Save the Cheerleader, Save the World

Save the Cheerleader, Save the World

Save the Cheerleader, Save the World

It was an interesting question. He had thought of it as often as his brother. How do you stop an exploding man? Nathan had chosen to turn a deaf ear to Peter's claims, to ignore all the signs that this did not have to happen. A catalyst for good? Point-zero-seven percent an acceptable loss? A bright and certain future had been shown to him as a firm road if he only allowed one tragedy to happen.

He had to let his brother become a murderer.

And now it was happening. All the signs, the foreshadowing, all the visions and the painting and the portents of this singular event for good had finally come together. Peter's dreams were being made reality. The soon to be exploding man stood by the plaza sculpture desperately trying to contain the powers that were not his own. Nathan stood between him and Claire. The sweet, innocent daughter he had thought he had lost all those years ago holding a gun in her hand ready to kill the uncle she had only just come to know.

"The future isn't written in stone." Nathan reached out and lowered it for her. His own flesh and blood would not kill this day. None of them would.

"I took his power Nathan!" Peter could only manage a loud whisper as his hands flashed violently. That very power was becoming too much to bear. The human body was never meant to channel such force. Peter could only hold on for so long. "I can't control it! I can't do anything . . ."

Nathan turned around with the strangest of smiles on his lips. Everyone in the plaza watched. The newly elected Congressman seemed to know something. Nathan took his first step towards his brother. "I'm not leaving you, Peter. There's another way to end this, and you know it."

Peter instantly knew what Nathan meant. If he had the will, Peter would have done it himself already. "I can't let you die."

"And I can't let everyone else." Nathan turned around just long enough to see Claire one last time. "You saved the cheerleader so we could save the world." The dreams had come true and everything had come full circle. The message from the future, as cryptic as it had been, was the right one all along.

Save the cheerleader, save the world. Nathan wondered if he really would have done it without Claire to act as his guiding conscience. Would he really have let all these people die just for the hope that he could do some good? They were irrelevant thoughts now. Nathan pushed them aside and stepped towards Peter. He knew what had to be done.

Peter's entire body now glowed. The end was so very near. The skin of his eyes darkened sickly and the ghostly image of his skeleton began to show through. He trembled all over as he managed to say the last words he needed to say: "I love you, Nathan."

Those four words made this sacrifice worthy. Nathan smiled as he returned them in kind. "I love you too." He glanced up at the night sky and then back to Peter. "You ready?" Nathan could feel the burn of the radiation already at this distance. There was nothing left to be said. He closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around Peter.

Hugging him tighter than he ever had before, Nathan lifted them off the ground and into the air. The wind whipped all around them as he pushed higher, farther, faster. Those in the plaza watched as the two brothers vanished from sight.

The detonation came not a moment later. It was a fireball that enlightened New York City for only a few seconds before dying out. The clouds had parted from the blast and left a perfect clear circle above. It was symbol of the sacrifice made. Nathan had come to the plaza to save his brother's soul. Peter would survive, or at least it was hoped he would. Nathan had a choice all along. Linderman had offered him hope for the world wrapped in a united sense of fear.

Nathan chose just for hope.