Face hidden within his billowing, black cloak, the quaver in Adam’s voice didn’t quite match his ominous look, “It’s almost everywhere. The spores convert people from allies to minions of the… fungus brain.”
Duke Metzul waved him to silence, “I understood that much from your summoning rhyme. I need specifics.”
Brooke stepped out of the group of supers on the ground, her silver Xiniti-style armor hiding her features underneath form-fitting, constantly adjusting material.
Briefly waving a circular portal into existence, she said, “I can send you there.”
The duke smiled, showing his teeth, “Efficiency. I like it. I could use someone of your skills. Should you ever wish to live in Faerie, contact me. Dark Cloak will know how. You’ll be appropriately compensated.”
Brooke’s costume couldn’t hide her hesitation as she decided how to respond, “Thanks for your offer. I don’t anticipate needing to live in Faerie, but I… appreciate the opportunity.”
Metzul’s smile widened, “No one ever anticipates such a thing, but situations arise and I’m always happy to assist—and especially happy to assist those with talent.”
Brooke nodded, “Thank you.”
A little behind her and to her right, Alex stood in his costume—a white long coat over rigid silver material that suggested plate armor, making him a kind of cowboy knight. The rigidity of his normally expressive face suggested he might be reminding himself how stupid it would be to take issue with a fey duke’s interest in his girlfriend.
Metzul turned toward Alex, “You’re invited too if it comes to that, but never mind, I believe Dark Cloak has something to say.”
Adam shook his head, “No. I was merely hoping that you were prepared for the mushroom spores. That and given thought to the fact that you’re fighting innocents.”
Tilting his head in Adam’s direction, Metzul said, “There are no innocents, but I do take your point. Our opponents will be fighting unwillingly. There’s little glory in killing such foes however entertaining it might be for the first few. Be assured that we’ll be on our best behavior.
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“I have no wish for you to feel that I shirked my duty in fulfilling your boon. As such, I’ve created a magical working that will assist in our mutual goals,” Metzul stopped, waving his his hand over not only his troops, but also the assembled supers.
Sparkling bits of darkness flew from his hands as he said a word and raised his arms. They landed not only on his assembled host, but on the gathered supers, many of whom looked down at their bodies and at the people around them.
I’d never stopped to wonder what evil fairy dust might look like, but this was probably it.
Scowling, Sean looked up at Metzul, asking, “What did you do?”
Dayton put his hand on Sean’s right shoulder, simultaneously seeming to support his friend, but also making it a little harder (but far from impossible) for Sean to do something stupid.
Metzul regarded him with a half-smile, “Protected you and all the rest from fungus—at least for a time. I have no use for allies that might turn into enemies. Thanks to a touch of necromantic power, you’ll now find that no spore can survive your presence. They’ll die before they affect you. You’ll even find that your touch will make them unravel—not instantly, but eventually.”
Next to me on the rooftop, Amy stared down at the comm on her wrist, “Wow. You have no idea how hard it would be to protect that many people. Necromantic energies aren’t easy to work with. I don’t know how I’d do it without side effects.”
On the screen, Metzul turned toward the assembled crowd, “There is something I should mention. Though I doubt there will be any opportunity for such activities, I recommend against doing anything that might create children. You might find they have odd proclivities as adults.”
In the midst of the crowd, Major Justice stared dully at Metzul. He wasn’t the only one.
“Well,” Metzul turned toward Adam, “I think it’s time to send us into the Lion’s Den. I believe we’re to clear the way so that you can attack the center? At least that’s what you said in the summoning. Let us handle this efficiently. Open the portal.”
Brooke opened up a wide half-circle of shimmering power near the faerie host and Duke Metzul waved his hand toward it.
With that, the host walked toward the portal, stepped inside and disappeared from the spybots’ view. No matter what the size of the creature, they still slipped through, a property I felt sure that Brooke’s portals didn’t normally have.
They reappeared in the street in front of City Hall. Whether elf, goblin, ogre, creature of shadows, or wingless dragon, they poured out of the relatively small hole in reality Brooke created.
As they did, the troops sounded their horns.