Heroes (On Hold)

Chapter 10: Untouchable

Ms. Wren was waiting for me on the steps of the school when I returned, along with a tall, dark haired man. Travis teleported myself and my captive into the courtyard, then stepped away. With a quick smile, he vanished once again.

"Ms. Morgan, I see you've returned," the dark haired man greeted me. I examined him closely. He was probably in his late forties, with streaks of silver peppering his cropped black hair. His face was set in an intense expression, only magnified by his curious eyes- yellow eyes that seemed to glow in the late afternoon light. He wore a long black coat, which to me seemed excessive against the autumn chill. But perhaps his most prominent feature was that his right hand, and possibly part of his arm, was completely missing.

He caught my investigative gaze. "It was disintegrated by a particularly virulent super villain." I flushed red for staring. "Don't worry," he consoled. "I get plenty of weird looks. You're not the first, and you certainly won't be the last."

The woman beside me strained against my grip. "What is this place? Take me back," she snarled at me.

The dark haired man smiled and walked down the steps. "Sorry, can't do that. What I can do, however..." he reached out and grabbed her wrists, and a pair of brilliantly glowing shackles appeared around them. "There we are."

She struggled against them, straining against an invisible chain linking the two cuffs. "What is this? What have you done?" She hissed at us, glaring at the dark haired man and myself in turn.

Ms. Wren called out from the top of the stairs, "Don't bother with trying to escape them. Those cuffs are made of pure energy. They are unbreakable, and will probably outlive you by several hundred years. They also double as a tracking device- so even if you do manage to escape, your freedom won't last long. Lastly, they can exert an intense charge of energy into your system and knock you out at any time, should you attempt to fight your way out of your situation."

I couldn't resist a low whistle. Superheroes didn't mess around when it came to criminals.

"Travis will take her from here," the man smiled at me. Sure enough, the teleporter reappeared a few paces behind him, then touched the shackled woman on the soldier. With a quiet pop, the two disappeared.

"Now then," Ms. Wren began, approaching from atop the steps, "let us go inside. Director Corvus and I will need the details of your mission."

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"Now, I believe an introduction is in order. I am Director Corvus, the head of the Twelfth Legion. I oversee all missions by members of the Legion, as well is our partnership with the Haven. I've heard quite a bit about you, Ms. Morgan."

We were seated in Ms. Wren's office, with the Director seated behind the desk and Ms. Wren and I seated on the other side. Seeing someone other than my aunt behind that desk was an  odd experience- it reminded me too much of the previous principal.

Ms. Wren nodded shortly. "Excellent. Now, formalities out of the way. Ella, please give us all of the details of your mission."

As concisely  as I could manage, I summarized the events of the birds' attacks, my shocking them with lightning, then searching the empty building and finding the woman controlling the birds. Lastly, I explained how I had destroyed her machinery, fought briefly, then taken her back to the Haven.

"Fascinating." Director Corvus rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "So the knife just passed right through you- like you weren't there at all?"