I moved swiftly down the back alley, heading in the direction the guy with the gauntlets had gone. Once I rounded the next corner, I would have a clear view of the gym. From there, I could plan my move. Trash cans lay overturned to my right, a big blue dumpster to my left. About twenty feet down, I could make out a tower of rickety scaffolding that went up a couple floors. Beyond that, the alley was completely empty.
It was why I saw her so quickly.
Ahead of me, about two buildings down, not the man, but a girl stepped out. She was wearing a costume. But it was clear enough who she had arrived with.
The top half of her face was hidden by big, bulky goggles. She was short and stout, with frizzy brown hair. She was dressed in jeans and a brown leather jacket. And in her hands was what looked like a miniature bazooka as long as my forearm. It must have been heavy because it was held up by a strap that went all the way around her back.
Basically, a gun.
The alley was filled with a whine of electricity. Then, a flash of light formed at the tip of the gun, accompanied by a loud snap!
I dodged behind the blue dumpster, landing awkwardly, not going for grace as much as speed. Pushing myself up, I turned to where I had been standing before. Ten feet back a brick wall stood, now marred by a large, black scorch.
What the hell?!
I moved into a crouch and risked looking over the dumpster. The girl hadn’t moved and was examining her weapon. She reached about halfway down the thing to where there was some sort of a switch. She pulled it back, and it let out a high-pitched whine. Did that mean it was recharging? I was sure as hell I did not want to get hit with the next blast.
In fact, I was so sure of it that I almost didn’t see attacker number two sneaking up on me.
I jumped to the right, just missing his first blow. It landed solidly on the dumpster behind me, letting out a loud clang. I looked up to see the guy from before standing over me, and he wasn’t giving me time to recover. I managed to scramble to my feet in time for another right cross. I ducked to the left, which he must have seen coming because he immediately came at me with a jab. I blocked and deflected, keeping him away from the weak spots in my armor.
Then sparks—honest-to-God electric sparks—arched down the left gauntlet, visible to the fucking naked eye. Even beneath it all, I could feel my arm hairs stand on end.
Before I could recover, he delivered a swift series of blows, clearly trying to maneuver me from the cover of the dumpster so Little Miss Sparks could light me up like a Christmas tree. And damn, not only was he fast, but his blows were far from kisses, putting me on the defensive. Just when I thought I had his rhythm down, he delivered a punishing kick to my side. Great, looked like Mr. Overachiever had some sort of mixed martial arts bullshit going on.
Fortunately for me, we were in completely different weight classes.
My first blow hit him across the chin. His head flew back, and he stumbled. Not stopping to assess the damage, I took advantage of his open body and hit him right in the gut. He went down, gasping, the wind clearly knocked out of him.
“Hey!” I heard someone shout from behind.
I turned around to see Little Miss Sparks standing behind me, weapon at the ready. A flash of light filled my vision.
The blast hit me hard, and I went flying back into the nearest wall, my head snapping against the bricks. The charge from the gun snaked around me, sneaking into the cracks between the pieces of my armor. I felt my body seize up, remembering when I had brushed up against an electric fence as a kid.
This was so much worse.
I lost a few seconds. The next thing I knew I was lying on the pavement, convulsing with the remaining electricity. I dimly understood that I had lost my helmet somewhere but couldn’t remember when.
“Take him out,” I heard the guy say from behind, voice strained.
I looked up to see the girl walking toward me, pulling back the switch on top of the weapon. I heard the whine of electricity one more time before she pointed it at my face. Every part of my mind screamed to move, but my body would not obey. That first blast had completely incapacitated me. What would a second one do?
Before I had time to think it through, a fist, seemingly out of nowhere, struck the girl across the jaw, sending her flying into the dumpster.
And then a woman dressed in red and black stepped out in front of me, shielding me from my attackers with her long flowing cape.
“What the hell is going on here?” Hikari asked, her voice echoing down the alley.
For a second, no one answered. Hell, I was pretty sure that none of us could even move. The girl lay in a heap by the blue dumpster, her arms splayed out in awkward angles. I could hear the guy gasping behind me, still trying to catch his breath. Eventually, he lifted his right arm and raised one finger.
“Well…that was unexpected,” he said.
The guy spoke with a noticeable Southern drawl. Dawn blinked in surprise at his words, then her body tensed as he began to make his way to his feet.
“No need to get anxious,” he said, raising both hands. “It just looks like we have a case of misinformation.”
“We better,” I replied, finally finding my voice. “Gauntlets off.”
“First let me check on my partner.” He gestured toward the girl.
“You can check on her just as well without them.” I was not giving this guy an inch.
He let out a sigh before replying.
“Fine.”
Seconds later, the gauntlets hit the ground with a thud, revealing two pale, long-fingered hands. He flexed them as if to prove he was unarmed.
“My partner?” He asked again.
“Go ahead,” Dawn replied with a nod.
He made his way toward her without hesitation. Pushing the weapon aside, he reached out and removed her goggles. I could only assume that the protective eyewear had less to do with concealing identities and more with protecting her vision from that weapon. The girl blinked multiple times, clearly dazed.
“Shit,” I heard Dawn whisper.
Shit indeed. The girl had seemed young before, but I had no idea that she would be that young. She looked all of sixteen. I couldn’t help but think of Claire, even though they looked nothing alike.
“Hey there now,” the guy said, in a tone that seemed way too laid back for the tense encounter we had just experienced. “Looks like you’re gonna be—”
The girl replied by emptying out the contents of her stomach on the pavement.
“Concussed.” He shook his head and signed. “Looks like you’re gonna be concussed.”
He reached out to pat her on the back lightly, and I could have sworn I heard him mutter “guess it was your turn” under his breath.
“I’m sorry.” There was genuine regret in Dawn’s voice. “I didn’t mean to hit her so hard.”
“Oh, I figured,” he replied. “It appears you were looking out for your…friend?”
Dawn looked back at me over her shoulder.
“Are you okay?” she asked, voice low. “Your helmet—”
“What’s done is done,” I replied, trying to push myself up into a more dignified position. As I did I felt pain twinge in my side, and I let out a small hiss through gritted teeth. Perfect, just perfect. I had managed to pull something in my fall.
I blinked to find Dawn on her knees next to me. She reached out with both hands as if she wanted to help but was unsure of where it was safe to touch.
“You’re hurt.” Concern marred her voice. “I—”
“Pulled something.” I met her gaze, then dropped my voice. “Don’t take your eyes off them. Not yet.”
Dawn swallowed, then nodded. She made her way back to her feet.
“I would be more than happy to take your partner to the closest hospital.” Her voice was loud and clear. “It’s just a few blocks away. But I need to ask what you’re doing in my city.”
“Simple reconnaissance mission.” The guy shrugged. “Just swung by for a
bit of information.”
Flashes of annoyance built up around my vision. I let out a bark of bitter laughter.
“A bit of what?” I shook my head. “How about I give you some advice on your interrogation techniques. Next time don’t start by trying to kill the person you want information from.”
“Now, now. The cannon was just set to knock you out.”
“Please. Like I’m gonna believe that,” I shot back.
The guy opened his mouth and shut it. Then, he let out a chuckle. I wanted nothing more than to wipe that smile off his face.
“Okay.” He moved to his feet, raising his hands again. “We’re clearly in the wrong on this one. But based on the information we were given by the Leadership, you were supposedly in league with Calypso. A level-seven threat. We were told you needed to be taken down swiftly.”
“Just following orders, I see,” I snapped. “Well, I suppose that makes everything better now.”
Dawn let out a probably unintentional shushing noise. Clearly, someone was concerned about another fight breaking out.
And she had every right to be.
“All right, Mr. Temperamental, how about we just start over?” The guy reached up and pulled off his goggles. He had dark-blond hair, a narrow face, blue eyes, and looked to be in his late twenties. “My name is Riley, and this slightly concussed teenager is my partner, Jane. We’re field agents from the Louisville Branch, out on assignment.”
Silence fell in the alley.
Dawn was the first one to speak up
“The Louisville Branch of what?”
Riley blinked. “Why, the Forgers, of course.”
6
Dawn
Sully had introduced me to the concept of “the Forgers.”
He had been one of Calypso’s drones, and we had first met when he, alongside Marty and Martha Hamilton, had attempted Dana’s first kidnapping. So far, we were up to three attempts. In a weird way, he was shaping up to be my Lois Lane.
For whatever reason, Calypso ended up releasing Sully before the benefit, and he had responded by trying to jump off the East River bridge. We had talked—a far too casual word for our bridge-side encounter—and he had let slip that Amity and Calypso had been discussing a mysterious group called “the Forgers.”
I had stopped him from jumping, but my success had been sadly short-lived. Like all the non-Marty drones, Sully had been taken in by the police. Not too long after the benefit, he had committed suicide by cop, attacking and almost killing one of Bailey City’s finest.
It had hurt, learning that. Knowing about the people I hadn’t been able to save. Calypso, Sully…Even with my superpowered bag of tricks, I had been powerless to prevent these tragedies.
Granted, that hadn’t been the last time I had heard about the Forgers. After the benefit, an admittedly tipsy Amity had begun to fill me in on the backstory. The Forgers were an organization that had the ability to grant people powers, and they were super-selective about it. Calypso had been turned down when she was a child, only to receive her powers later in life thanks to Dana Peterson, who had the ability to transfer abilities from one person to another. At least, that had been the idea. The Forgers had discovered Dana’s plans and interrupted the transference, shattering Calypso’s mind, and resulting in her spending years in an asylum. As a result, Calypso had viewed the Forgers with a high level of bitterness, as did Amity. Only Amity, who had once worked for the Forgers, seemed to think they served a purpose.
So where did the truth lie? And why were these people here?
“Who the hell are the Forgers?” Alex asked.
Ah. Right. He hadn’t been there for that discussion.
Riley let out a sigh.
“I should have suspected this,” he said. “Sorry, I heard that you two were unsanctioned, but I underestimated how ignorant—”
“We’re the ignorant ones now? Do I need to remind you—”
“That was a poor choice of words.” Riley raised his hands as if in surrender. “Anyway, the Forgers…well, we mainly deal in information—important information—about Empowered people. And we came to Bailey City to gather information on Calypso.”
I couldn’t help but notice that his demeanor was incredibly laid back, like we were neighbors chatting on the street. Alex on the other hand…
“Well, then, you’re a little late,” he replied, heavy on the sarcasm. “Calypso’s dead.”
“We know,” Riley said, tucking his hands into his pockets. “But the problem is we didn’t see her coming. And that’s unusual for a threat her size. We try to take care of those before innocents get involved.”
I frowned. What did they mean by “see her coming?” Or “take care of,” for that matter?
Sirens wailed in the background. My mind immediately went to Marty.
“They’re heading this way,” I said. “One of Calypso’s drones was just kidnapped from a fitness center a couple of blocks from here.”
Alex gave me a sharp look.
“We need to get to headquarters,” Jane said, still pale and shaky.
“You need to get to a hospital,” Riley replied.
“No! We need to check in. Especially with that new Costume on the scene.”
“Jane,” Riley said, his voice a low, warning tone.
“New Costume.” I took a step forward. “You mean the one who dresses in black and blue?”
The same Costume that I had just failed to catch fleeing from Colossus. My thoughts shifted to my legs, shattered mere minutes ago, and now as good as new.
Never discount the value of a healing factor.
Riley winced before talking. “I guess it’s fine that you know. It’s out in the open now, thanks to Edison Kent’s campaign. It sounds like you’ve seen her?”
The sirens grew louder.
“D…Hikari,” Alex said, catching himself in time. “Cops.”
“He’s right,” Riley said. “It’s not like we can show them our credentials.” He paused as he reached down, helping Jane to her feet. I couldn’t help but notice that she needed to lean on him for support.
“The hospital,” I began. “It’s…”
“Oh, we know. We’ve done our research.” Riley shifted to better support Jane’s weight.
“We,” Jane spit out bitterly. “I—”
“Am far more dedicated to the cause than I am, of course.” He paused to look me right in the eye. “Sorry to cut things short, Red. But we’ll be back soon. Drove an awful long way to get here, after all.” He nodded to Alex. “Sorry again for trying to put you through a wall.”
And with that, they turned and hobbled down a side street.
“Well, that was interesting.”
I turned to see Alex bringing himself up to a standing position. As he did, he stumbled slightly and let out a light hiss. I felt my heart skip a beat, but more in a panic-inducing, than romance-focused way, unfortunately.
“Are you okay?” I stepped toward him. “Did they break something?”
“Just my shattered pride. Can you grab my helmet?”
I nodded and swallowed. I didn’t know much about the Forgers, but the fact that Alex’s face had been exposed…
“Do you think they’ll find out?” I asked, reaching down to grab his helmet. “Who you are?”
Alex’s frown deepened.
“Depends on their resources,” he said. “It’s not like I put pictures of myself online or anything.” He paused, wincing. “Although I supposed there are my juvenile records. High school yearbook photos. If they know where to look…”
Just as I was beginning to linger over the weirdness of a twenty-four-year-old without any pictures of himself online, he made a move toward me, only to stumble again. Instinctively, I took a step forward and caught him, mumbling an offer for support. He accepted it, draping an arm across my shoulders. It made for an awkward gait, but at the same time…we had never been this close before. His body pressed up against mine, and even with the armor between us,
I couldn’t help but linger over the intimacy of the moment. As Hikari, I was rarely at a loss for words, but now…
“I know a place we can hide out,” he said, breaking me out of my thoughts.
I nodded, letting him lead the way. It seemed the safest course of action.
Minutes later, I was helping Alex into the kitchen of what looked like an abandoned restaurant. An island took up most of the room, and the tiles that lined the floor were cracked. I couldn’t help but linger over the broken lock on the door.
“Don’t worry,” Alex said. “This place is seasonal. No one’s gonna stop by until at least April.”
He pushed away, leaving me with a confusing mixture of sadness and relief. I watched as he eased himself into a nearby chair with a sigh.
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
“I’m gonna wake up with one giant bruise tomorrow,” he said, then winced. “If not sooner. But it looks like I didn’t break anything, and I heal fast enough. I’m more worried about how the armor’s fitting. Or not fitting.”
I blinked. “Do you think it’s been damaged?”
“Won’t know until I take a look at that later, but I did hit the wall pretty hard.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “To be honest, it hasn’t been in perfect condition since before the benefit. This thing’s not supposed to come off that easily.”
He reached out to pat his helmet, then turned back to me. “Who the hell are these guys anyway? I know I’ve heard that name before.”
“It all goes back to Calypso,” I said with a sigh, leaning back on the counter behind me. “She wanted to raise her army against them.”
“I remember that. But why, if all they care about is information? And that hardware is intense for a couple of traveling librarians, even if they do specialize in Empowered people.”
“If what Amity told me is correct, they do a lot more,” I said. “They have the ability to create Empowered people.”
Alex straightened up. “What, like Dana can?”
“That’s not the impression I got.” I shook my head. “They call it an Awakening. All I know is it has to be done when the person is going through puberty, and that not everyone can get powers.”
Black and Blue Page 8
