Spinning out of his chair Liam ran to his suit. His brain, switching into overdrive the moment the announcement was made. Everything he’d learned from the last few years flashed before him. His training, lectures, and mock fights. All of it was at his fingertips, demanding he remember.

This was the real deal, it wasn’t a test or practice. What if he forgot something? He’d been through four years of training, so much was covered. It’d be easy for something to slip by. Donning the suit became harder and harder as Liam’s focus waned. It became a problem when Liam fastened on the same shin pad for the third time. The first two attempts he’d put the thing on upside down.

Back at the academy the trainers had warned them of this. With their blood pumping and the first mission just around the corner, it was easy to get lost in their heads. What was their advice again? ‘Focus on the now. Deal with the future when you take off the suit.’ That was it. He could follow that advice. All he had to do was put on his right glove. A task he easily accomplished. Now the left.

With his mind focused Liam could remain on track. Putting on the suit piece by piece. Nothing else needed to be attached multiple times.

He could stay on task with his equipment. Still, the excitement he felt wasn’t as easy to contain. The adrenalin pushed his brain to eleven and threatened to go higher. You can’t bottle up a feeling like that. It’d be the same as commanding water not to be wet. Sure you could do it, but you shouldn’t expect a good outcome. Water wasn’t known for listening to silly requests.

As the helmet’s visor fell over Liam’s eyes he was off running. The artificial voice of his suit informing him of the ongoing suit boot up checklist, but Liam paid it no mind. The suit was on, that’s what mattered. If anything wasn’t working the system would notify him. His next task was to get to the entryway and meet up with the team.

Racing through the underground hallways Liam saw a blur of brown dash across the hall up ahead. That must be Ullr he realized. The man’s speed was all the more startling in enclosed spaces. The close walls giving a frame of reference you didn’t get when he was in open areas. With his enhanced speed and strength the man must be a nightmare for any Cowl to face indoors.

Reaching the entryway the team was already gathered inside. Liam joined the group as his suit finished its activation checklist. “Source is now online” echoed in his ears. In his head the system boot up and checklist had been a cool idea. Giving the status of each piece of equipment like it was a rocket ship countdown sent goosebumps down his arms. In real life the system wasn’t practical. He didn’t have thirty seconds to wait for the system to list the status of every component, when it took the computer only a second to calculate it. When he got back from this mission, the system would need to be updated. As Liam was thinking about how the system could be changed, he realized his mind had wondered again. Chiding himself he tried to focus on Ullr as the team leader was giving a quick mission briefing.

“Bank robbery on the Northside of town. Looks to be a small branch office,” Ullr said.

With a snap of his fingers the far wall lit up, displaying a map of the city. A small red light flashed on the North side of it. The map zoomed in on the light, stopping when it reached a five block radius around the bank.

“Initial reports indicate four to six Cowls inside. Possibly from the Broken Crest, but that hasn’t been confirmed.”

The scene on the wall changed again to show several masked individuals. At the bottom of the display ‘Known Broken Crest Members’ was written in a bold font. The pictures weren’t uniform. Evidently coming from security systems, social media accounts, or other means. The team that faced the Heroes was as much a mix of supers as you were likely to find. There was a muscular man only wearing pants and a plain black mask. Next to him was an image of a mask, a large toothy smile stretching across it. Creepy but not much for Liam to work with. The next one was of a young girl in a costume that looked similar to a cheerleader outfit. Of all the people on the wall no two looked related.

Matt had yet to share the files on the local Cowl team so this was Liam’s first glimpse of his new adversaries. Beside the pictures of his possible opponents, Liam was going in blind. He tried to get an idea of each of the Cowls’ powers from their costumes, but that was little better than guessing. He’d best make sure to read up on them when he got back. Knowledge was too valuable a tool to ignore.

“Skip, you’ll keep an eye on Source today,” Ullr said. Skip’s eyes traveled to Liam seeming to weigh him for a moment before he focused back on the team leader. The look gave Liam a weird feeling in his stomach. Something he just couldn’t put his finger on. “Game plan is Skip transports us to the scene, then we’ll evaluate the situation. Don’t engage unless a civilian’s life is on the line or I tell you to.”

Liam turned to H-Bar and whispered, “He can bring us with him?”

“Yeah, but it’s a strain. He can only teleport people who aren’t moving,” H-Bar said. His voice turned lighter as he continued, “You’ll love the trip.”

After a quick affirmative from everyone, they started to move. Or it was better to say Skip started to jump them in. He would reach out and touch a teammate and then they were gone. Nothing but a pile of goo where the two stood a moment before. A second later Skip would return, by himself, before grabbing the next person and transporting them. In a matter of moments Liam was the last Hero at the base.

As Skip returned for the last time he said, “People’s lives are on the line out there. You screw up and you’re out.”

“I’ve trained for this I won’t…” as Liam was responding Skip reached out and touched his shoulder. They were gone an instant later.

Gasping in shock at the sudden use of power, Liam eyes shot open. The world around him was changing. On the wall in front of him the bright blue of The Hunt logo started to fade. Liam watched, entranced as the logo was bleached of color until it turned a muted gray. Then an apple in the kitchen lost its shiny red coat. One by one the surrounding items lost their luster, leaving Liam in a world of grays.

Liam didn’t know how long he stood there watching the world being drained of its vibrance. But when it was all over, he thought it must have taken days or maybe only moments. Time had lost all meaning the moment Skip grabbed his shoulder. Everything around him had changed, but at the same time nothing had changed. The world hadn’t moved, Skip was still next to him but there was something different about everything. Without color the frozen world was an entirely different place.

In that eternal moment the grayness of the world began to flow into a single point right in front of Skip. As the world lurched and slid into that point Liam felt no anxiousness or fear, just a reassuring calm. This was how the world was supposed to work and he was seeing everything for what it should be. Reaching out his hand Liam tried to grab for the focal point. But his hand kissed through the nothingness of the void. It was a mildly confusing feeling, but Liam knew it was right. The point shouldn’t be solid, foolish of him to try to touch something so perfect, so right. After the silent rebuke the world lurched again and the calm knowing feeling was over, replaced by a nausea he hadn’t known before.

Hunching over and trying not to puke, it took Liam a moment to realize he wasn’t standing in the base anymore. Underneath him, grass of the brightest green Liam had ever seen sprouted between sidewalk blocks. Looking up a world of color was splayed out in front of him. To one side a group of police officers hid behind their cars, Guns trained across the street. The officers’ uniforms were the darkest of blues, coming close but not touching black. A moment ago Liam would’ve called the uniforms black but after that world of gray, every color was vibrant and plainly distinguishable from its counterparts. It was a new sensation for Liam. As he stood there and gained his barings, the feeling was already starting to fade.

On the other side of him Liam saw more officers, hunched behind their cars, lights flashing a warning for all those who would listen. All the officers were training their guns on the building across from them. Not just a building Liam corrected himself. That was the bank.

The bank was a small thing, only a branch office of a larger organization. Not a site with a lot of money on hand. While it’s size meant less for the Cowls to steal, it also meant less security to work against. And less of a chance of having Heroes called in.

The biggest downside of the small building that Liam could see was the close quarters. It’d make protecting any civilians inside all the harder.

As Liam was trying to get a handle on the situation, a big hand patted his shoulder.

“Rough ride?” H-Bar asked.

“Tell me about it,” Liam said as he continued to scan the surrounding area, not even bothering to look at his teammate.

“I would tell you every jump gets easier, but that’s not true.”

“I can’t wait to do it again.”

Even in Liam’s ears he could hear the sarcasm dripping off the last comment.

“Well on the bright side you didn’t puke. Gladius threw up everywhere after her first jump.”

“Don’t listen to his lies,” Gladius said. Walking over to them.

“Of course it’s a lie,” H-Bar said with a wink toward Liam. It was a good thing Liam was wearing a helmet, otherwise his smile would be impossible to hide.

Liam noticed a group of onlookers behind the officers. They were only a couple blocks from the bank. Much closer than Liam would’ve preferred. If things got rough inside, which was possible, they were close enough for an errant attack to reach.

“Should we ask the crowd to move back?” Liam asked.

Gladius and H-Bar shifted to look at the crowd.

“They are a little close today. I’ll go ask for the perimeter to be expanded,” Gladius said as she walked over to a sergeant.

“Good catch,” H-Bar noted as Skip remained silent behind them.

Near to the team Ullr was having a hushed conversation with the lead officer on the scene. Trying to get a better understanding of the current situation.

As Liam continued to take stock of his surroundings, his helmet’s sensitive microphones kept picking up hushed references about him. Looking around, he saw several officers’ heads swiveling in his direction. Trying to get their first look at the town’s new Hero. The microphones in his helmet were designed to pick up any reference of him and they were doing a stellar job at that. Unfortunately, Liam hadn’t expected this much attention on his first mission. Sure he figured it would be in public, but there wouldn’t be an audience. Maybe the team would stop a mugging or something similar, not respond to a bank robbery.

The HUD showed his heartbeat starting to climb as Liam tried to distract himself by going through a systems checklist. Not that the computer itself hadn’t done that only moments before.

Working through the list several possible problems with today’s mission flashed through Liam’s mind. Some issues were so remote it wasn’t even worth mentioning them, but there they were. As his breathing started to match his heartbeat H-Bar noticed.

“It’s a little overwhelming isn’t it?” H-Bar said.

“That’s an understatement if I ever heard one,” Liam said. Turning to face H-Bar. For the first time he noticed the man’s suit was already aglow in light. When H-Bar showed his power at the base, he’d only used a fraction of the suit’s lights. Now the man had all of them on, a small ball of pure whiteness twirling in his right hand. Seeing the normally jovial man so prepared for a fight would’ve been enough to let Liam know how serious the surrounding situation was. The Police and the rest of the team just nailed the point home. All adding together to increase the stress of the situation.

“Don’t worry, you’re supposed to be nervous, heck I am. But don’t banish the nerves. Instead, embrace them. Use them to stay on point,” H-Bar said.

“You know people usually give a different pep talk. Like ‘The nerves will fade,’ or ‘You’ve prepared for this,’ but no, not you.”

“Who said you need a pep talk.”

As Liam and H-Bar were talking Ullr finished his discussion with the police chief and came back.

“Story has changed little from our original briefing. Four to six Cowls inside with an unknown number of hostages. We have a direct line into the bank, but contact hasn’t been made. I’ll be using that line in a minute, but I’d like to get a better idea of what’s going on inside. Source do you have anything we can use?”

Thinking through all his devices Liam settled on just what the team needed, “Yeah I have something for that.”

Clicking a couple buttons a small hatch opened on Liam’s suit. Crawling out of the opening was a tiny metal fly, it was the successor to his shoe spider. Carrying a number of its predecessor’s traits and Liam’s expectations. It would be great to see if the improvements paid off.

“You didn’t use that at the Academy,” H-Bar noted.

He must’ve been paying special attention to the gear Liam had used.

“I made it last week. I’ve been itching for a chance to test it.”

The fly was experimentally moving its wings as Liam spoke. Checking to make sure everything was working properly. After the tests the fly stopped and turned to stare up at Liam. Waiting for its creator to give it a task. Liam complied, supplying the small machine with a list of commands. The bug starred on, unblinking until the last one, then it fluttered its wings and took off. Beelining it toward the bank.

As the bug was making its way Laim turned on his suit's sleeve display. The screen was the same as the one he used during the final exam a month earlier. With a few minor improvements to prevent another issue when turning it off. In dozens of tests the improved screen had worked flawlessly, so the previous issue shouldn’t be a concern anymore. While it took a little time to fix, the screen was still one of his favorite inventions and now the team would get to see it.

“Unfortunately, I can only get visuals,” Liam said.

“That’ll be plenty,” Ullr assured him.

By the time the team had gathered to look at the display, the bug had reached a window into the bank. It crouched in a corner and peered inside. Just another insect in a world of billions. Not something anyone would pay attention to.

The display showed the cramped reception area of the bank. A row of red couches were lined up along the far wall. Appearing stylish, if of an inferior quality to what they were imitating. Across from them was the single greeter’s desk, a small and precise thing. Pens and bank statements still cluttering its top from before the robbery.

In front of the desks were four people. All laying facedown on the floor, hands behind their backs and feet locked together. Liam had the camera zoom in on the hands and feet but couldn’t see any restraints.

“Those must be the hostages, look at how they were bound. That must be Cat’s Cradle handiwork,” Gladius said.

“I don’t see any restraints, are they invisible?” Liam asked.

“No, they’re just thin,” Gladius answered.

“Can you pan the camera around the room?” Ullr asked.

Zooming back out and swiveling the camera around the room they soon spotted a woman in the back of the lobby. She was huddled in the corner trying to stay out of sight. A black skin tight suit with silver designs on the front hugged the woman’s body. In the small display the design wasn’t recognizable.

“That’s her,” H-Bar said.

“She can make and manipulate strings, thinner than the eye can see,” Ullr explained, “If we go in, H-Bar you break the strings and free the hostages. Gladius you provide cover.”

“Yes sir!” Gladius said.

“Can do,” H-Bar answered. His usual happy demeanor replaced with a serious expression.

“We know it’s The Broken Crest now,” Gladius said.

“Yes. With that I think it’s time to have a little chat with them,” Ullr said.

No sooner had the words come out of his mouth when chaos rocked the street.