by Drew Hayes
* * *
“Go!”
In that one lone syllable, Hephaestus heard all of her paranoid fears spring to life. Before she’d turned, before she’d caught sight of Medley charging toward them, before she could identify the unfamiliar woman in the blue-and-white outfit, before she could fully digest Donald clad in armor and pointing a giant gun at them—before she saw any of it—she knew they’d been caught in the act. But no sooner had the thought gone through her head than another came on its heels: being caught wasn’t the same thing as being captured. And just like that, her priorities shifted as she prepared to meet their new challenge head-on.
“Cover Bahamut, then get clear!” Hephaestus ordered. With a glance over her shoulder, she saw that her friend was already halfway through her shift into the white dragon. Behind her, Glyph was etching something hurriedly on her scaly back between her spread wings while Pest Control summoned wave after wave of wasps. Most were heading toward their attackers, but many stayed near Bahamut. Hephaestus didn’t know exactly what Pest Control had in mind, but for the moment all she could do was trust him. As it stood, their chances were already slim. If they started second-guessing one another, all was as good as lost.
Hephaestus was trying to decide whether to intercept Medley’s charge or try and get into a game of long-shots with Donald when a blast of icy energy struck near her foot and almost managed to freeze her in place. She jumped aside, but the cold continued to build. Soon it had formed a seven-foot high ice-wall that stretched outward, blocking Hephaestus from making a run to the museum’s south. So, the blue-and-white lady was a meta with ice powers. She wasn’t sure if that was ironic or not, given her own abilities, but she did know it annoyed the crap out of her. If the woman managed to freeze Bahamut or any of the other apprentices, they were all sunk; this meant Hephaestus needed to make sure she stayed the ice-gal’s main target.
“Nice shot, Frosty! This time, why don’t you actually trying opening your fucking eyes when you aim.” Hephaestus bolted right for the woman lining up another ice blast. To her left, Medley seemed to reorient, aiming for the target that was now narrowing the gap between them. That was unexpected but a stroke of luck. Medley was a heavy hitter, and with Bahamut in the air, they wouldn’t have anyone that could stand up to him. If she used her meta-suit, she might be able to hold him off for a while. And if that failed, she was pretty sure he didn’t have any way to catch living fire, although the same could not be said for the ice-woman.
“My name is Cold Shoulder!” Those words were the only warning Hephaestus got before a torrent of freezing energy came right at her. Honed reflexes augmented by carefully-crafted technology snapped into action, and Hephaestus leapt to the side just in time to avoid the massive chunk of ice that formed by her feet. While she readied for another blast, Cold Shoulder took her by surprise. Instead of a concentrated beam, she spread her arms and let out something like a pulse. Immediately, the entire parking lot began to ice over; Hephaestus only avoided slipping thanks to the weight of her suit and the traction of the metal boots on her feet.
“And I think that is just adorable.” Damn. When this was over, she’d have to talk with Ivan about banter; somehow, she felt like she was really coming up short so far. Instead of trying to think of another one-liner, Hephaestus took aim and fired more of the tranquilizing darts she’d used on the guard. If her luck held, she could knock out the biggest threat to their escape without causing any lasting damage.
Unfortunately, it seemed Cold Shoulder hadn’t stepped onto the battlefield without some defensive plans of her own. She held up a single hand and a giant shield of ice materialized in front of her, easily stopping the darts. What was worse, the shield didn’t vanish; it merely slid to the side as if it had no weight while Cold Shoulder fired off another round of freezing energy.
This time, Hephaestus couldn’t get away with a simple hop. She had to throw herself to the ground in a tucked roll. Clear of the attack, she spun away and leapt back to her feet. It was a dangerous move that left her open to another shot—a shot which, oddly, didn’t come. Only when Hephaestus was reoriented did she realize why, and in that moment, suddenly being caught by a freeze blast didn’t seem so bad.
Cold Shoulder had conjured more ice—a lot more—only she’d called it up around herself. She stood encased in what looked to be a fifteen-foot tall humanoid construct made of ice, its frosty fists balled up and a dangerous glint in its wintery eye. If that weren’t bad enough—and by Hephaestus’s reckoning, it definitely was—Medley had finally arrived at Cold Shoulder’s side. The mighty beast was dwarfed by her ice-construct armor, but he was still a good few feet taller than Hephaestus, even with the extra couple of inches from her armor.
This was bad. There were still a few tricks up her meta-suit’s sleeves, but losing the main cannon in her right gauntlet had severely limited her options. Granted, she still wouldn’t have been allowed to char a cape, but at least it would have left bluffing on the table. The only upside to this predicament was that if both Medley and Cold Shoulder were both focused on her, the others should be free to slip away easily.
The sound of Donald’s—Cyber Geek’s—blaster dispelled that notion swiftly from her mind and acted as some sort of trigger for Cold Shoulder and Medley as well. The two charged as a team. Hephaestus no longer had the luxury of worrying about the other apprentices. Her hands were full with just trying to stay alive.
Chapter 67
When the first shots came, Bahamut was sure they were sunk. She’d seen the kind of damage that gun could dish out firsthand, and while her green dragon-form might, might have been able to withstand a blast, her white dragon wasn’t nearly as tough. Her eyes closed, and all she could feel was Glyph etching a second symbol onto her back as she waited for the end to come. Instead, she heard Pest Control let out a string of swears, along with the crackling sizzle of insects being burned up.
“Fucker! Those things hurt.”
Hurt? The shots should be cooking right through them. Bahamut opened her scaly eyes. Rather than the giant beam that had torn through an otherworldly monster, Cyber Geek was pelting them with small blue bursts, most of which Pest Control’s wall of flying bugs were absorbing.
“Why isn’t he trying to kill us?” She didn’t mean for the words to be spoken, but they still slipped out nonetheless. As Glyph finished drawing on her back, he spun around to answer.
“’Cause they’re the good guys, duh. We’re not a threat to anyone, we’re not causing massive damage, and we haven’t even shown aggression. It would look really bad if they just killed us in one go without even giving us the chance to surrender.” Glyph reached over and patted the pair of symbols on her back, each letting out a pulse of energy as he did. “Now you’ve got some shielding. Once you slip out of sight, they shouldn’t be able to track you. Get clear, turn back, and keep the paintings safe.”
“Do you two have an exit plan?” Bahamut asked.
“Well, since Hephaestus is currently holding the attention of two of them, I’d say we’ll use my bugs to give video-game boy the slip. Maybe Glyph has a symbol or two left as well,” Pest Control offered. He was rematerializing the bugs as fast as he could, but Cyber Geek’s endless shots were clearly tearing through them at a greater rate.
“With two on Bahamut, the most I can sustain is one more,” Glyph said. “But with the right timing, I might be able to pull something off.”
Bahamut took in the scene before her. Hephaestus was squaring off against a giant ice monster and Medley, neither of which looked to be pushovers. Cyber Geek had the team functionally pinned down with his blasts. It had made sense to give her the paintings inside the museum when this was all abstract, but now that things had gotten real, that wisdom was waning. Yes, if the paintings were damaged, then they were all sunk; however, the same could be said if any of them were captured. She was the group’s heavy hitter, and while Hephaestus might manage to slip away, things didn’t look as good for Pest Control and G
lyph. Their first plan had been solid, but getting everyone out here meant they had to be willing to call audibles when it was needed. And that was exactly what Bahamut planned to do.
“Glyph, take the paintings from me, then pull off the shield magic. Pest Control, forget everything else: just keep churning out bugs. Keep us hidden, no matter what it takes.”
“You’re supposed to escape.” Pest Control spit the words out through gritted teeth as he narrowed his focus, conjuring more and more flying insects to fill the gaps where the shots had come in.
“Which will leave you both totally exposed. Don’t worry, I’ve got an idea,” Bahamut said. She was nearly back to her human-form, taking care to stay as concealed behind the cover of bugs as possible. She had a feeling that with no protection from her dragon magic, one of those shots might stun her long enough for this all to go off the rails. “Glyph! Your concealment magic, it lets you slip by people?”
“People who don’t know you’re there, and only if they’re distracted,” he explained. “It’s not invisibility.” Glyph was fastening the tube around his own chest as he spoke. While he might want more explanation of what the plan was, it was clear he also realized the path they’d been on would lead to failure.
“Perfect. Get it on yourself and Pest Control, then wait here under cover of the bugs,” she said. “I’m going to give you both the perfect distraction. When that happens, all eyes will be on me, I promise. After that, run like hell to the ice cream stand and call Tunnel Vision.”
“The magic won’t work if you just step out from here,” Glyph warned her. “He’s aware of all three of us. I don’t think even you’d be tough enough to make it to him while taking fire from those energy shots.”
“Which is why I’m going back into the museum and slipping out a side exit,” Bahamut replied. “We’re already busted, so alarms don’t mean shit. Just seize the opportunity when it comes. You’ll only get one shot at this.”
“If you’re going to do it, then please hurry. This ain’t exactly a light jog.” Sweat glistened on Pest Control’s face, but the bugs were filling in the wall faster than Cyber Geek could fry them, albeit slowly. He wouldn’t be able to manage it for long; she had to make the most of her window while it was still open.
Without another word, Bahamut turned and dashed back into the museum, turning partially green and scaly as she moved. The less they could see of her true form, the better; she had a feeling any remaining security tapes were going to get the ever-loving shit examined out of them. Plus, dragon-strength let her run faster, and she was all too aware that she was racing a clock. Even if Pest Control and Glyph could hold out, there was still Hephaestus to worry about.
* * *
The meta-suit, despite its appearance, had not been designed for melee combat. Certainly, the armoring offered an enhanced defense, and the servos were capable of delivering far more physical force than if it had been Tori doing the punching; however, the purpose of the meta-suit was to offer utility, defense, and mobility above all else. Plus a cannon, for bad situations, which Hephaestus was dearly wishing hadn’t been broken earlier in the night. To keep this up required her to continue pumping energy into the suit, so much and so hot her body was nearly insubstantial inside it. It was all she could do to keep up with the pair of capes trying to beat her down.
A flurry of icicles whizzed by. She dodged to the side, almost taking a punch from Medley as she fell into their trap. Her reactions were good—she hadn’t survived as a criminal for as long as she’d managed without learning to brawl—but the simple truth of it was that Medley was a far better fighter than she. And while Cold Shoulder apparently couldn’t do the freezing beams while encased in her construct, she could make the ice-suit grow incredibly sharp icicles, which she would then throw with enough force to dent the meta-suit.
In fact, the only reason Hephaestus hadn’t gone down yet was that Medley and Cold Shoulder clearly had no practice fighting together. They kept stepping in the other’s way, dodging around attacks meant for her, and just generally slowing one another down. One on one, either of them would have been a challenge. Medley certainly would have forced her to abandon the suit. But the sum of their parts was less than their individual strength, and Hephaestus capitalized on that weakness as much as she could.
Putting herself between them, she registered another icicle attack on her helmet’s display and leapt aside, allowing the freezing projectiles to strike Medley’s torso. They shattered on impact, doing no visible damage, though they did manage to distract him momentarily. Hephaestus took advantage of that moment by loading a fresh round of paralyzing darts into the gun on her left arm. Medley’s hide was too thick for a shot to pierce, so Hephaestus charged the furry monster, catching him slightly by surprise. It was enough to get off one punch, which she drove into the side of his neck, tilting her wrist down so that the mouth of the gun struck his flesh. While this angle did far less damage than if she’d kept her fist angled properly, it did allow her to fire at the same time she hit. Hephaestus could see a trio of darts sticking out of his neck as she pulled away. They might not be embedded deep enough to deliver the chemicals, but it was as good as they were ever going to get. Hephaestus was feeling good about her gamble until a clawed hand whipped forward, snagging her retreating left arm and spinning her around.
“Gotcha,” Medley growled, twisting the captured arm so that it forced Hephaestus to her knees. There was no danger of actually breaking bones since she was already on the verge of not having them, but the suit could only twist so many ways. Besides, this position had her back directly to Medley, which sparked something of an idea. If she could just get the angle right, this might be the chance she was waiting for.
“I have a feeling you won’t go peacefully, even if I offer you the chance to surrender, but rules are rules. Give up now, get out of the suit, and you won’t be hurt. If you keep fighting, I can’t guarantee your safety.” Medley’s speech wasn’t slurred and his grip certainly wasn’t wavering, so it looked like the drugs either hadn’t made it in or didn’t have any effect. It had been a long shot in the first place; metas with such physical abilities usually weren’t susceptible to mere toxins.
Still, Hephaestus hadn’t given up yet. She leaned a little lower to the ground, stretching the suit’s arm as far as she could. This would only be a surprise once, and she needed the aim to be just right.
“All right, since you’re not getting out, I guess you want to do this the hard way. Cold Shoulder, ice him up,” Medley ordered. “We’ll get this guy out of his suit back in AHC headquarters.”
Well, that wasn’t good. Thanks to the suit’s cameras and display, Hephaestus could see Cold Shoulder’s ice construct parting. The giant took Cold Shoulder in its hand and gently set her down. The lady was powerful; Hephaestus had to give her that. She’d assumed Medley and Cyber Geek were the best that the AHC had in their rookies, but maybe they’d been keeping the really strong ones as a surprise. Either way, getting caught in one of those ice blocks would be bad. Hephaestus wasn’t sure how living fire would work against that sort of power and sure as shit wasn’t in a hurry to find out. But Medley was so quick, even if she got the angle right, he might dodge. What she needed was a distraction, just one moment where they weren’t focused on her.
Luck, fate, or whatever deity watched over villains was clearly listening to her thoughts. As Cold Shoulder raised her hands and prepared to attack, a dragon’s roar split the night, and suddenly Hephaestus was no longer the more attention-grabbing problem to deal with.
* * *
The mood in the council chambers had shifted many times as the occupants watched the night’s crimes take place. Apprehension as they watched the apprentices make the approach. Worry when some of the guards resisted Glyph’s magic. Excitement as Pest Control and Hephaestus chased them down before they could sound an alarm. Relief when the paintings’ frames opened and no security alarm sounded. And, of course, fear when the capes ambushed their roo
kies during the exit from the museum. Fear not for themselves or their organization, but for this newest crop of villains, who so many of them had personally invested in and who were now on the brink of being wiped out.
“How the hell did they find them?” Xelas snapped. “I was watching the system the whole time, and not one alarm went out.”
“Perhaps someone noticed them sneaking in and called the police. Perhaps there were security measures even we were unaware of. Those are the risks and realities of a real job; nothing is certain and everything can be affected by chance.” Doctor Mechaniacal watched patiently, a somber expression on his face as he gauged the actions of the apprentices.
Ivan knew that Wade took no joy in what they were witnessing, but the truth of the matter was that sometimes these things did happen. Granted, it usually wasn’t on one’s first job with no backup or more experienced guild members to help. The whole coincidence struck Ivan as just a touch suspicious, though he couldn’t imagine how even Wade could have convinced the AHC to send their newest recruits out to stop the crime.
“At least they’re being smart,” Thuggernaut said, half-whispering to Ivan as they watched the scene play out in front of them. “The focus is obviously on getting away, just like they were taught. Escape over engagement.”
“Easy for you to say, your apprentice isn’t trying to fight two capes at once,” Ivan replied. On-screen, Hephaestus took a swing at Medley, connecting, but getting her arm snared in the process. “Badly, I might add.”
“She’s putting the group first, drawing attention so the others can sneak away.” Thuggernaut looked at the older villain carefully, remembering the man with the glowing eyes who had once terrorized entire battalions of capes. “If memory serves, you used to do the same. You’d fight capes ten at a time if you were trying to help your friends get away.”
“True, but there are two very important differences between the old me and the current Hephaestus,” Ivan said. “One, I was much stronger than she is, which is why I could manage fights like that. And two, I was much dumber than she, which is why I’d expect to see a little more strategy out of my apprentice.”