Page 88 of The Not So Super Hero
“We’ve beaten Rebirth before and we’ll do it again, only this time it will be permanent, but none of us want to lose Bailey in the process.When you find him, leave, got it?”
Zane wished to argue but was prevented from doing so by the tires blowing out.The car spun across the road.Natalia struggled with the wheel, although that didn’t matter.The metal of the car bent and cracked, crushing towards them.The windows shattered.The car distorted.Nate shot forth his hands.Spears of ice tore the car apart, narrowly missing everyone.Natalia released a string of cursed words.Zane only caught a single phrase; “Hijo de puta!”
Nate snickered while crawling out of the openings his ice created.The other followed seconds to the car crushing into a metal ball.The ball flew at Nate.He barely dodged the attack.A piece of metal sticking out of the object nicked his arm.He cursed and pressed his hand to the cut.
Whoever attacked had a metal mutation, considering the remnants of the car were being torn into pieces of spears.The spears flown at everyone randomly.Zane covered them, producing a shield of shadows that the spears bounced off of.Natalia lit the darkness of the sphere, flames dancing on her fingertips.
“Metal user,” Natalia stated.“I can handle them.”
“They’re trying to split us up,” Nate said.A loud bang reminded them the attacker was still trying to get in.“Hey, Zane, could you walk us there in this globe thingy?”
“Globe thingy?”Zane rolled his eyes.“Probably not.It isn’t as strong when I move around…and I’ve never really tried it before.”
“Lazy, just like you, fitting.”
“Fuck off.”
Suddenly, the shield quivered, causing Zane to hiss.The continuous attacks had formed a couple of cracks.Nate shot ice spears to spear the darkness.They heard the crunching of metal that must have wrapped around the shield.Nate’s ice tore it apart, allowing them to get out of the death trap.Once out, Zane noticed their attacker had revealed themselves along with two other unknown mutants.A man stood down the road, closer to a house at the edge of the street.He raised his arms.Metal nearby sprang towards him.The metal circled him, morphing into whatever he wished.The second mutant was on their left and the third on their right, each keeping a fair distance.
“I’ve got this, you guys go ahead,” said Nate.“Antoine said we had an hour to get there and, knowing him, he means that literally regardless of the obstacles he put in our way.I’ll meet up with you later.”
“There’s three of them,” Natalia argued.Nate was tough, but that didn’t mean anyone wanted to leave him behind.
“Believe me, I’ll be fine.”
“Finish them quick, the faster we regroup the better,” Natalia ordered, pressing her forehead against Nate’s temple.He offered an impish grin, and she gently smacked his cheek.
No more goodbyes were allowed.Their attackers were ready.Metal spears flew at them.Nate jumped to the front, creating an ice wall.A searing beam came from the right, melting the ice.The one to the left had disappeared to do only God knows what.
“Get going!”Nate ordered.
Everyone offered him a concerned look.Chris tugged at Natalia’s sleeve, then they burst toward the orphanage while they could.The battle raged behind them; the sound growing softer in the distance.Natalia scowled, looking over her shoulder constantly even after she could no longer see Nate.
“He can handle himself,” Chris said, although that did little to quell their worries.
If they still had the car, they would make it in time, but Zane knew on foot they were pushing it.Not to mention there were likely more members of Rebirth holding out, waiting to strike.As he suspected, that was exactly the case when, not long after leaving Nate, they found themselves surrounded once more.
Splitting up was exactly what Antoine wanted them to do.If they had the time to come up with a plan, it wouldn’t have happened.That was exactly why he took Bailey, to keep them from devising a plan without falling into Antoine’s trap.Zane wished they could all stick together, but that wasn’t the case.
Natalia lingered behind, then Chris, leaving Zane to arrive at the orphanage alone.He had only been there a week before Chris officially adopted him.The home was relatively well kept, considering it had been shut down for almost six years.The yard needed work, and the siding redone, but the porch steps held beneath his weight.He kept his head on a swivel, searching for signs of anyone.The door was unlocked, swinging open with a soft screech that Zane scowled at.Really?Why did they always squeak?He hated it.
Stepping inside, he immediately noticed the one peculiar thing about the place; someone had moved the cement slab in the fireplace, revealing a ladder that led down beneath it.A clock ticked above the fireplace, a reminder of how close he was to being late.Five minutes.He was five minutes early, but wondered if Antoine would count stepping into the house as On Time or being in the same room as him and Bailey.
Zane moved towards the entrance, looking down to see a dimly lit hall.Antoine wanted him in a confined space.Not good for Bailey’s safety.If they could battle it out in a field, that would be wonderful.Grumbling, Zane looked around once again for any strange movement.There was nothing and so, with a deep breath, he descended into the dark opening while hoping that when he came out; he had Bailey with him.
A hallway at the bottom led away from the home, walls covered in tiles resembling those in the video.The hall was silent, but a camera sat in the corner, not hidden either.He continued on the path, glancing through windows in the doors to find empty rooms.He even came across one that appeared like a surveillance room, finding that a screen had a video of his apartment complex and another of Bailey’s college.
Well, they certainly were making sure Zane knew they had their eyes on both of them for a while.
All the doors were locked.Zane took that as meaning Antoine didn’t wish to meet there.Although the halls were quiet, Leona and Law were undoubtedly nearby.If Zane could save Bailey and escape before that, he’d appreciate it.
It didn’t take much longer for him to stumble upon the one room that lacked any sort of window.The white door had chips of paint missing and wasn’t locked.Fear coursed through his veins when he opened the door, hoping that what laid behind wouldn’t shatter his entire world.
When the door swung open to reveal Antoine standing behind Bailey donning a sinister grin, all Zane wanted to do was to break every bone Antoine had.The bastard pressed a knife tightly to Bailey’s neck.Blood trickled from the wound.Zane knew if he took another step, Antoine wouldn’t hesitate, so he stood in the doorway with his eyes locked on Bailey’s shaking green gaze.
Bailey didn’t need to speak for Zane to know what was on his mind.His eyes screamed and body shook, which further pissed Zane off.His blood boiled, the anger building in his chest with such ferocity he wasn’t sure he could contain it.
“Zane, my boy, it’s been a while.I’ve missed you so much,” Antoine laughed, the sound nowhere near that of a concerned father.
