The Last Hero (Book 1): Ultra

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I
’d never been
afraid of the people with powers.

I stared out of my bedroom window. It was bright, the sun was shining strong, bouncing off the perfect white snow that I just wanted to go outside and play in. When school called and Mom told me I wouldn’t be going in today, I thought at first it must be because of the snow. Which was great, because I’d waited so long for it to snow so I could go out and play in it with Brad, so I could build a snowman and play snowball fights with Cassie, if she ever got back home.

But as I looked down Sherman Avenue, I knew something was weird right away. The street was empty. People that were outside were running. They looked scared. A man and his two kids sprinted, tried not to slip on the snow. Other people closed their curtains. The Jacksons, who lived right across the road, were going out into that funny bunker thing they’d built in the garden.

I knew right then why we’d got the day off.

Something was happening with the ULTRAs.

“Oh, God. I just can’t get hold of her.”

“She’ll be okay—”

“How the hell can you say she’ll be okay, Martin?”

I heard the sounds of my mom and dad arguing, and I could tell they were scared. Scared about Cassie, probably. She was my big sister. She’d got to that age that seemed really cool to be, where you could just go off to the main Manhattan Island on the boat and spend time on your own away from Mom and Dad. I loved Mom and Dad. They looked after me and bought me cool stuff, but I liked the thought of being able to go off on my own journeys, my own adventures, just like Cassie was allowed to do. But she was fourteen, and I was only eight, so I wasn’t allowed to do as much as her yet.

“Is Kyle okay?” I heard Mom say.

“Is he okay? He’s in his room. Of course he’s okay.”

“And you know that because you’ve checked on him?”

“Look, Mary. We’re gonna be fine. Cassie’s gonna be fine. It’s probably just another false flag.”

I heard Mom go silent and knew that she wasn’t arguing with Dad anymore. That was better. I preferred it when they weren’t arguing.

I looked out of the window some more. The snow fell heavily. I just wanted to go throw some snowballs. Maybe I could sneak outside. I could be out and back before Mom and Dad even knew a thing.

I turned around and stepped over my collection of wrestling toys, walked through my room—my favorite place in the world—and got to the door. When I stepped outside it, towards the stairs, I could hear the telly booming really loud. I couldn’t properly hear the words, but as I stood at the top of the stairs, I could make some of them out.

“…Breaking reports of chaos reaching New York State…”

“…Stay in your homes, ladies and gentlemen. Saint and Orion are to be avoided at all costs. Avoided at all costs…”

When I heard Saint and Orion, I felt myself get a bit excited. I knew who Saint and Orion were. They were the ULTRAs. The last two left, which saddened me a bit. They were cool. They could fly and had superpowers.

Well. Orion was cool. He liked saving people.

Saint liked killing people.

But none of them scared me.

I heard Mom and Dad chatting in the kitchen and climbed further down the stairs. I could see the snow sprinkling through the front window. The news said something about “chaos” or something coming to New York State, but I lived on Staten Island. Nothing ever happened on Staten Island.

I got to the bottom of the stairs knowing Mom and Dad would go mad if they saw me trying to leave. But I just wanted to stand in the street—just wanted to feel the snow on my face. I’d waited so long for it to snow—a whole
forever
since it snowed last year—and I wasn’t gonna miss it. Not for Saint. Not for Orion. Not for any of the ULTRAs.

I walked toward the front door. Put my hand on the handle. And I started to feel bad. Mom and Dad sounded so worried about Cassie. If I went out the house, they’d be so worried about me too.

Maybe I shouldn’t go out.

Maybe I should just wait inside.

I started to lower my hand and walk back upstairs when I saw something through the window down the street.

It was Cassie. She was running down the street, heading right back toward the house.

When I saw the snow bouncing up from her feet, I just wanted to go out there and run with her. ’Cause it wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair that Cassie could run in the snow but I couldn’t. I was eight. I was old enough to look after myself.

Besides. If I went out there and came back with Cassie, maybe Mom and Dad would see what a hero I was.

Maybe they’d see just how big and strong I was for saving my sister from the “chaos” and they’d let me go to Manhattan on my own or with my friends when I wanted after that. They’d let me get ice cream and play in Central Park. I’d feel all grown up.

So I lowered the handle of the front door and stepped out into the snow.

The snow felt so nice and cold against my skin. I heard it crunching under my feet. It was so bright to look at. And when I stuck my tongue out, it tasted like the freshest ice pop I’d ever eaten.

I didn’t even close the door.

I just walked out into the street.

It was so quiet. The only sounds I could hear were my own footsteps, and Cassie getting closer.

I saw her running towards me. Lifted my hands. Jumped up and waved.

I expected her to look happy to see me. To smile at me. Cassie always smiled at me. Even though she picked on me sometimes, called me big ears, she always smiled at me.

But she didn’t smile at me this time.

She waved her hands back.

“Get inside!” she shouted. “Get the hell inside!”

I didn’t understand. I couldn’t figure out why Cassie wasn’t happy to see me. We always talked about how cool the ULTRAs were, how cool it’d be to be one. How we didn’t think they were as bad as the people on the news and the TV made out.

Cassie told me stories about the ULTRAs. She read them to me before I went to sleep.

So why was she so scared right now?

“Get inside, Kyle!”

“What…”

I started to speak when I saw it.

A flash in the sky.

And then, right above me, just like that, they were there.

I stared up at them. Felt my jaw lower, the snow dripping into my mouth.

I’d seen them on the TV. I’d seen them on the internet and in the movies.

But I’d never seen them for real.

Saint and Orion were above me. Saint was dressed in that silver armor of his, with the metal mask over his face. He looked like a knight, but a scary one. I didn’t like him, not as much as Orion.

Orion was dressed in that cool black outfit with the planet on his chest, the stars all around it. He looked cool. Even though people said the ULTRAs were bad, I thought he looked really cool.

I wanted to be like Orion when I was older. Only someone people liked instead of hated.

I watched them like I was looking at a movie. I could hear Cassie’s shouts getting louder. Hear them getting closer. I thought I heard Mom and Dad shout, too.

I saw them shooting through the sky faster than my eyes could see. I saw them disappear. Saw them hover around one another like they were dancing, like the best wrestling match ever. I wanted to see them in the ring. I wanted to see who’d win if they were in WWE. I’d always wanted to go watch a wrestling match.

But right now, I was seeing a bigger one than ever.

Cassie kept on running towards me, but I couldn’t look away from the battle in the sky.

Saint pummeled his fist into Orion’s face.

But Orion dodged it.

Threw Saint down to the road below.

Sent me tumbling from my feet.

“It’s over, Saint,” Orion said, his voice strong and booming. “This ends. This ends right now.”

Saint stood up. He looked broken. His legs wobbled around. He didn’t look like an ULTRA. Not anymore. “Maybe it is,” Saint said.

He lifted his hands and something happened.

A light sparked from Saint’s chest. I felt the ground begin to shake. Felt this weird tingling up the back of my neck like I’d never felt before. The sky went black. The wind became strong, cold. Flames spurted from the middle of Saint’s armor. A light shone from his chest.

“Come on then,” Saint said. “End it. End it all.”

Orion hovered there for a moment. He hovered there and stared at Saint.

And then he flew down at him.

“Good-bye, old sport,” Saint said.

Cassie’s fingertips reached mine.

“We need to—”

I didn’t see what caused the bright light in the sky.

I didn’t see it, but whatever it was knocked me to the road. I tasted metal in my mouth. I couldn’t hear anything but ringing in my ears and couldn’t see anything but light.

I felt electricity tingling through my body.

Tingling faster, faster…

When the light faded, I still couldn’t hear properly. But I could see things. I could see that Saint and Orion were gone. I could see that there were flames burning in the middle of my street and that the roofs had blown off houses. I could see people opening their curtains, looking to see what’d happened.

And I could see Mom and Dad too. They were standing over me. But they didn’t look happy.

They were crying.

I could feel Cassie’s hand in mine. So I squeezed it. I squeezed it hard, to try and get her to move off me ’cause she was older than me so she was hurting me.

But Cassie didn’t move.

She didn’t squeeze back.

My sister—my favorite person in the world—never squeezed back again.

I
walked
past the broken glass, past the fragments of sink and mirror all over the floor. I kept my eyes ahead. I didn’t want to look around. Didn’t want to see the chaos the gunmen had caused.

I just had to keep moving.

I just had to get out.

I stepped towards the exit of the restroom. Looked to the left. Clear. Then to the right. Totally clear.

“Please,” I mumbled, my lips quivering. “Please.”

And then I walked as quickly as I could over to those stairs.

When I reached them, adrenaline spinning through my body, I was pleasantly surprised to see the door at the bottom of the stairs open. The exit. Nobody was guarding it. My way out was right ahead.

I went to take a step when I felt something behind me.

Felt… like I was being watched.

I turned around, and every muscle in my body gave in.

One of the gunmen stood opposite. He was looking right into my eyes. Smiling.

His gun was pointed right at my chest.

“Sweet dreams, kid.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and held my breath.

The gunman pulled the trigger.

T
his might seem
like the ending to a story. It might seem like one of those dark conclusions, like one of those arty films that leave you with a bitter taste in your mouth.

But really, that moment is where my story began. Where things… well, changed. Forever.

But before that, there’re a few things you need to understand about me.

Let’s take it back a little…