5-28 | Dawn of the Superhero Age
Quinn
QUINN PULLED ON A FRESH superhero suit—one of his newer ones—and stared at his reflection in the mirror over his bureau.
You’ve come a long way in the past four-and-half months.
He ignited his eyes and the blue glow that manifested sizzled and sparked across his body.
I don’t understand what happened when the reactor core zapped me a second time, but I know I got the full brunt of the orgone infusion. I feel power like never before.
I wonder if I would have felt this intense power if I was zapped alone, but it’s like the power was split between myself and Blake. I wonder if Victor was zapped alone because he seems much stronger than any of his goons—it was harder to defeat him when the others crumpled like plastic dolls. I’d venture a guess they were zapped in groups. Still, Nightmare doesn’t sizzle and spark like I do now. Maybe it’s a cumulative thing.
I also don’t understand why some of my powers are much stronger than Ana Maria’s powers. Hands down, she should be the strongest superhuman, in some ways she is, but in others I outclass her by a long shot.
“Quinn, are you ready to go?” Daddio asked from the hallway as he and Dad walked by, jarring him from his thoughts.
“Almost,” he replied loudly as he fitted the cowl over his head and then ran downstairs.
“Chop, chop, Blue Spekter. Those military folks are very punctual and don’t take kindly to tardiness,” Dad said.
“Yeah, yeah,” Quinn said
Quinn followed his dads to the kitchen.
“I’m all set,” he announced.
“You look great,’ Dad said.
“Thanks,” he replied, smiling at his Dad.
He gave him a quick hug and then turned to Daddio.
“Think fast!”
Quinn looked up and spotted a granola bar flying across the kitchen at him. He reached out and grabbed it.
“Nice catch, now give me a hug and get out of here,” Daddio said.
He hugged his father and then made his way to the back door. He paused and turned around. “Aren’t you guys supposed to come, too?”
Daddio nodded. “Yes, but we’ll be there later with Keegan. Apparently, the star of the show gets all the attention first.”
Right, Keegan mentioned having to meet with the DHS.
Dad waved his hand. “Bye, bye, Blue Spekter. You’re going to be late. Remember, don’t break the sound barrier in a residential neighborhood.”
Quinn chuckled and let himself out the back door. Then, he flew to Hangar 227.
❖
Blake
Blake descended in the elevator to the operations level, feeling strangely bothered about his father’s death. Though he spent a few hours crying with Ravone the night before, the grief he felt was not for the loss of his dead father, but for absence of the kind, loving father he never had. Ravone helped him express that the night before.
When the elevator doors opened, he stepped into the warehoused-sized operations room and looked around. Staff worked at their terminals, and in the conference room on the other side of operations, Ana Maria spoke with Agent Hartman. A familiar woman’s voice reached his ears and his gaze snapped to the source. His eyes widened and panicked. Just ahead, Chief Tina Applegate spoke with Agent Potter to one side of the walkway, whose right arm was still in a cast and sling. Applegate’s casted left arm hung in a sling from her right shoulder.
This will probably be my most difficult apology.
He reached up and pulled the super suit’s cowl back to expose his face to her. She noticed the movement and her angry eyes locked with his. She stepped away from Agent Potter and marched toward him, gaining palpable confidence with each step she took. Behind her, Potter smirked and put his good hand in his pocket.
Blake swallowed nervously and wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. “Hi,” he squeaked out.
“You wreak havoc at my police station, threaten to kill me in broad daylight, flip my new cruiser on the highway in another attempt to kill me, and all I get is a measly ‘hi’ from you? Where’s the hug?”
“What?”
Oh, gawd, this confrontation is worse than going to the principal’s office. I don’t know what to say to her. I only tried to kill her twice…
He extended his arms toward her.
“Don’t touch me,” she snapped.
“I…I’m sorry,” he replied, dropping his arms. Okay, she doesn’t want a hug. I’m stuck.
“You better be,” she thundered. The heads of the facility staff working their terminals turned toward them and gawked.
“I wasn’t myself,” he stammered, struggling to look into her eyes. Don’t be this awkward, Blake.
She folded her good arm gently with her casted arm and glared at him.
Oh, she wants an explanation. Uh…
“Um…like you, I was seduced by the promise of a better world with The Order and I wanted to do so much good. I had no idea that Victor Kraze could manipulate me into doing so much evil, but I also had no idea he put a chip in my head that made me do things I never would have done.”
Several seconds of deafening silence went by. Then, Chief Applegate’s expression slightly softened. “So I’ve been told, kid. I’ve heard what you’ve been through and how you were instrumental in putting an end to Victor’s threat.”
“We hope,” Blake shyly interjected. “We don’t know if he’s dead or not.”
“Correct.” She continued to stare at him, her eyes filling with anger once more. “You and I both know some of the things you did happened before Victor put that chip in your head.”
Blake looked down at the floor. “I know.”
“Completely unacceptable.” She stepped forward and put a finger in his face. “Anyone else would be arrested, tried, and convicted for those crimes, but I guess you get a second chance at life.”
He nodded. “I would like that.”
She sighed, and her expression softened once more. “Like I said, I am aware of how instrumental your new alter ego was at stopping The Order and Nightmare’s army of Dark Flame clones or whatever they were.”
Blake looked at her with hope.
“I can’t believe that bastard put himself through the process, but alas, here we are.” She extended her good hand out to her side and then pointed at him again. “Look, Blake, I don’t trust you and I won’t for a very long time. I expect you to be on your best behavior or I will personally kick your ass, super powers or not. Every day after school, you will report to me for community service until I am personally satisfied your debt against humanity and this city been repaid.”
“Every day?” Blake echoed. “For how long?”
“Until I say.”
Agent Potter chuckled behind Chief Applegate. “Take it, kid. You won’t find greater mercy anywhere else. Besides, if you think about it, the public will see Helion doing good and it will help restore your image among those who remember the evil, orange glowing Dark Flame. You still glow orangey-purple, right?”
He shook his head. “No, the purple is gone. It’s orange-yellow, now.”
Applegate shook her head. “All right, I’m done. Where’s Blue Spekter? I’m ready to get started,” Chief Applegate replied. She gave Blake one more look, grunted, then walked to the conference room.
Blake approached Agent Potter. “Can she really make me do that?”
Potter reached out and placed his left hand on Blake’s right shoulder. “Buddy, I don’t have superpowers and the woman terrifies me. The DHS supports her idea, so I’d take the offer.”
“Or else?” Blake asked.
Potter frowned at him and squeezed his shoulder.
Oops.
The agent continued. “Or else life becomes a lot more complicated than it has to be, okay? Take the nice, cranky lady’s community service offer, fix the shit you broke, and let’s call it a day, all right?”
Blake nodded and looked up through the ceiling
, using the proximity sense in his mind to track his best friend. “Fine. I sense Quinn at ground level.”
“Great. See you in the conference room.”
❖
Quinn
Quinn approached Pease Tradeport and observed Ron St. Germain parking his car with his super vision. He shifted his descent and landed next to his mentor. He sensed the presences of Blake and Ana Maria in the underground base beneath him.
“Good morning,” Quinn said as Ron climbed out of his car.
“Good morning to you, Blue Spekter. Well, don’t you look sharp in a clean super suit,” Ron said with a smile.
Quinn glanced down at himself and smiled. “Your brother did an awesome job with these. I can’t thank him enough. The three of us looked awesome, even if Nightmare and his goons managed to stab Ana Maria and me through the chest.”
“Yeah, that little flaw has him confounded. When I told him about it last night, he thought maybe the electrical charges you guys experienced destabilized the fabric at the molecular level, but he’s gotta run some tests to be sure and make improvements. Anyway, he’s really excited to meet you later today.”
“And I’m excited to thank him in person,” Quinn replied. “I’m glad you texted about it.”
Ron nodded and they walked to the hangar. A silent moment passed before Quinn stopped and gently grabbed his mentor’s arm. They turned to face one another.
“Before we go in there, I need to thank you for all the support you’ve given me since the beginning, like, from when we showed up in your classroom after the accidental awakening of our powers. Blake and I had no idea who we could talk to about what was going on, so we took a leap of faith and put our trust in you.”
Ron beamed with pride.
“Without your help, this entire story would have turned out so much differently, and I mean that on a number of levels. Not that I want to imagine all the possibilities, but we could be dead, or Dark Flame could be working with Nightmare. You were a constant, unfailing support throughout this ordeal and I’m extremely grateful to have you in my life and be a part of the Guardians.”
Ron nodded and extended his arms. “It’s me who’s humbled and honored.” The two men shared a warm embrace and when they separated, Ron hung on to Quinn’s right hand.
“You are an amazing young man, Quinn. Your humanity is what makes Blue Spekter so powerful and respected. Never forget who you are, no matter what people say or what happens.”
Quinn smiled and squeezed his mentor’s hand. “Still offering sage advice?”
Ron smirked and pulled back with feigned surprise. “Do you think it ever stops?
“Of course not,” Quinn said, as they chuckled. “Just make sure Blake gets some of it, too. He needs it, too.”
“I will.”
Then, they walked to the hangar and made their way to the conference room in operations.
❖
Outside the conference room in operations, Quinn spoke with Ana Maria. “I want to thank you for stepping forward,” he said, extending his hand.
She smiled and shook his hand. “I’m glad you pushed me to break my vow of silence.”
“We couldn’t have defeated Nightmare without you.”
Ana Maria frowned, then nodded. “I’m glad you didn’t have to face him alone. I might be attending a funeral instead of a debriefing session. I’m surprised but glad things worked out the way they did. Now, we can continue what you started.”
“You decided to stick around?” Quinn asked.
“Perhaps,” she replied, winking at him.
“If you would kindly take your seats, please,” Agent Potter announced.
“Thank you for training me, too. I finally believed in what you saw inside of me. The second dose of raw power helped, too.”
She smiled. “I can tell. I’m proud of you, Quinn. Now, come on, they’re waiting.” They entered the conference room and made their way to the seats at Agent Hartman’s right.
“All right, let’s begin. Privacy mode, please,” Agent Hartman said. He sat in a chair at the head of the large, faux-mahogany elliptical table and straightened the papers in his folio, so they were parallel with his iPad. To his right, Quinn, Blake, and Ana Maria, and Ron sat facing Agent Potter, Chief Applegate, Lieutenant Doral, Captain David Prett, and a select group of military personnel—one from each branch—sat beyond them. There were no scribes, marines, or unnecessary personnel in the room. Potter leaned forward and tapped a button on the conference table. The clear-glass windows between them and operations became opaque. No one could see in, and no one could see out. The door automatically closed and became opaque as well.
That’s really cool.
Agent Hartman cleared his throat. “As you can see, this debriefing session is restricted to essential personnel only. We expect your compliance with confidentiality and trust that you understand the secure nature of the conversation we will have today, despite its public-facing reality. Is that clear?”
Heads nodded at the table.
“Good. Then let’s begin with the Rangeley Nightmare operation and review step-by-step what took place. Quinn, Blake, Ana Maria, we want to hear from each of you.” For the next three hours, the heroes walked through the incursion and shared their perspectives about the rescue and destroy operation against Nightmare and the Orgonon Reactor Core facility.
When they reached the part about how Quinn became overpowered, the army officer raised his hand. “So, you’re what, some kind of super-superhero now?”
“No, that’s not how I see it. I’m still me, just more,” Quinn replied.
“More power, more danger, more threat,” the officer retorted, shaking his head.
“Shit. If Victor is alive and figures out what a double dose of orgone can do…” Potter said.
“Assuming it wasn’t a fluke,” the navy officer replied.
“Fair enough…” They argued for several minutes about which was the greater threat before allowing Quinn to continue.
Near the end of their retelling, Agent Hartman raised his hand. “When you rejoined your families, I heard you tell the on-scene lieutenant the last explosion was a game changer. What did you mean?”
Quinn nodded. “It distracted all of us. I raced to save Keegan, Blake was knocked unconscious, and Ana Maria dashed to catch Blake before he fell into the inferno. None of us were able to keep our eyes on Nightmare. We don’t know if he masked himself from us and escaped or if he fell to his doom.”
Ana Maria spoke up. “That to me is the most frightening, unanswered question we face right now.”
“Agreed,” Hartman responded.
The Air Force officer cleared her throat and said, “While Nightmare is a considerable threat, I’m interested in understanding what exactly the weapon Nightmare used against the city is.”
“I can explain it,” Blake volunteered. Then, he shared what he knew about the weaponized version of the orgone weather modification system.
“So, do we know where it is?” the Air Force officer asked.
Blake shook his head and looked at Agent Hartman for guidance. Hartman pointed at Captain Prett.
David cleared his throat and explained what they knew about the mega fusion reaction, or The Order’s ability to inconspicuously move significant amounts of orgone through the atmosphere.
“So, Captain, what I believe I’m hearing is the weapon was not destroyed with the destruction of the Rangeley facility, correct?”
David nodded. “We believe that may be correct, ma’am.” His southern drawl came out with the last word.
“You believe it to be correct?” she repeated, frowning. Quinn sensed she wanted a deeper explanation. Thankfully, David knew that as well.
“We have yet to understand the Cloudbuster technology, let alone how something constructed in the 1940s based on pseudo-science at the time could actually influence the weather by drawing orgone out of the atmosphere, let alone reverse the process to saturate an area with orgone as we saw
in Portsmouth.”
“I see,” the Air Force officer responded.
“The massive storm churn over the Rangeley reactor suggests it was the firing location, but we don’t know how it traveled roughly one-hundred and sixty miles south and incapacitated an entire city.”
“Could someone use this weapon against another location? Say, against Washington, D.C.?”
David’s face became somber. “Presuming there are other instances of the technology, yes. But, if Rangeley was the only installation with the weaponized technology in place, then no…or not yet.”
“I see. Thank you.”
“I have a burning question,” Chief Applegate said, squinting her eyes. She pointed and waved her finger at the three superhumans.
“Whose side are you on?”
“What do you mean?” Ana Maria asked.
“We’re sitting here, but are you all officially working with the DHS, or are you…”
“Vigilantes?” Quinn interjected.
Applegate nodded. “For lack of a better expression, sure.”
Quinn leaned forward. “I’ll tell you the same thing I told the President. I’m on the side of truth, justice, and freedom. But more importantly, I’m on the side of humanity.”
“So, does that make you outlaws, or are you siding with the President?” the army officer asked.
I didn't realize it was so black-and-white with you guys.
He glanced down the table.
No, pick your head up. Don't be ashamed of what you know is the right choice.
He lifted his gaze and took a moment to look into the eyes of each leader in the room. “If you’re asking if I’m siding with the American government, the answer is no.”
The army officer frowned. “Agent Hartman, I am not comfortable with this arrangement.”
Quinn didn’t flinch. “You’re scared of me because you can’t control me, and I respect that.” Then, he pointed at Blake. “We have him to thank for your worst fears.” Blake blinked in surprise, then nervously looked at the military attendees as Quinn continued. “And now, Nightmare. But I promise you that I am not your enemy.”
The Guardians Omnibus Page 125