The New Heroes: Crossfire

by Michael Carroll

  “You already know. I was grown from a sample of your DNA. Improved, of course.” Again, he grinned. “We were sent to test you, Colin. You failed.”

  “It was three against one. Your friends fled and you were captured. That’s hardly failure.”

  “They didn’t flee. They were recalled because they weren’t needed.” The clone arched his back, and flexed his fists. “If you have any gods, Colin, I’ll give you a minute to pray to them now. Because this is the last chance you will have.”

  He’s insane! Colin thought. Cassandra, are you listening?

  “I can hear you.”

  Get everyone out of Sakkara. Right now. Get Butler and Brawn away from here.

  “Colin, he wants to kill you!”

  I know.

  Shadow drifted closer, and glanced down. “Your friends are abandoning you. It doesn’t matter. They’re going to die anyway.” He paused for a moment, then added, “I think I’ll kill Cassandra first. She’s trying to find a way into my mind, and I really don’t want that.”

  “No,” Colin said. “Your fight is with me.”

  “My fight is with all of you.” He gave a sly smile. “And even if you defeat me, you’ll never stop us all. We have something that will render you about as threatening as a kitten. I’d prefer to kill you when you’re at your best—just to show that I’m better than you are—but either way I don’t mind that much, as long as you’re dead.” He looked down at the others. “Yeah. The girl first. Stop me if you can.” He immediately dropped down, flipped over and dove head-first for Cassandra.

  Colin launched a fireball at the clone, then raced after him, moving so fast that he overtook the fireball.

  Shadow’s outstretched hands were inches away from Cassandra’s neck when Colin snagged his ankle and wrenched him back into the fireball’s path. The clone twisted, tried to break free, but Colin held tight, squeezing his right hand with as much force as he could muster. It was a grip strong enough to pulverize granite rocks, but the clone didn’t seem to register any pain.

  The fireball struck, engulfing Shadow and instantly evaporating the frost and ice from his body.

  Colin swung him down hard into the concrete—Shadow’s head smacked off the ground with enough force to shatter the surface. Colin swung him again, and again, and his body went limp.

  He’s faking! Colin thought, but knew he had to take advantage of the clone’s relaxed state: still maintaining his grip, he pulled him forward and lashed out with his left fist, burying it deep into Shadow’s stomach.

  The force of the blow pushed Shadow deeper into the ruined concrete, and Colin paused long enough to build up a thermal charge in his fist: it glowed white-hot as it arced through the air, aiming for the clone’s chest.

  The punch struck home and immediately burned a hole in the clone’s uniform—and seared the skin beneath.

  As the third strike was coming down, Shadow suddenly twisted and grabbed Colin’s fist, wrapped his own hand tightly around it, oblivious to the fire.

  His body bucked and spasmed, his limbs flailing with enough strength to break Colin’s grip on his ankle. Still horizontal, he flipped over onto his stomach, kicking his legs out at the same time. His right foot cracked against the side of Colin’s head, then almost immediately his left did the same.

  Colin threw himself backwards to dodge the next powerful kick—but it didn’t come. Instead, Shadow—still spinning—darted along the ground, aiming for Sakkara, following the path of Brawn and the others.

  As Colin followed, he saw the clone snatch up two large, jagged slabs of concrete from the edge of the crater.

  Shadow flipped his arms out, throwing the concrete ahead of him.

  The first slammed into Brawn’s shoulder, sent him spinning. The second was aimed at the small of Cassandra’s back, and Colin knew that if it hit her, she’d be killed.

  He targeted the concrete slab with a lightning bolt—and missed.

  No…! He knew he didn’t have time to generate another one.

  Less than a foot away from Cassandra, the concrete slab struck something invisible, and collapsed to the ground.

  Butler’s force-field! Colin realized.

  Shadow abruptly changed direction. Still flying only a few feet above the ground, he was now heading for Butler.

  The older boy threw himself flat on the ground as the clone reached him.

  Good, Colin thought. Now if I can keep that nutter away from the others—

  The clone flipped over in the air, doubled back and—upside-down—grabbed hold of Butler’s arms.

  He flipped again, throwing Butler high into the air.

  He’s doing that to distract me—he knows I’ll have to go after him!

  But Colin realized he was wrong when Shadow shifted direction once more, rising with lightning speed after Butler.

  As Butler reached the apex of the arc, the clone lashed out with his fist, his arm moving so fast it was barely a blur.

  Then he slowed, watched as Butler fell back toward the ground.

  Colin darted after his friend, caught him in mid-air. Butler’s body was limp, unmoving. His head lolled back so far that Colin knew his neck was broken.

  “Huh,” Shadow said from behind Colin. “Well, I was wrong. Cassandra wasn’t the first.”

  Colin felt his mouth and throat dry up. “You…”

  The clone began to drift backward. “Yeah. That’s enough for now, I think. I’ll be seeing you again, brother.”

  Colin stared down at Butler Redmond’s lifeless eyes, at the blood slowly seeping from his mouth and nose. “He’s dead. You… You just murdered him!”

  Shadow shrugged, still moving backward. “What? Did you think this was just some sort of game? Your friend there is just the first of many. Tell the people of America to prepare themselves for annihilation. The Earth is ours now, and you are trespassing.”

  Chapter 10

  Dawn was breaking in Somalia as Renata Soliz gathered Kenya, Alia and Grant. “I’ve called in the big transport. We’re out of here. We, uh, we’ve got a situation. Two situations, maybe.”

  Beside her, Alia Cord pulled off her gloves, then removed her helmet and ran her fingers through her sweat-drenched hair. “Where are we going?”

  “Berlin, first. Mina’s disappeared. Danny and Warren are fine, but half of us will be staying behind to help them search for her.”

  Grant asked, “Disappeared? But isn’t that what Mina does?”

  “Not like that,” Renata said. “No one’s seen her for hours, and her phone was found in the Baltic Sea, hundreds of miles from where she should have been.” Renata looked at Kenya. “You’ll be coming with me back to Sakkara, and Alia and Grant will stay with Danny.”

  Kenya nodded. “Sure. What’s the other situation?”

  Renata almost couldn’t bring herself to say it, but she knew that she had to. Being a leader wasn’t just about issuing orders. It was about taking responsibility, making the hard decisions. She looked at the members of her team, knowing that if the enemy could kill someone as powerful as Butler, any of them would be a much easier target, despite their armor and experience.

  On her left, Alia Cord, the twin sister of Stephanie, daughter of Solomon Cord, the greatest non-powered hero she had ever known. The twins had inherited their father’s combat kills and courage, and their mother’s intelligence, drive and compassion. Stephanie and Alia were the heart of the team, always willing to help others despite any danger.

  Next to Alia, standing so close to her that their armored legs touched, was Grant Paramjeet. He was still considered to be on probation with the team, and Renata wasn’t sure of him yet. He was a nice guy, soft-spoken and often quite gentle, but was too much in love with the idea of being a superhero. He had the sort of enthusiasm that made him a liability.

  They were a good team. Or at least they had strong potential. When Stephanie was with them, they were formidable, and Renata was sure that Kenya would be just as effective.

&nb
sp; How do I tell them? She wondered. Sure, Butler was a pain in the butt a lot of the time, but he was a good guy. He was one of us.

  Grant said, “Renata? What is it?”

  She took a deep breath. “Colin, Butler, Brawn and Cassandra were attacked. An ambush. It was…”

  Alia grabbed Renata’s arm. “Is Colin all right?”

  “He’s fine. They were attacked by… Look, that’s not important. Colin and Cassandra are fine. Brawn’s been seriously wounded, but it’s not life-threatening. He heals very quickly.” She paused for a moment. “Butler’s dead.”

  Kenya said, “I don’t know who… Is he the one with the force-field?”

  Renata related the story as it had been told to her, and when she was done, Grant said, “Clones.”

  “That’s what they suspect, yeah.”

  “So if you guys get cloned, and the clones have powers, then...” He shrugged. “Maybe that means that there is something genetically different about superhumans.”

  Alia said, “We’ve already seen that with Mina and Yvonne.”

  “Yeah, but...”

  Grant fell silent, and Renata was sure she knew why: Grant desperately wanted to have superhuman abilities, and if it was true that the powers were tied to genetics, then that might mean he’d never get powers of his own. Aloud, she said, “Right now finding Mina is our top priority—it could be that she was targeted by the same people who attacked Colin’s team. Transport’s coming in three minutes.”

  “What about the craft that brought you here?” Kenya asked.

  “The Marlin’s fast, but it doesn’t have the range to get us to Germany.” Renata looked at the others. “Are you all OK?”

  Grant said, “I never really liked him, but still…”

  “You can’t say that!” Alia snapped at him, stepping away. “He was one of us!”

  Renata placed her hand on Alia’s shoulder. “Don’t, please. Fighting amongst ourselves won’t help. If the clone—or whatever he is—is that powerful, we need to be prepared. They’ve already given the order to evacuate Sakkara. Razor is the last non-superhuman there. He says he won’t leave until he’s finished his current project.”

  Grant nodded. “That guy’s got lots of guts and no common sense. But I trust him.”

  “Has anyone told Butler’s family?” Alia asked.

  “Impervia said that it’s being taken care of,” Renata said.

  “He is to be buried with full military honors, you got that?”

  Caroline Wagner held the phone away from her ear and hesitated for a moment, thankful that Butler’s father couldn’t see the frown on her face. “Brigadier General, I’m not sure that would be permitted.”

  “My son was a hero. He fought for his country and as God is my witness he will be buried in a manner befitting his service.”

  “I do appreciate that, sir. But he wasn’t a veteran—”

  “My son was a hero,” Butler’s father repeated, his voice cracking. Then, much softer, he repeated, “A hero,” and Caroline understood.

  Butler had often spoken about his father, but the man had never once made contact with him after he joined Sakkara. He had been angry, Caroline guessed, that Butler had been expelled from the military academy in Alaska. A proud military man with an exemplary record, whose son had been discharged for constant insubordination and dereliction of duty.

  They had fallen out over the incident and their relationship had never recovered. Sakkara should have been a second chance for Butler to regain his father’s respect, but the Brigadier General had been too proud and too stubborn—or too embarrassed—to cross that bridge. And now it was too late.

  “Yes, sir,” Caroline said. “He was a hero. He was utterly fearless. And it was an honor and a privilege to teach him, and to work alongside him. Without him, we would never have survived the Trutopian attack on Sakkara. And...” She chose her next words carefully. “Your son’s final act saved the life of a young civilian who recently came into our care.”

  “Thank you,” Brigadier General Redmond said. “That’s all I ask.”

  Chapter 11

  In Berlin, Danny Cooper sat nervously in the bar of the hotel as Warren Wagner stared at the double-measure of whiskey in front of him.

  “Mister Wagner, we have to do something.”

  “What can we do, Danny? Find whoever killed Butler and took Mina? Good idea. Where do we start?” Warren picked up the glass in his scarred left hand and held it for a few seconds before putting it down again. He sighed. “I don’t drink any more, but this seemed like a good idea. Not so sure now.” He slid the still-full glass away from him. It had been sitting on the table for so long that the ice had melted.

  Danny said, “We’re not doing any good here. We need to go back to the states.”

  “Why? Danny, the kid who killed Butler is gone. If Colin wasn’t able to track him, no one else can. Not even you, fast as you are.”

  “So we just sit and wait until they attack again?”

  “No, we wait until Team Paragon gets here. Then we figure out our next move.”

  For the first time, Danny realized that Warren Wagner was starting to look his age. The man was still only in his forties, but now, slumped in his chair and staring at a whiskey he probably wasn’t going to drink, it seemed to Danny that Warren looked defeated.

  It can’t be easy to have been as powerful as he was when he was Titan, and then lose that power and have to become an ordinary person again.

  Danny remembered what it had been like when his own powers temporarily abandoned him. The sense of loss, of helplessness, had been almost overwhelming. But Danny had only been superhuman for a very short time when that happened—Warren had been a superhuman for almost two decades.

  “Have you talked to Caroline?” Danny asked, hoping to shake Warren out of his funk.

  “Yeah, she’s fine. The baby’s still keeping her up at night, but she can cope.” Warren grinned. “Colin cried non-stop for the entire first two years of his life. At least, that’s what it felt like. One night my parents were staying with us, and at about three in the morning my dad went into Colin’s room and said, ‘All right. That’s enough crying now.’ And like that,” Warren snapped his fingers, “Colin stopped. He’s barely cried since. It’s like he’s got all the crying out of his system in one go.”

  “Any thoughts on what you’re going to call the baby? You must have some ideas by now. You can’t keep calling her ‘the baby’ forever.”

  “Oh, we do have a name. We just haven’t announced it yet. We have to check with someone first.” He sat back in the chair. “What the heck, I’ll tell you. Just don’t tell anyone else, deal?”

  Danny nodded. “Sure.”

  “We’re going to name her after an old friend, but we want to talk to her sister about it, make sure she’s OK with it. She probably will be, but it’s best to check.”

  “Go on…”

  “There’s a lot of things about the past that we don’t talk about, Dan. Sometimes that’s because Max zapped our memories or messed with our emotions, but sometimes it’s because the memories are just too painful. You’ve heard of Hesperus?”

  “Yeah. Brawn told us about her. They worked with Thunder and Roz Dalton for a while. She was killed by Slaughter, Brawn said.”

  “Her real name was Abigail de Luyando. Her sister was Vienna Cord. If she’d lived, Abby would have been Alia and Stephanie’s aunt. So that’s what we’re calling our baby girl, if Vienna doesn’t mind. And her middle name… Well, it’s not traditionally a girl’s name but then Abby would have liked that. She certainly didn’t follow traditional paths. One of the things we all loved about her. Her middle name will be Solomon. Abigail Solomon Wagner.”

  “I like that,” Danny said. “It works. Does Colin know?”

  “Not yet.” Warren looked down at his hands. “And neither does Brawn. He and Abby were good friends. I think he still blames himself for her death.”

  “He told us what happened. Th
at he was working with Ragnarök… But he’s a good guy, Mister Wagner.”

  “Good people sometimes make bad decisions. Look at what happened to Colin. He joined the Trutopians.”

  “He was under Yvonne’s control.”

  “Not at the start.” Warren sighed. “But he is a good kid. We’re proud of him. Proud of you, too, and Renata. You’ve all been through a lot.”

  Danny moved the whiskey glass to the side and began running his finger through the ring of condensation left on the table. “We’ve been through more than we should ever have to face. We don’t get to just be kids, do we?” He briefly looked up at Warren before returning his attention to the table. “All the things normal people do… They might not happen for us. And now Butler is dead—they’ll never happen for him. He’ll never have a girlfriend, buy a car, go to college…”

  “I know.”

  “He never even had any friends, I think. I mean, none of us liked him all that much. He was a bit of jerk most of the time. He was always mean to Niall, always going on about how Niall might grow up to be a supervillain because Façade’s his real father.”

  “Your brother’s going to turn out fine,” Warren said.

  “Mina said that he’s definitely going to be superhuman. She said he’s got that same twist to his aura that the rest of us do.” Danny sat back and wiped his damp finger on the leg of his jeans. “He desperately wants to be a superhero, but if I could change only one thing about the future, I’d change that. I’d make him a normal kid. Let him have the life that the rest of us can’t.”

  “Nah, you’re making the powers sound like a curse, Dan. That’s the wrong attitude. We were chosen for this. How or why, I don’t know. But we have been given abilities that most people can only barely imagine.”

  “But if we were chosen to have these powers, who did the choosing? And why are people like Slaughter or Victor Cross given powers too?”

  “If I knew the answer to that,” Warren said, “I’d be a much happier man. I’ve been wondering about that ever since my own powers first started to show up. Why me? Why any of us?”