Hench for Hire Read online

  A laser is a wonderful thing. Although water has some refractive properties much of the charge can still be delivered and a water environment is where a water hero would feel safest. Catch them at ease and then blast giant holes in them.

  I wondered if this was why villains loved sharks so much. It was an elegant solution to a common problem.

  Earth—the problem with heroes possessing terrakinesis was that they tended to mix the worst virtues of packing an offensive punch and being nearly indestructible. Steel skin, stone fists, they were all-round unpleasant to deal with, and just the sort that you'd empty a dozen machine guns into and they'd keep coming. It was very uncivilized and not at all cooperative.

  Could we get some use out of the sonic turret designs? The project wasn't working at all up to the level of Disaster's powers, but a lesser version to shake and rattle these earthy sorts into pebbles would be useful.

  Earth heroes also tended to be dumb. I'd replicate some variant of the minotaur's labyrinth and make it a true maze. Lure them in and hit the heroes with sonic blasts at regular intervals.

  Yes, that would do.

  For the time being this would have to be enough. These floors should protect Gloom against most assaults, and if they failed, then it was time to sound the alarms and throw everything we had at the problem.

  We also had to hit the aliens. I wanted prisoners, and I wanted equipment to send to Voltara. We'd have to hit them hard enough that they had to retaliate, and on our home ground we should get both. I had an idea for that too.

  18

  "You're insane," Jules said.

  "Can we do it?" I asked.

  I'd called everyone together in our command center, including Ox who was back from his life insurance and had been filled in on what had happened.

  The past twenty-four hours had seen my upgrades to our defenses go well, and we had some activity looking for work. Still, our attempt to replace Mastermind's bureaucracy was going slower than I had hoped and expected. Gloom was an S-Class, but maybe people weren't convinced.

  "There is no reason it shouldn't work. Mechanically, I mean," Niles said.

  "The heroes aren't going to tolerate it. We'd be infringing on New Londonarium space and in a way too big to ignore," Jules said.

  "Good. It gives Gloom a chance to publicly make a spectacle of herself and we make sure we're streaming every bit of it," I said.

  "Assuming that cameras can pick up any of it," Jules said.

  Well, I had to admit that she had a point.

  "Ox," Ox said. "Surely you can work with her, fair archer. You are a brilliant mind and always in control of the self."

  "Maybe," Jules said rubbing at her eyes. "But when Mastermind comes back he really isn't going to be very happy about this."

  "Just make it happen," I said.

  The nearest Endless Swarm hive was on the outskirts of New Londonarium. One of the northern suburbs had been more or less razed by the hive. A dozen alien airships protected it, and so far the heroes hadn't been able to dislodge it.

  Rather than destroy it, I only wanted to annoy the aliens enough that they'd hit us back.

  Twelve hours later we were ready.

  Niles wasn't in his armor for this one. We needed him at a keyboard more than blasting things with an energy cannon.

  We were in an airship that Glenda had provided. It wasn't exactly massive, handling ten comfortably, which was more than enough room for our crew. It devoted an inordinate amount of space to a portable command center, which made a great mobile headquarters. The portable stealth field that wasn't infallible, but unless someone had powered vision it should render us invisible to most.

  We were hovering a fair bit distant from Mastermind Tower, which was looking much the worst for wear after two days of fighting. Villains were occasionally flying in and out through breaches in the walls, and sporadic flashes of light from powers being discharged could be seen within.

  "Making a connection," Niles said, fingers tapping over the keys.

  Uma said, "If we ever got me out of this body we wouldn't need him. I could just do everything." Her stubby teddy-bear legs kicked at her chair.

  "I wouldn't let you drive anyways," Niles said, then returned his attention to the console. "Someone in the tower knows what they're doing. They've killed off some of our access, but I can work around it. Testing engines."

  The hover thrusters beneath Mastermind Tower flared for a moment, the building rising in the air before stabilizing again.

  "Engine control works. We can take this thing for a ride," Niles said.

  Bouncy said, "Can I just say that I am really enjoying this! I never got to steal any buildings on my old job. Just drive people around."

  Gloom was slouching in a seat and looking bored. "That was because you were a pathetic loser. I stole buildings—well, blew them up, which is even better. Real heroes get to blow up people all the time."

  From what I'd seen that was pretty much true.

  The tower began to move. It had been stationary over the city since Mastermind went missing. Regardless of the fighting inside people had seen no reason to move it. But now, now it was on the go.

  The villains inside had noticed. Several fliers left and were looking around in confusion.

  "Ignore them. Just keep moving. They can't see us and unless they go after the engines they aren't a threat," I said.

  I wondered how many villains were still in the tower. One hundred? More? I suppose it didn't really matter. If they were part of Mastermind's organization they had life insurance, so whatever happened to them was only a matter of inconvenience—this death, at least. Without Mastermind at the helm I wasn't sure how much premiums would keep getting paid.

  We followed along after the floating building, keeping it in easy sensor range and so that Niles' remote control wasn't lost.

  Mastermind Tower wasn't built to move quickly, it was primarily a mobile defense platform for the protection of the city. Those systems were largely disabled without Mastermind, and even our backdoor infiltration didn't do much to reinstate them. Mastermind didn't want anyone shooting the big guns but him.

  I didn't think we needed them. Instead, those big guns, the power to lift a building like that, Mastermind Tower had to have one massive power generator in it. If overloaded, it was capable of a great deal of destruction. I intended to put that to good use.

  Nobody tried to stop us from leaving the city. Quite a few villains evacuated the tower, some flying away, a few jumping to their deaths.

  We were halfway across the channel to New Londonarium before we started encountering any real resistance. Hero airships, for the most part small ones.

  Five of them. Each had team markings. One was familiar, the CCC, the group of vigilante children of the wealthy. There was also the Street Cleaners, The Channel Watch, The Green Guard, and The Boom Squad.

  "You're up," I said to Gloom.

  "About time. I'm the most powerful woman on the planet and you are like, oh, sit around like the rest of the boring losers," Gloom said, rising to her feet. Wings fluttering, she stormed off.

  "How can anyone be that unlikable?" Niles asked.

  "She isn't actually that bad, once you get to know her. She is just trying really hard," Jules said.

  "You two are friends now?" Niles asked, aghast.

  "I'm just saying she isn't terrible. That was a lot going on with her and her father. It was complicated. And now she has all this going on. Just give her some time."

  I understood that Jules had a complicated relationship with her family. I couldn't claim to relate. I also thought she might be taking understanding a bit far.

  Gloom flew out of the landing bay, a dark streak, wings flitting behind her. The airships continued to close—perhaps they recognized her, or perhaps they were just intent on taking out the engines of the tower before it got any closer.

  Gloom thrust out both hands and a stream of pure darkness erupted from them. A mess of shadowy blackness that
was somehow tangled flew and slammed into the side of the Street Cleaner airship. From the site of impact black tendrils spread as if a living beast of blackness had clung to the hull and started to tear the airship apart.

  The other airships opened fire, all four concentrating fire on Gloom. Energy blasts, bullets, none reached her. All vanished into flickers of darkness when they got close.

  Gloom was grinning. She looked like some sort of twisted, manic pixie right now, blades of scything darkness flickering out to slice another airship in half.

  If she wasn't S-Class yet, she was certainly an A. I'd rarely seem this level of casual destruction. I made sure that our surveillance systems were recording every bit of it and sending it back to the city.

  The spectacle wasn't done. More airships and individual heroes were closing. The power levels on some of them caused sensors to spike. In a city as large as New Londonarium a few had already ascended to become A-Class and they were on the way.

  Meanwhile Mastermind Tower continued its plodding progress on the way to the hive.

  Now hive ships closed to intercept. They were larger than the heroes' craft, although dwarfed by the tower. Strange and bulbous.

  Gloom blasted at one with a burst of darkness and a shield seemed to hold her powers at bay for several long moments before it broke through, metal twisting on impact.

  They returned fire, and unlike previous efforts to hurt Gloom some of these shots hit her. A blast of purplish energy sent her flying backwards until she caught herself with a flutter of wings and returned fire.

  "Target identified," Niles said.

  The hive was now in sight. It was a massive form of purple and red, similar in shape to their airships, looking almost like a tumor on the face of the world.

  "Any sign of Mastermind?" I asked.

  "The cacophony funnel isn't detecting anything. We aren't getting any readable signals either. If they're communicating with each other, they aren't using conventional channels," Niles said.

  "You're clear then. Let's cause some damage."

  "We're being hailed. It's the Council," Niles said.

  This was new. We were never important enough to be addressed directly before.

  "Put them through," I said.

  A display came to life. I didn't recognize the face, and she seemed young for a Council member.

  "This is Cascadia Roe, acting seat for zone seven. You are in violation of the Londonarium Accords. As those claiming to be the lawful administrators of Mastermind Isle, I must insist you turn back."

  "She looks freaked out," Jules said.

  "A flying fortress coming at your city will do that," Niles said.

  "The girl is more the problem than the building actually," Cascadia said. I was detecting stress in her voice.

  "May I?" Jules asked.

  "Go right ahead," I said.

  "We are in an Omega Priority situation. We are executing a strike on a common enemy per section seven, subsection eight," Jules said.

  Cascadia glanced off-screen a moment. "You should have notified us. Do you require support?"

  Gloom was putting up a good fight, and she was also getting tossed about by the Swarm ships a fair bit.

  "Some, but you'll want to pull back when the tower goes in," Jules said.

  "Understood. We are moving to assist," Cascadia said, and the link shut off.

  Almost at once the hero airships started supporting Gloom instead of firing on her.

  "Yay diplomacy! The best super-power is what we can do together!" Bouncy said.

  "The best diplomacy is the biggest bomb," Niles said. "Reactor overload started. Power dampeners released. Systems cycling. I'm sending it in."

  Mastermind Tower tilted, the spire angling towards the ground and the engines aiming towards the sky as it began to speed downward.

  Airships pulled back. Just as the tower was about to reach the hive it detonated. A massive explosion tore it apart and an enormous energy discharge slammed into the hive. Our sensors turned into static and turbulence shook the airship.

  19

  When the static cleared it revealed that there was little left of the hive. Whatever that thing was made of, it hadn't tolerated the kind of destruction the tower brought.

  Gloom flew back to the ship, and for once that incredibly miserable woman was all smiles.

  She said, "Did you see that? Wow, I've blown up some buildings in my time, but that was something. And did you see me? I was all, woosh, and things were just tearing themselves apart. How many people do you think I killed? Was it at least one hundred?"

  Bouncy said, "Twenty or so on each of those airships. Plus the individual heroes you just blasted out of the sky. At least a hundred."

  Gloom fist-pumped. I'd never had seen her look so excited, not even at her engagement party. Even when she had been a hero there must have been something unstable about Gloom, and this was what she really lived for.

  "Are they going to come after Gloomy now? Like they took her dad?" Bouncy asked.

  Gloomy? Did she have a nickname now? Had everyone gone insane? I thought Bouncy at least was a reliable voice of hatred on all things Gloom-related.

  Niles leaned back in his chair, looking satisfied. "I talked with Emmatech about it, as they seem the dimensional experts. They say not now. The aliens are limited in what they can do without destabilizing their connection to our dimension. The Swarm made their big power grab and that's all they've got in the tank, or they risk shutting off their connection to us forever."

  "Get us out of here and back home. We've kicked the anthill. Let's wait to see if they take the bait," I said.

  Bouncy said, "Do you think they're actually insects then? Oh, is that why we were calling that thing a hive?"

  "Why did you think we were calling it a hive?" Jules asked.

  "Judging by the few visuals we've managed to record, they appear insectoid, although we don't know if they are a hive mind or something else," Niles said.

  "I hate bugs. Why couldn't they be something cooler like murder robots? I could go for some murder robots," Gloom said.

  "Ox," Ox said. "I have fought murder robots, fair companion of the darkest night. They are not so fun as one might believe."

  "The big guy isn't a great talker," Gloom said.

  "He's talking through some dimensional shift," Niles said.

  That was right, and I had barely thought about that, because Ox had been missing during the start of all this. It made me think.

  I said, "Ox, what do you know about dimensional technology? Emmatech said that was part of the reason you had problems communicating."

  Ox paused. Words always were a challenge for him and this was an especially difficult conversation.

  "Ox," Ox said. "Me and a team of noble explorers of science were seeking an alloy most strange, composed of parts from other worlds. Denorabrium Plus was its name and made me the Ox I am, it did. If you would know more, seek Stimwell."

  I searched Villainet. Stimwell Labs was on the hero side of things, so we were close.

  "Do you think Omega protocols will let them share private dimensional research with us?" I asked Jules.

  "Almost certainly not. If they know about such research and didn't already share it already, they've got their reasons," Jules said.

  "Redirect us. If it might possibly help and we need to know what they have," I said.

  "You're real inconsistent on going from friend to enemy," Bouncy said.

  "Like we're ones to talk," Gloom said.

  The two shared a grin.

  Were they bonding more? Really?

  Stimwell Labs was located in the science district of the city, sprawling campuses of fenced-in compounds filled with sleek-looking buildings. There was a pond, even geese, and it was all deceptively idyllic.

  Mastermind had built some great sensors into this airship and it detected the hidden weaponry. Energy shielding, plasma bolt turrets, a full collection of gear we couldn't afford.

  Guards t
oo, with solid weaponry, but more conventional and something we could actually handle.

  "We're going to need you, Gloom. The entire compound is protected by a force-screen and some big guns," I said.

  "Heavy firepower and infinite darkness is what I do. I bet I could take out the whole place," Gloom said.

  "Save the massive environmental destruction. Whatever research is in there, we need it."

  Jules said, "You'll want to draw attention, so we can infiltrate unnoticed. You being out there is going to really piss off our "allies", but they aren't being a lot of help anyways."

  "I am fantastic at being the center of attention," Gloom said with a grin.

  Our sensors weren't able to penetrate the main structure of the labs. Whatever was in there, they'd invested in some heavy shielding to hide it.

  "We'll want to make this as quick as possible. Hopefully the ruined hive is going to be a distraction as well, for a time, but we don't want to depend on Gloom holding the entire city off."

  "I can though! Just send the entire thing into a pit of darkness," Gloom said.

  "Enough with the pits of darkness too. You need more variety," Jules said.

  Right, like that was a problem.

  Gloom left the control center and a few moments later launched from the ship. Perhaps she'd taken the mockery about a single trick to heart. On the ground puddles of darkness were spawning creatures created of darkness. There was a massive black spider, and what looked like a six-headed dog.

  Turrets rose and opened fire on the creatures. An alarm began to sound.

  "Niles and Bouncy, man the ship. Ox, Jules, Uma, let's go see what is down there," I said.

  "There is going to be technology. You should have me," Niles said.

  Well, I couldn't argue with that in principle.

  "Suit up then," I said. Hopefully Bouncy could handle the airship on her own.

  By the time Gloom had finished taking down the turrets, we'd landed the airship on the roof of the main building and gotten out.