by Wyatt Kane
Ty was incredulous. First, Steam was immune to his power, and now this guy. Massive, it seemed, was more durable than Ty could believe. More durable than Tempest, more durable than Bain.
It was as if the man fought through nothing but a stiff breeze.
For the briefest of moments, Ty let his power falter, such was his astonishment at Massive’s incredible strength. Then, with a howl of pure fury, he redoubled his efforts.
Massive uttered a growl, and stepped even closer.
He was only half a stride away, but at least Ty had made him change direction. Instead of heading for Tempest, the man approached Ty himself.
Out of sheer stubbornness, Ty stood his ground for a moment too long. Massive let out an inarticulate roar and cuffed him with a back-handed swing of his muscular arm.
The blow connected. Despite Ty’s shield, it was strong enough to pick him up and send him sailing across the floor. He skidded and bounced, and stopped when he smacked into a concrete column.
If it weren’t for his shield, Ty knew that the single blow would have killed him. Nobody could stand up to such hideous strength. Perhaps not even Tempest herself.
Ty shook his head to clear it and started to struggle to his feet. The lumbering man had turned back to Tempest. He was reaching toward her.
“No!” Ty bellowed. You leave her alone!” Again, he set himself, ready to attack, but he had forgotten about Steam. The laughing villain, as angular and thin as Massive was blocky and square, stepped in front of him.
“Would you look at that?” the man sneered. “Looks like you and your girlfriend are completely outclassed. Rubio will be pleased when we return, with your devices as trophies for our triumph.” And with that, the insubstantial man who controlled the power of steam reached toward Ty.
He knew his power was largely ineffective against Steam, but he let rip regardless, angling his blast to catch Massive a glancing blow when it ripped through the insubstantial villain. Massive let out a bellow of irritation and hesitate for just a moment. Ty got away, out of Steam’s reach. But he knew he was done for. He couldn’t even protect himself, let alone Tempest. Steam was right. They were both seriously outclassed.
And, all by himself, Ty didn’t have the power to stand up to either of them.
Perhaps it would have been better if he’d just run. Tried to save himself, to make his way out of the bunker and hope that Tempest would survive whatever these monsters planned for long enough to mount a rescue.
But Ty had a stubborn streak, and there was no way he would leave Tempest behind. Even though it might cost him his life, in his mind, there was no other option. He would fight to his last breath to keep Tempest safe. And if that meant Steam boiling him in his own shield, then so be it.
He just wished he had some offensive capability that would be effective against these two.
In desperation, he looked around, seeking inspiration. But there was nothing. Just cold concrete and solid steel. Nothing at all he could use to his advantage.
Again, Massive reached for Tempest, and once more Ty aimed a blast of power at him. But this time, Steam was too close. The insubstantial villain took just a moment to heat up the air around Ty. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t focus, and the skin on his face and hands was starting to burn.
He changed his focus to Steam instead, but the villain just laughed and heated the air up even more.
It was too much for Ty to bear. Still trying to use what power he had, Ty sank to his knees. He snarled and gritted his teeth against the pain of Steam’s heat, doing his best to keep going. To last a little longer. And he hoped beyond all semblance of reason for a miracle.
Steam laughed even louder. He loomed over Ty like a grinning grim reaper, and turned up the heat even more. In the back of Ty’s mind, he understood that Steam could already have killed him. Even without touching his skin, Steam’s control of heat was strong enough. He felt he was boiling inside his own shield, and had no choice but to let go of his power. At this, Steam gave a mocking laugh and bent closer.
This was it, Ty thought. His brief superhero career was over. He was done. As his vision started to go dark around the edges, he looked once more toward Tempest, hoping that at she would come back to her senses and somehow escape Massive’s grasp. That’s what he had been playing for. A few extra moments to allow the blonde superhero to recover. But it seemed even that was to be denied him.
Ty started to relax under Steam’s power. He would have given anything to hurt the man, but such was not to be. There was nothing more he could do.
But just before he gave in completely, he heard a characteristic pop! and caught a distinct whiff of ozone.
This time, that ozone smell wasn’t from his power, but Lilith’s. The demon woman was looking at him with horror on her face.
She had come to save them, Ty understood. He summoned the last of his strength and spoke.
“Tempest first,” he said.
Then there was blackness.
25: Burn Ward
The shocking cold of the void between two distant points was enough to jolt Ty back to consciousness. Mostly, at least. Out of no more than the most basic, animal instinct buried in the reptile part of his brain, he started to struggle against both the cold and the feeling of strong arms holding onto him.
The arms held him more tightly, and in less than a heartbeat, he and Lilith blinked back into existence.
“It’s okay,” Lilith said to him gently. She didn’t let him go even though they’d appeared in the entranceway of the mansion itself. It seemed that she wasn’t sure if he would remain standing. “You’re safe, now,” she said. “Just breathe.”
Breathe. Ty realized that the air was no longer too hot to breathe. He drew in a great lungful of the sweetest, most delicious air he’d ever tasted, enjoying the cool familiarity of it, as well as the overtones of Lilith’s earthy scent and leftover cupcakes.
At first, he felt nothing but relief that he wasn’t yet dead. Then, with the return of some of his strength and his most recent memories, he stiffened. “Tempest!” he said. “You have to rescue Tempest!”
Lilith gave him a shy smile. “I did that already,” she said.
Ty was even more relieved about that than finding himself still alive. “Good. Good,” he said. “I was afraid you might take me first when it was Tempest who was in real danger.”
“It looked to me as if you were both in danger. But it wasn’t like I had much choice. When I tried to get close to you, you tried to block me.”
“I what?” Ty asked. He couldn’t remember doing anything of the sort.
“You were determined. I had no choice but to rescue Tempest first.”
Ty had no real response to this. “Well, thank you,” he said. “If you hadn’t turned up when you did, I’m not sure what would have happened.”
Lilith gave him a small smile, accepting his thanks, but said nothing more. Ty got the impression she felt she didn’t truly deserve his gratitude.
Ty didn’t follow it up. He was still shattered, and there was something more pressing on his mind.
“Where is she?” he asked.
“The medical bay,” Lilith said.
It was all Ty needed to hear. He tried to head that way immediately, but found his legs had yet to recover his strength. He faltered, and Lilith was there, holding him up.
“Are you okay?” the demon woman asked.
Ty nodded. “I’ll be fine,” he said. In truth, his latest brush with Steam had left him weak and singed around the edges. But he didn’t think there was anything major wrong with him. A little time and he would be as good as new.
More cautiously this time, he tried again, and found he was well enough to walk without any problems.
<<<>>>
For the second time in two days, Ty made his way to the medical bay. This time, he wasn’t the patient. Or at least, he wasn’t the main one.
He didn’t know what to expect. Didn’t really know if Tempest was even ali
ve. All he could do was hope for the best and deal with whatever the truth happened to be.
It was with a certain grim determination that he made his way past the kitchen to the antiseptic, white room.
Fortunately, the grim determination proved to be unnecessary. He could see from the doorway that Tempest was not only alive, but she was conscious as well. Dinah was with her, but had her back to the door, so it was Tempest herself who saw Ty and Lilith first.
“Ty!” the blonde superhero said, her face full of concern. “What happened? Are you okay?” she said, effectively mirroring everything Ty wanted to say to her. Then she added, “You look a mess.”
The skin around Ty’s cheeks and nose, and his hands as well, was starting to hurt. He felt burnt, and his hair had taken on an old sort of curl due to Steam’s heat. He knew he would be sore over the coming days, and his original injuries hadn’t exactly improved because of the experience, but all Ty cared about was Tempest.
He was just happy that she was alive. “Don’t worry about me,” he said. “Just tell me that you’re okay.”
Tempest was half sitting up in the hospital bed. Gregory, the medical robot, was quiescent, and Dinah had half turned to Ty. The deerkin wore a peculiar expression, one that mixed the remnants of fear with relief, and Ty understood how worried the deerkin had been. But that was all in the past, because Tempest’s health was apparent.
“I’m always fine,” Tempest said. “It would take more than that to keep me down.”
“She is not always fine,” Dinah contradicted her. “Look. There, at the temple. Have you ever known Tempest to bruise before?” she asked.
She was right. In all the fights Tempest had been in, Ty had never seen her injured before. Not against Bain, or Lilith, or even in the midst of a blaster battle. But she currently sported a bruise that reached from the top of her jaw all the way to her hairline, and possibly further.
Ty couldn’t even comprehend how she had gained such an injury.
“What happened?” he asked. “I was focused on Steam. How did you get hurt?”
Tempest made a face. “My own damn fault, really,” she said, sounding disappointed in herself. “I was trying to open the door quickly so I could get back to you and wasn’t paying attention. Didn’t even think someone might try to open it from the other side. But they did. It caught me off balance, and then…” She looked puzzled for a moment. “Someone hit me? I don’t know, really. It was just a guy. Short and squat. How could he have hit me hard enough to knock me out?”
It was a question Ty could answer. “He was wearing another device. They called him Massive. As best as I could tell, he’s infinitely denser than he has any right to be. As if every part of his body is made of tungsten or lead. I let him have it with my shield cannons, and he just shrugged it off.”
“Another one,” Tempest said, her words heavy with meaning.
“It was his presence that warned us,” Dinah said. “That, and Ty not answering my call. We figured you were in trouble, and that’s when Lilith came to get you.”
“Lilith?” Tempest asked. “I figured it was Ty, somehow….”
But Ty shook his head. “I did my best, but there wasn’t anything I could do. I can’t seem to hurt Steam at all. And this new guy….” Ty just shrugged. “If Lilith hadn’t turned up when she did, I don’t know what would have happened.”
“Not exactly a successful mission,” Tempest muttered. Then she focused her attention on Lilith. “Lilith, thank you. For saving Ty and me.”
It was a simple expression of gratitude, yet to Ty, it felt like something more as well. As if Tempest was acknowledging that Lilith was needed. That she could really be part of the team.
Again, Lilith didn’t seem to know what to do with the thanks. She looked away. “You’re welcome,” she murmured.
“So now we have Bain, Steam, and this guy,” Tempest said. “It’s like we were saying before. These devices—in the wrong hands, they’re dangerous.”
She was right, but that wasn’t what concerned Ty the most.
“But what I don’t understand is what actually happened?” he said. “How did we get it so wrong? How did Rubio spring his trap? It shouldn’t have even been possible.”
The question hung in the air, unanswerable, for several seconds.
Then, in a moment of serendipity, Ty’s device sounded an alert, as did Tempest’s and Dinah’s.
It was Rubio Vecoli himself.
26: Gloating and Threats
The four of them looked at each other, as if asking whether or not they should answer. Dinah nodded, and Tempest sat up even higher. She pressed the button on her device, and Rubio’s holographic head sprung into being in front of her.
“Tempest!” he enthused. “I’m so pleased to see you well! I had worried that my men had hurt you too badly!” The crime lord, usually expansive and jovial, seemed to be in fine form. It was as if he was enormously pleased with himself. “And who else do you have with you? That young man, what was his name? Is Dinah with you? And what of the new one, the teleporter? Is she there as well?”
Tempest’s expression was flat and hard. “We are here,” she said. “Alive, healthy, and well.”
Rubio let out a bark of a laugh. “Ha! So good to hear!” Perhaps he would have said more, filling the air with urbane pleasantries that meant nothing. But Tempest wasn’t having any of it.
“Rubio, what do you want?” she demanded.
“Tempest, Tempest, just because we are at present adversaries doesn’t mean we can’t be civil to each other, does it?”
“Rubio,” Tempest said, her tone just as flat as before. “What. Do. You. Want?”
The crime lord grinned widely. “It seems that the trappings of civility are to be ignored. All right then,” he said. “Fair enough. I guess, when it comes down to it, I want to thank you.”
His answer was surprising. “Thank me?”
“Yes. You see, if it wasn’t for you and your little visit to my bistro the other day, these amazing devices wouldn’t have been on my radar at all. You would have had your war with this mysterious Master, and you would have either won or lost without me. But because of that visit, because you asked for information I didn’t yet have, you forced me to look for it. If I hadn’t, we wouldn’t have found that lab. The devices within it would have doubtless gone to the original owner, and my little enterprise would not have received the boon that it has.”
Ty didn’t like the way this conversation was heading at all. He would have liked to hurt Rubio, to pick him up and hurl him into a wall, just for the harm he had already caused. But all he could do was grit his teeth in silence and wait for the man to continue.
Tempest spoke first. “I’m so happy you’ve benefited,” she said, making no effort to keep the distaste out of her voice. “Out of curiosity, how did you find your people, Steam and Massive, so quickly? I thought only one in a hundred or so have the potential such powers.”
“One in a hundred, you say? My dear Tempest, your ratio is a little high. When I called for volunteers, there were many who were eager to try their luck. Steam was an early success. He was one of the original twenty to wear a device. As for the others….” Rubio trailed off and his features darkened. “They were surprised when they learned the devices couldn’t be removed without amputation.” He gave a shrug. “Volunteers after that have been slower to emerge, but still, we have had our successes. Instead of one in a hundred, the number is more like one in sixty.”
Ty and Dinah exchanged a look of horror, and Lilith brought a hand up to cover her mouth. Even Tempest looked a little uncertain.
“Are you saying that you’ve tried the device on nearly 200 of your people?” she said. “And taken the arms from nearly that many?”
Rubio favored her with an evil grin. “Thereabouts.”
“That’s insane,” Tempest blurted.
Immediately, Rubio’s ebullience turned into a cold sort of anger. “Don’t be so quick to judge, my dear Tem
pest,” he said. “Each of my men volunteered, just for the chance to serve me better. Nor were they the only ones. For I wear a device as well.”
Ty was stunned. Did that mean Rubio also had a skill?
“And?” Tempest said.
Rubio’s grin became vicious. “And how do you think I managed to lure you into my little trap?” he asked. “Tactical Intuition, it’s called. I didn’t know what it meant at first, but within a very short time I started to see patterns that I couldn’t before. I knew you were a threat, and sought to negate it as swiftly as I could. And I figured that Steam and Massive would be up to the task. Had I known about your teleporter, we would not be having this conversation now. I would have added her into my calculations, and you would be done.”
Tactical Intuition, Ty thought. The way Rubio described it, it could give him a serious advantage.
As if the man hadn’t already been dangerous enough before.
Into the silence that followed the villain’s pronouncement, Tempest repeated her question. “Rubio, what do you want?”
And just like that, Rubio was laughing. “I want nothing you can give me,” he said. “I just wanted to let you know you are beaten. That all by themselves, Steam and Massive are your match. But with me guiding them? You have no hope in this conflict.”
The villain paused, as if giving his words time to sink in. But Tempest curled her lip into a slight sneer and said, “Is that it?”
Rubio rewarded her with another sharp laugh. “Yes, my dear Tempest. That is it, for the moment. When next we speak, it is likely it will be in person. Until then.” It appeared he was about to hang up.
But Dinah had something to say. “Before you go,” the deerkin said, “there’s something else you might want to factor into your calculations.”
“Ah, Dinah. So good to hear your lovely voice. Do tell, if you would be so kind,” Rubio said.
“Of course,” the deerkin replied. “You see, the Master had a purpose for those devices. He is not happy they’ve been taken. He wants them back. And he will do what it takes to get them.”