Tag Archives: Rachel

Arc 5.2: Here We Come

Here We Come: Part 4

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Well, the gun shouldn’t become a problem, I told myself, not if Cassie’s around to control it.

On the other hand, I thought, you could argue that it might be even less of a problem if Cassie and every one of us completely ignored it forever. In fact, thinking about it abstractly, you could argue that Cassie’s very existence was a problem. If (as government scientists suspected) spliced in DNA caused the Abominator citizen’s mark to be written as a structure in her brain, reverse engineering it would open up the possibility of humans using truly horrible technologies.

Plus, what if aliens wanted it too for some reason? If anybody, they ought to have access to Abominator technology and the ability to remake it, right? On the other hand, Grandpa had implied that outside of their appearance on Earth, the Abominators had been gone for a while.

Then I remembered that Bullet said that the Nine had been infiltrated by aliens. Continue reading Here We Come: Part 4 →

Arc 5.2: Here We Come

Here We Come: Part 3

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Haley’s lips twisted. “Are you sure you want them to connect? Remember when we flew into space and that robot attached itself to the ship? I don’t want anything like that to happen. Especially not right now.”

I remembered it very well, and I could see her point. Technically though, the gun wasn’t anything like that robot.

Arguably it was worse. The robot had just wanted to escape while the gun (at least the way Cassie described it) took joy in destroying things.

So if I was going to use the ship to boost the gun’s range, I needed to start carefully.

I reached out, detached the gun’s holster from the clip on the chair, and picked it up.

“Gun, can you contact the ship? I’d like to ask you some questions. It’ll make it easier to get Cassie back.”

Continue reading Here We Come: Part 3 →

Arc 5.2: Here We Come

Here We Come: Part 1

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The flight to Ann Arbor to pick up Rachel and Jaclyn took less than 10 minutes.

We picked them up at a small lake Rachel had called “Barton Pond.” Whatever it was, it was large enough for me to find from the air, and float over while they boarded. Plus it was dark enough out that we wouldn’t be too obvious.

They were in costume. All in white, Rachel’s gun hung from her utility belt. Jaclyn’s costume was purple, as ever, and unlike anyone else on our team, she wore a mask instead of a bullet resistant hood.

Being basically invulnerable, she could do that.

As they pulled on their seat belts, Jaclyn said, “So, do we have a plan this time?”

Continue reading Here We Come: Part 1 →

Arc 4.4: TBD

TBD: Part 1

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We’d said our goodbyes earlier, so when my sister Rachel and I got out of Dad’s SUV at the airport, we didn’t have much to say to our parents.

I popped the hatch, grabbed my suitcase and backpack and put them next to me in the drop-off area. I handed Rachel her suitcase (her backpack hung on her back), and shut the hatch.

We moved to the side of the vehicle. Mom had her window open.

Rachel said, “I’ve got everything. Nick?”

“Me too.”

Dad smiled at us. “Enjoy your conference, and congratulations to both of you again. Full ride scholarships. That doesn’t happen to everyone.”

“Thanks, Dad. Now hurry and get out of here before airport security decides you’re terrorists.” Continue reading TBD: Part 1 →

Arc 4.2: Under 30

Under 30: Part 25

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“Yeah, right,” Vaughn said. “Cause we’re going to let you guys run away, and keep on robbing banks, and protesting with monkeys. That’s totally brilliant.”

Unless Evil Beatnik planned to use magic to tell Justice Fist to stop, I didn’t know how he’d do it. I supposed he could use a cellphone if he didn’t care about the rain. That said, in this case, the rain would destroy Mr. Beacham’s cellphone, and Evil Beatnik probably didn’t care.

Continue reading Under 30: Part 25 →

Arc 4.2: Under 30

Under 30: Part 22

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“Nick,” Jaclyn said, “call him back. They can take those devices you made.”

I knew what she meant—the devices I’d made that cancelled out the tones in Julie’s voice that allowed her power to work.

I called up the phone program on the computer, clicked to redial the Marvelous X, and got the receptionist.

As she said,”Hello, Michigan Heroes Alliance, how may I help you?” the picture on the wall screen changed. News 10 pointed their camera up away from the crowd, and above the river. Something gray flew toward them from the east. Continue reading Under 30: Part 22 →

Arc 4.2: Under 30

Under 30: Part 21

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“Doing about it?” Jaclyn said. “We were working on a plan to stop them, but we can go to the riot.”

The Marvelous X shook his head. “Please don’t. We’ve reason to believe a villain named Evil Beatnik is involved. You’ve likely never heard of him because he hasn’t been seen in years, but he can influence young people. We’ve organized a number of heroes that are too old for him to control. They’ll take care of him soon enough.”

“You’re sure about that?” Continue reading Under 30: Part 21 →

Arc 4.2: Under 30

Under 30: Part 20

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And he didn’t just remind me of Mr. Beacham, this was Mr. Beacham—with 100% more beatnik.

I adjusted the picture, scrolling away from the monkey on the balcony and back toward Mr. Beacham, and his hangers on.

Having recognized him, I knew who the woman with him was—Mr. Beacham’s girlfriend. She’d visited the school once. Was she with him because she thought he was Evil Beatnik, was Evil Beatnik controlling her, or did she somehow like Evil Beatnik? Had they… uh… I put the thought out of my mind, but it opened up a lot of relationship questions.

Could Haley and I survive something like that? I liked to think we would, but you never knew. Worse, the deeper we got into this whole superheroism thing, the better chance we had to find out.

So I put that thought out of my mind too.

Continue reading Under 30: Part 20 →

Arc 4.2: Under 30

Under 30: Part 19

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Evil Beatnik walked in. I’d never seen him in that body, but I knew it instantly. He wore a black beret, black jeans, and a black turtleneck. Scruffy hair on his chin (and above his upper lip) hinted that he must be growing a goatee.

Oh, and he wore a silver ring on his right hand.

Except for pictures from the late 60’s and the 70’s, he’d always looked like that—even if he did possess different people each time.

I wondered who he was. He looked familiar, but I couldn’t place him. Continue reading Under 30: Part 19 →

Arc 4.2: Under 30

Under 30: Part 17

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Dixie didn’t stay to talk after that. She dived over the ledge, flew down two floors to rescue Destruction Boy, and left through the hole on the third floor.

As her feet left the ledge, I activated the roachbots I’d released earlier. They had a chance to catch her.

Jaclyn appeared out of the stairwell, and leaned over the edge of the walkway, watching them go.
Continue reading Under 30: Part 17 →