Even though I didn’t expect any problems here, I still found myself telling the jet, “Be ready for action. You’ll be better at projecting scenarios we might have to respond to than I am. Warn us if you realize one of them is happening.
“Also, and this is probably paranoid of me, but could you monitor the media for any signs of being manipulated by the Nine in their coverage of our activities? I don’t know what to ask you to look for, but maybe similar wording or similar negative perspectives? Maybe even attempting to create a certain perspective on us that could then be turned negative? I don’t know anything about propaganda or public relations, but I feel like that’s the Nine’s most effective weapon right now.” Continue reading Older Enemies: Part 8→
Lim grinned, “The Pocono Mountains. It’s an old supervillain lair that we use to store things we don’t want to lose. It’s hidden under an abandoned resort. We’ll get you exact coordinates once you’re in the air.”
Guardian nodded back toward the part of the parking lot where the sheriffs’ cars, boxes, reporters, and all of the people from the building stood. There were more people than I remembered and several black SUVs, all of them unlabeled. The people coming out of them wore black jackets and armor with the letters “FBI” placed in the middle of the chest and taking up half of it.
The Probationers, our team, and the Defenders were in and out of the crowd, some of them helping law enforcement, and the rest simply talking. Daniel and Izzy were talking with Ape Nasty and Mistress Madness. Continue reading Older Enemies: Part 6→
Guardian nodded, watching me as we talked, “How long will it take?”
“I don’t know. My bet would be two weeks at most. It might be as short as a couple of days, depending on where my friend is and how long it takes me to get to an ansible.”
“Oh,” Guardian let out a breath and shook his head. “I’m guessing this is a friend from your excursion into the Human Ascendancy. I’ve never gotten any details on that beyond hearing that it was harder than it should have been. Alright, get your friend. We’ve got an ansible at our Chicago base. That way, you won’t have to fly to Mars to use the Xiniti ansible.” Continue reading Older Enemies: Part 5→
We didn’t have long to think about Guardian’s statement. Even as I wondered whether or not he was going to chew us out when he got here, a hole opened in the air above the parking lot. Guardian floated out, muscles showing under his silver suit as it shimmered in the sunlight. Flying along with him came Daniel’s father, Mindstryke in a black costume with the Greek letter Ψ on the upper left of his chest.
Flick jumped out of the hole to the right of Daniel’s father, landing on the sidewalk going down the middle of the parking lot. Small, blond, and wearing a light blue costume with large, metallic gauntlets, already glancing around the parking lot to understand the situation. She’d been one of our teachers at Stapledon. Even though her power didn’t put her in the top ranks of heroes by itself, she’d made the most of it. Continue reading Older Enemies: Part 4→
Both reporters, Alissa and whoever the other reporter behind her was, didn’t seem to notice the Atoner’s comment because they were still looking past him where they were seeing Mistress Madness strolling out of the door. She stopped to check the lobby behind her.
Not seeing anyone following us out of the hole we’d made in the floor, she joined the rest of the group, smirking as she turned around.
I couldn’t help but think that it might have been wiser for her to hurry. Given what happened downstairs, I couldn’t be sure that part of the building wasn’t about to collapse. Continue reading Older Enemies: Part 3→
I’d have argued with him except that Rook was just a picture on a cellphone screen.
Pausing, possibly to smirk behind his beaked helmet, Rook continued, “We’ve let the Heroes’ League alone despite our conflicts in the last few years. Why? Because we don’t want to kill a bunch of kids.”
We left. It would have been stupid not to, not to mention more than a little unkind to our backup that, past careers notwithstanding, was risking their lives for an information-gathering mission that had turned into something much bigger.
Jaclyn jumped up, crashing through the floor and then jumping back down to grab Izzy before jumping up again. Cassie didn’t even have time to say, “I could have taken out the floor for you,” though she tried. Continue reading Older Enemies: Part 1→
It wasn’t all bad news though, because even if Izzy was out, Jaclyn wasn’t. In a blur, she ran out from behind a group of crates, grabbed Izzy, and disappeared before the True could do anything. White light hit the spot where they’d been.
After all that Izzy and Jaclyn had done and the damage they’d taken, I probably was the person most ready to take point. The Rocket suit might not be in perfect shape, but I could take a few shots from the True I knew had to be up there.
Of course, Cassie was already moving. She jumped through the hole in the ceiling even as I aimed myself in that direction. I shot off a bot to scout as she passed me because I wanted to know what was up there if I could. Continue reading Underground Tower: Part 11→
The Legion of Nothing: A Series of Online Superhero Novels (Updates Monday and Thursday)
