Three down, one to go.
I stepped out of the garage and walked on the stone path to the back door to the house, my conscious feeling much better and lighter. There was still one more person I needed to confront before I felt totally okay, and I doubted it was going to be as easy as everybody else.
Before I could start looking for Selena though, Doug stuck his head out the back door. “Kane! You need to get inside. It’s London. Athena was right, they need us.”
13
A DECISION
“What’s going on?” I said as I followed Doug into the living room. Drew was laying himself down on the couch, not wanting to miss whatever it was Doug was about to say.
“I just got a message from Ellie, one of the members of Leopold’s squad,” Doug said as he moved his laptop over from in front of the couch. He sat down on the recliner, pulling everything up on his computer screen.
The backdoor opened, and Selena walked in through the kitchen. “Something happen?” she asked.
Doug nodded. “Yeah, it turns out Athena was right about something at least. Our friends in Europe are asking for our help.”
Selena walked across to stand by Drew across from me. “What are they saying?”
“The Legion of Richter is really starting to expand their reach out there. The government has a lot of their people out on different sorts of missions—including Leopold—so their numbers aren’t as strong as they need to be in order to repel the attack. They’ve set up strict curfews, soldiers out in the street, all their political leaders running the country from underground bunkers, etc. They’ve got things on total lockdown.”
“So what do they need us to do?” I asked.
“They want us to come over there and help repel the attack. If The Legion were to have control over America and Europe, it’d be pretty much game over. They’d be able to spread like wildfire from there, and there’s not much we’d be able to do to stop them.” Doug looked between Selena and I as we processed the information.
“So what you’re saying is that, Athena or no Athena, we’d be pretty stupid not to go over there and help them?” Selena asked.
Doug nodded his head. “Yeah, it really sounds like they need our help. Besides, they didn’t let me forget that they came over here and helped us when Raven was attacking.”
I chuckled quietly and shook my head. “Is there anyone out there that we don’t owe?”
Doug laughed. “At this rate, there’s not going to be many people left.”
“So what’s our next step?” Drew asked, bringing us back on topic
Doug cleared his throat. “Right now they’re waiting on a response from me. Should I tell them we’re coming?”
I looked over to Selena. “You think we can do this?” I asked. Despite the fact she was annoyed with me—and for good reason—I knew I couldn’t do any of this without her help. I didn’t want to do it without her.
Selena nodded her head. “I think we can. We have to.” She hesitated for a moment. “Especially if it means it’ll give us a chance to find out where Samantha is,” she said, a little quieter than usual.
I nodded my head, agreeing with her, happy that she was admitting that we needed to follow along with Athena. “Okay then, let them know we’re on our way—all of us.”
“Um, well if we’re all going, we should wait a bit.” Drew said. He lifted up a hand and pointed at himself. “Still got a concussion.”
I turned to Doug. “Can they wait another twenty-four hours or so?”
“I’ll ask, but it shouldn’t be a problem,” Doug said, already typing our response message.
“Okay then,” I said, taking a deep breath. “It seems tomorrow we’re heading to London.”
14
THE ARRIVAL
A chill breeze rushed across my skin as I walked down the streets of London, which was now a ghost town. I thought it was empty last time I was here just a few weeks ago, but it was nothing compared to the way it was now. Nobody walked down the street, and only a few cars would drive by here and there, their drivers’ eyes darting up at the sky, searching for any sign of Supers.
“How much farther? Why couldn’t you just fly us there?” Drew asked.
“We don’t want to cause a panic. If anybody saw a bunch of Supers flying around, people would lose their minds,” I said. Up ahead, I saw the tall white building with the many white steps leading up to the entrance. “It’s that white building up there,” I said.
Everybody picked up their pace a little bit, excited to finally be at our destination. It was hard for us all to get a good sleep the night before. Both because of the whistling of the wood through the slats in the boards I used to fix the walls, and because we were all excited and nervous about going to London. We had no idea what things were going to be like here, and so far they didn’t look good. At least all the buildings were still standing, people hadn’t abandoned the city, and Supers weren’t roaming free, taking and destroying whatever they wanted.
But still, that isn’t to say it wasn’t eerie and didn’t leave me with a bad feeling.
We walked up the steps to the building, and walked inside. The room was filled with armed guards, whose eyes turned to us as we walked in. A woman in a suit with her hair pulled back walked up to us from behind a desk in the middle of the room. “Can I help you?” she asked.
“Uh,” Doug said, looking back at us, not sure what to say. I thought we were expected? “Yeah, we’re here to see Ellie? We’re from America.”
The woman had a moment of realization. “Oh, yes! You’re Tempest!”
Doug’s cheeks flushed red with embarrassment and he shook his head. “No—I’m not…uh…”
I stepped in, realizing Doug. “Sorry to disappoint, but I’m Tempest.” I held my hand out. “Kane Andrews.”
She shook my hand. “I’m Amelia. If you’ll follow me Mr. Andrews, I’ll take you to Ms. Ellie.”
Amelia lead us down to a door in the back of the room. We walked through it, and were greeted by a long and tall hallway, with many people moving around going from office to office. Their shoes squeaked across the floor, echoing around the hall. Nobody talked as they had their eyes either down at papers in their hands, or their eyes straight ahead, on a mission.
“Right this way,” Amelia said, breaking me from my train of thought. I looked to my left and saw everybody standing in front of an elevator, staring at me.
“Right, sorry,” I said, moving over to the rest of the group quickly.
“Everybody seems to really have a fire up their ass,” Drew leaned over and whispered to me.
I nodded my head as my eyes scanned the hallway. The elevator door dinged, and we all piled in. Amelia hit the button for the fifth floor, and we began to shoot up the building.
The elevator doors behind us slid open. We all turned around and walked into a much smaller hallway. This one was carpeted and had a lot fewer people running about in it.
Amelia led us down a bit before reaching a set of double doors. She opened them and gestured for us to step inside. The room was a large conference room with a big table and multiple chairs set up. Each spot at the table had a paper tablet and bottle of water. A large TV hung on the wall behind the head of the table, and had a picture of the seal of the British Government on as its screensaver.
“If you’ll just wait here a moment, I’ll let Ellie know you’ve arrived,” Amelia said.
“Thank you,” I told her as she shut the door behind her and left us alone in the room. We all chose a seat and sat down. Selena and I sat across from each other next to the head of the table, Drew next to her, Doug next to me, and Eddie next to him.
“Think we can open these?” Eddie asked, holding up a water bottle.
I looked down at all the unopened bottles that sat on the table. “It looks like they’ve got plenty, so I don’t see why not.”
We all opened our bottles and started drinking.
“Everybody looked like they were five minutes
late to a meeting with the principal,” Doug said.
“Well, their country is under attack,” I said as I twisted the lid back onto my bottle.
The door on the other side of the room opened, and in walked Ellie, with the grim figures of Mr. Auder and Ms. Ava behind her. The two of them were Leopold’s—well, now Ellie’s—direct commanding officers. They dressed in boring gray suits, and reeked of cheap perfume and cologne.
“Hey guys!” Ellie said excited as she walked over to us.
“It’s good to see you again,” I said. Ellie and I only spent a little time together, as usual when we saw each other it was when we were either under attack or I was distracted by the search for Samantha. But what time we did spend, I saw her as a kind, bubbly person, and an excellent Super as well.
Selena and Ellie gave each other a hug, excited to see each other once again. They spent the most time together, and had become good friends.
“If we all will have our seats, we’ll get started,” Ms. Ava said, her lips pursed. Mr. Auder looked equally perturbed.
Selena sat down and Ellie sat down at the head of the table. Mr. Auder and Ms. Ava stood at the other end of the conference room, both hands behind their backs.
“We thank you for trusting us enough to ask for our help,” I began. “We’ll help you in any way we can.”
Ms. Ava smirked. “Really? I’m surprised, given the last time we asked for you to stay in London and help us, you said we were being inappropriate and refused.”
I felt trapped, unsure what to say. She wasn’t wrong, but she didn’t have to attack me in such a passive aggressive way like that. “Circumstances change, Ms. Ava,” I said, staring at her as coldly as possible, letting her know I didn’t appreciate the way she was approaching things. “We’re grateful for how you came to our aide when Raven and Atlas were attacking us, and are eager to return the favor.”
From the corner of my eye, I could see Selena smirk at me. She appreciated the smart-ass undertones in my voice.
“I believe my colleague is trying to say thank you, in her own way,” Mr. Auder said in a boring voice. “How are things in the States?” he asked with a forced smile.
“They’re pretty shitty,” Drew said.
Mr. Auder turned to look at him, a curious look in his eyes. “I don’t think we’ve been introduced,” he said.
“My name’s Drew,” he said.
Mr. Auder tilted his head. “A pleasure. And what about your friend Samantha?”
“Yeah,” Ellie said, placing a hand on my shoulder, causing me to turn and look at her. “Any news?”
I cleared my throat, and stole a glance at Selena. We hadn’t discussed whether or not to tell them about Athena. Selena raised her eyebrow, and I decided to leave that part out, at least in front of Mr. Auder and Ms. Ava. “Not really, no.” I gave her a forced smile. “Thanks, though. We’re confident we’ll have some good news soon.”
Ellie patted me on the shoulder. “Good, I’m glad.”
I gave her a nod in thanks, and turned back to the two living statutes at the other end of the table. “So, what’s the situation in London? What do you need our help with?”
“A lieutenant of Atlas from The Legion of Richter named Jigsaw has come over from the States. He and his goons have been picking away at our forces, testing them,” Mr. Auder said.
“We believe they’re trying to suss out the best weakness they can exploit,” Ms. Ava said.
“So they haven’t launched any full-scale attacks on you?” Selena asked.
“No, not yet. It’s only a matter of time, however,” Mr. Auder said.
“So where do we come in?” I asked.
Ms. Ava cleared her throat, her describing how we can help an obvious displeasure for her. “We need your help to help nip this whole thing in the bud. Many of our forces are out on very important missions for us, including Leopold Renner, Thomas Frank, and Nathan Valorie, all three of which were part of the team sent to help you in Texas.”
“Yes, I’m aware of who they are. You can’t just call them back?”
Mr. Auder and Ms. Ava looked at each other. “No, we cannot,” Mr. Auder said.
“Your team will help Ellie and Avery to dispel this small regime from our boarders,” Ms. Ava said.
“How many people does this Jigsaw guy have with him?” Doug asked, speaking up for the first time. “My name’s Doug,” he said before Ms. Ava could opened her mouth to ask.
“It’s a pleasure, Doug,” Ms. Ava said, although the look on her face made it seem like it was anything but. “Our sources indicate he has anywhere between eighteen and twenty-four Supers accompanying him.”
I scoffed. “Well, that sounds like a walk in the park,” I said with a sarcastic tone.
“I need your confirmation, Mr. Andrews,” Ms. Ava said. “Can you or can you not help us?”
I looked at Selena and the rest of the group. They all seemed to be game. “Any objections?” I asked them. They all shook their heads. “Alright then, I guess it seems like we’ll be helping you.”
II
PUZZLE PIECES
15
THE LONELY SUPER
Sometime during the 21st century…
The future looked far worse than Athena had imagined. She walked among the destroyed city, both in awe of the technological and architectural advancements, while at the same time in shock over the fact that it all laid in ruins. She stepped across broken glass and over twisted metal beams. The shoes she wore were a pair of blue and white ones that had a check mark on them. She’d found them amongst the rubble, in awe of how comfortable they were.
In the time since she’d discovered her powers, she’d traveled to the future many times. But never this far. Something terrible had obviously happened, and Athena felt a sadness grow within her. She’d seen many amazing things, gone to many beautiful places, but this was not one of them. Death and destruction surrounded her for as far as the eye could see.
What type of place had the beautiful Earth she called home turned to? She had the immense blessing to see it from many different places, and many different times. But this was the first place and time that she wished that she never saw. She knew it was going to color everything she saw, everyplace she went, from there on out. She’d never again be able to look at a beautiful landscape without thinking that all the death and destruction that now surrounded her would be what it would all come to. She wouldn’t be able to look at someone’s beautiful child without thinking that his or her descendants would one day inherit this Earth, an Earth marred by decay and destruction. An Earth that didn’t live up to the beauty and standards that she’d experienced for herself firsthand.
As she looked out upon this desolate future, something flew down from the sky fast and hard, landing nearby. Athena took a step backwards, her mind ready to go back to her time just in case danger was approaching. What was that? She wondered. She looked up at a nearby building that she imagined once towered tall into the sky, was now nothing more than a pile of rubble. Something must’ve fallen from the top of the pile, which was still a long ways up.
“Who are you?” a voice said from behind her.
Athena practically jumped from her skin. She spun around, almost tripping on a piece of rebar that sat next to her foot. In front of her stood a young looking man, probably almost twenty. He stood before her, his clothes tattered and eyes glowing. She opened her mouth to speak but the words wouldn’t come.
“Are you real?” the man asked, taking a step forward.
“Y-yes,” she answered, moving back. “I’ve never seen another one like me before.”
The man cocked his head. “Like you?”
Athena concentrated on her eyes, and they began to glow.
The young man’s eyes grew wide, and Athena was shocked when she saw tears actually coming from them. “You’re like me?” he said. “You’re like me!” he cried out.
Athena wasn’t sure what to do. “Yes, it seems that way.” She looked aro
und her at the destroyed buildings that lay as far as the eye could see. “What happened here?”
The young man wiped his face. “I destroyed everything,” he said. “I killed everyone. It got out of hand, I couldn’t stop myself. They all wanted me to die but they couldn’t stop me. I…I didn’t know what to do,” the young man said, fighting the tears. “I’ve been so lonely. I’ve been so lonely.”
Athena took a step forward, a motherly instinct she didn’t know she had rising up within her. She placed a hand on the young man’s shoulder. “Shhh, it’ll be alright,” she said, comforting.
“I thought I was going to be alone forever. There was never anybody else like me. Never anybody to stop me. But now you’re here. Now I’m not alone,” he said looking up at Athena, wiping a trail of snot from his nose.
Athena nodded. “Yes, I’m here now. What is your name?”
The young man turned his head away, as if Athena had asked a shameful question. She began to wonder if maybe it was a taboo question in the future.
“I used to go by Richter, but you can just call me Patrick,” he said.
Athena held out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you Patrick. I’m Athena.”
16
STRANGE CONVERSATIONS
I finished unloading my clothes from my suitcase. After agreeing to help the British, Selena and I flew back to Texas to get everybody’s luggage. We would’ve brought it in the first place, but our hands were a bit full seeing as we had to get three people over the ocean who couldn’t fly.
I shut my drawer, and looked around. The room was identical to the one I spent the night in the last time Selena and I paid our friends an overnight visit. The walls were plain, and there sat a bed in one corner, and desk in the other, a clothes dresser, and a door that led to the bathroom.
I went to the bathroom and got out my toothbrush and toothpaste, setting them on the counter. I looked at myself in the mirror. Despite the fact that I looked fine thanks to my healing abilities, they did nothing to help ease my mind. I felt tired and stressed, like a heavy cloud was sitting on top of my head. I looked down at my toothbrush, thinking about what it signified. It meant I was unpacked. I’d moved into this new home. It meant we were going to be staying in London for quite some time.
The Secret of the Supers (The First Superhero Book 4) Page 6
