The War of the Supers (The First Superhero Book 3) (9 page)

“Anyway, we really need to hurry up and go. It’s almost four o’clock in London.” I turned and stood next to Samantha. “You ready to do this?” I asked her.

Samantha turned her eyes skyward.

I took one last glance at the people I was leaving behind before taking off into the sky, heading towards the ocean.

Selena and I stepped through the doors of the Ford Cafe a little over an hour later. Its warmth was a nice change from the cold London air outside. We each ordered a coffee and sat down with our drinks in the nearly empty cafe. I looked out the window to my right, watching a city that seemed to be hanging on to life by a thread. Hardly anyone was walking along the street, but compared to the States, seeing anybody at all on the street who wasn’t looting a store or trying to kill somebody was amazing.

“This is pretty crazy,” Selena said as she looked out the window as well.

“Yeah, it’s so…normal.”

We continued to watch in silence as the few people who were out carried on with their days, albeit a bit faster than was probably normal. I couldn’t believe how relatively unfazed the city seemed to be. I imagined that most people in business or in the government were freaking out and preparing for what could possibly be the end of the world. But the civilians still had errands to run. There was still bread to buy, coffee to drink, dates to go on, and plays to see. I could easily understand why some business owners would want to keep things going as normally as possible. Now, more than ever, people needed a morale boost.

“It reminds me of things I’ve seen and read about the World Wars,” Selena said, turning away from the window to take another sip of her coffee. “Most of Europe was a war-torn hell. People were terrified, dying every day. Bombs were being dropped on cities. But that didn’t mean that everything stopped in the States, and other places in the world where the fighting wasn’t going on. The day-to-day parts of life were still happening.”

“Yeah, except there were Allies to fight the Axis. Right now it’s pretty much just the Legion doing whatever they want,” I said.

Selena shrugged. “Maybe. But not for long, at least if this trip goes well.”

I looked around the coffee shop. “Yeah, if this guy ever shows up,” I said, searching for anyone who even looked a little government official-like. Other than a couple quietly chatting in the corner and the baristas behind the counter, there was nobody in the store. “You listening, Samantha?” I asked, making sure she was there.

“Yeah,” she said. “I’m relaying everything you’re saying to Doug and Drew. They say hi.”

A bell jingled as the door opened. I turned and watched a guy around my age step in. He had blond hair cut short, and a little bit of scruff on his cheeks. He was wearing a blue button-down shirt with a light tweed blazer, a pair of dress slacks, and polished shoes. He scanned the room, and when his eyes met mine, he let out a grin.

“I think Doug’s guy is here,” I told Selena.

She looked behind her as the guy came walking over to our table.

“Kane? Selena?” he asked as he pulled out his chair.

We nodded, and he clapped his hands together. “Excellent. It’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve been following your work ever since that whole Richter situation,” he said to me. He spoke with a very light, almost unnoticeable, British accent.

“Thanks. If only our current situation was as easy as that one—and that one wasn’t easy by any means,” I said with a smile.

He nodded and leaned back in his chair. “Well, hopefully we’ll be able to work something out and we’ll be able to get a better grip on the situation. I’m sure we’ll be able to come up with something that’ll be beneficial for us all.” Our new government friend stood up from his chair. “If you’ll excuse me for a moment, I’m going to go order a cup of tea.”

Selena leaned closer to me once he had left to go order at the counter. “What do you think?”

I smiled. “I have a really good feeling. With their help, we might actually stand a fighting chance.”

Selena sighed as she leaned back. “I can’t believe this is actually happening.”

We sat there alone for a few moments longer before our friend returned to the table sans tea. “Now, I understand you just came from the States a little over an hour ago?” he asked, engaging in small talk while we waited for his tea order to be finished.

I nodded. “Yeah, we haven’t even been awake for two hours.”

“That’s incredible,” he said with a laugh. “Having powers like that must be quite amazing.”

“It definitely doesn’t get old,” I said, glancing over at Selena, who shrugged in agreement.

The barista came to our table with a glass of tea in hand. “Here’s your order, Leo.”

“Thanks, dear,” he said as he took his glass from her hand with a smile.

“So, that’s your name? Leo?” I asked.

Leo tapped himself on his head. “Duh, I’m so sorry. I got so caught up in meeting you, I forgot to introduce myself.” He stretched his hand out for me to shake. “My name is Leopold Renner. It’s nice to meet you.”

II

THE WORLD OF THE SUPERS

14

MAKING LUCK

Selena and I shook Leopold’s hand, and he returned to his tea. He took a sip from it before setting the glass back down on its small plate.

“Now,” he began. “I should tell you about my group, and why someone so young is working with the British government. When everything started going terribly wrong for you all in the States, the government acted quickly to keep something like that from happening over here. Anybody who discovered they had powers had to turn themselves over to the government or else be marked as a fugitive. Of course when I discovered my powers I went straight to the government. Not just because I wanted to obey the law, but because I wanted to help keep my country safe.”

“When you say ‘turn themselves over,’ what do you mean by that?” Selena asked.

“I don’t mean they’re arrested or anything. You just have to make yourself known. Tell them who you are, what your powers are, where you live, and so on. Then you’re free to go about your normal, everyday life, as long as you don’t do anything bad with your powers.”

“What’s keeping these people accountable, though? What’s the incentive for turning yourself in?” I asked.

Leopold took another sip of his tea. “Well, you’ll be a fugitive and lose all your benefits as a citizen.” He cleared his throat and leaned forward in his chair. “You see, we don’t have as much of a problem with bad Supers over here as you do in the States. The main reason for that is, well, you guys. Most of the bad Supers here flock to the United States to join Atlas and the Legion of Richter. They get over there in a number of ways. They fly, have other Supers fly them, teleport—pretty much any way possible. Which leaves all the Supers here the level-headed, less evil type.”

“Lucky you,” Selena said.

“Well, yes, we do consider ourselves quite lucky. We only wish you and your people could’ve been so lucky,” he said, and his sorrow seemed to be genuine.

“I think there still may be hope for us. What do you say we make our own luck?” I asked Leopold, wanting to hurry up and get to the part where we came up with a plan.

Leopold smiled. “Yeah, of course we shall. Before we go and meet the people I work with, I should fill you in a bit.

“The team I am a part of is a group of Supers working for the British government. We make sure there are no uprisings within our borders, and that the threat of Atlas and the Legion stays in the United States. In order to keep the threat from spreading, however, we’ve determined it’s necessary to go on the offensive and travel to the States to take care of the threat. We’re hoping you can help us out. Fill us in on the situation over there. That would go a long way toward getting a head start.”

“Well, any help you can provide, we’d be grateful for,” I told him. “It’s just a few of us in Texas. I’m sure there are other good Supers around the country willing to help us, but we’re having trouble finding them, and it doesn’t exactly seem like we’re the winning side. If we were to have your people on our side, it would go a long way on morale alone. Not to mention the strategic military advantage.”

“Yes, we believe the same,” Leopold agreed. “However, I’ve been asked by my superiors to tell you that while your help would go a long way, you’re not vital to our operations. They’re thankful for what you’ve done with Richter and the steps you’ve taken to keep Atlas and the Legion occupied, but they’re completely capable of operating on their own.”

I glanced over at Selena, whose face was sour. Leopold’s words had definitely rubbed me the wrong way as well.

“I can see by the look on your face that you don’t agreed,” he said. “Again, that’s my superiors speaking. I think that the insight you’d provide would be invaluable. But they aren’t going to listen to a nineteen-year-old, even if I do have superpowers.”

I sighed. I might not like the mindset Leopold’s superiors had, but it wasn’t like I could just walk out on them. They held all the power. We needed them, and they didn’t seem to need us. Sure, we could give them a bit of a head start, plus they’d have our powers at their disposal. But they seemed to be doing just fine without us.

“Okay, whatever,” I said finally. “I’m sure we’ll be able to work something out.”

“As am I,” Leopold said with a sparkling smile.

“So, when are we going to be able to meet with these people?” Selena asked, obviously annoyed at how much talking was happening. She wanted to make some real progress, and I couldn’t blame her.

“Yes, we’d like to speak to them as soon as possible,” I said.

Leopold’s expression changed, as if he hadn’t been anticipating what he was about to say. “Well, the thing is,” he began. “My people obviously want to speak with you, but they aren’t quite…convinced.”

I furrowed my brows as Selena and I exchanged a glance.

“Here we go,” Samantha said in my head.

“What does that mean?” I asked.

Leopold took another sip of his tea. “They aren’t convinced that you’re going to be able to do more help than harm. Everywhere Tempest shows up, there’s always destruction and death. And over here, on this side of the pond, we’ve escaped all that mostly unscathed.”

I looked at him, dumbfounded. “Everything I’ve done has been reactionary. I didn’t cause Atlas to create a Legion of Supers and kill everyone in our government. I didn’t make him launch nukes at New York and Los Angeles.”

Leopold clapped his hands together as if he’d just had a brilliant idea. “Yes, that. That’s also a large concern. Atlas has
nukes
. We have the capacity to detect them before they arrive, and we’ll just get Ellie—oh, she’s one of the members of our team—to take care of it. But, still, it’s a concern.”

“Cut the shit,
Leo
,” Selena said. “What’s your point? Do your people want our help, or don’t they?”

“Yes. They do. However, they need you to prove something else to them first. They need you to prove that you can have some sense of…
subtlety
in your actions. That you’d be able to use your abilities and not destroy half of London,” Leopold said with a laugh, trying to defuse the discomfort.

I ignored his laugh. “So, what, they want us to do something for them?”

“Yes,” Leopold said. He drank the rest of his tea before continuing. “They have something that they want you to do first, to prove that our relationship won’t be detrimental to the general public.”

“They want us to
audition
?” Selena asked, not trying to hide her annoyance at all.

Leopold cringed. “I don’t like to call it that.”

“But you could?” I asked.

Leopold thought about it for a moment. “Yes, I guess you could call it that. They want to make sure they’re not going to regret this, so they want you to do something small for them. It’s a way to gain their trust. And once they have it, we can get down to the real work: destroying Atlas and the Legion.”

I sat back for a moment, processing everything. I hadn’t expected to have to jump through hoops to get some help from Leopold’s people. This was starting to get complicated fast.

“Kane, Selena, I and everyone here agree. We don’t have any other options. Just do this for them, and then we can move on to getting the help we need.” Samantha’s words echoed in my head. I looked up to Selena, who’d heard her words as well. She shrugged and rolled her eyes.

I sighed. “Alright, Leopold. We’ll help you with whatever you need.”

Leopold smiled. “Excellent news!” He stood from his seat. “Now, if you’ll follow me, I’ll explain the situation to you on the way there.”

15

A FAMILIAR VOICE

I followed Leopold down the street, Selena close behind me. I pulled my jacket tight, trying to stay as warm as possible.

“Again, I should reiterate the importance of subtlety. The people around here are understandably cautious when it comes to Supers, and if they knew that Tempest of all people was in town… Well, it could cause quite the panic,” Leopold said as we walked.

“Don’t worry, we won’t destroy Buckingham Palace or anything,” I said.

“Well, if you did, don’t worry about the royal family. They’re far, far away,” Leopold said.

I didn’t want to tell him that the president had been as well, but that hadn’t stopped Atlas.

“You think you can do that?” Samantha’s voice asked in my head.

“It’s possible,” I said under my breath so she could hear me. It always was difficult for me to say what I wanted to tell her in my head. I kept forgetting that she couldn’t read minds constantly.

“That instills a lot of confidence,” she said with a scoff.

I shrugged. “If that’s what it takes, we can do it. Ask Selena, and let me know what she thinks.”

We walked in silence as I waited for Samantha to report back with what Selena had said. I could hear Selena murmuring under her breath behind me, responding to whatever it was that Samantha had asked in her head.

“She says she knows she can, but you’d better keep yourself in check. I think she was joking,” Samantha said.

I looked over my shoulder at Selena, who met my gaze with a smirk. “Maybe. She’s the one who has a habit of throwing me through things.”