Fic: He Blinded Me With Science
Title: He Blinded Me With Science
Genre: Superhero verse, Action
Rating: PG
Summary: Nicholas Barnes, a.k.a the Cobra and the Septima City superhero league stage a takeover of Galagor's villainous lair and find themselves rescued by a prisoner in the holding facility.
Notes: This is a companion piece set before the events of Making Tea For Superman and was written for sundaysnuggles. Partially inspired by grimmsical's superhero verse Negative Space and Kurt Busiek's Astro City.
"Are you kidding me with these henchmen?" Barnes shouted and crouched down behind the remnants of a wall as a few lucky shots landed close to his head. "I didn't think Galagor had the super-villain budget."
"They're surprisingly competent for redshirts, sir," Strike called out from behind her own pile of rubble.
"Thank you for your analysis, Strike," Centurion replied. Barnes wondered if he actually had a sense of humour or if it had been genetically modified by his superhero gene at birth.
They all covered their heads as an explosion rattled the hallway and sent pieces of ceiling raining down on top of them. Their invasion of Galagor's villainous lair was off to a terrible start. It had only been luck that a whistleblower had told them Galagor's alter ego was the CEO of NeoTech Engineering, and the Septima City supers had rushed into his penthouse lair without a plan.
Not the time for Star Trek jokes, Barnes replied. The superhero telepathy link was damn useful. As long as the transmitter aboard their floating megaship was broadcasting, they could talk to any super within the city limits. What's the plan, fearless leader?
Centurion nodded. Strike should have enough energy reserves to send out a pulse and incapacitate them.
They felt Strike warm up. It sent a warm tingling wave down the hallway, and the henchmen paused as if they knew what was coming. Are we the only other people on this floor? she asked.
Yes, Centurion said. This floor is a prisoner holding facility. Gadgeteer assured me it was empty though we should attempt to locate the whistleblower, Steven Mueller-
Cobra, give me some cover fire, Strike interrupted. Centurion could go on for hours if he went unchecked. Barnes guessed that was why he worked best with hotheads like Strike and him.
Can do, sweetheart. Barnes sprang up from behind the fallen piece of wall with his laser pistol up. He squeezed the trigger and heard it go bzzt-bzzt and then bwomp. All the lights in the pistol went dead.
"Fuck," Barnes swore and dove back behind the wall. Okay, new plan. We retreat down the hallway.
Centurion frowned. What's there?
Hell if I know, Barnes replied.
Good plan, Strike agreed and pointed at the ceiling. Get ready to run.
She sent out a pulse at a fraction of her strength, but it sent the remaining ceiling tiles crashing down. The henchmen stopped firing for a moment to dive to the floor, and the three of them took the opportunity to retreat through the next set of hall doors.
Barnes slammed them shut, and Strike sent out a weak pulse to fuse the doors together. Centurion's nose flared at the sudden sharp smell of hot metal. "Right," he said. "Now-"
Something behind them exploded, and Barnes turned around to see a door shoot across the hall. A man emerged from the cloud of smoke like an action figure in a Hollywood blockbuster. Barnes was impressed in spite of himself.
Then the man coughed and waved a hand. "Uh, hello?"
Some of the smoke cleared, and Barnes could see him more clearly. He was wearing a plaid button up shirt and khakis with an incongruous employee badge clipped to his belt. The clothes looked considerably worse for the wear. The man's sleeves were torn, and his arms were striped with lacerations.
Strike held up a hand, and the air around her hummed. "Sir?"
"We are the Septima City super league. Identify yourself or be shot," Centurion barked.
The man's hands went up. "Don’t shoot! I'm the whistleblower!" he said. "Steven Mueller. I-" He dropped his arms. "Wait, aren't you supposed to be rescuing me?"
"Working on it," Barnes said and held up his gun. "But this thing is busted."
"Let me see." Mueller stepped close to tinker with it. Barnes stared at the top of Mueller's dark head as he bent close over the gun, his quick competent fingers taking apart the digital firing control. He smelled like smoke and electricity, and the light stubble across his cheeks suggested he had been held prisoner for a few days.
"So, uh." Barnes swallowed and exchanged looks with Strike, who shrugged. "You're Steven Mueller."
"Yes. I have my…" Mueller touched his badge and snorted. "Well, there's not much left of it, I'm afraid."
Barnes saw that it had been shattered into a very keen point. "What happened?"
"I used it to break out of my holding cell," Mueller said coolly as if he did it every day. "Guess my boss forgot I'm the engineer who built this stuff."
"Are you sure you’re not a superhero?" Barnes asked.
Mueller put the gun back together with a click and smiled up at Barnes. His eyes were dark and intense. "Try that."
Barnes's brain shut down. "Uh."
Mueller reached around him to pull a control unit out of the wall. There was a communications array inside. "Okay, on my mark, guys." He pushed one of the buttons, and a screech of feedback echoed from the ceiling speakers overhead.
"What is he doing?" Centurion snapped.
"Hi, boss," Mueller said gleefully. His voice boomed throughout the building. "I quit." He pulled something out of the control panel, and the hallway went dark. "Fire!"
Barnes pulled the trigger, and the doors disappeared. Before he could process that, Strike sent a pulse of energy ricocheting away. The hall crackled with red light, and Barnes turned to find Mueller grinning. Barnes couldn't look away because shit, engineers didn't have a right to be that hot. Mueller had a cut over one eyebrow and a long smear of grease across his nose, and he was the sexiest thing Barnes had ever seen. He wondered what Mueller was doing later.
"Go!" Strike shouted, and they ran.
"Who is this guy?" Barnes hissed at Centurion as they all rushed into the stairwell. "Can we hire him?"
"Hey!" Mueller shouted from the next floor. "I broke into the armoury."
"Absolutely," Centurion replied.