Once finished, Travis looks around the hangar at Team Two's roster: Frey, Asrid, Lucky, Shula, Sky, Scoundel, and Gravitate. He has been tasked with patrolling the Midtown Tunnel, while the other seven Finalists on Team One will be patrolling the Lincoln Tunnel. They are also tasked with individual solo Missions until it becomes necessary for them to work together as a Team.
"The judges will be monitoring and commanding this operation from Mission Control," Rebellion says with an edge in his voice—obviously he isn't thrilled about being relegated to the judge's bench for such a high-profile Mission. "But who would like to volunteer as Team Two's Field Captain, my second-in-command for this Mission?"
"I nominate Gravitate." Lucky says.
"What?" Travis says looking confused.
"I volunteer." Frey says.
"All right, can I have the rest of the Team vote on their choice for Field Captain? Gravitate or Frey?" Rebellion asks. "Asrid, let's start with you."
"Frey," Asrid says.
"Gravitate," Lucky says, smiling.
"Gravitate," Sky says, avoiding all eye contact.
"Frey," Scoundel says, an involuntary gobble slipping out as she speaks.
"Gravitate," Shula says, winking at Travis.
"Then Gravitate it is," Rebellion announces. "You are all to follow orders as directed from Mission Control, but Gravitate is the official Field Captain in all other situations, so defer to his leadership."
Travis nods, confused that the team has given him this vote of confidence. Though he's sure this won't go over terribly well with Frey and Asrid…he had better prove himself to both of them.
"Best of luck, heroes," Rebellion says, signing off. "Now protect our proud nation."
As the screen cuts out, they all breathe a little easier, even though camera orbs still film them from all sides. Travis noticed that the cameras are already starting to fade into the background to him, a thought that is as scary as it is relieving.
He turned to see Scoundel grooming her feathers in the seat next to him. He has been meaning to talk to her ever since they both made the Final 14—he even stopped by her room in the Contestant Mansion (which was more like a twiggy nest than an actual room), but she wasn't there.
It looks like now is his chance to have a chat with his fellow Fringe resident.
"Scoundel, I just wanted to apologize for what happened during the Semi-Finals. I didn't mean to—"
"Just stay out of my way," Scoundel says, waving one of her claws in Travis direction.
"I hope to do more than that. After all, it's just you and me representing the Fringes," Travis says. "We should look out for each other."
"Are you trying to make me your little sidekick?" Scoundel says. "Because that worked out so well for you last time."
After that, Travis and Scoundrel spend the rest of the flight in silence.
Two hours later....
With Lucky in his arms, he rushed towards the explosion, which came from the entrance to the Midtown tunnel. And when he arrives, what he sees makes his blood run cold.
The entrance to the tunnel has caved in, blocked with rubble from an explosion. His mind immediately flashes to all those cars and buses now trapped inside, filled with passengers.
"Over there!" Lucky yells, pointing towards the rest of Team Two gathering on a ramp near the entrance. Military personnel and the NYPD have already surged onto the scene, clearing the area of pedestrians as quickly as possible. They're also there to clear the area of other heroes and serve as backup—the government really wants The Hero Project to succeed.
Travis flies towards the assemblage of heroes, just as Shula flashes to the ground holding Sky, landing from a superfast flight. Asrid and Scoundel already huddle around Frey, awaiting orders.
"Phobus and The NewOrder are attacking the Midtown Tunnel," Rebellion reports into Travis ears, right on cue. "They've collapsed the Manhattan entrance and we believe they plan to flood the tunnel after collapsing the Queens entrance. Team One is en route, but it's up to Team Two to stop Phobus from flooding the tunnel. Heroes, take Phobus out and bring these terrorists in!"
Travis experiences a sudden flash of fear, despite himself. He's about to go against a cadre of world-class Powered terrorists—one of whom nearly killed him on his first Mission as a hero. He seemed unbeatable then and now he's not even the one in charge—he's a lackey.
But then he checked himself, because he's not the same hero he was back then, either. He has been to hell and back and now's his chance to prove that he's world-class, too.
Once Rebellion cuts out, all of the heroes turn to look at Travis. He needs to figure out how to get the entire team across the river to stop Phobus from collapsing the other entrance, then find a way to take him down.
"Listen up, Team. We—"
"Wait, we have to open up this side of the tunnel," Lucky blurts out. "It will only take us a minute, then we can go after Phobus."
"But Rebellion's orders were to—"
"If we open it up, we will save lives no matter what. We have to, now!"
Travis mind begins to race—Lucky has a point. Those trapped people deserve a fighting chance to make it out before the tunnel starts flooding. But he might be able to stop that from happening in the first place if he finds Phobus. Though that's quite the gamble….
"Gravitate." GG's voice suddenly comes to life in his ear. "I think you should follow orders, Rebellion knows what he is doing."
"Screw this," Scoundel says out of nowhere. Before anyone can stop her, Scoundel shoots towards the river and launches into the air. She can't fly very well, but she can coast long enough to make it across.
Travis remembered what it was like on his first heroic Mission, thinking he knew it all and jumping in before thinking…. He just hopes Scoundel doesn't ruin things for the rest of them or get anyone killed.
"Yo sloot, I couldn't tell ya which way this is gonna go," H-Chip Aphrodite appears. "But let me tell you this: stick to your strategy and don't be passive and you'll probably get rewarded!"
He has to make a call now, before you lose control of this situation even more.
"We're opening that entrance, then we'll get Phobus," Travis says, causing Lucky to break into a huge smile.
"F*ck that," Asrid says, grabbing hold of Frey. "We're following the real orders."
Asrid tightens his grip on Frey then crouches down, gearing up for a jump. Before Travis can say a word, Asrid leaps into the air with Frey, shooting way further than he ever thought he could. As Asrid's laser-lights streak across the sky, Travis turns towards the collapsed tunnel entrance and takes to the air.
"Let's get this done as fast as possible," Travis says, ignoring the burst of chatter in his earpiece and flying towards the entrance followed by Lucky, Sky, and Shula. He really hopes he made the right call here….
As they approach the collapsed entrance, Travis expects some kind of quip from Lucky, but her face is set with determination and fear. He looks to Sky and Shula to find the same exact look—he forgot this is their first big-time Mission. it's the biggest Mission he ever faced, too. And the first one since the Herologist's warning about his Unique Powers.
It doesn't help that the judges and production staff keep yelling at him to go after Phobus, either.
"D*mn it!" Travis says, pulling out his earpiece. "Let's show them what we're made of."
Lucky, Sky, and Shula all turn to him, gearing up. They're ready for this.
He hope.
"All right, I have a plan," Lucky says. "Huddle in!"
Minutes later....
"Everyone set? Go!"
Travis watch from the street as Lucky stands at the base of the mountain of rubble, her palms pressed against the base. She generates a light orange glow, prepping for one of her bodyquakes.
"Sky, now!" she screams. Within seconds, Lucky's limbs flash blinding light, then explode in a burst of heat. It's so intense Travis have to look away.
He hear a loud whooshing sound and turn back to find the entranceway cleared—Lucky's explosion incinerated or knocked aside most of the rubble. if she can generate that kind of firepower with just her limbs, what happens if she detonates her entire body?
And Lucky is still clothed—she must have special fabric that is resistant or reconstitutes itself. Not only that, her limbs now coarse with excess energy and Travis can swear Lucky muscles bulge much bigger—it appears those bodyquakes really do give her energy and strength Powers.
Moving on, he sees that in place of the rubble stands a wall of ice. Sky was tasked with minimizing the blast radius and protecting anyone inside from the explosion with a flash freeze. One that has left the remaining debris conveniently brittle….
"Shula, we're up!" Travis shout, gearing up for some superfast flight. With Shula beside him ready to launch, he shoots forward and generates a strong energy blast to crack Sky's ice wall.
With the entranceway now cleared, Travis rocket forward through the tunnel. Underneath, he catches a glimpse of civilians running to the exit towards safety, though they're still mostly screaming and terrified. The tunnel has turned on its emergency lighting and flashes red.
The fact that he's launching through an underground tunnel that is about to flood is not lost on him, either. He pushed down a wave of fear as he careen through the dark.
That's when he feels a human-sized bullet shot by—was that Shula? Travis is flying at his top speed and she just outspeed him. Looks like these "underdogs" are packing more Power than meets the eye….
"The other side is collapsed too," Shula says in the earpiece, having reached the Queens entrance first.
"Get clear, I'll take it down," Travis says, kicking his speed up a notch as he approach the end of the tunnel. He need to take the initiative to open up the tunnel as fast as possible….
"Shula, go back and grab Lucky and Sky while I open up the other entrance," Travis shouts, hoping the others can hear him over all the noise in the tunnel.
Surging forward, he wraps himself in the strongest black energy shield he can generate, bracing himself for impact. Within seconds, he collide with the collapsed entrance…
And it hurts like hell.
"I– I shouldn't have done that–Aghh!"
Still screaming from the pain, he opened his eyes to find that he actually crashed through the rubble and made it out of the tunnel. Thank slugger.
He spin to find trapped civilians streaming out, secured by the federal agents surrounding the entrance. Within seconds, Shula shoots out of the tunnel, holding Lucky and Sky.
Settling next to the trio, they all look up to find the other Hero Project Finalists returning to the shore—it looks like Team One arrived to assist Frey and Asrid.
"Phobus and the NewOrder escaped," Frey says. "Little Jagged apparently has teleportation Powers that no one knew about."
"But I got this one," a voice nearby booms.
Travis turn to find Inherit gripping Speedy, who slumps unconscious on the ground. Inherit poses, looking as majestic as he can for the pigeon cameras that flap around him.
Right next to this, he spot Scoundel's unconscious body—Speedy must have taken her down before Inherit apprehended him. And as much as that's a good thing for the Mission, it's not great for his Team.
So he can't fight the stone of dread that drops into his stomach.