LIGHTFOOT (ONC 2021)

9.1| the king's army.

In The Dark Timeline, the red sky looked down on Gluevale, giving off a sense of doom and gloom. There were no clouds or stars, just emptiness that made Saint-Max gulp. It made sense why the doctor had skimmed over some details regarding it. How could anyone describe this? Where would they start? How would they convey it without making the person they wanted to go there decide against it?

The moon—the once beautiful moon—floated in the sky, covered in what looked like dry blood, showing it to cause the red sky.

"Wow," Saint-Max muttered, staring at the surrounding destruction. The once-thriving city had died, leaving behind painful memories.

"That's our destination." Janice pointed at the tower far away. It was so tall, it looked like it reached Heaven. "You want to race there?"

"Ye—"

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" a brown-skinned man in a white uniform asked, standing on top of a pile of concrete. Over fifty men and women dressed in the same white uniform showed up, surrounding Saint-Max and Janice. The man jumped and landed on his toes, then moved closer to the two with his hands in his pockets. "Where did you come from?"

Saint-Max noticed the letters "L. A." above the man's left breast and bit his bottom lip. Lightfoot's Army.

He always joked with Tim that when he became a top-ranked superhero, he'd form a team and call it Lightfoot's Army. To see this version of him did it in such—

Saint-Max placed his hand over his aching heart, hoping it wouldn't freeze from this cold reality.

"I sense more coming our way." Janice turned to him. "What should we do?"

Saint-Max looked at the brown-skinned man. "You don't recognize me?"

"Should I?"

The unranked hero scoffed. Of course, they don't know what I looked like when I was young. Most of them grew up seeing the old me.

"What should we do?" Janice asked again.

"Let's fight."

This would be the first time Janice fought actual people and not constructs. It was perfect for her to test how strong she was and see if Dr. Iness was right about her being a Class-1 superhero.

"You think you have a chance of beating Lightfoot's Army?" The man flicked his fingers, engulfing his hands with fire that didn't destroy his uniform. "You thought wrong."

Saint-Max and Janice didn't indulge the man any longer, choosing to attack the soldiers. They had thirty minutes to speak with Future Saint-Max before this timeline vanished. They would not waste it speaking to a bunch of nobodies.

The unranked hero went after the brown-skinned man, while the reporter fought the other soldiers.

Saint-Max made the man gasp when he appeared beside him. The man tried to elbow his face, but Saint-Max stopped him with one hand. When the man tried covering his arm with fire to burn the unranked hero, Saint-Max broke the man's elbow, making him cry out in pain.

He grabbed the back of the man's collar and threw him into the sky. The man spun around, unable to get himself under control. It seemed he couldn't use his fire ability to fly.

Saint-Max dashed up the rubble and jumped towards the man. But there was a reason Future Saint-Max chose this man to be part of his army. And it showed when the man started shooting balls of fire with his legs while spinning.

Since Saint-Max couldn't fly, he couldn't evade them. Instead, he fought fire with fire by attacking each fireball with a concussion wave, leaving the man's eyes wide from shock.

"No one has ever countered my attack," the man said.

"I'm not no one." Saint-Max finally hit the man with a concussion wave, making him explode.

He landed on the ground and went after the speedsters in the army. They weren't faster than him—not even close. He ripped hearts out of some while striking others with his concussion waves. Finally, he dropped to the rubble covered in the enemies' blood and guts, watching the reporter fight.

Janice had a smile on her face as she raised twenty soldiers in the air with her telekinesis. She clenched her hands, turning them into human meatballs.

Four human-sized rock creatures grabbed her arms and legs, stopping her from moving. The soldier controlling them stood from a distance, cautious of her telekinesis. Another with air ability made a bow and arrow from her power and shot Janice's arms and legs, making the reporter groan in pain. The third one with metal ability raised metal rods in the air and threw them her way, beating her body. The fourth had armor ability, covering herself in a ten-foot energy armor, punching Janice's face.

After loop three thousand, Janice hardly used her ultrasonic sound, preferring to strengthen her other abilities. It wasn't a surprise she forgot they were on a time crunch and wanted to defeat the soldiers without using her inherited power.

"We don't have time for this!" Saint-Max said.

"Fine!" Janice screamed, releasing an ultrasonic wave that tore apart half the soldiers like pieces of paper. Then she flew towards the rest and struck them like punching bags. "I'm not done with you!" She snarled.

Saint-Max never wanted to find himself on her bad side. Each hit Janice struck, the enemy stayed down and out. Some died from the blow.

After killing the last one, she started laughing.

"Are you alright?" Saint-Max asked.

"I've never felt better." She smiled. "I can see why some superheroes go bad. Not having to restrict yourself with morals is amazing."

"But we're not like them."

Janice paused, then turned to him. "Of course."

"Good." Saint-Max dropped from the tower of rubble. "Let's go meet Future Me."

Total Words: 16,975.