by Wyatt Kane
Unfortunately, Ty’s speech had done little to dampen Angie’s vindictiveness. Ty could hear her screeching and wailing over the beat of the music and the babble of the crowd. He understood the loathsome woman’s anger, but had underestimated her spitefulness and willingness to act upon it.
Embedded communications devices were more common than smartphones. Despite her deranged ranting, Angie retained enough self-control to use hers to call for help.
Before Ty made it half way to his goal, he found his way blocked by a large, tough-looking man with tribal facial tattoos. It was Badger, one of the club’s bouncers.
The big man gave Ty a friendly grin. “Hey man. How’s it hanging?”
Even though he knew Badger was there for him, Ty grinned in response. The man was his friend regardless of what Angie might have said to him.
“Same shit, different day,” Ty said with a laugh. “You know, Angie doing her best to make life miserable. Although she won’t be able to do that to me anymore.”
2: Game Over
Ty looked around the club one last time. From where he stood, he could see Martin doing his thing in his booth. He didn’t regret saying what he’d said to Angie, didn’t regret that his chances of ever working in the club again were minimal. But he would have liked to talk to Martin before Angie had found him.
“Game over, I guess,” he said.
Badger shook his head in mock surprise and disappointment. “What have you done?” he asked.
But Ty didn’t have to answer. Angie the Hutt had come up behind him and was continuing to spew bile and venom his way.
“You think you can talk that way to me and get away with it?” she demanded. “You disrespectful little shit! Ty Wilcox, you have always been next to worthless. I don’t know why I hired you in the first place. You’re lazy and slow, and I’ve seen blocks of wood display more initiative than you! If I had the chance to go back in time, there’s only one thing I’d change. I’d turn you away instead of giving you a chance. You are by far the worst mistake I’ve ever made!”
With Badger effectively blocking his way, Ty had no choice but to listen to the loathsome woman’s tirade. Before his life had changed, Ty might have cowered under her venom and spite. But now, her words were meaningless to him. He’d made his decision, and every word Angie uttered was further proof it was the right one.
As she drew breath to continue, Ty stepped in. “If I’m the worst mistake you’ve ever made, you must have led a charmed life,” he said. “Anyway, I don’t think I was that bad. I did everything you asked and then some. I didn’t complain, I didn’t take any unnecessary time off, and you’ve said yourself that the gaming machines were always working. But even more than that, I put up with your shit far longer than anyone in their right mind would have done.”
Ty took a moment to eye the repulsive woman up and down. “I sincerely hope that one day you get to experience the same type of boss that you’ve been to us. Maybe then you’ll figure out that you don’t need to be such a bitch.”
Angie didn’t seem to be able to handle the fact that Ty had spoken back. She spluttered for some moments before regaining control of herself. When she did, she drew herself up to her full height and glared at him in true anger.
“That is enough!” she said. “I’m done with you! Even if you got down on the floor and begged, I wouldn’t give you your job back! You are done here! Badger, do me a favor and escort this waste of space from the premises!”
Ty’s eyes were drawn to the way the thick flesh under her chin wobbled as she spoke. It was like the pouch of a pelican if it was filled with water. In the flickering light of the club, Ty could see flecks of spittle spray left and right.
Despite the woman’s anger, Ty couldn’t help but grin. He knew that if he wanted to, he could stand his ground and not even Badger would have been able to move him. Ty still wore his upgraded shield. If he chose to activate it, it would enclose him in a glowing blue nimbus of power that gave him the strength of a superhero.
Yet he wouldn’t do that. Badger was his friend. And he saw no reason to make his life any more difficult than it already was.
“I’m more than happy to leave,” Ty said. “And if I never see you again, it’ll be too soon. Good luck finding a replacement for me. I’m sure you’re right, and that there are probably a million guys in this city who could do what I did. But maybe you should know that I could also have upgraded everything in this club, from the heat and lighting through to the automated drink dispensers. I could have helped you save thousands, and all you needed to do was ask me nicely. And I doubt there’s anyone else in the city who could have done that.”
Ty shrugged. “Oh well. Too late now,” he said. With that, he turned to Badger. “Come along,” he said. “You’re my escort, apparently.”
The big man had watched the exchange between Ty and Angie with obvious interest. At Ty’s final words, he stifled a laugh and gave a short nod. But Angie hadn’t finished even then. As the two of them made their way through the club, she started to shout.
“How dare you? If it weren’t for me, you’d be living on the streets! You’d have to donate blood to survive! It’s only because I gave you a chance that you had anything! Get out! Go! I never want to see your worthless face in these walls again!”
The loathsome woman’s voice turned into a shriek by the end. Ty ignored her and just kept on walking, while Badger tried not to laugh at his side.
◆◆◆
The pavement outside the Concubine Club was mostly empty, although Ty knew from experience it would become crowded as the late afternoon turned into night.
It was another of New Lincoln’s gray, dismal days, just a whisper away from starting to drizzle. Ty glanced at the sleek, black Ducati he’d arrived on, just checking that it was still where he’d parked it.
The bike belonged to Dinah. Ty had borrowed it even though he could have asked Tempest for a lift. The blonde superhero would have been happy to help, and Ty enjoyed flying with her over virtually anything else. But he had a stubborn, independent streak to his nature and preferred to make his own way where he could.
Sooner or later, he would give himself the ability to fly as well, and that would be even better. For now, though, he was limited to more normal modes of transport.
“So that’s it?” Badger asked.
The bouncer had been true to Angie’s demands and had walked Ty out of the club. Despite this, there was no threat toward Ty within him. They had left the club like friends rather than as if Ty was being thrown out.
Ty grinned. “I guess so,” he said. “I have to say, I thought I would be worried about not having a job. But I feel more relief than anything else.”
The bigger man returned Ty’s grin. “I know what you mean,” he said. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought of just not turning up. Sure, I need the money. Who doesn’t? But I can do without the … well, without everything else.”
It was as close as the big man had come to saying anything negative, and Ty was surprised to hear his words. Despite his appearance and undeniable capabilities, Badger was a marshmallow by nature. Paradoxically, Ty thought that made him a better bouncer. Badger had diffused as many volatile situations with a calming word as he had with his fists.
At the thought, Ty felt an odd sense of kinship with him. Badger didn’t know about Ty’s superhero activities, nor did Ty have any intention of telling him. But in a way, they were both doing the same thing. They were protecting innocent people from those who would cause them harm.
Ty just hoped he would do as good a job of it as Badger did.
“Do you know what you’re going to do?” the bouncer asked with genuine concern in his voice.
Ty shook his head. “Not really. But I didn’t come here just to get yelled at by Angie. Martin told me about a possible opportunity, but our glorious leader saw me before I could talk to him.” He hesitated for a moment.
Badger noticed and gave a grunt. “You want me
to have a word with him?”
Ty grinned again. “Yeah. See if—” he began, but before he could complete his thought, the device on his wrist pinged an alert.
In an age where cyber implants and body mods were the norm, the device took everything to a new level. It was the reason Ty’s life had changed so much, so quickly.
The nanites within it had made him taller, stronger, and more capable than he’d ever been before. In addition, those nanites had awakened a skill within him that had incredible potential. Because of the device, Ty had joined a real-life superhero team, defeated real villains, and formed relationships with two of the most spectacular women alive.
As well as all that, the device acted as a communicator.
“Just a moment,” Ty said, and answered the call.
It was Dinah. The beautiful deerkin’s face appeared as a hologram floating above the device. Ty heard Badger draw a quick breath of astonishment at Dinah’s appearance. Ty had to grin at the bouncer’s reaction. He understood it perfectly. Dinah was special.
“Hey,” he said.
Dinah smiled warmly in response, and Ty felt a visceral thrill at the sight. He still wasn’t completely used to the idea of someone like her being attracted to him.
“Ty,” she said, her voice almost a purr. “Is it just me, or does it feel like forever since you left us all alone?” The deerkin didn’t give Ty the chance to respond. Instead, she shook herself, shot him a grin, and then got straight to the point of her call. “Are you able to get away? We may have an opportunity to disrupt part of Rubio’s business. Tempest can probably handle it by herself, but would prefer if you were there as well. We’re not completely sure what she might face.”
Ty understood immediately. Rubio Vecoli was the head of one of New Lincoln’s crime families and as such was already a dangerous adversary. But he had recently acquired twenty or so devices like the one Ty wore, if the man could be believed, and that added an element of unpredictability Ty didn’t like.
Not everyone had hidden skills locked away within their DNA. But if Rubio – or one of his men – did, there was no telling what they might be able to do.
3: Showing Off
“Sure,” Ty said. “Where should I meet her?”
Dinah shook her head. “It’ll be quicker if she picks you up on the way. She’s leaving here now.”
The deerkin ended the call and Ty looked back to Badger. The bouncer was staring at him, wide-eyed. “Nice tech,” the big man managed. He seemed on the verge of saying something else, but hesitated.
Ty waited him out.
“Who was that?” the bigger man finally asked.
Ty grinned again. Badger wasn’t normally the type to ask intrusive questions, but even via hologram, Dinah was stunning. Luminous. If Helen of Troy’s face could have launched a thousand ships, Dinah’s could have launched a million. Should she choose to enter a beauty pageant, every other competitor would just give up on the spot.
“Girlfriend,” Ty responded, still grinning. Then, just because he wanted to, he added, “One of them, anyway.”
“One of them?” the bouncer responded. It was as if he couldn’t help himself. “Man, you must be hung like a moose.”
Badger was typically friendly, yet at the same time he was also reserved. Ty’s friend Brad might have blurted something like that without a second thought, but it was so completely out of character for Badger that Ty burst out laughing.
The bouncer actually blushed around his facial tattoos. He listened to Ty’s laughter for a moment, then said, “What was it you wanted me to say to Martin?”
Ty laughed even harder. He knew that Badger was mostly just trying to change the subject. Yet it was a question Ty needed to answer, so he eventually reined himself in.
“I was going to ask if you could get him to come out for a chat. But maybe you could just give him my number and ask him to call me?”
The bigger man nodded, obviously relieved to have moved on to a safer topic.
Ty gave him the number to the smartphone he still carried in his back pocket. The communication function of the device on his wrist only operated with similar devices, and unlike nearly everyone else in New Lincoln, Ty didn’t have any sort of phone embedded within his skin. Ty promised himself that one day soon, he would expand the device’s functionality so he didn’t have to double up.
Then he asked Badger a question. “You’re on the door today?” he asked.
“Sure am.”
“Could you keep an eye on my bike for me?” Ty asked, nodding to the sleek, black machine parked on the side of the road.
The bouncer glanced at the bike and then studied Ty closely. “You’re full of surprises, aren’t you?” he said.
Ty just smiled. “It’s Dinah’s,” he said. “She lets me borrow it from time to time.”
The bigger man nodded. “Sure,” he said, then turned back toward the club.
“Oh, and if you really want to see something surprising, maybe don’t go looking for Martin just yet,” Ty said.
Badger half-turned and gave him a quizzical look.
“You’ll see,” Ty said.
The bouncer took him at his word. Instead of disappearing inside, the big man paused at the door.
Ty grinned at him and waited as he tried to calculate how long it might take for Tempest to arrive.
Less than a minute, as it turned out. Tempest casually strolled toward him as if she was a perfectly normal person walking along the pavement.
Ty’s smile broadened as he admired the blonde woman. She was as far from normal as it was possible to get and still be considered the same species. The device she wore on her wrist gave her all the power of an archetypal superhero. She was immensely fast and strong, impossibly durable, and she could fly as well. And if that wasn’t enough, Tempest was as gorgeous as Dinah in her own way.
Where the deerkin looked like a woodland goddess, Tempest Flaire could have stepped out of the pages of a fashion magazine. She was blonde, customarily wore skin-tight black, and could have been Scarlett Johansson’s more beautiful sister.
It was like she’d spent years dumping all her points into attractiveness, and as she approached, Ty forgot about everything else. He had eyes only for her, and he wouldn’t have noticed if Badger turned into a flashing neon sign or burst into flames.
Nor was his reaction one-sided. Tempest wore a broad, confident smile. Her eyes never wavered from Ty’s own as she reached for him, pulled him close and kissed him soundly on the lips.
Ty forgot about everything else and just enjoyed the moment. When the gorgeous blonde woman broke away, she smiled and said, “Are you ready to go?”
Ty nodded. He shot a quick glance at Badger and took in the bigger man’s astonished expression. “Sure. Only – we don’t need to find an unused alley, do we? That video of you flying is already out there. And besides, there aren’t many people around here anyway.”
It was Tempest’s turn to look around. She caught sight of Badger at the door and might have understood what Ty wanted. In any event, she gave him a conspiratorial grin and nodded.
“Okay,” she said. She hadn’t really broken away from him after the kiss, but still drew him in closer and held him tight. With no perceptible effort, she launched them both into the sky.
As they rose into the air, Ty took a last look at Badger. The bouncer was staring at them, open-mouthed. If he was astonished before, it was nothing to how he looked now.
Ty let out a whoop of laughter at his friend’s expression. Then he put the bouncer, the club, and everything else out of his mind and enjoyed the ride.
◆◆◆
Ty and Tempest rose through the clouds into the sunshine above. For no reason other than to luxuriate in the heat of the sun, Tempest spun them both slowly about. Ty felt like they were dancing an aerial waltz, and for just that moment, he forgot all his worries and thought about when they’d made love in the sky after leaving their clothes in a satellite dish.
He let out a low sound of enjoyment. To him, flying with Tempest was an almost spiritual sensation. If he could, he’d fly with her every day for the rest of his life.
Perhaps Tempest was thinking much the same thing. In any event, she let out a breath that was almost a sigh of satisfaction as she held him close.
Ty wished Dinah’s call had been no more than a ruse to get him away from the Club, and that Tempest was there to whisk him off to some secluded spot. But not every flight could be a prelude to enjoyment. Some had a far more serious intent.
Ty looked down at the clouds beneath them. Below it was the city of New Lincoln, the vast sprawl of corporate skyscrapers and neon lights he had called home his entire life. It was a city filled with pettiness and anger that frequently festered into hate. Lives were lived under the yolk of corporate greed, and most just did what they could to survive.
It was a desperate, furious, miserable city, but within the meanness and filth, there was also hope. A little laughter. And even some joy.
And Ty had become a superhero. For the first time in his life, he could have a measurable impact on the level of hope in the city. In fact, in his mind, he had an obligation to do so.
Instead of suggesting that they find some exotic location to share in some fun, he leaned back against her grip and said, “What did Dinah find?”
Tempest grinned at him in response. “Oh, nothing big. Just a shipment of zzapp precursors that could cause untold damage to a lot of innocent people. It’s worth millions.”
Zzapp was the latest designer drug doing the rounds in New Lincoln. Ty had heard it could give users a buzz that made everything seem to happen in slow motion. Pro gamers often used it to heighten their reaction speeds, but Brad once said he could tell who was on it because their decision making tanked.