Alex
was forced awake, his eyes blinded by the sudden lights and head fuzzy from the
psychic blow he felt. He knew it was not a physical attack, since his head did
not hurt; it felt more like he was drugged. As his mind and eyes adjusted, he
felt he was on his knees and saw a woman in a tight red dress standing before
him. She was beautiful, but he could tell there was an underlining evil to her
which sullied her allure. Behind the woman, Volt stood looking at the metal
cylinder. Instead it was no longer metal, as the steel doors were open to
reveal the glass containment unit inside. The unit was filled with warm liquid
that regulated the temperature inside.
“I
never would have expected this from you, hero,” Volt sneered, smiling at Alex.
“I would ask you to explain, but Mind Queen pulled everything I could want out
of your head while you took a nap. Including the code to reveal this little
gem.”
Volt
tapped the glass, and Alex went to attack him, but Mind Queen put him down with
another psychic attack. Alex struggled back to his knees, the rage filling his
entire body. “Don’t you dare touch that,” he growled, electricity sparking from
his tense muscles.
“You’re
in no position to give me commands, hero.” Volt placed his hand on the glass,
feeling the slight warmth inside. He turned to Alex and licked his lips, the
villain’s excitement clearly visible. “How do you think the people of your
great city will take the news when I tell them how the Eagle really flies?”
Volt walked over to Alex and
grabbed his throat. Alex struggled, but Mind Queen was still in his head,
stopping him from moving. “I told you I was here to destroy your world.”
Hopling City, Ten
Years Ago…
“You
seem in a good mood.” Steve commented to Alex as he strolled past the gym
whistling. “Finally find a good arch-nemesis to combat on a monthly basis?”
Alex
laughed, shaking his head. “Very funny, my friend. No, the only thing that was
beaten this evening was my better judgment. Tonight, my heart conquered my
head.”
“Oh
ho!” Steve exclaimed, slapping Alex on the back. “So you’ve finally won over
that beautiful waitress? Congratulations Alex.”
“Oh
don’t congratulate me, Steve. Falling in love while in the superhero business
is never easy.” Alex smiled, thinking back to the beautiful blonde he just
spent the evening with. Blue eyes, smooth skin, luscious lips; Alex had trouble
letting go during their goodbye kiss. “But there’s something about her that I
cannot resist!”
Steve
nodded, his thoughts suddenly pulled back to his recently departed wife. Alex
wasn’t wrong; being with someone was extra difficult when you were putting your
life on the line every day.
“There’s
something else you should know, Steve,” Alex winked. “She’s a metahuman.”
“Really?”
Steve’s thoughts shifted and his interest was perked. “And what can the woman
who stole your heart do? It must be spectacular to win over the Electric
Eagle.”
Alex
nodded, “Oh it is, Steve. Valerie has an amazing power. She can manipulate
gravity.”
The Eagle, Present
Day
Alex
looked ahead past Volt at the figure floating in the liquid. Held up by wires
and tubes that entered her body, a blonde haired woman was suspended. The
breathing mask covered most of her face, but through the goggles Alex could see
her closed eyes. She looked like she was sleeping, floating in a bath and ready
to wake at any time.
“I’m
contacting Pinpoint,” Mind Queen said, walking out of the room to telepathically
find their ally. While she was gone, Volt stared at the woman in the containment
unit.
“Mind
Queen told me everything. Put the information directly into my head, actually.
The facts, as well as the emotions.” He turned to Alex, and for the first time
Alex saw an emotion on Volt’s face that wasn’t truly evil. “That was a tough
call you made; not sure I would have done the same. I probably would have just
put her down and left it at that. But then again, I don’t know how to control
other people’s powers.” Volt paused, and created a spark between two of his
fingers. “I still have some juice left. I should probably absorb more before we
leave, but I will definitely be practicing your secret little trick.”
The villain began pacing back
and forth as he talked, and Alex watched his movements. Despite not being in
the room, Mind Queen still held power over Alex and wasn’t letting him get back
up.
“Who would have guessed that
with practice you can deliver the perfect amount of electricity to a meta’s
brain to turn their powers on or off. Only a genius like the Electric Eagle,
that’s who. But damn, constantly keeping your wife in this state, just to keep
your ship flying? That’s low, hero.”
“She’s not conscious,” Alex
growled. “She has no concept of reality. No idea of who she is, much less
what’s going on.”
“Yeah yeah, I know that’s what
you think.”
Volt leaned against the wall as
Mind Queen walked back into the room. “Pinpoint’s on her way. We have less than
a minute.”
“I ran the tests,” Alex said,
his eyes never leaving Volt’s. “Her powers shorted her brain. Only her physical
body is still alive.”
“Still didn’t tell him?” Mind
Queen interrupted. “Better hurry up. There’s a squadron of those soldiers
approaching, and Augmento’s been down for a while; looks like he won’t be
joining our victory celebration.”
Alex heard Mind Queen, and anxiety
filled his mind. “Tell me what!” He shouted, trying once again to stand.
Volt smiled, the cruelty
returning to his face. “Oh no, I’m not giving you that satisfaction.”
From behind Alex, a light
appeared. “There’s our ride home,” Mind Queen said, waving for Volt to move.
“Let’s go before we ruin the moment.”
As Volt walked by Alex, he
taunted the man once more. “It’s been fun, hero. Perhaps next time we’ll get to
finish that fist fight of ours.”
As soon as Mind Queen followed
Volt into the light, Alex was released from her grasp. He spun around, but the
light faded away. Quickly Alex ran to the control board and entered in the
containment unit’s code. The metal doors closed just as an Eagle commander
entered the room.
“They escaped,” Alex said before
the commander could ask. Alex waved off any questions of his own health and
sent the commander back to help the wounded guards. Alex closed the little
room’s door and once alone, opened the metal doors again. He eyed the woman up
and down, his heart racing. He checked all the monitors, which in addition to
vitals also monitored brain activity.
There it was. A tiny spike in
activity just a few minutes ago when he was unconscious. But it had returned to
normal, which meant zero brain activity. He stared at her, pondering all the
potential scenarios that assailed his mind.
Alex’s communicator beeped, and
he heard John on the other end. “I heard reports that the crisis has passed for
now.”
“It has. You and Damien can
return home.” Alex hung up the phone, and continued looking at his wife. “I’ll
run the test myself,” he whispered to her, putting his hand on the glass. “I’ll
see if you’re still in there, Valerie. But until then, no one can know about
this.”
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