The First Superhero Books 0-3 Box Set Page 28

  “Who’s there?” a female voice said from behind some rubble.

  Loren almost jumped out of her skin. She rushed over to where the voice had come from, her guards following close behind. Behind a wrecked car covered in concrete and a street pole sat one of her Eximus soldiers, a young girl with black hair. She was dirty and her clothes had rips and tears in them. She was scraped up and in bad shape, but alive. Her hand were resting on the chest of someone, a small amount of Eximus energy coming from it.

  Loren fell to her knees next to the girl and began checking to be sure she was all right. She felt a motherly duty set in. The Eximus soldiers were her pride and joy, and she’d thought they were all gone. She would do whatever it took to keep this one alive. “Are you okay?”

  “I think so. I’ve been hiding here for a while with this Super,” the girl said, gesturing with her head to her captive.

  Loren recognized him. He was the one who controlled fire. “Wake him up,” she said.

  The soldier nodded and gave the Super a jolt of electricity. He sat up, gasping for air. The Eximus soldier kept a hand on him, making sure he didn’t get his powers back.

  “Hello, there,” Loren said. “What’s your name again?”

  “B-B-Brian T-Turner,” he said through gritted teeth. She could tell he was in a lot of pain. “Please let me g-go.”

  Loren’s face grew dark and she furrowed her brows. “I’m the one asking the questions here, Brian.”

  “I know something. I know something y-you want to know. If I tell you, will you let me go?”

  Loren’s interest was piqued. She figured what the hell. It wasn’t like she had to keep her word. “Sure, Brian. What do you know?”

  “I know who Tempest is. He went to school with me. I can tell you his name.”

  Loren’s eyes flared and her breath caught. She couldn’t believe it. If Brian was telling the truth, she was about to find out who Tempest was. She wouldn’t be at square one anymore. She had an ace up her sleeve and she hadn’t even known it until now. “Tell me.”

  “Kane Andrews. Tempest is a guy named Kane Andrews,” Brian said.

  Loren smiled. It was the first time in a long time that she’d actually, genuinely smiled. She was back on top. She had what she needed. She’d just been given the key to figuring the Supers out. Now, she wouldn’t stop until she knew everything about Kane Andrews, all the way down to what he’d had for breakfast every day of his life. If there was a secret to destroying the Supers for good, that secret lay with Kane Andrews. And she was going to find it.

  “Thank for that information, Brian,” Loren said. She stood and retrieved her gun from its holster. “You’re released.”

  “No wa—” Brian called out, but he was cut off by a gunshot.

  Loren had put a bullet between his eyes.

  She put her gun away and reached down to help the Eximus soldier up. Her very last one. “Why are you smiling?” Loren asked when she saw the look on the girl’s face.

  “I just think it’s funny that Tempest’s name is Kane Andrews.”

  “Why’s that?” Loren asked.

  “Because my name is Cassidy Andrews. Crazy coincidence, huh?”

  Loren looked the girl up and down. “Yes, a crazy coincidence.”

  The Siege of the Supers

  Waking Up

  Leopold Renner blinked his eyes open, the whole room around him appearing blurry. He lifted his hands up to rub them into focus. When he did so, he felt wires and tubes that were attached to him rise up as well.

  Once he could see better, he looked down and saw that he was hooked up to all sorts of machines that monitored his vitals and gave him an IV, as well as other medical things.

  “It’s good to see you, Leo,” someone said to his right.

  Leo turned his head and saw Kane Andrews standing there, smiling at him.

  “W-where...” Leo tried to speak, but his mouth was too dry.

  “Here, drink this,” someone to his left said. He turned and saw the brunette girl who had been in the car with him earlier standing there. She pressed a cup into his hand.

  Leopold grabbed the cup and drank the water from it. He felt the nasty, dry taste peel from his mouth. Now that he felt refreshed, her name popped into his head. “You’re Selena. Holocene.”

  Selena nodded. “That’s right.”

  “It’s good to see you remembered,” Kane said.

  Leo turned his head to his right. “What’s going on? Where am I?”

  “First, I need to show you something.” Kane was holding something behind his back. He revealed a mirror, facing away from Leo. “Take a good look into this mirror.”

  Kane flipped the mirror around and Leo saw himself staring back. But it wasn’t quite himself. It wasn’t the Leopold Renner who was in his mid-thirties; he looked the same as he had when he was twenty years old. But that couldn’t be right. Not at all.

  A beeping noise intensified as Leo’s heart rate increased. “How is this possible?” An explanation landed in his head. “Is this some sort of time travel?”

  Kane and Selena laughed. Kane shook his head. “No, of course not. I will explain everything.”

  Leo looked back into the mirror. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

  The whole building shook and an explosion sounded in the distance.

  “What the hell was that?” Leo asked, looking around for some sort of explanation.

  “That, Leo, is the war. It’s what we’re going to end—together,” Kane said with a smile.

  A door to the room opened and a girl with blonde hair rolled in in a wheelchair. “We’ve got some Legion ships incoming. We need the both of you up top ASAP,” she said.

  Selena and Kane met eyes and nodded.

  “Thanks, Samantha. We’re on our way,” Kane said.

  The girl Leo assumed was Samantha rolled out of the room in her wheelchair, closing the door behind her.

  “You try to rest, okay? When you get your strength back, then we’ll talk,” Kane said, placing a hand on Leo’s shoulder.

  Leopold nodded, his head still spinning from all the questions he had without answers. Kane and Selena left the room, leaving Leo lying there all alone, listening to the sounds of the war raging on in the distance.

  Detour

  I landed on top of a building as we crossed into California.

  “What are you doing?” Samantha asked.

  “I gotta do something really quick,” I told her. I set down Hank and Drew.

  Drew looked at me and sighed, knowing what was next.

  “You need to start talking, and fast,” I said.

  Drew crossed his arms. “Look, I understand why you didn’t tell me you were Tempest. Trust me, I’ve seen the things that the STF can do, and I know you were just trying to keep me safe. Still, it kinda sucks.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything, but like you said, I was just trying to keep you and everybody else safe. How did you get mixed up with the STF?”

  “Well, I wasn’t entirely lying when I said I’d been volunteering with the relief and rebuilding efforts. Late one night, I was wandering around one of the sites we were working on, just getting some fresh air. I ran across some STF people gathering samples for research. I started freaking out, saying I was going to call the cops, not realizing that they were government people. They captured me and I was put into a tiny cell without any windows. They left me there for a while before they finally came to me and told me that I could either join them or spend the rest of my life in prison. Of course I joined. The main reason they were interested in me was because I was from Ebon, and they knew Tempest—you—were from somewhere around there. So they trained me, implanted devices in me that give me my abilities, and sent me back to Ebon to keep an eye out for any Super activity.”

  “So your powers aren’t naturally developing?” I asked.

  Drew shook his head. “No, they’re not. I don’t know how they did it, but they allow me to control the Eximus en
ergy. Not everyone can do it. Some people had terrible reactions to the devices and died.”

  The idea of the STF experimenting on humans without Super abilities disgusted me. I couldn’t believe the government was allowing something like this to happen. “What made you turn against them?”

  “Well, I was never really with them. I just didn’t want to spend the rest of my life in prison. The pay wasn’t bad, either. But when I knew for sure you were Tempest, I had to get you out of there. They’d end up killing you, and I couldn’t let that happen. I tried to warn you before they captured you, but I wasn’t one hundred percent sure it was you. I had my suspicions, and after a while I was able to put the pieces together. That’s why I told you about my powers, so maybe you would shed some light on it on your own. I had to be sure it was you before I just started telling you all these things. But then they trapped you with that whole Delvin mission thing, and it was too late.”

  I stood there for a moment, thinking about what Drew had just told me. It all sounded true, and if it was, it wasn’t like Drew had much of a choice. I would’ve joined the STF too if my only other option was prison. I looked to Hank, who was standing off to the side trying not to get in the way. I knew he was listening, and he didn’t seem to be disturbed or upset about anything Drew had said. I guess he believed him too.

  “Okay,” I said, coming to a decision. “I believe you.”

  I’ve never seen someone so relieved. Drew smiled and shifted his weight around on his feet. “Yeah, okay. Thanks, man. I’m really sorry.”

  “No, I’m sorry. Thankful, too. I don’t know how I would’ve gotten out without you.” I smirked. “Definitely would’ve found a way, though.”

  Drew chuckled. “I don’t doubt it.”

  “You guys ready to go meet up with Samantha and the rest of the group?” I asked.

  “Yes, they are. Get your ass over here,” Samantha practically yelled in my mind. She was growing very impatient.

  “Yeah,” Drew said. “Let’s go.”

  Hello World

  My alarm sounded, waking me from a deep sleep. It’d been two days since I had returned home, and it felt as if I’d slept the entire time. Even if I wasn’t that tired, there was just something about lying in my own bed that automatically put me to sleep.

  I got up and began getting ready for the day. It was a Monday, so I had to go to school. Not to go to class, but to clean out my locker. My parents and I had decided that the safest thing for me to do would be to finish up my senior year from home. I wasn’t sure how I felt about being homeschooled, but I didn’t have much school left to do. By that logic I probably could’ve just stayed in high school, but with Atlas and the Legion of Richter out there planning whatever they were planning, I had no idea when I’d be called into action. Homeschooling was really my only option if I didn’t want people to find out who I really was.

  I wouldn’t be doing it alone, though. Drew and his family were moving to Indianapolis, and the two of us would do school together. Drew’s parents knew he’d been working with the STF. They’d been threatened to keep quiet even more than Drew himself had been. They were glad he wasn’t working with them any longer; however, unlike me and my family, the STF knew exactly who Drew was. They’d have to use false names and lie low unless they wanted the STF to find them.

  Not that there was much of an STF left, anyway. Atlas and the Legion had done a number on the complex. Holocene and I did a couple of flybys, and we saw that the entire place had been destroyed. It looked like everyone was dead, too. Hopefully the STF believed Drew was one of the casualties.

  I brushed my teeth and stared blankly at my reflection in the mirror. Everything felt weird to me. Surreal, like I was in the middle of a transitioning period. So many things were happening that the general population didn’t know about, but were bursting at the seams to find out. It wouldn’t be long until Atlas and the Legion made their presence known, and I was sure the STF wouldn’t be far behind. Which meant my team and I would have to be there to stop both of them from causing everything to fall apart.

  Whether or not we’d be able to do that, I wasn’t sure.

  But those were Tempest’s troubles. Right now, I was just Kane Andrews, and Kane Andrews had to go face Ebon High School one last time.

  I DUMPED A BUNCH OF papers into a trash bin I’d dragged over from nearby. I put the belongings I didn’t want thrown away into my backpack, doing so as fast as I could. I wanted to get out of there before someone I knew ran into me.

  Of course, someone did, and it was the last person I wanted to see.

  “Hey, Kane,” she said from behind me.

  I turned in the empty hallway and saw Macy standing there, holding her books in front of her. Her sad smile caused my heart to flutter. Nostalgia flooded me and I couldn’t help but think about how much I loved hanging out and talking with her. How much I missed it.

  “Hey, Macy. Shouldn’t you be in class?” I said, looking down the hallway toward the closed classroom doors.

  “Yeah, I guess. I was just coming back from the restrooms and saw you. Are you leaving?” she asked, gesturing toward my half-empty locker.

  “Yeah.” I shrugged. “There’s just too much here, you know? Too many bad memories.” I mentally kicked myself. Why was I making myself seem like the victim?

  “I get that. You’ve missed a lot of days lately.”

  “Yep,” I said. I went back to cleaning out my locker. I just wanted her to leave, not because I didn’t want to talk to her, but because I didn’t like the feelings I got when I did. I didn’t even know why she was being so nice to me.

  “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry,” she said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

  I flinched and turned around. “It’s okay, Macy. Don’t worry about it. I was being selfish by not explaining anything to you. I just have a lot going on right now, and I need some space.”

  She nodded as she shifted back and forth on her feet. “Of course, I get that. I just hate that everybody’s leaving,” she said. I noticed her eyes were beginning to water. “I mean, you, Drew, and Michael were the reasons I wanted to stay. Now everybody’s gone. Even Brian. I haven’t talked to him in weeks and I’m just so scared, Kane. I’m so afraid. I don’t know what’s going on with anybody and I’m just an outsider. I should’ve gone back to Indianapolis. I shouldn’t have stayed.” Tears leaked from her eyes, but she did her best to ignore them and stay strong.

  I took a step forward, testing the waters. Once I saw she was okay with it, I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a hug. “I’m sorry, Macy. I’m really sorry. If you want to, I think you should go back to Indianapolis. Do whatever will make you happy. You don’t deserve friends like me.”

  Macy pulled back, wiping tears from her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, but I shushed her.

  I heard something.

  “Kane, wh—”

  I held my finger up and listened closely. A door creaked. A radio crackled.

  “Someone’s here,” I whispered.

  Macy looked at me like I was crazy. “Yeah, it’s a school.”

  “Target in sight,” someone whispered.

  I looked to my right just in time to see a purple Eximus bolt flying right at me. I dropped to the ground and the bolt flew down the hallway and slammed into the trophy case. Glass exploded and fire alarms rang.

  I grabbed Macy and dashed inside the closest classroom. The students yelled in surprise when they saw me suddenly appear.

  “What the hell is going on?” the teacher yelled.

  Macy jumped back, looking around, trying to figure out where she was and how she’d gotten there so fast.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything sooner,” I said as I turned to the teacher, Mr. Aspen. “Evacuate the school,” was all I could tell him. Then I turned and dashed out of the classroom.

  A wall of soldiers in black now stood on my right, each one holding an Eximus gun.

  I turned to my left and bega
n running down the hallway. Not as fast as I could, though. I wanted them to see where I was going.

  Eximus charges flew all around me, but none made contact. I looked over my shoulder and saw that the soldiers were beginning to chase after me, just like I wanted.

  I turned right down the hallway and picked up the pace a little bit. I braced myself and charged through the fire exit door at the end of the hallway. The soldiers had yet to make it around the corner, but they’d know to go through the destroyed doorway.

  “Kane Andrews,” a voice boomed from a loudspeaker.

  I stopped in my tracks and looked up. Helicopters were circling above me, each of them filled with soldiers. One of them had a camera pointed right at me, broadcasting to who knew where.

  “Surrender immediately. We have the place surrounded. There is no escape, Tempest.”

  This time I didn’t need an Eximus blast to have all my strength taken from me. It left on its own accord.

  They knew. They knew I was Tempest; that Tempest was me.

  Macy knew. The kids in Mr. Aspen’s classroom knew.

  Whoever was watching the feed from that camera knew.

  “Oh my god, Kane,” Samantha said in my head. “It’s all over the news. That camera is sending a feed to every station in America. The whole world knows you’re Tempest.”

  I’d stood there for too long. Soldiers surrounded me, all pointing their guns at me. I looked up into the helicopter that held the camera. Sitting next to it was Loren, a giant smile spread across her face. She waved, looking more satisfied than anyone I’d ever seen in my life.

  This was all just a show. Loren knew I’d be able to escape. The soldiers didn’t shoot at me, even though they were standing in a circle around me. This was all just a power play.

  I launched myself into the air, flying as fast as I could to Indianapolis. No matter how fast I flew, though, there was no escaping the fact that the whole world knew that I, Kane Andrews, was the superhero Tempest.