by Darrell Pitt
“Remind me never to argue with you,” I tell her.
She flashes a smile at me and we keep moving.
We’ve lost the advantage of surprise, but that becomes a moot point because the next corner we come around has a heavily fortified metal door at the end of the corridor.
“We’ve got to move!” I yell. “Dan – uh, Metal Boy!”
I hear Dan grunt with effort and the door flies off the hinges away from us. Beyond it we see a line of guys protecting another door. They open fire immediately, but by now I’ve got my shield up. Bullets are flying everywhere. There are six of them with guns versus the three of us who are completely unarmed.
They don’t stand a chance.
One of the guys suddenly drops to the ground or I should say he is dragged to the ground by his own weapon. There’s no telling what he thinks of his gun operating of its own accord, but within seconds it has trained itself on the feet of his companions. It opens fire and takes out the lower limbs of the other men. They hit the floor, crying out in pain and writhing in agony. My stomach rolls over at the sight. I don’t like to see anyone in pain, but they happened to pick the wrong side. Dan bends the barrels of the other guns, then turns his attention to the entrance. It’s another metal door and it takes him a few seconds to break it out of its frame.
It hits the ground with a crash.
We can see another chamber inside the room. Some sort of cell where two people are waiting expectantly. A girl and a guy. They have similar features. Probably brother and sister. As I step forward to enter the room, a figure with a gun suddenly appears.
Ravana.
The gun in his hand is aimed directly at my chest. Just as he fires I realize Brodie has moved like lightning and already pushed me to one side.
She’s still not fast enough.
I still feel the agony of the impact as the bullet slams into me.
Chapter Seventeen
One minute I’m on my feet. The next I’m on the ground. Brodie takes out Ravana with one punch. So intent was he on shooting the first person he saw beyond the doorway that he didn’t even notice her or Dan.
I’m on the floor, but I don’t know what has hurt more. The bullet wound or Brodie’s shove. It was like being hit by a truck. Grabbing my side, I struggle to my feet. I’m bleeding, but I’m alive. It’s only a flesh wound. Brodie has saved my life.
I want to thank her, but we’re running out of time. We’re surrounded by a pile of wounded men. There could be more guards on the way. Plus Ravana is recovering quickly. He’s motionless on the floor, but his eyes are beginning to flutter.
The teenagers on the other side of the glass are pointing at the door. Dan focuses on the door. It groans within its housing, but doesn’t move. After a few seconds he looks at me in despair.
“It’s too big,” he says. “I can’t move it.”
“Stand back,” I tell Brodie and Dan.
They wave the teens away from the glass. It’s obviously a number of inches thick. Obviously Ravana was determined to keep them at bay. I imagine an invisible spear. It only takes a few seconds before I can see it clearly in the air. Drawing it back I force all my will into throwing it at the glass.
Nothing happens.
“Oh hell,” I say in dismay.
Brodie laughs and grabs something off Ravana’s waist. It’s a set of keys.
“It’s all break and smash with you boys,” she says cheekily. “Isn’t it?”
She opens the door using the second key on the chain. The boy and the girl exit the cell. The guy grabs my shoulder.
“Who are you people?” he asks. “What’s going on?”
“Later,” I tell him. “Just tell us your names.”
“I’m Chad,” he introduces himself. “And this girl is Ebony. I think she’s my sister. I know that sounds weird, but -.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I wave him off. “Weird is our version of normal.”
I immediately notice Chad has a slight accent. European. It’s impossible to determine his origin.
Chad’s eyes shift to Ravana. The sadist is fully awake now and staring at us fearfully. Absolute terror fills his eyes as he sees the expression on Chad’s face.
“No...please…I was under orders -.”
“You want mercy?” Chad asks incredulously. “After hurting us with that implement for days? You want mercy?”
He draws back his fist. I’m not sure if he has some amazing power – which he probably does – or if he just intends to pummel Ravana. Either way, we don’t have the time to deal with it. Ebony grabs his arm.
“Don’t,” she says. Her voice is soft. She seems so frail. I can’t help but wonder if Ravana has harmed more than her body over the last few days. “He’s a monster, but killing is wrong.”
Chad looks like he wants to argue, but he bites his tongue. Thankfully Brodie is already heading through the first security door.
“Come on!” she says impatiently. “Axel, I need you up here.”
I take up my position and throw a barrier around us. This is going to take more concentration than before. I’m trying to protect us both front and rear. Dan is first. Me second. Then Chad and Ebony and finally Brodie. Ebony seems dazed and unable to make sense of what’s going on.
“We’ll need your help,” Chad says to her.
She nods. “What do we need?”
“Carbon,” he says.
I have no idea what they’re talking about. We head down a corridor. By the time we’ve reached the end we can hear the sound of footsteps from behind us.
“There are more guards coming!” I tell Brodie.
“It’s okay,” Chad says. “Ebony.”
She nods. Then she kneels down and touches the carpeted floor behind us. It takes about three seconds for it to turn from beige carpet to black.
“What the -?” I start.
“Keep moving,” Chad urges. He points at the carpet and then a trail of fire leaps from his fingers and hits the floor. What used to be carpet bursts into flames. Guards appear at the other end, but they’re driven back by the flames. At the same time, the sprinkler system activates and water starts pouring from the ceiling.
Still, it’s going to take a while to put out the fire.
More by luck than intention, we find the exit door and start up the stairs. The alarm system has activated and people are heading down the stairs to evacuate. Some of them look curiously at us as we head towards the roof, but no-one stops to question us.
We push the door open and seconds later we’re outside. It’s still raining. Now we’ve just got to get across to the other building and this whole ordeal will be over. I need to ferry everyone across. I take Ebony across and then Dan.
By the time I get back for Chad and Brodie, I notice the pain in my side is worse. My shirt is stained with blood and the wound is stinging as if it’s on fire. As I land, I see the door burst open from the fire escape. Two of Ravana’s men appear in the doorway. Chad holds out a hand and suddenly they are both enveloped in flame.
“No!” I cry.
Both the guards disappear from sight.
“Why stop me?” Chad snaps. “They would kill us without a thought!”
“Because it’s wrong!” I draw back a fist. “There’ll be no killing while I’m here!”
“Don’t touch me, you -.”
Then Brodie is between us. “This is no time for testosterone wars! We’ve got to get out of here.”
She’s right. Of course. But I can’t take both of them at once. I don’t dare. The pain in my side is so bad I’m feeling sick.
I give them the bad news.
“Take Chad first,” Brodie tells me. “After Chad’s little fire display it’ll be a while before anyone else comes up.”
“Okay.”
I grab him by the arm and within seconds we’re zooming between the two buildings. I’m really not feeling well by now. Our landing is anything, but graceful. By the time I’m heading back for Brodie the oppos
ite building is reverberating like it’s splitting into two.
Landing, I grab Brodie by the arm and drag her over to the edge. The street is filled with fire brigade and police. It looks like the whole city is falling to pieces at the seams. I give myself a couple of seconds to focus.
That’s it, I think. Just form the platform. Make it strong.
We start between the buildings. I dare not look down; my stomach is swishing about uncomfortably already. I might be sick at any moment. The bang of a door diverts my attention. I glance back to see Ravana on the other side. A bolt of flame hurls past my vision aimed directly at the madman.
At the same time I see Ravana has a weapon in his hand. It’s not a normal gun. It’s about three times the size. He pulls the trigger just as the flame hits him. A second later he is engulfed by fire.
A beam of light from the weapon hits us. The effect is instantaneous. I’m still focused on the invisible platform beneath my feet, but it evaporates into nothing. I see the expression of horror on Brodie’s face.
I want to explain to Brodie, but there’s no time. Whatever was in that beam just wiped out my powers.
We begin to fall.
Chapter Eighteen
They are the worst few seconds of my life – the life I can remember, anyway. All I can think as we fall is that we’re going to die. There’s no surviving this. We’re not invincible. We’re just two teenagers who used to be super powered.
Now we’re just two teenagers with seconds to live.
Until we hit the bridge. We hit the surface of it hard, but you won’t hear any complaints from me. I want to scream with delight. We only fall about six feet before the bridge made of ice forms between the two buildings. I see Chad standing at the edge of the building, a grin breaking across his face.
Fire and ice. Those are his powers.
Fire and ice.
We climb up the ice bridge to join them on the roof. They help us over the edge. Dan is beside himself with excitement. He’s jumping around like a dog. Chad looks exceptionally pleased with himself. Ebony still has not said a word. She’s hiding behind a hand held nervously over her mouth.
“That’s good work,” I tell Chad. “Thanks.”
“Yeah,” he says. “I know. I saved your ass. You owe me one.”
“I owe you -.” Now is not the time to remind him about which one of us, until recently, was trapped in a cell. “We need to get out of here, but first -.”
“I know,” he says.
He leans over the roof and points at the bridge. This time fire doesn’t erupt from his hands. It’s more of an intense heat that hits the ice bridge and melts it instantaneously. No-one on the street below will even notice the warmer water in the middle of this storm.
We make our way to the car. Fortunately I’m wearing a dark jacket which hides the bloody patch in my side. I’m feeling sick to the stomach. Chad offers to drive, but I forcefully tell him to climb in the back seat. Maybe I’m too harsh with him, but I’m fading fast now.
Brodie climbs behind the wheel and we zigzag through the city back to the hotel. I’m asleep by the time we arrive. The others wake me up to assist me through the lobby of the hotel. They tell the desk clerk I’ve had too much to drink and he believes them. I’m barely able to walk by the time we reach our floor. Sometime later I wake up to hear Chad and Brodie arguing.
“- should be in a hospital,” Brodie is saying.
“That would only draw attention to us,” Chad says. “That’s the last thing -.”
I pass out.
When I wake up again I realize I’m not wearing a shirt and Ebony is at my side. None of it makes any sense. Then I see she has a needle and thread in her hand.
I try to fight her off, but suddenly Brodie is holding me down. I don’t resist. I don’t fight. I trust Brodie.
Darkness comes again.
Sun is shining on my face when I wake up next. My entire body hurts like Hell, but I roll out of bed and somehow land on my feet. Chad is at my side. He slaps my shoulder.
“How’re you feeling, old man?” he asks.
He still has a cheeky expression on his face. God, I hate him. Was he born with this expression?
“I feel great,” I tell him. “Really great.”
“This is a fantastic set up you guys have got,” he says, ignoring my sarcasm. “Penthouse apartment. Room service. Views of the city.” He gives a whistle. “Talk about living in the lap of luxury.”
I can’t think too much about luxury now. The woozy, sick feel from the previous day is gone, but the pain in my side is so bad I’m thinking maybe hospital wasn’t such a bad idea.
“I’m glad you like it,” I say. “Who stitched me up?”
“Ebony,” he says. “She’s my sister. I think.”
“She probably is. She looks like you.”
“I think we’re Norwegian,” Chad says. “We can both remember fjords -.”
“What are they?”
“Bodies of deep water surrounded by steep hills,” he explains. “And we can speak four languages. Norwegian, German, French and English.”
“That’s a pretty strange superpower.”
He looks at me strangely. “That’s not a superpower. Most people in Europe speak several languages.” Plopping himself into a chair opposite the bed, he continues, “You missed our bio last night, so let me fill you in.”
Both Chad and Ebony found themselves lying on the beach a few miles out of the city. Like us, they had no idea as to their identities until they checked their clothing. They quickly assumed they were brother and sister. Completely by accident, they realized they had powers. Chad was feeling cold and wanted to make a fire.
He accidentally set a local boat shed alight. He then just as quickly put it out with a shower of snow. It took Ebony a little longer to work out her ability. She ended up assuming she didn’t have one until she realized she was thirsty and wanted a glass of water.
“We were sitting on a park bench at the time,” Chad recalls. “Then we were sitting in a puddle of water.”
They realized Ebony was able to transmute objects from one substance to another. Once they realized they had their powers, they decided not to go to the police. Chad was concerned they might be thrown into a lab and used for experiments.
As luck would have it, that almost happened anyway.
They were living in an abandoned factory when Ravana’s men attacked them. Chad tried to fight them off, but they were hit with that device that robbed them of their powers. Ravana’s men followed up with hypodermic needles that knocked them out. By the time they woke up they were in the cell in Ravana’s building.
So began days of torture and pain. Installed into the walls of the cell were emitters that created a dampening effect on their powers. Doctor Ravana called it a zeno ray. The chamber also had torture pads built into the floor so Ravana only had to flip a switch and they would be hit by the intense waves of agony.
The thought of it makes me sick.
“I wanted to kill Ravana,” Chad says. “He deserved to die for what he did to us.”
I find it hard to argue the point with him. Ravana is the sort of monster you want to see put into jail and the key thrown away. Still -.
“A lot of people probably deserve to die,” I tell Chad. “But that’s not our call.”
He looks like he wants to argue. “Anyway, it looks like Ravana is permanently out of the equation now.”
I think back to the burning figure on the building. “Probably. Although, he has a habit of turning up like a bad penny.”
Brodie’s head pokes in through the door. “Are you boys still comparing your muscles or are you ready for breakfast?”
I realize I’m famished. “Show me the food.”
Ten minutes later we’re sitting around eating pancakes and bacon. It’s the perfect combination of fat and sugar. This type of food won’t sustain you long term, but it’s perfect when recovering from bullet wounds and sadistic maniacs.
&n
bsp; Half way through breakfast there’s another knock at the door.
“Did you order more room service?” I ask Dan.
He shakes his head.
Worried, I insist on answering. I’m not in the best shape, but at least I can protect myself with a barrier if someone starts shooting. When I open the door I find a man standing there. He doesn’t look like he wants to shoot me. That’s a start.
He’s tall and thin and wearing a dark suit. He has black hair, cut short at the sides and a thin moustache.
“May I come in?” he asks.
Before I can answer, he steps past me and walks into the apartment. He casts an eye across everyone in the room.
“My name is Mr Jones,” he says. “I’m with The Agency.”
Chapter Nineteen
“May I sit down?” he asks.
Seeing as how he didn’t mind walking in on us without waiting for an invitation, it seems nice that he asks for a chair. I point him to one. Everyone stares at him in amazement. If I could take a photo it would show Brodie with her mouth wide open, Dan frozen in position with a forkful of food, Ebony with eyes like saucers and Chad – well, nothing much impresses him. He simply raises his eyebrows for a few seconds. Then he glares at Jones like he’s an unwelcome guest.
Which he may well be.
“This is a nice pad you’ve got here,” Jones says. “Who picked the apartment?”
Dan holds up the fork. A piece of pancake slides off it onto the floor.
“You’ve got class, kid,” he says.
“Thanks.”
“Enough of this bull!” Chad snaps. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”
Chad looks so threatening even I feel a little concerned. I keep remembering that burst of fire that engulfed Ravana back at the building. Jones, however, regards him with little more than a curious expression. He looks him up and down before leaning forward and clasping his hands together.
“Chad,” he says. “It’s been a long time.”
How he knows Chad’s name is beyond me. All I know is -.
“You can cut the riddles,” Brodie says. “We want some answers.”
Jones nods. “You deserve that. Especially after everything you’ve been through. Although there are some gaps in your knowledge I can fill and other items that will forever remain a mystery. First -.”