I barely got to wonder what the yellow light meant before the phone in my suit rang. The helmet’s readout showed it as being from HQ.
Walking a little bit away from Vaughn, I took the call, talking low into my helmet’s microphone.
“It’s Marcus,” said the voice on the other end. “I went into HQ after work, and you won’t believe it. You’ve already hit pay dirt.”
Continue reading Decisions: Part 8
I called Haley and asked her if she would pick us up, and she agreed. I couldn’t think of a way to tell her about Vaughn without telling Chris indirectly, so I didn’t. Knowing my identity was one thing, but I wasn’t going to blow the whole team’s.
While we waited, we talked.
Continue reading Decisions: Part 6
“Here’s a thought,” Daniel said. “Does anybody want to nominate anybody else?”
“Looking for a nomination?” Vaughn asked.
Daniel shook his head. “No. I’m willing to do communications, but keeping track of what people are doing, using prescience to sense future attacks, blocking them with telekinesis, attacking people, passing messages, and coming up with plans all at the same time sounds overwhelming. For me, just being in a crowd can be bad.”
“I think Nick could do a good job,” Haley said.
Continue reading Decisions: Part 4
Daniel and I spent the rest of the night playing video games on the big screen. Even if the novelty had long since worn off, it beat the TV my family had at home by a long shot.
It felt good.
After a week that included being chased, attacked in my own bed, and ending a second prom night in violence, Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk seemed like a simple, relaxing way to finish off the week. It was made more relaxing by sending Isaac Lim an email about the original Power’s death instead of calling him.
It couldn’t last.
Continue reading Decisions: Part 3
“You’re going to fucking kill him,” Chris said.
“I was going to be careful. I wasn’t going to hit him against the ground as hard.”
“That’s insane.”
Sean descended from the black sky, landing in front of us. He turned his head to look at Jack floating above the street.
“Do you know how many people that guy killed? I was going to make sure he couldn’t do anything.”
Continue reading Rivalry: Part 16
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
“So you just told him?” Jaclyn didn’t seem to be able to contain her disbelief.
“It’s not like I invited him to train with us,” I said. “I just told him the same thing I’ve always told anyone curious about who I’m taking martial arts from.”
“It’s not that bad,” Haley said. “Of all Sean’s friends, Dayton’s the only one who’s actually nice.”
Continue reading Uncontrolled Substances: Part 2
Solar Flare didn’t stop burning when he landed. White and yellow flames covered his body.
I checked him for any hint that he might have calmed down since crashing the McAllister’s Christmas party. His face was immobile. His lips were a thin line.
It felt like the wrong kind of calm.
Continue reading Rattling Cages: Part 17