Dark Skies

TWENTY-FOUR HOURS EARLIER

"Where's the Y?" grumbled Andre, steadying himself against their messy glass table.

Anastasia, rolling her eyes, replied, "Empty."

Andre frowned. "Empty... that's not a place."

"It's empty."

"I'm losing it," he snarled frustratedly. "That was barely twenty minutes."

"The woes of Alpha physiology," she sighed, popping a blue pill under her tongue. "I'd hate it if it wasn't so..."

"Freeing?" snorted Andre, stumbling over to her couch.

Anastasia caught his chin between her fingers and gifted him a messy kiss. "Exactly."

"They never get old, you know? Never." He dropped his hands to hold her hips. "The heimero–"

"Heterochromia," she corrected tiredly.

Andre smirked. "That. Especially when they roll up in their sockets while I–"

"Again with the misplaced confidence," Anastasia snorted as she pecked him lazily. "Seriously. I never expected the 'fastest man alive' nickname to be so literal."

"So close. I actually said 'smoothest'. It's kind of the point of my code name."

Anastasia shuddered as the drug worked its magic, loosening her body into a blissful trance. She closed her eyes and surrendered to its soft, hazy embrace. Beneath the eyelids, her irises shifted between red and blue, sending ripples across her skin.

When the high subsided, Andre was still perched above her.

She let out a long breath before smirking. "Super metabolism spoiling the fun, hmm?"

Anastasia shifted to have his back on the couch while she settled on his stomach. "Something like that."

"Shall I amend that?" she grinned, playfully nicking at his waistband.

"No ," Andre warned sternly. "Every time you... look, diamonds hurt. Especially when you tense up."

"Hey!" she grumbled, playfully swatting his chest. "That's a good thing. Most guys don't even get halfway."

"Most guys don't heal as fast as I do."

Anastasia pouted. "Should've told me you don't like it."

"Why would I do that? I do. You're amazing." He poked her stomach, then pursed his lips. "Give me ten."

She rolled her eyes and peeled off him. "Take as much time as you need. I could use a break, too."

"Oh?"

"I wasn't joking about your speed. Ever imagined what it'd be like to nail the Energizer Bunny?"

Andre burst out laughing. "I was gentle."

"That was gentle?" Anastasia shuddered. "What happens when you're mad?"

Andre grinned. "Seven plus on the Richter scale."

Anastasia did a slow turn to face him. "On second thought, I might like that." She sauntered over to straddle him. "Alpha physiology, remember?"

"Careful," he warned. "My manners have limits."

"You have no manners," she snorted, leaning over to access his lips. "Or did you procure the Juice and Ys from chivalry?"

"Of course," he grinned. "However, all was in service of a fair lady. And considering the atrocities of old, I'd consider myself absolved."

"We, honey," corrected Anastasia. "We're absolved. Don't tell me you forget as quick as you run?"

"The thought never crossed my mind," he promised. "Or rather, it's been there all along. I'm lost without you."

Anastasia laughed. "Still so full of shit. It's really, really sad how handsome you are." She cocked her head. "So handsome, in fact, that I've recovered."

Andre raised an eyebrow. "What happened to my ten minutes?"

"You never needed them," she breathed against his neck.

Andre chuckled. "Guilty. You sure that hiterachima only affects colour? You see right through me."

Anastasia fluffed his hair while reaching for his crotch. "Brains, Andre. Maybe you'll grow–"

RING.

They both froze to face the door.

"We expecting company?" she asked, rolling off him.

Andre scowled. "Not to my knowledge."

"Who knows we're here?"

"Not SWORD. Our fence was legit. Rio, maybe?"

Anastasia shook her head. "We told him in no unclear terms to fuck off. There hasn't been a peep since Eye-Lie smoked the stash. And he's got too much bitch in him for personal handoffs."

She jumped to the carpet.

"Get it," Anastasia told Andre. "I need to find pants."

He grinned. "I'll scare 'em off. Warm the bed, yeah?"

Anastasia arched her brow. "How classy of you, Mr. Farmer. Finally thought of the bed after trying the counter, couch, tub, rail–"

"Yeah, yeah. Hurry up," he snorted giving her rear a smack as he jogged to the front door. "I'm trying to enjoy time off."

He checked the doorbell camera, which only brought up more confusion. Of all people, she was not the one he expected to see.

"Bit far from home, aren't you?" he asked through the speaker.

Elise Nova glanced up into the camera, tilting her head. "We need to talk, Andre."

"No, we actually don't. Fuck off."

"Andre, open the door," she warned.

"How'd you even find this place?" he snarled. "And shouldn't you be busy in detention?"

"This is a nice door, Slick. Let's keep it that way. You have five seconds."

Andre growled frustratedly before complying.

Elise regarded him flatly, sporting a long overcoat, bright lipstick and thick heels. Dark gloves covered her long, elegant fingers, while her frizzy red hair fell in waves over sharp, angular shoulders. What caught Andre's attention, though, was the glint of metal on her boots.

Cruisium metal.

"Fuck you want, Nova?" he snarled. "And how'd you find us?"

"Please," she snorted, pushing past him. "How many people zip around Colorado at Mach Three?"

He scowled. "Why are you here?"

She turned, sweeping him head to toe with a slow, scrutinizing look. She then switched to regard the messy living room littered with discarded items of clothing, Y-Juice syringes and pill boards.

"Someone's been enjoying himself," she muttered before levelling in on a bra. "And apparently not alone."

Right on cue, Anastasia appeared at the upper railing and glanced down. "Who is it?"

Elise's eyes flicked up to her. "Hello, Bejewelled."

Anastasia frowned. "Crimson? How are you here?"

Elise again ignored the question, instead turning to observe the drugs lying on the table.

"What, you wanna bring us in?" laughed Andre. "Please. We all know Bernard booted your ass from duty. You've got no jurisdiction."

"Andre..." Anastasia muttered worriedly.

Elise wore a cryptic expression. "I'm not here to arrest you."

Andre threw up exasperated hands. "Then–"

BOOOM!

Andre could move several times faster than sound. He could run quick enough to ignite the air around his body. He could even partially manipulate his body's inertia, though that had taken years to master.

Instinct roared up to wrench his head wide of Crimson Nova's energy blast. Pure, glorious muscle memory transferred the momentum into his fist, which collided with her abdomen right as Anastasia beamed a laser into her back.

His blow tossed her into the wall. However, attacking Crimson Nova with energy was tantamount to drowning a fish in water. Anastasia's attack dissolved against the armour concealed beneath Crimson's coat.

The Juice in his system evaporated as his adrenaline revved up to a thousand. He had no idea why Elise was attacking them, but as a King-Class Alpha, she presented immense danger.

And if she wasn't here to arrest them, she could only be there for one other reason.

Fuck this, snarled Andre, leaping up over the second-floor banister.

"What–" started Anastasia before he scooped her up and blasted through the wall.

"Time to get the fuck out–" he started before screaming pain lanced into his back.

They crashed through a tree and flopped into the lawn outside, kicking up storms of dust. Hyperactive regeneration allowed Andre to jump to his feet, dance past two flashes of red light emanating from a collapsed wall and plow his knee into her chest.

Or attempt to, at least.

Crimson's arm snapped out and backhanded him through walls. He smashed into their Cadillac, dragging them both through the lowered garage doors.

Crimson slipped clear of Anastasia's swing and crunched a glowing punch to her midsection. Diamonds cracked. Anastasia crumpled.

Andre saw red. Literally, in his case, as he got a mouthful of Crimson's bright hair when he rugby tackled her at Mach 10. The force took them both over the clearing and down the mountain slope. He connected forty-odd punches before Crimson roared and caught him point blank with a bloodred blast of heat vision.

His chest screamed as he careened down the hill. Elise grimaced and shook herself off before twisting and elbowing Anastasia out of a tackle. The diamonds chipped, then shattered as Crimson drove her flattened, energy-coated hand through Anastasia's back.

"NOO!" screamed Andre as Crimson's hand stabbed out of Anastasia's stomach.

Get her to a hospital. She can't attack in–

He faltered and fell. Something was wrong with his legs. He couldn't run properly.

Then the pain hit and he screamed.

Elise watched his seared right leg crack and dissolve as he tried dragging himself across the stone to Bejewelled.

"Look at me, Ana," he coughed as blood leaked through his teeth. "Look at me, please. Just try."

She didn't look at him. She didn't move at all. She continued staring blankly into the distance as blood dripped out of her nose.

Andre shook with rage. "WHY? WHY WOULD YOU?"

Elise sighed. "I don't have a choice, Andre. You brought this on yourself."

Andre fought weakly, but couldn't do much to stop Elise from leaning over and breaking his neck with a quick twist.

She then sat there for several minutes, staring at the bodies of the Heroes she'd just killed. Both twisted with agony and betrayed shock.

A clap pulled her attention from the corpses.

"They weren't kidding," praised Blowback, shaking his head in amazement. "That barely took any time."

She narrowed her eyes at Migraine, standing beside him, who simply smirked.

Wiping some blood on her coat, she asked, "They sent you?"

"Why? Expected something different?"

Elise shrugged. "I don't really care. What now?"

"Now you wait." Blowback glanced down at Andre. "Damn. Cocky fucker. I'd have loved a crack at him, especially now."

"He'd have killed you," Elise informed him dryly. "Even with the Kiss."

Blowback only shot her a smirk of his own. "Guess we'll never know."

"You pass," Migraine assured her. "We'll be in touch."

Elise watched Blowback crouch next to Andre and shake orange light into his hands.

"Seriously?" she snapped.

He shrugged. "No evidence. Not our call."

With a touch, the light twisted into a jagged mark, then spread a similar glow through Andre's body. After doing the same for Anastasia, he nodded the women toward the road.

"Time to go."

Migraine looked up at Elise. "You should be proud of what you've done. This is the first step. It gets easier from here."

She didn't reply, instead brushing past the Rogue to stalk down the road.

"Careful," Migraine warned, purple light flashing through her eyes. "Invitations don't make you untouchable."

"No," Elise growled, pushing plasma up to her fingertips. "This does."

Migraine scowled, but wisely backed off as Elise spun and marched away. Blowback observed them with a silly grin, then turned to the bodies.

"Not gonna stay for the fireworks?" he shouted.

Elise ignored him. She also ignored the sound of Andre and Anastasia's bodies exploding as she hurried to her vehicle. She didn't make it and instead veered to vomit in a ditch. After a few seconds, Elise straightened and got to her van.

Her hands didn't stop shaking until she got to the motel.

"Is this really the best he could get?" grumbled Novax, crouching as he waddled across the cabin floor.

Red ignored him, instead glancing down at the screen. "Alpha Team, standby. You're paddling in three."

Blacklight stretched, which, considering the size of their vessel, meant he nearly smacked Cher Fer in the face. The Frenchman eyed him sourly before knocking his arm away.

"Gotta say," sighed Blacklight, "this job really tests the mettle of my relationship. This must be the fiftieth date night I've left her hanging. Honestly, with my cheekbones, I'm disappointed she hasn't accused me of cheating."

Novax studied him warily. "You ever get the chance to check in with Sheath surgeons?"

"For?" asked Blacklight.

Novax motioned to his head. "Lingering brain damage. Seems like you're still feeling Tacti's beatdown."

Green, a few seats down, snorted. Blue's elbow stifled his reply, though.

"Can y'all relax?" sighed Novax. "Seriously. This ride is long enough without the suffocating dread." He glanced up at Dreads. "No offence."

"Aren't you the guy who can breathe in space?" pointed out Cryo King. "What's it matter to you?"

Novax rolled his eyes. "It was metaphorical, headass. No one can 'breathe' in space because there is nothing to breathe. I just hold my breath."

"Hold your breath then," proposed Green. "You get to ignore the stuffiness, and Hedge doesn't puke all over Dreads' shoes. Win-win."

Novax glanced to his right, where Hedge was indeed curled up, looking greener than her thorny summons. Though Dreads' dark features made him harder to read, he clearly wasn't comfortable.

"Seasick?" asked Blacklight, yawning.

"No kidding," groused X. "Pity there's no puke pail."

Novax looked at Cryo King, who rolled his eyes. "No."

"Hey, either that or–"

The lights cut, then started blinking bright, ominous red. Everybody, despite the banter, tensed up.

Red clapped urgently. "That look like a strobe light? Haul ass, boys! Hedge, X, Blacklight, Dreads, Shade, move!"

Novax frowned. "Thought Hedge was with Bravo?"

"Her strengths lie on solid ground," Red explained. "She brought it up with Skies, and he agreed."

"Alright," acquiesced Novax, offering Hedge a nod of reassurance. "Stay sharp."

She walked right past him, apparently not having heard. Novax glanced over at Blacklight, where they shared looks of confusion.

X rose from his seat, groaning as he cracked his back. "Nerves kill, and they kill hard."

"Sure," muttered Blacklight, though through growing concern. This wasn't a mission they could afford to muck up, especially due to nerves.

Blacklight fell in behind Dreads and Alpha Team. Everyone was on edge, sure, but success was a product of composure. Hedge would need to find her head before the fireworks began or everyone could be in serious trouble.

Green leaned forward in his chair. "Break a leg!"

Blacklight flipped him off before stepping out of the crew cabin and into the narrow corridor.

Their pilot navigated the sub to sit a hundred and fifty feet below sea level. Blacklight heard the groan of the vessel evening out, then the shudder of the propulsion engines shut off. Alpha Team, on the other hand, crowded around the ejection deck and began taking deep breaths.

Due to the covert nature of their mission, everyone wore a darker variant of their standard outfit (save Blacklight, of course). Shade pulled up his face mask and double-checked the swords strapped to his back. Dreads steadied himself against the hull, locked in a losing battle against nausea. Hedge was on her knees, and X looked like he couldn't wait to get moving.

The ejection torches, flashing red like the crew cabin, began to speed up. The accompanying beep turned to a stretched screech. Right at the crescendo, the beep reverted to a rhythmic chime, and the lights changed to a slow, blinking yellow.

Fifteen seconds, thought Blacklight.

Their breaths were slower now. Blacklight met the eyes of the Alpha Team, trying to project confidence. He needed them locked in, completely focused. They couldn't afford anything but.

The children couldn't afford anything but.

We've got this , he would've mouthed, had his mask not obscured his face.

The chime and torch shutter rate accelerated. Hedge lost her concentration and started hyperventilating. Dreads turned to face her and shook his head rapidly, trying to warn her against panicking. X rolled his eyes.

Blacklight gritted his teeth, motioning for her to calm down. Shade frowned and touched her shoulder reassuringly, only to have her start trembling as tears welled up in her eyes.

Fuck, Blacklight groaned internally. Now? Why, of all times, now?

She began to wheeze as the torches' flash rate evened out.

Goddammit, snapped Blacklight, conjuring a bubble of shadows right as the release trigger dropped.

Gravity inverted as water flooded the deck, catapulting Alpha Team up into the cold clutches of the Pacific Ocean.

Their physiologies protected them against pressure and freezing temperatures. Even submerged, their armour wouldn't get wet or damaged. Theoretically, reaching wave break should've been a breeze.

Hedge, though, spun wildly as bubbles spluttered from her mouth.

Blacklight slowed to flick out a black tendril. It snagged and ratcheted Hedge from her wild tailspin toward him.

She fought weakly before freezing as he pushed his shadow bubble over her head. It took several seconds for Hedge to replace the water in her lungs. Blacklight made another, kinder 'calm down' gesture before turning and swimming up after their teammates.

Blacklight kept an eye on her as he paddled for the surface. Thankfully, she was able to manage. Two minutes later, he and Hedge broke the surface beside the rest of Alpha Team.

"Everything okay?" asked Shade, frowning.

Blacklight nodded, then tipped his head in Hedge's direction. "Cold feet. Nothing bad."

Hedge coughed violently as she struggled to tread water. Blacklight knew it wasn't from a lack of knowledge; every Hero had to pass a swimming exam before dreaming of a license. She was still freaked out.

"Easy, Hedge. We'll be on land soon." He glanced up at the steep incline of Guadalupe Island's northern tip. "Can you make that?"

Hedge glanced at Dreads, who, while shaking himself, looked a little steadier.

"For the kids, Ivana. Remember."

She nodded resolutely. Blacklight decided to dismiss the breach of protocol because it seemed to do the trick, and he didn't give much of a fuck, especially considering his personal track record.

"Let's move," he whispered, swimming to the cliffside.

Blacklight wedged himself on a rock and simply leapt the hundred feet to level ground. He turned when a katana spun through the air to lodge in the grass beside him. Shade materialized a moment later, hand wrapped around the hilt and drizzling silver sparks. X's wrist-mounted grappling hook pulled him from the waves, while Hedge and Dreads used their respective talents to scale.

The group kept low as they hustled into the woods. Once securely concealed in foliage, Blacklight toggled his comm.

"Go," said Red. Even he failed to smother his unease.

"Alpha is green for Checkp- uh, CP One," he whispered. "Status on Bravo and Charlie?"

"Green standby for both. Sit-rep?"

Blacklight glanced over at Hedge, who, most confusingly, was still trembling in terror.

"Good wave break and landfall. But..."

"What?" demanded Red.

Blacklight scanned the horizon to find the Breaker camp, then scouted the rest of the island. Alternating meadows and stone made up the terrain between themselves and the Rogues. The cliffs unaffected by watchtowers were thick with bushes and jagged stone. What really caught his eye, though, was the colossal mountain hanging over the Breaker camp. It was so large, actually, that Blacklight couldn't tell if there were southern facing watchtowers.

While short, the trees of their small forest were dense. Compounded with the blackness of night, Alpha Team was invisible. Especially since the guard towers were all fixed on the ocean.

"Hedge is losing her shit." He glanced back, where Dreads was patting her back reassuringly. "I thought it was the water, but she's still freaked out of her mind."

Red took a few seconds to recover. "How?"

"She couldn't complete a proper swim prep. I had to bubble her. Now she's rolling around like rent is due."

He slunk over to Hedge's cover, staying low just in case.

"It's okay," Dreads whispered reassuringly. We're okay, Ivana. We're fine. You have nothing to be scared about. They'll be okay."

"Hey," Blacklight hissed. "What's the deal?"

Her breath hiccupped as tears streamed down her face. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I- I c-can't..."

"Shhh," soothed Dreads.

Through the corner of his eye, Blacklight noticed jerky, uncharacteristic lurches in Dreads' hair.

"Dreads?" he asked worriedly. "You alright?"

Dreads didn't meet his eyes. Instead, he swallowed loudly.

"What's the holdup?" asked Shade, crawling over to their position.

Blacklight threw him a hopeless shrug. "That's what I'm trying to figure out."

"We're sorry, Blacklight," wept Hedge. "Please believe that."

Blacklight felt his spine ice over. Funnily enough, Cryo was still in the sub.

"We?" he asked quizzically. "Who's w–"

A yelp from behind spun him around, where Silver Shade was staggering backwards, struggling for balance. X followed, one hand on Shade's shoulder, the other on the knife in Shade's stomach.

"Don't look at me," snorted X. "They're the sorry ones."

Blacklight cocooned X in a ball of shadows and was on his way to help Shade before being interrupted.

"We had no choice," whispered Dreads, sounding broken. "They gave us no choice."

"FUCK!" barked Shade, ripping the knife from his gut. "It's Cruisium. How the fuck... oh shit."

"What did you do?" snarled Blacklight, spinning back to face the pair. In his anger, the two supposed Heroes almost looked like they were glowing. "What did you tell them?"

Hedge shook her head, curling up around her side in agony. Blacklight frowned when he realized she actually was glowing.

"Nothing." She shook with pain. "You don't understand."

"BLACKLIGHT!" screamed Silver Shade.

Blacklight spun and almost died of a heart attack. He was so stunned, in fact, that he lost his hold on X, who broke free and sprinted into the night.

Not like he mattered anymore.

Half a mile away, standing in a perfectly straight line, were three massive, bald, glowing men. Blacklight could see better in the dark, which is how he identified both their identical facial features.

Their reflective skin and metallic eyes were hard to forget and even harder to miss in the moonlight.

"CODE BLACK!" he screamed into his comm as the Quadruplets broke into a run.

Red's response was immediate. "What ? How?"

Blacklight reached over to grab Shade. but found a cloud of silver mist instead. He checked the deep woods and saw no sign of X. Facing Dreads and Hedge was what he finally needed to recall where he remembered their glow from.

Blowback. He could imbue explosive energy into inanimate objects and detonate them on command. But the glow was coming from within their bodies. Which meant Blowback had levelled up. Or, more likely, been levelled up.

"They have our kids," wheezed Dreads, seizing on the grass. "We had no choice."

Hedge looked at him balefully. Shame, sorrow, and genuine remorse were written on every line of her face.

"Blacklight!" barked Red. "Were you spotted?"

The horrifying truth finally crashed down on Blacklight like a mountain.

"They already knew," he muttered hoarsely. "They knew we were coming."

Then, Red's bellowing reply and Blacklight's own attempt at understanding just what the hell was going on was cut off by the blinding, deafening explosion of their colleagues' bodies.

‎