Out of the corner of her vision, Clara saw Mod hurtling across the empty streets. Drones laid into the office building with covering fire. A second later, Arsenal burst through half-destroyed windows and landed on the upper floor of the office building. The whizz of bullets faded as drones focused their fire on lower floors.
The villains had only taken one hostage with them. Oakenheart was escaping with them into the tunnels.
TINA relayed all this to Arsenal and Mod. With her web of drones and their enhanced optics, she saw everything.
"Arsenal, heavy drone inbound. Please load up the hostages. A second drone will intercept Oakenheart. Arsenal, the sorcerer is coming your way.
"Mod, the sorcerer and the sharpshooter have a trap for you on the first floor. An illusion spell meant to funnel you so Angel Eye can hit you. He's guarding the stairwell to the lower levels."
Arsenal jetted herself across the room, her exosuit boots scraping against the floor. TINA had sent a floor-plan to her HUD that put the hostages somewhere in the center of the floor.
She tore a door off the frame and found them huddled in a storage closet—cuffed and with bags over their heads. She counted twelve.
"One missing," Arsenal relayed. Then she turned her attention to the hostages. "Don't worry, everyone. We're with the Summit. We're getting you out of here."
She started ripping open hoods and snapped as many handcuffs as she could. Each hostage looked at her exosuit with open-mouthed shock, but quickly shuffled away so she could help the next one.
Arsenal tried not to react when she freed Mod's brother Antony. He was holding it together well, but he looked at her with the same mix of surprise and fear as the others.
She still hadn't met Emmett's family. She'd missed her chance the other night when she and the others hung out on the roof of the shelter. Emmett had always spoken so highly of Antony—star football player, always helpful and cheery. Seeing him like this felt wrong.
The air hummed and windows shattered as a heavy drone backed up to the building. A wave of gasps rippled through the scared group. The hatch slammed open on the floor.
"They're with us," Arsenal said, trying to reassure the hostages. "The drone is going to take you back to the Summit."
She ushered Antony and the others to the drone, and they quickly filed inside. Antony and another hostage turned to offer hands to the others as they boarded. For a moment, Arsenal saw the family resemblance between Emmett and Antony—
"Arsenal, behind you."
Arsenal spun around to find the sorcerer, Lau Keishos, standing at the edge of the stairs. He held a magic wand at his side and was dressed like he'd just stepped out of a fantasy movie. The upper half of his face was obscured in shadow.
Arsenal moved to put herself between Lau and the hostages.
The sorcerer glanced at them over her shoulder and smirked. "I'll wait."
Arsenal stared him down. Her gauntlets were half-raised and humming with power.
"Really." He waved a dismissive hand. "I'm a villain, not an asshole."
Both hero and villain waited patiently for the last few seconds while the hostages hurried inside the drone. Arsenal steadied her breathing and watched the power and cooling displays in her HUD stabilize. The world grew still and quieter as machinegun fire from the drones slowed to intermittent bursts.
The drone's hatch hissed shut.
Arsenal leveled a gauntlet and fired a kinetic blast at the sorcerer. He held up a hand and muttered an incantation. The blast deflected to the side and shattered a wall.
YOU ARE READING
Mod Superhero
Science FictionFor this cyborg, power is just an upgrade away. Emmett was used to being caught between college and his engineering internship, but when he gets caught between a powerful hero and an even stronger villain, he becomes collateral damage. Instead of d...
