Tag Archives: Red Lightning

Arc 14.9.0: Engine

Engine: Part 5

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The dog observed the hand and sniffed it, but didn’t lick it. Tiger was smart enough to know he didn’t want to taste the metal-and-ceramic gauntlet.

Within a few moments, everyone had arrived: the old Heroes’ League, the new, Prentkos, and both Jody’s and Colette’s unconscious bodies. Talk about not being able to save everyone. Being turned into Rook’s mind-controlled cyborg was still in this Jody’s future. Though I didn’t need to, I made a check, changing that future had the same problems as saving Travis. I checked on Colette, too, but hers wasn’t any different.

I could do it, but it wouldn’t be worth the price. Continue reading Engine: Part 5 →

Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 16

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Energy built and then spread outward in an explosion of power, but fortunately not a physical one. Well, sort of fortunately, in the sense that it was a lot of energy that I’d rather not be hit with. It was less fortunate in the sense that Power Burst, Jody, Amnesia Angel, Artemis, Scream Eagle, and maybe again Ray had absorbed a lot of energy and I had little doubt they intended to transfer it in my direction.

If I hadn’t been flying and aiming lasers at the Cabal, I might have tried to reach in and cut off Magnus’ power. That might end the fight, depending on how giving out powers worked. If empowering minions were more like lighting a candle than plugging in a radio, it would be harder. Continue reading Singularity: Part 16 →

Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 15

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Red Lightning grinned, “I’ll be ready. We can’t lose. We’ve got two of you.”

Grandpa laughed. “Glad you think so. I’m feeling behind the times, myself.”

It felt good to see a whisper of the friendship I knew they had. They might have had a conversation, but that’s when the Cabal soldiers all jumped in our direction—not directly at us but close enough that they’d figure it out soon enough.

And that meant that the time to start was before they figured it out. Grandpa had come to the same conclusion. Continue reading Singularity: Part 15 →

Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 11

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I didn’t know when the team had realized that Red Lightning had turned supervillain, but if Grandma was pregnant with Uncle Steve, this was too early.

My best bet was to stop thinking about it at all because Daniel’s grandfather might hear. The second best was to hope that if he did figure it out, he’d know not to break it too soon.

All of that would be wasted though, if either Ray or Red Lightning blew the secret. Continue reading Singularity: Part 11 →

Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 10

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C’s eyes narrowed, “They don’t have a daughter named Joan.”

My grandparents turned to look at each other and back to everyone else as Grandma said, “But that is a name we were talking about. Joan, if we had a girl, and Stephen, if we had another boy. So, we’re going to have a daughter?”

“Stephen?” My eyes darted toward Grandma’s belly. She wasn’t showing, but maybe that hint of a curve was Uncle Steve? Even in the 50s and 60s, superhero costumes didn’t leave a lot to the imagination. “Well, if you haven’t had a Stephen yet, no. My mom was born in 1963.”

Grandpa glanced over at the Mentalist, and Daniel’s grandfather nodded, his top hat making the nod more obvious. Though I’d never told him, I’d always thought the Mentalist’s era of magician-themed costumes looked silly. Continue reading Singularity: Part 10 →

Arc 5.5: Rachel in Infinity City, Area 551

Rachel in Infinity City: Part 22

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“Hey,” I said.

She held up her left arm, looking down at the League communicator on her wrist. It looked just like the ones Nick made for us when we were in costume.

She tapped on the screen, waited, and then said, “It’s her. Thank God.”

Then she pulled a roll of duct tape out of her utility belt, floated down, and taped Julie’s mouth shut.

I laughed. “Duct tape? Did Nick put that in there?”

She froze. “No. I… Wait a second.”

She pulled up the communicator again, and this time she pointed it at me. After tapping the screen she said, “OK, this is going to be weird, but we split off early last summer—your time.”

“My time?” Continue reading Rachel in Infinity City: Part 22 →

Arc 5.5: Rachel in Infinity City, Area 551

Rachel in Infinity City: Part 21

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Not that we had time, and to judge from how they handled the True, if they were anything but decent, we were so screwed.

I’d never seen Vaughn target more than one person at a time with lightning. He’d told me that he didn’t think he had enough control to do it without straight out killing people. Whoever the person behind the lightning I’d just seen was, he’d taken out everybody near the entrance to the alley all at once.

Glancing upward identified him instantly—the red costume with a lightning bolt under an arch with Egyptian hieroglyphics on the chest? That was Red Lightning’s costume. I’d always thought the lightning, plus the arch, plus the hieroglyphics was a little busy, but I’d never gotten to complain to Red Lightning himself about the questionable logo design due to him being dead.

It appeared that I might get the chance now. This wasn’t Vaughn. This wasn’t Vaughn’s cousin Lucas, or his Uncle Russ, Lucas’s father. It was Giles Hardwick, the original Red Lightning.

Continue reading Rachel in Infinity City: Part 21 →

Arc 5.5: Rachel in Infinity City, Area 551

Rachel in Infinity City: Part 20

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I had to shut her up long enough for us to escape even if it meant shutting her up permanently. As much as I hated everything she wanted to do to us, I still didn’t want to kill her.

I flew across the street, passing the True, sometimes flying through them. They weren’t moving.

I looked back—no one was moving. Looking forward I found one exception—Julie. Even the True running with her had stopped.

I thought about that. She’d been hired to catch Tara, but maybe she didn’t get paid if the Blues caught her themselves?

Julie ran across the laundromat’s parking lot, still shouting. I couldn’t hear her, but from her lips, it looked like, “Don’t move! Don’t move! No one move!”

Then she smiled.

Continue reading Rachel in Infinity City: Part 20 →

Arc 3.9: 1943

1943: Part 6

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Arik gave a grunt, and his body fell forward as Gunther stepped to the side, and out of his way.

A great gout of flame erupted from his back where Gunther’s blade slipped through.

The flames around Arik’s body grew higher, and pine needles on the ground around the castle caught fire. Continue reading 1943: Part 6 →

Arc 1.4: In the Public Eye

In the Public Eye: Part 33

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“Looks pretty bad, doesn’t it?” Vaughn said. “You’d never believe it, but my grandfather’s personal stuff never burned.”

“It must be the only thing that didn’t,” I said.

A layer of dark soot seemed to be everywhere, mixed with bits that crunched when I stepped on them.

“Nah,” Vaughn said, “The side tunnels didn’t burn. That’s where I found the stuff that I handed over. Let’s go.”

Continue reading In the Public Eye: Part 33 →