Counterparts

by Lucas Flint

  “By ‘awkward,’ you mean we’d probably all get arrested, right?” said Talon. “And possibly even go to jail.”

  “That, but ‘awkward’ is still my preferred term,” said Electrica.

  “Then how are we going to get out of here?” said Talon. “If we can’t leave through the main lobby and get to the parking garage where Stinger is, how can we get out of here?”

  “Easy,” said Electrica. She gestured at the open doorway in which Colombina’s corpse lay. “If Colombina and Rime came from that direction, then that is probably a secret underground tunnel that will lead us back into the city. Once we get out of here, we can call Chris and have him meet us in the car wherever we end up.”

  “That makes sense,” said Talon, nodding. “I do wonder where this tunnel will lead us, though. It’s so dark that I can’t even see down it.”

  “It is probably safe,” said Electrica. “I doubt Mann would build an unsafe secret tunnel in his own headquarters, after all. That would be rather counterproductive.”

  Talon nodded again, but now she was thinking about Stinger. “I wonder how Stinger is doing back in the parking garage. You don’t think he’s in danger or anything, do you?”

  “He shouldn’t be,” said Electrica. “Remember, he’s supposed to stay in the car until we get back.”

  “Yes, but things don’t always work according to plan,” said Talon. She glanced at her suit-up watch, which had ‘NO SIGNAL’ displayed on its screen, and sighed. “I can’t even call him from down here. Must be some sort of signal jamming device in here or something.”

  “No doubt,” said Electrica. “But don’t worry, kitten. I imagine it won’t be much longer before we’re out of here. And by the time Mann finds out that we killed one of his Venetians and messed up his plans, all of us will be long gone.”

  “Yes, I suppose you have a point,” said Talon, cringing slightly at the sound of Rime’s saw tearing apart the clamps on his wife’s body before Rime moved on to the clamps on his daughter. “But I doubt Mann will leave us alone after this. He’ll probably try to strike back at us harder than ever.”

  “He won’t be able to find me and my kids,” said Electrica. “My base is quite well hidden. I’m not afraid of his retaliation; besides, I’ve pissed off far worse men than him before and survived. Angering one more selfish billionaire won’t hurt me.”

  Talon thought that Electrica seemed too confident, given just how powerful Mann was, but she supposed that Electrica had the experience necessary to have earned such confidence. Talon, however, had not, at least not yet, though she thought that the NHA would protect her from anything Mann might try to do to her.

  Finally, Rime snapped the clamps off his daughter. He immediately went back over to his wife and started shaking her, saying, “Dana, w-wake up. Dana, can y-you hear me?”

  At first, it looked like Dana was not going to wake up at all, as if she had fallen into a deep coma from which she would never recover. But she stirred slightly and then, a second later, her eyes flickered open. She moaned and rubbed her forehead before she looked at Rime with confusion. “Peter, is that you?”

  His real name is Peter? Talon thought. Huh. Now that I think about it, he never did tell us what his real name was.

  Rime, on the other hand, had broken into a smile as soon as Dana had spoken. He grabbed her hand and held it tightly. “Y-Yes, my love, it’s me. Are y-you hurt? C-Can you walk?”

  Dana nodded slightly before clutching her forehead again. “Yes, aside from my head. I have a huge headache, but I think it will go away eventually.” She looked around in confusion at the strange room in which they all stood. “What is this place? Where am I?” She suddenly looked at Rime again. “Martha—”

  “She’s s-safe,” said Rime, stepping aside briefly to let Dana see the teenage girl lying on the opposite table. “I think she’s in the same c-condition as you.”

  Dana sighed in relief. “Oh, good. I was worried for a second there that she might be in danger.”

  “We’ll all be in danger soon enough if we don’t get out of here quickly,” said Electrica.

  Dana raised her head just enough to see Talon and Electrica. “Peter, who are those two? I don’t recognize them.”

  “A-Allies,” said Rime. “They h-helped me save you and Martha. You can t-trust them.”

  “But what about that other woman?” said Dana. She shuddered. “The masked one, the one who kidnapped us.”

  “She’s d-dead,” said Rime. “You don’t have to w-worry about her anymore. She won’t c-come after you or Martha ever a-again.” Rime tightened his grip on her hand. “N-Now, let’s get you and Martha out of here. Colombina m-may be dead, but this place is still unsafe for us to b-be.”

  Martha nodded. Rime helped her sit up, while Talon began making her way toward the secret entrance that Colombina had revealed. She was going to scout ahead, just to make sure there weren’t any secret traps in there that might cause them trouble.

  But before Talon could enter, the secret exit suddenly slammed shut, nearly catching her foot in the door if she had not pulled it out of the way in time. Talon jumped backwards, her claws popping out of her wrists instinctively, while Electrica said, “What happened? Did you do that?”

  Talon shook her head. “No. I was just going to go scout ahead to make sure the path was safe, but then the door just closed all on its own.”

  “Uh oh,” said Electrica. She looked up at the ceiling. “Mann must know we’re here. And he doesn’t want us to escape.”

  “What’s he going to do to us?” said Talon, turning around to face Electrica. “Send some men down here to kill us? Or maybe just leave us trapped down here without air forever?”

  “I don’t know,” said Electrica, “but whatever it is, it won’t be any—”

  Electrica was interrupted by a low whirring sound, like a computer turning on, but Talon couldn’t see any computers in the room. She, Talon, Rime, and Dana looked around in alarm, trying to locate the source of the sound, but it took Talon a moment to realize that it was coming from the portal that Dana and Martha had been placed in front of.

  Before Talon’s startled eyes, a small, pinkish blue circle appeared in the center of the portal. The circle grew larger and larger, the whirring sound increasing as the circle increased in size and width. The portal began to crackle with electricity, even sending out tiny sparks and bolts from within, but by this time, Rime had moved both Dana and Martha off the platform and toward the center of the room, where Talon and Electrica still stood. Talon and Electrica just stood there, staring at the crackling portal with deep unease, while Rime put Dana and Martha behind them and told them to stay put while he joined Talon and Electrica.

  “What is that portal?” said Talon. She glanced at Electrica. “Ever seen anything like it?”

  “No, but I have a feeling that whatever is going to come out of that portal is not going to be friendly,” said Electrica.

  Then something began to stir within the portal. It was difficult to make out its form at first, but gradually, a form and a shape began to appear from within the portal.

  And when Talon finally saw what it was, she couldn’t help but scream.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Stinger sat on the concrete floor of the parking garage, his arms cuffed together behind his back. Unlike Bolt or White, Stinger lacked the super strength necessary to break his handcuffs, so all he could do was sit there, the back of his head aching from where one of the guards had hit it, hoping against hope that Talon and Electrica were on their way and would be able to save him, because right now, he couldn’t save himself.

  But Stinger hadn’t heard from either Talon or Electrica since they went into the Mann Building, and he was starting to fear that they must have run into their own issues that were preventing them from escaping. Maybe they had been caught like him; or worse, murdered in cold blood by one of Mann’s agents, perhaps even by one of the Venetians. He would have tried to call them, but with
his hands cuffed together in such a way that he couldn’t reach his suit-up watch or earcom, he couldn’t contact anyone, much less Talon or Electrica.

  For that matter, Stinger would have been happy to see anyone at this point. After being arrested by the guards, the guards sat him up against one of the nearby cars, a red pickup truck that looked more expensive than Stinger’s costume. One of the guards—a muscular, intimidating-looking black man who seemed to be itching to shoot Stinger—stood guard over Stinger, while the other guards were helping Bauta. Stinger didn’t understand that at all; he had tried to explain to them that Bauta was a supervillain, but the guard nearest him had slapped him in the face and told him to shut up. Given how the guard had slapped Stinger in the face with a gun which, based on its weight, was clearly loaded, Stinger decided to keep his mouth shut.

  So Stinger watched as the other guards went to work trying to help Bauta, who was still paralyzed by Stinger’s venom. The guards kept referring to him as ‘Mr. Winter’ and none of them even mentioned Bauta’s weird mask or tabarro. It was almost as if they couldn’t see it, which puzzled Stinger until he remembered that his paralyzing venom only paralyzed a person’s ability to move. It did not, however, negate a superhuman’s powers; usually, it didn’t need to, because most superhumans found it impractical to use their powers when they were lying on the ground as stiff as a board.

  Thus, Stinger concluded that Bauta was probably using his illusion powers to make himself look like his real identity, Henry Winter, which was why none of the guards noticed anything out of the ordinary in his appearance. And, although Bauta still couldn’t talk, Stinger could guess that once he was able to speak, Bauta would spin some kind of tale about how he was just on his way to work when Stinger attacked him unprovoked and attempted to rob him. He’d probably even come up with some way to explain the damaged rental car; Bauta seemed like the kind of guy who could lie quite well if necessary.

  The guards are probably already starting to come to that conclusion on their own, Stinger thought, scowling as he tugged fruitlessly at his cuffs. Once Bauta is able to tell them about it, it will be all over for me.

  Stinger still didn’t know who called the guards, but he figured that it must have been John Mann; perhaps Mann was watching the fight from a secret camera and had called the guards as soon as he realized Bauta would lose.

  No doubt the guards will hand me over to the police, Stinger thought. Mecha Knight is going to be so pissed when he finds out that I got arrested. Wonder if the NHA will bail me out.

  Stinger shook his head. He couldn’t afford to think about such things right now. On the other hand, if he tried to escape, the guards would use even worse force to keep him down, perhaps even shoot him. It was a pretty sorry situation to be in, all things considered, one that Stinger didn’t see any easy way out of.

  Suddenly, one of the guards broke away from the others (who were still tending to Bauta as if he was a poor little victim) and walked over to Stinger and his guard. The first guard stopped by the second guard and spoke to him briefly in a tone that was too low for Stinger to catch. The second guard nodded once and walked a little further away, while the first guard walked up to Stinger and then stopped in front of him. This guard was a white guy who, while thinner than the guard, looked every bit as intimidating and dangerous as his larger fellow officer. His eyes, in particular, were an intense shade of brown and there was a certain way he held himself, as if he believed that he was better than Stinger.

  “So,” said the guard, his hands on his belt buckle, “you are one of the Young Neos, right? Stinger, I think your name is?”

  Stinger blinked in surprise. “Yeah, how did you know? I haven’t told you my name.”

  “Got a kid who is a big fan of you and your friends,” said the guard. “Eight-years-old, says he wants to be a superhero when he grows up. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a superpower, so I told him he could be a police officer instead. Told him it was kind of like being a superhero, except you don’t wear a mask. He thought it sounded boring.”

  Stinger eyed the officer warily. The guard seemed like an ordinary father, but it felt like a front, as if the guard was acting friendly for a ulterior motive. “Well, there’s still time for him to develop powers of his own. Don’t know what they might be, but—”

  “Nah, I doubt it,” said the guard. “I don’t have any superhumans in my family. The chances of him becoming a superhuman are nil. Trust me, I know.”

  Stinger nodded. “All right, but why did you arrest me? I haven’t tried to kill anyone, much less John Mann. I mean, if you know who I am, then you know that I’m a superhero. Superheroes don’t assassinate billionaire businessmen; well, unless those businessmen are really evil, but even then—”

  “You talk a lot, you know that?” the guard interrupted. He leaned over slightly, his expression becoming far more hostile. “Listen, kid, my friends and I are just security for the Mann Building and we do whatever our boss, Mann, tells us to do.”

  Stinger gritted his teeth. “Yeah, I guessed, based on your uniforms.”

  “And we haven’t told anyone we caught you,” said the guard. He got down on one knee so that his eyes were level with Stinger’s. “See, the Mann Building’s security system informed us that of a battle between you and Mr. Winter here in the parking garage. Since Mr. Mann is trying to keep the link between him and the Venetians a secret, he sent us to back up Mr. Winter and help him kill you if necessary.”

  Stinger gulped. “You aren’t going to hand me over to the police, then?”

  “Oh, we’ll make sure the police find you, all right, but it will just be your costume and maybe parts of your body,” said the guard. He grinned. “There will be an investigation, but no one will be able to prove that Mann had anything to do with it. Your death will simply be a tragic end for such a promising young man … and an implicit warning, of course, to any other super idiots who might try to get in the way of Mann’s plans.”

  “What are Mann’s plans?” said Stinger. “Can you at least tell me that?”

  “Sorry, I can’t,” said the guard, shaking his head. “Literally can’t, because I don’t know what they are myself. All I know is that it is my job to make sure that people like you don’t interfere with them. Mr. Mann has made it very clear what he wants done to people like you.”

  “Then why haven’t you killed me yet?” said Stinger. He looked to the left and to the right and then back at the guard. “No one’s around except your friends and they definitely won’t rat you out.”

  “Because, kid, this is the worst place to kill you,” said the guard, gesturing around at the garage around them. “Your blood would get everywhere, which would be hard to clean, and then we’d also have to drag your body out of here. You don’t look like you weigh a whole lot, but I imagine you’re heavier than you look. We’ll take you to a special place underneath the Mann Building where we will be able to kill you without interruptions or worry about leaving clues.”

  “What about Bauta?” said Stinger. “What are you going to do with him?”

  “Move him to a place he can be safe until that venom you injected into his body wears off,” said the guard. He shook his head. “Pretty disappointing that he lost to a kid like you, but I’m sure that Mr. Winter will do better next time. Well, I guess there won’t technically be a next time, seeing as you’ll be dead, but it’s the thought that counts, right?”

  “The NHA will—”

  “Look for you, sure, but won’t find you,” said the guard. “And, of course, they can’t just go around accusing Mr. Mann of killing you, not unless they want to explain why you and your friends were working with a supervillain to break into the Mann Building and create a smoke bomb that scared a lot of people. Sure would be … inconvenient for the NHA if that news were to leak out to the media, eh?”

  Stinger bit his lower lip, but he had no response to what the guard said. It wasn’t that he agreed with it; it was just that he realized that Mann, once a
gain, had him and the others in his grasp. It was a helpful reminder to Stinger about just how devious Mann was. If Stinger somehow survived all of this, he was going to make sure not to underestimate Mann again.

  “Now, then,” said the guard as he stood up again. “I’m done talking with you. Me and the boys will drag you down into the secret room, where we’ll make you tell us anything important you might know and then kill you.”

  “What about Talon and Electrica?” said Stinger. “Where are they?”

  The guard smirked. “Don’t know, but based on what I heard from Mann, I doubt they’re in any better shape than you. Might be even worse, considering who they’re going up against, but either way, this little mission to save that guy’s family can be officially considered a fail—”

  The guard was cut off by a red and black blur shooting across the parking garage toward him. The guard had just enough time to look in the direction from which the blur came before it knocked him flat onto the ground. The other guards immediately drew their guns, but they didn’t even get a chance to aim and fire their weapons before the red and black blur took them down one by one until, in less than a minute, all six guards lay unconscious on the floor of the parking garage, while Bauta’s paralyzed form was still leaning helplessly against a blue suburban.

  Stinger didn’t know what had happened at first until the red and black blur stopped in front of him, causing Stinger to say, “Bolt? Is that really you?”

  It was. Bolt stood before him with his hands on his hips, but he looked extremely worried. “Yeah, it’s me. Looks like I got here just in the nick of time. These guys don’t look like your average security guards.”

  “They were planning to kill me so I wouldn’t call for help,” said Stinger. “But what are you doing here? I thought you and Rime were waiting in that cafe out in the street in case we needed backup.”

  “Yeah, about that …” Bolt scratched the back of his neck. “Rime is missing. He went to the bathroom, but when he didn’t return, I went to check on him, but couldn’t find him anywhere.”