A Superhero Story Chapter 18 - The Great Escape

“Is this the place?” Ruaia asked, stepping out the car door. The building looked like every other office building in the area. It was tall. The outside walls were made of smooth red bricks. Large windows lined one side.

“Yup. Or at least, it’s the address that Adamar gave me,” Azaria said. After looking for a security camera she walked up to the door and inspected it, pulling out her lockpicks.

“You know way too much about disabling traps, you have an arsenal in your bedroom, and can picks locks. Anything else I should know about you before we continue?” Ruaia asked, walking up behind her.

“You don’t really get the ‘stealthy’ thing, do you?” Azaria asked, working on the lock.

Ruaia rolled her eyes. “It’s three o’clock in the morning. I don’t think ‘stealthy’ is going to be an issue.” She looked around at the empty streets. They were kind of eerie in the darkness. Probably good atmosphere for what they were currently doing.

“Always be stealthy,” Azaria said as the lock clicked into place. “Rule 115. You never know who might be around.” She opened the door slowly, listening and watching for anything that might be suspicious or look like a trap. She figured a supervillain like this guy would have to have a better security system than a door lock. It almost seemed too easy...

“Rule what now?” Ruaia asked.

Azaria shook her head and put a finger to her lips, ending the conversation. From here on in, they were going to have to be extra careful, which meant as little talking as possible. Ruaia made a mental note to ask about it again later.

The room inside looked like a regular office. There was a waiting area with chairs, a desk, and a couple of offices in the back. Azaria wished for a moment that Ruaia knew the hand signals that she and her brothers used. Instead, she whispered, “There has to be a secret entrance somewhere, probably to a basement. Check the floor.”

Azaria started on one side and Ruaia on the other, combing the floor for anything different-looking. Ruaia opened her mouth to ask if Azaria had found anything, but Azaria shook her head before she could make a sound and pointed to the wall next to her.

Ruaia sighed and leaned back against the wall. Something under her back shifted and the wall turned into thin air. “Ah!” She cried out as she fell, landing on some stairs and sliding a little ways down.

Azaria rushed over, pulling a flashlight out of her belt pocket. She flicked it to the red-light setting and peered into the hole in the wall. Ruaia had landed halfway down a staircase. There was a heavy-looking wooden door at the bottom. Azaria pointed to it and started quietly forward. There was no window to look through, but there was a small gap between a couple of the planks. It wasn’t large enough to see anything through, but she could hear most of what was going on if she pressed her ear to the opening.

There was only one voice speaking, and she didn’t recognize it, but she knew who it was. Psychotic. And he was monologuing. “I have been busy of late, developing a way to harness a new type of renewable energy. Human energy.” Here he paused for dramatic effect. Azaria glanced at Ruaia other out of the corners of her eye wondering if she had heard what he had said. The look in her eyes told her that she had. Her eyes held the same question that was running through Azaria’s mind - What could he possibly be getting at? She turned her attention back to Psychotic.

“Studying how human energy works has always been a hobby of mine. The way it never really seems to run out, especially. Even if you feel like all your energy is gone, all you have to do is sleep long enough and there it is, back again. The energy of people with natural power is even more fascinating a subject. It renews faster, it lasts longer, there’s more of it. The best possible energy source. It was actually pretty early in my experiments that I decided that I would have to find a way to harness human energy. It just wasn’t until now that I had a group of powerful enough people to conduct my final experiments. I’m trying to develop a special type of suspension tube that can regulate the energy drain. It’s the final phase in turning this idea into a functional and practical way to power my equipment.

“What you just saw is actually one of the first versions of collection. It’s simple, it’s mobile, but it’s only good for short bursts of energy. The glove can only store the energy for so long before you have to transfer it somewhere else. Like this battery.” Azaria could hear a sort of crackling sound. What she wouldn’t give for a visual. “What I needed was a sort of self-sustaining system that could collect and store energy for long periods of time. But what I’ve found is that, for that to work, you can’t exactly let the source go. You have to keep it, save it, sustain it. That’s what I’ve been working on for over three decades. I haven’t finished it yet, but with you as my test subjects, it will be soon.”

“Yes, dear, we’re all very proud,” Kethri’s voice, sarcastic as usual. At least she seemed to be okay..

“Watch that tongue of yours or you’ll be next,” Psychotic said, his footsteps snapping on concrete. “By the way, how long are you two going to listen at the door? Come, join the party.”

A bright white light beamed down at them from above. “Don’t move.” The voice was very familiar and very British. Azaria whipped around to look at where the voice came from. Connor appeared at the top of the stairs Ruaia had just fallen down, flanked by two oversized buffoons.

“Grab them,” Connor ordered.

Before either Azaria or Ruaia had a chance to react, the two men grabbed them. “Petite puta. What are you doing here?!” Azaria exclaimed.

Connor smirked. “Amari disappears from her date with me and I wasn’t an automatic suspect? You’re losing your paranoid edge, babe.” He opened the wooden door and stepped out of the way so Azaria and Ruaia could be ushered into the room.

Azaria glanced quickly around, taking in her new surroundings. It was a strange metallic room that looked like it could double for some sort of sick operating room. Antain and Cael were hanging cuffed on the wall to her right, looking pretty drained, with Kethri next to them. Amari was lying unconscious on a metal table, a man looming over her like a creeper. She must have put up a fight to get there because part of the floor looked like it had been pried open. She started to scan the rest of the room, but didn’t make it very far. Lying on the floor, strapped to a stretcher, was Amato. Azaria’s heart thumped loudly in her chest. He looked barely alive. Glass was sticking out of his skin, blood trailing from the wounds. He was also unconscious. A roar of anger threatened to burst from her throat, but yelling wouldn’t help here. Rule 123 - Never show emotions. Emotions give the enemy something to use against you. She stayed silent.

“So nice of you to come,” Psychotic said, bowing with a flourish, drawing the attention to him. “I see already know my good friend here.”

“We’ve met,” Azaria spat, struggling against the man who had a firm hold on her ponytail.

“Then we can skip the introductions and get right to the main event.” Psychotic advanced towards Azaria, adjusting his energy-sucking Glove of Doom.

“I think I’ll pass,” Azaria said. That glove had to be what he was talking about earlier, and she wasn’t too keen to see it in action. The guy behind her had one hand wrapped up in her ponytail and the other was holding her wrists behind her back. Azaria stomped down hard on the man’s foot. He let out a cry of pain, slightly loosening his grip on her hair. It was enough. She took the opportunity and slammed her head back against his face. The man stumbled back away from, holding his nose as blood gushed from between his fingers. Azaria whipped around and roundhouse-kicked him into a cabinet. bottles, syringes, and other medical tools rained over him, clattering to the floor.

Azaria turned and leapt towards Psychotic, pulling a knife out of her belt. He raised his hand and, before she could change direction, the glove connected with her stomach, throwing her back into the wall. Her head was spinning and she suddenly felt a little drained, and there was a sharp pain coming from her right leg. She looked down and saw a small gash on her thigh, short but deep, and bleeding a lot. The knife was still in her hand. Must have cut herself while she fell. No time to think about that. She pushed herself up and took a defensive stance.

Meanwhile, Ruaia was being held by the elbows, and when she saw Azaria make her escape, she drew her power to them and sprouted flames, burning the poor guy’s hands. He howled in surprise and let go, falling back into the wall. Ruaia bolted towards the wall at her right, where Kethri, Antain, and Cael were hanging from the wall.

“Are you here to take us home?” Cael asked, his voice a little slurred. He sounded exhausted.

“Sure, sport,” Ruaia said, searching the cuffs for some kind of release mechanism. She found a button on the side and pushed it. The cuffs released and fell off the wall into her hand. “Cool.” She clipped them to her belt. Might come in handy. She moved onto Antain and then Kethri.

Kethri had no problem landing on her feet, since she seemed to still be in pretty good condition. Antain managed to catch himself when the cuffs released from his wrist, but Cael wasn’t so lucky. He stumbled forward a few steps before losing his balance altogether and falling flat on his face. He hit the cold hard ground pretty hard and just laid there for a second, confused. Hadn’t he been upright a second ago? The world was still a little fuzzy.

“Come on! Get up, it’s not nap time,” Kethri said, pulling on Cael’s shirt. Reluctantly, he got up, almost falling back down as he did.

The four of them turned to the rest of the room. The two guards from before had multiplied to six almost-identical grunts, all circled around Azaria, with Connor standing a little off to the side, shouting orders. She was holding her own despite the gash in her leg, but there was no way she could keep up for long. Psychotic was nowhere in sight.

“What the heck? Does this guy clone too?” Ruaia asked, leaping forward. Kethri joined her, zooming ahead while Cael and Antain lumbered behind them, failing to keep up. They were in better condition to be zombies than fighters. Despite that, Antain blundered around the center group and made a beeline for Connor.

Antain got right up to him and kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying against the wall. “Nobody. Calls. Her. Babe. Except. Me.” He shouted, throwing a knife with each word, pinning him down by his clothes. “Got it?” He finished with a grin.

“Are you still hung up on that?” Conner scoffed, trying to wriggle the knives lose.

“Yup,” Antain said cracking his knuckles, “Lets face it buddy, you done crossed the line.” Connor groaned, regretting he ever left England.

In the middle of the room, Kethri and Ruaia had joined Azaria in her fight against the Brute Squad. One of them grabbed Kethri’s wrist and threw her across the room. She slammed into the wall hard and slid to the floor, but the guard was thrown off by her weight and lost his balance, crashing to the ground.

Ruaia took the opportunity to wrench his arms above his head and slap the cuffs on his wrists. “Ha! I knew I kept those for a reason.”

“Way to think on your feet there Sparky,” Azaria called. She was sitting on a pile of three unconscious guards, holding the wound in her leg. Adrenaline was making it hurt less, but the blood loss was starting to get to her head. A sudden wave of dizziness knocked her off her tower and onto the table Amari was on, knocking it over.

Amari groaned. “Wha? Where am I?” She looked around and at first only registered chaos. But through the cacophony of sounds and movements, one thought managed to find a foothold. Amato. She found him still lying on the floor, looking just as bad.

“Amato!” She said, crawling over to him, trying to avoid the burst of fire, wind and bullets flying through the air. “Amato, can you hear me?” She landed at his side and searched for a heartbeat, finding it in his neck. Good. At least he’s still alive. But it was faint. She needed to get him back to the house to check for any internal bleeding he might have. Here she could only try to get him stable. She would have to work quickly, or he wouldn’t make it. She started carefully removing glass, healing the skin as quickly as possible to stop him from bleeding out completely.

Kethri, Azaria, and Ruaia stood in a mess of bodies, breathing heavily. Three guards were knocked out cold and the other three had been handcuffed by Ruaia. Nearby, Antain had given Connor a broken nose and two nice shiners were forming. There were probably dozens of other bruises that couldn’t be seen. Seems everything was temporarily under control.

Azaria turned to see Amari leaning over Amato’s body, mumbling something about needing to work fast. “Are you okay?” Azaria asked, putting a hand on Amari’s shoulder.

The girl jumped. “Oh, Azaria. It’s just you. Why are you covered in blood?” She asked, seeing the stream flowing from her friend’s leg. “Oh wait...that happens to you a lot.”

“Just shut up and fix it.” Azaria groaned. “We need to get moving and I won’t last long like this.

Amari sighed. She was exhausted from trying to heal Amato. “I’ll see what I can do. Sit still, this might sting a little.”

Azaria clenched her teeth. Liar, she thought as pain shot from her leg to her heart. It hurt. A lot. But she was pretty much used to Amari’s healings by now. It was kind of sad, when she thought about it. She spent way too much time getting injured. Her dad would definitely disapprove of how much she was slipping.

“That’s as good as I can get it for now,” Amari said after a minute or two. “It’ll still hurt like a hurensohn, but you won’t bleed anymore. I’ll see if there’s anything at the house that might help the pain.”

“I’m fine.” Azaria said, gritting her teeth as she stood up. “We need to get Amato back. Let’s go.”

“What are we gonna do about them?” Kethri asked, pointing her thumb over her shoulder at the pile of guards on the floor.

“Tie ‘em up, leave ‘em here, and call the cops to come pick them up.” Ruaia suggested. “Just as long as we aren’t here when the cops get here, it should all work out.”

“I have zip ties!” Antain said, pulling a stack of them out from a pouch on his belt

“That’s not necessarily something to be proud of, bakayaro,” Cael laughed.

“What? You never know when you’ll need them? And they’re useful now, aren’t they?”

“Whatever, let’s just get them on these guys.” He and Antain got to work tying up the three guards that weren’t already cuffed.

Azaria rifled through the pockets of a couple guards until she found a phone. She dialed 911 and dropped the phone on the floor. “We better get out quickly. Police will be on their way soon.”

They filed out and made their way out to the truck, which was parked about a block away.

“We need to get home. Who’s driving?” Amari asked. She could barely keep her eyes open, and was in no condition to drive.

“I am.” Azaria said, stumbling into a trash can. Her leg wasn’t quite ready to move properly and forcing it wasn’t helping.

“Yeah right, you can’t even stand up right. I’ll drive.” Kethri said, snatching the keys from Azaria.

“Are you even old enough to drive?” Ruaia asked.

Kethri glared at her. “I bet I’m older than you are. Or can you also say, completely honestly, that you’re 432?”

“You’re what now?” Antain said, eyes widening.

Kethri shrugged. “Give or take a decade. Age isn’t strictly tracked on Daimne. Too much effort after a couple hundred years.”

Azaria sighed. “Whatever age you are, you look fifteen, which might get us pulled over, and we can’t risk that, not with the way we look and the shape we’re in. My car, I’m driving, and that’s final.” She took the keys back.

“You’ll drive us into a light pole.” Ruaia said. “Why don’t you let someone drive who is coherent and doesn't look fifteen?” Azaria glared at her for a second weighing her options.

“Fine.” She snapped, slapping the keys into Ruaia’s hands. “But I call shotgun. Now let’s just go.”

Cael and Antain hopped into the bed of the truck without any discussion. Amari climbed into the back seat first, followed closely by Kethri. With Ruaia and Azaria’s help, Amato was lifted into their laps.

“Step on it,” Azaria said as she and Ruaia took their seats.

Ruaia nodded. “Hold on tight.” She punched the accelerator, jolting the truck forwards.

Kethri grabbed Amato’s hand, a sad and worried expression on her face as she stared at his peaceful face in her lap. Amari patted her shoulder. “He’ll be alright. I promise. We just need to get back.”

Amari rested her head on the window. There wasn't anything more she could do for Amato at the moment, and she figured that she might as well as get some rest on the ride back home.

Arriving at the house, Amari and Kethri gingerly passed Amato out to Cael and Antain so they could carry him into the house.

Sasha was pacing back in forth by the front door as they came in. “Where have you been?” She started to lecture.

“Oh mom not now, just save the lecture for once okay? Amato needs help.” Amari groaned. Sasha’s eyes fell on Amato and her face paled.

“What happened?” She asked ushering Antain and Cael down the stairs to med lad.

“That’s a good question. What did happen?” Amari asked Antain and Cael. They both shrugged.

“We were off on our own for that part,” Antain explained. “There were three locations with bombs and three of us. It only made sense to split up.”

“Set him here.” Sasha instructed as the entered the small med lab. Antain laid his brother carefully down on an examination table. “Now everybody except Amari, leave. You’ll only get in the way, and hovering is very distracting.” Antain made a face and was about to protest.

“He’ll be okay. I promise.” Amari said, laying a hand on his shoulder. “Go make sure Az and everybody else is alright, okay?” Antain nodded reluctantly and made his way back up the stairs, with Cael in tow. Kethri followed slowly behind, trying to get a couple last looks at Amato before rounding the corner onto the staircase.

Back in the living room, the minutes seemed to tick past even slower than normal. There were small flurries of movement around the room as everyone tried to distract themselves from what was going on down stairs. Kethri was pacing back and forth in front of the window, glancing at the door every time she turned around. Cael was fidgeting with one of his gadgets, while Adamar typed furiously on his laptop. Antain had moved from standing by the door waiting for news, to sitting on the couch. Every few minutes he glanced at his watch, then to the door. Seeing no one come in with news, he’s sigh and look down at the floor. Ruaia sat on a chair in the corner of the room, glancing from face to face wanting to say something to comfort them, but no words came to her.  

Azaria had taken out some of her knives and was throwing them across the room at a target. They hit close to the bulls eye every time with a soft and steady thunk thunk thunk. Her last knife hit dead center, quivering slightly as it stuck out of the cork board. She went to retrieve the knives, glancing at the clock on the wall as she crossed the room. They had been waiting for hours now and the sun was starting to rise. She frowned as she pulled the knives out of the target. Amari and Aunt Sasha had been down there for a long time now. They should have heard something by now. The fact that it had been so long with no news made her stomach twist into an uncomfortable knot. Something's wrong, I know it, she thought.

There had already been so much death in her family, and the thought of possibly losing another one of her brothers made her feel sick. She thought of her father's rule: don’t get attached. How were you not supposed to get attached to someone you’ve spent your entire life with? That rule never made much sense to her.

She looked at the door for a long moment, almost willing Amari or Aunt Sasha or someone to come tell them what was going on. But no one came. She sighed and went back to throwing her knives, trying to keep her worries and fears at bay.

The silence that fallen over the group when they got back hadn't lifted. No one seemed able to voice their thoughts out loud. The silence was maddening for Azaria. Just when she felt like she couldn’t take it anymore, there were foot steps out in the hall. Every head turned to look at the door.

Amari appeared in the doorway looking disheveled and exhausted. There were smears of blood on her face and dress, making it a garish combination of green and red, like someone murdered a Christmas tree. She said nothing for a long moment. Azaria took in the blood on her face and clothes, a hard lump rising in her throat. That much blood….it’s never a good sign.

Amari glanced around the room around the room, taking in everyones faces, then gave a small smile. “He’s stable.” She said finally. “He’s gonna be out of commision for a while, he lost a lot of blood and has several broken bones and a couple of really bad burns, but he’s gonna be alright.” There was an audible sigh of relief throughout the room. Azaria slid down the wall to a sitting position, covering her face with her hands, breathing easier than she had in hours.

Amari flopped down on the couch next to Antain, sighing deeply. “Don’t know about you guys,” She said “but I’m beat.”

“We should probably get some sleep. It’s been a long day.” Kethri said, rubbing her eyes.

“Yeah…” Cael said slowly. No one made a move to leave the room though. In fact, everyone moved in closer together. Kethri and Azaria moved to sit on the floor near the couch everyone was sitting on. Ruaia even scooted closer to the group. Contentment spread through them; everyone was safe and sound, even after what had happened. Azaria sighed to herself and resolved to keep them that way, even with their crazy notion of being superheroes.