Mod suited up, and together, he and Arsenal rode in a heavy drone to Antony’s last known location on Eastside. Mod would’ve ridden in a standard drone while Arsenal flew, but Dr. Venture insisted they take the extra firepower. 

They’d debated whether to relay their findings to the Summit. Dr. Venture decided against it. 

The only reason they’d been able to trace the suspects was because TINA hacked the cellphone networks—something that Venture didn’t want to admit to the Summit. 

So, now the plan was to confront the culprits while Summit patrols happened to be in the area. 

Mod probably should’ve questioned Venture on the decision, but he had more important things on his mind. Namely, the fact that his brother had been kidnapped. 

Mod sat on the bench along the wall and held onto one of the handholds. Arsenal sat beside him. The drone burned hard, rocketing to them toward their destination—the frame shaking angrily.

Mod’s free hand clenched and unclenched. He couldn’t relax. 

It had been one thing when he thought that Antony’s group had been attacked by the Deep Ones. So far, there hadn’t been any reports about the scouting party getting far enough inland to harm civilians. They seemed content to attack patrolling capes and the military. But that didn’t mean that things would always be like that. 

Now though… 

TINA’s voice came through their earpieces, cutting through the rumbling metal and turbulence. 

“I’m tracing the additional cell phone signals present during Antony’s disappearance. They belong to a single group of individuals. Their signals show considerable overlap. Identification incoming… Corroborating databases… 

“Three of the individuals belong to the gang of villains called the Hellcat Mercenaries—Angel Eye, Windvane, and Lau Keishos. Two Masks are also with them—Shifter and Oakenheart.”

It took Mod a moment to process what TINA was saying. Arsenal asked, “What the hell would two masks be doing with a group of villains?”

Mod cracked his knuckles. “Does it really matter?”

Only two weeks ago, a Summit cape had tracked Emmett back to his parents’ house. Hunter Nine had tried to defend his actions—he hadn’t harmed Emmett’s family—but Emmett had beaten the shit out of him anyway. 

Arsenal turned to regard Mod. Her face was unreadable behind her exosuit helmet, but Emmet knew she was judging him. 

“What?”

“Of course it matters,” Arsenal said. “We don’t know what happened—”

“Do you really think they’d have a good reason for kidnapping a group of civilians?”

Arsenal flinched. “No…” She turned and leaned back against the wall of the drone, a little further away from Mod. 

“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to snap.”

Arsenal replied quietly, “Just don’t let your emotions get in the way. Let’s try recon and talking first.”

~

TINA compiled known information about the three villains and two masks on the way. Both Mod and Arsenal looked the information over quickly. 

Angel Eye—Class 2.3—Real name, Tobe Kaemon—Possesses uncanny accuracy with firearms. Accomplished sharpshooter, sniper, and assassin. Able to hit moving targets at maximum ranges without bipods or tripods. Minor knack for reflexes. Longest confirmed kill: 1.5 miles. 

Windvane—Class 1.3—Real name, Ariana Mills—Possesses limited precognition. Can automatically see several seconds into the future in a persistent bubble that extends several feet around her. Can focus her precognition in a direction or at an individual and see several minutes into the future. Also possesses regular human athleticism and combat training.

Lau Keishos—Class 2.2—Real name, Gregor Orlov—Sorcerer specializing in abjuration and transmutation spells. Excommunicated from the Felwardens. Reason unknown. 

Then there were the two masks, both veteran members of the Summit of Heroes. 

Shifter—Class 2.1—Real name, Kilian Strub—Able to shift his mass into several elemental types, including stone, water, and vapor. Though he cannot manipulate matter outside of himself, he can travel through matter of similar type with exceptional speed.

Oakenheart—Class 2.2—Real name, Fritha Cowley—former envoy of the Seelie Court. A paladin of nature possessing enchanted armor and weapons, as well as minor nature magic. 

Mod was pretty sure Angel Eye’s info wasn’t accurate—he was better than that. Mod had just recently pulled up supers with enhanced accuracy when practicing with his fusion rifle. It probably wasn’t healthy to compare himself to accomplished eagle-eye supers, but Mod had done pretty well for himself. 

Mod asked TINA to double-check stats from his own database of supers.

“You are correct,” TINA replied. “There is an old article referenced that lists other sharpshooter feats. His longest rifle shot is almost twice what is currently listed. There are several other minor inconsistencies as well.”

Mod allowed himself a small smile of satisfaction. “What’s the matter? You couldn’t track down that data?”

“No. That article was purged from all public records and databases.”

Mod raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t unheard of for public records of registered capes or exceptional villains to be censored or purged, but it was odd treatment for low-ranking ones.

“What Class are these guys again?” Mod asked.

“None above Class three.”

Arsenal chimed in, “Still, I’m surprised Dad didn’t already have that data.”

“The article was from several years before my conception, and Dr. Venture doesn’t keep track of every super below Class three. Most are not worth his attention.”

Mod looked over the list one final time. “TINA, if any of the others are in my database, double check their capabilities too.”

“Windvane is going to be a problem,” Arsenal said. 

“She complicates things, but there’s a reason why her precog abilities are only listed as Class two.”

“Precognition is precognition… right?”

“Not necessarily,” Mod replied. “It’s like super strength—it comes in different flavors. Mutagen strength isn’t the same as reality warping or even magical enhancement. She’ll have weaknesses. They all will.”

“...Glad you’re on my side.”

“Always.”

Arsenal chuckled. “So, what’s the plan?”

~

The heavy drone set down a block away from the intersection, and Mod and Arsenal disembarked. They slunk through empty streets while cloaked drones maintained a loose perimeter around the area. 

A Fast-Response Drone opened nearby, and Mod pulled out his new rifle. The carbon steel was nearly black, and the 3D printing made the rifle look seamless, like it was forged out of a single piece of metal. 

He grabbed a fusion cell, popped it in the housing, then bolted the chamber shut. The weapon hummed with anticipation. 

Arsenal’s cloaking came online. She shimmered in Mod’s UV vision, but to any other observer, she was now invisible. 

“I’ll take the rooftops this time,” she said, and flew up, leaving Mod alone in the alley. 

Mod watched her go with envy. He’d have to add cloaking to his wishlist, if it wasn’t there already. 

Drones spotted their targets near the outskirts of Eastside. For some reason, they’d elected to go just outside the flood zone, and were holed up on the middle floor of an office building. If Antony and the missing relief workers were there, then they were being kept to the interior of the building, away from the windows. 

Mod slunk through alleyways as Arsenal covered the rooftops, and together they moved east through the city. 

“Do you have eyes on anyone?” Mod asked. 

TINA replied, “The sorcerer, Lau, and the knight, Oakenheart, are both on the upper floor. Angel Eye is on the floor below, moving from window to window, keeping watch. I do not see Windvane or Shifter. I still do not see any of the missing workers either.”

“We’ll find them,” Arsenal said. 

Mod grunted an affirmation and kept the rest to himself. Whoever took his little brother better have a good goddamn reason for it.

~ ~

Angel Eye saw the drones first. Their cloaking technology was terrifyingly good—except for the faintest shimmer around them. The drones had been instrumental in rescuing people during the flooding, and Windvane had almost forgotten they were still around. It seemed like whoever controlled them just let them meander around, keeping watch for the Deep Ones. 

But Angel Eye noticed that over the last thirty minutes or so, the drones slowly closed in on the group’s hiding spot. 

Windvane didn’t believe in coincidence.

Her precog powers couldn’t read machines as accurately as they could read people, but it was plain to see that their plot had been discovered. If the super in charge just wanted to chat, then a drone would’ve come right over instead of tightening around their position like a noose. 

Somehow, they’d been tracked. 

Psychic tether? Another precog? Both possible and troubling in their own rights, but she’d searched each of the hostages’ futures and immediate pasts and there was nothing in their behavior to suggest either. Cell phones? Equally troubling, especially since she couldn’t imagine a major network like Aquarius getting hacked. Which meant that they were willingly working with the Summit or the government…

They had destroyed the hostages’ phones and were using their own sparingly. 

Either way, they were onto phase two, whether they were ready or not. 

Windvane hurried down the stairs, past scattered folders and paper. Her bodysuit shimmered in the faint light from the windows. It was made to break up her outline; the fine pinstripes went from black to silver depending on how the light hit them. 

…Maybe they could run. If they could get underground and Lau could shepherd them through the tunnels… Windvane grit her teeth. They couldn’t take everyone. They’d have to leave the rest of the hostages behind and only take the one that mattered. Of course, then there was no hiding behind an innocent mistake. 

Windvane stood inside the side entrance of the office building and waited for the drone to pass. When she no longer felt its influence on the road, she jogged across the street. She passed through alleyways and ducked through unlocked doors, guided by her precognition. Occasionally, Angel Eye’s gruff, one word directions came through her earpiece. 

She paused and then doubled back through an office’s side entrance. One of the night guards left it open while he took his last smoke break before evacuation. 

Windvane extended her perception outward, searching for their uninvited guests. Angel Eye had once compared her power to a spider, sensing vibrations in its web. She’d loathed the comparison, even if it wasn’t too far from the truth. 

In her experience, only a psychic or a fellow precog truly understood what it was like. Their powers came in gut feelings, visions, and metaphors. Sometimes it felt like the tiny vibrations of a spider's web, other times like the creak of a floorboard, or a lover rolling over next to her in bed. Sometimes it felt like playing hide and go seek, other times like shattering a glass in the middle of a formal party. Sometimes she saw ghosts of the recent past or immediate future, other times the images were merely a flicker. 

Each time was different. 

This time, when Windvane stretched out her perception, it didn’t feel like stretching a muscle. It felt like stretching a piece of cloth until it was thin enough to see through. She was simultaneously the hands, the fabric, and neither.

Try explaining that to one of those regular supers.

Finally, Windvane saw them. A young cyborg skulking through the streets with a rifle he was proud of. An artificer clambered across the rooftops, cloaked in power armor. There was a thick tether between them, one that could only be fresh romance.

Windvane reached out and searched the cyborg’s immediate future, sifting through them like sand. Possibilities passed through her fingers until all that was left was a bullet and a photograph. 

The cyborg didn’t want to kill them, but he would. Because they’d taken someone important to him. Probably family. 

Windvane grabbed another handful of possibilities and sifted through them but she never got a name—she couldn’t see far enough ahead. 

She did the same to the artificer on the roof, but the power armor concealed everything, like she’d picked up a single impenetrable stone instead of sand. She tried two more times in vain. 

“They’re coming for us,” Windvane whispered into her headset. 

“You sure?” Angel asked. 

Windvane relayed their position. “Do you see her on the roof?”

“Barely. Good tech. They’ll be trouble.”

“No, they won’t,” the paladin, Oakenheart, said. 

“Someone’s antsy,” Shifter replied. 

Windvane sighed in frustration. The two new masks better not muck this up. 

“Don’t forget: This is my show,” she said sternly. “Angel, get their attention.”

~ ~ ~