The Last Hero (Book 1): Ultra (15 page)

M
y first visit
to Chicago wasn’t exactly under the best circumstances.

It was cooler here than it was back in New York, living up to the stereotype of the Windy City. The sun covered with cloud. Otherwise, it was pretty reminiscent of Manhattan in all truth. The same tall buildings, the same honking horns of taxis. The same sense that usually, this was a city that was busy. That was bustling with life.

But today, there was a strange quietness to it. A quietness that I knew would be the same in every city around the world.

People weren’t venturing far from home when Nycto was such a threat.

I sat on a bench overlooking North Avenue beach. The waves were high, and apparently this place usually got pretty busy. There were just a few people out today, sitting and hoping for sun. Behind me, the horns of cars, the chatter of the city.

I had my gear on underneath a big black coat I was wearing. I also had sunglasses on, which probably should’ve made me look cool but actually made me look stupid. I did what the shifty older generation always did when they were trying not to look suspicious—held up a newspaper. I mean, man. Holding an actual paper version of the news in this year? How the hell was that supposed to
not
look suspicious?

The only thing that mattered was that there was no sign of Nycto yet.

I overheard chatter about the ULTRAs, mostly Nycto. A few worried conversations in cafes, mostly empty. But the talk wasn’t all about Nycto. There was talk about the incident in New York, too. The rumors of another ULTRA freeing those women from the harbor, but causing chaos in the process. Me, of course. They didn’t know that yet. I was kinda glad. Some people didn’t exactly have the nicest things to say about ULTRAs in general, even when we were just trying to do the right thing.

I heard some shouts over to my left. Saw people walking through the streets. They were holding placards in the air, chanting things.

“Go away, ULTRAS!”

“BURN IN HELL!”

“Je Suis Humanity!”

I saw those placards, heard the angry chants, and I felt uneasy about this whole thing. I’d made an educated guess that Nycto had Chicago next on his list if there really was a pattern to how he was going about his attacks. But what if I was wrong? What if
I’d
made an error, and he was hovering above another city right now, waiting to rain down those fireballs from his fists?

I shuffled my newspaper. There wasn’t much worrying about it could do. I was here, where I thought Nycto was headed. That was the main thing.

I hadn’t thought nearly enough about what my plan would be when Nycto finally got here. Part of me wanted to reach out to him. To figure out who he was. Ask who he was and why exactly he was doing what he was doing, masks off. Everyone had a reason for the things they did. Maybe I could get through to Nycto. Maybe I could reach some place inside him that he didn’t even know was there, turn him around before he caused any chaos.

I sat on that park bench for ages. After a while, at least an hour, I walked into an alleyway and camouflaged. I used every inch of strength in my body to hover up between the buildings. I was ropey at it. Nearly fell a few times. The height made me feel sick.

But I managed to lift myself right above the city, my fear of heights—something I didn’t even know I had until now—well and truly awakening.

The city was still. There was no sign of Nycto. No…

I saw it. Saw it in the corner of my eye.

Movement. Up ahead to the right.

Nycto.

I felt myself grow more at ease hovering in the sky right then. Like the fury of seeing Nycto fueled my powers.

I felt the sickness in my stomach. The nervousness telling me I was being crazy. That this was suicide.

I had no choice. I was the only person capable of stopping Nycto. And I wasn’t even hundred percent sure I was that.

I flew in Nycto’s direction. As I shot through the sky, my stomach tickling with adrenaline and fear, I felt myself flying faster towards him.

He shot to the left. Then to the right. He was moving crazy fast. So fast that I had no idea if I’d actually be able to catch him.

Then, something weird happened. He stopped. He stopped and he started dropping. Dropping in free-fall out of the sky.

I hesitated for a moment. It seemed weird. Like something wasn’t right. Why was he falling? Had his powers failed him?

Screw it. If they had, this was my moment.

I flew down towards Nycto. As I got closer, I became more suspicious. More unsure. But I had to get him. I had to stop him.

I was just inches away from him. I could almost feel his silver armor. I could see that metal…

Wait.

This wasn’t the same mask Nycto wore.

This wasn’t…

I collided with what I thought was Nycto.

My image of him blurred. The Nycto I’d seen disappeared.

I was holding on to something else entirely.

Something big. Something… something metal.

A bomb.

I looked up. Saw the real Nycto hovering over me. And I wanted to turn around. I wanted to turn around and go after him.

But I needed to stop this bomb.

I could see people below. Terrified people fleeing. A woman with a pram, startled; another kid beside her holding an ice cream and staring up with fear in her eyes.

I gripped on tight to the bomb.

Gripped on tight and felt myself get stronger.

The bomb was just feet from the ground now.

“If you can believe yourself, truly believe in yourself, you can achieve the one thing you’ve been gifted these abilities for.”

I had to stop it. I had to use all my strength. I had to…

The bomb came within inches of the ground.

I flipped underneath it.

Pushed it over towards one of the buildings on my right, one of the skyscrapers, with everything I had.

I slammed into the ground, a crater forming around me. I heard voices. Heard screams.

All I could do was watch that bomb that’d left my hands. The bomb I’d stopped hitting the ground of Chicago.

Watch it fly towards the massive skyscraper as if it was in slow motion.

I wanted to get up. I wanted to stop it. I knew if I pulled myself out of this smoky pit, my back wrecking with pain, that I’d have the power and the force to stop it.

But then I saw the bomb hit the side of the building.

I saw the light flash. Saw the glass splinter out of the building as the explosion ripped through Chicago, the skyscraper tumbling to one side.

And then I saw Nycto floating above. Watching. He was far away, but I swore he was smiling.

I bit my lip through the pain in my back and shifted it as well as I could. I climbed out of the crater with shaky hands as smoke billowed from the falling skyscraper, as sirens instantaneously erupted around Chicago.

When I climbed out of that pit onto my shaky legs, I wasn’t met with the friendly faces of people pleased to be saved.

I saw the fear. Saw the horror. People looked at me and screamed. Some of them threw things at me. Spat at me.

“It’s one of them!” a woman cried.

“Monster! Another monster!”

I stood there and watched the top half of the skyscraper crumble towards the streets below, raining down glass and debris.

And I knew what had happened. I knew what Nycto had done.

He’d made me look the villain.

He’d lured me in, and he’d made me throw that bomb into the building.

Now, I was just an enemy. Just a monster. Just like him.

Except I was broken and bruised.

And armed police were hurtling in my direction.

I
’d be lying
if I said I’d ever been popular.

But being chased by armed police units dispatched by the United States government and framed for the destruction of one of Chicago’s largest buildings?

Yeah. I reckon my popularity had just about hit rock bottom.

I sprinted away from the oncoming armed police. Everything blurred around me—buildings, people. I could hear shouts and cries; helicopters above. The air was ripe with the smell of burning, a smell I’d grown too used to recently. I felt sick. Felt like throwing up, as every inch of my body ached with pain. No matter how much I pushed myself, I didn’t feel like I could move to my full potential after the spine-crushing fall through the earth just moments ago. Whenever I tried that teleportation trick I
knew
I was capable of, it just didn’t work.

I was weak compared to Nycto. I saw that clearly now. Now more than ever. He was so much stronger than me. Not just that, but he’d framed me. He was trying to drag me down to his level.

All I could do right now? Run like I was the villain everyone made me out to be.

I saw some police cars up ahead. Saw Chicago PD pointing their guns at me. I didn’t want to brush them out of the way. Doing that would only further prove Nycto’s framing of me. I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I knew I’d be national news already. The logo on my chest of Orion’s stars. I imagined the fear of people around the world. And the fear of people I knew. Mom. Dad. Damon. Ellicia.

If they knew the truth, I wondered how much they’d hate me.

I heard the gunshots fire from the police up ahead.

I vaulted up in the air. Wasn’t easy, but it was the best I could manage right now.

I ran up into the air like I was climbing steps. Awkward, wobbly steps, but steps nonetheless. I didn’t want to take another bullet. Sure, I could heal myself, but healing took too much focus, too much effort. Best thing for me to do right now was to get the hell out of Chicago. Get myself away from the scene and out of the frame before anyone could place me here in any way.

I remembered what the Figure in Black told me as I somersaulted into the air, dodging the police bullets. He’d told me that it wasn’t hard for him to find me, Kyle Peters. So if he found me, others would. I’d been stupid coming here. I’d fallen right into Nycto’s trap.

I shot down a street. I needed to fly back to New York. I could try teleporting but felt too surrounded, too watched. Besides, I wasn’t feeling confident about the teleportation. It seemed to sap my energy more than anything. I’d tried teleporting here in the first place, but it’d taken too much out of me so I’d decided to just fly my way over at super-speed. An experience that I closed my eyes for the most of, sure.

I heard more sirens. Saw news teams gathering around the fallen mass of the building I’d destroyed. I’d done it ’cause I was trying to protect that woman and her children. I was trying to help people on the streets of Chicago.

And now I was being hunted.

I saw more police up ahead. When I turned around, more were heading my way. I was cornered. Surrounded.

“Stop right there!” a voice shouted. Then more voices followed through the loudspeakers, all of them barking commands at me like I was some kind of terrorist, urging me to stand down as if I actually intended to hurt anyone here.

I wanted to fight my case. Tell everyone in this city I wasn’t with Nycto. That this was a mistake. That I’d been set up, and that I was just a kid who wanted to help; the only kid who could help. But did I really believe that still? Did I honestly think I could take down Nycto when he was so obviously way more powerful than me? I wasn’t sure.

I saw the police cars approaching. I wanted to help. I didn’t want to run away like I was guilty.

But what choice did I have?

I shot up into the sky. As I rose, I felt the bullets whoosh past me. I kept on going, heading right towards the clouds, the height making me feel sickly all over again.

When I was high enough, I looked down at the city below. I saw the smoke. The flames. I could feel the frustration in the streets. I could sense them looking up at me, everyone; like I was another monster here to bring their world to an end.

I’d caused this. Whether I’d meant to or not, whether I wanted to face up to it or not, I’d caused this.

And I’d have to make up for it.

I focused on all that pain and I felt myself shifting away from here. I felt that tingling in my scalp that I always got when I mastered the teleportation. I thought about the loss. The pain. The anger. And I felt myself getting further and further back home. I practically saw the outline of my bedroom right in front of me.

And then something hit me.

Something smacked into my right.

Knocked me out of my trance.

I felt a bang. An explosion ripped through my side, made my head feel like it was going to burst.

Instinctively, I closed my eyes. Listened to the ringing in my ears. Tasted metal in my mouth.

When I opened my eyes again, I couldn’t believe what was in front of me.

I wasn’t in Chicago anymore. I was… well, I didn’t know where I was. Just that I was at the top of a mountain somewhere. Somewhere right in the middle of the ocean.

No, wait. Not at the top of a mountain. At the top of a volcano.

Smoke billowed out from the volcano. I could feel the heat from it. I stood up, stretched out my snapped arm, healing it in a painful few moments. I walked closer to the volcano, no idea how I’d ended up here. Had something gone wrong with the teleportation? Had I screwed it up, proven my rustiness, once again?

When I saw who was on the opposite side of the volcano mouth, I knew right away that my suspicions were wrong.

“Hello, friend,” Nycto said, hovering above the ground. “I think it’s about time we had a chat, don’t you?”

“
W
ell
? All this way and you’ve got nothing to say to me?”

I stared across the mouth of the volcano at Nycto. The light was dark blue like the early hours, as if sunrise was on its way, which seemed strange because it’d only been the middle of the afternoon when I was back in Chicago. Explained just how far from home I was. All around me, vast openness as I stood atop this volcano. All around me, silence. The smell of sulfur piercing the air, bitter and tangy. Loneliness. Totally loneliness.

Except for Nycto.

“I didn’t want to have to do all the talking,” he said. There was a light shining from him which revealed our surroundings, made the sea feel even vaster all around us. “But it’s looking like I’m gonna have to.”

I couldn’t quite believe I was facing up against Nycto. It seemed surreal. I mean, I’d seen what he was capable of on the television, all over the internet. I’d heard the fear he struck in people. He was an ULTRA, for heaven’s sakes, the first one I’d truly come face to face with. The Figure in Black didn’t exactly count. All I suspected him of was tying ties around my wrists, and he was hardly doing much to help me right now.

Even though I was technically an ULTRA too, it felt like I was playing the part. Like I was just in costume for Halloween.

But Nycto…

Nycto was the real deal.

And that was terrifying.

“Krakatoa’s a place I’ve always wanted to visit,” Nycto said. He hovered down and perched on the edge of the volcano. He was wearing that silver armor—the same armor the guy who destroyed my party venue had worn. “In 1883, this rock exploded. Wiped over thirty-thousand people off the face of the earth. One of the most brutal natural disasters in history.” He sounded like he was enjoying speaking about the eruption a little too much. “Always found places like this fascinating. Just, you know. Couldn’t grow the balls to actually face my fears and see the world outside my home.”

“You’ve done more than that,” I muttered under my breath, not sure whether cockiness with a monster like Nycto was such a good idea.

But Nycto laughed. His voice was deep and inhuman, but he sounded like he had a sense of humor. Like a regular human being. “I knew you’d confront me eventually. You always were a moral one, even though you were terrified of everything. Heart in the right place.”

I listened to Nycto’s words and they made the hairs on my arms stand up. Nycto knew me? How… how did he know who I was?

“It’s over,” I said, trying to sound as strong as I could. “The chaos. The destruction. All of it. It’s over.”

Nycto laughed again. He nodded. Looked down into the mouth of the volcano. I could see smoke billowing up out of it. The air I was breathing grew warmer, ash starting to rain down. “I could make this explode with the click of my fingers,” he said. “But the pair of us… Well, we’re strong enough that we wouldn’t even
have
to click our fingers.”

“What’re you trying to say?” I said.

Nycto stood again. He stepped over the mouth of the volcano. Stood over it, so assured on the thin air. “Your talk of fighting. The reason we’re here. Tell me, what is it for? What is any of it for?”

“What is stopping you killing people for? What is stopping you destroying cities for? Are you seriously asking me that question?”

“People are overrated,” Nycto said. I sensed the air getting thicker. I wasn’t sure whether it was because I was getting angrier or Nycto was getting gradually more impatient. I figured it was probably a combination of the two. “The ULTRAs were put on this planet for a reason in the first place. People had their time. The ULTRAs were supposed to have their time.”

“I don’t know how you can say that. The ULTRAs were created to
protect
humanity. Not destroy it.”

Nycto tilted his head to one side as if there wasn’t much of a difference between the two. “Maybe originally. Maybe that’s how it was supposed to play out. Or maybe God made it look that way. Maybe God put the ULTRAs on Earth to wipe the slate clean. To end the virus of people. Because that’s what humanity is. Don’t you see? All the war, all the abuse of power. They are problems created by humans. And they are problems we can end. Together.”

I was speechless. I heard what Nycto was saying. Sure, people could be pretty shitty. I’d spent my whole life thinking as much. But this?

“You talk about power abuse,” I said. “How are you any different when you’re going round attacking those weaker than you?”

“Does a lion feel guilty when it hunts down the gazelle? Of course not. It’s the food chain. It’s the way the world works. The balance of all things. Does an antidote feel guilty for attacking the flu? No. So why should we feel guilty for wiping the scourge of humanity from existence?”

I quickly realized that Nycto wasn’t going to be bargainable with. He was mad. Completely and utterly mad.

“We can rule this place,” Nycto said. He lifted his hands. “Look all around you. Look at this pure, natural beauty. This could be our playground. The start of a new era free of humanity’s destruction. Listen to the birds. Listen to the wind. Listen to the—”

“I
would
listen, if a raging psychopath wasn’t spouting shit at the top of his voice,” I said.

Nycto laughed again like he genuinely found my words amusing. “I know what you’re like. I know you’ll come round to the temptation soon enough.”

“You don’t know a thing about me,” I said, tightening my fist.

“That’s not exactly true. Kyle.”

When Nycto dropped to the ground, I felt as if my whole world was collapsing around me.

He’d said my name. He knew who I was. He knew exactly who I was.

But that wasn’t even the thing that startled me most.

The thing that startled me most was when Nycto lifted his mask.

Dropped it to the ground.

It took a few seconds for the person I was looking at to truly register. I grew more and more convinced that this was some kind of weird dream. Some kind of nightmare.

But no. It was real.

The person in front of me was Daniel Septer.

“Daniel?” I said.

Daniel smiled at me. He looked so much bulkier than the skinny, lanky kid with greasy hair I’d known him as from a grade below me at school. Daniel made me look cool, let’s put it that way. He was a weakling. A wuss of the highest order. If I was at the bottom of the food chain, Daniel was swimming under the chain in the sewerage waters below.

But no. He wasn’t anymore.

Daniel was Nycto.

“How… how…”

“I know,” Daniel said, floating with such swagger, such confidence. “Changed a bit, hmm?”

“You were—”

“Off sick? Sure. I was sick. Sick of people. Sick of the bullies. Sick of the way everyone’s treated me and my family my entire life.”

I shook my head. It wasn’t the only part of my body shaking. “Daniel you…” Seeing it was Daniel humanized Nycto. It made me feel like I
could
help him. Sway him. Turn him around. “You can’t do this. You don’t want to do this. Surely this isn’t what you want.”

“But it
is
what I want,” Daniel said, the smile clear on his face. “And I know, deep down, it’s what you want too. Because we aren’t so different, me and you. We’ve both been screwed over by the vermin at school.”

“You killed people. From our school.”

Daniel shrugged. “They woulda done it to me if they’d kept on the way they were going.”

“You killed… you killed Mike Beacon.”

“Mike Beacon?” Daniel’s face looked startled. “Why in hell’s name would I give a shit about that jock? And why would you?”

I felt my anger reach a bursting point then with the memory of storming into that party venue and finding Damon and Ellicia on the floor. Pulling them out of the mouth of certain death. “You’re a scumbag. You’re no better than the people who bullied you. You’re worse.”

Daniel smiled. He lifted his Nycto helmet again. It hovered beside his face. “I’ve learned to embrace the hate so much, Kyle. I could teach you everything I know. We could teach each other. We could end all this madness right now. It’s really quite fun when you get into it. Seeing their faces when they know it’s about to…”

I couldn’t listen to Daniel’s bullshit any longer.

I threw myself through the air. Hurtled right towards his chest, across the mouth of the volcano. I’d throw him in there. Plunge him into the lava.

“Never!” I shouted, as loud as I could. “Never!”

I felt the impact impending.

And then I stopped.

I stopped, right in the middle of the air, like I’d hit a glass wall.

“Might want to look down before you make any rash decisions, Kyle,” Daniel said. The Nycto mask covered his face. He was back to his horrifying alter-ego again. “You know where I am when you need me. If I haven’t changed my mind on you, that is.” His voice was deep again. Menacing.

I tried to shake free, get past the invisible wall, wrap my hands around Nycto’s neck.

But when I looked down into the mouth of the volcano, I forgot about Nycto. I forgot about Daniel. I forgot about everything.

My parents were lying next to one another thirty feet below me. Hovering over the volcano, over the lava pit, just like I was.

“Be careful,” Nycto said, floating further away. “I know who you are. And if you try anything,
anything
, I’ll put everyone you ever cared about through the worst pain imaginable.”

I felt tears building in my eyes at the sight of my mom’s terrified face. At the confusion on my dad’s.

“I’ll see you again sometime,” Nycto said. He pulled his hands apart. “Oh. Enjoy the ride.”

He slammed his hands together and disappeared in a flash of light.

The second he disappeared, so too did the wall in front of me.

The second he disappeared, my parents fell down toward the lava.