Long Hot Summer 11: War Drums

by Nicholas Ahlhelm

Susan awoke in a strange bed in a strange room. It felt like she slept for days, but she knew it had only been a few hours. Ever since she escaped the Church, she felt nothing but exhausted. Her dreams came with only wisps of her past, but she could feel her mind reopening. It was only a matter of time until her memory recovered.

She looked at the clock beside her bed. Eight o’clock. The Argonauts would be awake soon, at least Witch and Carapace. Snowblind and Herc’s schedules seemed a little less regular than that of the old magic-user and the team leader.

She sat up in her bed and rubbed the last of the sleep from her eyes. Someone cleared their throat.

Her head spun towards the window. Nightbird sat crouched on the sill. She still wore her full costume despite it being well in to the morning.

“Took you long enough to wake up. How are you feeling, Sue?”

“As well as can be expected, I guess. The things they did to me inside that room…I don’t know how anyone can survive that kind of thing. I don’t—” She shook her head.

“We’ve all dealt with pain in our lives. Some of us more than others. It’s all about how you channel the pain, how you continue to live through it, that determines your character.”

“You sound like Dr. Phil.” Susan gave a weak smile.

Nightbird smiled back. “I didn’t actually come to see you. I came to meet with the Argonauts. But I figured that I should at least check in on you.”

“I want in,” Sue said.

“In on what?”

“This isn’t over. You and I both know this. You and the Argonauts threw the first blow by rescuing me, but the Church isn’t going to stand down and just let this go unanswered. They will find a way to act unless we act first. You’re planning an assault of some kind and I want in.”

“We don’t have any plans, Sue. I promise. We—”

“Don’t bullshit me! You may not have figured out what you are going to do, but you have plans. Admit it!”

“I—okay, you’re right. But you don’t have to do anything. You broke free. You can go back to your life. This isn’t going to be something that an untrained civilian has any business being involved in.”

“Normal? Do you think I’m normal after everything I’ve been through? I’m an amnesiac ex-cultist rape victim. I’m not normal! I’ll never be normal again.”

She stomped across the room and threw open the door of the bathroom. She grabbed the safety razor off the side of the bathtub.

“You want to see normal? You want to see normal? Here’s your normal for you.”

“Sue, don’t!” Nightbird rushed towards her.

She tore the blade down her wrist. Blood welled up out of the wound. She held it up for Nightbird to see.

The blood oozed back in to her skin. The wound closed with it.

“Does that look normal? Does it?”

“I-I didn’t know. I’m sorry, Sue. I didn’t know.”

“I’m not going to say it again. I want in.”

Nightbird nodded.

“Good. Let’s go make some plans.”

*****

Legend landed on the rooftop of the brownstone. The early morning light already brought with it the blazing heat that still continued. The unseasonable temperatures had kept the schools closed for the past three weeks. Even in early September, the mercury would still reach one hundred ten by lunch time.

His body naturally resisted the heat, but he could see the discomfort on the face of the two other figures on the rooftop.

“Guess you got my message,” Freedom said.

“Guess I did,” Legend said.

The last time Legend saw Freedom Patton, they stood over the grave of Legend’s late partner. He warned Freedom to stay out of Champion City if he didn’t want to get hurt. As far as he knew Freedom followed that directive over the past two years.

It didn’t make Legend any happier to see him.

“What do you want, Patton? The more I see you, the more I want to pummel you in to the ground.”

“You want it, just bring it,” Freedom said. “I wanted to—”

The girl at Freedom’s side grabbed his arm. She was a young Hispanic woman not much older than Backoff was when she died.

“We’re not here to fight, Freedom. You said it before. So I’m not going to let you fight.”

Freedom nodded to the girl. “Yeah, I said it. It’s just that Mister High-and-mighty here can piss me off like no one’s business.”

“Just keep it calm, okay?”

“Got it. Let me and him talk. Okay, Libertad?”

She nodded.

Freedom walked across the roof towards Legend.

Legend raised his head back and held in his own anger. He wanted to knock Freedom out with one swift blow. He took a calming breath.

“What do you want, Patton?”

“I know why you are here, man. It’s freaking obvious. You either are here to stop this damn heat wave or to stop the Church. And I’m pretty damn sure that you’ve already figured out that they have to be related.”

“That’s government business.”

“Don’t feed me crap and I won’t feed you crap.” Freedom looked back at Libertad. “You know if it wasn’t for her, I would never have made this peace offering. When she told me that you and your gang popped up here to lead the relief effort, I wanted to just ignore you. She convinced me that it would be a mistake. It’s going to be a war when someone goes after the Church. I don’t care how many metas you have in your pocket, it’s going to be a mess. People are going to get hurt. You would need an army to get in to that place.”

“F.O.R.C.E. has things under control.”

“F.O.R.C.E. is a bunch of yahoos you put together hours ago. Maybe you got a good team. But most of them are kids. Half of them have no idea the kind of massacre that could occur at that damn place. You and I have seen more blood than our share. We are both ready for that kind of thing.”

Legend chewed his lip. “What are you proposing, Patton?”

“I have a way in. Me and the Snake Squad can get in under the damn Church. But we need time to do it and we need time to find Elijah and capture him. We need someone up top. Someone to keep his soldiers occupied.”

“The Snake Squad? You are asking a lot of faith from me, Patton. I already don’t trust you and now you want me to trust a bunch of criminals?”

“They aren’t criminals. Not anymore than you or I are. They’ve had a checkered past, but so have I. And you know that I’m on the side of angels.”

“You want F.O.R.C.E. to serve as a distraction while you take out the real threat? I just don’t know if it’s possible, Patton. I have people I’m responsible to in this. I can’t just turn over the mission to you and your pals.”

“Pals? Hiss would have a laugh at that one. Look, Libertad can stay topside with you. And I will bring one of your guys down with me. Or whatever. It’s not like I want to step in your line for the credit for this. You know that.”

Legend nodded. He didn’t like it, but Patton made sense. Even with F.O.R.C.E. and Argonauts on the scene, they still had the potential for disaster. Even seventeen years later, too many memories of Waco still lingered. He didn’t want to be responsible for a cult leader murdering his followers.

“All right, Patton. We will let you in on this. But at the first sign that you want to cowboy up on this thing, I will take you out myself. You get me?”

“I wouldn’t expect anything else from you. You always did have piss poor people skills with anyone that didn’t fall in to your way of thinking. But this is bigger than how much we don’t like each other. So let’s both be the better man in this one.”

Legend lifted off the ground. “I’ll be in touch with you when things are ready. In the mean time, stay out of trouble. And take care of that girl. If anything happens to her—”

“If anything happens to her, it won’t be because of me. She’s a big girl.”

“Goodbye, Patton. We will talk again soon.”

Legend soared in to the air. Leadership sat uncomfortably on his shoulders. He didn’t like anything about this situation. This Church was anything but godly. But now he had to worry whether he made a deal with the devil to stop it.

*****

The sky flashed red all around him as Jack appeared again high over Valhalla. He quickly formed another fiery platform to hold him aloft.

Wind whipped around him. Rain drove hard in to his skin. He raised the flames across his skin and felt the rain evaporate away from him.

What year is it now? Is this finally over? Am I back where I belong?

Thunder rolled across the sky as a flash of lightning came dangerously close.

If this is my time, something has gone dangerously wrong.

A massive black cloud stormed through the sky. It moved with unbelievable speed. Jack realized it was coming towards him.

He summoned his flames to each hand and hurled them at the black cloud. Steam rose where they struck, but otherwise they seemed to have no effect at all.

Jack braced himself for the cloud to strike him, still unsure of its very nature.

A red and blue streak struck the side of the black cloud. Unbelievably, the cloud buckled as Hero drove both fists in to it. Any question of the time period seemed clear. Whatever year it was now, Jack certainly wasn’t home.

I don’t get it, he thought. Time and again I reappear in other times and every time it involves a run in with Hero. What am I supposed to do?

It hit him. The red skies, the terrible storm, and Hero in action. It all added up.

Today was the day Hero died.

He tried to remember everything he could about that time. It was all over the news. Hero fought some kind of monster high over the city and the battle ended in an explosion that eradicated the southern edges of the city.

I’m in the middle of a natural disaster. Am I here to stop it?

He couldn’t decide. He remembered Doctor Cosmic’s warning. I can’t change the past, but what if I’m supposed to?

The cloud dissipated as Hero rained down blow after blow. Only a lone armored figure remained.

“Enough!” A blast of energy tore over Hero’s body. Hero’s cape instantly shredded as he fell away.

The armored man turned his attention to Jack.

“You again! Every time I try to kill the Hero, you decide to show up!”

“Overlord,” Jack said.

“Overlord, Mister Establishment, the Red Raider, whatever the name I used, it’s always been about conquering these fools. And that means I needed Hero dead! But you always have to show up and ruin things. Who the hell are you anyway?”

“My name’s Jack!”

He didn’t need any other words to verify his belief that he was here for a reason. Overlord’s disdain was enough. Jack raised his hands and unleashed the full fury of his flames at the Overlord.

He could hear the scream of the armored man even past the flames.

“I won’t let this happen,” Jack said. “Not again!”

“Enough! Enough! Enough!”

Overlord’s armor seemed to suddenly expand. Lightning burst from every seam. Jack caught only a glance of the explosion that swelled from the destroyed armor before his own flames rushed back on him.

He vanished just as the world was torn asunder.

*****

Sword stood in the gardens of Avalon. The last time he was here, the island seemed like something alive. It was a living creature as much as any creature that dwelled on its surface.

Now it felt like death.

“Lady, I have returned! I have brought the Eye!”

The Lady of the Lake offered no answer. He ran down the hill, towards the main buildings at the center of the island.

“Lady, please tell me it’s not too late! I’m here with the cure for the king!”

He still didn’t feel the Lady’s presence or hear his voice. He doubled his pace towards the castle ahead.

Sword slammed through the gates. The Lady looked up from her seat just past the entrance, in a large dust-covered throne.

“You are finally back,” she said. “Give me the Eye. I will take it to the king.”

Her words came at barely more than a whisper. Her turned up grin looked strange on her face. He could feel an ill wind blow off her frame. Whoever this was, it was not the Lady of the Lake.

“Who are you?”

“I am your lady. Give me the Oparian Eye.”

“You are no lady. You are a witch!”

He raised Caliburn up and brought the blade down to strike.

A dagger met Caliburn and stopped its momentum. The woman smiled as the false face of the Lady of the Lake vanished. In her place stood a raven-haired beauty, her hair as wild as her naked tattooed flesh. Her eyes gleamed red in the light.

Faye Morgana, the woman once known as Morgan Le Fey, stood before him.

“You always were too bright for your own good, Du Lac!”

She swung around to bring her dagger in towards his jugular. He threw his own blade up to deflect the blow. He realized too late it was merely a feint.

With her free hand, Morgana unleashed a burst of magical energy straight in to his chest. The blow knocked him off his feet.

She ran to strike, her eyes wild. He threw up his blade and pushed her and her foul dagger away. Sword stumbled to his feet and brought Caliburn back to the ready.

“Where is the Lady? What have you done with her?”

“The Lady will bother us no more, Du Lac. Today it is only my vengeance on you and your friend!”

“Never!”

He swung Caliburn wildly towards her. Morgana leapt back like a wild animal. She roared her fury at him.

“Your blade keeps you safe this day, Du Lac. But I will return! You and this kingdom will pay for the transgressions against me!”

Morgana disappeared in a puff of acrid brimstone.

Sword rushed past the tombs. “Lady! Lady!”

“Welcome, Lancelot. You have come just in time.”

The Lady of the Lake appeared from the mist rolling cross the floor. She held her head high.

“Your rescue from Morgana comes at an opportune time. Follow me in to the hospice. Let us see to your friend and our king.”

The Lady of the Lake disappeared in to the mist again as she approached the door. Sword followed and vanished once again from the earth.