I scoffed. “You can say that. I’m sorry in advance for what I did to the London Eye, but Jigsaw is at the bottom of the river and out of our way, at least.”
Ellie looked at me, confused. “I don’t even want to know what you did to the London Eye, but how is Jigsaw at the bottom of the river?”
“I tied him up down there,” I explained. We need to breathe in order for our powers to work. Can’t breathe underwater. At least, I haven’t met a Super that can. And if there is one, it’s definitely not Jigsaw.”
“He’s not going to die down there?” she asked.
I shook my head. “I was on the moon for six months. Jigsaw will be fine at the bottom of the river until we get something figured out. Once he’s able to start breathing again, his healing factor will bring him back.”
Ellie sighed and nodded. “Okay, well that’s definitely something we don’t need to forget about. Super villain at the bottom of our most famous river. Got it.”
“Where’s your guy?” I asked, referring to the Super she’d been fighting.
“He gave up. As did most of Jigsaw’s men. I imagine they were waiting for their powers to come back, but once they find out what happened to their boss, I doubt they’ll be coming around.”
I smiled as I realized what this meant. Jigsaw was taken care of. Athena was finally going to tell me where I could find Samantha.
****
Ellie and I arrived back at the now-destroyed headquarters right at the same time as Selena. “How is it?” I said as I walked up to her.
“Bad,” she said. “All the Eximus weapons over in the States exploded. A lot of The Legion has been wiped out, and the STF is beginning to take back their territory.”
That’s when it dawned on me. “Of course,” I said. “It all makes sense.”
“What does?” Ellie asked.
“The STF are the ones who created the Eximus and the weapons. They’ve been letting The Legion steal them though, because that meant when the time was right, they’d be able to activate their self-destruct, which would basically guarantee victory for them. Literally almost every single one of their enemies had a bomb strapped to them, and they had the detonator,” I explained.
“So you’re saying that the STF is responsible for this?” Ellie asked, looking at the destruction all around her.
I nodded. “I believe so. I don’t know why they wanted to attack you directly, but there’s obviously a reason.”
“We’ll have to have Leo—” Ellie stopped herself. She cleared her throat. Then, a sigh. “Oh what the hell. The whole operation is blown to shit anyways. The reason Leopold isn’t here is because he’s working undercover at the STF. He’s used his abilities to take over the role of one of the scientists, and has been feeding us info on all of their plans. This one, of course, being the exception. We obviously didn’t see it coming.”
“Is there anything else you can tell us that’d be helpful for right now?” I asked.
“Not that I can think of, but then again there may be something that I don’t realize will be helpful,” she said.
“We’ll have to sit down later and you need to tell me everything I should know,” I said.
We stood there for a few moments, thinking over everything that’d just happened. “I’m gonna see if they need any help,” Selena said finally.
Ellie followed her. She looked at me over her shoulder. “You coming, Kane?”
“I will in a minute,” I said. I needed to find a place to talk to Athena first. It was time for her to deliver on her promise.
41
SAMANTHA
I flew to a nearby rooftop and waited. I knew Athena would show up at some point. She had to have known that I’d complete my mission.
“Kane.”
I froze. I heard that clearly in my head.
“Kane!”
“…Samantha?” I said out loud.
“Listen to me and listen good,” Samantha said.
It really was her.
“Are you listening?” she asked.
“Y-yes. Samantha, is that really you?”
“Yeah it is. The first time I spoke to you was in the desert while you were fighting Richter. The first time we kissed it was right before you went overseas, because I was afraid our connection wouldn’t be strong enough for my powers. We have an inside joke about a fake company we run called S&T, LLC. I could keep going all day, but I don’t have the time, really.”
Those are things only Samantha knew. It really was her. “Samantha, where are you?”
“I don’t know, but all I know is that Athena is the one who’s holding me captive,” she said.
I shook my head. “No, Athena’s helping me. We’re going to defeat Atlas using these things called The Artifacts of Power. She was just about to tell me where you’re at,” I said. “Are you sure?”
“Yes! Of course I’m sure, Kane. She’s been using me as human satellite, using my psychic powers in order to communicate and control other people. That’s why I haven’t been able to contact you, because she’s had me basically in a coma, only using me whenever she needs.”
“Where are you? I’ll come get you,” I said, my heart pounding in my chest.
“I don’t know where I’m at. This is the first time I’ve had full control. There were some sort of explosions going on nearby, and the next thing I knew, I was in control.”
The Eximus blast. It had something to do with her being able to contact me, and I knew it.
Samantha’s voice grew scared. “Kane…I’m slipping. I can feel myse—”
Nothing.
“Samantha?” I called out, but there was no response. “Samantha!” I screamed.
Silence.
“I guess I don’t have to be the one to say that I’m not telling you where Samantha’s at,” Athena said behind me.
I spun around, anger filling every fiber of my being. “You lied! You said you were here to help me, you said it wasn’t you who was controlling the Supers, but it was you all along!”
Athena simply smiled. “Kane, I assure you I have an answer to every one of your questions. But right now, you’re not in the state to listen.”
“You don’t tell me what damn state I’m in!” I screamed. “This whole time you’ve been trying to undermine me, make me think I’m crazy. You had me attack my best friends, you had them attack me, you’ve tried to turn me into your puppet every step of the way!”
Athena shook her head. “I assure you, Kane, those were not my intentions.”
“Yeah? Well they sure as hell seemed like them!” My mind raced. So many thoughts shot through that I didn’t even know which one to latch on to.
“We still have a deal, Kane,” she said. “You’ll still find me the dýnami pétra.”
I laughed harder than I’d laughed in a long time. “You think I’m still going to find that dumb rock for you? Screw you. I’m not finding shit.”
Anger flared across Athena’s face. “You do not break a deal with me, Kane Andrews.”
I took a step towards her, out of either anger, courage, or foolishness. “Our deal was that I get rid of Jigsaw, you tell me where Samantha’s at. You didn’t honor that one, so me finding your stone and bringing it to you is null and void.”
“Careful of the words you choose, Kane. You cannot take them back.”
“Okay then, how’s this then?” I showed her my middle finger. “I’m coming for you, Athena. I’m going to get Samantha back. Then I’m going to find the dýnami pétra, and it’ll be the end of both you and Atlas.”
Athena’s jaw tensed. “You’re foolishness will be your downfall, Kane Andrews.” And with that, she disappeared.
I stood there on the roof, all alone. I breathed heavily, the seriousness of what I’d just done settling in.
I took a deep breath, and flew down to the street. Something stuck underneath the wheel of a nearby parked car caught my eye. I walked over towards it, and saw it was the tattered remains of the Tempest sui
t that Ellie had given me. It must’ve been blown away by the explosion, and gotten caught on the wheel.
I picked it up and rubbed the tattered and burnt leather in my hands.
I knew right then that I would wear it again. I would be the person inside of it that gave Samantha hope almost a year ago. The hope she needed to contact me right when I needed her.
I was going to save her.
I was going to find the dýnami pétra.
I was going to defeat Atlas.
I was going to defeat Athena.
I was going to be Tempest once again.
It was time to get started.
42
ORION AUGUSTINE
Sometime during the 20th century…
Athena held her son in her hands for the last time. She’d spent so much time tracking down a boy who would grow up to look the same as her son, that now that it was actually time for the switch to happen, she almost didn’t want to go through with it.
She closed her eyes. Steadied her breath.
You’re doing this for Patrick. You’re doing this for the world.
Besides, it’s not like she wasn’t going to have a son to raise. She’d have the baby she was switching her real son with to take care of.
A son that wouldn’t grow up to be a “Super”, as Patrick liked to call them.
She looked up at the hospital, and then down at the watch. 11:06 pm.
The boy had just been born.
Athena thought about the people who would be raising her son. Raising a Super. They seemed like nice enough people. The father was a lawyer—for now. The mother, a teacher. “Hopefully she’ll teach you how to have good manners,” Athena said, looking down at her sleeping son with smiling eyes.
She cherished those last few moments with him. Because it wouldn’t be long before the switch would happen. It wouldn’t be long before she left her son behind in the twentieth century to be raised by another family.
And hopefully, if all went according to plan, he’d be able to stop Patrick, the boy she loved the most. Her son, but not.
She looked down at her real son. “Just a little bit longer, and you’ll meet your new parents,” she said, her smile turning sad. “Then you’ll no longer be Orion Augustine. Then you will be Kane Andrews.”
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BOOK FIVE
The penultimate book in The First Superhero Series, The Rescue of the Supers, releases this winter!
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ALSO BY LOGAN RUTHERFORD
The Mortis Desolation:
Mortis
Retaliation
The First Superhero:
The Second Super
The Siege of the Supers
The War of the Supers
The Secret of the Supers
Richter: A First Superhero Story
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Logan Rutherford is a twenty year old author living in Texas. If you really want to get to know him, contact him at any of the places below. (Warning: His twitter is filled with dumb jokes and retweets of entertainment news and anything good anybody has ever said about him.)
@loganrutherford
loganwrites
www.authorloganrutherford.com
[email protected]
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Free Book!
The Secret of the Supers
Returning Favors
1. The First Super
2. Radio Silence
3. The Human Gun
4. The Creature with the Snake Tattoo
5. Changing of the Guard
6. Field Trip
7. White vs. Blue
8. The Calm
9. The Storm
10. White Eyes
11. Recovery
12. Amends
13. A Decision
14. The Arrival
Puzzle Pieces
15. The Lonely Super
16. Strange Conversations
17. The Library
18. Jigsaw’s Summer Reading Program
19. Gifts From Before
20. The Suit
21. Still Believe
22. A Rude Awakening
23. Plan of Attack
24. Short Circuit
25. Confirmation
26. The Waiting Room
27. Rooftop Series
28. Hallway Reactions
29. Emotional Playground
30. The Divide
Athena’s Price
31. A Match
32. Riding the Tube
33. Top Floor
34. Drift
35. The Montgomery’s
36. Dýnami Pétra
37. The Deal
38. The Cuffs
39. The London Eye
40. The STF
41. Samantha
42. Orion Augustine
Free Book!
Book Five
Also by Logan Rutherford
About the Author
The Secret of the Supers (The First Superhero Book 4) Page 16
