The Guardians Omnibus

by Damien Benoit-Ledoux

  “If the chip’s causing aggravation to his emotional state, then yes—and he could become extremely volatile.” Dr. Madison said flatly. “From what you’ve said, it seems there’s no telling what sets him off. Have you observed anything unusual with Blake recently?”

  Victor shook his head. “No, I…wait, yes!” He clapped his hands and spun around. “How did I miss it?” He paused and reflected on their conversations.

  “Well, what did you see?” Dr. Madison asked.

  “He appeared to be in pain. When I asked him about it, he said he had a tension headache and he kept rubbing the back of his head at the occipital bone. He looked pale and sweaty, like he had a fever. But, he also told me he had a first date, so I wrote it off as teenage nervousness.”

  “That would confirm something happened to the chip,” Dr. Madison concluded. “The question remains, what?”

  “I thought the chip didn’t activate until we turned it on?”

  Dr. Madison shook her head. “Oh no, they’re active the moment they’re anchored in place. Something damaged the chip and has caused it to malfunction. That explains the unpleasant symptoms he experienced.”

  “But that…that’s all gone now. I saw him before Boston and he was…cold.”

  “He felt cold to the touch?”

  “No, his aura, his presence, whatever you want to call it. He was cold and empty, like a piece of him was missing. This is all so obvious to me in hindsight.”

  “Then I’d venture to hypothesize my original theory is on target; that his emotional processing is compromised and anything could set him off. That makes him very dangerous, Victor.”

  “Yeah, well, I found that out the hard way.” Which means, none of this conversation changes what I came in here for.

  Victor folded his arms. “Accelerate Project Genesis II, immediately, Doctor. Move everything back to Rangeley. Get Arek and Miguel to help you. I’ll have the test subjects ready.”

  “Did you forget Rangeley is destroyed?” Dr. Madison asked.

  “Trust me, it will be ready soon.” he responded flatly. “But you’re right…for now, use the Androscoggin facility in Berlin. I don’t want Blake figuring out what we’re doing.”

  Dr. Madison sighed and shook her head. “Just so you know, the newer versions of the control chips—the ones Quinn didn’t destroy—will be much easier to diagnose. They’ll all be linked to the computer systems for vitals monitoring and other controls.

  “Very good, Doctor.” Victor answered. Then, he turned and walked out of the workroom.

  ❖

  Blake

  Blake walked across the park to the bench Ravone sat on.

  She looked up and smiled at him. “Well, hey there, handsome. Thought you might have stood me up.”

  Blake smiled and blushed a little. “Sorry, my hands were full and I couldn’t text. And of course, Darien caught me over there.”

  Wait, I did stand you up.

  “Yeah, I saw. I decided not to watch you boys get into a fight.”

  “We didn’t.”

  We did.

  “I’m impressed.”

  “I do have self-control, you know.” He handed her one of the pumpkin spice lattes. “For you.”

  “Thank you,” she said, smiling and reacting flirtatiously with her body language.

  Blake sat down and stared at his coffee. “I’m actually surprised at what Darien had to say.”

  “Oh?” Ravone said, sipping her latte.

  He looked at her. “I just found out that our dads are drinking buddies.”

  Ravone’s mouth dropped open and Blake recounted an abbreviated version of their conversation. She listened and didn’t pry, something Blake expected her to do. Instead, she respected his space and privacy.

  “Would you like to go for a walk?” Ravone asked, looking at him with an expression that conveyed attraction he had never seen from her before.

  He smiled. “Sure, let’s go.”

  They stood together, and Ravone took his free hand in hers.

  Blake’s eyes popped open as he grinned, feeling flattered and exhilarated at the same time. No one’s ever paid attention to me like this before…I think I like it.

  Behind him, children screamed as they played in the summer sun. Blake turned around, confused. It’s almost Thanksgiving, what the hell is going on?

  The screaming sounds shifted from play to horror.

  “Ravone, are you hearing this?”

  She didn’t answer.

  He turned around and found himself in the power plant in Boston. Stunned, he dropped the latte, but there was nothing in his hand.

  Women and children screamed in a cacophony of terrified echoes as gunfire rang out and bullets strafed across the room in every direction. Some bullets tore through his suspended body, but he felt no pain.

  How is this possible?

  Suddenly unable to move, Blake found himself helplessly staring into Big Boss’s eyes. The man menacingly smiled and spoke, his voice sounding as though it traveled through a metal tube. “These people are dying because of you!”

  Then, Big Boss stepped aside and Ralph, his father, stepped into view and snarled at him. “I always knew you’d be my biggest disappointment. How pathetic. You can’t even see how this is all your fault.”

  “Fuck you,” Blake spat. “I’m not the fucking super villain in this story.”

  Big Boss sneered and raised a pistol at Blake’s face and pulled the trigger.

  “Nooo!” Blake screamed, thrashing in his bed and ripping the top sheet and covers off his body in a frenzied panic.

  He awoke drenched in sweat and sat up with a start, out of breath and gasping for air.

  What the hell?

  Oh, I’m at home…in bed…damn, that was one hell of a freaking nightmare.

  After catching his breath, he reached over to his nightstand, grabbed the glass of water, and chugged several gulps. Setting the glass down, he wiped his face with his hands. He pulled his wet hands away from his face and realized he was soaking wet with sweat.

  Yuck.

  After a quick shower to rinse off, he climbed into the other side of his king-size bed and spent the next several hours tossing and turning, playing and replaying the scene from Boston and overthinking his aggression toward Victor.

  ❖

  “Hey, you’ve been skipping out on training,” Ira said as he entered the locker room where Blake changed into his uniform.

  Blake glanced at him. “Well, hello to you, too.”

  Ira chuckled. “Sorry, but I miss our workouts. It’s not every day you get to train with a superhuman.”

  Blake shrugged him off. “No offense, but I don’t need your workouts.”

  “Fair enough, Dark Flame. Just promise me something.”

  Blake nodded, looking at Ira as he pulled on his shirt. “What’s that?”

  “I know Victor can be annoying, but please don’t hurt him.”

  Blake sighed, straightened his top and then crossed his arms over his chest. “Why not?”

  “We’re about greatness, Dark Flame,” Ira answered. “You definitely have warrior’s blood in your veins and the willingness to use it. The trick is to know which battles are important to winning the war. If you fall on your sword every time he pisses you off, or threaten to hurt the guards outside when they’re just doing their job, you’ll turn everyone against you. You’re ambitious and driven, so you can only benefit by taking a moment to be patient whenever you feel your temper flare up. Strategy will always win the war.”

  “Thanks,” Blake said. “I’ll think about it.”

  “All right. That’s all I can ask right?” Then, Ira made his way to one of the urinals.

  Blake left the locker room and walked to Victor’s office. He was about to walk through the open door, but he decided to knock first.

  I don’t know why I feel the need to be polite right now. Perhaps Ira was right, and I should be a little more patient with Victor. Perhaps I should sw
eep the floor with his face…

  Victor looked up from his computer and smiled. “Hello, Blake. Come in.”

  Blake entered the office and sat on the leather couch. “You asked to see me?” he asked skeptically, eyeing the man’s jovial smile.

  “Yes, freeze asset one.”

  “You should be mad, terrified or freaked out by being around me, but you’re not. Instead, you’re speaking gibberish.

  Victor chuckled as he got up from his desk and made his way to his leather recliner. “Remember how we discussed taking out Chief Applegate?”

  “Yes,” Blake answered as Victor sat down. “Why?”

  “That time has come. She has sided with Quinn and turned her back on The Order.”

  “Okay, what do you want me to do?”

  Victor shrugged. “I thought I’d let you decide. I have one simple request; no disintegrations. An example must be made to others and we need her identifiable body to show anyone who would seek to betray us that treachery will not be tolerated or forgiven. If there’s no body, the message will not be received.”

  “All right, anything else?”

  Victor shifted in the recliner and cleared his throat. “Yes. We need to talk about the other day.”

  “Fine,” Blake answered, a sense of dread descending into his stomach. I really didn’t want to talk about this.

  “It’s clear…rather it’s become clearer to me, that we are equally passionate, driven, and dangerously ambitious men. You and I are alike in a lot of ways, perhaps that’s why I was, um, drawn to you more than Quinn.”

  Blake looked at him funny. “You’re not coming on to me, are you?”

  Victor laughed and shook his head. “Absolutely not.”

  Good.

  “What I am saying though is that our drives, our ambitions, our thirst to rule, should be carefully aligned so we may coordinate what we’re doing rather than work against one another. I have no way to defend myself against you, Blake. When it comes to strength and amazing abilities, you could kill us all. But that’s not what a superhero does, right?”

  Blake relaxed back in the couch and looked at the floor. You have a point, unless you deserve it…I still hold judgement on that.

  Victor matched his relaxed posture and continued. “I promised you amazing things. Perhaps I have failed to deliver.”

  Blake looked up at him.

  “Perhaps even, I under estimated your readiness to handle tough situations. From here on out, I’m going to let you go on any mission you want with the teams—if you’d like to, that is. I’ve decided it’s not fair for me to hold you back anymore, so I won’t. How does that sound?”

  Blake smiled. Finally. “When do we begin?”

  “This week, but I have one more thing to tell you,” Victor said. “Research and Development is struggling to come up with non-combustible material for the shirt or tunic of your superhero outfit that can withstand the heat you can generate.”

  “I thought they said the material would not combust unless I go over three-thousand degrees?” Blake asked.

  “Turns out they miscalculated. Apparently, there is no fireproof material outside of titanium that will withstand the temperatures you can put out. Also, interweaving the fabric of a shirt with titanium is proving more challenging than expected…something to do with restricted range of motion.”

  Blake shrugged. “That’s okay. It’s not like I’m going to get cold. If I have to go shirtless, I’ll be fine.”

  “So long as you can determine which parts of your body ignite into flame, or control how hot they get, hopefully you won’t burn your pants off.

  Blake chuckled. “Yeah, I’m guessing there’s no such thing as fireproof underwear out there.”

  Victor smiled. “I’m afraid not. But, they did make you some new boots that look like sneakers—I told them utility boots and purple tights would be too much for you.”

  “Thank you,” Blake said.

  “Just so you know, there are extra pairs of tights and sneakers in your locker room storage area. Grab them as you need them. I have a feeling you’ll need a few until they get the heat-resistance of the fabric up to spec.”

  Blake nodded. “Cool.”

  “Now, suit up and head to the dock. Gary and Samuel will brief you on your next mission. I’d like you to join them.”

  ❖

  Gary and Samuel watched Dark Flame approach the dock. They looked at each other with amusement. The ten soldiers behind them paused and watched him as well.

  “I already know what you’re thinking,” a shirtless Dark Flame called out, wearing his new sneakers and the purple tights.

  “I’m thinking it’s going to be mighty cold over the open water, especially when the sun drops.” Samuel said.

  Dark Flame looked back at the setting sun and ignited his torso with purple and orange flame. “It’s not a problem for me, I can stay as warm as I want wherever I am.”

  “I’m thinking I need to hit the gym more,” Gary added.

  “I think he’s cute,” one of the soldiers commented.

  “I’m out of your league, buddy,” Dark Flame said, letting the flattering remark roll off his shoulders. He extinguished the flames.

  The men snickered and clapped their blushing mate on the back.

  “All right, listen up,” Gary called out, summoning the team’s attention. He pointed toward the ocean. “Once we’re out of the harbor and in open waters, we’re going to see the cargo ship Cerulean. It’s carrying replacement parts for the ones destroyed on the Heart of Glory. Our mission is simple; we are to board the ship and secure the sensitive cargo despite the presumed loyalty of the under-cover operatives aboard. The captain is loyal to The Order, but his crew will not expect our arrival. All loyalists will be wearing white ball caps so we can tell them apart from the non-Order crew. We will stay with the ship until the cargo is unloaded at Schiller Station and transferred back to Seavey Island. Is that clear?”

  “What’s he going to do?” someone asked, pointing at Dark Flame.

  “Keep you from getting killed, if you’re lucky,” Gary responded.

  “More than welcome to join us, then,” the man said, nodding at Dark Flame.

  Gary pulled something out of his pocket. “Here, put this in your ear,” he instructed, handing Dark Flame a transceiver. Dark Flame pushed it in and nodded when Gary spoke, his voice coming through the ear piece.

  Twenty minutes later, the Hyperglide, a nondescript dark-gray speedboat built for The Order, zipped over the rolling wave crests. The ocean seemed furious to Dark Flame. He watched the roiling waves swell and crest around the boat, threatening to capsize the speedboat at any moment as it knifed through the water with ease. He suspected the ocean’s over-stimulation resulted from the recent activity of the orgone reactor core, none of which Dark Flame officially knew about yet—but the weather patterns were a telling sign that Victor was up to something.

  A few of the men looked green as the boat tossed them around, the waves becoming larger the further out they went. Eventually, they approached the massive Cerulean and circled around it, putting the ship between the Hyperglide and land so no prying eyes would see them board.

  Gary radioed over and spoke with the captain, a Greek man named Dimitris Kafetzis. Moments later, crew members stared down at them from the amidships port railings. All of them wore heavy coats and pointed at the boat, conversing rapidly with wonder.

  “What’s going on up there, Dark Flame?” Gary asked.

  Dark Flame tuned in with his super hearing and vision. “They’re pointing at me. They’re not speaking English, but I think they’re having the same reaction you did to me being shirtless.”

  “Probably jealous of Dark Flame’s big sexy muscles,” one of the guards said. The men laughed around him.

  “Quit the shit until we’re on board,” Gary barked. “We’re sitting ducks out here!”

  “No, you’re not,” Dark Flame countered.

  Twenty minutes late
r, Dark Flame was the first to set foot on the deck of the Cerulean. He opted not to fly until he absolutely had to, knowing The Order wasn’t aware of his ability to fly yet. Dark Flame set his eyes on a familiar looking set of plastic-wrapped cargo pallets. Four armed guards wearing white ball caps stood near it, but none of them bothered to raise their weapons. Instead, they spoke in the unfamiliar language with apparent surprise and amusement at Dark Flame’s shirtless state in November. A moment later, the pilot of the Hyperglide sped away as the last man ascended the ladder and stepped on to the main deck of the Cerulean.

  “All right, we’ll take shifts with the loyalists onboard,” Gary instructed.

  One of the boat guards tapped his ear and listened. Then, he spoke with broken English. “Towing boats come to us now. The Captain has orders to make movement to harbor and meet with tugs. Then, we arrive to Schiller Station.”

  Gary nodded. “Thank you.”

  The deck shuddered beneath them as the engines came to life and the ship moved forward. Six soldiers assumed positions around the cargo while four of them checked the bridge castle to make sure there would be no hostile surprises inside.

  Dark Flame folded his arms and frowned.

  “Something wrong?” Samuel asked.

  “It’s weird you have no salute or something. You greeted one another by standing around and acting awkward.”

  “You have a point, kid.”

  Dark Flame glared at the man.

  “I didn’t mean it like that, I promise.”

  When the Cerulean met up with the Moran tug boats, Captain Kafetzis surrendered the ship to the tugboat crew and they made final preparations to bring the ship into the harbor. When the ship was moving again, Dark Flame walked to the starboard side and leaned on the railing, alone with his thoughts. The ship began its turn around New Castle Island and slowly made its way upriver.

  Just before twilight surrendered to the darkness of the night, the ship approached Seavey Island. He spotted Victor and two guards standing on the shore near the dock, watching the massive ship glide effortlessly over the water. With his super vision, Dark Flame saw Victor watching through a pair of binoculars. Victor suddenly waved, and Dark Flame waved back, giving him a thumb’s up.