Clarissa and her group listened intently, nodding along with my words. “Yes, the situation in the States does seem dire,” Clarissa said. “I imagine it’s a bit similar to ours, given that both of our homes have been taken over by a tyrannical Super.”
“You could almost think of this as practice for us,” Selena said.
“I don’t appreciate that. This isn’t practice for us,” Vince said, his booming voice intimidating me, even though I could take him down before he had time to blink.
“Yes, my apologies. That’s not what we mean,” I said, covering for Selena. “What we mean is that we would like to help, and maybe we can learn a thing or two that will help us in our fight against Atlas and the Legion. Maybe you’d even be able to help us out in some way.”
“What way do you mean?” Jackson asked, adjusting his glasses.
“How many soldiers do you have? Maybe we could transport them back to the United States to help us in our fight,” I offered.
The three of them exchanged uneasy glances. Clarissa cleared her throat. “I’m not sure we have the numbers to be able to send people to the States without risking our own safety,” she said.
“Here we go again,” Samantha said, her words echoing through my mind.
“How many exactly do you have?” I asked.
Clarissa hesitated before she said, “About one hundred and fifty.”
I did my best to hide the surprise on my face, but I wasn’t convinced I’d done that great of a job. One hundred and fifty was nowhere near the amount I’d been thinking. “Where are your people right now?”
“Groups of them are spread out in different apartment complexes nearby. We don’t keep many of them in one place, in case Raven and his soldiers figure out one group’s location. Then, the others are still safe and hidden,” Vince told us as he stepped forward, looming at the edge of our circle.
“That’s smart,” I said. I glanced over at Selena, trying to get a read on her facial expression. Of course, she offered me no hints to what she was thinking. “Well, regardless of what you have to offer,” I said as I turned to look at Clarissa, “we will help you.”
She looked surprised and hopeful at once. “But, Tempest, we have nothing to offer you, save for a few weapons.”
“Don’t worry. We’re based in Texas; we’ve got plenty of those. We can’t just go off and leave you and the people of this city, not now.”
Clarissa turned to look at Jackson and Vince, excited enough for both of them. They smiled back at her, and a warmth exploded inside of me. The hope I saw on their faces was priceless to me.
“Thank you,” Clarissa said. “Thank you so much.”
I waved her off. “Don’t worry about it. It’s what we came here to do.” I stood up, ready to go kick some ass. “Where is Raven’s base of operations? Selena and I will head over there and take care of them.”
I knew it wouldn’t take long. Just fly in, beat the hell out of Raven, and scare his goons off. It shouldn’t take more than an hour or two.
“They’re holed up in the Carlton Centre. It’s the tallest building in the city,” Jackson said.
“Okay, sounds good.” I said. “Anything else about Raven and his people we need to know? What are his powers?”
Clarissa’s expression turned uneasy. She looked to Vince, who answered my question. “We’re not sure what Raven’s powers are. His soldiers are the ones who took over the city. He just directed them from the top of the Carlton.”
“So, you mean you’ve never actually seen this Raven character?” Selena asked, her skepticism growing.
“We have,” Jackson said. “We’ve seen him through the windows of the Carton. He never leaves the top floor, however, so we’ve never seen his powers at work.”
I nodded, my questions subsiding. “This seems like it’ll be quick. There’s nothing else you guys want to tell us?”
“Just please, be careful,” Clarissa replied. “We were considering giving up. We haven’t been able to make ground. You’ve become our last resort—but still, try not to destroy anything.”
“Don’t worry. It’s not like we’re planning on destroying half the city or anything.”
Window Breaker
Once I was outside and alone with Selena, I pointed up towards the sky, raising one of my eyebrows. She nodded, and the two of us took off. We flew high above the city, stopping once we’d passed the first low layer of clouds.
“What do you think?” I asked, now that we were sure we weren’t being overheard.
“I think this is all moving way too fast,” she said.
“I’m with Selena,” Samantha said, jumping into the conversation.
I gritted my teeth, frustrated. Mostly with myself, though. A small voice in the back of my head was telling me to take a step back, but I didn’t listen. “What are we going to do?”
“What can we do? You just promised them we’d liberate their damn city, without asking any of us first,” Selena said, obviously frustrated with me.
“I’m sorry,” I said with a sigh. “I just got caught up in the moment. I should’ve stopped to ask what you thought about it.”
“We aren’t even getting anything in return,” Selena said, ignoring my apology.
“That’s not what it’s about, Selena,” I said.
“No, Kane, that’s exactly what this is about. That is literally the whole point of all of this! We’re supposed to be finding people who can help us. None of those people were even Supers, and I doubt that any of their soldiers are, or else they wouldn’t be getting their asses handed to them.”
“Okay, I get it. I know. We’re frustrated. We’re not making any progress. But I can’t just leave these people, not if we can help them. You saw the looks on their faces when we told them we’d help them.” I couldn’t help but smile as I thought about it. “We gave them hope. And not false hope, either. We can help these people, and we have to. I have to. You can do whatever you want, but I’m going to go kick Raven’s ass.”
I turned to fly back down, but Selena called out for me to stop. “Kane! Wait.”
I turned, and she flew over to me. “You’re right, I’m sorry. I’m just really frustrated. I’m taking it out on you when I should be taking it out on Raven.” She smiled as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail. “Come on, let’s go kick some ass.”
I nodded, a smirk growing across my face.
“I’ll be over here cheerleading!” Samantha said.
The two of us laughed, then we flew down towards the city, ready to take on Raven.
AS WE FLEW TOWARDS downtown Johannesburg, I scanned the skyline for the Carlton Centre. When I found it, I pointed it out to Selena, and the two of us flew faster and faster towards the top floor, our minds on the same page. Fly in fast and hard, and make sure Raven didn’t know what had hit him.
I flew fast towards the windows, the smile on my face growing. I couldn’t wait to get started.
I got closer and closer.
I was flying slower and slower.
I looked behind me, confused. I definitely wasn’t trying to slow myself down. Selena was trailing behind me, the gap between us growing.
I felt something within me waver. I looked down, and my stomach dropped. My head felt light, and my palms grew sweaty.
I began gliding down. I tried to direct myself upwards, to stop, to do something. Instead, the gap between me and the building kept closing, but I was no longer in control. Instead of flying, I was now falling.
I closed in on a window about a dozen stories from the top. I smashed into the glass, and it shattered around me as I fell inside, slammed to the floor and rolled across the room. Then I hit a desk, which brought me to a sudden stop. I lay in a heap on the floor, letting out a shout of pain.
I turned to look to my left, and saw Selena flying towards the window, out of control. Just like I had, she crashed to the floor and skidded across the room. She was stopped by a pile of boxes, and she wasn’t getting up.
I gritted my teeth, trying to push through the pain. I pushed a hand beneath me to brace myself, but it gave out. I let out a shout of agony and looked down at my wrist; the pain grew even more intense when I realized it was broken. I pulled it in close and let out another groan of pain.
A thought shot across my mind. Why am I not healing?
I looked back down at my hand, waiting for it to pop back into place, every tendon and bone placing itself in just the right spot. It should’ve been healed by then. My hand should’ve healed itself a millisecond after I fell through the window. I shouldn’t be in so much pain.
Panic tore through me. I coughed hard, hacking up some blood. I felt my ribs with my good hand, and nothing felt right. One of them—at least one of them—must’ve broken and punctured a lung.
“What’s happening?” I asked out loud, but nobody answered. “Selena?” I said, craning my neck to try to see her. I could only see the pile of boxes that she’d fallen into. “Selena!”
No reply.
My whole body shuddered with pain. My adrenaline was pumping, but it wasn’t doing much to keep the agony at bay.
I looked down at my wrist and stared, as if it to tell it that it could start healing itself now. “Come on,” I whimpered. “Come on—” I tried to shout, but couldn’t finish. The pain was too much. It was excruciating.
I didn’t have time for this. If anybody had heard or saw me and Selena crash, they’d be on their way. I had to get us out of here, or we’d be in even bigger trouble.
I placed my good hand up on the desk above me, and with a shout of pain, pulled myself with all my might. The desk creaked under the pressure of my strength, but it didn’t crumble. I could have destroyed the same desk with a flick of my finger before. But now all I got was a creak and a groan?
Using the desk to support my weight, I took a tentative step towards Selena, but the pain rocked through my body and I had to stop after a single step. My breaths were short and painful. I felt another cough creeping up, and before I could stop it, it exploded from me, blood shooting across the small office we were in.
The force I was putting on the desk to support myself during my coughing attack proved to be too much. The desk collapsed, and I fell across it to the floor. An involuntary shout escaped from my lips, and I suddenly wondered whether or not I might actually die.
I looked down at my wrist once again, and it didn’t look quite as bad as it had earlier. A wave of joy and relief rushed through me. I was healing! Not as fast as usual, but still, I was doing it. I felt my wrist moving into place very slowly, and very painfully. It felt as if an army of ants were crawling beneath my skin, working as slowly as possible to get my body back to normal.
I looked around and saw a sweater that somebody had left on a couch in the corner of the room. I reached for it, but it was too far away. Summoning all the willpower I could, I crawled across the floor to the couch, grabbed the sweater, and crumpled up one of the sleeves. I placed it in my mouth and bit down as hard as I could. Then I lay on the floor with my eyes closed and the sweater in my mouth, waiting for the excruciatingly slow and painful healing process to be over with.
Into the Darkness
It took almost an hour for the pain inside of me to subside to a dull roar. I lay on the floor of the office, pieces of a desk and shattered glass all around. A cool breeze blew in from the broken window as the sun began to set in the distance. I breathed heavily, appreciating the fact that I could once again do so without feeling excruciating pain.
It was time to get out of there.
I crawled to the couch and used it to help myself stand. I was a bit shaky on my feet, and my head spun for a few moments. I almost fell back down, but once I got my bearings, I was fine.
I took a step towards the pile of boxes that had caught Selena. My legs were sore and unsteady, but after taking a few more steps, I had already begun to feel almost back to normal.
I reached Selena and knelt down next to her, then picked up the couple of boxes that were on top of her and threw them aside. The first thing I noticed was her right arm. It was obviously broken, twisted in a painful-looking way. A small patch of dried blood was caked on the top of her head and in her hair. Her arms and torso were all scratched up from the glass on the floor, from when she had first tumbled in. I checked for her pulse, and there was one. Strong, too. I breathed a sigh of relief.
I reached down and placed a hand on her shoulder. I gave it a shake, but she didn’t respond. “Selena,” I said as I gave her another prod. “Come on. Wake up, Selena.”
Nothing.
Shit, I thought.
Thought. My brain. “Samantha? Samantha, are you there?” I asked. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of her sooner, but then again, why had she been so quiet? “Samantha? Can you hear me?”
No response.
A new volley of anxieties and fears launched themselves at my mind. I didn’t know what this meant, but it couldn’t be good. It was clear I still had some of my powers, although a very, very small fraction of what they normally were. So, why couldn’t Samantha contact me? If I had my powers, why didn’t she? Besides, it wasn’t like she needed my powers to talk to me. My parents didn’t have any superpowers, and she was still able to communicate with them.
Still, there was radio silence from Samantha.
It was time for me to come up with a game plan. I could worry about what was happening at home later; first, I had to get out of the tower. Selena and I needed to get to safety. There was no telling if guards came through this part of town, but if they did, it wouldn’t be long before they found the mess we’d made. I had every intention of being long gone by the time they did.
I reached down and grabbed Selena’s right wrist. I pulled her up, grabbed her torso, and threw her over my shoulder. I still had some powers, so her weight didn’t feel like much. Still, I could feel it pressing down on my shoulder.
I walked over to the office door and opened it slowly. There were no lights, so I focused on transforming my eyes. They cast a very dim blue light. Even so, I had to give them a second to adjust.
I looked up and down the hallway, finding no sign of any guards, just doors that led to other offices. To my left, the hallway hooked right and seemed to continue on, leading to another corridor of offices. To my right, the hallway led into a large opening. I decided that would be my best bet for an exit.
I walked down the hallway, which led to what looked like a reception area. Next to a pair of frosted doors was a sign with an arrow pointing to the left and a cartoon character running into a stairwell while fire gave chase behind him.
I followed the direction of the arrow and entered another hallway that I assumed would meet up eventually with the one I had started out in. The first door on my right had a sign that said In Case of Emergency, Use Stairs.
Bingo.
I swung the door open, the creaking of its hinges echoing throughout the empty stairwell. The smell of stale air wafted up to my nose, and I fought the urge to sneeze from the dust. I stepped inside and let the door swing shut behind me.
Total darkness surrounded me, the only light coming from the weak blue beams of my eyes. I stepped off the landing, making my way down the first of many stairs.
I took each step with care, so I wouldn’t drop Selena. I looked over the edge of the stairwell, my beams only penetrating the darkness for a few feet. Had I fully had my powers, I could’ve just jumped over the edge and stopped myself before I hit the ground. While I still had a small fraction of my powers, I didn’t know the full extent of my situation, and didn’t want to risk me or Selena splatting to the floor.
Still, I thought that maybe I could make my situation a bit easier. I stopped my descent and concentrated a bit harder than usual. I felt my feet leave the ground, and although I did waver for a moment and it took intense concentration, I was able to stabilize myself a couple inches off the floor. With a small smile of satisfaction at such a minor victory, I floated down the stai
rwell into the darkness.
AFTER A FEW FLIGHTS, I felt a movement on my shoulder. “Selena?” I whispered.
She moaned.
I set my feet on the floor and crouched down. I slid her off my shoulder, settling her on one of the stairs with her back up against the wall.
Her eyes were slits, but I could see her pupils moving around. “Kane?” she moaned.
“It’s me, Selena,” I said. Exhilaration grew within me, and I fought off the urge to celebrate. “How are you feeling? You okay?”
“I feel sick.” She interrupted herself with a dry heave. She almost fell over, but I was able to keep her upright. Her head fell back against the wall, and her hands began to shake. “I feel so dizzy,” she mumbled. “I’m so lightheaded. My arm...my arm...”
“You broke it on your way in,” I explained.
Her eyes were open a bit wider now, and when I looked into her pupils, the light from my eyes created no movement from them. “Your eyes are dilated,” I said, more thinking out loud than talking to her. “I think you have a concussion. You took a pretty hard tumble. Thankfully, I took out that window for you, or else things would’ve been a lot worse.”
“I saw...I was losing control...aimed for broken window,” she said, her hard breaths interrupting her. “Concussion? Why...can not...heal?” she asked, circling back to what I’d just told her.
“I don’t know. Something’s happening to us. I don’t know if it’s this tower or what, but I’ve lost almost all my powers. I’m weak, but there’s still a little bit there. You, on the other hand, seem to have lost your powers completely,” I explained.
It took a second for Selena to react. Her eyes opened wide, and somehow she was able to speak without interruption. “ Will I get them back?” Panic flooded her eyes. “Kane, what’s happening to me?”
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