Galilee Rising(108)

"Joanna!" Jem shouts, voice echoing through the ship.

A metal door shuts just as more continuous automatic weapon fire begins, bullets hitting metal, ricocheting as a man roars in anger. It lasts five seconds of hell. "Come out, you fucker!" a man shouts. Another thud as he must kick open the door as it hits the wall a millisecond later. More gunfire. Two men screaming, then another thud as someone slams against the wall. Silence. And more silence. It's fucking deafening. Nothing. I don't hear a damn thing beyond my own heavy breathing. He's hurt. If he was hit multiple times, he could bleed out before his body repairs itself. Jordan--

Wind whips behind me then someone lands on the platform beside me. He rips the bag off. Jem. He's a little worse for the wear with an oozing gunshot to the arm and a trickle of blood smeared on his exposed chin. He's still the most glorious sight I've ever viewed in my life. I spot the worst hovering in a dark corner of the ceiling in full red and black villain uniform pointing a rifle at us. Oh fuck! I signal with my eyes, but Jem's too busy ripping the tape from my mouth. "Are you--?"

"Four o'clock!"

Just as Jem pivots, Jordan fires. There's an almost deafening pop. Before I even blink, Jem is knocked off the platform by what looks like a harpoon to his shoulder. I shriek as he's impaled to the floor. The large metal rod has to be four feet long with a ball on top. That is it. This is over. I press the transmitter to summon back-up.

"Sorry about that, brother," Jordan says as he glides toward us. "I know it hurts."

"You fucking bastard!" I shout.

He ignores me and lands beside the still stunned Jem. "I really don't want to fight you. It's not necessary. We're above that, don't you th--"

Jem sweeps his brother's feet from underneath him. The moment the villain flattens, Jem brings the heel of his foot down on Jordan's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. As Jordan's dazed, with a guttural roar, Jem yanks the harpoon from his shoulder. I feel his pain down to my soul. Jem manages to rise and with his good arm, raises the rod over his brother's chest like a vengeful Poseidon. Just as it's about to make contact, Jordan rolls aside. The rod sticks in the floor. As Jem realizes what happened, Jordan removes another gun from his belt, firing almost point blank into Jem's chest. Jem's knocked onto his stomach, holding onto his chest with his arm underneath. He doesn't move. He doesn't draw breath. Oh. God.

"No!" I cry

Jordan moves toward his brother to check him. "Jem?" Jordan asks. He nudges his brother's body. "Jem?"

Like lightning, Jem flings his arm from under his chest and jabs a knife into his brother's foot. Jordan shrieks in pain as the blood pours under his heels, and Jem uses his momentary shock to rise. Not quick enough. The moment he's up, Jordan backhands his brother with all his super might, sending the stunned hero flying backwards into a nearby wall, head first. Jem crumples to the floor like a string-less puppet. Jordan yanks the knife from his foot, stares at it with fury, and tosses it to the floor. Jem slowly sits up. "I don't want to fucking hurt you!" Jordan bellows at the top of his lungs. "And you don't want to hurt me!"

Though still dazed and hobbling, Jem rises to his feet for the next bloody round. He charges his brother with a roar, but the head wound must be grave because he's slow. Too slow. As they make contact, Jordan knees him in the stomach. With a groan, Jem folds at the waist, giving Jordan the opening to elbow the hero in the back of the neck. He lands jaw first on the metal floor, a sickening crack echoing through the arena. I cringe. "Why are you doing this? Stop it!" Though in the fetal position and panting in pain, we both see him reaching into his belt for another weapon. "Stop it!" Jordan says as he kicks him in the forehead. Jem collapses onto his back.

"N-No," Jem whimpers. "Y-You have to die."

"What?"

"You have to die. I see that now."

Jordan stares at his brother, dumbfounded. "You-You came here to kill me?"

"You're a monster," he gasps through the agony. "You're insane. I can't save you. I never could."

"No!" Jordan explodes. "You-You love me!"

"No. No," Jem says sadly. "Any love I ever felt for you, you destroyed years ago. I detest you. I hate you to my very core."

Jordan vibrates with anger as those words sink in. "No. Take it back."

"Never."

"Take it back!" he shrieks. In a blink, Jordan has picked up the rod and hovers over his brother. "You're lying!"

"I'm not."

He plunges the rod into Jem's chest. "Stop lying!" Out it rises from my love's damaged body, spatters of blood raining all over, until the monster plunges it in again. "Why are you lying to me?" In again, this time right near the heart. He's going to kill him. "Why are you making me hurt you like this? I love you! Why are you making me do this?"