Tag Archives: Nick

Arc 13.4.0: Misdirection

Misdirection: Part 8

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Number Eight turned his head to look back at me as the force field went down, his eyes wide and his mouth open in an expression that said, “Oh, no.”

He turned back to the hole he’d made in the door and looked inside. I reached forward, trying to knock him away from the hole before he disappeared. I failed. I thought I felt his arm give and then my arm was flying through where his body had been.

From the other side of the hole, though, I heard his voice give a short scream followed by, “Wait till you see what I do to your mother, you little shit.” Continue reading Misdirection: Part 8 →

Arc 13.4.0: Misdirection

Misdirection: Part 7

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I managed to avoid falling over after hitting the glowing shield but I wobbled as I moved my right leg back to stabilize myself. I still had to hold out my arms and wave them a little. It wasn’t a good look. At any rate, it wasn’t a look that communicated that I was an unstoppable force of justice that was only temporarily having trouble balancing in the basement laundry room.

Number Eight smiled and then turned around to the wooden door, ignoring me. Continue reading Misdirection: Part 7 →

Arc 13.4.0: Misdirection

Misdirection: Part 6

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The living room always felt the opposite of living during my childhood. Mom kept it perfect for guests to the point that you could see the lines where the vacuum cleaner ran on the carpet, or if you chose to sit there, the footprints you left on the way to the couch.

Mom wasn’t obsessive enough to vacuum after seeing footprints appear, but there were times I felt like she’d have preferred that I teleport into the room.

In that sense, Number Eight was Mom’s perfect guest. When you considered that he planned to kill Uncle Steve, maybe a bit less so. Continue reading Misdirection: Part 6 →

Arc 13.4.0: Misdirection

Misdirection: Part 5

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“Tempting offer,” I said. “I have a counteroffer. How about you leave without hurting anybody and we all get to skip a fight?”

Number Eight smiled. That smile along with his bowler, cane, and the white shirt under his suit jacket made me think of the film A Clockwork Orange. Appearing to be in his mid-thirties, the man seemed a little too old for the role.

I’d never watched it, but it sounded disturbing. Continue reading Misdirection: Part 5 →

Arc 13.4.0: Misdirection

Misdirection: Part 4

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As I ran, I tried to think who the people I’d seen might be. The tall woman with green skin came first. I’d seen an alert about her from the FBI. She was called Rogue Croc—which I guess was a reference to a film in addition to the fact that she’d been recruited into the army and been activated by their version of the power impregnator before “going rogue.” Also, she’d grown up in a village of Cabal descendants, so she wasn’t going down easy.

My implant returned that the woman with the staff was called Magicka and that she’d been around since the 1920s, mostly fighting members of the Mask family. As of my internship with the Motor City Heroes, Mateo/Blue Mask was a friend who had no chance to get here in time to help. Continue reading Misdirection: Part 4 →

Arc 13.4.0: Misdirection

Misdirection: Part 3

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I didn’t realize that even as I felt optimistic, the other shoe had already dropped. The tree in the front yard had started on fire and the mulch and one of the bushes in front of their house had started with it.

Haley started talking to her mother over the comm again, “You need to get out, but don’t exit where they can see you. Go over to the neighbors. We’ll figure out a way to get you out of there… How? The police are coming. How do I know? Mom. You don’t have time for this. Get Dad and get out. And be careful, okay? I love you too.” Continue reading Misdirection: Part 3 →

Arc 13.4.0: Misdirection

Misdirection: Part 2

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It hadn’t changed at all from how I’d left things. Haley was still talking to her mom. The Cabal soldier was still standing on the sidewalk in front of her house. Other people from our team were standing near us—Marcus, Tara, Julie, Katuk, and Kals.

Jaclyn’s camera still showed the burning house, “Hey,” she said, “should Blue and I head over to the house? I don’t like the looks of having a Cabal soldier there just waiting.”

From above Jaclyn, Izzy said, “I don’t either.” Continue reading Misdirection: Part 2 →

Arc 13.4.0: Misdirection

Misdirection: Part 1

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Once the Cabal soldier crossed the street, he stopped, standing on the sidewalk as if he were waiting for someone. It kind of worked. It wasn’t as if he were wearing a purple, orange, or green skintight jumpsuit, the kind of thing that screams, “I’m a supervillain!”

Bearing in mind that many of the Cabal had been Roman soldiers, he wasn’t wearing either a toga or carrying a shield. That would have been out of place in a suburban, upper-middle-class neighborhood. He wore a grey coat and blue slacks that to my eye had the heaviness of materials used for armor. I doubted that a Cabal soldier needed armor, but no one wanted to run around naked and I supposed that was less likely with tougher materials. Continue reading Misdirection: Part 1 →

Arc 13.3.5: Friends & Family

Friends & Family: Part 10

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I was about to point him out to Haley, but I didn’t need to. She and Travis had already noticed and had looked away from the screen to look at each other.

Haley’s fists clenched and I didn’t doubt that she was restraining herself from changing form, “We should go. Mom’s at home—“

Travis shook his head, “I’ll go. You’re running things here.”

Raising an eyebrow, Haley said, “No. I don’t run—“

“I’ll go,” Daniel said. “You’ve got a better chance if I do.”

“I’m coming too,” Cassie said, hand on her bluish-green gun. “Those guys go down hard.” Continue reading Friends & Family: Part 10 →

Arc 13.3.5: Friends & Family

Friends & Family: Part 9

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I didn’t like that the Cabal soldier who came to help him wasn’t with him, but I didn’t say that over the comm.

Over the comm, I said, “If there’s no one else around, you might as well. That said, The Nine have had teleporters in their bases before, so that might change.”

Jaclyn groaned, “That’s right. And even if they don’t have one here, Cabal soldiers can jump half a mile or more. Blue, keep on your guard.”

I felt as if I could hear Izzy’s frown as she replied, “I couldn’t stop listening to everything around me even if I wanted to.”

“Going in,” Jaclyn said. Continue reading Friends & Family: Part 9 →