Coger

Chapter Nine

Christian woke to be shocked by the bright sunlight. He looked around to see Matt Pickle and Matthew Kilby both lying on a large run next to him. Christian sat up and looked at the grass around him. He was no longer in Cityville.

A tall, young man with dreadlocks ran up to him and kneeled at his side.

"Where am I?" Christian rubbed his head.

"Sobias," the man replied, "I'm Zach Taylor."

"Christian Coger," he stood with the man's help.

"My boss had you three rescued and brought here," he looked around, "Sobias is a very hippie town and the sunlight helps with healing, so we figured if we let you all lay out here until you all woke up, no one would think anything of it."

"How far are we from Cityville?" Christian asked.

"At least a hundred miles," the man responded, "Now, come inside." He pushed open a door that had been built into a large tree. He began to climb down the ladder before Christian stopped him.

"What happened with everyone else?"

Zach sighed, "You three were the only live ones when we arrived."

Christian followed him down the large ladder into a crowded area where people sat all around tables, talking.

When they reached the floor, Zach led him to what looked like a control room on the other side.

"Mr. Van Buren," Zach said to a short, blonde man who wa sitting in front of a large screen, "One of them has woke."

"Oh?" He turned to look at Christian before being slightly aroused, "Oh. Well, hello there."

"Not interested," Christian shook his head.

"Sorry," the man sighed before morning for him to come in. Zach went back out to wait for the other two to wake.

"So, where am I?" Christian asked as he looked around the room.

"I'm Alex Van Buren," he extended bis hand to shake Christian's.

"I don't do the shake thing," Christian stepped back, "But I'm Christian Coger."

"Well, Mr. Coger. Welcome to the National Organization of Superheroes!" The man smiled.

"The what?"

"You see, Mr. Coger. Cityville wasn't the only place to be working with developing superheroes. All across the world, supers are being developed every day!" The man pulled up a global map that marked with red dots where superhero centers were located, "We are the main headquarters for the entire world."

"Are you the leader?"

Alex nodded, "That I am, sir."

"And do you have powers?"

Suddenly, Alex disappeared from his chair and walked in the room from the outside area where everyone was gathered, "I can teleport. Zach can do it too."

"And do you all have downfalls to your powers?" Christian asked, intrigued.

"Everyone does," Alex sighed, "Zach's is his bone structure alterations, but mine is worse...I'm always hungry."

"Bone alterations?"

Alex nodded, "He's working on walking normally, but he has developed the bone structure of a gorilla, therefore he finds it more comfortable to hunch over and walk. Our goal here at NOS HQ is to help supers work through their downfalls, so they don't become a problem during a battle."

"So," Christian looked around the room, "Were you monitoring us?"

"Not you all in particular," Alex frowned, "We were trying to follow Will Oliver's team to find his lab."

"You all don't know either," Christian threw his hands in the air.

"He's the only man to perfect the global serum," Alex looked at him, "Is it really surprising that he's mastered the art of hide-and-go seek? But that's why we need you. He has some sortof interest in you from what we've tracked down, so when CULT went up in flames, we knew we needed to save you as quickly as possible.

Alex walked over to the door and opened it, "You'll be staying in Room 334. Go up to the third floor, and it is 34 rooms down from this end."

"Wait," Christian stopped, "What does he want with me?"

"We don't know," Alex shrugged, "Now, go get rest. Your training begins tomorrow."

As Alex shut the door, Christian saw Zach leading Matt Pickle down the ladder. Most people would have questions if this happened to them, but it all just seemed so surreal that Christian just accepted it without thinking twice and went up to his room to rest before tomorrow's training.