by Drew Hayes
That was when Tori struck, driving the sharp ratchet arm of her open cuff directly into Deacon’s left leg. She yanked it out just as his screams began to bubble forth and his grip loosened, which made her kick to his stomach land all the harder.
He stumbled back, coughing and clutching his wounded leg, while Tori stood from her chair.
“You... bitch...”
“Hey, count yourself lucky. I was aiming for your crotch, my angle was just shit.” At long last, Tori’s own rage could show itself. These people had taken her off the street, threatened her life, the lives of her friends, and even tried to kill her at the end. Worst of all, because of them, she’d had to see something she’d have been happier not knowing. This incident had shown Tori the truth of their world. Capes weren’t enough. It needed horrors, demons, unfathomable monsters who still had things to protect. People outside of morality, yet not ones who’d completely lost their humanity.
The world needed villains.
Tori let the other half of the cuffs phase off her wrist, setting them down on the chair. “It’s funny that you’re blaming me for all of this. How many different ways did I say to let me go or everyone would die?”
There weren’t even words this time, just a guttural scream as Deacon charged, swinging wildly. He was better than she’d expected, but that didn’t mean he was good. Not compared to someone with guild training and Tori’s own experience.
She sidestepped the charge, tripping him and pushing his skull so he went careening into the chair. Both landed with a clatter, though the chair wasn’t bleeding from its head.
“Not so easy when you have to throw the punches, is it?” Tori stalked closer to him. “I always hated your kind. The ‘mastermind’ who sits on a throne of inactivity while everyone else gets their hands dirty. I’ve seen so many gangs like this, so many kings of tiny kingdoms who mistake their groups’ power for their own.”
“The fuck are you talking about?” Deacon had stopped rubbing his stomach and was trying to stand once more. “You work in a downtown office.”
Tori made no move to stop him from rising. She wanted him back on his feet. “People have secrets. Some you can’t find through even the most dedicated web-browsing. You’re supposed to be a smart one. Have you pieced together mine yet?”
Slowly, Deacon found his balance, standing despite his wounds and exhaustion. Had Tori liked him, she might have found the gesture inspiring. Instead, it just made for a more convenient position. This time, she planned to get her angles right.
“Meta-human, obviously.” He spit blood from his mouth a few times. Evidently, he’d gathered quite a bit during that chair collision. “Of all the fucking luck, we ended up taking a meta.”
“Oh no, that would have been much better for you.” Tori walked closer. “See, there was only one true lie I told during the so-called interrogation. It was never them coming from the shadows to get you. It was us.”
She grabbed him by the back of the head, leading Deacon to struggle. One punch just below the sternum put a quick end to that, however. He was gasping now, trying so hard to draw in breath. Perfect. Lifting her right arm, Tori turned the entire appendage into living flame.
“You didn’t just kidnap a civilian, or a meta, or a cape’s friend. You stepped into the ring with real villains. This was the only way it could have ended.”
Her arm rammed past his lips and teeth, down the throat, reached all the way down into his lungs. The air inside them roasted instantly, the organs themselves soon catching fire, along with the rest of Deacon. Tori held it like that until he was truly alight—this was no time for half-measures—then pulled her arm out, returning it to normal form.
The burning body of Deacon collapsed. Mostly likely, he was already dead. If not, he’d cross over soon. Just in case, Tori decided to leave him with some parting words.
“Sorry, pal, but you know the expression: if you can’t stand the heat, don’t fuck with Hephaestus.”
Chapter 32
No sleep, barely any food, and eyes blurring between blinks. Donald had stopped short of donning a diaper, but he’d also waited so long between bathroom breaks that there were a few close calls and one photo finish. It didn’t feel especially dignified or heroic to be locked in his room with Ren playing Constable Fluffers nonstop for hours on end, yet it was without question the best way Donald could spend his time.
Deep down, he was kicking himself. All these months, his efforts had been targeted toward field work, leveling up items and training skills he needed to be out there fighting the good fight. Only today, faced with his own utter helplessness, did Donald realize how much more there was to doing his job. Finding people in need, getting to them, securing and transporting criminals, helping the injured—it was never-ending the more he thought about it. He’d fallen into a pattern without realizing it, gotten too comfortable in the routine. It was time to widen his training scope, add some new abilities to the arsenal. After Tori was safe, of course.
It was just at the cusp of dawn when Donald stumbled into the room where he and Ren had met with the Champions’ Congress less than twenty-four hours prior. Professor Quantum was the only one of the main three there, though there was a flurry of other members zipping around him. Donald was too exhausted to even recognize masks, let alone recall names. He only had eyes for the man at the top.
“Sir, Mr. Professor Quantum...”
No response, or even a glance in his direction. What the hell was going on? Turning, Donald saw Ren talking to another cape. Normal Donald might have found the patience to wait until he was called upon. This version of Donald, the one running on no sleep and wracked with fear for his friend, wasn’t quite so willing to wait.
“She’s in Detroit!” He yelled the words, not especially concerned with the stares coming his way. Only one set of eyes in this room mattered, and mercifully, they did indeed swivel in his direction.
Stepping away from his conversation, Professor Quantum was there in only a few of his long-legged strides. “I see. And how did you come to this conclusion?”
“Just like I said I would. Played my game all day, got the magnifying glass, and used it.” Donald didn’t even have the strength to be intimidated. He just rattled off the truth as coherently as he could. “I checked it twice, same results. She’s somewhere in Detroit.”
Professor Quantum looked hard at Donald, giving him true attention in a way that made the younger meta uncomfortable. “This is your one chance. If you’ve spoken to someone, gotten an inside track, I assure you, I’ll uncover it. Now, for the last time: you’re saying you found her, even when the entirety of the AHC’s methods had failed?”
“No. I’m saying she’s in Detroit. That’s a long way off from finding her.”
“Hmm.” One wave of Professor Quantum’s hand and an aide was at his side. “This is the second time your power has accomplished something past what I’d expected. I dislike giving credit when not well-earned, but I detest being wrong. It seems I must adjust my measurement of your capabilities, Cyber Geek. We shall deal with that at another time. For now, you’re heading to the med bay for recovery.”
Donald almost reached out to touch Professor Quantum, then thought better of it. “Please, no. I want to be there. I want to help save her. I want to make sure she’s all right.”
The stare that met his pleas was unyielding. No pity, no sense of understanding, an absolute denial. The voice, however, made at least an effort toward comfort. “Your wish to be there is misguided. Given your condition, putting you in the field is more likely to cause problems than help solve them. You want her safe and saved? I cannot promise what her condition is. However, I can say this much: Lodestar and Quorum are both standing by for the moment we have a location.”
There was nowhere left to take the argument. Donald certainly couldn’t claim that, even at his peak, he’d be a contributing factor when two members of the Champions’ Congress would be there. At Donald’s current skill level, Professor Quan
tum was honestly right. It was more likely he’d be a liability than any sort of help. It was just... he’d finally become the kind of person who could jump in to make a difference, but when it was personal, he was on the sidelines.
“Donald, you gave them a location. You made a difference.”
The fact that he hadn’t even noticed Ren approach proved Professor Quantum’s point, even as the older man was shaking his head. “Actually, we’ve known about Detroit for approximately twenty minutes. But I expect we’ll be calling on that ability of yours in the future. While I had my doubts, it shows promise to be useful.”
Someone called out what sounded like random numbers, drawing Professor Quantum’s instant attention. He didn’t even look at them, simply turned and walked away. As the aide gently took Donald’s arm, leading him off toward the med bay, the bespectacled man leaned in, whispering in Donald’s ear.
“For reference, ‘useful’ is one of the nicest things he says about anyone. Believe it or not, I think you impressed him.”
Nice as that was to hear, Donald didn’t feel especially impressive. He wanted to be there, part of the rescue, to see her safe. One all-nighter, and he was down for the count. Too weak, again. This couldn’t keep happening. Cyber Geek was going to have to get stronger.
The plan was good and well-fucked, that much was obvious. Between Nexus being here and the smoldering corpse in her room, the original cover story was going to need some tweaks. Tori turned toward the door, making it only a few steps before it felt as if the ground fell away. Her head swam, a sensation almost like pain hitting her right in the forehead. Initially, she tried to push it away, before remembering the last time something like this had happened. Not a hard recollection to call upon, seeing as it had only been a few hours.
Mentally relaxing, Tori felt the not-quite-pain flare, then vanish. Moments later, she heard a familiar voice. Not in her ears, however. This was purely in her mind.
Listen carefully. This is Pseudonym. Arcanicus is acting as a magical relay from inside the dampening field, but we still need to make this quick. Nexus showed up unexpectedly, complicating matters. After a quick discussion, we only see two paths forward. You can leave with us now; we have your suit. Or you could destroy the dampening equipment, summoning the AHC. With Nexus in play, you can claim to have escaped in the chaos.
What a choice. Leave now, and risk all the questions that point might raise with the capes—to say nothing if the media ever found out that Tori had magically gone missing from her own kidnapping. Or fight her way past whatever it was Nexus let loose and hope to make it through an AHC interrogation. Tori examined the situation, taking in as many factors as she could account for.
Ultimately, it was her status as a kidnapped civilian that made the call. Right now, she was a victim, someone who’d been targeted because of her association to the capes. That would make it difficult for them to push her too hard. She’d have the public’s sympathy, and the AHC was already working to win back the people. If she changed the dynamic, it almost certainly wouldn’t be as favorable: Plucky victim who saved herself beat vanishing mysteriously from the site of a slaughter.
Closing her eyes and thinking the words hard, Tori hoped she was successfully talking back. Magic was messy and imprecise in her experience, which was all the more reason she preferred science.
I’ll break their system. Can you give me any sort of guidance? Info on what Nexus brought is also appreciated.
In response, she got images, flashes of two-headed, pink-spitting serpents, and the more horrifying version that looked like a mound of mouths—one that was tough, spewed acid, and had recovered from being torn in half. This would be a game of dodge more than anything. She wasn’t sure if dimensional acid worked on fire and would prefer to run such tests in a structured laboratory environment. Stay quick, move fast, and hope she found her goal soon.
Only Xelas found the room, and she doesn’t know where you are to give directions. North side of the building, the door is torn down. If you’re sure this is the right course, we have to start pulling back. Once the capes know where you are, she’ll be here in seconds.
It didn’t escape Tori’s attention that he said “she” instead of “they,” but by now, his former apprentice had accepted that to Ivan, there was only one real threat the capes had to wield. For him, solely Lodestar was of concern; however, Tori still had to worry about the rest of the bunch, all of whom would be descending upon her with confusion and questions. It said a lot about Tori Rivas that she was more anxious about the impending discussion than dodging deadly monsters to secure her freedom.
I’m sure. Get everyone out of here. I got this.
They’ll be gone within minutes. I’ll be here to the end. Just in case.
The connection snapped off without warning, leaving Tori alone once more. No, she’d always been here by herself—that was an important distinction to keep in mind for later. Stick to the truth wherever she could. Her eyes drifted down to the smoldering corpse behind her. Well, he had been trying to strangle her, so at worse, that counted as self-defense. Probably best to avoid bringing it up, if possible.
Since the door was unlocked, there was no need to break out. She eased it open gently, ears perked for sounds of movement. There were loud thuds and noises coming from all over, yet none sounded particularly closer than the others. That meant there weren’t any creatures near, or they were all right on top of her. Didn’t change what she had to do next either way.
For someone without an internal compass, who’d been knocked out during her entry trip, knowing that her goal was in the north part of the building meant fuck all. The broken door part was more helpful, but as Tori checked the first such instance, it became clear that there was more than one busted barrier in this place. This one looked like a room where someone had been either hiding or resting. Neither had saved them from the eroding pink goo that appeared to have melted through half the room, occupant included.
She pushed the image away. In truth, Tori had been holding a lot of things back during this whole ordeal, and was starting to notice the strain. Good as it had felt in the moment, killing Deacon was running back through her head. This wasn’t like with Rust Tooth, or some of her dodgier fights in her thief days. Those were about survival, her versus them. But she was much stronger than Deacon; he’d never been an actual threat.
More mental shoving. This was not the time for an ethical self-examination.
Focusing on the task at hand, Tori burst around a corner and skidded to a stop. Standing before her was one of the many-mouthed monsters, the larger version that nearly blocked the whole hallway. Its tail/head/whatever-the-hell whipped in her direction, letting off an instant blast of pink spray. Tori backpedaled, shooting off a blast of fire into the thing’s center of mass. No visible reaction whatsoever. Guess it took more oomph to hurt these horrors. What she wouldn’t give for her suit and its weaponry.
A fleck of acid hit her left arm, the pain sharp and immediate. Tori shifted to fire instantly, watching in horrified fascination as the droplet kept on eating through the flames. After a second or two, the heat caused it to boil off, finally freeing her from the droplet. Unfortunately, that was more than enough data to show she was vulnerable to these creatures, even in fire form. Enough of that pink goo could theoretically dissolve her before she could boil it off.
Speed had just become more important than stealth. Nowhere to hide in this concrete warehouse, so getting to the security room quickly was her biggest concern. Leaping into the air, Tori focused her flames, using the flying trick she’d learned during her first real test with the guild to get next to the ceiling. At least up here, they’d have to aim to hit her, and she could zip around without worrying about obstacles.
Her next burst of speed got her clear just in time, as a wave of pink burned the concrete right where she’d been. Sounds of movement kept her attention, and she realized the creature was giving chase. Its mouths weren’t spitting acid, curiously. Ins
tead, they seemed to be spitting out an array of unnatural, guttural slurping noises, like listening to pigs eat a trough full of yogurt. Only the tail/head kept firing, likely because it was the sole one with a chance of hitting her elevated position.
It wasn’t until the next hallway that Tori understood. Three of the two-headed version and one more mouth mound were all waiting, letting loose a coordinated series of streams the moment she came into view. Only training and reflexes saved her. She shot down below the arc of the streams, putting on a burst of power and charging directly through the monsters. Their acid might hurt, but physically, they were still flesh and she was fire, meaning they couldn’t actually block her path.
However, they could, it turned out, give chase. Suddenly, she was seeing pink coming from all angles, and the tight confines of the building made it impossible to break away completely. She couldn’t build up speed with all the turning and checking, so Tori was forced to dodge with all she had. For the most part, she was holding together well, though she’d taken more than a few hits to the flames serving as her legs.
A big splotch got her in the back, nearly sending Tori spinning all the way to the ground, where she had no doubt a tidal wave of death was awaiting her. Ivan’s lessons about pain and focus weren’t for nothing, though. Leaving scorch marks on the wall, she slowed her descent, putting all her energy into heating up one section of her form. More shots came, thankfully missing, albeit barely. If she’d had teeth, they’d have been gritted as Tori gave one last push of effort and successfully turned the acid to steam.
Blasting forward, Tori took the next three turns she could, trying to buy a few inches of breathing room. Sadly, she could still hear them on her tail, but a new sight stole the entirety of her interest. A room with a broken door, and the telltale blinking twinkle of technology. She roared in, looking over the setup.