Bones of the Past (Villains' Code Book 2)

by Drew Hayes

  For his travel, Cyber Geek reached into the digital display he now always had with him and pulled out a gigantic blue boot large enough for a human to stand inside. It was an item from Jump Jump Jones, a video game from childhood that offered some strange, but useful, travel options. Getting inside the boot, Cyber Geek launched up from the ground, easily clearing twenty feet in the first bound, before landing unharmed on the street below.

  There were more efficient ways to travel, when the need was dire, but he’d discovered that few things made the same impression on criminals as a massive shoe dropping down from the sky. After all, Cold Shoulder didn’t have a patent on shock and awe.

  Chloe and Beverly were already on the roof by the time Tori sprinted through the door, three sets of goggles hanging on her arm. From the top of their apartment building, they could see the other nearby roofs crowded with dozens of watchers using telescopes and cameras. Luckily, most of the people who lived in their building were the type to prefer viewing live news footage rather than standing in the slightly chilly late-Summer air. That left the trio alone, which was how they preferred it, anyway.

  “About time! You know it’s five minutes to nine,” Beverly chastised. She was tall, with piercing green eyes that shifted color when Beverly turned into one of her several dragon forms. Of course, when that was the case, she went by Bahamut, as no villain worth their salt used their own name in a caper.

  “Yeah, I cut it close, but at least I brought party favors.” Tori held up the goggles, handing a pair each to Beverly and Chloe, keeping a set for herself.

  “I’ll be the one to ask: what the heck are these?” Chloe turned them over in her pale hands before slipping the goggles past her short, bleached-white hair and onto her face. She looked a tad like an owl who’d gotten really into steampunk as she twisted and turned, staring up at the night sky.

  Tori walked over and gently lifted Chloe’s hand up to the side of the goggles, where a dial could be felt. “Specialized watching devices. I figured we’d want to get a great view of the show. If you tweak this part here, you should be able to adjust the scope and focus of your lenses. Don’t worry about glares from the ships or powers: I added enough neutralizing light filters that you could chart the stars at noon. Actually, daytime sky-gazing might be a fun use for these.” Moving Chloe’s finger across the dial, Tori heard her roommate gasp in surprise as the stars above them came into sharp focus.

  “Holy shit. Now I feel bad about yelling at you to hurry.” Beverly had donned her own pair after watching the demonstration and was currently looking up into the night. “These are awesome.”

  “Apology accepted, because hell yes, they are.” Tori slipped on her own goggles, but didn’t zoom in just yet. Despite her faith in Doctor Mechaniacal’s calculations, the location of arrival could shift slightly in response to the AHC’s presence, so she wanted to keep a wide view until then. “We’ll be able to see the purple in Lodestar’s eyes with these.”

  Before anyone could question the truth of that statement, it happened.

  The ship burst into view above Ridge City, clearly alien from the first glance. It was oddly shaped in such a way that looking at it too long made Tori’s head start to hurt, but it wasn’t as large as she’d been expecting. Maybe that was why it had managed to get this close before being noticed.

  All around them, in the streets and on the rooftops, people yelped in excitement and pointed to the sky. Even in Ridge City, visitors from outer space were not a common occurrence. It had been over a decade since the attempted Cernovian invasion, and at least five years since the cape known as Cresscriss arrived, fleeing his doomed planet. In the time since, they had yet to encounter any more alien presences—until this ship had been seen barreling toward Earth.

  Tori was about to adjust her dial, but paused just long enough to check her watch first. Nine on the dot. Doctor Mechaniacal had been right yet again, not that she was surprised. Her respect for the legendary tech-based villain was second only to that for Ivan, the man who had once been feared across the world as the monstrous Fornax. That respect came not from admiration at what he’d built, though, but rather from the mentor he’d been to her when she first joined the guild. Ivan had done his best to shape her education and keep her alive. Without him, she might never have become the meta-suit-wearing villain known as Hephaestus.

  And now, she was getting the chance to watch someone Ivan respected—and feared—in action. Twisting her dial, Tori searched the skies for the signature glow of the world’s most powerful cape.

  The Grzzniltan ship broke easily through the atmosphere, and the city below came into view. From behind the seat, the pilot could hear its navigator listing off information about the elements in the air. They’d have to do some extensive testing first, but remote scouts had indicated that this place might be perfect for terraforming. True, it would wipe out the native inhabitants; however, that was of little concern. These strange creatures with their vulnerable skin and primitive minds—they couldn’t even travel between the stars. Cleansing them would be a kindness, really, saving them from their own ignorance.

  It happened suddenly and with almost no warning, save for the streak of light that shot up from the ground below. The entire ship halted in midair, sending the pilot flailing. It grabbed onto the console with its tentacles in an effort to stay balanced. If they hadn’t slowed in preparation for landing, such a violent stop would have turned it and the crew into pulp on the nearest wall.

  The others were already scrambling, trying to understand what could have stopped them so instantly. It should have been impossible, but perhaps the native creatures had better defenses than they’d expected.

  The large screen at the front of the room lit up with a new image, one much smaller than the picture of the ground below. Floating in the sky, glowing like the heart of a star, was a female creature similar to the native animals the Grzzniltan probes had reported in early scouting endeavors. Except that species didn’t fly, or glow, or stop entire spaceships with a single one of their five-digited tentacles. Hands, these creatures called them. But of course, that was impossible. Even the mighty Wrexwren warriors, renowned for their raw power, couldn’t halt an entire ship in midair. It was some sort of technology; that was the only explanation.

  “Hi there!” She spoke in odd noises, yet moments later, the proper grunts and gloomfs reached the pilot’s ears. “My name is Lodestar. I hope this translator is working right. Cresscriss said your ship was Grzzniltan and tried to whip something up so we could talk.”

  Cresscriss? A Paldomian name, yet there were no more Paldomians in the universe. They’d been wiped out, a necessary stepping stone on the road to others’ progress. Was this creature lying, or had some truly escaped?

  “Anyway, I wanted to let you know that this is Earth, and if you’ve come here seeking safety, peace, trade, or any sort of diplomatic relations, we welcome you with open arms. Should that be the case, we’d be happy to escort you to a safe landing site and open discussions.”

  As the Earth native spoke, more of her kind came into view. One wore glass in front of his eyes and a long white coat, his whole body sparking with blue energy as he floated in midair. Another had simple clothes, save for a silver belt around his waist that seemed to be keeping him aloft. Looking at that one, he seemed wrong, like too many creatures piled into a single section of space and time. Others rose from the ground, wearing all manner of shapes and colorful garb.

  The pilot’s navigator was shouting, trying to get the pilot’s attention. It couldn’t imagine what was so important; they clearly needed to wipe away these pests first.

  Still, listening was an integral part of being in command, so the pilot oozed over to the navigator and looked at the screen. What it saw made two of his nine fluid sacks skip pulsations. The navigator had pulled up a program designed to sweep for any dangerous or profitable energy sources, and what stood before their ship was unfathomable. That much power, condensed into such minute for
ms… it boggled all sense of logical. Many of these creatures were dangerous, but the three at the forefront were a class of their own. As for the one who had seemingly stopped their vessel... the readings from her went beyond such primitive concepts as danger.

  “We like to think of ourselves as a friendly planet,” the human woman continued, unfazed by the effort of holding an entire spaceship suspended. “We’ve got some extraterrestrial folks who can vouch for that. But you should also know, we’re not a species who likes to be stepped on or subjugated. If there were any Cernovians still around, I’d tell you to ask them. So, if you’re here for peace, let me reiterate that we welcome you.”

  The creature—Lodestar she had called herself—paused long enough to move her arm. As she did, the entire ship shifted, dispelling any doubt about what had halted them mid-flight. It was a short display, but a potent one all the same. Once she’d finished, Lodestar resumed her speech.

  “But if you’ve come here to cause trouble, then you should know that we are plenty capable of making that ourselves. And we would be more than happy to share.”

  Cheers burst from around them as the ship rose back into the sky, quickly fading from view for all those without telescopes or goggles whipped together by a tech-genius. Tori, Beverly, and Chloe all sat on the roof for some while, watching it vanish back into the space between the stars from whence it came. Interesting as it would have been to access a new species of alien thoughts, culture, and technology, Cresscriss had already made the public aware that Grzzniltans tended to be opportunists and cowards, so they’d most likely flee when faced with a species capable of fighting back.

  “I like to think I’ve seen my fair share of shit, but that was still pretty damn cool.” Beverly yanked her goggles off and tried to hand them to Tori, who shook her head.

  “Keep them. Maybe we’ll come up here and do some stargazing. Or you can be a perv and watch that all-dude running club that goes by here every afternoon.”

  “Runners? No thanks. I like my men with more muscle than that. Stargazing sounds fun, though.” Beverly carefully tucked the goggles into one of her pockets and let out a sigh. “You know, there was a time in my life where watching capes send a spaceship packing would have been the most amazing part of my year. But now, all I can think about is this weekend.”

  “You and me both,” Tori agreed.

  “Personally, I can’t wait for this weekend,” Chloe said. “With you two out of the house, I’m going to do a terrible movie marathon and try out some new casserole recipes. I’ll save the best one for when you get home.”

  There wasn’t much that could top a preemptively-foiled alien invasion; however, for them, one such event loomed bright on the horizon. In a few days’ time, the thing they’d been anticipating for months would finally arrive.

  This Saturday, the guild’s new headquarters would officially open, and with that, they would begin their work as true members.

  Chapter 1

  When everything was said and done, the central blame for the day’s events—and all that came about as a result of them—could be placed squarely on the aliens who were stopped before they ever touched down. True, they fled the moment they were met by much of the AHC (particularly Lodestar, Professor Quantum, and Quorum), but they also provided a huge shot of excitement on a Tuesday evening. Even after their departure, Tori had stayed up with Beverly and Chloe for several hours, talking about the stars and the potential mysteries beyond them. While they, like the rest of the world, were aware that extraterrestrials existed, not much more was known than that. The few refugees who’d found a place on Earth had either known little outside their own worlds or had been unwilling to part with such information. In a way, that was a blessing, for the uncertainty of what lay beyond the dark skies was as important as the twinkling stars themselves.

  Of course, a night up late talking with her friends meant that Tori was sleep-deprived and grouchy, even by her standards. It didn’t help that she’d been pulling all-nighters for the week before, working overtime to make certain her meta-suit was fully operational before the guild meeting. Neither she nor Beverly were entirely sure what to expect, but if Tori had learned one thing during her apprenticeship, it was to always be prepared to meet any challenge.

  “You look rough.” Ivan had barely glanced up as she set the stack of files on his desk, yet he wasn’t too absorbed to snap off the quick remark.

  “Fuck you, too.” Tori glanced around quickly to make sure no one had overheard. Though she was supposed to be Ivan’s niece—a necessary bit of subterfuge left over from when she’d lived over his garage—there was a limit to how glib she was allowed be in the office. Thankfully, no one was walking by Ivan’s door right then, so the remark remained their secret.

  “Cute. But I’m serious. You need to pull yourself together. We’ve got a big meeting this afternoon, and you’re going to be around the upper management. This will be their first time seeing you as an executive coordinator instead of an intern; I want you to make a good impression.” He was still looking at his desk, filling out forms without so much as a moment of hesitation between his pen strokes. Fornax was a powerful beast, Tori had seen that firsthand, but Ivan Gerhardt’s capacity for multitasking was a feat she still found rather astounding.

  Unfortunately, he was also right. While the title of Executive Coordinator really meant that she just did the same work she had as Ivan’s assistant for several other managers, it had come with a bump in pay and put her on a solid career track. According to the development plan Vendallia Industries had made her fill out, within two years she’d be on track for an HR job, and after that, she could move into management herself. Granted, Tori didn’t know how long she’d actually need to keep this cover job going, but until she had enough capital from respectable sources to start her own tech firm, she needed to appear normal. And there was nothing more normal than working a shitty corporate gig to slowly climb the career ladder.

  Letting out a long groan, Tori smoothed her suit on reflex and dropped into one of the two chairs in front of Ivan’s desk. With a quick motion, she pulled out her phone to go over the day’s schedule. “Okay, it looks like I’ve got a small gap between your post-lunch presentation review and the meeting’s actual start. Maybe I’ll swing by Ridge City Grinders and grab some espresso. It won’t turn me into rainbows and sunshine, but I should be able to smile my way through most of the afternoon.”

  “You’re thinking too small,” Ivan told her. Finally glancing up from his desk, he reached into a nearby drawer and pulled out his company credit card. “Call Chloe and have her set up an order for the group ahead of time. That way, you can walk in with a nice treat to get everyone over the post-lunch slump. Remember: taking the initiative earns you big points with the higher-ups.”

  Reaching slightly, Tori accepted the card and tucked it away in her pocket. “I already took bullets for the company. Now they want me to take initiative, too?”

  “That was last quarter. You’re only as good as your most recent accomplishments.”

  Ivan turned back to the task at hand, and Tori didn’t object. She was one of the few people who knew how much work he needed to get done before their meeting kicked off. Instead, she headed out to drop off more documents with one of the other managers.

  It was a little galling at times, when she really thought about the fact that Vendallia was a subsidiary of Indigo Technologies, the company that Wade Wyatt owned. They were trying to impress people who were supposedly higher on the food chain than them, when, in reality, she and Ivan had both shared beers with the man sitting at the tiptop of the ladder. If anything, other people should be kissing up to them. But that was the trouble with secret identities: you couldn’t use the relationships your costumed self might have without raising questions. Tori Rivas was a low-level, white-collar worker, only recently promoted from intern.

  If she wanted to climb higher, she’d have to do it with solid work and afternoon coffee.

  “
—and it looks like public perception of the AHC has gone up measurably after last night’s spectacle. We’ll have to wait to see if this is a temporary bump or a long-term gain; however, overall we do seem to be regaining people’s trust after the Apollo incident.”

  Quorum set the report down and looked at the other two people in the room. Professor Quantum seemed bored, which was neither a surprise nor a slight. He always appeared to be some level of disinterested—when there were no cameras around, at least. For a man with his intellect, meetings like this probably felt like time-wasting torture, and yet he still came. They’d all seen what happened when the Champions’ Congress drifted apart, and it was a mess they were working daily to clean up.

  Lodestar, on the other hand, appeared engaged. While she was in costume, her power wasn’t currently activated, meaning she had chestnut-colored hair and lacked the signature glow that often surrounded her. It made her less distracting, which Quorum appreciated during these private meetings. She was flipping through the handouts Quorum had made, looking over the figures their PR department had brought around to them this morning.

  “We’re still a long way from where we were in the public’s eye,” Lodestar noted.

  “One of the AHC’s leaders was put on public trial for colluding with a villain, planting evidence, and partially causing a city-wide brawl. Add in that it came to light we’ve been secretly letting criminals out of jail and I’m amazed we’ve made such strides of recovery at all.”