Paramount flew across the sky with his fists stretched out before him, the wind rippling in his short hair.  The forest stretched out below him as the sun shone to his left.  Paramount checked the G.P.S. in his smartwatch to make sure he was in the right place, and then he gazed over the landscape for the person he was meeting.  Paramount felt him with his mind before he ever saw him, sensing the man’s cold, calculating thoughts from a mile away.  Moments later, Paramount sensed another mind wondering why he was out there.

            Guess I wasn’t the only one he asked out here, Paramount thought.  Soon Paramount caught a glimpse of a black speck next to a white speck down below.  He flew down under the trees and landed in a kneel before standing up to face two fellow superheroes.

            The first was the Silent Wraith, known as Silent to his friends.  He wore a black suit of body armor with a sleek, armored gas mask over his head.  The masks had lenses over his eyes and a slim disc on each cheek where the mask’s air filters rested.   Behind the other man, Paramount could see Silent’s custom motorcycle, a sleek looking black vehicle that almost looked like a miniature fighter jet.

            The second man was Spectramancer, wearing a white hooded robe and a white mask over his vivid green eyes.  Around his jaw lay a white beard, making him look like an elderly wizard.

            “Silent, Spectramancer,” said Paramount, nodding to each of them.  “What’s going on?”

            “Ask him,” said Spectramancer irritably with a thick British accent.  “He’s the one who insisted on meeting out in the middle of nowhere.”

            “There’s something you both need to see,” said Silent.

            Silent’s voice was distorted electronically, giving him a menacing air.  Neither Paramount nor Spectramancer was intimidated, but they knew him pretty well.  The Silent Wraith was only dangerous to bad people.

            Silent pulled a tablet from his motorcycle and showed it to the others.

            “You remember the concern for Morphic Man and Elementus?” asked Silent.

            “Yes, I noticed,” said Paramount.  “Their fans seemed to think that they were in Redwell City when it blew.  Seeing as they’re both perfectly uninjured, I figured it was some misunderstanding.”

            “That’s what I thought too,” said Silent.  “However, checking their social media accounts revealed that they’ve deleted recent posts recently.  The timing of this seemed just seemed a little suspicious, so I looked on internet archive sites to see if I could find screenshots of those posts.  What I found was…concerning.  Most of the major internet archive sites have been hacked recently.  No personal information from users seems to have been compromised, but there are missing files and images related to both Morphic Man and Elementus’s accounts.”

            “Hacked?” said Paramount skeptically.  “Are you telling me that someone tried to wipe every possible record of their posts from the internet?”

            “Not everything,” said Silent.  “No one could get every single image on every single website.  Not even Cybergun could do that, but they could go after the most popular websites, so finding what I was looking for still took time.  After a few hours of digging, I was able to find a few screenshots in some obscure forums.  While they may have been edited, these images show that Morphic Man and Elementus were, in fact, in Redwell City the day it was destroyed.  If that’s correct, then someone is going to great lengths to make sure people don’t find that out.  As I said, they obviously can’t wipe everything out there, but those who only check the mainstream sights will be none the wiser, and that’s a lot of people.”

            “How’s that possible?” said Spectramancer in disbelief.  “Even if it’s just the mainstream sites, the resources you would need to hack all of them at once would be incredible.”

            “They could have easily left before the explosion,” said Silent.  “The point is, it seems they were there that night.  As for how they could hack so many sights at once, both heroes have connections.  Elementus has an old school company sponsorship from Uberdyne Incorporated.  Morphic Man, on the other hand, gets government grants from the E.H.O.D.’s safeguard program.  From corporate money to federal money, either has the resources necessary for this level of cyberattack.”

            Paramount shook his head in disbelief, and Spectramancer clenched his fists.

            “I can’t believe Elementus is behind this,” said Paramount.  “I’ve worked with him.  He’s a good man.”

            “To be fair,” said Silent.  “We don’t know why he would have been there, only that he might have been.  His reasons for being there may very well be unrelated to the explosion.  We just don’t know.  What about Morphic Man?  I remember his bid to join the U.H.E. was rejected.”

            “It was,” said Paramount.  “He’s always struck me as arrogant and abrasive.  Only a few of our members voted to let him in, and for his part, I think he just wanted the potential status.  Ultimately he was too full of himself to be a team player, but I’ve never heard of him getting someone killed, much less something like this.”

            “It’s him,” said Spectramancer. “If either of them is behind this, it’s him.  I always knew that man was up to no good.  Every time I see that insufferably smug smile, I just want to punch him.  And you tell me he’s working with those corrupt suits from the E.H.O.D.?  It just makes me sick!  I could just go right to that slimy, stuck up weasels and…”

            “Nigel!” said Paramount sternly, “Power down!”

             Spectramancer hadn’t even realized his power was active.  Wrapped in a red aura that also turned his cloak red, he glared at Paramount, his hands glowing with even more power.  Spectramancer, despite his anger, obeyed.  When the aura disappeared, so did Spectramancer’s anger, and he suddenly grew embarrassed and looked away awkwardly.

            “Sorry,” said Spectramancer.

            “Are you alright?” asked Silent suspiciously.

            “I’m fine.”

            “You don’t look fine,” said Paramount sternly.  “You looked like you were losing control.  Spectramancer, you told me this wouldn’t happen again.”

            “It didn’t,” Spectramancer protested.

            “Not this time,” said Paramount. “Do I need to bring up the Rocky Mountains incident?”

“I think you just did,” said Spectramancer.  “So let me remind you that it wasn’t that bad.  No one got hurt, did they?”

            “No one was around to get hurt.  You might not be so lucky next time.  Spectramancer, tell me honestly, has this been getting worse?”

            “No,” said Spectramancer.

            He’d said that just a little too quickly for Paramount’s liking.  Just for a moment, Paramount brushed Spectramancer’s mind with telepathy.  Spectramancer did seem to believe what he was saying, but Paramount also sensed an abnormally strong desire to believe it.  Was Spectramancer trying to convince himself it was true as much as he wanted to convince Paramount?  Possibly.  Telepathy didn’t technically reveal the truth.  It simply revealed what one believed to be the truth.  At the moment, Spectramancer’s mind didn’t give Paramount enough to go on.  If Spectramancer was right, then there was nothing to worry about, but if he was wrong…

            “Spectramancer,” said Paramount.  “I say this as a friend.  If you’re having trouble controlling your power, then it might be time to consider…”

            “Don’t say retirement!” Spectramancer almost shouted, wisps of red aura appearing around him before disappearing.  “I swear, if I never hear that word again, it’ll be too soon.  I can’t spend the rest of my life sitting around when people need my help.  You know me better than that.”

            “Nigel,” said Paramount, his voice softening to a plea, “You have to face facts.  You aren’t getting any younger.”

            Spectramancer looked away.  “You think I don’t know that?”

            “I don’t want you to get yourself hurt.  Yourself or…someone else.”

            “It’s been a year, Paramount,” said Spectramancer. “I’ve done well so far.”

            “And in all that time,” said Paramount. “I haven’t seen you accidentally activate your powers until now.  Nigel, if you’re starting to have trouble again, then please let us help you.”

            They stood in silence for a moment.  Silent had spent that conversation standing back, looking back and forth between them.

            “Silent,” said Spectramancer. “You want me to interview Elementus and Morphic Man, right?”

            Silent hesitated.  “I’m not sure that…”

            “That’s why I’m here, right?” said Spectramancer. “Both are immune to telepathy, so Paramount can’t get anything from them.   But I’m an empath, so I might be able to confirm something from their emotions.  Where are they?”

            Silent hesitated but said, “Over the past few days, superheroes have been visiting the crater where Redwell City used to be, finding clues or just paying their respects.  Elementus is there now, and according to Morphic Man’s Noteline feed, he should be there later today.”

           “Alright,” said Spectramancer. “I’ll talk to them.  I can’t guarantee that Morphic Man’s emotions will be easy to read.  Aliens sometimes have strange emotions.  I swear, they can be so hard to deal with sometimes.”

            Suddenly, Spectramancer gave Paramount a sheepish look, “Er…no offense.”

            Paramount sighed, “None taken.”

            Spectramancer cleared his throat.  “I’ll find whatever I can.”

            Spectramancer took a deep breath and then surrounded himself in a yellow aura that turned his white costume yellow.  This aura seemed to make him feel better, a look of pure contentment spreading across his face.  He looked at Paramount and smiled.

            “It’s okay,” said Spectramancer. “I’ll ask them where they were that day and report back to you—nothing to it.  Everything will be alright.  You’ll see.”

            And Spectramancer flew into the air, speeding away from the clearing.  Paramount watched him go, worry written all over his face.

            “Will he be okay?” asked Silent.

            “I hope so,” said Paramount.

            Silent looked at him and said, “Are you okay?”

            Paramount thought about it, and he wasn’t entirely okay.  Paramount was old, much older than he looked.  He’d been the first superhero and formed the United Heroes of Earth when more heroes started using their powers for good.  No matter how many faces were added or taken off that roster, his face had always been there.  Paramount thought back on all the friends he’d had in his life.  Some had died fighting the good fight, but some had simply passed away from old age, like his own wife.

            Even though he physically looked the same, Paramount used to look in the mirror and see a man filled with optimism.  Now he saw a man filled with worry about everyone he knew and what would happen in the future.  He sometimes wondered what happened to that young, energetic, and optimistic young man who wanted to make the world a better place.

            Paramount shook his head.  “I’m just…tired.”

            “I thought you didn’t get tired,” said Silent.

            “I wish that were true.”

            Paramount sighed, and Silent stood there awkwardly, not sure what to say.

            “Alright,” said Paramount, taking a deep breath. “I’ll inform the rest of the U.H.E. about this.  What will you do?”

“I’ve already taken samples from the crater sight,” said Silent.  “So I’ll get them back to my lab for analysis.  We’ll get to the bottom of this.  I promise you that.”

            “Sounds good,” said Paramount.  “Keep up the good work.”

            Paramount saluted him and then bent his knees to fly into the air, speeding away.  Silent then turned, got on his motorcycle, revved it up, and sped away through the forest.