Ninety-two, ninety-three, ninety-four, Liam watched the progress bar fill up. Inching its way towards completion. He knew every second here was a missed opportunity for the rest of the plan. However, this had to get done and Liam didn’t plan on wasting this chance. Despite his every feeling telling him to get up and move, he remained still waiting for the proper time.

At long last, the little bar read one hundred. The files were downloaded and off to do their magic. With the USB no longer needed, Liam pulled it from the computer. Then spent the next few minutes obscuring what he’d just done. For people who knew their way around a computer they’d find his tracks, but it’d take time.

“We’re good.” Liam said as he looked over to his companion. He’d accomplished everything he needed to.

Mr. Hat was standing by the door. His ear against its cold hard surface. Listening to the police station on the other side. One hand held the doorknob while the other was in his pocket playing with something inside.

“It’s well hidden and won’t be found?” Mr. Hat asked. Only his eyes traveling to Liam as he remained stationed at the door.

“Oh, they’ll find it. But that should take a few days.”

“Is that an optimistic or realistic expectation?”

“A month ago I would’ve said it’d take weeks to figure out what I did.”

Mr. Hat nodded to that. Liam had learned his lesson with the phone call to his sister. His opponents had techies who were experts at this. If they wanted to find something on the computer, there wasn’t much Liam could do to stop them. At best he could annoy their efforts.

It was such a crime that he wasn’t better at this type of thing. If he was, so many doors would swing open for him. However, that wasn’t how his power worked and he was forced to play towards his own strengths.

“We’ll only need a few days. As long as you’re correct on that estimate we should be fine,” Mr. Hat said.

Liam logged out of the computer. His last bit of spite was to change all the passwords on the machine. Just a little slap in the face of whoever came next.

Getting out of the computer chair Liam made his way to his waiting coconspirator. Mr. Hat’s eyes having darted back to the door after their conversation.

“Ready for the next part?” Mr. Hat asked.

The important pieces were already complete Liam thought. What came next was where the fun really began.

“Yeah, let’s do this,” Liam said as he and Mr. Hat shared a nod.

“Sounds like things are still a little hectic out there.” Mr. Hat said. Liam could hear the occasional shout through the door. Mr. Hat wasn’t exaggerating, “We’ll go through using the same plan as before. Follow my lead and let me do the talking.”

Liam nodded his understanding. Prepared for the next step in the mission. This one designed to distract and confuse The Hunt. At least long enough until it was too late to stop what was coming next. Liam’s eyes flashed at the thought of Mr. Hat’s plan coming together. A predatory glint shining through. Revenge was a strong motivator, but something more than that was starting to grow within him.

Mr. Hat opened the door a crack. Peeking his head out to confirm their escape was clear, his head came to a sudden stop. Liam could hear footsteps in the hallway outside. Through all the commotion they’d missed them with the door closed. The footsteps came to a stop as they spotted Mr. Hat peering out of the room.

Well this wasn’t good Liam thought. With Mr. Hat blocking his sight all Liam could do was stand there and hope his partner got them out of this. Maybe Mr. Hat could use his voodoo magic and make the officer go away like the original occupant of this room.

“What’re you doing in there?” a muffled voice said from the hallway.

“I was told to report here until the situation outside is resolved,” Mr. Hat said. His voice steady and firm, with no hint of the nerves Liam felt.

Liam moved to the side of the door. Making the shift with little more than a peep. His new position left him ready to react if needed. And as a bonus he was out of the line of sight if the officers looked inside.

“Is that so? On whose orders?” a second voice asked.

“I’m not sure. It was a lieutenant. I just transferred here so everyone’s names are all jumbled together.”

Not the best start Liam thought. His hand darting to his trusty suppression stick. The former cigar case turned into a non lethal weapon was ready to be called up at a moment's notice. Incapacitating anyone who was brave or foolish enough to face it.

“Oh really, I’m going to-” the guard said. His voice shifting to deathly serious before Mr. Hat cut in.

“You’ve been requested outside. The lieutenant asked for you by name.”

Liam held his breath. Watching as Mr. Hat’s fingers tightened on the door, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

“I’m sorry to bother you,” the man said. “I have to help outside. Make sure no one gets in there until you’re relieved.”

The officers walked off as Mr. Hat leaned against the door. Heaving out an exhausted sigh. Liam waited for the footsteps to fade before speaking.

“That was too close,” Liam said. He watched Mr. Hat as the man made no motion to acknowledge. His eyes closed as he remained leaning on the door frame, “Are you okay? You look exhausted.”

“It’s always tough to do two at once.”

“With your power?”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

This was Liam’s chance to confirm Mr. Hat’s power. He would not let that slip by.

Mr. Hat turned to face Liam. A tension still visible around his eyes, “Yes, that is my ability.”

“Telling people what to do seems useful.”

“It has its advantages.”

“What’re the limitations? Or does it just make people follow your orders?”

“Can we talk about this later?”

“No, I need to know why you never told me about your power and if you’ve been using it on me.”

If he had been, it called everything he was doing into question. Was he being tricked into doing this. Or was this his own doing?

Mr. Hat looked at the ceiling before speaking, “We have to hurry or we’ll run out of time, but I’ll tell you this. There are some serious limitations to the ability. How often and how many people I can influence are the main ones. You saw how much trouble I had getting those guards to leave us alone. Now imagine how much worse it would be on someone with a stronger constitution. Or with a command that was more complicated. Now can we leave?”

The man had a point, his powers had limitations and this wasn’t the time for questions. Add in Mr. Hat looking like he’d been run ragged. And it was best to get this over with before he ran out of gas.

Liam made a mental note that this wouldn’t be the last time they spoke about Mr. Hat’s ability. Liam needed to know if his own head was being messed with. He could already imagine Mr. Hat pulling him along like a dog on a leash. Tweaking what he saw and heard to fit some narrative. Liam banished the thought of Mr. Hat setting this all up. He’d deal with the fallout later. For now he needed to focus on the mission.

Turning around Mr. Hat walked into the hallway. Liam followed a moment later. Around them the corridor was empty. Liam could hear shouts from other parts of the building, but this space was clear.

As he’d done earlier, Mr. Hat set off like he knew the place. No hitch in his stride as he moved away from the security room.

The trip through the building was short but tense. At every intersection Liam expected people to jump out. Looking through his meager disguise and calling out the man in armor underneath.

Luckily for the two sneaking through the building, they made it past the first few turns without encountering a soul. The chaos outside still infecting those in the building. All of that changed when they reached the final corner. Up ahead they could hear a familiar voice.

“Ullr are you there? Can you hear me?” the voice called, “I’m at the south end police station and we need help. Someone set off bombs around the building.”

There were a few muttered curses before H-Bar tried again, “Ullr, Gladius, Skip, can anyone hear me?”

Liam couldn’t hear the other end of the radio call, but he could imagine the constant static in H-Bar’s ear. Liam could almost feel golden rays of sunlight falling on his back at the success of his device. His former teammate’s annoyed voice making it all the sweeter.

Mr. Hat pulled Liam to the wall next to the intersection and said, in a hushed voice, “The room behind H-Bar is the target.”

The golden light faltered. Well this would make things more complicated.

“Any ideas on how to get past?” Liam asked. Wanting to stick his head around the corner and confirm the situation, but deciding better.

Mr. Hat shook his head no, then peeked his own head around the corner. Doing what Liam thought was too risky. After a quick glance Mr. Hat came back and whispered.

“H-Bar’s with two officers.”

“What are they doing?”

“Planning a response from what little I could see.”

“Well this is only a little worse than H-Bar by himself,” Liam said. Disregarding the officers. Their guns were of little use against his suit.

“Can you distract H-Bar? I can take the others.”

“Are you sure? Can’t we call an audible and try a different place? We could pretend we got lost and go somewhere else in the station.”

“No, that’s too obvious. They’ll figure out what we came for if we do that.”

The man had a point, regardless of how little Liam wanted to admit it. He tried to think of another plan, but didn’t find any inspiration. What they needed was in the room behind H-Bar.

From around the corner H-Bar said, “Do you have any flares? Something we can send into the sky to draw The Hunt’s attention?”

“Wouldn’t the smoke be doing that already?” a second voice asked.

“That signals a fire. We don’t respond to those. Now fireworks going off in the middle of the day around a fire would draw our attention.”

“The only flares we have that I know of stay on the ground.”

“Are you sure?” H-Bar asked emphatically.

“No,” the guard said. His voice calm for someone talking to a Hero.

“Then go check,” H-Bar said as the sound of feet scurried away. The odds were starting to fall in line Liam smiled.

“Can we get any cars out of the parking lot?” H-Bar asked the remaining man.

“That’s unlikely, the destroyed cars are blocking the exits.”

“Of course they are,” H-Bar muttered, “Has anyone been able to connect to the outside world?”

“Not yet, sir.”

“Then what we need to do is see if this is a local communications blackout, or something happening throughout the entire city. Send out runners. Have them try calling every block until they get through.”

After a quick affirmative a second set of shoes echoed away. Leaving H-Bar alone in the hallway. The clicking of a single shoe sounded as H-Bar tried to figure out his next move.

Liam turned to Mr. Hat and whispered, “Should we wait for him to move on as well?”

“Not enough time. If the police spread out, they’ll get a call to the outside in ten to fifteen minutes.”

“True, and once that happens we can’t be here. So what should we do about H-Bar?”

“I can get to the door through another hall. But I’ll need you to pull him away so I can sneak past.”

A chance to pay back his former teammates. Liam’s stomach swirled at the thought. Was this something he wanted? Liam knew the answer as soon as the thought appeared.

“I can do it,” Liam said. His voice carrying his determination.

“Good. You don’t have to destroy him. Just distract him and buy me some time,” Mr. Hat warned.

“I’ve got it,” Liam said as he disregarded the advice. He wouldn’t let a chance like this slip by.

Mr. Hat looked at Liam long and hard. Could he see Liam’s true thoughts on the coming fight? No, he was only making sure Liam would do his part of the plan.

With a slight shake of the head Mr. Hat turned and left. Backtracking the way they’d come. He was out of sight in a matter of seconds.

You’ve prepared for this, you can do it, Liam told himself. Trying to psych himself up for the coming fight. It’d be his first time facing someone from The Hunt since the night at the old factory. The perfect opportunity for a little revenge.

Liam pulled a little silver disc from his suit, it was as thick as a CD and half as wide. Placing it on the ground near the intersection of the hallway. Then pushing a button in the middle, the device made one click then was quiet, nothing in its appearance changing.

With the disc ready, Liam ran through his suit’s diagnostics one last time. Checking the systems for anything misbehaving. It was performing as well as he could hope, with no new abnormalities to report. With no other excuse for delay, Liam pulled back his hoodie, placing it out of the way.

Taking one last breath, Liam stepped around the corner. Facing down his former teammate. H-Bar turned to see who was there then froze when he recognized the suit in front of him. Less than a second later his body moved into action. All the lights on his suit alighted in a blinding white halo.

There was no speech before they began. No epic words to carry the fighters through. The two let their actions talk and violence enveloped the hallway.