Haley came over on Saturday afternoon. We hadn’t planned on doing anything, but after what had happened the night before, she thought it might be nice to get together without the threat of imminent fighting.
We ended up sitting together on the bed in my room, and it had been a nice afternoon. We hadn’t done anything special, just gone for a walk and talked.
Continue reading Decisions: Part 1
“But seriously,” he continued, “if you’re the new Heroes League, I’ve been looking for you.”
Travis looked Jack Maniac over, and said, “Why?”
“You’ve got something I want. I’m looking for a vehicle we used to own. It looks like a ball. You probably saw in the news a couple nights ago. I want it back. I heard that you’ve got it.”
Keeping my voice calm, I said, “From who?”
“Man-machine’s grandson. Nice kid. He was visiting his grandmother when we came over.”
“He’s okay, right?”
“Sure. He’s fine for now.”
Continue reading Rivalry: Part 13
Jack Maniac seemed to get a big kick out of the name. He laughed hard enough that he wobbled in the air. “The Power? Don’t you think that’s a little fucking pretentious? What happened to the first Power?”
“I don’t know. It was available two days ago.”
“Two days? Oh that’s rich. Do your worst, kid.”
Continue reading Rivalry: Part 12
Unsurprisingly, I didn’t sleep very well after that.
I dragged myself through the next day, almost falling asleep in study hall, barely staying awake during lectures. When it ended, I could at least console myself with the fact that it was Friday and I didn’t have any other demands on my life — probably.
Something did nag at my mind though. I thought I might have forgotten something. I just hoped it wasn’t important.
Continue reading Rivalry: Part 11
“You bet. We’ll pass on whatever shows up,” Vaughn said. “Right, guys?” He looked over the rest of us.
I thought about replying. It seemed like a good idea, but maybe not immediately. I had time. Then I thought about it a little more.
+++
Me: We might be a little too calm.
Daniel: Crap. I was concentrating too hard on resisting him. You’re right.
+++
Continue reading Rivalry: Part 9
When we got back to the jet, I pulled the alert’s GPS data up, and headed toward downtown Grand Lake.
We flew westward through the sky, toward the sun as it moved lower, beginning to dip into Lake Michigan.
I gave them the short version of what Cannon had said as we flew home, but we didn’t get to really discuss it. Including the time it took to start the jet, it took ten minutes to get there.
We were too late, but in the best possible way.
Continue reading Rivalry: Part 8
After a little hesitation, they left me alone with him. I stood there, waiting as they shut the door, smelling concrete and disinfectant.
“Funny to see girls in the League. Never saw women as vigilantes back in my day except for Ghostwoman. She was goddamn scary — phased her pistol through my armor and nearly into my head. Stopped me a couple times.”
“Did you really think she’d kill you?”
Continue reading Rivalry: Part 7
“You’re going to have to talk to a judge if you want to get out.” Jaclyn stood opposite Chris’ grandfather. “We don’t have any power over that.”
Cannon didn’t seemed fazed by her response. “The old League was in bed with the FBI. You’re telling me you aren’t? Besides, I’m not expecting you to do it directly. I’ll tell you what you want to know about the ball, and after that you’ll call the FBI and I’ll tell them something they want to know.”
“Like what?”
“Not while the Mystic’s in the room. Get him out and we’ll talk.”
Continue reading Rivalry: Part 6
By the time we left Lee’s, everybody wanted in on it. Not everybody went. Nine people would have been overkill. Not to mention that we might not all fit in the room.
Prison cells weren’t known for their spaciousness.
In the end, only five of us got in the jet — Jaclyn, Cassie, Daniel, Haley, and I.
Continue reading Rivalry: Part 5
It was the first time I could think of that Jaclyn got involved in a case. She’d always had a kind of “take it or leave it” approach to the Heroes League since we’d reformed. For this, she took the same approach she took toward homework — focus.
Within half an hour, we knew who the Maniacs were, and what they’d been doing for the last fifteen years. With a of couple exceptions, they’d been in jail. Jack Maniac and Christine Maniac apparently still robbed banks together. Jason and Chucky Maniac were in jail. Freddy had died.
Continue reading Rivalry: Part 4