I pointed at the schematic. "Okay, you guys. My plan depends heavily on two main things: the fact that the chances of Metagor and Sage being there is almost 100 percent and that this schematic is accurate." I looked at Jake, who nodded his head in confirmation.
"First thing- stealth is not an option. We're going into unknown territory. The Master's mansion is probably loaded with cameras, traps, and other things that would keep any unwanted visitors off his property. When we go in, we go in hard and fast-" I put my fist in my hand for emphasis "-and hope that we can disable him long enough to transport this city back to where it belongs. We arrest him, and Jake can handle it from there. Got it?"
Cassie raised her hand. "Jay, I have one question. Why am I here? I mean, you could have picked any other super-powered person, but why me?"
"I'm glad you asked," I said. "I wanted you to be here because you're the only person I know who can read minds."
"How does reading minds help us?" Jake asked.
I sighed. They really needed to think. "Okay, think about it. If Cassie reads minds, and the Master controls minds, then what better way to get a leg up on what's coming than to have Cassie there? She can tell us who the Master is bringing for us."
"Oh," Blink said. "So she's like an early warning system."
"Exactly," I said.
"That's smart," Jake said. "But that still doesn't help us with the predicament of actually getting in."
"Who said it'll be difficult?" I said.
"It probably will be. If he's been controlling the entire city since before we were born, then he's got to be pretty powerful. And that means getting in will have to be hard. Defeating him will be, too."
"Don't worry about getting to him," I said. "Leave that to me. Besides, that will be the least of our problems. The more pressing matter will be the people he summons to fight for him."
"Yeah, we definitely need to get a handle on that. Just Sage and Metagor are going to be tough, but with other people we have to fight too? That will be hard," Cassie said.
"Here's what I've got on that," I said. "I think Metagor's tail is his weak point. Whenever he's not using it to shoot spikes at you- which, by the way, is an ability I just found out he had- it just flops on the ground, useless. If we could get a hold of that, then we would have the upper hand."
"And Sage?" Cassie said.
I puffed air out of my mouth. "I'm working on it. I think I have another way of beating her. Because obviously, hitting her with a sonic clap isn't enough."
"What?" Cassie said. Jake and Blink had equally confused looks on their faces.
"Nothing," I said. "Anyway, we need to attack at night. I won't tell you when. We need to have no plan of action other than what I just told you."
"Why?" Blink asked.
"Because the Master can take over you at any moment, at any time. We can't have him knowing the plan."
"I noticed you said 'you'," Blink said. "Does that mean that you can't be controlled?"
"Yes, it does," I said.
"How come? What makes you any different from us?"
"You sure do have a lot of questions," I said. "But yes, I am different. It's because of my infinity matrix- my nanobots," I corrected myself. "They prevent me from being controlled, somehow, just like our suits."
"Well, isn't that convenient," Blink said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked him. I felt the air in the room get taut with tension.
"It's convenient that your nanobots keep you from being affected by the Master's mind control while we only have our suits to protect us. How do we know that you aren't under his control right now?" he accused me.
"You don't," I said. "But know that if I was, there wouldn't be a whole lot you could do to stop me."
He stepped forward as if he was going to attack me. I calmly stayed in my position, waiting for him to do something.
"You guys don't have to do that macho thing for me," Cassie said. She was trying to diffuse the situation with humor. "Seriously, it's not necessary."
I ignored her comment and continued with my speech. "There really is no way of knowing who is under the Master's control. That's why I won't tell you what to do until the last second. Until then, get ready. Prepare. And most importantly, watch your backs." I looked at each one of them. "I'm about to go- I need to train with Que before the day's over. You should train, too. We're going to need everything we've got if we want to win this."
Then I walked out before Blink could ask me another question. I could hear Jake saying, "So he said he had this really great plan, but didn't tell us what it was? How does that work?" as I went through the portal.
I took the portal to the gym-like room, hoping to catch Que there. He was running laps around the giant space, going so fast that I could only catch glimpses of him here and there. There was a loud buzzing sound; it was so loud that it was giving me a headache.
"Hey, Que!" I shouted.
He started slowing down. I could see him moving more and more frequently until he didn't fade out of my vision at all. He stopped running in circles and jogged towards one of the benches, where he picked up a towel and wiped his sweaty brow.
"What's up?" he said. "You didn't show up today, by the way."
"Yeah, sorry about that." I rubbed the back of my neck. "I went to school today."
"You went to school? I thought you got kicked out?"
"I was. But then I was reinstated after some evidence was found. Thankfully," I added.
"And you're saying the police just now found the evidence? It's been a while. Something sounds fishy about that."
"Actually, something was fishy. The officer who collected the evidence? Turns out he was working for this guy called the Master."
"The Master? Oh, I hate that guy," Que said.
"You know him, too? It seems like if people here knew about him, something should be done about it." I crossed my arms.
Que walked closer to me. "The Master is a dangerous man, Jay. He can control reality itself, as well as the minds of anyone he wants. He isn't someone you want to mess with."
"I know. Jake told me. But that doesn't give you guys an excuse not to try to fight him. I mean, doesn't it bother you at least a little that anyone around you, at any time, could be having their mind controlled? You would never know who you were talking to: the Master or your friend."
"Look, you're overthinking it," he said. "We don't even know how his hold over people works. There are many ways to control someone's mind. For all we know, he could just be making someone's feelings about a certain thing be stronger than they actually are."
I didn't say anything back. Mainly because I knew how that felt. When I was in my diamond form, I felt exactly the same way: my regular emotions were amplified tenfold.
"Okay." I decided to let the conversation go and move on to the next subject. "I wanted you to teach me today, even though I missed our time."
"Why?" he asked me.
"Because I'm about to go on a really important mission for Afterlight." I wasn't going to tell him what I was going to do. I didn't want him trying to talk me out of it. From the way he and Jake talked about it, they made it seem like the Master was an unstoppable force.
Unstoppable force, meet Jay West.
"Alright, Jay." He scrunched up his eyebrows, trying to think of what he was going to show me how to do. "I think I'm going to teach you how to-"
"Use my time slowing abilities," I said. "I really need to learn that right now, if you don't mind."
"Great, let's start off there," he said enthusiastically.