Heroes Lost and Found

by Sheryl Nantus

  “What?” Harris squeaked like a lab mouse. “You didn’t say anything about this. You said you’d watch me go with them and track ’em back to their home, not that we’d brawl in the middle of town like it’s the fucking O.K. Corral.” Sweat streamed down his face. “That’s not what I signed on for.”

  Kit got to his feet and walked past Harris, patting the super’s shoulder on the way. “Don’t worry. It’s all gonna be okay.” The condescending tone shattered what little reserve I had left.

  “How do you know that? You can’t guarantee that,” I demanded. “I’m not going to let you flatten the town and get people killed because you’ve got a hard-on to kill Dykovski.”

  Suddenly Masters was in front of me and my feet were off the ground and I floated in the air, not of my own volition.

  The hand gripping my throat tightened, almost cutting off my airway.

  “Listen, girlie. I was tagging bad guys when you were still teething on your new powers. I say what goes, I’m the Alpha here. You’re just a dipshit chick who got lucky in the right place at the right time and got the press behind you. This team of yours, they’re second-rate supers pretending to be something they ain’t. I don’t need them to do this job.”

  His breath stank of beer and stale potato chips.

  My breakfast turned and churned in my stomach, threatening to leave any which way it could.

  “I’m going after Dykovski, with or without you.” He glared at Harris. “You said she was pretty easy to get along with. That her team would listen to her, they’d be good with this. The more the merrier, take Dykovski down in a few minutes and neutralize his men.”

  “Jo, we’re on our way to the airport,” Hunter barked in my ear. “Get out of there. You can’t take on Kit Masters. He’s way out of your league.”

  I looked down at the angry man. “Easy doesn’t mean stupid. That plug must have fried your brain instead of blowing it out.”

  He snarled, lips pulling away from bright white teeth that had graced a thousand front pages. “Look, we want the same thing. We want Dykovski off the streets. I don’t see the problem with us working together. Now that you’re here, it’s the best thing you can do. Bring your team in, and we’ll take him out together if they get here in time. Make a big show of it, and we all walk away winners.”

  It was getting hard to breathe. His hand was large enough to go around my neck, a most effective noose.

  “Kit, put her down.” Harris advanced on him, a sudden strength in his voice. “We’ll talk this out.”

  “I’m not calling in my team if you’re going to fight in town. Dykovski isn’t stupid, he’ll make Harris as a decoy,” I wheezed. “If you want to send Harris in, we’ll follow Dykovski back to his base and then take him and his team down. But I won’t help you destroy the town and sacrifice Harris because you want to get this guy.” My words came in short pants. “I want him, I want him almost as bad as you do. But not enough to forfeit innocents.”

  “Surf, I can do this with or without you. I’m just inviting you in ’cause Harris said you’re a good girl and I’ve seen what you can do.” He growled. “Never thought I’d have to answer to a B-lister about what I wanted to do. Worse than a Guardian.”

  I tried not to panic as his grip intensified. “Kit, be a hero. Be the superhero the public knows. Don’t make this personal. Let’s get Dykovski because he’s a threat to everyone, and let’s do it the safest way we can.”

  “Kit,” Harris pleaded. “Listen to what she’s saying.”

  “I’m sorta tired of talking.” Kit’s free hand flew back, sending Harris across the room.

  Harris crashed into a pile of old newspapers, lost in a jumble of black and white.

  The last of my compassion for Kit disappeared.

  “Dykovski’s dangerous and I want him dead. It’s a win-win situation,” Kit said.

  “As long as you’re not Harris,” I gasped. “Or anyone outside these four walls.”

  He turned his head to one side and spat on the floor. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt. But I’m not going to pass up this chance to get him because you’ve all gone soft. I thought you’d take your orders from an Alpha, like you’re supposed to. Give you a nice piece of airtime, Surf, and maybe a cookie afterwards if you behave yourself like a good girl.”

  “It’s a brave new world, Kit,” I croaked. “Which means I can kick your ass without getting reprimanded for being a bad girl.”

  I brought both feet up at the same time, smashing them into his groin.

  The world tilted around me, the small apartment disappearing as I flew backwards through the draped window out into the street. The body armor in Hunter’s jacket took the brunt of the damage, but I still felt like I’d been smacked across the back of my shoulders with a two-by-four plank.

  I gasped as I grabbed enough waves to avoid falling, snatching enough to let me level off halfway to the ground, not crashing, but it sure as heck wasn’t my best landing. I fought with the dingy blue sheet that had doubled as a window curtain, yanking it off my head before I got totally disoriented.

  It wasn’t the best way to break free, but it worked.

  I flew up and looked through the hole in the wall. Harris stood there in front of Kit, cowed and shaking.

  “What are you doing?” Harris yelped.

  “You idiot. This is on your head, not mine.” Kit turned around to face me, a few steps bringing him to the gaping hole. His right hand rose, palm out. “Harris, you just stay there and behave yourself. I think this chick’s too high-maintenance.”

  Flames shot out from his hand and roared towards me, the cone of fire expanding with each inch.

  Chapter Five

  The first rule of being a super was simple. Fight alone, die alone.

  The second consisted of remembering the old game of Rock-paper-scissors. Certain superpowers nullified or overrode others just by their strength.

  Fire was up in the top bracket. I couldn’t remember exactly where my powers lay but it sure wasn’t Rock. Maybe thin, flimsy wet newspaper. Wrapped around a dead fish. For two weeks.

  I threw up my arms in front of me, feeling the heated air rush over me as I cut my speed and dropped towards the ground like a stone. Smoke and steam rose into my eyes from the singed jacket, the leather sizzling and hissing at the abuse. A sharp breath had me on the verge of vomiting as I smelled burning leather, wood and something else I hoped wasn’t human flesh.

  The fiery blossom overhead dissipated a few seconds later, blown away as Kit jumped out the gap and leapt towards me.

  Just as my toes touched the ground, I hit the throttle, not completing the landing.

  “Oh no. Not going to happen.” I skipped to one side and shot into the air, cutting it so close to Kit’s downward leap I swore I felt the hair on his arms brush against my face.

  Harris stood at the hole, looking even paler than before. “I didn’t think, Jo. I didn’t think.” He shook his head. “I’m such an idiot.”

  I stretched out my right hand, stuttering to a midair stop. “Shut up and grab hold.”

  He took a step forward and halted, his sneakered right foot hovering over the edge of the broken brick wall. His eyes widened as he looked over my shoulder.

  A low voice came from behind me. “Dumb bitch.”

  I spun around to face Kit. He grabbed me by the shirt, his hand perilously close to cutting off my airway again. Long, uncut nails scratched at the base of my neck, gouging my skin.

  “If it gets Dykovski here faster, I’ll be glad to offer him your body as a bonus. Dead or alive.”

  My fingers scrabbled on his arm, digging into the flesh. I went through the sequence of charging up to shock the hell out of him and break free, but this was an Alpha, one of the good guys. One of our own. I was about to attack one of my heroes, one of the supers who had inspired me before and after getting my powers.

  I mentally stumbled, unable to weave the electromagnetic waves around me into anything coherent to u
se as a weapon.

  I couldn’t beat Kit Masters.

  He was platinum and I was fool’s gold.

  A yell came from behind me, a high-pitched girlish yip.

  A weight landed on my back, pulling me away from the Alpha’s hold. I panted, torn between the two forces wanting to control me.

  “Let her go.” Harris slapped his left hand onto Kit’s bare arm, the other hand digging under the super’s grip to hold on to my shirt.

  The smell of burning flesh shocked my senses out of the daze. I slammed my hands onto each side of Kit’s head, grabbing his ears.

  “Sorry,” I whispered.

  I fired, sending the strongest electrical charge I could through the super’s body. He shook and glared at me, the single bloodshot eye wide and unblinking as Harris continued to burn his skin, the stench making me nauseous.

  A second later he roared, yanking his hand back and falling away from us. I saw the one eye roll upwards as he spun downwards, arcing towards the city street.

  I shot up as high as I could go, not caring where I was headed as long it was away from Kit Masters.

  Harris yelped and wrapped both arms around my neck as he leaned back, threatening to finish the job Kit started. His legs tightened around mine, running shoes scrabbling to get a good grip on my jeans.

  “Chill,” I croaked. “Just a bit looser.”

  “Sorry.” He glanced down. “I don’t see him.”

  “Less than a hundred supers left and you hook up with the craziest bastard on the block,” I puffed.

  “He’s an Alpha,” Harris mumbled almost apologetically.

  Hunter broke in on the link, his tone vibrating between angry and terrified.

  “I’d ease back on the throttle, Jo. After that charge, he’s not coming after you, at least not right now.” He snorted. “However, if you want to dump Limox on his fat skull, I won’t tell anyone. You’ve burnt out the camera on the jacket due to the fireball, so we’re flying blind again, except for the GPS.”

  “Just like the good old days.” I coughed out the weak joke, trying to pull my thoughts back together.

  He let out a dramatic sigh. “This is why I can’t give you my things. You break them.”

  Harris gave me a puzzled look as I laughed, forgetting for a second Harris couldn’t hear Hunter’s words. “No, I think I’ll hold on to him for a bit longer. Can Jessie hook him into our link?”

  I slowed our ascent, hovering about three hundred feet above the ground. My flight hadn’t been exactly vertical, so we’d angled out over the forests surrounding Kensington Grove.

  “Yeah, give him a second. He’s still got the info about Harris from before, so it shouldn’t be hard.” Hunter’s weary response had me longing for our large king-sized bed back in Vegas. “I woke everyone up when you left the diner with Harris. We’ve been monitoring you ever since.” A loud yawn came down the link. “I wasn’t able to sleep.”

  “Sorry,” I apologized, although I wasn’t sure what for.

  Harris shifted his weight, pressing one knee against the back of my leg. “I’m okay, really. You can just put me down anywhere.”

  “Don’t tempt me.” I peered down. The town had disappeared under a bank of clouds. “I should drop you on your head for this stunt.” The cool air brushed over my face, soothing the burning sensation. I dreaded looking in a mirror.

  “I thought he was legit,” Harris whined. “It was going to be simple. We flush Dumdum out of his base and be heroes. Kit wasn’t sure about calling you in, but when he saw you’d beaten down Lamarr, well, he thought you were really tough and you’d go along with the plan.” His voice trailed off.

  “I’d take his help if it didn’t throw everyone under the bus,” I snapped back. We drifted down until I spotted the highway below us, a thin black line dragging along the hilly terrain. “I need to land and get my shit together. Do. Not. Let. Go. Until. I. Say. So.”

  He nodded, thunking his forehead into the back of my neck.

  Hunter came on the link. “Jo, we’re heading out to the airport. We’re looking at six hours flight time, give or take a bit. Where do you want us to meet you?”

  I descended as rapidly as I dared, the last of the nervous energy ebbing away. I skipped along the edge of the highway, coming to a stumbling stop. The numbing grip around my chest let up as Harris staggered away. He fell to his knees and threw up coffee and beer.

  “Give me a second.” I touched my throat, wincing as the bruised flesh reacted. My eyes widened as my fingers ran over the battered skin. “Damn.”

  “Damn what?” Hunter asked, his voice rising.

  “Damn, Kit ripped my jammer off. I need another one.”

  Jessie broke in. “Hold the plane, Hunter. I’ll grab a cab and be there as soon as I can with my equipment. Got some ideas going on the fly.”

  Hunter replied, “Okay, we’ll be waiting. Jo, where do you want to meet? Portland’s not too far from there, but we can search out some smaller airfields nearby.”

  I looked at Harris, still on his knees being violently ill. “Get as close to Kensington Grove as you can.”

  “I wasn’t talking about getting closer to the town. I want you to get as far away from that town as you can.” I could imagine Hunter shaking his head, nervous anger grinding his teeth together. “Dykovski’s on the way there to get Harris. Without a jammer, you’re fair game for his tricks, same deal you were worried about with Harris. Both of you pull back to Portland, we’ll join up there.”

  Tricks being a nice way of saying I was in danger of having my head blown off.

  I coughed for a few seconds before trying to answer, spitting out a gob of saliva onto the side of the road. “Problem is this may have to be where we make our stand.”

  “Explain.” The annoyed tone ground on my ears like blackboard chalk.

  “Dykovski’s going to show up in town looking for Harris. If he doesn’t show, Dykovski might start making a fuss for the heck of it.”

  “Destruction for destruction’s sake?” The snarkiness vanished, replaced by genuine concern.

  “Wouldn’t put it past him. Look at Fremont Street. He was willing to have his people kill civilians to make a point. He might do it just to draw Harris out or any other super in the area who doesn’t want to see bystanders get hurt and killed.” I kicked a pebble down the highway. “And the opposite’s true. If Kit was willing to hang Harris out as bait to get a chance at Dykovski…”

  “He won’t mind tearing up a town, Alpha or not, to get Dykovski to show. He thinks he’s immune from having his plug pulled. I don’t know if I’d want to roll those dice.” Hunter sighed. “How do you get into these spots, Jo?”

  “Because I’m too sexy for my jacket.” I rolled my shoulders, feeling the muscles protest.

  “My jacket.”

  “Details, details.”

  “But you are too sexy,” Hunter acquiesced in a low purr, sending my blood pressure soaring again.

  “My point.”

  “Harris is hooked in,” Jessie interrupted.

  “Cool,” Harris choked out between gags. “Hi, guys.”

  A car raced by, the lone occupant scowling at us through the driver’s window.

  “Let’s get off the highway.” I walked over and dragged Harris to his feet. “I don’t know if I want to be noticed right now.”

  We staggered into the trees, a few steps hiding us completely from prying eyes. The dry, hot air sucked up any moisture in my mouth. Pine needles cracked underfoot, shattering into a thousand little shards.

  “I’m getting cold,” Harris groused. He wrapped his arms around his middle. “Shouldn’t have hung my jacket up.”

  I resisted the urge to point out that right now having no jacket was the least of his worries. “That’s likely more from nerves than from the temperature. Shouldn’t have tag teamed with a psycho either. But here we are.”

  “I already apologized.” Harris stomped his feet on the ground. “Look, I was trying to do you
a favor. How could I have known Kit was setting me up?”

  I closed my eyes, trying to find that peaceful center Mike used to talk about during our meditation sessions. It wasn’t there, but I got near enough.

  “You’re right. I’m sorry.” I walked over to the shivering man. “It wasn’t a bad idea, you know. He played you and tried to play me. Hell, he’s been acting the hero for so long he knows what buttons to push, what to say to get things his way.”

  He looked at me with large, sad eyes. “I wasn’t even sure you’d come. I mean, you’ve gone pro now, private jet and everything. Me, I’m just…” Harris looked down at his hands. “I’m just an old fat supervillain who burns shit down.”

  My heart broke a little bit.

  I pulled him into a hug, wincing as his hands slipped around my waist. “Dude, you’re always going to be part of the Protectors. Think of yourself as the special guest star who shows up whenever the ratings need a boost.”

  Harris sniffled. I hoped he wasn’t going to wipe his nose on my jacket shoulder.

  He drew back a minute later, swiping at his face with his sleeve instead. “Okay, I fucked up. How do we make this better?”

  I studied the trees surrounding us. “First, it’s not totally fucked up. We just need to work on it a bit. Right now we have to find some place to hole up and plan our next move. Do you know what road that was?”

  He scratched his head. “Probably old Tangled Road. Leads through Kensington Grove and then to the highway after a bit.”

  “What’s up the road before Kensington? Another town?”

  “Nothing. Next real stop is Portland.”

  “Then we’re going back to Kensington.” I waved a hand at the forest around us. “I ain’t no Girl Scout who can build a log cabin out of twigs.”

  Harris snapped his fingers. “I know just the spot.” He gestured at the road, the thick asphalt ribbon barely visible between the trees. “There’s a hotel down here, just before the town limits.”