25: Hive Father -Emma-

I rubbed my head as I pulled myself off the floor. Immediately after I'd gotten off the phone with Patrick something hit me hard from behind.

I wasn't sure how long I was out, but I knew that I smelled rotted flesh nearby. The lights flashed on, illuminating the large, specimen containment room I was in. The smell of rotten flesh came from the bowl of meat across the room.

"Emma." The voice came over the speakers, it belonged to a young boy.

One of the walls was made with large reinforced glass to allow safe observation of what ever subject we were working on. On the other side of the glass looking at me was a small boy, his hand on the microphone button.

"Hello, Mother." He smiled at me, "Are you well?"

"Stop calling me mother and tell me, what's going on? Let me out."

"We can't do that, you are very violent toward us." He walked to the window and looked outside, "People are coming. They want to take you away."

He stepped away from the window and made a high-pitched whistle, then he sat down again, "We know that you don't understand, but we are your son. Father stole parts of you to make me, we know because his brain-voice said so."

"Brain-voice?" I sat down closer to the glass, "Who's your father? I'm still very confused."

"People have two voices, one they use with this," He pointed to his mouth, "and the other they use with this." He pointed to his head, "It's hard to listen to both at once, it hurts our head."

"You're telepathic? That's really impressive." I was intrigued by this boy that claimed to be my son, "I'm still very confused about who you are."

He held out his hand to me and nodded at his hand. Sliding closer, I realized that his hand was moving slowly. The closer I got, the better I understood who this boy was. His hand, his entire body, was comprised of thousands of small moths.

"You're the Moths!" I pushed away from the glass and slid to the opposite wall.

"Father says that we're the God of Moths. We're the failed attempt at speeding up human evolution. He wanted to kill us. I don't want to die."

"So did all those people that you killed."

"Father says that sometimes it's necessary to do things that are immoral as long as you're saving more than you're destroying. There are thousands of us and only a few hundred people living here. It was a needed evil." He stared at me with cold eyes.

"Are you going to kill me?"

"Yes." He looked out the window as a loud explosion rocked the building. His face contorted with anger as he grabbed the chair and threw it at the glass of my cell. It bounced off and shattered on the opposite wall.

"They killed one of us! They're coming to kill us all! Just like you did! You, our Mother, ignored our screams of pain after you lit us on fire! Our Father just left us there to die! This isn't my fault, it's his!"

I was terrified of this creature. I was at its mercy, stuck inside a small cage just waiting for it to come inside and tear me to shreds.

"You . . . " The boy walked to the door, "You stay here and we will be back after we take care of the people killing your children."

"No, no wait. Don't just leave me in here!"

"We were in a jar most of our life. You learn to like it.", and he left.

24: Fugly Bug Meets Big Red -John-

The roar of the moth stung my ears as it barreled toward me. The ground shook as it grew larger in my vision.

I smiled. This thing had no idea what was about to happen to it. In only a few seconds it's anger would be gone, replaced with surprise and pain.

"COME ON, YOU FUGLY BUG!" I yelled raising my hands in the air, "I CHALLENGE YOU!"

The moth roared louder. There was no stopping it now. I ran to the left, my eyes searching for a place to hide from the blast. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a small child looking out the window of the Gas Station.

Nothing was ever easy. It was almost as though there was some malicious being putting us in the most insanely difficult and complicated situations, expecting us to make the right choices to get the best outcome. All we had to do was explode the moth and it would have been over, but like a well laid trap the catch sprung up at the last moment. There were people in the building.

I had seconds. I wouldn't make it in time. If I turned around, then I'd be killed along with the moth and the child. I slid to a stop and ran back toward the doors. To me there wasn't a choice. I had to try, no matter what the sacrifice.

I kicked open the door to find a dozen people in a panic. My heart hit the floor as the moth roared again. It was getting closer, it was too close. I couldn't get all these people out in time. I turned to the moth and roared, "Let's go!"

I ran toward the moth. I had to stop it, I had to make it turn. I knew I never would. This was the end. For me. For these people. For my journey.

I thought of Alex as time seemed to slow down. I thought of the options that he'd felt he had. I wondered if maybe he felt the same way I did now. Was I the people stuck in the gas station, and the sun God Moloch the giant rampaging moth? Did Alex make the same choice I was now making?

I pulled back my hand as I got close to the crazed moth and suddenly the world became a blur of red. I felt someone grab me and push me to the ground. There was a loud crash. The world then erupted into bright light and intense heat. I pushed who ever was on me off and pulled myself to my feet.

"Holy shit." The apartment building had collapsed on the moth, as well as the firetruck that had forced it in to a different direction. Fire had ignited the gas causing the truck to explode. There was no way the moth survived that.

"I'll say, that wasn't the expected outcome."

I led the turn with my fist, catching Robby on the side of the head, "We thought you were dead, you stupid ass! Where were you while the moth played cat and mouse with me and Jay?!"

"I was relaxing armless at the top of a nearby apartment complex. Cut me a break, I just saved your ass."

"Yeah." I turned to look at the moth, "Thanks for that."

"You don't seem very surprised that I'm miraculously back."

"I'm not." The apartment fire was out of control, but I didn't care if it burned the whole town down. Robby was back, the moth was dead, and for some reason I felt really good, "I've seen a lot of things the last few months."

We silently stared at the fire.

23: Hero's Call -Robby-

"You know what I like about you guys?" The voice was old and wise.

I opened my eyes and slowly sat up. My arm was still gone, the only thing left was a tiny stump dripping blood. There was no pain, instead I felt calm and comfortable.

"Oh God."

"Don't panic."

"But my arm. My fucking arm is gone!"

I heard him laugh lightly and glanced over. He was an old man that had a look in his eyes that was very similar to Patrick, except older. He smiled and it made me feel like I'd been complimented by a parent.

"I like people like you and your friends, because you're willing to put yourself at great risk to save others. It's something I hold very highly. Most people I have contact with are so willing to do what I say that they sometimes forget the real reason they're alive. It's . . . disappointing."

My arm became second priority right at that moment. This guy was old, really old.

"Who are you?"

"Gilfred Odephius Doorstop. It's nice to meet you finally, Robby."

"That's not what I meant.", I stared at him.

"See that? Free Will! THAT'S the real reason. Choosing your path for your own instead of having another person choose for you. Being able to decide not to trust the person that's keeping you alive right now."

"Is that a threat? Don't screw with me, we already have another deviously manipulative prick. Having another would just really piss me off."

This time he laughed out loud, "Listen, you and your friends are the closest things to Heroes that I've seen in a long time, so I'm gonna give you some help."

He reached down and touched my shoulder. Tendrils of bright light flowed over me and formed an arm over my stump. The light slowly hardened into a clear-gold substance.

"I hope you don't think I'm going to owe you or something."

"I wouldn't ever ask you something like that." I believed him.

"Is that all? My friends are in a lot of trouble down there I'm sure."

"Yes, they are," He leaned close, "but you have a choice to make. Right now your friends are leading that moth to a gas station where they will attempt to blow the creature up and they will succeed. How ever, inside that gas station is a family of survivors who will not survive the blast. You could allow them to do it, allow those people to die, the moth would be dead, and you could find that delightful little girl that your boss is looking for. Or you could stop them from blowing the place, the moth would not die just yet, the family would live, and your friends would still be in danger."

I stared at the old man's face. It was serious, almost scary serious.

"How am I supposed to choose that?!"

"If it was easy, than you guys wouldn't be important."

He looked at the sky and then back at me, "I've . . . stayed here too long and given off too big a signal. I have to leave. You have only a few seconds to find a way to stop that moth from exploding."

"But I didn't even choose yet."

He laughed and for some reason it made me feel good inside, "Didn't you hear me? You guys are heroes. There's really only one option for you." He slowly faded, "Hurry up."

"FUCK!", I grabbed the edge of the roof and jumped off on to the fire escape.

He was right. There was only one choice.

I had to stop the moth from blowing up.