"Here's my stop." Muse looked out of the train window, looking up at Avenger, who was holding onto the pole next to him. Avenger grunted.
"Sure I can't come with you? What if someone recognises you?" he asked. Muse put a hand on his chest and patted it.
"Sorry, but you're not exactly very good at sneaking around, love. Say hi to your sister for me, okay? And could you pop into the flat while I'm away, just to check Jakey hasn't decided to grow an acre of catnip over the walls?"
"Yeah yeah, I'll keep an eye on him for you. And I'm going to see you off at the airport, so there." Avenger swayed slightly when the train stopped. Muse smiled and disembarked, he stood there as the doors hissed shut and waved a bit as the train pulled away. In the crowd walking away, someone muttered something about '****'. Muse had heard it too many times to really care any more, he turned and walked with them to the exit of the station. The salty air smelt of rotting seaweed and diesel, the cackle of seagulls fighting over left-overs almost drowned out the ranting of a man by the train station exit. Muse pulled his cap down low on his face as he walked past him, typical Council recruitment speeches mostly.
"Turn away from the hedonistic values of a corrupt and decaying society! Join those of us who work tirelessly towards a better future!" the Council soldier yelled. Muse wondered if he really believed his own propaganda, as frankly, he'd never seen a Council soldier work towards anything but one old man's megalomaniacal dream to rule the world. A ship horn sounded and Muse's heavy boots thudded down over wooden jetties as he took the short cut across the moorings to where the ferry was docked.
"I can't believe I had to stand here on look out again when Tony gets to sit in on the poker game!"
"You want to get down on your knees and lick as much [censored] as Tony, you go right ahead."
Muse walked past two suit wearing men as they stared out over the docks with their backs to him. He had to resist the urge to walk up and tap them on the shoulder and remind them that one of them at least should be watching the jetty ways. Schooling gangsters on how best to keep watch wasn't his job though, if indeed, it was anyone's, and he just shook his head as he left the mooring and walked to the ferry. It was actually a tanker that made a daily supply run to Striga and back, shipping all kinds of things to be parcelled off into other ships in Port Noble and sent off into the wild blue yonder. Muse took out his Hero License and showed it to the bearded man on the gangway. The sailor raised his eyebrows at the military clothes, but nodded and let him past. Muse let himself below decks and worked his way down the narrow corridor to the 'lounge'. He found a deep seat in the corner that he could flop in and be mostly ignored by people.
Fifteen minutes later, the ship chugged into life and was towed out of the Port by a tug boat. Muse watched the port slide away past the porthole. He leaned his head on his hand and smiled as he wondered how Cirrus was doing these days, not to mention Nathaniel and Bobby and all the old crowd. He closed his eyes and for a moment, he could almost smell the heather and distant smell of sheep, could hear the shrieking laughter of the other children in the garden and the squeak of the swings.
"Now entering Port Noble, if anything is on fire, now is the time to put it out. Can all heroes please make sure all their group is accounted for, if there are any invisible members, be sure to pat the seats down so they don't get forgotten."
Muse had to admire the captain really, he'd been doing this run for upwards of forty years, he must have seen it all. What did he tell his grandkids when he went home? A hero jostled past Muse, his cape billowing. Muse watched it swish in his wake. Capes were part of hero lore, a testament to Hero1, declared missing presumed dead at the end of the Rikti Invasion. Indeed, it was through his actions and the actions of his team, Omega, that the invasion was stopped. Heroes wearing the cape all knew this, and understood the honour and responsibility that went with wearing it.
After the other heroes had disembarked, Muse ascended to the deck and strolled down the gang plank. Seagulls screamed and cackled at each other, their raucous amusement could have been aimed at anyone, there was certainly plenty of activity on Striga for them to laugh about. He pulled the blunt peak of his cap down to draw attention away from his face as he walked past some Council soldiers on a jog through the Port. There were so many of them around here, their base was on the island proper, and nobody went there who wasn't prepared to deal with rail guns locking onto them.
Stephanie's apartment was behind a warehouse and Muse pressed the button for her number.
"Hello?"
"Stephanie, it's Music Teacher."
"Oh good morning dear, come right on up!" there was a buzz and Muse pushed open the front door. He climbed two sets of stairs before reaching her door and knocked. Stephanie opened it and looked up at him. Her elderly face pulled into deep smile lines as she hugged his shoulders.
"So good to see you again, Teacher, come in, come in." Stephanie waved him in as she walked back, shooing her fat black cat out of one of the chairs. Muse closed the door after him and pulled off the cap, pushing a hand through his blond hair to loosen it.
"How've you been, Steph?"
"Oh not so bad. How's your beau?" Stephanie already had the teapot and small cakes ready. Muse smiled, Stephanie might be one of his contacts and an insight into the seedy world of Mob activity and Council plots, but she was still one of his favourite people to visit socially.
After the second cup of tea and the fourth cake, after commenting that maybe his 'beau' would not appreciate a soggy midsection, Stephanie leaned back in her chair and regarded Muse.
"I'll be honest, dear, I didn't ask you out here just for your company, as lovely as it is." Muse met her gaze curiously, usually Stephanie looked wryly amused and her accent was thick and friendly. Sometimes there was a sharpness to her eyes, such as now, she had something important on her mind.
"Oh? You have a mission for me?" he asked, somewhat reluctantly. Stephanie shook her head.
"Nothing concrete yet, but one of my other heroes - nice girl with a bow - found something very strange in the files she retrieved for me. I've been telling all my heroes about it, something to do with something called Cosmos."
"A project name?" Muse had encountered the Council enough to know they were always giving slightly silly names to their projects. Stephanie shrugged.
"Could be anything, pet. There was a hint of surveillance, so it could be a place. The name is, as usual, tantalisingly enigmatic. There's no way of knowing what Cosmos means yet. Keep your eyes and ears open though, won't you?" Muse nodded.
"I doubt I'll be much help to you over the next five weeks though." He couldn't help but grin. Stephanie frowned.
"Oh?"
"Holiday. I'm off to England, then off to Scotland for a reunion."
"Aw, well that's nice, you have fun!" Stephanie lifted her teacup as if to toast his wellbeing, then sipped. The conversation slipped back into more comfortable avenues after that, but Muse was reminded that a lot can happen in five weeks. He hoped someone would get to the bottom of what Cosmos was, if it was anything at all.
Don't ask me about joining Honourable United, I'm lazy. Ask Captain Cathode.
http://www.onthejazz.co.uk/honu/
"If I had a punch, I would so hit that guy." - Millenium (because drinking nail varnish remover is for real men)
Muse had forgotten Stephanie's veiled unease about 'Cosmos' when he reached the airport finally, wearing his backpack and holding his guitar case. He was much too excited to be thinking about what the Council may or may not be up to in Striga.
"That's your flight, isn't it?" Avenger pointed to one of the many screens that displayed departure destinations and times. Muse nodded, walking past the check-in lines to a section marked unobtrusively as 'Special Class'. He put his guitar case down and took out his Hero Licence and his passport, handing them to the young girl behind the counter.
"Ah yes, Music Teacher, okay, would you like the chicken or the beef meal?" Muse pulled a face, he hated being asked that at check-in.
"Um, chicken please."
"Okay. Ohh, are you the Midnight Avenger?" The girl paused in the tack-tack of her quick typing, looking up at Avenger from her chair. Avenger nodded.
"Yes ma'am."
"Ooooh, you're shorter than I thought you'd be. I don't say this to every hero I meet, but you are just the dreamiest. You know most heroes have this thing for spandex? It's just so tacky and eighties. I just love how you dress!"
Muse bit down on the impulse to put his arms around Avenger and give him a kiss passionate enough to let everyone know that he was taken, thank you very much. He breathed deep to try and master the jealous impulse, feeling a little ashamed. To be fair, he thought Avenger was rather good looking with a great sense of style, why shouldn't other people? He accepted his boarding pass off the girl as she blithely chatted to Avenger some more. Avenger was taking it in good part, he was polite without being too formal and friendly without being too chatty.
Muse watched as his backpack was sent down the conveyer belt to be loaded onto the plane. He kept his guitar close. It wouldn't like the cold of the baggage hold and he had no intention of allowing anyone to potentially manhandle his beloved instrument by flinging it around as "baggage".
"Well, you have a nice day, Helen. We're going to go to the lounge and wait for the plane." Avenger waved to the girl behind the counter and picked up Muse's guitar case. They walked off through the terminal, looking for a little café where they could pass the time.
"Nice girl, liked you," said Muse, off hand. Avenger was not entirely fooled by the innocence of his tone and put his free arm around Muse's shoulders.
"They only like me because I have a big number for my security clearance," he said. Muse leaned against him, smiling slightly.
"Whereas I like you because you have a big-"
"Oh look, a Starbucks!" Avenger pointed and grinned. Muse chuckled and let himself be dragged into the coffee bar. They found a table by the window and ordered two coffees, one mocha and one caramel latte.
"I thought Jakey was going to be here?" Muse looked out the window at the cars coming and going from the terminal entrance. Avenger shrugged.
"He was, but then he got a screaming call down his radio. A friend of his was having some trouble in Salamanca, so he went to help."
"Ah." Muse stirred his coffee, he'd never really been to Salamanca, though he'd heard it was over-run by witches and pumpkin people or something. Jakey had tried to explain something called a trans-dimensional paradigm rift or something equally as complicated sounding. Something to do with another world bleeding into the real world, bringing a host of alien creatures with it. Such things really were Jakey's area of expertise.
"Well, long goodbyes can get awkward," Muse said, reaching over the table and taking Avenger's hand. Avenger squeezed it slightly.
"Is someone picking you up from the other airport?"
"Yeah, my 'brother', Nathaniel."
"Oh good." Avenger looked out the window for a moment, then drank his coffee. They were both listening for the announcement for flight 22b. Finally it came and they left their empty cardboard cups to be cleared away, walking to the gate. Avenger paused and turned Muse.
"You'll call me as soon as you land?" he asked. Muse nodded, looking up at him, then he leaned up and kissed him before hugging him tightly.
"I will, and I'll call every day. Let you know what a fantastic time I'm having," he said, wishing he could take Avenger with him.
"You better. If you miss one I'll assume the worst, go to Warburg, steal a rocket and strap myself to it and fire it at England."
"Well don't aim for anything vital." Muse pulled away and brushed Avenger's shoulders, straightening his jacket.
"Yessir." Avenger tipped his hat slightly. Muse half smiled and then stepped away, taking his guitar from Avenger and walking off through the gate. Avenger waved a little when he turned around, then stood there for a few more minutes, as though waiting for him to come back.
Muse sighed a little, heading straight to the plane and showing his boarding pass before letting someone check his hand luggage and guitar. Heroes could technically get away without being checked, but Muse preferred to adhere to the standards of his earlier years, when he'd be routinely checked in airports. It had almost become a comfort thing. He nodded his thanks to the security staff as he took his guitar and struggled to return a salute that was presented by the captain. Or was it the co-pilot. Muse didn't know how to tell them apart. He'd not travelled as a hero before, and didn't realise that there'd be any fuss. It was slightly daunting.
He was shown to the 'special' class and found it to be ahead of first class. He was a little surprised, as he had assumed when he'd booked the tickets, that he'd be travelling in standard. Then he winced and remembered that he'd needed his Hero Licence all over the place. His credit cards were still in storage so his identity remained protected. He sighed and settled his guitar next to his wide, comfortable seat. Well, he wouldn't be a hero forever, so he might as well live it up now. He leaned his head back on the seat and looked out the window. He hoped Avenger had found a window and was watching. He put the backs of his fingers to the window and sighed a bit. It would only be five weeks.
Don't ask me about joining Honourable United, I'm lazy. Ask Captain Cathode.
http://www.onthejazz.co.uk/honu/
"If I had a punch, I would so hit that guy." - Millenium (because drinking nail varnish remover is for real men)
"Matt! HEY MATT!" Muse looked around as he walked out of the gate into the main terminal of Bristol Airport, he didn't suppose the voice was calling for him, but couldn't help looking up when his name was called. A hand appeared and disappeared behind a row of heads, it flailed frantically, then a board appeared in it with 'Matthew Whithers' written on it sloppily with what looked like dribbled coffee. Muse blinked, then reached his own hand up and waved.
"Yeah?"
"Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatt!" The board tore down the line of people, then a short, stocky young man with tousled black hair skidded on the polished floor, his trainers squeaking shrilly. He opened his arms up and grinned triumphantly.
"Matty!"
"Nathaniel!" Muse grinned with delight and braced himself for the enthusiastic embrace, laughing, "Oh my god, you've barely grown at all!"
"And you're still sporting chin hair like the devil! Oh man, it's good to see you again!" Nathaniel slapped his back hard and then took the guitar case. As he had when they were children, Muse felt fragile as matches around his 'brother'.
"I'm glad you came to meet me, I haven't been back to England for years
" Muse rubbed his eyes, as the flight had been long and the whine of the engines had stopped him from sleeping. Nathaniel grinned.
"You look all done in, mate. Bumpy flight?"
"Kinda. Just couldn't get much sleep, y'know?"
"Alright, we'll get ourselves the breakfasts of champions and loz about in a pub for a bit, how's that?" Nathaniel reached up and slapped Muse's shoulder and he nodded.
Half an hour later, they pulled their stools up against the bar in a 'gents' pub, the smell of tobacco and spilt beer permeated the air and Muse smiled as he heard the football on the television. Real football, with round balls.
"Two pints of the house, please. Matt, what you having?" Nathaniel stopped eying the pretty peroxide barmaid long enough to look at Muse for his order.
"Three Jack Daniels," he said, checking his guitar was still leaning against his leg. It was, and he leaned his arms on the bar. He glanced at Nathaniel out of the corner of his eye, then grinned when he caught Nathaniel sneaking a peek back. The stocky man shook his head with a laugh.
"You're broader than when I last I saw you. You was all skinny then, and Winters kept telling you to shave." Nathaniel looked fond, then nodded his thanks to the barmaid as she placed their drinks in front of them. Muse chuckled.
"That a polite way of calling me fatter? Well, I was, what? Eighteen last time we saw each other?"
"Jeez, where does the time go
?" Nathaniel held up one of his pints, "Well, here's to absent friends, and returned family. Cheers."
"Cheers." Muse knocked one of his shot glasses against the pint and they both drank. He felt the bourbon burn its way down his insides and looked at Nathaniel, "so how's Bobby and Jess?"
"Bobby's a lawyer now." Nathaniel mimed sticking his fingers down his throat, "and Jess's
well, she took the offer." Muse nodded.
"Yeah, she wrote to me and told me she'd accepted a place in Avalon. Still got her sights set on the Lionheart Program?"
"Nah, she hates the Army, and you have to be military to get onto that. Still, she's doing okay. I swear to God the [censored] she's getting up to is making Winters [censored] blood." Nathaniel sounded half envious, like he was considering taking Tintagel up on the offer they'd made ten years ago. Muse chuckled, savouring his second whiskey, rolling it around his tongue to take in the flavour.
"How is ol' Frosty anyway?" he asked, using the affectionate pet-name they'd called their guardian by as children. Nathaniel blew a raspberry in response which made Muse laugh.
"That good huh?"
"If he calls me 'Horatio' one more time, I'm going to set his hair on fire, I swear to God," Nathaniel muttered blackly. Muse held his peace on that, Nathaniel had been threatening to set fire to Winters over the use of his correct first name since the first day he'd arrived at the orphanage. Muse doubted things were going to change any time soon.
Six pints and four whiskeys later, they'd moved from the bar to one of the corner tables to play backgammon with the pub's set. Nathaniel waved his hand airily.
"So what was that in your last letter about 'Adam'? He your new pretty boy?" he chuckled rustily. Muse rolled the dice and moved two of his marks.
"You make it sound like I trawl for talent at a photo-shoot."
"Hell, if I had your looks, I would. Underwear models wall to wall and a pop starlet for the weekends." Nathaniel belched discretely into his hand while Muse coloured on his cheeks.
"I'm not attractive, Nat," he mumbled. Nathaniel scooped up the dice and shook them energetically with the hopes that more kinetic force would equal a better chance of a double six.
"[censored] you aren't. I swear to god, Matt, once upon a time you used to charm every lady who came your way. Remember that time back when I got in trouble at school and you just talked Miss Jennings around from calling Winters. Always getting free drinks and free cigarettes coz you looked just so and talked just so." Nathaniel swore when he got a double three and tried to make the best of it, moving three of his markers. Muse scowled blackly, folding his arms and leaning back.
"Yeah well, I grew up and got ugly. And no, Adam is not a 'pretty boy'. He's a colleague." Muse missed Avenger acutely, wishing he could introduce him to his 'brother'. Of course, meeting family was a big step. He'd only met Avenger's twin sister Gaze because it was hard not to, what with her being in the same super group. She and Jakey were quite close, some sort of mother or sister figure to his flatmate. It was a fairly complex relationship and he wasn't sure he'd ever even understand the full scope of it.
"You get colleagues in guitar tutoring?" Nathaniel queried, getting up so he could insert an extortionate amount of cash into the cigarette dispenser and buy a pack of ten supers. Muse scratched the back of his neck, then sighed out. He reached into his pocket and took out the slim leather wallet, flipping it open so his Hero Licence was revealed and slid it over to Nathaniel. His brother stopped trying to get his cigarette lighter to work and stared at it, then at Muse. He swivelled the as yet unlit cigarette to the corner of his mouth and picked up the licence, looking it over to check it was authentic. When it tested positive under his intense scrutiny, he handed it back. Muse flipped it shut and tucked it back into his pocket. Nathaniel gave up on the lighter, sticking his thumb up. The tip of his thumb ignited and he lit the cigarette from that before blowing it out.
"Wow
so you're a cape then? Damn, Tintagel must be [censored] you skipped the country. You know, I had a feeling something big had happened. When you first moved to Paragon, you didn't have much to write about, but now it's a multitude of friends and social engagements
" he sighed, then glanced up to meet Muse's dark eyes, "You're being careful though? Keeping yourself safe?"
"Yeah. Adam protects me, and I don't exactly run around on my own so much."
"Good. You can tell him from me that if you get a scratch, I will steal a speedboat and go all the way across the ocean and beat him to a bloody pulp with the outboard motor." Nathaniel nodded sharply, as if to verify the sincerity of his words with himself. Muse tried to imagine Avenger even noticing someone beating him over the head with an outboard motor.
"I'll tell him, but it hardly needs be said, y'know. He's good to me," he said, draining the last of his bourbon and calling for another. Nathaniel snorted, regarding him.
"Jeez, you look desperate to spill the beans. Alright, tell me all about him before you pop already." He tried to sound surly, as though his brother's love life was a mild inconvenience to the smooth running of his own life. Muse grinned.
"Okay, well, he's a bit taller than me, and has midnight blue hair and deltoids to die for. He's sweet without thinking about it and has this great sense of dress. He does random, romantic things off the cuff and it's so adorable when he doesn't realise how corny it is. And-"
"Oh bloody hell," Nathaniel looked incredulous, taking his cigarette out of his mouth so he could finish his beer and call for another, "You're serious about him."
"He wears this hat, and it's just about the sexiest thing in the world." Muse picked up the dice and rolled them around his hands with a grin on his face. Nathaniel pulled a face.
"Just how sexy can a hat be, seriously?"
"Sometimes I don't let him take it off," Muse said, grinning even more. Nathaniel held up his empty glass.
"Oh god, lady, get me that drink pronto, I just got the mother of unwelcome mental images!" Muse laughed as the barmaid got them the fresh drinks, personally he didn't find the mental imagery so unwelcome, but then, he was horribly biased on the subject.
"So other than slightly-more-kinky-than-I'm-okay-with-being-told-about sex, this Adam chump's okay is he?" Nathaniel asked, trying to look tough. Muse nodded.
"Would treat me like a princess if a pretty pink dress didn't make the lousiest super-hero outfit of all time."
"You could call yourself The Godmother and wear a fedora and talk in a Sicilian accent!"
"Show some respect to tha supergroup, Tony." Muse pinched his fingers together and wagged his hand as he spoke, the voice that came from his lips didn't sound like him at all, but Stephanie Peebles with a strong accent. Nathaniel roared with laughter. Muse went to pieces in the face of his amusement and the two of them were doubled over wheezing when their drinks arrived.
"Music was my first love, and it shall be my laaaaast. The music of the future, the music of the paaaaaaast!" Muse and Nathaniel leaned on each other as they staggered down the road, singing as loudly as they could, each trying to outdo the other. A small group of students crossed the road ahead of them, though three of them cheered them on. Muse and Nathaniel waved cheerfully in return. They had sung the song three times before they got back to Nathaniel's tiny flat, stumbling up stairs and pausing so Muse could vomit over the banister a bit. Nathaniel patted his back and Muse suddenly draped himself over his shoulders.
"Hmph, let's not call it a night yet
you haven't shown me where the hot men is at," he hiccupped. Nathaniel rolled his eyes.
"You're drunk as a lord, dude. I'll no be taking ya to a nightclub so you can drag three guys off for fun with handcuffs. I know what you're like when you're pinned. Piffed. [censored]. Shuddup." Nathaniel stood, wavering at his door as he looked at the keyhole with intense concentration before finally negotiating his limbs into the correct series of movements that would get the damn door open. Muse leaned on the wall, then slid down to thud onto his backside when his knees gave out.
"I wouldn't cheat, just wanna window-shop. Mmm, firemen hotties with rippling backs and washboard stomachs." He fell over onto his back and breathed for a while before Nathaniel staggered back and grabbed his shoulders, dragging him into the flat and kicking the door shut.
"That's what you said on my twenty first birthday, y'[censored]. Remember that?"
"No
why, what happened?" Muse put a hand to his head, lying on the hall carpet, which wasn't too clean. Nathaniel slumped down to sit against the bookcase.
"You boned my best mate and his older brother. In my bed. [censored]."
"[censored]? I did?"
"How do you forget [censored] like that, man? The image has been emblazoned on my mind for years." Nathaniel found another cigarette and lit it from his thumb again. Muse sighed and then reached up to pat Nathaniel's knee.
"In my defence, we got pretty drunk at that party. Was the same week Pseudo Apoplexy got signed. I wasn't sober for a [censored] year. Gimme that." Muse's fingers found the cigarette and swiped it from Nathaniel, he took a long drag, then pushed himself into a sitting position opposite his brother, looking haggard. Nathaniel regarded him in a wobbly way.
"You're drunk, Matthew Whithers."
"So are you, Horatio Nathaniel Aldershot III." Muse grinned wickedly at Nathaniel's invitation to go fornicate with himself vigorously. They sat in silence for a while, listening to the world move around them, sharing the cigarette until it was just a dog-end as they had so many years ago.
"How'd you do that anyway?"
"Do what?" Muse mumbled into his arms, his elbows resting on his knees. Nathaniel gave him an almost envious look.
"Get straight men to sleep with you. What the hell do you do?"
"Why you wanna know?" Muse lifted his head, feeling like he was going to be sick again and that he wanted a drink of water really soon. Nathaniel looked at the flat around him.
"Want to know if I can use it to get lesbians. In pairs, of course," he said, grinning. Muse half laughed, shaking his head.
"You wouldn't be able to do it. I use my powers."
"Your powers are almighty sex powers?! And I just get spontaneous voluntary combustion?! [censored]. How's that fair?" Nathaniel slumped, tipping his head into his arms. Muse half shrugged.
"They're more trouble than they're worth. I only use it on patients now."
"You what? You titillate your patients into bed with you? Seduce them on the operating table? You sick *******." Nathaniel was wide eyed, but grinning. Muse could already hear him thinking up all possible ways of twisting 'the doctor is in' and he threw a discarded book at his brother's head.
"No, I use the sonic vibrations to encourage the body to heal. And yes, in some cases give the brain a gentle massage to stimulate the production of endorphins. Never enough to get them off, that's just plain weird!"
"Can't believe you said that without stuttering. It's still not fair though. I should have had the awesome sex powers. I'd have called myself Hard Man, and have a wang shaped car." Nathaniel broke off into a fit of giggling. Muse shook his head and staggered up, hooking his arms around Nathaniel and getting him to his feet. "And I'd go around rescuing women from thugs and gangsters and their lingerie. Lovely, lovely lingerie." Muse shook his head with a laugh, reaching up to ruffle Nathaniel's hair.
"I figured out why you're single."
"Oh?"
"Women think you're [censored] and over-compensating."
"[censored]
" Nathaniel sagged onto the bed when Muse dumped him on it. He pushed his face free of the mattress as Muse picked up his legs and heaved them onto it. He watched sort of befuddled as the younger man pulled them off and tipped them onto the floor before wobbling a bit.
"You're gonna try use those sex powers on me are you?"
"No, you spaz. You're my sort-of-should-be-brother. It'd be indecent. And I don't screw desperate guys. Sleep well, Nathaniel, here's your bear." Muse located Tassles and tucked the floppy, holey, matted teddy under Nathaniel's arm before pulling the duvet over him and staggering out.
"'M not desperate. Well
maybe just a little," Nathaniel chuckled into the covers. Muse sniggered as he fell on the sofa in the next room.
"Get a girlfriend, man."
"Trying, man. Trying."
Don't ask me about joining Honourable United, I'm lazy. Ask Captain Cathode.
http://www.onthejazz.co.uk/honu/
"If I had a punch, I would so hit that guy." - Millenium (because drinking nail varnish remover is for real men)
"Glastonbury festival has not been something write home about this year, which makes me wonder why it needed this line at all. I left Nathaniel's this morning and I'm taking the train down to Sidmouth. The usual neds and skallies are on the platform, [censored] around, so I'm in the waiting room. I really need a shower, sitting in a washed out tent smoking weed for three days has rendered me a little pungent. I met Fran from school at the concert, how lucky was that? She was pregnant with her fourth kid and the other three were having a great time in the rain and mud. Honestly, spending time with Fran and the kids was better than the actual music this year. We made mud angels, I'm sure you can work out what that entails. Apparently she's naming her fourth Matthew, I asked if it was after me, and she told me to go smoke a kipper. Funnily enough, I saw someone actually doing that, right before someone set fire to the porta-loos. They burned for HOURS. Scary. Anyways, train's coming so I'll break off here for a few moments.
The neds are three carriages down and I can still hear them. There's a man sitting opposite me who really needs to cut back on how much time he spends in the gym. I think he's a bouncer or a rugby player. Big men look daft in suits mostly, still, he must have a tailor, not buy off the rack, as it's a nice suit. Fits him well. He keeps looking at me down his nose, I think I must be carrying the stench of Somerset with me. I hope it crashes his pansy little laptop. Thing's overheating anyway, nothing to do with me, I assure you. Ah, there's a kid just fell over and banged her knee. Poor tyke, I'll go help.
Look at that, I've gone and run out of paper before I could tell you about the amazing cinnamon roll I had. It was amazing. Love you! - Matt."
Avenger smiled as he read the cramped last words scrawling up the margin before folding the sheet and tucking it with the others. Muse had been true to his word and there were now ten letters in the folder, one for each day he'd been gone. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, trying to pretend he'd gotten up early for yoga. Needless to say, the postman was getting used to seeing him casually waiting by the letter slots, tying his laces or reading the notice boards with an earnestly interested expression. He looked out of the window at the light slanting down the tall apartment rises of Founders Falls, picking out the details of fire-escapes and power lines running between the buildings. A magpie landed on his windowsill and pecked at the feeder left out to entice slightly smaller, cuter birds. It dipped its tail a few times and let out its chattering squawk. Avenger watched it until it flew off, soaring up to the roofs. He stood up with a creak of bedsprings and stretched, absently checking the time. The postman would be on the bridge, coasting down the curve with his left leg locked down on the pedal of his bike. The man was such a creature of habit, he always took the same route every day. Avenger pulled on his trousers and tugged his fresh shirt off the hanger. He poured orange juice with one hand as he flicked on the television with the other. Surfing the news channels as he drank, his attention was picked up immediately by a story on one of the international channels his television picked up, courtesy of Captain Cathode.
"- the situation was resolved by Tintagel representatives and all the hostages were rescued. Airports are expected to take new security measures to prevent another hijacking," said the anchor man in a crisp English accent. Avenger checked the channel's icon in the corner of the screen. BBC, that was English right? He hoped so, as he didn't want to have to phone up Cap and ask him, as he'd probably get laughed into living as a hermit for twenty years or worse; have to sit through one of Cap's television marathons. They were rumoured to go on for days.
"The Prime Minister is set to meet with the European Summit in Brussels this week-" Avenger flicked over the channel, the only thing more boring than politics was the politics of another country where he didn't know anyone's name or what anyone stood for. He checked his tie in the mirror and picked up his hat from the side, turning everything off before leaving the flat. He half jogged down the stairs, popping it on his head. He heard the door go downstairs as the postman let himself into the foyer. Avenger jumped down the last two flights and then slowed down, strolling casually into the foyer.
"Morning, anything for me?" he asked brightly, sounding as offhand as he could. The postman stopped delivering number 8's mail and turned to nod to him. He flipped through his satchel and drew out three envelopes.
"Here you go, pal." The postman passed them into Avenger's excited hands. Avenger flicked through the envelopes, then frowned and tapped the postman on the shoulder.
"Sorry to be a bother, but is there another one for me? Hand written address?" he asked, shoving the bills into his pocket. The postman paused before delivering into number 9's box, obliging him by looking through his satchel again.
"No, that's your lot today. Expecting one? Got a girlfriend out of town?"
"Something like that."
"Well, she abroad? Sometimes mail don't get through for a few days, y'know. Strikes in airports, fuel depots exploding, derailed trains. Messes the mail up." The postman got back to tucking bills and correspondence into the waiting boxes, like a mother bird with her greedy chicks. Avenger thought about the news report he'd caught earlier, could a hostage situation in an airport or increased security slow a letter down? He wasn't sure, but nodded his thanks to the postman and headed out. He should check on Jakey first, even if that did mean going all the way to the train station on Talos Island and getting the green line to Steel Canyon. Maybe he had a letter from Muse and only his was delayed. Feeling purposeful, Avenger strode through the streets of Founders Falls, keeping one eye out for trouble, as always.
"Venji! Come on in!" Jakey's voice yelled as Avenger knocked on the door. He pushed it open and frowned when it thudded against something. He had to sort of slither in through the gap available and stopped when he realised the door had struck the sofa, and on the sofa was the table and there were plants all over the sofa and the table and they almost filled the entire hallway.
"Crawl behind the sofa, there's sort of a tunnel into the living room!" called a woman's voice and Avenger blinked. He didn't know Sally Storm was staying over at the flat. He sighed and got down on his hands and knees, squeezing himself sort of diagonally through the narrow gap, booting the door shut as he went. After some tricky negotiation of the piano and a stack of music sheets, Avenger tumbled into the living room. It was devoid of all its usual clutter, and rush mats had been laid out on the floor. Sally Storm was sitting on one, leaning back on her elbows and Jakey was draped over her legs, a habit he'd never been able to break concerning women.
Avenger straightened, then sat down cross-legged and looked around.
"Minimalist. Nice."
"We're using it as a dojy thing." Jakey rolled to his feet and walked into the kitchen, tail hooked over. Sally rolled her eyes.
"Dojo, Jakey. Dojo."
"Him too. Tea, Venji?"
"Yes please," Avenger said, looking around. Sally sighed.
"Been trying to teach Jakey an actual discipline," she explained. Avenger chuckled, as if Jakey acquired discipline of any kind or sort, the world would probably plunge into Armageddon.
"I thought he does tae kwon do."
"Nah, *******'s completely freestyle. Never studied a martial art in his life." Sally looked most displeased about this, as she herself had studied her father's personal style all her life. Perhaps it was the wide competitive streak in her, or a desire to share something of her life with her friend, but she sometimes found Jakey's skill to need training.
Jakey returned with the tea and put one down by Avenger's knee and then left and returned again with what appeared to be breakfast on a platter to share. Sally took her tea and sipped it, moving her position so Jakey could sit down.
"Muse know you've trashed the place?" Avenger asked with a smile. Jakey shrugged.
"He'll suspect I have even if I hadn't, so why disappoint. Besides, it's not trashed, it's rearranged. Given how hard we were going at it last night, if we'd left stuff in here-
what?" Jakey's ears pricked as he looked from Avenger to Sally. Both had their hands over their mouths and were making small, spluttered noises into their palms. He frowned lightly, then winced and his ears went back, "I didn't mean that! I meant sparring! We were sparring! Oh god damnit!"
"Easy there tiger, I'm not sure you're man enough to handle me," Sally grinned, her dark, oriental eyes glittering with mischief. Jakey's tail flicked from side to side and he drank his tea.
"No offence, but you're two legs too short to be my type."
"And you're two feet too short to be mine." Sally's retort made Avenger splutter into his tea again.
"You always have to bring height into it?!"
"You always bring species into it!"
It wasn't long before the two of them were tussling playfully, insulting each other and rolling around. Avenger got up to check if any mail had been delivered, having to lie on his side and slide his hand under the sofa to pull a few letters out. Most were bills and one was strange, looking fat and had the stamp of a law firm on it. Avenger wondered why Bates, Bates and Sanchez were writing to his lover, and set the letter on the bedside table of his room. It seemed so small and lonely without Muse, without his coat thrown over the chair and his jeans slung on the floor. Avenger lay down on the bed and closed his eyes, willing himself to believe that just for a moment, Muse was home and lying on the other side of the bed, still asleep. Fanciful dreams, maybe.
Why hadn't there been a letter today? He could understand no calls, Muse had dropped his phone in some river while drunk, but had written instead. Had something happened to him? He'd last said he was on a train. What if it'd crashed? Avenger sat up sharply and pinched the bridge of his nose. This was getting silly. Muse was okay, he'd just forgotten to write, for some unknown reason.
There came a thump from the living room, and a series of thuds and then a squeal and laughter. This flat really did have thin walls after all. Avenger's eyes slid to the window of their room and grinned, colouring even though he was all alone. Muse's resonating voice had cracked and broken the panes outright on so many occasions that the glazier was on the flat phone's speed-dial and did them a special rate because they 'were such a nice couple'. Avenger stood up sharply and then crawled into the living room, trying not to choke himself on the phone's trailing wires.
"J, Sal, can I interrupt for a minute?" Jakey and Sally looked like they were trying to throttle each other with their legs, they paused and looked at him.
"Sure Venj, whas the matter?" Jakey asked, as if he didn't have Sally's shin bone wedged against his clavicle.
"There was no letter from Muse this morning." Avenger tried not to sound as worried as he was inside, but some of it must have leaked out because Sally and Jakey actually let each other go.
"You suspect something's happened?" Jakey asked, sitting on his heels, his tail tip perked up from the floor.
"Got no reason to suspect anything, other than no letter," Avenger mumbled, he knew he had nothing they liked to call 'proof'. Sally pushed her hands through her wild hair.
"Well, Muse has written to you almost obsessively every day since he left, so I can see why you're bothered. Do you have anyone you can call? Who'll know where he's staying?"
"Yeah, his brother, Nathaniel, and I think he was going to see someone called Nick in Manchester."
"Got numbers for them?"
"I do." Jakey was already diving into the pile of furniture in the hallway. He was back a few minutes later with an address book, "Muse's contacts."
Avenger took the book gratefully and opened it, then blinked. He didn't know anyone who had filled all the boxes in an address book before, so much so that extra pages had been stuck in.
"Man, how come Muse knows so many people? He's not exactly the life and soul of the party. Fact, don't think I've ever seen him at a party
"
"No, he's such a home-body." Jakey was as confused by Muse's address book as Sally was, the two martial artists peered over Avenger's arms as he flicked through.
"What's Nathaniel's second name?"
"No idea, but Nathaniel can't be that common a name, right?"
"Well, there's this guy, but his name's Horatio
"
And the sun travelled across the sky above Paragon City.
Don't ask me about joining Honourable United, I'm lazy. Ask Captain Cathode.
http://www.onthejazz.co.uk/honu/
"If I had a punch, I would so hit that guy." - Millenium (because drinking nail varnish remover is for real men)
Muse groaned and pushed his hand across his face, rolling onto his back. He had a killer headache and his back ached, probably from sleeping in a stupid position. He must have gotten more drunk than he remembered. He looked up and around, the room was small and dark, which suited his mood, as frankly, any light at all would probably murder his eyes right now. He pushed himself weakly into a sitting position and tried to think of where he was and what had happened the night before. He'd reached London, he remembered that, the taxi driver had been dropping names all over the shop, asked if he'd ever been on telly. Muse had been glad to step out of the cab and head to a bar. He'd managed to convince the landlady that if she gave him a free pint of beer every hour, he'd play and keep her patrons entertained.
Well he was regretting it now, after he'd finished a few sets, done some requests, it'd been free drinks for the rest of the night. He looked around for his backpack and guitar, frowning when he couldn't find them. The room was literally a shelf of a bed with a coarse wool blanket and a basin. Now that he thought about it, it looked more like a cell. Had he been arrested?
The door opened suddenly and Muse flinched. The two men standing in the doorway were backlit by a bright light. His eyes watered and he didn't get much of a chance to inspect them before they marched in, grabbed him up under his arms and walked him out. They were both so tall and so strong that they didn't notice Muse's toes skimming the ground as he tried to keep his feet down. Muse winced and tried to organise his mouth into conveying some sound in the shape of words. He didn't get a chance to before he was taken into another Spartan room with concrete walls and floor. There was a kind of station with buttons on it and next to it was a table. He was slammed onto it, grunting slightly.
"Wassis? Gerrof!" he mumbled. Why did his tongue feel so weighty and lifeless? And why was his brain so full of cotton wool? And why were they sticking pads to his skin? Were they about to take an electrocardiograph? If so, why?
"The Music Teacher, I presume. Well, I must say it's a delight to welcome you to our wet little country. I understand you're one of the heroes of Paragon City, the Heroes Capital." The voice came from the left, sounding as smarmy and twisted as a theatrical villain. Muse turned his head and blinked, trying to make out the man who spoke. Then he saw his uniform and panicked, trying to surge up off the table. The two big men shoved him back down and got back to tying him down.
"Ah, I see you've finally worked out what you're here for. Don't worry, I'm very experienced at dealing with heroes," the man looked at his hand, then tightened his glove. His Council uniform bore the rank of Archon, an officer, though from the looks of things, only pretended to be a gentleman. Muse whimpered, trying to wriggle his hands out of the restraints, watching with increasing alarm as wires were clipped to the sticky pads. It was going to be shock treatment. Knowing that didn't help one little bit, and his heart thudded in his chest like a bird trapped in a cage.
Without warning, a blow like a hammer slammed his chest and he cried out in surprise and pain, gasping as it departed, leaving him aching in its wake.
"My, you're a vocal one. Don't break too soon, takes all the fun away. We'll start with the easy things. What's your name?"
"I-I'm the Music T-Teacher
" Muse gasped, terrified. How bad was this looking to get? Did he know anything important? A shock hammering through his body derailed his train of thought and he yelped. The Archon nursed his temples.
"I hate heroes
No, not your alias, I mean your name." He twisted a switch and another shock punctuated his words. Muse knew he should keep his name secret, he knew that, but as he screamed a third time, he didn't know how long he'd be able to keep it so.
The pain was intense, it was agony. It felt like he'd been on the table for days. Always with the questions in that reasonable, clear English voice. He'd told him his name, his date of birth, his telephone number and his shoe size so far.
"Archon Lambert, there is a man to see you in your office." Muse heard the runner whisper to the Archon even through his screams. Did this mean he would receive some blessed moments of rest?
"Can't you see I'm busy?" Lambert asked in a snarl.
"I'm very sorry sir, but he says he comes on Requiem's behalf," said the runner. Lambert's fingers twitched on the switch, then he twisted it back to zero and straightened.
"I hate being interrupted. Keep an eye on our little song bird here. Wouldn't want him to lose interest half way through his solo." The Archon pushed the runner out of the way as he walked out. Muse sagged against the table and hiccupped, breaking into sobs again. He knew his distress was only providing the archon with more amusement, but he couldn't help it. He was scared and it hurt. There were long moments of silence broken only by his hollow sobs and aching before the door opened again. Lambert walked in and moved to the side of the door to admit a taller man. He was broad of shoulder and had to duck a little to get into the room. He walked past Lambert with a kind of authority that made Muse wonder pessimistically if he was another Archon. The man walked over to him and regarded him, arching and eyebrow over the set up, then he looked Muse in the eye.
"I'm going to give you a choice, Matthew Whithers, either you can stay here and answer all of Archon Lambert's questions, or you can come with me, and I will not ask you questions," he said, his voice carried a bit of a European accent, was it French or Dutch? Muse could hardly believe it, what possible answer could there be to a question like that.
"Y-you won't torture me?" he whimpered. The man shook his head. Muse sobbed a bit, trying to swallow it back.
"Please, get me out of here. Please."
"Lambert, I am hereby taking custody of your prisoner. I trust there will be no objections? Very good," the man said smoothly, already unbuckling the restraints before Lambert's stuttered objection could be completed. Muse squeaked when strong arms slid under his knees and behind his shoulders, not sure what to make of being lifted so effortlessly. However, he was being removed from the hellish room and taken away from Lambert, right now, that was something to be glad of.
"You're way out of your jurisdiction, Langlais! May I remind you that I am the Archon here and this is my base?!" Lambert stood in the way of their exit, his voice dropping its gentility. Muse shrank against Langlais' chest.
"Really? My apologies sir, I would salute but I appear to be rather encumbered," Langlais said dryly. Lambert inhaled through his nose stiffly.
"Watch yourself, Langlais, lest you want me to ask you a few questions."
"My favourite colour is purple and I like plums. Are you going to continue to delay me? I'm sure Requiem will be pleased to hear from me on time concerning this matter." Whoever this 'Requiem' was, his or their name was enough to make Lambert pale slightly and then step aside. Langlais marched out, ducking slightly to get through the doorway. He strolled through the tunnels and past huge ventilation fans until he reached the entrance to the small base. A soldier let them out and Muse got his first good look at his unexpected saviour in the thin, grey daylight of the English countryside.
Langlais was not unattractive, nor was he going to win prizes for his looks any time soon. His nose was strong and had an aquiline hook, his eyes were a surprisingly dark green, almost inky in their intensity, but they were marred by bitter lines at the corners. His jaw was strong, but Muse could feel muscles like steel cabling holding him up, so strong was a word that could be applied to any part of Langlais with ease. As if he felt himself being scrutinised, he looked down at Muse.
"Something on my face?"
"Why
why did you rescue me?" Muse blurted out, his body still aching from the electric shocks. Langlais half smiled, an action that came easily to his wide mouth.
"I dont think torture is a particularly useful way of dealing with prisoners. Can't trust the information they give you under duress, as after a while, a man would tell you the sky was pink if he thought it was what you wanted to hear. And frankly, Lambert's a sadistic ******* who should be taken to the vet's and put down. Hope that clears everything up," he said. Muse struggled a little, one of his legs jerking with the after effects of the shocks.
"Er
what are you going to do with me?" he asked hesitantly. Whatever his views on torture, Langlais was still Council, and didn't look like he was about to let him escape any time soon.
"And spoil the surprise? Be patient, Whithers, it is after-all, a virtue." Langlais carried him through the trees to a country lane and slipped him into the passenger seat of a jeep, he then walked around the bonnet and got into the driver's seat. Muse watched him turn on the jeep, only just realising he was shirtless.
"There's a jacket under your seat. Don't try to escape, or I'll pump you full of so many sedatives you won't wake up for a week," Langlais had an almost bored tone to his voice, as if he'd done this so many times, the words just came out on their own. Muse nodded, looking meek. He hated to disappoint this man, who seemed kind in his own way, but as soon as they got far enough away from the base, and close to any landmarks, he was out of there.
"Put your seatbelt on." Muse did so and Langlais put the jeep in gear and pulled away from the hedgerow.
They drove in silence for a while, Muse casting surreptitious looks about, wearing a jacket so massive on him it must be Langlais' own jacket. He had no idea where they were. There were just fields and thin roads that were sometimes little more than gravel tracks. He started to think Langlais was lost, perhaps this would be a better time than any. After all, Langlais in his jeep was forced to stay on the roads, flanked by thick foliage and steep banks, and Muse had the advantage of flight. He waited until they stopped at a junction and Langlais was craning his head around to look down a lane. Muse dropped his hand to the seatbelt socket and clicked the button, surging to his feet at the same time. The jeep rocked with the inaudible smack of sound waves that got Muse airborne, he hurtled up as fast as he could, leaning to the side so he could steer himself over the fields. He didn't see Langlais reach back to the backseat and snap a grey blanket off a rifle, nor did he see the man pull the stock to his shoulder and take aim, however, he did feel the dart strike his backside, and he did see the ground suddenly buck and surge up to meet him.
Langlais put his rifle back on the seat and flicked the blanket back over it. He hopped out of the jeep and walked to the stile half-hidden by an abundant growth of hawthorn. He climbed over it and ambled over to where the Music Teacher was sprawled unconscious in a small furrow of earth. He crouched down next to him and picked the dart out of his right buttock and pocketed it, shaking his head with a smile. It was a spirited attempt, especially so soon after being electrocuted for no particular reason other than Lambert was a massive [censored]. He scooped the hero up and walked back to the jeep, setting him back in the passenger seat and putting the seatbelt over him. Safety first, after all.
Don't ask me about joining Honourable United, I'm lazy. Ask Captain Cathode.
http://www.onthejazz.co.uk/honu/
"If I had a punch, I would so hit that guy." - Millenium (because drinking nail varnish remover is for real men)
"Hello, is this
Horatio?" Jakey sat on the newly moved sofa, holding the phone above his head as Sally ducked under the wire with a pot plant in her arms.
"Are you telesales?" asked a curt voice on the other end. Jakey flicked his tail out of the way when Avenger hopped over the sofa to start moving the piano back to its place.
"No, I'm looking for Music."
"Then go to a record shop. By the way, it's not 'Horatio', it's Nathaniel. [censored]." The line disconnected and Jakey peered at the handset.
"Well excuuuuuse me! [censored]."
"What happened?" Sally finished spritzing the plant haphazardly with the mister. Jakey snorted.
"He doesn't know where Muse is." Avenger dragged the piano in and repositioned it.
"Well, did you call him Muse or Matt?"
"I
er
what?" Avenger gave Jakey an amused look, then patted his head.
"You don't think he has 'The Music Teacher' written on his birth certificate do you?"
"His what?" Jakey frowned again and Sally and Avenger exchanged glances. Of course, Jakey wouldn't know what a birth certificate was, and nor did he have one, being a cat and all. Sally shook her head, picked up the phone and pressed the redial button.
"It's a piece of paper that has your name, date of birth and witnesses to your birth. Proves you exist, sort of."
"And just breathing doesn't prove you exist?" Jakey pulled a face. Avenger rubbed the back of his neck.
"It's more a proof you are who you say you are."
"Okay
" Jakey was still looking a bit blank, but Avenger decided he'd probably get to grips with the notion in his own time.
"Hi, is this Nathaniel?" Sally asked, the answer must have been an affirmative as she put the phone on speaker and replaced the handset, "we're really sorry to keep bothering you like this, Nathaniel, but you're Matt's brother, right?"
"There's a lot of Matts in the world, care to elaborate which one I'm the brother of?"
"Matthew Whithers," Avenger supplied, still slightly amused that Jakey didn't know his flatmate's real name despite him having heard it several times.
"Yeah. Well, we're not blood brothers, you understand, sort of adopted each other. What can I do you for?" The man's voice seemed boyish, like he had barely controlled playful side.
"This may seem a little odd, but we're his friends from Paragon-"
"Ah! Then you must be Sally. He's right, you do have a pretty voice!"
"Er
yeah, I'm Sally." Sally blinked, but couldn't help grinning a little sheepishly. Considering Muse was what he was, that was quite a compliment. Jakey rolled his eyes and laced his fingers behind his head.
"I hope you're not as pretty as you sound, Sally."
"Why's that?" Sally frowned.
"Because nobody on Earth can be so beautiful." It was corny and hammy, but Sally couldn't keep the pleased tinge of pink from her cheeks. Avenger put his hand to his face and dragged his fingers down.
"Alright, enough flirting, kids. Can we please focus?"
"Do we have to?" Both Nathaniel and Sally said at exactly the same time, which caused Jakey to look spooked.
"Yes. Look, Nathaniel, I didn't get a letter from Matt this morning, this may mean nothing but I have a bad feeling."
"Missing letters don't always mean anything," Nathaniel said. Avenger took a steadying breath.
"I know that, but I think he's in trouble. He promised he'd write every day and-"
"You're Adam, aren't you?"
"Y-yes." It felt so strange to have a voice on the phone say his name just like that, like it was common knowledge.
"Alright, I'll look into it. He wasn't expected to be meeting anyone for another week, said something about a guy called Nick in Manchester, but I'll put my ear to the ground. Know anyone who might be his enemy?"
"Hell, we're heroes, who isn't our enemy?" Jakey muttered from the sofa. Sometimes it really did feel like the world was against them. Sally shrugged at Avenger.
"Well, there is the Council, they don't like anyone so much. They recruit overseas
everyone else I can think of tends to operate just here."
"The Circle have international roots," Jakey put in. Sally rolled her eyes.
"Damnit, J, the Circle of Thorns is not behind every little plot in the world! Besides, they're out to see how many ways they can skin you, not Muse."
"Oh yeah
" Avenger ignored them both, his hands in his pockets, trying to keep calm.
"Muse hasn't made many enemies I can think of, not that'd be operating in your country."
"I guess I'd better call a few favours in then."
"I'm getting the first plane to England, what's the nearest airport to you?"
"That'll be Bristol. I'll call up Tintagel on your behalf." Nathaniel's mention of the British super-organisation caught both Sally and Jakey's attention, distracting them from just how many ways you could skin a cat.
"Who?" Sally asked.
"They'll send someone to collect you from the airport, and if I'm lucky enough, they'll bring me as your contact. Keep me posted on when you get in."
"Of course. Thank you, Nathaniel," Avenger said.
"Hey, he's my brother. What else am I gonna do?" With that, Nathaniel hung up. Avenger turned off the speaker phone and looked at the other two.
"Can you make my excuses to HU?"
"You're kidding right." Jakey looked offended. Sally folded her arms.
"We're coming with you, you daft bugger. You might be indestructible, but you're going to need me and Jakey."
Avenger shook his head and laughed, rubbing a hand through his hair. He looked from Sally to Jakey and then back to Sally.
"You're right, pretty silly of me to think I could skip out on you both. Guess we should pack light."
"Whoo! Road trip! I'll call Gaze, tell her what's going on. Sally, you get us the flight and Avenger, you finish replacing the furniture. Go people, move move move!" Jakey clapped his hands and snatched up the phone, hopping up onto the piano so he could sit out of the way. Sally pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket, going out onto the fire escape to make the call to the airport. Avenger let them get on with it, replacing the furniture and then going into Muse's room. He looked around at it, then took a deep breath. He might be over-reacting, he really hoped he was, but it was better to be safe than sorry. He started packing.
The airport was packed, today seemed to be the day for travelling. The security guards met the three heroes at the entrance, more than one of them gaping slightly as they leapt out of the sky, or so it seemed. Each one of them was wearing the colours and fleur de lis of Honourable United, a group that had an excellent reputation.
"Midnight Avenger, the plane is waiting for you. Please come this way, we'll take your baggage," the chief security guard said. Avenger nodded and handed his duffel bag over to one of the guards. Jakey and Sally did the same. The three of them followed the security guards inside. It turned out they needed the escort, word that three famous heroes had entered the building had spread like wildfire. Would-be tourists and business executives were craning their heads around and trying to see over each other. Sally did her part, shaking hands that forced their way past the guards and signing the odd piece of paper thrust at her with a pen. This was truly the weirdest part of being a hero, especially to her, as she guarded her true identity so absolutely she often did not take her mask off for days at a time. It was a strange paradox of their lives, that they hid their names and often their faces, but they were so famous that they couldn't go anywhere without being recognised. She almost pitied heroes like Jakey and Raphael De Arca, who made no attempt to divorce their true selves from their hero identity. Did they get any peace at all?
"Hey J, I noticed something," she said, glancing down at the four foot cat man who was rubbing lipstick from his striped cheek.
"Oh?"
"Does anyone know you're one of the two founding members of the supergroup? Nobody seems to call you by your rank
"
"Hopefully nobody'll find out any time soon either," Jakey said offhand, shaking a few hands as they walked, nodding to people who were asking if he remembered such and such a time he'd rescued them, their cousins and that chap who lived down the street. Sally wasn't quite sure she understood his aversion to be recognised as one of the leaders of Honourable United. It was a good thing, surely.
The plane was indeed waiting, actually out on the tarmac, but an easy walking distance from the terminal for the three heroes. They hurried up the steps and apologised to the crew for their lateness, asking them to pass it on to the other passengers and thank them for their patience. They were shown to the special class and all flopped down in the wide, comfortable seats, putting on their seatbelts.
"Nice of the airline to wait for us," Avenger said as the plane rumbled along the tarmac to the runway.
"Yeah, or we'd have to have waited for three hours for a private jet. Hate those pokey little things," Sally sniffed slightly, stretching her arms out expansively to show off how much arm room she had in the centre seat. Jakey flicked his tail around himself, hunching a bit under his hat, tipping it over his face. Sally noticed his sudden quietness and looked around.
"J
are you okay?" Her eyes fell to the armrests and her eyebrows raised when she saw how tightly his fingers were digging into the upholstery. She looked over at Avenger, who was on her other side, motioning slightly for him to look around her. He did so, leaning forward and his eyebrows also rose. Neither of them had ever seen any indication of any kind of fear on Jakey's part before. They'd seen him jump onto Freak Tank faces, throw himself off skyscrapers, run yowling at Rikti, pull faces into the tanks of Nemesis warhulks and kick the feet out from under warwolves. It wasn't that they assumed he had no fear, but it was hard to think he did given how enthusiastic he was about dangerous situations.
"Nervous flier, J?" Avenger asked, trying to keep his amusement out of his voice. Jakey didn't answer and Sally couldn't help but grin. Who'd have thought that Jakey K, the slightly suicidal cat hero, was afraid of flying.
The plane surged and they were pushed back into their seats by the g-forces, Jakey's tail fluffed to twice its size, looking more like a squirrel's tail, it was that fluffy. Sally tried to keep a straight face, it really wasn't nice to laugh at people's odd fears, even if it was so out of place.
Once they were airborne and out of the airport by thirty minutes, Sally watched Avenger discretely call for a steward, when the man arrived, he whispered something into his ear and the steward nodded, leaving. Sally frowned and leaned over the aisle.
"What you ask for? Five minutes in the toilet?" Avenger blushed outright at her words, then saw her impish grin and rolled his eyes, leaning over the aisle as well so his words would be only for her.
"Asking if he has a sedative onboard, for J."
"Good thinking, he hasn't loosened a muscle for half an hour. He's going to hurt himself."
"Yeah." Avenger looked around when the steward returned, watching as he went to Jakey's chair and gave him a glass of something. The cat nodded, taking it with a quiet thanks and they watched him drink it. Avenger nodded his thanks to the steward who took the empty glass away.
"What do you think they gave him?"
"Hell, if it was me, I'd have given him half the contents of Muse's hipflask." Avenger picked up a magazine and looked at it, mostly to hide any indication of how worried he was about his lover. Sally leaned back in her own seat, and when she looked over at Jakey a few minutes later, she was amused to note he was dead asleep. She got up to tuck a complimentary blanket around him and put his hat on the floor where his feet were in no danger of crumpling it.
"Hey Venji, how long have you known Jakey?" she asked, returning to her seat. Avenger looked up from the distinctly uninteresting article.
"A while. Met him before I joined Honourable. He was in trouble in Perez at the time, nearly getting himself killed again."
"Was that a long time ago?" Sally, like many heroes, knew that Perez Park was only really dangerous to green heroes who were still learning the ropes. Avenger nodded.
"Yeah, he was security level twelve or something. Gaze called me to help them out, liked him. Thought he was a good kid and Gaze spoke highly of him," he said with a shrug. To be honest, it felt like he'd known about Jakey for longer than he really had, as Gaze would talk about him often as she sat beside his thawing unit. Being trapped in a block of ice had given Avenger a lot of time with his own thoughts and with Gaze talking to him about certain people, he felt like he'd known them for a long time before actually meeting them.
"There's something I don't get, everyone knows that Wilkins created Honourable United, and people in the group keep saying that Jakey was the guy who signed on the second line, but to be honest, he doesn't act it." Sally pulled one of her knees to her chest, angling her body so she could see Avenger properly. Avenger shrugged.
"He doesn't like being in charge. He prefers to make suggestions and let people act on their own initiative, but he's never felt like a 'leader' if you will. I guess it's because cats aren't really pack animals. J supports people, rather than leads them. It's how he wants it and I'm happy with his support." He didn't want to censure Sally's opinions, but he wasn't sure where this was going. Sally looked at the front of the compartment.
"I guess what I'm saying is, I want him to be recognised for what he does for us."
"And he is, by those who matter. Let him have his privacy, he gets precious little of it."
"Should wear a mask then." Sally stuck her tongue out a little. Avenger grinned.
"I think that's a moot point now. Aww look, he's so cute when he's asleep." He pointed to the snoozing cat, who was curled up against the armrest. Sally grinned.
"Don't let him hear you calling him that, he'll throw a right wobbly."
"Excuse me, Midnight Avenger, Sally Storm?" A stewardess was peeping through the curtains to their section, both heroes looked around.
"Yes?" Avenger asked. The stewardess smiled apologetically.
"There are a few of the younger passengers who keep asking if they can come up and meet you, what should I tell them?"
Avenger and Sally exchanged glances, then both looked back at the stewardess.
"Let them come up, but in small numbers if there's a lot of them, as Jakey's asleep and he needs his rest." Avenger said. It looked like their public relation duties were not yet over. Sally gave Jakey a bit of an envious look, the cat had skilfully evaded the fan club this time, and she vowed to be the one sleeping so peacefully next time.
Don't ask me about joining Honourable United, I'm lazy. Ask Captain Cathode.
http://www.onthejazz.co.uk/honu/
"If I had a punch, I would so hit that guy." - Millenium (because drinking nail varnish remover is for real men)
disclaimer - the author in no way condones cruelty to animals, just so you know
There was a sort of chirping that invaded his state of sleep, Muse rolled onto his back and let his eyes drift open. There was a milky gauze over his head at a peak. He let his eyes track the fabric's gradient and saw it anchored on the side of the bed. He reached out slow fingers to brush the material. It was silky, gauzy, pleasant to touch, a breeze rippled the fabric and he turned his head on the pillow. A pair of glass balcony doors stood open, letting a warm breeze circulate the room. Muse sat up, looking down at himself. He was wearing only a pair of boxer shorts, but at least he'd not been stripped entirely naked. The tattoos on his legs showed up black in the darkness. Outside, the cicadas chirped and he fumbled about for the exit from the mosquito net. He didn't think the Council tended to hang around in a tropical paradise, so he needed to find out where he was as soon as possible. Voices on the night air stopped him in his quest, and he listened past the thudding of his heart.
"You took a great liberty in wielding my name to Lambert." The voice was odd, fully in control and tinged with an American accent.
"I am aware of that, sir," said Langlais, his voice calm but respectful.
"I do not appreciate people putting my name to things I have not verified. You are just lucky that I happen to approve of your actions in this regard." The voice said in a clipped tone. There was something else to the speaker, Muse half closed his eyes, listening intently.
"You may punish me as you see fit, sir. I thought only to secure the asset from harm, by any means necessary, and I apologise profusely for my impudence."
"As well you should, Adjudent Langlais." There was a long pause, and it came to Muse suddenly. The speaker was a Nictus. He'd know that discordant edge anywhere. Nothing on Earth was so
alien. He shrank small in the covers, pulling the sheets around him tightly.
"However, the ends have out-weighed the means. I reviewed your file on the way here and I am surprised that a man of your skill and competency has not yet been admitted to one of our Elite programs. Why is that, do you think?"
"Sir?" Langlais sounded politely disinterested. It must not have put the other speaker off.
"I think you have been waiting for something new to come along. You are well informed about Cosmos, more so than I expected of an adjudent anywhere. After myself and a few others, you may be the most informed person in the Council. Does the concept intrigue you?" Muse knew a loaded question when he heard it, and he wondered what the Nictus was thinking. There was a pause before Langlais spoke.
"The concept does intrigue me, yes. I have paid attention to all communications that go through my station."
"Even the encrypted ones?" That must be it, the Nictus was trying to trap him into revealing that he had been reading classified material, surely.
"As you know, sir, re-encryption of a message gives it higher security, but to re-encrypt, I have to decode first. I merely retain much of what I read. Though
permission to speak freely, sir?"
"Granted."
"I believe force will only result in Cosmos back-firing. I know that I have no right to say this, but I would like to recommend to the Archon you place in charge that Cosmos be handled with subtlety. I believe that would yield the very best results." Langlais sounded serious. There was a long pause and the sound of feet walking slowly on wooden decking.
"You do not favour our theories?" The Nictus drawled slightly, as though he were indulging Langlais only.
"There can be more than one theory, if you would have Cosmos good for only one thing, then your theory is fine, but if you want Cosmos to be versatile, then you have to work for it." The silence held again, then there was a chuckle.
"You are bold, Adjudent Langlais. This pleases me. Your record shows competent work and excellent leadership. I am therefore promoting you to Archon and giving you the base here. You will show me the results your theory yields. Fail, and you will be punished accordingly." The Nictus may have been smiling, he sounded pleased enough. Langlais hesitated before responding.
"Then may I request half a dozen Warwolves, Zenith mechmen and Galaxy to be posted here under my command."
"Making demands so soon?"
"They are necessary for Cosmos's advancement. If you have the time to wait, I can write you a report outlining my plan."
"No thank you, you can send it to me. I trust your excellently trained communications specialists can see to that? As it happens, I shall leave presently. Don't disappoint my expectations, Archon Langlais." The feet walked across the boards again, ending up under Muse's door.
"Oh, and Langlais?"
"Yes sir?"
"Bring the asset to heel, by any means necessary." Muse heard the steps pass under the floor of his room and dim. After a long time, he heard the rotors of a helicopter power up and the echo of the Nictus disappeared. He gulped, then blinked when he heard a puppy bark somewhere. There came an urgent scratching at his door. He was so surprised, he didn't move for a few moments. Finally, when the whimpering got too much to bare, he found the flap to let himself out of the mosquito netting and walked over to the door hesitantly. He opened it after a moment and a puppy with a frantically wagging tail gambolled in, full of such clumsiness and zest for life that Muse smiled. He knelt down and held his hand out to the puppy, grinning when it was frantically licked. The puppy looked like it would be a big dog when it grew up, with a dark coloured muzzle and a wolf-like profile. Muse petted it, then picked it up, turning his face slightly as the puppy licked his chin and face. He stepped out of his room and walked hesitantly down the wide hall. There were a few paintings on the white walls and a wicker basket that looked more like a cat's bed than a dog's.
There came a cough from downstairs and Muse froze, clutching the puppy, who wriggled energetically. He peered over the banister of the stairs, surprised to see a living area and kitchen area as one. Certainly, the large room was spacious, and the lack of second floor allowed it to feel airy, but it was so wholly unlike anything he'd seen the Council use before that he was thrown for a moment. The newly promoted Langlais was standing in the kitchen, looking into the fridge. He was not even dressed like a Council officer, wearing a brightly coloured Hawaiian shirt featuring a twisted oriental dragon on the back over his white tee-shirt and grey fatigues. Muse felt adrift. He was a prisoner, but there were no bars or cells, that man was a Council officer, but he didn't dress like one and this was a Council facility, but was also a tropical paradise.
Nothing made sense and the sum just didn't add up.
The puppy barked happily and Langlais looked around and up.
"Ah, you're up. Do put some pants on and come down here, we have a lot to discuss." Muse, confused, turned automatically and went back to his room. He couldn't find his own clothes but there were a pair of folded grey fatigues, a white tee-shirt and a khaki shirt. Muse checked them, they bore the Council seal, but he'd not seen this style before. He looked around and couldn't find any civilian clothes. His lips thinned and he grabbed up the clothes, marching to the balcony and throwing them over the railing. He stood there for a moment, breathing hard, taking a moment to check his surroundings. Palm trees swayed in the light breeze and there were lights off to the distant right, twinkling as the moving trees blocked and revealed them. Ahead, in a broad sweep was a beach. So that had been the undercurrent of sound. The sea looked calm on the sand, but some way out, he could see and hear breakers. There must have been sandbanks or something out in the distance to cause them.
"What's taking so long?" called Langlais. Muse stooped and picked up the puppy and walked back to the living area, his heart thumped wildly but he tried to look defiant. Langlais took a carton of fruit juice out of the fridge and glanced at him before breaking the seal.
"Don't tell me, you're utterly offended I put out Council clothes for you, because you'd never even consider looking like a member of our organisation." He looked indifferent as he drank straight from the carton. Muse flinched, the way he'd said it, it was clear he knew all about Muse's tendencies to hide himself in the uniform.
"Where are my clothes?" Muse asked, trying to sound in control. Langlais held out the carton to him.
"Raspberry and cranberry?"
"Tell me what you did with my clothes." Muse tried to keep calm, like he wasn't afraid of the six foot four man who was holding out the fruit juice. Langlais suddenly broke into a wide smile.
"You vomited on them in your sleep. I figured nobody would want to wear them again. I did some fun things with them, but I shan't let you in on the joke just yet. You like dogs?" Again, Langlais changed the subject completely, nodding to the puppy in Muse's arms. Muse stroked a hand on the puppy's fur for reassurance.
"I
um
yes. I like all animals." He put the puppy down so it could spend more of that abundant energy running about the wooden flooring with a clatter of claws. Langlais nodded, then drank more fruit juice. He put the carton back in the fridge and then took something out of his back pocket.
"Know what this is?" He put the small device like a remote control on the breakfast bar so Muse could see it clearly. There was just one button on it, imbedded into the black casing with a clear plastic shield over it to prevent it being pressed by accident. Muse blinked.
"Um
it's a remote control?"
"Close, it's a remote detonator." Langlais turned away to take a frying pan off its hook on the wall. Muse paled, immediately checking himself for stitched up incisions where a charge might have been put in. Langlais watched him for a second, then pointed to the puppy as it worried a sock energetically. Muse went a shade of grey.
"Try to escape, and I hit that button, and the incendiary device in the dog's stomach explodes." Muse turned to stare at him, horrified. Langlais picked up the detonator and tucked it back into his back pocket, looking nonplussed. Muse was sickened, how could anyone treat a dog like that? It was such a cute little thing too. He watched, appalled, as the puppy bounded over to Langlais and dropped the sock on his foot, wagging wildly. The officer kicked the sock up into his hand and threw it casually over the room before getting back to frying some bacon.
"You like eggs?"
"You put a bomb in a puppy, you soulless *******!" Muse cried out, unable to keep the objection hidden.
"What would you prefer? That I grenade a kitten?" Langlais managed to make it sound so bland that Muse just sat down on one of the stools, hanging his head.
"How could you?"
"Because I know any man of your sensibilities would hold any life in high regard, and I have no non-essential personnel lying around to load up with incendiaries. It's so hard being a soulless ******* you know, I exhaust myself with my eternal scheming, I really do. Pineapple fritter?" Langlais flipped bacon onto a plate and turned to uncover a fresh pineapple, already halfway through being cut up. Muse couldn't believe the man's callousness, it rang so wrong against his inky green eyes.
"What if I promise
not to run away?" Muse asked weakly. Langlais turned his head to regard him, pausing in his chopping.
"Sorry, I'm not in the habit of trusting a hero's word particularly, but points for trying. Tell you what, if you're good and don't give me any trouble, I'll review the situation at a later date."
"You'll take the bomb out of the puppy?"
"He has a name. It's Bouncer." Muse was doubly taken aback, Langlais had even named the dog he was intending to blow up if Muse tried to escape. Somehow, he couldn't believe that Langlais wouldn't detonate the charge, named dog or not.
"You'll
take the bomb out of Bouncer?"
"Maybe, depends on how good you've been. You can take care of Bouncer, actually. I won't have enough time for him, now I've been punished with a bloody promotion." Langlais was conducting his affairs like Muse was a younger cousin who'd come to stay for a bit, not like a prisoner at all. All the contradictions were making Muse's head hurt, but he clung to the Archon's words that he 'might' remove Bouncer's bomb if he was good enough. He made a mental promise to be as good as he possibly could be, watching the puppy play with his master's sock with gleeful oblivion of his fate.
Don't ask me about joining Honourable United, I'm lazy. Ask Captain Cathode.
http://www.onthejazz.co.uk/honu/
"If I had a punch, I would so hit that guy." - Millenium (because drinking nail varnish remover is for real men)
"What does this Nathaniel look like anyway?" Sally asked as they got off the plane, all the rest of the passengers had disembarked already, as was the custom, emptying from the middle first. Avenger shrugged.
"I'm sure there'll be a sign to direct us," he sounded more confident than he felt. He was carrying the still sleeping Jakey, who was still wrapped up in his blanket. The small, tightly muscled body with its quiet, lulled heartbeat was oddly comforting. He was somehow not surprised to note that Jakey still smelled like a cat, despite his shape.
"Excuse me, are you the Honourable United team?" a curt, very English voice asked suddenly as they approached the end of the tunnel. Avenger stopped and blinked, Sally also stopped. They couldn't see a thing, and both were having the same thought. They wished Jakey was still awake. His senses were sharp enough that he could often see what they could not, making him hard to mystify.
Ahead, someone made a short, impatient sound.
"Oh bother, I keep forgetting to focus." After a moment, a painfully thin man of average height melded into plain sight. He was wearing a black jumpsuit with the emblem of a sword stitched onto his left shoulder.
"Dreadfully sorry, didn't mean to startle. In the habit of staying out of sight if you will. My name's Gorse Tintagel, and you are
let's see, you must be Midnight Avenger, and you are Sally Storm and who's this little chap?" Sally's eyes were a bit wide, as she not to grimace at this 'so' English introduction.
"Jakey K," she said shortly, her voice sounding more English than it had for a while. Gorse smiled.
"Ah, of course, the cat. Well, come along, come along. Class is no doubt wooing every lady in a ten mile radius as we speak." He started walking off and fading into thin air. Sally exchanged glances with Avenger and they both blew out a deep sigh before following the shimmer of air that was Gorse. Occasionally he'd realise he was invisible, and his polite curse and reappearance would offer a small entertainment in the form of guessing how long it'd take him to remember next time. Jakey murmured something but didn't wake up.
They finally came out into what must have been a sectioned off part of the terminal. Sally, from Gorse's off-hand comment concerning 'Class', was expecting a well dressed man like Raphael De Arca waiting for them. As far as she was concerned, he was the absolute personification of class and always would be. She was surprised to see two people leaning against the wall, one was a very short black girl, and the other was a shortish man with brown hair and both wore the black jumpsuit with the sword. It wasn't until the man looked over and met Sally's eyes that she stopped dead in her tracks, whatever thought she'd been thinking was abandoned to die slowly in the dust of neglect. Avenger stared at her in concern, freeing one arm to wave it in front of her face and when he received no reaction, looked worriedly about. Gorse appeared at Sally's other side and frowned, shining a penlight into her eyes. As if the light flipped a switch, she suddenly split into a grin and blushed, taking hold of Avenger's arm.
"Pretend I'm with you," she whispered. Avenger looked slightly mystified, then alarmed when she giggled, looking anywhere but ahead, "shhh, he's coming over here, oh my god!"
"You must be the boys from the States. I'm Touch of Class and this is my sidekick, Cirrus, pleasure to meet you!" said the short man in what was absolutely a regional accent. He'd put on a pair of dark glasses as he walked over. Avenger stared at him, wondering what the hell was going on.
"I'm Midnight Avenger, this sleepyhead is Jakey K and this is-"
"Sally Storm." Sally suddenly thrust her hand out, again the model of professionalism. Touch of Class took her hand and turned it, bringing it to his lips.
"Enchant." Avenger waited for Sally to punch him, or shoot him down with a sharp one liner, when it didn't come, he looked sideways at the woman and was deeply unsettled by her girlish smile.
"Would you do me the honour of walking with me to the car? It's been a long flight and we're anxious to get you started on your investigation with our full co-operation," Class offered his elbow to Sally and whatever she'd said about being 'with' Avenger was evidently forgotten as she slipped her arm through the crook and let herself be led off.
Gorse sighed heavily.
"There he goes again. Sorry about him, sir, he's
"
"Incorrigible," Cirrus finished for him, her accent was thickly Irish, but not so much so that her words were garbled. Avenger followed when they picked up the baggage left for them by the airport staff.
"What the hell just happened? Why's Sally acting so
giggly?"
"Class has that effect on every woman who makes eye-contact with him. It'll wear off in a few hours and I fully encourage your team-mate to slap him as hard as she can." Gorse sounded tired. Avenger decided to keep a very firm eye on Sally, so she didn't find herself in any compromising situations while under the influence of whatever Touch of Class's strange power was. Cirrus peered up at Avenger.
"Oh don't you be worrying about your friend, Class is rough round the edges but he's a real gentleman an'll take right care of her until she's herself again." Avenger only grunted slightly. Even though he was not that way inclined, he could see that Sally was a very beautiful woman, and sometimes a man could be swayed to forsake reason in the face of something so lovely. Whatever high-minded ideals Touch of Class harboured, he was still a man, and clearly needed watching.
"Gaze?" Jakey mumbled from his blanket. Avenger looked at him as they walked out to the car. The cat looked bleary and tired.
"No, Avenger."
"Hmm
you smell like her," Jakey murmured, moving sluggishly. Avenger nodded to Gorse as he pulled open a side door to a people carrier, getting in and taking care not to knock the cat.
"No [censored], what with being her twin and all," Avenger said fondly. Jakey made a noncommittal sound and nestled against him comfortably. In the seats next to Avenger sat Sally and Class, the latter on the far side next to the window. He was keeping Sally engaged in conversation, talking about this and that and nothing of particular interest but it was holding the woman's attention like a candle held a moth's. In the front passenger seat, Cirrus turned around and rested her slim arm on the back of the seat while Gorse started the engine.
"What's Paragon like? I heard you've got war walls and all kinds of problems there." It was hard to tell her expression, since she wore mirrored wrap around shades, but her tone was interested.
"The walls still keep the Rikti prisoner in the city, but they're always trying to call for reinforcements and break out of the city."
"Must be tough keeping them in the limits, guess you must need every hero you can get." Cirrus rested her chin on her arm, then looked to Gorse for a moment. Gorse nodded just slightly and the elfin woman took her shades off. Immediately, Avenger could see why she wore them. Her irises were pitch black, but in her pupils there was a swirling grey blue light and flicked off and on as she moved her eyes about, like a cat's eye. They were slightly unsettling to see in a human face, she must wear the glasses to keep her eyes hidden from civilians. He returned his mind to the conversation.
"Yeah, sometimes feels like we're not making much headway either," he said. Cirrus nodded.
"Well don't you worry about the outside, we'll keep that mulling over until you guys win. So what's this about me brother?"
"Cirrus." Gorse's quiet voice interrupted their conversation, he gave the tiny woman a sideways look before turning his attention back to the road. Avenger stared at her. He'd gone a whole half hour without thinking about Muse, but now the worry and the anxiety were back. Cirrus pulled a face, then sat facing forwards again. Jakey blinked his eyes open again, his eyelashes tickling Avenger's neck.
"You're Muse's sister?" he mumbled. Cirrus did not look around.
"Yeah. I'm Matt's sister. We're heading to Avalon, Nat's already been helping us piece together Matt's steps that he knows about. We could use your help though."
It struck Avenger then, that this was not a mission for Honourable United, this had just become an international affair.
Don't ask me about joining Honourable United, I'm lazy. Ask Captain Cathode.
http://www.onthejazz.co.uk/honu/
"If I had a punch, I would so hit that guy." - Millenium (because drinking nail varnish remover is for real men)
hooray for exposition or something like that
Jakey knelt on Avenger's lap, his head stuck out of the window and one hand holding his hat on. The English countryside was beautiful, moreso than he remembered it being when he'd been walking through it on unfamiliar legs. His tie snapped past his ear as he turned his head back to regard Touch of Class, the other hero was gently tipping a sleeping, jet-lagged Sally from his own shoulder to lean on Avenger's. Jakey watched to make sure he kept his hands to himself but was gentle with his team-mate.
"We didn't expect such a welcoming committee. We only called you guys to be polite," he said loudly over the rattle of air through the open window. Gorse kept his eyes on the road but Class sighed, putting self-conscious fingers to his dark glasses.
"Yeah well, it's probably a good thing you did. This is a bit more involved than you might think."
"Oh?"
"Class." Gorse flicked his eyes up to the rear-view mirror and must have made eye contact with Touch of Class as the man pulled a face and looked away, resting his chin in his hand. Jakey scowled, something was going on here. Gorse changed the angle on his rear-view and Jakey saw his eyes.
"We're taking you to Jester, he knows the whole story and will fill you in. Please be patient, we aren't trying to give you the run around." He sounded sincere enough that Jakey sat back against Avenger's slightly wonky chest. Avenger himself had been lulled into a kind of doze by the motion of the car, indeed, the long hours of travel were starting to take their toll and neither he nor Sally had gotten much sleep the night before. Jakey folded his arms, tail twitching.
"You guys still have Mr Avebury working for you?" he asked, naming the hero who'd found him wandering and sorted him out with clothes, identification and indeed, was the one who told him about the mystics of Paragon. He owed a lot to the man. Class looked over.
"You didn't hear?" he asked softly. Jakey looked back.
"Hear what?"
"Mr Avebury died three months ago. Heart attack," said Gorse, quiet but firm. Jakey was silent for a moment. He knew Mr Avebury had been old, with a hugely long snowy white beard that had tickled the bare skin of the cat's chest. He lifted a hand to it, as if he could feel the prickles again.
"I'm sorry
I didn't hear." Jakey looked out the window suddenly, trying to fool himself into believing the burning in his eyes was caused by the wind. Cirrus sighed.
"It were quick, but not unexpected. He were an old man," she sounded awkward, but kind enough. Jakey squeezed his eyes shut and looked firmly out the window.
"Yeah, old men have a habit of dying," his voice sounded a bit lame to his own ears. He'd never told his friends of the days after he fled his home in a newly human shaped body, of the cold and the hunger as he wandered naked and unable to hunt. He'd never mentioned being found, half starved and on death's door by a kindly old man who took him in and nursed him back to health. Speech, reading and writing, how to walk like a man and understand and reason as a man; these had all been Mr Avebury's gifts to him, though Jakey had long known him by the name of Jason. But Mr Avebury had died and his passing had gone unnoticed by the cat, and now he didn't know how to feel about it.
Thankfully, he was spared more conversation by the van cresting a hill and revealing a castle surrounded by trees on the curve of a river. Flags flew boldly at the poles and the emblem of the sword on a black field marked it out as Avalon, the home and base of Tintagel. What guards there were remained unseen as the van swept down the rise and over the bridge into the courtyard, gravel crunching under the tires as it came to a stop.
"These the yanks?" The speaker was a tall, well muscled red-head with his long mane of wavy hair tied back into a ponytail. He spoke even as he walked over with a confident stride. Cirrus looked around at Avenger and Sally, both of whom had slept right through the conversation and Jakey's restlessness. She grinned a little at the red head.
"Midnight Avenger and Sally Storm are the sleepers, and the cat is Jakey K." She opened her door and sprang out, her pixie-light body bouncing up and she wrapped her arms around the red-headed giant's neck, "Wheeee, did ye miss me, Bulldog?"
"Get the feck off, you deranged sprite o' lament." Bulldog plucked her off him, his hand was large enough to almost swamp her and he put her down firmly but gently. Gorse got out of the car and left Class to hesitantly wake up Sally.
"Is Jester ready to see them?"
"Aye, he's ready. Hasn't stopped drinking coffee all morning."
"[censored], that's bad." Gorse opened the side door to the van and shook Avenger's arm. Nothing happened other than Avenger's hand flapping a bit on the end of the limb and Jakey shaking his head. The cat stood up and cleared his throat.
"Leave this to the professional, guys," he waved them back, nodding as Class took a fist across the face from Sally as she came to. He then screamed, like someone had shut his tail in a door. The response was immediate, Avenger jolting up and trying to surge forward, snapping the pendulum of the seat belt and sending the mechanism rocketing out through the front window with a sound of popping glass. The British heroes all regarded the hole, then looked back at Avenger who rubbed his eyes, realising where he was.
"Sorry, must have dozed off in the car," he mumbled. Class rubbed the side of his face, wincing as he touched the tender area. Sally marched past him, fuming silently. Avenger untangled himself from the seatbelt and joined the others out on the gravel parking area. Bulldog beckoned.
"Jester wants you in the briefing room. There's tea and coffee there and if you're of a mind, breakfast."
"Breakfast sounds good," Avenger said sleepily. Jakey hung by his side, looking up at Sally as she started to follow Bulldog and Cirrus into the castle.
The briefing room was lined with oak panels, with oil paintings hung on the walls. Previous heroes who had defended the United Kingdom of Great Britain sat in their portraits, looking quietly noble and dedicated. Though clearly expensive, the décor was lavish in a somehow understated way. It fit, and was inside how the outside promised it would be. It hadn't changed a bit since Jakey had been led into this same briefing room, his hand clinging to Mr Avebury's to have an interview with Jester a year ago. An entire year had passed since then, Jakey realised with a shock that he was almost five now. Perhaps he should act his age a little more.
As promised, there were teapots and taller coffee pots, silver cups stamped with Tintagel's crest and all the works set on a heavy wooden table with chairs all about. Sally went to pour herself a tea only to find Class's hand under her own. She was about to punch him again when he skilfully started to pour five cups. He didn't turn his head to indicate he was looking at her, but she was sure he was sneaking furtive glances behind the safety of his dark glasses.
"Take a seat. Bulldog, Gorse, I want you both in the control room. Class, when you're done serving tea, go get that pyromaniac in here." A voice came from the far end of room, from the still figure standing by a fireplace that looked like it had been sculpted rather than constructed. Avenger remained standing, looking the figure over. Jester was a swarthy looking man, with a dirty stubble around his jaw and the black jumpsuit did nothing to take away the moodiness of his visage. Avenger wondered if his name was heavily ironic.
"I would that we met again under better circumstances, Jester," Jakey piped up, his voice breaking into Avenger's reverie. He didn't realise Jakey actually knew these people, but then, he supposed it might have been unavoidable. Jester walked away from the fireplace and reached out to shake Jakey's hand.
"As do I, little friend. I have heard good reports about you, you've become quite the hero, I hear." Jester smiled a little, and Avenger saw a glimpse of a sparkle that might make the name less ironic than first suspected. Jakey grinned apologetically.
"I found some good friends to lead me true. This is Sally Storm, and Midnight Avenger." Jakey motioned to each of his friends in turn. Jester nodded to Avenger, then cocked his head at Sally.
"Do I know you from somewhere?" he asked quietly. Sally looked surprised and shook her head.
"We've never met sir."
"Odd, I never forget a face. Ah well, maybe I saw you in a former life. Ah, thank you Class," Jester took the teacup and saucer that were handed to him by Touch of Class, then sipped before putting it down by the chair at the head of the table. Cirrus nodded as Class left quietly, sitting down in a seat at her leader's right.
"Onto business. I was able to inform Lord Aldershot III about these matters, so we need not wait for him. Please, sit." Jester motioned to the chairs as he himself sat down. Jakey climbed up into one of the elevated seats and Avenger sat himself down finally. Jester waited until all of them were sat and comfortable.
"You are probably wondering why I've brought you all the way here," he watched as the three Paragon heroes nodded, then made a hand motion to Cirrus. She reached her hand to one of the inlaid panels on the wooden table and pressed her fingers to the surface in a seemingly random way. Small screens slid up from the seamless joins in the table in front of all five of them, the Tintagel crest on the visual.
"When your leader, Midnight Gaze, called us and told us who was missing, I was authorised to de-classify this information concerning a Mr Matthew Ashred Whithers." Jester steepled his fingers, and Cirrus's nimble fingers tapped out another sequence. The emblem was replaced with old, bad footage of something breaking up in freefall.
"This footage was taken in the 1940's, exact date is not important. It showed one of several meteorites coming through Earth's atmosphere. As you may know, the Earth is bombarded by thousands of spatial objects every year, what makes these ones so special?"
Sally Storm leaned forward to watch the footage with intense eyes and Avenger tried to focus. He didn't know how this was supposed to be any use whatsoever. He needed to get out and find Muse, not sit around drinking tea and listening to stories about meteorites.
"These meteorites carried a mineral with them, ferried from the dark recesses of space, and hit all over the globe. One piece that crashed in the Hebrides carried a crystalline structure that was completely intact and unharmed from it's long voyage, and it was taken to a secure military instillation and examined, as the military are so wont to do."
"How does this relate to Muse?" Jakey asked abruptly, his eyes narrowed behind his glasses. Jester waved his hand.
"Please, this is important. One of the scientists who studied the rock was one Jonathan Whithers, your friend's paternal grandfather. He was our most eminent scientist, a man truly gifted in his understanding of the world. It was he who unlocked some of that crystal's secrets, though in return, he was forever changed." The screens flickered to show a few objects, dented and battered and twisted out of shape.
"From his experimentation with the crystal, Whithers and his team noted an energy build up in the sample, and when certain notes were played, the crystal would unleash that energy, damaging objects around it. He called this force Atomic Resonance. Now, not much attention was paid until Whithers had a son." Cirrus's fingers tapped and an old family photograph of a pale haired man standing beside a small, slightly stunned looking boy in old fashioned school uniform popped up.
"Andrew Frederick Whithers seemed normal at first, though his predilection for music and other wave-forms was pronounced from a young age. It was not until he started school that the change to the Whithers family was discovered." A hand written report popped up on screen and Avenger tried to read it.
"This is an incident report from one of Andrew's classes. In a fight with another boy, he reputedly shouted, and at the same time, all the glass in the windows blew outwards. Naturally the incident was hushed up and Andrew was taken out of civilian school. He spent the rest of his education in a school on the military base where his father worked. He frequently demonstrated the same properties as the crystal, but on a much smaller level. He joined the Army as soon as he was old enough and put his preternatural sense of waveforms to use as a telecommunications officer."
Avenger knew that, he'd been told it by Muse in one of their more intimate moments. Muse's father had been a telecommunications expert in the Royal Marines, but he'd never mentioned his father having the same skill as him.
"When Whithers the younger married overseas, a background check was run on his new wife and her family. It is to our eternal shame that we did not discover it sooner."
"What?" Sally looked up sharply. Jester sighed and nodded to Cirrus, her fingers flew and a map of India came up on the screens, little red dots bursting onto it.
"Samples of the crystal hit the entire world, one landed right on the borders of a village outside New Delhi. The entire village was exposed to it, and then later, when a young woman left to work in the city, she left stained by the proximity to the crystal. When the young woman met a foreign young man, their marriage and union produced a child who was even stronger in the power than any before him. It was theorised, after Andrew Whithers was revealed to have the skill, that it would die out as the bloodline thinned. A hereditary mutation if you will." Jester looked darkly serious, "however, Matthew Ashred Whithers was born of two of the Resonators. Their combined mutations created a strong, dominant gene."
Avenger put his face in his hands, feeling dead tired in mind as well as body. His lover was still haunted by an instinctual reaction that had killed his mother. If someone had been paying more attention, might the little family have been spared that? Might Muse have escaped such a horrible memory?
"This was discovered too late to save the life of Mrs Whithers, and the orphaned Matthew Whithers was returned to England. The military wanted to supervise his upbringing and education, but there was a fierce debate over his future, and in the end he was sent to a privately run orphanage for children with inexplicable abilities." Jester took a sip of tea, looking tired.
"We've known that Whithers always needed keeping an eye on. When he left for America with his band, we lost track of him for years until he surfaced again three years ago." Cirrus looked at her boss, her eyes looked quietly determined. Jester flicked his eyes to hers and then looked back at Avenger, Sally and Jakey.
"This may be Whithers displaying his fierce sense of independence again, he may just have gone on an unexpected detour, but I would rather be safe than sorry on that score." Jester was interrupted by a sound outside and he half turned his chair in time to see a short, stocky man with black hair burst in.
"Ah, Lord Aldershot." Jester stood respectfully. Avenger eyed the short man warily, so this was Muse's brother? He never mentioned his brother being a 'lord'.
"Cut the 'lord' [censored], Jester. You're the dudes from Paragon?" Nathaniel marched over and took a seat next to Cirrus, pulling it back before nodding to the others. He sat down and Jester followed suit soon after.
"Right, let's get right down to the meat of the matter. Matthew's missed a contact window he keeps religiously, that means one of three things, either he's gotten himself rat-arsed and is in a ditch somewhere, sleeping it off, he's dead or he's been kidnapped." Avenger stiffened at the mention of Muse being dead, his fingers tightening on the arm of his chair. Jakey reached over and put a hand over his comfortingly.
"Let's leave option two for now, as if that happened, the police would find him sooner or later, right? Let's concentrate on one and three," said the cat, looking at his screen. "His last letter mentioned a train."
"He was changing lines in London, but was going to spend the night there." Nathaniel motioned to Cirrus who tapped up a map of London, highlighting the station Muse came in at and the station he would leave by.
"We've already confirmed he was seen in a pub called the Dog and Fox. 'Parently the patrons had a right knees-up that night. Landlady said she saw him talkin' to loads o' different people that night an' that he didn't leave until two thirty in the mornin'. It were way after closin' time and she said he didn't seem too drunk. Asked if he needed a cab called, but there were a man waiting for him on the steps." Cirrus's voice was strong, but she avoided meeting Avenger's eyes for some reason, "The landlady said the other man said he'd get him home safely, and it seemed as though they knew each other. She didn't suspect there were anything in his demeanour to suggest foul play."
"But-" Nathaniel started to say, her flattened hand pressing to his fingers stopped him and she carried on.
"But that don't mean anything. Over the last year, there have been operations conducted by a group called the Council-" Sally groaned and leaned back in her seat, Jakey put his ears back and Avenger stiffened a little more. Cirrus paused.
"Take it your dealings with them have been as fun as ours," Jester said quietly, nodding to Cirrus to continue.
"Recently they've been using a kind of serum that if delivered to someone's blood stream, renders them very uninhibited, more friendly and affectionate. Unfortunately, Matthew's never been what you could call inhibited to start with." She coughed again, having the grace to look a little embarrassed. Nathaniel looked grim.
"The serum would have hit him like a sledgehammer. He would have thought everyone in the pub was his best ever friend and would have trusted them. Least, that's what it's supposed to do."
Cirrus nodded.
"If the serum were used, he would have gone willingly with his captor and never even suspected he were being stitched up. That's if the Council have taken him."
"Are they your chief suspects?" Sally asked quietly. Jester nodded.
"The Council know how to deal with heroes, they're one of the few international groups here who do and we suspect they were behind the raid on secure military installations a year ago. Files on the Cosmos research went missing in those raids," Jester looked blackly at the highly polished table-top. Jakey's tail flicked either side.
"Cosmos?" he queried. Jester nodded again.
"It was the name for a project idea they were formulating back in the sixties, revolving around this crystal structure that fell to Earth. There was no practical use for it, despite the military's interest, because there just wasn't enough of the mineral on Earth to make it viable."
"So it was filed away?"
"The observations and research already made have already benefited mankind as much as they are likely too. After all, doesn't everyone know that the elements all vibrate to their own individual frequencies? There were huge advances in computer technology, but Cosmos itself was shut down and packed away and funds diverted to places were an end result could actually be seen." Jester rubbed his chin, regarding the three Paragon heroes. Sally coughed slightly, putting her hand up as though she was a child in class.
"We've heard some rumours in Paragon, our contacts who watch and monitor the Council have mentioned whispers of something called Cosmos. Could it be the same Cosmos and the old research project?" she asked. Jester shrugged.
"Even if the Council were thinking about trying to start their own Cosmos research, they'd first need a sample of the crystalline structure."
"Or something that can mimic its properties?" Jakey asked quietly, voicing the same thoughts Sally was having. They both continued to regard Jester and he nodded slowly. Clearly he had also considered the possibility. Avenger pushed his chair back suddenly, standing straight.
"Then what are we goofing around here for? Let's go find Muse."
"Man after my own heart," Cirrus murmured, her teeth showing up brilliant white when she grinned.
Don't ask me about joining Honourable United, I'm lazy. Ask Captain Cathode.
http://www.onthejazz.co.uk/honu/
"If I had a punch, I would so hit that guy." - Millenium (because drinking nail varnish remover is for real men)
Muse watched Bouncer chew on a stick, looking bleak. The sun had just started to rise over the sea, spilling luminescent liquid gold along the waves. Birds called in the trees of the island, strange whistles and whoops, but still a dawn chorus. It was such a beautiful dawn. He sniffed, his eyes were red with his tears but he was all cried out, his head aching from the long hours spent sobbing. He wanted Avenger near, Jakey, Sally. Even Lady Rapture would be a welcome sight, even though the alien behind her eyes set his teeth on edge. He felt so useless, so weak that in the night's chill, he'd gone outside and found the clothes. Now here he sat, stupid, weak, pathetic and clad in his enemy's uniform.
There came a sound from the bathroom upstairs and some time later, Langlais walked down the steps. His eyes looked slightly feral, his forehead glistened with sweat and Muse sat small on the sofa. Bouncer pricked his ears up and then bounded over to his master, tail wagging wildly. Langlais looked down at the puppy, then stooped to pet his head with a massive hand before taking a joint of meat out of the fridge and chopping it up. Muse watched the man's broad shoulders as he prepared the dog's breakfast. After a while, Langlais put the dog's bowl on the floor and the puppy dived for it, snapping up the fresh red meat gleefully.
"You were up all night, I take it. Too bad for you," said the Archon, opening his fruit juice carton and taking a long drink from it. Muse eyed a tiny [censored] of blood on Langlais' inner elbow as the man moved around. Needle user, but what payload was he shooting into his veins?
"We're going on a run, grab yourself a canteen and fill it with water, you'll need it."
"I'm not going to do anything you want of me," Muse said quietly, his voice shaking. He tried to sound brave, but when Langlais looked at him, he quailed, shrinking back against the cushions.
"Oh yes you are, Whithers," Langlais said coldly. Muse swallowed, trying to hold Langlais' gaze but then he dropped his eyes and pulled his knees against his chest.
"Now stop being a pathetic coward and get your canteen." Muse winced at the archon's words, trying to battle his will but he soon found himself sliding off the sofa and taking a tin flask from the sideboard, filling it with water from the fridge. All the while, he could feel Langlais' eyes on him, burning twin holes in the back of his neck.
"Put a hat on, you're too fair for the sun." Langlais threw a floppy brimmed hat over, it hit Muse's chest and he put a hand up on instinct to catch it before it fell. He cringed a little when Langlais walked over and took the flask. The archon attached it to his belt with a series of jerks, then grabbed the back of Muse's shirt and half dragged, half pushed Muse out of the house and down onto the sandy, branch strewn ground. Tall palms swayed overhead and the sea air was soft and cool, pre-dawn chill still lurking.
"Start running." Langlais propelled Muse a few steps ahead.
"But I haven't any boots on," Muse objected fearfully, his voice wobbling. Langlais snorted.
"Will teach you to be more prepared tomorrow, won't it? Now run."
They ran for what felt like hours, Muse felt as though his lungs were burning and that his feet had been replaced with lead weights, every footfall sending a reverberation up his legs and spine to echo dully in his skull. His throat felt sore from the heaving breaths and sweat ran freely down his back and from under his arms. He couldn't stop, Langlais was right behind him the whole way, insulting him and goading him and demanding more and more effort. When they finally reached the foot of the mountain, a clear area of grasses and flowers, Muse's legs buckled and he fell to the ground with a thud. He lay there, breathing hard and unable to move any of his limbs. He saw Langlais' boot appear in his vision and turned his head slightly to look up at the archon. He was bent over, his hands on his knees. ******* hadn't even broken a sweat.
"You call five miles over flat good, Whithers? Think you've earned that there rest you're taking? Mais non, you're not even started yet." He reached down and hooked an arm under Muse's and hauled him up like an impatient father with a sulking child. Muse cried out in pain, his feet screaming agony up his legs when the soles touched the ground. Langlais forced him to move, bullying him over to a square of European grass, it was softer underfoot than the tropical variety, but not by much as far as Muse's bare feet were concerned. The pounding of blood echoing in his ears had blocked the sound before, but now Muse realised that there were some fifty men drilling on the grass. They seemed to be going through hand to hand combat moves. He blinked without understanding for a moment before he was slung around to face Langlais.
"The principles of hand to hand are simple enough, you deliver the fastest, most painful hit first and take out your opponent before he can take you out." Langlais took Muse's hand and curled the fingers into a loose fist, flicking his thumb out from under them.
"No, you never close your fist, you'll break your own knuckles. Keep it loose but ready. There's no point in hurting yourself. This part of your arm-" Langlais ran his fingers down the bone of Muse's forearm, rubbing the blade of his elbow with calloused fingertips, "This is your shield, you block with this bit. Your body is flexible, you can move so you can always bring this shield to bare. This is your first lesson, so you'll will learn to block and to fall. Falling correctly is important, a man can be defeated, but if he minimises injury then he can come back to fight again."
Muse had no idea what Langlais was talking about. Surely the man didn't expect him to fight did he? A clout of fingers hitting his shoulder rattled him, making him stagger and fall over.
"Pay attention, Whithers! Bring your shield up to guard!" Langlais hauled him up to his feet and moved Muse's arms into positions that provided cover for his upper chest, neck and head.
The drilling was gruelling, made only moreso by the run beforehand. After a while, Muse's brain just switched off and he did what he was told when he was told. His feet were beyond painful now, his body was hot and he just moved on autopilot. Strangely though, it didn't feel unpleasant. It was like he had transcended pain and physical limitations of the flesh. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been able to move so effortlessly, if he ever had.
"Alright men, two minutes rest then it's to the course!" Langlais' bellow carried over the entire field, the other soldiers stopped their sparring and there were shoulder slaps and deep, masculine laughs all around.
"Hey sir, heard you got a promotion last night!" called a voice from the crowd. Langlais watched Muse as he fell back into a sitting position.
"That's right, Maloney."
"Isn't there a tradition where they send you a pretty woman if you get promoted?" Maloney's question caused the rest of the men to laugh. Langlais snorted out of his nose.
"No, there certainly isn't."
"Don't tell him that, sir, he was hoping to make Archon so he'd lose his flower finally," called another voice, much to the merriment of the other men.
"'Flower'?! Who the [censored] calls it a 'flower' still?!" Maloney demanded of the other man who'd shouted, going over and smacking his shoulder. Muse watched the two argue and insult each other until Langlais yelled that time was up. Immediately, the men formed into a column of five men abreast and jogged off. Langlais stooped to haul Muse back onto his feet and dragged him after them.
The rest of the morning passed in an oblivion of exhaustion and whirl of activity. Muse wasn't sure how he made it back from the base. Now he lay on the sofa, being too tired to even lift his finger. He opened his eyes and glanced at the foot of the sofa. He was surprised to see Langlais sat there with his feet up on his lap. As if the archon felt the weight of his gaze, he looked over, then showed him the pair of tweezers in his hand.
"Just a little field medicine for your feet. I daresay you know more about this than I do, though," he said, in a conversational tone. Muse stared at him for a moment, trying to place what was different about him. It came to him slowly as he watched the man pick something out of his foot, his strong hand holding the appendage still. He was calmer, like the shot of whatever he had taken in the morning was filtering out of his system. Bouncer brought a ragged sock over and pushed it into Muse's hand.
"You'll be alright for tomorrow, that'll teach you to have yourself ready in future, hmm?" Langlais put the tweezers aside and then dipped his hand to something unseen, bringing his hand back up to smear something on Muse's soles. The musician hissed, grabbing at the back of the sofa. He gasped in the wake of the sting, blinking water out of his eyes.
"Oh stop being a big baby," Langlais said. Muse gave him a tired look.
"Why are you making me run and things?" he asked finally. He'd been thinking about it all day, wondering if it was some kind of advanced torture technique the archon had devised to get him to spill whatever beans they thought he had.
"Your level of fitness is appalling. You've been relying on that there power of sound thing you have to move you and do all the work for you, your body is starting to waste. And frankly, I don't think you have the mental discipline to use your power safely, or to channel it."
"My body's starting to waste? What on earth are you talking about?" Muse would be the first to admit that he didn't carry muscles like Langlais, nor did he have the same sinewy tautness as Avenger or Jakey, but he wasn't wasted, surely? Langlais held his leg up, pushing the trouser leg down. He pinched Muse's calf muscle.
"Can't you feel that?"
"What?"
"Your muscles are starting to atrophy. It's that flying nonsense, you don't walk or run enough. Our reports show that you hardly ever put your feet down to the ground on incursions to our territories. I took the liberty of giving you a full check up while you were unconscious. You're borderline for a lot of health problems, similar to those found in early cosmonauts before they started implementing rigid exercise regimes for the zero g environment." Langlais put his leg down and returned to his ministrations. Muse blinked, looking bewildered. He didn't feel unhealthy.
"While you're in my care, you'll do every exercise I expect of my men and myself, you will apply yourself to the health and well-being of your body and you will not complain about it or you will find out just how many disciplinary methods I have." Langlais looked up as he spoke, watching a large, tufted cat saunter in. Muse also looked at it, trying not to blanche at the thought of intensive, military training. The cat paused and stared back, then slid its eyes away and leapt up onto the counter to sniff at a plate of meat left finely chopped on the side.
"And what time do you call this, young lady?" Langlais demanded. The cat ignored him and sank down to eat the meal. Langlais shook his head and turned back to Muse's feet.
"Caracal. As finely mannered as the rest of the feline family. Her name's Monique but she answers to nothing and no-one," he said, smiling slightly. Muse regarded him for a moment.
"You like cats?" he asked.
"I like all animals. Except one." Langlais worked on the second foot now. Muse blinked.
"Which one?"
"The human animal." There was something so final about the words that Muse closed his mouth against further questions.
Don't ask me about joining Honourable United, I'm lazy. Ask Captain Cathode.
http://www.onthejazz.co.uk/honu/
"If I had a punch, I would so hit that guy." - Millenium (because drinking nail varnish remover is for real men)
Days passed, two weeks came and went on the island paradise. Muse had no time to contemplate escape, nor did he have the energy left to actually put any plan into effect. Langlais' training was arduous, demanding that Muse reach back again and again to reserves of energy he didn't even know he possessed. Even then, they never seemed enough. After a week of just joining the men in their training, Muse was allocated a man to shadow about his work. It turned out that Emmanuel Topoulos was what passed for a medic in the Council. The man knew his bandages from his sutures, but he clearly had never studied as a doctor anywhere. Despite his lack of education, Topoulos was a good man who gave the men the best care he could. Muse liked him, even though he was a Council soldier.
"You going to join us for the Sunday cricket match, Whithers?" Topoulos asked, opening a crate of new supplies and sorting out the medicines to their correct shelves. Muse blinked.
"The cricket? You guys play cricket?" he asked. Topoulos nodded.
"Every Sunday. You should see Maloney bowl, he's almost more dangerous with them than he is with grenades," the medic chuckled. Muse tipped his head to the side.
"Well I don't know, it's been a long time since I played any sport, and even then, it was just kicking a ball about."
"You can be on my team then, we've got some brilliant players, can cover for you." Topoulos threw a tight pack of bandages to Muse to put in a cupboard. Muse sorted them out neatly, rotating the stock so the older bandages were on top, even though it would be years until they were past their 'use by' date.
"You know, I never really thought you guys did anything for fun," he said quietly. Topoulos laughed.
"Hell, everyone kicks back for five minutes to have fun every once in a while. Besides, we want to celebrate Archon Langlais' promotion. He should have had it years ago." The medic sounded proud. It was something Muse had noticed with increased regularity, that the men who were posted at the base spoke of Langlais with something close to reverence. He knew that Archons could order a man to take up arms against an intruder, but he didn't think he'd ever seen such devotion to a commanding officer as he saw and heard from these men. He reminded himself sharply about the bomb in Bouncer and squashed the emerging feeling of respect. It didn't matter how much loyalty his men felt for him, Langlais was still a Council officer, and a pretty sick one at that. He certainly did not deserve any compassion from Muse.
As if summoned by his thoughts, the door to the infirmary opened and Langlais entered.
"Doc, I'm stealing Whithers for a few hours. Whithers, front and centre." Muse found himself obeying without thinking about it, presenting himself to his superior officer neatly. Topoulos sighed.
"Should have figured it was too good to last. Can I have him back soon as possible?"
"Are you expecting a casualty, doctor?" Langlais did not take offence at Topoulos' tone, looking curious. The medic scowled, folding his arms.
"Those war wolves and galaxy who were flown in are just itching to start a fight with each other. Who do you think'll be stitching them back together?" Langlais thought about this, then went into Topoulos' office and was gone a few seconds. He came back holding something and took Muse's left arm, sticking a band onto the waiting Velcro patch.
"There, emergency medic. If the doctor calls, you run your derriere off to get to him, understood, Whithers?"
"Yes sir." Muse reached his right fingers up to touch the white band and the stitched on red cross. There was something reassuring about it, being a field medic was something he understood, a job he could fulfil. He shot a half smile at Topoulos who nodded and smiled back, then followed Langlais outside, letting the screen door bang against its frame in his wake. He hopped down the steps from the veranda that ringed the infirmary building, hurrying to keep up with Langlais' long strides.
"Permission to speak sir?" He'd learned that if he wanted to get any information out of Langlais, he had to toe the military line. It had taken some getting used to, but the upshot of it was, he got the information.
"Granted, Whithers. What questions will you ask me now?" Langlais sounded dryly amused again.
"About the war wolves and the galaxy, are they really going to fight?" he asked, worriedly. He'd never encountered a warwolf back in Paragon, but he'd seen the scars on Jakey's back from one of his solo ventures. The claws of the wolf had opened him almost stem to stern and only his lightening fast reflexes had saved his head from being ripped off at the same moment. They were big creatures, with muzzles loaded with sharp teeth and claws like sickles.
"Probably. Adjutants Watson and Mendez are both squabbling over the job of who will be my second in command." Langlais sounded offhand, like this didn't trouble him at all. Muse found it hard to believe he was so indifferent, he'd already seen the man put more time and effort into his troops than he ever seen from any other Council officer. It wasn't unusual for some of his men to visit the house in the evening, sometimes to talk to him privately and sometimes to share a drink and a joke. The men trusted him, and that trust must have been earned somehow.
"Sir, may I ask another question?"
"Starting as you mean to go on, I see. Go ahead." Muse darted out of the way as three men ran past in full combat gear, heading for the mountain with massive rail guns strapped to their backs.
"You dismissed five of the six mechmen you asked for, and three of the Galaxy have already left. Why did you ask for them if you were just going to send them away again?"
"Those fine ears of yours must make you a great eavesdropper. It's such a shame that you do not have the guile to be a spy. My reasons for what I do must, unfortunately, remain a mystery. Maybe one day you will know, but until that day, you can only speculate." Langlais led Muse to the mountain at a slower pace than the three soldiers, and he did not take the trail that led up to the peak, rather he showed Muse to a tunnel entrance. Muse followed him into the base timidly, surprised to see round concrete tunnels. He was put in mind of a film he'd once seen, part of it had been set in a mountain, in a missile base. He hoped there weren't any nuclear warheads around here, as they scared him.
Langlais led him deeper and deeper into the base, showing his identification to certain guards and nodding to others. Since they were on duty, they only nodded gravely back.
"I'm glad to see you've started shaving." Langlais said as they entered a lift. Muse looked a little abashed and looked at the floor.
"I was getting whiskery," he said quietly. Langlais nodded.
"Been a long time since you removed your beard."
"How did you know that?" Muse was suddenly paranoid, wondering if Langlais had been watching his bathroom for years. The archon reached out and traced a finger over Muse's chin.
"Tan line." The lift dinged and he stepped out. Muse rubbed the prickly skin where the finger had touched, following him and feeling stupid. Of course it'd be a tan line. Langlais led him through more tunnels and past the island's only mechman, nodding to the robot as he passed. Muse barely got a moment to look at the mechman, another one of the Council's Elite that he'd not really seen before. Langlais gave him no time to stare, as he was already passing through heavy doors ahead and Muse had to run to catch up with him, threading through the narrow opening as the door closed.
Within, the room was a laboratory, three computers stood to one side, there were oscilloscopes and Geiger counters and devices for measuring every kind of wave form and light and sound imaginable. In the centre, however, was a large lump of greyish stone stood on a metal table. Muse looked around, watching instruments whirl and blip and fizz.
"This is where you'll be spending some of your time, with me," Langlais said, going over to one of the computers and checking something on the screen. Muse blinked. He hadn't thought of Langlais as a scientist of any sort. Langlais walked over to the stone mass on the table and then looked at Muse, putting a hand on the mineral.
"Now, let me tell you about your grandfather."
Don't ask me about joining Honourable United, I'm lazy. Ask Captain Cathode.
http://www.onthejazz.co.uk/honu/
"If I had a punch, I would so hit that guy." - Millenium (because drinking nail varnish remover is for real men)
"You sure this is a Council base?" Jakey asked, dangling his arms down the door of the small black mini Cirrus drove. Avenger stretched, taking advantage of all the room outside the car to sort out the cramps from being inside the car.
"That's what the intelligence suggested."
"That's a right generous allowance considering it came from Mr 8." Cirrus unclipped her seatbelt and slipped out. Her pixie-like frame made the mini an ideal size car for her. Sally struggled out of the front seat with much less grace, looking around apprehensively at the quiet farmland.
"Won't the farmer be [censored] we went tramping through his fields if the intel is wrong?" she asked, looking around as Cirrus took something out of the boot.
"Maybe, but that's what you're along for right? To distract attention away from our shenanigans with your spandex covered backside." Sally looked around and down at her hips, wondering what was wrong with leopard print spandex. As if on cue, it started to rain, and Cirrus grinned, opening her umbrella.
"We might not look like sex goddesses, but we Tintagel girls know how to keep the rain off." She walked past the Paragon heroes to a stile, clambering over it. Jakey looked up at Sally.
"For what it's worth, I think you'd look just as good in a jumpsuit as you do in the tight stuff."
"Gee thanks, Jakey, that means a lot coming from someone who finds me as attractive as a carrot." Sally rolled her eyes, but smiled a little.
"I dunno, carrots are a bit phallic for me. Potato maybe." Jakey scrambled out of the window and hurried after Cirrus. Avenger marched after them. Sally pulled a face, as the days had become weeks, Avenger had become quieter and quieter. He wasn't eating properly, according to Bulldog.
"Okay, Jester says the entrance is under this manger." Cirrus passed her umbrella to Jakey so she could crouch down and inspect the round, steel manger. The ground was all churned up around the manger by the frequent comings and goings of hungry cows and finding a human footprint was impossible.
"So where did Jester get that information from?" Jakey asked, as Jester had just come down to the dining hall that morning and told them it was under the manger. Cirrus pushed her braid out of the way as she ran experimental fingers over the thick base of the manger, slowly working her way around.
"His dreams probably."
"Wait a minute, we're going on the intel of someone's dreams?" Sally demanded. Cirrus paused and sat back on her heels looking around at her.
"You don't have any idea what Jester's power is do you?" All three of the Paragon heroes looked at each other. Then Avenger, who was growing impatient with these delays, his stress increasing with each hour that passed, grunted.
"Some kind of psychic?"
"Not entirely." Cirrus, as if she picked up on Avenger's ill mood, got back to working her fingers down into the mud that ringed the manger. "He's kinda sorta an incarnation of a subordinate of Loki, the Norse god of-"
"We know what Loki is the god of." Jakey said suddenly, looking closed. Sally wondered briefly what had a knot in his tail.
"And that gives him visions?" she asked hesitantly. Cirrus shrugged.
"It makes him lucky. Obscenely lucky. Loki's the god of mischief, but he's also a household god. His subordinate, the one that Jester is, apparently, is a luck god, both good and bad. If Jester focuses hard enough, he can change the fortune of specific individuals. For a price." Cirrus's nimble fingers found something and she scooped mud from the hole. Jakey's tail was low and flicked from side to side.
"Yeah. Gods get pretty pissy if you go monkeying around with the world. Is the price horrifically bad luck for other people?"
"No, only for him. Every change he makes casts a three-fold penalty on his karma that will be accounted come Ragnarok." Cirrus closed her eyes and stuck the tip of her tongue out as she tinkered with the buttons.
"What's 'Ragnarok'?" Sally asked. Jakey snorted.
"The end and beginning of the world in Norse mythology," he said quietly. Sally thought about this.
"Wait a minute, how can it be the end and beginning of the world?"
"Because existence is perpetuated as a helix, an ongoing cycle. Why do you think History repeats with such alarming regularity?" Jakey looked up at Sally. She contemplated it, as personally, she'd always considered existence to be best represented by a sine curve. Always advancing, never static or stationary. However, what Jakey said about history repeating did make a kind of sense if you represented life as a helix.
"Can we stop debating the shape of the cosmos please?" Avenger asked shortly, just as Cirrus sprang up.
"Open Sesame!" she threw up her hands as the manger swung away on a far axis, revealing steps leading down to a door. She skipped down the steps and took a device out of an inner pocket, plugging it into the number pad and opening a palm-top computer. Jakey grinned.
"Nice one, Cirrus," he said as the door hissed and clicked. Cirrus pushed it open and turned to grin at the others.
"Easy when you know how." She stepped aside when Avenger passed her and went in, then nodded to Sally and Jakey as they followed, before following herself, closing the door behind her.
"Okay, which one of these jokers is the Archon?" Sally pulled a man up by the straps of his armour and inspected the badges on his left breast. Finding no archon rank, she dropped him back to his sprawled position on the ground. Jakey hopped over two Penumbra riflemen and pushed his hat up so he could scratch his forehead slightly.
"Sneaky ******* better not have escaped," he grumbled. Cirrus clambered over a few unconscious men to look at the computers, her nimble fingers moving over the keyboard swiftly.
"There's no record of him leaving. Check the cells, he might be hiding in there." Cirrus pointed to a tunnel leading off to the left. Avenger nodded and headed off, Sally at his heels. Jakey leapt effortlessly onto the top of the computer screens and crouched there, his tail tip flicking back and forth.
"Not playing solitaire I hope," he grinned. Cirrus flashed him a smile before turning her attention back to the screen.
"So, is there a Mrs K?" Jakey paused, this was usually how girls fished for information with a view to chatting him up. He still didn't get the attraction some humans had for him.
"Nope, no girlfriend either." He figured they might as well cut to the chase. Cirrus chuckled.
"You're not into messing around then, I take it?" she asked. Jakey shrugged.
"I prefer saying what you mean and plain talking, if it's not too bold to say, ma'am." He touched the brim of his hat, tugging it slightly. Cirrus reached up and laced her fingers around his tie, tugging his head down.
"Fair enough, I've been dying to find something out since I met you." Before Jakey could ask what she'd been dying to find out, she leaned up and kissed him. He was rather more occupied with keeping his balance, one hand pressed flat to the screen face and his toes splayed slightly outwards. As kissing went, it wasn't half bad, there was something sensual about the way she moved her tongue, something he wasn't too familiar with coping with. After a few moments, she let her lips drift away from his and smiled.
"Interesting." She let go of his tie and he swayed back a bit, having to adjust for the sudden lack of her weight dragging on him. He blinked.
"What's interesting?" That had been more straightforward than was usual, very much more. Cirrus was about to answer when a vial suddenly arced through the air, heading for Jakey. He dived out of the way with a roll but as he moved, the vial hit the screen and smashed, filling the air with a noxious stink. Cirrus clapped her hands over her nose and mouth, grimacing and backing away from the source of the smell, right into the thick, muscled arm that locked around her neck immediately. Her scream echoed through the tunnels before being abruptly cut off.
Avenger and Sally both heard it and cell door seven was left dented and half off its hinges as they both hurtled off back to the control room. They skidded around the corner and Avenger's sudden stop made Sally crash into him so hard she fell over. Archon Lambert was holding his hand over Cirrus's face, his strength enough to keep the tiny woman pinned to him and his other hand was holding a large handgun, pointing it at Jakey. The cat wasn't moving, sprawled out on the floor. Lambert smiled at them in a sickly way.
"You heroes, can't just knock on the door and ask nicely. Always with the breaking and the violence. Well it's my turn now isn't it? Time for introductions. I'm Archon Lambert, and this little sprite is Cirrus Tintagel and you are
?" He was clearly enjoying himself, and didn't so much as cast an eye over his unconscious soldiers, littered about. Sally drew herself up angrily but stayed still, biting her tongue to keep from saying anything that might further endanger her friends. Avenger tensed up, his knuckles going white.
"Your worst nightmare." As it turned out, this was a mistake, as Lambert pulled the trigger. The recoil made his arm flex, but the bullet tore a messy hole in the middle of Jakey's chest, his body jerking with the impact. A darker shade blossomed over his black shirt, gleaming wetly in the lights.
And that too was a mistake. Time seemed to slow, Sally could see her friend injured on the ground, but she swept her eyes up to Lambert. He was slowly bringing his gun up to swing it around to Cirrus' temple. She could hear, deep and resonating, Avenger howl with rage. She had seen Avenger in a fury, but he was so slow, too slow. She could see him leaning forward, his foot coming up and his other leg driving him forward. The gun was moving still, slowly, increment by increment. She surged forward, passing Avenger, leaping over Jakey. She felt like she was suffocating, the edges of her vision going black and prickles like worms of light flicking across her vision. She kicked off the ground, her foot hitting the still moving gun and she felt the satisfying break of bone as the hand released the gun and it spiralled up. As it moved past her face, she twisted her body, the upper part of her foot colliding with Archon Lambert's right cheek. His head snapped to the side and he lifted off the ground, arcing in slow motion. Then two fists came down so close to Sally that she could feel the swirls of air forced out of their way across her cheeks. Both fists struck Lambert in the chest and his rising flight was changed into a brutal descent. Sally watched as his body struck the ground, a ripple of a bounce going through him and blood splattering up from his mouth in glistening individual drops. She breathed, her heart beat was loud in her ears and she watched the blood speed up and all the sounds rise until time was restored.
Avenger stood over Lambert, trying to wipe his sleeve dry and muttering about his tailor. Sally turned around swiftly, looking at Cirrus as she knelt by Jakey, half her plait pulled out, there was a rip as she tore his shirt open to reveal blood seeping from a hole in his chest.
"I can't do much for him, we have to get him to a hospital fast!" she pulled something out of an inner pocket, a medicine pack and ripped open a satchet, shaking a white powder over Jakey's wound. Sally blinked.
"Why can't he teleport?" Cirrus gave her an incredulous look.
"We don't have teleporters! Hurry!" At first, Sally and Avenger didn't quite understand the concept of not having teleporters, but then Avenger swore and scooped Jakey up. Cirrus had managed to wrap a haphazard bandage around him, thick pads were rapidly soaking with blood.
"Get the download or a prisoner, Sally, we'll go ahead to the hospital!" Cirrus barked, pointing to the computer. Sally did not want to stay back if they were going to hospital, she had to make sure Jakey made it. But the mission demanded she remain. She just nodded, watching as Avenger and Cirrus rushed out with their team-mate. She shot a vindictive look at the mangled archon, and kicked him in the ribs for good measure.
Don't ask me about joining Honourable United, I'm lazy. Ask Captain Cathode.
http://www.onthejazz.co.uk/honu/
"If I had a punch, I would so hit that guy." - Millenium (because drinking nail varnish remover is for real men)
"The doctor just called, your friend is in surgery. Apparently his physiology demanded they bring in a vet, but they're optimistic he'll recover fully," Jester said, walking into the dimly lit observation room. Sally turned slightly to look at him, then went back to looking through the one way glass at the interview room. An inspector was handling the interrogation of Archon Lambert.
"Never realised you guys operate without Crey Biotech," she said quietly. Despite her many misgivings about Crey, for which she had excellent reasons, they did make hero work infinitely less complicated with the advent of the medical teleporter. Suddenly realising she was without that safety net made her feel oddly fragile. If it hadn't been for Cirrus's quick action, Jakey's prognosis might not be so optimistic.
"Well, Crey charges an arm and a leg for their products, and we still have socialised health care. Government is not going to foot the bill for teleporters when we still have ambulances." Jester half smiled, standing next to her and gazing at the Archon who was being smug and uncooperative.
"Doesn't it worry you? That if you get into trouble, you could die before help finds you?" Sally tore her eyes away from the enemy on the other side of the mirror, looking at Jester's profile. He shrugged.
"If I spent all my time worrying, I wouldn't have time to work. I take it this Lambert fellow is being a pill." Sally looked back at Lambert, her hands curling tightly.
"I don't think Inspector Grainger is having any luck with him."
"What do you think I'm here for?" Jester looked at her, grinning slightly fatalistically and then he turned, moving back to find a chair and sit down. Sally looked around at him, remembering Cirrus's explanation for Jester's power and she found a chair herself, so she could watch. Having the power to change fate itself must be a heady thing. What could she do with such a gift? The scientist in her wondered how that was even possible, that one man had the power to affect the intricate mathematical chaos that was Fate.
Jester sat quietly in his seat, his eyes closed, fingers steepled before his stomach. He seemed only to be in deep thought. Sally reached over to the recording equipment and turned up the volume of the microphone so she could hear what Grainger and Lambert were talking about.
"Let's leave the matter of the warehouse alone for now, what do you know of an American hero called the Music Teacher?" Grainger asked. Lambert smirked, leaning back in his chair.
"Oh, what everyone else knows, no doubt, that he's a drying out waste of space alcoholic and drug addict who uses violence as a means to an end. Very heroic." Sally grabbed the arms of her plastic chair, having to force herself to remain seated. How dare a Council officer call someone such things?
"Everyone else knows this, do they?"
"Well of course, it's self evident, you just have to look at him. And all heroes are all about the violence, especially the American ones. Bunch of thugs, if you ask me." Lambert giggled, it was a sound that made Sally's skin crawl. She didn't think she'd be able to detest this man more than she had when he shot Jakey in cold blood, but now it reached a whole new level.
"You sound as if you have personal experience of the Music Teacher. He must be formidable indeed if you're so wary of him," Grainger said innocently, his voice was carefully pitched. Lambert laughed.
"Ha! Me?! Wary of that cry-baby? Didn't even reach ten volts before he sang like a bird. If that jumped up adjutant hadn't muscled his way in and taken him, I would have broken the weak little ******* into a thousand pieces
" Lambert's expression faltered, as he realised what he'd just said. Grainger leaned back.
"Well now, torturing people isn't a very nice thing to do, is it, Mr Lambert?"
"That's Archon Lambert!"
"The British Government doesn't recognise the Council as a legitimate organisation, so you can call yourself the Crown Prince of Norway for all I care. You've been a very bad boy and you're going to have a rather weighty book thrown at you. Since it was a hero you've admitted to torturing, perhaps I should get the chaps waiting outside to come in and talk to you for a bit?" Grainger's soft, slightly yokel accent made him sound very unthreatening, but Lambert paled anyway. Sally knew why. Bulldog and Avenger had been standing outside when Lambert was led past them. Neither looked like diplomacy was their forte, and both had glared pure hatred at the archon.
"There was a case brought against Bulldog last year, use of excessive force in interrogation. He's been banned from it," Lambert said quickly. Grainger smiled sweetly.
"Oh, don't mind him, he's just there to supply the Midnight Avenger with some points of British legislation he might not know about. And possibly remind him of the Geneva Convention."
As luck would have it, Lambert decided he didn't want to be in a room alone with Bulldog and Avenger, beads of sweat glistening on his pallid forehead.
"But you don't understand, if I hadn't interrogated the hero for information, I would have been shot by my own superiors. The real villain here is Adjutant Langlais, he's ever so friendly with one of the masterminds behind the Council, does his dirty work!" Lambert whined. Sally wrote down the name on a pad, then jumped when the leg fell off Jester's chair, pitching the man onto the floor with a yelp. She snapped the volume off and got down to help Jester up.
"Are you okay?"
"Fine, fine. Ow." Jester was holding his arm and Sally was shocked to see it bleeding. She looked at the leg of the chair and saw the ragged edge of metal that had cut Jester. From the looks of it, the metal had snapped from fatigue.
"Reach into my inner pocket would you, have a medi-kit in there. Take out the bandage and wrap me up," he said, panting slightly and wincing, his free hand clamped down tight on the wound. Sally did so, seeing to his injury.
"You know
you're a really good martial artist." Jester winced as she tightened the bandage. Sally flicked her eyes up to his for a moment before carrying on.
"Thanks."
"Distinctive style. Very distinctive. Very kinetic. Reminds me of a kid I once saw years ago. A child prodigy." Jester was still looking at her, grimacing as she pinned the bandage into place. Sally didn't answer immediately, then she busied herself with putting the scattered contents of the medi-kit back in.
"Perhaps you should see a doctor?"
"Nah, I'll be okay. Nothing broken. Well, except the skin." Jester stood up slowly. Sally stood as well, handing him the pack back. He returned it to its pocket. They stood in silence for a moment, Sally suddenly wanted very much to be with Avenger and Jakey. Jester suddenly offered his hand out.
"My name is William Romonov phD." Sally took his hand, startled. She didn't get a moment to respond before he gave it a brisk shake, then turned and left. She looked at the floor. He knew her name and identity, and offered her his. To make things even between them. She breathed deep, returning to her seat and resting her forehead in her hand, wondering how many other people could recognise her.
Don't ask me about joining Honourable United, I'm lazy. Ask Captain Cathode.
http://www.onthejazz.co.uk/honu/
"If I had a punch, I would so hit that guy." - Millenium (because drinking nail varnish remover is for real men)
Atomic Resonance was the varied vibrations produced by atomic particles. Every element had its own unique vibration, as individual as a retina pattern and a fingerprint. The elements sang in their own pitch, and from the music of compounds, you could extrapolate which elements comprised it, the volume of their singing would tell you in what quantities. The world was suffused with sound if you listened hard enough.
Muse gazed at the small crystals that were growing out of the grey stone in the laboratory, they were a new sound to him, but not quite alien. Instead of setting his hair on end like a Kheldian would, they seemed to speak to something in him. Langlais was sat at one of his measuring devices, then got up to check the progress of the sound proof chamber that was attached to the lab. Muse leaned his elbows on the table and gazed at the crystals. One was a murky blue colour, another seemed to be tinged with green and the third couldn't seem to make up its mind what colour it was going to be.
Their harmonics were beautiful. He couldn't help himself, humming under his breath just to hear them pick up the sound and resonate it back with glass-like tones. He'd never encountered an instrument so adaptive.
"Whithers." Langlais had to put his hand on Muse's shoulder to get his attention. Muse straightened and looked up at him.
"Yes sir?"
"We're going to try a little experiment. There's a stone in the sound proof chamber, I want you to pick just one frequency you can maintain for a long period of time and sing to it." Langlais looked unfussed, as he always did, but his increased heart-rate gave away his excitement. Muse wondered if Langlais suspected that he could hear the churn of fluids and chemicals in his body. He nodded and walked through the double set of doors to the sound proof chamber, making sure both were securely fastened behind him. Once they were closed, his world became a dead cube of silence. The stone was nestled on the floor and it was the only thing that made a sound. Muse swallowed, he did not enjoy this room, it made him feel like he was the only creature alive. He stood there and pondered what note he could hold for long. It wouldn't be a singing one, as he would run out of breath. Then it came to him, one he could hold indefinitely. There was a ripple in the air as his feet left the ground. Muse hovered a few inches off the floor, his body completely supported and cushioned by inaudible sound. He might as well be weightless.
So, his father had also had the skill, even if his mother's had been latent according to Langlais. He hadn't known that. He wondered if his father would have told him when he'd been older. Suddenly, his death when Muse was seven seemed crueller. Muse wished that he'd been able to know his father beyond a few fading memories of playing in the sun. His young life seemed, in his memories, to be an endless summer in a jungle paradise. He could remember his mother singing to him in her language, he resolved to speak Urdu more often, if only to remember her better. Tears pricked his eyes, as any recollection of his mother always brought his mind back to the manner of her death.
If his father had known all about the Atomic Resonance, why hadn't he taught him control? Why had he been neglected enough to be a ticking time bomb? He wished he could ask him.
It must have been hours later that Muse saw the light over the door change from red to green. It was time to stop. His feet made contact with the ground again and he gazed at the stone. It was echoing the same kind of cushioning pulse that was such a comfort when he flew. He smiled despite the morbid thoughts behind his eyes and let himself out. Langlais swivelled in his chair, putting his hands on his knees.
"That was quite enough for today. I'm going to finish up some numbers here, why don't you go on ahead to the cabin?" Muse was surprised, Langlais had not let him walk anywhere by himself before. He smiled, then looked at the crystal growths on the tables.
"Goodnight, see you tomorrow," he said to them, going out the door. Langlais watched him go, then turned back to his computer. A few moments later, the crystals emitted a glass-like echoing voice.
"Goodnight
see you
tomorrow." Langlais smiled intensely at his computer screen.
Muse showed his tag to the men on security and they nodded, letting him pass. Finally, a bit of space to himself. He stretched his arms out and above his head, tensing the muscles in his back and then relaxing them. He was halfway from the mountain to the cabin when something zinged against his senses. He stopped and frowned, listening hard. A tingle like Nictus over to the left, through the trees. Muse's pulse quickened, had that scary man come back? No, it was too small and too fragmented to be him. It was more like the discordant clamouring of a shadow cyst. He'd seen a cyst once, planted on a wall in a gang hide-out, a kind of landmine for unwary Kheldians. He remembered the alien's panic as she realised the cyst was there and then when all Hell had broken loose, he remembered how far he'd overreached himself just to keep the Kheldian alive. Something about the cyst's emissions had been next to lethal to her.
"You lying, twisted son of a [censored], you think you can bad-mouth my men and get away with it?" A voice so deep it echoed in Muse's sternum growled.
"Your men? Your dogs, Adjutant. One of your [censored] tried to frame one of my men for the missing supplies." The answer was in a gravely voice, as though the other was speaking through some kind of breathing apparatus. There was a savagely deep snarl.
"Clearly you grow tired of your existence, or did they simply transplant your brain with nictus?"
"Very clever, how long did it take you to think that one up?"
Muse winced, even if the insults were childish, the snarling promised a seriousness to this encounter. He hurried through the trees, his boots cracking branches as he went. He was making too much noise and missing what they were saying. With a surge he was airborne, bouncing his sound waves off trees and the ground to steer himself around them. It was not an exact skill, and more than once, he got branches of bushes across his face, whipping lashes onto his skin.
"When you're dead, Langlais will name me his second in command, dog!" The gravely voiced one enraged the deep one enough for him to roar with rage. Muse burst out of the undergrowth in time to register a Galaxy with nictus swirling over his hands to the left and a huge, charging war wolf on the right. He screamed with fear and surged straight upwards. The war wolf thundered past underneath and brought his clawed hand up to smash into the Galaxy when a shriek of alien energy jabbed at Muse's ears, a cloud of black purple nictus slamming into the war wolf's face and knocking him staggering. His howling bellow rent the evening air and there was a wild cracking of branches as the other five war wolves rushed to their commander's aide. Muse didn't care how good a shot the Galaxy was, he didn't stand much chance against six enraged war wolves.
Muse dropped himself onto the war wolf's back, locking his arms around his neck and holding on for dear life, his feet scrabbling to find purchase on the leather straps the beast wore. The war wolf reacted to the surprise like Muse was another enemy and swung his hands back, trying to tear the small man off his back. Muse had to grip on tightly as he whirled, eyes shut tight as nictus slammed into them again. The Galaxy clearly felt that Muse was an enemy as well. At best, Muse had one shot. He couldn't take a deep, steadying breath, but he only needed one for his mental wellbeing.
The five war wolves burst into the clearing, teeth bared and claws unsheathed fully. The Galaxy spun to deal with them and then a pulse knocked him staggering. The trees in a circle all swayed outwards and a ripple of motion could be heard expanding like a pond surface disturbed by a falling pebble.
All seven combatants stopped what they were doing, feeling rather too laid back and cheerful to fight anymore. The Adjutant war wolf huffed and looked around as Muse slid off his back. He peered down at the winded human, then snuffed at his hair. Muse, who was feeling giddy and weak-kneed, reached up to pet him absently. Clearly this was not something that happened to the war wolf often, and he pulled back in surprise.
"I think I'm going to
eat some ice-cream," the Galaxy mumbled, ambling off. The Adjutant war wolf crouched by Muse.
"What were you doing on my back, little man?" he asked, his voice deep and rumbling. Muse blinked at him.
"You're a natural bass," he said. The Adjutant's ears pricked, then one went out.
"Beg pardon?"
"Oh sorry, little dizzy after that. Makes my head spin." Muse tried to get up, but he fell over and flopped onto his back. The war wolf made an amused sound.
"So you are the source of the good feeling. You're very little, what were you thinking jumping on my back?"
"It's not nice to fight. Should be friends," Muse mumbled. The war wolf chuckled, then looked at the other wolves.
"He says we should be friends." They all laughed as well. The Adjutant helped Muse to stand so he could help him sit back against a tree. Then he did something unexpected and flopped down next to him, putting his head on his lap. The war wolf's head was so massive that Muse was sure his legs would go numb instantly.
"Scratch me again. We are friends now. My name is Michael Watson, what's yours?" Muse was too intimidated by Watson's bulk to do anything but scritch him behind the ear.
"Mu- Matthew Whithers."
"You make me feel happy, Whithers. We shall be friends."
"And then he spent the next three hours drooling on my legs while I fussed him. I didn't know war wolves were so much like dogs," Muse said, twirling some spaghetti onto his fork. Langlais regarded him over a glass of fruit juice.
"They aren't, particularly. Sometimes, however, the transition process creates a feeling in their minds that they should be doglike. It is a perpetual struggle of the creators to keep their subjects minds suitably human to function properly." He put the glass down and then flicked a meatball to Bouncer, who caught it out of midair and ate it happily. Muse blinked.
"What? Why would they think they should be doglike?"
"Think about it, Whithers, the myth of the werewolf can be found in all the major cultures of the Earth. The man that transforms once a month into a great ravening beast, be it bear, wolf or leopard. The men who are entered into the war wolf programme sometimes go against their will, or when they realise the deep and fundamental change being wreaked on their body, their fear awakens these primitive myths and they embrace them, allowing their humanity to fall away as their bodies change." Langlais turned his fork around and around, picking up a whirl of spaghetti. Muse watched him put it into his mouth and chew.
"Did you want to be a war wolf?" he asked quietly. Topoulos had mentioned that Langlais had once applied to one of the Council's elite programmes, and Muse couldn't see him wanting to be a Vampyr.
"My Archon at the time refused to let the application through. Said the risk of losing my mind was too great." Langlais sounded flat, having swallowed his spaghetti. His quick move to pick up the glass of fruit juice and drink it obscured his expression. Muse sighed, looking down at his spaghetti, pushing some of it around with his fork.
"He was right you know. You're a smart man, Langlais, I think you might be the smartest person I've ever met." Muse didn't bother to hide how upset that made him.
"Phillippe."
"What?" Muse looked up at him. Langlais gave him a bored look.
"My name. It's Phillippe. And I want you to try something." He reached over to the fruit bowl and took out an orange, placing it on the table between them, moving the salt and pepper shakers out of the way. Muse blinked.
"Make it yellow." Langlais opened his hand, indicating the orange. Muse stared at him like he'd lost his marbles.
"I take back what I said about you being smart, Phil," he said, looking back at the orange. Langlais smiled dryly.
"Consider this, light is a wave form, and colour is simply the human eye detecting variations in its oscillations. My theory is this, that if you can tweak the vibration of molecules and atoms, that you can manipulate light itself. Consider it you homework." Langlais flicked the orange up into his fingers and then threw it lightly to Muse who caught it, his reflexes sharper from all the training. He looked at the orange doubtfully, then back at Langlais, but he had returned to his spaghetti. To think that one person at this table considered changing the colour of objects to be a useful way to spend his time. Muse ran a fingernail over the skin of the orange. He couldn't think of any military applications for anything Langlais asked him to do, and that pleased him. It was just research, science at its most pure and harmless. He sighed, pocketing the fruit.
"There's something I can't work out
" he said. Langlais merely grunted to show he was listening.
"You're so smart, and your men would walk into Hell itself for you, you could have done anything with your life. Why the Council?" Muse flicked one of his meatballs to Bouncer, who was thinking that Italian night ranked right up there with Christmas.
"You make it sound so easy, Whithers." Langlais sounded droll, his inky green eyes flicking up to meet Muse's, "You think I could have earned a scholarship if I'd been born to a poor family, and gone to the very best schools if I were born to a rich family. It's not that simple."
"Isn't it?" Muse demanded. Langlais shook his head.
"No. To attain, you must aspire. And in the beginning, I had no aspiration. Nor did I have any pathways to attain. Joining the Council gave me both," he said. Muse couldn't accept that.
"But the Council are just using you! They use you like they use everyone. You're just a tool to them
"
"Look around you, Whithers. I am a tool, yes, but just look around. You think many people get to live in a house like this? And how many scientists do you think get to study the things I study? I have everything I need and want here, courtesy of the Council. They took me in, gave me a trade and let me belong. What more does a man need?"
"Freedom." Muse said it firmly and Langlais dropped his fork onto the plate, leaning back with an exasperated sigh. He fixed Muse with a glare.
"Freedom to do what? Starve? Waste myself on drugs and alcohol? Drive a van? Worry about my future and my finances? Wear a suit and work in a cubicle? What, Whithers, what freedom?" He didn't raise his voice, he didn't need to, his displeasure came through amply well enough through his tone.
"Freedom to live without having to murder innocent people?" Muse put as much displeasure into his own tone. They both stared at each other over the table, then Langlais nodded to his hands.
"Why do you wear gloves all the time? Don't you get hot?" His interest distracted Muse from his point and he looked at his hands, flexing one in its black leather glove.
"They're scarred. I don't like to look at them." Muse saw no sense in lying to him. Langlais raised his eyebrows.
"Accident?"
"No." That was all Muse was going to say on the subject, and his flat 'no' was enough to deter the archon from further questions. Langlais sighed.
"I think this calls for some chianti." And he got up to go into the cellar for wine.
Don't ask me about joining Honourable United, I'm lazy. Ask Captain Cathode.
http://www.onthejazz.co.uk/honu/
"If I had a punch, I would so hit that guy." - Millenium (because drinking nail varnish remover is for real men)
"Finding one Council officer is going to be hard, but not impossible," Class said, rubbing the arm of his dark glasses absently. Sally gave him an exasperated look. They were both sat in Avalon's kitchen, eating a quick snack, if re-heated shepards pie was really a 'snack'. The flagstones and heavy wooden table made the inclusion of a microwave oven and fan-assisted electric oven all the more amusing in the medieval style kitchen.
"Oh? And where are you proposing we start? The files I downloaded were laced with a time decay virus and they're beyond retrieval now."
"That's why we're going to talk to Toby."
"Who?" Sally frowned.
"Tobias Starfall, he's something of a whiz with computers." Class smiled at her. Sally sighed.
"How's being a 'whiz' going to help, Class? The information has decayed, it's gone." She tried not to look too depressed, but some of it must have seeped into her expression as Class reached over and squeezed her hand. She looked up to see his grin.
"Trust me, okay?"
Sally decided to trust Class, as jetting around the countryside on his motorbike was better than sulking in the castle kitchen. She held on tight to his waist, watching hedgerows and trees go zipping past as the motorbike screamed down twisting lanes and then onto a main road. There was a radio in her helmet, and she heard Class chuckle.
"You know I have this massive temptation to try and impress you now," he said. Sally rolled her eyes.
"I doubt there's much you can do to impress me, Class. You're not actually God's gift to women you know." She couldn't resist the jibe. Class sighed.
"You know, when I hit puberty and the power woke, I thought I was for a few years. Until the trouble started." He overtook a lorry and it honked, the driver waving. Class raised a hand in response and swept ahead. Sally thought the sad tone didn't suit him.
"You're a mutant?" she asked. She had given herself her super powers, using her incredible scientific prowess to create a serum that would bestow the recipient with fantastic powers.
"Yeah. Didn't know I was, of course. I don't have any big showy powers, my awakening just passed without notice." Sally considered his power of eye contact and wondered what trouble had arisen.
"What happened?" she asked quietly. Class's tone indicated he was wearing that self-depreciating smile again.
"Well, I went around charming women against their better judgement. I was fourteen, I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, girls wanted me and I was happy as Larry over it. What I didn't get was why some of them wouldn't return my calls afterwards, or why their boyfriends threw things at me in the street." Class sounded heavy. Sally grimaced, almost feeling sorry for him.
"Must have been rough."
"Nah, it was okay. I didn't have many friends but I still had female attention, it was enough for me. I turned into a right spoiled brat, wasn't until I was eighteen that it all blew up in my face."
"How so?" Sally leaned with Class as they came off the main road onto a side street.
"One of my conquest's husbands filed a [censored] case against me. Once one did it, it was like
some kind of feeding frenzy. I got beaten up a few times, house set on fire, my family disowned me and moved away, even changed their names." Class gave a hollow laugh, "They believed it. They believed I'd forced myself on a woman. Wanted nothing more to do with me. So much for blood being thicker than water." Sally rested her head against his shoulders, watching the scenery scroll past.
"Did you?"
"No. I knew the woman, I thought she was a real friend. She knew my reputation but said it didn't bother her because we were meant to be. I guess when her husband found out, she went with the easiest story to feed him, telling him I'd forced it. My reputation went against me and
well
whatever. We all make mistakes. Mine was trusting her." Class sounded hollow. Sally felt a little guilty for punching him.
"Was the case dropped?" she asked.
"No. Got all the way to the High Court when Jester found me. He explained everything to the judge, about how I was a mutant without control of my ability and that if released to Tintagel's care, I would become something, as opposed to spending a lot of my life behind bars and so begin the downward spiral. Jester saved my life by giving me a real future. My name was legally changed and I became his ward. I haven't regretted it for a moment." Class's earnest honesty made Sally smile a bit.
"I'm sorry I punched you."
"It's okay. I've had worse." Class pointed up the hill after he brought the motorbike to a stop, putting his foot down to steady it. Up on the hill was an observatory, "Ready for a climb?"
"Bet I can out climb you." Sally pulled off her helmet but left her hair in the ponytail. Class took off his helmet and put on his dark glasses before turning to look at her.
"I bet you can too, I'll just amble if you don't mind so much." He grinned as he hooked his helmet over the handlebars and pressed something on the small dash. He kicked down the stand and got off the bike. Sally hung her helmet from the other handgrip and then followed Class up the steep stairs cut into the hillside.
Their ascent to the observatory was quiet, Sally considered Class's past, it struck a chord with her that he was eternally in hiding. Like her. She wondered if he ever thought of himself as anything other than Touch of Class, the ward of Tintagel. His glasses were his shield against the world. Perhaps it was the similarity of their lives, but she caught up with him and took his hand. He was surprised, glancing sideways at her, but then his fingers squeezed hers. He understood that she understood.
The door to the observatory was naturally locked. Class pounded on it with his fist, then rung the buzzer by pressing his finger to it until the door audibly unlocked. He grinned at Sally and entered. She followed him closely, looking around. The entry hall was nothing like a real observatory, there was carpet and a grandfather clock and a hat-stand. It was Edwardian in design, with regal, striped wallpaper in cream, gold and burgundy. Sally followed Class past a door that led to a dishevelled bedroom with posters and books and toys scattered over the floor. Toys? This computer whiz must have a real thing for Lego, and be one of those super nerd types. Sure liked his Japanese cartoons enough for it. She tore her eyes from inspecting his room and hurried to keep up with Class as he opened another door that must lead to the telescope room. Once inside, she stopped, almost breathless.
A huge black telescope dominated the room, but around it where banks and banks of computer equipment, multiple screens showing news broadcasts and what she could only assume to be satellite surveillance, there were old fashioned astronomy tools, models of the solar system revolving and gyroscopes spinning for no real reason than perhaps they could. A large hydraulic arm was attached to the very peak of the domed ceiling and on the end of it was a chair obviously salvaged from a fighter plane. Currently it was facing away from them.
"Hey Toby, what's up?"
"Riot in Porto Rico. Who's the girl?" Sally blinked, that voice was far too young for her to credit as a computer whiz. Class grinned.
"This is Sally Storm. She's from-"
"Paragon City, security level 40." The arm hissed and its joints bent and flexed as it moved the chair from facing away to swinging down to floor level. A twelve year old boy pushed his keyboard away from him and pulled off his headset. He hopped up and walked over to hug Class.
"Hey man, did you bring me any sherbet?" He asked. Class ruffled his hair and then produced a paper bag filled with sherbet fountains and dips and bags from traditional sweetshops filled with blue and pink and yellow sherbets. The boy grinned as he looked through them.
"Awesome, I can totally frag some n00bs on sugar power tonight." He put the sweets in a side bucket on his chair and then looked at Sally, "Hot."
Sally arched an eyebrow at his pronouncement, and Class, maybe fearing she would slug the boy one like she'd slugged him, pulled a face.
"Dude, have some respect. She could break you, you know."
"Killer hot, then." Tobias Starfall grinned in what was probably supposed to be a charming manner. Sally shook her head, trying not to laugh.
"What are you, a Casanova in training?"
"I wish. I'm the communications monkey for Tintagel sometimes. So what did you both come here for? Other than to show me boobies the likes of which I can't play with until I'm legal." Toby looked at Class, his head slightly tilted cheekily. Class took a disk out of his pocket and held it up so the light broke into a rainbow wash over the radius.
"Some decayed Council data for you to salvage," he said. Toby took it and hopped back into his chair, it swung up to a large bank of disc drives and cassette decks. He popped it into a tray and then pulled his keyboard to him. Class nodded to a screen to his and Sally's left and she looked at it expectantly. Lines of code reeled across the screen in a blur and ten seconds later, the corrupted files scrolled upwards wildly.
"What are we looking for? Any keywords for me?" Toby asked from above. Sally took the piece of paper out of her pocket and opened it.
"Adjutant Long-lay, he visited the base and removed a prisoner."
"[censored]." Toby suddenly leaned around the arm of his chair, pushing his goggles up to rest on his head, his hair sticking up in a poof, "You're after Langlais? Are you nuts?!"
Sally was about to say that yes, she was nuts, and it was none of his business anyway, thank you very much, when Class spoke.
"You know him?" He looked eager. Toby swung his chair back down to face them.
"Know him? Not personally, but I do know of him." Toby tapped something onto his keyboard and the screen suddenly showed footage of the observatory, a much younger Toby working away when suddenly half his screens go dead and smoke pours out of one of the processing units.
"There aren't many hackers who can put a booby trap into their systems that fries your hard-drive to slag. Even less of them can spring their trap on me. Langlais's buggered my system five times with his ******* fail-safes." Toby huffed, scooping up a can of caffeine rich soda and cracking it open. Sally frowned.
"Well no offence kid, but you're what? Twelve?"
"Age makes no difference, Sally. I'm one of the best, but Langlais's just as good, better at defence than me. Doesn't surprise me, he's just as smart as me." Sally wondered what the hell that was supposed to mean. Class looked anxious.
"Can you do a search on The Music Teacher instead, real name Matthew Whithers?" Toby sprayed soda from his mouth when he choked, wheezing and coughing. Sally patted his back in some concern.
"YOU MEAN WHITHERS IS IN THE COUNCIL'S HANDS?! YOU FREAKING IMBECILES!! YOU'VE JUST HANDED THEM A [censored] NUKE!!" Toby surged to his feet, looking, of all things, terrified. Sally thought his reaction was a bit over the top but Class winced and waved his hands in a placating way.
"We're doing everything we can to get him back."
"THAT'S NOT THE POINT, HOW DID HE END UP IN THEIR HANDS IN THE FIRST PLACE?!" Toby screamed furiously. Sally jumped back when white blue light crept in swirls from Toby's eyes. Class winced.
"He
ah
was never told of
Cosmos," he said, pushing his fingers together. Toby seemed to lose all his anger, slumping back in his chair and nursing his forehead, seeming suddenly much older than twelve.
"You fools
Whithers should have been told, then he'd know the Council would come for him one day. It is an offence and insult to him and his parents that he was kept ignorant. Or did everyone just conveniently forget that earthquake?"
"There was no way to prove that Andrew Whithers caused the earthquake
" Class said quietly. Toby's gleaming eyes flicked up to him.
"No, but if you'd listened to Starfall, you'd have known that seismic disturbances were part of the Downfall. The timing was coincidental I grant you, but that doesn't necessarily mean he didn't start the earthquake. Jeez
and you never told Matthew of this, and now he's with the Council." Sally put up her hand slowly.
"Um
excuse me, but Muse is my friend, and as thrilling as pointing fingers and allocating blame is, can we please focus on how to get him back? Why do the Council want him, that's a good place to start, right?" she asked firmly. Toby sighed.
"They want to use him to hunt out Peacebringers and destroy them, and anyone else they deem an enemy," he said flatly. Sally frowned.
"Muse wouldn't do that. He's a kind, gentle soul-"
"The human will can be broken and the human mind can be conditioned. But they don't need his consent if they work out how to make the cosmic crystals." Sally tried to keep a straight face.
"I'm sorry, the 'cosmic crystals'?"
"Not as naff as the name suggests. They're called 'cosmic' because they can be aligned to any vibration in the cosmos. Essentially, if the Council got hold of the cosmic crystals, they would just need to provoke Whithers into using his sonic skills to defend himself and let them be attuned by it. Then they could activate them any time they chose and cause damage." Sally didn't like the sound of that. It reminded her too starkly of what the Council had done to Midnight Gaze, to force her to heal herself for another one of their twisted projects. The thought of the same thing happening to Muse made her feel sick. She didn't realise she was shaking until Class touched her shoulder.
"So you better help us find him quickly, Toby," he said to the boy. Toby nodded.
"It'll be hard. If Langlais's involved, I might not be able to find anything on him. I'll do my best though. Tell Jester to expect a healthy bill for replacement parts." He sat back in his chair and ascended to work, pulling his keyboard to him and pulling his goggles down. Class rubbed Sally's arm, smiling a bit hopefully.
"Come on, it's best to give him peace and quiet to work." He guided her outside. Once out in the fresh air, Sally leaned against the observatory's wall, looking hollow.
"If those bastards have hurt Muse, I'll kill them," she said between gritted teeth. She teased Muse constantly for being a wimp and his relationship with Avenger was just too good to leave uncommented on, but he was her friend. He didn't deserve mistreatment by anyone, much less a shower of bastards like the Council.
"We'll find him, Sally. I promise." Class put his arm around her. Sally swallowed a little. She hoped fervently that Class's promise could be kept.
Don't ask me about joining Honourable United, I'm lazy. Ask Captain Cathode.
http://www.onthejazz.co.uk/honu/
"If I had a punch, I would so hit that guy." - Millenium (because drinking nail varnish remover is for real men)
Dawn came quickly, Muse watched it as he leaned on his balcony railing, ready for the morning run. Quick sunrise meant he was near the equator. He wasn't sure how this information was going to help right now, but every little helped. He tipped his head back and breathed out. Any moment now.
"WHITHERS!" It was the first time Langlais had raised his voice in the house, and it made Muse jump. He whipped around when the door to his room banged open. Langlais looked tousled from his morning wash, his vest held clenched in his right hand and a tourniquet strap in the other.
"Where is it?" Muse looked as innocent as he could.
"Where's what, sir?" Every nerve was on edge as Langlais strode over, his boots thudding ominously on the floor. Muse went to dart away but Langlais caught his arm tightly and gave him a small shake.
"Where's the vial and the needles I keep in the medicine cabinet?" Muse winced when the hand tightened painfully.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" He was lying and they both knew it. Langlais close to seethed.
"What do you mean by stealing my property?! Is this how you act as a guest?! Tell me what you did with them!!"
"I threw them away! It's not good for you!" Muse twisted his arm up, then bit Langlais's hand. The archon was more surprised than hurt, letting go on reflex. Muse grabbed the railing and jumped over it, cushioning his fall with sound cushion, then took off down the beach. Langlais looked at his hand, then wiped it dry with his vest. It was like looking after a child sometimes. His hands prickled. Today was going to be one long ache.
Muse belted around the run, catching up to Malone and his friend Baxter as they left their barracks.
"Hey guys." He fell in beside Baxter, who was the smaller of the two. Malone nodded to him.
"You're out early Whithers. Where's Langlais?"
"Just got up." Baxter laughed at that.
"He's slowing down. Reckon he's getting a bit old for this?" he asked. Malone glared at him.
"Shut up, Bax. Langlais's invincible." He said it with such assertion that Muse blinked. He wouldn't describe Langlais as invincible. Baxter chuckled.
"Sure he is, Malone."
"Hey guys, can I ask something?" Muse asked. Malone rolled his eyes.
"I thought you were all quiet when I met you, now you don't shut up, do you?" he grinned when he said it, to take away the sting. Muse returned it.
"Well, I overheard something recently, some guy called Requiem. Is he a warshade?" he asked. The effect the name had on the two men was interesting, as Muse wouldn't have credited Malone to be afraid of anything. The taller man shook his head, going pale.
"Nah, he ain't no warshade. He's worse. Not something we should talk about though. Don't do to be heard bad-mouthing the head ruperts." Muse didn't quite understand, he'd heard nictus in Requiem. Or was that not Requiem and just someone who spoke for him? Perhaps Langlais just wrote the name down wrong in his journal, however unlikely that was.
"Why so curious, Whithers?" Baxter asked, looking interested. Muse sighed.
"Got nothing else to think about, really. So
what's new today?" he asked. Malone pulled a face.
"My brother got arrested recently. Bloody idiot thought he could take on a hero. Got both legs broken and is now sitting pretty in the Zig," he muttered. Muse was surprised.
"The Zig? He was in Paragon City?"
"Yeap. The banana brain signed himself up for the Cor Leonis program. Then bam, heroed. Told him he should have stayed with the Penumbra." Malone hurdled a branch while Baxter and Muse ran around it. Muse, desperate for any news from home, looked interested.
"Which hero was it? Did he recognise him?"
"Jackie or something. No, it were Jakey I think. Stupid letter for a surname or something."
"Jakey K?!" Muse was about to say he knew him, and in fact lived with him, when he remembered that the other two were Council. And that Malone might be too thrilled to know Muse was friends with the guy who'd chucked his brother in the clink.
"Oh that's nothing, I've actually come face to face with him." Baxter looked smug. Malone snorted.
"Liar, if you had, you'd be in the Zig with Charlie."
"I have! I really have. It was while we was repairing some equipment in the big communication hub near Paragon. He and this wild woman just started smashing their way into the base downstairs." Muse eyed Baxter, true the man was fit, but if the 'wild woman' was Sally Storm, then Muse couldn't see any way that Baxter could have avoided getting kicked bodily through a blast door. He'd witnessed Jakey boot huge clockwork robots onto their backs, let alone weak mortal humans.
"Did you get arrested?" Muse asked. Baxter shook his head with a grin.
"Nah, I turned the automated defences back on. Little ******* took three armour-piercing round to the back and the woman took a missile to the face. When the teleporters in the hospital pulled them out, I escaped." Muse tried not to look too horrified at how easily Baxter mentioned that he'd blown large messy holes into his friends. Malone threw up his arms.
"Oh very impressive, you ran away. My freaking hero," he said.
"He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day. Or did you not know that?" Baxter laughed. Malone shook his head.
"You gotta FIGHT and THEN run away. Not just run away. Wimp."
Muse kept quiet for the rest of the run, listening to Baxter and Malone teasing each other. They both seemed nice enough guys, why on Earth had they joined the Council? Nobody could dress it up as anything other than a criminal organisation, unless they were seriously deluded. His thoughts turned to what they'd said about Requiem. He was sure that was the name of the officer whom Langlais answered to. They said he wasn't Nictus, but he sounded just like one. It confused Muse, his senses had never let him down yet. He paired of with Topolous for hand to hand, noticing that Langlais was overseeing. The man did not seem flustered. He never did. Even pitching his narcotics into the ocean hadn't ruffled his feathers. It was almost insufferable.
After the morning training, Muse and Langlais returned to the lab, a silence stretched between them. Again Muse was directed into the sound proof room and asked to flick the ping pong balls off the table with his sonics. He did this for hours, looking occasionally at the lump of stone. It was a new one, lumpy in different places. Muse kept bouncing the balls away with his voice.
The bouncing task didn't stop at one day. For five days afterwards, Muse was asked to bounce successively larger objects away, finishing with bricks. Langlais was still angry with him, he could tell by the way the archon's sentences clipped off when he spoke, and the stronger accent. Muse almost wished he'd never touched the man's narcotics. A tantrum would be preferable to this polite disinterest. He didn't want for their good rapport to fall into the dust over some needles. He believed that under all the Council conditioning, Langlais was a good man with a kind heart. He just needed a chance to find that out for himself.
"Excellent work, Whithers, how's your throat?" Langlais asked as Muse closed the second door to the sound proof room.
"Sore," Muse said, touching his hand to his neck. Healing himself wasn't really an option with the nature of the damage. It was raw from over-work and just needed rest. Langlais gave him a sympathetic look.
"You can rest tomorrow. I'm afraid I've been pushing you too hard in my zeal. Come along." He started towards the door, and Muse said goodnight to the crystals on the table. They were massive now, growing visibly day by day, swimming with different colours, echoing and mirroring any sound that touched them. Muse smiled when they seemed to say goodnight in return, and hurried after Langlais.
"Sir, may I ask you something?" he asked as they walked through the full dark of tropical night, the stars blazing brightly in the sky above, unhampered by the light pollution that so obscured them in Paragon City. Langlais nodded.
"Certainly."
"Is Requiem a warshade?" Muse asked. The question had been bugging him since Malone had said he was not. He noted that Langlais showed none of the fear that the two soldiers had.
"No, but he is not so very dissimilar. I can understand why you would confuse them. Requiem walked the Path of the Dark long ago. His powers are linked to the Nictus, but he is not specifically a Nictus. I suspect your difficulty in telling Nictus and Kheldians and the Dark apart is to do with the alien aspect." The tall man looked down at him. Muse was quiet, then nodded, somehow not surprised Langlais had worked it out, nor overly surprised he knew he'd been sneaking looks at his reports to find out information concerning his doings.
"It used to anger Lady Rapture, whom I worked with back in Paragon. It's not that I didn't like her, she was a good person to have on our side, but
something just made me uncomfortable. To be honest, standing next to her was like standing next to someone running their nails over a blackboard." Muse put his hands in his pockets dully. Langlais nodded.
"You can become acclimatised to the frequency, and from there, I believe you will be able to tell the distinctions between the three. The only thing that holds you back is a perfectly natural xenophobic response." Muse stopped dead, looking upset.
"I'm not racist!" He was appalled Langlais would even suggest such a thing. Langlais rolled his eyes.
"Xenophobia means a fear of strangers. The connotation of race has only been added by popular culture treating the word with derision, and it does not always have to mean hatred."
Muse wasn't sure he understood all that, but if xenophobia meant fear of strangers, then he couldn't really say he didn't have it. He felt wicked inside and hung his head.
"I'm sorry." Langlais looked at him, then put his hand on his shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze.
"All boundaries can be overcome if you want it enough."
Later, after dinner of some strange rice and banana concoction of Langlais's, Muse lay on one of the sofas, reading a book and eating a corner of cheese.
"You shouldn't eat that before bed, will give you nightmares," said Langlais, writing a report in his clear, concise hand. Muse wrinkled his nose.
"Stop being such a worrywart. I'm more likely to get acid flashbacks than I am nightmares."
"For an ex-drug addict, you're very quick to judge my morning ritual." Langlais sounded dry. Muse wagged the cheese knife at him.
"It's because I'm an ex-drug addict that I'm allowed to judge you. You think lines of Charlie and tabs of acid did me much good? Waking up on the floor of a public toilets with a syringe of heroin still stuck in my arm isn't exactly my most cherished memory," he said sharply. Langlais wisely said nothing. Muse lost his appetite and put the knife down, returning the cheese to the fridge.
"I'm going to have a bath and go to bed. Night," he said, walking up the stairs. Langlais sighed a bit and knuckled down to his report.
As predicted, several hours later, Langlais was woken up by moaning in the other room. He gazed at the mosquito netting around his bed, listening to the muffled words and was about to drop off again when a shriek emanated from the wall, closely followed by a popping crack of glass. Langlais grimaced and got up. Perhaps leaving Muse to his nightmare wasn't as much of an option as he'd hoped. He would have to have sterner words with him about his cheese intake before bed tomorrow.
Bouncer looked up from where he was lying by Muse's door, tail thumping the floor worriedly as his master approached. Langlais crouched to rub behind the dog's ear.
"Go downstairs, it'll only hurt your ears."
"You should not have let him eat cheese. You do not let me eat cheese," the dog's thoughts echoed in Langlais's mind as he looked up at him. Langlais half smiled in chagrin. The drugs that suppressed the animal voices in his head were well and truly flushed out of his system now, and the replacements were still three days away.
"Go downstairs, Bouncer, there's a good boy." He pretended he hadn't heard the dog, no good ever came of the gift. If gift it truly was and not a curse of epic proportions.
"You never listen to me. Nobody ever listens to me." Bouncer heaved up and padded off. Langlais entered the room, closing the door behind him. Muse was thrashing in his bed, talking fragments of sentences, sounding like he was speaking gibberish. Langlais pulled the chair over and sat down, elbows on his knees.
"Matthew, I want you to listen to my voice. I am your friend. Tell me what you see," he said. He'd read a dissertation on guiding dreamers to reveal information locked in their subconscious a few years ago. He reminded himself that this was highly subjective, all manner of things leading to false revelations. He listened to Muse describe some kind of chaotic masquerade. It might be a metaphor for something. He started to lead Muse out of the nightmare, keeping his voice calm and avoiding any suggestive questions. It was going fine until they hit a snag.
"Walk over the bridge Matthew."
"I can't. He's there." Muse actually whimpered. Langlais frowned, people on the bridge were not part of the scenario he'd drawn up. Muse's subconscious was interfering with his escape.
"Who's there?" There must be a way to get around this obstacle.
"My lover," Muse sounded petrified. Langlais frowned. Council intelligence had noted that Muse spent a great deal of time with another hero, called the Midnight Avenger, and indeed, had noted that they were indeed lovers. Naturally this was despised, all good little Council operatives knew that such things between two men were unnatural and disgusting.
"Why do you fear him?"
Even though Langlais had served the Council since he was fourteen, he paled at the answer. Anger made his knuckles whiten. He tried to keep his voice calm, three decades of masking his emotions hid his rage.
"He can't touch you, there is a war wolf beside you. He reaches out and picks up your lover and throws him from the bridge. It is safe to walk now." Soon Muse's distressed face lapsed into a calmness of more restful sleep. Langlais had never felt so angry. It was like he couldn't think straight.
Langlais marched out the room and grabbed his shirt from the chair, pulling it on and then finding his trousers and boots. He went to a box on his cabinet and pulled something from it, hanging it around his neck with his dog-tags and then leaving the house.
The Midnight Avenger dared call himself a hero after doing such a thing to his lover? Well, not if Langlais had anything to say over the matter. Soon they'd be calling the Midnight Avenger deceased.
Don't ask me about joining Honourable United, I'm lazy. Ask Captain Cathode.
http://www.onthejazz.co.uk/honu/
"If I had a punch, I would so hit that guy." - Millenium (because drinking nail varnish remover is for real men)
Avenger paced the briefing room restlessly. So far, for all their attempts, he was still no closer to finding Muse, who could be undergoing any number of horrific tortures. His mind dragged up the memory of seeing his sister on a table in a Council base, being shocked to force her to use her healing aura. He felt sick. He felt worse than sick, he felt angry.
"Quit fussing! I'm fine!" A familiar voice penetrated the thick wooden door and it was opened. Avenger turned to see just a hat bobbing past the other side of the table. He forced a smile when Jakey emerged from around the corner.
"Up at last, J, lazy cat." His voice felt flat and unnatural. Jakey's tail flicked.
"They didn't want to let me out yet. Didn't you guys tell them I was invincible?" He jerked his thumb back to the door where Gorse and Cirrus were loitering. Avenger assumed the free-floating tray was being held by Gorse anyway.
"Starfall called. He says he's coming over." Gorse's voice said somewhere above the tray as it floated over to the table. Avenger grimaced.
"Best get Sally then." He started for the door but Cirrus coughed.
"She'll be by later. In about
t-twenty minutes. Or so," she said. Jakey arched an eyebrow at her grin.
"Why's she not coming right now?" Perhaps it was something he said, but Cirrus's expression became a battleground of different emotions and she made a strangled noise. Both Jakey and Avenger leaned back a bit until the drawn out wheeze became a kind of hysterical giggle. Her laughter was disturbing on too many levels, and they both took a step back.
"Oh bugger! Why didn't someone remind me to focus?" Gorse muttered, fading into view as he poured some cups of tea. Cirrus turned away, leaning against the wall and laughing to herself in short wheezes. Jakey took some tea.
"Okaaaay. So fill me in, what's happening?"
"We'll know that when Starfall arrives," Jester said, walking in. He was leaning heavily on a crutch and there were bruises all over his face. Gorse tried to help him to his seat but the older man swatted his hands away. Avenger put his hands on the back of his seat, in no mood for sitting nicely.
"What happened to you?" he asked gruffly.
"Took a bit of a spill down the stairs. Nothing to be concerned about." Jester didn't meet his eyes. Jakey sipped his tea, wincing as the hot liquid aggravated his recently healed chest.
"Unlucky that," he said offhand. Jester said nothing. Avenger had the grace to feel a little guilty, from the way he gripped the crutch, it hadn't been a little spill and he was in considerable pain from it.
"I sent Bulldog to get Starfall, so they'll arrive any second. Cirrus, please go chivvy Miss Storm along." Cirrus gladly fled from the room, her braid bouncing as she left. Jester took a breath and smiled at Avenger.
"You're soon to be leaving us. Starfall will undoubtedly demand to go with you, he has a very deep interest in seeing Whithers free, but I would offer a Tintagel representative. I can only spare one, as there are few of us to patrol and guard this country as it is. Just the three of you and Starfall trying to take on the might of the Council is a tall order. Name who you want, and you'll have them." Jakey looked up at Avenger, leaving the choice up to him. Avenger looked back down at his friend. He'd spoken with Bulldog, and felt a certain rapport with the other man, both were immensely strong and always had to remember their power. He had not seen Class in action and if they were going up against the Council like Jester suggested, he didn't want to rely on an unknown quantity. That left Gorse, Cirrus and Jester himself. Jester was in no condition to go fighting Council, and Gorse seemed to be both an emotional and physical support. It left only Cirrus. She could keep her head in a crisis, and she too had reason to want to help.
"Cirrus Tintagel," he said. Jester nodded with approval. There was quiet for a few moments as Gorse settled things around, then finally Sally returned, Class close behind her. Both looked a little flushed and giggly. They sat down side by side but before either Jakey or Avenger could ask them about it, Bulldog and Tobias Starfall arrived.
"Right, no time for pleasantries, let's get right to the nitty gritty of this. We need to get our [censored] over to Siwah, Egypt. Like I predicted, Langlais's laid out a minefield in his communications. However, I got the location of one of his relay stations, it's several miles out from the city. There, I can track the next one in the set and sniff out the trail that leads me to his main server." Starfall wasted no time. Avenger appreciated that immensely. Jester sighed deeply.
"Sounds like a long shot."
"Oh it is. It's an insanely long shot, however, long shots is all we got. The defences around whatever Langlais's up to already fragged half my network. You wanted results, this is the result. We go to Siwah." Tobias folded his arms. Jester sighed out deeply and glanced to Avenger, then Jakey, then Sally.
"It seems this is the limit of what we can do for you. Cirrus, you are to go with them and offer them your full support. I'll make a call and get you a drop into Egypt. I suggest you get together anything you think you'll need," Jester pushed himself up, leaning heavily on the crutch and hobbling out. Avenger sighed with relief. Finally, they were actually on a trail.
"Are you sure this is the right road?" Jakey asked, passing the sun cream to Sally in the back seat. She took it gratefully and started to slather it onto her hands and all visible bits of skin. Cirrus sighed.
"There's only one road to Siwah, and that's this one," she said firmly. Avenger wished he had room to stretch his legs in the mini's backseat, they'd been driving for hours. Still, the RAF captain in the drop plane had joked that the mini would break down and they'd end up on camels. Anything was better than camels. Toby, who was wedged between Sally and Avenger, seemed the least affected by the close space and the heat, he was playing his handheld computer console with the peak of his cap shading his face. Thankfully Cirrus had taken his bubblegum away from him on grounds it would dehydrate him and it was annoying her.
"What I wouldn't give for a train," Sally sighed, wiping some sun cream onto Toby's face, which did not distract the boy from his game in the slightest. She then passed the cream to Avenger who passed it back to Jakey.
"Ah." Cirrus stopped the car and pulled a face. Jakey groaned and slumped back in the passenger chair.
"Terrific."
"What is?" Sally leaned out of the window and hit the side of the mini in frustration.
"Why is there a chasm there? The map didn't say anything about a chasm!" Avenger demanded. Cirrus motioned her hand to Jakey and he pulled out the map from the glove compartment, unfolding it and staring at it.
"Wait, is this thing a valley?" he asked. Cirrus looked at it and nodded.
"We are on the right track. There should be a bridge though. There should be one right here
" She looked ahead at where the sand covered road stopped on the edge of the drop. Jakey pulled himself out of the window and walked the last few yards to investigate. Avenger leaned as far out of the window as he could to watch. After a few moments, Jakey came back with a sour expression.
"Bridge has been blown up. I think the Council may be onto us."
"Oh, how do you figure?" Sally asked. Jakey snorted.
"Blast marks on the canyon walls where the supports were. Thorough job, stinks of Council." Avenger swore.
"Well now what are we going to do?" Cirrus got out of the driving seat and walked around to the side of the mini, crouching down and unhooking two planks from the underside of the car. Avenger stared, as why did the mini have planks under it? Cirrus dragged one to the end of the road and laid it out, then returned for the other. Jakey stared aswell.
"Cirrus, what are you doing?"
"Get in the car, Sandpaper Tongue," she said, grinning. Both Avenger and Sally stared at Jakey and the cat blushed bright red.
"J, have you been kissing-"
"Right, in the car, oh look, a lovely car. Let's get into it!" Jakey dived through the window and pulled his hat down over his head so he couldn't hear anyone. Avenger looked at Sally, who smirked. Cirrus, utterly nonplussed, got into the drivers seat and pressed a button on the dash. The planks suddenly raised.
"Whoa! Self-raising planks?! How does that work?" Sally asked, then she realised what a ramp meant for their immediate future and she paled, "Cirrus, that thing's huge! You can't jump that in a bloody mini! You can barely jump it in a plane!"
"Really?" Cirrus slammed the car into reverse and they jolted slightly as she started reversing at full speed back up the road. Jakey suddenly put on his seatbelt. Avenger tried the door but the central locking went down.
"Cirrus, this is insane! You can't jump that!"
"I've got the luck of the Irish, or couldn't you tell?" Cirrus flashed her brilliant smile and Sally and Avenger put their seatbelts on and tried to tighten them against the inevitable. Even Toby was drawn from the captivating spell of his game and he yanked on his belt.
"You had to pick Cirrus, didn't you? Why not good old reliable Bulldog?" he muttered. They heard a clunk in the back end of the car. Cirrus hit another button and long shafts sudden snapped out either side of the car, silken silver material spreading from the chassis to the poles and through the sunroof, another could be seen, opening a fan of silver like
"Sails?! You have sails on your mini?" Sally demanded. Cirrus closed her eyes.
"Not just sails." She then spoke sibilant words that slipped and slithered against each other, making the hair on the males stand right on end. She then opened her eyes and the car surged wildly as a blast of wind caught the sails, sending them screaming down the road. Jakey held onto the hook above his door, paling considerably, his tail puffed up to twice its considerable size. The mini's suspension rattled and as they neared the ramp, Cirrus reached forward and pulled a lever. There was a deafening roar behind and beneath them and twin blue jets of flame burst out of the back of the car. Everyone was slammed back into their seats as the car shot forward and there was a loud thud as it hit the ramp, and then they were airborne.
Jakey dared to look out the window, the deep drop with the rubbled remains of the bridge was soaring past below. He felt like he was floating. No, wait, he didn't feel like he was floating, he was floating. His legs were about two inches off the seat, he looked around at Cirrus. Her braid was coiling lethargically above her head, her skin was tense though, her teeth gritted and sweat was beading her dark skin. He tore his eyes from her and looked ahead. The other side was close now. They were already descending. He calculated the angle swiftly and paled even more. They were going to miss. He tore a glove off and prised one of Cirrus's hands off the wheel, touching his palm to hers. There was no time to explain about having a huge reservoir of magical energy inside his body that he could not access or use, no time to tell her he was a living magical battery. Just time to give her a boost.
And boost it was. Again they were slammed back as a fresh, more powerful gust of wind caught the sails and they rocketed past the edge and a hundred feet of road before the tires touched the ground with a loud bump, throwing them some extra inches from their seat before gravity reclaimed them with a vengeance. The mini skid wildly as Cirrus freed her hand and clamped it back onto the wheel, fighting the powers of momentum and inertia and shutting down the rockets on the back and furling the sails. Finally they came to a stop and the mini's engine ticked frantically with the heat and all five of them slumped in relief.
"Think anyone back in Paragon is going to believe the Brits have rocket-powered minis?" Sally asked Avenger tiredly. Avenger grinned.
"They'll demand a remake of The Italian Job. I call Charlie."
"Does that make Muse your girlfriend who fills your apartment with pretty male models to welcome you out of jail?" Jakey asked.
"Yes, yes it does," Avenger sagged down in his seat. Cirrus was leaning her forehead to the steering wheel.
"Jakey, can you drive for a bit?" she mumbled. Jakey unclipped his belt and they swapped places, climbing over each other effortlessly in a way that only midgets can do in minis.
"J knows how to drive?" Sally was surprised. Jakey looked back at her and grinned.
"I wouldn't say that," he chuckled. Despite his joking, he could drive, and the mini was off again, at less suicidal speeds and on more road. Cirrus curled up on the passenger seat and fell asleep or passed out. Avenger leaned forward to look at her over the back of the seat.
"She really over-reached there, didn't she?" He'd seen Cirrus conjure great blasts of air to knock over people in the Council base, but pushing a car that far and that precisely must have been a lot harder. Jakey nodded. Sally leaned forward too.
"Why'd you grab her hand? Afraid we were going to die and you hadn't declared your undying love?" She smirked. Jakey shrugged.
"Actually we were going to miss. I gave her a power boost to get us over," he said. Sally frowned, as a scientist, she was slightly sceptical about the workings of magic. It couldn't be just fancy words and gifts of gods, surely. It didn't make any sense that way.
"And you can do that?" she asked. Jakey sighed deeply.
"I can't use magic myself, I'm not supposed to. I'm a conduit for power. I'm like
a generator or a transformer for other energies and I have this energy that exists inside. I can't tap it, but other people can if they know the ways of magic. Kinda just
plug in and bam, more power." Sally frowned, trying to understand. Avenger leaned his head on his arms.
"Does anyone else know that? Seems to me that something like that could be really badly misused."
"Well, as for who knows, I think Gaze kinda senses it, and now you guys know. Not exactly something I like to broadcast. Oh, and Mr Avebury knew. It's how he found me." Jakey kept his eyes on the road. It was embarrassing enough to be a battery without everyone knowing that he was. Avenger just nodded and Sally looked thoughtful. Toby sighed.
"I guess I'm adding you to my list."
"Your list?" Jakey asked, not looking round. Toby put his hands behind his head.
"List of people to keep track of in case some lunatic tries to use you to power a doomsday device," he said offhand. Sally and Avenger both looked back at the boy, he gave them a level look.
"Think I sit in that observatory all day? If it's not someone trying to drill down to the core, there's someone trying to poison the North Atlantic. I need an assistant some days, I really do," his grin was lopsided. Avenger smiled.
"Not bad for a twelve year old, hmm?"
"Not bad for a twelve year old Peacebringer. Not that I bring peace as much as Starfall would like. He still thinks that my games are too violent." Sally sat back, leaving Jakey to do the driving in peace, though she rearranged Cirrus a bit so she wouldn't wake up with a sore neck.
"Bit young for a host aren't you?"
"I've been a host since I was five, but Starfall went kind of dormant until my eleventh birthday. Says it was to give me room to grow by myself." Toby reached under the seat to pull out another water bottle and cracked the seal open, drinking deep before passing it around.
"That is very young to be a peacebringer. Why on earth did he bond with you so young?" Avenger asked. He had a cousin who'd bonded, she said it wasn't so bad, even if her Kheldian was something of a daft bugger or words to that effect.
"Starfall's been in the family for a few generations. He was with Mum but our house got blown up by some guys they were investigating. We were all badly hurt, so Mum asked Starfall to leave her and join with me, so I could live." How Toby said it without grief, Avenger wasn't sure.
"Did your mom live?" he asked. Toby shook his head.
"Starfall could only save one of us. She picked me and he agreed. It's not so bad, because he's been in the family so long, he's like a third parent, and he tells me stories about Mum and everyone. And y'know, he did save my life," he said. Avenger nodded.
"How long's Starfall been on Earth?"
"No idea, he doesn't talk about 'before' much." While they talked, Jakey pulled off his hat, his large ears pointing up and then swivelling. Sally noticed his attention being caught by something and she leaned on the chair again.
"What is it Jakey?"
"Something dead weird is coming."
Don't ask me about joining Honourable United, I'm lazy. Ask Captain Cathode.
http://www.onthejazz.co.uk/honu/
"If I had a punch, I would so hit that guy." - Millenium (because drinking nail varnish remover is for real men)
It was still dark when Muse awoke, feeling like he hadn't gotten any rest at all. He was worried, as yesterday, there'd been no sign of Langlais. His bed was still unmade and some of his clothes had been left hanging over the furniture. In the weeks Muse had lived with him and known him, he'd never known Langlais not to make his bed with a knife-edge precision. Order and neatness were as much a part of the big man as eating and sleeping.
Bouncer whined at the door, scratching at it and Muse opened it to let him in. The puppy followed him into the bathroom, looking upset. If the puppy was still down, then Langlais hadn't returned. Muse felt as adrift as he, should he go on the morning run and to hand to hand? Maybe it'd help him decide what to do later. The lab would need visiting. There were some experiments he could continue with without supervision. After washing himself, brushing his teeth and getting changed, he went down into the kitchen to make Bouncer and Monique's breakfasts from the fresh meat in the fridge. The caracal was sitting primly on the work surface, eying him intently as if demanding his security clearance. Muse chopped her meat up finely as he could but he was unused to making things so small and she turned her nose up at the bowl when presented to her. Muse tried not to feel rejected and left it on the surface out of Bouncer's reach. Outside it was still dark, but dawn was coming. He stamped on his boots and tied them tight before applying sun-block and putting on his hat. That done, he left the house for his run.
Starting it earlier than the rest of the men guaranteed him a spare hour to talk to Watson and his pack. The big war wolf was growling incomprehensibly at one of his subordinates when Muse arrived.
"Adjutant Watson?" he piped up, still very intimidated by the sheer mass of muscle and fur that comprised a war wolf. Watson turned, then looked down.
"Little Whithers! You come to see me again. That is nice." Watson patted his head, the huge, scythe-like claws scraping Muse's shoulders.
"Is it a bad time?" Muse asked, manners cost nothing, and especially so to something that could crush his head like an eggshell.
"No. We were wondering where the real leader is. Tanner says a new one has arrived and the little men are not happy. I am not particularly thrilled about this either. Langlais is little and fragile, but I am happy to follow him." Watson grumped, his pointed ears going back. Muse looked worried.
"A new leader? What's happened to Langlais?"
"No idea."
"His scent led to the hangar at the top of the mountain. But it was half stale when I found it. He hasn't come back from wherever he went. And he took the new plane." The big, russet brown war wolf, bigger even than Watson, spoke, his voice paradoxically light for his frame. Muse scratched where his beard used to reside.
"When do you think he left?" he asked. Watson nodded at Tanner when he hesitated, indicating he may speak.
"Much before dawn, several hours. He must have moved very quickly and quietly, as he passed by our hollow but didn't wake us. At my best estimate, it would have been around two or three o'clock in the morning." All the war wolves were now looking at Muse, who nodded.
"Okay, thanks. What can you tell me about this 'new' leader?" he asked. Watson growled deeply.
"He is what we like to refer to as a murdering officer." Muse didn't like the sound of that, and his expression prompted Watson to explain hastily.
"Langlais is what we call a killing officer. He will get you killed because he made an honest mistake. Nadir is a murdering officer. He will get you killed because it will serve his plan." The explanation didn't do much for Muse's sensibilities and he nursed his temples.
"I know Langlais hasn't chosen a second in command yet, but could you liaise with Mendez and keep the troop morale up? They're going to be thrown off with Langlais gone enough without some new, ambitious officer upsetting all the understood rules," Muse looked put out. He didn't want a new officer either. Watson paused, and then nodded.
"I will put aside the fact that Mendez couldn't tell his [censored] from his elbow for now. You are right, we should work together until Langlais returns."
"Then you can get right back to squabbling over whatever you like to squabble about," Muse promised, patting the war wolf's immense forearm.
"I never 'squabble'." Watson gave Muse's head another pat and then darted off through the trees, moving more fleetly than his bulk would suggest he was able to. His 'men' fell in behind him and then they were all gone. Muse sighed and decided to make a quick stop at the barracks to give the human troops a few moments of his time. The lab could wait for a few minutes, it was hardly going anywhere.
"God, this island's gone to the dogs." Muse stopped at the open lab door, looking at the speaker intently. He was not as tall as Langlais, and nowhere near as broad. He had a slim, almost waif-like build and hair too long for regulations. It was very fair, almost platinum blond and he wore it in a neat ponytail. How he got away with that was anyone's guess.
"Tch, I expected more from the 'oh so clever' Archon Phillippe Langlais," he muttered going over the files. The hair on the back of Muse's neck stood up. This person was trying to pass himself off as purely human was he? Anger stirred, Langlais would not like this man in his lab, going through his things. Muse found himself marching over the room and slamming a hand down on the file the officer was about to pick up. He glared up the three inch difference in their heights.
"State your business," he said sharply. The officer raised his eyebrows, then looked down for Muse's rank. Aside from the medic band, there was nothing on his uniform but a little diamond pin.
"Might I know your name so I can know who I'm having lashed?" The man was wearing the rank of an Archon, but Muse's anger was sufficient that he didn't care.
"Matthew Whithers. This is Archon Langlais's laboratory and only those with his express permission may enter. I don't think you have that permission." The man smiled suddenly, reaching out and stroking Muse's face. He flinched back a few steps.
"So you're Whithers. I am Archon Nadir. I hadn't expected you to be so
cute." Nadir was about to pat him on the head but Muse moved right out of the way. Alright, this was new.
"I suspect you already know what I am, do you?" Nadir moved after him, looking fascinated. It disturbed Muse enough that he backed right around the table, keeping the crystals between them.
"You're a Nictus," he said. Nadir split into a wide, avid grin. This was just the answer he'd been hoping for, clearly.
"Excellent, just excellent. I see that Langlais has invested a great deal of time earning your devotion. You are loyal to him, aren't you?" The way the man ran the tip of his tongue over his lips made Muse's courage desert him. He realised that Nadir was between him and the door. His heart started to pound fearfully.
"I-I guess."
"I see. I see." Nadir did not expand on what he saw, and stood his ground. Muse, heart hammering, started to go around the edge of the lab. He thought he'd gotten away when he walked past Nadir and reached the door. Then something slashed across his back like a knife edge. He yelped and half turned. A hand grabbed his throat and he was suddenly lifted effortlessly off his feet and slammed back into the door. Nadir looked up at him, smiling pleasantly, a slim cord of a whip dangling from his other hand.
"If you take that tone with me again Whithers, I will have you beaten like a dog and staked out for snake bait. Do I make myself clear?" he asked, sweetly. Muse couldn't answer at first, too shocked to do anything. Nadir slammed him again, cracking his head on the door hard.
"You are being asked a question by a superior officer, you doe-eyed freak."
"Y-yessir! Very clear, sir!" Muse nearly yelled, terrified. Nadir put him down, still holding his throat. After a moment, he patted his head and stroked his cheek.
"Shh, no need to look so frightened. I won't hurt you if you're good and do as you're told. Aw, no tears!" Muse nearly died of fright when Nadir tugged him into a hug, like he was the most precious thing of the world. He kept his arms rigidly by his side, trying to master the impulse to wet himself in terror. Why the hell was the Archon touching him? Touching was a big no-no. And even if it was a yes-yes, Nadir was the last life-form in the galaxy Muse wanted touching him. Tears were indeed rolling down his face, what with fear paralysing him, head to toe.
Nictus or not, Nadir's behaviour was dangerously unbalanced. As Watson had said, a murdering officer indeed.
Don't ask me about joining Honourable United, I'm lazy. Ask Captain Cathode.
http://www.onthejazz.co.uk/honu/
"If I had a punch, I would so hit that guy." - Millenium (because drinking nail varnish remover is for real men)
apologies in advance for the '[censored] dramallama'
"What do you mean, something 'dead weird' is coming? Can't you be even a tiny bit more specific?" Sally asked as Jakey scanned the rocky desert hills for good cover. The black mini might have been covered with enough dust to make it grey, but that didn't constitute camouflage. Jakey looked stressed, his tail tip flicking from side to side.
"If I knew what it was, I'd just come out and say it, wouldn't I?!" In his sensitive ears, the distant, melodic shimmering noise was getting closer. Avenger was looking ahead, then pointed to an overhang several hundred yards away.
"Think we can stop the car there so we can scout?" he asked. As if to answer his query, something black shot overhead, trailing the shimmering singing a few seconds later. Jakey swore and swerved the car on reflex, his ears going back. The hills had blocked most of it, and bounced the sound around to confuse the direction, but there it was. The thing itself.
Sally leaned out of the window.
"It's some kind of plane. And
er
it's coming right back at us guys."
"Wow, I hadn't noticed the plane turning and HEADING STRAIGHT FOR ME!" Jakey snarled, slamming the mini up a gear and stamping down in the accelerator. Avenger slammed back into Toby's arm as the car shot towards the plane that was sliding over the road as much as possible.
"Don't play chicken with fighters, Jakey!" Toby yelled, fumbling for his seatbelt again. Jakey bared his teeth. Seconds later, he slammed on the brakes and yanked up the handbrake, making the tyres scream in protest as the mini span, coming to rest under the over hang. The fighter plane veered a hard right and shot off into the sky. Jakey shook Cirrus to wake her while Sally and Avenger scrambled out onto the road.
"That doesn't sound like any plane I've ever heard," Avenger muttered, glaring at the sleek black vehicle as it strafed right. Sally gaped slightly.
"And doesn't move like one either," she breathed. Moments later, Toby joined them, his cap on backwards so he could get a better view, and then Jakey and Cirrus flanked them. All five of them watched the plane slow to a hover and then land neatly on the road. It was like a plane powered by poetry, moving with an elegance and grace and an outright defiance of conventional aeronautics and physics. The hood popped up and a man pulled himself out.
"Okay, this is an unknown quantity. I go in first. Jakey and Sally, you stick behind me and Cirrus and Toby, you both stay well back." Avenger drew himself up. Jakey nodded, letting the invulnerable man march out from under the overhang. It was okay. Avenger was totally bullet-proof. He was probably bomb proof too.
Avenger advanced, trying to make out details of the man, to assess his threat. He was big, taller than himself and seemed to be wearing non-descript combat fatigues, a white tee-shirt and a bright Hawaiian shirt. He could be anyone. He wished his gut would give him a clear judgement on the man, but so far, it was forthcoming only on the fact that he hadn't eaten for many hours. The man stopped, so Avenger stopped too.
"Are you the one they call Midnight Avenger?" he called. Avenger blinked, even in Siwah he was recognised? That was quite an accomplishment on his part. He nodded.
"I am. And who are you?" he kept his voice level, strong, as if he wasn't worried about the child standing by the car. The other man did not disclose his name, and his near animalistic scream of pure rage surprised Avenger. At first he couldn't credit what his eyes were seeing as the man ran straight at him. Didn't he know he was invulnerable? Didn't he know that charging him was much like charging at a brick wall?
Then the fist cracked across his face. And it hurt. Avenger staggered, mostly in surprise, raising a hand to his face, but he didn't get a chance to rally when the other fist slammed into his solar plexus. It hurt. Both blows hit and both blows hurt. He felt his arm being grabbed and a hand slamming onto the back of his head, gripping it tightly and then a hip slammed up into his groin. He grabbed the man's sides, skidding one foot forward so he couldn't throw him over his hip. They grappled clumsily for a few minutes before Avenger caught sight of the man's chin out of the corner of his eye and rammed his head up into it.
"[censored]!" the man swore, letting him go. The surprise was over, Avenger knew that his opponent was incredibly strong now. There was no need to go gentle on him. He pulled back and put his fists up, then slammed one forward. The big man took it in the middle of the chest and there was a musical sound like punching a piano right before the man flew back off his feet. He scrambled up to see two feet heading for him as Jakey and Sally both hurtled in with their individual war cries.
"DEATH FROM ABOVE!"
"KICK 'EM IN THE JIMMIES!"
Neither martial artist expected the man to throw himself flat onto his back, letting them whoosh overhead. They both landed a few feet past his head and spun around. He was already up and running at Avenger again. Avenger braced, bringing both fists up over his head. Instead of slowing down to turn his kinetic force against the hero, the man slammed his shoulder into Avenger's midriff. There was another chime like a finger running over the rim of a wine glass and the force of his collision sent him flying backwards, the man gripping tightly. Their momentum flipped them over, so the stranger was on the bottom and when they hit the ground, there was the chime again and they bounced up, flipping again and there was a lurch as gravity took a role in the proceedings.
"VENJI!" Jakey yelled as both Avenger and his attacker went over the side of road and dropped down the steep hillside. He raced to the edge and threw himself off, Sally in close pursuit. Ahead they could see the two men bouncing and flipping and spinning down the near sheer drop, still locked together. The cat kept his jumps small, skidding wildly whenever he put his feet down, the dusty ground offering little grip. Ahead, Avenger and the assailant hit the bottom and it was a few long seconds before Jakey and Sally joined them, covered with dust up to their knees. Avenger pushed himself up and wiped thick dust off his face, he kicked the man off his legs and got to his feet.
"Venji, you okay?" Jakey asked worriedly. Avenger nodded, looking down at the man who was lying unconscious. Apparently a fall down the hillside had been a little too much for him and there was a thick trickle of blood from his right temple. Sally heaved the man onto his back.
"Who is this [censored]?" she started going through his pockets for identification while Jakey helped Avenger dust off his hat, clouds of the stuff puffing out with each slap. Neither felt much like talking until Sally coughed.
"Guys
you aren't going to believe this," she said quietly. Avenger and Jakey both looked at her.
"What is it?" Avenger asked. Sally was holding a pair of dogtags in her hand, the chain still around the man's neck. She stared at them, her expression disbelieving.
"It's Langlais
"
Going to Siwah seemed a moot point after the main man they'd been hunting had dropped so precipitously into their lives. In his plane, they'd found some heavy duty Council tents, clearly for reconnaissance purposes. Though Sally had fiercely argued against using Council equipment for anything other than firewood, Toby had demanded they be rational and indulge in some poetic license and use it.
Jakey sat outside of the tent, his legs crossed as he thought about things. Finding Langlais was quite a coincidence. Too much of one for him to believe that a certain head of Tintagel hadn't somehow had a hand in it. Sally emerged from the tent, after checking on their prisoner again, but he was still unconscious.
"Hey J, why the long face?" she sat down next to him and he looked at her.
"Sal, you talked to Jester a lot, right?"
"Yeah," Sally wondered what that had to do with anything, and leaned back on her hands. Jakey reached forward and drew something in the dust with his finger.
"Did he give you anything? Like a keepsake of any sort?" he asked. Sally was quiet. Jester had given her something, a little explanation for how he knew her. Of its own accord, her hand reached up to the locket that was now around her neck. Jakey noticed the motion and looked at her expectantly. Sally sighed.
"He gave me this locket. It's got a photo of his daughter in it. See
he recognised me." She felt a bit awkward discussing this, as somehow, Jester's gift had been an intensely personal thing. She missed her own father still, very much, and Jester missed his estranged daughter. Neither she nor he had entertained any thoughts that they'd found something missed in the other, but there had been a mutual understanding. Her feelings were not something she really wanted to discuss, especially not something as complex as this.
"Recognised you? How?" Jakey blinked. Sally squeezed the little silver locket a bit.
"His daughter was a martial artist, apparently really good. She was at one of the contests I won when I was a kid. She did pretty well, was knocked out of the running by an older girl. Still, apparently it was one of the best days they spent together. He gave me her locket, it's got a picture of her holding up her certificate in it. Look, do we have to talk about this?" Sally looked uncomfortable enough that Jakey broke off his gaze.
"Can I see the locket? Just for a moment?" Before Sally could show him the trinket, there was some commotion in the tent. Jakey pulled a face.
"Language."
"What?" Sally got up, and her expression didn't bode well for the Council officer inside. Jakey coughed.
"He just swore rather foully is all. Venji! Jerk's up!" he called. Over by the mini, that had one of its sails out for added shade, Avenger looked up from where he was watching Toby work at his laptop. He and Cirrus came over, the latter still looking drained from earlier.
"Why's he yelling?" he asked. Sally tried to look innocent and the other three sighed and went in.
Langlais was on the ground, hog-tied, his ankles tied to his wrists behind his back. Jakey snorted into his hand, trying to hide his amusement. Avenger just shook his head.
"Alright, let's get this interrogation underway," he said, crouching down so the officer could see his face. He pulled the dogtags and another necklace out from his pocket and dangled them in front of Langlais.
"We know who you are, and we want to have a little chat with you about the Music Teacher." Langlais's response was to spit in his face.
"Let me up and we'll talk, you ******!"
"I don't know what you called me, but I know it wasn't nice." Avenger wiped the spittle from his cheek with a flick of his fingers. Jakey coughed.
"I say we drop him down the hill again. Might teach him a few manners," he said off-hand. Langlais snorted, glaring daggers and other assorted weaponry at Avenger.
"I will not talk with this swine-[censored] of an Americain. I will parle avec la chat et les femmes." Jakey looked at Avenger hopelessly.
"Look, he's wound up. He's going to keep slipping in and out of French unless you're outside."
"How do you figure?" Avenger asked. Jakey spread his hands.
"Because he's doing it now. Situations of high stress often revert people back to their first language. It's just how these things are."
"Sod that. I'm staying here. You speak French don't you?"
"Well
yes." Jakey frowned a bit and Avenger folded his arms.
"So no problem then. You can be our translator." Avenger was not going to play the officer's game. He'd abducted his lover, may have done terrible things to him. He was lucky he didn't just grab his skull and crush it in his hands. Jakey sighed, you didn't have to be empathic to feel the hatred simmering in the air between Langlais and Avenger. Sally snorted.
"Let's just get on with this. I don't want to be around this ******* longer than I have to be," she snapped, just itching to kick the man in the jimmies. Jakey cut the rope holding Langlais's wrists to his ankles but left him tied up. After seeing the man take on Avenger with no regard for his personal safety, he wasn't even sure the ropes would hold if things got ugly.
"I repeat, we want to know where the Music Teacher is," Avenger said. Langlais glared at him, his dark green eyes savage.
"I'll never tell you where he is!" his rapid descent into fierce, quick-fire French made Avenger's eye twitch. He turned to Jakey expectantly. Jakey was listening avidly, then put up his hands, saying something. The exchange continued for a good long time and Avenger was starting to wish he'd taken French instead of Spanish at school.
"Um
Venji, this is going to sound weird but
he says he'll kill you if you ever touch Muse again," Jakey said, looking awkward. Sally frowned, that didn't sound quite right. Avenger also frowned.
"Oh will he now?"
"He says
um
he's accusing you of
look, I know this is going to sound stupid, but he says that you
hurt Muse, and you did
horrible things." Jakey faltered, like he couldn't even bring himself to repeat such things. Avenger looked blank, then Cirrus slapped her forehead.
"Jakey, ask him how he got the information?" she asked. Jakey did so and then translated the answer directly.
"'He talks in his sleep'" It was to Avenger's eternal credit that he didn't stamp on the officer's head there and then. As it was, he bristled and clenched his fists, his mind conjuring up all sorts of twisted scenarios where 'he talks in his sleep' could be misconstrued. Cirrus pulled a face.
"All of you, get out. I have to talk with this guy alone." She pointed to the entrance of the tent. The three Paragon heroes looked at her with surprise.
"But-"
"I said 'GET OUT'!" Cirrus's braid writhed wildly like it was alive and her eyes flashed. Distantly there was an ominous rumble of thunder. Jakey decided that discretion was the better part of valour and left hurriedly. Sally took Avenger's arm and encouraged him to leave with her. Cirrus pulled the tent flap closed and they could hear only quiet murmuring on the other side. Jakey decided not to listen in and went to stand off by himself. Avenger was still keeping a tight hold over his temper and Sally rubbed his shoulder.
"I'm sure he just said that to get a rise out of you." She put as much confidence into her tone as she could. Personally, she wouldn't put it past any Council officer to be despicable enough to indulge in all his twisted little pleasures regarding a captive, but Avenger needed to keep his cool for as long as Langlais could tell them useful information.
Some time later, Cirrus left the tent and looked at them.
"There's some explaining that needs doing. I'll ask Toby to watch the prisoner," she said. Once she'd done that and the boy had gone into the tent, she called them all over to the mini, sitting down with a sigh.
"Look, this does not go beyond you three. Matt has kept this secret for a reason. You aren't allowed to tell anyone, not another living soul. Swear?" Cirrus looked so serious that the three of them nodded. She found a bottle of water and opened it, taking a drink before passing it around.
"You all know that Matt used to be in a band, right? It was called Pseudo Apoplexy. They got signed by a record company in America after one of their internet released singles was 'discovered'." She waited for them to nod, this was all known to them and she continued.
"Now, I was seventeen at the time, and I guess I was happy for Matt, even though he'd be moving to another country. He was the baby of the band, and was sort of loosely going out with Oscar, the front man." When Avenger stiffened at the mention of that name, Cirrus gave him a sharp look, telling him to hold his tongue.
"I never really liked Oscar. He was always pretty impressed with himself, but Matt insisted he weren't as arrogant and self-obsessed as he came across as. Can't think why, but my brother was totally in love with the loser. Anyway, they left and went to America. They had a bunch of number one hits, and they were rolling in the cash. But they were young, and pretty stupid, as boys with money are. Matt hit the drugs bad. See, back in Scotland, we'd experimented a bit, y'know? But Oscar got Matt into some of the freaky stuff that we didn't want to touch. It just got worse when he was away from us. Me and Nat used to look out for Matt
keep him sensible." Cirrus looked bleak, wrapping her arms around herself. Sally put her hand on the older woman's shoulder. Cirrus took a deep breath.
"I only know about this because Matt wrote it all to me afterwards. He didn't want anyone to know what had happened. So what I'm telling you now is me breaking a promise to him to keep it secret."
"Then
just tell Venji. I know how important your word is to you, Cirrus." Jakey got up from his sitting position and forced a grin before leaving to join Toby in guarding the prisoner. Sally knew how curious he was by his own nature, but maybe he had a point. She too wanted to know what was going on, but perhaps it was something she should hear from Muse if he ever felt ready to share it. She sighed and got up.
"Yeah, what he said." She forced herself to walk away. Cirrus seemed relieved, and thankful for their sensitivity. She was quiet for a long time and Avenger watched her. It was like she was battling an internal conflict.
"If you want
I can go too
" he whispered. Cirrus shook her head.
"No, you should know. Hell, the enemy knows." She smiled a bit, as if to thank and dismiss his offer in one gesture. Avenger waited for her to speak again.
"Oscar was ambitious. He wanted to be a superstar, he was desperate for it. So as the band did better and better, he started going to swankier parties. Matt went with him, of course, but the rest of the band weren't invited. These were pretty wild, drug parties. All the richest and most shameless were there. Oscar referred to it as 'making connections'. Now Matt, who I already said was pretty uninhibited, was getting himself hammered on drugs and alcohol. He'd always find himself in bed with someone at the parties while he was too trashed to know what he was doing. The first few times, he panicked that Oscar was going to ditch him for being so unfaithful, then confessed everything. Oscar forgave him and said it was okay. He knew he'd never cheat on him intentionally. But it kept on happening. Every single time they went to one of those parties, Matt'd end up shagging a complete stranger. He tried to limit his drug intake, but somehow, he'd always end up mashed." Cirrus sounded tired. Avenger looked at the floor quietly. He'd known that Muse's past had been wild, and even though his lover appeared mild-mannered now, there were still remnants of his 'bad boy' history. Cirrus drank some more water to dampen her throat.
"Then one night he woke up just after that night's lover, and heard him leave. He got up, I think he was going to try and find his name out or something, and when he got to the door, which was partially open, he saw the man talking to Oscar outside. Then he saw money changing hands." She didn't try to explain how that made her brother feel, if he'd even disclosed it to her. Avenger's knuckles went white suddenly. Cirrus let him digest this information before continuing.
"Matt confronted Oscar about the money, and the cover blown, Oscar went mental on him. You've seen Matt's hands right? That's only the most visible thing he did to him. Matt didn't tell me all the details, but I know what Oscar did screwed him up mentally, he tried to say that Oscar was as messed up on the drugs as him, but I don't think that's any [censored] excuse. There's nothing anyone can say in the *******'s defence that excuses what he did to my brother. But the point is
Langlais thought you were Oscar. He came here to kill you for it."
Avenger was silent. There was too much to think about for him to speak about. He wanted to find Oscar and tear his head off.
Don't ask me about joining Honourable United, I'm lazy. Ask Captain Cathode.
http://www.onthejazz.co.uk/honu/
"If I had a punch, I would so hit that guy." - Millenium (because drinking nail varnish remover is for real men)
Jakey looked up when Avenger pushed open the flap of the tent, trying to read his expression but for once, Avenger was playing his cards close to his chest.
"Jakey, Toby, I'd like a moment alone with the prisoner. Stick in earshot though, just in case he annoys me enough that I rethink not breaking all his bones," he said. Jakey looked at Toby, who closed the lid of his laptop.
"Would you guys make your minds up? I lose my signal every time you make me move," the boy grumbled, going out. Jakey left silently and Avenger glared at the Council officer, who looked back.
"It appears I owe you an apology, Midnight Avenger. Had I not let my anger cloud my judgement, I would have sought confirmation over the real villain's identity and we would have been spared this little scene," said Langlais. Avenger was surprised to receive an apology, but he was not about to let it show.
"Where's Muse?" Avenger demanded. Langlais snorted.
"Don't think that just because I made a mistake that I am going to help you. Matthew has been perfectly safe in my care. Gets a lot more exercise than he used to." An unwelcome mental image spawned in Avenger's mind at his words. No, that was insane, Muse wouldn't cheat on him with some Council soldier. It was absolutely ridiculous. Then he remembered some mention of a drug the Council used to extract their victims from crowded places with no fuss. He bristled again.
"Don't play mind games with me, Langlais. They just annoy me," he snapped. Langlais gave him a slightly bored look.
"Well what am I to do with my time then?"
"Tell me where Muse is!"
"What time is it?" Langlais looked to the side. Avenger frowned and checked his watch.
"Six."
"In that case, he will be out, walking the dog."
Avenger managed to somehow not hit the man, but for the interests of keeping him in one piece so they could finally get some information from him, he left. It was hard to think of it as not retreating. After getting himself a drink of water, he returned to the tent and pulled up a folding chair opposite the uncomfortable looking camp-bed that Langlais was forced to squat on. He glared at the man for a few moments, committing everything of him to memory.
"Something's been bugging me about you," he said finally. Langlais just looked at him and Avenger drank some of the water in his bottle.
"I was under the impression that you were smart. It's what Toby seemed to suggest anyway. But you came to hunt me down for crimes I sure as hell didn't commit. That doesn't sound too smart to me," he said. Frequently, Avenger's insensitivity had been commented on, but he wasn't stupid. He didn't think Langlais was either. The Frenchman snorted and looked at the thick canvas wall.
"Anger makes fools of us all. But you know about anger, don't you, Avenger? You are strong, far stronger than those who surround you daily. Anger can run away with a man's head and his fists." The way he said it made Avenger wince internally, the soft, accented voice bringing up memories he didn't want to remember. He'd lashed out in anger once, unaware of the limits of his strength. The results had been horrific and still burned at his conscience.
"You do your homework," he forced himself to grunt. Langlais looked back at him.
"As you do yours. I believe it was Sun Tsu who said 'if you know your enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles'." Avenger folded his arms, leaning back. Everyone knew that quote, it was one of the most over-used in the world.
"Oh really. Well, 'a clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him'." Langlais's response was to smile, a gesture that put Avenger strongly in mind of a wolf.
"'To subdue the enemy without fighting is the supreme excellence'. You have also read the Articles of War, I assume?" he asked. Avenger was slightly surprised that Langlais had also read it and wasn't just using much publicised quotes to make himself sound more impressive. After more questions that Langlais evaded skilfully, Avenger got up and walked out, surprised to find that night had fallen. He regarded the empty bottle in his hand, listening as Cirrus took Langlais some of their supplies. Something had struck him during what he was now thinking of as the 'interview' rather than the 'interrogation'. He'd fought Council before, and the word that came to mind was often 'drone', or 'fascist'. But when talking to Langlais, a different word came to mind, and it concerned him. Langlais was charismatic.
Muse lay awake in his bed, waiting for his alarm to sound. Nadir's presence in the house had him so on edge that he hadn't slept a wink. He didn't have to worry about Bouncer anymore, he'd taken him to Watson the evening before. The war wolf had been at first affronted by Muse's request to take care of the dog, but with some cajoling and promises he'd relented and taken the dog under his wing. At least that was one thing he didn't have to worry about. Muse curled up against his pillow, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up stiff. He could hear the fingernail to blackboard squeal of Nadir's existence. It put his teeth on edge. He rolled over to get a more comfortable position and froze rigid.
There was a figure standing by the door, he couldn't see a face in the darkness but knew the eyes were on him.
"Oh don't mind me. I find watching you lie awake and fear for your life very soothing." Nadir's voice seemed to ooze from the darkness. Muse wished he'd gone to bed with clothes on, but with Nadir welding the balcony doors shut, the rooms was so stuffy he'd been to hot. He grabbed the thin sheets and pulled them up to cover him, tempted to throw them over his head as he had in childhood. Covers had magical protection woven into them, nothing could harm you under the covers. He stared at Nadir, who might have been looking back it was hard to tell.
The Archon didn't leave until well after dawn, which disturbed Muse all the more. What kind of insane man stood there and watched you all night? Once Nadir was gone, Muse ran to his bathroom to throw up from sheer dread. He washed out his mouth and paused, looking at his hand. It was shaking violently. He didn't blame it. He got dressed and headed downstairs, relieved to find the door unlocked. He'd almost expected it to be locked and electrified to keep him from touching it. The sea air outside felt cleaner, as though Nadir's presence had sickened the house.
Muse skipped the run for the first time since he'd arrived on the island, going straight to the exercise field. As he drew near, he heard some commotion and broke into a run. On the field, all the island's men were present, he rushed up to the large gathering, slipping his way past people until he found Topolous in the crowd.
"Emman, what's happening?" he hissed. Topolous looked at him worriedly.
"The new officer's angry or something. Says the discipline of the men isn't up to scratch
" he said. Muse focused a little and hovered, rising high enough to see over the taller men. Ahead, in a cleared space, he could see Nadir. The Archon looked around.
"You call this an appropriate formation. I want a loose horseshoe now."
There was a little mutter in the crowd, but the men fanned out into a horseshoe around the Archon. Muse stood between Topolous and a thin faced man with scars around his neck. Nadir paced along the curved line, not quite looking at anyone. After a full circuit, he returned to the middle.
"Malone, Baxter and Kerridge. Front and centre." Nadir stabbed at the ground with his finger. The three named soldiers assembled before him smartly.
"Turn around. Face the others." They did so and Nadir started his circuit again.
"You are probably all wondering why Malone, Baxter and Kerridge are standing there now? The answer is simple. Their mode of dress is not in keeping with Council regulations. Uniformity breeds discipline. These men are undisciplined," he said, hands laced behind his back. Muse wanted to shrink behind Topolous.
"Sir, Archon Langlais permits us to-" Malone started to say. The gunshot cut him off. A ripple of shock ran through the men as Malone fell to his knees and then slumped face down, a hole through his head. Muse went deathly white. The atmosphere of stunned horror was broken by the second gunshot and Baxter hit the ground. Nadir pulled back the hammer of his old-fashioned six-shooter for the third time and pointed the muzzle at the back of Kerridge's head. There was no time, the man himself was frozen with terror, knowing he was about to die.
Muse barely heard the wordless yell leave his lips, but the wave of near-solid sound hit Kerridge, sending him carting to the side ungracefully. The bullet passed harmlessly through empty air and Nadir pointed his gun at Muse instantly. Every man went to grab a weapon, despite the fact they were unarmed for training. Nadir noticed all the hands suddenly grabbed to where weapons usually resided and he arched an eyebrow, his gun still pointed at Muse.
"Kerridge, you have burial detail as your punishment. And as for you, interfering with a superior officer's disciplinary hearing is a serious offence." Nadir strode over to Muse, and not one single man dared mention that Muse wasn't Council, so Nadir had no power of authority over him. Muse shook as he looked up at Nadir, in both fear and anger. How dare he call the cold blooded murder of two men a 'disciplinary hearing'? Kerridge was still sprawled on the ground, looking white as a sheet. Nadir rolled his eyes skyward.
"Did you not hear me, Kerridge? Go bury the trash. Or set fire to them, if that's your thing. Oh
but before you do
" Nadir looked at Muse again, eying the medic band on his arm. He turned and reached his hand out to the bodies. The soldiers all drew back in fear when Malone's body surged, being pulled up as if by strings, flailing in a grotesque parody of life. A coil of black and purple energy emerged from his chest and the body dropped with a thud, head lolling. The same thing happened to Baxter's body and one soldier lifted his hand to his mouth. Nadir flicked his fingers and the two clouds of energy coiled around him like kittens.
"Dispose of them." Nadir turned back to Muse, watching him as if seeking a reaction for what he'd just done. Muse wanted to be sick, it must have shown, as Nadir smiled.
"I'm going to have to be inventive with you, aren't I? Can't kill the precious little Resonator." He reached out and stroked Muse's face again. Watson growled ominously, and didn't even flinch when Nadir glared at him. However, the war wolf said nothing, leaving his growl to say it all for him. Nadir pushed his hand into Muse's chest, propelling him backwards a few steps.
"Return to the house, you are to remain there until I say otherwise." Muse swallowed, but he had no wish to see another soldier shot through the head. Nadir might not be able to kill him, but he'd noticed Muse's reaction to how he dealt with the men. The musician was in no doubt that Nadir would use that against him until it was just the two of them standing in a lake of blood on an island of bodies.
Tears ran down Muse's cheeks as he walked numbly back to the house. Nadir was a monster, an outright monster. He wanted Langlais back, desperately.
"Whithers, oh sweet little Whithers, come out come out wherever you are." Nadir's voice slid along the walls of the house below. Muse crawled out from under his bed, realising with a start that it would be the first place Nadir looked for him. He peeped out into the hallway but Nadir was still downstairs. He slipped barefoot down the hall to Langlais's room and hid under his bed instead. There was more clutter, file boxes and several pairs of boots and some bad weather waterproofs that smelt of wax and brine. Muse pulled them over his head and covered himself up, ignoring the heat.
"Come now, let's not be childish. Face up to your punishment like a man," Nadir said, ascending the stairs. Muse heard him go into his room.
"You know, hiding is just going to prolong the inevitable. Now
where would you go to feel safe? Hmm, maybe to a lover's arms?" Muse was alarmed when he heard Nadir's boots clip against the floor of Langlais's room. He wasn't quite sure what to make of the comment about lovers.
"I don't blame you, you have good taste. Dear, dear Phillippe has such a darkness for a human
I helped cultivate it you know. Not that the ungrateful wretch has ever acknowledged my assistance." Nadir sounded bitter suddenly. Muse wondered if he was just talking to himself.
"He was so young and fresh and naïve when he came to us. Barely spoke English. Barely spoke at all, to be honest, with that stupid little crow he treated like a baby. Chewed its food up and everything. Oh that was an obnoxious bird. I wrung its neck first opportunity I got," Nadir chuckled, making Muse feel nauseous. Under the water-proofs, it was sweltering hot.
"Little Phillippe was most angry about his pet. Made him all the more spirited if you know what I mean." Nadir paused to think about this, "Oh, I suppose you don't really, what with being a wet blanket. I doubt you have the balls to take something you desire when you see it. See, that's the difference between us, and why I will win this little contest in the end. I broke free of my limits long ago. You have only a few options to choose from, hampered and penned by your morals and your ethics. I have all the options. Every single one."
Muse heard the wardrobe door open and close. He heard things being moved around close to him, then finally he heard Nadir's footsteps leave the room, still talking to himself. He poked his head out from under the water-proofs and took a breath of cooler air. He sighed and laid his head down on the floor. He couldn't hide from Nadir indefinitely, but perhaps he could pull it off long enough for Langlais to return. He'd hidden himself once before, taking refuge in a war torn Paragon City, surviving in bomb shelters while the heroes above fought for their lives. There was no such option here. He was the hero now, but he was no less terrified. It was funny really, he thought as he dragged himself out from under the bed. He'd always thought that the heroes didn't know fear. He'd hoped that by becoming one, he could learn what courage was, but when it came down to it, he was still hiding and still running. He truly was a coward of the greatest magnitude.
He managed to evade Nadir until he reached the mountain lab, where he was horrified to find his crystals gone. Langlais's equipment and computers had all been moved out to make way for a large white machine. Though he'd only seen them on the movies, Muse thought it might be a cat-scan machine. He put a hand to the closed round hatch that would admit a human body for scanning. The presence of the machine filled him with a kind of dread. It made the lab Nadir's, not Langlais's. Muse backed away from it, then frowned. Dimly he could hear the discord of Nadir's approach. There was only one way into the lab, if he tried to leave now, Nadir would find him for sure. He looked around, the only other door to the lab was the airlock to the sound-proofed room. He slipped in, but was surprised to find all the previous equipment stacked up in the little room, forcing him to remain in the 'airlock'. He kept the door ajar, as it had been when he entered and crouched low. The lab door opened and Nadir entered, he was almost stomping.
"Blasted creature. Flog the skin off his back when I find him, the wretch!" he muttered moving to the slim computer on the side and turning it on, sitting down in the seat with a heavy squeak.
"Langlais's men are insubordinate dogs, his pet project is yielding toys, yet still Requiem indulges and rewards him. Her ladyship was right to send me. Right to indeed! Where have you gone, little Phillippe? So rude of you to be absent when I've come all this way to see you. Will you come running if I make you pet hero scream? Hmm ... I wonder. I wonder indeed." Nadir was quiet for a moment, then yelled loudly and there was a clatter as his chair fell over.
"Why do you all conspire against me?! WHY?! WHY DO YOU NOT SEE THAT THIS PROJECT IS MINE! IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN MINE!" Muse shrank as far into the corner as he could, listening to Nadir smash the walls with his chair.
"CURSE YOU, PHILLIPPE, YOU PETTY LITTLE [censored]! I'LL MAKE YOU SCREAM FOR MERCY FOR TAKING THIS FROM ME YOU SNOT-NOSED WRETCHED BRAT!"
Muse flinched when the chair banged against the door, closing it a little. Nadir flung his chair across the room then slammed his hands into the desk either side of his computer, panting for breath.
"Cosmos is mine. The crystals are mine. The crystal tuner is mine. It's mine. It's mine, mine, mine! The Resonator will be mine too soon. You'll see, Langlais. There's nothing you possess that I can't take away." Muse had his hands over his mouth, trying to keep his increasingly fearful breaths muted behind them. Nadir paused, turning his head slightly. Muse's heart nearly stopped when the man's boots approached his hiding place. For long, aching seconds, Nadir just looked at the door between them.
"I can hear you breathing, Whithers." A smile spread across his face as he opened the door. Muse flattened himself into the corner, staring at him with wide, terrified eyes. Nadir reached in to grab his shirt and Muse reacted on a purely primal level, biting his fingers hard. Nadir yelled and pulled back, leaving the way clear for just a moment. Muse threw himself at it, whooshing past Nadir to the main door of the lab. He grabbed the handle just as the light beside it flicked from green to red and there was a click. Nadir nursed his hand as Muse rattled the handle, trying to pull the door open by brute force.
"That was uncalled for," he was still smiling though, and walked towards Muse, who skittered away when he came to close, circling the walls with heart pounding. The archon folded his arms, watching him.
"You've been very troublesome today, Whithers."
"Stay away from me you freak!" Muse put as much force into his words as he could, sonic waves washing through the air and thudding into Nadir. It make him wobble a little, but then he just smiled and walked over, taking Muse by the arm.
"There's a surprising amount of fight in you. Perhaps you just need the right coaxing to really bring out that spirit." Nadir looked thoughtful. Muse fought the urge to wet himself again.
"Drop dead."
"Unlikely to happen. It's fortuitous to find you here, Whithers, as I have just come up with a delicious idea for your punishment." Nadir turned them both so they were looking at the white cat-scan machine, he put his mouth close to Muse's ear, "do you know what that is?"
Muse shook his head, wanting to scream for his mother.
"It's my own design. I call it the crystal tuner. Of course, the sonic waves it produces are no match to yours, and the crystals created have been subpar. This is why a new element has been added." He reached out and pressed a series of keys on the computer. The round hatch hissed open and a tray large enough for a human to lie on slid out, leather shackles all over it. Nadir leaned his head against Muse's with a contented sigh.
"You value life, as a medic, don't you?" he asked. Muse stared at the tray with a fixed expression. He could only nod dumbly. Nadir grinned and turned them so he could indicate another part of the machine. When the hatch had opened, another part of the machine had slid back to reveal a free-floating orb caught it what must have been some kind of energy field. A blue white light glittered in the orb and Nadir's grin intensified.
"Arakhn herself provided me with this sample to test you on. We're going to find out, Matthew Whithers, what frequency will kill a Kheldian." With that, he slammed Muse onto the tray and fought his arms and legs into the restraints. Muse screamed and struggled with all his might, biting fiercely on any part of Nadir that came too close to his mouth. Ultimately, he was restrained, wedged down to the tray with the straps cutting into his skin in some places, they'd been pulled so tight. Nadir inspected his forearm where blood glistened on the skin. He smiled at Muse again.
"Oh, and when you have shown us how to destroy energy itself, you will sing the cosmic note for me, the note that destroys all things. And then, when we have collected that and tuned the crystals, Arakhn has promised that I may keep you for whatever purposes I choose. Just an FYI." He tapped a few keys and the tray slid into the round tunnel of the machine and there was a hiss as the hatch shut behind him, plunging him into total darkness. Muse had passed beyond fear, he could feel hysteria setting in, unhooking his body from his reason bit by bit. He wouldn't make a sound, not even a whimper. Not for Nadir.
For what seemed an age, there was nothing, just blackness and silence, then above him and around him, the tube flickered on. It glowed a kind of orangey red, then the pain spiked through him. Muse arched against the straps, jamming his teeth together. He wouldn't scream. He wouldn't.
Don't ask me about joining Honourable United, I'm lazy. Ask Captain Cathode.
http://www.onthejazz.co.uk/honu/
"If I had a punch, I would so hit that guy." - Millenium (because drinking nail varnish remover is for real men)
"God, that man is impossible!" Sally ranted as they sat around the campfire in the lee of the mini. Jakey looked black, forced to agree with Sally. Archon Langlais had been evasive and resistant to all their questions except to assure them that Muse was fine and indeed, healthier than when he'd left them. Cirrus leaned back on her hands, looking irritable.
"We ain't any closer to finding Matt than we were a week ago. We're gonna have to get rough with him. Make him tell us what we want to know," she said fiercely. Jakey pulled a face.
"That wouldn't make us any better than the Council. We can't go around forcing information out of people under duress. It's not how we do things. Come on guys, I know this is a hard situation, but we can't forget what makes us the 'good guys'. We got here by wanting to protect the values of honour and honesty and kindness. I don't want to hear another word about forcing a confession!" He folded his arms and his tail flicked from side to side.
"I am quite lucky to have been captured by you then, aren't I?" Langlais said, his hands in his pockets. Sally, Cirrus and Jakey all stood up suddenly, in positions of combat readiness. Langlais arched an eyebrow.
"What are you doing up?!" Sally demanded.
"I let him up. He gave me his word he wouldn't try to escape," Avenger said, from just behind the large officer. Langlais walked over to the fire and sat down by it. Sally looked ready to kill, she glared at Avenger tightly.
"You expect us to take him on his word?! Have you lost your mind?!" she demanded. Jakey looked at Avenger aswell. Avenger looked tired, weary to his bones.
"Miss Storm, if I tried to escape now, with four heroes and a peacebringer at my back, I would not get very far. We are at an impasse," Langlais said. Jakey made a deep growl in his throat, tail flicking. Then Langlais looked at him and he was struck by a feeling he'd not felt since he'd been tiny, the first time he'd been given catnip. Absolute wonder filled him and in moments, he'd draped himself over Langlais's lap, purring intensely. Nobody else said a word, an identical stunned expression united old enemies for a full minute.
"Er ... J, get off the archon," Sally said, breaking the silence. Jakey's only reaction was to flick his tail slightly, purring loudly, head resting on Langlais's knee. Langlais had both hands up like he didn't know where to put them.
"Can you ... get him off me?" he asked, sweating slightly, looking disconcerted. Avenger was interested to note that it was the first time he'd seen the man look like he wasn't in control of the situation. It was that, and that alone, that made him sit down next to the fire.
"No. I think you can be left to deal with the joys of an affectionate cat by yourself. You were saying about an impasse?" he asked politely, enjoying every second of Langlais's lost control. The officer shot him a black look, still unready to actually touch the cat man to prise him off.
"Quite simply, you can't let me go and I can't divulge information to you."
"Not so much of an impasse as you might think. This is Toby Starfall, he's been hacking Council databases all day." Avenger nodded to where Toby was sitting cross-legged, tapping away at his laptop. The boy just lifted his hand in a half wave, not even looking up from his work. Langlais snorted.
"He won't get through my firewalls and anti hacking programs." He looked confident, as confident as a man could with four-foot of purring cat in his lap, his knee being drooled on slightly. Toby grinned, his face lit by the plasma glow of his screen.
"Yours, no. I agree. But that doesn't stop me from cracking the rest of the Council to buggery." Cirrus glared at Jakey, like he'd betrayed her personally, sitting down to eat a sandwich. Sally walked away from the fire. She couldn't believe the nerve of the man, sitting there like he'd done nothing wrong. She wrapped her arms around herself. Back when the Council had gone by the name of the Fifth Column, her father had run afoul of some of them in a back alley. She'd been just a child at the time, she'd run in terror and those monsters had murdered him. She couldn't believe Jakey was curled up in the man's lap, like some kind of indulged pet. She was so angry, she could break his legs for this personal insult.
Hunger forced her to return some time later, the smell of the beef stew being heated in a tin pot reminding her how long it'd been since she'd eaten properly. Avenger and Langlais were talking, the latter still had Jakey on his lap, the cat looked like he was dozing contentedly. Oh he was due a beating for this.
"If you help us, I'll put a good word in for you with the Justice Department," Avenger knew that threats were wasted breath on this man. Langlais had no fear of him.
"Midnight Avenger, you don't understand. There is nothing you can offer me that will convince me to give you the answers you seek," he said. Sally saw red, marching over and grabbing his neck, forcing him to meet her eyes.
"How about your life?! That worth anything to you?!" she spat angrily. Langlais scowled at her.
"A stupid question to ask, madamoiselle. Of course it is, but equally, I have nothing beyond the Council to live for. So what would you be sparing my life for me to do, exactly, but return to that as a traitor?!"
They never got a chance to find out what Sally's response to that was, as Toby's shout interrupted them and woke Jakey.
"I've got something!"
"What?!" The heroes and the archon all said simultaneously. Toby looked at them.
"A piece of hardware called a 'crystal tuner' was shipped to the south pacific yesterday. It might be some kind of machine to make cosmic crystals, it's a lead at the very least!" he looked triumphant. Avenger nodded sharply. It was a chance, but a chance he was willing to take.
"Cirrus, call Tintagel, tell Jester we're going to need a drop to the South Pacific."
"I'll call Horus Force actually, since they're closer." Cirrus was already up and clambering into the front seat of the mini to pick up her radio. Sally let go of Langlais to join her.
"Who?"
"Horus Force, they're the Cairo superleague. Their leader owes me and Class a favour." Avenger watched them, looked to Langlais to say something along the lines of 'I told you so', when he saw the other man's expression. Langlais looked at him, visibly concerned.
"Take me with you, please."
"I beg your pardon?" Avenger frowned. This sudden change of tack didn't sit well with him. Just when he thought he had the archon sussed, he changed again. The man looked beseeching.
"Please, if the tuner has been sent to my base, then its creator has gone with it. Please, I beg of you, take me with you. I can help. I will help. I give you my word that I will fight alongside you." Langlais sounded desperate. Avenger scowled tightly.
"Why the sudden change of heart?"
"Because I know what Archon Nadir is like. He is a monster, monsieur. A monster."
Horus Force kindly gave the heroes and Langlais a drop into South Korea, where Toby knew some people who would be able to give them a boat to get them out into the Pacific. The Egyptians apologised profusely to Avenger at being unable to take them all the way, which he waved away. They had already done enough and he told them that they had his deep gratitude.
"It is no problem, Midnight Avenger. If the situation is as you say, then this is of international concern," Asp said, standing on the tarmac with him, her black hair bobbed short against her chin. Avenger nodded, waiting for Toby, Jakey and Sally to get back.
"I hope that it all goes well. With Langlais's help, we should get into the base without too much fuss." He was leaning against the wheels of the Horus jet, hands in his pockets. Asp looked at where the Council officer was standing, being watched zealously by Sally Storm and her two strongest heroes.
"I have never dealt with this 'Council', but I would not trust an enemy so blithely," she said. Avenger shook his head, looking over at the frenchman as he drank some orange juice from a carton.
"I wouldn't either, not usually. This guy ... he's different somehow. I know he's my enemy, but I think he's an enemy I can trust," he said, looking back at Asp as if to ask if that made sense. It must have, as she folded her slim arms, the tight-fitting scaled material creaking slightly.
"Why does he help you, I think is an important question to ask."
"He says it is because the man who's taken over his facility is a monster. Given that comes from a Council officer, that says a hell of a lot."
"Does it?" Asp didn't know the Council's reputation, or if she'd heard it, dismissed it as the usual exaggerations and hero bragging. Avenger nodded.
"It does." She would have to be content with that, as Toby returned with a small group of people, two of them were clearly peacebringers. Their eyes, enmeshed with glowing light, said as much. Avenger pushed himself straight to receive them.
"I am the Midnight Avenger." He held out his hand to shake, and one of the men, wearing a sharp blue suit, appeared to translate his words into Korean for the party. One nodded and shook his hand, speaking urgently with a sparse smile. Avenger listened to the translator with half an ear, keeping his eyes on the real speaker, as was polite.
"We were surprised to receive a message from our English friend, Starfall, but he has told us that this has bearing on Cosmos. We also received a call from Sunstorm from your base city of Paragon. We are of course pleased and anxious to offer any assistance you need."
"I thank you for your offer. Has Starfall told you we need a ship. According to intel, we will not be able to approach the island by air."
"There is one being prepped as we speak, your short comrades have gone ahead to oversee it. There are supplies on board, it is frequently hired by our heroes." The Korean peacebringer indicated off in a direction away from the plane when he spoke. Avenger nodded.
"Thank you, for all your assistance."
"Midnight Avenger, if you need back up, send out a distress call, and we will answer. We invite the Egyptian delegation to remain here on stand by with us." The translator did not appear to know Egyptian, but told Asp in English. She nodded.
"Horus Force accepts the offer. I'm sure the Americans can handle it though." She gave Avenger a half smile that showed off her fangs and he resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He shook the final hands and waved to Langlais and Sally.
"We're off to the harbour! Fall in!"
Sally glared at Langlais as he scrunched up the juice carton and carried it until they passed a bin, then watched as he chucked it in. How dare he be so conscientious about his litter.
"You are a very diplomatic man when you want to be, Avenger," he said. Avenger kept walking ahead, being shown to a car supplied by one of the Koreans.
"What with you and Toby breathing down my neck about it on the flight over here, can't see how I wouldn't be." They crammed into the backseat, Toby in the front seat and Langlais in the middle. He looked far too big and crowded both the heroes without even moving.
"There is an English saying, that 'manners cost nothing'." Langlais looked impassively ahead. Avenger looked out of the window until they reached the harbour. The boat the Koreans intended for them to use was a beautiful yacht. Avenger was starting to feel very envious of countries with a smaller hero to civilian ratio, they seemed to get some great stuff to compensate. Jakey met them on the dockside and spoke to the driver in rapid Korean. Sally eyed the cat speculatively, wondering why he knew French and Korean. They seemed a pretty random combination of languages to learn, even if you were Jakey and where therefore random by nature.
"We're just about ready to leave, Avenger, sir!" Cirrus yelled down from the deck. Avenger nodded and nodded his thanks to the driver, walking up the gangplank to the boat. The others followed without much fuss over than Toby making sure he had all the equipment he needed, running back and forth down the gangplank to find little bits that had fallen out of his pockets. Soon, some two hours later, they were leaving the harbour into open waters and the boat picked up its speed.
Avenger gave off looking over the shoulder of the skipper and descended into the forward cabin where the others waited for him. He surveyed his team. Sally and Jakey he knew well and could trust through thick and thin. Cirrus had proved herself valuable both in battle and out of it, but that left Toby and Langlais. The former was a brilliant hacker, no doubt about it, but he was still twelve years old with a lot of life to live. The latter was his enemy and had abducted his lover for his nefarious schemes. All five of them looked back at him. Then Jakey pushed the pizza box off the table and climbed into Langlais's lap to give Avenger room to sit down. Langlais didn't look pleased by this development and Sally looked ready to murder again. Avenger sat down hurriedly.
"Okay, we're going to need a plan of action." He grabbed a sheet of paper and a marker, handing the marker over to Langlais and then helping himself to a slice of pizza. Langlais pushed Jakey's head out of the way as he leaned down to start drawing a diagram of the island.
"This is not going to be an easy operation. Fort Stargazer has never been taken. Mind you, this may be because nobody's actually tried yet."
"Fort Stargazer?" Sally looked sceptical. Both Langlais and Toby nodded.
"It used to be an observatory, the name is quite self-evident," Langlais said, carrying on like she hadn't interrupted. "There is a breakwater half a mile out from the beach to protect the shore from rough seas. Imbedded at sections along the reef are submerged turrets that are activated by engine noise. Unless an in-date code is transmitted within fifteen seconds of activation, they will open fire. Now, to get past these, we are going to swim-"
"Whoa whoa whoa!" Cirrus put her hands up, "swim?! I can't swim!" The others looked at her. Langlais rolled his eyes.
"Then cling to my back and I'll tow you. Similarly, Starfall, you have puny arms, you had better hold onto Avenger. Storm, K, can you two swim strongly for half a mile?" Langlais looked at them sharply. Sally bristled, but Jakey nodded.
"We'll make it."
"Good. After we make landfall and if we avoid the poisonous marine life, we are going to head for this cove." Langlais drew an arrow from their doodled 'boat' to a curve on the island perimeter. Cirrus, looking unsettled at the thought of swimming, looked at it.
"Why there?"
"Because there is an incinerator for old transmitter equipment there. Starfall's equipment is not water-proof, and we will find something there that will let him hack into the mainframe of the base computer system. From there, we can take a short-cut through the jungle, depending on where Starfall's intel places Whithers. He will in one of three locations most probably. Here, at chez moi, in the lab or in the infirmary." Langlais pointed to three locations on his diagram, drawing in a little house, a microscope and a cross in a circle. Jakey frowned.
"How many men are we looking at there being?" Langlais hesitated.
"When I left, there were fifty human troops, six war wolves, three galaxy and a mechman. Nadir may ignore standard procedure and bring none of his own troops, but I doubt it. He is known for getting through men fast so will undoubtedly bulk up the forces with some imports. This, however, can be made to work for us." The heroes all looked at him, and Langlais looked back impassively.
"How so?" Avenger prompted, so far he could see nothing overtly wrong with Langlais's plan. It was good, sound tactics. Nothing fancy to get snarled up in, but not too simple to get them killed.
"Soldiers often do not like it when new guys come onto the base, as it upsets their routines and the established behaviour patterns. There is no skill at all in turning that resentment into anger and then into combat. A child could do it. The hard part of all this is going to be avoiding detection. The systems I had in place can be avoided, but Nadir is likely to have augmented them." Langlais started drawing 'x's with dotted cones coming from them all over the island. Toby sat up.
"This is where I come in, isn't it? If I can hack the mainframe, I can see what's changed on the island." Langlais nodded. Avenger leaned forward and laced his fingers in front of his chin as he regarded the map taking shape before him.
"The chances of us getting surrounded are high. What sort of weapons are we looking at?"
"Rail guns and sonic dischargers for the most part. Nadir is a fully bonded Nictus, and I have seen him transcend human form on several occasions. But believe me, that is the least of what lies ahead." Langlais looked troubled. Sally folded her arms. The prospect of taking on a Nictus on an island with fifty plus troops and a fully automated defence grid was enough to be getting along with for the meantime without doomsayers over-dramatising things. Cirrus frowned at Langlais.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean Cosmos itself," said the Archon. Toby frowned.
"Care to elaborate? I know the British military's designs on the crystals, what was the Council after?"
"The original premise was to use a machine to tune the crystals into Cosmic Crystals."
"Aren't they all cosmic? That's what Jester suggested ..." Sally watched Langlais's face closely. He shook his head.
"Not all the crystals are cosmic. Do you still have that one that hung around my neck?" He turned to Avenger. Avenger nodded and took it out of his pocket, putting it on the table. Langlais scooped it up by its chain and put the marker lid on the table close to it.
"This is a fragment of the Repulsor crystal I had Whithers tune. Watch very carefully." Langlais swung the crystal and when it neared the marker cap, there was a tiny sound and the cap suddenly hurtled across the cabin and bounced off the wall. The heroes looked at the crystal, "it reacts to kinetic force, which is why you can put it down if you're slow enough."
"Wait, so this thing bounces fast things off?" Sally pointed at the crystal as it swung innocently from the chain. Langlais nodded.
"Against people like you and K, a shield that turns kinetic force against you is invaluable. Not so good for slow things like knives, but heroes aren't noted for being particularly slow at anything they do. The plane I flew, the Stargazer glider, it is also powered by a crystal. That one was tuned to flight and is extremely agile. It could outfly anything currently airborne. I had ideas for a regenerator crystal and a camouflage crystal. Naturally nobody else considered these aspects worth considering until someone mentioned 'high-yield' and 'warhead' in the same sentence." Langlais looked bitter and wrapped the crystal up in its chain, regarding it with an almost soulful expression. Avenger watched him.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that the Cosmic Crystals are good for only one thing. Total annihilation. But you know that already, don't you, Starfall." Langlais flicked his inky green eyes up to Toby's and the boy regarded him calmly.
"I don't know what you mean."
"You lie well, save for you use a child's face and he is not very good at it." There was a contest of wills going on, Avenger, Jakey, Sally and Cirrus stared from the huge frenchmen to the slight english boy. After a while, Toby dropped his eyes.
"You can't know what you're talking about, Langlais. Shut up." He sounded quiet, his voice riddled with complex emotions. Langlais snorted, looking at the heroes one after the other.
"The reason the original Cosmos project was called off was at the insistence of Isobel Starfall. The third host that Starfall bonded with. He, somewhat like a Nictus, was preserving his life by taking new hosts all with the same bloodline."
Toby's eyes flashed brilliant blue white for a moment and he surged up.
"You overstep your mark, Langlais! Don't you EVER compare me to one of those brutes! I am a Starfall! I am a member of this family and I guard each new generation and let our collective wisdom live on!" he screamed, flushed red in the face with anger. Cirrus jumped up and put her hands on his shoulders. Langlais steepled his fingers.
"Isobel Starfall visited Jonathan Whithers the night before he sent a letter to the British government, advising them that they had reached the limits of what Cosmos could teach them. What did you talk about with him, that night, Starfall? Perhaps something to do with the secret shame that drove you in especial to descend to Earth and merge yourself into the family that now bares your name?" Toby glared at him a moment more, then tore free of Cirrus's hands and stomped up to the deck. Avenger glared at Langlais.
"What was all that about?"
"It is about why Starfall banished himself here. Wait. He will come back and he will tell you all himself. It is a story worth hearing, both to impress upon you the power Nadir seeks to unleash, and to pass the time. Last thing you need to be doing is stressing about things you cannot control right now." Langlais stroked Jakey's hair gently, making the cat purr without thinking about it. He looked calm. Avenger was starting to wonder if there was anything that worried or phased the officer.
Don't ask me about joining Honourable United, I'm lazy. Ask Captain Cathode.
http://www.onthejazz.co.uk/honu/
"If I had a punch, I would so hit that guy." - Millenium (because drinking nail varnish remover is for real men)
As the archon predicted, Toby did return, looking quiet and nobody mentioned the tear-streaks on his face still. Sally got him a cup of tea and he sat down.
"I'm sorry guys. I shouldn't have lost it like that. But I'm nothing like a Nictus and don't you ever compare me to one again." There was still the fire of anger in the boy, but he took a deep breath and nodded his thanks to Sally when she passed him the tea.
"Langlais is, as is getting increasingly frequent, right. The Cosmic Crystals are destroyers. You know the theory, right? That every element in creation has its own unique frequency?" Toby waited for nods all round the table and he looked at the steam of his drink as it coiled lazily past the brim.
"There was a theory that there was a universal frequency. One that united all things in creation. I called it Cosmos, or that's the nearest translation in your language." Jakey's ears pricked as he picked up on the small point.
"You called it Cosmos?"
"Yes. I did." Toby looked at the cat sadly, "it might seem strange to you, who has lived a bare five years on this Earth, that I have existed for thousands. Kheldians are beings of energy. We can be born from others, grow and give life, but we don't truly end. We merely ... transcend." Sally was listening avidly, her eyes filled with interest. Jakey shook his head.
"Ah, don't make it sound so airy fairy, Toby. We might be made out of matter, but we change too. There's nothing more alive than a dead body, y'know. We aren't so different." The cat grinned his cheshire grin and Toby half smiled, seeming strengthened. He sipped his tea.
"Anyway, it is important for you to understand that Starfall is old. Way older than our calendar, y'know?" he said, quiet and looking at the table again. Langlais leaned back in his seat, folding his arms and putting his head down. The others nodded.
"I was pretty bright by Kheldian standards, and curious. Matter life-forms fascinated me and I was always exploring new planets and taking hosts of sentient beings to learn their ways. It's where I learned the knack for not bonding utterly. I just kind of sat in their heads, rode around with them and talked to them for a while and then left, off on my own merry way, taking the information back to the others to share. At the time, there was a movement going on. Some Kheldians thought blending with beings of matter was not right, others thought it was just fine if you both gained something from the blending, and others thought of matter creatures as inferior, treating them like transport. I was young and naive, and didn't pay much heed to the politics when I had all this discovery to get along with. It was on one of my forays into the unknown that I and several others found N'Sham." Toby curled his fingers around the mug. Avenger and the others just watched him as the boy gazed into the steam of his drink.
"The sentient race of N'Sham were so strange to us. They were ... I guess you could say they were intoxicating. Their minds and their bodies sang. I took up residence in one and introduced myself. We became good friends. I felt for the first time that I really wanted to blend with her, mingle our minds together. She had such a sense of humour." The smile on the boy's face was full of longing and regret. The boat's engine thudded quietly in the silence and then he inhaled deeply, looking away.
"I fell in love with N'Sham. It wasn't like Earth, which is all opaque and solid because of the high gravity. Almost everything on N'Sham was crystalline. The trees, the animals, the Ta'Ourishin. Even the water was lighter, and the rain no more than mist. Of course, our happiness was not to last. My regular reports back on the properties of the planet drew attention and ... well ... " Toby pulled on the lobe of his right ear uncomfortably, coughing slightly. Cirrus leaned forward, her arms folded on the table.
"What happened?"
"As I said, the Ta'Ourishin, the sentient race, were intoxicating to us. I mean really so. Something about them sent us on wild highs, I guess you could say. While I was conducting my research, Kheldians were coming to the planet for recreational purposes."
Jakey raised an eyebrow, folding his arms and leaning back against Langlais's chest. He was not inclined to judge people for their recreational habits, but he had trouble stomaching it when it involved other people being the recreation.
"A lot of Kheldians were blending just for the buzz. It had a catastrophic effect on many of the nations of the planet, as families saw their loved ones take up with the 'aliens' and become totally different, acting off their heads. It left them open to extremist governments to take control. Which they did and suddenly there was an arms race and cold wars and generations of hostility and resentment and bloodshed. Ta'Ourishin have a fraction of the lifespan of humans, it was devastating for me to see what our presence was doing to them. It was like civilisation on fast forward and you know you're the reason for how terrible and dark the world is becoming. One of my later hosts was a scientist, and with him I was learning their secret. We wanted to find a way to make the Ta'Ourishin less desirable as hosts. I swear to all the Powers of creation and all the Entities that live in the Spheres, that was our intention." Toby went quiet, and nobody wanted to draw attention to the tears that were streaming down his face and the bitterness that weighed his voice. Sally swallowed.
"Did they make the first crystals?"
"The whole planet was made of them. They were crystalline themselves. The scientist and I knew that everything had a frequency, this was fact. He discovered that if you deprived certain crystals of all sound while they were growing, you could tune them to one specific frequency. We had a theory that after conception, if we could use this information to tune the Ta'Ourishin children to lack the vibration that made them so alluring to us, it would go a long way to healing the torn relations between their nations and allow them to return to peace. I forgot about the governments. My political naiveté made me blind to what was coming," he said, resting his forehead on his hand. He sniffed quietly. Avenger felt horrible for making him go through what was obviously a traumatic memory.
"We told the advisors that we could use the frequencies to repel Kheldians from hosts if they were being a nuisance. Obviously not the blended, but joy-riders could be bounced out. Without our knowledge, the advisors took this information and they discovered, with a few tweaks, the frequency for energy that holds us together." Toby suddenly dropped his head and when he lifted it, his eyes were enshrouded with the glowing vaporous tendrils of a peacebringer. When he spoke, his voice was more melodic, as though a subtle change had affected his larynx.
"I apologise, but I have asked Toby to sleep. These memories are not ones he should have to relay for me. He is still just a child." Avenger nodded.
"I take it you're Starfall himself?"
"Try not to apply gender to me, I don't actually have one, Avenger. And I was always more comfortable in female hosts." Starfall half smiled, then drank more tea. He was silent for a while, then spoke again.
"The Ta'Ourishin massacred those of us who were on the planet. We had always felt a degree of superiority in dealing with them, as we were made of energy and light. But they were brutal and cut us down at all sides, shattering the very matrix of energy that makes us alive. I can't tell you how frightening it was. It wasn't long before the blended were being systematically hunted and slaughtered in their thousands. You have a word for it, I believe. Genocide." Starfall ran his fingers around the mug, silent while this sank in. Sally reached over hesitantly and put her hand on his shoulder. As if some maternal instinct tweaked at her, she gathered him into a hug. Starfall leaned into it with a kind of desperation, looking heart-broken. Jakey cleared his throat, trying to think of a way to phrase it that was not totally insensitive.
"What happened after the ... fighting?" he asked. Starfall sniffed.
"The Ta'Ourishin were now warlike and hostile to their neighbours, as you know. They lashed out in all directions, at other races, at themselves. It was my scientist's grandson who first spoke about the Cosmic Note with me, though I helped him refine the theory. He had never liked me particularly, but I was the family secret and dutifully I was kept so. He theorised that life itself had a frequency, that it was an energy we could perceive but didn't understand how to measure. He resolved to find it. And how he found it. The Ta'Ourishin started to build a bomb, to be fired into space at the asteroid belt were many Kheldians of an exploratory bent assembled to share our knowledge. The Kheldians who would later become the Separatists, the ... Nictus, got wind of the bomb, and they struck first. One suicide operative infiltrated their base, she was as skilled as I at host hopping, and her will was strong enough to turn people to her bidding against their will. She activated the bomb."
Nobody said anything. Sally rested her head on Starfall's and held him just a little bit tighter. The engine thudded and the waves slapped past the hull. Avenger tried to imagine the extent of the damage. Starfall must have known what he was thinking.
"The Cosmos explosion was not like your nuclear warhead. It was bigger. One of your most powerful warheads can scratch the surface of your planet, and it will still turn in oblivious disregard to your doings. N'Sham was blown to smithereens. All the crystals of the planet gave voice to one, single, unknowable note, and then it was gone forever. Nothing but fragments and debris remained. Nothing but the memories of we who had survived. I was hailed as a 'hero'. I had stayed at my post until the very last, always providing information on the 'war'. Had I decided to delay my return to my colleagues to report for just an hour ... just one hour, I too would have died. As I should have," he said, his voice dropping to a whisper. Avenger swallowed. He knew that feeling, better than he wanted to. Survivor guilt, they called it in professional circles.
"And that's what this Nadir dude is after?" Jakey asked. Langlais finally nodded.
"Let us consider it his fee for what he really wants. Though he himself would have presented it the other way around," he said. Avenger looked at him.
"What?"
"Nadir wants the Resonator. He wants Whithers," he said. Avenger did not like the sound of that.
"For what?" He gripped the edges of the table, there was a faint groan of wood being compressed. Langlais's smile was a bit grim.
"For whatever he can think of. He thinks of himself as an exotic pet owner. The more exotic, the more unique the creature, the more desperately he wants it. And to him, humans are just another interesting animal."
"News flash, I already knew that, sans the interesting part." Jakey snorted, looking black. Langlais ignored him.
"While he's human, Whithers has characteristics of an extinct race. He is the spiritual child of N'Sham, and Nadir would do anything to keep control of him." Langlais looked like he was holding something back, but Avenger was too angry to think about what it might be. The table splintered under his hands.
Don't ask me about joining Honourable United, I'm lazy. Ask Captain Cathode.
http://www.onthejazz.co.uk/honu/
"If I had a punch, I would so hit that guy." - Millenium (because drinking nail varnish remover is for real men)
The boat rode anchor some distance away, all lights were off and everything that could make noise was silenced. Langlais waited for Jakey to finish telling the skipper that if they didn't return in six hours, then he was to head back and send a distress call ahead to the superheroes waiting in Korea.
"Will six hours be enough time?" Cirrus asked, buckling on life-jacket that had been blacked out. Langlais nodded.
"Either we'll have succeeded or we've encountered more force than we can deal with. In the latter case, we'll need the back-up." He smeared some waterproof camouflage paint on his face and passed it to Avenger. Jakey returned, nodding to Sally as she pulled on her dry suit for swimming to the shore. He wished he'd brought one from home, but the Icon tailors made hero clothes that could cope with a little sea water. He jammed his hat down on his head a little tighter and looked over the rail at the island ahead. It didn't look so far away, several lights twinkling through the trees. Cirrus looked worriedly at it, then at him. He did his best to smile.
"K, you're on point. Get into the water." Langlais broke the moment between them and Jakey looked round at him. Instead of arguing, he turned back to the railing and dived off it gracefully. Avenger glared at Langlais.
"You're not the one who gives the orders here, what do you think you're playing at?" he asked, keeping his voice down. Langlais regarded him, in the dark, his eyes were just two pools of darkness.
"K is the smallest and fastest of us, he will be most able to get through the defences undetected so if we set them off by accident, he might be in a position to deactivate them. I already asked if he would do it, and he agreed."
Avenger was not pleased that Langlais had been going behind his back on this, but it did make a little sense for Jakey to go first. He watched as Sally climbed overboard and dropped herself into the water, striking out after Jakey. He looked at Toby, the boy half smiled back, looking nervous.
"Let's just get on with this." He tried to sound brave. Avenger smiled reassuringly and climbed over the side, and held onto the ladder, waiting for Toby to climb down and lock his arms around his shoulders. Once the boy was latched on, Avenger kicked away from the hull and started swimming out after Sally and Jakey. Behind, he could hear Langlais with Cirrus. The sea was calm, but still the waves often obscured his vision of the others. He could no longer see Jakey at all, the cat had undoubtedly drawn far ahead. He worried about where the defences were, and if they would indeed remain dormant while swimmers passed them by. Langlais had inferred that they would, but he hadn't said so categorically. The water was cold, not that he noticed especially but from the shivering of Toby's body, it was clear the boy had. It felt like he'd been swimming for hours, pushing one hand before the other just above the water. He was trying to minimise the noise he made, and the island was barely creeping forward. It was lucky they had no light, or they would have seen the large population of poisonous wildlife swimming around them. Not least of all were the lionfish, handsome fish with arrays of dual coloured spines sticking out all over their bodies with bold stripes to accompany. Eventually, Avenger reached the beach and dragged himself and Toby out of the waves, spitting some briny water from his mouth. Some foliage rustled nearby and they were instantly on guard. Jakey's head popped out from under a bush and he motioned for them to follow. They both did so, finding Sally waiting for them. It wasn't long before Langlais and Cirrus arrived.
"Alright, we all made it so far. Everyone good to carry on?" Avenger asked. Jakey nodded.
"I already scoped out that furnace Langlais was talking about. It's not guarded at all, and just a step from here," he said quietly. Avenger looked at Langlais, who looked back, and then nodded.
"Alright, let's move out, team."
As Jakey had said, it was indeed not far for legs aching with the weight of seawater and undertow. The furnace was a long, low building with a tall chimney stack. The doors were closed but not locked, they creaked a bit as they swung open to admit the heroes. Inside there were huge, angular shapes of machinery in neat piles according to type and purpose. Langlais led them over to the old communications equipment.
"See what you can achieve with these, Starfall."
"If I can get it to even turn on, it'll be a miracle," Toby muttered bitterly as he rolled his still sodden sleeves up, unclipping his life jacket and dumping it on the floor. He immediately started pulling bits of computer terminal out of the pile, cracking open the case of the largest, most intact one. Avenger watched worriedly as the boy cannibalised parts ruthlessly, working quickly and competently.
"Cirrus, you still got that emergency tech kit down your shirt?" Toby held out one hand expectantly. Cirrus fished her hand down her top and pulled out a black, waterproof packet, handing it over. Jakey arched an eyebrow.
"Tintagel really believes in being prepared, doesn't it?"
"We're as bad as the Girl Guides that way." Cirrus grinned at him.
"Jakey, get outside, I want you on watch," Avenger interrupted. Jakey nodded and slipped off. Sally folded her arms.
"What about me, oh fearless leader?"
"Just Jakey for the moment, no offence, but he's got natural night-vision." Avenger knew that Sally and Jakey had a very healthy rivalry going, but now wasn't the time for them to be indulging in competition with each other. Sally seemed to know what was on his mind and she sighed slightly, turning her attention back to Toby.
The computer was soon activated, though it was the biggest mess of wires and components they'd ever seen in their life. Toby pulled his goggles down on his head and stuck his tongue out slightly as his fingers flew over the keyboard, text whizzing across the golden holo-screen so beloved by the Council.
"Hello world," Toby said quietly, grinning. Avenger frowned, trying to follow the information that was being accessed, but it was all in code.
"Langlais, you got any back-door codes for me?"
"Try 'four two omicron rho alpha'." Langlais was standing with his back to the wall on the left of the door, head turned slightly to the entrance. He was clearly keeping his ears open for any approach. Toby tried that.
"Alright, I'm into the system."
"You're not going to spout techno-babble are you?" Cirrus asked irritably. Toby turned his head to her for a moment.
"When it's so much more fun to dumb it down for you technically illiterate mooks?"
"Well before you start asking if anyone has a black hat for you to wear, find Whithers," Langlais muttered. Toby grumbled something about people not 'understanding' and hunched over the keyboard. Sally moved to the opposite side of the door to Langlais, listening as well.
"He's in the mountain." Avenger nodded sharply.
"Alright, let's get moving. Jakey, you hear that?" he asked into his radio. There was a click as Jakey turned his to send.
"Sure did, boss. Want me on point?"
"So long as you don't get it into your head to start a fight."
"Aww
I'll try to keep my head," Jakey said. Avenger hooked his radio back onto his belt and eyed the others.
"Langlais, you're up front with me, Sally, I want you at the back with Cirrus. Toby, you travel in the middle."
"Wouldn't it make more sense for me to stay here? I'm a hacker, I'll be more use with access to a computer." Toby looked up at Avenger, making no move to get to his feet. Avenger considered this, looking at Langlais. The other shrugged, leaving the decision to Avenger. He sighed and looked down at Toby.
"Alright, but Sally stays with you."
"What? I'm staying behind to babysit?" Sally demanded hotly. Avenger snagged her arm and towed her over to the corner, lowering his voice.
"Who else is going to stay? Cirrus is good but you're way more effective in close quarters like a storage facility like this. And do you really trust Langlais to look after him? He's twelve, Sal. He's just a child." Sally thinned her lips at that, but then she nodded.
"You better kick some ******* real hard in the jimmies for me."
"I'll do my best. Look after him, okay?" Avenger smiled encouragingly and Sally waved a hand.
"Yeah yeah. Go save your damsel in distress already. Next time, Jakey babysits." Avenger nodded and rejoined Langlais and Cirrus, Sally sat down next to Toby and waved at them. Avenger motioned outside with his head and hurried out, followed by the Council officer and the Tintagel representative.
Langlais took the lead once they were outside, guiding them through the jungle to the black, imposing mass that was the mountain. He evidently knew every inch of the island, leading them around and past patrol routes and sneaking them right to a back entrance where they found Jakey waiting behind a mound of rocks. In silence, Avenger tried the door, surprised to find it unlocked. He looked at Langlais questioningly, the officer just nodded a little, as if this was normal. With a sense of deep trepidation, he slipped in through the doorway.
Don't ask me about joining Honourable United, I'm lazy. Ask Captain Cathode.
http://www.onthejazz.co.uk/honu/
"If I had a punch, I would so hit that guy." - Millenium (because drinking nail varnish remover is for real men)
Muse picked up a pair of thick gloves from the counter in the lab. Nadir walked over and held out a pair of goggles and a Council helmet.
"Uniformity breeds discipline, remember." Muse took the helmet silently. He didn't want to give Nadir any reason to feel inclined to punish him again. He pulled the helmet on and Nadir hooked the face shield over his nose and mouth then flipped the goggles down.
"There. No sense in giving the other soldiers a reason to think I play favourites, even if you are my favourite." Muse pulled away when Nadir patted his head, feeling sick. He didn't dare say a thing, not with the tuner practically at his back. Nadir smiled widely and put a hand on his back, steering him out of the lab.
"So go tag along after Adjutant Stevens. Even you medics need to do the soldiering." Muse hurried away from him, just so glad of an excuse to leave his presence that he didn't even consider his bad luck at being assigned to Adjutant Stevens, who was as foul-tempered as he was foul-mouthed. The rumour among Langlais's men was that Stevens had shot both his parents and his little sister in cold blood. Of course, nobody knew if it was true, and everyone had heard it from someone who heard it from someone who'd been there. Muse tried to put the rumours out of his mind as he jogged down to the communications hub three floors down from the lab. Adjutant Stevens was screaming blue murder at one of the 'stupid, useless lowlifes' who'd served under Langlais. Muse winced, feeling bad for the men who'd been here first. Nadir's troops were the epitome of good Council soldiers who seemed to take the lax attitude of the island soldiers very personally.
"Medic Whithers reporting for patrol duty, sir," he said, saluting when Stevens was done yelling at Beauchamp. The adjutant wheeled and glared down from his formidable height. Like all Cor Leonis, he was as huge as a bear and looked able to crush lorries like coke cans.
"You're one of Langlais's? You better keep the pace, you short-[censored] [censored], or I'll throw you down the [censored] mountain." Stevens marched out. Muse shot a look at Beauchamp, who gave him a commiserating look in return, and then followed the adjutant.
"I don't like this, it's too quiet," Langlais muttered as they crouched by a doorway. The corridors they'd travelled down were deserted. Cirrus scowled at him.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that I can't believe any archon hasn't marked this section down for routine patrols. The emergency entrance should be always unlocked, but frankly, why leave it so unguarded?" Langlais reached his hand up to grip the crystal hanging around his neck. He looked bothered and it was starting to get to Avenger.
"How arrogant is Nadir?" Jakey asked quietly. Langlais looked grim.
"Very. Has a chronic superiority complex. I can see where you're going with that. He may be convinced of his own power, but he's not stupid." Langlais leaned around the corner of the doorway to look through it, then slammed himself back into hiding, breathing out. Avenger heard the thudding of patrol boots ahead.
"Okay, so he's just a bit laxer about patrol scheduling then." He felt relieved to hear the footsteps. It reassured him that they weren't walking blithely into a trap. Jakey crouched by his calves, fingertips to the floor, tail swishing slowly from side to side.
"Couple of Cor Leonis, few marksmen. Ugh, one of them has minging aftershave." Jakey covered his nose with one hand, grimacing. Avenger had never heard the description 'minging' before and looked down at him with a frown.
"You what?"
"Means horrible," Cirrus whispered. Langlais listened to them, flattened to the wall.
"They're coming this way," he muttered, looking at Avenger, "what are your orders?"
"Think we can take them down without them getting a chance to trip an alarm?"
"Well
I think I can increase the gravity around them
" Cirrus looked uncertain. Avenger looked at her and she grimaced.
"I've never tried it indoors before. I could crush the tunnel if I'm not careful," she explained. He nodded.
"Do it. Jakey, you know what to do. Langlais, you and me are going to hit those guys as hard as we can. We can't let any of them get away to trip an alarm, okay?" Langlais nodded. Avenger took a deep breath, then nodded to Cirrus. She stepped into the doorway so she could see the men ahead. They saw her a second later as she threw her hand forward.
"Hold it right there, boys!" she focussed and more than one man yelped as his body seemed to slump downwards, like he was wearing a suit made of lead. The leader put his fists up, completely unaffected.
"Last mistake you'll ever make, [censored]," he yelled, charging forward. Cirrus's eyes widened in fear as he surged towards her. She squeaked and covered her head to protect it when two men ran past her from behind and both slammed into the adjutant, throwing him off his feet and back into his men. Cirrus blew out in relief when she saw Avenger and Langlais tear into the soldiers ahead, Jakey in hot pursuit. Now that was more like it. With the wall of men between her and the enemy, she felt a deal safer. She threw up her hands.
"I'm gonna blow you away!" A blast of icy wind screamed down the tunnel. Warned by her shout, Avenger and Langlais braced their legs and Jakey jumped up. The gale caught the cat and sent him rocketing past them both, right into the chest of another Cor Leonis feet first. His impact helped the wind knock him off his feet.
The adjutant surged up as his marksmen took aim, throwing himself at Avenger in a very optimistic rugby tackle. His shoulder hit Avenger's midriff and found it to have the consistency of a steel door. Avenger slammed both fists down onto his shoulders, dropping the man like so many bricks.
Langlais skidded between Cirrus and one of the marksmen, flinching as the bullets ricocheted off his sonic shield a bare centimetre from his skin. He saw three of the marksmen backing off, turning to run.
"Avenger, we have runners!" His voice was half drowned out by the sudden roar from the adjutant, his uniform tore to shreds as he reared up, fur bursting out of his skin and his head reshaping into a muzzle filled with dagger like teeth. Avenger swore, ducking back out of range of the war wolf's claws.
"Jakey! Get those runners!" he yelled. Jakey was already on his way, rushing to catch up with them. He leapt over one of the stranded marksmen who was still held down by the crushing weight of gravity under his feet. One of the marksmen ahead turned around and took aim, firing at the cat who shot up the curved wall of the tunnel to avoid being hit.
Avenger threw himself at the war wolf as the beast leaned down and drove his scythe-like claws into the rock floor. The ground beneath his feet suddenly buckled and he staggered to keep his balance as the war wolf tore a great chunk of rock out from under him. In normal circumstances, perhaps he and Langlais would have been able to keep their feet, had the floor not suddenly been ripped out from under them. Both of them went back onto their shoulders with a yell and the war wolf turned and hurled the rock down the tunnel. Jakey and the marksman both heard it coming at the same moment and neither had enough time to move before the chunk of rock slammed into them.
"JAKEY!" Cirrus saw red and looked to the side where a great air conditioning fan was whirling. She reached her hand towards it and gripped a fist, then slammed her hand towards the war wolf. There was a horrendous scream of metal and stone as the entire unit was ripped from the wall and hurtled at the war wolf. Langlais yanked Avenger back down and the unit smacked the latter's hat off as it whooshed overhead. There was a horrific sound of collision and a distinct squelch as the air conditioning fan hit the war wolf. Avenger scrambled up.
"Look after Jakey and Cirrus!" he yelled, racing down the tunnel after the escaping men. This was not going well at all. He hurdled the pile of rock that was pinning Jakey and a marksman down. The last two of the patrol were legging it down the tunnel, taking a hard right. Avenger forced himself to go faster coming up behind the lagging marksman and slamming him into the wall hard. The scuffle had barely started before he knocked the man out, leaving just the last one left. The man, shorter than the others, took another right in the corridor ahead. Avenger raced after him, panicking slightly, what if there was an alarm pull just inside that corridor?!
He skidded around the corner to find the man racing to a control panel on the far side of the very square room. His boots rang against the metal floor as he pulled back his fist. The man's hand was reaching for the console as he sprinted, Avenger yelled as he got close enough and hammered his fist into the small of the soldier's back. The man rocketed forward into the console, virtually folding around it, his helmet smashing the screen to pieces and then he slumped and fell off the console, crumpled in a heap on the ground. Avenger breathed out, he'd gotten out of the habit of chasing down runners since it was more Jakey's thing really. He shook his head and turned, walking back to the entrance of the room.
The door slammed shut.
Avenger stopped and looked around, on edge again. A screen set high on the wall blipped on just as the floor gave a small shake and Avenger felt a lurch like an elevator descending. A man's face appeared on the screen, he was clapping with a sardonic expression.
"Very exciting, I must say, you performed admirably." Avenger bristled, turning to face the screen.
"How about you come here and I'll treat you to a private viewing of act two?"
"I think I'll have to take a rain check, Midnight Avenger. But do work on it, I'll be anxious to see it later. I don't think I've introduced myself have I? I'm Archon Nadir." There was a noise from console and Avenger looked down in time to see the soldier being covered with dark energy before vanishing. He reappeared a split second later on the screen, as though he were sitting in the other man's lap. Avenger watched the screen in annoyance.
"The pleasure is all yours," he growled through gritted teeth. He didn't have time for this nonsense. Nadir grinned, cradling the soldier like some kind of beloved pet.
"It is rather, isn't it. You know, you fascinate me. I had a feeling you only saw uniforms, it was rather nice to see my theory proved right. Or was it just because your blood was up, as they say?"
Something struck Avenger as being very wrong here. He faltered for a moment.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Nadir's answer was to push the helmet, faceplate and goggles off the soldier in his arms. Avenger's blood ran cold. Muse was unconscious, blood trickling out of his mouth, head tipped back limply. Nadir's smile was cold.
"You didn't even stop to question why someone so short was a Council soldier. I like that kind of resolve. I like it a lot."
Avenger opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came. He felt like he was shrivelling inside, guilt dropping his hands to his sides limply. Nadir chuckled.
"Oh don't look so upset, naturally I rigged the whole thing. In fact, as we speak, the other two in the tunnels are being surrounded by my best troops. I just couldn't resist setting you up like this. I'm so naughty, I know." Nadir stroked some of Muse's hair back from his face and Avenger wavered on his feet. He felt sick to his very core, he couldn't believe he'd struck his own lover. This wasn't happening. Nadir leaned his head against Muse's, looking upwards as if appealing to the saints.
"Oh my, such drama. If only you had stopped for a single second to ask 'aren't you a little short for a Storm Trooper'. Maybe your lover would be in your arms right now, and you'd be running back to help your friends who are under heavy fire and hiding behind a door that will give soon. Oh me, oh my. Well, you get to contemplating that next act, Midnight Avenger, you'll have plenty of time to dwell on this monumental [censored]-up." Nadir regarded Muse for a moment, then leaned his head down to lick the blood off the corner of his mouth. Avenger surged up to the screen, grabbing the sides of it as if he could grab Nadir's throat.
"GET OFF HIM!" The archon laughed merrily.
"You are so easy to manipulate. Enjoy the bomb shelter. I might dig you out in a few weeks if I can be bothered. And on that note, I do believe you've reached the bottom of the shaft." As he said that, Avenger heard a ding behind him and he whipped around. The feeling of motion stopped with a small lurch and he looked around, then upwards. He could only see the ceiling, but noticed a hatch in it.
"Mind the drop," said Nadir, pressing something to his side. Distantly, Avenger heard an explosion, then the floor below fell away from his feet for just a second. He staggered as the room dropped what must only have been a few feet, but it was enough to jar him and everything inside, a chair falling over. Then there was a thunder above as solid objects hit the ceiling, denting it in some places the impacts were so hard. Avenger stared up.
"The question was, I believe, how do you kill an invulnerable man." Nadir's voice permeated the thick silence after the impacts, Avenger looked back at the screen and saw the grin on the detestable man's face.
"The answer is, you don't try to kill him. You just put him away somewhere. Ta ta, Midnight darling, I have other insurgent elements to deal with. Been a lot of fun chatting, keep in touch."
The screen went dead.
Avenger looked down at his hands and realised they were shaking. Langlais was right. Archon Nadir was a monster.
Don't ask me about joining Honourable United, I'm lazy. Ask Captain Cathode.
http://www.onthejazz.co.uk/honu/
"If I had a punch, I would so hit that guy." - Millenium (because drinking nail varnish remover is for real men)
This follows on some time after 'Cave In', a short piece that sort of paves the way for this beast. All comments about nationalities are intended to annoy and amuse, :P
Music Teacher, or just Muse to most, inspected his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He tilted his head to regard the bristly growth under his chin. Complaints of a certain someone reminded him that going four days without a beard trim might be a bit much. He filled the sink with warm water and set about mixing the shaving soap into a foam, using his antique shaving kit, an heirloom from his mother's side. He had her eyes, they were dark and slanted like hers had been, but his hair was all his father's, blond and tending to vigorous growth. Behind him, coming from the kitchen, he could hear singing. If that was really the word for it. What he lacked in classical training, Jakey K more than made up for in enthusiasm. Currently he was belting out "Poison" by Alice Cooper while he bounced and clattered around the kitchen with a frying pan.
"I'll throw a shoe at you if you don't stop caterwauling, J!" Midnight Avenger's voice sounded from Muse's bedroom. Muse pulled a face when he heard the pan hit the floor, already imagining the fat splattering over the lino.
"Venji!" There were faint thumps of running feet, then a thud and clunk of springs. No doubt Avenger had just received a low flying cat to the chest. Sure enough, a few moments later, Avenger walked past with Jakey attached to his arm, the limp getting enthusiastically hugged. Muse looked around and smiled, working foam onto his soft bristled brush.
"You remember what today is?" he asked, not having to pay attention as he reached up and lathered under his chin and over his cheeks with the foam. Avenger put some toast in the toaster with the Jakey-laden arm and flipped on the kettle with his other hand.
"Our anniversary?" he asked. he knew perfectly well what day it was, but couldn't help teasing his soft-natured lover.
"No!"
"We're taking J for his shots?" Muse paused in his brushing, concerned that Avenger really had forgotten.
"It's the day I fly back to England! For-"
"The Glastonbury festival, then down to Sidmouth, then travel the country with a backpack and your guitar, then you go to a Reunion with all your 'brothers' and 'sisters'." Jakey and Avenger chorused in perfect synchrony, having heard the five week itinerary every day since Muse had booked the plane tickets. Muse scowled at them both and turned back to shaving, picking up the old fashioned barber's razor. Avenger chuckled, getting breakfast underway.
"When are you off then?" he asked, mostly to mollify Muse. He himself wished the holiday was four weeks, six days shorter. He hadn't dated in hero circles before, and their occupation did add a certain need to track the other's movements, just to make sure they were safe.
"After I go see Stephanie about something. Around twelvish." Jakey leaned around the bathroom door, watching Muse shave with a certain fascination. He'd never seen someone with one of the old cut-throat razors before he'd moved in with Muse, not even gangers on the street carried them. It was curious that someone so adverse to sharp things would shave with a seriously sharp strip of metal.
"You're going to Striga? You'll be careful?" Avenger leaned out of the kitchen. Muse sighed and washed off his razor before turning his attention to his throat, he couldn't answer right now, they'd have to wait for the usual assurances. Jakey grabbed up the first hat his hand came to and plonked it on his head. When it fell past his eyes he pushed it up.
"Damnit, I hate it when you stay over, Venji! Can't you leave your hat outside or something?" he flicked it off his head, it sailed across the room to hang off the coat rack and he jumped up, loudly proclaiming his score to be righteous. Avenger snorted, frying bacon.
"It's not my fault you can't tell the difference between an adult size and a child size."
"Neither can Muse, apparently." Jakey dodged the empty cup that was thrown in his direction, darting out the window onto the fire-escape. A few moments later, Muse came in, dapping his cheeks dry and frowning over a nick under his chin that was oozing a bit of blood.
"Is he being a tease again?"
"Thoroughly wicked." Avenger leaned over to kiss Muse's cheek before turning back to the cooking. He tried not to think how the next five weeks were going to go, with Muse away in England, where he couldn't protect him. He knew England had several superheroes, but from the newspapers, they tended to get arrested for drinking a lot. He knew Captain Britain was an alcoholic, that was widely known. Disreputable lot.
"I should go get my disguise on." Muse leaned his head against Avenger's shoulder for a moment, glad Jakey was bouncing off the walls outside so he could have at least one quiet moment with Avenger before the day started. He kissed his cheek and walked back to the bedroom. He was excited about later, he hadn't had a holiday for simply ages, and when Cirrus wrote him to tell him that the old crowd from the orphanage were getting together in a month's time, he jumped on the chance.
He scooped up the khaki fatigues and started getting dressed. Unknown to a lot of people, the Council actually possessed an off-duty dress-code. It was no less militaristic than the rest of their organisation, but it did tend to help him ghost through their territories without any fuss. They only saw the uniform, not the man wearing it. He belted the trousers up and stomped into the high boots, lacing them up and tying them snugly, looping the laces around twice at the top as the Council had a wont to do, to keep long laces from trailing from their boots. He buckled the Kevlar vest over the khaki shirt and then pulled on the uniform jacket, topping it all off by slapping on the cap.
"You know, there's something so wrong with how good you look in that uniform," Avenger said as he walked back in. Muse waved it off.
"You think I look good in everything." He sat down at the small table with Avenger. The other grinned.
"And out of everything as well!" Muse should have seen that one coming, he sighed and got started on breakfast.
Don't ask me about joining Honourable United, I'm lazy. Ask Captain Cathode.
http://www.onthejazz.co.uk/honu/
"If I had a punch, I would so hit that guy." - Millenium (because drinking nail varnish remover is for real men)