All she had been able to muster was a swift kick against a monster in the body of a small, skinny, teenaged boy. Even drained by his healing of Nicholas, Max had managed more than that. If she somehow survived, if some miracle saved all of them, Liz vowed to develop and master her powers.
If only she had done that sooner, if only she could fight like Max, or Michael, or Isabel. She could make books burst into flame and occasionally move objects, but that was nothing against Nicholas and his abilities. If only…
Looking across the room to Michael's and Kyle's pained faces, Liz knew that she wasn't the only one feeling helpless. Michael could do it, if he was free, if it wasn't for the electrodes blocking his powers.
Liz realized that if even she was able to get herself and her hands free for a few seconds, she would be able to rip them from Michael's head. Then she knew that he would
do the rest… the look on his face told her that. Her hands were incapacitated, but what if she could do it without her hands? She had moved objects before, even under stress. And this would not require the same power as a fullblown fight against Nicholas's alien powers. This would just require a nudge with her own infant abilities… just a nudge.
She looked at Michael, concentrating on the electrodes. She saw that he was saying something to Maria, trying to comfort her. She blocked out the noise, all noise, and concentrated on the electrodes on each side of his forehead. They were attached by a device that looked like a set of metal headphones. Even so, they were light, she was sure, less than a pound. She focused. Did the headset move slightly? She wasn't sure, but she thought it might have.
That's when she felt a slap across her face, shattering her concentration. She was annoyed at the interruption. Then she saw Nicholas standing there and realized what it meant: He had recovered enough to stand up. And he was angry.
He was standing to the side, out of the range of her foot. Leaning in, he whispered, "That was a mistake. You're going to regret that. I had wanted to save you for last, to give Max plenty of time to think about what was going to happen to you, but now you will die first."
The words barely registered. She was trying to regain her concentration on Michael's headset. If she could only move it, there still might be a chance. Nicholas was pulling her, releasing her arms, then gripping them firmly from behind. Maria was crying loudly now, and Isabel was saying something. So were Kyle and Michael. She ignored
all the words and concentrated on the headset.
The headset. Suddenly she could feel it in her mind. Its metal warmed by Michael's skin. She felt its weight.
Nicholas was talking. To her? No, to Max. Then she was falling, thrown to the floor next to Max. Looking up, she saw Nicholas looming over her. He was taunting Max and trying to frighten her, but she could think only of the headset.
Lifting his own foot, Nicholas kicked Max squarely in the stomach, and she watched her boyfriend shudder at the blow. She felt a rush of adrenaline and feeling for Max.
That did it.
Suddenly, she was holding the headset with her mind, as firmly as if she were holding it with her hand. In the end, it seemed painfully simple. All she had to do was… yank. And then it was flying across the room.
"Michael, now!" she called out. Then she reached out again with her mind, felt the straps holding Michael to the chamber. She broke them with her mind. Then, as quickly as they had come, her powers began to recede… like a dream that races out of sight when you wake.
It was all right. Michael could take it from here, and right now, Max needed her.
As Michael stumbled out of his chamber, a change came over Nicholas's face. His sneering grin disappeared, only to be replaced by a look of dull surprise. "What…," he said feebly.
"Now you're going to pay," Michael said, raising his hand. Liz realized it would soon be over. Nicholas was too confused to mount a defense. And Michael was angry. His face had a kind of determined fury that she had never seen
on him before. She knew how he felt about Max and how he must have felt about what had happened here for the last few minutes.
Liz decided she wouldn't want to be Nicholas right now.
His brow furrowed in concentration, Michael summoned his powers. Then he pushed with his outstretched hand and…
Nothing.
Surprise registered on Michael's face. He tried again. This time, Nicholas stumbled back slightly, as if he had been pushed gently. Looking at Nicholas's face, Liz saw that his dumb look of shock was gone, and the sneering grin was back.
"Oh Michael, you know there might be some residual effects from the electrode," he said, then he laughed. The sound was less unnatural than it had been when he was a walking, rotting corpse, but it was no less creepy.
Liz raced to Max and instinctively put her body over his, holding him. It was an empty gesture, she knew. Once again, she was helpless.
"Watch this, Max. This will give you some idea of what to expect for yourself." Nicholas raised his hand, pointing it at Michael. The hand began to glow, and Maria screamed. Something happened. Liz could hear a thump and realized that Nicholas must have hit Michael with his energy.
She didn't even turn around. Instead, she found herself getting up. Nicholas was just in front of and to the side of her. She didn't really have a plan, just her own rage. For the moment, it felt like enough.
She threw herself into him, driving him toward one of the empty chambers. Though he might have been a powerful and evil alien on the inside, on the outside he was just a little over her own height. What happened next was physics.
Nicholas went flying into the closed glass chamber, which shattered on impact. Liz fell to the floor as Nicholas fell into the glass. She was on her feet nearly instantly and grabbed Nicholas as he started to get up himself. Just as she had grabbed Maria on the stairs, she grabbed Nicholas by the back of his jeans and swung him around with all of her might.
Already off balance, Nicholas went flying toward the chamber on the other side of the narrow room. He went into it face first, and that one shattered as well. Besides the glass, Liz saw blood splattering. For a moment, she hoped he had cut something vital, but he got up too quick for that to be true.
When he turned to look up at her, Liz could see a deep cut across his face that went from the right side of his forehead, down through the bridge of his nose, and deeply into his left cheek. She had hurt him, but not fatally.
When he spoke, it was to her. "You're just like Zan here… you don't know when you're beaten." He shook his head, and the remote control caught his eye. His arm flung out as he dove for it.