Endgame (Book 3)

Chapter 26

"No," he said resolutely. 

"You really don't want to hurt anyone? Try all those people in the front of the bank. Oh, and yourself, too," I said sarcastically. "And now I can't even see! I can't get rid of the bomb!"

The man quieted after that. 

"Do you even know how to disarm it?" I asked.

Again, he didn't respond.

I walked to where I thought I heard him move. When I was within a few feet of him, I heard his clothes ruffle. He was trying to make me believe he wasn't there.

"I know you're still here."

I created a force field that blocked our exit. If I maintained that and forced the man to turn off the bomb, everything would be well and fine. However, I was vulnerable while I channelled my focus into it. I couldn't turn into my diamond form and protect myself.

The people came first. Their lives were more important than mine.

"I'm telling you, the bomb's too big,"  I said again.

"Well, I know that now! But I never learned how to disarm it!" the man finally admitted. 

I gritted my teeth. "You got...a bomb...and didn't learn...how to disarm it?" 

"There was no turning back with this," he said. Then, he corrected himself. "There is no turning back with this." 

"If you don't figure out how to get that bomb out of here," I threatened him, "I will kill you." My voice was even and maintained, but I knew I wouldn't follow through with it. 

He called my bluff. "No, you won't. I know the code you heroes follow," he said, smugness entering his voice. "You don't kill."

I huffed.

"And I bet that if I knock you out right now, I could get away. You know we'll surely die this close to the bomb." 

And if he did that,  there wouldn't be enough time for me to make it out myself. Or enough time for the other people here to come to their senses and leave. 

The police had to be on their way now. But would they make it in time?

Sweat started to build on my brow. I should have handled him earlier. My ego had gotten the better of me. 

"How much time?" I asked in a low voice. 

"Two-and-a-half minutes." 

I cursed. "You're not a killer."

"Not yet, no," he said. "But I won't be, either. You'll see once it detonates." 

"Once, it detonates, everyone on this block will be dead," I said, alarm entering my voice. 

A thought occurred to me.

"What would your wife say?"

"Eve," he said.

"Yes. Eve. What would she think if you died today? Or if you went to jail? Your son would grow up without a father."

He became quiet again.

"She doesn't even know you're here," I assumed. "She'll find out from a newspaper."

"Shut up!" he yelled out.

I heard his feet press hard against the floor. I knew what he would do, but I couldn't block unless I lowered the shield. 

Everything became outlined in a blue hue. I saw the man coming at me, his fist raised. 

I sidestepped the attack and kicked him in the gut. I heard the air leave his lungs and prepared to attack again. I took down the force field. 

He stumbled to the wall, and as I went to him, he raised his head to look at me just as I knocked him out with a swift super-punch to the head.

With my odd vision, I looked at the timer. Only ten seconds were left.

A blue copy of me pulled itself out of my body and rushed toward the bomb. I followed it closely, knowing what it was.

After it ripped the bomb off, it tore down the hallway and out of view. I repeated its actions and trailed it to outside.

I could still see with my blue vision, and as I exited the bank, I saw police cars parked outside with officers coming to rescue the people inside. 

I checked the timer. I had seven seconds.

I peeled down the street toting the bomb in the crook of my arm, following my duplicate. Disruptions could make blow up early, but I took the risk and stuffed it inside my jacket.

I ran up the side of the tallest building in the immediate area, a skyscraper made almost completely of glass. I was out of breath for the first time when I reached the top, but I ran even faster to push off the wall and vault myself high into the air.

Using my superspeed even more, I hurled the bomb as far as I could. The world around me was completely dark, so far was I from the ground. 

A boom rocked the sky above me. A giant blue explosion erupted, and I felt the real thing a few moments later when lasting heat erupted across my torso. 

I smiled. Everything was going to be okay.

Gravity had other ideas.

I looked down just as my sight began to return and the center of my vision was restored. My body plummeted down.

Panic threatened to overrun me. I closed my eyes again.

You're as light a feather. You are in control. You are as light as a feather. Go up, my brain repeated.

My eyes shot wide open, and I could see completely clear. The ground was only a hundred feet away. 

I felt the power of flight inside my bones. It was there all along, and I couldn't feel it because I hadn't wanted to. I hadn't needed to. I wanted to stay grounded. And although I had a responsibility to handle my problems, I couldn't allow myself to get trapped in them. The sky was the limit for me, and it was bigger than I could ever imagine.

As abruptly as I had begun to fall, I began to rise as a gust of wind erupted below me. A cloud of dust rose on the ground below. 

Blue energy swirled off me in waves as I streaked through the atmosphere. I flew up the same skyscraper that had taken me to the sky, and I watched my reflection. My eyes were a startlingly bright blue, more ignited than they had ever been. They were two spotlights against the dark glass.

I spun in a spiral in the air, punching a hole in a cloud while moisture landed lightly on my face. I felt free. I felt relaxed. I felt amazing.

And I was so fast! The city was whizzing by below, but I felt distant from it. A street view on my feet could never amount to this. I could do anything I wanted up here.

I thanked the barber for my haircut. It would have been a huge problem had he not fixed it. 

Edging off of the speed, I reminded myself of the bank robber and high-tailed it back the way I came.

As I encountered the same skyscraper a third time, I frowned, my smile dimming. 

That wild, carefree look in my eyes...all of that uncontained energy I was giving off, the blue tinge to my skin...

I was the spitting image of Zero.