Three. Nine. Two.
The digital locker accepted the given number with a beep and bloom of a green light. Small door popped open and I could retrieve the metal case from within. Much smaller than I had been expecting. In my eagerness to busy myself, I had gotten to the location a little earlier than planned.
Sun hadn’t quite set, but late dusk still had all the streetlights on. Dim blue light illuminated me, casting a wide shadow against the set of secure lockers.
Trouble was, I also had some eyes focused on me.
Clocked them as soon as I pulled up, but I wasn’t about to turn tail from a group of thugs. Hidden ten-mag full of normal shot on the bike, but otherwise I was unarmed. Well, ignoring the two Sanguine stakes on my belt, but I wasn’t about to murder anyone. For a change. I recognized the group based on the outfits they wore. Red hoodies and jackets with a white face mask that covered their mouths. Yellow lines drawn around their right eye.
Sons of the Sun.
Just an average lower-tier criminal group. Nothing to be too worried about - they were probably just staking out the lockers to see if there were any easy marks before the sun set. The fact that my appearance and mode of transport turned heads meant I had gained their undue attention, even despite not looking like I was easy to shake down.
As I turned with case in hand, it appeared that they left their common sense back at home today.
Three of them on the opposite side of my bike, checking it out. Two on this side, facing me. Another four off to the right waiting for their cue to step onto the main stage depending on how this played out.
“Got something nice there, big guy?” The closest one tilted his head and gestured toward my held case with a bar of metal in his mitts. Designated face of the group, at least while it remained unbroken. I had zero patience for these sorts of games.
[Just photos of your mother engaging in dubious acts with farmyard animals. Step aside or I’ll make you squeal just the same.]
This vocalizer was a curse.
Despite being the one partly made of mechanical parts, it seemed my outburst short-circuited the man. Verbal taunts were normally beneath me—not just because I wasn't able to speak until recently—but I was keen to get to the end scene of this encounter. Thugs like this would either scurry away like rats at the first show of strength, or we would eventually wind up brawling.
I called their bluff.
“What… what the fuck did you just say? Sack of flaming…” His fists clenched around the rebar as his eyes narrowed.
“Not sure that’s a good idea,” one behind my bike butted in. “This is a Five Eyes bike.”
A wave of murmurs went through the group of criminals.
“So what?” The apparent leader shot his accomplice a scowl before eyeing me up. “Cyclops is behind bars, and the wizard hasn’t been seen for a bit. This guy clearly isn’t part of them.”
“That just means… if he has the wizard’s bike...”
I took a step forward to my vehicle, causing them all to snap attention to me and tense up. At least one of them had a functional brain, although for how long that would last would be determined by the one with the big mouth.
[You have one last opportunity to leave me be. There’s plenty of room in the shallow grave next to his body if you are such big fans.]
That was enough to get them to the point of wavering. Gave them an ultimatum. They’d have to choose which path they wished to tread. I’d much rather just go home, but after everything I’d been through, I would not be bullied by petty criminals armed with melee weapons.
With one look toward the fading sunlight, the leader made up their minds for them. My lense gave me the heads up even if I hadn’t seen the mood change across his face.
Threat Level 3.
Made sense given that they were baseline humans waving sticks around.
The leader burst towards me, eager to be the first one to make me pay for my terrible dialogue choices. His wide swing clanged off the side of my gun and I took a long step in toward him to clock the side of his face with my elbow. Spun in place to strike the next approaching goon with the held case. Hopefully the contents were less fragile than his head.
Blocked a bat with my left forearm and lashed out with my foot. A jab of my muzzle and another was sent rolling across the sidewalk.
Perhaps I’d need to start packing my Smoke shots too. One of those and I could have made my escape - or something that could make a cloud of tear gas. I was running the risk of turning into a walking armory, but maybe that wasn’t the worst thing. There were a couple of bandoliers in a crate, I was certain.
An elbow joint bent back the wrong way, and then another was knocked out with a heavy thud from my weapon. The rest lost their nerve and ran for it, leaving a handful of wounded on the floor.
I stepped over and lifted the groaning leader up by the scruff of his hoodie.
[I’m going to keep an eye on you and your gang. Turn a new leaf, otherwise I’ll be turning you into pig feed. They have quite the appetite after they…]
A long sigh escaped through my filters. This was wasting my time, and the rough language wasn’t really my style. Dropped him to the floor and walked to my bike. Been given the gift of speech and this was how I used it? Shaking my head, I put my case away and straddled the seat.
Gave a glance to the gang I had dismantled in short order. Just a bunch of young men falling into crime to escape bad circumstances. They were recovering and banding together to tend to each other. A little more compassion than you might expect from a gang, but it was likely they grew up in the same area.
[Apologies. I am currently stressed out and should not have taken it out on you all. I’ll send for help, but I mean what I said.]
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Rolled my head around on my neck and settled into a comfortable position - which wasn't easy with a thought needling at my brain.
[Message Roxy. Are there any rehabilitation groups for petty gangs? Send.]
Hit the switch and the motorbike roared into life. Time to get out of the city. The sooner I could get home, the better.
It wasn’t three blocks before I got a response from the super.
There’s the Goldarch Golden Opportunity Project, but they’re financially motivated. Wouldn’t rate the charities well for actual results unfortunately. Why, what’s up? X
[Message Roxy. Send them and some medical personnel to the following coordinates. Forward me the bill. Send.]
I only had to look in the mirror to know that the city had a problem with crime. My life revolved around taking out the trash in some way or another. The fact that there were a small army of supers under the League, alongside the cops and other private security forces - and there were still so many problems either spoke to one of three things - ineptitude, corruption, or ignorance of a greater issue.
Would I feel better about what I did, knowing that I gave a handful of thugs another chance to live a life more productive and acceptable to wider society? Not really. I didn’t do it for notoriety or in hopes of scrubbing away some of the sins my very being was soaked with.
I just didn’t want there to be more people like me roaming the streets.
Less danger. Less violence. Less fuel for the fire constantly raging between heroes and villains.
A drop in the ocean, but if I was about to hobnob with some supers, then perhaps having a smudge of a good deed at the top of my list might make me more palatable. Doubtful.
Okay, done. Should I ask? Switching careers to Post-beatdown Philanthropist? (One of the few other long words that I know - lucky you). x
I let the message sit there for a few minutes as I swerved between streets on a slightly more scenic route toward home. Some traffic, but by now I was near the edge of the outer rim where there wasn’t anything residential and the commercial buildings had long closed. I sighed.
[Message Roxy. I’ll attend your housewarming, don’t make me regret it. Send.]
Pretty sure I already did. I needed that potential source of tech, however. If that meant biting my non-existent tongue while a group of heroes figuratively stroked themselves off over hotdogs and beer, then I could survive that. I wouldn’t be physically harmed, so it’d be a nice change from the usual hardship I put myself through.
I still paled at the thought of being called a sidekick, but it was possible that it was the only cover that made sense for my presence. It’s not like I really fit in anywhere. A pair of speed bumps jostled me, and I winced at the thought of having to actually make small talk. Where would I even begin? The hope was that Roxy had at least prepped them with some basic information about me.
Not sure why I was putting so much faith in this woman that I barely knew. She’d managed to flip my life upside down just by being relentlessly nice to me, even when I was rude and dismissive. Wasn’t sure whether that said more about me or her.
City streets fell away to dirt road and then finally gravel.
A ping in my lense as I tripped the road sensor, and then a second for the perimeter surrounding our houses. I was content enough with the minimal delay between sensing and it telling me. Bike shuddered as it powered down and slid to a slow stop in the loose dust outside my… current hovel.
Withdrew my prize from the side compartment and turned to look at Roxy’s house.
She had hidden cameras set up. Too far a distance for my aura to take them offline, but something else clicked around in the rusty part of my brain. I had made the assumption that they were for her personal safety… but what if the League had a connection? With my brow furrowed, I slowly walked to my house. Considered the implications.
It would be a simple matter for them to erase me. Any one of the participants of the mandatory party wouldn’t break a sweat in dealing with me. Still, even if it wasn’t something worth me worrying about, I wasn’t a fan of being spied on. If I managed to survive tomorrow, then perhaps I’d start digging into what I believed was something the super had been hiding from me.
If it was nothing, then we’d just continue deckchair chats between my murder contracts. Exist an odd life with an odder… friendship? No, wasn’t that far along yet. Tomorrow I had to pretend to be her subordinate, but I couldn’t imagine us fighting corruption side by side.
Traps off. Into the room as the light clicked on. Maybe it needed replacing, as it looked dimmer than usual. Nevermind. Sat down at the workbench and turned the spotlight to the case that I set down. Had a slight line of either blood or gangster spittle, but the integrity of the box itself was fine.
About 8 inches square. Metal and rather flat. Maybe a handful of Sanguine stakes? Didn’t have any wine to bring to the party so… No. Shouldn’t go armed, unless I wanted to invite danger. Which, with a room full of supers more powerful than Skyblade, I did not - for a change.
Clasps opened, I clicked the lock and opened it wide.
Somewhat disappointing at first glance. A single chip. Flat and rectangular. Bright gold with the shape of a five-pointed star embossed on one side. An upgrade to my STAR device? Not really… practical in a violent sense, but there might be some benefit.
Pulled back my sleeve to fully expose the device embedded in my left arm. Along the top edge adjacent to my skin, I needed to peel back a rubber cover. The current chip sat within and I’d have to press that too, to eject it.
Two minutes were spent just staring at the situation. Not exactly a great position for me to make any changes. At this stage, I wasn’t too prideful to ask for help, but Roxy was out working and would need her sleep when she returned… for tomorrow.
I turned my gaze over to the various clamps and tools I had tidied away on my workbench. Something could be done. I was too impatient to wait until morning to find out what Boss had blessed me with. And so, I set up a vise with a thin metal tool to pry the rubber grip away from the device. Pressed the protrusion of the old chip against something softer and it clicked out on a small spring. Ejected to the workbench and then I pressed the new one in, able to reverse proceedings with little more than some patience.
Loading new System, it told me.
A process it promised would take a handful of minutes - or an hour. The estimation jumped to thirty-eight days at one point, before going back to five minutes. Not an exact science.
The last wave of lethargy from my recovery decided now was a good time to hit - which was acceptable. Better I get a good rest before the stress of the housewarming party. Part of me still hadn’t come to terms with the fact I had agreed to it. I turned and replaced the cannister in my neck with a fresh one.
Being unable to eat and drink made me an odd guest. Paired with my lack of social graces and… well, it would be interesting.
Went and sat on my mattress. Light in my kill room went off, leaving the underside of my re-breather and goggles illuminated by my STAR device. A minute of staring at the little moving bar and then it was done.
Eyes scrolled through the new version text. Screens of digitized words came and went as new knowledge settled down in my mind. Terms accepted. Connectivity updated. Backups restored.
I could now use my STAR device with the power of my mind, much the same as my gun-arm. There were other modules currently disabled, as I didn’t have cybernetic eyes or ears… but it located and interfaced with my lense, allowing me to read from a basic digitized display rather than having to look at the device itself.
Encrypted messages were now arranged more like a chat function, allowing me to see a short history of prior conversation. I noted that Roxy had sent me a message while the update was pending, so this seemed like a good opportunity to test the new STAR System.
W: I’ll attend your housewarming, don’t make me regret it.
Roxy: Ah, if only you could see my face! x
Roxy: You won’t regret it, I promise x
I wasn’t actually sure what to say to that. Best I save any small amount of strength for the next day, and dealing with the aftermath. My hopes weren’t high.
Settling down into my bed, I closed my eyes and allowed peace to wash over me. A bland and boring darkness, not prodded at by errant thoughts or confusing dreams. Relaxing - a needed rest.
Something that was popped like a bubble an unknown time later as my door slammed open, waking me with a jolt and surge of adrenaline.
I rolled to the floor, gun-arm up as scathing daylight burned at my eyes from the opening. V-Force charging as I took in the figure standing silhouetted in the threshold. Roxy in her super suit. Stress and alarm had her brow furrowed.
“Come quick, Dubs - it’s an emergency!”