A Most Unlikely Hero, Vol. 1 Page 11

  “I am afraid that I cannot let you confiscate my weapon, good officer of the law.”

  A tense standoff grew between him and the law enforcement officer. Azazel leapt several feet back, his energy sword humming as if knowing that a battle would come.

  He made sure to lower the blade’s intensity, however, so it would only give a nonlethal discharge of energy. There was no need to start a war by killing someone. The law enforcement officer pulled out his firearm, some kind of handgun. He was also placing something against his ear and speaking into it.

  “Officer Tristin to HQ. Tristin to HQ. We have a potentially hostile situation near Mars Memorial Mall. I need backup, over.”

  “This is HQ. Roger that, Officer Tristin. Please do what you can to keep the situation from degrading further. Help is on the way. I repeat, help is on the way.”

  Azazel’s ears twitched. This was not good. He couldn’t afford to get himself arrested here. That would disgrace his title as a commander of Angelisia. Therefore, he, Azazel, did the only thing that he could think of to avoid this potentially hostile situation.

  He turned around and ran away.

  “The perpetrator is getting away! I’m going to need backup now!”

  “Roger that! Reinforcements are coming in hot! Don’t let that man escape!”

  2

  Gabrielle stood outside of Alex’s home, staring apprehensively at the door.

  She wanted to knock on it, of course, but she was afraid of what Alex would say when he answered. Would he even listen to her after what happened yesterday? Gabrielle didn’t know, and part of her was afraid to find out.

  However, standing around doing nothing never solved anything. Of that, she was sure, and so, taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door and waited.

  The person who answered was not Alex.

  “Alice,” Gabrielle greeted uncertainly. “Um, is your brother inside?”

  “No.” Alex shook her head. “He’s out right now.”

  “O-oh…”

  Alice stared at Gabrielle for a while longer with those bored, half-lidded eyes. She tried to not squirm under the girl’s intense stare. Finally, Alice sighed.

  “I don’t know what happened between you and my brother, so why don’t you come in and explain all this to me?”

  “O-okay.”

  Gabrielle walked inside, following Alice into the living room, where she sat down at the younger girl’s beckoning.

  “Hold on for a moment,” Alice said. “I’ll make us some tea.”

  “Thank you.”

  As Alice wandered into the kitchen, Gabrielle studied the living room.

  Light spilled in through the sliding door that led to the porch. From where she sat, Gabrielle could see clearly into the backyard, just a regular yard full of green grass, plants, and a single tree. Picture frames hung on the far wall. Each one showed two young children who could only be Alex and Alice. She hadn’t noticed until now, but there wasn’t a single picture of their parents anywhere.

  Alice came back a few minutes later with two steaming cups of tea in hand. She gave one to Gabrielle, and then sat down.

  “Thank you.” Gabrielle took a sip of the tea. She really enjoyed the way it warmed her insides. They didn’t have warm drinks on Angelisia.

  “Sure.” Alice took a sip from her own cup, sighed, and set it down before she focused on Gabrielle. “Now then, even though it sounds really troublesome, why don’t you tell me what happened between you and my bro?”

  Not knowing what else to do, Gabrielle revealed the circumstances behind her arrival on Mars and how she met Alex. She told the girl about their first meeting, and how he promised to protect her after hearing that she was being chased. Then she talked about what happened when they toured the city, including the attack and the conversation afterward.

  When Gabrielle finished sharing her tale, Alice remained silent for a few seconds, and then whistled. “So, you’re a real-life princess, huh?”

  “Um.” Gabrielle nodded.

  “And you’re an alien?”

  “Yep.”

  “Well, that explains the ears and those wings,” Alice sighed as she rubbed her face. “Anyway, I know why Bro got upset at you.”

  “Really? Why?”

  “Because you ran away from home.” Gabrielle didn’t understand. Alice seemed to realize this. “Gabrielle, do you know why we don’t live with our parents?”

  “Isn’t it because your parents aren’t here anymore?”

  “Yes.”

  Alice stared at Gabrielle for several more seconds. When it became apparent to her that Gabrielle still wasn’t getting it, she pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance.

  “You really don’t understand anything, do you?”

  Gabrielle’s cheeks swelled like balloons as she pouted. “That’s not a nice thing to say.”

  “Yeah, well, you’re being troublesome.”

  “How mean…”

  “Gabrielle, the reason Bro is upset at you is because you ran away from your family.” Gabrielle stopped pouting to look at Alice, who stared at her cup. “Our parents died when I was really little… I think.”

  “You think?”

  Alice blinked rapidly several times and then grimaced. “I… yes, they died when I was little… five? No, six? I… no, it must have been four…”

  “A-Alice?!” Gabrielle became concerned when the girl put a hand to her head. “A-are you okay?”

  “M’fine,” Alice mumbled, shaking her head. She then returned to the topic at hand. “A-anway, our parents died when Alex and I were really young. After they died, we had to live with our grandfather for a while, but he wasn’t a responsible adult, so Alex and I left after only a few days there. Honestly, if it wasn’t for Selene’s family, Karen, and Grams, we would’ve been living on the street.”

  “Oh…”

  Gabrielle felt an acute pain in her chest. She had no idea that Alex and Alice’s parents were dead. She didn’t enjoy what Papa was doing, but she wouldn’t have known what to do if he was dead.

  “Alex has always looked up to our dad. He grew up listening to stories about how our dad was a hero. That’s why he’s always trying to rescue people,” Alice continued. “The fact that you, a girl whose parents are still alive, ran away from home, upsets him, because he would give anything to bring our parents back.”

  And just like that, Gabrielle felt like a planet had been dropped on top of her, crushing her. It wasn’t a planet, though, just guilt.

  Now she understood why Alex had been so upset. He was an orphan who didn’t have parents. She still had her parents, but she ran away for selfish reasons. For someone who had no parents, the idea of running away for any reason was inconceivable. For her to do such a thing was like spitting in the face of people like Alex, who wished their parents were still alive and with them.

  “I should talk to him,” Gabrielle decided. “I need to explain why I ran away. Maybe then he’ll understand.”

  “You can try, I guess.” Alice shrugged. “Just to warn you, my brother can be really stubborn when he sets his mind on something. He’s troublesome like that.”

  “That’s okay.” Gabrielle stood up and gave the girl a thumbs up. “I’m sure I can make him understand. I can be really persuasive when I want to be.”

  3

  Alex was on his way to the nearest shuttle station when he ran into trouble—or rather, when he saw trouble happening and decided to intervene.

  “Hey there, cutie. You wanna come with us? I promise we’ll show you a good time.”

  “Heh-heh, yeah, a real good time.”

  A couple of low-lifes were surrounding a woman with bright silvery-green hair, pale skin, and an unusually bright smile considering the situation she was in. Alex recognized one of the people surrounding her. Spiky hair. Red eyes. Pointed ears. It was Andre of the Black Panthers, the gang leader who he’d been chasing the day he was kicked out of the cadet academy.

  None of the peo
ple around them were paying attention—they went out of their way not to look as the young woman was harassed. Alex scowled. Were they really so content with their lives that they would willfully ignore a person who was in trouble?

  Well, not me!

  Stomping up to the group, Alex put on a smile and stopped behind the man who’d gotten away from him. “Hello, Andre. I’m surprised to see you in the middle levels like this. You must be feeling bold.”

  Andre stiffened. Turning around, his face turned a unique shade of ghost-white. He recovered quickly, however, and put on a brave face.

  “H-heh, well, if it isn’t the little shit who tried to apprehend me the other day. You’ve got some balls coming up to me and ma boys while we’re talking to this little lady here.”

  Alex wrinkled his nose. This man talks like he’s from the days before space travel was invented.

  “Balls nothing. For a couple of losers like you, I don’t need courage. Now, since I’m not a cadet anymore, I can’t arrest you. That being said, I can and will kick your ass if you don’t leave the young woman alone. She doesn’t look like she wants you crowding around her.”

  “Hey!” One of the men shouted. “Don’t think you can talk to da boss like that!”

  “Yeah,” another said. “Little boys who haven’t even gone through puberty yet should butt out of our business.”

  “I’ll cut you up!” The last of the three screamed.

  All four men moved away from the woman and surrounded him. Two pulled out turbo-blades—small switchblades made of energy particles. They weren’t very big, but they could cut through just about anything. They were also illegal. The other two simply readied their fists.

  Alex clicked his tongue. “I guess these idiots don’t know their place yet.”

  All four thugs attacked him at the same time. Rather than let himself be hemmed in, Alex attacked first, launching himself at the one in front of him. He swatted the thug’s knife away, stepped into his opponent’s guard, grabbed the man’s head between his hands, and then slammed his knee into his opponent’s face. He felt a twinge in his knee as cartilage crunched under his assault. The man screamed as he stumbled back, blood pouring from his broken nose.

  Alex raced through the hole that had opened in their formation. He sensed movement behind him, and, spinning around, launched a kick that knocked a turbo-blade out of someone’s hand. Grabbing the thug’s flailing wrist, Alex yanked them into his fist. He winced as he struck the person’s jaw with his knuckles, but, ignoring the pain in his hand, he grabbed the man by his shirt and used him as a shield.

  Crack! The sound of someone’s head being rung like a synthetic cymbal echoed across the walkway. Alex dropped his makeshift shield. The thug dropped like a broken automaton.

  The last two, Andre and someone else, took several steps back.

  “What’s wrong? Are you ready to turn yourselves in?” asked Alex.

  “Like hell we are! Get him!” Andre shouted.

  The other guy rushed forward and tried to punch him. Alex’s hair rustled as the attack blew past his head. This person must have had a fair bit of muscle on him to be capable of throwing such a powerful punch. Alex ducked under the blow, and then came in with a powerful uppercut. The man’s head snapped back. Stumbling backward two steps, three steps, the man remained standing for about two more seconds—then fell onto his back with a loud thud!

  “It looks like you’re the only one left,” Alex said to Andre.

  The pointy-eared man took a step back, but he quickly braced himself and sent Alex a steely glare. “So what if I’m the only one left. I’m more than enough to kick your ass!”

  “That doesn’t sound very promising, considering you ran away from me the first time we met.”

  “Shut up! I only ran away because I thought you had backup with you! This time, you’re going down!”

  Andre came at him with feet instead of fists. Backpedaling, Alex avoided the kicks, and then launched one of his own. It was blocked when Andre kicked back. With his joints groaning, Alex retracted his leg and leapt back, gritting his teeth as a stinging jolt traveled up his shin. What were Andre’s shins made of? Durasteel?

  “Okay. You’re not half bad,” Alex admitted reluctantly.

  “Heh… there’s a reason I’m the leader of the Black Panthers,” Andre said as he rushed in.

  Rather than retreat, Alex moved forward. Duck. Sidestep. A kick was avoided. Swerve. Jump. Alex dodged another kick. Andre, frustrated by his lack of progress, spun around and threw a reverse heel kick. Alex sidestepped, took a step forward, and then slammed his fist into Andre’s jaw.

  Andre’s head would have snapped back, but Alex grabbed it between his hands, and then headbutted his opponent. Hard. Stumbling backward, Andre blinked several times, his eyes glazing over. He didn’t even seem to notice Alex’s foot soaring toward his face until it was too late. The snap-kick hit, and Andre was spun around like a top before he crumpled into an unconscious heap on the walkway.

  “Phew.” Alex wiped the sweat from his forehead. “That was harder than I thought it would be. Are you okay, Ms…”

  Trailing off, Alex looked around for the young woman who those goons had been harassing. She wasn’t there anymore.

  “Did she run away?”

  He frowned. It was kind of rude to run away like that, but he couldn’t really blame her. If he’d been in her shoes, he would’ve wanted to get as far away from those Black Panther goons as possible.

  “At least she’s safe.” Alex took a step forward, but something crinkled underneath his foot, causing him to look down. “What’s this?”

  He picked up the object, which appeared to be a note written on paper. That was weird. No one used paper to write on anymore. Everything was digitized these days. The note was written in neat cursive: Thank you for the help, Alex. Love you! ~ C :-)

  “This looks like a thank you letter. Is it from that woman?”

  Alex pondered this for a moment. It couldn’t have been anyone but that woman.

  Pocketing the note, he began his walk to the nearest shuttle station.

  He paused again.

  “How did that girl know my name?”

  5

  Alex arrived home to discover a surprise waiting for him.

  “Gabrielle…”

  She was sitting on the couch, watching Titan Girl with Alice, cheering for the show’s titular hero. Upon hearing his voice, however, she froze. Turning her head ever so slowly, she looked at him with her large green eyes.

  “A-Alex!” Shooting to her feet, Gabrielle stammered. “Um… hello!”

  So many emotions ran through Alex when he saw Gabrielle standing there. The anger he felt at being lied to had returned, but it was nothing compared to the guilt that he felt. What should he say? How should he act? He didn’t know anymore.

  “Would it be all right if we talked?” Gabrielle asked. Her eyes made him think of a frightened child who was staring down the barrel of a navigation-class cruiser’s main cannon.

  “Yeah…” Alex agreed. “Let’s go up to my room and talk.”

  The expression of relief that came over Gabrielle’s face made his heart twinge. Gesturing to her, he had Gabrielle follow him to his room, where he took a seat on the bed and bade her to sit down as well.

  Silence. Something stifling came over them, keeping them from talking. He didn’t know what it was, but he knew that one of them would need to say something, otherwise this choking atmosphere would continue.

  “I’m sorry!” they said at the same time.

  They both blinked.

  “I wanted to—!” Again, at the same time.

  “Why don’t you go first.” Alex gestured to Gabrielle.

  “I wanted to apologize,” Gabrielle said slowly, looking at her hands. “I didn’t know about your parents. After Alice told me about what happened, I realized why you had gotten so angry at me.”

  “I’m sorry, too,” Alex said. “I don’t know what circumsta
nces led to you running away and jumped to conclusions without hearing your side of the story. That’s why… could you please tell me why you ran away?”

  “Um.” Gabrielle agreed, and Alex waited patiently as she gathered herself. “Papa is a very important person where I come from. In fact, Papa is probably the most important person in the entire galaxy.”

  “When you say he’s the most important person, you mean…?”

  “Papa’s the emperor of the galaxy.”

  “Uh…”

  Alex wondered if this was what it felt like to be smacked in the face with a dead fish. Shock didn’t quite cover how he felt. This girl was quite possibly one of the most powerful individuals in the entire galaxy. What the fuck?

  “Wait. How come this is my first time hearing about someone controlling the entire galaxy?”

  “Because your solar system is at the very edge of the galaxy,” Gabrielle said with a shrug. “Your people live in the most remote section of the galaxy. To top it off, your people are underdeveloped. Even the humans in other sectors of the galaxy have a higher level of technology than you do. I doubt Papa even knows that your people exist.”

  “Wow. You don’t pull your punches, do you?” When Gabrielle looked at him strangely, he shook his head and waved her off. “Never mind. Please continue.”

  Nodding, Gabrielle continued. “I told you this before, but I have two sisters. I don’t have any brothers, which is a problem for the empire. Because our moms have only produced girls, there’s no one who can take over Papa’s throne and become Emperor of the Galaxy.”

  Did I just hear her say that in caps?

  “Why not just have you or one of your sisters become empress?” Alex asked.

  “Because a lot of planetary governments are patriarchal in nature,” Gabrielle informed him. “Papa told me that most races wouldn’t respect a female ruler. There are a few races that are matriarchal, but they all live in remote quadrants of the galaxy.”