All Alone
Part Fifteen: Thriller
[A/N 1: This chapter commissioned by GW_Yoda and beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]
[A/N 2: The Empire Eighty-Eight will be espousing racist ideas and slurs in this fic. The author does not share these views.]
The Evening of August 31, 2009
Kaiser
Max stared at the skinhead. The man was grimy, his clothing was torn, and there was blood down one side of his face from a gash on his head. He honestly looked like he'd been on the losing side of a fight, which did not bode well for the tidings he bore.
"Tell him what you told me." Krieg's voice was carefully controlled. "All of it."
The young man took a deep breath. "Um, okay, so we were doing the initiation, yeah? Hookwolf got us to grab some nigger or slant off the street, but do it loud so this Animator bitch would come calling. If she wants to fuck with us, we were gonna fuck right back. That's what he said."
"Understood, yes. So, she showed up?" It wasn't exactly a wild guess out of the blue.
The mook nodded jerkily. "Yeah, along with the guy in the top hat, and Shadow Bitch, and some other guy with a gun. But he wasn't even a normal guy. He was goin' toe to toe with fuckin' Hookwolf, an' he was winning."
Max already didn't like the sound of this. "And Stormtiger?" Normally the pair of them made a potent combination.
"Shadow Bitch shot him, then top hat guy started basically pulling his arms out of their sockets. No matter what we did to any of 'em, it didn't bother them. I snuck out when Stormtiger went down for good." The skinhead sounded well and truly rattled. "We were supposed to win. It was a fuckin' massacre."
"The PRT got them both?" Max was reasonably certain he knew the answer to the question.
Krieg frowned and rubbed his chin. "Vans and ambulances were called to the location, No word yet as to where any of them went."
"That's a little bit of a worry." Purity sat forward in her own chair. "Animator apparently did something to Alabaster and Cricket to mess with their powers. Did she do the same thing to Hookwolf and Stormtiger?"
Max nodded thoughtfully. "Well, considering that Hookwolf comes back from basically anything within seconds, it would have to be something like that, wouldn't it?" He turned to Krieg. "Start shaking the bushes with our people inside the PRT and BBPD. See if you can get the full story from their end."
"Certainly." Krieg gestured, and the mook retreated hastily from the room. "In the meantime, that's four of ours out of commission. In addition, I strongly suspect they intend to sentence Hookwolf to the Birdcage, now they've got the chance."
"Our people are only out of commission until we can break them out of holding," Max corrected him. "Didn't you say something a while ago about having Gesellschaft provide a couple of extra capes for backup?"
Krieg smiled briefly. "Yes, a husband-and-wife couple. They're still in … preparation, shall we say. Not ready yet."
"Okay, whatever. Not available, then." Max sighed. "Fenja and Menja are useful in the field, but not so much inside buildings. We need at least four good hitters to break Hookwolf and the others out, and I'm not sure we have that."
"There's a nineteen-year-old down in Alabama I heard about," Purity ventured. "He Triggered when he got caught trying to unplug his disabled sister from her life support. Apparently he can generate ghosts or something. From what they quoted of him online, he might be in tune with our views."
"Worth a recruitment attempt, certainly." Max grimaced. "But it would take at least a week to get him here then whip him into shape as a member of Empire Eighty-Eight. Did anyone ever track down Blitzen or Iron Cross?" He just wished someone would explain to him why the fire-blasting speedster and the Tinker had quit the team like that.
"Blitzen showed up in California recently, I believe." Krieg shrugged. "He's changed his name to Firestreak, but it's the same powerset. We still don't have a lead on Iron Cross."
California was a little far to go for any kind of retribution; besides, there was no evidence that either one of them had blabbed any of the Empire's secrets to anyone. "Alright, then. We'll put out feelers to the boy in Alabama. Also, wasn't there a report about someone who could steal skills, taken in by one of the families?"
Purity nodded. "I remember that, yes. A young man called Grayson. He shows promise."
"Good." Max smacked the back of his left hand into the palm of his right, in lieu of doing the same with a pair of gloves. "See about bringing him into the Empire. But in the meantime, I need both of you to explore all available avenues for getting our people out of PRT holding before they're transferred out of state."
"Certainly," replied Krieg. Purity just nodded.
Max leaned back in his chair, deep in thought. Just a week ago, the Empire Eighty-Eight had been sitting pretty, with a rosy future. And then everything had gone wrong.
What the hell happened?
Lung
"So, it's true." Kenta didn't often laugh in front of his men, but this time a hearty chuckle or two seemed worthwhile. "The Empire set a trap and were caught by their own cleverness."
"Yes, great Lung." The ABB member who had brought him the news didn't dare echo his mirth, but did offer a tentative smile. "That's what our contacts in the BBPD say. Cricket, Alabaster and Stormtiger are in custody. We're not sure about Hookwolf."
He frowned at that. "What do you mean, not sure? Either he is in custody or he is not."
"There's no word to say that he got away, and the police are saying that they removed several dead bodies from the site. That's all we know." The minion was starting to sweat a little.
Kenta's head came up. "Hookwolf? Dead? I'd need to see his corpse myself, cold and stiff on a metal slab, before I believed that." He'd tried very hard to kill the Empire cape more than once, and could attest to his durability.
"Yes, great Lung." The minion nodded earnestly. "We'll ask more questions, and find out exactly what happened with him."
"See that you do." Kenta stood up and fitted his mask to his face. "In the meantime, alert the troops. We move tonight, while the Empire is still licking its wounds."
He smiled cruelly. Many people who had paid 'protection' to Kaiser up until then would soon be paying him instead. It would all be cash in his pocket; no actual protection would be given, of course. That wasn't how it worked.
They give money; I get money. That's how it works.
While he could drive a car—he'd boosted his first ride at fourteen—his image didn't permit him to do it when he had others to do it for him. The Dragon of Kyushu did not drive; he was driven. And so, as he walked through the outer room and gestured to one of his men, it was understood that he needed a driver.
Heading outside, he got into the back of the latest car that had been acquired for his personal transport. These cars were changed out regularly, partly because of ongoing wear and tear (cape battles were hard on any nearby cars, not to mention the fact that his people weren't the most careful of drivers) and partly to ensure that nobody could pinpoint him from a distance merely because of the car he was driving. It hadn't been so long ago, after all, that some of the less restrained villains and edgier anti-heroes had been known to snipe their foes from a distance with high-end military ordnance.
Not that he considered himself vulnerable to such things, but there was no sense in tempting fate.
As the car moved off, he leaned back in his seat and smiled. The lack of those four capes meant the Empire Eighty-Eight was significantly weaker than it had been in some time. Whatever territory the ABB took tonight, he would ensure that they held onto it.
Coil
As night fell, Thomas Calvert considered his options. The first thing he'd done after evading capture was to go to an ATM and withdraw as much of his cash as possible. He hadn't managed to empty the account, but he figured he had two or three more chances to get more money before the cops managed to freeze his account.
He'd hit the ATM once more just after midnight, then he'd head to an out-of-the-way branch and see if he could empty his account over the counter. Splitting timelines, of course. The last thing he wanted was for some minimal-wage rent-a-cop to put a gun to the back of his head and catapult him back into police custody.
After that, he needed to locate someone who could supply him with fake IDs, the type that would stand up to close scrutiny. Without that, there was no way he could start building up legitimate resources to go with the illicit ones. The identity of Thomas Calvert may belong to a wanted criminal, but one name was as good as another.
The fact that the PRT had his fingerprints and other biometric data would require him to resort to extreme measures if he ever wanted to enter their employ again, but once he was rich enough, he might not even need them anymore.
Getting control of Animator instead might just be good enough.
Animator
Smacking the Empire around had started out as an incidental thing, mainly for Sophia's sake. Now we were going to get serious. The ABB had killed Emma, so they were going down. This was our chance to smack two vultures with one big sharp rock.
"Okay," I said thoughtfully as Dad drove the car sedately down yet another quiet back street. "If you were Lung, where would you be right now?"
"Enjoying being King Dipshit of Dipshitville," Sophia snarked.
Hookwolf shrugged. "Can't actually argue with that." He peered out the window, looking from side to side. "We got ABB tags but I ain't seen no red-and-green-wearing shitheads since we came out. Says to me they're making a push against Empire territory. And that's where Lung'll be, right up front."
Dad nodded slowly. "That tracks, yes. So, what part of Empire territory is Lung likely to make a try for first?"
"Hmm." Hookwolf frowned for a moment. "We took Edmonton Plaza off them last month. I bet they're still pissed about that."
"Edmonton Plaza, it is." Dad hit the indicator and took the next left.
"Okay, so how are we going to play this?" asked Sophia. "Hooksy's got Lung, but then there's the other Empire capes and the ABB assholes to worry about."
Hookwolf nodded in agreement, then refocused on me. "Empire capes will be looking to grab or snuff you, Animator. That was the whole idea of the trap. Dunno if Lung's bought into the idea that you can bring people back from the dead yet, so just play keep-away with any of his crew that get close to you. Kaiser'll probably try an' get everyone to dogpile you, so watch out for that."
Dad raised his eyes to the rear-vision mirror. "That was a particularly incisive analysis. I'm somewhat impressed. The news usually paints you as a head-kicker."
Hookwolf shook his head and snorted. "I am a head-kicker. But you don't get far in the cage-fighting gig without learning to read your opponents before you ever get in the ring with them. You know how they fight, you can usually figure out what they're gonna do."
The look Sophia gave him bore a vague resemblance to respect. "That's actually pretty smart." Then of course she had to get in the inevitable dig. "So, how's that working out for you, so far?"
Hookwolf's expression suggested that he'd just bitten into something sour. "You need to clean your ears out, brat. I said 'usually'."
Edmonton Plaza
Kaiser
"Keep up the pressure!" Max gestured, causing a row of angled metal stakes to spring out of the asphalt in front of an onrushing group of ABB gang members. They recoiled from the implicit threat, then raised firearms.
Max generated a six-foot-high tower shield to augment his armour, then looked over at where Fenja and Menja were playing keep-away with Lung. Their ability to grow much taller than the fifteen-foot-tall ABB leader should've been a deciding factor in the battle, but it was offset by his sheer savagery, his regeneration, and the fact that he was literally on fire. Even as Max watched, Lung vomited a white-hot blast of flame that splashed off Fenja's hastily-raised shield. He'd already seized Menja's spear and snapped it in two, causing her to be much more circumspect in her approach.
Max was beginning to regret splitting off Purity and Krieg to guard other approaches to Empire territory. In addition, the absence of Hookwolf, Cricket, Stormtiger and Alabaster was having a distinct effect on the course of the fight. All four were exemplary brawlers who were able to either take gunfire or avoid it with a high chance of success.
And then, as though summoned by that passing thought, Hookwolf arrived like a cannonball. Literally leaping off a nearby building, the metal-clad cape slammed into Lung with an impact that sent both of them rolling sideways. Metal claws threw up sparks from concrete and asphalt as Hookwolf halted his headlong tumble, then he launched himself back into the fray.
Lung, still climbing to his feet, was caught off-balance and went over again. He roared in what might have been pain or anger (Max was inclined to assume the latter) as Hookwolf's razor talons shredded his scales, sending silver metal and gouts of blood flying into the night air. In response to the attack, the fire surrounding him flared high, but it didn't seem to bother Hookwolf in the slightest.
Fenja and Menja fell back to where Max stood, both looking the worse for wear. Menja's armour was badly damaged, as was Fenja's shield; from the way they were both limping, Max suspected they were sporting burns and bruises from the intense fighting. "Where did he come from?" asked Fenja. "And where's he been?"
Max briefly considered pretending that he'd known Hookwolf's location all along, but decided it would be too hard to keep up the lie. "I'm not entirely sure, but I intend to find out."
Menja stared at the ongoing fight between the two capes. "And holy shit, is he winning? How is he winning?"
That was something else Max would've liked to know.
Hookwolf was tough, certainly. He'd been Max's lieutenant for a reason. Able to stand up to an inordinate amount of damage and keep on soldiering through, he nevertheless had his limits. But now he seemed to be effortlessly transcending them.
Lung, once more on his feet, treated Hookwolf to a burst of the same white-hot flame that had driven Fenja back. Doing no more to shield himself than holding one arm up in front of his face, Hookwolf powered in to the attack. Even glowing red-hot, his metal claws punched in through Lung's scales as he literally climbed up the Asian crime lord's body, ripping chunks out as he went.
But he wasn't having it all his own way. Lung grabbed him and tore him away, losing more flesh in the process. In the next moment, Hookwolf had been hurled a good thirty feet, only to roll to his feet, ready for another round.
"Is he on fire?" asked Menja. "I think he's on fire."
Just as Max was trying to figure out if it was just smoke drifting up from Hookwolf's form or actual fire as well, the question was taken out of his mind by a tremendous impact from behind. At the same time, Fenja cried out in pain and Menja in alarm.
Skidding across the cracked asphalt, Max generated a metal spike in one hand and gouged it into the roadway to bring himself to a stop. Turning, he looked around to see a tall figure advancing on him. The man was wearing a long-coat and a top-hat, with a skull-topped walking cane.
Behind the man in the top-hat, Fenja and Menja were fighting Shadow Stalker. Or rather, they were swiping uselessly at her as she flickered in and out of her shadow state, jumping from one to the other and dealing out shots from her crossbows like they were on sale. Max had known she was fast and agile, but this was a step up from what he'd thought she was capable of. Two against one, thirty feet tall to her five feet and change, and she still had them on the back foot.
Still, he had his own problems to deal with. As he climbed to his feet, he grew a cage of blades around the man in the top hat. "Who are you?" he demanded.
"You can call me the Undertaker." The tall man barely paused in his advance to kick the closest blade, snapping it off at ground level. He stepped through the resultant gap and kept coming. "You and yours are unwelcome in Brockton Bay. Leave, or we bury you."
Max resisted the urge to take a step back. He would not be intimidated by … wait. Tall man, top hat. Working with Shadow Stalker. "Are you with Animator?"
"I am." The Undertaker was too close for comfort now. The cane tapped menacingly on the asphalt.
Max made a metal spike erupt from the ground and spear into the Undertaker's back from behind, bursting out through the man's chest and lifting him off the ground. Stepping back, he sneered. "You should've watched your back."
"Hm." The Undertaker looked down at the spike, then brought his fist down on it. With a sound like a gunshot, the metal broke off short, and the Undertaker dropped to the ground with the spike still protruding from his chest. Taking hold of it, he pushed it back, and allowed it to slide out of his body and clatter to the ground. "About what I've come to expect from someone like you."
Menja cried out in fear and pain, and Max glanced over involuntarily. Shadow Stalker had managed to separate the Valkyrie twins so they couldn't fight in unison; she was harrying Fenja, while Menja lay on the ground with Animator holding her leg. As Max watched, Menja shrank in size, all the way back to normal human scale. Whatever Animator was doing to her, it wasn't affected by the size difference.
The distraction had been brief, but it was long enough. When he brought his attention back to the Undertaker, it was too late. The swung cane caught him in the side of the head with an almighty clang, knocking him off his feet again.
This time, even as he tried to get up, the Undertaker stepped up and kicked him solidly in the ribs. Metal snapped and bent, and Max was thrown to the side with the feeling that he'd just been hit by a pile-driver. There was a distinct dent in the armour where the Undertaker's kick had landed, and the left shoulder joint had lost some of its articulation.
Again, he tried to impale the Undertaker with more blades of steel, but this time the tall man evaded them with contemptuous ease. Grabbing Max by the ankle as he tried to crawl away, the Undertaker lifted him into the air, swung him over like a rag doll, and smashed him into the pavement with a stunning crash. As Max tried to regain his breath, he was hefted into the air again and used to pummel some more of the roadway into submission.
On the third such strike, his armour started to come apart, not having been designed to handle this level of abuse. The fourth was when his left arm, now exposed, hit the ground first and snapped like a dry twig. And on the fifth, Max's abused body decided to throw in the towel. As he passed out, his helmet came loose and rolled away; in that moment, he decided he didn't give a damn.
Animator
I stood up from Menja's unconscious body—she'd had more energy than Cricket, but less than Alabaster—to see Fenja fleeing, along with the Empire Eighty-Eight mooks who had accompanied them. Dad, carrying a slightly bent cane and sporting a large hole through his chest, strolled over and deposited someone in front of me. The glowing skeleton was still alive, though unconscious, and had a broken arm. If I looked carefully, I could see bits of metal armour surrounding it, though some important parts were missing.
"Nicely done." I gave him a grin, then reached out and healed his injuries. Kaiser I could do nothing about, even if I wanted to. Unless he was dead, of course, but I suspected he would have issues with going that far just to heal a broken arm.
Sophia came back from where she'd been making sure Fenja was actually gone, and nodded to me. "Well, one out of two ain't bad," she declared. "Total rush fighting them, though."
"I bet it was." I gave her a healing burst as well, though she hadn't taken the level of damage Dad had. Hookwolf, on the other hand … yeah, he was going to need some fixing.
Still on his feet, though he'd been scorched down to the bone in some places, Hookwolf was slugging it out with a much-reduced Lung. Bent and twisted blades littered the ground for yards around, testament to how much damage he'd taken from Lung, and just kept on going. Metallic scales, many with chunks of flesh still adhering to them, were also spread far and wide, showing that he'd given at least as good as he'd gotten.
I headed over toward them. Fire flickered around Lung, though he was back down to human size and he wasn't blasting it at Hookwolf anymore. A metal-plated wing lay nearby, and he had a still-raw wound over his right shoulderblade.
Lung was nowhere near death, as far as I could tell. Given a few moments to recuperate, he would regenerate all his wounds and be back to full strength. However, Hookwolf hadn't given him the chance, doing more damage to him than his overstressed powers could fix.
Which was where I came in. As Lung turned to look at me, I called out, "Now!"
This was Hookwolf's signal; he grabbed Lung in a bear-hug, and hung on tight. I darted in even as Lung began to struggle free, and grabbed Lung's brawny arm (ignoring the heat) with one hand, and Hookwolf's charred and mangled wrist with the other. Then I began to pull and push energy at the same time; not an easy trick, but I could just about manage it.
Lung had a tremendous store of energy, just as Alabaster had. Even skimming ninety percent of the take into my power's storage space, I had plenty left over to repair Hookwolf's injuries. He seemed almost to inflate as I pumped energy into him, his muscles repairing themselves and the skin growing over the top.
Lung's fire was the first thing to fail, while his struggles to free himself lessened by the second. I'd been aware that Hookwolf's fight with Lung was drawing huge amounts of energy—he had a lot of potential for ramping up, and I'd given him free rein with it—but this replaced all of it easily. By the time I was done, Lung's energy stores were at an all-time low, and the man himself was thoroughly unconscious.
"So, you gonna do his arm like you did with Alabaster?" Sophia seemed eager for this to happen.
I shook my head regretfully. "It wouldn't do anything. Alabaster had a timer ticking off. Lung's regeneration is constant. Even if I turn it off, it'll just start healing him when it turns on again."
"So, we gonna kill him then?" Hookwolf let Lung fall unceremoniously to the ground.
Dad frowned and shook his head. "Probably not the best idea, unless you think he'd do well as an Animated. We don't want to get the reputation of people who go all-in to kill capes. That's how you get capes coming in to target us. Including Animator."
We all knew how that would turn out. One lucky bullet was all it would take to kill me; if that happened, the other three would die as well, this time permanently.
"With the shit Lung's already pulled, he's probably due for the Birdcage anyway." Sophia nudged him with the toe of her boot. "The PRT'll be thrilled to scoop him up, along with Maxie there, and whichever one that is." She gestured at the unconscious Valkyrie lying nearby.
"Menja," Hookwolf filled in. "Fenja's the one with the shield and sword."
Sophia's shrug bespoke a supreme lack of investment in the subject. "I honestly don't fuckin' care. All Nazis look the same to me. Faces to be punched and asses to be kicked."
"I'll make the call." I pulled my phone out. "I have to say, good work there. I wasn't sure if he could be beaten down, but if anyone could do it, you could."
Hookwolf hesitated, then spread his hands. "Probably couldn't've done it when I was alive. He did way too much damage to me, just then. Cooked me pretty good. But it was totally fuckin' worth it."
"Good to hear." I dialled 9-1-1, then waited until I was connected through.
"You've reached 9-1-1, what is your emergency?"
"Hi, yeah, I need the PRT. Tell them it's about Kaiser and Lung."
I wasn't sure if they'd actually passed on the message, but I did get through in remarkably short time. "Good evening, you've reached the PRT. What is your situation, please?"
"This is Animator," I said crisply. "I'm at Edmonton Plaza. I've just helped shut down a cape battle, and both Kaiser and Lung are down and awaiting pickup, as is …" I paused, trying to remember which one Hookwolf had said it was. "Uh, Fenja or Menja. The one with the spear. The other one got away."
There was a pause on the other end, which I interpreted as stunned silence. "Ah. I see. I'll vector personnel there immediately. Does anyone on site require medical assistance?"
"… yeah, probably," I confirmed. "Kaiser's got a broken arm along with some other stuff, I guess. Lung'll basically walk off everything we did to him. Fenja or Menja might need some basic first aid too. And there's half a dozen mooks who were down when we got here. Not sure what happened to them. So yeah, send EMTs."
"Copy that, Animator. Will you still be there when they arrive?"
Now, that was the sixty-four million dollar question. The last time we'd gotten into a cape fight, I'd ended up absconding with the corpse of Hookwolf; or rather, I'd gotten him to get up and come with me after I'd changed his situation from 'dead' to 'Animated'.
What I didn't know was, when the PRT showed up, were they going to be problematic about Hookwolf's status? On the other hand, if we left before the PRT showed up, what if Lung came to in that interval? After the effort Hookwolf had put into taking him down, I didn't want him getting away again.
"Yeah. We will." I looked at Hookwolf and then Dad and Sophia. Whatever happened, happened. And if the PRT wanted to object, then we'd have to deal with it. I figured it was better out in the open than playing a game of do-they-or-don't-they.
"Thank you. There should be people there soon."
"Okay, then. Thanks. Bye."
I ended the call and put my phone away, then dropped out of the shadow realm. It was easier to keep track of Kaiser and Lung and whatever her name was, that way. And even though I'd basically filled the tank all over again, I couldn't guarantee access to either Alabaster or Lung again any time soon, so it was probably a good idea to not waste what we had.
A minute or so later, I saw Lung begin to stir. Hookwolf was on top of it; as he headed in that direction, I went back into the shadow realm. We hadn't bothered putting any kind of restraints on the three capes, because Kaiser still had armour on his wrists and the other two would be able to get out of plastic zip-ties in short order. However, Dad had thoughtfully brought along a black cloth bag, and put it over Kaiser's head.
"Don't even try it." The lack of emotion in Hookwolf's voice made him sound even more menacing. "You get up, I'll put you down again. Then Animator will rip the life clear out of you and leave you pissing and shitting yourself on the floor."
I was pretty sure my power didn't make people lose control of their sphincters, but there was always a first time. Still, it was a fairly nasty threat. Nobody, especially anyone as powerful as Lung, wanted to have that happen to them.
"Hookwolf." It was Kaiser's voice, sounding pained, even through the echoing effect I got from non-dead people while I was in the shadow realm. "Is that you?"
"Was me." Hookwolf didn't move from where he was standing over Lung. "Not sure what I am now, but I don't work for you anymore."
"What? What do you mean? Did Animator do something to your head?" With his good hand, Kaiser reached for the bag.
Dad stood on his wrist before he quite got there. "Uh-uh. That stays where it is." The cane rapped Kaiser on the head through the bag, and he froze in place.
"Hey!" Sophia had spotted the Valkyrie cape sneakily trying to grow larger. She kicked the Empire cape in the ribs, probably not using all her strength, but the woman curled into a ball anyway. "None of that stealth bullshit. You get bigger, that just makes you a bigger target. You couldn't beat me with your sister here, you won't be able to do shit on your own."
Hookwolf sighed theatrically. "Quit it, Nessa. Max, Animator didn't do shit to my head. Fact is, I see things a bit clearer than I did before. You were the one pouring poison in my ear, and I didn't care what anyone thought about me so long as I got to kick people's shit in. I still don't care what they think, but now I don't give a shit about the other stuff either."
"Max? Who's Max?" Kaiser was a pretty good actor, even injured and with a bag over his head. "I'm afraid you've got me mistaken for someone else."
Dad wasn't having any of it. "You're Max Anders. Hookwolf gave us chapter and verse about the Empire Eighty-Eight. By now, a police officer we know will be talking to the PRT and giving them all the information. Basically, everyone's secret identity, and where they lay their head. The Empire is done in this town."
"You can't do that!" Nessa (I still wasn't sure if she was Fenja or Menja, but at least I had a name for her now) uncurled from the foetal position she'd assumed, though she was smart enough not to try to get up. "There's rules for that sort of thing!"
"What, the unwritten rules?" Sophia's crossbow was aimed directly at the prone woman's helmet. "The ones that you racist assholes stomp all over every chance you get, then hide behind as soon as things stop going your way? Those rules? Don't make me fucking laugh."
"She's got a point." Hookwolf gestured at Kaiser and Lung. "You have to admit, neither of these two ever paid a blind bit of notice to any rules they didn't feel like following, and that definitely includes those goddamn stupid unwritten rules. I know I never did."
"Hookwolf … why?" Kaiser seemed to be trying for 'more in sorrow than in anger', though I was probably losing some of the nuances while in the shadow realm. "You were a valued member of the Empire Eighty-Eight. I trusted you. Why are you working against us now? Is it money? Be assured, whatever they're giving you, I can double or triple it."
I was so very tempted to say something like I bet you can't, but I kept my mouth shut. This was Hookwolf's conversation, and I wasn't about to jump in over the top of him. Besides, I was interested in seeing where he went with this.
Hookwolf shook his head and sneered at his former boss. "You got no fuckin' idea what you're talkin' about. The more I think about it, the more I see you for the piss-weak big-mouthed asshole you'll always be. The ambitious little shit who never got over the fact that everyone respected Allfather ten times more than they'll ever respect you. Shit, if the true believers ever figured out you aren't even serious about that Nazi shit you dribble all the time, they'd gank you themselves."
There was a frozen moment in time before Lung let out a bark of laughter, proving that he absolutely did know English. Then Nessa turned her head sideways to stare at Kaiser. "He's lying, isn't he? Tell me he's lying!"
"Of course he's lying, Menja." I had to hand it to Kaiser, he hit all the right notes to make the denial sound convincing, even when he was lying flat on his back with a broken arm and a bag over his head. "They're just trying to turn us against each other."
"Why?" asked Dad, before I could. "What possible reason could we have for trying to do that, right now? You've already lost this fight."
"Besides, I didn't even know that." I looked over at Hookwolf, wishing my power would let me know what was going on in someone's mind. "Is it actually true, or are you just busting his balls?"
"Oh, it's true." He chuckled, showing his teeth. "It's amazing what you pick up when folks think you're a know-nothing shit-kicker. Little bit here, little bit there. Adds up to a real interesting picture. Except I didn't think it all the way through 'til just now."
"No, it's not true." Nessa sounded like she was trying to convince herself of what she was saying. "It can't be true."
"Keep telling yourself that." He snickered. "Oh, and there's something I didn't actually get around to telling your buddy Lagos. He's been screwing Purity for the last couple of years, and popped the question to her about a month ago. We've got bets down on if she's up the duff yet. I got fifty that says she is. How about it, Max? Want to settle the question? It's not like I'm gonna actually be able to collect if I'm right."
Kaiser's reply was drowned out by the sound of heavy engines; three PRT vans roared up to where we were, and screeched to a halt. They were accompanied by two capes on motorbikes: Armsmaster and Challenger. The former pulled to a controlled stop, while the latter came in hard and slid to a sideways stop.
As the heroes climbed off their rides, they couldn't have presented more of a contrast if they'd tried. Armsmaster wore blue and silver armour, with a helmet that covered his face down to his cheekbones, while Challenger's red bodysuit with fine chains dangling from the epaulettes shouted for attention. Drawing the rifle that was sheathed alongside the cycle, Challenger rested it back over her shoulder as she strode forward alongside Armsmaster.
I decided the threat of the villains attempting a last-minute escape was over and dropped out of the shadow realm, then turned to face the newcomers.
"Well, damn," Challenger said, looking at each of our captives in turn. She had an abbreviated helmet with a diagonal blindfold down over her left eye, but it didn't do much to obscure her features otherwise. "Both the big boys, plus one of the armour twins. Nicely done. How'd you manage it without setting the whole neighbourhood on fire?"
"Also, I notice Hookwolf isn't restrained." Armsmaster unracked his halberd and let it unfold into its full length. "Mind explaining what's going on there?"
I didn't much like his tone, so I folded my arms. "I made him an offer he couldn't refuse. Now he works for me."
Challenger raised her one visible eyebrow. Her right eye was green, I noticed, and she had sharp features. "Pretty sure it doesn't work like that … Animator, right?"
"Animator, yes." I gave her a defiant stare. "It does if someone dies and I bring them back. Or are you so anxious to handle the paperwork for when you arrest him and take him out of my range and he drops dead all over again, in your care?"
"He's dead?" Armsmaster pulled a classic double-take, staring at Hookwolf with such intensity that I almost expected cartoon binoculars to pop out of his visor. "Are you sure?"
Hookwolf stepped aside to allow the PRT troopers to secure Lung and the others, but he also gave Armsmaster the finger. "I'm not dead, halberd-for-brains. I'm Animated. In case you're wondering, I just beat the living fuck out of Lung, and I'm still standing. Know anyone outside the Triumvirate who can do that?"
Leaning down, Challenger picked up a piece of scorched metal: one of Hookwolf's discarded blades. "Okay, then. Evidence checks out." She turned to me. "So, what's the actual difference between alive and Animated?"
"Living people need to breathe and always have a heartbeat. Animated don't." I shrugged, wondering what else I could say that wouldn't give away too much information. "Oh, and Animated don't need to sleep." I pointed at the tiny plastic skulls Dad and Sophia were wearing on their costumes. "That says someone's Animated. I'm pretty sure Lung melted the one Hookwolf was wearing."
Armsmaster's head came up. "No need for sleep at all? How does that even work, neurologically?"
Dad came strolling over. "Well, I'm no neurologist, but I can tell you from first-hand experience that you just don't get tired. You can lie down and even close your eyes, but it does nothing for you that watching a movie or reading a book won't also do for you."
"Hm. Interesting. No loss of focus at all?" Armsmaster peered at Dad, as though he were about to whip out a notebook and start scribbling things down.
"No." Challenger waved her hand up and down in front of Armsmaster's face. "That's not something you want to try doing for yourself in the lab. For a start, it involves dying. Now, I'm good for a lot of crazy stuff, but actual suicide is way outside the scope of anything I'm willing to let you experiment with. And you can be damn sure the Director will agree with me."
"Death isn't necessarily a requirement." Armsmaster gestured at Dad. "Look at him. He's active, cogent, intelligently responding to stimuli. None of those things are a normal result of death."
Challenger shook her head so vigorously that the tiny chains on her epaulettes swung gently in unison. "No. Negative. Nyet. Nein. Ain't gonna happen."
"What I'm saying is, maybe we can skip that step." Now he sounded like a kid promising that he'd mow lawns the entire summer if his dad would just buy a car for him right now. "If I could pull it off, the boost to my productivity would be substantial."
I cleared my throat, and they both looked around at me. "Um, I just want to say, I don't know a ton about the subject, but I read somewhere that living brains need sleep to recuperate and unwind. If they don't get it, hallucinations are common, and that's just the start. With the Animated, their brains aren't alive in the standard sense, so it's my power that keeps them up and running twenty-four-seven. But—"
"That's exactly what I'm trying to say." Armsmaster gestured in my direction, as if to say, See? She agrees with me. "If I could function twenty-four hours a day, I could get so much more done."
I shared a sympathetic look with Challenger. "You didn't let me finish. I was going to say, 'but we've only been doing this for a little while'. I honestly don't know how it works, which means you can't meaningfully replicate it."
"Well, there's one way." Hookwolf raised his eyebrows meaningfully. "I gank him, you Animate him, and then he gets to find out what it's like instead of just assuming he knows."
I folded my arms and gave him an unamused look. "We are not 'ganking' anyone. Especially not so I can Animate them afterward. That's a terrible use for my power."
Challenger snorted and rolled her eye. "Besides, what would you classify it as? Murder or kidnapping? I mean, I don't even know how to describe what you did with Hookwolf. Disturbing the crime scene is one thing, but when the murder victim gets up and walks away, that makes things far too complicated, and not in a good way."
"Well, I don't know." Armsmaster seemed to have gotten past the idea of getting rid of sleep and was back in analysis mode. "It would certainly simplify things if we can just ask the victim who the perpetrator was." He turned to Hookwolf. "Just out of curiosity, who did kill you?"
"Not totally sure," Hookwolf admitted, waggling his hand in the air. "But if you wanted me to guess, I'd say it was Officer Lagos of the police department. Fair's fair, though. I did kill him a couple of days before that."
While Armsmaster facepalmed, Challenger shook her head and smirked. "Simplify things. Riiiight."
I nodded in agreement, but I was already thinking about our next move. The ABB was down, and the Empire nearly so. After that, we needed to go after the Merchants, because they'd killed Dad and Sophia. As Hookwolf had just said, 'fair's fair'. They kill mine, I kill theirs.
The only difference is, theirs stay dead.
End of Part Fifteen