{Cameron}
The new development unsettles me so much that when I get home from classes that day I immediately sit down to Google it. I find HECKL's homepage, a clean clinical-looking website with grass along the banner. They really play up the "bio" in the word "biotechnology", and I get the feeling they're trying to pass themselves off as one thing when they're really something else. I leave the website up on my computer as I text Ellis and then Kaelie to come over, stat.
"Man, this is insane," Ellis says when they've arrived and are both scrunched around me as I scroll through it for them to see. "Never seen anything like it."
"So, HECKL," Kaelie says. "Howard Eckles. H. Eckles. That's pretty clever, actually."
"Looks like he never got to see what it's becoming," Ellis points out. "Look there."
I scroll down, and see what he's been looking at – Eckles died suddenly of a massive heart attack in 2009, leaving behind a vast body of unfinished work.
"He died?" Kaelie actually sounds a little disappointed. "I was hoping we'd get something from the source."
"Yeah, looks like it." I type in Howard Eckles in the search bar and a bunch of results come up. A few of them are obituaries, but the one thing that sticks out to me is the photo that's first under the Images tab. It's Eckles and my dad, standing on a set of steps in front of a massive white building. Dad's holding a giant pair of scissors, and it appears to be some kind of ribbon-cutting ceremony.
"How old is that?" Ellis asks, noticing that I've been staring at the photo for a long time.
I click on it and read the caption. "2005. That's when HECKL first opened."
"That's wild," Kaelie says, and I feel her hand, gripping my shoulder, ball into a fist.
"I think we need to see this Wasp thing for ourselves," I say abruptly, and that makes both Ellis and Kaelie pull back.
"Do you think that's really a good idea after what happened last time?" Kaelie crosses her arms, her brow furrowing.
"Well, we're not going to do any good down here," I shoot back, and the way her jaw tightens tells me that wasn't the right thing to say.
"I mean..." Ellis shrugs. "Cam's got a point. We could at least have a peek, see what it looks like."
Kaelie sighs, exasperated, and tips her head back. "Only if Cam decides to behave. I am not babysitting Hurricane Boy again."
"Sorry," I say. "There wasn't really anything left for me to do with him."
"Except for being civil," Kaelie snaps. "Fighting over Sarah like she's a favorite toy. What are you guys, six?"
"Hey." Surprisingly, Ellis is the one who stops her, stepping forward and clasping her shoulders. "Look. It'll be fine, okay? Since this isn't all about Sarah this time, we should be fine."
That makes Kaelie back down, in a rare show of surrender. "Okay, okay, fine. Whatever."
After he leaves, we find ourselves alone together in my house for the first time in over two years. She's unable to look at me, instead staring at a spot just to the left of my head.
"You know, if Ellis has such a tranquilizing effect on you, maybe I should have what he's having."
"Shut up, Cam," she says, but it doesn't have any bite. "We're just friends, that's all."
"Sure, just friends." I shut my laptop and then stand up, making to get past her in the doorway. But our hands brush, and a spark of energy jumps between them. Kaelie gasps, her calm demeanor unsettled again.
"Did you feel that?" She's looking at our hands, still close, and her breathing noticeably shortens. "That spark?"
"Looks like we've still got some chemistry." I give her a smile as she looks up, and that makes her blush. It's been a long time since I've seen her blush like that.
"I didn't think..." She rubs the back of her neck. "After what happened when we broke up..."
"Hey, look. That's all in the past, okay? We've moved on." I shrug. "Besides, I don't think it was either of our proudest moments."
"You can say that again." She rakes one hand through her hair, with a heavy exhale.
"You okay?" I ask after a long silence.
That time, when she meets my eyes, she holds them and doesn't look away. "You're the first person to ask me that in seven years."
I don't reply. It hadn't been easy for her after her parents died, and that wasn't helped by the fact that the guy who killed them also happened to be my dad. I remembered the way she acted in high school, and I know why, because it's the same reason I was such a jerk too. We were both hiding pain, but unable to express it in another way.
"I'm miserable, to tell you the truth." She leans back against the doorjamb, and her eyes drift away again. "Not because I'm forcing my good side or anything. I'm just...I keep thinking of how I failed to avenge my parents' death because I thought I was invincible. My pride got the better of me. And then I took that out on people who didn't deserve it."
"We've all made mistakes because of pride, Kaelie." I mirror her pose. "I don't like the way I am when Zach's around in front of Sarah, but that's the way things turned out."
"At least you can fix that. I think there's something broken about my mistake."
"Kaelie..."
"I should go," she says quickly, straightening. "I just need to..."
I push myself away from the doorjamb at the same time, and we bump into each other. Both her hands flatten on my chest to catch herself, looking up and opening her mouth to say something. I don't know what comes over me, but it makes me lean down and press my mouth against hers. Her resistance breaks down and her hands fist in my shirt, pulling me close as she responds. This was what I missed about our relationship. The way she kissed me was unbelievable. It blew my mind every time.
Then suddenly, she yanks herself away, breathing hard.
"I really should..." She glances around, like she's scouting out an escape route. "I should go. I mean it this time."
"Wait, Kaelie, I..."
But she's gone already. I pound my fist into my forehead, already regretting what just happened. I go and reprimand Zach for flirting with Sarah, and then I turn right around and kiss my ex? How am I going to explain that?
***
{Sarah}
I get a surprise visit from the super trio that weekend. We're working on our homework in the student lounge when suddenly Mimi squeals "Is that Blue Bolt?"
I glance up and see them lined up outside, like a real-life Justice League. I get up and follow Mimi, already ahead of me by half a second, and catch up to her just as she's asking Blue Bolt for his autograph. Obligingly, he gives it to her. She hugs him and then runs off to show her roommate, who was also sitting with us.
"Hey, so..." I look at all of them in turn, and even though I can't see Sunburst's eyes, I can feel him looking back at me. "What's going on? You guys are never up here unless it's serious."
"The Wasp thing," Sunburst answers when neither of the others do. "We wanted to...check it out for ourselves."
"Right, right. I'll let Zach know you're here. He's probably in the robotics lab right now..."
But when I go to dial Zach's number, Blue Bolt grabs my elbow and stops me. "You have Zach's number in your phone?"
"Well, he agreed to help us, but we made him swear he'd be civil. Is that wrong?"
Blue Bolt's lip twitches, but he lets go anyway. "No, I guess not."
Twenty minutes later, we find ourselves in the robotics lab, looking down at the mangled mass of Wasp on the table. Zach's taken it completely apart, except for the head with the eyes attached.
"Why's it called Wasp?" Pink Wildfire asks. "It doesn't look like a wasp."
"People like to give cute names to things, I guess." Zach rubs the back of his head.
"I wouldn't exactly call this cute," Blue Bolt grumbles, but Zach ignores him.
"Here's the more important question," says Sunburst. "What'd you find?"
"Nothing, unfortunately," Zach answers. "It's remotely-operated, which is obvious. These cameras are most likely watching something important, but I couldn't figure out what. And there's no sort of data storage, as far as I could tell, so it must be sending the information back to a server somewhere else."
"Well, that's just frigging wonderful," Pink Wildfire says with a scowl. "What's the point of sending a drone when there's nothing even remotely exciting about it?"
"They're not supposed to be exciting," Zach says, and his emphasis on the word makes her shoulders tense. "They're conducting surveillance. Why, I don't know. If it was carrying some sort of information chip on it or something, then maybe we'd be able to track it. But so far it's got nothing."
"At least we know that the Big Evil Organization's got its eyes on us," Sunburst says, picking up a propeller and spinning it around between his fingers. "And HECKL's got something to do with biotech. But there seems to be no clear connection."
"And we don't know for sure about the Red Knight," Blue Bolt says, with some dismay. "That note...it has the HECKL logo on it, but that could mean anything."
"Looks like we're stuck," says Sunburst, nudging Wasp's body. It rolls over, and that's when I see it. A red blinking light. Something's still active on it.
"Wait a second," I say, leaning forward. "There's something blinking..."
"Don't touch it," Blue Bolt says sharply, making to push me back.
"Simmer down, Bolt, honestly." Pink Wildfire rolls her eyes and pulls it up. It's a chip, about the size of a camera memory card. The red light's still blinking on it, but as we watch, it slows and then stops. "Did you see this, Hurricane Boy?"
He scowls at that name, but he looks up anyway, at the chip she's holding out to him. "No. Good find, though."
"What is it?" I've never seen this level of technology before, so naturally I'm much more curious than everyone else.
"Well..." Zach takes it and squints at it. "Can't tell. But it's got the HECKL logo on it."
"Fabulous." Sunburst throws up his arms. "Hallelujah. What the hell does it do?"
"Won't know until we plug it in."
"You know, Zach, I've had enough of your stalling, let's just do it," Blue Bolt snaps.
"Hey." Pink Wildfire stops him with a hand on his chest when he surges forward. "You need to go cool down, okay? Seriously. Sunburst, go watch him, please."
"Why do I have to..." Sunburst starts, but Pink Wildfire shoots him a look that's all venom. "Okay. Come on, Bolty. Let's go."
As they leave, Zach straightens. "What's his problem, anyway? I'm just trying to help."
"Maybe that's something you'd like to explain to us." Pink Wildfire crosses her arms and stares him down, like she could vaporize him on the spot.
"Look, I don't know, okay? We've just sort of always been rivals." Zach shrugs. "I think it's because of the whole Best of the Supers thing. Cam's always been really competitive. But Dad's mentioned before that our dads used to not like each other. Like the sworn enemy kind."
"And how is it that they seem connected now?" I ask, because this already seems like a path we don't want to take.
"I don't know." Zach shakes his head. "But Dad's got a lot of secrets. He won't ever talk to us straight. But one thing I do know is that he's collected blood samples from me and my siblings. I don't know why, and he's never told us."
"Wait, so..." Pink Wildfire stops him. "He's been testing your blood? Is he like a mad scientist type or something?"
Zach shakes his head. "If I knew, I would have told you already. But the one thing I do know is that if he's connected to Cromwell in any way, it means he's got a connection to HECKL too. We just gotta find out what it is."
I shudder. This not only makes the threat seem real, but gives it a face as well. And he's sitting right in front of us.
***
{Cameron}
"So you cooled down enough yet, babe?" says Sunburst, nearly ten minutes after we leave the lab.
"'Babe'?" I stop walking and glare at him. "Are you mocking me?"
He shakes his head. "No. Look, Bolt, you can't keep shooting off at the mouth like that. Pink and I are just about done with trying to handle you like we're your parents. You either need to talk it over with Zach or sit this one out."
I sigh. He's right. I've got them running around trying to control me when I lose it, which isn't right or fair to them. Nor is it fair to Sarah, or – dare I say it – Zach.
"Well, I can't just sit and do nothing..."
"Then control your temper, Bolt. Seriously."
"Okay, fine. As long as he behaves himself."
Sunburst doesn't answer as we go back inside. Sarah and Pink are looking at Zach with matching expressions of surprise. I wonder what exactly he's told them.
"What happened?" I ask.
"Why don't you ask Hurricane Boy that?" says Pink. I can tell she's trying to be like she normally is, like nothing can touch her, but I can hear the tremor in her voice.
"What'd you say to them?" I turn to Zach, trying to keep my temper in check.
He rehashes it: His dad's collected blood samples from him and his brothers without telling them, and that he suspects that with his connections to Cromwell and HECKL, there's something fishy going on.
"Well. That's a pretty good reason to be afraid then, isn't it?" Sunburst says.
"Yeah. You can say that again." Zach sighs, scuffs his foot on the ground. "Dad's obsessed with supers, you know. Like ob-sessed. He's got all this old super memorabilia in his office. And he's always talking about what great things supers could do if there was more of them. Or if they were equipped with multiple sets of powers. I think it's kinda creepy."
"Yeah, no kidding." I'm starting to think I've been unnecessarily hard on him, but I can't speak too soon. "How will you know for sure?"
"I haven't thought about it. But I hope my decision to join you guys isn't a mistake."
"It's not, I guess," I say with a shrug meant to be casual.
"But you just need to watch yourself, Bolt, okay?" Zach says. "'Cause I'm watching you."
"Guys," Pink warns, but I hardly hear it.
"I need to watch myself?" I fire back. "I'm not the one flirting with someone else's girlfriend."
Zach lunges forward, but Sunburst gets there first. He wraps his arms around Zach and pins him against his body. I realize I've jumped forward too, stopped by Pink. She's got her shoulder shoved into my chest, holding me back.
"Bolt, outside, now." She pushes me backward, and her stance leaves no room for argument. "I can't believe I'm telling you again."
"But..."
"Now, Bolt."
I relent and follow her outside. Once we're out there, she whirls on me, eyes burning.
"I thought you two were going to play nice with one another!" she hisses. "We won't get anything done with infighting from you two! Either work it out, or just leave, okay?"
"Okay, fine. But he..."
"He's agreed to help us, and agreed to be civil. So should you. And if Sarah's such a problem between you two, maybe neither of you can have her. She's probably better off without either of you anyway." Pink crosses her arms and blocks my path, so even if I wanted to get around her, I couldn't. "What's it gonna be, Bolt?"
I finally give in. She's got a point. If we're all just squabbling with each other it'll be even easier for the B.E.O. to come in and break us apart. "Okay. Fine. I'll be nice. If he is."
She rolls her eyes. "Don't you worry. He's way ahead of you."
≈≈
We're landing on the roof of the stadium when the next robot attacks us. It's a cross between a refrigerator and a Transformer, but I don't see it as it blocks my landing spot and whacks me in the gut with a retractable arm, sending me reeling off through the air.
It comes after me again, with a whirring noise. Its legs expand, anchoring it to the stadium's curved roof. I see a flash of golden light from one side, and a puff of bright pink from the other, but its piston arms fight both off at once.
I zap it with one of my lightning bolts, and it shudders. Then I hit it again, and I hear it groan. Pink recovers long enough to shoot a fireball at it from behind, and that's what catches it off-guard. It topples forward, tumbling over the side and smashing against the concrete below.
"Bolt!" Sunburst comes running over as I land sloppily, slipping on the curve of the dome. He catches me and steadies me. "Hey. You okay?"
"Never been better." I attempt a grin, but I'm too dizzy and in pain to make it convincing.
"What was that?" Pink comes running over to us, barely disguising a limp. So it got her too. "It just came out of nowhere."
"Looked like a refrigerator that can turn into a robot," I say. "Why?"
"I think HECKL sent it," she says abruptly, making both Sunburst and I stop in our tracks and look at her.
"What?" we say in unison.
"Just think about it, you guys. We come flying in here without a care, not even wondering if we're being watched. And then suddenly bang, there's this thing ambushing us."
Ellis looks at me in a She's got a point kind of way.
"How do we find out?" I ask after a second.
"Well, believe it or not, we're probably going to have to ask your super friend. It seems like he's got a pretty good handle on this."
I know what she means, but I don't like the idea. Zach and I have never worked well together, and I doubt we ever will. But just this time, I have to put that aside. Not because I want to, but because all our lives might depend on it.
--
So the web is woven...
(Chapter title: Song by Katy Perry.)