Heroes Rising Fiction: The Reckoning Part 14

Nova woke with a jerk, gasping in a harsh breath. He sat up and then held his swimming head.

“Sir, be careful.” Krystal Fae helped him.

Nova looked around. He was among many fallen heroes who were coming around. They all appeared much like him, light-headed and confused. “What happened?”

“BUDDY!” A white blur hit him in the chest and was hugging him about the neck.

“GAH!” Nova grunted under a potent sensation of pain in him.

Krystal peeled EB off of Nova, “Be careful. He had four broken ribs. I cast a mending charm on him, but they will still hurt pretty badly.”

Nova spent a moment catching his breath. “What happened?”

EB hopped up and down as he excitedly said, “We beat him! Well, Chase did. Dunno how. No one has found her since the battle. I hope she’s okay. Someone said they thought she was hurt. But where she fell, they can’t find her. I bet she got away. How did she fly like that? I saw her flying, it was so cool. And the way she was throwing those blades, zoom, zoom...” he was pretending to throw blades.

Nova looked up at Krystal, a genuine look of worry on his face. “Chase?”

“We...haven’t found her. No one has seen her since the battle. But, it’s only been three hours, we’re still sorting through the rubble for survivors.”

“What about Lord Dragon?”

EB solemnly said, “He’s still alive, but he took a heavy beating from Jinn. He said he wanted to see you when you woke up. But he is in no shape to come in here.”

“Then I’ll go to him.” Nova struggled to stand, but the pain was too great.

Krystal protested, “Sir, my healing charms are good, but you need rest.”

“I will see Lord Dragon now. Either help me or get out of my way.” He was not making much progress getting up on his own, so Krystal helped him to his feet.

Once they stepped outside, Nova stopped and looked around. “Where are the demons?”

“Gone. They vanished the moment Jinn vanished. I could feel the magic in them, they were made from his power.” Krystal answered. “Come, it’s just around this corner.”

Soon, he came to a place where a large dragon lay on the ground. Near him, sitting up against a broken slab of concrete, was a battered Santa Claus. Cupid walked between them, bringing them water. He was the only one whose injuries appeared to be minor.

Santa was the first to notice. “Nova. Oh, I’m glad to see you walking. I feared the worst.”

Nova lightly smiled, “I’ve been better. That may have been one of the worst battles I’ve ever experienced.”

Lord Dragon opened his eyes, his head on the ground. “It is over, my old friend. My son...is dead.”

“I’m sorry.”

Lord Dragon, in that deep voice of his, said, “What had to be done was done.”

Santa suddenly said, “Ah, my sleigh!”

Nova turned to see the glorious sight of Santa’s sleigh approaching. It landed and Maneki-Neko jumped out and rushed over to Lord Dragon. “Oh, dear.”

“I will be fine.”

EB asked, “Maneki...did you fly that sleigh?”

“Of course not, I’m too short.”

Just then a voice no one expected to hear said, “I did.” Chase jumped out of the sleigh and walked up to Nova.

Nova gasped and suddenly grabbed Chase in a gingerly hug, minding his injuries. Everyone, save Lord Dragon, had wide eyes and mouths agape at this. Nova said, “I thought you were dead.”

She stepped away from his hug. “No. I’m perfectly fine. Probably a lot better than the rest of you.”

EB hopped up and landed in her arms, “What happened?”

Just then Lord Dragon asked, “Where is Leprechaun?”

Chase spent a moment before she answered. There was a pained look in her eyes. “Leprechaun came up with a plan. He apparently had begun this plan some time back. He found Jinn’s original magic stored in his talisman in the palace's basement. He used it to return his powers.”

Lord Dragon said, “How? He would need magic to do such a thing.”

Santa said, “I helped him. I didn’t know the extent of his plan, but I knew he was being honest about helping defeat Jinn and we needed all the help we could get.”

Nova asked, “What was his plan after getting magic back?”

Chase set EB down, “He changed himself to look like me. And then we attacked Jinn. He knew that Jinn would have a devilish interest in hurting me, so he used that to bait Jinn. He attacked in such a way that Jinn would focus on him. And, in his rage, Jinn would strike him down.”

Lord Dragon quietly said, “He committed the ultimate sacrifice. And, since Jinn’s power was in Leprechaun, Jinn killed himself.”

“I guess. I don’t know much about these things. All I know is that Leprechaun told me, just before we got here, that he wanted to repay you, the other mythics, and the humans, for what he tried to do. He helped Jinn gain the power he needed to do all this. He felt it was his responsibility to end it.”

There was a thick silence between them. Maneki-Neko cried and EB hugged her. Lord Dragon said, “What terrible things my son wrought.”

Chase said, “There was one other thing about Leprechaun’s plan. It involved Quark. He fell into the sleigh after the battle. Then, ten minutes ago, he flew away without saying a word. I tried contacting him, but he isn’t responding.”

Nova pulled out his comm unit and realized it was shattered. Chase handed him hers. He checked it, “I can see his signal. He’s heading directly for New York.” Snapping the comm closed, he said, “He has always been a hard one to figure out. Right now, we have a crisis to clean up.”

***

Several days passed while Nova healed and commanded. Heroes worked with international aid to clean up and repair the city. BADGE officials from all over the planet spoke with the media at a safe distance, keeping them from interfering.

After enough time, Nova felt it was wise to move the mythics back to a safe, hidden location. He and Chase, along with the mythics, returned to Lord Dragon’s palace.

“Sir, I just got a disturbing message from HQ,” Chase said while she and Nova rode with Santa toward the palace.

“What is it?”

“They said that Quark had been there, spent some time where Gar is resting, and then left. He wouldn’t speak to anyone while he was there and now no one can find him.”

“So? Quark is strange, he could have phased to another dimension for a while.”

“It’s not that. He took Gar’s statue with him.”

“What?”

The sleigh landed near the palace entrance.

Just then, one of the palace servants came rushing out to Lord Dragon. She bowed low, “My Lord, we have an unexpected guest.”

Lord Dragon led the group into the palace to find Strange Quark standing with Gar’s statue in the garden.

“What is the meaning of this?” Lord Dragon ordered.

Quark remained silent.

Nova walked over, “Quark?”

Still silent.
Chase came closer to him, “What’s wrong?”

He finally moved, looking directly at her. “Chase...” his voice trailed off.

“Yes?”

He gave her a soft smile, one she knew well from another man. “Chase...you’re so beautiful.”

“Quark? What has gotten into you?”

EB hopped over and bounced around Chase, “THAT’S NOT QUARK!”

Maneki-Neko said, “I sense it too.”

Cupid came close and pulled Chase back, “This...is not possible.”

Lord Dragon approached and held Quark by the shoulder. “It is true. All of it is in him.”

“What?” Nova asked.

Lord Dragon held up a hand, and a light began to glow. All the other mythics did the same. Suddenly a fountain of lights burst out of Quark. Energy fell on Santa and he shouted with joy. Cupid was next, he flew up a few feet with exuberance. Finally, a great, blinding light burst out and Quark fell to the ground like a discarded doll. The Mythics as one moved their hands toward Gar and the energy filled the empty statue.

A moment of timid quiet filled the garden. Then Gar’s right wing moved, then his left, his arms lowered, and he closed his mouth and blinked his eyes. He finally stumbled back and then held his arms against his chest.

“What...happened? Where is Jinn?”

No one answered. Chase slowly approached him, tears flowing down her face. In a struggling voice, she said, “Gar...is it really you?”

“Yes.”

She threw herself at him and gave him a deep hug. She pressed herself into him and he put his arms around her. She wept, “Never leave me again!”

Suddenly Quark sat up, “That’s no lady, that’s my wife!...oh, my head.” He looked around. “Did it work...GAR, YOU’RE ALIVE!”

Nova helped Quark to his feet. “What did you do?”

“Just what Leprechaun told me to do. When Jinn fell, it would expose his energy at the quantum level. At the right moment, I could take out all the energy he stole and hopefully return it to those he stole it from.” He held his head. “It was strange, even for me. I could feel the others in me like three distinct voices, especially Gar. I was not in control of myself, hardly aware of what I was doing.”

Chase said, “You brought him back. I don’t know how I can repay you.”

“No need. He’s my friend too. No one else will laugh at my jokes.”

Nova asked, “What about Leprechaun? Did you get his power back as well?”

“I couldn’t. The moment Jinn killed Leprechaun, he killed both the power in him and the power that came from him. The two energies were destroyed and both died. He knew this would be his fate, I tried to get him to come up with another plan, but he was set on this.”

Lord Dragon said, “Leprechaun will be remembered for his selfless sacrifice and that he out-maneuvered Jinn, a feat worthy of very few. Now, I believe it is time to rest and recover.”

Nova said, “Thanks, but I have to get back to BADGE, there are a lot of details left to clear up.”

Gar said, “What do you want me to do, Director?”

Lord Dragon looked at them with a genuine smile on his stoic face, “You two have important matters to discuss. I believe the Director can spare you for a few days as my guest.”

“Huh?” Gar looked around.

Cupid smiled and plucked his bowstring.

Chase took Gar’s hand, “Let’s go for another walk in the garden. I think we need to talk.”