Things were going well. Objectively speaking, that was true. The way this mission had gone so far was not that far outside of Finn’s expectations. Lyra’s improvements against Havoc were impressive, but expected. His own fight against Niebla had been difficult, but not impossible. The other heroes, too, had carried their weight.
Her attitude aside, Mountpin had proven her competence as a member of the adult DHD team. Damsel and Scalestrike knew how to handle themselves as well. Again, not a surprise. Bringing in criminals was what they did, and these people had the support of the government at their backs.
The procedures they followed were smooth and streamlined, a result of all the work that had been put into creating, testing and iterating them over many years of hero work. It was all very reliable.
It wasn’t that he thought their overwhelming advantage would yield no results. Logically, he understood the utility of having Nar include his sensory ability into a larger arsenal of supporting powers to scout out anything Viperia may have hidden throughout the district. Capitalizing on that sort of intel was going to make for a devastating strike on the Venin. Perhaps sufficient to eliminate the gang in its entirety.
Viperia’s assets had been seized, with every building containing her most valuable possessions having been secured. And the top subordinates under her command had been defeated. Arrested, too, save for one.
Grimoire, the man who presented those complications Finn had been anticipating, managed to escape. He wasn’t sure about the details, but with such a ridiculously versatile power there would be some way the villain could’ve gotten away, even with the opposition he’d been facing.
That being said, he seemed to have left his boss out to dry, since she was currently engaged in solo combat with the district’s highest-ranked hero. All they had left to do was this last part: converging on Mistral’s location and surrounding the perimeter, as per his request.
There was just something about this whole operation. Finn couldn’t put a finger on it, but it nagged at him in the back of his mind.
His grappling hook latched onto another high-rise block of flats, reeling him in and providing the momentum for his next swing. Landing on a run, he decided to consult Jack.
“Gridlock. You’re sure we didn’t miss anything?” he asked over the comms.
“Don’t know what it is we would’ve missed, but yeah, pretty sure,” Gridlock answered. “Why are you getting so antsy now? You already won your big fight, got the prize, got the girl. You’re good. This mission isn’t solely reliant on the three of us. It’s a bigger op where a lot of people pitch in, and now you’re going to be doing something that may not seem like it matters all that much, but is part of our job nonetheless.”
“I get that. This isn’t like anything we’ve done before. What I’m saying is that we should keep our eyes open, even though it would be good for us if we completed the mission without having to do anything else.”
“I’d like to finish this quickly too,” Lyra added.
“I know you do,” Jack replied with a laugh. The girl flushed and said nothing more. “But Shade, you’re overthinking it. Mistral’s got this covered.”
Finn didn’t press the issue further, knowing he wouldn’t get anywhere when he lacked something concrete to back up his point. He had a gut feeling, and little else. But that wouldn’t stop him from paying close attention to his surroundings.
They’d received the opportunity to separate from their assigned squad, which Finn had taken immediately. The sooner they got out of there, the better. Because he had acquired what he came for.
This artifact, if that was what it was called, hadn’t revealed many of its mysteries, other than that his colors took to it well. Really, the way he could play with its visibility and odd dimensions in how it refracted light would keep him busy for hours if he were at home practicing his control.
Of course, he wasn’t at home. He didn’t have time to dive into this palm-sized marvel in-depth. Later, he would do everything he could think of to explore its hidden aspects. For now, he focused on seeing this mission through; they weren’t out of the woods yet.
Other independents were heading in the same direction as they were, utilizing various powers, vehicles and gadgets to travel from place to place.
To point one out, Valken was carrying her unpowered subordinates in her airstream whilst she soared over the buildings with impressive speed and fluidity. None of her passengers seemed the least bit concerned about being dropped, having no doubt done this many times already.
A few streets to the left, Moonflower simply rode her motorcycle. He couldn’t spot her telepathic bird, Quillvoy, anywhere. Did that mean she left it wherever she kept it?Was it outside his sensory reach? He wouldn’t miss the markings on its body if it were anywhere near him.
In the chaos of his chase during the Homeland incident, he hadn’t had much time to contemplate the exact nature of that animal. Or primebeast? Finn was unclear on the details. It wasn’t unheard of for the government to capture primebeasts and use them for various purposes so long as they were no higher than monster-class.
While it was less prevalent in Apexia to his knowledge, North America did that often to facilitate the creation of their technology. Excluding their unique minerals, they used various powers from live specimens native to their region that allowed for methods of production which they were not able to carry out with conventional equipment.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
In this case, the maybe-primebeast was being utilized for actual field work. That was far rarer. He assumed Colette had used her hypnotic mental force petals on this beast repeatedly to tame or enslave it, but he couldn’t be certain.
Behind him, some yellow-suited guy he’d never heard of used adhesive gloves and boots to frog-leap from building to building. Going by his physique, it was a warrior type power rather than any force manipulation.
Aside from them, there were also some DHD-affiliated heroes traveling in his range, one of whom caught his attention.
Aquiveil’s method of travel was an interesting one. His power was a form of hydrokinesis that allowed him to draw water to himself, then float tiny drops around his body in a three-dimensional grid pattern. Any object or person within this range had an “outline,” which he could switch with another position where he had sufficient drops to form that outline. In other words, he could cover people with his water and teleport them around in his domain to a spot where there were enough droplets to recreate that outline. The higher the concentration of water drops, and thus the more accurate the outline, the faster the teleportation would activate.
In practice, the Junior Ace looked like the forward-blinking center of an expanding and contracting localized rainfall zone. He would extend his water in tiny bits around him, switch places with some drops ahead of himself, draw all his water in, and repeat.
Finn didn’t doubt that the coastal districts would be interested in adding him to their ranks once he graduated from the junior program, as it was obvious how effective such a power would be in an area where he could access more than just the water vapor in the air. As things stood, however, Aquiveil had decent synergy with Mistral.
Overall, they were making good time getting to their destination. And a minute later, Gridlock spoke up again.
“Well, would you look at that? I found out about one new development. But it's already dealt with,” their teammate informed them.
Finn’s brows furrowed. “What is it?”
“Turns out our favorite lizard gang lord’s been doing it all for her son,” said Gridlock. “Setting up the gang, stealing weird shit from different places, making shady deals on the black market, all to… cure him I guess? I haven’t actually got that much information on what’s wrong with the kid other than that it’s power-related.”
That threw Finn for a loop. To think the most feared gang leader of the district was secretly someone’s mom all this time, it was hard to picture. Yet also strangely understandable. If his mother had powers and he was in that desperate of a situation, he didn’t know what lengths she wouldn’t go to.
“How old is he?” Lyra asked.
“Ten? Eleven? Somewhere around there. But the point is, we don’t need to worry about it anymore.”
Finn had to admit this display of competence from the DHD put him somewhat more at ease. Overlooking a child with an unknown power who discovered that his mother wasn’t coming home sounded potentially catastrophic. Reassuring to know that possibility had been averted, then.
Scaling another wall, he saw the shifting clouds, flashes of lightning and shattering ice were becoming visible in the distance. They were approaching the battle site. Signaling to Lyra, he went for the place with the smallest number of people covering it.
When they reached the building he’d picked out, he donned his camouflage and crouched. Meanwhile, Lyra muted their movements and breathing unprompted. They got in position and waited.
Now that he was close enough to observe the battle with his power but not so near as to be hit by a stray piece of debris, he tried to parse what he was seeing, since it was all going so fast. Faster than any fight he’d ever been a part of.
A white reptilian figure streaked with black that must have been Viperia blitzed across the streets, dodging crystalline projectiles as she readied a venomous claw and tensed her legs for a jump. Her scaled feet broke through a block of ice as big as a house, sending shards flying in every direction while she lunged at her opponent.
Mistral, for his part, looked calm. He hovered to the side and opened a cloud that sent an icy blade rushing forth as if he’d expected her to make that move. She tried to slap it away but got hit by another bolt of lightning and sleeting rain and wind, sending her careening off to the side, where another two massive transparent blocks slammed down on her like the jaws of a titan.
Bile, blood and venom spewed forth from her mouth in a disgusting mix of filth, melting through the ice and giving her arm room to smash through the rest. She snarled as the chaotic weather raged around her.
Unlike last time, Finn was fully conscious to witness Mistral’s full power here, and he could see why this was the man chosen to be district captain—his control over the storm elements was nothing short of spectacular. Every movement was efficient, his attacks relentless, each shift of the wind carrying purpose.
He grit his teeth. This just… wasn’t a level combat he could approach. Not as he was.
Heedless of his internal struggle, the enraged lizard woman struck the ground, digging her claws into the concrete and forcing the rubble away with a surge of raw strength.
His eyes narrowed. He could sense a strange, foreign energy rippling inside Viperia’s form—a dark, insidious substance that seemed to cling to her cells, refusing to let go. That must have been the drug she took. The way it ravaged her body each second was clear as day to his senses. Sapping a bit more of her strength, degrading her musculoskeletal structure, obstructing her breathing like a slowly tightening noose.
She was dying.
Taking into account her diminishing strength, he wasn’t surprised to see her unable to react to the next round of attacks. She struggled against the roiling stormclouds picking her up, shocking her, disorienting her, and dispersing to leave her locked up to the neck in ice. Then another round of clouds came in and generated more, compressing her ice prison. Her venom wasn’t potent enough for this new level of density, sizzling against it but not making any real progress.
Incapable of offering further resistance, she screamed in fury and anguish. A desperate sound tinged with melancholy. Unfortunately for her, no one answered her cry.
From the sky, Finn sensed a rapidly descending Nar. The young hero dropped in front of the trapped supervillain, placing his hands on either side of her head. Glowing golden energy suffused her, scouring the drug from her body and rendering her limp.
Given that Mistral was still floating a good distance above her, it was likely that Finn and Aiden were the only two people to notice the inky tears streaming down her face. No sobs, just silent weeping.
Viperia had a faraway look in her eyes. She wasn’t unconscious, but definitely nearing that point. She was no longer under the influence and being subdued by Nar and Mistral both. For a moment, Finn allowed himself to think it was over.
And that was when everything went wrong.