Crap, I need to sneak past all those goons on my way out.
A moment later, when he was alone in the hallway, Quinn shifted and became invisible. Then, he ran to the main entrance and looked up at the security camera.
Now, all I have to do is wait for someone to walk in or out.
A few minutes later, a timely changing of the guards presented an opportunity for Quinn to sneak outside. One of the police dogs barked as he exited the building, but since the officers saw nothing, they told the dog to stop. A moment later, Quinn leapt into the air. Once he spotted the private helicopter, he flew toward the car chase.
A bright blue streak of light trailed behind Blue Spekter as he banked to the right, lining up his flight path with the southbound lane of Interstate 95.
On the ground ahead of him, at least ten police cruisers—all with lights and sirens blaring—chased a gray sedan that recklessly weaved in and out of mid-morning traffic. This is going to get tricky with all that traffic around.
Further ahead, he saw that state troopers had cleared the southbound lane and most of the traffic had pulled off to the side. Good, that will keep this from getting too messy. Maybe I can stop him before they reach the Hampton tollbooth.
The red private helicopter continued to pursue the criminals, flying several hundred feet above and to the right of the southbound lane. The sound of gunfire below reached Blue Spekter’s ears. He looked down and saw two men with automatic rifles leaning out of the sedan’s back windows, shooting at the police cruisers.
The lead three cruisers swerved dangerously, taking fire from the armed thieves and nearly colliding with one another. I have to get down there and protect them.
Blue Spekter put his hands in front of him and accelerated, descending until he flew just ahead of the lead police car, matching its speed. He imagined a wide forcefield spread across the highway ten feet in front of the lead car. A moment later, small blue flashes of light indicated the defensive shield caught the bullets fired from the gunmen.
When the criminals realized what was going on, they started yelling at each other. One of them pulled himself back inside the car. Then, the sunroof on the sedan slid back and the man reappeared, popping out of the sunroof hole with a larger, dark gray tube-like weapon with a box on one end. The man hoisted it onto his shoulder and pointed the business end at the police. Good grief, is that…a rocket launcher? How the hell do I stop that?
The other man, hanging out of rear driver’s side window, continued to fire at the police, but Blue Spekter’s shield deflected the bullets.
Blue Spekter braced himself and projected a stronger shield, hoping it would catch the blast from the rocket and protect the cruisers behind him from any collateral damage. Suddenly, the rocket man spun around and took aim at the nearby helicopter.
“Oh shit,” Blue Spekter exclaimed. I can’t protect the cops and the helicopter at the same time…which is exactly what they planned on…holy crap, they knew exactly how to defeat me!
Then, the gunman fired and smoke shot out the back of the rocket launcher.
“No!” Blue Spekter shouted, soaring through the air toward the rocket. The helicopter pilot veered off as Blue Spekter’s super speed propelled him toward the rocket. He reached out and grabbed it in midair, his high velocity carrying him several hundred feet beyond the helicopter and the interstate before the rocket exploded in his hands.
Blue Spekter wasn’t ready for the concussive blast of the explosion or the intense double-pop in his head when both eardrums ruptured. Screaming with pain and surprise, his stomach lurched around inside of him as his body spun wildly through the air.
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!
Disoriented, in pain, and ready to throw up, his brain struggled to figure out which way was up, but the sky and the ground blended together in a continuous whirling swirl of blue and brownish green. Then, he slammed into the ground on his back, forming a small crater in someone’s back yard. Dirt and grass rained down around him.
Ow.
Everything hurt.
Even breathing hurt.
The smell of burnt flesh filled his nostrils and he choked, coughed, then spit blood into the air.
Do I have my fingers? Do I have my toes?
He clenched his hands into fists and felt all of his fingers. Thank goodness.
He cried out in pain as his body started healing itself. Broken bones in his rib cage realigned themselves with a popping sound and his broken left femur snapped into position. The tibia and fibia of his right leg did the same.
He winced in pain as his body healed, and when he rolled onto his left side, he coughed up more blood. He wiped his mouth with the back of his forearm and noticed his bare arm.
Where the heck is my sweatshirt?
Motion caught his eye and he looked up to see burning pieces of fabric falling to the ground around him. Then, he looked down at his naked body, his healing skin blackened from the heat of the explosion. Oh man, the clothes burned right off me. This just got really weird. Now I have to go home before going back to school.
He sat up and looked around the fenced-in backyard he had crashed in but saw no one. Hopefully, nobody’s home to see a naked teenager rolling around in the dirt of their yard.
He gently stretched his arms and legs, making sure his body had mostly healed before trying to stand. A moment later, the popping of bones and the rebuilding of torn muscle fibers, tendons, blood vessels, and skin faded away.
His ears healed and he heard the thumping sound of helicopter blades in the distance; it brought his mind back to the situation at hand. He pushed himself off the ground and stood, switching on his eyes and body glow. He glowed more brightly than ever and he assumed it was because he had no clothes on. Hopefully I’m glowing bright enough so that the world won’t see my junk and the DHS won’t add public indecency to my list of offenses.
Blue Spekter willed himself to fly, accelerating and climbing rapidly to gain his bearings. Looking around to see where he was, he caught sight of the red helicopter and hit the metaphorical gas pedal. Then, he banked right and flew toward the car chase on Interstate 95. Within seconds, he caught up to the police cruisers and reassessed the situation. The driver side gunman still fired on the police cars, but they had backed away to avoid being struck by stray bullets. All those people pulled off to the side of the highway are in danger of being shot; worse, if they fired into the oncoming lane, they’d create a nightmare of problems. Okay, I’m sick of this shit now. This ends now.
The gunman gestured wildly at Blue Spekter and then the man with the rocket launcher popped up out of the sun roof again and took aim. Nope, not going to happen again.
He accelerated toward the man and reached out with his hands. Zipping past the gunman, he tore the rocket launcher from the man’s arms, accidentally breaking one of them in the process.
Oops.
Blue Spekter looped backwards and flew towards the oncoming police officers. He landed, set the rocket launcher near the yellow line of the highway, opposite the pulled-over cars, then took off after the getaway car. Behind him, one of the cruisers pulled over to secure the lethal weapon.
I don’t know how fast these assholes are going but they’re going to hurt themselves or someone else. Ahead, he saw the Hampton tollbooth. A number of state troopers had blocked the southbound lanes in hopes of stopping the car, but they had left an opening in case the criminals decided to crash through them. Okay, how the hell do you safely stop a car going eighty-eight plus miles per hour without killing anyone? If I use my water powers, the car will hydroplane. If I freeze their wheels, the car will flip over. If I get in front of the car and try to stop it, I’m…I know what I can do…
Both gunman opened fired at him and their bullets bounced off his naked body. He shook his head and flew toward the getaway car.
Suddenly, getaway car’s rear wheels lifted off the ground and the trunk collapsed in on itself. With the rear of the car five feet up in the air, the no
se of the car lifted off the ground as well. Though it was off the ground, the car unexplainably continued moving forward. Then, the rest of the car crumpled like paper and the engine blew out. Blood, gasoline, and other automotive fluids sprayed everywhere as the occupants of the car met their demise.
What the hell?
Then, Blue Spekter grabbed the side of his head and winced. He frowned and looked up. On top of the southbound tollbooth bracing, he saw Blake standing with hands extended toward him, wearing only purple pants and sneakers.
Oh no, what have you done?
❖
Blake
Mrs. White droned on about the merits of love and hate in Romeo and Juliet and the power of Shakespeare’s plays, regaling her class about how only her local playhouse captured the essence of the bard’s heart and creative intentions.
“These violent delights have violent ends
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,
Which, as they kiss, consume.”
She dramatically intoned the verse, quoting Friar Lawrence’s lines, then held aloft her often-touted original replica manuscript.
To his left, Blake sensed Quinn walking out of the library. He sensed Quinn day in and day out at school and it served as an annoying, unstoppable reminder of their now-ended friendship.
“Well, Mr. Hargreaves?” Mrs. White asked.
“What?” he responded, pulled out of his thoughts. Students around him snickered and stared with amused expressions because his daydreaming faux-pas was the most interesting thing to happen that period.
“Uh, sorry, I don’t know,” he responded, wondering why Quinn was at his locker.
“If you’re not going to read the assigned text, the least you could do is pay attention in class and pretend to have an interest in the history of your language and its literature,” Mrs. White said with a reprimanding tone.
Blake glared at her and reached out with his mind, knocking over the mug of coffee off her desk. Startled by the sound of shattering ceramic, she turned around and focused on the messy distraction. Blake smirked as his cell phone vibrated in his pocket. Who the hell is calling me during the day?
He discreetly pulled his phone out of his pocket and saw an urgent text from Victor: Need you NOW.
He shook his head and texted his response back with one hand: Dammit, Victor, I’m in school.
A moment later, his phone vibrated in his hand with a triple pulse, indicating an incoming call…from Victor. Why do adults never understand the realities of school? They’ll confiscate my phone if I’m not careful…I’ve told Victor this several times.
He answered the call, his hand and phone in his pocket, and made his way to the classroom door.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Mrs. White asked.
“Romeo has to take a piss,” Blake answered, enjoying the sight of his teacher’s disgust. He made his way into the hallway and raised his cellphone to his ear.
“I’m in school, dammit,” he snapped. “If I get caught they’ll take my phone for the day.”
“I’m sorry,” Victor responded, his voice slightly hoarse. “I wouldn’t have bothered you if it wasn’t important.
“What do you want?”
“A situation has developed and it needs your…special touch.”
Blake sighed, checking the hallways for teachers or DHS agents. “What is it?”
“The local news is broadcasting a false report about an armed robbery getaway car chase on Interstate 95 in the southbound lane. The car is real, but the crime is not. They’ve just crossed over into New Hampshire and have incurred a significant police escort.”
“Uh-huh,” Blake answered.
“I need them stopped, Blake. I need you to eliminate them out with extreme prejudice.”
Blake raised an eyebrow with interest and confusion. “You want me to pull out the big guns in the middle of school, in broad daylight?”
“If it wasn’t important, I wouldn’t have called.”
“So, it wasn’t an armed robbery, then. Tell me what they did.”
Victor sighed.
“I’m not skipping out on school until you do.” He sensed Quinn take off and fly away, heading east. Then, he lost track of him. “By the way, Quinn just left the building; given his flight path I assume he’s heading to the car chase.”
“You have to stop those traitors! Quinn cannot be allowed to stop them.” Victor shouted into the phone.
“Seriously? More traitors?”
“All from the Heart of Glory. Apparently a second group, a sleeper cell, if you will, were lying in wait until the right moment. The stunt on the Cerulean was the trigger point and they infiltrated the Seavey Island facility this morning and retrieved sensitive data regarding…ongoing projects with the orgone reactors. If that information gets into police hands, Blake, everything changes. I won’t be able to protect you.”
Blake noted the hesitation in Victor’s voice. “Who says I need your protection?”
“God dammit, Blake, do as you’re fucking told! It’s time for Dark Flame to reveal himself to the world and remind others in The Order that treachery will be met with swift retaliation!”
Blake flinched, surprised by Victor’s sudden aggression. “I’m rather amused you think you can bark orders at me given some of our previous, less than pleasant conversations.
“But I thought…”
Blake cut him off. “Fine. I’ll deal with it.”
“Thank you. They’re in a gray sedan, and they’re heavily armed.”
“Yup.” He hung up his phone and ran to his locker to retrieve his gym bag. Alone in the hallway, he held up a pair of purple super tights in one hand and the purple sneakers in the other and stared at them. These will look ridiculous if anyone sees me.
Double checking his surroundings, he quickly changed into his purple tights and a black, body hugging T-shirt that showed off his muscles. Closing his locker, he turned himself invisible and ran for the nearest exit, not giving a second thought to the surprised agent who watched the door mysteriously pop open.
Dark Flame flew south, cautiously assessing the situation. In the distance, he saw Blue Spekter flying over the interstate, where a red helicopter seemed to fly with the action. I don’t want to reveal my power of flight to Quinn yet, so I need to do something else. I know; I’ll catch them before they hit the tollbooths.
Though he couldn’t fly as fast as Blue Spekter, he could reach the tollbooths faster than the speeding getaway car. And so, glowing bright orange and keeping his distance from Blue Spekter, he flew parallel to the interstate.
An explosion behind him made him glance back, but he proceeded to the tollbooths until he landed on top of the southbound toll plaza structure. Ahead of him, police had set up a pathetic excuse for a roadblock, but they also spread out several tire-puncture devices.
Blue Spekter was nowhere to be seen and Dark Flame searched for the gray car. The red helicopter seemed to increase its distance from the chase. Minutes later, Dark Flame spotted the gray car; a gunman was hanging out one of the windows, shooting at the ten or so police cruisers that chased them. Unsure of his telekinetic ability’s range, he reached out with his mind, but couldn’t connect with the car yet.
A moment later, Blue Spekter flew in from the left and aligned himself with the cruisers. A moment later, he swooped in and ripped something from the gunman who had popped up from the sunroof.
Weird.
Blake reached out again and tried to connect.
Still too far.
Blue Spekter resumed his chase and flew toward the speeding sedan. Any minute now, Quinn’s gonna sense me… I need to connect with that car!
Dark Flame focused and reached out with his right hand and mind. He smiled wickedly when he felt his mind connect with the car. Time to put on a show for the police, Quinn…sorry buddy…it’s time you get taken down a notch.
He reached out with both hands and lifted the rear of the car off the ground and crus
hed it, but continued to pull it toward him. Then, the front wheels of the car rose up and Dark Flame considered his next move. If Victor wants them destroyed, there’s only one way to end this.
He curled his fingers into claws and watched the hood of the car crumple like paper under his power. A moment later, the engine blew out. Grabbing the frame of the passenger compartment with his mind, he crushed it and its occupants. Blood and automotive liquids sprayed everywhere as the occupants of the car met their demise.
Blake yelled as his mind screamed and alerted him to Blue Spekter’s presence. He released the car and dropped it to the ground. It bounced once and then scraped and screeched along the asphalt, sparks spraying behind the car as it struggled against the friction that pulled it to a stop.
Knowing he caught Blue Spekter off guard, he jumped down from the tollbooth plaza and speed-ran toward the crushed car. He raised his hands and blasted it with hot flame, scorching the paint and superheating the vehicle’s interior. Seconds later, he backed off, the car now engulfed in flame and ready to explode. That will destroy whatever evidence Victor didn’t want leaking into the wrong hands.
“What have you done?” Blue Spekter shouted, descending to ground level and flying straight at him.
Dark Flame regarded him with curiosity. What is he doing?
A second later, Blue Spekter slammed into him and delivered a strong uppercut to Dark Flame’s chin that knocked him up and backward through the air. Blue and orange sparks erupted from their violent contact. Before he could recover, Blue Spekter was on him again, delivering a second super-powered punch to his gut that sucked the wind out of him and rocketed him up into the sky.
To the police and the innocent bystanders on the ground, brilliant blue light collided with a similarly brilliant orange light, accompanied by flashes of white light and two sharp, cracking sounds akin to thunder.
The Guardians Omnibus Page 63
