When Heroes Fall

Chapter 19

Loose gravel flew in the air as Matt skid back, dodging Gea's attack. Sweat covered his brow, matting his hair against his forehead despite the coldness creeping in with the ending autumn. Glimpsing back, he spotted Chaos looking like he felt. Several strands of hair had fallen out of her high ponytail and during the battle, she had lost her cloak. Dust covered her face, but it didn't hide the cut along her cheek and the blood dripping down or the dents in her armor that no doubt left bruises underneath. Each labored breath sent tremors down her arms. She held on tightly to her stun canes. With one hand, she wiped against her cheek, smearing the dried blood and dirt.

Looking forward, Matt locked onto Gea. She stood in a wide stance, braced against the earth and ready for an attack. Her hair was ratted and tangled, hanging in front of her face, but not hiding the way her face twisted into a snarl as she bared her teeth. A bruise blossomed under the amber skin of the side of her face where Matt had managed to land a hit. Her costume, modeled after some warped version of a royal prince, was torn, and battered. Her fingers stayed twisted and taunt, ready to pull the ground below them at a moments notice.

Matt couldn't ignore his own aches. His side throbbed from where one of Gea's boulders hit him, and the salt of his sweat stung his eyes. If they couldn't come up with a plan soon, they would collapse out of pure exhaustion.

It seemed Gea had the same idea. She raised a hand toward the rock blockade around city hall, clenching her fist. "Stand down, or I crush the building with everyone still in it. There deaths would be on your hands."

"Are you crazy?" Chaos shouted but didn't move.

Gea glowered. "Why is it a determined woman is always labeled crazy?" She spat out.

Chaos stepped forward, throwing her arms into the air as she gestured to the destruction around them. "What do you want? What does this achieve?"

"Want," Gea threw her head back, cackling. She dropped her hand. The wall around city hall shook. Matt's eyes widened. He prepared himself to dash over and evacuate whoever he could, but Gea continued, "I already told you—it isn't about want. Axiomville failed me, so I will take it this city apart piece by piece and I will crush it until the only thing left is dust."

With each word, the rumbling of the ground increased, making it more difficult to stay upright. Matt creeped forward a step. "How? Um, how did it fail you?"

Gea rolled her hand, brushing off the question. "Just like it's failed everyone else that doesn't fit into their perfect boxes. It's cute that you still believe anyone would want to help another person. That you believe that goodness and justice shall prevail. Your little friend has already seen how much of a lie that is, haven't you?"

Gea turned sharply, lifting a boulder, and throwing it back toward Chaos who had creeped up around Gea, body tense and crouched like a predator approaching its prey. The sharpness in her gaze vanished as her eyes widened, her mouth going slack as Gea launched the boulder through the air. Chaos barely had time to step back, bracing herself, as the rock crashed into her abdomen. Chaos crumpled. Her limp body rolled across the broken pavement. She laid facedown, unmoving, on the ground.

"Chaos!" Matt shouted, stepping forward to run to her side, but he was yanked back. Earthen claws gripped his body, whipping him around and yanking him toward Gea. She pulled Matt in until he was a breath away from her, their noses almost grazing. Gea snarled, her lips curling into a smile. The earth surrounding him tightened. Matt felt the air leave his lungs. The rocky grip pinned his arms, pressing into his skin so tightly his fingers tingled. His hold on his escrima sticks loosens. They fall to the ground, rolling away.

Matt swallowed, his mouth dry. His gaze flickered to Gea as she studied him. The mid-day sun caught her eye, turning their hard brown into a molten gold. She reached out a hand, seizing his chin. Her nails dug into his jaw.

"I am going to enjoy crushing you," Gea breathed. She released his face, throwing his face to the side. Raising her hand, she clenched her hand into a fist, as her fingers tightened, the rocks around him coiled tighter.

From the corner of his eye, Matt caught sight of Chaos and her limp form. It was impossible to distinguish if the pang of his heart was from fear, regret, or both. Chaos was fighting because he had walked away. She had been right on that roof top when she said he was privileged because he could walk away, and she couldn't. He left, instead of using the little power he had to keep helping, and now it would be too late.

Chao's fingers curled into a fist. Matt gasped.

On shaky arms, Chaos slowly lifted herself up. Matt glimpsed at Gea—her focus dedicated solely to him. She didn't notice Chaos making her way to her feet. Chaos dragged her stun canes toward her. She needed time, a few minutes, that's all she would need.

Matt's entire body spasmed; he bit back a groan, clutching his eyes shut. Just a few minutes, he thought. If he could keep Gea's attention for just a few minutes, Chaos would have enough time to make her move. It was his turn to play bait.

"Why?" he coughed out, "Why wait until now?"

Gea paused at his strained words, considering him. His constraints loosened a fraction as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I suppose, there is nothing to lose in telling you...Axiomville was my home," Gea spoke wistfully, her eyes softening. Matt bit his tongue; he tried to keep his face blank as he tore his concentration between the contemplative tilt of Gea's head and the haltingly movements of Chaos.

"We lived in the poorest part of town in an apartment building with more cockroaches than tenants," Gea continued, "but my parents worked hard, and they loved me. They believed that if they just worked hard enough and were kind enough, they could change the world. Our landlord didn't get the message." Gea glowered, her features becoming hard. "He sent some lowlife goons to rough up my parents, they took it too far. I watched," she inhaled shakily, "I watched as they beat my parents to death and then for the first time in my life, I made the earth shake. I made the world quake until the whole building was falling around us."

Matt swallowed. On her feet now, Chaos raised her head but clutched her arm and her stare was unfocused. He needed more time.

"That—how is that the city's fault? You're hurting innocent people."

Gea snarled. The rocks around him tightened, forcing him to gasp. "They aren't innocent! They didn't stop it. They didn't do anything when the city put me into foster care. They didn't do anything when my foster parents found out I was a meta human and sold me to the highest bidder. These systems meant to protect people? They don't work. The only thing left to do is to tear it all down." Gea exhaled through her nose, gritting her teeth.

Behind her, Chaos found her weapons and clenched her fists around the grips.

"You asked me why I waited? I found that landlord first, and I buried him so far into the earth that he became a part of it. Then I found the foster mother that sold me like some novelty trinket and made sure she knew just how much she hurt me. Finally, I had to kill this city's hope like it killed my childhood," Gea seethed.

"No matter how you try, you can't kill hope," Matt smiled.

Gea furrowed her brows. "Why are you smiling?"

Chaos lunged. The stun canes in her hands crackled. Their tips collided with Gea's back. The villainess screamed, her back arching as electricity coursed through her. As her fists opened, the earth around Matt fell away. It was only a few seconds before Gea pitched forward and collapsed.

Out of instinct, Matt held out his arms and caught her. Smoke drifted off her, The smell of burnt fabric and skin mixed with gasoline and blood on the cool winter air. The wall Gea had erected around City Hall crumbled.

With gentle hands, Matt lowered Gea to the ground. From his belt, he grabbed the pair of meta-dampening cuff's Aiden once gave him and clasped them around her wrists. As they clicked shut, he collapsed on the ground next to Gea, bending his head between his knees to keep the world from spinning.