Chapter 11
Ash swirled about the horned man as energy crackled along his cane.
He could have been any number of costumed villains in Vanguard.
He believed every word he said, which would have made him cocky.
The difference being, he delivered on his threat.
I couldn’t fight a myth. Could any hero in Vanguard defeat him?
I didn’t need to win. “You hesitated.”
His eyebrow rose. Lying on the ground, my powers had turned the walkway into a sheet of ice. Tiny snowmen jumped from the banks, slamming into the back of his legs. His arms windmilled as he tried to maintain his balance. It’d have been comical if he wasn’t trying to kill me.
As the snowmen jumped on him, I turned around and crawled toward Nick. There were more people flooding the park. Just as I expected, innocent bystanders would rather film the encounter than run for safety. Even the kids were cheering like it was nothing more than a game of tag in the snow.
“Nick,” I got to my feet, running up the path. “Look.”
He followed my finger to the onlookers. I grabbed my phone and opened the HeroApp?.
The alert showed a superpowered battle in the park.
More importantly, I clicked on the hero profile.
They weren’t concerned with a washed-up superhero.
Hundreds of photos had already been posted, all of Nick, all of Santa Claus.
“They see you.”
He took my phone, studying the photos. There were at least a dozen streams showing him.
Vanguard had its fair share of weird. Discovering that Santa Claus was more than an idea wasn’t the oddest thing to happen this week.
If he needed proof, he held it in his hand.
I wasn’t the only one who believed in him.
Nick flickered. Just once. Barely visible. Then steadied.
The roar from behind me meant our friend had recovered. I could only delay for so long. I needed Nick to understand that he mattered. If he wouldn’t believe in himself, there were plenty who’d do it for him.
A boy in a striped scarf ran along the path and stopped twenty feet away.
For the first time, I was happy that nobody in Vanguard had a sense of self-preservation.
They should have been hiding, but no, they entered the danger zone.
The boy pointed, eyes locked on Nick. His father called him. The boy didn't move.
The boy’s dad came running, scooping up his son. Like his son, he stared. His jaw dropped as he got a close look at Nick. His hand trembled slightly as he held my phone. I reached over and covered it with mine. His fingers were cold.
"I see you," I mumbled. "They see you."
A hand grabbed me by the back of my suit. I went soaring through the air. Spinning over, my powers poured out of my hands, creating a snowbank to absorb my fall. As quickly as I stood, the horned man charged. Nick might be his goal, but I had gotten under his weathered skin.
Good. Now it was personal.
He swung the cane, and I somersaulted under. As he brought it back around, ice covered my arm, blocking it from crushing me. I called the ice, wrapping it around his feet as I slid backward. His feet passed harmlessly through the blocks. Not fair.
With a flick of his wrist, the ash in the air turned into a giant claw. I fired spikes of ice from my fists, but they didn’t stop the giant hand. Slamming into my chest, it drove me to the ground. I swatted, but nothing I did pushed it away.
The horned man stood over me, straddling my chest. “First you. Then him.”
My last day before retirement, and I found myself caught between two myths.
This wasn’t how I imagined going out. My eyes focused on the tip of his staff as the dark electricity gathered.
There was nothing left in my bag of tricks.
I hoped they put my photo on the wall. I hoped they all remembered me as the man who died protecting his charge.
He raised the staff one last time.
The red blur slammed into the horned man with a thud.
“What?”
The hand of ash holding me down vanished. My head shot up. I expected to see one of Vanguard’s caped crusaders. Instead, I found Nick, his body intact, snowflakes drifting off his body as if he were a storm cloud.
I was about to speak when a thunderous cheer erupted around the park.
Nick held his hand in the air, as if he were going to summon lightning from the skies.
A second later, a red blur appeared in his hand.
I cracked a smile as he tossed on the red jacket.
From his pocket, he pulled out the red cap, fitting it on his head.
“Santa,” I whispered.
Nick believed. For a second, the breeze whipped up the snow in an audible whoosh.
When the horned man charged, Nick braced himself. He ducked low, catching the man by the legs and hurling him into the air. He moved with uncanny speed, fist striking the villain in the chest. It sounded like a bomb went off, blowing snow in every direction.
The bad guy regrouped, cane overhead. As he brought it down, Nick caught it without effort.
Wrestling it free, he snapped it in half, tossing it to the side.
Before it hit the snow, it vaporized into ash.
Only a few hours ago, he had been gentle, the exact opposite of the powerhouse in front of me. The confidence bordered on arousing.
“You can’t win,” Nick said, using the horned man’s words against him.
“I’ll be back,” he hissed.
He began to dissolve, but Nick grabbed him by the robes. It was the first time he expressed fear. Nick leaned in, almost close enough to kiss the man. His lip turned until he grinned. “No. You won’t.”
His hands glowed bright white while the air filled with the scent of cedar.
A second later, the horned man exploded into a flurry of snowflakes.
For a second, the park turned quiet. Was it over?
Had we won? When Nick reached up, adjusting his hat, the sorrow had vanished from his face.
This wasn’t the same man who had first opened the door for me.
Nick walked over, holding out a hand. He didn’t shimmer anymore.
Pulling me to my feet, I saw the crowd. Phones had been lowered as spectators stood in awe.
A moment later, the park filled with hundreds of tiny voices cheering.
Wrapping an arm behind my back, Nick hugged me tight enough to make my ribs ache.
“I believe,” he whispered in my ear.
“Me too.” The realization shattered the image of walking into the horizon. This isn’t where Danny Frost vanished.
A little girl broke away from her parents and walked straight toward us. She stopped a few feet away and stared at Nick. Her bright blue jacket had fur around the cuffs and hood, almost hiding the wide brown eyes.
"Are you real?" she asked.
Nick smiled, his eyes locked on me. He nodded. “Yes.”
“He’s real!” She screamed it repeatedly as she ran back to her mother.
“Of course he’s real.” I spun about, searching for a certain spunky intern. I was about to ask if I had imagined it when a red bag landed in the snow next to us. Glancing up, Charlene had an identical red hat on. “How do you do this year after year?”
She hung over the side of an ornate red sleigh. I expected to see reindeer, but it appeared they had taken the night off. I should have been shocked that his plucky intern flew around in a magical sled. Not in Vanguard. This was just another Tuesday.
“Did you—”
“All presents delivered.”
“What about—”
“List checked twice like the manual said.”
“The elves?”
“They’ve been partying since midnight.”
While Nick had been trapped in his own misery, Charlene had stepped in as his proxy.
The trips to the woodshed and her obsession with Christmas made sense.
Well, no, nothing about this made sense.
I had a thousand questions that needed answering.
I had completed the mission, and protocol no longer applied.
“The cabin?”
“A wreck. That’s a you problem.” I had to chuckle at her sass. “I’m taking the next month off.” The sleigh took off, leaving a trail of snowflakes. “I need a raise,” she shouted before vanishing into the sky.
The park had filled with children gawking at the big man. Seeing the awe on their faces could warm even the coldest of hearts. I gave Nick an elbow to the belly. “Looks like you’ve got a fan club.”
He didn’t miss a beat as he picked up the bag. “It seems I have some extra presents.” I flicked my wrist, letting my powers drift along the snow. A moment later, a throne of ice appeared, ready for the one and only Santa Claus.
“Who’s been good this year?” The crowd raised their hands, cheering.
With the sack slung over his shoulder, he leaned in, giving me a kiss on the cheek.
Did this mean I had shagged Santa Claus?
I snorted at the thought. More importantly, I wanted to do it again.
Maybe after we spent the night swapping stories about occupational hazards.
I just assumed there’d be hot cocoa and a fire burning.
Who knew what the future held? There hadn’t been an epiphany or revelation, but I knew I didn’t want to fade into the nothingness.
In a way, saving Nick had done the same for myself.
I might be retiring from one chapter of my life, but with this handsome man winking at me, I suspected I had at least one more adventure in me.
I held up my gauntlet and tapped a few buttons. Mission complete.