by Chad Kunego
In desperation, he shoved his field outward, trying to drain the area of potential energy. With the sudden drop in energy potential, the moisture around him coalesced into a rapidly thickening shield of ice. His senses alerted him an instant before another bolt struck the frozen barrier he’d unintentionally erected around himself, shattering it. Thankfully, the barrier provided just enough protection for him to get his bearings again. Concentrating, he drove himself forward. A tingle across his aura was all the warning he got before two bolts struck the reforming ice shield simultaneously, shattering it again and turning it into super-heated steam. The effect made it nearly impossible to create another ice barrier thick enough to block another strike in time.
I’m going to get killed in here if I don’t do something!
Mentally kicking himself, he accelerated his thinking, causing time to slow to a crawl around him. Glancing at his GPS, he determined what direction he needed to go. Pouring everything he had into the effort, he dissolved the thin sheet of ice in front of him an instant before he pulsed himself forward, shooting out of the opening he’d created just as another crack of thunder behind him signaled the ice shell getting vaporized. A split-second later, he punched through the other side of cloud-wall, rapidly putting distance between him and the storm that was intent on killing him. Even with his accelerated senses, he still barely had time to brace himself before another bolt of electricity slammed into him, traveling along the ion trail he’d created behind him.
The blast knocked him senseless, flinging him through the air like a rag doll before he finally crashed to earth several miles away. Sliding across the ground, he created a furrow nearly fifty yards long before finally coming to a stop.
Shaking his head, he looked back toward the storm while his regeneration ability finished healing him from the storm damage. In the distance, the storm started dissipating. His first instinct was to head back toward the storm to investigate, but from a safer distance.
You’re being an idiot. This is EXACTLY what Kat was talking about. You need to get back and regroup before doing anything else that’s stupid.
Shaking his head again, he glanced down at his GPS, but the face of it appeared charred from the last strike. Looking down at himself, he realized the rest of his clothing didn’t fare much better.
I need to get back before someone sees me like this.
Floating up into the air, he spotted a highway heading in the general direction of where he hoped the hotel was located. Moving toward it, he reached out with his senses. Feeling nothing in either direction, he gently touched down on the roadway. Oriented himself in the correct direction, he pulsed forward, sliding along the road. Hopefully, it would be safer than trying to fly the rest of the way back to the town.
§§§§§§§§§§§§
Finally reaching town, he circled around the outskirts, trying to remember where the hotel was exactly. Slipping behind a building, he scanned the area before shooting straight up into the sky, gaining altitude until he could see the whole town. After a few minutes, he spotted the parking lot he’d flown out of. Dropping back down, he slid through back alleys until he finally reached the hotel. Reaching out, he checked the area before blurring across the parking lot, popping the door open before reaching it. Zipping down the hall, he came to a stop outside their shared room. Sheepishly, he realized he took off without grabbing a key. Unwilling to get attacked by forcing his way in, he did the only option he had left. He knocked.
He felt the occupants of the room jump before one of them quickly slid to the door. Unexpectedly, his awareness was becoming refined enough that he could identify both women from the mental reflections he was receiving. The echo he identified as Kaitlyn slowed, cautiously approaching the door.
“Open up Kat, it’s me.”
A moment later, the echo suddenly reached out, snatching the door open. Before Kaitlyn could fully open the door and move out of the way, he blurred over her head, coming to a stop at the far side of the room. Zarina let out a sharp gasp, letting him know she’d spotted him before Kaitlyn even realized he wasn’t still in the hallway.
“What is that smell…” Kaitlyn asked, turning around, but the rest of the question died on her lips when she finally got a good look at him.
“What the fuck happened to you? You know what? Never mind. We just got reports of an unidentified blip that vanished shortly after shadowing an international flight for several minutes. We’ve got orders to wrap it up here and head back so we can investigate.”
Rick shook his head.
“Call ‘em back and let ‘em know it’s a false alarm. We’ve got bigger issues here.”
“At the risk of repeating myself, what the hell are you talking about?”
Rick could hear anger beginning to build up in Kaitlyn’s voice.
“The unidentified blip was me.”
“That’s impossible! The report was from coordinates near—”
“Australia, yes I know. I’ll explain later. Right now, I’m telling you, there’s a serious threat here.”
He pulled his duster off. Charred bits started flaking off of it before he threw it through the air, guiding it into the bathtub in an effort to contain the mess.
“Are you okay?”
The concern in Zarina’s voice made him smile in spite of the threat he uncovered.
“Yeah, my pride took a beating, but physically, I’m fine.”
Turning toward Kaitlyn, he held up a hand to forestall her.
“First, I want to apologize to y’all. I was being an ass, and for that, I’m sorry. I’m still not used to this whole team player thing yet.”
“Apology accepted,” Kaitlyn said abruptly, “but what do you mean you’ve confirmed the threat… And why do you look and smell like a wet dog that rolled around in a fire pit?”
Rick paused a minute to pull his charred shirt off, mindlessly tossing it into the garbage before responding.
“I flew through a storm while I was out there. That feeling Zarina and I felt at the diner? I felt it again when I entered that storm, just before I got hit by the mother of all lightning bolts, powerful enough to actually hurt me. Whoever or whatever this threat is, they were able to tag me with lightning repeatedly, all while I was moving at around at least a hundred miles an hour or so. I got hit several times before I manged to escape.”
He tugged his GPS off his wrist, tossing it to Kaitlyn’s so she could examine it.
“That was their parting gift before I got out of range. It blasted me a good ten miles before I did my impression of a plow. Left an impact crater that’ll probably have the locals scratching their heads for the next few years.”
He turned, heading toward the shower again while pulling fresh clothes behind him.
“Oh, and before I made my way back here,” he said, kicking his boots off, “I watched the storm fall apart within minutes. I grew up in the Midwest, and I gotta tell ya, I’ve never seen a storm blow itself out like that. It was like someone hit the fast-forward button.”
He noticed Zarina’s eyes glow for a second before she responded.
“From what I know of meteorology, that should be impossible.”
“Agreed. We’re dealing with someone who’s power level is up there pretty high.”
“Okay, so we have a powerful mutant out there somewhere. I’ll contact base and let them know we’re staying, but you still haven’t told me how you managed to show up on the radar of an intercontinental flight.”
“I, well, uh… lost track of where I was going while I was pissed…”
“You mean you flew there? You’ve only been gone a couple hours! You mean to tell me you were able to cover that much distance in that short of a period of time?”
“Uh, yeah. I found out when I go fast enough, I can pull on the energy generated from the air hitting my aura. At this point, I don’t know what my top speed is. I just know I haven’t hit it yet.”
Kaitlyn let out an exasperated sigh.
“Wh
en this mission is over, we’re going to need to determine the full extent of your powers before I’m going to clear you for any more field work.”
“I won’t argue with you there.”
He glanced around the room.
“What?” Zarina asked hesitantly.
“Uh, do we have any leftovers?”
“What’re you going to do? Eat it in the shower?”
He ignored both women shaking their heads at him as he headed to the refrigerator.
“Hey, getting hit by lightning builds up an appetite!”
§§§§§§§§§§§§
Zarina slipped out while Rick and Kaitlyn discussed possible tactics and scenarios. The last thing they wanted was to confront a powerful mutant without being as prepared as possible. Closing the door quietly behind her, she slowly made her way down the hall, heading toward the front entrance. Stepping outside, she began walking around town aimlessly, deep in thought.
Since arriving, she hadn’t really had time to think about everything that’d happened since arriving in town. When she’d volunteered for this position, all she’d wanted was a little more excitement in her life than what she’d experienced investigating crime scenes, trying to determine if a mutant was involved.
What she hadn’t expected was, over the past few days, she’d gone from being one of the most powerful people in the room to being vastly overshadowed by someone like Rick. Not only was he ruggedly handsome, reminding her of Norse depictions of gods, he had the power levels to match.
Then nearly dying, only to be healed by a huge invasion into her mind had rattled her. Having her powers significantly boosted as a side effect, made her realize how out of her depth she really was.
What had originally drawn her to the idea of joining a combat oriented unit, beyond being able to use her abilities to help more people, was the camaraderie everyone always talked about, the result of having to trust teammates repeatedly in life or death situations.
Her experience so far seemed to be the exact opposite. Kaitlyn, while treating her respectfully, didn’t seem that interested in getting to know her better. As for Rick, he seemed to do whatever he felt like, whenever he felt like, without regards to anyone else.
What she’d been hoping for most was a feeling of belonging, a feeling of family. Instead, she hadn’t felt this alone and isolated since her family immigrated from Russia when she was ten. Just thinking about how going to school the first day felt while struggling with English nearly brought tears to her eyes again.
Then when her powers manifested, she was brought into the investigative arm of Endpoint, learning how to use her abilities to their greatest potential. As she grew stronger, she’d earned the respect of her peers, but when the full extent of her powers became apparent, people started avoiding her again.
Nearing the edge of town, her thoughts were interrupted by her sixth sense. Someone was broadcasting overwhelming feelings of hostility and confusion nearby.
Reflexively grabbing her crystal necklace, she cautiously tried to identify the source and determine if she was the target. Before she had a chance to lock onto the feeling, the sensation disappeared just as suddenly as it had appeared.
Looking around, she didn’t see anyone paying her any special attention. Keeping her pace even in case she was being watched, she reached the corner and turned left, almost running into someone coming from the opposite direction. At the last instant, the other person stumbled to the side, barely avoiding a collision.
“Izvinite,” she said before realizing she’d spoken in Russian. Gesturing, she tried again.
“So sorry. It was very clumsy of me.”
She quickly looked the other person over. His baggy clothes and hoodie concealed most of his appearance, but what she could see made her suspect he was either homeless or not too far from it. The smell of stale sweat only enforced the impression, but she detected another familiar odor lingering underneath the heavy scent of body odor. She couldn’t quite place it, but she knew she’d smelled it before.
“Sorry señorita. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
She smiled at him when he looked up at her, his hood falling back slightly and revealing a young hispanic looking teenager. With a quick motion, he jerked the hood forward while tilting his head down again. The tension radiating off of him was almost palpable.
“I’m sorry!”
Without warning, he grabbed the sides of his head.
“Shut up! Shut up!”
Before she could react, he shouldered past her, running off down the street while yelling and pounding the sides of his head. The brief contact sent an overwhelming surge of scrambled emotions through her. It was so unexpected that she stumbled slightly before falling against the side of the building. It was almost as if the feelings of multiple people had flashed through her mind, leaving her disoriented. Keeping a hand on the wall for support, she looked in the direction the youth had fled, his form vanishing into the distance. By the time she regained her balance, he’d already disappeared.
Brushing herself off, she shook her head in confusion.
“Bozhe moi… Mental illness, how sad…”
Chapter 12
A slight thrum of power woke Rick up with a start. The sensation didn’t feel threatening, so he slowly opened his eyes to locate the source. In a corner, he spotted Zarina floating a few feet above the floor.
Using his powers, he soundlessly floated off the bed so he could watch her more easily. She was floating in the air with her legs crossed, almost like she’d started out on the floor and had slowly drifted upward. While he watched, her hair gently waved around her head, almost like she was sitting underwater. With her eyes closed, the only sign indicating her level of concentration was a slight crease between her eyes.
On a whim, he shifted his vision, noticing it was getting easier to do.
Might as well practice it. It seems like a handy skill to have.
Turning his attention back toward Zarina, he watched her aura pulse with power. After a few seconds, it dawned on him that it was pulsing at about the same pace as a slow heartbeat. Debating whether to reach his senses out to confirm it, he decided it’d be a bad idea given his previous intrusion.
Instead, he studied her aura more closely. After several minutes, he spotted the white patch moving randomly around her head. It was hard to tell due to the intensity of her violet aura, but unless he was mistaken, the patch seemed slightly larger than before.
After watching it flit around her, he moved on to studying the rest of her aura. What looked like glowing motes of light appeared to be going up the front of her body, almost the opposite of how he felt his chi flow when he did his microcosmic orbit meditation.
More impressive though was the large, almost iridescent half-globe of purple light erupting from the top of her head. The longer he stared, the more he felt himself starting to resonate with the energy her aura gave off. Unconsciously, his aura slowed to match her frequency, gradually synchronizing with Zarina’s aura. When his aura finally synced, she let out what sounded like a small gasp of pleasure. An instant later, her eyes snapped open in surprise, startling him.
“What are—” was all she managed before dropping toward the floor. Reflexively, he reached out with his power to catch her, forgetting to adjust his aura back. Upon contact, her eyes went wide when another thrum of power reverberated around the enclosed space. For a split-second, he saw himself through her eyes and knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Zarina experienced the same thing.
Time seemed to stop as her recent memories of the past week tumbled past, thoughts of her teammates, her insecurities, and how she felt she wasn’t contributing to the team flowed past faster than he could comprehend.
An instant later, the connection broke and time resumed its normal pace. Quickly lowering her to the floor, he withdrew his aura, shifting it back to its normal state. His felt his face become unexpected hot while at the same time, his pulse quickened. Feeling embarrassed, he moved
to the far side of the room, touching down lightly.
“I’m sorry! I’m not sure what just happened—” he started hesitantly, pausing when he noticed the look of wonder in her eyes.
“You truly do not realize how powerful you are…? How different you are compared to us…”
He stumbled, trying to process the jumble of thoughts spinning through his head, but one thought seemed to dominate all the memories he’d accidentally seen. His mouth fell open for a second before he could find his voice to respond.
“You think I’m a god? I’m anything but… But you, on the other hand, are amazing.”
He noticed her blush as he continued.
“I’m just a fluke of nature, a lucky draw from the genetic wheel of fortune. You got your powers from practice and having an indomitable will.”
A small smile crossed her lips. She stood up, coming closer to him.
“You really believe that? That you are accident? You really do not conceive how special you are… I do not comprehend what you did to me, but I understand you now.”
“I’m sorry I invaded your mind when I healed you…”
“I know. You have no formal training. You did not realize what you were doing. Everything you do is so instinctual.”
She paused, touching the side of his face gently while looking deep into his eyes.
“You have such potential, I am jealous. You might not yet understand, but you have barely scratched surface of what you are capable of.”
“Is it something you can teach me?”
Before she could respond, the room door rattled, then opened, interrupting her.
“Breakfast is here, can one of you grab…”
Kaitlyn trailed off, looking back and forth between them.
“Uh, am I interrupting something?”
§§§§§§§§§§§§
On the drive over to the hospital, Kaitlyn kept noticing odd glances passing between Rick and Zarina. Something had changed in the young woman. The way she was reacting to Rick was different. Instead of the almost-cowering since meeting him, she now seemed at ease, like they were old friends. Rick, on the other hand, seemed a little more tense around her, a reaction she’d hadn’t seen from him before. She couldn’t put her finger on why, but the change bothered her.