Homecoming Part 7
Shi toyed with the strands of hair that hung near her left eye, “Idiots seldom ever see themselves surrounded when they look at a mirror…” She looked over at Maria, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone piss off a Two Hundred Billion dollar criminal enterprise so thoroughly and quickly before.” Usually Jason would be by her side throwing another quip as well, though this time she had to settle with just Wyatt. ‘Though we could have just taken them instead of letting them leave. Then again...they aren’t why we are here.’
“Oh no…” She replied, feigning distress, though would soon ensure Shi that she was anything, but stupid. “Sources come and go.” She said, her tone immediately changing to her normal relaxed and aloof one. “You don’t really think those chucklenuts are the only suppliers I’ve got? They just happened to be slightly more convenient for the time being.”
Jason was helping Bael make sure he was alright and no longer blowing chunks. “You alright buddy?” He asked, patting him on the shoulder. He glanced over at Shi and the purple dressed king or queenpin or whatever the term was and then back to his friend.
“Yeah…” He said, gasping for air and calming down. “Ugh. I’m never going to get that image out of my head.”
“You take it easy. Just make sure that she doesn’t have any more cronies showing up. Shi and I will see what she’s up to.” He said and trotted over just in time to hear Maria dismissing the Cartel as being threatening to her.
“Anyways. Yes. We were attempting to extort your parents. Which was my bad. Didn’t think they had a kid. I was wrong. It’s rare but it happens. I apologize and I can only really say that it won’t happen again.” She spoke before Jason could even start to ask his questions. “No, I can’t see the future. I only read minds.” She said, with only a hint of sarcasm and a smile. Let’s see here… Which one of you can I pick apart… She thought. Looking the team over. Sludge’s too volatile. Directly antagonizing him would probably get me attacked… Dragon boy? Hm... Her power wasn’t giving her much. He was slightly awkward, but nothing really to exploit. Probably had a rough time growing up to let some minor prodding set him off. What about you Princess? Ooooh, that well manicured and tempered… Everything. You’ve definitely got something to hide… Plus you called me an idiot. Wrong.
‘She’s too nonchalant, better to play on the side of caution.’ The situation was complicated as is, best not to worsen it with more secrets. Tapping and leaning into Jason’s shoulder, “Don’t entertain her, end this.” Shi walked a few steps back and watched two talk amongst each other.
Jason was about to speak up but was completely cut off by Maria answering just about everything he was going to ask. Shi whispered about not entertaining her and just ending it. On one hand, Shi was right and it was best to just take her in, but he got the feeling that she wouldn’t be locked up for long. “Who do you work for?” He asked.
“Who do you work for?” She asked, giving a glance at both Shi and Jason, and giving the slightest wink to them, but her eyes leaned slightly more towards Shi as she asked. “Tell you what. Let’s all go our separate ways and never see each other again. I’ve got instructions to not antagonize you guys, and I’d also really rather not do it, but I will defend myself. I apologize about Jack. He’s a moron, but goddammit he’s a loyal moron.”
The slight annunciation, that passive glance was more than enough to temper any patience Shi had at this point though she wasn’t in the position with her teammates around to do anything. ‘Now I know she isn’t reading my mind. I’ll have to report this though.” She looked over at Jack, pieces of his flesh still shifting and contorting into a new form, while grimacing over towards Sludge. ‘How would I deal with him? Cleaners wouldn’t be enough, neither would a SF team, would need an asset or a Simulacrum. Park could deal with him, can’t heal your way out of your carbon leaving your body; though he’s still in Seoul. Virgil might be able too, fixate him in place and chip away; dangerous though and he’s still babysitting. Speaking of which.’ Maria was still lauding over the accomplishments of the brute, however short the list might be. ‘Might actually need the other half over here. Might be useful for once. See how her premonitions compare to hers, collect everything we need here before wiping this off the map. Though she does imply a hierarchy.’ Shi crossed her arms and tapped her fingers against her biceps, ‘Lycan out of the picture. Shadows possibly? Though she’s far too talkative to be. New player perhaps?’ Shi glared back at Maria, the glance sharing so much more that could ever be said.
“Oooh, the scary eyes. Thinking about all the ways you can try to take us down. Maybe call the rest of your team? Hope they have the firepower for a protracted engagement against the unknown? Dunno. Would be a helluva fight to put on pay per view.” She said, glancing between the two of them and staying quiet for a moment. Shi’s glare was all that she needed to know that at the very least, she knew something. Best not to play her whole hand just yet. Oh yeah. Just keep talking sweetheart… Who’re you working for… Not Lycan. They’re too stupid to adapt. Too well groomed and trained for any gang. Wonder Foundation? Yeah… I can see that. Very Corporate approved. Enthic enough to appease the whiners, but not too ethnic as too alienate everyone else. Everything matches up. I am going to have so much fun tearing that place apart after this... “So. I’m taking it that the silence means we’re gonna call it even and go our separate ways?”
“I don’t get it. What’s your deal? You clearly have a lot of money. And you’ve clearly got some sort of thinker power-”
“Oh, someone actually took that class?”
“Shut up.” Jason said. “You clearly knew they weren’t going to be able to pay it back. Why?”
She shrugged. “I’ve got my reasons. Same as anyone. You’re not gonna believe me when I say it, but they would have probably ended up in a much better situation then they were in.”
“Forced Recruitment.”
“Awfully observant for a C-student aren’t we?” she sneered, glancing over to Shi, her knowing smile never flinching or faltering. “Anything to add Miss Princess or are you content to just give me the evil eyes?”
Maria’s sneering comments were quickly de-evolving from charming to irritating, Shi was having none of it. “So you know who we are?” Her verbal sparring partner nodded yes to both, though in truth she only knew one half of the innuendo; suspicion rested on the other. “Then you know what we can do. Before you continue to make a fool of yourself, decide whether you can afford making an enemy of us. For both you and your employers.” The patient Princess glanced up towards the open night sky, so full of planes and a wonderful assortment of other man-made constructs, leaving it to Maria to pick up on the subtext.
“I know lots of things.” She replied, her smug smile not changing. “And, I agree with you. No point in dragging in lots of other people for a big messy fight that’ll accomplish nothing but a lot of wasted taxpayer dollars.” She said and checked her watch. “Any closing comments or questions? I’ve got other places to be today.”
“What’d you want all the WarWolf tech for?” Jason asked.
She shrugged. “Sell it to other Tinkerers. WarWolf tech is shit compared to Tinkerer tech, but the parts are worth more than the actual device. Processors, high grade wires, raw materials, stuff like that. Tinkerers and their tech, I’m sure you know how it is. It’s not like I’m gonna sell it to gangbangers. Come on, that’s a giant waste. And dumb because I don’t want Dipshit McGee who thinks the best way to hold a handgun is sideways operating a plasma gun and then it misfires and takes out half a city block. Point is, if I wasn’t buying it, someone else would have. Probably someone who’s going to make more trouble with it than me and my people. So. Let’s call it even. As far as you’re all concerned, the Cartel is responsible. I technically committed no crime worse than trespassing. And I doubt the hearts of the people are going to cry out because some Cartel member got hit in the head with a forklift.” Almost immediately after she finished, a bright white rectangle about 10 feet tall appeared behind her. “Looks like my ride's here. It’s been fun!”
Jack glared at the group, grumbling something but heading to the rectangle knowingly, passing through it and disappearing.
Shi rubbed her temples as the shape disappeared, a perfect bow tie to end off this purposeless intervention. Pacing back and forth in the dirt road, she considered all her options; though she realized that this wasn't her immediate priority. Looking over at the solemn, contemplative Sludge, she slipped back into her persona. Walking over, she asked, "Are you okay? I hope you didn't let her get inside your head."
“Wow. I think that's the first time I’ve heard you try to be sympathetic.” He said, trying to maintain his usual aloof, lighthearted demeanor, before sighing and drooping his body a bit. “Yeah. She’s really good at nettling people isn’t she? Pretty sure she’s mostly hot air, but I don’t know. It’s weird and… Alright, if I’m being honest. I’m concerned about my folks. Figured I’d try to be a decent and responsible human human being for once and it just… I’m starting to see why so many people just start running around and murdering every gangster they can find.” He said, going quiet for a moment. “Thanks for coming, guys. Really.”
“Like we’d really leave you out to go at this alone.” Bael said, walking up to the pair and putting his arm around Jason. “I think we scared them off.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure.” The Princess remarked, “We should have finished them here. No good will come of her meandering about on the streets.”
“If I wasn’t dealing with all this other personal crap, yeah, I’d have said that we beat the hell out of them and call it a day. But clearly they’ve got at least a little reach, and know who I am, so I’ll take a draw if it means I can keep my family safe. I don’t like it, but I’ll take what I can get.”
While Jason finished his thoughts, Shi walked over to where the pair had disappeared into; bent down, she noticed a straight horizontal line where the rectangle had manifested. It was only millimeters thick but it was there. “I don’t like it either.” She pressed the tip of her nail at the line, no difference in heat than the area around it. Teleportation was both ubiquitous and unique, each method for how the great powers travelled instantaneously differed. She’ll have to have this whole place quarantined for her to learn more, by some slim margin something may have came through. Still squatting, “We should get you home, her word doesn’t amount too much.”
“Thanks. But I think I’d rather head over by myself. I just want to put this all behind me as soon as possible. I’m going to keep my phone on me, if they show back up, I’ll give you guys a call. They show up again, I’ll probably switch to lethal force, but uh, don’t tell Naja about that.” He said, walking over and giving the tiny line Shi was examining. “Looks like they got a portal guy. Fun. Wish I could make portals. Would make fridge trips a lot quicker.” He said, trying to slip back into his usual personality.
“Hmm.” Shi let out a solitary grunt at his quip, not in the mood. His decision to go alone was misguided, but it wasn’t in her personality to beg. Consequences are the best lessons you can ask for. “Possibly. Definitely isn’t Hadrian, doesn’t act like Aperture's ability either.” Looking off to the relatively unharmed sections of the refinery, she collected her thoughts. “If Amir was still on the team we could have asked for his expertise on human magic. Might be a tech for all we know. Though we do have one interesting piece of evidence.”
“Yeah. No clue about magic or tech. Hate magic. No offense Bael.” He said, agreeing. “Portals. They seem to cut into the ground. So maybe he can’t make them airborne.” He thought out loud. “What evidence?”
“None taken.” He replied, joining the pair, looking at the portal’s cut. Shi mentioned something about some evidence, but he wasn’t sure exactly what she meant. “Did they leave something behind?”
“Not that I can tell. Jason was partially on the right track as well.” She turned her gaze from Sludge to Bael, “No it was how it was timed. She didn’t signal extraction. I also didn’t see an ear piece on her.” Before the pair could bring up some nano-sized audio receiver, “And there wouldn’t be much point in hiding one either.” Standing up having finished her deduction, “So either they have a portal manifester with super hearing randomly tacked on or her benefactors have tech that allows them to generate it and watch from a distance. Would explain their interest in other experimental designs.”
“I didn’t see her use any tech, so I’m leaning towards them having some guy who can make portals. Maybe some sort of tech that lets them see? Remove what I imagine would be the eyesight limitation.” Jason speculated. “Comboing powers. Or yeah, Tinkerer tech. Fuckin’ bullshit.”
For a brief moment Shi was about to go in a lite diatribe about how tinkerer tech means absolutely nothing in conjunction with how it has been used this past hour but she decided to hold her tongue. Explaining how cybernetics and plasma as fields don’t lose their meaning when they come from a garage and not a lab, wasn’t the best use of their, and more importantly her, time. “Well either way, we’ll know more soon enough. I think this goes beyond local authorities, I’ll see if we can get Pandora’s Lock or the DMI to investigate.”
“Does PL investigate stuff this small?” Jason asked. “It’s not like superpowered gangs are uncommon.”
“Don’t worry I know a few people.” Replacing her hand on his shoulder, “I think this case needs a more thorough examination.”
He didn’t know why, but he felt the slightest bit weird about Shi touching him. Maybe it was just his cold perception of her. Maybe Shi was more empathetic than he thought. “You seem to have this under better control than I do. I don’t think I’ve got anymore to add. If any of your friends find out anything, let me know. If I call you, screaming, you probably know what’s up. I think I’m gonna go check on my folks now. Thanks, again, for all the help.” He said, spotting the nearest and highest piece of pipe, shot a tendril and flung himself into the air.
“And then there were two.” Bael spoke up, trying to ease the awkwardness he knew was about to ensue. “Hey, I’ve got a favor to ask.” Bael said. “You mind if I hitch a ride with you? One of them blasted my wing with some energy blast and the other one, the fat guy, stomped on it. I can’t really fly at the moment, and if I tried, I’d probably fall out of the sky, and onto someone, or someone’s car.”
Shi stared at him for a moment, her eyes going wide for a second. “I don’t think I can carry you Wyatt.” Turning around to the near empty desolate roads around her, the downtown skyline wasn’t even in view. “Give me a second.” She pressed a few commands on her phone, “My bike is on its way.”
“Yeah, I meant on your bike.” The awful years of his social inability all throughout school started to come flashing back as they waited for Shi’s bike to arrive. “So… Uh… I never realized how little we’ve spoken to each other.”
It was going to be those kinds of talks. With her back against the gate, “I noticed that too.” She shrugged her shoulders, “It’s bound to happen with how quickly the team grew. And it’s not as if most of us knew each other before summer. First time I’ve even worked within a team.” A partial truth.
“I guess that makes sense. I never paid any attention to it until it happened. Usually Jason does most of the talking.” He replied, looking around at the minor damage they caused to the refinery. Definitely one of the better ways the fight could have turned out. He started racking his brain in an attempt to come up with something they could talk about, and came up mostly blank. “Anything you want to talk about?” He asked.
Though still tense from the encounter, she knew it was best not to dwell on that. A little levity can go a long way in breaking the ice. She asked the first question that popped in her head, “Hmm. Why don’t you use your tail more when you fight?” Bael immediately looked at her perplexed, she could tell that wasn’t what he expected at all, “It might be own bias but I don’t see you use it that often. Wyvern uses it in his fights. At least he did. Is that just a Dra’Qunni trait?”
His expression turned to one of awkwardness, as he was clearly trying to find a way to put his thoughts into words. “It’s… Uh… How do I put this without sounding completely weird. Well. It’s kind of like asking you why you don’t use your breasts in a fight. Or a guy his… you know. To us, it’s kind of used to show expressions and body language. It’s part of one’s sex appeal. Which is why I really don’t like people touching it. Nor will I try to hit someone with it.” He explained, in a way he hoped wasn’t awful to listen to. It probably was.
She just stared at him with no change in her expression. She just met his eyes, contemplating her decisions. “Don’t ever tell me that again.” A monotone response. Looking off to the dirt, “Let’s just talk about the team.”
“Never ask again, and you’ve got a deal.” He replied and thought about her bringing up the team. “Anything specific?” He thought for a moment about his thoughts. He figured he’d start with something more recent. “Well. If we’re being honest. I don’t like Roy very much. He wasn’t the kind of leader I was hoping. Honestly, him leaving didn’t bother me at all. Especially with what he said when he left. It was insulting and undermines everything we’ve done to this point. I wish him the best, but I also wish he never comes back.”
“What did he say?” Roy said a lot of things when he left, Wyatt could be hung up on any number of them.
“Combination of things. It didn’t start with that. It started longer ago. Few months, I don’t remember exactly when. I tried to ask Roy how he’d feel if I was forced to kill someone to save a bunch of people. And he basically just… Blew me off, telling me to never do it without answering my question. Which was annoying, but whatever. When he left, I heard his shouting match with Naja after our… Incident with the Warhounds.” He sighed and continued. “He didn’t think we were taking this seriously. Thought we were all a bunch of kids just going to get ourselves killed. I’m not an angry person, and I’ve been insulted plenty of times before, but what he said made my blood burn. That we’re not good enough. We absolutely are good enough. We busted our asses doing this. We gave blood, sweat, and tears to get as far as we have. And, according to him, we’re going to wind up just like the Wonder Warriors. No. No we’re not. He can choose to believe that all he wants, but he’s lost any and all respect I had for him, and I hope he stays gone.”
That was certainly emotionally charged, much more than she expected for the normally subdued and passive Dra’Qunni. “Roy was wrong to dismiss you like that. While I can only assume his intentions, and I would hope they were pure, lashing out against the team for his own leadership failings was out of line. Though…” She paused to collect her thoughts, “It sounds like it’s not just Roy not taking you seriously. At least from how sensitive the topic seems to be. Is everything alright within your squad?”
“Like I said. I wish him the best with whatever it is he’s choosing to do with his life. We’ve gotten by just fine without him.” He said, then looked back over to Shi when she asked about his squad. “Honestly, I can’t complain too much. Sure, I don’t know where Red’s at, ever. And he basically never speaks to me, but I actually think I got through to Renata. It was… A little easier than I thought it would be. I just kind of met her halfway and talked to her. It wasn’t perfect, but I at least got her to see that she was in the wrong. Which I honestly thought was impossible. So yeah. Things have been acceptable on that front.” He replied. “What about yours? Is Jason behaving?”
“Not too much to say. Jason never took much of anything seriously until today. Mark and Ava are basically inseparable, Wendy is the most introverted. We don’t see much of her until she decides to show up.” The sound of the automated bike rolling through the unevenly paved roads caught both their attention, the machine parking itself a few feet from its owner. Sitting on it, Shi checked a few things before asking her teammate, “Ever been on one of these before?”
“Well. At least we know why he doesn’t take things super seriously.” He said, more than a little grateful that the motorcycle was finally arriving. Shi hopped on her motorcycle, asking if he’d ever ridden on one. “I think we both know the answer to that question.” He said, and approached, hesitant as to actually hop on. “No.”
As he stood over her in his draconic form, she wondered if she needed to tell him or he’ll get the hint. Driving down the I-15 with a Dra’Qunni lumbering over wasn’t exactly worth the headache. Resting on her dashboard, “So do you plan to stay as that?”
It took a moment of thinking before he understood. “Oh, right.” Once again, Alexis’s hologuise proved to be awesome. He flicked it on, his body now resembling the dark skinned teenager he went as in high school. “So… How do I get on?”
“Well I’ve ridden with three people on this before so only two shouldn’t be too difficult. Though in that case, one of them was handstanding on the grip.” She waved for him to get on behind her though the bike audibly dropped lower as he got on. “Hold onto my waist and lean forward. Keep your wings tucked as well, air resistance.” ‘Are his wings still tangible in this state?’ She contemplated. “And don’t make this awkward or anything. I wouldn’t touch your tail, do me the same favor.” She was very direct..
He nodded and did as he was instructed. Wrapping his arms around her waist, carefully. “Believe me, this isn’t exactly nice for me either. I just want to get back to the Tower, bandage my wing a bit and go to sleep.” He said. “Thanks though.” His injured wing stung a bit as he forced it to remain folded on his back, but he could deal with it for a few minutes.
They drove off, back towards San Diego and through the numerous poor suburbs of the Border. They didn’t say much between each other, though the ride back was rather quick. The full moon hung overhead and there wasn’t much in the way of actual traffic beyond the occasional slowdown. As they pulled off of the freeway and back onto the well lit streets of downtown, they approached a traffic stop and Shi spoke up, “I know you had issues with Roy but…” The light turned green, “you have to realize the leadership he provided. Even if you didn’t like it, we need someone or a group of people to fill in that hole.”
He kept quiet, just praying to anyone who’d listen that the ride wouldn’t take long, then Shi started talking about the team’s leadership when they came to a stop at a traffic light. “I respected him as the one leading the team, that doesn’t mean I have to like him, but you’re not wrong. We do need someone up there. A group would probably be a decent idea. One person trying to maintain all of this is just too much. I think Alexis was talking about trying to fill the gap, so I’m sure we can talk with her about it.”
“That’s a good idea.” She took a right turn towards the coast, the tower and bridge coming into view, “After the team comes back from Ecuador we should talk with her and Naja about that. I would include Mars but…” She wasn’t sure how close Wyatt and him were, “after Roy left I’m not sure if he’s in the position to take up that mantle. Hopefully he is.”
“I think we should at least ask. If he’s not up for it, well, there’s still you, me and Alexis.” He said, having forgotten about the Ecuador trip until now. “Hopefully the trip to Ecuador will be nice. After today I could use some time to relax.” He replied, relaxing a bit the moment he saw the Tower pull into view and he could escape the terrible awkwardness that was riding the motorcycle.
She pulled onto the bridge, “Hopefully.” She reiterated, “And you’re right. Us three together are a strong pair. Remember we three did warn about going inside the mall. Though that was discarded.”
“Yeah.” He said, remembering that, bringing back the bad memories of his early days on the team. “Lesson learned: Trust your instincts. Failing that, trust everyone else's. Let's hope that with three, maybe four heads, we’ll avoid another Warhounds incident.” He said, jumping off the motorcycle as soon as Shi stopped. “I won’t tell if you won’t.”
“What is there to really say?” She added as she parked it and got off herself. Going towards the garage entrance, “A teammate helped another. It’s not much of anything.”
“Yep.” Bael nodded, wincing a bit as he let his wing go limp and turned off the guise. “Thank you for the ride. I guess I’ll… See you tomorrow or something?”
Walking in behind him, “I don’t see why not.”
See ya