by Wyatt Kane
With that, she shifted her weight in a way that Ty almost recognized from his old martial arts training, and all at once, Massive flew through the air over her head before crashing head-first into the floor.
Ty heard the ominous sounds of floorboards groaning in protest, and he knew the building wasn’t up to the punishment. He yelled at the two employees to stay back, and that was all he could do before the floor gave way.
Massive and Vixen were too heavy, too much for the floor to take. They fell through, creating a hole that reminded Ty of the one in the wall of his apartment. But that wasn’t all. There were at least two more floors beneath this one, and Massive and Vixen fell through them all.
Ty had managed to stay away from the damage, as had Massive’s employees. But now, he cursed under his breath. Without even looking, he stepped out over the hole, trusting his shield to catch him.
It did so. He came to rest on the ground floor with the huge vats of chemicals in front of him. Workers were running away as fast as they could, and Vixen and Massive were pounding away at each other.
It was frightening and impressive at the same time. Ty couldn’t help but be astonished by the strength of the dark elf’s blows, any one of which might have felled him despite his shield. Yet, along with that strength came a durability second to none. Not even Bain would have been proof against the punishment the combatants dished out to each other, but neither Massive nor Vixen seemed to suffer from the blows in the least.
It was a battle of titans, and Ty feared it would end in disaster. From Vixen’s expression, she wanted to rip Massive’s head clean off his shoulders, and Massive, more impassive, appeared to want to return the favor.
Ty feared not only for Vixen’s safety, but for that of everyone in the building. It was only a matter of time before one or other of them, or maybe both, careened into one of the vats, spilling chemicals in every direction.
It was a super villain origin story waiting to happen. Ty could only assume the chemicals were precursors to the AZT-407 drug. Maybe Obelix could fall into a cauldron of magic potion and have it have a permanent effect, but Ty didn’t know what might happen if one of these workers were to find themselves swimming in AZT-407.
Then again, what would happen if he, Ty, ended up swimming in it?
He didn’t want to know. As quick as he could, he closed the distance between himself and the combatants and, before he could tell himself it was a dumb idea, jumped on Massive’s back.
Ty wrapped his forearm around Massive’s thick neck and growled into his ear. “You’ve seen what my shield cannons can do. Do you think you can survive them from this close?” he said. Massive continued to struggle for half a second, and Ty tightened his grip. “Don’t test me!” he grated.
Perhaps surprisingly, Massive subsided. But Ty didn’t move.
“That’s better,” he said, and Vixen cautiously stepped away.
Ty stared daggers at the dark elf. He wasn’t impressed with what the woman had done. In his view, she should have at least consulted with him. It was reckless, and could have put them all in danger. And besides, all she’d really needed to do was take him to the other dimension and leave him there, and they would have been done.
He decided he would talk to her about it later. And maybe bring Dinah into the conversation as well. He had a strong belief that the deerkin would be equally vexed.
“How is it that you’re here?” Ty demanded. “Tell me who the Master is, and where I can find him!”
Instead of answering, Massive started to shake. It took Ty a moment to realize the man was laughing. Ty tightened his grip as much as he could around the man’s throat, but he wasn’t even sure if Massive could feel him. He wanted to let off a blast from his cannons just to make a point.
“Tell me!” he said.
The man continued to laugh for a moment, then started to speak. “What I am doing here is between me and Rubio. Ask him, if you like. As for the Master, I don’t know. Nor would I tell you if I did.”
With that, the massive man convulsed at the waist much as Vixen had done, but with far less sophistication. Yet he did it well enough that it was Ty’s turn to go sailing through the air. Ty’s shield caught him and lowered him gently to the ground, and in moments he was back on his feet beside Vixen.
Massive stared them down from maybe a dozen feet away. Ty could see the man calculating the odds, his eyes flicking from his own to Vixen, then back again. Then, all at once, it seemed he made up his mind. He gave a grunt that might have been a laugh, turned away from them, and ran off at high speed through the production factory.
It was another unexpected move, and Ty couldn’t help it. He looked at Vixen in confusion.
The woman returned his look and asked the salient question. “Do we go after him?”
Ty thought about it, but in the end shook his head.
“What do we do if we catch him? He’s invulnerable to anything we can throw at him. And if we did manage to bring him down, then what? We have no more cryo chambers. Where would we put him?”
Ty considered for a moment more, and uttered a sigh as he looked around the factory. “In any event, Dinah needs to know about this. I think we’re done here,” he said. “Except…”
This was indeed the factory behind the AZT-407. Massive’s presence confirmed it.
Out of a sense of pure revenge, Ty called out into the building. “You have fifteen seconds to get out of here, and then I’m bringing the place down!”
He counted out loud to the sound of people scrambling for the exits, then, with Vixen smiling her approval beside him, unleashed everything he had.
It was wild, crazy, and spectacular all at once, and Ty couldn’t help but feel a massive amount of satisfaction as he turned the Master’s factory into a melted, useless ruin the like of which even Concussion couldn’t have replicated.
29: Urbane And Dangerous
All throughout the trip back to the mansion, one question played over and over in Ty’s mind: how was it that Massive was in charge of the Master’s AZT-407 distribution?
Dinah had said very clearly that the Master had engaged a smaller, more specialized organization to do the job. Massive worked for Rubio. He shouldn’t have been anywhere near it.
By the time Ty parked the Ducati back in the basement garage and made his way up to the mansion itself, he’d figured out only two options. The first was that Massive didn’t work for Rubio at all. He could have been a spy for the Master, or he might have simply decided to go out on his own.
But that didn’t seem very likely. The man carried the same genetic stamp on his features that Rubio did, although they were expressed in a shorter, broader way with Massive.
Also, Rubio had trusted him to wear one of his devices. While the Master could create as many of the devices as he wanted, Rubio only had those he’d been able to steal. He wouldn’t give them to anyone he couldn’t trust absolutely.
The second option was more worrying. Had Rubio somehow managed to take the smaller, more specialized organization over? If so, had he done so with the Master’s knowledge?
Or had he managed to keep his activities hidden?
As Ty and Vixen headed to the stairs in anticipation of finding the deerkin and the demon woman somewhere above, Ty realized there was a third possibility. Had the Master somehow managed to take over Rubio’s crime empire, and installed the man’s people wherever he saw fit?
It was another disturbing thought, but again, it didn’t really ring true. From what Ty knew of the Master, he liked to work through mercenaries, and by throwing money at different service providers he could control. Taking over an entire criminal organization didn’t seem to be his style.
And if he’d wanted to contract Rubio’s people, why had he bothered with the other organization at all?
Nor did that possibility account for the enmity between the Master and Rubio. When last the two had crossed paths, it had turned into an out-and-out battle.
“Dinah! Lilit
h!” Ty bellowed. “Where are you?”
“Up here,” came Dinah’s response. “In my communication room!”
Ty and Vixen hurried up the stairs to join the deerkin and Lilith. Gremlin was there as well, cradled in Dinah’s arms, but as soon as she saw Vixen, she jumped down and scampered of into the hall.
“Fine,” Dinah said to the retreating animal. “Leave me, then.” Then she looked up to Ty and Vixen. “What have you found out?”
Ty didn’t answer at first. He was distracted by the images on the screen. Sections of New Lincoln were displayed all around, mostly from above, and his eyes were immediately drawn to two red dots, each of them with labels attached.
“What are they?” he asked. He was hoping Dinah would tell him they’d found Concussion, or perhaps even Bain.
The deerkin read his mind. “It isn’t them,” she said, shaking her head. “Just a couple of Rubio’s men. This is near the docks where you and Tempest were ambushed last time.”
When Dinah spoke, there was usually music in her words. Her accent helped create that music, but it was also due to the life she managed to infuse them with. But now, as she answered Ty’s question, her words were flat and comparatively empty.
Ty was disappointed to hear her answer. He would have liked to fling an EMP grenade or two at the villains, or maybe even use the plasma blade on them. But that would have to wait.
“Your turn,” the deerkin said. “What have you found out?”
“The drug dealers report to Massive,” Ty said.
Dinah and Lilith both reacted with different degrees of surprise. The deerkin demanded more information, and Ty and Vixen told their story, doing their best to be both concise and informative at once.
Dinah and Lilith both listened, and when they were done, the deerkin looked at the dark elf.
“You have Massive’s power?” she asked, seeking confirmation.
Vixen nodded. Instead of replying verbally, she just brought up her character sheet again.
General
Name: Vixen Gray
Modifications: Dark Elf
Unique Skill: Skill Duplication
Acquired Secondary Skill: Density Adjustment
Alignment: Neutral Good
Baseline
Strength: 4
Durability: 3
Healing: 3
Stamina: 4
Agility: 4
Intelligence: 6
Wisdom: 3
Skill: N/A
Secondary Skill: N/A
Post enhancement
Strength: 6
Durability: 6
Healing: 6
Stamina: 7
Agility: 6
Intelligence: 7
Wisdom: 4
Skill: 3
Acquired Secondary Skill: 3
Ty saw at a glance that she did indeed have Massive’s skill, but the rest of the stats puzzled him. Shouldn’t they have been very different from what they’d been the last time Ty had seen them? Surely, Massive’s stats should have shown an enormous durability buff, enough to match even Bain.
Ty frowned, puzzled, then said to Vixen, “What happens if you alter your density?” he asked.
She did so. Right away, Ty saw the difference. As Vixen increased her density, the buff afforded to each of her attributes increased as well. And not just by a little. Her strength and durability gained numbers Ty had never seen before, and there were other increases as well:
Post enhancement
Strength: 6 (+22)
Durability: 6 (+22)
Healing: 6 (+2)
Stamina: 7 (+6)
Agility: 6
Intelligence: 7
Wisdom: 4
Skill: 3
Acquired Secondary Skill: 3
Not even Tempest’s numbers matched those.
“Wow,” said Ty. Then, “Are you at your max?” Ty asked, but Vixen shook her head.
“I don’t know if the floorboards can take it,” she said.
Despite himself, Ty was impressed. It seemed he was right. Massive was more durable than anyone. And that meant, as long as she held onto Massive’s power, so was Vixen.
Vixen dismissed her character sheet, and Ty addressed Dinah again.
“So, now what?” he asked.
Dinah considered. “Now, we give Rubio a call and see if we can find out what’s up.”
◆◆◆
Given Dinah’s primary skill, it took her only moments to bring up the crime lord’s contact details. Within seconds, they could all hear the phone ringing.
Ty had just enough time to start wondering if Rubio would bother to answer when the crime lord’s large, bearded face filled the main screen.
“Who is this? How did you get this—ah! Dinah Lore! And Ty Wilcox, if I remember correctly. I might have known. But who are those others with you? Beautiful ladies, the both of them. I’m guessing the one with wings is Lilith. I’m not sure I know the last of your party?”
As before, the crime lord came across as urbane and in complete control, and Ty found himself wanting to punch him in the mouth. Rubio had been the author of more than his fair share of trouble as far as Ty and the others were concerned. That he’d been comparatively quiet over the past few days had been, Ty thought, a blessing.
Except, perhaps it hadn’t been such a blessing after all. More likely, Rubio had simply given himself time to enact some nefarious plan of his own.
“Rubio, this is Vixen, a friend of ours from out of town. Vixen, Rubio Vecoli, lord of one of New Lincoln’s most powerful crime families, and a continual thorn in our side.”
At this, Rubio laughed out loud. But it didn’t distract him from his usual courtesy.
“Vixen, I am very pleased to meet you,” he said. Then he turned his attention back to Dinah. “And where is my dear Tempest?” he asked.
Something about his expression suggested to Ty that the man knew perfectly well where Tempest was. The set of his lips suggested gloating, and he seemed altogether too satisfied as he asked his question.
Apparently, Dinah saw it as well. “Tempest is indisposed,” she said flatly. “She won’t be joining us for the moment.”
The crime lord chuckled under his breath. “Indisposed?” he said. “I hope nothing serious has occurred? I’ve always enjoyed Tempest’s company.”
Ty glared at the screen but did his best to clamp his mouth shut. He knew from past experience that despite his appearance of culture and civilization, Rubio was not to be taken lightly. He had a quick temper and tended to react strongly to any hint of disrespect.
They were looking for information, and Ty didn’t want any ill-considered remark of his to get in the way.
Dinah smiled back at the man even though it must have been an effort to do so.
“Nothing serious,” she lied blithely. “She’ll be back out patrolling your various business enterprises before you know it.”
The large man on the screen continued to chuckle. “Good. Good. Very glad to hear it. The world would be a lesser place if Tempest, for whatever reason, had to step down from her role.”
Despite himself, Ty felt his fists clenched at his sides, and he was sure that Dinah at least wanted to respond in some way that was less than polite. But before she could do so, before any of them could interject, the dangerous, urbane man on the screen continued.
“Now, how about you tell me why you have interrupted my day?” he said.
30: Verbal Sparring
Ty couldn’t help it. He was already tired of the man’s games. “We want you to tell us who the Master is and where we can find him,” he blurted.
Rubio switched his attention to Ty from Dinah. He shook his dark head, and Ty couldn’t miss the sparkle of enjoyment in the man’s eyes. “Ty, Ty, Ty,” Rubio said. “Always so quick to anger. So quick to open your mouth and let the world spill out of it. When will you learn that conversations like these are to be savored? That there is a flow and balance to them, if you but have the talent
to listen.”
The crime lord paused for a moment, as if chewing over his words. “For people like me, there is much enjoyment to be had in engaging the likes of your friends Tempest and Dinah. It is like a game of chess, with objectives to be met and strategies in place to achieve them. And then there’s you coming along and upsetting the board.”
Ty glared at the man on the screen. Rubio was right. In this sort of game, Ty was effectively unarmed. But then, he didn’t see why he should play by Rubio’s rules when doing so would only give the crime lord the advantage.
“You’re working for him,” Ty stated. “We’re going to tear him apart. If we have to go through you to do so, then so be it.”
At this, Rubio’s face darkened noticeably. Although, Ty thought, perhaps the reaction wasn’t due to Ty’s threat, but at the implication that Rubio was subservient to anyone.
“You think I work for the Master?” Rubio said, his voice holding a full measure of disdain at the idea. “I don’t work for anyone!” he said. “What in the world would make you think such a thing?”
Ty smiled. “You might not have heard,” he said. “We ran into a friend of yours earlier on. Big chap, although not particularly tall. Seems to have the ability to alter his density. We call him Massive, although I can think of another name or two for him that would also work.”
All at once, the sophisticated, urbane Rubio was back. He seemed to sit back a little, and a smile danced on his lips.
“Massive, you say? Yes, that is a good name for him. Although, I call him George. He’s a cousin of some sort, although I don’t really know exactly how he’s related to me. But, yes, he did mention that he’d spoken with you, and your new friend there, this morning.”
It was an acknowledgement that he knew of the altercation, but no more than that.
Ty didn’t know exactly what to say next, so Dinah stepped in. “Your cousin—George—was supervising the plant in a distribution center for a drug known to be manufactured by the Master. Given this, can you see how we might reach the conclusion that you are working together?”
Ty marveled at the way Dinah chose her words. She was a lot more careful than he was, conveying her meaning with precision and yet doing her best to avoid Rubio’s triggers.