by Wyatt Kane
Before any of them could answer, the dark elf shook her head. “Never mind,” she said. “You can tell me later. Carry on.”
“Well, as I was saying, the Master had access to the Architect’s knowledge and background. He knows better than anyone what my skill is all about. If anyone tried to blow up the city like that, it would set off nearly every alert I have in place. And we would stop him. Tempest–” she cut herself off, and ended with a shrug. “We would stop him,” she finished.
“So, really, he has no choice,” Vixen said. “The Master has to figure out a way to achieve the ruin he desires in some way you can’t predict. Hence his fascination with superpowered people.”
Ty said nothing, but understood more clearly than ever that Vixen was right. From the Master’s perspective, those with superpowers were weapons. Bain, Concussion, Sparkles and Spit Bitch were the most obvious examples. And Lilith—if the Master still had her under his control, if he’d understood what she was able to do … Ty didn’t want to think about what that would mean.
With both the devices and the AZT-407 at his command, the man was hoping to find a living bomb. Someone like Concussion, but stronger. Or maybe just hundreds of people like Concussion.
How would he, Dinah, and Lilith combat something like that?
“Yes,” Dinah agreed.
Vixen stared at each of them in turn. It was as if she was trying to wake them up. Trying to judge them based on what she had heard.
“And what are you doing about it?” she demanded, her tone full of accusations.
20: Plan Of Attack
It was Lilith who responded first. “What do you mean?” the demon woman asked.
Vixen transferred her gaze to Lilith, and Ty could sense the tension between them. Yet, perhaps Vixen couldn’t. She seemed vaguely puzzled at the flatness in Lilith’s expression.
“Just what I said. This Master seems to be having it all his own way. You’ve got Concussion out there destroying buildings, and this Bain guy is still out there as well. And you’ve got all these potentially powered people recovering from that drug, and who knows what will happen with them. What are you doing to find the Master and his henchmen? What are you doing to combat the potential threat of the those enhanced by this drug?”
Neither Ty, Dinah, nor Lilith could come up with a response. In Ty’s mind, they were already doing all they could. Yet Vixen was right, in a way. They’d put all their proactive activities on hold once Tempest had been injured. Even Lilith had spent her time just cleaning up Concussion’s latest mess.
At the thought, Ty couldn’t help but feel guilty. He still hadn’t even checked if his friends from the Concubine Club still lived.
“We’ve been busy,” Dinah said.
Ty knew that if he’d said the words, they would have come across as resentful. But Dinah was made of sterner stuff than that. And, in truth, they had been busy. Trying to keep Tempest alive.
Yet, even as he played the justification over in his mind, Ty knew it wasn’t strictly correct. Tempest was in stasis. She could remain as she was for as long as the power in her chamber allowed, with only the injuries inherent to extended periods of cryo-sleep to show for it.
Vixen didn’t back down. She held Dinah’s eye for long moments. Then, “What would Tempest think of the progress you’ve made?”
Ty couldn’t help it. He cursed under his breath. At the same time Lilith let out a gasp of outrage, and even Dinah favored the dark elf with a glare.
“How dare you–?” she began.
But Vixen wasn’t finished.
“Look, I know you were close.” She glanced at Ty and Lilith as well, including them in her statement. “I don’t know how I would react if something bad happened to Delve. But this is Tempest! The superhero. The one who will keep fighting no matter what’s happening!”
She looked around again, but Dinah’s reaction remained. Instead of focusing on her, Vixen turned to Ty.
“Look,” she said again. “You told me about the efforts you’ve gone through to bring Tempest back. If you were able to ask her directly, what would Tempest ask you to do?”
Ty didn’t like what he was hearing, yet he knew the dark elf was right. But he didn’t want to say it out loud.
Lilith said it for him. Of them all, she was the most empathic. She knew better than anyone, except maybe Dinah, what Tempest would have thought.
“She would want us to get on with the job,” Lilith said. She drew a deep breath. “She would want us to go after Bain and Concussion.” Then the demon woman looked away. “She would want us to use what we’ve got to find them and make sure they can’t hurt anyone else. All of us. Including me,” she finished.
Ty understood what the demon woman meant. In terms of sheer power, Lilith’s potential was unmatched. Yet she didn’t have that power under complete control, not yet, and didn’t like the idea of hurting people at the best of times.
He knew she was admitting that she could do more.
“Exactly!” Vixen said, pouncing on the demon woman’s words. Then she softened her approach, just a little. Too late to avoid Ty’s resentment, and perhaps that of the others. But at least she gave it a go. “So, what are our options? How can we find this Master? How can we find his henchmen?”
“If we knew that, don’t you think we would have done it already?” Ty asked.
Vixen just stared at him. He realized then that her eyes were violet in color. At that moment, he would have preferred her to be less beautiful than she was. It would have made it easier for him to dislike her.
She didn’t say anything, and in the end, Dinah offered a sigh. “Lilith can sense device wearers,” she said. “Working together, we should be able to find all of them.”
At this, Vixen broke into a smile that changed her face entirely. She seemed at once warmer and infinitely more appealing than she had even moments before. Yet her words, when she spoke, were still vaguely annoying to Ty.
“Perfect,” she said. “Why haven’t you already done so?”
“Because when we tried it last time, we ran into an ambush,” Ty said.
Vixen’s smile drained away. “Well, we’ll just have to make sure that doesn’t happen again, won’t we?”
Ty didn’t know what the human equivalent of hackles might be, but was sure that his were up. He didn’t like the way Vixen had just turned up out of the blue. He didn’t like how she seemed to dismiss Tempest’s trauma so easily, or how she seemed to want to tell them what to do. He didn’t even like the implication of a shared history with Dinah.
But despite all that, he understood she was right.
As much as he wanted to spend his days just trying to figure out how to bring Tempest back, there were more urgent things at hand. And perhaps Vixen was right about being more careful as well. He glanced at Dinah, who nodded.
“We don’t need to approach any of them until we’re sure who they are, what they are capable of, and whether or not it’s another trap.” She glanced at the demon woman. “Do we, Lilith?”
The beautiful succubus nodded. “I can find out who they are without them even knowing I’m there,” she confirmed.
That brought Vixen’s smile back, but it was a less open, less vibrant smile than before. “Excellent,” she said. Then she turned her attention to Ty. “Now, what about you?” she said. “With Dinah and Lilith doing what they do, do you have some technological magic that would let you solve the problem from a different direction?”
Ty just stared at her, drawing a blank. He couldn’t think of a single thing he could do to help find the Master, or any of his men. Not with his technology.
But there were other options as well.
He had modeled his shield after Tempest’s abilities.
“What would Tempest do?” he muttered to himself. Then he nodded. “There is something I can do,” he said. “There are AZT-407 dealers all over the city. They work, indirectly, for the Master. Maybe I can ask them for directions.”
At
this, the dark elf’s broader smile returned. “Perfect!” she said again. “I’ll go with you.”
21: Predatory Instincts
Ty wasn’t entirely naïve. Working in the Concubine Club had brought him into contact with all sorts of people. He had watched awkward young men and women stumble about as they did their best to win over prospective partners. And he’d watched the predators, those who knew the rules of the game better than most, stalking their prey.
The look Vixen gave him as she invited herself along was as predatory as any he’d seen.
That he found the dark elf attractive was an undeniable fact. But that didn’t mean Ty appreciated Vixen’s intent in the least. Yet the newcomer didn’t give him the opportunity to protest.
“Right,” she said as she got to her feet. “We have a plan of attack. Is there anything stopping us from getting on with it?”
As much as Ty didn’t like being pushed into anything, he couldn’t think of a good reason to object. But Dinah had no intention of letting Vixen whisk Ty away quite so easily.
“First, I’d like to make sure Ty is up to the task. The AZT-407 is dangerous. Give me a moment to check him out in the med bay, and then, assuming he’s okay, he’s all yours.”
Despite the repeated doses he’d taken of the drug in such a short time, Ty still felt pretty good. The restorative combined with Sarah’s serum seemed to be doing its job. But he didn’t object as Dinah whisked him away from the breakfast bar. He sensed the deerkin wanted a moment to talk.
Dinah closed the med bay door behind them. Spit Bitch still lay on the surgical table, heavily sedated, with her arms and feet restrained.
“We’ve got to do something about her at some stage,” the deerkin murmured. Then she turned to her attention to Ty.
“How are you doing?” she asked.
There were layers in Dinah’s question. She was asking about the after-effects of the drug, but also about Tempest, and Vixen as well.
“I’m okay,” he responded. “And you?”
Dinah nodded, sadly. “I didn’t expect her to be here so soon. I just gave everyone a heads up. But she’s always danced to her own tune.”
It was Ty’s turn to nod, and then Dinah changed the subject. “Do you need anything? she asked. “Another restorative?”
In answer, Ty brought up his character sheet. The boost he’d experienced from the drug had faded to nothing, but as yet there was no sign of the associated debuff. The only difference from normal was that his secondary skill still displayed at level 1.
Apparently, it was now permanent.
He wondered then about the plasma blade he’d absorbed from Bain. He hadn’t really thought about it since it happened, but knew the weapon was somewhere within his system, no more than a thought away from reappearing.
Ty considered giving it that thought, and a shadow of the weapon appeared, growing out of his arm. Then he changed his mind, willing the weapon to go away again. It wasn’t the right time to investigate that at the moment.
“I’m okay,” he repeated. Then he fixed Dinah with a searching look. “Why did you want to talk to me?” he said.
Dinah nodded, acknowledging Ty’s understanding of her intent. “I just wanted to warn you. Be careful with Vixen. She’s not quite the same as us.”
Ty thought he knew what she meant, yet he might have asked for more details regardless. But before he could, Vixen herself opened the door and poked her head in.
“Are you guys doing okay in here?” she asked. Then she focused for a moment on Spit Bitch on the surgical table and offered a puzzled expression. “Interesting houseguests you have,” she said.
“This is one of the Master’s minions,” Dinah supplied. “We needed the cryo chamber for Tempest. As soon as we get another, we’ll put her in it.”
Then she spoke to Ty once again. “Are we all done?” she asked.
Ty nodded. “We’re good,” he said.
“All right, then,” Vixen replied. “Time to get going.”
◆◆◆
Ty rode through the New Lincoln streets on Dinah’s Ducati, wondering if he would ever enjoy flying with Tempest again.
The streets were crowded, and the drizzle was heavier than normal. Because of this, Ty had slowed to a crawl, and more often than not had a foot off the pedal to steady himself as he rode.
From his perspective, it was far from the most enjoyable ride he’d ever had, and it was made even worse by Vixen, who was seated behind him. Ty had never ridden with a passenger like that before. Not only did her additional weight impact his control, but instead of simply holding onto his waist, the dark elf had chosen to press herself firmly against his back, and wrapped her arms around him.
It was a more intimate embrace than Ty felt comfortable with, but she’d only taken that position when they were out on the road, giving Ty little chance to protest. Instead, he chose not to think about it. About Vixen, the traffic, the rain, or anything other than his immediate goal.
Which was to locate an AZT-407 dealer.
Ty had found a dealer fairly easily the first time he’d looked, and Lilith didn’t have any issues when he’d asked her to pick up a dose of the drug. But Tempest’s mansion was in a less seedy part of town, and Ty found himself having to ride for some distance before finding a more likely location.
They’d reached an area filled with low-end hotels, drugstores and liquor stores, together with the sort of bars Ty might not normally have entered and which even the locals might have thought of as rough. With broken bottles and garbage strewn over the pavement and many of the pedestrians looking furtive, Ty thought it a likely area.
As, apparently, did Vixen. The dark elf squeezed his arm to get his attention, and pointed toward an alleyway between two buildings, the ground floors of which were protected by steel bars.
Ty saw what she had seen. A man mostly hidden by a trench coat at the alley entrance, looking for all the world like a storeman keeping a wary eye on his patch.
If he’d had a neon sign flashing above his head saying “Dealer! Get your drugs here!” he could hardly have been more obvious. Ty acknowledged Vixen’s assistance with a nod, and pulled the Ducati onto the pavement. They dismounted and took off their helmets, then Ty made sure to set the bike’s security anti-theft system.
Vixen eyed Ty up and down, giving him a knowing smile that he didn’t much like.
“You ride well,” she said. “Confident without being aggressive, but always in control.” Then her smile turned into a leer. “I wonder what else you do well?” she said.
Ty ignored the woman’s implication while at the same time acknowledging to himself that if it weren’t for Dinah, Lilith, and Tempest, he wouldn’t have hesitated to rise to Vixen’s challenge. Even though much of what she said seemed to be just on the wrong side of center, there was something about her that he couldn’t deny. It was the same as with Tempest, Dinah, and Lilith, although different as well.
“How do you want to do this?” he asked her.
She raised a lascivious eyebrow. “Do what, exactly?” she asked.
“You know what I’m talking about,” he said, keeping his expression as flat as he could.
The dark elf offered a shrug. “Can’t blame a girl for trying,” she said. Then she answered his question. “How about we just go over and ask him nicely if he can help us? With your natural boyish charm and my—well, me,” she said gesturing to herself, “I think we can probably be fairly persuasive.”
It was good enough for Ty.
Together, they waited for a break in the traffic, then crossed the road to the dealer.
22: Threats And Lies
The dealer looked at Ty and Vixen with suspicion as they approached. A smaller man with skin tinted red and a crown of short, sharp horns around his head, Ty wouldn’t have been surprised if he kept a lightsaber hidden under his trench coat and answered to the name Darth.
“What you want?” the man said, his tone belligerent and full of distrust.
Ty couldn’t help but think him a poor salesman. Yet, with a product like AZT-407 and the possibilities contained within it, Ty figured little salesmanship was needed.
“Upgrade,” Ty answered.
The man looked like he’d swallowed something distasteful. He sneered and flared his nostrils in a way that made Ty want to hit him where he stood. He didn’t have time for this. To him, the dealer was nothing. All he cared about was finding the Master, and putting an end to the troubles they were having in New Lincoln.
Then maybe he could focus on bringing Tempest back.
“You got the cash?” the dealer demanded.
Ty nodded.
Still, it seemed nothing he did pleased the dealer at all. The man switched his gaze to Vixen, and while his expression of distaste remained, he couldn’t hide the lust in his eyes at the sight of her.
Perhaps it was that which tipped the scales in their favor. In any event, the dealer gave a sniff.
“Follow me,” he said, then ducked further into the alley.
Ty and Vixen did as the man said. But they didn’t go far. The alley was filled with bags of garbage sitting in puddles that might have been there for decades given New Lincoln’s penchant for ongoing rain. To Ty, it seemed like a good place to get mugged, murdered, or worse, and he had to fight the urge to activate his shield then and there. In his mind, there might have been more than a dozen corpses rotting in the depths of the alley.
Fortunately, the dealer didn’t seem to want to investigate the depths any more than Ty did. He stopped in the first of the shadows, just out of sight of the people passing by on the pavement outside.
The man still apparently didn’t like the way Ty looked.
“Cash first,” he said.
Ty figured it would be good to have a dose of the drug on hand for the future, so he dug out his wallet.