Super Thieves

Andrew

The NSL can't be so bad if they saved my life. Unless they implanted a tracking chip in me during surgery, that would really kill my new tolerance for them.

Glow Woman stayed with me the entire time I sat in that hospital bed. She's not as bad as I thought, I can tell she's more than just another superhero drone without the ability to think for themselves. We often played chess together when I wasn't eating or sleeping but we never really talked about anything other than business. And saving the world is not business you want to discuss all that often. I was laying in my bed staring up at the ceiling, just letting thoughts flow in and out of my brain. The door swooshed open and closed, Glow Woman smiled and slowly made her way over to me.

"Just checking up on you before I head to bed," she said happily, inspecting the pouches that contained my morphine and water before shifting her gaze to the machines that monitored my vitals.

"Care to stay for a game of chess?" I laughed to her. She smiled warmly and shook her head slightly as she laughed with me.

"Everything looks about right. Do you need anything before I go?" she said quietly. I watched her do a quick scan of the room, as if she were making sure we were alone. There are two cameras in the ceiling, but I don't remember anybody else walking in besides her.

"How are Heather and Caleb doing?"

"Heather's splint comes off tomorrow, and Carter will just have to use some makeup or something until that black eye heals."

"Have they found anything?"

"Nope. Trails run cold, pardon the pun."

There was a small click and Glow Woman knelt down next to my bed, speaking in hurried hushed words.

"We have about fifteen minutes before those cameras come back online, so I have to make this quick," she whispered. There was a panicked look in her eyes. The shimmering glow of her pupils jumped around the room as somebody would be coming down to inspect the sudden malfunction in moments.

"What's going on?" I asked just as quietly, the speeding of my heart rate was visible on the monitor beside us. The subtle beeps slowly increased in both intensity and frequency as she explained.

"The Five have decided to declare war, they voted on it this morning. As soon as Heather and Carter find the last two locations I have been ordered to arrest all of you," Glow Woman said rapidly.

"Of course you have been, superheroes never keep their word," I snapped, "I almost die and this is how you repay me? By trying to throw me in a jail cell? Go to hell."

"I'm trying to buy you guys time to escape."

"And why would you do that?"

"Because you're willing to give your lives to protect the innocent. Thousands of lives will be lost if we go to war, superhero and civilian both. And Black Ice will take millions if he has access to those nuclear weapons."

There's no way in hell Heather or Carter told Glow Woman about what Black Ice is really after. So how in the hell does she know about the nuclear base? If she knows, other heroes here know as well. They could know who we really are! I should've known better than to trust supers, I told Heather this was a stupid plan.

"Listen, we're running out of time. You have to understand what my orders are, and that I am bound by my oath as a hero to obey them," Glow Woman said sadly. I couldn't manifest the feelings of hate I should've been. The look in her radiating yellow eyes almost looked...sorry. As if she were a child apologizing for breaking the expensive flower vase. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't force myself to be angry with her.

"Thank you for warning us at least," I whispered in response.

Glow Woman just nodded and left the room. I was left alone with my thoughts, unsure what to make of everything that had just happened. Fighting a super villain almost killed me and I doubt fighting an army of superheroes will fare any better. We've officially lost. By the end of the week I'll be sitting on the floor of an NSL prison cell waiting for Black Ice to come find me and rip my head off. Sure, you can say that it isn't over all you want. You can say that the heroes will win the war, or find the pieces, or stop the bad guy like they always do. But for us, for the guys they consider just as bad as the villain they're hunting, our story has come to it's conclusion.

Mine has at least. There's still hope for Heather and Carter. The two of them are smart enough to find a way to escape, and they will. Even if I have to be left behind, as long as the two of them are out there we have a chance at stopping both Black Ice and the NSL.

Damn superheroes. How many times did I tell Heather this was a bad idea? They turned on us just like I said they would, and they almost got us killed just like I said they would. Nobody listens to the old man anymore.