West Pacific Supers: Rising Tide

by Johnson-Weider, K. M.

  “Dr. Sterling was very clear that if I get a speeding ticket driving a team vehicle, I’ll have to do all the ribbon-cutting ceremonies for a month,” said Cosmic Kid.

  “I’ll split them with you if you go at least 50!” said Blue Star, though admittedly ribbon-cutting ceremonies were one of the worst assignments for a super.

  “Listen, I’m not taking any chances with you in the car,” said Cosmic Kid.

  “What? You’re worried about me getting hurt in an accident?”

  “God, no, but if we died in a car accident the headline would read Blue Star and Rookie Dead in Car Accident. I wouldn’t even get my name mentioned.”

  “So you only go fast when Emily’s in the car?”

  Cosmic Kid’s face soured. “Since Emily is breaking up with me, it’s a moot question.”

  “What?” Blue Star wondered why Emily hadn’t told him this. He was truly out of the loop on everything.

  “It was because of you.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding!” Blue Star tried to think what he might have done wrong. “Seriously, Kid, I haven’t said anything to her about the two of you. It’s none of my business what two pseudo-adults do between themselves.”

  “She said that she only wants a causal relationship for the rest of the summer. When I asked her what that meant, she said that you can’t have serious relationships with supers,” said Cosmic Kid bitterly.

  “Because of me?”

  “Yeah, she said she thought you were a great super, but a crappy dad to her mom. She then said I was a lot like you and a great super.”

  “Ouch. Listen, Patrick, you’re twice the super I was at your age and ten times a better person than I ever was. If Emily can’t see that, then it’s for the best for you two to go your separate ways.”

  “Wow, that was really sentimental! But you’re supposed to side with your granddaughter on these sorts of things,” said Cosmic Kid with a smile.

  “My granddaughter’s right. I was, and remain, a horrible father and an even worse husband. I asked Linda about that once and she said she realized long ago that I’ve never cheated on my family, as my family is the supers on my team and not the people I am related to by blood or marriage. It’s a twisted analogy, but it’s true. I love Emily, but I’ll always side with you, Camille, Seawolf, or even Dr. Sterling over everyone else.”

  “I appreciate the sentiment, but it did cost me my girlfriend,” said Cosmic Kid mournfully.

  “It happens, Kid, trust me there are plenty of girls out there.”

  “I don’t want plenty, I just want one.”

  “That’s a lot harder, but I hope you find her,” said Blue Star with a sigh. “Listen, don’t give up on Emily, I can have a talk with her and sort things out.”

  Cosmic Kid laughed. “I think that would be the opposite of helpful.” Blue Star snorted and went quiet, but Cosmic Kid was probably right - his talking to Emily would likely only make things worse.

  “We’re here.” Cosmic Kid pulled the car up to the gate outside 242 Oceanside Avenue, a mansion on the coast that looked a bit like a fortress due to the substantial outer wall and guarded gatehouse. Blue Star got out quickly and was immediately relieved to be outside; he always felt that cars were death traps. The two of them walked towards the gatehouse, where a guard was wearing a dark suit and talking animatedly into a walkie-talkie.

  “What can I do for you gentlemen?” asked the guard as he put down the walkie-talkie.

  “We’re here to talk to Mr. Roache,” said Blue Star.

  “Sorry, but he’s out of town.”

  “It’s important and he’s expecting us,” said Cosmic Kid.

  “Sorry, but I have my orders and unless you have a warrant you’re not getting in,” said the guard who tried to give a determined look.

  “Cosmic, show him the warrant,” said Blue Star. Cosmic Kid decked the guard, following up with a round kick that sent him back into the gatehouse with a thud.

  “Up and over,” said Blue Star, flying over the gate and towards the house. He looked back briefly and saw Cosmic Kid climb and jump over the gate, trying quickly to catch up to him.

  It was a beautiful house, though far more than a single man really needed. The grounds were expansive with gardens, scattered fountains and gazebos, a nice pool, and a large parking area filled with cars and vans, mostly caterers for tonight’s event. There were a lot of civilians about and Blue Star suspected the two of them should have tried to disguise themselves to get as close to Ian Roache as possible. But that would have taken a lot more planning and he hated disguises anyway.

  He noted the helipad with a black helicopter and the beginning of stairs that likely went down the cliff to the ocean and probably docks below. There were a lot of escape routes. Roache could flee by boat, helicopter, or car from the premises. Fortunately, Blue Star could fly faster than any typical vehicle, so Ian Roache could run, but he wouldn’t be able to get away.

  Blue Star landed at the front door just as it was opening and two men in suits, with handguns drawn, were coming out. They weren’t expecting him to have gotten to the front door so quickly and their surprise gave him enough time to focus and blast them with a freezing cold wind and blinding ice flurries. They retreated back into the house and he charged forward and brought them both down with what Cosmic Kid had been calling his Brutal Fu style. One thing experience had taught him: you end a fight as quickly as possible and that meant destroying your opponents.

  “Sorry it took me so long - had to sign a few autographs,” quipped Cosmic Kid as he came up to the front door.

  “They have a no solicitation rule it appears,” said Blue Star, leading the way into the house past the two frosted and broken men on the ground by the door.

  “Great house,” said Cosmic Kid. “You know I’ve been looking for a place; this would do nicely.”

  “Kid, the electricity bills for this place are probably outrageous!”

  “I’d just invite you over to cool the place down. Though I would have to replace the carpets with hardwood floors and definitely change the paint colors.”

  “We’re here to arrest Roache, not redecorate his house,” said Blue Star, who paused at a massive staircase. “Though be warned: supervillains don’t take good care of their homes.”

  The two of them walked past the staircase and into an expansive open room. It touched upon a sitting room, a formal dining room, and a solarium towards the ocean. The house seemed to stretch out from here considerably and there was also an upstairs that was likely to be just as large.

  “You guys need to cover more ground. Split up and find Roache,” said Dr. Sterling over their headsets.

  “Right, because splitting up always works so well,” said Blue Star. Unfortunately, he had to agree. Roache could be emailing orders to destroy the world and time was of the essence.

  “Okay, you take the upstairs and I’ll check out the kitchen to see if he has gas stoves,” said Cosmic Kid.

  “Fine, keep in contact over the headsets, but be careful,” said Blue Star, shaking his head and flying back towards the stairs. Once on the second floor he heard the sound of vacuuming down the hall coming from a room with an open door. On the way there, Blue Star saw a door with a sign that said ‘Do Not Disturb’. That was too tempting to pass up and he tried the door, but it was locked. He braced himself to knock the door in, and then the door exploded and lightning erupted into the hallway.

  Blue Star was thrown into the wall across from the door. Exiting the room through the broken door was a man wearing a green suit whose hands were covered in sparks. “I be Kill O’Watts and today I’m going to kill you, Blue Star,” said the man in an idiotic Irish accent. Blue Star was in pain and while his costume was insulated against electricity, it didn’t provide complete protection. He was pretty confident if he had been a normal person he would already be dead.

  Kill O’Watts threw a quick blast of electricity into Blue Star, not enough to kill him but enough to continue his
disorientation. Blue Star reacted as best he could and flew into Watts, carrying him back into the room he had just exited. They crashed into a desk and computer, knocking everything into a heap on the ground. Blue Star tried to roll away, but his arm rang out with pain when he put pressure on it. It was probably broken. When he saw Watts pulling himself up, his own adrenalin took over and he forced himself up too. It was then that he noticed another man standing in the corner of the room - a younger Hispanic guy, who was just staring intently at Blue Star. Blue Star felt everything become distorted as dizziness overwhelmed him. It wasn’t the pain from his broken arm - it was a psychic attack.

  “So you got him?” asked Watts to the psychic who just nodded. “That’ll make this easy.” Watts came over and smiled as he punched Blue Star across the jaw and then in the chest sending him crashing into a wall covered in security monitors. Blue Star could taste blood in his mouth; this wasn’t going well. Despite his best efforts, he couldn’t resist the psychic’s attacks on his mind. He knew some tricks against psychics, but if they got the jump on you then there wasn’t much you could do against them.

  “Blue Star, what is your status?” asked Dr. Sterling in his earpiece. “Cosmic Kid is coming upstairs to assist.”

  “Ostrich…,” muttered Blue Star as Watts hurled him against a file cabinet. It was the best he could muster, an old code phrase for trouble from his days with the Paragons. He had to warn Cosmic Kid about the psychic, but he wasn’t able to do more at the moment than be pummeled by Watts.

  “Hey, why wasn’t I invited to this private party?” asked Cosmic Kid, coming in and hurling a chakra at Watts, which sliced through his suit and drew blood from his arm.

  “Tis the end for both of you today,” said Watts grabbing his bleeding arm angrily.

  “Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard that enough -,” said Cosmic Kid whose hand went to his head as he staggered back from a psychic attack.

  It was the moment Blue Star had needed. The psychic wasn’t that powerful - he seemed limited to one target at a time. As the psychic focused on Cosmic Kid, he dropped his hold on Blue Star’s mind, but it was a smart call as Blue Star’s body was mangled. There wasn’t much he could do, but there were hardwood floors in this office. Blue Star focused.

  “Jorge, hold him and I’ll blast the brat,” said Watts. But then all three of them slipped. Cosmic Kid skidded on the iced hardwood floors and fell into the hall. Watts slipped but caught himself on the file cabinet. Jorge fell to the ground, which broke his hold on Cosmic Kid.

  “That’s enough from you,” said Watts, flaring electricity at Blue Star. The pain was unbearable, but it ended when a desk crashed into Watts smashing him into the wall. Jorge was up though and staring at Cosmic Kid who managed to leap out of sight, breaking Jorge’s control.

  It was all going black.

  “Blue Star, stay alert – medical is on the way,” said Dr. Sterling in his headset. “I’ve lost Cosmic Kid’s signal. I need you to describe what’s happening so I know what’s going on, so I can assist.”

  Blue Star tried to focus. “Ah…the Kid threw a couch…Leprechaun down, but getting up…psychic going after him…” Everything started going dark again and he just wanted to sleep.

  “Wake up! Old guy! Cosmic’s bio-signs are faltering - I need to know what’s happening!” yelled Dr. Sterling.

  “What? Right,” mumbled Blue Star trying to focus. “Psychic leaving room, probably to find… Cosmic.”

  Blue Star’s senses sharpened and he yelled, “Kid – he’s a psychic!” He nearly passed out from pain, and the yell caused the psychic to turn and angrily stare at him, which only made the pain worse. He was dimly aware of Cosmic Kid charging into the room and Jorge, and the psychic being tossed through the windows of the office.

  “He needed some fresh air,” said Cosmic Kid, heading to the window to check out Jorge’s landing. “Ouch, I think he took out an azalea bush.”

  “Kid…Leprechaun!” yelled Blue Star weakly as he noticed that Kill O’Watts was pushing away the desk that had pinned him to the wall.

  Cosmic Kid ran forward, grabbing Watts. He tried to lift and flip Watts across the room, but electricity flared out from Watts’ body causing Cosmic Kid to stagger back. Watts shoved aside the desk, but was limping and looked mangled.

  Blue Star was fading again - everything was blurring. “Jacob, I have decided we shouldn’t date,” declared Dr. Sterling. “You’re really not my type, plus older men have endurance problems.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” snapped Blue Star with a flash of anger that brought him to consciousness in time to see Cosmic Kid throw a heavy crystal paperweight that hit Watts in the head. It made a loud cracking sound and Watts fell backwards.

  “I think he’s grounded now,” said Cosmic Kid.

  “He got him,” said Blue Star weakly.

  “Plus it’s all about sex with you,” said Dr. Sterling.

  “You’re insane!” yelled Blue Star.

  Cosmic Kid knelt beside Blue Star, pulling the first aid pouch off his utility belt and activating his headset. “Annie, we need an ambulance here. Blue Star is in bad shape.”

  “Already on the way, but he’s close to going into shock,” said Dr. Sterling.

  “Yes, if you keep hitting on me,” coughed Blue Star, who swore he could hear sirens approaching.

  “I think he is in shock,” said Cosmic Kid, giving him a shot in the arm.

  “What was that, Kid?” Blue Star asked in alarm.

  “It should boost your immune system and help with the pain.” Cosmic Kid checked gingerly to see which bones were broken.

  “Don’t worry about me – you need to find Roache,” said Blue Star. He had enough clarity to realize he was badly injured and that even if he survived, which wasn’t guaranteed, he might be done for the Season.

  “Nope, I’m getting you to the hospital,” said Cosmic Kid. “Supposedly, that will get me bonus points. I’m saving up for a toaster.”

  Chapter 23

  7:01 p.m., Tuesday, May 28th, 2013

  Avalon One

  Pacific Ocean

  “Yes, Ian, of course. We’ll begin immediately,” said Dr. Brandeis into the satellite phone. Apparently, West Pacific Supers were after Ian and he had called to order the immediate initiation of the Plan.

  “Tell him to lay low and try to get to Mexico,” called Erica who was sitting in a nearby chair cleaning her two pistols.

  “Ah, Ian, Erica says lay low and try to get to Mexico,” said Dr. Brandeis. “No, don’t worry, we’re all set to make the attempt, you just focus on yourself…well, we have a lot of work to do so it might take a couple hours…yes, I’ll email you any videos afterwards…yes, we’ll do that…alright, Ian, I have to go now…no, we’re going to do it…okay, bye, Ian.”

  “Ian does have a tendency to ramble,” said Erica with a bored yawn as Dr. Brandeis hung up the phone.

  “Yeah…Jorge and Kill O’Watts are probably in custody or dead; it was Blue Star and Cosmic Kid,” said Dr. Brandeis. He should have guessed it would be Cosmic Kid, who was apparently out to ruin his life. Pam wasn’t talking to him anymore. In fact, she had filed for divorce after she saw his picture in the West Pacific Times with Candy, Patrick, and Emily on the cruise ship. She hadn’t believed his protestations that Candy was really Cosmic Kid’s older sister. In a moment of true spite she had even peeled the bumper sticker off her car – the one he had given her back when he was in graduate school that read Love a Geologist and Feel the Earth Shake. Needless to say, the cruise hadn’t been a very relaxing vacation. Now here he was at the moment of truth.

  Avalon One, actually Platform DS-04X, was a massive semi-submersible deep sea platform that had been used by Dynamic Solutions for oil exploration, research related to aquatic engineering projects, and also as a test bed for new technologies. It had four towers, one at each corner of the square facility, which extended under water into two hulls which could be raised or lowered by ballast. Betwee
n the towers were four stories worth of research and operational facilities. The last three years of his life had all been focused on the Avalon Project. This had become his home away from home.

  “Trouble?” asked Gregory, entering the room, which was attached to the bridge.

  “Yes, Ian is on the run and West Pacific Supers probably know about the Plan,” said Dr. Brandeis glumly. “Ian wants us to initiate the project.”

  “We’re not ready. We need more time!” said Gregory.

  “No more time,” said Dr. Brandeis.

  “So are we going to try?” asked Gregory.

  “That’s the question,” said Erica.

  “I guess we could try to escape or surrender,” suggested Dr. Brandeis.

  “We might be able to get away,” said Gregory. “Order everyone to defend the platform and we all slip away; the odds aren’t good but it’s better odds than the Project actually working.”

  “Yeah, I guess so.” Dr. Brandeis was suddenly tired. He just wanted it all over one way or the other.

  “Noah, I’m letting you make the call, because with Ian out of the way this is now your plan,” said Erica. “Personally, I think we should try it.”

  “Erica, the odds aren’t good,” said Dr. Brandeis.

  “So what?” laughed Erica. “No matter what, we’re going to prison, but this is your chance to make geological history. I personally would love to tangle with West Pacific Supers and whoever else comes to get us. Let’s end this job with a bang.”

  “You have a death wish,” said Gregory.

  “Maybe, but aren’t we all curious if this hair-brained plan financed by Ian’s billions is actually going to work?” asked Erica.

  “It won’t,” said Gregory flatly. “We need at least another three months.”

  “It might work,” argued Dr. Brandeis. Part of him wanted to agree with Gregory and run, but another part of him, the part that was getting louder, thought that this had to end with a bang. After all, Erica was right: this would probably be his only chance to try out the Plan, prove all those skeptics over the years wrong, even Pam - to make geological history.