I thought back to the fight in the playground with the initial version of the mushroom zombies, trying to remember what Hunter had said that he’d done.
In that same moment, I had a flashback to talking to my grandfather in this space, gathering my thoughts to explain the logic of the design decisions I’d made. Knowing that Guardian had interned with the Heroes’ League at one point, he’d probably had the same sort of conversations except about tactics instead of design decisions.
More deep ripping noises came from all around us. I didn’t see anything falling yet, but I didn’t care to try my luck.
Kayla’s voice came over the League comm channel, “Ronin and the Mystic both say go. Go!” Continue reading Courtesy: Part 63
A year ago, I might have taken what Guardian said as a criticism or threat, but now I saw it for what it was—he didn’t want to destroy the city even though it made a lot of sense.
Looking over at Daniel as he flew next to me, I tried to give Guardian what he wanted, “Well, first of all, you know what’s under the League’s base and in our storage rooms. Blasting the city won’t destroy all of it and the rest will be available to anyone who comes by. Continue reading Courtesy: Part 12
I heard a weary laugh from more than one person on the comm. A few more laughed a little too hard.
Ex-Mayer Bouman, Synergy, or whatever he now called himself kept on talking, “People of Grand Lake, you might be afraid of what’s coming, afraid maybe that you’ll be absorbed and stop being you.
“Nothing could be further from the truth. You’ll be you but fulfilled. You’ll share your hopes, dreams, and worries with all your brothers and sisters in this city and sharing your burdens will make them light.”
Over the comm, Cassie muttered, “This guy does not understand how much it sounds like joining a cult.” Continue reading Courtesy: Part 11
They didn’t arrive to attack us that afternoon or even that evening or night. It was a little disappointing after all the warnings. We went on high alert for the night, taking turns staying up and not leaving HQ.
We could have all slept and let HAL watch for intruders, but we decided it was better to have two people awake, armored, and ready for action. Besides we had a lot of people. No one had to stay up that long. Continue reading Isolation: Part 1
Guardian nodded back toward the part of the parking lot where the sheriffs’ cars, boxes, reporters, and all of the people from the building stood. There were more people than I remembered and several black SUVs, all of them unlabeled. The people coming out of them wore black jackets and armor with the letters “FBI” placed in the middle of the chest and taking up half of it.
The Probationers, our team, and the Defenders were in and out of the crowd, some of them helping law enforcement, and the rest simply talking. Daniel and Izzy were talking with Ape Nasty and Mistress Madness. Continue reading Older Enemies: Part 6
Guardian nodded, watching me as we talked, “How long will it take?”
“I don’t know. My bet would be two weeks at most. It might be as short as a couple of days, depending on where my friend is and how long it takes me to get to an ansible.”
“Oh,” Guardian let out a breath and shook his head. “I’m guessing this is a friend from your excursion into the Human Ascendancy. I’ve never gotten any details on that beyond hearing that it was harder than it should have been. Alright, get your friend. We’ve got an ansible at our Chicago base. That way, you won’t have to fly to Mars to use the Xiniti ansible.” Continue reading Older Enemies: Part 5
We didn’t have long to think about Guardian’s statement. Even as I wondered whether or not he was going to chew us out when he got here, a hole opened in the air above the parking lot. Guardian floated out, muscles showing under his silver suit as it shimmered in the sunlight. Flying along with him came Daniel’s father, Mindstryke in a black costume with the Greek letter Ψ on the upper left of his chest.
Flick jumped out of the hole to the right of Daniel’s father, landing on the sidewalk going down the middle of the parking lot. Small, blond, and wearing a light blue costume with large, metallic gauntlets, already glancing around the parking lot to understand the situation. She’d been one of our teachers at Stapledon. Even though her power didn’t put her in the top ranks of heroes by itself, she’d made the most of it. Continue reading Older Enemies: Part 4
By the time our food came, anyone who had wanted an autograph had one. There weren’t that many people in the restaurant after all.
A fair number of them pointed phones in our direction. It didn’t make me feel better. It’d be really annoying if one of us accidentally used a real name. We’d probably see it all over the internet in hours.
Daniel’s voice popped into my head. It gets worse. One of them already called a television station, and they’re sending out a reporter.
What? It was all I could do not to say it out loud. Why didn’t you say something?
It’s no big deal, Daniel said. The nearest TV station is half an hour from here. Our food should be here sooner.
Hoping that no one thought to bribe the cooks, I looked over the room again, and didn’t see anything unusual. Continue reading Spin: Part 5
Haley barely let him finish before jumping in. “What do you mean, ‘no?’ You’re not going to do anything. You just told us so, and we can’t leave her there.”
Guardian’s jaw tightened, and he said, “We’re going to do something, but we’re going to do it right. Even if you know where she is, and it isn’t a trap, they’ll still be expecting an attack. I’m not going to throw high school students up against Rook and possibly more of the Nine’s people. If anything, I’m going to send in experienced people. Time to stop talking, and give me her location, I’ll get as far as I can.”
Somewhere in the back of my mind, a part of me wanted to remind him that some of us were college students, but I doubted that arguing technicalities would get me anywhere.