Omega

by Riley Tune

  “That’s enough, Cayden,” Cord said slowly. “You’ve done all you can do, and I’ve made the decision. Spare her. She’s too far gone, and we need to conserve the resources.” Cayden turned to protest and was instantly cut off. “That’s coming from me as your superior, not as your brother. Do what I say.”

  Cayden didn’t reply. Instead, he threw the rag he was holding down on the ground and began to walk to each monitor in the isolated room, switching them off one by one. Each slower than the last. “I’m sorry Becca,” he said faintly as he did so. “Have some of the others clean this up when you’re done, and find us in the briefing room,” Cord said to his brother. Cayden didn’t reply. He just flicked the back of his hand towards them. The universal signal to leave so he could be left alone as he finished up.

  Cord took one more final look at Becca’s body and then turned to leave the medical bay. “Fifth person I’ve lost in four days,” Cord said to them as they walked. Nerfing curse is destroying us faster than I can recruit. At this rate, Bravado will be a memory, not a legacy.” “Becca was a good girl. I remember when she joined. Practically begged us every day until we let her in. She deserved better,” Perkins said.

  “Anybody deserves better than that.” Flex replied. “Debatable,” Hunter said as he followed them to the briefing room. Once they all sat down, Cord picked up his remote again. “So, he’s your brother,” Hunter said to the room at large. “So, he’s elite blood too.” “He is,” Cord replied. “While I have no spells at all, my little brother has more than one.” “What else can he do?” Danielle asked.

  “It’s not of importance right now,” Cord replied as he turned to Flex. “Before we left you asked who pulled the strings.” Flex locked eyes with Cord as he clicked the remote once more. This time the faceless man displayed vanished and was replaced by a youthful woman that had a smirk on her face, and a punk fashion style to her. Hunter looked at the spinning figure of the woman and noticed that Perkins had a balled fist resting on the table now.

  “Empress Queen Omega,” Cord said slowly. Flex looked at the spinning figure. He was thinking the same as the rest of his team. Finally, at long last, they knew who Omega was. “She’s an empress and a queen?” Danielle asked with a grimace on her face. “What sense does that make?” “We know her birth name is Queen, supposedly,” Perkins said. “Omega is just a name she gave herself, and Empress is the title she wields.”

  “The undisputed ruler of the East section of Mo’eizus. Creator of the Wardens and their circle, and highly considered the most dangerous being on this planet,” Cord added in. “Well she doesn't look like much,” Danielle said. “For Atlas’ sake, she looks the same age as me.”

  “One of her spells allows her to age slowly,” Perkins added. “She is actually closer to eighty or so years old, according to reports.” “Live in my shadow, or die at my feet,” Cord said to the room at large. Hunter remembered the flyer he had seen outside when they arrived on the Great Beast. In my shadow, or at my feet.

  “What is that?” Hunter asked. “It’s her oath to the people she rules. Live in my shadow, or die at my feet,” Perkins replied. “There is no other option.” “You said one of her spells,” Flex said to Cord. “So, she’s elite too?” Cord did a mixture of shaking his head with a slight shoulder shrug. “As far as we know, no. Her number of spells, or their power, can’t be explained. Which added more intrigue to her Intrigue, she then uses as she wishes,” Cord replied.

  So, she’s the one we have to stop,” Hunter said. “Stop her, find a cure, save Impervious, and then get the hell out of this sand trap.” Hunter looked around. “Am I missing anything?”

  Cord exhaled and clicked his remote once more. The floating figure of Omega vanished. As he placed the remote on the table, footsteps could be heard in the hall, and slowly Cayden entered the room. He didn’t speak and had his head tilted some as he removed a chair and sat at the table.

  “You have the finer points,” Cord said to Hunter. “But you are narrow-minded.” Hunter fought back the urge to curse at Cord. He felt like he was going to have to set the man straight sooner than later. “We first need to replenish the ranks of Bravado. That includes recruiting and training. All under the eyes of Omega. She has people everywhere.” Cord looked to Perkins.

  She nodded her head slowly before she began to speak. “Omega is a threat, but Bravado is here for the people. We can’t help them if we don’t have the soldiers needed.” “You’re the authority on soldiers that are needed that aren’t here and aren’t you,” Cayden said without looking up. Perkins stammered as she began to speak, but Cord raised a hand to cut her off. “Perkins is still your superior. Respect her as such,” Cord said to his brother. “Yes sir, Cord,” Cayden replied.

  Cord’s gaze lingered on his brother for a few seconds more before he spoke again. “Let’s stop here. I’m starving and need to eat,” Cord said as he made way to the room entrance. “We’ll join you,” Perkins said. “Alone,” Cord barked. “I’d rather have some silence with my thoughts in my quarters,” Cord replied.

  He looked at the room and asked, “I’m sure everybody is caught up. If there are questions Cayden will fill you in.” Flex stood up. “No, I’d rather you answer this one.” Cord’s jaw clenched as he crossed his arms in front of him. “What is it?”

  Flex moved to stand in front of Cord, blocking his way through the door. “You told us everything except for the one question that any sane person would ask,” Flex said. He looked passed Cord and then glanced at Danielle who in return shrugged her shoulders. “How about you Paragon?” Flex said to Hunter. “Has a certain question been burning at you this entire time? One that our host with horrible manners has left out?”

  Hunter cleared his throat as he stood up to stand behind Cord. To the room at large, it was clear that the two men were positioned around Cord in a way that he was overpowered if he tried to do anything. Cayden quickly stood up. “What are you doing?” he asked loudly. Perkins placed a hand on his shoulder, that Cayden quickly knocked off and away.

  “It’s okay,” Hunter said without looking at Cayden. As he did so, a large force field separated the three of them from the rest of the room. “The question he didn’t answer,” Hunter continued. “With all the killing at the ambush. With several Warden’s circles and even a spy in their midst, he still survived. A man with no spells what so ever, and who prefers fists over guns. The question we should be asking is, how did he get away.”

  Flex smiled “give my intern a prize,” he said. “Well Cord, answer the man.”

  CHAPTER 16:

  FROSTY BITCH

  P ower Prince walked down the hallways of the New Lords’ base and thoroughly wished that Flex, Hunter, or even Danielle were back. Considering the task before him, he would rather have Flex back a little more than the others. He hadn’t realized it before but the base was rather creepy when it was only being used by one or two people. He felt that perhaps his boredom was the main reason that he felt it was creepy. When you have nothing to do you tend to notice long dark hallways, or random noises from unknown sources.

  What was even worse was that he found himself talking to Prism more and more since he returned from seeing the powers that be with the I.C.E. officials. Jen was so fast to run off with Sasha, that the only thing around to listen was Prism, and the hologram seemed genuinely interested in how the meeting went.

  All in all, the trip he and Jen made went well. As the only true member of the New Lords, who was also around when the Imperial Lords ran the show, Power Prince had done much of the talking, with Jen adding in some points of view here and there.

  Despite her lack of experience, she proved to be a help as they tried to win them over for approval. Power Prince stopped at a door and placed his hand on the scanner. A yellow, slow moving light encased his hand, beeped and then the door opened. He jumped when he saw there were people inside the room waiting for him.

  “Atlas dude, you gotta give a guy some warning.” Power Prin
ce said as he walked into the room and stood in front of a monitor. “I didn’t even know you were here yet.” Power Prince looked the two men before him up and down. He hadn’t seen him in a while, but Life-Line still looked the same. Same stern jaw that a boxer would envy and the same old-fashioned buzz cut. Life-Line placed a hand on Power Prince’s shoulder. “Sorry. I used my credentials to get in and then Terry here,” Life-Line said as he nodded his head towards the man standing beside him. “Teleported us directly in here from up top.”

  Life-Line had on his traditional costume. A gray suit that covered him from neck to toe, boots of the same color gray, and a green cape that fell down to his feet. Power Prince hadn’t seen Life-Life for the better part of a year, and it was his understanding that Hunter hadn’t either.

  Since the events with Infinity, and secrets of the Imperial Lords past coming to light, Life-Life, and his healing ability, moved into civilian life. His healing clinic was generating more money than some tech companies, and for a company with only three members of the staff, that was impressive. What Power-Prince did notice was that there was a rounder midsection in the gray costume than he remembered.

  “I know. I know.” Life-Line said as he caught Power Prince’s eyes look at his stomach. “I’m not as active as I used to be,” Life-Line said as he topped off his words by placing both hands on his stomach a few times. Power Prince shrugged as he extended a hand to Terry.

  The man was short but muscular and the purple costume he had on was a contrast to his dark skin. “Shall I call you Terry or would you prefer Gleam?” Terry looked to Life-Line, smirked some and then turned back to Power-Prince. “Gleam is fine. Marcus didn’t think you would know who I was,” Gleam said through a nasal voice that didn’t reflect his muscular appearance.

  “Come on, dude,” Power Prince said as he ignored the glare Life-Line sent his way. Life-Line knew Power Prince was one of the more relaxed Icons he ever worked with, but still, he expected him to show a little more respect to Icon legends. Calling them dude didn’t cut it.

  “One of the most popular teleporters around and I wouldn’t know him?” Power Prince asked as he shook the hand with enthusiasm. “Well, the retired life makes it easy to fall out of popularity.” Gleam replied as he turned to Life-Line. “We all don’t have jobs that make the masses seek us out.”

  Life-Line cleared his throat some as he clapped his hands and stood before a panel of glowing buttons. “Don’t start that shit, Terry,” Life-Line said. “I am but a humble healer. Some people want the benefit of meeting an Icon, being healed instantly, having no scars, or recovery time. It’s not a bad deal.” “And they pay through the nose for it,” Gleam said. “You could do the same with travel services,” Life-Line replied as he pressed some buttons. He had to stifle a laugh as he did so. “I know some people would pay top dollar to travel the world in seconds instead of hours.”

  Life-Line was facing a monitor and as such couldn’t see the look on Gleam’s face at this joke. “Insult me like that again and I’m going to drop you in the middle of the ocean.” “Point taken,” Life-Line said with a laugh he didn’t try to hide.

  Power Prince moved to stand in front of the panel to the opposite side of Life-Line and brought several additional screens to life. Each screen either had news feeds running on it or multiple smaller security camera feeds on them.

  “If I’m being honest dude, it’s because of Charmed that I’m such a fan of yours,” Power Prince said to Gleam as he continued to hit the glowing keys. There was silence in the room, which prompted him to look at the two men. “Charmed. The cult classic show about witches?” Still, silence occupied the room.

  Power Prince took in a deep breath. “They have these beings called Whitelighters that teleport from place to place, and the special effects they use on the show is exactly what your power looks like. You know what, never mind.”

  Before he could say anything else, Prism flickered into view which caused Gleam to jump. “Nice to have you back in the base, Life-Line,” the holographic butler said with a slight flickering bow to the man with the green cape. “It’s good to be back, Prism. Even if only until we resolve the issue at hand.”

  “Gleam, welcome to the New Lords’ base. If you need anything simply call upon me and I will be there.” Gleam gave a silent thumbs up toward the hologram as he continued to watch the monitors. “Clearly manners aren’t only skipped by the younger heroes,” Prism said loudly. Gleam ignored him.

  “Power Prince, the information you requested has been uploaded to the personal computers in your room,” Prism said. “Perfect,” Power Prince replied. “Do the same thing for the one in Flex’s room, and send a copy of the file to Life-Line.” The hologram did a slight bow. “As you wish sir,” Prism said before he flickered out.

  “You know you don’t have to include me on this,” Life-Life said as he typed on the panel in front of him. “Yeah, I do,” Power-Prince replied. “Trust me. Those I.C.E. guys at the meeting said a lot of shit, and one of the things they kept coming back to was for us to recruit at least one new member. Two if possible. Said we were too small, and you’re the highest-ranking member of the former team so you have a vote in who we accept.”

  “Well, they aren’t wrong.” Gleam replied. “Two full-time members, two interns, and then two random consultants that haven’t even taken the oath won't cut it. I’m surprised they didn’t ding you on the oath part alone. They must be getting soft.” Power Prince fought the urge to look at Life-Line who had clearly shared their current team roster with Gleam. He even told him that officially, Perkins and Danielle were still labeled as consultants.

  Flex had decided to make them official members once Hunter and Jen completed their internship. “Found her!” Life-Line said as he tapped a few of the glowing buttons with more pressure that was needed. As he typed, all of the screens fused into one. “Yeah, that’s her alright.” Power Prince said as he looked at the paused face of Zeva Greene become enhanced to the point that it consumed the entire screen.

  “Where is she?” Power Prince asked. “Looks like she is on the unsavory side of town in Millwater,” Gleam replied. Life-Line pressed a few more buttons and then looked to Gleam. “Damn, Terry. You’re right,” Life-Line said. “How in Atlas’ name did you know that just by looking at one still video?”

  Gleam smirked. “I’m a teleporter. I get around. And unlike this amateur she’s running around with, I don’t have a limit on where I can go,” Gleam said as he snorted, “five-mile radius,” under his breath. As he spoke Power Prince realized why Gleam was here. He wasn’t just support and transport. His second power would be vital to their success.

  “Where is Jen?” Life-Line asked. “She’s out with Sasha celebrating that we made it out alive from that room full of government suit-wearing types,” Power Prince replied. “Good. I don’t want her anywhere near this frosty bitch.” He typed a few more keys and then closed the screen. “I just sent word to some of the local Icons in Millwater. If they can, they will help. Detach had friends there, so I’m sure we won’t be alone.”

  Power Prince nodded as he looked at the screen and let out a shallow sigh. “You okay, son?” Life-Line asked. “Yeah,” Power Prince replied. “I just wish it hadn’t come to this. Or that Flex was here.” Life-Line rubbed his chin for half a second as he placed a hand on the young Icon’s shoulder and clamped down gently.

  “Flex knew it would come to this, the moment she did what she did in Vincula. He made his choice to leave and left this here for you to handle because he trusts you. He may be the leader, but I remember both you boys when you joined the Lords. You’ve got just as much ability as him. You know how the public is. Give them a good- looking Icon with super strength and they eat it up.”

  As Life-Line spoke, Power Prince was running over their options in his head, and he found no other outcome that would work. What he had decided to do had to be done. If this were anybody else, he wouldn’t even be having these second thoughts. Flex’s sister
should be no different and he knew it. Not to mention that he had always loved Detach. He even had a crush on her when he first started, and a reoccurring fantasy about a night of bliss with her and her clones.

  If anything, she deserved justice and her killer shouldn’t be free. “If you need to sit this one out,” Life-Line began but Power Prince shook his head quickly. “No, I’m good,” Power Prince replied. With his lips tightly pressed together, Life-Line took in a breath before he spoke.

  “We’ve got permission to use extreme force. After the breakout taking her alive is an option but not a must. She likely knows this so don’t hesitate.” He made it as if he was talking to the room but internally, Life-Line hoped that Power Prince was paying him undivided attention. He was their only defense until other Icons arrived.

  “Let’s hit it,” Gleam said as he placed his hand on their shoulders. Power Prince felt a surge of energy wash over him and then instantly he was standing on a dirty street between two buildings. “Welcome to Millwater,” Gleam said as he popped his back. He closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them again. “It’s done. They aren’t going anywhere.”

  Power Prince was expecting more from this part of the plan. Gleam was a famous teleporter, perhaps even the most famous teleport. He had earned a reputation for being the guy you called when you wanted to catch a hero that was hard to lock down because they could fly or teleport. While his teleporting power was often caught on camera, his second power wasn’t.

  “That’s it?” Power Prince asked. Gleam nodded. “Dang dude, I was expecting something flashier.” “Flashy or not, Slingshot can no longer teleport as long as I’m here,” Gleam replied.

  As they stepped onto the street, they saw various vendors spread around them. Most of them looked as filthy as the street they worked on. Ragged carts, and flimsy stands full of junk. “Why would she come here?” Power Prince asked as he scanned the crowd. “Variety of reasons,” Life-Line answered.