She quickly led me through a set of double doors into what appeared to be a small gymnasium. The floor was concrete, but it had painted lines for half a basketball court, as well as a hoop at the far end. There was one set of bleachers to the left, and another to the right.
The room was completely empty except for three other people. There was a guy with a basketball making shots aggressively like he was angry. He rapidly bounced the ball to a new position, acted as if he was blocking someone who wasn’t really there, and then would shoot a hoop only to do it all over again. He looked to be fairly tall, certainly taller than I was, but also really skinny. He appeared to be old enough to be out of high school.
Without initially intending to, I realized I was automatically sizing him up, evaluating whether or not I could take him in a fist fight. I didn’t usual consider myself to be someone who got involved in fights, but this guy gave off the impression that he was the exact opposite.
To the right, sitting on the bleachers, was another guy and a girl. The guy was also tall like the first, but unlike the angry basketball player, he was fairly well-built. He also looked a lot older than everyone else, possibly as old as thirty. The girl, on the other hand, was just as small as Trinity. She had dark brown hair, brown eyes, and a dark complexion. Granted, while it was hard to tell, it looked like this girl might be in her twenties. She had that eternally young appearance, like someone who would still look like a teenager even in their thirties or forties.
As soon as Trinity escorted me into the room, everyone’s attention was on me.
“Took you long enough,” the basketball player commented, dropping the ball. “What? Did you stop off at some closet on the way to give him a tour?”
Unexpectedly, Trinity whirled around and grabbed my arm in her embrace, almost crushing it against her chest. “Why yes, actually! He was very impressed with my blue pubic hair! I had to make sure the new guy felt welcome!”
I was shocked by what she was insinuating, but even more so by her admission that her pubic hair was blue. “Wait, you dye that too?” I asked in disbelieve.
She immediately looked up at me with a pout on her face. “You’re supposed to play along, silly!”
I was about to respond, but then realized that the girl on the bleachers was curled over she was laughing so hard. “Trinity doesn’t dye her hair, idiot! That’s her natural hair color!”
I stared at the girl completely baffled, before looking back down at the blue haired creature holding onto me. She grinned in response, tucking her thumb in the top of her shorts. “Want to see?” She asked innocently.
I really did want to see, if I was being completely honest, but I was quickly distracted by the basketball guy coming up on me aggressively. Much to my disappointment, Trinity abandoned me the moment he got close enough to get in my face.
His green eyes were hard and piercing. “So, this is the new guy, huh? You don’t look so tough.”
The girl on the bleachers chimed in then. “Come on Zayden, it’s not fair to fight him while he’s in handcuffs.”
The pissed off basketball player, Zayden, sneered at her. “You and I both know he doesn’t need his hands to fight! And whoever said I fight fair?” The guy then glared at me again.
He was way too close for comfort. What was it with these people? I thought about taunting the guy, but decided against it, turning my face away to look at Trinity. “Jeez, what is it with you people and your lack of personal boundaries?”
“Hey! Look at me when I’m talking to you!”
I complied out of annoyance. This guy was really getting on my nerves. He brought his face even closer and held up his hand, shoving his finger onto my forehead. “Now you listen here you little punk. Don’t go thinking you’re a badass just because you killed a few people. That was child’s play compared to the things I’ve done.”
I just glared back at him in response, waiting for him to be done. That’s when I realized his finger wasn’t just sticking on my forehead. It was burning into it. I probably would have noticed it sooner if it wasn’t for my lacking ability to feel pain. But I could smell the burning flesh and heard the sickening sizzling. I realized what he was doing. It was a contest, to see if I’d give in and ask him to stop. He wanted me to wimp out.
So, I just stared him down, not caring if he did permanent damage at this point. In that moment, all that mattered was not losing this first fight. However, after a few more seconds, my brain began to take over and I realized having a scar in the middle of my forehead for the rest of my life wasn’t ideal. I tried to get out of it without backing down. I spoke in an indifferent tone.
“Look buddy, it’s been a rough day for me, so if you don't mind how about you give the new guy a little break?”
Zayden just sneered at me. “Oh, I'll give you a break all right.”
Abruptly, Trinity finally chimed in. “Okay, you've had your fun, now back off. Armstrong will be coming in soon.”
Surprisingly, he listened immediately and took a step back, scoffing. “Whatever.” He then pointed his finger at me. “Just watch yourself ass-wipe.”
I really wanted to reach up to my forehead and feel the damage he’d done, but I also didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of my expression when I realized how bad it was. I looked over at Trinity, secretly thankful that she’d put an end to it. However, she just stared at my forehead with wide eyes for a few seconds, before looking down half an inch and locking them on mine.
I was afraid it was even worse than I suspected, but then I was suddenly trapped in her gaze, unwilling to look away. I briefly wondered why I was becoming enthralled with her so rapidly. I knew it was mostly physical attraction, but there was something else about her that was alluring. I felt helpless to look away, until she nodded to herself and directed my attention to the bleachers. “Right, anyway the girl there is Ava. She can turn into a shadow and move through solid objects. They call her Ghost, which we all think is lame, so we usually refer to her as Shadow when we are using codenames in the field.” Seeing the shocked expression on my face, she paused just briefly before continuing. “And the big guy is Zane. He’s basically a werewolf, although he also has some influence over animals, especially predators. His codename is Alpha. He’s been on this team the longest, even before me.” She then directed my attention towards Zayden who had walked off to go grab the basketball again. “And you’ve already met Zayden. He can heat objects up, including his own body. The literal definition of a hothead.”
“I heard that!” Zayden snapped, but he didn’t look in our direction.
“As I was saying,” Trinity continued. “He can actually set his body on fire without doing any harm to himself, as well as control fire. They call him Devil for obvious reasons.”
“What is this, a superheroes club or something?” I asked jokingly. I realized it was normal for the military to use codenames, but still. Was this real?
The guy on the bleachers, Zane, scoffed at me. “Superheroes! Right, more like super villains.”
“Who are forced to do good things,” Ava added.
I looked at them briefly, before returning my gaze to Trinity. “And what about you?” I wondered seriously.
“Oh me?” She asked playfully. “I’m a lot of things I guess. I’ve had various codenames over the years, but currently it’s Succubus. I bet you’ll never guess why.”
“Because you’re hot?” I wondered, not even trying to be shy about it. I really did want to find out if she was telling the truth about her blue pubic hair.
She smirked at me. “Oh! Keep up those complements and maybe you’ll get lucky!”
I heard Zayden scoff and yell out to me. “Word of advice shithead! You don’t want any of that.”
Trinity gave him a death glare, but then returned her smile towards me. “Anyway, I’m unequivocally the leader of this little group, since I’m the most lethal. In the field, you do as I say, no questions asked, understand?”
“Oh, umm, right. Of
course.”
“Good boy,” she said cheerfully. I heard Zayden scoff again as he continued to shoot hoops. It made me wondered if she had given this type of treatment to everyone at some point. Was he jealous now that he was old news? I knew I should be careful with her. It would be foolish to think I was actually something special to her. However, I still couldn’t help wishing that was the case.
Ava chimed in then. “So Trinity, are you going to release your new pet, or just leave him handcuffed all day?”
Trinity glanced at her, before frowning at me. “Well, I figured he would get himself out, but I’m sure our Major General Armstrong would prefer I at least spare the handcuffs since I already broke the chain.” She then fished out a small key from her back pocket and walked over to undo the restraints. I was kind of surprised she hadn’t used the opportunity to make a sexual innuendo about keeping me in handcuffs, but it appeared she was done teasing for now.
Once my hands were free, I rubbed his wrists briefly, even though they didn’t hurt, before dropping them to my sides. She was still fairly close, so I whispered, “You really think I could have gotten out of them myself?”
Her eyes narrowed briefly, before she stepped a little closer. “You really don’t remember what happened, do you?”
I shook my head slightly. “No, of course not.” When I saw the mischievous look in her eye, I quickly added, in annoyance. “And it’s not because I have a split personality.”
She grinned at me, before leaning even closer. “Well, a word of advice then. You need to figure out how to use your abilities, because you’ll be needing them in this mission. Normally, the Major wouldn’t add you to the team so soon – there are several oddballs waiting to join – but your abilities are important to the success of our next assignment.”
My eyes widened as I registered what she was saying. “How soon?” I whispered.
She studied me with her red eyes for a few moments before answering. “Right now.” And on cue, the doors behind me opened up and the General walked in.
Chapter 2: Succubus
“Alright everyone,” the General announced getting their attention. He had a middle-aged woman, roughly in her forties, and a much younger guy with him who looked about the same age as Zane.
Trinity grabbed me by the hand and led me over to the bleachers to sit with Ava and Zane. Much to my surprise, Zayden came over to sit down too, the most composed I’d seen him thus far. It seemed everyone was well aware of who was in control, and it made me wonder what happened to those who disobeyed. I assumed Armstrong was a normal person, although that could be incorrect. But if he was normal, then what trump-card did he have up his sleeve that even forced the hotheaded Zayden to cooperate? I hoped I never found out firsthand.
The first thing the Major General did was introduce the two people with him to me. I was surprised by the gesture, since he didn’t seem like the hospitable type. The middle-aged woman with short brown hair that barely went past her chin was simply introduced as Jones, while the younger guy with a dark complexion was introduced as Kennedy. I assumed these were both last names, although I was surprised their ranks weren’t mentioned.
The Major General cleared his throat, addressing the rest of the team. “I’m sure by now you’ve all met our new recruit in person. You’re all familiar with what he can do, and the potential implications. At Trinity’s request, his codename will be Incubus.” I quickly glanced at her sitting close next to me, surprised that she had picked out my codename. She flashed me a grin. Again, surprisingly Zayden didn’t scoff. He was exceptionally well behaved in front of the General.
Armstrong continued. “We are also going to officially change Ava’s codename to Shadow, since you all seem to insist on using it anyway. Just remember we’ll change the names if too much information is discovered about your abilities.” He paused, grabbing a file from underneath the woman’s arm. “Your target is Samuel Weaver, age thirty-seven. He’s one of the oldest metahumans and also one of the most lethal. He likely won’t be alone. He’s got his own little rogue crew of misfits like you. Killing, raping, smuggling, trafficking. They do it all.” The General had given the file to Trinity to look at, who then handed it over to Zane sitting a row behind her. I could sense there was a deep respect between the two of them. Likely, because she was powerful, while he had been around the longest. I briefly wondered where I fell on the relative power-scale.
The General continued. “Now, as you all know, Weaver has an exceptionally lethal ability. He can control liquids, including other people’s blood. There’s not a single one of you that would survive if you try to go up against him, with the exception of Mr. Jacob Knight.” I almost spoke up automatically to correct him when he said the longer version of my name, but then kept my mouth shut. “So, your job is to get Mr. Knight safely in so he can handle the hard part. We will have a team of our men on the ground with you, but as usual you aren’t to worry about their safety. They can take care of themselves.” I suspected the General mentioned that the team of soldiers can ‘take care of themselves’ more for my sake than anyone else. Surely, Trinity’s team had worked with these guys before. The General continued. “Hopefully, one of our snipers can get a headshot on Weaver, but since he has the Shield Maiden with him at all times that’s unlikely.”
I glanced at Trinity, wondering who that was, but she shook her head slightly. I assumed she would fill me in on everything I didn’t know later, after the initial briefing was over. The General then went over the various people we might encounter, as well as their potential abilities. They actually didn’t know for sure about a lot of them. Other than their main target and the supposed Shield Maiden, they only had traces of evidence to suggest the types of powers Weaver had under his control in the form of metahuman henchmen.
I had heard the word metahuman before, but only in fictional comics. It was strange hearing it in real life within this context, and even stranger to realize metahumans were real – humans with supernatural abilities. I wondered what was the catalyst for causing people to develop abilities, but didn’t have time to consider that question since I knew I needed to pay attention to the General. My life literally depended on the information he was providing.
Apparently, Weaver paid his people well in the form of both money and prostitutes, and if it came down to it he could kill anyone he wanted by just forcing their blood to halt or by ripping it out of their body. Basically, instant death, or near instant death, since evidence suggested he preferred the latter, slower, more tortuous method. It made me nervous that everyone was counting on me to take him down. I needed to find out what my power was. Why did they think I alone had the ability to stop this guy?
I also silently realized that if I really did have a power, then it meant the mall massacre was my fault after all. I shivered at the thought and tried to push it away. I needed to focus on surviving this stupid mission, instead of worrying about what I might have done. If I ended up dead then it wouldn’t matter how I felt about earlier.
Kennedy, the thirty-year-old with the General, had laid out a large map on the concrete floor. It showed in detail the area where we would be dropped off. We were all also handed a regular sized map to study on the way there. The targeted area was a large compound consisting of a mansion and a multitude of other buildings where Weaver took up a semi-permanent residence. Years of unadulterated success had caused him to finally settle down. After all, no one could oppose him. He basically was able to do what he wanted, whenever he wanted, however he wanted. And of course, like any good mob boss, he was good at maintaining appearances. Officially, he was a reputable millionaire who was known for his philanthropy. Anyone who discovered the truth, as few as they were, went missing.
Once the full briefing was over, Zane took me to a locker room to get changed, although Zayden technically led the way. I was given standard military gear, including black clothing and a bulletproof vest. I was surprised the military seemed to know everything about me already. They had
even given me the correct boot size and style – wide, just like I required, or else it felt like my pinky toe was being crushed. We also all had earpieces that connected to a radio in our clothing. I felt slightly embarrassed that I needed help getting the simple technology set up.
When Zane was changing, I noticed he had tattoos all over his large shoulder and upper back. He seemed friendly enough, so I asked him about them only to discover he always got a new one for every comrade who dies. Each one is unique – something to remind him of them. I decided not to ask for further details. I hadn’t considered the fact that since Zane was the oldest team member, it meant everyone who had started with him was probably dead. By the number of tattoos, I’d say he had lost at least fifteen comrades. There was also one in particular that caught my eye, because it was completely unlike the others. For one, it was the only one with color. It was a crying heart with vivid reds and blues. I would have thought the heart was bleeding were it not for the fact that the tears were blue. It made me wonder if the heart represented someone he loved, and if the tears represented his own grief.
As we walked out of the locker rooms, I was stunned by the sight of Trinity. She was wearing the same gear as the rest of us, but it looked so much better on her. The black clothing made her blue hair and bright red eyes especially vibrant. I saw that she had a thin woolen cap sticking out of her pocket, likely to hide her hair once we were on the field. Otherwise, she was practically begging the enemy to shoot her in the head.
She squealed like a schoolgirl when she saw me. “Jake! You look great!” She ran right over and grabbed my arm in both of hers, holding it tight against her body. I suddenly found myself irrationally annoyed by the bulletproof vest over her clothing.
Omega Squad Page 2