Chapter 14: Game Plan

[1 Day Ago]

Dondre's POV

I knew it was a great decision to bring Kyle onboard; he's been here for less than 3 minutes and he's already helped us locate Romaine. If all goes well, he'd make a great addition to the team.

"Well now we know where Romaine is," Cassandra started, "and I guess it's safe to assume at this point that Donte was one of the murder victims?"

"I guess so," I replied, heavy-hearted, "If he was still alive, I'm sure he would've came back by now."

"Do you think maybe Black Zero could've done something to him?"

"What are you talking about? He may be faster than us, but I'm sure your scanners would pick up something if he was at the house."

"You're right.. I only picked up traces of Romaine being there."

"Alright look," Kyle intervened, "We can focus on this 'Donte' character later, ok? We have Romaine's location; so for now, let's focus on getting him out of there, and then we can get his side of the story."

"Sounds like a plan." I agreed

"Ok yes, but," Started Cas, always having something to say, "Let me just remind you, that he's being held in the most secure X-Genist containment facility."

"Yeah, we've mentioned that like 10 times already Cas."

She scoffed at me, before continuing, "That's besides the point Dondre, I was saying that since it's the most secure facility, how do you expect to break him out?"

"Well.. I.."

"Exactly. Now shut up next time unless you have something useful to say."

"I suggest we sleep on it" Kyle stated

"Are you a mad man?" I opposed, "We can't leave Romaine in there any longer than necessary."

"Yeah, well, You two are too toxic right now and constantly at each other's throats; and I've only been here for 5 minutes. I say we take some time, and sleep on it. That way our heads are clear, and we can come up with a plan. I'm sure Romaine would understand my decision given what I have to deal with here."

"Doesn't sound too unreasonable.."

We looked over at Cas, waiting for her answer.

"Well whatever." She mumbled

"Remember, the only reason I came here was to help Romaine, not to fix your bad relationship. Get a love therapist or something"

"Oh my god, will you people stop calling everyone my boyfriend?" Cas stressed

Ha, I didn't take what Kyle said too seriously; he always knows the right words to get you to shut up.

So after that we decided to give the mission a bit of a break. Kyle went his own way, I went upstairs to the couch, and Cas stayed downstairs.

~~~~~~~

I understand where Kyle is coming from and why he said what he did, but if there's anything I can do, I need to try it. The full moon lit up the outside, Cas obviously isn't asleep; she never sleeps. But she's probably engulfed in whatever she's doing right now. So it's just up to me to make my way out to where Romaine is.

I'd already planned for this, so I had snuck my suit out of the lab prior to Kyle and I leaving. I changed and swiftly made my way out to the coast. Given the satellite image of the prison from earlier, I have a rough idea of how far it could be from the coast.

Obviously the only way to get over there was via water. And since I'm such a good speedster then it really shouldn't be too hard to streak across the surface of the water. You'd need to go at around 25-30 meters per second, which converts to a laughable 108 kilometers per hour. Oh please, I can go countless times faster than that. But the key is to kick your feet against the water with every step, in order to keep you up on the surface.

I ran onto the high tides and did just that, I scoured the waters all over, eventually I started seeing dim lights fade in from the horizon. There's nothing else out here, that must be it. I turned myself toward the prison. Reaching the shore, I wasted no time in phasing my way through the thick reinforced outer walls. I didn't even realize that I did it; I guess I just got so excited and determined on saving Romaine, that it was just a reflex.

I approached the inner walls, but when I pressed my hand against it to phase through it, the vibration speed of my hand rapidly got slower, before coming to a stop. I took a step back, and looked around. I could use my speed perfectly fine from this distance, but even a step closer and it would rapidly deplete. The main entrance was heavily guarded, and some guards were currently on patrol in my area. The only way in for me was to phase through the walls.

Given that, there was no other option but to throw in the towel and wait for Cas and Kyle so we can come up with a plan tomorrow.

~~~~~~~

I was up bright and early the next morning. I made my way to the lab and saw Cas burning away at the keyboard, what a surprise.

It didn't take too long for Kyle to show up; it's game time.

"So?" I prompted anxiously, as Kyle stepped out of the elevator, "What's the plan?"

"We were supposed to brainstorm one here, it's not like I thought of one overnight." he responded

"Hold on." Cassandra vexed, "Dondre, do you have something to say? About last night perhaps?"

"You gotta be kidding me" I stressed under my breath

She raised her eyebrow, and looked at me more pensively.

"I went out to Brinestone, ok?" I blurted, "I couldn't sleep, and if there was something I could do, then I had to try it."

"Look Dondre," opened Kyle, "I get why you did it, alright? We all want Romaine back safely as soon as possible. But what if you'd been caught? Huh? What do you think that'd do to our plans? If anything, you're the most important asset here; because you're the only one that can go out into the field"

Jeez.. Kyle's rationality is really annoying sometimes.

"How did you know I went out there anyways?" I questioned

"You underestimate the fact that I monitor the satellite feeds at all times. I picked up your energy signature making it's way out to the prison. You'd managed to bypass the outer wall, but after not too long, you came back. So what happened exactly?"

"Well I managed to phase through the first wall, on pure instinct, but as soon as I came into contact with the inner walls then my powers were neutralized."

"Of course," Kyle went on, "In order to keep the inmates under control, but still grant them some sort of bodily freedom, they must be nullifying their abilities with some sort of element or device."

"I got it." Cas concluded, she turned to the computers and brought up the satellite image of the prison again. This time she zoomed into a small satellite dish and pointed it out.

"If they transmit the right radiowaves at the correct frequencies, they'd easily be capable of sending your X-Gene into a dormant state. This must be what they're using to transmit the waves."

"That's a good deduction," Kyle pointed out, "But why is it off center? Wouldn't it be best to put it in the middle of the facility, rather than a bit off to the side?"

After a bit more typing and satellite viewing, Cassandra finally gave us an answer.

"It seems like they have their major air vents right in the center, so the transmitter is as close as possible to the center."

"Well do you think you could give us the transmission distance of the transmitter?"

"I'd say a 100 meter radius at best."

Kyle stared at the image for a while before coming out with what he was thinking. He pointed to the further end of the prison from the transmitter.

"If Romaine can somehow get to this point, he might just be able to use his speed."

"Kyle, that's brilliant."

"Is he fast enough to phase through the wall like Dondre?"

"Well, he's actually faster than Dondre, but he's never tried phasing through solid objects before. And I highly doubt he would think about it."

"Well then, how do we relay the message to him?"

"Not sure."

Kyle looked over at me, and for once I was included in the conversation.

"Dondre?" He questioned, "Do you think you'd be able to go through the blind-spot?"

"Well, I'm not really sure." I respond truthfully, "But I'll give it a shot."

Not too long after, we heard a deafening alarm. It wasn't the crime alert, it was coming from outside.