Rebellion (Zero Series) (12 page)

“We can use the
latest batch of the synthesized healing gene spike. I can inject you and the
spike may stick and heal you,” he said.

“Find the
chemical,” I said. He rushed off to the other side of the laboratory as I tried
to stand up. I finally forced myself into a standing position but had to
immediately lean against the table. Flint rushed back across the lab with an
injector gun. There was a glass capsule on it that contained a red liquid.

“Are you ready?” he
asked.

“Do it,” I said
gritting my teeth. He plunged the needle into my arm and pulled the trigger.
The red liquid emptied out of the capsule and surged into my body. We waited
for a minute for the liquid to merge into my body. I felt the pain in my
abdomen disappear slowly. I looked down to see the injury from the grinder
vanishing. The other various injuries I had sustained during my time in the lab
began to heal. I felt my strength returning and my power thriving. I saw my
clothes sitting on a chair against the wall. I retrieved them and dressed
quickly.

“Are you ready to
go? We need to move quickly,” said Flint typing away at his datapad.

“I’m ready. What’s
the plan?” I asked.

“I just checked the
security camera feed and the lobby is clear for now,” he said. “The next guard
patrol will be through soon.”

“Let’s get moving,”
I said. In the time we had been talking, I hadn’t noticed that the elevator was
coming to us. The doors opened and revealed Bunsen who looked up and was
shocked to see me free. He pressed a button on his wrist band and an alarm
started to sound. I threw out my hands and knocked Bunsen back with a force
blast. His body crashed through the back of the elevator and destroyed a
transformer in the elevator shaft. The explosion incinerated Bunsen and
destroyed the elevator.

“The elevator is
gone!” Flint yelled over the alarm, “We are trapped.”

“We need to find a
way out of here,” I said.

“You have no way
out,” a voice said over the intercom. “Give up now. Our troops are on the way
to your location.”

“We need an exit
plan,” I said.

Flint
started typing
away at his datapad quickly and when he finished he said, “I signaled for
help.”

“Who will help?” I
asked frantically.

“Just wait,” he
replied. A cracking sound began to come through the ceiling and a large plant
crashed through. Vine slid down the root into the lab.

“We didn’t know if
we would see you again,” he said.

“You can’t get rid
of me that easily,” I said climbing up onto the root. Flint followed behind us
into the upper floors. We emerged into the lobby where a crowd of rebels were
in a fierce gun battle with the Kraken guards. Flare descended into the lobby
with her body engulfed in flames. She was donning her new disguise that she
picked out. She wore a black Kevlar-like armor that seemed to be fire proof.
She was wearing tight, black pants and black combat boots. She also had a pair
of welding goggles on her face to cover her eyes. She barked a command and the
rebel troops hit the floor. She unleashed two pillars of flame from her hands
and lit the lobby on fire. The flames engulfed many of the Kraken troops.

“Hurry up!” Flare
yelled. We ran through the doorway and retreated into the city square. The
remainder of the rebel troops entered the square. Frost led a group of soldiers
into the square and gave an order for them to set up in a blockade.

“Zero! We need to
go!” yelled Frost.

“Not yet! I need to
get somewhere that I can talk to the people of the city. They need to know what
happened to me and that Kraken can be defeated,” I replied.

“We can go to the
radio station where Kraken broadcasts their public announcements. You can get
behind the mic and talk to the whole city,” Frost said.

“Good. We need to
get there before Kraken mobilizes their entire army,” I said. Flint, Frost and
I ran through the city streets while Flare and Vine stayed and commanded the
troops in the square. We cut through alleys and side streets as fast as we
could. The radio tower came upon us quickly. The small building had a large
metal spire to broadcast their communications. I put my hand out while I was
running to force the door open. I released a force blast and obliterated the
door while I was still twenty feet out. We slowed to a jog and then to a walk
when we approached the doorway.

“It would be much
easier for all of us if you didn’t go in there!” yelled a voice from behind us.
We spun around and saw the Trifecta standing behind us. Synapse, Golem and
Prism stood together just a few feet away.

“It really was easy
to fool you,” Prism said arrogantly.

“Prism, don’t
gloat. It isn’t polite,” Synapse said.

“I should kill you
where you stand,” Frost said gritting his teeth.

“I would like to
see you try!” Prism blurted out.

“Enough Prism! Your
incessant shouting is grating on my nerves!” shouted Golem.

“Would you two
stop?” Synapse said rubbing her brow.

“Flint, go inside
and get the broadcast ready while we take care of them,” I whispered. He nodded
and slipped inside quietly. Frost formed a dagger out of ice in each hand and
cracked his neck.

“You three still
have a chance to walk away from Kraken,” I said.

“Why would we walk
away from the money they pay us? We make a fortune enforcing Kraken’s law,”
Prism said. He stepped up to the front of the group. His outfit was ridiculous
looking. He obviously cared greatly about vanity since his appearance was so
generic. He wore a black and gold jacket with silver pants. His boots were also
gold and tied his flamboyant ensemble together.

“The money you make
cannot be better than having freedom,” Frost said.

“I would expect
nothing less than that from a slum rat,” Prism said. Frost became visibly angry
as he clenched his fists tighter and tighter. Prism saw this and knew he was
getting a rise out of Frost. He knew that Frost would attack and began the
process of duplicating himself. His body looked as if it were shaking violently
causing multiple versions of Prism to come out. As the first two copies were
about to take full form, a loud bang broke the tense silence. Prism’s face went
blank as the copies rescinded back into his body. A large bullet hole was
placed in the middle of his chest. I looked up in shock and saw Pan crouching
on the rooftop holding his rifle. Prism fell to his knees and clutched at his
chest. Golem turned his enormous foot to stone and kicked Prism over.

“He was an arrogant
prick,” he said in his deep voice. The stone that consumed his leg started
spreading all over the rest of his body. Frost ran at Golem with his ice
daggers drawn. He leapt and tried to plunge the daggers into Golem’s chest but
they were shattered against his skin. Golem backhanded Frost and launched him
across the street into a wall. He turned his attention to me and began to walk towards
me. I broke into a sprint which prompted him to do the same. I raised my fist
as I sped towards him and struck his head sending us flying in opposite
directions. I hit the wall of the radio center and Golem rolled across the
ground tearing the pavement up as he tumbled. He finally came to a stop and
slowly pushed himself up. I stood up and noticed that Synapse was sitting on a
crate with her feet up. Her black boots rested on a metal railing while she
picked her fingernails. I didn’t even notice while Golem regained his footing
and hurled a broken down car at me. I was barely able to react and bat the car
away with a force field. He slammed his fists into the ground and cracked the
pavement. He picked up large pieces of stone and slung them at me. I focused as
best I could to maintain the integrity of the force field. A seemingly endless
barrage of stone slabs was halted as Golem was hit with shots from a long range
rifle. The bullets entered from two different directions. I knew that Pan was
still at his vantage point but when I looked in the other direction, I was
shocked to see Jet firing from another roof with a mask covering her mouth. It
was a cloth piece that was covering her mouth and tied in the back behind her
head. The momentary lapse allowed me to make a move against Golem. I threw my
hands up and lifted Golem in the air. He struggled and grunted but was held
stationary by my power. I could feel his life force inside my mind. I didn’t
know why, but Golem being inside my force power must have given me the ability
to monitor his life force. My spike was morphing even after an extended period
of not wearing the amplifiers. I started to move my hands together and as I
did, his body began to crack. I was making the gravity on his body greater
causing him to break apart. I finally clapped my hands together and Golem was
crushed into gravel. The Trifecta was falling apart before my eyes. I heard
Frost grunt as he stood up from where he was tossed.

“Are you alright
Frost?” I yelled over.

“I’m fine. Just a
little sore,” he replied.

I heard a cough
from Synapse and turned with my hands up ready to fight but she was still
sitting with her feet propped up on the crate. She was clicking the fingernails
on her thumb and index finger. “I know when I’m outmatched,” she said without
looking up.

“You aren’t even
going to put up a fight?” Frost asked.

“Those two fools
have always been too quick to rush into a fight. I have saved their asses more
times than I can count. I know when a power shift is coming too. Hades is
finished,” she replied.

I lowered my hands.
“You could join us,” I said.

“I don’t think that
your rebels would be happy if I joined up,” she said laughing.

Frost pulled me
aside and said, “Why are you offering to let her join?”

“She is powerful.
We will need her especially if they unleash Armageddon,” I said.

“She has lorded
over our city on Hades’ payroll for years,” Frost said.

“Look,” Synapse
chimed in, “I don’t really care who wins this war. If Kraken succeeds, I
continue to get paid. If you win, the city is free and I can come and go.”

“Or you could be
held accountable for your actions,” I said.

“Who do you suppose
would have the authority to do that?” she asked.

“The people of Marsh City. We are going to liberate it and give them the authority to run this city,” I
replied.

“How very noble,”
she said.

“Now if you were to
help us, I could probably convince the people of this city to see that the good
outweighs the bad things you have taken part in,” I said.

She sat and pondered
for a moment. “I can lend a hand,” she said. She stood up and held out her
hand. I shook it and heard a commotion coming from the end of the street. Pan
began flashing a light to signal us. I looked up and he pointed down to the end
of the road. A large group of soldiers were moving towards us.
The army was taking their formation.
"We need to get inside!" Frost yelled.
We ran inside the broadcast center and slammed
the door shut.
"You go make your broadcast. I'll protect
the door," Synapse said.
I nodded and we ran up the stairs. Flint was sitting at a console twisting and turning knobs. He pointed over to the
microphone. I walked over and took my place. He gave a thumbs up and I cleared
my throat.
"People of Marsh City. This is Zero. I am
talking to you to tell you that there is hope. Kraken can be stopped. We can
return this city to the people and make sure that tyranny never rules again. Take
up arms. We can stop them and take this city back!" I said.
I paused for a moment and Flint said,
"You're clear. Great job."

“Hopefully
that will incite a riot,” Frost said.

“We
don’t want a riot. We want a revolution,” I said.

“We
need an organized rebellion on our hands,” Flint said.

“Does
it really matter how it goes down?” Frost asked.

“Of
course it matters. If we have anarchy, then when this is all over, it will
leave the city susceptible to another organization like Kraken to take over. We
need to unite these people,” I said.

I
heard gunfire breaking out on the street outside the station. We hurried to the
door and found Synapse controlling the Kraken soldiers. She was forcing them to
fire on each other. The sight of the soldiers decimating each other was truly
horrifying. I was glad that Synapse had agreed to join our side. Once the last
man had finished off his squad mates, Synapse forced him to shoot himself. A
pile of Kraken enforcers lay at Synapse’s feet. She stumbled back after she
broke her concentration.

“Are
you alright?” I asked.

“I’m
fine. I haven’t controlled that many people in quite a while. Prism and Golem
have been doing the real work for quite a while now. I have been the brains of
the operation,” she replied.

“Well
we don’t have time to just sit around. Are you okay to move?” Frost asked.

“I am
fine. Where are we going?” she asked.

I thought
for a moment. “We need to figure out where the other spikers are being held,” I
said.