They left. Major Justice grunted as he stood up and grabbed a powdered donut. The sugar puffed into the air, leaving white spots on his fatigues.
South Beach Surfer turned toward Cassie and I as she followed Major Justice out, “You’ll regret this. Remember later that we tried to talk you out of it.”
Raising her voice from behind us, Amy said, “Why will we regret it?” Continue reading Distractions: Part 9
I thought back to yesterday and what happened to Ana and Colette. Implanted commands might have unexpected side effects. Is Kals confident she can get to us if something goes wrong?
We’re only upstairs, Daniel thought back at me. Kals says she’ll contact you via implant with the words.
I felt him withdraw even though our connection was never completely closed. Continue reading Distractions: Part 8
Cassie smirked, “Are you saying that you think the first Captain Commando was a quiet, subtle guy? Because that’s not how I remember him. I remember him as the kind of guy who’d go after the Nine and not give a damn what happened because they’re a danger. He’d be smart about it, but direct and he wouldn’t wait for permission.”
Major Justice’s thin lips tightened and for the first time, I thought about how much of his face his helmet showed—almost all of it by way of a transparent faceplate. I pegged him as being in his late 50s, maybe early 60s, from his white hair, and lined face. Continue reading Distractions: Part 7
To the degree that they were a multi-team delegation, they weren’t from what I’d think of as the upper-tier teams. The Arizona Defenders had a reputation for being retirees from other teams. This wasn’t all true. Probably half of the team was younger people. This wasn’t all bad since the younger heroes would have competent advice, but also, Arizona wasn’t a hotbed of supervillain activity either.
Shifter’s private team and Mime’s circus-themed team? They were big in Oklahoma City and Tampa respectively but didn’t make national news. I knew that Mime regularly fought someone named Florida Man, but couldn’t name anyone else in their rogues’ galleries. Continue reading Distractions: Part 6
I explained it all to her. Her response was somewhere between a grunt and a growl, followed by, “That’s insane! He’s got no right.”
Taking a deep breath, she shifted back, her eyes becoming fully human and her claws disappearing. She pulled her phone out of her purse where it lay next to her yoga pants on the floor, “I’m going to send a yellow to everybody and see if anybody can make it in with us. How many do you think we should have?” Continue reading Distractions: Part 5
Over the team connection, Travis said, “That’s got to be the Cabal. Big? Strong? Messy? That’s their MO.”
In her dark grey costume balanced on the top of a building downtown, Haley said, “At least it’s not that guy who burned everybody.”
I felt Daniel’s queasiness at the memory of the burned bodies the man had left behind. I couldn’t criticize him for that. I tried not to think about it very often myself.
Travis’ eyes widened, “The burning hands guy. Shit. Whatever happened to him?” Continue reading Distractions: Part 1
Connecting to my comm through my implant, I told him, “No worries. We see you. We didn’t know it was you, but we do try not to shoot when we don’t know what we’ll hit.”
I looked over at Cassie and she rolled her eyes at me.
Unaware of that, Lim replied, “Good. I’m contacting D.C. to get people there up to speed about all this. Did you recognize the missiles?”
I was about to say I hadn’t, but Hal did. Continue reading Older Enemies: Part 13
Lim, who had years of following both the original League and us didn’t hesitate. Tapping the screen exactly twice, talked into it, and as he finished, his words blasted out of speakers throughout the complex, “Evacuate immediately! Only take something if you’re holding it. There’s nothing in here that’s worth your life. Again, get out now!”
To us, he said, “I’m leaving with the staff. Go to your jet and don’t feel bad about breaking things if you need to.” Continue reading Older Enemies: Part 12
“Uruk,” Daniel said, shaking his head. “That’s where Gilgamesh ruled, assuming that he was a real person. Also interesting? Gilgamesh wanted to be immortal and he went to find Utnapishtim. Utnapishtim was basically Noah down to building a boat to preserve the world’s animals and his family during a massive flood. In Sumerian myth, Utnapishtim was given immortality by the gods afterward.”
Izzy glanced over at him and smiled, “You beat me to it.”
His mouth twitched, “I cheated. I heard you thinking about it. I knew Gilgamesh, but I didn’t remember Utnapishtim.” Continue reading Older Enemies: Part 11
Cassie looked up from the tablet, “Do you think this is Magnus talking? Writing on clay tablets seems like too much work just to keep a diary.”
“No idea,” I said. “Do you think he’s seeing people from the Cabal?”
She shook her head, “Who knows? I guess I’d better get back to reading.” Continue reading Older Enemies: Part 10