Interlude ~ Averting a Crisis

“Nuclear missiles have just been launched!” Aei and En stopped everything they were doing. They had kept a close watch over the growing global tension. They weren’t sure what was going to happen to America, China, or the rest of the world involved in the conflict. Many had thought Earth was on the brink of World War III, even after what felt like 100 years of peace. Such an event was a surprise to see in the 22^nd century.

“En, what’s going to happen…” Aei asked. He pushed his food away, distraught over the potential of many people losing their lives.

“I don’t know,” he walked over to hug Aei and kiss him on the cheek. “All we can do now is hope…” he laid his head on Aei’s shoulder.

Hope was and had been something very important to Aei. In the face of doubt, he had to hope that En would love him. He had to hope that the pain of losing loved ones would eventually pass. He began to cry as he moved from En’s embrace into the bedroom. He sat down on the bed, unsure how to handle his emotions. As he looked up to their dresser, he saw his familiar chest of accessories. One in particular caught his eye.

Aei had been a big fan of the Green Lantern mythos growing up. Of particular importance to him were the Blue Lanterns, fueled by the emotion of Hope, made stronger in the presence of Will. He picked up the ring, which he’d had for over a century, and turned it in his hand. He stopped to stare at the Blue Lantern symbol, a representation of Hope. As he looked into the mirror, he saw an image he had grown to love. He saw his face, streaked by tears, but also a testament to survival and growth. He also recognized within himself an innate capacity for Hope. Aei put the ring down and flew to the door, resolved to do what he could.

“Aei, what are you doing?” En asked, grabbing him by the ankle.

“We’ve had these powers for so long we forgot that we can do something about this. We don’t have much time. I’m going,” he lowered himself to the ground. As he descended, En let go. “You don’t have to come with me. I understand, but I’m going to see what I can do.”

En thought about the circumstance for a moment. “I can’t let you do this alone,” he stated. “Two of us will be far more productive than one,” he nodded.

“I love you,” Aei said smiling as he kissed En. “Let’s go save the world.”

They both rushed from their apartment and took to the sky. Wherever the missile was headed, they knew they could reach it. As they streaked through the sky at their top speed, En wondered why they hadn’t thought of it before, using their powers. Aei was happy to finally be a superhero. Their powers could be used for something good for the entire world. Though they had used their powers for miscellaneous things before, never had they been presented with an opportunity like this. As they neared the shore of China, three more missiles fired into the atmosphere.

“No!” Aei yelled. He froze for a moment, unsure of what to do.

“Aei, catch the first missile! I’ll see what I can do with the others!” En yelled, taking off after the newly launched missiles.

Aei flew toward the first missle, racing to reach it. It was reaching the end of its assent before he caught it. He immediately tore the propulsion from its tail, throwing the rest of it into space. He launched it hard enough to where it could escape Earth’s gravitational pull, leaving him to deal with it later.

En was racing to reach the other three before they had the chance to split up. He managed to grasp two of them, digging his fingers into the metal. As much as he wanted to try to catch the third, he had to deal with what he could physically handle. As he was racing into the atmosphere, he caught sight of Aei. He couldn’t motion to him without clashing the bombs, so he stayed on his course. Eventually Aei got the picture and headed to chase down the last missile.

Aei sped toward the missile, trying his best to reach it. He had to break his top speed to be able to even feel the propulsion from the missile. The missile was just outside his reach; with each grab, he would lose speed and begin to trail it. With a few unsuccessful grabs, he took a mighty swipe and hit one of the metal panels on the missile’s tail, which sent the missile rocketing toward the Atlantic Ocean.

Aei’s eyes flew wide open. He wasn’t sure what a missile’s impact with the ocean would do so he did his best to catch up. As the missile neared the ocean’s surface, he was able to grab hold of it. He did not have enough time to pull up and fly toward the sky; all he could do was stare at the ocean, hoping there was a way to limit the impact. Before he knew it, he was under the ocean’s surface, diving deeper, guided and lead by the missile. He could feel the cold around him, but not like he usually did. It was as though he was diving through the water, not into it.

He soon noticed that his hands were infused with the missile, just like he was moving through the water without interacting with it. Before he could lose himself in this new ability, he moved against the strength and pressure of the ocean to steer the missile up and out of the ocean and toward En.

En was now moving out of the atmosphere, still clinging to the missiles. He soon saw the remains of the first missile, tossed into space by Aei. As Aei neared his location, he let them go, sending them flying into space. Aei zoomed past him, collecting the first missile, and raced toward the other two. As he caught up with them, he found a way to phase the missiles he had collected into them. He created a misshapen mass of missiles, determined to knock them all out at once. After he had fused them together, he gave them a mighty punch, strong enough to detonate each of them. From where En was, all he could see was a grand explosion. In the vacuum of space, he could hear nothing, which added to the spectacle.

For a moment, En was entranced, until he realized his boyfriend was in the middle of the explosion. He worried for a moment, unsure if either of them would be able to survive it. Soon, he saw something emerging from the giant nuclear cloud: Aei’s body was zooming back to Earth. En rushed to catch him. As they both entered the atmosphere, what clothes Aei had left and that En had on were beginning to smolder upon entry. He raced with physics, determined not to let Aei fall to the Earth’s surface. With intense concentration and effort, he was able to grab one of Aei’s arms, quickly pulling Aei’s body into his own.

“You did it,” Aei said weakly.

“We did it,” En responded. They stood suspended in air, proud of themselves for what they had just accomplished.

“We’re also both naked,” Aei said, coming to his senses and climbing out of En’s arms.

“That…” En looked down, “is absolutely true.” He covered himself, despite knowing that no one could see their intimacies from such a distance.

“Right. Well, looks like we can withstand nuclear blasts,” Aei said.

“That’s true…” En thought to himself. “So, let’s make sure this doesn’t happen again.” He sped off toward China’s military base. Aei understood his motive and raced after him. They soon caught sight of the base from where the missiles were fired. Like two bullets, they shot down into the base, speeding their way through it to cripple each and every nuclear missile in their sight. Once they finished, they emerged from the base, tunneling their way through metal, concrete, and earth.

“Takes care of that,” Aei wiped his hands.

“Until they fire another missile,” En shrugged.

“We can take them,” Aei smiled. He flew over to En and kissed him. “Until then, I say you should take me,” he winked before zooming to their home.

“So mean to me,” En smiled before taking off after him.