Chapter 1.2.35 — Preparation 2

It was already late Friday night when Clara declared Emmett proficient with the emergency extraction protocol.

Venture had called over the intercom for them to come back to the hub of sector 002. The pair walked quickly, both joking and eager about hearing what the other two preparations were for the mission.

Despite the cool air and metal confines of the halls, the air between them felt a little lighter. The air between them felt a little lighter, and the prospect of carrying out their mission and taking out the distribution hub felt real.

Like they had a chance of pulling it off.

And even though Emmett still couldn’t get over the revelation about Clara’s powers, or get the footage of her meltdown out of his head, he was glad to know. Glad that Clara and Dr. Venture had confided in him, even though it felt like it had taken forever.

Dr. Venture was waiting for them, and as soon as they walked in, the screen flickered and changed back to the view of the distribution warehouse. He didn’t bother with a greeting and launched into an explanation as soon as they entered.

“Now that all that’s out of the way, we can focus on the second preparation—finding additional team members. The drones won’t be close enough to provide support, not unless things truly hit the fan. So you’ll need to compensate with backup.”

Both Emmett and Clara shared a surprised look, but it was Clara who asked, “You think we should bring someone in that quickly?”

Venture’s face was stern, like a professor delivering a dry lecture. “Working with someone isn’t the same as bringing someone in. I’m not saying you need to find someone to trust with your secrets, but someone you trust enough to watch your back. Someone who is smart, capable, and trustworthy-enough. With those considerations in mind… Emmett, do you have any ideas?”

The suddenness of the question caught Emmett off guard. Not to mention the gleam in Venture’s eyes as his attention fell on Emmett.

Emmett rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Well, Athena said she’s been working with other supers that she presumably trusts. That’s a start. Then there’s McGuire…”

Emmett trailed off, waiting to see their reactions. Both of them knew about McGuire. But Emmett wasn’t sure how much more Dr. Venture knew about the eccentric super, or how much of that Venture would’ve shared with Clara.

But neither dismissed Emmett’s suggestions.

Venture’s face was still unreadable. “Athena’s team is a good start, and she’ll likely want them involved. As for McGuire, figure out if he would be useful and if you can trust him enough for the mission. Decide if you want him on your team.”

He had only spoken to Emmett, and Emmett glanced at Clara uncertainly. “Shouldn’t we all be making this decision?”

Venture shook his head. “McGuire is your connection. Your decision. Besides, we don’t have many options. I’ve tried looking into Athena’s team, but she’s rather good at covering her tracks… We don't know how many allies she has or what their capabilities are.”

Clara nudged Emmett. “Dad’s trying to say that you should ask Athena about her team.”

Emmett smirked, then sighed. “Yeah. Yeah. I’ll contact McGuire tonight for sure. Then I’ll contact Athena.”

Venture nodded approvingly. “Part of being a super is figuring out—quickly—who you can trust, and then deciding how far to trust them.”

Venture’s words hung heavy in the room. He didn’t need to state the obvious.

This was a big step. And Venture was trusting Emmett to make the right choice.

Emmett nodded resolutely. “I won’t let you guys down.”

Venture smiled.

Clara nudged Emmett again. “You better not.”

~

M 11:51 PM: Hey are you free?

MG 11: 51 PM: YES. On the corner of 17 and Blake

Emmett sighed. He wasn’t exactly keen on meeting on the edge of the slums, but who knew what McGuire was up to.

M 11:52 PM: On my way

Half an hour later, Emmett was racing across the rooftops parallel to the L train rails. Emmett scanned the rooftops as he went. It took a few more minutes of searching, but Emmett spotted McGuire crouched on one of the support struts of the L train.

He was peering through a crude device, which Emmett assumed were night vision goggles. Emmett and McGuire locked gazes, and the gadgeteer frowned and waved for Emmett to come over.

Emmett jogged and then used his whip to swing up to the graffiti-covered support strut.

McGuire let the cobbled together night vision goggles hang from the strap around his neck.

“Don’t tell me you can see in the dark too…”

Emmett shrugged.

“Man! I was excited about this spot too—was going to give you riddles and everything to help you find me. But no, someone’s gone full cyborg and can see in the dark.” Despite the haphazardly stitched mask covering his face, McGuire’s complaints were in good spirits, and the pair shared a laugh.

Then the gadgeteer asked, “So what’s up? Are you ready to go another round?”

Thoughts of that sparring session on the roof flashed back to Emmett. “As tempted as I am to see more of your gadgets, I have to pass tonight. How would you feel about teaming up for a mission?”

McGuire’s eyes widened. Then he suddenly cleared his throat and cleared the surprise from his face, like he was trying to look more professional. He leaned against the metal pillar, his backpack making a dozen different clanks and shuffling sounds.

“I’m listening.”

“What do you know about knock-off mutagens?”

“Enough to know that someone’s up to no good. I’ve fought a couple supers with weird powers—acid spit, weirdly long tongues.” McGuire quickly mimed out the powers as he said them, then crossed his arms over his chest like he was attempting to be serious again. “Past that, I don’t really know much. Most of it I’ve heard through the grapevine; masks love to gossip.”

Emmett whispered, “What if I told you that we know where they’re being made?”

McGuire scoffed. “I’d ask why you haven’t done something about it yet.”

“...Well, we just found out.”

“Oh. That makes sense…” McGuire’s eyes widened again. “Are you asking me—are you asking me to come with you guys?”

Emmett stifled a laugh. “Well, yeah. I’m not just meeting up with you to tell you about our plan and then say bye.”

“Okay, point taken. So what’s the plan?”

Quietly, Emmett summarized the meeting he’d had with Dr. Venture and Clara. Even though they were hidden beneath the L train and high above the streets, Emmett didn’t want to chance someone listening in.

McGuire nodded thoughtfully as he listened. For the first time, he looked truly serious—not like the super was just putting on a face for Emmett’s benefit.

When Emmett finished, McGuire leaned back against the metal and stared off across the bay in thought. The waves were barely there, and the lights of Belport looked promisingly beautiful.

Finally, McGuire’s stoic demeanor subsided. “I don’t know, man.”

Emmett did a double-take. “What do you mean?”

“I just don’t know, alright,” McGuire replied, lowering his voice again. “Can you go over it again?”

Emmett took a deep breath and went back through his summary again—

But he could already tell something had changed in McGuire. The super wasn’t jovial or serious… McGuire looked sad.

It caught Emmett so off guard that he stopped half-way through his summary. “What’s going on?”

McGuire shrugged. “I can’t help you.”

“Why not?”

“I just can’t.”

Emmett sighed heavily and looked out over the city. “Fine. We’ll manage, I guess.”

McGuire didn’t say anything else.

Emmett shook his head. Now he was just irritated. Something was clearly up, but Emmett could tell he wasn’t going to get an explanation—

There was a pop, and suddenly Emmett and McGuire were set flying sideways in opposite directions. Something had exploded.

Emmett tumbled through the air and slung his whip to try to grab something. Anything.

He managed to latch onto the edge of a nearby roof and swung himself around to land on top of it. He looked back at the L train strut, where he’d been standing, and found it untouched. But Emmett didn’t have time to dwell on just how strange that was.

McGuire was hanging from a fire escape two buildings over and managed to pull himself up and over it to safety.

Emmett scanned the rooftops, looking for threats, and found two supers standing on the edge of a third story roof—looking down on Emmett and McGuire.

“There you are!” One of them said.

Two more silhouettes came into view behind the enemy supers—a giant black crow twice as tall as a person, and a slightly smaller walking tree.

Emmett sighed and got ready to fight. “Why does it always happen on the South side?”

~ ~ ~