West Pacific Supers: Rising Tide (44 page)

“You’re leaving,”
she told Paul. She grabbed him by the shoulders and flung him down the stairs.
There was a sickening thud a moment later as he hit bottom and she winced when
she heard him scream, but that just meant he was still alive. Hopefully he
could manage to get out the door.

Starfish was right
beside her. This time he grabbed her around the throat, lifted her up, and
slammed her repeatedly into the wall. She felt the plaster cracking behind her.

“You know,” he told
her, “my experiments on normal humans have not been yielding the desired
results. I’ve been debating how to acquire a mutant volunteer. How fortuitous
that you came along.”

She brought both
knees up and kicked hard at where his genitals should have been. His yell of
pain was immensely gratifying. He dropped her and she rolled to the side. “I
guess you still have something down there,” she said. She could hear the sound
of deadbolts unlocking; perhaps she could make it to the door after all. She
moved towards the stairs but Starfish grabbed her with a roar and tossed her
across the room. She slammed into a fish tank and felt her chest buckle with
the impact.

“Stop playing around
Rachel,” said Starfish coldly as he advanced on her. “You have no way out.”

“There’s always a
way out,” muttered Seawolf. She heard the door open; Paul was out.
My turn.
She grabbed a
nearby coffee table and flung it at one of the small high windows, which
shattered as the table sailed through.

Starfish sprang for
her, but Seawolf was quicker. She jumped up to the window and hurled herself
through. Her hands were sliced on the broken glass and she dropped hard two
stories to the concrete sidewalk below. There were snapping noises as she hit
the ground; she had broken something, a couple of ribs probably and maybe her
arm. She scrambled to her feet, not bothering to look up at the window through
which she could hear Starfish laughing.

“I was wrong, there
was a way out,” he called. “At least you can deliver a message for me: give my
regards to Annie!”

Paul had gotten the
front door open and was crawling down the sidewalk. They didn’t have time for
that. She hobbled over and picked him up, pain contorting her body with waves
of nausea. It was a struggle to cross the street and by his breathing she could
tell that he was barely conscious.

“Stay with it,
Coastie
,” she growled. When they finally reached the Jeep,
she propped him against the vehicle and fumbled through his pockets for the
keys.

“Get in,” she
snarled when she got the door open. She pushed Paul through to the passenger’s
side, an action that nearly caused him to pass out. She didn’t have time to be
gentle. She started the car with one hand and autodialed her HoloBerry with the
other. “Annie,” she breathed when the call picked up. “8643 Coastline Drive.
It’s Starfish. He’s gone supervillain.”

12:16 a.m., Saturday, August 3rd,
2013

8643 Coastline Drive

West Pacific, CA

A
traitor in their midst: it was the dark secret of the Industry that many of the
worst supervillains began as superheroes. Blue Star had seen it many times
before, but that didn’t make it any easier. Despite all their abilities,
superheroes were still human and that meant they had human flaws and
weaknesses. They could crack from the many pressures on them and give in to
their baser desires and passions. He had experienced his own dark periods,
though for him it was self-destruction - from affairs to even addictions back
in the day. Whatever Starfish had in mind when he started using homeless people
to create mutagenic monstrosities was unfathomable to Blue Star, but he had
seen enough horrible things to know that it was real and came from the same
dark place that had corrupted many hearts.

“We may outnumber
Starfish, but he’s nearly as strong as Camille and heals significantly faster
than even Cosmic Kid,” said Blue Star as he gathered his team right down the
street from 8643 Coastline Drive. It was past midnight and the darkness did
little to improve everyone’s mood.

“According to this
report, he also has genetically engineered monstrosities that share his healing
abilities and the power of electric eels,” said Camille. Dr. Sterling had given
them all a copy of
Seawolf’s
report, including a
synopsis of the off-shore investigation that Starfish had taken over from her a
couple months ago, which was probably highly inaccurate as Starfish had no
doubt done his best to undermine the investigation. Blue Star had spoken to
Seawolf about 20 minutes ago and knew that she was spoiling for a fight, but
she was far too injured to get back in action tonight. He had been in her same
position when Nimbus betrayed the Paragons. He wondered if Seawolf and Starfish
had been intimate; he could understand all too well her anger.

“How do we know he
hasn’t just rigged his house to explode when we all charge inside?” asked White
Knight.

“More likely he
wants to pick us off one by one,” said Camille who landed after flying a circle
around the area. “In close combat and supported by a few of those pets that
Seawolf described, Starfish could give the entire team a run for its money, let
alone the three of us. If he succeeded, he’d be instantly catapulted into the
supervillain elite. It would be a Total Team Kill – the dream of all
supervillains.”

“Is Starfish really
that psychotic?” asked White Knight.

“Hmm, let me see,”
said Camille. “He tried to kill Seawolf and the Coast Guard liaison after they
caught onto his penchant for abducting homeless and turning them into mindless
sea monsters. Doesn’t sound too sane to me.”

Blue Star had wanted
the entire remaining team to engage, but Dr. Sterling had been adamant that
Cosmic Kid should be sidelined at HQ for backup. Blue Star could have argued
more, but it was the middle of the night and he was tired; he had been
finishing up patrol when the call came in. It was more important to spend the
time and energy he did have getting this team ready. “Camille’s right,” he said
heavily. “We need to be prepared for him to be targeting to kill.”

“Which is why
everyone is going to be suiting up in full tactical gear with air tanks, bomb
sensors, and reinforced armor,” said Dr. Sterling over the headsets. “The van
is fully loaded, so use it.”

Blue Star hated
wearing full gear – it felt somewhat less than heroic to him, and the 30 or so
extra pounds combined with the thicker fire-retardant costumes limited his
mobility a little. However, it was a necessary precaution. This was the gear
that supers were supposed to wear when aiding firefighters in major disasters
and they were all well-prepared to use it thanks to Dr. Sterling’s training
regimen. He had to admit that he’d learned things in the last few months that
he wished he had learned earlier in his 40-year career.

“There are docks
down the cliff and I would bet he has a secret base under there,” said Camille.

Blue Star visually
checked to make sure everyone was properly suited up. “With our luck there’s
going to be a lot of underwater work tonight. Annie, how does this gear work
underwater?”

“Everything should
function fine,” said Dr. Sterling.

“I’m not the best
for underwater operations,” said White Knight.

Blue Star nodded;
this situation was just getting worse and worse. “White Knight and I will check
the house. If there are bombs, White Knight’s sensors are probably our best bet
for locating them. Camille, head down to the docks and try to find any secret
entrances – or at least cut off Starfish’s escape if we flush him out of the
house. We’ll all meet up when someone finds Starfish or his pets.” Everyone
nodded, but Blue Star still felt uneasy. Turning to one side, he tapped on the
closed-circuit channel that linked him directly to Dr. Sterling. “We need
another person,” he told her quietly. “With Cosmic Kid, everyone would at least
have a partner. This is too dangerous for solo operations. Three is not a good
number.”

“Three is what
you’ve got,” replied Dr. Sterling. “This is why we practice multiple numbers
for deployments. A team leader should be able to work with whatever he’s
handed.”

“I understand that,”
said Blue Star testily, “but there’s no point in Cosmic Kid just sitting in HQ.
It’s better to commit fully here to ensure maximum success with minimum
casualties.”

“And if this is an
ambush or distraction? We’d have the whole team committed and no spare. One
super always sits out. Tonight it’s Cosmic Kid. WPPD is gathering up a tactical
team for support and should be with you all in 20 minutes. You’re wasting time.”

“Right,” said Blue
Star through gritted teeth. He wanted to hash things out with Annie, though it
would be idiotic to do so right now when nothing he said would change her mind.
Unfortunately, she was probably right. This situation did have ambush or distraction
written all over it and it was best to have a spare in reserve, especially a
fast one like Cosmic Kid. Blue Star frowned. He hated going into situations
blind and he was feeling particularly uneasy tonight.

“Come on people,
let’s go,” he said heavily, turning back to his team. “Camille, around back.
White Knight, you’re with me. Be on your toes, people - we don’t know what
we’re dealing with.”

Blue
Star waited impatiently while White Knight sliced through the door’s locks with
a combination of the suit’s lasers and blades. Finally the door opened.

“Step aside,” said
Blue Star, ready to lead the way into the house.

“No, I lead,” said
White Knight. “I’m the one who’s got superior sensors, remember?”

“I’ve got bomb
sensors in the tactical suit,” countered Blue Star. He really didn’t want
Gabrielle going in first.

“You’re wasting
time,” said Dr. Sterling. “I’m linked into White Knight’s sensors, so he leads.
Blue Star, you haven’t activated your NCB sensor pod properly.”

Blue Star fumbled
with the small box attached to the armored vest he was wearing over his
costume, while also trying to keep up with White Knight, who was climbing up
the high staircase into the house.

“I’d like to have a
word with whoever designed the controls for this thing,” he grumbled.

“That would be me,”
said Dr. Sterling dryly. “I originally designed it for DSA, but ours is the
upgraded version that was too expensive for widespread deployment. You still
probably won’t have time to get out when you trigger a bomb, but at least we’ll
know what it was that killed you.”

“Not very
reassuring,” muttered Blue Star.

“Plus Starfish is a
team member, so he knows all of our hardware,” added White Knight, who slowed
at the top of the stairs.

“True,” agreed Dr. Sterling,
“but I always have a few surprises that are only known to yours truly.”

Blue Star caught up
and looked around the room. Fish tanks and lava lamps dominated the décor and
there was a shattered window near the ceiling where a breeze came into the room.
Blue Star doubted he could have thrown himself out of that window like Seawolf
had. One of his worst fears was losing his ability to fly. Being dependent
solely on one’s legs was so limiting.

“So any guesses what
pushed him over the edge?” White Knight asked. “I can’t imagine he was always
this deranged.”

“No clue,” said Blue
Star, who had been wondering the same thing himself. “Starfish is smart, but
he’s prone to sloppy mistakes. I watched footage of the team when I first came
on; he rarely avoids an attack. He might enjoy getting injured and healing the
damage. I knew a mutant like that once: injuries gave him a natural high. That
sort of addiction to pain can really get you out of touch with reality.”

“But out of touch
enough to turn on your own team?” White Knight forced open a door that led
farther into the house. Inside was a dining room with an old table covered with
papers, CDs, and two laptops, and which was divided from the kitchen by a high
counter. There were piles of dirty dishes in the kitchen.

“He should have
designed a kelp-monster housecleaner before anything else,” said Blue Star as
he moved into the room after checking that his sensor signaled all-clear.

White Knight
whispered. “I’m detecting a heat signature, man-sized, on the other side of the
south wall. Should I open fire?”

“Negative, it could
be a hostage,” said Dr. Sterling. “It must be a thin wall though, so don’t use
the door, go through the wall. Blue Star, make a hole.”

Blue Star unleashed
a concentrated burst of ice against the wall, which held for a moment before
blowing apart. White Knight ran past him into the next room, where standing
watch was a man-sized creature that looked like a walking starfish covered in
writhing seaweed.

“Holy shit!” said
White Knight. “What the hell is that?”

“One of my
children,” intoned a voice from an intercom in the room. “Welcome to my house
warming party, Gabrielle and Jacob!”

The floor beneath
White Knight exploded and the entire power armor suit dropped out of sight into
the darkness below. Blue Star let loose a flurry of snow and ice that ripped
into Starfish’s pet, punching holes into the creature and causing it to recoil
back towards the edge of the pit. Blue Star could see that the thing was
healing up the damage almost as soon as it was inflicted. He slammed through
the blasted wall and into the creature whose two fishlike eyes blinked in alarm
as both of them fell through the hole in the floor, down, down, into the water
below.

Camille
swooped behind the house to the docks below. There was a crescent moon out and
the water sparkled as she landed. Two motorboats were tied up at the dock.

“Starfish has a
motor yacht that was built by Blue Moon Shipyards to his specifications a few
years ago,” Dr. Sterling informed her over the headset. “It’s called the
Relentless Dreamer
. Any
sign of it?”

“Negative,” replied
Camille. “So he’s either no longer here or wants us to think he’s no longer
here. Beginning search pattern.”

Camille headed for
the boathouse at the beginning of the dock where stairs went up the cliff to
the house above. She figured she’d check for easy aboveground entrances before
delving underwater. Like most flyers, she hated water; it was a rare breed of
super that could both fly and swim comfortably.

“We have contact,”
announced Dr. Sterling over the headset. “A mutated creature has been
encountered in the house and Starfish has announced his presence in voice at
least, but White Knight and Blue Star have fallen down into the cliff. You need
to find the escape route.”

“It’s probably
underwater,” said Camille gloomily. “Then again, so were they…” She turned
towards several misshapen aquatic creatures that were lumbering out of the
water onto the dock. “Annie, looks like I’ve made contact too. Get a look at
these things!” They had faces like eels and kelp-like bodies with massive crab
pinchers. “Let’s see what they can handle.” She blasted the upper body off one,
but it appeared to be quickly regenerating the damage and more were climbing up
on the dock. “Annie, there’s a lot of them…”

“It looks like 12
total,” said Dr. Sterling over the headset. “According to Seawolf, their
regeneration ability consumes their own body mass. So if you hit them enough,
they will keep getting smaller and weaker.”

“Great,” muttered
Camille as she stepped up and hit one with her fist, sending it flying back
into one of the moored motorboats. “A battle of attrition. I might need backup
here.”

“The WPPD are almost
there, but do what you can to slow these things down. We don’t want them to get
loose and breed,” responded Dr. Sterling. “At the very least…” The headset fell
silent.

“Annie?” said
Camille, tapping on the headset. “Are you there?”

There was no
response; she’d lost communications with Ops. This was serious. Either there
was a localized jamming field or HQ was under attack.