Broker

A few moments earlier…

And this is the problem with going to a party where everyone wears masks… Sonya thought irritably as she drifted alongside Erebus. She kept her arms crossed behind her back, her back straight and her chin high while she moved, her eyes scanning her surroundings. Every face but a select few was obscured. Her eyes couldn’t give her name-plates if she couldn’t see at least half of their face. She shot a glance towards Erebus and wondered if that was part of his game here.

Perhaps he just wanted to have a few friends at the party that we aren’t exactly fond of, Erina pointed out. He isn’t our subordinate, after all.

You’re being remarkably reasonable, Sonya thought back.

I am eminently reasonable, Erina countered. I just find this whole party to be frivolous.

She chuckled a little, turning to glance at Erebus. She couldn’t help but poke at him a little. “A masquerade, hmm?” She hummed, her voice coming out in its usual etheric ripple through the helmet of her Regalia. “What an interesting choice in theme. Was that also a pick for little ol’ me?” she pressed.

He chortled and glanced her way. “I figured it would be more fun. This way!” He nodded towards the table they were approaching.

She turned and followed his gaze and grinned, zipping forward to float around the hunched over, middle-aged man in a labcoat and rat mask. “Archon, how incredible seeing you in person!” she sing-songed. Ishtar drifted down and leveled her helmet by the side of his head. “I’ve heard good things, but you never come out of that castle lair of yours. I’ve considered cracking it open just to see what tasty things I can find inside. Would you mind indulging me?”

The older man jolted upright at her sudden presence, twisting his hands together as his eyes flicked about frantically behind his mask. “Who? What? When?” He gasped, turning to look at her and let out a strangled sound as the nose of his mask nearly brushed against the side of her helmet. He fell off his chair and scrambled backwards like a crab. “I-I-Ishtar! When? When did you get here? I d-didn’t see you enter!”

Ishtar floated over him, ankles crossed as she stood, her eyes gleaming. “Oh, darling, I made a big show of coming in! Walked right in with my posse and everything! What were you thinking about that had you so distracted?” She drifted forward, holding out a hand. “The legendary Archon out in the open. I just had to have a word!”

His lips curled upward in a terrified rictus of a smile under the snout of his rat mask. “L-legendary?” he croaked, waving his hands at her in polite refusal. “H-hardly! I got my status because of an error! Nothing more! I am a humble scientist.”

She tilted her head. “And yet you came to a villain party?”

He raised his fist to his mouth and coughed. “W-well! If you must know, it is hard to get invited to parties when you are branded a villain, let alone having been in the Top Ten!” he said and scrambled to his feet, brushing himself off. He shoved his hands into his labcoat and hunched over. “That, and my partner insisted I get out more often. Sunlight and ‘touching grass’.” He pulled one hand up and waved it, it was gnarled and thin. “Personally, I’d rather be working.” The mad scientist hesitated and then turned to Erebus. “Although, this party is stupendous, Erebus.”

Erebus snorted out a laugh. “A man should have his priorities clear!” he barked. “Though, your partner is not wrong, a little sunlight does a man good!” He clapped his palm to his chest. “Look at me! I live for the sun!”

Archon’s lips thinned. “Qualitative evidence…”

Ishtar snorted out a laugh, crossing her legs as she floated in midair. She felt the rest of the villains present all watching her. Some familiar, some not. A few looked ready to bolt for one reason or another. Perhaps someone who was fleeing the Styx? She glanced towards Charon and made a deadpan expression behind her mask. He’d already found a seat next to Tenebra and was drinking with his protégé. Ah, typical. I suppose this is supposed to be a party, might as well go say hello. She glanced towards Erebus. “I’ll be back.” She turned to Archon and gave him a finger wave. “Bye, Archon, we’ll talk again soon. Invite me over sometime, and we’ll do business.”

She floated through the gathering, drifting to a stop next to the table where Charon and Tenebra sat. She sensed Companion walking up behind her before turning her full attention to the supervillainess. “Team Wallbreaker, hmm?”

Tenebra’s red eyes snapped up and met Ishtar’s gaze. Her fingers tightened around the flute of champagne in her hand, and her jaw tightened. “Brats,” she hissed. “Won’t be so easy to catch me off guard next time.”

Ishtar tilted her chin up. “Excuses.”

The songstress winced but didn’t argue the point. “I underestimated them. It won’t happen again,” she grumbled and crossed her legs, leaning back in her seat. “I have a new sonata in the works for that gray one in particular.” She raised her glass. “You wouldn’t happen to know any secrets that might help my songwriting process a little easier?” she asked with a wicked smile.

Tenebra would be a good pick to deal with him, if it became necessary. His ability makes him resistant to harm to his body and stronger as he works out. Restraints were how we dealt with him in the previous timeline. To slow him down, anyway, Sonya thought mildly, her jaw tightening, and then she felt her throat tighten even more. Damn. It would be so easy to tell her if it weren’t for that damn deal I made.

She cleared her throat. “I will look into things. No promises, dear, this is your nemesis to deal with.”

Tenebra scoffed. “Nemesis?” She sipped her drink. “Those brats would only be so lucky to be so highly regarded by me. Next time I’ll-” She froze as she felt Ishtar’s presence push down on her just a bit. She coughed and cleared her throat. “-I’ll get away with it.”

Ishtar smiled behind her helmet. “That’s good to hear.”

She glanced at Charon. “Enjoy the party, Charon.”

He grinned a razor sharp smile and raised a glass of champagne. “Already getting there, boss.”

She turned and drifted towards Erebus before another face, or lack thereof, caught her eye. A white mask with a red curved smile. Her eyes narrowed, and she glanced at Companion, who stepped up to walk with her as she made her way in the new direction, curiosity driving her once again towards another interesting conversation. She stopped in front of the woman wearing the mask of Masque. It isn’t the ability, though. I killed him and took a copy; unless it’s already out of circulation again, though I doubt that.

‘Masque’ turned to face her. The woman was a little taller than herself and wore a business suit, her arms crossed at her chest as she regarded Ishtar through her distinctive mask. “Ishtar.”

“Masque?” Ishtar asked.

The woman inclined her head. “Yes.”

“I thought I dealt with your organization,” Ishtar asked, eyeing her thoughtfully.

The woman tilted her head. “The majority of the officers were rendered destitute after the deal paid out; they left, along with most of the people that followed my predecessor's unique… social ideology,” Maque said blandly. “But the Darksiders endured.”

“Does your group resent me?” Ishtar asked.

Masque barked out a laugh. “Resent you?” she asked, bewildered. “I should be thanking you. You carved out the cancer of incels and pigs out of the organization. There are some of us that lost a little from the fallout, but most of the old leadership were hand-picked by that idiot. They suffered first.” She shrugged. “It took a while to get back on our feet, but we’re better than ever.”

Ishtar’s lips thinned. “And what do you plan on doing now that the Darksiders are making a comeback? Another rampage?” she asked evenly.

Masque paused and looked her in the eyes; she could almost feel the consideration in her gaze as the woman sized her up. She tilted her head finally and shook it. “Not quite. There was a hacker collective back before the flash that most of us true believers admired. We plan to take after them rather than…” she waved a dismissive hand, her dark nails glittering, “...whatever that idiot was doing.”

The two women held one another’s gaze for a full ten heartbeats before Ishtar finally spoke. “I see. Make a good showing on your next caper, get some publicity for the Darksiders return, and prove you aren’t just blowing smoke,” she turned away. “Do that, and I will personally invite the Darksiders back to the Styx.”

She felt Masque tense behind her, felt the woman’s hands clench into fists; she felt her heartrate spike. Not anger, no heat in her face. “The Darksiders will make it to the VIP in one move,” Masque declared.

Ishtar kept moving. “I look forward to seeing it, Masque.” She drifted forward with Companion at her side and lowered her voice. “Contact Chamak and make sure the Night Society keeps an eye on these new Darksiders,” she hissed. Official source ıs NoveI~Fire.net

Companion inclined her head. “Of course.”

Ishtar cast her gaze over the rest of those present. She briefly made eye contact with Drastic, who gave her a grave nod but otherwise didn’t move from where he was standing. Then she spotted Saleh off to the side speaking with someone in a high-collared tunic that reminded her of… Otis. Ishtar’s nostrils flared. She knew it couldn’t be Otis - the body type was wrong and the hair was brown, yet the outfit triggered a flare in her gut.

Saleh looks upset, Erina commented.

Ishtar glanced towards Saleh. He was gesturing sharply towards the masked mystery man, his back turned to Sonya, his hand rising and pointing at him. The man was just nodding along as if he wasn’t being chewed out by the young master of the family that owned this building. Ishtar narrowed her eyes and looked the man over again. There it was again - a pang in the back of her mind, a feeling of connection and influence. A tension coiled across a boundary that was more than metaphysical. Deus Ex Machina sang in her soul.

Again? Erina hummed.

Is he who I’ve been sensing? Sonya wondered back.

It feels the same as earlier, perhaps stronger, Erina said.

Who are you? she thought to herself and drifted towards the pair, tilting her head and raising her voice slightly. “Saleh, dear!” she crowed. “Introduce me to your friend!”

Saleh whipped his head towards her. The mystery man stood up straighter and rested a knuckle on his hip. A confident pose for an unknown villain. She narrowed her eyes a little, and her lips curled upward. I like his ego. Why is DeM resonating with him, though? she wondered. It hasn’t resonated in a long time. Not since I influenced Lillian and Ollie’s paths, she thought.

Saleh cleared his throat and dipped his head again, raising his hand to his heart in a stiff, practiced gesture. It contained no genuine feeling of politeness in it. “Mistress Ishtar, allow me to introduce Upheaval, a friend of mine I made who was passing through the region not long ago.”

She raised an eyebrow. His heart was pounding fast, but it didn’t change tempo at all as he spoke. Something told her that part of what he was saying was a lie, but she couldn’t figure out exactly what. She tilted her head forward and turned to look at ‘Upheaval’. “I see, and you already snagged an invitation for a party like this?”

The young man smiled behind his mask, his lips trembling a little bit. He inclined his head but didn’t speak. Ishtar glanced at Saleh. Saleh shrugged evenly. “He is a bit intimidated, Mistress Ishtar,” he said.

Lie.

She looked back at the trembling young man and then back at Saleh. The young master’s heart was pounding, there was a heat at his throat in her senses, and his skin was not cool at all. No. He was excited, viscerally so. She wrinkled her nose and turned away, keeping her senses on the young man as she drifted back towards Erebus. She dropped her voice. “Watch the boy.”

“Yes, Ishtar,” Companion growled and walked away, leaving her to arrive at Erebus’ side.

He turned to her with a smile. “Ah! There you are! Enjoy a bit of mingling?”

She kept her senses fixed on the strange boy behind her as she spoke. “It was enjoyable, catching up with a few friends and making new ones,” she said and lowered her voice. “Upheaval.”

Erebus snorted. “The brat my son is oddly infatuated with?” he shrugged. “A bit haughty, if you ask me, but otherwise nothing unique. He didn’t feel like a threat in my domain.” He glanced past her, and she felt it. “Ah! They’re coming over. Perhaps Saleh will introduce the boy properly now,” he said with a chuckle, rubbing his chin.

Ishtar turned as the two young men approached. Saleh walked with his arms at his side and his jaw set tight. His eyes were on her face even as his body posture was faced towards his father. Ishtar felt Companion lingering off to the side, just out of sight amidst the other villains at the party. She turned her attention back to the two of them as they came within conversational range. Ishtar felt a tingling on her skin, something weaving around her, her eyebrows furrowed before snapping open wide.

KARMA! I NEED TO DEFEND!

Saleh raised his hand to his heart. “Mistress Ishtar, my friend wanted to-”

‘Upheaval’ moved.

A strangled laugh ripped from his throat as he swung his hand down in a chop, the mask flipping up and off of his face with the sudden movement. Ishtar snapped her hand out and watched as her limb evaporated into a pink-red explosion of blood and pain. Her legs ruptured next as something connected to her very soul snapped. She was flung back a few feet by the release of a sudden invisible tension, colliding with a table. She snapped her head up and immediately created a handful of berries in her mouth with a series of pops, chewing them as her body screamed with an agony she could have never comprehended. I managed to defend my head and torso. That little bastard! She powered through the pain, fury pushing it aside. Her bloodshot eyes flicked up.

RIOOOOOT!

Sonya! Erina barked into her head. Erebus!

Erebus was on his knees, clutching at his chest. The boy was on his feet, looking at her, a single tear streaming down his cheek. His eyes were wide with delight as he lunged at her. She felt the karma rippling in the air around him now, like invisible whips. She looked down at her limbs still regenerating. She opened her mouth to make her declaration when a blur collided with him from the side. Riot bent over sideways and hurtled towards the far wall of the ballroom. He hit hard, part of the masonry crumbling with the impact.

At the same time, a nearby man screamed and crumpled to the ground as if being crushed. Ishar barely had time to register it as Companion landed in front of her, her gauntlets gleaming as heat rose from her body. A wet laugh rose up from within the cloud of pulverized masonry.

“Got you~”