Burn Out

by R. J. Ross

  “Be quiet,” a voice says from behind her. She knows that voice. She hasn’t heard it in years, though. “They’re coming for me. We need to go.”

  “Who’s coming for you?” Ashlynn asks. “Was it—was it whatever it was that I just saw?”

  “It was the Hall,” Shadowman says. “They’re coming for me. They’re finally going to finish me off. I need…” he turns glowing eyes on her and her daughter, “I need hostages.”

  “Wh—what?” she says, stumbling back a few steps.

  “I can’t die. I’ve got too many sins to pay for if I die,” he says, reaching for her. She turns, clutching her daughter tightly as she starts to run. Her foot hits a rock and she stumbles, barely managing to twist so that she doesn’t land on her child. “They won’t hurt you, they don’t hurt children, even the daughters of villains. I’ll throw you at them and make it to an island somewhere—”

  He goes still, turning and looking around. There’s something creeping through the shadows, she can hear it. It’s going to eat her and her daughter, and the man who sired her daughter is the one tossing them at it. Her heart is pounding, her hands are so sweaty that they feel slippery, and the smell is making her feel sick to her stomach. She has to get out of here.

  “Help me,” she shouts. “Somebody help us!”

  “There’s no one down here. The boy isn’t strong enough to go through small shadows. It’ll take him time to find a good place,” Shadowman says.

  “Can’t we—can’t we run away together?” Ashlynn asks, desperately grasping at straws.

  “The boy isn’t the only one they can send down here,” Shadowman says. Ashlynn jumps as she hears something else moving in the shadows. She aims the phone, and Shadowman turns to see what she’s looking at. While he’s looking, a large, bony hand comes out of the shadow behind him, wrapping around his throat. He makes a gagging sound before he slumps to the ground, completely inert.

  Ashlynn turns the flashlight to see what’s happened, and she starts to scream at the sight. It doesn’t matter that he’s wearing a bright yellow zoot suit, she thinks wildly, the man is terrifying.

  “I told him I’d shove him off the cliff,” Reaper says, stepping over Shadowman’s body and putting his cigar out on a nearby rock before pulling his glove back on. “I’ve been waiting for this chance for months.”

  “Who—what do you want with my baby?” Ashlynn demands, trying to hide Evie’s eyes.

  “He took my baby girl, and he sold her to a man that locked her up in a cage,” Reaper says. “That’s why I’m going to take his baby girl. It’s nothing personal, ma’am.” He walks over, and she turns, trying to run, only to stumble. She feels her daughter lifted from her arms, and she cries out.

  “No! Take me with her!” she says, desperately. “Please. I’ll do anything you ask of me, I just can’t… I love her. You understand how that goes, right? Whatever her father did to you or your daughter has nothing to do with us!”

  For a long moment she can’t hear anything, and she’s worried that he left, but then he says, “Fine, let’s go.”

  “I can’t see,” she admits, only to yelp as someone picks her up and her daughter jumps into her arms. They’re carried away, leaving Shadowman still lying on the floor of the Shadowlands. As Reaper leaves, the shadow dinos that had been scared off slowly creep closer to the fallen man.

  ***

  *The Orphanage*

  “What are you doing, Phoebe?” I demand, floating in front of her. She swings, wildly, and I dodge. I really doubt she’s ever punched someone in her life. “Phoebe, you JUST told me that you don’t want to get into our lifestyle. Why are you here?”

  “I said I WILL NOT ALLOW ANOTHER GIRL TO BE HURT!” she screams. There are tears running down her face. “How many others? HOW MANY OTHERS DID YOU HURT?” she goes on, throwing herself at me. I don’t think she sees me. I’m almost one-hundred percent sure that she’s yelling at her father. The problem is, her powers are going out of control. The children in the building are going insane, and Papa has gone in to see what he can do while we wait for Rochester and the black suits to get here, or for me to get Phoebe to snap out of it. Papa had offered to take her out, but she’s my responsibility, and honestly, I need to see if I can talk her down, first.

  “Rocco,” I say, blocking another hit. “If we take her into the Shadowlands, will her influence calm down here?”

  “Them leaving when they hit the amusement park didn’t help,” he says. “But I can take her down if you want. It would be easier to knock her out.” I hear a window break behind us, and I turn, seeing a preteen girl step out onto the ledge. I start for her, only to get tackled by Phoebe. I hit the ground hard, and twist, sending her flying before jumping to my feet and racing to the girl. She’s screaming her head off, and starts fighting me as soon as I grab her. If I hold her too tightly, I risk hurting her, but if I don’t hold her tightly enough, she could easily fall to the ground. I drop down, putting the girl down, and start for Phoebe. I need to knock her out. Whatever’s happening to her is not right. I would almost think it’s another psychic—

  My commlink comes undone, and I turn, just in time to see the world blur around me, save for the face of the woman that works for Davis’s father.

  I hear Rocco shout my name, and then we’re gone.

  ***

  There are hundreds of children and several dozens of adult workers. They’re all stuck in a psychic-created nightmare. “We are in need of a Central Hall psychic!” Voltdrain says over his commlink, “Century, we need your assistance, as well.” He pulls a little girl off of another child, trying to calm her down. She starts screaming, struggling hard to get out of his hold. They had lucked out in finding most of the people in one large room, and it hadn’t taken long to gather the rest, but that was both a good and a bad thing. When they’re all together, he and Skye can keep an eye on them, but they also have more chances of hurting one another.

  “It’s okay, little girls and boys,” Skye says, floating over their heads. “We’re not here to hurt you, we’re here to help you!” She looks up as Rocco races into the room, looking panicked.

  “Voltdrain! Skye! Someone just kidnapped Jimmi!” he says. “She had to have been a teleporter, because I lost track of Jimmi’s powers.”

  “What?” Skye asks, trying to get some of the kids out from under a table. She goes still, and then does a quick little dance move, spinning in a circle as she tries to find the girl. “Voltdrain! You are a distraction!” she yells at the man when she can’t pinpoint the girl. Voltdrain doesn’t respond, he just rushes out of the building to see Phoebe curled up on the ground, sobbing. Jimmi is nowhere to be found. He goes to Phoebe, checking her power levels and tapping on his earbud. “I need Jonas,” he says.

  “Sir, yes, sir,” the black suits say. “We’ll bring him to you as soon as possible.”

  “That is too slow,” Voltdrain says. “I will contact señora Cheval.” He turns, rushing into the building and tearing through the place to grab one of the mirrors off of the bathroom walls. “I must ask a favor of you, señora Cheval,” he says as he switches to the school commlink. “Can you bring Jonas to me? I can send you the coordinates.”

  “Alonso, I—yes, of course,” she says. “I’ll do just that. Is something wrong?”

  “Phoebe Woods has been poisoned, and mija is missing,” he says grimly. “We have seekers, but we are dealing with the after-effects of a psychic fear attack on an entire orphanage of children. The little ones are very apt to hurt themselves. We are trying our best, but—”

  He places the mirror on the ground and looks up as he sees Century heading for them. “Skye and Rocco are inside, but Jimmi has been taken by a teleporter that Rocco does not know,” he says.

  “We’ve got our E.P.B.’s on, so go ahead and stop time,” Rocco says over the commlink. “We’ve also picked up on where Jimmi is. Do you want me to head out and get her? I don’t think the old man will hurt my sister, so that can wait…
I hope he won’t, at least.”

  “Is Jimena in danger?” Voltdrain asks.

  “Her power levels are stable at the moment,” Rocco says.

  “Then we must quickly clean this problem up, first. We need all the help we can get,” Voltdrain says reluctantly. Yes, he wants to save his daughter, but his daughter is strong. She is very quickly approaching A-class, and will go higher with age. He just has to have faith in her abilities.

  “Then I’m stopping time,” Century says, touching Voltdrain’s shoulder with one hand and stopping time with the other. The screams and sobbing stops abruptly, and the world goes still.

  “I’m coming,” Max says over the commlink.

  “And Jonas?” Century asks. “We’re going to need a healer for this.”

  The mirror on the ground ripples, and Cheval pulls herself out before reaching in and pulling Jonas out behind her. Voltdrain feels the tiniest of smiles pull at his lips at the sight of her. He’s stressed and worried, but the sight calms him, slightly. Maybe, he thinks as she looks around, Jimena’s idea wasn’t so bad, after all.

  “Now,” she says, “Jonas, honey, you get to work. The children are in there, right? I’ll go in and see how much I can do before time kicks back in.” She runs off for the building, and Century looks at Voltdrain.

  “That’s a very good woman,” he says.

  “Sí, she is,” Voltdrain says. He has to have faith in Jimena, at least for as long as it takes them to calm down the children and their teachers.

  “I’m here,” Max says, making him look up as the teen appears. Max’s eyes go straight to Phoebe. “Dad said I should bring her back with me.”

  “You can do that, but first, we need your help,” Century says. Max nods and gets to work.

  ***

  *???*

  I pull away from the woman that had grabbed me, and slam my fist into her stomach. She grunts and goes flying back, hitting the wall and sliding down it. I’m tempted to follow up on the attack, but I take a second to glance around. We’re no longer in front of the orphanage. In fact, I don’t know WHERE we are. It seems to be a room made out of glass. I go still, memories of the video I watched so long ago flashing through my mind.

  “Where are we?” I demand, storming over to her and grabbing her shirt. She looks at me. “Do you really think you can trap me in here?”

  “My boss wants you,” the woman says. “If I give you to him, he might let me go.”

  I stare at her, but I can’t bring myself to feel any sympathy. I have no desire to be thrown under the bus just so she might get her freedom. “Let me go, or I’ll tear this place apart!”

  She reaches for something in her pocket, but my hand shoots out, grabbing her wrist before she can grab it. “Don’t even think of it, lady,” I snarl, my hand tightening until she winces. Her grip loosens, and I reach into the pocket, myself, pulling out a small atomizer bottle. I stare at it for a second, seeing the faint glow of super energy in the mixture. Whatever it is, it’s some nasty stuff. It would be, I think, when it was created by Walter Colleck.

  “I was going to give it to you,” the woman says.

  “Oh, sure you were,” I say sarcastically. “What would happen if I sprayed you with this?” I ask.

  A slow, rhythmic clapping distracts me, and I look through the glass wall to see Davis’s father. “Wonderful. So feisty. I can see why my son was so interested in you,” he says, turning to show the boy. I stare at him, seeing the blank expression on Davis’s face, and rush to the wall, slamming into it with my shoulder. It doesn’t even crack.

  “What have you done to him?” I demand. “Davis! Davis, wake up!”

  “Oh, it won’t hurt him. I would never do anything that might hurt my precious heir. Davis just realized what a bad girl you are. You can’t really blame him, of course, after all, your actions have ruined so many lives.”

  I grit my teeth, my hands clenching at my sides, and then I notice something. The glowing orange energy that I usually pour into the glass tubes is being pulled into the room. I force myself to calm down, reaching for my commlink, only to find nothing there. She must have stolen it. I turn on the woman, but she’s now on the other side of the glass. “What have you done to him?” I ask, heading for the glass wall. “Turn him back to normal!”

  “Don’t you think you have more important things to worry about, right now?” Walter Colleck asks. “This room was built to pull all of your power out and store it.” I punch the glass, and more of the energy flows into the room. I turn, watching it as it’s sucked through a vent. “This glass is an upgraded version of the stuff my grandson used. Don’t bother trying to break out. Davis, come, it’s time to start your project. Ms. Mace, if you would be so kind?”

  “They’ll find me,” I say. “Rocco can find me anywhere!”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that, if I was you,” he says. “Soon you won’t have enough energy to find.”

  Ms. Mace looks at me, my commlink and phone in her hands. There’s a strange expression on her face, but she and the two touching her disappear before I can say anything. I look around the clear room, taking in everything that ISN’T here. There aren’t any chairs, or beds, or any access to electricity… on this floor, at least. I ignore that fact, pulling the hood of my coat up and flipping a switch. Time to get out of here before it sucks me dry.

  ***

  “Ah, yes, she’s just delightful, isn’t she?” Walter says as he and the silent Davis watch the feed of the super they kidnapped. “We’ll have to wipe her mind before she gets free, so keep an eye on this, would you, Richard?” he says over his shoulder.

  “Yeah,” Richard Penski says, glaring at him. Richard hates him, Walter’s well aware, but he’s too useful to get rid of.

  “Now, Davis, since we will have plenty, soon, touch this,” Walter says, pulling open the case and holding out one of the glow sticks. “I’ve already set things in motion to get rid of Shadowman. If the triplets fail, I’m sure someone else will happily take their places. The entire villain community believes that Shadowman is too comfortable being chums with the Hall, nowadays. It’s a shame, but that’s how it goes. Perhaps his daughter will grow up to be more useful.”

  Davis obediently wraps his hand around the tube, and Walter watches in satisfaction as the tube empties and his son’s eyes start to glow, faintly. “Now, finish the converter,” he orders. Of course this isn’t going to assist the boy’s training as much as he’d hoped, but anything is better than nothing, right? And he will simply use the mind alterer to convince the boy that it had been his i—

  There’s something different about the boy, he thinks as Davis stares at him. There’s a glint of intelligence—no, of course there is, he tells himself. The glow sticks are supposed to boost the boy’s powers. Davis doesn’t say anything, though, instead he heads for the machine, starting to work at a rapid pace. His hands blur slightly as he dismantles and rebuilds the machine from scratch. It’s actually faster than Walter could do it, Walter realizes, keeping his surprise to himself. Is it possible that his son promises to be a stronger super genius than himself? That thought is both thrilling and a bit worrisome, all at the same time.

  He’s so busy watching his son that he doesn’t even notice what’s happening on the screen that Richard is watching. Richard glances over at them, hatred clear in his gaze, and he moves, blocking the view of the screen from the two, just in case. He has no plans to change the girl’s memories, the sooner that the Hall takes down Walter, the better, if you ask him. Of course, he’ll have to get away before they come…

  He pulls out his phone, texting his sister. A distraction would be nice, right about now.

  ***

  *A Courthouse in Texas*

  Nico lets out a sigh, wondering how it had turned out this way. Oh, sure, someone had to do this. It was easier getting the paperwork for the little girl, since they already have people that are in that system, but this, well, this came with an ongoing lawsuit trying to dis
prove the fact that Davis is a super. If they go in and steal the boy back, they’ll be breaking the agreement between the norm system and the Hall. So now here Nico and Vinny are, in full uniform, walking into a courthouse and up to… the metal detector. Nico stares at it.

  “We have to ask that all metal objects and technology that you’re carrying be placed into the bucket, sir,” the guard says, a bit nervously.

  “We showed you our identification,” Nico says.

  “Yes, sir,” the guard says.

  “I’m a super,” Nico says.

  “Yes, sir,” the guard agrees.

  “I’m a technopath,” Nico says.

  “Yes, sir, we are aware.”

  Vinny starts stripping off his tech, placing it into one of the buckets. He leaves his earrings in. It only takes him a few seconds. Nico, on the other hand, lets out a sigh and starts emptying the various belts and pockets full of toys that he’s carrying by hand. The guard stares, watching as parts start piling up in the bucket. “You, ah, don’t have any… weapons of mass destruction in there, do you?” the guard asks, more out of curiosity than worry.

  “I keep those in my other pair of tights,” Nico says blandly. He strips off his gloves last, placing them on top of the pile. Then he walks through the machine, only to sigh as it starts to spark a little.

  “We’re going to have to ask you to come this way, sir,” the guard says.

  Nico lifts his hand, only to hear Vinny clear his throat. “They’re doing this for the safety of the norms, Technico,” he says, mildly.

  “Yeah, which is why they need to update these ancient pieces of crap,” Nico says. The guards look startled, and then one of them calls their boss, who comes running.

  “Sir, it’s fine, if you would just come on through,” their boss says, waving him through a different entrance. “Fire Hazard, you can come, as well. We were told you were on your way.”

  The metal detectors start sparking in earnest and Nico turns, holding his hand out to the metal detector and the computer connected to it, and it starts to come apart. The guards begin to freak, but their boss stays remarkably calm as the machine is rebuilt in front of their eyes. “This should also pick up on any weapons built at home,” Nico says.