Jimmy had fear painted on his face. “What’s going on, Gabe?”

“A Sentinel Strike Force is here. They ran into the security team you mentioned on the way in. They’re still there, maybe we can catch them before they move on. Get away from Lucian while there’s still time.

They might be powerful, but they can’t beat him. We need to call for more help. Can you reach the authorities?”

Jimmy waved his Wrist-Pad. “The software stops us from using our Wrist-Pads to contact the outside, and they take our phones at the security checkpoint in the lobby.” He made a face. “This might be our only shot. I’m in.”

Gabriel turned to go when Jimmy put a hand on his shoulder. “Wait. I have to deactivate the anxiety chip.” He pulled a small white object from his coat pocket. A controller with two buttons on its face.

“I reprogrammed this remote, once the chip is shut down Iodine won’t be able to turn it on again. Stay still.” He held the remote towards Gabriel and pressed a button.

The plastic controller beeped. “There, it’s done. How do you feel?”

Gabriel didn’t feel any different. He was about to ask if it had worked when he had an idea, picturing himself sitting on a white sandy beach, and waited for the panic.

The fear didn’t slam into him this time, instead, Gabriel could feel it creep. He took a deep breath and calmed himself, imagining waves crashing on the shore. The sun warmed his face while the wind whispered through his hair.

He smiled, certain his unstoppable phobia of the outside world was gone. There might still be residual trauma to his psyche but he could manage it on his own.

“It’s done,” Gabriel said to his caretaker. “Thank you, Jimmy. I can’t ever repay you.”

At his words, Jimmy’s face fell. He sniffled, eyes watering. “It’s my fault you ever had to deal with that pain. I am so sorry.”

The Super shook his head. “You had no choice. You could have ended up like Harold if you’d done anything. You have nothing to blame yourself for. You gave me joy. I mean you played with me when I was little! I’ve always considered you the closest thing to a father I would ever have. Thank you.” He embraced Jimmy, careful not to squeeze too hard.

Tears falling freely, Jimmy pressed himself against Gabriel. “You don’t know how much it means to hear you say that.” He chuckled. “I’ve always thought of myself more like your mother though.”

Gabriel laughed. “We should go.”

They crossed the lab and reached the thick metal door. Using his suit Gabriel hacked the mainframe and opened the security slab, then the main door. They started sprinting like their lives depended on it, because it did.

As they passed lab after lab Gabriel thought about what would happen next. Could he leave in good conscience while Lucian was on the loose? Then again, what could he even do? His brother’s power was on a scale few had ever reached.

Gabriel found it odd that Holmes had risked using a mental blast against Lucian. He could have invaded his mind and wiped his consciousness.

He kept thinking about how to stop Lucian but had come up with nothing by the time they neared the training room. He prayed they didn’t run into him.

“Jimmy, hold up for a second.”

“What? Is it Lucian!?” Jimmy looked down the halls frantically.

Gabriel shook his head. “No, nothing like that. I need you to go in first. Anyone can tell you’re a scientist. They won’t attack you on sight… Probably.”

Jimmy frowned.

“Hey if I go in there I’m toast. You have a chance, I promise I will be right in there the moment anything goes wrong. Which it won’t. Please?”

Jimmy stood in thought, bunching up his coat and blurting, “Fine!”. He walked into the room.

“Jimmy! Wai-” But it was too late. Gabriel accessed the camera feed inside.

“Well hello there.” Said Long-Arm, standing a few paces in front of Jimmy who looked surprised. The UnClassed’s arms were raised above his head.

“Who might you be? And no funny business, we’re on red alert here.” Gabriel noted how friendly Long-Arm was, most Supers in his situation would be much more distrustful.

“I’m a scientist here. My friend has been held captive by Iodine and we’re trying to escape. There’s a rogue Super on a killing spree. Please help.” Jimmy huffed.

Long-Arm looked back at his group. Terra sat with Helios, applying pressure to his gut to help it heal faster.

“So say I choose to believe you. Where’s your friend?”

Gabriel chose that moment to step into the room, his hands raised. “Right here, sir.”

Long-Arm did a double-take. “SUPER SUIT!”

Terra shot to her feet and thundered over. Helios caught fire and rose slowly in the air, aiming his hands in their direction.

Gabriel did nothing, staying where he was. “We mean you no harm.”

Helios yelled from behind his teammates. “That remains to be proven fuck-face!”

There it was. The distrust. Righteous anger for his dead comrade and friend shining in Helios’ eyes. Bloodlust.

Terra observed the scene for a moment longer before dropping her hands and making a placating gesture. She looked at her team and said, “They knew we were here, and if they knew that, they knew we were hurt. They could have thrown grenades through the door. Instead, they walk in and don’t even move when we could reach out and snap their necks.”

She looked at Gabriel. “I believe them. Since you seem to be the only one not about to cry, I’ll ask you. Who are you? Who is this rogue super?”

Gabriel lowered his arms and thought for a moment before responding. “My name is Gabriel. I was born here in this facility shortly after the first invasion. I am a Class 3 with advanced mental mutations. I developed this suit and weapons. The purpose of my creation was to develop Supers to rent out as mercenaries.”

Terra frowned, but Gabriel went on. “I’m not riding that bandwagon, what goes on here is unlawful and dangerous. Up until a few minutes ago, I was held captive here through techno-psychic means.”

He pointed at Jimmy. “Jimmy is my Handler, he deactivated the device keeping me here. Now we’re looking to leave.”

Terra started to ask her second question again when he continued. “The rogue super is the only other success of the cloning project. My brother, Lucian. A Class 7 telepath with a Class 3 body. He’s currently slaughtering every man and woman he can find here.”

Strike Force Beta shared a look, having gathered to hear Gabriel’s story.

Long-Arm cracked first. “We’re fucked. We need to leave. NOW! How in the hell are we going to fight a Class 7 telepath? We need Dr. Atomic or Photon… Who do we have that can even fight this guy and live? Zero?!”

Terra frowned at him, although she also looked worried behind crossed arms. “How can you say that when he’s killing all these people? What about when he gets outside?”

Long-Arm looked down, embarrassed. “Okay… so what do we do? We need help!”

“And help we shall have my young friend. I will call the Spire.” Terra turned away.

The Spire was the name of the Sentinel’s main stronghold, somewhere in the middle of the Canadian Territory. It was a towering mass of metal and reinforced alloys so laden with armaments that not even a Blitz attack craft had managed to crack it.

If help were to come from there it might take up to an hour, depending on who answered the distress call. Hopefully, it’s all of them, thought Gabriel as he remembered what he’d seen Lucian do.

Terra returned and said to him “Help should be here in half an hour. Gabriel, what can we do to prepare? You’re more familiar with Lucian than we are.”

“I’m not sure what we could do. I think you could probably throw a security door at him and it wouldn’t work.” Gabriel responded glumly.

The green Jamaican smiled. “A security door sounds good to me, why not two? I can rip a couple out and try throwing them. Like you said it probably won’t work, but to me probably means it just might work.”

Gabriel perked up and his mind cleared. “Then we need to get moving. If we’re going to try to stop him then we should at least get as many people as we can to safety. I’ll hack all the lab doors on the safe side of the facility. Jimmy, go and tell the scientists what’s going on. Get them out, at least the ones willing to listen. We can do the same thing on this side until we run into Lucian.”

Helios spat fire on the floor at Gabriel’s feet. “So what, now we’re taking orders from a test-tube stranger? Fuck that plan. Terra, what do we do?”

Terra calmly glanced at him. “We? We will follow Gabriel’s plan, we need to get the innocents to safety.” She began walking towards the hall with Long-Arm in tow.

“Guard!” She said to the security guard that had surrendered. “Go get your squadmates medical assistance.”

The young man ran from the room, and Terra stopped at the door to look at Helios. “You though? I think you should apologize to Gabriel for being so rude, but that’s just my opinion.”

The two Supers left the room. Sounds of a security door tearing and the frightened yelps of lab techs filtered through. Then Long-Arm’s soothing voice, calming them.

Helios floated there for a moment, confused by what he had done wrong. Then he spat at the floor again and flew after his team, leaving Gabriel and Jimmy alone.

“Get going Jimmy, who knows how long we have before Lucian gets here. Finish up and get out of here, safe.”

“I will Gabe. Be careful… Son.” He said carefully.

“I will… Mom,” He answered with a smile.

It was time for Gabriel to get to work. Entering the mainframe and unlocking the security doors, he went to join the other Supers in evacuating the basement.

They saved around 60 people before hearing the screams. At that point, they went into a huddle. The jade woman spoke first.

“We can’t afford to let him know we are here, the people in these remaining labs will be better served if we lay a trap for him when he leaves the room he is in now. I will take point, Gabe behind me. Long-Arm and Helios, behind him. Roger?” Terra took charge easily.

“Roger.” The rest said.

They walked down the hall to the lab where the screams had emanated and waited for Lucian to float out of the room. Then all hell broke loose.

His telepathy tipped him off. The silent readiness radiating from the assembled force must have been unmistakable compared to the meek scientists.

A crack formed in the hallway wall next to Terra. It shattered and Lucian zoomed out, shields raised - dripping with blood.