Chapter 95: Sleeping

Hawthorne had been silent since they left the department store, but she hadn’t stopped staring holes into the back of Will’s head. He was leading them on a circuitous path around the city, practically taking them in circles at points. She didn’t know how, but he was leading them around the mercenaries. They were passing fewer patrols, and the few they saw were heading somewhere in a hurry.

Over the next half hour, they went through basements and over walls and down alleys and the number of patrols they ran into turned to zero.

Hawthorne heard their footsteps echoing throughout the alley. With each empty unlit opening they passed she felt a weight in her stomach growing heavier and heavier. She could hear her heart beating in her chest and even the slightest ruffling of cloth seemed to drown her in its noise.

“It should never be this quiet,” she said. “Even in the country, in the middle of the forest, there was always something making noise.”

“If we’re lucky, then it’ll be quiet for a little longer. We’re overdue for a disaster.”

“Overdue?” Hawthorne stopped walking. “Asclepios set off his riot bombs less than three months ago and we’re going through a small war. I wouldn’t say we’re overdue for anything.”

Will shrugged and slowed down, but didn’t quite stop. “You haven’t lived here long enough, and you’ve been a hero for even less than that. We managed to keep some of the worst stuff off the news, and nothing you’ve seen has come close to it. The city’s stirring, but it hasn’t woken up just yet.”

“Woken up?” Hawthorne started following again.

“Even city’s need to sleep. Macropolis has been through invasions, wars, and Eclipse more times than any other city in the last 100 years. She’s always had a habit of saving up energy for when she needs it the most. It’s been on the quiet side for years now, and this is barely a drop in the bucket compared to the old days. When she wakes up, it’s going to be big.”

“There are maybe 20 heroes fighting an entire army with no hope of backup, and that’s if you’re guess about the ones you haven’t seen it right, and we’ve probably already lost half of them.. This isn’t big enough?”

Will’s hand had drifted to the building at his side and started sliding along as he walked.  “Not for her. It takes more than a few dead heroes and impossible odds to make a feast fit for this city. When Macropolis wants a show, she throws all the heroes she can find at it, and makes sure that they’ll barely win. She’s never been one to settle…”

Hawthorne waited. It sounded like he wanted to say more, but Will stopped talking. His hand slowly dropped from the building and he started walking faster.

Soon, he was running and Hawthorne was having trouble keeping up. She heard the gunfire first, but it was slowly being drowned out by a shout that sounded like a buzz saw trying to cut through steel.

The Council’s Headquarters was in front of them; the streets and sidewalks were littered with the unconscious bodies of mercenaries and a few heroes. Some of the mercenaries were still standing, training their guns on a target she couldn’t see yet. In a few more steps, the mercenaries dropped form her mind; her eyes were drawn to the tank attempting to make its way towards the Headquarters, slowly twisting its cannon to point straight at the front door.

The shout was Adamant, but he barely even looked human anymore. He had grown larger, easily breaking seven feet and metallic skin was cracked and layered in spikes and glowing red canyons. He was holding the tank back, but couldn’t take a step for fear of being knocked down. Burnout was overhead, trying to shout something over the Adamant’s scream, but Hawthorne couldn’t hear him. He was trying to aim a fireball at the tank, but there was no way for him to throw it without hitting Adamant.

“You need to stop the tank!”

She was surprised she could hear Will’s voice at all over the shout. Adamant seemed to be doing fine, but Will’s wide eyes convinced her otherwise.

She produced a few seeds from her vest. They weren’t prepared quite as well as the ones she used earlier, but they were all she could make this quickly.

Hawthorne charged forward. A few of the mercenaries turned towards her, but Burnout started shooting jets of flames over their heads, forcing them to duck. She tossed the seeds up, over the tank and reached out with her powers, willing their roots to grow into the cracks in the tanks armor.

For a short moment, Adamant’s shout was drowned out by the shrieking gears of the tank as the roots grew between and around them until they couldn’t move anymore.

Freed from the contest, Adamant drew his fist back and slammed it into the front of the tank, denting it.

Will started running towards him as he hit the tank again and again. The mercenaries inside crawled out the back and started running away, but he didn’t stop, and his screeching shout only grew louder.

Hawthorne couldn’t hear Will, but apparently Adamant did. The monstrous hero slowly turned towards Will, cracking the ground with each step.

He drew his fist back, but moved so slowly that Will was easily ably to avoig it by taking a casual step backwards.

He led Adamant, step by step, missed punch by missed punch, towards the Headquarters. Hawthorne followed as safe distance behind, and Burnout joined her without a word.

They were in the center of the lobby, and each punch of Adamants grew slower and slower. His shouting slowly died down until they could almost make out Will’s words.

Finally, Adamant ground to a halt mid-punch. Will stared up at his frozen face before slowly turning away and walking back to the entrance.

Burnout stared at the statue. “Is he-“

“He’ll live,” Will said. “But he won’t be moving for a few days. I’m guessing you didn’t get any more help while I was gone.”

Burnout shook his head.

“We didn’t run into anyone else either,” Hawthorne said. “Any other heroes awake out there are either too far away to help or in hiding.”

“Which means we have to put an end to this with the five of us,” Will said, turning towards the door.

A jeep screeched to a halt outside the building.

Allspades and Unimportant hopped out of the jeep and ran straight for the entrance.

“Will,” Unimportant said. “We need to get onto a zeppelin.”

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Chapter 94: Stand

Adamant stood up again, and again he tried to reach the enemy’s barricade across the street. Again their bullets bounced off of him, and then they hit him in the face with a rocket.

Again.

Adamant wasn’t stupid, he’d been a hero for over a decade now, and he hadn’t survived just because his skin was tough to crack and he hit harder than the other guy. Behind him, the last of the heroes who had stayed outside the headquarters to fight were on their last legs, the rest were either dead or had been dragged inside. The only reason that any were left was that Adamant drawing the majority of the fire.

They weren’t hurting him, they had to know that, but each time he was thrown back, it cost him a little more to get back to his feet. He had maybe an hour left in him before he couldn’t get up anymore. This wasn’t the kind of fight he could win on his own, but every enemy they took out was instantly replaced, and a few of them had managed to rejoin the fight.

And still he got back to his feet. Because in a few minutes he would be the only one standing between the mercenaries and everyone still inside Headquarters. Because one life wasn’t worth hundreds, even if it was his.

And so, he picked up the girder he’d managed to sneak away on his last charge. Their tank had done a number on it when he was using Adamant as a baseball, but it would last one or two more swings. Or one good throw.

The girder spun end over end as it flew towards the man with the missile launcher; if he hit anyone with it, they’d die. He started running the moment it left his hands; he knew exactly where it would hit.

The mercenary with the missile launcher had started running as soon as he saw the girder flying at him. It smashed into the roof of the building at their feet. He smirked when he heard their panicked cries as they fled from the crumbling rooftop, but he didn’t slow down. It would only buy him about thirty seconds, and that would have to be enough.

Adamant slammed into the barricade the mercenaries were using for cover. It shattered, sending rubble flying into all the mercenaries cowering behind it. He ignored the bullets flying into him from both sides and picked up the next barricade.

It was a terrible club, too awkward to swing well, too fragile to take a good hit, and heavy enough that he could kill someone with less than a tenth of his full strength. He couldn’t risk hitting anyone with it, so he slammed it into the building, breaking it into a hundred pieces and showering the mercenaries around him with debris. A few of the mercenaries were knocked to the ground, and a few more were given some extra scrapes and bruises.

The gunfire from that side slowed down, and Adamant leapt towards them. The metallic skin covering his fists softened as he punched them, but it was still hard enough that he could feel their bones snapping under his blows. A dozen enemies fell in seconds.

He turned into the rain of bullets still coming at him from behind. There were enough of them that he had to dig each step into the concrete beneath him to keep from being pushed back.

The mercenaries shouted something, but he couldn’t hear it over their weapons.

He caught a flash of red and orange out of the corner of his eye, followed quickly but the sound of another missile being fired. He was out of time.

Adamant braced himself for the explosion, knowing that he might not be able to get back up after this one.

Another flash, and the missile exploded far behind him.

A blue figure flew out of the headquarters. Waves of blue fire spread from his palms and slammed into the mercenaries Adamant hadn’t gotten to yet. A few of them tried to target him, but streams of green goo sprayed out from inside the headquarters and covered their guns. Those who didn’t drop their guns immediately found their hands stuck to the quickly hardening shell.

Adamant felt the bullets letting up and quickly moved to take out the mercenaries closest to him.

Burnout passed over the battlefield as quickly as he could fly. The stroller who’d been shooting the goo could only see about half their opponents, and could only take out about three guns at a time.

Burnout started tossing fireballs behind the mercenary barricades. They were small, but the moment they touched the ground they blossomed into massive waves of fire pushed the mercenaries up against their own barriers.

He saw Adamant hop back from the enemy lines. As high as he was, he could only barely see the cracks that had started forming in the hero’s skin. But Adamant wasn’t running, he’d already lined himself up to take out another of the barricades.

He tossed a few more fireballs and landed next to Adamant.

“We can handle it, you need to get inside.”

“I stop when they do,” he said between breaths. His voice was tired and slow, but as confident as ever. “I’ve been handling it myself for this long, I can last a few more minutes.”

Burnout felt his retort dying in his throat when Adamant met his eyes.

“Your fireball trick is nice, but it won’t keep them down for long. We need someone who can take them out without setting them on fire. So unless your friend in there is going to come out and spray everyone you manage to knock down, you need me.”

It was a hard point to take from someone who could barely stand, but it wasn’t one Burnout could refute so easily. He’d only fought unpowered humans a few times before, and there had always been someone to arrest or restrain them when he was done. But Adamant had been fighting at and past his limits for hours now. As far as Burnout knew, he’d only done that once before, and, according to most of the news sites, his heart had actually stopped for an hour when he was done.

“You could die.” It was the only argument he had.

“Not today,” Adamant said. “Today would be a crappy day to die.”

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Chapter 89: Backup

Will was trying to use the Council’s computers to figure out how many mercenaries they had in the city, but he had to keep half his attention on Burnout.

“You need to rest.” He had forced Burnout to sit in one of the Council’s chairs, Adamant’s actually, but now that he’d caught Will up, he was trying to leave already. “This fight isn’t going to end anytime soon and you need to let someone else take a turn.”

“You just told me that the others all woke up, including Mach, and you expect me to sit here while they are fighting someone they know nothing about?”

“Yes. If I’m reading this right, then there are at least twenty walkers on their side, and that’s just the one’s satellites can catch. We have to assume that there are at least twice as many as that, and most of our toughest have already been taken out.” A loud crash echoed through the building. “What’s happening out there isn’t a normal fight, it’s the closest thing we’ve had to a Walker War since the Sons of the First. That means that we can’t afford to send everyone out at once. You’ll be a lot more helpful with a couple hours of rest than you are now.”

Burnout face tightened slightly around his goggles. “I can’t just-“

“If you need something to do then look for anyone out there who knows anything about magic. You’re the one Court used to break the spell, if they take a look at the circle they might find something that gives us a better third wave. I’m going to close the bulkheads on my way out. When anyone’s ready to fight, you can set the doors to ripple out if you type in Springheel. You can let someone in with Caesar. Make sure someone in here knows it if you leave.””

“What are you going to do?”

“Adamant was just thrown through the front doors. If he’s unconscious, I’m going to throw him back here and then I’m going to start collecting everyone I can and sending them this way.”

Another loud crash echoed through the building.

Will typed a few more commands into the computer and walked for the door.

“Two hours. You should rest at least that long. Try to get some sleep.”

He didn’t wait for an answer.

The room outside was half filled with people who’d managed to avoid or resist the spell. Most of them were sitting in the chairs and benches spread around the room. A few were laying on the floor, but none of them were standing.

They didn’t look up when he walked by. The only Council member still awake was outside the building, he was just another refugee hiding away.

It wasn’t until he made it to the far door that any of them paid any attention. About half a dozen heads turned to watch him leave. Those would be the ones who were willing to fight when Burnout left. But right now he didn’t’ need volunteers.

The door swung closed behind him without a challenge.

The hall outside was long and empty, lined with  blown up images of magazine covers and news articles describing some of the more famous fights the Council had gotten into. Below them were the trophy cases. Mementos of defeated enemies and lost allies, they were mostly reproductions but a few of the harmless trophies were the originals.

Including two suits in a shared trophy case near the front of the building. Thick metal doors slammed into the floor behind him as he walked towards it, but he ignored the sound. Will didn’t read the plaque next to the case. He’d memorized it over two years ago. It was flowery and nice and he knew she would have hated it as much as he did.

He stared briefly into the jet black mask that he’d worn for years, watching his distorted reflection squint at it. Right now, all he had was a jacket and a pair of pants that should have been washed yesterday. A mask, any way of hiding his face, could save his life, but he couldn’t bring himself to open the case.

‘I’m not you anymore.’

The thought was quiet, but there was a firmness to it that Will couldn’t deny. Rumor had died with Kalliope. He wasn’t coming back. But that didn’t mean Will had to stay out of the fight.

Another crash echoed through the building and a something heavy landed on the ground behind Will. He strode towards Adamant carefully, ready to duck away if he decided to jump back outside.

“You know, they could at least be nice enough to toss me through the same hole.” Adamant’s voice echoed in his own throat.

Will nodded. “It’d make things easier to clean up, wouldn’t it? You’ve gone full metal. How many do they have out there?”

“More than I felt like counting. If they didn’t have the one who likes playing home run derby with me, then it wouldn’t matter.”

Will nodded. “That one’s mine then. I’m gonna need you to keep the bullets off of me until I get close.”

Adamant slowly worked his way to his feet. “Always a pleasure to play human shield.”

Will stayed close behind him; Adamant couldn’t stop all the bullets but they’d have a hard time hitting him before he could get to the walker.

Even now, none of the mercenaries had made it across the street, but the few walkers that remained were tiring quickly without Adamant’s help. They were huddled behind some hastily made barricades that they would only look above for long enough to fire a few shots. Even so, there were enough of them to keep the storm of bullets flowing almost constantly.

One in particular stood behind the others, shuffling impatiently.

“The one with the girder draped over his shoulder?”

“Really?” Adamant grunted.

“Just making sure. Count to three and jump to your right. I’ll handle Girder Man”

Adamant moved, and Will burst forward. Girder Man had already stepped in front of the barricades, and all the mercenaries were avoiding shooting too close to him.

THe massie walker gripped the girder in both hands and began to draw it back; he lifted a leg and started to swing. The girder was just coming around his shoulder when he noticed that his foot hadn’t landed on anything solid. He felt his ankle twisting beneath him, but he had too much momentum to stop. Girder Man fell forward, instinctively letting go of his weapon to try and catch himself before his head hit the ground.

Instead, his head met Will’s foot and was thrown backwards. He could feel his skull rattling inside his head, and then he was on the ground and unmoving.

There was no pause in the rain of bullets, and a few guns started to focus on Will.

Adamant charged. Without somebody that could bounce him back, all of the mercenaries were forced to focus their fire on him to keep him from running straight through their defences.

Will ran down the street and ducked into the first empty alleyway he found. He leapt up to a fire escapre and was on the rooftop in seconds.

He’d only been able to spot one of the group members form the satellite pictures, and he could see Hawthorne’s forest from there.

“Time to see if I can still do any good.”

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Chapter 83: Stealth Mode

Cars had pulled to either side of the highways, leaving a path for the pack of Humvees to make their way through the cities. Over a hundred of the armored cars flooded the major roads, blocking off every major intersection and turning the city into a prison.

About half of the Humvees broke off from the blockades and started spreading through the cities like dozens of baby spiders running along a web. The patrols moved slowly, but there were enough of them to keep the main roads under complete lockdown.

Half a dozen men and women poured out of trucks and started moving alongside the patrolling Humvees. They all shouldered weapons of varying sizes, but most of them were checking the magazine for assault rifles. Each of them wore a matching grey on grey uniform that made them nearly impossible to spot from the air.

Burnout cursed under his breath as he quickly dropped from the sky. If they hadn’t seen him already, then he’d just used up his luck for the next month.

He dropped his flames down to nothing and hid in the shadows of an alley. He had to duck behind a dumpster to avoid the spotlight of a Humvee on the main road. They were looking for anyone still awake. Of course they were. Whatever spell or chemical had done this couldn’t affect anyone. There were more walkers in this city than any other on the planet.

He wasn’t alone.

But that didn’t make things any easier. Without being able to fly or drive, getting through the city would be nearly impossible. Even if anyone else was looking, there was no way to find them.

The Council’s headquarters would be the best place to find someone who could help, but if this was really an invasion, then that would be the first place they would secure.

Another spotlight shined down the alley and Burnout quickly ducked down again. Dangerous or not, Sigurd and Maestro had the best chance of not being asleep. He needed to move.

“There’s no time for doubt, I need to get moving.”

Burnout used as little fire as he could to get airborne and darted deeper into the alley. The moment he came close to a main road, he stopped dead. The sound of an engine rumbled from the road. Burnout pressed himself against the wall and had to stop himself from holding his breath. His palms felt slick, even against the dry brick of the building behind him. His heart was beating so quickly and so loudly that he thought it might wake up the block, artificial sleep or not.

The Humvee slowly rolled past, its spotlight stopping just short of revealing him to the enemy. The mercenaries marching behind it were as busy searching the sky as they were the roads. Even after the last of them passed by the entrance of the alley, Burnout kept himself from moving away from the wall until he heard the rhythmic sounds of their marching turn down another corner.

Again, dim, navy flames surrounded him and he threw himself into another alley on the far side of the street.

It didn’t get any easier. Every patrol was just as likely as the last to be the one that spotted him. He couldn’t afford to let himself relax.

By the time he was halfway to the tower, there was a straining pressure building behind his eyes and he had had to stop flying the second time he ran into a wall.

Burnout rested in the dark corner of an alley, somewhere just outside of the business district. It had only been an hour since everyone and started falling asleep, and he already felt like he’d been patrolling the entire day. The transition from brick apartment buildings and cramped houses to concrete walls and glass store fronts had been a welcome relief, but it would be almost an hour before he made it to the Council’s headquarters. And after that, he’d probably have to fight.

The more he thought about it, the harder the strain behind his eyes grew.

Burnout shook the feeling from his head and pulled himself back to his feet. He stumbled through the alley towards Carpenter Tower. A Humvee was rumbling down the road ahead of him, but he was too deep in the alley for its spotlight to reach him. It had already turned a corner by the time he reached the street.

There wasn’t an alley on the far side of the street. He’d have to make it at least a block west before he could get off of the main road and away from the patrols.

Burnout took a deep breath and let the dim light of his fire surround him. It wouldn’t be enough to fly, but he should be able to run a little easier.

He could still hear the patrol moving down another street a few dozen feet away. If any of them looked back when he was crossing in front of it, then he was screwed, but by the time they were out of the way another would be driving by.

Burnout braced himself against the wall and kicked off with everything he had. He sailed forward, almost tripping each time he took a step, and every step sending him another dozen feet ahead.

“How do Hawthorne and Allspades do this?” he muttered.

There was a brief shout as he was crossing the intersection and he had to stop himself from freezing on the spot. They weren’t sounding the alarm just yet, and if he was fast enough then he could disappear before they were sure he was there. The alleyway was only a dozen yards away, and he kicked off the ground one last time to send himself sailing into its wall. He caught himself on the smooth concrete surface and recalled his flames.

He heard the mercenaries turning the corner of the road, but was already too deep into the alley for them to see him.

The fighting had long since started by the time he reached the Council’s headquarters. There were three heroes facing off against the mercenaries. He only recognized Adamant, standing in front of the door, easily absorbing the force of bullets and bolts of magic being sent his way with his metallic skin.

The heroes were holding them off, if only barely. None of the mercenaries had the power to take them out, but their numbers were quickly wearing the heroes down.

Burnout took a deep breath and closed his eyes. The dim flames around him erupted into a sky-blue inferno and he leapt into the air.

Some of the mercenaries turned to fire at the comet racing towards them, but the bullets melted before they could reach his skin.

He crashed into the ground at the center of the attacking force, and a wave of flames burst out and threw the mercenaries away from him. He jumped into the air again before he started melting the street and hovered over Adamant’s shoulder.

Adamant’s narrowed eyes darted to him briefly before focusing on the regrouping mercenaries.

“You’re one of Writer’s kids. I don’t know how you’re awake, but you’re a sitting duck out here. Get inside before they start throwing something you can’t melt.” A broad smile broke his silvered face in two. “I want to see what they try and hit me with next.”

Burnout wanted to protest, but Adamant had started walking towards the mercenaries.

Burnout didn’t turn down his flames until the door shut behind him. The entrance hall was empty, but the doors on the far side were opened. There were a few people waiting in the hallway, teenaged heroes; the ones that didn’t look like their faces were being stretched down by exhaustion were wringing their hands or clutching their legs while they stared at the walls ahead of them with wide unblinking eyes.

Burnout slowly made his way past all of them. Stepping over their legs or skirting around their huddled forms.

The door at the far end opened, and the cloaked form of The Court stepped out. He didn’t speak, but he pointed at Burnout and beckoned him into the room.

Burnout quickly made his way inside. The seats of the Council loomed above him, but most of them were empty. A few figures were sleeping in the corner, hidden by the shadows that plagued the room.

“Center, quickly,” The Court’s voice echoed through the room. “I don’t have long.”

Burnout stepped into the center of the room, and was immediately surrounded by a magic circle that filled the space between the chairs.

“What’s happening?” Burnout’s feet had become stuck to the floor. “Why are you the only one here?”

“Spell’s too strong. I don’t have the time to fight it off.” The Court’s normally slow speech had grown urgent. He was pacing all around the magic circle, frantically waving his hand to change the symbols within. “It’s the same one you were under. I can use you as a catalyst to wake the others. You’ll be all we have.”

Before Burnout could ask who he meant, The Court slammed his hands together and a burst of greenish white light shot through the roof of the building and scattered around the city.

When it was over, The Court had crumpled to the ground, fast asleep.

Over in the corner of the room, a figure stirred.

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Chapter 76: Dawn

Will watched Slipstream darting back and forth across the sky. He had been flying for nearly an hour now, buzzing the rooftops to find the chem signature that the group hoped would lead them to Unimportant.

He took his eyes off his old comrade and looked around him. The rest of the group had come back one by one, and if he wasn’t mistaken, they were talking with Mach through their phones.

“You’re smiling.” A voice came from behind him.

If he had been, it was already gone. “Adamant. I thought you were going to sit this out. Like usual.”

The silver-skinned man’s arms were crossed and his eyebrow was twitching.

“Oh right. You aren’t much used if you’re not punching something. So of course you can’t help out when there’s no one to hit. Which makes me wonder what you’re doing here at all.”

“I’m here in case you fail. Whatever comes from that child’s actions, I am here to stop it.”

Will grimaced, and turned away from Adamant.

“Stop acting so dignified. Wasn’t it you who taught me to always expect the worst? I think I was only a little older than him then.”

Will scoffed. “You’re twisting my words. Don’t pretend you based you’re whole life off that night. You were a fucked up kid and you’re no better now. We don’t need you here. ”

Adamant walked around and shoved a finger in Will’s chest. “You. Don’t. Tell. Me. What. To. Do. You never made it to the Council; you ran away. You left the rest of us to fight alone, and wallowed in your selfish pity for over a year. Do you even know what happened because of you? Do you know what you put us through?”

Will stayed silent.

“Of course you do. You know everything don’t you? You always know exactly what to say and exactly what to do. Even now, you have most of the Council wrapped around your little finger. Even Sigurd’s coming around to your side. But I’m not going to forget.”

Will didn’t say anything as Adamant hopped away, bouncing from rooftop to rooftop.

“I found something,” Slipstream reported. “There’s a warehouse leaking that signature 12 blocks to the Northeast.”

Will looked to the group, who were all staring at him strangely. “Let’s go.”

Slipstream landed lightly on the roof as they all moved for the warehouse. If necessary, he could have kept flying for hours more, but his suit would need to recharge before he’d be any use in a fight. He stared at their backs as they moved towards the warehouse. He hoped they could succeed, because he knew what would have to be done if they failed.

Just before they were out of earshot, Will heard him speaking.

“I hope you know what you’re doing, Will.”

Will did his best to ignore what those words really meant. The worry in Slipstream’s voice filled him with a heaviness that he hadn’t had to experience in years.

“We need to hurry,” Will said. “It’s going to be nearly impossible to find him with the sliders still keeping an eye on the other warehouses. We have to hope he’ll be able to give us a sign.”

“We don’t even know if he’ll be here tonight,” Hawthorne said. “You seem oddly eager.”

“It has to be tonight-ight,” Red Racer said. “They said they’d only give us the one night.”

“So what happens if we fail?” Burnout asked.

Allspades was the one who answered. “Blood Moon Protocol.”

“You’ve heard of it,” Will said.

Allspades nodded. “As far as I know, they’ve only ever had to do it twice, but it was one of the situations we had to be taught. If a large enough amount of a specific rift radiation gathers in one spot, then it will become stuck between universes. In order to stop it, a large group of sliders will work together to lock out that frequency. It prevents it from ever entering our universe again.”

“And Unimportant with it-it. Apparently, it easier to do the close it is to dawn, and they aren’t going to let him run around like this any longer.”

Will nodded. The warehouse was just ahead of him.

“We can’t go inside,” he said. “If we’ve already taken it out, then there’s a good chance he’ll pass it up.”

“We need to keep an eye on what’s happening inside,” Hawthorne said. “We should split up to make sure we don’t miss anything.”

The others nodded and the group immediately split off. Will sat down on the roof and waited.

He waited because there was nothing else he could do. He waited because he had to put his faith in the only plan that had a real chance of working. He waited because he wanted to believe that everything would be all right. He waited until the sun’s rays were peaking over the horizon, and then he knew he’d waited too long.

The group had started wandering over as sunrise drew nearer.

And then they felt it; as one they turned towards the south. Only Will understood what the familiar feeling really meant. It kept building higher and higher until they could see the rift reaching for the sky.

“What happens next?” Burnout asked.

“All the rift radiation that Unimportant’s been leaving around town will be drawn into it. With so many sliders working together, it’ll be spread across who knows how many universes and the threat will be gone. At first, Unimportant will be drawn to it, but he could ignore it if he knew what it was. Soon enough, it’ll start to physically pull him through its center, and he’ll either end up locked out of this universe or stuck drifting between them forever.”

Red Racer walked towards the rift until he was standing near the edge of the roof. His eyes were wide and his breath came up short.

If his sister were there, she’d be holding him tightly and telling him that he’d done everything he could to help his friend. But his sister wasn’t there; she was patrolling the skies as a part of the deal they’d made to get so much help in trying to find Unimportant.

Allspades came up behind him and rested a hand on his shoulder.

Red Racer turned and looked him in the eye, and there was a hint of a tear about to fall.

Allspades turned back to the rest of the group. He looked each of them in the eye, and when he met Will’s, Will knew what he was going to say.

A part of him hoped he wouldn’t say it. Allspades didn’t know what failure would cost in this case, but Will did. He’d seen brave people, good people trying to do the right thing, forced to hang up their capes forever because they went against the best interests of the world. Even if the Council understood, they couldn’t afford to let heroes like that poison their kind in the public’s eye.

Another part couldn’t have been happier than if Allspades followed through. After Confluence, he’d been worried that Allspades would sink into the shell that the group had barely gotten him out of before he left. If the look on Red Racer’s face was enough to sway him, then maybe he’d be the kind of hero Will wished all of them could be.

“How do we stop it?”

In spite of himself, in spite of the pain that Will knew they might end up with, in spite of  his instincts telling him to stop them right now, Will smiled.

“You’ll only have one chance.”

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Chapter 74: Plan

Light and shadows danced independently through the room. More magic had been cast within the space than the physics within the room could hold against.

The Court floated in the center of the room. The rest of The Council sat in their seas, staring at the shapes taking form on the floor. The dancing lights began to still onto the floor, forming buildings and streets, until a perfect map of the city took shape.

The Court began to chant, and a single spot of light began dancing across the city. It spiraled inwards, and then outwards, and then inwards again. Every inch of the map was covered a dozen times over, but it never stilled.

The map faded and the Court floated to the ground. He tried to get to his feet but immediately dropped to his knees. Zero and Lux went down to help him up, but he waved them away.

“He’s not in the city, not this version.” He looked to Janus. “I can’t track him outside of it without a focus.”

“He’s been leaving trails everywhere,” Janus said. “But he’s always long gone before anyone can get to him. We’ve had people scouring everywhere he’s been, but there’s never any trace. It’s like he doesn’t exist. We need another option.”

Meister continued to stare at the empty floor. It was days like today that he hated being in charge. Most of the time, it meant that he just had to sit there and tally votes, but this wasn’t the time for democracy. They needed a goal, and it was his job to decide what it was.

He looked around the room. “Slipstream, do you know anyone who’s succeeded in tracking Sliders?”

Slipstream shook his head. “Everyone’s worked on it on and off for years. Rift radiation fades in a few feet from their gates. We can detect it if we get close enough, but unless we have drones patrolling along every street, we’re never going to find him before he’s gone.”

Meister bit back a sigh. “What’s the worst case scenario? He hasn’t done anything malicious so far.”

He already knew the answer, but sometimes people needed to hear it out loud.

“If the radiation continues to permeate the city, it’ll weaken the borders between universes,” Janus said. “It’ll become easier and easier to slide through until anyone who has come in contact with a different frequency of radiation will start sliding uncontrollably. Some of us will be able to anchor ourselves, but half the sliders, and anyone they’ve been in close contact with, will start waking up in other worlds. If it goes on for longer than that…then I don’t know. It could start making everyone slip through.”

“How long do we have?”

“Months; days. I can’t say for sure. Whoever this slider is, his frequency is…off. It’s across a wider spectrum than I’ve seen from almost anyone. It could delay the process indefinitely, or it could reduce the time until convergence. We can’t risk letting him walk around.”

Meister nodded. “Does anyone have a plan?”

“I’m glad you asked.”

Everyone turned towards the door in time to see it open with a loud crash.

Will walked in with Red Racer and Miss Mirror following close behind him.

“Will,” Meister said. “I do hope you have a good reason for interrupting us. We don’t appreciate civilians interrupting our meetings, even if they’re towing two heroes behind them. One of whom we don’t even know.”

“He’s my brother,” Miss Mirror said. She stared Meister in the eye. “He needs to be here.”

Will smiled. “I wasn’t interrupting anything. You’ve spent the last three hours trying to track down someone who you’ll never find. You’ve been going about it the entirely wrong way.”

“Just tell us your plan,” Sigurd said. “I really don’t want to listen to any more politics today.”

Will’s smile faded slightly, but he kept it on his face. “Okay. I suppose we should start with this. The slider is one of mine. In fact, about half of you have met or seen him at least once. The problem is, none of us can remember him.”

Meister raised an eyebrow.

“None of our minds were altered,” Will continued. “According to Red here, his powers prevent us from actively recalling him, or seeing him, or recognizing his existence in any way.”

“Why is he leaving these trails then?” Janus asked “Why hasn’t he turned his power off?”

“I don’t think he can. I think something scared him, and he’s stuck. He’d probably been wandering around town for weeks before the radiation built up and anyone noticed him. If he can’t turn his powers off, then he needs to know that someone still remembers him, before he gives up completely.”

“The issues you were having,” Lux said. “He was the absence.”

Will nodded. “Exactly. I never could have figured it out without Red Racer’s help, because it’s impossible for most people to remember him. The only reason Red can is because he’s a runner.”

Adamant stared at Red Racer, then looked between the other members of the Council. “Are we going to talk about-“

“No.” Will, Mirror, and Zero said at the same time.

“Talk about what?” Red Racer asked. The others ignored him.

“How does this help us find him?” Janus asked.

“You’re focusing too much on where he’s been,” Will said. “Red here is probably the only person alive who can remember him. We can help you figure out where he’s going to be.”

Will nodded at Red Racer.

Red stepped forward. His eyes kept darting between the Council members. “Unimportant-ant became a hero to stop Asclepios-os. He spent most of the last year taking out his resources,a nd he’s the one who warned us about the gas bombs-ombs.

“I think we can find him if we stake out a few of his warehouses-ouses.”

“We’d need a slider at each one,” Will said. “And someone he knows with them.”

“You have a suggestion?” Meister said.

“I know just the people.”

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