Vex (Regenerate #4)

Chapter 12

An hour later we've dropped Vanessa off. She'll give us a little time to get closer to headquarters before she makes it obvious where she is.

"You sure she'll be okay?" Cole asks. He's still in the driver's seat. I'm next to him, in the passenger seat, but somehow I had almost forgotten he was there.

"She should be," I say. "She's not a real target. She doesn't have any powers."

"And what about you, Regenerating Girl? Are you going to be okay?"

"Regenerating Girl?"

"That's what they're calling you," Cole says. "On the news and stuff."

"Why are all the male superheroes 'man' but all the female superheroes are 'girl'?"

Cole grins. "If it makes you feel better, they mostly call you Re-gen for short."

"Good," I say. "Regenerating Girl is a mouthful."

"You didn't answer my question," Cole says. "About whether you'll be okay."

"Of course," I say. "I can't die, you know."

"I wasn't asking if you were going to die or not. I was asking if you were going to be okay."

I look more closely at Cole. Suddenly something seems sort of strange about him. But I can't place my finger on it before Lorna asks him to drive us closer to headquarters.

We're quiet as we drive. The whole situation is unsettling. None of us is eager to fight our teammates.

Lorna has Cole drop us a couple blocks from headquarters. "Thanks for your help," she says. "Now get somewhere safe."

From the foot of the building we can see there's still a big hole in the window where I crashed through the other day, though somebody has done an admirable job of trying to patch it up with newspaper.

Lorna looks at Mikayla. "Remember. Whatever else happens your primary objective is to take out Siryn."

She nods. Mikayla and I both take hold of one of Lorna's legs. Not graceful, but we need her flight to get up there.

Mia's got her own way in, though.

She stares up at the target and I can see the electricity flicker blue in her eyes just for a second before her whole body turns into a giant bolt of energy.

Mia Lightning Bolt shoots up to the top floor of the building.

"That's so awesome," Lorna mutters before taking off into the air. Sort of a bumpy ride. Her suit isn't really designed to fly with the weight of three people, but we make it up there.

We burst through the newspaper into the main room.

Where Mantis, Derek, and Loa are all waiting for us.

They didn't fall for our trick. They didn't send anyone after Vanessa.

Mia is on the ground in a heap. I guess it didn't take long for somebody (probably Mantis) to take her down.

I glance at Lorna, and I can tell she's doing the same math I am. It's still a three on three fight. And Mikayla and Lorna are better at fighting than any of the guys. Granted, they're the ones with better offensive powers.

She opens her mouth to call out our plan of attack, but before she has the chance, she's lifted into the air. She slams into the ceiling, and when she comes back down, she falls in a crumpled heap on the ground.

It takes me a minute to realize what has happened. Mantis used his powers to mind control the flight mechanism in Lorna's suit.

By the time I realize this, Mantis is already shouting at Derek and Loa to take down Mikayla. Then he turns his gaze to me. I instantly make the decision to run. I already know I can't beat him. Not here at least. Here, he's got the home court advantage. If I can get him away from here I might have some chance.

But I've sparred with him enough to know my odds aren't good.

Once again I find myself leaping out a window that hasn't been repaired yet and falling however many stories it is to the ground.

I half expect him to just snatch me out of the air and bring me back up to headquarters, but he doesn't. Instead, I hit the pavement with a splat. I'm still stitching myself back together when he lands and stands over me.

Despite the brokenness of my body, I'm able to swing one mangled leg and knock him to the ground. As quick as I can, I pounce on top of him. I can't pin him, though. I've never been good at that, and in a moment he's flipped me over and gotten back on his feet.

He kicks me. "I thought I'd trained you better than this."

"I thought you were a decent guy. I guess we're both disappointed."

Mantis laughs as I attempt to get back on my feet. "To think I had the biggest crush on you. You of all people."

I'm on my feet again, and I get into the ready position he taught me. His stance suggests he's bored, but he still lunges toward me.

Just before he can strike, though, something else catches his attention. He turns to look at whatever it was, and I take advantage. I grab his head and slam it as hard as I can into my knee. He falls still.

Only then do I look around to see what it was that distracted him in the first place. I notice a shoe lying on the ground next to him. And just beyond that I see Cole standing there with one bare foot.