The Metahuman Agency: The Superhuman War

Battle of the Bridge

Jason gripped onto Audrey's arm as they flew over the streets of Quincy, Laureen tucked in the beetle girl's other arm to his right. Hiroshi flew alongside them, arms pointed out like he was pointing at something, his scarf flapping wildly in the wind. Below, more of the chaos unfolded as they zoomed by.

Citizens were fleeing through the streets, pushing and trampling each other to escape to who knows where. Emergency services were attempting to guide them but with so many people, there was only so much they could do. Jason witnessed one cop at a makeshift barricade yelling an onrushing crowd of people to stop. But citizens began to pour over the barricade, practically throwing themselves over it, a sea of bodies. Multiple men and women slammed down on the cop and he was dragged down into the stampede of people. Another cop several feet ahead fired his gun warningly into the air, the tide of people screeching to a halt. Officers began to yell at the crowd, brandishing their machine guns to make their point. They appeared to get the crowd under control...for the moment. But that was only one block. How could they possibly get the entire city under control?

Jason didn't know. But he tried, tried, to focus his mind. He had to put some faith in the cops, emergency services, and whoever else was trying to protect this city while it was under siege. And to think...he used to hate cops. Funny how the last few months had focused his mind on bigger matters than the petty ideas he used to think his life revolved around.

They soared onward, clearing more buildings, witnessing jam-packed freeways, convoys of ambulances, and burning buildings decorated the practically hellish city of Quincy. Finally, Laureen pointed ahead and yelled over the winds, "I think I see the fucking thing!"

Jason looked ahead, raising one arm over his mask to focus his view. The arm twitched slightly in a spasm of pain but Jason ignored it. Focusing ahead, he tried to tune out the sirens and screams from below, and followed Laureen's finger.

There, in the distance, was a small bridge over a slow-moving river. One side of it was jam packed with vehicles, all squashed together in a desperate, yet ultimately futile attempt, to evacuate over the thing. Several of the car's alarms were going off, their lights flashing all together, blinking on and off like a bunch of fireworks exploding. In the center of the bridge the vehicles had come to a stop. Two SWAT vans flanked the procession of evacuee. What looked like a horde of people was hunkered down amidst the mess of traffic, lying flat on the ground or even underneath their own cars. In front of them were multiple SWAT officers, who were taking cover around the traffic and behind their armored vans. They were firing ahead across the bridge and Jason's gaze shifted to see what they were shooting at.

Several dozen mercenaries were at the edge of the bridge, blocking the evacuees escape route. They too were taking cover behind abandoned vehicles, popping out to open fire on the SWAT group they were currently engaged in a firefight with. But despite their caution, Jason could see they were easily gaining group. Dead bodies, civilian and cop alike, lay around them. There were a lot of them and only a few cops standing between them and a hapless group of civilians.

"Fucking hell..." Laureen said, as Audrey flew to a halt next to the bridge and hovered in midair. "Okay, get us down there! Hiroshi, open with a salvo of energy blasts! Go, fucking go!"

Audrey dived and Jason gripped her arm for dear life, as she plunged down toward the edge of the bridge. Winds swept him, making him lips flap as they tore at his exposed skin. Hiroshi dived next to them, his hands glowing with shimmering light. He then opened fire, twin energy blasts slamming down in front of the bridge in the gap between the mercenaries and the SWAT team.

The firefight stopped, cops and mercenaries looking skyward. To their credit, the Skeleton Crew mercs were quick to react. One rose from behind a bullet-ridden truck, hefting a rocket launcher. He fired at Audrey.