Long Time Coming

“I trusted you, Jack” Captain said as the world around him, Campbell, and Aaron began to fade away, revealing a dark void.

“One of the many mistakes you’ve made,” Jack, James and Jane’s father, replied. He shot a blast of energy at Aaron and Captain. Aaron put his arms up, diverting the attack but accruing him damage. Captain swiped the energy aside without effort, his mind swirling with anger.

“So, why?” Aaron asked. “Why try to kill me now?”

“Because I couldn’t before, and finally had the opportunity” Jack responded, eliciting shock from Aaron and Captain. Before they could ask what he meant, he continued, “And because I needed you broken and your hope and idealism proved infuriatingly stubborn.” Though he said so matter-of-factly, the wave of energy he sent at the trio carried within it his fury.

“Broken?” Captain asked.

“With your lover gone and your friends away, I knew trying to break your mind would work. I took advantage of your insecurity, your loss. I wanted to wrest the power from you,” Jack answered. Aaron could sense Captain putting the pieces together. With Captain’s defenses down, he decided to probe. He found Captain’s defenses reflexibly strong, but was able to capture some of the pain he felt. He turned to Campbell and some of the pieces fell into place.

“You have to stop blaming yourself,” Aaron placed a hand on Captain’s shoulder. “I know we might get disintegrated by Mr. Power Hungry over there, but you can’t take the world’s burden on your shoulders.”

“But…” Captain began to protest. Aaron simply shook his head, resolute, and gave a smile. “It’s so strange to see that.”

“I can’t imagine a world where you aren’t smiling,” Campbell offered. “Now kick his ass!” he pointed to Jack.

“Impossible. Now that I’m handling this problem, you have no chance of success,” Jack said, the energy around him growing more violent.

“Right, which is why you’ve had to try three different methods,” Captain smirked.

“Third time’s a charm right?” Aaron laughed. Jack surged with anger and shot energy at Aaron and Captain. Aaron flinched, but found himself protected by a blue energy. Captain flew back, but quickly regained his position.

“That’s okay, I’m not your ‘Aaron’ exactly,” Captain gave a light chuckle. “And by the way?” he shot a telekinetic bolt at Jack. “I had emotional issues. My psychic powers didn’t get any weaker, jackass.” The bolt pierced Jack’s energy, wounding his side.

“How did you… What the hell?!” Aaron exclaimed.

“Again, emotional issues, not stupidity,” Captain nodded at Aaron. Aaron quickly caught on and they synced with Campbell. Aaron led the charged toward Jack and launched a kick to his side. Jack blocked quickly, but had little time to dodge Captain’s attack from behind.

“You can teleport, too?” Aaron asked in his mind, jumping from Jack.

“Not exactly… You’ll find out about that later,” Captain responded, pushing Jack with his telekinesis. Again, Aaron saw Captain’s energy pierce Jack’s.

“How about now?” Aaron asked, putting clues together.

“Weave your energy through his, push it apart,” Captain punched at Jack’s face. Aaron shot a blast of telekinetic energy at Jack, pushing through his energy field but not completely. Jack’s eyes shot open in rage. He created two tendrils of energy and hit Aaron and Captain with them, knocking them back toward Campbell.

“Campbell, can you use your shield?” Captain was impatient.

“Number one: Cut the sass. Two: you both move a lot faster than you realize,” Campbell snapped.

“Concentrate,” Captain rose to his feet. “Focus on protecting us. Make it deliberate.”

“Okay,” Campbell nodded. He focused as best he could as they charged toward Jack again. Jack rose to the challenge, running toward them and launching small blasts of energy. While Captain and Aaron felt the impact of some, they could see many of the bolts flying away in flashes of blue light.

“There we go, love,” Aaron said in Campbell’s mind. “You can do it.”

Jack punched toward Aaron, meeting Campbell’s shield and Aaron’s block, and sent an arm of energy at Captain who cut it short. They both recovered and hit Jack with a double punk-kick, then flew back and shot large blasts of telekinesis at him, weakening his energy field. His body almost completely exposed, Aaron and Captain launched one more attack. Their eyes glowing and bodies surrounded by psychic energy, they shot toward Jack as two arrows, ready to incapacitate him.

“Unacceptable!!!” Jack screamed, expelling massive amounts of energy. Using Campbell’s shield and their own energy, they tried to move through the field of energy. Jack’s power proved too strong; they were both sent flying. This time, Campbell’s energy provided a cushion for them.

“You cannot…” Jack’s energy surged, “You cannot beat me. I’m…” his energy surged again “Stronger than you! You are WEAK! Your idealism is FALSE! You do not deserve the power you hold!!!”

“Just who told you that?” Aaron said indignantly.

“My…” Jack’s mind wandered for a moment. When he realized where his thoughts went, he expelled more energy. Aaron, Campbell, and Captain struggled to stay in place. Jack sent a maelstrom at the trio, weakening their defenses.

“We have to do something now,” Campbell said.

“We can’t help him?” Aaron asked, sensing Jack’s pain.

“…No,” Captain looked down, feeling the same pain, but understanding how far gone Jack had become.

“Okay,” Aaron said, a tear in his eye. His eyes flew open and glowed violently, breaking through the energy in front of his face. He began to shoot through Jack’s energy with his telekinesis. Captain followed suit. They began to make a path to Jack, which only served to increase his fury and anguish. Aaron noticed less energy hitting him and turned to Campbell, who was touching both Aaron and Captain, protecting them. As their telekinesis finally approached Jack, he withdrew his energy to create a large orb.

“This… Will work,” he said resolutely before firing the orb at the trio. It met a large wall of energy, the synthesis of Campbell’s shield and Aaron and Captain’s psychic abilities.

“No,” Aaron began.

“It won’t,” Captain finished. Surrounded by Campbell’s shield, Aaron and Captain formed a large arrowhead and shot it through the giant orb. Jack had little time to protect himself before it split, hitting him on both sides. In an instant, his energy left his body and Aaron and Captain were upon him. They touched his head with their palms, creating an immense psychic wave. He cried in agony as he was incapacitated. He struggled to fight them, using whatever energy he could, but to no avail. As he crumpled to the ground, Captain drew the energy from Jack, the essence that had corrupted him for so long.

“Blink,” he spoke quickly.

“Right,” the older Blink suddenly appeared and swiped his hand at the energy, sending it somewhere unknown to Aaron.

“Good job gentlemen,” he smiled at the trio. “Now let’s get you back home.”

They all suddenly found themselves back in the hospital.