Meta (Book 3): Rise of The Circle

by Reynolds, Tom

  41

  I can feel the sweat starting to build underneath the mask where it meets the bridge of my nose. This is about as haphazard of a plan as I've ever been a part of, but it’s also completely out of necessity. I can feel my heart beating so hard it feels like it's going to burst out of my chest as I enter the elevator with Jim. The doors close behind us and even though we're alone, you're never really alone in Keane Tower. There are cameras everywhere, and I've been warned to not drop the act under any circumstances.

  "Omni, status update," Midnight says into my ear through the earpiece. It feels strange to be called Omni when I'm wearing a sweatshirt and jeans. Technically, I'm still masked, even if it isn't the mask that I'm used to. I don't respond, making sure to stick to Jim's rules. After a few seconds, it occurs to Midnight that this is what I must be doing.

  "Cough once for everything is going according to plan, twice for complications," he says.

  I abide and give one, brief cough. Jim turns his mirrored face to me, his expressionless mask somehow still exuding suspicion. He has just as much, if not more, on the line as I do. If we're caught, I'm at least valuable as a negotiating chip; Jim isn't.

  "Ellie is in position and awaiting your signal. Be careful, Connor," Midnight says before temporarily signing off.

  There's a small camera underneath my mirrored Blank mask that’s feeding a live image to both Midnight and now Ellie. It's there to help Midnight keep an eye on me, but more importantly, it's crucial so Iris can teleport in correctly. Midnight's acquired the floor plan to Keane Tower, but even with that, it would be difficult for Iris to know exactly where I am, and she'll need to be exact. Teleporting into the wrong side of the room could cost seconds, and we might not have those if there's a gun pointed at Derrick's head.

  The elevator dings and the doors slowly slide open to reveal the penthouse. It's familiar, yet distinctly changed now that Charlie's had a chance to redecorate. Gone are the glass cubicles and six-figure artworks. The penthouse is now sparse and open. Across the room, I see Charlie pacing anxiously back and forth.

  In front of him are multiple hostages. All of them are kneeling on the floor with their hands bound behind their backs and black hoods over their heads. I recognize Derrick right away. Something about his posture triggers an immediate recognition. It's confirmed when I also see that he's wearing one of my favorite shirts. I'd been looking for it everywhere, not realizing that he must have stolen it from my closet before I left for the academy. I'd be really pissed off if I wasn't so happy to see that he's still alive.

  "What are you doing here?" Charlie barks when he sees us exit the elevator.

  There are a few Blanks up here, but only three or four, it looks like. Most of them seem occupied with setting up the camera equipment. I'm temporarily taken aback when I remember that the purpose of this camera is to broadcast a live execution.

  "Number thirty-six told us to come up here and help with the equipment," Jim says, thinking quickly on his feet or already having anticipated the question.

  The answer seems to satisfy Charlie, and he simply waves us off, indicating that we do whatever we need to as long as we don't bother him. Jim glances over at me and motions for me to follow him. We walk across the wide-open floor as the moonlight streaks in through the full-length windows of the eighty-third floor.

  Once we've reached the camera and the other Blanks, Jim opens one of the nearby camera cases and hands me a large coil of electrical cord. He points to the far wall, indicating to me that I need to run it to the outlet there. I'm slightly relieved to have something to occupy my thoughts for a minute, and it gives me a chance to catch my breath.

  Midnight, Iris, and I briefly discussed when the best opportunity to strike would be. We all agreed that the moments leading up to the broadcast would likely be best. Charlie will be busy concentrating on his speech, but not concentrating on his surroundings as much as he will be once the camera starts rolling.

  I’m supposed to give Iris a sign to indicate that I'm ready, just a simple thumbs up in front of the camera embedded in my mask. She’s going to have to trust me completely and teleport in right away, ignoring any hesitation she might have. It's the only way a plan like this will work since even something as simple as a thumbs up could be seen and interpreted by Charlie or one of the Blanks. There won't be any time for second chances.

  I reach the far wall and bend over to place the electrical plug into the socket, taking a deep breath before I stand back up. This is going to be it. I'm far enough away from Charlie that the risk to the hostages is minimal, as well as the risk to Iris teleporting in. I might not get a better chance.

  When I turn back to the room, I find that my window of surprise is completely gone. There's Charlie, staring right at me, his forearm wrapped tightly around Jim's throat as he holds him in front of his body as a shield.

  "Do you really think I'm that stupid? Do you really think that I wouldn't notice a metahuman walking right into my own home? You might not have your metabands with you, but that doesn't mean I can't still sense the residual energy, and the camera I see through your mask just confirmed it. So what do you think we should do with this little traitor?" Charlie asks, tightening his grip around Jim's neck.

  I see Derrick's head turn under the black bag. He's just figured out that I must be here. He's silent, but I don't know if that's out of fear or because there's probably half a roll of duct tape wrapped around his mouth.

  "Well, if you don't have any ideas, I have one," Charlie says. There's no time to react before it happens. Charlie’s free hand bursts through Jim's torso and his body goes limp and falls to the floor.

  "Now!" Midnight screams in my ear. Simultaneously, Iris appears and then disappears in front of me. My metabands are wrapped around my wrists again, and I can feel my body starting to draw in their power like a sponge.

  There are tears rolling down my cheeks as I start running and bring my metabands together to activate them. Jim's mortally injured, but there isn't time to help him if I'm going to save anyone else's life here.

  The bands collide and the Omni suit spreads across my body. Charlie grins, waving his hand for me to come at him. He won't have to ask twice.

  I lunge a few more steps before we meet, me barreling into him head first and breaking through the bulletproof glass window. There's no reaction from Charlie. He waits until we're both floating above the city before casually brushing me aside with his hand, sending me flying clear through a skyscraper three blocks away. I lose control and fall toward the street, sliding and tumbling halfway through downtown before I'm able to grab onto a pothole in the road and slow myself down. The instant I'm back on my feet, I scan the skyline for Charlie, but I can't find him.

  Suddenly, my back feels like it's split in two, and I'm moving through the city again at hyper-speed. I look down and see Charlie's arms wrapped around my waist.

  "You just couldn't leave well enough alone, could you?" he yells into my ear.

  I feel a quick jerk and our momentum changes, diverting the two of us toward the nearest building. Everything goes black as we smash through layer after layer, the sound bordering on deafening before we break through the far wall of the tower, and the moonlight once again illuminates everything around us.

  I struggle to turn my head to look behind me and see what's happened to the building that we both just burst through, but the momentum and wind make it hard to even move as Charlie senses me struggling and tightens his already viselike grip.

  "Don't you see what happens when people like you think you're better than the rest of us? When you think that you're above us all? When you think that you're a god who the law doesn't apply to? People get hurt. People die. There are rules to the world. There's an order. Metahumans don't belo-"

  His speech is unexpectedly cut off, and I no longer feel his arms wrapped around my waist. I'm decelerating quickly and find that I'm able to get my feet back underneath me and slide to a stop.

  But before I
even have a chance to see what's happened, I'm already flying backwards in the opposite direction. Whatever stopped Charlie was likely only temporary, and I'll need to take advantage of the momentary upper hand I have.

  In the distance, I see Charlie sailing through the night sky until he's only a pinpoint, quickly disappearing out of sight, but it's what is standing right in front of me that's even more surprising: Midnight's mechanized armor. Except it's not. It's different. What was once matte black is now shining white. Details of the armor are highlighted in sky blue, especially around the helmet.

  "Midnight?" I ask as I approach cautiously. The last thing I need right now is my clock cleaned by an imposter. The armor turns to face me and lowers its guard.

  "Not exactly," says the heavily distorted voice from the inside of this huge metal beast. The visor lifts and various unseen clasps release from the side of the helmet until it’s able to lift itself and reveal the identity of its operator: Sarah.

  "What?" I'm barely able to stammer out.

  "Thought you might be able to use a hand," she says.

  "But ... how?"

  "When I was injured, Midnight used the suit to save my life. One of the unforeseen side effects of using it to heal my wounds was that the suit's power supply, its solo metaband, bonded with me."

  "And Midnight just gave it to you?"

  "It stopped working for him after I was able to bond with it. To be honest, I think he was just going to throw it out before he gave it to me, especially after I had it repainted. I mean, there's only so much black and gray you can take. I didn't think it'd hurt to add a little personality to it if I was going to keep her."

  "Her?"

  "Yeah, is there a problem with that?"

  "Um, no. I've got much bigger problems."

  "Damn right you do. That hit just drained my battery almost completely. Keane's got just about everyone out of here, but Charlie's going to be back any second.

  “I'm going back to help evacuate the hostages Charlie was holding, but you're going to have to help keep him occupied until we're able to get the city clear and the rest of your team is back."

  "Okay."

  "Don't look so surprised," Sarah says as the mask's components spring back into action, putting the various pieces back into place to completely cover and protect her face. "This isn't the first time I've had to save your ass."

  Blue flames erupt out of the calves of the suit, and she's airborne in an instant, flying through the air toward the bridge where the residents are being evacuated.

  I take a moment to check my metabands. They're still intact and powered up, but I don’t trust them rely on them right now, especially considering who I'm up against.

  It's then that I notice the speck in the night sky. It grows larger and larger as it rapidly approaches. It's Charlie, and he's heading straight for me, but this time I'm ready for him.

  I wait until he's almost on top of me, until I can see the rage in his eyes and the muscles pulsing in his jaw as he clenches his teeth. I wait until it's almost too late, and then I quickly step aside, out of the way of his outstretched fist, which I grab with my right hand, creating a small shockwave as his momentum is suddenly stopped.

  He's angry, very angry. It can be a very bad thing when someone with this much power is angry, but it can also be the only advantage I have in this fight. Anger makes you sloppy. I can't help Jim, not anymore. The only thing I have a chance at is making sure he didn't die in vain.

  "You really think you can beat me?" Charlie asks as he pushes his clenched fist into my hand harder and harder.

  "Kinda, yeah."

  "You're nothing. You're an anomaly. A nobody who was just in the right place at the right time. You're not special. Without those things around your wrists, you're just a regular person."

  "You're right, but that's not a weakness."

  I wrap my fingers tightly around his fist, summoning strength I didn't know I still had in me, and pull Charlie over my head, slamming him face first into the pavement so hard that he's buried up to his shoulders.

  But he doesn't rise right away. He lies there, laughing. I can hear him through the rubble before he pulls his head back out and takes a seat right there on the pavement.

  "You really don't get it, do you? You can't beat me. You can throw me around, punch me, kick me, sure. But you can't beat me. Look at you, with your cracked metabands. Defects. I'm just toying with you, putting on a show, making sure everyone in the world can see what happens if they face me. I'm just trying to make it a little entertaining for me, giving the news crews time to get their drones into the air to cover it all and making sure that they've got every angle covered when I take those metabands off your wrists and crush them in my bare hands. Then everyone will know for sure what I'm capable of and what awaits them if they ever try to defy me.

  "It's much better to have one big public fight that puts the fear of God into everyone. That way, I won't have to swat at gnats like you for the rest of my life. Let them all see what happens when someone thinks they can stand up to me and try to destroy a city that doesn't want them."

  "It's not up to you to decide what this city wants. They only listen to you because they fear you."

  "They fear me? No. They fear you. You and all the other weekend warriors who think just because they found a fancy piece of jewelry that it entitles them to try their hand at being a hero."

  "And what makes you any different?"

  "I fought for this country, for these people, long before monsters like you came along. I know what's best for them and for everyone else. I'm just the only one who has the balls to stand up to metahumans like you and say that we don't need you or want you. Admit it. The reason why you hate me so badly is that I'm not one of you, and I never will be."

  "You've got that right."

  "Funny. That's very funny. All right then," Charlie says as he begins rising into the air, still sitting with his legs crossed comfortably in front of him. "I think that's probably enough discussion. These people aren't tuning in to watch a debate. They're tuning in to see a bloodbath. That's the only way they'll pay attention and the only way they'll learn. Time to make an example out of you. Nothing personal, I hope you understand that."

  The air around Charlie starts visibly vibrating around him.

  "Get out of there, Connor!" Midnight yells into my earpiece, but there's nowhere to go. If I run, he'll just follow. He won't stop until he's gotten what he wants: an example for the rest of the world to see.

  42

  Suddenly, a single word echoes through the concrete canyons of downtown Bay View City, a single word coming from a million mouths at the same time.

  "Stop."

  Charlie holds back his fist, hesitating momentarily. He can see the look of confusion on my face and knows that it's not a trick, or at least, not a trick that I'm any part of. The momentary truce is just long enough for me to break free from his grip and gain some safe distance. If he's going to kill me, I want to at least see it coming.

  Both of us scan the skyline, looking for the source of the word, and we both find it. Along the rooftops of buildings throughout the city, there are thousands and thousands of people crowded, all lined up in formation, dangerously close to each other and to the edges of their respective buildings.

  "Surrender at once or watch your city kill itself, one person at a time," the unified voice says.

  Keane.

  "What are you doing, Keane?" I yell into the night sky.

  "I'm doing what neither of you have the courage to. I'm ending this, once and for all. Remove your metabands and surrender or people start dying," the bodies reply in unison.

  Charlie laughs.

  "You really think I care if you kill a few innocent civilians? Collateral damage. The cost of doing business. They won't be the first civilians killed by metahumans, and if people like me were ever to surrender to people like you, they certainly wouldn't be the last," Charlie announces as he addresses the city of mindless d
rones.

  "So be it," they reply.

  Without hesitation, the first line of people closest to the edge all take a step forward and all begin their long fall to the street below.

  Without thought, I dive toward the nearest building, pulling my arms in close to my body as I pick up speed. My eyes are focused on the falling bodies closest to me.

  I collide into the first as gently as possible and still almost snap his neck from the whiplash. Feet first, I continue my flight into the nearest window of the same building, smashing it into a million pieces. Before the last shards have fallen, I have the man I caught safely sprawled out across the office carpeting before I rocket back out of the window.

  I'm diving even faster this time, struggling to reach the next victim before she reaches the asphalt below. I grab her just in time, less than fifty feet above the street below, and wince, expecting to hear the sickening thud of the others I couldn't reach as they hit the ground, but the sound doesn't come.

  Hesitantly, I turn my head to see what's happened. The street below me flexes and pulsates as person after person falls into it and crosses the street. I see the reason. Winston is standing with his arms outstretched, concentrating. He's changing the molecular structure of the street itself, softening it to save the would-be victims falling from the sky.

  "Omni, Winston's not going to be able to hold that up for long. You've got to find Keane and take him down, now!" Midnight says through the earpiece.

  I briefly scan the sky for Charlie, even if he's secondary to my worries at this exact second. As I place the woman I caught onto the cushy concrete below, Iris teleports in front of me.