Meta (14 page)

  
The videos are all barely decipherable. The rantings of a person who had gone completely mad with power. He'd begun to edit in footage of his creatures' recent attacks to his normal videos to drive home his "points", if you could even call them that. From what I gathered, it seemed to be something about how humans put too much trust in metas. That metas disrupt the natural chaos that enables the world to function. That certain people are meant to die, and a meta choosing to save a life, is no different from a meta indiscriminately deciding to take one. For this reason, he believes he should be the instrument of chaos that keeps the natural order in check.

  
The words sound familiar. Although there are few on camera appearances where Jones spoke, his manifesto was found and published after his death. Despite the fact that it was mostly the ramblings of an insane person, almost everyone read it to try to make sense of the tragedies he had caused.

  
It was the day after The Battle that all the other known metabands on Earth stopped working. No one's sure why, other than the obvious deduction that all of them were linked somehow, and the destruction of two pairs caused the others to fail. A seemingly endless stream of scientists tried in vain to get the inactive metabands to work for someone, anyone. Initially it was thought that they responded to The Governor's DNA, and while the government will never acknowledge the experiments, it has long been rumored that there were attempts to clone him from samples of his DNA. If they did indeed try, it never worked.

  
DARPA nearly destroyed half of the Midwest just trying to create a machine capable of opening the bands. X-rays, CAT scans, and who knows what else, all told the same story though: the bracelets were dead. Any attempt to power them on again would prove as successful as reanimating the dead corpse of The Governor.

  
The last name "Jones" became almost as toxic as the last name "Hitler". Today, it's virtually impossible to find a person with the last name Jones who hasn't had it changed.

  
Before The Battle, he was thought to be one of the weaker metahumans. Popping up occasionally to wreak havoc before being taken down by one of the other stronger metas with a moral compass. A year before the attack, he'd escaped from prison for the last time though. He killed seventy-two prisoners and guards that day. Those who survived, said he could have escaped hours before he did, but seemed to relish in taking his time to track down and kill every last guard and prisoner who had stood in his way in the past.

  
The Controller is following Jones' footsteps. His powers might be different, but his objective is the same. Actually, it's even more cowardly, if that's possible. At least Jones showed up in person to cause his particular brand of chaos. The Controller chooses to do it from afar, more likely from his mom's basement, than a secret evil liar.

  
One thing that becomes clear after a morning of catching up on the meta news, is that I need to be worried. Watching the footage of the meta close to my age, who was killed, shakes me out of my haze and makes me realize just how real all of this is, and just how dangerous it can be.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

I call Midnight but there's no answer. Nor is there any voicemail. I'm not surprised.

  
This morning's media binge has started to make me nervous. Very nervous. My training isn't progressing quickly enough. If the time comes that I need to act to save my life, or the lives of others, from The Controller, I won't be able to do it.

  
The most striking image from the video of the young meta killed by The Controller's creature was that of him attempting to escape. There was a point where it seemed like he knew he wouldn't be able to win and decided to instead fly away to at least fight another day. He rose about fifteen feet into the air, before he appeared to lose balance and came crashing back to the Earth. From there it was all over pretty quickly.

  
It was impossible not to watch the video and imagine what I would have done in the same situation. The obvious answer of course would be to just simply teleport out of there; but there's a catch. I've noticed that teleportation, more than any of my other abilities, seems to take the most out of me. I can just feel that I'm drained after a teleportation. What if I were in a battle like this and beaten to the point where teleporting wasn't an option? Where I just couldn't muster the energy to do it?

  
I couldn't allow that possibility to happen. I needed other options if and when I eventually needed to escape myself. My best bet, despite the failure of the young meta, still seemed to be flight.

  
With Midnight not around though, my training options were limited. I'd already trashed his bunker just by trying to practice hovering, so practicing inside my house would definitely be a big no-no. I couldn't exactly just go out into the backyard either. That might raise some eyebrows amongst the neighbors.

  
It wasn't just the attention of the neighbors that I had to worry about. The other problem I had to think about was attracting the attention of The Controller. If I decided to practice in the city, a few quick posts on social media from onlookers would probably be all it would take. The last thing I'd need while trying to practice this relatively new skill, was the threat of being attacked in a major metropolitan area.

  
No. The only option was to go someplace completely desolate.

  
The ocean seemed like a good option for a minute, but I imagined quickly becoming exhausted of having to tread water in between practice rounds. Plus, I'd never flown over water before and for all I knew, the rules were different. Maybe it was harder? Who knows yet. That's when it hits me.

  
I remembered a car trip from when I was very young. Our parents were taking Derrick and I to our first amusement park, and we couldn't have been more thrilled. We were so excited, that we asked how far away we were every thirty seconds or so. While every mile felt like an eternity, I did remember one particularly long stretch of road where there was nothing but cornfields as far as the eye could see. I needed to go to the bathroom, but we were at least thirty miles from any rest stop. Not even a farmhouse. I remember this clearly, because I wound up wetting my pants. Those types of things you don't forget, even after you grow up.

  
I concentrate and my metabands materialize around my wrists once again. It feels good to have them on after a few days' absence, and I wonder if maybe I'm becoming addicted to that feeling. How could I not though? This slight concern is confirmed when I bring my wrists together and actually activate the metabands. I feel the surge of power, and it is intoxicating after having spent time away from it. Not only am I ready for this practice session, my body feels like it physically needs it.

  
I close my eyes and concentrate on the image of the cornfields. It has been a long time since I have seen them, but I hope the memory is still vivid enough to allow me to teleport to them. It takes longer than usual but within a few seconds, I feel myself teleport. And when I open my eyes, I'm there. Nothing but cornfields for miles and miles and miles.

  
This is perfect.

  
The costume I had 'designed' with Midnight's help isn't activated and I think about just leaving it off. If I was truly alone, there isn't much reason to wear a disguise but in the end, I decide it's best to be cautious. Plus, I should get used to what it feels like to be wearing this thing.

  
With just a thought, the costume shoots out of both ends of my metabands and envelops my entire body. I don't know why but it makes me feel even more powerful to be wearing this. Maybe it's the anonymity, maybe it's just the fact that with this on, I actually
look
like a superhero. Whatever it is, it feels better to have this costume activated than not, and I make a mental note to never activate the metabands again without immediately engaging the costume, especially since, theoretically, I'll be doing so with the intention of jumping into action immediately and not just futzing around in a cornfield in the middle of nowhere.

  
I start by practicing the exercises that Midnight walked me through, just raising myself a few feet above the ground and hovering in position as long as I can. The time away from practice seems to have sharpened my skills, or maybe just relaxed me, and I find it easier than ever to comfortably hover and then return to the ground.

  
I repeat these exercises for about twenty minutes or so. By the end of it, I'm starting to feel really good about myself and more confident in my abilities. I decide it's time to start pushing the envelope a little bit. I can consistently hover at three feet, but what about twenty? Twenty feet is high enough that my natural, human fear of falling should kick in, but certainly low enough to the ground that I should sustain absolutely no injuries while powered up.

  
I bring myself back up to three feet with almost no effort and rest for a second before starting to concentrate on rising higher. I'm surprised to find that rising up to twenty feet is just as easy now. It requires no additional effort other than concentrating on the idea "higher". That's it.

  
I slowly bring myself back to the ground.

  
Hovering feels incredible. The sense of weightlessness is unlike anything I've ever experienced before, but let's be honest: superheroes don't 'hover'. They fly.

  
I rise up twenty feet again and take another look at my surroundings. There is nothing as far as the eye can see. I concentrate on my vision and am able to temporarily enhance it to see even further. There's nothing for miles in any direction. I lower myself back down to the ground to think.

  
Pros and cons.

  
Cons: If Midnight finds out I'm doing this, he'll be furious. If I can't control myself I might fall back to the ground. Hard. The kind of hard that these metabands might not be able to protect me from. Or I might just keep going into space, with no idea whether or not my abilities would prevent me from dying a quick death up there, just like poor old Elaine DeGrasse.

  
Pros: Midnight's
probably
never going to find out. Even he doesn't have eyes and ears way out here. If I fall to the ground, I'll survive. I'm sure of it after the experiences I've had so far. If I start to shoot off into space, I can always deactivate them and just reactivate them as I'm falling back to the earth. Sure, that sounds risky and would probably be scary as hell, but I feel confident it won't come to that. I can control this, I'm sure of it.

  
I take a last breath and concentrate on the idea of flying. Visualizing myself soaring into the air. I start to feel the ground beneath me vibrate. My body feels like a spring slowly being compressed. The ground has now gone from vibration to actual audible rumbling. I have to admit to myself this is one of the first times I'm truly scared of my own powers, but I need to do this. If I don't do it now, I'll never get the nerve up again.

  
And with that thought, I turn my eyes towards the sky and launch. I'm temporarily deafened by the air rushing past my ears. My internal organs feel like they've dropped into my feet. Looking down, I see the ground below me, quickly shrinking. I look back up just in time to feel myself break the sound barrier. There's a pop and an explosion of condensation.

  
Breaking through the clouds, the sky above me begins to grow dark and I realize I'm reaching the edge of the atmosphere. Time to put on the brakes. I think the word "stop" to myself. Nothing. I continue traveling higher and higher. Now I'm beginning to panic. There's no way of knowing if I'll be able to survive in space with my abilities. Even if I can, I'm not even sure how to turn myself around. The speed I'm traveling at makes it feel impossible to do anything other than go straight, as if the linear force of going this fast is stopping me from even slightly changing course.

  
I have one option left. The option that I did not want to use. I have no choice though and my window is closing fast. As it is, I might not be able to survive the lack of oxygen up here already.

  
It's now or possibly never.

  
I pull my wrists up and smash them into each other, deactivating my metabands.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

At first, I feel like I'm floating. Or that I'm a character in a cartoon who has just run off a cliff and hasn't fallen, because they haven't looked down yet. Even now, looking down at the ground, I'm too high up to even perceive that I'm falling.

  
What I can perceive though is that I cannot breathe. I was right to assume that I was past the point in the atmosphere where oxygen was plentiful, as I gasp for breath. I'm now acutely aware that I am indeed falling. Fast.

  
With the lack of air pressure up here, I begin to tumble very quickly. I'm in a near vacuum and there's very little atmosphere up here to provide the friction necessary to keep my body from spinning out of control. I try to raise my arms back towards each other to activate my metabands, but the centripetal force from my wild spinning is preventing me from even coming close.

  
Between the lack of oxygen and the tumbling I feel my vision begin to narrow. The edges become grey as though I'm looking through a tunnel. I'm passing out. Midnight was right.

  
I'm going to die, and it's because I was too stupid to listen to him.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

There's a cool breeze on my face. It feels nice. I turn into it and now it's hard to breathe, like when a strong gust of wind hits you just right and takes your breath away. Slowly, I open my eyes and see the ground below. It's close and getting much closer, quickly. I have maybe thirty seconds before I'm about to slam into it.