The Blazing Rebellion

Chapter 51

Remi POV

Remi's first superhero mission had been successful. Luckily, there'd been nothing about it on the news, as she'd chosen the smallest town she could and one of the weaker criminals. It had been easy to beat them and to help the low-tiers to get back on their feet. She'd had to fight back the guilt of knowing that Blyke and Isen wouldn't approve of her choices the whole time, but it would be worth it in the end.

The only problem had been the fact that to get stronger, Remi would need to go against someone more powerful. To do that and not get noticed by Volcan would be a challenge, especially now that Remi was sure Volcan was actually Arlo's aunt Valerie. The fact that her identity was known by a member of EMBER was terrifying, but there was nothing she could do about that now. She'd just have to be careful not to be noticed until she was ready to fight back.

This time, she would be strong enough to get her revenge. Not just for Rei, either, but for everyone else whom the authorities and EMBER had hurt. This was for her friends and her family. This fact motivated her more than anything else as she fought back.

She'd had to fight back tiredness the next day when Blyke and Isen texted her to say that they wanted to hang out. For a moment, she'd panicked; her superhero clothes were in her closet, but it would still be easy to find them if the door was opened. However, she'd managed to convince the others that they should hang out somewhere other than her room, and somewhere other than the places they usually got drinks, too. She'd told them she wasn't hungry, but the truth was that there was a chance the news had caught her in superheroism. Blyke and Isen couldn't find out about that, not now.

They'd all ended up at Blyke and John's dorm. John hadn't been there for once; Blyke had told them that he'd vanished with Seraphina. This fact interested Remi. What are they doing? What's going on with them? She'd been tempted to follow them, but they were long gone and she knew bringing it up would only concern Blyke. Isen would be excited to do some spying, but that was beside the point.

"Remi?" She jumped at the voice to see Blyke looking at her. Why is he staring at me like that?! Did I give something away?

"Yeah?" She asked, trying to sound like nothing was going on. Blyke frowned.

"Are you okay? You've been spacing out a lot..." He told her, voice filled with worry. She bit her lip. He really did catch on to things quickly sometimes. It was good when she needed help, but it made it hard to keep a secret...

"I'm fine, just tired," She answered, trying to smile. It wasn't a lie.

"Does this have to do with John and Seraphina?" Isen asked her, leaning in towards her as if he could read her mind. "Hmmmm?"

"Stop bothering her so much," Blyke told Isen, smacking his friend on the head. Isen moved back with a frown.

"You're mean," He pouted. Remi sighed at the both of them. Then, she paused. What Isen said is actually not a bad excuse... She had been thinking about John and Seraphina, after all. What she didn't have to mention was that she'd done something about her worries, too.

"Do you two think they could be involved in something? Maybe something with... the authorities?" She asked slowly, watching closely for Blyke and Isen's reactions. The two boys turned to stare at her. She didn't like the expression on Blyke's face.

"What, you think EMBER is after them?" Isen countered. "Yeah, no. I don't think John would ever become a vigilante."

Remi shrugged. "We can never be too sure." She also doubted that John had been a superhero, but EMBER could always be chasing him for a different reason. None of them had any idea of what the authorities were capable of. It wasn't clear what they wanted, either. Maybe EMBER is just starting to go after anyone who doesn't follow their rules.

"Hey, Remi..." Blyke began slowly. She turned to face him. "You're not thinking about becoming a superhero again... right?"

Remi's eyes widened. I need him to forget about this, fast! He can't find out! She did the first thing that came into her mind and started coughing violently as if she'd choked on something. When Blyke and Isen moved forwards to help, she waved them away and slowly cleared her throat. "Ugh... I think I need some water."

Very aware that Blyke's eyes were following her every move, Remi left his room and closed the door behind herself. She went into the kitchen of the dorm and grabbed a glass, filling it up with water and taking a sip. She sighed. This is going to be harder than I thought.

Before she could decide how best to distract Blyke from the idea that she was a superhero, the door to the dorm opened. Almost on instinct, Remi jumped to the side and pressed herself against the wall as if hiding. A moment later she shook her head. This was silly. She didn't have anything to hide from. Taking a step forwards, she was just about to go around the corner when a loud voice spoke. John's voice.

"I hate NXGen. This is all their fault," He spoke, his deep voice filled with anger. He doesn't know I'm here... I'm not supposed to be listening to this. Now I really do have to hide.

"Calm down, John. There's nothing we can do." Another voice spoke this time. It's Seraphina.

"I could go after them! Attack! They deserve to suffer after what they did!" John exclaimed, his voice growing louder with each word. Remi heard Seraphina sigh.

"That's too risky. NXGen is run by the authorities. I think you know better than most how much power they have," Seraphina told John. There was a moment of silence. NXGen? The authorities? So they are a part of this!

"Fine..." John's voice trailed off. He didn't sound like he agreed with Seraphina, but moments later Remi heard footsteps and the sound of a door closing. They'd gone into John's room. Remi took a step towards it and then hesitated. It would be bad to listen to them, and the conversation had seemed like it had come to a forced close... she sighed.

If there had been one thing she'd learned from it, however, it was that she'd been right. The authorities were messing with her friends. Now, she knew that she really couldn't let anyone stop her. She would go back to Blyke and Isen and pretend everything was fine. She could do that. She had to.

She was going to bring the authorities down, no matter what.