under his eye. Clearly didn’t share my ability for healing.

“Wait there,” I said, walking towards my house, my legs like jelly and the rest of my body not much better. “If I’m gonna help you, I need to look like Glacies.”

Spark nodded. He clutched his stomach, leaned back against the wall. The sky had gone gloomy and cloudy over Staten Island, hiding that bright sun that had shone down earlier. The flakes of snow fell thicker, heavier.

I disappeared into my bedroom. And then I opened up the drawers where I stored my Glacies gear. As I unlocked the final lock, I saw my hands were shaking.

I looked up. Looked at myself in the mirror. And looking back at me, I saw Kyle Peters. Terrified Kyle Peters. Not Glacies.

I saw the seventeen-year-old guy who wanted to live his normal life.

I saw the seventeen-year-old unpopular kid who, more than anything, just wanted to get by.

But no. I couldn’t be that kid. I had to be stronger than that kid. I had to protect my people.

I threw on my Glacies gear. The black costume. The dark mask. And when I’d geared up in it, I looked back in the mirror.

Every time I saw myself as Glacies, I felt stronger right away. More powerful. Because I was powerful—Spark had told me as much, as had Vesper back when we’d mysteriously met.

I just had to embrace that power. I just had to believe that—

“Help!”

The scream was deafening. Ear-piercing.

And it came from just outside my house.

I walked over to my bedroom window, my feet as heavy as lead. I didn’t want to look outside. I didn’t want to see what I feared—the very worst.

But I had to look. I had to see. I couldn’t just walk away.

When I reached the window, what I saw was worse than I possibly imagined.

Two ULTRAbots were standing in my street. Two I’d seen back at Times Square, not including the female one I’d first seen. They must’ve followed us, somehow. Traced my teleportation. Shit. Shitting shit.

One of the ULTRAbots had Spark in its arms. He was struggling, trying to fire electricity at his captors. But the more that ULTRAbot held on, the weaker I saw Spark getting. The more terrified I saw his face turning.

I wanted to go down and help him. To stop them taking him away.

But then I saw the people in their houses. The people in their gardens. Standing there, applauding the ULTRAbots.

And I saw right then that I was the villain. To them, I was the enemy.

I wasn’t the one who kept them safe. Not in their minds. I was everything wrong with the world. I was the thing that needed eliminating.

I watched the ULTRAbots walk away with Spark in their arms. He was bruised, his face was covered in scratches, and his outfit was burned on the chest.

He was unconscious.

I was about to step away from the window, go to the bathroom to throw up when I saw someone standing right outside my house.

She was wearing a brown cloak.

Blue jeans.

She was looking right through my bedroom window and into my eyes with that dead-eyed stare.

She wasn’t a she at all.

It was the ULTRAbot from Times Square.

And it was walking towards my front door.

I
backed away
from my window and wondered what the hell I was going to do.

The ULTRAbot outside had looked at me, right in the eye. It’d seen me. And then it’d started walking towards my door. Soon, it’d be inside my home. It’d come face to face with my parents. It’d—

I heard three heavy bangs against the front door.

My heart raced. My head spun. As I stood there in my Glacies outfit, I’d never felt more defenseless as him. They were coming for me. The ULTRAbots were coming for me. I had to do something. Fast.

“Oh, sure,” I heard Mom say. “Are you one of his teachers?”

I didn’t hear the ULTRAbot respond. But I heard its heavy footsteps walking down my hallway, walking towards the bottom of the stairs.

I held my breath for a few seconds. Focused on teleporting away from here, on flying out…

But then I saw a flash.

A flash in my mind that froze me to the spot.

I wasn’t sure how to explain it, but a vivid image erupted in my imagination. An image of the ULTRAbot standing behind both Mom and Dad, demanding I come back. If I didn’t come back, turn myself in, Mom and Dad would both die.

I saw the tears rolling down Mom’s face.

I imagined Dad begging me, urging me not to go away.

And then I snapped out of the moment and heard the creaky floorboards right outside my door.

I stood still. Completely still in my bedroom. Outside, the street was silent. The only noise was my breathing and my thumping heart.

I knew I couldn’t leave this place. Not after that dizzying image that flashed in my mind, gave me a headache. If I left this place, I was turning my back on Mom and Dad, leaving them for dead. I couldn’t allow that to happen.

I saw myself standing there in the mirror. Saw my reflection. And, feeling so afraid, I felt stupid. Stupid for being so afraid as Glacies. But also stupid for bringing Spark back here in the first place. I’d acted, tried to help, just like he told me I had to. And what had that done for me? It’d got Spark taken away, captured by ULTRAbots.

And it’d got me hiding in my room from that same ULTRAbot I saw hovering over Times Square.

But I had to do something. I knew that. I had to move, even if the very thought of doing so was painful. I had to brace myself for that ULTRAbot entering my room, and then I had to do something about it. It was too late for running away. I had to deal with it, head on.

So I did the only thing a weak kid did when something scary lurked outside their bedroom door.

I took a few steps back and hid inside my wardrobe.

I held my breath in there. Tried to slow down the racing of my heart. It was so loud and heavy that I swore if the ULTRAbot listened closely enough, it’d hear my heart loud and clear.

I crouched in the darkness. Bit my lip. Felt the fear inside bubbling to the surface.

The ULTRAbot’s footsteps stopped, right outside my bedroom door. There was no sound.

And then I heard a handle lowering.

The door swung open, creaking on its hinges.

I made myself smaller in the wardrobe. Curled up into a ball. I didn’t want to use any of my powers for fear of attracting the ULTRAbot in some way. I had to play this right. I had to go about this the right way. The only way.

I saw the shadow creep across my floor. Downstairs, I noticed Mom and Dad were silent. I hoped they were okay, wherever they were, whatever they were doing. I pictured them on their knees, just like I’d seen them in that vision, tears and fear on their faces.

I pictured them begging for their lives.

I pictured them…

No. No, they were okay. They were going to be okay. I had this. I
had
to have this.

I watched the ULTRAbot walk slowly around my room. It moved in an unrealistic manner, its footing not quite even. My pulse still raced in my skull as I held my breath, watched the ULTRAbot go over to the window and stand in the exact spot I’d been in when I looked out at it.

It stopped right there. Looked out of the window for a few seconds.

And then it turned around and looked right at the wardrobe.

I closed my eyes. I closed them because again like anyone terrified, I didn’t want to see what was looking at me. I felt like if I couldn’t see what was coming my way, then maybe the ULTRAbot wouldn’t see me as clearly either.

But I heard the footsteps getting heavier as the ULTRAbot approached.

I heard the floorboards creaking as it stomped across them, step by step by step.

I held my breath and felt a warm tear roll down my cheek as I thought of Ellicia. As I thought of when I’d first mustered up the courage to talk to her at the soccer game. At everything we’d been through since. And now she was leaving. Now she was moving home. Now she was going away.

I felt the tingling sensation in my body change to something stronger. Something much more powerful.

I opened my eyes.

The ULTRAbot opened the wardrobe door.

“Hey, idiot.”

I saw the ULTRAbot look through the wardrobe door at where it expected me to be.

But I wasn’t there.

I’d shifted outside the wardrobe and right behind the ULTRAbot.

“See how you like being stuck in a box.”

The ULTRAbot lifted its hand but I flew into it with full force. I grabbed it, and I felt electricity take over my body as I dragged it through space and time, as I teleported us both far away.

When I finally appeared at the other side of whatever wormhole I’d transported us through, I realized it was still snowy. It was cold. Only it was a hell of a lot snowier and colder than it was where I used to be.

I looked around. I was on the ground, on my knees. My hands stung. In front of me, I saw deep, thick snow. Flakes flew down with painful speed and intensity. If I spent any longer here, wherever here was, I knew I’d freeze.

I stood up, battling every instinct in my body telling me to teleport back home. I saw my wardrobe in the snow ahead of me. It was face down. Underneath, I saw a twisted, broken mechanical arm. The wardrobe was shaking underneath, like something was trying to get out.

I licked my dried lips, my face icy cold. I steadied my ground. Used my usual methods to build up as much energy in my body as possible.

And then I fired a bolt of ice right at the wardrobe.

The wardrobe smashed open before the ice made contact. The ULTRAbot flew towards me.

I fell back. But I kept on firing the ice at it. I kept on pushing and pushing, making sure I took this monster down.

The ice coated the ULTRAbot. Covered its entire body.

I saw its arms getting stiff. I saw its face going gray.

And then I dove out of the way as it landed right where I’d been lying.

It smashed. Smashed and shattered limb by limb, like an expensive piece of pottery.

I stood and looked at the smashed remains of the ULTRAbot. I gasped, catching my breath in this harsh, awful wasteland. And as I stood there, I knew right then that I hadn’t really achieved anything. This wasn’t going to get any easier. It was only going to get harder.

This was just the beginning.

I looked into the frozen stare of the ULTRAbot, and I shot myself back home.

Explaining the wardrobe situation to my parents wasn’t going to be easy.

A
s I disappeared
, I didn’t notice the ULTRAbot’s eye twitch.