The Wanderer (Book 2): Stranded

by Giancioppo, Danny

  So anyway, he went flying. Not like, flying-flying, but he just zoomed outward. He definitely had a better jump then I did, which, based on the dumpster diving incident earlier, I wouldn’t have expected.

  I took off, trying to keep pace with him. Now, speed wasn’t a problem, but elevation? That was a little harder to maintain.

  “Sam, flex it! You’ve gotta flex the muscle!” I shouted while he dipped further and further toward the ground.

  “I can’t!” he yelled. “I don’t know how!”

  “Neither did I! You just have to push it!” I encouraged.

  He fell closer and closer to a group of incoming buildings, and as he shouted (like a baby, by the way), he then lifted up a little.

  “Good! Now, put yourself into a better flying-position!” I directed. He adjusted himself so that he was a little more horizontal, and continued lifting haphazardly. His speed began to kind of shift without a pattern too; he’d speed up, then slow down, then speed up again. We were going fairly quick, but it just wasn’t consistently quick.

  “Am I doing it?” he shouted.

  “Yeah! Sort of!” I said encouragingly. “Just try to even out more!”

  “What?” Sam asked, looking back at me to hear better. And that, ladies and gentlemen, was when he lost control.

  He almost immediately lost focus, and sunk to the ground fast. And the ground had recently become the North Atlantic Ocean. We got close to there almost entirely from his jump, which again, was very impressive. His flying? Well that just kind of got us closer to below sea-level, which he was quickly headed toward.

  “Oh no!” he screamed, plummeting to the ocean at a very fast pace, much faster than his flying speed. Which, to me, meant that he technically was still flying, it was just that he was going down now.

  “Sam, pull up!” I yelled. “You need to pull yourself up!”

  “I can’t! I don’t know–!” he tried to explain. That uh… well, he didn’t get a chance to finish that thought dry… I’ll put it like that.

  He plummeted into the water, and I just stopped myself right above it. We were pretty far out too, almost to the point where the bay was blurry from distance. I could’ve gone into the water, in fact I probably should’ve, considering he could’ve drowned, but I had faith in him, so I didn’t. Plus, I was wearing a shirt that Alannah bought me recently, I didn’t want it to get wet.

  Either way, after a solid minute (or three) he popped back up, and actually managed to float next to me. He was a bit above me, and his elevation was still fluctuating a little, but still, he got the concept down.

  “Hey, look at you!” I admired. “And no buildings got crashed into!”

  “Yeah! Why didn’t we just go into the water in the first place? That made it really easy!” Sam said all excitedly.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “It was just like swimming without moving my hands and feet. Once I got into the water I got a much better grip on it,” Sam explained.

  “Oh… well, that’s good to know,” I said. It really was. Now I wouldn’t have to worry about him crashing into at least most buildings. We could just practice flight here. “So, you wanna keep doing this, or do you wanna move on to something else?”

  “Oh, I’ve got this down.” Sam boasted, cocky prick. “Let’s go fly somewhere else and practice fighting!”

  I gotta admit, the cockiness got to me a little bit. I love him, he’s like my brother, but it irked me how he thought so highly of himself so soon. He was just a young pup. And that pup needed to know that.

  “Okay, if you really want…” I smirked. “Follow me, if you can.” He just smirked at me, and then I took off, heading toward the U.S.B. headquarters.

  I was there in like 12.74 seconds– about, I’m rounding here. Point is, I got there first, and by a lot. Though, to his credit, Sam was able to track me, and in a couple minutes he got there too. He just had to follow the bay anyway though, so you know… not that impressive.

  “Hey, I’ve been waiting here all damn day,” I mocked. Sam just rolled his eyes and grinned. “Come on, there’s some people you’ve gotta meet before we give that strength a test.”

  We walked into the door and saw Jocelyn, the greatest secretary, as well as fastest typer in the known universe. And believe me, I know a lot about the universe.

  “Sam, this is Jocelyn. Jocelyn, this is–”

  “Samuel Finn, I know who you are,” Jocelyn said, not looking up from her computer. “Wanderer, are you going down?”

  “Jocelyn, I said you can just call me Jason,” I reminded her. We were… friendly, after all, I think. She did look up at me for that. I didn’t really like it.

  “Are you going down?” she repeated.

  “Yes, please,” I replied. Sam looked uncomfortable. Yeah, me too buddy…

  Anyway, we got down and quickly made our way over to Bell’s office. All the other scientists and subjects were looking at Sam and I curiously, probably wondering why it was a stranger, and seemingly a civilian, and a drenched one, was walking through a highly classified building with me, the Wanderer. I thought it was kind of cool, hopefully Sam thought the same.

  We walked into the office- now with a repaired door- and Bell and Bentley were both inside. Bell was sitting at his desk, and Bentley was leaning against a wall next to him. Yeah, real intimidating there, B.

  “Hey guys,” I greeted. They remained very stoic. “Okay, guess we’re doing things like this then…”

  “Sam, I’m Director Peter Bell,” Bell announced, reaching his hand across the table. Sam reached across it as well and shook Bell’s firm hand with his pale, wet, and somewhat shaking one.

  “Nice, to meet you sir, I’m Sam,” Sam responded.

  “Yeah, he knows, kid,” Bentley said.

  “Hey, go easy on him, alright?” I said to Bentley, then looking at Sam. “He does know though; he knows pretty much everything about you.”

  “Oh, okay,” Sam replied.

  “Sam, I understand you’ve gotten the same powers as Jason, yes?” Bell questioned.

  “Yeah, er… Yes, I believe so, sir; the core concepts anyways. I was badly burned recently, and I lost my arm to Malek a couple years ago, and both of those things are completely healed now!” Sam explained, showing his body off like some sort of display. “So, that’s the pain-tolerance, healing factor thing I suppose.

  “Yes, I remember seeing you at your friend Alex’s house after the fight; you were still unconscious at that point,” Bell recalled.

  “Have you tested anything else out?” Bentley asked curiously.

  “Actually that’s part of the reason I wanted to come here, I–” I attempted to explain.

  “Shut up kid, I’m talking to Sam,” Bentley pointed his finger at me, signaling me to shut up. He could be nicer about it next time…

  “Yeah, Jason was just teaching me how to fly actually,” Sam explained rather excitedly. Bell looked at me skeptically.

  “Really, and how did he do that?” he asked.

  “He took me to the top of the the Hancock, and had me jump off it, like he did,” Sam continued. Dammit…

  “Really?” Bell furthered. “Like he did?”

  “Kid, he went into the woods by your neighborhood and jumped down a hill, and almost immediately after got the suit, which made everything easier for him. Training-wheels treatment, the whole way through,” Bentley replied, me glaring at him the whole way through.

  “Thanks, Bentley,” I spat. He just glared back at me joyfully.

  “What?” Sam asked, then turning to me. “What!?”

  “Look, I–”

  “You had me jump off the tallest tower in the entire city, while you leapt off the hills we jumped down when we were kids!?”

  “Yes, but that was only because I–”

  “Director Bell, I’d like to further my training if that’s alright with you,” Sam said, looking at Bell. “I’d like to test my strength against Jason.

  Bent
ley smiled deviously, and Bell just grinned, looking at me like I somehow deserved this.

  “We have a room just for that. It’s where Jason most often trains, himself,” Bell explained. “You two can go there now.”

  “Wonderful,” Sam said, smiling. Then he turned to me, and glared. “Let’s go, asshole.” He walked out, and Bentley excitedly lead him to the training room.

  “Why are you two having so much fun with this?” I asked Bell. “Why are you being such an asshole to me right now?”

  “Because Jason, if you’re so hell-bent on saving Sam, then you have to know how to teach him. Lying is not the way to do that.”

  “I’m just trying to jumpstart his powers! Give him a boost!” I defended.

  “Right into the water, by the looks of it,” Bell remarked. He stood up, and put his hand on my shoulder, then looking more serious. “I’m sorry I got mad at you earlier, Jason. I have my reasons to be worried, but… I overreacted, and I apologize for that.”

  “Well I… it’s alright, don’t worry about it,” I replied sheepishly. I both loved and hated when he got all “dad” with me. Still, I did hug him after saying that. Briefly.

  “Alright, go show him the ropes, okay?” Bell said. “And don’t break anything. That room can handle a lot, but two superhumans dishing it out– even as a sparring match– might be too much.” I smirked.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on him,” I said.

  “No you won’t,” Bell said. No, I wouldn’t.

  5

  Sparring Match

  “Alright, now I know you’re mad, but listen to me, okay?” I said to Sam, who paced from across the room, still staring me down as he had been the past half hour while we waited for all our friends to show up.

  Which, by the way, I was incredibly against. Sam wanted to– I guess because, again, he was cocky. Bentley agreed, I guess because he expected me to lose. He just wanted to see me get my ass kicked in.

  For that reason, he went to such obnoxiously overdone extremes that he helicoptered in Julia, Alex, Will, and Alannah to come watch us. How Bentley made that seem normal to everyone else is beyond me, but all the same… there they were. Watching from above us in a protected room. Alannah was also holding the shirt I was wearing– that again, she bought me– so I didn’t ruin it, so I was also shirtless. Which then caused Sam to take his shirt off, so I didn’t have an advantage. But I still had an alien chestplate locked onto my chest… It was a mess. Anyway, I was saying…

  “This isn’t just about brute strength. You need to try and focus on mixing your speed and strength together, and using things like your flight to the best of your ability. If you get too heated, then things might start to get a little out of control, so stay focused,” I explained. “And no groin shots, okay? That’s just dirty.”

  “Alright, alright, let’s fight already!” Sam impatiently agreed.

  “Jeez, when was the last time these two actually fought?” Julia asked the others in the viewing room.

  “That time in the cafeteria, right? When Jason had just become the Wanderer?” Alex reminisced.

  “That wasn’t a fight, Jason lost on purpose!” Will argued.

  “Yeah, plus he refused that punch Sam landed on his face remember?” Julia added.

  “So it must be years since their last fight; when they were just boys,” Alannah said, facepalming. “Which means…”

  “They have a lot of grudges pent up,” Will finished her thought, the others all nodding both nervously and excitedly.

  “This is going to be intense,” Alex said.

  “I know, right? It’s incredible,” Bentley replied. “I’m putting my money on the new kid.”

  “Bentley, not now,” Alannah softly shut him down, trying to simmer him.

  “Okay, you ready?” I asked, honestly kind of hoping he’d take that as an out. As egotistic as it may have sounded, the truth was I knew right now I could win. I would. Sure, Sam was angry, but I had experience; I learned that anger isn’t the best way to drive and fuel my powers, but rather focus and positive thought. Although, I did also always have a temper, more than him, and if it did flare out in this fight, he’d definitely lose. I’d probably start going cosmic on his ass.

  “Oh, I’m ready,” he replied. Great…

  “Okay…” I muttered, taking a more defensive stance. “Your move.”

  I glanced up quickly, and saw everyone pressed up against the window. Christ, it was like highschool all over again; and Alannah still wasn’t closing the shades.

  I looked back, and then he moved. It was pretty fast, to his credit. He lunged forward, and bolted right at me, his fist reared back. Luckily though, I could react faster than he could still even think, so I moved out of the way, all the way to the other end of the room where he had been, in fact.

  “Over here, buddy,” I teased. He turned around, shocked, and lunged at me again.

  This time I didn’t move my location, and instead just dodged his swings. They started out sluggish– at least for our pace– and I easily swerved away from them. Then though, he started hitting smart. He swung faster, and more precisely. I had to start whacking his fists away, and after a couple seconds, I shot my hand at his chest, shoving him backward. He lost his footing, and fell onto his back, sliding against the floor.

  “Are you okay?” I asked genuinely, not wanting to actually hurt him that badly. He just got up, and scowled at me. He was bleeding though, and a fair amount too.

  “Stop treating me like a rookie!” Sam shouted. “I’m fine! Come at me!” I just shook my head a little, and looked back at the window. Alannah shook hers too, but the others all watched expectantly.

  “Alright…” I muttered. I quickly switched to a more aggressive position, and shot forward, grabbing him by the waist and lifting him into the air.

  “W-Whoa, what the–!?” he yelled, disoriented. I just tossed him over to the other side of the room again. Not too hard, but a bit harder than before. Also, I moved quick enough to catch him before he hit the ground, so he was fine.

  After catching him, I reared my hand back to shove him again, but then he did something I didn’t see coming.

  Sam put his hand on my chest, and swept his foot from behind my legs, making me fall. Then, as I fell, he turned our positions so he was closer to the wall, and he punched me right in the face, slamming me into the ground, and skidding across it. I’m not gonna lie, it seriously hurt.

  I heard a lot of “Oh’s!” come from the window, and I’m pretty sure someone said some more... unsultry cuss words. I’d put my money on Will; dude’s a potty mouth.

  Anyway, I stood up, and wiped the dust off my face, as well as a small amount of blood. That was pretty impressive to see, honestly. I rebalanced myself, and got ready for whatever he was going to do next.

  He shot forward, and grabbed at my shoulders. I grabbed at his too, and stopped him in his tracks. Well, mostly; we slid back a little, but all the same, I stopped him. He looked at me, somehow shocked again, and kneed me in the stomach a couple times. I just sat it out, and then headbutted him, punching his chest rapidly a few times, before then doing a corkscrew kind of spin kick in his chest, sending him hurling back toward the wall.

  I followed quickly after him, and he managed to stabilize himself before hitting the wall. I reared in for another punch, and right then he swung at me, while also flying toward me. We both got a hit on one another’s face, and went soaring backward, myself having more of a distance to travel and thus more time to recover than Sam, who just slammed into the wall.

  We both got back into our fighting stances, and heard the intercom come on.

  “Alright, that’s enough. Please stop fighting,” Alannah said.

  “Boys, Alannah is right, that’s enough now,” Bell ordered. Well, ordered isn’t the right word… We would’ve had to listen for it to be an order.

  Unfortunately though, I was a little too riled up at that point to listen. As was Sam. The others were right, we
had a lot of good times behind us– but a lot of past issues too. This was the first time in a long time that we were on even footing and were in a real fight with each other. That meant things were a little more heated than they needed to be.

  Plus, I made Sam dive off a skyscraper, which– if I had to guess– I think he was still a little miffed over.

  He shot at me, and actually got us up to the ceiling. That took me by surprise, so much so that I didn’t react fast enough to stop it. He let go of me, and then slammed down on my head with both fists, sending me right towards the ground with a force. The ceiling was about twenty-five feet from the floor, so I had a ways to fall as well.

  I turned over, and looked up at Sam as he came soaring down at me. I darted out of the way, and flew to the other end of the room. He did the same, and we both caught our breath. Well, he did anyway.

  I started to get overtaken by my anger, which grew the more I got hurt. He was strong, and he could actually hurt me. And pain never made me cool down.

  He was fighting heavy, I guess because he was always the bigger of the two of us. He was fast, but his tactics were to hit hard when he could manage to land one, not to hit a lot, and move with more flow. It was unique I suppose; different to me, if nothing else.

  I was facing the side where the window was, and Sam stood under it. My eyes flashed a slight white hue, and my vision went along with it. Alannah noticed first, and immediately turned to Bell.

  “This needs to stop, now,” she warned.

  “I tried already, they’re too into it,” Bell replied. “It’ll be okay Alannah, Jason has it under control.”

  “Bell, can’t you see his eyes!? They’re going white!” Alannah insisted. Bell leaned closer to the window, and looked out at me. His eyes grew wide, and he backed up in nervousness.

  “Oh no…” he muttered, making his way to the intercom again. “Boys, this fight is over!” he shouted. “Enough now! End this!”

  “I am,” I growled. Not smart, I know, but that was still a pretty clever line. I think so, anyway.

  “Bentley, get down there, now! Bring some men with you,” Bell instructed.