‘How many drug deals have gone down? How many women forced into trafficking? How many lives ruined by the filth that spreads across this city when no one is watching. I can’t just sit around waiting to storm the Skyborn. I have a responsibility.’
Israel slowly looked to his left.
“How’s it going Metalcore?” Israel asked. Daniel was floating in mid air several yards away from Israel, watching him in silence. He wore his new full black armoured outfit Manning had designed for him. Over his face he wore a black mask slightly resembling an old ice hockey mask but with smaller slots for breathing and sight. His greasy hair running down his back and the side of his head making it impossible to see where the mask ended and the head began. On his feet he still wore his old Nike Air Jordans. He did not answer Israel’s question but simply stared in silence.
“Oh…right,” Israel caught himself on. “Manning told me that you can’t… uh…” he didn’t finish his sentence. Daniel looked down at the traffic.
“So I’m gonna go back out there,” Israel gestured towards the city. Without making a sound Daniel hovered out over the edge of the building and held himself there. Suddenly he dropped, flying at full force towards the earth. Israel simply watched as he shot upwards at the last second, flying back up to the same height as the building but hovering twenty yards away. Daniel held out his arm sideways. Israel looked down at the traffic below then back up to Metalcore. With a grin on his face he took out his dark blue and black mask from his pocket and put it on. He took a couple of steps back then ran and jumped full speed off the edge. Falling for only a few seconds Israel shot out one of his wires which wrapped around Metalcore’s arm. He swung Israel horizontally twenty feet below Metalcore who hoisted his arm up as he began to swing upwards again. Retracting the wire into his wrist coil Israel back flipped several times and fell forwards again, landing on the roof of the opposite building safely. Daniel hovered above him.
“Ok,” Israel said, mostly to himself. “That works.” With that he ran and jumped off the building again, and the next, and the next, lassoing himself onto Metalcore when there was no ledge, fire escape or pole to connect with his wires. With Metalcore flying above a swinging Israel, the two made it ten city blocks in under one minute without being seen. Israel stopped on one rooftop and perched himself on the ledge, signalling for Metalcore to join him. Daniel floated down and sat beside him, looking outwards to see what Israel was starring at. Israel pointed at the opposing building.
“Fourth floor, third window from the right.” Israel looked to Metalcore who mildly nodded and flew upwards. Repeating the steps they took on the first rooftop, Israel jumped off the roof and lassoed onto Metalcore’s arm. This time the force took Israel in a full swinging loop turning him momentarily upside down then falling at full speed back down again. Releasing the wire from Metalcore’s arm Israel flew forward at full speed. Twisting and feet first Israel went crashing through the window he had pointed out to Metalcore. Immediately gathering his composure, Israel cooly looked around the room. Behind the broken test tubes, burners, scales and computer screens stood four men.
“Who… who the hell!…” one of the men began as he lifted a gun towards Israel. Israel smiled and shot out his blunt wire, hitting him in the wrist and smashing the bones.
“Yaarrrggh!” he screamed in agony as the other three lifted their guns towards Israel.
Bolt! Bolt! Bolt!
Three more broken wrists. Three more men in agony.
“My name is Israel,” he declared as he walked towards them, pushing over a large table filled with all sorts of drugs and chemicals. “You are a drug ring.” Israel shot out a grapple wire which hooked onto one of the mens legs. Quickly Israel whipped the man behind him and out the window. The man screamed as he fell the four stories to the ground below.
“And I hate drug rings,” he concluded.
“Wh- what do you want man?!” one of the downed men pleaded.
“I’m going to take your money. I’m going to take your drugs. I’m going to take your lives,” Israel answered cooly.
Another wire whipped out and another man went flying back out the broken window.
“Woah! Woah! Woah! Just chill out man!” one of them pleaded. He was next out the window. Israel knelt down over the last man who sat on the ground with his arms up.
“Stop! I’ll do anything!” he pleaded.
“Where do you get it from?” Israel didn’t hesitate to ask.
“We make it! Look!” The man pointed at the lab equipment smashed over the ground. Israel calmly looked at the equipment then back to the wriggling man.
“That’s fortunate for you.” Israel lifted him up onto his feet then with both hands he held him up high enough so his feet were kicking at air. “You see… if there was someone above you I would have had to have beaten all their names out of you ‘till I was satisfied.”
“No! No man! Just us! We make it, I swear!” he begged. Israel smiled.
“Not anymore,” Israel answered and with that he hurled him out the window. The man screamed as he fell four stories. Israel calmly walked around the room and looked at every detail of every object. In the kitchen he came to a wall that seemed out of place. The condition was too new compared to the rest of the room. Israel put one hand to it and smiled. Punching a hole in the wall he revealed a hidden compartment. He lifted out a backpack and looked inside to find what must have been several thousand dollars in cash and the same value in drugs. He put the bag on his back and went back to the broken window in the main part of the room. Looking down he saw Metalcore had all four unconscious men safely tied to a lamppost. A police siren became audible not too far away. Then Israel and Metalcore were gone. Their night had only begun.
Chapter 14
“You could have picked a slightly less cliche place to meet Manning,” Marcus jabbed.
“Screw you. My last one got Mastadonned,” Manning countered.
Marcus laughed. “Alright old man. It’s just the docks are literally the number one spot for criminal activity in the movies.”
“Well we ain’t criminals are we Sufferer? So I guess it’s the opposite of a cliche. Oh, and shut up!” Manning snapped.
“It’s alright man, he’s just a bit hungover,” Israel reassured Marcus.
“You can pipe down too… Hero McStupidface!” Manning barked. “I’m still pissed at you for risking your health last night so close to the mission. And Metalcore’s health.”
“Yeah speaking of which, just when are we doing this?” Marcus asked.
“Not everyone’s here yet,” Manning answered.
On the lower west side of New Belfast sat a rusty old warehouse which wasn’t fit for much. But today it was the venue for anyone with super abilities to come hear about the attack on Vincent Kennedy. Greyfall stood guard at the door while men and women slowly arrived. For three hours now the initial group of Manning, Israel, Jessen and Greyfall had been waiting on the rest. They still had not all arrived. Metalcore and Marcus were some of the first to arrive shortly after the meeting time.
“Manning… is this it? I mean is Ronan not even coming? Or Elaine?” Marcus asked.
“Give it time,” Manning pleaded.
“Manning it’s been three hours. There are sixteen of us. We can fill in Ronan and Elaine later,” Israel announced defeatedly. “Let’s just… let’s just do this ok?”
Manning sighed and looked around the anxious faces staring at him.
“Alright,” he agreed. Turning around Manning muttered a few words under his breath for several seconds then turned back to face everyone again. “It’s no secret why we’re here. You all know about Vince. Some of you are a product of his madness, some of you are a victim of his madness… some of you are both. Some of us have lost loved ones at his hands. The fact that any of us are even standing here today is nothing short of a miracle.” Manning cast his eye on Jessen for a moment. Jessen was simply staring at the floor in front of him. He wasn’t the same guy
since Nagra attacked. To his surprise, Manning was actually starting to miss his wise cracks. Manning cleared his throat.
“I’ve been in contact with you all separately and you have all been given the same info. We mean to strike the beast at the heart of his kingdom. The, uh… seventeen of us… are going to launch an attack on the Skyborn building soon.”
Marcus looked obviously confused at the number seventeen. “Kennedy will be expecting it. No doubt he’s hired every goon and super villain available to protect him in his fortress-”
“Enough!” interrupted Jessen. Manning almost jumped. All eyes were on Jessen “Enough of the assumptions and clever guesses. You have been narrating Kennedy’s movements like you know for fact everything that’s going on in there. What makes you think you know him so well?!”
Everyone in the room turned back to Manning for an answer. It was a good question. Manning looked to the ground and sighed.
“Alright. Time to meet and greet the team. If we’re going to be doing this we are going to know each others powers, how they work, how we can cooperate to do the most effective damage…” Jessen stood up as if to continue his questioning but Manning raised a finger to silence him. Jessen gave him the benefit of the doubt.
“First up! Stan…” Manning announced. Everyone in the room looked around waiting for this Stan to introduce themselves. “Or as I like to call him… The Invisible Stan!” Manning concluded as he slapped his hand in the air beside him. A patting sound took everyone off guard and a small pocket of dust flew into the air.
“Hello boys,” a frail voice came from nowhere.
“Stan, if you haven’t already worked it out from the clever knick name… is invisible.” Manning informed the room.
“Invisible,” the voice echoed.
“You have an invisible man?” Greyfall queried. “Why not use him to slit Kennedy's throat?!”
“Stan can only very rarely get anywhere near Vince. Plus, this isn’t a ‘whatever he touches goes invisible too’ sort of power. If Stan carried a weapon it would appear to be floating to me and you… and Vince.”
“So why not strangle him at his desk? Or-“ Greyfall continued but Manning raised his hand again to interrupt him.
“Stan is eighty seven and has crippling arthritis. He moves slower than a tortoise,” Manning informed him.
“Ah… well yes that will do it,” Greyfall admitted.
“So that’s who I can feel!” Marcus put in.
“If he tried to attack Kennedy he would probably get himself killed. No offence Stan. He has been of use as a spy, relaying small pockets of info when he can to me as well as the odd small act of sabotage.” He looked at Jessen.“ It wasn’t just by chance that I happened to notice the collapsed building I owned on the news that night. Stan had informed me of it first. If I have ever been unusually or unreasonably sure of anything or been unbearably cocky, it’s because of Stan’s intel.”
Jessen nodded. As ridiculous as an eighty seven year old invisible man playing spy sounded, it finally all made some sense.
“So let me just clear up one more thing…” Marcus started. ”If the things he touches don’t turn invisible too… is he-“
“Yup,” Manning answered, interrupting.
“As the day I was born!” Stan announced proudly.
“Gross. There’s old man balls in the room,” someone in the back yelled. The mood in the room lightened slightly. Manning continued.
“Next up, Israel. Stan take a seat,” Manning instructed as Israel cautiously stood up and slowly approached the front of the meeting.
“Stan where are you and your balls?” Israel asked.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll get out of your way.”
“For those of you who don’t know, this is Israel,“ Manning announced.“ Off the grid. No super human powers but a baddass in hand to hand combat. With his wrist coils he can take down just about anyone and access just about anywhere.”
Israel shot out his blunt, spear and grapple wires to show the group. He Used his grapple to cling onto a rafter in the roof and pull himself up. Backflipping off the rafter he shot out a spear wire which lodged into the wall which he hurled himself at, planting his feet against it and backflipping back off to land easily beside Manning. A murmur of impressed acceptance went through the group.
“Hade. Up,” Manning ordered as Jessen slowly got up and walked to the front.
“This is Jessen Hade. Off the grid. Jessen has an incredible power for both destruction and defence.” Jessen let out a small blast of his force power which took the group by surprise. Some of them sat forward in their chairs, transfixed on the glowing field of energy emitting from Jessen’s hands.
“Jessen could level the Skyborn building all by himself. But as you all know this isn’t just an attack, it’s a rescue mission.” Manning sighed. “And uh… now that you know about our man on the inside I can tell you this.” Manning turned to Jessen. “Kennedy has something planned for you especially.” Jessen just looked at him with a blank expression on his face.
“What do you mean?” He asked.
“Stan was there when the order went out. The rest of us are all to be terminated but you… he needs you for something.”
“Don’t I feel special,“ Hade responded sarcastically.
“I believe he wants you for his Masterpiece.” Manning turned to the rest of the group. “Most of you know this already. Manning is working experiments to try and amalgamate several different abilities into one person. A person under his control. He nicknames it his Masterpiece. Now as far as we are aware he has as of yet fallen considerably short of succeeding in this… at the cost of… many lives.” Manning looked to Israel, fighting the lump forming in his throat. Israel looked to him, confused. Manning continued.
“I think he intends to use Jessen’s power. I see no other reason why he specifically wants him alive.”
“Thanks,” Jessen said, again sarcastically.
“You know what I mean,” Manning corrected. “Next up. Metalcore.”
This went on for several hours, each man standing and being presented to the group like show and tell. Metalcore. Now off the grid and listed as missing by the police. Gifted with flight and armed with sonic shock blasts built into his chest armour. Once a gifted and handsome singer, now a mutilated shell of the man he once was. Burned by Nagra and frozen by his sister Elaine, his lips are a now half sealed by melted and reformed flesh resembling a dog muzzle. Daniel didn’t talk much, or at all, these days.
Greyfall, the time traveler. Mighty warrior and dead eye with any weapon. Good leadership qualities but the change in culture due to time travel leaves him at a disadvantage for now.
Marcus, The Sufferer. On the grid and living a real life. Able to take the pain of anyone near him that he can sense. Spends most of his time at hospitals easing the sick and dyings ailments. A resounding murmur of admiration rippled through the room.
Manning went on introducing everybody. The flyers, the mildly telepathic, the strong, the fast, the liquid, the super charged. It went on for a while.
“There are couple of us missing,” Manning continued.
“I’d sure like to hope so,” a voice spoke up from the back. “Don’t like our odds right now.”
“Yeah, there are others. Plenty of them, don’t worry. A lot of them just couldn’t be here today. There are still a lot I need to find. A lot of people I have full confidence in. Two key players missing today are very much on the grid and their identity is to be held secret if they are to go on living the lives they have with the careers they have. One is Warstone. A man with great strength. Damn near invulnerable, not but entirely. He’ll be wearing a green and black helmet on the day.”
“Warstone?” Israel asked.
“Yeah. Warstone. There a problem?” Manning responded as Israel looked at the ground.
“Nah… nah… just… cool name is all.”
Manning sighed. “Anyway. There is also another woman. No coden
ame as of yet. She has the ability to freeze. She can change her body, a fist, a foot, whatever into solid, tough ice. She can freeze you and she can freeze surfaces. You’ll know her when you see her.”
Ronan and Elaine sat on one side of Sol’s desk looking squarely into his eyes as he sat at his chair. The wrestler Nightfall stood in the corner.
“So from now on you two are going to be Nightfall’s accomplices” Sol instructed.
“Yes,” they both answered.
“Nightfall is going to be champion and your characters are going to help him.”
“Yes.”
“You’re gonna have a face to face in the ring tonight where you will offer Nightfall a chance to take your place at Uprising for the belt.”
“Yes”
“Nightfall will accept and win.”
“Yes.”
“You will take a beating from him like you’ve never taken a beating before.”
“Yes.”
“You’ll both die soon.”
“Yes.”
Sol, Ronan and Elaine stood up and walked out of the room without any emotion. Nightfall casually followed.
“Good meeting guys.”
“How do you really think it went?” Israel asked Manning. The two men sat at a counter eating cereal in their hideout turned home. Jessen and Greyfall were each off in their own corners doing whatever they did in private.
“Honestly… I’m disheartened,” Manning sighed.
“Yeah. Me too. I mean, sixteen?”
“Seventeen,” Manning corrected.
“Oh yeah…. he’s… he’s not here is he?” Israel asked, looking around the room.
“Nah. At least… I don’t think so.” Manning stirred up his cereal with his spoon. “I am confident there will be more. I wasn’t lying about that. But I did expect more today.”
“Keep trying Manning. Keep doing what you’re doing,” Israel reassured him.
“Every day spent recruiting could mean more innocents dead or turned into God knows what by Vince. I feel like I’ve done all I can. It’s time to strike.”
The Hade War Page 13
