Using my powers, I ripped our makeshift ship apart at the seams. It fell away, and then we were miles above the Earth and falling. There was one brief instant of intense heat, and then the air around us was cold and thin. We fell—fast. If we didn’t slow down, we were still at risk of burning up in descent.
Focusing on our bubble, I made it smaller and more streamlined. Soon it went from a bubble to a streamlined raft. We continued to fall, but we were slowing. It only took a minute to refine my flying wing into an aerodynamically efficient shape. The world lay below us, but instead of being victims falling towards it, we were now soaring at great speed.
The vast continent of North America lay directly under us and became more distinct second by second. I aimed for the East coast. Cities came into view. Towns. Roads. The landscape below us transformed into an undulating surface of civilization and nature.
Chad gave me a grin. ‘I think we did it,’ he said. ‘Good thing we had The Chad.’
I had to smile. ‘You’re right,’ I agreed. ‘Good thing we had The Chad.’
‘And The Dan,’ Dan added.
Ebony chimed in. ‘And The Ebony.’
Brodie gripped my hand. ‘And The Axel,’ she said.
‘And The Brodie,’ I said and turned to the others. ‘You know what’s up next?’
‘We’re paying someone a visit?’ Dan said.
‘We’ll find Twelve and deal with him—permanently.’
Chapter Thirty-Three
Landing in a field on the East Coast, the first thing I did was put through a call on my wristcom to Ferdy.
‘Ferdy is here and has been worried,’ he said, answering immediately. ‘Ferdy’s sensors picked up what appeared to be the destruction of Liber8tor.’
I realized that Ferdy might be upset about this and explained what had happened.
‘Ferdy is not concerned,’ he said, sounding oddly calm. ‘The ship was only a ship. The most important thing is that Ferdy’s friends are safe.’
‘We’re okay,’ I said. ‘But we need to track down Twelve.’
‘There is another development,’ Ferdy said. ‘There have been some changes in the hive’s structure.’
That can’t be a coincidence.
‘Can you send a Flex fighter for us?’ I asked.
Within twenty minutes, a fighter had landed, and we were on board the ship. Dan and Ebony took over the flying as we took off for Kansas. The ship wasn’t as sophisticated as Liber8tor. I knew we’d miss our old vessel, but there was nothing we could do about it. At least, Ferdy had extended his programming to this ship.
‘It is good to see you all again,’ Ferdy said.
‘Hey, Ferdy,’ Chad said. ‘It’s good to see you too. You should have seen us in outer space! The Chad saved everyone from certain death!’
‘The death must not have been too certain if you survived.’
‘Well,’ Chad amended. ‘It was certain at first, but then it was uncertain…and…well, never mind.’
The rest of us just laughed. We soon reached the clearing containing the hive. The whole area was busy. Flex ships were parked everywhere. Soldiers were patrolling the perimeter. Agency personnel had set up operations tents. Air force planes flew overhead in concentric circles.
The hive still sat in the middle of the clearing, but it had changed. Its color now rotated from near-invisibility to glowing so brightly it hurt to look at. A throbbing emanated from it that seemed to operate below the range of human hearing.
We were immediately approached by Mister Brown.
‘Are you guys all right?’ he asked. ‘We lost Liber8tor’s signal.’
I explained the basics of what had happened.
‘That’s bad luck,’ he said. ‘But you say that Twelve is alive? How is that possible?’
‘He’s a Bakari,’ Brodie pointed out. ‘They don’t die easily. And he did have the hindsight of knowledge from his alternate history version.’
Mister Brown groaned. ‘Time travel?’ he said. ‘I can’t stand that stuff.’
‘Me neither,’ Chad said. ‘It hurts my brain to even think about it.’
Mister Brown went on to say that agents had checked on Twelve’s body in the Dante section of the building. It was gone, and a flex fighter had been taken from the South Carolina base. It had been tracked entering the hive.
‘He took us by surprise,’ Mister Brown admitted. ‘Being one of our own vessels, we thought it was just doing a resupply run.’
‘When did that start?’ Ebony asked, indicating the pulsating hive.
‘Just after the fighter disappeared inside. We were thinking about sending a team in.’
‘Don’t do that,’ Chad said. ‘It’s a one-way trip.’
The throbbing from the hive grew louder. It was as if the bass at a heavy metal concert had been turned up. A shimmer of yellow light erupted from the hive, shaking everything for hundreds of feet around.
‘That can’t be good,’ Mister Brown said.
A square-jawed military man named General Clarke strode through the chaos of vehicles. He had a gray crew cut and looked like he ate rocks for breakfast. I hadn’t spoken to him since Cargall Island when an alien named Morgan Le Faye had almost destroyed the planet.
‘I heard you were back with The Agency,’ he said, eyeing me and Chad.
‘They only employ the best,’ Chad said.
Clarke glared at him before turning to Mister Brown. ‘Any thoughts on what’s happening?’
Mister Brown gave a potted version of what we knew.
‘If the Bakari are involved,’ Clarke said, ‘then we need to be prepared for anything. I’ll inform the President and put the military on high alert.’
The hive gave another burst of yellow light, shaking the ground even more.
The General continued. ‘I believe being proactive is our best course of action,’ he said. ‘I’m ordering an airstrike on the hive. Evacuate everyone from the area immediately.’
Mister Brown headed off to start ordering the evacuation. Within minutes, military and Agency units began to move away. We returned to our Flex fighter and took flight, hovering to a position a mile away from the blast zone. We listened to the chatter on the radio as the General gave orders to the forces.
‘The strike will take place in two minutes,’ the General ordered. ‘Under no circumstances is anyone to approach the hive.’
We peered at the golden hive in the clearing. ‘What do you think?’ Brodie asked me.
‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘Twelve is a clever guy, and humans are a long way behind the Bakari.’
I remembered thinking earlier that we were like ants in comparison to them. It was a slightly depressing thought.
Ebony pointed. ‘Look,’ she said. ‘There’s the attack craft.’
A jet fighter flew across the perimeter boundary directly for the hive, the roar of its engines ringing out across the valley. Several missiles shot out from it, sending plumes of smoke across the landscape.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Smoke engulfed the hive as the echoes of the blast rang out. Dirt, trees, and other vegetation exploded into the air. It was impossible to see the result of the attack. General Clarke’s voice came over the radio.
‘Well done, pilots,’ he said. ‘That’s a direct hit.’
The smoke dissipated as the dust slowly settled.
‘Look,’ Brodie said, quietly.
A gentle breeze carried away the remainder of the smoke. The hive still sat in the valley, unblemished from the attack. If anything, it pulsed more brightly than before.
Ferdy’s voice came over the speaker. ‘There appears to be a build-up in power.’
No sooner had he said this than bolts of electricity exploded from the hive. They fanned out, striking the Flex ships and fighter craft on the perimeter. The console of our ship exploded into flames, hurling Dan to the floor. Sparks of electricity danced about the interior.
Our vessel dropped from the sky.
Chapter Thirty-Four<
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‘Dan!’ Ebony yelled.
He dragged himself back into the pilot’s seat. ‘I’m okay,’ Dan yelled. ‘But the engine’s dead!’ He struggled to bring the ship back to life. ‘I’m doing a cold reboot of the system.’
We fell for what seemed an eternity. The landscape grew larger as we dropped. The power died entirely before coming back on, and the engines gave a mighty roar. Just before we slammed into the ground, the Flex fighter returned to life, and we roared up again away from the valley.
‘What happened?’ Chad asked.
‘We were all taken by surprise,’ Dan said. ‘That’s what happened.’
General Clarke’s voice came over the radio. ‘Status!’ he snapped. ‘I need reports from all ships.’
Pilots—or the ones who had survived the attack—delivered condition reports. At the end of it, the single blast had destroyed or incapacitated almost a third of the vessels. Dan hovered our ship further away this time. The hive glowed brighter, then lifted off from the small valley and started eastwards. Several ships fired at it but had absolutely no effect. Whatever protection it was using kept it safe.
‘So now it flies,’ Brodie said.
‘That Twelve’s full of surprises,’ I said.
An escort of planes and other flying ships followed the hive as it made its way across the country. They continued to fire on it, but it was clear that conventional weapons had no effect.
‘There’s more bad news,’ Ebony said, checking the console. ‘The hive’s headed for Washington.’
‘It’s got to be stopped now,’ Chad said.
We put a call through to the General.
‘I agree,’ General Clarke said. ‘We’re contacting other superheroes across the country to get help. This is escalating beyond our abilities.’
Chad and I went to the rear door of the vessel and leaped out. He made a long sweep around the hive on his fireboard while I headed directly for it. My first method of attack was with air cannonballs—which achieved nothing. Then I followed up by removing the air around the hive. This also did nothing. Chad moved in with bursts of flame, pummelling the hive until it was barely visible for his fiery blasts. These also had no effect. He coasted around to me.
‘This thing’s treating us like we don’t exist,’ he said.
‘It’s ignoring us completely,’ I agreed. ‘Maybe a tornado will bring it down.’
Building up a tornado, I hit the vessel with it, and for the first time, it seemed to have some effect. The hive slowed down. It seemed to struggle against the cyclonic wind but then regained power and struggled to break free. Next, I created a downward force, trying to drive it into the ground.
Several fighter jets fired rockets at the hive. It paused within the maelstrom of wind and rocket fire and then let out another burst of electricity. One of the bolts flew at me.
Boom!
It was like being hit by a train. The blast knocked me flying, and I saw the landscape. Sky. Trees. Then Chad caught me and gently lowered me to the ground. I lay there, unable to comprehend what was happening. He was speaking, but I couldn’t understand his words.
‘…hear me?’ he said. ‘Axel, are you okay?’
‘I’m…yeah…’ I sat up, groaning. ‘I’m all right.’
‘You really got walloped by that thing. Can you move?’
‘Only just,’ I groaned. ‘Where are the others?’
‘Still following the hive.’
I shook my head. ‘This is bad,’ I said. ‘That thing needs to be stopped before it reaches Washington.’
We took off again in pursuit. Fighter craft and other vessels were continuing to fire on the hive, but still without effect. A few other costumed heroes had even turned up to help. One was a guy who was able to fire lasers from his eyes. The other person was a woman who used her whole body to project sonic booms.
Neither seemed to have any effect.
‘I could try supernova,’ Chad said. ‘It could work.’
‘You could also burn the whole city down.’
‘Then I’d better be careful.’
We’d reached the outer suburbs of Washington now. Chad fired a beam of flame at the hive. The point of impact started as red hot, but within seconds had turned white. Increasing power, the hive soon disappeared within the immense glare. Chad then deactivated his beam and sent a burst of super cold ice at the object. A massive burst of steam flew off it as he increased the cold.
The hive came to a halt.
Is it working?
For what seemed like an eternity, the vessel hung in midair, invisible within the billowing clouds of steam. Then the steam dissipated, revealing the unblemished skin of the golden hive.
It’s still in one piece.
More superheroes were turning up by the minute. By the time we reached the center of Washington, at least a dozen were firing blasts of various kinds at the ship. The vessel continued up Washington Avenue towards the White House.
Brodie’s voice came over my wristcom. ‘Hey guys!’ she said. ‘The President has been moved out of the White House. The whole city’s in lockdown.’
Heroes continued firing at the vessel as it came to hover over the White House. The scene from Independence Day came to mind.
I hope this isn’t a repeat!
The ship was stationary as a small fleet of vessels and superheroes formed a boundary around it. General Clarke’s voice came over our wristcoms.
‘Do not advance on the ship,’ he ordered. ‘We don’t want the White House damaged—if we can help it.’
Chad flew close to me. ‘What’s this all about?’
‘I don’t know. It can’t be anything good.’
The hive stopped glowing and remained utterly motionless as it hung over the White House. Chad and I flew back to the Flex fighter, where the others waited.
‘You did your best,’ Brodie said as we climbed aboard.
‘But it wasn’t good enough,’ I said.
The monitors on the flex craft crackled to life, revealing a figure in a black metal suit. I recognized the figure immediately. The molten metal that we’d dumped on Twelve a year ago was still stuck to him. It was jagged and broken at the joints: around the neck, shoulders, elbows, and other places. Pieces of blistered skin and ripped cloth were visible in these gaps. Holes had been carved away from the eyes and mouth, revealing scarred flesh. It was like looking at a villain in a cheap horror film.
‘That’s Twelve,’ Chad said.
‘Can’t say he’s looking too healthy,’ Ebony said, swallowing.
‘People of Earth.’ His voice rang out from the screen. ‘For thousands of years, you have played your petty games and fought your insignificant wars. You have resoundingly proven yourselves to be a failed species.’ He paused. ‘You have been allowed to govern yourselves up until now, but that time is over. My name is Twelve. I am your new master, and you will surrender yourselves to me.’
Chapter Thirty-Five
A bolt of electricity shot out from the hive directly toward the Washington Monument. The glow enveloped the entire monument. There was no blast. No explosion. Nothing to indicate what was about to happen.
The Washington Monument simply…evaporated.
We stared in horror at the spot where it had stood for almost two hundred years. All that remained of it was a scorch mark at its base and a patch of burning grass.
‘That is just the beginning,’ Twelve said, giving a humorless laugh. ‘Acknowledge me as your ruler, or I will begin my reign of destruction. I give your United Nations ten minutes to surrender.’
The screen went dead.
‘That’s bad,’ Dan said, his face bleak. ‘Twelve just destroyed the monument like it was nothing.’
‘Which means he could wipe everything else out without too much difficulty,’ Brodie said.
‘How is the United Nations supposed to surrender in ten minutes?’ Ebony asked. ‘They take ten months to convene a meeting!’
‘We’ve got to st
op him,’ Chad said.
‘But how?’
Chad frowned. ‘I tried heat and ice. It made no difference at all.’
I stared at the ship. ‘It’s a Bakari ship,’ I said. ‘What do we know about the Bakari?’
‘They’re a bunch of crazy aliens who normally sit around and watch the universe fall to pieces,’ Chad said. ‘Occasionally, they lose their minds and decide to kill masses of people. That’s all I’ve got.’
‘Ferdy?’ Brodie said. ‘Any ideas how we can stop the hive?’
‘The technology being used by the vessel is extremely advanced,’ Ferdy said. ‘Ferdy is still considering what may be the best course of action.’
Dan was peering out of the ship. ‘Um,’ he said. ‘There’s a guy down there waving.’
‘Wave back,’ Chad said. ‘Maybe he wants our autograph.’
‘No, I think he wants us to land.’
I glanced out. The man was frantically motioning to us.
Come down.
‘Wow,’ Dan said. ‘He really wants to talk.’
‘Take us down,’ I said. ‘We don’t have a plan for dealing with Twelve anyway.’
Dan landed in a parking lot. Curious, we left the Flex ship to speak to the stranger. As we drew nearer, I thought he looked vaguely familiar: a burly red-haired man with glasses. He carried a tiny parcel in his hand.
‘Hey there,’ he said. ‘You’re Axel, Chad, Ebony, Brodie, and Dan?’
We all exchanged glances. ‘Uh, yes,’ I said.
‘Wait a second,’ Ebony said. ‘You’re Mister Wilkerson.’
That’s right, I thought. I remember him.
He was a parachuting instructor we’d met when we first joined The Agency.
The man handed me an envelope. ‘I got this about a year ago,’ he said. ‘There were instructions to give it to you if ever Washington was attacked by a Bakari.’ He nodded to the ship hovering over the White House. ‘I think this fits the bill.’
Giving us a final nod, he said goodbye.
‘Well,’ Brodie said. ‘That’s odd.’
Returning to the Flex fighter, we opened the envelope.
‘It’s a memory card,’ Dan said.
Teen Superheroes Box Set | Books 1-7 Page 109