Broker

Liberty met the young man’s cold blue eyes. She’d looked into Ishtar’s eyes, even if they were through her helmet. She’d faced down Ishtar and had felt the tingle of fear. She’d sensed her end coming during the battle and felt afraid. She’d felt the creeping cold and resentment when her sister had looked down on her. Then there was that strange, distant presence that had gripped at her heart near the end of the battle. Those things had made her feel fear. But his eyes, his smile - that was where terror was born.

“Author,” she breathed. He wrote that guide for me. He’s the one that gave it to Halloway.

“Otis, actually,” the young man said with a smug smile and stood up. “Future King of the World.”

Liberty scowled, forcing anger onto her face to hide the trembling in her tired limbs. “Then what does that make me?”

His smile wavered, and her heart felt a little colder. “You were supposed to be my latest and greatest performance,” he sighed. "Ishtar is partially to blame; she interfered, but you,” he squatted down, and his hand snapped out, grabbing her by the chin and forcing her to look into his eyes. She tried to bite him, but he just squeezed harder. Her jaw creaked, and she relented. "You didn’t follow instructions.”

“It’s my life!” Liberty growled.

He snorted. “You are a thing,” he hissed. “You don’t get free will. That’s for your betters.” He released her jaw and got to his feet, wiping his hand on his dark blue shirt and examining his fingers as if there had been something disgusting on them. He flicked his eyes towards her. "Oh, you could have been great. If only you’d followed the guide. You went overboard in Japan; I couldn’t ‘redeem’ you after doing that.”

He turned away, and Liberty glanced towards his two companions. The young man with the glasses and messy brown hair shifted on his feet. He didn’t seem like much, a coward, but something about him reeked of death. Then there was Jessica. Her dark blue hair had begun undergoing some kind of change, with streaks of white here and there. Her eyes were sunken, and her smile wide and cruel. She looked down at the box that hung by a handle in her grip. Jessica looked down at it as well and met her eyes. Jessica’s smile grew even more delighted. "Wanna see?”

Something told her that she didn’t want to see what was in that box. She never wanted to see what was in that box. Liberty swallowed hard and looked up at Otis. "What do you want?”

Otis looked down at her again from over his wrinkled nose and snorted. "One thing at a time,” he said and turned to Jessica. "Felwinter, you wanted a word with this trash?”

Jessica nodded and walked forward as Otis stepped back to lean against one of the walls in the cell. The boy in glasses turned silently and tapped the panel that controlled the door. 

Liberty’s coffin shut.

“Jessica, I-”

“It’s Felwinter now,” the girl said and set the box down at Liberty’s feet, kneeling next to it and brandishing her mad, wicked smile. She ran her fingers over it thoughtfully. "You know, I spent a lot of time thinking about what I was going to bring with me as a present for when I finally saw you again. After you planted that bomb in me, sent me to the camp, and left me for dead during the raid… I just kept thinking, you know?” She tilted her head to the right and looked up at the ceiling. "What do I get for the lady who wants nothing?”

She turned back to the box and stroked it again. "I got you this. All for you.”

She flicked the clasp at the top of the box, and the four sides of it fell down. Every cell in Liberty’s body screamed. Her mind shuddered. Her heart cracked and imploded. Her spirit died. It was a head - a human head. Phillip’s face twisted in a rictus of terror and pain. Frozen that way in a block of gray ice that billowed with an eerie mist, the fog carrying with it an agonized, endless scream. She could hear him wailing, begging, wallowing in endless torment. Liberty couldn’t take her eyes off of it even as she felt sickness rising in her throat. The last time she’d seen his face so close, they’d been together, alone.

“Do you like it?” Felwinter asked. "It took me a while to make sure he was making just the right face before I froze him that way.” She reached down and ran her fingers along the ice, collecting a bit of that mist around her index finger. It clung to it, and the noise within grew louder, howling. "The mist is his soul, screaming forever. It’s so beautiful,” she whispered. "My first work of art.” She looked up at Liberty. "Do you want to be my next work of art?”

Liberty pulled her head back, her chest heaving. "He was your brother!”

Felwinter’s smile fell. "Funny coming from the bitch who tortured her sister,” she snarled and got to her feet. She left the head there. 

Liberty looked away from it, clenching her teeth even as she felt the last ounce of strength leave her muscles. She couldn’t even hold her head up anymore. She slumped. "Just kill me already.”

“Not my job,” Felwinter giggled. "I’m satisfied, your Majesty,”

Liberty looked up into Otis’ eyes as he watched her with disdain, that cruel smile twitching slightly as his hand jerked and spasmed. She looked down at his fingers, where sparks of energy were gathering. He took a step forward, and a surge of adrenaline gave her the last moment of struggle before he grabbed her by the face. He forced her to look up and into his eyes. "Now…” he whispered. "...Why don’t we have a look at how that ability of yours works?”

Then the pain started.

–

Otis stepped away from the smoking, twitching woman. She was barely alive, but that wouldn’t last much longer. He examined his fingers lazily, checking his nails before letting out a breath. He’d explored Felwinter’s stats before, tweaked her attributes and her ability until it became something useful. This was the first time he’d gone in and ripped something out. It was like code but prettier - elegant even - like a carefully crafted work of art and architecture. He could almost compare it to a magnificent cathedral or temple like the ones he’d studied before he became more than a man.

It’s like a mosaic; that’s what it is. A combination of many, many parts making up something greater and more beautiful, he thought as he explored what he had learned, committing it to memory. In his mind's eye he saw a disk of amber-orange light, a curious thing. It was cracked and missing whole portions of it but it was still strangely beautiful.

“Did you get it?” Felwinter asked.

Otis glanced towards her. "It’s mine, but it’s broken, incomplete. I don’t think my ability was designed to extract abilities. That said, I’m closer to understanding how abilities work, what they are. It’s fascinating, Felwinter.”

“You gonna use it?” she pressed.

“Not the way she did. It’s better used as a blueprint for something better in the future,” he said lazily. "Once I figure out how, of course. If I can manage to get a fraction of her ability, I won’t misuse it like her,” he chuckled. "Honestly, I wouldn’t have considered trying to rip it out until I realized that Ishtar was a power thief.”

“What now?” Riot asked, his arms crossed.

“Kill her.”

Felwinter skipped forward with an eager gleam in her eyes. "Don’t mind if I do-”

“Not. You.” Otis growled and turned to Riot. "You.

Riot went pale. "Me?” he gasped. "But,” he cleared his throat and forced a smile. "Your Majesty, I- I couldn’t. This is something that Felwinter wants, and I wouldn’t dare take it from her.”

Otis stormed over and grabbed him by the shirt. "I told you,” he rumbled, “that you’d get the next one. So do it, Riot.” He dragged Riot towards the insensate Liberty and forced him to look at the woman. "Do it. Use your threads and tear the fabric of her karma apart - rip her to shreds, obliterate her, render her down into nothing. Do it, Riot. Do it now.”

“I-”

“Do it, or our partnership is done. I’m tired of you waffling about and avoiding the hard stuff. It’s time to commit, Riot. Kill Liberty, or neither of you are leaving this room alive,” Otis snarled in his ear. "Do it. DO IT!”

Riot’s chest heaved, his entire body trembling beneath Otis’ grip. Otis let him go and pushed him towards Liberty. He walked away and stood at the door, his arms crossed, and watched. Riot stood in front of the fallen could-have-been Herald. Kill her and take her place, Otis thought as Riot’s arms rose. The young man was weeping. Felwinter was laughing. Liberty raised her head weakly and looked into his teary eyes. The last dregs of her ferocity dimming into nothing. Glowing multicolored threads began to fall from Riot’s fingertips, hanging there and radiating the lethal power within. Otis clenched his hands around his arms and tilted his head forward.

“Do it.”

Riot attacked, and Otis smiled. Liberty’s scream broke through the night, a final horrendous note. Otis could feel something precious and essential to the world getting torn to pieces, like sensing a crystal glass shatter. Something unforgivable had just been done. The purest essence of agony hung in the air as flickers of rainbow light spread red mist across the rear wall of the cell.

When the messy work was done, Otis walked over to pat his newly christened Herald on the shoulder. Tears were streaming down Riot’s face even as a pained smile stretched his lips. “Go with Felwinter and do some more damage for me. Kill a few of the other prisoners,” he said. 

Riot stared at the mess he’d made. "What about you?”

Otis opened his cheats, went to the item tab, and held out his hand. Instead of his glowing golden sword, a hammer appeared. It looked remarkably like the hammer belonging to another hero. He flicked his eyes towards Riot. "I’m going to punish a cheeky girl who doesn’t know her place.”

Riot stared at the hammer with cold eyes. "They have truth checkers in the Committee, sir.”

“Yes,” Otis said, as he turned the hammer over in his hand. "But how many of the common dregs of society actually trust the Committee’s word on that kind of thing? She’ll be acquitted immediately,” he said as he raised the hammer over his head. "But the public will always wonder!” He laughed and began to swing.

–

Sonya nodded along. "Alright, that’s a good enough plan, I think,” she said and reached forward to grab her soda, sipping at it a little before setting it down. “Kera will handle the power grid at the prison while Blackrazor and I slip inside. Kingshark’s men will distract the guards. We’ll make our move tomorrow night. Charon, can you have the rest I need prepared by then?”

The undead supervillian nodded. "It’ll be done.”

She grinned. "Perfect! Now-”

<You have upheld a portion of your agreement and have orchestrated the end of the Glorious Herald, Liberty. With her death, 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, Establish Policy. You may now create rules that are applied to those who have entered a specific contract with you. You may activate Sanction against those who breach that policy. A policy cannot be something impossible to adhere to and must be expressed plainly in the contract. Previous deals made are not affected by this ability. Current Policy Maximum: 1. Enter more deals and improve your understanding of Broker to increase this maximum.>

Sonya went still.

She stared at the window in her HUD for a while, her expression complicated. Her eyes flicked left and right as she read through every single word. She leaned back in her seat and let out a heavy breath, rubbing at her temples. The others looked at her, but she just closed her eyes and shook her head, holding up a hand to forestall their questions. Someone beat me to her, she thought quietly and glanced towards Ishtar, who was frowning. Sonya's lips twitched, and she chuckled. The anger melted into amusement. Only one person could have pulled that off so quickly. 

“Otis,” she said with a small laugh. "He beat us to Liberty.”

Everyone stared at her. "You sure?” Kingshark asked.

She nodded. "I’m sure. Though it looks like I got what credit I needed. My role in her capture was enough.”

“So you got the improvement to Broker, then?” Ishtar asked.

“Yes,” Sonya said and relaxed a little, a smile on her face. I lost the opportunity to try to force Liberty to give up her ability or at least shake my hand, but I got most of what I wanted. Well played, Otis. Game on.

“You don’t seem too upset,” Mephisto chuckled.

“Why would I be? He saved me the trouble,” Sonya laughed and crossed her legs. "Sorry I had to waste your time with preparing that plan, my friends.”

Charon shrugged. "Hadn’t committed any resources yet, so no harm done. I’ll consider it a nice evening spent with friends.”

Sonya smiled. "Good! Then, since she’s dealt with, we’ll move on to bigger and better things. I’m not going to let it bother me,” she said with a wave of her hand and reached out with her Technopathy. The machines Technocrat had lovingly designed and installed within the room whirred to life, and a black device rose up in the center of the table. It glowed, and soon a projection of the world hovered in the air above it.

“My friends,” she began. "We’ve been playing in the shadows for a long time. We’ve had a few minor showings: Vegas, The Hague, and something of a lesser debut during the Liberty War. Liberty and An Set were the most volatile of Otis’ possible Heralds. The others are more cunning and less interested in creating international incidents like Liberty did. We’ll have to draw them out, and since at least two of them are heroes. What better way than to cause trouble?”

She rose to her feet and gestured to the projection. "My friends! We are going on a world tour! A little chaos here, some national treasures stolen there, and a whole lot of overdramatic villainy for the masses to drink right up slathered across the whole mess,” she said proudly. "My plan has always been to rally the heroes against me, to force them into a unified front while I cut out the cancers amongst them. Now that Liberty is gone and the underworld has chosen me, it’s time to put my plan into action.”

“Sounds like a blast!” Kerauna laughed as sparks danced around her fingers.

“Finally get to play with my new toys,” Technocrat chuckled, adjusting the mechanical gauntlets on his hands.

“There are more deals to be made. Looking forward to it,” Mephisto snickered, his eyes glowing a demonic red.

“The seas are going to roil,” Kingshark declared, his teeth bared.

“The underworld will run wild,” Charon hummed, leaning on his cane with a wild grin on his stitched face.

“My blades are sharp and eager,” Blackrazor hissed, twirling his knives between his fingers.

“No one will stand in your way, Milady. I will guarantee that,” The Companion chimed in, bowing delicately in her maid gown.

Sonya turned to Ishtar, who nodded proudly, a smile on her scarred lips. "You’re ready, dear sister.”

Sonya turned to her inner circle and raised a fist. “I am Ishtar! The villain who will save this world! And get away with it!”

– Broker, Season 2: Standard of Glory –

– Act 1: Rise of Ishtar –

– End –

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