For the second time this week, Liam traveled underground. It was something of a new experience for him as he’d only done it once coming into the week. While taking part in a new thing often brought excitement, today the bland walls surrounding him drained all of that away.

The team’s base had dozens of such tunnels leading from it, and Liam was walking down the longest of the bunch. Not that you could tell from the tunnel itself. It was identical to all the others.

The realization dawned on him halfway through the walk. These tunnels, he rarely visited, would become a common sight in the future. Once Skip was captured, the team wouldn’t be able to jump around the city anymore. That would fundamentally change how they operated.

Liam knew what he was doing. Thinking about other problems like transportation and empty tunnels instead of what was in front of him. But could anyone blame him?

Skip’s lies were of a magnitude Liam had never seen before. And he wasn’t sure how to feel about them or the man. Betrayal, Corruption, Murder. All of those words described what Skip had done, but they were dry, sanitized language. Failing to encompass what it felt like to see it with your own eyes.

The churning of his stomach at the thought of the families Skip had destroyed. A quickening of his thoughts as the magnitude of what was happening became clear. The pressure was building behind him, knowing the public would demand heads for this. More than that, the DCP would get involved. One team with two traitors wasn’t something they could overlook.

But all of that paled, when compared to the cold that crept through his bones. He lived with the man for so long and hadn’t understood what he was dealing with. Now he saw Skip for the monster he truly was.

Could he have done something different? The clues were there yet he failed to put them together. Lives were lost from his inability to see the bigger picture. The emptiness that thought brought shifted as Liam’s mind turned to the alternative. What would’ve happened if the team hadn’t figured this out? Could they have been next on Skip’s list? To this point Skip had only been going around killing citizens. But what would happen if that craving for violence started to bore him?

Unwilling to think about that anymore, Liam brought his focus back to the world around him. Walking next to him was the team’s captain. For most of their journey the man had remained deep in thought. Likely contemplating things just as troubling as Liam’s thoughts. The only break in the quiet was when Ullr called H-Bar and Gladius. The conversations were quick and to the point. Telling them where to meet and nothing more. Neither asked questions as they agreed to meet at an old abandoned factory, where the tunnel ended. Ullr was saving the hard conversation for when they were all together. A good plan, Liam thought.

The solemn silence continued after the calls. The realization of the coming battle weighing heavy on both of them. Neither Hero wished to break the momentary peace with conversation.

With little else to occupy his mind, Liam pulled up the details of the factory on his HUD. Intent to focus on the mission ahead instead of being pulled back into a pit of darkness. The large factory they were going to had been abandoned for well over a year. In fact most companies in that section of town had packed up and left. On paper it was a great location to take down Skip. If anything went wrong, there was little chance of a civilian being caught in the crossfire.

It was an area of town Liam visited on rare occasions. Even Cowls seemed to avoid it. As if the ghostly buildings would rub off on them and bring them down. Or, they realized building a base in a part of town that screamed ‘this is an obvious place for Cowl’s to hide’ would in fact not be a good plan. If they saw the area that way, then so would the Heroes. With both sides thinking the same, precious little happened out there.

A few minutes later the two Heroes exited the tunnel, finding themselves in the middle of a large room. Its dim interior illuminated by the moon shining through overhead windows, many of them broken or missing entirely.

The dust filled space was empty save for a few pieces of equipment. Obsolete before the factory even closed, they’d been left to rust. The equipment helped make the space, signaling to those few who dared enter, that this was a ghost land. A vision of an oppressive future that must be avoided. Liam couldn’t think of a better atmosphere for the team’s confrontation with Skip.

Ullr and Liam settled in at the edge of the room. The side of Liam’s helmet, with the slice through TH-S, glowed in the moon’s light. A ray of moonlight finding one of the few intact windows to shine through and land on it. Ullr stood next to Liam, draped in a cloak of shadows. Waiting like a cold night’s breeze for the coming storm.

Fixing his helmet would be put on the back burner for some time, Liam thought. After tonight the entire city would explode. The public would go crazy after finding two of their Heroes had turned traitor. First Blue Feather and now Skip. It was an unheard-of feat. Something that would make the team famous. Though famous and feat might not be the right words to use. That made it sound good. After some thought Liam couldn’t think of anything better to call it so that’d have to do for now. The media would let him know what to change it to later. After they brought a tide of questions. The first of which was how could any of the other Heroes be trusted. Liam wouldn’t even blame them when they asked. It was fair given the history of the city.

Thinking about it Liam didn’t know how to answer that question. He’d have to lean on the remaining team’s experience in the coming months, to weather the storm.

Regardless, this would cripple The Hunt, that was clear. But what did it mean for Liam himself? He was an apprentice right now. Once that ended the team could offer him full membership or he could join another team. But what did he want? If the Hunt offered to keep him would he stay? Would other teams even be interested after he was associated with this mess? In the past, Liam always had a plan for the future. Now it was too foggy to see a step ahead let alone years.

Deep in thought it took Liam a moment to realize H-Bar and Gladius were emerging from the tunnel. Both dressed in full Hero regalia. Once in the room, a shadow fell across them. The light of the moon blocked by a passing cloud. Dimming the majesty of their outfits. It was a shame, Heroes were meant to be seen. Fitting in the light of day. Not huddled here waiting to confront a fallen teammate.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

As the four stood there, contemplating the inevitable H-Bar glanced at Liam, then averted his eyes. After a deep breath he turned to Ullr and asked, “What do you need, Boss man?”

Even to Liam the comment seemed hollow. He knew something was about to happen. Having lived through it before seeing it being repeated must be a nightmare to him. He was hoping for some out, some escape to what was about to happen.

“Source found out who was committing the murders. He brought the findings to me and he has a good case,” Ullr said. He spoke slowly to those gathered. The gravity of the moment controlling his words.

“What did you find?” Gladius asked. Her hand resting on the hilt of her sword. Her shining armor looked dull and worn tonight.

“We have another Blue Feather incident,” Ullr said, before Liam could speak up. Both H-Bar and Gladius shifted their focus between those assembled. Liam assumed they were checking who was present and who was missing.

“Skip jumped into the crime scene around the time of the murder,” Liam said.

“How can we know that?” H-Bar asked. Looking from Gladius to Ullr, his eyes begging them to say Liam was wrong.

“I filmed the crime scene when we arrived and the police took a picture a couple hours later. The police’s photograph was missing one puddle of Skip’s jump goo.”

“But that picture could have been taken anytime that night,” H-Bar said.

“There was a timestamp on it. Doing the math showed Skip jumped into the house two hours before we arrived. When the murder took place,” Liam said.

“But it could be-” H-Bar said. But was interrupted by Ullr.

“Skip was there around the time of the murder. We can’t avoid that. The evidence is far too clear to believe anything else. And he kept it from us. That’s all we need to know,” the team leader said.

“The program kept bringing up the goo as a clue. I was disregarding it because it was from a teammate,” Liam muttered, ashamed at his mistake.

He was a fool for ignoring the program. It had been right, the goo was a clue from the start. But could you blame him for not looking into it? They were on a team. One where trust was the most important commodity they had.

Either way he’d figured it out in the end. At least the person committing the murders. Why he was doing it was an entirely different question. What could drive a Hero to such lows? Liam needed to know.

“I believe you,” Gladius said as she nodded towards Liam. “Is the evidence secure?”

“It’s all back in the workshop,” Liam said. Gladius gave a small nod and breathed out a long sigh. She must’ve been worried the evidence would be damaged if they brought it here. But Liam wasn’t foolish enough to do that.

H-Bar spun around, realizing he was the only one who was still questioning what was being discussed. He glanced from team member to team member with a look begging them to put this on hold. But no one came to his aid. Finally, realization hit and his shoulders slumped.

“What’s the plan,” H-Bar asked. His normal jovial attitude gone.

“We call him here, talk for a minute to disarm him, then spring the trap and capture him,” Ullr said.

The plan was simple, but had a few holes in it. The obvious ones being how they’d convince Skip to come here. While not tipping him off that something else was going on.

The other being how they’d take down a teleporter. Liam had thought about it a few times and still didn’t have a foolproof plan. In fact he’d thought about how to take down every Super he’d met, it was part of being a Hero. But those plans were never a guarantee of success.

“How do we capture him?” Liam asked. Voicing one of his concerns. Ullr was bound to have a trick to get Skip here. But once here what would they do?

“We’ve been fighting with him for years. We know his weaknesses.”

“Shouldn’t we come up with a plan? Make sure everyone knows how the trap will work?” Liam asked.

“Of course.”

Liam expected Ullr to continue with the explanation, but it was Gladius who spoke up next.

“He needs to concentrate to activate his powers. We hurt him bad to stop him from teleporting. Then Liam tranquilizes him. Simple as that.”

“He won’t expect us to attack, we can use that to our advantage.”

“The tranquilizer will keep him secure until we get him to a holding cell,” Gladius said.

“To ensure you’re in a prime location to get the tranquilizer off, you’ll stand next to me. We’ll be front and center for this,” Ullr said. The confidence coming back to his voice.

“All right, I’ll go in right after you,” Liam said. Step 1 was wait for Ullr. Step two was landing the tranquilizer. A two-step process, even he could do that. “Should we surround him when he gets here?”

“No, that would be too obvious. He’d know something was going on,” Ullr said. “Instead let’s have Gladius and H-Bar hold our flanks. A few steps back and to either side. That way they can act if he moves without making him worried that we’re surrounding him.”

It made sense. Have Ullr be the main attacker with Liam coming in a second later for the stun. If Skip dodges either of the first two attacks then H-Bar or Gladius could cut off whatever way he breaks to escape. It was a simple setup, and shouldn’t draw much suspicion from their teammate.

“We can do this,” Liam said. With a firmness to his voice that wasn’t duplicated in his feelings.

“Unfortunately we have to,” Gladius said. Looking over at H-Bar she continued, “Don’t we?”

“Yeah we do,” he said. The pain H-Bar was feeling was chiseled into his stance. He was dreading taking on a teammate. Even one who’d done such horrible things.

With that decided the team got into position. A beam of moonlight falling onto Liam’s face as he took his spot in the middle of the room. His vizor flared for a second before it settled back, having adjusted to the light. Ullr was standing at his side. Staring at the far wall. Where their former teammate would appear.

H-Bar and Gladius took positions to either side and behind the central two. Providing flanking support if they required it. They were far enough back to be out of Liam’s vision. Ideally they would be a little farther forward to provide better support. But their formation couldn’t look too rigid, or it would tip off Skip that something was amiss. So the team would have to work with their current arrangement.

To get Skip here Ullr called over the radio with a simple message.

“Meeting at the old factory, Cowl activity nearby. All team members report immediately.”

With the message delivered the subject was punctual as always, jumping in only a few seconds later. Appearing next to the exit of the underground tunnel. Where the team knew he would. There was a confused look on his face as he scanned around the room. Seeing no danger his focus turned to those present.