Chapter SixteenDevil Boy walked in to the med-lab to find Thief awake in his bed. After his injuries at the hands of Fetish, Flint kept Thief stable on the flight back to the academy, but he had still been touch and go. The cut in his side missed any vital organs, but blood loss and infection still nearly killed Thief. If that had happened, Thief didn’t know how Devil Boy would have reacted. “Hey, you,” Thief said as he saw his friend. “Hey yourself. Feeling any better?” “I’m ready to get out of this bed. My wound is sealed and as long as I take it easy, I don’t have any risk of opening it. Flint thinks I can be out of here by tonight if nothing changes.” Thief reached down to the personal controls on the side of the med-table and raised it in to a more-or-less sitting position. “After that, well…” He gave Devil Boy a broad grin. “After that, maybe we can pick up where we left off.” Devil Boy shuffled his feet as he looked away from Thief. “What is it?” Devil Boy looked over at his friend. “I—” He paused and looked down at his feet. “Look, I don’t want to talk about it right now. I just want to make sure you’re all right, that’s all.” Thief gave Devil Boy a weak smile. He wasn’t quite sure what was going through DB’s head right now. Hadn’t he been the one to initiate their relationship? Why was he suddenly so standoffish? “I’m doing great, especially with you here. You want to talk about it?” Devil Boy looked at him as if he suddenly had the plague. “Talk about what?” “What’s bothering you?” “Nothing’s bothering me. I’m fine! I—” A low growl rose from deep in Devil Boy’s throat. “Look, I’m not in the mood for all of this. Let’s just get together tomorrow or something.” He turned and opened the door. “Wait!” Devil Boy turned back to Thief. “Not today, okay? Just… just let me have some time to myself, okay?” “All right,” Thief said. “For now, but tomorrow you have to promise me you will talk to me. Okay?” “Okay.” Devil Boy walked through the door and out of the med-lab. Thief sat in his bed and looked at the closed door. He knew they were entering strange new territory in their relationship. They had been friends ever since Thief came to the academy as a kid and became the roommate to Devil Boy (who had been there since shortly after turning four). But Devil Boy was the one that made the first move. He was the one to come on to Thief. Thief always kind of suspected Devil Boy felt the same way as he did, but he never would have had the balls to do that. Their friendship was so important to him; he would never have risked it for the chance at something more. But now… now he knew exactly how Devil Boy felt. He thought he had made it clear that he felt the same way. Why was Devil Boy suddenly unwilling to commit? What was going on with him? One thing was for certain. Tomorrow couldn’t come fast enough. ***** Air Raid watched as Beauty walked towards the van. She gave him a grin which he quickly returned. Behind her, the massive structure known as the Confine sprawled out beneath the Montana sky. The institution was famous for its ultra-high security confinement and its specially designed facilities for metagene-active criminals. “Are they safely stored away?” Beauty nodded. “Jamboree, Dark Elf, and Warbeast are now a problem for the feds to deal with.” “Cool.” He nodded towards the passenger seat. “Now it looks like we have a van and two days to get back to the academy and a whole lot of time to spend together.” Beauty ran around to the other side of the van. She giggled as she pulled open the door and climbed inside. She closed her eyes and concentrated. Ever since she woke up from the experiments performed on her at the MARC she was gaining more and more control over the acid field that covered every inch of her skin. As she focused her mind on it, she felt the field weaken around her face. After a few moments of intense concentration it fell away completely. She opened her eyes, grabbed Air Raid by the collar, and pulled him in close. She shoved her tongue in to his mouth as his eyes went wide. A second later, they fell shut and he was kissing her back. Their lips stayed locked for the next several seconds as their hands quickly groped at one another’s bodies. Beauty released a low moan from deep in her throat. “Ow!” Air Raid pulled suddenly away. His hands went up to his top lip. The skin was slightly discolored, burnt. “Sorry,” Beauty said. “You make it kinda hard to concentrate, you know?” Air Raid grinned. “Yeah, I think I have some idea.” Beauty laughed back at him, as Air Raid turned to start the school’s van. “We better get out of here,” he said. “Before the Confine people make us get a room!” “Yeah that would be terrible. I mean, locked up in a room with little old me.” “Don’t say stuff like that. You make the idea sound way too good.” “Yeah, well, you better focus on the driving, boyo. I still haven’t mastered my concentration well enough for that.” “It’s just a matter of time,” Air Raid said. “You have gotten so much better at control in the last few days.” “Don’t you wish, my perverted love.” “Bite me.” Beauty laughed. “Don’t you wish again, lover!” Air Raid playfully punched Beauty in the shoulder. “Stop that. You’re going to make it hard for me to drive here!” “Yeah? I don’t think it’s just the driving that’s hard.” “You get a sick pleasure out of tormenting me, don’t you?” “Doesn’t every girlfriend?” Air Raid just shook his head as Beauty laughed again. They fell silent as they continued down the empty Montana roads. An hour rolled by with only snippets of conversation here and there as they both admired the beautiful scenery and occasionally each other. With the gas gauge nearly at empty, Air Raid pulled in to a nondescript gas station chain just off the interstate. It was an utterly massive establishment; the kind of stop designed more for large trucks than the average driver. Just the kind of place for an average epsilon to get a quick refill on their gas tank. Beauty looked at the waist line of her t-shirt. Her acid field had eaten through the skin tight suit she wore beneath it and in to the resistant synthetic polymers of the shirt. “I’m going to go in and change while you gas us up. You want anything?” “Just a cherry Coke, Pepsi, whatever is cheapest.” “You got it lover-boy.” She walked off and in to the gas station as Air Raid pulled out the gas credit card, ran it through the reader, and started filling the van’s tank. The station was mostly empty, but even so he tried to keep his wings down as tight as possible. His skin still gave him away as a degen, but at least he wasn’t drawing any more attention than necessary. After a couple minutes the pump clicked to a stop, and as he replaced it, Athena emerged from the station. She held a plastic bag filled with junk food and beverages in one hand. Her other hand carelessly scratched at a patch of skin just below her elbow. She climbed in to the passenger side, still scratching. Air Raid pointed towards her elbow. “You all right there?” “Huh? Oh yeah, I’m fine.” “You sure? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you scratch like that.” “Yeah, it’s just an itch.” “I thought you didn’t get itches because of the acid field.” “Yeah, I don’t know. It’s probably nothing, just another side effect of the changes to the field.” “Okay, but I think you should have Flint take a look at it as soon as we get back. We don’t want to risk it being some kind of bad side effect.” “All right, I suppose you’re right.” “Aren’t I always?” Air Raid chuckled at his own joke. He turned the key and brought the van’s engine back to life. Now he wanted nothing more than to get home as fast as he was able. He didn’t like Beauty’s new problem, even if it was just a sudden nervous tick. He had watched her go through so much already; he wasn’t going to lose her now. He pushed the pedal to the ground as he hit the interstate. The van accelerated to seventy, eighty, and plateaued at just under ninety. They would be home by nightfall. Not soon enough for his liking. ***** Dresden talked after only a few hours in his hand, just as he knew the bastard would. Now he found himself in the barren mountains of Greece on a large overlook over what looked like a small village. Except for the fact that it was no village, but the disguised temple for the ancient goddess Nephthys. And that soon the goddess would rise again to conquer the planet. Unless I stop her, he thought. This time I will make sure you fail, Nephthys. I swear it. He started down the rocky path towards the city. His armor’s cloaking device bent the light around him and made him little more than a shimmer beneath the heavy sunlight, but even so he wasn’t going to take any chances. He held his death-staff at the ready. “Shouldn’t have come here. Die now.” The voice was gravelly and almost inhuman, and he quickly found out why as a massive creature blinked in to view. The ebon-skinned monstrosity stood over twelve feet tall, with a pair of massive bat-like wings on his back that doubled that in wingspan. Massive horns rose from the side of his hairless head, and his shoulders, legs, and arms were all covered with row after row of equally black spikes. His eyes and open mouth glowed a fiery red, and heat blasted from the creatures every pore.” “Am Balrog. Defend Nephthys. Will kill you now.” The armored man dropped the light displacement field as the creature that called him (it?)self Balrog swooped down to strike. He raised the death-staff and hurled a blast of energy in to the creature’s chest. Balrog roared but showed no other sign of harm from the attack. “Tickles. Stop that.” The man in green armor toggled his death-staff to full power. Both ends grew to a blazing glow as energy rippled through his weapon. The man knew only his armor protected him from the staff’s deadly touch. Balrog swooped down to strike, but the man sidestepped the blow. He kicked his boot rockets in to overdrive and shot up and at the massive black creature. He brought the death-staff up over his head and drove it straight in to the chest of Balrog. Energy snapped and hissed around them and the smell of burning flesh assailed his nostrils. Balrog screamed out in pain as he twisted and plummeted to the rocky incline. The degen struck hard, rolled, fell several more feet to land on a patch of jagged rocks. The armored man couldn’t believe his eyes as his helmet’s sensors gave his foe’s life signs as all green. Balrog was unconscious but otherwise unharmed. Never before had he ever seen anything shrug off the death-staff so easily. “You shouldn’t have done that, compadre.” The armored man looked skyward as several more degens and metahumans appeared from a tear in reality above him. Some flew around his head, others dropped down around him. The man grimaced beneath his helmet. This is not what I wanted, he thought. I have to stop Nephthys now, before it’s too late. Before she can rise. The Apostles of Nephthys closed in around him. He would not have a choice. Now he would have to fight. ***** Rubicon guided them in to what was once Seaside City. The rubble that once had been streets was nearly empty except for an occasional straggler or armored guardsmen. Every few minutes a massive vehicle that looked like a cross between a Hummer and a passenger train would idle past, but otherwise very few signs of life remained. “Nephthys keeps everyone either sleeping or working,” Rubicon said in hushed tones. “Her slaves get only a few minutes a day to themselves and they usually spend it scavenging food or comforting their children.” “How… how did it get like this?” Rubicon shook his head at Bobbi’s question. “I’m not going to answer that. You don’t want to know. Suffice it to say that if Nephthys is allowed to rise in your time, this is what the future holds. Not just for Seaside or for your academy, but for everyone in the world.” “Blessed be,” Psalm said a little too loud. A guardsman turned to look their way, and Rubicon ushered them a little faster down the street of the city. They continued past several series of industrial towers, all of them billowing the noxious black fumes from their smokestacks. Bobbi found herself almost adapting to the noxious fumes and the thought of that sent another shiver down her spine. After nearly an hour of walking through the blasted out city, Rubicon pointed to one of the numerous tenements interspersed among the factories. “This is our destination,” he said. “Come let us go inside.” Bobbi and Psalm followed Rubicon past the broken doorway and inside. They found a whole different world inside the building, as it seemed to bustle with life. Humans and degens sat in the halls or leaned out their doors. Some played games quietly, others talked in hushed tones. Still others seemed barely able to move and looked to Bobbi like the images of the concentration camps of World War II. Rubicon ignored the teeming humanity and proceeded to the end of the long hallway. He threw open the door to the staircase and started down to the boiler room below. “The amount of metal and high humidity in the basement serves as a good cloak for our activities,” Rubicon said. “At the same time, the central location within Seaside allows us to easily secure the supplies we need to keep the device running.” “Device?” Bobbi said. “The time machine.” At the bottom of the stairs, Rubicon opened the door and gestured for Bobbi and Psalm to enter. When Bobbi had just arrived at the academy, she had been a big science fiction and fantasy buff. One genre that particularly appealed to her was called steampunk, where high technology was combined with Victorian imagery and ideals. The piece of machinery in front of her personified steampunk perfectly. It filled much of the room and looked to be a series of vacuum tubes, transistors, and random pieces of metal tubing and glass. This was what brought them in to the future? Bobbi jumped as a figure moved in the shadows in the back of the room. The woman hobbled forward, struggling to move on the two crutches she used for locomotion. But it was her face as she entered the light that caused Bobbi and Psalm to gasp. The face was older with heavy wrinkles and numerous scars all about her head. But they did nothing to disguise the woman before them. “Hello there,” the future Bobbi Kwok said. “Isn’t this just a bit awkward?” ***** After hours of “processing”, a run-around obviously meant to keep them out of the building, Athena and Bagheera found themselves ushered in to a board room. Their escorts (guards) assisted (ordered) them to have a seat at the far end of a twelve foot table. After a quick recommendation (command) to not move, the escorts left and they were alone. “I don’t know what’s going on here,” Bagheera said. “But this sure as hell isn’t the behavior I would expect from Blake.” “That’s because Director Blake has retired.” The voice came from the other end of the room. It was soft, but cold, calculating. They turned to see a woman in a skintight bodysuit emblazoned with the eagle and sword logo of ACTION. “My name is Serena Savage, and I am the new director of the Agency for Counter-Terrorism: Infiltration, Observation, and Negation. I understand you wish to speak with me.” “Where’s Blake at now?” Bagheera said. “I can’t say I would know, sir. He retired just two weeks ago. I believe his plans were for some kind of safari trip, but it’s not my job to keep tabs on former agents, directors or no. And I must say, sir, that I find your tone quite atrocious. I did not have to choose to meet with you. I did it as an honor to the relationship you had with my predecessor.” “I apologize for Bagheera’s actions,” Athena said. “We are just somewhat surprised by this turn of events. We came here expecting to see Director Blake. Nonetheless, I’m sure you can help us. “ Athena pulled the file from the briefcase at her side and slid it across the table. Savage stopped it, opened the folder, and looked at the photographs inside. “I’m sure you know what those are,” Athena said. “Those are the cyberions you sent on a mission in to South Egypt. These cyborg soldiers seem nearly identical to a squadron that attacked our academy a few weeks ago. We thought it would be best to bring this to your attention and see what you could make of it.” Savage placed the picture down on the table, folded her hands over the picture, looked up at Athena and Bagheera, and smiled. “The answer to that is quite simple, Ms. Chaykin. I sent those cyberions to your school.” “You… what? I don’t understand. Why would you do that?” “It’s quite simple. While the previous ACTION administration turned a blind eye to the activities of your little bunch of freaks outside Seaside City, I refuse to do any such thing. Your school is a breeding ground for super-powered malcontents and a possible haven for terrorist activity. Therefore your school provided a perfect target to test out our cyberion program. Let me just tell you that it worked wonders. We were able to iron out quite a few kinks thanks to the data we gathered at the Eastman Academy.” Athena couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You’re insane! You put innocent children’s lives at risk!” “We prefer to look at them as potential terrorist threats. I thought I made that perfectly clear.” Savage rose from her seat. “Now if you don’t mind I have one more question for you before we end this meeting. Are you both faculty at your so-called school?” “Yes,” Athena said. “I’m the headmistress and Bagheera teaches physical education and self-defense to the students.” “Good. In that case, I don’t need approval from higher up to take you both out.” Savage’s hand reached to a small intercom device on her neck. “Initiate directive sixty-six, extreme force if necessary.” Several panels suddenly slid open on the walls to the left and right of Athena and Bagheera. Each opening was just larger than a normal human and each held a cyberion inside, eight of them in all. The cyber-soldiers came to life as one and turned to face Athena and Bagheera. “So, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea,” Athena said. “Any idea how to get out of this one?” Bagheera shook his head. “We fight. It’s the only way.” The cyborgs dropped down from their hiding spots and raised their rifles to fire. Athena threw up a massive shield of golden energy before the first blast could land on either her or Bagheera. ”We need out,” Athena said. “Start working on the door. I’ll slow these bastards down.” Athena suddenly dropped the golden shield. In its place a massive golden ax shimmered in to existence. The ax swung in a massive arc towards the cyberions. It cut through two of them with ease before the others took evasive action. The door on the far end of the room slid open, and Savage walked through it. “Get back here and fight,” Athena yelled, but Savage gave no sign of hearing it before the door slammed shut between them. Athena’s attention was drawn back to the six remaining cyberions as they abandoned their firearms. Each pulled out what looked like a classic cavalry sword, only about twice as large, and glowing with electrical current. Athena figured she knew what these new weapons meant. They had developed a way to pierce her energy constructs. Athena formed several energy arrows in mid-air and sent them flying at four of the cyberions. One did not bring his sword to bear in time and was struck twice, once in the arm and once in the throat, by the arrows. But the others moved with blinding speed as they whipped their blades around and cut the energy arrows from the air. “How’s that door coming?” Athena said to Bagheera. “I don’t know how much longer I can hold it.” “I’m not having much luck on this front. I can’t cut through these doors even if I had several hours. They made it to hold us. Best bet seems to be the whole switcheroo. You get me?” “I got it. On three then.” “All right. One…” “Two… three!” Athena turned and formed a massive crowbar to attack the door with. Bagheera avoided the energy object and headed straight for the five cyberions still standing. The first he caught in the chest with his claw. The blow sliced up and under a plate of steel alloy. Bagheera ripped it away and much of his enemy’s chest with it. Before that cyberions could even fall, Bagheera twisted and lashed out with a spin kick to another cyberion’s face. His hind claws slashed across the cyberion’s face, taking pieces of armor and flesh with it. Another cyberion swung at Bagheera, but he stepped forward just in time to keep all but the fur on the nape of his neck from being sliced away. He whirled around and grabbed the cyberion’s head with both hands. A quick twist and a sickening pop answered him, and the cyberions sprawled to the floor. He still twitched on the ground though, as if even a broken neck wasn’t enough to stop these new cyber-soldiers. The door tore away with a blood-chilling squeal. “Bagheera, we need to move now!” Bagheera turned to see Athena charge through the door and back out in to the hallway. She threw up a protective shield as ACTION agents swarm up to raise their sidearms at her. She forced the field outward and knocked the agents all to the ground. “Bagheera, come on!” Bagheera took one last swipe at a cyberion, taking an arm in the process. He turned, bounded through the door, and after Athena. The cyberions followed in hot pursuit. Athena lashed out with another blast of force, this time at the door they just entered through. The cyberions were caught in the blast as they forced their way through. They fell back in to the meeting room. “You remember the way out of here?” Athena said to Bagheera. Bagheera only nodded. He bounded across the room and through the next door. Athena rushed to catch up. More cyberions moved to intercept them as Bagheera rushed out the next room, through a hallway, and in to the hangar bay. Athena counted two dozen of the cyborg soldiers surrounding the jump-jet. “Get in to the jet and get it in to the air,” she said. “I’ll catch up with you.” “Don’t do anything stupid,” he said. “Act like you normally do, not me.” He pounced forward and on top of a cyberion. He sliced two claws straight through the cyberion’s chest and kept moving through to the next cyborg. “Got it, but no promises.” Athena unleashed burst after burst of golden energy. She sent them out in twisting arcs to confuse the cyberions’ defenses. Three fell to the first barrage, but the cyber-soldiers kept moving ever towards her. The jump-jet came to life ahead of her, and she took a moment to breathe. Bagheera was at least in the clear. The jet lifted off the ground, and Athena turned her attention to the sky. She unleashed a guillotine-shaped arc of energy above the jump-jet. The ceiling of the hangar ripped in two. Two more arcs were enough to rend the ceiling enough to allow the jump-jet to break free. Bagheera pushed the jump-jet up and through the hole, as Athena unleashed another barrage of energy at the cyberions. Two more fell but more were appearing to take their place. Athena formed a circle of energy beneath her and pushed herself up in to the sky. A handful of the cyberions followed and she cursed the jet propulsion carrying them aloft. She unleashed another series of barrages, but the excessive use of her energies was starting to take its toll. Her head was growing foggier, and she knew she couldn’t keep this up much longer. Bagheera knew her and her abilities at an uncanny level. She had known that fact for years, but never more than when he brought the jump-jet down besides her. The jet twisted in mid-air and its jet engines flashed across the front of a cyberions. Instantly the cyber-soldier burst in to flames. A hatch on the side of the jump-jet slid open and Athena tumbled inside. The hatch closed a second later, and Athena felt herself pushed down in to the jump-jet’s floor as the vehicle suddenly accelerated. Athena struggled her way up to the cockpit where she dropped in to the co-pilot’s seat. “We’re clear of Langley,” Bagheera said. “But obviously, this isn’t over.”
Athena nodded. “I thought with the Order and Rubicon beaten, the Academy could finally rest and recuperate from everything. But it looks like now our problems have only just begun.”
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