“We’ve brought you refreshments,” she said as Neelam set to work on brainwashing the King. “We’ll leave them over here so you can help yourselves.”
A couple of people looked up, but before they could say a word, the long, glass window shattered. Something struck it from the outside and it only took Scarlett a second to realise it was The Echidna and a new group of henchmen. Several of them were now attacking the damaged glass with batons to force their way through.
“Good afternoon,” The Echidna said as he strode through the smashed window and brushed shards of glass from his outfit. He was wearing his usual attire of head-to-toe black and a face mask. “I hope you don’t mind me crashing your party. I’m here to kidnap the King, then I’ll be on my way.”
He grabbed the royal from behind and held a gun to his head. “Stand up! It’s nothing personal and as long as your country folk pay the ransom I demand, I won’t hurt a hair on your pretty, over-pampered head.”
Just as Scarlett was debating her next move, another group of teenagers appeared behind The Echidna’s men.
“You ain’t going nowhere,” said a voice Scarlett recognised all too well.
To her disbelief, she saw Toshiko standing at the front of the group, along with Andrew, Casey and Stan. Just behind them were Mallory, Harvey, Ethan, Hayden and Phoebe. They were all wearing tailored grey Super Soldiers uniforms, which meant the four teens had been brainwashed into serving as part of Goulden’s army. She should have known that was what the PM had in mind when he kidnapped them a few days ago, but it was still a shock to see them standing there.
Goulden quickly set about barking orders to his super-powered army. “Kill him!” he shouted, pointing towards The Echidna. “Don’t let him get away.”
Chapter 15
Scarlett looked from Goulden to the Super Soldiers and then The Echidna, wondering who she should attack first, if indeed she should attack anyone at all. Reckless as she had been feeling lately, even she wasn’t sure which battle to throw herself into this time. Why should she rush to defend her foes?
Three guards ran into the room and started shooting at The Echidna, but he managed to dodge all their shots as he sprang backwards, still holding the King. Even a sucker punch from Andrew didn’t seem to faze him. No wonder this guy ruled Manchester’s underworld, he had nerves of steel.
“You kids are no match for me,” he said as he grabbed some small pellets from his belt and threw them into the room, creating a huge cloud of red smoke.
The politicians and officials started coughing and complaining they couldn’t see as The Echidna made his escape through the window with the King.
Scarlett took that as their cue to step in; with the smoke screen up, they could get away with using their powers undetected. She flew towards the window and into the wide-open grounds that surrounded the convention complex.
The Echidna was now dragging the King towards a waiting van, but the Super Soldiers were hot on his tail. Unfortunately, a large crowd had also gathered to see what the commotion was all about, so when Ethan threw one of his bombs towards the van, it exploded dangerously close to innocent bystanders. Ethan can’t have cared though, because he threw two more bombs in quick succession. Scarlett didn’t waste one second grabbing them with her telekinesis and hurling them into the air, where they exploded safely without causing any damage.
“Get back!” she shouted to the crowd. “Those people are dangerous, they’ll hurt you.”
Many of them screamed and started to run in panic.
“Don’t hurt us!” one yelled at her.
“Not me, I’m not going to hurt you. Them!” But no one was listening, they just looked at her in fear and ran away.
“Oh for goodness’ sake,” she said. “That’s alright, don’t thank me, I’m only saving your lives.”
She turned back towards the action to see Toshiko launch herself at The Echidna and hit him firmly on the chest with one of her powerful spinning kicks. The Echidna shrugged off the assault and swung his arm back to keep Toshiko at bay. As Toshiko launched a second attack, The Echidna proved that he was the perfect match for her ninja superpowers, dodging each and every stylish move that she threw his way with impressive precision. Scarlett couldn’t believe her eyes; she’d never seen anyone outmanoeuvre Toshiko before, but the gang boss managed it while keeping hold of the King the whole time.
The Echidna’s henchmen joined the battle by firing shots at Toshiko and as she dodged the bullets, Lucy electrocuted the attackers with a lightning blast. One of them fired back at Lucy, but Scarlett made sure the bullet bounced to the ground, then flung several of the men in different directions. They quickly regrouped and opened fire again, but Mallory retaliated by casting a despondent mood over them all, which made them forget about the battle and lose the will to live.
“What’s the point,” a young henchman said. “We always lose anyway.”
“Yeah, we’re no match for these superpowered freaks.”
“I don’t know why we bother.”
“I hate my life.”
“This is so unfair.”
The Echidna was furious. “You lot are as bad as the last bunch. Finish these children off, then drive me and the King out of here. Now!”
As the henchmen prepared to attack again, Casey knelt down and punched the floor, sending an earthquake ripple trembling in their direction. The men were confused and alarmed as the ground shook beneath their feet and sent them stumbling to the ground. While they were off guard, Scarlett spotted her chance to rescue the King, but then she heard members of the public screaming behind her. She knew she had to save them instead. As she ran to their defence, she looked around the chaotic scene in desperation for someone to help her, then she saw a flash of light to her right.
“Alex,” she shouted. “Help me save these people.”
A large advertising board had fallen down along with several lampposts, and at least a dozen people were trapped beneath them. Scarlett lifted the board and moved the lamps to free the injured, while Alex teleported as many people as he could away from the area. It took all her might to move the heavy billboard, but she battled through until all the bystanders were safe.
As soon as everyone was out of harm’s way, Scarlett and Alex ran back towards the fight. The Echidna was desperately trying to get the King to the gang’s van, but the Super Soldiers, Hayden and Phoebe, were stopping him with their pyrokinesis and light powers. Meanwhile, their teammate Stan was turning trees into stone and making them fall in The Echidna’s direction, but despite being under fire from all directions, the gang boss still couldn’t be beaten. Ethan piled on the pressure by throwing a bomb at the Echidna, which cause him to panic and let go of the King.
Scarlett wasn’t missing her chance a second time; she telekinetically grabbed King Nicolas and hovered him towards a grassy area, hoping it would provide a soft landing. Seeing the King was away from the villains, Alex teleported over, grabbed him and took him closer to the convention centre, where his own people could rescue him.
The Echidna ran after Alex, so Ethan threw a series of bombs into his path to hold him back. The vengeful gang boss turned back to the group and pulled a small grenade from his utility belt. Anger flashed in his eyes as he prepared to throw it at the team of soldiers.
Scarlett flew towards The Echidna, intent on stopping him, but Dylan beat her to it. He tussled the villain to the ground, causing him to drop his gun but not the grenade. Dylan grabbed the firearm, scrambled to his feet and pointed it at The Echidna’s head, trembling with fear and nerves as he did so. But he couldn’t pull the trigger.
“Don’t hurt them,” he pleaded. “They’re brainwashed, they don’t know what they’re doing.”
“Stupid child, trying to defeat me with words. You should have killed me while you had the chance.”
The Echidna grinned evilly at Dylan as he plucked the pin from the grenade.
“Stop him!” Scarlett yelled.
It was too l
ate. The Echidna hurled the bomb towards the Super Soldiers. Scarlett tried to telekinetically grab it and lift it into the air, but she couldn’t move it far enough before it exploded and caused devastating damage. She turned away in horror, afraid to look at the scene that had unfolded.
“Let’s get out of here,” The Echidna said as he rallied his troops into the van. As they prepared to drive off, he leaned out of the window and glared at Scarlett, Dylan, Neelam, Alex and Lucy.
“You kids ruined my plans today, but you’ve seen what I’m capable of. Stop crossing me or you’ll be next.” Then the van sped off down the street, the tyres screeching as they made their escape.
Scarlett could hear the sounds of screaming behind them, so she plucked up the courage to look back to where the grenade had exploded. Mallory was sitting on the floor, holding her leg and crying in agony, while Andrew, Toshiko and Hayden were relatively unscathed. Ethan was covered in bloody cuts and scratches, but he was still alive. Casey, Stan, Harvey and Phoebe hadn’t fared so well though. They were all lying motionless on the ground.
Neelam walked over and started checking for pulses, but it was clear from the look on her face that they were all dead.
“Oh no,” Scarlett whispered. “Not again.”
She hadn’t been friends with Sasha when she was killed a few months back, but she’d still been horrified by her death. People shouldn’t die before they left their teens, things weren’t supposed to turn out like that. Now four more lives had been cut short far too soon.
Andrew, Toshiko, Mallory, Ethan and Hayden were still brainwashed, so they were incapable of comprehending what had happened. They didn’t seem upset or fazed at all. As she looked around, she saw people running towards them from the building.
“We need to get out of here,” she said. “Alex?”
“Consider it done.” Then the group linked hands and teleported away from the awful scene.
Chapter 16
The five of them were still reeling from shock when they popped up on the ground floor of their new hideout. Even though it was around midday, the room was dark and dingy because the windows were boarded up, so Lucy powered on an overhead light. Neelam, Dylan, Scarlett and Alex unlinked hands and took a few steps away from each other before staring around the room.
Scarlett looked up at the bulb for a second as it flickered on and then at the floor. Her eyes flashed with the impression of the light as she squeezed her eyes closed, but it still didn’t erase the horrific memory of what she’d seen seconds before. She peered at the rest of the group. They were still standing there, doing nothing. Saying nothing. An awkward silence hung over the room, each of them unsure of what they should say next.
“Is everyone OK?” she asked.
Someone had to speak first.
They all nodded feebly even though they were very much not OK. Scarlett definitely felt like she would never be OK again. Life just kept getting worse. First they’d endured the horror of seeing Sasha killed late last year, then the other group were kidnapped and now they’d been turned into Super Soldiers and half of them murdered before their eyes. It was awful.
“We can’t let this affect us,” Dylan said. “We still have to stop this war.”
“What’s the point?” Lucy asked. “This world is going to hell anyway.”
“Lucy…”
“Well it is. Look at everything that just happened. Plus my brother, Jay and Isabella are still missing, so how do we know they won’t end up dead next? We’re teenagers, we should be hanging out at the cinema or shopping, not dealing with this crap.”
The light bulb above them quivered as the rage surged through her. She stomped over to the corner of the room where her laptop was, pulled it open and fired a fizzle of lightning to power it on.
“What are you doing?”
“Finding out if Goulden’s declared war yet. There’s no point in going back out to stop him if he’s already done it.”
It struck Scarlett that Lucy stated her intentions as casually as a teenager who was checking the weather forecast before heading to the park. Their lives were so screwed up.
“Great,” Lucy said almost immediately. It didn’t sound like good news.
“What? Is there a story about us?” Dylan asked.
“No, no, don’t worry I made sure any cameras in the area malfunctioned, so there’s no proof of our involvement. In fact, the whole thing has been twisted to be some kind of propaganda against Mendia.”
“What?”
“It says: ‘Breaking News. Prime Minister Goulden has ended days of speculation by announcing that the UK is now at war with Mendia. Adam Goulden says he tried his best to ease tensions with the Mediterranean country, but last-minute peace talks broke down when the King’s men attacked the PM’s security team. Several agents from Mendia teamed up with local underground thugs to launch an offence against the Prime Minister and while he emerged unscathed, four young soldiers lost their lives in the line of duty. He paid tribute to…’” Lucy stopped. “I’ve read enough.”
“Me too,” Neelam said. “I think we get the idea.”
“That’s such a load of lies,” Scarlett said as she crouched down at the computer to read the rest of the article. “I can’t believe Goulden twisted the whole thing to suit him and further justify this war he’s started. Well, actually I can believe it, but it still disgusts me.”
“I can’t believe it doesn’t mention us,” Alex said. “Do you think he didn’t know we were there?”
“I dunno,” Scarlett said. “Maybe Neelam’s power disguised us at first and he didn’t see us after that because of the smoke screen and chaos of the battle.”
“I hope so.”
“He can’t have seen us,” Neelam said. “There’s no way he would have missed a chance to blame it all on us.”
“Unless blaming it on Mendia worked more in his favour on this occasion,” Dylan said.
“Either way, I’m glad we’re in the clear for once, but war has still been declared. So what do we do now?” Neelam asked.
“Stop the war,” Scarlett said. She refused to give up. “It hasn’t actually begun yet or reached a stage where Mendia want to retaliate by killing all of Manchester. There’s still hope. I don’t have a clue how to do that though.”
She turned to ask Dylan’s advice, but he’d sloped off into a corner on his own.
“Are you OK?” she asked gently as she approached him.
He had his back to her as he shook his head.
“Dylan? Look at me.”
But when he turned around, she could see that he was crying.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s my fault.”
“What is?”
“Them dying. Casey, Stan, Harvey and Phoebe. I could have saved them and stopped the others being hurt too.”
“You did the best you could.”
She placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
“No I didn’t. I could have killed The Echidna, but I chickened out.”
“Dylan, we don’t murder people and you’re the one who advocates that rule more than any of us. You did the right thing.”
“But the right thing caused others to die.”
“It was a tough decision.”
“It was the wrong decision. You were right the other day when you said the rules have changed and they’re changing further every day as this world gets more and more evil. We shouldn’t kill people, that’s true, and I’d like that to always be the case, but when it comes to an underworld boss who’s killed loads of people, and is preparing to murder more, then the lines are blurred.”
“A life is still a life, Dylan. You did the right thing and you couldn’t have lived with that on your conscience.
”I can’t live with this on my conscience.”
He seemed lost and broken as he looked her in the eyes. She felt like he was pleading for a magic cure, answer or some kind of salvation, but she couldn’t give it to him. She could support him an
d try to ease his pain though.
“Listen to me; you didn’t do anything wrong. The rules have changed, yes, but in a way that I think it’s now OK to steal something when we have no other choice or do something similarly illegal. Hurting or disarming The Echidna would have been understandable under the circumstances, but if you’d killed him, I know you wouldn’t have been able to come back from that. You’re not a murderer.”
Dylan nodded thoughtfully, Scarlett’s words seemed to be getting through to him. “I do feel like I need to be tougher and more ruthless though because being the sensitive and caring leader doesn’t cut it in this world anymore.”
“I always trust you to make the right decision. You’re a brilliant leader.”
He glanced up at her. “Am I?”
“Yes! We’re all struggling to adapt as the world changes rapidly around us, so you’re bound to feel unsure of yourself and your actions. You’re doing a fantastic job though and I know the rest of us could never fill your shoes.”
Dylan forced a laugh. “OK, OK, that’s enough ego stroking for one day.”
“So you’re feeling better?” She grinned encouragingly.
“A bit… enough. Thanks.”
Scarlett grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. They’d hardly had the time to chat and get close to each other lately; they were so busy being teammates and facing adversaries that their burgeoning relationship was coming second to everything else. They’d been together three months now and in that time, they’d only ventured out on a handful of dates. There wasn’t much she could do about that now though.
“Are you ready to go back to the others?”
Dylan smiled. “Yeah, let’s get back to business.”
“You OK?” Lucy said, her blue eyes large with concern as they returned to the group
“Yeah, I’m fine. So, what’s been happening over here?”
Out Of Time (Book 2): Heroes and Villains Page 12
