These people are insane. They have to be stopped, no matter what!
“You have one for each of them?” Mother Superior asked.
“Of course. If this proves successful, I plan to do the same with the other test subjects. It will be much easier and far less costly than surgery. It will, however, be uncomfortable for the subjects should they regain consciousness, at least until the device has implanted itself.”
“Very well. Please proceed.”
I’ve heard enough of their crap. Time to get out of here and finish what we started. He focused and diverted the electricity away from the electrodes on Blake’s body. Blake briefly shuddered on the table. Quinn anticipated he would need a moment to recover.
“I don’t know about you, Blake, but I can’t stand it when the bad guys stand around and talk and talk and talk. It’s so freaking annoying, like there’s nothing more important than the sound of their own voice spouting evil garbage.”
“Increase the voltage on the Prime!” Mother Superior barked, pointing at Quinn.
“By all means, if it makes you feel better, go ahead,” Quinn responded, chuckling.
A technician—someone he recognized from their unplanned hospital stay several weeks back—cranked the voltage knob. Quinn put on a little show and created arcs of electricity that snapped over his body and cascaded from the chains at his wrists to the chains at his ankles and the metal floor.
“Ooh, that tickles,” Quinn said, laughing. Then, hovering, his eyes glowed blue and he pulled his arms down, snapping the chains and his wrist cuffs. A moment later, he pulled his knees up and snapped the ankle cuffs, electricity still dancing over his body. He hovered in the air for a moment before landing on the floor.
“Kidnapping a minor? That's not going to look good on your criminal record.”
“Taser him!” Mother Superior yelled.
Several guards reacted, drew their tasers, and fired. The charged electrodes flew through the air and found their mark on Quinn’s torso.
Quinn let the voltage cascade over his body without a second thought. “You know, if you're going to capture a super-powered person, you should try to understand the true nature of their powers and not make bad assumptions about their weaknesses.” He grabbed the taser wires and reversed the current, stunning the guards who held the tasers. Their bodies tensed and convulsed, then fell to the floor as Quinn released the electrical current that immobilized them.
“Oh dear,” Dr. Madison said, stepping back behind her desk.
Quinn pulled the electrodes off his body and held them in his left hand as Mother Superior backed away and shouted orders into a radio. He looked at Victor, who stepped back, raised his hands in surrender, and smirked. He’s so weird. Whose side is he on, anyway? His own? I bet he wants to get his boss out of the way so he can take over…
Blake sat up with a start, recovered from the zapping Mother Superior had given him. He looked around to see what was going on.
“Nice of you to join us,” Quinn said, teasing his friend.
“Yeah, sorry, that electric shit stings,” Blake said, shaking his head and slapping his face.
Drawing from the electrical current he sensed in the electrodes in his left hand, Quinn reached out with his right hand and blasted Dr. Madison’s workstation. “There’s no way I’m going to let you make that nasty bug thing work, ever.”
“No!” Dr. Madison shrieked, stepping forward then back again, watching in horror as her console spit sparks and black smoke into the room.
A number of guards burst through the open door and aimed semi-automatic assault rifles at them.
“I’ve got this,” Blake said, pushing himself up from the table. Quinn watched as he clapped his hands together. On the other side of the room, the guards pulled together hard and fast into a pile. Then, they slumped to the floor as their weapons flew across the room and clattered against the far wall and fell to the floor. Blake grabbed his pants from the nearby table and stepped into them.
“Where are the rest of those things?” Quinn shouted at Dr. Madison, pointing his hand at her. Dropping the wires in his left hand, he took several menacing steps toward her.
Her eyes subconsciously shifted to the right, betraying her. “I can’t tell you that.”
“Well, you just did, so thank you.”
Mother Superior’s high heels click-clacked across the floor behind him as Quinn walked toward a storage unit on a counter. It resembled a futuristic metal and glass box, complete with bright white lighting on the inside. Quinn studied its neatly arranged trays, each one holding twelve of the nasty pill-sized critters.
“What are those?” Blake asked, hurriedly sliding his feet into his socks and shoes.
Quinn raised his hand, ready to blast them with electricity. “These are the micro bug implants they were talking about while you were napping. They go in through the ear and stick to the brain stem. That’s what they were going to use on us since they can’t cut us with scalpels.”
“Gross.”
“Please don’t, that’s months of research and refinement that we can’t lose,” Dr Madison pleaded.
Blam!
Gunfire rang out and a bullet struck Quinn in the back, delivering an electrical shock accompanied by searing hot pain though his torso. Quinn grunted and struggled to stay on his feet. What kind of bullets are these?
Blam!
I think an electrical shock momentarily weakens me, but it doesn’t knock me out like it does Blake. A shock might briefly weaken me, which explains why the taser darts can stick in my skin. That explains why these shock bullets hurt like hell but don’t take me down. If they were to perfect the bullet, who knows…
“Did you really think you would be able to stop us?” Mother Superior shouted. Quinn projected a shield to prevent the bullets from striking his flesh. He turned around to see Mother Superior pointing a handgun at him.
Blam!
“Did you think I’d let you come this far without consequences?”
Blam!
“Since you first wandered into the reactor? We’ve watched you from the beginning, young fools.”
What? How long have you known about us?
❖
Blake
Blake frowned and stared at Mother Superior. “I’ve had enough of you today.”
She swung the handgun at him and fired several shots, but he caught the sparking bullets with his mind, stopping them inches away from his body. He studied them for a moment before letting them fall to the floor. They appeared to carry an electrical charge that would have stunned him like the tasers did.
“Well, he’s finally learned how to stop bullets,” Mother Superior said, cackling with glee. “The more you can do, the stronger The Order will become.”
Blake shook his head, ripped the hand gun from her hands with his mind, and tossed it behind him.
“You have become such a promising and powerful ally, Blake.”
“What do you mean, from the beginning?” Quinn asked about her previous statement, stepping away from the dangerous micro bugs.
Blake narrowed his eyes and studied her, then looked at Victor with angry eyes. How much did you leave out the other day?
“I’m sorry, Blake, I could only tell you so much,” Victor said, seemingly knowing what Mother Superior was about to say.
She stepped in front of Victor and waved her hand dismissively to silence him.
“From the beginning means from the beginning, Quinn, or do you need a lesson in the English language?” Mother Superior sniped. Blake knew she believed she still held the upper hand, but it was clear she had no idea her world was about to fall apart.
“When Victor first alerted me to your presence in the reactor over Labor Day weekend, I dismissed it since I expected you to die like everyone else who underwent the experimental procedure of direct orgone infusion. When I found out you had survived, and Dr. Madison told me your prognosis looked good, I quickly formulated and implemented a reconnaissance
plan to monitor both of you.”
“Why?” Quinn asked, noticing his clothes and grabbing them.
“Because you two are the Prime, both of you. You are the first to survive and the first to demonstrate positive results. Do you have any idea of how important you are to science?”
Blake frowned. That contradicts your previous statement about the Prime. It's a good thing Victor wants me to take you out, cuz you're batshit crazy.
“And to your agenda?” Quinn asked sarcastically.
“I take it our super powers are these positive results?” Blake asked.
“Exactly. Everything that has happened to you, I allowed to happen. If it were not for me, you would not have made it out of the hospital alive.”
“You would have killed us?” Quinn asked, surprised, pulling on his pants.
“Don't be so dramatic. Dr. Madison simply would have allowed nature to take its course.”
“But you took an oath to save people!” Quinn protested, addressing his remark to Dr. Madison. She looked down at the floor and said nothing. Quinn quickly pulled his shirt over his head.
“Saving people is exactly what Dr. Madison does. Sometimes, the benefit to greater good demands small sacrifices along the way. Before you think me a monster, you should know I am very pleased with your progress.”
“How have you been monitoring us?” Quinn asked, folding his arms across his chest.
Mother Superior smirked. “With Blake, it was easier. Victor met with him and discussed how he could help The Order. There's still so much you don't know Blake, and I hope this little glitch of difficulty has not dissuaded you from continuing with us.”
Blake stared at her and did not respond. He mimicked Quinn and folded his arms across his bare chest. I know more than you think, you crazy bitch.
“As for you Quinn, you needed more encouragement. Though you are best friends, you do not think alike because your home life situations have nurtured you in different ways. Once we discovered your aspiration to become a true superhero, all I had to do was foster that in your mind. Everything, from the graffiti art near the Memorial Bridge, the popular name Blue Spekter, and the carefully engineered downtown bomber and the hostage situation at the Sheraton in Portsmouth was my doing.”
“You put all those people at risk just to…study me?”
Blake looked over at Victor, who winked at him.
“Would you have worked with Victor?” Mother Superior asked.
“Absolutely not.”
“What about the plane? Did you sabotage a U.S. Air Force…”
Mother Superior raised her hand. “That was a brilliant rescue, but I cannot claim it. Chief Applegate, the police force, and the DHS team—an added element we didn’t plan on, I might add—have done an exceptional job of making sure you had plenty of opportunity to become the hero you wanted to become while facing enough adversity to keep you distracted from our true purpose.”
“Which is?” Quinn asked, slipping into his shoes and socks.
“Studying and understanding the resulting effects from a concentrated dose of orgone energy in the human body so we may replicate it.”
“Wait, does Chief Applegate work for you?” Quinn asked, holding himself up on his right leg as he tied his left shoe.
“Yes, of course. And now that you have helped us learn about orgone’s true potential, I’m anxious to replicate the accident that made you, but in a controlled environment so we may create special, dedicated troopers—with implants for control—to execute and further The Order’s agenda.”
“Did you know any of this?” Quinn asked.
Blake realized Quinn directed the question at him. He blinked nervously. Shit, what do I tell him?
“You did, didn’t you?” Quinn said, his shoulders slumping. “I don’t believe this. You're my best friend and you're choosing them over me?”
“Quinn, I…” he stopped, unsure of what to say.
“How much did you know?” Quinn roared.
Blake shrugged and reached for his shirt. “You didn’t want to work with me and Victor. You left me all alone to figure this shit out.”
“Bullshit! I didn’t leave you alone! We’ve been working through this together since day one! You left me!”
Blake grimaced and pointed at Quinn, his shirt hanging from his hand. “Yeah, doing it your way based on your cool powers. I had no safe way to figure out what I can do, so I did things my way for a change. Then Victor showed up. The more he and I talked, the more things made sense to me. I realized I have a place with The Order, and you can too.”
“What about everything they're doing? Zapping you, electrocuting you?”
“I knew they’d do some of that. Victor and I talked. He promised me…”
“He promised you? And you believed him?”
Blake pulled on his shirt and narrowed his eyes. “Yes, because she won’t be the Hegumenia much longer.” He raised and extended his open hand toward her.
“Preposterous, you stupid boy!” Mother Superior snapped.
“Blake, don’t!” Quinn shouted, but he was too late. Blake’s hand closed to a fist and Mother Superior’s bones cracked. She clutched at her torso, gasping for air, pain and anguish contorting her face. She tried to speak, but only air and blood escaped her mouth. A moment later, she dropped to her knees, angry eyes focused on Blake.
“Did you really think you would be able to stop me?” Blake asked, echoing the Mother Superior’s words from moments ago. Then, the life disappeared from her eyes and she fell forward, her face smacking the floor with a sickening, fleshy thud.
26 | Twist the Knife
Quinn
“BLAKE!” QUINN SHOUTED, RUNNING TO his friend in disbelief. “What did you do?”
Blake glanced at him and shook his head, raising his hand to stop him telekinetically, his eyes glowing orange. “I did what needed be done, that’s all.”
“You just…killed her!” Quinn felt Blake’s powers slowing him down. The air around him seemed to turn into a thick, invisible jelly that he struggled to push through.
Blake sneered. “How many people get away with murder, or worse, every damn day, Quinn?” he shouted.
“Let me go!” Quinn yelled back, fighting the invisible force that enveloped him. They had never used their powers against one another until now and Quinn had never thought about defending himself from Blake. Several of the guards near the door regained consciousness and climbed to their feet. They looked pissed, but they held back from attacking again, unsure of what was going on.
“How many people go unpunished for the horrible, terrible things they do, like my parents?”
“But you killed her!”
“That was justice,” Blake said. “She was only the means to an end.”
“Means to an end? Murder is a crime, Blake!” Quinn shouted. “Can’t you see that? You just did the very thing you want to stop!”
“Some people need to be taken out for the greater good.”
Quinn’s mouth fell open in surprise at his best friend’s words. Behind Blake, Victor stepped forward with a smug expression, like he had just won a strategic game in a chess tournament. You’re the real mastermind behind this whole thing, aren’t you? You’ve been setting us up and playing us since the hospital incident…I don’t even know what, if any of this crazy story, is true anymore. You can’t be trusted…none of you…and now you’ve got my best friend.
“Blake, Quinn, please stop,” Victor pleaded, an expression of satisfaction on his face. Then, he raised his hands in surrender. “You don’t need to fight each other right now. We can all be on the same side of justice.”
Quinn stumbled forward when he felt Blake’s telekinetic powers withdraw from his body as Blake obeyed Victor’s command. Blake’s eyes faded back to normal as he turned to face Quinn, standing next to Victor and declaring his allegiance with his body language.
“What have you done to my friend?” Quinn shouted, anger filling his veins as his body heated
up. “You used Blake to get to me for that…crazy lady…and now you’ve turned him into a killer?”
Victor stepped forward, nodding and extending his hands out to Quinn in an open gesture. “Quinn, please hear what I have to say. It’s true that I worked with Blake to lure you here. I need both of you to move things forward. I need you to become part of The Order, one way or another.”
“I thought you were trying to stop Mother Superior’s plans for super-powered global domination?” Quinn asked.
Victor laughed. “It's never been about global domination, Quinn. That’s such an overused movie plot. Can you imagine the logistics of trying to run the whole planet?”
“Then what do you want?”
Victor smiled. “Justice.”
“You can’t be judge and jury, Victor. We’ve learned from history how dangerous that is. When one man has all the power, it only leads to bad things.”
Victor shook his head and rubbed his temples with frustration. “If only you’d listen, Quinn.”
“No, you’re not going to poison me like you did my friend. I’m gonna finish what I came here to do—what you asked me to do, Blake.”
Blake shook his head.
“Even if you wanted to, you couldn’t destroy this facility or the reactor core,” Victor scoffed. “You don’t have the destructive powers that Blake has.”
“Maybe not, but I sure as hell can set you back several decades.” Quinn stepped forward.
“Don't,” Blake said, his voice firm yet nervous.
Quinn stopped. “Now you're siding with him?” he asked, dumbfounded.
“I don't want to hurt you,” Blake exclaimed, his eyes pleading for Quinn not to continue their plan.
Hurt me?
“Think of what we could do together, Quinn,” Victor implored.
“I don't even know what it is you want to do! Blake, what did he promise you?”
Blake swallowed but ignored Quinn’s question. “It’s everything you always wanted, Quinn. We could be superheroes together, a dynamic duo, saving the world from criminals by eliminating them when others fail.”
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