“I think we may have to,” I said. “I don’t like the idea either, but I feel like having us on the front lines at all times might not be a good idea. We could use help even if it’s Adam’s help.”
Cassie looked over at the medical capsule and then back to us, “I know what you’re thinking. We just lost Travis and you and I both know that there’s something out there that can kill any of us—even me. I’m not sure this is the time to make this decision. I think we might find it too easy to say yes right now even though you know what Adam’s like.” Continue reading Simple Choices: Part 5→
I wasn’t the only person who noticed. Adam stopped what he’d been doing and his eyes widened.
If that surprised him, he recovered quickly, “Dr. Klein! I didn’t expect to see you. I knew you were Nick’s father. I just didn’t think you’d be here.”
I looked over at Haley. We were going to have to talk about this among ourselves and not just the two of us either—the whole team.
Of course, we had almost the entire team here already with the exception of Daniel, Jaclyn, Izzy, and Marcus. They were still out handling the police at Daniel’s house, or in Marcus’ case, traveling back from the fight at the factory.
Adam walked across HQ’s main room like a man who knew where he was going. To be fair, except for being large enough to hold a regulation basketball court plus an audience, the room was basically a big square.
I thought about it. I wasn’t sure how much help I’d be, but,“Bloodmaiden’s going to get my parents and our cat to HQ. I’ll help if she thinks she can handle it.”
“Hurry,” Vaughn said and cut the connection.
Not liking the implications of his call, I called Amy via the comm. Even though I could trust everyone in the room, it made things simpler. For one, if I wanted to I could call her Amy. Bloodmaiden was a long name. Calling her “Blood” didn’t feel right either. Continue reading Sudden Changes: Part 4→
Was this a pull-off-the-bandage sort of situation? Because Dad seemed to be right on the edge of understanding everything. On the other hand, Mom had been captured by Ray and the Cabal when she remembered, very much a sudden change, and she’d taken more than a year to talk to us about it.
We needed cooperation right now and we were going to have to hide my family and maybe all of our families in HQ.
Mom angled the blade and pulled it back. Number Eight’s face turned white and he began to fall, trying to swing his cane back at her, but not with any real force. It fell out of his hand when he struck the concrete floor.
He tried to say something, but I couldn’t understand it. His eyes shut and he didn’t move.
Mom had stepped back as he fell, avoiding his body and stood over him staring down at it. Then she looked over at me, “Nick, are you okay? Do we have to get you to the hospital?” Continue reading Sudden Changes: Part 1→
Uncle Steve sighed as he saw me come through the door, seeming to relax a little even if he went back to watching Number Eight within seconds. Mom, for the record, didn’t look any less nervous. I turned toward the silver wall, standing directly in front of my mom, but ahead and to the right of Uncle Steve.
I got in position even as Number Eight slashed a foot-long hole in the wall. I hadn’t noticed before, but a six-inch long blade extended from the bottom of his cane. I supposed that made it a knife or spear cane because that was too short for a sword. Continue reading Misdirection: Part 9→
“Tempting offer,” I said. “I have a counteroffer. How about you leave without hurting anybody and we all get to skip a fight?”
Number Eight smiled. That smile along with his bowler, cane, and the white shirt under his suit jacket made me think of the film A Clockwork Orange. Appearing to be in his mid-thirties, the man seemed a little too old for the role.
As I ran, I tried to think who the people I’d seen might be. The tall woman with green skin came first. I’d seen an alert about her from the FBI. She was called Rogue Croc—which I guess was a reference to a film in addition to the fact that she’d been recruited into the army and been activated by their version of the power impregnator before “going rogue.” Also, she’d grown up in a village of Cabal descendants, so she wasn’t going down easy.
My implant returned that the woman with the staff was called Magicka and that she’d been around since the 1920s, mostly fighting members of the Mask family. As of my internship with the Motor City Heroes, Mateo/Blue Mask was a friend who had no chance to get here in time to help. Continue reading Misdirection: Part 4→
The Legion of Nothing: A Series of Online Superhero Novels (Updates Monday and Thursday)
