Average Joe (2018)

28

"Sabrina Miller," Robson pondered. "The biggest supervillain on the block..." Robson turned her chair to face Sabrina. "Can't retrieve a simple hard drive with no one guarding it?"

"Look, I..."

"Save it. You know, I get you losing to Red Flame. But this guy...?" Robson threw a copy of yesterday's New York Times on the desk. "Care to explain it?"

"His powers... they were similar to mine."

"Similar?"

"He can fly, and something else... It's like he... electrocuted me, and... he mentioned you... by name."

Robson squeezed the side of the desk. She seemed angered, but still, her complexion was perfect. Her red hair glowed like fiery embers. Robson was the only woman Sabrina could be jealous of.

"These supers keep popping up. They're calling this new one..." She gestured to the paper on the desk. "The Guardian of New York." Sabrina frowned.

"That old hero who died like a decade ago?" Robson nodded.

"You met the original, yes? Was this new hero anything like him?" Sabrina thought for a moment.

"No. The original was... well, a man. This new guy was young, maybe late teens to early twenties. He kept trying to make his voice sound deeper. The only similarity was the hood. The original used to wear a hood on his face." Robson thought for a moment.

"Interesting. I want you and Chronicle working on this. Since the Chronicle has failed to bring down Red Flame, I'll have him handle the new guy, which means you'll have to handle Red Flame."

"You mean... kill him."

"Exactly. You know, this entire corporation is run by small bits and pieces. Like a clock. A giant clock run by gears and levers, and as long as all of those little gears and levers do their job... we won't have to kill a fifteen-year-old boy." Sabrina swallowed. "Come with me." Robson stood and strutted past Sabrina's seat. Sabrina stood and quickly followed.

The two walked down the giant corridors, which were long and tall, with gothic columns. Giant metal doors led to different offices. The large building had thirteen stories and several different uses.

The first floor served as the reception area, and garden. It also had a series of fake offices to show to the authorities if needed. The second floor is the offices for the lower level workers and the IT experts. On the third floor were the guard barracks and the security detail. The fourth floor was windowless and full of bars - a jail. The fifth, sixth and seventh floors were more offices, along with some storage areas. The eighth and ninth floors were the labs. The tenth floor was the experiment areas and supply storage. The eleventh floor was the offices for the higher level workers of the organization. The twelfth floor was the resting area and dining hall. The thirteenth floor was where the supervillains were. Robson's, Sabrina's, and the Chronicle's offices were all up here, though the Chronicle never used his. Other supervillains were resting on that floor as well, though none of them were major.

As they walked, Robson talked into an intercom.

"Rebecca, start a file on 'The man in the cloak'. Update it constantly, I want you to find out everything you can. Preferably a name. Compare it to our other files when you're done. If it's someone familiar, I want to know. Check archives in each state and country, I want to know where he's from."

"You're obsessing, Robson," Sabrina warned.

"If this man is a threat, it's better we take him down now. I want you and the Chronicle to collaborate on this."

"You mean the man who almost killed my son."

"I can't control who the Chronicle chooses to hunt. I sent him after Red Flame, but if Chronicle is hunting your son, this is not a workplace indiscretion."

"Workplace indiscretion! He stabbed him! He could've died!" Robson turned to her.

"It could've been worse... he could've died for real. Millions of people lose their children every year, and you expect me to care that you almost lost yours? You care a lot for your child. I admire that. I do. But we are on the verge of global power. We can't let something as small as employee indiscretion break our power. These so-called superheroes are in our way as well, we can't allow your ignorance to compromise our security."

When Sabrina didn't answer, Robson walked forward, Sabrina quickly following.

Robson and Sabrina walked into a back lab on the ninth floor, the place glowing with a greenish-yellow light. Workplace hours were over so only one person was in the lab. Dr. Delmore was the main doctor's assistant.

Dr. Delmore sat at a table, working on an odd experiment. In the back wall of the lab sat four, glass, tube-like, cases. All four were lit up with white light. Inside the first was a new version of Sabrina's suit. Silver instead of blue, an array of weapons and gadgets on the belt, built-in with a vitals monitor, and 30% more shielding capabilities. The other three held new suits for other villains in the building.

"What are we doing here?" Sabrina asked.

"I want to show you something." Robson walked up to Dr. Delmore, Sabrina following.

"Dr. Delmore," said Robson with confidence. "Is our project ready for testing?"

"Almost. With our head of science gone, it's been hard trying to find an enzyme with the proper functions we needed for the project. With him gone the best I can do is make a temporary serum. It won't work as well, but as soon as Dr. Zook returns we can make a higher-performance drug."

"Excellent," said Robson, taking the full vial from Dr. Delmore. Robson loaded the thing into the special gun that shoots the serum into a vein.

"What is that?" Sabrina asked. Robson smiled slightly.

"Something for you." Sabrina felt a huge sharp pain in her neck, as Robson shot the entire vial into her bloodstream. Sabrina stumbled backward.

"What the hell was that?" Sabrina demanded.

"Your chance at defeating Red Flame. That little serum I gave you will target the cells that carry the abilities within you and increase them. Go after Red Flame and our new little hero with that stuff inside of you, and I promise you won't fail."