Chapter 20 "Hero - Part 3"
Tina set her hands into flames again and approached Michael with a glare of hostility.
- suddenly a burst of water collapsed on the back of her head. She turned around, Michael looking her gaze to where Wendy and Wendy were standing, Tracy holding a bucket filled with water balloons.
"What are you two doing here?"
"Helping you, dumbass," Wendy barked.
"You have got to be kidding me." Tina nearly erupted in laughter, her fire seizing. She looked back to him, shaking her head. "These are your reinforcements. As I recall, you had to save their hides back at the hotel."
"Don't think we've forgotten that," Tracy shouted at the woman.
"And you seemed so nice that day we talked," Tina said almost kindly.
"Keep away from them," Michael growled, charging at her, arm swinging into her cheek bone.
Her hands became fist of fires once again; when she eyed him, he now saw a glare of disdain on the woman. "You nearly broke my face, there. I'm not letting that go."
Now Michael was in a trance of utter movement, for her attacks were came to him faster and more violently. Tracy and Wendy began throwing as many water balloons as possible, but it was obvious from the start that their efforts were pointless.
Michael had become so focused on Tina's arms, that he didn't expect her to spin her leg down below and trip him onto his back. She would have thrown her flaming knuckles onto him had Wendy and Tracy not thrown some accurate balloons onto her head, causing Tina to shift attention towards them.
"Give us what you've got, bitch!" Wendy shouted.
"You asked for it."
Tina put her hands together and smashed them onto the ground. The earth in front of her became an eerie red, moving rapidly in an almost conscious manner towards the two girls. Wendy quickly grabbed Tracy by the arm and pulled her away from what quickly erupted into a burning hot spot.
Tina put her hands together again and released a cloud of fire towards them; Wendy once more managed to pull Tracy and herself away, barely avoiding the flames and falling to the ground.
Michael used that distraction to drop Tina onto the ground by taking her legs into his and yanking them out from under her.
"Leave them alone," he growled once more.
He needed a plan - and fast. Think, you need to stop her, now. Michael examined the surroundings, looking for what he remembered to be around here somewhere. He spotted it behind Tina, twenty feet away, a fire hydrant that he hoped to God was not empty or disconnect.
Tina swung her arm at Michael, he barely rolled away from; they both stood, Tina's hands more lit up than ever, now nothing about her appearance was kind or friendly at all.
"Just come with me, now, Michael," she growled. "Nobody has to get hurt."
"Yes, they will, if I become like you, and we do this to other people," he said.
"We're part of a bigger plan, you have to except that."
He shook his head. "You're part of the problem, so I know where I have to be."
Once again, Tina charged at him with one arm ready to attack. This time, Michael flipped over her in midair and when he landed behind her, he punched her hips, causing Tina to yell out in pain.
Off to their side, Tracy and Wendy could only watch Tina turn around, ignoring her pain and carry on with her attacks from all directions. Michael jumped, ducked, and continued to narrowly avoid those flames, backing away step-by-step. It was becoming much more difficult, with Tina was becoming more wild by the second.
Then he tripped onto his back against the fire hydrant, making Tina believe that she had him; she raised one arm and swung downward, but Michael jumped to the side and her eyes went wide, seeing as her hands smashed open the top of the fire hydrant.
Michael came around in a fast motion, taking her by the elbows, and forcing her entire body onto the hydrant, keeping her against the powerful force of the water. Her flames disappeared, evaperating some of the water as it did so. He finally dropped her beside to the ground after a short while, where Tina stayed limb, coughing out gulps of water.
"This is done," Michael declared, also now dripping in water, kneeling over her, the hydrant still exploding in water. "You either leave now, or I drown you."
"I guess you proved yourself," Tina said between her coughs. "Congratulations."
"What? What are you talking about?" Tracy and Wendy came running up behind Michael; he remained kneeled down over the limb woman.
"The fire at the Jameson's, you hearing me in the alleyway and from your car that night," she explained. "They were all tests, to see if you had guts and showed promise. Today was the final one and you passed"
"For what?" he asked out of breath.
"For what?" Tina sounded as if the answer was standing right in front of him and he was simply blind. "What you can do - what I can do; we have a greater purpose, Michael. There are more out there in the world with powers. The people I work with, you can be one of us."
"You're part of what, a cult?" Wendy asked her.
"An organization." Tina steadily rose to a seating position, causing Michael to extend his arms in front of both girls behind him for protection. "If you join us, we can show you so much."
"You're the ones that abducted me," Michael said, feeling the need to remind her of that. "You strapped me onto a table, probed me or did who knows what."
"All part of understanding your abilities."
"Did you ever think of knocking on my door?" he howled, the rage bursting from inside him like a volcano - or her power. "How about saying hi and explaining it all to me like a civilized person, instead of kidnapping and putting people's lives in danger."
"That's not how you fit people like us for our roles in the world," Tina argued.
"You're sick, and vial," Michael growled shaking his head with disbelief. "I don't want you or anybody else to make tests like these, it sickens me."
"You have to learn like this, Michael," she argued forcefully "You have to understand that we are part of something greater."
He shook his head. "No, I won't be part of this. You're willing to hurt others to do your job or whatever this is to you, people who don't deserve it."
Now she was shaking her head at him. "You're so young and naive."
"He isn't," Wendy growled to the woman, with the same fury and disdain as Michael. "You're horrible and cold, with no remorse for what you do."
"You're a villain," Tracy added calm and simply.
"Leave me, my family, and everybody that I know alone," Michael said to her, now standing up, with a finger pointed down to her. "If I so much as hear a heartbeat from you or one of your people nearby - and I will - I'm coming after you, and tell your organization the same thing."
Tracy and Wendy backed up as Tina stood onto her feet, but Michael didn't move at all. He stood his ground, not a hint of fear or repression of his disgust towards this woman.
"We wanted to see if you were ready," Tina said calmly, reverting back to her pre-battle character, "obviously you're not. We'll leave you alone for now, but we won't be forgetting about you."
He said nothing to this.
"For now, it's goodbye Michael Mules."
The woman slowly turned and walked down the dirt road, not glancing back to them once, or spinning around for a surprise attack. Neither he or the girls let their gaze drift away from her until she disappeared from sight onto the street.
When they felt safe, the three started back up the large hill to Michael's car.
"What now?" Wendy asked.
"She said they'll be back," Tracy pointed out.
"We'll worry about that when the time comes," Michael assured her, rubbing at his hurting stomach. "Right now, though, there's one more thing I need to get ready for today; luckily this will just take a shower, nap, first-aid, and some food."
On that night, the football stands were piled with the families and friends of the three hundred graduates sitting on the track field. Michael Mules sat at the last row of one side, staying quiet for the most part of the ceremony. His classmates sitting around him would talk to him briefly, but none knew him well.
In the next row, a few seats to his left, Mark was sitting with his entourage of friends; he glanced over to Michael once or twice, in which they nodded to each other. There wasn't anything left to be said between the two. Wendy was sitting beside Tracy, and she would be coming with him on his senior trip, in which they would discuss heavily during the bus drive on his next step.
During the entire ceremony, Michael only thought about everything that had come to pass in the last two months. So much had changed and yet there was still a lot that had stayed the same.
He didn't really know where he would be going from here.
There were still unanswered questions, which were joined by new ones brought on by Tina and her organization. They weren't done with him, he was sure of that to be the truth from her. Would this mean more danger for his loved ones? Whatever the case, Michael was resolved to keep this danger contained, so that meant not telling anybody else in his family anything, for now.
He tried calling Dr. Suresh once more after the fight, but there was still no answer. Perhaps that should be one of his tasks: Going to New York and seeing him face-to-face again, if he was still there. Maybe that Gabriel Grey he mentioned had had similar experiences as Michael.
He wondered if Tina was still scolding around, watching him, or another one of her people were now in her place. He did understand that sooner or later, he would have to deal with them again.
What are you guys planning?
DANIEL LINDERMAN - LAS VEGAS
The elevator door opened and Mr. Linderman stepped out, listening into his cell phone with his business face on, his whole life was a business now. He walked across the art room where he kept dozens of paintings that he collected from the gifted Isaac Mendez.
While most just saw works of art, few knew that they were prophecies of numerous people and stories that Linderman was set on controlling for good measures.
"I'm glad to hear that Mister Mules proved himself to have potential," he said solemnly. "Yes, I am sure about not bringing him in, yet, Mister Thompson. I still need to ponder over what Michael's role in the world will be."
As Thompson spoke, Mr. Liderman continued his walk through a series of framed paintings at the corner of the room, looking for the ones that had been setup somewhere around here.
"In the meantime, setup a plan for the Walker family," he instructed, "one of them could be a person of great interest to us. Goodbye then."
Linderman hung up the phone and looked to the back of two framed paintings that had just been placed there. He walked around and stopped in front of them, crossing his arms, thinking heavily on what they meant.
The painter, Isaac, didn't always predict certain futures. It seemed that time it was like a tree and could sprout into various random futures, some more certain than others. This was one of those yet undecided futures.
In these two paintings were the same thing but opposite of each other: one showing an older Michael Mules, dressed entirely in black, standing in front of an unknown city, the day was bright and seemingly peaceful - the other, however, had Michael looking more threatening and vicious, with hostility in his look, and the city behind him was dark, and in ruins.
Daniel Linderman stayed there, examining the two paintings for some time.
A hero can be a anyone, but it's not something you are born as, it's what you choose to be. Whether you desire it, stumble upon it, or see it as your responsibility, it is a title that must always be fought for, because it is an unbalance step, but has great meaning. Everyone can be a hero in their own story.
- Michael Mules, Journal Entry
It was night by the time Michael walked across the stage and accepted his diploma; there was much applause when his name was called, especially coming from his family and Wendy. He smiled, feeling like he was on top of the world at this one moment.
Once all the diplomas were handed out and all graduates were seated again, the principal presented to the audience the class of 2006 and there was infinite cheer. The caps were thrown into the air, and there were infinite hugs and handshakes. Michael shook hands with numerous former classmates, including Mark; he was also soon greeted by Wendy in an embrace.
Whatever was to come for him in his, he would face it and do his best.
The End
I would like to thanks all who read my story and enjoyed it. I put a lot of time and work into this fanfic, and hope my nest one to be an even better one. It's my intention to continue Michael's story, so keep a look out. Thanks for reading.