Team Up

by Lucas Flint

  “Oh, they’re new friends of mine,” said Lauren. She let go of Genius and gestured at the two. “The guy in the helmet is Beams, while the other guy is Hypno, who claims to be a G-Man agent.”

  As soon as Lauren said ‘G-Man Agent,’ Genius, Bait, and Switch immediately stepped back. Genius even placed a protective hand on Lauren’s shoulders and brought her back with him. Their eyes were fixed firmly on Hypno, who, as usual, just sat there with a calm smile on his face. And, though they were all focused on Hypno, Beams had a feeling that they didn’t trust him any more than they did Hypno.

  “What’s a G-Man agent doing here?” Bait said, not even bothering to hide the disgust in his voice. “Was he working with the super hunter we just took out?”

  “Actually, I am a prisoner just like your friend Lauren,” said Hypno. He raised his shackled wrists. “See? Prisoner. I have also been hit with a powerless dart so I cannot use my fantastic powers of hypnosis to make you do my bidding. So I would say that the three of you are safe from my devious brainwashing powers.”

  Beams honestly couldn’t tell if Hypno was being sarcastic or not, though it didn’t really matter, because Genius, Bait, and Switch looked like they had taken everything Hypno said completely seriously.

  “I don’t recognize him from the leaked G-Men member files we got recently, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a G-Man agent,” said Genius. “I’m not sure why they would chain him up along with the other prisoners, though.”

  “Maybe it’s a trap,” said Switch. “We all know how sneaky the G-Men can be. I bet he’s only pretending to be chained up and powerless so he can infiltrate our group and kill us all.”

  “No, he’s definitely powerless,” Lauren insisted. “I saw him get shot with a powerless dart, just like I was.”

  “Indeed,” said Hypno. “You can even ask my friend Beams here for a testimony. You’ll back me up, right, Beams?”

  Beams nodded. “He’s telling the truth. He’s not a plant by the Sagan administration or anything like that. He’s in the same boat as Lauren and me.”

  Genius looked at Beams oddly. “And who, may I ask, are you? You’re not G-Men, that much is obvious. And you seem a little too young to be INJ or NHA. An Academy student, perhaps?”

  “None of the above,” said Beams. “I’m … not from around here. I barely understand what is going on, but one thing I can assure you is that I am not your enemy. You have to believe me.”

  Beams met Genius’ eyes for a long moment. He hoped that Genius would understand what he was trying to say without actually saying it. If Genius was one of the leaders of the Dissidents, then it was in Beams’ interest to get on Genius’ good side. Besides, he had a strange feeling that Genius would specifically understand that he and Hypno were not from this universe, even though he didn’t say it aloud. Why he thought that he wasn’t sure. Perhaps Genius just came across as more intelligent than either Bait or Switch.

  Finally, Genius broke his gaze and nodded. “Very well. You two can come with us back to our base. You can tell us all about where you are from and how you got here later. For now, we need to hurry, because the more time we waste here talking, the more likely it becomes that the government will notice one of their hunters is missing. Let’s go.”

  -

  Beams assumed they would walk or maybe drive to wherever the Dissidents’ base was, but instead Genius gathered everyone in a circle and told them to hold hands. Beams found himself standing between Hypno and Lauren, who held his hand perhaps a little quicker than she should have. But Beams didn’t have time to ponder that, because as soon as everyone was making physical contact with each other, Genius twisted his belt buckle.

  A second later, Beams found himself standing in a bare, dimly-lit room that looked like the basement of an abandoned building. He blinked a few times, trying to make sense of what just happened.

  “Did we just … teleport?” said Beams, looking at Genius.

  Genius nodded and gestured at his belt buckle. “Yes, courtesy of my Teleportation Buckle. A personal invention of mine, which has saved my life and the lives of others on more than one occasion.”

  “Cool,” said Beams. “Ever thought of mass producing and marketing it? You could probably make a boatload of money selling Teleportation Buckles.”

  Genius stared at Beams as if he had just said something dumb. “Perhaps after we overthrow Sagan and restore America to some semblance of sanity, I will consider selling my very powerful and potentially deadly weapons to the general public. There’s no way that could go wrong.”

  Beams flushed in embarrassment, while Switch said, “I don’t know, Genius, I think he’s got a point. The Dissidents sure could use the money.”

  “I didn’t ask for your opinion, Switch,” said Genius sharply. “Besides, the Dissidents have plenty of money coming in from our allies. There’s no need to engage in business, not that we could given how we’re technically criminals.”

  “So,” said Hypno suddenly, before anyone else could respond to what Genius just said. He was looking around at the bare basement, a puzzled look on his face. “Where, exactly, are we? The headquarters for the Dissidents?”

  “Not exactly,” said Genius, shaking his head. “It’s one of our temporary hideous in New York. We have several dozen hideouts scattered around the city for just these sorts of occasions. This one is located near Central Park.”

  “We don’t even have a permanent headquarters,” said Bait, shaking his head. “Too dangerous.”

  “Why?” said Beams curiously.

  “Because that would make it too easy for the Sagan administration to crack down on us,” said Genius. “Though Triplet and I are the official leaders of the Dissidents, our rebellion is very decentralized. We have small groups scattered all across the country working in their own ways to oppose and undermine the Sagan regime. I suppose we could gather together in one location for a final battle, but that would probably just result in us being crushed by the Army. Better to remain decentralized and independent and only come together every now and then for specific jobs.”

  “Why don’t we continue talking in the living room?” said Bait, stretching his arms. “This basement is too cramped for my tastes.”

  Genius nodded in assent and walked up the stairs to the door at the top, with everyone else following behind him. The six of them emerged into an empty hallway of what appeared to be an abandoned house, with creaky floorboards and peeling wallpaper on the walls. They entered the living room, which seemed to have seen some use given how some of the furniture had clearly been cleaned recently, though much of the furniture and windows still had thick layers of dust on them. On the wall beside the door, above the light switch, was what looked like a family photo, depicting a tall man, his pretty wife, and their young boy who was probably about ten or eleven standing together wearing their Sunday best. The whole place smelled of dust and unused furniture, though it felt haunted to Beams.

  “This is your hideout?” said Beams, looking around the room. “It looks more like a house.”

  Genius took a seat on one of the few cleaned chairs, while Bait stood beside him and Switch leaned against the wall next to the door. Genius folded his hands in his lap and said, “This house used to be my childhood home, but Sagan doesn’t know that, so it’s the perfect place to hide whenever we need to make a run into the city. Not to mention it’s dilapidated outer appearance makes it unlikely anyone will stop by for a visit unless they’re a thief looking for an easy steal, I suppose.”

  Switch grinned. “And if some thief does try to break in, well, he’s gonna learn why he shouldn’t.”

  “Please, take a seat,” said Genius, gesturing at the sofa directly across from him. “And tell us your story. We’re interested in hearing what you have to say.”

  Beams and Hypno took a seat on the sofa. Lauren also sat with them and, unless Beams’ eyes were playing tricks on him, she seemed to lean toward him ever-so-slightly. It occurred to Beams that Lauren might
have had a crush on him, though he pushed that thought out of his mind in order to focus on the current situation.

  “Now, tell us where you’re from,” said Genius. “And I mean where you’re really from. No lies. I’ll see right through them.”

  Beams’ eyes widened. “Do you have telepathy?”

  “Nope,” said Genius, shaking his head. “Just a very good and well-developed internal lie detector honed from years of use.”

  Beams licked his lips. He glanced at Hypno, who just shrugged as if to say You can tell the story. I’ll just interject when necessary.

  So Beams took a deep breath and, looking at Genius, said, “We’re from another universe.”

  He expected Genius to look at him as if he was crazy and maybe even accuse him of lying. It’s what he would have done if some stranger he just met claimed to be from another universe.

  But then Genius nodded once. “I figured as much.”

  “Wait, what?” said Switch, looking at Genius. “How did you figure they were from another universe? Are you sure your lie detector isn’t broken?”

  “It’s working perfectly fine, Switch,” said Genius. “A few things tipped me off that they weren’t from our universe, chief among them being Hypno here.”

  “Me?” said Hypno in surprise. He put a hand on his chest. “What did I do that gave away our true nature?”

  “Nothing,” said Genius. He leaned forward, his fingers steepled. “In this universe, you’re dead.”

  “Oh,” said Hypno. “Well, may I ask who killed me?”

  “I did,” said Genius, again without any emotion.

  Hypno suddenly leaned away from Genius and gulped. “Um, I don’t suppose you would like to relive that particular memory of yours, would you?”

  “No, I wouldn’t,” said Genius, sitting upright again. “I only killed you in this universe because you were one of the agents sent to apprehend me and Triplet. It was either kill or be killed, but I can tell you’re not with the Sagan regime, so no hard feelings, I hope.”

  Hypno wore a very uncomfortable expression on his face as if he wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

  Then Genius shifted his attention to Beams. “You, on the other hand, I don’t recognize. I suspect you’re not even from the same universe as Hypno.”

  “Wow,” said Beams. “How did you guess?”

  “Your powers still work despite the fact that you were hit with the same powerless darts as Hypno and Lauren,” said Genius, tilting his head to the side. “In all my years as a superhero, I’ve never met any superhuman who is immune to the effects of powerless gas. Even Omega Man in his heyday could be rendered totally powerless by the most minimal amount of the stuff.”

  “You’re right,” said Beams, seeing no reason to lie. “I come from a universe where superpowers aren’t inborn like they are here or in Hypno’s universe. I gained my powers from an external source, so that’s probably why the gas doesn’t work on me.”

  Lauren looked at Beams with wide eyes. “Whoa. I’ve never met a superhuman who got his powers from an external source.”

  “Being able to use your powers even after being sprayed with powerless gas,” Bait mused from his spot by the door. “That would be very useful, right, sis?”

  “Useful? It’s a game breaker,” Switch replied. She glanced at the oddly glowing gem in her chest. “Wonder if our Blood Gems would allow us to trade with him or not.”

  “We can figure that out later,” said Genius. “For now, I am curious to know how you two ended up in our universe. Based on how confused you seem, I can guess it wasn’t intentional.”

  “It definitely wasn’t,” said Beams, “though it’s a long story.”

  “Long and complicated,” Hypno added, “not much of a challenge for you, of course, Genius, but it is definitely not very simple to sum up.”

  “Oh, don’t worry,” said Genius. “We have plenty of time to chat because we can’t put the next phase of our plan into action for another couple of hours, at least.”

  “Plan?” said Beams. “What plan are you guys talking about?”

  Genius folded his arms across his chest and sat back. “We’re going to assassinate President Sagan today. And you two, I think, are going to help.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Bolt suddenly awoke with a start. He sat up, panting and breathing hard, sweat running down his forehead. He felt like he had just woke up from a terrible nightmare, though he wasn’t sure what it was about. He had a brief mental image of the Dread God rampaging through New York City, felling entire buildings with one blow and slaughtering thousands of innocent people as easily as a human stepped on a bug. He also thought he saw the Young Neos—led by his girlfriend, Blizzard—leading the charge against the Dread God, only to get killed in the most brutal ways imaginable.

  Already, however, the images from his nightmare were slipping through his fingers like sand, leaving him with nothing but an unsettled feeling that he couldn’t explain in words.

  It must be my subconscious at work, Bolt thought, rubbing the back of his head. I’m worried about the Dread God and what he may be doing to my universe. I’m worried that my friends might not be able to stop him or that they’ll get killed. Especially Blizzard. God, she must be worried sick about me. I didn’t even tell her I was leaving Hero Island, much less my universe. She’s going to kill me when I get back, I just know it.

  Shaking his head, Bolt tried to remember why he was unconscious in the first place. It took him a moment, but soon he remembered that Rubberman had driven him and Shade to a back alley where he sprayed them with a foul-smelling knock out gas. Bolt couldn’t remember what happened after that, but he guessed that he and Shade must have been knocked out by the gas.

  But where is Shade? Bolt thought, looking around at his surroundings.

  Bolt sat in what looked like a completely transparent cage. The ceiling and floor were thick concrete, while the walls on all sides were some kind of transparent glass. On the other side of the glass, Bolt saw a set of elevator doors that were currently closed, with the words ‘LEVEL THREE’ written above them in a glowing font. A touch screen control panel stood off to one side of the elevator doors, perhaps used to control the elevator.

  “Welcome back to the world of the living, Bolt,” said Shade’s voice to his right. “I thought you would never wake up.”

  Bolt looked to the right and saw Shade sitting in the cell next to his. She sat with her back up against the wall and her arms folded around her legs, which were brought up to her chest. She did not seem hurt, but she was scowling as if she was unhappy about something.

  “Shade?” said Bolt as he stood up. His movements were stiffer than usual, probably an aftereffect of the gas. “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah, I’m unhurt if that’s what you’re asking,” said Shade. She nodded at the cage. “But I’m stuck like a rat in this stupid cage.”

  Bolt looked around. “How long have I been out?”

  “I don’t know,” said Shade with a shrug. “I just woke up myself about ten minutes ago, give or take. Hard to say, because my phone was taken from me when we were knocked out. At least, I assume so, because when I tried to look at it when I got up, it was missing.”

  Bolt quickly checked his body for his gadgets. He was relieved to find that his earcom had been left alone, but his phone was missing as well. “Rubberman must have taken them off us.”

  “Real super of him, eh?” said Shade, shaking her head. “Not that I blame him. He probably doesn’t want us calling help. Not that we could, granted, given how we’re in a completely different universe, but I see the logic behind it anyway.”

  “Same, but it doesn’t change the fact that we need to get out of here,” said Bolt. He glanced at the cage walls. “Looks like glass. Have you tried breaking out yet?”

  “Yeah, but they’re practically indestructible,” said Shade. “I slashed at them with my shadow tendrils, but they don’t even leave a mark on them. I think they might be
bulletproof glass or something even stronger.”

  “Well, maybe I can break them with my fist,” said Bolt, punching his fist into his other hand. “I’m a lot stronger than you, after all. It won’t take much from me to smash through them.”

  Bolt walked up to the glass walls of his cage and slammed his fist against them as hard as he could. His cage shook upon impact but otherwise stood firm. It didn’t even crack under his fist, which surprised Bolt because his super strength had fueled that punch.

  Stepping back, Bolt said, “What is this stuff made of? Indestructonium?”

  “How am I supposed to know?” said Shade. “All I know is that it’s really tough. I think we’re stuck here until Rubberman or whoever comes down and lets us out.”

  Bolt looked at Shade curiously. “Can’t you use your shadow travel powers to escape?”

  “That requires there to be actual darkness for me to use,” said Shade. She gestured around her very well lit cell. “The lights in here are so bright and well-positioned that there aren’t any shadows for me to use other than my own. But I can’t use my own shadow to shadow travel for the same reason you can’t pick yourself up off the floor with your hand.”

  “Just our luck that they’d put you in the cell with no shadows,” said Bolt. He took a step back and held up his hand, which began crackling with charged red lightning. “My fist might not be able to break the walls, but maybe a lightning bolt will shatter it.”

  Right before Bolt could test that theory, however, a soft ding came from the elevator doors on the other side. The elevator doors opened and three figures walked out of the elevator.

  The first one Bolt recognized as Rubberman. The superhero looked a lot better than he had the last time Bolt had seen him as if he had gotten a chance to shower and nap at some point. But he walked rather timidly as if he was afraid of waking up a lion, and from what Bolt could tell, it was the woman walking beside him who inspired those feelings in him.