Alright, Chapter 21 is here for you guys. Hope you all like it. This has got to be the fastest I've ever posted a chapter, I mean; it's been 4 days and I'm already giving you guys another chapter. Maybe that's because I haven't started working on InFamous 2 yet. Heh heh...

Day 21

"Atlas was permitted the opinion that he was at liberty, if he wished, to drop the Earth and creep away; but this opinion was all that he was permitted." — Franz Kafka

We wake up near Trish's grave, as it would have taken too long to go back to Bayview hospital and we didn't feel like going back to Zeke's house. With a yawn and a stretch, I get up and go through the motions I've always been going through each and every morning. As we walk towards the next GPS location, we all pass a TV where the USTV news is playing.

"Strange rumors have erupted from Empire City about the sightings of super powered individuals. In order to quell these rumors, USTV and several officials had a joint meeting. 'It's absurd' said the present General at the meeting. 'The very idea of someone having super powers is just a hoax created by the imagination of this generation'. Much to the humor of the current press conference the General then concluded that if super powers were real, he would just give himself the ability to fly instead of taking two hours to drive each way to and from work." I clench my fists together as lightning crackles in my hands.

They think this is some sort of GAME! Some HOAX? Oooohh! If I were not stuck in this quarantine, I would LOVE to show them what kind of hoax we are! I think with anger as we continue onward to the GPS location.

"Listen Luna, I know you want to kick their asses straight back to kingdom come, but we can't do anything about it now," Cole says as Morgan puts a hand on my shoulder, both of them noticing lightning crackling in my clenched fists. I let out another sigh as I know he's right. And with that in mind we continue onward to the location, ready to get that damned Sphere and get rid of it.

"It looks like they're keeping the Ray Sphere in the old examiner building," John radios once we reach the top of the building. "Going to be a bitch getting to it though. Seventy-eight seconds."

"So what's the plan?" I swear that has got to be the most commonly asked question whenever a raid or assault of some sort is about to begin.

"I got a canister of fentanyl rigged to the bottom of the chopper, should incapacitate everything inside. Unfortunately Kesslers got anti-aircraft guns surrounding the building and will tear me apart long before I can get into position. Fifty-seven seconds."

"So we take out the guns, you gas the bastards and we get the sphere?" I ask him. "All without dying?"

"That's pretty much it. But we only get one shot at this. Get over there and destroy those guns." John ends the call with an ordering tone, but at the same time I know he's going to stay to his word with destroying the thing. Three guns are up on the roofs of the buildings, firing off whatever sized shells or shots they use all at John's chopper. He wasn't kidding when he said they'd tear him apart. Bright green sparks glide from the point between my sneakers and the power wire spanning the buildings. A dozen lightning bolts fly from my outstretched palm and strike at the First Son's manning the weapons. Just as I'm about to strike down the anti air gun, a jet comes soaring over my head and the wind nearly blows me off the roof. Not that it would kill me or anything, but it would still be an annoyance.

"See those jets Luna? They're hitting targets all across the city, preparing the way for a ground invasion," Moya calls me as another jet roars past my building, dropping bombs onto the roads. "I warned you that if I lost control, they'll escalate things. You shouldn't have reneged our deal."

"The deal was void the moment you lied to us. All we ever wanted was to get out of the city, but then you had us pulled in to play scavenger hunt throughout this quarantine," I growl out. "Maybe if you told us the truth from the start we might still be your dogs."

"It doesn't matter, the military will attack anyone I've labeled a threat, and I have you three on the top of the list."

"You're not pinning this on us Moya," I retort back to that lying DARPA lady as one First Son feels my frustration in the form of a fist in the gut.

"I already have." She ends the call right then and there, leaving me pissed off again. My eyes look around for any more infantry belonging to the First Sons, but all I really do see is the anti-air gun that's firing at John and the jets.

"I don't have enough fentanyl to make another bomb, so this is our only chance. Take out those guns before they blow me out of the sky." John radios to us, bringing me back to my own mission. The area goes black as blue and silver lightning bolts drop out of the sky and onto other rooftops, and soon my own green electric bolt slams down onto the artillery in front of me. Metal twists and warps slightly before the ammunition inside just explodes the entire thing in a blast of fire and air.

"Alright you three, Morgan's waiting over by the safe zone building. I don't want any of you breathing in this stuff when it goes," White speaks to us as his chopper flies in close to the warehouse building. All three of us glide and grind back to the non-conduit woman as John swoops into the area. The bomb gets dropped onto the roof and soon this sick grass-green smoke is spilling out of the windows and roof. I'm about to smile and cheer when half a dozen of the First Sons rush out of the gas and into an armored truck.

"Damnit, we weren't fast enough. They loaded the Ray Sphere onto a truck. I'm going to keep them in my sights. You follow as quickly as you can," John tells us before he flies after them. I leap onto the power lines and begin grinding on them in order to keep my eyes on the truck. Cole and Silver (whom is carrying Morgan) follow behind me, each of us taking slightly different pathways, but we all meet up again as we slide across the bridge. As a bump in the rollercoaster comes in, I drop down in order to rush along the train tracks.

Aw shoot! They're going past the tracks. Wait; maybe I can catch up to them if I head on the southbound tracks. I think as the chopper flies past me and heads to the southern part of the island. The electricity carries my body south when I see a train catching up to me on my right. Wait, if I'm on the left tracks, and the train to my right is running with me then. I'd better hitch a free ride. I grab onto the railing of the car, hauling myself up seconds before the other train passes by. My arm wipes my forehead at how close I was to getting creamed.

"Luna catch up, they're getting away to the coast." John radios to me as I spot his helicopter fly near me. The truck with our package takes a left, heading away from the turn up ahead. As the tracks curve right, I leap off the train, allowing the momentum to carry me onto a side wire leading to the harbor.

"What happened to you?" A voice calls down to me. Silver is above my wire, Morgan hanging on her back as silver sparks drop down to me. Cole is behind her, his own blue sparks falling off the wire.

"I decided to take the train." I call back before we all jump off the electric lines and onto the ground.

"The First Sons have got a boat inbound, probably trying to take advantage of the fact that water will kill three out of the four of you. I've got fuel leaking all over the place, so you've got to catch up or we're going to lose the Sphere again." John radios while we dash over to the harbor, finding the boat and the truck.

I crack my knuckles and draw my sword, a gigawatt blade in my other hand. "Let's finish this once and for all." The other three nod and draw their own weapons, Morgan armed with what looks like an AK-47. I'm the first one to charge forward, leading the pack towards our goal. One or two of the First Sons come out from barricades to shoot at us, and they get shot down by lightning and bullets. We all move around a loading crate and suddenly these cans go flying around us, spewing out thick white clouds of smoke.

"Ack! Damned gas grenades!" Silver coughs as we all try to get a breath of air into our lungs, coughing away the smoke. A strange mechanical whirring noise fills the air near us and an egg-shaped device flies towards us. The grenade explodes and sends us conduits backwards from the blast, weakening us while gunfire shoots from outside the smoke. I activate my psychic vision pulse and find the red outline of a few First Son troopers outside the smoke. A napalm grenade flies over my head and lands at the feet of one such enemy, blowing him a few inches high from the detonation. Rockets of green and blue lightning fly up in the air before being redirected downward onto the pier.

"You guys aren't going anywhere!" Cole says before blue lightning falls down from the sky, taking out more members of Kessler's army. I blast shockwaves around to clear the smoke, and send a few of the men into the water in the process. A shock grenade is tossed into the water, electrocuting the gunmen that fell in. When we move to what appears to be the last stretch of the trailer-sized crates, the sound of a machine gun cuts through the air. Bullets tear apart the wooden crates as we move to take cover behind them, but the lead cuts through the wood like a chipper.

I get back onto my feet as the bullets fail to penetrate the shipping crates, calling down my green lightning onto the turret. The ground gets scorched with the electricity as the bolt travels forward, electrocuting the man operating the machine gun. A silver lightning blast falls down from the sky and takes out another turret. With the last of the dustmen cleared, we all head onward, towards the Ray Sphere.

"You know, I had that thing in my hands once," John begins as he catches up to us. "Kessler asked me to hold it while he adjusted some cables during a test. I could feel it pulsing, like something was inside of it, trying to get out."

"It's not right," Morgan states as she gazes at the sphere, watching the swirling orb float inside the protective force field casing.

"And everyone wants it." Cole agrees while my sister and I nod in agreement.

"That big lightning strike of yours should destroy the protective container and then we can blow the sphere sky high," suggests John as he motions towards the sphere and its container.

** How many lives has that thing destroyed, corrupted? None of us can risk it falling into the wrong hands. But it gave us powers once before, if we use it again there's a chance we could be twice as strong. And then no one would dare challenge any of us. ** Cole, Silver and I look at each other, exchanging words with a glance of our eyes. Cole's says that he wishes to destroy it, but I see inside he wishes to use it to protect people. Silver shakes her head at Cole's little eye-comment about using it. 'Weapons never solve the problem, only recreate them' she "speaks" while looking to me. I take in a deep breath and think about everything: all we've done, all we've worked for, everyone that's died ever since that day up until this very moment. I look at the two and draw both hands over my neck like two knives.

** Trish's crumbled body flashes through my head, I think of Morgan, Zeke, Mom and Dad resting in whatever grave they're in. I join hands with my sister and Cole with my other. And together we hit that Sphere with everything we've got. But something goes wrong. The ray sphere cracks open, creating a vortex of energy. John's pulled in and it tears him apart. Morgan nearly gets pulled in, but Cole catches her and we all run. John and the ray sphere are gone, reduced to ashes. Nothing went according to plan, but at least the Ray Sphere's out of the picture.**

"RUN!" I shout out as the Ray Sphere's vortex sucks up part of the boat as well as the pier that we're standing upon. Faster and faster we run, feet pushing off the concrete ground as the energy hole sucks in more matter. I'm finding myself running on bits and pieces of the concrete as the shore is less than a few feet away before I lunge into the air.

SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT! I mentally scream as I soar like a clumsy bird through the air and find myself nearing the water before my arms are grabbed by three people.

"I am not going to have you die on me!" Silver cries out as she grips my left arm, Morgan grabbing my right and Cole struggling to pull all three of us onto shore. Suddenly I find more hands grabbing mine as a few nearby civilians work to help pull me up and away from the water's cruel surface.

"Thanks you guys," I say with a sigh of relief, backing away from the shore in case someone bumps into me. We all let out a breath as the realization sinks in; the Ray Sphere is finally destroyed. It's as if a heavy weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Then I hear my cell phone ring. PRIVATE_NUMBER.

"I'm very disappointed in you Laura. The Ray Sphere was the catalyst of your powers, and it could've strengthened you all even more," Selene speaks from her end of the phone, wherever that may be. "But you rejected its gift, tossed it aside like trash. I, for one, wouldn't have done the same thing."

"Yeah, well here's a news flash: I'm not like you or Kessler or your sister. It took me a good while, but I've finally realized something," I snarl into the phone. "This whole thing isn't about me, about what I want. Not anymore. It's all about keeping the city safe. And once you three are dead, no one will ever threaten it again."

"That remains to be seen," Selene says in her 'all-powerful-and-wise-tone'. Then my eyes grow wide as I hear what she says next. "Meet us at the Station Building." I look down at the phone and the blinking 'call ended' screen before flipping it shut. If Selene wants a battle, I'm sure as hell going to bring her one.

One more chapter, or maybe two more before the end of InFamous one. There is a chance I'll be doing InFamous 2 and Festival of Blood. So this is about 2680 words long, twice as longer as my usual 1000 word count. Maybe that's because the missions are getting longer. Hmmm...

Re-Reviews:

godofmadness43: I don't own any of the comics, but the Infamous wiki has the summary of the plot and I'll (hopefully) be able to work something out with that. Have to make due with what I've got.

Ancient Liddel: Yeah, InFamous 2 is going to be on my list after this. July 5th or 6th is when I'll be heading to the summer pre-college course thing. Ugh. Life is going by too fast.

General Herbison: Yeah, flying around, shooting anyone that shoots at you, vaporizing them into smitherines. The only hard part was when you had to take out the ground men when finding the jammers. (But then again, I did it on hard)

Manakete King: Well I still hope you'll enjoy reading my InFamous 2 story. I'm still thinking about the power transfer device. I'm stuck on who gets what and if one of the twins should get a different 'element' or something.

So that's everything guys. Really hope you review fast because, as of this posting, I'm up to the point where Zeke comes in and tries shooting Kessler. (And kessler throws him away)