by Bryan Cohen
Natalie slipped past a few of the downed guards and ran toward the group. Ted was so filled with joy that he'd nearly forgotten the bounciness that was Travis Conner.
The football star ran toward his girlfriend. "Nat!"
She stopped in her tracks. "Travis?"
Travis lifted her high off the ground and wrapped his arms around her. Natalie buried her face in his neck and gave a sigh of relief. Ted tried to push away an uncomfortable feeling.
Travis and Natalie returned to the group holding hands. Ted closed off the cave behind them, leaving a small window to keep an eye on the building.
Natalie scrunched her nose up at Ted. "So, you decided not to leave me here after all?"
Ted's face turned red. "It wasn't like that, I swear!"
Natalie rolled her eyes. "Uh huh." She turned to Erica. "Hey."
Erica squeezed her tight. "I'm glad you're safe."
Erica barely had enough time to reacquaint Natalie with Ferrick and introduce Reena and Gan before more dark soul guards started to exit the stronghold. Ted knew it wouldn't be long before the sheer number of soldiers would overwhelm their small party.
"We've gotta get somewhere secluded to open the portal."
Natalie raised her eyebrows. "You finally stop having performance problems?"
Even though he seemed to get it, Travis didn't look like he appreciated the joke in the slightest. "We figured out another way to do it."
Reena stepped forward. "The portal's going to blow our cover. Gan and I can draw the fire away from you."
Erica shook her head and touched Reena's shoulder. "No way. There's too many of them."
Gan puffed out his chest. "No such thing. We'll be fine." He bowed to Ted. "It was an honor."
Ted bowed back. "Likewise."
Reena hugged both Erica and Travis, the athlete letting his arms linger just a bit too long around her. Reena joined Gan's side.
Gan put his Goliath-sized hand on her back. "Kiss for luck?"
Reena nodded her head and complied with a deep, passionate kiss. Everyone's jaw dropped.
Ted smiled. "It's good to be the commander."
Gan didn't acknowledge the comment, but he made a signal to open up the cave. The second that Ted did so, Gan and Reena made a mad dash for it. A flurry of energy blasts flew, but the light soul leaders were faster. It didn't take long for them to run completely out of sight.
"He's a lucky man," Travis said to nobody in particular.
Natalie sighed. "And my boyfriend's a pervert. Maybe I'd be better off staying here."
Ted looked out of the cave and saw that most of the soldiers had gone chasing after Reena and Gan. He glanced back at Ferrick. "Are you guys gonna be okay?"
The village leader nodded. "We'll just say you kidnapped us." The judge pulled Ted in close. "You're a good man, Ted. End this war if you can."
Ted embraced Ferrick and said he'd do what he could. He caught Erica's eyes. "Let's go home."
They stepped out of their seclusion. With nearly all the attention still focused on the diversion, Ted used his powers to fly them toward the opening in the side of the stronghold. Within seconds, the dark souls saw them and they softly landed on the ground. Before any shots could be fired, Travis speared one of the guards and tossed the man's gun to Natalie. Erica ran and spin-kicked a second soldier right in the side of the face. Ted ducked under one laser blast and used a judo throw to take down the third. Natalie shot a fourth in the chest before he could draw his gun.
Travis hollered. "Yeah! I've been wanting to hit something since I got here."
Natalie glared at him. "I don't even know how to respond to that." She motioned toward the castle opening. "Let's get inside."
Just then, the sound of an electric current filled the air. It sounded like something was powering up, like the laser blasts that had almost taken Ted and Natalie out in the village. Only, this sounded larger and the noise continued to grow with each passing second.
Erica was the first to identify the source. Ted followed her eyes to view the largest cannon he'd ever seen. The weapon had been wheeled into position about 50 feet away. It was aimed straight at them, and a blue light was swirling around it.
For a moment, they all froze.
Erica was the first to reanimate. "Run!"
The hot and powerful blast shot straight toward them. Ted dove and rolled away as the projectile overwhelmed his senses. The light was blinding and the sound rendered him temporarily deaf. The impact of the discharge sent him flying into the air. He tried to control where he landed, but the dark soul gunner must have been looking straight at him. Ted tried his best to brace himself, landing with a crash on the stone of the castle floor. His right arm took the worst of it, and the shooting pain through his wrist seemed to indicate a break or a sprain. Ted braced on his left hand and got to his knees. There was a several-foot crater where the four of them had been standing. Ted didn't see or hear a single one of his friends.
"Guys?"
Two sets of hands grabbed his arms and wrenched them behind him. The pain radiated from his wrist up to his shoulder. He attempted to turn to see his assailants, but they quickly threw a dark hood over his head. Struggle as he might, it was no use. The dark souls bound his arms and legs and lifted him into the air. There was nothing he could to do stop them.
43
Jennifer thought about her father as she ran her hands along the prison bedspread. The sheriff had dedicated his life to preserving the system and putting criminals behind bars. Now the system didn't make sense anymore, and she and Dhiraj were locked away. She wondered what her dad would've thought of their plan and their prison cell. Jennifer hoped he wouldn't be upset with her.
Dhiraj had been staring through the bars for several minutes when Jennifer decided to join him. His calm smile helped to put her at ease.
She put her hand on his back. "Doing some thinking?"
His tone was confident. "Nah. Just observing. You can learn a lot from looking at people."
Jennifer trained her eyes on the same spot as Dhiraj. The jailers were frantic. At any given moment, they were either screaming into the phone or barking orders at each other. One of them kept pointing to the door that led outside.
Jennifer pulled Dhiraj closer. "Okay. So what have you learned?"
Dhiraj rested his tongue on his upper lip. "From what I can tell, it's a madhouse of protestors and reporters outside." He turned toward her. "I'm pretty sure the plan worked."
Dhiraj wrapped his arms around her, and Jennifer allowed herself to sink into him. She wasn't sure how much longer they'd keep them in the same cell, but she vowed to value every moment of it. A new set of footsteps down the hall got their attention. Two men who appeared to be secret service agents spoke with the jailers. The one who'd been yelling at the phone seemed to go pale before agreeing to something.
Dhiraj looked puzzled. "What do you think that's about?"
Jennifer's hands started to shake. "It means he's here."
Dhiraj narrowed his eyes. "He who?"
She put her hands around the bars and squeezed. "Kable's here. And he's coming to talk to us."
Sure enough, a few minutes later, Jennifer and Dhiraj were taken to an interrogation room. The facility they were being held in looked more like Mr. Redican's asylum than a prison. Everything was white and pristine, but if she had her way, the floors would be streaked with Kable's blood. They sat down in two plastic chairs for what seemed like ages. When he walked in, Jennifer could feel the hair stand up on the back of her neck. He took slow, steady steps until he sat down in a chair directly across from them. His look was neutral, though Jennifer had the impression he was more than a little pissed off.
A minute of silence went by before Kable finally opened his mouth. "I must admit, I underestimated the two of you."
Jennifer wanted to melt his face off with her stare. Dhiraj took the gloating approach.
"When you mess with the bull, you get the horns."
Kable laughed as if it was the funniest thing he'd heard in years. Maybe it was; Jennifer had always appreciated Dhiraj's killer timing.
"Out of the mouths of babes." Kable tapped his fingernails on the table. "You've effectively ended my campaign, sealing Blake in for another four years. Even though he firebombed your friend's house."
Dhiraj grumbled. "He's a snake, but he's not a murderer."
Kable lifted his chin. "I'm not convinced of that, but you can believe what you want to believe." He looked straight into Jennifer's eyes. "So what am I supposed to do now?"
Jennifer tasted bile in her throat. "You can rot in hell."
Kable laughed again. This time he even went so far as to slap his knee. "Ah, yes. I nearly forgot that your father didn't make it. I suppose neither of you will have an unbiased opinion on my next step, then." He leaned back in his chair. "Here's the funny thing. With all the power I've accumulated, I could live out the rest of my life safe, secure and revered. I could alter your minds and have you groveling at my feet within seconds."
Jennifer steeled herself against any type of mental invasion. She knew she was unlikely to last long against any sort of powerful attack.
Kable grinned. "But, I've always been a fan of eye-for-an-eye." Kable stood up and slowly walked around to their side of the table.
Dhiraj squirmed, but Jennifer wouldn't let him have the pleasure of seeing her struggle. He placed a warm, sweaty hand on each of their necks.
"You took my world away. My future. So I'll have to take something away from you."
Jennifer considered spitting in Kable's face, but instead she allowed her face to relax. She wasn't going to let him hurt her anymore.
Jennifer gave her head a slight shake. "You've already taken everything from me."
Kable looked impressed with her display of bravado and tapped both of them on the back of the neck. "Alright." He ambled back around to the other side of the table and leaned on the top. "Alright." He nodded a few times.
Jennifer felt the pit deepen at the bottom of her stomach.
Kable's new grin looked downright sadistic. "If that's the case, then I suppose you won't care if I turn your hometown to rubble."
The ground beneath them shook as Kable leapt away with incredible speed. He smashed through the ceiling and the two rooms above that, as well. Pieces of wood and debris rained down upon them. When the dust cleared, they could see straight out into the partly-cloudy sky. Kable was gone. Jennifer could hear the amplified awe of the crowd outside as the onlookers watched the former presidential candidate complete his transformation into a full-on public villain.
44
The energy blast was close enough to singe Erica's hair, though she was able to dive out of the way before further damage was done. As she fell to the ground, she took Travis and Natalie with her, successfully keeping them out of harm's way as well. Before she could locate Ted, dozens of smaller energy pulses shot through the air above them. It was chaotic, but Erica knew she had to save her friends first. She grabbed the closest rock and hurled it at what little remained of the ceiling inside the stronghold. There was so much power behind the throw that it practically disintegrated what little support remained. The stones above the gunmen fell straight down and crushed several of them to death. Those who weren't mortally wounded moaned as if they wished they had been. Erica pulled Natalie and Travis toward a somewhat secure, debris-filled part of the room. Natalie clutched at her head, and Travis appeared to be unconscious.
They steadied Travis on the wall behind them and spoke over another volley of energy blasts directed at the spot they'd just been.
Natalie's eyes looked weary. "Where's Ted?"
Erica hadn't seen him since the epic blast tore through the ground. The nervousness continued to build inside her.
She cupped one hand around her mouth. "I don't know. I'm sure he's fine."
Natalie shook her head. "No, you're not."
The second wave of gunfire stopped, and the shooters examined the area they'd just lit up. It wouldn't be long until they were discovered.
Erica felt a sense of dread. "I don't know what to do."
"The two of us versus all of them?" Natalie extended her hand. "I like those odds."
Erica peeked out over the top of the rubble pile. There were at least 20 armed men sweeping the ground.
Erica took Natalie's hand. "It's been an honor being your friend, Nat."
Natalie gave a confident grin. "Don't give up on us yet, LaPlante. I don't go down easy."
Erica let out a deep breath. "No, you don't."
She looked at the pile of rubble and an idea began to form in the back of her head. Erica gave herself as much running room as possible.
Natalie blinked. "What are you doing?"
Erica tensed up her body. "It's a surprise. Get ready to hit something."
"I'm always ready."
With that, Erica took off and slammed her shoulder into the pile of rubble. A thick cloud of rocks and dust blanketed the rest of the room.
Under the cover of debris, Erica put her hand on the nearest soldier's weapon. "I'll be needing that."
She kicked him square in the chest, sending his body flying as the weapon remained in her hands. She took out the three guards closest to her before they could aim their weapons, and then she dove behind a fourth who inadvertently served as a shield. Erica continued to use the man for cover as she shot several more guards. Erica heard a groan from the other side of the room and saw Natalie take out three dark souls herself before diving behind one of the statue's detached fingers.
Erica ran the length of the room, shooting as she went. She evaded half a dozen blasts and took out three more guards as she leapt over the piece of statue and landed next to Natalie.
Erica's adrenaline was through the roof. "That went better than expected."
Natalie breathed heavily. "Speak for yourself. I thought we'd have killed 'em all by now."
Erica grinned, but her smile slowly faded as the sound of footsteps took over the room. While they'd successfully thinned out the guards on hand, reinforcements had arrived – and plenty of them. A quick glance over the statue showed that more than 50 soldiers had come to replace their fallen comrades.
Erica felt empty for what she was about to do. She tossed her weapon over the statue and put her hands over her head. "We surrender."
Dhiraj could barely believe what he was seeing. In front of what must have been dozens of television cameras, Kable gave himself up as Adam. Between the shock of the takeoff and how close he'd just felt to death, Dhiraj was surprised to find that his brain was clear as day. He winked at Jennifer and tipped his chair completely over.
He screamed. "Ahhh! He's in my head. Kable's in my head!"
A guard who'd been eavesdropping in the hallway came in with an annoyed look on his face. As he knelt by Dhiraj's side trying to figure out what to do, Jennifer relieved the guard of his sidearm.
She pointed the gun directly between his eyes. "How about you get my boyfriend out of those handcuffs before I blow your brains out?"
Dhiraj kept himself in check despite Jennifer's sexy tone of voice as the guard undid his cuffs. Dhiraj slapped the one end of the handcuffs on the guard's wrist and placed the other on the window bars.
As Dhiraj fiddled with Jennifer's restraints, he watched the guard's face turn sullen.
"Don't worry, man. It's all for the greater good."
There were surprisingly few guards left inside, as many of them had been dispatched to handle the growing crowd of people outside. In all the insanity of the news crews and spectators, Dhiraj never expected to see a familiar face. Two, actually.
There they were, in low-cut tops and body paint. Beth and Winny were screaming for their attention from the other side of a metal police gate. Dhiraj and Jennifer shared a look as they hustled over. Beth and Winny both squealed as they wrapped their arms around Jennifer.
So much for being inconspicuous.
Jennifer's ey
es were wide. "How the heck did you guys get here?"
Beth saw something over Dhiraj's shoulder. "We'll explain. Hop over!"
Dhiraj turned back to see several guards running in their direction. He nodded. "Best idea I've heard all day."
Dhiraj helped Jennifer clear the gate before he took the leap himself. The crowd filled around them as they moved, making it nearly impossible for the guards to penetrate once they reached the barrier. Beth and Winny led the way out of the parking lot and to a car just down the street. It was orange. It was flashy. And it looked incredibly fast. Winny squeezed in back while Beth took shotgun. Dhiraj hadn't even realized someone was sitting in the front seat.
Beth beamed. "Guys, I'd like you to meet Detrick Van Housen, the wealthy German benefactor of the Free Ted Movement."
Dhiraj had seen Van Housen's face on the news whenever they were able to check the Internet. He knew from his mental Rolodex of the richest people in the world that the Van Housen family was worth billions.
"But how?"
Beth smirked. "It's Housen."
Jennifer rolled her eyes. "How did you–"
Van Housen started the car and looked into the rear view mirror. "These lovely ladies emailed me after your Treasure heist. They've been with me ever since."
One look to the front of the car told Dhiraj just how smitten Beth was.
He huffed. "I apologize on behalf of all Americans." Dhiraj took Jennifer's hand. "Mr. Van Housen–"
"Detrick."
Dhiraj nodded. "Detrick. We need to get back to Treasure."
Winny's mouth hung open. "Why? What's happening in Treasure?"
Jennifer sighed. "Nothing good."
Beth put her hand on Detrick's leg. "Step on it, honey!"
The car accelerated with a blast of power as they exited onto the highway.
Jennifer gave Winny a dirty look. "Honey?"