Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 14

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Magnus leaned forward and as he did, I could feel energy moving around him, and remembered being told that despite losing the ability to influence with his voice, he could still do it somehow.

He could. As he spoke, everyone within the shimmery glow responded. Some turned to watch, but other reactions were more subtle—a pause before the next step, a blink, an indrawn breath.

As he did though, I saw energy move from the spheres above into the throne and to him. In the same instant I realized something else—the throne wasn’t real. Continue reading Singularity: Part 14 →

Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 13

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Power Burst looked him up and down. “How do I know you’re not lying to me about whose side you’re on?”

Knowing Izzy’s powers, Power Burst’s physique didn’t make a difference. He could have been a couch potato that spent all of every day eating junk food, watching television, and playing video games with a body that reflected that inactivity, and still been capable of ending Ray with a slap.

Instead, he fit the superhero stereotype—tall, defined muscles all over his body, and a grim expression. Combined with the military themed costume, most people would find him intimidating.

If Ray did, he didn’t show it. “Me? I’m sure you could see right through me if I were lying to you.“ Continue reading Singularity: Part 13 →

Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 12

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Ray kept on walking, never speeding up or slowing down. My guess was that he lived by the idea that if you looked like you belonged here, you belonged.

Of course, you could say that he did belong, having been empowered by Magnus and released to kill us. That didn’t change the fact that he was a man with no superpowers walking through the control center of an ancient, alien weapon.

Even if he couldn’t see all of it, the control center itself glowed with power. Though dim to my bots’ sight and my human senses, the hundreds of spheres floating in the air appeared different when I let my Artificer senses work. Continue reading Singularity: Part 12 →

Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 11

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I didn’t know when the team had realized that Red Lightning had turned supervillain, but if Grandma was pregnant with Uncle Steve, this was too early.

My best bet was to stop thinking about it at all because Daniel’s grandfather might hear. The second best was to hope that if he did figure it out, he’d know not to break it too soon.

All of that would be wasted though, if either Ray or Red Lightning blew the secret. Continue reading Singularity: Part 11 →

Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 10

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C’s eyes narrowed, “They don’t have a daughter named Joan.”

My grandparents turned to look at each other and back to everyone else as Grandma said, “But that is a name we were talking about. Joan, if we had a girl, and Stephen, if we had another boy. So, we’re going to have a daughter?”

“Stephen?” My eyes darted toward Grandma’s belly. She wasn’t showing, but maybe that hint of a curve was Uncle Steve? Even in the 50s and 60s, superhero costumes didn’t leave a lot to the imagination. “Well, if you haven’t had a Stephen yet, no. My mom was born in 1963.”

Grandpa glanced over at the Mentalist, and Daniel’s grandfather nodded, his top hat making the nod more obvious. Though I’d never told him, I’d always thought the Mentalist’s era of magician-themed costumes looked silly. Continue reading Singularity: Part 10 →

Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 9

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Prentkos eyed Ray, “And what are we going to do if, upon seeing you, Magnus notices that you’re with the people he told you to kill and decides to end our lives? I don’t know all of the people down there, but the ones I do recognize are far from weak.”

“Well,” Ray said, “that just means that I’ll have to be extremely persuasive. Look, we’re not going to be able to fight our way in or out, and this isn’t what I’d call a stealthy group.” Continue reading Singularity: Part 9 →

Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 8

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Prentkos raised an eyebrow, “What is this fixation on kidneys?”

Taking my eyes off the tower, I replied, “I’ve been told they’re an efficient way to kill people.”

Ray nodded. “Unless your skin’s too tough to get through, you’ll bleed out pretty quickly to a well placed knife wound. It’s efficient and it works about as well on supers as the rest of us. Even most regenerators take time to come back from that and you can do a lot in that time.” Continue reading Singularity: Part 8 →

Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 7

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Ray didn’t need to shout at first. He’d pointed the tower out. All I had to do was aim toward it and dodge the perspective-wrenching sections of building that jutted out, made a twist, and seemed to be either on the ground or in the sky or, more often than not, both at once.

I flew toward a distant walkway only to find out that it was close and below me, flew under a bridge over a lake that was also a walkway over a castle, and found myself at the foot of the tower. Continue reading Singularity: Part 7 →

Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 6

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“Technically,” I added, “it’s less his than Colette’s or whatever Dominator he’s using, but he’s behind it.”

Ray dropped his hands to his sides, but continued to take slow breaths. “Magnus tried to teach me something like that. He powered me up somehow and said that learning how to control energy would help.”

He turned away from me, eyes flicking around, probably to check for threats. “You said it can help me survive. What do the two of you know that I don’t?”

“The three of us,” Prentkos said. Continue reading Singularity: Part 6 →

Arc 14.8.0: Singularity

Singularity: Part 5

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I couldn’t argue with him, but if I had to bet what Ray’s orders were, I’d have bet that they were to kill or delay us. That meant that we needed to take him down.

The problem would be coordinating with Prentkos. If Ray had Izzy’s hearing, he’d hear everything and Prentkos didn’t have a League communicator.

Then another thought struck me. What if absorbing energy worked on Ray the same way it worked on Prentkos? Spark had said that everyone Magnus brought through here was descended strongly enough from Artificers that they could develop into them given time.

If I taught Ray how to remove Magnus’ commands, I might be able to trust him to a degree. Continue reading Singularity: Part 5 →

The Legion of Nothing: A Series of Online Superhero Novels (Updates Monday and Thursday)