I think, generally, the flawed anti-hero is much more interesting than the normal hero, and that's really what we're talking about here as it relates to outlaws or renegades.
Tod Goldberg
257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡngW69eX0a4
“So, you think Chasm works for someone else?” Princess puma asks, smoothening the skirt of her costume.
I nod solemnly, stifling another yawn threatening to escape my lips.
“There could be a whole grid running,” Dex speculates. “We need to figure out what kind of a threat we’re dealing with”
Scorpio slouches forward, forearms resting on his knees. “And we still have no information on his motives”
“True,” Dex assents. “But I have sent in a team to inspect the damage Chasm caused and try to find some clues. I’ve also asked some of my technicians to study Chasm’s gloves”
“That’s a suitable start,” Blue Hawk chimes in. “But we require a bit deeper digging if we’re going to get to the bottom of this”
“I had to call in the cavalry – you guys,” The lighters boss smiles humorlessly. “To help me investigate”
I lean back against the leathery headrest of the sofa, my eyes on the verging of closing. After checking in with his research facility, Dex called in the troops to discuss our next plan of action in stopping whoever it is Chasm works for. Usually, cases involving dangerous criminals are taken up by the Lighters, but when there’s large scale super villains, like this instance, my team is required. After filling in the alpha squad and Dex and my findings dealing with the insignia on the gloves, we were all gathered in the meeting room to discuss our next approach.
“Maybe it’s some gang related thing,” Puma cogitates.
Scorpio throws her a dubious look. “I doubt it. The tech used is too advanced for lowlife criminals. And Chasm was pretty suped up for some average felon”
“Could be smugglers?” Hawk voices.
“I don’t know,” Puma hisses a breath through her teeth.
For once we all agree – no one knows what’s going on. And that’s precisely when Dex gets a ring and must rush to his office for an emergency.
“Smuggling from who?” I ask Blue Hawk.
“I donno, that’s what we need to find out”
“But there is a main commander-in-chief, per se,” Puma concludes. “We all agree on this?”
“Yeah, sure”
“Probably”
“Why not?”
The blonde girl sighs audibly. “And we all believe that that this person leads a drug cartel, illegal smugglers or a secret criminal orga –”
“Possibly linked to black market dealings,” Scorpio adds in lazily. “Or some other underground shit”
“Or none of the above,” Blue contradicts.
Of course, he does. Aways the devil’s advocate.
Scorpio glares at him, liquid gold eyes sparking with annoyance.
“Then what do you propose?” Scorpio goads the blue masked boy.
Here we go again.
I roll my eyes when the boys start their bickering again. One of these days Blue Hawk is going to mind control Scorpio and it ain’t gonna be pretty. That is, unless the latter already succeeds in breaking Blue’s nose with a wicked punch to the face. Oh, I can already imagine the havoc, Hawk knocking out with a concussion and blood spurting from his face. Or the other way around in which Scorpio gets mind controlled into doing something really stupid and embarrassing.
An idiotic part of me wants to see that play out.
But the larger, more logical part of me wants to throw the both of them on opposite ends on the Lighter’s Towers.
“-and how do you know so much huh?” Hawk prompts, with a taunting glint in his icy blue eyes. “This criminal stuff sure is your strong suit”
“Strength is my strong suit,” Scorpio counters indignantly. “If you were a good superhero – which you’re obviously not – you know that researching your enemy is –”
The harsh ringing of alarms disrupts the fragile peace like a glass shattering.
“What’s going on?” Puma is the first on her feet, already swooping around to shut all the windows and doors. I silently applaud her quick thinking.
No pun intended.
If the alarm went off, it could only mean one thing. Something triggered it. Or someone.
“There’s been a break in. We have an intruder,” I fill them in quickly, already running a thousand scenarios in my head. And a million more escape routes.
The shrill wail of sirens so eerily similar to a banshee makes my head pound as blood rushes to my ears. The Lighters Towers doesn’t get breached, the thought is inconceivable.
This isn’t supposed to be happening. Something is very, very wrong.
“Scorpio you’re with me,” I announce, my mind jumping with ideas. “Puma drop Hawk off at the camera room then block off all the exits but the main door. Whoever came in wouldn’t want to be caught. Check the vents as well”
Puma nods, tugging Hawk’s arm. “On it”
“Where are we go?” Scorpio asks, holding onto my shoulder with a firm grasp of his large hands.
“Main doors,” I say, all set to leap. “Well help anyone who needs a way out and check for any trespassers”
Once were outside, Scorpio is sucked into the crowd of Lighters agents. Dressed in black and white suits they look akin to a flock of penguins ready to face the coldest blizzard yet. The field agents are getting everyone together in orderly lines, guns in one hand, fingers on their ear comms. The lab guys and tech junkies are scurrying between, papers flying their wake as they throw around random numbers and jargon only their own kind can decipher. Several older Lighter I recognise, Jenna and Lionel, Felicity not far behind, as they stand tall, armoured, and ready for a confrontation. I nod at them, and they salute back.
“Dex!” I breathe a sigh of relief.
“Kid, you’re here,” He runs a hand through his already messed up hair. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Dex so rumpled up.
“What happened?” Scorpio asks, pulling away from the line of agents.
“Well obviously you know someone broke in,” Dex says, his clenched fists on his hips. “We think whoever it was, tried to get to our tech base”
“How do you know it was only one person? Not a group?”
Dex glances at his team. “Timothy confirmed it. I trust his judgement and his intuition”
I bite my lip. This situation feels too strange, too sticky. First Chasm and now this? All in a span of a few dangerous weeks. Something is going on and the sick feeling in my guts, my stomach squirming, makes me think about Chasm’s mysterious weapon benefactor. The coincidence of the supervillain getting arrested and the Lighter’s burglary to too uncanny. Whatever has been brewing needs to stop.
“Where is the other two?” Dex asks me just as his phone rings. “We need all hands-on deck”
Princess Puma zips in precisely at that moment.
“Finished checking the entire parameter. No sign of suspicious activity,” She announces, only slightly out of breath.
Scorpio swears under his breath, his brows slanted in an uncharacteristic frown.
I turn away to speak to Hawk on my earpiece. “Blue? How’s it going along?”
There’s a muffled static noise before he responds. “Um … Wolf? You might wanna come see this for yourself”
Instantly I’m relaying the message to Dex before the four of us head to the camera room where Blue Hawk is.
“What did you find?” I ask Blue, once we’ve all transported into the dark, security room. Small, box screens line the walls, giving us the camera’s line of vision from all over the Lighters Towers. There is not a single empty wall or window and no light filters through except for the harsh glow of electronic monitors.
“Have a look at this,” Hawk begins, using a mouse to click on one of the footages. It’s quite strange actually”
He taps some keys and scans the camera, zooming in on footage of the testing lab. The room where prototypes of hi-tech gadgets are tried and tested. Display glass lays shattered on the white floor and the room is clearly missing pieces of expensive equipment. Someone stole the gear. Someone who was smart enough o break into the most protected security organisation in the world.
Puma gasps. “All that equipment –”
“Gone,” Scorpio completes for her, his eye catching mine from beneath his mask.
“I’m going to backtrack it,” Blue announces as we all quietly wait on him.
Watching carefully, as to not miss anything, Blue Hawk plays back the video footage from half an hour ago. The room is silent, save for the static sounds coming from the monitor screen. At first, everything seems still, the lab technicians exiting the room after locking up. The glass decorated with equipment – then suddenly, there’s a shift. The door begin to gracefully slide open, and the room’s sensor causes the lights to emit a faint blue glow. And then –
Everything goes black.
Hawk pauses the video. I look at several confused faces. Scorpio shakes his head and Dex is rubbing his chin. Puma however is staring intently at the screen.
“Wait,” She says quietly, and Hawk obliges. Again we watch the same video. The locking up, the lights and everything going black. Puma squints her eyes, skimming faster than any of us could.
“Stop!” She orders and her eyes gleam.
“Can you see something?” Dex asks gingerly.
Princess Puma nods. It must be her super speed that allows her to quickly catch on what the rest of us would normally miss.
“I saw the edge of someone on the screen,” She explains. “Like a flash of a hoodie or something and this weird symbol”
I’m already retrieving a notepad. “Can you draw it?”
She bites her lip. “I think so”
Puma takes the pen and slowly begins sketching, when she’s done, my eyes are widened and I’m looking at Dex in shock.
“That’s the same symbol we found on Chasm’s gloves,” I say out loud.
“Which means thy could be working together,” Hawk adds.
“How is that even possible?” Scorpio muses. “And how the hell did they break in?”
“There’s something else,” Puma continues whilst I recover from my initial surprise. Fear stirs in my chest and my stomach churns. “There was some odd gizmo connected to the door. I don’t know what it was, the screen was too blurry but there was something there”
Dex nods. “That makes sense. They must’ve had some tool to break the encryptions and open the doors. But how did they sneak passed the infrared sensors without being detected?”
“Unless it was an inside job?” Scorpio puts in tentatively.
“You think a Lighter helped them?” Hawk asks in disbelief.
I shake my head, frustrated. We cant be turning on each other – not whilst everything is in the lurch, hanging by one, fragile thread. What I need are more clues, proper leads not flimsy guesses.
“Where are you going?” Scorpio asks me as I start to teleport.
I look over my shoulder, my expression grim.
“Back to the scene of the criminal”
It was time I paid a visit to Chasm. 257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhKPg9CA5lm
