King of Superheroes 3, page 17
“Wow…” Rhiannon sighed as she sat up against my headboard, and I noticed she’d pulled one of my t-shirts over her naked torso.
“If you keep treating us like this, we’re never gonna let you leave this bed.” Hannah grabbed a cup and poured herself some coffee while still fully naked.
“Mhmm…” Rhiannon moaned through her mouthful of bacon.
“Don’t tempt me.” I grinned, and both girls giggled.
We finished eating and downing our coffees, and then we readied ourselves for the day.
“Let’s go find the others,” I said, and we headed out to the common area.
Frank and Danny were sitting at our usual table enjoying their own breakfasts, so the girls and I joined them.
“Hey, thanks for yesterday, dude,” Frank said as he greeted me with a fist bump. “I slept so damn good last night.”
“Yeah, man, we had such a good day,” Danny added.
“Tell me about it…” Rhiannon sighed and dreamily rested her chin on her hand as she gazed out of the window.
“No worries.” I stifled a chuckle and rubbed my neck. “You guys are my family now.”
As we happily recalled yesterday’s events, Dahlia appeared at the head of our table.
“Morning, guys,” she said in a sing-song voice, but then her expression grew serious, and she sighed. “I have some news.”
“Doesn’t sound like good news,” Hannah noted with a cocked eyebrow.
“It’s… yeah, it’s not…” Dahlia faltered. “Well, there’s good news and bad news but, it’s news you should hear, anyway. We gotta go and see Eddie.”
“Is that the bad news?” Frank joked.
“Hey!” Dahlia narrowed her eyes, but a faint smirk tugged at her lips. “He’s a good guy, he’s just…”
“High-strung?” Danny laughed.
“Yeah, let’s go with that,” Dahlia snorted. “I’ll bring the van around and meet you guys outside in five, okay? This isn’t an official mission, so you don’t have to bother with your super suits.”
“Yes, ma’am,” our healer friend said.
“The peace was nice while it lasted,” Frank sighed. “No rest for the wicked, or whatever they say.”
We rose from the table and met Dahlia outside of the Academy, and after a short drive outside of the city, our mentor drove down the familiar dirt road to Eddie’s trailer.
There was a twinge in my chest as I realized I needed to tell Dahlia about the files from the Antis base, and it was probably best I did it before we spoke to her brother. She needed to know for her own safety, and Eddie also needed to be informed for the same reason.
I’d rather Dahlia told her brother while I was there, so I could soften the blow. I knew his anonymity was important to him, and I felt bad that I was the reason he’d been found out, but it wasn’t like any of us had asked for this. We just had to make sure we handled it as best as we could, and that meant sticking together.
“Dahlia.” I turned to our mentor once she’d killed the engine outside of her brother’s trailer. “There’s something I should tell you before we go in.”
Her brow furrowed with confusion, but she nodded in response.
“You guys wait here,” I said to the others. “I want to talk to Dahlia.”
My mentor and I got out of the van, and then we walked a few meters away from the vehicle.
“What is it?” she asked as she turned to me with a frown. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes and no,” I began and decided to get right to the point. “When we staked out the Antis base, we found something...”
“What?” she asked.
“They had files on all of us filled with in-depth information about all of our lives,” I said and then paused before continuing. “Including you and your brother.”
“Okay,” she said and rubbed her hands on her jeans. “Thank you for telling me, Mark. I’ll handle it.”
She’d schooled her face into a professional expression, but I could see the worry in her dark eyes, so I reached out, took her hand, and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She jumped in surprise at the touch, but she squeezed back and flashed me a faint smile before letting go.
I waved to the others to let them know we were done, and after they clambered out of the van, we all headed toward the trailer.
Before we reached the metal tube, the door swung open and revealed Dahlia’s hermit of a brother.
“Family! Friends!” he greeted and seemed uncharacteristically welcoming. “Please accept my invitation and join me inside.”
Frank and Danny shared a look between them and raised their eyebrows.
“Hey, Eddie.” I smirked.
“Hello, my good friend,” he said with just a hint of thinly-veiled sarcasm.
Eddie wasn’t my biggest fan, but it seemed he was trying to be civil, maybe for his sister’s sake.
“Is he okay?” Hannah mouthed to Dahlia, and our mentor just shrugged.
Once we were all inside the dusty, stale trailer, Eddie insisted we stand before him as he sat on his couch with his hands behind his head.
“I have some news,” Eddie began.
“Yeah, your sister mentioned,” Frank said plainly.
“Yes, right, well, let’s get down to it,” he continued. “The hack that was put on my sister’s van…”
He let the trailer fall silent.
“Yes?” I prompted.
“I’ve been trying to figure out how it works,” he said finally. “And I’ve cracked it.”
“What did you find out?” I asked as I perked up a little.
“It’s an extremely sophisticated hack,” he admitted. “Whoever did it is very intelligent, and very sinister.”
We all shared looks among each other before he continued.
“Essentially, it works as an electrical parasite, as most hacks do,” he began. “So the person responsible is definitely a proficient Conduit, like myself, and would’ve fitted it into the van, which in turn would’ve overhauled the motherboard completely, meaning it was able to be controlled from an external input.”
“Sounds complicated,” Danny observed.
“There’s more, but the rest is probably just technical jargon to you,” Eddie said with a shrug. “But long story short, and to make this Frank-friendly, a bad man did a bad thing and made the van bad.”
“Now you’re speaking my language.” Frank laughed.
“How are the hack and the mind control connected?” I asked.
“Well, I don’t think it’s a coincidence,” Eddie scoffed. “The person who was controlling my sister’s mind would’ve had help. The accomplice would’ve known how to hack the van and instructed the person controlling Dahlia on how to do it. Which means there were two people behind this working together to pull it off as well as they did.”
“Who would go to such lengths?” Hannah turned up her nose.
“I think we know who,” I said darkly. “Or at least an idea of who they’re involved with.”
“People like this are the exact reason I chose to go off-grid,” Eddie said. “Power falls into the wrong hands, and when they misuse it, we all pay for it.”
I looked at Dahlia and saw that her expression had grown sad. There was definitely a deeper story behind Eddie’s reclusion, and I knew the news we had for him was only going to worsen his paranoia.
“Anyway,” he continued, “I actually tracked the person who made the hack, which will also lead us to the person responsible for controlling my sister’s mind.”
The trailer fell silent for a moment. We were all weighing up whether our ignorance was blissful enough to not have the cold hard facts.
“Who?” I asked and broke the tension.
“It’s someone who goes by the name Alvaro,” Eddie said.
“Wasn’t he in the file we swiped?” Hannah asked as she turned to me with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah, you’re right,” I said. “So, he’s an Anti.”
“I’m pretty sure the info in the file said he was a Conduit, like Eddie said,” Rhiannon added. “He’s able to manipulate electricity. I think he’s been working as a technician with the local government, but we’d need to double-check to be sure. There were so many names, I could be confusing him with someone else.”
“We’ll make sure we get a good look at the profile on him when we’re back,” I said.
“Right, and if we don’t act soon,” Eddie continued, “this could go even further and potentially affect all of the fledglings and mentors at the academy. These Antis would know where all the fledglings are at any given time, which would be no bueno for you guys.”
“Well, how do we stop it?” Frank asked.
“I’ve developed something that will work as a portable blocker, so to speak,” Eddie explained. “I do need to run some further tests, but once I’ve done that, it should be good to go, and it can be installed into your supersuits.”
“I’ll talk to Amanda,” Dahlia said with a determined expression. “I’ll get an appointment set up so you can come in and work with her.”
“Okay.” Her brother nodded.
“We appreciate your hard work, Eddie.” I reached out to shake his hand, and I half expected him to bat it away, but to my surprise he took it.
“I’d still rather not have to,” he admitted with a half shrug. “But I know it’s helping a good cause.”
“Was that a compliment?” Hannah grinned.
“Don’t push it, Blondie,” Eddie said, but he smirked. “But if me not wanting you to be killed by a group of Antis is a compliment, then yeah, knock yourself out, and you’re welcome.”
“Thanks, Eddie,” I said, and we all turned to leave the trailer.
“Hey, what files did you find?” Eddie spoke up.
“Uh…” Frank faltered and shot me a panicked glance.
“You guys go ahead,” Dahlia said quickly. “I need to talk to my brother...”
We swiftly left the siblings to it and waited outside of the trailer as Dahlia had a hushed conversation with her brother.
“I told Dahlia about the files,” I told my team, and they all suddenly understood.
After a few minutes, the hushed silence in the trailer was broken.
“I can’t believe this!” Eddie’s voice bellowed before becoming hushed again.
“Knew he’d be pissed,” Frank muttered and kicked at a rock in the dirt.
“I’d be pissed too if I had to live out in this dump,” Hannah said as she checked her nails.
“Let’s wait in the van,” I said, and then we all made our way over and climbed into it.
Soon after, Dahlia appeared from the trailer and slammed the door behind her. A scowl was etched across her face, but it smoothed out as she reached the van.
“Everything okay?” I asked as she got behind the wheel.
“It will be,” she sighed and raked a hand through her black hair. “He’ll get over it.”
“You sure?” Hannah asked.
“Yeah.” She nodded. “Besides, if it gives him a reason to get out of this shithole, I think it’s probably a good thing… Anyway, let’s get back.”
Dahlia turned over the ignition, and the van roared to life. Then we drove back to the Academy.
After we arrived, we headed straight to the fifteenth floor. The elevators sighed open to the common area, and we filed out.
“Hey,” Danny suddenly said. “What are those?”
We looked to see where our healer friend was pointing and saw envelopes waiting on the floor outside each of our doors.
We all walked over and grabbed them before reconvening in the common area. The envelopes were sealed shut with an intricate wax stamp with the initial ‘A’ in calligraphic writing, which piqued our curiosity even more.
We exchanged looks between us before pulling out the thick parchment paper with even more calligraphic writing etched into it.
“It’s an invite,” Rhiannon said as she continued reading the page.
“From Amanda…” Hannah added.
Chapter Thirteen
Omega (and team),
I would like to formally invite you all to join me in my celebration this evening as we welcome the drop of my new line.
The soiree will be hosted at my offices at 7 p.m..
I look forward to seeing you all there.
Yours,
Amanda
P.S. Dress to impress.
“A soiree?” Hannah observed. “For clothes?”
“She is well versed in all things extravagant,” Rhiannon gave half a shrug. “I think it could be fun.”
I couldn’t help but smile at my Tempest girlfriend’s positivity. One of my favorite things about Rhiannon was how she could always find the silver lining in anything. It was especially refreshing in the climate we were dealing with.
“Do you think we should go?” Frank asked and looked at me.
“I don’t see why not,” I said.
“Won’t Pyro be there?” Danny asked as he placed the invite back into its envelope.
I chewed the inside of my cheek while I considered the possibility of running into Pyro.
Part of me wanted to go in guns blazing now that I knew he was planning to take out me and my team, but the other half of me knew a soiree with ball gowns and bow ties was probably not the time for it. By now, he would’ve heard about the damage to his base out on the Emerald Coast, but I’d be surprised if he was out there with a broom and rifling through the ashes. Swanning about in a suit was more his style than getting his hands dirty.
The last time we saw Pyro in the flesh was when he hosted a training session at the beginning of the year. He was exactly what you’d expect a world-famous movie star would be as he sheep-dogged a bunch of overenthusiastic fledglings. Self-righteous, arrogant, and just an all-around douchebag. Still, even with all of that, I wouldn’t have taken him as the evil dictator type.
But if he was going to be at Amanda’s event, holding back was definitely going to be hard. How was I supposed to be in the same room with him without confronting him? I hadn’t stopped seething since I found out his plans about the cleansing, and I felt sick to my stomach at the thought of someone so twisted casually walking among us and acting like nothing had happened.
“It could be a good opportunity to see how he’s acting, especially in that kind of environment,” I finally said as I scratched my head. “But let’s see what Mori thinks.”
My team agreed with my suggestion, and we made our way to Mori’s penthouse. As soon as the elevator dinged open, the famous Dreamer appeared looking dapper as always, and he ushered us to take a seat in his living room.
“How can I help you?” he asked as he adjusted his cufflinks.
“We received an invite from Amanda,” I explained. “She’s holding a soiree tonight.”
“Ah, yes,” he began. “I received the same invitation. Amanda is a… prodigal woman, but I suppose she’s earned the right to be. You seem hesitant?”
“Yeah, it’s just…” I faltered. “It’s likely Pyro will be there, right?”
“It’s definitely possible.” Mori nodded, and his expression grew more serious. “He’s in with that crowd, so it wouldn’t surprise me. And if he does make an appearance, I strongly suggest you don’t try anything. We don’t need anyone to get caught up in any crossfires that could occur from that interaction. Do I make myself clear?”
“I don’t think we’re the ones you should be worried about,” Frank scoffed.
Even though it was often mistimed and just as poorly received, I appreciated our redheaded friend’s lack of hesitation to say what we were all thinking.
“He’d be very stupid to try anything with such a big audience,” Mori said. “Which, as we’ve seen so far, doesn’t seem to be his style. Anyway, if he does try to pull anything, there’ll be enough eyewitnesses to put him away for good.”
“Don’t we have enough evidence already?” Danny asked with a frown.
“The files you swiped from the Antis base are a solid start,” Mori began, “but it’s still not enough evidence as it’s all currently completely circumstantial.”
“Circumstantial?” Frank repeated.
“Yes,” Mori affirmed. “Pyro could argue the Antis are after him, too. And even with what Mark overheard in the Antis’ thoughts, it would be your word against his, which will never hold up in the eyes of the law.”
“What’s circumstantial about population cleansing?” Frank countered.
“And what about the hacker?” Danny pointed out. “Surely that works in our favor, he pretty much straight-up admitted Pyro is affiliated.”
“You and I know that, yes,” Mori said before his lips thinned. “But, unfortunately, and coincidentally, it seems twenty-four hours after the hacker was taken into custody, he was found dead in his cell. At this time, his death is not being treated as suspicious, and they’re currently ruling it as a suicide.”
“Fuck…” Hannah said under her breath.
The news all took us by surprise, and we all sat silently as we took it in.
Although it was unexpected, there was something about it that wasn’t sitting right with me. Mori was right, it was far too coincidental that the hacker was suddenly dead now that he’d been captured and taken into custody. My guess was either he was instructed to kill himself, he’d staged it, or someone else was involved behind the scenes. Or maybe Pyro decided to put an end to his brother after failing him. Whatever it was, it was definitely suspicious.
“Well… then what kind of evidence are we waiting for?” I asked to get us back on topic.
“We need something more concrete before we’re able to take him down properly,” Mori said.
“Take him down?” Frank asked as his eyebrows shot up his forehead. “I think we should just take him out. Even behind bars, he’s got too much luxury given what he’s got planned for all of us.”
“As I said, that’d be entirely unwise,” Mori cautioned, and he glanced around at me and my team before continuing. “Mark, I trust you’ll keep your team in line.”
“Yeah, of course.” I nodded and shot a look at Frank, who lowered his eyes. “We’re just all still pretty pissed after the stakeout.”
