Downtown Stevenson, Illinois
An unseasonable light snow flickered past Triumph as he zipped through the street ahead of his teammates. Arriving on the scene, he found only chaos. Five people in costumes we ravaging the Diamond Exchange. Police had opened fire, but found the activity useless. They were in the process of cordoning off the sidewalk to keep bystanders safe.
“What’s the situation, Howie?” he asked officer Howie Durward, who was quite startled to find the speedster standing next to him.
“Glad you’re here! I assume the others are on their way?” Triumph nodded his answer positive.
“There’s five of them. A barbarian looking cave man guy, a landing in a green jumpsuit shooting what looks like mouthwash out of her hands, some geeky kid with a jetpack, a guy with a bunch of guns, and some blond girl bouncing around like an acrobat. They’re saying they want to show the powers that be that profiting off the sweat and tears of the people isn’t acceptable.”
“Communist supervillains? Really?” Triumph asked.
“Well, they do have a point,” Howie answered under his breath.
“Point or no, this is not only vandalism, it’s endangering lives. I’m going in!” Triumph zipped into the building via a hole the villains had made in the wall. The foyer and reception area were a wreck, and there was a path of destruction leading up the main stairs. Triumph hit the stairs, but was shocked to find them greased. At his speed, his feet slipped out from under him, and he fell on his back down the marble stairs, fracturing one of the ribs that had been cracked by vampires the night previous.
Laughter filled the foyer from the top of the stairs leading up to floor 3.
Outside, The Gray Robe and Palisade flew up, while The American Attitude whipped through a portal, followed by The Adept and Cazmonster.
Triumph came zipping out to join his teammates. “Okay, recon tells me they boobie trapped the place!” he said, grabbing his side.
“Good work, Triumph!” The Attitude said sarcastically. “Can I get you a wheelchair?”
“The hell with that!” Palisade said, and flew in through the doors. Immediately he was under heavy rifle fire, but rifles were useless again the biosuit. Swooping up to the third floor where it overlooked the entrance, Palisade found a grizzled man with a high-powered sniper rifle of unknown make, next to a young woman in a colorful full-body leotard. He began firing a gattling burst of spikes, causing the duo to bolt for cover.
The man with the gun dodged decidedly less gracefully, taking one smaller spike through his shoulder. Instead of screaming in pain, he simply said “Dammit!” in a low voice, and pulled the alien spike from his shoulder before lifting his rifle to line up another shot. He never got the chance. From the other side, near the elevators, a cascade of green liquid washed over Palisade, and he fell down to the stairs, his flight capability suddenly missing, and pain like fire as the biosuit transmitted it’s pain to his own spine.
Behind Palisade, Cazmonster, The Gray Robe and the others rushed into the lobby, and the battle was ungaged. Camonster picked up the entire reception desk and launched it at where he saw the sniper and the acrobat peeking over the rail. Even the acrobat failed to dodge entirely, instead falling onto the stairs and slipping in the grease she had laid down a few minutes before. The sniper fired a mini-rocketlauncher just in time to shatter the massive desk, but was blinded and hit by the fragmented wood and rock debris.
“What’s Up!” Cazmonster shouted at his victory.
The Infinite Seven pressed the advantage. Triumph spun at superspeed, launching The American Attitude toward the acrobat on the stairs in an areal variation on the “Attitude Adjustment”. The Attitude’s staff nailed her right in the nose, which bled profusely, and she passed into unconsciousness. “Score!” he shouted, flipping his skateboard up onto the hand-rails to avoid slamming his own face into the stairs.
The Gray Robe appeared to be waiting for an opportunity to act, but upstairs, the woman in green, who had placed herself near several sun-facing large potted plants, found herself suddenly entwined in their growing, writhing tendrils.
The Adept moved carefully up the steps to avoid slipping, and helped Palisade to his feet. The green liquid which had hit him had softened his armor, and he appeared to be in severe pain. The Adept himself felt his hands begin to burn upon touching it, but his defensive enchantment held and he felt only mild discomfort.
“You good?” he asked.
Steven Chen, AKA Palisade, mumbled something under his breath as the biosuit faded back into his latent DNA where it hid. “I’m out of this one. Stay away from the green one!”
“Here, watch this one!” The Attitude said having tied up the acrobat. He left her on the landing next to Steven.
A bullet ripped through the air, nearly hitting The Adept in the head. Only Triumph’s unexpected intervention saved him. Suddenly, the acrobat begun to shimmer, and soon, she was gone.
The heroes checked the rest of the building, but it seemed the battle was over. The costumed villains were gone, and so was 30 million dollars in diamonds and precious gems.
When all was done, the heroes of I7 went through an extended interview from Stevenson PD before they were allowed to leave.
Hours later, back at the underground I7 HQ, Cazmonster had smashed a big hole in the brick wall.
“Relax,big guy,” the Attitude reminded him.
“Not until we find those idiots and bring them in!” Cazmonster howled.
“Caz!” The Adept called out. “He’s right. Stop smashing the walls. You’re probably bouncing traffic on University Avenue.
“We need to find out who these people are, so that we’re ready for them next time,” The Adept said with a conviction he didn’t feel.
Triumph, ever hopeful, voiced his agreement. “Rick’s right. Let’s go over Cazmonster’s recordings of the encounter so we can learn from it. They played their hand. Next time is our turn.”
From the back of the room, Syd said “Has anyone seen Angela?” Everyone replied they hadn’t.
“What’s going on?” Steven asked. He’d been spending more time with the vampiric hero, and he was suddenly concerned for her.
“I’m not sure. But there was something weird about her in that fight with Dre and the other vampires. I think we need to keep an eye on her, for her own good.”
Later that night, in Princeton, NJ
After working through dozens of contacts, studying several reports and scanning multiple databases, Aaron had almost given up hope of finding Emily. But the final clue came in the form of a challenge as he finished his midnight dinner at a local diner. It showed the supposed location of Emily, in an abandoned apartment complex on the outside of town. Within seconds, Dragonfly was there, examining the building from the top of a multistory office building a couple blocks away.
It felt good to be back in costume, Dragonfly thought. He felt prepared, ready for action, and oddly light-hearted despite the dark circumstances. Someone didn’t know the can of worms he’d opened, Dragonfly thought confidently. He flew toward the building, searching for an unexpected entry point.
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