“Is that a cell phone?” Liam asked. Confused why anyone would carry one in their suit and not go with the standard Hero radios.

“Yeah, I like these new things. They make life so much easier. I bring one with me wherever I go.”

“Does the Watch not have radios?”

“Oh they do but I find this much easier. It’s too much work getting in touch with someone outside of the team on a radio call.”

Liam wanted to argue about that. He’d seen it done before and it was no work at all. In fact Matt did it for The Hunt and the Heroes only had to wait a few seconds for the connection. There had to be someone like Matt on the bigger teams. In fact they probably had a group of people who could do that for them.

Nudge pulled the phone out of his pocket and flipped it open. Calling on a phone was one thing. Using an archaic flip phone was something else entirely. Why would a Hero, on the greatest team in the US, have something like that? And hadn’t he just said he liked new cell phones? With a shake of the head Liam resigned himself to never understanding some people’s sense of humor.

With the phone to his ear Nudge’s body tightened. His hand gripped the phone hard enough it started to crack under the pressure. Liam was left to wonder who was on the call and what could cause this type of reaction.

“How many bombs are there?” Nudge turned to Liam and asked.

Startled back to what he’d been doing before the fight, Liam had to think for a second before he said, “I can’t be sure but there’s at least one in every highschool.”

The officers, standing close enough to hear, but not close enough to impede the conversation went rigid. The news, a kick to the gut, for those present.

“Why?” Liam asked.

“A man just went on TV threatening to blow up part of the city. I think it’s your old friend.”

The kick from before doubled in force, sending everyone in the parking lot hurrying over.

“Are the bombs only in schools?” Nudge asked.

“I can’t say for sure, but that’s the only place I found them,” Liam said. His arm jestering wildly at the school behind them.

“Did you look anywhere else?”

“Well no.”

The hand that’d been pointing at the school came back as Liam scratched at his chin. Through the helmet it was more jester than something that could relieve an itch. He was sure it was only the schools. With what Mr. Hat said it made sense. But could there be bombs elsewhere? The short answer was yes.

“Then why do you think they’re only in schools.”

“It was something Mr. Hat said. I’ve been going off of it since.”

“What was it?”

“He said he would hold the children of the city hostage to get what he wanted.”

Nudge nodded then turned to the highest ranking officer, “Get your men to evacuate all the schools and send out the bomb squad.”

“Start with the high school gyms. Everything I’ve found so far was there,” Liam added.

“Yes sir!” The officer said before turning around and yelling at everyone else in the area. Like a hive of ants they scattered from the parking lot, each with a destination in mind. As he left the ranking officer was on the radio trying to do whatever he could to coordinate a speedy evacuation with those not on site.

“Why the high schools,” Nudge asked in a low voice.

“There are limited explosives. The high schools offer more targets with each blast.”

“That makes sense in a sick sort of way.”

Seeing the commotion around him Liam asked, “Is there anything else I can do?”

Nudge turned to look at Liam and said, “Do you have anyway to stop the bombs?”

“I can diffuse them, but I’ll have to be there in person to do it.”

“You can’t be everywhere at once, there’s not enough time for that. Is there any other way to stop them?”

“How’s he planning on detonating the bombs?” Liam asked. He had an idea, but it was a long shot. Given the situation it was that or do nothing.

Nudge asked over the phone, pushing the person on the other end for details. After a few frantic moments Nudge said, “He has a phone in his hand and is claiming it’ll detonate the bombs if he dials a number. Is that enough?”

Liam rushed to the van, leaving Nudge standing behind him. This was their best bet, maybe their only bet to save the schools.

Nudge followed behind and reached the van as Liam was scooting some of the defused bombs out of the way. When he looked inside, Nudge let out a loud whistle at the display.

“They weren’t joking about the explosives in your van.”

“All disarmed like you said,” Liam said dismissively as he pushed another defused bomb out of the way.

“I was going on instinct at that point.”

“Well it’s good that it was on point,” Liam said. He’d have to get the full story about why this man was helping once things settled down.

After pushing another defused bomb out of the way Liam found it. The device he’d used at the police station to cut it off from the outside world. Well, at least the cell traffic.

Liam pulled it out of the van and hastily started to assemble it. Nudge watched in fascination as Liam’s hands deftly traveled over the device. Putting it together like only its creator could.

“What’s that?” Nudge asked. His curiosity finally forcing him to speak.

“This little guy blocks wireless calls. We get it close enough to Mr. Hat and no more boom.”

“What’s the range on it?”

“A thousand feet, tops,” Liam said. Not even turning his head away from the device he was setting up.

“Got it,” Nudge said as he grabbed for the device.

Liam swatted his hand away, the man was far too impatient for Liam’s comfort.

“It’s not ready yet!” Liam barked before continuing with the assembly.

Nudge took his hand back like a child caught going for the cookie jar. Then, with a harrumph, he sat down to wait.

Finished tightening the last screws the jammer was in working order. Doing one quick glance over it Liam made sure everything was in place. Even after the device had proved it’s worth at the police station, it was still the ugliest thing Liam had ever made. It looked more like a child built it with building blocks than a techie. Luckily looks weren’t everything, Liam thought before handing it to the impatient Hero.

“Ok, all you have to do is flip this switch and it’ll cut off all communication. Now go.”

“Got it.”

Nudge grabbed the device then dashed away. He looked back at Liam as he left and said, “Welcome back to the land of Heroes. Don’t get yourself hurt before I get back and we can talk.”

“That’s the goal.”

“And watch out for Skip, he’s still on the loose. He could come back for revenge.”

Liam nodded, but Nudge hadn’t even waited for confirmation. He was already in motion. Long vines blossoming from his suit. They curled around his waist, almost a foot in diameter before reaching down to the ground as solid trunks. As they pooled on the parking lot, they started to push Nudge aloft. At first by only a few inches, but that increased as they grew until the Hero was over twenty feet in the air.

Once he was aloft Nudge’s speed soared. Using the vines as long legs. Ones that worked in harmony as if Nudge had used them his entire life. They sent him hurtling forward at a speed faster than Ullr on a good day. He was out of sight in a matter of seconds.

“What was I supposed to do? I couldn’t watch her die!” H-Bar called as Nudge vanished from view.

Liam didn’t respond. He looked at his teammate one last time, still ensnared in vines, not going anywhere, then climbed into the van. His mind wondering if smoke and death would descend over the city.