Broker

Sonya popped a piece of candy into her mouth with a chuckle, swaying her feet back and forth atop the catwalk in the small warehouse she’d found to lay low in until her sister and Charon arrived. She hummed the song they’d been playing in the car while she chewed and turned to grab her phone. Hanging above her were half a dozen well-armed men with wide, terrified eyes. They were trussed up in pale white vines, flowers sprouting from their hair. She plucked another piece of candy out of the bag before looking at it and then looking up into the face of who she assumed was their leader. She held it up to him. “Candy?”

He grunted behind the vine that gagged him, his brows furrowed with anger.

She laughed. “Oh, sorry!” She waved a hand, and the vine fell away.

“We see you now, Ishtar! We know who you are! We-” The vine wrapped around his mouth again, and she rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, I already disabled all your recording equipment. You won’t be telling anybody,” she said lazily and shrugged. “Was just trying to offer you some candy. Sheesh. Way to go out being a bummer.”

His face paled.

She cocked an eyebrow. “What? You thought you were getting out alive?” She cackled and shook her head. “You vigilantes are so funny! I mean, man, you guys got some tricks. That thing that guy did with the arrows earlier. I think I saw that in a movie once, Mary Poppins?” She squinted into space before shrugging. “Eh, whatever. Point is, if I’d actually been who you thought I was, I’d be toast! Good work! Kudos to Mimir!” She clapped her hands.

The man jerked and grunted as she created a can of soda, with a straw, of course, and sipped at it. She glanced his way again and tilted her head. “You guys do know that he knows, right?” She gestured to her face and made an ‘isn’t it obvious’ expression. The man’s eyes went wider, and she snorted. “What? Seriously? Dude!” She busted out laughing again. “I didn’t give him a rule that said he couldn’t say that he ‘knew’ who I was! Only that he couldn’t spill the actual details! What a loon!”

He went slack as she sipped her drink again. “That’s right, bucko. Ishtar is Mimir’s hot gay sugar mommy,” she said and kicked her feet again. “But he’s pissed me off now, and you guys are a hero-murdering death cult, so… you’re dead and not telling anyone.”

“You don’t need to drag it out, boss,” Amos said through a drone that floated down to her side. “Just get it over with.”

She sighed dramatically. “See, I would have, but First Wind cut off my monologue, and I was feeling chatty, and it just seemed like a spy movie villain thing to do, you know?” she said and set her can down. “Tell the trapped hero everything before they make their daring escape!”

“Except…” Amos began.

Sonya snapped her fingers, and the sound of crunching filled the warehouse. “Except I’m not that stupid,” she said flatly and got to her feet. “I’ll store their things for you to inspect when I get back. How are things?”

“The Jade soldiers are gone; I think Qilin jumped the gun. Kera and Kingshark will need to be bailed out soon. They’re powerhouses, no doubt, but nearly fifty heroes isn’t exactly good odds even for one or two of us,” Amos said before pausing as a bit of amusement came to his voice. “Now three, on the other hand, that might be a pretty good matchup.”

Figures about Qilin. Well, what’s done is done. She snickered. “Go have fun, dear. You’ve earned some exercise. I’m only sad I will be too busy with First Wind to see your debut myself.”

“I’ll film it. We can have a watch party later,” he said with a chuckle.

She brightened. “Oh, please do!” she said. “I’m so proud of my widdul supervillain all growded up!”

“I’m a big boy now!” Amos laughed before pausing. “Oh! Hold on, Qilin just met up with First Wind. Wow, I’ve never seen her Qilin form before.”

“No one has,” Sonya said absently, tugging at her hair and staring at the doors to the warehouse. The sky rumbled, and she started conjuring up her armor.

Amos stayed quiet for a while, and Sonya glanced at his drone. She frowned. “What is it?”

“What is she- hold on, they’re fighting. I think? What the hell?” Amos paused and let out a sharp breath. “She just… fell. Oof, that probably smarts like a bitch.”

Her lip twitched, and she almost called him out on his phrasing when it appeared:

<You have upheld a portion of your agreement and, through your intervention, have severed the path of the Dispassionate Herald, Qilin, eliminating a threat to humanity. With her fall, you have completely eliminated one of the pillars of Otis’ strength in the future and cut into his path. You will be rewarded with a new feature for Broker: Affirmative Assent. You may ask a party participating in a Deal to formally declare that they understand and agree to the terms of the deal. If the party consents, they waive the balancing privilege of Broker that acts in their favor. You must still provide all relevant information to the deal prior to asking for their Assent.>

Sonya blinked. She couldn’t believe her eyes even as she felt Broker grow more powerful within her, the instincts becoming clearer once again. She furrowed her brows. “...Already? That was quick.”

“She barely put up a fight,” Amos said in wonder.

Sonya scowled. “What, did she chicken out or something? Afraid what I had planned for her was worse?” she demanded. It felt like something had been taken from her despite the success of the plan.

“I dunno,” Amos said. “First Wind doesn’t seem happy about it. She did something to him before he finished her.”

“Curious,” Sonya said absently before shrugging. She wasn’t going to weep for a psychotic monster. “Make sure the body is secure so it can be retrieved. I don’t want another Rift situation, Amos. She died fighting First Wind. Let her memory do some good.”

“I’ll have my drones get on it,” he said. “First Wind is heading towards the expo building as you expected. I’ll set up a change in direction.”

She nodded. “Thank you, dear,” she said pleasantly and checked her nails. “I don’t want him killing any of those promising young heroes.”

“Is this guy really that dangerous?” Amos asked. “I’ve seen the footage, but Kingshark could pull that kind of stuff, couldn’t he?”

Sonya lowered her hand and turned to look at the drone. “He’s a breath away from Claimancy - I felt it - and more talented than anyone I have ever met. This is not going to be an easy fight for me, even with all my strength and new powers. They called him the Peerless Herald.”

Amos went quiet. “We could come help.”

She shook her head. “No, for this to work it has to be me,” she said. “One-on-one. No extra tricks, no army of heroes - a proper brawl. That’s the only way everything settles the way I want it to,” she said. “The world needs to see Ishtar’s full might, it needs to see one more false hero fall, and the heroes need to fight off my Inner Circle. That’s how this stage play ends.”

“And the result?”

She smiled. “A unity that not even Otis can break,” she said as her gauntlets finished taking shape over her hands.

“I’m stacking the deck, Amos. He knows what I’m doing, and he knows what each Herald's death means. He might be a monster, but he can still feel fear. I am going to force him to make a mistake, make him panic, make him show his hand in a moment of weakness. All of this mayhem just to get him to crack. He’ll say something he shouldn’t, and then I’ll know how to put him down.” She clenched her fists. “He has a weakness. I know it. I saw him die.”

“We’ll find it, boss,” Amos said. “I wanna be right there with you when he crumbles.”

She grinned. “Then you better get some exercise in,” she said and reached a hand up over her face. “I’ll be here enjoying the show. Blight really wanted to get the first punch in.”

She drew her hand down and activated her Regalia. As her ability began to wrap around her, a stray thought nudged its way into her mind.

Huh, I forgot about Jay Cash. I wonder if he survived.

– ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ n̷o̷v̷e̷l̷f̷i̷r̷e̷.net

That woman is out of her fucking mind! Does she go around starting wars for kicks or something? Who pulls a stunt like that? She even dragged me into it! Lunatic! Jay thought wildly. Mimir warned me not to get caught up in her pace. Now look at me! He staggered through another hallway and turned around. His eyes flicked left and right, searching for the creature that had been chasing him since he slipped out of the main area of the expo center. Where is it? he thought before a faint click of sound sent him leaping forward for dear life. He hit the ground hard and rolled onto his back, panting. Damn it! I’m not a fighter!

The beast was huge - it had to be half as tall as him at the shoulder with a body twice as wide. Its head looked like that of a reptile, and he was vaguely reminded of the salamander things from Dharan, but it was all messed up. Shit, shit, shit! This is crazy! I should have brought my gun, damn it! He scrambled backwards, his ability searching for an escape route. He needed to get away, or he was dead.

Something hissed, and the creature’s guttural growl turned into a snarl as he tore himself from his standing position and broke into a run. The snarling creature roared, and he rounded another corner, heart pounding in his chest. His ability told him there was a way out of the building up ahead. The creature stormed after him, its feet stomping in an irregular way that gave him a moment of pause that he pushed away out of sheer desire to survive.

He dove through a door and rolled, hopping over a chair and kicking off a table before- Shit!

The window he had been gunning for was covered with some kind of fabric. He slammed into it and bounced off, his head spinning. What the hell? When did this get here? My ability didn’t pick up on it!

KSHAAAAHH!

He spun, wide-eyed, as the beast slammed into the doorframe. One of its legs was trussed up with what looked like the same fabric. His stomach hollowed out as more of the fabric launched down from above and wrapped the creature up. Oh man… he thought weakly while he slowly panned his head up towards the ceiling. Then the webs came.

–

First Wind shot through the sky, eyes set on the distant expo building. He could make out some of the action taking place around it - flashes of lightning and some kind of huge creature looming out of the clouds. Monsters were everywhere. What the hell happened? he wondered before shaking the thoughts off. Doesn’t matter. That bitch better still be alive, or I’ll-

Something moved in the air out of the corner of his eye, and he stopped in midair, following the shape as it moved from one side of Shanghai to the other. A helicopter from the looks of it, and it was making quite the clip. Sirens were spreading throughout the city as police and firefighters moved to contain the damage that still seemed to be localized to the expo center and the surrounding blocks. He narrowed his eyes at the only thing daring to be in his sky.

That’s an ASTA Logo.

He grinned.

Thought you could get away from me, did you?

He changed course and darted after it, keeping his speed low so as to not immediately alarm the pilot. He needed them to get to Chernovna first. They’re heading for the docks? He looked down below and saw a wreckage of cars, jade fragments, and dead monsters blazing a trail in the same direction. Looks like someone else went after her too. He followed the trail and spotted a pair of vans racing towards the docks and another helicopter closing in on the location far up ahead he hadn't seen it at first…

He frowned. Oh no you don’t.

BOOM!

He accelerated past the sound barrier in an instant, crossing the distance in a flash as he wrapped a cocoon of wind around his body. To his surprise, the helicopter actually pivoted in the air, and the side door opened. A woman with fire-engine red hair and glowing green eyes leaned out of the door, securing a foot onto the landing skid. He snarled. Another bitch in my way. Always someone in my way! He snarled and reached for the air being pulled through the helicopter’s blades. “I’ll turn you into mulch!” he bellowed.

Green light flared against the woman’s palms, and several things happened all at once.

Something big began to take shape in Shanghai; he could feel the air being disturbed. At the same time, ahead of him, a larger-than-life presence rose up out of nowhere. While his mind reacted to the two new appearances, he threw himself to the right to dodge a blast of radiant green light that threatened to burn through his body, only for something hard to slam into him from the side as the helicopter spun out of control.

“The fuck?” he barked, flipping end over end as that massive something grappled with him. He released a blast of wind, but the thing wouldn’t let go. It held on for dear life as the two of them careened into an office building, smashing through the glass and sliding through cubicles. People screamed. “Get off of me, you freak!” he bellowed and fired off a few narrow concussive shots to fill his attacker with holes.

His attacker groaned and sat up, gripping his bulky side as blood poured from the fresh wound. Then the wound just… closed.

A regenerator?

“Luca,” a low, gravelly voice hissed over him.

First Wind’s blood caught fire as rage exploded in his mind. “Blight!”

The man had turned into a monster - his body was huge, his head small, and his eyes beady with fury. It looked like he had juiced up on every single steroid in the city. First Wind glared at him, the man who had looked down on him and his talents, the only man who had looked at his accomplishments and turned away in disgust. Humiliation. It had been a humiliation. His pride as a young man crushed by one disappointed stare.

He sneered. “You got like this just for me?” First Wind growled. “You do acknowledge me.”

Blight frowned. “I never doubted you were strong, Luca,” he rumbled. “Just stupid.”

“BLIGHT!” First Wind roared and drove his fist up as the man-turned-mountain swung down with equal fury. He felt the flesh of the man’s chest give way as a fist collided with his head, pushing him down through the floor and into the next level, then the next, and the next, one piece of superstructure at a time crumbling beneath the force of his descent. Only his ability cushioned each impact, fending off the worst of the damage. First Wind wrenched his hand up as the man above him laughed.

“Do what you want, brat!” Blight bellowed. “I’ve ruined you! Just like you did me! You’re dying today! SO I’LL SEE YOU IN HELL!”

–

“Are you sure about this, Blight?” Ishtar asked.

“I’m sure,” he affirmed.

“You might not even leave a scratch. Wouldn’t you rather support your people? I could fund your effort to help Mother Nature,” she offered.

“I was on Pandora’s Top Ten list,” he said. “While I may not be there now, my name is despoiled, and my involvement will only hurt them. It’s better this way. But if you can find it in your heart to support a bunch of non-villain fools who want nothing more than a greener world, that would be more than enough for me.”

“It’s a deal then, Brochardt. I’d be honored. It’s not often I find copies of abilities I’ve seen before; I’d prefer to keep it. For you, though, I’ll make an exception. It’s yours.”

Blight grabbed his own chest as First Wind reached for his heart through his body. Every injury he reversed depleted the youth he’d regained. Every second he felt a little bit weaker. He’d been given all these powers by Ishtar, all this strength, all this energy. Her power was so interesting. It was a shame he wouldn’t be able to watch her rise beyond what she already was. He had only been a bit player in her schemes, a shadow against the wall, but she’d given him a chance for revenge. Not just for himself, but for Mother Nature. He was happy to use that chance to do something crazy. His fist was already being torn to shreds, and his ribcage was broken. His hand would never stay on Luca long enough to use Reversal on him.

As he met Luca’s eyes, knowing he would die, he gave in to one last moment of pettiness. He didn’t smile. He didn’t laugh. He just gave the brat the disappointed look the boy hated so very, very much.

He stopped using Reversal. First Wind’s eyes widened.

How does that guy Trigger like to say it? Ah, yes…

“Life is a Bang, isn’t it, Luca?”

BOOOOOOOOOM!