1.10 Ancient Warriors Part 3

“You?” says Judy, a blank look on her face.

“The Sentinel to be precise,” I reply, “I sell all sorts of things to different people. Only some of them I let normal people buy mind you, but I do sell things such as high-quality costumes, communicators and other gadgets to fellow superheroes. There are a few so called heroes that I refuse to sell to however. For example, Vengeance. That said, they were still able to acquire of my tech and I do sell stuff to Shade now. So I’ll be able get you equipment. For starters, you will need a cos-mat costume, a communicator and utility belt at the very least. I can make other stuff for you if you need it. Usually I would charge someone to cover the cost of making it and a little extra to form a reserve of money to keep the League of Heroes funded. But since we’re dating I’ll make them for you for free.”

“Thanks,” asks Judy, “What is cos-mat?”

“It is short for costume material,” I answer, “Really useful stuff that my granddad, the original Sentinel, invented. It’s flexible, but very tough. Cos-mat is resistant to lasers, energy blasts and kinetic energy. It’s also hard to tear or rip. Unless you’re put into a really bad spot, cos-mat will hold up against anything you’ll come across as a superhero. ”

“Is it dangerous being a superhero?” asks Judy, “I don’t know how I would explain it to my parents if I got hurt.”

“The main thing we have to worry about these days is ordinary crime and foreign supervillains,” I reply, “All of the native ones are currently locked up. Gravilord and Gaia’s Vengeance got taken down by the League six weeks ago. Hall and Edison were caught by Accelerate and I. You saw that on the news right? White Lord, Black Death and Redmund were already in prison before granddad died. As for the foreign villains, they don’t have a foothold here in the UK and if they tried, they have to deal with four teams of professional superheroes. That last time they tried was a few weeks ago and it failed miserably.”

“What about the gangs up in Birmingham?” inquires Judy.

“The remnants of Black Storm’s army?” I say, “Nothing to worry about. While a lot of them have powers, they’re still weak versions like their parents’ and grandparents’ powers. They also become very incompetent over the last few years. As I said, nothing to worry about.”

“What about the Birmingham Vigilante?” asks Judy.

“Urban myth,” I state matter-of-factly, “Doesn’t exist. A few mess ups and coincidences and they suddenly believe there’s a dark and mysterious hero going after them. Granddad looked into it and couldn’t find and an ounce of proof that the Birmingham Vigilante existed beyond the constant failures of the gangs. I still haven’t found any evidence since then. No one is that good enough to leave behind no trace of their existence. Granddad, and I agree with him, believe that after a few mess ups, a gangster or two decided to make up a story about some new superhero going after them rather than get in trouble for their mistakes. So the gangs were on the lookout for a non-existent hero. When they couldn’t find this make-believe hero and when things went wrong, they blamed this hero. So now they expect this hero to stop them so they blame them if they fail. And because they think they’re going to fail, they do fail. It’s all in their heads.”

“I guess that makes senses and you are the expert on this matter,” agrees Judy, “But how would I explain if I was injured?”

“Each team has a healer. For example, the Albion Defenders have Restorer and the League has Narszara,” I reply, “We also have state of the art medical technology at our disposal and some of the more ahead of the art tech as well. Plus you could probably use your powers to undo the injury if it was recent.”

“That does make me feel better,” says Judy, “Can I ask about Narszara? I tried to look her up on the internet after hearing about her on the news, but there’s not much about her on it. Even then, most of it is speculation.”

“Well, where to start,” I say before trying to explain, “Narszara is human, one who their people have adapted to their environment over the course of several thousand years, but isn’t from Earth or even an alternate Earth. She comes from what was a fantasy world, but has advanced its tech level over tens of thousands of years of civilisation for her people to become a loosely connected benevolent interdimensional empire. As for Narszara, she is one of the stronger members of her nation even if she is no way near the most dangerous or powerful. A Class 6 by our standards when she isn’t holding back. She specialises in fire and air and can shrug off injuries that would be considered fatal to someone from our world. Narszara is also a powerful magic user. I mean seriously powerful. As in the most powerful one I have ever met and I know quite a few from helping my granddad. As for what her personality is like, well, it is basically out-dated and old fashioned. While by today’s standards it is barbaric and strange, up until a few centuries ago, she would have been considered a paragon of virtue. Think honourable and courageous knight. And unlike a few of those heroes who try and act like one, she’s not acting. Narszara just does it naturally without even realising it. What she does is hard to explain without a good understanding of how she thinks, which, by the way, is quite different to someone in the modern western world. Due to how her people’s culture works, she has sworn her loyalty to me and does basically whatever I say. As long as I don’t cross certain lines that is. I ought to introduce you two sometime. Just remember that if I do, she’s very self-conscious about her extreme beauty. She acts like it is her fatal flaw or something. Which doesn’t much sense as it isn’t.”

“Her extreme beauty,” repeats Judy dryly.

It occurs to me that I could have worded that better when talking to my girlfriend even if it is an accurate description.

“Narszara is the hottest girl I know,” I answer, “Don’t worry, I only got eyes for you.” 

1.10 Ancient Warriors Part 2

Judy laughs as I struggle to move. Exo-skeleton seems to have malfunctioned and the rest of the suit is refusing to cooperate as a result.

“Prototypes,” I curse before speaking to Judy, “This is the first time I have tried this suit on.”

I have never been more aware of the difference between my normal voice and that of the Sentinel’s as I speak to someone who has only just found out I’m the Sentinel.

“Okay,” says Judy, “I’m convinced.”

“Good,” I say as I attempt to take the suit off.

“Need any help?” offers Judy as I struggle.

“You could use your power to reverse me putting it on,” I tell her, “But that would probably reverse my memories as well and wouldn’t help me solve the problem. No, wait a moment.”

Fortunately the HUD is working so I can scan the data regarding the suit’s deployment and send it back to base. I can review later and try and figure out what went wrong. I also send a message that is set to arrive in my communicator in a few seconds.

“Okay,” I tell Judy, “Go ahead.”

I brace myself, unsure of what good doing that will do, as Judy raises her hand at me.

I blink and drop the Lightweight suit on the ground. I was wearing it a moment ago wasn’t I?

I think so, but my latest memories feel fuzzy. I think I revealed my secret identity to Judy and she accepted it. Given what I know, I bet I asked Judy to rewind me putting on the suit. Something probably went wrong with it.

“What happened?”  I ask Judy.

“You put on the suit, but it malfunctioned,” replies Judy, “You had trouble taking it off-”

“So I asked you to use your powers to rewind time,” I finish, “Got it.”

It is at that moment that I receive a message. I glance at it briefly. From myself informing me of the events that Judy just told me about.

“Okay,” I say, “Well that’s that sorted.So now what?”

“I don’t know,” shrugs Judy, “I was kinda of waiting to see how you took me revealing my powers.”

“Same,” I say, “Want to sit down and chat? That might help.”

“Sure.”

I place the suit case down, flat on the ground, and sit next to it, offering the space on it to Judy so she doesn’t have to sit on the dirty ground.

I look at Judy. I’ll admit I’m pretty biased when it comes to judging her looks as while I would say she’s beautiful, most would say she’s bland or only mildly pretty. She’s fit, not surprising she walks her dog every morning. Her light brown hair is tied back in a ponytail using a red hair band. Judy’s height is pretty tall for our age, but not quite as tall as me. Her eyes are a soft brown that go with her hair. She is wearing cyan tank top that shows off her above average bust while some purple trousers cover her legs.

Yup, beautiful.

“Anything else I should know?” inquires Judy in an offhand manner.

“That depends on what you are going to do with your powers,” I reply, lying back on the ground, “I won’t tell you any secret identities of the rest of the League of Heroes. I’ll let them decide on whether to tell you or not.”

“I understand,” mutters Judy, “I wouldn’t expect you to do so either. As for my powers, well, what are my options?”

“Either superhero, government or private sector,” I say, “Supervillainy is an option except for the fact it isn’t. The private sector is your best bet for making a lot of money and given your powers, you could quite a bit. Time manipulation is both rare and powerful. The government is good if you want some more official work that isn’t necessarily dangerous. The government is also better for keeping a secret identity than the private sector, which given your connections to superheroes like me and your brother, would be a very good idea all around. If you go the route of a superhero, you have three main options, official hero, unofficial hero and vigilante. Official heroes are folks like the Albion Defenders and the Highlanders, the ones that work for the government. As for unofficial heroes, you have the League and some other vets. When it comes to being a vigilante, I would strongly advise against it and there is a reason we don’t have any of note here in England. It’s the option that people either take when they’re monsters like Vengeance or they want to help people and lack legal options to do so. Like Liberty and her team in America. The fourth choice is to just live a normal life without using your powers.”

“I think I would want to go with superhero,” answers Judy, “I want to do something with my peoples and I’d rather help people than make money.”

“Normally you would have to join up with the government like your brother did,” I say as I sit back upwards, “Otherwise you have to find a team of competent people to back you up and the resources. You will also need to acquire a decent costume and equipment if you want to hold your own in a fight. Training helps a lot as well. A lot of people make the mistake of relying on their powers to win fights. The result is usually people in hospital and a lot of collateral damage. So even if you did decide to be a superhero, you’ll probably have to wait at least a few months before going out into the field anyway. I know you got a green belt in Judo, but I’ll try and get Alex to train you. She’s a friend of my mine and one of the Aquiline’s daughters.”

“What about equipment?” inquires Judy, “You’re a famous superhero so you must have some ideas on who to go to.”

At that question, I grin. She absolutely has no idea.

“That’s easy to answer,” I reply with a wave of my hand, “Most of the governments, teams and even the loners go to one place. They sell the best available for cheap prices.”

“Who is that that?” asks Judy curiously.

“Me!” I laugh.

1.10 Ancient Warriors Part 1

I walk down the dusty path in an isolated part of the New Forest, holding hands with my girlfriend. This is our first date in far too long.

She seemed somewhat relieved when I suggested this date, an evening stroll through the forest. Just the two of us. In all honesty, I needed this sort of break after the disaster breakout attempt a couple of nights ago.

Another part of me was torn up with worried. After talking it over with the other Leaguers, I decided to finally tell Judy about the Sentinel and the League of Heroes.

I really hope she’s the understanding type when it comes to matters like this, especially since her brother is member of the Albion Defenders. But then I remind myself that Judy doesn’t know about her brother, his job or his powers. Another part of me is just glad to finally get this over and done with.

Judy stops and takes a deep breath

“Daniel,” says Judy suddenly, “I got something to tell and show you.”

“Same here,” I reply, “Do you want to go first or shall I?”

“I would like to,” says Judy quietly before speaking a bit louder, “I want to get this over with.”

My heart sinks. Is she going to break up with me? That’s one of my top three fears alongside one of my few mundane friends developing superpowers or one of the Leaguers’ secret identities being revealed to the public.

“I would tell you, but you’ll probably think I’m crazy if I don’t show you first,” continues Judy in a hurried voice, “So please just watch.”

She stretches a hand out and something ripples around it. Very faintly mind you. I only spot because I learned to watch out for these sorts of things. In my opinion, part of being a good superhero is being about to spot the extraordinary.

Judy has pointed at the mostly dried out stream next to the path. The stream seems to be frozen in time judging by how what little remains of the water isn’t moving at all.

I rack my brains for any information regarding this. This isn’t the comic books where everybody connected to the hero ends up with superpowers or something like that. No, there’s a perfectly logical explanation behind this.

I figure it out in a couple of seconds. Eternal aka Thomas Carter is Judy’s elder brother and member of the Albion Defenders. Not that Judy knows about that. Or maybe she does know about that now. I’m betting Judy got limited time powers like her brother.

“So,” probes Judy hesitantly, clearly fearing my answer.

“So time manipulation,” I say calmly.

“I think so,” replies Judy, “You’re not going to freaks out?”

“No,” I tell her, “What else do you know?”

“I got my power days nine ago,” answers Judy, “I waited a couple of days before telling my family. It then that I found out my brother, you know Tom right, was a member of the Albion Defenders.”

“Eternal, I know,” I reply.

“Wait, what?” says Judy confused.

“Now it’s time to tell you my secret,” I say.

“Do you have powers of your own?” asks Judy curiously.

“In manner of speaking,” I reply, “I’m the Sentinel.”

Judy gasps in shock.

“I brought along a few things as proof,” I say with a grin, “I also brought even more over here earlier and left them here so I could show you them as well. Of course, the fact you have your own powers should make it easier to convince you.”

“I won’t deny that my suspension of disbelief has greatly expanded recently,” admits Judy.

“Here they are,” I say as I reach the hiding spot I picked out earlier.

Given how the most advanced Sentinel armours still take two minutes to put on with the help of specialised machinery, I didn’t bring one of them. On the other hand I needed something distinctly Sentinel to convince Judy.

The solution was a brand new set of armour that I had been working on over the last few weeks and had been focusing more on since my fight with Nightblade. A workable Sentinel armour that was quick to put on, relatively portable and could still hold its own in a fight.

I called it the Lightweight Sentinel Armour. Only relatively weak compared to the current armour, it was more specialised to operations where stealth, subtlety and discreet were required rather than frontline fighting and long-term usage.

A mixture of a tight black cos-mat mesh underneath and cut back armour plates on the outer layer, it had only a few of the features of the main Sentinel armour. The helmet, HUD, Kinetic Energy Redirectors and the wrist-mounted lasers. It lacked other features such as the rocket-pack, the new shoulder-mounted missiles, the sonics and PA system, the exo-skeleton that increase speed strength and such like that and the Faraday cage.

On the other hand, it had a few new features such as a weaker version of the exo-skeleton that didn’t require the full set of armour plating. It also had the wrist-mounted miniature gauss cannons that fired adhesive AP bolts with spider silk lines that connected the bolts and guns.

In English, the grappling hooks that I’ve had been working on.

To allow for fly, I added rocket boots instead of the rocket pack that was built into the bulky backplate.

Let me tell you something, flying using rocket boots while fighting is a horrible thing to undertake. A steady rocket pack is one thing, the rocket boots are only good if you are able to focus on make sure they’re flying you in the right direction and that pretty much take out any ability to kick your opponents while in the air.

And best of all, the armours folds up into a case, an extremely heavy case that I struggle to carry, and can be deployed around the wearer in mere moments in the field.

I do just that as I pull the case out and activate it. In a whirl of spinning parts, the armour forms around me.

And jams once it is almost done.

Second Web Serial - Legacy

Hello there. While I am pleased with where this story has gone, I'm not pleased with the beginning as it feels like a rereading of the start of the Legion of Nothing due to me taking excessive inspiration from it. Due to the poor beginning, I have decided to start another superhero story as while I am happy with where this story has gone in the end, I want a fresh start to use my improved writing skills. As a result, I have started my second attempt web serial, Legacy.

This story generally consists of concepts and ideas that I didn't use for League of Heroes since many of them were mutually exclusive. Rather than try and explain the world and characters all at once, I have attempted to start off based around a single character and build the story around that.

I hope whoever is reading this will follow the link and enjoys my second attempt at web serial. While I have decided to write my current web serial as the experiment that it is, I will still update until its end before switching my focus to Legacy. I hope to one day return to this setting once I have become more experienced author. 

1949 - Founding

An armoured man stands next to another man in a white costume with blue gloves and boots. Despite the second man’s pure white hair, he is actually in the peak of health. The first man’s armour is somewhat streamline despite remaining blocky. It looks dangerous yet it remains reassuring.

“So this is it,” says the costumed man, “We’re making it official.”

“It is a good thing Lantern,” replies the man in the power armour, “We have been active for a year now and the public is going to know regardless of what we do. It’s not like we can keep hidden. At least this way we’re keeping on top of things.”

“You don’t need to convince me pal,” replies Lantern, “We already discussed this with the others and 

I agree that it is necessary. And I understand it is harder for you to avoid the public eye whilst running around in that bulky armour of yours Sentinel.”

“It’s not that bulky,” protests Sentinel, “Especially compared to some of the others. Take Iron Defender or Stahl Krieger for example. And don’t even get me started that Russian guy, the Steel Worker.”

“He’s dead you know,” says Lantern, “Steel Worker was slain fighting Sickle and Hammer a few days ago.”

“Damn,” curses Sentinel, “I didn't exactly like that guy, but he was alright for a Red. Especially since he became a Comrade.”

“I agree it’s a shame that those Stalinist scum killed Steel Worker,” says Lantern, “But there isn't much we can do about it. Not anything that we can do when you think about so let’s focus on what we can do here and today.”

“Save the speeches for the press,” says Sentinel in joking tone, “I know you too well for those little speeches of yours to be awe-inspiring.”

“I would say they’re awe-inspiring...” replies Lantern with a shrug and using the small joking tone as his friend, “But even you have to admit they’re pretty good.”

“Paragon’s were better,” counters Sentinel.

“Yeah, but he’s Paragon,” protests Lantern, “At least I’m better than Sarge or that wife of yours.”

“Jean is pretty good at speeches I’ll have you know,” says Sentinel with mock seriousness as he defends his wife.

“I gave, I gave,” says Lantern as he holds his hands up in mock surrender, “But has Sarge decided on a new codename yet? I know he’s not going with Sergeant Strong anymore and we need to announce the codenames of all our members.”

“Commando,” answers Sentinel, “He is a member of the Royal Marine Commandos as his day job.”

“Do you think his bosses will have a problem with-” Lantern starts to speak, but pauses as a smartly dressed man in a suit enters the backroom they’re waiting in.

“Sentinel, Lantern,” the man greets them, “They’re ready for you now.”

“Thanks Steven,” replies Sentinel, “Ready Lantern?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” answers Lantern, “Let get this over with.”

Lantern leads the way as he walks through the door with Sentinel following him.

They enter a large hall with fancy podium at the front. The rest of the room is filled with reporters and photographers sitting down on their chairs.

“Hello ladies and gentlemen,” says Lantern as he strides forward as the cameras flashes die down, “I’m sure you remember me from my role in the war and that the recent actions of myself and my friends have refreshed those memories if you have forgotten. But for formality’s sake, I am Lantern, former captain in the British army.”

“And I am the Sentinel, former RAF sergeant,” says Sentinel as he stands next to Lantern, “Both of us are former members of Lion Squad.”

“Now before we get to questions, I would like to explain the situation and what exacting is happening,” continues Lantern, “That’ll save time as we’ll hopefully be able to answer many of your questions in the process.”

Lantern pauses.

“Now as you know, Lion Squad was a special operation unit formed during the war,” says Lantern, “We were pulled together from many different parts of the military and empire. What we had in common was our powers or gifts. And once the war had ended, Lion Squad was disbanded and the majority of us returned to our lives here in England or started new ones here. Unfortunately, home had changed during the war as while the war was being fought, the mob decided to move in and prey on those that live here. Once we returned, we took offense at such a thing and decided to do something about it. We started our crusade for justice when Sentinel here uncovered a protection racket whilst simply out for coffee.”

Lantern stops speaking and lets Sentinel take over.

“That’s right except for one thing,” says Sentinel, “I was having a cup of tea, not coffee. Upon discovering the racket, I felt that I should do something about it. After all, I fought against the Barbarian, small armies and killer automatons so why should I just roll over for the mob. That night I retrieved the old Sentinel armour prototype from my basement and took down some members of protection racket after they threaten me using some guns left over from the war. As you know, I left them to the police once I had stopped them.”

“After that,” says Lantern, “He informed the rest of us, Lion Squad that is, of what had occurred. We need decided the same thing as Sentinel, that we weren’t going to stand idly by after all that we had been through. We worked together to fight the mob and their enforcers. Due to not being soldiers in a war, we did our best to refrain from killing and maiming our opponents. We also avoided holding them prisoner. Instead we collected evidence and turned it over to the authorities to defeat them long term. While we personally stopped the local mob operations, we haven’t done anything beyond stopping them on a street level. No executions or torturing. Instead we let long term justice be handled by the proper authorities.”

“Last week we took down the leaders of the local mob,” continues Lantern, “As you heard, they had a powered mercenary with them.”

Sentinel smiles beneath his helmet as he remembers that. The poor guy had pretty good powers, some powerful pyrokinesis and a decent amount of superspeed. Unfortunately for him, the Sentinel armour is fireproof and Vibration was much faster.

“We were easily able to take him down, capture the mob bosses and obtain enough evidence for the courts to be able to put them away for a long time,” says Lantern, “Once that was done, we returned to Sergeant Strong’s house to discuss our future. There we realise that was still countless injustice going on and what while we were able to doing something about, we couldn’t just stand idle by. Just as we couldn’t stand idle by when we dealt with the mob. As of such, we decided an organised response would be better than a disorganised response. After discussing it amongst ourselves and sorting out details between us, we approached the authorities with our plans. We will act as vigilantes who act against crime. But we won’t kill or inflict injuries that won’t heal with time. We will hand over those we stop to the proper authorities and let the due process decide their fates. We’ll collect evidence in a proper manner and hand it over to the police to do what they will. We’ll make our activities public and hold ourselves accountable to public even if we keep our identities secret to keep our families safe and to live normal lives. We shall never harm the innocent and we shall protect our country and its people. There eight of us in total. All you should know or heard of them even if they now go by different names. There is myself and our leader, Lantern. You know Sentinel. We also have Sergeant Strong who now goes by Commando. We have Vibration, Shadow Beast and Bolt. Psychic has also joint us. We even have Gateway, former French resistance leader and wife of the Sentinel. Together we form the new League of Heroes!”

1.9 Mad Beasts Part 7

Officers belonging to the Superhuman Intervention Division of the local police soon arrive on the scene to take the Mad Sisters back into custody, freeing Carrie and I to head home for the night.

Normally I would fly home in just an hour. But Carrie can’t fly and it would take her three hours at running at top speed to get back even ignoring the fact she would tire out long before managed to even get near home.

In the end we decide on me giving Carrie a ride and the two of us flying home together.

She can’t hold on to my legs or arms, Carrie would tire and/or lose her grip. If she was on my back, 

she would get roasted by the rocket pack built into the back of the Sentinel armour. Ultimately, it ends up with Carrie riding on my shoulders.

It feels weird to have girl sitting on your shoulders. At least Carrie transformed back, it would be too hard to try and fly whilst giving her transformed state a ride.

“This is fun,” says Carrie after a while.

“It feels strange for me,” I reply, “It doesn't feel right to have a girl your own age riding on your shoulders.”

“I guess,” mutters Carrie, “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure,” I tell her. “Shoot.”

“You got a girlfriend right?” says Carrie, “So know about romance right. The real life kind, not the stuff you find in books or on TV.”

“I wouldn’t say I’m an expert on the subject,” I answer, “But I’ll answer any of your questions as best as I can.”

“Thanks,” replies Carrie, “There’s a boy at my school that I like. I mean really like. He’s cute, kind, caring and smart. But I don’t know how to get his attention. How did you and Judy come together?”

 “We first met in Year R, but we never really got to know each other until the start of junior school,” 

I tell her, “After that, we became friends in Year 3 and have been in the same class throughout junior school. At secondary school we were in the same tutor and shared pretty all of our classes. We only got together back in March.”

“So a long time friendship blossoming into a girlfriend-boyfriend relationship,” says Carrie, “That’s a lot different from whatever Marcus and I might have.”

“Yeah, it is,” I reply, “Would you like my advice on what to do?”

Carrie is silent.

“Umm, Carrie?” I prompt her.

“I nodded,” answers Carrie.

“I can’t see you, you know,” I reply dryly, “You’re riding on the back of my shoulders and I have to look ahead so we don’t crash.”

“How would you crash anyway?” inquires Carrie, “There’s nothing, but empty air up here.

“It’s the principle,” I reply, “Now, do you want my advice or not?”

“I would really appreciate it,” says Carrie.

“If I was in your position, I would just tell him how you felt about him,” I tell her, “Leaving it hidden away will just let things build up inside. Better to just let it out. If he rejects you, then you’ve found out before wasting too much of your time and haven’t had time to build your hopes up too much. You can just move on and get over it. He accepts, arrange a date or something. A simple way to solve the problem at its very core.”

“I don’t know,” mutters Carrie, “I see why you would think that way, but I don’t think it would work for me like that.”

“Suit yourself,” I reply, “Maybe one of the others will have good advice? You could ask someone back at base or tomorrow at some point.”

“Good work taking on Mad Dog,” I say as she remains silent, “You did well tonight.”

***

“Last night could have gone better,” notes Sam as we walk to school together the next day, “Thirteen officers are dead and even more wounded. The Mad Sisters broke out and even if you and Carrie did round them back up, it still doesn't look good.”

When I said we were walking, we both took certain methods to greatly shorten our journeys from our houses. Such as flight or getting a lift from your best friend who flies.

“At least it broke their credibility as supposed heroes,” I reply, “A part of their defence was that they were tricked by our foe and now that our foe has tried to violently break then out. And killed people in the process. The public won’t like that and the media is going to be even harder on them.”

“Our foe has finally decided to start taking lives,” says Sam, “Still no idea on whom it could be?”

“No,” I tell him, “But I do know that he’s self-reliant. He doesn't buy his materials and resources and prefers to use drones to do his bidding. I'm also certain he’s got access to Sektain tech after last night. Those scorpion drones definitely used that level of tech.”

“So scorpion drones are what we’re calling them.”

“Yup. I personally feel that our foe is not native to Earth or at least they have travelled through space at one point. But I feel that they’re more likely to be an alien than human at this point.”

“What about the next big thing coming up?” inquires Sam, “We can’t do much about our foe at this point so I feel that we should focus on what we can deal with.”

“The German President is visiting next week,” I reply.

Sam stops and turns to stare at me, “The Barbarian is coming here?” 

1.9 Mad Beasts Part 6

Mad Cat has slammed Carrie into the ground, slashing at her with her extended claws and Carrie lashes out in return.

Carrie is too close for me to use my sonics or lasers on Mad Cat without hitting her as well so I decide that momentum and hard mass are the way to go.

Firing up the rocket pack, I leap at Mad Cat and zoom straight into her. We both go flying and I struggle to stay into control of my flight with Mad Cat in the way.

I tumble and crash into the street while Mad Cat bounces across the tarmac in front of me.

“I got Mad Dog,” growls Carrie over the League communicator.

“I’ll take down Mad Cat,” I reply as I get to my feet.

Mad Cat is prowling on all fours in front of me, battered and bruised.

I adopt a defensive stance. No civilians are out at this hour in this normally quiet area of the country.

“Come on monster!” I broadcast over the armour’s PA system at Mad Cat, “I haven’t got all night!”

She snarls at me and pounces, but I’m ready. I throw a punch when Mad Cat is mere inches away from me. My armoured fist slams into her stomach and Mad Cat lets out a pained whine.

I ducked as the villainess flies over my head.

I hear Carrie yowl behind me and I spin around, ready to help her. She’s been knocked into the street and is getting to her feet.

But Mad Dog has already thrown a small, green car at her.

I really don’t want to find out how well Carrie can take a car to the face so I do the first thing that 

comes to mind.

I fly straight at the car. I can take the car dead on better than Carrie can and can shrug it off while she can’t.

The front of the car crunches inward as we connect. I’m shaken inside my armour, but grab it with both arms.

Carrie rushes in front of me, charging at Mad Dog.  Mad Dog dodges, but I toss the wrecked car at her.

I see Mad Dog’s eyes widen as she spots the car split-second before it slams into her. I don’t get time to do anything further before I feel something grab a hold of my right ankle.

Mad Cat.

Well, if she wants to play that game.

I fly straight up. I’m certain Mad Cat can’t take a fall from so high up as I can.

Once I’m over twenty metres above the ground, I shake my right leg. Mad Cat try to hold on, but she can’t a firm grip on the smooth armour.

It takes a moment, but Mad Cat falls.

Normally I would be worried if someone fell from this height, but I know for a fact that Mad Cat can take it in her transformed state even if she won’t be getting up anytime soon afterwards.

And who cares if she doesn’t?

I look down and search the street below for Carrie. I easily spot her battling Mad Dog in what I guess should be called claw-to-claw combat rather than hand-to-hand combat. Maybe?

Taking a couple of second to watch, I decide that Carrie doesn’t need my help.

While Mad Dog might have more field experience with her powers, Carrie has more control and has been training since she was little, like all of the new Leaguers. Not only that, but Mad Dog has spent that last month and a half imprisoned and it’s taking its toll on her.

As I watch for little longer, I notice another factor in the fight below. Carrie’s slashes are leaving bloody gashes in Mad Dog’s flesh, nothing too deep mind you. On the other hand, Carrie’s cos-mat costume is protecting her from Mad Dog’s attacks.

 I grin as Carrie gets in a good blow, leaving Mad Dog staggering backwards.

The villainess looks up at the now visible moon and simply howls at it. I stare at the monster. It’s shocking to see a person, even a crazed murder such as Mad Dog, reduced to the level of a feral beast.

I almost sigh in regret and pity as I fire all four of my electro-spyders at Mad Dog.

Mad Dog is about to pounce on Carrie when the spyders hit her. You can see Mad Dog being briefly electrocuted before she falls face first into the tarmac.

Now to check on Mad Cat. I drop down to the ground, stopping slightly above the ground before finally cutting the fuel to the rocket pack. Even in a suit of powered armour, I still dislike doing a complete fall from those heights as the impact can jolt you pretty hard.

Mad Cat is twitching a little and looks pretty banged up from the impact, but is still breathing fine.

Bending over her, I inspect her, trying to gauge whether or not she is out for the count.

I get my answer when Mad Cat tries to grab me weakly.

I stamp on her arm, bone crunching beneath my boot. Mad Cat whimpers momentarily before slumping into unconsciousness.

Victory.

1.9 Mad Beasts Part 5

“Alex,” I call over my communicator, “We have a problem.”

“Drones trying to break out Vengeance?” inquires Alex, “Because you wouldn’t be the only ones to have that problem.”

“Four squadrons of three,” I tell her, “Ten are down, but five officers are dead and Mad Dog has escaped. Two of the drones also got away, but they’re damaged. Robyn Hood lost her bow and is out of arrows. What happened to the others?”

“Another dozen tried to breakout Nightmare, but Narszara wiped out in a few seconds,” replies Alex, 

“She even complained it was too quick and easy. Another twelve tried to free Avenger, but Lantern and Bolt took them out. There was also an attack on Forsworn, but they fended it off. They did have trouble mind you and some of the drones got away. The Defenders guarding Mad Cat didn’t do well. Three police cars and the truck were destroyed, eight officers dead and the other two need to go to hospital, Mad Cat was freed and is on the loose like her sister. Controller is messed up pretty badly. Spectre is out cold and needs to medical attention. Powerbeam is getting the injured officers to hospital. My guess is that the Mad sisters are going to try and link up. The others have to continue to escorting their prisoners so you and Night Beast are the only ones free to go after them. I’ll try and track the Mad sisters for you. Good luck.”

This is not good. We basically got a pair of psycho killer werewolves on the loose and only Carrie and I are able to hunt them down.

“Robyn!” I call to the Defender, “Mad Cat and Mad Dog are freed and only Night Beast and I are able to hunt them down. Can you handle the situation here?”

“Sure Sentinel,” replies Robyn over my communicator, “I wouldn’t be much help to you anyway without my bow and arrows.”

I switch my communicator to a private League channel and call Carrie.

“Night Beast,” I say, “We got to bring in Mad Dog and then go after Mad Cat. You okay?”

“I’m fine,” answers Carrie, but she doesn’t sound fine.

“Sure?”

“Yeah, but it’s pretty bad down here. People are dead.”

“All the more reason to make sure the bad guys don’t win.”

“Okay.”

I land by Carrie. She is still transformed and trying to avoid looking at the wreckage of the police vehicles.

“Can you track which direction Mad Dog went?” I ask her.

“Give me a moment,” growls Carrie before sniffing the air, “I got her scent. She’s heading south.”

Carrie suddenly bounds off on all fours. Should I fly after her or converse rocket fuel and follow on foot? I decide on the latter option as I can keep up on foot and not being the air might help stop Mad Dog from spotting me too early.

I follow Carrie as she follows both Mad Dog’s scent and the trail of destruction that the crazed murderess has left in her wake. Nothing major, just things like paw print dents in the road, knocked over fences and broken branches.

“Sentinel,” calls Alex, “I got more information you might want to hear.”

“Go ahead,” I reply.

“Given their locations and the directions the Mad Sisters have gone in, it appears they are trying to link up with each other,” says Alex, “Whether that makes things easier or harder for you, I don’t know.”

“Thanks for the heads up.” I reply before ending the call.

Mad Dog and Mad Cat regrouping means we don’t have to track down each one separately, but if they’re together, they would much harder to take down. It comes down to it being quicker at the expense of winning being tougher.

“Sentinel!” shouts Carrie from in front of me, “Mad Dog is just ahead, but I faintly smell Mad Cat as well.”

“Alex just told me that they’re trying to meet up with each other,” I reply.

“Damn it,” curses Carrie, “So what do we do?”

“Same as usual, take them down with no civilian injures and minimal collateral damage,” I say, “We can take them so don’t worry. Just remember that they’re a lot worse than many of the villains and will happily across the line. Also, their claws and fangs can’t get through my armour and that means they can’t hurt me.”

“Got it Sentinel,” says Carrie.

Her earlier uneasiness seems to have turned into a burning determination to bring down the Mad Sisters. I can’t say I disapprove of that sort of attitude.

“One thing I don’t get is how the Mad Sisters lose control,” says Carrie, “Their powers are pretty much the same as mine, but I have complete control of my changed state while they seem to have none. I know I had some trouble early one, but I was barely ten at the time. By the time I started secondary school, I had pretty much total control over my transformation. Yet they lose it so easily.”

“Maybe they never got control in the first place?” I offer as we reach a village.

“I wonder if they even tried to bring it under control,” mutters Carrie.

I’m about to reply to that when something big and dark slams into Carrie.