Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 19

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“Wow,” I said, turning and doing a quick scan of Power Burst with the suit’s sensors along with “Artificer vision.”

Grandpa glanced down toward Power Burst and then to the middle of the room where Magnus and the throne stayed. He shrugged, “It worked on Dixie Superman the second time we fought him and this guy seemed to have the same powers. Did the bastard have kids?”

Following his eyes, I watched Collette, Magnus and Ray as they watched from behind the glowing golden barrier. “I assumed Power Burst was a clone.” Continue reading Singularity: Part 19 →

Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 18

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No first aid I’d been taught included how to handle how to save someone you’d stabbed with a sword made out of your soul (or whatever), and I didn’t have time to take off Scream Eagle’s armor to see if I could help him anyway.

I could only hope that if he did die, it didn’t make much of a difference in that fight to steal Jody.

Flying closer to me, Grandpa asked, “Did Lee teach you that?”

“Uh… Future stuff.” Continue reading Singularity: Part 18 →

Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 17

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“Two Rockets?” Scream Eagle shouted, faking an English accent just like he had the last time we fought. “Wouldn’t it be funny if you fought each other?”

My suit’s computer informed me of the growing magnetic field, but I didn’t need it. I’d already seen the True’s guns begin to float upward, some dragging the unconscious bodies of their owners across the floor toward us by the strap of their rifle or belt and holstered pistol.

You know what didn’t move toward him? Grandpa and I. Continue reading Singularity: Part 17 →

Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 16

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Energy built and then spread outward in an explosion of power, but fortunately not a physical one. Well, sort of fortunately, in the sense that it was a lot of energy that I’d rather not be hit with. It was less fortunate in the sense that Power Burst, Jody, Amnesia Angel, Artemis, Scream Eagle, and maybe again Ray had absorbed a lot of energy and I had little doubt they intended to transfer it in my direction.

If I hadn’t been flying and aiming lasers at the Cabal, I might have tried to reach in and cut off Magnus’ power. That might end the fight, depending on how giving out powers worked. If empowering minions were more like lighting a candle than plugging in a radio, it would be harder. Continue reading Singularity: Part 16 →

Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 15

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Red Lightning grinned, “I’ll be ready. We can’t lose. We’ve got two of you.”

Grandpa laughed. “Glad you think so. I’m feeling behind the times, myself.”

It felt good to see a whisper of the friendship I knew they had. They might have had a conversation, but that’s when the Cabal soldiers all jumped in our direction—not directly at us but close enough that they’d figure it out soon enough.

And that meant that the time to start was before they figured it out. Grandpa had come to the same conclusion. Continue reading Singularity: Part 15 →

Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 14

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Magnus leaned forward and as he did, I could feel energy moving around him, and remembered being told that despite losing the ability to influence with his voice, he could still do it somehow.

He could. As he spoke, everyone within the shimmery glow responded. Some turned to watch, but other reactions were more subtle—a pause before the next step, a blink, an indrawn breath.

As he did though, I saw energy move from the spheres above into the throne and to him. In the same instant I realized something else—the throne wasn’t real. Continue reading Singularity: Part 14 →

Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 13

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Power Burst looked him up and down. “How do I know you’re not lying to me about whose side you’re on?”

Knowing Izzy’s powers, Power Burst’s physique didn’t make a difference. He could have been a couch potato that spent all of every day eating junk food, watching television, and playing video games with a body that reflected that inactivity, and still been capable of ending Ray with a slap.

Instead, he fit the superhero stereotype—tall, defined muscles all over his body, and a grim expression. Combined with the military themed costume, most people would find him intimidating.

If Ray did, he didn’t show it. “Me? I’m sure you could see right through me if I were lying to you.“ Continue reading Singularity: Part 13 →

Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 12

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Ray kept on walking, never speeding up or slowing down. My guess was that he lived by the idea that if you looked like you belonged here, you belonged.

Of course, you could say that he did belong, having been empowered by Magnus and released to kill us. That didn’t change the fact that he was a man with no superpowers walking through the control center of an ancient, alien weapon.

Even if he couldn’t see all of it, the control center itself glowed with power. Though dim to my bots’ sight and my human senses, the hundreds of spheres floating in the air appeared different when I let my Artificer senses work. Continue reading Singularity: Part 12 →

Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 11

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I didn’t know when the team had realized that Red Lightning had turned supervillain, but if Grandma was pregnant with Uncle Steve, this was too early.

My best bet was to stop thinking about it at all because Daniel’s grandfather might hear. The second best was to hope that if he did figure it out, he’d know not to break it too soon.

All of that would be wasted though, if either Ray or Red Lightning blew the secret. Continue reading Singularity: Part 11 →

Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 10

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C’s eyes narrowed, “They don’t have a daughter named Joan.”

My grandparents turned to look at each other and back to everyone else as Grandma said, “But that is a name we were talking about. Joan, if we had a girl, and Stephen, if we had another boy. So, we’re going to have a daughter?”

“Stephen?” My eyes darted toward Grandma’s belly. She wasn’t showing, but maybe that hint of a curve was Uncle Steve? Even in the 50s and 60s, superhero costumes didn’t leave a lot to the imagination. “Well, if you haven’t had a Stephen yet, no. My mom was born in 1963.”

Grandpa glanced over at the Mentalist, and Daniel’s grandfather nodded, his top hat making the nod more obvious. Though I’d never told him, I’d always thought the Mentalist’s era of magician-themed costumes looked silly. Continue reading Singularity: Part 10 →

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