The Super Jerk Trilogy (Now 3-in-1)

8. Late Night Talking

{Cameron}

When I wake up, for a second I can't figure out why my shoulders hurt so much. I blink up at the ceiling and try to move my arms to relieve it, but they seem to be shackled together behind my back, my thumbs digging into my spine. Then, it all comes crashing down on me at once: our attempted escape, Dad being injected with another super's powers, Green's smugness because he thinks he can't get caught.

   I roll over on my side and sit up, finding myself in a small room, probably twenty by twenty. The walls are metal, and burn when I touch them. I have a feeling it's just another way for Green to dampen my superpowers.

   At that moment the door hisses and opens. Green appears, flanked by two guards. He raises his eyebrows as he surveys the room, then motions a guard forward to grab me.

   "You know I really don't like using these cells," he says, sounding bored. "I think they're a little out of date. And frankly, not suited to a super with your powers."

   "With my powers? What do you mean by that?" I scowl at him as the guard yanks me to my feet, freeing one of my wrists from the shackle only to pull them forward and fasten them again in front of me. Then he moves to my ankles, whipping out a second set of cuffs.

   "Don't play innocent, Cam. You and I both know metal conducts electricity. I've had to increase the amount of formula in the air and have it piped in here just so you won't shock yourself."

   "So it's an airborne mist now, huh?" I clench my fists. He's got me chained up like a mental patient now, the cuffs attached so I have to shuffle when I walk. "Is that your so-called high-tech weapon?"

   Then, so fast I don't see it, he leaps forward to backhand me across the face and then forces my head back, so I'm looking right into his eyes.

   "You think I'm joking, Cam, but I assure you I'm not." His green eyes narrow. "And you'll be fully convinced of that when I'm finished with you."

   "Try me." I lunge for him and he actually lets go and jerks back, the guards swooping in and shoving me against the wall.

   "Challenge accepted." He regains his cool composure, straightening his jacket and drawing himself up. "Come on, now."

   The guards drag me out of the room and down the hall. I shake them off and walk the rest of the way, my steps shortened by the chains. I hate them, but I have to endure them for a little bit longer, until I can figure out how to get out of this hellhole.

   Three hallways, two locked doors, and another big mystery room full of gadgets later, we come to a large half-circular room. It has control panels full of blinking lights, levers, and buttons – very similar to an air-traffic control tower. The view's about the same, looking out over a dome-shaped space. In the center is a tall thin rod that disappears up through the center of the dome, glowing a bright radioactive green.

   "Now watch this," he says, tapping two buttons. One brings up a map of the US, filled with blinking red dots. The second brings up a camera feed of a girl bound to a chair, hand and foot, her long dark hair hiding her face. It's Jocelyn.

   "It's a map. So what?" I have a feeling we're going to get to Jocelyn in a second, so I don't address it right away.

   "You should know that I carried out the largest-scale attack on meta-humans that this country has ever seen. I set a threat loose in every city known to have documented supers."

   "Why would you do that?"

   "You should know. You're the first responders to any wrongdoing whatever. As an example," he says, tapping on one. A separate window comes up, showing boxes with the specific super's picture, their name, their alter ego, and the number of years they've been active. "This is Philadelphia. As you can see, this was a giant condor with a lion's head that has a taste for super flesh."