The All-Call

Chloe looked down at the binder Rahmi had given her before her and Jeremiah had left. Inside it was the contact info for several superheroes. Chloe opened it, and saw it was only two pages, and had about twelve names total. Chloe considered some of the options. Stalker, Amaze, Scarlett Phantom, and many more.

Chloe was about to call the first number, when there was a knock. Chloe scrambled up to get the door, and found a petite redhead standing in front of the doorway.

“Ah. I see Jeremiah works fast.” she said bitterly.

“What? Oh! I’m not Jeremiah’s girlfriend. I’m his cousin, Chloe.” Chloe smiled brightly.

“Oh! Oh, well, hi. I’m Hazel. Is Jeremiah home or...?” the girl trailed off, trying to judge what Chloe knew. Chloe recalled the code phrase Jeremiah had told her to see if someone knew he was Thunderstrike.

“He’s not home. He heard some thunder and went to grab some groceries.” Chloe explained. Hazel’s eyes lit up and she stepped into the apartment, and closed the door.

“Ok, you do know. Great. Thunderstrike and Voltage are fighting. The battle’s huge! Cops are rushing to the scene, and there’s even news helicopters covering it. I have to help them!” Hazel urged, but something didn’t sit right with Chloe.

“If you knew Jeremiah was gone, why did you come here?” Chloe asked suspiciously. Hazel froze. Then she narrowed her eyes and kicked Chloe in the face. Tried to. Chloe’s instincts as Zeta had kicked in and she’d easily flipped backwards. Hazel stumbled back protectively, clutching her stomach.

“Hold on! I’ve got your cousin’s baby in here!” Hazel said desperately. Chloe realized abruptly Hazel didn’t have powers, or any real training. She’s just hoped to take out Chloe quickly and without a fight. Chloe maintained her fighting stance but weighed her choices. If this Hazel girl really was pregnant with Jeremy’s baby... he definitely didn’t know.

“I... I... who are you really?” Chloe demanded.

“Fine! Fine! My name’s Linsey. I’m a spy for the Dyad. You know what that is, right? Anyways, I was placed to observe and determine Thunderstrike’s threat to our operations. It was very high, so the Dyad commandeered Voltage to use as a weapon against him.” Hazel confessed.

“Wow. Why would Jeremiah ever sleep with you?” Chloe sneered.

“Obviously he didn’t know I was a spy! He just thought I was a girl who really needed to get laid. And I did need to get laid.” Linsey admitted. Chloe frowned.

“I’m going to tie you up.” Chloe decided, and swiftly did just that. Linsey struggled a little, but she obviously didn’t have a chance in hell at breaking through those ropes.

Just then, thunder roared, and Chloe rushed to the window. Across town, a swirling storm cloud was forming, and lightning was shooting across the ground, and Chloe assumed that was where Jeremiah and Rahmi were fighting. But why were they fighting? Those two were so sickeningly in love with each other, but they both seemed oblivious to the other’s affections. Chloe rushed for the binder, and called the strongest hero on the list she knew, Amaze.

“Hello?” the sweet voice picked up.

“Hi, is this, uh, Amaze?” Chloe asked sheepishly.

“How do you know that?” the girl said, her voice hard.

“Oh! I’m friends with Voltage. She gave me your number. Something’s wrong, though. She got in a battle with Thunderstrike, who she’s like, stupidly head over heels for. I don’t get it.” Chloe despaired. Amaze laughed.

“True. I’ll fly over there now. Do you have Ray in that binder?” Amaze asked.

“Um, what’s his superhero name?” Chloe asked.

“It’s Absorbant.” Amaze told Chloe. Chloe scanned the list.

“Yes!” Chloe cried.

“Great! Tell him to get his ass over to the fight. He can take any sort of punishment, so he’s perfect for this fight.” Amaze explained, and hung up. Chloe turned to Linsey, who was glaring at Chloe. Chloe’s hand went for her phone, and she dialed Absorbant.

———

Quite frankly, I was at a loss. Rahmi was completely enthralled to the creepy man, and our fight was not only growing in magnitude, but in property damage. I was afraid to hit her, honestly. For one thing, I’d never seen her this charged. Her whole body crackled with lightning, and it even arced down from the sky to supercharge her. I felt something picking at my head, and I cried out, but then something flooded my cells, and I roared and pushed out with my hands. A massive shockwave of destruction shot out, and tore across the rooftop, and sent Voltage. I was terrified, but then she FLEW back, and I knew I was royally fucked.

I realized that somehow I’d gotten new powers, and lifted a mental shield between me and Voltage, which stopped the lightning beam hurtling towards me. It shot off the shield and took out a news helicopter. She let out a primal yell and charged at me. I was distracted from the helicopter’s destruction and consequently was knocked off the building. I found I still couldn’t fly, but then a hand caught mine, and I found myself looking at the face of a gorgeous blond girl, who was hovering in the air.

“Hi! I’m Amaze! I’m friends with Volt- holy shit!” the girl screamed and she dropped me the few feet to the ground. Still hurt like hell as I watched in fascination as a whole building was toppled, and I saw that Voltage was in the air, fighting somebody. Amaze flew towards me and pulled me out of the falling building’s damage radius, and lifted me up to see the new fight closer. A man in a simple grey robe floated calmly as Voltage threw everything she had at him.

“Who is that?” I asked Amaze.

“That’s Absorbant. His powers are floating and absorbing all attacks. That’d be really cool, except he’s a pacifist. Monk and all that.” Amaze shrugged.

“What’s your skill set?” I asked Amaze. The pretty blond shrugged.

“Flying, superhuman stuff, and fire breath and ice vision.” Amaze beamed.

“Wow. Pretty OP, huh?” I grinned.

“Well, no. I’m really **** to bullets, actually. Anything else I can tank through. Except bullets.” she sighed.

“How about you?” she asked me.

“Well, until tonight it was just super strength and this cool thunderclap thing. But then tonight I could do this shockwave thing that destroyed the top of that building which just fell, and I could throw up a mental shield.” I explained.

“Maybe adrenaline triggered your other abilities.” Amaze suggested.

“Yeah, maybe. Hey, why are we just hanging out while Voltage is still acting crazy?” I asked. Amaze laughed.

“Because Absorbant’s got this. Trust me.” Amaze assured me.

“So how’d you get your powers?” Amaze asked me after a minute.

“Gene mutation caused by a storm.” I said.

“Huh. I got mine from a lab. Poked and prodded. They thought they were so awesome for making me super, they forgot I was super. I tore through them, and found out my family was dead because of them. I moved to Monarch City to defend people.” Amaze explained. I glanced back at the fight, and Voltage finally stopped hurling lightning bolts, and fell, fast. Amaze leaped up onto the edge of the building, but Absorbant was faster.

—————

A/N From now on, Chloe and Rahmi will be getting POVs in third person. Jeremiah will continue to be 1st person, and more characters might get POVs as the war against the Dyad continues.