by S. J. Delos
Then the device exploded, bathing us both in a blast of purple-yellow energy that threw us apart.
I fell back into my seat, snapping off one of the arm rests. Daniel fell to the floor, but quickly popped back to his feet. He glanced down at the mangled bit of metal and plastic on his wrist and then glared at me. “You’ve ruined everything!” he screamed, bringing up one hand. An aura of plasma formed at his elbows and rolled down to his hands, making the cockpit a good degree brighter.
He pointed and a super-heated ball of energy shot across the space between us. It struck me in the left shoulder and sent me flying backwards, through Alexis’ seat and up against the side of the ship. The titanium hull buckled and the alarm changed from a loud buzzing to a resounding scream. The horizon in the distance tilted slightly, and I got the feeling that we weren’t going to be airborne much longer.
“You’re as bad as the rest of them!” he yelled as he threw another plasma blast at me. I turned and let that one hit me in the back. The heat of it made me wince and when I turned back around, he was preparing another.
I lunged forward and managed to slam into him before he could release it. His arms flew over his head and the sphere of ionized gas punched another hole in the hovercraft’s controls. Another round of sparks, accompanied by flames, shot out of the instrument panel and the vehicle pitched violently to the side.
I stumbled backwards and hit the bulkhead again, this time right next to the hatch. Daniel glared at me, eyes brimming with uncontrolled fury. “Come over here,” he said. I braced myself to fight against his influence, but the feeling of having someone rifle through my mind never came. Either he was too pissed to effectively make me adore him, or else the power transfer had only been temporary.
He sneered and put both hands in front of him to create a miniature sun between them. It quickly swelled to beach ball size, and his curled lips formed a nefarious grin. “You could have been my queen,” he spat. “Too bad you decided to be stupid.”
I put my hand behind me, feeling for the emergency handle. “Daniel?” My fingers brushed over the bar and then wrapped tightly around it. I winked at my former teammate. “Why don’t you go fuck yourself?”
He screamed an unintelligible reply and threw the plasma ball at me right as I yanked the handle up. The hatch exploded off its hinges and the sudden depressurization sucked me through the opening before his attack could hit. The force of the ejection pushed me several yards away from the side of the ship, and I saw the doorway erupt in a blast of light and heat. Pieces of the hull came loose and shredded one of the engines. The craft banked away from me and went into a spiral descent. I wasn’t sure where Daniel and the ship were going to end up, but I figured it was going to have to be someone else’s problem.
I stared up at the sky as I fell. The coldness of the air shocked me, and the wind rushing past my ears sounded like a banshee. I didn’t want to look down and see the ground coming up to meet me. I’d never fallen from higher than a dozen stories since my Activation and I wasn’t at all sure that my invulnerability would withstand an impact from thousands of feet up. I spread my arms and legs and let gravity take me down.
I didn’t feel afraid, only sad. I wanted to have a chance to reconnect with my mom and share her remaining time with her. I wanted to be there when Alexis woke up so I could tell her how awesome I thought she was. I even thought about Rocket, and the fact that he would be yelling at me right now, if not for Daniel’s scheming. I let the sadness come and the peace that followed behind it.
When I saw the top of the American Bank Tower out of the corner of my eye, I knew the end was just ahead. I closed my eyes so I wouldn’t have to see the buildings zoomed by and said a quick prayer that I wouldn’t kill or injure anyone when I hit the ground.
Meteor Karen, coming in hot. Look out below, I thought and a little smile played on my lips. Goodbye, world.
I heard a woman scream and then there was only darkness.
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
The repetitive beeping pulsed in rhythm with the bass thumping in my head. I wanted whatever it was to shut up so I could slip back down into the darkness where I didn’t have to think about devious ex-heroes or critically injured teammates. However, the intrusive noise showed no signs of quieting down, so I slowly peeled my eyes open and winced as the blazing lights overhead drove a lance of pain right through my skull.
“Well, look who’s decided to rejoin the living,” Martin said from nearby.
I groaned and lifted an arm to drape over my eyes before peeking around the crook of my elbow at my visitor. He stood by the widow, looking at me with that smug expression that used to get under my skin, even back when I was in love with him. He clasped his hands together behind his back and took a step forward.
I glanced around slowly. I was in a hospital room. “How long have I been here?”
“Two days,” Martin answered. “You wouldn’t happen to know how far up you were, do you?” he asked as he arched a brow.
“How far up where?” The pounding in my head had dulled to a slow throb.
“How far up were you when you decided to take a stroll outside?” The condescending tone hooked up with the pompous demeanor and made me want to risk whatever recovering I had made just to throttle him.
I moved my arm just enough for him to see my glare. “Really high. Enough that I didn’t expect to live.” Then I lowered the arm and groaned. “Maybe I didn’t. If you’re the only visitor I’ve had, I’m probably in Hell.”
He laughed and I heard him move around to the other side of the bed. “I’m going to guess you were at least thirty, maybe thirty-five thousand. I wouldn’t have thought your durability powerful enough to survive a fall from that height without serious injury. However, it appears you’ve become a Class Six.”
I jerked upright in the bed, staring at him. I couldn’t have been more surprised if he’d told me that I’d grown another head. “What?” I looked down at myself. The thick hospital blanket covered me to my waist, and the hospital gown was a shade of lavender that would have looked more appropriate in a children’s ward. There was some bruising on my arms and when I threw back the blankets, I could see scrapes and cuts as well on my legs.
“Did your associate use the sequencer on you?” His voice contained a hint of both scientific interest and fascinated curiosity.
I shook my head. “No. He was going to use it to screw up everyone else’s power and when we fought, the damned thing exploded.”
He tilted his head to the side, looking at me. Probably into me. “Hmm, interesting.”
“What?” I’d long since learned that anything Martin found interesting didn’t bode well for others. “Is something wrong?”
“I think the device’s destruction may have given your genes a tiny nudge.”
I sighed and flopped back down on the pillow. “How much has my weight increased?” Would I put holes in the floor just by walking now? The only other Six I’d heard of was a former wrestler who weighed in at almost a ton. After a couple of weeks of accidentally smashing things, mostly just by moving, he’d decided to cut his losses. He climbed aboard a large cargo ship, waited until he was halfway across the Atlantic, and then jumped overboard.
Short of a nuke, it would be the only way to kill a Class Six.
Martin laughed and shook his head. “I believe I’ll let you find out the specifics of your new abilities yourself. Why ruin the surprise?”
I lifted my head and glared at him. “You suck.”
He nodded and looked at his watch. “Perhaps. However, I think you’re going to realize soon enough that your ‘curse’, as you’ve always considered it, is going to be less of a burden. If you decide that you want help dealing with the new you, give me a call.” He turned and walked towards the door.
I swallowed the lump in my throat that was probably formed from calcified pride. “Martin?”
He paused and looked over at me. “
Yes?”
“Thank you. The training you gave me, you know, for resisting mind control helped me break free from Daniel’s charismatic influence. Otherwise, he would have won.”
His smile didn’t reach his eyes. “No need to thank me, darling. It was a necessity.”
“A necessity?”
He nodded, maintaining that predatory grin. “I very well couldn’t risk having the woman sharing my bed susceptible to being manipulated by anyone else but me. Now could I?” He left the room and the door closed behind him with a thump I barely noticed. Martin’s words ran around in my head.
A few minutes later, I forced myself to get out of the bed. Carefully though, so I didn’t bust through the floor. I was sore in spots I didn’t know existed and the contusions stood out like neon signs on my arms and legs. I lifted up my gown and saw my stomach and back were equally adorned with purple spots. I dropped the gown and walked towards the window, wondering what was to come next. Turned out, it was a visit from Mister Manpower.
“Knock-knock,” Greg said as he came into the room holding a vase of flowers.
I turned around quickly and reached back to hold the flaps on the gown shut. “Hey.” I shuffled with one arm behind me over to the bed and sat down on the edge. My teammate might have seen me in my panties on national television, but I wasn’t sure if either of us could handle the ramifications of him seeing my bare ass.
He set the flowers on top of the table near the door, next to three other overflowing vases. Right after getting up, I’d peeked at the cards and knew that one bouquet each were from the EAPF, the CPD, and Alexis’ parents. The note from Lexie-chan’s family thanked me for helping save their daughter’s life. It had made me cry for a solid ten minutes.
“How long have you been awake?” Greg asked.
“About an hour. One of the nurses came to check on me when I pulled the EEG leads off my chest.” I snickered a little. “She nearly knocked the door down. I guess she thought I’d died.”
“Well, you did give us all quite the scare. First responders to your landing thought you were dead upon impact.”
I winced. I remembered the scream I heard right before I hit. “Did anyone get hurt?”
“Other than you? No.”He grinned. “Amazingly, you landed in an empty parking lot near the train station. Left a ten-foot deep crater and rattled windows for a couple of blocks.”
I breathed a sigh and slumped my shoulders. “I was worried I was going to hurt someone.”
“But you didn’t,” Greg said. “You saved the day.”
I shrugged and then tilted my head to the side. “What about Daniel?”
It was Greg’s turn to sigh. “Gone. The hovercraft landed on a golf course north of the city. The techs from the EAPF think Daniel managed to regain some flight control before crashing. Minor property damage and no civilians injured.”
“I’m going to pound his face in when we catch him.” My hands balled into little fists.
“Understandable. I’m more concerned about the bio-sequencer. Considering what he did to Richard and the others, he could do a lot of damage with it.” Greg ran his hand through his hair.
This time, my smile came with a side-order of giggles. “I wouldn’t worry too much about that, Greg. I kind of smashed it before he could use it on the city. Even if he manages to build another, he won’t have my blood to power it.”
He nodded. “That’s good and bad. Without it I’m not sure we can undo what he did to the rest of the team.”
I nodded as images of Richard slamming his head down on the floor came flooding back. “How are they doing? Is Alexis okay?” Sure, I was concerned for all of my teammates. But my worry for the little ghosting girl overrode the others.
“Her surgery went well and they’ve moved her out of intensive care. She’s expected to make a full recovery.”
“Good. What about the others?”
He leaned against the table. “Richard is two floors below us in one of the Psych Ward’s padded rooms. He’s locked into a straight-jacket to keep him from hurting himself and they are limiting the amount of time anyone has contact with him. Otherwise—”
“Otherwise, they’ll attack him,” I finished.
He nodded. “Robert’s in the burn unit at Mercy General. The doctors think they can save his legs, but right now, they’re just trying to keep him stabilized. There’s an Enhanced Healer in London that might be able to help him. The EAPF has reached out to their British counterparts to ask for his assistance.”
“And Darla?” I remembered the glee in Daniel’s voice as he gloated about the punishment he’d inflicted on the pretty blonde.
“She’s stable. Her body keeps metabolizing the extra … girth, at least until she starts absorbing sunlight. Then she instantly returns to her larger size.” He sighed again and looked out the window. “Without Daniel’s device, I don’t think they’ll ever be the same again.”
I shook my head and bit down on my lower lip for a moment. “I know you’re probably not going to like this suggestion, but I think there may be a way to fix what Daniel did to them.”
“How?” Hope flowed onto his face and saturated his voice.
“Martin’s power. He can put their genes back to normal. I think.” I gave a small shrug. In my mind, we had nothing to lose. “Or at least, close to normal.”
Greg’s jaw tightened and he looked at me with a displeased expression, as if he’d eaten something sour. He’d obviously had enough of making deals with Doctor Maniac. “Why would he help?”
“Just leave that to me.” I said with a smile. “I have an idea.”
EPILOGUE
Two weeks later, I sat in a café near the convention center, trying to enjoy an iced mocha. The television on the wall across the room was turned to the local 24-hour news channel. The tagline running across the bottom of the feed read, “Good Guy Kayo Stops Major Fist’s Downtown Rampage.” The still photo in the corner was taken right after I’d punched Fist through a wall, the camera catching me in a rare heroic pose. It was actually pretty embarrassing.
According to Greg, the positive press was a good thing.
Since the Good Guys hadn’t returned to full strength, I’d been working double time keeping the city safe. Kurt hadn’t been super happy about the extra patrols, mainly because they cut into our private time. However, when I suggested that we meet for quick dinners and promised to spend at least three nights in his bed, he readily agreed.
He was also very understanding about my actions at the tower and accepted my thousand apologies for knocking him out.
“I was afraid that Daniel would hurt you himself if he thought I was resisting his control,” I explained. “My biggest fear was that he was going to kill you.”
“I understand,” he’d said, wrapping his arms around me. “Hurt like hell, though.”
The coffee mug was almost to my lips when Martin slipped into the chair across from mine. The arrogant smile plastered on his face stabbed right through to my last nerve. I closed my eyes to get over the image of me using the mug to cave in his skull. When I reopened them, I felt more in control and less likely to see if he would actually fit inside one of the thermoses for sale on a nearby shelf.
“What do you want?” I asked harshly. I put the mug back down on the table and cradled it with both hands, to keep them from wrapping around his throat.
He held up both hands. “I come in peace, darling.” He smiled and I hated the way it made me feel. Particularly in my lower regions. “Are you getting used to the new abilities?”
I peered at him over the top of the sunglasses. “The biggest issue is remembering that things are less breakable now.”
Martin had refused to answer the question about my increased density at the hospital. I had thought it was because he didn’t want to give me bad news. It wasn’t until later, when I mentioned to a nurse that the dura-steel bed was holding up impressively, that I learned the truth. I might have gained Class Six invulnerability, but I�
�d lost the extra mass. Now didn’t weigh any more than the typical girl my size.
There had been other changes in my Enhancements as well.
He laughed and brushed his fingertip over pale lips. “Yes. No more special chairs. Or beds.” The annoyed emphasis on the last word was not lost on me. Kurt had been rather enthusiastic to learn that I could be on top without concern for ruptured organs.
“Yeah, I’m a real girl now.” I injected a sneer into my words.
Martin was unfazed. “Are your teammates recovering? All the little happy soldiers back to normal?”
I had managed to convince Greg to agree to a deal. In exchange for not revealing the true identity of Doctor Maniac to the press or public at large, Martin had agreed to use his abilities to repair the damage Daniel had done to the rest of the team.
Richard’s charisma powers were back to creating pleasant feelings, though I suspected he would be more reserved about using them on others in the future. Martin had fixed Darla’s metabolism, for the most part. She still had to limit her sun exposure or else exercise an extra hour to burn off the excess weight. This development had led to her change her uniform to something a bit more modest. Just in case she found herself in a prolonged battle on a sunny day. Robert had regained immunity to his quantum flames, but he still feared getting burned again. He steadfastly refused to attempt to fly and had taken an extended leave of absence from the team. Hopefully therapy would help him get over his new-found pyrophobia.
“They are fine.” I said as I arched a brow. “Is that all you wanted? To see how your patients were doing?”
“I was curious, yes. However, there is another reason for this impromptu visit.” He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a manila envelope. He placed the envelope on the table and slid it towards me, keeping his hand on top of it. “I also brought you a present.”
