Page 59 of The Not So Super Hero

A ntoine had given information about their location during the video; speaking of the fall of Rebirth and sets of papers on the desk in the background containing adoption records.

They concluded it was one of the safe houses used by the children who were taken from Rebirth after its collapse.

One of the first things that happened was their relocation across the country from California to New York.

After they all found homes or returned to their families, the government shut the place down.

It was almost like a sick joke, fitting considering it was Rebirth.

The home now sat as an abandoned building outside of Ringgold, remote and quiet.

There weren’t many neighbors nearby, especially not any nosey ones, so it was doubtful anyone noticed any sort of strange activity.

Knowing Rebirth, the place was a decoy. It wouldn’t have taken them long to set up a base.

Of course, that meant more trouble. They were nearly there and Zane was positive they were being followed by a red car that has been in sight since they left the base.

They would either be ambushed or their vehicle would never make it due to an accident.

Obviously, that meant they had to do something before either of those things would happen.

“Let’s just walk in,” Zane suggested.

“Excuse you?” Natalia huffed.

“We pull over and let them take us in.”

Nate scoffed. “You aren’t that cocky. What next? When we get in there, you go berserk on their asses and somehow we make it to Bailey before Antoine does something crazy?”

“Chris called for backup,” he countered. “We’ll get there first. The backup arrives and causes chaos outside, but we’re already in there, so problem solved.”

“Not solved,” Chris argued. “If Antoine wanted us here, then it’s for a reason. He’s confident that he’ll get his hands on you.”

“Or he’s bluffing, taking a chance because he doesn’t give a damn about losing pawns in his game.”

There was always the chance that Antoine wanted to get under Zane’s skin or even see for himself what Zane was capable of. All this could have been a ploy, or they were totally fucked. Either way, it was a critical situation that none of them had the right answer to.

“I vote we go in guns blazing. Minutes before we arrive, let’s destroy that stupid car following us.” Nate gestured to said car that kept a safe distance. “Scatter after and attack this place.”

“And if Bailey isn’t actually there?” Natalia asked, bringing up exactly what no one wanted to think about.

“We know this is a trap, but the question is, what kind of trap? We’re going to a damn orphanage, but in that video, Bailey looked like he was in a hospital.

Did they decide to re-furnish, do a little home decorating? ”

“Or they made some extra additions,” Nate added.

If they wanted to stay under the radar, they chose a good place to do it. They could have easily done something similar, made their own underground facility to hide in plain sight.

“Listen, we can talk What If’s all day, but the fact remains that the only thing we definitely know is that Antoine wants to get his hands on you.

” Chris pointed at Zane, who looked away while gnawing at his bottom lip.

“That is the only definite in this situation. He wants you. He wants to hurt you. I have no doubt that where we’re going, we will find Bailey because Antoine is going to want you to see him, want you to see what he did, and what he may do. ”

Zane shivered, hands clutching his trembling biceps, pressing hard enough to bruise. His eyes flickered black. All he wanted was to get his hands around Antoine’s neck and squeeze until the light left his eyes.

“Our job is to make sure that you get in there and find Bailey before anything else happens to him,” Chris explained. He looked at the twins for confirmation. Both nodded. “Now, you may not like it, but when you find Bailey, don’t bother looking for us.”

“What?” Zane growled, facing Chris with an expression that screamed he would do no such thing.

“The longer you’re there, the more of a chance Antoine has of getting to you and Bailey. You get him and you get out. If we can, we’ll follow and if not, we’ll hold out until backup arrives. Do you understand?”

“No way in hell.”

“Don’t argue about this,” Natalia hissed, sending Zane a sharp glare. “The three of us have been going up against assholes like this for years. We have way more of a chance of surviving this than you. Don’t think because you’re Mr. Hot Shot Level that it knocks off our experience.”

“That’s not what I’m saying,” said Zane.

“We’ve beaten Rebirth before and we’ll do it again, only this time it will be permanent, but none of us want to lose Bailey in the process. When you find him, leave, got it?”

Zane wished to argue but was prevented from doing so by the tires blowing out.

The car spun across the road. Natalia struggled with the wheel, although that didn’t matter.

The metal of the car bent and cracked, crushing towards them.The windows shattered.

The car distorted. Nate shot forth his hands.

Spears of ice tore the car apart, narrowly missing everyone.

Natalia released a string of cursed words.

Zane only caught a single phrase; “Hijo de puta!”

Nate snickered while crawling out of the openings his ice created. The other followed seconds to the car crushing into a metal ball. The ball flew at Nate. He barely dodged the attack. A piece of metal sticking out of the object nicked his arm. He cursed and pressed his hand to the cut.

Whoever attacked had a metal mutation, considering the remnants of the car were being torn into pieces of spears.

The spears flown at everyone randomly. Zane covered them, producing a shield of shadows that the spears bounced off of.

Natalia lit the darkness of the sphere, flames dancing on her fingertips.

“Metal user,” Natalia stated. “I can handle them.”

“They’re trying to split us up,” Nate said. A loud bang reminded them the attacker was still trying to get in. “Hey, Zane, could you walk us there in this globe thingy?”

“Globe thingy?” Zane rolled his eyes. “Probably not. It isn’t as strong when I move around…and I’ve never really tried it before.”

“Lazy, just like you, fitting.”

“Fuck off.”

Suddenly, the shield quivered, causing Zane to hiss.

The continuous attacks had formed a couple of cracks.

Nate shot ice spears to spear the darkness.

They heard the crunching of metal that must have wrapped around the shield.

Nate’s ice tore it apart, allowing them to get out of the death trap.

Once out, Zane noticed their attacker had revealed themselves along with two other unknown mutants.

A man stood down the road, closer to a house at the edge of the street.

He raised his arms. Metal nearby sprang towards him.

The metal circled him, morphing into whatever he wished.

The second mutant was on their left and the third on their right, each keeping a fair distance.

“I’ve got this, you guys go ahead,” said Nate. “Antoine said we had an hour to get there and, knowing him, he means that literally regardless of the obstacles he put in our way. I’ll meet up with you later.”

“There’s three of them,” Natalia argued. Nate was tough, but that didn’t mean anyone wanted to leave him behind.

“Believe me, I’ll be fine.”

“Finish them quick, the faster we regroup the better,” Natalia ordered, pressing her forehead against Nate’s temple. He offered an impish grin, and she gently smacked his cheek.

No more goodbyes were allowed. Their attackers were ready. Metal spears flew at them. Nate jumped to the front, creating an ice wall. A searing beam came from the right, melting the ice. The one to the left had disappeared to do only God knows what.

“Get going!” Nate ordered.

Everyone offered him a concerned look. Chris tugged at Natalia’s sleeve, then they burst toward the orphanage while they could. The battle raged behind them; the sound growing softer in the distance. Natalia scowled, looking over her shoulder constantly even after she could no longer see Nate.

“He can handle himself,” Chris said, although that did little to quell their worries.

If they still had the car, they would make it in time, but Zane knew on foot they were pushing it.

Not to mention there were likely more members of Rebirth holding out, waiting to strike.

As he suspected, that was exactly the case when, not long after leaving Nate, they found themselves surrounded once more.

Splitting up was exactly what Antoine wanted them to do.

If they had the time to come up with a plan, it wouldn’t have happened.

That was exactly why he took Bailey, to keep them from devising a plan without falling into Antoine’s trap.

Zane wished they could all stick together, but that wasn’t the case.

Natalia lingered behind, then Chris, leaving Zane to arrive at the orphanage alone.

He had only been there a week before Chris officially adopted him.

The home was relatively well kept, considering it had been shut down for almost six years.

The yard needed work, and the siding redone, but the porch steps held beneath his weight.

He kept his head on a swivel, searching for signs of anyone.

The door was unlocked, swinging open with a soft screech that Zane scowled at.

Really? Why did they always squeak? He hated it.