Mod Superhero

Chapter 4.23 - What Do You See / Angel Eye

Shifter crumbled and fell into a pile at Mod's feet. He retracted his whip.

One down.

Mod thought about leaving Windvane behind and going straight toward the hostages and the rest of the villains.

But she'd threatened his brother.

A split second was all it took for Mod to make his choice.

There was just one problem—Windvane could see everything he was about to do. She'd know if he was going to go for his rifle or lash out with his whip. She'd know exactly when he was going to pull the trigger or throw a gadget. Maybe she could even see the branching possibilities of all the things he might do.

Precog powers could be formidable, but no power was foolproof. Everything had a weakness. And Mod had spent no small amount of time compiling data and theory-crafting about how to fight someone with precognition...

Windvane was just human. No amount of precognition would help someone if they were blind.

Mod knew he was on the right track when Windvane took a hesitant step back. It was a far cry from her calm, smooth movements earlier, and Mod suppressed his satisfaction.

What did she see right now?

Angel Eye was another problem entirely. He could see Arsenal even while she was invisible, which meant he could probably see through Mod's smoke pellets. Mod wondered briefly how the sniper managed—maybe he had a minor knack, like how Dr. Venture could parse large amounts of data in his head.

Mod resolved to find out as soon as he was done subduing Windvane.

She was out of reach of his whip, which meant that Mod had to go out into the street to get her—into view of Angel Eye.

He'd have to be quick.

Mod leapt out of cover and into the smoke. At the same time, he deployed his impact shield. He felt the sun hit his face, then the first shot slammed into his shield. The shield wasn't big enough to cover his entire body, but it would have to do.

He hit the ground, and ducked as low as he could, the shield guarding his head and center mass. He lashed out through the smoke, grabbing Windvane with his whip, and turned to leap back. Two more shots. Mod felt each of the shots before he heard them—the clang of impact, followed by the shot from down range.

Mod leapt back behind the building with inhuman speed, hauling Windvane behind him. He tried to support her head and body, but she'd probably get whiplash. Another shot whizzed by—right where Mod had been a fraction of a second before.

Both Mod and Windvane landed behind the building again. He, at least, was unharmed.

He'd taken away a precog's senses, and moved too fast for a sharpshooter to hit, but Mod didn't have time to dwell on either accomplishment. He turned his attention to the tied up villain at his feet.

Besides, it really wasn't that impressive... They were only human.

~ ~

Angel Eye had seen the cyborg move, but he still didn't believe it. Even with Angel's eyepiece, modified rifle, and powers, he'd never have a chance of hitting the cyborg out in the open.

The guy was too damn fast. What kind of alloy was that shield, and where did he pull it out of?

"Windvane, copy? ...Windvane? ...Shit. Lau, Oakenheart, you're up. The artificer will be on top of us soon."

"You sound worried, old friend." The sorcerer, Lau Keishos, smug as always.

"Don't underestimate him," Angel replied.