Force-Field Manipulation: the ability to create force fields at will.
Josh strips down to his underwear in the another room, staring down at the body suit he'd lied out over a chair. It's the new one Hayley ordered, so the fabric is a lot thicker and heavier than his other suit, not Kevlar but something stronger.
The torso of the suit is dark blue, stopping at the shoulders and knees. The sleeves are black. It came with blue leather gloves and sleek black boots that look like knee high rain boots. There's two large slits in the back for his wings. He pulls his goggles up to his hairline.
"It's over after this," Josh mumbles, his stomach churning out with anxiety. "Just one last fight."
He grabs the suit hesitantly before unzipping and wiggling into it. The suit fits snugly, the slits for the wings hugging where they connect to his body.
A knock makes him turns around. "Hey, Josh, you dressed?" Tyler calls from behind the door.
"Yeah," Josh responds.
Tyler slips into the room. His suit is a pale gray with light purple veins threaded through, matching boots and gloves in hand. Even his mask is new; the old damaged mask replaced with a matte black one, the same fang extensions now silver and more pincer-like. He pushes the mask down so it hangs around his neck.
"You okay?" He asks.
"Nope," Josh chuckles. "I'm scared as hell. I- I've been shaking for the past two days."
"Yeah, I could feel it from across the city."
"I'm sorry if it was distracting."
"Don't be sorry."
Tyler holds his arms out in offering. Josh steps into him, burying his face into Josh's neck. He's keeping his shit together by the thinnest of threads, but damn it he's so terrified.
"I'm sorry for being so mean to you and Tati," Tyler confesses. "It was really shitty of me. I guess I was just trying to protect myself from getting so close to you, in case something like this happened."
"Do you regret it? Getting close to us?" Josh asks.
"Nope. I just regret I hadn't done it sooner."
They pull away and he sees that his boyfriend's face is red from crying. Josh gently rests his hands on Tyler's face, wiping away the stray tear that slips away.
"We're going to make it out of this," he promises. "I swear to you, we're going to walk about of this and we're going to graduate and- and get away from this noise."
"We could move in together," Tyler continues. "We could get a shitty apartment and a dog, maybe a cat too. You'll go to college for that Astro-nerd PhD like you talk about, and I'll open up my self defense business while we both work shitty part time jobs to pay for it all."
"It's Astronautical Engineering, and that sounds amazing. Tiana would visit us all the time because she'll be studying zoology, and she'll have so many pets to take care of even though her apartment doesn't allow them."
"Are you sure she wouldn't be living with us? You two are practically conjoined at the hip."
Josh rolls his eyes. "Rude. She'd definitely live with us, though."
They both laugh, resting their heads on each other's shoulders.
"Tyler," Josh says.
"Josh," he responds.
"I love you."
Tyler's head jerks up, startled at first then panicked. Josh starts to panic as well, afraid he was being too forward. Then Tyler smiles, his face and eyes burning a brilliant lavender color.
That's new. Blue, red, pink, Josh thinks his cheeks even glowed green once too. But he has never seen purple.
"I'm sorry," Tyler grumbles, embarrassed. "I- I don't know how to respond."
"You don't have to," Josh says reassuringly. "I just wanted to tell you now, just in the off chance that, well..."
The glow disappears. "I'm not- my words, they're melt not- just..." Tyler trips and stumbles through a full sentence, sighing and stopping his himself. "Let me restart. I... love you. Too. Yeah."
Josh stares for a second, pride welling up in his chest. Even if he hadn't said it back, he would've known Tyler felt the same way, but hearing him is another level of confidence leading him into the upcoming battle.
"Glad we're on the same page."
Tiana appears at the door, knocking suddenly. The two boys jump, glaring at the girl who grins with a cheeky knowing look.
Her suit is identical to Josh's, except red replacing the blue. She kept her previous muzzle mask, the chips and cracks making it "look edgy." The bandages she talked about cover her forearms and palms. One wing pokes out from her back, relaxed and unfurled slightly. Seeing it makes Josh's mood falter, but only until he sees her giddy face again.
"Hayley's waiting for you on the roof, Ty," she says, winking. "Just letting you know in case the love confessionals are over."
Tyler flips her the bird. "Fuck off, Tati."
"Aw, don't be like that. I might die saving your ass today."
She walks forwards and practically jumps on the two, hugging them tightly. Josh laughs and hugs in return, exchanging a hopeful expression with Tiana.
They're going to make it. All of them. Josh can feel it. He has to be optimistic. Maybe that's where it all started going wrong. Maybe if he'd been more realistic, knowing that every war has casualties, then they could've had a better outcome the first time around.
How cruel it is be an innocent moth in a world on fire. How fucking cruel.
YOU ARE READING
DOOM DAYS ✓
Adventure"When I watch the world burn, all I think about is you." When Josh said he always wanted to be a superhero, he didn't mean becoming the prime target for the scariest villain ever, or having to juggle high school and awkward crushes on other superher...
