Corpies (Super Powereds Spinoff Book 1)

by Drew Hayes

  “Yes, Kip?”

  “I was just wondering what you’re hoping to accomplish at the charity event,” Kip said. Beads of sweat stood out on his forehead and the microphone shook just a touch. He really was desperate for something to bring back to the station. He’d even lobbed a big softball of a question, open-ended and with a positive connotation.

  “Obviously our biggest, most important goal is to help raise as much money as possible for these wonderful organizations,” Owen replied. He knew he should cut it off there; it was a great line that couldn’t possibly be misinterpreted. Owen knew that because he’d played this game so well for so long back in his original Hero days. It was why he’d distinguished himself from his first team, why his star had risen so high. He always had a good gut sense for the right things to say. Yet now, staring down at Kip’s shaky microphone, Owen realized for the first time that he didn’t want to be a media darling again.

  He wanted to be Titan, on his own terms.

  “But as a secondary goal, I hope for the chance to kick some serious ass.”

  Owen slid past Kip, whose eyes were lighting up like flickering fluorescents, and stepped into the building. Greene wasn’t going to like that, and Lenny might not either, but Owen didn’t really care. He’d only told the truth, after all.

  30.

  When Owen got to Lenny’s office, he was braced for a tongue-lashing. After the event signup, which had been mercifully quick, Owen and the team had headed back to their home. No sooner had they walked in the door and turned on the television than they saw Titan’s face staring back at them. His voice filled the room, answering Kip’s question eloquently and tacking on the bit about ass-kicking at the end.

  Owen barely had time to regret that outburst before Lenny called, calmly demanding Owen be at his office within the hour. Calm Lenny was usually a bad sign. Cursing, drinking, complaining, anxiety-ridden: these were all forms of Lenny that meant he had things well-under control. Calm Lenny meant business, and all too often that business involved a serious ass-chewing.

  Owen walked through the door to the lobby, ducking slightly to avoid smacking his head against the frame. He would have suffered no damage, but he’d have been on the hook for repairs. Titan merchandise didn’t exactly fly off the shelves anymore, so he wanted to keep his costs down.

  It was a good thing he was already ducked, too, because what he saw in the lobby nearly made him jerk his head right back up.

  Lenny’s office door was open and the small man was sitting inside, talking to another Hero that was already seated. Owen might not have recognized her even a week ago, despite the amount of media saturation she’d achieved, but after meeting Gale up close there was no mistaking her. Owen stepped through the empty lobby, into the office, and shut the door behind him.

  “Afternoon, Lenny. Gale.” He took a seat in one of the sturdier chairs, doing his best to keep his face neutral. If she was here to call off the assessment, he didn’t want to do anything to make her change her mind.

  “Always a pleasure, Titan,” Gale replied. Judging from the flat tone of her voice, if she considered this a pleasure then Owen would have hated to see how she reacted to an inconvenience.

  “Gale here has come down to finalize the discussion of the ability assessment in person.” Lenny was all business, not even bothering with any pleasantries. “Despite what I, and her own agent, have advised her, she is intent on going forward with this little spectacle.”

  “Up until this morning, I was seriously considering taking it off the table,” Gale said, turning to face Owen. “That was until I saw his little interview. After that robot attack I thought maybe you really were trying to lie low and do some good. You managed to avoid charging into the spotlight like I expected. But no, the moment you get a few drops of media juice going, you hand them a sound bite that you know they’ll play over and over. You’re exactly what I feared you’d be: a showboat that puts his profile over the job. Well, I’m going to lower that profile, and thanks to your agent I’m going to do it with countless people watching.”

  “Gale, come on; it was one line. I was there to sign up for a charity event and I let my tongue get away from me. You really don’t want to do this,” Owen said.

  “I’m telling you right now that I do. We’re getting this done, and within the next week. Your agent has a list of my team’s availabilities. Find one that works, or so help me I will personally use my connections to bury you in red tape and bullshit.”

  “What does this accomplish? Really, tell me that. If I do well, you’ve done the exact opposite of what you claim to want, and if I shit the bed all you’ve done is prove you can take a Hero two decades your senior.”

  “When we decimate you, it will prove that your legend is all fluff. There will be far less cause for the press to care about your antics, and without their attention I expect you’ll soon shrivel up and vanish, just like you did before.”

  Gale stood to leave, but Owen was on his feet faster.

  “So you want to drive another Hero out of town? Remind me: which of us is the one who cares more about the media than the job?”

  “I want to rid my town of a man who has too much influence and power and not nearly enough integrity to know how to use it.” Gale stared up at him, refusing to budge even an inch. “We both know it’s just a matter of time before your fame-whoring causes you do something stupid and get innocents killed. I’m making sure that you never get the chance.”

  “And this has nothing at all to do with the prestige you think your team will get by embarrassing the legendary Titan?”

  “I won’t stand here and be insulted by such ludicrous insinuations,” Gale snapped. “Unlike you, I have people to help.” She wove her way around the large man and stormed out of the office, slamming the lobby door behind her.

  With Gale gone, Owen slowly lowered himself back into his chair and looked at Lenny, who was placid as a monk on morphine.

  “That woman is not fond of you,” Lenny said at last.

  “I think she hates me more than your ex-wife hates you,” Owen added.

  “Don’t be silly. She didn’t even take a swing at you, let alone reach for a knife. She’s nowhere near that level of loathing. . . yet.”

  “Damn right ‘yet.’ What the hell am I supposed to do? If I go into that assessment and throw it, then the Titan name gets even more run through the mud than it already has been. I mean, for all the shit that gets hurled about, the one thing no one can ever say is that I wasn’t a capable Hero. On the other hand, if I go in and tear her team apart, she really will hate me until the day one of us dies. I’d rather not have an archenemy that’s also a Hero so soon into my comeback.”

  “It does complicate matters,” Lenny agreed. “Just out of curiosity, you didn’t mention the chance of legitimately getting shown up in either of your assessments. Did that not even strike you as a possibility?”

  “I read up on Elemental Fury, including what they can do. So, honestly, no, it didn’t occur to me.”

  “Me either,” Lenny said. “You’re in a real pickle here, no doubt, and it’s even worse now that there’s a giant audience contractually attached to the spectacle.”

  “Thanks again for that, by the way.”

  “My pleasure,” Lenny leaned back in his chair, still exuding endless rays of calm. “And while we’re on the subject of thanking each other for things, why don’t we have a nice long chat about that little quote you gave the reporter.”

  Owen swallowed hard and looked down at his boots. This day was just getting worse by the hour.

  31.

  Owen was halfway back to the Mordent building, brisk evening air flowing around him as he jogged, when a noise suddenly crackled to life in his ear.

  He tensed, waiting for Dispatch’s voice to broadcast through. Since he wasn’t registered as currently active, whatever she was tapping him for had to be serious. He was either the only one close enough to respond or others had already failed to contain
the situation. Even if it was protocol, Owen had a feeling stepping one foot further into what Gale considered her turf would destroy whatever shreds of a chance there were for peaceful cohabitation. He’d have to deal with that later; in the moment doing his job was the only thing that mattered.

  It was only when the voice spoke that Owen realized his mistake. He’d put the specialized earpiece for Dispatch in his right ear that morning, same as always, while the sound was clearly on his left, the spot where he’d stuck the lower-tech team transceiver.

  “Titan, this is Galvanize. We’re needed.”

  “What’s up?”

  “A Hero team, Wild Bucks, squared off against a small gang of Supers about an hour ago. They managed to get them subdued, but there was a significant amount of collateral damage. We just received clearance to enter the area and evacuate any remaining civilians from unstable buildings or rubble. The epicenter of the damage area is at Forty-Third and Quail. Do you need us to pick you up?”

  Owen quickly glanced at the nearest sign post; he was crossing through Twenty-First and Morgan. Much of Brewster was laid out in a simple grid fashion, with numbers moving sequentially and letters alphabetically, meaning he was twenty-two blocks up and four blocks over. He’d never had a super-speeder’s abilities, but he did have powerful legs and a cardiovascular system that could go for days.

  “No, you guys go ahead. I can run there faster.”

  “Understood. Let me know when you’re getting close and I’ll give you directions to meet us. This is a large scale evacuation, so other PEERS teams will be on site assisting, as well as Heroes with appropriate abilities.”

  Galvanize didn’t have to spell it out for him: a lot of people would be there, and so would cameras, which meant he’d better make sure to keep on his best behavior. Increased media scrutiny was going to be part of their lives now, at least for a while, and they needed to make it work for them. Like a wild horse, you either held on and rode or fell off and got trampled.

  “I’ll seek you out as soon as I arrive.” Owen turned and reoriented himself, pausing long enough to check the traffic. He wouldn’t be moving as fast as a car, but if he accidently hit one then it wouldn’t make any difference. As important as it was to get to the scene, it was just an important not to hurt anyone on the way there. Not for the first time since he’d re-donned the mask, Owen dearly missed having a teleporter on call.

  * * *

  Owen’s mouth hung open as he drew closer to the section of city scarred from battle. Even blocks away he could see the wreckage: shattered glass, overturned cars, huge dents in the ground where large objects had clearly struck. No wonder this was a large-scale evacuation; he was only at the fringes and the place looked like hell. The gang they took down must have been incredibly powerful.

  “Dispatch, this is Titan.” He didn’t slow down as he spoke, easily hurdling minor obstacles without so much as missing a step.

  “Dispatch recognizes Titan.” She was there, ready as always, just waiting for him to say her name.

  “I’m meeting my PEERS team and heading to respond to the evacuation caused by some dickhead Supers and Wild Bucks.”

  “So they reported in.” Dispatch wasn’t particularly curt with her reply, or even sarcastic. Like nearly everything she said, it was factual and detached. Strangely, it made her one of the easiest people most Heroes had in their lives to talk to.

  “I’m getting first sight on the level of destruction and it’s a damn wreck. What were the Class Assessments on the gang they fought?” Owen jogged by the remains of what had probably been a small storefront, but was now so crushed it was impossible to say for sure.

  “The Supers that Wild Bucks faced were ranked as follows: one NTC Class and three Standard Class. Abilities were determined to be: one healer, one advanced mind, and two shifters.”

  Owen put his foot down so hard with the next step that he accidently shattered a piece of already broken street. He must have heard her wrong; that was the only viable explanation.

  “Dispatch, confirm, did you say an advanced mind and two shifters, all Standard Class, caused this much destruction in their neutralization?”

  “Correct.” Her voice held no judgment in its calm, slightly-accented tones, but only because that’s who she was. For someone like Owen, looking at the devastation caused, it was impossible to remain quite so detached.

  Owen was getting closer now and beginning notice things like smashed out corners of buildings, ones that had thankfully already been tagged as clear. The big white spray-painted “X” was an easy visual marker, saving him from having to radio in about every leaning structure he came across.

  “Dispatch, what was the civilian causality count from this operation?”

  “Final tally will not be available until the evacuation is completed.”

  “Give me current total.”

  “Five confirmed, with three more in critical condition.”

  “Thank you, Dispatch.”

  Owen nearly panted out those last words, his breath suddenly short for reasons that had nothing to do with physical exertion. Five dead in taking down four Supers who didn’t rate above standard class, not to mention countless dollars in destruction. This wasn’t like with the robots, when everyone was doing the best they could just to neutralize the threat. Three Standards and an NTC, none with particularly rare abilities, should be a breeze for any Hero team, regardless of their composition.

  Five dead, three hanging on, and God only knew how many people trapped or in danger, waiting to be evacuated. There was no way the DVA wouldn’t be digging into this one, and with good damn reason. Topsy’s team had fucked up royally, and they had to be held accountable for it. As Owen glanced around one more time, surveying the wreckage around him that had once been a neighborhood, he was struck with a single overwhelming sentiment:

  The DVA was going to have to get in line behind him.

  That would come later. Right now there were people in danger, innocents who had nothing to do with the situation currently threatening their lives. They mattered more than anything, and it was time to finally start using his powers like a Hero.

  Titan put on an extra burst of speed, bearing down on the destroyed area with all the unstoppability of a derailed freight train.

  32.

  Titan found his team just as Galvanize was returning to them from a small cluster of men also wearing masks and capes. The number of unfamiliar uniforms and intensity of the situation made it impossible to determine who was a Hero and who was a corpie, but Titan realized that for the first time, he honestly didn’t give a shit about the distinction. Everyone was here to help. That was the only thing that mattered.

  “Listen up,” Galvanize said, addressing his team with clear, ringing authority. He might be a nice guy, but now was not the time for kindness. Now was the time for straightforward orders and prompt obedience. “Afterthought is currently sweeping for minds of people who are trapped, and Scope is using his senses to find the ones who are unconscious. They’re on point for this recovery and directing all efforts, so if they give you an order, you carry it out. Understood?”

  Most of the team nodded, except for Titan, who said, “Yes, sir.” In another situation, one of the others might have ribbed him a bit for the over-enthusiasm, but now each was focused on receiving his or her assignment.

  “Hexcellent, you and Huggles are needed to help open up cars with people stuck inside. Switch to Big Henry if the situation demands it, but when you run low on juice, stay with Huggles. We’ve got plenty of heavy lifters but a pair of blades is always handy.” Galvanize pointed the leather-clad girl toward a group gathering near a flipped food truck, and she took off without a word.

  “Bubble Bubble, you’re helping with evacuating people from higher floors of unstable buildings. Airborn is coordinating, so go to her and follow her directions. If she finishes her operation, come to me for a new assignment.”

  “Absolutely,” Bubble Bubble replied, moving b
riskly off toward a nearby woman who was hovering a foot or two from the ground.

  “Zone, you’re with Titan on rubble-clearing duty, and I’m going to stay with Scope and Afterthought to direct us.”

  “But-”

  “This is not up for discussion,” Galvanize said, eyes hard as he stared at the muscular young man. After a moment, he spoke again, and this time his voice had softened just a touch. “Zone, we need someone who’s on our radio with them so they can tell us where to dig people out. I’ve only got moderate strength, nothing beyond the human spectrum, and no one who is out there needs my enhancing ability. I know you two don’t get along, but right now I don’t care about your feelings. Real people are out there waiting for us, and if we piss away time on petty bullshit, we might not get to them in time. Do we have a problem?”

  “No. . . sir.” Zone didn’t break eye contact with Galvanize, but his shoulders dipped and his chest moved inward as he conceded the battle.

  “Good. Move to that building immediately,” Galvanize said, pointing to a five-story brick building with a massive hole in the center. “The insides have been severely damaged, and with the breaks in the exterior as well, we’re not sure how long before the whole thing comes crashing down. Zone, you go to the area directly southeast of it; you’ll recognize it by the giant pile of bricks. We’ve got confirmed people in there who need help. Titan, you’re going into the building itself to grab a few people stuck in tight areas. Is it an issue if the building collapses on you?”

  “Not for me, but I’d only be able to shield so many people nearby,” Titan said. Depending on the size of the people in question, he could usually handle anywhere between two and four adults, though tending to that many would make getting out with them nearly impossible.