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

by Dee Benson

  Axel watched as more Supers dropped down—but not in big batches like the first two times. Nigel must be meeting some resistance.

  No sooner had she had the thought than he fell to his knees. The force field around them blinked off for a moment and then was back.

  Axel dropped down beside him. "Nigel?"

  "Quiet!"

  His eyes were strained. Sweat poured down the sides of his face.

  Axel looked up at the Supers still in the air. Desmond and Serloyd were among them.

  "Holding them down takes too much energy," Nigel ground out. "If I kill everyone I'm holding down, I can focus on those attacking me."

  Axel didn't know what to say.

  This battle was strange. No throwing superpowers around, just a mental standoff.

  A bunch of the Supers flew next to each other and lifted their fists into the air. Bright light filled the air and rushed towards them. It hit the force field and Nigel fell to the ground.

  "Either I kill them or they kill us," he shouted.

  "Well, why are you listening to me?" Axel replied. "If you think killing them is the right thing to do then go ahead."

  Nigel's glare was colder than Axel had ever seen it. Two seconds passed. Then three. The Supers in the air didn't drop to the ground, dead.

  So Nigel did have a conscience after all. He knew that to kill them would be wrong.

  "I can't hold them off anymore," he whispered. Another blast of light hit the force field. Nigel jerked as though he'd been hit directly. The force field disappeared.

  He'd been overpowered.

  The Supers flew towards them slowly.

  Axel wondered whether stopping Nigel from killing had really been a good idea.

  "I only have the energy to teleport one of us," Nigel whispered. There was a haunted look in his eyes.

  Axel felt a blast of energy hit her in the chest.

  One of the Supers must be trying to kill her.

  She wanted to give Nigel's hand one last squeeze, but a weightless feeling took her over, and there was a blur of darkness.

  When she landed, she didn't know where she was.

  She wasn't in Netherium. That was for sure. The heat, despite it being the dead of the night, told her that much.

  Despair made her feel weak. When am I ever going to get out of here?

  She'd been so close. If not for that kiss, she'd be in New York right now.

  She tried to pull herself together. Nigel had teleported her instead of himself. He was probably already dead.

  No. The Firemaster wouldn't just kill him. He'd want to make him suffer first. Make an example of him. Nigel was supposed to be one of his most trusted aides. The Firemaster wouldn't take his betrayal lightly.

  Axel looked around. Her eyes were adjusting to the darkness. She could make out the faint outline of trees.

  Was she in a forest? She was getting sick of forests. But at least it would mean plenty of places to hide.

  A flash of light illuminated the thick density of trees a little distance away. The sound of a helicopter's thumping rotors filled the air. The light swooped around the forest.

  Axel felt her way through the darkness, heading in the opposite direction from where the helicopter was searching.

  They're going to find me.

  She clenched her teeth. No. Don't give in. I can hide.

  She broke into a run. Branches clawed at her shirt.

  "Axel?" a voice called from further down in the direction she was heading. The Firemaster.

  She'd never heard his voice raised, and it wasn't raised now. But it boomed around the area, amplified somehow.

  She noticed a swooping light ahead of her. The Firemaster had two helicopters searching for her.

  How had they worked out where Nigel had sent her? And how had they gotten here so fast?

  What should I do?

  She couldn't climb a tree. The helicopter searchlights would pick her up. She could hide in a bush.

  "Come on out," came The Firemaster's voice. "There's no point in hiding. We will find you. We have heat sensors."

  Great. Even if she hid in a bush it would just be a matter of time before she was caught.

  She needed to find a way to get out of here. But she had no idea where she was or how to get out.

  "Give yourself up, Axel."

  The voice was just a few steps away now. The Firemaster must have teleported himself closer to her.

  Axel stood frozen to the spot, not sure which direction to go.

  "We can work out a compromise," The Firemaster said, his voice echoing through the trees. "I'm not going to kill you, or even torture you, if you give me what I want."

  What the hell did he still want from her?

  He wants my lives.

  The helicopter behind her was swooping its light closer and closer to her, the roaring of the engine growing louder.

  Axel began to run again, as quietly as she could, hoping to escape the searchlights.

  She was not getting caught and letting The Firemaster scorch her lives from her. She'd given up a power once, and she now knew what a terrible mistake that had been. She wasn't going to make that mistake a second time.

  "Come on out and let's talk," The Firemaster called. "Give me your immortality and I won't punish you for all that you've done."

  Immortality? Ha! He was going to be disappointed when he found out that it wasn't immortality at all.

  But not disappointed enough not to still scorch me.

  And then he'd kill her.

  Axel ran harder, trusting the noise of the helicopters to drown out the sound of her thrashing through the forest.

  I am not getting caught.

  There was a thud a few steps in front of her. The person wasn't as big as The Firemaster. They were facing the opposite direction. Axel jumped behind a tree as the person turned around and the light of a helicopter slid over her.

  Zanda!

  Axel's heart burned painfully in her chest.

  She was here helping The Firemaster look for her. Zanda was so power thirsty she was probably as desperate to find her as The Firemaster was. Maybe they'd even struck some deal the way they must have over her parents. I'll help you find Axel and you have to share her immortality with me.

  Axel wondered how many people were in the forest looking for her.

  If Zanda was here, Desmond and Serloyd would be here, too. Maybe even Prince Drake and others.

  Who would Axel rather face? The answer should be Zanda. She should be able to speak to Zanda and talk her into helping her escape. However, after Zanda had shot her yesterday, fully intending to kill her, Axel knew that wasn't going to work.

  If only she'd run into Desmond. He was despicable—just like all the Firemaster's sheep were. But he would be her best bet.

  Zanda lifted a megaphone to her lips. "Axel."

  Horror washed over Axel as The Firemaster's voice boomed from Zanda's lips.

  "Give yourself up."

  Gooseflesh prickled all over Axel's skin. That was so freaky.

  "You don't even want superpowers. Give your immortality to me and I won't kill you."

  Axel would rather die than do that.

  Zanda dropped to the ground suddenly. The megaphone fell from her hands. "Get out of my head," she said weakly in her own voice.

  She jerked. "Just a few more minutes," came The Firemaster's voice from Zanda's lips. "I sense that she's close by."

  With Zanda still on the ground, Axel decided to put as much distance between them as possible.

  But she knew it was futile. She wasn't going to escape the searchlights, the heat sensors, and all the people searching for her on foot.

  She touched the locket in her pocket as she skirted trees and bushes. The Firemaster wasn't here. Instead, he was using Zanda to come after her. Why?

  Maybe he thought Axel would respond better if it was Zanda. But if he thought that, he'd let Zanda speak with her own voice, rather than speaking through her. Maybe he
just wanted to get her all disturbed and freaked out so that she'd give in.

  Axel ran harder. She felt a tickle race across her forehead. Her heart jumped. Was it Nigel? Was he still alive?

  She slowed, waiting for Nigel to speak into her mind.

  She almost screamed with pain when something seemed to grab hold of her mind.

  Axel? came The Firemaster's voice in her head. Axel?

  Axel couldn't run anymore. She stopped and leaned against a tree, trying not to think about anything so that The Firemaster wouldn't know that he was in her mind.

  Chapter 31

  THE SOUND OF LAUGHTER filled Axel's head.

  I know I am in your mind, came The Firemaster's gloating voice.

  She caught a sense of The Firemaster lying on the ground somewhere in the forest, almost in a coma-like state while he controlled Zanda and spoke into Axel's mind.

  She sensed The Firemaster teleporting Zanda to where Axel was. Axel hadn't realized that The Firemaster could teleport.

  "I can do many things that you don't know about," came The Firemaster's voice from behind her.

  Axel was glad he was out of her head now. She turned to find Zanda standing behind her.

  "I have scorched many talents since testing out the scorcher on you," The Firemaster said through Zanda.

  Axel noticed the unnatural way in which Zanda was standing, and the deadness in her eyes. She was literally a zombie right now.

  Axel slipped behind a tree.

  Zanda followed. "Immortality doesn't mean you're invincible." Zanda's fluid hand gestures were all The Firemaster's. She wasn't using the megaphone anymore. "You can still feel pain, and it's a curse because you can't die. How wretched. Are you sure you really want this power?"

  "No," Axel replied. "But I'm sure I don't want you to have it."

  Axel realized the folly of her words.

  This was game over. Check mate. The helicopter searchlight swept over her and Zanda, illuminating them both. Axel had been caught. She had no choice but to submit to scorching.

  "Why?" The Firemaster asked, his soft deep voice coming from Zanda's lips still uncanny. "Don't you know who I am?"

  Axel frowned, not sure what he meant. They both knew that she knew who he was.

  "Don't you know who you are?" The Firemaster asked. Zanda shook her head with the slow grace of The Firemaster. "Well, of course you don't. I never told you, and I forbade everyone else who knows to tell you."

  "Tell me what?" Axel asked, although she had a feeling that she didn't want to know. She looked around, wondering if it was worth making a run for it.

  "Your mother was one of my concubines."

  Axel froze. Her gaze snapped to Zanda. "What?"

  "Haven't you noticed that I haven't allowed you to be punished the way others have been?" The Firemaster asked. Zanda's head lolled to the side, as though she was exhausted, only still standing because she was being held up by another.

  Axel didn't believe him. He was making it up just to mess with her head.

  "You're my daughter," The Firemaster said softly.

  Axel backed away from Zanda, as though putting distance between them would help her block out the words. The Firemaster was sick to say such a thing. Beyond sick. Demented.

  "But you're nothing like me," he said. "So, I'm going to take your immortality. Then, I am going to kill you because you're never going to be like me. I can see that." He paused as though waiting for Axel to say something that would change his mind about killing her.

  Axel couldn't think. "Give me proof that what you're saying is true."

  "You want a paternity test?" The Firemaster asked with a snort. "I don't need to prove anything to you. I'm going to kill you anyway. Just like I killed Trojan. It was amusing watching you and him together. He was my son, too."

  What? Axel didn't believe it. Trojan was her half brother?

  "I thought you would change once you came here," The Firemaster continued. "I thought you would accept our ideologies but you have clung to the brainwashing of your mother and the peasant she married."

  Axel knew her father wasn't aristocracy and that her mom wouldn't have been allowed to marry him if they'd remained in the Super Land.

  Could The Firemaster be speaking the truth? Could he really be her father? Was her mom really his concubine once?

  If it was true, that was why Nigel had told her that going to the Super government would be bad for her. If she was The Firemaster's daughter, the king would have her killed, so that his own children were the only heirs to the throne.

  Zanda jerked suddenly and then cried out in her own voice.

  Axel's heart froze in her chest. She feared The Firemaster, but she found Zanda even more formidable because she had no idea what to expect.

  Zanda's eyes came into focus.

  Axel felt like she should say something, but she didn't know what.

  A look of discomfort crossed Zanda's features. Was that because The Firemaster was trying to regain control of her or because she was face to face with Axel?

  "Zanda?" Axel said hesitantly.

  Zanda took a step backward.

  Tears filled Axel's eyes. "Is there an explanation for what you have done to me and my parents?" It was still hard for Axel to believe that Zanda would betray her and her parents the way she had.

  "I should capture you now," Zanda said in her own voice.

  Above them, the helicopter was already letting down a rope ladder. There were shouts as people descended.

  "Why?" Axel asked. "Why would you side with them?"

  "But I won't," Zanda said, continuing as though Axel hadn't spoken. "Go before he takes me over again."

  Axel reached out and touched her shoulder.

  Zanda flinched as though she'd been burned.

  Axel's heart constricted. "Is that what happened yesterday when you shot me?" Pain burst through her heart as she said the words. "Were you yourself or had he taken you over?"

  Zanda glared at her, and then she turned and ran away.

  Frustration tightened Axel's chest. Why wouldn't Zanda just talk to her? Maybe The Firemaster had taken her over last night. No, her voice had been her own throughout.

  Well, maybe he'd drugged her.

  Axel didn't have time to think about it now. The people descending the ladder were already almost halfway down. She began to run.

  She heard shouts behind her, but the searchlight didn't begin to sweep over the area again until she'd already gone a good distance.

  She banged into trees and scraped herself as she went, but it didn't slow her down.

  Light in the distance told her she must be nearing the edge of the forest. It also told her that there must be people out there, maybe even surrounding the whole forest.

  Her steps slowed.

  What should she do? If she was caught she would be scorched and The Firemaster would get her lives. She'd rather die.

  She stepped behind a bush as she wondered what to do. She tripped when her leg caught on a log on the ground behind the bush. There was a crack in her back pocket as she landed on the log. There went the tube of water she'd been given at the rebel meeting. Her only link to Trojan.

  Sure enough, wetness seeped through her clothes and into her skin. As she fumbled around, trying to rise, her hands brushed what felt like smooth, cool skin.

  She jumped up and was shocked to find that what she'd tripped over wasn't a log at all, but a person.

  He sat up.

  The Firemaster.

  Axel's first reaction was rage. He'd hidden himself here while he sent Zanda after her. Speaking through her cousin so that she'd be freaked out.

  He rose to his feet.

  He opened his mouth to say something, but he never got to say it because a sudden rush of water, like a mighty river bursting through a broken dam, swept over them.

  It swallowed Axel up completely. She kicked and thrashed frantically with her hands, trying to break through the surface and get some air, but it
seemed that, no matter how hard she tried, she remained underwater.

  Soon, her lungs were bursting and her head began to feel light.

  Axel looked down upon herself, watching as her body gave up and began to float limply in the water.

  Zanda had escaped and was outside the forest with the others who were standing guard in case Axel came out.

  Where had all the water come from?

  She thought about the tube of water that had broken. What was it that Trojan had said about the tube of water?

  Observing was easy in this state, but thinking was hard. Axel wracked her mind, trying to remember.

  All you need to know for now is that you shouldn't open it because Victor has filled it with multiplication power.

  Axel spotted The Firemaster thrashing around in the water. He was making a valiant effort to get free from its clutches, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't break through the surface.

  Axel didn't know how many seconds, minutes, or hours passed, but The Firemaster eventually tired.

  She seemed to ascend higher into the sky. Soon, she could see the whole of Merspool. It was vibrant with firefalls, fire fountains, fire pools, and lakes of fire.

  As though someone had flipped a switch, they all went out.

  Someone was shaking her.

  Axel coughed.

  I just died again.

  Her veins were buzzing with energy. Her ears were roaring.

  I hate dying.

  She was cold. And wet.

  I'm alive so I should stop moaning.

  But alive for what? Alive to be scorched? To be killed after the scorching?

  She opened her eyes.

  Desmond was crouched over someone lying beside her. The Firemaster. He was feeling for his pulse.

  They were still in the forest. The ground was wet and squelchy.

  He let out a small cry. He lifted a phone to his ear. "No pulse."

  The Firemaster was dead. He'd drowned in Victor's water. Axel remembered the poem Trojan had recited in order to gain access to the secret rebel meeting.

  Magnificent fire that burns and consumes,

  You are powerful without a doubt.