The Legion of Nothing

Edward said, "I'm hoping the same. If Dr. Mind did survive, Brian's advice to you guarantees that we'll be executed by one or more of the Numbers. Though if Dr. Mind is gone, there's an opening for Number 4, so they may be too busy killing rivals to care."

Brian glared at him, "Thanks for telling them my name!"

Edward raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure they know already. The Heroes' League appears to have done its homework. They attacked with overwhelming force while in disguise and went straight for our Control Center. Not only that, but they did it while we were distracted with a myriad of other concerns—which in retrospect, they may have engineered."

We still weren't in our regular costumes, but Dr. Mind had blown that one open for anyone to happened to be in the room. Cassie's sword had to have sealed the deal for anyone who'd been wondering if he was correct. We'd swapped looks to confuse the Nine and maybe Syndicate L. It was probably a waste of time.

I said, "Thanks, Commander Branch," and Branch laughed. Brian didn't, but the guard stuck to the wall to his left did, adding, "See, dickwad?"

My implant labeled him Phil Smoot. This was the guy with a restraining order preventing him from attending Nickelback concerts.

Vaughn, who'd stopped next to me, asked, "What's the deal with Nickelback concerts? What did you do?"

Phil slouched, held up by the goo's connection to the concrete wall, and burst into tears. "They're the best band of all time, and I can't ever see them live again. You make one stupid mistake…"

After that, his words became unintelligible through his crying.

Vaughn backed away, telling me, "I feel kind of guilty for asking now."

Next to Phil, Ben Harkness, former photocopier technician, looked on in his own ominous black armor, shaking his head.

I wanted to ask if Ben knew who serviced their photocopier, but I didn't. This was already weird enough. He might burst into tears or, I don't know, turn into an animate photocopier.

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Tara's voice sounded in my head, "We've taken the room. Since there's no serious resistance, those of us holding it should be ready for a counterattack from the forces outside, and everyone else needs to be ready to move on to Magnus. Time to get moving. From the way they stopped attacking us, it appears that the remaining troops in the building are retreating to guard Magnus."

Vaughn, Cassie, and I looked at each other while Haley said, "She's right," over the group implant channel.

As we walked down the side of the room, meeting up with the "Magnus" task force, I wondered if we should be leaving quite so many people behind. We were leaving Jenny, Alex, Brooke, Tara, Izzy, Rod, Samita, Camille, Julie, and Sydney behind. Between Brooke's teleportation, Alex' healing, Tara's ability to process detail, and everyone else's abilities, it was a substantial loss.

On the other hand, anyone wanting to reactivate teleportation operations or go to help Magnus would have to go through here. Bearing in mind that "anyone" might turn out to be Cabal soldiers, we needed to leave people behind with a chance of success.

Besides, if we desperately needed help or an exit, Brooke would open a portal out, and it needed to be someplace secure.

Our subset gathered next to the hallway. That's to say the core of our reformed League—Vaughn, Cassie, Haley, Daniel, Marcus, Jaclyn, and me, plus Amy, because magic, and Tiger, because we couldn't arrange doggy daycare today.

Sean and Dayton floated in as well. They were the "get Jody out" group.

I looked over the door. The black sign next to it said "Council Chambers" in white block letters. The "Council" sounded more innocuous than "The Nine" and a bit less ominous than the Numbers as I'd heard their people put it.

Haley gave the group a look and said, "Ready?"

Vaughn grinned and let electricity flow from one finger to another, "Let's do it."

Jaclyn nodded toward the door, "Think it's unlocked?"

The doors opened as if answering the question, but they hadn't. Daniel spoke through his implant, "I opened them. It should be safe—at least for the first part. Interesting aesthetic, isn't it?"

He wasn't wrong.

Whoever the architect or interior designer had been trying to please had one foot in the ancient world and the toes of the other foot in the present. Blocks of black and white marble had been set in an intricate pattern that covered the floor. I had a gut feeling they meant something. Maybe they were magic? I looked over at Amy, and she shook her head.

The walls were the biggest display, but I couldn't quite put into words what they were communicating.

Though the walls were white plaster, an epic mosaic covered almost every spot, depicting dragons, warriors, armies, vast lands, and rulers with adoring subjects. Black and gold were the primary colors, but all the colors of the rainbow appeared, most of them as accents.

"Let's go," Haley said and stepped inside, putting her foot down carefully as if she half expected the floor to explode.

It didn't, and we followed her in.