Mod Superhero

Chapter 7.42 - Clara 7

Clara sat cross-legged on the shore of the magma lake, meditating, surrounded by a swirling maelstrom of heat and nanite swarm. Heat flowed steadily from the magma lake and through her, siphoned away by the swarm. Clara was a dam simultaneously holding and refining a torrent of power before it went downstream.

The sensation hovered between agony and transcendence.

Just beyond her swarm, the magma lake roared like it was alive. A steady rumble had filled the cavern, punctuated by combat from elsewhere in the chamber. Lock and Athena had been holding the room for her.

But now the comms were quiet, and it had been a while since she'd heard any signs of battle...

Clara held steady, focusing on her breathing and the steady cycling of power through her core. The Vault quaked. The world screamed. But Clara stayed still.

Somewhere distant, she could feel the ebbs and shifts of the nanite swarm, like subtle shifts in the wind. She knew it was Emmett out there. Knew that he was coordinating clones, moving people out of the Vault, fighting Amarque and who knew what other supers, and probably coordinating with TINA... But Clara had no idea what was actually going on downstream. She only knew what Emmett told her, and he was too occupied to talk.

What she did have was a growing, unspoken language between them. There was a rhythm to the swarm. When it quickened, she poured more power into it. When it steadied, she held her output. It was a silent language between her and Emmett, built from trust and shared experience.

So she kept going. She kept siphoning power and sending it his way, hoping that it was enough.

Clara was half-lost in the rhythm, her body a circuit of heat and strain, when Emmett's voice came suddenly through the static.

"The Vault's clear. Amarque is neutralized, and Seraphina's outside with the other mages."

Clara's eyes snapped open. The swirling darkness shimmered with red and gold. Relief flickered through her—but it was fleeting. There was something else in his voice.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

A pause. Then, quieter, "The Vault's coming down, and I can't hold it together and pull you guys out at the same time."

The words dropped like stones. The cavern around her rumbled in answer, flakes of molten rock breaking from the ceiling and hissing into the lake.

Athena's voice broke through the comms, jagged and breathless. "So what's our exit plan?"

Lock grunted, "He's saying we have to dig our way out."

The mountain shuddered, as if in response.

Emmett replied, "I was thinking something faster. ...Clara, how are you feeling?"

Clara looked up from her meditative spot, and though she couldn't see anything through the swirling darkness, she knew exactly what Emmett was thinking.

When they'd drawn up the mission, McGuire had joked that if everything went wrong, Arsenal could always burn them a way out—carve a hole straight through the mountain. It had been a laugh at the time, a throwaway line buried under nervous smiles.

No one thought it would actually come to that. But here she was.

"You really think I can do it?"

"I know you can."

The way he said it made something tighten in her chest.

Lock added under his breath, "It's just two miles of solid rock."