When Lightning Strikes

Chapter 28 -- Record time

He stares me down, not realizing I would cave so quickly. Did Red Raven really not know that I already knew his plans? Who did he think ruined the machine?

"Alright boys-" A girl villain, I assume Night Haze because she's the only released female villain listed on the news, coughs loudly over the chaos. "Right. And girl, let's get these peasants out of here." The villains begin to aimlessly scramble to pick up civilians.

"You're sure you don't want to save your own life?" The man in front of me asks.

I purse my lips together, "What is your name?"

He falters from his structure, "Blacklight."

I smirk, so this is the old wise guy that trained Mason. In a snarky manner, I reply, "Yes, Blacklight, I'm sure of myself. What else is a superhero supposed to do?" I watch his jaw clench and he spins on his heel to assist the other villains.

Jonas looks at me in bewilderment, "That was too easy. I know the other villains aren't allowed to kill you, but Blacklight didn't even threaten you." He whispers.

I know Jonas has a point, but all I can do is shrug and get as many people out of here as possible. The villains have barely begun to clean up their mess; hundreds of civilians still lie around with their hands binded and their mouths full of cloth.

I spot Blacklight across the huge scape of the room. Even at a distance like this, I can see the conniving smirk across his lips.

"Della?" Jonas sees it too, but he knows more than me. Blacklight vanishes from sight, along with the other villains. This can't be good.

Blacklight pops his head back in to inform me of something, "Oh. By the way, we placed a bomb somewhere in the library. It should go off in about two minutes." Once again, he's gone.

I think I'm going to hurl. How do I save this many people in two minutes, even with my speed? I look to Jonas with a panic in my eyes I'm sure is unreal.

"Find the bomb!" I yell at him, startling him out of whatever state of shock he may have been in. He dashes off towards the back of the library. The scary part is there's three stories to this library.

Citizens run around aimlessly, but the doors are crowded with people. I begin to guide some to the steps and hope that we haven't wasted any time. The people crowd around the exit from the upstairs, which leads to a rusted metal staircase outside.

"What's happening?" I shout to whoever may hear my cry.

"The stairs were set on fire! They're jumping!" Someone replies to me. A mini heart attack strikes me. How did I walk into this trap? Then again, the bomb had to be in place before I showed up. Right?

"Della!" Jonas runs up to me before I can respond to the emergency at hand.

"I can't get to the bomb. I-I think it's somewhere in the books-"

"Find. It." I grit my teeth. I have my own predicament to handle. He runs off again.

"Okay everyone! Listen up! I will rush you all down one at a time but you have to let me through!" Everyone begins to part down the middle but there are some that still haven't heard me. Seriously, how many people can possibly fit in this library?

"Move!" I belt out, and suddenly the path is clear. I begin taking one hand at a time and run down the side of the wall. Thank goodness I've learned to do this.

There's a handful of people left when I hear Jonas call out, "I can't disable it! 30 seconds!"

"What?!?" I run the rest of the group down and turn to the sound of Jonas' voice.