Of Drag & Hostages
How'd I get roped into working with these yahoos again? Oh yeah; Four Eyes. Codex had basically harassed Levi until he gave in and decided to help them for no other reason than to shut them up. Bloodhound was currently working undercover as a bartender at the swanky nightclub that Levi, The Commander and Codex were watching from a rooftop across the street. The Commander and Codex were both dressed in smart looking suits and ties, preparing to go in. The club's owners were suspected of human trafficking; more specifically, kidnapping patrons on behalf of Titan.
"Hound says all the info we need on the owners' connection to Titan's activities is on a computer in the office. We need you to distract everyone in the club so Codex and I can break into the office unnoticed and Codex can transfer everything on the computer to our hard drive. You'll need to keep everyone distracted for a minimum of 5 minutes," The Commander explained.
Levi pinched the bridge of his nose through his mask. "Why am I helping you bozos out again?"
"Because you love me and want to do me a huge favor," Codex sang.
Levi groaned. "Whatever. When do you want me to create my 'distraction'?"
"The owners come down to check out and interact with the patrons around the same time every night. You remember what they look like, right?" The Commander asked.
"Yeah, yeah. So, you want me to create a distraction when they come out onto the main floor," Levi confirmed.
"That's right. Try not to tear the place apart, though. It's a very popular club, and most of the people in there are innocent bystanders. We don't want them to know any of us were ever there."
"No shit, Sherlock."
After he saw The Commander and Codex go inside the club, he slipped in the back. He could think of only one non-destructive way to get everyone's attention, but he wasn't sure he'd be able to look himself in the mirror afterwards. He'd removed his mask and changed his clothes before entering. The first thing he'd done was talk to the DJ, before waiting behind the black velvet curtains of the stage.
Everything in the club was shades of black, silver, blue and a few hints of purple. Codex glanced at the time. "The owners should be showing up any moment. What do you think our favorite little box-of-grumps is gonna do for a distraction?"
"Nothing too outrageous, I hope," The Commander replied. "I'd rather the owners never know we were here."
At that moment, two men and woman came down the curved, dark-blue staircase from the offices and private rooms. One of the men was tall, muscular and bald with a tattoo visible on his neck and diamond studs in his ears. The other man was equally tall, but not as hefty as the first. He was younger and had a head of curly, shocking-red hair. Both men wore black pants and waistcoats over white shirts. The woman, tall and shapely, wore her hair in a loose, brown braid down her back and wore a shimmering, open-back black dress that hugged her every curve.
"There they are," Codex said. "Let's go."
"Good evening, everyone. Hope you're all having a great night here at Club Blue Rose," the DJ announced. He was answered with a rousing shout and applause from the crowd. "Tonight, we have a special treat for all of you. A new star making her performance debut here, tonight. She's lovely. She's mysterious. She's smoking hot. Let's give a warm welcome to Lady Triella!"
The music started and the curtains opened to reveal a stunning woman with long, shiny black hair that went down to her waist and silver eyes that put the moon to shame. Her lips were full and dark red and her eyes were surrounded with long, thick eyelashes below thin, elegant eyebrows. She wore a dark blue, strapless, open-back dress that seemed to be painted onto her, and the right side of the straight, ankle length skirt had a slit all the way up to the hip. She wore a matching pair of dark blue stiletto heels and a pair of brilliant multi-diamond earrings dangled from her ears, matching the diamond necklace about her milky white throat.
She moved with astonishing grace as she began to sing and perform a slow, sensual dance.
And how I've loved
And I have served
And I have sinned
But I have learned
As long as you are true to the life that you live
This is the time to feel love
Her voice was smooth and sultry as she sang.
The Commander stared at her, as he paused at the top of the stairs. "Oh my god. Is that . . ."
Codex grabbed the collar of his shirt to drag him forward. "Yes, that's our favorite grump. Now stop staring and c'mon. If you stay here staring, we'll never get the info, and his distraction will have been for nothing and then he'll be mad and he'll have to hurt us."
A very distracted Commander allowed himself to be dragged by Codex to the office, that looked out over the club through a two-way mirror. The Commander continued to stare at the mesmerizing performance on the stage below.
I feel a stirring deep within
Slowly picking up momentum
Like the tide coming into shore
Over and under in it's course
This feeling emblazed inside
Every nerve like a firefly
Hovering above me
Glow glow glowing divine
Every nerve like a firefly
Every nerve like firefly
This feeling emblazed inside
Every nerve like a firefly
I never want to lose
What I have finally found
There's a requiem
A new congregation
And it's telling me go forward
And walk under a brighter sky
Every nerve glowing like a firefly
Glow, Glow, Devine
Her movements were slow, smooth and graceful. Her sultry dance was accentuated by her full lips and intense eyes, dilated and dark. The dress clung to the curvature of her perfectly rounded ass and the slit showed her smooth, milky thigh and hip. The eyes of everyone in the room were transfixed on her sensual, heated dance and sultry siren's song.
I feel a stirring deep within
Slowly picking up momentum
Like the tide coming into shore
Over and under in it's course
This feeling emblazed inside
Every nerve like a firefly
Hovering above me
I never want to lose
What I have finally found
There's a requiem
A new congregation
And it's telling me go forward
And walk under a brighter sky
Every nerve glowing like a firefly
Glow, Glooooow. Divine.
Glow, gloooooow.**
**Firefly by Euphoria
At the bar, Bloodhound heard several comments along the lines of, "I'll be having wet dreams about her tonight." So will I, Bloodhound thought. And I know she's a guy! Nanaba will have a good laugh at my expense if she ever finds out about this! He dried his hands and slipped out the back, leaving the other two bartenders to handle the rest of the night.
Levi encountered the three Scouts in the alleyway behind the club. Both Bloodhound and The Commander stared at him with slack jaws as he strode towards them with effortless feminine grace still wearing his stilettos. He stopped between them, a coy, playful smile on his dark red lips, closed their jaws with delicate fingers on their chins. "What's the matter boys," he asked in a sultry feminine voice. "Never seen a beautiful woman before?" Sometimes, when a person's emotions were strong enough, Levi could pick up on them even though he wasn't trying. He was enjoying the combined shock and arousal he was getting from the two men.
Codex was laughing hysterically at the two's reactions. Levi gave them a high five as he passed the giggling Super. "That was bloody brilliant!" Codex exclaimed through their joyful tears. "And may I say, you are one smoking hot woman!"
"Thank you," Levi replied in his normal voice. That should be a sufficient cock block for those two blond idiots. They went from wet dreams to nightmares in .02 seconds! Just to be an ass, Levi gave them a sultry glance over his bare shoulder, and continued in his usual baritone, "I hope you got what you came for while Eyebrows and Sniffy were busy eye fucking me, Codex."
Codex was still laughing. "I did. And, The Commander was definitely drooling the entire time. That big mirror is actually a one-way window from the office. So, he stood their gaping quietly while I did my thing."
Levi turned and started walking away. "Good. I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to go change into something much more comfortable. These heels are killing me." He took the shoes off, then flew away.
Bloodhound looked troubled as the Scouts got into their minivan, an ordinary looking Chrysler Town and Country. "What's the matter, Mike?" The Commander asked him as he put on his seat belt.
Mike started the car, but then just stared out the windshield. "I think I may not be as straight as I thought I was."
"Oh?"
Mike frowned. "I'm still gonna have wet dreams about that ass even though I know it belongs to a guy."
Codex giggled in the back seat, reaching forward to pat the confused man's shoulder. "Don't feel bad, buddy. Everyone in that club will be having the same dreams, regardless of gender . . . even me!"
"They're right, Mike," The Commander agreed. "We're all in the same boat."
Codex began to laugh a little harder. "Oh, Nanaba's gonna love this!"
Mike's eyes widened as he looked at Codex through the rearview mirror. "You can't tell her about this!"
"Are you kidding me? This is too good not to tell!" Codex countered.
I found him attractive before all this; but now . . . I shouldn't be lusting over him like this, but he's just such a beautiful man! The Commander thought as Mike and Codex argued. I am SO going to hell!
Levi couldn't explain why he found it so hard to tell Codex to fuck off whenever they came and pestered him into helping out the Scouting Regiment with jobs. He growled softly in irritation as he followed Codex and landed on the rooftop where Bloodhound and The Commander were waiting. There was a woman with them this time. He recognized her as Static. Her power was electromagnetism. She had short, light blond hair, relatively small breasts but wonderful hips and thighs. Though more slender, she was about Codex's height and obviously very athletic.
"Oh my god!" Static exclaimed. "You really do work with the short asshole!"
"Static," Levi greeted dryly in return. He'd encountered her before a couple of times. He'd rudely insulted her both times, too, calling her Static Cling or just Cling.
"Good evening. Glad you could join us," The Commander said.
"Yeah, yeah. What do want this time?" Levi responded. "And why do you always use Codex to ask for my help?"
The Commander raised one large eyebrow. "Would you really come if I asked you?"
Levi thought a moment. "Touché."
"I'm sure Codex informed you of the hostage situation we're facing at MP Tower," The Commander stated.
"The news media has made certain that the entire city is informed of the hostage situation," Levi answered.
"True, but what they don't know is how many hostiles there are. What they also don't know is that this group is led by Argos."
Levi's eyes widened. "No way! It can't be the same Argos that captured Harbinger the second time! He's one of the world's top heroes!"
The Commander shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid it is. It seems that Titan has gotten a hold of him somehow. He seemed to disappear about two years ago, but everyone just kind of assumed he'd retired. But now he's back and apparently doing Titan's bidding. For all we know, he's been working with Titan all along, even while he was a hero. But, I guess we'll just have to wait and see what he tells us when we question him. Needless to say, we need him alive."
"Yeah, I got that," Levi said glumly. "It's still hard to believe; one of the greatest Super Heroes of all time turned Super Villain."
"Agreed. Thing is, he's very well funded and he has a lot of people with him. They've taken the entire 14th floor hostage. There's a lot of cash, Vera bonds and gold bars stored in the main vault."
Levi frowned even deeper. "That's Nile Dawk's floor; The Brigade. Yeah, they have the money and all, but that's used for their relocating of witnesses and threatened families; it's what they do. You said Titan's involved. I'd bet they're looking for someone that the Brigade hid. If they get a hold of Brigade's databases, a lot of people are going to be in danger."
"You know Nile?"
"Yeah. I've sent a lot of people to him over the years that needed to disappear." Levi looked deep in thought. "How'd this end up a hostage situation?"
"I believe it was on purpose. They want us to know they're here. I'm guessing they want everyone to think they are after the money so as to cover up the fact that they want the data," The Commander replied.
"Do they have Digit with them?" Levi asked, inquiring about a hacker that went by that moniker.
"They do."
"Shit. Even so, it's gonna take him a while to break Brigade's firewalls. The guy who leads the tech team is Daniel Bodt. He's probably the best coder alive. So where do I come into all this?"
"None of us can get in," The Commander stated. "Argos has a lot of people with him . . . the hostiles outnumber the hostages. Every possible entrance to the 14th floor is being watched; stairs, elevators, windows, doors, air vents, service and storage rooms, the roof. They've hacked into the camera system, so they have eyes everywhere in that building, from the basement to the parking garage, to the roof. The only possible way in, undetected, is through a ventilation shaft that connects the building to the outside down in the sewers."
Levi's nose wrinkled in disgust. "Let me guess. The shaft is too small for any of you to fit into."
"Yeah. I already tried," Static said. "But it was a no-go. I'm told you can hide your wings, so they won't be in the way. Is that true?"
"It is."
"Listen. I'm afraid that because of security being so high and the large number of hostages, you'll be entirely on your own in there," The Commander added.
"I get it, Commander. Stop the hostiles. Keep the hostages alive. Bring Argos to you, alive."
"That's right," The Commander confirmed. "Codex, show him the map of the ventilation shaft."
Shitty Eyebrows. Shitty Four Eyes. Shitty Scouts for getting me into this! I mean, yeah, I probably would have gotten involved anyway, but that's beside the point. Damn filthy, smelly vent! Even I barely fit in here! Wouldn't you know it's gonna come out in a filthy bathroom that probably hasn't been cleaned in weeks. Levi continued to grumble mentally to himself as he made his way painstakingly up the narrow ventilation shaft. It was a very tight fit, making even chimney climbing impossible, especially since he needed to be completely quiet. He'd had to resort to using his tough claws and powerful grip to carefully puncture the vent walls and climb slowly up the vertical shaft to the 14th floor.
Two hours later, he finally came to the bathroom that Codex had marked on the building's blueprints. After carefully dismantling the fan, he lowered himself to the floor below. Gross! The floor's sticky! I'll have to sanitize my boots after this! There were a few beeps just outside the bathroom door. Levi disappeared into a stall, locked the door and crouched on the toilet seat just as someone entered the room. Wow. Really? They need a pass code to enter a bathroom? Talk about security overkill.
"I hope Digit breaks the firewalls soon," spoke a woman's voice. "The coffee in this office is good, but there's no food! I'm starving."
Levi rolled his eyes. Of course, Codex sent me to the girl's room!
"I know, right?" a second woman agreed. "I could really go for some Chinese right about now!"
Levi's traitorous stomach growled at the mention of food. To his relief, both girls burst out laughing, each thinking it was the other.
"I don't get why Argos doesn't just let us kill everyone now instead of waiting until after we get the data."
"Seriously! This seems like an awful lot of show for such a job. But, at least I get to practice a few new techniques. I wanna take out that cute freckled girl and the little blond angel. They'll look so pretty painted in blood!"
"The programmer's kid, the one with the cute face and tiny freckles . . . Marco, is it? He's mine. I still haven't decided if I wanna cut him in half lengthwise or cross wise."
"Why not both? Drawn and quartered!" Both girls laughed.
Holy shit, these two are sick! Hope you two enjoyed your bathroom break, cuz taking a shit is the last thing you'll ever do!
He slipped out of the stall and waited. The first girl to emerge from her stall probably never truly knew what happened to her, since he grabbed her from behind, hand over her mouth and drove his dagger deep into the nape of her neck, severing the spinal cord and killing her instantly. Be thankful I don't believe in slow, painful deaths like you do. The second girl met the same fate. He placed each body in a stall, head down in the toilet to prevent the blood from getting all over the floor, cleaned up the blood that was already on the floor, locked the stalls, then listened at the door.
He could hear someone breathing, and it sounded like they were close; a guard. This is gonna take for fucking ever! Trouble is there are security camera's everywhere so getting out of here unnoticed is impossible. Killing the power grid won't work, because they would immediately begin killing hostages and the generator would kick in within 10 seconds. I need to find Argos and Digit, take them out of the equation, then force a confrontation with the rest of the hostiles. Commander said all of the hostages are in the conference hall. Maybe that's where I should start. I can use the air vents to get there, then find out how many guards there are. Having the hostages in one location means that once I take out the guards, then they'll be easier to protect. We can block all the exits but one which will force the hostiles through a single narrow point of entry, making them easy to pick off. Most of Brigade can use firearms and are good in a fight, so they can use the guards' weapons to protect themselves leaving me free to take out the rest of the hostiles and get to Argos and Digit.
Levi removed the grating from the overhead air vent quietly and pulled himself up inside. He replaced the grate and moved in the direction he knew the conference hall to be in. From the overhead vent, he could easily see all of the large hall below him. There were about 50 Brigade employees along with about a dozen or so civilians. He spotted Nile Dawk among them. Good. At least there's one person here I know I can count on. He counted exactly seven guards, all armed with a SIG516 assault rifle and two Sig Sauer P320 handguns each. Twenty-one firearms with extra ammo . . . that should be plenty to defend the room with. Nile will know which exits to block. Looks like this will be the easy part. Gotta make it fast.
He drew and cocked his Remington and practically exploded down into the conference hall. Seven shots rang out in rapid succession and all seven guards dropped dead. "QUICKLY! TAKE THEIR GUNS AND BLOCK ALL THE EXITS!" Levi shouted at the stunned hostages, knowing that because of the security cameras, Titan was now aware of his presence. Nile Dawk, a tall, dark haired man with dark eyes and a scraggly beard on his chin, was the first to move, snapping orders to the others. Heavy, fireproof security doors were locked from the inside and barricaded to boot. Guns were distributed, and everyone gathered on the floor in front of the raised podium, twenty rows of chairs between them and the main doors.
"Man are we glad to see you," Nile greeted Levi.
"Is everyone here and are you all okay?"
"Yeah, everyone is here. A few scrapes and bruises, but nothing serious," Nile replied. "You're not gonna believe this, but Argos is leading this operation!"
"I know. They have Digit with them and are trying to hack the database."
"We can't let that happen," Nile stated. "If that information gets taken, thousands of lives will be in immediate danger!"
"It's not going to happen," Levi assured him. "I won't let it. First, how many hostiles are there?"
Nile shook his head. "After these seven, 56."
"54," Levi countered. "Killed 2 when I first got in. I don't suppose any of you still has a phone on them?"
"No," Nile answered. "They took all our devices away."
A boy, perhaps 12, with dark hair, eyes and freckles raised his hand. "Um, sir? I have a micro phone. It's my own invention. Looks like an ordinary mechanical watch, so they didn't take it."
That kid must be related to Daniel Bodt. He's a spitting image. "Perfect. I need you to call Codex. Their number is 822-762-7782. Tell them that the hostages are secure and to move in exactly 15 minutes from now. Second, which door to this room is the easiest to protect?"
"The door at the back of the stage. It has a narrow hall and would make entry without getting shot by one of us difficult," one of the men answered.
"Lastly, I'm assuming that both Digit and Argos would be in the main server room. Where is that?"
"I'll take you there," Nile said. "And before you tell me I'm needed here to protect everyone, there are still twenty guys and gals with guns that are the best of the best in here. I won't make enough difference here to say so. I can do more good if I have your back."
"Alright," Levi conceded. "Kid, make that call now. Let's get going, Dawk. We have 15 minutes before all hell breaks loose."
The hostiles all knew that someone was attacking and had gotten to their hostages, but they were all at the main conference hall doors trying to break in. The heat-proof, bullet-proof, blast-proof doors were proving to be a bit of a challenge. The result being that Levi and Nile were able to slip out the back and make their way to the server room with little resistance at first. But someone must have alerted the others to the presence of a Super, because all too soon, a group of 15 descended on the two.
The firefight landed them in a stalemate. "Hold your fire, Nile. No sense in wasting bullets. Since they won't come to us, I'll go to them. Wait here and watch our backs."
Nile nodded in acknowledgement and turned to face the opposite direction from the gunfire. Levi activated the phase inverter and brought his wings into view. Keeping them in front of him as a shield, he charged down the hall towards their attackers. The hallway was not wide enough to fully open his wings, so when he got parallel to the gunmen, he spread his wings as wide as he could and went into a fast spin, basically knocking everyone along the walls to the floor in a daze. Levi then pulled two of his daggers, and in under a minute, all fifteen attackers were dead, their spinal cords severed.
"The server room is just around the corner. How do you plan to take down Argos?" Nile asked, glad he'd been watching the opposite direction so as not to witness the massacre.
"The room has a fire suppression system, right?"
"Yeah . . ."
"The kind that depressurizes the room and sucks all the air out?"
"Yeah . . ."
"Can we activate it from outside?"
"I see. Yeah, from the control room next door. There's a two-minute delay, though, to give people time to get out before it activates."
"I think I can override that. I may not have Codex's tech prowess, but I'm not such a shabby hacker myself."
They entered the control room, and Levi activated the server room's fire suppression system, bypassing the two-minute delay. Levi rushed back out into the hall to wait. He could hear a firefight occurring somewhere on the floor and knew that the 15 minutes was up, and the Scouts were in. As he'd expected, the door to the server room blew outwards, and Argos, carrying Digit, stumbled out, gasping for air.
"You know, I used to look up to you," Levi told the man.
Argos looked at him, still huffing for air as he put the hacker down on the floor. He was a big man, at least as big as The Commander. He was powerfully built, even at more than sixty years of age. He had short, black hair, grey at the temples and the base of the skull and light blue eyes with crows' feet at the corners. He wore no costume, no mask. He was dressed in simple jeans, a light blue polo shirt under a tan V-neck sweater and sneakers. "Who are you?"
"Just an asshole that got pestered into stopping you from getting Brigade's database."
Argos laughed, a hearty, genuine sound. "You're brutally honest. I like that. So, you figured out what we're really after."
Levi rolled his eyes and Nile responded. "Considering what we do here at Brigade, it's really quite obvious, even if you did take the money."
"Your people are all dead or in custody," Levi told the other Super. "There are other Supers already in the building. I don't suppose you'd make this easy and just come quietly?"
Argos laughed again. "Wow! How many times have I asked villains that same exact question? It's actually funny to hear it being asked of me now."
Levi rolled his eyes again. "Is that a yes, or a no?"
"You're a bit of a pipsqueak, but I know better than to judge people on appearances. I'm kinda curious as to what you can do. So, let's do this the hard way," Argos replied with a disarmingly friendly smile.
Levi rolled his eyes yet again. "Suit yourself." He charged in at remarkable speed, landing a punch to Argos' ribcage, before pulling back just as fast. He repeated this attack method several times, hitting a different spot each time, having almost no effect on Argos. It's like hitting a brick wall! He may be psychokinetic, but he can easily protect himself at close range. Let's see just how hard a hit he can take.
"Is that seriously the best you can do?" Argos asked him.
The answer was a powerful kick to his gut, making the mountain of a man stumble back a few steps and knocking the wind from his lungs. Levi snorted. "Tch! I'm well aware that you are studying me for patterns and weaknesses even as I'm testing you for the same."
"I'm impressed," Argos admitted. "Most Supers, heroes and villains alike, are over-confident in their abilities and attack blindly. I've seen many people lose battles for that reason. Whoever taught you, taught you well."
"Shorty! Behind you!" Nile shouted in warning as he fired a couple of shots at Argos.
Levi ducked in time to avoid getting hit by a file cabinet sailing down the hallway. It fell to the floor with a loud crash. He grunted in pain as a bullet entered his shoulder. He barely evaded the second. Argos had stopped Nile's bullets mid air and redirected them at Levi. "NILE! GET OUT OF HERE! YOU'LL BE KILLED IF YOU STAY!"
As much as he hated to abandon his friend, he knew that Levi was right. Worse still, he could accidentally kill Levi. He turned and fled.
Levi leapt back just in time to avoid being grabbed by Argos. His hearing told him that someone, or rather something was rapidly approaching around the corner behind Argos. The villain was caught off guard by what raced around the corner and backhanded him into the wall with enough force to send him through it.
Even Levi was a little taken aback by what he saw. The creature was huge; it barely fit in the wide hallway. It seemed to be a quadruped, but also seemed human-like. The legs were shorter than the arms, and the fingers and toes were all tipped with dark claws. The eyes were large and dark with no white to be seen, and the wide mouth was full of sharp, conical teeth. Longish, greasy dark hair hung from it's head, but it was otherwise naked. "Careful. He's psychokinetic," Levi warned the creature, sensing it was an ally.
It nodded in acknowledgement.
"Ohoho! Now it's getting interesting," Argos said as he climbed through the hole in the wall back out into the hallway. Chunks of metal, concrete and gypsum debris from the broken wall hovered in the air around him. He sent the debris flying out in both directions down the hallway at both Levi and the unknown creature. Levi shielded himself with his wings, and the creature protected its head with its arms and barely grunted as the debris struck its body. Where the skin broke, steam rose as the wounds instantly healed themselves.
Levi charged in to attack but feinted at the last moment when he noticed Argos shifting his balance to counterattack. Argos's punch met with open air, setting him off balance. Levi and the creature attacked simultaneously; Levi landing a powerful kick to Argos' gut and the creature landing a double fisted blow between the shoulder blades.
The villain fell to his knees with a grunt. "Nicely done," he complimented them. "But not good enough."
The air around Argos began to crackle, tiny sparks of gold flickering around him. The sparks grew in intensity and brightness until there was a brilliant flash from which Levi shielded his eyes while Argos let out a scream of pained surprise.
"Was that good enough for you?" A tiny spitfire of a girl, smaller than Levi, came around the corner and stood beside the creature. She had beautiful blond hair pulled back in a simple pony tail and impossibly large, crystal blue eyes. She wore a light blue costume that included a short, sheer skirt about the waist and a silver filigree circlet about her head. Her mask looked like a pale blue butterfly and she carried a delicate silver scepter with a blue crystal at the end. She had a pair of shimmering blue butterfly wings on her back that seemed to be pure energy. "I really think you should apologize to all these poor people for traumatizing them so much just for some money."
The creature chuckled at her scolding. Levi raised an eyebrow. That's a form of energy manipulation, similar to what Beringer uses. Perfect! /Hey, Butterfly girl. Can you manipulate energy in a specific part of a human brain if you need to?/ he asked her telepathically.
The girl looked surprised at the voice in her head but nodded in response.
/Good. This guy is psychokinetic, so if you can fry the lower left cubic centimeter of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, he'll lose his power./
The girl's eyes widened. /That's . . . oddly specific. How do you know that'll work?/
/I don't. But he does, so that's all I need to know. Can you do it?/
She gave a scowling grin. /You bet I can!/
"Hey, big, dark and ugly! Let's hit him again while he's stunned!" Levi told the creature, who nodded. They both attacked and pinned the still dazed man to the floor. The blond girl placed her scepter to the left of Argos' forehead. The only way Levi knew she'd done anything was jolt of the man's body combined with a panicked yelp.
Panic quickly gave way to rage, and Argos threw both Levi and the creature off of him and leapt to his feet. "What have you done to me, you little bitch?" he bellowed as he strode towards her. He never got an answer and never reached her, because a powerful roundhouse kick to the left side of his forehead from Levi knocked him out.
The creature suddenly looked up and grunted as it heard footsteps running towards them. "Right," the girl responded. "Let's get out of here."
Levi didn't bother stopping them as he turned to see The Commander, Bloodhound, Codex and Static come around the corner. "Sure took you guys long enough," he told them.
The Commander looked at Argos and Digit. "Are they . . ."
"Alive. Out cold, but alive," Levi clarified.
Codex immediately entered the server room. They looked relieved when they came back out a moment later. "We got to them in time. Digit hadn't gotten through the last firewall yet. The database is safe."
"Since I had to do all the hard work here, I'll leave you four to clean up the mess," Levi told them over his shoulder as he walked away.
A few blocks way, on the roof of an apartment tower, Levi landed and checked on the bullet wound in his shoulder. I suppose I should count myself lucky that this is the worst I got. Good thing that butterfly girl showed up. Damned if I know how Eyebrows planned on holding a psychokinetic in custody. At least that's not a problem anymore. He inhaled a sharp hiss through his teeth as he probed the wound. Damn it. Looks like I'll have to see Beringer to get this slug out of me.
"Are you okay?" a sweet voice asked.
"I'll live," Levi growled, knowing it was the butterfly girl behind him. He heard the creature land on the rooftop after climbing the building. He turned just in time to see the creature evaporate, leaving a tall, dark haired girl in its place. He dark brown hair was pulled into a tight pony tail, and dark brown eyes regarded him from behind her simple black mask, much like his own. She wore a black leather jacket with chains and buckles and a matching pair of boots with blue jeans and a plain white t-shirt.
"Wow, that was some fight back there. That guy was crazy strong! Good thing you were there to tell us how to stop him," the brunette stated as she strode over to him and held out her hand. "I'm T-BAB, by the way. And this adorable little angel is Faerie."
"T-BAB?" Levi questioned as he surprised himself by accepting the woman's handshake.
"Yep!" she replied. "Totally Bad Ass Bitch!"
Levi decided in that moment that he liked this Super. "Huh. Not bad." He then looked at Faerie. "Deceptive name there. I'm guessing a lot of villains seriously underestimate you. Gives you quite an edge."
"It's true," Faerie confirmed. "Most crooks won't take me seriously, but their loss."
T-BAB burst out laughing. "Yeah! Literally!"
"I take it you two are a team."
"Yep!" T-BAB confirmed. "Albeit this is only the second week we've been on patrol. I mean, we're still pretty young. So, what's your name?"
Ugh! I am so sick of people asking me that! "Don't have one. Just call me Asshole like everyone else."
A loud snort followed by a roar of laughter echoed through the night. "You must be the short asshole that a few other Supers have warned us about! Rude, crude and all attitude! Knew there was a reason I liked you!" T-BAB laughed.
"BABs, that's not nice," Faerie chided.
A faint hint of a smile threatened to pull at Levi's lips. "Well, it's true."
The tiny girl facepalmed. "Anyway, we came up here to check if you're okay. Babs says you got shot. I can remove the bullet and close the wound for you."
That's right. Her powers are similar to Beringer's. He let her remove the bullet, and as soon as she had closed the wound, she pulled a dark chocolate bar from a small pack she carried on her belt. "Here. Eat this. It'll help you recover some of the energy you lost in the healing process. Go home and eat a good meal and get some sleep," she instructed.
"Geez. You sound like someone's mom," T-BAB teased.
"Thanks for the help. See you 'round," Levi told them as he spread his wings.
"Yeah. See ya 'round, Asshole!" T-BAB replied.
Levi actually smiled in spite of himself as he flew away. She's the first person to take me seriously about my name. Kinda funny to hear someone actually call me that without meaning it.
