“Yeah yeah, I know. Dinner time Roxie.” Feint lowered herself and put the bowl full of food against the ground. Roxie, who had been waiting impatiently, dug into the food immediately. She was wagging her tail as she ate and Feint smiled. Rubbing her head gently she then glanced at Yumi who walked by.
“So we’re keeping the thing.”
“Yumi it’s been a few months. She’s staying.”
She put her hands up and sighed. “Fine. Whatever.”
As she walked into the living room she blinked as she tried to understand what she was looking at. “So Wiz Kid. It’s been a week. What’re you doing?”
“Setting up a meeting. Sort of.” They were typing and putting up several images on one of several monitors now hanging from the wall. They weren’t hanging by anything that seemed sturdy but who was she to say. “Don’t touch anything.”
“I wasn’t going to.” She sat on the couch and raised her eyebrow at the images that were being drawn up. Pictures of people, locations and computer mumbo jumbo that she couldn’t understand.
“You know I’m surprised to see you here. Haven’t seen your face in a while. And we live together. So how you managed that I don’t know.”
They ignored her though she caught the eye roll and smirked. She sat and continued to watch them. Feint joined her and gave Darren a strange look as well but Yumi just shushed her. “They’re making performance art for us.”
“Sarcasm?”
“A bit.”
She smiled but turned her attention to Darren again. She was able to understand a few things. Most of the words and a few concepts. She didn’t recognize any of the faces though.
“Where are Rogue, Echo and Shade?” Feint asked.
“DJ and Echo are running errands. After everything with the Vanguard we need more toys. As for Rogue. who knows.” Yumi shrugged. “He goes where he goes.”
“I’ve already told them to come back. They’re on their way.” Darren said without looking up.
Yumi laughed. “Look who’s on top of things.”
Darren chuckled and pointed toward the balcony door. “There’s one of them.”
The door opened and Rogue walked through it before appearing behind the couch. He leaned against it as he glanced at the two of them. “What’s this?”
“No idea. We’re going to find out when everyone else gets here.”
“Right. I’ll be back.” He nodded and then vanished to his room. When he came back Shade and Echo were in the living room holding grocery bags though their contents were nothing related to food. Both of them put their bags into the tinker room and then came back.
“What’s this?” Shade asked.
“Darren will tell us soon.” Echo said softly as she went to the armchair and sat down in it. Shade looked at her before looking toward Yumi. She nodded and he shrugged before sitting next to her with Feint on the other side. Rogue leaned against the back of the armchair and all eyes were on Darren.
“Alright, that’s everybody. So it’s time I get to work explaining what I’ve been up to the past few days.”
“More like past week.” Yumi added.
“Yeah. It has been pretty long. I’ll admit that. But worth it. Before I get to the meat of the info we need an appetizer. You all know about the power structure of the Royals. They’ve got Pawns, Rooks, Bishops, Knights, Queen, and a King.” They all nodded.
“Well the Queen is the focus of our discussion. A Queen is hand chosen by the King for their power. Usually a mix of political, physical and mental prowess. Only the truest number one can become the Queen.”
He pointed at a picture of a woman. She had a blank face, no emotion showing. Her eyes were like ice and her skin pale as a snow. She had her hair tied into a very neat bun with a pin through it. Her hair, like her skin, was pale.
“She looks like Echo,” Yumi commented.
Echo made a face, “Not even. She’s white. Very. I was black. Before all the experiments did this to me.”
“My bad,” Yumi smiled. “You’re definitely hotter than her.” That made Echo laugh.
Darren sighed and continued, “This is Eve, the current Queen of the Royals. However she only recently became Queen. The Queen before her was this woman who went by the name Lilith.”
In direct contrast the next woman he pointed to had vibrant black hair that seemed to have been slightly dyed purple. It was loose but also free and curly. Her skin was white but she enjoyed the sunlight. Strangest of all were her eyes, which were a very dull but piercing red. In the picture she was grinning like a devil. “She was the Queen that I worked under when I was first apart of the Royals.
“Now there was a shift in power about a year after I started working with them. I didn’t know the details at the time but suddenly Lilith was out and Eve was in. No one understood the move and I can only barely understand it now. All we know is that Lilith died and no one knows the cause.
“Now before I start on this next part there’s something else you need to know. The Royals respect blood above all else. Your family and their position tend to influence where you stand with the Royals. One of the reasons I remained a Bishop was because I was a talented nothing from no special background. The highest a nothing can become.”
He pointed at a third image. “This man however was far from nothing.” The man presented had the most reckless grin on his face. He had short well-groomed hair, sun bathed white skin and the same red eyes as Lilith. “This is Lilith’s son, Tracey, nicknamed Ace. For a short time, between Lilith and Eve, Trace was the Queen and rightly so. When it comes to just raw power he was your guy. Telekinesis is a handy power. But he didn’t have the mindset or patience to be Queen. He was smart but he had no urge to help run an organization like the Royals.
“Now I get what you’re thinking. Particularly you Yumi. What does this have to do with us? Well our good friend Ace has been on a mission to figure out what happened to his mother since she was killed. That’s where we come in. He knows some things. At least more than I was able to find out.”
“And the point Wiz Kid. Get to it.”
He rolled his eyes but nodded. “The point is this. I got a message from Ace a few hours ago. He said he might be getting into some trouble. But more importantly he knows why his mother was killed and figures I could do something with that info. But if he dies we won’t get that information.”
“Where is he?” Feint asked.
“Train yard. I’ll send you the location. He can hold his own for the most part but I wouldn’t wait too long.”
She nodded. “I’m assuming you told us all this just to get us up to speed.”
“More or less.”
“How does meeting this guy help us get Phase back?”
“He’s a former Queen of the Royals. And his information leads back to the people who made you. Of that I’m sure. Plus, it can’t hurt to have him owe us.”
“All of us going?” Shade asked.
“You might want to. He said they had Enhance.”
“More Dick Squad RX on the field. Let’s go.”
She jumped to her feet, raising her arms above her head. She went to the rack where they hung their mask and picked up hers. The outside was still scratched but Darren had at least been able to salvage the inside of it. She didn’t mind. She liked it a bit scratched up.
“Remember, you don’t have a lot of toys. I’ll be working on them while I’m here. Let me know if you guys need any information while on the go.”
“Always do Darren.” Feint put her mask on and then looked at him. “Let’s hope your guy can help us find Phase.”
They suited up, putting on jackets, better shoes and their mask. Feint took the lead as she stepped outside. She was greeted by the cold air once again and frowned as she looked down. There were even more brightly colored lights. Greens and reds galore.
“Is it that close to Christmas?”
“It’s the 20th fire starter. Pretty close to the day in question.”
Shade glanced at them. “Think we should celebrate?”
“Not without Phase.” Feint said and then jumped off the edge. She took a hard landing before she started forward her mask homing in on the new location. She could feel the others behind her but things faded as she ran. Just focusing on each step she had to take, each piece forward.
Her mask pinged and she slowed down before stopping on the edge of a rooftop. She crouched and stared at the lines of abandoned trains. There were dozens of them around. Some were open, some were closed and off the rails. However she focused in on one that was overturned. She saw the blurred shapes that were moving around the trains.
They were strong enough to hit the trains and almost send them flying off. Others blurred around and attacked the center shape. It jumped away and then an unseen force threw them through the air. The ground had about half a dozen of them knocked down but there were another dozen still on the way.
“What the hell am I looking at?” Shade asked folding his arms.
“Looks like an action movie. I wanna join it.” Yumi rubbed her hands together quickly and then stood.
“Is that our guy?” Rogue asked and Echo nodded.
“Yes. I can read him. The others are working together and trying to bring him down. He’s trying to find an escape.”
“Then let’s drop in.” Feint jumped forward and her train landing was smoother than she thought. Getting her footing quickly she she flipped over another train and then a hard kick into a suited speedster. She rolled against the ground and watched him roll away.
“Guys spread out and take them down!”
Yumi jumped over Feint’s shoulders and flipped planting both her feet into the chest of a suit. She surfed with him against the ground and cart wheeled forward with a laugh. She turned and her head jerked back as she took a strong fist to the chest. However she could take a hit.
The next blow that came she caught and blocked it. Stepping forward she flipped him around and threw him onto his back. Another blow struck her in the back and she fell forward. Grunting in anger she felt her hands glow but a blow to the face stole her concentration.
Two suits ganged up on her and were shocked when one of them was thrown to the side. Yumi focused in and saw Shade materialize from nothing. Jumping forward he kicked the other twice in the head.
“Getting careless Yu.”
“Only because you’ve got my back Shadeow.”
“You two are so cute.” Echo giggled as she slid across the ground. Tripping up one of the suits she got onto her hands and spun kicking him around. He took a few hits before catching her leg. Swinging upward she inhaled and with all her strength swung him in a full 360 and kicked him into a train car.
With a graceful landing she backed off and then jerked her gaze to the side. She could ‘see’ more of them coming toward her. However she wasn’t going anywhere. Standing her ground she raised her hands and then jumped backwards.
Rogue appeared in front of her and close lined both of them. Crouching as he did so he vanished again grabbing one of them and then vanishing throwing them into one another. Appearing beside Echo she giggled softly. “I knew you’d be on your way. Even though I can handle myself thank you.”
“Alright. Then next time watch my back.”
“Duck.”
He went low and an old train wheel went flying over his head. She laughed and jumped back into the fight.
Yumi turned around and then ran toward the gathering of suits. There were a bunch of them gathering around Ace. She jumped onto a train and then leaped forward again and reached into her pouch. There was almost nothing in there but a few smoke grenades and IHDs. The IHDs were useless here so she threw a smoke bomb out.
The explosion of all encompassing smoke filled the yard for a moment and she landed in the thick of it. Her mask going straight to infrared she glanced around before focusing her gaze onto Ace. She dug her hand into the ground picking up a rock. She chucked it forward and it smashed into someone’s head.
She jumped forward and kicked someone in the back of the knee. They buckled then whipped around and punched her in the face. She stumbled backwards the blow having more oomph then she had thought.
She caught the next blow and squeezed, her hand turning on. They screamed as the burning took hold before two of the suits were lifted into the air. They were spun around before being launched away.
She looked at the cause of that and smirked seeing Ace. He looked exactly as he did in the picture. Though he had a dirty dress shirt and pants on. He dodged another suit then kneed him in the chest. Jumping forward and grabbing the guy’s shoulders he threw him into another. With a laugh he thrust his hand out and grabbed them out of the air. They floated for a moment before he turned and threw him into another pair.
Jumping back he dodged another blow and then cartwheeled to the side. Five of them raced after him. He landed on top of a train car and faced them. They rushed him from every angle and he crouched. Thrusting his arms out he sent them all flying off the train.
Shaking his head quickly he glared when Yumi landed on his car. He raised his hand and she raised both hers. “Whoa there Ace. We’re on your side. Wiz Kid sent us.”
“Who the hell is Wiz Kid?”
“She’s talking about Darren.” Feint said climbing onto the train car. “You said you needed help and had information. We’re here to get it.”
“Right. Well I’m inclined to believe you since they did always like masks.” He shrugged and then looked at the suits. They were starting to get back up though they weren’t moving all that fast. “Damn, thought I’d keep em down a bit longer. Help me clean up and then we can talk.”
They all turned and then jumped off the edge. Echo was running across the ground and planted both her feet in the chest of a suit. She leaned forward and flipped forward and then ducked under a kick.
Between the six of them the suits were much of a match anymore. It didn’t take long before they were all down or running away. Feint folded her arms, watching them. It still struck her at how well they worked together; Shade using his powers to ambush people going after Echo, Rogue throwing people into Yumi for easy takedowns, Shade and Yumi’s fighting together as a unit. They didn’t stand a chance.
Ace clapped as he walked toward her, “Alright. I’m impressed.”
“Impressing you isn’t why were here.”
“Information. Right.” He cleaned out his ear and flicked it away. He walked to the edge of the train car and then dropped down. “What did Darren end up telling you?”
“We know about Lilith and Eve. We know you’re Lilith’s son. That’s about it.”
“Really? They didn’t piece it all together.”
“I have theories.” Darren said from over Feint’s mask. “But I don’t like guess work.”
“He’s probably calling me out right now.” Ace laughed and leaned his head back. “You guys have Enhance?”
“Yes. What about you?”
He smirked. “Not really. To quote Lady Gaga, I was born this way.”
“What do you mean?”
He glanced at her and then looked her up and down slowly. “Yeah. I think you can know. If I’m right about you that is. Being born as Lilith’s kid. The powers are one of them. They say Eve’s the mother of Enhance but she’s nothing but a cheap knock off compared to Lilith.”
“Wait what? What do you mean the mother of Enhance?”
As they were talking the others were making their way over before creating a half circle around them. “Mother of Dick Squad RX? That’s a title.”
“God people called it that shit.” He shook his head. “The Royals have two divisions. One for the surface gang. The other is their R&D. Those guys are smart, really smart but fuck if not inhumane. They experiment with their chemicals and people just for the hell of it. They got the order from the King to see just how far we could push the human body. Didn’t go over so well so they decided to take a different approach.
“Instead of improving on the human body, they managed to make a new human from scratch. Messing around with genes and that shit. Ole 01 Adam himself. He was something. Only saw him once though. God they were excited. At least as excited as a bunch of scientist playing God could be. If Adam so much as sneezed the wrong way they recorded it. He was their big find. Took em almost five years and a couple billion dollars to produce.”
“A couple billion? How much money did you guys hoard?” Yumi mumbled.
“They’re called the Royals, Yu. The name comes with the expectation of cash.”
“Ain’t that the truth?” Ace shrugged. “Adam was the best thing they had created and then they wanted to do more. But they never let him out of the lab. He was their experiment and God forbid anything from the outside interfered with him. He didn’t question or think about it much. When all you’ve known is captivity you rarely think of the outside world.
“They wanted to make another one, but they couldn’t make a brand new one. However they did make a hybrid; some of Adam and some of a preexisting person. A woman. That was Lilith. She was at the time a Knight of the Royals. With her new powers she rose in the ranks and became the new Queen. With the sway she was holding over the Royals she could’ve usurped the King. He didn’t like that. I mean your pawn was about to start running your organization? That’s not allowed.
“So they did a mix of things. First thing they did was find a way to replace her. Adam was what happens when you manipulate genes. Lilith was what happens when you mix those manipulated genes with a human. So with their third try they were going to do what they were supposed to do initially. Another volunteer but this one not a high ranking member of the Royals. A consistent whore or something of the King’s. I don’t know the ends and outs of his relationships and his people. Anyway she took the miracle drug that would make her into what she is now.”
Ace leaned against the train car and seemed to be gritting his teeth. “Now they had someone with Lilith’s powers and completely loyal to the King. Otherwise known as Eve. Biblical aren’t they? With Eve under their thumb they didn’t need Lilith. I know they had her killed. I don’t know who did it or how but I know they did it.”
Shaking his head, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. Biting on the edge of one he folded his arms tightly and sighed heavily. “But let’s not get talk about my revenge story. Eve is the mother of Enhance because she’s for all intents and purposes the first user of Enhance. They gave her drugs that messed around with her body and out came ‘Lilith 2.0’.”
“What the hell.” Yumi said under her breath.
“Ditto.” Shade looked at Ace. “What about the rest of their shit? The experiments. They didn’t stop with Eve did they?”
“No. They actually kept going with their projects after Lilith. Batches of hundreds. I think. I didn’t meet any of the experiments or see them. Most of this is second hand from their research files. They recorded everything.”
The gathered thieves were silent as he finished speaking. Information processing for the most part, especially for the three experiments in question. Feint looked away and dialed the vision on her mask until she saw only black lenses. It would explain her reaction to Enhance. It would explain Yumi’s hand manifestation and Echo’s periodic sicknesses. They had a lineage.
“Alright. Give us a minute to think.” Feint said and then looked at him. “We rescued you, you gave us information. Fair trade. Now we need a favor.”
“I just met you guys and you’re asking for favors.” Ace got a lighter out and lit the edge of the cigarette and inhaled. “What is it?”
“We recently lost a friend. Got captured by the Royals. We need to get to the R&D department of the Royals.”
“Well sounds like that sucks for your friend.”
“He was an experiment. 052.” She said and that got his attention.
“An early one. Wow. Didn’t think there were that many left, let alone any out in the world. Still not all that inclined to help you.”
Feint opened her mouth to try and lie something convincingly. She couldn’t think of anything. Then Darren piped in and she listened. “Are you sure?”
“Very. He needs to know regardless.”
“Right.” She looked at Ace who was watching her. “You show us the facility and we can tell you who’s responsible for your mother’s death. The exact person.”
He stiffened and narrowed his eyes at her. “Darren figured it out didn’t they? Who? Who killed her?!”
She shook her head, pointing at him. “Agree to help us.”
Pulling out the cigarette he crushed it into his palm and got to his feet. “Fine. Fine. I’ll take you there. Hell I’ll help you rescue your friend. But I want a name.”
“Darren doesn’t know his name because he was always secretive. But they’re betting you do. Since it was the King himself.”
The Harlequin Library 