Bullets continued to pour onto Liam. Each one pinging against his suit's hardened shell. Even with the armor they were sure to leave bruises underneath. If he lived until morning he’d be a mosaic of purples and reds.

Pulling his arms into a tighter guard Liam leaned back against the car. It provided the only protection he could find for the missing piece of armor on his back. If he could think of something else to use, he’d use it. The fact he was still there showed how that search had gone.

While Liam was trying to determine his next steps, the situation grew worse. White balls of light hurtled towards him. Each one shattering against his armor, all aimed around the neck. While none were strong enough to pierce his armor, it was clear H-Bar was using Liam’s current situation to target the weakness he’d seen at the police station.

Liam shifted, pulling both arms up to defend his replacement piece of armor. H-Bar took that as a sign he was on the right track. Sending more and more balls hurtling towards him.

Well that only made things worse Liam thought. There was only so long he could hold out against this barrage. Eventually all armor fails and his suit wasn’t an exception.

With his mind swimming Liam floundered for something to do. Some way to defend himself from all of this. Only for a sinking feeling to overwhelm him. There was nothing he could do. He was stuck here and couldn’t get out, with death crawling towards him. If he moved his back would be exposed and through good aim or pure volume, a bullet was bound to find the missing piece of armor. If he stayed H-Bar would eventually score a strike past his guard and hit one of the new pieces of armor. Both options would end in his defeat, was this checkmate?

His mind rebelled against the thought. He’d never given up before. Why would he start now? Still, the undeniable fact of it remained, he couldn’t leave the car or it would expose his back. And he couldn’t move the car, not unless they were there for a few days. Not good odds if Liam was being at all honest with himself.

With the last drops of hope falling away a voice boomed over the ruckus. Filling the parking lot with its command.

“Everyone freeze! This is Nudge of the Watch and I’m taking over the scene.”

The voice carried an authority that demanded immediate obedience. This wasn’t someone who asked for things twice, and it was best to keep him from doing that today.

Noting the tone, the gunfire dwindled. First one gun went silent, then another, soon it was a domino effect and all of them stopped shooting.

As the officers stopped the light from H-Bar’s attacks became more prominent. If anything it increased in speed and power. Reaching an almost desperate rate.

“H-Bar, stop now or I will stop you,” the new voice, Nudge, shouted across the scene. His tone hardening a touch and causing Liam to wince.

“You don’t understand!” H-Bar shouted back, his voice tinged with a wild edge to it, “He killed innocent people. If we don’t stop him here, he’ll kill again!”

“Do you believe that?” Nudge asked.

The attacks against Liam started to falter. The speed dropping to a fraction of what it was a second before. H-Bar was starting to lose steam or hope with the new arrival.

Still under attack Liam didn’t have time to look for Nudge, but the image of the Hero on the roof flashed into his mind. So much for avoiding the man, Liam thought. At that moment he would rather have the attacks continue. Once they stopped he’d have to face the figure of vines again.

“He has bombs in the trunk of his van,” H-Bar said. A little life coming back to his voice.

There was a few seconds pause as Nudge digested the new information. Liam tried to say something, to explain what he was doing and what the city now faced, but an energetic blast from H-Bar kept him quiet.

Without being able to see Nudge, Liam could only imagine what was going through his head. The man on a roof in the ‘thinking pose’ flashed through Liam’s mind. He was sure the Hero didn’t look like that, yet stress can do strange things to the mind and as such that was all Liam could think of.

After a long wait Nudge spoke up. He’d decided. Liam knew his life hung on what Nudge said next. If he attacked, there was no way he could defend against it.

“Are you talking about the bombs he was diffusing?”

A murmur arose from the officers surrounding them, letting their dissent be known. As for Liam he was stuck there wondering how Nudge knew what he was doing. Was it a good guess or a power from the other man? Liam had never met a mind reader before and the idea there was one standing in front of him was unsettling.

The comment had one other effect. The attacks from H-Bar ended. Puttering out with one last attack, in all likelihood it didn’t even qualify as that, as the light dispersed before it even reached Liam.

“No, we saw him planting the bombs.”

“Can anyone here verify that?” Nudge asked.

Liam peaked out from behind his arms, viewing the entire parking lot for the first time since the fight began. It was a charred mess. There were bullet casings covering the ground like a dandelion field. And a few craters marked the ground and cars where H-Bar’s attacks had missed. In all the place looked like Liam thought a final stand would, without the dead body in the center of it all.

From around his arms Liam could see a few of the officers raise their hands to support what H-Bar said. Liam’s heart sank at the sight. He knew none of those people were here when he came out of the building, yet there they were ready to throw him away on a lie.

“How dare you accuse one of my teammates of planting bombs!” Nudge thundered.

What in the world was going on, Liam wondered as he lowered his arms? His eyes tracked the sound of the man’s voice until he got his first good look at Nudge. The man who’d just postponed his death. Nudge was built like a linebacker. Broad shoulders and a muscled physique covered in a green and brown costume. Up close his presence was far more intimidating than when he’d been on the building, controlling the vines. Was it the power so close to him, or the man himself that caused the feeling Liam wondered?

“What? He’s a murderer, why would he be working with you?” H-Bar asked.

By this point a few of the officers who’d been raising their hands started to lower them. Confused at what was going on here.

“We both know he hadn’t even reached Des Moines before the first murder took place. He was on a bus at the time. Half the state away. And I have video proving that,” Nudge said.

Liam sat there paralyzed. It wasn’t just a mental thing, but it physically affected him. Almost as if a stun grenade had gone off in his hand, rendering him useless for a few seconds.

There was proof he was innocent! Something to corroborate that he didn’t kill anyone. With the effects of the stun fading, Liam was flooded with a feeling of warmth and rightness to the world.

“But he-” H-Bar started only to be cut off.

“Unless you think he teleported into the city, carried out the attack, and then made it back to the bus only to be captured on video miles away?”

“No I,” H-Bar stuttered before quieting.

Liam turned from the new man to H-Bar. Whose body was still encased in light with a ball next to him growing by the second. If he attacked with all of that light it’d do a number on Liam’s beaten suit. As Liam was turning to warn his new savior, something grabbed his attention.

From behind his former teammate a pair of thin vines crept forward. Moving along the ground without a sound. No one else seemed to notice their steady advance. Only Liam, for he’d seen them in action and knew what they were capable of, was watching out for them. These were the same plants he’d seen during the riot. One’s that dispersed an entire crowd with ease. They’d terrified Liam then, now it was all that much worse. This close, and without the anonymity of the crowd, he was vulnerable. If another pair of vines was creeping up on him would he have anyway of knowing Liam wondered. He wanted to spin on the spot and check. He tried to fight the urge, telling himself it wasn’t worth it, but his fear won out.

Looking around the car he didn’t see any of the wriggling plants. Liam wanted to pump his fist at the find, but held back. For he found something in their stead.

There were people in all the nearby buildings. They’d hidden in their homes during the fighting. Now that it was over they peeked through every window to take in the aftermath. Who’d want to miss a moment like this. It was a story to tell all their friends. Many of the people out there had phones out, capturing the showdown between Heroes.

“I sent Source here to find out what happened with Blue Feather,” Nudge said, “During that mission he caught wind of a man trying to destroy the city. We were working on a way to go after the guy when you attacked him. That left us in a tight spot, but also brought an opportunity. One we used to meet with the unknown bomber.”

The vines reached forward until they were around ten feet from H-Bar. There they stopped and waited, while more vines pooled up behind the first two.

“After Source’s fight with you we never expected your team to go so far as revealing his face. Putting not only him but his entire family at risk. If anything else, that was the true sign of who you are.”

The officers were staring at Liam now. Some of their faces showed confusion while others looked at him in horror. One even dropped his gun as his face turned green.

“Yet Source wouldn’t quit. Even if it meant being hated by the city, or even the entire country. The people of the Des Moines needed his help, and he delivered. It’s a horrible joke that those he was trying to save hunted him. If only it wasn’t true.”

What idiocy was this man saying Liam wondered? It was great that he was coming to Liam’s defense, but this was all made up. He’d never agreed to work with this Hero, Nudge. Regardless of the lie Liam was forced to watch on. What Nudge was saying was the closest he’d gotten to proving his innocence. There was no way he’d step in and muck that up.

“Which brings us to you H-Bar. You’re under arrest for the murder of Blue Feather, Mr. Dean, Mr. Pullen, and Mr. Martin.”

Before anyone reacted Nudge struck. His vines raced forward and engulfed H-Bar. Holding him in a vice like grip as he watched on in silent horror. His eyes were the only thing to move. Darting from Liam to Nudge then back again.

The eyes of the officers and the crowd in the surrounding buildings shifted to H-Bar, waiting to see how he’d react. Their cities’ Hero would fight this obvious injustice and correct the outsiders' misunderstanding. That’s what this all had to be after all. There was no way a Hero, and one they knew so well, would do what Nudge was suggesting.

“I surrender,” H-Bar said from within his encasement. His body limp as he gave up to the new arrival. Even the globe of white light floating next to him broke apart, “Just please, promise me you won’t punish my niece for what I did.”

“That’s for people above my pay grade to decide,” Nudge said with a shake of his head.

H-Bar’s head dropped. Liam could imagine the man’s entire body following suit, but trapped like he was it was frozen in place. A glowing statue of onyx.

Seeing H-Bar captured and ceasing to resist, Liam looked around. Making sure none of the officers had guns pointed at him. Once he was sure that was the case he stood and took his first step away from the vehicle. A tumbling percussion line of bullets fell from his armor. Each one fired at him in anger, now they heralded his first moments as a redeemed man.

A tentative first step was followed by second with more confidence until three steps in he was walking with a purpose. Yet even now Liam kept his back away from most of the officers, one person not getting the memo was all it’d take to end this happy moment.

As Liam was passing H-Bar, the man’s head turned. Like a prisoner staring down the noose he pleaded, “I know I don’t have the right to ask you this, but please keep her safe.”

The tone of his voice, the raw emotion it carried caught Liam off guard. With every cell in his body he wanted to see H-Bar punished. To watch him shredded by the public like Liam himself had been. When he tried to voice that he just couldn’t get it out. He’d seen a glimpse of how that had impacted his sister. What he’d experienced was something he wouldn’t wish on anyone. Not even on the man in front of him. With a shaking voice Liam spoke from his heart.

“I will.”

The two simple words were all H-Bar was hoping to hear. He fell back into his bonds. This time with the look of someone resigned to their fate.

“Thank you,” H-Bar whispered as Liam moved on.

The rest of the walk, Liam moved like a stiff mannequin. His confidence from a moment before was sapped away by his short exchange with H-Bar. It was strange looking at a once proud man and seeing that confidence fade away. With its departure it took something of Liam’s as well.

“You know you can’t keep that promise,” Nudge said in a low voice as Liam reached him.

“I’ll figure something out.”

Nudge just nodded at that, then let a silence grow between them. One that carried a hidden meaning. All too quick the moment passed and Nudge spoke again.

“Where’s Skip?” he asked.

“I think he ran. I burned him with one of my last attacks and haven’t seen him since. If he didn’t run after that I doubt he stayed for your entire speech.”

“Heh, I got a little carried away with that,” Nudge said with a shoulder shrug.

Next to each other Liam could see some of the man’s face. The man under the mask looked younger than Liam expected. He appeared to be In his late teens or early twenties. How could someone this young be on the Watch, Liam wondered? And why didn’t he recognize the man? If his guess on age was correct, they should’ve graduated the academy within a few years of each other. While different years didn’t train together, they’d still see each other between training bouts. Yet he didn’t remember ever running into someone like this.

Nudge continued, ignoring Liam’s gaze, “Dang, I was hoping to capture him. It’s always annoying to track down teleporters.”

The officers gave the two men space. A few went up to H-Bar to stand guard, while others went around the parking lot assessing the damage, and the rest grouped up in a little huddle away from Liam and Nudge. They weren’t far enough away to be out of earshot though, he’d have to be careful with what he said. Looking at the officers Liam noted a few of them were pink in the face, or just turned away as he looked towards them.

While Liam was looking at the officers, Nudge’s costume started to ring. To Liam’s surprise It was the default ringtone all cell phones have. Before their owners personalized them.