by Lucas Flint
“Your army?” I repeated. “You mean Icon, right?”
Chaser looked at me again. His red eyes glowed brightly. “I’m not referring to Icon. I’m referring to the army I’ve slowly been building up over the globe over the last century, since the introduction of Superpower and the creation of Power. I’m talking about the reason Icon has spent so much time and money getting as many people as possible addicted to Power.”
“And what is that reason?”
Chaser leaned down toward me. “To make an army of superpowered humans who would follow my commands to the letter. And make the whole world tremble when it hears the name Roland Chaser.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
“That was your plan all along?” I said. “Raising up an army of superhumans to take over the earth?”
Chaser nodded. “Of course. Well, it’s a bit more nuanced than that, but you get the gist of it.”
“How is that supposed to work?” I said. “Power is an unstable drug. It kills people just as often as it gives them powers, and sometimes, it kills you by giving you powers.” I was thinking of Thomas when I said that.
Chaser tilted his head to the side again. “I already explained to you that it was more nuanced than that. Truthfully, the drug is really supposed to cause instability in a country’s population. Rather than create a well-defined, formal army that fights under the banner of a country like Iconia, it will really be dozens, if not hundreds, of smaller groups of superhumans scattered all across the planet in every nation under the sun. These groups will naturally create fear and uncertainty in a country, which will lead to political and social instability, which will in due course lead to outright collapse.”
“Why?” I said. “Why would you want a country to collapse?”
“Because then Icon can sweep in and take over,” said Chaser. “We’re well-positioned to provide aid to any country which needs it. Of course, that ‘aid’ is designed to keep a country dependent on us, effectively making us the real rulers of that country, regardless of who is in office at the time. Opportunity exists in chaos, especially in engineered chaos like the kind we have planned.”
“Makes sense,” said Christina. “Power doesn’t just give people superpowers. It also drives its users insane, right?”
“Right,” said Chaser. “That’s one of the side effects, deliberately designed into the drug itself. There is a reason the actual Superpower drug is tightly regulated in every country on the planet and that is because no government wants that power to end up in the hands of a madman. Sure, every now and then a Superpower user goes rogue and starts leading a life of crime, becoming what we call ‘supervillains,’ but that has become rarer and rarer in recent years due to improvements in the Superhero Exam to weed out crazy people, as well as improvements in the Superpower drug itself to avoid creating mental anguish in users.”
“So you’re deliberately making people insane and giving them superpowers in order to destabilize whole countries for your benefit?” I said. “You’re even crazier than I thought.”
“I’m not crazy,” said Chaser. “I’m just doing what the original founders of Icon wanted. They envisioned a whole world united under the organization’s banner, a world that would no longer be needlessly divided by race and by borders. This is simply the way I’ve chosen to go about it doing it.”
“Sounds more like to me that you just want to rule the world as a dictator,” I said. “An immortal dictator, at that.”
“It’s a long-term project,” said Chaser with a shrug. “And, like I said, I was dying. My actions are perfectly moral when you consider them in light of the facts.”
“No, they aren’t,” I said. “They’re immoral. They’re downright evil.”
“We can agree to disagree,” said Chaser. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. My plan worked and I am now in control of your Watch, so you couldn’t stop me even if you wanted. Not that you are in any position to do so, of course, because Power is still being widely distributed and more and more people all across the globe are being hooked on the drug every day. Soon, the first nation to collapse due to the instability created by Power users will happen and every other country on the planet will follow shortly thereafter.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It was the craziest, most outlandish thing I’d ever heard, but it was all apparently true. I couldn’t even imagine pulling off a plan of this magnitude, and I wasn’t an idiot, either. It was just so freakishly huge that it was beyond anything I would have come up with on my own. For the first time tonight, I realized just why Christina had been so afraid of Chaser the entire time she was with me, and I couldn’t deny feeling a little bit of fear toward him as well.
“Now, I tire of talking,” said Chaser. He stood up straight, showing off his muscular holographic form. “It is time to speak with the rest of Icon and inform them what just happened. From now on, I intend to take a more hands-on approach to leading Icon. With my new, immortal body, I will be able to lead Icon in ways I have not been able to lead before.”
I cracked a smile. “Sorry to burst your bubble, but Mack and Gina have set up a bomb that, when it blows, will take all of Iconia with it. You might be immortal for now, but not for much longer, I think.”
Chaser didn’t look even remotely worried when I said that. “Yes, I’m aware of what those Pinnacle agents have done. But you are deeply mistaken if you think I don’t already have people working on it.”
“Wait, what?” I said.
“I sent a message to Icon’s bomb disarming team to head to the location where the Gift has been set to disarm it,” said Chaser. “They should be there even as we speak, working on disarming the bomb before it can explode and destroy the island. It shouldn’t be very difficult, I think, because Icon has the best bomb technicians in the world and they’ve disabled far more dangerous bombs than this before.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said. “Right?”
“It’s no joke,” said Chaser. “But sadly for you, you won’t be living long enough to see that I was telling the truth. Your uncle, on the other hand, will, though his existence will end shortly after yours.”
“You’re going to kill me now?” I said. I tried not to panic, but it was hard to hide the fear in my voice. “But the Watch—”
“Can be worn by literally anyone,” said Chaser. “Perhaps I’ll have Atticus wear it. I’m sure he would be happy to do so, given how fanatically loyal he is to me. Or maybe Christina would like to wear it. I think you would look very sexy in the Trickshot costume, Christina.”
Christina looked a little creeped out by Chaser’s comment about her in my costume, but I had to admit I kind of agreed. In my mind’s eye, I imagined Christina in my skintight Trickshot costume and it was … interesting, to say the least. It was also a distraction from my current situation, albeit a pleasant one.
“I’ll do whatever you want me to, Chaser,” said Christina, though I noticed she didn’t meet his eyes when she said that. “If you want me to wear the Watch, I will.”
I was amazed at how docile Christina was in Chaser’s presence. This was hardly the bossy, opinionated, snarky woman I had fought alongside with all night. I always knew that Christina feared Chaser, but I didn’t know she was so scared of him that she was willing to do literally anything he asked her to do no matter what. Chaser must have broken her far more than I thought.
“Good to hear, Christina,” said Chaser. He pointed at me. “I want you to break his neck. It will be the most efficient way to kill him. Quick and relatively painless. Then we can move on and clean up the mess he made in Lab #5, which has set us back somewhat, though not by very much.”
Christina pointed her hand at me and an energy rope extended from her palm and wrapped around my neck. The rope constricted, making me gasp in pain. I couldn’t speak and I could barely breathe. I just looked up at Christina, trying to plead with her to let me go, but there was no mercy in her eyes. She looked like she was perfectly willing to kil
l me. I mean, I knew she never actually liked me, but I still found the look in her eyes scarier than anything else I’d seen so far tonight.
“Good, Christina,” said Chaser. “Now break his neck. Quickly. Though I am not afraid of the bomb going off, I still want to get this brat out of the way as quickly as possible. As well, we will need to deal with Joshua Resnick, who is still out in the main area tending to Gregory. He will have to die next. Do you want to kill him as well?”
“Sure,” said Christina, though she didn’t look at Chaser. “I have no love for that stupid family. Hell, I’d kill his grandfather, too, if you asked.”
“Oh, I won’t need you to kill Gregory,” said Chaser. “I still have some use for my old friend. It’s just his grandson that is the problem.”
“Of course,” said Christina.
I looked Christina in the eyes, desperately pleading for her not to do this. I wished that one of Trickshot’s powers had included telepathy, because right now all I wanted to do was project my pleading thoughts directly into Christina’s mind. Then again, it wasn’t like it would sway Christina much, if at all. She would probably just enjoy the sound of me begging for my life.
But then I noticed something odd in Christina’s eyes. A look of regret seemed to come over them, as if she wasn’t quite sure she wanted to do this. She still didn’t look at Chaser, but I noticed she tilted her head toward him ever-so-slightly, as if to indicate that she was about to do something. I had no idea what she meant or if she was even doing anything at all. My eyes might have been playing tricks on me in an attempt to make the best of a very bad situation.
“Well?” said Chaser. “What are you waiting for, woman? Kill him. I know you want to do it. Break his neck. He shall be an example to the world of what happens to those who cross my path.”
Christina suddenly relaxed. “He’s an annoying brat, that’s for sure. And I’d like nothing more than to teach this brat a lesson for being so annoying.”
“Then what are you waiting for?” said Chaser. “You are testing my patience with your delaying, Christina, and you know what I do to those who test my patience.”
“Oh, I know,” said Christina. “But I also know that I don’t like people telling me what to do.”
The energy rope around my neck suddenly vanished, allowing me to breathe fully again. I hacked and coughed, trying to breathe in as much air as I could, while Chaser just floated there. Though his face was expressionless, I could tell he was stunned by Christina’s reaction.
“Christina, what is this?” said Chaser. His voice actually shook. “Did you just disobey me?”
“Yeah,” said Christina. She looked at Chaser. “What of it?”
“I … I didn’t think you had the courage to do it,” said Chaser. “I thought you feared me too much to even consider disobeying me.”
Christina flashed her usual insane smile. “Normally, I am, but when you flat out admitted that you put me through actual danger and didn’t let anyone in on our little plan … well, that’s when I realized just how little my life matters to you. And I don’t know about you, but I hate taking orders from people who don’t care about me or my life.”
“Narcissistic woman,” said Chaser. He pointed at her. “All agents of Icon exist solely to serve me. You don’t have the right to disobey.”
“Well, then consider this my resignation,” said Christina. Two energy ropes suddenly fell out of her hands. “Effective as of this very moment.”
Christina whirled around and smashed her energy ropes into the computers nearby. Chaser suddenly screamed in anger, but his screams didn’t do anything to stop Christina from completely wrecking all of his computers and equipment. She moved fast and graceful, like a lion tearing apart its prey, and even I didn’t want to get in her way.
But it didn’t take her long. Soon, all of the computer monitors and servers were nothing more than smoking, broken machines, leaving the room eerily silent.
Christina, who was now panting and sweating, turned around to face Chaser again. She was still smiling, and with her hair all messed up now, she looked even crazier than usual.
“There,” said Christina. “I destroyed all of your precious computers, including, I’m sure, whatever backup plans you had to prevent your consciousness from being destroyed. All of your life’s work … gone in an instant.”
Chaser just floated there, his face and body language impossible to read. He simply glanced around the room before looking at Christina again.
“Your little temper tantrum was cute,” said Chaser. He held up a hand. “But ultimately, it accomplishes nothing other than angering me. And you know what I do to those who anger me.”
Christina snorted. “What are you going to do? Punch me with your holographic fist? I’m not scared of light.”
“I’ll do much worse than that,” said Chaser. “I’ll make you wish you were never born.”
As Chaser spoke, one of the tentacles from the ceiling suddenly lowered and wrapped around Christina’s neck. She was hoisted off the floor and she gasped for breath, her feet kicking wildly as she grabbed at the tentacle squeezing tightly around her neck.
“I may lack a physical body now, but that doesn’t mean I cannot control the Tower,” said Chaser. “Let your punishment be what you failed to inflict on Jack: A broken neck and a lifeless body that will serve as a warning to anyone else thinking of betraying me.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
I couldn’t stand seeing Christina like that. I flipped open the lid of the Trickshot Watch and smashed my fist down on ‘TRANSFORMATION’ button. In an instant, my costume was back on me and my powers were flowing through me.
I jumped to my feet and, pulling three disks out of my pouch, threw all three of them at the tentacle strangling Christina. The disks cut through the tentacle like butter, sending Christina falling to the ground. She hit the floor and lay there, gasping for breath as she removed the tentacle still clinging to her neck.
Chaser turned to face me, though he seemed completely unemotional. “Your reflexes are quite fast. If you had been but a moment slower, she would have died.”
“Well, I couldn’t just let you kill her,” I said. “Christina isn’t a friend, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you murder her in cold blood like that.”
Chaser shook his head. “You are a fool of the highest order, but I suppose I can’t really expect more from the grandson of Gregory. He would have done the same thing as you, if he was in your situation. It’s why I both hated and admired him in my youth, though for you, it’s just hatred.”
“I’m still going to stop you,” I said. “I’m not going to let you win.”
Chaser sighed. “Good God, have you already forgotten who and what I am? Allow me to display but a fraction of my power.”
Chaser held a hand out toward me. All of a sudden, my suit felt tighter than usual. I fell on my hands and knees, gasping for air, but it was becoming hard to breathe again. It felt like my costume had shrunk down a size in an instant.
“Being that I am the Trickshot Watch’s AI, I have access to all sorts of features you aren’t even aware of,” said Chaser. “Such as controlling the tightness of the suit. Normally, the suit automatically adjusts to fit your general body size and shape, but it’s possible to manually override it and deliberately alter its tightness. All I am doing is forcing the suit to tighten more and more. I estimate it will squeeze you to death fairly soon, likely with the next couple of minutes or so. It won’t be nearly as painless as a broken neck, but if that bothers you, you should curse Christina rather than me, given how I ordered her to do that.”
I gritted my teeth. I wanted to punch Chaser in the face, but my increasingly tight suit made it impossible for me to get up. Even if I could get up, I still wouldn’t be able to hit Chaser, because as a hologram, my fists would just fly straight through his head. All I could hope was that a miracle would happen, but I knew miracles weren’t real.
Chaser didn’t say anything
, either. He just continued to look down at me, with not even the slightest concern on his face or in his body language. On the contrary, he seemed to be impatient, as if wondering when the suit would get tight enough to kill me. It was a bizarre sight, even a funny one under other circumstances, but right now all it reminded me was that I was dying and that I would be dead very soon if I didn’t figure out how to put an end to Chaser fast.
But if I couldn’t even touch Chaser, how was I supposed to beat him? He was virtually invincible, almost godlike, really. I wasn’t going to call him a god, of course, because I didn’t want to flatter his ego, but I couldn’t deny that he was my most powerful enemy yet. Very soon, I would be dead, and once I died, there would be no one to stop Chaser. I hoped that perhaps Uncle Josh might find a way to stop him, but even Uncle Josh might not be able to withstand Chaser’s might.
If only TW was here … he could help. But it was TW’s absence which allowed Chaser to put his consciousness in the Watch at all. If TW hadn’t died, then Chaser’s plan wouldn’t have worked. That was another negative, though unexpected, side effect of TW.
My eyes darted to the Trickshot Watch. Unlike the rest of my suit, it wasn’t tightening at all, but there was no way I could remove it, because that would require dexterity that I lacked at the moment due to how tight my suit was.
But I didn’t need to remove the Watch in order to get my suit off. I remembered how, when I first got the Watch and was training in that warehouse with TW, I had ordered the suit to listen to me. Ever since then, the suit had obeyed my commands, but it had been a long time since I consciously ordered the suit to obey me. I also remembered that TW had once told me that the suit was like a living organism, in that it could understand commands and required energy to feed. That was why TW had been built in the first place: To keep the suit from siphoning the life force out of me.