Disclaimer: See Chapter One

Chapter Eleven

It was then that the doctor, shaking his head, came into the waiting room, and said the three worst possible words, followed by a lot more that the blood rushing through my brain didn't allow me to hear: "I'm very sorry…"

I didn't listen beyond that… I couldn't. Those three words told me everything that I needed to hear, everything I couldn't bear. I saw Mr. Stronghold fall to his knees and knew beyond a doubt what had happened. So I ran. I ran and ran and ran, not really sure where I would go. I heard footsteps running behind me, a few pairs of them, but I didn't pause. All I could think of was how it had been my fault…

I knew I shouldn't have stayed at the Strongholds… I knew it, but I did it anyways. All my life, I lived off of my instincts… and the instinct to run is always the strongest. But I stumbled, tripped and fell over an empty gurney some stories up from where Mr. Stronghold was wailing. Somebody grabbed me from behind, stopping my fall, and strong arms crushed me to a firm chest, and I could hear Will sobbing near-silently next to my ear as I sobbed loudly into his chest. We cried for some time… I'm not really sure how long… and, once I somewhat regained control of my vocal chords, I apologized. Over and over again. And then I cried some more. Will was very good about it, allowing me to cry all over his shirt, and the others were watching. I could almost feel their pity radiating like an explosion…

My sobs ceased when a warm hand made its way to my shoulder. Looking up and back, I was somewhat surprised to see Warren standing there. Layla was next to him, a sad frown on her face.

"You shouldn't have followed me," I said, looking between the three of them. "Oh, Gods, what if he saw that?"

"Seraphim?" Will asked, his arms still around me. I shook him off.

"Gods, we're in public," I said, my gaze darting from them to every which direction I could see. "He could be anywhere!" Slipping out of Will's arms and out from under Warren's, I made my way to the nearest empty room. The other three followed me, and Layla shut the door. "I think I have a plan. But it's gonna take everyone."

Two hours later, we were all assembled at Bruce's new place. And, when I say all of us, I mean all of us. We were all sitting along the massive dining room table, Bruce at the head, me on his right, Will next to me (his dad was making the arrangements for his mom), Warren next to him, his mom, Flamerella (no, I didn't make that up), next to him, Layla's dad, The Mighty Oak, next to her, then Layla, and then her mom, the Whisperer. Principal Powers was on Bruce's left, with Ethan next to her, his dad, the Wave, next to him, and then Zack and his dad, the Illuminator, and then Magenta and her mom, Dragon. Miss Johnson, Clairvoyant, was at the very end.

"We all know why we're here," Bruce began, only to be cut off by Magenta's mom, a fierce looking woman with long dark hair.

"No we don't," she said. "All I know is that my daughter called me and said to meet her here." There was much agreement from the parents around the table.

"My father broke out of prison, turned my mother, and killed Mrs. Stronghold," I said loudly. The parents shut up and stared at me dumbly. "Now, I have a plan for stopping him, but we'll need as many heroes as can be spared. It'll be dangerous, and we'll no doubt lose someone, if not many someones. The plan is in no way fool-proof, and I'm willing to listen to anyone else's plans. But this is all I can think of.

"The Joker will have moved his base, since the Batman showed up. I read your thesis, Clairvoyant. You said that once you've been in someone's mind, they're easier to get into again, right?" Miss Johnson nodded. "And you also touched on how it's easier to find the minds you're related to, right?" She nodded again. "Now, tell me if this would work, theoretically. If you were piggybacking on my mind again, would you be able to sense my father's mind, because you've been in mine and he's related to me?"

"In theory, yes," Miss Johnson said. "In practice, it's a bit more complicated than that, but it should work."

"Alright," I said. "You and I, and probably Bruce, are going to drive around town, and you're gonna be mentally hitch hiking through me, and we're gonna find him."

"Then why are the rest of us here?" Flamerella asked.

"Yeah," the Wave put in. "If you've got all of this put together, why do you need us?"

"I need you for phase two," I said. "We need to put together a mass of superheroes."

"Why?" the Mighty Oak asked.

"Because," I said, reaching a hand towards a glass of water about halfway down the table. When nothing happened, I frowned, losing my train of thought. I tried invoking my telekinesis on the glass again, and it moved about an inch closer before coming to a shaky stop. "What the-?" My exclamation was cut off by the headache that came raging through my skull. I grabbed my head and moaned as the room started spinning.

"Seraphim?" I could hear someone calling my name, but I couldn't recognize their voice; it sounded as if I was under water. I tried to stand, to move, anything to make the pounding go away, but fell over as soon as I stood; my equilibrium was gone. Somebody shouted my name, and I felt strong arms pick me up off of the floor, but everything was so blurry, I couldn't make out their face. Someone was talking to me, and I knew they were moving me, but the pounding in my skull increased as I slipped into oblivion.