Super

9 - Flame On

"I'm not afraid of death; I just don't want to be there when it happens."

– Woody Allen

Sonya's dead body was paler than bone as her eyes lay wide open, frozen forever in petrified horror. Half her face was melted off and her arm was broken in more places than one. Mangled was the only way to describe her cooked, deformed body. Struggling to my knees, I retched, throwing up all over her dead body. Then I saw what I had done and threw up even more.

Wiping the back of my hand sloppily across my mouth, I staggered to my feet.

"Hey." I whirled. "You look like you could use some company," Bat Boy smiled shyly, rubbing the back of his neck as he took my elbow and led me away from the carpet of dead bodies. We stepped carefully, but even then, I couldn't help wincing and gagging as a finger crunched beneath my shoe. My ash brown hair was stained grey from soot as remnants of the smoke still curled around us, not all that different from Mist's foggy tendrils.

"Where are you guys?" Mist's voice buzzed in my ear. Speak of the devil.

"Outside the biology room," I said, tearing up as I spotted Mr Jackson's dead body caked with soot. "Down the hall from the bathroom and to the left."

"Got it."

Less than a minute later, Mist and Electro stood next to us, staring dismally at the carnage. We found the Claw (now in super apparel) easily and were joined by Gold Thrush and Lodestone shortly after.

"Are we all present and accounted for?" Chirped Lodestone in an attempt to lighten the mood. After being met by grim nods all around, he clapped his hands together and rubbed them like a fly, "alright, team. We need a plan."

"Maybe I can help," a voice said from behind us. Everyone's heads snapped up as we turned to look at a tight-lipped Invisible Hand as he glared at the piles of bodies, injured and dead. "Those bastards need to pay," he growled, "and I know just the way to make them..."

✩✩✩

"Is everyone clear on the plan?" IH asked for the fourth time. Everyone nodded unsteadily, unsure whether to trust him. As for the Claw and Mist, they just glowered at him the entire time, both having been victims to his knife. A couple of members in our group still hated him for what he did to Grace, but most of us understood why he did it. Though we didn't all agree with his reasons, at least he took out a dangerous spy.

Just as everyone fanned out in different directions, Gold grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him.

"Annie..." He trailed off a little awkwardly and scratched the back of his head. And I knew what was coming. "In case we don't make it, I umm–"

I interrupted him. "Gold, you're a freaking super hero," I rolled my eyes. "Just last year you took down a terrorist plane. By yourself!" I raised my eyebrow when he blushed.

"Fair enough, but–"

"Annie, Gold, get your butts to your stations!" Mist's voice yelled in our ears. Both of us grimaced at the volume and smiled weakly at each other.

"To be continued," Gold winked and sped off. Literally, sped. Super speed sure was handy at a time like this. Meanwhile, my breath was sucked out of me and my lungs felt empty. To be continued... what was with supers always saying that? IH had said the same thing right after we almost...