The Legion of Nothing 2: Powers: The Legion of Nothing, #2

By Jim Zoetewey

Last fall, Nick and his friends restarted their grandparents' superhero team, taking down their city's mayor and a conspiracy in the process. With the conspiracy's formula for granting superpowers in the hands of the government, and the conspiracy nearly destroyed, there shouldn't be much to worry about. 

Now though, the newly reformed Heroes' League has learned that an assassin who specializes in killing supers has been sighted near Grand Lake. Worse, he's been sighted near Nick's girlfriend's family cottage. 

Between a man who is willing to kill them all, and a formula that might not be as secret as they'd hope, life is about to get complicated.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jim Zoetewey
• Release date: Feb 22, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524241124

Book preview

The Legion of Nothing:

Powers

Copyright © 2016 Jim Zoetewey

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-926959-38-2

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to reality is entirely coincidental.

For the record, if reality ever resembles this book, reality has gotten stranger than I’d ever expected.

Editor: A. M. Harte

Copy Editor: Erin Cooley

Cover Art: Natasha Dichpan

Interior Illustrations: Ed Heil

Legion of Nothing Logo: MCM

Publisher: Legionverse, an imprint of 1889 Labs

To my Dad, James M. Zoetewey (1938-2013), remembering all that you were, and in so many ways still are.

To Roger Zelazny (1937- 1995), whose work influenced me in more ways than I’m likely aware.

To my family, who continue to put up with me.

The Legion of Nothing:

Powers

Jim Zoetewey

Illustration 1: Nick in the lab

Chapter One

Colors from the TV screen played across the grey, concrete walls. Ominous music underscored the words, The Cabal: Caught or Hidden? The reporter talked about how all over the country, supers were catching members of the group we'd fought during most of the fall.

I'd been watching it on and off during the procedure. It was weird being part of a story that had its own theme song—loosely part of it, that is. The adults had taken it over.

Kayla frowned as she watched the words float across the screen, but then turned toward Daniel and said, It’s done? That’s it?

Daniel stepped back. I’m done.

Kayla shook her head and tried to get out of her chair, using the table next to it for support. It wobbled, making everything on the table—tools, computer chips, chassis for mini-robots, and what looked like a Guitar Hero controller—wobble along with it. My heart skipped a beat.

As she stood, she shook her head. Now I feel it.

Cassie reached out and gave her a hug. Hey, at least we can finally talk again. I’m so sick of not being able to tell you what’s going on.

We were in the headquarters of the Heroes' League, the superhero organization our grandparents founded and that we’d brought back—sort of. Specifically, we were in my lab—which had been my grandfather’s lab.

It looked exactly like you might expect. Computer screens, keyboards, and a TV screen rested on a counter that ran down one wall. Versions of the Rocket suit, the powered armor of my grandfather’s superhero identity, stood near the back of the room, and lay in pieces on shelves, the floor, and on tables.

I stood next to the counter, leaning with my back to it.

When Cassie let go, Kayla asked, So can I stay for the meeting?

Cassie said, It’s not really a meeting—not an official team meeting, anyway. I don’t see why not. She grinned, happy about being able to pull Kayla in to this somehow.

They looked a little like sisters—except that Cassie was pale and blond while Kayla was taller, dark-haired, and olive skinned. The sisterly part came less from appearance than attitude, and how comfortable they were with each other. They’d been friends as long as I could remember—and I’d known Cassie as long as I had Daniel, about as long as I’d been alive.

I thought at Daniel, Is there any way you could convince Cassie that Kayla shouldn’t stay?

Daniel heard me, of course. Reading minds was his thing.

Aloud, he said, The block’s going to be more effective the less Kayla knows. It’ll stop a telepath from casually noticing what she knows, and it’ll stop her from telling our secrets accidentally, but it won’t stop a deep probe. It’s not like what I did to Nick.

He’d installed that block without telling me. It had saved us all, but I hadn’t been happy.

The best protection we’ve got, he continued, is if she doesn’t know too much.

Cassie frowned. Shouldn’t we all get what Nick got?

Daniel shook his head. No. Any telepath that looks at Nick will notice something odd about his brain. They won’t notice anything about Kayla. The best thing we can do is keep meddling to the bare minimum.

Kayla looked from Cassie to Daniel. I don’t want to cause problems. I think I should go.

Daniel smiled at her. We don’t want you to go. We just want you to be safe, and the less you know, the safer you are for now. I’ll let you know if I figure out how to make a solid shield that’s also hidden, OK?

Kayla blushed.

That wasn’t unusual either. Daniel had that effect on a lot of girls. I’d sometimes wondered if it was some kind of latent effect from telepathy, but since it happened when he was out of costume, evidence leaned more in the direction of him being literally tall, dark, and handsome.

He was—though more in a baby-faced way than rugged good looks.

Kayla stepped toward the doorway. Talk to you later, Cassie. And thanks, everybody.

And then she left.

It felt a little weird. Our grandparents had protected their children and grandchildren (us!) with similar blocks, but they hadn’t given them a choice.

We’d given Kayla a choice, but it still didn’t quite feel right. I stepped away from the counter and stood next to Daniel.

Reading my mind, Daniel said, She’s fine with it.

I know. It still doesn’t feel… moral.

I don’t know, Daniel said. It feels right to me. She had a choice. She knew what was going to happen. It didn’t change her memory, so she can remember everything that happened to her. Really, I think we did the best thing we could while still protecting our identities.

Cassie rolled her eyes. Let’s not go through this again. Once was enough. Anyway, Nick, you agreed.

I did. I still didn’t like it.

No, Cassie said, but we can talk now. I feel like I spent the last few months lying to her, and she’s my best friend. You can talk to Daniel, but who am I supposed to talk to?

Well, there’s a bunch of us in the League. Haley, for example— I began.

Cassie interrupted. Is your girlfriend. Jaclyn and I don’t always get along. Vaughn and I are friends, but there’s history… And everyone else, well, they’re not Kayla, OK? You can’t substitute people in and out.

I know, I said. I just don’t like messing with people’s heads.

I get that! Cassie's voice rose. But if you keep on lying about what you’re doing, you lose your friends.

I know, I said and searched for more words. I didn’t want to argue, and anyway, the decision had been made.

You know where we’re going to end up if we don’t watch out? Cassie began to pace. We’ll end up living in one of the hero team compounds and not knowing anyone who doesn’t have powers. I mean, seriously, I saw a news article where some guy—I think his name was Paladin? Anyway, his real name’s Alex, and he grew up in whatever gated community the South California Defenders use. He trashed a hotel room in Washington D.C. while he was there.

Alex? I said.

Daniel talked over me. I don’t know if you can blame that all on him. It sounded like there might have been extenuating circumstances.

Yeah? Cassie folded her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow.

There’s a reason they live in gated communities. When you tell everyone who you are, you’re a target. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone had targeted him.

You don’t think he was just making that up?

Daniel looked over at me. I don’t know. I’ve never met Alex. Nick?

Cassie turned toward me, confused.

I haven’t seen him in years, I said. But I’m going to visit him during spring vacation. My dad’s appearing at a convention for psychologists there. So I’m either visiting Alex or manning Dad’s book table, and visiting sounds like more fun.

Cassie shrugged. Fine. We’ll say Alex is decent, but that wasn’t my point. A lot of those supers in the 70s decided they were going to tell the world who they were, and all it got them was life behind a wall of security guards.

A lot of them got rich, I said. Really, they mostly ended up as celebrities.

"Look, all I’m saying is that this is better. Kayla’s protected and we’re protected, and we’ve got a wall between our normal lives and hero stuff."

A new voice joined the conversation. Speaking quietly, Haley said, I didn’t know you knew people in the Defenders.

I didn’t jump, but I could have. I did make a noise, more releasing a breath than anything else.

She smiled up at me. She’d done it completely intentionally, an example of the kind of humor she shared with her older brother, Travis (also a member of our team).

Haley was almost a foot shorter than me. She had a sprinkling of freckles, brown eyes, and shoulder-length brown hair. Unlike Cassie, who perpetually seemed to wear a hoodie and jeans, Haley wore a green blouse in a style that I was pretty sure was popular. I’d seen it on girls in my high school, anyway.

After all the craziness that happened last fall—reforming our grandparents’ superhero team and fighting the mayor—we’d started dating. As of now, a month later, it was my longest dating relationship by default, since she was the first person I'd ever dated.

Things weren’t perfect, but we were figuring things out.

She stood next to me, close enough that I could feel her heat. I considered reaching out and putting my arm around her shoulder, or maybe her waist. Was I allowed to do that?

I decided that putting my arm around her waist might be a little too much PDA and put my arm around her shoulder.

She leaned into me and wrapped her arm around my waist, making me very conscious of the warmth of her chest where it touched mine.

Oh God, Cassie muttered.

I don’t know a lot of people in the Defenders, I said. Just Alex, and I know him because Grandpa worked on his dad’s equipment after retiring. Preserver would bring Alex, and we’d play while they talked. I haven’t seen him in years.

So, Cassie said, is anybody else coming?

Travis and Marcus are working, Haley said. Her extended family owned Italian restaurants all over town. With Travis being her brother, and Marcus her cousin, at least one of the three of them seemed to be working any time we tried to meet.

Cassie frowned. What about Jaclyn?

Daniel and I looked at each other. Daniel said, She’s got a school thing.

Cassie’s jaw dropped. On Saturday night?

She’s on the debate team, I said. I think they’re driving back from Ann Arbor.

Cassie shook her head. Jaclyn could have easily run back at nearly the speed of sound.

OK, she said, why don’t we all sit down and get this started? She sat on stool, signing in to one of the computers on the counter, and waved us toward the chairs.

I pulled a chair away from the nearest table. Where’s Vaughn?

Cassie sighed. He’s been trying to keep his parents happy for a change. And since blocks don’t work on his mom, that means not showing up here.

I sat down, and Haley took the chair next to mine. Daniel took a seat across from both of us. There wasn’t much on this table—tools and the Guitar Hero controller that I’d taken apart and was reassembling with more durable parts and some major modifications.

The original idea had been a nuclear-powered attack guitar, but to my disappointment, I’d decided to use power cells instead. It was undoubtedly wiser, but decidedly less cool.

Haley glanced nervously at the Guitar Hero controller pieces. I’d told her about the original power source, but not my change in plans.

So there’s only half of us, Cassie began, but that’s OK. We can tell everybody later, and they’ll wish they’d been here because this is awesome. Look at this.

She clicked a few times with a mouse, and soon we were looking at a picture of the city of Grand Lake as well as the countryside around it.

The city of Grand Lake surrounded Grand Lake itself, and Grand Lake connected to Lake Michigan by a short channel.

A number of colored dots appeared on the map. Most appeared around Lake Michigan’s shore, north of Grand Lake. A few appeared near the city, and a few more appeared by the airport.

Cassie pointed at the screen. Get this. You know how we’ve got access to data about supervillians that the Feds and heroes share? Well, Technomage thinks he’s found the Executioner.

Haley crinkled her nose. Who’s that?

I didn’t know either.

He’s terrifying, Cassie said, sounding more excited than scared. Well, assuming it’s a guy. No one really knows anything. He might be male, but might not. All anyone knows is that you hire the Executioner to kill superheroes, but he doesn’t just kill them: he kills their friends and family first.

Daniel nodded. My dad’s mentioned him. He thinks it’s someone with a grudge. When you kill someone like that, you’re trying to make them as miserable as possible before they die.

Right. Cassie pointed at the colored spots. I don’t know how Technomage did it, but he’s pretty sure that these are locations where the Executioner used a cell phone. It looks like he’s been coming to Grand Lake for the last four years—always for Christmas, but sometimes in the summer, too.

Haley frowned. And no one’s died?

Cassie nodded. Exactly. They think he’s coming here on vacation.

Haley winced. Could you zoom in on the spots north of town?

Cassie grinned and clicked with the mouse, zooming in enough that the picture changed from an aerial view of Lake Michigan and the city of Grand Lake to a view of a few blocks’ worth of houses, each one individually visible along with the trees.

The pictures had to have been taken during the summer because the dunes were green with beach grass and all the trees had leaves.

If it had been a recent picture, it would only have showed bare trees and white snow.

Colored boxes showing times and dates sprinkled the screen.

That cottage, Haley said, pointing at one that overlooked the beach, that’s my family’s.

A blue box appeared near the cottage’s driveway. It listed the time as 16:36 on December 23 of last year.

I checked the dates on all the boxes nearby; almost all of them seemed to be from around Christmas—with a few exceptions in August.

They seemed to center around her cottage’s neighborhood—which was interesting in a lot of ways. First off, the cottages right next to the lake were more expensive to own, and more in demand to rent. Second, the dates totally supported the idea that it might be the Executioner’s vacation spot.

Haley stared at the screen, holding her hand over her mouth. This is awful. He's been around for years.

Cassie nodded. That’s what I said.

Haley took her hand away from her mouth. "You don’t get what I mean. My family. My whole family, I mean. My cousins and everybody who happens to be around Grand Lake goes to the cottage for Christmas. Christmas Eve and Day are just us, but everybody in the neighborhood comes by on Christmas night."

She pursed her lips, and then said. Look, if he’s been visiting for the last four years, I might know him.

Wow, Cassie said, that’s great. If you recognize his scent, that’d be incredible. We’ll crack this before anyone.

Haley shook her head. "That’s not it. It’s great if I recognize him, but what if he recognizes me in costume? My entire family could die. We should tell Agent Lim and let the FBI handle it."

Cassie shook her head. They’re already on it. They’re setting things up now, but they’re waiting for Christmas since that’s when they know the Executioner will be here.

Haley looked from Cassie to Daniel and me. Did you know about this?

I began to say, No, while Daniel said, I heard Cassie thinking about—

Haley wasn’t waiting for the answer, though. I should tell my parents something and get them to cancel.

Daniel nodded, but said, You should, but the Feds won’t want you to do that. It might tip the Executioner off. Plus, it’ll be near impossible because of the old League’s block.

He was right. I’d tried to tell my parents that I was the Rocket and what we’d been doing, but they’d completely ignored it.

Haley’s eyes narrowed, and she exhaled. "That is so frustrating. I hate the block. It’s worse than if they didn’t have it."

Well, Daniel, we don’t know how many telepaths they’ve run into. Like Mayor Bouman last year? If they’d met him in the wrong moment, we might have lost everything. But with the block—

"OK. OK. I get it. She got up. I’m going to get some air."

I felt like I should say something. We weren’t done. If we were actually going to go after the Executioner, we needed a plan.

I managed an, Um…

Given that Haley’s hearing was good enough to hear people’s heartbeats from across the room, she had to have heard me, but that didn’t stop her from leaving.

You’d think Daniel could have anticipated her response.

Sorry, Daniel said in my head. In most futures that went better. You probably ought to follow her out.

I got off my chair and walked after her.

The main room of the Heroes' League headquarters was the size of a basketball court and filled with the detritus of forty years’ worth of crime fighting. Trophy cases packed with awards and captured weapons were scattered randomly through the room. More hung on the walls, and a pile of cardboard boxes held even more.

I found her standing in front of what looked like a chrome-covered electric chair with black seat cushions and leather straps. It stood in front of the pile of boxes.

It was called the power impregnator. However goofy the name, the machine had given Vaughn his powers and made his grandfather’s powers permanent.

I heard you coming. She looked up at me with a slight frown.

Are you OK? I asked.

No, she said, and for a second I thought she might walk away again. "It’s different for them. Both of Daniel’s parents are telepaths, so they’re not blocked. Cassie’s mom works for the government, so she’s not blocked either. Our parents can’t protect themselves, and we can’t even tell them what to watch out for."

The corners of her eyes were wet. She wasn’t crying, but I imagined she could.

I know, I said. At least we won’t be totally alone this time. With the mayor, the FBI couldn’t help because he’d gotten to people, but it sounds like they’re already on this. If we make sure they know about your family’s party, maybe they’ll have people there. Better yet, maybe that’ll scare the Executioner off.

Haley frowned, and I wondered if I’d said something wrong, except then I heard Daniel’s voice in my head.

It’s not you, it’s me.

I looked behind me to see Daniel and Cassie walking up.

Daniel stopped next to the silvery chair, his face reflected in the metal. It’s not just the FBI. Protection Force is targeting the Executioner, too.

Protection Force? Haley sounded doubtful. The ones that sell advertising on their uniforms?

That does look dumb, Cassie said, but I’ve always heard they’re competent.

Daniel nodded. Me too, and I hear they’re sending in one of their big guns.

That was good news, but I wondered if they realized what they were getting in to.

Chapter Two

Let’s get on with it, Cassie said.

We sat in her mom’s car on Herrick Street on the north side of Grand Lake. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t in Grand Lake itself. The road ran north-south, parallel to the shore. Homes lay on either side of it, some of them cottages in name but larger than my parents’ house.

The piles of snow on either side of the road nearly rose to the height of the car, leaving many of the mailboxes partially buried. The plowed driveways were in the same state as the road—the ones that had been plowed looked like a good wind could fill them in a moment.

Small snowflakes blew across the road in a mist-like cloud.

Off to the left, I could see Lake Michigan past the dunes. Off to the right, the houses stood surrounded by evergreens and a mix of trees that had long since lost their leaves.

How far do we have to go?

About a mile. When Daniel and I came through last night, he said that he could sense danger associated with the Executioner until he got around here. After that he couldn’t get a good reading.

So something’s interfering with his abilities. That’s bad.

Cassie shrugged. From what I read, the Executioner takes the obvious precautions. In Grand Lake, you’d better prepare to avoid Daniel or his dad.

With a sinking feeling, I pulled the magazine order forms out of my backpack, wondering what the obvious precautions against me were.

Cassie opened the door and stepped out of the car. I did the same.

I opened the door into a snow bank, and when my boot hit the ground, snow fell inside.

So this is for band? I asked, watching my breath cloud the air.

They want to buy new uniforms, Cassie said. Between volleyball and this kind of thing, I’ve been too busy to do much. I figured we could kill two birds with one stone.

Great, I said.

So that was the plan: we were going to tromp down the driveway of every house for the next mile or so, knock on the doors and look for clues. If someone answered the door, we would be selling magazine subscriptions. If no one did, we’d look through the windows, hoping to notice any exotic weaponry or dead bodies they might have hidden inside.

Cassie and I planned to walk together, figuring that the buddy system had its place when searching for a professional killer.

In case we got in to trouble, Marcus and Travis were waiting in the family cottage. It had turned out to be within the area protected from Daniel’s abilities.

We’d placed everyone on alert and brought our tracking devices just in case we needed help.

We needn’t have bothered.

Almost half the driveways hadn’t been plowed since the snow started falling. We trudged down the first two, but by the third we’d agreed that the Executioner would probably plow his driveway—especially if the driveway were more than one hundred feet long.

Most likely the houses’ owners lived in Chicago’s suburbs and came up for the summer.

Over the next hour and a half we walked down the road, stopping only at the houses where we could see a hint of occupancy—footprints, plowed driveways, mail in the mailbox, lights, anything.

Near the end of the road, just a couple houses away from Haley’s family cottage, Cassie said, This one. I bet it’s this one.

Why?

It’s all perfect, but it still doesn’t look like anyone lives here.

She had a point.

We stood at the front door of a big, brown, brick house. It couldn’t have been more than two years old with a wide lot, a three-stall garage, and a long, wide driveway.

The driveway had been plowed, probably by a service. The area in front of the front door had to have been shoveled straight down to the concrete immediately after it had snowed.

I couldn’t see even a hint of frozen footprints. Houses that people actually use can’t avoid them.

I’ll go up to the front door, Cassie said. You… stand behind me and be ready to blast him.

I had the stealth suit on under my street clothes, sonic systems all warmed up. I could feel warmth under my forearms.

She knocked just under the Christmas wreath.

The door didn’t open.

Let’s circle around and look through the windows. Did you bring the roachbots along?

You didn’t ask me to, I said.

She gave me a look.

Anyway, even though this weather definitely solves the overheating problem, they don’t do well with ice and when it comes to snow—

Cassie had already jumped over the short brick wall that jutted out from the house on the right side of the walk. Got it, she said, they don’t work in snow. Good enough.

We worked our way around the house, stopping to look through windows.

Whoever lived here had money—big television, big stereo, big speakers, a hot tub, a room full of exercise equipment…

It has to be him, Cassie said. Did you see all that equipment? He’s got better stuff than the high school.

Could be, I said.

Somehow I’d gotten ahead of her. As we came around the back corner and started moving up the side to the driveway, a woman’s voice shouted, Hey, what are you kids doing over there?

I turned toward the voice.

The house between where we were and Haley’s family’s didn’t quite meet the same standard. White with chipped wooden siding and easily a century old, it sat on a small lot with a couple bare-limbed trees. A blue pickup truck and a rusty, red Honda Civic sat in the driveway. I didn’t see a garage.

A red-haired woman in a thick, green jacket shouted at us, I said, what do you think you’re doing over there?

Checking if anyone’s home, I said. We’re selling magazines. Would you be interested in… um… ‘Good Housekeeping’?

* * *

Haley’s family’s cottage turned out to be half again the size of my parents’ house. Two stories tall, it extended down the Lake Michigan side of the dune.

Cassie and I waited on the wide wooden porch.

Marcus opened the door and let us in. Come on in. So did you find him?

About my height, Marcus was Haley’s and Jaclyn’s cousin. He had a hint of Travis’ square jaw, but the brown skin and tightly-curled hair of Jaclyn’s side of the family.

He was wearing jeans and a Spiderman t-shirt.

He led us into a living room that seemed to take up half the first floor, stopping at a pile of boxes. The nearest had the words Christmas Tree written on it in black marker. Travis sat on one of the three couches, watching ESPN on the big screen television.

Hey, Travis said, waving at