Lightning (Thunder Sequel)

Chapter 22

LOOK GUYS! I actually updated twice in less than a month's time.  Y'all should be proud of me!  Just kidding... but I'm finally getting the motivation to get finished with this story.  We are close though.  Unless things change, there will only be one more chapter and then an epilogue after this.  Keep an eye out, I promise I'll have the final updates really soon!!

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Ryan's POV:

I'm still trying to process everything as fights break out all across the room. Kyleigh is here. She's alive. Is she okay? I'm not sure. She seemed like it for a moment but then she returned to that blank expression. And now I'm watching her as she tries to beat up people along with the other "bad guys" I'm assuming. The blonde girl, she's controlling Kyleigh.

But even aside from Kyleigh, I'm still taking in everything else. I'm in some giant underground facility beneath the hospital my brother used to work at before he was arrested. I was led down here by some doctor who has some sort of a double life. I've found myself caught in the middle of some giant fight that I have no business being a part of.

I must have been standing still in shock for too long because Matthew Carson shouts at me and shakes me out of my thoughts. "Kid! Either get out of here and to safety or make yourself useful!"

That's when I fully take in the fact that I'm in a room of several dozens of people probably trying to kill each other. I see a room behind me with the door slightly ajar and I rush inside the room. I unzip my bag and quickly take out the heavy mechanical boots, strapping them onto my feet. Of course I have a decent amount of fighting knowledge, but having the boots give me a bit of an advantage.

Once their secured on and I've activated them, I run out of the door ready to help, though I'm not entirely sure who I'm supposed to be helping. -Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys?- I know Kyleigh is technically fighting for the bad guys, but when I enter the room, she is nowhere to be seen. Since the doctor is the only person I actually know down here, I follow his lead, helping him take down the woman combating with him at the moment.

I run to his side and then give the enemy a good kick with my boots, which surprises him and he drops his guard long enough for the doctor to sent a fist at his head, essentially knocking him out. The enemy falls to the ground. But we don't get a break, because almost instantly, another two enemies come toward us. While fighting, I catch a glimpse of a flash of lightning from down one of the hallways. I swing a punch at the guy I'm fighting and while he ducks, I activate my boots and fly above the battle, just out of reach of the person I was combating against. He is surprised at first, not expecting me to have flown above him, but I don't know what he does next because I fly over toward the hallway. I quickly make my way down the hall, still flying because it's faster and quieter, to find where Kyleigh went. As I go, a person who I assume isn't one of the enemies is running down the hall in the opposite direction, as if he is retreating. I continue through the hall until I find a door wide open into a room full of technology and a large computer screen. There are three people inside, the short blonde haired lady, the woman whose name is Abigale, if I heard correctly, and the person I was looking for, Kyleigh. It appears as if the two women are extracting information off of the computer while Kyleigh is standing by doing nothing.

I attempt to land on the ground stealthily, but it doesn't go as planned due to the metal boots coming into contact with a hard tile floor. While the thud of me landing on the ground wasn't excessively loud, it was loud enough to get the attention of all three of the people at the computer and they suddenly turn around, acknowledging my presence in the doorway.

Seeming rather unconcerned by my arrival, Abigale sighs and says, "Vita, take care of that nuisance."

Preparing for a fight that I know is inevitable, I instinctively get into a battle stance.

The blonde, Vita, chuckles for a moment before saying, "Kyleigh, isn't that your little boyfriend?"

I watch as Kyleigh looks at me and nods her head in answer to the question. Her face remains totally expressionless and dull.

Vita laughs again, looks at Kyleigh and says, "Oh, this is just too good. Your knight in shining armor is here to save you. How sweet!" Then, becoming slightly more serious, she looks at me. With a smirk on her face, she says, "Kyleigh, kill him."

My eyes go wide as I realize what is happening. In just a blink of an eye, maybe even faster because of her powers, Kyleigh is in front of me and her fist makes contact with my jaw, the force of the blow knocking me over to one side. She comes for me while I'm on the ground, attempting another punch to my face, but I duck out of the way by swinging my whole body around. In the process, my legs whack against hers, causing her to lose her balance and begin to fall, but she uses her powers to stay in the air instead of crashing down. I level the playing field by activating my rocket boots again, and soon we are both swinging punches back and forth while spinning and swerving in the air.

Kyleigh begins throwing gusts of wind at me, making it hard for me to maintain my balance in the air. I fly at her while she attempts to knock me over with the wind. She is successful in her efforts but not before I'm able to grab onto her arm, forcing her to come tumbling down with me. We land with a rather painful thud, but due to adrenaline coursing through me, I'm able to ignore it as I force her to roll over so that I'm pinning her to the ground, with her arms at her sides.

"Kyleigh, you've got to stop this! I know you're in there." I say, not actually knowing if what I'm saying is registering to her when she's in this mind-controlled state that she's in. But I have no choice, there's nothing else I can do but try to reach her. "Come on! I know you're there. Snap out of it!" For a split second, her eyes seem to spark to life, but as soon as it appears, it's gone and her eyes return to looking expressionless.

A sudden jolt of pain runs through both of my arms as Kyleigh shocks me with her electricity, momentarily stunning me. She uses this as her opportunity to break free of my grasp, flipping us over so that she is now on top of me, pinning me to the ground. I notice a hint of emotion cross her face, but it's not anything I'm hoping to see. It's a look of pure anger, a look of someone who is ready to kill. She lifts up her right hand, creating a small spark of electricity in it that quickly grows in brightness and she points the palm of her hand toward my heart. I use my suddenly freed left hand to grab just above her wrist, holding her back from allowing her electrified hand to come into contact with me. The electricity constantly grows, as if she's charging it until it's lethal enough to do the job.

"Kyleigh, you can't do this!" I shout at her, trying desperately to stop her, but I'm quickly losing hope that I'll make it out of here alive. "Please, stop! You don't want to do this!"

As I watch my life flash before my eyes, I remember the last time I actually talked to Kyleigh. About a week ago, when I basically said I couldn't date her anymore. And I can see now that she had reason for keeping me in the dark about what was happening. She was just trying to keep me safe. If I'm not going to make it out of her alive, I at least want to try to fix what I ruined between us.

As I'm using all the strength I can muster to hold Kyleigh's hand away from my chest, I say, "Kyleigh, I don't know if you can hear me or not. Maybe my words mean nothing to you. But if you're in there, please listen. I know what happened between us is complicated. But I understand what you were doing. I understand why you were doing it. I was ignorant before, I can see that now. And if you're in there, if you're mad at me for what I said, for what I did, please forgive me." It's getting harder for me to hold her hand away from me. I feel like I won't be able to last much longer if I don't break through to her, so I continue speaking to her, even if it may be in vain. "I know we've had our ups and downs in the short time that we've known each other, but, Kyleigh, I don't want to end things this way...  I love you."