Activated: A Superhero Adventure Novel (Axel Adams Book 1)

by Dee Benson

She heard some snorts of laughter.

  "I'm proud of you for wearing it," Trojan replied.

  "Before we begin," Nigel said. "All of you girls in bright colors, you're obviously not thinking critically about warfare."

  Trojan nudged Axel. "Told you."

  Nigel glared at them. "If Axel and her boyfriend have finished, I'll continue."

  There were lots of snickers. Heat flashed into Axel's cheeks.

  "Sorry, we've finished now," Trojan said. He draped an arm around Axel's shoulders and did a jig that made his belly jiggle. Even his tight Super suit couldn't supress the jiggling flesh.

  There was some muted laughter.

  Nigel, however, didn't look amused. "As I was saying," he continued. "I suppose it's a good thing that anybody who is chosen for the battle next week will receive a uniform." He looked at a bunch of girls in especially bright Super suits and shook his head. "Ladies, if you wear pink or yellow to a battle you will make yourself an easy target."

  "We know," Amanda, another blond, said quickly. She was in Angelo's cell, and was an awesome fighter. "We have black and camouflage suits. This is just for practice."

  Nigel still didn't look impressed. "Get into your cells," he ordered.

  Everyone dispersed, looking for their cell captains. Axel found Prince Drake and stood behind him.

  Nigel removed a whistle from his pocket. "Up first: cell one against cell two."

  Axel exhaled. She was in cell one.

  "For those of you who are stronger," Nigel said, "remember to temper your power. No showing off. Definitely no lethal blows."

  Axel grunted. That reminder definitely didn't apply to her. Each time they'd fought before now, she'd left with all kinds of bumps and bruises. Today, her game plan was simple. Run.

  It wasn't a foolproof plan, as everyone here, without exception, was faster than she was. They'd catch her easily, but it might mean she got hit less.

  Everyone who wasn't in cell one or two moved away to stand at the edges of the field.

  Angelo, who was in cell two, cracked his knuckles in her face. Axel slapped his hands away.

  Nigel blew his whistle, and the madness began. Immediately, three people from cell two bounded towards Axel. No doubt, their game plan was to take out the weakest link first.

  Axel began to run. She hadn't gone more than a few steps before a hard body slammed onto her, bringing her crashing down to the ground.

  Axel refused to scream. Even if she'd wanted to scream, screaming required air. She couldn't breathe.

  A whistle blew, and whoever was pinning her down got blasted away by some powerful force. Nigel.

  Axel sat up while Nigel yelled at a guy from cell two.

  "Sorry," the guy said. "You said they're not 'dead' until they can't get up again. I was just trying to make sure she wouldn't be able to get up again, but I didn't want to hit her because she's a girl, and a Netherling. That's why I just pinned her down."

  "There'll be girl Supers in the battle," Nigel replied. "Show no mercy."

  The guy nodded.

  "But Axel is on our side," Nigel told him. "We don't want to kill her in training. Use less force."

  "Yes, Neuro."

  When the fight recommenced, Axel ran again. Candy and Jasper were taking on two members of the other team. Prince Drake and the rest of cell one had three members of Angelo's unit down.

  Axel whooped. They might just win today. So far, they'd kept coming out bottom…because of her.

  She wondered where Angelo was. No sooner had she had the thought than someone slammed into her from behind, and pinned her down.

  From the strong smell of cologne that filled her nose, she figured it was Angelo crushing the life out of her this time.

  She tried to wriggle free. Tried to kick. He was too strong.

  "Less force," Nigel yelled.

  Angelo's grip relaxed but Axel still couldn't do a thing to free herself.

  "Lo siento, mi chica," Angelo whispered in her ear. "Amanda!" he yelled.

  Amanda, one of the girls on his team, rushed over.

  "Finish her off," Angelo said, rising to his feet.

  Amanda grabbed Axel's hand and pulled her to her feet, only to slug her hard in the chest.

  Axel's vision blurred. She dropped to the ground, hitting her head. She could just about make out Angelo slapping Amanda on the back, and the two of them running off to fight others.

  She was so going to kill him when they got back to the dorm this evening.

  Nigel pronounced her 'dead 'and told her to go to the edge of the field where the others were. Axel dragged herself away, but chose a spot a little distance from everyone else where there were trees. She sat in the shade, tears stinging her eyes.

  Angelo and Amanda joined forces to knock Candy out. Then the whole of cell two, except Angelo, went after Prince Drake. Angelo held off the rest of cell one so that they couldn't help Prince Drake.

  Needless to say, cell two won. Prince Drake looked mad as they walked off the field. Nigel commended cell two for their battle plan and Angelo for his leadership. Prince Drake looked even more annoyed at that.

  Axel watched as her cell members patted each other on the back. Some looked over at her, but didn't come over. Not even the ever patronizingly condescending Prince Drake.

  She groaned when Jasper began to walk over. Maybe he just wanted some shade from the sun. He removed the top of his Super suit as he approached, revealing acres of smooth bronze skin. Axel looked away from him, focusing on a building in the distance.

  Jasper sat down beside her, and leaned his back against the tree trunk. Axel was glad he didn't try to talk to her.

  They sat in silence, watching as all the other cells got their opportunity to fight each other. Trojan fought wildly with his team and didn't 'die'. In fact, all of the Netherlings were getting better and better. Meanwhile, Axel didn't seem to be improving at all.

  The final was between cell two and cell five. The battle was intense, but once again, Angelo's team seemed to have a watertight game plan.

  When Nigel pronounced them the winners, they all danced and did backflips and somersaults.

  Nigel blew his whistle. "Gather 'round, everybody."

  Jasper stood up. He held out a hand to Axel. Axel shook her head. Jasper walked away to join the others.

  Nigel spoke to the class for a few minutes, commending individuals who had performed well today, and commending team leaders who had shown good leadership. When he finished, he dismissed the class.

  Everyone headed back to the activation department. They had Dynamo next.

  Axel couldn't make herself stand. She was sick of sucking at everything. At this rate, she was never going to free Zanda.

  A tear rolled down her cheek.

  A horrible thoughts crossed her mind. What if her parents had done something to her, to ensure she was never able to manifest any superpowers?

  Nigel vanished into thin air, and then reappeared before her.

  Axel's whole body twitched with surprise. What did he want?

  "Why are you crying?"

  Was he for real? Axel looked up at him. He was a big dark figure blocking out the sun.

  "You're really struggling," he said, when she didn't respond.

  Yeah, genius.

  "Stand up."

  Axel frowned at him. "I just want to be alone for a few minutes."

  "Stand up!" he snapped.

  Axel clamped down on her frustration and dragged herself to her feet. She wiped tears from her cheeks.

  Nigel gave her a hard look. "Will you let me help you?"

  "I obviously need all the help I can get; so, yes."

  "Can I look into your mind and try to work out why, despite being a full-blooded Super, you have manifested no powers in seventeen years."

  Axel stared at him. "You want me to give you permission to read my mind?"

  "I'm not going to read your mind. I promise I won't rifle through your thoughts. I will only try to ascerta
in if there are any mental blockages. I think there are."

  Axel didn't know whether to allow it.

  Zanda.

  Axel's hands clenched into fists. She needed to buy Zanda's freedom. If that meant letting Nigel read her mind, it was a small price to pay. "How will I know that you're not looking at my thoughts?"

  The thought of him seeing her thoughts about him, and working out that she'd had a bit of a crush on him before she realized he was the most infuriating guy ever, was beyond embarrassing.

  "There is an oath that those of us with mental powers cannot break."

  "And?" Axel asked. Now was not the time to be cryptic with her. She wasn't Super so she didn't know anything about these things.

  "Do you ever listen in class?" he asked. His gray eyes glazed over slightly, then a knife appeared in his hands.

  Axel took a step backward, alarmed. Then she remembered what Prince Drake had said in their first class with Nigel. Nigel couldn't break a promise he made while drawing his own blood.

  She watched as he pressed the knife to his left forearm. A shiver worked its way down her spine as he sliced through his own skin.

  "I will not look into your thoughts," Nigel said softly. "I will only do a sweeping assessment to identify anything counter-productive."

  "Okay," Axel said, nodding. "Go ahead."

  Nigel's eyes glazed over again. Axel felt a tickle race around her head.

  "Relax," Nigel whispered, his gaze still glazed over. "Don't think about anything."

  How could she not think about anything? Now she was thinking about not thinking about anything.

  She stilled when Nigel reached out and touched her forehead. His touch was as gentle as a feather, but as heated as an ember. Something twisted in her gut. Axel quickly steeled herself against it. She hoped he couldn't see in her mind how she was reacting to his touch.

  He lowered his hand and his gaze came into focus. "You're not activating because you have some fixed beliefs about yourself.

  Axel was hanging on to his every word. "Like what?"

  "You don't believe you can activate. That belief is like a stronghold erected in your mind."

  "Yo!" came a shout from across the field.

  Axel looked around. She spotted Trojan and Angelo at the end of the field, still waiting for her.

  She waved to them, and then stepped away from Nigel, suddenly realizing how close they were standing. For some reason, she felt a blush blooming in her cheeks. She looked at Nigel. He was giving her this slit-eyed look. She wasn't quite sure what it meant.

  "So…what do I need to do about the fixed beliefs?" she asked.

  "You need to break them." Nigel dug his hands into his pockets and walked away.

  Axel stared after him.

  How am I supposed to do that?

  Chapter 16

  "I CAN ACTIVATE," AXEL told herself for the rest of the day. "I am Super."

  If she kept saying it, she would start believing it, right?

  After she was done with classes for the day, she went to the dorm and read one of her activation books late into the night, even skipping dinner.

  The next morning, she awakened tired and aching all over. Each day, she was sustaining more and more injuries from all the fighting and activation attempts.

  After a quick shower, she threw on her mom's Super suit again and then left with Trojan and Angelo for the flight class that everyone had been looking forward to all week.

  When they arrived at the field they were using today, Nigel was holding a megaphone. "Who can already fly?" he asked.

  Those who raised their hands were told to go to Dynamo who was waiting for them in the next field. She was going to coach them on flying faster and higher than they could at the moment.

  Once they left, all that remained was the Netherlings and a handful of Supers whose gifts didn't include flight. Jasper was one of them.

  "For Supers who can't fly, Voltaire will give you a special training session on activating flight," Nigel said. "It'll be an intensive session in which he will focus on each of you individually and enable you to use the same method that you used in accessing your current powers to access flight."

  The Supers looks excited as Nigel told them where to meet Voltaire. When they left, it was just Axel, Trojan and a few other Netherlings remaining. She was the only girl in the group.

  Axel tried to 'believe' as Nigel coached them on how to focus and trigger the power of flight. Apparently, flight was one of the easiest powers to activate.

  In the next field, all the Supers were already in the air, circling around and swooping up and down.

  Nigel suddenly stopped talking and looked at Trojan. "You're close."

  Everyone looked at Trojan. His eyes were closed. A frown of concentration lined his forehead.

  One of the other guys opened his mouth to say something, but Nigel held up a hand, silencing him, his eyes fixed on Trojan as though willing him to fly.

  Axel was shocked when Trojan lifted a few inches off the ground. One of the others whooped. Nigel immediately glared at him.

  "Higher," Nigel said to Trojan. "Control your breathing so that you don't get…"

  He trailed off as Trojan shot into the air.

  Everyone looked up. Axel was filled with awe.

  Nigel lifted his megaphone to his lips. "Get control," he said. His deep voice boomed around the whole area. "Steady yourself and level out."

  So far, Trojan had been vertical, ascending. Now he flipped into a horizontal position and shot forward.

  When he was almost crossing over into the field where the Supers were flying, Nigel lifted the megaphone to his lips again. "Try to turn around. If you can't do that, just land."

  Trojan turned around and flew back to them. But he didn't land. He flew on, past them.

  Suddenly, another of the Netherling guys shot into the air.

  Axel closed her eyes. Trojan had been closing his eyes when he began to lift off the ground. She willed herself to take off, to shoot into the air the way Trojan and the other guy had. She imagined herself soaring through the air, the wind rushing against her face.

  She opened her eyes to check if anything was happening. Her feet were still planted firmly on the ground. Disappointment gripped her hard when she realized that she was the only one still on the ground. Somehow, in the time that she'd had her eyes closed, everyone else had managed to take off.

  Axel felt like walking away. Felt like running over to the trees lining one side of the field and hiding under their branches.

  No! I can do this!

  Nigel came over. "I don't know how to coach you to do this, because I don't know how you work. Every Super works in a different way."

  "But you must have some advice," Axel said, feeling desperate.

  "Relax," Nigel said. "That's the first thing. And be patient with yourself."

  Axel nodded quickly, tears welling in her eyes. She was trying.

  "My powers are mental," Nigel told her. "So focusing inward works for me."

  "How do I focus inward?" Axel asked.

  "I used to have to close my eyes to do it. Now, I can focus inward even with my eyes open. You just block out your surroundings."

  Axel immediately closed her eyes. She tried to block out her surroundings: the whoops and laughter of her classmates who were all swooping around in the air, the heat, Nigel.

  Was anything happening?

  She could still feel her feet on the ground. She opened her eyes.

  Nigel's expression was unreadable. "Keep trying."

  Axel decided she wasn't going to give up. She allowed an image of Zanda with her hands and feet bound, crying and terrified, to spur her on. But by the end of the class, she was still the only person who hadn't lifted off the ground even an inch.

  AFTER DINNER, THAT EVENING, Axel boarded a large school bus along with the rest of her classmates. Nigel, Dynamo, and Voltaire were taking them to the Merspool conflux.

  Voltaire had a nasty b
ruise on his head. Apparently, the teachers had also been doing fight training. Rumor had it that Dynamo had given him the bruise that morning.

  Trojan was tired from all the flying he'd been doing. He fell asleep as soon as they got on the bus. Little wonder. He'd been flying every opportunity he got. Even flying down school hallways whenever there were no teachers around. He'd tried to help Axel activate flight, but his efforts had been futile.

  Axel took out the book she'd been reading on activation. All the Netherlings in her class had now officially activated. They could all fly, and some of them had some other budding powers too.

  She blocked out the raucous laughter and loud conversations around her, as well as Trojan's snoring, and focused on her book.

  She'd skipped ahead to a chapter titled 'Supers Experiencing Difficulty Manifesting Powers'. Apparently, it was rare that a Super had difficulty manifesting, but it had been known to happen.

  Trust me to be an anomaly.

  Of those rare cases, one hundred per cent of them were among aristocrats. There were two prominent aristocrat Supers who had never manifested any powers their whole lives.

  Please don't let me be one of those.

  Axel sighed, and closed the book. It wasn't helping her confidence. Maybe she'd show this chapter to Nigel later. And she'd ask him if he could do anything about the limiting beliefs in her mind. In an ideal situation, she would be able to activate without any help from him, but time was running out. The battle was only five days away. She needed to get chosen for the battle.

  What if I die in the battle?

  What would they do with Zanda? Axel made a mental note to find Serloyd when she got back, and ask him.

  It took them thirty minutes to get to the forest. When they arrived, Axel nudged Trojan to wake him. They got off the bus along with everyone else.

  I am Super, Axel told herself as they were all herded into the forest by Dynamo, and Voltaire. I can and I will activate.

  Doubt set in.

  What if I'm one of those rare aristocrats who have no powers?

  She thought of the poor Supers she'd met when she first arrived here. The ones who were willing to loan their powers for the fee.

  Could she find one with powers that would be relevant to the battle and pretend she'd activated?