Broker

Chapter 198

Handmaiden hurtled backwards through the air, colliding with one building after another. Masonry fell around her as she struck a steel beam, denting it before sliding off in a bloody heap. She felt her spine snap back into place as she struggled to her knees, her limbs snapping and cracking as her regeneration immediately set to work. She rose to her feet and swayed a little, her vision blurring before becoming clear again. She looked down at her right hand, examining the armor on the gauntlet. It was cracked in several places.

She frowned and spat a gobbet of blood and a tooth onto the ground that had already regenerated. She stared at the pearly white bit for a moment, snorting out a laugh, “Would give the tooth fairy nightmares,” she muttered as she walked towards the hole she’d left in the wall, wiping her lip with her glove. “Now where was I?”

She stared through the dozens of holes that she’d been hurled through and spotted the agonized face and blank eyes of a man staring back at her. She rolled her shoulders, the new joints popping and bounced on the balls of her feet. It’s strong. Too strong for its tier. A Rare boss shouldn’t be this powerful, Heroic Strength isn’t doing much to it. The only reason I’ve lasted this long is Baldur’s Body. 

She sighed, Should have taken Sonya up on her offer the other day. Could really use the extra hitting power.

“Oh well,” she grunted and lowered her stance, the muscles in her legs coiling like springs. That white light around her body began to brighten again, nearly forming a halo around her. Her feet dug into the concrete beneath her and she was gone, a white comet streaking through the holes she’d left behind and straight towards the titanic anchor monster.

–

Dame Ito crossed her legs as she lounged on the couch inside the bunker, her hands in her lap. She watched the screen with interest as Handmaiden emerged from yet another deathblow unscathed. She raised a hand to reach for the woman through the screen, twisting her fingers in the air. “She’s magnificent, isn’t she?” Ito said breathlessly, “Nigh immortal. The experiments I could perform on her, the tests, and she’d just bounce right back. I could make so much progress…”

“I don’t think Liberty would be happy to hear you say that,” a mocking voice came from the other side of the small metal room. A perfect box, it had been constructed entirely out of post-pandora materials over a meter thick in order to withstand the blast of a dungeon break. It amused her that part of it was now sticking out of the ground within the crater, the blast had been so intense. But that was it’s purpose after all. What didn’t amuse her was the man who lay on a cot nearby, nursing his injuries. She turned and scowled at him, “Shut up, Rivet.”

Sir Conway, Rivet, sat up slightly on his cot, one arm wrapped around his bandaged torso. He sneered at her, “What? Can’t take a joke? Everybody’s so grouchy these days.”

“I don’t want to hear anything from a witless incompetent that couldn’t handle a few students. if they were truly that strong you should have picked up on it sooner and retreated, like Dame Song and Sir Pence,” she snapped and turned back to the screen, satisfied with her rebuke.

Conway wasn’t done, “Please, they just chickened out. Pence barely uses his ability he’s so damn cocky and Song-”

She was standing over him in an instant, glowering down at him before grabbing his face and shoving it down until he was laying on his back. Her nose wrinkled in disgust as she leaned down to look into his eyes, wide with surprise. “I told you to shut up,” she growled, “Say another word and I will dissect you, imbecile. You may still be human but your body is magical enough that my powers should work just fine on it,” she hissed, “I will twist you into something no one will recognize and leave you to starve without legs or a mouth, do we understand one another?”

He stared up at her with growing horror, his skin going pale beneath her grip. He nodded quickly and she pulled her hand away with a cruel smile, “Good.”

Her phone rang and she turned away from him, raising it to her ear, “This is Doctor Kaidan,” she said, walking back to her spot on the couch, black hair fluttering behind her.

“Ito,” Liberty’s voice came through.

Ito went still, “My lady.”

“You did well, mission accomplished. This is our victory in Japan, the International heroes have arrived including many from the United States and Canada. Halloway is in position. You may continue to delay them if you wish, but I doubt it will make much of a difference. I will personally deal with the mythic guarding the Seattle dungeon,” she paused, “As for your misinformation campaign. The footage you recorded is being distributed. Ishtar will be blamed. I am pleased.”

Not pleased enough to make me your second over Phillip, Ito thought bitterly, It should be me standing next to you, not him. I am the Mythic while he is nothing more than a powerful Heroic. Why do you lean on him so?

“Oh?”

“Your sister is here” she said, “Apparently Chernovna is as well. She brought a few of the newly minted heroes on a trip to Japan.”

There was a long pause over the call, “Did she see one of you?”

“All but me, I’m afraid, and because of Pence’s big mouth, she knows I’m here as well,” Ito said cooly before shooting a glare at the still shellshocked Conway, “She and her team injured Conway. I’m treating him. They also drove off Pence and Song,” she explained as she sat down and looked up at the screen again, “Handmaiden is fighting my modified boss as we speak. She can’t do enough damage to break through its defenses though.”

“A complication indeed,” Liberty said after several heartbeats, “It's fine. The majority of the populace will continue to think of her as going against her supposed ideals, breaking the illusion. Even if the Committee releases the truth, it means very little to most,” she said, “Signal Halloway when you’re ready to withdraw. I have a Guildmaster to kill.”

–

Brigid stepped out of the small room with a towel over her shoulder, her red hair tumbling down her back. The narrow white streaks running through it gave it the look of a candy cane. She hummed to herself as she stopped in front of the mirror, looking herself over as she flexed her arms. The multicolored tattoos running up her arms and onto her shoulders and chest glimmered faintly with a light that people from the north would find familiar. She traced a finger along one of the curling loops before letting out a sigh, her fingers digging into her skin as the notification of the dungeon break in Tokyo popped back into her head.

“Don’t get so worked up,” she murmured to herself, “There’s nothing you can do to help.”

Supplies had come with the scouting crew, portable showers and a generator among other things to turn the icy dome she had created into a genuine staging ground for the epic dungeon operation. Of course, her favorite piece of equipment had to be the coffee machine. She threw on a shirt and stepped out into the common area, popping a pod into the device and setting it to pour a fresh brew. A few moments later she was nursing a cup of coffee outside the dome, only a light jacket on her shoulders. “...never bothered me anyway,” she sing-songed quietly, watching the snow fall over the icy field that stretched out past the dome and into the trees. Far in the distance, she could see Mount Rainier stretching towards the sky.

She tilted her head, If I were still a Ranger, I’d be pretty pissed off about this thing set up in the middle of the forest. Especially the gas generator. She squinted at the peak of the mountain and sipped glorious coffee, Oh well.

She gestured lazily at the ground and a chair rose up out of it made of ice with a table to join it. Atop the table, small lumps formed and portions of the table darkened. Soon, a chessboard took shape. She lifted the pawn in front of her queen and moved it forward. “E Four,” she muttered before the table spun around and she reached for a piece. Her fingers stopped and she frowned, glancing up at the mountain again and the sky beyond it. “They’re a little late getting back, I hope Black Lotus found them okay.”

The scouting team had gone in first, fully prepared to sneak around the epic dungeon and map it out. They sent regular reports back through a construct ability one of them possessed, but those reports had slowed after a point ending with a request for assistance. Apparently they’d had to hole up in one of the numerous structures in the massive dungeon, but were otherwise safe. Black Lotus had gone in right away, determined to rescue them. Given the hero’s commitment to clearing the dungeon on her own (with the help of scouts), Evergreen was stuck outside. Bored.@@novelbin@@

She huffed and reached for the piece again before stopping once more, her frown turning into a smile. She turned her head and looked into the trees. “You’re just in time! I was getting bored!” she said brightly, shifting in her seat to face the treeline. While she did so, she reached into the building behind her and flexed with her powers. Ice moved and something in her jacket on the table inside clicked. She sipped her coffee again while four figures stepped out of the trees. There was a grim looking woman in robes similar to the ones Black Lotus wore but lined with red cloth and splattered with blood. Next was a painfully thin man wearing light gear on his chest and capri pants that showed off his slightly malformed ankles. He had a sick smile plastered on his face. Another man walked between them, dark hair styled neatly. He seemed most comfortable in the elements compared to his two peers.

The final person was a face any hero knew well. Blonde, blue eyed, over seven feet tall, and utterly tyrannical in her presence. She wore a full suit of plate armor that glowed faintly and carried a massive two-handed sword in one hand.

“Wow!” Evergreen said brightly, “Liberty, in the flesh!”

The Supervillain drove the blade of her sword into the ground and tugged on her gauntlets, popping her neck as she did so. “Guildmaster Evergreen. I have business with that portal.”

“Really? That’s neat,” Evergreen said, sipping at her coffee, “Can I ask what?”

“No.”

Evergreen narrowed her eyes and pouted, “Don’t you supervillains usually monologue or something? Tell the hopelessly outmatched hero your plan before the inevitable battle?”

“I am not a villain,” Liberty growled.

“Uhuh, okay,” Evergreen laughed, “Whatever you say,” she sipped at her coffee again, she was almost out. I should really get a refill.

Liberty’s face was stony, unmoving, but the fellow to the woman’s right smirked darkly at Evergreen. She met his gaze and took the last sip of her coffee, setting it down on the chessboard. “I see. So you want to do it here too?”

Liberty’s expression darkened, “You’re remarkably calm for someone in your position, given what’s at stake.”

Evergreen placed her hands in her lap and brandished a brilliant smile, “Why would a queen feel worried in her throne room?” she asked merrily.

The woman in robes took a hostile step forward but Liberty gestured for her to stand down, “I think you’re overestimating yourself, hero. What’s more, your Vegas Act is still in effect.”

Evergreen raised an eyebrow, “I think you’re misunderstanding two things, Miss Liberty,” she said with a slightly widening smile, “Sorry. Mind if I clear that up for you?”

Liberty’s face made its first change as she gripped her weapon and pulled it from the snow, “You have seconds to live, might as well speak.”

Evergreen held up a finger, “First, I am very much allowed to defend myself,” she held up a second finger and her joviality vanished without a trace, her eyes going hard as she tilted her head forward, “Second,” she flexed suddenly with her powers, her will racing through ice and snow, spreading through the area as her awareness blanketed every inch of the space. With a single twist of will spears of ice shot up from the ground. None lashed out at Liberty, she didn’t bother attempting to pierce her armor. The woman in fighting robes managed to move in time, as did the dark haired man. The thin man was not so lucky. Shafts of frigid cold stabbed through his legs, his shoulders, and his arms. Grizzly wounds that immediately dragged a shriek of agony out of him. He vanished with the sound, appearing only a few feet away in a bloody heap. 

In an immediate response the dark-haired man threw out his hand and she felt his power try to touch the ice and snow around them. She tilted her head to the right and shot a glare at him, his power retreating like a child that had been struck across the face. She flicked her eyes back towards Liberty.

“I don’t play fair. if you want to get past me, you’re going to have to work for it, Villain,” she said as she slowly rose to her feet, “And given the situation, I’m exercising my right to kill if necessary.”

Liberty’s nostrils flared as she held Evergreen’s gaze, then a smile crept onto her face. “Finally, someone worth my time.”

–

Handmaiden fell from the sky like a meteor, a white streak made ever brighter as the sun had begun to set. Hair whipped around her snarling face, her eyes wide with focus. She drew her fist back just before she collided with the beast, the blow sending a shockwave out from the point of impact and cracking meters of armored flesh. She drove her fist all the way into the soft muscle beneath as the anchor monster let out a mournful cry and whipped its entire body back. She held on for dear life, gritting her teeth against the forces working on her body. She reared back with her other fist and began punching, over and over.

Why. Won’t. You. Stay. Down?!

GROOUUUUUAHHHHH!

The beast howled again before throwing its entire body back towards one of the nearest buildings. She glanced over her shoulder and ripped her hand out of it’s carapace, kicking off and landing on the ground just before it collided with the structure. She huffed out a breath and wiped her lip, “Starting to run low on stamina,” she muttered.

The anchor beast writhed for a moment, struggling to right itself as its hundreds of massive legs wriggled and twitched. She eyed its underbelly but stopped herself. A trap. She thought and instead prepared to launch herself at it as soon as it pulled free. Just as she did, a chime rang in her ear.

<”Handmaiden! It’s Crusader!”>

Handmaiden paused and reached to tap her ear, taking a few quick steps back and getting some more distance, “Crusader? What’s your status?”

<“We’re here. We’ve cleared out most of the monsters, the JSDF is moving and things are getting under control at the dungeons. This wasn’t an accident, Liberty’s people are here pretending to be Ishtar’s people for some reason,”> Crusader said quickly.

Handmaiden spun, looking around before spotting the small gathering of shapes on a building distant from her fighting area. She felt her guts go cold even as rage bubbled in her chest. Someone did this on purpose? Why? She looked around at the nightmare around her.

“WA HA HA HA HA!” 

BOOM!

A golden streak arched through the sky over her head in response before crashing into the anchor boss with a thunderclap of force. A golden, shirtless man standing on its underbelly with his fists raised over his head. Her face went deadpan, “Nevermind,” she muttered as the gleaming guardian of Japan drove both fists down with wild abandon, crushing armored chitin and sending waves of golden light through the cracks that sent the beast into a frenzy. It thrashed and Sapporo leaped off the creature to land next to her. He was a behemoth in this form, tall and mighty with a smile plastered on his rugged face. 

“Sapporo,” she greeted him. 

He turned his golden eyes on her and pat his belly with a jolly laugh, “I owe you one for keeping this thing contained until I got here, Handmaiden!” he laughed, “Drinks are on me later!” he tilted his head, “Though I am a little surprised that you haven’t slain it yet.”

She gave him a wry smile, “Good to see you too,” she said and popped her knuckles, “I’ll explain-”

<”Before you start!”> Crusader shouted, <”There’s something you should know! We faced three of Liberty’s people, but there’s a fourth called the Doctor. Harbinger says last she knew they had an ability that could temporarily dominate monsters. She says the other’s abilities have evolved since she last met them.”>

Handmaiden hesitated and reached up to tap her ear, “Is she sure?”

<”Yes ma’am.”>

Handmaiden cursed, That’s how the boss is so strong! Some sort of monster modification function or something. I’ve been fighting a losing battle. Handmaiden swept her eyes over the ruins around her before turning to Sapporo, “There’s a monster manipulator here. I’ll track them down. Can you finish that thing off?”

He turned to her for a moment before looking back at the boss, his jolly expression faltering as it righted itself and the agonized face of his handler turning to look on him. He let out a breath, “Leave it to me.”

The two nodded at one another and darted off in separate directions. He let out a whoop of laughter as he charged the beast while Handmaiden leaped into the air, quickly scanning the surrounding area as she started to come back down. Where? They should be close if they’re using their ability to heal it. Where are you? She searched the exterior of the ring first. It had to be a building with a relatively good vantage, but the structures both whole and tall enough were too far away. She looked back at the portal as she neared the ground and squinted. The hell is that? It looked like a box sticking partially out of the ground, while everything else around it was blasted or melted, it was still in one piece.

Her lips formed a line. Found you!

As the ground began to tremble beneath Sapporo’s onslaught, she crossed the distance between her and the huge metal box in a matter of seconds, sliding to a stop and finding a door on one side. She snapped her hand out and grabbed the circular metal handle set in the center, not bothering with pleasantries as she ripped the door off its hinges and tossed it aside. Red lightning flashed and she blinked, squinting before she made out the shapes of two people standing in front of a very familiar rip in reality. Rift! 

There, standing in front of the portal was a wiry man with metal claws for fingers slung over the shoulder of an asian woman in a white lab coat and black hair. She had a thin nose and cold eyes with pupils just a little too small to belong to someone entirely sane. The woman looked over her shoulder at Handmaiden and gave her an almost longing smile. “Maybe next time, Handmaiden,” she said with resignation. 

They’re just going to leave? After everything they’ve done? Like hell! Handmaiden roared and launched herself forward, fist raised and collided with the rear wall of the bunker. The portal was gone. She pulled herself free of the metal wall and spun. They were gone. She caught her breath just long enough to let out a roar of frustration.

“DAMN IT!”