The Rise of Renegade X

by Chelsea M. Campbell

  “Off the building, I mean. That would have been …” I shudder just thinking about it. I don’t have to fake that part. I lower my voice a little and shoot Kat a wary look, like I don’t want her to hear, before turning to Pete and going, “I might have cried. On TV.”

  “And you’d be dead,” Pete adds.

  “I would,” I agree. “But you’re not going to do that to me. It’s one thing for you to torture people you don’t know because Taylor tells you to. Notice you’re not touching Kat—your first instinct is to make me do it. So, you know what you’re not going to do, Pete? You’re not going to kill me—you don’t have the guts.”

  One side of Pete’s face twitches at the insult. “You just made the biggest mistake of your life.”

  Oh no, Pete. That’s what you’re about to do.

  “Drop the knife,” he says.

  It clatters on the ground.

  “Get away from her.”

  I take a step back.

  He points to the ledge. “Get over there. Now.”

  I do what he says. I want to close my eyes and block this out, but I can’t or I might fall. Last time I was here, I did. And if all goes well tonight, I will again.

  When I can’t make myself walk any closer on two legs, I get down on my knees and crawl to the ledge. This is for Kat. And Sarah. “Please don’t do this!” I shout. “Don’t make me! We used to be friends, Pete, I—”

  “Jump.”

  “How high?”

  “As high as you can.”

  I get to my feet. The drop below is sickening, and I feel my stomach wanting to heave. I look over my shoulder. Sarah closes her eyes, tears on her cheeks. She’s mumbling something to herself. She looks like she’s praying, but knowing her, she’s probably reciting the periodic table of elements.

  Kat’s eyes are on me, willing this all to stop. “Don’t do it,” she whispers.

  “Aye, aye, mateys,” I say. “I guess it’s time to walk the plank.”

  My knees are weak. Some part of me would give anything to not have to do this, even if it means not saving the day, anything so that I’m somewhere else, safe on the ground. But the compulsion to do what Pete says is stronger than my fear. Good—it’s what I’m counting on.

  I tell myself everything’s going to be okay, as long as my heart doesn’t stop beating before I can carry out Pete’s order. Which it might do, it’s beating so fast.

  I jump as high as I can and leap off the edge of the tallest building in Golden City. Kat screams what might be my name, or what might just be a cry of agony. It’s garbled and I’m too busy hurtling through the air to figure it out.

  My mind races, swearing inwardly and panicking. Fly! Fly, damn it!

  Nothing happens. I’m plummeting, like I did the other day, like in my nightmares. Gordon said I had control, but I don’t. I will myself to use my power, to save myself, but it’s no good. I think through what Pete said, my blood pounding in my ears. He never said don’t save yourself, he never said don’t use your power, don’t fly. This is all me and my hang-ups and my fears.

  Cold air whizzes by me, stinging my skin and making my eyes water.

  I imagine what it’ll be like to hit the pavement—splat!—and then not breathe or think or feel anything anymore. And I don’t want to die.

  I will myself to fly. Because making Pete tell me to jump off a building and then not flying and not saving Kat and Sarah and not stopping that bastard is really, really lame. If I can’t do this now, just this once, I don’t deserve a name like Renegade X.

  The wind slows. The ground stops rushing toward me. I freeze in midair. I’m too afraid to move, in case I fall again. I half wish I’d let Gordon teach me this stuff, because maybe then I’d know what to do.

  I get ahold of myself. My mouth tastes like metal, like blood, and I realize I bit the inside of my cheek. The wind carries the sharp scents of garbage and motor oil. I don’t look down. I think about floating up, and that’s what happens. My ascent feels slower than the elevator ride. I’m inching my way up, wishing I could go faster but not knowing how and too afraid of falling. I keep myself as calm as I can, telling myself moving is better than not moving. Saving Kat is better than not saving her.

  But it’d be way better if I could get there sooner than later. I think about going faster, and this time I speed up.

  I stay below the edge of the building when I get to the top. Everything now depends on Pete not knowing I’m back from the dead. I peer over the ledge. Kat’s crying silently and trying to look brave about my death. Pete’s standing in front of her, ranting to the camera about how he beat me, how he finally won.

  Sarah’s glaring at Pete, her face streaked with tears. She keeps looking over the edge, like she knows my plan and is wondering what the hell happened to me. Or she’s looking for my body on the pavement.

  I slip over to the side near Pete, keeping my hands on the ledge for support, even though I don’t need it. Physically, I mean. Mentally, every time I breathe I think I feel the air give way and I’m plummeting again to my doom.

  My gun is still on the floor. I reach for it, very carefully, silently. Pete’s too busy to notice my arm creeping across the ground behind him, but his two superhero minions might. My fingers close around the handle. I fly up over the edge and set myself on solid ground.

  Pete’s still too close to Kat, but I come at him from the side. I pull the trigger.

  “Damien, watch out!” Sarah shouts.

  I roll out of the way in mid-fire, heeding her warning just as the hero with super strength who was holding her tackles me. I don’t see where the laser hits, but I hear Pete cry out. The super-strength guy kicks my gun away and stomps on my wrist. It crunches in a way it’s not supposed to, and I feel like I’m going to be sick.

  “Stop her, you idiot!” Pete screams. He’s near the ledge, trying to get to his feet, babying one foot like someone just shot a laser at it. Sarah runs toward him. She takes advantage of his weakened, one-footed state and gives him a good shove before Mr. Super Strength grabs her and drags her away.

  Pete falls. Off the building. Even though I hate him, my heart still stops, watching someone else live out my worst fear. But then he catches himself, his fingers clutching the ledge.

  “Damien! Save me!” He sounds desperate. I don’t know why he picks me and not one of his cronies. Maybe it’s to torture me—maybe he’d risk his life to make me a little more uncomfortable—or maybe in his panic mine is the only name he thinks to call out. We did used to be friends. Once upon a time.

  I walk toward him. I can’t help it—the power of the hypno device drags me against my will. If I save him, this is all over, with me on the losing side. I don’t have a weapon, Pete knows about my ability, and I won’t get a second chance. All I can do is creep slowly, dragging my feet as much as I can without disobeying him, and hoping he slips before I get there. If he dies, the hypno spell is broken, and we all get to go home.

  “Damien! Faster!” he cries.

  Oh, tell me they got that one on tape. “I’m not going to let you hurt my friends, Pete. I’m not going to help you.”

  “You don’t have a choice!”

  Step. Step. My shoes scrape against the roof as I struggle to slow myself down, but Pete’s order to hurry up takes effect and I can’t help but pick up the pace.

  I pass Kat on the wall. I hate to think what Pete’s going to do to her if he gets up from that ledge. I touch her hand, squeezing her fingers. I cling to her as long as I can, but my legs move on without my consent. Just our fingertips are touching, and then they’re not anymore.

  “You’re going to die, Pete,” I tell him. “Nobody’s going to save you.”

  “Shut up and get over here!”

  My heart sinks, heavy and dead. I don’t look back at my friends. I don’t think about how badly this all turned out. I cross the last stretch of roof and kneel down.

  Pete loses his grip with one hand but catches himself again.

 
I’m shaking, trying to fight it so hard, but I can’t. I’m going to save this bastard, and he’s going to kill me, torture Kat, and do who knows what with Sarah. And then he’s going to rule over Golden City like a king.

  “I order you to save me!” Pete screams. I’ve never heard him so desperate, so freaked out.

  He’s losing his grip. If I could hold out a little longer—but my hands move on their own, reaching for his, even with my injured wrist. It’s all over.

  Then, out of nowhere, a pair of lasers joop by, nearly missing my hand. They cut across Pete’s fingers, and it isn’t pretty, and he falls. A. Long. Way. Down. His screams echo in my ears. His order to save him still stands, and I’m going to jump again without wanting to, but then Mom grabs my arm and doesn’t let go. Now I know where the lasers came from.

  “Damien! What happened to you?!” She hugs me so tightly to her that I couldn’t get away even if Pete told me to. And then the urge to jump after him and save him disappears, and I know he’s dead.

  There are tears in my eyes, I’m so relieved to see Mom and for this whole thing to be over. I don’t cry, though. Standing here, getting hugged by my mommy, still on TV, and crying like a baby would be too much.

  The superheroes on the roof blink and stop what they’re doing, which includes holding Sarah hostage.

  I break free from Mom and grab Pete’s knife off the ground and cut through Kat’s bonds. I have to use my right hand to do it, and my wrist is swollen and hurts like hell, so much that I can barely use it, but I don’t care.

  Kat drops to the ground. She sinks into me and I wrap my arms around her, and we both slump to the floor as one person, in one big heap.

  “God, Damien, when you jumped, I thought …” Tears spring up in Kat’s eyes. She swallows them back and clings to me, her words trailing off unfinished.

  “It’s okay. It’s over now.” I unclasp the choker from around her neck. It feels like it takes forever, and my fingers keep fumbling. It doesn’t help that it’s so cold out here.

  Mom bends down and picks something up off the ground and puts it in her pocket. “We should get you kids out of here,” she says.

  “You’re an idiot,” Kat tells me, wiping the tears from her eyes. “What was I supposed to do if he killed you?”

  “Die of heartbreak before he could hurt you, of course.” I wink at her. “It was all part of the plan.”

  And then I remember Sarah, having to stand around watching me, her former potential boyfriend, comforting the girl I chose instead of her. Sure, Kat was the one tied up, but I didn’t even ask if Sarah was okay.

  I get to my feet and turn to face her. Sarah’s standing there with her arms folded, watching me. At least she’s not writing this down in her notebook.

  “Sarah,” I say, feeling more awkward than ever, “I’m sorry, I …” I walk up to her, holding my wrist close to my chest to minimize the jostling. “Are you okay, Cosine?”

  She nods, then grins. “I told you to trust me.”

  “I’m sorry it didn’t work out,” I tell her, though I keep my voice a little low, not really wanting Kat to hear. “You know. Between us.” We already talked about this, but I can’t help still feeling guilty about it.

  Sarah rolls her eyes at me. “Please, Damien. I’d much rather be shoving people off of buildings with you than dating you. This was way more fun, and I’m better off being your sidekick. I am your sidekick, right?”

  “Yeah,” I say, smiling at her. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  Kat and I are sitting on a cement planter outside the Banking and Finances building. A building I wouldn’t mind never seeing again—if they ever decide to tear this thing down, I’m going to get front-row seats. I have my arm around Kat, and she has her head against my shoulder. Sarah’s dad came and picked her up, but she told me to call her tomorrow, to make sure I’m okay.

  One of the superheroes called an ambulance, and the paramedics bandaged up my wrist. They said it was just sprained, but they still want me to go to the hospital and get checked out. They wanted to take my gun away at first, but I told them it wasn’t real. They believed me when they saw all the wires hanging off of it.

  As a rule, villains don’t go to the hospital. Medical villainy is actually a pretty lucrative career, because villains who get hurt in situations not on the up and up are willing to pay top dollar to get healed without any of the authorities asking questions.

  “Damien,” Kat says, curled up against me. “I love you.” She swallows. “I … I just wanted you to know.”

  I kiss the top of her head. “Aw, you’re just saying that because I saved your life.”

  “No, I mean it.” She sits up and gives me a stern look. “I know Pete said some crap to you about me and him—he was bragging about it. It wasn’t true.”

  “You only want me because you like the idea of a cool pirate wedding and I’m the only one who can pull it off and you know it. But,” I add, my eyes darting toward her, “I love you, too. Just so you know.”

  I hold her closer, and she settles back into me, one arm across my stomach like she’s never going to let me go. “Kat,” I whisper, “I have another confession to make.”

  “You want to start your own circus with dancing robots instead of clowns, and ferocious penguins instead of lions?”

  “Yes! But no, that’s not it. I’m afraid I have bad news.”

  “Bad news? After tonight?” She sounds skeptical.

  I nod. “Mr. Wiggles is dead. I’ve tried to reanimate him, but … you know how that goes. He still dances to music, but now he wants to eat brains all the time.”

  Kat laughs. “I think I can forgive you.”

  “Because you love me or because I saved your life?”

  “Both.” She grins. “My dad should be here soon. I called him over twenty minutes ago. He freaked when he heard what happened and said he’d take the new computerized car he’s got, the one with the ultra-efficient GPS.” Kat rolls her eyes. “He made a point of telling me that, so I’ll know he cares. Like I wouldn’t anyway. I’m sure he’ll give you and your mom a ride.”

  “Thanks, Kat.” I’m not looking forward to explaining to her dad how his daughter got kidnapped because of me or how I’m only half villain. Something he might not approve of, especially now that I’m dating his daughter. “I should go find Mom and let her know.”

  “Where is your mom?”

  Good question. I realize I haven’t seen her in a while. I nearly got killed, I’m injured, and Kat and I are obviously back together. Mom should totally be hovering over me. The only thing that would stop her is if she had something big going on.

  Something really big. And I know now what she picked up off the roof. And I know I have to stop her.

  Mom’s on her cell phone in the lobby, the scene of my fight with the Crimson Flash. She says, “Fine! I’ll do it myself!” and slams her phone shut. Sure enough, in her other hand is the hypno device.

  She gasps when she sees me. “What are you doing here? What did the paramedics say about your wrist?”

  “Who was that? On the phone?” I circle around her, keeping my distance.

  “Taylor.” She rolls her eyes. “He’s being ridiculous. He doesn’t realize this is our chance, that this Pete thing was only a little glitch.”

  “Maybe he’s upset that one of his favorite students is dead. Just a guess. Can I see that?” I hold my hand out for the hypno thingy.

  Mom smooths out her hair, flustered because I’m right. “No, dear, it’s very delicate and you already broke it once.”

  “This thing with Pete wasn’t just a little ‘glitch.’ Kat could have gotten seriously hurt, and I almost died. Don’t you care?”

  “Of course I do! But it’s not like I planned for that to happen. And if you’d taken the antidote like I told you to, instead of giving it away, there wouldn’t have been a problem.” She gives me a look. “Once I take control, everything will be fine.”

  “Mom, you can’t
! You put everyone I care about in danger tonight!”

  “And you handled it very well, considering the circumstances. I’m very proud of you.”

  She holds up the hypno device, ready to speak into it.

  Before I know what I’m doing, I draw my gun on her. “Mom. I can’t let you do that.” I have to hold it with both hands, partly because of my injured wrist and partly because I’m shaking so badly.

  “Damien Locke!” She scolds me, then laughs, not taking me seriously. “What do you think you’re going to do? I’m your mother. Put that away.”

  “Didn’t you hear me?! I said I can’t let you do this!”

  She lowers the machine, her face set in a scowl. Her lip curls in disgust. “You sound like a superhero.”

  “I am a superhero!”

  I’m as shocked as she is that those words came out of my mouth. My arms shake so much that the gun rattles.

  “Clearly sending you to your father’s was a mistake.” She didn’t even flinch on the f-word this time. “I don’t want you seeing him anymore. You’re going to stay home, and we’re going to—”

  “We’re not going to do anything unless you give me that.” I gesture to the device with my weapon.

  Mom’s eyes flash. “Damien, put the gun down.”

  I shake my head.

  Mom’s silent, and when she speaks, her voice is soothing, like she’s talking to a scared animal. “It’s over now. Everything’s going to be okay.”

  I aim the gun at her chest and feel like I’m aiming at myself.

  “You’re not going to use that on your mother. Now, cover your ears—”

  I shoot. A laser flies past her head. It got a little closer than I meant it to. “That was a warning. Put it down now.”

  “Damien, you don’t want to do this.” Mom isn’t scared—she’s pissed off. “You’re crossing the line.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means you’d better hope Gordon keeps his word, because I won’t have a superhero living in my house!”

  “He will,” I say, mostly to bother her. But I know he will, even if he hates me. I move in closer and, keeping the gun in my left hand, hold out my right, not caring how much it hurts. “Give it to me.”