Here's a loong update, because I would much rather write this book than study for finals (also because we're almost done! There are probably only a couple of chapters left!)

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Slowly and hesitantly, Juliana raised her head and forced herself to take in the scene before her. Bloody footprints formed a trail from the base of her grandfather's red-stained armchair to the door. In the armchair, his face still glowing with smug confidence, was the King himself. Juliana found her eyes consciously darting away from the gaping red hole in his skull, some childish part of her trying to convince her that he wasn't really gone. 

But he was. Her only relative was dead, and just minutes ago, she thought he was the very terrorist who probably killed him. 

"I'm so sorry," she approached him solemnly, folding her hands in front of her body and bowing her head. He was never trying to weaken her. He really had taken away her suit for her own good- to help her find her inner strength. Whether he had succeeded was yet to be seen. Reaching out with a gloved hand, she gently brought his eyelids down, inexplicable guilt beginning to eat up her insides. 

It was then that Juliana noticed the hurriedly written letter on the notepad beside the King. She snatched it up in her hands, her eyes quickly skimming over the text. 

People in the ballroom. I can't stay here. Only way to go is up. Follow if you dare. 

Ripping out the note, Juliana crumpled it into a ball and tossed it angrily to the floor, trying her best to bury the complicated emotions surging within her heart. She suspected it was a trap- no, she knew it was a trap. Yet, she was about to walk into it. Someone had just murdered her grandfather in cold blood, and she needed answers. Now. 

"Call Chase," she ordered into the mouthpiece inside her mask before storming out of the room. 

.............................................

"Chase, there's... " Juliana's voice came through Chase's earpiece all crackly, and he could barely discern her words. He couldn't tell whether this was because she was so far out of range, or because she was actually struggling to speak. He'd come running from his lookout by the appetizer table as soon as he heard the gunshots upstairs, and his nails had found their way under the packaging of the gift box in his arms, ready to rip it open at the slightest notice. 

"Something horrible's happened. My grandfather is... he's dead."

"What- " 

Before he could react, Juliana continued speaking. "One thing's for sure now: we were wrong. He wasn't responsible for the Jackers. I think I can find out who is, though. I'm headed upstairs." 

"Anything I can do to help?" Chase wiped his sweaty palms on the front of his pants as his face flushed with guilt. He had been the first one to suggest that the King was behind the Jackers, and Project PROB had made all its decisions accordingly... He wondered just how costly his mistake would be. 

"Yes, actually," Juliana's voice was starting to come through more clearly, but with slight bumps between her words. It sounded like she was running. "Get to my lab. Find my secret project. It's time."

Her secret project. Chase remembered Juliana talking about it the night after her powers were taken away. He'd momentarily wondered what it could be, but his curiosity didn't last long. After all, he had bigger things to worry about that night. 

"Okay, I'm on it." Hugging his helmet to his chest, Chase sprinted toward the door, quickly manipulating probabilities to clear a path for himself through the chaos. Finding himself on the street, he zigzagged through honking cars with agility he didn't know he had. Juliana was right- the Power had been making him stronger. 

Rubbing his gloves, he watched as they transformed into his now-familiar dart shooters. Ducking under the awning of a tightly packed row of shops to avoid pedestrian traffic, he tore into the packaging of the gift in his hands. Ignoring the many questioning looks he got, he pulled out his helmet and fitted it onto his head. One by one, the many visual fields booted up. Regular view, probability crosshairs, zoom mode, x-ray vision, night vision...

"Which way to Hesche Financial?" Chase asked, momentarily startled by how loud his voice sounded inside his helmet. The augmented reality tool in his visual camera turned on and a big, red arrow appeared on the ground in front of him. Realizing that it pointed straight at the building in front of him, he turned around a few times, hoping that the system would recalibrate. It didn't. Just as luck would have it, the fastest route to Hesche was through a building. He craned his neck, zooming with his camera to see that the building stretched on forever on both sides, home to a seemingly infinite number of tiny downtown shops. 

Even with the Power, Chase wasn't exactly the fastest guy around. Trying to get around the building and then finding his way to Hesche would waste precious time- time during which Juliana probably needed whatever her secret project was. 

Taking in a deep breath, he adjusted the settings on his gloves and looked up the face of the building before him. Even with his head tilted all the way back, he could barely see the top. It was a long way up, and an even longer way down. Holding up his right palm, he shot out a specialized dart built to resemble a miniature grappling hook. As it sailed upward, four claws grew out of its body. Sensors on their tips swiveled around in the air, looking for something solid to latch onto. Hoping to compensate for his still-mediocre aim, Chase increased the probability that the hook would catch on something high enough for his purposes. Sure enough, when he tugged on the sturdy cord he'd released, he judged that it would support his weight. 

Sending up a hook from his other palm for good measure, he grabbed onto the two cords, stepped back a few feet, and took a running jump, just managing to grab the awning above his head with both hands. Grateful for all the pull-ups he'd been doing in Order training, he kicked his feet up onto the awning and stood up, placing his feet securely on the brick wall before the flimsy awning gave out under him with a loud rip. Pulling the cords taut, he began to clumsily scramble up the wall as quickly as he could, stopping for much-needed breaks every time his feet found a windowsill. 

Wasting no space in the crowded downtown square, rows and rows of apartments had been built on top of a bottom layer of shops, leaving plenty of stories for Chase to scale. Just a few floors up, he was beginning to realize that his well-shined designer dress shoes were really not made for this kind of job. Their smooth soles made it nearly impossible for him to maintain his hold on even the rough brick wall. Every time a strong gust of wind hit him, it blew him onto his back, leaving him hanging onto the cords for dear life and kicking wildly like a fish out of water before he was able to turn around and regain his grip. Suspended several stories in the air by nothing but a rope and terrified for his life, he found himself wondering why in the world Academy students voluntarily did the Jump.  

"Sir, please stay calm and remain where you are." Chase risked looking down, nearly losing his balance, to see a police officer speaking into a megaphone. A small crowd had gathered around the front of the building to watch his stunt. 

Oh, great. 

Looking at the ground had reminded Chase of how high up he was, making him a little dizzy. Before he realized what he was doing, he tightened his grip on the cords and ran up the rest of the building, gripped by sudden fear and embarrassment at how ridiculous he must've looked. He collapsed onto the concrete roof in exhaustion, looking down in dismay at the dust that covered his ruined suit. So much for trying to look presentable for once in his life. 

Dusting off his knees, he stood up, delighted to see that the Nader. V. Hesche building was now visible! He just had to hide his identity, and... he froze, his hand in his empty pocket. His Maskey must've fallen out while he was climbing! They obviously wouldn't let him into Hesche without it, for security reasons... 

Oh well, he'd already done plenty of crazy things today. Another couldn't hurt. Accessing the Alpha Box's power one more time, he ran to the edge of the roof and jumped toward the Hesche building. He landed on his side, rolling to a stop before adjusting his helmet and activating x-ray vision. Looking down, he realized he was directly above the employee break room containing the entrance to Order headquarters. Perfect. 

With a strong mental tug, he released the largest object in sight- a squat, gray air conditioning unit, from the ground. Stepping back and bracing himself, he telekinetically brought the AC down on the roof. Crack. He felt the vibration of the impact underneath his feet, but the roof still didn't give. The AC was heavier than he anticipated and it was quickly taxing his limited mental endurance. His second blow was shaky and uncontrolled, but it did the job. He stared down at the gaping hole in the roof with measured pride before diving in after the AC. Passing several astonished Hesche employees, he fell straight through the portal, flailing his arms wildly in an attempt to slow his uncontrollable descent. 

His fingers grasped at nothing, unable to get a grip on the smooth metal walls of the tube. The trampoline at its end somewhat softened the impact, but a jolt of pain still shot through Chase's right arm when he made contact with it. For a moment, he lay on it in a fetal position, his heart feeling like it was going to fly out of his chest at any moment. When the pain subsided enough for him to think and move, he slowly got up, regarding the scene around him in disbelief. The nearly destroyed AC unit lay a few feet to his left. Judging from the cracks in its side and the many wires sticking out of it, its fall had been just as rough as his. Luckily, most of the Order was either at Juliana's party or defending the Alpha Box, so there was no one there to witness Chase's reckless entrance. 

He ran across the unusually deserted main floor, the 3-D Order insignia on the arch above his head seeming to look disapprovingly down upon him, until he finally made it to an elevator and began to descend.

When he entered the octagonal room where the Project PROB suits were kept, he couldn't help feel that something was off. That was when he realized- this was the first time he had ever been down here without Juliana. 

Even though she had explicitly instructed him to do so, he still felt odd approaching the single panel covered in black fabric and grabbing the covering. His fingers trembled in anticipation as he tugged at it, finding that it fell easily away from the open display case behind it. 

All this time, he had been preparing himself for a bomb, or a missile. Some kind of weapon of mass destruction that could end the Jackers in one shot. But what greeted him behind the cover seemed even more shocking. His breath hitched in his throat as he stared at the black jumpsuit plated with flexible blue body armor. A metal ring surrounded the neck of the suit, and Chase noticed that the spikes on it perfectly matched the grooves on his helmet. Carefully etched into the ring was one word. 

Numbers

Still awestruck, Chase carefully removed the suit from its mannequin, only to see a note fall out of one of the tall blue boots. 

For my favorite superhero.