by Charlie Wood
Orion watched the screen. “Is this live footage, Tobin?”
“Yes!” the boy shouted. “That’s the Daybreaker! He took off his armor, and that’s what was underneath!” The boy turned back to Jonathan, grabbing his shirt again and shaking him. “Tell me what’s happening!” he shouted, his voice booming through the museum. “Now!”
Jonathan laughed, shaking his head. “Wow. You still don’t get it, do you, Tobin? Have you ever wondered, for even a second, why one day you didn’t have superpowers, and then all of a sudden, the next day you did?”
Tobin loosened his grip on Jonathan’s shirt. He stared at the pale man, listening.
“We awoke your powers in you, Tobin,” Jonathan continued. “I practically gave them to you, that night at the bookstore.”
Tobin thought back, to the first night he had used his powers, seven months ago: he had received a strange call on his cell phone from a bookstore, and when he arrived at the store, he had found a frightened woman there, held captive by Jonathan. In a bizarre trance, Tobin had fought Jonathan and rescued the woman, and since that night, the boy had been able to create blue electricity and lightning.
“By putting someone in danger near you,” Jonathan said, “someone only you could help—we awakened your powers, Tobin.
“That was always Vincent’s plan: to activate your powers, and then use them how he wanted—use them to take over the Earth. The second part of his plan failed, because Orion rescued you, brought you here, and you became a hero. But, if Vincent had things his way...”
Tobin stood and turned to the monitor. Orion, Junior, Wakefield, Keplar, and Scatterbolt were standing underneath the screen, watching the newsfeed from Earth. The news was showing the Daybreaker, with his eyes closed and raised to the sky, and his palms open and extended over his head.
Lying on the floor of the lab, Jonathan sat up.
“You were never meant to save the world, Tobin. You were meant to destroy it.”
Tobin watched the newsfeed. The Daybreaker was standing on the roof of the arena; as he held both of his hands over his head, roiling, massive, grey storm clouds formed in the skies above him, snapping with purple lightning. Soon, the frothing, poisonous clouds grew so thick and heavy over the city of Boston that they began to drift downward, until they touched onto the ground and merged together, changing color. As the WNT helicopter’s camera rolled, the black-and-purple clouds became a black-and-purple dome, forming around the city and cutting it off from the rest of the world. The swirling, toxic dome looked identical to the Dark Nebula that had surrounded Tobin’s hometown of Bridgton seven months ago, but this one was immense; soon, the Daybreaker, the sports arena, and everything else in the city, was no longer visible.
As Tobin watched the skyscrapers and millions of people disappear under the black-and-purple Dark Nebula, only one thought ran through his mind: the entire world had just watched Strike, The Hero From The Sky, attack and invade Boston, Massachusetts.
The STRIKE Trilogy will conclude in
STRIKE: THE RETURNING SUNRISE.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Charlie Wood lives with his wife, Kate, in Massachusetts. He enjoys baseball, movies, and comic books. This is his second novel.
For more information, please visit: www.charliewood24.blogspot.com