The wire cutters swayed forward, dancing their way through the wires with a grace unheard of for such a tool. Each choreographed swing and snip carried out with the purpose of an expert, playing along to the melody of some unheard song. Next to the wire cutters’ dance floor, a miniature red light flashed in time to their motion.
With a final snip, the song ended. There was no grand finale. No standing ovation. Only the silence of the light. Its flashing fading until only a dull bulb was left.
Liam reached up and wiped his brow. His hand coming away slick with sweat. Another sign of a job well done. With a thin laugh, Liam relaxed back into his seat.
“One more for the good guys,” Liam muttered to himself.
The bombs weren’t the most difficult to defuse. In fact, Liam had made many triggers that were dozens of times more complicated. Even so, there was something about the real thing that upped the challenge. Add in the suitcase full of explosives next to him and that only layered on the stress.
In this type of situation, even a simple task could become a thing of nightmares. And no one would claim this was simple.
With the bomb defused, Liam pulled it from behind the bleachers. The thing was wedged in nice and tight in the middle of the gym. Almost in plain sight if people looked behind the stands. Stowing it in a small duffle bag, Liam made to leave the gym.
As he was walking away, Liam pulled his baggy coat tight. His suit creaked underneath, metal plates objecting to the movement. Even with the large coat, it just covered his armor. He’d need to get out of here fast. If anyone saw him, his disguise would fall apart. And without Mr. Hat here to deflect attention he’d be in trouble.
It was a necessary precaution, yet not an enjoyable one. If they saw him from farther away he might escape suspicion, but it wasn’t something he wanted to risk. In his current getup, Liam looked closer to a plumber than an on the run Hero.
Pulling his hat low Liam exited the gym. Still no students in sight. He had seen none since he arrived, picking the lock on a back door and sneaking in between classes. A good omen, even if his anonymity only lasted until he made it back to the van. Now all he had to do was figure out where to go next.
When Mr. Hat left, Liam hadn’t known what to do. He wanted to chase the man down and stop him. But he couldn’t figure out where to look. He’d wracked his brain, yet nothing came to the surface. Without a way to track the man down he’d done the next best thing.
It’d taken Liam a few minutes to figure it out, something he was a little embarrassed about. He was rebooting his life as a Hero after all, so maybe that was understandable. The gears being a little rusty.
Once past the initial confusion he remembered what Mr. Hat said. He would hold the city hostage or at least the youngsters of it. He was talking about schools! When the thought entered Liam’s brain he knew it was right. All he had to do was prove the theory.
Without help and no way to know what schools were impacted it’d be difficult. Over sixty public schools difficult. There were too many for him to pick at random. The question of what schools were impacted had been a tougher nut to crack, however Liam settled on the high schools. Not because Mr. Hat had some inability to hurt the youngest of the city, but the practicality of it. Middle and Elementary schools were much smaller than their high school counterparts. One bomb would pack a bigger punch in a larger school. If Mr. Hat was anything it was efficient and wouldn’t waste his resources. This only played into that.
That realization whittled the number of targets down to less than ten, a workable number for Liam. From there it’d been all about getting to the schools and disarming the bombs.
Through the first four schools he’d searched, Liam found a bomb in each. In every case it was hidden in the gym. The bombs themselves were all similar, with slight differences in the trigger mechanisms. Those differences took some time to analyze, yet he’d still disarmed all of them. Not a bad day’s work if he had to say so himself.
Yet it wasn’t stopping the real issue, the man himself, but it was the best Liam could do with what he had. And he was proud of the accomplishment, even if he still had a ways to go.
If only Liam had a little support, but it wasn’t like he could call the police. What would he say? ‘Hey, I’m the guy you’re looking for. Oh no I won’t come in, I’m too focussed on these bombs spread out over the city.’ That conversation would go great.
Liam approached another intersection in the school. Checking both hallways before continuing on. It was all clear, just like everything else in this place. It was getting a little strange that there was no one in the halls. Not even a lone student walking to the bathroom. With a shrug Liam moved on, who was he to not take a lucky break.
Liam made his way through the school, acting as natural as anyone in a large coat holding a deactivated bomb could manage. A bit bumpy at the edges, but passable. Though, if asked, Liam would claim he was doing quite a good job of it.
Lockers lined the checkerboard tiled hallway. Black-and-white tiles large enough for human chess pieces. Liam moved over the board, the sole piece in sight. Classroom windows broke up the pattern every dozen steps. Which he avoided, keeping his head low as he passed. Being spotted out of one was too great of a risk for him.
A tingling at the back of Liam’s neck warned him that something was wrong. Telling him to peak into a classroom as he passed, but he fought down the urge. He had other schools to get to, there was no time to waste on a stupid feeling.
Reaching the large double doors barring the school exit Liam broke into a faster walk. Four of the ten high schools done. It was a step, but he knew he was running out of time. Exiting the school Liam spotted his van. The same one he’d used during the police station raid. The rusted thing didn’t move fast, but she’d get the job done.
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Right now it was a horror show in back. Multiple, deactivated bombs, lay scattered across the bed. For anyone who didn’t know he deactivated them the sight would give the impression he was some evil mastermind set on destroying the world, or at least a large chunk of the city. Come the end of the day the van would reach super villain status as he stuffed it full of defused explosives.
With his ride in sight Liam scurried across the parking lot. Reaching the van Liam held out his hand to open the door when he froze. The tingle in his neck had expanded to the rest of his body, demanding his attention.
“This is the police! Hands where I can see them!” a voice rang out from behind him.
The empty hallways and the strange feeling he’d been having crashed into his head. It made sense now, someone spotted a stranger in the halls and put the school on lockdown. The police were here to see what was going on. A quick glance around, taking care not to look back and show his face to the officer, didn’t show any police cars, he didn’t expect that. Could he be wrong about why the officer was here or was this really even an officer? Maybe it was just campus security, and they thought he was a high schooler trying to ditch school?
With his mind treading water Liam exhaled a long held breath. Blowing it through his nose in a lengthy stream of hot air. Then he did as the officer commanded. Holding his hands just over his head. There had to be a way out of this Liam thought. He only needed the time to figure out what it was.
“You’ve got the wrong guy,” Liam called without turning around.
Looking into his van’s window Liam got a peak at what was behind him. A lone officer stood there. Large jacket, gloves, and a hat covering most of his face. Behind the layers of clothing a small metal shield peeked out, the man’s badge. At least he verified the man was in fact an officer.
But that didn’t explain what he should do with the information? He couldn’t show his face. That ruled out following the next commands he would get. He couldn’t run, Liam liked his coat and didn’t want any new holes in the thing. Add in the fact he’d be running from the police, not the best way to start his comeback. And the psychological factor of being shot if he made an escape, something Liam was all too happy to avoid. So it was a no go for that.
“Set the bag down nice and slow,” the officer called. His voice seasoned with command, “then turn and face me.”
Liam lowered the bag to the ground. Crouching low as he did. With one hand holding the bag Liam moved the other as if to support it. Doing his best to keep his body between the officer and his hand.
With his hand hidden Liam pulled out his suit’s mask. All the while still lowering his bag to the ground.
He hated to do this, but he didn’t have a choice. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
The moment the bag touched the ground Liam flipped on his mask. Encasing himself in his armored shell. All secrecy to his identity out the window.
The officer stood there for a moment in stunned silence before his training kicked in. When it did, he reacted with violence.
Four shots rang out. The brass casings sailing into the air as the rounds ripped forward. Slicing through the air before digging into Liam’s back. Cutting clean holes through his jacket as they moved.
Liam let out a grunt as the rounds collided with his suit. The thing barely taking a scratch from the shots, but still set a frown on Liam’s brow as it ripped apart his coat. So much for not getting shot at.
Liam whirled around as the officer continued to fire. Through the motion Liam flung his coat to the side. It wasn’t of much use to him in a fight, only there to get in the way.
Now turned towards the officer Liam saw the man’s eyes widened. Panic on his face as he continued to pull the trigger. Taking the opportunity Liam sent a projectile back, firing his stun dart at the officers stomach.
Round after round from the gun passed the dart as it raced forward. Each deflecting off of Liam’s hardened armor.
“10-78 shots -” the officer screamed into the radio before he was cut short.
The dart collided into the officer’s stomach. The probes reaching into the man’s skin before sending crackling electricity through him. Every amp coursing through his body bringing it to a standstill.
Liam rushed forward, pulling out his suppression stick. He’d sedate the man before getting out of here. I’d be easier if they didn’t know where he was for a little while longer, yet there was nothing he could do about it now. They might not know it was him yet, but a sedated officer would point them towards him. In the meantime he still needed to get to the rest of the bombs and disable them.
As Liam rushed towards the twitching body of the officer on the ground another person moved from behind a nearby vehicle. The car was out of his original line of sight, when he looked at the reflection in the window.
“Liam spotted at our loca-” the new person said. He wore an outfit identical to the officer on the ground.
Another dart sailed forward and cut into the man. Embedding itself in the surprised man’s arm before sending its hungry electricity into him. The man was down before he got everything out, but Liam knew he’d said too much.
If there was any doubt before on who was here that had been quashed. A siren a few blocks away started screaming then more answered its call. Each one growing louder as officers around the city raced to the school.
The plan was gone. Liam knew he had to make it to the other schools. And he’d be forced to fight his way out of here to make that happen if he didn’t hurry.
Liam glanced at the officers on the ground, should he sedate both of them? A fraction of a second's deliberation was all Liam needed to turn and move away. What good did sedating the officers do at this point? They’d already gotten the call out.
Turning back to the van, Liam rushed towards it. Ready to make his escape. Only to reach the thing when something worse than an officer drew his attention.
A flash of white was all the warning Liam received before a ball of ivory cratered into the ground in front of him. It was too late to escape. The Hunt was already here.
Spinning around Liam found H-Bar standing by the school entrance. The large doors illuminated by the glow of the balls floating around him. He wasn’t charged yet, but he wasn’t far from it.
Liam also noted, with a little annoyance, that H-Bar was wearing his old suit. So much for Liam’s anti H-Bar toy. He wouldn’t be able to disable this suit with it today. He’d have to fall back to beating the guy the old fashioned way.
Trying to buy some space between himself and H-Bar Liam darted behind the van. Calling out as he went, “Wait, we have to work together!”
The next few balls of light smashed into the side of the vehicle. Rocking the van with each blast. Well that was one way to answer, Liam thought.
Yep his day was just great. Nothing to complain about from him. Only fighting an entire city in order to save it.
Peeking back at H-Bar Liam spotted the man circling to the right. Ducking from one car to the next as he made his way. Then it hit him, how was H-Bar here when the call just went up? Surveying the ground Liam found it. There was a small puddle where he’d first seen the Hero. Which meant, before he could form the thought a dagger slammed into Liam’s back. Sending him stumbling forward.