Kabash waited in the conference room by two.

“Change of plans,” he said, practically hopping on his feet. “You're getting your first field experience as a team today.”

A chorus of whats and hows replied him, punctuated by Toye's ‘Hell yeah!’.

“Stay calm,” Kabash said. “It's nothing dangerous. There's a Super we've been chasing. One we intend to recruit. We've hemmed them to a house at the beach. Ardent and his men were first in, but there were complications. The top brass has nominated you for follow-up. The experience could be invaluable.”

“What kind of complications?” I asked.

“Asking the relevant questions,” Kabash said, nodding in approval. “We are not too sure but we believe a long-range superpower is involved. ‘Took our guys straight out of commission.” He tapped his ear. “AV, can you fill us in?”

The speakers thrummed. AV's distorted voice kicked in. “Pacesetters. You have a new mission order. Target's name is Dominic. Age: sixteen to eighteen. Power: presumably sound-based. The target is currently holed up in a beach house and has taken hostages. There have been no fatalities as far as we can tell. But the nature of Dominic’s ability makes this a tricky one to handle.”

“You are to suppress Dominic,” Kabash said, “while ensuring none of the hostages get hurt in the process. As this is a recruitment effort, you are banned from using lethal force.”

“I can protect the hostages,” Obong said. “I think.”

Toye smirked. “Then the target's mine. I will try not to hit them too hard.”

“Or at all,” Kabash said. “We do not want any injuries, Toye. We intend to leave a positive impression.”

“Got it.”

“Sound-based abilities, huh?” I said. “Would earplugs help?”

“I don't know,” Kabash replied. “I will only be tagging along to observe. This is your mission. Your plan.”

“Earplugs won’t do much good,” Alewo said, scratching his peach fuzz. “The cranial bone conducts vibrations, bypassing a reliance on air conduction into the eardrums. What kind of abilities are we talking about, sir?”

“Like I said,” Kabash repeated. “I do not know. The reports so far have been conflicting. We believe Dominic can inflict physical harm by speaking. But we aren’t sure if she can manipulate the amplitude or frequency of her voice.”

Alewo hummed. “Sounds like suicide. Supers with similar power sets are renowned for dishing out incredible amounts of damage. We should still get earplugs with maximum attenuation and combine them with noise cancelling earmuffs, just to be safe. We’ll also need a field leader.” His eyes darted around the group.

“I can arrange the accessories for pickup,” Kabash said. “As for picking a field leader, why not vote among yourselves? You can vote yourself if you think you are the best choice.”

We did as he suggested. Toye scored two votes: his and Obong's. I voted Alewo. He in turn voted for me.

“Then it's settled,” Kabash said. “Get changed and move out.”

“Err, Kabash,” I said as the rest of the team dispersed. “I don't have a costume yet. I m-mean, I was working on one . . .”

“No problems,” he said. “I came prepared for that. Just put this on and go with whatever else you are comfortable with.”

The mask Kabash handed me was identical to the one he wore. It had a strap that went over the head, and I fiddled with it, lining the eyeholes up with my eyes.

“Oh, wow,” Kabash said, chuckling. “That doesn't look as good when someone else wears it.”

I rolled my eyes and raced for my room. A bomber jacket rested at the bottom of my travel bag, and I threw it over my tee and jeans. My current shoes were my only elegant possessions, so I switched them out, picking a pair of worn sneakers instead. Four empty spray cans went into my pockets.

I returned to the entrance hall and found Kabash fiddling under the hood of a vehicle.

“Need help?” I asked. “I know a bit about cars.”

“Not really,” he said. “But thanks for asking.”

“What the fuck are you wearing?” Toye called from atop a catwalk. He leaped off, landing with a heavy thud. “Are you going to fight in those?!”

“I don't have a costume yet,” I said. Asshole.

“I'm not talking about a costume.” He cradled his belly, going beside himself with laughter. “What the fuck are those shoes?”

I glanced down at my sneakers. I’d never owned more than three pairs of shoes at any given point in my life. Of the current set, the sneakers saw the most use. It was a shabby thing, sure, but I was content with it all the same.

His words still stung.

“Cut it out,” Kabash warned.

Toye smirked, adjusting his costume. Purple skintight suit highlighted compact muscles that looked like they’d been carved from stone. A small region of gold flowed from the neck of the costume, continuing down to his deltoids. Below that, a symbol of EKG waveforms glowed in a circle on his chest. It repeated itself on his belt and the kneecaps of his boots, golden hues enhancing the purple. It was honestly better than anything I could hope to think up.

Toye noticed me appraising his suit. The corners of his mouth rose. “Pretty awesome, eh?” he said.

Eat shit.

“I take it we aren’t waiting for Alewo?” Obong asked, descending the stairs. Unlike Toye’s flamboyant costume, hers was more restrained. It consisted of a simple sleeveless top, gloves, and short tights over shin-high boots. She tied on a sash as she approached, her features hidden behind a domino mask. Save for her white top, the rest of her apparel was a vivid green.

For someone so petty, she was kind of hot.

“He'll meet us there,” Kabash said. “AV can supply directions.” He slammed the bonnet shut. “Activity, get in the driver's seat.”

“For real?” Toye squeaked.

“Reals.”

“I'm not eighteen yet. Won't that be a problem?”

“You are old enough to fight Villains who qualify as nightmare fuel, and you are old enough to be incarcerated by superhuman law. In my book, that means old enough to drive. Get to it.”

“Sweet!”

We clambered into the SUV. Toye and Kabash took the front seats. Obong looked like she would rather sit with slugs than with me, but she climbed in anyway, keeping her gaze fixed on her window.

“A few more things before we head out,” Kabash said, handing me a box. “Toss your phone in there.” He waited for me to comply. “Never forget to do this. Leave your phone behind on missions or use a dummy one if you have to. We’ve had incidents in the past with Supers getting targeted via information on their devices. If we need to communicate on a mission, the Council will provide radios.”

Catherine had warned me about this, yet I'd forgotten about the phone in my pocket. I didn't need to look to know Toye was snickering.

“Secondly,” Kabash continued, “as long as we are on missions, we make strict use of Hero names. Doing otherwise is a considerable offense. If your colleague believes you did so in an attempt to jeopardize them, we will take such accusations seriously. Chetachi, do you have one?”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“I was thinking V-volley . . .”

“Volley? Sounds good. At the risk of sounding redundant, your squadmates are Harvest, Activity, and Neviecha. You got that? Let's move out.”

Activity kicked the car into gear. The entrance parted before we neared it and closed off seconds behind us. The CAH combat suits waved us through the gates, communicating on radios as they did. We blasted onto the busy Newtown streets, stereo wailing at full volume.

Kalakuta beach lay in the southernmost part of the city, a region that had once been known as Ogun Waterside.

Following the failed establishment of the Newtown seaport, there’d been a bid to revitalize the beach and turn it into a tourist hotspot. The former Governor had made some progress tidying and dredging it. His successor had abandoned it. When I'd visited with mom and dad four years ago, there had been more trash heaps than people. Now, the trash heaps were gone, but I suspected it had more to do with civil groups and volunteers than any actual government effort.

“Over there,” Kabash said, directing Toye into a parking lot.

The parking lot sat on a platform overlooking the beach, connected to it by a series of steps. A section had been emptied beforehand. Three men in combat suits surrounded it, electroshock rifles held at the ready. Ardent stood amongst the men in his suit and tie, speaking into a radio.

“Ardent,” Kabash greeted.

“Kabash, Pacesetters,” the bear of a man replied. He looked like he wanted to say more, then frowned, unwilling to spare the effort.

A small crowd had gathered in the areas around the parking lot. They oohed at the sight of our team and took videos with camera phones.

“What's the sitrep?” Kabash asked.

“Six out of commission,” Ardent said. “Target stole a car and there was a chase, then we found the vehicle abandoned a short distance away. We tracked the target to a beach house belonging to some country club. Our men tried to enter, broke into shrieks, and collapsed.”

“Same thing AV reported,” Kabash said.

“Are your men alright?” Obong asked.

Ardent graced her with a smile. “They are. Catherine secured medical treatment for them.”

“What about earplugs?” Toye said. “Did any of them have those in?”

Amusement flickered past Ardent's face. “No. We only inferred Dominic's capabilities after the fact. I assume you came prepared?”

“I sent Neviecha to fetch the gear,” Kabash said. “He's on his way. How far is the beach house from here?”

“Not too far,” Ardent replied. “About one klick east. We've cordoned off the area, but some of the people hanging around aren't too happy.”

“How . . .” I paused, organizing my thoughts. “How far away were your men when they got hit?”

“Huh? Who are you supposed to be?”

“What do you mean?” The cool interior of Kabash’s mask pressed against my cheek. “Oh, I'm Chet . . . I mean, Volley.”

Ardent grinned. “Volley, eh? Well, we presume the target has a range of thirty to sixty meters. My men got about ten meters to the house before collapsing. I am not sure how long Dominic can sustain the attack seeing as we got our people to safety, but we aren't willing to find out.”

So, a medium to long-range ability. One that was hopefully activated in bursts. The best course of action would be to bait out the attack with our most durable teammate and have the rest take advantage of a recharge window, if any, to storm the beach house. The hostages complicated things. Harvest said she could handle them, but—

“Neviecha's here,” Toye said.

I followed his gaze skyward. A massive shape hurtled towards us, trailing smog.

“W-we might need to clear out,” Obong said, voice rising a pitch.

We sprang out of the way about the same time a hulking contraption of metal whirled past. It missed us by a few meters, to screams from the crowd, and crash-landed with a whump on the sand below.

“Oww,” the metal thing groaned.

“Are you trying to kill us?” Obong cried.

We climbed down to the beach.

A twelve-foot robot lay in the impact crater. Its long, bleached brown arms dug into the sand, whirring with the effect of servos. Coolant flowed down legs that seemed unfinished, if their lack of a casing was anything to go by. Behind the burly torso, a gigantic flight pack winded down, thrusters glowing an unnerving red. Sparks went off around a tiny brick-like head.

“Some help, please?” the robot said.

“Is that Neviecha?!” I asked.

“Obviously,” Toye said. He grabbed the robot's arm and helped Alewo into a standing position.

“A robot,” I said. I had only seen similar on the news about foreign Supers. And even then, rarely Supers outside Asia and the UK.

“Technically, a mini-mecha,” Alewo replied, static plaguing his loudspeakers. “I call this one the Habakkuk three. Pretty awesome, no?”

“Well, yes,” I said, then backed away as the jetpack sputtered. “You look like you’re about to explode.”

“Got some power problems,” he said. “Managed to fold my wings and reroute the excess at the last second, so nothing to worry about.” He pulled a metal case from the mecha’s hips. “Here, earmuffs. I won’t need them though. The Habakkuk has an improved active vibration control feature I’ve been dying to try. Genius engineer, baby!”

We grabbed a pair each.

“We'll put them on when we are about a hundred meters away from the beach house,” Toye said. “When I give the signal, we'll enact the plan.”

“What's the plan?” Obong asked.

“Attack baiting,” Toye replied. “Volley makes a run for the beach house with earmuffs on. If he gets incapacitated, the rest of us will advance in waves, taking advantage of any window that might exist between attacks.”

It was the same plan I’d come up with save for one problem. “Why me? Shouldn't Neviecha or you be first to go?”

Toye rolled his eyes. “You are the most useless on this mission. Your ability is straight damage, limited utility. We can't risk incapacitating our more important powers here. Especially with hostages around.”

“That doesn't mean—”

“This is a team and last I checked, I was voted leader,” Toye said. A hint of a smirk played on his lips. “Unless you are saying you want out of it?”

Fuck this guy. I looked to Kabash who had been silent all through.

“Well, Activity has a point,” Kabash said, rolling his shoulders. “And Dominic has refrained from using lethal force so far. You'll need someone to take one for the team either way.”

“Okay,” I said. My vision bled red.

“Good,” Kabash said. “Now get going. I'll wait here for your return. When you do, it should be with happy hostages and a pacified Dominic.”

We made for the beach house, Toye in the lead. The Habakkuk brought up the rear, footfalls heavy in the sand. The waves lapped in the sea off to our right and a cool breeze blew in from the Atlantic, reeking of salt. I had always loved the beach, and it seemed kind of sad that my second visit ever was in anticipation of a fight.

Beach mats littered the area, abandoned by owners who had probably been chased off by the CAH. We passed empty food stalls, some with plates of food left open on tabletops. A speaker blared nearby. Ardent’s men had been thorough, which was saying something. Nigerians generally weren't an easy bunch to move.

The beach house towered in the distance, more hall than house, erected close to a small scattering of rocks. Its polished wooden walls adjoined a cabana, built with raffia palms. Windows glinted on the upper and lower floors of the building, the interior inscrutable behind them. Combat suits patrolled a wide perimeter around the area, keeping the most curious passers-by away. There were so many of our people watching, it was sure to sting if we failed.

Toye raised a hand once we got close. “Earmuffs in,” he said.

“If Dominic’s watching from a window,” I said, “wouldn't he know what we are up to?”

“Well, there's no way to hide our approach here,” Toye said, “short of breaking through the roof and harming hostages in the process.”

“Some cover would be good though,” Alewo observed.

“Yeah?” Toye frowned. He turned to Obong. “Think you can do it?”

“I've spread some spores,” Obong said. “Helps that there is wind too. Give me a moment.”

Obong had mentioned how she needed to seed spores before using her ability. It probably explained why her costume showed a fair amount of skin. She spread her arms, closing her eyes.

The earth rumbled beneath us. Trees exploded out of the sand, complete with roots, branches and leaves. They formed a loose ring around us and extended a good deal of the way to the beach house before petering out.

I swallowed saliva. “Jeez. How far is your range?”

Obong didn't respond.

“About a hundred meters, give or take,” Alewo replied in her stead. “Fluctuates with the amount of time she requires.” His mecha made as if to tip over and righted itself. “It's possible we’ve spooked Dominic though. Be on guard, in case he runs off.”

“This enough cover for you?” Toye said, turning to me. “You’re up first. Run as hard as you can and make yourself as visible as possible. If you make it to the building, hound Dominic and pressure him to fight you. The tree cover might mess with him enough that he thinks we have more numbers than we are letting on. He will probably hit very far and very hard.” He snickered.

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

“Neviecha, you're up after Volley,” Toye continued. “If Volley goes down, you will press on immediately. If not, you wait five minutes after Volley has entered then advance. Harvest and I will make up the last wave and follow three minutes after you.”

It was a solid tactic, making it difficult for Dominic to eliminate more than one of our number at once. If I made it to the building, I'd have five minutes to suppress Dominic before backup would follow. My heart raced in my chest. Here it was. My very first Hero mission and it felt like a suicide run.

Activity gave the signal to put our earmuffs in place. I did so, sticking the earplugs in first. I broke out of cover in the straightest possible line to the beach house. Forest undergrowth crunched beneath my feet.

Each step forward proved more difficult than the last one, but I persevered, keeping my gaze fixed on the destination. My entire being winced in anticipation of an attack.

Halfway there.

Sweat drenched my clothes, and the breath wheezed in lungfuls from my chest. The windows on the beach house remained dark and unassuming, devoid of any signs of motion.

Nearly there.

My legs felt like molten lead. Sand tugged at my shoes. Ribs that had erstwhile been working fine trembled like rickety engines. I flew up the front steps of the house, reaching the sturdy, wooden doors. They swung inwards with a slight use of my power.

There!

The doors opened up to a sprawling hall. Stairs on both sides of the entrance led up to a gallery spanning the interior of the building. On the ground floor, wooden benches sat facing an intricate bar. And near those benches, people lingered. But many weren't moving. Some lay splayed on the ground. Others ambled around in a daze. None of them turned at my entry.

The hell?

Movement registered up on the gallery to my right. A figure ran past. I grabbed a spray can, taking the stairs two at a time.

Then everything went white.