The Blazing Rebellion

Chapter 69

John POV

John instantly ran to his mother's side, eyes still wide. Unfortunately, she was unconscious. He reached out to her, preparing to shake her awake, but paused before he could. Would that be harmful to her? He didn't know where she was injured, after all, and she was a hospital patient.

Luckily, he didn't have to do much. Jane gave a small groan as he stared at her, her eyes slowly cracking open. They widened as she saw how close he was. Wincing, John took a step back to give her some space.

"Mrs. Doe..." Sera began, taking a step closer to where John stood by the hospital bed. "How... how are you feeling?"

She didn't answer immediately. John frowned. Maybe she is still recovering. She did just bring back my ability, after all...

He paused, a sudden realization hitting him. If his ability really was back, he should have been able to sense people's auras, too, with his passive... he did feel Sera's, though it was somewhat hidden, but his mother's was different. It was there, but faint... as if she'd used it up in whatever she'd done to him.

He bit his lip, remembering how much aura he'd felt just before passing out. Did she transfer some of her ability to me in waking mine up? He still wasn't sure how it had been possible, but that seemed to make sense. Maybe she'd somehow used her aura to affect his. If he was really sensing hers, though, it meant that she was weak at the moment...

...which likely meant she wasn't strong enough to help Sera's ability, not like she'd helped his.

John glanced back at her, biting his lip in concern. I should have asked her to help Sera... she's the one who's been wanting her ability back for the longest time. I still sort of hate mine. He wasn't going to get over his trauma immediately, after all.

"Hopefully... that worked..." Jane panted, interrupting John's thoughts. He turned to stare at her; her amber eyes were closing once again, as if even waking up had tired her out. He sighed. It seemed waking John's ability had taken far too much out of her for the day. He wasn't sure if she'd wake up for a long time if she was sleeping now.

Unfortunately, that meant that she likely couldn't help Sera... at least not right now.

John took a step back from the bed. "So... what now?" He asked, glancing back at Sera. She frowned at Jane for a moment, as if sensing that there was nothing else that could be done, before turning to face the door.

"We leave," She told him. John took a step towards her.

"Your ability-" He began. She cut him off.

"We have to make sure yours is really back first, John. There's nothing we can do about mine right now." Her voice was sure, but he could sense a bit of sadness in it. She'd really been hoping for her ability back.

He sighed and nodded. I guess it would be good to test things. He had no idea where to do that, though. It wasn't like he could challenge someone at school. He could, but he was sure they'd be too terrified to do much.

They left the hospital, each still in thought. John suggested visiting in a few days; Sera didn't say anything, but she didn't turn down the idea, either. If my mother is recovered by then, maybe she could help Sera. He hoped there was some solution. The closer they got to having abilities, the less power Spectre held over them, and John hated the idea of being completely under their control. He planned to get Sera far away from them as soon as he could.

He couldn't risk anything, though, without knowing if his ability truly was back. After saying goodbye to Sera and heading back to his dorm, he laid on his bed and stared at the ceiling. He'd hoped something would come to him by now, but nothing had. Any sort of training just seemed like a bad idea, and much too dangerous for other people.

No one would fight him anyways. Unless they didn't know him, of course... but he couldn't exactly dress up anonymously and fight strangers. The only people who did that were superheroes.

The thought of them made John think back to his dad. William's writing of Unordinary had caused many superheroes to arise, even if his dad had only meant to help him through it; others had just found something in its message, just as he had. He didn't believe that the authorities were there to help, though, not anymore. He didn't want to think that they had everything under control. No, he wanted to break free of that.

He paused. Now I'm starting to sound like one of those superheroes. John laughed and shook his head. Yeah, I don't think fighting strangers is a good way to take down the authorities... all it really does is test your strength-

John froze.

Superheroism did test abilities and strength. You had to be strong in order to survive that kind of a fight, and the criminals superheroes fought had no idea who they were. Superheroes could dress up anonymously. They could fight and test their abilities... just like he wanted to do.

It was crazy, though. Even if he used a different ability every time, making it even harder for them to pin him down, and even if he wore all black so no one recognized him, it couldn't possibly work... right?

His mind flashed back to his dad's book, and to the news. Superheroes got killed. They were weaker than him, though. Especially if his ability was fully back.

He'd prepared a backpack and outfit before he could stop himself, cursing under his breath. There was no going back now, no denying it. Superheroism was the perfect way to test his ability... and to get stronger.

It was the first step to getting back at Spectre for all they'd done to Sera.