As the Wards began to celebrate, each in their own little way, a familiar voice emanated from the meeting room's loudspeaker to answer Messiah's cries of joy.
"I read you, Wards. It's wonderful news indeed. I'll even give you one better. Ira, I was able to get authorization from Inkscape to provide you with Collin's training files under Hero. We have limited access, but it's something else we can work off of." Decoy's voice, normally very matter of fact in tone and lacking emotion through his thick Japanese accent, clearly couldn't hold back how exuberant this situation made him feel.
"We'll work together on this during all of your scheduled free time. That's an order Ira, though not one I think you'll argue with."The rest of the evening passed by with a great deal of emotional turbulence, though not much was actually accomplished. Upon hearing the news, Director Kens immediately ordered that Ira and Decoy begin research together in designing a personal, long-lasting version of the nullification field that could be used on Collin. He wouldn't be Sonar anymore, couldn't ever be in the field with his power nullified, but he'd be functional and sane. As far as the director was concerned, that was a win unto itself. The rest of the Wards were free to spend the rest of the night however they desired, with the understanding that due to such a magnificently botched mission they had to attend training first thing in the morning. Normally it was Captain Morales that oversaw their training, but he was currently en route to a mission as a prison transport escort. As such, the next morning's training would fall upon the Protectorate's resident layabout lazy man: Protean.
7:00 a.m. sharp the Wards were each expected to be in the PRT gymnasium for training. Most of the exercise equipment had been moved to the side, or taken out entirely, in favor of a large sparring mat across the floor. Well, a large sparring mat plus one hammock setup between two punching bags. Lying upon the hammock, gently swinging side to side was
Protean, wearing a completely different face than what he had the last time the Wards had seen him. It was strange, he claimed that his shapeshifting was limited to morphing various body parts to resemble different animals, yet even he couldn't explain how he always appeared different as a normal human.
One by one the Wards arrived for their morning training session. Messiah, Margrave, Epsilon, and Tulpa. Each one assembled and was ready to go, but something was wrong. Someone was missing. Where was Martyr, the newly appointed second in command? Once each of the four had arrived, Protean sat up on his hammock, displaying an excellent sense of balance as the sway shifted in unpredictable ways thanks to the objects it had been secured to.
"Good to have you all here. Unfortunately I've got to start us off with some bad news, dudes. It's hard to say, but..." The senior hero scratched at the back of his head, a bit unsure of how to approach what was clearly a touchy subject.
"Well, Dean is... Not gonna be here anymore. What I mean to say is... He... Resigned last night."After he gave a second of pause to let that sink in, Protean continued to explain the situation.
"He left a note in his bedroom, and baby-cakes, er, sorry, Decoy found it while scanning his quarters when we noticed he wasn't there anymore. Now I'm under direct orders from Ink and the director not to tell you what it says, but I say 'fuck that.' You're his team and friends, so you deserve to know, right? That's how I see it." Their senior hero slid off of his hammock, slipped a hand into his back pocket, then pulled out a piece of lined paper that had been torn out of a notebook and folded far too many times. After clearing his throat, he began to read.
"I'm sorry, but I can't take it anymore. Nobody is supposed to get hurt, but me. If I can't do the one job I deserve, then why am I here? I was never supposed to be here. I am a liar, and a fraud, and when it comes down to it I can't even die for my friends. I'm sorry, but I have to try to find a way home. Signed, not the Dean you knew."Protean folded the paper back up, then tossed it over to the Wards like a frisbee for their own reading pleasure. He'd give them a few minutes to realize the situation, to decompress over it, before speaking up again.
"Shit sucks, I know. But please, we need to focus on what's important. The Protectorate and its Wards need to be at our very best to take on such horrible criminals as the Community. We protect the people. It's our duty, and if you ask me it's a hell of a lotta fun. So let's reinvigorate our determination for the cause and get down to brass tacks, shall we? I want us to start with five laps around the gym, no power assistance. Got it? Let's go!"
With everything off to such a big bang, it looked as though the Jacks couldn't be stopped. Though the PRT soldiers were aware of and on the lookout for a sniper, none of them realized Headhunter's position before he got his shots off. First the man covered behind the interstate median. The assault rifle's round penetrated exactly where Headhunter's power said it would and completed disabled his ability to shoot. The bullet wove perfectly between fibers of armor, through the bone, and without damaging any major blood vessels. He let out a cry of pain, but he wouldn't be dying today, not even from prolonged blood loss. Next was the man in cover, firing heavily at Sofia and Love Craft. A significantly easier target even discounting his perfect aim ability, the bullet blasted forth from the barrel of the gun and had the exact same results. The soldier man dropped to his knees, releasing his own weapon.
While Arsenal unleashed a hail of bullets upon the remaining soldiers, and a conversation of strategy was held between Sofia and Chatterbox, the injured soldiers seemed to get a second wind. Pulling out their side arms and using their left hands, they once again began to press the attack, one even diving behind cover to go directly after Arsenal from behind. They had been down and out, where was this confidence coming from? Next a grenade of tear gas tossed out from the remains of one of the vans, landing right between Chatterbox and Sofia. In the same instance, smoke billowed out from the crashed escort vehicle granting concealment as
a figure rose up into the air. She wore an all white costume with artistic bubbles embroidered all over it, with a white face mask to match. On her belt were two pistols holstered, as well as numerous canisters of... Something.
While attention had been drawn to the beautiful woman floating high up in the air, someone else took advantage of the distraction.
A man dressed in full commando gear with the Mexican national flag proudly emblazoned across his chest rushed through the smokescreen holding what appeared to be, for all intents and purposes, a
god damn grenade launcher in his hands. He rushed straight behind cover, then took aim for Headhunter's position. There was no question about who they were facing now. It was Noble, second in command of the local Protectorate, and Captain Morales, their field commander and spec ops. Such opponents would normally be enough to make any villain flee to fight another day, but the Jacks felt different. They felt... Confident. Overwhelmingly confident. This was such a sure thing, how could they possibly lose? Hell, maybe fancy tricks or tactics wouldn't even be necessary, clearly they were the most superior force here! Wait, why were they thinking like this?
Overcome by what could only be described as suicidal overconfidence, Love Craft charged straight for Captain Morales as the hero readied a grenade strike on their sniper, completely forgetting about the hero with the high ground advantage. In response, Noble fired one of the canisters from her right pistol, which struck Love Craft dead on in the back, and exploded into an instantly expanding containment foam. The white substance enveloped the shapeshifter completely, restricting their movement and preventing any use of powers, while still allowing them to breathe. There wouldn't be any time to get their ally out, even if they took out all the soldiers and both heroes surely there would be reinforcements on the way before Love Craft could be dug out, and Headhunter's power informed him there was no way to shoot the foam off without causing massive bodily harm.
Leaves
