Toka-Ace #1: The Re-Emergence
Chapter 13

Andrew was nowhere in the house. I searched through the mess of the basement looking for my cell phone. After a few minutes I found it. No missed calls or text messages.

I called Andrew’s phone. It rang a few times but he didn’t pick up. I went back upstairs. I paced, full of anxiety and regret. I should have made sure that he was okay before coming upstairs.

Katherine was packing a bag, loading it with guns and computers. She then went to a room and retrieved something and then stuffed it into her bag. “Troy, we’re going to have to get going soon.”

“Not until I figure out what happened to Andrew,” I snapped.

Suddenly, my phone vibrated in my hand. The caller ID showed Andrew’s name and a picture of his face. “Andrew,” I picked up. “What on Earth happened to you?”

“This isn’t Andrew,” a deep unfamiliar voice said. “As for ‘what on Earth’ happened to this boy….well nothing yet.”

That’s where the androids went, while I was in the shadows. They used their great speed to abduct Andrew. I started to feel sick and helpless and outraged, my emotions all mixing and competing dominance. “Who is this?” I asked carefully.

“My name is Aug-Ig.” the voice said. “I have to assume that you know about me by now, seeing as you’ve encountered that traitor.”

I looked at Katherine. “So Aug-Ig, was it?” I looked at Katherine meaningfully.

Katherine’s eyes widened.

“What is it that you want?” I asked.

Katherine snatched the phone away from me and hung up.

“Hey!” I snarled. “What the hell? That guy has Andrew.”

“Aug-Ig can’t be up to anything good,” Katherine said.

“But if this guy has Andrew I need to hear him out,” I argued. “Now give me back my phone.”

“If Aug-Ig has Andrew, he’s going to use him to get to you,” Katherine countered.

“I know,” I said. “I’m not stupid, I figured that much already. But maybe…” I said replaceing that the words weren’t coming as easily as I fought back tears. “Maybe this Aug-Ig and I can work out a deal. Maybe he’ll let Andrew go in exchange for me.”

“Troy that’s not a good idea,” Katherine said as patiently as she could manage. “Aug-Ig is ruthless.”

“But I’m the one he’s after,” I said firmly.

“If you made such a deal with Aug-Ig he would not honor his side of the bargain.” Katherine said.

I swallowed hard. I clinched my fist and my throat tightened. I told myself to calm down but my heart was beating like a jackhammer. It felt as though there was lead in my stomach. “What would you have me do, just leave him? What’s your plan for getting Andrew back?”

Katherine didn’t say anything to that. She zipped her bag up. “We need to keep moving. Tovlin must not be allowed to take you.”

I stood there, staring acidly at Katherine. I was vibrating with rage, angry at the circumstances, angry at my own helplessness. My fists clinched so tightly that my fingernails dug into the skin of my palm. I was ready to explode.

Then I let it go. My hand relaxed and I sighed, tired again. All of the impotent rage deflated like the air from a balloon. “Alright,” I said between gritted teeth. “We’ll do things your way.”

Katherine gave me a pitying look. Then she picked up her bag and put the strap over her shoulder. “Let’s go.” She led the way.

In a flash of white fire, I transformed.

Before Katherine could react, I hit her in the head just hard enough to knock her out. She fell, but before she hit the ground, I caught her and plucked my phone out of her hand.

I put Katherine over my shoulder and walked outside. “Sorry about this,” I said to her.

Katherine had said that I was able to fly. It was an ability that I hadn’t been able to test inside the house but now was as good a time as any to give it a try.

It seemed that all I had to do was focus to use my powers. I focused on flying. I expected just to take to the sky like Superman. It turned out that my ability was a little different.

As I focused on flight, I felt a distinct sensation on my back. It was as if something was trying to press out from the inside. Bulges grew on my back. For a moment I had the horrible thought of those creatures from Alien bust out from inside me. Luckily no such thing happened.

Two giant crow-like wings sprouted from my back. Each wing was about six and a half feet in length. I understood that my wings would be there when I needed them and gone when I didn’t. It was really cool, Andrew would have been impressed. I have to get him back.

I held on to Katherine and her bag. She groaned.

I opened my wings and flapped. That single wing beat lifted me five feet in the air. Another flap of my wings got me higher. I flapped until I was looking at the shingled roof of Katherine’s house. Then I was looking at the shingled roofs of an entire neighborhood. I flew silently in the sky.

I realized where I had been. I was at a neighborhood near the University. It was very near the Persian restaurant where I had my date with Elyse.

I set Katherine down on the roof of the university study hall. I slapped her face gently to wake her up. She moaned and was starting to come to. Katherine would be alright and that’s all I need to know.

“Troy wait,” she called pushing herself up on one elbow. I spread my wings and took off. I wasn’t going to be stopped. What I had to do was too important.

Flying was so freeing! I would have felt enthralled were it not for Tovlin and having to worry about my Andrew.

I flew until I came to my old house. I circled overhead in ever narrowing circles. I willed for my wings to vanish and dropped vertically through a hole in the roof.

My old house was a burned skeleton of its former self. The walks were charred and the smoke smell lingered. Gloom was imprinted on the walls. The floor creaked with each step. Piles of dust and ash were on the ground. What had once been furniture was now a useless heap of springs and fluff. There was nothing that could be salvaged.

The more I looked around, the emptier I felt. It was a depressing thing, to be surrounded by my old life knowing that this could never be mine again.

I called Andrew’s phone once more. “Hello, Troy,” Aug-Ig’s voice greeted me.

“Sorry we got interrupted earlier,” I said. “Katherine won’t get in the way of this conversation.”

“Good,” Aug-Ig said appreciatively. “Now you and I can talk. You know you really are something, Troy. Three encounters with my androids and you have managed to avoid capture. That’s impressive, you know for such an unpolished fighter.”

“Yeah, well, I try.” I muttered rolling my eyes. “Is Andrew safe?”

“Yes he is.”

“I want to make a deal for his safety,” I demanded. “You let Andrew go and I will go with you willingly.”

“I like that you are so dedicated to doing business with me. Personally I’m prone to my musings.” Aug-Ig said. “Where and when would you like to do this exchange?”

“I want to know if it’s possible to do this after my mother’s funeral.” I said. “I need to be there. After that I will go with you willingly. And after I go with you, you will leave Andrew in peace. Deal?”

Aug-Ig seemed to take a moment to process my request. “It seems reasonable. It’s not him we’re interested in anyway. You understand that I will not return your friend until the day of the funeral. You will be allowed to grieve and then you will come with us.”

“I want to talk to him,” I demanded. “I want to know that he’s alright.”

There was a pause. “Very well,” Aug-Ig agreed.

“Hello?...Troy?” asked a panicked-sounding Andrew.

“Hey yeah, it’s me.” I said hurriedly. “Are you OK? Did they hurt you?”

“No, I can’t leave but I’m fine.”

“Andrew, I am so sorry, but everything is going to be alright for us, I promise.”

“What? How do you know?” Andrew asked.

“Just…” I paused. “Man, you’re the only family, I have left man. I know we’re not blood but man, you’re my brother. Make sure that your life doesn’t go to waste. Okay? Promise me that.”

“What?” Andrew asked.

“I love you, man,” I said. “You’re my brother and I love you.”

Aug-Ig cut back in. “Such love, not unlike my race. You’re doing a noble thing for your friend.”

“Yeah well, I just hope that you guys make good on your end of the bargain.” I said.

“We will.” Aug-Ig assured. “But if you fail to make good on your promise, we will kill him.”

“Yeah, I kind of figured that about you,” I said. “Coming from such a loving race, I mean.”

“As long as you understand.” Aug-Ig said.

With that he hung up.

I stood in the quiet of all that was now lost to me.

It scared me not knowing whether I could trust Aug-Ig to be there and make good on his promise to release Andrew. It also scared me to think that he really would kill Andrew if I didn’t show up.