Not Your Villain (Sidekick Squad #2)(72)

Emma nods, turning down the road that leads to Jess’ neighborhood, and then—

Crash.

The Trans’ minivan smashes into a streetlamp. Brendan tumbles out of the front seat, wobbling. He grabs a box full of tech and other assortments and runs toward them. “I don’t know how you do it; driving is terrifying. Did you guys get a bunch of robots chasing you and insisting they detain you?”

“Brendan,” Bells says. “Get in the car!”

Behind Brendan a number of MonRobots stalk forward, and Brendan turns around and aims something at them.

The robots shut down, clattering to the ground.

“What the hell, Brendan?” Jess yanks him by the shirt into the car.

“Directed electromagnetic pulse,” he says, giving them a shaky grin. “Thought these would come in handy!”

“How many more of those do you have?” Emma asks. She turns onto the highway that leads out of town, and the endless stretch of the desert night is open to them. The usual brilliance of the stars is hidden by looming clouds in the night sky.

“Uhh, it’s good for one blast before it needs to charge for forever,” Brendan admits. “But we should be fine, unless there are more…”

“There are more of them!” Abby shakes her head as a fresh dozen round the corner behind them.

“Where are we going?” Jess asks. “Do we have a plan?”

Emma nods. “I just figured that we can outrun them, since I’ve got a full battery and those things have to recharge sometime.”

“Good plan,” Bells says, peering out the window behind them. The sound of the robots behind them has ebbed; he can see only a few now. They’re stopping, and one of them in the front rank opens a panel, and a light blinks briefly.

Bells winces, expecting a blast of—anything—

The car stops cold, and Bells can feel the DED on his wrist power off.

“Did it just fire an EMP back at us?” Emma groans, patting her car’s dash.

They scramble out of the car and run. “We need a new plan!” Bells shouts.

“Run!” Jess points to her left and they follow; Bells assumes she’s using her power to find the safest route, but he doesn’t see how this is going to work. The robots are going to catch up to them, and fast.

“That’s not a plan!”

“Do you have a better one?”

“What… are those?”

A slim device protrudes from the robots pursuing them, and Bells barely has a chance to look, but a chill of recognition runs down his spine. It’s the barrel of a gun.

Abby screams, “Get down!”

The shots ring out, and Bells doesn’t think, just reaches inside himself for his power and shifts. He thinks of protecting his friends, nothing else, and stretches out his arms. He barely has enough power, but Bells doesn’t hesitate to use the last of his energy. He’s getting bigger, taller; his body is changing in an entirely new way, and his senses are dulling.

Will this be his last heroic act?

The clamor stops. Someone must have figured out how to disable the MonRobots.

“Bells?” Emma’s voice is soft. It feels so far away, though, as if he’s hearing her from underwater.

Bells takes a deep breath, but then finds that he doesn’t have… He isn’t breathing, exactly. Or he doesn’t need to? He feels solid, with the weight of the earth, as if blood isn’t running in his veins. He’s a wall, a sheer mass of rock.

“Whoa. I didn’t know you could do that.”

Bells lets go of the shift, gasping as he’s flung back into his body. His heart pounds as he gets used to flesh and blood again. It’s as if everything is happening at once; every nerve in his body screams with sensation. He’s shaking and curls up into a ball, willing the world to stop moving. The tears come unbidden, coursing down his face, and he tries to see what’s happening, but it’s all a blur. His friends are standing around him; the wreckage of MonRobots lies behind them, riddled with bullet holes.

“It’s okay. It’s okay, Bells; you’re okay.” Emma pulls him into her arms. “Bells?”

Bells shudders; he knows he’s here, knows she’s holding him, but he can’t squeeze her hand back.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“Shock, I think,” Abby says. “Come on, we have to get him somewhere safe. The first time I over-used my telekinesis I threw up. It looks like he may have overdone it.”

Bells opens his eyes; they’re in a different car. He gets a glimpse of a needle in his arm, a bag of fluid suspended over his head, Emma leaning over him. Abby is asleep in the other seat; Jess is driving, and Brendan’s face is lit by a projector screen with a string of numbers on it. Bells barely gets a sense of the sparse forest and rocky terrain outside before unconsciousness claims him again.





Ch. 14...





When Bells wakes up again, there’s snow outside, blanketing the ground and clumped in thick masses in tree branches. He winces; every inch of his body is sore.

“Don’t strain yourself,” Jess says, handing him a canteen. “Take it slow.”

Bells blinks, groggy. “Where are we?” His mouth feels like sand, and he chugs the water gratefully.