Arc 8.6.0: Revelations

Revelations: Part 8

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Loosening my choke hold, I dropped to the ground, putting Lucas body in the center of the wards Samita had set up on the floor. The Thing That Eats’ head had disappeared, revealing Lucas’ face.

As he lay on the concrete between black lines and symbols that I didn’t recognize, I reminded myself that he had to be alive. I’d choked him correctly, and I’d timed it. The Thing That Eats had a talent for playing on people’s fears. My longstanding one was that I’d kill somebody who didn’t deserve it, and he’d done his best to play on it. Continue reading Revelations: Part 8 →

Arc 8.6.0: Revelations

Revelations: Part 7

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Travis’ voice came over the comm. “Don’t get too close. I’ve got a plan.”

I didn’t have time to ask him about the plan. The Thing disappeared through the wide hangar door. We could have closed it. It would have bought Travis time, but on the other hand, he didn’t seem to need it and The Thing would have trashed our door.

It was a big metal door that ran from the ceiling to the floor—not exactly the kind of thing you can pick up at Lowe’s.

The Thing flew through the doorway, past the concrete wall on one side and the door on the other. Continue reading Revelations: Part 7 →

Arc 8.6.0: Revelations

Revelations: Part 6

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Haley’s face tightened as her other arm raked it across the eye while her legs dug in to the underside of its globular face. Blood spurted out from under the The Thing’s chin and it spit her arm out.

Haley had the presence of mind to land on her feet, but wobbled as she landed. Her costume, in the meantime, had already repaired itself. I might have taken it as a tribute to my work, but that wasn’t nearly as high in my mind as the question of whether the costume had adjusted correctly to the change. If it were pushing broken bone into flesh or muscle, it could only be hurting her.

She could adjust the suit though. I had to get it away from her, so she could get away from the fight. Continue reading Revelations: Part 6 →

Arc 8.6.0: Revelations

Revelations: Part 5

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Before anyone else could respond, Haley looked me in the eye (as much as the foot and half difference between her height and the Rocket suit’s would allow), saying, “We’ll all meet him.”

She had a point. Lucas had the exact same powers as Red Lightning—strength, toughness, flight, and obviously, lightning. Even if he wasn’t in the Cabal’s league, he was definitely in mine.

“Ok, but let’s not be too obvious about it. If he’s not infected, we don’t want to freak him out. Night Cat and I go first to meet him. That won’t seem weird. If Storm King and Gravity Star stand in the command center, they’ll look inconspicuous, but still be able to act. Essentially they’re our last line of defense. After that, those of you without wards will have to blast him with whatever distance weapons or powers you’ve got because if he touches you, you’ll be on his side.”

I considered suggesting how they might go about it, but Travis spoke over everyone else, “Go. I’ve got this.” Continue reading Revelations: Part 5 →

Arc 8.6.0: Revelations

Revelations: Part 4

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The van rolled down the ramp and into the parking area under the building. I wondered if we’d have to go upstairs to get his attention, but ultimately didn’t have to.

He slid down the fireman’s pole in the corner.

That seemed like a good sign. I didn’t know The Thing That Eats particularly well, but it didn’t seem particularly whimsical. Being possessed by a ancient supernatural entity didn’t seem likely to leave you in a good enough mood to want to try the pole.

He walked toward the van and I pushed the button to open the door. As he stepped inside, Haley stepped back into the main area, holding out her hand to help him in.

He took it, and there was no flash of red from her ward. Continue reading Revelations: Part 4 →

Arc 8.6.0: Revelations

Revelations: Part 3

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Haley looked over at me, face tightening, but said, “I’m glad that almost everyone is there, but tell us if any of the missing people show up.”

“Yeah,” I tapped the palm of my glove, bringing me into the conversation. “Try to get everyone into the area Samita warded, and if you’ve got a second, read the email I forwarded to you. It’s from Samita. It tells you how to work the wards.”

“If I’ve got a second?” Kayla muttered something that I didn’t catch. “I’ll try.” Continue reading Revelations: Part 3 →

Arc 8.6.0: Revelations

Revelations: Part 2

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“Wow.” I rolled that one around in my head, wondering why anyone would bother to hire someone to embarrass us when they wouldn’t have to wait long for us to do it to ourselves.

“Who hired you, and why?” Haley watched Morgan, nostrils flaring and probably getting more information than Morgan realized.

Morgan shrugged. “I don’t know. I wasn’t in on everything. Hank Haseman. The guy with the square force fields? I’m sure you remember him. He was the man with the contacts. He knew who to call, and he handled the money.”

“That’s a lot of trust,” I said. “You didn’t know who had hired you and you let Haseman handle the money.” Continue reading Revelations: Part 2 →

Arc 8.6.0: Revelations

Revelations: Part 1

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Grand Lake’s superhuman containment facility wasn’t much to look at. Few SCF’s were. Like the majority of them, the actual prison was located underground, so all we had to look at were concrete walls with barbed wire on the top. Two towers rose above the wall.

Originally located in farmland, the prison was now solidly in the suburbs. If it were daytime, we could have seen a grassy field the size of a city block, but it was night. Continue reading Revelations: Part 1 →

Arc 8.5.5: Splits

Splits: Part 10

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The alert also appeared on everyone’s phones, and most likely all of the city’s radio and television stations. After the beeping ended, the message said what they always said—stay in your house until we say it’s safe. Also, the following individuals were released from containment… It listed everyone in the gang we’d fought earlier that day—except for the woman who operated the Eagle suit.

That made sense. She was a normal human, and the city only had ten cells rated for superhuman containment. Why waste one?

I flipped through the pictures, noticing Haley doing the same. The last two pictures showed Alden and Philo, noting that they were the ones who’d broken the others out. Jillian didn’t make the list.

Maybe Alden hadn’t bitten her? Maybe she was resisting The Thing’s takeover process? Continue reading Splits: Part 10 →

Arc 8.5.5: Splits

Splits: Part 9

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Jeremy stood with his mouth open, but managed to start talking again. “Yeah. He’s in big trouble with the police. He’s one of the guys who’ve been robbing armored cars in town. Plus, last I heard, Alden was her ex-boyfriend. As in, she was giving information about him to the police.”

Sandra let her phone, and the hand she held it in, drop to her waist. “She didn’t tell me that. Jillian just said he got in trouble with the police. She didn’t say anything about robbing armored cars.”

She stopped talking and her eyes widened. “Aren’t those robbers all metas? Alden didn’t act like a meta. He never did anything weird or… What does he do?” Continue reading Splits: Part 9 →

The Legion of Nothing: A Series of Online Superhero Novels (Updates Monday and Thursday)