William sent another text message, tapping the letters on his cell phone with worried haste. Something was wrong. Claudia had said she'd be here in roughly twenty minutes, but it's been over half an hour. It wasn't like her to be late like this, especially not today. Something was wrong.
"Something wrong?"
William looked up to see Hendrick walking over. Like the rest of them, he wore the matching Spectre costume, mask off. "Has she not replied yet?" He asked. Does he have anything to do with this? William hoped not, else the fighting today will start early and he won't start with the Royals.
"No."
Hendrick was thoughtful for a moment, then he looked at his watch, his expression unreadable. Odd, William thought. He should be at least a little worried. If something kept Claudia, then it meant today's attack on Imperium will end in sure failure. "Shit." He said, though he showed little to no worry. "And it's almost time."
"Gotta say, Hendrick." Klaus said, coming to join the two, carrying that knowing smile of his. The rest of the team were talking amongst themselves, awaiting orders, at the other end of the rooftop. They had decided to rendezvous at the top of a nearby building close to Imperial Square, and with a good view of Imperium's front doors. Arlong and Narika were keeping watch for any suspicious Royal activity. Gavin and Sera - Army of One and Mermaid - the two superheroes who had decided to join Spectre in an attempt to actually make a difference, were discussing something with Orion. William's friend didn't like the idea of losing his ability, but soon realized that having one meant nothing unless you were a Royal. And being a Royal carried a negative stigma. There was another member of Spectre present for the upcoming fight, a man who Claudia had recruited alongside Zale. His name was Illio, and his ability was going to prove useful for William's infiltration.
Klaus dropped his smile when he looked at Hendrick. "You seemed annoyed by Claudia's delay, yet you do not seem surprised." He told him.
Hendrick frowned at the little man. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Klaus's smile returned and he shrugged. "I've done nothing to draw your suspicion, but that tone implies it's true." He sighed. "I have to admit, Hendrick, I didn't know you'd be capable of it."
Hendrick was visually getting annoyed now, William could tell. "Get to your point, Klaus." His normally calm demeanor was dropping.
After a long silence, where Klaus studied Hendrick by looking him up and down and then shaking his head in disbelief, he spoke again. "Fine, guess I'll have to spell it out. It's about time we address it anyway."
"Address what?" Hendrick said, crossing his arms across his chest. William had a vague suspicion of what Klaus was talking about. Claudia had suspected it too.
"Last night I received a message from one of my own. Wren. You've met him. He learned from Lady Ada that someone from Spectre had warned the Lord Ruler about our plans today. And because of that person, the Royals know we are coming. They know where and when we will strike. When I asked him who it was, he mentioned your name, Hendrick." Klaus paused to see Hendrick's reaction, which was a frown. Klaus smiled, then continued. "You betrayed us to the Royals." It wasn't a question, and William wasn't surprised to hear it. "We've known you'd get in our way eventually." Klaus added, "But this. Betraying us to our enemy like this. I did not expect it. Why did you do it? What could you possibly have to gain by alerting the Royals? I thought you wanted to overthrow the Lord Ruler and take his place. What changed?"
William was half expecting Hendrick to deny the accusation, but to his surprise, the man did not. "What changed?" Hendrick echoed, then gestured at William. "He. Lost."
"What?" William said.
"You lost to Heimdal." Hendrick said, "You were our ace. Our secret weapon against the Lord Ruler, if not to outright beat him, at least to hold him off so we could use his serum against him. But you got captured by Heimdal without so much as a fight. Spectre took a blow that day." Hendrick paused. "The Lord Ruler has been aware of our activities for days now, choosing to let us do as we please to take us down when the time was right to make an example. So I did what was best for our continued safety. I took their deal."
"The deal that Claudia declined at the warehouse." Klaus said. Hendrick nodded.
William felt his anger spike. His Aura ignited instinctively. "Hendrick, you…" His fist clenched beside him. Hendrick seemed to have noticed and ignited his own Aura, the golden fire came to life within his chest, spreading across his body. His arms fell to his side, and though he didn't show any signs of it, he was ready for a fight. A fight that William will gladly give him if anything happens to Claudia.
"Hold, Will." Klaus said, throwing a short hand in front of him. He turned to Hendrick. "What you did was shitty, but you're not the type of man to do such a thing without a plan. Wren also told me that you didn't reveal everything? You didn't tell them that we know how to take down the dome. You omitted that information, didn't you?"
"I did."
"Why"
"I wanted leverage."
"Well, at least your didn't fuck everything up." Klaus nodded at William. "So long as the Lord Ruler doesn't know what we're really after, we can still get to that room and kill Anna. The only downside is that the Royals are expecting us now. No doubt we'll lose a head on fight. But if you and I can sneak in, we could probably still do this."
William looked from Hendrick, frowning at the man, to Klaus, and nodded. "Fine, we'll–'' He said, but was quickly interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone. He took it out from his pocket and answered the call.
"Will, hey, can you hear me?" It was Jake speaking. There was worry in his voice. As well as exhaustion.
"Jake, what's wrong?" William said, "Where are you? Where's Claudia?"
"About that… We were ambushed by Beodulf. Claudia's fighting him now. Will… They know. Someone betrayed us. Someone told on us."
William held back another impulse to punch Hendrick, only frowned at him. "Yes, we know. Where are you? I'll come over."
"No, you can't." Klaus interjected.
"Klaus is right, Will." Hendrick said, "Leaving now is a bad idea. We need you here."
"You shut the fuck up, Hendrick." William said, a little too loud. The others on the roof looked over and came over. Arlong and Narika had their Aura's ignited, no doubt they'd been listening.
"Something the matter?" Orion said.
"Is it Claudia?" Sera asked.
"Kind of." William told them. "She's run into a bit of trouble. I'm going to go help her and come back. Then we'll-"
"Like I said," Klaus interjected, again. "You can't. We have to assume the Royals know about the plan. If you go, you leave us vulnerable. I'm not siding with Hendrick here, but we do need you here. Besides, if it's only Beodulf, I'm confident our boss lady will be more than enough to deal with the bastard. It is only Beodulf, right Jake?"
"Yes." Jake said. William put his cell phone on speaker mode and held it up for everyone to hear. "I tried to help but only got in her way. She said she'll deal with him. Just told me to warn you guys. Also, you said you knew who it was? Who is it?"
William and Klaus looked at Hendrick. Orion, Sera, Gavin, and the others followed their gaze, also looking at Hendrick, but in confusion. They didn't know. Hendrick shrugged.
"Ugh, guys." Illios said, pointing. He was looking down the building towards Imperium. "Is it just me, or is that Heimdal heading towards us, followed by a group of Elite Royals."
They followed his finger and saw it. Them. Heimdal was indeed heading towards the building they were at, looking up at the roof. Five Elite Royal guards walked behind him. Through Aura enhanced eyes, William noticed he was smiling. Damn it. William wanted to beat Hendrick up so badly right now. It took a lot to restrain himself. There was no point. Heimdal was a bigger threat.
William noticed Klaus's - along with the rest of them - ignited his Auras. The golden fires coming alive around him. William quickly chose his two starting abilities - Orion's, and Illios's - molding his Aura to mimic theirs, copying their powers. After further consideration, he also took Arlong's, knowing he'll be needing it. There was no other way to sneak into Imperium.
"Shit, what do we do?" Sera asked.
"Get ready for a fight." Hendrick said. He walked over to the edge of the roof, and waved at everyone. "Let's go meet them. Running will do us no good now." And he walked over the edge. Arlong and Narika followed him, jumping down the building, Arlong turning invisible as he did so. Klaus followed after a pause. Orion and Sera looked to William for confirmation. He nodded. They jumped. Gavin was last, but William stopped the old man with a raised hand. "You wait here. When the fighting starts, use your ability and send your clones to distract."
"Alright."
William nodded, then jumped down. He hit the ground with a thud, the Aura enhancing the strength of his legs. The concrete cracked a little beneath his weight. He followed Hendrick and the others towards Imperial Square. To meet Heimdal and his Elites head on. The few people that were walking by the square quickly dispersed after noticing Spectre's costumes and realizing that there was a good chance a fight was about to take place. There were a few Royals among them, they ignited their Auras, but still decided to get away after seeing Heimdal and his Elites. When they reached Heimdal, Imperial Square was mostly empty. William noticed a few Royals hiding behind some buildings nearby by their Ignited Auras.
The two groups stood face to face in the middle of the square, all of their Auras ignited, Royals and Spectres. Heimdal and Hendrick stood at the center of their respective groups, both staring, measuring their opponent's strength.
William and Klaus stood on either side of Hendrick, William readying himself for the fight. He was the only one who could hold Heimdal at bay when the fighting starts, so he copied the man's ability. Four abilities. This was the maximum William could hold. Four powers. He could probably fit in a fifth, but that would surely put strain on his Aura.
"The Lord Ruler has given you two options today." Heimdal said, looking at each member of Spectre one by one. His gaze lingered on William for a few seconds, a smile forming on his lips, before moving on. "Fight us, and when you lose, you will all be stripped of your abilities. Or surrender, in which case, only a few of you will have your powers stripped. Either way, your rebellion ends today." He paused, gazing over them again. "And mind you, the only reason this choice is available is because out of all the rebel groups, you, Spectre, have made it the furthest. Your strength was shown when you won a battle against a Royal Knight. But all that ends today. So… Which will it be? Surrender or fight?"
Needless to say, they chose to fight.