by Wyatt Kane
As the mesh garment started to come to life, Dinah came down to join them, carrying a large plate of pancakes.
The warm aroma of rich, buttery pancakes filled the air. Instantly Ty’s mouth started to water. Yet that could have been in reaction to Dinah herself, who looked just as stunning as she had the day before.
Moving as gracefully as ever, the deerkin placed the pancakes on the workbench and smiled at Ty. “We missed you this morning,” she said, her rich, smooth voice enough to make him regret that he hadn’t been there all over again.
“So I heard,” he said. “I guess you’ll just have to make it up to me some time.”
Dinah smiled broadly. “Whenever you like,” she purred. Then, “What’s that you’re making?”
“Something to help against Bane,” Ty said.
“What is it? How does it work?”
“I’ll show you if you like,” Ty said.
Both Tempest and Dinah nodded at once.
As soon as the fabrication process was complete, Ty inserted the palm-sized power converters he’d manufactured earlier into the pouches he’d added to his design and made sure the contacts were set.
Then, with both women watching in open appreciation, he quickly stripped off his outer layer of clothes.
“I like it so far,” Tempest said. “But I don’t see how that will help against Bane.”
Ty felt himself blushing. Nevertheless, he continued with what he was doing and put his new, filamentous suit on. It was a better fit than his clothes were now, but the power converters at the back made it slightly uncomfortable.
“It’s a metallic onesie!” Tempest said at the same time as Dinah asked a question. “What are those little discs all over it?”
Ty didn’t know how he felt about it being called a onesie, but it was an accurate description. He grinned. “That’s the secret. They project a field that should dissipate all the energy of Bane’s attack.”
“How do we know that it works?” Tempest asked.
It was a fair question. Ty immediately thought of the profile display that his device projected, and wondered if it could possibly be sophisticated enough to display his new durability. Maybe as an armor class with an associated attribute boost, like Tempest’s skill did for her. It would be impressive if it did, but he didn’t really hold out much hope.
“Activate,” he said, and the same glowing blue nimbus that had surrounded him in his dream appeared all around.
“Pretty,” Tempest said. But Dinah was looking more thoughtful.
Ty brought up his profile, but it still displayed the same stats as before. Durability: 6.
He shrugged. “I guess we test it,” he said. Then he turned toward Tempest and grinned. “Hit me.”
The blonde woman raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
“It has to be tested. And really, I’d much rather test it against you than Bane.”
“Oh really? Are you saying that I don’t pack the same punch as he does?”
She was teasing him, and he knew it. “Let’s just say that with you, we can build up to full strength. With Bane, we don’t have that option.”
“Fair enough. Are you ready?”
Ty steeled himself, breathing deep, and nodded.
Tempest hit him. It was a hard, quick blow, aimed straight at his stomach. And Ty couldn’t help himself. He flinched away from it. Yet when it connected, he barely felt it. It was as if she had brushed him with a feather duster.
Yet his flinch surprised her. Her grin immediately turned one into an expression of concern and she stepped toward him. Nor was she the only one. Dinah reached for him as well.
“Are you okay?” the blonde woman asked, sounding worried.
“I’m okay,” Ty said, hastening to reassure them both. “That was just me being an idiot. I didn’t feel a thing.” He grinned broadly.
“What, nothing at all?” Tempest asked.
“No. Barely a whisper. Did you hit me with all your strength or just part of?”
“About a quarter,” Tempest said. “I didn’t want to hurt you if it didn’t work.”
“This time, hit me with everything you’ve got.”
“Are you sure?”
Ty nodded. “As I said, we’ve got to test it.”
“Okay.”
This time, instead of simply hitting him without any fanfare, she wound up and put real effort into it. Ty closed his eyes at the last moment to stop himself flinching. And when she connected, he did feel it.
But not as the massive impact that he knew it to be. It was like she had patted him gently on the stomach.
“That’s pretty impressive,” Tempest said.
Ty grinned broadly. “I think we’ll call that a success,” he said.
<<<>>>
With his shield working, Ty only had one more thing he needed to do. He needed a weapon. Something powerful enough to get Bane’s attention.
And, with only about an hour to go before he needed to get ready for work, he needed it quickly.
If he’d had to start from scratch, Ty wouldn’t have had enough time. But he still had the blasters and stun-baton he had taken from the mercenaries who broke into his apartment.
“What do you think? Should I work on the stun-baton or one of the blasters?” he asked, this time talking to Tempest and Dinah rather than Gremlin.
“How close do you want to get to Bane?” Tempest asked.
It was a good point. “Blaster it is,” he said.
But Tempest looked uncertain. “What are you going to do with it?” she asked. “A blaster won’t stop someone like him.”
Ty grinned. “I know.” A blaster generated a concussive blast of energy that could knock a man down at eighty feet or take his head off at point blank range. But for someone like Bane, it would be no more than an annoyance unless Ty managed to jam the barrel hard up against him.
“I’m going to make it more powerful. And maybe make a few more tweaks.”
With that, still in his mesh onesie, he took one of the weapons out of his backpack and placed it on the workbench for the holographic imager to scan. That done, he exploded the holographic projection to expose the workings within.
The blaster was simply made. No more than a plasma generator and a barrel to guide it. Effectively, the blaster generated a controlled explosion with only one outlet. At the squeeze of the trigger, plasma would erupt from the barrel and launch itself toward whatever the weapon was pointing at.
As weapons, blasters were reliable and easy to operate, and if they had an occasional reputation for blowing up in the user’s hands, the ease of use more than made up for it. A single plasma cartridge was typically good for about fifty shots, and with Ty having taken three of the weapons from the mercenaries, that gave him a couple of spares.
It took only a little while to tease the plasma generator into generating more power. But the efficiency schematics indicated that the casing would no longer be able to withstand the pressure and the weapon would very likely fail at the first use.
So Ty strengthened the casing as well, and, just for fun, added the ability to adjust the power of the weapon with a simple click of a switch.
Then he fabricated the result.
“Done,” Ty said.
27: Glitter And Bling
Ty would have liked to test the new, improved blaster, but this was the Architect’s workshop, not a firing range. All that was left to do was to get ready for work.
He was starting to put his shirt on over his mesh onesie when he realized he had a problem.
Ty was several inches taller than he had been when he bought his clothes. He was more muscular as well. His shirt had been a tight fit already, but now, with the mesh bodysuit complete with the power packs at his back and a blaster tucked into his belt, it was impossible to button it up.
Ty didn’t know what to do. He looked at Tempest. “Um, do we have time to pop into a menswear store so I can pick up a shirt that fits better?”
Surpris
ingly, the stunning woman’s features became somber. She glanced at Dinah, who nodded in agreement. Ty didn’t understand what the interaction between the two of them meant until Tempest started to speak.
“There is another option. If you don’t mind. Zach was about your size, or maybe just a little bigger. I think he would have been honored if you were to take a shirt from his wardrobe.”
Ty didn’t know what to say. Zach had been dead for only a couple of days. And while Tempest and Dinah hadn’t said much about it, Ty had seen their grief in hesitant moments and expressions of sadness more than once.
Zach had been a big part of their lives. He had been part of their team. They knew him. To Ty, the idea of wearing the dead men’s clothes made him slightly uncomfortable. He was already effectively taking Zach’s place. Was it right to wear his clothes as well?
Yet Tempest’s offer seemed to be more about respecting their friend than anything else. And besides, as usual, Ty wasn’t exactly flush with spare cash.
He nodded. “If you think it would be okay,” he said.
“Of course it would,” Tempest replied. Then she grinned playfully. “Of course, finding something suitable might be tricky. Zach’s style was fairly flamboyant. Do you like pink?”
Ty couldn’t tell if she was joking or not. Nor did she give him the chance to respond. She just led him back up the stairs, with Dinah following behind.
If the penthouse had wings, Zach’s rooms were on the opposite wing from where Ty had spent the previous night. And if Tempest’s room were subtly feminine and elegant, Zach’s were the definition of flamboyance. The chandelier was a glitter ball, and everywhere Ty looked, there were purple and pink cushions stacked in piles. There was more perfume and makeup on the dressers than Tempest had on hers.
Ty felt like he’d walked into a tribute to Liberace. It was an assault on his senses. Not only were the colors not to his taste in the least, but the lingering perfume in the air was cloying.
Tempest and Dinah both smiled at Ty’s reaction, but their smiles were sadder than they might have been. Ty understood that there was genuine affection for the man.
“He was quite the character,” Tempest said quietly. “There’s a walk-in closet. This door,” she added, leading the way.
Despite the glitter and bling, Ty couldn’t help but feel a certain solemnity as he headed to the closet. It was almost as if Zach’s room had become a shrine to the man. As if his presence was somehow still there.
In a single moment, Zach had fundamentally changed Ty’s life in the most unbelievable ways. He couldn’t help but feel a profound respect for his spirit.
The closet was spacious and cluttered with fur and glitter. For a moment, Ty worried that he would find nothing suitable for work. But Dinah had followed him in, and she unerringly sought out the most subdued of Zach’s clothes. Shirts of neutral colors. Trousers that could have been made in the same factory that produced the ones Ty could no longer fit.
“Maybe try one of these?” the deerkin said.
Ty picked a shirt that was somewhere between pink and tan and which Zach may have called coral or burnt sienna, and held it up against himself. Then he put it back and chose one that was a more neutral white.
There was a full-length mirror on the closet wall, and Ty could see that Tempest was right. The shirt should fit. If anything, it was just a little large. Perfect for hiding the unusual shapes of the blaster and the power packs.
He quickly chose a pair of trousers as well and put them both on.
“Not bad,” Dinah said, approving the result. “It covers your onesie well.”
“Thank you.”
It was time to go. Ty couldn’t help but feel anxious. He was just going to work, the same as he’d done nearly every day since he’d got the job. Yet he was also going to be bait dangled in front of the most dangerous person in all of New Lincoln.
Sure, he was confident that his new technology would do what he designed it to do, and Tempest would be there as well. Yet he couldn’t help but draw a deep breath to calm himself.
Tempest noticed. She grew serious. “Are you up for this?” she asked.
Ty shrugged. “I don’t want to be running and hiding for all my life. If Bane wants this device, he’s going to have to work for it.”
“Good. So, are you ready to go?”
It was all Ty could do to nod. Tempest turned to Dinah. “Keep your ears open. All going well, we’ll have him within a few hours. We’re going to need to put him in a hardened cell somewhere. Have a chat with some of our friends and find somewhere suitable.”
Dinah nodded. “No problem. I’ve already got a couple of possibilities lined up.”
And that was it. The three of them headed back to the main entrance and paused on the bridge over the pond. It was another gloomy, New Lincoln day, completely unlike the day before.
At the thought, Ty couldn’t help but wonder. Had it really been just a day? So much had happened that it felt like weeks.
“Stay safe,” Dinah said, her expression a peculiar mix of confidence and concern. Then she reached for both Ty and Tempest together and gave them a big hug. “I wish I could be going with you.”
Ty understood then that he wasn’t the only one who was nervous about facing Bane. He and Tempest both murmured words of reassurance, and then they were ready. As she had done several times before, Tempest gripped Ty under his arms and launched them both into the sky.
Neither of them noticed the man down on the ground who was dressed in the same uniform as the mercenaries who had broken into Ty’s apartment. But that man noticed them. He had been watching for just such an event, through digital binoculars that allowed him to see very clearly.
As soon as Ty and Tempest were away, the man touched his ear to activate his phone implant and made a call.
28: The Concubine Club
Tempest knew where the Concubine Club was but didn’t fly right up to the entrance. Although Ty would have loved to see Angie the Hutt’s expression if they landed in front of her, it wouldn’t have helped their cause. Anyone waiting for Ty to arrive would be immediately forewarned that Tempest was with him.
So instead, she touched down in a discrete alley not far from the Club and steadied Ty in the usual way.
Despite the work he’d put in, Ty was nervous. He would very much have preferred to fly back to the boulder in the middle of the lake to facing the monstrous villain. In fact, he would have preferred to fly pretty much anywhere, and maybe just disappear for a while.
But that would have been no more than a delaying tactic. Sooner or later, if he wanted to keep his device, he would have to face Bane.
It was a grim reality that did nothing to make Ty feel less nervous.
As soon as he caught his balance, he straightened his shirt and looked at Tempest. “How do I look?” he asked.
“Like you’re about to attend your own funeral. Relax. Smile. Pretend everything is normal. If the club is being watched, we don’t want to tip anyone off that today is special in anyway.”
Ty took a deep breath. She was right. He nodded and did his best to stand taller, with his chin up and his shoulders back. “Right. Here I go.”
With that, Ty marched toward the club with determination in his stride. But that wasn’t right either. Normally, he just sauntered to work, trudging through the New Lincoln gloom, driven by need more than desire. For him, while some aspects of his job were ok, because of Angie more than anything else, it mostly just sucked.
Appearing determined and strong would be just as wrong as being nervous and hesitant.
So Ty did what he could to put himself back in his usual mindset. He had to go to work so he could pay the bills, but he wasn’t looking forward to it at all. He jammed his hands into his pockets and slowed his pace while at the same time looking at the pavement in front of his feet.
Much better, he thought as he drifted along. He was now just an anonymous figure walking among others, most of them with similar dejected
expressions.
As he walked, he checked that his device was out of sight. Zach’s sleeve was just long and wide enough that when the cuff button was done up, the device was hidden from view. Ty wanted to make sure it stayed that way.
He knew that somewhere behind him, Tempest was keeping watch, looking out to see if she could spot anyone waiting for him. If no one showed themselves, she would wait a few minutes, then enter the Club like anyone else. As unobtrusively as possible, she would try to keep Ty in sight.
Her hidden presence gave Ty comfort as he mounted the steps and entered the building.
At once, his senses were assaulted by the noise and stench of the place. It was overwhelming and faintly disgusting and yet familiar at the same time. It seemed unreal to be back there again. So much had happened since Ty had last stepped foot inside.
He was a different person than he had been before. Not just in terms of skills, but in terms of everything. Two days ago, he had been a working stiff doing the best he could to make his way in the world. Now he was a member of a superhero team, with a pair of spectacular women by his side, intent on tracking down a monstrous villain.
It was more than unreal. It was like a Salvador Dali painting where reality had slipped off the table and onto the floor.
As he did every day at the start of his shift, Ty’s first job was to seek out Angie. This was supposedly to give her the chance to tell him what he was doing for the day. In reality, it was more about control than assigning tasks. She was a walking time clock, and she expected everyone to punch in.
Ty didn’t need her to tell him what to do. He knew that he would be doing. He would fix any of the amusement machines that had broken, deal with the garbage, clean the bathrooms, and mop up any pools of vomit or spilled drinks on the floor.
Other than that, if he was lucky, he would get to collect empty glasses, but that was about it.
His normal, pathetic life was hardly a great alter ego for someone who was part of a superhero team.
Ty heaved a sigh and saw Badger, one of the bouncers, heading toward him through the early crowd. Badger was a big man, though not in Bane’s league, and was probably on his way to his station at the door. His modifications were limited to tribal facial tattoos that made him look tough. Yet his first instinct on seeing Ty was to give him a broad smile and head over.