I turned and saw the guy in the middle launch a tidal wave towards a group of fleeing civilians. The wave was ten feet tall and at least twice that wide. I flew towards the wave and slammed into its backside. I came out the other end soaking wet, and flew down to grab the person closest to me. It was a girl in a yellow sundress, her knees scraped from falling down as she tried to run away. I brought her to safety and then flew back to grab the next person.
I cleared all the civilians from the path of the tidal wave in just a few seconds. Once that was done, I flew up above the wave and hovered there. The wave slammed across the ground with incredible force. It pushed cars parked on the street onto their sides, and slammed up against the buildings on the other side of the street. Then the water dispersed and went on flowing down the street.
I turned, ready to continue my attack. “Where the hell is Nep?” I said to myself.
That was when I saw him. He was lying on the ground, grasping his chest. Blood poured from his hands, and the spike girl was lined up to launch a killing spike into him.
The spike left her hand and flew towards him. It was only a foot away as I flew towards him with all my might. A sonic boom exploded behind me as I raced to get to Nep before the spike could. I stretched my arm out beneath me, ready to catch the spike in my hand. I didn’t have time to be careful about how I caught the projectile, and I reached Nep with just an inch to spare. The tip of the spike hit my hand and began to drill its way through my flesh and bone.
Being just inches above the ground, I landed and rolled forward, pulling the spike from my hand mid-summersault. As soon as I was upright, I threw the spike back at the Super who had shot them, sending it straight through her shoulder. Then I ran around to the other side of her and dove through the air for the spike. I grasped it in my hand, twisted my body in the air, and threw the spike back at her other shoulder.
The spike ripped through her shoulder as I fell backwards to the ground. I skidded across the grass, digging yet another trench. I watched as the Super fell to the ground, screaming in pain. She wouldn’t be able to shoot any more spikes if she couldn’t lift her arms.
Just one Super left.
The water Super turned to me, his eyes filling with anger and rage. He yelled as he thrust his arms towards me, water shooting from them as if they were two fire hoses.
I jumped over the two high-velocity streams of water, landed on the ground to the right of them, and began running towards the Super, ready to take him out and end this fight.
He was able to pivot in time, though, and faster than I could dodge. He somehow was able to redirect the water towards me. Just a few feet away from him, the water slammed into me, sending me stumbling backwards. I almost fell to the ground, but I dug my feet into the dirt. I brought my hands up in front of my face, blocking the water, and it hit my arms and split around me.
The water slammed into me with more and more force by the second. I felt the ground begin to give way beneath me, but I gritted my teeth and dug my feet down even deeper. The water hit me harder and harder, and began to push me back little by little.
I pushed forward, careful not to lose my balance. I took a small step forward, then another. The water slammed into me at an even greater force, but I blocked it from my face and pushed forward. I took another step, and that was when I messed up. The Super dialed back the force of the water by a little bit for a split second, and suddenly I was pushing forward too hard. I stumbled forward, almost falling over myself. In my moment of weakness, he dialed the water pressure up to eleven, and I was nowhere near ready.
The water slammed into me, sending me flying backwards. I slammed to the ground, and the Super began stepping forward. The water pushed me into the ground, then the Super made a motion with his hands, and the liquid directed its energy towards my mouth. It was no longer blasting my body down, but now a steady stream of water rushed down my throat, and before I knew what was happening, I was drowning.
I felt my body weaken as the water filled my lungs. My body needed oxygen for my powers to work; that was our theory, at least. And since I was unable to breathe, my powers began to leave me.
Panic and fear flashed through me. I was drowning. Could I actually die? Could this be the end? I had spent six months on the moon without dying, but I’d still probably be up there if the government hadn’t brought me back so that I could breathe again.
I didn’t know what could happen, but I knew it wasn’t good and that I had to do something about this.
I gritted my teeth and sealed my lips. The water still pushed its way through them, but I had enough power and determination to push myself up from the ground.
The Super’s eyes grew wide, and he dialed up the pressure. I flung my hand out in front of me, blocking the water. I held my breath and, fighting the urge to vomit up all the water, I leapt forward, closing the few feet of ground between us. My leap was weak and pitiful, thanks to my using only what amounted to my emergency reserves of power, but it got the job done. Before he could do anything, I was on him, my hands wrapped around his throat. I began choking the air from him just as he’d done to me. He stopped blasting me with water and brought his hands up to mine, trying to peel my fingers off his throat. I still held my breath and fought the urge to vomit, determined not to stop until this Super was taken care of.
I grew lightheaded, and my lungs screamed for release from the liquid that filled them, begging for it to be replaced by air.
An explosion rocked the ground, and then the earth fell out from beneath me completely. I was suddenly falling through the air, headed straight for the ground. I had no idea what was happening, but a few moments later I hit the ground, rock and rubble falling all around me.
Water exploded from my lungs as the entire Klyde Warren Park fell around me from the collapse of the tunnel beneath it. I thought I was never going to stop throwing up water. I coughed and gasped for air as the liquid expelled itself from my body. Rocks came falling down around me, but as my powers gradually came back, they either bounced off or broke on me.
After two solid minutes of throwing up and getting my air back, I was finally finished. I stood up, looking at what was left of the park. It was pile of rubble and debris now. The tunnel that it had sat on top of had been imploded, bringing the park down with it. Just as I wondered how that could’ve happened, I got my answer.
I watched as a fourth Super flew down to pick up the water Super from the rubble. There was a fifth one hovering above the debris, the spike girl on his back, and the sound Super in his arms.
Almost as soon as I had spotted them, they were flying away. I wanted to give chase, but I was still recovering, my body consuming oxygen as fast as it could. My powers weren’t at one hundred percent, so I just stood there in the midst of the debris, watching as the five Supers flew away into the distance.
3
DISTRACTION
I walked into the meeting room, frustrated. We’d spent an hour digging through rubble looking for anybody who might’ve been trapped. We’d found two bodies, but the spikes embedded in their flesh had told us that it wasn’t the explosion that had done the job.
I crossed the room and sat down in one of the large chairs. I slumped down in it, waiting for everybody else to enter the room and join me. Samantha had told them to meet here in fifteen minutes, so I wasn’t expecting to wait long.
I was thankful for the couple of minutes of alone time, though. My eyes wandered to the floor-to-ceiling windows on my left. The view of the city from four stories up was nice, although it was nowhere near as good as the one from the top of that building downtown.
The door on the other side of the room opened, and Samantha walked in. I greeted her with a smile, and she reciprocated.
“How you feeling, Kane?” she asked as she walked across the room, which was empty save for a handful of chairs.
“Could be better,” I said as I sat up in my chair.
Samantha sat down in the one closest to her and pushe
d herself backwards, rolling across the room towards me. She pushed her glasses up. “We should really get a table to put in here, you know. Or move to a room with one already in it. There’s a great one on the first floor.”
I smiled at her millionth attempt to get me to move the meeting room. “Everybody voted on this room. They like it. Besides, all the conference rooms are being used now. This hotel isn’t that big.”
“Yeah, well, it’s not like there are plenty of other hotels we could be using in a deserted city,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I don’t like having to take that elevator all the time. It’s only a matter of time before it breaks down and I go plummeting to the bottom.”
“If only you lived somewhere that was crawling with superheroes who could save you,” I said with a smirk, looking at her out of the corner of my eye.
“‘Crawling’ with superheroes? You’re being pretty generous,” she said, snark dripping from her words.
I huffed in frustration. I had to bite my tongue to keep from jabbing back. “Just take the stairs. It’s not that far.”
Samantha couldn’t argue with my point. “I’m just saying. I come up and down all day. Taking the stairs would take up valuable time. If we just met on the first floor—problem solved.”
“We’ll talk about this later,” I said. I could hear footsteps coming down the hall.
Doug walked into the room carrying a laptop under his arm. He scanned the room, searching for something.
“What’re you looking for, Doug?” I asked him.
He scanned for a few moments more before he shook his head and sighed. “We should really get a table or something.”
Samantha turned to look at me, a smirk on her face and satisfaction in her eyes. “Great minds,” she said.
Doug plopped down into one of the computer chairs scattered around the room and opened up his laptop. Moments later, the sound of his typing filled the room as Samantha and I waited in silence.
* * *
It wasn’t long before everybody was in the room with me: Samantha, Doug, Drew, Selena. I trusted the four of them more than anybody, save for my parents, who were too busy running the civilian side of things to join our meetings. Nep would usually join in on the meetings too, but he was busy getting stitched up and recovering. Unfortunately, he couldn’t heal quite as fast as I could. The only other Super who wasn’t there was Eddie, who preferred to spend his time in the maintenance room alone. As long as he used his power of electricity to keep the power running, I was okay with that.
I cleared my throat and began. “Alright, we need to get a game plan together. This is the fourth attack in the month we’ve been here, and the worst one so far. Two people died today. Two innocent people. People are going to get scared, think we can’t protect them, and then leave Dallas. If that happens, they’re as good as dead. It’s only a matter of time before Atlas and the Legion turn their attention south.” I turned to look at Selena. Her face was pale, and she was staring out the window. “Everything alright, Selene?”
She snapped back to reality and nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m alright.”
I knew she wasn’t. For one thing, she wasn’t getting mad at me for calling her Selene, which she always did. Second, she looked like she’d just seen a ghost. I knew what it really was, though. I could tell she felt guilty for not being able to get back to Dallas in time. It wasn’t like what she’d been doing wasn’t important. She’d been out gathering intel on the Legion and their movements, which was vital for us if we ever wanted to mount an offensive.
“The attacks—the latest one, especially—are troubling,” Samantha said. “They’re not going to stop, either. They’re going to keep on until we’re no longer a problem for Atlas,” she added, trying to dance around what she really meant. They weren’t going to stop until we were all dead.
“If they want to wipe us out, why haven’t they done it already?” Drew asked, leaning forward in his seat. “Ever since we fought that army a month ago, it’s just been small attacks here and there. They have the numbers for another large-scale attack. Why haven’t they done it?”
Everybody turned to look at Selena. She looked at us, confused. “What?”
“Well?” I said. “You learn anything on your latest outing that might shine some light on all of this?”
She took a moment to collect her thoughts. “Right now, it looks like they’re holed up in Boston. They’ve got a pretty constant patrol around their portion of the city, so I couldn’t get close enough to get an idea of their exact numbers. I mean, it’s an army; we know that much. They’re making their way through the city, searching for anyone who’s a Super to join their Legion. Anyone who’s not either joins as an Eximus soldier or is killed.”
Everybody took that in for a moment. Every day, the Legion’s numbers were growing. On the flip side, we were lucky to grow our numbers by one a week, and so far for this week we were net negative.
“As far as why they haven’t wiped us out yet, I don’t know. They definitely have the numbers. There could be something logistically that’s keeping them from getting down here,” Selena said.
“I have a theory,” Doug said, looking up from his laptop.
We all turned to him as he sat up in his chair.
“I don’t think they’re interested in killing us all, at least not right now. They’re just trying to keep us afraid.” Doug sat back in his chair.
I was beginning to put together the pieces. “I think I’m seeing what you’re saying,” I said.
“You do?” he asked, excited.
I nodded. “Yeah. We’ve been thinking about this all wrong. We thought that they were growing their numbers, or waiting until they’ve made their way south, but that’s not it at all.”
“They’re keeping us distracted,” Samantha said.
I nodded. “Exactly. They think if they can just send a couple Supers here and there to keep us in check and out of their hair, they won’t have to worry about us. At least, not until they’re ready.”
“Okay, but what does that mean?” Drew asked. “We have a solid theory on their motives. I know I don’t have to tell you that it’s working. We have no idea when they’re going to attack next, how big or small it’ll be, nothing.”
We all sat there in silence, each waiting for the person next to us to offer up a solution. It seemed that nobody had one, until finally, Doug spoke up. “I think I’ve got something,” he said.
“What is it?” Samantha asked.
“I’ve been talking with some of my contacts around the world, getting a sense of what’s happening outside of our borders. The problem here is that most of the Supers are joining Atlas, and those who aren’t, are too afraid to stand up to him and join us. So, they’re either fleeing the country or just lying low. Overseas, however, the Supers who can are leaving to come here and join Atlas. Things are nowhere near as bad over in places like Europe or Australia, where all the bad Supers are leaving to come here. That allows the good ones to rise up and protect their countries. The good outnumber the bad.” Doug paused.
“So, what are you saying? That we just abandon the States and flee to Australia?” Drew asked.
Doug shook his head. “No, of course not. What I’m saying is that if two people, say Kane and Selena, can go overseas and convince the Supers to join forces with us, we may be able to grow our numbers enough to be able to stand a fighting chance against Atlas and the Legion.”
Everybody let that sink in, each of us going over the idea in our heads. There were a lot of pros and cons, but it was nice to actually have a plan in mind.
“So, what you’re saying is that you want us to go on a recruiting mission?” I asked.
Doug nodded. “Yes, exactly. I have a list of countries that would be the most viable options.”
Sarah raised her hands in disbelief. “You want our two most powerful Supers to go all the way to the other side of the world, leaving us here defenseless? What if something happens? What if the Legion decides
to attack? We’d be screwed!”
“We’re screwed if we sit here and do nothing,” Doug argued. “We can’t do this alone. We need all the help we can get. Besides, if something’s happening, you can just brain-message Kane or whatever.”
Samantha huffed in frustration. “It’s not that easy, and you know it, Doug. Sending a message when he’s on the other side of the country is hard enough. On the other side of the world? That’s going to take all the energy I have.”
“Well, just drink a Red Bull or something before you have to do it,” I said.
Everyone turned to look at me.
“You aren’t really considering this, are you?” Samantha asked.
“Of course I am. Doug’s right. We can’t do this on our own. We’re going to need help, and we aren’t going to find it here in the States. Selena and I are going to go as soon as we can.”
“I’ll get in touch with my contacts and see what they can tell me about the Supers in their countries. I’ll get you a list of the top three options,” Doug said. He began typing away on his keyboard.
“So, you’re just going to leave us here to die?” Samantha said, crossing her arms.
“You’re being dramatic, Samantha.”
“I’m being dramatic?” she said, tapping her index finger against her chest. “Forgive me for not loving the idea that our two most powerful Supers are about to leave us here, right after the most devastating attack we’ve had in a month. There’s an army of Supers, Eximus soldiers, and their psychotic leader right on our doorstep.”
“They aren’t on our doorstep!” I shot back. “You heard Selena—they’re all the way out in Massachusetts. The entire army isn’t going to come all the way to Dallas without you noticing. You’ll have plenty of time to get a message to us in time.”
Samantha stood up from her seat. “You need to think about this, Kane. Don’t make some emotional decision that’s going to affect all of us here. You had a long day. Just give it some time before you decide to go off globetrotting.”
The War of the Supers (The First Superhero Book 3) Page 2
