The Drone War

When a drone-wielding villain abducts Reuben Conway, the hero beat reporter sees a career-boosting opportunity. While the self-proclaimed Swarm Lord wants to taunt the local superteam, for Reuben it’s just a chance to sell a lot of newspapers while the heroes take this new crook down. But, when The Angels’ first engagement with this menace ends with SpeedDamon crippled, Reuben realizes Swarm Lord isn’t just another headline. He’s out for blood, far deadlier than anyone thought, and planning something big. Now, Reuben must forge an unlikely alliance with the mysterious Lords of Atlantis to bring the Swarm Lord to justice before he can complete his scheme and destabilize the entire Pacific Rim.

“W-what did this?” Panzerfaüst asked. His voice had a tinge of panic to it. For all his youthful bravado, this was probably his first look at the real thing. Death, in all its wasteful horror.

I examined the corpses. The local scavengers had been tearing at their flesh, but there was enough of the men left to get an idea of what killed them. It was the broken bones that told the tale. It wasn’t a tale I liked. Looking down, I found a set of tread marks. My eyes followed them back to the road and up to the silhouette of Shadow Mountain, a looming darkness shrouded in a blanket of stars. Terror crawled up my spine.

“The drones didn’t do that, did they?” the young hero asked.

“Nope. It was Dr. Schadenfreude’s robots. They’ve been reactivated.”