Blue Nexus #41 - Feeling Blue

         

           “I miss being able to fly,” Kyle said to Luke as they left the school. “It was always such a rush, even if I was just flying across town. It was like I was using some extra muscles I never would’ve known I had. Manipulating the Nexus is like…ah, I can’t even begin to explain it. When you get down to it, it’s basically just like using your arms and legs since it’s only weird for me when I actually think about it. I guess flying is like that, too. I got so used to it that I’m always tempted in the morning to just jump off the hill and catch myself mid-air. Can’t really do that, though.”

            “Unless you want a broken leg, in which case I’m sure Mira could help you out healing it,” Luke said, nudging Kyle in the ribs. “I’m sure if Sandstorm managed to get to you guys she would’ve helped you out, too.”

            “Shut up, Luke,” Kyle said. “I’d go to a hospital, you idiot. Actually, now I wouldn’t. Last time I was at a hospital my room was possessed by a demon.”

            “I’m sure the doctor wasn’t that bad,” Luke said.

            Kyle rolled his eyes. “Alucard did a good number on me. On all of us, actually, and it was a good enough number to make sure the government is one hundred percent against us.”

            “Us? That’s a blanket statement. Not all supers are hated by the government.”

            “Only the smart ones. Or the ones that are on a small-enough scale that they just can’t notice.”

            “You think they’ll go after the Sentinel soon? From what I’ve heard about him, he’ll light those guys up before they can get a hand on him.”

            Kyle shrugged. “One, I doubt he would kill anyone in a suit and tie that’s not corrupt. Two, I doubt they would go after him because if they wanted someone like him they could just train people. Or there’s probably some magical island of ninjas somewhere, I don’t know.”

            The two left the main parking lot to be next to the main street, where students zoomed left and right away from the school against no traffic. Kyle heard one car stall in the distance and looked back to see two beefy other guys hop out and try to keep the car from sliding down.

            “So why no conditioning today?” asked Luke. “It’s Thursday, I thought you guys usually cut time on Friday?”

            “Coach has some dinner plans and apparently takes an extra long amount of time to get ready,” Kyle said. “Which means a longer practice time tomorrow, so, yay.”

            Luke tightened his backpack closer to his chest. His flannel pressed against his chest as well. The weather was improving, getting much cooler. He zipped his own jacket up halfway to his chest, and was glad that he decided to wear sweatpants. At least he wouldn’t have to change before he practiced. Kyle had asked Luke if he could help him out but Luke was busy and only had time to walk home with Kyle.

            Kyle saw a large truck fly by but it wasn’t a student’s. He caught the eye of the new assistant coach, Coach Scott, before the man made a sharp turn to the right, probably headed out of town and home.

            “Big guy needs a big truck, I guess,” Luke muttered.

            “Would you believe me if I told you he doesn’t fit in the goal?” Kyle asked.

            “Yes,” Luke said. “It also worries me in case he ever, like, flips out on you guys. I mean, I’m sure you could take that hit…transformed…but you’d live. Maybe you could reunite with that demon doctor from the hospital.”

            “I don’t think I’m the only one who would survive that hit,” Kyle said, and bit his tongue.

            “There’s another on the team?” asked Luke, taking a step up. He was still facing Kyle but walked just a pace ahead of him. “How does Adelita keep churning these guys out? First Hood Nexus shows up, then you, then Sandy, and I guess you could count Brenda…”

            “He’s not a super, he might be a mage,” Kyle said. “It’s…”

            Two cars passed by, speeding up at a slow pace. A pair of twin girls sped by on their bikes as well. Kyle watched until everyone ran away. He didn’t want anyone to hear the word “mage” as it was sort of a sensitive topic after a Demon mage ripped the closest metropolitan area to shreds. Only select few knew that Alucard was indeed a “mage” but it was still being tossed around by various people on social media, and therefore most of the school was talking about it as well. It was a hot topic, asking what one would do with these mage powers. Get stronger? Be smarter? Fly? Beat the living hell out of Blue Nexus?

            Kyle wasn’t fond of that one but couldn’t help laugh each time he heard it.

            “It’s Andreus,” he said. “I saw him changing the other day and—”

            “That’s cute,” Luke said.

            “No, not like that! Someone spotted him with his shirt off and noticed a new tattoo on his arm. The Demon mark on my arm started throbbing and when I bumped him, it was like a pulse.”

            “Normally it’s a spark, Kyle, that’s how romance works.”

            “Yes. I am going to fall in love with another mage that is competing for captain of the team and I’m going to use my Demonic powers granted to me by some mysterious entity from the underworld to find out about him?”

            Luke shook his head, falling back into pace with Kyle. “Sounds like a bad comic book.”

            “Exactly. But the problem is that I don’t know if my mark was just freaking out because I haven’t been using these powers in the past two and a half weeks or if Andreus really is some sort of mage but isn’t telling anyone. I also didn’t recognize it, it must be one of the other magic forms.”

            “Just get Sandy in there.”

            “Are you an idiot? Sandy? In the boys’ lacrosse locker room?”

            Luke shrugged. “She could pose as Violette, I don’t know. You’ve gotta get answers somehow and that was the quickest solution that came to mind.”

            “If you’re so quick to solutions then maybe you can help me out with my own problems.”

            “Your problems usually involve either punching something very hard or answers that only aliens can provide. And, imagine that.”

            Luke flicked Kyle on the shoulder, looking up. Kyle saw a silhouette higher up in the sky. He couldn’t tell if it were looking down, but he knew that, regardless, that the silhouetted Riko was there for Kyle. Absent for two and a half weeks? Either Kyle was getting cut from the roster or just a serious cut in his non-existent pay. Or Riko just wanted to catch up, who knew?

            Kyle split off from Luke and rushed home, trying to beat most of the traffic so that by the time they noticed Riko was floating overhead Kyle could already be in contact with them. His Zanderia communicator was still in his room, since he had no use for it outside of there because he had no reason to be communicating with the team. While he ran, Kyle wondered how it was that Riko was back from his mission so early, but was happy to know that he was safe and that, so far, the government wasn’t trying to take him away.

            A note in the kitchen notified Kyle that his grandparents wouldn’t be home until around sunset, which would give Kyle ample time to talk to Riko and hopefully get some updates on what had been going down with the Zanderia off-planet. He knew all about their little movements around Earth, but it was the intergalactic stuff that intrigued him. Though, who was he kidding? He just wanted to hear from Brenda.

            The communicator was in his top night-stand drawer and the main screen was glowing through the cracks. Some other papers were scattered about the shed. His telescope still peered through the opening in the sky but was mostly collecting dust at this point. The star charts were beginning to peel a little off the wall, something Kyle knew he had extra time to deal with but just hadn’t gotten around to it.

            He took out the communicator and clicked it on.

            “Mr. Raiden, are you there?” asked Riko.

            Kyle couldn’t hold back the smile when he heard Riko’s voice. It’d been so long since he got to speak with the Zanderia.

            “Yeah, right here, Riko,” Kyle said. “How’s it going?”

            “Your world’s governments haven’t tried attacking me yet, so I say things are going well so far,” Riko said. “But I do have need of someone of your services, since many of the other Zanderia are otherwise occupied and it’s a simple thing.”

            Kyle raised an eyebrow. “Oh, geez, Riko, I don’t know. I haven’t been the Blue Nexus in a long time, I don’t know how much of a help I could really be.”

            “This doesn’t concern that, although your lack of a presence is concerning,” Riko said. “No, it’s another matter regarding a few people you’ve contended with in the past. Care to come up to the main base?”

            “Um, sure,” Kyle said. “I can’t stay too long, but I’ll see what I can do.”

            “Thank you,” Riko said. He hadn’t even finished what he was saying when Kyle felt the tingles of the teleporter around him before he was zapped through time and space and plopped onto the metal floors of the Zanderia Moon base, which was in much better condition than when Kyle last left it.

            Instead of shattered computer screens, toppled tables, and dented walls, there were five monitors, three holographic projections of various situations going on and how they were being handled as well as a meter of some sort, new metal plating around the walls, and even a new main table. This one was larger but still a rectangle, and had added seats to it thanks to the expanded roster of the Zanderia. Seats had symbols on the back of them to designate who sat where, although Kyle noticed that his was just a blue ball. Boring.

            The airlock opened and closed quickly. Riko leapt down the steps and landed quietly. Kyle looked around, noticing that Lalay was the one behind the computer today. She turned as Riko landed, smiling at her longtime partner before her smile faded slightly and she nodded to Kyle. Kyle nodded in return and shook Riko’s hand once the Martian reached him.

            “Good to see you again,” Riko said.

            “I like the new duds around here,” Kyle said. “I should try and wreck this place more often if this is what happens.”

            “Not so long as the United Nations monitors our every move,” Lalay said. “If they manage to get a hold of Phoenix or Riko they’ll be breathing down our necks to an even more uncomfortable degree. Even the slightest showing of our presence on the Moon will tip their hand, trust me.”

            “As if they don’t already know,” Riko said. “In any event, though, they are not what we are here for. They are.”

            Riko gestured at one of the holographic projections, which quickly changed to show three menacing super villains standing near each other. Kyle recognized them all. One of them he managed to put away in the Cube but the other three were small enough that the police should have had a handle on them.

            “Following the battle for East City, where these three were located, they managed to somehow gain stronger abilities,” Lalay said. “We believe that this was caused by Alucard’s residual power that lingered throughout the city.”

            “So you’re saying they absorbed Demon magic?” asked Kyle.

            “Suggesting it, and it’s a major stretch,” Lalay said. “They’re not the only ones that have gained more power after this battle but are the first to make any menacing amounts of noise. We learned they managed to flee from East City and break out another one of their friends, who was last spotted running your way.”

            A holographic image of Sandstorm appeared next to the three of them. Kyle glared at it.

            “Yeah, I ran into him last night,” Kyle said. “Sand—Violette was there to stop him and it looked like Prism was on his way there, too.”

            “And he mentioned nothing about the other three?” Lalay asked.

            “No, but if I had to guess they’ll stay as far away from East City as possible,” Kyle said. “And probably end up headed north. It’s where they were headed before we stopped them. Maybe they have someone there, maybe they’ll just want to hide. But checking the major metropolitan areas there first would be smart.”

            The projections shimmered away and Kyle turned back to face Riko and Lalay. The latter rushed over to the new monitors and typed away speedily while Riko proudly nodded to Kyle.

            “Quick thinking, nice work,” Riko said. “Even if you are considering retirement.”

            Kyle’s face warmed and turned red. “What? Retirement? I’m not even eighteen yet!”

            Riko shrugged. “You haven’t been the Blue Nexus lately and it doesn’t seem like you’re too upset about it. And you haven’t had an outburst with the Demon magic inside you. Seems like you’re ready to return to normal.”

            Kyle bit his lip. It was like confessing to an adult as a little kid. He wanted to object to appease Riko, but knew it would be a huge lie. He was considering giving it up, but he didn’t have much of a choice.         

            “I just…I can’t do it anymore,” Kyle said. “Even if I wanted to that badly. Every time I so much as look at the damn bracelet I’m ready to puke.”

            “Then it may be a psychological issue,” Lalay said, turning halfway. “You might not be able to just transform anymore. You have to will yourself into it, and focus on what you want through the power.”

            “Well it’s not like I don’t want to help people anymore, it’s just that I don’t see the point,” Kyle said. “Sandy’s picked up my slack great the last few weeks and with Prism helping her more, I don’t think the area needs a third super-hero. I mean, I’ve already saved the world twice. That’s more times than I’ve been a captain for my lacrosse team, which is something I’ve worked most of my life for. And now that the Nexus is gone, I don’t feel as empty as I thought I would.”

            Lalay raised her eyebrow. “That’d odd.”

            “Right?” Kyle asked. “But, whenever I see these things on people’s newsfeeds, I can’t help but just feel a tug to go help. And yet things are picking up in school. I just…”

            He sat down at the table, burying his head in his hands before scooping it back up. “It’s just all very confusing. Does the world even need Blue Nexus right now? Does it need the Blue Nexus anymore, anyway?”

            Lalay exhaled and sat down on the other end of the table, surprising both Riko and Kyle.

            “When I was a little girl and I first learned about my powers, I was so excited,” Lalay said. “I could bend the air around me. My sisters already learned their abilities and were becoming masters of it. I tried to learn about my abilities but got stumped. My world didn’t need me and my abilities while the other three Elementals were around. And then one day, I decided to test them out again. This time, though, I found I was stronger than before.

            “Look, Blue Nexus. We all need breaks from something, even if that something we’re doing is for the greater good of the world or worlds we fight for. Others will be there to support you and you’re not in this fight alone. The world may not need Blue Nexus, but it does need heroes. That’s what you need to decide now, and not focus so much energy on that bracelet you have there.”

            They sent him down via the teleporter to the main city of Adelita after Lalay’s speech. Kyle felt a little better, but still, he was unable to access the Nexus and he still felt quite useless. He asked to be sent to Adelita to maybe see if even a small place like that needed him.

            Adelita was a little louder than normal. Perhaps some band was coming through or maybe there was something going on at the high school. The temperature swelled up as well, forcing Kyle to lose his jacket and tie it around his waist.

            School just got out for the elementary school, too. Little kids flurried by on bikes and scooters while the littler ones chased each other around. They became fewer in number while Kyle trekked further into the small town, toward the shopping center where Gargador first attacked him and the townspeople what felt like years ago. All of them ignored Kyle, as did all of the parents that passed him by.

            He still found it incredibly strange that so many people could pass him by without noticing who he was, or without acknowledging the big battles going on around the world. Prior to becoming a super-hero, people got into it more. They became fans of certain people, and idolized others. Riko and Phoenix were otherworldly, but to Kyle, they were his friends. The lost perspective bugged him a little. Was it focus? Well if it was, then he lost that too, since he still regarded them as colleagues now rather than people that were way above him.

            Perhaps it was the fact that he defeated the two of them in single combat, or at least got pretty far with Riko. Though, these also weren’t things most people knew about. Could they have just walked that off?

            They walked off East City just fine. There was backlash, sure, but not as much as Kyle thought there would be given the situations arising in the city during the early stages of reconstruction. There were still some people pouting around the city but they were far outnumbered by the people and heroes working as hard as they could to improve the city off of what Alucard and the Zanderia fighting against him left.

            Kyle approached the main road and waited for his turn to cross the street, leaning against the light-pole as he did so. Across the street two college age people, a boy and a girl, stood running in place, ready to dash ahead to the other side toward the college. Kyle looked off of them to the older women speed-walking with fanny packs at their side.

            Were they there, in East City? Were they in the crowd that Alucard was going to obliterate if Blue Nexus Wave Two wasn’t there to stop them? Kyle blinked when the “walk” sign flashed onto the screen. The two groups rushed by him in a blur. He hesitated in the street, but kept on going, walking straight ahead and toward the supermarket.

            Something sparkled up ahead. Kyle’s stomach sank. Oh yeah, that thing. The plaque that Adelita decided to make recently. Kyle hadn’t seen it yet and really had no intention of going out of his way to do so. It wasn’t meant for him, it was meant in honor of him, and he didn’t have an ego big enough to fit that. The fact that it mistook him for Hood Nexus was another thing, too. Brian was the one that stopped Gargador, but since Kyle and Brian were never seen together for long stretches of time in their Nexus forms, it was tough to pin down which was which. Some still debated on whether there were two separate Nexuses at all.

            Kyle reached the plaque and skimmed over what it said. There was a gold etching of him—er, Brian—on the top followed by some formal and fancy prose. Kyle gave it a nice smile, though. He appreciated the sentiment on the part of the town, even if Blue Nexus had just outright abandoned them.

            “Were you there?” a young voice asked to his left.

            Kyle looked. A little boy, doing his best to keep his backpack from swallowing him, pointed a stubby finger at the plaque.

            “Oh, there?” asked Kyle. “Um, yeah. Believe it or not, the alien guy actually attacked me.”

            “His name was Gargador,” the boy said. “And there’s no way. You would be so dead.”

            “It’s true,” Kyle said. “But that Nexus guy was there to save me.”

            The boy rolled his eyes. “It’s Blue Nexus. He fought Gargador and then he fought Gargador later in East City and then there was the evil Violette. He’s met everyone.”

            Kyle smiled. “Sure has. And you sure know a lot about him.”

            “Well because he’s super cool,” the boy said. “I got to see him once. It was weird, though, because he was fighting Riko, and he’s the super-est of super heroes. Anyway, they were fighting, and we were in our building, but Blue Nexus was there so we could get away. He’s just so awesome. Have you ever seen him in real life?”

            Kyle hesitated, aware of the Nexus bracelet on his arm. “No, but check this out.” He squatted down and raised his arm, showing the bracelet. “I’ve got a bracelet just like his.”

            “No way!” the kid exclaimed. “That’s so cool! Where’d you get it?”

            “I made it, of course,” Kyle said. “You think you’re the only Blue Nexus fan out there?”

            “You can make those?” the kid asked. “Oh, sorry, I’ve gotta get home. I wanna be like the Blue Nexus too!” The kid dashed off, then he slowed down and turned to Kyle. “Just, without the fighting Riko thing. I think I would lose.”

            “I would try to avoid it,” Kyle said, and waved goodbye to the little boy.

            His right arm tingled again. Kyle put his hand in his pocket, turning back to the plaque. Sandy was leaned against it, wearing a jacket with her hood up despite the temperature outside. Her sunglasses helped protect her face from any passersby as well.

            “That was cute,” she said.

            “Thanks, I try. What brings you around here?”

            “Well I haven’t been home in a while, kinda figured I should check up on my folks. Plus I haven’t seen you in action in a while, besides last night. Didn’t want to help or something?”

            “I can’t,” Kyle said. When Sandy cocked her eyebrow, Kyle explained his situation and how he and the Nexus just weren’t on the same level.

            “Follow me,” Sandy said, and ran right into the road, crossing it. Kyle waited until traffic slowed and ran after her.

            They arrived at the remains of Boomer’s lab, where everything was still destroyed and it seemed that nobody wanted to recover what was there. There was a cement layering atop it as if to hide the contents, but Sandy took Kyle through a backdoor that led to the room of extra supplies.

            “I’ve had a few chats with Boomer since Alucard,” Sandy said. “He told me how to get these things up and running again.”

            “Despite how broken they all are?” asked Kyle.

            “Up and running again,” Sandy said. “As in fixed, so yes. Not everything, though, just enough for some emergencies.”

            She plugged a few cords together and a light humming sound filled the room. A light green tint settled in as well around the two of them.

            “Take off your shirt,” Sandy said. Before Kyle could make a comment, she snapped, “Tests. Running them. Shirt off now.”

            Kyle agreed and relieved himself of his shirt, hanging it over his shoulder. Sandy went back into the supply room, moving boxes. When the noise stopped, she returned, only this time there was a louder humming sound.

            “It’s sort of like an ultrasound,” Sandy said. “Only for magic. I guess Boomer had this around in case he could ever examine a mage or something.”

            “Magic isn’t my problem, Sandy,” Kyle said. “The Demon magic isn’t what’s holding me back.”

            “Well we have to start somewhere,” Sandy said.

            Something warm and smooth landed on Kyle’s back. He flinched but tensed as he adjusted to it. Sandy ran the sensor along his back in a circular motion. Kyle tried to turn around to see her but she was focused on the machine. The humming faded momentarily until Sandy reappeared in front of him and repeated the process on his chest, exposing his back to what now felt like cold.

            “Pretty sure I’ve got a good idea on what’s happening,” Sandy said. “I’ll keep doing this a few more times, but take off the bracelet for a second.”

            Kyle did so, shaking the bracelet off and trying not to touch it. He felt nauseous as he did so, as if with every touch his stomach got a little higher up until he would just throw up. Sandy ignored his half-hearted gags. She looked at the bracelet, and nodded at it.

            “Interesting,” she said. She stepped back, flipping a switch on the sensor. “Well I’m no doctor but I don’t need to be to tell what happened to you.”

            “It is magically based?” asked Kyle.

            “It’s based on that,” she said, gesturing for the Nexus bracelet. “This does help read magical energy, but the Nexus is an energy source like nothing anyone’s seen or examined. It leaked into here, like I suspected, and I saw what happened: You didn’t get sick from exhaustion, but rather exposure. You were in the Nexus too long and using up too much of its power against Alucard and helping East City. When you stopped using it, your body went into a relapse. It began relying on the Nexus as a primary source of energy, like food or water. Without it, you weren’t nearly as strong.”

            “And it took me two weeks to recover?” asked Kyle.

            “You were in the Nexus for two days straight,” Sandy said. “And for long intervals of time for the next three days. You told me that you got to Wave Two this time with hardly any of your energy left. That’s like trying to run a marathon when the last time you ate was two days before. That was dangerous.”

            “How could you tell all that from the sensor, though?”

            “Some of your energy is still worn out from the usage of the Nexus,” Sandy said. “But a majority of you isn’t. Only makes sense, right? You should be better to use it now, though I would avoid going into Wave Two.”

            Kyle nodded and looked to the bracelet glowing on the ground. So his body was relapsing from the Nexus bracelet. It would be like returning to an old addiction for him. Feeling great but exposed for too long it could kill him.

            “Then I might just set this thing down even longer,” Kyle said.

            “That’s your call,” Sandy said. “But I could have used your help against Sandstorm yesterday, Kyle, and against others before that. Prism’s a great guy and a fantastic help, but there’s also strength in numbers. The world might not need you, but it could go for your help again.”

            Their Zanderia communicators pinged simultaneously. Kyle nodded to Sandy, who checked it and bolted away.

            The field’s grass stretched up to touch Kyle’s hip when the wind wasn’t swaying. The crescent moon smiled down upon Kyle as well as he gazed back up at it, where Phoenix, Riko, and Lalay were leading the Zanderia against the forces of evil. He grimaced and looked back down to the bracelet, which had lost much of its glow from before.

            The thing that gave him power nearly killed him. Not much of a surprise. Sandy was right, he should have been more careful about how he was using the Nexus energy. Not to mention that he traversed dimensions with it twice, using its power once to escape. Kyle shook his head. What an idiot.

            His right index and middle finger hovered over the glowing blue bracelet. Once swipe and that power would return to him, rushing at him like water from a dam.

            “Aequitas,” he muttered. “If you can hear me, please help me. Help me gain control and restraint. Help me now.”

            His finger touched the bracelet. Nerves shot up and down his spine and his legs shook beneath him. He bit down on his lip hard. His second finger touched it, and Kyle closed his eyes, his whole body tensing up.

            With a rip of his fingers, he felt a huge wave of power overcome him and hit him like a truck. A flash of blue followed by a pillar of darkness overcame him.

            The next time he saw light, the moon was being greeted by a rising Sun. Kyle sat up slowly, rubbing the dirt off of him. Some critters scurried away. He looked around him. He wasn’t in the Nexus form. Did he unconsciously transform out of it? Or did Aequitas hear his call for help and disable the Nexus from him?

            Kyle punched the ground next to him. Damn it! First try and it knocked him out? How the hell was he ever supposed to get that power back? Even if he could, what would the learning curve be? How was he supposed to be able to stand up to Riko again when he couldn’t even use the bracelet?

            He glowered at the bracelet one more time before noticing his clenched fist. He relaxed his arm muscles and leaned back against the dirt. He thought back to Sandy, how she said he could have been a help to him. Help how? Lalay mentioned that she got her powers back quick after not using them, but she was born with them.

            Frustrated, Kyle shot up. His mind paused a moment on his conversation with the little kid from the day before, though. The Blue Nexus was there so he could get away. Not to fight Riko, not to have greater power.

            Kyle looked back to the bracelet, and then tightened his fist again. Yeah. Kyle smiled. Yeah!

            “That freaking kid,” Kyle said.

            The kid was right. Blue Nexus was there to help the people in the city and to prevent the destruction, and doing battle with his mind-controlled friend was the way to do that. If Blue Nexus hadn’t been there? That little boy might not have been at school to learn how he could become a hero, too. And the world may not need more heroes, but it could certainly use them.

            Heroes weren’t born overnight. Nor were they reborn overnight. Kyle nodded at the Nexus bracelet, as if he and the energy were in agreement now. It was time to step back in the ring with evil, and continue the fight.

Next time: The Blue Nexus is on his way back, and he has the most unlikely of helpers to get him in the game. And he better hurry, because a big test is headed his way in "Blue Nexus #42 - Unity"!