by Wyatt Kane
Ty nodded soberly. But before he could say anything either to comfort his friend or commiserate, his device pinged an alert.
20: Speedy Exit
It was Dinah. Ty hit the button to acknowledge her call, and the deerkin’s beautiful, exotic face floated above Ty’s device.
“Hi,” she said. Ty was aware of Brad beside him on the sofa, a half-eaten bagel still in his hands. Without looking directly at his friend, Ty could sense his immediate interest in Dinah. The two of them had never met, but Ty had spoken of the deerkin before.
“Hi yourself,” he said. “What’s up?”
“There’s been a development,” Dinah said, deliberately ambiguous. “Can you come back to the mansion?”
Ty considered. He no longer had any work to go to, and he wasn’t exactly needed at the apartment. But there was a question of logistics to deal with. “Sure,” he said. “But I haven’t yet got back to your bike. It’ll take me a little while –”
But Dinah was shaking her head. “Don’t worry about that,” she said. “Tempest is already on her way to collect you. You’re at your old apartment, right?”
Ty couldn’t help but notice the way Dinah referred to his apartment as history, as if he was officially living in the mansion with her and Tempest. He didn’t know quite what to think about that. Sure, he hadn’t slept at his apartment for a number of days by then, and was more and more comfortable in the mansion. But in his mind, he was still just a guest, and it would be presuming too much to think otherwise.
Yet, with Tempest on her way, this wasn’t the time to discuss it.
“Okay. I’ll see you soon,” he said. Then, with half an eye on Brad’s expression, he added, “Get her to come around to the hole in the wall, could you?”
“Sure,” Dinah said before ringing off.
The look on Brad’s face was nearly enough to make Ty laugh out loud. “That’s Dinah?” he said, his voice hoarse with desire.
Ty just grinned.
“I thought you were kidding when you said she was just as amazing as Tempest. I didn’t think it was possible. But … wow,” Brad said.
“Yeah,” Ty agreed. Then he grinned. “You know Lilith is just as spectacular, right? In a different way.”
“You have got to be shitting me,” Brad said.
Ty shook his head. “Seriously. It’s like they were made to put everyone else to shame.”
“What I wouldn’t give …” Brad began.
“Bradley Fletcher,” Ty said.
“What?”
“Have you forgotten Sarah already?” Ty asked.
Surprisingly, Ty’s friend blushed a deep red. It seemed that he had indeed forgotten about Sarah.
Ty laughed out loud. “If it makes you feel any better, Lilith is no more than a friend. For now.”
“Yeah,” Brad said. “That doesn’t really help much.”
Ty knew Tempest would be there in a very short time, depending on how fast she was flying. He took another bite of a bagel half, then put the plate to one side and stood up.
“Help me with this?” he said, gesturing at the poster hiding the hole in the wall.
Brad understood, and between the two of them, they took the poster down.
“Tempest is coming in again, right?” Brad asked.
“Are you worried she’ll make another hole?” Ty asked. “Bain isn’t here this time –” he began.
But Brad shook his head. He was grinning like a schoolboy. “No. I was just hoping to see her again?” He said.
Ty raised an eyebrow. “Sarah, remember?” he said.
“Yeah, yeah, I haven’t forgotten,” Brad said. Then, in a moment of honesty, he admitted, “It’s just that Tempest is better.”
Ty didn’t know Sarah beyond what he’d learned from Brad. Nevertheless, he had t0 agree. In his mind, it wasn’t possible to improve on perfection.
But he wasn’t going to indulge his friend’s lust, either, if he could help it. Still grinning, Ty used his device to call the blonde superhero.
She answered immediately, the wind in her holographic hair. “How far away are you?” Ty asked.
“If you look outside, you should just about be able to see me.”
“Okay, good. Slight change of plan. Catch me.” With that, Ty hung up.
Brad was staring at him in confusion. With the same massive grin that he’d used when showing off for Badger outside the Concubine Club, Ty turned from his friend and looked out into the sky. He saw the fast-moving blonde against the dreary grey of the sky and decided there wasn’t any reason not to do what he had in mind.
He took two steps toward the hole in the wall, and with an exuberant, wordless shout of his own and Brad’s exclamation of astonishment behind him, he threw himself out of the building.
<<<>>>
Ty knew without a whisper of doubt that Tempest would catch him. With one caveat. If he’d mistimed his jump leap, or if Tempest didn’t spot him, or if she was simply too far away to reach him in time, then he would tumble end over end until he hit the ground below.
As he laughed at his last glimpse of Brad’s astonished face, he knew Tempest would catch him.
As he started to tumble, the wind catching his clothes and making them flap around his body, he was mostly sure she would catch him.
As he fell past more floors of his building than he initially expected, he started to wonder. Tumbling down in an uncontrolled fashion, he glimpsed the ground rushing toward him, and only then did he think about activating his shield.
It would take but a moment, and it would keep him from becoming a red, sticky mess on the pavement. The only reason he hadn’t turned it on already was that it made him a little bit harder for Tempest to grip. But if she wasn’t going to reach him in time, maybe he should….
At the last possible instant before he made up his mind, Tempest collided with him in full flight. The impact was sudden and jarring, like being hit by a truck. Ty felt his head rattle back and forth, and all of the air exploded from his lungs. Yet the collision came with a sense of relief, and in moments the two of them were soaring into the sky.
Tempest was already scolding him as he did his best to regain his breath. “What do you think you were doing?” the blonde superhero demanded. “What would you have done if I hadn’t caught you? Why would you put yourself in danger like that?”
Finally, Ty was able to draw in a great gulp of air. He heard the disbelief and incredulity in Tempest’s voice, but his first instinct, when he could breathe again, was to let out a whoop! of sheer joy mixed with laughter.
Tempest was silent for a moment. When she spoke again, it was in a tone of greater understanding. “I get it,” she said. “When I first got my powers, I took a few crazy risks that maybe I shouldn’t have just because it was fun. I keep forgetting, you’re still new at this. And your shield – you were perfectly safe, weren’t you?”
Ty was still on a high from his efforts. “Yeah. Exactly,” he said. He didn’t mention that he had almost waited too long to activate it.
Surprisingly, Tempest also let out a laugh. “What am I going to do with you?” she said.
“Anything you want,” Ty replied.
With that, they headed back to the mansion.
21: Lilith’s Skill
Ty didn’t ask Tempest anything about the “development” Dinah had mentioned. He figured he would learn all about it soon enough. Instead, he just enjoyed the all-too-brief flight with Tempest, and quietly wished it would lead to fun rather than danger.
Perhaps one day Tempest would take him away from New Lincoln completely. To an island somewhere in the ocean, away from the Master, away from Rubio and his men, away from Bain and all the cruel, loathsome parts of the city.
Maybe he would suggest that to her at some point. They could take Dinah with them, and perhaps Lilith if things happened to work out there, and they could forget about everything for a while.
But he didn’t voice those thoughts out loud. He knew that right
then, both Dinah and Tempest were too focused on their antagonists to even think of taking a break. Maybe one day, but there would be no pleasant interlude at that moment.
By the time they landed on the bridge over the koi pond, Tempest’s good cheer had faded enough that Ty assumed things were not yet back to normal between her and Dinah.
Ever considerate, the blonde superhero held onto Ty for a moment to ensure he had his balance. Ty would have liked to spend a few minutes just watching the brightly colored fish in the pond, but Dinah had already appeared at the mansion entrance to greet them.
She wore her usual smile and carried Gremlin in her arms. She began with an apology. “Sorry,” she said. “It seems I’m making a habit of calling you back from work or your apartment at a moment’s notice.”
Ty shrugged. “This is important,” he said. And besides, he thought privately, it wasn’t as if he had any work to go to any more. “So, what is this development you mentioned?” he asked.
“It’ll be better if I show you,” Dinah said. She turned and led them both through to one of Ty’s favorite rooms in the mansion, the cozy den with the comfortable chairs and the fireplace.
The den wasn’t empty. Instead, Lilith occupied one of the chairs. Beside her, on a low table, were the remains of more of Dinah’s cupcakes and a half empty cup of coffee.
Ty had never been much of a coffee drinker, but just at that moment, he found the rich aroma enticing. Or perhaps that had something to do with Lilith, who looked up at his and Tempest’s entrance.
Dinah was beaming with pride. “Lilith has agreed to help us,” she said. At the same time, she struggled to hold onto Gremlin. The cat squirmed out of the deerkin’s arms and scampered away into the mansion.
Tempest’s expression was one of limited acceptance. Not whole-hearted enjoyment that Lilith was there, but at least she had moved away from disappointment.
“Has she?” Ty asked, wondering what Dinah’s words actually meant. Then he turned to Lilith. “Have you?”
The beautiful demon woman nodded. “For a while, at least,” she said. “Until we can do something about Bain and the Master. I don’t know about anything beyond that.”
Dinah nodded. “Lilith isn’t a fighter, despite what she can do. But that doesn’t mean she can’t help us find who we’re looking for.”
“She can sense devices.” Ty added.
“Yes.” At this, the deerkin’s expression became serious. “Tempest and I spoke after you left this morning. Things are getting out of hand. We’ve never faced superpowered adversaries before. Because of the Architect’s precautions, there weren’t any to face. But now….”
“Now there are more and more of them,” Tempest took up the narrative. “The Master has Bain, and we know he plans to recruit others. And now there’s Rubio as well. Somehow, he’s already found a way to use the devices he took from the Master. What if Steam isn’t the only one of his men with a skill? For all we know, Rubio could be building an army.”
Ty knew that the women were right, and they didn’t even know about the drug trial that Brad had spoken about. It seemed to Ty that there was the potential for superpowered people to come out of the woodwork in all directions.
He thought about telling the girls about the drug trial, but before he could, Dinah continued.
“Our normal tactics for dealing with crime in New Lincoln are no longer enough. In truth, they’ve never been enough. The best we’ve been able to do is keep a lid on things so that people can at least hope for a normal existence. But you know what New Lincoln is like.” She glanced around. “We all do. It isn’t a safe place. There are predators of all kinds everywhere you look, and they’re only getting stronger. Rubio is just one example, as is the Master, but they’re just the tip of the iceberg.”
“And the police aren’t much help,” Tempest added.
Ty remembered their last interaction with the New Lincoln police. It hadn’t gone well. Tempest had been held overnight at the local station, under the guise of questioning, but there was something deeper going on.
Lilith had implied that the Master had spies everywhere.
“So, what do we do about it?” Ty asked.
It was Tempest who answered. “We have to take the fight to them,” she said.
“Yes. But how?”
“We can’t wait for bad things to happen anymore,” Dinah said. “We need to be more proactive. Regardless of all the other crime that happens, this is the most important thing going on in the city right now. It has to be our main priority, or it will quickly get out of control.”
“You’re talking about finding Bain and the Master and stopping them before they can do anything else,” Ty said.
“And Rubio. We need to find their devices, find the labs and anything else related to the development of superpowers, and we need to put a stop to it.”
Again, Ty thought about the drug trial. Did that fit with Tempest and Dinah’s definition of “anything else related to the development of superpowers”? Or was it more as Brad had described, the next step in body modification? And even if it did fit Dinah’s definition, was it still different? Without some mastermind guiding it, was the development of these talents necessarily a bad thing?
Or was he trying to rationalize it all because he was still thinking of signing up for it himself?
Either way, he figured it wasn’t the right time to muddy the waters by bringing it up just then.
“And Lilith can help us locate Bain and the others,” he said. He took a deep breath. “When do we start?”
“We’ve already begun,” Dinah said. She gestured toward the large screen on the wall on the far side of the den. While not as versatile as the 360° screen in her communications room, this one was more than up to the task. It was large, rectangular, took up a third of the wall space, and it showed what looked to Ty like an aerial view of part of a city. New Lincoln, Ty assumed.
In the middle, a single red dot shone in the middle.
“Is that someone wearing a device?” Ty asked.
It was Lilith who answered. “As near as I can tell, yes.”
Ty hesitated. “As near as you can tell?” He had created a sensor that could also track devices, but it didn’t have the same range as Lilith’s ability. He wanted to know if he would need it.
“I teleported there,” Lilith said. “Not into the building, but close enough. Someone inside is wearing a device.” The way she spoke left no room for doubt. The demon-woman was certain.
“Who?” Ty asked.
It was Dinah who answered. “You’d be surprised how many places there are around town that don’t have any camera feeds pointing their way. I couldn’t see who it was, and Lilith can’t distinguish between devices, and didn’t get too close. That said, they’re in an area that has nothing to do with Rubio’s holdings, and it’s within a few hundred yards of the warehouse where Bain kept me hostage.”
“Bain,” Ty said.
Tempest nodded. “Bain,” she agreed, her expression grim and determined.
Ty hesitated before asking his next question. “What are we going to do with him?”
Tempest didn’t flinch. “Whatever we have to,” she said.
“Hopefully,” Dinah interjected, “that will mean no more than stripping him of his device.”
But Ty shook his head. “We have to do more than that,” he said. “Bain is valuable to the Master. Won’t he just give him another device?”
“So, what do you suggest?” Dinah asked.
Ty set his jaw. It was his turn to feel determined. Yet he didn’t quite want to commit to anything fatal. “I don’t know. Prison. Hospital, maybe.” He shrugged. “If we plan to kill him, can we still claim to be the good guys?”
It was a sobering thought.
“Maybe,” Ty continued, “I could invent some sort of suspended animation chamber. A place where we can store him until we figure out what to do.” Even as he spoke, he knew it wasn’t a viable option. It might take him w
eeks to put together such a chamber, and they needed a solution now.
“Or,” Lilith said, “I could teleport him into the middle of a mountain and leave him there.”
She spoke with such bitterness and venom that it took Ty by surprise. He didn’t know if Lilith meant just to hold Bain in place or if she meant to kill him. Either way, he had to acknowledge that her anger was justified.
To Ty, Bain was an adversary. But to Lilith, he was one of her kidnappers. He had forced her to act according to his will instead of her own.
Nobody had anything to say to that. After a moment, Tempest looked at Ty. “Are you ready for this?” she asked.
It was a loaded question. The last time he and Tempest had flown off on a mission, it ended badly. Even now, the wounds Ty had gained made his shoulder and leg ache. Yet he knew the girls were right.
Before putting the device on his wrist, Ty had been hesitant. A lifetime of struggling had taught him doubt and worry. But he was a different man now. Stronger. More confident. And his skill (in the form of his energy shield) had been proven to be a match for Bain’s strength several times in the past.
It was time to give the good guys a win.
“Let’s do this,” he said.
22: Plans
The plan was simple. Whether Bain was alone or had company, Ty and Tempest would do what they could to render him unconscious. The only difference was if he wasn’t alone, Tempest would grab him first and take him back to the abandoned car park they had fought him in last time.
As for how to render him unconscious, their chosen method was simple: brute force.
They didn’t have any options, anyway. They had no immediate access to any tranquilizer that might do the trick, nor did they know enough about Bain’s durability to be sure that would work. So, the idea was for Ty to blast away at the man with his shield cannons or for Tempest to use her special attack and pile-drive him into the earth a few times, depending on who got to him first. Either way, they would immobilize him and bring him back to the workshop, where Ty would strip him of his device.