The Campbell Chronicles
Chapter 21
David Drake leaned on the waist-high wall surrounding the roof of the Department of Meta-Human Affairs building, his red eyes glowing as he stared into the darkness. "They're almost here."
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Bailey moved up beside him, pale white lightning crackling around her body.
Suddenly, the air in the middle of the road about a mile from the facility shimmered. In the blink of an eye, two people, a man, and a woman, stood in the middle of the road.
Bailey closed her eyes, pushing her senses into the moonlight to get a better look at them. The energy that washed over the world had changed her over the past few hours. It felt like a barrier had been removed, Her powers had grown and she could do incredible things with a bit of imagination and a force of will.
Shaking her head, she focused on the two assailants.
Her attention focused on the man first. He was 6'2" tall with tan skin and lean muscle. Yellow eyes burned like two small flames in the darkness, and tattoo-like markings poked out from the sleeves of his suit jacket.
He wore a black blazer, slacks, and a white button-down shirt, looking like he was going out for a night on the town rather than breaking into a government facility.
A jolt ran through her as he raised his head and locked eyes with her through the moonlight.
–XX –
Nicholas looked around as they finally reached their destination. He felt Wanda's magic fall from his skin as she dropped her invisibility spell.
Nicholas glanced at her, but Wanda stared straight ahead, "We're being watched."
Nicholas looked into the distance. They were about a mile from the facility, but he could see two people crouching on the roof.
'If those two can see us from this distance, I'm curious about their powers.'
Nicholas reached out with his mind, ordering his Organites to begin accessing the facility's systems. At the same time, his mind brushed against their minds; he felt a presence staring down at him through the moonlight.
Slowly, Nicholas raised his head and stared into the closest shaft of moonlight.
"We are not here to hurt you. We only want Amanda Waller. In exchange, we will reveal the truth of Martin Stein to you."
–XX –
Bailey jerked back as the man spoke. She could hear his voice through the moonlight and in her mind. Pulling her senses away from the moonlight, she turned them inward and began to push against the mental invasion.
Moonlight flared around Bailey's body, and she slowly began pushing the man out.
David saw the moonlight flare around Bailey's body out of the corner of his eyes, but his attention never left the woman in red. She was 5'7" tall with wavy Auburn hair and green eyes. She wore a red corset, black jeans, and a long red leather coat.
She was beautiful, but he was more curious about the energy that seemed to dance from her skin. It was invisible to his eyes, but he could feel it through his connection to nature.
It wore away at the laws of nature, leaving behind pure possibility.
Bailey brought him out of his thoughts, "The man is speaking in my head. I'm slowly pushing him back, but he says they're only here for Waller, and if we give her up, he will reveal the truth about Martin Stein."
David stood to his feet, "Both are unknowns; we can't trust any information they give us."
Bailey stood to her feet. "Agreed." She may have been suspicious of Martin, but she would not take a stranger's word without proof.
David glanced at her, red eyes meeting blue, "Which one do you want?"
"The green one was in my mind."
David nodded, "The woman interests me. Her powers break down the laws of nature, and I want to know why."
Sharing a nod, the two leaped off the roof and charged across the distance.
David Drake flew through the air, a tornado spinning around his waist, and Bailey Brandon sped across the ground, moonlight trailing behind her.
–XX –
"Well, that didn't work," Nicholas commented as he watched the two charge them.
Wanda snorted, "I'm surprised you expected it to."
"They're not evil, just misguided, and their powers seem interesting, and I believe they could help me in future projects, so I wanted to make a good impression."
"The same project that would bring meta-humans together?"
"Yes, three of the six individuals that could help us are here."
Wanda wanted to ask about the other three, but their opposition was drawing closer. She watched the blonde conjure a bow of white energy and aim at Nicholas.
Nicholas stepped forward, "I pissed the blonde off with my telepathic talk, so you have to take care of the weather manipulator."
Wanda glanced at the building, "Any innocence in there."
"Besides a young lady who can channel the abilities of animals, no, and I now have control of the cameras, so no one's going to know what we look like."
"Good," Wanda soared into the air as an arrow of pure white light zoomed toward Nicholas.
–XX –
Bailey ran across the ground, a bow appearing in her hand as David shot into the air. Drawing back the thin string of light, a shaft of energy appeared on the bow. Raising the bow while running, she fired, and an arrow of pure light shot forward.
The green-haired man stepped forward, and the wind, mixed with blue energy, spiraled around him to form a hardened barrier in front of him.
The arrow slowed as it impacted the wind barrier; the green-haired man hopped back, chunks of earth rising where he'd been.
The arrow struck the raised earth with a resounding boom in a flash of light.
Through the light, Bailey saw her opponent close his eyes.
Using the light spread across the area as a medium, she disappeared, appearing beside the man. Moonlight burst from her palm, forming a curved dagger. She thrust the dagger forward as the light began to fade.
A hand clamped down on her wrist, stopping the blade less than an inch from his skin. The man spun, lifting her off the ground and throwing her away.
Beads of electricity burst into life around his body, shooting toward her in the form of thin needles; she winced as the needles punched into her arms, burning holes in her clothes, but thanked the moonlight for reinforcing her body.
She hit the ground, rolled back to her feet, and crouched.
The man bowed to her, "Hello, my name is Nicholas Campbell. May I know yours?"
"Don't you already know my name from being inside my head?"! Bailey snarled.
"I do, but I thought using your name without permission would be rude."
The curved dagger in her hand transformed into a crossbow, "You can call me Moon Bow!" Raising her crossbow, she fired, only to see Nicholas move forward in a blur, weaving past her bolts.
In a moment, he was before her.
She raised her arms, allowing her bow to fade as he threw a punch.
Pain radiated through the point of impact as she allowed herself to fall backward.
–XX –
Nicholas raised an eyebrow as Moon Bow fell back with his punch, bringing her feet up to kick him as she backflipped away.
Nicholas leaned his head back, barely catching sight of the two dots of compressed moonlight that floated before his face. In a blink, they exploded,
Energy washed over his face, burning away skin as his nose was disintegrated and one eye was vaporized.
Nicholas staggered backward, feeling energy rush from the earth to his feet and sink into his body.
Bailey smirked as she saw red blood-tinged silver drip onto the ground.
Feeling a flesh rise beneath his hand, Nicholas moved it away from his face.
Bailey grimaced as she saw his flesh regenerate at an accelerated rate.
"You know, for someone who just walked up on your facility, it's kind of odd that you're using what would be lethal force."
"This is a restricted government facility, and we're already on high alert after the energy released worldwide today."
"I admire your patriotism, but can you believe in the people you work for?"
"I don't believe in the government; I believe in the people; that's who I protect."
"Even with humanity's penchant for destroying everything around it and falling into depravity?"
"Every day children are born; I fight so they can grow up in a better world and have a better opportunity than the ones before them. The world may not be perfect, but if we set back and do nothing and allow evil to flourish, it will only get worse."
"Fair enough. Maybe you are the right person to help me show the meta-humans of this world what we can do if we come together." Nicholas blurred forward, still pulling energy from the earth with each step.
Bailey raised her arms as he closed the distance.
Air exploded from her lungs as a punch made it past her guard and slammed into her stomach; she bent over the blow only to receive a left hook across the face that sent her to the ground.
Energy built around Nicholas's left leg as he drew it back and hammered a kick into her sternum; her bones creaked under the impact as she soared through the air back toward the meta-human building.
–XX –
Wanda dodged a lightning bolt as she watched the blonde-haired woman fly back toward the facility.
Her opponent, who had introduced himself as Drake, flew toward her, a tornado around his fists. Knocking his attack away with her left arm, she concentrated a ball of chaos energy in her right hand and drove it forward.
The air in front of his chest became dense, pushing back at her orb. Exploding the orb with a force of will, she allowed the force of the blast to carry her away from her opponent.
"It doesn't look like your friend is doing too well," She commented as the lights from her explosion faded.
David looked down just in time to see Bailey hit the ground 10 feet from the facility. "She will be fine. This is the best time for Moon Bow to fight."
"Are you not worried my friend will kill her."
"His first action was to try to talk to us; if you wanted us dead, you would've tried a surprise attack."
Wanda raised an eyebrow, "Tried?"
David raised his hands. Water began to condense out of the air. It spiraled around them, taking the form of a giant snake, "I knew you were coming well before you came into sight range of the facility."
"And how did you know that?"
David cocked his head to the side, "What is that strange energy around you that defies the laws of nature?" His water serpent shot forward, its mouth open as it prepared to sink its fangs into her.
Wanda eyed the construct. She could sense a small amount of mystical energy from it, but after the short exchange, she could tell he wasn't connected to any of the elemental parliaments; she shook her head. That's not true; he could be linked to vapor, but that energy signature was always hard to pin down.
A crimson energy blossomed around her as the serpent closed the last bit of distance and struck. Its mouth bit down on the barrier.
Wanda watched it bite down; her Emerald gaze focused on its fangs. Moving forward as it tried to Pierce the barrier, she placed her hand where the tip of its fangs touched the barrier and closed her eyes. She could sense a thin thread of almost invisible energy in her mind's eye.
'He is connected to the vapor parliament, but it branches out like spiderwebs, touching other elements. Interesting.'
Wanda's crimson bubble shifted, taking on the form of an octopus that wrapped its tentacles around the snake and tore it in half. With its form broken, the snake dispersed into droplets of water that flew back to David and orbited around him.
–XX –
Nicholas shot through the air, wind spiraling around him to keep him aloft. As he closed in on Moon Bow, he noticed strange trails of blue energy mixed in with the wind. Now that he saw the energy, he could feel it; his powers were changing, connecting to a more significant concept.
Bailey Brandon rose to her feet, portions of her body glowing white as moonlight healed her, "For a guy who says he wanted to talk, you sure fight to kill."
"You attacked me first, and if I wanted you dead, I would be using much more deadly strikes."
"Why are you after Stein?"
"Stein's collecting data on mutants; I want to know why and what he's using it for."
"He's using it to help people," Bailey said, but a voice in her mind reminded her of her suspicions.
"You don't believe that; I can see the hesitation in your eyes. What would you do if I told you Martin engineered the accident that gave Mr. Drake his powers?"
Bailey glanced up at her partner, hovering in the air a few feet away from the auburn-haired woman. She looked back at Nicholas, "I wouldn't believe you."
"I thought as much, but it's all right here," he tapped his temple, "I've downloaded Martin's files. Did you know he studied your families and discovered that your parents have a recessive meta-gene? He made a note to begin watching your brother. He's curious if your brother will develop the same powers."
Bailey's stomach dropped, and a chill ran down her spine. Was what this man was saying true? Would her brother and up like David? His life destroyed.
Bailey's eyes narrowed, "even if what you say is true, I will confront Martin myself."
"And then what?" Nicholas spread his arms wide. "The government owns this facility. Don't you think they would like to have more meta-humans that they control? Isn't that what Waller's good at, getting people to do what she wants?"
"What's the alternative?"
"We create a haven for mutants and give them a choice on whether they want their powers activated."
Luminescent energy began to curl around Bailey's fingers, taking on the form of knuckle dusters. "What you say sounds nice, but I'm not walking into the unknown with a stranger."
Bailey shot forward, pale energy trailing behind her, creating an afterimage of her movements.
"We'll talk more when my job here is done."
Bailey closed the distance between them, launching quick jabs at Nicholas's body. Pulling energy from the ground beneath, Nicholas moved his hand in the way of punches. Each impact sent shockwaves through the air.
The ground beneath Nicholas's feet exploded, sending chunks of dirt and dust flying into the air.
'Each punch has the weight of the moon behind it. She's clinging to a lie, unwilling to enter the unknown.' He could feel his bones start to creak under the weight of the abuse.
Wind and fire elements within his body vibrated before merging to create electricity. He sent the energy down his arm and into his palm.
Bailey's next punch slammed into his palm. A crack of thunder tore through the air along with a bright flash, and Bailey flew backward, electricity dancing across her body.
Nicholas knelt beside Bailey, "You fought well, miss Brandon; now rest and recover."
The last thing Bailey saw before everything went black was a flash of luminescent green eyes bleeding into blue.
–XX –
Wanda watched as Nicholas put his opponent to sleep before turning to David. "Well, it looks like your friend lost. Shall we end this?"
The Wind blew, sending Wanda's hair dancing in an auburn wave.
David began drifting toward the ground. "There's no need for us to fight. I heard what your friend said. If it's true," lightning flashed around the blue-skinned man's body. "Then Martin must pay."
–XX –
Amanda Waller backed away from the window where she and Martin had been watching the fight. "Well, it looks like I won't be able to get what I need here." Reaching into her blazer pocket, she pulled out a round metal ball about the size of a golf ball. Pressing down upon it, it began blinking red.
Martin spun to stare at her, "What are you doing?"
"I'm cutting my losses. If you had been a bit more helpful, I could have done something for you, but now I'm going to enjoy watching you fall." The orb in Waller's hands flashed green, and light expanded to cover her body.
In a blink, she was gone.