5.26

“She’s mine,” said Brickla. Brickla surrounded herself in a cascading mass of bricks and charged at the Trash Queen.

The Trash Queen parried with her lance and took a few steps back. The Trash Queen then shot a wave of screams at Brickla, shattering some of the bricks that surrounded her.

Silas immediately inflated himself and launched himself at an oncoming golem. He smashed into it before the golem even had a chance to finish forming. The golem exploded into smithereens. Some of the golem’s mass clung to Silas’s skin and burned him a little.

Freja stretched out an arm and whomped another incoming golem over the head. The head fell off, but the creature kept on coming. The head started to roll after the body and slowly crept back up the body and reattached before Freja had a chance to hit it again.

“These things look like they belong in a horror movie,” said Freja. She threw a flurry of stretched punches at the oncoming golem.

“Yeah, in a cute sort of a way,” said Gauzelle. Gauzelle made quick work of two other trash golems. The way she shifted between being unravelled and solid, gracefully dancing about with her staff, reminded the team of how Stick used to move around.

Jimena instantly stepped back and started firing her slime balls at two more trash golems. She made quick work of one of the minions, but the other seemed a little more robust.

The golem continued to advance on Jimena in a feverish manner. It lurched and stumbled forward. Jimena covered one of her arms in slime. She released the oversized projectile just as the trash golem brought itself up to full height before her. The golem exploded on impact and showered her with pieces of trash. Jimena’s skin burned all over. She quickly changed into her slime form and moved further away before shifting back. The burning sensation went away.

Hunter surrounded himself in a whirl of dust as three trash golems closed in on him. The creatures piled on top of him, and Hunter could feel his skin start to burn.

Hunter willed the dust to form around his body while the creatures continued to beat him. When Hunter felt he had collected enough dust, he shot it out from him in a small burst. The dust knocked the creatures off of Hunter and, for a moment, he was free to ready himself for the next attack.

“A worthy opponent,” said the Trash Queen. Her and Brickla exchanged a rapid-fire of blows and parries. Every time one seemed to have the upper hand, the other would press harder and bring balance back to the fight.

“Glad to be of service,” said Brickla. She brought a wave of bricks crashing down on top of the Trash Queen from behind. This caught the Trash Queen off guard and Brickla seized the moment to pounce on her foe.

Brickla surrounded herself with the bricks and laid into the Trash Queen. Brickla violently pounded away at the Trash Queen and was shocked to see an almost calm looked on the Trash Queen’s face.

“Thank you,” said Bernita. Brickla watched on as she could see Bernita simply gave up on living. Her body lifeless, it felt empty. Brickla pulled herself up and watched as Bernita’s body rapidly decayed and blew away as dust.

The remaining trash golems crumbled away, and the group watched as all of the trash around them started to quake and tumble down.

“We’ve gotta get out of here,” said Gauzelle.

The team rallied and ran back in the direction from which they came, barely avoiding being crushed with each step they took.

“We were brought here because of Bernita, how are we meant to get out?” asked Silas.

“I have a feeling she’s going to help,” Hunter nodded ahead. Standing there was Gladys, Bertrand in her hands.

“Thank you for helping Bernita. She can finally be at peace.” A warm smile grew across Gladys’s face.

“Can you get us out of here?” Freja asked.

“Yes, I can. But can you do me a favour?”

“Anything,” said Hunter.

“Can you please take Bertrand with you? He’s got many years left and I know you all will provide him with a loving home.”

“You’re not coming with us?” asked Jimena.

“No. There’s nothing left for me there. No, the world has moved on far too much without me.”

“Yeah, I’ll take him.” Freja stepped forward with her arms outstretched. Bertrand gave a happy yap. He turned and licked Gladys’s cheek and leapt into Freja’s arms.

“Goodbye and thank you. You’ve done good here, even if nobody else will know it.” There was a flash of light and the group found themselves standing back in the middle of the streets of Athena City.

***

Hunter, Silas, Jimena, Gauzelle and Freja stood had been staying at the treehouse for the last few days.

The group had been living in some sort of limbo. Only occasionally talking to each other and barely eating. Many slept the days away.

A flash of light brought the group out of their mindless routine and Michael walked into the room holding onto Stick’s weapon.

“Hey-ho teammates. How goes everyone?” Michael reached out a little with his powers in a hope he could lift the mood.

“Yeah, we’re okay. Its, just weird without her,” said Hunter.

“I know it is. Look, I’m here to let you all know that the new term at The Academy starts in less than a week, and Freja, I’ve been able to have you enlisted as well. What do you all think?”

“Sounds good,” said Jimena.

“Yeah. Bout time. Though do we really need it? Look at all of the stuff we’ve done already,” said Silas.

“It’ll be good training and learning. They teach you a lot, and its how you can all be recognised as fully-fledged heroes. Without needing supervision.”

“Thanks Michael, but are you sure its okay for me to go?” asked Freja. Bertrand ran between her legs, and she scooped him up.

“Of course. I think it’ll be great for you. Look, I’ve got meetings to attend. Take it easy for the next few days, but make sure you all show up for The Academy. Bye.”

Gauzelle approached Stick’s old weapon and lifted it up and gave it a look over.

“I don’t think I’m good enough for this yet.”