by Drew Hayes
The jetpack didn’t leave any signs or scorches as Cyber Geek set down, attention already trained on Hephaestus. Show-off. Before he could speak, she yelled at him, the suit’s voice modulator masking her true identity.
“What do you fucking want? I waved sorry about the near miss, yet you still felt the need to follow me? I’ve got video recording and 911 on speed dial, so take a few steps back. Getting some real creep vibes off of you.”
It took Cyber Geek back for a moment. He’d been expecting her to take the role of the aggressor. “I... I know who you are.”
“Really? You don’t ring a bell for me. Sure it wasn’t someone else with an experimental meta-suit?” Hephaestus saw the flicker of uncertainty in Cyber Geek’s eyes. While the aesthetic was the same, this suit had undeniable differences since the reworking. Enough to cause doubt, and that was what she needed more than anything: make him unsure, keep them off-balance, and stall like hell until the coast was clear.
That was when Medley finally closed the gap. His tongue hung slightly off to the side as he ran, darting back inside his mouth just as it was time to speak. “Hephaestus! Surrender now, and we can do this peacefully.”
“Who the hell is Hephaestus?” Hephaestus demanded. “I know there was a cape named Red Hephaestus a while back, but I think he’s been dead for a long time.”
Medley wasn’t so easily knocked off-kilter. He continued to approach, clearly ready for battle. “What a lazy attempt at trickery. Do you really expect it to work?” Every muscle was taut. He shook out his limbs, readying them for rapid movement. She remembered how strong that body was; if Medley hit, it was going to hurt.
“Here’s a better question: do you realize what you’re about to do? Right now, I’m a civilian in a meta-suit. You have established no criminal identity, no active crime in progress, and no outstanding warrants. That flexing you’re doing—that’s not for a fight. It’s for assault, and my video recording is going to show exactly that.”
Hephaestus tapped her helmet, a keen reminder to everyone present that she was coated from head-to-toe in electronics. Medley’s eager pace suddenly halted, the reality of her words sinking in. A criminal was bound by the system, while a villain knew how to turn that system right back against the capes who trusted it.
“On the chance this is a misunderstanding, you have our apologies. However, your suit bears striking similarities to the type used by a creator named Hephaestus, who is wanted for questioning in connection to a museum robbery.” Cyber Geek had recovered just as Medley lost his stride. The two made a good team. Under different circumstances, she’d have been glad to see them covering one another so well.
“Cool story. Got a warrant and some cops to go with it?” Hephaestus demanded. “Because last I checked, the Alliance of Heroic Champions aided law enforcement, without actually being such an entity itself. That clears you of a lot of liability, sure, but it also means that unless you have an actual warrant in hand or I’m presenting a provable, active danger, you can go get fucked. So, I ask again: got any paperwork and law enforcement shoved up that spandex ass? Remember, you’re being filmed.”
This was not the way Cyber Geek and Medley had expected the encounter to play out. They were accustomed to dealing with crooks who would scream and flee, or jump right into combat. She couldn’t imagine anyone they’d dealt with prior had attempted to use technicalities as their weapon of choice.
Finally, Cyber Geek found his answer. “No, I don’t have a warrant to arrest you. Instead, I’ll be happy to call the local PD and have them come take you into custody for questioning, while Medley and I wait here to keep you company.”
Though the clangs were loud as Hephaestus began to tick points off on her fingers, she kept up the theatrics all the same. The less concerned she appeared to be by these two, the more they’d worry she truly had nothing to fear. “Keep me here without my consent—that’s kidnapping. Follow me without cause, harassment. Try following me from a distance, without my knowledge, and I bet we can slip a few breach-of-privacy charges onto the harassment, maybe even a sex crime if I stop to piss and you both sneak a peek.”
Cyber Geek actually got a touch rosy in the cheeks at that one, though Medley was looking more and more furious by the second. He knew it was bullshit. They all knew it was bullshit. The question was how much could any person present prove it. Her suit had changed, enough to have reasonable doubt, and if flying homemade creations around were illegal, then a big chunk of the airborne capes would already be in jail. She’d stymied the pair without a single punch being thrown. There was a chance she owed Ivan an apology—all that harping on the code and learning the specifics had turned out more useful than she anticipated.
Most capes, she suspected, would have let it go at that. She’d made too much trouble, and presented a strong case. Trying to keep pushing just opened up more problems than it fixed, all for the cape who made the play. Trouble was, Cyber Geek could show an unexpectedly heroic spirit when put against a wall.
“I can live with that. If you’re proven innocent and would like to press charges against me, then I’ll give a full confession to every part of this interaction. Kidnapping seems like a reach, but I’m sure there will be consequences. Consequences I’d much rather live with than with the knowledge that I let a dangerous criminal escape justice.” Cyber Geek started forward, and he didn’t look like he’d be so easy to derail this time.
Time for a reassessment. Without knowing for sure what was happening at the battle, she couldn’t risk turning these two loose. Going to jail, on the other hand, also wasn’t on the table. Her only option left was to buy as much time as possible, and then run for it. She could always ditch the suit and make her escape as Tori, picking it up when the coast was clear. No matter how she sliced it, however, there were slim odds she’d be able to keep this delay rolling without things getting a bit messy.
“Seeing as you’re attempting unlawful restraint, I hope you realize I’m in my rights to fight back, cape or not.” Hephaestus made sure power was flowing into her blaster gauntlets, and that the setting was low. She didn’t want to hurt them badly, but couldn’t very well risk losing the fight either.
“Finally. I wondered when I’d get my rematch.” Medley bounded forward, though Hephaestus noted his claws weren’t extended yet. Despite the tough talk, he was playing it as a cape, coming in softly first, to be safe.
Hephaestus held no such compunctions, and had the benefit of knowing Medley to be incredibly resilient. As he leaped, arms wide for some sort of hug-clutch, she fired a beam directly into his knee, sending him spinning back through the air with a screaming yowl.
“What did you do?” That was the only line Cyber Geek got out before the cold metal of Hephaestus’s elbow smashed into the bridge of his nose. He’d made the mistake of watching Medley’s fall, rather than keeping an eye on the enemy, and was quickly taught the error of his ways. The nose broke instantly, sending tears to his eyes and blood pouring down the front of his face. It was fortunate he didn’t wear a mask, or it would have been soaked in seconds.
“Fought back.” Hephaestus didn’t press the assault as she watched the blood drip. In truth, she’d expected Cyber Geek to dodge; it hadn’t exactly been the most efficient blow. The shock of seeing her friend in pain caused her to pause, a sudden flash of loyalty arriving at the most inconvenient of times. The cold, logical side of her mind swept into action, rationalizing at lightning speeds. It reminded her that a nose wasn’t so bad, more pain than anything, and the AHC had the resources to replace entire limbs. This wouldn’t be more than a blip in the long term, no matter how painful it felt for the moment. Whereas, if she was caught, the consequences would be far more long-lasting.
Scratching reached her ears as Medley drew himself back up, tenderly putting a reduced amount of weight on his still-smoking knee. At full force, that beam of energy could have carved through the bone. This was little more than a flesh wound in comparison. A flesh wound that still slow
ed Medley down—a benefit Hephaestus would gladly accept. After their last battle, when she’d been a slow-moving hunk and he’d easily overpowered her, it felt good to show she wasn’t a threat to be taken lightly.
“Think we’d have to land a hit for it to be fighting back.” Medley fell onto all fours, compensating for his injured limb. His tail rose high, ready to strike as he dashed along the ground. Hephaestus fired, only for him to swerve to the side, nimbly missing the shot. Hephaestus shot twice more, each time the blasts were avoided by Medley.
The fourth shot, he dodged as well. It was the fifth, fired right after the fourth, from Hephaestus’s other gauntlet, that finally found home. Unaware that she had multiple weapons, Medley wasn’t quite prepared to react post-dodge, earning a shot to the flank that burned away a section of his fur. He clutched his ribs as he rolled along the concrete.
Sparking blue light drew Hephaestus back to Cyber Geek. He was reaching into the code for a weapon, something he should have done before getting into combat. Hopefully, he’d learn from this mistake; his next opponent probably wouldn’t be inclined to go easy. To that point, Hephaestus raised a blaster and fired a single shot into Cyber Geek’s left foot, again at the lowest setting. He still screeched, perhaps from surprise as much as pain. The blue light flared out as his concentration faltered, leaving him exposed while Hephaestus darted over.
She hadn’t actually expected the fight to go so well; having the advantage of surprise made a huge difference. They might have seen her there, but neither expected her to come out swinging for the fences. Such was the trouble with gradually sliding up the power scale to deal with new threats: those threats had no such obligation to play by the same rules.
“If you two are done, can I go back to flying around peacefully? Seems like you could probably use some more practice at all of this, anyway. I can even—”
An entirely new sensation came over Hephaestus, like someone was trying to tear her out from within her suit. Instantly, she fully shifted to fire form, yet the pull didn’t dissipate. It expanded out, yanking on Hephaestus as a whole, and for a moment, it felt like she might not fit into whatever cosmic hole was being formed. Then, like a champagne cork, she popped through space itself, her mind momentarily boggled at seeing existence from the inside out, only to appear again across the strip mall.
It wasn’t where she was that was relevant, so much as what—or rather, who—she was in front of. The punch from Agent Quantum lit up several alarms on her sensors, and the super-speed kick from Tachyonic less than a second later only compounded the problem. Had she been flesh, the rapid shift in momentum would have had the emergency vomit protocols fully activated. Instead, she just put everything she had into staying upright.
Set before her were the New Science Sentries, only, for the first time, she wasn’t seeing them as a civilian being rescued or a neighbor being pestered. As their adversary, she looked into the hard, battle-ready looks in their eyes, and suddenly found herself quite nostalgic for those bothersome neighbors. Because in the field, with combat upon them, the New Science Sentries looked downright terrifying.
And she was the focal point of all their attention.
Chapter 61
“Armor Boy there has got more heft than he lets on. Not an easy one to move, and he’s slippery inside.” Presto appeared safely out of harm’s reach, which explained how Hephaestus had been moved into such an inopportune position.
Although she hadn’t collapsed, her suit was blaring with alerts. In just two blows, the New Science Sentries had managed extensive damage to her shell. With attacks like that, it was only a matter of time before they broke something vital. This was not a fight she wanted, if it could be possibly helped.
“Oh good, more enforcers from the AHC here to help their friends with kidnapping. Guess after you so spectacularly failed to prevent one, aiding the kidnappers is the next logical step.”
It was, admittedly, a low blow, though if anyone had the right to throw that punch, it was the woman who’d endured the actual incident. Her hope was that it would rattle the New Science Sentries, giving them momentary pause to consider their role in the current situation. Instead, she received a brief proximity alert before Tachyonic slammed into her back, sending her spinning through the air with the force of his accelerated momentum.
She landed face up, starting to rise only to find Tachyonic crouched over her, his face inches from her helmet. “Don’t even fucking try it after that line. Agent Quantum, could you help me with restraint? Plasmodia, if you don’t mind, I think we need a can opener.”
From the left of Agent Quantum, Plasmodia stepped into view, her beauty turned terrifying in the flickering light of the energy spike extended from her right hand. Tough as Hephaestus’s suit was, that thing would definitely carve through it; she’d seen the kind of power Plasmodia could conjure. On instinct, she started to move, only to find one of Tachyonic’s hands suddenly resting on her shoulder.
“No matter what you do, it’ll be too slow. Struggle all you like. We’re taking you in.”
A new noise came from behind Hephaestus: Cyber Geek’s voice calling to the other capes. Thanks to using microphones rather than primitive eardrums, she was able to make out the words despite the distance.
“Watch out!”
Evidently, Agent Quantum had also been blessed with enhanced hearing, as he waved back to Cyber Geek. “Don’t worry. We’ve got him. Might have a lot to learn in some respects, but fighting is one part of the job we can—”
His boast was cut off by several hundred pounds of green dragon flesh slamming into his back fist-first, adding the momentum of a skyward fall to the blow. Despite not seeing the approach, Hephaestus could put it together, especially given the patches of white scales still fading on Bahamut’s form. She’d flown after Hephaestus, saw the trouble, and had dropped right in to help. It was an unexpected opportunity, one they had to use to the fullest.
For a brief, wonderful moment, the entire New Science Sentries team was stunned: Agent Quantum by the punch, everyone else from seeing their leader get knocked on his ass. While they were distracted, Hephaestus struck. A single punch wouldn’t do much, especially given the rate at which super-speed aided healing. Taking Tachyonic out of the fight wasn’t about injuring him; it was about making him ineffective.
To most people in her situation, the only recourse would be simple battle; however, Hephaestus was more than the might of her suit. She also had the brain of an inventor, one who took note of design details: a bracer getting touched frequently during combat, or the special containment material composing a costume. Tachyonic was hiding a secret—which was to say, a vulnerability.
Between the way she’d seen him occasionally tap that silver bracer on his right arm and the energy output signature her scanners were registering, Hephaestus had something of a hunch. Tachyonic might have super-speed on his own, but it certainly appeared as if he was augmenting that power out in the field. His suit was emitting trace amounts of setlium radiation, a telltale sign that he was dosing his cells in the meta-element. That level of tech was certainly in the realm of Professor Quantum to dream up; however, the implementation was a touch crude. After all, external controls presented a major vulnerability, especially against enemies who knew what to look for.
In the flash of distraction, Hephaestus struck, wrapping her right gauntlet around Tachyonic’s bracer. Blasting would destroy it, along with Tachyonic’s arm, which felt like a step too far, even in straights so dire. Instead, she funneled power into the mechanical muscles of the machine, squeezing for all she was worth. The bracer was well made. She was going to burn out half the motors in her hand, and would replace each with a smile on her face if it got her and Bahamut out of here.
“You brought frie—what the hell!” Tachyonic spun back around just as his bracer cracked, emitting a series of sparks and hisses. He tried to grab at the device, but bursts of electricity burned his hand at every attempt. “Come on... stabilize...”<
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The New Science Sentries were already recovering, Presto raising a hand to Bahamut as Plasmodia built power for a blast that would injure, if not cripple, even the green dragon. With no time to think, Hephaestus went on the attack. Rather than give Tachyonic time to stabilize, she cracked him in the nose with her elbow—the same offensive Cyber Geek had received to equally similar results. Either too unstable or too distracted to notice the incoming blow, Tachyonic took it full force, stumbling backward. In his case, something of a rueful expression peeked out through the mask, at least for the brief moment he had before Hephaestus shoved Tachyonic directly into Presto.
Both went down in a tangle, which should have given Hephaestus the chance to take out Plasmodia. Unfortunately, she’d made the mistake of forgetting what had brought her to this strip mall in the first place. Medley had finally recovered, and the sound of his panting approach gave her warning just before the slashing claws tried to part her armor. She slipped back, and he stayed close, not giving her any opportunity to switch back to ranged.
“Like I was saying—finally, a rematch.” He smiled, she thought; it wasn’t easy to tell given the animalistic structure of his face.
Glancing to the side, she saw Agent Quantum rising to his feet once more, with Plasmodia nearby to help. Farther back, she could make out the familiar blue flicker of Cyber Geek grabbing an item. Odds were steeply against them, and only getting worse.
If not for the buzzing of insect wings, Hephaestus might have lost hope. She could hear them, though, and that meant Pest Control wasn’t far off. Whatever the plan might be—if there even was one—she had no clue. The best Hephaestus could manage was to stay free and uninjured while helping her friends do the same. Glyph had their emergency escape option, assuming they could reach him.