The Conductor {Black Lightning}{Wattys2018}

Ch. 4: Sink and Mind-Shattering Circumstances

Later that evening, Eugene got another text from Tobias.

I need to you to help me knock the stupidity out of Lala.

That could only mean one thing. Torture.

I'm coming, she replied.

Getting in her gear for One Hundred Assignments was like a firefighter having to get their suit on in under a minute. Not even because she had any high tech parts of her disguise, but because she had to put her hair in twists so her helmet would fit over her head. That by itself was a night's worth of work.

Because of Tobias' severe case of albinism, his mansion was darkly lit and he didn't notice her arrival until she had sat down and taken off her helmet.

"Oh, there you are, Eugene," he said. "For a moment, I thought you were late."

Eugene shuddered. She wouldn't dare be late for Tobias. The only person who was allowed to be late was his sister Tori. Everyone else got at least one of their bones broken.

"I would never be late," she replied. "My mother didn't allow that growing up."

"Your mother raised you to be a smart woman," said Tobias. "You were right about our lightning friend showing up."

"You don't think it could be him?" Eugene asked, still nervous about saying Black Lightning's name around Tobias.

"No way," said Tobias. "We killed him. You saw his body. You were there."

"I was."

"Now put that helmet back on," he told her. "Joey and Sy should be here with Lala any minute now."

Eugene nodded and put her helmet back on. Moments later, Joey and Syonide entered the room with a masked Lala. As soon as they took the mask off, he started talking.

"Look, boss, it wasn't my fault--"

Eugene walked up from behind him and shocked him with a burst of lightning. Lala let out a loud yelp.

"You speak when you're spoken to," she hissed in his ear. "Otherwise shut up."

"Now, now, Eugene, don't punish him yet," said Tobias. "I wanna ask him a question first. Latavius, do you know how much of Black Lightning's electricity it takes to kill a man?"

Lala didn't answer. Tobias sneered. "Eugene, help him find his tongue."

She nodded and shocked Lala again, making him cry out louder than before. Usually, she tried to go as easy as possible on the people Tobias wanted her to torture, but this wasn't just for Tobias. This was for Jennifer and Anissa.

"He asked you a question," she said sharply. "Answer it."

"I don't - what do you mean--?"

"I killed Black Lightning," Tobias growled. "I don't know who this clown behind the suit is, but you've pissed him off and that's bad for my business. So unless you put an end to this problem, Connie here is gonna have to use a lot more electricity on you. And before you go around saying what was and wasn't your fault, I just want you to know what electricity can do to you."

Lala gulped.

"I'll deal with it, sir."

****

After helping Tobias deal with Lala, Eugene opened her phone to see she had gotten a text from Mr. Pierce.

Jennifer and Anissa are safe. I'm bringing Anissa to your apartment now.

Eugene's heart swelled with relief. Lightning Guy's appearance had brought nothing but problems for her, but at least he had saved Jennifer and Anissa. She had to be thankful.

Thank God, she texted back. Coming.

Mr. Pierce and Anissa were already there when Eugene got to the apartment. Eugene tried to hug Anissa from behind, but it didn't work out very well because Eugene was walking too fast and ended up just tackling Anissa into the kitchen counter instead of hugging her properly.

"Damn," said Anissa. "Sometimes I forget how strong you are."

"Sorry," Eugene said sheepishly. "I just missed you."

"Also, why do you smell like smoke?" Anissa asked. "You been sitting on a barbecue while I've been gone?"

Eugene's chest tightened for a moment. Usually, she put on perfume to temporarily cover the smoke smell after her missions until she had access to a shower, but today she had been so excited to see Anissa that she had forgotten about it.

"It's nothing," she said. "Anyway, it's probably from you. Weren't you just around Black Lightning?"

"Yeah, but how did you know that?"

Shit. "The news."

"I thought the news was too depressing for you," said Anissa.

Mr. Pierce suddenly cleared his throat. "Well, now that you're here, I'll be going," he said, giving Anissa a quick kiss on the forehead. "Stay safe, you two."

"We will," Eugene replied. After he had walked out the door, she turned to Anissa and said, "I watched the news because I wanted to know if you were okay. Now, let's call it a night, shall we? It's late and you're probably exhausted."

***

A loud thud jolted Eugene out of her deep sleep. Afraid that something had happened to Anissa, she ran to Anissa's room, but for some reason, it was empty.

Don't panic, don't panic. She could be taking a bathroom break.

"Anissa, can I come in?" Eugene asked.

"I..I broke the sink," said Anissa, her voice trembling.

"Is the drain blocked? I've been meaning to put hair removal in there--"

"No, I shattered it. With my bare hands."

"What?"

"Come in and see."

When she opened the door, Eugene's jaw dropped. The bottom half of their sink had come clean off and the top half was cracked in multiple places.

"I don't know how I did it," Anissa went on. "I was having a panic attack and then my hands started glowing and it just...crumbled."

"Uh...adrenaline rush?" Eugene suggested, trying to calm her best friend down. In reality, she knew it probably wasn't adrenaline. Adrenaline didn't make your hands glow and unless Anissa had been hallucinating (Eugene hadn't completely ruled that out yet, there was only one other explanation.

Anissa had powers.

***

A/N: I feel like 80% of this book is just Eugene internally thinking "Shit shit shit shit shit"

Also! On a less profane note, I'm gonna be entering this book into the Wattys, so if you could vote, comment and tell other people about this book, that would make me extremely happy! Thanks in advance!