The Last Superhero (50 page)

When
we appear back in the warehouse, I sit up and see Frances and Jake
hugged to each other under a desk while Daphne's talking to Wyatt.

“
We
need to team up, now!” I shout at them while side-glancing at
Simon holding the gun in front of him. “Is the plane someone's
nightmare?”

“
It's
Sandra's,” Dr. Fletcher replies.

With
no time to look her way, we're back in the plane.

“
Sandra!
Who's Sandra?”

“
It's
Cane.” Dr. Morgan's standing behind me. “Her father was a
pilot.”

“
Where
is she?”

“
Here!”
Wyatt calls. “She knows.”

Suárez
is the closest to them and when I peer over the seats, I see Little
Miss Sunshine crying in Wells's arms.

Dr.
Hudson's sitting in the opposite row, trying to take in what's going
on.

Suárez,
Powell, Jake, Frances, and Daphne are standing, as if waiting for a
command or something.

“
What
did you do to my men?!” screams Briggs.

I'm
searching for Simon and Dad but can't find them.

“
I
need you to think of something else, something happy.” Wyatt's
trying, but the young woman is too busy crying to speak.

“
I've
got him,” Simon's voice travels through the aircraft as he
materializes behind Briggs, pointing a gun at the older man's head.

And
Dad's right behind him.

“
We're
going to crash,” is the only thing we manage to hear out of
Miss Cane.

“
Check
the cockpit,” Simon tells Dad and the second scurries away.

“
This
is Waldorf's doing, isn't it? Where is he?” Briggs spits.

“
You're
going to stay put and let us manage this.” Ross's trying to
keep calm, taking a set of handcuffs out and about to put them on the
colonel when he punches him in the face.

CRAP.

He
grabs Simon by an arm, throws him over his back and a shot's fired.

Everybody
ducks.

Briggs
steers, making his way to the cockpit.

I'm
running behind him when the plane shakes, sending us all off-balance.

Miss
Cane ups the volume of her cries.

Someone
grabs my arm and pulls me to hide between some seats.

“
We
need a plan. We need to control the nightmare.” Frances's
hushed tones make it hard to hear her over the rumbling inside the
craft. “And we have to go for the angel first.”

“
Where
should we land?”

“
An
abandoned city always works in video games. It would give us at least
places to hide. Think of somewhere you liked? Wherever it is,
concentrate, please; we may not have much time!”

“
Okay!”

“
Have
this.” She opens her hand and there's a small contraption in
her hand, like a Bluetooth earpiece. “So we can communicate.”

Put
it on and have no time to think about it 'cause you've got to hold on
to anything in reach.

We're
going down.

This
plane's going down.

Frances
stands, shouting name after name and throwing earpieces at everyone.

Take
a peek and Daphne's already in werewolf form.

“
Get
Dad!” I point at the front of the plane and she rushes towards
it.

Suárez's
got his white billowing suit on as I see him making his way after
Daphne.

There's
some grunting and even yelping going on, but I can't see clearly
until I've dragged myself to the hallway and there's a fight going on
outside the cockpit.

A
man dressed in a pilot uniform comes out. “Sandra!”

Try
and get on your feet and see the crying woman rising from her seat,
“Dad?”

The
smile on the father's face is enough for this to ache, deep inside
the chest.

Then
comes the explosion that splits the plane in two and sends us all in
different directions.

I'm
able to hold onto the back of a seat.

“
Can
you hear me?” Frances's voice comes through the earpiece.

A
choir of voices replies.

I
can't talk and hold on for dear life at the same time!

“
Concentrate,
Giana! Everybody leave your minds blank, she's going to make us land
safely.”

Me?
Is she out of her mind?! I can't even think straight right now!

Open
my eyes. Focus. I'm in the front part of the plane and he's there,
staring at me.

Salvatore
Jr.

Staring.

At
me.

He's
stretching out a hand.

Not
letting you this time.

Let
go.

Fall
backwards into the sky.

The
wreckage above me becoming smaller as I make my way down.

Floating.

Feel
the scales of my leather armor popping out, exactly like they did
when Salvatore held on to my hand.

I'm
in motherfucking control.

Shut
my eyes, count to three.

One.

Two.

“
You
did it!” Werewolf Daphne's licking my face and yuck!

Shake
my head, get up.

We're
in the middle of Moscow's Red Square. A place that shelters fond
memories of my twentieth birthday, when Dad brought me here.

He
notices, now in lion form, gifts me a smile.

“
You've
got a busted lip.” I point at his mouth.

A
pass of his tongue and it's gone. “Better?” Sexy lion
voice and all, eh?

These
people are getting too comfortable with this.

There's
Jake and Frances's robot with the glass on the face raised like an
open door.

“
It's
working.” Jake sets a hand on my shoulder.

“
Your
robot's waiting.”

He
gives me a
what
did you just say
face. “It's a Mecha. Not a
robot
.
A robot controls itself, Mechas are controlled by humans.”

“
Oh.”
I really should at least research those damn video games.

“
Giana.”
Ross is a wizard again, yay! “What should we do with the
others?”

Glance
to where he's glancing and there's Dr. Hudson holding on to the poor,
still crying Miss Cane, both looking as normal as normal can be.
Meanwhile, Dr. Fletcher's wearing a shirt with a red tie and holding
a gun in each hand, looking rather tense, and Mr. Wells is standing
next to him, his lab coat gone. He's now wearing soldier armor that
looks like a cheaper version of Powell's.

“
Let
me go!” Colonel Briggs cries and that's when I see Simon
dressed in a tuxedo under a long black cape with red lining.

Did
he forget the roses or is it just me?

I
wanna laugh at him, but this is so not the time.

“
Can
we kill him?” I ask Ross.

“
Briggs?”

“
Yeah.”

“
I
wouldn't.”

“
He
bothers me more than the scared girl.”

Dad's
looking all menacing, showing Briggs his fangs.

“
Let
him come so I can kill him with my own hands!”

What's
this guy made of?

Face
him, stand in front of him and face him. “What the hell did he
do to you?”

“
He
shouldn't even exist.” He drawls on that last word. “His
kind should've never existed.”

Wyatt
stands beside me.

“
And
what is it with all your ridiculous costumes?” he proceeds.
“It's like a circus act made of pathetic characters defending
the indefensible.”

“
You're
just full of shit, aren't you?”

He
cackles. Low at first and then it rises in volume and I step back
because he's doing something.

His
hands cuffed behind his back, he's able to hit Simon with an elbow to
the jaw and charges at me.

I'm
about to dodge him when out of nowhere, Salvatore Jr. comes flying,
shouldering him straight in the chest, sending the man to fall on his
back.

But
not for long because Briggs regains verticality and is, in an
instant, standing in his best fight stance, handcuffs gone.

“
As
if you stood a chance!” Salvatore Jr. laughs. “I'll let
you try, at least. Like my father did with your great grandfather.”

Briggs
pulls back.

We're
all staring in silence.

See
the machine gun materialize in Briggs's hands, see him shoot.

See
Salvatore Jr. deflect all bullets as if he had an invisible shield in
front of him.

Cling cling cling
they go as they hit the ground around him.

“
When
will you get it through your head that you can't kill us with your
human weapons? Didn't you learn anything from the good ole' Sheriff
Briggs?” He chuckles. “He should've known it was crazy to
try and duel my father.”

“
Your
father, as all of your kind, is where nature erred.”

“
Au
contraire.
We
were what nature intended to make and not your weak, frail,
undeserving kind.”

That
triggers Briggs to pounce on Salvatore Jr. who, in return, stretches
out a hand that sends the colonel flying above him and landing at my
feet.