MIRA

My head pounded. That was the first thing I remembered—then squinting at the lights in my face. Stark white, they were as blinding as the sun. I felt so tired, so heavy. So useless.

Just like the day Verity died.

I blinked open my eyes, as if that would chase the light away. I had to try and get a better view of my surroundings. But everything around me was a blur, slow like syrup, and I couldn't concentrate on anything.

I realized when I tried to move my hand that my arms were strapped down to my sides, and there was an IV drip attached to my elbow.

"This isn't ideal." My words slurred together as I tried to lift my head.

I was rewarded with my heartbeat pounding my temples. I fell back against the metal table. Only now did I realize that it was cold. I couldn't even bring myself to shiver.

"I'll admit, I'm quite curious to see if Atomic Energy has done anything special to the girl." I felt a gloved hand on my forehead. I turned my head, to try and shake her off. But the female voice above me just laughed. "This is everything I've ever wanted in my research! And now I have the opportunity. . . "

"I know, we've been waiting for this day for such a long time," agreed a male voice, also somewhere above me. There was then a pause.

A new female voice spoke: "Doctor, she's trying to wake up. We need to give her another dose."

"Drat, I left that in the other room," the first voice grumbled. "Menlo, Glitch, be dears, make sure she doesn't try to hurt herself until I get back with the anesthetic."

"Yes, Dr. Electra."

A jolt of cold energy ran through my veins, and my muscles spasmed against the metal restraints. My heart beat faster—and so did the pounding in my head.

Oh no.

We were in one of Dr. Electra's secret laboratories.

I struggled to remember how I'd gotten here in the first place. We'd been in the abandoned hideout in Old Kingsbury, we were looking for something, something to do with Atomic Energy—

"Henry!" I tried to yell, but it only came out as a sleepy mumble.

That earned a laugh from the male voice—Glitch, I could remember it faintly from our profiles.

"He's going to be just fine." I could see a black-gloved hand, contrasted against the brightness, coming closer to my face. I tried to pull away. "The doc isn't going to hurt her only success. He's somewhere safe—"

Glitch pushed a stray hair off my forehead. The gesture was supposed to be a comfort, but coming from a supervillain's henchman, it only curdled my blood.

I closed my eyes, trying to draw on my energy, or something. I had to get out, I had to find a way to rescue Henry. He didn't deserve to get pulled back into his nightmares like this, because of me.

But what could I do?

Super-speed didn't come with super-invulnerability. While I had more than the average person, that had more to do with training than anything else.

Trying to kick through the metal restraints could do more damage to me, leaving me unable to take the henchmen properly.

"All of our other experiments died, unfortunately, before we could finish our work," Glitch continued, oblivious to my train of thought. "With the two of you, we have another chance to find the truth. A child who grew up with the power, who can tell us the secret. Then the one success, who we can use to make the rest."

"Why are you telling her all this?" Menlo hissed—even as a whisper, she was too loud. "Do you want her to go and tell the cops about what we're up to?"

"You say that like she's getting out of here, or like she'll remember any of this once the doc comes back."

They were looking for the secret behind superpowers, how Atomic Energy's accident had transformed the Mutated. The rabbit hole seemed to dive deeper and deeper, connecting to everything bad that happened in the two Kingsburys. At the end of the day, none of this would have happened if Atomic Energy hadn't had a leak in their first nuclear energy facility.

I heard a door slam, and winced at the sound.

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"Got the anesthetic, brought the whole tank, just in case she somehow goes through it all." I heard footsteps and the clinking of tools and bottles moving around. "Must have a metabolism to match that super speed, that's the only way she's gone through so much morphine that fast—"

That was when it hit me—they were going to operate on me. Experiment on me. I struggled to remember Henry's exact words. But they'd done the same to him, to make him into Warlock.

What horrors were in store for me?

A dark shadow loomed overhead. I couldn't make out the face. Try as I did, my vision was still blurry.

I felt the prick of a needle in my other arm, and something inside me snapped.

These people stole and killed children for their experiments, they hurt Henry.

A dark energy, melded with my anger, rose inside of me. It was building, higher and higher, like lava rising in a volcano, fighting the serum Dr. Electra was pushing into my veins.

I let out a scream, and it all exploded. Lightbulbs shattered above me, the restraints twisted themselves away from my body, all the sharp metal tools in the room hovered around the three scientists.

I didn't wait for a second chance. I wrenched Dr. Electra's hand and the needle out of my arm, and kicked her back into her cart. Glass and scalpels were everywhere on the floor around her.

I ripped out my IV, ignoring the blood coming from the wound as I got to my feet. I stumbled forward, toward the obvious door in the room, only to get grabbed from behind.

Menlo refilled another syringe as I struggled against Glitch. My head felt like it was a drum being pounded on by a small child.

I couldn't move—he was too strong.

But I could see Dr. Electra rising from the floor, Menlo coming at me with the syringe.

I had to act fast. I could feel a hum in the room, connecting to my fingertips. I tugged on that invisible, humming energy and a pair of surgery scissors flew into my hand.

I didn't hesitate—I thrust the end into Glitch's side, grazing him more than properly wounding. But I could take advantage of the surprise more than anything else.

I used my momentum to reach up and kick the syringe out of Menlo's arm. I yanked the scissors free and used his tight grip on my other arm to flip him onto the floor, among the glass.

I sprinted for the door—only for Glitch to grab my leg, pulling me down. The scissors nearly flew out of my grip. Somehow I managed to keep a hold on it, though the sharp end cut into the palm of my hand. My leg throbbed.

But I couldn't take it easy right now.

I rolled onto my back just as Menlo descended onto me, holding her syringe in one hand. I grabbed that wrist with her free hand, just as she grabbed my other one. We were at an impasse. Both with weapons.

I could tell she would win—she was stronger than I was. I brought my uninjured leg up as far as I could, jabbing her stomach with my knee, then I kicked as hard as I could. She flew off of me, flopping to the ground like a rag doll.

I scrambled to my feet again and managed to finally get to the door. I turned the lock—even though I was sure it wouldn't save that much time. After all, there were one-way glass windows in the corridors, I could see that now that I was on the outside.

I limped down the corridor, the surgery scissors still in my hand.

"Henry!" I screamed, not knowing what else to do. "Henry!"

I could hear the glass shattering behind me. I didn't have much time, I had to find him and the exit to this hellhole.

I turned the corner—there were several doors and a staircase to a barred door.

That has to be my exit.

I could hear the footsteps behind me, feel my body throb in rhythm to my heart.

Think fast.

Then I saw it—a henchman coming out of one of the doors. I didn't recognize him or recall any villain name, but it didn't matter. I ran to his open arms, and stabbed him in the shoulder, then kicked the legs out from under him.

He fell to the ground with a cry of anguish, and I stepped over him, continuing to the room he'd left behind.

There was another henchwoman in there, standing over Henry, unconscious on an operating table just like the one I'd been in.

Just like the one he'd been trapped in as a child.

I let out a primal scream of rage as I felt that dark energy welling up in me again. I thrust my free hand out, and the henchwoman's chair tipped her out, and then banged against her head with a sickening thud. I twisted my wrist sharply, flexing my fingers.

Henry's restraints twisted out of the way, and I ran to him, grabbing his shoulders.

"HENRY!" I screamed, shaking him as spots of shadow danced over my vision.

He stirred and groaned.

I looked him and down—he'd been injured. There was a large bruise forming on his forehead, and there was blood soaking his hoodie, and parts of his clothes had been torn to shreds.

He'd gone down after I had, but they still managed to get the drop on him somehow.

"Come on!" My throat was raw from my screams. I grabbed his arm and slung it over my shoulders, wrapping his fingers around the top of the surgery scissors.

I staggered under his weight, but tried to stand up straight. I couldn't, my injured leg was slipping.

We both fell to the ground—but that seemed to wake him up some.

"Huh? Mira?"

"We've got to go, we've gotta get out of here, they're coming." I managed to climb to my knees, and braced myself.

Pain erupted from my arm, my leg, and head in an explosion. It nearly brought me back down to my knees.

That's when Henry got up, and took my hand.

My limbs felt heavy, I could feel my cells fighting to stay alive— but it just wasn't there.

More shadows passed over my vision. I tried to send them away, but I couldn't.

We stepped out into the hallway, and Henry waved his arm. A pink wave of light knocked down Dr. Electra and more henchmen that had joined her in my rescuing of Henry.

We then booked it to the door, and instead of exiting somewhere in Old Kingsbury, we were in an alley somewhere in downtown New Kingsbury.

"We're not too far from a tram station," Henry declared, even though his eyes were unfocused and his words slurred together. "I think we can make it, come on!"

I glanced back at the door, and I slammed it shut with my new power and slammed on the locks.

"That should buy us some time." I then looked at him. "We can't go to a tram station looking like this."

"It's two in the morning, no one will care."

With that, we hurried down the streets, every step agony, the lights of the city all blurring together into one blinding sun as shadows dotted my vision. And yet I didn't really feel pain, not until we darted into an empty car at the back of the tram right before it was supposed to take off.

That's when we were finally safe.