The convoy was a wreck. Whatever Forget-me-not used to hit it, she hit it hard. My trailer was ripped in two, a simmer of flame popping out from the hole. Two of the three NHN cars were overturned, and the remaining trailers were unscathed but clearly affected by a shockwave, as all the broken glass can show. I pushed my way into the scene, looking at the ambulance and firemen as they tried to calm the civilian crowd.
“Shit, she hit everyone,” Agent Morris said, huffing out breaths as he looked at the scene. “Where are my guys?”
I didn’t know. They weren’t with the ambulance, or the firemen. They could be dead, or maybe forget-me-not is using her technology again?
Morris began looking through his phone, dialling and texting and trying to get a response from his team. No use. Nothing. I began looking for clues, for something among the wreckage.
“Fuck,” finally said Morris, almost throwing his phone. “No use!”
I was annoyed as much as he was. We were busy enjoying coffee and food, and three streets away a maniac who can mess with perception kidnaps seven agents for the National Heroes Network. This is the worst case scenario.
I groaned, rubbed the back of my hair, turned around to see the mayor and revised my statement.
This is the worst case scenario. He was pissed, furious that my powers, the powers that the NHN insisted would keep his people safe failed, and they failed within an hour in spectacular fashion.
“You try to sell my town snake oil?”
God damn it. He’s picking me out.
The crowd itself was agreeing with Warren. I could hear murmurs and whispers of unity among the townspeople in the background.
“They said you’d prevent this happening,” Warren said, jabbing me with a pudgy finger. “Explain this.”
I took a breath to gather my thoughts. “I don’t know what they said. I can prevent powers from working directly in any space I alter, but nothing prevents stuff already created from working.”
I took a glance at the wreckage and Morris.
“How can I protect my people when the supposed ‘ultimate protection’ fails an hour after it’s put up? Tell me that!?”
Inspiration struck.
“You’ll be safe,” I said. “I can assure you of that.”
***
The convoy took a while but I managed to drive it out of the town slowly, bit by bit. Morris took the cars and I took the trailers. My trailer still drove even after being ripped apart, thankfully. I should send thanks to whoever built or designed it.
We reached a part out of my range but with the town in sight, not far from it. Meeker had a river and a stream nearby, but the land was mostly flat. Having this as data, I concluded that Forget-me-not didn’t have anything large on her. At least, nothing like a vehicle.
I did a few small jumps to fight off the chill in the air. Morris lit a cigarette, partially because of stress, partially because the lighter provided a little warmth. We waited.
“Morris?” I asked.
“Yeah?” he responded.
“Where do you think you’d hold seven NHN agents? I mean, there isn’t many places to hide them.”
“Hmm,” Morris thought, pondering the conversation. “I’d hide them. This bitch does have stealth as her forte so she could easily lock em in a building and make people forget it exists.”
I nodded. “That does seem like the obvious conclusion. We’d have a map for Meeker, right?”
“You think we’d find it with a map?”
“I’ve seen memory alteration,” I replied, thinking of Maxine’s powers. “this ain’t it. We can beat it easy.”
“Then you tell me why ain’t she caught yet,” said Morris, drawing a smoke from his cigarette.
“Well, I’m thinking it’s the reason she wasn’t caught this time,” I replied. “She’s putting her crimes in a bubble, or making it so that nobody is aware of what’s happening as she acts.”
“Hmm, that’s correct,” replied Forget-me-not.
“So, I’m thinking if we wait out here she’ll attack us,” I continued, scratching my head.
“Why wouldn’t I just go for the town?”
“Well, what reason is there to? She’s the sole cape in Meeker, so I don’t think she needs to worry about them. the NHN on the other hand…” I gestured, stepping towards Morris.
I didn’t get a reply, he’s out cold and Forget-me-not is there, right in front of me. She’s dressed in green, a hobnob style of bits sewn together, mainly arranged to avoid a stray bullet or survive a non-powered human playing hero. Her mask is a simple motorbike helmet, cracked from a previous scuffle. She wore a backpack, a faint blue aura emitting from it, giving her a slight glow.
She clicked the button on a small device, and her backpack stopped glowing.
“Ah, it appears you are in my range,” I said. “I see Morris is down.”
“Take what you did away or I’ll blow them up,” the villain demanded. I admired her frankness, oddly enough. Still, she got no reaction from me. Forget-me-not hovered her thumb over a second button on her device. Probably a trigger for a bomb.
“Go on. You’ll upgrade from a small time crook to a threat if you blow seven people up, and bigger, larger people will come. It won’t be two capes who are born here, it’ll be people looking for you. Roamers are usually the worst.”
“I can alwa-”
I laughed, not the smartest choice. She looked at me oddly.
“Always what?” I asked with venom in my tone. “Run away? Fight them off?”
She backed up, nearly stepping out of my range. I followed, not wanting her to get the drop on me, closing the gap.
“You think you can fight them off?”
Forget-me-not stumbled a little, stunned. “I’ll press it, I swear to god I will.”
She wouldn’t. She is to weak, too merciful. She’s a wannabe bank robber who leaves no victims and specializes in hostages, but never kills anyone. She’s the type who says they’ll kill themselves the fifth time and everyone would think ‘do it’ but say ‘don’t’.
I tackled her, and she pressed a button.
When The Hunting Party Came 