Super Powereds: Year 3

by Drew Hayes

  “Understood.”

  “Good. Black Hole, I want you backing up Emerald Hydra. She’s going to be scouring minds for any information on where Wisp’s targets are, where more bombs might be, or what they’ve got planned. She’ll be vulnerable while doing all that searching, so make sure she’s looked after. If she gets anything, she’ll relay it to Wisp, or . . . I suppose Mr. Volt will have to do for Professor Fletcher’s call sign. At any rate, he’s using his speed to search for more bombs. Once Emerald Hydra wraps that job, start hunting every enemy Super she can identify. Does anyone have any questions before we go?”

  Only Ralph Chapman spoke up, an act which, ordinarily, would have garnered mocking and rolled eyes from the others in the room. Tonight, however, he’d acted with the good of the people in the forefront. They still didn’t care for the man, but he’d earned at least a single night of respect.

  “Blaine, do we have any sort of estimation on when the Heroes will arrive?”

  “No clue if, or when, any outside help is coming. But I can tell you this much: the Heroes will be there in less than two minutes.” Blaine slipped the last piece of his costume, his suit, his armor, over his head and latched it into place.

  “And it’s not ‘Blaine’ anymore. Tonight, call me Zero.”

  237.

  Nick slipped quietly between a pair of hedges and tucked himself into the corner of a dorm covered by shadow. It was one of the many places he’d marked as a good hiding spot during his time walking around campus. Some would have called that sort of habit paranoia, but Nick liked to think of it as being prepared. Given how the night was playing out, it seemed like he’d been in the right. That thought was little comfort, though, as he watched one of the patrols move past.

  So far, they didn’t seem to be doing much more than making a fuss and stirring things up. Despite those sizable guns in their arms, no one was doing anything other than firing warning shots to panic every student they encountered. That and searching the base floor of every dorm and building they could find. By Nick’s estimates, it was a double-pronged approach designed to draw out Lander’s Supers, as well as locate the lift locations. Someone in that organization had clearly been in an HCP, though, if it were Lander’s, they’d already know where the lifts were.

  A slight click filled the air as Nick opened his briefcase, and he held his breath to see if anyone would notice. There was still so much chaos going on around campus that it seemed unlikely, but Nick hadn’t survived as long as he had by underestimating his opponents. He gently removed a pair of pistols, as well as a set of holsters. He slipped on the latter with practiced speed and stowed his weapons. Next, he removed a set of miniature night vision goggles. While Lander was still well lit from lamps and the orange glow of a burning building, there were too many shadows an enemy could hide within, like the one he was using. Besides, the last thing he wanted was for anyone to see his eyes tonight. If he was going to need even half as much luck as expected, they would give him away in a heartbeat.

  Nick closed the briefcase silently, then pulled one of his pistols free and clicked off the safety. There were ten spare clips in the briefcase, along with one in each gun, but he still needed to conserve ammunition. Finding Nathaniel would be hard enough, and there was zero chance he wouldn’t have to fight his way through some thugs to put that bastard down.

  The silent, creeping movements Nick was so carefully employing were suddenly drowned out by screams and the sound of machine gun fire coming from within the dorm. He braced himself, trying to think of a way to help that didn’t end with getting shot to pieces, when all of a sudden, the gunfire came to an abrupt halt. Moments later, he watched as the diminutive woman he knew as Professor Stone, now clad in a bright green mask and costume, emerged from the front of the dorm. From behind her poured at least a dozen students in HCP uniforms, most of them gray. They also wore masks, though theirs lacked the flair of Professor Stone’s; clearly the mass masks were tools meant to disguise features, not create an identity.

  Nick smiled and lowered his guns, noting that there were similar sounds coming from nearby buildings as well. He hadn’t expected this much backup, but he was glad to have it. With his former classmates handling the brunt of the attacking force, Nick was free to stick to the shadows.

  That was where he was best, after all.

  * * *

  The unit leader motioned to his team, silently ordering them to go around and flank the unexplored room. So far, they’d yet to turn up anything in the library aside from cowering students. There had to be a lift here somewhere, though. A place this accessible, where students could come and go without being noticed if they vanished, it was the perfect spot to hide a lift. According to the radio chatter, three had opened up already, and the squads unlucky enough to witness it were cut to pieces. If this one was about to spit out some Supers, he intended to be prepared.

  With one motion, he kicked down the door, gun at the ready. It was still at the ready as a golden sword appeared from nowhere and stabbed him a few inches below his throat. The second took him the chest, barely missing his heart. A pair of blades attacked from the sides, severing his arms at the elbows. He collapsed to the floor, trying to scream, but finding it hard to find a voice through the combination of pain, shock, and blood loss.

  As he lay dying, he saw the rest of his team sprawled in a bloody heap on the other side of the room. From nearby, a distinct clicking filled the air. It sounded wrong. Like . . . like metal treading over the tile floor. When a figure came into view, he knew he was hallucinating.

  How else could he explain someone walking around in a golden suit of armor? His hallucination walked over to him, peering down as it seemed to notice his shallow breathing. It kneeled, picking up his head in its hands. To his surprise, the metal wasn’t icy cold like he’d expected. It was warm. A soft, gentle warmth, like sunshine through a window.

  “When I came out to study for my finals, I was not expecting things to get this lively,” said a voice, a female voice, from within the armor. “You pricks have really stuck your dick in a beehive tonight. Still, I don’t see any reason not to show a little mercy.”

  A long knife appeared in her armored hand. Before he could even wonder what it was for, the armored woman struck, slamming the knife through his helmet, skull, and brain matter as easily as if she were cutting open a piñata. His helmet made a bouncing sound as it fell to the floor.

  Above his corpse, the armored woman stood, releasing the knife from her grip. It fell only a few inches before vanishing in a glow of yellow light. She surveyed the gory results of her work, expression inscrutable through that golden layer of protection, then turned and began to walk briskly out of the room.

  She passed the hidden entrance to the lift that the team had been looking for—tucked away behind a soda machine that only sold non-caffeinated fruit beverages—but made no movement to head down to the safety of Lander’s world below. Angela knew chaos like she knew her own heart, and there was no doubt in her mind that everyone she cared about would be up here, doing things they weren’t ready for.

  As their senior, it was her job to watch over them as best she could. Besides, she wasn’t going to do something as sane as miss all the fun.

  238.

  “Sir, we’ve received reports that a significant portion of Lander’s students have come topside.” The man in combat gear stood rigid as he made the report, a fearful expression in his eyes. Nathaniel could feel the terror in him even from across the room. He was almost hurt that none of it was inspired by him or his eyes. Every bit of fear this mercenary had was reserved for the handsome older man sitting next to Nathaniel.

  “Interesting. I didn’t expect them to actually break protocol. Well now, that’s why we make contingency plans. Give the order to detonate bombs three, four, and six. That should spread them thin and occupy their effort.”

  “Understood.” The mercenary turned and headed out of the room, moving more quickly than was strictly necessa
ry.

  “You seem to be enjoying yourself, Crispin,” Nathaniel remarked. He studied the older man’s face carefully, but was unable to find more than sincerity in his wide, constant smile.

  “Why wouldn’t I be? Thanks to you helping us secure funding, the Sons of Progress are finally able to enact a plan I’ve had designed for years. Do you know how much of a blow we’ll have dealt the Heroes when this night is done? Not only will we wipe out an entire school’s crop, but we’ll also show the myth of the unassailable HCP to be just that: sheer myth. How many parents will let their children attend an HCP school once they see the havoc we wrought? The anonymity they’ve enjoyed for so long will be stripped away, and we’ll be there to capitalize.”

  “Just remember your part of the deal,” Nathaniel said.

  “My men waited until your target was on campus before creating the shield, didn’t they? Like you expected, he soon dropped out of sight, but we know he’s here,” Crispin said. “I assume you have a plan to draw him out?”

  “There’s not much need. Nicholas Campbell isn’t one to sit around and wait; he’ll uncover where I’m hiding and come to me.”

  “Oh my. Well, that will be quite the surprise for him then,” Crispin replied. “I have high hopes that this night will end with both of us getting exactly what we want.”

  “Things are certainly on track,” Nathaniel agreed. “Though, I have to say, you really hate Heroes. I grew up in a family of criminals, and even we don’t despise them this much.”

  Crispin’s smile broadened by a few inches. “I don’t hate Heroes, Nathaniel. I hate the system that creates them. We were born with gifts, power beyond mortal understanding, yet humans, our lessers, seek to tell us when and how we can use them. Because they can’t fly, they want to tear off our wings out of spite, and ‘Heroes’ are the tool they use to do it. I want these poor, brainwashed victims to be free, just as I want the rest of the Supers to be free, but unfortunately, to earn us that freedom, there must be sacrifices. I will mourn every one of our Super kin that falls tonight, and know that their sacrifice went toward making a better future.”

  “All I care about is killing one Powered,” Nathaniel said.

  Crispin nodded and kept right on smiling. Nathaniel had many connections and a fair amount of clout, but he also had an unerringly one-track mind. So far as Crispin was concerned, this was actually a positive factor. It made his partner so much easier to control. And Crispin was a big fan of keeping everything under control.

  * * *

  Though she could feel practically feel the heat from the explosions as they rocked three more buildings, Impact kept her mind focused on the task at hand. It had been a while since she’d had to set up a viewing station, and her hands fumbled with the monitors, adding precious seconds to the task. At long last, she completed her work, and stood back to admire what she’d fashioned.

  Around her were an array of cameras, pointing off in every conceivable direction across campus. Each was equipped with a short, medium, and long-range lens, so she could get a good view of anything in their line of sight. The cameras fed to a wall of monitors, giving her complete sight over the entire campus. Taking in information from so many sources was a difficult task, but she’d spent decades practicing it. Often, she was thrown into situations where she had to take shots on the fly; however, when she got the chance to prep a nest like this one, well, that was when she was truly at her deadliest.

  “Zero, there’s a unit coming away from the Science building. I’ll take them all out, just be nearby in case any are Supers. Seamstress, there’s a squad to your southeast, one of which seems to have minor ground manipulation abilities. Black Hole, you’ve got two squads doing patrols near your location. They might not see you, but be ready to silence them quickly if I give the order. Wisp, any luck on the locations we need?”

  “Nothing so far. These grunts are either being kept completely in the dark or have wills of steel.” From the background of Wisp’s communicators came a harsh, animal-like scream. “Personally, I’m betting on the former.”

  “Keep trying. Mr. Volt has found and deactivated two bombs, but the damn things are hidden well. We need to get teleportation on the table or lower the dome, if we want to evacuate.” Impact checked the monitors again, making sure the situation hadn’t changed while she was relaying information, then reached into one of the buckets she’d stashed up here along with her equipment.

  In the pouches of her costume were metal balls of various densities and with distinct purposes, but she was saving those for when they were needed. Dipping her hand into the bucket, she pulled up a handful of bullets. Hollow-points, technically illegal to use on humans, assuming someone wasn’t sanctioned to kill. Impact, along with every other Hero on campus tonight, was not under orders to wound.

  She turned back to her monitors and squinted slightly. Every mercenary near Zero had a softly glowing mark appear on the back of their lower spines. They couldn’t see them, of course. Only she could see the marks she created. In her hand, three of the bullets glowed as corresponding glyphs appeared on their casings. They rose up from her palm and floated slightly forward before bursting away at speeds faster than they could ever reach when being fired from a mere gun.

  On screen, the mercenaries fell in heaps, as what appeared to be streaks of light zipped down from the sky and struck them squarely in the invisible marks on their body. There was a lot of blood, and in her experience, they were all likely to be paralyzed at best, but she’d still given them a chance at life.

  Given how many people had certainly been in those buildings, it was more than they were owed, but she couldn’t bring herself to kill without need. No matter how angry she might feel, that line was what distinguished Heroes from the monsters prowling the night.

  Plus, it wasn’t as though Wisp could interrogate a corpse.

  239.

  “Bubbles, get back!” Larry yanked his friend backward just as section of the burning floor gave way. Of course, this had to be the night he’d booked a damn lab for extra credit, and even worse, the night he’d dragged his best friend along to help him.

  They watched the floor fall away, crashing in cinder splinters to the floor below. Historic Lander, with so many of its buildings made of wood; all-too-flammable wood. He grabbed her hand and pulled her down the hallway, trying to peer through the tears that smoke and fear were putting in his eyes. When they were almost to the corner, he caught sight of two men in dark clothes with guns held at the ready. Without thinking, he grabbed Bubbles and jerked her back against the wall.

  “What are you—” Larry pressed his finger to her lips before she could finish asking her question. He might have been flunking chemistry, but he was good enough at math to put all these factors together. One explosion might be an accident; add in others, and you had an attack. The sort that people with giant guns and what looked like SWAT-grade armor would be carrying out. He tried to hold his breath to keep from taking in more fumes, desperately racking his brain for a way out that didn’t involve going past the gun owners.

  The sound of bullets filled the air, followed by what sounded like a crackle of static, and then several grown men yelping in pain. Larry wasn’t quite sure what had happened, but if it had hurt those men, then it probably wasn’t all bad. He and Bubbles moved away from the wall just as they heard voices coming down the hall.

  “That was a good hit, Energy Taker Lad.” The voice was female; Larry could pick up that much.

  “Energy Taker Lad? Really?” A new voice; this one male. Larry thought he might have heard it somewhere before, though, between smoke inhalation and fear, he didn’t exactly trust his senses at the moment.

  “It’s what came to mind. It’s not like we have code names, and I’m pretty sure you don’t want me using your real one, since there are two people in the next hall.”

  Larry felt his blood run cold, despite the oppressive heat around them. He glanced back down the hall they’d come from, only to find t
he fire had spread to the walls and ceiling. Even if he were willing to risk jumping down a floor, they’d just be leaping to their fiery deaths.

  “If you can hear us, please stay calm,” called the male voice. “We’re here to help, and should reach you soon.”

  “And Larry, I know you’re scared and upset right now, but we’re not the enemies. You don’t need to be afraid of us,” added the female.

  He barely had time to process a stranger calling him by name, and addressing exactly what he was thinking, before two figures came into view. They both wore layered gray outfits and gray masks, though he could still see enough of their bodies to figure out which was the guy, and which was the girl.

  “Oh hell, you didn’t tell me there was this much fire!” The man hurried forward, past Larry and Bubbles as he stood over the brim of the collapsed floor. He stretched out a gloved hand and seemed to be staring directly into the flames.

  “Wait!” his shorter partner yelled over the dull roar of the flames, grabbing his attention. “If you absorb all of that, you’ll burn out the floor below us. Remember, you take the stuff that’s going to burn too.”

  The unknown man smiled, one of the few expressions they could make out beneath the featureless mask, and again, Larry felt a slight tickle of familiarity in his brain. “I might have been saving an ace or two up my sleeves for finals.”

  Bubbles let out a squeak of shock, and Larry echoed her as they watched the fire below surge upward, striking the man in gray and vanishing as it swirled around him. In a matter of seconds, the flames were gone, and he had turned back toward them.

  “Don’t worry, that fire’s out for now. Let’s get you two—”