“Yes?” the man said as the chauffeur backed away.
“You’re coming with me.” He advanced on Michael, who raised his hands in panic and defense, but Blake was too fast. He grabbed him by the left arm and then took off, flying as high as he could into the sky. When he reached the ceiling of his ability, he raised his arm and pulled Michael up so they would be face to face.
“What do you want with me?” Michael asked, his voice shrill with fear. His face and eyes reflected the orange glow of his body and eyes.
Blake stared at him, his eyes glowing orange. “Do you know who I am?”
“I…I presume you’re Dark Flame, but I’ve never seen you before.”
“And you never will again. Victor sends his regards.” Then, Blake released the man.
Michael screamed as he fell several hundred feet to the ground, his flailing body splattering onto the cobblestone driveway next to the limousine.
“Holy shit,” the chauffeur cried out.
Smirking, Blake set his phone’s GPS to Rhode Island so he could eliminate his next target, Archimandrite Antony Von Daler.
❖
Later that afternoon, Blake landed near the servant entrance of the historic Von Daler estate in the Blackstone neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island. After forcing the door open, he turned invisible and made his way through the massive home. The home was adorned with plush carpets, furniture, ornate vases, stone carvings, and artwork, but he was oblivious to it all because his ears were focused on the sound of a man’s voice somewhere upstairs.
Stealthily dodging a few servants, he made his way to the second floor of the mansion and approached an impressive set of wooden doors with ornate carvings of forest life. On the other side, he heard the voice of an angry man yelling through a speakerphone. He paused, focused his hearing, and eavesdropped on their conversation.
“No, you listen to me, Antony. Victor’s pet project is loose and out of control. There’s no reason to think we won’t be his next targets.”
“You’re overreacting, Mathias.” a male voice on the other side of the doors responded.
Mathias Prendergast—he’s one of my targets, too. Word gets around fast with these guys. The chauffeur must have squawked. Doesn’t matter…
“Antony, if I’m overreacting, then tell me who killed Dunsworth? The terrified driver insisted a flying orange man scooped him up high above the house and dropped him nearly three hundred feet to his death. Do you know anyone else besides Dark Flame who can do that?”
“Blue Spekter,” Antony replied.
“That kid glows blue, and as far as we know, they can’t change their colors.
“Look, if you want to take your chances, don’t do anything. Starting tomorrow, I’m beefing up my security. I tasked my security detail with installing infrared cameras throughout the house and our critical facilities. Victor’s reports indicated this guy can become invisible and although he might disappear from the visible spectrum, heat sensors may detect him.”
Ooh, interesting. I have no idea about that…
“Paranoid much?” Mathias retorted, chuckling.
Antony cleared his throat. “If nothing comes of this, then we have lost nothing. But if more council members die, then you will thank me, unless you’re next.”
“Are you threatening me?” Mathias asked.
“Of course not. I’m only raising awareness that all of us may be in danger if Nigel Krause’s people talked. Why must you be so obtuse?”
“If you gentlemen are quite finished…” a woman’s voice said.
That must be Madame Presider. I’ve never been this close, but I’m still incredibly far.
“If anyone should be concerned for their safety, it should be you, Madame Presider,” Antony said.
“I am already en route to O’hare for the Council meeting,” Madame Presider responded.
“If you’re really worried about him coming for you, you should join us instead of connecting by remote video. Dark Flame won’t know we’ve already doubled security at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel per my request.”
Blake smiled. Merry Christmas to me. With the Council coming together, this will be a piece of cake. Looks like I’m going to Chicago after I take care of Antony.
“This call must end, gentlemen. I have other business to attend to. Antony, make preparations to join us in Chicago.”
“But…”
“Enough, Antony. I expect to see you tomorrow.”
The line went dead, and Antony swore. When Antony switched off the speakerphone, Blake became visible and opened the door. He entered the large office study and shut the door behind him.
Antony had his back to the door and waved his hand dismissively. “Set the tea on the credenza, please.”
“I’m not one of your servants, asshole,” Blake snarled, illuminating his orange eyes.
Antony spun around, surprised at the unfamiliar voice. “Oh god, it’s you!”
“Your friends should have listened to you, Antony, because you’re right. I am coming for all of you.”
“No, don’t, please! What is it you want? Revenge on Victor? Money? Property? A slice of the pie?”
“What I want, you can’t give me.”
Blake reached out with is mind and pulled Antony across the room until he held the frightened Archimandrite by the neck. Blake sucked the man dry, watching as his skin mottled and turned his veins turned black and diseased. A moment later, he breathed his last and Blake dropped him to the floor. He turned to leave, but hesitated.
If they find him like this, they’ll alert the rest of the council and call off the meeting. But if I make this look like a suicide…
Blake looked around and studied the wrought iron chandelier hanging from the ceiling above him. Perfect. Blake removed Antony’s tie and hovered in the air, swinging it around one of the wrought iron rods of the chandelier. Then, he pulled Antony up with his telekinesis and looped the other end around Antony’s neck. After securing the tie, he gently released Antony and the body hung, pulling at the Chandelier. The wrought iron fixture groaned under the man’s weight and the tin ceiling warped under the strain.
Good, when this crashes to the floor, they’ll find him and think he ended his life.
Blake checked his phone. It would take him almost twelve hours to fly to the hotel in Chicago, but it would be worth it when he wiped out the majority of the Archimandrion Council.
The ceiling groaned and the tin finishing ripped apart, pulling old wiring, dust, and insulation down as the dead man’s weight pulled the chandelier from its mounts and crashed to the floor.
That takes care of that.
❖
Hours later, Blake flew west over Pennsylvania and New York states. Ahead, the vast waters of Lake Erie stretched out to the horizon where a massive snowstorm threatened his otherwise clear journey to Chicago. He tried to fly above the storm, but his limited flight abilities prevented him from doing so. He knew the winter weather around the Great Lakes could be tricky, but he had never experienced it first hand—or from the air—until he flew into the dark gray clouds. Blinding, heavy snow impaired his visibility while the storm’s cold winds tossed him around like a single engine plane in a thunderstorm.
His clothing became soaked with cold wetness and although he could warm himself with his heat ability, the shivering would always return. He pushed through the storm hoping Victor hadn’t caught wind of what he was doing and canceled his credit card because the only thing he really wanted in Chicago at the moment was a hot shower.
Briefly landing on the roof of a brown skyscraper next to the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio, he pulled out his phone and checked the satellite imagery around the Waldorf Astoria in Chicago. Squatting for warmth, he booked a room with a western-facing view at the Four Seasons Hotel because it afforded him a direct view of the hotel where the Archimandrion Council would be meeting.
With several more hours to go, Blake sighed. Then, he jumped off the roof, swan diving into a gentle ascen
t back into the obnoxious snowstorm. Halfway over Lake Michigan, he course-corrected and flew toward the Windy City. With less than an hour to go, he pushed on, tired of the cold. Eventually, he spotted passenger planes lining up for landing at O’hare airport above him and followed them in, swooping left when the bright orange lights of the city caught his eye.
That’s a good sign, if the planes are landing the storm didn’t close the airport. On another note, I would never be seen flying around Chicago—everything here looks orange at night.
Several moments later, he approached the Chicago shoreline and swung left toward the Hancock Tower, instantly recognizing the distinct trapezoid shaped building and its two colorful antenna masts. Directly behind it, he spotted the Four Seasons and rapidly descended to the ground. It was late, he was tired, and he didn’t care who saw him. He heated his body enough to evaporate some of the moisture from his clothing, but he didn’t want to risk burning away his only clothes.
After checking in and receiving strange looks from the concierge staff—probably because he still appeared soaking wet, underdressed, and his purple sneakers squeaked incessantly on the polished marble floors—he made his way to his hotel room, stripped off his wet clothes and hung them in front of the forced hot-air blower. He glanced out the window of his hotel room and saw the Waldorf Astoria building.
Perfect.
Then, he enjoyed a hot shower before crashing for the night.
❖
Victor
Victor stormed into the control room and found Arek and Miguel at their workstations. When he learned the technicians had finished the Rangeley panel restoration project in less time than forecasted, he ordered them to charge the reactor with a mega-fusion reaction. Now that it was ready, it was time for him to up the ante. He walked over to Dr. Madison’s workstation and initiated the reactor core’s primary ignition sequence.
“Can we help you with something?” Arek asked as the sound of increasing energy oscillations resonated through the small facility.
“Yes, you can monitor the interior of the reactor core,” Victor said, pulling off his jacket and draping it over a chair.
The technicians looked at each with confusion, then shrugged. A moment later, the flat screens mounted on the wall displayed the empty interior of the Orgonon reactor core.
Victor pulled off his tie and hung it over his coat. “I want you to set a five-minute delay on the firing sequence. Program it now.”
“What are you doing?” Arek asked, warily tapping buttons at his workstation. “You’re not going in there, are you?”
“That is none of your concern.” He unbuttoned his white dress shirt and and pulled it off, folding it neatly over the coat and tie.
“Victor, we’ve never tested this facility for Genesis II,” Miguel exclaimed.
“Yes, we have. Blake and Quinn tested it for us.” Victor pulled off his white undershirt, revealing a chiseled, hairy physique and eight-pack abs.
“But not with the original panel configuration! We have no idea what it will do to human tissue.” Arek protested.
“We know exactly what it will do. It created Dark Flame and Blue Spekter, and it will work on me. If you don’t want to be a part of this, you can leave when you finish programming the five-minute delay. I won’t consider your actions to be insubordinate.”
“We should call Dr. Madison,” Miguel said.
“You may call Dr. Madison only after the reactor has powered down, not before. Is that clear?” Victor flexed and rolled his head around his neck.
“Yes, sir,” Arek and Miguel answered simultaneously.
“Reactor array at full power,” Miguel commented from his workstation.
“The firing trigger is ready, sir,” Arek said. Then, he stepped back from his console, indicating he was not willing to assume responsibility for the next step.
Victor sighed and crossed the room to Arek’s station. “Dark Flame wouldn’t hesitate. Perhaps you should take a page from his book.”
Arek shook his head and then pointed at an illuminated red button. “Once you press this button, you’ll have five minutes to get into the reactor and step onto the platform…”
“Perfect,” Victor said, cutting him off and slapping the red button with his hand. The system beeped its confirmation. A moment later, a five-minute countdown appeared on the status monitors.
“Auto-sequence initiated with five-minute delay,” Miguel replied.
“Do not call Dr. Madison until I’ve been dosed, is that clear?” he asked. If I choose to back out at the last minute, I don’t need her knowing what I am about to do.
“Yes, sir,” Arek and Miguel replied simultaneously.
Victor turned and walked out of the control room. Two minutes later, he stepped into the reactor core and shut the door behind him. Around him, the reactor core hummed and buzzed with energy as the fully-charged system prepared to energize the chamber.
The minutes that passed might as well have been hours of anxious waiting. Then, a tinge of regret seeped into Victor’s mind.
Are you absolutely certain you want to risk everything just to prove a point? Just to have what they have? To take over what’s left of the Archimandrion? To rule?
He took a deep breath and steadied himself, pushing his doubts away from the present moment.
Get a grip, Victor.
This is my time.
This will be my ultimate sacrifice for The Order and everything it stands for. I’ll take their petty plans and drag them all kicking and screaming into the future. They’ll never see me coming. But first, I’ll eliminate Quinn and then subdue Blake. And if I can’t, I’ll wipe him out and grow my own, loyal super army.
Above him, the loud clang of a mechanical switch flipping echoed in the chamber. Victor inhaled with surprise and readied himself, his arms at his side, legs akimbo. The quick whine of a heavy motor activating beneath him drew his eyes down to the metal disk he stood on.
He looked up and watched as the blue-white ring of spinning light discharged a shimmering cascade of orgone energy into the chamber. At the same time, the conical tri-antenna array descended as the pulsing energy sounds in the chamber increased in cadence and speed.
In between the hexagonal panels, the normally downward-flowing streams of energy in the eight tubes had reversed, sending orgone up to the pulsing ring at the top of the dome. A moment later, the sound of an energy surge rapidly charging and discharging filled the chamber.
Too late, Victor…I’m past the point of no return.
The blue and white energy swirls above him exploded downward with a blinding flash and a deafening blast. Beneath his feet, the metal disk glowed yellow as it reacted with the energy swirling around them.
The disk beneath him shook as a second, much louder rapid energy blast rose from the disc, moved to the ceiling, and then stopped. He looked up and winced.
Shit.
A cascade of energy rocketed downward and surged through his body, energizing him. The breath in Victor’s throat became stuck as he felt all the muscles in his body constrict. He felt the hair on his head, arms, chest, and legs stand on end as the powerful rush of orgone energy surged through him. He shifted his eyes downward and saw red sparks and arcs of energy dancing across his torso. The world around him took a distinctly red glow for a few moments, and then the roar of energy and raw power that swirled around him ceased and the energy dissipated. A moment later, the platform lowered and retracted into the floor.
Victor dropped to his knees and coughed. Then a wave of nausea overcame him and he dry-heaved.
No, come on, you’ve got this. You didn’t do this for nothing!
When he stopped dry-heaving, he pushed himself to his feet and walked through the antiquated control room, his sense of balance slightly off. He rode the antique elevator back up to the control sub level.
The boys had time to climb back out of the chamber via the tunnel and almost make it back to the campground. If something were to go wrong,
it will happen in the next thirty minutes.
When the elevator jolted to a stop and the outer doors slid open, Arek and Miguel met him at the elevator.
“Madison’s on her way and she’s pissed,” Arek said as Victor stumbled into his arms.
“She’ll know what to do if anything goes wrong.”
“At least your head didn’t explode like the first guy,” Miguel quipped as they led him into the workshop and escorted him over to a medical bed. He hopped up and sat on it.
“A comforting thought,” Victor said. A moment later, his vision blurred. The door slid open and Dr. Madison charged at him like a linebacker.
“You stupid idiot!” she screamed, but her voice was distorted, like she was yelling through water. Then, his vision swirled and faded.
Oh crap, not like this…
Victor fell forward into Arek and Miguel’s arms and surrendered to the encroaching blackness in his mind.
4-9 | We Stand United
Quinn
“I FINALLY TOLD MY DADS,” Blue Spekter said.
“Good, how did it go?” Ron asked, waiting with Blue Spekter inside one of the Hilton Garden Inn’s boardrooms. His brother had used his corporate discount to pay for the room when Ron asked for a favor, promising that one day he would meet Blue Spekter.
“Considering they saw me save the Memorial Bridge from the runaway cargo ship, pretty good. They didn’t freak out too much, except with excitement. I think they’re a little concerned about my safety, but they’re being really awesome about trusting me.”
“I’m glad you told them.”
“They weren’t too happy with your advice not to tell them, but I convinced them you changed your mind and told them I hadn’t said anything because I was afraid of losing them somehow.”
“Oh good, so the next parent-teacher conference won’t be too awkward, then,” Ron said, chuckling.
“Hope not.” Blue Spekter rocked on his heels.
“Are you nervous?”
Blue Spekter shrugged. “A little, but if anything goes wrong, you’ve got two super-powered people to protect you.” He flexed his muscles and stretched, the blue super suit flexing with him.
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