Finally.

It felt like time slowed as a mixture of relief, satisfaction, and excitement washed over me.

Despite the danger of the situation, after months of worrying about what Mirage was capable of, I found a means of distinguishing the illusion from reality.

I can fight back.

All I needed to do was figure out how to effectively use the data my power gave me, without the use of my regular senses. The obvious solution was to transform various objects near him into automated weapons that could target him, but I was quickly reminded — I only had nine charges left.

I needed to proceed with caution, and conserve my charges unless absolutely necessary.

Currently, Mirage was hiding in the warehouse's main office at the opposite end of the building. There were windows looking out onto the floor. He would've had a perfect view of me if I weren't using my suit's camouflage, but I was, at least until I manually disabled it. So how did he know where to find me before then? How did he pull me into his little game?

After the show Mirage put on at New Market, Alice and I suspected that his power operated in a radius, similar to Gaea and Domination. That would make him infinitely more dangerous. He wouldn't need eye contact or line of sight to ensnare you, he'd only need to sense you were nearby.

Alice referred to it as 'localized pseudo-omniscience.' Gaea and Domination were prime known examples of supers with this minor mentalist component, and she attributed Blue's danger sense as being another form of this. In that regard, when I allowed the scope of what I touched to expand beyond a single item, I could also fall under that umbrella.

I suspected it might have been an aspect of my power, but I had a subconscious aversion to it. I only pushed past it when I tried interacting with the Citadel. There had been some pain and discomfort in seeing so much information all at once, but it was manageable. Doing it again here so soon seemed risky, but I had no other options.

Was my power always capable of doing this, or is this something Gaea did unintentionally?

I pushed the thought into the back of my mind. There were more important matters to attend to, and I could dwell on it later when I was back within the safe confines of my workshop.

"He asks why, and when I explain myself, he doesn't bother to listen!" Mirage's illusion yelled, his voice booming. If I wasn't already convinced this was taking place inside my head, I was certain any passing Sweepers and Walkers would have picked up the sound on their sensors. "And here I was praising you as one of the few who listens and learns."

Mirage shook his head, feigning disappointment. I kept my mouth shut, opting instead to keep my new hand close to my chest. I didn't want to give away that I knew where he was hiding. I was confident the moment he understood the danger he was in, he would up the ante. There was more he was capable of, I knew there was—but I couldn't be sure what.

Madmen like him would always have a way out.

"What am I going to do with you, hm? Do I leave you here and part ways amicably? Do I… attack you?" Mirage approached and circled me. I followed his movements with a careful, curious eye. Any damage his illusion caused would be superficial—but that didn't mean it wouldn't have lasting consequences. The mind was a fragile thing. If he wanted, he could make this illusion more chaotic. I still remember being crushed under his copies, my chest flattened under the weight. I remembered how hard it had been to breathe; the authenticity couldn't be denied. How far could he push that? "So many roads to take—and so much time too! I have you here all to myself."

The world suddenly lurched and fell away from me, and my unspoken question was answered.

I found myself sitting in a familiar room, bound to a chair. Mirage stood in front of me looking exactly as he did the night we met. The details of the illusion were scarily accurate, and I even saw Banshee standing by the door. Thankfully, I was still wearing my armor, but that didn't stop the anxiety from building. This memory reminded me how vulnerable and stupid I was.

I quickly closed my eyes and took a breath.

It's not real.

My power still recognized the warehouse, and I was still in the same place as before. He really wasn't able to manipulate what my power could and couldn't see. It was my sole advantage over him, I just needed to figure out how to exploit it.

I was close to an answer.

The solution was on the tip of my tongue.

"Ay! Look at that, now things are more personal, no? You remember this place. I can see it in your head," he flicked my temple as he continued to walk around me. "This right here. This room… it's where it all began for you. I think it might be a bit too soon for nostalgia, but you'll get there, I think. Give it some time," he clasped my shoulders. "Look how far you've come, eh? If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have so much hair on your chest."

"I bet you are really proud," I remarked tightly. "This is quite the surprise, though. Thanks for showing me more aspects of your power. Saves me the trouble of guessing."

Mirage's expression twitched ever-so-slightly.

"You think this is all I am capable of? I've had years to explore what I can do. This… muy básico. Only begins to scratch the tip of the iceberg. I can do all sorts of things," he leaned away and sat down in a chair that conveniently appeared behind him. "I could torture you with the boring, predictable methods." Thousands of spiders suddenly dropped from the ceiling and began crawling all over me. I could feel them skittering all over me and occasionally biting, trying to find their way into my suit. "I've done this before, you know. Helped me out of a lot of sticky situations."

The spiders found their way in—an impossibility, but this was Mirage's power. He made the impossible seem plausible. I felt the arachnids on my skin, and the unpleasant sensation turned to pain when they began trying to get beneath my skin.

I squirmed and groaned, trying not to show weakness, but just like his other illusions, it felt horrifyingly real.

"It's so BLAND!" Mirage exclaimed, kicking his feet out. "People don't like spiders. Could be anything, really. The creepy-crawlies are the easiest go-to." The spiders turned into a thousand different bugs. There were too many to count. Then in the blink of an eye, the pain was gone. "But… that's only one way. I used to be so narrow-minded, you see. What really makes people scared is what they don't know."

There was a sudden pain in my chest. The pain escalated to agony as I cried out, gasping for air. It felt like there was something digging around in my organs, trying to find a way out.

"What is it, hm? What could it be, I wonder." The pain suddenly stopped and Mirage leaned back with a smile. "The sudden silence—the quiet before the storm. Is it truly gone, or is it waiting? Fear of the unknown, Upgrade. That's the real secret. The not knowing."

"You've made your fucking point," I sneered, heaving in oxygen. "I guess I don't really know what you're capable of."

"Lo siento, lo siento! Don't sound so angry. I was merely demonstrating. I know that can be unpleasant but it's not me anymore. I'm better than that." Mirage mockingly bowed his head. "I want to show you something—my kind of nostalgia."

The room fell away again and I was plunged into blackness.

The sound of rushing wind was the first thing I heard. The blackness melted away, and I found myself standing on the edge of a naval aircraft carrier floating in the ocean. All around us were various other battleships outfitted with Mechatech, primed and ready for battle. The horizon ahead of me was black, a crackling violent storm looming in the distance.

The ships weren't retreating from it like I expected. No, they were all heading directly for it.

I closed my eyes again and took another deep—but shaky breath.

My power still saw the warehouse.

Good.

"Smell that fresh air, Upgrade! I don't imagine it's something you're familiar with being a city boy. Bayside is so… stale in comparison, though I can't say I'm fond of this smell. It doesn't bring good memories—but I can still appreciate the beauty of the outdoors!"

"What is this?"

"Aha! I've got your attention now, have I?" Mirage's grin widened. He bounded over to my side and tried to wrap his arm around my neck in a friendly manner, but I extended my blade to ward him off. The grin never faded from his face. "Tsk-tsk, come now. I'm opening up and being vulnerable here! This is me—who I am. Can you seriously tell me you've never been interested?"

I looked around and frowned.

The armada—despite being imposing—appeared to be void of any crew. It was just us standing on the deck.

"It's empty." I pointed out casually, crossing my arms. "Impressive scale and detail, it's a shame you're so twisted. In the right hands, a power like this could have been very useful."

Mirage looked at his hands and sighed.

"Right hands… right hands, hm? That's quite the statement. I would imagine the same could be said for anyone. The point is subjective, no? I feel like I could have used your power far more effectively," he began rubbing his hands together. "Oh, the things I would do! The things I could change! I'm starting to see why we crossed paths. You couldn't help yourself, could you? It's a tempting prospect, I agree. I could see myself doing the same thing. Money can be so alluring until you realize its real value. You at least understand that now, don't you?"

He might be insane, but I couldn't deny that.

"Unfortunately," I offered plainly. "I suppose we can agree on that."

"Si, bueno," Mirage mused, trying to put forth an air of familiarity. I kept my distance and my guard up in case he attempted to attack. "Despite our grievances, I am glad you stumbled on me tonight, amigo. Liberation has been all wound up about the state of affairs. He's going to make a move soon."

I felt the urge to laugh.

"You want to feed me information?"

Mirage's grin turned predatory.

"You weren't listening. The reputation you've managed to acquire is nothing short of legendary." The praise felt sickening, but I held my tongue. I was monitoring his real position with my power and he had yet to move from his location in the warehouse. Maybe I would upgrade some stairs once he tried to flee and he would fall and break his neck. That was one idea. "You already toppled someone with mythological status. Why not another? Destroy Pandora. Beat them into the ground and grind their bones to dust."

It would have been nice if my senses could interpret what my lie detector was putting out. It told me he was telling the truth, but I couldn't trust any data my eyes were seeing.

"What do you stand to gain?" I asked, perplexed by the request. Then, his laugh reminded me of what he had said earlier. "Stupid question. Satisfaction. You want me and the rest of Madhouse to burn Pandora to the ground, ignite another war—one you probably think we have no chance of winning."

Mirage had the audacity to look insulted.

"No chance? I have every certainty you would emerge victorious. I've even helped—!" He quickly clasped his hands over his mouth as his eyes widened. Slowly, he removed them. "Mierda… sometimes I just can't help myself. You can have that little spoiler—but not another! No, if I do that, then things will be too easy for you. We can't have that now, can we?"

"So that's what you've been up to," I reasoned. "We've been wondering why you bothered to stick around at all. Banshee fled to Ashton and Bonesmith is conveniently missing, presumed dead… which I find hard to believe. You've got him working on something," I heaved a sigh and buried my hatred for this man for the moment. "Don't think I'm going to underestimate you again. I'm tired of hitting my head against that brick wall."

"Bonesmith! Such a difficult man," Mirage said in exasperation. An illusion of the biokinetic appeared between us with a strange look about him. The last time I saw him was at Gaea's meeting, and he was covered from head to toe in bone armor. This depiction of him wore military equipment with boots, a jacket, and camo pants all stained with spots of dried blood. "You should have met him when he was in his prime—before I neutered him."

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

I didn't much care for the man's tread down memory lane. I wasn't going to get distracted by an irrelevant history between the two gang members. As long as he kept talking, he wouldn't torture me again.

"You've infiltrated Pandora," I stated, changing the subject. "Who else have you infiltrated?"

"No spoilers! Do you think I'm that easy to fool? No!" Mirage snapped, lifting a finger to his mouth as the illusion of a younger Bonesmith vanished. "Can't ruin the surprise. It'll be a sight to behold, little fish. I can't wait for you to figure it out—maybe you'll thank me. That'll be a sight, won't it? You—thanking me?"

"A delusion," I replied flatly. "Do you intend to keep me here all night? I've got places to be, amigo. There have been problems that required immediate attention. Suffice to say—you're not one of them right now. Like I said before, I'll kill you in my own time."

"Already sick of talking to me?" Mirage looked shocked. "Do you not enjoy this? Take a few seconds to just stand and live in the moment," he gestured to the false world he had conjured around us. "It's not often people get the privilege of seeing something this grand. It's almost here. Any moment now… shh," he turned and pointed to the growing storm in the distance. "I am helping you, see? Taking advantage of this golden opportunity."

A black shadow surged down from the sky through the storm. My heart leaped into my chest when I thought it to be Grim, but my initial guess had been wrong. The silhouette flying in the storm emerged as a titanic rectangular envoy of death.

One of Ajax's infamous warships.

I didn't know the design, but it was half the size of the Mothership.

A quarter of the armada imploded in a blink as Ajax's warship discharged its weapons. The lasers hit first, slicing through steel hulls like hot knives through butter. They were followed up by supersonic missiles, evaporating the sea and turning it into liquid fire. There was too much destruction to hear anything, but I noted the vague crescendo of screams that echoed through the carnage.

Despite all this, Mirage's voice broke through all the chaos.

"I wonder… What would Bayside look like?"

Vertigo overwhelmed me as the world shifted on its axis. The illusion blurred and I was suddenly somewhere else.

Mirage and I stood atop a battle-scarred building overlooking a burning city. The same ship hovered above the remains of the harbor with the Citadel still in sight. The sky was black with smoke and the sun cast an ominous red glow over the entire city. Mirage skipped over to the lip of the building and sat down to observe. I just looked around in horror.

"I took some creative liberties," Mirage offered, waving his hand. "There's no telling how it will turn out but I like to think it would look something like this. I'm not that kind of Mentalist, but I've done my best to recreate what I've heard."

I narrowed my eyes.

"What you've heard?"

"You've gotta listen. Go for a walk sometime and take a good look around. I'm not the only one to have realized this. That blonde chica that follows you around like a little lost lamb—she'll know," Mirage tapped his forehead. "No one really thinks Ajax is here to clean up a mess. It's as clear as day what's coming—and if it can't be prevented or stopped?"

White light flashed across my visor and the ground rumbled beneath my feet.

Mirage cackled as the building beneath us began to crumble.

"BOOM!"

The shockwave from the nuclear weapon carried us away, and my world went black for a moment. After a few blinks, I realized I was standing back in the warehouse heaving every single breath. My heart was racing, and I felt like I had been cooked from the inside out. Mirage was leaning against one of the pallets, waiting for me to gather my wits.

His smile only grew with each passing second.

"So, what do you think?"

"I think you're insane, but that's nothing new."

"Bah," Mirage dismissed me with a wave of his hand. "Tell me something new, come on! We both know that already, so tell me what you really think. I want to hear you say the words."

I was trying to gather my thoughts when something bizarre clicked in my head.

It can't be that simple, can it?

The two of us had been conversing this whole time, and it never occurred to me that Mirage might have allowed me enough control to speak in reality, and the illusion. Unless Mirage was somehow directly capable of stepping into my head and hearing my thoughts, he still needed to be aware of what I was saying.

My power told me he was in the main office at the end of the warehouse, but that couldn't have been more than forty or fifty meters away. The building was empty and quiet with the exception of the two of us. My voice was being carried just far enough for him to hear. He was using that, plus his cover, in order to converse with me.

Before, he could get up close and personal. However, my auto defenses would have removed that possibility for him. Had he tried to get close at the beginning, only to realize his folly? Was he hiding in the main office behind cover because my auto defenses already attacked him? I only saw my laser fire at his illusion, but that could have easily been manipulated.

Mirage mentioned I had turned into something really scary.

Had I managed to land a shot without actually seeing it happen?

I needed to test this hypothesis.

"Disable audio output." I said under my breath.

I didn't see any acknowledgment of my command, nor did I hear the programmed response. That didn't surprise me in the slightest, but I had to wonder… would it work how I expected?

"What was that?" Mirage's illusion stepped off the pallet and closed the distance between us. I saw a mixture of curiosity and annoyance on his face as the illusion tried to look through my visor. "Haven't I told you before that playing the silent game doesn't work?! You know better than that."

"That's interesting," I couldn't help but chuckle. "You're scared."

There was no reaction—no indication that he had heard what I said.

It was time to play my hand.

"Override: Automated defense systems. Switch to manual targeting, vocal operation."

I dove back into my power and measured the distance between myself and the other red star. My first compulsion was to use high explosive grenades to deal with him, but the only thing stopping me was the fact that it would draw the attention of nearby Walkers. The laser could burn holes through walls with the highest intensity setting. It would be the quieter option, but I didn't trust the accuracy. Explosives meant collateral damage, which meant there was a chance the first shot would kill him. I didn't have the same faith in the laser.

"We were making progress," Mirage's illusion hissed. "Bastardo! Don't make me count. Speak up! Bayside is only the first step! The rest of the world is going to fall like dominos!" His hands clasped my shoulders and his gaze took up my whole visor. "Don't hide from me in there. I can see your mind. I know what you're thinking."

If you did, you would already be running.

I pushed him off.

I had to get this right. I wasn't about to lose my nerve and repeat the mistake I made with Bloodhound.

"Distance: forty-seven meters. Direction: NNE 18.8 degrees. Height: 39.6 degrees." I paused for a moment and held my breath. "Fire."

There was no audio or visual feedback from my suit. My shoulder-mounted turret remained idle, and my suit was completely unresponsive…

…for all of two seconds.

Mirage's eyes widened as reality seemed to glitch, a sharp pain surging through my head. It felt like a rubber band snapping after being stretched too thin. I was violently wrenched back to reality, my knees buckling before collapsing to the floor. I managed to catch myself from flopping over completely, and I immediately took notice of the smoldering office.

Alarms sounded and sprinklers went off to put out the fire.

I didn't hesitate to launch into action. I broke into a sprint and grappled up to the wreckage. I was sorely disappointed to discover there was nobody present, but I did notice something. There was a fire exit on the other end of the office with a distinct wet smudge on the handle. My suit identified it as blood—Mirage's blood.

I dove back into my power and saw the red star I believed to be him escaping.

"You will regret that. Now there's blood in the water." Mirage's voice sounded from my left. I turned to see another illusion sitting on a chair that was slowly catching fire. He looked at me with an expression I could only describe as cold hatred. "We could've had something grand. It's a shame…" he stood up and heaved a sigh. "You shouldn't have burned this bridge."

I knew the real Mirage was too far away to hear me, but I couldn't help but say it anyway.

"I'm not playing your game anymore."

Mirage's illusion faded like ash carried by the wind.

I stalked toward the fire exit and kicked the door open before grappling to a building across the street. I reactivated my camouflage as I climbed over the ledge, activating my power as a form of reassurance. My power returned accurate results. This was a different building, and I had, in fact, moved. His manipulation ceased, and he wasn't that far from me.

I was fully intending to give chase until I saw the approaching Walker cut between us. I was forced to retreat to lower ground, and by the time I circled around and dodged Ajax's war machines, Mirage was long gone, his red star blending in with thousands of others. I buried the slither of annoyance that bubbled up inside of me, knowing that I almost had him properly this time. There was no trickery involved here. I finally had the upper hand and actually managed to wound him.

His illusion even responded how I expected.

Mirage wasn't going to mess around with me again. Next time, he would either avoid me entirely or go for the kill. I hoped he would be mad enough to go for the latter. With my technology and power advantage, I was all but certain I would come out of that encounter as the victor.

Taking solace in the streak of victories I claimed tonight, I made the rest of the journey back to my workshop, all while repeatedly reaffirming my position with my power. I needed to make sure that Mirage wasn't somehow following me, despite my camouflage. The logical part of me knew he wouldn't, but my paranoia wouldn't allow me to discard the possibility. Mirage was a madman, and he made it very clear he wasn't afraid to face death.

My workshop was quiet when I arrived.

I walked through the main doors and disabled my camouflage. I stepped past my line of fabricators, retracting my helmet to see Francis walk out of the area where Splicer's equipment sat.

"You're back," he noted with that same familiar stoicism. I idly noted he was wiping his hands on a towel—one stained with blood. There were also smudges on his fingers, and I could see it congealing under his fingernails. "About time. We were wondering where you got to."

"I got turned around a few times," I replied wearily before pointing to his hands. "Should I be concerned about the blood?"

He looked down and frowned before shaking his head.

"No. I was taking a safety precaution."

There was an audio crackle that sounded through various speakers in my workshop as Cyberspace joined the conversation.

"You took a half-measure, Upgrade. I asked Francis to amend the slight error."

A half-measure?

For a second, I thought they were talking about Bloodhound, but there was no way Francis had managed to kill him that quickly. Ajax's Walker probably still had him contained, and I hadn't reported how that fight turned out. There was a chance Mia could have, but I didn't think she would be able to identify who the Pandora supers were. Liam wouldn't be able to either unless he had crossed their paths before.

That only left Richard.

"I tranquilized him. He should be incapacitated."

"Indeed," Francis nodded. "We did not know what time frame you would return. As you are the only one here with the ability to figure out how to properly use Splicer's equipment, precautions had to be taken in case our guest woke up."

Francis stepped to the side to reveal Richard lying on his stomach across a table. His head was hanging loosely over the side, and there was a stream of blood dripping into a bucket.

I strolled forward to get a closer observation and was somewhat horrified by what I found. His jaw was very clearly forcibly broken, and his mouth was open. There was a clump of meat at the bottom of the bucket, and it only took me a few seconds to realize that was his tongue.

I was by no means squeamish. In order to save Liam, I had once surgically opened a Morpher's chest in order to extract half of Anomaly's gooey body from the creature's lungs. It was a gruesome experience, and it had desensitized me to blood and other bodily fluids. However, seeing this made me feel queasy. It wasn't that I felt bad for Richard, far from it. It was how quickly this decision had been made.

"Is he going to bleed out?" I asked, turning to look over my shoulder. Francis walked up and stood next to me, looking down at the young psychopath with an expression of indifference. Slowly, his gaze turned to me as if to silently ask why I even bothered asking in the first place. "I'm just saying, head injuries bleed a lot and I've heard people bite their tongues off when they're stuck with no way out."

"He's not going to die." Francis said.

He didn't elaborate further.

I turned and stepped away from the table. The sight of Richard's sorry state was starting to unsettle me.

"Alright then. What do you guys know about what happened? Have Liam and Mia filled you in?" I asked, looking around. It was only then that I noticed that my two active teammates weren't actually in the workshop with me. "Where are they, upstairs?"

"Resting," Francis replied. "Outside of Grim's rampage and neutralizing the occasional gang safehouse, this was the first Evohuman conflict that Mia has been a part of. Given what she and Liam were able to recall, she is understandably disturbed. A lot happened very quickly."

"Overwhelmed is more accurate," Cyberspace's disembodied voice echoed through the workshop. "Wildgrowth's involvement surprised me. Given the descriptions they were able to supply, I have been able to identify Windwalker, Silver Sky, Numbskull, and Reflex. There is one unaccounted for," they stated. "Now that you are back here, I am able to properly view your perspective of the encounter."

"I'll save you the trouble. The sixth member is Bloodhound," I said. I saw Francis' face shift from stoicism to displeasure. He knew what that meant, it seemed. "I'm… sorry," I paused for a moment to prepare for the scolding. "I had him dead to rights and couldn't pull the trigger. He's still alive. Ajax has him. It's been bothering me all the way back. If he cooperates with the ECU—"

"He will not," Cyberspace interrupted me. "Francis, you know what needs to be done."

The elderly man dusted off his hands and seemed to age a few more years.

"I'll see to it," he turned to me, his eyes softening. "Don't ever apologize for not pulling the trigger. That's not your responsibility, and I hope it never will be."

I couldn't fathom the logic behind those words. My split-second indecision caused this issue, and here he was telling me not to worry about it. Was this not the same man that gut-punched me yesterday for screwing up?

"If I had just—" I stopped when Francis stepped past me, ignoring my counter-argument.

I watched him toss away the bloody towel before retrieving his hat. He stepped out of the workshop without another word, leaving me alone with Cyberspace. It didn't take long for the silence to be broken.

"He is right. Do not concern yourself with such things. They will only drag you down and hinder your progress. Focus on what needs to be done," Cyberspace instructed. "Let us worry about cleaning up. This is one mess we are particularly skilled in handling, even with the obstacles Ajax and Chronos being here presents."

Strangely, I felt numb. This was not the reaction I was expecting.

"Right."

"Is there anything else to report?"

My encounter with Mirage flashed through my mind, with all the information I gleaned from it.

"No," I said confidently. "Nothing else."

"Very well. I suggest you take the rest of the night to rest. The work you will be doing tomorrow is of the utmost importance."

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