Chapter 1.1.38 — ATTENTION

Emmett went out on the rooftops of Belport earlier than usual that Thursday night. As per usual, he slipped into an alley, donned his mask, turned his hoodie inside out and wore it overtop of his backpack. Then he buckled his utility belt and climbed up to the roof.

He was excited about the belt, but he couldn’t really use anything… not without getting into a fight.

Clara had explicitly warned him not to do that, and it had taken a solid five minutes of reassuring her before Clara believed him. Emmett suspected part of the reason was because Clara wouldn’t be able to help him out if he got into a jam—she had her own things to do across the city.

For the most part, Emmett was content just running across the rooftops, cackling to himself like he was ten years old again and playing hero.

Emmett did glance off to the South, toward the slums just before the bay. There was a small part of him that wanted to go back to the slums for the chance of running into Zanté and Green Mask again. Emmett had no doubt that he’d surprise them in a rematch. But he kept a level head.

After all, just because he enjoyed training in the Gray Room didn’t mean Emmett was looking for a fight; Clara had often reminded him of the difference between those two things. Not that he needed it—his beating on the rooftop of the slums was still fresh in his mind.

And Emmett wouldn’t admit it, but a part of him was still apprehensive about Green Mask and his darkness powers… or psychic powers. He’d searched the databases for information on Green Mask, but hadn’t found anything. There usually wasn’t much on lower-level supers unless they were particularly famous or well connected. Green Mask was neither. So Emmett had no idea of knowing whether his new low-light vision or any of his countermeasures would be effective against Green Mask.

He was nearing the edge of downtown when the rooftop shook, stopping Emmett in his tracks. He crouched low, heart racing. At first, he thought something was wrong with the building, but as the city went still and quiet around him, Emmett’s apprehension grew. Maybe it was the start of an earthquake—they were rare, but weren’t unheard of in Belport, and being on the roof probably wasn’t the best place to be.

The moment dragged on until Belport had grown so quiet that the only sound was Emmett’s increasingly panicked breathing.

Emmett was frozen with apprehension. Whether there was an earthquake or something else, Emmett couldn’t bring himself to move. If anything, he kept crouching lower, making himself as small as possible.

Something was wrong—so very wrong. Like the beginning of a nightmare.

Not even Emmett’s newfound strength or his metal arm reassured him. He glanced across the skyline of Belport, waiting to see a building fall or an explosion or a super blot out the sun.

When it finally happened, Emmett could only watch with wide-eyed, open-mouthed horror.

Chunks of buildings broke away—not just the roof Emmett was standing on. The entire skyline of Belport seemed to crumble and fall upward. Pebbles and bricks and chunks as big as cars. Though gravity didn’t feel any different, it looked like the world had suddenly been flipped end over end. Roofs, rubble, power lines, water from busted sprinklers—everything rose into the air like smoke.

And all of it was completely silent.

Emmett stumbled as chunks of the roof shifted beneath his feet and floated away. The shock of the moment was gone, replaced again with panic.

He ran, keeping an eye on his footing as sections of roof lifted away. His heart was pounding and his breaths were deafening as he ran. He leapt across to the next roof, lashing his whip to the section that hadn’t evaporated yet and hauling himself across.

Emmett sprinted South, running across evaporating buildings, toward the only part of the city that looked unscathed. Toward the bay and the slums. He didn’t stop, not when the sky was dappled with wreckage, not when he was running past shocked civilians looking up in horror where their ceilings had been only moments ago.

He didn’t stop, not until he got to the slums and the sounds of Belport traffic came back. It was so subtle at first that he almost missed it.

Until a massive boom echoed across the sky.

Emmett skidded to a halt on the roof and spun around. Again, his mouth dropped open—

A tiny silver blur streaked down to Belport like a missile, ramming through the wreckage-filled sky. It was so fast, at first Emmett thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. A moment later, he recognized the super—Paragon.

Wonder and awe overcame Emmett and his heart beat quickly now for a different reason:

Whatever had happened—earthquake, bomb, or renegade super—it didn’t matter anymore. Paragon was here. He would take care of it.

Three shockwaves washed over the city—the gusts of wind so fierce they almost knocked Emmett off his feet. As the wind subsided, Emmett finally heard the crack of the third impact; whatever phenomenon had kept the city absolutely silent was seemingly undone with Paragon’s third attack.

Then whatever had happened was over. Like it had never happened. Like nothing had ever happened. Emmett shook his head in disbelief—the skyline of Belport was untouched. The sky wasn’t blotted out by wreckage. Rooftops weren’t falling back to the ground. It was like everything had been undone in a literal blink of his eye.

Sirens blared in the distance, and Emmett thought he heard shouting over the normal lull of Belport traffic. He hadn’t imagined it—there were too many sirens—and an alert was going off on his phone. He could imagine what it said: Some combination of ATTENTION and take shelter immediately.

Any other time he would’ve wracked his brain to figure out what had just happened—which supers had been involved and what powers had been used. But Emmett still hadn’t moved from that rooftop in the slums.

There hadn’t been any warning. It had been too late. Way too late.

For a moment, Emmett was reliving that night on Champion street. Paralyzed and cold with fear. Emmett couldn’t do anything but stare, dumbfounded, at the sight of the immaculate downtown.

So much power.

No wonder the Code was a thing. No wonder the strongest supers and villains kept away from populated areas—they were walking natural disasters.

Clara—

Clara was out there somewhere. Did she say what side of town she was going to? He couldn’t remember.

Emmett glanced across the skyline, fumbling for his burner phone and trying desperately to recall where his friend said she was going.

He’d been so preoccupied that he didn’t hear the footsteps on the roof behind him. Didn’t turn around until it was too late.

Something hit Emmett upside the head so hard that he tumbled across the roof—

He came too, sprawled facedown on the tar. Hands seized him by the arm and leg, and lifted him up into the air. Still groggy and weak, Emmett writhed in the air, trying to free himself from the grip of this new attacker.

“Must be your unlucky day,” a familiar voice said.

Emmett finally peered down and saw the edge of the roof and the alley four stories below—

Saw the alley rushing up at him.

Emmett lashed out with his whip, felt it dig into the bricks and wrench his metal arm and shoulder. Still half awake and unable to control his descent, Emmett slammed into the brick wall, then fell the rest of the way to the alley.

Emmett came to on the cold asphalt, gasping. He’d landed on his side or maybe his back—everything throbbed with pain. His whip retracted, scraping across the ground. He blinked away tears and saw the sliver of sky above.

Hurriedly, he pushed himself up in time to see two familiar enemies standing at the end of the alley, one wearing a green mask, the other wearing a skull mask.

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