Okay, maybe that was a bit dramatic, but the point remained. For the second time in the past year, my life had changed forever. “I’m going to continue being Tempest,” I said. “With Atlas and his Legion of Richter hiding in the shadows, waiting to strike, now’s not the time to give up. It’s just going to be impossible to be Kane Andrews.”
“What about your parents?” Doug asked.
I sighed. I felt so guilty. Their lives were now ruined forever because of me. They would be less recognizable than I was, but Dad would never be able to practice law again, that was for sure. I had no idea what they were going to do. “I don’t know, Doug.”
“I can’t get hold of Holocene. She was out all night trying to track down some info on Atlas,” Samantha said with a frustrated grunt.
“She’s going to be in for a surprise once she wakes up,” I said.
“That’s for sure,” Samantha said, followed quickly by, “Holy shit.”
“Oh, no, what is it?” I said, walking around her desk. I glanced at her computer screen and things went from bad to worse.
“We’ve just received this video from a superhuman named Atlas, leader of a gang known as the Legion of Richter. We’re receiving reports from local law enforcement that Atlas and his gang have taken out the Super Task Force soldiers in the area and have taken hostages inside Ebon High School. In the video, he appears to be calling out Tempest, recently identified as seventeen-year-old Kane Andrews. Watch,” the news reporter said.
The screen shifted to a shot of Atlas pointing a camera at himself. “Hello, Tempest. Or Kane. I’ll have to find out which you prefer when I see you,” he said. I could hear chuckles in the background. “It’s been a few years since I’ve been in high school, but some things never change. Everybody has a group. A clique. Yours seems to have dwindled in the past few months. First your friend Michael is killed when you and Richter drop a roof on him—which, by the way, bravo. Then there was Drew, who I found out actually used to work for the STF. How crazy is that? Your own best friend, working for the enemy. Well, your clique is about to take another hit.” The camera panned to the right and the shot rested on one of the people he had taken hostage: Macy.
She had been crying, but I had a feeling it wasn’t out of fear of Atlas. She looked at him with strong, fierce eyes. She wasn’t afraid. And I had a feeling it was because she knew that I’d save her, just like I had all those months ago when I’d first discovered my powers.
“Look here, it’s the famous Macy Westling, the first person you saved. This is just too great. So poetic. Not only the first person you saved, but also your ex-girlfriend? I can’t make this up, people!” Atlas turned the camera back to himself. “So, Tempest. Kane. Whatever. You’d better get down here to good ol’ Ebon High, home of the fighting Eagles. I’d like to have that talk we were supposed to have in Oregon before you flew off on me. I really want to introduce myself, but I also really want to kill Little Miss Macy. So either you come say hi, or Macy’s going to take a fall from the top of the high school auditorium, the place our father Richter dropped her. The place where it all began. You may be cowering in some seedy hotel room right now, so you might not have the news on at this moment. So I’ll give you a little bit of time to see this. You have three hours. If you aren’t here by then, Macy goes skydiving without a parachute. Then it’s on to the next hostage…”
The camera cut off and the screen turned back to the reporter. It took her a few moments to gather her thoughts, and by the time she had, I was already on my way to Ebon.
44
INTRODUCTIONS
I HOVERED over Ebon High School, watching as the many news vans, police vehicles, and helicopters circled the area.
“Kane, you should wait for Holocene,” Samantha said.
“I can’t, Samantha. I can do this. He just wants to talk. If anything goes bad, I can get Macy out of there and stay back until Holocene arrives,” I told her.
“I don’t know, Kane. I don’t like this. You haven’t even had time to think or process any of this.”
“I don’t have time, Samantha! Atlas is going to kill Macy. I don’t have time to wait around and process my feelings.” And the truth was, this was a welcome distraction. I wasn’t sure how to be Kane Andrews anymore, but being Tempest was easy. “Stick around. I might need you,” I said.
I flew down toward the auditorium. I landed at the front doors, then paused for a moment to make sure the cameras were on me. I wanted them to see that I was standing up to Atlas. I wasn’t cowering away. I was going to save Macy and the rest of the hostages.
I was a hero.
I opened the door and walked in. I could only imagine how badly all the reporters were freaking out at that moment. I entered the large gym, the room that held so many memories.
In the center sat about thirty hostages, a mixture of faculty and students. They were all sitting on the floor except for Macy, who was sitting tied to a chair. Atlas was standing behind her, watching me as I walked in.
Four Supers were flying around the room, doing nothing but trying to look intimidating. There were six men in black uniforms holding Eximus blasters.
“Oh my gosh, it’s worse than I thought. Are those non-Super human soldiers?” Samantha said.
I didn’t respond, but I held the same suspicion.
“Ah, Kane Andrews. It’s a pleasure,” Atlas said as I got close. He extended his hand, but I didn’t shake it.
“I’m here. Let her go,” I said, looking at Macy. She looked up at me, fighting back a smile. She knew I’d save her, like I had what seemed like years ago, back in July.
“I’m a man of my word and will do so when we’re through. We have some things to discuss first,” Atlas said.
“I’m not discussing anything unless the hostages are free,” I told him, my voice firm and confident. I wasn’t going to budge.
Atlas made a gesture and the Supers who had been flying around the gym landed behind me. “You’re in no position to negotiate, Kane.”
“Call me Tempest,” I said.
“I don’t see you wearing your Tempest attire,” Atlas said, looking me up and down. “All I see is some high schooler here to save his girlfriend.”
I gritted my teeth, but said nothing in return. He was right. I couldn’t negotiate and I couldn’t fight without putting Macy and the other hostages in danger. I started to realize that rushing in here might’ve been a mistake.
“I would like to tell you about the Legion of Richter,” Atlas said as he clasped his hands together, his long fingers intertwining. “See if you’d be interested in joining.”
“Why the hell would I join something called ‘the Legion of Richter’? I killed Richter, in case you forgot,” I said, trying to appear as tough as possible.
“Yes, of course. And for that I thank you. You see, when you killed Richter, he was no longer restrained by his human form. He was able to evolve to a higher plane of existence and he’s chosen me as his messenger,” Atlas said. He stood tall and proud, as if he were the most important person in the world. As if what he was saying were actually true.
“You really believe that?” I said. “I don’t know if I’d be taking orders from someone who was so easy to kill.”
Atlas laughed. “Richter isn’t dead, Kane. I’ve already explained that. He has a plan for the world, a plan the two of us came up with together. A plan that can either include you, or exclude you. The choice is yours.”
I stood there for a moment, waiting for more, but there was none. Atlas simply stood there, waiting for my answer. “Really? That’s all you’ve got? You aren’t going to give me any sort of idea what this plan is?”
One of the Supers behind me chuckled, but I ignored her.
“Kane—”
“Tempest.”
“I’m not going to tell you. Not unless you join me. I will say that if you don’t, I’ll kill you. Very easily, too. While you were out gallivanting, I was studying. Learning. Richter taught me many thing
s about my powers. I’m more powerful than you and him combined. I will kill you. I’ll kill everyone you care about. I swear to you.”
I shook my head and chuckled. “Do you know how I know you’re crazy?”
Atlas smirked. “Please, enlighten me.”
“If you really believed what you’re saying about Richter, there’s no way you’d be asking me to join you. I killed him.”
“I will not stand for your blasphemy!” Atlas shouted. “You did Richter a favor! You released him!”
“No, I killed him!” I shouted back. I took a step forward. “Do you know what I think? You want me to join you, because you know that if I don’t, I’ll do everything in my power to stop you. You’re afraid of me. Afraid I might beat you. That I might win. Well, let me tell you something, you piece of shit. I’m gonna kill you just like I killed your god.”
Atlas slammed his fist into my chest, hitting harder than I’d even been hit before. I went flying backwards, right through the walls of the gymnasium. I heard Macy scream, but it sounded faint as I rocketed through the parking lot of the school.
I slammed into a line of parked cars, sending all five of them up in a fiery explosion. People screamed as they fled and camera crews zoomed in, ready to catch the action.
I stood up, my body already beginning to heal itself. I walked out of the flames and pulled the burning clothes off me, revealing the Tempest outfit I had been secretly wearing underneath. I pulled the hood up and my eyes began to glow. I rocketed back through the parking lot and flew through the hole I’d made in the wall on the way out.
I landed, sliding across the wooden gym floor. The hostages began cheering, but Atlas’ crew shushed them.
Atlas cocked his head to the side as he examined me. “All right, then. Let’s see what Tempest is made of.”
45
FULL CIRCLE
ATLAS’ CREW CHARGED at me all at once. I jumped over their heads quickly and kicked the guy in the middle hard in the back. He rocketed into the wall, but didn’t go through. He slammed into it, groaning in pain. These guys weren’t as strong as I was, it seemed.
The girl who had laughed at me earlier was faster than the others. She turned around and reached me in seconds. She swung once, but I ducked beneath her punch. She was ready for that, though, and her next punch was low. Her fist slammed into my face and I stumbled sideways.
She came at me swinging, but I dodged her and she missed. She stumbled forward and I used her momentum to grab her wrist and swing her around. I threw her through the backboard of one of the basketball nets. Glass exploded everywhere and she hung tangled in the twisted metal of the net.
One of the other guys charged at me again, but I went on the offensive. I leaped at him, slamming him backwards, then grabbed his shirt and flew upwards. I slammed him into the ceiling and then swung him in the air, slamming him into the wall again. I threw him into the lighting system of the gym, causing the lights to explode and electricity to course through him. The lights flickered and the man fell thirty feet to the ground in a smoking crater.
A bolt of Eximus exploded next to me. Atlas’ soldiers had begun shooting at me. Atlas was getting worried.
I flew down to the soldiers and extended my arm. I flew past their feet, hitting them with my arm. They were knocked in the air and fell to the ground in a heap. I picked up the gun from the last guy in the line, turned around and shot all of them. They seized as the electricity flowed through them, knocking them unconscious.
One of Atlas’ guys wrapped his arms around me from behind, sending me tumbling into the wall next to me. I tried to get him off me, but he was holding on too tight. He tried to take the gun from my hands, but I kept a firm grip. Almost too firm, as I felt the handle of the gun begin to bend beneath my hands.
The struggling caused me to hit the trigger, sending bolts of Eximus all over the room. People screamed as they dodged the blasts. I was able to get my elbow loose enough that I could slam it into my attacker’s stomach. He went flying backwards off me, and I turned around in mid-air. I fired two bolts into him as he tumbled backwards. He fell to the ground in an electrified heap.
I turned to face Atlas, who was fuming with anger at the failures of his goons. I aimed the Eximus gun at him and fired a handful of bolts at him, but he saw them coming. He dodged them with ease.
He leaped through the air and before I knew it, he slammed me into the ground, his foot on top of me holding me down. I grabbed his ankle to throw him off me, but when I pushed against it he didn’t budge.
That’s impossible, I thought. I struggled against him, pushing his leg, wiggling beneath his grasp, doing everything I could to escape. Nothing worked.
He was too strong. Way stronger than I was.
“How are you…” I tried to finish the sentence, but I couldn’t get the words out. I was struggling too hard.
“You were the second person to become a Super, yet you’re still so naïve,” Atlas said, as calm as he could be. “You’ll pay for this. The end will begin the same way the beginning did, with Macy Westling falling from the rooftop.”
Atlas took his foot off me and dashed to Macy, grabbed her, and disappeared outside the building.
I jumped up and ran outside as fast as I could. I looked up and saw Atlas standing at the edge of the Ebon High gymnasium roof, holding Macy over the edge by her throat.
He let her go.
I jumped up to catch her, exactly as I had all those months ago, moving so fast she fell in slow motion. But Atlas didn’t.
Atlas slammed into me, knocking me away from Macy. I wasn’t going to let him stop me. Before he could pin me to the ground, I flew out from beneath his feet. Macy inched to the ground, all in painfully slow motion. I reached out for her, felt her red hair between my fingers.
Atlas tackled me, sending the two of us flying through the gymnasium. We exited out the back wall and I got out of his grip. I flew over the rooftop and saw Macy as she reached the halfway point.
I flew down, but Atlas got hold of me again. He grabbed me and threw me straight down to the ground, right through the roof of the gymnasium. I caught myself before I hit the ground and redirected my flight path.
I flew out through the wall, bricks freezing in the air as the wall exploded around me. I stood right beneath Macy. I could almost reach up to grab her.
Atlas came at me one last time. He grabbed me and began to fly along the wall of the gym, holding me out in front of him the whole way. My body slammed into the wall nonstop. The pain was immense, but I ignored it. I had to save Macy.
Atlas was angry, and that meant he was sloppy. His grip wasn’t tight enough on me and he was leaning a little too far forward. I placed my foot on his chest and using his momentum, threw him off me, far into the air.
I flew to Macy just in time. I wrapped my arms around her, slowing her descent. Time sped up back to normal as I slowed down. I shielded Macy with my body as the gymnasium fell to the ground behind us, unable to stand after the beating Atlas and I had put on it in a matter of seconds.
After the dust and debris had settled, I stood, helping Macy up. “You okay?” I asked.
She wrapped her arms around me. “I don’t know what to say. Thank you.”
I smiled as we let go. “No problem. All part of my job.”
Macy smiled and was about to say something else, but four gunshots rang out.
Four bullet holes appeared in Macy’s chest.
I caught her before she fell to the ground, but she was dead before I even laid a finger on her.
“I was trying to be poetic, but I guess I’ll stick to just getting the job done from now on.” Atlas threw aside the pistol he’d used to kill Macy. “See you soon, Kane,” he said, then launched himself into the air.
I didn’t follow. I couldn’t. I was numb. I let out a bloodcurdling scream that shattered the windows of all the cars around me.
I didn’t want it to be true. It couldn’t be. But as I looked down at her lifeless body,
I couldn’t deny it.
Macy was dead, and there was nothing I could do to save her.
46
CLOUDED JUDGMENT
IT WAS cold on the night Macy died as I waited on a rooftop in Dallas for Holocene.
I still couldn’t believe she was dead, and it was all because of me. Because they’d found out who Tempest was. This was exactly what I’d worked so hard to avoid. I didn’t even know how they’d been able to figure out who I was, but that didn’t matter anymore. All that mattered now was that I stopped Atlas. I needed to keep my mind off everything. I didn’t want to think. I didn’t want to process. I just wanted to fight.
Holocene landed on the rooftop five minutes after we were supposed to meet.
“You’re late,” I said.
“Sorry about that,” she said, brushing her brown hair behind her ear. “I was a little busy. I’m sorry about your friend. Well, everything, really. I should’ve been there.”
Yeah, you should’ve, I thought. I didn’t want to think about the fact that Samantha had told me to wait. That maybe if I’d listened and waited for Holocene, Macy would still be alive. Atlas wouldn’t have gotten away. Maybe—there I went. Thinking about it. “What do you know about Atlas and the Legion? Samantha said you were out last night chasing some leads.”
Holocene hesitated and crossed her arms. “Are you sure you want to do this? You don’t want to talk or anything?”
“No, Holocene, I don’t,” I snapped.
“Tempest, you’re upset right now. You need some time. We all understand that. You’ve been through a lot,” she said, taking a step forward.
I shrank back. “I don’t want time. Time is the last thing I have to waste. I spent six months in a coma on the moon, for chrissakes. ‘Taking time’ is the last thing I want to do!” I yelled.
“Okay, Tempest, you need to quiet down,” Holocene said, raising her hands to calm me. She took a couple more steps forward. It was like she was approaching a cornered feral animal.
The First Superhero (Book 2): The Siege of the Supers Page 15
