Kings of Hell
Chapter 16

4 years later

Wendy’s POV

“Ooo, look how hot Dexter and Dusty are,” my best friend Trish swoons, as we watch from a crowd of thousands, as the KINGS guard stand on the Earth Parade stage, “Oh my god, praise the lord, Wendy! I think Randy and Ryker looked right at me – I swear it,” she shakes me silly until I look at her through my hood over my eyes and pretend to care.

“Ahah, yeah!” I smile half-heartedly – when really my heart is beating so damn hard out of my chest.

I didn’t believe Randy and Ryker looked right at Trish, through thousands of people all around us, but Ryker did have the vision of a hawk with his sniper on his shoulder, his best friend.

“Oh, come on Wendy, let’s get closer to the stage, you sour puss!” Trish grins wide and ignores my wide eyed look of ‘no fucking way please’ – but already she has a vice like grip on my wrist and is pulling me through the crowd, shoving other groups of girls out of the way, so we – she – can get a better look in.

It was a holy day; Earth’s Parade.

The day we all unified.

The day FC was fucking nuked. The genocide of any visibly mutated people in FC. But, yup, no one talked about that.

And I tried my best not to think about it.

It was fucking traumatising.

“We present our heroes of the Earth – with these medals of honour,” Airen turns to his ‘sons’ and smiles as he pins them with a new badge on their white military uniforms. Of highest standing, “The KINGS,” Airen shakes his fist and rallies the crowd – who scream and cheer.

The parade built up around us start to move in their floats, symbolising nature and paradise.

“SPEECH,” someone screams it at Airen, “KINGS SPEECH!”

It catches on.

Everyone starts chanting it, yelling louder and louder with excitement.

Airen is taken off guard – but none so more than Dexter.

The renamed Dale. I guess his name was taken from him too, when he was sent to isolation. That punishment ended 2 years ago. I wasn’t even sure if it affected them. Yeah, they looked older – but it’s like that time never even happened.

Ever since they were released, they were straight back in the lime light, the celebrity law enforcement of Atlantis.

I look right at Dexter, as Airen makes a last minute decision to stand back from the microphone, ushering Dex forward.

Dexter looks at Airen a good minute, really seeking true permission.

Before he even dares to approach the microphone.

Airen nods.

Dex moves forward.

“Praise the lord,” Dex clears his throat, as he talks to the crowd, who lazer their eyes on his good looks. Black hair, sharp cutting jaw and those chocolate eyes look so sad all the time – oh I can’t help thinking of him in a tragic way, “Ah – we work every day to secure your freedoms. Stay safe. Listen to the law,” Dex tries to step away from the microphone – but by now everyone is silenced and entranced by his deep melancholy voice.

Airen is impressed by his speech so far, and wants him to continue.

Dex clearly has no idea what else to say. He didn’t come prepared for this.

But Airen wants him to keep going.

So he does.

“Remember,” Dex looks to the sky, “Ah, yes, remember the clear skies. Praise them.”

Whatever the fuck that meant. God, he was so brain washed.

But this is the interesting part – as he says it. One. Lone. Fuckhead. Right next to me. Throws up an empty water bottle – aiming it for Dex’s head.

Dex is so blinded by the sun, he doesn’t see it – and it collides with his face straight on. Good aim. Why did this idiot next to me, have to have good aim?

I snort, it’s kind of funny from how unexpected it was.

But maybe not so funny after that.

Now the KINGS guard have their full attention focused on the young man next to me, that thinks it’s funny to be a rebel in the intense moment.

Dex jumps right off the stage. He towers over everyone unnaturally as he stalks forward and the seas part –he grabs the young man’s collar, and lifts him off his feet.

“You think you’re being cool, do you?” Dex growls, a guttural noise. Not smooth and polite like on stage, “What do you think you’re playing at?”

“I’m sorry dude,” the guy chokes on his collar, holding up his hands, “I have impulse control issues.”

Dex drops him back to his feet.

And smashes a fist right through his face.

I swear the young man’s head whips back so hard I’m surprised his head is still on his shoulders.

He falls right for the floor, teeth falling out, nose smashed in so far it’s like it never existed.

Dex leans over him for another beating, but I immediately step forward.

No one wants to intervene, it’s too intimidating.

But it doesn’t faze me. I’d been through worse.

“Hey,” I call at Dexter, walking forward, placing a hand on his shoulder, “He’s just a kid with issues, Dex. You made your point.”

Dexter doesn’t hesitate like I remember him taking in information slowly when we met four years ago.

He immediately snaps his head toward me, eyes focused on me like I’m fucking prey or some shit.

I instinctively put up my hands as he stands upright. He’s stiff and ram rod straight.

Oh, yeah, he fucking recognises me alright. His eyes burn with knowing me.

“Chill,” I ask him, “Chill, King.”

The King.

His nickname.

The egoboost calms him down. I think? Or maybe it’s the fact he knows me.

Dex shrugs out his anger with his rolling shoulders, as he looks over the crowd and turns back to look up at Airen.

“We don’t tolerate misconduct on Earth’s Parade,” Airen says sorrowfully into the microphone, “We’re here to have a good time. Follow the rules. Stay safe.”

Heh.

While Dexter looks back up to Airen, I quickly sink back into the crowd, turning around and walking away.

Trish is with me, her eyes popping out of her head.

“What the hell just happened?” she whispers to me, under her breath, “Why did you talk to him? You know that’s a crime. And you touched his shoulder. That’s forbidden.”

“It’s alright – the circumstances required intervention,” I whisper back, “I know the rules.”

“No one speaks to the KINGS guard. Unless you’re spoken to,” Trish hisses at me, “You’re allowed to look but you spoke and fucking touched him too. Wendy.”

“Look, why do you think I’m running away?” I try to keep in a hysterical laugh.

I couldn’t fucking help myself.

Atlantis was a bore and a half.

And I was looking for danger.

“So you know you did something wrong and did it anyway?” Trish is almost hyperventilating herself as we reach the edge of the crowd and some food trucks.

I go to buy a drink of water, asap. I sit down on a bench with Trish, behind a sculpture of a God holding the decapitated head of a robot, the God is looking toward the sky, relieved.

The end of Misfits.

Of cyborgs and Ultimates.

Of disfigured mutants.

The God of Humanity, our Lord who delivered us from inevitable slavery and the company of soulless deformed freaks of the Old World.

Perfect natural humans remained.

The sick ones.

Who couldn’t tolerate the environment or the climate.

I drink the water, hidden by this god.

I pass the bottle to Trish, who looks pale beside me, her hands pressed together between her knees. She refuses the water.

“Are you okay, Trish?” I ask, already knowing the answer.

“You defied the Lord, maybe in private I wouldn’t care but… everyone saw you, you’re probably on camera,” Trish whispers under her breath, “Dex looked you right in the eye.”

“I’m no one, it doesn’t matter –”

“That boy was no one,” Trish hisses, “And he was punished. No one is free of punishment.”

“Trish, I tolerate you, but you’re starting to piss me off. Can you shut up?” I know I’m mean, but all anyone in this damn city talked about was praising the Lord and the Law. Following the rules. Being proud of discipline and strict manners.

It drove me insane on the inside.

“Wendy,” Trish gawks at me, standing up, tears in her eyes, “I thought we were best friends.”

“I’m,” sorry, but I can’t make myself say it.

“I’ll see you back at the dorm,” Trish turns away, truly hurt.

I do feel bad when I hear her sweetness is burnt by my brutal response asking her to shut up.

I was just on edge, okay? I was just – you know – fed up.

With everything.

This city made my skin fucking crawl.

My past, unresolved and a constant black hole of questions, was just out of site, barely out of mind.

Everything had changed so much in my life.

Even after four years, I was unable to accept the huge changes without clarity.

But I felt helpless.

Useless.

Fucking useless.

What could I do?

I shuffle across the seat and look past the sculpture to the stage.

The KINGS guard is walking off the concrete steps, Dexter is looking for me.

And Dexter has found me.

As soon as I look out, his eyes scan, and lock right onto me.

His eyesight is ridiculously accurate. From an infinity away from where he stands. For fucks sake.

I turn my head to the side, and my hand crunches the half empty bottle of water.

Mmm.

Yeah.

I can’t ignore that ache in my legs.

Run motherfucker and go as fast as you can. That’s what my brain wants. It’s what every cell in me wants.

I pretend to stretch like I didn’t notice the top law enforcer of Atlantis locking onto me, and then I simply ‘jog’ off.

As soon as I was out of sight of this fucking parade, I was sprinting back to the dorm.

I’d make it up with Trish for being a bitch.

I was just messed up.

I’d been through hell.