Not Your Backup, page 22
A shadow falls from above, and Emma grins. She always loved seeing Jess’ mom in action.
Li Hua lands fist-first, punching the street, and the asphalt buckles and shatters as she stands up and marches forward.
“Farha Rao on the scene here in New Bright City, where Starscream has apprehended Icebolt in the middle of an alleged robbery. Smasher, retired hero from Andover, Nevada has just approached and is walking toward us,” Farha announces, gripping her microphone tightly.
Li Hua strides down the street in her supersuit with regal strength in every step as she approaches the center of the square.
Emma’s not annoyed at how well it’s going; she’s not. It’s not as though they had an established hero like Smasher with them; they couldn’t have pulled off this plan.
Bells coughs, stepping toward Farha.
“What an honor! New Bright City, I’m being joined tonight by one of the most famous reporters in all the Collective! Wilton Lysander, thank you for joining me tonight.”
“Thank you,” Bells says with a grin. “I’m only too happy to mentor a young reporter. Oh my! What is happening back there? It appears Smasher is fighting our hero Starscream. Why?”
“Icebolt is innocent!” Smasher shouts, standing between the two meta-humans.
“He very clearly just stole from that bank; look at that pile of money!” Starscream says, gesturing from the money to the camera.
“What are you doing?” Icebolt hisses.
“You don’t have to do this,” Smasher says. “The entire system is a lie!” She picks a streetlamp off the sidewalk with little effort, easily bends the metal device, wraps it around Starscream’s arms, and continues to bend it around his mouth so he can’t shout any sound blasts.
Icebolt wavers, as if he’s unsure what to do. Emma watches avidly, hoping that he’ll join the Resistance. It just takes a little nudge, that’s all.
Li Hua steadies him by the shoulder and nods at him.
Bells strolls over to them, ever so casually. “Smasher, can you tell me what is a lie? Why did you trap Starscream? He clearly was apprehending Icebolt for robbing that bank.”
Li Hua levels Icebolt with a look. “You’re new, aren’t you? Fresh out of Meta-Human Training? Did they promise you everything? And this was the only way to do it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Icebolt says. “I’m a villain. I just robbed that bank.”
“But why?”
“I’m evil?” Icebolt glances at her and then the camera and gives Farha and the crowd in the square a pleading look. “This is a test, isn’t it? I am so sorry! I forgot my backstory! Please let me try again; I’ll do better this time!”
Starscream, behind his metal cage, blinks.
A shadow falls upon them, and Mistress Mischief is floating down, her cape fluttering elegantly around her. “I can definitely explain.”
“Mistress Mischief!” Farha gasps, gesturing at her crew, but they’re already filming.
Mistress Mischief stands next to Smasher and gives her a cordial nod. “It’s a familiar script, at least to the villains. You are blissfully unaware, locked into your role as this town’s hero, but when the previous villain stopped doing anything for you to stop or fight, they had to bring in someone new.” She jerks her head at Icebolt.
Emma notices the slight bit of recognition on Bells’ face, but as Lysander he can’t break the act. Bells knows who Icebolt is.
“So tell me, Mistress Mischief, aren’t you and Smasher sworn enemies? Nemeses?” Bells tilts his head.
“That’s what the League would have you believe. We’re actually great friends now, but for the longest time, I, as a hero, thought that my job was to protect my city from villains like Mistress Mischief and Master Mischief.” Smasher looks squarely in the camera. “But the Mischiefs both were assigned to Andover to wreak havoc in order to provide the public with engaging superhero drama.”
“What do you mean, assigned?” Farha asks.
“It is a way of keeping meta-humans in check,” Mistress Mischief says. “To keep us occupied with our roles.”
Icebolt looks from Smasher to Mistress Mischief and then back to Farha and the camera. “So this isn’t a test. Wait, Harris isn’t here?”
“Your handler isn’t here,” Mistress Mischief says gently.
“But he—” Icebolt looks about, frantic.
Farha swoops in, standing next to Icebolt and grinning at the camera. “Do you mean Charles Harris?”
“Y— yes?”
“I’m Farha Rao, reporting live from New Bright City, where Icebolt and Mistress Mischief are talking about their experience as assigned villains. Icebolt, how long have you been working with Charles Harris?”
“Uh— three months?” Icebolt speaks into the microphone, blinking awkwardly.
“And can you tell me more about what that entails?”
“Well, uh— sometimes he calls me, but they leave me assignments through a dead drop—”
Jess’ voice crackles over the line. “Bells, you gotta wrap it up; Authorities are coming.”
Emma starts the engine.
Smasher and Mistress Mischief exchange a glance. “Well, thank you for hearing us out today,” Mistress Mischief says, nodding at Farha as she levitates herself away.
“We’ll be going now!” Smasher says, picking up Icebolt and Starscream before running off down the street.
“I’m Wilton Lysander, always the first on the scene with breaking news!” Bells winks at the camera. “A shocking reveal! Meta-humans forced to stage fights as heroes and villains for public consumption! Back to you, Farha!” He bobs his head and bows to her before rushing off.
Farha gives him a look that makes Emma chuckle; Bells is being over-the-top again.
Farha turns back to the camera to finish her broadcast. “You might know Charles Harris from the few statements he’s given as a representative of the Department of Meta-Human Affairs and also as a faculty member at the Meta-Human Training Center, but here we have it: Icebolt was assigned to fight Starscream today.”
“Heading to my motorcycle now,” Bells mutters over the radio as he runs. “Clear?”
“Head east before ducking into the Underbright entrance off Fourth street,” Jess says. “My dad is supposed to pick me up.”
“I haven’t seen him,” Emma says. “He didn’t come with us today! Isn’t he in Herndan with Deirdre?” Emma spots Jess on the corner waving frantically. She revs the engine, zooms over, and stops in front of her.
“Come on!” Emma flings open the car door just as the gray-clad uniformed figures of the Authorities rush around the corner.
“Stop that broadcast right now!” an official shouts.
Farha Rao draws a circle in the air, gesturing quickly to her crew. “What seemed to be at first a straightforward robbery from the meta-human Icebolt is actually a scripted attempt! What a scandal! You heard it here first from Farha Rao!”
A van pulls right in front of Emma’s car, and all of Farha’s crew piles in with Farha last. She catches Emma’s eye and grins, waving her microphone.
Emma waves back.
“Stop right there! You are under arrest for violating the terms of your broadcast license.” They stop short, staring at Jess and Emma. “Wait a minute—”
Jess climbs in and slams the door shut. “Go!”
“My turn,” Emma says, gripping the wheel with exhilaration.
She leads them on a merry chase through town and then races into the Unmaintained lands.
“They’ll run out of charge in a few miles,” Emma says confidently.
“Turn right up ahead!” Jess announces.
Emma swerves to the right, speeding down a cracked street flanked by derelict buildings. She keeps driving, pressing forward, always staying ahead. The Authority vehicles are top-of-the-line, but no cars are made to travel this fast and this far when there’s no need to leave the city.
“There aren’t any charging stations ahead, and they know that,” Jess muses. “Just keep going.”
Sure enough, the other vehicles fall back, and it’s just Emma and Jess whooping triumphantly in the Unmaintained lands.
Ch. 16…
Emma’s good mood deflates as soon as they get back to Christine’s.
Deirdre stalks toward them before they even open the doors. She purses her lips into a thin line and narrows her eyes.
“Good job, Compass,” Deirdre says as Jess hops out of the car.
“Uh, thanks.” Jess reaches over and squeezes Emma’s hand. “Don’t let her get you down,” she whispers.
Emma smiles at her in appreciation. “Thanks.”
“Your parents want to see you in the communication annex,” Deirdre says to Jess.
“Oh, okay—” Jess glances at Emma.
“Go ahead,” Emma says.
Jess gives Emma one last look before dashing out of the carport.
Deirdre turns on Emma, straightening her spine as she looks down her nose. “What were you doing on the mission?” Deirdre demands.
“Helping.” Emma crosses her arms.
“You could have gotten hurt. You distracted the others from their tasks.”
“I was an integral part of the escape,” Emma snaps.
“Stay out of it,” Deirdre says. “For the last time. Go help Chloe set up a chore wheel or something. This is meta-human business only.”
“Meta-human business only,” Emma mutters to herself, flicking through the computer console. “The Resistance is my business,” she says, kicking a file cabinet. She glances at her ear-set radio on the table. It’d be pointless putting it on; everyone is too far away anyway, gone on a mission, carrying out the plans; Emma’s plans.
She scrolls aimlessly through the decoded notes from the data recovered from Orion’s research, flicking through incoherent ramblings. It seems as though all of this wasn’t even decoded; Brendan must have looked at it and just decided they were useless, random phrases floating ominously through the void.
Emma sighs. The past few days have been a whirlwind of activity; every single day, a team goes out to interfere with a battle, often coming back with another meta-human. Among the new recruits are Icebolt and Fireheart; everyone is thrilled, but Emma can’t find it in herself to care.
She should be excited, she should be thrilled, but every time she tries to get involved, Deirdre suggests tasks like filing, and she keeps everyone so busy that no one notices that Emma’s being left behind. Emma doesn’t have the heart to tell them either. Brendan’s busy developing new communication tech, Abby’s off working on her mecha-suit again, and Bells and Jess are leading most of the teams taking on the League.
It seems as if it’s going well until Vindication shows up. He ruins everything; he’s too powerful, and somehow the Authorities always aren’t too far behind him. He’s only appeared a few times, but no one has been able to challenge him. Even Mistress Mischief, who’s been able to hold her own against Captain Orion, had to retreat because Vindication would just keep attacking, often without regard for the safety of onlookers. It would take several people just to get people out of the way of his lightning blasts.
Vindication is also unpredictable; no algorithm can predict where or when he will appear.
“He can fly; he’s got lightning and energy blasts,” Emma mutters to herself. “He’s stronger than Orion.” She sighs. What is she even doing? Is this pointless, continuing to plan?
No.
Emma is Mastermind.
They need someone who could defeat Vindication. Bells is their strongest, but his abilities aren’t geared toward direct attack. They need someone whose destructive power could actually take him out. Even Smasher’s super strength and Mistress Mischief’s levitation powers aren’t a match; they run out of power too soon, and somehow Vindication only appears at the end of a battle when Smasher and Mistress are already tapped out. The few times they’ve tried to save their strength, Vindication never showed.
Emma paces, thinking about the origin of meta-abilities themselves. They need someone who is powerful and has stamina, like someone directly descended from one of the original meta-humans on the SS Intrepid who were exposed to the brunt of the X29 flare.
Or maybe one of the originals themselves.
But they’re all dead.
Wait! Are they?
There’s a knock on the door. Jess leans against it with a concerned look on her face. “Hey, have you been here the whole time?”
“Yeah, I was just looking through the data Claudia sent to us.” Emma yawns.
“Cool,” Jess says. “Hey, I know we haven’t been able to hang out since the missions really started taking off, but you know that everyone appreciates you, right?”
Emma pats Jess’ hand and attempts to smile at her. “Thanks.”
Jess sits down next to her, squinting at the screen. “Did you find anything interesting?”
Emma shrugs, scrolling through her notes, lingering on Orion’s thoughts about destroying the League. “Hey, do you have a copy of your old history textbook somewhere?”
“I think so,” Jess says, pulling up her tablet and flicking through it. “Yeah, there’s a bunch of books I threw on here so I could study while at the Rockies.” She pulls up the history book, chuckling as she hands it to Emma. “I meant to, but never got around to it.”
Emma takes the tablet, searching for information on the Intrepid. “You know all the meta-humans your parents have been recruiting? You’ve been looking for people on the Registry, people Orion was targeting for experiments. What about people who have been forgotten, people incredibly powerful, people who were on the Intrepid?”
Jess tilts her head, taking this information in. “Gravitus is dead. I don’t think anyone else on that ship became a hero.” She frowns. “One became a professor? And one— oh! Do you remember the Mountain?”
“No?” Emma’s never heard the name.
Jess nods, tapping a name on tablet. “That’s her: Patricia Southard. She was one of the astronauts on the Intrepid. She was powerful, too, but disappeared after the League was formed. Abby had this comic of the Mountain and Gravitus fighting crime together. They had similar powers, I think.”
Emma reads the passage.
During the X29 solar flare, cosmic radiation catalyzed the latent meta-gene in 0.0001% of the population, resulting in the first wave of meta-humans. The types of abilities and the level of intensity varied in genetic expression, and it was clear that this was not a mere fluke in human history, but a milestone in the evolution of the human genome. The meta-gene is still under close study as monitored by the Department of Meta-Human Affairs, but the effects of X29 will be seen for generations to come.
The astronauts on the SS Intrepid during the incident were exposed to a significantly higher amount of cosmic radiation, resulting in four of the crew exhibiting extremely heightened meta-abilities. Lieutenant James Oliphaous, who later became known as Lieutenant Orion, was one of the first A-class heroes in history. His superstrength, speed, flight, and manipulation of heat were among the most powerful abilities ever recorded in both intensity and class level. Dr. Olivia Tham’s precognition and fortitude were the driving force behind the success of the formation of the North American Collective in the wake of the disasters. Vance Stackson’s ability to manipulate soil, earth, and the force of gravity itself and Dr. Patricia Southard’s ability to transform bedrock made them a formidable team as Gravitus and Mountain.
“Tham was a key part in creating the Collective and probably the League itself,” Emma mutters. “It would be hard to convince her that the League is wrong. What if she came up with some of the staged battle ideas?”
Jess shrugs. “In any case, she’s a retired professor at Port Clarion University. I’m not sure she’d be able to take on Vindication in a fight, though.”
“Yeah,” Emma agrees. “They’d be like, over a hundred years old, all of them, if they went through X29 as adults.”
“You still think Southard would be a good idea?”
“Hey, my abuela Claudia can totally handle herself,” Emma says. “I think Southard is a great idea.” She scans the rest of the page and does a quick search through the book, but Southard’s name never comes up again. “That’s all it says about her. What happened?”
“The League did,” Jess says. “I mean, the whole fight between Lieutenant Orion and Gravitus was about the formation of the League and the purpose of it. I’m guessing Mountain wanted to stay out of it. There aren’t any mentions of her aside from that one old comic; it’s like she disappeared.”
Emma snaps her fingers. “That’s it. We need to get her.”
“Absolutely not,” Deirdre says. “Look, it’s great that you found this information, but no one has heard from Southard in over fifty years.”
“Right, so not even the League remembers her or cares,” Emma says. “But if we got her on our side, told her about the League— I mean, she was there when it formed! She could tell us all sorts of inside information.”
“It would be a pointless mission,” Deirdre says. “We do not have the time or resources to devote to looking for a woman who doesn’t want to be found.”
“I could start.”
“You do not have the authority to lead any missions,” Deirdre sniffs dismissively, handing her a datachip. “Now these are reports that need to be sorted.”
Emma is done. She’s done playing nice, done asking for permission, and done with people judging her value. She knows what she’s worth and she’s going to prove it. She throws the duffel bag of clothes into the car and double-checks her provisions: the solar panel for the car, protein packs, and other dried foods. She’s ready. They don’t need her here. She’s better off going and getting information, being useful in the ways she knows she can be.
