Chereads / Era of Oddities / Chapter 8 - Last Resort

Chapter 8 - Last Resort

I hear voices talking in the distance, gradually getting louder. My head feels groggy, quickly clearing away as if wind was blowing it out. I open my eyes, and I'm laying in the lap of the bird guy with my hands and feet tied. I jump up, out of his lap, and quickly take in my surroundings.

There are two rows of seats facing each other with a door on each side between the rows. I'm sitting on one side with the bird guy, and Honey and Dash are sitting across from us. I'm assuming we're in the car that they were trying to get us in earlier. I don't see Identity, so I'm assuming he's in the front of the car. The windows are tinted, so I can't see my surroundings outside. As I'm checking everything out, I'm testing to see if I can use my oddity. I create a small amount of wind behind me, and inch it towards the door handle.

I make eye contact with the bird dude, and without missing a beat, I use the wind to open the door closest to me and go flying out fast enough that he can't stop me.

"Dammit, again?! You two, stay in the car. I'll be back." The bird guy dove out the door and unfurled his wings, bolting after me.

"I'm not going with you psychopaths!"

"What do you mean psychopaths?"

"Wouldn't you like to know birdie?"

"Stupid temper." The man said those last words quietly, but I still heard it.

"I heard you!"

"Shoot." We're hurtling away from the car, I'm dodging the man as well as I can. I just woke up, so my power's not at its peak right now. I've gotta focus if I wanna get away. 

***********

As I'm driving, I see a figure go hurtling out the car, followed by Eagle. I can only assume it was Nova again, since she's the only one who can fly out the car like that without getting hurt. I slam on the brakes and step out of the car.

"Eagle, are you in pursuit?"

"Yeah, but she's maneuvering better than before. I don't know if I'll be able to catch her."

"Just keep chasing her, I'll turn the car around."

"Roger that." Damn, this girl is persistent. It looks like her hands and feet aren't tied anymore, she probably cut the ropes with a blade of wind or something. I hop back in the car and spin it around, chasing after Eagle and Nova. As I'm driving, I notice something weird. Nova's not attacking Eagle, just trying to dodge, and she's not flying as fast as before. She's trying to focus on maneuvering, trying to cover up the fact that she's almost at the limit of her powers. 

"Eagle, she's losing altitude!"

"Really? The drug must not have fully worn off yet."

"Focus Eagle, this could end badly. You need to get under her and catch her before she hits the ground."

"No problem Identity, leave it to me." I sure hope he can handle it, we'd both be fired if we lost such a promising recruit.

***********

I feel myself slowly losing altitude. Darn it, I don't think the drug has fully worn off yet. I have fast recovery rates, which is probably how I woke up before we arrived at our destination, but that can only do so much. I'm gonna have to land soon, but if I do he'll just catch me again. What do I do?

I look around to see if there's anywhere I can hide, but I'm not seeing anything. The bird dude is trying to fly below me, but I can't go any higher than I already am. Suddenly, my oddity just stops working. As I fall, I see a shadow in the trees right next to us. I bet this was their doing. 

The bird dude catches me as I fall and lands, wrapping me in his strong wings so I can't move.

"I'm not gonna inject you again, because you shouldn't even be awake right now. It could hurt you more, so please don't struggle."

"Let go of me!" As I struggle, the figure I saw comes out from where they were hiding. The bird saw her, and turned his attention toward her.

"I didn't need your help Blackout."

"Oh really? Cause it looked like she would've gone until she dropped. I think you did need my help. Now, what do we have here?" She turned her attention to me, still struggling in the bird guy's wings.

"My, you're a pretty thing, aren't you?" She reaches out and lifts my head with her hand. I glower at her in return. "Aw, don't be like that. Nice catch Eagle, she's a feisty one. I think she'll be a great addition to the team one day." Eagle, huh? That's such a stupid hero name.

"Good job Blackout, Eagle." Identity came up to us while Blackout was talking with Eagle. Sighing, he looks at me. "Now what are we going to do with you?" I spit at his feet in response.

"Hahaha, Identity, she got you good!"

"Oh come now Blackout, it's not that big a deal. Anyways, they're waiting for us on the campus. We should get going." Identity tried to play it cool, but I can tell I got under his skin. Eagle shifts his wings, making it so he can see my untied hands and feet.

"Identity, make a long chain. We'll wrap it around her torso and have an extra strand hanging off like a leash so we can lead her when we get there. We wouldn't want her flying away again, and that's the only way I can think of to keep her in check." Damn it, he noticed I broke through the ropes with my wind.

"Well yeah that would work, Eagle, but why don't we just put her under again with the tranquilizer?"

"You weren't there Blackout, the first time we injected her she dropped like a rock in less than five seconds. She can't weigh any more than fifty pounds, she shouldn't even be awake yet! I don't know how she is right now, but I think it'd be dangerous to put her under again." I really hate this Eagle person, he already knows too much about me.

Sighing, Identity creates some chains and hands them to Eagle, who proceeds to wrap it around me tightly, securing it with a lock that I can't pick with my wind. He then attaches another chain to it making an impromptu leash, and lets me go from his grip.

"Alright, let's head back to the car. I'll drive, you two sit in the back with the girls. Make sure she sits in between you two so she can't make a break for the door, just to be safe. Blackout, make sure you can cancel her oddity at any time."

"Sure Identity, whatever." Blackout grabs the chain from Eagle and drags me towards her. She picks me up by my shoulders and bolts to the car. "You're sitting with me, sweetie!"

"Oh man, here she goes again. I'll go make sure she doesn't terrorize the new recruits, you focus on driving."

"Make sure she doesn't escape, Eagle."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Don't worry."