by Dee Benson
But she would have gotten into trouble if she hadn't stood up. If she hadn't bowed. How could she be expected not to bow in such a situation? They would just drug her senseless. If she was constantly drugged, how would she focus on coming up with a plan to get herself and Zanda out of here?
I bowed to The Firemaster.
The thought resounded in her mind until she lost her appetite and just wanted to find a dark room to hide in forever.
"There's still time for dessert," Trojan said after a while. "Coming?"
Axel shook her head. She rose to her feet.
"Where are you going?"
"To, uh, the bathroom." She needed to get away. Needed to be alone.
"Right. Make sure you're back before the end of lunch hour so we can walk to class together."
"I'll find it." Axel hurried away.
She wandered around the building looking for someplace to be alone. The girls' restroom was full of girls putting on makeup and brushing their hair.
After twenty minutes of wandering, she decided she might as well look for the room her next class was going to be held in.
She took out her organizer. She and Trojan had picked it up from the school office before lunch, along with a small bag full of course books. The next class was 'Combat Training and Activation'. It was to be held in a room on the second floor.
Axel made her way up and found the room easily. She wondered whether to wait outside the room. They'd waited outside for Dynamo's class, and for Activation Theory which they'd had with a Super called Voltaire, after Dynamo's class. Maybe that was the rule here.
Activation theory had been interesting. Apparently, the Omends and Philimnes could be accessed if you courted them. But the Gifts and Graces couldn't. They either came to you or they didn't. Only aristocrats had ever been able to tap into them. Some Netherlings were born with an ability to tap into Omends and Philimnes. They were called dormant Supers. Axel had thought of Vivian on that part.
Axel looked through the keyhole of the door. She couldn't see much. She tried the handle. The door swung open.
She stepped into the room. Her gaze landed on a big dark figure standing by the window, looking out. It was the handsome stranger.
Axel's heart skipped a beat as he turned and his gaze locked on her. "Oh. Sorry." She began to back away. Then, she paused. She wanted to speak to him, didn't she? She stepped forward again, clearing her throat and shutting the door behind her.
Then she wondered whether she should really be alone in a room with him. He had a moody, dangerous air to him.
He turned away and focused his gaze back on the view outside the window.
"Hi." Axel didn't know why her voice sounded so timid.
He didn't respond.
"Uh…are you taking this class too?" Maybe he wasn't as old as he looked. Maybe he was a senior like she was.
No response.
Axel walked over to join him by the window. She looked out. Her breath caught at the sight of the fire fall in the distance.
Below, students were engaged in some kind of fight training in the fields.
She looked at the guy. His silence was slightly unnerving.
He looked at her and Axel felt flustered. She noticed that his eyes were gray. They were so dark she'd mistaken them for dark brown this morning. They were like steel, and iron. And granite hard.
He looked away first. Axel didn't know why that gave her a sense of triumph.
She tried not to notice how his black shirt stretched taught across the broad expanse of his chest. Tried not to notice that his arms were bulging with muscles. "So…what's your superpower?" she asked, hoping to get him talking.
"Mental strength." His voice was quiet.
"How is that a superpower?"
He looked at the small book bag she'd received from the school office. It dropped from her shoulder and fell to the floor, spilling all its contents.
Then he cast it another glance and everything floated back into the bag. The bag floated into the air before Axel. Axel took it, speechless.
The guy turned his gaze back outside.
Axel found her tongue. "You did that with your mind? Okay. That's impressive, but not as impressive as other superpowers I've witnessed."
All the chairs and tables in the room suddenly fell upside down with a crash.
Axel jumped. The guy's gaze was still focused outside the window.
"Wow. I'm slightly more impressed. The key word being slightly."
An invisible force whipped Axel into the air. She screamed as she rushed towards the ceiling. Just before she hit the ceiling she stopped, suspended in the air.
"I'm impressed," she yelled. "Completely impressed."
She began to float down to the floor slowly. Once her feet hit the ground she leaned her elbows on the windowsill and clutched handfuls of her hair. "You're…sick!"
"Thank you." His tone was hard. He turned and began to walk towards the door.
Axel spun around. "Wait!"
She was surprised when he stopped and turned to look at her. She was shocked by the coldness in his eyes.
"Why did you neutralize the drugs they gave me?" she asked.
He began to turn away.
"If you don't tell me, I'll tell Serloyd it was you."
He stopped. "They already know. That's why The Firemaster showed up in the cafeteria. I neutralized you because it'll be hard for you to activate if you're drugged."
Disappointment settled over Axel like dust. She'd harbored hopes that he might be a rebel. He wasn't. He was just in disagreement with Serloyd on how best to get her to activate.
"If you want them to stop drugging you, begin to comply," he told her. "Otherwise, they'll keep you so drugged up you won't know who you are anymore. That will be dangerous for you. Serloyd almost overdosed you this morning. Yet, you refused to stand when The Firemaster entered the cafeteria. To keep you subdued, Serloyd will give you lethal doses. Next thing, we've lost our aristocrat."
His words stung. She was nothing more than a means to an end. He didn't care about her.
Why would he? Axel asked herself. And why would I want him to? I don't even know him.
She blamed it on the drugs.
The guy dug his hands into his pockets. "Any more questions?"
"What's your name?" She wasn't sure why she even wanted to know. "Your real name. I hate Super names."
"Nigel Wilde."
Wilde. That was the perfect name for him. There was something undeniably untamed about him.
He stalked to the door and yanked it open. Outside, all Axel's classmates were waiting. They trooped into the room.
Axel moved to a desk. Trojan dropped into the chair beside her. She watched Nigel. He was standing by the door, his hands in his pockets, and a dark look on his face.
When everyone was seated, he shut the door. He was staying. Maybe he was taking this class.
"Good afternoon, class."
There were calls of, "Good afternoon, sir."
Axel felt itchy all over as her brain made the connection. Nigel wasn't taking this class. He was teaching it. He was one of the professors!
Someone called, "Good afternoon, Neuro."
Axel looked at Trojan.
Trojan looked back at her. "What?" he mouthed.
"Is he Neuro?" she whispered.
Trojan nodded, giving her a meaningful look.
She remembered what he'd told her that morning. There were three people she needed to steer clear of: Serloyd, The Firemaster's right-hand man; Prince Drake, The Firemaster's son; and Neuro, The Firemaster's protégé since birth.
"I will be taking you for Combat Training and Activation," Nigel said in his ever quiet voice.
Axel could barely hear him from her table near the back of the room.
"They should be separate courses, but we don't have the time to teach them separately, so we will do both together."
"Can you tell us about your powers?" a Netherling girl a few tables away
from Axel piped up. Her eyes shone as she gazed at Nigel. "The other teachers have."
"My power is mental strength," Nigel said.
"Can you read minds?" the girl asked.
"Yes, but rest assured that there is a code of ethics that governs such things. It's a criminal offense to read minds unless directed to do so by the government. Since we do not recognize Prince Darius's government, I take my orders from The Firemaster alone."
Axel couldn't stand to look at him a second longer. He sounded like such a brainwashed slave of The Firemaster.
Prince Drake rose to his feet. "If Nigel ever has to use his mental powers on you, ask him for a blood oath first. Those with mind powers cannot break promises they make while drawing their own blood. Also, Nigel is required to disclose that, if he reads your mind, you will feel a strong itch around your head. If you ever feel such a thing and you did not give him the permission to read you, you must report it immediately."
Axel's heart lurched.
Nigel shot Prince Drake a look that would freeze a firebrand. "Thank you, Drake. Now, sit down."
Prince Drake glared at Nigel for a moment, but he obeyed.
Nigel's gaze drifted to Axel. He caught her glaring at him. He folded his arms across his chest. "Yes, Axel. I have been in your mind and I had the required warrants to do so. I must say it was a very chaotic place."
There were giggles from the other girls in the room.
"Which," Nigel said, grabbing a stack of papers and beginning to hand them out, "is not such a bad thing. Many times when I enter a young girl's mind, it's pretty empty."
The giggles stopped and the girls seemed to immediately attempt to look serious and 'clever'.
Axel glared at Nigel as he moved around the room handing out notes. He'd been in her mind. Manipulated her to enter the cave where she first met Desmond. He'd been in her mind again in Honolulu. And this morning. No doubt, this morning, he'd done it to stop her from tattling that he'd neutralized her. Had he had a warrant for that?
Nigel returned her glare with a cool look as he dropped notes before her and then moved on to the next table.
He was definitely not somebody she should be crushing on.
Something else that Trojan had told her about him that morning came to mind. He was The Firemaster's personal assassin.
That meant the coldness in his eyes was only a hint at the coldness that must be his heart.
Chapter 12
AXEL WALKED INTO THE gym along with the rest of the class. Nigel had droned on about the upcoming battle against government Supers for fifteen minutes and then brought them here to 'test their strength'.
Axel had played basketball back in her school in Netherium, so she was fit, but she doubted she'd be 'strong'. At least not by Super standards.
Unease filled her when the tests began. Candy was able to smash her hand through a pile of stacked bricks.
"That's not right," Angelo muttered from behind Axel.
"What did she do wrong?" Axel whispered back.
"So wrong," Angelo muttered, not replying. "This is why I prefer the Netherling chicks here."
Trojan snorted. "He doesn't like strong women."
"That's not strong," Angelo replied. "That's freaky."
"But if a guy did it, it'd be okay?" Trojan asked. "Keep your sexist ideas to yourself, punk."
"Shouldn't you be used to the strength of Super girls?" Axel asked Angelo.
"Nah, most have powers, but they're still feminine and normal. They're not crazily strong, unless it's their superpower. The girls at Super High seem to have some point to prove, though."
When Candy finished all the strength tests, including lifting three large, cubed objects that Nigel told them were each the weight of a car, Nigel began to test her laser strength. She was able to cut through layers and layers of metallic objects that he placed before her. He increased the layers until she couldn't penetrate anymore. Then he made a note on a computer tablet. He also recorded how long it took her to fatigue.
Axel watched as classmate after classmate was tested, dreading the moment when her name would be called. Nigel adapted the tests to their specific powers.
Angelo had Super strength like nothing Axel had ever seen before. He was able to lift twenty of the car-weight cubes, but that wasn't his limit. Nigel just didn't have any more of the cubes. He was also able to free himself after being tied up with steel cords, just by flexing his muscles.
Prince Drake performed his tests shirtless. He had crazy speed, regenerative powers meaning he could sustain incredible injuries and his body would bounce back within seconds, and martial arts powers.
"He's going to be handy in the battle next week," Axel muttered.
Angelo snorted. "When is he going to finish showing off—I mean, being tested."
Axel began to giggle. She stopped when Nigel shot her a steely look.
Prince Drake wanted to show off his poison and smoke emission powers, but Nigel stopped him because of time and moved on to the next person. Axel tuned out, intimidated by the powers of the Supers. Soon, it was the turn of the Netherlings. She snapped to attention. Trojan was up first.
Axel's heart sank as he completed his tests. He was good. Not as good as the Supers, but above average for a Netherling. Nigel pronounced him semi-Super. He hadn't manifested any powers yet, but Nigel said he suspected he'd activated and was close to manifesting.
The other Netherlings were pronounced 'semis' too and told they were close to activation.
"Axel," Nigel announced finally.
Axel was trembling slightly as she stepped forward. She eyed the pile of bricks. Maybe she was stronger than she knew. After all, she'd never tried to do anything like this before. Dynamo had said they'd all been selected because they had abilities, even if they didn't know what those abilities were.
"How many layers do you think I should start with?" Nigel asked coolly,
Axel didn't know what his problem was. He'd been civil with everyone else, so why the hostility he was showing her? "Just one layer, please."
Trojan had started with one layer and had it gradually increased.
Nigel removed a few layers and then stood back.
Axel stared at the layer of brick. There was no way she could smash her hand through that. Her hand would get…smashed.
"We don't have all afternoon," someone murmured. A guy's voice.
She heard giggling.
"Go on," Nigel snapped.
Axel closed her eyes. Then she slammed her hand down with all the force she could muster.
Pain exploded in her fist. It traveled all the way up her arm and sent shockwaves of pain throughout her body. She couldn't help it. She screamed.
And she couldn't stop.
Tears filled her eyes.
She clutched her hand. It only made the pain worse.
She was distantly aware of hands on her shoulders. She opened her eyes. Her vision was blurred with tears. It was Nigel.
He shook her, and then pushed a cold compress into her hand and strapped it in place roughly. Axel bit back a howl of pain.
"Now, shut the hell up," he growled.
Axel sighed as the ice-cold pack began to soothe the pain. Her chest was heaving with quick breaths.
"We'll test your strength some other time," Nigel said, walking away. He pushed open a window in the gym.
Axel sank to the floor. She became aware, through her haze of pain, that everyone was staring at her. Some in shock, some in amusement. Even Trojan and Angelo, who were supposed to be her friends, looked like they were trying to hold back laughter.
"That's our aristocrat," someone whispered loudly.
Axel didn't think she'd ever felt more humiliated in her life.
"We are preparing for battle," Nigel said. The slight breeze coming through the window raked its fingers through his dark hair, ruffling it. "Your individual training plans will depend on what powers you possess—or rather, possess you. For those of you who, as yet, have no pow
ers, it is critical that you activate quickly. How will we know what training you need if we don't know what powers you have?"
Axel was sick of hearing about powers and activation. She didn't want to activate, and she didn't want to fight against government Supers. Defending Zanda against Lizzie and her cronies in school back home had been hard enough. The thought of fighting not just Supers, but Supers specially trained by the Super government was frightening, to say the least.
How did they even know she was Super? Mom had told her about the whole recessive gene thing. Axel couldn't have two recessive genes or she'd be manifesting powers. Another thought hit her. If her mom was an aristocrat, that meant she must have had two recessive genes; but Mom had said she didn't. Wouldn't aristocrat Supers have to be full-blooded Supers?
"I will now split you into cells," Nigel said. "I will use the assessments we have just carried out to ensure that each cell has a good balance of powers. For the next week and a half, you will train in your cells and learn to work as a unit."
Axel was glad Nigel would be the one choosing the cells. If it were up to the class to form cells, nobody would want her since she was obviously the weakest in the class.
"First, I will select the cell captains," Nigel said, looking at his tablet. He began to call out the names, telling each person where to stand. Soon five Supers were standing in different parts of the gym. Angelo and Prince Drake, unsurprisingly, were among the captains.
Then, Nigel began to assign the rest of them to cells. Axel's classmates stepped around her as they went to join their unit members.
Axel wasn't surprised when the small crowd dwindled until she was the only one left, yet to be assigned to a unit.
She glared at Nigel as he considered which unit to assign her to.
"There are six people in each unit now," he said, eyeing her. "So whichever unit she goes to will have seven people."
Axel dragged herself to her feet and began to walk towards Trojan's unit.
"Join cell one," Nigel snapped, pointing to Prince Drake's unit.
Axel shuffled over. Everyone in her cell looked put out, except Prince Drake, who welcomed her with a hug. Unfortunately, he was the last person she wanted a hug from. Candy was also in cell one.
Then Axel noticed somebody else in her unit and her belly caved. In Honolulu he'd had dark hair, but it was blond now. But she knew it was him. His eyes were the same.