[OLD] The Supers Experiment (#1)

Eighteen

"Power failure."

The robotic voice startled Ivy. She sat up in her cot as the lights went out, leaving her in total darkness. Had she fallen asleep? What time was it?

"Power to all outside doors restored. Redirecting power to containment cells." The words sank in and Ivy realized what was happening. She jumped up and sprinted out of the cell. As she stumbled into the opposite wall, the electric cell bars reappeared. Moments later, the overhead lights flickered on.

"Power restored to containment sector," the voice said.

Ivy's heart pounded in her chest. She looked up at the security camera. Was someone monitoring it? Did anyone know she was out of her cell? There were soldiers behind the doors at each end of the hallway, but besides them, who was going to stop Ivy from escaping? Almost everyone had left to attack the Fortuna.

Ivy couldn't stay put. With a deep breath, she walked down to one end of the hallway, grabbed the door handle and pulled. Locked. She took a step back, unsure what to do.

The handle twisted and the door swung open. Ivy found herself face to face with four soldiers.

The soldier in front held up a gun. "Return to your cell," it ordered.

"Sorry, but that's not happening." Ivy threw up her hand and flung a ball of fire at the soldier. It was small, but it was enough to send the soldier a few steps back. A soldier to Ivy's left reached out to grab her arm.

Ivy spun and grabbed the soldier's wrist as her hand burst into flames. The soldier tried to back away, and she let go. She held out her arm and sent a explosion of fire at the soldiers to her right.

The blast threw them backwards a few feet. While they struggled to get back up, Ivy attacked another one. The soldier reached for the gun at its side, but Ivy lunged forward and grabbed it first. She crashed through the line of soldiers and whirled around, still clutching the gun.

Ivy had never fired a gun before. She struggled with it for a few seconds before giving up and tossing it behind her. The soldiers moved closer. Three of them had guns aimed at her face, while the fourth reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"Please return to your cell," the soldier said.

Ivy clenched her fists and allowed her hands to erupt into flames. The fire moved up her arms. The soldier's grip tightened as the fire reached its hand, but after a few seconds it let go and pulled away.

"Return to your cell," one of the soldiers said. "Or we will shoot."

Ivy's gaze darted from soldier to soldier. She couldn't fight all of them at once. But if she could get their guard down...

"Fine, I surrender," Ivy said, holding up her hands.

The soldiers lowered their guns. "I will escort you back to your cell," one of them said. "Please follow—"

Ivy broke into a run and moved at full speed down the hallway. She flung her arm behind her and blindly tossed a fireball at the soldiers. The hallway split up ahead, giving Ivy the option to go either left or right. She turned right and and found an open doorway to duck into.

Panting, Ivy pressed her back against the door frame and risked a glance down the hall. She could hear footsteps. Ivy held her hand out in front of her and started trying to form another fireball.

The footsteps grew louder. Ivy stepped out of the doorway and turned to face her attackers. Two soldiers came around the corner, guns raised, and charged at her. She threw her fireball, aiming for one of the soldier's necks. She missed and the fire grazed the soldier's arm instead. It slowed down, but didn't stop.