Invincible (26 page)

Images of the past run through my mind, and the shock of similar ones occurring in the present sends a chill down my spine as I fly though the towering inferno. If it were to happen again… if the people I love suffer one more time…

My rage builds up again, and I was determined to find Taylor and the Catchers.

I stopped at the middle of the bridge when I saw Taylor’s face through a thick cloud of smoke, and landed in its direction, with Alex following after me. I almost fell to my knees when I saw her, but my face hardens as the smoke in front of us clears, and I see her hanging beside the bridge, her face in a struggle as her neck tightens under Kantos’ fingers, eyeing me with a triumphant smile.

“Troy,” he says courteously. “I’m so glad you could make it.”

Taylor starts to scream as she dangles above the river
at the bottom of the bridge.

“Let her go!” I yell. “She has nothing to do with this!”

“Oh, but she does,” he says. “Otherwise, why would you come?”

I look away from Kantos and Taylor, and behind them I see the blurry images of forty Catchers, along with Davidson standing in front of them, staring at me in a way so uncertain, I was afraid that at any moment he would fling me over to one of the rails, and beat
me constantly until I was dead.

“But it’s me you want!” I say, looking back at Kantos.

“Right you are,” he says, his face stretching into an even bigger smile. “But what better way to get to you than going after your loved ones?” He then faces Taylor, who now begins to cry, leaving a churning effect on my stomach. “It’s worked so far, hasn’t it?”

Anger fills up inside me in a way I’ve never felt before. If Taylor wasn’t in this situation, I would tear these guys apart. But she was, and there was nothing I could do. I couldn’t kill Kantos without risking her life, and he knew it.

I clench my teeth as I try to remain calm. The sounds of the flickering flames fade, the rush of my pumping blood filling my ears.

It was then that I noticed Kantos’ fingers loosening their grip on Taylor that I started to freak out.

“Don’t!” I yell.

But that doesn’t stop him. He just chuckles as he lets go of Taylor, who screams louder than ever as she plummets toward the water.

Without hesitation, I run over to the edge of the bridge and leap into the air.

The distance between Taylor and I was far. Far enough that she could hit the water in a matter of seconds. So I speed up a little more until I was close enough to reach her. I quickly grab hold of her and fly upward. She stops screaming and holds onto me tightly as I fly to the end of the bridge.

By the time our feet touch the ground, Taylor cannot seem to let go of me, burying herself into my chest. But I didn’t mind. I squeeze onto her even tighter as I press my head onto the top of hers, never wanting to let go.

“You saved me,” she says, letting her arms fall as we separate.

“Why wouldn’t I?” I say.

I press my hand to her cheek, looking into her eyes as she looks to mine. It was like everything had frozen. There was nothing to worry about anymore. Not the Catchers, the flames blazing around us,

Davidson, nothing. It was just me and Taylor, and that was all that mattered.

All of a sudden, I heard screaming, and before I knew it, I was being tack
led and pulled up into the air.

I shove my elbow in Kantos’ back, and within a matter of seconds, he releases me. I regain stability as I glide in the air. I look down and find myself high above the bridge, and start to notice flashing colors of light approach the area. Before I could figure out what it was, I look up to see Kantos gliding in the far distance, screaming. He then shoots towards me, an
d reflexively, I do the same.

We meet each other with a powerful impact, a deafening
boom
indicating the contact. This doesn’t have an effect of us. We attack each other as the sound of the collision echoes away, colors of blue, red, and green bleeding from our skin, fading into the night. As much as I hate to admit, he puts up a good fight, but unfortunately not good enough for me. There was no telling how long we punched, kicked, and grappled each other. Time didn’t seem to matter to us.

I gain a bit of luck as Kantos begins to lose strength. I then start to land some serious punches on him. Hit after lightening hit, blow after savage blow. But just when he was one punch away from being a goner, he grabs hold of my bod
y and flings me through the air.

I smash through the concrete of the street. I was too stunned to realize what happened; my breathing not quite resuscitating. I wanted to get up. I had to get up. But then a sharp pain goes through me, and I am unable to move.

Kantos lands a few feet away from me, his lips pulled into a pleasant smile as the blazing fire rises behind him.

“You’re just making
this so easy for me,” he says.

As he slowly walks toward me, I try to gain enough strength to get back on my feet, but it was useless. I couldn’t move my arms, ch
est, legs, not even my fingers.

Just make it quick,
I think. That was all I could hope for. There was no sense to fight anymore if there was nothing to fight for. Taylor was safe, Brad and Jack were safe, and Alex—who was probably fighting right this moment—would hopefully be safe herself. If they were smart enough, they’d run and hide, try to escape as I died.

Out of all the ways I could’ve died—and believe me, there were a few—I would’ve never imagined this. But if it was protect to the ones I loved—like my parents had done—I would accept it without question.

I knew if I hadn’t done the things that I’d done, I wouldn’t be facing my death right now. But I couldn’t bring myself to regret those decisions, because they were the things that kept me going, made me who I was.

As Kantos continues to talk, my eyes begin to drupe, and I don’t even bother to fight it.

No!
I think. I couldn’t do it; I couldn’t die. I mean, after all that I've been through, I’m just going to give up? I was right; I couldn’t regret the things I’ve done. Not because they made me the person I am, but because they’ve led me to this moment.

I couldn’t just let the Catchers win again. If I let them do that, it would be the same as giving up on my parents, or letting Taylor fall into the river. And I wasn’t going to let that happen.

I use all my strength again to try to push myself up again, but it didn’t work. I calm myself, thinking of Taylor and my family, and with a slight relief, I gain enough feeling in my arms and legs to get back on my feet.

Kantos’ smile drops from his lips, staring at me with bewilderment. The priceless expression brings on one of my own.

“No,” he growls, his lips pulled back, exposing his clenched teeth. “No!”

“Oh, did I ruin something?” I say. “Me not lying dead crushed your plan? Well, if that’s the case, I’m so sorry to disappoint you.”

I kick Kantos in the stomach—my signature move—and he flies backward, smashing into one of the demolished cars that lay a few feet before us. He falls to the ground, and using my super-speed, I run towards him and pick him up, his bloody face struggling as I grasp his neck.

“This is what you get,” I say, the tone in my voice hardened. “After everything you’ve done to me and my planet, all that you put us through, this is what you deserve.”

All of a sudden, Kantos’ expression changes, no longer filled with pain and fear.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” he snickers.

Suddenly, I start to feel pain in my midsection, and it hurts so bad that I’m left with no other choice but to drop Kantos, screaming in agony.

I kneel to the ground, touching the wound, and notice a silver object buried into it. I pull at it—despite how agonizing the pain gets—and as I lift my hand to examine it, my eyes laid upon on the object placed between my fingers—a piece of a broke
n blade, slick with blood.

I lift my head up to Kantos, who laughs at the sight of my second defeat, holding the remaining piece of the knife, clenching it tightly between his fingers, piercing the insides of his fist.

“Now you’ve really pissed me off,” he says.

He walks over to me again, and this time there is nothing I can do. Because not only is the pain of the knife hurting me, but the pain from me crashing into the street returns, causing me to lay flat on the ground.

“Now
this
is what you deserve,” he says pleasantly. “Look at you, on the ground in defeat. You are so weak. So vulnerable, so human. Just like your pathetic parents. Right before we killed them.” He laughs. “Guess the apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

The comment about my parents fuels me with rage. I had every right to be angry to him, but the pain in my body was so excruciating that I was simply left with no other choice but to let him say it.

“Once you, the girl, and the others are dead, there will be nothing to stop us from taking over this wretched planet.”              

I lay my head against the heated pavement, giving in to defeat. Then my mind goes off into the same pl
ace it was before. With Taylor.

I hoped that she had escaped, that hopefully Ryan and his squad had arrived and come to take her away. There was nothing else to think about now. There was no reason to continue fighting now, no more trying to get up.
This
was the end, and there was nothing else left to do but accept it.

As Kantos stands over me, raising the arm that holds the knife, I shut my eyes.

Taylor, I love you
, were my last thoughts.

The next thing I heard was screaming, and the
sound of metal piercing flesh.

Surprisingly enough, it wasn’t me creating those noises. I open my eyes, and with a sense of bewilderment, stare at the dagger driven into Kantos’ chest. His face was in shock also, gasping for air, although it certainly wasn’t going to do him any good. He slips to the ground, his chest elevating and deflating for a few moments, and then he stops, his bo
dy no longer creating mobility.

He was dead.

My vision begin to blur as I look at the dagger in Kantos’ chest, recognizing the slickness of its blade and handle. I then realize that it wasn’t just any dagger.

I lift my head up, and in front of me I see Al
ex running towards my direction.

“Troy!” she yells.

She crouches beside me, her now ruffled hair blowing in the wind as she places her hand against my wound. It makes me want to cry when I notice the dried blood and soot on her face, and the tears and cuts on her clothes, but instead I manage to smile.

“You’re alive,” I say in a heavy whisper.

Alex removes her hand from the wound and presses it against my cheek.

“Yeah, Troy,” she says, smiling back at me, her face glistening with tears. “I’m here. Everything’s going to be fine; it’s going to be okay.”

I wanted to tell her how I could smell the blood, how the warm, sticky substance felt against my skin, and how much it hurt to know it was mine. But I couldn’t. It wouldn’t be appropriate for this moment. And the last thing that I wanted was for both of us to be uncomfortable.

I groan as my body begins to grow numb, my consciousness slowing fading away. I was afraid of what was happening, but yet ag
ain, I didn’t want to fight it.

“Alex,” I
breathe.

The pain was slowly diminishing, now replacing itself with dreariness. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not, but in one way or another, I was glad.

I look at Alex’s face one last time. Then I close my eyes, and dream of the only thing that matters to me most in the world.