Sky High Life: The Rift (Patreon)

Chapter 4 The Rifts

Zachary Braun

He had a strange thought forming in his head after visiting Superhero Island, and he couldn’t get it out of his head. He thought it was just his school, but after seeing the other kids from other campuses, it looked like what he observed was pretty accurate.

Powers were a reflection of a person’s innate nature. It was just an observation, but his theory held true whenever he looked at his classmates and teachers. He wondered if the powers shaped the person, or if they manifested in a specific manner because of the person?

He looked at the area where Will ate lunch with his fellow sidekicks. He was meek and non-confrontational ever since he’d known him. He knew part of that was because of living with his world-famous superhero parents and trying to live up to their legacy, but he had childhood memories of Will trying to pacify bullies instead of trying to fight them to get back his toy.

In any normal high school in his world, Will would be easily bullied, if not for Leila, caring and nurturing like a protective mother over her best friend.

Larry, the kid who could turn into a hulking stone golem, looked weak and scrawny at first glance, but he had a bold and bombastic personality. He was fearless, and wasn’t afraid to chat up girls even older than him.

Coach Boomer, also known by his hero name Sonic Boom, was a man who wanted to be seen and heard. A stern and uncompromising gym teacher, his powers reflected perfectly in his personality.

The kid with the acid spit had a wicked gift in rap music. He was becoming popular with the cool crowd during lunch time as he rapped free style, often making his audience oooh and ahhh as he showcased his creativity and talent.

Then there was him. He glowed, like a beacon. Only through his relentless experiments with his powers was he able to shape and mold them into something useful for a superhero. He was still improving his control, practicing ways to project the light he emanated to something useful in the future.

His experience with that infamous Gauntlet gave him a revelation, density. That last wall that he punched through should have at least given him broken fingers, but he left the course with just mild bruises on his knuckles that went away after a few hours. He was rocked out of his musings as the ground shuddered and he realized the school had come to a halt.

“Students, get back inside the building, now. This is not a drill.”

Professor Medulla’s voice travelled across the grounds. As typical of teenagers in their rebellious phase, some didn’t even listen, as they curiously stared up at the sky. They were travelling back to the usual route of Sky High over Maxville City, and everyone expected to be in their homes after a few hours.

He followed the crowd that obeyed, and as they streamed towards the various entrances, although nearly everyone stared ahead through any open doors and windows to see the reason for the emergency.

A crack of thunder echoed across the grounds, making everyone flinch. It was followed by another and then another, until everyone was covering their ears due to the loud sound that threatened to burst their eardrums. A strange form of lightning started to appear right in front of the school, branches of energy forming a massive circle ahead of them.

He stepped back, pushing the students behind him as he stared at the phenomenon with his mouth open in awe. He hadn’t seen one in person before, but he had seen the images recorded in video and pictures.

This… this was a rift. A point between two realities, making contact, allowing for creatures or other beings to pass through to their world. Rifts were unpredictable, as the beings that emerged from them always fought with an instant dislike and wrecked and destroyed everything within their sight.

They didn’t discriminate at all in their targets, and he wondered if it was an effect after passing through to their reality. All experts agreed, though that the size of the rift often corresponded to the threat level, and the one he was staring right now was downright massive.

He watched as the few stubborn students realized the danger they were in and started to run back to the building. The faculty streamed out, headed by Coach Boomer.  He had never seen the man look so serious before, and beside him was Professor Vector, their math teacher, who had the power to flick small objects with his hands to near supersonic speeds. Be it a pencil eraser, a playing card, or a stapler, the man could fling it to a target with impeccable precision with a flick of a finger or a twist in his wrist.

The rift let out a series of energy spikes, causing one branch of energy to head to the school. He felt the whole structure shudder, and he spotted a dome, covering the grounds, flickering from the impact. The Rift slowly started getting smaller, and he realized that the school was moving backwards, trying to avoid the energies emanated by the rift.

It was too late, as another surge from the nearly completed rift branched out once more, shattering the school’s force field. He could suddenly feel the strong winds even from where he was standing by the door and instinctively powered up, covering his entire being in with his light energy.

The others took that as a sign as they manifested their powers to withstand the sudden change in their environment, with Larry transforming into his golem form. An older girl who looked like a senior or junior suddenly had her whole skin turn into a shiny chrome surface, except for her red hair. Those who had trouble ran into the classrooms, and he and the other who had no trouble helped close the doors that were harder to move thanks to the howling winds rushing through the hallways.

“Look!” The metal-skinned girl pointed at the open school doors.

He turned around and stared at the strange creatures emerging from the now stable rift.

“Are… are those dragons?” Larry asked.

“They’re huge.” Metal girl gasped.

They were, and they numbered in the dozens and were growing as more and more creatures flooded through, and it looked like they already had their first target spotted, the school.

“Holy crap! Look at that one!” One of the students pointed out as a massive head poked through the rift. A mean-looking red dragon with shiny scales and enormous horns gazed at them. They were still moving back, but it wasn’t enough to avoid the creature’s attention.

The smaller dragons, the size of horses, arrived at the school and the faculty on the lawn immediately moved to defend the grounds. Coach Boomer yelled out a focused scream, causing the dragons to fall from the air.

Professor Vector was flicking his fingers in rapid succession, it looked like he had a handful of pebbles in his left hand, and was using his right hand to flick the pebbles to the targets at a high rate of speed, almost like a machine gun.

Larger dragons joined the fight, but before they could attack the two faculty members, a series of hatches opened from the lawn, revealing wicked-looking turrets.

“Professor Medulla, no doubt.” Metal girl noted. The turrets started firing, releasing green pulses as they swiveled around tracking targets and eliminating them with machine-like precision. It was impressive.

“Students, please head to designated bunkers. This is not a drill.” Principal Powers' voice blared through the speakers, barely heard by the students due to the howling winds.

“We have a bunker?” He turned to the girl with the shiny metal skin.

“Freshman, right?” The girl turned to him. It was strange to stare at the metallic face, and it was hard to judge her expression. “We usually have drills in the middle of the year, no one takes it seriously, but we’re shown how to operate the bunkers in case of emergencies.”

“Principal Powers!” Larry’s voice in his Golem form reached him, and he turned to see his classmate pointing to the direction in the distance. A white comet was getting closer, and when it reached the school, it swooped through a flight of dragons, dancing around them, attracting their attention.

“What are those sidekicks doing out there?” Metal girl pointed to a group hiding behind a tree and bushes.

“That’s Will!” He couldn’t believe his friend was still out there. He started to move to the exit, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

“Where are you going?” Metal girl asked.

“I’m going to help my friends.” He replied. He shrugged off the hand on his shoulder and took off, ignoring the shouts as he sped through the grounds to reach his friends. From what he could see, Leila was doing her best to hide them, the bushes behind them were growing, acting like some wall to hide them from sight.

The tree was growing new branches over them, sprouting new leaves, but he spotted a dragon nearly the size of a car falling towards them after getting hit by one of the few functional defensive turrets.

“Get back to the school!” He yelled above them as he changed his trajectory and crashed head-on with the falling dragon before it squished his friends. The scales were harder than expected, and the impact he made was enough, as it missed Will and Leila.

The two looked at him with terrified faces as he hovered above them, and he got frustrated by how hesitant they were. Were they deaf or something?

“Go!” He yelled. “I’ll cover you!”

It was Leila who got to her senses first and started dragging Will towards the building. He flew above them, hoping to give him cover, but he quickly realized that his stunt had attracted the attention of a flight of dragons.

“I’ll distract them.” He shouted as he hovered just beyond the school entrance. “Go!”

He didn’t wait for Leila’s reply and shot up and powered up, fully condensing his light energy around his body as he met the dragons head on. They were fast, and agile, as a few dragons avoided his charge at the last moment. He took out a smaller dragon, crashing through its wing, causing the creature to cry out as it tumbled out of the sky and into the sea.

Seeing where their weakness are, he circled around for another pass, dodging and weaving through the dragons that attempted to attack him.

He grunted in pain as a barbed tail came out of nowhere, enough to punch through the light energy field surrounding his body and causing a wound on his upper arm. He still managed to maintain control and pushed through the pain as he increased his speed.

The sky was full of the creatures, but he spotted a few circular objects whizzing past, engaging the dragons in aerial duels. They looked like drones, with tiny cameras at the front with smaller turrets beneath them, firing smaller pulses of energy at their targets.

A drone flew beside him, and he was startled to hear Professor Medulla’s voice emit through the metal drone.

“Mister Braun, you need to get us help.” The professor’s voice blared out. The man sounded strained, and he guessed that the man was busy controlling both the school’s defensive turrets and the dozens of drones now flying above Sky High.

He watched as a white comet danced around the largest dragon, emitting pulses of white energy at it thick hide while the humongous monster attacked with its teeth, claws, and barbed tail.

“The discharge from the Rift has disabled our communications systems and emergency beacons. Its presence is also disrupting our signals. We’re stationary as of now, there is not enough power to both escape and maintain the defensive systems.” The professor continued speaking. “You need to get to Maxville City at once and get help using your watch. You’re one of the faster and durable flyers in your club.”

“Yes, Professor.” He swallowed and tried to control the nervousness and fear in his gut. He had never been given such an important task before. Still, he was studying to be a hero, wasn’t he? With renewed determination, he flew up, and pressing the direction to Will’s house on his watch, he shot forward with the fastest speed he could currently manage.

A few dragons tried to cut him off, but he dodged them and focused on his trajectory and the power he was using. Clouds flew past, and he gave one last look back at the battle before looking straight ahead, pushing more power to increase his speed.

Every once in a while, he looked at the arrow in his watch, showing his speed, altitude, and the direction he needed to go. It felt like hours, but it was probably a few minutes as he saw the gleaming lights of the city and a huge landmass behind it. He had finally reached Maxville.

He didn’t bother to look at his watch this time, since he had already memorized the city’ layout due to his constant use of his powers in getting around and to his part time job after school. He did control the intensity of his light powers so that he wouldn’t stand out like a firework in the night sky and quickly landed on the yard.

“Zach?”

It looked like he had just arrived just in time, as he spotted the couple in their hero outfits. The commander looked like he just came from a battle, seeing the soot stains on hi distinctive white, red and blue outfit.

“What are you doing here?” He turned around and spotted Jetstream, her hair a bit of a mess but otherwise looking unharmed. “You’re injured!”

“No time for that!” He breathed a sigh of relief. “The school’s under attack by dragons from a massive rift that just formed. They need help!”

“Josie.” The Commander gave a nod, and immediately, his wife took out a small phone from her waist and started typing. Her fingers were a blur, and he was impressed by her composure.

“Can you lead us there?” The Commander asked.

“Follow me.” He nodded and took off at once and used his watch so that he could get back to the school. The pain in his shoulder throbbed, but he ignored it, and pushed more power to his speed, putting more priority to it. He knew was tired, he hadn’t flown that fast before, he was always careful before when testing his limits.

Now, there was no safety net, and the lives of his friends and hundreds of others depended on him. He was startled to see Jetstream flying beside him, her arms easily carrying the Commander.

“You’re flying faster.” Josie Stronghold gave a nod. “How’s Will?”

“He’s fine.” He replied. “Leila too. I got them inside the school before a dragon could squish them.”

He saw the moment the worried couple let out sighs of relief and Jetstream actually cracked a smile. He didn’t know how long they flew, and it felt like every minute was an hour.

“There!” The Commander yelled.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the familiar silhouette still flying in the sky. Looking closer he noticed more people in the field. The cloud circle members were taking the fight to the dragons. On the ground, he could see more students on the field, mostly comprised of juniors and seniors fighting the dragons using their powers.

In the air, Ray Windsoar led a few club members as they tangled with the dragons. On the ground, some of the members of the Bruisers brigade and other seniors maintained a rough perimeter in front of the school. He could see they were more concentrated on the three entrance points that led to the main building.

Only a few of the circular drones remained, but he noticed that they flew with more precision. The ground was littered with the bodies of dead and dying dragons. The ones struggling to move were mercilessly eliminated by Professor Vector.

“Josie, take me to that big dragon.”  The Commander ordered. His wife obeyed without question and changed trajectory. Principal Power’s fight was still on going against the dragon, though she noticed the brightness of her comet was dimmer before he left and got help.

He was about to land when one of the larger dragons appeared right in front of him. He barely had a chance to react and the last thing he saw was the column of fire headed towards him.

“Fuck!” He tried to swerve but it was too late and he got caught by the blast.

He had been to a sauna before, and this was a hundred times worse. He felt something hit him in his side and he felt pain everywhere. He was falling, his power exhausted and he knew he couldn’t even his power to light up his finger tip.

For some reason, he felt like he was slowing down, and he rolled his head and felt something soft, warm pressing against the side of his face. He tried to take a breath, noting that whatever his nose was pressed to smelled pleasant. Unfortunately, the soft object as soft as pillows was suffocating him, and he finally blacked out from the lack of oxygen.

He woke up, feeling pain in his right arm and in his chest. It hurt to breathe, and he felt dizzy. It took him a few moments before his vision cleared and he looked around, realizing he was in some sort of hospital.

“That flame… I thought he was gone.”

“He’s lucky he still had some power left to take on that attack.” He heard a familiar voice speak. “Kid got some serious stamina.”

“And you said he flew to your house, already injured?” A woman’s voice echoed across the empty spacious room.

“That’s correct.” Another woman answered. He blinked a few times to clear his vision. He realized that was Jetsream speaking and tried to sit up. A sharp, stinging sensation flared in his chest, and he hissed in pain, causing the people talking to stop.

The curtain that surrounded his bed swung open, revealing four people. The school nurse, Principal Powers, and the famous superhero team of the Commander and Jetstream.

“Zach! You’re awake!” Josie Stronghold rushed to the side of his bed and started fussing over him.

“You did good, son.” Steve Stronghold gave him an approving nod. He felt uncomfortable, seeing the look of pride in the man’s eyes. “Well done.”

“What you did was very brave, Mister Braun.” Principal Powers added.

“You still need a week to recover.” The nurse, an elderly woman called Nurse Spex shared. He stiffened in alarm when her eyes started glowing a strange, red color and slowly relaxed when he realized she was just checking up on him.

“You have a few fractured ribs and arm.” The nurse reported. “It’s healing well, and with proper treatment, you can be fully healed in two weeks.”

“Two weeks?”

“And that’s being generous.” Nurse Spex added and turned to Principal Powers.

“You’ll be excused for classes until you recover.” Principal Powers added. “Use the time to rest properly, Mister Braun. Your friends are very worried about you.”

“I wasn’t this popular when I was a freshman.” Steve laughed.

“You didn’t singlehandedly save the school from destruction when you were a first-year.” Josie replied.

“We’ll speak more later.” Principal Powers gave him a warm smile. “I already informed your parents. Your mother will be here within an hour.”

“Yes, Principal Powers.” He replied. His throat felt dry and gratefully accepted the glass of water handed to him by the nurse. He eagerly drank the refreshing liquid, soothing his parched throat.

“Thank you, for saving Will.” Josie patted him on the cheek before she left. He really didn’t pay attention as the nurse explained the methods he would have to take to heal back quicker. He was more worried about his mother, the woman freaked out at every little thing he did when he was first testing the limits of his power.

He wondered how he could calm her down when she finally arrived. This was one hell of a field trip.