Super Powereds: Year 3 (108 page)

                “Fires,” Vince said, doing his best to keep his voice down as he spoke rapidly to the confused face of Roger Brown. “There are fires in here. Four by my count, and spreading quickly.”

                Vince’s odd declaration might have required more effort to sell to the bar owner, however, at that point, panicked voices could be heard coming from one of the back areas. Roger heard the noises, took a long look at the earnest expression on Vince’s face, and waved off the bouncer approaching behind the silver-haired young man.

                “Everyone, it seems we have a small but serious fire breaking out from the kitchen,” Roger said, his voice still steady and reasonable. “We need everyone here to proceed out the nearest exit in a calm, orderly manner while the situation is cleaned up. The rodeo will resume as soon as the fire is fixed, and we’ll do a round on the house as apology for the inconvenience. Again, please move calmly to the exit nearest to you.”

                Vince braced for a stampede of half-drunk college students slamming into each other as they tried to get to safety. Instead, what happened was exactly what Roger had asked for. Every person there looked around, found the closest exit sign, and began filing out steadily. There was some jostling and chaos from the exit near the bathrooms where the first screams had come from, but even that seemed to smooth itself out as the river of fresh bodies poured through it. From that direction, Vince caught sight of a familiar face battling his way against the current, eyes shining golden as he fought his way back into the club.

                Vince was amazed at how peaceful everyone was being. He chanced a glance at Roger, who had a serene, watchful expression on his face. As he looked at the older man, Vince realized that even his own panic had abated. He knew the situation was still dangerous, and he was worried about his friends’ safety, but it was like he was looking at those emotions on the other side of a waterfall of calmness. Most people would have just taken it as an unexpected response to danger, but Vince was well-acquainted with how his body and mind reacted to stressful situations. He could be detached, certainly; however, this was tranquility on a level that he’d never achieved when shit was hitting the fan. As soon as he realized that, Vince knew. It was more hunch than provable fact, but he knew all the same.

                “You’re a Super,” Vince said, half-whispering in case the microphone in Roger’s hand was still on. No one seemed to be paying them any attention, though; most people were too occupied with peacefully exiting the building. Dimly, Vince realized he could smell smoke and see it streaming out of one of the back areas.

                Roger nodded, eyes never leaving the dispersing patrons as they emptied out of the club. “I’m nothing too special; I have a low-level auditory resonance ability. Whatever emotions I put into my voice are mirrored in the people listening. This is about the maximum I can do, though.”

                “Must be a pretty handy talent.” Vince groped about for words, trying to think of what he could say. Roger might know about most of his friends and their powers, but to him, Roger Brown was a stranger. There was no sense in revealing his abilities or HCP status to someone he wasn’t cleared to share things with. Luckily, Roger took the discussion out of Vince’s hands before he could blurt out something dumb.

                “Looks like things are clear enough for us to vamoose too.” Roger pointed toward the front exit, which was nearly empty, thanks to the efficient exodus. The only remaining people were Camille, Mary, Roy, and Alex; who’d gotten a good enough view to see Vince still lingering about. Nick hurried across the club and quickly joined them, throwing Vince a vicious glare with his once-again brown irises. They weren’t worried about Vince’s safety; that much was evident. They were there to make sure he didn’t try anything stupid that would get him exposed.

                “Are . . . are you sure we shouldn’t try to do something about the fires?” Vince could feel each of them. It would take him no time at all to go absorb them, containing the threat and damage they could do. He could end this in a matter of minutes, but if they left, there was no telling how much of the club would be eaten by hungry flames.

                “I’m positive,” Roger said, gently putting a hand on Vince’s shoulder and guiding him toward the exit. “These things happen, but I’ve got great insurance, and Lander has a capable fire department. The only thing we’ll do by butting in is get ourselves hurt.”

                Vince didn’t like the idea of walking out when he could do something; in fact, it made his stomach twist in impotent frustration. But with Roger right on him, and hundreds of witnesses who might be curious about a vanishing fire, he couldn’t see any way out of the situation.

                Since the people were gone, Vince let it go. He couldn’t have walked away if there were others in danger, but with the only casualty being something replaceable, he let himself be led out of the building and into the crowded parking lot.

201.

                The screech of impending sirens sliced through the hushed muttering of the crowd as they milled about outside Six-Shooter. With the imminent danger passed, most people’s bodies were experiencing the slow crash that came after a rush of adrenaline. As for the HCP students, it took a bit more than a few scattered flames to truly elevate their heart rates. Roger stood out in front of the parking lot, waving off any cars that tried to enter so that there would be room for the fire trucks.

                “Everyone seems to be out,” Alex said. He’d been combing the building for a solid minute with his mind, and thus far, had failed to turn up a single remaining student.

                “That’s what I’m getting, too,” Mary confirmed. “Looks like Roger was able to evacuate everyone pretty thoroughly.”

                “I’m glad,” Vince said. “This could have gone really badly with that many people in one place. We should all be thankful—”

                They felt the explosion before they heard it, a wave of force that blew against them like a hot wind from a passing eighteen-wheeler. When the noise did hit, it was with a roar that drove many of the normal students to their knees. The HCP group was sent to the ground as well, though, in their case, it was due to tackling others for their safety. Just as quickly as it had appeared, the noise and force faded away, leaving only a ringing in everyone’s ears.

                A ringing . . . and a blown-out hole in a club that was now almost entirely engulfed in flames. The students stared, wide-eyed, at the deathtrap they’d all been partying in only minutes before. Many of them would go home that night to call their parents and loved ones. Some would change majors and life directions. Others would spend the next several days in a steady intake of alcohol.

                Nick Campbell would do none of those things. As he looked at the remains of what had so recently been a place full of fun and happiness, he truly understood, for the first time, how far Nathaniel was willing to go. This had only been his warning shot, a gambit to get Nick overly worried and off his game. When the true attack came, it would be swift and merciless. And Nick was damned sure going to be ready.

                It was time the others were, too.

*             *             *

              “His name is Nathaniel Evers. We both grew up in Las Vegas, though we are connected to very different Families. His power first manifested when he was five years old, and that pretty much marked the beginning of the end for him. Nathaniel can see other people’s fears, induce hallucinations, and feed off their terror like a psychic vampire. It ups his physical abilities considerably, though neither they, nor his illusions are what most of us would consider especially powerful. The HCP has given us a somewhat distorted scale of a Super’s abilities, though.”

                “I broke out of the illusion he threw me in within seconds,” Alice added. “True, he used something I’m not afraid of anymore, but compared to Rich’s mind-fu or Selena’s songs, it seemed pretty paltry.”

                “Nathaniel’s abilities have never been what made him dangerous,” Nick agreed. “If anything, they’ve been a detriment to him. The amount of discomfort he inherently stirs in people means that, while there is certainly always a place for him in illicit organizations, he’ll never have the necessary charisma and people skills to be a leader. This, by the way, is what I attribute his hatred of me to. Despite being a Powered, I do have enough of a way with words to rise through my Family’s ranks. Since Supers are supposed to be better than Powereds, this no doubt stirs endless ire in him.”

                “Wait, so he 
bombed
 Six-Shooter because he’s mad about you being good with people?” Vince asked. He, along with Mary, Roy, Chad, and Alice, were all gathered at Nick’s dining room table. Once things had finally settled down enough for basic communication, Nick had gathered all of the Melbrook residents and convened an emergency meeting. It was clear he could no longer protect his friends without their knowledge, and it was time they knew what was lurking out there. Though it went against his better judgment, Chad was invited with the others, since he was likely lumped in with them in Nathaniel’s eyes. After all, they did all live together in one dorm.

                “What I alluded to was only the impetus of his grudge against me,” Nick said. “It has been exacerbated by years of failing to prove his perceived superiority, as well as a bit of instigation on my part. I’ve never been particularly fond of him either, to say the least. None of that is really relevant, though. What matters is that I believe he’s trying to take our dispute out on all of you, by trying to either harm you, or force you to publicly reveal your powers.”

                “If he wanted to do that, he should have detonated his bomb before the club was vacated,” Chad pointed out. He was taking the news with his usual resolve, which the others had finally learned said nothing of the true emotional storm brewing inside his head.

                “That’s because it wasn’t a real attempt,” Nick replied. “He’s trying to rattle me; to split my focus. The whole point of tonight was showing me what he could do. If he’d had more people setting fires, or detonated the bomb a little earlier, or bothered to bar the exits, or a million other things along that avenue, one of you might have had to use your abilities.”

                “He blew up a fucking building, which, right now, the cops are sure as shit investigating. Maybe he won’t get it traced back to him, but that seems like a hell of a risk,” Roy said.

                “For reasons I’d prefer not to get into, let’s just say that I’m certain Nathaniel knows how to make a relatively untraceable bomb. The risk of getting caught was relatively low, while there were many ways for things to go his way even without making a true effort. That said, he must have been confident we’d all make it out. Nathaniel is like me, in that he loathes taking unnecessary gambles. However, instead of trying to come up with a plan for any potential outcome, he prefers to try and steer a situation to the ending he wants it to arrive at. That makes him less flexible, but more cautious. Nathaniel won’t make his big move until he’s sure he can win, and he’s been doing this long enough to have a good estimate of how likely a victory is.”

                “It really bothers me that blowing up a club on its biggest night of the year is not his ‘big move,’” Alice said.

                “So, this guy might try and attack us, or use other people to attack us, at any time or place, and the only thing we can do is not use our abilities?” Vince asked.

                “More or less, which is why I’ve tried to keep you in the dark until now,” Nick said. “Since you have no recourse, I thought it was best you not lose yourself to worrying about it. Unfortunately, Nathaniel’s resources somehow seem to be increasing, and that means I can’t protect you all from the background anymore. You need to know what’s coming at you, so you have at least a chance of reacting appropriately.”

                “Why not just kill him?” Every eye in the room turned to Chad, who seemed to realize his words hadn’t quite made sense to the people listening. “Forgive my phrasing; I’m not saying he should die, or that we
should
kill him. It is merely that you’ve dropped multiple context clues hinting at the fact that both of you are connected to at least semi-illegal enterprises. I’m wondering why he hasn’t been killed for such endeavors before, since this seems to be a running feud.”

                “The short answer is politics,” Nick replied. “Nathaniel may not be well liked in his Family, but he is useful. Add in that he’s the son of a few of the more well-connected higher ups, and just bumping him off would have been a serious act of aggression. These things do happen, but only if the person in question is a major pain for the Family as a whole, not one member of it. Nathaniel has never been a big enough nuisance for my Family to be willing to deal with. Plus, Ms. Pips thinks it’s good to have someone always trying to kill me. Says it builds caution and forethought.”

                “Holy shit,” Alice muttered. Now wasn’t the time to discuss Nick’s home life, but in one sentence, she felt like she’d just gotten more insight into his world than she had in the last two years of knowing him.

                “Anyway, what I can do is cut his legs out from under him,” Nick continued. “He lost Vegas’s support on this vendetta mission months ago. He’s being too costly and overt for them to justify backing him. What I don’t yet know is who he got to pick up the tab. It’s got to be somebody well-connected; he’s throwing around manpower like it’s nothing. Sooner or later, I’ll get the right person to crack, and then, it’s just a matter of making sure the people involved realize that Nathaniel is more trouble to have as a friend than he’s worth—especially when I can make a lovely amigo myself.”