West Pacific Supers: Rising Tide (46 page)

“Your words are
kind,” said a whispery voice from a patch of deeper shadows near the door, “but
time is fleeting. Even now, our enemies close in upon us. We must be swift like
thunder in the night.”

Cosmic Kid rolled
his eyes. That guy’s secret identity was probably soap opera dialogue writer,
but then again Cosmic Kid hadn’t noticed him enter the room or that he was in
the corner. That meant he was a mutant and with some useful skills.

“The Whisperer is
prescient as always,” said Dr. Sterling. She grabbed several tubes from a shelf
and emptied them to reveal blueprints of HQ that she spread out on one of the
desks. Everyone crowded around to get a better view. “Judging by my HoloBerry
wireless signals being jammed, I suspect there is an ECM device in the
vicinity,” she said. Cosmic Kid checked his HoloBerry and kicked himself for
not noticing earlier that it had lost its connection. “They have also hit our
connection to the city power grid here, and I suspect they will be moving to
our primary backup generators here. No doubt Starfish and friends are moving
into the building to eliminate me, and anyone else who gets in the way.”

“So Starfish has
been a supervillain all along?” asked the hockey goalie, who was apparently a
woman.

“For quite some time
now it appears,” Dr. Sterling confirmed as she moved over to another computer
and brought up a holographic map of HQ where several red flashing lights
marking locations on the lower levels could be seen. “I suspect that Starfish’s
attack on the team at the Boardwalk wasn’t to kill Awesome but Meltdown. His
radioactive powers were toxic to Starfish’s regeneration and the same probably
applies to the mutated homeless he calls his children. It’s not feasible to
produce radioactive weapons for all of you, but I did manage to get something
for Midnight, so she’s our best bet to get close to Starfish.”

“Well, that’s great
for Midnight, but what are the rest of us supposed to do if we encounter him?”
asked the goalie.

“Run,” said Dr.
Sterling. “In addition to Starfish and possibly his pets, we are likely facing
at least two other mutant enforcers of the Infinite Circle, whom I’ve
identified as Fade Out and
Fortina
Knox. Fade Out can
change between intangible and solid forms at will, which makes him a
particularly challenging opponent.
Fortina
Knox is an
invulnerable, so she’s not going to be easy either; you can recognize her due
to her gold skin. No matter which group you encounter, your goal is to distract
and confuse, not overcome. You slow them down and we’ll take care of the rest.
However, there are likely lesser minions also in play and I am confident you
all can handle them as needed.”

Several of the
vigilantes shifted anxiously and Cosmic Kid didn’t blame them. He wasn’t sure what
Dr. Sterling’s grand plan was, but he hoped it didn’t entirely depend on
Midnight and her kill weapon. He’d seen Starfish in the field and didn’t think
he was going to be taken out by a couple shots, depleted uranium or not.

“So this is a
glove’s off operation?” asked the midget.

“Confirmed,” said
Dr. Sterling. “Don’t worry about minimizing collateral damage - few of you have
the powers or equipment to do much anyway. Make no mistake that Starfish is
here to kill as many people as possible.”

“Objectives?” asked
the man in the kendo suit, who was swinging a wooden sword nervously.

“
Truthfinder
and Whisperer, you need to find the ECM device and bring it down to restore
communications. I suspect it is probably housed in a van parked near HQ; I
suggest you start your search with the public parking garage. I want the Trio
to head to the Museum; I see a lot of alarms triggered in that area so they may
be entering the building from that location. Emergency protocols are in place,
which means you’ll have to use the stairs just like our enemies have to.
Midnight and Cosmic Kid will shadow me as I draw out Starfish for the
cataclysmic finale.” Dr. Sterling finished issuing her orders and turned back
to her computers. The vigilantes nodded grimly and headed off leaving Dr.
Sterling, Midnight, and Cosmic Kid in the empty operations center.

“Annie, why don’t I
try to find Starfish before he reaches here?” said Midnight.

“Yeah, a super brawl
here would cost the team millions,” said Cosmic Kid, looking around at all the
computers and hardware.

“One moment… I have
him,” said Dr. Sterling triumphantly. She typed in a few commands and looked up
at a monitor. Cosmic Kid and Midnight followed her gaze and waited. The monitor
showed a webcam view of Starfish typing at a computer. Standing behind him was
a gold-skinned woman in a black jumpsuit:
Fortina
Knox.

“Hello, Dr. Keller,”
said Dr. Sterling.

Fortina
Knox jumped, as did
Starfish, but he quickly recovered and laughed. “Annie, on top of things as
always, but I’m afraid that this time you’ve met your match.”

“How so?” asked Dr.
Sterling.

“I’ve taken out the
team and I’m minutes from taking you out.”

“So your grand plan
is to kill me?” asked Dr. Sterling.

“That’s up to you,”
said Starfish.

“What do you want?”
asked Dr. Sterling, who was doing a good job at sounding nonplussed.

“Just three things.
First, you admit I am the superior intellect. Second, you give me access to the
Black Vault and the Kill Safe. Third, you transfer all West Pacific Supers
financial accounts to an offshore account of mine.”

“How about we
compromise,” said Dr. Sterling. “I’ll admit you aren’t mentally impaired. I’ll
let you clear out your desk. I’ll even let you collect your last paycheck.
However, after all that I’m going to kick your ass and put what’s left of you
into an ashtray and make it into a paperweight.”

“How are you going
to do that with your vaunted team wiped out?” asked Starfish with his sickening
smile of white teeth.

“I’m not alone, I have
Cosmic Kid,” said Dr. Sterling confidently. Cosmic Kid shook his head. He knew
one thing for certain - he wasn’t a match for Starfish. Though maybe he and
Midnight together could defeat him, if they could get him alone.

Starfish laughed.
“Excellent, well, I’ll be in operations in no time and look forward to facing
off against our #1 Draft pick.” Starfish stood up and then reached for the
webcam and crushed it. The screen went black.

Midnight looked
around operations. “So what’s the plan? Where do you want me?”

“Not here.” Dr.
Sterling typed a few last commands before leaving her chair. “We’re heading to
legal.”

“Legal?” asked
Cosmic Kid.

“Yes, I’ve wanted to
remodel the 18th floor for years, but
Matteo
keeps
refusing to move his department. So if we’re going to have a super brawl
anywhere it’ll be in legal on the 18th floor.”

Cosmic Kid looked at
Midnight who whispered back, “vigilantes don’t have operations directors.”

“I’m beginning to
see the appeal,” replied Cosmic Kid as he followed Dr. Sterling and Midnight
out of the room.

1:32 a.m., Saturday, August 3rd, 2013

West Coast Superheroes Museum, WPS HQ

West Pacific, CA

“Well,
so much for a stealthy entrance,” said Samurai disapprovingly as he waited for
Goalie and Cupid to catch up. With the elevators out of commission, they’d had
to take the stairs down, which meant wheel covers for Goalie and a lot of
complaining from Cupid; anyone within earshot of the stairwell would have heard
them coming. Admittedly it was a long descent to do quietly; even Samurai was
feeling tired by the time they reached the third floor, where the museum
started.

“I haven’t been here
since my fourth grade field trip!” exclaimed Goalie as she reached the last
step and stowed the wheel covers in her satchel.

“Really?” said
Cupid. “Wow, I come every year on National Supers Day, when the museum is free
to the public and the movies are half-cost.”

“It must be mobbed
then,” commented Goalie.

“Yeah, but it’s
worth it. Do you know that regular tickets are like $20 a head?”

Samurai frowned.
“Focus you two! This is serious business.”

“Lighten up,” said
Goalie. “You heard Dr. Sterling - we don’t have to hold back here. It’s time to
break out the good stuff.”

“Metal-tipped arrows
coming up,” said Cupid, enthusiastically digging through his quiver.

Samurai glared at
him. “You told me that you’d gotten rid of those after White Knight smoothed
things over with Major Dagan.”

Cupid looked
embarrassed. “Well it seemed like a waste to just throw them away…”

“Can you believe
we’re really here?” Goalie let loose a war whoop. “In just a couple years we go
from Shakespeare Court to defending the WPS HQ. Who would’ve thought!”

“Quiet!” snapped
Samurai. “Now come on, we’re facing professionals here - this is no time to
play around!”

“Party pooper,”
retorted Goalie, who was rocking back and forth on her inline skates, a mass of
pent-up energy ready to explode.

Samurai shook his
head and turned to Cupid. “I haven’t been here since the 2010 martial arts
exhibit so you know the layout best. Thoughts?”

“The main entrance
is on the first floor, which is primarily devoted to the history of West
Pacific Supers. You’re supposed to see that first, then take one of the
elevators up to the third floor, where we are now, to learn about the other West
Coast teams. Then you take one of the escalators down to the second floor,
which has the special exhibits, like the martial arts one you’re talking about,
and the museum cafe. You end up exiting back down on the first floor through
the museum shop.”

Samurai nodded.
“Alright, then I guess we might as well enter here on the third floor. We can
go in a side door since we don’t need to worry about setting off security
alarms. We’ll take it floor by floor, dealing with any bad guys we find as we
go.”

“Let’s go!” yelled
Goalie, who pushed open the stairwell door and rocketed down the hallway, her
two team members running to keep up.

The
nearest side door entered into an exhibit on the Aloha Team. “You know, I’ve
always wanted to go to Hawaii,” Cupid commented as he finally ran through the
door that Samurai was patiently holding for him.

“Me too!” said
Goalie, who sped by blading backwards while looking up at a life-size model of
one of the Aloha Team supers,
Darkwing
. “Isn’t he
dreamy?” sighed Goalie. “His skin is supposedly as soft as black velvet.”

“You need to stop
hanging out on fan sites,” snapped Samurai. “Now pay attention!”

“There’s no one
here,” Goalie announced, sounding bored. “I already checked out the rest of the
exhibit while I was waiting for you all to catch up. Though there is a really
cool bit one room over about famous supers who’ve used surfboards in heroics.”

“If I were a
supervillain,” Cupid said thoughtfully, “I don’t think I’d be interested in
Aloha Team memorabilia.”

“Are you kidding?”
said Goalie. “Did you know that they’ve got the actual jet ski that
Darkwing
used to chase down Rip Tide?”

“
Darkwing
can fly,” grumbled Samurai. “What’s he doing on a jet ski?”

“It’s not all about
powers,” said Goalie loyally. “You have to be able to use technology too.”

“
Ssh
,”
said Cupid suddenly. “I hear something.” They all fell silent and heard the
distant sound of breaking glass.

“And we’re off!”
Goalie cried. Before they could stop her, she had bladed off again.

“She’s going to get
herself killed,” muttered Samurai as he gathered the skirts of his kendo suit
and began again to run.

By the
time they caught up, there was a battle
royale
taking
place in the Golden Gate Heroes exhibit. Two guys with guns were cowering
behind a life-size statue of Faust in wizard’s robes, while Goalie swooped
around lobbing hockey pucks at anything that moved. One shot had apparently
gone too high and hit a cable holding up a miniature version of the Golden Gate
bridge which was suspended over the entire room. It was wobbling crazily now
and looked like it might fall.

Cupid drew his bow
and fired twice at the goons, but only succeeded in lodging two arrows in
Faust’s wax torso. One of the men broke cover enough to shoot at Goalie, but
she was moving too fast and the bullet instead shattered the glass of a display
case.

“You can’t hide
forever!” Goalie whooped as she hit another puck, which again went too high,
sailing over the statue of Faust and impacting near the ceiling. “Shit, I
missed,” she said.

“By a long shot,”
commented Samurai, who was surprised; Goalie was rarely this inaccurate.
“They’re over there you know,” he said as she whizzed by.

“I’m not trying to
hit them!” she said, dropping another puck and taking careful aim. “I’m
trying…” the hockey stick connected with a resounding ring, sending the puck
flying through the air and into the remaining cable holding up the Golden Gate
Bridge. “…to hit that,” she concluded triumphantly as the bridge fell with a
crash, impacted on two display cases, shattering both of them, and then toppled
the statue of Faust, crushing the leg of one of the goons. The other dropped
his gun and fled the exhibit.

“Yeah, you’d better
run!” Goalie yelled after him as she zoomed around the room, retrieving pucks.

“ARE YOU INSANE?”
yelled Samurai. She had really gone too far this time.

“What?” said Goalie,
sounding wounded and stopping short. “Dr. Sterling said we didn’t need to hold
back.”

“Yeah, but I don’t
think she intended for us to destroy the museum! We’re here to stop the bad
guys, not help them wreak havoc!”

“I hate to say it,
but he’s right,” said Cupid, as he handcuffed the goon with the crushed leg.
“Plus I think we’ve really lost the element of surprise.”

“So it’s two against
one, then?” pouted Goalie. “Fine, have it your way. Hey, did you know that
Savant wrote the opening music for the 2008 Olympics?”

“Well, he is a
genius,” said Samurai. He pointed his
shinai
at the
handcuffed goon, who was whimpering in pain. “How many people are with you?”

“About, about 20.”
He cringed as if expecting Samurai to behead him.

“And what are you
after?”

“De…destruction and
looting,” said the man. “We’re supposed to take any… anything of value and then
torch the place.”

“Torch the place!”
cried Goalie. “You hear that? And you’re worried about me doing too much
collateral damage!”

Samurai frowned.
“Okay, we may need to speed up then. How many of you are on this floor?”

“Just…just five,”
the man whimpered. “Bob and I - we were supposed to get some chess set or
something.”

“You mean the chess
set used by Savant in 2006 at the 37th Chess Olympiad when he defeated
Cognito
and was named International Grandmaster?” asked
Goalie, who was peering into a shattered display case.

“Yeah, I guess -
something like that.”

“Well you can’t have
it because the West Pacific Trio has thwarted you!” she said
exultantly. “Though
apparently we’ve also broken the board. Anyway, aren’t we supposed to be moving
on now?”

“Yeah, definitely,”
said Samurai.

“Onward!” yelled
Goalie, who once again bladed forward out of sight.

“Hey Samurai,”
called Cupid as he jogged to keep up. “Do you think anyone would miss a Captain
Seattle 1999 commemorative trading card? It’s the last one I need for my West
Coast collection and if I remember correctly, it’s just down that hall…”

Samurai turned and
fixed
him with a disapproving stare through the metal
grille of his kendo helmet.

“Right, sorry, keep
to the straight and narrow - we’re the good guys,” panted Cupid. “That’s why
you’re in charge!”

“I knew there was a
reason,” Samurai muttered.