A producer's voice rings through the PA system, interrupting his thoughts. "Inherit, can you give another rundown of the Mission? We need a clean take."
"You got it," Inherit says, flashing a wink and a smile. Travis wishes he could steal an eye roll with Jenny, but it's not like he could see anything underneath her Null faceplate anyway.
"As we've all seen, intelligence gathered from the captured NewOrder member known as Speedy has given us a location for Phobus's top-secret base of operations. We are currently en route to attempt a capture."
"And what is our Team tasked with specifically?" Jury cuts in, never missing an opportunity to steal the spotlight.
"Our primary objective is capturing Phobus, while Team Two is tasked with capturing all supporting NewOrder members. We are cleared to act as solo heroes or as a unit as deemed necessary. We're not sure that Phobus will still be there, but we're hoping that he thinks Speedy's psychic defenses held up and he believes his base is still secure. However, our secondary directive is to gather as much evidence as possible."
"A-List tasks for an A-List team," Jury boasts, crossing his arms across his puffed-up chest. "Well, mostly," he finishes, settling his eyes on Travis.
Travis opens his mouth to zing back, but notice that everyone else has turned to look out of their nearest window. He turns and sees why they've grown silent— they've begun to approach Phobus's headquarters…
Which is an enormous abandoned castle.
The castle is equally majestic and decrepit—it's set in the middle of a misty, brownish lake and stands as a tower of crumbling brick and caved-in walls. It was probably once a prized estate with a sizable staff, but now it sits in squalor.
The castle seems like the perfect hideout, since it is not only huge and empty, but is also in very close proximity to the Big Sur area where Veta's Death Wave hits. The surrounding area has been filled with toxic nuclear fallout and has been publicly condemned ever since.
He feels a chill run through his body as he sees the castle and forces himself to close his eyes. This is the kind of thing he had nightmares about, ever since Veta came into his life. But right now, he's freaked out because It was a part of the Death Wave that made this wasteland.
"Time to suit up," Inherit says, unbuckling his belt.
Since the air here is compromised, they've all been issued sleek hazmat suits (except for Null, whose costume already protects against biohazards). Each suit is emblazoned with The Hero Project logo, but also customized for each hero. Travis suit is in his costume color scheme and has a silvered ring positioned in the middle, so that viewers can tell who he is.
"I just want to remind everyone that this could be the biggest Mission of our respective careers," Inherit says, paying particular attention to the camera beside him. "Whether any of us end up winning this show or not, being the heroes that bring in Phobus will mean quite a bit. Something tells me we will humbly remember this day for the rest of our lives."
"Or we'll all die," The Crush says, breaking his silence for the first time this entire ride. "This may be a 3V show, but let's not forget these people are ruthless killers."
"Takes one to know one," Jury whispers loud enough for The Crush to hear.
After that, a tense silence falls over the Transport.
For all their bravado, these "heroes" are right—this is a big Mission. Millions of lives could be hanging in the balance, depending on their success here.
Steeling himself, all he can think is here goes everything.
Fifteen minutes later....
After helping The Crush airlift Team One onto the borderlands of the castle grounds, Travis has to remind himself to breathe.
Though he shouldn't be this nervous—his Hero Project suits are configured to protect him from any potential sensors, so anyone on the island shouldn't be able to see him coming. And even though the cameras are under strict instructions not to record them, there are hundreds of SWAT agents surrounding the island perimeter to assist with the Mission. While The Hero Project Final 12 has been tasked with taking points, the government isn't taking any chances, at the same time.
Still, despite these extra defenses, creeping along the damp perimeter sends a shiver through his bones.
"Now is not the time or place," The Crush says, and the sound of his voice sends a jolt through his body. "But I would like for us to talk soon, while we're both still here."
Every instinct is screaming at him to stay away from The Crush. He wasn't even born when The Crush committed his unthinkable crimes, but he has read all about them—he's a cultish gang leader in his own right, just like Phobus or Smyther.
But he knows what Jenny would say if she could—find out everything he can. "We'll see."
The Crush turns and Travis can feel the gaze piercing him. The Crush creased brown skin seems to course with Power underneath the suit—Travis bet The Crush could kill with a flick of his finger, if he wanted….
"You two save the Hazard talk for later," Jury hisses at Travis from his leading point beside Inherit.
A flash of anger runs through him, though he knows that Jury is probably just taking his anger out on him after voting against his alliance.
"Don't ever talk to me like—"
But suddenly an explosion rocks the island, one Travis immediately recognize as one of Lucky's bodyquakes. And then the sound of screams and blows fill the air. Team Two must be battling someone….
"I can't get anything on the comms," Inherit shouts. "Phobus must have something jamming communications on the island, which means we're on our own here."
"I can see through Black Magic's eyes," Jury says, holding a finger to his blond head and closing his eyes. "They're fighting some kind of robot army. And I think I can make out Little Jagged! They're on the other end of the island."
Inherit is about to bark out orders, but Travis has already decided what he's going to do.
Especially after H-Chip Aphrodite's Warning System activated with a tip: "Your best bet is to stay in character, honey dew. Werk that strategy!"
"Gravitate and Crush, scan the perimeter to make sure no one escapes," Inherit shouts, taking off towards the sounds of the melee. "Everyone else, follow me!"
Not wasting a second, he ignore Inherit's orders and fly ahead of him, towards the battle. He's not following some half-baked orders concocted to put him at a potential Leaderboard disadvantage.
As he approach the scene, it's chaos. He sees Black Magic and Asrid back to back, fending off a cadre of robotic drones. Black Magic curses them to explode with black energy, while Asrid fries them with colorful laser-light blasts.
On a nearby cliff, Sky stands guard over a block of ice, which appears to have Little Jagged trapped inside. Further up the cliff, Lucky stands with energy coursing across her body from a recent limbomb, right next to Bearcat, whose enormous muscles ripple in anticipation. They appear to be at a stand off with…
Scoundel?
What the heck is she doing here? And why is she holding Shula's limp body, turkey-claws to her throat?
Travis flies with the rest of Team One, ready to engage the battle, when he hear The Crush screaming from behind him.
"We have to go, now!" he shouts. "It's all rigged to explode!"
Travis spin around to see The Crush flying out of the castle, a bundle of papers in his hand. He's about to ask what he's talking about when the castle grounds begin to explode in a succession of fireballs.
Back on the battlefield, he watches as Little Jagged suddenly seizes her moment—she cuts her way out of Sky's ice block with her skin-razors and makes a break for Scoundel.
Asrid tries to shoot her down with a laser-blast, but Little Jagged dodges under it, then leaps into the air to flip over Lucky's head. Before anyone can react, Little Jagged has her arm around Scoundel, who drops her hostage.
And next thing Travis know, both of them disappear into a fiery reflective haze.
What the hell? The entire one-mile radius surrounding the island is blocked for all known teleportation frequencies. How could Little Jagged have possibly activated her teleportation Powers through that?
It's a thought that has to wait, however, as the entire island begins to go up in flames around all of The Hero Project Finalists.
"Gravitate," Inherit shouts and Travis can barely hear his voice over the explosion blasts. "Use your Unique Powers to get us all out of here!"
This is all happening so fast, Travis head is spinning. He knows the risks of using his Unique Powers and this is the first time he has been called upon to use them….
"No need to remind me that!" Travis shout.
Without thinking twice, he generates the strongest energy shield he ever attempted, using an atomic spark. The black energy encases The Finalists on the ground, so he then focus on eliminating the gravity around the energy bubble.
It takes all of his concentration to maintain the effect, but he lifts the Finalists above the explosions just in time.
Then his head feels like it splits in two.
For a second the world goes black and he can hear himself screaming. But he somehow forced himself to stay afloat and open his eyes. He sees that his energy bubble has begun to drop and dissipate—slugger!
"I've got them lifted, just maintain the shield," The Crush says in his hushed voice, hovering beside Travis. "No one will know the difference."
Travis nods, pouring all of his focus into the shield. That was a very close call—if it weren't for The Crush…
And as The Hero Project Final 12 all hangs in the air, he can't help but stare at the balls of flame erupting at his feet and wonder.
Whose head is going to roll for this?
Just as he maintained the shield, he saw some kind of black goo expanding under all the rubble. The black goo suddenly expands lifting all the rubble, one of the black goo's spikes pierce through the concrete where the Final 12 is standing.
"What the hell is that?" Null says, walking close to the spike.
"It looks like a hardened resin." Lucky interject.
Inherit touches the spike but his hands go through it. "Wait this is not a resin, this is a shadow."
"And there's only one person I know that can use or control a shadow. It's–" The Crush stopped talking as he heard a man laughing.
"Now... now... what a reunion..."
All the Final 12 turns around and says all at the same time. "You are–"