Sorry for the long long wait. But several people have written to me; new fans!!! So I'm finally posting this. Besides, in the story, it's Christmas time, and now its Christmas time in IRL too!!
Chapter 25
Kyle wanted to swear. Here he was offering to help, and the stupid people in charge couldn't even figure out how to deal with these terrorists.
Now police Chief Officer Ramirez was speaking again. "I have my men in place all along the harbor in case they try to get away.," e was explaining slowly.
"But if they have speed boats they could rendezvous up the coast and it wouldn't matter anyway,." the cruise line official replied. Kyle didn't like him. He seemed more concerned with how his company was going to look, than with the people on the ship. The man was thin, wiry, and reminded Kyle vaguely of a rat. He even had on a grey suit on.
"Reconnaissance shows no sign of any type of get- away boats near the ship.", said one of the police informants. Why? Kyle couldn't figure anything out. Were they going to take the cruise liner out to sea, and hope that they could use the hostages to barter themselves free? Kyle didn't know what to think. Hopefully they weren't religious whackos; he'd had enough of those.
"What do you think, Kid?" Ramirez looked at him expectantly.
"I think I have no clue about what's going on. I want to help, but I'm afraid I'd make things worse." Kyle replied.
"Perhaps it would be better not to include him,?" the other cruise representative suggested. Kyle didn't have a problem with this guy. It seemed as if he really wanted what was best, unlike his rat-faced partner.
The chief spoke up. "I think I may have to agree with Mr. Smith. These terrorists may do something rash if they find out that you are getting involved." Kyle hadn't thought about that. But what then could he do?
Jason watched the TV, wondering when Kyle would show up. Surely he'd found out about it by now? Who ever he was with, they wouldn't just not tell him would they? Kyle turned back to the computer to and continued cruising for more info. He was getting pretty good at multitasking now, what with following all the Kid Rush information. He'd even started collecting some of the better fan fiction that had been sprouting up on the web. Some of it was good, but most of it was horrible. And there were even some females, who had these strange and horrible bi-fantasies about him... yuck.
The phone rang, startling Jason's concentration. Who could it be? Was it Kyle? Jason grabbed the phone quickly, knocking over the phone stand, and almost falling out of his chair.
"Owww,.." he groaned into the phone. Why did that always surprise him?
"Um, is this Jason?" It was Steven. Only Steven could sound that unsure about something.
"Yes. What's up?" Jason rubbed his elbow as he stretched out on the floor.
"Is Kyle going to help out? I mean.. That thing on TV... you're watching it right?"
"Yeah,." Jason replied. Of course he was watching. Kyle had to document it. Collecting all those clips of Kyle had been a ton of work. Jason had several tapes full of recorded comments, plus he'd downloaded who knew how many clips. Maybe, some day, he'd find a way to get it copied to his computer.
"So why do you think he is late?" Steven asked. Steven usually had a bad memory, and today was no exception.
"He had that meeting, remember?"
"Oh yeah,." Steven replied. That was normal of Steven. He never said any more than he had to. Same with Josh as well.
" Holy Shit! Check out the TV." Jason turned to look at a news anchorwoman who was standing on a pier, watching in horror, as the cruise ship just sprung a huge hole. The side was smoking, and it looked as if water was rushing in. Jason dropped the phone in shock.
"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?" Kyle shouted. An explosion had just rocked the pier and sent everyone into a panic. The sound of the general public crying in alarm echoed through the tent flap.
A no-name policeman rushed in. "sir. The cruise ship! There's... a hole in the side," he stammered. Huh? Kyle followed the rest of the tent's occupants outside. There, across the bay, was the cruise ship with a smoking hole in its side. Hole? What the fuck was this?
"Those poor souls..." the police chief whispered.
"Why did they do that?" Kyle asked, but no one could answer. Why just blow a hole in the side of the ship for no reason? Were they religious nuts? "No more religious nuts!! I've dealt with too many of them already." Kyle sighed. He remembered the stupid one who brought the building down, then there were the those religious people back east in that one attack. Then there was that retard at the site of that wave thing.
"Perhaps it would be good for you to investigate, now that you have a way inside," the nice cruise company man said. Kyle liked him. Maybe he could sneak inside, if he went under waterand then came up the side of the ship.
Before he could rethink the idea, he'd run back inside to grab the blueprints for the ship, and then he was off, diving into the water and zipping across the harbor, water flowing around him like quicksilver.
Bullets whizzed around the slender hero as he climbed out of the water. So much for being sneaky, Kyle thought, sending a wave of concussive force in front of him, which returned the bullets to their senders.
"Attack him!!" Kyle turned to see more guards running down the hallway. They reminded Kyle of the no-name guards in all those action movies. Kyle sent another wave of energy, this one blue, sweeping down the corridor to scatter his opponents. Several painful thuds caused Kyle to wince as he rushed down the hallway.
Kyle opened the plans of the ship, trying to figure out where he was. Shit. Too many floors. He didn't even know where he was. Let's see. The hostage negotiators had guessed that the people would be held somewhere large. Would that have been the mall on level 3? Kyle couldn't remember. It was either that, or some supply hold on one of the lower levels.
More bullets interrupted Kyle's thinking. Didn't they know his aura was unstoppable, and invincible? Well, as far as he knew, it was invincible. Kyle flung another wave of energy, and then flew after it, tying up each moaning guard before he could recover. Why were they so inept? Kyle continued down the hallway and found an elevator, which he rode to level 3.
This looked better. Kyle exited the elevator, surrounded by a fancy lush atmosphere. But he didn't have time to enjoy it as a pair of guards noticed him, and pointed their guns. Not again, he sighed.
The lights from the Christmas tree winked merrily, seeming to spite Jason's mood. They'd put the tree up right after thanksgiving. It was some sort of family tradition with his mother and aunt, and he'd enjoyed decorating the house. But right now Jason was worried about Kyle. Worried about what he would do. There were a lot of people in that cruise ship.
"It will be okay, honey," his aunt said, but Jason knew she was nervous. The newscaster was interviewing bystanders, and they were all very frantic. The way they kept going on about the hole in the side of the ship, and the smoke. "He's a hero; he'll pull through."
But even the news commentators were wondering if Kid Rush could handle this. Could he? Jason knew Kyle would be okay, but what if something bad happened, and Kyle felt bad? Jason wished there was something he could do to help his boyfriend.
Down below, all the hostages were huddled together in a large supply bay. Nearby, there were several terrorists keeping tabs on them. But what really worried Kyle was that they didn't have guns. They had some sort of triggers, with wires leading to large backpacks.
What the? Kyle thought to himself, ducking down behind a crate as two men walked by. Why did they have backpacks? Some sort of bombs? Why not guns? None of this made sense. Were they religious freaks? Kyle didn't want to deal with religious freaks anymore. And why the bombs? Guns would be easier to control the crowd with. If they set off a bomb, EVERYONE would go up. Or at least everyone near by. He wanted to get this done fast and easy, without extending it into some long, drawn-out thing.
But then something seemed off. When Kyle thought back, he wasn't able to pin point it. Not exactly. The guards started yelling at each other in excited tones, but that wasn't it. Then he felt a strange rumble. What was it? It was getting stronger. What sounded like loud booms hit Kyle's ears, and Kyle had a sinking feeling he knew what was going on. Abandoning any concept of stealth, the teen hero powered up and rushed over to the hostages who were milling around in confusion.
Then the ceiling exploded.
Jason watched in horror as the cruise ship began exploding from the front of the boat in perfect synchronization, each blast going off after the next. Those people.... what happened? How? Why? How could it have gone so wrong? Jason felt a chill going up his spine. Detached, he watched as the newscaster screamed about the fiery inferno on the docks. Pieces of material were raining down on the rest of the harbor, and small fires were breaking out as flammable materials were catching.
Then the cameraman turned to look up at a large piece of something that was flying towards the camera. Then blank. "What happened?" he asked frantically. "Change the channel!!" he told his aunt, who was too stunned to react. Jason quickly grabbed the remote and changed the channel to the next station that was viewing from a safer position.
Kyle. What about Kyle? Where was he? What about all those people? Jason was going to be sick, horribly sick. There was no way Kyle could have saved all the people on the boat, was there? And what about all those people near the pier? Jason could see the bystanders on the pier watching. What about them?
Jason hadn't felt the urge to cut himself for a long time, but now it hit him hard. But there was nothing he could do. His mom and aunt still had all the sharp objects under lock and key. Jason held on to the hope that it would be over soon, that he'd see his Kyle fly out ok, with the other passengers some how.
Dylan couldn't believe it!! There he was, Kid Rush! Right there in person! His hero!! He'd wanted to go skiing for his Christmas holiday, but his parents were dead set on going on this cruise. He'd moped the whole way, swearing he wouldn't have fun. And he'd succeeded until he'd made friends with some of the other guys on the boat. And then there were the girls. He'd even made out with one. Her name was Joni. Then, when those men in the gear had suddenly stormed out of nowhere, forcing the passengers down to the hold, he was pissed, and scared. He never wanted to go on another cruise, ever.
But now this was so awesome!! There was Kid Rush, right there in the air!! And then the world exploded. He wasn't sure what happened next; it all happened so fast. Blue mixed with fire, smoke, and flying debris filled his vision. It seemed as if the whole ship had blown up. Dylan dropped to the floor and covered his neck, waiting for the ringing in his ears to stop, and the pain in his eyes to go away.
When he felt like it was safe, he opened his eyes. And then he couldn't believe what he saw. There was Kid Rush, standing in the middle of the crowd, his blue aura extended over everything. Well, what was left of the ship anyway. Which didn't seem like much. Outside his blue aura, Dylan could see the ocean and sky. What had happened to the ship?
"Please stay still everyone!!" Kid Rush announced. "I just need to put you down real fast." Dylan watched as the boy super hero moved the small floor piece they were standing on to the pier, and then sat them down. Wow. Rescued by Kid Rush.
Shit. The pier was pretty much on fire, and the flying shrapnel and burning pieces hadn't helped much. Kyle needed a way to put the fire out, now. Wait... there was lots of water... he just needed a wave. Kyle shot up in the air and focused his energy, shooting a beam of aqua blue into the harbor. Water bubbled and exploded into a huge geyser, sending salty rain down onto the spreading fires all across the harbor.
Maybe now he could go home. But Kyle realized that he needed to help the injured, and then had to tell the police what happened. He couldn't figure out why the hijackers had bombs, and why blow up the ship? This was going to be a long night.
End for now!!
Happy holidays!! (dont worry, I will post before holidays are over. I hope :S)