1.8 Assassins Part 7

Nightblade is crouched over us on the cafe roof. He has gotten one of his swords fixed, but the other isn’t there.

The reporters turn and start speaking as they realise it is Nightblade.

He jumps down and points his sword at Oliver.

“You’ll do nicely kid,” growls Nightblade, “I’m sure with you along, I’ll persuade your father to come along nicely.”

Harry gives out a strangled cry of “Oliver” as my cousin freezes in terror.

This bad, like really bad. I’m in my secret identity without the Sentinel armour. None of the League will be able to show up in time.

I might not count as a Class 4 without the armour, but I still count as Class 1 with my fit body and training from Laura.

And I am not able to let Nightblade go after my family without a fight, even family I dislike and don’t agree with.

I grab Nightblade’s arm and twist the sword out of his hand. He doesn’t react, probably out of shock. He also doesn’t react when I swing the sword into his side, getting the blade stuck inside him.

“Run!” I yell at Oliver as Nightblade staggers back.

“What the £$@&?” mutters Nightblade before he pulls his sword out of his side.

Oliver and I run past the crowd. Both of us are good runners and while Nightblade might be better than us with his enhancements, he’s injured and we got a head start.

Meanwhile I set out a subtle distress signal with my communicator as I run. I doubt Nightblade will underestimate me next time and the best I can hope for without the Sentinel armour is to delay him until another member of the League shows up in costume.

I hear Nightblade cry out in anger as he rushes towards us. I halt as he catches up with us.

I duck as he swings at my head and grabs his arm. I twist it behind me and knee Nightblade in his cut side. He grunts and shakes me off.

I try to get to my feet, but Nightblade is already over me with his blade raised to cut me down.

That’s when Night Beast intervenes. Carrie has turned into a basically a bipedal wolf-cat hybrid that’s two metres all. Her grey and black fur can only be seen on her snout and mane as her black cos-mat suit covers the rest of her minus Carrie’s wolfish yellow eyes.

She grabs Nightblade and tosses him back, swiping at his armoured chest.

I spot Kevin behind her, stretching towards his twin his grey costume that leaves only the eyes visible.

It occurs to me this is the fight time I seen the Walter twins fight a supervillain. When they fought the Machine and Gaia’s Vengeance, I wasn’t there.

Nightblade kicks Night Beast off, but is then engulfed by Multiform. When he uses his powers, Kevin is basically a morphing grey mass that is near impossible to harm. Which Nightblade finds out when he tries to get rid of Multiform.

I decide that since Daniel Griffin is a civilian, he ought to get back and out of the way. I back off into the crowd as Carrie attacks Nightblade again. Oliver is nowhere to be seen.

I watch from the crowd as Kevin latches onto Nightblade’s arms and holds them behind his back while Carrie rips his helmet off.

I see a light in the air and spot Sam coming down from the sky. I better slink away before the fights over. I’m a non-super who just took on a supervillain and held my own and now I’m in a crowd of reporters.

Ever since the League restarted, I developed a dislike for the media and the press to the point of borderline hatred.

Fortunately for me, the reporters are all distracted by the fight as I slip away. Once out of sight of the crowd, I run for it.

I’m sure they’ll come after me later for interviews, but at home, I can refuse more easily than if I’m caught out in the streets.

Home’s not too far away, but do I really want to go home with how I fought Nightblade on the news. I don’t want to hear what Dad or Mum has to say.

I’m better off taking refuge in the base. An entrance isn’t too far away from my current location.

It is an old one behind an old building. The system recognises me as I approach and opens up, showing a hatch that two feet by two feet with a ladder going down. I look inside.

Definitely one of the older entrances. It seems to be the same as an old, worn sewer without actually being part of the sewer system.

I with a glance around, I climb now the ladder. Once I reach the bottom, the hatch closes behind me, leaving me in darkness with no lights.

“Darn it,” I mutter as look for an emergency light that I also carry around.

I eventually find it and pull it out. It’s nothing fancy, merely a three inch long stick with a decently bright light on the end.

I walk down the tunnel when I hear someone access the hatch behind me.

1.2 Partners Part 5

“That went well,” says Charlie as we sit around the large table where we’re having the meeting tonight, “Nobody, but the bad guys got hurt.”

“Daniel was upset by their screams,” replies Lucy, casting a concerned look at me.

“I’m okay now,” I reassure her, “The screams just unnerved me more than I expected them to. So did watching them suffer. The worst part was that I knowing that I had caused it. It felt worst once the fight was over when I could hear them and wasn’t focused on fighting.”

“I didn’t really hurt the men inside the bank,” says Lucy, “Just knocked them out. I mean I could hear the cries of the ones outside, but I concentrated on the fight as well.”

“You both did good,” says Charlie, “Almost wish I was there, but I would have just gotten in the way and caused more problems than I would have solved.”

“It’s not your fault the Bulk armour is so big,” I say sympathically.

“Still,” replies Charlie, shrugging, “I wonder where they got the firepower they had from. A single pistol is rare, let alone seven, an Uzi and a pair of assault rifles.”

“You mentioned that to Inspector Oakley,” Lucy says to me as she looks at me and she leans against the wall, “Any ideas?”

“None really, but I haven’t looked into it yet,” I reply, shaking my head, “But they shouldn’t of had that amount of firepower on their own. I bet somebody give it to them.”

“It couldn’t just be a coincidence,” says Charlie, “Only three days after your fight with Vistorix.”

“I was thinking that myself,” I reply, “But we should focus on the meeting. The others should start arriving anytime now.”

No sooner then I finish speaking, I hear Sam shouting down the corridor.

“I can’t believe it you guys!” shouts Sam as he strolls into the room, “You and Lucy took on Kendrick Hall, Kingsley Edison and all of their henchmen this afternoon. It’s all over the news.”

Sky and James are with him and just followed Sam in.

“It was more that we arrived at the base when the police call us,” explains Lucy as Sam takes a seat next to me.

Charlie is seated next to me while Lucy takes a chair opposite him.

“It was still awesome,” says Sam, “I wish I could have been there.”

“No doubt you do,” I reply as Sky sits next to Sam and James sits next to Lucy and opposite me, 

“Any idea who else is showing up. I know Helen is coming.”

“Vance texted me,” says James, “Him and the Walter twins are coming should be here in a minute or two. I’m certain Stefan is coming, but he might be a few minutes late.”

“All of us have got our names already sort,” I say, “I’m Sentinel, Sam’s Lantern, Lucy’s Accelerate, James is Vision, Sky’s Commando and Charlie’s Bulk. I pretty certain Helen is going with Gateway like grandma. What about the others?”

“Vance mentioned he was going with Bolt like his grandfather,” says James, “I don’t know about Stefan and Walter twins.”

“I’m certain that Stefan isn’t going with Black Storm,” says Sky, “But that’s a given.”

“So tell us about the fight,” eagerly asks Sam.

We spent the next few minutes discussing the earlier fight, Sam and Sky being the most eager to hear about. We stop when Vance, Stefan and the Walter twins enter the room.

Vance Svendsen is of Norwegian descent as the original Bolt and his wife were from there. His mother and her family are English however. His hair is a long mangled mane of dirty blonde whilst his eyes are a sharp blue. He has a particularly rugged look to both his body and his facial features. The beard he has started growing helps.

Stefan Thornson on the other hand has his hair both messy and closely cropped. He’s skinny and has above average height. His eyes are dark brown, almost black. Like usual, he is wearing a lot of black leather for some reason I don’t begin to understand.

Unlike the rest of us, he has had to grow up being publically known as the grandson of one of the League and even the nation’s greatest enemies, Black Storm.

It hasn’t been easy for him as it made him a target for bullies and more than a few people were willing to look the other way when he was picked on.

The Walter twins, despite being twins, look rather different from each other. Kevin is very tall with bulging muscles. His hair and clothes are smart and well maintained. Carrie is the reverse, short and skinny with smooth black hair going down to her shoulders. Her clothes are much more casual than her brother. Both have the same red eyes though.

The Walter family and the Thornsons are two of the richest around, each with a few million pounds in their bank accounts. But I can’t complain as Griffin Engineering has a couple million more than the Walter and Thornson fortunes combined and the Sentinel is one of the richest billionaires in the world.

“I can’t believe you got into another fight Daniel,” says Vance, shaking his head.

“First things first,” I reply with a slight grin, “Take your seats and pick your codenames.”

“I’m going with Bolt,” says Vance with a big smile as they take their seats, “But I’m sure you already knew that.”

“I’m going with Multiform,” says Kevin, “Due to my shapeshifting powers.”

“You know my powers,” says Carrie quietly, “So I’m going with Night Beast.”

Carrie’s a bit uncomfortable with her powers and you can tell. I’m not surprised given what her powers are.

Her power is basically turning with a giant were-monster, a strong powerful bipedal hybrid of wolf and cat. It’s also about half the size of the Bulk armour so it isn’t exactly small. And is most certainly not the prettiest thing out there though I won’t go as far to say that form is downright hideous, just seriously ugly.

“I’m going to go with Storm Knight,” says Stefan, “If my powers turn out to me like my grandfather’s that is.”