Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12
Chapter 10: Another day another TRAP!
I was lucky that when I exploded with electric energy I was able to control where it went and that behind me was just an old warehouse dressed like a hospital. I didn’t think that as I stood in front of the impaled corpse of the most realistic puppet the Puppeteer had made so far.
The Puppeteer spoke through his puppet, “You didn’t think I’d make it that easy for you? Did you, Sam?” The puppet collapsed but my ears still rang with the sound of my name.
I didn’t wait to see what happened next. I just threw myself into the sky flying as high as I could. The warehouse was just outside of town and it was a quick flight back to Toronto.
I tried my coms but they must have been fried in the storm or Mel had dismissed it. I was thankful she hadn’t dismissed my costume or I’d be as naked as I felt.
If the Puppeteer knew who I was, he knew who the rest were. I was so caught up in my own mind that I didn’t hear the police helicopters. I blame the rushing air, fatigue, and distraction. Either way, two RCMP attack helicopters flanked me out of the clouds.
Over a loudspeaker I heard, “Electric Knight. You are under arrest. Follow us quietly or we will open fire.”
“We’re over the city. That’s way too dangerous.” My words were lost to the rush of air and the thrumming of their propellers.
I didn’t want to go with them, I didn’t want to be responsible for them opening fire in a residential neighbourhood, and I didn’t want to hurt them.
That left me no other option than to follow. In theory they should have taken me to a police station or the RCMP headquarters in Etobicoke. I half expected to be escorted to another abandoned warehouse. Instead we went higher and over the clouds I saw a floating battleship like something out of Marvel Comics or Doctor Who.
The bow said HMS Joe Clark. I couldn’t help but wonder, Joe Who.
Although the ship looked impressive, the proportions were off and I could feel almost no electricity use. “Please land on the carrier,” the voice from the helicopters said but they didn’t move towards it.
I looked closely at the helicopters and concentrated on the pilots. I waved to see what would happen. They didn’t react. Their heads didn’t move.
This was a trap… another one.
I focused what little concentration I had left and looked at the helicopters. They were well built replicas but the power source was all wrong. It was electric. Which was a good thing for me. I tugged with my powers and took all the electricity from the batteries without changing speed or course.
The ‘copters fell from the sky and a megaphone from the carrier screeched, “You think you’re so smart! Each of those had a chemical based bomb that will level half of Toronto. You’ll never get all three in time.” The screams were followed by what sounded like a bad cartoon villain laughing.
The fact that he said three only clicked when the carrier started to fall. I flew as quickly as I could and grabbed the carrier. It was lighter than I would have expected; I threw it as hard as I could and when it was as high as possible I shot it with a bolt.
The voice hadn’t lied, the explosion threw me down faster than I could have gone on my own. Between the push from the blast and my own power I flew fast enough to catch the first ‘copter. I hadn’t considered what to do with it. If I detonated it at this height, it would devastate whatever was below. If I didn’t, the other one would hit the ground before I had a change to get to it.
I had only one choice, I had to pull this one to go catch the other. I grabbed the blades and pulled it along with me. It slowed me down and hurt my arms but I was catching up to the second one. I’m not sure what was scarier; holding a bomb, chasing a second bomb, or the sight of downtown rushing toward me at mach speeds.
I thought I wasn’t going to make it but I did and with less than a metre to spare I managed to grab the second ‘copter. I was now on Bay street with two bombs.
“You think that catching them will stop me?” the voice asked. I sighed as I realized he could detonate it remotely. I tightened my grip and pulled as fast as I could, straight up. I could feel my muscles fighting not to let go. I was also fairly certain I wasn’t going to get high enough.
Stopping my ascent, I thought about everything I knew about electricity. Then I remembered Frank filming a movie for one of our classes. He somehow talked all our teachers into letting him make a movie instead of another boring oral presentation. He had wireless microphones and whenever we were too close to anything electronic, they recorded this horrific hum. We had to build a barrier of metal and electricity to block the effect. He’d called it a Faraday cage.
It wouldn’t stop an explosion… but it just might block a radio based transmission.
Again I concentrated on my powers and created a bubble around myself and the helicopters. I went as high as I could before my hands gave out and tossed the helicopters as far as I could.
It was far enough to protect the city, but the blast hit me like a car. I was thrown back and the strength plus speed of it made my vision blur.
I felt numb and despite the ground quickly moving up, my eyes felt heavy. I started to hallucinate and I heard Frank’s voice, “Don’t you dare give up now, Sam. I need you to live. I need you to open your eyes.” The clouds raced away from me and I wondered if I’d said something to offend them.
“Sam. Stop falling, I can’t lose you again.”
While you wait for the next chapter, check out the previous serial stories:
- 2022 – Birth of the Aetherverse (Fantasy)
- 2021 – Diamond Stars and the Galactic Heist (Sci-Fi, Heist, Romance)
- 2020 – Point Zero (Superhero, Sci-Fi)
- 2019 – Seren Plentyn and the Secret of Hokulua Station (Sci-Fi Adventure Mystery)