When Lightning Strikes

Chapter 28 -- Record time

I'm sick and tired of amateur villains. Seriously, do something other than pick pockets and loiter around the mall.

That's what I thought to myself months ago, and even when the top 10 villains escaped. Now they find themselves able to participate in kidnappings?

Jonas and I arrive right at the same time as Mason and Ash plop onto the top of the warehouse with us. Dad looks back at the four of us, his deep green suit revealing a side to my dad I had never imagined before. What would my mother look like in her purple and green suit now?

Suddenly I'm brought back to my surroundings. Surprisingly there aren't any buildings on fire, however there are sounds of people screaming. It's not a catastrophic scene. Villains aren't shooting lasers down from the sky at the civilians. One by one, if you pay close enough attention, you can see the citizens being picked off. In alleys, on sidewalks, outside of the grocery store.

"Where are they being taken to?" Ash asks. I try to observe a kidnapping closely to determine the answer. The villain I cannot specifically make out heads into the library across the street with a skinny framed figure.

Well played, Red Raven. The very library I used to house the congressmen.

"We agree to split up?" Mason suggests. He would be the Fred of our Mystery Gang.

"Yeah," Dad mumbles, disappearing the second the word comes off his lips.

Mason claps his hands together, "I'm glad we know where he's going. Very thorough plan."

I roll my eyes, "Just head towards an alley. I'm sure you'll find one of the villains." I grab Jonas' hand and bolt for the sidewalks beneath us.

We end up right outside of the library and I barge into the doors. Just as we observed before, villains swarm the place, their captives thrown on the floor and their hands bound together by ropes.

"We thought you'd never show up." A giant figure in royal blue steps in front of me. Civilians are scattered everywhere in the library. Children are crying, teenagers are upset because they can't use their hands to text, and parents are trying to calm everyone down. Then there are the people that aren't part of a family circle that are simply scowling in the direction of the villain in front of me.

"Who are you?" I demand, sneering in his presence.

He speaks in a masculine tone, but it's not as terrifying as he was initially. "Wouldn't you like to know."

I wave my hand, put out with the antics of dramatic villains. "Actually, I don't care who you are. All I want to know is why you have captured so many citizens." A baby wails in the background.

The super in front of me laughs, "Oh, them! Red Raven sent us to collect citizens. It's part of his plan."

"What plan?" I snarl, Jonas reaching for my arm.

"Ah, yeah, he told me to invite you to his warehouse on Friday."

I laugh in his face, "Invitation declined."

The villain in front of me tsks, shaking his head with a sly smirk. "It's not much of a choice. Unless you want all of these people to die. I mean, suit yourself-"

I interrupt, "He's going to kill them if I don't show. Classic." I say, biting my cheek in order to stay calm. Rule number one about being a hero: don't show weakness.

"Alright," I straighten myself upright, making myself taller. It worked when Mickey backed me into a wall, maybe it will work again. "If that's all, then release them and be on your way." I say with an assertive tone.