~17~ World War III
(Zac’s POV)
Steal it. Steal it. Steal it.
Devin was right about only making the chemical when needed—wanted—in this case, because Luke’s words were getting to me. Even though it was now two weeks after the fact.
He was an idiot, I realize. He knew nothing of the drug, yet insisted on it grasp. Not only had the drug’s secret spread to the biggest stoner, but also Brian, who had his suspicions on why I’ve been hanging around his ex-girlfriend after “hating” her for all this time.
“Hello?” I asked over the phone. I woke up with “Steal it” in my head, but hadn’t bothered on getting up. I only saw the sun’s bright rays of light and answered my phone at its ringtone.
“Get up,” Devin commanded. At first, I was sure that he knew the Hart Brothers knew about the drug, but then he continued speaking in a calm voice. “There’s a field thirty minutes out of town going straight down highway 10. Meet me there at four.”
“At least take me on a date before you summon me places,” I humored. He breathed his laugh.
“Just get up,” he commanded before hanging up. I groaned and looked at the screen as it read “2:13 PM”. Considering how it took forty five minutes just to get out of the city—without traffic—and adding twenty minutes to that down highway 10, I threw on a red shirt and jeans before cleaning up and deciding to take my motorcycle out to this…meeting.
***
The place was…interesting. Devin gave me further instructions and it led me to a huge clearing surrounded by trees on one side and a small lake on the other with a fallen apart shack in the center of the field. Of course, I noticed all of this setting before noticing the three other people that were here. One of them emerging from a different direction.
(Devin’s POV)
“What’s he doing here?” Nearly everyone asked, pointing at someone.
I looked around. Zac had a red shirt, black leather jacket and some ripped jeans and I could tell that his eyes were starting to lighten. Any chance of anger would lighten them into a flaming red color to match.
Then there was Brian, who wore a dark brown jacket with a green-ish shirt and straight-legged jeans with a flashy belt buckle, as if expecting to do absolutely nothing. He looked around, more confused than anyone. Unlike Zac, his eyes didn’t change colors at the thought of confusion. Only when in use; just like Joey.
Joey stood to my right in his gray hoodie and faded jeans. He wasn’t aware of anything. Zac knew of his powers, but Joey hadn’t. He assumed the drug had worked nothing.
“Why’d you bring me here?” Zac hissed at me. He then looked around. “And them.”
“A reunion,” I smiled weakly.
“Between two people that hate each other and a person who knows basically nothing about half the party,” Zac hissed. “Nicely done.”
“Your optimistic side of life brings me joy,” Joey teased. Zac narrowed his eyes at him and then started to look around everyone. He stopped at me.
“What happened to only three people?” Zac asked me.
“What’s he talking about?” Brian asked.
“He said only three people would ever know about the drug,” Zac informed.
“Wait. You gave them all the drug?” Joey asked me.
“You gave Hart of all people, the drug?” Zac added.
“Look. I have my reasons,” I reasoned.
“Oh, this sounds good,” Zac laughed doubtfully.
“I brought you all here because you’ve all shown exceptional results for the chemicals,” I started. “But even though you could hate…one another, you need to be connected. You all are connected.”
They all had powers. And they were all connected by me and Angel. Me for the chemicals and Angel for the…triggers.
“Give me a reason,” Zac muttered. “Cuz all I see is an idiot genius, a nervous and ignoramus pretty boy, and a heartbroken fool.”
“Don’t forget the stubborn a$$hole,” Joey hissed.
“Of course not, because—” Zac started to retort.
“Stop,” I growled.
“Give me a reason!” Zac yelled, his eyes now officially changing into an orange color. He strode over and grabbed my collar. “Tell me why you brought this mess into my life and why the h3ll you act like this is some comic book that you can control!”
I felt Joey step up and give Zac a look that released me. Zac dropped me to my feet, forcefully and took a step back, only to face Joey at a better angle. He balled up his fists and took a fighting stance. Joey scoffed and started to laugh, but then went silent when Zac’s fists produced a fiery exterior.
“You’re not laughing now!” Zac yelled with his eyes glowing red around the inside of his irises, on top of a black backdrop. This was the most angry I’ve ever seen him. This was also the first times I’ve seen him use his powers with purpose and control. Control of his powers, not his emotions behind them. The theory proved true when he hurled a ball of fire at Joey and I. We braced ourselves for the heat, but then opened our eyes to see the giant chunk of dirt flying up to extinguish the fire. I looked over to Brian, who held up a hand to somewhat control his powers.
He had the most control.
But that didn’t stop Zac from aiming his flames at him, only to be blocked by barriers of dirt. Soon enough, vines started to grow by Zac’s feet, unnoticed, and then he was being pinned to the ground by the rouge plants. Brian just crouched by Zac’s side and laughed once at his work. Zac yelled and then the vines were all singed and Zac hopped up to his feet. I already saw the vines start to decompose themselves on the ground.
“It doesn’t matter if you can grow stupid plants and move rocks,” Zac said to Brian. He was trying to weaken him. “You think that burning building would’ve been different if a few plants arrived?!”
Brian tackled him to the ground.
“Maybe! If I had known that it was you to start that fire—”
“I didn’t start that fire at all! I didn’t even know that I could control fire in the first place!” he yelled, producing fire around his body enough to make Brian roll off of him. Zac stood, still will his fists illuminated with fire.
“Then why did you save her?! Cuz I know a guilty conscience was your only reason!”
“I saved her because I owed that to her!” Zac yelled. His flames flickered. “I’m not gonna let someone like her die…I’m not gonna let someone I care about die…Not again.”
His fire died with his fading aggression.
“Just like I’m not about to let someone I care about get screwed over by you,” Brian hissed before a tree’s trunk wrapped around Zac and more vines pulled him to the ground. Brian’s eyes were glowing a neon green color and yearned for revenge. But the thing is, I didn’t mean for them to fight…not like this…not because of my drug.
“Stop it,” Joey said to them. Zac was now on the ground, writhing in pain as Brian commanded the plants to compress Zac’s body as much as possible. Joey pushed back Brian, who was intently staring at Zac’s slow torture. Eye contact.
His perception—from immediately falling asleep after the drug—was his trigger. His powers would be available to him within any given time on how his brain analyzed the usage.
So when he stared down at the plants devouring his “enemy” as Joey tried pulling at the roots, the command was broken when his perception was.
“You’re killing him!” Joey yelled. And then suddenly, Brian was drenched with water, coming from the nearby lake which was swarming like a tsunami.
Everything stopped.
The vines and plants coiled back into the Earth as Zac and Joey were both out of breath. Joey stood and looked to me.
“You didn’t tell me,” he whispered. I gulped and looked around at them.
“I told you that you’re all connected,” I muttered. “You each have a weakness. You can use it against each other, but it’s no use.”
“And why not?” Brian hissed.
“Think of Angel,” I said, looking at each and every one of them; Zac with his eyes that were turning blue and green…Brian whose eyes threatened to change back into green from brown…and Joey, who’s eyes remained the same bright blue, even though he had unknowingly summoned the lake. “She brought-on your weakness…your trigger…your…reason. Kill one another and you kill a part of her.”
“And if we kill you?” Zac muttered from the ground.
“No one will be able to fully understand anything then,” I answered, although killing me would have no other effect. Zac hoped up from the ground.
“Then understand this,” he said, standing threateningly toward me. “I’m through with trusting you.”
“You never truly did anyways,” I commented. He sized me up and I saw his eyes flicker red before he produced fire, but then Joey pulled my shoulder back and held up a palm sized water ball with his right hand and his left hand was raised to lift the lake.
Zac looked back to Brian and then to the ground, where vines started to bud. He stepped on them, furiously.
“I don’t know why you two are smug with each other,” Zac commented, looking to Joey and then Brian. “He’s basically been dating Angel and yet you’re on his side over mine, even though you’ve known me since forever.”
“That doesn’t change anything between us,” Brian said to him seriously.
“Then next time, let him and his water powers save her in the next fire,” Zac yelled at him and then looked Joey, who had dropped the lake. “I don’t know why either of you are even double teaming up on me when in actuality you wouldn’t even be here or have powers if it wasn’t for me saving Angel in the first place!”
They were all silent. Zac looked to me.
“Don’t expect me to do sh!t with your little group,” he growled. “I’m on my own. Oh, and see to it that Angel stays away from me.”
“No problem,” Joey and Brian both replied. Zac looked as if he was expecting someone to stop his departure, but then continued to leave through the forest.
“Joey,” Joey introduced himself to Brian.
“Brian,” Brian responded.
“So I guess it’s just us,” I said, awkwardly.
“‘Us’?” Joey asked, gesturing between the three of us. Then he started to gesture between him and Brian. “You mean ‘us’. All you did was use us as guinea pigs.”
“You said you were up for it,” I reminded.
“But you never told me that I had powers,” he raised his voice.
“I didn’t think I had to,” I sort of lied. Joey looked to Brian.
“Did you know? About me and all of this?” Joey asked him. He shook his head.
“Only about Zac and the powers,” he answered. Joey looked back to me.
“And you say you’re my best friend? Yeah right,” he scoffed before leaving in the direction we came.
“Don’t think you’re scotch free,” Brian told me. “I may know what I got myself into, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that you attached their lives to Angel’s.”
He left through the way he came and I was left alone.
In the intention of starting a superhero group of some sort, it ended in everyone hating each other.