Chapter 115: Myth’s Promise
"You have real crappy luck. Anyone tell you that?" Lois asked as she parked her motorcycle next to Thaddeus's apartment building. It was near the middle part of the city, a modest place with a large orange tree whose branches swayed close enough to Thaddeus's windows that the man could often reach out and grab a fresh orange whenever the tree bore fruit.
Thaddeus climbed off the bike and shrugged. "Luck has always been on someone like Grove's side, not mine."
"I wouldn't really say Mr. Grove was lucky either, considering what happened." Lois winced. He had been a bad guy—a straight-up scumbag. In the end, though, he had done what he thought he needed to, and his reward was a violent death from the monster he had been working for. "I've been thinking about what your brother said, though."
"You asked about that earlier." They had just finished up at the bowling arena. Max Lightning had finished telling Lois something. She had been strangely quiet and a little off, not saying anything once her dad left. Thaddeus didn't know what had been exchanged since he stayed out of it, but whatever it was, it was having an effect on her.
Lois rubbed her arm a bit. "He asked you to stay out of the Beast fight."
"He's just worried about me."
Her father told her he would be dying soon. She was keeping it secret from Thaddeus. She hadn't fully processed it yet. Between what he said and what Fable asked of his older brother, it made her wonder if the Beast could be coming sooner than any of them thought. Her powers had been a bit on the fritz ever since she saw the Emperor. "I think your brother has a good reason to be worried." She finally said.
"What do you mean?" Thaddeus asked, raising an eyebrow and folding his arms.
"You said you fought the Emperor once when you were a kid, right?"
"Yeah?"
"So then, how many did you have?"