Raven turned and walked back towards me. “Do you know why I’m telling you this, Kane?”
I shook my head.
“Because the asthenés plásma told me to, and I am a student of its teachings,” he said with a rotting smile. “Everything happens for a reason, Kane Andrews. There’s a reason you’re here. There’s a reason the asthenés plásma wants me to tell you about it. The asthenés plásma knows all. It is all.”
The more he spoke, the more he sounded like a madman. I had no doubt the liquid was powerful, and if it could take away my powers, I wanted to know everything I could about it. But it seemed as if the liquid was taking away more than just Raven’s powers. It seemed like it was eating away at his mind as well.
I felt a tingling sensation in my fingers. I smiled, my mind racing with excitement. The healing of my spine was almost complete.
“Now that you’re here,” Raven said, “now that the asthenés plásma contains your powers, its teachings have been clearer than ever. The amount of knowledge contained within my brain is so vast I’m not sure even you could handle it.”
The tingling sensation had spread down to my legs. I could now wiggle my fingers a little bit. “Trust me, I wouldn’t want to know what goes on inside that head of yours,” I said.
“Oh, I think you do,” Raven said. “I know all the secrets. I know how our powers work.” He paused, his next words dancing on the edge of his tongue.
I wiggled my feet. I was almost ready to go.
“I even know how to kill Atlas,” he said, then waited for the gravity of his words to hit me.
Except they came as no shock to me. “I do, too. The same way I killed Richter. Throwing him into the sun should do the trick.”“Do you ever wonder why Atlas is so much more powerful than you are? Why Richter was as well? You didn’t stop Richter. I think those two nukes had something to do with it. It was Samantha who told you to take him into space. To throw him into the sun.”
My gaze met his, my brow furrowing. “How do you know it was Samantha who told me?”
“There’s a reason, Kane. There’s always a reason,” Raven said, ignoring my question.
I felt the strength return to all my extremities. It was time to go. Raven opened his mouth to say more, but I jumped up from my seat, silencing him.
“Son of a bitch!” Jeffries shouted.
I ran as fast as I could towards the nearest window. A gun fired, and the bullet grazed my arm. I reeled in pain, but kept running.
“Don’t shoot!” Raven shouted. “Catch him!”
I looked over my shoulder and saw that Jeffries and Hanson were chasing me, the gap closing fast. When I got close enough to the window, I lunged. I curled my body up, covering my face with my hands, then slammed into the glass with all my might. It shattered from the force of my crash.
The glass rushed past me, racing me to the ground. The concrete was coming up fast. I concentrated, focusing on the wind rushing past me. With each floor I passed, I felt my powers getting stronger. I put all my concentration into flight—I had to stop myself before I hit the ground. I knew if I could do it in the stairwell, I could do it now, even if I was falling faster. I didn’t want to know what would happen if I couldn’t stop myself.
I felt the air around me slowing down; the wind wasn’t roaring as loud in my ears. I came to a stop just six inches from the ground and fell the rest of the way. Right now I could run faster than I could fly.
And run I did. I ran as fast as I could into the night, finally free of Carlton Centre and whatever that liquid was that had taken my powers away.
28
RENDEZVOUS
I floated above Johannesburg, feeling one hundred percent healed. All my powers were back at full force.
“Kane? Kane, are you there?” Samantha asked in my head.
“Samantha! Thank goodness. I’ve been waiting for you,” I said, overwhelmed with joy.
“Oh my god! Kane, I’ve been so worried. I’ve been trying to contact you for hours, but I couldn’t find you! I was so afraid something terrible had happened,” Samantha said, and I could tell she was almost bursting into tears.
“Don’t worry. Everything’s okay. Can you tell me where Selena is? Did she get away?”
“Yeah, she did. I was able to get hold of her a little while ago. She’s been circling around the Carlton Centre looking for you. She told me what happened. I can’t believe you lost your powers!” Samantha exclaimed.
“I know why, too. I’ll explain everything later, but first I need to meet up with Selena. Tell her to meet me at our original rendezvous point.”
“Okay, I’ll do it. I’m so happy you’re okay, Kane.”
“Me too,” I said with a chuckle.
With that, I took off towards the spot above Clarissa’s where we’d agreed to meet. I made sure to make a wide berth around the Carlton Centre, staying out of the range of the asthenés plásma, as Raven had called it.
When I reached Clarissa’s, I saw Selena already there waiting for me. She flew straight towards me and embraced me in a hug. “Thank you so much, Kane. I couldn’t have gotten out of there without you.” She pulled away, still smiling. “I’m so glad you’re okay, too. I saw them taking you back in. What happened?”
“I found out something…amazing, I guess you could call it. Are you listening, Samantha?”
“Of course. I’m not leaving for a second.”
“Okay, good,” I said. “I wasn’t able to get away, and they took me to Raven. He’s crazy, let me tell you. No doubt about that.” I paused, trying to figure out how best to say what was to follow. “He has this…liquid. It’s inside a crystal bottle. He called it asthenés plásma.”
“What’s that ? I’ve never heard of that,” Samantha said.
“I don’t think it’s something that anybody has ever heard of, really. Anyway, that’s what was responsible for us losing our powers. It glowed extremely bright, like our eyes, except white instead of blue. He said it sucks the powers of any Super nearby—that’s what asthenés plásma means. It’s Greek for ‘weakling’.”
“How can a liquid do that?” Selena asked.
“I have no idea. It doesn’t take away all your powers, though, at least not all of mine. I was too strong for it, but Raven says that the more Supers who are around, the stronger the asthenés plásma is. We’re lucky there weren’t many Supers around, or Selena and I would’ve been in big trouble.”
“That’s…I don’t even know what to say. That’s amazing. We have to get our hands on it,” Samantha said.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking. I don’t think Clarissa could spare the soldiers for us, but getting rid of Raven in exchange for the plásma? I’m sure they’d be willing to do that. That’s not even all of it. Raven knew some things that he had no way to. For example, he knew that Samantha had warned me about the nukes and told me to take Richter into space. There was no way he could’ve known something like that.”
“Oh my god, that’s crazy. I’ve never told anybody about that,” Samantha said.
“Then you think the plásma had something to do with it? With him knowing?” Selena asked.
I shrugged. “I have no idea. But if we have the plásma, there’s no telling what we’d be able to learn. He even said he knows how to defeat Atlas. Apparently he has something in common with Richter. A common weakness or something.”
“And this is all stuff he’s learned from the asthenés plásma?” Selena asked. “Didn’t you just say how crazy this guy was?”
“Yeah, I know. But still, how could he know about Samantha and me? There’s obviously more to this asthenés plásma than it seems.”
“No doubt about that,” Samantha said. “So, what’s the plan? You’re going to march back up there and take it?”
“I know you’re being sarcastic, but kinda, yeah. If we can get Clarissa and her soldiers to draw all the guards out, Selena and I could go to the top and take out Raven.”
Selena thought about i
t for a moment, then nodded. “It’s a pretty straightforward plan. I think it could work.”
“I don’t know. Rushing in there is what got us into our last situation,” Samantha said.
“That’s very true, but we know what to expect this time. I think we could do this, and do it easily.”
“I agree. I think it’s our best option,” Selena said.
“Okay, then, it’s settled,” I said. “Let’s go check in with Clarissa. And after that, I’m gonna sleep for a very long time.”
“You’re telling me,” Selena said, turning towards the ground.
29
BURYING THE LEAD
I laid my head down on the bed Clarissa had provided us with. It was in one of the empty apartments in the complex Clarissa and her crew were set up in, and I had a room all to myself.
She’d gone for the plan Selena and I had presented to her with little hesitation. Her only stipulation was that we share with her anything we learned from the plásma, which I of course had agreed with. It was only fair. Vince wasn’t too happy, though; he wanted to keep the plásma as protection against the other Supers, which I understood. Still, if we were going to be able to learn from the liquid what I expected to, people like Raven rising up wasn’t going to be a problem soon.
Come on, go to sleep, I told myself. I needed some rest, but for some reason, despite how tired I’d been earlier, I wasn’t able to fall asleep. My mind was racing at a thousand miles an hour.
“Hey, you awake?” Samantha’s soft voice whispered in my head.
“Yeah. I’m having a little trouble sleeping,” I said. “Have you talked to my parents lately?”
“I checked in with them earlier today. They’re doing good. The camp the STF has them in is in some underground bunker. Supposedly it was designed for a bunch of politicians in case of a major disaster. Most of the politicians are dead now, though. But it’s pretty nice. They’re definitely safe, so don’t worry about them.”
I relaxed a little. That was one less thing to worry about, at least for a little bit. “Did you tell them what happened earlier?” I asked, referring to my and Selena’s disappearance.
“No, I didn’t want to worry them..”
“Thank you,” I said. “So, how are things over there?”
“Well,” she began, “since you and Selena left, we’ve moved to a nearby Army base. There wasn’t anybody there, so we kinda took over. At least their gymnasium and barracks. It’s pretty nice. The best part is that this general or colonel or something showed up earlier today. He has like two hundred troops who volunteered to help him defend the area from the Legion. When we told him what we were doing, they said they would help us!”
I sat up straight in bed. “Holy shit, are you serious?” I laughed out loud. “You kinda buried the lead there, Samantha! That’s amazing news! Two hundred trained soldiers, and a leader who knows how to command them. Wow, I can’t believe it!”
“Well, you know, we’re doing pretty well for ourselves,” she said. I could easily picture the smirk I knew she had on her face. “On the other hand,” she said, her voice turning annoyed. “Eddie showed up. He was able to get a car and drive out of Dallas. His car broke down, and Drew found him while he was exploring the town.”
“Eddie’s one of the best Supers there are. He controls electricity, for goodness’ sake. If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t have had power in Dallas!”
“Yeah, but he’s a dick,” Samantha said.
“I think he’s nice, and you’re ridiculous,” I teased.
Samantha sighed. “Whatever, Kane. Just hurry up and come home so I don’t have to deal with him alone.”
“Don’t worry. If all goes as planned, I’ll be back in no time. And I’ll have our best bet at defeating Atlas with me.”
“You really think the plásma is going to be that big of a game-changer?” Samantha asked.
“I really do,” I said as I lay back down. “Especially since before now, we’ve had nothing. Anything is really a game-changer to us.” I yawned and stretched my arms.
“Well, if you think so, then I think so too,” Samantha said. “It’s all very exciting. I can’t wait to tell the boys about it.”
“Speaking of, are they doing well?” I asked.
“Yeah. Drew’s really stepping up and keeping things under control while Doug works on his computer stuff, and I’m watching you and Selena.”
“That’s good to hear.” My drowsiness was really beginning to set in. “I think I’m going to turn in for the night. It’s really nice talking to you, Samantha.”
“Same for you, Kane. You be careful tomorrow, alright? I’m not going to be able to watch while you’re in the Carlton,” Samantha said.
“Don’t worry. Selena and I will take care of things. We’ll be on our way back stateside this time tomorrow night.”
“I can’t wait. Goodnight,” Samantha said, her voice turning soft.
“Goodnight, Samantha.”
She left my mind, and I lay in bed, falling asleep with a smile on my face.
30
STORM THE TOWER
Selena and I checked our gear, waiting for the clock to turn to 6:30 a.m. That was when Clarissa and her soldiers would begin their attack. We were supposed to wait until 6:35 before we made our move, just to make sure that as many soldiers as possible had moved away from the Carlton. We didn’t want to wait too long, though, because Clarissa’s soldiers wouldn’t last very long against the force and numbers of Raven’s men.
“You got enough ammo?” Selena asked.
I tapped the pocket in my vest that held a couple of magazines. “Yeah, I’ve got plenty. You?”
“I think so. Hopefully I won’t have to use much of it.”
“That’s the truth.” I pulled out the pistol from its holster on my side and checked to make sure it was ready to go. I clicked the safety off, so it’d be ready when I needed it.
Selena peeked past the side of the wall, looking towards the camp. We had taken up a post in an alley adjacent to the tower, watching and waiting for Clarissa’s attack to begin.
Explosions rang out, and Selena jumped back. “Shit! I wasn’t expecting that.”
I looked down at my watch. “They’re a minute early.”
“I guess we’re leaving at 6:34, now,” Selena said.
The next five minutes were long ones. Explosions, gunshots, and other sounds of war rang throughout Johannesburg. My leg bounced up and down, and my mind was racing. My adrenaline was pumping hard, and I was ready to go. The waiting was killing me.
I watched as the second hand on my watch got closer and closer to 6:34. 58…59…
“Let’s go,” I said, jumping up, springing into action.
Selena and I ran towards the Carlton Centre with our heads down, fingers on the triggers of our weapons. I felt weaker and weaker with each step as the asthenés plásma started to work on us. When we reached the building, we ran along the front until we reached the broken windows that we’d snuck out of just a few hours earlier. Everybody was at the front of the camp, fighting off Clarissa. Our plan was working beautifully so far.
Selena and I ran as fast as we could towards the stairwell door. As before, it was dark in there. My eyes glowed blue, lighting up the room. I reached out for Selena, and she wrapped her arms around me. I held her as I began to fly up the stairwell as fast as I could.
We didn’t make it very far before my fastest was only as quick as a human could have run up the stairs. With each floor we passed, the light from my eyes grew dimmer and dimmer, and I flew slower and slower. The supplies hanging off me felt heavier, and having to carry Selena wasn’t helping.
We were almost three-quarters of the way up when my powers gave out altogether.
“What’s going on?” Selena asked as I fumbled for the light attached to my vest.
“I don’t know,” I said as I flicked the light on. Selena turned hers on right after. “I should still have my powers. I did last time.” Th
en a realization dawned on me. “Unless he has more Supers up there with him. He said the more Supers the asthenés plásma feeds off of, the stronger it gets. If he has enough Supers up there, it’d be strong enough to take away even my powers.”
“So, what you’re saying is that when we get up there, we’re going to have company?” Selena asked with a sigh.
I nodded. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
She gripped her assault rifle tighter. “Alright, then, let’s get to it.”
The rest of the way up the stairwell was slow and tiring. Our weapons weighed heavy on us, and the stairs seemed never-ending. We kept having to stop every once in a while to take a breath. We didn’t want to show up on the top floor winded and tired. The explosions and gunfire from the battle taking place outside made sure we didn’t stop for long. We needed to get to the top and end it all, and we needed to do it fast.
We reached the fifty-third floor, two away from the top, and rested once more. This was the last chance we were going to get before we stepped into whatever was waiting for us on the fifty-fifth floor.
“We should’ve done some weapons training,” I said.
Selena scoffed. “I don’t think we were expecting to have to use guns.”
I nodded. “I know I didn’t. Still, we should’ve been prepared.”
“Well, we know now. That military guy that Samantha has back in Texas should be able to show us a few tricks.”
“She told you about that?” I asked.
Selena nodded. “We talked a bit last night.”
We sat in silence for another thirty seconds or so, catching our breath and getting mentally ready.
The War of the Supers (The First Superhero Book 3) Page 12
