by Drew Hayes
And now, because of a plan he’d played a part in, they were all loose on the world once again.
Epilogue
“The jailbreak wasn’t a complete success in that many of the less-powerful prisoners remain, but in terms of freeing dangerous metas while simultaneously making us look incompetent, it did a five-star job.”
Professor Quantum flipped through the report, sitting where his remote terminal had once been. Three days after the battle for Ridge City and they’d finally finished putting together a comprehensive report of the damage, coupled with exactly who’d been sprung from Rookstone. Unlike Quorum and Lodestar, who sat across from him, Professor Quantum was actually marginally showing his age, a smatter of gray salting the temples of his dark hair. Otherwise, he looked exactly the same as he had for the last several decades, even wearing the lab coat he sported in place of a cape.
“Do we have any idea what they’re up to?” Lodestar asked. “Balaam was going to lead them, but since our reports say he was... extradited... that seems unlikely.”
“We’ve gotten a few accounts of sightings and smaller jobs from across the globe,” Quorum told her. “The best guesses of our analysts are that without Balaam as a uniting force, they’ll probably all scatter and hatch their own plans. Few of them were ever team players to start with.”
“Which makes hunting them down all the more difficult.” Professor Quantum turned a page, a motion that Lodestar and Quorum followed. While it was tempting to dwell on the jailbreak, they had a lot to get through; besides, with no information to work on, they would just be spitballing. The chance to recapture the freed metas would come eventually. They just needed to be patient and prepared.
“On the subject of team players, I trust you all have noticed we’re being barraged by lawyers regarding bids for the freedom of the few guild members captured during the fight. This seems utterly mad to me, seeing as we have record of them fighting against AHC-sanctioned superheroes on dozens of cameras.”
“They’re claiming they were exercising their right to resist an unlawful arrest,” Quorum said. “And since every bit of footage we have shows them merely trying to incapacitate, even against some of our more aggressive, newer members, they’ve got a very strong case. Add in Apollo’s confession from two days ago confirming that the warrants were based on falsified evidence, and our own lawyers don’t think we have much chance of making any of the charges stick. If anything, we’ll be lucky not to be sued for wrongful arrest, though thankfully, we’re insulated for excessive force.”
“We must have something to throw at them that will stick.” Professor Quantum lowered his papers, looking between his fellow members of the Champions’ Congress. “I don’t agree with his methods, but Apollo was right to be bothered by our tolerance of known criminals. He’s presented us with a golden opportunity to topple that guild, and I simply cannot believe we have to let it slip away.”
“They’ve already taken some serious blows,” Lodestar replied. “Several of them died in the fighting, their headquarters was broadcast on international news, many of those thought to be dead were caught on camera, and to top it all off, the world now knows their organization exists. He shone a giant light on the shadow where they hid, and that’s going to make things a lot more difficult for them in the future.”
“Which may not be entirely a good thing,” Quorum added. “With so many less-restrained villains now running about, we might have benefitted from the quiet peacekeeping they did behind the scenes.”
“No, Quorum, we need to move past depending on that.” Coming back had given Lodestar perspective that she’d lacked while living in the suburbs. While the guild had ultimately served the greater good in some ways, she didn’t like the way it was shaping their city. “The Alliance of Heroic Champions will be the ones to keep the people safe again. We’ll clean up the mess that one of our own helped make. No more depending on villains to police themselves. It’s time to stop being backseat leaders and take charge of things once more.”
“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Professor Quantum agreed. “Nice to have you back—all the way back, Lodestar. And on that matter, I have another boat coming in a few months’ time, one that contains some experiments that should be of great help in reestablishing order. Until then, we need to sort out who our best people are and put them to work. Right now, the world has a lot of distrust for the AHC, and having our capes out keeping them safe is the only way to rebuild that trust.”
“Apollo kept detailed records of everyone’s strengths, weaknesses, and best role when put into a team,” Quorum said. “He also has assessments for all of the new recruits we got from that last confluence. Some have already debuted, and others were getting prepped for it. We can have a wave of fresh faces on the street in a week or so if we push it.”
Professor Quantum frowned. “I’ve heard about the hand he took with training our fresh capes. For him to be so involved with them, it might be prudent to assume their loyalty lies with him, not the organization. Perhaps it would be more prudent to simply cast them out before they have the chance to do more damage.”
“Forget it,” Lodestar said, her white light growing a touch brighter. “First off, Apollo has been the head trainer here for over three years, so you’ll need to expel a lot of people if you don’t want capes he taught. Secondly, I saw some of those rookies in action myself, and they’ve got their hearts in the right places. Plus enough power to back it up. Or are you just sore that one of the new teams managed to make it past all your defenses and break through your dome?”
“I will remind you that the system was in testing mode, which greatly reduced the power of the offensive countermeasures,” Professor Quantum snapped. After a moment, he composed himself and continued. “But getting that far is still no small feat, especially for rookies. I find myself fighting disbelief at the idea that one of them could actually rip a hole in my barrier. I’ll need to study this ‘Cyber Geek’ more closely. In fact, I believe I have a new device for him, one requisitioned some weeks ago.”
“I’m impressed you didn’t put it off longer,” Lodestar said.
“My equipment duties take second place to my research, but I do get around to them eventually,” Professor Quantum informed her. “At any rate, I suppose you’re right about the breadth of Apollo’s influence. The new recruits can stay, but I’m going to have them under close supervision. Any hint of sharing their teacher’s turncoat nature and they’ll be lucky to only get kicked out from the AHC.”
“That’s as fair as we’re going to get with this situation,” Quorum said.
“Agreed,” Lodestar added.
“Very well then, next topic.” Professor Quantum flipped the page again, bringing up a whole new sheet of names and numbers. “It looks like all of our people have finally been accounted for. We lost many, mostly our untrained rookies on crowd control, but some were only injured. The pieces of Erinite were found in a neat stack outside the front door yesterday, so he’s being taken to space to heal. Stalwart Iron is more problematic, as his core remains intact but the majority of his body was destroyed. A new body will need to be fashioned from the ground up before he can serve again, which presumably will fall on me to create. The rest are in respective healing bays and surgeries, and prognosis for all those still alive looks good. That reminds me: Quorum, book me a surgery room for this afternoon.”
Lodestar raised an eyebrow in confusion. “You’re going to pitch in on stitching people back together?”
“Obviously not; we have people for that. I just wanted to get Cyber Geek’s upgrade installed as soon as possible, as it will also give me the chance to examine the power that bested my protective dome,” Professor Quantum explained.
“I thought he just pulled digital items from a computer,” Lodestar said.
“Exactly,” Professor Quantum agreed. “But he’s been using a wrist model, much too cumbersome and limited. I have a far better idea, one that will be portable, accessible, a
nd greatly increase the variety of items he can wield. Plus, by my calculations, there’s only a twenty-two percent chance that the surgery will blind him.”
Lodestar made a mental note to chat with Cyber Geek and make sure he knew exactly what risks the “upgrade” would entail. Professor Quantum was brilliant, no one could dispute that, but he’d also always been a lot better at relating to numbers than to people, which could be a bit off-putting, if not dangerous.
Then again, Apollo had been great with people, and look where that got them. Maybe numbers weren’t so bad, after all.
* * *
Tori stood in the afternoon sun, watching as crews sorted through the remains of Ivan’s home. Behind her, a moving company was packing the last of what they’d been able to salvage into a giant truck, one that would soon head to a lovely townhome rented under a perfectly legal comprehensive care package provided by Vendallia for personal emergencies. She had to tip her hat to Doctor Mechaniacal—putting guild members into normal, boring jobs with actual insurance was a much easier way to help them out when things got crazy.
As a conversation with the foreman wrapped up, Ivan walked over and stood beside Tori, listening as the crews debated how to go about fixing a house that had walls punched through and a giant energy beam fire from the center. It hadn’t collapsed completely, but Tori had done enough structural damage that they may just have to tear it down and rebuild from the ground up.
“What did you end up telling the neighbors, anyway?” Tori asked. She could see them peeking out from behind their curtains. A few had brought Ivan pies and baked goods while expressing their condolences. None of it seemed like the actions of a street that’d just found out a resident was a legendary villain.
“That the men who tried to rob Vendallia turned out to be part of an organized gang. They wanted a combination of revenge and to finish the job, which hatched a plan that centered on kidnapping me. One of them was lying in wait for me to come home, but a rival gang tracked them down and ended up slugging it out on my front lawn.”
“And all the wards that Rust Tooth cut through?”
“No idea.” Ivan gave a shrug. “Must have been set by the crazy criminal in the metal armor, probably to keep me from calling for help. This is all just what the AHC told me in the after-report, anyway. Only so many details provided.”
“Well, they seem to have bought it, and that’s all that matters.” Tori looked around the peaceful neighborhood, remembering how dull it had seemed when she was first driven in. “I’d hate for you to lose this place.”
“That might be inevitable,” Ivan said. “With the guild exposed and Fornax publicly seen alive, it might be too risky to keep living in an area like this. When Doc finishes the new headquarters, I might take him up on a residency there.” Neither he nor Tori worried about discussing these matters so close to the workers. Everyone, from the movers to the construction crew, was in Wade’s employ. Tori suspected some of them might be mechanical, but hadn’t been able to get a good enough look to be sure.
“Don’t live in the guild. You’d hate it there,” Tori told him. “Keep being Ivan. That’s what makes you really happy. And besides, how would your kids visit a room in the guild?”
“I’d probably keep the townhouse for appearances, but as I said, this is all conjecture. Right now, there’s no headquarters to live in; the whole place was purged as soon as everyone left the building. As for visitation... Janet is less than thrilled that my past brought Rick and Beth into harm’s way. Somehow she’s even blaming me for Beth’s powers.”
“Did you ever figure out when those happened?” Tori asked. Evidently, Beth’s abilities had manifested only two weeks prior, well past the last confluence. But confluences were just events that spiked the meta-human population; there were plenty that came into being between confluences.
“Not yet, but we will,” Ivan said. “Beth and I, and Janet, had a long talk. She’s going to be getting the help she needs to control her abilities. Although my ex-wife isn’t keen on the idea, even she can see that Beth having blades in her body that she can’t control is too dangerous for everyone, especially Beth.”
“Is she… I mean, will Beth be joining the guild?” Tori shuffled uncomfortably, picturing the sweet girl she’d met having to pass the trials or be put in the ground. Worse, she imagined the poor bastard who actually tried to see that threat through and had to go through Ivan to do it.
“God no. I love my daughter too much to ever let her be a part of all... this.” Ivan gestured to the wrecked house, torn apart by a member of the very guild that he was supposed to be able to trust. “She’ll be working with some old, non-guild friends. People I trust.”
“That seems like a better fit,” Tori agreed.
“What about you, though? I heard they were able to get a lot of your lab out last night, but I doubt there’s room for it at the hotel.” Ivan and Tori had both been put up in rooms at a local mid-range hotel while their living situation was worked out, along with dozens of other displaced Ridge City residents.
“It’s in private storage for now,” Tori said. “I actually just came to grab a few tools I forgot, and then I’m off to meet Beverly. She’s been poring through real estate ads, as well as talking with the council, and she says she’s got a few leads on places that will fit our extra needs.”
“Pick something affordable,” Ivan cautioned. “With the guild as it is now, there’s not going to be any easy jobs for a while.”
“Evidently, Beverly negotiated a bit of a stipend from Arcanicus, and we’ve still got our heist money. And I do get a paycheck, you know. Or I will, once Vendallia reopens.” Every business in the downtown area was closed for at least the next week as they waited for cleanup crews to clear the streets of debris. The AHC had capes helping around the clock, though people weren’t always happy to see them.
“Well then, I guess I’ll still see you around the office,” Ivan said.
“Damn right! Didn’t think you were getting rid of me that easy, did you?”
“When I heard you’d been attacked, I confess there were some worried moments there.” Ivan glanced at her then looked at the remains of his house. “I see now how truly foolish that was.”
“What can I say? I’m kind of a badass.” Tori slung her backpack, filled with tools to patch up the remains of her busted meta-suit, over her shoulder. “Though, I admit, having a good teacher helped.”
“And you weren’t the worst student I ever trained,” Ivan said.
“But I did set one hell of a high bar for whoever comes next.” Tori took a few steps away and threw a leg around the used motorcycle she’d picked up on the cheap. It needed a lot of work, but that would have to wait until she actually had a garage or driveway again. Hopefully Beverly was on the ball. “I’ll see you next week at the office, Ivan.”
“Try not to be late,” he called as she slipped her dark helmet over her head.
Tori merely waved, a noncommittal gesture that she certainly felt didn’t constitute a pledge of promptness, then gunned the engine and drove out of the driveway, past the staring neighbors peering from their windows.
* * *
Donald felt like he’d gone ten rounds with the Trolls of Elgthok. He had been in his bed all day, leveling up a new character in Legacy World and trying not to wince every time he moved his shoulder. Evidently the suit from Blaster Brahs absorbed a lot of the lethal damage with its shields, but the small-scale knock-around stuff still got through. While an hour or so in the healing tanks would have left him good as new, Donald didn’t bother trying to requisition one. For one thing, they were all occupied, filled with people who’d taken far more serious damage than he had. More importantly, Donald had seen some of the injuries capes came back with. He’d be damned if he was going to complain about something as mundane as soreness.
Even his own team had taken more damage than he’d realized. Hat Trick had been limping along with almost half the muscle fiber in her leg burned away;
if the beams hadn’t cauterized as they burned, she likely would have bled out on the street. It was only thanks to Professor Quantum’s return that they’d been able to fully heal her leg instead of giving her a mechanical replacement. Medley had taken enough damage to kill a normal person five times over, and only his rapid healing and thick hide had kept him alive. Apparently, both factors were still getting stronger as the mutation in his body evolved to keep pace with the trials he was enduring. Cold Shoulder had actually collapsed from exhaustion once they got through the door; she’d pushed herself so hard and used her powers so much that her body had nothing left to give.
And Donald, the one who’d been acting as their leader, had walked away with only scrapes and bruises. The guilt churned his stomach. Why had he made it through relatively unscathed? He wasn’t stronger than them, or better, or probably even smarter. No, he’d made it because they were taking the bigger blows to protect him. Protect the gun that could punch a hole in the barrier, really. His team had beaten themselves to hell to keep him safe, and now Donald could barely stand to look at himself in the mirror.
That was why he’d agreed to Professor Quantum’s upgrade, even as Lodestar gently explained all the risks that came with it. If it could make him stronger, he was on board. Donald didn’t want to come back from another mission with his team, his friends, barely surviving. He didn’t want them to be the ones protecting him. He wanted to be able to protect himself, and the people around him.
Right now, Cyber Geek was just a guy with a weird ability. If Donald ever wanted to push himself to be a true hero, then it would mean sacrifice and risk. Getting the upgrade was just one part of it. He’d officially sent an e-mail to Vendallia accepting their offer for early retirement. It was time to stop living with one foot in both worlds. If he wanted to be like Lodestar, to be a real superhero who could make a difference in the world, then he would commit to it wholeheartedly.
