by Drew Hayes
“Looks like too much interaction either wears them down, or coming back too soon makes you recognizable,” Beverly reported.
“Very good,” Arcanicus said, nodding and shaking the purple robe. No one they met had commented on Arcanicus’s strange attire, which didn’t surprise any of the apprentices. A man who could make items like what they were wearing no doubt had a few tricks of his own in use. “The stones, like all magic, have limitations,” he explained. “No power is infinite, and those with truly strong wills can sometimes pierce the illusions cast by such items. Beverly was smart to assess the limits of her new tool in a practical method that carried little risk. Whenever you’re counting on new equipment, you need to know just how far it will take you.”
Warren seemed annoyed while Lance and Tori gave Beverly small looks of respect. It was easy to forget how good a head she had on her shoulders when contrasted with the hulking forms she could assume. Arcanicus headed away from the bar area where they’d been hanging out for the last half-hour, and they followed his lead.
“Many years ago, before we implemented the current job approval system, we used to mark every building that was off-limits to guild members,” Arcanicus told them. “This included buildings owned by guild holdings, places where family of members worked, and anywhere that a cape was suspected to have loved ones of their own. It worked well, for a time, but there are obvious flaws in any system like that.”
Moving his hand up to the exterior brick wall of a mortgage company, Arcanicus muttered under his breath and tapped his finger to the cold surface. A softly glowing rune appeared on the bricks, hovering in place for several seconds before vanishing.
“There are plenty of magic-users among the AHC, and they eventually discovered the marks we’d left. Additionally, some of the other criminal metas found them too, which made for a far more dangerous situation. The system inadvertently told them all the places where useful holdings and hostages could be acquired. Eventually, we got around the mistake by just marking every building in town, as well as putting down any of the groups who tried to attack them. These were a bloody few years, and when they ended, our guild had inadvertently become the underworld’s overseer. We established ourselves as the collective king of the criminals, and ever since then, we’ve made sure to keep that spot by whatever means are necessary.”
Arcanicus turned and looked at the apprentices, measuring the determination in their eyes. “But that will come later. As I said, tonight we start out slow. Pod Person’s work will begin soon; let’s head that way.”
All five of them walked through the downtown Ridge City streets, seen but unremembered. It was an almost surreal experience for Tori, trekking from block to block, neighborhood to neighborhood, all under the light of stars and streetlamps. They passed upscale apartments and condos then made their way through a patch of the city known for being more dangerous. Capes and cops did have limits, and spots like this were where those breaks in the seams showed. No one bothered them as they walked calmly across the streets, though. That was probably for the best, as no low-level pusher with a gun would possibly be prepared to try and mug this group. It occurred to Tori that perhaps the pendants were as much for the protection of others as themselves. Guild members weren’t exactly the sort that would hold back in a fight, so this kept the body count low, which made things easier on everyone involved.
They walked past a few more clusters of apartments before heading into another business district. While the first had held mostly bars and shops, this was clearly a place where money changed hands. Banks were all over the place, as were the logos of several Fortune 500 companies. Most telling of all, though, was how many buildings bore no labels beyond an address. They were the sorts of places that people only went to if they knew they had business there. Walk-ins need not bother.
Sitting on a bench in front of one of the banks, eating a salted pretzel nearly dripping with mustard, was a man Tori recognized from the guild’s halls but couldn’t have put a name to if her life was on the line. Given that he wore an identical pendant to theirs, however, it seemed like a logical bet that this was Pod Person, the guild member with the job going down that evening.
“Hey there, Apprentices.” He rose from his seat, gobbling down the last of the pretzel in a few hurried bites, then wiping his hands on the napkin and tossing it in the trash. “Arcanicus, you’re cutting it a little close on the time.”
“Foot travel is not exactly an easily predictable tactic,” the older man grumbled. They shook hands quickly, and Arcanicus sat down on the sidewalk, chalk suddenly appearing in his hand. He mumbled something under his breath as he began to draw lines on the concrete.
“While Arcanicus sets up the barrier for you all to watch behind, let me introduce myself. I go by Pod Person, and in exchange for free use of one of his fancy necklaces, I agreed to let you all observe my heist tonight. We only have a few minutes left before the others and I arrive, so let’s go through the ground rules for you four as spectators.”
Everyone shared a confused look at the words “the others and I arrive,” but all remembered Arcanicus’s warning about questions and so kept their silence. Besides, this seemed like a question that would answer itself if they were willing to be patient. It was a good thing they didn’t try to ask, because Pod Person didn’t slow down his speech, continuing right along without pause.
“The barrier Arcanicus is setting up will shield you from view so long as you stay behind it. There’s also a little bit of protective magic going in to the barrier, but if you’re in this guild, then I doubt you’ll need it. Here’s the most important thing you need to remember tonight: no matter what happens, you do not get to intervene. This is my job. I submitted it to the council, I got it approved, and I am the one who is allowed to work it. If things go bad, if I look like I’m in trouble, if you hear me screaming desperately for you to help, you still stay put. The only possible exception is if I’ve severely miscalculated and you end up in danger, at which point Arcanicus will give you permission to do something, probably run. Don’t expect it to come to that, though. There’s a reason this job was picked for you to watch, and part of it is because there’s very little chance of catastrophe.”
Behind Pod Person, Arcanicus rose from the ground, chalk still in hand. He made a wide, sweeping gesture over the runes he’d drawn. A ripple appeared to run through the air in front of them. It stayed there, shimmering softly in the streetlights, giving the effect of looking down the road on a hot summer day.
“That’ll do it,” Arcanicus announced.
“About time, I’m going to be here any minute.” Pod Person reached into his jacket and yanked out a nondescript black ski mask. Pulling it over his head, his features disappeared under what appeared to be exceptionally scratchy wool. “Time to call for reinforcements.”
Every one of the apprentices jumped back slightly when Pod Person first spat on the ground, giving him a wide berth as he hocked up loogie after loogie. With each expectoration came a small green object, like an unripe bean, that landed on the sidewalk without so much as a bounce. The beans grew at an incredible rate before their eyes until, mere seconds later, they were the size of an adult human. That turned out to be appropriate, as one by one they split open, revealing perfect copies of Pod Person, lacking only the enchanted pendant.
“Boys,” Pod Person announced to his recently-hatched clones. “You know what to do. As for the rest of you, stay put and get ready for a show.”
Chapter 42
Pod Person’s... pod people had scarcely tucked themselves out of sight in a nearby alley when a car came speeding down the road. It pulled up in front of one of the many unlabeled buildings, and from its depths emerged four men wearing masks. The disguises were nothing fancy like what the guild would have issued; they looked like cheap balaclavas not much different from the ones Pod Person and his copies were already wearing.
“This is what we call a Trojan Horse job,” the original Pod Person, identif
iable by means of his pendant, explained. Unlike his duplicates, he’d stayed behind the barrier with Arcanicus and the others, evidently to provide color-commentary. It seemed imprudent to be speaking so freely with strangers only just across the street, but precautions must have been in place because not a single head turned in their direction. Instead, all four men were gathering up near the door of one of the buildings, the smallest of them typing away on some handheld computer.
“Basically, this crew has been pulling heists around town, and while they aren’t technically doing anything to bring down the guild’s full wrath, they did step on a few toes,” Pod Person continued. “One of the men over there is me; he’s been working for weeks to get in good with them as a safe-cracker. Tonight, once they’ve successfully robbed the diamond exchange, I’ll use my knowledge of their plans to ambush them with all the other versions of me.”
“We rarely do jobs in Ridge City,” Arcanicus told them, not paying attention to the four men as they successfully opened the door and poured inside. “While the AHC has a presence all over the world, working in their backyard is unnecessarily risky. Generally, the only work we do around here is enforcement, which will be covered on another night. Pod Person is an infiltration specialist, however. Since he has the ability to bail out of a situation when the need arises, he gets cleared to do certain local jobs.”
“I’m not big on travel.” Pod Person gave a hearty shrug, slightly rattling the pendant around his neck. “I’ve got another me for that. He’s in London at the moment, which I will say is a far more beautiful city than pictures really do justice capturing.”
Arcanicus and Pod Person spoke a bit more, going over the details of how Pod Person had wormed his way into the crew over the last few months. Things seemed to be going smoothly when suddenly a noise like a muted firecracker echoed through the air. Pod Person let out a long, annoyed sigh and turned in the direction of the building being robbed.
“Those two-timing rat bastards. They just shot me in the head. Can you believe that? Sure, I was going to rob them too, but I wasn’t planning to kill any of them. And what, for my part of the score? What if they need another safe-cracker? That’s just unprofessional, that’s what it is.”
Pod Person remained still, but from the nearby alley his clones poured forth, arranging themselves closer to the entrance while remaining largely hidden from view. One enterprising double skulked forward, sliding under the car and pulling out a large knife that gleamed in the streetlight.
“I guess it’s a good thing it happened, sort of. Lets me show the rookies how to adapt to changes,” Pod Person said. “See, I was going to use the me inside to know exactly when they were emerging so I could catch them perfectly by surprise and cut off their chance to run back inside. With that option gone, I’ll have to be fast instead of precise and ambush them the moment they pop out. Just to be on the safe side, I’m also cutting off their escape route. On a job, you can never count on things going to plan. That’s why it’s so important to always be... ready... to...”
His voice trailed off as he stared at the small, blinking red light coming from the watch on his left wrist. A quick glance at Arcanicus, who pulled back his robe to show a crystal pendant that was also blinking red, seemed the solidify Pod Person’s certainty regarding the situation.
“Well... tits. This just got a lot more complicated. Arcanicus, full evacuation, do you think?”
“I’m actually leaning away from that,” Arcanicus replied. “None of us are doing anything illegal; we’re all just out on a nightly stroll. It might be a good opportunity for them to see the capes in action. Not to mention to observe how you handle such an unexpected development.”
“You’re a real bastard when you get the inclination, you know that?” Pod Person glanced over his shoulder, then up into the sky, before turning to face the apprentices once more. “Okay, rookies, what Arcanicus and I just got warning of is that superheroes from the Alliance of Heroic Champions have been dispatched to this scene. Guess the crew’s alarm specialist wasn’t as good as he thought he was. Anyway, in a situation like this, the very first recourse for a guild member is a simple one: bail. If at all possible, bail, run, and get clear of the situation. Which reminds me...”
Lifting his hand into the air, Pod Person snapped his fingers. The seemingly innocuous gesture was anything but given that each nearby copy of him exploded into a cloud of green goop. The muck splattered all over the ground, steam rising from its viridian depths. Before their eyes, the puddles grew smaller. They soon realized that the steam was more than just effect: the goop was rapidly evaporating.
“There we go: did the one inside too just for good measure, which is no doubt freaking out those double-dealing douchebags.” Pod Person reached up and pulled his mask off, handing it over to Arcanicus, who turned it to ash with a single bright flash of fire. “Ideally, Arcanicus’s spells will keep us off any of the capes’ radar, but with other metas, you can never take things for granted. However, as of now, none of us were involved in the burglary. We’re all just out walking the town, helping our wizard friend test his new enchanted items. That is still, admittedly, suspicious as hell, but without solid evidence, they won’t try to push it. The guild of villains has far better lawyers than they do. Like watches over like, as the saying goes.”
“I know we’re supposed to wait until we get back to ask questions, but seeing as things have gone off the rails, do you mind if I slip one in?” Lance said, stepping slightly forward.
“Is it about the watch?” Pod Person asked.
“It is definitely about the watch,” Lance confirmed.
“There’s nothing too special about it. The AHC tries to coordinate with police whenever possible—no need to double-book the same crime or put human police in the middle of a meta-brawl. Doctor Mechaniacal wrote a program that monitors all the emergency channels and lets off a warning if the GPS chip in the watch senses we’re near where the capes have been dispatched.”
“There’s also a magical relay system.” Arcanicus pulled back his robe sleeve again so they could see the glowing crystal. “Since many of us who use the arcane arts have a tendency to short out electronics, it just sends the information from the computer version through a different method.”
“It’s a good tool to have, but you should never count on it,” Pod Person added. “The AHC likes to coordinate with other agencies; that doesn’t mean they always do so. Especially if they think we’re involved and it might tip us off. Then they use discre—”
Pod Person was cut off by a thunderous blast filling the air. The car went up like there had been dynamite hidden inside, along with the remains of Pod Person’s double still steaming beneath it. The combustion let out a blast of heat so intense they could feel it across the street. No one had to bother speculating on what had caused the explosion, as seconds later the familiar form of Blunderbuss came crashing to the ground, the end of his mighty weapon still smoking slightly. Squat, thick, and with the all-but-trademarked beard, Blunderbuss was impossible to mistake for anyone else, even without his giant gun. Above him swirled the familiar winds of Roto, who descended gracefully with another person gripped carefully in her flying vortex.
Although to say person might have been a bit of a stretch. The creature that landed on the concrete was a hybrid of dozens of animals, none of them exactly what one would call cuddly. Despite such a fierce appearance, the creature immediately swept the area upon landing with a quick, cunning intelligence. Its eyes, feline and golden, squinted slightly when they rested on Arcanicus’s barrier, but eventually that gaze continued past them.
“That should put the fear of all nine hells into them,” Blunderbuss declared, whipping his gun around and resting it on his shoulder. “Now, go charging in and take their weapons away. After that, you bundle them up nice and tight for the police. Been tracking this crew for a while and none of them are meta, so it should be an easy fight. Just remember not to be too hard on them. Scratches and bruise
s can make for the wrong kind of sympathy.”
“Good luck, Medley,” Roto said, her voice so soft it was nearly impossible to hear from across the street. “We’re here if you need us, but you can handle this. It’s your debut, so take your time and do the best you can.”
The creature—Medley, presumably—nodded its shaggy head and moved toward the door. For a split second, its eyes veered off track and he looked at Arcanicus’s barrier again, but soon the sound of a gun cocking echoed, drawing its attention to the task at hand. With more grace than its form would have betrayed, Medley leapt inside, greeted immediately by the screams of the would-be diamond thieves.
“Lovely, lovely. Sounds like he’s handling them no problem,” Blunderbuss said. Gun shots filled the air, their tinny pops nothing like what he’d let loose yet still unmistakable. The sound halted suddenly a few seconds later. “Roto, is the press on their way?”
“The call was supposed to go out three minutes after we left, so based on current response times, it seems likely,” Roto replied. “Apollo definitely said we shouldn’t have Medley debut in the daytime, right? Having him work under cover of night... I feel like it’s going to do more harm than good.”
“Testing data shows people were far more weirded out by seeing Medley in sunshine than shadow. His presence at night, at least, meshes with what they expect of someone who looks like him.” Blunderbuss glanced at the flickering fire of the freshly exploded car. “Maybe we should move this a little out of the way, though. Might make him look menacing.”
“I told you not to shoot it,” Roto said as she created a new swirling vortex beneath what remained of the vehicle. The wreckage rose slowly but progressively until she shifted it several feet out of the way and placed it back on the ground.
“I didn’t want the damn crooks to scatter,” Blunderbuss defended. “Hunting them down would have thrown off the timetable. This got them all to hole up in one spot.”