by Wesley King
And then it hit her.
I was right the first time, Emily realized. This procedure might give her strength, but it was going to strip her consciousness. It would make her follow his orders blindly, just like these men. And that’s why he wanted her to go in before they left. Emily narrowed her eyes. His sister had been helping him all along.
Emily came to a stop in the middle of the room.
“Who was it that attacked you?” she asked.
Dolus was silent for a moment. “So my sister did visit you.”
“Yes,” Emily replied. “Twice. And she mentioned you were attacked many years ago. Who was it?”
“We do not have much—”
“Just answer the question,” she said.
He turned to her with his piercing yellow eye. “Two friends of mine. They were punishing me, and rightly so. Now, we must hurry and—”
The pieces suddenly fell into place. It was his sister’s story that had first triggered a memory, something she’d heard four months ago. The second clue had been the strange eyes, which, despite the difference in color, seemed equally perfect and unnatural. Combined with the fact that supposedly no one in the world apart from the Vindico and the League knew how to grant powers, it had begun to add up. And now he had just confirmed it.
“Where is your sister?” Emily asked.
He frowned. “She’s away on a mission.”
“I see. I don’t suppose she’ll be back before we leave?”
“Unlikely,” he said.
“It’s strange, really.”
“What?”
“That you look like that. There must be a good reason, of course.” Emily met his eyes. “I don’t agree with you about your friends. I don’t think they were right to attack you for protecting someone you loved.”
He stood there for a moment, and then his lips curled in a smile. “Very good.”
Dolus’s eyes suddenly became green, and Emily watched in fascination as the hard angles of his face changed and his black and purple skin became a soft almond. His body shortened and curved, while his hair grew long, until it fell over his shoulders.
When he was done, Veridus was standing in front of Emily.
“What gave her away?” he asked.
“A few things,” Emily said. “But in terms of appearance—the eyes. Too perfect.”
He nodded and then swiftly changed back to his discolored form.
“There is a lot of detail in the eyes,” he agreed. “It was always the problem in my transformations. And yet it was the manner of my accident that convinced you. So someone has told you the story.”
“The Baron. It was Avaria’s story he told, of course, but you figured in quite importantly. She doesn’t know you’re alive, does she?”
“No,” he said, “she does not. And she will not, until the very last moment. Now, I ask you again. Will you undergo the transformation?”
“I think you know the answer.”
“Such a shame,” Dolus mused. “I’ve told you many lies, Emily, but one thing is true: I’ve taken a liking to you, and I would have had you spared. Alas, it was your own brilliance that killed you, a recurring theme I know all too well.”
With a flicker of motion, his gun was pointing right between her eyes.
“Not yet,” he whispered. “You deserve the same explanation, and you deserve to be with your friends. It’s time to go. We must end this, once and for all.”
33
JAMES BLEARILY OPENED HIS EYES, AND THE FIRST THING HE SAW WAS HIS parents. He frowned, feeling the throbbing pain running along his entire body, and watched as their mouths began to move. How strange, James thought. He could have sworn he’d been captured by the Vindico. Maybe it was all a dream, and they were waking him for school.
Then he saw the world materialize beyond them and a high, ornate ceiling took form, dotted with blackened scorch marks.
“James,” his father said, the words starting to make sense. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” he murmured.
Beside him, his mother was crying. James planted his hands beside him and pushed himself up, feeling his head swim. He was back in the mansion.
The others were beginning to sit up as well, all looking the worse for wear. Lana and Sam were both surrounded by their anxious families. Lana began to cry as soon as she saw them and hugged her mother. Hayden was sitting beside a crying woman who must have been his mother, and near him lay Deanna, Lyle, Thunderbolt, and the four other captured League members.
And standing in a large circle around them were the Vindico. All but Leni held rifles. The amplifier was lying on the ground behind them, and they had removed their blocking devices. James looked up to see the Torturer, who met his eyes before quickly looking away again.
“What’s going on, James?” his mother whispered. “Why did they bring us here?”
His younger sisters were crouching behind her, their faces white, lips quivering. He’d never seen them so scared. Ally looked at him, and he saw that her green eyes were glassy. James suddenly felt sick.
“I tried to fight them off,” his father added quietly, “but before I knew it, we were in the ship, and then we were here. They dumped you in here five minutes ago.”
“We tried to rescue you,” James murmured, watching as Hayden climbed to his feet, eyeing the Vindico. “They were waiting.”
His father nodded. “I heard them talking about a trap. What do they want?”
James hesitated. “Nothing good.”
“What does that mean?” his mother whispered urgently.
“We’ll get out of this,” James said. “Just stay down and—”
“Now that you’re all awake,” Leni said loudly, “the rest of you can stop the crying. It will accomplish nothing, except to annoy me. Before anyone gets the bright idea of trying to attack us, be aware that we will kill families first.”
James tentatively got to his feet.
“So what now?” Thunderbolt asked sharply. “You’ve kept us alive. Why?”
“Don’t become accustomed to it,” the Baron replied from the other side of the ring. “I assure you, it isn’t an act of mercy.”
“Forgiveness, then?” Hayden said.
“Not quite,” Leni told them. “More like vengeance. We knew you would fall into the trap easily, so we decided we all owed ourselves some closure. You four were our mistakes, and it’s only right that we fix it. As for you, Thunderbolt,” Leni said coldly, “the Baron claimed you first.”
“Long overdue,” the Baron agreed. “But of course, half the enjoyment would only come through your knowing that I was the one who pulled the trigger.”
James glanced at Lana. There was soft whimpering from the families as the Baron’s words set in. He prepared to charge. He knew the Vindico would kill them all anyway. The only way out was to fight.
“You’ll get no enjoyment from me,” Thunderbolt snarled. “If you think I’ll beg, you’re sorely mistaken. I’ll look you in the eye, coward.”
“Good,” the Baron said. “I can watch them close.”
“And won’t that be grand,” Hayden commented. “You’ll kill a bunch of kids, and all will be well. Makes sense.”
James wrapped his arm around Ally’s shoulders as she began to cry. Jen looked like she was unable to move. She sat next to her father, wide-eyed and shaking.
“It’ll be okay,” James whispered to them. “I’ll get us out of this.”
He might not have been much of a superhero, but he wouldn’t let the Vindico hurt his family.
His father climbed to his feet. “You think we’re going to stand here and let you kill our children?” he asked. “You’ve got something else coming.”
“Is that so?” Leni said, looking amused.
All of a sudden, James’s father’s arms were squeezed against his side and his feet left the floor. His mother shrieked and tried to grasp his legs. James started toward Leni, but Avaria shifted her rifle to aim directly at his head, a
nd he stopped.
“What do you think, James?” Leni said. “Should I kill him first?”
James felt white-hot rage burning inside him as his father was squeezed a little more. He was rapidly losing color.
“Let him go,” James snarled.
“Fine,” Leni replied casually, and James’s father dropped to the floor, his legs twisting underneath him. “Who will go first?”
“I’ll decide that,” a loud voice said, and the Vindico members all spun toward the front entrance.
Wraiths emerged from everywhere, stepping through the front entrance, pouring out of both hallways, and appearing on the balcony upstairs. There were at least twenty of them, and they all had rifles aimed at the group.
Then the men at the front entrance stepped aside and a strange, dark-skinned man walked through. And, walking stiffly in front of him, was Emily.
“Emily!” James gasped, and he heard similar exclamations around the room.
He felt a surge of hope, but then noticed the gun in the man’s hand, pointed squarely at her back. Emily forced a smile. The man said something to her, and she hurried over to join the group. James was nearest, and he enveloped her in a hug.
“You’re alive,” he said happily.
“For now,” she whispered, and released him. “This isn’t a rescue.”
She went to hug Hayden, and James turned back to the dark-skinned man.
“I wondered when you’d show up,” Leni said.
“You should have been more prepared,” the man replied. “But overconfidence was always your weakness.”
“Who is this?” Avaria asked. She had her rifle trained on the newcomer.
“This is the man who released us,” Leni said. “But why, I have yet to figure out.”
The man smiled. “That will be explained now. It’s time to learn why you’re all here and why none of you may leave.”
He turned to Avaria. “Hello, Avaria.”
The man’s discolored skin began to change, softening into an almond hue. His eyes shrank and turned brown, while the angles of his face shifted, becoming less severe. His muscular tone faded slightly, so that he was a bit thinner and shorter. A few seconds after the transformation began, a totally different man stood in front of them.
Avaria’s rifle clattered to the floor. “Derias,” she whispered.
34
SAM FELT AN INCREDIBLE WAVE OF CONFUSION, MISERY, AND DESPERATE longing wash out of Avaria. It was so strong that his knees almost buckled under the weight of her emotions, and her voice, which came across in a scream, filled his head with a thousand unanswered questions. Images of this man from years before flashed before his eyes. Impossible, Avaria was thinking over and over, I held your dead body in my hands. And suddenly she was filled with fear.
Sam quickly blocked her out before she completely overwhelmed him.
“Yes,” Derias replied, still holding Avaria’s gaze. His lip was curled in derision. “Or I once was. Derias, as you knew him, is long dead.”
With that, his skin began to darken again, and soon they were looking at the bizarre, discolored man who had first walked through the door. His yellow eye narrowed, and Sam could feel his intense anger. It was directly squarely at Avaria.
Derias finally looked around the room. “I’m not even Nimian anymore. He died later, and this man, Dolus, took his place. Hello, Thunderbolt,” he said, “it’s been a long time.”
“How are you alive?” Thunderbolt asked. “Courage told us you were dead.”
“He lied to you,” Derias said, “about a great deal, actually. That story is intertwined with why we are all here, so I will tell it in full. Some parts you already know. I was deeply in love with my wife, and I was deeply in love with the League. That should have been how it remained, and had it, perhaps I would stand with the League still, with Courage at the helm, and the Vindico would not exist. There would be peace, these protégés would be regular children, and all these events would never have come to pass. But my wife could not let that be. Her greed set off a chain of events that led us to this room.”
Dolus turned to Avaria again.
Sam could sense his mother trembling next to him, so he reached out and took her hand. He glanced around the room. The Wraiths were all watching silently, their rifles pointed at the group. How are we going to get out of this? he wondered.
“I do not blame you for your desire for powers,” Dolus said. “You were surrounded by superpowered individuals—people celebrated by the world. I expect you were also jealous of my love for what the League stood for, of my dedication to their cause. Perhaps you questioned what I loved more. Over time, the solution became obvious to you. You could join the League, and my two affections could be combined.
“For months you asked, screamed at me, whispered it in my ear. But at the time, I agreed with the choice of fate. I recognized the chaos that would ensue if this technology became widely distributed. But you wanted it so badly, Avaria. You finally threatened to leave me, and I folded. You see, had you asked, I would have told you there was no competition. I loved you more.”
Avaria looked like she might collapse. Even blocking her off, Sam could feel her pain. But Dolus just stared at her like she was the most sickening thing he’d ever seen.
Be ready for Thunderbolt’s signal, Deanna’s voice said into his mind. He’s going to wait for an opening. There was a note of hesitation. If there’s an opening.
Sam relayed the message to the other protégés. They were all terrified, and Sam knew why. It was different when your families were there. He squeezed his mother’s hand a little tighter.
“Over the next few weeks, I prepared the chamber in our basement. Courage grew suspicious of my absence and confronted me several times. I told him, quite truthfully, that I was working on my marriage. When I finally finished, I left headquarters even earlier than usual. I was eager to see if my designs had worked, and I was terrified at the same time, both of the League’s response and much more so for my wife’s safety.
“I knew the Torturer had already given himself powers, but through an incredibly dangerous, unstable mixture of compounds. He was lucky to survive, as was his protégé. This was to be the first measured chamber transformation in history, since the Baron’s attempt had been disrupted, and I wasn’t sure it would work. Alas, in my eagerness to get home, I triggered Courage’s suspicion again. He hacked into my lab computers and realized what I was doing. He told the Champion, and together they came to arrest me and destroy my work.”
Derias’s voice lowered and he turned to Avaria again. “I remember kissing you before you went into the chamber. I remember the excitement in your eyes as I began the transformation. It’s a process that goes in steps. Ten five-minute sessions, much like you would have had, Lana,” he said, staring at her curiously. “The chamber Avaria used on you was an exact replica of mine.”
Sam saw Avaria glance at Lana.
“Except she did it the right way for you,” Derias continued. “As it turned out, Avaria only got one session. She was about four minutes in when Courage and Champion smashed their way into my lab. Courage just looked at the chamber, and asked me if she was already inside. When I nodded, he told me she had to go to the Perch too. He told me it all had to be destroyed.
“To this day, I don’t know what came over me. Perhaps I just couldn’t stand the thought of Avaria being locked away with me in the Perch.
“I fell into a rage. When they went to pull her out of the chamber, I acted. I increased the power input and transformed into the massive brute that I used for some missions. Courage did not intend for what happened next. As we fought in close combat, a few extra support struts lay in the corner, and one of them pierced my chest.
“At that point, Avaria burst from the chamber. She had been in there for too long, at an increased power input. She was already exceptionally powerful.”
When the shooting starts, get your family down, Deanna said into Sam’s mind. Lyle and Meirna are
going to try and deflect as many shots as they can. Tell Hayden to do the same. And make sure you get down too.
Sam looked at her. You too.
He passed the message to Hayden, and he nodded grimly. His mother was still crying beside him, but Hayden wasn’t comforting her. He just turned back to Derias, his fingers curling and uncurling at his sides.
“Courage told me she ripped off the chamber door and swung it at Champion, catching him off guard. He died on impact. Courage refused to fight her, stricken with guilt over my death, and after vainly attempting to calm her down, he flew off.
“Maybe you knelt over me at that point, felt my pulse, and realized I was gone,” Derias continued. “Maybe you wept and then realized you had murdered a League member and would be imprisoned for life.”
His tone became venomous.
“Courage watched you run away and then returned to the lab. He knew that my powers had a small measure of regenerative abilities, and when he waited long enough, he indeed found a pulse. I was in a coma. But he didn’t take me back to headquarters. He said he was too embarrassed.”
“He told us Avaria had taken the body,” Thunderbolt said.
“Yes, that was his story. In fact, he took me to his own private base, the one he’d had before the League was founded. He had a small medical facility there, and he left me on life support, to be tended by the caretaker. I was in that coma for a year and a half, as my body slowly recovered from what would normally have been fatal wounds.
“When I finally woke up, Courage was there. I was of course delirious and confused, and he explained everything to me, including the last few hours before I was almost killed. As soon as he finished, I demanded to see my wife. I still remember the look in his eyes. He showed me the news reports, told me the names of the League members she’d killed. I didn’t believe him until he showed me the surveillance video from one of the League bases, where Avaria and Leni murdered three members. I can still picture her face as she did it. She was smiling.