Juniper and Annemarie were guided underground, down a passageway and into a sewer tunnel. Juniper clenched the communicator, tightly, her fingers ached severely, she couldn’t afford to let it slip. She didn’t trust Anne, not to grab it from her and destroy it.
The dirty walls inside the entrances were narrow, pressing them into damp tunnels, suffocating them with its extremities. It reeked of stench and decay, old piled-up filth, waste, and garbage. She could taste on her tongue, vile and rancid. It was like she was forced inside the city’s intestines, slowly dying of asphyxiation.
Her breathing became shallow, way too quickly. She held her face, forcing herself to breathe openly without fear, and yet the nauseating smell made it worse. Her fingers twitched, she felt a tremor in her heart, and it wouldn’t stop. Hammering to her. Every heartbeat reminded her that her sibling's lives were at stake.
The worst-scenario. And it happened at the least expected time. The thing she wanted to prevent from happening, coincided and came to fruition. The bomb could go off anytime, one wrong move, one wrong mistake.
[Whoa there, crisis girl! Deep breaths. Focus on what’s real—what you see, what you hear. He could be lying to you.]
The sewer darkened as they lowered inside, swallowed deeper into the depths. She could hear Annemarie’s pent-up frustration behind her, groaning and gritting her teeth.
“Are you fucking seriously just giving in to that creep's whims? You didn’t even try to consult me. I’m more experienced, remember? Evelyn could’ve sorted it out in a second, why the fuck did you concede, Juniper! Are you stupid!”
How could she answer? She was scared, that there is a chance, that she had no experience with familial hostages, that Caldera wasn’t pulling claims out of his ass. How could she answer Annemarie?
She didn’t. She couldn’t. Furthermore, she shut herself up before she said something ridiculously reckless.
Juniper hardly had enough energy to keep moving, the roids were going to kill her before Caldera did. Her throat was burning, tightening. Every decision she made up until now felt like a bad stack of dominoes slowly toppling down the mountain like an avalanche. If she’d have gone to the authorities on day one, If she spoke up at the hospital–the night she thrashed the thug–the day she met Annemarie–would things be different. Would they be safe? Would things be better?
[But hey, don’t get too comfy, yeah? Information lies. People lie. Keep your head on straight
Juniper gritted her teeth.
She ignored the system and pressed onward.
“Keep moving, northwest.” a voice crackled and buzzed through the communicator. “You're a few hundred meters away. From the entrance, don’t…disappoint me.”
Then— sudden movement.
The murky canal shifted, moving beside them. Sewage shifted, parting from the dirty water like sickly broth. Something large and ugly rose from the filth, green sludge sliding down its scale. It stood bipedal on its legs like a mutated hostage, with thick front legs but stubby and clawed. Its head peeked out.
Juniper forgot to breathe.
Reddish eyes lit up the darkness. The hulking creature was not only scale but grotesque and reptilian, its jawline stretched with ragged, crooked, and overly long teeth. It growled–its guttural vibrating roar chilled her bones. The stench coming off it was worse than the sewer. Like cutup rotted meat, absolute death.
The thing, looked like it killed something earlier.
She backed away against the damp wall. Her knees locking in place.
[Fascinating, did the alligator undergo cape mutation too?]
The beast brought his claws, down on her.
Juniper’s body screamed at her to move, but she was frozen, her breath caught in her throat. She summoned a shield, hoping and bracing for the best outcome.
Annemarie reacted before she could–she flipped in the air, her body slammed hard against the thing’s snout, and it staggered backward, non-stopping. Claws scraped against the edge of the canal walk, its heavy bulking state falling halfway on the solid ground, the other part still in the water.
Juniper's shield flickered, she could no longer purely rely on [Solar-powered sentinel]
She panicked. It was weak and unresponsive, she was far from the starlight to harvest, and her head spun. She became finicky, too much panicking, caught between not knowing what to and not knowing if she lay down and accept her fate…
The giant alligator stood up, and then it struck its paws at her.
Juniper threw what she possessed of solar energy, launching it forward low-velocity like a volleyball. The blast hit it in the eye of the beast, Its eye winked in response, but struck in inside, lighting up before it recoiled. It hissed, rotated, and threatened to strike out its tail but stopped suddenly, its attention shifted, and It retreated cautiously watching them, reeling backward.
Annemarie stood ready, just in case it would strike out again. Hopping on one leg, ready to bring her foot down…
The thing, it slipped away, back underwater into the canal of sewer and sludge, vanishing underneath the green-brown mucky urban swamp.
The comm box cackled, assaulting her drums… “Oh, how…unexpected, I see you’ve met Big Betty,” Caldera said purring through the comm. “Such a naughty girl! I hope she didn’t frighten you.”
Juniper’s blood boiled. She didn't want to play death games.
Annemarie, sprinted towards Juniper, she clutch the little box, grabbing it from Juniper’s hands. Who tried holding on to it, stiffly. “You have more of these things? You sick bastard!” she snapped.
Juniper could hear the grin in his voice. “Oh, no, no, no. Gutter gut isn’t ours. She’s the queen of these sewers. Unfortunately, you came without a tribute—she doesn’t like uninvited guests. We make sure to keep her well-fed~. Though, it seems, something else caught her attention. Why else would she leave a free meal to stay.”
She contorted her face.
Caldera’s voice lilted with amusement. “Oh, and do be careful of any… accidental traps. My men can be a bit, hmm, careless. They can’t help it, but I wouldn’t worry about it too much.”
Annemarie, pushed juniper, making her staggered back, leaving the little communications device lodged in her hands. “Come on then! Juniper!” she said with a scowl.
Juniper stood up, She forced herself to keep moving, the adrenalin was fading away. She’d need more soon enough if she was going to last the night. She punished her, stabbing her claws into her arm. Pain, pain was a good motivator.
They walked past the canal, there was an obscure corner, dark and unassuming. They’d be unbothered here.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
She inhaled deeply. She had to focus. If she screwed this up—if she let the panic win—her siblings were as good as dead.
“Caldera,” she said, voice on the edge of breaking but held firm. “I need to speak with my friend. Do you mind giving us a few minutes? I promise… I won’t do anything drastic.”
He sighed through the comm.
“Two minutes, Juniper, I’m a crusader, not a monster.” Caldera giggled. “I have cameras placed everywhere, dear. I can see you perfectly clearly. Try anything, and District 76 goes boom.”
Juniper swallowed. Her fingers trembled against the comm device.
She forced herself to nod. “Of course not.”
She shut the comm off and turned towards her companion–who was scowling, her arms crossed, livid.
Juniper matched her glare, her exhaustion weighing down on her. This was a problem, she needed Annemarie to be in tune with her. One mind. If they were going to be at each other’s throat, then Juniper may as well give up.
But one thing irked her. Why did Annemarie look like she was the one who was going to lose everything? It pissed her off.
She moved before she made a single critical thought, rage took over.
She grabbed Annemarie and slammed her against the wall. The impact shook the tunnel, and a piece of loose mortar crumbled onto Annemarie’s shoulders. She recoiled, stunned, but didn’t try to pry herself loose. She let herself be at Juniper’s mercy.
“All of this shit is your fault!” Juniper hissed, her breath ragged, venom spilling from her lips. Her exhaustion was a distant thing now, buried beneath the storm raging inside her. “And I want it…and I want it to end.”
Annemarie stood still, just stared back in silence, watching.
Juniper’s fists curled. “If you hadn’t pushed for this, I wouldn’t be here. I could’ve gone home. My siblings would’ve been From the start, if I didn’t fall for your fucking I wouldn’t—”
She swung at Annemarie’s face. [Iron drive]
Annemarie started laughing, but her eyes didn’t. Empty, no humor. Bitter, raw, all wrong. Her laugh was close to a breakdown.
“Do you know want to know, Juniper,” she rasped, her voice raw, “Why I hate fire?”
Juniper stared, seething, but she didn’t move, waiting for an answer.
Annemarie swallowed a lump. Her shoulders shook. “My family died in a fire. A fire started by a Cape, a hero no less, no more. My mother, my father, an aunt, my grandmother. Gone.”
The words hit hard. Juniper held onto her rage, but something else stirred in her, something uneasy.
Annemarie took a shaky breath. “I wasn’t home when it happened. I snuck out, teenager stuff. You know how it is. But my brother was present at home. He was the only one to make it out. Alive, at least. Unscathed, unfortunately not.” she turned her face, refusing to meet Juniper’s gaze. “I saw the fires raging, this was ten-years ago, I wonder if I was a little faster, or had I not left at could I have saved them. But my brother…”
Juniper’s hands loosened, just so slightly. Annemarie’s eyes flickered—like she was looking past Juniper, lost in the memory. “You know what happened next?” she asked, voice small and infantile. “He went into a coma. He fell badly on his head, trying to escape from the upper floor.”
Juniper's breath caught. She had told her about him before, when they went to the park. The anger didn’t leave her—it was still there, coiling in her chest—but now it fought with something else.
Fear. Helplessness. Regret.
Annemarie’s lips pressed into a thin line. “The person responsible, was a hero.” She spat the word as it burned. “He’s still out there. ‘Collateral damage,’ they called it. A tragic accident. My whole family is gone. Just another statistic. I tried suing, but the courts wouldn’t see it that way.”
A tremor ran through her fingers.
“I did everything I could to keep my brother alive. Before my powers triggered. Before I did things I didn’t want to talk about. Drugs. Gangs. Things I’ll never mention to you, just to afford the medical bills. Just to keep him breathing”
She looked away. Her jaw clenched. Juniper felt something splinter inside her.
Annemarie exhaled sharply. “Evelyn looked out for me. That’s why I made this personal. These pyrofuckers—” her voice cracked, raw and burning, “—are burning people alive. And I hate that. It pisses me off.”
Her eyes were wet with unshed tears. “If I can’t take out my frustration on a hero, then can’t I at least take it out on them? These useless wastes of space? I can’t even legally kill one without an execution order. People are suffering out there, the same why family suffered.”
The rage cools into something empty.
“I did everything I could to give my brother a chance. And a decade later, he still hasn’t woken up. He’s frail, sickly, I don’t know if he can make it another year?”
Her voice wavered. “You’re right about one thing, Juniper. I ruin everything. I always have.” She let out a shaky, broken giggle, her expression twisted in something that wasn’t quite amusement, wasn’t quite grief. “If I’d been home that day, maybe I’d be with them. Perhaps my brother would be, too. Heaven, maybe hell.”
She tried to hold herself together—she had to—but the weight of everything pressed down, crushing her. She couldn’t cry. Not yet. Not when she had so much left to lose.
“I’m sorry, Anne,” she choked out. “I’m so sorry.”
Annemarie turned her head away. Juniper hesitated, then reached forward—grabbing Annemarie’s hands, gripping them tight.
“Please,” she whispered. “Just… cooperate with me. I don’t want to lose my family. I know it’s much to ask, And if there’s anything in my power I can do to help your brother—anything—I’ll do it. Just… bear with me. Please”
For a moment, they stayed like that, their hands locked together. Then—
A voice cut through the silence, sing-song and smug. “And I’m sick of whatever the fuck this is, it’s too late to get a fucking room. You should have thought about it before you started meddling with my business. Move, or , Juniper.”
Juniper shoulders sunk.
She yanked Annemarie, dragging her away from the wall. Grabbing her by the arm, dragging her forward. Her heart was pounding. The tunnels became hotter and thicker as they went lower, tunnels squeezing in.
A mechanical hum buzzed in the air. “Searching for dissidents, searching for dissidents, searching…” Its voice froze. “For dissidents”
It hovered in the dark with an internal flashlight. A SCRA search drone.
If they got spotted, Caldera could react unpredictably. She dragged Annemarie into the darkness. Creeping as close to a crevice as they could. They waited as it passed, its dim light barely visible. But it didn’t stop, cold and unfeeling, watching.
The comm, crackled. “Good, stay down.”
Her pulse spiked. Annemarie, stiffened up, eyes watching the drone, silently. Caldera continued, voice eerily calm. “If that thing calls for backup, and your siblings go boom.” A brief pause. “Don’t give them a reason.”
Her whole body screamed to , to fight, to do , but she couldn’t. Not with that threat hanging over her shoulders. She shoved everything down, her fury, her nausea, anywhere it couldn’t show, for later. Annemarie was calm for once. Non-argumentative.
They went lower, moving into a crevice, and the air became dusty and moldy. The drone scanned along. Then, after a moment, it passed. She didn’t move until the hum disappeared. Caldera's voice returned, murmuring. “I told you, Juniper. Some battles were not meant to be fought, a lesson you’ll remember for years to come, trust me. You’ll remember this day, until eternity ends”
The comm clicked off. Her head pounded, and then her hands wouldn’t shake it. Annemarie grabbed them, holding them down, beckoning her to move.
They were still in the trench. As they reached the maintenance tunnel, a fight to get in started.
The entrance was half-buried in debris—wooden obstructions splintered and spilled out, forcing them to squeeze through or blow it away. Behind that, a large steel door sat in waiting, shut tight. A valve stood to its side, stiff with rust, next to an electronic pad. A keypad input blinked—an electronic gatekeeper.
Caldera hovered in his voice.
“If you want in…” Caldera buzzed all in singsong delight. “You have to play a game.”
Juniper’s teeth gritted. She was going to bite his head off. Soon
“Riddle me this, Juniper,” he purred.” I rise with your hunger, I fade with your rest. Born before man took his first breath, but there when he passed his first test. I roared when he spoke, a witness to time, summoned when the ancients weep in their rhyme. I am old, I am fury, I am deep. I am…”
[]
A pulse of frustration shot through Juniper’s skull.
Her hands clawed into her sleeves.
Her breath became shallow. Her heart was on the verge of jumping out.
[ ( ? ? ? ?) ]
She didn’t need She required control for once. Caldera’s voice slithered back in. “Is your tongue twisted, Juniper?”
A light —Annemarie, gripped her shoulder. Her nose was slightly red and stuffy, her eyes raw and thick. “We can always storm in,” she murmured.
Juniper swallowed the bile in her throat. She shook her head. It was a zero-sum game. And she wasn’t prepared to lose.“No.” She stepped forward, shoving her hand against the pad. “The answer is fire.”
Caldera laughed, a horrible jingle ensued. “Ding-a-ding, dong, dong ding!” he sang. “How did you know?”
She dug her nails into her skin. And you need to
“Perhaps I should’ve drawn this out,” he hummed, “but no matter. I keep my promises. They’re close, and I’d like to leave they get here!”
Juniper’s throat went tight.
Who?
The agencies? The heroes? The
Caldera
“Ahh, I love riddles.” His voice shifted, from teasing to His eyes darkened. “We should write poetry, Juniper, call it, Capes and Canaries, a supernatural tour to the hearts of the most extraordinary men and women.”
She spat on the ground.” But you know what I love ”
The air crackled.
“The code is 2039,” he whispered, like a prayer. “The year the world will end.”
Juniper froze. The year the Big Ayy’s would supposedly come down. Coincidence? Did she have the luxury to care?
She shuddered as she started to sing, horrid, an absolutely horrid feeling.
“Ooooh, look at it twirl! The flames, the lovely liars, HA! Do you see it? Prancing and prancing about! How it how it the world down in greedy, gluttonous bites—YUMMMM~~~~”
A hiss—the valve spun, and gas spat from the pipes. The door opened.
Go home. Comfort her brother. Take good care of him. Be nice to her sister. Hug her, give her something nice. For once. Sleep, and be grateful for what she had.
Does prose matter, to you? I'm trying to up my writing.
