⚡️THUNDERFANG S3 #33

Avam.

I shivered as I stepped onto the dead soil. The sun had set here so long ago, making every day feel like the last. I had somehow forgotten the stench. Clouds darkened the sky, hints of balefire peeking through. I remember wishing on them, like falling stars. One was fulfilled with Ira’s arrival, another with Karim’s. Instinctively, I made another wish. I wished that—

A boney hand swiped at me, causing me to duck and tumble out of the way. My brows furrowed as I took stock of what exactly had ruined my moment.

Oh. Risen.

And Jack destroying the Iron Gate.

Wonderful.

“Everyone! Get through the portal now! Jack is destroying it!” Before I could finish announcing everything over comms, Ira and John slowly walked through, the stench clearly catching them off guard as well. When they saw Jack with a fist-full of wires, dressed in a sharp red-wine suit, they gathered themselves quickly. Lightning lanced up my arm as John began to open fire on the army of Risen the Moriarty had surrounding us.

“Next time,” John said annoyed, switching targets after dropping two of them, “warn us you’re going to do something stupid!”

“What’s the fun in that? Besides, I kinda told Ira.” I rushed the Risen, keeping my sights on Jack.

As I dislocated rotten heads from shoulders, the others made their way through the portal. I heard Tick cry out and then immediately begin trying to herd the other Branded away from the fight.

“It smells fucking horrible here!” Jane cried out, a Risen stumbling through her as she took a moment to gag.

“You get used to it…eventually,” Siege said with a smirk before letting loose plumes of fire, quickly turning Risen into flaming heaps.

“No, you don’t.” Tremor gestured upward, a wave in the ground knocking a dozen or so Risen off their feet.

“How cute.” Jack tossed wires and important-looking pieces from the Iron Gate and the swirls of purple and yellow vanished. The Iron Gate stood silent now, simply a ring of iron around empty air. But he’d been too slow. The Irregulars, the Avam crew, and many—if not all—of the captives were on this side with us. He was outnumbered.

I closed the distance between Jack and I after ripping a path through the Risen.

I gripped him by the collar and flung him to the side, but he pulled some kind of rifle and began firing into the crowd of liberated captives. Always in Hero Mode, I tried to distract him as a dust storm kicked up. It felt like John and Hush, with other voices joining in. I stole a glance in their direction to see five Cyclonebranded manipulating the wind to shield everyone from harm.

I turned back to Jack, expecting to have at least a second to gloat. But he was already making a run for it, and Risen filled in the gap. They would need to be dealt with first.

“Everyone,” I shouted, flexing my fingers and letting electricity snake around them, “let’s focus on taking down the Risen so we can focus on stopping Jack. We got this!”

Hurricane winds, strategically avoiding comrades, swept through the grave planet, tossing countless Risen into the air. The ground opened up and swallowed the ones that were not affected by the prior assault. Shards of ice staked three Risen together. Jane decapitated Risen and tossed heads all over, using stolen limbs as bats. A sickly greenish Risen screeched and ran towards me, only for vines to burst from its chest. It stopped, the vines undulating like tentacles, then it screeched again and ran past me and destroyed more Risen. 

Lightning even rained down, striking several of the undead and quickly turning them to ash. A group of four—three women and a young boy—all cheered, their bodies covered in sparks of electricity.

Did Jack seriously think he was going to win? His Risen army had been scary at first, but they were no match for my crew.

“John, Jane, let’s try to get Jack before he gets away,” I said into the comms, breaking off into a sprint in his direction. They joined me as we chased down the Moriarty.

“JACK! Call them off now! You’ve lost.” I used more Iron than Heart as I spoke. Hopefully he got the hint that I was only technically asking him to come peacefully. While I still had no plans on killing him, he deserved to be roughed up.

Jack slowed to a stop some hundred feet away as he took in the sight of his forces dwindling. Once again, his eyes hid whatever emotion he may have felt. No sign of happiness, or fear, or…anything. Just a blank, dead stare. Convincing him to give up was never going to work, I knew. But it never hurt to try.

John stopped and knelt, then fired shot after shot towards Jack who returned fire and began running away again. I tapped Jane and we rushed forward together, her Ghostbranding keeping us safe from stray attacks and Risen.

Jack stumbled from a well-placed bullet. He clutched his leg then reached for something in his pocket, but I couldn’t make it out from our distance. Moments later, the Risen behind us that hadn’t been taken care of by the others began rushing after us, hellbent on taking us down, so much so that many of them got trampled in the process.

“Change of plans: finish off the Risen,” I said and rushed back towards the undead. Various elements cascaded over them, eliminating most of them before they could get to us. John turned around and reloaded in one swift motion, then began purging the undead from around us. Jane zoomed past me, tossing several Risen back into the throngs of fire, water, earth, and air. Any remaining Risen were taken care of with punches and kicks.

The Risen were done for. The ground shook beneath us, consuming many of the fallen, while Shiningstar Risen turned on their brethren, tossing more into opened pits before letting the darkness consume them as well.

With the battlefield cleared of nuisances, everyone rejoiced. Jack was still getting away but we’d accomplished a lot. Not everyone participated, but they’d seen what we could do together. And those that had lended a hand seemed to understand the power they had within them. I saw hope, courage, and more spread throughout.

“We need to go after him,” Ira said, checking me for wounds. A few of Jack’s shots had hit me, but there wasn’t much to worry about. I could barely feel a thing through my environment suit.

“Excuse me.”

I turned to see the four Lightningbranded from earlier, only now they were with two other women and older male.

“Why don’t you use your Branding more?” a woman asked. She looked about my age. 

“He almost never does, actually,” Ira said for me with a playful nudge. 

“Are you low?” the older gentleman asked. He had to be at least thirty years my senior, his face beginning to wrinkle.

“We wanted to recharge you, if that’s okay,” the first woman said. The others nodded excitedly.

I tapped my internal reserves. I had more than enough, according to my standards at least. “I’m good for the moment. Thank you, though.” My cheeks warmed.

“Please!” This time, the young boy spoke. He couldn’t have been older than ten. In his excitement, he jumped up and down and sparks flew from his hands.

It broke my heart seeing him here, already fighting for his life. He wasn’t the only child with us, either. There was almost a dozen more.

We’d won against the Risen for now, but who knew what else Jack had in store for us? Who knew what plans Malice had waiting? What if I wasn’t charged enough to do what needed to be done? My goal was to make the world a better place. I needed to be ready to do whatever it took.

I let out a defeated sigh and smiled. “Alright, fine. But just a little bit, okay? I don’t need much.”

Their faces lit up, overjoyed and eager. This was important to them. They were doing what they thought was the best way to ensure our victory ahead. I committed the moment to memory. I would not let them down. 

The seven of them placed a hand somewhere on me—with the little boy gripping my leg—and everyone closed their eyes. My skin buzzed softly as they released their power into me. 

Recharging was normally a very different experience for me. I equated it with taking a hit of the best drug in the universe, intoxicating and, at times, dangerous and harmful. This felt somewhat like that. The feeling of their energy mingling with mine eased my nerves as my inner battery filled to capacity. But I also felt them—their hopes, desires, wishes, dreams. It was a cacophony of emotions. I could have sworn I saw the little boy being taken from his family.

And then…the memories of when they saw me. The initial fear and then the hope and trust.

A tear evaporated before it could fall too far down my cheek.

They stepped away and the buzzing slowly ceased.

“Thank you.” I let a little bit of the electricity race over my skin; the little boy’s face lit up.

“GO KICK HIS ASS!” he shouted, before being dragged away by another woman.

I smiled at Ira, and he smiled back. “Let’s go kick his ass.”

With the wind literally at our heels, we pursued Jack. The Irregulars led the charge, followed by the Avam crew, and then the others. Watt floated overhead so we wouldn’t be caught off guard.

Did Jack truly think he could outrun us here? This used to be our home. We knew this place better than he did, and we were well versed in what few advantages the hellscape offered us.

Jack hadn’t gotten far, or he didn’t run very fast. Or we were just that damn good, aided in our steps by Cyclonebranded nudging us forward. But, as things were wont to do around us, some of the wind was not being manipulated by a Branded at all, so much so that Jack even seemed to notice. He stopped ahead and looked up, and simply raised a brow.

I held up a fist and we all slowed to a stop. A ship was approaching above us. It landed swiftly off to the side of Jack and a team of armed guards poured out. Fighting humans would require a bit more finesse but it was something we could handle.

The true problem lied with fighting the ones to exit next.

Stepping out after the guards, who formed a line to cut us off from Jack, was Dr. Hendrix. She was just as annoyed as she always was, in a spotless white business suit that made her stand out. 

Then Jillian stepped out wearing an all-black form fitting bodysuit. She smirked at us as she joined her brother’s side and spoke softly with him.

The breath caught in my chest as two other men stepped out of the ship. While the older man, with dark skin and a graying mustache and beard, was entirely unfamiliar to me, I did recognize the younger one. He seemed a little older than both Jack and Jillian, and his suit was the most impressive of them all. It was burgundy, with gold accents, and seemed tailor-made to fit him and him alone. I’d only ever seen him once in person. The other time was in a photo.

James Moriarty. The 44^th.

HAHAHA. ALL THE PIECES ARE ON THE BOARD.

IT’S YOUR MOVE.

Jillian shoved a few of the armed men to the side as she approached us, a long sharp blade in her hand. Jack walked by her side, the rifle he’d used earlier held in his right hand. Her smirk and his lack of emotion sent a chill down my spine.

“What do you say, Jack?” Jillian sounded ravenous, eyes trained on us. “Think we can take them?” She giggled.

“I am certain we can. And just think, any one of them that we kill can be used against them.”

“Jack, Jillian, please just stop!” I said with all of my Heart amidst the worried murmuring behind me. “We’re simply trying to live our lives. That’s it. We’ve all been manipulated to be here. We’ve had everything taken from us. We are tired of this fight. Just stop! I promise—”

“Oh, fuck off,” Jillian spat. She took a step forward.

And Jack stretched out an arm to block her.

She looked at him with disgust. “Please don’t tell me he’s infected you.”

“Of course not,” he said, lowering his arm. “But I am tired of doing the 44^th’s work for him. What’s best for him is not exactly best for us. And, as much as I’d love to get that weapon back“—he said with a nod towards Jane—”I don’t have it in me to fight all of them.”

“How do you expect us to make the world a better place with them in it?” Jillian’s face showed just how little she believed the words coming out of her brother’s mouth. She took a step away from him, blade pointed at him. “He’s infected you. I know it.”

“All I’m saying is, let him deal with the Detective. It’s his destiny, not ours.”

Seriously? I’d actually done a decent job of convincing the Jack Moriarty to let us pass? The man who’d been on our asses for months on end? He was simply letting us go?

Jillian rolled her eyes and sheathed her blade while gasps and applause erupted from the Branded. Watt floated around with a celebration emoji. Siege and Hush highfived. Ira pulled me in close and kissed me passionately.

“Elle was right,” he said. “Your power is in your name.”

“You gave it to me,” I said with a blush and a smile. I hadn’t expected this victory, especially not in this way. Everything we’d been through had led us to this moment. We still had more to do, but having two of the Moriartys off our backs was a win in any book. And we did it without killing anyone; Jane had done well. It made me proud to live up to the name Ira gave me. The darkest forces didn’t stand a chance against my Heart.

Ira kissed me again. “You are a hero.”

A HERO, HUH?

Dread washed over me.

…Something felt off.

THIS WAS ALMOST TOO EASY.

It was…too…easy.

I ignored Ira’s confusion as I scanned the area. Everyone was busy celebrating. Jack was still communicating with his sister, who seemed rather annoyed at his persistence in wanting to leave. The other Moriartys were further back, piling back into the ship with the guards and Dr. Hendrix.

What was off? What was I missing?

SEEMS LIKE YOU DON’T NEED TO BE IRONSWORN TO KEEP YOUR PROMISES.

That was an odd thought. I was Ironsworn, and I kept my promises, fulfilled every Vow. It was why Ira named me Thunderfang, my bark was thunderous and resonated. There was no need for the lightning. It had been cheesy at the time, but I grew into the name. Accepted everything that came with it. The name he’d given me was something I wanted to become.

So, why that thought? What about promises?

Tremor was celebrating with Siege and Hush, though she seemed a bit annoyed by the jostling of the Infernobranded. John and Tick were cheesing from ear to ear.

“Locke, what’s wrong?” Ira grabbed my shoulders and forced my sights on him.

“Something’s wrong. I-I can feel it.”

His smile did little to calm me this time—something else that caused me to worry. What was I missing?

“Accept it. You did it. You won. You’re a hero.”

Hero.

I missed it because I couldn’t see her. I scanned the crowd. Where—

Jane rose from the ground behind Jack.

And ripped his heart out.

Next week on ⚡️THUNDERFANG:

Locke learns the hard way that you do not have to accept the names you are given.