CHAPTER 20

       I scrolled through my hit list, wiring the timer back to the actual explosives. They had congregated once again in a facility within downtown Manhattan. I liked that, that they were easy to tick off altogether. Well, they weren't together yet. They would be, tomorrow night. Attending a social in which there were civilians present. So somehow the civilians would need to be evacuated.

       Perhaps a lock-all-the-scientists-in-the-room-and-blow-it-up? Like last time? Well that would require an after party or 'meeting' of some sort and a five or ten minute delay without any federal attempts to release the prisoners.

       Maybe deliver the invites by hand so that they weren't electronically traceable, perhaps the second or third floor from the top would do? The place they were attending the party in was the Organa, a fancy, twenty-story hotel.

       I spent the day making a cover story, an alias, the invites, planning the smuggling in of the bomb, covering my tracks, which footage loops I'd play, my plan of action to escape and what to do in the event if something went wrong.

       I walked down to the labs were the majority of the Offspring were present. Aaron, Gale and Castor were sitting on the couch scrolling through Netflix, looking for something to watch. Cleo and James were huddled over something together in the lab opposite, I felt a swell of jealousy balloon in my chest.

       "Hi James," I said the name quickly and with slight anger and distain positioning my words. "I am going to go out, for, clues." I glare at Cleo before spinning away without his consent. I haven't practiced lying for awhile.

       "No!" Castor suddenly cried. "Episode eight! We just watched seven!"

       "No!" Aaron cried back. "We only watched six!"

       "Trust me Aaron, we'd know if we were watching six, I mean, have you seen Yoda?"

       "They remade it!" Aaron wailed slash groaned.

       In their fight over the remote, Netflix had returned to it's original title. A familiar poster of Pirates of the Caribbean had showed in the recommended list. The Black Pearl and Jack Sparrow's misadventures once again. Wait a second... Black Pearl. Black of Pearls... They were the same. We were looking for a compass, Jack Sparrow's compass.

       "We're looking for Jack Sparrow's compass!" I shouted. "The Black Pearl? The Black of Pearls? It's the Black Pearl! And the compass we're looking for is Jack Sparrow's!"

       "Lana!" James cried from the lab. "You're a genius!"

       "Tell me something I don't know." I grinned.

       A bright light appeared next to us and formed into a shape. Becky was brushing her dripping hair while brushing her teeth. "Wht pwat devopment jast hapwenned?" She asked.

       "What?"

       Becky pulled out the tooth brush and said it slowly, the toothpaste forming bubbles on her lips. "What plot development just happened?"

       "We're going to the Caribbean." I grinned.

       "Yeah, that still doesn't help me at all." She stated. Castor sighed very loudly and facepalmed.

...

       Becky, Castor, Nile, Aaron and I quinjet to a location that James bought up, I drove the quinjet. We were headed South and had about half an hour before we arrived. So I had some time to think to myself.

       Tony was with Pepper is San Frisco, I think, wherever that was. I think Pepper was attending an expo for business leaders and Tony was talking (probably not so nicely) to some of the rouger X-Men, looking for news updates on their side of America.

       I wonder what Tom would be doing right now... Tom!

       "Shit." I swore.

       "What?" Becky rushed behind me.

       "Oh, nothing, forgot to catch up and get laid." I flaunted a smile. Becky closed her eyes tightly and sighed.

       "You better call him, I'd imagine that he's feeling pretty rejected."

       "Wonderful." I muttered and started going through the database, looking for his phone number. I called him up.

       "Hey Tom, it's me, Lana." I said happily, internally cursing my forgetfulness.

       "Hey Lana, how's it?" He seemed pretty cheery on the other end.

       "Look, I'm so sorry for not getting back to you. I got home and then got swamped with all this stupid stuff, my dad and all of the other Avengers got poisoned and now I'm flying to the Caribbean, chasing a cure."

       "No, that's okay, I've been swarmed now too, I'm trying out journalism and now I have a small job working for Superhero Daily."

       "That's awesome, and that's a real thing?"

       "Yeah, I got published like yesterday, I did an article on a SHIELD base that blew up." I felt my stomach simultaneously drop and curl in on itself.

       "Oh really?" I asked, sounding somewhat interested, though my words were wobbly. "That sounds amazing."

       "Yeah, it was, the Head Supervisor called it the kind of quality work he was looking for."

       "That's awesome man," I said, a smile working its way onto my face, another lie. "Hey, I'm on a mission right now but in a couple of hours swing by the tower, kay?"

       "Sure, see ya then."

       "Bye."

       I ended the call and drove in silence until Becky spoke behind me. "So he's Spiderman's son?" She asked quietly, her voice was small, timid.

       "Yeah, you know Spiderman?" Becky's face was pale as she gave a short nod and walked away.

       Well that was weird.

       After making sure that there was no one snooping on my biz, I checked the GPS location of my targets. They were all in their correct spots for people who were going to die only twenty-four or so hours later.

After Tom, I'll do it.