The jump tossed Gabriel's stomach around like a cement mixer. He landed roughly on his backside, knocking over a shelf and sending bottles crashing to the floor.
"My fine wines! Look who finally decided to join us! You could have been more careful with- Gabe?!" Zero leaned over his backrest, confusion plain in his wide, glowing eyes. "Why a-"
"No time for questions. Miss Liberty is dead, and Grizzly's engaged with an unknown assailant. Dr. Atomic suspects a Reality Bender."
Bulwark raced to exit the transport, but - without looking - Omicron Beta wrapped his liquified metal arm around the panicked super.
"Let. Me. GO!" Bulwark's suit channeled his high-intensity vibrations into Omicron Beta. Most objects - or people - would have disintegrated atom by atom at that point, but somehow the restraints held. "I have to get to Rescue!"
Zero and Omicron shared a long, intense look.
"I guess Quantum's cat's out of the bag now, huh? How much did he tell you?"
The mentor's nonchalance was starting to get on Gabriel's nerves. His teammate was going ballistic over his wife's safety, and this man had the gall to chit chat?
"I can put two and two together. I'm sending you all the tracker locations. As you can see, they are all underground, in an unmarked building with some sort of secret basement. Are you ready to take this seriously?" He said those last words directly to Zero.
The mentor looked surprised, then... proud? He checked his WristPad and said, "That's a mile below us. The entrance is at the foot of that mountain. Two clicks west."
"Yes. I think it's an abandoned mineshaft someone built over. Watch your backs. There may be defenses we don't know about. Whoever planned this did so meticulously.
Whatever you do, don't cause a cave-in. I know Grizzly's gotten out of worse before, but she is likely injured. We also need to get Lady Justice and Rescue out safe. Omicron, let him go."
The silver AI nodded and released Bulwark, who huffed in frustration. "At least someone gets it. What do you say, kid, care to take Offense today?"
Gabriel shook his head. "I have my own instructions; you'll have to make do without me. Good luck." He walked to the open transport hatch, activated the cloaking device, and disappeared, leaving the Heroes confused.
"You heard him. Let's move." Bulwark finally said.
Gabriel's next course of action was finding an alternate route into the mineshaft. While the Sentinels caught the attention of whoever was down there, he would already be in position.
The Shield working through the defenses should provide enough of a distraction to locate the Reality Bender.
Flying over the mountain, Alfred spotted a minuscule grate hidden under dense foliage.
There. We could fit if you detach your wings. Alfred said, already on board with the whatever-it-takes mentality.
Gabriel gave the go-ahead, and the heavy metal appendages fell to the ground with a rustle of leaves. He hid them carefully under the vegetation, then eyed the grate. It must be a ventilation shaft. Already, sweat formed on his brow from the humidity, a drop fell into his eye, forcing him to blink.
The tracking beacons on his HUD showed the others had entered the shaft. From their slow progress, he guessed they'd run into resistance early on.
His WristPad relayed a message to the Spartan Suit's helmet. "Ruchin WarBots." Said Zero's voice through the static.
BINABASA MO ANG
A Hero's Song (Darkest Secrets Volume 1)
Science FictionGabriel lived his whole life in an underground lab, surrounded by people who only sought to use him - tricked into believing he was broken from birth. Trained to be a killing machine, he never thought he could live a different life until one unusual...
