by Nathan Howe
On the third day, late in the afternoon, she struck. I was ready. Jack frantic typed on the computer trying to back trace her. Just like I was going to do, but we had different methods of the trace. I was using magic, while he used technology.
In fairness, I had an advantage here. Magic to track a magic user was going to win. Jack might not accept that, but it was the case. It didn’t take me long to cast the spell and feel her presence. Now we needed to get moving. I flipped over the communications device, “I got her. Need to move now.”
I rushed out of the room to hear Jack cursing and slamming his fist on the desk. I arrived at the elevator and Heldonhaft was there with Kraftig. “Let’s go.”
The ride down was slow, and the trek out to the car was too. I was on edge, dancing on my toes. Both worried and excited about the upcoming fight. As I directed them into Midtown and across the campus, I feared she’d be ready this time. She had to figure out I’d be part of the team to track her.
We arrived at a building that not long ago was a warehouse, but now stood empty. One of the causalities of the Spector attack on the city. I still blamed myself for that one. I took the case and only partially solved it. Mortal and Broken helped get Spector with Chilling, but I was the one who started the case.
I shook my head and looked at the building. “It led to here,” I said.
Slowly the three of us exited the vehicle. Heldonhaft pulled out his bow and readied an arrow. I grabbed a sig and turned to see Kraftig’s fist start to glow. I tried to remember his powers. Something to do with energy.
Kraftig stepped up and took point. I wasn’t used to working with a team. I couldn’t help but question. “You sure you want point?”
He nodded. “I might not be as tough as Invincible, but I can take a beating.”
I turned to Heldonhaft. “He can,” he said.
“Okay.”
Kraftig entered, but nothing happened. I was right behind him, as was Heldonhaft. We went room to room. Nothing. I was beginning to wonder if I had been tricked somehow. When we entered one with a computer and a large monitor.
The lights switched off, and a video started to play.
It was Cyberhex. “I knew you would find me, Steve.” She laughed.
I gritted my teeth. It didn’t surprise me that she set something up. It had been a fear of mine.
“Oh, Steve. Don’t worry. I won’t release any of the names. Well if you can get out I won’t.”
She laughed again. I was starting to panic. Her words oozed out her and terrified me.
“I’ve set up a series of tests for you and your friends. If you pass, I’ll keep the names my secret. But if you fail, every member will be exposed. If anyone on the outside tries to help you, I release the names. The three of you are on your own. If you manage to get out. I’ll see you around.”
The video ended.
“We’re going to die,” Kraftig said.
“Thanks for the confidence kid,” I said.
The door to the room slammed shut, and the deadbolt turned locking us in. I pulled a sword out and attempted to use it to slice the lock. When I connected, a jolt of electricity went through me causing me to drop the sword. I cringed in pain. “Fuck that hurt,” I said.
“Here,” Kraftig said. “Let me. His fist glowed more, and a burst of energy left them as he punched the door. It shattered into thousands of splinters.
I tilted my head, “That works.”
Kraftig being the tank of our group went out first. I didn’t like letting a kid take the point. It didn’t matter that he was better suited for the job, I wanted to protect him. I was the old fart of the group, not that I was old or anything.
It was eerily silent in the hallway. I didn’t like it one bit. Cyberhex wouldn’t make those threats and just let us walk out. Every door in the building appeared to be closed. I fretted walking past each one. I feared an assortment of crazy stuff was going to jump out at us.
“What should we do?” Heldonhaft asked.
“Go back the way we came,” I said with a hesitant voice. “Pray that she doesn’t kill us.”
Both kids gulped. I shouldn’t think of them that way, they were most definitely men, and we all needed to be men to get out.
We passed the first doors, and nothing happened. I didn’t know what to expect because I didn’t have a full grasp on Cyberhex powers. There were two more sets of doors left in the hall. We walked on edge as we all knew something was going to happen. As we approached the last set of doors, they blew apart, and there were a bunch of flashing lights.
“Cover your eyes,” I yelled as I turned and looked away. When the lights died down I saw Kraftig was standing still, he never looked away. When I went to check on him, he turned around, and his eyes were glowing red, this couldn’t be good. Before I could speak his fist begin to glow and he was positioning to punch me.
I reached for one of my sig, they wouldn’t hurt him, but I hoped they would slow him down. When I went to shoot my hand was empty. This has never happened to me before. I did a quick check to see if my tattoo was still there and it was.
I gave Heldonhaft a confused look like I didn’t know what was going on. He pulled a device from his belt and threw it at Kraftig, it landed at his feet. I backed away expecting an explosion, but it never came.
Nothing to stop Kraftig, he came at us like a freight train, both of us jumped out of the way of the attack. With Kraftig behind us, we ran exiting the hallway and into the bay of the warehouse heading towards the exit.
“If I had to take a guess, both of our powers are not working,” I said. “If I were to make another guess, Cyberhex is behind this.”
“Agreed,” Heldonhaft said.
We reached the door we came in, but it was different now. There was a much bigger door there now, there was no way we were going to get out without having our powers.
“What do we do now?” Heldonhaft asked.
“Move.” I pushed Heldonhaft aside as Kraftig fist slammed into the door making a small explosion knocking all of us back.
I jumped back up and looked for the kid, he was lying face down on the ground. I ran over and check his pulse, still alive. I rolled him over a gave him a slap to the face, I didn’t have time to waste.
“I’m up, I’m up,” he said.
“Good, we don’t have time, and we need to hide.” I took a look at the door hoping Kraftig knocked it down, but there wasn’t a scratch on it.
Kraftig was slow to get up, so that gave us enough time to find a good place to hide. We found a stack of crates, while not the best, it was all we had.
“Both of our powers don’t work,” I said. “If that wasn’t enough, Kraftig didn’t put a dent in the door. I don’t know what that door is made of, but my guess would be it is resistance to Kraftig’s power.”
“How is she doing this?”
“I don’t know how many times she hacked the Coalition, but she knew how everything would go down. She knew they would send us three and she knew how to stop us.”
Heldonhaft took a quick look around the crates. “How did she take your powers?”
“My best guess is she is cutting me off from using magic. I don’t know how it quite works, but let's say magic is like a river. Every time I use magic it like I’m dipping a bucket in the river and pulling some water out. What she most likely did is put a dam up.”
“A dam and it is blocking you from using your powers. Would it be physical? Could we destroy it?”
“Yes, it needs to an object, but it can be anything, like the door.”
“Great.”
I motioned for Heldonhaft to be quiet, Kraftig’s footsteps started to close in on us. Then began to speed up as if he knew where we were. I motion for us to go opposite ways. Heldonhaft nods, and we both take off as Kraftig came crashing through the crates. Wood planks went flying everywhere.
I met up with Heldonhaft. “I don’t think it is the door, the dam would most likely be in the center it. It can only bloc
k so much of an area.”
We found another stack of crates to hide behind. “Do you know what's up with your stuff?”
“Well my arrows should still work, but they won’t do much good against Kraftig. I didn’t think about it ‘till my devices stopped working. They have a small wireless signal so I can change them to what I want. Each of my gadgets can be anything I want them to be. I type what I want in my armband, and it programs them to do what I want. She must have hacked in and deactivated them.”
“Can you fix them?” I asked.
“Yes, but it could take days.”
“We don’t have days.”
“I know.”
“If I were to keep Kraftig distracted would that help?”
“Yes.”
“Stay here, and I’ll keep him busy.”
“Good luck.”
With that, I was gone. I didn’t know what I was going to do if Kraftig landed a punch. It would be the end of me if he connected. While I keep in shape, running wasn’t my forte, so I hoped Heldonhaft works fast because I can’t out run him forever.
I saw Kraftig across the warehouse. I didn’t want to bring him close to Heldonhaft, so I move to the center of the building. I figured if I’m out as a distraction, I might as well see if I could find the dam. My plan was to have Kraftig destroy everything in the center and hope he breaks the barrier.
“Over here,” I said while waving my arms. Kraftig turned towards me, with his red eyes and silver face he looked sinister, it chilled me to the bone. I don’t think I would ever look at him as a kid again.
He lumbered over to me, raising his hands over his head. I don’t know Kraftig that well, but I hope he isn’t this dumb to telegraph his punch from across the room. When he gets closer the ground starts to shake, I want to run, but I need to stay put and let the punch land here.
Sweat ran down my face, Kraftig’s face had murder written all over. If I moved too soon he won’t attacked in the center, if I move too late, I’m dead. I had to time this right.
Kraftig was towering over me, his fist had the biggest glow I had yet seen. He made his move, and so did I. I jumped to the right as far as I could as Kraftig’s fist came thundering down and striking the ground.
Now I can jump far for my age but not 30 feet. The blast helped me move a good 20 feet more. Disoriented, I landed on my back. It took only a moment to reorient myself to my surroundings. Kraftig lay on the ground unconscious. He used so much of his own power that he exhausted himself. It was evident Cyberhex had taken control of him and didn't fully understand his powers. It is one thing to read about it and another to actually use them.
I stood and tested my powers, I was able to pull the sigs. I don’t know what Cyberhex use to block my abilities, a question for another day. Right now, I wanted nothing more than to get out of this warehouse in one piece. I went to the door and opened fire, but I didn’t even put a dent in it. This was going to need an explosive, but before I use mine, I checked in on Heldonhaft. He was fidgeting with his devices. He was much better suited for this type of work than I ever was. While he isn't a hacker, he still is one smart kid.
“You figure it out?” I asked.
He nodded. “I think so.”
“Let's see if you can take the door down.”
We went back to the door, and he took aim with his arrow and a device attached to it. If this didn’t work, I don’t know if the C4 I have would do the trick. We would have to find a different way out, or Cyberhex would have her way.
The kid fired the arrow, and it exploded on the door. It rattled the whole building, but it worked. The door smashed into the ground causing my ears to ring in pain.
Before we could celebrate, a swarm of tiny bots greeted us. I fired immediately as they dove at me. “Damn,” I cursed.
Heldonhaft let loose with his arrows. My bullets were completely useless against them as I missed more often than not. Before I could replace them, the swarm knocked my gun out of my hand. I switched to the throwing stars and wasted those too.
They moved too fast for me, and I needed a better option. I pulled my remaining sword and spun. It was the best tactic I had. While it knocked a few down it wasn’t much help. It was the best thing I had, so I kept attacking with it. If anything, it was good to keep them away from us. That didn’t last long though as the tiny bots landed on my sword and consumed it.
“Kid, can you knock these things out?”
He shrugged and went to work as they buzzed around me with a speed that told me I didn't have long. I was tempted to use my grenades on them, but in this tight of a space, it would most likely do more harm than good.
I slowly moved forward drawing more of the tiny little flying robots to me. Letting Heldonhaft work. It sure would be nice to have Kraftig with us now. He could handle the beating better than I could.
A flash of light pulsed around me and the bots dropped to the ground. I turned to see Heldonhaft smiling.
“EMP,” he said.
“Good job kid, but couldn’t you used that earlier before I lost all my tats?”
“Sorry, but I hadn't used an EMP before. I had to make sure it would not leave effects outside of the warehouse, and I had to turn all of my other gadgets off.”
We went back to the exit, and I was expecting more danger, but when I thought about it, realized she didn’t have too much time to set this trap. I was slow to exit making sure it was safe. I gave the all clear to Heldonhaft, and we exited.
We finally made it. It was dark, and there was a cool breeze that washed over me, it felt great. I was drained and lost. Outside we were greeted by another team arriving, Inflamed was in charge of.
“You get her?” she asked.
I shook my head. “It was a trap.”
“Not good.”
Heldonhaft came from behind me. “She left a video that said if we escaped she wouldn’t release the names, but also said Steve should expect another attack.”
“A small blessing. Where is Kraftig?”
“Cyberhex took control of his mind somehow, and he attacked us. He ended up knocking himself out.”
“He should be fine then. Good work guys.”
Jack finished up for the day. Wiping my back one last time. Both swords had been replaced. “Damn. She is out there planning to attack you.”
Steve nodded. “Yeah. Not good, but I’ll figure it out.”
“Why aren’t you under some sort of protection.”
Steve stood with his back sore. “They offered, and I refused.”
“You’re crazy.”
“Yeah Yeah,” Steve said waving him off. “I’ll get her. Someday.”
It was a chilly morning as Steve walked with his friend Jack through Djinn Park. Steve's body was covered with bruises and scrapes. He had another encounter with the magic hacker Cyberhex. She had quickly turned into Steve's least favorite person ever.
Jack was not only Steve's best friend but his tattoo artist. That meant Steve was his best customer. With Steve’s own magic allowing him to turn a picture into an actual object to use. There was a catch, they had to be as accurate as possible. That was why Steve chose Jack. Jack was the best in all of Cynosure. Steve could use a photograph, but he found it quicker to use tattoo because he knew where they were on his body. If he carried a bunch of pictures, it would take too long for him to find what he wanted. In his line of work that wasn’t an option.
“You want to talk about it?” Jack asked.
He was referring to the encounter and the results. “Not particularly,” Steve said through gritted teeth. Ste-ve was still angry with all that happened. There had to have been a way to reach a different outcome, but Steve couldn't think of it.
“It will make you feel better,” Jack said. He smiled. Both knew this was part of their routine. Steve made the papers or did something crazy, and Jack wanted to hear about it. It was why the friendship was enjoya-ble. “Plus, it has to be good. I mean–”
“Don't bring it up,” Steve
said. “Fine, I'll tell you. But let's get to Ambrosine’s. My body is killing me.”
I had just left getting my tattoos replaced after the last battle with Cyberhex. It had been a grueling ses-sion, but it was the last one. All the items I lost had been replaced. My skin was still sore. Over the years I had grown to have a love-hate relationship with the needle. It was needed and extremely useful, but damn it hurt. I drank one of my healing potions, while the tattoo heals in an instant I could still feel the pain. I don’t know if I could keep getting tattoos if I had to wait for more than a week for them to heal. Being a magic user has its perks.
It wasn't a far walk back to my office and home on the edge of the park. The area wasn't the best in the city, but I did like it. I've lived here my whole life. It wasn’t that long ago that I had sworn to protect it against those who were harming it. Mainly the Faith of the Withering. The group was the main reason most avoided it. Unfortunately, I seem to be getting pulled every which way and haven’t been able to start on that.
I have removed a serial killer and fought a horde of rampaging Netherworld creatures. But that wasn’t my goal. Those were a temporary distraction. Just like Cyberhex. She was supposed to be locked up and secure in Prison. They had one built in the middle of the country to hold the most dangerous of Ardents. I hoped they’d put her there and throw away the key.
My place wasn’t much, but it was mine. As I neared, I saw a familiar vehicle parked on the street. A Hero Coalition one. Leaning against it appeared to be two of the most powerful Ardent in the world. Invincible was a massive man, standing seven feet tall with rippling muscles. He wore a suit and tie. His long blond hair hung loose. He was the leader of the Hero Coalition. All of it.
Next to him, was Inflamed. She was in charge of the heroes here in Cynosure. Technically, that made both of them my boss. Only part time, but still. She was a red-haired woman, who put the fear into those that faced her.
I groaned at the sight of them. This wasn’t going to be good. It wouldn’t surprise me if they were here to blame me for what happened. It wasn’t my fault Cyberhex escaped nor that she had laid a trap for us.
