Volume 2: Chapter 211 — Teenagers

Dan did not teleport directly into the alley with the dangerous vigilante and injured vigilante hunters. Instead, he appeared on the roof above, crouched low in case the lunatic below had partners. He could see smoke rising from the ground level, and car alarms were blaring. Within a second of appearing his veil had lanced out across the roof, the alley, and the surrounding streets. He felt the footfalls of fleeing civilians, the scorched metal and broken glass scattered along the road, and melted rubber where brakes had failed and left bits of tire behind. The information was sorted and cataloged by dint of constant practice, and the next second he'd opened up a door the size of a needlepoint on the alley wall.

Dan's veil weaved through the clothes and mask of the vigilante below. He could feel the man looking down at the Vigi-Busters, helpless and moaning. The vigilante raised his hand over them, fingers curling into a slow fist, and Dan spoke through his door.

"Please don't."

It was a plea delivered in the tone of a sage advisor. Dan genuinely hoped the man would listen. Dan really did not want to get into a fight with a complete unknown. The man had demonstrated something vaguely akin to telekinesis, but things were never one-dimensional when cosmic fuckery was involved. For all Dan knew, the vigilante might wield the concept of attraction and could make anyone he made eye contact with fall hopelessly in love with him. Better to not even take the chance. But he was here anyway because he couldn't just sit by and watch people get murdered, no matter how much he disliked them. He'd give the vigilante a chance to back away, to act like a man instead of a monster.

The vigilante did not react to the sudden voice with aggression, to his credit. He paused, turning to face the direction of Dan's door. He seemed surprised to find a blank alley wall. He glanced around, stepping back and away from the two Vigi-Busters who were still feebly clawing their way back to consciousness. The vigilante swept his hand outwards and a thin layer of dust and debris gently washed across the alley floor. His head traced the wave, but Dan was not there to disturb it.

"Hello?" the vigilante called. "Where are you?"

"Around," Dan replied, shifting the location of his door. The vigilante swung to face this new direction. His movements were smooth. Controlled. He was in control.

"Won't you show yourself?" the vigilante asked, his voice quiet and low. "I am only a danger to these men and their kind. The simple act of interceding here already makes you their enemy. They'd judge you as harshly as they would me."

Dan was perfectly happy to talk. Every second that passed the SPEAR Team moved closer. "I think you're exaggerating. Only one of us wants them dead."

"They came for me first!" the vigilante said, sudden heat filling his voice. "To scare, to intimidate! I know their kind; I am not afraid of them! And they will not live to trouble any more of my kin!"

The dots connected at the same time as the vigilante whirled back to face the Vigi-Busters. It was Nikolos fucking Andeno! The young Natural must have assumed the vigilante hunters were there for him. He'd followed them after they left, and he'd struck first.

"I can't let you murder them." Dan's words were steel. This was not something he would compromise on. The Vigi-Busters were shitheads of the highest degree, not to mention irresponsible glory seekers, but they were also just men. No grand, destructive powers that could reshape the world. No overwhelming force to make capture an impossibility. Just selfish men doing selfish things for selfish reasons. Did they really deserve death? Did it matter? Society could judge them. Dan's opinion was unnecessary.

There was movement among the Vigi-Busters entourage. Men were stirring in the other two vans. Slow and ginger, they fought to free themselves from their metal tombs. Further beyond, Dan felt something strange disturb his veil. Foreign tendrils pierced his web, pushing through as if they were alive. In moments they were gone, only to reappear deeper and closer. Dan turned his head to look, and he saw a black blur racing across the rooftops towards the smoking ruin in the center of the street.

Micaela had arrived.

Fucking. Teenagers.

"You should leave," he told Nikolos Andeno. He kept his voice steady and unyielding. "This won't end well for you."

Nikolos paused. Dan's veil traced the boy's bandana as his head tilted. "An upgrade to throw your voice could not stop me. And yet here you are. You have the confidence of a Natural."

Dan shifted his position, easing himself behind a set of large A/C units as Micaela bounded into the street. Her landing was drowned out by the constant screeching of car alarms, and Nikolos seemed not to notice. The corpse of the Vigi-Busters van blocked his view of anything beyond the alley. Micaela paused in the street, taking in the turned-over vehicles. Her hair lashed out, ripping open the vans and releasing the trapped Vigi-Busters crew within. She spun towards the alley, where the last van was embedded into the entrance.

"I don't wish to fight family," Nikolos said, slowly, "but neither can I allow these men to leave. They know me, or at least too much of me to risk. And I've wasted enough time."

He finished his sentence with a sharp gesture, and the two vigilante hunters started to scream. The air twisted around them, and their limbs twisted and broke. Dan tensed, his veil racing along the wall to open a door at head height to Nikolos. The other end linked to the depths of the ocean, but before the door could be opened a new figure arrived.

Micaela Sanchez, dressed in full vigilante regalia (which was really just a massive hoodie), slammed down on the top of the overturned van, her hair spread out behind her in thick sheets, twisting and writhing. She paused, taking in the masked man, the Vigi-Busters, and the blood. Then, with all the impetuousness of youth, she struck.

Black lines lanced towards Nikolos like striking snakes and the young man threw himself backwards. His arm gestured wildly towards Micaela, and the van beneath her buckled as its frame crumpled. Micaela's hair dug into the alley walls and propelled her forward. Strands of hair as thick as tree trunks wrapped around Nikolos' waist, dragging him forward. He growled, swiping down at the mass of hair, and it was propelled away from him so violently it shredded into tatters. Micaela cried out at the damage and her charge faltered. Nikolos whipped his fist towards her, and she was hurled towards the alley wall. Her hair cocooned her before impact, absorbing the force of the blow, but Nikolos advanced, undeterred.

Tires brushed against Dan's veil. An enormous truck powered down the street towards the disturbance. The SPEAR Team was here, and he had a decision to make.

"Why are you fighting me!?" Nikolos snarled, all pretense of composure lost. "Why defend these imbeciles? These savages that would see you stripped of your freedom and powers out of jealousy and fear!? They are not worth our—"

Dan appeared behind the raging vigilante and jammed a Taser into the base of his neck. Nikolos choked off his angry rant in favor of a strangled scream and dropped like a sack of bricks. He wouldn't be down long. Micaela's cocoon of hair unfurled and she stared, bewildered, at Dan and the downed form of her opponent.

"What...?" she began, but Dan was already gone.

He opened a door clear across the city, in an empty field on the outskirts of D.C. The other end of the door appeared directly behind Micaela. Dan grabbed her by the hoodie and yanked hard, dragging her through the portal and snapping it shut. He blinked away again as her hair exploded out of her hood, whipping out at her surroundings in blind panic. Dan reappeared across the field, within shouting distance but little else.

Micaela tumbled briefly but quickly righted herself. She spun in a frantic circle, taking in her new surroundings. Dan waited patiently for her to notice him and ask the obvious question. Instead, she laid eyes on him for all of a second before bolting in the opposite direction.

Dan sighed.

Fucking teenagers.