The Last Hero (Book 2): Rise of the Ultras (9 page)

I
walked
through the school grounds and couldn’t feel relaxed about anything.

The snow had stopped, but the cold had attacked stronger than at any point so far this winter. There was a bitterness to it as I breathed in, the kind of cold that stung your nostrils and your lungs. I had that groggy feeling at the back of my throat, too. The kind of feeling that came with not much sleep. Which didn’t surprise me. I hadn’t had much sleep at all these last few days.

“You sure you’re okay, dude?” Damon asked. He frowned at me, much in the way he’d frowned at me a lot lately. “Swear you look more like a ghost every time I see you.”

“It’s just this bug,” I said, fully aware that I was probably the most terrible liar in the world. I was training, though. Practicing, and trying to get better. I might’ve been good at being an ULTRA, but lying was still a trait I hadn’t honed.

“Yeah. This mystery bug you keep goin’ on about that nobody else has.”

“It’s winter,” I said. “Bugs are what happen.”

“Right,” Damon said, sounding unconvinced. “The world’s falling apart, Ellicia’s left you, and it’s a bug that finally floors you.”

I was partly pleased that Damon still thought it was the Ellicia thing that was getting to me. Of course it was. But I had way bigger problems to worry about right now. Spark. The ULTRA I’d watched get taken away by the ULTRAbots, right outside my house. I couldn’t escape the guilt I felt for what happened to him. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I could’ve done something more if I’d really tried.

“You see the news from Paris last night?” Damon asked, as we made our way up the stairs towards Geography.

I looked over my shoulder. I’d become increasingly panicky when I was in school–well, when I was anywhere–especially after the ULTRAbots had found their way into my school. It felt like wherever I was, I had to look over my shoulder, especially now I knew the ULTRAbots could detect who I was at a glance.

I thought to the ULTRAbot I’d transported to the ice and the snow in the middle of nowhere. The one I’d frozen, then smashed and left behind. It took a lot to defeat it. To take it down. And that was just one of them.

They were too strong for me to fight alone. I knew it would take a lot for me to defeat them. A lot of courage. A lot of strength. And a lot of people. So I was going to have to hope I could avoid them. Keep as low a profile as I possibly could.

My life–both of my lives–depended on it.

“Kyle?” Damon said. “You even listening?”

I looked back at Damon. Everything seemed muffled, blurry. Every sound of a voice, every glance in my direction… It felt like they all knew I was Glacies. That the secret was out.

I knew I couldn’t let that happen. I just couldn’t allow it.

“Massive fight over Paris, anyway,” Damon said. “Three ULTRAbots, four ULTRAs. Some of ’em firing flames, others firing live bullets outta their hands. Man, it was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. Took the top off the Eiffel Tower. But the ULTRAbots won, of course.”

“Of course,” I muttered, a sinking feeling building in my stomach.

“What?”

I shook my head. I couldn’t let Damon clock on to my disappointment about the ULTRAs being defeated. I mean, should I be disappointed that ULTRAs were being defeated? There were rogue ULTRAs out there, of course. Who were the good guys? Who were the bad guys? Was there even such a thing anymore?

I turned the corner, my thoughts and feelings still firmly rooted elsewhere, and I saw Ellicia standing outside my Geography class.

I stood still. Like I’d walked right into a brick wall. She was standing there, and she was looking into my eyes, with a half smile on her face. Her brown hair shone, and her eyes twinkled. I felt like I was seeing her for the first time all over again.

“You… aren’t in my Geography,” I said. And felt idiotic the moment after saying those words. I’d been together with this person for six months. Why was I acting like I’d never spoken to her before all over again?

“No,” she said. “Nicely spotted. Hey, you’ve got five minutes, right?”

I looked at my watch, which didn’t actually exist. “Maybe four. Or three–”

“Kyle, I’m not moving.”

It took my brain a few seconds to adjust to what Ellicia just said.

“Well? Don’t look so terrified.”

“No,” I said, my cheeks flushing. Shit. What was I supposed to say? Was this a dream? I’d prepared myself so much for this reality, and now Ellicia was staying? “That’s–that’s great. That’s really great.”

Ellicia didn’t look convinced by my words. I wished I could sound more enthusiastic. Her staying was everything I wanted, after all. “Well, not totally great. Dad’s new job fell through. All to do with the ULTRAs. Luckily his old place loves him, so they were happy to take him right back.”

“So you’re staying for good?”

Ellicia smiled. “For now. And for a while. I hope.”

I looked down at my shoes. I felt happy inside, I really did. But a part of me felt afraid too. Because I’d accepted my situation as Kyle Peters. I’d accepted that with Ellicia leaving New York, I had less to lose.

But now she was staying, I had more in my non-ULTRA life to fight for.

Was that a good thing? Was that a bad thing? I just didn’t know anymore.

“Anyway,” Ellicia said, as my classmates starting jostling inside the Geography class. She looked down at the corridor. “I guess I just wondered if you wanted to go for a milkshake tomorrow? There’s a nice new place opened right by the harbor. They do Oreo shakes.”

I smiled. I couldn’t believe I’d even questioned whether this was a good thing or not. “You had me at Oreo.”

She walked up to me, then. She wrapped her arms around me, hugged me. And I felt like I was hugging her for the first time. I felt the warmth of her body. The softness of her hair. I still didn’t ever feel totally comfortable, totally confident. But I was just happy to have her back.

But similarly, I was more sad—more determined than ever—that I had to hide to keep my life as Kyle Peters intact.

I thought about Vesper’s words. About what he’d said about giving up my life as Kyle Peters to take on my ULTRA responsibilities.

“See you tomorrow?” Ellicia asked.

I snapped out of my thoughts. Looked back at Ellicia and smiled.

“Tomorrow.”

She nodded at me and walked away.

I took in a deep breath and headed into Geography.

Maybe things could get better. Maybe this was a sign that things were finally working out.

Maybe.

M
r. Parsons stood
in the labs and stared at the body on the table in front of him.

Deep down here, underground, there was no sense of time, no sense of weather. It could be the middle of the day or it could be the middle of the night. He didn’t know. Time was irrelevant anyway, especially when an army of ULTRAbots were out in the world hunting down the ULTRAs.

What mattered was he had one of them, right here. One of them he recognized. Not one of the ones who’d escaped Area 64.

Which meant there was something else going on.

He listened to the low hum of the fans whirring above. The lights were bright, flickering. He liked to be in rooms like this with the ULTRAs while they were strapped down and limited, of course. The knowledge that so much power rested in this room; power that had been repressed. There was something about it that made Mr. Parsons feel like a conqueror, like a hero.

But he wasn’t a hero. He was just a normal man. A figurehead of the human resistance against the ULTRAs.

A beast tamer.

Or something like that.

The door behind him clicked open. He looked around and saw Idris leaning around the door, dressed in his white lab coat. He looked concerned.

“Sir? You um… You probably shouldn’t be in here. Not so soon after we caught him.”

Mr. Parsons turned around and looked at the ULTRA lying on the metal table. He recognized the blue outfit. The wispy hair. The boyish good looks. Spark. Definitely Spark. He thought this one was long gone. He remembered him from when he was younger, when they were both younger, at the tail end of the previous Era of the ULTRAs. He never thought he’d see Spark live to see this day. He thought he’d have disappeared long ago.

Never mind. He kind of liked the underdog.

“I’ll be fine, Idris,” Mr. Parsons said, keeping his focus on Spark. “Just a moment alone. Please.”

He looked back around at Idris and saw his lips opening, getting ready to protest.

But then he just smiled. Nodded. “Of course, sir. I’ll give you five minutes.”

He turned around and left Mr. Parsons alone with Spark.

Mr. Parsons absorbed the stillness of the room for another few seconds. And then he stepped around the side of the metal slab where Spark rested. He walked slowly, heard his footsteps tapping against the floor. He could feel Spark’s energy as he walked closer to him, and it excited him. It excited him like coming into contact with an ULTRA always did.

“I know you can hear me,” he said.

Spark’s eyes opened up the second Mr. Parsons spoke. He looked up. Looked right into his eyes. And Mr. Parsons saw the transferral of understanding. He saw Spark struggle at first. And then he saw him adjust to his surroundings, accept where he was.

Then, groggy-eyed, Spark looked Mr. Parsons right in his eyes. “The Devil,” he said.

Mr. Parsons smiled at him. He stayed still, right by his bedside. “That’s not exactly the nicest way to say hello, is it?”

Spark’s chest moved rapidly. Mr. Parsons smiled as he watched him struggle to spark up his electricity. As he tensed his fists and tried to transport himself far away from this room. A breeze hit Mr. Parsons’ face. The floor shook, just a little.

But that was fine. That was normal. That was to be expected.

“It’s been so long, Spark. In fact, I don’t recall ever capturing you. I thought you’d have gone by now. Thought you’d either have disappeared—the wise choice—or just… Well, I thought your powers must’ve gotten the better of you. Kind of spirited to see you lying here. Pinned down. Alive.”

“You let me go. You’re not gonna get away with this. We’re gonna stop you.”

Mr. Parsons held his smile and kept on looking down at Spark. “I’m guilty about having to do this. I really am. But I have a responsibility to the world to do it. You know I do. A responsibility to humanity—”

“You’re full of shit.”

“You know, we were working on the ULTRAbots for years here in government. Trying to find a way to truly harness the power of something as strong as the ULTRAs—stronger even—but without the repercussions of their actions. Without the potential for disaster. Anyway, we finally found a way, after much trial and error. I came along and gave the team an extra… well, spark.”

Spark breathed heavily, tensing. Sweat rolled down his forehead. Mr. Parsons felt his fear like it was tangible.

And he loved it.

“So now here we are. I have your kind, both those who disastrously escaped Area 64. And others, like you. So now I need to ask you a question. A serious question. And you are going to answer. And even if you don’t, I’m going to destroy all your kind. I’ll make you watch your kind fall, I’ll take everything away from you. And then I’ll bring it all back and do it over and over again.”

“You can’t do that.”

“Trust me,” Mr. Parsons said, the first speck of anger creeping into his voice. “Don’t ever tell me what I can’t do. Not anymore. I’m here, am I not?”

There was silence between them. And Mr. Parsons saw a pale-faced understanding covering Spark’s face. An awareness that this was it. He didn’t have a choice, not anymore.

“So you tell me the truth. Who is your leader?”

Spark’s eyes connected with Mr. Parsons’ again. This time, he looked unsure more than anything. Conflicted.

“I don’t enjoy doing this. I understand you are just ULTRAs, and there is nothing you can do about being ULTRAs. But I have a responsibility to humanity to keep people safe. And with aberrations like you around, how can I ever hope to do that?”

“Screw you. Screw you.”

Spark spat right in Mr. Parsons’ face.

Mr. Parsons didn’t react. He just wiped Spark’s spit away. Rubbed it against his blazer jacket. “There are other ways, you know. Other methods. Did you ever wonder what happened to Kal?”

Mr. Parsons saw the tears building in Spark’s eyes. “Don’t. Don’t.”

“We kept him alive for most of our experiments. And he put up a fight, bless his soul. Just a pity he was worthless in the end. That the research we did on him came to nothing. Waste of life. But, ah well. He played a part in the creation of the ULTRAbots.”

“No!” Spark shouted.

The ground shook again. Mr. Parsons felt that outburst of compressed energy rattle the walls.

He leaned in towards Spark. Leaned in close. “Then you tell me. You answer my question, or I will make your life and the lives of everyone you care about hell.”

“You can’t—”

“Your mother, Alice. She’s a nice lady, isn’t she? Does she know you’re still alive? She still lives at the same place. Hell’s Kitchen. Cute little flat. But you already know that, right? Because you hover outside her window once a week.”

Spark’s tears were in full flow now. Mr. Parsons knew he’d taken him by surprise. “Please,” he begged.

“Tell me who your leader is. Tell me now, and we’ll end this stupidity. Nobody has to get hurt.”

Spark closed his eyes. In that split second, Mr. Parsons saw his spirit breaking. His resolve. “You won’t hurt her? You promise?”

Mr. Parsons nodded. “I promise.”

Spark sniveled. He wasn’t a hero. He was just a weakling with some powers. Just like the rest of the ULTRAs. Take their powers away and what were they, really? Just losers. Failures.

Mr. Parsons’ phone bleeped, breaking the moment. He lifted it out of his pocket, sighing. He knew what that sound meant. Another ULTRAbot transmission identifying an ULTRA. Another name to add to the list of captured, or defeated, ULTRAs.

But when he looked at his screen, when he saw the snow and the figure dressed in dark black looking right into the camera—the eyes of the ULTRAbot—he felt a twinge of fear and excitement, deep inside.

“Glacies,” Spark said.

Mr. Parsons looked up from his screen. “What?”

“Glacies,” Spark sniveled. “He’s—he’s alive. And he’s our leader.”

Mr. Parsons wouldn’t have believed Spark if he’d told him that moments earlier.

But he couldn’t deny what was on his screen.

Glacies was alive.

Glacies was still standing.

And he was the one leading the resistance.

He put his phone back in his pocket. Walked over to Spark’s bedside. Rested a hand on his chest. “Thank you, Spark. Thank you ever so much. I’ll keep an eye on Alice. Make sure she doesn’t take the bad news too… well, badly.”

Spark’s face was normal for a few seconds.

But then it started to turn purple.

His skin grew cold.

His breathing went rapid, increasing but getting shorter and shorter as he struggled for life.

“Go to sleep now, Spark. Your duty is over. You’ll awaken much better. Much more recovered. Much more… Heroic.”

He saw Spark trying to fight as the life drifted from his face.

He saw the color leave his cheeks. Felt the energy in his body crumbling as he tried to fight back.

And then, he felt nothing.