The circle of rotating metal doom in the air fell apart as Scream Eagle shot across the room, knocking into a section of shelving as he took off. A bunch of things fell, most of them glittering. They might have been trophies.
One of them looked like a YouTube award. I didn’t even know they had a channel.
Also, speakers around the room had started blasting music. I didn’t have time to pay attention, but it sounded like reggae, something about “one love.” Continue reading Regression: Part 22
“You won’t live long enough for that,” Scream Eagle said, and the circle of metal balls and metal dust descended toward me.
I didn’t doubt that my suit could withstand ball bearings, but I didn’t know how long it would withstand repeated damage.
It looked like I’d get to find out, though, because the rotating circle of metal hit my chest. I’d been trying to dodge, but it moved faster, chipping away at my armor. Continue reading Regression: Part 21
Camille saw him, but she was still trying to slow Scream Eagle down and didn’t have time to drop that to increase the gravity around Art.
Plus, again, in this small space, he moved as quickly as Jaclyn would have. She didn’t have time to do anything before he stabbed her with the palm claw in his right hand.
Art’s next move was to dive and roll past Julie, sinking the palm claw of his left hand into her thigh through her armor. As she fell, he turned toward the back of the room where Zola faced Haley, Sydney, Dayton, Daniel, and Jody’s unconscious body.
Well, sort of. Zola had been busy too. Continue reading Regression: Part 20
As I flew toward the open windows, my implant summarized the feed from the tower to the degree it could—a series of pictures.
Scream Eagle rose toward the windows, gaining speed despite Camille’s control over gravity. A flash from Haley’s cam showed sweat on Camille’s brow, fists clenched, and mouth in a thin line.
Sean and Vaughn, meanwhile, were doing what they could. Sean whirled a circle of metal balls with enough speed that they turned into a ring reflecting the light of the sun and the room’s fluorescent lights. I’d seen what he could do with them. They made a highly mobile circular saw that could cut through more than you’d think. When used with his power, even if they shattered, he could continue to cut with the dust. Continue reading Regression: Part 19
Amnesia Angel’s wings faded away, replaced by nothing—no glowing wings, no feathered wings, just holes for wings in the back of their costume where the wings had emerged.
The holes inadvertently answered another question I’d had, revealing a bit of bra strap. That didn’t necessarily reveal the person’s internal sense of their gender, but statistically speaking, it would most of the time.
Anyway, I didn’t have time to ask pronouns at that moment because she (?) was more than 50 feet in the air, powerless, and either dead or unconscious. Continue reading Regression: Part 16
The bad news? Amy had zero chance of telling me everything I needed in the next few seconds.
Considering Amnesia Angel’s speed, I doubted I’d have seconds. They rushed me, sword out and slashing.
I twisted to avoid them, giving the rockets extra power and hoping the reaction time I’d saved by sending commands to the Rocket suit through my implant made a difference.
It did, but not enough. I felt pain in my thigh, burning but not unbearable. A glance downward showed no physical damage, the follow-through of the angel’s blade missing my right leg. Continue reading Regression: Part 14
I checked with Hal via my implant, “Do you know anything specific about how soon they’re going to get here?”
[No. Many of the command center’s staff became engaged in online arguments this morning. They’re distracted and engaging with the discussions at unpredictable intervals.]
I decided not to inquire further about that, choosing instead to watch the horizon for attackers. Continue reading Regression: Part 10
Vaughn pointed at the lawn outside with its new hole, burned spots, and the damaged store window. “Sounds like a plan to me, but if you wipe his memory of the last few minutes, you’ll have to explain that—not to mention your clothes.”
Like Jody’s, Jaclyn’s and Izzy’s costumes had been spattered with dirt, grass, and gray mushroom bits that must have been leftover in the soil.
Daniel looked over the room, “Right. I’ll also have to explain why there are more of us in the room than before the fight. I’m thinking we did an impromptu training session after the meeting?” Continue reading Regression: Part 8
And do you know what? In some ways, that was the most interesting part of the training montage because Jody learned surprisingly little. I mean, sure, Jody did learn how to phase through matter, but he wasn’t great at it.
As we learned in our fight with him, he barely controlled it. Any additional distractions and he wasn’t able to concentrate enough to use it. Continue reading Regression: Part 7
Within seconds of that conversation, I’d landed and so had not only Daniel and Izzy, but we’d also been joined by Sean, Dayton, Camille, Sydney, Vaughn, and Haley. Jaclyn had already been on the ground, of course.
Cassie, Julie, and Rachel all opted to stay on the roofs of the buildings around Justice Fist’s base. It wasn’t a bad idea. For all we knew, Jody had signaled for help. Someone needed to be in position to act.
Upon landing (Justice Fist seemed to have metal woven into their costumes), Dayton looked around the yard and said, “Wow. What a mess.” Continue reading Jody: Part 14