Broker-Chapter 228
Inches away.
There he was. The man whose actions in another timeline, another life, had been the impetus for her own creation. Ishtar could, in some way, credit her birth to the impetuous little man that stood before her. How many days had she spent in her early state, before she was fully a separate part of Sonya, imagining graphic ways of killing him. Peeling the skin from his body, roasting him alive, crushing one bone at a time. Now that he was here, before her, she felt doubt about her imaginings for the first time.
It wasn’t enough.
She paid no mind to most of the young heroes as they fled, racing past to continue their raid and hopefully recover some of their morale after her entrance. She paused only to focus her senses on the boy called Riot as he hurried behind Felwinter. She wondered what he saw when he looked at her, clearly his abilities had advanced further than he had openly admitted. He could see karmic links, and what he saw in her shook him.
Interesting that he did not accuse me of being Sonya. I wonder if my karma appears different.
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t kill my subordinates,” Otis said merrily and she returned her full attention to him. She searched his face and gave his words some consideration. Riot and Felwinter were his subordinates? Could that mean he had fully stepped away from his path of the previous timeline? Something worth considering, not that they compared at all to the true Heralds.
Might as well test and see if that’s his intention.
She met his luminous blue eyes and tilted her head, “Subordinates? Or perhaps you have a different name for them?”
He frowned, “I noticed before, but now I’m certain, you know far too much. How?” he demanded, taking a step forward and getting into her face.
She smiled triumphantly behind her helmet, “Wouldn’t you like to know, King of the Heroes?”
Otis bore his teeth, “Then I’ll beat it out of you, Queen of the Villains.”
The air stilled between them, for all the world it felt like time had stopped, the ground below trembled as a surge of mana passed into and out of the pair. Ishtar let her internal energy cycle, flooding her body with strength. All of her senses were active, every mental ability firing as one as she took in every detail of the world around her. She could almost hear the tensing of his muscles, the clenching of his fist.
The two of them struck.
Otis’ fist rose as hers descended, the two colliding and releasing a wave of force that cracked the remaining trees around them. Ishtar was gone the next moment, reappearing behind Otis with a knife of hard light in her hand. She stabbed and he spun, swinging his sword up in a wild arc that deflected her strike, he sneered at her as her arm went wide, throwing another punch that collided with her waist. Her entire body shattered and burst into a flash of light.
She was behind him again, her shin careening towards his head as he raised his arm to protect his eyes. Her momentum halted. She looked down to see his hand wrapped around her leg, “You like striking from behind, don’t you!?” he snarled, throwing his body forward and pulling her with him. She let herself get flung towards the nearest row of trees, looking up at them just in time to create a portal. It flickered once with red light and she concentrated; Use only a little bit, she thought, channeling Visage to push through. Gravity shifted, her sense of direction adapted, and she hurtled down at him from above.
A lightning fast pivot, and her heel was coming down. “OTIS!”
Otis spun and looked up at her, his blue eyes glowing with mirth while his blonde hair flapped about his face, “HA HA HA! YOU HAVE MOVES!” Otis laughed in response, raising his sword to block.
–
KRAKOOOOOM!
The collision between Ishtar and the defending Otis sent another explosive wave rippling out from the center of the clearing. The air kicked up and trees shook, some falling over as thunder and lightning roared in the sky. She frowned from her spot behind one of those trees, taking a few lazy steps back to avoid the roots as they were ripped from the ground. Felwinter brushed herself off and looked over her shoulder at the huddled form of her comrade. Her lips dipped into a disgusted frown, How the hell is this guy worthy of becoming a Herald like myself?
Another bang rang out and she looked back at the fight. Otis and Ishtar had shifted from quick explosive blows to a rapid fire barrage of light hits. Otis moved with power and zero hesitation, his angles of attack obvious to anyone with the eyes to keep up. The only problem was that one had to keep up with his raw power and speed to avoid it. Felwinter had watched him fight monsters, she knew his direct and overbearing style of fighting but had honestly never seen anyone keep up with it.
Until now anyway.
While Otis was a brutal force of nature, Ishtar moved like something between a robot and a pixie. She remained floating in the air as she lashed out with kicks, punches, and attacks with her knives. Instead of focusing on blocking, her languid motions turned rigid and sharp as she dodged, avoiding strikes with a frankly nauseating margin of error. Case in point, she felt her stomach clench as Ishtar kicked off of Otis’ shoulder from another failed leg chop and moved into a backflip. He swung horizontally and she twisted her neck, the tip of his sword missing her by what had to be millimeters.
“He’s really holding his own,” she said with a self-satisfied grin.
“I-I wouldn’t count on it lasting,” Riot wheezed from where he lay next to at tree, still trembling as he stared at the dueling pair before averting his gaze, “She has big flashy moves, other powers besides her strength and reflexes. He doesn’t have many of those.”
“Yeah but he’s indestructible,” Felwinter shot back before rounding on him, “What the hell did you see?”
He looked away, “I…”
She stormed forward and grabbed him by the shirt, lifting him off the ground, “What did you see? You know better than to doubt the King!” she snarled, looking into his frantic eyes.
“She isn’t human!” he shouted, “There’s no way! The karma she has doesn’t make any sense! Some of it goes back inward, like there’s two of her! It’s insane! There are lines that go to places that are completely irrational! She’s- how do you know someone that old?!” he panicked, reaching up to grab at his head, “And then there’s that thing growing in her!”
“What thing-”
THOP
Felwinter felt her icy blood run even colder as she slowly shifted her eyes to the right, towards the glowing knife that was inches from the side of her head. Otis stood a foot away, his fingers wrapped around the gleaming edge of the weapon. Another had been thrown at Riot. Otis clenched his fists and crushed the light-made weapons, shards of hard light bursting into motes that returned to float over Ishtar’s palm. Ishtar floated in the center of the clearing and tilted her head forward, “Your Heralds are talkative, Otis, and nosy.”
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“They were just leaving,” Otis growled, his back to the two of them, “As they should have been earlier.”
I almost died.
Felwinter swallowed hard and nodded to her king, tightening her grip on Riot and making a rapid retreat as the ground shook beneath her feet, Otis launching himself back into his fight. She didn’t look back as the exchange of thunderous blows resumed. She needed to get some distance and focus on the mission. She had her own priorities during this battle and she wasn’t about to forget them while she ensured that there was a clear path for him to reach Liberty. If I have to soften that bitch up a little bit in the process, I will, she thought, only for a new kind of rumbling to come hurtling towards her. Instinct and training were the only thing that saved her, pulling back from her path just in time for a glowing mountain of muscle to come crashing through the trees, leaving a deep divot in the ground beneath him.
The man rose and raised his chin high. His body was covered in intricate tattoos and there was a sense of merriment about him despite the grim expression on his face. Holy shit! That’s Sapporo! She realized, eyes wide. He only gave the two of them a momentary glance before nodding to them and launching himself forward again to resume whatever fight he was engaged in.
She glanced down at Riot who was hanging from her grip, his chest had stopped heaving. “You good to move on your own, chicken shit?” she demanded, dropping him.
He scowled up at her from where he fell, “You didn’t see what I saw, Ishtar’s a monster, Felwinter!”
“We already knew that! Let’s move before-”
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!
The trees to her left exploded one at a time, sending splinters everywhere. She threw out her hand and a black mirror-like wall of ice rose up between her and the oncoming shrapnel. Two pairs of feet slid to a stop within the small clearing that had been created. She dismissed the protective wall and immediately recognized both of them. Black Lotus stood with her head high, sword at the ready, the air around her thick with the scent of flowers. Across from her was another woman in combat robes, her own sword pointed at Black Lotus as eerie black-red light seemed to radiate around her.
Dame Kant.
Black Lotus noticed the pair first, “Felwinter?” she asked, surprised and nearly lowered her guard only for Kant to throw herself at her, swords clashed as Kant came from above and Lotus blocked with an angled stroke from below. Metal ground and they separated. Felwinter grabbed Riot and ran, I can’t let Kant notice me, she thought and dove into the trees, racing from the spot. Riot shouted something but she paid it no mind, she needed to get some distance from these battles between titans and focus on what-
CRRRKKKKK
She knew that sound.
She knew that chill.
She stopped in her run and dropped a now very annoyed Riot onto the ground. “Hey! I said I’m fine! The shock’s passed, what the hell is wrong with you?!” he demanded, scrambling to his feet only for her to hold up a hand to shut him up. “What is it?”
CRRRKKKRRKKKKK
“MOVE!” she shouted and dove to the right as a spear of ice erupted from beneath her feet. It sprouted dozens of blade-like branches that sprouted dozens more, chasing her as she rolled and jumped and kicked off tree after tree to get away from the ruthless attack. When she finally landed she was standing across from a face she knew better than anyone. Bloodlust boiled in her veins. Her cold pit of a heart, her hungry soul, it ached, it hurt, it howled for the prey that she had promised it back during the day of her graduation.
A sheet of ice spread across the ground as Sir Phillip stepped out of the trees. He reached up and brushed his hair up with a cold smile, his eyes glittering with a mixture of delight and barely restrained malice.
“Welcome home, little sister,” he said and raised both hands, taking a half step back into a fighting stance.
She pivoted and put her shoulder to him, the black armor on her hands and forearms spread up to her shoulders and across her chest, her fingers popped beneath her gauntlets as the howl of agony within her ice filled the air with sinister promise. She put Riot out of her mind, she put her King out of her mind, for just this moment, for this last time, she would focus on her beloved sibling.
She raised a hand and pointed it at him, shards of black ice appearing in the air around her and beginning to spin like little drills, just like he used to do, “I’m home, big brother.”
–
“Move move move!”
BOOM!
Crusader held on to Snow for dear life, cradling her in her arms. She twisted, shielding the smaller woman as the shrapnel from the nearby blast peppered her. A few slivers made it past her armor, digging into the skin on her face and cutting through her ear. She grit her teeth and pushed out a bit more of her flames, sealing the wounds. A dozen pandora soldiers ran past, shouting and firing their weapons while the cultists steadily fell back up ahead.
A heavy set of feet ran up behind her, Harbinger sliding to a stop, “You alright?” she shouted over the din.
“I’m fine!” Crusader called, before nodding down to Snow in her arms, “She’s out! We need a moment to breathe so I can heal her!”
Another blast tore up the forest around them, a bolt of lightning following it and setting more trees ablaze. Harbinger winced and turned, raising her arm and growing a few more inches. Shrapnel pinged off her heavy metal armor, “Not a problem!” she shouted, “BLF!”
“One sec!”
A forearm the size of a school bus stretched across the space, glimmering scales spreading across it like frost on glass. It crashed through what trees remained and swept wide, catching a chunk of the masked cultists up in the attack. The pandora soldiers cheered and pressed forward while BLF hurried over to join the rest of his team. Crusader let out a breath and looked up at Harbinger who nodded at her. Their eyes met. Harbinger was pale as a ghost and she doubted she looked much better.
Harbinger stepped past her, pulling out her hammer and entering a fighting stance. BLF stepped up on the other side as Crusader set Snow down. Snow was shaking, her eyes fluttering and flicking about. She coughed, curling in on herself. She’d literally suffocated beneath Ishtar’s presence. Crusader held her shaky hands over her girlfriend and concentrated, gold flames spreading out over her body. Snow began to relax, letting out a groan as color returned to her face.
She looked up at Crusader, wide-eyed.
“You’re fine,” Crusader said, “Can you stand?” Snow nodded and with a quick motion Crusader pulled her to her feet. Snow swayed but steadied herself, “Sorry, we can’t stick around.”
“What the hell was that?” Snow asked, looking up at her.
“Ishtar.”
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BLF turned to them, Crusader glanced around, it looked like the coast was clear for the moment. She looked at him and saw the sunken, hollow look in his eyes. She felt it too. The terror was still there, the urgency to get away and keep moving had been the only thing to keep her knees from shaking. She’d made so many claims about being there to face Ishtar when the time came to defeat her. Now she’d been face to face with the supervillain, looked her in the eyes, and she’d run.
She turned to look back at Harbinger. Her friend was looking back in the direction of where they’d left Otis to hold Ishtar off. Flashes of golden and white light bloomed above the treeline. Her hammer was held limply at her side. She couldn’t see her face, but her drooped shoulders said everything.
“We need to keep moving,” Crusader said, Snow at her side.
“Cass?” BLF called, “Hey, snap out of it.”
Harbinger gripped her hammer but didn’t look back, a bolt of lightning fell from the sky, the flash of light setting her in silhouette. “Do we stand a chance?”
Crusader frowned, she looked down at her feet and clenched her fists. I’m scared too, damn it. All of us are. We all felt that. It nearly killed Snow. But… she took a breath, “It doesn’t matter.”
Harbinger turned to look at her, a haunted look on her face. “What?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Crusader said, squaring her shoulders. She needed to support her friend but she couldn’t be kind here. Now wasn’t the time. Not with everything they were up against, “We have a job to do. We’re heroes and that means facing the scariest shit on the planet,” she said, “So we’re gonna keep moving, we’re gonna make it to that compound, and we’re gonna bring the fight to Liberty. You are gonna bring the fight to Liberty,” she said and locked eyes with her friend. She broke into a smile and gestured to Snow and BLF, “And we’re gonna be right there with you.”
Harbinger didn’t look away as a bit of light came back to her eyes, she squared her shoulders and nodded, trying to look as heroic as possible. It was the best any of them could manage after that, but it was something. “Right,” she said, “Let’s move.”
