by Lucas Flint
But whether or not Emma was trying to manipulate me, what mattered was saving Grandmother. Yeah, maybe Grandmother was better off without Grandfather, but I doubted the Test Subjects would treat her any better than Grandfather. If anything, given how Grandfather had kept Grandmother alive for so long, the Test Subjects might even treat her worse. It was kind of like taking your hand out of a burning fire and instead sticking it into a garbage disposal; yeah, your hand isn’t on fire anymore, but it’s probably going to get shredded now.
Anyway, when Emma and I left the House, I asked her whether we were going to fly to the Test Subjects’ location or not. She told me that we were not going to fly, mostly because Emma hated flying; instead, we were going to take a teleportation ring that Emma apparently had.
I asked her where she got the ring and she told me that it was based off something that Dad had designed in his teenage years, shortly after he gained his super intelligence. She said that Dad had thrown away the blueprints because he hadn’t been able to make it work at the time, but Grandfather had saved them and kept them until he found someone who could make it work. According to Emma, Grandfather had a lot of tech like this and had given her some of it so she could better protect Grandfather and Grandmother. I wondered why she couldn’t just use it to teleport into the Test Subjects’ base and save Grandmother by herself, but she told me that it couldn’t teleport through solid objects, which was why she needed my help.
I was actually really surprised when I heard that, because I hadn’t known that Grandfather was using technology designed by Dad. Then again, it made sense, given that Dad had been Grandfather’s son and had been designing advanced technology since a young age. I wondered if Dad had known about it, though, and whether he approved of it or not. I doubted that he did.
Anyway, when we teleported from Hero Island, we ended up in the middle of a dark forest that Emma told me was somewhere in upstate New York. My watch’s GPS feature confirmed that for me, so I believed her.
Like I said, the forest was dark, thanks to the thick trees overhead that obscured the sun, letting in only a few weak rays. Birds chirped and squirrels could be heard overhead, though with how thick the branches were, it was almost impossible to actually see any of the birds or squirrels. Aside from that, however, it was very quiet and calm and there was no one else here besides us. It was also damp and wet, like it had just rained recently, and the ground was muddy as well.
“Okay, Emma,” I said, looking around the area to get an idea of our surroundings. “Where is the Test Subjects’ base? Do they have a tree house or something?”
Emma looked at me in annoyance. “No. Their base is near here, but we will have to walk for a little bit. I teleported us away from it so they would not notice our arrival. They still believe that no one knows where they are, so we must have the element of surprise on our side if we are to successfully challenge and defeat them.”
“So we’re going to try to sneak up on them, then?” I said. “You know, I could just use my super speed to break into the base, take them all out, and save Grandmother at the same time.”
Emma snorted. “They aren’t that stupid. You have already fought two of them, so they already know your powers and the extent of your abilities. They most likely have set up defenses to counter your powers; at the very least, if you fight them, your chances of victory are a lot lower than they should be.”
“All right,” I said. “Then lead the way. I don’t know where they are, so I can’t go and save Grandmother if you don’t show me where they are.”
Emma nodded and then immediately started walking forward. I followed her, doing my best to walk as silently as I could, but I wasn’t nearly as graceful as her. Then again, one of Emma’s superpowers was the ability to walk without making a sound, so it wasn’t that surprising that she was better at it than me.
We walked in silence for a few minutes, the only sound being the crunching of twigs beneath our feet and the sound of branches brushing against our bodies. But it wasn’t long before I caught a glimpse of a building just beyond the trees, and then it was only a few seconds later that we emerged from the trees and brush into a much more open area.
Standing in front of us was what looked like a large, abandoned barn. Its exterior had chipped red paint, while its doors—which were closed—seemed like they were just barely hanging on. A strong scent of manure and hay entered my nostrils, even when Emma and I knelt behind some bushes to keep us from being seen.
“Is that it?” I whispered, gesturing at the barn. “Is that their base?”
Emma nodded. “Yes. It isn’t much, but the Test Subjects are not exactly a powerful supervillain organization. Like my master, they move locations often, so I imagine they’ve had other bases before this one.”
“Right,” I said. “So how many people are in there? Do you know?”
“I do not, but I suspect that most of the Test Subjects are in there,” said Emma. “That means Echo, Twinfist, Sight Unseen, and the man who kidnapped your grandmother, at the very least.”
“So we have a minimum of four superhumans, then,” I said. “And each one of them is a formidable challenge in themselves.”
“Yes,” said Emma. “Thus, we will have to be very careful about how we go about saving your grandmother. If they see us before we rescue her, they will probably kill her. Trust me, the Test Subjects are not kind people.”
“I know,” I said. “What’s the plan, then? Have you already scouted the place out?”
“I have,” said Emma. “I know how to get in and out without being seen. It is not a very secure location. The real problem is getting your grandmother out; I am not very strong, even by normal human standards, so I will have a hard time carrying her out by myself. It will make me slow, slow enough that the Test Subjects might see me and take me out before I can get very far.”
“I see,” I said. “So you want me to go in with you and then carry Grandmother out, right?”
But Emma shook her head. “No, no. You are supposed to distract them while I sneak in and get Grandmother.”
“Distract them?” I said. “How?”
“However you can,” Emma said. “Twinfist and Sight probably remember how you beat them, so I doubt they will waste any time trying to get you. Knowing Echo, she will probably send that other man out as well, which would leave her alone in the barn with your grandmother.”
“You talk like you’ve met them before,” I said. “Have you?”
“No, but my master knew them in Project Neo and told me about their character and personalities,” said Emma. “By using this information, we can exploit the weaknesses in their character and crush them like eggs.”
I wasn’t sure about the ‘crush them like eggs’ part, but I nodded anyway and said, “Okay, when do we start the plan?”
“Now,” said Emma.
Without warning, Emma shoved me out of the bushes with surprising strength. I rolled across the ground briefly before I stopped and lay on the ground, feeling dizzy from the roll. But I soon shook my head and looked over my shoulder back at the bushes, but I could not see her. I hoped that she could see my glare, though, because I was annoyed at being shoved like that.
Still, I knew it would not be very smart to be in such a vulnerable position, so I scrambled to my feet and shouted, “Hey, losers! Guess who wants his grandma back!”
No response. Huh. Either I wasn’t shouting loudly enough or they’re ignoring me. I bet they’re ignoring me, because they don’t seem to have a very high opinion of me from what I’ve seen of them. I supposed I’d have to go in and force them to fight me, whether they wanted to or not.
I took only one step forward, however, before I heard the sound of rushing wind, a sound that brought back bad memories. Instinctively, I ducked and felt something fly over my head. I lashed out with a fist, but missed whatever was rushing by me, though I still heard it moving behind me.
Turning around, I saw Sight Unseen materialize seemingly out of
thin air. He was as tall and lean as always, with his pipe at his side. His eyes were burning with anger.
“Bolt,” said Sight, saying my name like it was an insult. “Here to save your grandmother, I assume. I won’t ask how you found out about her kidnapping or how you figured that out, because that would be boring. Instead, I’m just going to pick up where we left off in the streets of New York City a few days ago. Beating on arrogant kids is a great way to relieve stress.”
“Mind if I join, brother?” came a voice above.
I looked over my shoulder and saw Twinfist standing on the roof of the barn. He jumped down when I saw him and landed on the ground behind me, blocking me in front of the barn’s doors, and slammed his fists together a few times.
“Nice to see you again, Bolt,” said Twinfist, though his tone didn’t sound nearly as pleased as his words. “It will be relaxing to beat the stuffing out of you as payback for our last encounter.”
I snorted. “You’re just pissed off that a teenager beat you.” I looked at Sight. “You know, I don’t really like you, but if I were you, I’d suggest that you don’t associate with losers anymore. Don’t want that losing to rub off on you.”
Twinfist growled like a lion, while Sight just shrugged and said, “He’s my brother. He may not be as strong as me, but I can’t just force him to sit out like this and not get the revenge he deserves.”
“Brother, whose side are you on?” Twinfist snapped. “He’s the enemy. You should be viciously pummeling him into the ground for what he did to me. Avenge your family!”
“Hold on, you two are brothers?” I said. I looked between them, squinting my eyes. “You guys don’t really look that similar, though given that Sight is wearing a mask, that kind of makes it hard to see any similarities between you.”
“We do not need to explain anything to you,” said Sight. He pointed his pipe at me. “Echo gave us the job of making sure that no one saves Matthew’s wife. That includes you, by the way.”
“Then what are you waiting for?” I said. “Too scared of a teenager like me to fight?”
“We will rip you apart piece by piece, you bastard,” said Twinfist.
I took a fighting stance, even though I wasn’t sure I could take them both on, when a deep, rumbling voice said, “You two, back off.”
Sight and Twinfist suddenly froze, like someone had stopped time around them. Terror appeared on their faces and they both looked like they wanted to run and I could tell that they weren’t afraid of me.
Before I could ask who had just spoken, someone stepped out of the surrounding forest, someone who I had never seen before but who I instantly recognized as a threat.
He was a huge man, about twice as big as Sight and Twinfist put together. He was almost as tall as the trees themselves; in fact, he was so big that I wondered how I had not noticed him before, because there was no way a guy as big as him could hide even in this forest.
Unlike these two losers, this guy did not wear any sort of costume. Instead, he was shirtless and wore some shredded black pants that matched his equally black skin, which made him look kind of like the Incredible Hulk, if you will. He rolled his shoulders, his small eyes gleaming dully as he stood there, looking like he had just awoken from a nap.
“Who the heck are you?” I said. “Another Test Subject?”
The large man nodded. “Indeed. Call me Cannon. I was also known as Test Subject Zero Zero Five when I was in Project Neo.”
“Cannon, what are you doing up?” said Twinfist. He sounded panicky and afraid, even though I wasn’t sure what he was scared of. “Sight and I have this kid under control.”
“No, you obviously do not,” said Cannon. “This kid has already beaten you once and he gave Sight a run for his money. I had to interrupt my afternoon nap because I knew I would have to to be the one to beat him.”
“But—” said Sight.
“I want to hear no excuses,” said Cannon, raising one hand to silence Sight. “Unlike you two, I have never disappointed Echo. She knows she can depend upon me.”
“Why can’t we all team up on him together?” said Twinfist, folding his arms over his chest and scowling. “Three on one. We’re all strong. He wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“More numbers does not always mean you have the advantage,” said Cannon. “You two will just get in the way. If he somehow does beat me—which I sincerely doubt—then, and only then, will you two have my permission to take him out.”
Neither Sight nor Twinfist looked like they were going to argue against that. No surprise there; Cannon was built like his namesake, to the point where even I didn’t feel comfortable facing him, despite my super strength.
Nonetheless, I took up a fighting stance and said, “All right, Cannon. You and me, then, one-on-one. Let me guess, you can turn into a cannon ball or something, right?”
Cannon smirked. “Why would I ever be so foolish as to tell you my powers before we fight? Unlike some, I do not give away important details to my enemies that could give them an edge over me in a fight.”
I distinctly heard both Sight and Twinfist grumble under their breaths, but I didn’t pay them any attention. I just said to Cannon, “All right, then. Well, I’m still going to beat you anyway, so here we go!”
I ran toward Cannon as fast as a bullet, pulling back my fists as I zoomed toward him. I was going to make this quick; one solid shot to the stomach to send him flying into the forest, where he would hopefully be knocked out for the rest of the fight. Then I’d take out Sight and Twinfist, too, or at least distract them long enough for Emma to get Grandmother out of there.
Cannon didn’t even move as I ran at him. Either he was really arrogant and thought I couldn’t hurt him or he was just too slow to dodge my incoming attack. Either way, he was about to get hurt much worse than me.
I slammed both of my fists against Cannon’s stomach as hard as I could. But instead of sending him flying, Cannon’s stomach suddenly exploded.
Literally. Flames and heat exploded from Cannon’s stomach like a bomb, the impact sending me flying. I crashed into the ground and rolled across the muddy grass for a few feet before I came to a stop, my head spinning and every bone in my body aching.
Shaking my head, I looked up, expecting to see the smoldering remains of Cannon everywhere, but to my surprise, Cannon still stood exactly where he had been standing mere moments ago. He looked completely unharmed by the explosion, except for his skin and pants, which were smoking slightly, as well as the burnt grass all around him.
“What was that?” I said, rubbing the back of my head as I propped myself up on my arm. “Did you just … was that an explosion?”
“It’s my power,” said Cannon, slapping his chest. “I can generate explosions with my body. The best part is that they don’t even harm me; in fact, I find explosions quite relaxing.”
I looked at Twinfist and Sight. Neither of them looked surprised by this, though I noticed they had both retreated a good distance, probably so they wouldn’t be caught in the explosions that Cannon generated. I suppose that meant they really were going to stay out of the fight, but that was hardly a comfort, given how powerful Cannon obviously was.
But I couldn’t run away now. I got back to my feet, which wasn’t as easy as it sounded, because that explosion had hit me as hard as a fist. My body was aching from the impact, but I figured I could end this fight quickly as long as I stayed out of the way of Cannon’s explosions.
Cannon cracked his neck side to side. “What are you going to do now, kid? You can’t even touch me thanks to my explosions. Will you run away and abandon your grandmother like a brat?”
I shook my head. “No. I’m just going to take your advice and use a power I didn’t tell you about.”
I raised my hands and shot twin bolts of red lightning at Cannon. Cannon, however, dodged them easily, jumping to the side as the lightning bolts flashed past him. He then ran toward me fast; not quite as fast as me, obviously, but faster than I expecte
d.
He swung a fist at me, which I dodged by flying into the air. His fist slammed into the earth, creating a large explosion that sent dust, dirt, and grass flying. I managed to fly out of the reach of the explosion, but I still felt the heat as it chased me into the sky.
Once I was sure I was out of the range of the attack, I stopped in midair and looked down. There was now a large dust cloud below, which made it impossible to see Cannon. A quick look around the area showed me that he was still missing, so I figured that he was still inside the dust and smoke even if I couldn’t see him.
Then, without warning, another explosion—much larger than the last—blew the dust away and Cannon came rocketing through the air toward me, smoke rising from his feet. I was so startled by this sudden attack that I didn’t get a chance to move. Cannon just slammed into me with his massive body, which sent me falling back to the earth below.
I crashed into the ground, but managed to roll to the side just in time to avoid Cannon, who also crashed onto the earth right into the crater I had made. His crash, however, caused an actual explosion that forced me to raise my hands to protect my face. I felt the heat and flame wash over me, but then a fist came out of the flames and slammed into my face.
That blow knocked me down again, and before I could get up, Cannon appeared above me and brought both of his fists down on my face.
I raised my hands and caught his fists, but then they exploded, and at such a close range, it was like getting hit by a tornado. My hearing went out and all I could hear was a terrible ringing in my ears, which made it impossible to focus until Cannon grabbed my throat and thew me over his shoulder.
I flew through the air briefly before landing on the ground again, this time hard enough to jar my hearing back. My head spun as I lay there, but I had already heard Cannon striding toward me, so I forced myself to get back up to my feet and take another fighting stance, even though there wasn’t much I could do against him.
