Sidekicks

Chapter 16: Receding Waters

Ryan barely had a moment to react. He threw up his arms as the tsunami of water blew through the street. He did his best to keep the water off him but after the drawn-out fight, he couldn't hold it off for more than a moment. The flood crashed into him, sending him sailing down the street.

Ryan kicked and thrashed as he was tossed end over end. He didn't know which way was up anymore. He couldn't tell if his efforts to swim were having any effect. Was this what it felt like to drown?

Is this what Henry feels every time? Ryan closed his eyes.

The tumbling water was only serving to confuse him more. Pieces of rubble were tossed in the rush, knocking him in every direction.

In the darkness of his mind, he tried to relax. He had to get rid of his fear.

He let the water push him. Water was a finicky thing, really. It resisted if you used too much force and it ignored you entirely if you didn't use enough. Ryan had spent most of his childhood finding a balance with water. Still water, running water, rushing water. Every different body of it had a different level of force Ryan needed to match.

This water was fast, powerful. He had to calm down and match that intensity.

Ryan kept his eyes closed and scrunched up his face, doing his best to mentally match that power. His mind raced as fast as the waters surrounding him. He would've taken deep breaths if there was air to breathe.

You are force. His mind whispered to the water. Let me give you direction.

He threw out his arms and his body stopped tumbling. He kept his eyes closed and held onto that small balance he had with the torrent, where their two forces were equal in power. Carefully and slowly, he started to bring his power down, taking down the power of the water with his own.

It felt like an eternity with no air. The bitter cold of the water bit into his body, in spite of his suit doing its best to keep him warm. Ryan kept his arms out and eyes closed until he felt the water around him slow to a stop.

He threw his arms up and the water shot after them, flying up into the air with incredible speed. He kept his arms held high and took in deep gulps of air as his knees hit the floor. He looked around and saw Repulser lying in a heap of purple under a large chunk of a concrete. She coughed and hacked but couldn't seem to lift herself off the ground.

Ryan scanned around some more and finally located Kilowatt's form, lying crumpled over a flipped sedan, spitting out water and gasping for breath. Ryan held the small tsunami in the air, watching Kilowatt get to her feet, stumbling towards Repulser. The energy shrouding her body was gone and her hands only sparked with flitting bolts.

Ryan brought down a fist between the two women and the water above slammed into the road, forming an impenetrable wall that Kilowatt wouldn't be able to evaporate, even if she got hit by another bolt of lightning.

Kilowatt turned to Ryan. Her eyes were wide but her teeth were gritted. "Let me through!"

"Repulser is down, Kilowatt!" Ryan exclaimed, still struggling to catch his breath. "Fuse isn't here! Mission accomplished! You won! Now calm down!"

Kilowatt's hand sparked with energy but before Ryan had to slam her with a wall of water, the energy died out and Kilowatt lowered her fists. She looked around at the destruction of the street.

"Where is he?" Her voice was quieter and although the rain had slowed a bit, Ryan struggled to hear her over the wind. Maybe the wave of water had hit her harder than it did him.

"Not here." Ryan's arms shook. If he didn't get rid of that water soon, it was going to wash them all away again. "And if you think about going after him or Repulser, I'll throw you in the lake."