Champion said, “Watch my back.”
I dropped a shield around him as he breached the jewelry store, and I moved to hover a few inches off the ground facing the street at the doorway and shot off another shield at the proprietor as I turned around. All my instincts said to watch him and make sure he was okay, but my training told me to watch the sky and street for any accomplices. Champion was a very tough and strong brawler, and with my shield he was safe enough, or at least that was the hope.
“Freeze!” Champion demanded behind me.
My shield suddenly filled with dimensional energy, which I let dissipate, then something very fast hit me in the back shoving me forward, but when I turned George had him in a choke hold from behind. George was a speedster as well, just not quite as fast as those who only had that power. Me blocking the door had slowed the bastard down enough for Champion to catch him.
The supervillain was dressed in a red and silver suit, and he had a lot of gadgets on him including one of the dimensional energy weapons. He was struggling to escape George’s grip, but the lack of air and his wild thrashing at super speed had him fading in moments. The next second Champion had him on the ground, with his knee in the supervillain speedsters back and putting on cuffs.
He also stripped all the devices off him.
One of the small drones moved up, and a few moments later Harmony said, “Two more bombs, a control device, and a dimensional energy weapon. The latter is designed differently from the terrorists of three weeks ago, most likely designed and built by a supervillain mad-scientist.”
Champion grunted, and I flipped the guy over who was coming back to consciousness.
“Where is your supplier? Or is it partner.”
The supervillain spat in his face, which of course was stopped by my shield.
Champion sighed, “You’ll talk to one of our telepaths, might as well save some time and tell me now.”
Unfortunately, it was an empty threat, since all the city telepaths working for us were killed in the explosion three weeks ago when the building was taken out. Oh, it’d get done, but we’d have to import one or send the supervillain to another city to make it happen.
The supervillain seemed to know that, and just expressed his antipathy toward the idea with a two-word phrase I won’t repeat.
Expressed his antipathy, mom would like that phrase.
Champion said, “I’ll take him in, return the jewelry and get a statement. I’ll be back before you’re done with that. Stacey, get on the line with Manhattan, tell them we need a telepath or empath, pronto. We need to move fast, before our quarry leaves the city.”
I nodded and scooped up the bag, while Stacey replied, “On it.”
Champion took off with the supervillain in tow, and Harmony transported them straight to level six, while I went in to get a recorded statement for the idiot’s trial. Not a bad first official bust for me as a superheroine, and we had a lead for a mad scientist selling illegal tech to other supervillains. Not bad at all, considering Champion might’ve been cut in half if I hadn’t been here.
The adrenaline was slowly wearing off, and my heartbeat returned to a steady normal as we took up our patrol again just fifteen minutes later.
Champion said, “Analysis?”
Well, back in school, apparently.
“For one, if the supervillains take their cue from the terrorist and start equipping speedsters and others with dimensional weapons our job just got more dangerous. I’m not sure what I could’ve done better. I shielded you and the proprietor, and I blocked the exit while scanning for accomplices. I didn’t even see what you did, or what happened in there, so can’t comment on that. Oh, we didn’t fall for the distraction, even if I was kind of tempted to check on Sally and Janna.”
Champion nodded, “That about sums it up. The speedster was a lot faster than I was. I should’ve recognized the danger and taken him down right away, instead of pausing and demanding his surrender. I wasn’t expecting a dimensional weapon, which was a mistake. When his weapon was ineffective, he ran for it with what he had, and I caught him when your shields blasted him back.”
I nodded, my reactive shields hit him back with equal force, so he’d gone flying back as I’d gone flying forward. Which… probably shouldn’t have happened.
“I suppose I could’ve braced myself mentally, a bit better. I was just floating there.”
Champion said, “True. Good collar though, but I want his supplier. Chances are the mad scientist works through blinds, but if there’s a chance the speedster knows where he is, we need to take him down hard.”
“Or her.”
Champion nodded, “Or her.”
We continued on patrol for the rest of the day, with only a short break for lunch. All in all, it was a good first day, and there was no further trouble. A telepath did arrive while we were still patrolling, but all the supervillain could say was he’d made the contact over the dark web, and the exchange was made using blind drops. He had no idea who the mad scientist was, what he or she looked like, or where the lair was.
We’d get him eventually though. Harmony was already hitting those web trails hard. It was extremely hard to outmaneuver an A.I. on the internet, though the mad scientist could have one of their own. An A.I. of his or her own I mean, not an internet.
It was almost seven by the time I showered, pulled on a pair of jeans and casual shirt, and had Harmony teleport me out of there so I could go home. Or, to my parent’s house anyway, since my new home was headquarters. Of course, Janna came with me.
Chapter Twelve
“Happy Birthday! How was your first patrol?”
I snorted, “Like you don’t already know, mom?”
She laughed, “Maybe. I’ll take it from that wide smile things went well?”
I nodded.
Janna said, “Hi, Mrs. Mason.”
She shook her head, “Janna, call me Bell. We’re all adults now.”
Janna smiled shyly at that, but then nodded.
A shriek met my ears, and I scooped up a runaway nine-year-old as she leapt into my arms, which was quite a strain without my shields.
“Miss me, Shar?”
Sharon grinned, “Yes. Happy Birthday, Wynn,” she said in a cute piping voice.
I looked around, “Where’s Jace?”
A brief shadow crossed my mother’s face, which made my heart skip.
She shook her head, “Your brother’s fine, he was just a little sick earlier. Aunt Debra took care of it, but it took a lot out of him and he’s sleeping it off.”
I frowned, “Sick? We don’t get sick.”
We really didn’t, not second generation. The super healing regeneration didn’t kick in until we quickened, but our immune systems were still bolstered before that in comparison to normal humans.
She looked at Janna and then back at me, and said, “I’ve got someone analyzing the blood to figure out what happened there. We’re still waiting. He should be up soon.”
Someone, meaning Prisma, my mom’s team A.I. I kind of missed the A.I., she was fun and a lot more playful than Harmony, but I couldn’t talk to her anymore without raising flags. Time to grow up.
Uncle Germaine came forward and hugged me, as did Aunt Debra, all while my little sister continued to cling to me as I held her on my hip. My arm was already getting tired though. She was getting way too big for this, but she was far too excited to see me for me to put her down. Ray and Shawna also greeted me with happy birthdays, and when I finally let my sister down I gave my parents a hug too.
Debra said, “I made your favorite meal.”
My mother made a face, she was a good cook, but Debra was the best.
I grinned, jealous much? Happy I immortalized that in these pages, mom? Yeah, she brought out the brat in me, but moving on.
“So, yeah, good day. I got my first collar, and Janna saved ten people from a fire.”
My mother smirked, “Yes, I heard about the explosion in the city today. I’m ju
st glad you’re all alright.”
I tried not to roll my eyes at her knowing smirk, my mother had probably been hovering invisible over me all day, and we headed for the dining room. I slipped a note into mom’s pocket for her to read later. I couldn’t exactly take the watch off to tell her Sally had busted me and knew who she really was. It’d raise flags, since I wasn’t supposed to take it off at all.
I couldn’t even be overly obvious in body language expression, or Janna would pick it up.
My dad said, “I saw your suit today, where’s the rest of it?”
I snorted, and blushed, “Dad!” I said in a drawn-out exaggerated tone of aggrievance. Home for two minutes, and I already felt like a kid again. Would it always be like that, or would I feel like an adult when around them someday? They were so overprotective, but thankfully not smothering.
Janna snickered.
Debra had cooked a five-cheese lasagna also loaded down with beef and pork, along with homemade garlic bread. It was fantastic, and my little brother looked fine when he came down halfway through and joined us. Based on the way he was inhaling the lasagna, I’d say his appetite was fine too. There wasn’t all that much conversation for the first half of the meal, everyone at the table save the pre-teen kids were quickened. We all needed a lot of calories.
Especially after flying and glowing all day.
My mom must’ve read the note in the kitchen when they retrieved the food, because she gave me a significant look followed by a shrug, and another weighty look toward dad.
Right, Glenn Mason would see trouble coming long before it arrived. If Sally had been planning on following up on her discovery, they’d already know it was coming. Point was, she didn’t look annoyed either, almost like she’d half expected it to happen.
Which meant she had seen it coming, or at least the possibility.
Which, filled me with a storm of emotions. My mother had knowingly risked everything to give me my dreams, and I hadn’t even thought of the possibility before I’d already been busted. Damn.
Slowly, conversation started up.
Glenn said, “Good to see you’re both doing so well. The life isn’t for everyone.”
He gave my mother a smirking look, which was probably about the fact she’d never wanted to be a superheroine, but she’d taken to it amazingly well and still hadn’t given it up.
Janna replied, “It’s all I’ve ever wanted, there’s a reason Wynn and I are best friends.”
I grinned, true enough. Our friendship was deeper than that, but it’d started out because of our desire to serve one day, way back in grade school.
We chatted about everyday things as we finished off the large pan of lasagna, and the large bowl of garlic bread. My parents asked me about headquarters and what I was doing, which I gushed about, but I don’t need to cover that here since I already had earlier.
It was only after they’d sung happy birthday, and we were demolishing the cake, that anything truly significant happened.
My mother tilted her head slightly, as if listening to something, then her face drained of color and her fork dropped to her plate.
“Excuse me, I need to check on something,” she tried to cover, badly, and then fled the room. I was dying to chase after her and demand what had shaken her so badly, what had shaken the Mistress of Death so badly, but she wouldn’t be able to answer me anyway.
Not with my blasted watch on. That was even assuming she was still in the house, and she hadn’t teleported to her hidden lair to put on her suit. Something major must be going down.
I shrugged helplessly as Janna gave me a questioning look, no idea where to even start.
Of course, I turned out to be wrong in my guess, when my mother walked back into the dining room thirty seconds later and turned on the television in the living room. Which was sort of viewable from the dining room, if I craned my neck.
The news anchor looked scared.
“I repeat, there’s been an outbreak of some kind. Several children were admitted to the hospital four hours ago, and more than half have died from the sickness making their organs shut down. It is highly contagious, as several others in the hospital have now started to show signs of the disease, which may or may not be a plague of some kind.
“The CDC is advising everyone to stay home, those that start to exhibit symptoms of the common flu should head to the hospital immediately. The good news is the incubation period seems incredibly short, a matter of three to four hours. The children that survived are already well on their way to recovering. We have a Doctor Neil Chase on the phone, from the CDC.”
Neil’s picture came up, and he said, “Thank you, Sandra. We don’t know what’s causing this, but it’s happening in several cities around the world, and so far the death rate seems to be around thirty eight percent. We’re working quickly to isolate the virus. The best people can do is as you said already, stay in your homes and wait for it to burn out. The disease is highly contagious but burns out quickly.”
Sandra said, “Some have already speculated this is a result of forced and unnatural evolution, that the bug is a super bug.”
Neil snorted, “We are still searching for the root cause, and a cure, but that’s a ridiculous assertion. The virus is attacking everyone but quickened supers, including children in the second generation, who have much stronger immune systems. That it started with them is not proof, especially since it’s flaring up in multiple cities, all on the same day. I don’t want to alarm your viewers, but there’s nothing natural about that. It’s far more likely this virus was engineered and spread artificially.
“Again, stay indoors. The incubation period is short but anyone that has it will be a danger to others for several hours before the symptoms show.”
My mother’s eyes narrowed, and I wondered what she was thinking as she switched the television off.
“What is it?”
Mom shook her head, “Jace and Sharon got the last of their immunization shots today, this morning. Almost a forty percent death rate, does that sound familiar to anyone?”
Oh, insert really bad word here.
Janna got there a second later, “The terrorist is back?”
Mom nodded, “Maybe I’m jumping to conclusions, but it’s not like he’d give up because congress rejected his demands and we put down his army. He’s changed tactics. Somehow, he managed to get that poison into immunization shots around the world. Not all of them, or Sharon would’ve gotten sick too.”
I frowned, “Did it change him?”
I felt a potent surge of rage in my chest, at the thought of my little brother being changed to an old human. Too be robbed of his future abilities, his stouter health, and his longer life. Not to mention all the children who’d died, and god knew how many more would die in four hours.
My mother shook her head, “I don’t think so. He was healed too quickly for it to run its course, assuming I’m not just being paranoid.”
I doubted she’d dismiss such a worry lightly, not over her own son, which meant Prisma had probably fed her the information. By now the A.I. would’ve had his DNA analyzed from the blood sample, and she would know if it’d been compromised or changed.
Which, was a small relief. My chest still felt tight, and if I ever ran into that bastard I wouldn’t hesitate to end him. If we weren’t jumping to conclusions, that is.
That’s when our watches went off, my eighteenth birthday party was over, as Solar Wind declared an emergency and it was all superheroes on deck. Well, I could open my presents later.
Chapter Thirteen
The command center was buzzing with all twelve of us, but so far there wasn’t a damned thing we could do, and we’d been twiddling our thumbs for hours. The terrorist could be anywhere, and so far he hadn’t even taken credit. Hundreds of thousands had died already, worldwide, and in three hours that number was expected to jump to the millions.
Quiet descended quickly in the room as Harmony spoke.
“We have confir
mation, some of the ones that survived have been tested, and their DNA profile has changed to homo-sapiens. It’s also been verified the virus was introduced in immunity shots, and all such work has been suspended and they’re testing by lot to determine which ones are compromised.”
I felt like I was going to throw up. I’d never felt so helpless in my life. My powers were completely useless, and there was nothing I could do to fight this. Even the healers, even a strong one like Debra aka Angel would run out of juice long before making much headway. It was impossible to get ahead of it.
My eyes widened, maybe not.
“Boss, I have a crazy idea.”
Sally looked over, “What?”
“Umm, we need to ask everyone to go outside, and I need to track down Angel on the private hero team.”
I knew Debra was healing. She’d left when Janna and I had, but I had no idea what hospital she was at. It was barely a dent in the numbers, but every life saved was more than worth the effort.
It was hard, but even then when I knew we had to focus on those we could save, and not those we couldn’t, didn’t make it easy to accept. Even if my plan worked, it would only stop the horrifically larger third wave of deaths that was coming soon in Excelsior.
Sally said, “Okay, that is a crazy plan, since everyone and their mother are telling people not to go outside, in an attempt to quarantine and stop the spread. That could kill the whole city.”
I nodded, “My shields are reactive, Sally. That doesn’t just mean harmful energy. I can enhance and project back out anything another super hits me with, kinetic or energy based. I’ve never thought about it before, trying to think of ways to use it offensively until now, but it should work for any energy. The only catch is my power doesn’t work through walls.”
Sally’s eyes went wide when she finally put it together, “Alright, but go find her now and verify it will work, before we take the risk of asking everyone in the city to fill the streets.”
Lady Aegis: Origins of Supers: Book Two Page 12