1.1 New Beginnings Part 3

I check who’s calling before I answer.

Just Charlie Armstrong, my partner and one of my closest friends.

He is also the grandson of my granddad’s arch-nemesis, the Bulk. At the very least my granddad’s former arch-nemesis.

I hesitate on whether to answer before I decide on yes.

“Hello Charlie,” I say.

“Hey Daniel,” says Charlie, “Grandpa’s stuff says that Lantern, the Psychic and the Commando have just left the base? We’re guessing that it’s Samuel, James and Skyler.”

“That would be correct,” I answer, “They decided to go on patrol. I decided to check the Sentinel Armour just in case I needed to help them out.”

“You think they’ll get into trouble?” inquires Charlie.

“We’re talking about Sam and Sky here,” I answer somewhat sarcastically, “Knowing them, they’ll probably pick any fight they can with the criminal element.”

“True,” laughs Charlie, “What’s the worse that they’ll run into anyway?”

“Probably a fight with a class 2 baddie,” I answer, “Don’t worry about that. Skyler and James are class 3 while Samuel is a 4 like the first Lantern was early on. More likely they’ll get in trouble with 

the police.”

“Do think the police figure out who they are?” asks Charlie.

“They got the voice disguisers so unless they do something incredibly stupid, no,” I state, “Which even James and Sky won’t do. They’re impulsive and reckless, but they’re not dumb.”

“None of us are,” says Charlie, “Not like some of American newbies. Honest, remember how Air Wave’s first name was revealed to be Olivia by Earth Strike back in April.”

“As if any of us would use our real names while in costume,” I state, shaking my head.

The media had an early Christmas with only the intervention of Defenders of Justice with Powerman himself that stopped them figuring out Air Wave’s secret identity.

“Don’t expect them to find any crime to stop,” I say, “Very few villains operate here and crime is rather low.”

“Okay, I’ll tell grandpa,” replies Charlie.

“Bye,” I say before Charlie hangs up.

I turn to leave the room before hesitating.

What I told Charlie was true, that the group had very little chance of encountering trouble.

On the other hand, supers, especially capes, generally encountered an illogically high amount of 

trouble.

Granddad used to complain about that a lot.

Even now, I was preparing for the worst. That meant something. That I expected things to go wrong and get out of control.

I mean what’s the worst that could happen?

An armed gang, one of our grandparents’ Arch-Nemesis looking for revenge, polices attempting to arrest them, a bomb going off -,

I stop and collect my thoughts, calming myself.

Why am I so jumpy all of a sudden?

I guess it couldn't hurt to put on the Sentinel Armour tonight. I mean I don’t have to join the others on patrol, just use inside the base.

I step forward on a platform near the centre of the room. One of the things about granddad’s lab is that it doubled as a personal armoury.

I take off my outer clothing, a light jacket I wore due to decreasing warmth when I came to the base mid-evening. I stand only in my t-shirt and shorts.

Robotic arms come out and step picking up the pieces of the Sentinel Armour, taking out of the outer later and putting it aside so they can get to the inner layer. Once they reached the parts they want, the arms begin placing it on me.

The process goes smoothly. As the parts are put in place, I check the connections are working properly. While the armour was built out of many small parts, Granddad made them so they consist of several larger pieces rather than a load of small ones. Easier and quicker for manually putting on and taking off the armour than doing it by hand.

Within a couple of minutes, the arms are already putting on the outer armour plating, the final stage of putting on the Sentinel Armour. Without the arms, it would have taken me over ten minutes to do it manually.

The rocket fuel is at 100%. I really need to find a replacement for the rocket pack. It’s been with the all, but the earliest versions of the suits. I personally think granddad was sentimental about it.

Wrist mounted lasers at 98% charge.

The voice changer, the public address system and both wrist mounted sonic projectors are all working.

Comms are up and the magnetic and EMP shielding seem to be working.

The Heads Up Display or HUD is working as well. It shows a mixture of information about the suit and my surroundings.

The spyders are a bit low, only eleven out of sixteen onboard the suit. I sigh and begin to look for some more in the lab. There are over a thousand in the main armoury, but I don’t feel like going over there.

I find only a couple. One with an explosive charge while the other is unequipped, not even a camera. 

It doesn't really matter however. I mean unless the others run into a Class 4 like Vistorix or maybe a Class 5 such as the Barbarian or the late Black Storm.

“Daniel!” says a female voice over my communicator, “Vistorix is going for Lantern, Commando and Psychic.”