Ascension (The Ascension Series) (19 page)

They got off the elevator and walked down a hallway.

“Good morning, Mr. Walsh,” said a secretary at a clear desk.

“Good morning, Miss Kale,” he nodded. “This is my son, Charles, and his friend, John. They’re going to be joining me at work today for─ what is it now?”

“Science report,” Charles said.

“That’s right,” his father said. “A school science report.”

“Well enjoy your stay,” said the secretary.

Mr. Walsh and his assistant, Casey, along with Charles and John entered his massive office. The office featured two leather sofas, a large polished mahogany desk, a sleek computer monitor, and a bookcase stacked with scientific models of various molecules.

“Nice place,” John said. “I’m surprised you don’t live here.”

“Sometimes I practically do,” Mr. Walsh
said. He removed the jacket of his three piece suit and Casey grabbed it. She hung it on the coatrack in the corner of the room. “Okay, I’ve got to go. I’ll catch up with you boys later.” His dad made his exit and left them in the office.

“So, should I show you around?” Casey asked them.

“Sure,” John said.

They
exited the office and headed down a long corridor.

“This is the area where computer and literary research is conducted,” Casey told them. “And further ahead is where the actual testing occurs.”

“Hey Casey,” John said. “Would you like to get a bite to eat with mw sometime?”

“No, Charles,” she laughed. “I don’t date teenage boys.”

“Oh come on,” Charles said arrogantly. “You don’t know what you’re missing.”

“I’m going to have to give you a raincheck, Charles.”

“Okay,” Charles said. “Your loss, sweetheart.”

“Casey,” John addressed her to change the topic. “What kind of testing is done here?”

“On this floor, tests include genetic research. We seek cures to biological diseases. Scientists are currently seeking to expel certain pathogens within the body. Eliminating malaria has been a priority as of lately.”

“I was wondering if you
─ I guess, synthesize compounds?” John asked.

“That don’t exist in nature? Yes,” Casey answered.

“What about synthesizing other things?” John asked. “Like, I don’t know─ oxygen, barium, or crystals?”

“Not that I know of,” Casey admitted. “Why?”

“Just wondering,” John said. “I just imagine it would be helpful if you could create a man-made form of oxygen─ or something like that.”

“One small step,” Casey smiled.

“Enough of this small talk,” Charles said as they entered the computer lab labeled
Center for Computer Research.
“How about me and you try and work things out?”

“I told you, Charles,” Casey said. “Nothing is going to happen between us. I have a boyfriend. He’s a decade older than you.”

“Okay, okay,” Charles hacked. “I give up. Just thought I’d give it one more try.”

A young man in a suit opened the door of the research computer lab and grabbed their attention.
“Mr. Walsh needs you for a task, Casey,” said the young man.

“Okay,” Casey said. “You two boys stay put.”

Casey walked off with the man and left Charles and John alone in the computer lab.

“Finally,” John said. “We can snoop around by ourselves. She said she didn’t
even know anything about the company synthesizing crystals. She’s clueless.”

“Well she said she didn’t want to date me so we know she’s a liar,” Charles smirked.

“Maybe one of these computers will have some answers. All the research files should be here.”

Charles sat at one of the computers and turned it on. The large monitor screen required a password.

“It’s password protected,” John said.

“Damn,” Charles slammed his fist on the keyboard.

“How do we get a password?” John asked him.

“Let’s go back to my dad’s office. Should be one in there.”

“Good idea!”

They ran out of the Center for Computer R
esearch and headed back down the corridor. Then they waved at the secretary and walked into Mr. Walsh’s large office. Charles immediately walked over to his dad’s desk and began looking through the drawers. John looked over the items on the desk when he heard Charles say, “I got it!”

Charles
held up a card with a long barcode and numerous letters and numbers printed on the bottom of it. “I think this is it,” he said. They exited the office and waved once again to the secretary. When they were out of her sights, they rushed down the corridor and back into the Center for Computer Research. Charles sat at one of the computers as John stood by his side. Charles entered the passcode from the card into the computer and the screen flashed, “PASSWORD ACCEPTED. Access for Research Database Granted.”

“Yes!” John said.

The settings on the computer looked like any other and John told Charles to click on the icon labeled “Research Files.” He did so and a list of hundreds of thousands of files appeared on the screen.

“Jesus, how do I know which to click on?” Charles asked.

“I don’t know. Try using the search function,” John suggested.

Charles did just that. “Okay, now what should I type in.”

“Crystal,” John said. Charles typed the word in and over three hundred results were found. “Now list them by date,” John told them.

After relisting the files by date, Charles clicked on the newest set of files and opened them. He scrolled through the pages and began reading as John stared at the files as well.

“Experiment dated November,” John said. “That’s only a few months ago.” Then he continued reading. “Entity Number 031092, also called the ‘Fractal Crystal’ was a miniature lightweight crystalized object found within a meteor. Upon initial testing, scientists found that the crystal, which was only nine inches in diameter, was a natural object bursting with unstable protons. Its molecular structure was one never before found in nature.”

“What does that mean?” John asked.

“I don’t know, I’ll keep reading,” Charles said. “The structure of the crystalized object contained an unstable core but otherwise consisted entirely of non-baryonic matter. The only known object on earth of its kind.”

“Non-baryonic matter,” John told him, “is the same thing as dark matter. It’
s supposed to be what the unknown parts of the universe are made of. All that sorta stuff.”

“Yeah, that’s what it says,” Charles told him before reading further. “The properties of the crystal are consistent with dark matter- meaning the crystal is made of sub-atomic
particles whose structure is not readily comprehensible. Initial test subjects of Entity Number 031092 were instructed to touch the crystal. One subject suffering Leukemia showed full regression of the disease. Two subjects suffered ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease and upon making contact with the crystal showed regressive stability of nerve cells. WHAT?”

“I think that means they were cured,” John said. “Keep reading.”

“Further testing concluded with Entity Number 031092 making contact with natural compounds. Upon absorbing water, the small crystal doubled in diameter. An additional test subject made prolonged contact with the crystal and suffered fatal illness.”

“Touching that thing could have killed us,” John said, mesmerized by what he read.

“After the fatality of a test subject, the Center for Disease Control launched an investigation,” Charles read the rest of it. “Entity Number 031092 was ordered classified at Bio-Tech Industries as scientists halted human experimentation. As of January Entity Number 031092 has been listed as classified and missing.”

“It went missing from this place,” John said. “That’s when
we found it at the barn.”

“How?” Charles asked. “You think some giant crystal just floated from here to an old barn?”

“Hell if I know,” John said. “But clearly this crystal can do some pretty crazy shit. We just read the same thing. First it cured some people of diseases and then it killed someone else.”

“
Then,
” Charles said, “it granted us the powers of immortality.”

“We need to find out how it went missing, how it got to the barn, and what else this thing is capable of,” John said.

“Do we really?” Charles asked. “What’s it matter?”

“Yes! Maybe this thing is going to summon some alien race or kill other people.”

“Dude,” Charles said. “Calm down. It’s just a crystal. It won’t affect you as long as you don’t touch it. And for now, it’s safe and sound in my security locked basement at the warehouse.”

“You’re not going to tell your dad?” John asked.

“Hell no! This thing could get in the wrong hands. I don’t trust the people here here. Hell, I mean, shouldn’t they have been experimenting on rats first instead of humans?”

“Maybe your dad ordered the
m to experiment on humans first,” John suggested.

“My dad just runs the entire company, he doesn’t handle the little details,” Charles assured him.
“But it doesn’t matter. The crystal is staying put with us where it won’t do harm to anyone else.”

“Why do you think it gave us superpowers?”

“I don’t know, John. I really don’t know.”

Suddenly a sc
ientist walked into the room. Charles quickly exited out of the files and turned the computer off.

“What are you doing in here?” the scientist asked.

“Oh, uh,” Charles stammered, “I was just trying to download Grand Theft Auto on this computer.”

“This is not a place for play, young man.
Just because your father owns the company doesn’t mean you can do whatever you like.”

“Actually,” Charles corrected him, “it kinda does.”

“Alright, get out of here!”

Charles and John walked out of the lab and met back up with the assistant, Casey, who was pacing toward them.

“Have you two gotten into any trouble?” Casey asked.

“No, sweetheart,” Charles smiled at her
. “Everything’s fine. You could say we’re a little more enlightened than before we arrived here.”

CHAPTER 9

“Dan, are you there?”

Clark was in his room that Monday evening, sitting on his bed with Sarah. They were readying to head to the warehouse to meet up with Charles, John, Donny, and Chloe. But Clark first
decided to make a phone call. He had dialed Big Dan’s number multiple times and Big Dan finally answered after several tries.

“Yeah?” Big Dan said.

“Dan! It’s me, Clark!”

“Hey Clark, long time.”

“Actually, it was just last week.”

“Time flies, I guess.”

“I just wanted to let you know that the rest of us are putting together this group of crime fighters. We’re going to use our powers to help others. I was wondering if maybe you’d want to return to Cincinnati and help out.”

“Sorry, Clark,” Big Dan said. “It’s a little too late. I’m not even in the country.”

“Where are you?”

“I’m in London, England.”

“What!?” Clark asked, quite surprised.

“It’s actually pretty nice here.”

“Why London?”

“I couldn’t
stay in Cincinnati. It seems like me and Andrew are the only ones with any sense. Don’t you see, Clark. People are going to find out. People are going to start wondering, especially if you go public with this. They’re going to think you’re beyond belief. They’re going to want to experiment on you and know everything about you. I got out before that could happen.”

“That’s not going to happen, Dan. You’re paranoid. And they’re not going to find out our identities either.”

“It might be sooner or it might be later, Clark─ But there’s going to come a time when the shit really hits the fans. And if anyone ever does come after me, they’re going to have to search a lot further than Cincinnati and I’ll be prepared.”

“I’m sorry to hear you think that’s the only way, Dan.”

“Goodbye, Clark. You always were the idealist.”

The call ended and
Sarah had to tell Clark to snap out of it as he stared out of his bedroom window.

“Don’t worry about him,” Sarah said as
she hugged Clark. “We may not have Dan or Andrew but there’s still six of us remaining. And six teenagers with superpowers is going to make a damn great team.”

“You’re right,” Clark said as he shook his head. “Let’s get going.”

After exiting Clark’s house, they took off and soared through the air as the sun lowered. Several minutes later they arrived at the warehouse that Charles asked them to come to. They landed around the back of the old discreet looking warehouse and Charles was at the backdoor to greet them.

“Come on in,” Charles said as he held the door open.

Just as Clark and Sarah were walking through the door, Donny and Chloe swooped down and landed at the back of the warehouse.

“Donny, Chloe,” Charles said as he greeted them at the backdoor. “Sorry about Thursday.”

“No problem,” Donny said as he and Chloe walked into the warehouse.

The interior of the warehouse had been completely remodeled. As promised, Charles had mirrors lined along the wall
s. There were plush chairs and sofas all throughout the brightly lit warehouse. There was a television on each of the walls, a refrigerator, and a long meeting table in the center of the room.

“Wow,” Sarah said. “This is really nice.”

“I did all the remodeling myself,” Charles said.

“Hey, I helped out,” John said as he
entered the main area.

“Yeah, John did help out
a little,
” Charles laughed.

“What’s the fridge for?” Donny asked.

“You’re gonna get hungry fighting crime, aren’t ya?” Charles said.

Clark and Sarah sat on one of the blue sofas. “This is
really cool,” Clark said. “It’s a nice hangout.”

“This isn’t just a hangout,” Charles said as he shot a finger pistol. “This is our batcave. It’s the headquarters. I call it the Mecha.”

“So what’s the next step?” John asked.

Charles reached his arm out and made several boxes levitate from a back room into the center of the warehouse where they
were all located. The boxes were all lined up on the floor.

“Boys and girls,” Charles addressed them. “
Thank to Clark, here are your costumes.”

All of them sifted through the numerous boxes, finding
bits and pieces they liked in order to form a full uniform. As they put their full costumes together, they continued talking about what superhero name they would use.

Clark had already decided on “Night Wolf.”
He dressed in a black body suit that fit like a glove. Then he picked out dark blue boots and gloves along with a matching cape. His last item was a pair of black welding-type goggles that covered his eyes. The goggles featured a small button which, when pushed, increased or decreased light source.

Sarah chose silver as her primary color. After initially going with the name “Sarah Saturn,” Clark told her that she ought to choose a different first name. So she decided on “Summer Saturn.” She placed on a silver tight suit and a matching domino mask
; the type that Robin would wear. She lastly outfitted herself with black boots, gloves, and a short pixie cape.

Donny decided to
reluctantly go with the name “Tracks.” They went for a somewhat symmetrical look so Donny also chose a black bodysuit that looked more like a wetsuit. His domino mask, boots, and gloves were all red. While the others picked out capes, Donny chose not to wear one.

Chloe’s primary color was pink. It was the color of her domino mask, gloves, boots, and short cape. She wore a dark colored tight suit to appear similar to the others. But her costume stood out when she paired it with a small pink mini-skirt.
With the boots, she appeared taller than her boyfriend, Donny. She decided on the name “Surefire.”

Charles went with the name “Shadow Fly” because he simply thought it sounded
cool. Green was his primary color so he decided against a black bodysuit and went with a very dark green one instead. But his cape was black and so were his boots and gloves. A small green domino mask covered his eyes and he completed his look by placing a bandana around his neck.

John dressed entirely in black with no other color.
He placed on a swat-like outfit and decided to forgo the cape in favor of his usual black trench coat. He didn’t put on a black domino mask until Clark and Charles persuaded him to. His superhero name was to be “Kyote.”

After picking out costumes
and deciding on names, they were each dressed splendidly and ready to go.

“
Like I said before, guys,” Charles said as he adjusted his mask. “I’m going to get a really hot vehicle for us to ride around in. I was thinking something like an armored tank.

“Why?” John asked. “We can fly?”

“Yeah,” Charles admitted. “But what’s more badass than driving a freakin’ tank through town?”

“We don’t want to call too much attention to ourselves,” Clark said as he played around with his cape.

“Oh, come on, Clark,” Charles laughed. “If we didn’t want any attention we wouldn’t be wearing these costumes.”

“So what’s next?” Donny asked.

“We fight crime!” Charles said as he raised a fist into the air.

“But how?” Chloe asked. “How will we know where to go?”

“We use our spider senses!” Charles joked.

“W
e don’t have spider senses,” Donny laughed.

“Nah, I’m just joking,” Charles said. “Look over here.”

Charles walked over to the large table in the center of the room and pointed to a black box that sat on top of the table. He told them it was a police radio that picked up local frequencies. He gave each of them an earpiece and said they could hear any and all 9-1-1 calls simply by turning the volume up and tuning it.

“Dude,” Clark said as he placed the small piece into his ear. “That’s
crazy. How did you get these?”

“Clark, my man. My dad is worth half a billion dollars. I
can get whatever the heck I want.”

“Okay,” Clark said. “So I guess we just go from here
.”

After they all had their earpieces in, they decided to stick together. They exited through the backdoor of the warehouse and took off one after the other in pairs of twos.
Clark flew with Sarah. Donny flew with Chloe. And Charles flew with John. Clark picked up a frequency in which a caller complained of a convenience store robbery.

“It should be a good start,” Clark yelled out as they were flying through the air. Their capes billowed in the wind and gave Clark the feeling of being a real
life superhero.

They shot off toward the corner store. From the sky they watched as two armed men jumped into a car and sped off.

“Remember the first rule,” Clark told his friends. “Disarm first.”

Clark was the first to swoop down to ground level. He flew near the car as the others followed. Clark flew over to the driver’s side of the speeding car as Charles flew over to the passenger side.

“What the hell!?” the burglar driving the car said as he saw a floating teenager by his car door. As the burglar went to pull out his gun, Clark made it fly out of the car. The gun flew into the sky and Donny caught it. When the burglar in the passenger seat went for his gun, Charles used his powers to rip it out of the man’s hand. The gun then hit the man squarely in the face before the clip of bullets fell out of it.

“Jesus!” the bu
rglar in the passenger seat yelled.

“Pull ‘em up!” Clark yelled out.

Donny and Chloe focused on the car. Immediately the car stopped speeding and lifted off the ground. The two burglars in the car were screaming like girls. With the car suspended in the air, the six budding superheroes dropped to the ground.

“It’s not nice to commit armed robbery,” Donny said with one arm in the air.

“Have you learned your lesson?” Clark asked the men. The burglars continued screaming when Clark told Donny and Chloe to drop them. They put their arms down and the car fell to the ground with a massive thud. John approached the car, placed his hand out, and the door of the car flew off its hinges. Sarah then used her powers to pull the men out of the car. John reached behind his trench coat and pulled out a long cord. He looked at the cord and it wrapped around the two men who were still screaming in shock.

“I know this may sound like a public service announcement, but crime doesn’t pay!” Clark said. “Now let’s go guys.”

They shot off into the air as they saw a cop car in the distance.

“That was great, Clark!” Donny said as they soared through the air.

“It’s Night Wolf!”

“Okay then,” Donny
said. “What’s next? That was easy.”

“I told you guys,” Clark said. “I told you guys this would be easy!”

“And a hell of a lot of fun!” Charles added.

They flew further west and decided to land on top of a tall building.

“Okay, guys,” Clark said. “That was so easy that I think we should maybe split up and cover more ground tonight. Me and Sarah, Donny and Chloe, and Charles and John. Or whatever all our superhero names are!”

“Okay,” John said. “Sounds good.”

“We’ll meet back up in one hour at the warehouse,” Clark told them.

“It’s called Mecha!” Charles corrected him.

“Okay, Shadow Fly,” Clark laughed. “We’ll meet back up at Mecha. One hour.”

They flew off
in teams and went wherever the police radios called in assistance. Clark and Sarah flew downtown and stopped several muggings. During the first, a man held a gun up to an elderly woman and demanded her purse. From the sky, Clark commanded the man’s gun from his hand. He then swooped down and charged at the man. Clark threw the burglar into the wall as Sarah returned the purse to the old woman.

“Thank you,” the old woman said. “Are you two superheroes?”

“Yes, ma’am. We are,” Clark said. “And we’ll always be looking out for the law-abiding citizens of Cincinnati.”

“Oh thank you!” the woman said before scurrying off.

Clark went back to the burglar lying on the ground and punched him in the face, knocking him unconscious.

“Don’t worry,” he told Sarah whose eyes lit up. “I’d never kill anyone. These losers just need to be taught a lesson. You don’t point a gun to an old lady’s head.
Hell has a special spot for these scumbags.”

Next, Clark and Sarah stopped a large drug deal. Three armed drug dealers had their weapons drawn as Clark and Sarah
descended onto the street. The drug dealers began shooting at them and Clark placed one of his hands out. The thugs shot round after round until their guns were out of ammo. Each of the bullets stopped in midair and dropped to the ground before ever reaching Clark or Sarah.

“Who the hell are you!?” said the first drug dealer.