Power On: Supervillain Rescue Project Read online

  Power On

  Supervillain Rescue Project

  #1

  H. L. Burke

  For information about H. L. Burke’s latest novels, to sign up for the author’s newsletter, or to contact the author, go to

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  Copyright © 2021 H. L. Burke

  All rights reserved.

  Cover art by K. M. Carroll

  Cover layout by Jennifer Hudzinski

  Copyright © 2021 H. L. Burke

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 9798476712114

  Table of Contents

  Copyright Page

  Copyright Page

  To the teens in my life. Sorry for using you for research. | —Heidi

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  The Supervillain Rescue Project will return in book 2: | Power Play.

  ABOUT H. L. Burke

  Also by H. L. Burke

  To the teens in my life. Sorry for using you for research.

  —Heidi

  Chapter One

  Jake Lucas stared out the box truck’s window, counting sage brush and praying they wouldn’t pass any state troopers. So far so good. Only the occasional civilian car and the unending brown hills of the desert outside of Yuma, Arizona. His powers tingled at his fingertips, and he allowed the molecules that made up his hands to separate and float above his thighs for a moment before his flesh solidified once more.

  “Think there’s anything on the radio?” He nodded towards the dashboard. The truck’s clock was still off an hour from their switch from California to Arizona’s time zones ... maybe two hours. The daylight savings thing always threw Jake off when the gang operated in this dusty section of the country.

  “Probably just commercials.” His eighteen-year-old brother, Caleb, didn’t look up from the straight stretch of road before them. While Jake was sixteen and had learned to drive far before that, the gang’s constant movements and dislike for dealing with government agencies—even the DMV—had prevented him from getting an actual license. Caleb’s license was a fake, of course, but it was a good fake, tied to a gang controlled identity that would fool a cursory check by the average state trooper. Besides, it just looked less suspicious to have the older brother behind the wheel. At least that’s what Uncle Vic said.

  Superpowers are good in a pinch, kid, but what gets things done is a low profile. If a mission goes well, no one should ever even know you and your brother are sables.

  Jake scratched at his disheveled, dusty brown hair. What was the point of being super-abled if he never got to use his abilities? As the youngest member of their operation, it was already hard enough to get the gang to take him seriously. Being forced to work with one hand figuratively tied behind his back was the worst.

  Caleb seemed to take it in stride, though. While the brothers almost looked like twins—with long, lean physiques, dusty brown hair, and hazel eyes—Caleb had learned to master their uncle’s cold, patient approach to missions. Jake, by contrast, was all nervous energy and impatience.

  “How much farther?” He reached for Caleb’s phone which sat on the bench seat between them. Caleb slapped his hand away.

  “Are we there yet?” he mocked. “Seriously, Jake, are you sixteen or six?”

  “It’s a legit question,” Jake grumbled, shifting back to the window.

  “We’ve got a few more hours.” Caleb craned his neck to look up at the harsh blue sky. “We might need to slow down. The rendezvous isn’t until after dark. We won’t want to risk unloading our cargo in broad daylight, even off road.”

  Jake grimaced. Why had he even said anything? Even if they had to wait once they reached the agreed upon destination, at least they wouldn’t be driving any more.

  “You should take a nap.” His brother shot him a patronizing smile. “Since I’m doing the hard work now, you’re going to do most of the unloading tonight.”

  Sometimes being the younger brother sucked.

  With nothing better to do, Jake closed his eyes. At least a nap would make the drive pass quicker. The sooner they unloaded their cargo and got back to the lair, the better.

  The constant, low rumble of the old engine and the hum of the tires on the road lulled Jake into a daze. His body softened except for the prickling sensation associated with his powers. Of course, he was used to that. The energy had been a constant presence in his life since just before his twelfth birthday, an old friend, a protector.

  The truck jolted beneath him, causing his head to snap up.

  “Crap!” Caleb hissed.

  Jake rubbed his eyes. He hadn’t even realized he’d drifted off, but pinks and purples now streaked the sky ... and beneath the stunning desert twilight, red and blue lights flashed, faint in the distance. Cop cars? A roadblock?

  Swallowing, Jake scanned the road before them. They were still a decent stretch away from the blockade, but with how straight the road was and how clear the conditions, the cops had probably seen their truck about the same time as Caleb had sighted them. There were no turn offs between them and the cops, and the terrain was too rough for them to try off-roading.

  “Can we turn around?” Jake asked.

  Caleb shook his head. “It’ll look suspicious if we do a u-turn here, and this clunker isn’t built for a high speed chase.” He gripped the steering wheel, knuckles whitening. “Look, stay calm. Don’t say anything. Uncle Vic picked us for this assignment partly because neither of us has a record yet. If we don’t give them a reason to search us, they can’t without a warrant ... at least I don’t think they can.”

  Jake’s stomach twisted. “You don’t sound all that confid—”

  “Shut up!” his brother snapped.

  Jake stared straight forward as the lights grew closer. Soon he could make out four vehicles: two state troopers and two unmarked black SUVs. Figures stood around them, a couple of officers but also a few people in brightly colored jumpsuits and one in what appeared to be some sort of body armor. As he watched, the individual in armor rose from the ground and hovered a few feet over the vehicles.

  “We got sables,” he said.

  “I can see that,” Caleb all but growled. “Damn DOSA.”

  If the Department of Super-Abled was involved, they had to be looking specifically for the gang’s shipment. DOSA rarely assembled for normie crime, and Vic Lucas’s Sand Fox gang was the only supervillain group currently active in the southwest region, most villains preferring to work solo.

  The truck slowed before coming to a full stop about two car lengths from the barricade. The armor wearing DOSA hero glided down from the sky to approach the driver’s window. Another DOSA type, this one a woman wearing a pearly white bodysuit with curly lines approximating a gust of air embellishing it, sidled over to Jake’s window. Her brown hair mo
ved about her face, almost as if she were floating underwater. Jake gaped at her for a moment before forcing his expression to be stony.

  While he knew the man in the armor to be Silverhawk, the lead of the three man team stationed in Yuma, this woman hadn’t been on the dossier Uncle had given him before the mission.

  Means they called in back up ... maybe from Phoenix. This isn’t good.

  Silverhawk’s metal-clad fingers tapped lightly on Caleb’s window. Caleb rolled it partway down.

  “Was I speeding, officer?” he asked, not even trying to hide a smirk.

  Silverhawk’s opaque visor hid the upper half of his face, but his mouth stayed a firm line. “License and registration, please.”

  Caleb fished both out and passed them to the sable. Silverhawk held the documents in one hand then hovered his other palm over them. A blue light radiated from his glove onto the license before he passed it back to Caleb.

  “Where are you headed?” he asked.

  “Bringing some car parts to my uncle’s garage in Tucson.” Caleb placed the papers on the seat behind him. “What’s up with the roadblock?”

  “We received a report that a shipment of stolen lab equipment would be moving through the area tonight,” Silverhawk explained.

  Jake tensed. A report? Had someone ratted out the family?

  Easy. No one would dare do that. Loyalty is too important to Uncle Vic. He doesn’t keep anyone around he doesn’t completely trust.

  “You all right, kid?” The light from Silverhawk’s hand flashed in Jake’s face.

  Jake flinched, heart jumping into his throat. “Watch it!”

  “You’re just very quiet over there.”

  “He’s tired out. Long day on the road,” Caleb said. “Can we get going now?”

  Silverhawk took a step back. “Could you step out of the car, please?”

  Jake inhaled sharply and reached for his brother’s arm.

  “Easy.” Caleb shook him off before shooting him a look that clearly said, “Cool it.”

  He unbuckled and slipped out.

  Jake forced his heart back down his throat. This was bad. They needed to get out of here. If the officers figured out an excuse to open the back of the truck, it would all be over.

  Caleb stood, his posture relaxed, next to the truck’s cab. Jake wondered how he could be so calm. They needed an escape plan. Jake and Caleb had identical powers, so they’d basically be uncontainable to the DOSA team. That said, they were miles from anywhere, and Jake didn’t feel inclined to risk a hike through the desert, pursued by DOSA and lacking basic supplies like water. Plus it would mean abandoning their cargo and admitting the mission a failure. While this wasn’t the first task he’d completed on behalf of the family, it was the first time he’d been sent with only his brother rather than with the supervision of an older villain.

  His mind churned over potential ways out.

  Something slammed into the window beside his head, and Jake jumped. His powers exploded within him, his body instinctively breaking into particles to avoid a hit.

  Catching himself, he drew the minuscule pieces of his being together as his eyes cut towards the source of the noise. The female DOSA agent stared at him through the window.

  Oh, crap.

  “Silverhawk, this one’s a sable!” she cried out.

  Caleb stiffened. Jake glanced helplessly at his brother. Caleb scowled then dissolved into a shimmering cloud of bronze dust.

  Silverhawk staggered back. “What the—”

  Caleb’s fragmented being swept around the DOSA sable like a swarm of gnats. He solidified behind him and punched at his armor. Silverhawk’s thrusters went off. With a cry, the sable spun into the sky. Still halfway between solid and fragmented, Caleb flew into the truck’s cab and threw it into drive.

  Jake’s head hit the side of the cab as the tires screeched beneath them. A gust of air shook the truck. His head whipped around to see the pearl suited woman standing behind them, arms outstretched, sand and road dust swirling about her. Her form shrank rapidly as the truck completed its u-turn and barrelled back down the road the way it had come, going the wrong way down Interstate 8.

  “What are we going to do?” Jake stammered.

  “Shut up, I’m thinking!” Caleb floored it. The engine revved.

  “If we can get to a town, we can dump the truck and use our powers to disappear,” Caleb said, his voice slightly calmer. “We just need to—”

  The cab shook as something hammered into the roof above them. A fist-shaped bulge now dented the metal ceiling. Another crash rattled the truck.

  “Get him off us!” Caleb snarled.

  Jake cracked the window about an inch before pulling up his powers. His body fragmented into a cloud of dust, Jake’s awareness going with it. He threw himself through the open window, catching the side of the truck to keep himself from blowing away. In this form, the individual molecules of his body could catch onto surfaces like tiny hooks, finding microscopic finger holds in seemingly smooth materials. He’d practiced so often, the process was second nature. He clung to the side of the truck, creeping up the cab towards the roof like mist rolling over hills.

  Silverhawk hovered over the truck, easily keeping pace with the speeding vehicle. As Jake watched, he dove fist first into the roof again. The truck swerved.

  Jake rose up in his true form, still slightly fragmented but now visible as a human, just hazier in the details. The particles of his feet—and his shoes which had absorbed the energy field from his powers and could fragment with the rest of him—anchored him to the roof.

  Silverhawk tackled Jake only to pass right through him. The energy of the other sable’s passing churned Jake’s stomach, but his molecules swiftly reformed, and he spun around in time to see a fist coming at him again.

  Multiple blows cut through the young man. He laughed.

  “Tired yet?” He released his feet. The air caught him, and he pushed off, hopping up with the wind and following it over the top of the truck and onto the roof of the cargo area. He thrust one hand down into the roof. After skidding a couple of feet, he steadied as Silverhawk zoomed over his head.

  Come on. Come on. Get cocky. Charge me.

  Jake let his body solidify just enough to look tempting.

  With a cry of triumph, Silverhawk charged him.

  Jake flattened his body against the metal roof and extended his powers into it. Silverhawk slammed through him, then through the now fragmented roof, before he disappeared into the enclosed cargo area. Jake pulled his powers back into his core and the roof became solid again.

  Jake crowed. “Gotya!”

  The whole truck shook. Jake swayed, his body rocking backwards and only his feet still bound to the roof keeping him from toppling off. He had a passing realization that he’d made a horrible mistake before the truck lurched upwards, the back end hopping off the road. Jake fell to his hands and knees.

  Headlights and emergency lights flashed right behind them. The pursuit was catching up, and having Silverhawk slamming around inside the truck bed wasn’t going to help any.

  Another blow, this time the force of the superhero’s fist pushed them to the side. Jake yelped as the truck careened to the left. He had just enough time to send his power rushing through his whole body as their vehicle crashed in a heap of metal.

  His head swam. His particles flitted about, bound loosely together by their shared energy field but with enough space between them that they’d bent to the crash instead of being broken by it.

  Footsteps pounded towards him. A hand in a similar state of particle flux reached into the mass of scattered molecules that was Jake and slapped him. Their similar states allowed the strike to ring true. Pain rocketed through the sections of Jake’s being impacted by Caleb’s palm. His head cleared, and he hopped up, his body forming into his true shape.

  There was a bang. The roof of the truck, now perpendicular to the ground, bent outward, obviously weakened by Silverhawk’s continuing
punches. Sirens wailed, not so distant now.

  “Run!” Caleb ordered, grabbing Jake by the shoulder and pulling him off the road into the waiting emptiness of the desert.

  As they ran, tripping over uneven ground, Jake’s mind flailed for their next step. If they could shake their pursuers and lie low until things quieted, maybe they could get a hold of Uncle Vic.

  “Do you have your phone?” Jake asked.

  “Hush!” Caleb ordered. The boys scrambled up a slight incline and over a set of railroad tracks. The further they got from the freeway, the darker it became. Jake’s side ached and his legs felt like lead. Voices shouted faintly in the distance, but apparently DOSA had thought better than to take their vehicles off the road.

  Caleb’s pace flagged, and Jake allowed himself to likewise slow. The last sliver of sun had slipped behind the hills during their flight, and stars now flickered in the sky above. Jake turned in a full circle. A slight glare on the horizon, back the way they’d come, might mean a town.

  He pointed and whispered. “Maybe we could—”

  “Shut up!” Caleb ordered.

  Jake’s mouth clamped shut.

  Caleb let out a deep breath. “We need to—”

  A shadow crossed between the boys and the stars.

  Caleb’s eyes widened, and he shoved Jake to the side. Jake instinctively fragmented. Something hit the ground between the brothers. A flash of light and an ear splitting crack sent Jake spinning. He skidded to a halt, catching the earth to arrest his momentum. A half dozen feet from him, Silverhawk swooped down from the sky, the thrusters in his flight armor humming. He swept his arm, which now emitted a flashlight style beam, in a wide arch.

  Jake kept low to the ground. His molecules flattened until he hoped he’d look like nothing more than a slightly darker patch of earth.

  “There you are!” Silverhawk simpered.

  Jake winced. His whole being went rigid, prepared to flee once more.

  Silverhawk sprang in the other direction, his handlight revealing Caleb, lying in his un-fragmented form, on the ground.

  He must not have fragmented in time, Jake realized. It stunned him. Get up, Caleb. Get up!