Lazer Lightzest

Chapter 5: Gold Star in Villainy

Avery woke up almost 3 days after Vendetta's phone call with Major Robinson, sweat pouring down his face and the shadows of his nightmare cackling at him, just out of reach. He looked up to find himself in a bed, which sat in a cell about the size of a bedroom, with one wall glimmering a Sun-like orange. Slowly rolling out of bed, he raised his hand tentatively to touch it.

"I wouldn't if I were you," a voice called out. Avery looked up to see Vendetta, the mysterious assassin who had captured him in the first place, watching him. "You'll get third-degree burns. Or more third-degree burns. I noticed you burnt your hands after you blasted me."

Avery nodded slowly. "Yeah," he said, nonchalantly. "That happens sometimes. Usually, I have some water to take care of it, but this time I was unprepared."

"I'm aware that you acquired these abilities just a few days ago," Vendetta replied curtly. "You had no idea of how to control your powers. Your fight with me was the very first time you ever used this ability. Also, you're horrible at lying. A five-year-old would see right through you."

Avery scoffed but retracted his hand anyway and sat on the bed. He was suddenly overcome by a wave of emotion as he remembered his parents, always making sure he was safe. "Are you going to let me go?" he asked instinctively. Almost instantly, he regretted it - it was childish and Vendetta would probably laugh. To his surprise, he didn't.

"No," the assassin replied. "Morzo doesn't like you very much because of those powers. If he doesn't kill you, he'll probably just keep you captured here for as long as he wants."

Avery sank into the sheets. "What about my parents?" he asked, his voice quivering. "My friends?"

Vendetta shifted around uncomfortably. "We contacted your parents, or rather, the people who shared your surname."

Avery frowned. "What?"

"When we went there, and when we visited your friends, they told us they had no recollection of anyone called Avery Sequoia Booker."

"No. No, that's impossible, that's..." Avery's mind cast back to when he was in the hospital in New York. He had wondered why his parents hadn't called him, why his friends hadn't been worried. He had a great-aunt, notorious for being worried about all of her close family. He didn't get as much as a message from her.

"That fills in all of the gaps that you could have had." Vendetta finished. "Any more questions?"

Avery was speechless. Vendetta waited for a moment, muttering what sounded like condolence before walking out. There was silence in the room. Avery sat, numb, on the edge of the bed. That was his last hope of escape, that someone would call the police and try and rescue him. But now he knew that wasn't going to happen. He was on his own. He couldn't even teleport - he had a cuff on his leg that meant whenever he tried to, the only thing he would get was a spark of pain. The outside world didn't know he was here - they didn't even know who he was. Morzo could kill him at any moment. All hope truly felt lost.

At the same time, Vendetta was on a call with Major Robinson, informing her of the location where Avery was being held and to bring anyone who could help. Morzo had disappeared after their conversation a few days ago and Vendetta was worried he would discover his plan. He needed to finish this as quickly as possible.

                                                                                           ***

When infiltrating one of the most secure facilities on the face of the planet, guarded by some of the best-trained mercenaries from the nastiest parts of the world, owned by one of the most psychotic and murderous people intelligence agencies around the world had ever had the misfortune of discovering, the first thing needed was a team.