They glided down towards the island, landing in the water off the coast of Arcadia. The masks and helmets they wore were equipped with rebreathers allowing them to remain underwater for extended periods of time. They all swam in different directions, seeking out other parts of the island to make their landfall.
Roque activated her suit’s signature ability as her head broke the surface of the water. The suit was capable of bending light around itself, rendering the wearer completely invisible to the naked eye. It was the reason the leader of the Hellhounds had been given the codename of Blindside.
She stepped on the surface of the island. All the suits were equipped with HUDs that displayed not only the location of the rest of the team, but also data on other people nearby. Blindside activated night vision mode as she moved under the cover of darkness from the beach.
Blindside walked with soft footfalls, moving across the sand. Wooden steps from the beach led up to a level above and two young specials stood at the railing, their lips locked together. Blindside moved quietly up the steps and extended both her arms. From her gauntlets, small, round devices shot out and hit the targets. A charge went through them and the couple collapsed on the ground, unconscious.
A warning flashed over Blindside’s HUD and she spun just in time to see a lupine creature spring at her. She pulled back, but his claws swiped against her arm, scraping against the armor plating.
Before the wolf could attack again, he was tackled by a man in black, wearing a faceless mask with red goggles over his eyes. Ethan Weiss, better known by his codename, Zero.
Blindside had been on countless missions with the silent assassin, but his fighting skill never ceased to impress her. She watched as he grappled with the wolf-man, the orange forcefield generated by his suit protecting him from the worst of the special’s attacks. Zero threw the wolf off and got to his feet. Just as the special was about to go for another attack, Zero held out his arm and the forcefield extended into a pointed spike that impaled his foe.
Zero turned his head to Blindside. She knew his HUD could identify her clearly despite her invisibility and he tapped a finger to his covered nose. Blindside mentally chided herself for her overconfidence in her suit’s cloaking technology. For a special with enhanced senses, invisibility wouldn’t be much help.
Just as quickly as he arrived, Zero vanished from sight again. Blindside continued on her path, moving into the center of the town. She reached a hand to her covered ear and whispered, the mask’s comms capable of picking up her voice.
“Eyes on me, reading multiple targets,” she said, transmitting the data her suit was picking up to the rest of the team. “No sign of the big man.”
“Say the word, boss.” The voice came from Justin Pike. The suit he wore was built like a tank, which earned him the codename Bruiser.
“You’re the main event. Spark and Coldsnap, flank him. Zero, you and I keep up the search for the big man. He’s been missing ever since the Khagan event and Cerberus doesn’t want to miss this chance to get their hands on him.”
Blindside watched the specials who milled about the town square. There were only a few up and about at this time of night, which meant most were asleep in their homes. “Go!”
Hydraulic lifts shot Bruiser from his hiding spot and he crashed down in the center of town, creating a slight tremor on impact, with cracks appearing in the stone beneath his feet. He slammed his gauntlets together.
“Excuse me, could you spare a minute to talk about the lord?” he said with a grin beneath his helmet.
One of the specials came at him immediately, transforming into a wolf-like creature. Bruiser swatted him away like he was little more than a bug and the lupine special crashed into one of the stone homes. A tremor shook the ground and Bruiser was surprised by that. His scanners directed him to the source, a young Native American woman whose hand was laid against the ground, surrounded by a soft orange glow. Bruiser smiled when he spotted her.
“Really, lady? You think some little thing like you can stand up to me?”
The woman called Tuwa raised her hand up and vines burst through the ground, wrapping around Bruiser’s arms and legs. He broke free from them with his great strength, but each time he did, more would rise to take their place.
Tuwa’s body convulsed with electricity, courtesy of Grace Eisner. With her armor’s ability to generate electricity, the Hellhound had earned the codename of Spark.
“I had her,” said Bruiser.
“How about we remember we’re supposed to be a team, Pike?” asked Spark.
The temperature in the area dropped several degrees and Hunter Dixon stepped onto the scene, clad in white armor with blue LED lights. “Codenames in the field, Spark.”
“Sorry, Coldsnap.”
With Tuwa down, the three went to work on the specials in the center of town. The specials tried to fight back, but many of them were unskilled in the use of their abilities and most only had some enhanced strength or agility. These were the ones that were easiest to dispatch with a few blows from Bruiser. Each downed special was fitted with the same inhibitor device used on the ones at the beach, preventing them from accessing their powers.
The battle wound down almost as quickly as it started. And then, Coldsnap threw his hands up and fired a cold blast, narrowly missing Spark. She flinched and was ready to jump on him, but when she looked over her shoulder where the blast went, she saw a frozen boulder lying on the ground.
Another flew directly at her and Spark held up her arms, electricity shooting from her fingertips and breaking the rock into a shower of tiny pebbles. Bruiser stepped closer to them, but he was thrown back without warning or any visible source.
“Telekinetic,” said Coldsnap.
Spark checked her HUD and scanned the area. She picked up some readings from inside one of the few buildings that remained standing. While pointing at it, she gave Bruiser a nod. He charged into the house, blowing a hole into the side with one fist.
A scream came from inside and Coldsnap and Spark quickly came to Bruiser’s side. Through the hole, they could see a young girl, no more than ten years old, huddled in a corner in the fetal position, sobbing.
Spark couldn’t help chuckling. “You mean to tell me Pike was tossed around by a little girl?”
Bruiser grumbled and stepped towards the kid, raising his fist. “Yeah, well let’s see how strong the Force is in this one after I turn her into a stain!”
The girl’s head snapped up, her eyes filled with tears and glowing with a bright, blue energy. With that one look, she mentally shot Bruiser through the roof. She was about to do the same to his teammates when electricity coursed through her small body and she screamed in agony.
“The guy may be an arrogant douchebag, but he’s our arrogant douchebag,” said Spark, the power flowing from her fingertips.
Coldsnap pulled her arm down and the electricity stopped. “Are you out of your mind? She’s just a kid!”
Spark narrowed her eyes behind the lenses of her visor. “‘Just a kid’? You saw what she did to Pike!”
“What would you do if you were in her position?”
As the two argued, they didn’t notice the girl hover from her position, arms held out to her sides. At first it was small objects that struck them—plates, pictures, cups—but soon, the larger furniture began rattling.
Spark destroyed most of what flew at them, but whenever she tried to fire off a blast at the girl, something else would be thrown at her to draw her attention away. Coldsnap dropped to the ground, rolling to the side where he had a clear shot. He armed an inhibitor and fired it from his gauntlet, hitting the girl square in the chest. Energy surged through her and her body convulsed before she—and everything her power had been holding up—collapsed to the ground.
Spark walked over to the kid, staring down at her. She glared at Coldsnap. “‘Just a kid’ my ass.”
***
A tear in space and time opened in the darkened cave. The cloaked speci
al called the Ferryman stepped out of his portal, drawing the attention of the caped man in blue and white who stood before two cells covered by stone bars.
“We’ve got a problem,” said the Ferryman.
“What is it?” asked the Exemplar, stepping closer to his friend.
“Some sort of attack. They’ve got power, but I don’t think they’re specials. I saw the Cerberus logo on one of them.” The Ferryman placed a hand on the Exemplar’s shoulder, looking up into him with despair. “Cal, they got Tuwa.”
Callum King’s eyes narrowed and he grit his teeth together.
“You know…this is where my gifts could prove useful.”
The Exemplar spun on his heel, his eyes now fixed on an occupant of one of the cells. The old man was bald with a white beard and piercing blue eyes, with a knowing smile on his face.
“It’s what I warned you about. The humans have come for us,” said the man called Animus. “Let me help you.”
A growl accompanied Animus’ words, coming from the cell beside him where the lupine Fenris sat. “Don’t forget about me.”
The Exemplar cast a look to the Ferryman, who shut his eyes and gave a solemn nod of confirmation. The Exemplar’s attention turned to his prisoners. He approached the cell and took the stone bars between his powerful hands, snapping them like twigs.
“Don’t make me regret this,” he said.
Animus’ smile grew. “Perish the thought.”
CHAPTER 2
Zero moved silently up the hill to the small structure that sat overlooking the rest of the town. He laid his hand on the door and his forcefield expanded, blowing the door apart. But inside he saw nothing.
“Anything?” Blindside flickered into view at the doorway. Zero looked at her and shook his head. She sighed and stepped outside with Zero coming up behind her.
A growl came from above them. Blindside and Zero turned and saw Fenris perched on the roof. He pounced on them. Blindside’s suit not only granted her invisibility but also increased her speed and strength. She nimbly dodged his strike, vanishing from sight in the process.
Zero’s arms fell to his sides, his fingers spread. The forcefield reshaped around his hands, forming into translucent, orange claws. Fenris crouched and jumped. Zero met him, their claws cutting into each other as they passed. When Fenris hit the ground, his dark fur was matted with his blood, four deep gashes across his chest. But for Zero, not a scratch.
Blindside attacked from behind, sweeping Fenris and dropping him on his back. He flipped up almost immediately, but couldn’t see his attacker. Invisible punches came at him from what seemed like every direction at once. He tried to focus on his other senses, but Blindside’s blows came too fast until an uppercut sent him flying over to the waiting Zero.
Zero delivered a strong kick at Fenris’ chest. The blunt force against his open wounds caused him even more pain and he howled. The assassin followed by crashing his elbow down on Fenris’ back and the wolf struck the ground, face-first.
Not quite finished, Zero kicked him over onto his back. He hefted Fenris by his neck. The forcefield around his free hand reformed into a sickle-like blade. He prepared to strike, staring at Fenris pain-contorted face through the red lenses of his goggles.
Blindside flickered back into sight, deactivating her suit’s stealth mode. Zero looked at her for confirmation and she gave a nod. With permission granted, Zero impaled Fenris on the forcefield’s blade, then tossed his body to the side.
“Say that again?” asked Blindside, her attention drawn to the incoming comms. Her mouth slackened and she turned her gaze on Zero. “Something’s wrong, we have to get back to the town.”
***
Bruiser swung his massive fist, his target dropping to the ground to avoid his strike. With the size of his suit, he was slow to turn and brought his other arm up, ready to crash it down on her head. Spark held out her hands and sent thousands of volts of electricity into his suit before scurrying off.
“What is wrong with you?” she asked.
The behemoth shook off the charge and slammed his feet against the ground. “I’m tired of your smart mouth, that’s what!”
“Where’d this come from?” she asked.
“You called me an arrogant douche!”
“Well, you are!”
That only angered Bruiser more and he barreled at her. Coldsnap acted quickly, flash-freezing the moisture in the air around Bruiser’s legs and encasing them in solid blocks of ice.
“Time to take a breather, big guy,” he said, circling around so he was in Bruiser’s line of sight. But the Hellhounds’ strongman just struggled against his ice shackles. Coldsnap saw the cracks beginning to form and quickly refroze them, building up layers of ice to increase its strength.
Bruiser extended his arm, activating his hydraulic punch that slammed into Coldsnap’s chest, sending him soaring across the town and into the rubble of one of the destroyed homes. Bruiser punched the ice, shattering it and breaking himself free. He towered over Spark, fists clenched.
Zero dropped onto his back, his forcefield in the shape of a blade around his hand. He slammed it into Bruiser’s armor, trying to break into it. Bruiser swung around, trying to throw Zero off. The assassin held on, like Bruiser was a bucking bronco.
“Enough!” Blindside appeared in front of Bruiser and he glared at her.
“And who the hell are you to tell me what to do?”
“Don’t you see what’s going on here?” she asked. “They must have a special who’s manipulating you, Pike. Are you going to let these freaks play with your mind like that?”
Bruiser paused, thinking over those words. He struggled against the thoughts plaguing his head. Could it be true? Was this all just some form of manipulation?
Blindside picked up a new signature. She activated the stealth mode and followed the signal and saw an old man hiding behind one of the homes, his eyes glowing and vacant. She raised her arm and fired an inhibitor, dropping him to the ground.
Almost instantly, Bruiser felt his head clear. All the anger and resentment that had made him see red was suddenly gone. He relaxed and Zero dropped down from him. Spark came over with Coldsnap leaning against her for support and Blindside approached, dragging Animus behind her and dropping his unconscious body in the center of the group.
“Sorry about that,” said Bruiser, looking at Spark and Coldsnap. “Dunno what came over me.”
“This guy did,” said Blindside. “Is that all of them?”
“Boss, I’m picking up another signal incoming,” said Spark.
The Hellhounds looked up at the sky and saw the Exemplar lowering from the clouds, his face contorted in anger. Blindside smiled beneath her mask. “The big man himself.”
The Exemplar flew down at top-speed, fists-first. He struck the ground with such force that a shockwave rippled out from the impact, throwing the entire team except Bruiser off their feet.
Bruiser grabbed the Exemplar and held him up, using the hydraulic arm to deliver a series of powerful blows. About a dozen struck before the Exemplar grabbed the fist. He strained against it and Bruiser tried to put more power into the hydraulics. The machinery strained against the force and the Exemplar broke the hand off, exposing sparking wires. The Exemplar then fired a powerful energy blast into Bruiser’s chest, which proved enough for the large Hellhound to release him.
Spark channeled massive amounts of voltage into the Exemplar’s body. Pain rocked through his form, pushing the limits of his nigh-invulnerability. He tried to fire energy blasts at her, but the charge threw his motor skills off and he had difficulty aiming, hurling blasts in random directions. He fell to his knees and pounded at the ground with all his strength. Each blow sent a tremor through the earth, and Spark stumbled, her concentration faltering for just the briefest of instants.
Coldsnap encased the Exemplar’s body in ice, freezing him solid. While he was held prisoner, Zero threw several blows, the force of his fists augmented with his forcefiel
d. The Exemplar strained against the ice, trying in vain to break free. Zero cleared away as Bruiser approached, using the remaining arm on his suit to batter his opponent.
“Playtime’s over,” said Blindside, readying an inhibitor. “It’s time to clean up.”
The Exemplar channeled his power into his hands, the heat from them melting the ice around his body. Cracks appeared in the surface and he pulled his arms up, breaking through the crystalline prison. He grabbed Zero by the throat and threw him into Bruiser. The Exemplar fired a blast at Blindside, but she dodged and went invisible.
He picked up large chunks of the broken ice and hurled them at Coldsnap, then pounced at Spark, clearing the distance and grabbing her by the throat. Spark placed her palms on his chest and channeled electricity into his body.
Spark was struck from behind by the Ferryman, falling to the ground. He helped the Exemplar to his feet, supporting him as he struggled to stand. The Ferryman looked at the Hellhounds and saw they were already recovering. Time was short.
Something hit the Ferryman’s face and he was thrown back. More blows came, moving swift and fierce, but there seemed to be nothing in front of him. The Exemplar was weakened from the attacks inflicted on him, but still he fired a single blast from his palm that struck the invisible Blindside in her back, a sound of pain escaping her lips.
The Ferryman struck where he heard the sound come from and Blindside was knocked back. The teleporter held up his hands and opened up a tear in space and time. His eyes fell on his leader.
“Go, now!”
“But what about you? What about the others?” asked the Exemplar.
“Just go!” The Ferryman’s insistence was unlike anything the Exemplar heard from his friend before. “You’re too important!”
The Exemplar didn’t want to leave the people who had become his family behind, but he had no other choice. The Hellhounds were too strong and soon, he would be taken prisoner just like them. He’d recover and then he’d find out just what the hell happened here.
Vanguard: Seasons 1-3: A Superhero Adventure Page 41
