Master Martian went for it. From the tension in his shoulders and the tightness of his face as he said, “Yes,” I got the impression that he might not fully trust Daniel in his head, but he also knew that we didn’t have a record of treating villains any worse than any other hero group.
Plus, if he calculated the odds, it was obvious that we could do anything we wanted to him whether he said yes or no. So it wasn’t as if we had to lie about having a way home to get him to do something. Continue reading Transitions: Part 1→
I thought about her answer, “If he’s one of the nine people that run the Nine, it might fit. I suppose if he’s one of the Dominators, the connection could be there. For all we know, they might run the Nine even though it’s supposed to be the other way around. Thing is… I don’t think he can control anybody. He called me a bunch of times and I didn’t suddenly think he was a great guy. If anything, he creeped me out.”
Daniel frowned and looked over at me, “I just had an idea. I’m going to see what I get if I try to imagine us doing a search for Magnus and see what I get out of sensing the future.” Continue reading Conversations & Interrogations: Part 5→
Yoselin frowned, likely not even knowing who that was, but I’d told everyone else long ago—except maybe Izzy and Tara. At that moment, I couldn’t think if there’d been any reason to bring him up.
Vaughn, Cassie, Daniel, and Haley all knew the name, however, and Master Martian had their full attention.
Despite what I’d asked him before, budding off a clone of yourself seemed quite alien and I hadn’t seen it coming. From Tara’s high-pitched, “Oooh, I wondered,” I knew that at least one of us hadn’t been completely surprised.
Daniel’s smile was visible under the black and silver mask over the top of his face, “Nothing special. You know what you could do if you could use your powers. We used blocking devices that you should already be familiar with—I know I am—the kind that prevents mental powers from working.”
Damon looked away from us and toward the dismembered bodies of True and Cabal soldiers, “Good luck,” he said. “And I mean that. He clearly wants you for something and from what Accelerando tells us, I don’t think you’ll want to help him—which means that you might be on the receiving end of what we just saw.”
Cedric nodded, “She told us that you’ve got a wizard on the team. You’re going to want her help on this.”
They both jumped at once, both of them aiming in my direction, no doubt guessing that if they could take me out, they could grab Master Martian or Daniel. Also, I was between Daniel and them.
Only as one hit me did I come up with the obvious, alternate possibility—that if one of them hit me, the other might be free to go after Daniel when he got past me.
How I managed to avoid dropping the SUV when the first one hit, I still don’t know. I understand it on the level of technology in that Grandpa had designed the suit to absorb damage and I’d expanded it with tech inspired by the jet’s inertial dampers, but I’m still amazed that I had the presence of mind to hang on as the Cabal soldier hit the suit’s chest, knocking the SUV and me backward. Continue reading Old Friends & Enemies: Part 14→
Other voices said something impossible to understand in the background of the staffer’s connection and he said, “We’ll see what we can do. It sounds like we might be able to help.”
“Great,” I said. “Don’t have time to talk.”
This was true. While Daniel had been able to pass the soldier on the crushed car before the guy could jump up at him and Master Martian, the soldier wasn’t stopping. He leaped in Daniel’s direction even as I gave the rockets more fuel and shot forward, knocking the man back down toward the street and into the back of a parked mini-van.
As Daniel stepped on the balcony, he broadcast to all of us, Something is going to happen as we leave, but staying would be worse. Be aware.
The first part of his statement was worth knowing. The last part was punctuated by another Cabal soldier crashing through the roof, landing in the living room, and partway through the floor. That brought the number of newly arrived and mobile soldiers to four. Knowing what the Cabal was like left me no temptation to stay.
I jumped out first with Yoselin following after me. We landed on the balcony and didn’t even have to smash through the balcony’s sliding door. Daniel slid both the screen door and the glass door open. Even though we’d opted to turn on our telepathy and teleportation blockers for the initial assault, Daniel’s telekinesis worked perfectly.
Thanks to the stream, I could see Master Martian’s eyes widen and his antenna shoot straight from his head as he pushed himself, stumbled, and then flew off the couch. Continue reading Old Friends & Enemies: Part 9→
The Legion of Nothing: A Series of Online Superhero Novels (Updates Monday and Thursday)
