THE GAME
SUFFER THE CHILDREN
PART 2
Ranger Cole hated Clockwork.
Ever since his family, his home, and everything else he cared about had been taken by the maniacal creatures, he went after them with a vengeance. Some nights, instead of going out on missions with the rest of his crew, he went out hunting.
At first, he would directly confront them; gunning them down point blank with extreme prejudice. As his shooting skills improved and he embellished his assault rifle, he took it further, becoming a sniper of sorts, picking the mechanical bastards off from a distance. He thought it amusing, watching the little things scurry around like ants being burned by light in a magnifying glass. They would go about their business, then BANG! another one would drop. After a few seconds, they would continue scavenging as if nothing had happened. Often times, they would even rip their fallen comrade apart for scrap metal, which Ranger Cole found sadistically entertaining.
This morning would be no different. He lowered his sighting scope, and set his rifle for grenade launch mode. The M30 that he would send among the group of Sprockets and their Oscillator companions would turn them all to tin cans in one glorious explosion.
His eyes narrowed behind his red-tinted goggles as he slowly pulled the trigger. The satisfying pressure of the ammunition being released was going to be more joyous than anything he felt.
The sight of Clockwork being blown to bits never came. Pressure waves from a nearby explosion disrupted his shot, making his aim slip. The grenade went sailing way right of the Clockwork and into the midst of a Circle ritual. The resulting fireball sent the cultists flipping in all directions, including off the rooftop.
Angered his shot had been ruined, Ranger Cole whirled around. Several buildings away, he saw a group dressed in red, black and white fighting another team, he presumed heroes. Firing off lightning fast rounds at the robots, who seemed somewhat startled by the nearby explosion, Ranger Cole made short work of them before they could escape.
Another explosion came his way, like a physical blow. Now more annoyed, he targeted one of the people dressed in red. He wasn’t sure who they were, and he didn’t particularly care. Locking in on the one who was causing those damned explosions, he fired.
Fortuneteller suddenly screamed, and then vanished from sight. Jongleur looked at where she had been briefly and then behind him. Seeing another person with a large rifle trained on their group, he hurled several of his deadly blades at the man.
Seeing something glinting in the midday sun, Ranger Cole readied himself. Using his rifle like a bat, he swung at the projectiles, knocking them away from himself. Holstering his gun, he took a few steps back and broke into a run. He made the massive leap between buildings, shortening the distance between himself and his would-be assailant.
Pulling out his rifle again, he fired off a couple more shots. He could see that the heroes were having a little difficulty, even though there were more of them compared to the clown show freaks they were fighting. He went behind a huge ventilation duct and fired at the wierdos.
The air temperature suddenly dropped markedly behind him.
"Liquid Chill, I was wondering when you’d come." he said, without looking behind himself.
A large, icy hand grabbed him from behind by the scruff of his neck. With a yelp, Ranger Cole was tossed like a rag doll to the other side of the roof. He crashed onto another duct, denting it into abstract sculpture.
Shaking off his injury, he took a good look at his adversary, a Winter Lord. Growling through clenched teeth, he hit one of the buttons on his curious-looking wrist bands. Electricity suddenly flowed out from his hands, forming a cage around the creature and pinning it in place.
Firing off round after round into the thing, he blew huge chunks of snow out of it. With a wave of his hand, he re-set the electrical barrier, preventing the Winter Lord from even touching him. The thing bellowed as it was blasted apart.
He looked back at the group; they were still having trouble with the circus freaks. The explosion had sent them all onto different rooftops, while their adversaries stayed close together. Taking aim again, he set his scope on the one throwing the knives…
The Nameless were having a hard time with the costumed villains. Between Jongleur’s acrobatics, Jester’s spheres of energy, and Strongman’s incredible toughness and speed, the eight of them were being run ragged. It had started to turn when Fortuneteller had been taken out, but then Jongleur reached into an inside pocket and tossed a little ball on the ground.
The ball emitted a piercing shriek that made everyone near it clutch their heads in agony. The sound had the physical equivalent of thousands of needles assaulting the ear and brain. Then, just as quickly as it had appeared, it was suddenly gone.
Nightbringer staggered to his feet, expecting to face Jongleur and his associates. Instead, he saw a man dressed in what looked like tan riot gear. The man stared at the Nameless through tinted red goggles that almost seemed too large for his face. In his arms, he cradled a huge rifle.
"Cole? Is that you?" asked Madam Medusa.
The barest of smiles cracked his face. The green skinned heroine ran up to him and warmly embraced him, deepening his warming expression. There was a certain smugness to it when he looked directly at Nightbringer, a look that puzzled everyone.
"Ranger Cole, I guess we are in your debt." Nightbringer said, extending his hand.
The goggled hero regarded Nightbringer’s hand like one would a snake.
"Bastards messed up my aim." he growled.
"Thank you, anyway." Medusa added, and introduced the others in an attempt to quickly make peace. She did not want to see a fight erupt between her husband and former lover. "How are the others, Liquid Chill and Dark Ion?"
"They’re fine. They miss you, though. Liquid Chill got himself cleaned up for good after you took him to Cygnus." he commented.
"And Dark Ion?"
Ranger Cole shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe Talos, maybe Rogue Isles. He comes and goes whenever he wants, like always."
"So why are you in Skyway?"
"Huntin’ Clockwork." he sighed. "It seems anymore that all heroes care about are the big threats, you know, the ones that will get their names on the front page. No one wants to try to take care of the street-level crimes." He spat in disgust. "It’s all Statesman’s fault, opening up the Rogue Islands and all. Everyone wants to take down Lord Recluse." He shifted his gaze at Medusa. "You’re a long ways away from Steel Canyon, aren’t ya, darlin’? What brings ya’ll to Skyway?" he asked.
"The children from Sussex Academy are all missing."
"I heard something ‘bout that. Didn’t really pay it much mind." He spat again. It seemed to everyone he was rather fond of the act. "I take it them fellers had something to do with it?"
"We think so. Solanum and Psirene have confirmed a definite connection between the Gamester and the children’s disappearance. They also reported having a run-in with a man named Piper." Medusa hoped Cole would join them; his skills with the rifle were unbelievable.
"If they ain’t Clockwork, I ain’t int’rested." he slurred, and spat once more. "’Sides, it seems like ya’ll got everything taken care of." He swung his rifle around his back so he could move more freely and started to walk away, but stopped suddenly. He bent over and picked up something.
"What is it?" asked Nightbringer.
Scowling, Ranger Cole handed the item over to Medusa. He had never completely gotten over Flora, and to see her with Nightbringer, a former Death’s Head of the Skulls, hurt too much. She took the item and thanked him.
Without another word, he leapt to the next building. He knew of a good spot where he could pick off Clockwork for hours, and it wasn’t far from where he was.
"You two used to date?" asked Beguiler in a surprised tone. "Why can’t I see that?"
"Shut up, Edward." snapped Nightbringer. Turning his attention to his wife, he asked to see what Ranger Cole had handed her.
It was a playing card, or at least, it looked like one. It was slightly larger and thicker than a standard card, but the dimensions, even the design, made it look like one.
"Queen of Diamonds. I think that’s the card of a treacherous woman." commented Vision.
Medusa and Prismatic gave him a sharp look, and he stammered out an apology.
"Do you think it’s significant?" asked Nightbringer. He had thought the same thing, but wisely said nothing. Especially, he noted, with Solanum and Psirene approaching them.
"I dunno."
Stingray took the card from Medusa, squinting at it, then attempting to bend it.
"It’s not made of paper." he started. "I’m detecting something electrical about this. I want to analyze this back at my lab."
The group chuckled. Stingray’s "lab" consisted of his desk, his computer, and all sorts of electrical equipment that flowed off of it. He had always dabbled in electronics, but since being pumped full of nanites, his understanding of high technology propelled him into the realm of genius. What made it more strange was that he liked working in the nude.
Carefully wrapping the card up, he quickly scaled down the fire escape. They could see a trail of papers and dust caught up in his wake as the young man headed for home at ninety-seven miles per hour.
"Well, you missed a lot of fun at Sussex." stated Solanum. "We ran into one of Gamester’s goons."
"So did we, only there were four of them." responded Beguiler, gently taking her hand. "A blast from Medusa’s past helped us out."
The green skinned heroine turned a deeper shade, an indication she was blushing. Would Beguiler just let it go, she thought.
"We also ran into a few other heroes at the school." Psirene added. "This is Valdrich. His daughter, Fiona, is one of the "super children" that were seen robbing the diamond exchange."
"Who else was there?"
Psirene thought for a moment. "There were two heroes talking with Solanum. They may try and contact us later. I believe their names were…Medik and, oh hell, what was that chap’s name? Red Sniper."
The group exchanged bewildered expressions. With a city of thousands of heroes, it was impossible to remember everyone.
Solanum spoke up about the pair. "They got a lead from another teammate of theirs, a guy named Fixit. They seemed to indicate not too many teams are trying to find out who Gamester is."
"Any word on what happened?" Nightbringer asked, as the others scanned the decaying cityscape.
"Other than what I told you. Apparently, Piper’s music affects the mind. He started playing this song that threw people into convulsions. If Psirene hadn’t shielded us, I don’t know what would have happened." She sighed in exasperation. "None of it makes any logical sense! The Winterlords, kidnapping the children, knocking off the diamond exchange." She drummed her nails on a ventilation pipe while thinking it over. "The crimes seem sloppy and disorganized."
"Psirene, were you able to determine anything?"
She shook her head. She was becoming increasingly worried over her daughter.
A muffled buzzing noise caught their ears. Solanum reached behind herself, grabbed her cell phone from a small back pocket and answered it.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Solanum, it’s Medik. Nice of you to finally answer your phone." he chastised.
"What have you found?"
"Quite a bit, actually. Found a bag full of diamonds which we took to City Hall for analysis. We interviewed Dr. Webb’s son and just found the good doctor himself."
"Sounds like you’ve been busy." she complimented in a sultry voice. She hoped the tone would get more information out of him.
"Uhm, yeah. We took Dr. Webb to DATA and they’re going to be letting all heroes know how Gamester’s devices work. It seems that Gamester was blackmailing Webb into working for him."
"Thank you, Medik."
"We’ll keep you posted on anything else."
"Likewise." she said as she hung up. Her phone rang again.
"Yes?"
"Hey sis, I started looking at the card Fortuneteller left. It appears that it’s a small electronic device made from a sort of plastic explosive. I’ll know more soon enough, but whoever made this sure knows his stuff."
"Thanks, Evan."
"No problem."
After ending the call, Solanum told the others what was going on.
"So, Gamester’s group are technologically enhanced supervillains?" asked Vision.
"It appears to be the case."
"And Webb is in custody?" Nightbringer asked. Things were starting to click together in his mind.
Solanum nodded, wishing he would say where he was going with what he was thinking.
"Okay, here’s the plan; Solanum, Psirene, LiveWire and Valdrich go to Eastgate and try to find the kids. If you run into any Outcasts, don’t fight them. Tell them you want to talk to Girru. If anything out of the ordinary is going on in his territory, he would know. He won’t really fight without provocation, and he’s helped me out in the past. The rest of us will go to City Hall and see if we can talk to Dr. Webb to get more information."
Psirene sighed lightly. "Consorting with villains. What is this world coming to?"
"A lot more than you realize, dear Psirene." came a sharp voice.
The group turned to look again. This time, instead of a group of circus freaks wearing red, black, and white, this group was just wearing black.
Four zombies were standing at attention around a small woman with deep blue skin and white hair. Her eyes were a deep garnet red, like two embers. Her dark coloring and clothes made it difficult to make out any sort of details.
Beguiler’s jaw clenched. "Nocturne." he spat. "I’d say it’s good to see you, but I’d be lying."
A smile crossed her face, revealing white teeth that stood in sharp contrast to her dusky skin. "That’s something I always appreciated about you, Eddie love. You were always honest with me."
Solanum looked back and forth between Beguiler and the newcomer. "You know this woman?"
Her boyfriend gave her a sideways look.
"She’s my ex-wife." he spat.