Sidedish #6 Impact

 

Mikey

 

“Here on the right. Right there.”

 

Mikey pulled the van into the dingy alleyway. Following Pebbles’ instructions, he’d driven them far past the nice hotels and apartment buildings that clustered around Ashwood St’s terminus. The apartment buildings in this area of the sector looked not only drab and boring, but run down and not well cared for, revealing a truth that Mikey was far more familiar with. Past the veneer of lights and bustle around the Red Zone and Ashwood St, E12 was just like all the other outer sectors.

In other words, poor.

 

He brought the van to a stop in front of an open garage with two thugs waiting just inside. Once upon a time he would be doing his absolute best to avoid all eye contact with the two intimidating men, but after the past few weeks and the events of today, he couldn’t care less. Even if he did care, seeing the two men jump when Pebbles slammed the door open and yelled orders at them would have put his fears to rest. After all, the thugs weren’t wearing masks. Mikey was.

 

The two men quickly came over and carefully helped Pebbles move Buzzer into the building. Buzzer had woken up while they were driving, but had been uncharacteristically quiet for most of the ride, a fact that seemed to worry Pebbles far more than if Buzzer had just stayed unconscious. They disappeared into the darkened inner workings of the garage, and it was only when Pebbles exited the building twenty minutes later that Mikey realized he’d just been sitting there clutching the steering wheel, while the engine idled.

 

Pebbles re-entered the van, “Oh good, you kept it running. Gotta say, that was some good-ass driving out there. You’ve got the makings of a real getaway driver in you.”

 

Odd. It hadn’t felt that way to Mikey. His beginner skills had barely felt up to the task, and if the roads hadn’t been nearly empty he was sure he would have hit someone. Hell, he almost hit one of those flaming ghost cars he kept seeing.

The damn thing had honked at him.

 

“Hey, we gotta go move this van to someplace with shielding, away from here. I don’t think anyone hit it with a tracker but you never really know, was quite the melee. You wanna drive the rest of the way? You’ve definitely earned it.”

“Uh…”

 

Mikey blinked stupidly at Pebbles, somewhat realizing that he was supposed to answer, but his brain was taking an extended vacation right now.

 

“…Ah. Shoot. Deep breaths kid. Danger’s over. Just breathe deep and let the adrenaline wear off.”

 

At first Mikey was confused about what Pebbles was trying to say, but soon realized that he’d been clutching the steering wheel in a death grip. After prying his hands open, he got himself together enough to switch to the passenger seat, and let Pebbles take the wheel.

 

“You wanna take a few minutes before we go? Or you could stay here with Buzzer if you aren’t up for more driving.”

“Um… nah. Nah I’m good. We can go.”

“You sure? No shame in bowing out if you aren’t feeling it. Best never to head out without your whole head in the game.”

“Oh. Is hiding the van going to be risky?”

“Nah, but like, this whole escapade kinda proves how fast things can go belly up don’t ya think?” replied Pebbles, making a swirling motion with his finger for emphasis.

Mikey huffed, “No kidding. ‘Just go pick them up. It’ll be quick. Oh and take Zaps!’ “

“HA! That was your first mistake right there. Thank god you didn’t let him drive. I’ve seen him crash a bike so hard it exploded.”

“What? No way.”

“Yup. Tried to supercharge one of those damn electric motor bikes. It worked at first, but it was tinker made, so when he crashed the thing going fifty the motor went up like a damn firework!”

 

Mikey laughed at that. Maybe a little harder than the story really warranted, but right now it really helped unravel the coil in his gut.

 

“Ahaha…heh… ahh, you know what? I’m good.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I mean, this isn’t the first time something like this has happened either. Might as well get used to it right?”

“Pfft, energy blasts and concrete flying over your head aren’t something you’re supposed to get used to,” said Pebbles, pulling the van out of park and driving down the alley.

“You seem pretty used to it though.”

“Ha! I rest my case.”

 

They drove in silence for a while. True, Mikey could sometimes hear sirens and such in the distance, but Pebbles was an expert at knowing where and when to turn to avoid the prying eyes of the law, and with the roads almost empty had free reign to pull the van into whatever spot he needed. Perhaps dodging the cops wasn’t exactly a skill to be proud of, but it was certainly paying dividends right now.

 

“How was Buzzer?” asked Mikey, mainly to get his mind off the topic of police.

“Mhm? Oh, he’s fine. Bad concussion, but it’ll heal. His damn helmet failed if you can believe it. Shock absorbers basically ground to dust because of all that screeching the vampires made. I swear, the only reason he’s allowed to be a bonehead is because he’d have died a million times over without that mask.”

“…Shouldn’t we all have them then?”

“HA! You think these things grow on trees? This is supremo tinker tech right here, the kind you steal secret military parts to make. You won’t find anything like it on any shelf on the continent. One-size-fits-all, collapsable, doubles as both a gas mask and light correction goggles, with climate control detection so smart, it knows when it’s safe to open the mouthplate, and when it should just let you choke on your own vomit. All that, and it’s still strong enough to take a full clip at point blank range from a semi-auto wielding dust sniffer, ask me how I know. You want one of these, you sign up for power work and make the big bucks body blocking bullets. Ha, say that five times fast.”

“Oh, wow,” Mikey blinked, “I didn’t really realize what goes into these things… so what’s up with the radios then?”

“HA! I know right? Might as well be walking around with a damn walkie talkie taped to my face! And we had to beg Socket for that. Beg. Don’t ask him about it unless you’ve got an hour or two to spare. He’ll go on about technomancers and government spooks, and why analog is safer than digital and other complete bunk. He’d be living out in the desert with a tin foil gizmo strapped to his head if it wasn’t for this job. ‘NO EVIDENCE! LEAVE NO EVIDENCE YA BLARNEY GITS! YOU WANT A TECHNOMANCER UP YER ARSE?!'”

 

They had a good laugh at Pebbles’ poor imitation of Socket, and soon the van pulled into an abandoned recharge station, where Pebbles parked and hid the van inside the attached derelict car-wash.

 

“All kidding aside,” said Pebbles, suddenly subdued, “These masks, they’re… a promise. From Hellion to us. We step up and do the dirty work, the body blocking, that little above and beyond that no paycheck really covers for. But we aren’t disposable,” he tapped the mask at his forehead, “This proves that. If you want to wear the skull, you gotta dance with the demons.”

 

Mikey didn’t really know what to say to that. Dramatic much?

 

“That said,” continued Pebbles, returning to a normal tone of voice, “It’s not like we don’t pass out regular helmets! Which I notice you aren’t wearing! You just forget to bring your life-saving gear?”

“Uh, I, I thought we were just going to pick you up quickly.”

“Tut tut tut. Rookie mistake. Flying debris and other hits to the head are the number two way to die on the job. You can run to a hospital with a damn harpoon through your shoulder, but if you’re all confused with a concussion you’ll never find your way there. Always grab a helmet before you leave. Here,” Pebbles hit the dashboard with a fist, and the glove compartment popped open, but with an attached secret section about the size of a medium trash can, “Most of these things have a place you can hide stuff. They’re for hiding guns and drugs and other illegal shit really, but you can stick your helmet in there for safekeeping if you don’t want to look like a helmet head while you’re doing chore work. It’s different between all the cars because it’s a bunch of spastic tinkers working on them, so put in some time and learn ’em. Might save you an awkward trip to the station if the C’s pull you over.”

“Huh. Uh, that’s pretty, um, neat…” mumbled Mikey. It was like spy movies, but for thugs instead. “So… what’s the number one way of dying?”

“Flying debris and bullets and stuff through the torso. That’s why we give out the flak vests.”

“A-ah, that makes sense…”

“…”

“…”

“…You are wearing your flak vest under there right?”

“I… I might have forgot.”

“By the walls, you’re crazier than I am! I’m over here shitting my suit with a helmet on, and you’re just over here free-stylin’ it. Stop waving them brass balls around and let’s head inside and grab some grub. Don’t know about you, but henching makes me hungry.”

“Ah-ha, heh, right. Food.” As if his stomach would ever let him eat again with the massive knot in his gut. He was going to develop ulcers or something.

 

They exited the van. Pebbles went over to a section of the wall that separated the car-wash from the main building, where an ancient, rusty door stood fused shut. He tapped his helmet to some graffiti in the shape of an HH, and the door popped open without even a squeak. Pebbles pushed it open, revealing a darkened hallway.

 

With a glowing, floating skull in the middle of it.

 

“AH! What the hell!” both Pebbles and Mikey leaped back from the apparition, before realizing what they were actually looking at.

“T-Tofu?” asked Mikey.

“Hello Mikey. Hello Pebbles,” Tofu replied.

“Jesus kid! Damn near gave me a heart attack! What the hell are you doing standing around here in the dark like a damn spectre!?” asked Pebbles.

“I’m trying to figure out how to update the Heroverse Wiki. Several facts are severely out of date,” replied Tofu. It was his cell phone that was lighting up his mask, making it glow. “I managed to escape a few minutes after you left, then headed for the nearest safehouse after evading the authorities. Did you have trouble? I didn’t expect to arrive before you.”

“Not so much no. Had to drop off Buzzer with a quack real quick. Was a bit out of the way.”

“Ah. Then Buzzer will be alright then?”

“He’s fine. And you? Where’s Zaps by the way?”

“Zaps is sleeping further in the building. He overstrained his power.”

“Yeah, it really takes it out of him. Well hey, seems we all made it out a-okay then. We should celebrate! And turn on some damn lights… don’t suppose there’s still food in here?”

“Yes. I had some eggs.”

 

They settled into the safehouse to wait for the lockdown to end and the heat to die down, not really celebrating, but telling jokes, eating snacks (someone had stocked the pantry with a few cans of salted peanuts), and listening to Tofu’s insane retelling of events after they left, to de-stress after the harrowing events of the last few hours.

 

“Nah, no way. You beat Suprex? I don’t believe it,” said Pebbles.

“It was difficult, but once his kayfabe power is neutralized, much of his super strength goes with it. That’s why I’m trying to update the wiki, they have several misconceptions on how his power works.”

“Uh, Tofu, I don’t really think you should be putting up his power details on the wiki,” said Mikey.

“Yeah, that’s the kind of information you keep close to the chest, and sell to the highest bidder,” confirmed Pebbles.

“That’s not what I meant!”

“Eh, it doesn’t really matter either way,” Pebbles dismissed, “Everyone in the business who matters already knows about Suprex’s power. The real trick is actually outdoing Suprex at his own game, he’s a master showman, juggles minions like us for breakfast.”

“I think I can handle him.”

 

Pebbles threw a peanut at Tofu, who caught and ate it. Soon after, their cellphones rang, with an announcement that the lockdown was ending.

 

“Oh shoot, already? Didn’t expect that. Place your bets people,” said Pebbles, getting up from his seat to turn on a small television on the counter, an ancient looking flatscreen that must have been repaired dozens of times from the look of it.

“What are we betting on?” asked Tofu.

“How badly they mangle the narrative,” answered Pebbles, “Five bucks says they pin the whole thing on us.”

“What!? yelped Mikey. Images of his face plastered across the news as individual #1 flashed through his mind.

“I bet five dollars that they give insufficient information about the situation,” declared Tofu.

“Oh pfft, come on, of course they are. Pick something we don’t know.”

“Ah… they will… show my fight with Suprex?”

“HA! They’d better! Need to see this shit.”

 

They clustered around the television to see the news. As always, the general media during the lockdown had been suppressed in order to allow emergency services full control of the situation, and now with the lockdown lifted each news channel was scrambling to be the first to report their version of events. Mikey had been fifteen during the last Odd Summer, and he remembered thinking how redundant these news channels were, considering Central gave their official report to the public after every lockdown. Now that he’d lived through a lockdown from the other side of the law, he wondered; would Central’s report be just as biased as the other news channels?

 

As these reports almost always went, a Central official dressed in a sharp suit approached a podium with the most somber expression they could muster.

 

“I will now give the report for the lockdown of Sector E12, which started at twelve o’ seven p.m, and ended at five thirty-four p.m. The incident was first reported by the hero Dark Gauntlet, who encountered what he described as a ‘vampire swarm’ at eleven fifty-one a.m. A request for back-up was made and upon an assessment of the nature of the threat, a lock-down was immediately initiated.”

“Hah. Take a drink gentlemen, there’s the first fib,” mocked Pebbles, “Buzzer and the sweeper team went missing a lot earlier than that. Probably took over an hour for the E12 officials to decide the revenue loss was worth it.”

Mikey cringed internally, “Would they really delay the lockdown for that?”

“Of course. Them more than anyone, their main revenue source is in another sector. Getting E12 to lock down is probably like pulling teeth.”

Oh, right. The Red Zone.

“Remember last summer with the lizard thing?” continued Pebbles.

 

Mikey shivered. He remembered the lizard thing. E13 hadn’t locked down for it, and he remembered the video of Brick wrestling the two-story monstrosity to the ground and the hero team keeping it contained and away from civilians. It was one of the first big threats of that Odd Summer, but while the thing had looked terrifying (and given him nightmares), it ultimately wasn’t a city threatening disaster.Nothing Kandor and his team couldn’t handle.

 

The disaster that had killed Kandor came later.

 

“Kandor screamed into his com for like an hour to lock down when that thing crawled out and nothing,” said Pebbles, “Here’s what they didn’t say on the news: the thing kept growing bigger! Doubled in size every few minutes. It was the size of a mouse when it first started tearing stuff up. Hellion finally had to go out herself and blast it before it got too big to kill.”

 

Mikey was stunned. He remembered the pictures of the burned-out monster husk on the news after the incident. That had been Hellion?… Well, it kinda made sense in retrospect. None of the E13 heroes had flame powers or used explosions.

 

“Wait, how do you know all that? Were you there?”

“Oh. Um. Well,” Pebbles coughed, “You see, at this store where they were keeping this thing, they kept it in the backroom right? Illegal pet and all that. Well I was looking for the bathroom, and I see this thing in this tiny-ass cage, and it’s food bowl is empty, and it’s water is all dirty, so I think: poor thing needs something to drink. So I give it some of my whiskey, and I guess, it like, doesn’t react to it well? Allergies maybe? But it was still drinking so, I, well… you know…” Pebbles trailed off at the blank stares Mikey and Tofu were giving him.

 

They went back to following the report.

 

“…During which the power grid suffered a critical failure, resulting in a blackout several blocks wide, hindering emergency services. Investigating heroes found several ‘minions’ at the scene, and were then ambushed by an unknown assailant. Heroes who arrived to reinforce found the suspects attempting to kidnap downed personnel-“

 

“WHAT!? THAT’S BULLSHIT!” cried Mikey. He couldn’t believe this! They were twisting it all!

“Ehhhh,” said Pebbles, waggling his hand in a seesaw motion, “Actually, I’ll give them that one. Kinda caught us red-handed grabbing the heroes.”

“But, we weren’t kidnapping them! We just couldn’t leave them with that monster on the loose! We weren’t going to do anything bad to them!… Right?”

“Course not, but intent don’t mean shit without a psychic on the scene. Hell, from the way things looked I’m surprised they didn’t just start blasting. I would’ve. Lockdown isn’t the time to pussyfoot around”

 

Mikey silently absorbed that explanation for a bit. Admittedly… yeah. He supposed it looked pretty bad from the heroes’ perspective.

 

“…But still, they’re also implying we caused that blackout. We had nothing to do with that.”

“Uhhh…” Pebbles and Tofu exchanged a glance, “…well, down in the sewers we needed to shut off the power, and there was this gizmo, and well, you know how finicky those are…”

“…”

“…Tofu did it.”

“Hey!”

“Would you guys keep it down? I’m trying to sleep,” interrupted Zaps, entering the room, “OH! Is the news on? Did they show the part where I started blasting?”

“Uh, not yet Zaps,” said Pebbles, grateful for the distraction, “They’re still doing the report. “

“Ah. Well lemme know if anything cool happens.”

“It might. Tofu says he beat Suprex.”

“What!? Fuck off, no way!”

 

Zaps decided to stay up and watch, not wanting to miss any of the “good stuff,” although he complained about the report not showing any pictures.

 

“…Whereupon the threat was finally contained and destroyed, thanks to a group effort consisting of Magenta, Brick, Hydrox, Essetec, and Polka-Dotis, despite interference by the notorious villain known as Warhead. Efforts then shifted towards tracking and wiping out the remaining vampire remnants…”

 

“None of those other heroes are documented as working in the surrounding sectors either,” complained Tofu. He’d been scrolling through the different hero wikis on his phone, and seemed to be really irritated by the lack of proper documentation. Mikey wasn’t surprised though. Those wikis were fan run, and while the popular, big name heroes like Kandor or the Guardian might have a fully fleshed out bio, there were a lot of minor heroes who were constantly popping up, getting reassigned, doing team-ups with nearby sectors, getting rebranded with new looks or names… and, of course, dying.

 

“… and in closing, let us please observe a moment of silence for the many men and women who lost their lives today, as well as the brave heroes who fell in defense of the city. Dark Gauntlet, Avos, Ignista; you will be missed. Thank you for your service.”

 

The group fell silent around the television, and Mikey was only a little surprised when Pebbles and Zaps raised the beers they’d been drinking in a gruff, yet respectful salute (that Tofu then tried to imitate). It was an odd juxtaposition seeing the minions, criminals by profession and lifestyle, honoring fallen heroes, but at the same time, the heroes had died in defense of everyone, so Mikey supposed it wasn’t that strange. Maybe stuff like this wouldn’t happen normally, but Odd Summer didn’t play fair, and it was heroes who stepped in time and time again to even the odds.

 

The report came to a close, whereupon the general media channels sprung into motion like a swarm of starving pack rats on a dropped cracker. Pebbles and Zaps kept flipping from channel to channel, trying to find the ones with the best footage of the fights. Many of the channels were displaying found footage of heroes fighting vampires, but the ultimate performance of the night came from an unprecedented full release of Magenta’s camera footage (with the audio only slightly garbled to protect sensitive information). It started when Magenta came around the corner of the building and spotted Tofu carrying Briarstone. Admittedly… yeah, Mikey had to admit that didn’t look good at all. Tofu was in full combat mode, the combination of his suit, mask, and spindly yet muscular limbs making him look truly sinister. In the video, Magenta called for Tofu to stand down (which he did) and then the footage went wonky for a second, like seeing it through water, when Magenta got hit by an unseen super’s (the hiding vampire’s) ultrasonic blast. Suprex then tackled Tofu away from Briarstone, who Magenta proceeded to defend from multiple blasts that the vampire unleashed from a hidden vantage point… and electrical blasts from Zaps, aimed at her specifically.

 

“WOOO! YEAH! You see that?! I’m on the news!” yelled Zaps, waving his arms like he was at a sports game. Pebbles, Mikey, and then Tofu all threw peanuts at him.

 

The rest of it happened mostly as expected. Magenta spent most of the ensuing scuffle between body blocking for her less indestructible teammates, and trying to find the elusive figure that kept firing ultrasonic blasts from inside the buildings, until the moment when she helped Brick capture Tofu. Mikey winced internally at the part where Magenta slammed into his friend after Brick chased him out of the building. Tofu had mentioned that in his retelling, but hadn’t really played up the impressive flurry of blows he’d unleashed on the hero in an attempt to get away. Magenta’s vantage point looked like she was trying to wrangle a demonic octopus.

 

Mikey favored his friend with a concerned glance, but Tofu was completely unphased, only half paying attention as he fiddled with his phone in an attempt to edit wikis. It was hard for Mikey to match the image of the sinister minion on the screen, with that of his friend there on the couch, nonchalantly messing with his phone.

 

Next, Warhead made his dramatic appearance on the screen, and Mikey felt his stomach do flip flops. Warhead was a boogeyman from Mikey’s childhood, constantly raising the stakes for heroes when he showed up to a fight, and lurking in people’s fears when he didn’t. More than one hero had left the cape scene dead or crippled thanks to Warhead, and it was only the fact he spent most of his time away from Fortress City that many an E13 resident could sleep peacefully. Mikey himself had watched Warhead’s final arrest on the news with Tim when they were ten years old, the two of them cheering as Kandor apprehended the menace. Seeing Warhead back near E13 had Mikey suddenly regretting everything, and Pebbles and Zaps seemed to be of the same opinion, although their fear stemmed from their assertion that Warhead was a hardass. Zaps was already lamenting the laps Warhead was going to make him run.

 

Finally, the camera revealed the super vampire for the first time, allowing the audience to see the vicious creature in full. Luckily it had attacked Hydrox first, who defended himself with barriers of water long enough to avoid being outright killed while the other heroes were distracted dealing with Warhead’s assault. From there, it used Briarstone’s strength and Avos’ flight to relentlessly pursue individual heroes, attempting to absorb more powers and turn the fight even more in its favor. Brick couldn’t keep up with its speed and flight, Hydrox’s waves weren’t powerful enough to drown it before it broke free, and even a few attempts by Warhead were stymied by an automatic barrier that seemed unbreakable, if limited. It was the combined effort of Essetec and Polka-Dotis that managed to bring it to a standstill, and allowed Magenta to deal the finishing blow, her forcefield interacting strangely with the auto-barrier in a way that allowed her to bypass it. The vampire died with Magenta’s fist going through one of it’s giant compound eyes, both their barriers mangled against each other like amoebas made of glass shards, until finally the vampire expired explosively, each of its stolen powers firing off at once and shredding Magenta’s arm to the bone before her forcefield could pop back into place. The last image from her camera was of the sky as she plummeted, the other two flying heroes racing to catch her. The footage ended with them managing to catch her safely before she could hit the ground.

 

“HOLY SHIT! DID YOU SEE THAT!?” yelled Zaps, suddenly breaking the hushed silence that had descended as the extraordinary fight reached its finale. Mikey realized he’d been holding his breath.

“Goddamn right I saw that!” said Pebbles, “That’s our hero! That’s E13 baby! E-THIRTEEN, E-THIRTEEN!”

Pebbles and Zaps began chanting like they were cheering a sports game, and when Tofu hesitantly joined in Mikey laughed and did so as well. Seeing the successful end to a lockdown was a relief they all felt after the danger of the past few hours.

 

“I don’t know Tofu, you’re gonna have to do a whole lot to top that one,” said Pebbles, going back to flipping channels on the television again. Multiple stations were still playing the Magenta footage, and a couple were playing other fights between various heroes and swarms of vampires, but after almost a half-hour of channel surfing, not a single channel had covered the fight with Suprex.

“Well shoot. Sorry Tofu, I guess they aren’t gonna release the footage,” said Pebbles, finally giving up.

“More likely they didn’t record it. The power was out in the building, and Suprex’s mask doesn’t have a camera from what I could tell,” replied Tofu.

“…So why did you bet they’d show it?”

 

Tofu shrugged, and then had peanuts thrown at him. Which he ate.

 

They eventually ran out of interesting clips to watch, but Pebbles claimed it was a bit too early to start driving around as a minion, and made a call to Rattleback to receive further instructions. After getting chewed out, he relayed that their choices were to either wait at the safehouse for the heat to die down, or risk sneaking their way back to E13 in their civilian identities. None of them had a pressing need to get back, so they decided to wait until night time. Hopefully by then the Red Zone night life would be out and about in full force once again, and they could become invisible in the traffic.

 

Tofu and Mikey decided to spend the time playing Gribblin Tamer on their phones, but when Mikey turned his on, he was bombarded with a deluge of delayed messages. He cringed, Tim had been trying to get a hold of him.

 

“I need to call Tim back real quick. He’s been blowing up my phone.”

“Alright.”

 

He called Tim back. The phone didn’t ring twice before Tim answered.

 

“HOLY SHIT, WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU DINGUS?!”

“Heh. Sorry man, I was at work when all the crazy started; I had my phone off and didn’t even notice at first.”

“Man, I thought you’d gotten yourself off’d by vampires or something. You did see the report right?”

“Yeah, I did. Vampire swarms and a super vamp.”

“Dude, you don’t even know! The forums are blowing up about it! Powers that copy powers are like, omega rare!”

Mikey grinned at the comment. This was one of the times where he did know.

“I know man. You’ve quoted all the stats to me. Is that what you’re aiming for next? Gonna get an omega copy power?”

“Man, screw you,” Tim laughed, “I’ll become a tinker yet, just you watch.”

“Ha, no worries man, I believe you.”

“…”

“…Tim? You there?”

“Yeah, I’m here… Hey, um, you saw the bit about Warhead right?” asked Tim, not half as exuberant as he’d been a second ago.

“Er, yeah I saw. Crazy right?”

“Right. Um… the thing is, it kinda freaked out my parents. They’re saying they want to stay with my aunt for the whole summer, not just a week or two…”

“Oh. Well, that’s… I mean it’s not too bad?”

“What? Dude it sucks. We had so many plans. And I don’t just mean the stupid tinker thing, we were gonna search for apartments and stuff for college, remember?”

“Course I do man,” although it had sort of taken a back seat in his brain, “I’m just saying now’s not the time to be traveling around and stuff ya know? Batten down the hatches and all that. Besides, we can still do all that stuff, I just need to shuffle it around my job. I’m making mucho bank right now, so college is totally a go.”

“Mucho bank? At a warehouse?”

Ack! “Er, you know what I mean, enough for the first semester at least,” and the next two years easy if I play this right, “Plus, like you said, people are spooked and taking off, so they need hands more than ever.”

“Huh. Maybe I should apply.”

Fuckfuckfuck.

“Ha! You in a warehouse? Doing cave grunt work? Would your parents even let you?” Pleasepleasesayno.

“Hey, you never know, I could convince them to let me go to E13, alone, to work with you troglodytes… but nah, not my style,” laughed Tim. Mikey laughed too, but it was a bit strained.

“Anyways Mikey, I did want to ask… well, with Warhead, and that lockdown, and just, y’know, summer, I talked with my folks, and… if you wanted to, you could spend Odd Summer up with us.”

Mikey fell silent, stunned.

“Your mom too of course! We have the room… well, you’d have to room with me, and your mom could take my uncle’s study. I can’t promise it’ll be comfortable, but since it’s summer, sticking together is the important part right?”

Mikey broke into a smile. He’d put up with my mom? Wow, he really is worried.

“Hey, hey thanks Tim, really,” said Mikey, “but I think I’m good man. I can’t really quit the job yet anyways.”

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“Y-you sure?”

“Yeah. Look, I know Warhead is supposedly back or whatever, but that’s not my problem right? I’ve got a steady job, my mom’s boyfriend is out of the picture for good this time, and when Summer is over I’ll have enough that I can room with you wherever. I’ll keep my head down, and Summer will be over before we know it.”

“Well, if you’re sure…”

“I’m sure. It’ll be fine dude, promise.”

“Hmm, I dunno man. Did you know that sixteen percent of all super brawls start in a warehouse?” asked Tim, in a tone that let Mikey know he was back to joking and quoting crap facts.

“Ha! No worries, between me, Tofu, and all our fellow cavemen we can take on any challengers. Moving boxes make Mikey the strong strong.”

“Pfft, okay. Actually, is Tofu there with you now? He wasn’t answering earlier either.”

“Yeah, he’s here. He’s trying to figure out how to edit the wiki, says they are criminally out-of-date.”

“Ha! Damn right they are, Odd Summer’s messing everything up. Hey, I’m a content moderator on Heroverse, I’ll send him an invite to edit.”

“Cool, I’ll let him know.”

 

“… and what about Cin~dy?”

“What? She’s fine? What do you mean? Why do you ask?”

“You ask her out yet?”

“What?! No! I’ve known her like two weeks dude, she barely knows me.”

“Coward.”

“What makes you think I was even gonna?”

“Dude, you told her you listen to Mega-B00t and she didn’t run screaming.”

“Cause Mega-B00t is the shit and you know it!”

 

The two of them didn’t talk much longer, but that was fine, they would have plenty of time to talk later. Odd Summer would be over soon enough. All Mikey had to do was lay low, keep his head on his shoulders, and it would all work out fine. True, he wasn’t quite as confident about the whole Warhead thing as he’d led Tim to believe, but Mikey was a minion now, he and Warhead were technically on the same side. Besides, most of the people he’d met working as a minion turned out to be pretty cool, shattering his preconceived notions of ‘evildoers’ left and right.

 

So how bad could the guy be?

 

---

 

“Jalopy-Deathtrap, you are clear to land.”

“What was that tower? I’m sorry I couldn’t make that out, my engine is clanking too damn loud.”

“Land you banshee fart!”

 

Jonah Denver laughed, and guided his transport skimmer to the landing zone. To be fair, the old gal was indeed one of the oldest and loudest skimmers they had available, but Jonah wouldn’t trade her for the world. She might be loud, but that just meant whatever mechanical heart the wrench monkeys had given her was designed for power, not convenience, and that suited Jonah just fine. The old bird was a sturdy bitch, and had dusted off from more than one kerfuffle while wiping an ant off her windshield. He was headed back to base after one such encounter right now, a half-platoon of soldiers in the loading bay.

The ants had gotten the other half before he arrived, unfortunately.

But better half than nothing.

 

Jonah set the skimmer down right in the center of the pad, showing these other naysayers that the flying jalopy could too show as much grace as these newer models. He started to wind her engines down, eager to end his long shift pulling land-walkers out of the fire.

 

“Pilot, don’t cut your engine just yet,” came a new voice over the com.

“What’s that tower?” asked Jonah, dreading the inevitable answer.

“Got a priority package for forward base Bravo-Seven. Needs to head out asap.”

“Any reason why another bird can’t take it? Just finished ninth hour, bird needs polish.”

“All other skimmers are busy pilot. Keep spinning engines and await package.”

“Roger that,” load of bullshit. There were three other birds on the tarmac waiting to go that he could see. But those were the newer models.

“Hey Jonah, if you’re tired I can take this package,” said Davey Jesson, his co-pilot, “I’m only four hours since you picked me up.”

“Pfft, I’m still fresh as a daisy. And let you fly my baby girl? Hell hasn’t frozen over yet D.J.”

“Man, you know she’s been around the block a hundred times already.”

“Talk like that about my girl again, I dare you. I’ll drop you out the back, you picnic basket.”

 

Davey just smiled that shit-eating grin of his, acknowledging their back-and-forth. Jonah went back to his pre-flight checks. He put as much care into them as he always did, but then did them again to settle his nerves. Priority package? Forward base? Not risking a newer model? He knew what that meant.

The package was a Victor.

 

Thirty minutes later (priority, riiight), his suspicions were confirmed when eight soldiers in full battle garb escorted three men to the tarmac. Two of these three were guards for the third, their seven foot frames bulging with muscles an obvious indicator that they were silverbacks. Either low-calibre strength supes, or people hopped up on the government’s newest experimental formula, the means was irrelevant. What mattered was the heavy duty bolters each held trained on the third person, a Victor in a tinker made restraint jacket. They weren’t taking any chances with this one.

 

A criminal. A cowl. A Villain.

 

A kid.

 

They marched him over to the skimmer and loaded him into the passenger hold. Then the entire escort took their seats along with him. Seems they were along for the ride.

“You see that?” said Davey, making sure to use the pilot only channel.

“I’m not blind.”

“That was a kid!“

“I know.” Hell, he’s probably barely older than mine. Eighteen? Nineteen? If he’s twenty I’ll eat my boots with ketchup.

“Think they got enough babysitters on him? Jesus. Probably can’t even grow peach fuzz.”

“Don’t let looks fool you Davey,” replied Jonah, not quite believing the words himself, “If he’s here he’s still a Victor.”

 

As the mechanic/tinker finished checking the bird, and they were cleared for takeoff, Jonah’s thoughts uncharacteristically turned to his wife and boy back in Fortress City. Normally he liked to keep his head clear of distracting thoughts while in the air (keep work and home separate as it were), but the kid Victor in the back had him thinking of home. Odd Summer had ended a month ago, and as usual he’d spent it with his family, weathering the storm of bad news bulletins and disasters that plagued everyone during that time of year. He could have stayed with them this time…

 

But he was an army man, and the real work for the army came after Odd Summer ended, when all the beasties and monsters came crawling out of the woodwork with new powers and mutations and tried to start putting down roots. This would be his third tour of duty, each of which consisted of either two years, or just six months if you toured the Panama canal after Odd Summer. His first tour had been before he met his wife, the second while his son was still a baby. This would be his first down in Panama. When he’d accepted this posting, he’d been thinking of the short six months before he’d get to go back home. His boy wasn’t going to be a boy much longer, and he wanted to take the time to be there with him while he was still young enough to care about having his old man around. He smiled at the memory of the grouchy teen, grumbling goodbye and kicking him in the shin with a “you’d better come back.”

He would. He’d make sure of it. But for now that army money was too good to pass up, and his grouchy teen had his sights on a good school. Damn kid is better at math than his old man ever was, that’s for sure.

 

The first half of the flight was uneventful, the kid in the back (the Victor, Jonah reminded himself. The Victor) not causing any trouble. Unfortunately it seemed they wouldn’t make it all the way to Bravo-Seven without complications. A curl of smoke was winding its way up into the sky. He diverted course just enough to check it out. You didn’t ignore the unusual out here.

 

What the hell is that? We’re way too far north for…

 

He was wrong. They flew over the next elevated hill and suddenly had a great view of the expansive lowland valley.

Ants. Lots and lots of ants. They blanketed the valley from one end to the other, like a living, chitinous carpet, the smallest the size of a person, the biggest ones the size of tanks and small houses, but that wasn’t what caused Jonah’s heart to fall into his stomach.

They had a queen with them. The first he’d ever seen in person. This wasn’t just a raiding party, this was a colony expansion, and they were well past the frontline! The reason why was immediately apparent as well, all of the ants were translucent. Each looked as if it were sculpted by an expert glassworker, only a slight shimmer inside each where the also translucent organs shuddered and jiggled, or where some food had yet to be digested. In the daylight it was easy enough to make them out, but at night they would be practically invisible to casual flyovers, which was how they must have snuck past the forward bases. The only reason Jonah had spotted this group, the only reason, was because of an all-terrain supply truck that had had the misfortune of being in their path. Why the truck was all the way out here he couldn’t begin to guess, but the unfortunate soldiers had been encircled completely, and either the truck had been damaged enough to burn, or the doomed soldiers had set it affire themselves in some last-ditch effort.

 

His copilot Davey immediately started yelling into his headset, “SKIMMER THIRTY-FIVE TO ALL POINTS! WE ARE NINE NORTH BY EIGHTY-TWO WEST! I HAVE EYES ON AN ANT QUEEN! REPEAT, I HAVE EYES ON AN ANT QUEEN!”

 

Jonah felt sick that there wasn’t a damn thing they could do for the few soldiers somehow still alive near the truck, but even worse than that was the thought of a queen getting this far north, and a mutant at that. They didn’t have any kind of ordnance on the transport skimmer that could kill a queen, nor could they stick around and follow the queen’s progress indefinitely. Already he could see a fresh batch of eggs being pushed out by the bloated insect, and it was likely a few of those would be fliers, growing and ready to fly within the half-hour. Now that her cover was blown, it was likely the queen would stop restraining herself and go into full production right there. If she managed to dig in and hide, it might be weeks before she could be dislodged, and the entire time she would be able to send those damn stealth ants in pincer movements against the forward bases, or maybe birth her own Daughter and try to sneak another colony even farther north!

 

He circled while Davey communicated with whoever he could get a hold of, trying to gather as much footage as possible with the skimmer’s cameras. It wasn’t much, but maybe the intel would be useful to the eggheads later on. If only there was a clear spot where he could get close to the burning truck-

 

*BANG*

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

 

What the fuck?!

 

Those had come from his bird! From inside the transport! Were they shooting their bolters out the fucking loading bay door?! It wouldn’t do crap at this height.