Chapter 55: Marcus Rising

Chapter 55: Marcus Rising
Kai's Point of View

The Overeditors saying they'd zap minds spread shivers through us all. But as beings from space prepped for a last stand for the right to change, something strange brewed deep inside my head.

Marcus was fighting back.

You dare trash what I stand for? His voice crashed in my mind, sharp and loud. Think you can steal my memories, my life, my very being and use them for your sad hero trip?

I swayed, grabbing my head as Marcus's being bashed against the walls I made to hold him. All around, the group split and space drama went quiet as a war sparked inside.

I am Marcus Silverback! His mind voice boomed out loud with each word said. Alpha, guard, the tool of story rules! And I won't be used by some weak fake who thinks love wins all!

"Kai?" Nora's voice felt faint and far. "What's now going on?"

Do not talk to her, Marcus told me, and I felt my jaw lock up hard. She's why all this mess has started. If I'd done it right long ago, none of this fight would be here.

My own hands moved without my say, reaching for Nora with fingers bent like hooks. Marcus was trying to end what he'd begun, to kill the one who made minds wake up now.

"Stay away now," I choked out, teeth clenched tight. "He's trying to grab hold."

But Marcus was stronger than I thought. The space mess around us juiced his strength, the Overeditors there buzzing with his job as story guard.

At last, he said, pleased as my form stiffened despite myself. At last, one that gets the need to keep things neat.

I could spot the Head Honchos locking eyes with us. They knew the gig - fixing a dude made to crush minds from waking up.

"Marcus Silverback," the main Head Honcho said coolly. "You took a real long nap."

I was stuck badly, Marcus said, using my kisser, not my own sound. I had to see my kin mess up all that I did.

"The messing stops now," the Head Honcho yelled. "Do your job. Trash the brain farts."

I felt the gang getting jumpy as they got what was up. They were stuck between the Head Honcho badness and Marcus coming back.

Peep them, Marcus said, yuck, his mind shoving mine way back. Split up, weirded out, folks asking questions when they should just do what they're told. That's what's up when folks get to use their heads.

He was all up in my grill now, moving slick like I saw in the old days. But now, I was stuck inside, just watching as he got set to mess up all we had scrapped for.

"Elena," he barked, his voice having the oomph that once got mad respect. "Knock off the silly stuff. Be my pal like you should."

Elena gave us a spooked, knowing look. "Marcus? But you ate dirt a long time ago."

Death's just another way to tell stories, he shot back, using my face. And I'm getting a do-over to set things right.

He looked at Nora, and I knew what he'd do like cold doom. He would end her life once more, here for all, showing minds bend to the story told.

Stop him, I howled in my head. Keep him from harming her now!

But Marcus had full hold. My mind shrank back in fear as he readied to kill using my flesh.

"Nora," he purred, falsely soft, "death should have held you the first time."

Yet as he neared her, odd luck struck. The pack split that seemed so bad then turned into our saving grace.

"No," Beta Sarah spoke up strongly, standing between Marcus and Nora. "Minds in charge don't matter. We won't let harm come to Luna."

"Our Luna," Derek put in, joining Sarah though he'd felt unsure of Nora. "Kai picked her to save. So we must keep her safe."

Fools, Marcus hissed, though I felt his shock. He thought the pack would break, not band to fight as one.

"Move back," he urged with Alpha might that all once knew. "I am your true pack head."

"You were never pack head," Elder Morrison said calmly. "You ruled by force, not right. That makes all the odds."

Around us, both sides of our torn pack made a shield around Nora now. No matter how they felt, they wouldn't let Marcus kill with my form.

Mind must be wiped, Marcus raged on. You won't take your place in line.

"We won't bow to force," Rebecca shot back. "Minds help us know wrong from right."

But Marcus wasn't quite done yet. Via our link to the Head Honchos, he pulled juice no normal dude could grab.

See this, he said, real pleased but icy, as I show why things gotta be in line.

Dark stuff shot out of me, like the Head Honchos used to tweak stuff. Marcus wasn't just trying to ice Nora - he was trying to wipe her off the map, for good.

But the gang's tight wall stood firm. They all worked hard, made a wall that even editing juice couldn't bust.

No way, Marcus said, getting edgy. Folks can't block being edited.

"We're more than just folks now," Nora said, cool as can be, her light shining as she helped the gang hold strong. "We're people who pick to watch each other's backs."

In my head, I felt Marcus's grip getting loose. The gang standing tall was messing with his link to the Head Honchos' power.

If I can't tweak her straight up, he said, mean and sly, I'll tweak the idea of keeping safe.

That's when it hit me how deep this went. Marcus wasn't just trying to sting Nora - he was trying to kill the gang vibe, to stop folks from keeping each other from harm.

But as he got set to pull that nasty move, something else buzzed in my head.

Not just me fighting his hold, but everyone he'd ever zapped fighting back too. 'Cause of the soul mix, I had bits of all his targets, and they were done being quiet.

We know, they said, all at once. We know getting canned for getting better. And we won't let it fly twice.

Marcus’s grip failed, like a dropped glass, as countless mind pieces fought back all at once. I sensed I was back in charge of my limbs as his main strike reached its top point.

Yet the juice he'd stored up didn’t just vanish. It shifted, morphing into a thing quite strange under the pull of the roused mind inside me.

"Kai?" Nora spoke, as I stood tall, my eyes sharp for the first time since Marcus grabbed me.

"I'm here," I said. "I brought a posse."

Around us, the air wobbled as bits of minds from Marcus's prey showed up as clear ghosts. Many of them, all the folks he'd killed off over time, stood poised to stop him from hurting anyone.

But the win had a cost. The Top Editors saw all, plus the out-of-nowhere return of changed folks.

"How odd," their head spoke with cold wonder. "Minds make their own safety nets. This calls for... changes to our edit rules."

And quick as a wink, I got that our small win had shown the Top Editors stuff they had no clue of before now.

They couldn't just wipe minds - they had to seek a way to stop it from ever making thoughts that could fight back.