A Call to Darkness (Book 1 of Calling All Heroes)

An Explosion and a Stollen Heart

"We need to talk," Patton said softly as he walked out of Virgil's room, the dark hero following him with his head down. The other heroes were gathered just outside the door. They had all been worried about Night Storm, more concerned about his well-being than what had happened to them. "We can't be an effective unit if Night Storm can't control his powers. And he can't control his powers if he can't trust all of us."

"You don't trust us?" Roman and Remus gasped, looking at the slightly shorter man in shock.

Logan sighed heavily and rubbed his temples. "If I may. It doesn't seem to me that Night Storm does not trust us in the sense you two are thinking. He obviously trusts us enough to put his life on the line doing this job with us. What I believe Patton is getting at is —"

"How much can you trust a faceless voice?" Deceit said, pushing off of the wall he had been leaning against. Virgil lifted his head and looked over at his friend. "I get it. I work in lies to keep you five safe. How much longer would you guys trust me if you didn't know who I really was? If Patton didn't know who I was?"

"He's got a point," Roman said, sighing in defeat. "So, we're really gonna do this? Going to expose ourselves? I swear, Duke, if you pull down your pants, I will run you through with my sword." He didn't even have to look at his brother to know his hands were on his pants. The Duke chuckled sheepishly and swung his hands innocently while bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Deceit glanced over at the masked man and gave him a small, fond smile that caused him to blush slightly when the Duke noticed it.

"It appears we are," Logan said, his hand going to his watch to deactivate it. The others were poised to do the same when an alarm suddenly sounded. "What on Earth?"

Deceit ran over to his console and checked the monitors, cursing at the sight before him. "Everyone get out. Now!"

"What's going on?" Patton asked, frowning slightly.

"We've got company, and they don't look friendly."

Suddenly there was a loud explosion, and a man in a black and yellow suit walked through the main entrance. The two royal heroes grabbed the darkly dressed heroes close to them and dragged them through the door of Virgil's room. As the door shut, Virgil could see Patton making his way to another door and Deceit standing face to face with the intruder.

"Exit, Night! Now!" Remus yelled, helping Roman to block the door.

Nodding his head, Virgil led the other three men out of the base and into the woods. "I have to go back," he started back towards the entrance when the others were out of the tunnel.

"You can't," Roman grabbed his shoulder to stop him.

"It's one guy! Heart and Deceit can handle my voice if I slip up and talk while invisible again. That guy won't even see me coming. I can't leave De there to fight alone."

"He's not," Logan said, looking off into the distance and frowning.

"Heart is a healer, not a fighter."

"No. I mean he's not fighting. I tapped into the surveillance system. Deceit is unconscious. It looks like he tried to talk to the intruder but was knocked out. Oh, no."

"What? Is he okay?" Remus grabbed Logan by his shoulders and squeezed them tightly.

"That guy. He...he took Patton."

They all stared at Logan in shock but didn't have much time to ask questions as six more explosions sounded, and debris came pouring ing out of the tunnel they had just been in. The tunnel Virgil would have been crushed in had Roman not have stopped him.

"Olav!" Remus yelled, running towards the tunnel, causing Roman and Virgil to grab him and hold him back.

***

Two hours. It took them two hours to calm Remus. Two hours for any of them to find their voices. Logan has been monitoring the base and the news reports as best he could. The explosions hadn't gone unnoticed.

"I should have grabbed him. We can all handle ourselves, but Heart...Patton..." Roman leaned against the tree he was sitting in front of and allowed his head to drop to his knees as he hugged them close.

"It's not your fault, Prince. I could've easily slipped out of your grasp and gone after him. I saw him running towards one of the other rooms. I assumed he was safe," Virgil gently rubbed Roman's back, trying to comfort him.

"He's still alive, Duke," Logan's voice was soft and held emotion that his face refused to show. Remus looked towards him silently. "He's in critical condition, but he is alive."

Virgil's head shot up, and he looked over towards Remus. "Duke...?"

Remus wandered away from the others a bit and was leaning against a tree crying.

"Leave him," Roman said quietly. "He needs to calm down, or a dimension will open up, and god only knows what horrors he'll unleash."

Remus deactivated his suit and collapsed on the forest floor. Another twenty minutes passed before anyone spoke. "I have to go see him," the dark-haired man slowly stood up and turned towards the other heroes. "Where is he, Logic?"

"We'll all go. We can't let you go alone. Not like this."

"My boyfriend was nearly murdered, and our friend was kidnapped. How else am I supposed to be, nerdy wolverine!"

Virgil looked at Remus in shock and then turned to look at the princely hero beside him. "Roman?"

Looking from his brother to Night Storm, The Prince let out a heavy sigh. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours." They both have a curt nod and deactivated their suits.

Virgil was the first to move, backing away from his boyfriend with a look of horror on his face. Roman's eyes were wide with shock.

"How many secret identities do you have, man?!"

"Fuck me."

"Well, not here or right now. We have more important matters to tend to," Roman looked over at Logic and rolled his eyes. "Is it safe to assume you're Logan Accorsi?"

Logan nodded and deactivated his suit. "Since we now all know each other and there is no need for formal introductions, should we get going? If my calculations are correct, it won't take the firefighters much time to excavate the rubble and find this entrance. I don't think any of us is quite ready to be discovered by the general public just yet." They all nodded in agreement. And followed him out of the woods.