“We had no reason to think it wasn’t going to be that easy,” Selena said, trying to comfort me. “This isn’t—” She swallowed hard. “It isn’t your fault.”
Her expression told me she believed every word she’d said. “You’re right,” I agreed. “We had no idea.” I chuckled to myself. “We really have no idea what’s going on.”
Selena tried to laugh too, but it turned into a whimper and a cough. “We really don’t,” she finally said with a wide smile. “We’ve really gotten into it now.”
“That’s the truth,” I said. I turned and sat down next to her, placing my head back against the cold concrete wall.
“So, what’s the plan, Tempest?” she asked with a slight nudge.
I sorted through all the options in my head, checking and double-checking them to try to figure out which would be the best course of action. My main focus was getting Selena out of there. I was feeling better, and had more of my powers than she did. She, on the other hand, wasn’t good at all. That meant that I could get out on my own if I had to, but Selena wasn’t going to be able to without my help.
I knew what that all meant, and it only took a split-second after the plan had come to mind before I decided it was best. “I have an idea,” I said. I pushed myself up off the wall and stood. “But if it’s going to work, we’re going to need some guns.”
25
BACKSEAT DRIVER
I opened the door to the stairwell, my eyes no longer glowing. A wall of cool, fresh air slammed into me. It was one of the most refreshing things I had ever experienced. Once I’d gotten used to it, I realized just how stale the air in the stairway had been.
I looked around, the first thing catching my eye being the campsite on the other side of the large windows before me. Out in the parking lot of the Carlton Centre, Raven’s men had their accommodations set up. There were campfires spread throughout the lot, and lots of tents of various colors and sizes. The sounds of people talking and laughed echoed through the entryway of the Carlton Centre. I looked up and down the wall of windows and saw that a couple of them had been shattered, which explained how the sounds from outside were coming in.
Either they’re getting in through there, or my powers are getting even stronger, I thought. While that was definitely a possibility, I didn’t want to rely on it. That was probably the thing I hated most about this place: it made me question my powers. It made me question Tempest. It made me question myself. In this situation, I was going to have to let Kane Andrews do all the work, while Tempest had to take the back seat, only offering help where he could.
Footsteps echoed to my right. In the distance, a guard was walking my way, an assault rifle slung across his shoulder, his hand wrapped around the butt, finger near the trigger. I dashed from my spot half in the stairwell, half out, and ran behind one of the many pallets of supplies Raven’s men had left on the first floor of the Carlton Centre.
I peeked around the pallet and watched the guard as he approached. He shivered as a fresh gust of wind blew through the room and pulled up the collar on his t-shirt, trying to get it to cover more of his neck. He walked closer and closer, his footsteps loud and dragging.
I turned and snuck over to the opposite edge of the pallet, then went around the edge to hide against the back side as the guard passed. Then I walked down the other side, staying low to the ground, trying to be as quiet as possible. When I looked around and saw that the guard was now past the pallets behind which I was hiding, I made my move. I stood, and in just a couple of strides was right behind him. I delivered a single hard punch to his back, and the guard fell to the floor. He tried to move, but I grabbed him by his military vest, picked him up and tossed him into the pallet of supplies I had hidden behind. He hit them and fell to the floor again, this time unconscious.
I ran to him and grabbed him by the vest, then walked backwards, dragging the guard with me towards the stairwell. I stopped to open the door, then pulled him through. The door shut behind me, and I set the man down in the middle of the floor.
My eyes shone their blue beams of light, and Selena shielded her eyes from the sudden brightness.
“So, this is your plan?” she asked in a facetious tone.
I pulled the assault rifle off the guard’s shoulder and slung it over my own. Then I pulled his pistol from the holster on his side. “No, this is,” I said, handing it to Selena. “You know how to use one of these?”
She gave me a weak laugh. “I’m from Texas. Of course I know how to use a pistol.” She pointed to the assault rifle that was now hanging across my chest. “You know how to use that?”
I shook my head. “I’ve shot rifles and shotguns back on my parents’ old farm. Never an assault rifle. I won’t need to be accurate, though,” I said. I dug through the guard’s vest and pulled out two assault rifle clips and a pistol clip. I handed the pistol ammo to Selena. “Just in case. Hopefully you won’t need it.”
“What’s your plan?” she asked. I noticed her voice was growing stronger every time she spoke.
I returned to the guard’s vest, digging through his pockets as I spoke. “I’m going to create a distraction,” I said as I pulled out a granola bar. “Eat this.” I handed the bar to Selena, who opened it and began devouring it. “And then you’re going to run the opposite direction from Raven’s soldiers. Simple as that.”
“What about you?” she asked between bites.
“I’m not as bad as you are. I’ll be able to get away easily. We’ll meet up back over Clarissa’s. Not at—over. I want to regroup there before we go in.”
“Are you sure I’ll be able to fly?” she asked, her voice almost back to regular strength as she tossed aside the granola bar wrapper.
I smiled at her. “I’m sure. The farther away we get from the top of this tower, the stronger we get. Once you get away, I think you’ll be back to normal.”
Selena looked up, searching the darkness that stretched out above us. “So, you think whatever’s causing this is at the top of the tower?”
“I don’t know,” I said as I pulled two grenades off the guard. “But we can discuss theories later.” I stood and went to Selena. “Can you stand?” I asked, offering her a hand.
Selena reached up and grabbed my hand. I helped her up, and after a couple of seconds, she was able to get her bearings. “Yeah, I got it.”
“Okay, now listen,” I said, my tone growing serious. “You need to get out of here. Do not try to help me. Do not stop for anyone. Do not do anything but get as far away from this place as possible. Your powers are a lot weaker than mine. You’re practically a regular human.”
“Alright, I get it. No need to rub it in,” she said, rolling her eyes. She was definitely feeling better.
“Do you understand? They’re going to come after me, but that’s the plan. I’ll be able to get away. You get out of here, and stay away. Got that?”
Selena didn’t respond at first. I could tell she was still processing, trying to figure out some sort of loophole. “Fine. I’ve got it. I’ll get away.” She clearly wasn’t happy with not being able to help. “You’re so much stronger than me, anyway,” she said, her snark returning with her strength.
“Okay, well, then. Let’s get our powers back.”
26
DISTRACTION
I approached the broken windows leading to the campsite, stealing a glance over my shoulder. Selena leaned up against a pile of supplies, her pistol in her hands, finger at the trigger. She was ready for me to begin the distraction so she could slip away unseen. I turned, facing the exit from the building that led to the campsite. All I had to do was do this successfully, and then we’d be free.
I crossed the first floor of the building, arriving at the broken windows in just a few seconds. I figured it’d be best to exit there instead of walking out the front doors. I poked my head out, the smell of burning wood and people who hadn’t washed in a while filling my senses. There was nobody near me. Just fifteen to twenty feet away were
the very edges of the campsite: a sea of tents with fires dispersed amongst them, all leading to a large bonfire in the center of the camp, around which most of the people had congregated.
I stepped out onto the ground and began walking along the edge of the building, doing my best to stay small. The sound of people laughing and talking filled the night air; they were all unaware of what was happening at the edge of their camp. I kept my eyes peeled for more guards doing patrols, but there didn’t seem to be any. They probably didn’t think there’d be anybody this close to their camp. Most of the patrols were probably near the parts of the camp closest to the city.
I got a few feet away from the windows. I didn’t want to risk going much farther and being seen. I dropped to one knee, ready to begin my distraction, and pulled the two grenades out of my pocket. I hesitated for a moment, considering going back to get Selena and carrying her out of there, but I couldn’t risk it. If we were seen and shot, I definitely wouldn’t be able to carry her then. Both of us would be captured, and she was much weaker than I was. She might even die if she was shot. I forced myself to continue. This was my only option. Now wasn’t the time to think. It was time to act.
I pulled the pin from one grenade and launched it towards the middle of the camp. Then I pulled the pin from the other one and threw it to the left side of the camp, hoping that it would take out some of the guys in the direction Selena would be running.
The first one exploded, and I took off running to the right. I pointed my gun to my left, firing wildly as I screamed as loud as I could.
The camp erupted in chaos. People came tumbling out of their tents, dazed and confused, or barking orders at the soldiers as they tried to figure out where the attack was coming from.
I ran out of bullets and stopped for a couple seconds, struggling to get another clip in. I’d practiced it a couple of times in the stairwell, but I was having trouble getting the job done now that I was actually in the middle of everything. Finally, I got the next magazine loaded, and I continued running through the camp, firing bursts from the gun. I screamed as loud as I could, trying to draw all the attention towards me and away from Selena.
In front of me I could see the far edge of the camp and the darkness beyond it. I looked to my left and saw that people were beginning to figure out where I was. Dozens of people were running towards me, falling over tents and running through campfires, trying to get to me. I ran a little bit faster, my adrenaline pumping hard. The soldiers broke through the edge of the tents and were now running along the corridor between the building and the campsite behind me. I tried firing my gun behind me, but it clicked empty. I didn’t have time to switch to my final magazine. I threw the gun behind me, producing a satisfying thunk followed by a shout of pain as the gun smashed into somebody.
Glass exploded above me, and I covered my head to protect it from the shards raining down. Off to my left, people were beginning to shoot at me. I smiled. Now things were beginning to get fun.
I reached the end of the campsite and exploded into the darkness, running fast and hard. Losing my pursuers would be easy in the darkness. I only hoped that Selena had been able to get free.
Three explosions of pain erupted through my body, breaking me from my thoughts. I slammed to the ground, tumbling head over heels before stopping in a bloody heap of pain. I tried to cry out, but the scream was stuck in my throat. I tried to move, to get up—even crawl away if I had to. But I couldn’t move a muscle.
Almost as soon as the pain was there, it was gone. I thought my body was healing, but I still couldn’t move. I couldn’t speak. I had no idea what was going on.
The footsteps of the soldiers reached me. One of them grabbed me and rolled me onto my back. I was looking up at a circle of faces, the shining moon hanging high behind them.
“Oh, shit,” one of them said. “I know this guy.”
“You do?” another one asked.
“Yeah, this is Kane Andrews. You know, Tempest? The guy who killed Richter?”
All the faces looked at mine a little bit closer. One of them began laughing. “Look at that look on his face.” He got down on a knee, placing his face just inches from mine. I could smell the rot on his breath as he spoke. “How you doing, buddy?” he said with a smirk. “You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into.”
“It looks like he took a couple shots to the back,” one of them said. “Probably paralyzed.”
“Nice shot, Hanson,” another one said, and he gave a woman with a shaved head a pat on the back.
My eyes darted from face to face as I tried to figure out what was going to happen next. Were they going to kill me? Could I still be killed? I had no idea. I wished my spine would hurry up and heal; then I could really show these guys what I could do. But my powers weren’t strong enough. It looked as if I was going to be at their mercy for a little bit longer, until my back healed.
“Let’s take him up to Raven,” the one who’d been in my face said as he stood. “I’m sure he’ll want to meet our little celebrity.”
27
PLÁSMA
I was being carried back up the stairs I’d come down with Selena. I was lying on a gurney being carried by two people: Hanson and Jeffries, the guy who’d gotten in my face earlier.
I couldn’t believe it. I probably would’ve laughed at the situation had I not still been paralyzed. I assumed my body’s healing powers were going to take even longer now, since the farther away from the top of the tower I got, the more my powers increased—and vice versa. Now I was going right to the heart of it, meeting an enemy when I had no idea what he was capable of.
My only consolation was that it seemed Selena had gotten away. Nobody had mentioned her or any other prisoners, so she must not have been caught. If that was true, she could tell Samantha everything that was going on, and while I’d told her not to go straight to Clarissa, when I never showed, I was sure she had. Hopefully, they could figure out some sort of rescue plan. That was the worst case scenario, though. I was still holding on to the hope that my powers would heal me, and I’d be able to escape on my own.
At least this way I’d be able to get in a little face time with Raven.
We reached the top of the building after what seemed like hours. The door opened, and we walked into Raven’s headquarters.
Being on the top floor didn’t seem like the most efficient way to run things when your army was at the bottom, but once I saw the place he was staying in, I could tell that he had a knack for the dramatic.
I could tell that most—if not all—of the walls on the top floor had been torn out. There were candles everywhere, casting shadows across the ceiling, filling the room with an orange glow.
But there was something else glowing, white and very bright. It was ahead of me, and as much as I tried to crane my neck to see what it was, I couldn’t find it.
“What is the reason for this disturbance?” a voice asked. It sounded light and wispy, but had a dark tone lurking beneath it. I could only assume it belonged to Raven.
“We have a prisoner we think you’ll be interested in speaking with, sir,” Jeffries said. “He’s been paralyzed, though.”
“Put him in the chair,” Raven said.
They set the gurney down on the floor. Jeffries and Hanson picked me up and set me down on a chair, and I finally could see the room. Well, I could have if I had been interested in the room. I couldn’t concentrate on anything else, because as soon as my eyes met what was causing the white glow, I couldn’t look away.
On top of an altar that had been covered in smooth purple velvet sat a bottle. It was wide in the middle, with a handle on either side. It was clear, and curved upwards to an opening that was stoppered with a carved crystal cork. Inside the bottle was a shining white liquid. It was so bright, I almost had to look away. The light shone through the crystal cork, casting a rainbow of colors onto the ceiling and the walls closest to it.
In front of the altar bowed a figure clothed in velvet robes
with its back turned to me. It seemed as if he or she was praying to the bottle.
The figure stood and turned slowly. My eyes met with Raven’s, and a smile rose across his face, revealing his yellow rotting teeth.
“Hello, Kane Andrews,” he said, his sneer growing. His skin looked as if it was stretched as tightly as possible across his bony face. He was pale, and his lips were so badly chapped, they were oozing blood. “I knew you would be here.”
“You must be Raven,” I said, surprising myself. I’d healed enough that I could speak, which excited me to no end. It was just a matter of time before I’d be out of here.
“Of course,” he said, taking a step towards me. “How are you feeling? Weak, I assume.”
“Nothing I can’t handle.”
“Oh, of course not,” he said, stopping in front of me. “You’re powerful, Kane. One of the most powerful. Not even the asthenés plásma can take all of your powers. Not by itself, at least. But I’ve had fun with it while it’s contained your powers. It’s never been so strong. I’ve never had such clear understanding.”
“What are you talking about?” I said, interrupting him. I looked towards the bottle of glowing liquid. “You’re saying that’s what’s responsible for taking away my powers?”
Raven erupted into laughter, then turned and crossed the room to the glowing bottle. He picked it up and brought it to me, placing it close to my face. I had to look away; the light was too bright.
“Do you know what asthenés plásma means, Kane?” Raven waited a moment for me to respond. When I shook my head, he said, “It’s Greek. You can see by the words etched on the side.” He showed me the side of the bottle. Etched there were the symbols ασθενές πλάσμα. “It means weakling.” Raven pulled the bottle away from my face and stood up straight, then turned around and walked back towards the altar. “It takes the powers away from all Supers who come near it. Well, most of the powers. There are some exceptions,” he said, glancing over his shoulder at me. He placed the bottle back on the altar. “The more Supers within its radius, the more powerful it is. Trust me, if this room were filled with Supers, your powers would be nonexistent.”
The War of the Supers (The First Superhero Book 3) Page 11
