The Division

  The Division

  by CC Bridges

  Copyright © CC Bridges, 2013

  All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the publisher.

  This e-book is a work of fiction. While references may be made to actual places or events, the names, characters, incidents, and locations within are from the author’s imagination and are not a resemblance to actual living or dead persons, businesses, or events. Any similarity is coincidental.

  Musa Publishing

  633 Edgewood Ave

  Lancaster, OH 43130

  www.MusaPublishing.com

  Issued by Musa Publishing, May 2013

  This e-book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of International Copyright Law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines and/or imprisonment. No part of this e-book can be reproduced or sold by any person or business without the express permission of the publisher.

  ISBN: 978-1-61937-641-0

  Head Editor: Elizabeth Silver

  Editor: Megan Embry

  Artist: Kelly Shorten

  Line Editor: Michele Hamner Moore

  Interior Book Design: Cera Smith

  For ADG. May you choose your heroes wisely.

  Chapter 1

  Drones surrounded Valor on all sides. The blinking red lights of their eyes stared him down. It was at times like this that he wished one of his powers included a way to blast a whole bunch of these metal tin cans out of orbit. He cracked his knuckles and made a “come on” gesture. Fists were just as good, especially when amplified by his super strength.

  Of course, this time he didn’t have to take them all down by himself.

  The hair on the back of his neck rose just before a bolt of lightning crackled through a row of the bots, blasting them out of his way and sending bits of charred metal skittering onto the tarmac. An invisible force tore through the sky, knocking down the ones left behind. There were only two people Valor knew capable of that.

  “Hey, leave some for me!” Valor twisted in the air, feeling the currents shift like water around his body. He grinned at his new teammates, pleased with the backup.

  “Relax, Muscles, the portal is still open. Plenty more where those came from.” Doc Lightning clenched her hands, powering up another blast. Sparks jutted out from between her fingers.

  Beside her stood Mace and Jester, all in their matching black and gray costumes. Tiana protected their rear, sweeping away any drones that got close with her giant metal staff.

  Dash sped onto the scene, so fast Valor didn’t even see which direction she came from.

  “I pulled all the civilians to safety.”

  “Good work, Dash!” Valor flashed his trademarked “V” salute at her.

  They’d lucked out this time. The portal had opened up on the middle of an empty tarmac, and the only humans around had been the air traffic controllers. Valor always wanted to play with one of those light-up directional wands. Maybe later.

  “Are you getting this, Socket?” Valor pressed his fingers against the tiny headset fitted into his ear. He didn’t need to—it automatically transmitted and received—but Valor just felt better when he did it. Unlike Socket, he wasn’t comfortable with technology.

  “Loud and clear. Uniform cameras are working like a charm too. I got visuals on everything.” Socket was back at headquarters, directing from his computers. His powers didn’t lend themselves to battle. It was part of the reason he and Valor had decided they needed a team of superheroes to tackle the latest threat to the planet. “Are we ready to try the pulse beacon?”

  That was another of Socket’s inventions. If it worked, it would close the interdimensional portal that had spat out these egg-shaped robots. In the six months since the attacks had begun, nothing short of time had been able to shut down the portals. If they actually succeeded in closing one, that would change the entire game.

  “As good a time as any,” Valor decided. “Let’s do this. Come on guys, clear the area. We need a straight shot at the portal!”

  It hovered in the sky—a red swirling mass of something that distorted the air around it. Drones shot out of it five at a time, spiraling out and attacking anything that moved. All of them were coming straight for Valor and his team.

  It was time to put The Division to the test.

  “Valor, you’ve got three drones coming up behind you.” Peter “Socket” Barnes leaned forward, as if the closer he got to his computer display, the closer he could be to the action.

  He’d arranged this rig exactly the way he liked it. Four high definition screens hung on the wall and two more on his curved desk. He could swivel and see a different angle of the battle with the drones. Keeping his hands on the touchscreen keyboard, he was able to connect to the server hooked up to all of the monitors. Socket didn’t need buttons to talk to his computers. All he needed was touch.

  Socket flipped through several views of the airport where the latest attack had started. For the first time, there was more than just Valor out there. He had a whole team of people responding to the threat. It had taken some adjusting to deal with all the camera input on his screens, but Socket always had been good at multitasking. Having computers constantly humming at the back of his mind made him a fast learner.

  “On it, thanks.” Valor’s voice came in nice and clear. Socket’s communication prototypes worked perfectly in the field, just as he’d thought.

  The other members of the team were all spread out, each fighting their own set of drones.

  Damn it, they should be working together.

  Someone should be placing the pulse bomb that would close the damn portal. Valor, at least, was in position, floating just outside the portal itself. His job was to keep the flow to a minimum to give the others enough time to act. They’d talked about this during simulations—why wasn’t anyone doing what they had planned?

  “Jester, Dash, come on. Get the pulse unit in place.” Socket flipped through the views available to him, watching as Tiana took out a drone with her silver metal staff, and Mace smashed another one to bits with his telekinesis. He was eager to see if his latest invention would work.

  “We’re going as fast as we can,” Jester shot back, which wasn’t really true since Dash’s ability was super speed. Jester, well, Socket wasn’t exactly sure how Jester’s powers worked.

  “The longer you take, the more drones will come through.” If they just stopped for a second and let Valor take on the drones escaping from the portal, this would be over so much faster.

  “It’s a little bit different when you’re actually in the field,” Jester snapped. He dived into the air and ducked out of the way of an oncoming attack. “Stop distracting us, and let us do our job!”

  “Dash, take the pulse beacon.” Socket bit back his annoyance at Jester. This was the worst thing about not being out there with them. He could see everything so clearly, but couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

  “Got it!” Her voice came brightly down the line. Socket found he had to slow her feed down, since sometimes she forgot and spoke with her super speed engaged.

  He adjusted the video so he could watch as she slipped past the hovering drones and deposited the device under the portal. She let it drop as she sped away, and he engaged it remotely before the beacon could touch the floor. A flash of blue light filled his screen, overtaking the glowing red of the portal. For a moment it glowed too bright, and then the force of the beacon won out. The portal fizzled into tiny dots of nothingness.

  “Yes!” It
worked. Of course it had. Socket couldn’t help grinning. The rest of the team all cheered. “Easy, guys, there’s still work to do. We have to clean up this mess before the drones do any more damage.”

  His fingers twitched over the keyboard, but he refrained from any more directing. It was so obvious—if Dash routed the drones and got them rounded up in a single location, then Doc Lightning could zap them all with her electricity. Valor and Mace could sweep in and round up the stragglers. But he’d pushed his luck already. If he kept it up, Jester wouldn’t be the only one challenging him.

  “All right, guys.” Valor took over. “Let’s finish this.”

  “You got it, Valor!”

  “Right on!”

  None of the team members gave Valor attitude when he ordered them around. Socket couldn’t blame them. There was something about that smile that charmed even the grumpiest of souls. It wasn’t just Valor’s good looks, but the earnest way he went about his job—saving lives and kicking ass. If he didn’t know Valor, Socket wouldn’t believe anyone could be that genuine.

  But Valor had been like that ever since they were teenagers. He had to smile, remembering the first time he had met Valor.

  Pete pulled the hood of his sweatshirt down low over his forehead. It didn’t cover his face completely, but all he needed was to hide his blond hair and make sure no one passing by saw his face. He’d take care of the cameras.

  The bank was deserted this late at night. No one lingered in the parking lot. He strolled up to the ATM, acting as if he was just there to make a withdrawal. Slipping one of those fake plastic credit cards into the slot, he put his hand over the number key and pushed with his mind. It took a moment, and sweat poured down his forehead before he felt that snap that sent him over and into communion with the computer controlling the machine.

  It usually wouldn’t take this long. But he had to go slowly and gently override the system to convince the computer to release the money to him. Persuading it was easy after the initial contact—the machine was just so happy to have someone talking to it like this. He still needed to find the central processing brain that also controlled the camera. It was hooked up to the bank’s security system, and that was a little bit trickier to access.

  The ATM beeped and several twenties spat out into the tray. “Bingo!” He stuffed the cash into his pockets. Now for the security system. He pressed his palm to the wall, searching for wires that would give him access.

  “Step away from the bank, foul criminal!”

  Pete blinked at the deep voice. He hadn’t heard any footsteps. Turning around he could see why—there was a kid behind him hovering a few feet off the ground. He was dressed in the most ridiculously bright blue and red costume with a giant “V” embossed on his chest.

  “Who the hell are you?”

  The guy beamed. “Kid Valor, defender of this town!”

  He knew that smile. The little mask that wrapped around the eyes didn’t hide Kid Valor’s square jaw or his pouty pink lips—lips Pete had spent hours daydreaming about instead of doing his homework.

  “Seriously, dude? That’s the best you could come up with?”

  “What’s wrong with it?” The smile faded from Kid Valor’s mouth.

  Oh great, now he felt like a heel for upsetting the superhero. Pete rolled his eyes. “You’re not going to be a kid forever. What happens when you turn 30 and people are still calling you ‘Kid Valor’?”

  “You have a point.”

  “Might want to do something about that mask too. I mean I’m probably not the only one who’s in Algebra with you, Mitch.” Pete noted Mitch’s shocked face with satisfaction, just as he set the cameras to explode and the alarms to ring. Leaving the “Kid” behind to deal with the mess, Pete took off running into the night, away from the bank and through the narrow streets that ran along the creek. Mr. Superhero couldn’t fly so well in here, right? He’d probably want to stay and talk to the cops, too.

  Pete skidded to a stop at the end of the road, breathing heavily. There was a park on the corner, and the buildings opened up a bit, which would make him a little more visible. Maybe he could hide out in the Wilkensons’s backyard. They had a shed that he could slip into and spend the night. It wouldn’t be the first time. He took a left and made for their house, only to come face to face with Kid Valor—Mitch Michaels from Algebra—the guy he’d been having wet dreams about since school started last month.

  “Nice trick.” Mitch didn’t look pissed, only curious. “Your powers are pretty sweet. You just socketed into that ATM machine with your mind.”

  He backed up. “You gonna turn me in?” Just what he needed—a stint at Juvie—or wait, wasn’t robbing a bank a federal offense? He probably should have thought this over before trying it. Sweat started to gather under his hood, and he felt unbearably hot.

  “Not if you return the money.”

  Pete stuck his hands in his pockets, making sure the cash was still there. “You don’t understand. I need this to pay the rent. The bank’s insured. They won’t miss it. I give this back to you and Mom and I are out on the street. How’s that the right thing to do, Mr. Superhero?”

  Mitch opened his mouth, and then closed it again. “Will you trust me?”

  “I don’t even know you!” Pete shouted, taking a step back. What other powers did this guy have besides flying? He could also shoot lasers out of his eyes for all Pete knew. “If you let me keep the cash, I won’t tell everyone at school what you do at night.”

  “That’s…that’s blackmail!”

  “Your own stupid fault for not getting a better mask!”

  To Pete’s surprise Mitch started to laugh. He bent his head and pulled off the scrap of black fabric that didn’t do a thing to hide the natural beauty of his face. Fuck, it should be criminal for a guy to look that good. Pete swallowed and looked away, not wanting to get a hard-on—that would be bad timing.

  “You could do better things with your powers. We could call you…Socket!”

  “Are you seriously giving me the ‘we could fight crime together’ speech?” Pete couldn’t stop himself from grinning.

  “Is it working?”

  “Maybe.” Pete pulled the bills out of his pocket and thrust them at Mitch’s chest. He could feel hard muscle beneath his fingers and blushed at copping a feel. “Take it. Go ahead and save the day.” It wouldn’t have sat right with him anyway, keeping that money. Damn it.

  Mitch took the cash. “I’ll find some way to help you, I promise.” He jumped into the air and flew away, like a jet plane with no engine.

  Pete shook his head and started back for home.

  Socket never figured out how Valor had gotten their landlord to give them an extension on the rent. But Valor hadn’t let it go at that. He’d helped Socket find a job that paid more than flipping burgers, and stuck around, even when Socket tried pushing him away. Somehow they’d become friends, despite being so different, and high school hadn’t ever been the same.

  Socket adjusted his mic so it only transmitted to Valor. “Private channel. Do me a favor, and wrap this up.”

  Valor laughed. “What, you got someplace to be?”

  “You know where we gotta be. Figures an actual crisis would make us late. At least the team won’t be a complete surprise to the media.” Socket had caught sight of reporters already on the scene, taking pictures and videoing the battle. The Internet would be lit up with speculation about why these six heroes were now working together, and where the pulse beacon had come from. He set a mental thread out to his machines to start collating the data when it came through. “You sure they’re ready for this?”

  “Come on, Socket, you should know. You’re the one who picked the team.”

  “I picked based on abilities. You’re the people person.” Socket had chosen each member based on skills and various levels of experience. He was still kicking himself for inviting Jester before meeting the hero, but Socket had been curious about the concept of density-altering powers.
br />   Valor laughed. “And I think we’ll do just fine.”

  Valor always thought the best of people. It was one of the many qualities Socket loved about him. That was just about the only thing he couldn’t tell Valor. After over ten years of friendship, it was the one line Socket wouldn’t cross.

  “Almost done here. Is the chopper set to take us to the building?”

  Their transportation was completely AI driven, programmed by Socket. It was also faster than anything on the market and completely invisible to radar. Socket figured BarTec would go public with a modified version of it soon to sell to the military. He could use the extra cash. Running a superhero team wasn’t cheap. “Yup. See you at the gala.” Socket watched long enough to make sure Valor dispatched the last of the drones. Then he pushed away from the control deck. He had to swap his uniform jumpsuit for a tux.

  “Welcome, Valor. We’re so glad you could make it.” The chairman beamed and held out his hand.

  Valor shook it carefully, focusing on turning down his strength so he wouldn’t crush the other man’s fingers. He felt the telltale buzz in his arm as he powered down. It had been a long time since he’d learned to do that, coming a long way from the boy who’d been afraid to touch anyone. That had been before he’d learned to control his powers.

  “Wouldn’t miss it.” Even if tonight wasn’t about introducing The Division to the world, Valor would still be here. This charity gala would raise money to build a new wing in the children’s hospital. Valor liked using his celebrity to make a difference. It felt almost as satisfying as punching the bad guys.

  The chairman pulled his hand back and gave Valor a considering look. “Would you mind doing the…you know?”

  Valor laughed and made his “V” salute. “Vigilance. Victory. Valor!”

  It still felt weird to be the center of attention with the flashing cameras and reporters clamoring to talk to him, while children mimicked his “V” salute. Back when he was just a kid and his powers first manifested, Valor rushed out there trying to do his best to fight crime. He wasn’t very successful until he’d been taken in by Silver Slugger, who helped him master his abilities. Slugger had been full of advice, and he loved to warn Valor about the all-seeing eyes of the press.