The Guardians Omnibus

by Damien Benoit-Ledoux

  “Oh wow!” David yelled, wrapping his arms tightly around Blue Spekter’s arms.

  “I bet you’ve never flown like this before!” Blue Spekter exclaimed.

  “No, I haven’t! This is…this is…so darn cool” he replied with his thick, Southern accent.

  Blue Spekter flew low over the land and then headed out over the open ocean to avoid public eyes. Then, he accelerated and flew up the harbor until he reached some small rocks in the water collectively known as Fishing Island. Blue Spekter landed slowly and set the laughing captain down.

  David turned around, his face flush with excitement and joy. “That was so awesome!”

  “Yeah, it’s pretty cool.” Blue Spekter smiled, happy he had given the man his first out-of-plane flight experience. “You said there was always someone watching Pease, so I figured it was safer to meet somewhere else.”

  David nodded and became serious. “Okay, you called; what is it you need?”

  Blue Spekter powered down and stopped glowing.

  “Wow, you finally got a suit!” David said, looking him up and down.

  “Cool, huh?”

  David nodded, grinning from ear-to-ear. “Very.”

  “Remember when we talked at Pease and I told you a storm was coming?”

  David frowned. “Yeah, you mentioned this super-secret organization that doesn’t want to be found.”

  Blue Spekter sensed the disbelief in David’s voice.

  “You don’t believe me?”

  “Honestly, I don’t know what to believe any more. You can fly, push an airplane, and, hell, do things I read about in comics as a kid. I’m at a lost when it comes to figuring out what’s real or normal anymore.”

  Blue Spekter smiled. “That organization has a name; they’re called The Order. It’s an acronym that stands for Orgone Regenerative and Directed Energy Response.” Blue Spekter explained everything he knew to David about the clandestine group and the work they were doing to create new, super-powered humans.

  David sat on a rock and rubbed his temples with his fingers. “So um, what do you need from me?”

  “I sense you don’t believe me, but I’m not worried about that because I’m offering you the chance to prove it to yourself by helping me. What I need is information about The Order.”

  David looked up at him. “With all the secrets my team knows about and the information we hold, I’ve never, ever heard of the organization you described. I did a little checking and it turned up nothing.”

  “I’m not surprised. They’ve done a fantastic job of keeping themselves off the Internet, but I know their systems are networked and that means there has to be a datacenter somewhere that holds all their secrets. I need your team to discover a way to infiltrate The Order’s networked systems and look at everything, including where the other reactors are.”

  David nodded. “I would need access to one of the facilities. You said there was a reactor here in Portsmouth. Where is it?”

  Blue Spekter turned and pointed upriver toward Seavey Island. “Right there.”

  David shielded his eyes from the glaring sun and looked out over the water, following Blue Spekter’s extended arm.

  “You’re kidding me, the naval shipyard?” he asked incredulously.

  “Just before that, actually.”

  David squinted and looked again. “Are you trying to tell me the old castle-looking building is an evil lair?”

  “Yup. The reactor is built into the central tower. Parts of the old naval prison have been renovated into offices and workstations with all kinds of advanced, futuristic looking equipment.”

  “How do you know this?” David asked, regarding him with dubious concern.

  “Um, well, when I discovered where it was, I checked it out. One of my abilities is turning invisible.”

  “So, you’re not above breaking and entering?” David quipped.

  “Is it breaking and entering when it belongs to evil people who threaten the world?” he retorted, slightly exasperated.

  “Uh…that’s a complicated answer.”

  “Yeah, so anyway. Orgonon in Rangeley and the old naval prison in Portsmouth are the only two facilities I know about. Don’t forget about all the theoretical mega-fusion reaction stuff and their desire to make more super humans.”

  “Okay, I understand the urgency of your request. I’ll get my team on this as quickly as possible.” The Captain paused, thought for a moment, then continued. “In fact, I’ll have them fly in and we’ll discreetly set up shop somewhere in town.”

  “How do you do all this and still have time for flying?” Blue Spekter asked.

  David smiled. “I don’t fly as often as I let on. The pilot thing is more about keeping up appearances to keep enemy threats and other spy agencies off my tail. It’s a far stretch for them to believe an active Air Force pilot could secretly run a top-secret military cyber-reconnaissance and infiltration team.”

  Blue Spekter chuckled “You’ve got a point there. There’s just…one more thing.”

  “The Order is everywhere. The police chief of this town is a member who’s finally seen the error of her ways which means you could have double agents on your team. You might even be one…”

  “I am not a member of The Order, Blue Spekter,” David said.

  “Good. But check out your team. If Victor Kraze gets wind of this investigation…I don’t know what he’ll have Dark Flame do to stop you—and you won’t survive a battle with him.”

  “All right. Trust me when I say I understand the need to vet my people. How about we head back, but could I ask a favor?”

  “What’s that?”

  “Fly me around the Isle of Shoals once or twice?”

  Blue Spekter laughed and clapped his hands. “Sure thing. Arms up!” A moment later, Blue Spekter rocketed out to sea and flew David out to the Isle of Shoals.

  ❖

  With Chief Applegate and the police now on his side, Blue Spekter freely flew high above Portsmouth, testing the flight dynamics of his new suit. Though he never felt drag from his sweatpants, sweatshirts, hoodies, or jeans, he felt faster and more agile in the air. This has got to be a mind game; can it really be that different in this outfit?

  One of the local tourist helicopters flew up the coast from Rye, so he flew by it—maintaining a non-threatening distance—and waved at the people in the cockpit. They waved back, and he banked right, flying over Peirce Island toward Leary Field. From several miles up, he looked down and a bright orange light caught his eye. His super vision revealed Dark Flame igniting into a living fire of purple and orange in the police headquarters parking lot. He also saw Dark Flame advancing toward Chief Applegate.

  What the hell? Blake, no!

  He aimed and flew at Dark Flame with near-supersonic speed, hoping to surprise his former best friend before triggering their proximity sensing power. His eyes and body glowed bright blue in his new super suit as he effortlessly descended.

  As Dark Flame extended his hands toward Chief Applegate, Blue Spekter pushed himself, yelling as he accelerated and put his fists in front of him. At the last second, Dark Flame’s head snapped toward Blue Spekter’s direction, his eyes blazing with orange fury.

  Blue Spekter had gambled correctly; due to his speed, they sensed each other’s presence just prior to impact. He wrapped an invisible shield around Chief Applegate as his fists slammed into Dark Flame’s torso at nearly six-hundred miles per hour, the laws of physics bringing him to an abrupt stop. A massive spray of blue and orange sparks exploded away from the super collision and a loud bang shattered the windows of parked cars and echoed off the brick police building. The force of the impact sent Dark Flame flying across the parking lot at six-hundred miles per hour, his arms and legs flailing in surprise until his body plowed into the earth and carved a massive trench into the lawn on the opposite end of the parking area. The resulting shockwave set off car alarms and knocked over some trees.

  Dark Flame’s unmoving body came to re
st one hundred-feet away in a deep crater of earth and broken, tangled tree roots. The cloud of dust, dirt, and grass that had sprayed into the air gently fell back to the ground around his fallen body.

  “What on earth?” Chief Applegate exclaimed.

  Blue Spekter turned to the chief and decided to clear the air before addressing what he just did. “Why did you try to take me down at Goodwin Park?” he asked angrily, holding his broken hands and arms out in front of him. He hadn’t thought about what the laws of physics would do to his body when he decided to tackle Dark Flame at that speed.

  Chief Applegate looked at his cracking hands then looked directly into his eyes. “That wasn’t me. I told you the DHS had something up their sleeves. I didn’t expect them to try something like that, but they have made my life a living hell. No, correction…you two have made my life a living hell.” Then, she looked him up and down as police officers and DHS agents ran out of the building and scurried about, yelling orders to one another about protecting the chief and investigating the deep trench in the ground.

  “What are you wearing?” she asked.

  “It’s my new super suit, Chief. It’s cool, huh?” He powered down his glowing body and eyes.

  Her face lit up, but she shook her head at him. “Are you going to tell me how you got that…costume?”

  “Maybe.” Blue Spekter felt his hands itch, like the blood returning after a limb has fallen asleep. He sighed. “I noticed you weren’t in Goodwin Park and I thought it was strange. They attacked me with some kind of new stun-gun they called a TaseBolt.”

  The chief smirked. “That should have been another clue for you, Blue. Do you think a local police force has the budget to invent and manufacture futuristic weapons to stop superheroes?”

  Blue Spekter chuckled. “I didn’t think about it that way.”

  “Of course not, because that’s not in the comics, ever,” Chief Applegate said.

  Blue Spekter stared at her with shock. “I thought we had found common ground to work from. I don’t need you talking down to me.”

  “I’m not trying to be difficult, but you’re young and you need my help as well.”

  Several officers inched toward them, their weapons drawn. Others gawked at the long trench, unsure if they should investigate.

  “Lower your weapons,” Chief Applegate ordered, pointing at her officers. The officers and agents obeyed and slowed their approach.

  Blue Spekter raised his broken, twisted hands and arms, wincing as the bones popped back into place and the tissues mended themselves. I hope one day I’ll be more invulnerable than I already am.

  “Are your hands…healing?” she asked, cringing at the sounds.

  “Yeah, it’s a useful but somewhat painful little trick.”

  “That’s impressive. I hope it takes Dark Flame a little longer to heal,” she responded, eyeing the trench.

  “You need to hide,” Blue Spekter told the police chief. “If he can see you, he can use his telekinesis against you. If he wakes up, I may not be able to stop him and I’m pretty sure I just pissed him off.”

  “You also ruined that lawn,” Chief Applegate said, her voice reflecting amusement and awe. The DHS team leader—the one he recognized from the Sheraton and the Stratotanker rescue—cautiously approached.

  “It was either the lawn or your life. I hope I chose correctly.” You could show a little gratitude, lady, especially after our chat on the tower.

  She nodded. “Thank you.”

  “This won’t be Victor’s only attempt, you know.”

  The chief regarded him with surprise. “You don’t seriously think he’ll send his thugs after me, do you?”

  Blue Spekter pointed to the trench. “Victor just sent his most lethal assassin after you. What do you think?”

  Chief Applegate looked at the motionless body in the trench. “You have a point.”

  Blue Spekter noticed the DHS agent was staring at him, his eyes tracing over his body with wonder. “You like it?”

  He nodded. “It’s actually, uh, really cool.”

  “Thanks.” Then, his super hearing detected the sound of Dark Flame groaning in the ground. “You guys better go, he’s waking up.” He looked at the DHS agent. “Hey, you know those TaseBolt guns you guys created?”

  The Agent looked at him with surprise. “Um, those are classified...”

  “No, they’re not classified when you use them against me. Nice try, by the way,” he responded sarcastically. Then, he pointed to the trench again. “But, they’ll work on him.”

  “Good to know.”

  Suddenly, Dark Flame shot up from the ground in an explosion of dirt and grass and hovered ten feet in the air. Blue Spekter and all the agents turned to gawk at him in surprise.

  That was fast; this isn’t going to be good.

  Then, Dark Flame’s face twisted with pain and rage. He tumbled forward and fell to the ground, his left hand snapping up and grabbing the back of his head as he screamed in agony. He hit the ground next to the crater his body made with a thud.

  “Should we take him?” The DHS agent asked.

  “Unless your men have TaseBolts on them, no,” Chief Applegate responded. “It looks like he’s in pain and you know what a wounded animal does when it is cornered.”

  “Those are classified,” the agent protested.

  “Not when it concerns him!” Chief Applegate stated firmly, pointing at Dark Flame.

  They watched Dark Flame struggle and try to push himself up, but he fell back to his knees on the ground. He shook his head, but that seemed to cause him more pain. Then, he grabbed the back of his head with both hands. With his super hearing, Blue Spekter heard him crying.

  “So, you do have a control chip in you,” Blue Spekter said softly.

  “A what?” Chief Applegate asked, looking at him with concern.

  “A control chip or a micro bug. When we tried to destroy the Rangeley facility, Dark Flame managed to knock me out for a few minutes. That’s when Victor told Dr. Madison to put a micro bug in my head so he could control me.”

  And Blake helped her by holding me down…

  “She failed, but I bet that explains why he’s behaving so violently. Look at the way he’s grabbing the back of his head, like he’s in pain. Everything makes sense now. Somehow, Victor is making him do these violent things.”

  “Who the hell are Victor and Dr. Madison?” Agent Potter asked.

  “Are you going to tell him, or am I?” Blue Spekter asked the chief.

  She sighed and rolled her eyes. “I’ll tell him everything, I promise, but you need to hear something first. Victor told me to use the control phrase, freeze asset one, if Dark Flame ever became a problem. When I said that to him before you arrived, nothing happened. That might confirm the control chip is malfunctioning, right?

  Blue Spekter nodded. “It would seem so.” A control phrase? To stop him or something?

  Then, Dark Flame yelled loudly one last time. Everyone stared at him as the air around him warped and shimmered into a transparent sphere around him. Then, it popped like a giant soap bubble. The silence of the stunned police and agents around him was deafening. Dark Flame looked at Blue Spekter and pointed at him.

  “You!” he roared. Whatever pain was bothering him seemed to have subsided and Dark Flame’s eyes suddenly blazed with orange fury as he pushed himself to his feet, then reached out with his hands.

  Holy crap!

  Blue Spekter stared in disbelief as his former best friend picked up two cars and hurled them at him, the DHS agent, and Chief Applegate. Blue Spekter’s eyes ignited with brilliant blue light as he brought his hands up and created a defensive shield that caught the cars in midair. Dark Flame roared and pushed against him, but Blue Spekter held his ground.

  “Open fire on Dark Flame!” Chief Applegate shouted. A number of officers and agents pulled their firearms, took aim, and fired.

  Blue Spekter felt the cars succumb to gravity as Dark Flame diverted his atte
ntion to the incoming bullets. Lowering his arms, Blue Spekter watched Dark Flame catch all the bullets in midair several feet in front of his body.

  “Stop firing, stop firing!” Blue Spekter yelled, but it was too late. Blue Spekter’s super vision saw the hovering bullets rotating around to face the police and agents

  “No!” Blue Spekter reached back like a javelin thrower, formed an ice spear in his hand, and hurled it at Dark Flame as a distraction. Then, he spread his hands wide and created the largest defensive shield he could summon, its concave shape curving and protecting the officers and agents.

  The ice spear shattered when it struck Dark Flame’s body and he grunted and staggered backward. Recovering quickly, he wound his arm back and thrust it forward like a baseball pitcher throwing to home plate. All the bullets flew back to men and women in uniform who fired them. Fortunately, Blue Spekter caught them all except for a few that passed through the edge of his shield and struck the police headquarter’s brick facade, inches away from the heads of two very surprised officers.

  Dark Flame glared menacingly at Blue Spekter and yelled at him. “Traitors!” Then, he set his feet firmly on the ground, balled his hands into fists at his sides, and ignited his body.

  Blue Spekter instantly felt the heat radiating from Dark Flame’s body.

  “Wow, he can really throw some heat,” Chief Applegate said, taking a few steps back.

  Oh no, he’s figured out how to explode like I can. “Tell your people to get inside, now!” Blue Spekter barked.

  “What? Why?”

  “Just do it!”

  As purple and orange flames continue to grow and fan out from Dark Flames body, Chief Applegate took cover behind a car and radioed instructions to her officers. The DHS agent ran toward police headquarters, waving his hands and yelling at his people to get inside. Most of the police and agents scurried as fast as they could to the safety of the police station. Others hid behind parked cars.

  “Traitors will die!” Dark Flame shouted, then his body exploded with fire and fury. The resulting incendiary shockwave traveled outward from Dark Flame’s body and consumed everything in its path for fifty-feet around him.