Chapter 13: Collusion

Romaine's POV

Last night was absolutely terrible; I couldn't fall asleep. I kept rocking and turning on that stupid, stiff bed. Everything that happened yesterday haunted me.

My mind was brought back to reality by the solemn, short-lived sound of the bell. On queue, all the cell doors on the block opened up. I slowly got off the bed, unaware of what was happening. Guards came to each of our cells and escorted us out.

I was led to the canteen, which is surprisingly big for 7 convicts. We were lined up in order of our inmate number. I got served some sliced fruits, flavored water and 2 small biscuits. Not really my cup of tea, but I didn't have much of a choice.

Turning around, I looked for somewhere to sit. I noticed the other prisoners glaring at me. Instead of risking anything, I made my way over to one of the countless empty benches.

I was called out by Melissa, who invited me over to their table. I obviously didn't want to get on their bad side, so I couldn't refuse the offer. I timidly walked over to the two adjacent tables where they were grouped up.

I faced Melissa, who was sitting on the table. To her left, was her father, Magnet Man, also known as Leonardo Stunnard. To her right, was a very large man, who I'm assuming is the one Usain put behind bars. On the other table, was the guy Donte named "Big Ugly", the only two people here that were actually sitting on the seat and not a table, were Shockwave and Torpedo.

The group scanned me, before Melissa went on talking.

"So.." She opened, "What are you in for?"

I obviously can't tell them the actual story. The last thing I need right now is them knowing that I'm the one that put most of them away. I'd still need to mention part of of the real story, in case they somehow have any information on what happened.

"I.. I k-k...I killed my family.. and painted the walls in their blood." Saying that was a lot harder than I would've imagined, even if it is a lie.

They all subtly exchanged looks.

"You sure you don't belong in a mental institution or something kid?" She questioned.

"Well..I.."

"I'm impressed."

Putting them under the impression that I'm a murderous psycho wasn't really the effect that I was going for, but, that's good enough I guess.

"So, who did it?" She prompted without context

I stared at her, obviously confused.

"Who put you away?"

"Oh, uhh.. Velocity?"

Some members of the group groaned.

"I've got a bone to pick with him when I get out of here" She grumbled

"You plan on escaping?"

"Uhh, duh. We don't plan on wasting the rest of our lives here"

"Fair enough.." I mumbled

"We'd accept you into the group and let you in on our escape plan, but you gotta prove your loyalty first."

I really don't like where this is going.

"Ok..well what do you have in mind?"

"See that guard over there," She indicated to one standing by the wall

"Yeah..?"

"Go steal his gate keys."

I glanced back over to him and saw a key-chain with 4-5 keys secure on his waist.

I returned my view to Melissa, she wasn't joking.

I'm definitely not about to go attempt to steal from a prison guard... or am I.

I stood up, and stalked the guard. Obviously, in such a large room with so little people, he'd notice me approaching him. I stood beside him for a while, before slowly moving my hand toward the key chain; all while having the group watch me. The guard grabbed my hand, twisted it behind my back, took out his taser, and tased me; all in the same instance.

I fell to the ground, twitching, yet paralyzed. Some of the other guards came and brought me out of the room. My eyes fought to stay open as energy left my body.

"You just earned yourself a time out"

They opened a metal chamber and put me inside. When movement started returning to my muscles, I was already facing a different dilemma; the temperature in the room was rapidly rising.

My breathing grew erratic, my jumpsuit was soaked in sweat, I even got dizzy. I sat up in a corner for a bit of suspension and support. It got bad to the point where my hand started shivering at an alarming rate. After not too long, I passed out.

~~~~~~~

The next thing I recall hearing after that was the beep of the bell again, followed by the sound of the cell doors opening. My eyes had slowly begun to adjust to my surroundings when I heard another guard.

"Get up Inmate 7; it's breakfast time."

I got up and went along, but I was very confused. What exactly happened?

I went and collected my food tray, now served with half a cup of milk and cereal along with a slice of bread. The group seemed much more welcoming this time around, and Melissa displayed a very pleased smile on her face.

I cautiously walked over to them, and ended up being cheered by Melissa herself.

"Great job yesterday. How was solitary?"

"That, was solitary?" I questioned in disbelief

In that case, I never want to go back there ever again. I wasn't conscious for long, but no amount of explaining it to you would get across how bad it is.

"Yeah, and now that you've proved your loyalty to us, welcome to the group."

"Oh, well..thanks."

"I'm Melissa" she indicated, "this guy sitting to my left is my old man, the one with the menacing face over there is Fredrick, just call him Fred. The good looking one is Sawyer. The one behind me is Rockwell. And this big guy beside me is B'do."

"B'do? What kind of name is~"

Melissa launched herself from off the table to cover my mouth. The big guy turned his head to me.

"What were you about to say?" he questioned

"Nothing, big guy, just calm down." Melissa responded

Her eyes sharpened at me before she whispered, "Don't comment about his name, it's the one thing that ticks him off the most."

When she finally removed her hand from my mouth, I looked around, taking in the people I'd be spending the rest of my time in here with. I already knew Melissa and Magnet Man's real name. It looks like we've gotten a bit too into the nicknaming thing lately and never bothered to actually ID our bad guys anymore. So Torpedo's name is Fredrick, Shockwave is Sawyer, Big Ugly is Rockwell and the guy Usain put away is oddly named B'do. Ok then, I think I can memorize those.

"So, kid. Mind introducing yourself?" Melissa prompted

"Oh, well..uhh."

I think it's a bit too risky to give away my real name, they might stumble upon it later in relation to the Speedsters.

"Mark?" I answered, not fully convinced that I'd be able to live up to it

The group exchanged looks, before Melissa looked back at me and said,

"Welcome aboard."

Well good, they bought it. Although, they wouldn't have much reason to doubt it in the first place, I guess I'm just overthinking everything.

"I gotta say kid, your voice sounds awfully familiar."

"Oh? Really?" I nervously chuckled, "That's weird."

I didn't realize that they could've picked up on my voice. I tried my best to talk as little as possible from that point, since there wasn't much more I could do."

"So..." I opened, wanting to change the subject, "About that escape plan of yours?"

"Well someone's a bit eager." she commented, "We don't have much to go off of now, maybe you have something useful to contribute? Your power perhaps?"

Ok, I may have been overthinking everything up to this point, but I really need to think through this. I obviously can't tell them my real power, but I need to give them something believable that I can pull off, so if push comes to shove, and it's up to me to showcase or use my abilities, then I'm not backed into a wall.

"I can phase through solid objects." I stated

Well, that's a lie, but, I know that I just need to vibrate my molecules fast enough to phase through any object of a certain density, so it is doable for me I'd just need to exert a good amount of effort.

"Decent." She commented, "Well I've got electro-magnetic screams, my dad can control stuff using the electro-magnetic field, Rockwell over there can encase his body in rocks, Fredrick can create guns out of thin air, Sawyer can create and fire shock-waves, and the big guy naturally nullifies all shockwaves and pressure directed toward him."

Although I already knew all of their powers, minus B'do of course, it was still a good refresher. And it was all I needed to come up with a plan.

"Guys," I opened boldly, "we're breaking outta here, today."