The Guardians Omnibus

by Damien Benoit-Ledoux

  “Okay,” Quinn replied.

  “We will cut off their Internet, electricity, telecommunications, and deploy jamming devices to block cellular, satellite, and radio signals. When possible, we will deploy audio disruption devices to annoy the hell out of whoever’s inside. We’ll use noise canceling tech to protect any populated areas that might surround a facility, such as the Androscoggin Reactor Core. We will detain anyone who attempts to enter a facility, such as employees reporting for duty. The same goes for anyone leaving the facility.”

  “That should work,” Ron interjected.

  “We’ll also shut off their access to fresh water, which will force them out quickly. It’s doubtful they’ve stockpiled food and water, so we anticipate sieges will only last a week, maybe two, three at the most.”

  “I’m not sure how that prevents the super villains from retaliating,” Ana Maria commented.

  Agent Hartman nodded. “We expect they will, but we can’t predict how. One thing they can’t do is restore the services we plan to shut down. If they strike, we expect you two to intercept them. If necessary, you must eliminate them with extreme prejudice.”

  Quinn took a deep breath and stared at the glossy finish of the conference table. I already had to kill two super humans…that seems to be the only way to stop them. Maybe it’s time to mention the transmitter idea.

  Agent Hartman looked at Agent Potter. “Did you learn anything from Dr. Madison?”

  Quinn smiled and Potter nodded, gesturing for him to speak. “Dr. Madison has information she believes will help us, but most of it is out of reach now.” He explained what Dr. Madison shared about the kill-switch device she created for Nightmare, her inability to build more due to her lack of access to The Order’s research databases, and the possibility of building a larger transmitter to wipe out the super villains Nightmare had created. “Of course, without Dr. Madison around to oversee the reactor cores, there’s no guarantee any new soldiers Nightmare creates without her will have micro bugs.”

  Agent Potter leaned forward. “We may still need a contingency plan if there are super villains we can’t…shut down.”

  Aw crap, I hadn’t thought about that.

  “One thing at a time,” Agent Hartman said.

  David raised his hand. “My team has gained access to The Order’s systems. It won’t be long before we’re replicating our connection here beneath 227 and two of my team members are currently double checking the existing connections on Seavey Island. The super villains only attacked the main prison building, not the residence or scientific buildings. We should be able to hack into Dr. Madison’s research databases and retrieve the kill codes for The Order’s super humans. However, we will need to configure a powerful enough transmitter with significant range to be effective.”

  “Where would we transmit it from?” Quinn asked. “I mean, if we build it in Portsmouth, doesn’t that assume they will attack Portsmouth again?”

  One of the military officers leaned forward. “We have fifteen mobile radio trucks on hand with powerful transmitters. Your technicians could modify them and deploy several around New England. If we needed to, we could bring in a few more from neighboring bases or relay the enhancement instructions to those bases so the personnel can upgrade the transmitters. That would provide greater mobility, a wider coverage area, and more importantly, a quicker response time. Hell, we might even be able to broadcast from satellites.”

  Quinn smiled as heads nodded. The plan was coming together brilliantly, and Quinn listened as Agent Hartman made some assignments regarding the siege plan.

  5-11 | Rise and Shine

  Blake

  A BRIGHT WHITE LIGHT BLINDED him as he blinked his eyes open. He brought up his hand and shielded his eyes from the light. A moment later, he gasped and sat up. He looked around, unsure of his surroundings.

  “Easy Blake, no one’s gonna hurt you. We’re not paid enough to hurt you.”

  Blake glanced in the direction of the voice, ready to pounce. At the same time, he could feel orgone surging through him as his eyes and body ignited with bright light.

  Whew, I still have my powers.

  Distracted and relieved, he held an arm up and noticed it glowed with an orange and yellow hue; the purple was gone. Blake powered down his eyes and body and looked toward the voice that spoke to him. It belonged to one of two medics in bluish military uniforms standing nearby. They, along with a pair of soldiers guarding the door to whatever room he was in raised their hands in surrender. Although the two soldiers had TaseBolts, they made no attempt to reach for them.

  “Nobody’s gonna hurt you,” the medic repeated.

  “Where am I?” He noticed a large hand towel had been draped over his crotch.

  “You’re underneath Hangar 227. It’s a secret military installation underneath Pease Tradeport.”

  “Who do you work for?” Blake asked.

  “The U.S. Government. We’re working with your buddy, Blue Spekter.”

  Quinn.

  “Where is he?” I can’t sense him…I should be able to.

  The medics looked at each other and shrugged. Then, they glanced at the soldiers near the door. “He’s in operations,” one of them responded.

  “Can I see him?”

  “Yeah, of course, but I think we should run some tests…”

  “I’m fine,” Blake said, using his mind to remove all the electrodes and monitor patches from his nearly-nude body. He glanced around the room but didn’t see any clothes.

  Really?

  He sighed, jumped off the table, grabbed the large hand towel as it fell, then awkwardly wrapped the towel around his waist to cover his genitals and buttocks. It barely sufficed, but it didn’t stop him from marching over to the door and the two soldiers. “Can you take me to Blue Spekter right now?”

  It was the soldiers’ turn to look at each other and shrug. “Uh, I guess so, come on.”

  ❖

  Quinn

  When Agent Hartman finished the assignments regarding the siege plan, Quinn and Ana Maria sat upright in their seats at the same time and stared at each other with surprise.

  I sense…

  They swiveled in their chairs to face the doors at the far end of the operations level, situated deep underneath Hangar 227. Naked, Blake marched through operations holding a small hand towel around his waist that barely afforded him modesty. Two soldiers accompanied him.

  He’s alive!

  “Oh my goodness,” Agent Hartman exclaimed, astonished. “The boy lives!”

  “I’m sorry,” one of the soldiers shouted. “He insisted we bring him to Blue Spekter immediately.”

  “Blake!” Quinn shouted. He stood, ran out of the conference room, and jogged across the walkway toward his best friend, who regarded him with a steely expression. Quinn stopped, suddenly uncertain of Blake’s demeanor. Aw shit, is he Blake or Dark Flame?

  “I died twice and all I got is this stupid towel that barely covers my junk.”

  Everyone stared at him for a moment and then Quinn burst into a fit of laughter and threw his arms around his best friend. Blake enthusiastically hugged him back with his right arm while his left hand held the towel in place.

  A number of soldiers surrounded them and aimed TaseBolts at Blake. “Dark Flame, you will come with us quietly,” their squad leader commanded.

  Quinn turned to Agent Hartman, who gestured with his hands for the soldiers to stop. A few of the soldiers hesitated and then complied while about half of them lowered their weapons.

  “My name isn’t Dark Flame anymore,” Blake said. “Dark Flame did horrible things in the name of The Order, and I’m so sorry. I know I hurt—even killed—some of your fellow soldiers and friends, but I wasn’t myself. The chip in my head made me crazy.” He tapped the back of his head as he spoke. “I’m better than that now.”

  Quinn smiled. “So, does that mean…”

  Blake shook his head. “I still don’t want to be your sidekick.”
r />   “Oh,” Quinn said, frowning.

  “But I will be your partner…and I will choose a new name.” Blake’s eyes tracked over Quinn’s shoulder, and he pointed to the conference room. “Holy shit, who is she? I can sense her! And, what on earth is she doing here?” Blake pointed to Ana Maria and then Dr. Madison.

  “We have a lot to catch you up on, buddy. It’s been a while.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Quinn nodded. “Let’s get you some clothes in the locker room. I’ll explain along the way.”

  ❖

  Blake

  “I was out for almost two weeks?” Blake exclaimed as he toweled off after showering and prepared to dress himself in a spare set of clothes Quinn had stowed in his locker for himself.

  “Yeah, crazy, huh?” Quinn answered.

  “And the naval prison is destroyed?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “And that’s why we’re in some kind of secret, underground base?”

  “Yup.”

  “Damn.” Blake dressed in silence. They were alone in the locker room except for the two soldiers who had accompanied Blake and posted guard near the door.

  Quinn spoke up. “Do you remember any of it?”

  Blake pulled a long-sleeve T-shirt over his head. “I remember all of it. I remember feeling so angry and out-of-control inside. If I experienced any negative emotions, I couldn’t handle or control the thoughts and impulses that ran through my head.”

  The Heart of Glory, the Cerulean, the guards at Mystic River…the Archimandrion Council members and their guards…

  “Shit, I killed people, Quinn.” Tears formed in Blake’s eyes. “I can’t believe I killed people.”

  Quinn took a deep breath and put a hand on Blake’s shoulder. “I’m sorry,” Quinn said.

  “I can’t believe how much Victor lied about. Well, I mean…I guess he was telling the truth along the way, but he played me like a chess master with a violin.”

  Quinn tilted his head to the side and looked at his friend with amusement. “I’m not sure the expression works that way, but I get what you mean.”

  “Whatever,” Blake responded. “I remember fighting Victor with you on the prison grounds when I recovered…wait, is that micro bug gone for good?”

  Quinn nodded. “Yeah, we never had a chance to talk about that. I did the only thing I could think of and burned away the cells around the micro bug and incinerated it in the process. That meant I had to inflict serious damage to your neck, skull, and parts of your brain. I counted on your healing factor to repair what I damaged.”

  “You gambled with my life?” Blake asked, shocked at the reality of his best friend’s actions.

  Quinn frowned. “No, you did that when you signed on with Victor. The way you were acting as Dark Flame, I had no choice but to either put you down or try to rescue you. I had to convince a lot of people to give me one chance to save you. I’m glad the latter worked out, aren’t you?”

  He smiled. “Yeah, I am.” He could sense the subtle annoyance in Quinn’s voice, a tone that his long-standing friendship with Quinn told him he should move on from and not challenge. Besides, Quinn is right…I…Dark Flame…was out of control. “Anyway, Victor boasted the whole thing was a setup from the beginning, that he skillfully manipulated me from the beginning. He used me to further his advancement and wipe out everyone in his path to leadership.”

  Quinn crossed his arms over his chest and gave Blake an I-told-you-so look.

  “Yeah, I know. Still, I thought The Order would do something good.”

  Blake bent over to tie his sneakers. “So, what’s Dr. Madison doing here?”

  Quinn briefly explained how he and Ana Maria extracted her from the Androscoggin reactor core facility and observed Victor’s newest set of super-henchmen-in-training.

  Blake straightened up and nodded. “So, that’s one thing I had no idea about. Victor kept me in the dark about his ability to create new superhumans. It makes sense that Dr. Madison figured out how to recreate the conditions we encountered. I don’t understand how they acquired their powers so fast, though. We monkeyed around and it took months to develop battle-ready powers. His two goons really walloped us that night.”

  “Ana Maria thinks they’ve been excessively training, but it’s clear they don’t have the experience we do. If she’s right, that’s our advantage.”

  “And she came from where?” Blake asked. “She looks familiar but I can’t place her.”

  Quinn explained who Ana Maria is and how she had been helping him.

  “Wow, you’re lucky. I wondered how you figured out some of your tricks. You were smart not to reveal her to Victor. He would have gone nuts and tried to take her.”

  “That was her idea. She didn’t want to encourage The Order with Project Genesis. But since you and me existed, it’s not like her revelation would have made a difference.”

  Blake shook his head. “Now that I think about it, Victor was sending me on a bunch of wild goose chases—probably so he could focus on Project Genesis II without my knowledge. He claimed it was some grand design on his part, but…I dunno.”

  “Don’t underestimate him, Blake. From what we’re discovering, it makes a lot of sense to learn that Victor played you. That is, however, the very thing I warned you about in not so many words.”

  “I know, I know.” He sighed and sat on the closet bench. “Do you think they’re going to let me go?”

  “Honestly, I have no idea. With you dead, the government is focused on eliminating Nightmare.”

  “Who?”

  “That’s the super villain name for Victor.”

  “It’s appropriate.”

  “Speaking of names, why are you dropping Dark Flame?”

  Blake smiled and ignited his eyes and body. His eyes glowed orange, but his body glowed with an orange and yellow hue. Blake powered down his eyes and body. “No more purple; no more dark flame burning at my skin.”

  “You glow like the sun, now,” Quinn commented. “It’s a different glow than that yellow guy who attacked us with Victor. He was more like…Pac-Man yellow.”

  “When you guys are ready, they are expecting you in the briefing room,” one of the soldiers said, touching his ear comm.

  “We get a mission already?” Blake asked.

  Quinn shook his head. “No, this is to prepare you for the Inquisition. They have lots of questions for you.”

  ❖

  The next day, six grueling hours with only two short breaks passed before the gauntlet of agents, psychologists, and military medical officers took their first break and let Blake use the restroom. Two very serious marines armed with TaseBolts escorted him and watched him use the urinal. He chuckled, remembering a similar experience at Rangeley Medical with Arik and Miguel when he and Quinn awoke in the hospital room together after their accidental orgone infusion. After washing his hands, he walked back to the storage room that had been temporarily converted into a harshly lit interrogation area.

  When he re-entered the room, he noticed two-thirds of the staff had changed and new agents, psychologists, and officers joined the group and sat in the chairs around the table. A fresh compliment of soldiers stood nearby in the room as well, each armed with TaseBolts and pistols. Agents Hartman and Potter were among the new faces as well.

  When the people in the room settled down, all eyes fixated on Blake. “All right, let’s begin again,” Agent Potter said.

  Good lord. I’m mentally exhausted already. Again? Are we going to repeat all the questions? I’ve already told you everything I know about The Order and Victor’s plans.

  “What are you playing at?” Agent Potter asked with a deadpan voice and stare.

  “I’m sorry?” Blake responded. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Your recovery was…miraculous…maybe even planned. So, what are you really up to? Why are you allowing us to think you’re on our side when in fact you’re still working for The Order?”

&nb
sp; Blake rolled his eyes. “I’m not working for The Order.”

  “Then who are you working for?”

  “You, hopefully.”

  “You’re a murderer; a killer. Why would we want to employ you?”

  “You wouldn’t employ me just like you don’t employ Quinn. But, I am willing to partner with you to stop Nightmare.” Victor’s super villain name had become second nature to him.

  “If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?”

  Blake blinked with surprise. “I’m sorry, what?”

  “Matthew 12:26. How can you possibly hope to stop Victor if you’re still working for him?”

  Blake sighed. “Shit, how many times do I have to tell you, I’m not working for him.” Stay calm, they’re trying to get a rise out of me so they can prove I’m still evil.

  “So you say.”

  “What are you trying to do, piss me off? You’ve all seen what I can do when I’m mad. Besides, you’re forgetting the part about Victor working against The Order. Apparently that impossible little Satan-divided tactic is very possible as he tricked me into destroying The Order for him from the inside. It’s called sabotage.”

  “Then do it,” Agent Potter said, smirking.

  “Do what?”

  “Get mad and destroy us. That’s what you’re really here for, isn’t it? Nightmare wants you to eliminate us so he can continue with his master plan of world domination.”

  Blake slouched in his chair, rested his elbow on the armrest, and propped his chin on his right hand. “Is that what you want me to do? Get so pissed off I lose control?”

  Agent Potter stared at him and said nothing.

  “Well, I don’t have to. I choose not to. There’s no chip in my head making me crazy. Before, the voices in my head made me react without thinking.”

  “What do the voices say now?” a psychologist asked.

  “There are no voices or impulses,” Blake responded, sitting up a bit. The slouch had become uncomfortable quickly. “That’s the whole point. I’m me again, not someone else’s…puppet.”