Chapter 96


    Sonya closed the door behind her and pressed her back against it. Her heart pounded in her chest. Her hands shook, her fingers trembled, she chewed her lip and reached up to grasp at her chest. She closed her eyes and slid down a little in the empty hallway. Not a soul around, no eyes on her, privacy, for just a moment. She let herself feel. Why couldn’t you have gone to the Asian camp? Why did you have toe here? She thought, Why can’t you leave me alone? Haven’t you already done enough? She slid down further until she was sitting on the ground, holding her head in her hands.


    “Just go away. I can’t stop looking at you if you’re here,” She breathed.


    Footsteps came around the corner and she instinctively opened her eye on the wall. Marta. She thought with relief. Her friend came around the corner and walked up, stopping at her side. The woman rest her hands at herp and looked down at her. Marta was wearing a dark gown that could be interpreted as a maid outfit. The veil was over her face again and her hands were d in spiked gauntlets. Sonya tilted her head and looked up at her between her fingers and hair, her mechanical eyes glowing brighter than ever. “Are they all asleep?” She asked.


    “He is wandering, but nowhere nearby,” Marta said with a slight bow, “Is it time?”


    “It’s been a few months, yes, I think so,” Sonya said with a frown and slowly got to her feet, her arms hanging at her sides. She looked up at the ceiling at one of her own eyes, the digitized flickering gaze of her ‘madan’ as she called them. Her ‘judges’. She stared back at herself through both sides before slowly tilting her head to the right and lookingzily at her friend. “Where is she?” Ishtar asked, her voice cold and chipped with malice, “I won’t have her missing her first time.”


    Marta inclined her head, “On her way, mydy.”


    As if on cue, more footsteps echoed down the hall. The air grew tenser as more terrible powers drew towards the epicenter that was the Queen of Viins. First around the corner was the pretty face of Mephisto in his ck business suit, ck shirt, and red tie. He wore lipstick and had powdered his face with a bit of a blush. His gaze was wicked as he whispered something and even their footsteps became silent as the dead. Next around the corner was a young blonde woman who had styled her hair off to the side. She wore ck lipstick and a tanktop exposing her waist. Long cargo pants ended in boots at her feet.


    Cassiopeia walked straight up to Ishtar and looked up at her with barely restrained excitement, desperation, and something else, rage, “Taurus is here, mistress,” She breathed.


    Ishtar brushed the girls hair back and gave her an approving smile. “d to have you, Taurus,” She murmured and Taurus’ lips twitched nervously. She nced up at Mephisto, “Do you have everything?”


    He dropped into a dramatic bow, “I am always prepared, mistress.”


    She nodded, “Stay close to me, Taurus, you are my heavenly bull, my hammer to the Companion’s shield.”


    Companion, of all the names for Marta to pick for her viin persona, she had chosen one that utterly threw aside all form of identity. With her ability to change her appearance at will, it was apt, and it carried a weight to it. Taurus nodded, her eyshes fluttering up at Ishtar before she stepped back and bowed before standing next to Marta. Ishtar couldn’t think of Marta as anything but Marta, but she would use the name she’d chosen. She turned her head to the wall across from them and held out her hand palm up. Gauntlets formed on her hands in shifting tes of metal that spread up her arm and across her body. As they formed her storage space opened and her helmet fell into her outstretched hand.


    In a matter of seconds, Ishtar in her full regalia stood on the second floor of the East Coast Aspirants training building. She gestured and a rectangle of light appeared in front of her that hollowed out, the light inside it bending as space distended and gave way to her will. Her mechanical brain went through calctions that took hard work, training, and seconds if not minutes for the other person that possessed this ability. The portal stabilized and the faint sound of music came through. Ishtar crossed her arms behind her back and strode through, “We’re going,” She said in her cruel mechanical rasp.


    “Yes mistress,” The other three said and formed up behind her.


    Ishtar felt the rush of traveling through the backrooms, the dominion of non-euclidian, in a split second. There was tug as she traversed a great distance in such a short time, her body bending through space until she stepped out onto plush carpet. The first thing that greeted her was rxing music, a mixture of jazz, swing, and techno. A faint cloud hung in the air from the many cigars and cigarettes smoked by those in the building. She was standing in a ratherrge lounge, several couches set up along the walls and a private bar to one side. A single billiards table sat in the middle with a single light hanging over it.


    She turned her head towards the space behind her and saw someone sitting on a couch with his legs crossed. A pair of milky-white circles glowed through the gloom and smoke. The others stepped through with her, Taurus coughing a little bit and waving her hand in front of her face. Marta and Mephisto were unbothered. “Charon,” She said, a small smile in her voice as she stepped towards the eerie, gaunt shape hunched on the couch, “How are you?”


    The young man who had obtained ‘Patient Zero’ was long gone. Changed by his role, his actions, and more. He leaned forward and his face came into view. ck cross-like stitches stretched up his cheeks to his ears and his jaw was discolored. His hair was short and ck, spiked a bit with white streaks. He brandished an eerily perfect white smile as he leaned forward, revealing the expensive vest and tie set over a white shirt. His sleeves were rolled up to reveal a too-long pair of arms that were also off-color, strangely ck. “Ishtar!” He cackled, his slightly cracked new york ent still very present, “I’m doing great!” He held up his hand, “What do you think? Is it me?”


    “Who’s was it?” She asked.


    “Dunno, don’t really care, he skipped out on payments too many times,” Charon said and got to his feet, “I liked his power though,” He said and his fingers twitched, a ck and white me appeared in his palm before it disappeared. “Nice, right? All thanks to you.”


    Ishtar inclined her head, “d to be of service to the viins.”


    “Callin’ a meeting?” He asked, a cane appearing in his hand as he leaned on it, he ran those long gaunt fingers over the skull on it. “Been a while.”


    “It has,” Ishtar said, “Yes.”


    Charon nodded and closed his eyes for a moment, letting out a rattly breath, “Ahh… I let the cooks and staff know, they’ll make somethin’ tasty.”


    “Always d to work with you, Charon,” Ishtar hissed.


    Charon smiled a toothy smile and turned his head towards the others gathered, “Mephisto, fuckin’ hot as ever. How ya doin’ babe? Give it any thought?” He asked.


    Mephisto flipped his hair back, “I like where I work, thanks,” He said with a chuckle, “And I’m called for, I’ve said it already,” He added with a bit of warning in his tone.


    “Yeah yeah,” Charon snickered before looking up at Marta, “The Companion and… oh?” He tilted his head and took a step forward, “Who’s this gorgeous thing?”


    “Taurus,” Ishtar said without moving her head, “My heavenly bull. I’ve ensured that she is fully capable of a city level event, minimum. She will be my hammer in the future.”


    “Where ckrazor is your scalpel?” Charon asked with a nce in her direction and a delicate step away from Taurus, “You always get the pretty ones don’t ya?” He barked out augh, “Figures!” He stalked past them, leaning on his cane as he made his way towards the door leading out of the room. “Alright! Might as well call everyone else, it''s time for a family reunion”


    They followed him out the door and down the hall to a pair of enormous metal doors shaped to look like borate wooden ones. He stepped towards it and rapped his cane against the ground and the doors slid apart, revealing an enormous meeting room entirely made of post-pandora metals and filled with equipment. Screens hung in the air around the long table where several chairs were evenly spaced and waiting. One end held a high backed chair with a white cloth on it, the other held a simr chair with a ck cloth.


    “It’s huge,” Taurus breathed next to Ishtar.


    “Mm, it is,” Ishtar said and strode inside, heading over to the chair with the white cloth as she mentally sent out the invitations. One response after another came in and she flexed with her power, panels of light forming around the room that distended and opened into portals. First to step out was ckrazor d in a tight fitting jumpsuit, respirator mask, and hood. He bowed to Ishtar before moving to his seat. The next portal unveiled the mountainous Kingshark, blue-grey skin gleamed and his many eyes flicked about the room. He bore his teeth in Charon’s direction as thenky ferryman sat in the ck adorned throne.


    After him, another figure stepped out. A young woman with a wide grin on her face. She wore a loose fitting shirt with sleeves that concealed her hands and a pair of breezy pants bound with a thick sash. She turned to ckrazor and raised a hand, revealing a long wicked knife. She nced at it, gasped, and retracted into her sleeve before twiddling her fingers at him in greeting. He just inclined her head to her and she puffed up her cheeks. Ishtar inclined her head towards the young woman, “Kerauna, d you could join us.”


    The living master bolt of Zeus once known as Veloce turned a wide smile to Ishtar, “Anything for you, Mistress,” She said brightly before wandering over to her seat.


    Another portal revealed a man in a polo with a baseball cap on his head. Yet everyone turned to look at the ordinary looking guy with messy hair. Amos cracked a grin and strode inside with his hands in his pockets before hopping into his own seat and leaning back. “Technocrat is here!”


    The others began to sit down and Ishtar joined them. Marta, The Companion, stepped up to stand behind her with her arms resting in front of her as usual. Ishtar sensed her nce towards Kingshark for but a moment before returning her attention to the hall. Taurus took a bit more dramatic approach and hopped right into Ishtar’sp, throwing an arm around her neck and resting her head under Ishtar’s metal ‘chin’. She kicked her feet as she looked out over the group. Ishtar didn’t turn her away.


    The Queen of Viins looked out over the table at the faces of those who had gathered to support her, who knew her true ns, two seats remained empty. Two more to bring into the fold and her little family would beplete. She doubted she would ever get Taurus to properly sit down in a chair.


    “We have a new inductee,” Ishtar began, “This is Taurus, the Heavenly Bull.”


    Amos leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table, his chin on his fingers, “Raw destruction then, good addition. Wee to the family.”


    “I could take that role,” Kerauna said petntly, leaning back and crossing her legs, “Though I’d rather be in someone elsesp.”


    “Keep it in your pants nightlight,” Kingshark grunted.


    “Ooh, someone woke up on the wrong side of the fish tank,” Kerauna teased, “Bite me.”


    Kingshark turned his head and bore his teeth which grew in size, “Don’t tempt me.”


    “Kera,” ckrazor muttered, his voice quiet but somehow carrying, “Be nice to your family.”


    Kera tensed and slipped back in her seat a little, bowing her head, “Sorry Sharkie.”


    Kingshark grunted and shot a smile at ckrazor, “It’s fine, we’re all a little heated. The Children of the Dawn are a pain in the ass and the Darksiders are just…” He rolled his eyes, “...a chore.”


    Ishtar nodded slowly. The Darksiders were a faction of viins that had formed separate from  her own. They had a very campy and almost nauseatingly cringe-inducing way of handling their work. Still, Ishtar tolerated them because they used the system that she had created through Charon, though they paid her absolutely no loyalty and would often try to press in on the territory of her group. The Children of the Dawn on the other hand…


    “My sister’s a piece of shit,” Taurus muttered, kicking her feet, “That bitch has iting to her, right mistress?” She asked, not moving from her tight cling.


    “Sister?” Kingshark grunted, “You’re rted to that nutjob, Liberty?”


    “Unfortunately,” Taurus muttered, “Don’t worry about me, if none of you all get the chance I’ll happily turn her into a pretty little smear on the ground,” She said bitterly, “After I pull her arms out of her sockets and feed her fingers to her.”


    “Calm down,” Ishtar said soothingly, reaching up to stroke the girl’s hair, “You’ll get your revenge.” Taurus squeaked and chuckled, clinging closer as Ishtar turned to the others, “The heroes training is well under way and I will have a full dossier ready before I leave for the European Convention. Our agents at the other camps will do the same. Remember that the point of this is to strike a bnce,” She said, “Not to escte. Keep the heroes busy with the dungeons and with us and we will rake in the profits.”


    “And keep the world turning,” Mephisto said with a frown, “Another Vegas would be bad for all of us, not just our pockets.”


    “Precisely,” Ishtar said and raised her head, “Our little cabal exists for one purpose. To eliminate potential threats that the heroes either cannot or will not handle and curtail the other viins,” She turned to Charon, “How is our little economy doing?” She asked.


    The undead middle-man of the underworld flicked his wrist and a blue coin appeared in his hand. He twirled it between his fingers and it hissed once before turning into a wad of american banknotes. “Conversion has gone down, people like the new currency now that it has value. They’re paying for everything from favors from you, to gear from Technocrat, to henchmen from Kingshark. Whatever they can get to achieve their hearts desires.”


    “And the loaning operation?” Ishtar asked.


    “You have a lot of debtors,” Charonughed, “It’s fuckin crazy.”


    Ishtar nodded slowly, “Very good work,” She said and turned her gaze over those gathered, “Now, let''s talk about the Children of Dawn. It’s time to work out a strategy to deal with them and Liberty.”


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