Chapter 13: Ghost in the Machine
The night was quiet in El Paso, but the silence was deceptive. Beneath the surface, heat signatures flickered like embers, clustered in one of the city's industrial ruins—a site long abandoned by zoning boards and repurposed by less than lawful entities. From the sky, a blur cut through the dark, invisible to radar and unaided by engines. Jaime Reyes, encased in the scarab's sleek black armor trimmed with glowing blue, hovered silently above the warehouse.
Khaji Da's voice buzzed softly in his ear.
[Thermal anomalies consistent with human activity. Eleven confirmed. Three mechanical. One device generating unusual power draw.]
"That's the plasma weapon, yeah?" Jaime whispered. "Do me a favor and shut it down quietly."
[Affirmative.]
With a thought, his body unfolded into a lattice of shadow and light. His armor's cloaking system melted him into the night, and he glided downward like a phantom.
Inside, the warehouse was a hive of activity. Gang members in mismatched body armor patrolled with rifles. Nearby, one of the mechanical drones—like a four-legged spider tank—squatted in standby mode, blinking with Reach-blue sensors.
Jaime landed silently in the rafters, then crawled upside-down along the steel beams, zeroing in on the central crate.
"Scarab tech," he muttered. "Modified, but I see the signature."
Khaji Da confirmed it. The tech wasn't Reach-engineered but resembled declassified Cadmus designs—stuff the public thought was only theoretical.
He launched into motion.
A silent energy burst disabled the drone. Another flick of his wrist launched a compact bola, binding two armed guards before they could scream. The third guard managed a shout before a blast of adhesive pinned him to the wall.
Then everything exploded.
A second spider drone roared to life with a sonic pulse. Trip mines activated. A heavy plasma launcher rose from the shadows, mounted on a hydraulic turret.
Jaime barely had time to scream, "Shield, now!" before the first bolt of plasma tore through the wall behind him—and into the building across the street.
Flames erupted.
His HUD screamed alerts: [CIVILIAN PRESENCE DETECTED. MULTIPLE LIFE SIGNS. STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY: COMPROMISED.]
He bolted for the hole, a blur of kinetic propulsion. His armor expanded, plating forming a barrier against the fire as he burst through the crumbling wall. Inside, terrified families were huddled behind a broken vending machine.
"Hang on!"
He turned his back to the flames, absorbing the brunt of the heat with his armor. It wasn't enough. Debris fell, thick smoke filled the room, and he couldn't hold the shield much longer.
Then wind blasted through the room like a hurricane.
The flames parted. Debris lifted harmlessly away. A massive red-and-yellow figure descended with mechanical grace.
[Civilians located. Protective custody assumed.]
Red Tornado.
An instant later, a flash of blue light lit the room. The civilians vanished with a whispered spell: "Evom seilimaf!"
Jaime spun around. A girl in a blue cloak and fishnets stood calmly amidst the wreckage, her eyes glowing with magic.
Zatanna Zatara.
Five Minutes Earlier
Zatanna stood on the roof of a nearby motel, looking out over the El Paso skyline.
"We're sure he's here?"
Red Tornado's synthetic voice answered, "The anomalous energy pattern matches the readings from the last encounter. He is inside."
Zatanna frowned. "He's not League."
"He may soon be."
A bright flash lit the skyline.
Zatanna didn't wait.
"Tropelet!" she shouted, disappearing in a shimmer of magic.
Back at the warehouse
With the civilians gone, Jaime turned back to the attackers. He moved fast, disabling another drone and melting a rifle with a thought. His technopathy let him hijack two of their comms units and scramble their tactics.
Still, they were relentless. One charged him with a gauntlet that pulsed with stolen alien tech. Jaime blocked it, but the feedback rocked him.
Zatanna stepped in, hands glowing. She muttered a reversal charm that disabled the gauntlet, and the gang member dropped like a stone.
Red Tornado hovered above, creating a vortex that pushed back the final wave of enemies.
When the dust settled, Jaime stood alone, panting, armor cracked but functional. He looked at the two League members.
"So, uh... you guys come here often?"
Zatanna didn't smile. "You were going to let that whole building collapse. Alone."
"I wasn't going to let anything happen! I just... I couldn't be in two places at once."
Red Tornado spoke. "Which is why heroes work as a team."
Jaime looked down.
Zatanna stepped closer. "You're talented. You've got tech we've never seen. But you're not invincible. You don't have to do this alone."
He didn't answer. His mind was already racing.
Khaji Da's voice broke the silence.
[The origin of their weapons matches public Cadmus research. But their implementation is more advanced than published.]
Jaime scoffed. "That checks out."
End of Chapter 13.