The First Superhero Books 0-3 Box Set Page 25

  “Yes,” one replied.

  “I’ll need a smooth surface for calibration, then.”

  A team of doctors was hovering around me, masks covering their faces. Some of them ripped my clothes off, leaving me bare and cold.

  Every touch hurt. I was aware of everything. The pain that coursed through me, the static in my head, the doctors sliding a cool metal needle into my veins, the cold patches they placed on my chest.

  The clippers shaving the hair from my head.

  The vibrations sent such severe pain shooting through my head it was almost unbearable. I thought I was going to pass out. I could almost feel the bone fragments in my face shake around like rocks on a conveyer belt.

  My hair fell in a pile around me, tickling my neck. Some clung to my eyelashes and I blinked it away. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what they could be shaving my head for. I didn’t even want to. All I wanted was to have my powers back. All I wanted was to have my regeneration back for just a split second. Just to heal myself a tiny bit—not even all the way. That’s all. Was that too much to ask for? Had I not earned at least that?

  “Okay, that’s good,” a doctor said. “Applying nodes.”

  I felt what seemed like lots of small fingers digging into my head. It felt as if a masseuse was preparing to give me a thorough head massage. It would’ve felt good had I not been distracted by my broken face.

  “Tempest, listen to me,” a voice said. This was one I recognized. Loren.

  I moved my eyes to meet hers. I could barely see through the slits they now were, thanks to the swelling.

  “We’re turning off your Eximus shocker for a few seconds. If you try anything, we’ll bring Sven in here for another round. Understand?”

  I tried to say something, but all that came out was a gurgling noise that she took for a yes.

  “We’re ready, ma’am,” a doctor told her.

  “Everybody stand back,” she said, taking a step back herself.

  I felt the static in my head fade away. The hum from the Eximus receded back into the device implanted into my neck.

  And the popping began.

  No, I told myself.

  No! I screamed in my head.

  I was trying to stop my regeneration.

  I’d realized what they were doing. They were studying what was going on in my brain when I was healing myself. I didn’t know what they would learn from the readings they were gathering, but whatever it was, they sure as hell didn’t need to know.

  The popping didn’t stop. I felt cracking around my eye socket as the bones fused back together.

  “Stop it,” I hissed under my breath.

  A huge pop came from my jaw and I yelped in pain. “No! Stop it!” I spat.

  “Don’t fight it, Tempest!” Loren snapped. “There’s no reason to fight it!”

  “Screw you!” I yelled.

  The bones in my body healed. I felt hair push out from my scalp, returning to the length it had been before they shaved it.

  I was back at one hundred percent.

  The static returned. My brain hummed. My powers were gone.

  “We have the readings, ma’am. Mission successful,” one of the doctors said.

  “Thank you, Pollocks,” Loren said. She walked into my line of sight, standing over me. “And thank you, Tempest.” She flashed a condescending smile.

  A doctor removed the device from my head. She ran her fingers through my hair. I tried to reach up to yank her hand away, but my hands were tied down. I hadn’t even realized they’d restrained me.

  “You did a good job. Keep it up.”

  Familiar Voices

  I walked into the boys’ dormitory of the building the STF was holding us in. There were a dozen twin-sized beds lined up and down each side of the room. At the back was a doorway that led to the locker room and showers, while up above was a similar glass window setup like the one in the living area.

  I walked across the concrete floor, looking for a place to sleep. People watched me as I walked by, apparently puzzled by the fact that I was totally healed. I guessed they didn’t let people use their powers often, like they had me. Then I realized that some of them might have not realized that I had regenerative powers, that maybe they’d thought I was just really tough or something. There were some powers there was no way they could know I had, like my super hearing or super vision. And if they didn’t, the STF probably didn’t either. Not that it helped me much in the situation I was currently in.

  Most of the Supers in the room were in their own self-made groups. Not quite cliques, because they weren’t so stereotypical. At least, not from what I could tell. It just seemed like two or three were in one corner, two or three more in another, etc., etc. I noticed Brian and Sven were in a group with two other people—a girl with black hair and olive skin and a dark-skinned man with a bald head and a serious case of Resting Bitch Face.

  In the back of the room was a spot between Hank and another guy. I walked over there and stood in front of the empty bed. “Is this spot taken?” I asked.

  Hank looked up at me from his notebook and smiled. “Good to see you survived. No, you can take it.”

  I nodded in thanks and sat down on the bed, then slipped off the white tennis shoes they’d provided me with. I looked over to the bed next to me and saw a Hispanic teen sitting there, writing on some paper. “Hey, my name’s Tempest,” I said to him.

  He looked up at me, smiling. “Name’s Wes.”

  “Nice to meet you, Wes.” I gestured to his notebook. “Where do you get those?”

  “They’re in the Common Room,” Hank said.

  I turned to him. “Cool, I’ll have to grab one.” I craned my head to try to get a glimpse at what Hank was drawing, but I couldn’t tell. I wanted to ask him about his drawing of me, but wasn’t sure when I’d get the chance. It was definitely a conversation I wanted to have in private.

  “That was a real scene Sven caused with you earlier,” Wes said.

  I turned my attention back to him. “Yeah, I guess. He seems like not a very nice guy.”

  “Especially since you’re the one who beat him to a bloody pulp.”

  As if on cue, a man I recognized walked by. It was the guy from the bank in Dallas. He shot me a look as he passed, but didn’t try anything. I got the message, though. I’d really have to watch my back.

  My gaze turned to Brian, who was sitting on a bed, talking with his group. I figured his change of heart toward me wouldn’t last. I was disappointed I was right, though. I’d been hoping he really had changed, but it seemed that his powers stopped developing. The Eximus, or something, had changed him. He was now back to regular ol’ Brian Turner and right now, I was regular ol’ Kane Andrews.

  Not Tempest.

  Kane.

  I LAY IN BED STARING up. Ambient light filtered in through the viewing glass around the edges of the ceiling. The lights were off, and the rhythmic sounds of people breathing as they slept filled the room.

  I took in a deep breath and winced. I still wasn’t used to the overpowering smell of bleach and plastic.

  “Jesus, that smell is awful,” Samantha said in my head.

  I nearly jumped out of my skin. On a computer screen somewhere, some technician probably saw my heart skip a few beats. “Holy shit, is that you, Samantha?” I whispered.

  “The one and only.”

  Relief washed through me. I felt my body buzz, not from the Eximus energy. I felt as if my powers might return and I’d be able to fly out of this godforsaken place. “How long have you been in my head?”

  “A while now. I was waiting to say something until I figured everyone was asleep.”

  I closed my eyes and breathed deep. I couldn’t get over how good hearing her voice felt. “Thank you, Samantha,” I whispered.

  Her intoxicating chuckle echoed around my humming brain. “No problem. I couldn’t give up on the other half of Samantha & Kane, LLC that easily.”

  “Oh, man, I bet our stocks have
plummeted.”

  “It was a bloodbath on the trading floor,” Samantha said, feigning sadness.

  “Send our investors my condolences.”

  “Ha, speaking of which! One of our board members, a Ms. Holocene, is spending all of her time searching for you. We all are, Kane.”

  The thought of that touched me. Broke me. I found that my cheeks were suddenly wet. I reached up to touch them and realized I was crying. It was all too much. I had some amazing friends—family, really—who had my back. They wouldn’t stop looking for me until I’d been found. I wasn’t alone.

  And I never would be.

  “Samantha, thank you.”

  “Of course, Kane.”

  “So how are things going out there? Are my parents okay?” I asked, changing the subject.

  “They’re freaking out, of course, but I called them from a payphone and explained what I could. Other than that, I’m starting to hear some troubling rumors about this Super. He calls himself Atlas. I don’t even know what his powers are, but apparently he’s gaining lots of followers every day. I don’t know how or for what reason, but Doug and I are keeping an eye on the situation. We’ll let you know what we find out.”

  “Okay, tha—”

  Cold hands wrapped around my ankles and yanked me from my bed.

  Brawl

  My head slammed into the ground and I saw stars. I became dizzy and disoriented, nausea washing over me. My body was being dragged across the cold cement floor.

  “Kane, what’s going on?” Samantha asked, growing frantic.

  I didn’t respond. I struggled against the person who had my ankles. I kicked and flailed, but it did nothing. I could see five figures, all rushing toward the locker room with me in tow.

  I grabbed the legs of one of the empty beds as I passed, dragging it across the floor with me. It scraped across the floor, sending a loud screeching noise echoing around the room. People sat up in their beds, half-awake, trying to figure out what was going on.

  Someone stomped on my hand, causing me to let go of the bed. I looked up and saw the one who’d done the stomping was Prime, the guy from the bank.

  I flipped over onto my stomach, causing the person who was dragging me to cross their arms. They got tangled up and let go of me. I scrambled to my feet, but barely got running before someone wrapped their arms around me and threw me backwards.

  I went flying through the doorway that separated the sleeping quarters from the locker room. I slid across the floor and slammed into the first row of lockers.

  Brian, Sven and Prime entered the room, along with the black-haired girl and the dark-skinned guy.

  Brian charged at me, his fist raised. I didn’t get up at first. I waited until he begun to swing, then dove out of the way. Brian’s fist slammed into the thin metal locker door, causing it to bend.

  He howled in pain and I got up to my feet. I ran down the aisle of lockers to the showers in the back. My five pursuers were close behind.

  The lights in the shower room were turned down very low, allowing for barely any light. The pipes seemed to zigzag on the wall and I ran to the nearest one. I grabbed it, yanking on it as hard as I could. I had more strength than usual, thanks to the adrenaline pumping through me, but it still wasn’t enough.

  The humming in my head subsided.

  I hadn’t been expecting that. I was in the middle of pulling on the metal bar and it came off the wall with ease. I stumbled backwards, trying my best not to fall.

  The humming returned.

  I looked up and saw Director Loren standing on the observation deck, watching with a sly smile.

  I turned my attention to my five attackers, who had just entered the showers.

  Once again, Brian lunged at me. I jumped to the side and brought my pipe down on his wrist. He fell to his knees, howling in pain. I slammed the pipe into the back of his head and he fell to the floor in a heap.

  Pain exploded across my back. I’d turned my back to my attackers to take out Brian and they’d used that to their advantage.

  I fell forward but turned around just in time to catch another punch to the face.

  I swung my pipe around wildly. The edge of it scraped the girl attacker, causing a large gash on her face.

  I felt a punch to my gut.

  Another to my face.

  The pipe was knocked from my hand.

  Sven picked me up and slammed me to the floor. They started kicking me, hard. As hard as they could. I did my best to shield my ribs, but I knew it’d be impossible to prevent any of them from breaking.

  But then the four sets of feet kicking me turned to three.

  Someone had tackled Prime and was on top of him, punching his lights out.

  Another slammed Sven into the wall behind me. I heard his nose crack, the sickening sound echoing around the shower tiles.

  I grabbed the foot of the girl before her next kick landed. I twisted it and she fell to the floor.

  More people flooded into the shower room and began attacking my attackers.

  But then they started to fight back.

  Sven punched Hank—the one who had slammed him into the wall—square in the throat. Hank grabbed his throat, unable to breathe.

  I ran to Sven, grabbed his hair and slammed his head into the shower wall. My anger took over and I slammed his head again. I pulled his head back, ready to slam it once more.

  But someone tackled me off him. This person was someone I didn’t recognize, but from the look on his face, he recognized me.

  He punched me good in my stomach, but that was all he got in. I head-butted him, crushing his nose with my forehead. His hands clutched his bloody nose and he howled in pain. I grabbed his head and threw him off me into a heap on the floor.

  Someone grabbed my shirt, but before they could throw me, I grabbed them. I threw them as hard as I could up against the wall and gave them a kick in the face. I went to kick them again, but they grabbed my foot and yanked on it. I almost slammed into the floor headfirst, but caught myself.

  Cold water rained down on me. I looked up and saw that they’d turned on all the shower heads.

  And that was when I saw what was really happening around me for the first time.

  All the Supers were in the shower room, engaged in an all-out brawl. Blood mixed with water, swirling and snaking across the floor, searching for a drain to go down. There were probably around twenty people fighting each other in a dark shower room while cold water rained down on us.

  The girl from earlier grabbed me and pulled me up. She was about to punch me, but before she could, I fell purposely to the floor. She hadn’t been expecting that and because of the wet tiles, she fell to the floor with me. The only difference was that I was ready for the tumble.

  We lay next to each other, drenched with cold water. I slammed my elbow into her stomach, and she exhaled in a big woof. I rolled over on top of her and wrapped my hands around her throat. Anger filled me. She was one of the ones who had started this all. She’d dragged me from my bed while I was talking to Samantha.

  I hated her.

  She gasped for air and grabbed at my wrists.

  But then she decided to go a different route.

  I was too close to her, so she clocked me on the side of my head. I fell to the floor, but recovered quickly. I was ready for more, but suddenly the Eximus shockers in our necks were turned up.

  Everybody fell to the floor, writhing in pain. It amplified the pain I was already experiencing from the brawl. The electricity coursed through my head, but thankfully it stayed on the inside. It never came in contact with the water that covered the floor, thank god. That would not have ended well.

  The pain began to recede and I felt two arms hook beneath mine. I was being pulled away by two STF guards. All the other Supers were still lying on the bloody, wet shower floors, incapacitated by the Eximus energy that flowed through them.

  Promises

  I sat restrained to the same metal chair I’d been in when they
brought me here. It felt as if I’d been sitting there for hours, but really it hadn’t been that long at all.

  I hurt all over. It didn’t seem like they were going to let me heal, at least not yet. I looked around the room for any sign of people watching me, but there was no one. I was alone.

  That is, until the door opened. Loren walked in and someone wheeled in a gurney behind her. The person left and it was just Loren, me and whatever what was on the gurney. It was covered up, but it had the shape of a body.

  “That was quite the scene back there. I actually began to enjoy myself,” Loren said. “I don’t think he did, though.” She pulled the sheet on the gurney back. Wes’ dead body lay there, bloody and broken. “It seems he had his head bashed in. A shame. But he served his purpose.”

  I struggled against my restraints. I seethed in anger. I wanted nothing more than to see Loren lying on a gurney of her own. “You’re sick, you know that?” I hissed.

  “I am not!” Loren snapped. “I care about the protection of this country. Of this world. If some of your kind have to die, that’s fine. In fact, that’s great. That’s the whole point of this. Your annihilation.”

  “Then why don’t you just kill me, huh? Just do it already!” I screamed in her face.

  “Trust me, you’ll get what’s coming to you. But not until we learn more from you, Tempest.” Loren leaned in close. She put one of her hands next to my head and braced herself. “Like what your name is.”

  “Again with the name?” I said, rolling my eyes. “Why do you care?” I shouted in her face.

  “BECAUSE YOU’RE A GHOST!” Loren screamed as loud as she could. Her face was full of rage and frustration. “We’ve gone through every bit of DNA we’ve gathered from you. All your pictures. EVERYTHING! NOTHING! There’s nothing about you. WHO—WHAT ARE YOU?”

  I laughed. “Careful, your crazy’s showing.”

  Loren reached into her pocket and blasted my brain with Eximus energy. I convulsed in pain and screamed.

  “WHO ARE YOU?” she screamed over my yells of pain. She turned the energy down and grabbed my shirt. She pulled me as close to her face as my restraints would allow. “I vow to you, I will find out who you are, Tempest. One way or the other, I will find out.” She thrust a finger at Wes’ lifeless body, lying on the gurney. “I let that happen. I could’ve stopped it, but I let it happen. People will die, Tempest. People you think are your allies will be your downfall. If you don’t tell me who you are, I will kill everyone. Every last Super, until you tell me who you are. And if you don’t? If I find out on my own? When I do, I will go after everyone you love. I will go after everyone you’ve ever talked to, looked at, or even thought about. I’ll kill them all. Right in front of you. And after that’s done, that’s when I will kill you. The Supers will die with you and they will die by my hand. I promise you that. I promise you.”