[OLD] The Supers Experiment (#1)

Twenty-Eight

Ash's hand brushed against the remote in his pocket, ready for the moment Claudia would ask him to press the button. He hoped it would work. He'd never heard of anything being done like this before, but Claudia assured him that Stage One had been successful.

In front of him, the president and his bodyguards were tied up. The other Altered had them surrounded. Ash was supposed to be taking him to the oval office for the live broadcast, but thanks to Dr. Newman's Supers, their plans had changed.

There was a buzzing sound and Ash's cell phone lit up the dim tunnel.

"Hello?"

"Please tell me you have good news," Claudia said.

"My team and I have the president. If the way is clear we can take him back to the office."

"The Supers have taken the office," Claudia hissed.

Ash sighed. "What do you want me to do?"

"You said you're with your team?"

"Yeah," Ash said. "What happened to the other teams? I thought they were blocking the other tunnels?"

"The Supers got past them. I ordered them to retreat—they're on their way to you. You still have the remote, I assume?"

"I do," Ash told her. "Do you want me to...?"

"Not now. Get to the office and do it on TV."

"Are we live?"

"Yes. The team that hijacked the news station was successful, at least."

Ash hung up, ordered his team to protect the president, and headed inside the building. He didn't see a soul on his way to the office, but as he grew closer he could hear voices coming from inside the room.

He paused by the door, listening. The Supers inside were deep in conversation, but he couldn't quite catch what they were saying. Clutching the remote, he opened the door and entered the room.

In a heartbeat, all eyes were on him. He held up the remote. "Everybody freeze," he ordered.

"Or what, you'll blow us up?" Summer stepped forward.

Ash slowly took a few steps forward, making sure the camera could see him. "No," he replied. "Why would I do that?"

"I don't know. Why do you do anything for Scorpion?"

Ash narrowed his eyes.

Ivy spoke up. "What does it do, then?" she asked, nodding at the remote.

Ash smiled. "It's Stage One. Our big plan, Operation Black Knight? You didn't get everything, you only got what we wanted you to know."

"What do you mean 'what you wanted us to know?" Ivy asked.

"We gave you later dates so you'd let your guard down. We couldn't have you waiting for us in D.C. when we arrived, could we?" Ash's finger slid a little closer to the button. He could push it now, but he wanted everyone watching to know what was happening. Or Claudia did, at least...

"But I printed the plan right off of Claudia's computer," Ivy said.

"Yes, you did. Claudia realized that. We had someone remove some information before it got to you." Another step forward. Claudia's orders echoed in his head. Make sure everyone can see you. Be the center of attention.

"One of you guys," Ivy said.

"No," Ash said. He eyed the group of Supers. "One of you."

Ivy and the others stared at him, confused. He had no idea which one of them was Scorpion's spy, if they were even in the room. They were supposed to return to Scorpion today, but that was before everything got screwed up.