The First Superhero Books 0-3 Box Set Page 26

  Director Loren let go of me and I fell back into my chair. She stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her, leaving me there, alone with Wes.

  Brainstorms

  I lay in my bed, Hank asleep next to me. I had no idea what time it was, but shortly after Loren had stormed out, some other people came in and set me free. They took me to get patched up and then brought me back to the bunkroom.

  Every few minutes someone would stumble in, their arm in a cast, or with gauze wrapped around their head. They’d walk over to their bed and collapse.

  It’d been a long night, but I wasn’t able to find sleep.

  “I wanna say something, but last time we were in this situation, things didn’t go too well,” Samantha said in my head.

  I closed my eyes, comfort washing over me. “Yeah, that ordeal wasn’t fun.”

  “From what I saw, I’d have to agree. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t watch most of it. It was too much,” she said, shame filling her voice.

  “No, no, it’s okay,” I said, almost a little too loud. I brought my voice down. “I’m glad you didn’t. I can only imagine what this all must be like for you. All of you guys, really.”

  “They’ll be glad to hear that I’m in touch with you. Hopefully we’ll figure something out soon. But don’t worry, we’re going to get you out of there.”

  “I have faith that you will,” I said. A few moments passed before I asked Samantha the question that had been bothering me. “Samantha, why do you think they want to know my name so bad?”

  “Really? How about, why the hell they can’t find anything about you in any government database?” she asked incredulously.

  “Yeah, I’m trying not to even think about what that could mean.”

  “Who knows. I would say I’d get Doug to hack into a government database and see what we could find, but we’d need access to a government computer. Can’t just go through the internet. We’ve done it once—that’s how we were able to help you out with the whole nuke situation during the Richter crisis. But that’s because they had satellite locations set up.”

  “Great minds,” I said with a smirk, mostly to myself.

  “What was that?”

  “Nothing. But forget about the ghost thing for a minute. Why do they care so much about my name?”

  “Maybe because they want what they can’t have? I don’t know. That seems kinda petty, doesn’t it? Like they’d have bigger things to worry about.”

  “Exactly, which is what boggles my mind. Why isn’t holding Tempest enough for them? They’re the ones who gave the name to me in the first place.”

  “They might just want to know, maybe so they can learn more about the environment in which you developed your powers,” Samantha said.

  The door opened and a girl walked in holding an ice pack to her head. I waited for her to walk to her bed and collapse on it before I responded to Samantha. “That could be it. Not trying to be cocky, but I’m probably the most powerful Super there is. I guess they really want to know how that happened.”

  “Exactly. Plus, since you killed Richter, you’re the oldest—well, not oldest, but you’ve been a Super for the longest period of time. I don’t blame them for wanting to know everything there is to know about you.”

  “Oh, you don’t, do you?” I teased.

  Samantha groaned. “You know what I mean, Kane. If they want to kill all the Supers, of course they want to know everything they can about the most powerful and oldest one.”

  “Yeah, I guess. It’s probably a bit humiliating, too,” I said. I thought about how angry and frustrated I was making Loren. It was nice having the upper hand, although her threats didn’t sit well with me. Could she actually kill my family? And how many more people would die here inside the STF compound? On the other hand, how many more Supers would die if she found out my name? If she was able to figure out everything there was to know about me and thus, the Supers? It could lead to disaster.

  I had a feeling everything was going to head that way, with or without my name.

  Friendly Fighting

  Four guards stood at my sides, in front of and behind me as they led me down a long hallway. The walls were blank and the florescent bulbs cast a harsh light all around. I wasn’t sure where they were leading me, but judging from the device on my head, it was to more experiments.

  The device was the same one they had put on me whenever they allowed me to use my healing powers, so hopefully the fact that I had it on again meant that they were taking me somewhere where I would be granted my powers back. Hopefully I’d be able to use that to my advantage, which meant escaping.

  They led me into a dark room where every surface was made of stainless steel—or at least something that looked like it. The guards turned and exited the room behind me, the door sealing shut with a hiss. I looked and there wasn’t a single crack or seam where the door once was.

  I felt a hum in the walls; it coursed through my fingers. It wasn’t unlike the humming I felt in my brain.

  The walls flashed with purple electricity as Eximus energy coursed through my body. I was sent flying back across the room, my body convulsing. A hissing sound came from across the room and a door identical to the one I had just come through opened up. Someone was pushed inside, then the doors sealed and the walls hummed with energy.

  “This doesn’t look good,” the newcomer said. From the light of the Eximus energy in the walls and from his voice, I figured out it was Hank standing fifteen or twenty feet away from me. He was wearing the same type of device on his head that I was.

  “Did they say anything to you?” I asked.

  Hank shook his head. “They just brought me here. Said they’d give more insert—”

  “Good evening, gentlemen,” a voice said through a speaker in the ceiling, interrupting Hank. “You’ve been brought here for certain reasons. We’d like to see a good show, so please, don’t go easy on each other.”

  The humming in my head subsided and strength flooded through me. I began to hover a few feet off the floor and couldn’t believe how good it felt. It was like being stuck in a cramped car for hours and then finally being able to stretch your legs.

  Something whipped past me and I realized I’d closed my eyes. I opened them to see Hank’s arms stretched all the way across the room. Joy filled his face as he enjoyed the same ‘stretching’ sensation I was, except quite literally.

  “Whoo hoo!” he hollered. His whole body began to stretch as he relished in the chance he had to use his powers.

  “Gentlemen, I don’t think you understand. Fight.”

  The joy and euphoria left us instantly. Our eyes met, dread filling our faces.

  “Do they really want us to fight?” Hank asked.

  “Yes, we do,” the person answered over the intercom before I could respond.

  “I won’t fight him!” I shouted. “I won’t do it!”

  “You don’t have a choice in the matter, Tempest. Either you fight, or you tell us your name.” This time I recognized the voice. It was that of Director Loren.

  I flew as close to the ceiling as I could get without touching the Eximus that flowed through it. “You listen to me!” I shouted. “I will not fight! I will no—”

  Hands wrapped around my chest and threw me to the ground. The floor cracked, exposing the subfloor that flowed with Eximus. Some of it zapped me and I jumped to the side, out of its way. I looked up and saw Hank standing there, his body retracting to its normal self.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  Hank didn’t answer. He grabbed me and, using his arms like a slingshot, slammed me into the wall. I was thrown backwards by the power of the Eximus and into the floor.

  “We have to fight!” Hank yelled. “It’s the only way!”

  “Hank, I’ll kill you. I can’t fight you,” I said as I stood.

  Hank stretched his arm back as far as he could and then rocketed it forward. It slammed into my jaw, sending me backwards once again. “You und
erestimate me, Tempest.”

  He was really beginning to piss me off.

  I stood up again and after deciding there was no other choice, dashed to his side and kicked his feet out from beneath him. Hank fell to the floor with a thud, but reached out and grabbed one of my ankles.

  I tripped and slammed to the floor. I rolled head over heels, leaving a destroyed floor in my wake. I got up slowly and turned to face Hank. He was standing at the other side of the room, the floor between us ripped up from my tumble.

  We waited. We looked up at the ceiling, looking for any sign from the people who were watching us.

  “You’re not finished,” a voice said.

  I opened my mouth to yell something at them, but was thrown back by the momentum of Hank wrapping himself around me over and over again, squeezing as tight as he could. I felt my bones begin to bend beneath the pressure he was exerting on me. I could barely move as he wrapped himself around my face, causing my world to go black. I gasped for air, but there was none. I tried to move, but was completely immobile. Bones began to snap and crack as he squeezed tighter. I was completely helpless.

  Even though all I could see was black, I still saw flashes as stars began to paint my vision. My lungs screamed out for air, but they were paralyzed.

  I couldn’t fight back. In my head, I began to wave a white flag. I was stunned.

  That’s enough, I heard someone say in the distance. The voice was faint and fading.

  Hank began to unwrap himself and I felt my body rush to repair itself. I gasped for air once I was free, filling my power return to me.

  Then I felt the humming in my head again. The Eximus inside me was switched back on and I was back to being Kane Andrews, not Tempest. And neither one of us could believe we had just been beaten by Hank.

  Pseudonyms

  I sat alone at a table in the common room. I stared at my lunch of a ham and cheese sandwich and crackers and felt no appetite. All I could think about was the fight with Hank, how he had been able to gain the upper hand. I liked to think that given a little bit more time, I would’ve figured out a solution, but I couldn’t be sure. Still, I couldn’t help but fight the feeling that I was lying to myself. That if Hank had kept going, I would’ve passed out, my body slipping me into a coma until I got more oxygen.

  “Hey, there, how’s lunch today?” Samantha asked, popping into my head.

  “I’ll let you know if I get around to eating it,” I said under my breath, looking around to make sure no one was around to hear my one-way conversation.

  “Not hungry today?” she asked, concerned.

  I shrugged. “Just not feeling it. How are things out there?”

  She hesitated, then said, “They’re getting...tense. More and more Supers are making their presence known every day. Holocene is doing what she can to stop the bad ones—which is 99.9% of them—but she’s just one person and she’s distracted by her search for you.”

  “Tell her not to worry about me. I can figure something out on my own,” I said.

  “No way,” Samantha snapped. “We’re not giving up on you, not even close. Holocene is putting a lot of attention on finding you, because she knows once she does, keeping the Supers under control will be a lot easier. We need you, Kane.”

  I wanted to slam my fist down on the table, but stopped myself so as to not attract attention. I felt so helpless. They didn’t need Kane, they needed Tempest. And he was hiding somewhere in my brain, kept at bay by the Eximus energy constantly flowing through me. “I’m sorry, Samantha,” was all I could end up saying.

  “It’s okay, Kane. It’s not your fault. I’m sorry it’s taking so long to find you. These guys are very secretive.”

  I changed the subject. “What’s the word on this Atlas guy you were talking about the other night? He still around?”

  “Yes and no.” I didn’t like the sound of that. Samantha continued, “I’ve heard whispers—Doug too—about more and more Supers joining his cause. It doesn’t even seem like the Super Task Force is fully aware of them yet, or they aren’t taking them as a threat.”

  “I’ve got their hands a little full, I think.” I smirked. “But are they a threat?”

  “I don’t know. They don’t seem to have lots of powerful Supers, but their numbers are growing. They’re calling themselves the Legion of Richter.”

  My heart froze. “So you mean they’re basically an army of Richters?”

  “Well, none of them seem as powerful as he was, but it seems they’re taking up his mantle. His ideals.” Fear crept into Samantha’s voice.

  “Tell me what you can about this Atlas guy. I need to know for when I get out of here.”

  “Tempest,” a voice behind me said.

  Four guards were standing there, Eximus guns at the ready. “I’m eating lunch,” I said.

  “Doesn’t matter. You’re needed for more testing.”

  “I just did testing this morning,” I said, my frustration growing.

  “You think one test on one morning gets you a ‘get out of testing free’ card? Get your ass up, or else we’ll turn a blind eye and let some of these Supers get their hands on you like they’ve been itching to,” the guard threatened.

  “Go, Kane. Don’t get yourself killed. We need you out here, remember?” Samantha said.

  I stood and followed the guards out the door, but only because of Samantha’s urging.

  I was led into a white room with a wall of thick glass down the middle. The walls were plain and bare—no Eximus energy in sight. It seemed I wasn’t going to be getting my powers back for this test, which disappointed me. I longed to feel my feet floating off the floor, or the way the world slowed when I ran as fast as I could.

  “Instructions will follow,” the guard said. He and his goons exited the room, the lock on the door engaging as he shut it behind him.

  Once again, the scientists were up in the viewing chambers, preparing for whatever test would be next.

  The door on the other side opened to admit a guy about my age named Rai. From the little bit of talking with him that I’d done, I considered him one of the good guys.

  Behind him stood Sven. From the little hand-to-hand fighting I’d done with him, I considered him one of the bad guys.

  A queasy feeling grew in my stomach. I had a bad feeling about what would happen next.

  “Hello, Tempest. My name is Loren. What’s yours?” Director Loren asked in a patronizing tone from the observation deck up above.

  “Oh, just Loren, is it? No last name? Guess I’m not the only one who likes to keep their name a secret,” I said.

  “Sven, you’ve been briefed. Do what you wish,” Loren said.

  My attention shot to where Sven and Rai were standing. I began to run through the possibilities of what could happen.

  And then Sven’s fist smashed into Rai’s face.

  Rai fell to the ground, blood spurting from his nose. Sven slammed his fist into Rai as he tried to get up.

  The lump in the pit in my stomach grew. I wanted to scream as loud as I could. I wanted to get Sven to stop. I wanted to smash through the glass and do to Sven what he was doing to Rai.

  But I couldn’t.

  All I could do was cry.

  Not sob, but tears did drip from my eyes.

  I cried because there was nothing I could do. I was helpless and so was Rai.

  Sven grabbed him and slammed his head against the floor. Rai cried out in pain and tried to defend himself. But Sven was large and muscular, while Rai was skin and bones. Maybe he had some sort of power that allowed him to grow huge muscles and be superstrong at the snap of a finger, but at that moment, he had nothing. His only hope was me.

  Sven began to kick him. I could’ve sworn I heard ribs crack. Even if I didn’t hear it for real, though, I knew it was happening. As hard as Sven was kicking him, how could it not?

  “Please stop,” I whispered. It was all I could do. If I gave up my name, Loren would win. The STF would know everything abou
t Kane Andrews to go along with all they knew about Tempest. They’d be able to learn the conditions under which my powers had developed. They’d be able to go after my friends, my family. There was no telling what all they could learn about the Supers, maybe even what it would take to destroy all of us and keep us from ever coming back. “Please, stop!” I yelled louder.

  I rushed to the glass. I found my voice. I slammed my fists against the glass, just like Sven was slamming his into the bloody mess that was Rai.

  “Stop this, please! You have to stop! He’s not a Super! Right now he’s human! You can’t do this!” I yelled, my hands beginning to hurt from hitting the glass over and over and over.

  “You know what you have to do, Tempest. You know.” The satisfaction in Loren’s voice was sickening.

  Desperate to do whatever it took to make Sven stop, I yelled out a lie. “Derek Porter! My name is Derek Porter!”

  Sven fell to the ground, the Eximus shocker in his neck giving him a extra dosage.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Derek. My name is Loren Westlake.”

  I fell to the ground, out of breath, emotionally spent. It was anything but a happy introduction, because once they found out I wasn’t Derek Porter, I doubted the result would be pretty. But there had to be a lot of Derek Porters. Sorting through all of them would probably take a while. I’d bought myself some time and Rai was no longer being beat to a pulp. That was what mattered, even if I had a feeling it would come back to bite me.