Andy grinned. “You need this one. You know that batman line I used? I was thinking of it all day, and that made me wonder, what would happen if batman’s cape stopped helping him glide? Of course, that translated into what would you do if your powers stopped working? So, the cape has a special polymer built into it. If you’re knocked unconscious, the cape creates a cocoon around you. I mean, it won’t save you from getting rolled over with a bulldozer, but it should withstand an impact from quite a long way up.”
“Yeah,” I said in shock. “I think the cape is starting to grow on me. So what else do you have over there?”
“My outfit. Of course, capes and jetpacks don’t mix, but I’ve got some pretty cool gadgets. Speaking of which,” he said as he slowly turned around and came back with a small box. “You have a pocket on the hip for this, just in case.”
I opened the cardboard box and swallowed hard. I knew my face must have gone a little pale. I felt the blood rush out of it like I’d seen a ghost. The knife was small, and I could tell by looking at it that it could do some damage. Almost instantly, I closed the lid and tried to hand it back to Andy as I shook my head.
“No way.” My voice was hoarse. “I don’t want to hurt anyone. I just want this to go as peacefully as possible.”
“Sometimes, that doesn’t always happen, though, and this isn’t just for a bad guy, okay? You’ve got your electric powers for that. I don’t know what they’re capable of, but I’d rather not see you fry yourself trying to get out of duct tape, rope, or whatever a villain uses if they capture you.”
“Well,” I muttered. “I guess it could come in handy. Just don’t expect me to go shanking people for stealing a purse.”
“Never!” he said jokingly. “So, are you ready to get going? I’ve got about five hours of charge on my jets. We can work on your powers and fight crime at the same time.”
“That’s the best idea I’ve heard all day,” I said honestly.
Half an hour later, we were about to take off again from the same landing field as before. I was really starting to appreciate how much Andy had helped me out. It wasn’t just the cool gadgets. It was the friendship and faith that I needed. He saw a light inside me that others didn’t. I nervously pulled on my mask.
“You and Travis are pretty close, huh?” I blurted out.
Andy froze, his cheeks turning red for a split second before he quickly pulled an identical mask. “Sure, I guess. Why do you ask?”
I shrugged. “He just seems to care about you is all. He gave me the riot act on the way to school, but I knew that he was only looking out for you. People like that don’t come along very often.”
“Yeah, um . . .” he said. “He’s a good bodyguard.”
I chuckled. “Well, just so you know, I like him. He’s a good fit for you. As a bodyguard, of course.”
“Thanks,” Andy said quietly.
I didn’t have to see his face to know that he was smiling. In many ways, we were a lot alike. I didn’t have the money and powerful family because I had hardly any family at all. We were both looking for a friend. It felt like something else was at work. Like the fates wanted us to team up.
“Ready?” I asked.
He fired up his jetpack and nodded. “When we get back, you know I’m going to want to hear all about Hen and you, right?”
I nodded. Oh, boy, this was going to be an interesting conversation.
Chapter 21
Taking to the air felt like dying and going to heaven. The air moved seamlessly through the new outfit Andy had created. I could tell that he was just as shocked as I was that they worked without a hitch.
“Hey,” I said to him as we flew over the city. “Why does yours light up like that?”
“I programmed a bunch of software into it. I thought it would come in handy. For instance, did you know there is a car burglary in progress on the south side?”
“What?” I asked quickly, grinding to a halt and getting ready to head in that direction.
“Easy there, hero,” said Andy. “There’s already an officer on the way there. He would beat even you, Strike.”
“So, you can hear all the police scanners?” I asked.
Andy nodded. “I thought it would be best if one of us always had ears on the police.”
I shook my head. “Man, you thought of everything. So where do you want to head? Anything else besides the car going on?”
“Not so far, which is surprising for New York. I was thinking we could just fly low for a while. I want to make sure that choppers can’t pick us up. The more data my suit collects while we’re out today, the better I can get us equipped for next time.”
“Sounds good to me,” I said.
We flew low for a while, taking in the city from a different view altogether. No one seemed to notice us even though we were only about a hundred feet above the buildings. It made me think of just how much we were absorbed in our own lives. If anyone else who got powers at the clinical trials decided to go dark and they could fly, we would be in for trouble. I thought about facing The Darkness.
As if on cue, I looked down and saw a couple of people running from a building. It wasn’t much, but I slowed down and Andy followed suit. We watched a few more people come running out of the building.
“Got anything on the scanner?” I asked him, my heart racing.
He paused for a second, nodding his head as he listened. “We need to get down there. The call just came in—it was The Darkness. She robbed the place.”
I didn’t stop to think about what I was going to do. I knew that if I did, I would get scared and possibly risk falling to my death. It eased my tension some, knowing that the cape would offer me a little bit of protection though. Diving down, I heard the people gasp as the ground came at me dangerously fast. With a split second to spare, I caught myself and landed somewhat gracefully in front of the growing crowd of people. I needed to find out what was going on fast. Andy landed behind me, stumbling a little but quickly getting his footing as I looked around.
A dozen people were looking at me in stunned amazement and my resolve faltered. Public speaking had never been my strong point, but with the mask hiding who I was, there was some courage left inside me. Taking in the situation, I saw two people behind me still in the shop. Broken glass was shattered all around them, but they seemed otherwise unharmed. It was obvious that they weren’t all the way with us though.
“Can you go check on them while I find out what happened?” I whispered to Andy.
He nodded and ran to the woman lying on the ground as I turned back to the crowd, now doubled in numbers.
Clearing my throat, I focused my attention on the man whose nametag indicated that he was the manager. “Sir? Can you tell me what happened here?”
He nodded, clearly still in a daze. “It was that woman,” he said. “She was wearing a mask, but I knew it was her, the one they call The Darkness. I followed procedure and pressed the alarm, but that just spooked her.”
The man looked past me at the two people on the floor. “Then she started laughing and pointed her hand at Jessica there. Right away, the girl fell to the ground crying that she couldn’t see anything.”
He shuddered. “Worst thing I ever saw. Frank tried to pull his gun, but then she turned on him and he went down too. After that, the rest of us stayed out of her way. She was after the jewels and we let her take them.”
“That was probably a good choice,” I said quickly. “There was no reason for anyone else to get hurt.”
Andy approached me. “Their vitals are fine and the woman’s sight is already coming back. Whatever The Darkness is doing to people, it’s temporary.”
“Okay,” I interjected quickly. I didn’t want the public knowing everything that we did, though I could tell from his face that there was more to tell. The last thing we needed was people panicking in the streets. I turned my attention back to the manager once again.
“Did any of you see how she left?”
�
��Yeah,” Came a timid voice. A woman, older but very petite, stepped around the manager and looked at me in awe. “You don’t know how happy I am to meet you. Everyone is talking about you.”
I was grateful for the mask as I started to blush. “You said that you saw her leave? Was she driving a car or did she fly away?”
“Oh no, she definitely was driving. I even got a picture of the van she pulled away in,” The woman said as she pulled out her phone.
She fumbled with the phone for a second before flipping it around and showing me a picture. I quickly got Andy’s attention again, and he nodded. I assumed he was somehow processing the information.
“Jenny’s Flowers,” I muttered. “Did you see what direction she went?”
“Yeah, she headed for Main Street,” the woman whispered.
In the distance, I could hear sirens quickly approaching. We had maybe a five-minute head start on them. We would have to act quickly. The woman spoke up again.
“Is it true you can shoot bolts from your hands?”
I grinned. “Keep an eye out, and maybe one of these days, someone will catch it on camera.”
With that, I calmed myself and shot away from the ground. In a few seconds, I could hear Andy following me. Once he was at my side, I heard the now telltale sound of his intercom locking onto my transmission. We could talk without yelling this way. His engines were almost silent, but we were still contending with the city noise below us.
“Sorry for cutting you off back there,” I said quickly.
“That’s okay. In my excitement, I didn’t think about the repercussions of what they could do with the information, like telling the police. We need to get this woman brought down before she wreaks havoc on the entire police force. I don’t doubt that woman will share the picture with them as well.”
“What did you want to tell me back there?”
“The power of the cocoon that she’s placing these people in is directly related to how long she uses her powers against them. For instance, the man at the store my parents own was a jerk. He berated her for a while before she finally used her powers on him. She held it for probably a minute before going back to stealing. The woman in the shop just now only got a short blast and was back to herself in a matter of minutes. Eight, to be exact.”
“I’m guessing you have an idea of how to track that van?”
“Of course I do!” he said with a laugh. “What else would I be doing this whole time? It looks like she’s about five miles up. We should reach her in about two minutes.”
Silence filled the air. I knew he was just as scared as I was. It was terrifying to think of what she could do. Plus, it was entirely possible that the serum had created some sort of anti-body inside me that wouldn’t allow me to use my powers on her or vice versa. Then what choice would I have except hand-to-hand combat? An area I definitely needed improvement on. And what about poor Andy? All his gadgets in the world couldn’t help him against her. He didn’t have my powers. He’d be down in a second.
My heart was racing but I refused to let myself be scared. I would have to find a way to deal with it. Andy and so many others were now counting on me to bring her down. The superheroes of the world could use the good press.
“How are you doing over there?” I asked Andy.
“Oh, I don’t know. We’re going to fight a woman called The Darkness and I’m flying a jetpack I’m still not entirely sure about. So, I guess I’m doing well. How about you?”
I laughed. “I don’t see things quite so pessimistically.” It was a lie, but still, he needed to hear it. “I mean, what’s the worst that can happen? Things go back to normal? I don’t think this woman is a killer, and neither are we. So, use that big brain of yours and keep her on her toes. I’ll do the rest.”
“How are you so calm under pressure?”
“I don’t know. I guess I just have to be. I know that if we don’t stop her, no one will be able to. Everyone else is defenseless, and what if there are more? We don’t know who all was affected, after all.”
“Actually, I might be able to help you with that,” he said.
My attention was pulled away from him. Thankfully, I had a great memory so I quickly recalled the picture and knew that it was the same van we were looking for. This was it. If we didn’t succeed now, all hope was lost. The press would have a field day and ‘Strike’ would be labeled a nuisance before he ever got started. We had to make our move. I jerked my head in the van’s direction and Andy’s eyes followed.
“Are you ready for this?” I said.
He nodded. “Let’s go get her. Do we have a plan of attack?”
“I would think we just need to land in front of her. If she doesn’t stop then get out of the way, and I’ll give her a little taste of what I can do.”
“What about not hurting anyone?” he asked.
“Desperate times, my friend, but I’m just going to try and disable the electrical components on her car.”
“Have you ever done something like that before?”
I paused for a second before shaking my head. “I did hit a brick wall once, though, so there is that.”
“Well, what are we waiting for then?” he asked.
In a swift motion, we were both diving down to an intersection a few hundred feet in front of the van. She would have to come to a stop or risk plowing into another vehicle. Either way, it was going to work out in our favor. There was nowhere before that for her to turn off, so even if she saw us, it was okay. The second landing was much more graceful than the first.
I swallowed hard as the van didn’t slow down. The woman behind the wheel grew increasingly closer until I thought we were going to be forced to dive out of the way, but in the final split second before I had to make a decision, she slammed her foot on the brakes and brought the van to a screeching halt just five feet from where we were standing.
We both quickly took a few more steps back as the woman continued to glare at us. Suddenly, her sharp features changed into one of amusement and my heart started to grow cold. The Darkness had snapped. I’d be surprised if there was any sanity left in her. In the back of my mind, I wondered if it was the serum that did it or whether she had gone mad before the dose. If it was the former, I would be questioning a lot more.
She wasn’t what I had been expected. Her mask was off and it was obvious that she couldn’t have been more than ten years my senior. The camera didn’t do her any favors either. The Darkness didn’t seem as ‘mad scientist’ as I’d originally thought either. Maybe there was hope left for her. Everyone had their bad days. I watched her fingers twist and my resolve faltered. She was already thinking about using her powers on me. It didn’t matter to her whether I was friend or foe.
To my surprise, her face shifted into a menacing grin and she started to laugh. “Do you really think I’m afraid of a couple of kids? Congrats, so you can fly. You have no idea what I can do, kiddo.”
“I do know what you can do,” I said quickly. I was silently begging Andy to come up with anything so I wouldn’t have to hurt her. “I know that we’re more alike than you think. You don’t have to do this, you know. We can both walk away.”
The woman laughed. “Isn’t that cute? Are you here to be my knight in shining armor?”
Sirens in the distance broke the tense air and she jerked her head back in my direction. “All right, kid, you’ve had your fun. Now get out of my way or else.”
I shook my head and clenched my fists, the tingling growing. Before long, I felt the sparks starting to form between my fingers. The woman looked at me, her eyes twitching down to my glowing purple fingers. Before I could fire off a shot at her, her hand shot into the air and the world around me started to fade. Fear raked through me, the sparks dying on my fingertips. It was eerie how dark the world had become.
Several feet away from me, I could hear Andy trying to reason with the woman, but before long, I heard him fall to the ground in a ball. It wasn’t just the darkness that was consuming.
The only sense that didn’t seem to be affected was my hearing. I couldn’t feel the ground. It felt like I was floating through a dark abyss. It was definitely enough to drive someone insane quickly. Hopefully, she hadn’t yet figured out just how temporary her powers were. Without keeping her powers locked on me, I knew I would be free in a few minutes.
All I had to do was keep her distracted. She walked over to me, her heavy, pointed heels clicking on the broken blacktop as she approached. It was amazing what I could hear. Her fabric crinkled together as she knelt down to where I was curled up. A subtle clicking noise came from her mouth, like she was getting ready to scold me. Something told me that she was a mother.
“What did I tell you? The streets of New York are no place for a little boy. I’ll tell you what. This time, I won’t leave you floating inside there for the rest of your miserable life. But if you cross my path again, I’ll destroy you.”
Chapter 22
My world was encapsulated in total darkness. I couldn’t move my limbs. She ripped the mask away from my face and chuckled. I hated her laugh. Any seed of doubt I had about her being crazy was gone. I couldn’t even answer her, which I hated. I liked my quick wit. More than anything, though, I wanted to know if Andy was okay. “That’s what I thought, just a couple of dumb kids.”
Tossing my mask to the side, she stood and took a deep breath. “I didn’t always used to be this way you know. I had a good life at one point.”
I wanted to tell her to be quiet. I was trying to think of a way to escape. Oh, well, the longer she talked, the better my odds were of breaking free. I just had to think about what Andy had taught me over the last few days. I had to control my powers.
“It all started a few months ago. My husband and I were about to celebrate our second anniversary, but Paula . . .” She huffed. “Paula just couldn’t handle that. My poor little girl. Sure, she was my stepdaughter, but I thought we had a bond.”
The City Superhero (Book 1): Rise Of The Super Strike Page 16
