Struggling for breath, Lightbringer stumbled back slightly. She hadn’t planned for a counterattack, especially not one designed for her specific powers. Yates took the opportunity while they had it and leapt forward, landing a punch on the side of her face, knocking her to the floor.
This was new to Lightbringer, no one had ever got close enough to make contact before. Her eyes swam in and out of focus as she tried to fight back.
“Stay down,” Yates ordered. Lightbringer slowly nodded her head. She wasn’t going to be fighting-fit anytime soon. Yates stepped back, making sure that Lightbringer wouldn’t follow them. They jogged back along the corridor, trying to catch up with Liliana.
*
Moonlight shone through the top windows in a stark contrast to the thick concrete walls they were positioned in. The cells she walked past were dark, too dark for her to see if they were occupied or not. The corridor was never ending, cell upon cell upon cell, locked away where no one could see them.
She found it hard to remind herself that most people locked away in a prison were actually guilty of various crimes. The system should work, but it didn’t right now. Yet another thing that would need to change.
Focus. She needed to focus. She needed to find Max, they were so close to finishing this mission. One corner left and she should be in the right place to find Max.
“The doors are all open for you, Liliana,” Johnathon said, almost making her jump.
“Any word from Yates yet?” she asked.
“Nothing yet. They aren’t showing up on the cameras either. Something is definitely up with my feed,” Johnathon replied. “I can’t see anything ahead of you, but we can’t really trust that right now. Be careful.”
“You too,” she replied, unsure of what else to say.
Liliana walked through one set of open doors, around the corner to the left, and through another set of doors. She expected a lot of security, but even this seemed overkill to her. The way ahead was empty, no Supers, no guards. Nothing standing between her and Max but a cell door.
That was the wrong thing to think. A figure stepped out ahead of her, blocking her path to Max. There wasn’t much light in the corridor, but enough to show her who she was up against.
“I knew you were going to do something like this,” Sentinel said, rolling his shoulders, clearly ready for a fight.
“Then why did you bother coming?” Liliana tried to inject a bit of ego into her taunt, not that she really expected it to work against Sentinel. His ego was big enough for the both of them. In response, Sentinel smirked and shifted his position into a fighting stance. This was what Liliana had wanted to avoid at any cost, but he stood in her way.
Liliana’s viewscreen switched to fight mode and she launched into an attack. While the suit did not add to her speed to match Sentinel, it boosted the strength of her attack. She used the boosters to throw the first punch, aimed at the centre of Sentinel’s stomach, intended to wind him.
She made Sentinel take a step back. Better than she expected, but not as much of a reaction as she hoped.
“You’re packing quite the punch there. Max’s tech?” Sentinel asked, turning to grab her as she darted past. She barely slipped through his fingers.
“Perhaps,” she replied, ducking under Sentinel’s swinging arm, a fumbled attempt to knock her down. Sentinel next moved to grab her with both arms, putting a bit of speed behind the move. Liliana dropped to a knee, letting him fly over her. She helped by using the boosters in her legs to force Sentinel to go flying over her and tumbling to the floor.
Not wanting to give Sentinel a moment to recover his position, Liliana immediately turned and threw another punch. This one aimed at his head as he lay spread across the floor. He was too quick this time, her fist hit the floor where his head once was.
He stepped back to put some space between the two of them, wiping a drop of blood from the corner of his mouth. Not used to bleeding for a human, he had a calculating look on his face, staring at the suit Liliana was wearing as if he were trying to find a way to defeat it. He clearly didn’t expect the fight to last more than a single hit on his part. While Liliana had yet to land a single punch, she was feeling exhilarated by the fight. The adrenaline was rushing through her body, egging her on in the fight.
Now was the time, she decided, to see what toys she had to play with in the suit. The viewscreen, intuitive as always, brought up a list of options. The light bomb. Nope, that was for Glassier. Fire suppression system. Nope, that was for Lightbringer. Where were the Sentinel specific options?
Aha! There was a good option. Sentinel couldn’t see any better than a regular human in the dark. Liliana activated the smoke screen, a remarkable piece of tech designed to cover the immediate area in thick, black smoke too dense to see even your hand right in front of you. Liliana had the advantage now, her suit allowed her to see through the smoke where no one else could.
“Ah, nice choice!” Johnathon said through the comms. He was watching their fight through the security cameras. Liliana wanted to ask about Yates, but she couldn’t shift her attention away from the fight right now.
“Smart move. But it won’t work,” Sentinel called through the smoke, looking around, trying to find her. He was blind. He was trying to get her to respond and give away her position. But Yates had trained her better than that. Liliana moved as quietly as she could to get as close to Sentinel as she could before trying to knock him out.
She flicked through her next possible moves. She could try hitting him again but that didn’t have much of an effect the last time. She didn’t think tying him up would work. He was too strong to stay in cuffs, even the special ones Yates had built into the suit. A moment later, she had the perfect option, she smiled to herself as she decided. He wouldn’t see this coming. Liliana snuck behind Sentinel, leaving him to wave his arms around, trying to find her.
“Where have you gone?” Sentinel called through the smoke, unaware that she was right behind him. She raised her arm, prepping the needle for her next move. Aimed for the back of his neck, which was foolishly exposed, she fired. “What the?” Sentinel grabbed for the back of his neck, pulling out the small dart, but not before it let loose the most powerful sedative Yates had found. They had hoped it would be enough to take Sentinel down, if needed, but they did not know how long it would last. Sentinel sank to his knees, looking at the dart in his hands.
“Impossible,” he said as he fell flat on his face, out cold. Just in time as well; the smoke screen was fading quickly. Liliana couldn’t help but let out a sharp laugh, celebrating her success. She didn’t have long, though, she needed to get Max and get out before the drug made its way through Sentinel’s system.
“Which one is he in?” Liliana asked Johnathon. A door three ahead of where she stood clicked in response. Her heart skipped a beat. This was it. She walked in front of the open door as she saw a figure move inside.
“What the?” Max said, clambering to his feet in surprise.
“Long time no see,” Liliana said, adding that extra little bit of shock to Max’s reaction. She opened her helmet to show Max who she was.
“What on earth are you doing here?” Max said, rushing forward to embrace Liliana.
“Rescuing you, of course,” Liliana replied simply. All she wanted was to sink into the hug, to wrap her arms around Max and never let go. But she was very much aware of where they were stood. They still had to escape together.
“I thought— The news— I didn’t think you accepted my letter,” Max stumbled through his words, not believing that she stood right in front of him.
“I’m an excellent actress, aren’t I?” Liliana replied. “We need to get moving. Sentinel is in the corridor, unconscious for now.”
“What!” Max exclaimed. “How did you do that?”
“Long story, come on!” Liliana pulled Max out of the cell and through the corridor.
“Where is he?” Max asked, looking around them.
“That wore off
fast,” Liliana said. Sentinel was up and about already, and he was nowhere to be seen. Liliana almost fired off another sedative as a figure came racing around the corner ahead of them.
“Hurry! We don’t have long left,” Yates shouted at them, turning to run back the way they came. Liliana and Max ran after them. Could they make it out without another fight?
Chapter 30
“Maxie,” a voice called behind them. They turned to see Sentinel step out of a cell behind them, but he wasn’t alone. The three of them skidded to a halt to turn and face Sentinel, who was holding Rose by the throat in front of him.
“Rose!” Liliana couldn’t help but shout. “You let her go,” she ordered Sentinel, who just laughed in response.
“You played dirty first, Ana,” Sentinel replied.
“Don’t call me that,” Liliana replied. Something about what he said was niggling at the back of her mind. She locked eyes with Rose. She was scared but she was staring Liliana down. She seemed to be trying to tell her something while saying nothing. A moment later, it all clicked together.
“Timmy,” Liliana said simply. His angry response all but confirmed her suspicion.
“What?” Max asked, looking between them. “You have got to be joking me.” He looked both relieved and annoyed to have the mystery of Sentinel’s secret identity made clear.
“Alright. Fair enough, that was a slipup, I’ll admit it,” Tim replied, clearly annoyed at himself. “Anyway, it’s not like any of you are going to make it out of here to tell anyone.” He tightened his grip on Rose’s throat and she pulled at his hand in response.
“Let her go!” the three of them shouted at him, each preparing to fight.
“Or what?” Sentinel taunted them, lifting Rose off the floor to show off his strength.
“Coming through,” a voice called behind them. Liliana and Max stepped apart just at the right time for Johnathon to come running through. He didn’t stop. He tucked his head in and aimed straight for Tim’s torso. Tim thought nothing of the attack. But then again, he didn’t know about Johnathon’s power. The shock that hit Tim’s face as Johnathon knocked him flying was beautiful to behold. He quickly let go of Rose, who dropped to the floor. Tim continued to go flying backwards, hard enough to hit his head on the doorframe at the end of the corridor and collapse to the floor.
“Did you just knock him out with one hit?” Liliana asked Johnathon, astonished that it worked that well. She looked over at Tim, noting the blood running down the side of his head. Not much, but enough to show Johnathon’s strength.
“Apparently,” Johnathon replied, helping Rose up from the floor. “Are you okay?” Johnathon lowered his helmet, showing his face to the woman who believed him dead.
“Johnny? How on earth are you alive?” Rose asked.
“Long story,” Liliana and Yates replied at the same time.
“Superpowers can come in useful, apparently,” Johnathon replied with a shrug.
“I wouldn’t believe you have powers if you hadn’t just sent Sentinel flying with a headbutt right now,” Rose replied.
“There will be time for chatting later. We need to move,” Yates ordered the group. Max was quiet as they ran back through the prison towards the garage, to their freedom. As they passed the corridor where Liliana and Yates had split up, she noticed some fire damage to the walls. She needed to ask Yates what happened there once they were out of the prison.
Liliana could hear struggling in the security office; the guards had woken up. “Faster!” she shouted at the group. They needed to pick up the pace before the guards on the outside got word of what had happened. Together they ran down the stairwell and squished themselves into the van. Yates and Rose sat up front with the camouflage screen still active, hiding the three in the back.
Yates pulled the van out of the underground car park and back down the long drive out of the prison.
“What do we do now?” Max asked. He did not know what they were planning, simply putting his life into their hands.
“Shh,” Liliana told him to be quiet. They needed to sneak past security still. She was practically sitting on Max’s lap in the back of the van, not that she truly minded, of course. It felt good to be this close to him again.
“Hold on,” Johnathon said, squatting next to them, computer open on his knees. “Here’s something I made earlier.” He smiled as he activated a piece of software embedded in the prison security system. It opened both the gates giving Yates the space to speed up and race through the open gates.
“Nicely done.” Liliana praised Johnathon’s work as she opened the partition between the group, the road open before them. “Do you think we can make it back to base before Sentinel wakes up?”
“It doesn’t matter. He’s got bigger problems right now,” Yates replied, smirking in the driver’s seat.
“What do you mean?” Max asked.
“His little outburst back there was being streamed to the entire world,” Yates laughed. Neither Johnathon nor Liliana knew they had planned this.
“Seriously?” Liliana asked, joining in the celebration. “So, the whole world knows who he is?”
That would distract him from following them. He would have no reason to follow them if his secret was out.
“Not only that, but they saw him hold a normal human as a hostage,” Rose croaked, rubbing her neck where Tim had held her. “That’s not going to look good for him.”
“Are you actually trying to tell me you broke me out of prison, and took down Sentinel, all in one morning?” Max asked, finding the truth hard to believe.
“Well, it was a team effort that took a lot of planning,” Liliana replied. “It’s not as simple as that. Plus, we wouldn’t have needed to do all of this if you had listened to Yates in the first place.”
Max had the grace to look embarrassed by Liliana’s words. His cheeks flushed as he admitted his mistakes.
“So, what now?” Max asked, trying to draw the attention away from his slipup.
“Now we go back to base and see what the world makes of the new footage we have shown them,” Liliana replied as they made their way into the city. “Maybe now people will actually start to think for themselves.”
“They might even start to question where these powers came from in the first place,” Max added, glancing over at Johnathon, conflicted.
The footage from the prison was already streaming on screens on every street. The sun was rising behind them, dawning on a brand-new realisation for the city. That maybe, just maybe, they shouldn’t put all their trust into a fallible superhero.
The end
About the Author
J.L. Meyrick can be found in the South West of England with her husband and 2-year-old noise monster.
If she’s not writing she is either chasing a toddler around or with her nose in a book.
She also writes Young Adult Fantasy under the pen name Jenna Louise Barrett.
You can connect with me on:
https://www.jlbarrettwriter.wixsite.com
https://twitter.com/JLMeyrickAuthor
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Also by J.L. Meyrick
Jenna has two series on the go currently, the Twisted duology and The Revelation Academy trilogy.
The Revelation Academy
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Revelation-Academy-Jenna-Louise-Barrett-ebook/dp/B08XPWV4LT/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+revelation+academy&qid=1629115812&sr=8-1
The Apocalypse is coming.
What is Olivia going to do when faced with the reality of the end of the world? Transported into a world of warfare and teenage drama. New friends mix with enemies as Olivia figures out her place in a growing, and fighting, world.
The Revelation Academy 2
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09CQ3GV9F/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=the+revelation+academy&qid=1629115882&sr=8-2
The as-yet unnamed sequel to The Revelation Acade
my, coming April 2022.
Twisted 2
The as-yet unnamed sequel to Twisted, coming late 2022.
Twisted Page 18
