Chapter 1.2.36 — Why is it Always South Side?

The two enemy supers peered down from the rooftop. The woman at the front stood with her hands on her hips like she’d just stepped out of a comic book—clad in leather with her long, bright pink hair waving in the wind.

Two summoned creatures stood just behind her. Both the giant crow and the walking tree looked like they were made of pure shadow. Even in the bright lights of Belport, the two creatures looked more like black ink than anything real. The illusion was particularly striking on the crow. It was absolutely void black, save for its yellow eyes.

The second super was crouched next to the tree, wearing a bodysuit that shimmered like dark green snakeskin. Their hands were held close together and their fingers moving in a spellcasting pattern that Emmett didn’t recognize.

Before Emmett could look too closely, several things happened at once:

The giant crow beat its wings once and it erupted into the air. The gust of wind was so powerful that Emmett had to brace himself so he wasn’t pushed back. On the fire escape across the way, McGuire scrounged in his backpack for something. And the pink-haired super made a finger-gun with one hand and pointed it in Emmett’s direction—

Neither of the supers looked like they were carrying weapons, or wearing backpacks or utility belts. The explosion that knocked Emmett and McGuire apart had to come from somewhere.

Now he knew.

Emmett sprinted forward as fast as his enhanced legs would take him,  ready to leap off the roof and swing to safety. He’d flank the two supers, opposite McGuire, and use his whip to get up to their roof.

He didn’t get the chance.

Pop.

The almost-comical noise behind him didn’t do justice to how violently Emmett was thrown through the air. He hadn’t even made it off the roof, but now he was flying clear over the next building.

Thankfully, he wasn’t tumbling through the air, and with his enhanced coordination from the Mutagen-A in his system, Emmett used those airborne seconds to counterattack. He pulled a smoke bomb out of his upper arm compartment and tossed it at the enemies’ rooftop, covering it in smoke.

By the time Emmett was descending through the air, he lashed out with his whip, grabbed a nearby light pole, and was swinging in a wide arc toward his targets.

Past the smoke and on the opposite side of the building, Emmett heard shouts, clangs of metal, and something like the whirring of an electric drill.

Pop. Pop.

The air shuddered behind him as the explosive super used her power. She was firing blindly through the smoke, but Emmett flinched and he still felt the edge of the shockwaves.

Emmett didn’t have enough momentum to land on the roof, so he settled for landing on top of a sign on the outside of the building. From there, he could climb up to the roof and ambush them before the smoke cleared.

However, the explosive-super’s power worked, she wasn’t making normal explosions. The force produced should’ve been shattering windows, but Emmett didn’t see any damage to the other buildings. Her power must disproportionately affect living things…

Emmett hesitated only a moment before swapping his whip out for his concealable pistol. It was a hunch, but if her abilities were closer to that of a psychic, then she wouldn’t be able to stop a bullet.

Emmett hauled himself up the last two stories, grabbing window ledges and cracks and being eternally grateful for his super strength. He was just about to peek over the edge of the roof when the giant crow flew by—

Holding McGuire in its claws.

Shit.

There was no telling if a well-placed shot would be powerful enough to hurt a summoned creature, or if an attack like that would affect the bird at all. And that was assuming Emmett could hit a moving target without hitting his ally. He’d have to attack the caster and break his concentration on the spell.

Emmett grit his teeth and hauled himself onto the roof.

By now, the smoke was mostly cleared—aided by the tree that swung its bare limbs around in an eerily human gesture. The creature’s body was night black, except for faint shimmers of brown and green.

For a moment, Emmett could just make out the silhouettes of the two supers in the fading smoke, and he raised his prosthetic arm in anticipation.

Until the damn bird came back.

McGuire was shouting something incoherent, and punching the bird with his brass knuckles, causing sparks to fly off of the bird. As they passed overhead, the crow beat its wings and blasted away the rest of the smoke.

Suddenly, Emmett was in a standoff on the roof with both supers and the summoned tree.

The pink-haired super raised her hand—

Emmett was faster. And his hand was already raised.

The pistol emerged from his prosthetic and fired, the blasting mechanism making a subsonic thunk. The sledgehammer round hit the super square in the chest and she doubled over. Emmett heard a pop somewhere far behind him as her shot missed.

Quickly, Emmett aimed for the second super and fired, but the dark tree stepped in front of the shot. Just like Emmett feared, the bullet bounced off and rolled across the rooftop.

Emmett weighed his options, but ultimately didn’t have much time.

Pink-haired girl tried to push herself up, and Emmett shot her again. This time, the tree didn’t bother to block the shot, and it hit her square in the side. She rolled over and stayed down.

Emmett muttered, “Should’ve stayed down.”

The summoner didn’t appreciate the cheap shot, though. He whispered something, and the shadow tree lumbered forward.

Emmett erred on keeping his pistol equipped—he’d gotten a lot quicker at changing mods, and so he might have been able to swap it out for something else. But Emmett was glad he didn’t chance it when he saw just how fast the tree could move.

There might’ve been thirty feet between them, and the tree covered the distance in four huge steps. Its two thick legs split into four, five, and six, giving it spider-like speed. Simultaneously, its limbs stretched out in every direction, making it even taller and wide enough to cover the roof—

The whole sight happened so quickly, it gave the illusion that the tree was falling on him.

Emmett crouched and feinted left before diving right, his enhanced strength taking him clear across the roof. He rolled to his feet, gun leveled to take a shot at the summoner. But his enemy was just as swift. Both the summoner and the tree moved in perfect unison, only giving Emmett slivers of a shot.

Emmett saved his ammo and pulled out a sonic grenade, hoping it would affect both the tree and the caster. Maybe the grenade alone would be powerful enough to get the caster to drop the spell. He pressed the button and chucked it at the base of the tree, and the high-pitched whine of the sonic covered the roof.

Immediately, the bark of the tree rippled like wind blowing across water. Limbs recoiled and its roots shuffled.

Emmett dashed as quickly as he could to the right, trying to flank the tree. He grit his teeth and passed as close to the sonic as he dared. The summoner came into view—he was reeling backward from the sound, hands clasped over his ears.

Just as Emmett raised his arm to fire, the tree stomped on the grenade and flailed a massive branch in his direction. Black leaves sprouted all across it, blocking the summoner. Emmett’s two shots slammed harmlessly into the branches.

Emmett groaned in frustration—ready to toss his whole compartment’s worth of bombs just to end it.

McGuire’s scream brought him back to the moment. Emmett whirled around, trying to keep one eye on the tree and find his ally.

The giant crow was soaring toward the roof and McGuire had managed to riggle an arm loose. It took Emmett longer than he would admit to realize that his ally wasn’t shouting for help—

“Jump! Jump off the roof!”

McGuire had something in his free hand and was chucking it at the roof as the bird passed.

Emmett ran for the edge, swapping his gun for his whip, and jumped.

Behind him, there was a poof sound, followed by what Emmett could only imagine was a long, wet fart.

He lashed out and grabbed the edge of a windowsill to stop his fall, then swung up to the next building over. From the opposite roof, Emmett looked over and saw a faint green cloud covering where he’d been moments ago. The tree was flickering out of existence.

And both the summoner and the pink-haired super were doubled over, coughing and gagging.

McGuire jogged up behind Emmett. “You really like those smoke bombs, don’t you?”

Emmett chuckled. “Yeah. Jealous?”

McGuire shook his head. “I’ve got my own. You want a battle over quickly? Use a stink bomb.”

The pair watched silently as their enemies gagged for a solid minute on the putrid fumes. Emmett caught a quick whiff and nearly gagged on it himself.

“I’m glad you didn’t use one of those on me,” he muttered.

McGuire laughed, then squinted seriously. “Don’t go mad with power, and I promise never to use one on you.”

“Deal.”

~

Finally, the wind picked up enough to clear the roof, taking their enemies’ coughing fits with it. As the wind picked up, Emmett swore he heard a cough or two downwind.

Emmett focused on the two enemy supers, who were still recovering from the stink bomb. “What did they want, anyway?”

It was a rhetorical question, and Emmett was already swinging over to their rooftop. McGuire hollered after him and used a grappling hook to follow.

Containing his irritation, Emmett swapped out his whip for his pistol again and checked how many shots he had left.

“What’s the big idea?” Emmett asked, training his pistol on the supers.

Both the summoner and pink-haired girl were taking their time standing. Neither answered until McGuire was standing beside Emmett.

“What’s the big idea, McGuire?” the girl asked. She sat up on her knees and pushed a clump of pink hair out of her face.

The summoner was still laying on the ground. “You said you wouldn’t use those anymore. God, that’s the most awful thing I’ve ever smelled. It’s even worse than last time. How is it worse?”

Emmett’s mouth was open in a dumb stare, which he finally aimed at McGuire.

McGuire shrugged. “What? It’s a new recipe?”

“You know these guys?!”

The girl snorted a laugh and helped her partner stand. “Yes, he knows us.”

McGuire fixed his mask. “Oh yeah. This is Cherry and Larian. Guys, this is Mod.”

“Hey,” they both said in unison.

Emmett glanced between McGuire and the pair. “But they attacked us?”

“It’s just sparring,” McGuire said. “Same as we did.”

Emmett sighed, unsure of what to think. He put his hands on top of his head and turned to look out over the city. Just sparring?

Really?

McGuire, Cherry, and Larian talked quietly behind him while Emmett tried to process what had just happened. At first, Emmett had thought about both times he’d been ambushed BY Zanté and Green Mask, but this was clearly different. Zanté had fought brutally, but now Emmett didn’t have a scratch on him. Neither did McGuire, for that matter. If anything, Cherry and Larian had fared far worse.

It just seemed… weird. How often did McGuire spar with random supers? But maybe that was just how things were. After all, how many supers had a Gray Room to train in? How else were supers supposed to get better at using their powers?

Emmett took a deep breath and turned around to join the group. All three turned mid-conversation.

Emmett muttered, “I, uh… Nice to meet you guys.” Then to Cherry, he added, “Sorry about shooting you while you were down.”

She nodded. “So long as you remember it next time.”

Emmett chuckled. Next time—there was a thought. Was he just going to make friends with every mask in Belport?

Cherry and Larian said their goodbyes. Then Larian summoned the giant crow again. It coalesced out of the air, its feathers coating it like dark icicles until it was fully formed. It carried the pair off across the skyline. Emmett and McGuire watched them go.

“They’re good guys,” McGuire said. “It’s been like three years, I think.”

Emmett suddenly remembered the disappointment of the super's answer. He’d come out here hoping McGuire would come join them in taking down the distribution plant… As cool as it was to train out here in the actual city, the whole thing just felt like a waste.

Emmett almost walked away right then.

“Hey Mod…”

McGuire’s face might’ve been covered in a shoddy mask, but his voice sounded shaky.

“...Look, I changed my mind. I want to come with you guys. I’m tired of doing this—no matter how much I practice, ultimately it means nothing. And I’m tired of doing nothing. Even taking on street-level criminals doesn’t solve anything.

“But what you’re talking about—taking on whoever’s peddling these mutagen knock-offs? That just might solve something. So count me in.”

McGuire stuck out his hand for emphasis. Emmett didn’t waste any time shaking it or smirking behind his mask.

Emmett’s team, and his plan, were slowly coalescing.

~ ~ ~