Chapter 135 The Five.

Chapter 135: 135 The Five.

The towering glass doors leading inside confronted us, sliding open automatically with a soft hiss, and in I stepped into the absolute heart of hero society.

The interior was impressive, I had to give it that.

Although I had a strong preference for buildings of a more imposingly evil, spiky, and poorly lit sort, the Hall of Heroes certainly lived up to its federal budget.

The receiving room was massive, topped with an expansive glass dome that held back the starry void of the pocket dimension.

The air in the center of the atrium was dominated by a colossal, rotating hologram of Earth, complete with a glowing ribbon reading Bureau of Superpowered Affairs wrapping around the equator like a Universal Studios title card.

The floors were polished to a mirror shine, and several towering, reinforced doors led deeper into the complex.

A number of costumed heroes wandered around the main hall, chatting over coffees or tapping on tablets. None of the big names, from what I noticed, and they paid us little attention. So far, so good.

"Nice place," I said, keeping my hands stuffed in my jacket pockets.

"BEHOLD, THE BASTION OF VIGILANCE!" Khonsu boomed, his voice vibrating off the polished walls and making a few nearby interns jump. "The Hall of Heroes is the headquarters for those who would protect this world against the great villains and cosmic menaces that threaten it! Not only human, alien, or mythic, but natural disasters and the creeping shadows of the abyss!"

"Uh huh," I said, scanning the interior.

For a highly secure extradimensional fortress, the Hall of Heroes was also, quite plainly, a tourist trap.

There were dozens of civvies—probably high-level donors, politicians, or heavily vetted VIPs—crowding the perimeter, phones out, taking pictures as they were shepherded about by overly enthusiastic tour guides in BSA polos.

Artificial sunlight, simulated to perfection, filtered down from the dome and flashed across the polished floors as Khonsu led us into an adjoining hallway lined with towering marble statues of heroes past.

I glanced up at the plaques. There was the Cobalt Crusader, Madame Mercury, The Immovable Object...

"Those who have left us in the eternal fight against evil," Khonsu intoned solemnly, bowing his linen-wrapped head as we walked past the towering monuments.

"Yeah, I remember," I said. The Cobalt Crusader had tried to punch a hole in a rogue asteroid back in the 2010s. Great PR, terrible physics.

"But it is not only the old heroes who inhabit our hallowed halls," Khonsu declared as we reached a heavy security checkpoint.

A laser swept over us, chiming a pleasant green before the heavy blast doors slid apart. "For the Bureau of Superpowered Affairs is not only concerned with the vanguard of today, but the forged steel of tomorrow."

We stepped out into a truly massive space. Built like an Olympic sports arena and open to a simulated blue sky above, the floor below us was a sprawling field of sand, reinforced concrete barriers, and modular urban combat blocks.

Dozens of high-tech training dummies were currently being vaporized, pulverized, or aggressively dismantled by a number of young men and women.

Heroes all, judging by the flashy, color-coordinated costumes and the sheer amount of unnecessary backflips happening during combat.

As we passed along the elevated perimeter walkway, I noticed some trainees clustered around a teenaged hero in tight gym clothes who was holding up his phone.

I could just make out the screen. He was watching a viral clip of Psyren on stage during her recent performance at Omnidome.

I couldn’t help but shake my head and grin. That girl sure knew how to work an algorithm.

Sadly, my brief moment of parental pride didn’t last long. Soon after, I spotted Divina down in the training pit, and that was far from a welcome sight.

With a guttural shout, she threw a single punch forward, completely shattering a titanium-reinforced wooden dummy into splinters.

"We train the next generation vigorously in the proper use of their divine and mortal abilities," Khonsu said as we walked past the observation glass. "Relentless practice is essential to mastering their power."

"I bet," I muttered.

Down in the pit, Divina wiped sweat from her brow, looked up, and spotted us on the catwalk.

The hostility was instant, her eyes narrowing into a glare hot enough to melt lead. Hoo boy. Better get this moving along before she decided to test how well those windows held up against a demigod.

"Look, Finn," I said, dropping my voice so the passing VIPs couldn’t hear me use his real name. "Is there a reason other than the grand architectural tour you invited me up here? I’m not exactly keen to be lingering in the crosshairs."

Khonsu stopped walking. His broad shoulders slumped just a fraction, the booming theatricality draining out of him in an instant.

"Yes. There is," he said, his voice quiet, sounding every bit like the exhausted guy I’d known for years. He gestured toward a sleek, heavily guarded corridor at the far end of the arena. "We have a meeting with The Five."

I stopped dead in my tracks.

"What?" I choked out, my entire body instantly tensing up. "What do they want to see me for?"

Khonsu gave me a measured, glowing look from beneath his wraps. "That is what the meeting will be about. Now, shall we?"

I guessed so, but I was considerably less sold on this whole thing now. I was meeting with The Five?

Oh, fuck. Things had just gotten a lot more serious.

The Five were the brains and the willpower behind the entire founding of the BSA. They were all S-list heroes.

The absolute top of the food chain. After the Zeebrax alien invasion of ’89 nearly leveled the eastern seaboard, they realized the old ’national’ hero system wasn’t working.

They had advocated for a global network, even working with the UN for a while before they split off to form the Bureau.

They were the sort of heroes a blue-collar guy like me would never be important enough to fight, and for very good reason.

They all held a very firm, unshakeable opinion that heroes should battle for the good of the world, far beyond the purview of individual nations, creeds, and corporations. And never for profit... well, more or less.

Needless to say, it was a lofty goal, and a great inspiration for the masses, even if it wasn’t too practical when Nike was waving wads of cash in front of most modern capes.

Still, they were undeniably the biggest heroes in the world. They were much, much too important to bother with whatever penny-ante villainy I was getting up to in a mountain chalet.

So why were they sitting in on my disciplinary hearing?

Oh, I didn’t like this. I didn’t like this at all.

"Sir?" Glacia said uneasily, noticing the blood completely draining from my face.

"Let’s just stay cool here," I hissed under my breath, my eyes darting toward the heavy doors at the end of the hall.

"Is that code, sir?" Glacia whispered, her posture stiffening, the air around her hands instantly dropping twenty degrees. "Do you need me to freeze the atmospheric moisture in the hallways so we can execute a tactical retreat?"

"What? No! No way. We’re staying calm here, Glacia. We are not freaking out and picking a fight with the founders of the BSA."

"I am calm, sir."

"Oh. Good. Makes one of us, then."

"Are you coming, Polaris?" Khonsu called back from where he’d stopped further up the hall. He tilted his head, giving us a puzzled look.

"Yep! Of course. Right behind you," I said, hastening after him and dragging a reluctant Glacia along.

Shit. Shiiiiiiit. This was not good. Not good at all. What the hell could the S-listers want with me? Nothing good, I bet. Fuck! Was I going to get drilled by the heavy hitters?

Were they going to throw me in the Phantom Zone for dropping an aircraft on my own lawn?

Dammit! I did not need this today.

Khonsu gave me a shrewd look as I caught up, and I tried to force a confident, encouraging smile onto my face.

I must have somewhat managed it, as he simply turned and led us up the final stretch of the hallway, stopping outside a perfectly seamless, brushed-steel door.