Mom, I'm Bulletproof

Chapter 20.9: Blood

In the sky over London, Jhedora let out another blast of golden light, stinging Amy all over her body. But Amy didn't let go of her.

As the flew over the city, the only sound Jhedora made was a low hiss. Amy heard a voice cry, "Hey!"

Future Girl flew toward them, with Dreamsmith holding onto her left hand and the Ergosphere clutching her right. A purple cloud followed.

"The Temple will never fall," Jhedora whispered.

A single thin beam of light shot from Jhedora's hand, slicing through the night sky, hitting Dreamsmith's hands as they clung to Future Girl's arm.

Dreamsmith fell, screaming with pain.

Amy immediately let go of Jhedora and flew toward Dreamsmith as fast as she could. She caught up to him and wrapped her arms around his body, much more gently than she had with Jhedora.

Amy flew over to the nearest landmark she knew, the newly repaired British Museum, which lit up the night sky with light streaming up from its glass ceiling.

Amy landed and gently placed Dreamsmith on the non-glass part of the ceiling.

That's when she saw the blood.

Sam's right hand was gone, replaced with a wet stump, spewing out blood. His left hand had about three-fourths burned off, leaving only his ring and pinky fingers.

Dreamsmith's eyes were closed, his jaw was slack, and his skin paled.

"You're going to be okay, Sam," Amy said. "Future Girl will be here any sec and she'll heal you, and we will..."

A sharp pain struck Amy and sent her falling backward, away from Dreamsmith.

Jhedora floated above them, her bandages blackened and smoking. A thin, needle-like beam of light shot out of her hand and right into Dreamsmith's chest. Blood spurted from the wound.

"Sam!" Amy cried, returning to his side in a heartbeat. He didn't say anything, and his skin turned whiter than before.

"I will kill him," Jhedora said.

"Shut up." Future Girl flew up to them, still carrying the Ergosphere, with Proscenium's cloud right behind them.

Jhedora shot Future Girl's right hand with a beam of light.

"My Paradoxicon!" Future Girl said, falling down onto the roof.

The Ergosphere landed hard onto the roof, where Jhedora then shot a beam of light into his face. "My eyes!" he said.

Jhedora's next beam shot directly into the crowd, which reformed back into Proscenium, who immediately fell forward, immobile.

"My metaphor!" he cried.

Jhedora then looked down at Amy, still kneeling next to Dreamsmith. "Their fate doesn't have to be your fate, U.S. Amy. This is your last chance. Don't be a sinner. Be normal."

Amy looked at Jhedora. Even though the bandages covering the priestess's face were blackened from Dreamsmith's fire, Amy could still make out the markings around the eyes and mouth.

As fast as she could, Amy reached forward and grabbed Jhedora's facial wraps. A beam of golden light out of Jhedora's body, striking Amy, but Amy didn't let go. She had become used to the stinging pain of these attacks by now, not matter how painful.

Amy's hands now held onto Jhedora's face, her fingers digging into the wrapping. Jhedora grasped Amy's arms, stinging them with golden energy.

Not needing gravity, Amy floated just above the roof, pressing both feet against Jhedora's chest. Closing her eyes and gritting her teeth, Amy pulled with her arms and pushed with her feet as hard as she could. There was a barely audible ripping sound as Amy inadvertently flew backwards.

She stopped in midair and tossed aside the charred rags in her hands. In front of her, Jhedora was on the roof, not floating, with both arms over her face.

"Aaahh!" Jhedora screamed. "All Temple agents, respond to..."

"Don't think so," Amy said. She flew over and pulled Jhedora's arms away from her face. Jhedora didn't fight back this time. Her whole body shook, and her arms were limp as Amy held them.

Amy carried Jhedora over to the glass part of the ceiling. From this angle, there just enough light from the city behind them so they could see their reflections in the glass.

"Look at what you are," Amy said.

She gripped the back of Jhedora's head and held it over the glass. In the reflection, she saw a wrinkled woman's face – but only for a second. The flesh cracked and fell apart like dirt, revealing a grey skull underneath, with yellow teeth and bulging eyes, back brown pupils against white, looking unnaturally bulbous without skin around them.

Jhedora's jaw parted and a loud scream came out.

Spurts of bright light shot out from beneath Jhedora's bandages. Amy let go of her and flew back. Jhedora fell forward, still screaming in pain, reaching her hand toward the night sky. There was a flash of light as Jhedora's bandages broke apart and fell onto the roof. Any remains of a body had disappeared, replaced by pure light shooting upward.

With a loud boom, the sky over London burned with yellow-orange light.

Then it was over. The light disappeared, and the city was silent for a few seconds. Amy saw lights coming in windows in buildings all around them, as Londoners everywhere took notice of the strange lights.

Amy flew over to Dreamsmith, but Future Girl was already there, pressing her hand against his chest to heal him.

"He's going to be all right," Future Girl said. "Except that there's no cure for being a dork."

Amy put a hand on Future Girl's shoulder. "And how are you?"

"Good," Future Girl said. "It will take a lot more than that to separate me from my Paradoxicon."

Proscenium rose to his feet behind Future Girl and Dreamsmith. "I failed you."

"Don't even," Amy said. "We never would have made it this far without you. You're the team's backbone."

Proscenium considered this, and then said, "By team, you mean the Butt-Kickers?"

"Until we come up with a better name."

Dreamsmith coughed and his whole body jerked to the side.

"Easy does it, D.S.," Future Girl said. With his chest healed, Future Girl went to work on his hands. Amy watched as Future Girl gripped Dreamsmith's right hand, seeing muscle and bone reform seemingly out of nowhere. Amy then turned away, because even though it was miraculous it was also gross.

"Where is the Ergosphere?" Proscenium asked.

Amy looked around the roof but didn't see him. "Don't know, but I have a feeling he's all right."

"What..." Dreamsmith said, coughing. "I saw..."

Amy hurried over to him, sitting on the opposite side of him from Future Girl. Proscenium also approached and kneeled next to Dreamsmith.

"I saw the sky," Dreamsmith said. "It was like gold."

"It was," Amy said. "That was the last hurrah of the Temple."

"What does that mean?"

Amy leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. "It means the good guys won."

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Next: The supergoodbye.