NEW WARRIORS written by Zak Chambers

Issue #2: Virtue & Vice; Part Two – "Learning Curve"

Normally, the night sky over Los Angeles would be mostly darkened from the thick smog that emanated out of the city. They said the smog was the reason why they had such beautiful sunsets, but it also detracted from the moonlight. Though currently the night was illuminated by a gold streak rocketing across the horizon, casting light down onto the city and scaring certain shadows away.

Flying for most was a sort of release. Especially for the world's heroes, whose lives were so often plagued with tragedy, flying was a way to let loose. Up above the clouds there was nothing to get in one's way, nothing to worry about except the occasional airplane. But the sky was a big place, and it was easy to lose yourself in it.

The man called Nova flew high above the city, wondering if his life would ever return to the way it was. Ever since the Warriors had disbanded he had felt like a man without a home, both physically and metaphorically. He didn't even have a city to call his own, which was why he was in Los Angeles. He had at least one friend here, and he was on his way to meeting him now.

Nova pushed down through the clouds with ease as he accelerated his downward spiral. The wind roared around him, but his curved gold helmet kept the brunt of it from annoying him. The city below raced up to meet him and once he was several hundred feet above the tallest tower, he put on the brakes and slowed to a halt.

He pulled up quickly, not worrying about showing off just a bit. His friend, who was no stranger to showing off himself, stood atop the building they had picked to meet at. Nova gently touched down and with an air of self-confidence, took a slight bow in a joking manner.

"Ya know," his watching friend, the colorful Speedball, said, "I always wished I could fly. It looks so freakin' cool."

"I know," Nova replied. "Not like I'm rubbing it in or anything." He ended the statement with a quick smirk. The two had been friends for a long time and could play off of each other's personalities well. It was something that had made them such good teammates in the field.

"So, what's up, buckethead?" Speedball leaned back against the short wall along the edge of the roof, propping his elbows on the top of it. His trademark goggles were pushed up over his forehead and he wore a long trenchcoat over his blue and orange costume.

"I wanted to see a friendly face, reminisce."

"Plus you were in the area," Speedball added with a hint of cynicism.

Nova removed his helmet, revealing a frown just above his chiseled chin. "You saw the show, huh?"

"Yeah, I caught the highlights," Speedball replied. "What were you thinking, going on TV like that? I always told you to leave the spotlight to those of us more fit for it. I mean, c'mon. Look at me." Speedball stood up straight and placed his hands on his hips, striking a heroic pose. "Do I not scream alpha male?"

"I dunno. I just…ever since the heroes disappeared with Onslaught…"

"Yeah, I know. Hey. I'm glad you swung by, okay? Forget about it. That Sharon chick is an idiot. And the Mathemaniac? Couldn't she have gotten a better punching bag?"

Nova smiled, and the mood on the roof instantly lightened. It had been quite some time since he had seen Speedball, or any of his former teammates for that matter. The days of being one of the nation's top heroes had barely come to fruition for his and his friends, and when they had tried to step up to take the place of such stalwarts as Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor, he hated to admit that they faltered. Still, it felt good to see Speedball and remember simpler times.

"So how have things been?" Nova asked after a brief silence.

"Eh," Speedball said with a shrug. "I got fired yesterday. No biggie. Hard to find work for an ex-superhero. I'll bounce back."

"Bounce back? Really?" Nova couldn't help but let out a laugh. He doubted that the pun was intended, but he couldn't help it. "I know what you mean, though. Without the costume it's hard to find a place in this world. I fly into space every once in a while but I always end up back on terra firma. Can't bring myself to turn my back."

"You know what I've always said," a voice said from somewhere in the dark, "I enjoy the view of your backside."

Nova and Speedball both jumped at the voice, but quickly relaxed when they recognized it. The looked to the dark shadows of the roof and saw several people seemingly melt out of them, stepping through the ether and back into their plane of existence as easily as if they were passing between two rooms.

"Thanks, Nita," Nova replied. "But don't try and pinch me."

The blue-skinned Atlantean smiled and tossed back her blonde hair. Now that she was out of the shadows, the moonlight glistened over his sleek body, enhancing her strange and foreign beauty. Beside her was Firestar, who was holding her own arms to her sides by the elbows, with a worried look on her face. Behind both of them was Night Thrasher, again dressed in his full black and red body armor. The last to slip out of the shadows was the woman who had deposited them on the roof, whose powers were their mode of transportation, Silhouette.

"Did you call them?" Speedball asked Nova. "Not that I'm complaining, mind you. It's nice to be in demand."

"He didn't," Night Thrasher interrupted. "I asked Sil to bring us here. Our reunion is going to have to be cut short. We've got a problem."

Nova had never known Night Thrasher to be the casually friendly type, but there was something in his voice, and the way Firestar looked, that said this was serious. Gravely serious. If the strange impromptu group meeting wasn't call enough to question the gravity of the situation, these two things combined spelled it out for him.

"What's going on?" Speedball asked. He was also standing at attention and had already slipped his goggled over his eyes, ready for action.

"It's Vance," Kymeara answered. "He's missing and…and we think it might be bad."

"I still don't think this is a good idea," a thin and somewhat wrangled man said, his voice cutting through the vast and mostly empty warehouse. "We're just asking for trouble—"

"Shut up, Tom," a woman said, cutting him off. "You know that this is your only chance for survival. Skip this and you might as well call the cemetery to reserve a plot."

Tom turned back from looking over his shoulder, placing his attention back to the machinery that was piled in front of him. The silver outline of the giant machines stood out against the dark and empty backdrop of the warehouse, a building he and the woman had set up shop in six months ago when they found out about their conditions.

Laid out before Tom on a long and slender table was a well-toned man, barely thirty years of age if even that, illuminated by the flood lights hanging near the top of the machinery. Tom tapped at the keyboard that was extended out from the console beside the man, calling up information about the unconscious man's vital statistics. So far they were at normal parameters, which helped take the edge out of Tom's stress level.

"Are you still mad about the show?" Tom asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "About Nova?"

"Am I mad that your powers were already dulled enough that you couldn't subdue that brainless oaf? Am I mad that when he got away so did my chance at survival? Gee, why would I be mad, Tom?"

From the other side of the vast machine stepped out an attractive woman dressed in an immaculate suit, her face caked with make-up. But it was no ordinary make-up. It was stage make-up.

"Sorry," Tom said beneath his breath.

"Sorry doesn't cut it, now does it, Tom?" The woman threw her hands up in disgust and let out a long sigh that was dripping with disdain and irritation. "You live, I die. That was my last time hosting the show and it wasn't even a good one. My producer told me that washed up superhero didn't spike our ratings even one full point."

She paced behind him as he called and recalled information on the screen, making sure his calculations matched what the computers were telling him. Her blonde hair flipped around ever time she pivoted on one foot and began marching the other way. It was obvious that she was upset, but there was something else about the way she was moving. It was somber, like something was weighing her down. Each lift of her foot seemed like a tiny struggle, as if there was a small invisible weight attached to it.

"Is he stable?" she finally asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, he'll be fine for the transfer. We just have to wait."

A door at the far end of the warehouse burst open and a figure stalked in. He screamed in agony with each step as he crossed the empty floor to where the other two were waiting. The woman ran to him, meeting him halfway. "Wait!" she said as the newcomer tried to step around her. Tom stood, watching feebly.

"Wait?" he screamed at her. "That idiot blew it! I saw the show! Nova took off without so much as one twitch. You know what that means, right? RIGHT?"

The woman took in a breath, and placed her hands on the newcomer's broad shoulders. "Yes, I know," she said in a soothing voice. The irony was not lost on the watching Tom, who only moments ago had been on the receiving end of that same temper, only it had been coming from her. Both times it was directed at him though. "We're working on it. Tom—"

"Mathemaniac my ass!" the newcomer scolded. "If he's so smart then how come he can't fix us, huh, Heidi? Explain that one!"

"He's working on it, Dwight!"

Dwight swiped Heidi's hands away and shrugged out of her grasp. His larger frame made it much easier to slip around her and again stalk toward the frightened Tom. He came within a foot of Tom and stuck his index finger into his face. "You better be, smart boy," Dwight said.

He ripped off his blue mask to reveal a deformed and moldy face, which startled Tom. "If you can't tell," Dwight said, "it's already started. Look at me. Look at me! I'm a freak!"

"The cellular generation shouldn't have caught up with you so fast…"

"Yeah, well, everything I do is fast. That's why they call me Impulse." Dwight placed his mask back on and stepped to the side where he towered over the unconscious man on the table. He took a couple big breathes to calm himself down and pointed at the knocked-out costumed man. "This him?"

"Yeah," Tom answered feebly.

"Smaller than I remember. What's to stop me from forcing you to put my brain in there instead of your own?"

"You know what," Heidi said, interrupting. "Tom's alpha waves are more attuned to his than yours are. You know that. Don't be an ass, Dwight. Instead of busting in here and throwing your weight around, why don't you try and think of a way to help?"

"Oh, I got a way," Impulse said as he turned toward the way he had entered. "I'll find those do-gooders and get myself a new body if I have to crush every one of them to do it."

There was a flash of wind and the next thing Tom or Heidi knew the sole door to the warehouse was flapping open Impulse was gone. His power had been slowly increasing over the last six months, as opposed to what Tom and Heidi were experiencing. The virus was reacting differently in all of them, having already killed a few of their former associates.

"What are we going to do?" Tom asked.

"Keep working," Heidi said. "Just keep working and we'll figure out a way to save all our lives."

Silhouette stood back while Nova and Night Thrasher began to raise their voices. She knew that tensions would arise quickly having brought the group together so abruptly, but after Dwayne had told her of the dire circumstances she didn't have much choice.

She cast a look at Night Thrasher, Dwayne, her wayward former lover, and wondered if this was another one of this manipulation schemes. His plans when the New Warriors were still a collection of eager young heroes had nearly broken them up on more than one occasion, but his inner fire to see justice done had drawn her to him. They still did, in fact, and years ago and he hadn't used her the way he did then they might still be together.

She shifted her weight, allowing the special leg braces that Night Thrasher had designed for her hold her up. The combat crutches were still shackled to her forearms, ready and willing to lash out at whoever she targeted. Even though her appearance made her look like the most helpless of their number, in truth she was possibly the most deadly.

Her mastery over the darkforce dimension, augmented years ago by a massive disturbance in it, allowed her to not only meld with the shadows, but teleport through them as well. She had a special connection with the darkness, as she was even able to convert her body into that strange energy and phase through her enemies, causing them great pain in the process.

"What do you mean you don't know what's going on?" Nova said. "Where's Justice?"

Silhouette shook her head slightly. Richard had apparently never lost his temper, even though so had to admit that Dwayne wasn't even trying to push his buttons. One of their own was in danger, and Dwayne knew better than to mess around.

"Firestar found blood at their apartment," Night Thrasher explained. "I checked the place out and I can't find any real clues as to who took him. We aren't entirely sure what's happening yet but we need you and Robbie to come with us to help find out."

"Where do we start looking?" Speedball asked.

"Vance and I had quit this game," Firestar said. It was the first thing she had said since arriving on the rooftop. "We didn't have enemies anymore. We hadn't put on the costumes in almost a year. I don't even have suspects!"

Kymeara put her blue hand on Firestar's shoulder in an attempt to calm her. "Is there anything you can remember?" she asked the fiery Angelica. "Anything that could help to point us in the right direction?"

Firestar shook her head as tears began to well into her eyes. Speedball lightly touched Nova's elbow to get his attention, and said, "Dude. Vance wasn't a pushover. That guy had some serious power. You don't get the drop on someone like Vance and not leave a clue behind."

"Yeah, I've been thinking the same thing," Nova replied.

"We're not a forensics team. We should take this to someone with connections."

"Like who?" Night Thrasher said. "The Avengers? The Fantastic Four? In case you hadn't noticed—"

"Relax, Dwayne," Silhouette said. "He didn't mean it like that."

"Didn't I?" Speedball took a few steps toward the freshly arrived quartet, his face turning a sight shade of pink. "We've got to admit it, Sil. We weren't exactly the high profile group, ya know? People don't know us, they barely recognize us. They don't trust us. When the heroes went bamf we tried to step up, and look what happened. Hell, out of all of us Justice was probably the most respectable. He was an Avenger for crying out loud, and he single-handedly saved the freaking Vault. The Vault! What have I ever done, huh? Aside from get in the way."

"Robbie!" Firestar said, shocked. "So, that's it then? You're going to turn your back?"

He turned to her, frowning. "No, of course not, Angel. I'm just saying…I'm just saying that we're not the heroes we used to be. I'm not sure if we're the right ones to look into this."

"Out of all of us," Kymeara said, "I never thought I would hear you say those words, Robbie. You were the most energetic, if you excuse the pun. You held us together. Hell, you even led us for a while there."

Speedball simply hung his head down, shamed by what the Atlantean had said. Silhouette wanted to go to him, ignore the menacing stare that Dwayne was sending his way, and sympathize. In a way he was right, and she agreed with him. She had only transported the makeshift team to L.A. out of a strung-out sense of duty. She didn't have much faith in their group to function coherently anymore, largely because that ship had sailed. They had disbanded for a reason.

"Yeah, well…" Robbie began to say, but he never finished the sentence.

KA-BOOM!

The side of the building became engulfed in flames, sending a shockwave across the roof that upset all of them. Speedball absorbed the kinetic energy of the blast on instinct and was able to maintain his position, shedding his coat and activating his powers in a more visible manner. Yellow orbs began to float around him as the built up energy inside his frail body began to come to the surface.

Nova had only been brought to one knee, and that was mostly out of surprise. If he had been on his guard there was very little in existence that could knock him down. He matched eyes with Speedball for a split second before looking out into the night to try and find the cause of the explosion.

"Get down!" Night Thrasher ordered as he dove for the roof. A string of red energy beams cut through right where he had been standing, burning scorch marks into the otherwise pristine rooftop.

Kymeara bounded straight up into the air, quickly followed by Nova. Speedball hadn't made out who had attacked them yet, and instead of looking he ran for Firestar. The flame-wielding mutant had ignited her external flame purely as a reaction to being fired upon, but had yet to move for cover. Speedball reached her and surrounded them both with a shield of kinetic energy, saying, "Sit tight, Angel! We'll be fine."

No sooner had he erected the shield than another sortie of red laser fire splashed against it. The impact jarred him slightly, but he stood upright and outstretched his arm to support the energy barrier.

"Sil!" Night Thrasher said as he sprung up to a fighting stance, battle staves in hand. "'Port to another vantage point and get a local on whoever the hell is shooting at us!"

Silhouette nodded as she shifted into her darkforce form, completely blending in with the shadows of the night. She stepped back against what would have been a blank wall, but instead her powers allowed her to walk between the folds of space, slipping through the shadows by way of the darkforce dimension.

She teleported to another roof just across the street, swinging out of the shadows by balancing on her crutches. She was practiced enough with them to move just as fast as any person with workable legs. Her keen eyes searched the skies for any sign of an attacker, although she didn't need to look far to find one.

Nova and Kymeara had already intercepted the first dozen drones. Another two to four dozen, she was having a hard time counting that many, were flying in formation behind those. They were silver and round, with small nubs for heads and thick, short arms on the sides of the metal bodies. Red lasers fired out of the short appendages, cutting through the air like superheated knives.

At the center of the maelstrom standing atop a water tower on another building was a villain she recognized instantly. His name was Impulse, and he was a member of the Psionex, a group of chemically and genetically altered superhumans that had clashed with the New Warriors a number of times. She could see him flexing his fingers, as if waiting to join the fray eagerly.

"Dwayne!" she called across the street, but before she could say anything more she felt the hot stab of one of the lasers at her back.

Night Thrasher heard her cry and saw her fall. A trio of the robotic drones had circled behind her without her realizing it and flanked her position. She had been distracted by the quickly growing battle, just as Night Thrasher now was. He needed to focus, prioritize.

Nova had spotted Impulse and was busy shoving his way past the aerial drones to get to him. Kymeara was primarily trying to keep the drones from completely swarming Nova, which is what they were attempting to do to Speedball and Firestar. Night Thrasher shot another quick glance at Silhouette and saw that the number of drones hovering around her had already doubled, with more on the way.

They had been ambushed. So far their coordination was at absolute zero, no where near the level they had once been at. They had never been entirely on the same page, allowing their youthful brashness to overtake their better judgment at times. But now there was a lot on the line and they didn't even know why they were being targeted.

If they wanted to survive the night they were going to have to learn how to work as a team all over again, possibly even better.

"Robbie!" he called out over his shoulder as he bolted for the roof's edge. "Extend your field and snap Firestar out of it! Help Nita and get airborne!"

Without breaking stride he placed one foot on the ledge and pushed off, spreading his arms wide to sail into the air. From where she lay on the other roof, Silhouette saw him make the leap and her heart sank just a bit. There was no way he could make the jump unaided, but he was trying to get to her anyway.

She had instinctively shifted into her shadow form, which was probably the only thing that had saved her from the searing lasers that cut into her back. Now that she was mostly incorporeal she wasn't in lethal danger, but the lasers had her pinned down. And they hurt. A lot. She would lose consciousness unless someone got the drones away from her soon.

She heard the maniacal scream of Impulse just before passing out, recognizing it for the mindless insanity that it was.

To be continued…