chAPTER 1
I placed the Ray Field Inhibitor on the coffee table and placed my hands on my hips. Now for the ugly part.
Before I got a chance to say anything, there was the familiar whooshing sound and Nix appeared on the roof with us, looking more distraught than I had ever seen her. "It was bad," she sobbed. "It was so bad, Cole."
I nodded sympathetically. When the Beast arrived, it tore through the swamp, killing many of the creatures she'd bonded with, the same way Bertrand had. I put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm glad you made it," I said reassuringly. She nodded slightly in response. I then turned to the rest of the group and addressed everyone. "Listen, uh," I began, but paused. How could I even try to put this? "Things aren't as cut-and-dry as we thought." Zeke and Kuo looked at me with a confused expression. I sighed and continued. "It turns out the Beast is someone I knew. A Conduit named John White."
Kuo was floored. "John is alive?" she said disbelievingly.
"Yeah," I replied. Kuo's expression quickly turned from confusion to a mixture of fear and sadness. John and Kuo hadn't known each other that long before the Blast, but they were assigned to the same case, and had become friends during their investigation into the First Sons. "But listen, what he's doing isn't mass murder. He's using his powers like a Ray Sphere, activating potential Conduits, curing them of the plague."
Zeke frowned, unsure of where I was going with this. Truth be told, neither did I. "But he's killing people who aren't lucky enough to be Conduits."
His interrogative stare made be abandon the rest of the idea of subtlety. "He asked me to help him, Zeke," I said bluntly.
Zeke stood furiously. "Help him?!" he demanded.
Nix was just as angry at the idea as he was. "Your pal just killed all my babies!" she exclaimed, standing.
"I know," I replied, trying to keep Nix calm.
It worked, but only a little. "Then do something about it, Cole," she said through gritted teeth.
Her expression stirred something in me, throwing away second guesses about the RFI. "We are," I said definitively, picking up the RFI and preparing myself for what was about to happen.
Nothing could have prepared me for what did happen. As I laid as much electricity into the RFI as I could, pain began crushing me from the inside out. Through the ringing in my ears, I could hear Nix and Kuo screaming, see them cradling their heads. I tried to stop, tried to make myself think, but I couldn't. My hands felt like they were glued to the device, and wouldn't listen to my plea for them to let go.
Zeke, reacting quickly, grabbed the Amp from my backpack and swung it as hard as he could at the RFI, knocking it out of my hands. I collapsed to the ground, still shaking from the experience.
One by one, Kuo, Nix, and I stood slowly to our feet. "Oh my god," Kuo said breathlessly. "I was dying. I could feel it,"
I could only agree. Whatever the RFI was supposed to do, it didn't work. Something had gone wrong. "It didn't even fire off," I breathed, disbelief flooding me. "It wasn't even fully charged."
Nix didn't seem to care about her close brush with death as she rounded on Zeke. "What the hell did you do, Zeke?" she demanded.
"What was I supposed to do?" Zeke asked defensively. He stepped over to me, handing me the Amp, before stepping over to the RFI.
"Is it broken?" I asked.
"I don't know," Zeke admitted as he picked it up. "Let me take a look."
As he sat down, Kuo pointed at the RFI. "Wolfe," she said, her voice still shaky, "he knew this was going to happen."
The news hit me like a sack of bricks. Of course. He would've planned on this. Stopping the plague and taking away powers, the Conduit gene, and whoever carried it, would either be a casualty... or a target. But if Wolfe knew... she had to know, too. The relationship those two had, Wolfe had to have told her. "He was setting me up to die," I spat out, anger rising quickly in me.
Kuo raised her hands defensively. "Well, I didn't know about this," she stammered.
My anger subsided, seeing Kuo looking innocent. But the fact still remained that the RFI was a death trap. "If I use that thing, it's going to kill us. Kill all Conduits, not just the Beast."
Zeke looked up from his work. "I'll die if you don't. So will millions of others."
I sighed. "Look, Zeke, we don't know that the RFI will cure the plague. John's method works. I've seen it." Nix walked away slightly, and Zeke just stood there, dumbfounded at my words. Only Kuo seemed remotely supportive. "He might be the only way anyone lives through this."
Nix suddenly rounded on me. "I don't care what happens to me!" she shouted. "All I care about is that the Beast dies." She pointed at me with one of her claws. "You need to make a decision right now. Are you gonna kill the Beast? Be a man of your word."
"Look, John's plan is not pretty," Kuo interjected. "It's not. But it's right. Conduits are immune to the plague. He needs to make as many as he can before more of the sick die. Think about that."
I looked between the three of them and sighed, turning away. "Never thought Kuo would lose her nerve and get selfish," I muttered. The decision that was placed into my hands... there was no way to make it simply. There was a lot riding on this. The fates of the entire human race, and the Conduits, rested in my hands. Did I use the RFI to kill myself and all other Conduits, and allow humanity to continue to live? Or did I turn against them, but preserve the Conduits and guarantee the plague's cure?
After a few moments, my mind was made up. I turned to the others, ready to deliver my verdict.
Only I never got the chance. An explosion sounded to our right, somewhere in Ascension Parish. I looked over to where the sound came from and numerous flashes of both red and blue, followed by more explosions.
Acting quickly, I ran to the edge of the roof, but paused and turned to Zeke. "Toss me the RFI!" I called.
Zeke did, and I put it in my pack, not wanting to rule it out just yet. Kuo glared at me, obviously not wanting to keep the thing around. "Cole-," she began.
"Later," I cut her off. We didn't have time to debate this, not with whatever was out there. "I need you flying overhead, providing surveillance. We need to know exactly what we're dealing with."
After a beat, Kuo nodded and took off. I turned to Nix. "Nix, you're gonna need to stay with Zeke." She opened her mouth to protest, but I held up my hand. "In his condition, he can't do much to defend himself. I need your help with that." Nix frowned, but shrugged her approval.
"What about me?" Zeke demanded. "I'm not *completely* useless, you know."
"I know. I need you to find us some transport. Things might get pear-shaped pretty fast, so we may need a quick exit."
"I'm on it," he replied. He turned to Nix. "Do, uh... do ya think you could give me a lift?" he asked.
Nix rolled her eyes but grabbed Zeke and teleported away. I turned back to the disturbance, took a breath, and jumped off the roof. *Here we go,* I thought.
As I landed, I looked up, only to see a wall right there. Looking left, I sprinted down the alley and onto the street. The effects of the explosion were everywhere. Scorch marks lined the streets and buildings, balconies were shattered an fell to the ground, and panicked civilians ran from the epicenter, hiding in the buildings while the explosions continued.
Reaching the place where the first explosion occurred, I placed my hand to my ear, my earpiece beeping to start the call. "Kuo," I said. "What do you see?"
"A bunch of flashes and a few blown-up cars, but nothing else."
Frowning, I moved forward and continued following the sounds of battle. Going around the clock tower, I saw the flashes Kuo was talking about. After another explosion, a figure came flying toward me. I rolled to my right to dodge it. I looked back to the figure, and was surprised to see it was a human. They were wearing a pair of pants and running shoes, and a white t-shirt, all incredibly torn and dirty.. A backpack was slung across one shoulder. The person looked up at me, and my surprise grew to a height I'd never thought I'd witness again.
I was looking into my own face.