Chapter 32: A Decree of Lightning
The coming winter gave the city at night a light cold fog, making the buildings come across even prettier than usual.
One look outside the window saw the streets were packed with people doing last minute Christmas shopping, and cars rushing to meet travel demands.
It was the time of year where crime was expected to be at it's highest, of course. But around these parts, it was oddly quiet this go around.
As Mark drank a mint coffee with his friend Vida inside of his office, he stared across towards the broken down warehouse and thought about how the explosion might have scared off the common crook from trying anything funny.
Wouldn't want to be in the spotlight and get blamed for something you didn't do after all.
At least…that's how the logic panned out in his head.
But it was hard to apply common sense to a world where superpowers were real, and vigilantism was being enforced by a scarily human machine.
Still, he had to try. Not just because the mysterious vigilante counted on him, but for Julius as well.
"Something on your mind, amigo?" His friend remarked to pull him away from the window.
Mark pulled away and took a drink of his coffee. Nice, warm and mint, as it should be. He then set the cup on his desk and glided his hand across it, his friend sitting in his chair.
"The city's been quiet. Too quiet." Mark commented.
Vida nodded along, leaning back into the chair to drink his coffee, which he enjoyed with extra milk, "Aaaah, I get what you mean, man. But I'll take it. Better for us to sit in here and shoot the shit over coffee…then go running into trouble and slipping on the ice."
Translation: He was glad Mark wasn't out chasing after 'Dregs' tonight.
Mark squinted and thought about the last month. It has been nothing but following after false leads and arresting unrelated criminals.
The voice behind the machine seemed assured that the shipment was still in the city based on prior evidence, but maybe that was wrong and they were going in circles.
He put his thoughts on the tip of his tongue and with a bit of hesitation, turned to his friend to try and get a second opinion, choosing his words carefully.
"Vida, humor me for a moment, if you wanted to sneak an illegal shipment into this city, where would you hide it?"
Vida plopped his feet on the desk and gave him a blunt glare, "Is this about 'Dregs' again, mi pareja?"
Mark gulped tightly and Vida dropped his feet down, the tension between them suddenly filling Mark with uncertain dread, "I want to confirm something…"
Vida raised a brow and his tone remained as friendly and full of concern as ever, "Have you gotten your hija her gift yet?"
"Oh, yeah, of course!" Mark was shaken a little because that was less harsh than he expected.
Vida breathed a sigh of relief in turn, "Good. Your priorities ain't flown out the window yet."
He walked over to him and with a guiding hand, brought him over to the window before taking out his phone, "We've been pareja for years now, amigo. So I've been through your best and worst moments."
He flipped through some pictures, including an embarrassing screenshot of Mark getting blasted by a cork from a wine bottle during a Christmas party.
Mark turned the other way and scratched the side of his cheek with a light smile.
Eventually, Vida stopped on their academy days, when it was the two of them, and Mark's wife to be.
"So I get what drives you. You want to put out the fires that burn inside, but you should be using your tears instead of your fears, you get me compadre?"
Mark stared out the window, "I've already cried as much as I can."
"Then you should-"
"Vida, enough," Mark could see his attempts at distracting him from the point from the very start, and looked at him with a partially offended glance, "I…respect you as a friend, but we're also officers of the law. Yet every time I bring up 'Dregs', it feels like you want to bail on your duty."
Vida widened his eyes and pulled away slowly, understandably feeling insulted by the accusation, "No. No."
"But like, you wouldn't believe in Bigfoot unless you saw him before your eyes, yeah?"
He couldn't possibly understand how apt that was for Mark's view of the world lately.
"...Hmm…" Mark tucked his hands into his coat, as Vida softly held his hands out and gut checked him with the sincerity of his plea.
"I just worry that…you've invented this criminal organization in your head as a way to escape confronting your pain internally. And…I don't want to see you forget the kind of person you are. Kind, just, focused…"
Vida took a deep breath, and looked like he was choking on his words, "You see me as just a friend, but…You're mi hermano. You…and lil' hija. You're the only familia I have left."
"So if I'm wrong, then show me the proof that 'Dregs' is real. Otherwise…I can't help you, amigo. You won't put that guilt on me."
Mark looked the other way and painfully closed his eyes, tightening his fists inside of his coat, "I-I'm sorry…you're right though…I wouldn't want to get you killed either."
Vida pulled back and sighed, his voice slow and melancholic, "Wrap up our paperwork for the night, amigo. Then go get some rest. I'm taking off."
And he made good on his word, not even yielding to Mark reaching his hand out and murmuring his name, clearly full of regret.
"Tsk…" Mark could only begin to think about his words with the reflection of their times spent together filtering through his mind.
"Is this really all going to be worth it?"
He could help save the world, but what will he have left when it's all over…?
"Mark, are you there?" The filtered sound of his mysterious partner came through the earpiece.
Mark went over to close the door and then walked back to the window, "Yeah, I'm here."
"Good. Meet us at the usual spot. We may have finally found a new lead on the supply crate."
But…for now anyways, it was nice to hear some good news.
"Alright. I'll see you there."
"Be careful."
Per their agreement, he took a slightly different route today through the city to get to their usual meeting building. He had to keep rubbing his hands to maintain warmth once he reached the top.
S.A.N.C.T.U.M. was standing at the center of the roof instead of on his usual perch. He turned and waved his hand, "Pleasant yuletides to you tonight, Sir Mark."
Mark let out a light chuckle and his curiosity got the better of him, "Soooo, are you going to get a gift, S.A.N.C.T.U.M.?"
The robot's expression softened as he indulged in a little child-like innocence, "Are you, Master?"
"...I'll see about getting you an upgrade or two. But I'm going to be busy."
Mark remarked, "Oh yeah, you're going to be celebrating Christmas too."
"Yeah, so let's see if we can make it a silent night." The person was being a little more agreeable lately, even if they expertly avoided talking about themselves.
S.A.N.C.T.U.M. was made to cross his arms and the voice began to talk, "Mark, I want you to think back to all the members of 'Dregs' we've confronted or apprehended so far. What's the common thread tying them all together?"
"Huh?" Mark was initially taken aback by the question, but the certainty of the person's voice made him believe that he SHOULD know the answer.
But when he reviewed the members of Dregs, and it wasn't hard to forget a lot of their faces, it was difficult to find a common thread linking them all together. They all looked so…
"...different…" Mark looked at the machine and remarked, "That's right. The members of 'Dregs' represent a large variety of nationalities. Japanese, Australian…we've even seen a variety in speech patterns between Americans."
"I was an idiot to not pick up on this fact sooner," The voice harshly berated themselves in terms of tone, "'Dregs' has recruited members from all across the world for their goals."
"But then I have to wonder…why?
"It's not the 'Why' we should be worrying about first, it's 'How'...How did they manage to fill their ranks? Even if 'Dregs' went after the scum of the Earth, I doubt some of them would be willing to work alongside people from other nations."
Mark shook his head, "I'm at a loss for answers."
"Yeah, same. Anyways… S.A.N.C.T.U.M. took out a tablet from his cape and handed it out for Mark to look at, "Once I pieced this together, I began tackling my search from a different angle. I looked into anything happening around Seattle that might have a connection to foreign affairs. And all I found out was that they're planning to open a new Asian cuisine place on the East side of town…and this."
Mark approached the tablet and saw information about a cargo platform that'll be making a trip to Seattle from Bremerton over the course of the next few days.
He decided to scroll down and noticed that this platform had been signed off on by the newly elected Prime Minister of France.
"...Ok, you're going to have to explain your logic, cause I'm not following. Are you suggesting the Prime Minister of France is allied with 'Dregs' or…?"
"No, I don't think he is…Not right now, anyways. My logic goes like this…We haven't been able to find the crate in the city lately because it hasn't BEEN in the city."
"They were probably hoping we would give up the search, but when we didn't do that they were forced to move forward with their plans regardless and are taking advantage of the cargo platform to sneak the crate back into the city."
"...I bet it's a trap." Mark commented.
"I like your line of thinking, Mark. Anyone would find a cargo platform coming into Seattle a little suspicious, so they're probably hoping to entice me back into the open and ambush me with another superpowered warrior."
"BUT…" The voice said with a blatant hint of smugness in their tone, "What they couldn't have predicted…was me discovering their movements before they reached the harbor. So what we're going to do is head over to the platform. Tonight. And grab the supply crate before they can even tell what hit them."
"...What if it's another fake crate?" Mark propositioned.
"They can't get away with that stunt more than once now that we took out one of their stronger members. It's too much of a cost risk."
"I…guess that tracks," Mark then waved his hand out and wondered, "Then…what should I bring with me?"
"What you have on hand should be good enough. I'll have S.A.N.C.T.U.M. supply you with stronger weapons if we happen to run into another superpowered criminal on the platform."
It was only at that point Mark realized he was letting the natural flow of the conversation overcome his sense of reasoning, "W-Wait a second, so you're going to take me TO the platform?"
S.A.N.C.T.U.M. approached quietly and extended his hands out, remarking in a polite tone, "Do you get airsick, Sir Mark? I do have medicine for that."
"...Oy vey." Not the way he ever dreamed he was going to fly, that's for sure.
But the machine had a very gentle grip, and his systems fought off the cold that would've made his metal features a pain to be near otherwise.
The two then went off towards the waters away from the city, with him feeling a little disoriented from having to experience a new form of movement.
Fortunately this kept him from talking the trip over, so the master of the vigilante could get her thoughts in order.
"Hmmm…" Lunalei reviewed everything that led up to this moment as S.A.N.C.T.U.M. kept his opinion between the two of them.
"Are you sure this is the right course of action, Master Lunalei?"
"Positive…" Lunalei's response came with a grumble.
"I meant…regarding withholding that crucial bit of information from Sir Mark."
"First we need to confirm that this even leads to anything. Then I'll tell him. Promise."
"Alright. I wonder how he'll take the news…"
"Haaaa…" Keeping secrets was a rough business, especially for her. But she was becoming a bit of an expert lately at it. Maybe that wasn't something to be proud of…
It didn't take very long for them to see a lone cargo platform floating in the middle of the water. It was lit up to get through the cold fog, but a quick run of S.A.N.C.T.U.M. 's scanners showed it wasn't being operated by people.
"Looks like I can let you off safely here." Lunalei commented seconds before S.A.N.C.T.U.M. dropped Mark onto the helipad at the front.
The cargo platform had the standard issue crane to offload the steel crates. More than likely, the crate they were looking for was inside one of them.
But this wasn't a standard issue cargo platform, it was three times the normal size and had just as many times the amount of crates.
And as much as she knew that she could spend the whole night searching the platform, Mark was another story.
He was keeping up his warmth as best he could, but on the open waters it was a little harder to manage.
"I should've prepared you something to keep you warm. Sorry about that, this was on short notice." Lunalei commented.
Mark tucked his hands into his coat pockets and gritted his teeth, "D-Don't worry about me, if I stick close to the lights I should stay warm."
"I would hate for you to catch a cold, Sir Mark." S.A.N.C.T.U.M. remarked.
Mark smiled, "Thanks, but I'll be fine. Two pairs of eyes will make this go swifter."
The two made their way towards the crates and S.A.N.C.T.U.M. began scanning the contents with his x-ray vision. All the crates densely packed together meant that they had to be checked one at a time to ensure they got the right one.
There was a lot of useful supplies to help aid construction, including ship parts and girders. There were even a few freezer crates to provide fish to the local farmer's market.
"The Prime Minister sure is generous…" Lunalei noted. For a second, doubting that generosity with the presence of Zenai in her thoughts.
She shook it off and continued the investigation, yelling out to Mark after a while, "Any luck on your end?!"
He had to shoot off the locks on the crates to get them open occasionally, but eventually answered, "S-So far, nothing but supplies!"
"Hmmm…"
"What? Have a suggestion, S.A.N.C.T.U.M.?"
"You're the brains of this operation, Master Lunalei, I am merely the extension of your brilliance. However…something has drawn my attention. A…nagging curiosity if you would."
"This vessel. Is it not being run autonomously?"
"...I know what you're thinking, and no, the machinery automating this process isn't smart enough to communicate with humans like you."
"Huh…" He sighed a sorrowful sigh.
Lunalei decided to humor his observation though, "Did you think we'd be able to ask it for help?"
"The thought…did briefly cross my mind, yes."
"...I guess that's one downside to making a machine far beyond our time. You can't fully take advantage of all your functions."
"But don't worry, S.A.N.C.T.U.M. You'll get to show off your full potential one day. For now, just focus on finding that crate."
The search continued for a little longer. The sea was tranquil and again, there continued to be no signs of enemy movement in the area.
Mark eventually pushed towards their location and remarked, "Still nothing on my end. You?"
"Nothing. Let's move towards the back." Lunalei remarked.
As they headed in that direction, the fog slowly began to lift, and the air warmed up.
Enough that Mark could slow down on rubbing his hands.
However, Lunalei found this…worrying, "S.A.N.C.T.U.M., the platform shouldn't be that close to the city, right?"
"Correct."
Lunalei forced him to stop what he was doing and turn to examine the sky. There were clouds rolling in, dark clouds.
And thunder rumbled in his enhanced senses.
"...Mark!" Lunalei trusted her guts on this one and quickly examined their surroundings, having S.A.N.C.T.U.M. point to a door in the back of the platform, "Hide in there for now. Something's coming."
He started to run in that direction when the sky lit up, and a rain of lightning arrows fell across the entire platform.
S.A.N.C.T.U.M. backed up and drew his swords to deflect the arrows away from Mark until he got to safety, while the remainder of the arrows hit the crates.
The crates then started to creak the platform as they were pulled away to both sides of it.
And the moment they stopped, a larger lightning bolt struck the center of the platform, a figure rising from it with a sword in their right hand, and a small bow fading from the other.
The sword was like a four-pointed star that had been elongated out at the top, made of pristine blue metal and surging internally with electricity.
The warrior was clad primarily in the armor one would expect from a male knight in medieval France, but with a female's breastplate and the space between parts using leather. The armor was colored with a muted yellow hue, the leather leaning towards a dark shade of green.
They wore a smooth helmet that only covered their eyes and the back of their head, with a flourishing violet blue mane flowing like a storm cloud behind them. The helmet was topped with two jagged wings closely resembling lightning bolts.
The warrior swiped their sword at the ground in an arc and even Lunalei, through her creation's protection, felt a frizzly sensation in her mind.
Then the warrior brandished their sword at the machine, their voice mighty like the thunderclap that heralded them, but also carrying the certainty of victory.
"So…you are the metal warrior that slayed the Ghost," They spoke in English, but had a light French accent, and it was clear by now that their identity was that of a woman, "Pas impressionne…"
Lunalei tensed up slightly, "They knew we would come here tonight."
"It seems your suspicions…were on the spot, Master Lunalei." S.A.N.C.T.U.M. said with a twinge of concern.
"Let's not focus on that right now. Our enemy…she seems to be able to control electricity, so be careful."
"You're mistaken," Lunalei chose to address the warrior pre-battle, "It was one of your allies that killed Hamazaki. We merely defeated him."
"Are you expecting me to buy that?" The warrior scoffed, marching clockwise around the machine, sword laying down by her hip, "We four may have our differences, but when it comes to this cause we would not dare draw our weapons upon one another!"
"But you…!" The sword was pointed at the machine, "What purpose is there in piloting a machine of war, except to keep your hands clean?"
Lunalei bluntly countered her claims with a hint of dismissiveness, "Is this going to be like Hamazaki? Were you brainwashed into believing that America deserves punishment?"
"Only God is worthy of my wrath. And the unjust who happen to fall along my path shall know judgment as well." There was passion behind her words. She was fully absorbed into her cause, much like Hamazaki, but there was a lack of delusion in her tone.
Lunalei let out a deep sigh and remarked, "I guess it doesn't matter what our causes are. The fact you chose the wrong side of the law meant we were going to come to blows eventually."
The warrior then focused their blade at S.A.N.C.T.U.M's face, "Metal warrior…Your name. Your cause. State them to me!"
"My name is S.A.N.C.T.U.M. And my cause…is whatever my creator wishes from me."
The warrior smiled, "Valkyrie Eclair is my chosen name, wielded like the pride of which I hold my sword."
"Our paths may stand opposite to one another, but for holding true to your causes, rotten though they may be, for now you shall have my respect."
Lunalei scoffed, "But that hardly matters. You plan to stop us just the same."
Eclair nodded, "En effet."
"I'll be honest with you…I never bothered to learn French. Seemed like a pretty stuck up language." Lunalei said with a bit of smugness.
Eclair had a rather cute laugh at that comment, "But surely…you understand this?"
She drew her sword back in one hand and her body surged like the start of a storm, "EN GARDE!"
She slashed S.A.N.C.T.U.M. down the chest, her body having surged forward in the shape of lightning, but her speed was much, much faster.
Lunalei's connection was shaken and S.A.N.C.T.U.M. trembled, struggling to hold on to his swords.
"Judgment falls like lightning, swift and unnatural, caring not for your peace of mind. In my hands I wield its wrath, and 'til the wicked pay their dues, may the echoing thunderclap show your sanity no mercy!"
In that one stroke, she proved how she measured up to the Ghost. Weaker, but much faster.
She had achieved three more slashes upon the time it took for S.A.N.C.T.U.M to get a grip on his swords and fight back.
But the peculiar curve of the Valkyrie's blade let her slip out of any clash, while the grace of her movements let her easily cut across the machine's limbs as she retreated.
"This will be a tough one. Get to higher ground, try to leverage your strength against her." Was all Lunalei had to offer.
S.A.N.C.T.U.M complied and jumped away from another slash onto one of the crate stacks.
The Valkyrie waved her hand back and then jumped at her enemy.
S.A.N.C.T.U.M's footing tipped forward and slid him in her direction, where two of her slashes rang out like the thunderclap against his blades.
She then flipped over him and wound up a slice to hit him across the back. S.A.N.C.T.U.M fired his boosters at full force to get away and then jet back forward, slicing the Valkyrie towards the top of the falling crate.
The Valkyrie brought the crate down with their force and then pointed her sword at the sky, calling upon a lightning bolt from up high to drive the machine closer to her, where she stabbed the sword into his chest with both hands.
However, she lacked the force to break through, and S.A.N.C.T.U.M freely swung his swords at her.
With a pirouette backwards she pushed the machine away with two diagonal slashes and then pulled out her bow to get off three shots at his head.
S.A.N.C.T.U.M pivoted to the side then stabbed one sword out to corner her for the other sword to stab.
But instead she leaped back and blew him a kiss with her fingertips.
Warning signals went off and forced S.A.N.C.T.U.M to turn and face down three electric charged crates flying at him.
His instincts went for the swords, only for his master to remark, "We need them intact!"
So instead he dove to the left and took a tumble, pushed further along by the crates' impact.
As he got on one leg and combatted the dance of the Valkyrie's blade, he remarked, "We can safely say those weren't it, master."
"Focus! She seems to have some degree of magnetism too." But fortunately, most of the metal in S.A.N.C.T.U.M's systems were internal.
"My sensors indicate that she's only able to achieve magnetism when the electricity touches metal."
The Valkyrie backflipped with two slashes in a cross then pulled out her bow, firing through the center of it to make the cross mold into the arrow and smash into the center of S.A.N.C.T.U.M.'s blades, knocking him to the ground.
She then commanded a crate to go flying on top of him like a hammer.
After confirming no crate inside, S.A.N.C.T.U.M. slashed it in half as he rose and then propelled at the enemy, who dodged to the side and clashed blades as she dashed away.
S.A.N.C.T.U.M. swerved around in desperate pursuit, as the Valkyrie slammed together multiple crates to try and bar his path.
As S.A.N.C.T.U.M. plotted another route, the Valkyrie soared over the wall and drove her sword on top of his head, then bounced off and hit him with a cross slash of electricity.
Lunalei continued to feel bits and pieces of the attacks fraying their connection and remarked, "This isn't working. We need more speed."
"Is it time, Master Lunalei?"
"Yes…" As Lunalei gave him permission, he sheathed his swords in his hips and shone with a compressed down silver-blue light.
The gravity field compressed further into his elbows and back of the knees, spewing from them like the trails of comets.
He then turned to his opponent faster than light and grabbed hold of their blade at the last nanosecond, and a moment later the wall of crates went flying into the water.
"Pursuit Mode!" Lunalei declared to her surprised enemy, "Never got to bust this out against the Ghost, but you? Ho ho ho! Now you'll see what we can really do!"
For all her bragging, she didn't forget the major downside of this mode. An "inch" of movement became multiple feet, and the limbs had to be angled just right or he'd lose stability.
Top that off with the compressed gravity fields being capable of throwing multiple ton structures around like feathers, and shred buildings and people to dust, and it's a huge risk if the person in control isn't smart and calculating.
S.A.N.C.T.U.M punched the Valkyrie like a shooting star and sent her hurtling half a mile away from the platform.
She recovered just in time for S.A.N.C.T.U.M to get behind her with his leg moments from impact with the back of her neck.
She turned and slashed but still got launched downward quite a ways.
She seemed like she'd intercept his next dive, but he ducked it and then propelled his knee up into her chin.
He then grabbed her by the face and slammed her into the platform, warping the metal into a crater.
He then pulled back to the edge and watched the Valkyrie rise. He lunged out and punched her off the crater wall like she was a ragdoll.
"Interesting…!" She proclaimed before grabbing her sword tightly and diving at her enemy.
He dodged and electricity spread from the blade to the edges of the crater, raising eight curved greatswords that sliced inward and trapped S.A.N.C.T.U.M into her range.
She then delivered three swift slashes across his body, ending on dragging him up into the air tied to a whip of electricity from her sword's tip.
She pulled up and stabbed him in the chest, and S.A.N.C.T.U.M swerved around trying to put distance between them.
The Valkyrie drew her bow and fired a rain of arrows upon the surrounding crates then pointed her sword down, calling forth a massive lightning bolt from the sky to smite him.
S.A.N.C.T.U.M took the first moment of the strike on his knees and then used his thrusters to slice through the bolt and uppercut the Valkyrie.
She rolled with the punch through a backflip and danced around his fast punches, getting whatever licks she could in.
"You're not the only one with a trick in the backpocket!" She cried out as she managed to temporarily lock down the machine with her blade flurry.
A visceral metal tearing noise filled the air as the crates she attacked were torn down to bare shrapnel and launched like a storm of death at the machine.
His boosters were targeted from the sides in an attempt to wear them down, but quick thinking let S.A.N.C.T.U.M spin them away with his limbs outstretched.
The Valkyrie backed off and shot one arrow off to the side, then called down another lightning bolt upon the machine.
"Heh…!" Lunalei chuckled.
S.A.N.C.T.U.M performed a stationary cartwheel multiple times and captured the lightning in his rotation, launching it out as a buzz saw projectile.
The Valkyrie blocked it and continued to push back.
As S.A.N.C.T.U.M prepared to strike from behind, the crane hook smashed into his back and swung him around and around.
The Valkyrie absorbed her lightning back and with supercharged blue electricity, hit the machine with a heaven splitting slash that fried the crane down the middle.
"Tsk…!" Lunalei grunted as a rough disconnect hit them both.
Even with the speed advantage, the fact that the Valkyrie could still use her sword meant she just needed to plan out her range accordingly and she'd get more hits in overall.
There was a genius brain behind that helmet, but Lunalei knew she was smarter still.
After remembering the options she had available, she diverted S.A.N.C.T.U.M.'s gaze to the lower left and remarked, "S.A.N.C.T.U.M., do everything you can do to force her into that crate."
"I understand." After their connection was fully rebooted, the machine locked his arms against his sides and charged forward past the Valkyrie, then shot right back to clobber them across the face while they were blindsided.
The Valkyrie went tumbling through the air, firing off arrows at some of the crates as they forced their descent.
Upon landing they swung their sword at the machine, who dodged at the last moment and threw a left hook into the Valkyrie's face to throw them towards the crates.
The Valkyrie threw multiple crates in the machine's path while stabbing their sword down to slow themselves.
After using his gravity boosters to launch the crates into the sea he continued to propel forward unimpeded until he tackled the Valkyrie and grappled her into one of the few untouched crates.
And just as expected, this was a freezer crate.
S.A.N.C.T.U.M. shut off Pursuit Mode and concentrated his systems into keeping his body heated up, buying a precious few seconds for the cold to bite into the Valkyrie's armor and weaken her overall.
He then tossed her out of the crate and turned Pursuit Mode back on, launching at her with a controlled spiral punch square into her chest, instantly obliterating all the armor on the front of her body and leaving the leather bodysuit exposed.
The Valkyrie trembled as electricity sparked off her frame wildly.
S.A.N.C.T.U.M. primed his fists ready to continue the fight as Lunalei commented, "Using electricity as a heat conductor? Better work fast, cause I'm ending this in a few more punches."
"I see…it's that time already…" The Valkyrie muttered with an eerie sense of calm.
They stood up and raised their bow to the sky, firing off a dome rain of arrows across the platform.
"Then finish me off quickly, warrior! For soon your judgment shall be passed!"
The crates were sent flying in S.A.N.C.T.U.M.'s direction in a manner tightly compact enough to make his quick bursts of speed all but useless.
He pressed through regardless, even as the crates were reduced to a storm of shrapnel to wear down his body.
The Valkyrie ran away behind the sole surviving crate on the platform, which clued Lunalei in that this HAD to be the one with the supply crate they were after.
"You're not getting away!"
As she sent S.A.N.C.T.U.M. in to finish the job, a deafening explosion of electricity went off behind the crate, rattling the vessel and even cratering the water below them hundreds of feet deep.
Yet instead of being swayed around by the water crashing back into place, the electricity spread across the vessel and kept it afloat.
And the Valkyrie slowly waltzed out from behind the crate, their armor restored and their lightning now surging with a blue tint.
Their presence was blinding and overwhelming, and like a walking storm every step they took brought devastation in their wake.
"W-What happened?" Lunalei had blinked and all of a sudden it was like the Valkyrie had transformed, except…that wouldn't explain the repaired armor.
The readings she was getting off her were insane, with their passive aura being enough to bring about the occasional disconnection.
With a glistening, pointed smile, the Valkyrie raised her sword and cheered in glorious fashion, "Hope you're ready!"
It was subtle, but there was a lighter pitch to her voice that left Lunalei questioning everything, "Is this a split personality?!"
It HAD to be the case, because she never picked up a second person on her scanners.
…But there was no time to pursue the logic behind this. She needed to end this fight. FAST.
S.A.N.C.T.U.M. charged forward and punched the Valkyrie with everything he had, but her head barely budged.
She widened her smile against his knuckles and then taunted him, "Is that all? I guess your justice isn't all it's cracked up to be!"
Without a second thought the Valkyrie vanished high into the sky and sheathed their sword on their belt and held their hands towards the sky.
The clouds swirled in a condensed shape and then burst with a flash of pure white light.
"Glory be to the spear that shall pull God down from his throne!" She exclaimed like the echoing thunderclap.
The cloud dispensed a massive white lightning bolt into her hands which she clenched into the shape of a holy spear surrounded by rings.
"ST. ELMO'S BLASPHEMY!" She flung the spear straight down at S.A.N.C.T.U.M. like she was firing off a railgun.
"Do-!" Before Lunalei had the chance, S.A.N.C.T.U.M. was smited where he stood, the vengeance of the heavens concentrated solely upon his being.
Yet it was so undeniable graceful, disturbing naught but the target of her wrath.
When it was over the machine was on his fists and knees with most of his joints broken and the gravity-field threatening to shut down.
Lunalei was forced to disconnected their link before the electricity fried her mind, and then worked hastily to re-establish a link.
Her best efforts saw her try to raise S.A.N.C.T.U.M.'s fist to punch the Valkyrie as they landed in front of her, disarming their electricity due to how little threat her enemy posed.
With a gentle swipe of her sword she cut off his hand and then stabbed him in the neck, playfully smiling at his helplessness.
"You put up a good fight Mr. Robot, but I'm sorry to say you won't be getting in our way anymore."
"M-M-Master…!"
Lunalei was silent to keep focused. Escape was the only plan now, and fortunately…the Valkyrie took the bait.
"You know what they say, live to fight another day! NOW!" At her command, the detached hand latched onto the Valkyrie's heel and fired off one quick gravity boost to take her off balance and drag her off the platform.
"Huh?! HEY!" She seemed wildly unamused and stabbed her sword into the side to try and pull herself back up.
"Hurry! GO!" Lunalei commanded, and with whatever energy S.A.N.C.T.U.M. had left he rushed to the door and wrenched it open with Mark having safely endured the fight unharmed.
He then pulled him against his chest tightly with his one hand and fired off his boosters to escape the platform and hurtle straight back to the city.
The Valkyrie tried to fire off one more lightning bolt but hit the water, ending off this confrontation with a loud invitation of, "If you want to lose again, you know where to find me!"
Eventually, S.A.N.C.T.U.M. returned to the city and collapsed on the empty docks, making careful sure not to hurt Mark in the process.
With a little effort, he stood back up, now down a hand.
Mark's heart was racing as he got up and wondered, "What happened back there?! You looked like you were winning and then…"
Mark then pulled his hands back and remarked "Oh god, are you ok S.A.N.C.T.U.M.?" regarding his arm.
"Oh, this is hardly anything," S.A.N.C.T.U.M. said calmly, "What about you, master?"
"I'm good, thankfully. That last lightning bolt would've ended you if it hit though."
She then saw Mark about ready to ask a lot of questions and while she'd love to answer them, there was a bigger priority that needed to be addressed.
"I'll worry about the Valkyrie. Listen to me Mark…I'm afraid someone among 'Dregs' has infiltrated your police station."
Mark became tongue twisted and then swallowed with a hard choking sound as he stumbled back, "You…w-what…?"
His face was steadily becoming pale as Lunalei explained to him, "I thought it was suspicious that your department hasn't tried to do more of an investigation into the string of incidents lately, so one night I sent one of S.A.N.C.T.U.M. drones to access one of the computers and see if there was evidence of a cover-up."
"I didn't, but I found that file instead. And given what happened tonight…"
After a pause she looked at him dead in the eyes through her creation and asked, "And you HAVEN'T told ANYONE about what's going on, right?"
"NO!" He uttered, struggling to piece this all together.
He held his hand against his head and paced around the dock, "This can't be right…"
"...I don't know why you're this surprised, given the job you chose." Lunalei had to say it bluntly.
Mark turned around and shouted, "Hey! I've done GOOD with this job!"
"I'm not arguing against that, but it doesn't MATTER how much good you do when at a base level, your profession enables the most corruption and exploitation out of them all! And THIS should be the only reminder you need of that fact!"
Mark bit his lower lip, unable to deny that she was right. Which should've made her feel better, but it didn't.
"...Now we're in a conundrum though. If you quit now it'll look extra suspicious, on top of removing you from a place I can contact you easily. But if we keep you there, it's risking letting information of our plans leak to the enemy, which will let them set up more traps like this one."
"Hmm…" Lunalei had her creation tap his foot.
"...I've got no problems staying around," Mark spoke up bravely, "If someone is exploiting the law to get their way, then it's my duty to stop them. Anything else is cowardice."
"Even if it means arresting a friend or comrade?" Lunalei had to pressure him on.
Mark squeezed his fist and gulped, "...Y-Yeah."
"Good. Even if we didn't defeat our enemy this time, we've determined a lot of useful information to help us unravel 'Dregs' plot."
Now that the matter of the police corruption was over with, Mark raised his head and wondered, "So…what are you planning to do about the Valkyrie?"
"I got plenty of time off to repair S.A.N.C.T.U.M. and get him some upgrades for the next encounter. I'll make sure to create something that'll help protect you as well. Then…I'll try doing some research into the new Prime Minister of France…see if maybe I can find some tie between him and the Valkyrie."
"Just…" Lunalei took a deep breath and spoke to him calmly, "Try and enjoy the holidays, Mark. I know that's a big ask, but please. We'll pick this back up at the start of the New Year."
She then turned S.A.N.C.T.U.M. around and remarked, "Our enemy has made it clear that they aren't going to be able to finish this plan until I'm out of the picture."
"Then…" Mark's inquiring mind got her to stop just long enough to hear him, "Do you think they laid that trap…to try and narrow down your identity?"
"...Good night, Mark." She then had S.A.N.C.T.U.M. take off, leaving the officer with a ton of questions, and no peace of mind to head to rest with.
But there was one thing he caught on to, "...Plenty of time off?"
He saw the machine flying away into the open sea and muttered, "Is that because of something that happened…or is it because of the Winter?"
Thus began the long, silent night.
With the Valkyrie having made a strong first impression, and their secret enemy working to unravel Lunalei's identity…
Next Time: The Day of Peace