The Rise of Renegade X (32 page)

I breathe deeply and stretch out, taking it all in. Nothing to worry about.

Then my phone rings.

Sarah freezes, like she thinks it’s going to be bad news.

It’s probably Kat. That would be great. I could walk Sarah home, then go over to Kat’s house, and—But the number on the screen isn’t Kat’s. It’s Pete’s.

I flip open my phone. “Screw you.”

“That how you answer the phone now?” he says. “You have so many enemies, you don’t even bother with hello?”

I’m on my feet, pacing. “What do you want, Pete? You going to cry some more about how Kat likes me better than you? I told you, I always—”

“Lose? Funny you should say that about Kat.”

My insides go cold and watery. I stop pacing.

“’Cause she’s here,” Pete says. “You want to say ‘screw you’ to her?”

“She’s not—”

“Damien!” Kat’s voice comes on the phone, scared and desperate. “Don’t listen to him. It’s a—”

“I got your girl,” Pete says. “And I got a whole lot of superheroes under my control.”

“What about my mom?!”

“Nothing. Taylor bought that I was the eager, helpful assistant. While he and your mom went to spread their stuff around the city, they stupidly left me with their magic machine. I broadcast my voice all over town before they could, and now I’m the one in charge of all the zombies. I was on every radio and TV in Golden City, on all the stations.”

I wince, remembering that Pete’s superpower makes him the human radio signal. He could spread the hypno powers of Sarah’s device all over town faster than anyone. “The Crimson Flash was supposed to stop you.”

“Yeah, I got him here, too. He’s real useful, and he can’t wait to see you. Listen, Damien, I know how jealous you get when Kat fools around. So I’m going to be nice and give you a heads-up. We’re on top of the tallest tower in Golden City, the—”

“Banking and Finances building.”

“Enjoying the view. It’s real nice at the top, Damien. Too bad you’re always stuck on the ground. Anyway, if you want to walk in on us again, you know where to find us. And Damien? I’d hurry if I were you.” He hangs up.

I hurl my phone at the couch. It bounces off the cushions. I shout a couple expletives that make Sarah and Heraldo both gape at me.

I dig through my backpack and pull out the gun Sarah made. I still don’t know how it works, but it’s the best I’ve got.

“What’s going on? Damien? What did he say?”

“It’s happening. It’s …” I swallow and run my hands through my hair. “Mom and Taylor didn’t take over. Pete—that guy who told you Heraldo was hurt—did. And he’s got Kat and the Crimson Flash.” I pull the antidote Mom gave me out of my pocket and hold it out to her. “Take this. It’ll protect you against the toxin.” Probably.

She stares at it. “But Damien, you’re a
superhero
. You need that.”

I shake my head. “I’m only half superhero. I don’t know if it’ll even affect me. I don’t want you turning into one of those pie zombies we met in Ruthersford.”

“That’s uncharacteristically sweet, but—”

I force the vial into her hands. “But nothing. Drink it. Now.”

Sarah tries to protest, but I don’t take no for an answer. Grudgingly, she downs the whole thing, making a disgusted face the entire time. She looks like she’s going to puke it back up when she’s done.
“Bleuh!
That was
awful.”

“I’ll bet. Now go home.”

“What?! But I took the antidote. You are
not
going alone.”

“Take Heraldo home, and … be safe.” I shoo her and Heraldo to the door, shoving them outside and locking up behind me. “I know you think I’m a lying jerk, but I really don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Sarah folds her arms. “You’re not just a lying jerk, you’re really,
really
stupid.”

I salute her. “If I don’t see you again, it was nice knowing you, Cosine.”

T
he Banking and Finances building is dark when I arrive, but I don’t doubt Pete’s up there. Way … up … there. I tilt my head back, the wind blowing through my hair. I feel dizzy already. Better not to think about it.

I hurry inside the building. It’s unlocked. It smells funny in here, and the air looks a little hazy from the toxin Mom and Taylor spread all over. I tear through the lobby, but I skid to a stop when the computer screen on somebody’s desk flickers to life and Pete’s face appears.

“Hey, hey, hey!” he shouts, clapping his hands together. “It’s time for the ‘What Will Pete Do Next?’ show! Damien, if you’re watching, this one’s for you, man.” He points at the camera, then makes a fist and places it over his heart. There are a couple of his superhero minions marching back and forth behind him.

The camera zooms out, then in on Kat. She’s tied to the stairwell house on the roof, the same one I was clinging to before the Crimson Flash threw me off the building. Kat has a golden choker clasped around her neck. She doesn’t wear that type of stuff, but I’m guessing it’s not meant to be jewelry. I think of Bart the Blacksmith, Kat’s grandfather, and wonder if it’s his handiwork. After all, without something to suppress Kat’s powers, there’s no way Pete could tie her down and not have her change shape and slip out of her bonds.

Her arms and legs are tied so that she’s spread-eagled against the wall and can’t move. Pete kisses her. She struggles to pull back, but there’s nowhere to go. Pete breaks from her and looks at the camera. “Is this about where we were at your birthday party?” He taps his chin. “No, I think we were farther than that.”

“Damien!” Kat screams.

I move away from the monitor and run for the elevator. I hear Pete’s voice on another screen say, “You know you like it.”

I push the elevator button about ten times. It’s so slow, and my heart is beating so fast. The elevator’s never going to get here. One long, agonizingly slow ride to the top separates me from saving her.

A little voice in the back of my head says,
You should
fly,
you idiot
.

It’s not going to happen. I feel sick thinking about it, and my knees wobble. My muscles get weak, and I almost drop my gun. A wave of hot guilt pours through my chest. Kat’s in trouble, and I don’t know how I’m going to handle being on the roof—I can’t even fathom flying up there.

My fingers tighten around the gun in self-loathing. I hear screams coming from the monitors, and I think if the elevator doesn’t get here in the next five seconds, maybe … maybe I’ll go outside and just
try—
But then it dings and the doors open.

The Crimson Flash steps out. His face is twisted in a sinister grin, his mouth lopsided. He tilts his head one way, then the other, looking me over.

He reaches out and grabs my arm and
pulls
. I think it’s going to come out of the socket. I jerk forward and stumble into him. His hand moves for my neck, but I’m getting more experienced at ducking. I move out of the way in time to not get strangled. I stomp on his foot. It should have hurt, but he doesn’t even flinch. I twist and turn, trying to get my arm out of his grasp. I hold up my gun, thinking maybe I can risk firing a warning shot, but the Crimson Flash knocks it out of my hand. It skitters across the floor. It’s enough of a distraction that his grip on me loosens a little. I get free and run under a desk.

He picks up the gun off the floor. So much for the “only superheroes can use it” safety. He walks down the rows of desks. Above me, Pete’s voice on the computer claims it’s halftime, then, “Come on, Damien—it’s time to blow out your birthday candles. You’d better hurry.” He wishes me a happy birthday, then starts singing, as if we were kids having a party. He stops and yells at Kat to join in. “Don’t be shy!” he screams at her. “You know the words!”

The Crimson Flash kicks a rolling desk chair across the floor. I wonder how much Sarah’s hypno device affects him and if he recognizes me at all. I wonder if any of him’s still in there.

The Crimson Flash kicks another chair. He’s getting closer to my hiding place. I hug my knees to my chest. I can’t sit here and let him find me. I make a run for it.

He chases after me. I weave between the desks, trying to slow him down, but it only slows
me
down instead. I push chairs behind me to create obstacles. The Crimson Flash flies over me, cutting me off at the other end of the aisle. Great. I’ve got him on one end, and a whole lot of chairs on the other.

I leap onto the nearest desk and dive into the next aisle as he pulls the trigger on the gun. A laser shoots out of it, cutting the monitor on the desk in half, just as Pete says, “She’s not
singing!
I’ll have to
make
her if you don’t hurry up, Damien.”

The Crimson Flash fires off another laser and I scramble out of the way. He flies over so that he’s standing right in front of me. He doesn’t rush or anything, just points the gun and walks toward me, steady and relentless, as I get to my feet and run like hell.

He fires again.
Zap!
The laser misses me. That hypno device must be pretty powerful, because the real Crimson Flash wouldn’t be caught dead trying to murder his own son. Even if I might be somewhat of a disappointment.

Another
zap!
This one splits open the heel of my shoe. I pick up the pace.

I hit the wall and run alongside it, hoping I can double back and get to the elevator before Gordon. He shoots the next laser in front of me, stopping me in my tracks. I duck down and make for the elevator as fast as I can. I push the button, but the doors don’t open. Who else is using the elevator in this place?! I push the button about twenty more times, each time expecting to feel a laser in the back, right through the heart.

Gordon closes in on me.

I can’t move, paralyzed with fear. I have to get through these doors, no matter what, and I have to not get killed by my own superhero dad in the process.

“Some part of you has to be in there,” I say, my voice shaking. Maybe I can distract him until the elevator gets here. Maybe I can actually appeal to his good nature, the one locked up deep down inside, and bring him out of his zombie state. At least enough so he doesn’t shoot me. “Come on. You don’t want to do this. You’ll be really sorry when you wake up tomorrow and realize you killed me!”
If
he wakes up tomorrow. If I manage to stop Pete and get everything back to normal.

The Crimson Flash smiles and points the gun right at my heart.

“Dad!” I scream, a last, desperate attempt to snap him out of it. “I know you’re in there! The real you wouldn’t do this, you—”

“You made Helen cry,” he says, and everything turns to slow motion as I watch his finger move on the trigger.

But he doesn’t fire. He unexpectedly drops to the ground, the gun slipping out of his hand. A little dart sticks out of his neck.

I look over and see Sarah, a dart gun in her hand. She blows over the end of it, like in the movies, and grins at me. “My own special blend. You still want me to go home and be safe?”

“If it isn’t the Cosine Kid. My hero.” I lean against the doors just as they open, and tumble backward into the elevator.

“I bet he didn’t mean to do that,” Sarah says on our way up. She can’t get over her hero firing lasers at me, even if he was a zombie at the time.

“Listen, Sarah, about what I said earlier today …” I tap my fingers against the metal railing in the elevator, holding my gun in one hand. I stare at the trigger and think about Gordon almost firing on me and what could have happened if Sarah hadn’t shown up when she did. “I didn’t mean for things to turn out this way.”

“He’s the Crimson Flash. He wouldn’t normally have done that.”

“I shouldn’t have said you weren’t my sidekick. I just … Being a superhero wasn’t exactly in my life plan.”

“I mean, he
is
your dad, right?”

“Sarah,” I say, cutting her off, “you need to go back home.”

“Are you nuts? I just got here.
And
you needed me. I think that’s pretty obvious.”

“You can’t go up there with me. He’s already got Kat.” And is going to do something awful to her if I don’t get there in time to stop him. Can this elevator go any slower, or would that break some kind of world record? “What am I supposed to do if he gets you, too? Give me the dart gun and get out of here.”