After dinner, the team separated. It was getting late, so Liam retired to his room. His unopened bag was still waiting for him when he returned. It’d been such an exciting day he’d forgotten to unpack. Which wasn’t all too uncommon for him. Liam liked to think of it as a side effect of his brain, focusing on the bigger problems. Even if that wasn’t the truth.
Liam knew he should unpack before he went to bed. If the suitcase wasn’t emptied now, he’d leave it like this for days or maybe even weeks. Sometimes it was the simple things he’d procrastinate over. But let’s be honest who doesn’t procrastinate every now and then. And with saving the world on your mind, simple chores could be forgotten.
Taking a long breath Liam got to work unpacking. And to his surprise as soon as he started his mood brightened. This was more proof that everything from today was real. He had his own room in a real base. Kid Liam would jump off the walls with excitement. And it affected grown up Liam in the same way. Only the temper gained from age stopped him from listening to his younger self.
Looking back at today, Liam knew he belonged. After introductions he’d known it. When the team met him, they did it without masks. That was one of the greatest signs of trust for a Hero. Sure, he didn’t know their actual names, but that was understandable. They’d shared their secret identities with him, which meant enough. It was a level of trust Liam had repaid in kind. It turned out to be a good decision he’d gone maskless today.
While the public knew the basics of all Heroes powers, keeping those a secret would be impossible in the age of the internet, they closely guarded the specifics. For instance Gladius only being able to manipulate three metal objects at once. The way she displayed her power in public made people think she could manipulate anything metal touching her skin. Yet again, the team had shared many of those secrets with him as soon as they met, more proof that he was one of them.
As Liam finished unpacking the suitcase, he looked around the room. It was still bare bones, like his workshop. But he could see it coming together. In no time, his own personal flair would claim the room. He hoped Matt was right and no one would come in here, otherwise he’d never hear the end of it.
Climbing into bed Liam gazed at the ceiling. Still brimming with excitement from the day. Sleep came hard that night. After almost an hour of tossing about Liam did a training exercise, they taught prospective Heroes at the academy. Evaluating a power and figuring out an effective counter. There were as many powers in the world as there were supers and no one power was supreme or two powers were the same. The teachers at the academy liked to say it wasn’t the super with the stronger power that won a fight, but the super who could analyze the situation and use their power to the greatest effect. Liam, as a super without physical enhancements, had lived by that ideal. Whenever he saw a power, he’d design something to nullify it or use an existing invention to counter it. And Liam was proud to say that strategy had gotten him all the way to a top five ranking in the academy. Something he was still all too happy to gloat about.
Given his past achievements and inability to fall asleep Liam did the exercise on the other members of The Hunt. To get started, he looked at the ancient warrior living in a modern world, Gladius. From what he’d seen the woman was intimidating in a fight. Getting in close with her would be a mistake for all, but the strongest of supers. For Liam he’d be asking to lose if he did that. But if he could keep the fight at a distance, possibly putting an obstacle that she couldn’t get through between them, then he’d have the advantage. Fighting her while he was flying or above her on a roof would be ideal. Both would limit her ability to counterattack. From her explanation, once an object left her touch it would go back to its original properties. Leaving her long distance attacks less dangerous than those up close, though not enough to be ignored.
There was also another clear limit to Gladius’s ability. While she had ten pieces of armor on her person. She could only enhance three objects at a time. As such she couldn’t keep it all powered. Liam would have to see how fast she could change the enhancement from one object to another, but he assumed there was some delay. That was a risky assumption to make if they were to fight, however it made sense. Either consciously or not it’d be difficult to imagine her power switching objects in rapid succession.
With a delay, attacking her from different angles would beat her armor. It would overwhelm her ability to change what was being protected. Attacking Gladius from a blind side or aiming at multiple pieces of armor could have the same effect.
If Gladius could change her enhancement in an instant, then Liam would have to take a different approach to beat her. He’d have to attack her from multiple sides at once. If he hit enough points, then she wouldn’t be able to block all of them.
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The last option Liam could try was to incapacitate her. Sure her shield and armor were strong, but that wouldn’t help her from a flashbang going off in her face. Once disorientated Liam would have more time to get around her defenses.
There were several approaches to fighting Gladius. But Liam was sure one of them would work. Though he’d have to watch her in the field to know which. Maybe he could help her prevent someone else from exploiting whatever weakness he found. Was there a way he could combine here armor into one piece so it could all be powered? Maybe run a wire through it all? There were so many questions with her ability, he couldn’t wait to learn more.
Satisfied with Gladius he moved onto H-Bar. The man was a walking jokester. While the team was at the base that was a great thing. Helping them relax and reducing stress. But how that translated into a fight was another matter entirely. If H-Bar was still cracking jokes out there, when things got serious how would that impact the team? Liam would have to monitor it going forward to make sure his performance wasn’t impacted.
As for H-Bar his obvious weakness was his inability to make light. He had to rely on lights around him, in his preferred case they were on his suit. That meant the obvious way to attack H-Bar was to sneak up on him before his lights were on. That would leave the man powerless to stop an attack.
If an ambush wasn’t possible, then disabling the man’s lights was the next best option. Instead of aiming to beat him in one attack, whittle away at his source of power. That approach could be more difficult as Liam wasn’t sure what the light shield’s limits were. But aiming for his light was a safe bet.
Also with H-Bar being proficient in ranged attacks, coming in close might be a viable strategy. In the Hero’s face Liam could disrupt his control of the light. It’d be risky as the extent of H-Bar’s close quarter fighting hadn’t been displayed, but a general rule was Supers who excelled in long range fighting were lacking at close range fighting. As with everything he’d thought of so far he’d have to watch H-Bar and find out more.
While Liam was working on H-Bars new lights, he’d have to keep that possible weakness in mind. He would aim to create something that wouldn’t break on the man. If Liam could think of this strategy, a Cowl would. Best to use his tech to protect his new teammate against that type of attack before it happened.
With half the team done Liam shifted his focus to Ullr who was showing himself to be a great leader. In the short time Liam had known the man he’d noticed Ullr didn’t speak much. Instead he listened to what the team had to say. Always considering their opinions before making any decisions. When he spoke, it was with a certainty that caused everyone to listen. Even the grumpy Skip and talkative H-Bar would quiet down. That was the kind of leader you needed on a Hero team. And proof Liam made the correct decision coming here.
While the man was a great leader, his abilities had clear limits and obvious weaknesses. Ullr was faster and stronger than the average person, but weaker than a pure strength super and slower than a pure speed super. He fell into a middle ground where Liam could take advantage.
Liam needed to be airborne if he was to fight Ullr. The man’s speed on the ground was something he couldn’t compete with. In the air Liam would only have to worry about projectiles Ullr threw. Those would still be a major issue, but if he was high enough, he’d be able to dodge them. The real trick would be dealing damage back. At a distance Ullr would have an even easier time dodging anything incoming than Liam. Setting up a trap might be the best way to get around that. And knowing the man’s limits made it easier for Liam to make one.
The alternative was to eliminate Ullr’s ability to move. If Liam greased the floor, then it wouldn’t matter that Ullr was super fast and strong. Those abilities wouldn’t help him get any traction. Unable to move, Ullr would leave Liam with the opportunity to do as he willed. With either strategy a fight with Ullr would be a tricky thing. One Liam lacked the assurance he’d be able to pull off.
Skip was the last to review. He was the only issue Liam was having with the team. The man worked well with the rest of The Hunt, but when it came to Liam, he had some attitude. Ullr said it had to do with the Blue Feather incident, but Liam wasn’t sure. He wasn’t involved with that case so why would Skip treat him any differently because of it. There had to be something else causing the irrational behavior.
As for the man’s abilities, Skip was the only member of the team who didn’t have an identifiable weakness. Teleporters were notoriously hard to counter and Skip was one of the best of them. Sometimes teleporters could only jump so many times, or there was a delay between jumps. Liam could exploit both of those, but he wasn’t sure if Skip had either weakness. He could only watch the man and try to discover one.
As Liam was trying to find a way to counter the pesky teleporter, sleep overcame him. The last thing he remembered was knowing each of his new teammates were playing the same game with his tech. Hopefully they’d find some blind spot he’d overlooked. Then he could fix it.
Months from now Liam would look back at today as the day it all started. If only he’d known of the danger looming ahead. Or that he’d recently met a murderer. Then things would be different. Sadly, the universe was never that kind.