My crosshair hovered over Comet as she glided down the road and I knew in my soul that I couldn’t bring myself to pull the trigger. Besides, even if I wanted to, her telekinetic aura would stop the tranquilizer dead before it had a chance to pierce her skin. Not to mention, she was wearing Nanoforge’s armor and there was no way I was breaching that.
Not with my non-lethal options anyway.
“Alice, what do we do?”
“Ah, shaddup! I’m thinkin’ AND dodging over here. It’s not easy!”
There had to be a way to take advantage of the situation. Comet being here was not only a problem for me, but for everyone. Her telekinesis wasn’t the scariest power in The Bay to deal with, but it was a huge pain in the ass. It was very difficult to fight someone who was almost immune to projectiles and could trap you in a telekinetic prison.
Ionizer, on the other hand, could augment his muscles with his power to increase his strength and speed. He could also draw power from electronic devices around him to further increase his power and given enough charge, could fire off bolts of lightning. Everything about him was well documented and available for public consumption.
Prosperity… had fox ears and a big fluffy tail. I hadn’t the slightest clue what her powers were beyond that. She was new; an unknown. She wasn’t announced yet and I had no idea why she was out patrolling in the first place. Maybe it was some sort of initiation? They could be showing her the ropes, just like Alice had done for me.
My mind drifted elsewhere as my gaze flicked back to Comet.
Could Lucy have…? No, she knows I have powers, but I never said a word about which super I was, nor about what was going down tonight.
The commotion could have drawn them here.
They were walking down the middle of the street, alert and inspecting their surroundings. Surprisingly, Comet missed the windows I had shot through to disable The Cain's snipers, so they weren’t aware of anything just yet. Soon, they’d close in on the meatworks and hear the commotion going on inside and then everything would really fall to pieces.
A quick scan showed that the fight inside was still going strong and in our favor as well. That wouldn’t be the case if the ECU patrol barged in.
“I’m going to buy you some time.”
My gun wouldn’t do much good here with Comet’s telekinetic shield. At the smallest hint of danger, she’d protect them all and I’d be shit out of luck. I didn’t want to hurt them anyway, so I needed to explore another avenue.
I needed a distraction of some kind.
I could take some shots to spook them, but I knew Comet wasn’t the type to shy away from a fight, even if bullets were flying. There were some stories she told us at school that even I had trouble believing. Ionizer was a fully-fledged ECU hero and wouldn’t even flinch at my attempts. Prosperity, on the other hand, was new and would probably lose her nerve. Unfortunately, only one in three wasn’t good enough.
I need to draw them away.
But how?
An idea struck me when I saw the parked cars. I loaded up my security breaching program and scanned the area. Sure enough, I saw three red dots moving at the same pace as the heroes. It seemed Nanoforge’s armor was putting out a heavily encrypted signal. Her nanites had to be able to communicate to form the armor somehow.
I wonder how much I’d have to invest into my software to be able to crack it?
I directed my attention to the other vulnerable devices around them.
The cars… I can connect to them?
I had been neglecting my software in favor of hardware, so this came as a surprise. Had I always been able to hack cars? This would have been useful when the Cains had given chase after we had escaped the mall.
I can work with this.
I connected to one of the cars behind them and set off the alarm. The sound cut through the night and I heard the distant wails echo all the way to where I was perched. Through my scope, I observed Prosperity jump in fright. A brilliant blue light engulfed her before dissipating to reveal a large, flaming blue fox the size of a hatchback. She turned and barked at it, which sounded more like a whining yip than anything.
An Elementalist shapeshifter with passive Morpher features? If she has even a couple more powers than that, she would be considered an Aspect like Alice.
Blue flames licked at her paws which seemed to blend nicely with her midnight blue coat. Without my night-vision setting and the flames around her feet, I would have a hard time seeing her. Still, it wasn’t every day you saw a Morpher with the ability to fully turn into the animal they shared characteristics with.
Comet and Ionizer cautiously inspected the car while Prosperity stood back and stared at it like it was about to lash out and attack. Even as a giant animal, she seemed skittish. Abby wasn’t kidding, the girl completely lacked the confidence of the other Rookies.
I set off another alarm in another car further down the road and they all shared a confused look.
I need to up the ante.
I wasn’t sure if I could but I was going to try anyway. Most of the cars didn’t have the features I was looking for but a couple of the more expensive ones had brakes, accelerators, gears, and steering all electronically connected. That meant I should be able to remote-control the vehicle.
How hard could it be?
I connected to another car and tried to drive it. The steering wheel jerked to the right and accelerated from one side of the street to the other, plowing through the front of a fruit and vegetable shop and setting off the alarm. I cringed, trying to reverse it only to discover the engine was too badly damaged.
Whoops. Okay, a bit harder than I thought.
I tried again on another car next to Prosperity. I managed to get the car safely down the street until Comet’s telekinetic aura surrounded it and lifted it into the air to stop it from escaping. She didn’t even hesitate to rip off the doors to check inside. She turned and called out to Ionizer who was busy checking the car I had driven into the shop.
I was starting to run out of cars that I could control. There weren’t many on the street but now I might as well go for broke. I connected to every car and set off their alarms, the noise rising to a crescendo. Hopefully, it would mask the fight going on in the meatworks.
“Uppies, what’s goin’ on out there? It sounds like tha circus just arrived in town!”
“Like I said, buying you time. I’m improvising though, so hurry it up.”
“Oh, okay! Keep it up, we’re almost done with these meatheads!”
Keep it up, she says…
I was scraping the bottom of the barrel. The only idea left that I could think of was to shoot at them but given what I’d done already, I doubt that would do anything. I needed something else. I needed—
Comet shot up in the sky and began flying in my direction.
Did she see me?
I waited a couple of moments as she got closer, hoping she’d veer off in a different direction.
She didn’t.
Shit!
I ripped my gun off the ledge, attached it to my back, and bolted for the roof access door. I barged through the door and slammed it shut, locking it for good measure. I made it down about six stories of stairs before I heard the roof door fly off its hinges and crash to the floor.
“Hey!” Comet called out. “Quit running, you’re only going to make this more painful for yourself!”
How the hell did they know I was up there? Did they see me?
I upped my pace, leaping down the stairs and letting the new shock absorbers in my suit disperse the force from what would have been an ankle-shattering impact. I was now in total flight mode and all I could think about was escaping.
From what Abby had told me about her powers, she found finesse difficult and didn’t do well maneuvering in confined spaces. I had the advantage for now. Unfortunately, as soon as I made it outside I’d have to contend with Prosperity and Ionizer as well.
One problem at a time.
I spotted a door as I approached the next level and bolted through it. Emerging into a hallway, I wasted no time sprinting down it to find my next exit. I came upon another door and pushed my way through. On the other side, a darkened office filled with cubicles and computers. There were no lights on but I could hear the gentle humming of machines in sleep mode all around me.
A fucking dead end. Shit!
I dashed down one of the aisles and ducked into one of the cubicles. I thought this was a good opportunity to catch my breath, but unfortunately, Comet was quick to catch up. The door opened and she hovered into the room, her bright, sparkling aura casting a glow across the room.
Damnit… go away! Why did you have to check this room?
“I know you’re in here,” Comet started, her voice cautious. “Just a heads up, these cat and mouse games never end well for you guys and I’m seriously not in the mood for this.”
The jaded part of me wondered when Abby was in the mood for anything but I was quick to banish those unhelpful thoughts. I needed to think of a way out of this before she caught me. I knew if I didn’t do something soon, my capture wouldn’t be a comfortable experience. Though, I found it strange that she hadn’t turned this office upside down already.
“If you come out now, I promise I won’t break anything,” she paused for a moment and I felt my brow furrow. “Okay, I might throw you around a bit, but you totally deserve it for messing with us. Unless you're working with someone— hey. I’ll cut you a deal. If you're working with anyone, give them up and I'll totally put in a good word for you.”
Abby… you’re such a shit liar.
Comet continued to hover around the room, casually inspecting each cubicle as I carefully crept around outside her field of vision. She had to use her glowing aura to search, which didn’t seem to be ideal given the amount of time it took.
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“Come ooooon,” Comet groaned. “It’s Friday night! I got things I wanna do and you’re just wasting my time here. Please come out? Ugh, like that’s ever worked before,” she muttered under her breath. “Alright, I’ve fulfilled my ‘heroic nice’ quota for the day. If you don’t come out in the next five seconds, I will throw this whole office out the window and onto the street and you WILL break something important.”
There’s the Abby I know.
Also, five seconds didn’t give me much time to react.
I rapidly connected to all the computers and turned them on. There was a cascade of noise as each computer played its power on jingle.
“Oh nooooo,” She drawled. “All the computers are turning on. I’m soooooooo scared. Not sure what you’re trying to do here but it’s not gonna help you. Five! Four! Three—!”
I queued up the loudest music I could think of and hit play on every single computer.
“Really!? Really,” Comet yelled over the noise. “You’re a villain and you have the shittiest taste in music! Real mature by the way! If you think playing this is going to piss me off… you’d be right!”
Crouching out of the cubicle I found myself in, I watched Comet hover in and out of the aisles. She had left the door we had come through unguarded. If I could just get out without her noticing, I’d be in the clear.
Just for once, let one of my escape attempts go unnoticed…
I turned my focus to a couple of computers at the far side of the room and upped the volume, while simultaneously decreasing the volume on the computers everywhere else. Just like I hoped, Comet’s attention snapped to the loudest computers and she glided over to investigate. I took that opportunity to start moving.
As I reached for the door, I made sure to turn all the computers up to max volume before opening. I slipped out and bolted back to the stairs.
Too close…
My heart thundered in my chest as I bounded down the stairs. It was difficult to wipe the stupid grin off my face. I couldn’t believe that worked. I could already imagine the long, drawn-out tirade at school next week about the super that had slipped out right from under her nose.
“Alice, how are we doing?”
“Nemesis is counting sheep. Annie and I are tryna trap Goldie! How’re ya doin’ over there?”
“Managing,” I said as I reached the ground floor. From the sounds of it, Comet was still busy in the office, so I was in the clear. Opening the door and swiftly moving through the foyer, I spotted the entrance I had hacked to enter the building. “Comet managed to spot me but I think I got—”
Something large collided with my side and knocked me clean off my feet.
I rolled across the carpet, crashing through a coffee table before finally coming to a stop against a wall. The force knocked the wind from my lungs and as I tried to catch my breath, I saw Prosperity towering over me snarling as she pinned me to the floor with both her front legs.
I grunted in pain as the weight settled onto my chest, threatening to cave it in while my sniper rifle dug painfully into my back. I could barely breathe and I doubted she cared in the slightest. All she had to do was get me to the ECU alive.
“Uppies? What’s happening!?”
Prosperity growled in my face.
“Pinned,” I wheezed. I tried to pry the shapeshifting heroine off me but my muscles weren’t up for the task. Prosperity just glared at me through my visor. I wasn’t sure if she could see my face but the message was clear. Don’t even think about it. “Not good.”
“Ah! Hold on. I can— oh shit!” Pink’s abrupt cry didn’t do much to reassure me. Something was happening over there and it was becoming clear that I was on my own.
Despite being too heavy for me to push, I could at least count on her to not chew my head off. Even Abby didn’t go that far. Though, that didn’t make the molten blue fire that dripped from her jaws any less terrifying.
I needed a way out and there was nothing that I could use or upgrade to help me. I still had my laser pistol but the non-lethal setting wasn’t going to help me here. The only way it would help me out of this was if I used the lethal mode – and I hadn’t properly tested that yet. It would be my absolute last resort.
Alright, let’s try the other non-lethal option.
“Don’t suppose… you can… get off me?”
She replied with a low grumble that I imagined was her way of saying “No way!”
“Come on, you’re new,” I tried to reason. I struggled to take another breath with her weight pressing down on my chest but I managed. “I’m not here to hurt anyone. I’m fighting The Cains! They’ve kidnapped a friend of mine and I’ve been trying to save her.”
Prosperity looked down at me and stopped snarling. Her big vulpine head tilted as if to question my words.
“Yeah, I was just trying to distract you guys. If I was going to hurt you, I would’ve taken your heads off the moment I saw you.”
Her gaze shifted to the big sniper still magnetically clamped to my back. Another low growl erupted from her throat before she lifted her head and started barking.
So much for asking nicely.
Prosperity was trying to call for backup. I wasn’t sure where Ionizer was and Comet was probably still scouring the offices upstairs, trying to navigate all the noise. I still had time but it wouldn’t be long until she snapped and destroyed everything just to try and find me or heard Prosperity over the noise. I had another minute – maybe less – to get out of this.
I needed to escape now.
I reached down to my leg and slid my laser gun out of its holster.
“Sorry for this.”
In one motion, I flicked the lethality setting on the side and fired at her back leg. The laser surged and exploded.
Prosperity stumbled off me, howling as she limped away.
No way Comet didn’t hear that.
I caught my breath and scrambled to my feet, keeping my laser gun leveled firmly at the Rookie hero. Her hind leg was bleeding, not too bad but I had definitely taken skin off. She must have some kind of durability enhancement because despite how small that explosion was, I knew it could pulp the torso of a normal person.
I made for the entrance but Prosperity was quick to block my way, despite her injury. She was quick and she resumed snarling at me, this time with more ferocity. Heat rolled off her in waves and I saw the fire around her paws intensify.
“I really don’t want to shoot you again.”
She barked, her maw opening. I barely had time to dodge the flaming torrent of fire that shot out. I dove to the side as the receptionist’s area was engulfed in blue flames. The inferno licked the edges of my suit and was pleasantly surprised to feel that it didn’t catch and my efforts were not wasted. While I was unharmed, I could not say the same for where the fire hit… or where it was beginning to spread.
Wood splintered and cracked, burning as it fell apart and turned to ash. The carpet started to smoke and turn black, filling the room with fumes, all while Prosperity barked in a panic. In a flash, she was back to her human form, still limping from the wound I had inflicted.
“Oh no! Nononono! I-I didn’t mean to— crap!” She rushed forward to try and control the flames. The blue fire curled and started to flow back into her, albeit at a slow pace. The damage, however, was already done.
This was my window.
I pushed myself back to my feet and fled through the entrance.
“Hey!” She shouted at me. “Come back here! You can’t just—”
I was already gone, rushing through the sliding glass doors and out into the main street. With my head on a swivel, I looked around for any sign of Ionizer. I didn’t want to be caught off-guard again, especially not by a hero as renowned as him.
Where is he?
I started off toward the meatworks, making sure to duck into nearby buildings for cover. I didn’t want to make it easy for Comet to see me from the air.
“Alice. I had a bit of a run in with Prosperity but I managed to escape. I think Comet is preoccupied but I can’t be certain.”
“What about Ionizer?” Pink was gone and Alice was back at the helm. “You haven’t run into him yet?”
“Not yet, thankfully. If I had, I don’t think I’d be talking to you right now.”
“We’ll take what we can get. Get over here. Gold Rush and Nemesis are down but there’s some serious security that needs cracking. Anomaly and I can’t get through this stupid door,” I heard a loud crack from the other end of the radio. “Thirty-nine centimeters thick and some kind of Evometal. Red can’t even dent it.”
I wasn’t sure how she thought I could get through, but I’d give it my best shot. The door she described would have some sophisticated countermeasures against the kind of stuff I was sporting right now. My hacking software was very barebones and could break through vulnerable ports. Cracking anything big would take some major processing power.
I made it to the meatworks and slipped in through one of the side doors. All the car alarms had since stopped and it was eerily quiet. It wasn’t long before I turned a corner into one of the main rooms and saw Alice standing at the top of a flight of stairs. She motioned for me and I jogged over.
“You alright?” She asked.
I nodded. “I’ve been better. Bit flustered and bruised. Prosperity can shapeshift and has some kind of fire power.”
“Ugh, fire… they’re the worst,” Alice guided me down the stairs. “Glad you’re okay. Things got a bit dicey. Gold Rush tried to run me through with one of her light rods,” she gestured to the part of her costume that appeared ripped and damaged. “Remind me to kiss you. The bitch would’ve turned me inside out without the improvements you made.”
“No need, we’re partners, remember?”
Alice’s mouth broke out into a wide, grateful smile. “Yeah. I remember.”
We arrived at the bottom of the stairs to see Anomaly trying his hardest to fit through the cracks in a large, metal door. It looked like it came straight from a spy movie and held the villain's top-secret lab behind it.
“You know, that kind of looks like the door to the emergency shelter beneath my school,” I said, peering at the door. I wasn’t entirely sure how I was going to get through this since my security breaching program was flashing me failure warnings whenever I tried to breach it. There was a sea of red dots before me, all tech much more advanced than what I was used to dealing with. “What’s a place like this doing here?”
“It’s not an emergency shelter,” Alice replied. “It’s custom built.”
I knew who she was talking about before she even said the name.
“Masquerade.”
“Him and the rest of Fireiron Industries. This has his name written all over it.”
Anomaly shifted back to his human form. “I think the hostages are in there. If Mia’s anywhere, it’s in there.”
Alice gave me a look. “Can you crack it?”
I approached the door and placed my hand against it and everything about it was revealed to me. All the inbuilt countermeasures, security software, and materials that were used to construct it. It might not be an ECU emergency shelter, but it was pretty damn close. It seems that Fireiron Industries were all that they were hyped up to be. The [Materials] the door was made out of didn’t even sound like they were real. It was, without a doubt, the work of Supers.
Multiple, in fact. It’s a collaborative project. No one super could have made this.
“No, I can’t.”
There was no doubt in my mind that I could invest all twenty-five of my charges into upgrading my security-breaching software right now and I wouldn’t be anywhere close to breaking through the network. It was the same with Nanoforge’s tech. It was just too advanced. I’d need more prep time and that was something we sorely lacked right now.
“What now?” Anomaly looked around for an answer. “We have to get in there!”
Alice grimaced. “Okay… okay. Let me think.”
“No need,” I cut in. “I might not be able to crack the security but I should still be able to get us in.”
There weren’t a lot of cheap options in the upgrade tree but with underpaying, I didn’t have to invest more than a single charge. I observed some of the [Materials] and took note of the kind of metals they were using. Maybe in my future projects, I’d be able to replicate them.
Selecting an upgrade to the vault handle that cost six charges, I paid one.
[Charges: 24/25]
I stepped back and watched as the door rippled and morphed into that familiar liquid state. Without looking back, I stepped through. The sensation of walking through water hampered my movements, but in no time at all I emerged on the other side.
The contents of the room stole my breath away. Alice was quick to follow, almost stumbling through as she ended up by my side.
“That’s a useful trick. I didn’t know you… could…” her voice died in her throat. “Holy fuck.”
Before us was a laboratory filled with some of the most sophisticated technology I had ever seen. Lining the walls, cylindrical vats were filled with a strange orange liquid.
Occupying them, were the hostages we had been trying to find.