Omega

by Riley Tune

  “Won’t they die if the beast falls?” Perkins shrugged. “Perhaps.” “And you’re fine with that?” Flex asked. “Not really. But I also have to tell myself that those people have lived above us all for as long as I can remember. Both literally and figuratively. They turn a blind eye to the harsh treatments of any others in the East Section.” Her fingers came back to life again as she started to slam them against the keys once more.

  “As far as I’m concerned, if they stood by and did nothing, then they are just as guilty as Omega and her inner circle.” “Don’t you think that is a little-” “A little what, Flex?” Perkins asked as her voice rose some. “A little harsh? A little cold? You know there hasn’t been a single Curse of Varo death there in a year? A year. Meanwhile our studies show that everywhere else is averaging several a week. Even Cord is starting to have the signs more.”

  Flex turned his head slightly to see Cord, still going at it with Cayden and then realized Hunter and Danielle had disappeared. He looked around the base and couldn’t see them anywhere. “What about?” he said as he thought the next few words out in his head before he allowed them to leave his mouth.

  He leaned in closer to Perkins. “What about your brother? What if he’s up there. Aren’t you worried about him being hurt?” Perkins slammed her hands on the keyboard so fast that, while Flex didn’t jump, he did glance down to the sound of the noise quickly. She closed her eyes and remained silent for a moment. Only the sound of her breathing and rise of her chest showing the anger she felt now.

  “I don’t have a brother. Not anymore. He chose those things over his only family left. He can burn with them all as far as I’m concerned. Now can we please drop it?” She turned and pulled Flex in by his shirt and kissed him. “I love that you’re concerned, but trust me. This is the right call.” Flex nodded his head as she returned back to her keys.

  “Maybe,” he said slowly as he heard a door open to the room. As his head jerked up, he saw the smiling faces of Danielle and Hunter walking back in the room. Danielle’s hair was visibly messy and Hunter’s shirt was inside out now as his hand nursed his pained ribs. There was a visible bounce in both their steps as they made their way over to Flex and Perkins.

  “So, what’s up?” Danielle said as she ran her hands through her hair. Flex looked from her to Hunter, and then back to Danielle. “Really?” He asked. “Like now? Of all times. Even with your body in pain?” Hunter looked down at his shirt and realized it was on incorrectly. “I almost got killed up there,” Hunter said slowly.

  “That kind of thing makes you stop and take a breath for the good things in life.” Danielle nodded her head slowly as she leaned on the table beside them. “Villain in the sheets,” she said under her breath as Hunter shot a smirk at her. “I found it!” Perkins finally said as she punched the air so hard that her goggles almost fell lose from her head.

  “Cord, Cayden, get your asses over here and stop arguing,” Perkins said without even looking away from the screen. The brothers stopped arguing on command and slowly walked over to the monitor where Perkins was standing. “What’s all this?” Cord asked sternly. “More nonsense?” “No,” Perkins replied. “It’s Cayden’s plan.” Cord took in a slow deep breath that was so intense that Hunter felt like the recruits in the other room could hear it. “Oh, so it is more nonsense? Well, don’t keep me waiting. Get on with it. What have we got?” Cord said finally.

  While Cord asked the question, the furrowed brow of confusion rested on Cayden. In front of them, in classic blueprint fashion was a design of something that looked like a mixture between a gun and a horn, or perhaps an instrument. “Fine, I’ll step to the ledge,” Hunter said finally.

  “What are we looking at Perkins?” “This was one of Arwen’s designs,” Perkins said as she manipulated the keys to zoom in on the image. “Arwen’s!” Cord shouted. “Now I know we’ve gone crazy.” “Who is Arwen?” Flex asked. “You took the words right out of my mouth,” Danielle chimed in.

  “Arwen was one of our top technical members. Very gifted,” Perkins said. “He was also,” Cayden looked to the sky as he searched for the words. “To call him strange is putting it mildly. He was almost an expert marksman, though.” “You’re nerfing right that’s putting it mildly.” Cord said as he looked at the screen. “No matter what he was before he was killed, he was one of our most gifted,” Perkins said.

  “He had the idea of killing a Great Beast when we first formed Bravado. I told him it was a drastic idea, and would only serve in the worst of cases. Still, I gave my approval to have him design the machine. So that in a few day’s time, he could construct it if needed.” Perkins thrust her finger to the screen.

  “And here is what he came up with. A gun that hits them with a sound that hurts them, or kills them, or something.” Perkins said. “Or something?” Hunter asked. “It was a long time ago, so his explanation isn’t exactly fresh in memory. Point is, Cayden’s plan isn’t as far-fetched as he thought it was, and this is how we do it.”

  Danielle raised her hand slowly as if she was in a classroom. Perkins gave a slight jerk of her head toward her. “Okay, so we have the plans from this guy,” “Arwen,” Flex said. “Right. Arwen,” Danielle continued. “He was pretty much a tech genius. I get that, but that doesn’t do dick for us now. We have some heavy hitters that are strong in the abilities department, some very new recruits, the always nice Perkins, and the ever- rude Cord.”

  Danielle looked around the room. “so, blueprints are nice, but who is going to build this-” she leaned into to the screen and looked at the name on the file. “This horn of booming.” Danielle rolled her eyes. “Genius and that was the best name he could come up with?”

  The room sat silent. While she had a blunt way of pointing it out, Danielle was right. They had a pretty talented team, but none of them were tech people, and from the looks of those plans on the screen, a tech person was exactly what they needed. Then Hunter slowly began to form an idea in his head. An idea that even he truly didn’t know where it came from, but there it was. Swimming to front of his mind. Maybe it was the near-death experience, or the storage room closet sex with Danielle, but he had a plan that would turn this all around. He knew how to get the horn created, and likely with some extra features too.

  “Perkins, do you have another multibox around here?” Hunter asked. Perkins rubbed her chin and thought about it as Flex narrowed his eyes at Hunter. “A multibox for what?” he asked. “I think we may have one or two in storage,” Perkins added in. “They wouldn’t be new models if they have been here all this time, though. A few years old, but should still work.”

  Perkins quickly walked away toward the storage closet, and Hunter followed behind her. Cayden shot a glance to Danielle who shrugged her shoulders. Flex looked around at them all and his confusion turned to anger, as Hunter and Perkins got further away. “Am I a damn ghost? What in Atlas’ name do you need a multibox for?” he shouted to Hunter.

  The smile Hunter displayed as he turned to face Flex made him afraid for a second. Flex could stand up to a lot of things, and while he never openly said it, he often believed reports and news articles that said he was likely one of, if not the strongest Icons alive. Still, this single smirk from his teammate, his intern, gave him a chill.

  Hunter finally spoke as he turned to follow Perkins again. “We’re going to see our dear old, fast talking friend, The Mechanic.”

  CHAPTER 29:

  OLD FRIENDS

  L et’s say he does, help us,” Flex said slowly as Hunter waited for Perkins and Cayden to prep the multibox. Danielle sat on top of a table swinging her legs back and forth as she watched the supremely strong hero walk in so many circles that there was a newly formed path on the dust- covered floor. Hunter exhaled loudly as he rubbed his hands through his hair.

  “Why wouldn’t he help us?” “Well for starters when you first met him, you punched him in the jaw,” Flex said without cracking a smile. “Stuff like that people aren’t quick to f
orget.” Then suddenly he stopped walking in his circle, and all the worry he had about The Mechanic helping them faded away.

  The world around he seemed to turn to a blur as Flex had focus for nothing else but Perkins. Hunter was speaking to him, no doubt defending his reasoning for striking The Mechanic, but Flex heard none of it. From where he stood, Flex likely would have missed it. Had he not been looking in that direction at just the right time, he would have.

  As he looked beyond Hunter sitting in a chair, and pass Danielle on top of the table he could see Perkins and Cayden standing around a large book shaped, metal box. As Cayden turned away to reach for one of many tools sprawled on a table, Perkins quickly pulled a stained towel from her pocket and dabbed at her nose and ears.

  As she wiped the dark blood away, Flex felt his stomach lurch. As strong as he was, and as invincible as he seemed, he didn’t have the strength to shrug off what he had seen. “Atlas, no,” he said through a shaky voice that cracked on the last word.

  Hunter’s brow raised as he looked at Flex, and then followed his eyes to Perkins and Cayden. She had put her stained towel away now. To Hunter, it simply looked like Perkins was working on the multibox with Cayden. “I miss something?” Hunter asked. “He trying to move in on your turf? I was just starting to like him too.”

  Flex shook his head as he swallowed and found his mouth was suddenly dry. “No,” he hesitated as he began to lie to Hunter. “Everything. Is fine.” As the broken words left his lips, he couldn’t help but wonder why. Why hadn’t Perkins told him she had caught the Curse of Varo. How long had she had it? Judging from that towel color, it had been long enough.

  “I think we are all set to go,” Perkins said as she walked over followed by Cayden. Cayden himself was holding the multibox in his hands as Perkins wrapped her right arm around Flex’s waist. She looked up to him with those vivid green eyes, and Flex felt himself fight back tears. He actually had to look up, in a fake stretching motion to keep the tears at bay.

  “You okay?” Perkins asked. She sounded normal, but then again So did Cord and he had been sick longer. She looked okay and everything. Flex couldn’t wrap his mind around why she would keep such a secret from him. He didn’t want to bring it up. Not now. For now, he would play the role of the unsuspecting boyfriend. “I’m fine,” Flex replied as he flashed a perfect smile that masked the pain he was feeling.

  “Okay, so we figured out the major issues and fixed them. I think,” Cayden said as he placed the multibox down on the table beside Danielle. She looked at the box and then back to Perkins. “You think?” she said slowly. The slight tilt of her head and single brow raised alerted the room that she wasn’t too confident in their proclaimed fixed device.

  Perkins smirked. “It will work. But only twice, and for only two people. We pick two people, send them back to your world, use The Fixer,” “The Mechanic,” Flex said as he corrected her with a laugh. “Right,” Perkins replied. “Talk to him, and then open a portal again head back. We set it so that the first portal will open up at the location you gave us, and the second will open and bring you back here.” Perkins looked around the room as Cord slowly entered.

  “Where you been?” Cayden asked. “Scouting,” Cord said gruffly. “Don’t make a habit of questioning me. Somebody has to make sure we aren’t found here.” Cord didn’t stop moving as he spoke. Instead, he crossed the room quickly without looking at them. “I’m checking on the recruits.” In a fluid motion, he slightly opened the door that lead to the room where the new recruits were held up and then took a step back.

  From where they sat, the team could see Cord count to three on his fingers and then delivered a strong kick to the door so fast and loud that Cayden jumped some. “Off your nerfing butts recruits,” Cord shouted as he walked in the room. “Be alert at all times! I could have been a Warden coming to-.” His words were cut off as he slammed the door behind himself. “Well, okay then,” Hunter said as he stood up from the chair.

  “So, who is coming with me?” he asked the room at large. “You’re going?” Danielle asked. Hunter nodded his head eagerly. “The Mechanic and I go way back,” he said as he smirked at Flex. To Hunter’s surprise, Flex didn’t respond. Not even an eye roll. His leader seemed to be in another place, even though he was only inches from him.

  “Then I’m going too,” Danielle said. “Wait, what about me?” Cayden said. “You live there, let me see this new world.” Danielle fought back the urge to curse at the young Spellborn. “Perkins’ is going.” Flex finally said. Perkins looked up to him. “I am?”

  It took a minute for him to respond, but he wanted her as far away from this disease- riddled world, even if for a short time. For some reason he felt that would help things. He knew he wasn’t being rational. That if she was sick, then she was sick. Location wouldn’t change it. Still he had made his decision.

  “She’s going.” “Our leader has spoken,” Hunter said as he stretched a hand out to Perkins and did a slight bow. She leaned in and kissed Flex on the cheek, and as her lips touched his skin, he closed his eyes for a second and tried not to think about a life where he wouldn’t be able to feel her touch. In the last few minutes, he realized that he cared for her far beyond what he thought he did.

  As she pulled away from him, Flex fought the urge to reach for her to hold her back. “Okay everybody, stand back.” Perkins said as she tossed Hunter a blue backpack. “Put this on.” Hunter did as he was told and watched her lift the multibox off the table and press a button on its side. The older model device began to hum and click as if something inside was moving.

  Then in an instant, a large swirling portal sprang into life in front of them. Hunter had forgot about the portal on the inside. While he was quick to volunteer to be on the mission back home, he had forgot about the trip to Mo’eizus in the first place. His biggest issue being how cramped it was on the inside. He could feel the sweat forming on his brow now as his phobia reared its ugly head.

  He took a few deep breaths and gave a slight nod to Danielle. “Here we…,” before he could finish his words Perkins leaped inside the portal. He rolled his eyes, and without thinking about it too long, grabbed the multibox off the table, and leaped inside after her.

  The Mechanic let the water flow over his head for a few more seconds before he turned the shower off. He had spent the last year of his life living in the Ebony District, laying low, and taking odd jobs here and there. After the bombshell scandal with The Imperial Lords, he felt that it was best to distance himself from the brand and their base for a while.

  That was then, and he felt he had slummed it enough in the Ebony District. Those were dark times for him. Not now, though. He was back in The Diamond District now. His penthouse was downtown, had a view, top of the line appliances, countertops made out of stone created by an Icon several cities over, and even had a doorman in the lobby. For most people this would be considered the life. Sadly, The Mechanic wasn’t most people.

  As he dried off and rummaged through his large walk-in closet to find clothes to put on, he glanced to the opposite end. That end of the closet was spotless, and only housed one thing. Several long, full body, microfiber outfits all colored in a dark navy blue. His hero uniform was crafted to look like that of a standard mechanic, and even had The Mechanic stitched over the chest.

  He smiled as he stood and looked at the outfit. He remembered once that Life-Line told him, maybe one day he should have one of the outfits made, with his real name on it. It was a running joke they had because very few people, especially those he worked with, even knew his real name. They all simply called him The Mechanic. Those were good times. Time full of complicated test, and building gadgets that would cause villainous Icons to shake in their spandex.

  He took a deep breath as he pulled the red shirt over his head and exited the closet. Now he only built stuff covertly for tech companies. They would pitch him an idea, he would build it in less time that some people took to prepare a standard dinner, and he would
be paid handsomely for it. He had a builders’ fee, and a small percentage of sales. In the year he had been in the public sector of work he had amassed a net worth somewhere in the hundred million range.

  The money was great, but it didn’t bring him joy. Not really. As he moved through the large luxury home, he still had to side step the many tools and gadgets that lay around. He had considered purchasing the unit above and below him for the extra space. He could fashion a means to enter and exit all three units in no time, and with the right amount of money paid, nobody would care.

  The sound of brewing coffee filled the room as the smell tickled his nose. Coffee was just another part of his dull, mundane morning. While he was an Icon, he wasn’t one of the flashy types. He couldn’t fly or lift cars with ease, and bullets would tear through his skin as easy as it would a piece of paper. Unless a team came to him with a special need, he really didn’t get that much excitement in his life.

  Pouring himself a cup of coffee, he strolled over to his living room and lifted a remote. With a single click, the entire wall transformed from a solid object to a living picture. The images on didn’t remain flat against the surface of the wall. Instead, they sprang to life and moved around as if he were in the studio watching as the show was being made. This form of viewing pleasure was limited to himself. It was his own personal invention and made video games amazing.

  For now, he just watched the news. Yet again they were talking about how Power Prince, had killed the sister of Flex, and that Flex himself still hadn’t made a statement. The Mechanic watched for a little bit and then flicked the channel. He didn’t want to hear the story for a tenth time in the days since the events happen. Maybe it was because he knew all of the parties involved.

  Maybe it was because watching made him miss the life he used to live. He had considered several times reaching out to Power Prince, Flex, or even Life-Line to talk about joining the newly- formed group that he had heard about. The New Lords, but once he found out they were still in the same old base, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.