by Dexx Peay
“Another,” I said reaching into my pocket to pull out my phone.
“Quen get over here,” Hudson waved.
Quen waved him off and Hudson called out again. They did that for about two minutes before Quen finally got up and walked over. He stood next to Hudson and Mr. Elliot counted to three before he snapped.
We walked off and wandered around a little more before we found a shady spot under a large oak tree. Quen picked at the grass while Sam picked at the bark—both sitting with their legs crossed.
“You boys are ready for tonight, right?” Julius said.
We all looked up at him. Nobody said a word; the only sound was Hudson’s stomach growling.
“I’m nervous.” I broke the silence.
“We all are, I’m sure,” Mr. Elliot said. “These are all people we care about and love. We just want them back without any casualties.”
That was it.
There was the possibility that there would be casualties.
“Can we eat?” Hudson blurted out.
“Time to feed the bear,” I said.
We got up and headed out.
After hours of sitting around in the hotel, it was time to get ready. Mr. Elliot and Julius bought us all matching outfits—black joggers, accompanied by black boots and a black sleeveless top that was made from the same material as the pants. Julius said we needed to be three things: incognito, comfortable, and unrestricted. We all got dressed and the six of us walked out the room looking like a 90’s boy band. We walked to the end of the hall and took the stairs to the top of the hotel. We glanced around to make sure nobody was with us.
“Hop on,” Hudson said to Sam.
He walked over and jumped on Hudson’s back. Quen lifted up first since he knew where to go. One by one we all lifted into the air and followed him.
It was half past two so all the normal people were more than likely in bed. The city was still bright just like New York always was. We landed at the strip on the opposite side of the gate that was blocking the long wooded dirt road. Sam hopped off Hudson’s back.
“Everybody ready?” Quen said. We all nodded. “Remember Marcus, stay out the sky for now.” I nodded.
“What about our distraction?” I asked.
We shifted our focus to Julius.
“Wait two minutes after the first strike, then get in there,” Julius said.
I nodded.
The four of them lifted into the air and then it hit me.
“Wait. Hudson, you have to fight Dylan,” I said.
He landed. “Why me?”
“I don’t know why I didn’t think of this sooner. You can counter his ability, think about it, what is ice?”
“It’s frozen water, wait, why do I have to fight him? He’s crazy!” Hudson cried.
“I think Marcus just may be onto something Sitting Bull,” Julius chimed in.
“You can control water and ice is nothing but water in a different form, nonetheless, still water. Quen,” I said.
Quen aimed his hand below him at Hudson.
“Think fast,” he said.
Hudson turned around and took a blow of ice chunks in the face.
“Ouch, you idiot, my sister isn’t around me,” Hudson cried.
“I forgot, sorry,” Quen smiled.
“Sorry Hudson, I forgot too. It will work. I promise,” I said.
They lifted into the air and flew off. Sam and I started walking down the never-ending dirt road. Sam kicked just about every rock he saw on the walk. Probably not even paying attention. After a few miles, we got to the gate and Sam sat down.
I took a seat as well.
“We got this Sam,” I said.
“Just make sure this is the first and last time I come out with you guys. This is kind of nerve-racking,” he said.
“Yeah, I know man. I promise I will not let anything happen to you,” I said.
Sam jumped up. “What was that?” he said.
I got up and dusted my pants off. “I’m not sure,” I said, looking into the sky.
White lights formed above, holding hands and circling around like they were telling stories around a campfire. They came together and darted for the ground. The ground shook. The building was already well lit but the whole area flashed like a camera in a movie theatre.
“First strike,” I said.
I flew over the fence that blocked us from the building and Sam’s body floated behind me.
“Stay close to the building.”
Sam followed me. We both pressed our body alongside the walls and walked until we got to the door.
“I think this is it Sam,” I said.
My fist clenched and the door gently separated itself from the latches. It fell to the ground. I peeped inside, not taking my body off the wall. The hallway was bright and empty.
“Coast is clear. Let’s go.” I said.
We walked inside and the lights disappeared while alarms cried.
“Ho-crap,” Sam said.
He placed his hand on my shoulder.
Red emergency lights came on—flashing. There was still not a soul in sight. We passed doors on each side that were less than a few feet apart from each other. If I had to guess, they were cells. I stuck my hand in front of me for more light. Sam’s grip on my shoulder only grew tighter with each step as we walked farther and farther into the building.
“Hey!”
A man dressed in a white lab coat came walking towards us. I made him fly from the center of the hallway into the wall. We stepped over him as we passed, then followed the hall that only had one turn, which led us to the main room.
The space was open with a huge double door in the front. It had four hallways that disconnected from the center. A computer system with multiple screens, printers and other fancy equipment that could possible be found in our school’s engineering building. There was a set of metal stairs next to the computer system that led to a single room above us.
“Up there,” I said.
Sam looked up.
Then released his hand from my shoulder and headed for the stairs. The metal stair clanged as his boot made initial contact.
“Stop right there!” a female voice called out.
Sam stopped and turned around. I started to look around, trying to find out where the voice was coming from. I couldn’t see past the flashing lights or concentrate past the alarms.
Footsteps became clear and a silhouette came from the hallway in front of us. A female walked out with her arms extended in front of her holding a gun aimed at me.
I gulped.
“Welcome to N.I.P.A headquarters Marcus,” she said.
She was dressed in a black business suit with her hair pulled back, barely forming a ponytail.
“Who are you and what is N.I.P.A?”
“Marcus,” Sam whispered.
“The National Interplanetary Protection Agency. We’re a secret secret branch of the government whose focus is stopping people like you from roaming the planet. Oh, and before you try anything stupid, son...” she said.
What looked like a giant came walking out with his hands in front of him—handcuffed and a piece of duct tape over his mouth. Dried blood crusted at his hairline. He stood a few feet from her. Somebody stepped from behind him to his side with a gun pointed at his head.
“Malcolm,” I said.
He smiled and the more the lights flashed on the giant, the more it became clear to me who it was...Mr. Perry.
The lady smiled and she shifted her gun to Mr. Perry’s head.
“Your kind has been on the government's radar for quite some time. That’s right, we have one of your spaceships,” she whispered.
“So what the hell do you want with us? We never did anything to anyone,” I said.
“Marcus,” Sam whispered again from behind me.
“Our job was to track down your kind and eliminate the races but then we thought, why eliminate you when we can control you. We can use you as our personal weapons. Thin
k of all the weapons you could replace in war. Our nation could reign superior with your help. You should feel honored.”
“Forgive me if I’m having a hard time,” I said.
“You and I are just alike Marcus,” Malcolm said. “We were both adopted at a very young age to families of different racial backgrounds. I thought you and I could have been friends Marcus, best friends.”
“Yeah, that position is kind of already taken and I’m here to take him back with me.”
“We can’t let you do that Marcus,” Malcolm said.
Immediately, I began to take everyone out with my telekinesis. The guns Malcolm and his mother held both flew out their hands, along with the gun the man was holding behind Sam flew onto the ground in front of me. Malcolm hid behind Mr. Perry and they started walking towards the console. His mother’s body flew off the ground and into the ceiling. She gasped and cried before she hit the ground.
Malcolm pushed Mr. Perry’s body on the floor and sprinted to the console. He pushed a button and the alarms got louder. The man behind Sam flew off the staircase and onto the ground.
“What’s going on Marcus?” Sam panicked.
“I’m not sure.”
“Have fun.” Malcolm ran off.
“Sam, get up there and figure out how to turn the control devices off.”
I ran over to Mr. Perry and ripped the tape off his mouth. He exhaled. I held his hands in front of me and they unlatched.
“Thanks Marcus,” he said.
I looked into his eyes and he wasn’t scared. Noticed the markings on his arms. So he is Xarponian, I thought to myself. He picked up two of the guns. I picked up the other and went to the bottom of the staircase.
“Sam!”
He looked down and the gun floated off my palm and into his hands.
“What now?” Mr. Perry asked.
“We protect Sam,” I said.
“From who?” he said.
“These guys?” I breathed.
Three guys came walking from the hallway. They circled us. One had lightning in his hands and the other two had fire. The lighting guy released a bolt at us. It grazed my left arm. I hissed. Mr. Perry shot and missed.
“Don’t kill them Mr. Perry,” I said. “Just slow them down.”
He nodded.
I threw a fireball at one. I held both hands to my side. The fire guys flew off the ground and into each other head first. I rushed the lighting guy and he threw a fist. I ducked. I grabbed his head and lowered. I raised my knee and they met for the first and last time.
He fell.
I walked back over to Mr. Perry.
“That was easy,” he said. We both ran up the stairs.
“Just ten more minutes until this bar reaches zero percent,” Sam said.
We all waited and watched as the bar decreased from eighty-six to zero. Once it finally reached zero, the alarms shut off. I was relieved and collapsed onto the floor. It was over. Just then we all heard doors open and the alarms set off again. From every hallway, shirtless guys and girls with black sport bras all came walking out to the center. None of them had any markings on their arms.
“I thought everyone was back to normal,” Mr. Perry cried.
“They are.” I stood.
Sweat dripped down my face. My eyes continued to look around at all the guys and girls.
“Sam, they’re all Qihar.”
Thunder struck and we knew it was time.
I looked at the four of them: Imani, Jessica, Crystal, and Hachi.
We were ready.
“Leave no one alive,” Malcolm said. “Except Marcus.”
I nodded and they nodded after me. Imani walked in front of me and we all marched behind her in sync. We got to the front entrance and Malcolm opened the door. Imani flew out and we all followed her. She bolted into the sky but the perfect stripe was disassembled when she dodged a strike of lightning that almost took her out of the sky. Bastards.
“Look out,” Imani said. We all split into the sky.
“Crystal!” Jessica called out.
Crystal stopped and extended her arms while currents crawled around them. Her red hair rose and the earth beneath us trembled. Lightning started to strike creating a barrier that separated them from us. Our line regrouped horizontally this time. They did the same and both parties stopped the lightning.
“You can’t be serious,” I said.
We all laughed at the cheap imitations of our uniforms.
“You guys are missing one,” Jessica said. “Where’s Macchiato?”
“He has to be somewhere around here, they wouldn’t dare show up without him,” I said.
They didn’t say anything.
The four imitators just stood there.
“Quentin! Traitor,” Imani yelled.
“I’ll take this one,” Quentin said.
Imani smiled.
Quentin’s body dropped like he turned off the switched to his flight ability. He bolted off right before he hit the water into the woods. Imani nodded at us and her body dropped.
We all waited for the next move. This was going to be cake. I cracked my knuckles. Hudson did the same. I wasn’t expecting them to make the first move but they did. Julius’s hands released two bolts of lightning taking down Hachi and Jessica. I looked down as their bodies spiraled through the air. I gasped. I looked up and Mr. Elliot rushed and tackled his daughter. Everybody was gone but Hudson and I.
“You can’t be serious,” I said. “They left you to fight me?”
“Afraid Dylan?” Hudson said.
“Dylan Perry has never been afraid.”
Hudson’s body dropped into the lake. I dropped down and hovered right where he splashed. The lake started to swirl like water going down a drain. A stream shot up to the right of me. I flinched. Another shot up. One by one until six streams shot up at me. They circled and encaged me. Hudson came out the water, soaked. He floated on the outside of the cage.
I extended my arms and my body started to turn in circles. The water started to freeze over.
“Thanks,” Hudson said slyly. I was confused until he clinched both hand and shattered the ice.
“What tha—” I gasped.
Ice shards fell then started to float. They took aim and rushed me. My hands flew left and right in attempt to deflect them. What the hell was Hudson up to and how was he controlling my abilities?
The big idiot got smart.
I took one to the right thigh and got fed up. I put a force field up around me and they all bounced off. I pulled out the shard that penetrated me about an inch. Hudson took off and landed right where the water met the dirt road.
I followed.
Quentin zipped past me and weaved through the trees with Imani on his trail. Hudson had one hand pointed to the lake. Water floated from the lake to his hand. It jumped from one hand to the other then more water from the lake floated to him. The balls of water elongated and formed a whip. He drew his hand back and lashed it at me. My hand rose in front of my face. When I lowered it, he was smiling.
I smiled at first until I looked down at the red drops in the dirt which made me reconsider the smile. I put my hand back in front of my face. My palm had been lacerated and blood was flowing from the bottom.
“ARGHH,” I screamed.
The trees started to shake and dirt started to rise. The branches broke apart from the trees and the dirt rushed him. The water turned into mud and fell. The branches attacked and whipped at him. He closed his dirt filled eyes and blindly tried to fight the branches. I walked up and struck him across the jaw. He fell right. I iced my hand over and went in for another blow, but my hand froze in place before it made contact.
I grunted as I tried to force my hand onto his face. He looked up, still with his eyes closed and landed one on my Adam’s apple. I choked and fell back. I grabbed my neck and gasped for air. This bastard was getting good. He started to rush me and I fell to the ground. I held one hand out and waved it. He flew off the ground into a
tree.
The sky was dark and windy. Tornadoes and lightning accented our battleground and fire provided additional lighting. I finally got up but couldn’t stop coughing. I reached out for Hudson and his body stiffened against the tree and rose up the bark. I walked up to him.
“I hope you are ready to die,” I said.
He glared me.
I clinched my hand and he started to choke. I flung my hand behind me and he flew from the tree to the dirt. His body hugged the ground as he was tugged through the dirt. He rose up and was tossed into the lake. I walked over. Water from the lake started to slither through the dirt and up my body. The water attacked my body fast. It crawled up and covered my entire body. I turned on the ice and my entire body froze. Hudson walked out from the water. My body lifted off the ground to the same height as the tallest tree and slammed down.
Ice shattered.
“Can we end this now Dylan?” Hudson cried.
“It’s going to take more than that to take me out Hudson.”
I was going to kill him.
I stood up and started to deliver blow after blow on his body—telekinetically. I transitioned from his face to his legs. He backed up with each hit he took as I walked towards him with a flow of blood oozing from my nose. My body started to fall as he did until we both face planted into the dirt.
I woke up to Hudson standing over me. I got up ready for battle again, when I saw my backup rushing out of the building. A large unknown number of soldiers came, all spread out to help us. They landed and surrounded Hudson and I. Hudson started to become two and two became three. I didn’t know what was going on and I fell out before I could even get up.