The Ghost

Number Seventeen

I woke up in a nurse room, my head hurt. I felt my forehead and sure enough, I was bruised. I looked around, noticing I was completely alone. The room was very, not fun. It was gray, smelled very clean, and did not make me feel welcomed.

"Did it hurt?" Said a voice by my side. I turned to my right, seeing Delta sitting in a chair, with a magazine in his lap. I noticed I was not completely alone.

"I wouldn't know. It knocked me out." I said, feeling my forehead, wincing at the pain.

"Does your lightning bolt bruise hurt?" He asked. I looked over at him and slowly nodded. He stood up and walked over to my other side, where a water dispenser stood. He grabbed a cup and started filling it up.

"I placed a bet with Kevin. $20 for me if you won, or $20 for him if you lost," Said Delta. "You've disappointed me."

"Sorry about that," I said.

"How did you lose? Don't you have the powers, of like, gods?" Asked.

"Ok one, I do not have the powers of gods," I said. "And two, Dayana outsmarted me, I wasn't prepared for that."

"Wow." Sighed Delta as he walked back over to his seat.

"She knew her powers alone wouldn't be enough to hold me down," I said. "So, she used me, she used my power to get me."

Delta sat in his chair, just staring at me, lightly shaking his head. "But you're going to have a rematch, right? Because I would love to have my $20 back."

"When the time comes, if she's up for another fight, I will gladly do it again for you," I said.

"Thank you very much." Said Delta as he took a sip from his cup. I looked down at my hands. They weren't sore, they didn't feel tired, they didn't even hurt. The only part of my body that hurt, was my head.

"What happened when Dayana knocked me out?" I asked. Delta spit out his drink.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you," Said Delta as he looked down at the water he spilled all over the floor. "When the lightning struck you, an orange shockwave exploded out of you."

I looked down at my arms again.

"Orange... are you sure?" I asked.

"Yep," Said Delta as he took another sip from his cup, noticing it was empty. "Overdrive said it was because your particles were negatively charged when you were hit. Orange is the negative color of blue, so yeah."

"I always thought it was red," I said.

"And I always didn't care." Said Delta as he once again got up to fill his cup with water.

"How long... have I-"

"A couple hours. I think." Interrupted Delta.

"Hours?" I said, pointing at my forehead. "From a hit like that?" Delta nodded as he took a seat.

"You heal incredibly quickly." Said Delta as he took another sip from his cup.

The doctor eventually entered the room, telling me I had to stay in the room for a couple more hours. Delta then proceeded to leave after telling me to get better. I knew very well I was going to be spending the night there. My head wasn't hurting any less.

OVERDRIVE

I waited for Daniel in the control center with Kevin. I had called for a brief meeting but somehow, Daniel was late. I never understood how someone with super speed could be late for anything.

"You told him to come, right?" Asked Kevin as he spun in his chair.

"Of course," I said. "What do I look like to you?"

"You look like someone who would forget to remind someone about a meeting, and then deny it when they are told that they forgot." He said. I turned to him, frustrated.

"But hey," He said, turning away, scared of me. "If you say you told him, you told him."

I felt a gust of wind hit my face. I took a couple steps back, and Daniel appeared in front of me.

"Where were you?" I asked.

"I was talking with Michael," Said Daniel. "Just having a man-to-man conversation."

"Sit down," I said as Daniel instantly sat down on a chair.

"Now," I said. "We can start the meeting."

"Great." Said Daniel, spinning his chair.

"The time for the Africa mission is here, we need to start preparing," I said.

"We aren't going to Eurasia anymore?" Asked Daniel as he stopped spinning his seat.

"No," I responded. "We've taken too much time just sitting here and doing nothing. We need to get off our asses and handle the problem now before things spiral out of control." Kevin and Daniel looked at each other, and then at Overdrive.

"Africa is a much more... desolate area," I said. "There aren't as many landmarks, there aren't a lot of colonized areas. We have a better chance in Africa." I looked over at Kevin, who was lightly nodding.

"Do you know what color we might find there?" Asked Kevin. I shook my head.

"As of now, it's impossible to tell what colors we might confront," I responded.

"And how do you know we can handle this new color? And that's if we find a new color?" Asked Daniel.

"Michael is a lot more trained, he can defend himself pretty well, although it needs improvement. His new suit is also lined with Overnium, don't forget, so he should be able to take a lot of hits and still get back up." I explained.

"Each of the colors has a unique ability of their own," Said Kevin. "Michael's ability still hasn't been revealed. What if this new color already has their unique ability discovered, and it overpowers Michael?" I turned to Kevin.

"Then we have to kill them. No matter what," I said. "We start preparing tomorrow. It shouldn't take us that long."

"How are we getting all the way to Africa?" Asked Daniel.

"We're taking the jet," I said.