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

Deceit

Olav stared blankly at his phone. His heart and mind were racing a mile a minute, but he didn't let the thoughts or emotions show on his face. Taking a deep breath, he walked down the street.

He couldn't go home. No. That's the first place the others would look for him. He couldn't go to Remus' place either. The base was out of the question since it was now a pile of rubble.

He should've killed Bedrag back when he had the chance. He knew this. He knew he should have done it back in Norway. Back before he took on a new name and a new form. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. And now... Now his friends were in danger because of his decisions. Because of his failure to act.

Walking quickly down the street, he turned down an alley and knocked on a door near the back.

"Who is it?" Came a gruff voice.

"Deceit," he replied in a hushed voice, leaning against the door. "Bedrag is back." He stood up straight as the door was unlocked and opened, revealing an older man with graying hair.

The two men stared at each other for a moment before the man stepped aside to allow the hero into the building.

"What happened?" The man closed the door behind Olav and turned to the younger man.

"I don't know. He found me somehow. He found us. I thought they would be safe, Hayden. He blew up the base. He stole Patton. He threatened Virgil and Remus." His voice rose in volume as he spoke, pacing the dimly lit foyer they were standing in.

"Breathe, Deceit. Breathe. You won't be of any use to them if you don't breathe."

Nodding, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Sorry."

"Shut up," the older man said, leading the other down a flight of stairs to a room filled with computers and maps. "I'll contact Rebellion and Shadow. They can help. You boys are going to need a new base."

"No base will be safe until I find and kill Bedrag."

"Deceit..."

Olav activated his watch and stood before the other man in his black and yellow suit. "I have to finish this."

"Call your teammates. They can help you."

"No. I'm doing this alone. I only came here to warn you," Deceit turned and left the older man. He was determined to find and save Patton and keep his friends safe from the snake faced villain.

Hayden waited until Olav was gone to contact Rebellion and Shadow, telling them to keep an eye out for him. He knew the younger man would end up killing himself if he wasn't careful. And the odds of him being careful were slim to none with the lives and safety of his friends being in danger.

***

"With the base in ruins tracking the watches is going to be next to impossible," Logan groaned as he and the other three heroes sat in Remus' shop. They had spent most of the day searching the city for Olav with no success.

"Bet you wish you guys didn't make them so hard to hack now. Huh?" Virgil said dryly, crossing his arms and leaning against a display case.

"Why did you put all of those fail-safes in place?" Roman asked. He was sitting beside Remus and rubbing the other's back in small circles to keep him calm.

"For our safety. And everyone's peace of mind. If I couldn't hack them with my powers, I knew no one else could hack them. And I knew you all would feel better about using them."

"Even before I knew you were Logan, I trusted you not to try and find out who I was," Virgil said. "Yeah, I wanted to keep my identity secret, but I trusted you not to snoop. If you had just promised not to track me, I would've trusted you and still used this damn thing."

"You were my main concern, Virgil. But, you weren't the only one who would've potentially not used the watch if I could access it."

"Who else did you have to do it for, Microsoft Nerd?"

"Himself," Remus' voice was soft and strained with emotion. He'd been crying a lot, and it had taken a lot out of him.

"What?" Roman and Virgil looked at Remus and then at Logan.

"I wouldn't forgive myself if another technokinetic was able to hack your watches. Or if I was used to hack them," he sighed and leaned in the counter in front of him, his head hanging low.

"Fucking a!" Virgil stood up quickly, causing the others to jump and look at him in confusion. "We can't track Patton. His watch wasn't activated when that asshole took him. But," he activated his watch and stood before them in his full suit. "If Olav activated his suit, we can track him."

"Of course!" Logan slapped his forehead and then activated his own watch. Roman and Remus quickly did the same. They checked their watches, and Remus yelled in excitement when he got a lock on Olav.

"He's not far from here. Should we go after him?" Virgil looked at the others.

"Of course, we should!" Remus exclaimed. "He shouldn't be out there alone." The others nodded, and they all followed Remus out the back of his shop.