He slumped over to the floor, Erin catching him. “Dude are you okay?” he asked, as he too was back to being himself.
“I don’t know how much longer I can do this,” Adam told him.
I didn’t remember much about him, but I could’ve sworn Angela Morales’s husband was a well-built man with a full head of thick blackish-brown hair. Those features were gone, replaced with wisps for hair that were stark white, almost no muscle definition at all, and bloodshot eyes so sunken he looked dead. God have mercy on him; just what did Victory inject into his system?
With my working hand, I placed two fingers on his pulse. “This isn’t good, Erin. His heart’s about to explode out of his chest.”
“Ahh damnit, bro.”
If I had to take a guess, it was the grueling transformation from monster to man that caused this potential cardiac episode. “There’s nothing we can do for him, here. If we don’t take him with us, he’ll die.”
Erin was about as compassionate a man as I met. So, when he pulled me away for a minute, I didn’t even register that this was a question. “Bro, if we take him out of here, there’s a chance he could kill us and a lot of other people.”
Trust me, I knew that. “If we leave him here, no amount of cure that may or may not be made will save him. Leaving him here is a death sentence.”
I wasn’t a doctor, but I was astute enough to know a man in dire straits when I saw him. Erin hesitated, so I walked forward and hoisted the man up on my shoulder. “How long do we have, Adam?”
“Before I turn back into the monster? Maybe two hours. The weaker I’ve gotten, the longer it takes to recharge the poison. I might be able to fight it off, too.”
“That’s good.” I started to make a beeline towards the elevator, remembering it was blocked. “Erin,” I shouted. “Time’s not our friend. Get this shit cleared out.”
He looked at me, scared maybe? Still, he turned back into Titan and blasted clear the debris. We hopped into the elevator and took it up. Poor Rich had no idea what he was in for.
****
Rich was driving like a bat out of hell towards Emily Robbins’s practice. “You sure your girl’s going to be there?” he asked for the tenth time.
“Yes, she gave me her word.”
Erin was on the other line with Wade. “Clickbait’s going to get his boy there, too. Dawg, you owe me big after this.”
I wasn’t sure if he was talking to me or the guy who was sweating profusely and looking the sick shade of green beside me. “Stay with me, Adam. I didn’t bring you out here to die on me.”
“The trip to the surface wasn’t a picnic,” he sighed.
“Shit, he’s got the bends,” Rich said from upfront.
I had tried to protect us as best I could with my energy shield, but with the bad of shape Adam was in, it appeared it hadn’t helped him. “I blame you,” I called back to Rich. “If you hadn’t guilt tripped me into this, we wouldn’t be driving into Pacific Station with a time bomb in the backseat.”
“Don’t listen to him, Adam,” Rich said. “He’s just pissed I saved his life once before.”
Adam wasn’t listening. His eyes were closed and his mouth sort of just hung open. “Less jokes and more gas pedal, old man. I don’t think our guy’s got much time left.”
“Are you talking about dying or transforming?” Erin asked.
That’s when I noticed the tubes in his arms were starting to fill up with that lethal poison. “To be honest, I think it’s a crapshoot which gets here first.”
The black SUV began to pick up even more speed. “Hang on, fellas. The road’s about to get bumpy.”
Just when I thought Rich couldn’t get any crazier, he turned off the highway, through the guardrail, and into the rocky, sandy landscape that separated us from the city proper.
As we held on for dear life, I seriously thought about phasing out of the car and leaving them all to their fate.
I didn’t, but I thought about it.
Chapter 15 –
Monday Early Morning; Doctor Emily Robbin’s Office
“His heart is on the verge of crashing,” Robbins said loud enough for all of us to hear.
Kyle, Wade, Wilson, and Becky were all waiting for us at Emily’s practice, along with the doctor herself, when we got there. No one questioned what we’d been up to, only helping us get Adam inside so Emily could do her thing. I was standing back against the wall with Kyle, as the two of us wouldn’t be much help in a situation like this.
Kyle leaned over, close. “I’m a bit surprised you didn’t leave him to die.”
“You and me both,” I shot back.
Wilson was handing Emily a needle while Wade was monitoring the vitals on the monitor. Becky was apparently keeping a close track on how much time we had left before the monster would appear.
“You think they can do this?” he asked. “Save him and counteract whatever it is ruining his body?”
I didn’t know. However, if anyone could do it, it was any of these people in this room. I motioned out, towards the front, where Erin and Rich were on lookout in case any nosy police officers came strolling by. “Rich thought saving this guy was worth it, so it must be worth it.”
“The more I think I know you, the less I actually do,” Kyle said with a chuckle.
“You and me both,” I replied back again.
“His blood pressure is spiking again,” Wade called out to Emily and Wilson.
Emily’s face was as close to Adam’s as it could get without touching. “I don’t know, the man’s body is practically cannibalizing itself.”
I’d seen that look on Wilson’s face before. “Emily! That’s it, I know what we need to do.”
As the tension in the room began to pick up, Kyle nudged me out of the crammed room and into the hallway. “Have you thought more about what I proposed earlier?”
“You mean going undercover with Volkkenkrüger’s group?” I returned the question.
He’d been expecting some back and forth. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but if I didn’t think it was important or that you couldn’t do it, I wouldn’t have asked.”
That’s when it hit me. Kyle was becoming more and more like John with each passing day. “This reminds me a lot of your father’s pep talks, you know?” Of course, he didn’t know. “He’d get this wild idea that he was one hundred percent sure and then he’d try to sell me on it. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree.”
“It must’ve been a unique position to be in,” Kyle started. “Both his trusted sidekick and worst enemy. Some mornings I wake up and I think about that, what it had to be like for the two of you back then.”
With the loud conversations in the other room keeping the occupants from noticing us, I thought it was truly time to have this conversation with Kyle. He was owed it. “Funnily enough, I really liked your dad. Even when I first came here and was committed to being The Negative Man, when we fought, I admired John Wonderton. They don’t teach you in the villains’ handbook how to handle a situation where you like your archrival.”
He wasn’t sad or even angry. Kyle’s face was just flat with emotion. “I was mad at him for a long time. He abandoned my mom. Once I found out who he was, I began to understand him. It might sound weird, but I was a bit jealous of the relationship the two of you had.”
“Don’t be. My biggest regret was the way I handled myself back then.” John’s death was the only one I really regretted. “I’m not a good person, Kyle. Your dad, he was on the line, between good and not-so-good. But he tried and at the time, Pacific Station sucked. You’re doing things right; us relics of the past, we made the mess worse in a lot of ways.”
Wilson and Emily banged hands together in a very emotional, raw high five. “I think we just saved his life,” Emily proclaimed.
Becky looked back and saw we were gone. When she found us, she gave Kyle a small smile and stayed put. “She’s the one who convinced me time and time again that the association with you is bot
h deadly and beneficial. There was a time when we expected you to betray us.”
“There was a time where I would have.”
I was serious, but it was good to see he could take the situation lightly. “I get the feeling we’re closing in on the end of an era. If we can eliminate Volkkenkrüger and talk the president out of whatever he’s scheming, I think the world can turn the page on all of this.”
“You’re cautiously optimistic that I’ll turn in my supervillain card when this is over, aren’t you?”
“Eight years ago, I saw a man who was at the end of his line. You were ready to die that day, the day you confronted Victory. You lived.” He stated the obvious. “Today I see a man that’s ready to start anew. Help me, Jericho. You help me take down Volkkenkrüger and I’ll make sure you get the fresh start you very much wanted.”
Kyle was appealing to my more conservative side. He wasn’t wrong; I’d made amends in that pathetic shack I stayed in for the death of Heather. I didn’t kill her, Victory did. But, it was me who turned her into what she was; into the super Victory found a use for. That sin would stay with me until my final days. Maybe it was time for a fresh start.
Or maybe it was time to reintroduce the world to the true power I contained.
Only time would tell.
“If I decide to do this and join on with Volkkenkrüger, what are you going to be doing?” I asked.
“Tomorrow, President Whisnant will officially announce his presence in Pacific Station, under my invite. He’ll be here to take a tour of my latest venture, a clean running nuclear fusion substation that will hopefully become the new standard for our country’s energy needs,” he explained.
I wasn’t sure if he knew Whisnant was already here, but that was neither here nor there. “When did you get into the energy business?”
His index finger poked me in the chest. “Your powers always intrigued me, Jericho. With help from Phil and Wilson, I decided to see if I could recreate the reaction your body produces and do it on a larger scale.”
The schematics I’d given Wilson—Whisnant knew about Kyle’s project! I almost slipped and told him about it, but regrouped. “That’s all fine and well, but he won’t know that you know about Victory’s prototype.”
“Those are problems for me to figure out. Yours is to worry about Volkkenkrüger.”
Even if he didn’t know, I’d be keeping tabs on all of this. It was time to play ball, so I could stay in the loop. “I’ll do it. I’ll handle Volkkenkrüger and get to the bottom of what he’s up to.”
“Good.” We heard a groan coming from Adam Morales. “It looks like you’re a hero today, Jericho.”
We were being waved to come into the room. “I don’t know about that.”
****
Adam was being moved to Heights General under the orders of Doctor Robbins. She had a friend there in the Trauma Ward who would accept Morales and let me rest comfortably for a few days. Kyle, ever the hero, was in a hurry to get back to Wonder-Tech so he could phone Adam’s wife and let her know the good news. As the group dispersed to go their separate ways, Emily and I walked alone down the streets toward her condo.
“I never would’ve thought to use the poison against itself,” she was telling me.
“How so?”
We stopped and her face lit up. I could easily tell she loved what she did. “Wilson thought of it right away, the idea to have the poison cannibalize itself. By introducing a masking agent that reacted with blood, the poison had no choice but to use itself as fuel to grow. Give that man two more shots of the masking agent Wilson whipped up and a few days off his feet, he’ll be ready to go home.”
Another near-disaster stopped. “The last thing the world needs is a psychotic super on the loose with no control of his powers.”
The two of us began walking again as the sun started to peek above the cityscape. “Did you tell Kyle about your meeting?”
“I didn’t,” I answered. Emily didn’t say anything, but did give me a look. “As a friend reminded me a few hours ago, Kyle means well but he’s too black and white. Sometimes you need people who aren’t afraid of the areas of gray.”
“Just as long as those gray areas don’t lead back into the black, I’m okay with that.”
I liked that she trusted me. She hadn’t known me that long, but she was willing to give me the benefit of the doubt. “Spoken like a true hero,” I said with a smile.
“This is me.” We stopped again, this time in front of a brick building. There appeared to be six units to the complex. Hell, there was a doorman standing out front, too. “As always, it’s been an adventure.”
“If you think this is anything, just wait until the real fireworks begin,” I said.
She leaned up and kissed me on the cheek. “I’ll be ready for the show, I promise.”
I gave her hand a squeeze and I waited until she was safely inside before moving on. Damn, I was getting soft at my age.
Chapter 16 –
Monday Evening; Skyline Tower
It was just me and Ellison, no sign of Providence or Destiny. “I’m in.”
My father looked delighted at my answer. It was weird what effect that had on me, it was like I was a teenager again. “Jericho, I can’t tell you how happy that makes me.”
“I’m still confused on how you’re alive, but you’re my dad. It just took me some time to put the pieces together.” It wasn’t really a lie, in a way.
He stepped in closer and we hugged. “I missed you. I hated what I did, but if we were to succeed, I needed you to become the man you have, Jericho.”
I tried not to think about how messed up his logic was. Hell, who was I kidding? We were all messed up. “Let’s not talk about that anymore, dad. You’re here and I’m here. Let’s focus on that.”
Ellison pulled away. “You’re right, of course. God, you were always right. I can’t tell you how difficult it could be raising a son that was infinitely smarter than you.”
“You’re just saying that.”
“It’s true, Jericho. If anyone has ever told you you’re not the smartest person in a room, they’re lying to you.” He began walking towards the stairwell. “I hope some stairs don’t bother you. I feel keeping an active lifestyle is imperative for staying on top of things.”
“They don’t,” I assured him.
We took the first flight down and it wrapped around to a second flight. At the bottom, we turned a corner and walked down a narrow, dark hallway. “We’re almost there,” Ellison called out.
As we went further along, the energy in my body began reacting to an external source of power. It became very clear what that was when Ellison opened up the large, black door at the end of the corridor. Inside was an electron generator. It was the very piece of equipment that created me.
“How on Earth…” I started as my voice trailed away.
“Ted Hightower and Miranda Ryan were so close. Do you know why your biological parents were tasked with designing this generator, anyway?” he asked.
There was so much I didn’t know about them. When I was younger, I wanted answers so bad, but Ellison claimed to not know them. “How much about my parents did you know?”
“It wasn’t until after I faked my death did I discover anything about them. There’s not much to tell you about your mother’s personality that you already don’t know. She was a smart, sweet lady who would’ve kept you had things been different.”
“But you discovered something about their professional lives?”
He wanted me to walk into the generator’s room. For some reason, I felt like I couldn’t, like this piece of machinery was a mythical monster guarding secrets. I pushed that out of my mind. That was crazy talk. I followed him in.
On the far wall was a line-up of computers; four in total that were connected to the generator. “The government claimed to want a clean energy source, but what they really wanted was a way to start and end wars at the push of a button.”
Clean powe
r—that was the same thing Kyle told me about his substation project. “And this could do that?”
“You’re walking, talking proof of its power.”
“I don’t follow.”
He flipped on the breaker and a low hum began rattling all around the room. “The amount of energy you carry in you, enhanced by Leonard Cooper’s insane Stormfall theory, is just a drop in the bucket of what a full-powered electron generator can produce. In the wrong hands with the wrong target, a charged blast from this could level entire cities, possibly even small countries in minutes.”
Needless to say, that information was a bit jarring. “So, my biological parents were building a weapon for the government?”
“I don’t think they knew, honestly.” The way he said that, he wasn’t trying to sugarcoat my feelings towards the people I barely knew. He was telling me what he really thought. “Our government isn’t one that’s built on trust, as you know firsthand. Angela Morales; if she’d been given the chance, I may have had a different tune, but Whisnant is just as bad as the rest.”
“No one’s saying Victory was a good guy, but Whisnant is surprisingly straight with people.”
“You’ve talked with him,” Ellison deduced.
I was a bit surprised he didn’t know directly, but this just proved that he was still human. “I’m guessing he’d been tailing me, waiting for a chance. He cornered me in a little dive bar, off the beaten path.”
Ellison raised an eyebrow. “I must say, I’m bewildered with how easily you’re sharing very sensitive information with me.”
He needed to believe I was all in. I also wanted to see his reaction to what Whisnant was doing. “He’s planning on using a nuclear substation, along with one of Victory’s old prototypes, to ionize the air. If successful, the gene that causes the super mutation will be eradicated.”
The Negative Man: Twilight Days (Pacific Station Vigilante Book 4) Page 13
