In the center of the group stood a young man with brown hair and eyes that were a strange gray. He was dressed in a black jumpsuit, with red gloves and boots. It had the look of some kind of uniform, but none that Rainey could remember ever seeing before. The left breast of the jumpsuit was torn, and other signs of wear and tear were visible. It looked like he hadn’t changed his clothes in days.

Beside the young man stood what appeared to be a woman covered in liquid gold. Her skin glittered in the overhead lights that hung from the warehouse ceiling. He could actually see his and Hogan’s reflections on the surface of her skin. Something about her seemed familiar, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

The dark haired man who stood beside her took a step forward, positioning himself almost defensively between Rainey and the girl. He wore a strange looking metallic harness, strapped across his chest and down under his crotch. The harness held a large device strapped to his back. It looked like something out of the Flash Gordon serial that they ran in the Chronicle. The butt of some kind of rifle stuck up over his right shoulder and he held a silver helmet with red eye lenses tucked into the elbow of his left arm. He eyed Rainey and Hogan warily.

On the other side of the gray-eyed youth stood a masked man dressed in what seemed to be blue military fatigues. A red and white double stripe ran down the outside of each of his pant legs, and down the outside of his sleeves. Large white stars were on the back of each of his gloves, and one was on his forehead, as well. His mask was torn along one side of his face, and a grisly cut could be seen beneath.

Crouched up on a workbench behind this man was the only Mystery Man that Rainey had had contact with…the man who called himself the Fade. He smiled at Rainey from beneath the red lenses of his goggles. “Hiya, Mr. Rainey,” he said. “Glad to see your ankle is doing okay.”

Hogan stepped forward. “What is all this?” he said, clearly unimpressed. “Halloween ain’t for months, yet.”

It was the gray-eyed youth who responded. “We are here to help, Officer Hogan,” he said, his voice even and calm. “And we think you might have some information that we need.”

Hogan chuckled without smiling. “And what information is that?”

Rainey noticed someone entering the room from a hallway off the main area and turned to see it was Patrick Malone. “Did you find out who owns that house?” he asked without a word of greeting.

Hogan turned, reluctantly taking his eyes off of the people standing before him. He saw Malone and grunted. “You okay, Malone? These weirdoes didn’t do nothing to you, did they?”

Malone didn’t answer his question, he just repeated his own. There were dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn’t slept in days. “Did you find out who owns that house?” There was an edge of anger in his voice. “Is it Alexander Hilles?”

Rainey spoke up for the first time. “Yeah,” he said, almost startled by his own voice. He realized his heart was beating like mad. He took a deep breath before continuing. “How did you know that?”

Malone turned to the gray-eyed youth. “I told you it was him,” the private investigator said. “His name kept turning up.”

“What is this all about?” Hogan asked. He crossed his arms over his broad chest.

The young man answered him. “We believe that Alexander C. Hilles is involved in everything that has been going on in Century,” he said. “That includes your partner’s death and the disappearance of Professor Samuel Klein. We have reason to believe that he is working with agents of America‘s enemies abroad. Specifically with the Germans.”

Hogan looked doubtful. “You’re telling me that Alexander Hilles…one of the men who helped build this city…is responsible for Duke’s death? And that he’s working with the Nazis? And I am supposed to believe you?”

Malone stepped in between Hogan and the Mystery Men. “It’s true, Hogan,” he said and placed a hand on the big man’s shoulder. “Give us a few minutes and we’ll explain.”

*****

“We grow impatient, Herr Left.”

Left allowed his far-hearing spell to fade. He had heard enough of what they were saying inside the workshop. They know about Hilles’ involvement, he thought. He will be most displeased.

He turned and looked at the Halfblood who had spoken to him. It was hard to tell the difference between them since they were all dressed so similarly, but he noticed the air around the man‘s hands shimmering with heat, like a road in the distance on a hot day. “Very well, Burn,” he said to the man. “Just a moment more while I cloak the building.”

Left opened his left hand and stared down at the glowing pentacle branded into the palm. The symbol throbbed with an eerie purple light. He smiled. It wouldn’t take much of his harvested energy to weave the spell that would conceal their actions. To any passerby, the building would appear as it did right at this moment. Meanwhile, the Halfbloods would be slaughtering those inside.

He raised his hand into the night air and spoke the words of power. He noticed Burn backing away from him, eyeing him warily. His magic always made those around him nervous.

The warehouse across the street seemed to waver for a brief moment, then appeared normal once more. He felt the spell take hold and nodded in satisfaction. “It is ready,” he said. “No one will notice what happens inside. Go now…two groups on either side of the building. Wait for Saber and Silence to make their move before attacking. Messenger, you stay here with me.”

Burn nodded and turned to the others. “Iron and Lash, with me to the rear of the building…Northwind, take the others and come in through the front once the fighting starts.”

Northwind nodded and the two groups made their way down to the alley and out onto the street. Left felt his lips spread into a rare smile as he watched them move across the street into position around the warehouse. The excitement he felt…This must be why Hilles revels in such confrontations. “This should be very interesting,” he said. There hadn’t been a clash of those of the Blood in nearly a century, as far as he knew. He felt as if he was looking down at the dawning of a new age. “Very interesting, indeed.”

*****

Fade watched Hogan and Rainey as they reacted to what Malone told them. He had explained the links between Hilles and the crooks who Hogan and his partner Duke had chased down last week and the fact that the man who bailed them out was living in a house that Hilles owned. Of course, Malone made no mention of what had happened to him in the basement of that house…some things would seem unbelievable no matter what. I’m still not sure I believe it, and I saw it with my own eyes. Hogan’s hesitance turned into outright anger as he listened. Fade realized that the big cop believed what Malone was telling him. That surprised him, sort of…the connections seemed kind of flimsy to him. But he supposed that these are the types of little clues that cops look for.

“So,” Malone finished, “we can’t prove his involvement in court or anything, but it seems pretty clear that he is behind it all…or at least, involved pretty deeply.”

Hogan nodded. “Yeah, it seems that way, crazy as it sounds. So you are telling me that Hilles wanted my partner and Mr. Rainey dead because he has his own Mystery Men working for him, and he wants the stories kept quiet? But why wait till now to do something? Rainey’s been writing about them for a year.”

“Maybe enough was enough for them,” Malone answered. “And I believe even Mr. Rainey would admit that this was his first real story, rather than just a bunch of secondhand accounts. Here was a cop…a very credible witness…with a firsthand account of a Mystery Man sighting. Maybe Hilles was okay with the rumors, but a concrete story about them was not acceptable.”

“Makes sense to me,” Champion agreed.

“But what makes you think that he has any kind of ties to the Germans?” Hogan asked.

It was Paradox who answered. “I fought two of his agents…they have abilities like us…they’re Mystery Men, as Mr. Rainey would say…they also spoke German.”

Hogan turned and looked at the reporter. “What do you think of all this, Rainey?”

He shrugged in response. “I’d say it sounds crazy,” he said, and his gaze turned to Sara, his reflection clear in her golden skin. “Except…it is hard to think anything is impossible when I’m looking at something like that.” He eyed the girl intently, as if trying to place where he might know her from. “What did you say your name was, miss?”

Fade realized that they had all introduced themselves by their code names, except for Sara, who had just kept silent. Makes sense that a reporter would recognize her, although that golden stuff would make it difficult…she was in the papers quite a bit when her Uncle went missing. And then again a couple of days ago after the explosion at her Uncle’s lab. They had decided it best not to tell a reporter their real names, but what if he realized who she was?

“I’m…uh,” she stammered, uncomfortable at being addressed. “I’m called Goldrush.”

Fade saw Paradox smile at her response, and nod slightly, as if he approved.

Rainey chuckled. “That’s funny….I wrote an article about a year ago called ‘Century: The Modern Goldrush’. You didn’t read it by any chance, did you?”

“Maybe, Mr. Rainey,” she said. “I can’t remember everything I read in the paper.”

“Course not,” he replied and lit a cigarette. “Just curious.”

Hogan was growing inpatient. “All right with the funny names already,” he nearly growled. “You don’t want us to know who you are…I get it. But what is it exactly that you are going to do about Hilles and whatever it is that he is up to? If you can’t really prove anything, then there isn’t much that you can do.”

“Sure there is, Officer,” Paradox said. “We can stop him.”

Hogan scoffed. “And how exactly do you…” His voice trailed off.

Fade thought Hogan had lowered his voice to a whisper. A moment later, though, he realized he couldn’t hear the man, but that he was still talking. He couldn’t hear anything else, either. He looked to Rainey, whose eyes were wide with alarm…and he knew what was happening. They had both felt it before during the attack at the Courage Café.

Fade leaped off of his perch atop the worktable and grabbed Paradox by the shoulder. The others were now expressing confusion over the lack of noise. Paradox looked at him, one eyebrow raised in confusion.

“We’re under attack,” Fade said, speaking slow and mouthing the words as clearly as he could, knowing that he wouldn’t be heard.

Paradox’s confusion vanished and he nodded once. He waved his arms, letting everyone know something was wrong.

Fade caught a slight movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked up to see glass cascading to the concrete floor from a broken window high up along the ceiling. Something came through the window, he realized, and scanned the floor along the path the object would have to follow.

A small round object rolled to a stop near Sara’s feet. It only took him a moment to realize what it was.

A grenade.

Sara’s eyes widened as she looked down at the grenade at her feet. She hesitated for only a moment before reaching down to grab it. A few feet away, Dave saw what was happening and he reached for her, obviously telling her to stop. His face was twisted with concern.

She didn’t hear him, of course, and kept reaching down toward the explosive. Her brow furrowed as if she was concentrating. Fade should have been scrambling for cover…but he simply watched her. When her hand came into contact with the grenade, the golden metal flowed off her hand and around it, forming a small dome around it. A second later, the dome billowed out briefly and then relaxed back into its original shape. Then, the golden substance slid back onto her hand. She gazed down at her hand as if seeing it for the first time, turning it back and forth before her face. On the floor was only a dark scorch mark and a few ruined bits of metal. Her hand was unmarked. She smiled a thin smile.

Amazed, Fade reluctantly took his eyes from her and turned back to the broken window. Two men jumped through from outside, each dressed in black from head to toe. The others hadn’t noticed them yet…Dave had run over to Sara, still yelling silently. Champion had grabbed both Hogan and Rainey and knocked them to the floor, covering their bodies with his own as best he could. Paradox had done the same thing with Malone. The young man had just realized what Sara had done, and he was looking at her appreciatively.

Fade stepped toward the two masked men. His eyes met those of the first one through the window, and he knew at once it was the man he had fought at the Courage. His jaw still ached from the beating the man had given him. The man smiled beneath his mask and raised his hand, beckoning Fade forward with a wave of his fingers. All right, you son of a bitch, Fade thought, feeling the Urge take hold of him. Time for a rematch.

He reached into the pouch at his belt and grabbed one of his smoke pellets. He tossed it into the corner of the room where they were and smiled as the entire area was engulfed in a small gray cloud. He leaped headfirst into the smoke.

*****

When the explosion never came, Champion scrambled to his feet. He spared a glance toward where the grenade had landed and saw Sara looking at her hand in amazement. She had stopped it somehow, though he really wasn’t sure how. Reckon it don’t matter, he thought. God bless her. He shoved Rainey roughly beneath one of the worktables…he didn’t like doing it, but without sound, there was no way to make sure the reporter kept out of the way. Hogan had drawn his gun and was rising to his feet. Champion motioned toward the table, trying to tell Hogan to get under there with Rainey, but the cop paid him no mind at all.

Champion surveyed the room. He had grown accustomed to relying on his enhanced hearing, and felt very disoriented without it. He saw the Fade toss a smoke pellet toward the two intruders in the corner and then leap at them with abandon. He also saw the back door of the building splinter silently inward as three more masked men entered. He turned his attention toward these three.

They were dressed the same as the others, all in black with masks that left only their eyes uncovered. One of them was easily the biggest man he had ever seen. He’s got to be over seven feet tall, he thought. The big man brushed bits of the door from his knuckles. Safe to guess he’s stronger than I am, too.

The two men who followed the giant into the room readied themselves. The one on the left brandished a whip, which he twirled threateningly. The other wrung his bare hands together. His lack of gloves made Champion take notice. The man’s hands seemed to shimmer with heat. Champion approached them cautiously. He had confidence in his training, but he’d never trained against anyone with abilities like his. Lord only knows what they can do, he told himself.

Reaching down to his belt, he hit the switch that freed his bucklers from their locks on his hips. He grabbed them and attached them to the star shaped magnets on the back of his hands.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to find Paradox standing beside him. The young man nodded at him grimly, and the two moved in to attack.

*****

Still amazed at what she had done, Sara tore her eyes off of her hand and looked about. Dave was standing nearby and shouting at her. He was obviously concerned for her…but she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of anger at him. She wasn’t some helpless girl…the Gold made sure of that.

Once she had seen the grenade and registered what it was, the Gold had spoken to her. It was like a voice in her head that didn’t speak in words, but communicated through ideas and images. It had let her know that it could contain the grenade’s blast. At least, it believed it could. She felt the substance flowing around her hand and she reached down to grab the grenade. It had shaped itself in a dome around the grenade, closing it in. She felt the explosion when it happened, but it was nothing more than a jolt up her arm.

Now there were men pouring in through the back door…three of them, one of which was huge. She saw Champion and Paradox head towards them. She hoped they knew what they were doing.

She wasn’t sure about that herself, though. She had only been in one fight in her entire life, against a boy at school when she was a child. She didn’t think she could contribute much in a fight. When they had fought the monster that Malone had been turned into, she did little more than distract the thing as it tried to eviscerate Champion. What good was she in a fight?

The Gold spoke to her again. It let her know that it would help her…that together, they could be quite formidable. She hoped it was right.

She turned to Dave, raising her hands in an attempt to let her know she was fine. Not being able to hear made things difficult to say the least. It had taken her a few moments to even realize what had happened. When she saw the Fade react, she realized that it must have been the man who had attacked him at the Courage Café.

She reached up and grabbed the butt of the rifle sticking over Dave’s right shoulder, trying to let him know he should do something useful. He seemed to understand, and drew the weapon reluctantly. He turned toward the intruders as he raised the rail gun.

Dave took aim and fired. The huge man seemed to lurch away, but then turned and looked at Dave as if annoyed. Dave lowered his weapon in awe, amazed that the projectiles had just ricocheted off his target harmlessly. Sara was amazed, too; from what he told her of the rail gun, it was the most powerful firearm ever created. Dave was not one for exaggeration, especially where his work was concerned.

This is not good, she thought.

A surge of movement caught her eye and she turned to see one of the masked men run out of the Fade’s smoke cloud. He held a thin sword in each hand and he was heading right for Dave. She tried to warn him, but he didn’t notice the man…he was taking aim with the rail gun again.

The Gold urged her into action and she reached up and placed a hand on Dave’s chest, shoving him backward just as the man with the swords struck. One of his blades cut across Dave’s shoulder, spraying blood. The blow would have taken his head right off his shoulders if she hadn’t acted. She screamed as Dave fell to the ground and prayed that he was all right.

The masked man waved his weapons menacingly at her, taking a defensive stance. By the way his eyes narrowed beneath his mask, it was clear that he had no idea what to make of her, and so he was taking caution. She looked at the weapons, wondering what she could do against them. Again, the Gold communicated with her.

She looked down at her hands again. All right, she answered the voice in her head. She held her hands out flat, fingers pressed tightly together.

The Gold shifted on her hands once more, flowing outward, lengthening and narrowing. In a moment, the gold extended a foot from her hands, tapering to a sharp edge. Her hands were now blades. Not bad, she thought. I could get used to this. She took a readied stance, waiting for her opponent to make his move.

He eyed her hands, showing no surprise, and moved in with his weapons ready.

Century and all related characters are © and ™ 2005-2006 John Coleman.
Metahuman Press is © and ™ 2005-2006 Nick Ahlhelm.