Shade: Unbound

“Are you sure this is going to work?” Finn, currently Shade, spoke into the microphone.

“Positive. The connection is established and I should be able to reach you through pretty much any building that isn't protected by a special power or twenty layers of concrete,” Jack's reply came through his earphone.

Finn nodded, his black eyes scanning the rooftop of the tall building he was perched on. The stones were so much clearer, even in the dark.

It was a new application of his power. It had come to mind after he learned that he was able to see through his own colors with sufficient concentration. By coloring his eyes black, he was able to provide a screen from the glaring lights in his environment to prevent his pupils from dilating as much, thereby improving his night vision.

He found it easier to darken the entire eyeball rather than just the iris. The first time Jack saw this, he’d said it made Finn look like some kind of demon.

“Alright, then,” he said, adjusting his earphone.

He focused, letting his power take over, and in seconds he had changed his appearance to blend in with the shadows on the rooftop. He tested his visibility by peeking over the edge and scanning the surrounding area.

“Can you see me?” he asked.

“Nope. You're basically invisible as long as you stand still.”

Finn nodded and went to collect the action camera from where it was perched on the roof. Then he hooked it up to his suit, giving Jack a clear view of what was in front of him. The downside of this real-time footage broadcasting was that its battery would run out in just a few hours, but it was all the teenagers could manage with their limited funds.

Anticlimactic as it might have been, he used the stairs to get down from the building. He had been training in parkour, but he wasn't going to put his skills to the test unless he absolutely had to.

Once he got closer to his destination, he used his improved camouflage to creep past any people who might have seen him otherwise.

It was at the far end of a public park in his district, but there was nobody here. That shouldn't be a surprise, since they had chosen to eschew combat missions for now.

His eyes fell upon the desolate landscape before him. It was worse than expected. The earth was dry and cracked in places, and the grass had lost its color. Like a forgotten battlefield, scarred by the ravages of criminal gangs and haunted by the relentless grip of a drug epidemic, it stood as a testament to the shadows that now danced upon its weary grounds.

The objective was to collect any residual vials of the drugs people used here and package them. The mission even listed a specific drop-off location. The client was not anonymous this time. In fact, it was a clinic with a good reputation for this type of research. Purportedly, it was to analyze the samples and help treat suffering addicts. Those were the only reasons Finn had accepted the mission in the first place.

Finn carefully scanned the area and saw a small plastic bag lying on the ground. He walked towards it and picked it up, then placed it in the secure container he had brought with him. He continued to search the area, looking for any other vials or drug paraphernalia that might have been left behind.

Minutes later, he made his way to the drop-off location and left the container in the designated spot. He told Jack the mission was complete, then began his journey back home ten credits richer.

He walked away, feeling somewhat accomplished. He may not have been able to stop the drug problem entirely, but he had made a small difference. And while that wasn't enough for Finn, he could live with it for now.

However, just as he was talking to Jack about his future plans, Jack went quiet.

“Jack?” Finn tried.

“I'm here, but… something came up.”

“What do you mean? Do you have to go?”

“No, I mean on your end. There's a hostage situation near the cafe two blocks down, and only a few police officers are present. No heroes nearby. I know we agreed to wait with these kinds of things. It's just…”

Finn slowed to a halt. For the second time now, he was caught in this situation. He had been fully prepared to accomplish his own objectives, but someone needed his help when no one else was there to save them. Ignoring them was never an option, he knew that.

But on the other hand, he didn’t think he was ready to take on anyone even remotely powerful. He only had a few parlor tricks at his disposal, if he was being honest.

Despite that…

Heroes didn’t have the luxury of waiting until they were ready. It was up to them to do what they could to save the day.

It was then that Finn noticed his legs were already running toward the incident. “Alright, I'm on my way. Tell me what's happening.”

Jack quickly filled him in on the details, then bid him to tread with extreme caution. There was a group of armed robbers who had taken hostages in the cafe, and the police were trying to negotiate their release. But it wasn't going well, and the robbers were becoming more agitated by the minute.

Finn arrived at the scene and saw the hostages in question through the window. Five people on their knees and three guys behind them pointing guns at their heads.

Consulting the police first was an option, but he decided against it so as not to alert anyone. He camouflaged himself and walked around the store, searching for an alternative route to bypass the robbers and reach the cafe unnoticed.

His gaze fell upon the emergency exit. The door was ajar. However, he noticed one of the robbers watching the open exit from inside, guarding it with a gun clutched tightly in his hands.

An opportunity presented itself as Finn approached with camouflage; the guy had turned his head away to say something to the rest, and Finn used that moment to slip through.

Behind one of the tables, Finn altered the color of the spot where his shadow was cast to match the surroundings, effectively eliminating it. This was the next level of his technique, one step closer to becoming completely imperceptible to the human eye.

A sense of urgency swept through him. He knew he had to act swiftly and decisively to save the hostages from the clutches of the ruthless robbers.

His gaze darted from one corner of the cafe to another, analyzing the layout, the positions of the robbers, and the vulnerable hostages caught in the crossfire. Every detail was etched into his memory, fueling his determination to execute a plan that would ensure the safety of the innocent.

One by one, scenarios unfolded in Finn's mind, each with its own risks and potential consequences. He could charge in head-on, relying on his agility and combat skills to disarm the robbers and neutralize the threat.

Yeah, right.

He would probably fail to get the first opponent on the ground, then his and the hostages' brains would get splattered with hot lead.

But what other options did he have? He wasn't confident in his illusions to create meaningful distractions, and if he failed to capitalize on them in time, he would be giving up his element of surprise.

Sneaking further into the building, he realized just how difficult it would be to do this alone. He even consulted Jack with a whisper, who told him to use one of his new tools. It would provide a distraction, sure, but could he do that by himself?

There was no need to do it all on his own, he soon realized. The hostages could work with him.

He took another moment to survey the surroundings and saw that the café was a small space. If he was going to take them by surprise, he needed to act fast. But he couldn’t just rush in. He needed the hostages to cooperate with him, so he used a technique he had been practicing over the past few days: communication.

Getting the attention of all the hostages would be almost impossible without alerting their captors, but he didn’t have to. He only needed one of them to pass on a message.

While he got the woman on the far left side to read the mysterious colored letters on the floor next to her, he knew she got the message when he saw her subtle nod. She tried to sneakily get the man next to her in on the plan, but when he finally got it, there was a gun barrel pressing her head down.

By the time all the hostages were aware of his incoming signal, he wasted no time throwing a makeshift flashbang cobbled together from a flashlight and liberal use of his power, to blind the robbers. The hostages were also affected, but they knew to dive out of the way the second it went off.

Finn didn’t even have to close his eyes, for they were already shielded from the moment he entered the building. Just as he predicted, the only shot that went off made a hole in the ground but didn’t hit anyone. Luckily, they had bunched up in a tight crowd, so a single tackle was enough to take two of them down, and make the last guy stumble. He disarmed the ones on the ground and quickly got up again.

The hostages were already crawling away in different directions, keeping themselves low, giving Finn the opportunity to disarm the downed men and then charge at the last one.

It had barely been a handful of seconds before Finn was on him. He bashed his shoulder into the man’s chest and forced the gun out of his grip after pushing its line of fire well away from any bystanders. Finn rolled off of the wildly thrashing man, not seeing a need to subdue him now that he had lost his only leverage.

When everyone recovered from the incredibly bright lights, the police saw their targets had already been neutralized. They rushed into the building and apprehended them. Once the robbers were in cuffs, Finn appeared from seemingly nowhere.

That last camouflage might have been unnecessary, but he wanted to be ready in case one of the guys was carrying another weapon. It turned out he didn’t have to, so he only ended up scaring the cops with it. They jumped at his sudden appearance, briefly pointing their guns at him, and lowered them once they figured out he was on their side.

“You know,” one of them said, “I don’t think we coulda handled that whole spiel cleanly if you didn’t show up.”

“I happened to be nearby,” Finn said, shrugging.

“I don’t recognize you, kid. I reckon you’re not with the DHD?” the cop asked.

Finn knew the DHD was the Department of Heroic Defense, the main government organization in charge of all heroes who aligned with them. He shook his head. “I was on my own doing some missions when I heard some people were taken hostage.”

“You’re an Aegis rat?” a female cop asked from the side. The cop who had been talking to Finn glared at her, but her question went unanswered, because one of the hostages came up to Finn and thanked him. He hadn’t trained to accept compliments and overwhelming gratitude, so he just awkwardly stood there as the man shook his hand and declared his teary-eyed thanks.

By now, Finn also heard Jack talking through his earphone, but he couldn’t respond in front of all these people, so he left as soon as he could. Before he was gone, one of the hostages asked his hero name, which he provided.

Making his way back home through the shadows, Finn noticed his phone vibrating, so he looked at it to see the notification. It was on the Aegis app, but the name of the sender threw him off. The DHD. There wasn’t any text provided. They had attached a single file, nothing more.

When he opened it, he wondered why had been expecting anything else.

It was a recruitment contract.