He looked normal Liam thought with a frown. There should be some tell, where were the horns or forked tail? Something signaling the good guys that the man in front of them was a monster. But the world didn’t work that way. Instead it allowed Skip to camouflage himself as a Hero. His blue and black suit seeming to embrace the surrounding shadows.

With Skip there, Ullr reached forward and grabbed Liam’s shoulder. Offering a little support for the newest Hero before things got crazy.

“Been busy?” Ullr asked the new arrival. An interesting way to start the meeting Liam noted. But Ullr was much better at speaking than Liam himself. So he waited and stayed focused on his part of the plan.

“Yeah,” Skip said. The word coming out slow. Still unsure what was going on.

“Jumping a lot I assume.”

“It’s what I do,” Skip said, as his tongue darted out and licked his chapped lips. Even though he was only paying partial attention, Liam knew this wasn’t going well. Ullr was making things far too obvious. Wasn’t he supposed to calm Skip down before they moved in?

“Any extra jumps recently?”

“The same as always.”

“That’s not what I heard.”

“What are you talking about?” Skip asked. His body language changing drastically throughout the short talk. He went from calm when he arrived, to confused, and now defensive. Ready to spring at the slightest sound. Unsure where the conversation was going and not liking it.

“I told you to always jump to the same location. Is that really so difficult to do?” Ullr asked. What was that Liam wondered? Maybe Ullr misspoke and meant Skip could only use his power when on duty? Even that didn’t seem to fit.

“What do you mean?” Skip asked. His eyes darting to Liam before they moved back to Ullr.

“He’s talking about the third murder scene,” Gladius said from behind. With the words spoken, Liam prepared to move. He had to focus on tranquilizing Skip. Using the coming opening to dart in. However no sudden assault came.

“Source was standing where I was going to jump. I can’t jump into people so I had to change my destination. It was only by a couple feet,” Skip said. Much to Liam’s surprise he seemed unfazed by the recent conversation.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Ullr asked. “How can I prepare for the fallout of your actions when you don’t even tell me what they are?”

This entire conversation was a confusing mess. Liam was only paying attention with half an ear. The rest of his attention focused on the coming assault. But the shift in the discussion was pulling at him. Begging Liam to devote his full attention to it. As if something was happening that was important and he should be aware of it.

“Normally it wouldn’t be. He’s just a neat freak,” Skip said as he nodded towards Liam.

With a dreadful realization, Liam understood what was happening. The bodies at the crime scenes were found partially thrown through walls. Something Skip couldn’t do. He wasn’t strong enough. That meant someone else had to be helping him. Someone with enhanced strength. Someone standing right next to him.

There was a crunching sound on Liam’s shoulder as Ullr tightened his grip. Bending the suit’s armor at an angle it wasn’t designed for. The man was molding the metal like it was puddy.

Trying to spin away from his team leader Liam found his motion constricted. Ullr was holding his shoulder in a vice and he couldn’t escape.

“Why,” Liam asked. The simple question hanging in the air as his team focused on him. Watching from all angles, surrounding him, a voice in the back of Liam’s mind said. A quick look at H-Bar and Gladius showed the recent turn of events didn’t surprise them. They drew him here, Liam realized. This wasn’t a trap they laid for Skip. It was a trap for him.

Liam tried to activate his camera. To gain some evidence of what was happening. But found Ullr had bent the metal around it. Locking it in his suit. As the servo motor twirled, valiantly trying to push up the camera, Ullr said.

“Can’t have you recording tonight. This is a private conversation.”

Liam froze. Still coming to grips with what was happening around him.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“You helped him? All of you?” Liam asked.

“It’s part of what The Hunt does,” Gladius said.

“Murdering people?”

“They weren’t good people. Mr. Pullun, the man who worked at the drug company. He was the person behind their recent price hikes. His company’s drugs cost ten times more today than they did three years ago. Think of all the people who can’t afford them now. And the house he bought with money from their suffering,” Ullr said.

“That’s not why you did it,” Liam shot back.

“What makes you think that?” Ullr asked with a little chuckle.

“If you were trying to be a vigilante, you would’ve killed them. Not make it look like a serial killer with powers. You were sending a message with the murders.”

Keep them talking Liam thought. If he can keep them talking, he might figure out what they were really doing. Or better yet find a chance to escape.

“Smart as always,” Gladius said. Her tone of voice showing her sincerity in the statement.

“You’re right Mr. Pullun and Mr. Dean had to die. And in an obvious way. Something related to a Super. You see, a good message must be crystal clear or what’s the point of it?” Ullr asked.

What was he talking about, Liam thought? He’d only thrown a wild guess out there to keep the team talking. But they confirmed it, at least partially. Questions rattled through Liam’s head. Why did he only mention the first two victims had to die? What was different with them compared to the last one? And most importantly who was the message for?

“But who are you sending the message to?” Liam asked. Trying to get more information out of the team.

“You know what it’s like to be overlooked by the bigger Hero teams,” Ullr said. The man choosing not to answer Liam’s question. Instead bringing up something Liam could relate to. When he first sought out an apprenticeship, none of the big teams would let him out in the field. They all demanded he stay at the base and work. Being less a Hero and more a glorified engineer for them.

“I’ve seen it,” Liam said.

“Well imagine it happening year after year. You know you’ve done enough to be invited, but they fail to acknowledge it. Eventually you hit a tipping point and decide to change the rules. Prove to them that they should’ve invited you from the beginning,” Ullr said. Speaking matter-of-factly as if they were having a simple team meeting. Instead of someone who was betraying the very suit he was wearing.

“So you kill people? That doesn’t make sense.”

“Our team is the best in the country,” Ullr continued. “We cover as much ground as any other team with half the manpower. How do you think we do that? Sure we work harder than other teams, but there’s far more to it than that. You see, we own most Cowls in this town. They come through us before they make any moves. That way we both get what we want. Sometimes they have to be reminded of that little fact. Making examples of a few people puts everything back into place.”

“If it were that easy to stop Cowls it’d be happening everywhere.”

“We don’t stop them. We convince them it’s better to hide their powers when they commit a crime. That way they get to contend with the police. Not a Hero team.”

“It’s a great offer for them,” Skip said.

They had control of the Cowls? That could explain the low Super related crime rates in the area, but it didn’t explain the Broken Crest. Why would they kill officers at the bank and commit their crimes so blatantly? Ullr couldn’t want that. The Broken Crest didn’t seem to play by any rules he set.

It also didn’t explain why the rest of the team was doing this. Ullr was looking for recognition or revenge or whatever he was going on about. But why would the other three join in?

And how was this related to Blue Feather? Was she one of them but had a change in heart or someone who took things too far? With every answer Liam got he found so many more questions just waiting their turn.

Trying a different tack, Liam turned to H-Bar and asked, “How’d you get involved?”

Without looking up H-Bar said, “My niece needed the best medicine available. Ullr got her into the program at the hospital. I owe him for that so I joined. And it’s not like what they were doing was that bad. There’re less crimes because of it.”

His attempts to justify his own actions must’ve sounded hollow in his ears. As the normally talkative Hero was quick to quiet down.

“Cut to the chase,” Gladius said.

“Your right, your right. Now then Source, we have a proposal for you,” Ullr said as he released Liam. Moving into a position so the four other members of the team surrounded their youngest member. “Join us or you never leave here.”

It came down to something like that. As soon as the conversation shifted, Liam was waiting for it. Could he buy himself more time? Maybe enough to figure out a plan. He could call someone on his suit, get some backup, but who’d even believe him?

While Liam was trying to come up with a plan, another voice spoke up. It was Skip saying, “He already failed the test. We can’t trust him.”

Failed the test? The robber in the alley and the leftover computer parts, Liam thought. The test to see if he would be corrupted and take them. By refusing he’d passed it, or so he thought but they were suggesting the opposite. He failed because he didn’t take them.

“I agree with Skip here. We already did the test. He can’t join,” Gladius said.

“I… I’ll go with whatever the team decides,” H-Bar said. The lights on his suit glowed a brilliant white. Unfit for the scene they found themselves in.

“You don’t have to do this,” Liam implored his friend.

“I’m sorry, but I do.”

“I wanted to bring you in with us. I thought you could make a good member but decisions like this require the entire team’s approval,” Ullr said.

It’d been a long time since the lights in the old factory burned. With sounds of workers diligently toiling away. But tonight lights and sounds were brought back to the building. Just not the ones from its past. Tonight a true Hero fought for his very life.