by Lucas Flint
“My new seed bombs,” said Treehugger, showing me a few she had not thrown. “When they explode, they unleash a bunch of vines that can capture any target. They’re pretty useful.”
I was about to agree, but then I heard a bunch of snapping sounds and looked to see that Jawtooth had already freed himself from the vines that had ensnared him. He ran toward us, but I flew toward him and punched him in the face.
Or tried to. When my fist came at him, he caught it with his fist and then slammed me onto the street, actually cracking it upon impact. The impact jarred my senses, which allowed Jawtooth to stomp on me before I could even react.
But I recovered quickly and shoved him off my body, sending him staggering backwards. Jumping to my feet, I slammed my fist square against Jawtooth’s stomach, the blow hitting him hard enough to knock him flat off his feet.
“Blizzard!” I shouted. “Freeze him, quick!”
Blizzard, thankfully, didn’t even wait. She just waved her hands and Jawtooth was instantly encased in a thick block of ice that froze him securely against the street, with his head the only part of his body that was free. He struggled to break out of it, but even with his massive strength, he couldn’t even crack the ice, much less break it.
“You stay there,” I told Jawtooth. “Trust me, you’re safer frozen to the street than fighting us.”
“Piss off, kid,” Jawtooth snapped. “Once I get out of here, I’ll—”
Jawtooth stopped speaking when thick ice appeared over his mouth. His nose was left unfrozen, but now he couldn’t talk. He just made some very angry muffled noises, but it made him look more silly than threatening.
I looked over at Blizzard, who was holding her glowing white hand up. “Thanks. I was getting tired of listening to his dumb threats.”
“No problem,” said Blizzard. “Why don’t we go see if the others need help defeating Intellect?”
“Good idea,” I said.
I looked over in the direction I’d seen Intellect go and saw that the other three had already taken him down. His hover chair lay in shredded parts on the street, no doubt thanks to Talon’s claws, while Intellect himself lay on the street looking paralyzed, which was probably due to Stinger’s paralyzing, well, stinger. And Shell was putting some metallic handcuffs around Intellect’s hands, while Stinger and Talon stood around looking like they were ready to beat Intellect’s oversized head in if he tried anything suspicious.
“Well, it looks like they don’t need our help,” Treehugger observed.
“No shocker there,” I said. I gestured at Jawtooth. “Without Jawtooth’s strength, Intellect isn’t very good at hand-to-hand fights. Or at least that’s what I’ve always heard, anyway.”
“I’m just glad we took them down so fast,” said Blizzard. She glanced at her watch. “It has to be a new record for the team, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah,” I said, nodding. “We’re getting better and better every mission. Now we just need to wait for the police to arrive so we can tell them what happened and—”
I heard—no, felt—something zip by me without me even seeing it. In fact, the only indications that something had run by me was a short gust of wind that followed, which sent Blizzard’s hood and cape fluttering and Treehugger’s hair flying around her head for a moment.
“What was that?” said Treehugger, grabbed her hair and looking around in confusion. “Did you all feel something?”
“I did,” I said. I looked to the left and to the right, but I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. “Was it just a sudden gust of—”
Without warning, a nearby parked car suddenly flew toward us, like someone had thrown it. Treehugger and Blizzard just stared at it in shock, but I immediately flew through the air and caught the car before it could crash into us.
But as soon as I caught it, I smelled a burning stench, which I realized too late was the stench of burning gasoline. And before I could toss the car away, it exploded in my hands. The explosion sent me flying backwards uncontrollably through the air.
I crashed into the side of a building, sending chunks of concrete flying everywhere. My head hurt and there was a ringing in my ears that made it impossible to hear anything. My suit, thankfully, had saved my body from the worst of the explosion, but it was blackened and smoking and part of my hair felt burned away, though I couldn’t see what my head looked like at the moment.
Shaking my head, I looked down and saw that the others had scattered, most likely to avoid the debris of the explosion. Blizzard had somehow managed to summon a thick ice barrier around herself and Treehugger, which was filled with shrapnel from the exploding car, while Stinger, Shell, and Talon had taken refuge behind another parked car. As for Jawtooth and Intellect, they were still where they had been moments before, although now the ice keeping Jawtooth down was covered in sharp, burning pieces of metal and there was a bad cut across his face where a piece of shrapnel had hit him.
I saw Blizzard shouting at me, as were the others, but the ringing in my ears continued to persist. I tried to shout back at them that I was okay, but I couldn’t even hear myself over the ringing.
Then I saw him. It was just a glimpse—a tall, shadowy figure wearing some kind of helmet and goggles—but it was just enough for me to realize that the fight wasn’t over yet.
But he vanished instantly, although I thought I saw him moving in the general direction of Blizzard and Treehugger.
Before I could shout at them to watch out, Blizzard’s ice barrier suddenly shattered. Blizzard and Treehugger turned around, but they were knocked down by some powerful force before they could even react. Blizzard and Treehugger lay on the ground, unconscious, while a gust of wind that sent their hair fluttering indicated that the mysterious assailant was still active.
Realizing what was about to happen next, I looked toward the other three and shouted at them to defend themselves, but they seemed too stunned at seeing Blizzard and Treehugger defeated so easily that they didn’t even move from their position. Only Talon, surprisingly enough, reacted, jumping on top of the car that she and the others were hiding behind and flashing her claws.
But she was too late, because something hit her hard in the face and she instantly collapsed. Stinger tried to fly, but he got maybe a few feet off the ground before something slammed him into the street so hard that he actually created cracks where he hit.
That left only poor Shell, who was now staggering away like he wasn’t sure what to do. But I saw a discarded newspaper flutter behind him and managed to shout, “Shell! Defensive position!”
Somehow I managed to hear myself—apparently the ringing in my ears had faded by now—but more importantly, Shell heard me. He immediately dropped to the ground and folded his arms and legs under his body, leaving only his hard back exposed.
Yet even that didn’t help, because something kicked Shell and sent him flying. He slammed back-first into a lamp post and dented it so hard that it bent over. Shell then fell onto the street, where he lay quite still.
“No!” I shouted.
I pulled myself out of the building and jumped back down to the street. I wasn’t sure who to go to first, but it didn’t matter, because I heard something coming at me at an extreme pace.
Then I heard a whistling sound through the air and, using my best estimates, raised my arm to block the attack. Something thick and hard struck my arm, forcing me down, but not knocking me out. I heard a grunt of surprise from whoever had hit me, but I didn’t give him a chance to respond. I just punched at what I thought was the attacker’s body, but before my fist could connect, the pressure on my arm faded and I heard the attacker jump backwards out of my way.
Panting, I said, “Show yourself, you coward. Or are you just afraid of teenagers or something?”
A deep laugh suddenly came from nowhere, followed a split second later by the sudden appearance of the figure I had seen earlier. Only now, he was still, so I could get a better look at his appearance.
He was tall an
d lean, kind of like an ostrich. He wore a red spandex suit that looked like fire, while his face was blocked by an aerodynamic helmet and goggles. I could see his eyes, however, which were a bright green. He also carried a large metal pipe-like weapon in his hands, which must have been the weapon he had used to attack me with before.
“Me? Afraid of teenagers?” said the guy. “I just wiped the floor with your entire team in less time than it takes to reheat a piece of pizza in the microwave. Trust me, you are not scary in the least.”
“Then who are you?” I said. “Let me guess, an accomplice of Jawtooth and Intellect’s that we didn’t know about?”
“Funny,” said the guy, “but wrong. I have nothing to do with those two losers. My real business is with you.”
The guy pointed at me with his metal pipe, which I expected to start shooting lasers or something, but nothing came out of it.
“Me?” I said. “Why? I’ve never met you before.”
“True, but you’ve met one of my friends before,” said the guy. “Just earlier today, in fact.”
“Earlier today …?” I tried to remember who he could possibly be referring to, and then I gasped. “Do you mean Twinfist?”
“Exactly,” said the guy. He rested his metal pipe on his shoulder. “You can call me Sight Unseen, or Sight for short. Of course, you can also call me Test Subject Zero Zero Eight, too, if you want.”
“You’re another Test Subject,” I said. I took a battle stance. “I thought you guys wanted to kill my grandfather. Why are you here?”
“Because the old bastard is already gone,” said Sight. “I went to his mansion after Twinfist came back whining about leg problems, but the entire place was cleared out by the time I got there. I don’t know how he did it, but I suppose your grandfather has had plenty of experience packing up and moving on short notice.”
“Still doesn’t explain why you’re here,” I said. “Why aren’t you searching for my grandfather instead?”
“Because we don’t know where he is, idiot,” said Sight. “You, on the other hand, might. And since none of us were blessed with telepathy—unlike good old Cadmus, who is a traitor who I will probably shoot the next time I see him—Echo told me to look for you and force you to tell us where Matthew is.”
“You’re wasting your time, then,” I said, “because Grandfather didn’t tell me where he was going, either.”
“What a weak lie,” said Sight. “Do you really think I’’d be naïve enough to believe you? But I must admit, I do find it admirable that you would defend your grandfather like that. So many kids nowadays have no loyalty toward their elders.”
“I’m not lying,” I said. “You really are wasting your time. Go look elsewhere for Grandfather, if you want him.”
“A persistent little liar you are,” said Sight. He sighed. “It looks like I’ll have to beat the truth out of you, then.”
Without warning, Sight vanished. I thought he was going to attack me, but then I heard the wind howling in a different direction and looked over to see Sight standing above Blizzard. He grabbed her by the collar of her hood and held her up, holding his pipe close to her head. Blizzard was still unconscious, so she did not react to Sight’s grabbing her.
“What are you doing?” I said, turning to face Sight. “Let her go or else.”
“Or else what?” said Sight. “You may be able to move fast, but I know you can’t move fast enough to save your teammate. Just one good blow to the head and I can kill her before she even realizes she’s dead.”
I stepped forward. “Drop her now. Or else.”
“No,” said Sight. “I will only let the girl go if you tell me where your grandfather is. I really don’t want to kill her, because she really doesn’t have anything to do with my mission, but I am perfectly willing to do what I must, no matter how unpleasant it may be, if it will give me what I want.”
My hands balled into fists. Sight was definitely a powerful guy; maybe not as strong as me, but I had no doubt that he could kill Blizzard if he really wanted. And, even though I could run really fast with my super speed, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to stop him in time to save Blizzard. The mad look in his eyes told me that he was very serious about killing Blizzard, which made me feel angry but powerless.
Then I felt something at my foot and, glancing down quickly, saw a couple of Treehugger’s seed bombs near my right foot. I wondered how they had gotten here, seeing as Treehugger was all the way over there. Maybe she had tossed the ones she had been carrying away when Sight knocked her down.
Regardless, I was beginning to see a way I could beat Sight without harming Blizzard. I just needed to distract him long enough for it to work.
“Okay, Sight,” I said. “I can tell you where my grandfather is, but only if you promise to let Blizzard go first.”
“Let the girl go first?” said Sight. “Nice try, boy, but I’m not that stupid. I know that if I let go of this girl, you’ll just attack me. No. Location of your grandfather first.”
“Fine,” I said. “But maybe instead of telling you where my grandfather is, I’ll just give you the flash drive containing his location. That way, you can take it back to Echo and have all of that information in one handy place.”
“All right,” said Sight. “Then give me the flash drive.”
“Okay,” I said.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the blank flash drive from before, the one I’d gotten from Mom and had removed from my computer before leaving to fight Intellect and Jawtooth. But then I ‘accidentally’ dropped the blank drive onto the pavement near my feet.
“Oops,” I said. “I dropped it. Let me pick it up.”
Quickly, I bent over and picked up the blank flash drive, while also scooping up the seed bombs near my feet. As I stood up, I held out the flash drive toward Sight, while hiding the seed bombs in my other hand, which was clasped firmly shut so he could not see what I was holding.
“Here you go,” I said. “Come and take it.”
But Sight didn’t move. “Bring it over to me.”
“Why?” I said. “Can’t you just zoom over here and take it from me yourself?”
“Because I am the one with the power here, not you,” said Sight. “I will repeat this once more: Bring it over to me. Or I will kill the girl.”
Blizzard still hadn’t woken up yet. She did stir slightly, however, which I took as a positive sign that she—and maybe the others—were all right and hadn’t been as seriously injured by Sight’s attack as I thought.
So I walked across the street toward Sight, holding the flash drive out all the while. Sight didn’t even move as I approached, although I noticed his eyes carefully watching my every move. I kept the seed bombs in my hand hidden, so I didn’t think that he noticed them, but I still felt a little anxious that he would eventually notice and my plan would fall apart.
When I was just a few steps from Sight—just close enough for him to reach out and take my flash drive without having to walk over to me—I stopped. “Okay, here it is. Put Blizzard down and take it.”
Sight hesitated, like he suspected this was some kind of trick, but then he reached toward the flash drive in my hand. I tightened my grip on the seed bombs, ready to throw them as soon as Sight touched the flash drive.
But then, all of a sudden, Sight grabbed my wrist and twisted my arm. I gasped in pain as I dropped the flash drive onto the pavement, while Sight shoved Blizzard to the street and brought me closer to him, an angry scowl on his lips.
“Did you think I was fooled by your fake flash drive?” said Sight. His grip was surprisingly strong, which made it hurt all the more. “I know that that flash drive could harm us. No, I am going to make you tell me where he is verbally, rather than take a chance with an unknown device that might not have anything on it at all.”
The pain from my twisted arm was intense, but I was not going to tell Sight anything. I immediately threw the seed bombs at his face, throwing them as hard and as fast as I coul
d so he couldn’t dodge them.
The seed bombs exploded against Sight’s helmet, causing him to shout in surprise and let go of me. His hands flew to his helmet as he tried to remove the vines covering his goggles and head, which left him entirely defenseless.
I punched him in the gut, the blow making him double over in pain before I gave him a surprise uppercut. The blow knocked him onto his back and I slammed my foot on his chest before he could get up. I put a lot of pressure on his chest, pinning him to the street so he couldn’t get up and escape.
“Got you,” I said. “Bet you weren’t expecting that, were you?”
I expected Sight to give up and beg for mercy, but to my surprise, he instead began vibrating his body so fast that my leg and later my very body began to vibrate with him.
As a result, I let up on the pressure I had put on him and he shoved me off. I staggered backwards, but before I could regain my balance, Sight jumped to his feet and slugged me with his metal pipe.
The blow came hard and fast, knocking me flat off my feet. Dazed by the attack, I looked up just in time to see Sight raise his pipe above his head, ready to bring it down on my head and probably knock me out.
But before Sight could hit me, loud police sirens suddenly blared everywhere, causing Sight to hesitate and look around. Then he cursed and said, “Damn it, the police are here. Wasted too much time fighting you. Echo will be pissed.” He looked down at me and scowled. “We’ll continue this later.”
Before I could stop him, Sight turned invisible. Then I felt the same gust of wind that followed him whenever he ran off, though I was still too disoriented by the attack to stop him. I just sat up, shaking my head, as the police sirens grew louder and louder, feeling both grateful and worried. Grateful that my friends and I had survived, but worried that Sight would strike again soon.
Chapter Seven
I sat in the Meeting Room of the House at the end of the table nearest the door, while Mecha Knight sat at the other end opposite me, his helmeted face as inscrutable as always. I was tired and exhausted from my fight with Sight, but when the team and I had returned to Hero Island, Mecha Knight had insisted on having a private meeting in the Meeting Room with me about it, since he wanted to know why Sight had attacked me and what he’d spoken with me about.
