A/N: I know I haven't updated in awhile. Still, I think this chapter will more than make up for it. This is when things get tough.
"They just don't make superheroes the way they used to, do they?"
There was definitely no mistaking whose voice was echoing through the tower. Aphrodite. Even with her head hanging, Athene could see a mass of blond above, in her peripheral vision. To add insult to injury, Aphrodite was watching everything from a screen, and gloating.
"I mean," the blond continued conversationally, "You would think a lightning-powered superhero could handle a little real lightning. Because, like, you've already created storms and destroyed glass windows with wind. But you can't handle a little bit of lightning? God. You're such a weakling."
Athene closed her eyes, blank shock wiping away all other thought. Aphrodite, it seemed, knew far more about her than she thought. How did she know about that last day of school? Unless…
Undaunted, Aphrodite went on, her voice filled with smugness.
"You wouldn't believe how many people are willing to give info on you," she remarked, giving a tinkling laugh that made Athene want to gag. "That girl in your study hall in school, Lacy? She was so willing to give dirt on you and who you were. You know, she had the right attitude, though her fashion sense could use some work."
Lacy. Lacy had given away info to her enemies? These people – Aphrodite, the Ice Guy – knew all her identities, as civilian, superhero, and thief? How had they found out? Lacy didn't know Julia Keating was Athene, only that Julia had somehow caused a freak accident.
"Oh, and did you notice your shackles? Metal perfectly molded to your hands, and invulnerable to weak lightning. All of it courtesy of Silver."
Athene inhaled sharply, her voice a whispering rasp.
"Silver is-"
"-in jail? God, no." Aphrodite laughed again, and Athene winced. "You seriously thought that Silver would stay in jail for long? She broke out when those three monsters did."
Oh God. It was all slowly starting to make sense. Cinderblock, Plasmus, and Overload's escape and destruction had been a distraction the entire time, all so Silver could escape from jail and team up with Aphrodite and the Ice Guy. But yet, it still didn't explain how they knew her other identity.
"Starting to put it all together, Julia? You'd be surprised how much we know about you. Like your adopted family. You didn't think Roger's death was a coincidence, did you?"
Hot rage surged through Athene's mind, giving her the strength to raise her head and meet Aphrodite's gloating eyes projected on the screen.
"You-"
"Oh, don't tire yourself out," the blond cut in. "You'll need your strength for later." When Athene's eyes narrowed, she went on. "You're probably wondering why we wanted to find you so badly."
Actually, Athene thought lividly, I was wondering how I should best kill you.
Still, she kept silent. Villains had a tendency to spill The Grand Plan needlessly.
"You have untapped potential, apparently," Aphrodite said, a tone of indifference in her voice, as if she didn't personally agree. "The big guys at the top have this big idea that you're the next big thing that they can use. Apparently, you're like a giant source of electricity or something. You can absorb lightning, then make it more easily available to use as an energy source. Personally, I don't think you'll make it through the week, not after one little strike. But those guys kept going on and on about how you can harness, like, millions of amps of electricity so they can sell it. They're talking about moving you to Florida, where there'll be more thunderstorms…"
As Aphrodite prattled on, half ranting, half explaining, Athene dropped her head down once more. She'd been hoping for some kind of extra information to help her escape – this was too much. This was a giant plan that had been concocted long ago, without her knowledge. This building, the metal, the tower – everything had been waiting for her. She'd been the last piece of the puzzle, the most valuable piece.
She'd never stopped to actually think about why someone wanted her so badly. This though, was bigger than she could imagine. She would never have thought that her powers – which she had thought a curse, then begun to think of as a controllable tool – could be her downfall. Her thievery, maybe. But never her newly-manifested powers.
She couldn't stand this for much longer, something that even Aphrodite had noticed. One bolt of lightning had drained her so much; she didn't even want to think what five would do. Kill her, most likely. Humans were not meant to withstand such a powerful force, even humans with a connection to that force.
She had to make a plan to escape. The easiest way, of course, would be to get herself out of the tower and release Red X and the Titans. With their help, she had a greater chance of getting out safely. Fortunately, Athene had just realized that she had been left with a tiny flicker of lightning inside her, possibly too small to have been absorbed by the metal spheres. If she could use that lightning to get out…
"Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm supposed to deliver the ultimatum-thing, you know." Without Athene's notice, Aphrodite had come to somewhat of a stop to her rant. At the word 'ultimatum', Athene paid full attention to the blond.
"What-"
"I'm getting to that," Aphrodite snapped. "God." Taking a deep breath, she continued. "The big guys don't need the Titans or Red X, only you. But my group thinks we could use some extra help, so we're willing to make you an offer."
The blood drained from Athene's face at these words. The big guys don't need the Titans or Red X, only you. Was someone else to die because of her? But the offer…
"So here's the deal," Aphrodite went on curtly. "Robin and Red X are kept in two different rooms, two different tanks." Seeing the flicker of new images appearing above, Athene raised her head to see an image of each of the youths projected onto tiles on either side of Aphrodite's screen, Robin on the left, Red X on the right. Both, true to the blond's word, were in cylindrical tanks of clear liquid, tubes hooked up to their mouths to give them air. Both appeared to be unconscious.
"Now, each of them have wires running from each of your transmuters-" Athene guessed that she meant the metal spheres onto which her hands were bound to "-to each of their tanks and tubes. In two minutes, poisonous gas is going to enter through both tubes. The only way you can stop it is to short out the gas pump with lightning." Athene's heart tightened for a moment. "Yes, we know you still have some in there. We left some for you.
"Pick the one you want to live, and we might keep him alive to work for us. Leave the other. You only have enough to short out one gas pump. If you try destroying both, none of them will work, and both guys die. So, what's it going to be? Robin, the Boy Wonder, or your partner, Red X? Remember – you've got two minutes to decide. After that, they both die."
Aphrodite's face disappeared, to be replaced on the screen with a clock counting down the time. 2:00. 1:59. 1:58.
For a second, Athene felt winded. Struggling to breath, her mind reeling, the girl closed her eyes to drown in her own despair. How was she supposed to make this decision? How could she possibly choose life or death for two people that she'd grown close to? If dead, Robin would be sorely missed by the superhero and civilian community and his family, team, and friends. She would miss him.
But Red X. Damien. They'd known each other for years, supported each other, loved each other as friends. Maybe more, lately. She couldn't kill the very person who'd befriended her in a strange country, taken her in, taught her how to be a thief, saved her from numerous scrapes. Killing him would haunt her for the rest of her life and into the next one, if it existed.
Why did this decision have to come to her? Why did she have to know these people, and be responsible for their lives? It was too much for one person to handle. If she was forced to let one live, and let the other die, she would never get over it, no matter how much therapy was given to her. If she ever escaped alive, that is. And if she did, she would have to live with ever-lasting guilt.
Beads of perspiration, unnoticed, slipped from her forehead and dropped to the ground a few feet down. They might as well have been tears of frustration. Above, on the pure white tile, the clock was still counting down. 0:16. 0:15. 0:14.
That was it, then. She had to choose whoever she thought she would live better with. The lesser of two evils, or in this case, the better of two good. Who did she think would help her most in life? Who did she think she would miss less?
0:09. 0:08. 0:07.
With a surge of desperation and agony, Julia gathered what was left of her lightning and shoved it through her right hand.
The electricity fizzled on the transmuter, then was gone.
The clock disappeared.
Heart aching, the girl looked up at the right screen. A thin bolt of lightning was crawling through a clear tube, towards the tank. Heart pounding, Julia saw it make its way to the top of the cylindrical tank, then sink into the jumble of equipment and tubes.
And she watched in horror as, in a brief flash of light, the lightning raced through the liquid and electrified Red X.
