The Superhero's Strike

by Lucas Flint

  “Men don’t talk to each other on the other side of a screen like this,” I said. “Real men talk face to face in real life, not where they’re ‘safe.’”

  “I don’t care about whether I am a ‘real’ man or not,” said Longworth dismissively. “What I do care about, however, is making sure you don’t ruin any of my plans.”

  I cracked Longworth a smile. “Kind of hard to ruin your plans when I don’t know what they even are.”

  “Nonsense,” said Longworth. “A cat can spill a pot of ink across a manuscript that took years to write without even understanding what a book is. You are no different.”

  “I’m a cat?”

  “No, you idiot,” said Longworth. “You’re an obstacle to my plans. Originally, I thought you and your friends would perish very easily, but you’ve survived for far longer than you have any right to and killed one too many of my beasts. This is unacceptable. If you got any further, you’ll ruin everything I’ve worked so hard to build.”

  My eyes darted to the exit off to the side. “Well, geez, man, if that’s the case, then I should probably get going. Don’t know what you’re doing here, but it doesn’t sound right, so I think I’m just going to go right ahead and keep going if that’s all right with you.”

  I pushed myself off the console, but before I could take even one step away, Longworth suddenly said, “Do you really want the blood of innocent people on your hands, Bolt?”

  I froze and looked back at the computer monitor. “What?”

  “I said, do you want innocent people to die?” said Longworth. He leaned forward, a ghoulish grin on his face. “Because that is what will happen if you go any further. People you know … people you love … will die.”

  “Who are you talking about?” I said. “Strike?”

  “Perhaps,” said Longworth. He sat back. “Or perhaps I am referring to someone else. You know quite a few people, don’t you?”

  I put both my hands on the monitor and glared directly at Longworth’s ugly face. “Get to the point, Longworth. What are you trying to tell me?”

  “It’s very simple,” said Longworth, stroking his long chin, “if you keep going forward, I won’t hesitate to kill your friends.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  “My friends?” I said. I slammed my hands against the sides of the monitor. “Are you talking about Strike and Dizzy?”

  “That’s part of the surprise, you see,” said Longworth with a chuckle. “The point is, if you surrender now, then I will spare their lives. But if you must insist on keeping up this nonsense, then prepare to be responsible for the deaths of several innocent people.”

  Okay, I was starting to see the family resemblance between Longworth and Phaser. Not physically—the two couldn’t be any different—but socially. They were both sociopathic jerks who clearly got off on endangering innocent lives. It was a shame Longworth and I weren’t in the same room together, otherwise I would have bashed his ugly face in.

  “Suppose I surrender,” I said. “What will happen to me?”

  “You will be taken prisoner,” said Longworth. He licked his lips. “I can see many uses for you in my experiments. You are a fairly unique superhuman, as you are no doubt aware. I would love to be able to take you apart and find out what makes you tick.”

  I shuddered at Longworth’s words. “And if I fight?”

  “Your friends will die,” said Longworth. “And you, too. My younger brother has been itching for a rematch against you. He was holding back last time, but he promised me he won’t hold back this time.”

  I hesitated. I knew Longworth was referring to Phaser, but his statement raised a good question: Why hadn’t Phaser come back to kill me and Triplet as soon as he got rid of Strike? Had Longworth ordered him not to? If so, why?

  “I would suggest taking this offer,” said Longworth. “Phaser brought back your friend—a very fine specimen for experimentation purposes—while your other friend was lost in the battle with the turtle-squid. It seems to me that you are all out of allies, whereas I have not only my brother but a variety of cyborg animals to defend me. Who do you think would win in a head-to-head fight?”

  I bit my lower lip. “I wouldn’t bet against me if I were you, Longworth. I have a tendency to beat the odds.”

  “So I’ve heard,” said Longworth, “but some odds can’t be beaten no matter how strong you are. You may think you are invincible, but just because you are a superhuman doesn’t make you a god. It merely makes you that slightly harder to kill.”

  “Yeah, I’ve been told that,” I said. “By lots of people, actually. Funny how none of them are alive anymore but I still am. You might want to use that big scientist brain of yours to calculate those odds.”

  Longworth scowled. “We’re getting off-topic. I am here to offer you a truce. If you agree to surrender and join me, then I will not kill the innocent people in my possession. If you refuse, then I will not only take their lives but yours, also. I have taken human life before. I am not afraid to do it again.”

  I eyed Longworth dubiously. I had no doubt he had innocent people in his possession, but I questioned whether he would actually kill any of them. He needed people for his experiments, it sounded like, so I doubted he would just kill people for the heck of it.

  On the other hand, I couldn’t forget the terror and fear I heard in the voice of that woman not even five minutes ago. She had mentioned Longworth and Abaddon and had probably been killed. Longworth would probably not tell me anything about Abaddon, but that was fine. It just confirmed how evil Longworth was to me.

  “Well, Longworth, I can tell you don’t know me very well if you think issuing vague threats at me will make me do anything,” I said casually. “How about I escape your maze, go up to your lab, kick you and your brother’s butts, save my friends, and then get the heck out of here? I think that’s more my style than becoming your next guinea pig.”

  “Maybe, but it would not be the wisest thing to do,” said Longworth. “Let me show you just how serious I am.”

  Longworth moved the camera off to the side, showing a large cage behind him. At first, I didn’t see anything, but then the camera finally focused and I saw a teenage girl with blonde hair lying on the floor of the cage unconscious. She was firmly tied up with rope and the cage in which she was held prisoner looked strong enough to survive a nuclear blast. She was very pretty, with an impish face that made her look younger than she was. A metallic band, kind of like a tiara, was wrapped firmly around her forehead, though I had no idea what it actually was.

  “Who is that?” I said.

  “Her name is Stacy Abernathy,” said Longworth, “but you probably know her better by her other name, Dizzy.”

  I gasped. “Dizzy? Of the New Heroes? Strike’s girlfriend?”

  “Yes,” said Longworth. “The one who your friend was desperately searching for. She is here, along with many other young women close to her in age. I haven’t gotten around to experimenting on her very much yet—been very busy recently, as you might have guessed—but I could spare her for a demonstration of the seriousness of my threat if you wish.”

  I had a click somewhere off camera and then a metallic band wrapped around Dizzy’s head began to glow. Suddenly, Dizzy’s eyes snapped open and she started screaming in pain, rolling across the floor and jerking unnaturally. It looked like she was having an awful nightmare, one she couldn’t wake up from.

  I couldn’t take seeing her in pain anymore, so I said, “Stop it! Stop what you’re doing to her. Stop hurting her.”

  Abruptly, the band stopped glowing and Dizzy stopped screaming and jerking. She lay on her side, breathing in and out hard. She seemed to be barely conscious, perhaps because of the intensity of the pain she just experienced.

  Suddenly, the camera panned back to Longworth, who was still grinning like the psycho he was.

  “That’s what I like to hear,” said Longworth. “Begging for mercy, asking me to stop. Shows just how strong you supers are, do
esn’t it?”

  My hands shook. “I could break your neck.”

  “I could kill her,” said Longworth. He tapped his forehead. “That was one of my Control Crowns, in case you couldn’t tell. Normally, I just use it to ensure compliance with my orders, but every now and then I find it necessary to teach my experiments a lesson. A very, very painful lesson. Sometimes lethally so, in fact.”

  Then Longworth leaned in closer, letting me see his big ugly face in even greater detail. “Apply enough pain to the human body and it simply … shuts down. Pain is your friend, but too much pain and it suddenly isn’t your friend anymore. Know what I mean?”

  I didn’t answer. What else was there to say after that hideous display of torture?

  “So answer my question again,” said Longworth. “Will you peacefully surrender—and thus ensure the survival of this beautiful young woman—or are you going to keep resisting, even if it means her death? Take your time. I’m patient.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Right now, I hated Longworth’s irritating smirk more than anything else in the world. But I had to admit that he had good reason to be smirking because he had me in a very good trap.

  Dizzy wasn’t my girlfriend, but I did consider her a friend and I didn’t like abandoning my friends to their deaths. Plus, even if I didn’t like Dizzy, I liked and respected Strike. I didn’t want to think about what Strike would do to me if he found out I allowed Dizzy to die just because I didn’t want to go along with Longworth’s demands.

  On the other hand, I had no intention of being part of Longworth’s ‘experiments.’ The way he spoke, it sounded like he treated them like slaves. No way was I going to allow myself to become a slave. I would rather die than give up my freedom, especially to someone like Longworth.

  But was I willing to let someone else die for the sake of my own freedom?

  “Come on,” said Longworth. “I know I said I am patient, but I don’t have all the time in the world to wait for your decision, you know. I am a very busy man.”

  “You sound just like your brother.”

  “We’re brothers,” said Longworth. “Why wouldn’t we sound similar?”

  I bit my lip again. It was starting to look like I had no choice here but to accept his offer. If it would ensure Dizzy’s survival, then I had to take it. Besides, I could always figure out a way to save myself afterward. I was good at getting out of tricky situations like this.

  “All right, Longworth,” I said. “I’ll surrender. Just please don’t hurt Dizzy, okay?”

  Longworth smiled. “Wise choice. Very wise choice. I will send my brother to pick you up and—”

  “Bolt!” said a familiar voice off-screen. “Bolt! Don’t listen to him! It’s a trap!”

  My eyes widened. “Strike, is that you?”

  Longworth’s smile quickly turned into a scowl as he looked over at something off-screen to his right. “What do you think you’re doing? You’re not supposed to—”

  “It’s a trap!” said Strike again. “Don’t surrender! He’s going to—”

  Shut up!” Longworth snapped. He snapped his fingers again. “Shut up now!”

  Strike suddenly began screaming in pain just like Dizzy, prompting me to say, “Strike? What’s going on? Strike?”

  “Ignore him,” said Longworth, looking at me suddenly. “He’s another experiment who simply doesn’t know his place.”

  But I shook my head. “No. Strike was warning me about you. You’re not going to spare Dizzy at all, even if I surrender, are you?”

  “Listen here, kid,” said Longworth, leaning forward again, “if you continue to stand against me—to stand against us—you will be in for a world of pain that you can’t even imagine. You will be in so much pain you will be begging me to—”

  I never got to hear the end of Longworth’s threat, because I smashed my fist directly into the monitor, cutting off his rant before he could say much more. Smoke and sparks shot out when I hit it, but I paid no attention as I stepped away and shook my fist. It hurt slightly from the punch, but at the same time, the pain was nothing in comparison to the satisfaction I felt at destroying that monitor.

  “Did you see that, Longworth?” I said, raising my voice, even though I wasn’t sure he could hear me anymore. “That’s what I’m going to do to you when I see you in person. Only it’s going to be much, much more painful for you.”

  No response, but frankly I didn’t expect one. I just wanted to get that off my chest. Regardless of what Longworth said, I took Strike’s word far more seriously than his. If Strike was saying this was a trap, then I had no choice but to believe him. But I was worried about Dizzy and Strike. What would Longworth do to them, now that I had basically told him to get lost? Would he kill them? Or simply torture them? I had no idea and I was afraid to find out.

  But I was going to find out anyway, sooner or later. Either I would find Longworth’s lab and confront him there or I would run into Phaser and he would tell me what Longworth was doing. Then again, if I ran into Phaser, he would probably just try to kill me, rather than talk to me.

  I shook my head. The longer I waited, the more likely it became that Phaser or one of Longworth’s other minions would find me. Like Triplet said, I needed to keep moving forward, regardless of what awaited me. Plus, it was the only way I would be able to find out whether Strike and Dizzy were okay.

  With renewed determination, I ran out the exit, ready for whatever Longworth and Phaser had in store for me.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  To my relief, this exit did not lead into yet another tunnel. Instead, it became a winding metal staircase that went straight up. Unfortunately, it was too dark to see how high up it went, but I was excited about the possibility that it might lead me all the way up to Longworth’s lab. At the very least, it might take me to the next level of the maze, which would bring me closer to the surface and closer to freedom in general.

  Despite my excitement, however, I did not run up the steps as fast as I could have. Instead, I took them slowly and cautiously, trying not to make too much noise. I didn’t want to announce my presence to Longworth before I even showed up, but neither did I want to waste any time climbing the stairs when there was a strong possibility that my friends were in danger. Rushing headlong into danger was usually my MO, but sometimes it was better to be safe than sorry.

  Luckily for me, I did not run into anyone else on my way up the stairs. Every now and then I would hear a distant roar somewhere below me—most likely one of Longworth’s many creations—but I told myself not to worry about that and to keep moving. It seemed unlikely to me that any of Longworth’s beasts would be after me now, but at the same time, I did stop every now and then to look down and make sure I wasn’t being followed. I was more worried about Phaser following me than any of Longworth’s beasts, however, because I had already lost to Phaser once and I wasn’t looking forward to the inevitable rematch with him, especially in a tight space like this.

  That did make me think about how I could beat him, though. All of my usual powers and techniques were useless against him. Even my pole staff was no use against his powers. And I didn’t have mental powers that would allow me to attack his mind, his only real weak point. It was times like these that I wished I had some powerless gas of my own to use. If I could use it on Phaser, he wouldn’t be able to use his powers, but unfortunately, I did not have any on me. That was a mistake I would correct when I got out of this place … if I got out, that is.

  I wished Triplet was still with me. He was no more useful against Phaser in a fight than I was, but he knew Phaser and Phaser’s powers better than me. It would have been nice to have an ally with me, but as far as I knew, Triplet was dead. Or if not dead, then lost forever in the complex waterway system of Longworth’s maze, which was basically the same thing when you thought about it.

  That meant I was all on my own here, going to confront the big bad himself with nothing but my wits and skills. I was used to that by
now, but that didn’t make it any easier to accept.

  Finally, after what felt like hours of walking, I reached the top of the stairs and found a simple metal door closed. The door, I discovered, wasn’t even locked, but I didn’t open it right away. Instead, I pressed my ear against its cold metal surface, straining to hear any sounds on the other side, voices that might indicate whether there were other people here or not.

  That was when a hand phased through the door and wrapped around my neck. Before I could do anything, my whole body became intangible with the hand and I was yanked through the solid metal door and onto the other side.

  I found myself face-to-face with Phaser, who grinned and said, “Hello, Bolt. Long time, no see.”

  Before I could say anything, Phaser whirled around and threw me bodily through the air. I spun crazily through the air for a second before I hit the floor, landing flat on my back, but I was only stunned for a little while. I jumped to my feet and took up a fighting stance, but when I looked back at the door, Phaser was already gone.

  “What the heck?” I said, looking around wildly. “Where did he go?”

  “I’m right here,” said Phaser’s voice somewhere behind me. “Just turn around and look.”

  I whirled around and saw Phaser standing on the other end of the room. He stood on top of a metal platform sticking out the wall, leaning on the railing with a cruel grin on his blue lips. Behind him was another door, which had to be the way out of this room.

  As a matter of fact, I didn’t know where I was. The room into which Phaser had pulled me was probably the largest chamber in the maze I had been in so far, not counting the waterfall room. It was twice as big as the generator room, with a ceiling so high that I felt like I was standing in an aircraft hanger. All around me, I saw large computer monitors, desks, and various scientific equipment scattered everywhere, with a hint of chemicals in the air that kind of smelled like bleach.