The darkness pulled at her sleeve like a hungry two year old. The sound of arguing two rooms over was drowned out by the escalating sound of her beating heart. A wave of vertigo swept over Namie crippling her. Clutching her head, she collapsed to her knees, fighting back the urge to throw up.

“Tonight did not go as planned.” The Superior walked in slow circles around Namie. Having seen her at her worst, he was unmoved by her current status. Unbeknownst to her, he was the cause of it.

The Superior’s wall sized computer screen came to life illuminating the room. Reacting to his voice, the screen played news footage of the fire downtown and the damage at the docks which the Young Masters had been responsible for.

Between sobs and dry heaves, Namie managed to muster a response. “I never took you one for understatements.” A sudden, sharp pain in her abdomen was the Superior’s response to her sarcasm. She coughed violently. “Sorry. I’ll make sure we do better next time.”

“Yes, of course, next time. Always next time.”

“Superior, you planned for every outcome tonight. A genius like you surely had a plan in case we failed.”

The Superior stopped in front of his computer. His mind was already running through his contingency plans. “Yes,” he mused, “we have options. Our goal to strike a critical blow to the MGH dealers in this festering sore of a city failed. Do we hide and lick our wounds until we are in position to strike again like dogs?”

The gamma irradiated prodigy turned to face Namie even though he was talking more to himself than to her. “No. The opportunity has arisen to turn our closed doors into open windows if you’ll excuse the cliché. Inform the rest of the Young Masters. Inform the rest of the group I’ll instructions for them soon. And congratulate Ember on destroying one of their warehouses, but tell him if he disobeys orders again I’ll explode his heart in his chest.”

YOUNG AND RECKLESS

Part III: From The Bottom of a Well

By Brian Hamilton

Earlier That Night

“For a bunch of self-proclaimed bad asses, I expected more of a fight from D-Generation,” Daniel DuBois pulled the hammer back on his handgun pressed flush against Big Zero’s face. “All those videos online about being the future and watching the world burn. I’ve killed junkies that put up a better fight.”

Big Zero’s eyes narrowed in on the Executioner. Behind his mask she could not make out his face, but she studied him. She took notice of everything; from the brown hair poking out beneath the mask and his green eyes to the sound of his voice. “Hurry up.”

Daniel fought the urge to smile pulling at his cheeks. “A death wish? I wouldn’t expect that from you.”

“No, you wanker. Hurry up ‘cause if I survive tonight I’m going to pull your arms off like the wings off a fly.”

Another explosion destroyed the remains of the burning MGH warehouse a block away. Ember took advantage of the distraction to blast Executioner with a fireball. Propelled off Big Zero by the blast, Executioner rolled out of his jacket that took the brunt of the blast revealing his body armor underneath.

“Forget about me?”

Executioner had no time to respond as Ember rained down a barrage of fire on the wanna be hero. “We’re not D-Generation dumbass.” Ember taunted between fireballs, “Matter of fact, we’re not your parents’ Masters of Evil.” The pyrokinetic proved faster than the vigilante as another fireball struck Executioner sending him through a storefront window. “And there’s nothing you can do to stop us!”

“Don’t worry about me.” Big Zero muttered as she struggled to stand. She leaned on a light post for support, “You only blew up a warehouse filled with chemicals with me still inside it.”

The air around Ember began to waver as the temperature rose. In the palm of his hands, a ball of fire began growing. Like a baseball pitcher, Ember hurled the ball of fire through the shattered window Executioner was thrown through previously. The resulting explosion consumed the store. Ember watched, mesmerized, as the store burned away Executioner still inside.

“Hey, you bloody pyro,” Big Zero called out, “way to tell that psycho about us.”

Indifferent, Ember shrugged his shoulders. “He’s dead. What does it matter?”

“Sure would be nice to confirm he’s dead, but you went and burned down the whole damn building!” Overcome by a sudden rush of dizziness, Big Zero clutched the lamp post to keep upright.

“I’ll check the store for his remains.”

The sound of approaching sirens hushed Big Zero. “If we stay here any longer we’re going to Detention. Come on, I know a place to hide out until we can get back to the manor. And when we get there you’re telling Superior what happened.”

Later That Night, Invisible Manor

Upon their arrival back to the manor, the Superior called Red Ronin into his quarters. That was half an hour ago. The possibilities of what the Superior was doing to Namie made Roger’s head hurt. As Superior’s right hand, was he taking out his anger for their failure on her? Given how little he knew of what the Superior was capable of, anything was possible. And there was still the matter of the folder he found at the docks…

“You little prick! You could’ve killed me!”

Big Zero’s yelling interrupted Roger’s thoughts. Sitting on the other side of the table from Ember and Roger, Zero’s arm was in a makeshift sling. The burns she suffered from the warehouse explosion were wrapped in gauze giving her the appearance of a hastily thrown together mummy costume.

“Come on! You can grow to the size of a sky scrapper. A little fire won’t hurt you.” Ember argued back.

Overcome with rage, Big Zero began growing taller. The pain from her injuries jolted her back to normal size. Exhausted, she laid her head down at the table. “You’re lucky it hurts to breathe.”

“If you’re done with your petty arguing,” the doors to the Superior’s quarters opened revealing Red Ronin, “I have word from Superior.”

Hardball leapt to his feet happy to see she was unharmed. Ember and Big Zero remained seated, instead rolling their eyes.

“The money for your work tonight has been distributed. The Superior doesn’t want to fall in the habit of rewarding failure so he expects tonight to be the first and only time he will have to. You’re welcome to stay at the manor until the Superior requires your services again,” Namie turned toward Roger, “but that is simply a suggestion.”

Walking off smiling Ember said, “I could get use to a gig like this.”

“Wait!” Roger called out surprised by the volume of his own voice, “I, uh, I found something at the docks. At the dealers’ boat.”

His eyes drifted down to the plain manila folder sitting atop the table. After their fight with Nekra, Namie and he were tasked with looking for any clues the MGH dealers might have left in their speedy exit. Namie came up empty handed, but he found this lone folder in a cargo container. It contained pages and pages of names and addresses. It didn’t take long for Roger to figure out their meaning.

“The woman we found at the docks,” Roger thumbed to the first page in the folder, “was selling her blood to the dealers. You need mutant DNA to make mutant growth hormone. These dealers have a list of mutants in California who are donating blood, but I don’t think they’re all donating willingly. Look, there’s a name listed here in LA. Regina Sinclair”

“I care why?” Big Zero asked.

Roger was slowly becoming irritated. “Because there are people being held against their will. Their blood is being used to make street drugs. We need to do something about it.”

Big Zero’s face turned upward in a scowl. “People? Don’t you think you’re using that word loosely? Who cares if someone is kidnapping gene trash? You want us to go and risk our lives for some muties? If you ask me, that whole island of ‘em should be nuked. Count me out.” Zero stood and made her way out the war room leaving Ember, Hardball, and Red Ronin in stunned silence.

Undeterred, Roger looked back and forth between the remaining two Young Masters.

Ember was slow to respond. Zero’s words played over in his head nearly moving him to rage. With uncharacteristic composure, he replied coolly, “I’m in. I need something to do.”

Namie was next. “Me too. After how you handled yourself against Nekra you’re going to need all the help you can get. I’ll report to Superior any more information we may find.”

“Great. Tomorrow night we’ll meet up at this address. We’ll check it out and help anyone that needs it. What’s the worst that can happen?”

“No, mom listen, things are different now. This is bigger than I thought.” The deep bass of Daniel’s voice filled every corner of his apartment.

Tweezers in hand, the junior vigilante gingerly pulled free the last shard of in his shoulder. Blood soaked through the gauze pad pressed against the wound turning it crimson red. Battered and bruised, Daniel struggled to make it through the phone conversation with his mother. Every cell in his body screamed for sleep, but the adrenaline rushing through Daniel’s body made focusing a sleeping a monumental effort.

“You told me to go out and be my own man. That’s what I’m doing. I’m making a name for myself.”

The voice on other end of the speaker droned on. Irritated, Daniel played the night’s events over in his head. The arrival of Ember and his friend changed everything despite how prepared he was. Surprisingly, they seemed as interested in stopping the dealers as him. What did a pair of super powered juveniles get out of blowing up a drug manufacturer?

Something Ember said stuck with him. “We’re not your parents’ Masters of Evil.” Why call themselves that? Were there more of them besides the two he ran into tonight? Daniel was quickly growing tired of having more questions than answers.

“No mom. I filmed tonight’s outing like I always do. As soon as the cops upload the girl’s prints I’ll have them in my database too. I know not to run off into this halfcocked. Can’t you just trust me?!”

For the first time that evening Daniel’s mother was quiet.

“I’ll call you after I’ve taken care of the girl. Love you.”

A single button press and the call ended. Daniel collapsed into his bed overcome with exhaustion. His last thoughts before he drifted off into sleep were of the girl with Ember and how satisfying it would feel ending her life.

The Next Night, Somewhere in Los Angeles

The Young Masters stopped just shy of the barb wire fence that surrounded their destination. Ember chuckled, pointing toward the electrified fence sign. “A lot of good this is going to do. You want me to burn it down?’

“Not yet.” Hardball replied surveying the area. From the outside, the group of buildings appeared normal. They were modest in size and color. He spied a number of security cameras above doorways and rooftop ledges but no security guards on patrol or other measures. “If you’re holding mutants against their will to steal their DNA wouldn’t you have a little bit more security? Yesterday there was only one warehouse. What’s with all these buildings? Something’s off.”

“Does it matter? We’re going to attract attention anyways. Might as well let them know we’re here.” Ember replied. He leaned toward the gate, hands already beginning to glow red hot.

Red Ronin stretched out a hand, stopping him. Even in the dark, her annoyance with Ember was visible. “Wait. Hardball, if you don’t mind?”

Roger instinctively moved into action. “I guess the Superior knows everything, huh?” Blue spheres of electro-magnetic energy manifested around the security cameras shorting them out.

Once the security cameras were deactivated, Ember grabbed hold of the fence. Unfazed by the electricity or barbs, his hands melted through the wires leaving a hole big enough for them to enter. With a sweeping motion toward the fence, Ember said smiling “Ladies first.”

Moving quickly under the cover of night, the trio made their way into the closest building. The window they entered dropped them in a spacious janitor’s closet. On the other side of the closet door was a lab similar to the one Ember destroyed the previous night. Tables and counters were filled with vials and containers of chemicals. Even in the dim lighting, a locked steel door adorned with caution signs caught Hardball’s attention.

“How much you want to bet that’s the freezer where they keep the blood?”

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Namie chimed, “I mean we just blew up MGH warehouse and would’ve destroyed another. A normal person would increase their security. Not get rid of it entirely.”

Ember joked, “I wouldn’t exactly call MGH dealers normal.”

“And I wouldn’t exactly call you smart.”

The new voice came from behind them. The owner stood blocking the exit arms, crossed over her chest. Moonlight illuminated her body and the dark purple bodysuit that accentuated her curves. Her legs were uncovered save for the same color purple boots tied up with silver laces. Reaching behind her, she pulled from the sheathes on her back two swords.

“Dammit! Another one?! Just once I’d like to go out without being attacked by some crazy, weapon wielding mad person!” Ember cursed.

Almost as if on cue, the door behind the stranger swung open as a group of armed men shuffled in. The armed men quickly took positions in the lab surrounding the trio, their sophisticated guns aimed and ready. If Hardball had to guess they didn’t shoot bullets, but was in no rush to find out personally. In addition to their guns, the men wore full body armor.

Hardball muttered under his breath, “How about multiple gun-toting madmen?”

“Cowards and idiots,” Delilah spat. “Did you really think you would surprise us twice? Destroy them.”

Like a head one collision, the two groups clashed sending the lab into a frenzy. The lab’s security fired their weapons as the Young Masters leapt into action, each eager for the blood of the other.

NEXT ISSUE: In an attempt to do the right thing, Hardball has led the Young Masters into a trap. Can they make it out alive?

Author’s Note

So I’m halfway through my introductory story arc for the Young Masters and I’m glad you guys are sticking around. I hope you like what you’ve read so far and are looking forward to reading future issues as much as I am writing them. After this six-part story arc, we’ll be jumping into “Detention” where more about Ember’s background and motivations will be explored as the Young Masters try to do the impossible.