Created

Part 5, Chapter 25

Carter

CHESF base.

The meeting was in order. Carter stood on one side of the hallway, Devin stood on the other. Swipe was late, which was unusual considering he had super speed. A minute passed. Then two. Finally, he zoomed in, appearing in the center of the two men. His hair was slightly messed up and his face was flushed, but the best thing was that he had a lipstick mark on his left cheek. Devin looked at him.

"You gotta little..." Devin pointed at his own left cheek. Swipe looked at the action with confusion, then realizing what he meant, he brushed away the lipstick print.

"Having a little fun eh," Carter chuckled, receiving a small fit of laughter from both of the others.

"Hey, don't judge me. Have you seen June? She is H-O-T."

"Well duh, she has fire powers," Devin responded.

Swipe's face flushed again. "That's not what I meant."

"Of course," Carter said.

Devin spoke up. "Now, we all know the reason for this meeting. Swipe?"

"Got it." Swipe shrugged his shoulders and a sharp crack resounded from the three security cameras facing them.

"The cameras are down?" Carter asked, surprised. He expected it to take more time. Swipe had more of a handle on his powers then he thought. This would be a lot easier.

"Okay. Now that we are not being watched or heard, we all know that we need to escape to defeat Spectre before he can harm anyone else. Are we in agreement?" Swipe and Carter both nodded their heads. Devin went on:

"I made a watch that will track his unique dark signature. Carter, did you make the vision module?"

"Yeah. I had Janet make it for me, along with a few copies. This should allow us to see him when he turns invisible." Carter handed each of them a small chip that they could insert into the back of their helmets. Devin spoke again.

"Swipe, did you, umm, swipe the inhibitors?"

Swipe pulled out three triangle-like things that had LED lights on them.

"Are those the lazer tag targets?"

"No. I manipulated their energy emission so they now accomplish their intended purpose. Also, I learned a neat trick that I think could help us."

"What?"

Swipe reached for the other chips. Carter and Devin both gave him their vision module. He held the modules in his left hand and the inhibitors on his right. There was a sharp crack and the inhibitors' LED lights stopped flashing. The vision chips seemed to blow brighter.

"What did you do?" Devin asked.

"I transferred the energy from the inhibitor to the module, so now it has a dual function."

"Okay. Now we should be able to stand up to Spectre's telepathic abilities. Here." Devin handed them each one of the watches. "We move at dawn."

5 hours later, the boys stood in front of the main entrance. There were 7 mounted stun cannons, 10 guards with stun guns, and 17 security cameras that were able to instantly summon an entire garrison of guards. This would be tough. They all stood just around the corner in full armor. They were ready to go with supplies that would last them a week in their various compartments. Here we go. Carter thought.

"Alright, stick to the plan. Swipe, you go first. Draw their fire." Devin commanded, going over the first part of the plan.

"Got it. Wish me luck." Swipe clicked the side panel and the face part of the mask slid down hiding his features. He whooshed away in a blue flash of lightning. There were shouts, and Swipe ran back again. "Holy crap. There's a lot of people there. I took out the cameras and the speakers, but they shot me with a stun blast and my right arm is numb."

Only after he said that did Carter notice that his arm hung limply at his side.

"Don't worry. You have backup of your own." Carter grinned, and his own helmet slipped into place.

Hello sir. What today?

Shut down your base communicator and tracking beacon.

Right away sir ... Done. May I ask why sir?

We are kinda' breaking the rules here, and I need you to come with us.

Sure thing. I see you have a new HUD module. Would you like me to display it?

Yes. Put the vision module in box six, and the neural block put into the suits shield system.

Yes sir.

Thank you Serus. That will be all.

If you need me, I am simply a thought away.

Carter's mind went dark. That whole encounter with Serus took less than 3 seconds. "Okay," Carter said aloud. "Let's do this." Devin's mask slipped on and the group stepped around the corner-

-only to be bombarded by gunfire. Devin's arms spread wide, and all of the incoming shots were frozen mid-air, encased by a swirling mass of translucent scarlet energy. More shots were fired, more shots were frozen. There was now a semi-complete wall of yellow energy. Devin's arms were still outstretched. He stepped forward, and made the motion of pushing, and all of the bullets were shot back in reversed direction. All of the guards went down.

"Alright Carter, do your thing." Carter walked over to the left side of the door, where there was a box that controlled the locking mechanism for the door. He slid open the panel.

Dang it. Serus? How do I open this lock?

You can't. It is a triple-wired glass pressure system inside of a closed loop.

Crap. Carter took a deep breath. He looked at his left shield and wondered if it would work. Well, only one way to find out. Carter slammed the box with his shield, and it completely detached from the wall, all wires severed. The door opened. They were free. Carter saw a quick flash of movement on the left side of his HUD. At first, he thought nothing of it, but then, he remembered that that was where he ordered the vision module to be put.