Power (Book 1)

Chapter 33

All of my speed surged through me. I rocketed forward, the lightning enveloping me, combining with the ethereal lights twisting around my torso. I was around the whole complex five times in the first second. 

Unfortunately, so was Que. He stayed even with my pace, breathing evenly while I was panting from the exertion. No longer invisible while he ran, he seemed to be running as fast as a regular human being, from my perspective. But his long legs, combined with his running experience, made him more than a challenge for me to keep up with. He seemed to gain more and more ground with each bend. I had to slow down to keep myself from crashing into the wall. 

Before long, we had gone around enough times for Que to gain a whole half lap on me. But I wasn't giving up that easily. I was supposed to have twice the speed he did, experience or no experience. And I would prove that I was the fastest.

I pushed through the exhaustion of trying to keep up with him and stepped up the gas. I forced my legs to go higher, making time slow down even more. I gained a little ground on Que, who heard me approaching from behind. He ran faster too, and I lost what little space remained in-between us. 

I slowed down time even more. The lights around me intensified. Suddenly, the gap that had seemed so large now shrunk at a rapid pace as Que moved as fast as a snail would in real time. I watched him fade away behind me in the large room. 

Pretty soon, I started to lap him. It was infrequent at first, about every minute. Then, I ran around him more and more often until I had to watch for him every few seconds. I was going so fast now that even my eyes, which had learned to adjust to my speed, were struggling to keep up now. I had never gone this fast before.

Then, I heard a loud cracking sound. I had no idea what it was. I looked around me, not noticing anything out of the ordinary.   

My foot tripped on something in the floor, and I instantly lost my footing. I went tumbling end over end. I lost my hold on time, my speed, my legs, and my sense of balance all in that one instant. It was all I could do to trigger my diamond form in time to shield me from most of the damage- that included crashing into the wall headfirst.

I peeled myself off of the wall and stumbled away, trying to regain my senses. Que had stopped, too.

"I think...I won," I managed to say.

But Que didn't respond. He was looking at something in the middle of the room. 

A gaping black hole was presently taking form. It had a sick, inky blackness to it that repelled every fiber of my being. The floorboards around it were rattling and breaking free, getting sucked in. Que couldn't stop staring at it. 

It looked exactly like the one that we used to get everywhere inside Afterlight, just darker and blacker (if that was a word). And it's suction was gaining power. 

"Que, we need to get out of here," I said. "Something isn't right about that thing."

"You're damn right, kid," Que said. "We need to get out of here. The portal fixers can clean this up later, but we have bigger fish to fry right now. We  can't leave here because of that thing." He pointed to the black hole.  "It'll interfere with the one we need to get back to Afterlight."

"So how do we get out?" I asked. I was having to talk louder. The bench where Que had thrown his towel was beginning to lift off the floor. 

"I don't know," he said.

Everything was starting to get sucked in now. I walked over to Que and grabbed his arm. My diamond form was much heavier than my human one. "Is there something on the outside of this room? Are we aboveground or underground?" I shouted.

"We're aboveground!" The wind was starting to lift me up as well. I planted my feet firmly in the wood. It gave me support. 

I trudged over to the far wall, each step I took getting harder and harder to make. If I could punch our way out of here with my superstrength, then maybe we could get to safety. 

After six agonizingly long steps, I was close enough to the wall to get to work. I told Que to crouch down in front of me to protect himself from the black hole. 

I punched the wall with my diamond fist. It left a big-sized hole. I punched again, a lot harder this time. It left a bigger hole. I repeatedly punched it over and over again, each time getting farther and farther into the wall. Large pieces of rock rested beside and behind me as more rubble was cast aside.

I was a foot in when I hit a layer of hard metal. Instead of punching it, I reached in it with both hands and tore it from the outside, all the while making sure Que was safe in front of me. I felt the black hole pushing at my back, begging me to turn around so it could suck me in with the rest of the giant workout room. 

Moonlight shone off the edges of the metal I tore through. With a grunt, I forced the hole to stretch even wider so Que and I could fit through. He tumbled out the other side.

I couldn't fit in this form. I quickly changed back so I could go out the other side. 

But that was all it needed. The black hole sucked at my body, stronger than I had anticipated. My feet slipped out from under me and I went flying towards the inky blackness that led to who knows where. 

Flying towards the dark portal, I saw Que running away. Good. At least he would be safe. 

A few moments before my body was flung into the portal, I stopped. Slowly, it began to move towards the hole in the wall. I felt pressure on my arms and my chest. It felt like hands were trying to pull me out to safety. I struggled not to fall unconscious as even the oxygen was sucked out of the room. 

The force pushed me ever closer to the wall, and then- yes! I got a grip on the edge of the metal. It was refreshing to feel the cold surface on my hands, biting into the skin. I hefted myself the last bit of the way outside, where the black hole had little effect on me. 

I collapsed on the ground. Taking deep breaths, I saw my rescuers. 

Jake, Cassie, and Que stood over me. Cassie staggered, then fell to the ground next to me, her head thumping on the grass. Que rushed to her side to help her up, but she was unconscious. 

Jake tried to help me up, but I refused to budge while I was catching my breath. He lifted my shoulders up but wasn't strong enough to support my full weight. After struggling to get my tired body up, he gave up, letting me rest on the ground.

I didn't have the energy to speak, but if I couldn't, I still wouldn't say anything. Somehow, I knew I had been the cause of it, the black hole. And whether or not Afterlight could arrange for it to be fixed, I had just caused a lot of damage to one of their facilities. I couldn't even look at Jake, I was so ashamed.

I turned over to look at the black hole that had done everything in its power to stop me from escaping. And in it, I could've sworn I saw a face.

Without a shadow of a doubt, even without my nanobots giving me the information, I already knew who's face it was. 

The Master smiled. Then he broke out into a devilish laugh. He cackled, his hair falling into his face as it shook from laughter. I watched him silently, not having the energy to curse. Let him laugh, I thought.

He stopped laughing. Then he said something that sent a chill up my spine, sending one emotion running through my mind. Fear.

"You are my goal, Jay," he said. "Life is the game, and I'm the big boss. My army against you and your little friends. Let's see who'll win, shall we?" He started laughing again, and his face disappeared in the darkness.

For the first time, Jake and Que's words sunk in. There was no hope. I was doomed to be controlled by that monster. It didn't matter if my nanobots protected me from his direct control- he had power over reality itself. I didn't have a chance. 

I couldn't beat the Master.