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Bound No More, Part 5
By Sean McDonald
Spectreblade once again found himself at City
Hall. As he walked through the front door, he saw a colorful
bunch of puzzled and frustrated characters talking among
themselves. A man with a magical sigil on his chest spoke to
another, “MAGI’s closed down. What’s going
on?”
He replied, “I have no clue.”
A third spoke, “I hear they got broken into.”
“Again?”
“They always get broken into. What, is the vault door made of pixie dust or something?”
As the shrouded knight jostled his way through the
onlookers, someone called out to him. “Hey, you! Tin
man!”
Spectreblade turned to see a gruff-looking man with
spines protruding from his arms. He asked the thorned one,
“Are you talking to me?”
“Yeah, I’m talkin’ to you.
You see any other tin cans around here? So, what’s going
on?” The stymied newcomer shouted in anger. “I
was supposed to talk to Azuria and get my first mission today.
Now what am I supposed to do?”
“There was a break-in here. It might be
connected to a case I’m working on, so they sent me to
investigate.”
“Oh, so this is your fault, then?”
He asked, his impatience showing through his voice. “So,
where do I go now?”
“Don’t worry. Tomorrow’s
another day. Since you’re here, the streets of Atlas Park
could always use a few more heroes patrolling the streets, and if
you’re really that anxious for an assignment, you could go to
Freedom Corps HQ in Galaxy City. Look for a man named Gregor
Richardson. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some
investigating to do.”
Spectreblade left the confused novice and went down
the hall to the MAGI office. “Typical bureaucracy,”
the spiny one muttered under his breath.
The office of the Modern Arcane Guild of
Investigation was closed off with crime scene tape. The man in
the black and blue armor stepped over and called out to one of the
investigators. “It’s good to see you, Detective
Brogan. I wish it didn’t have to be like this though.”
The detective said, “Yeah. I swear, MAGI
really needs better security. There’s a lot more weirdness
here than there is back in Philly, that’s for sure.”
“Indeed. So, the scepter was taken?”
“That’s right. Azuria said it was
that same nutcase who was with the Hellions at their last arson
party. The researchers didn’t even have time to give it a
proper analysis.”
“Looks like Armorbound wanted his staff back.”
“I’ll say!” Detective Brogan told him.
“What else do you know about this?”
“There was one other witness. Some
newbie hero. He’s in the hospital right now, babbling
“Nerf EM”. You got any idea what it means?”
“Nope.”
“Well, there’s another clue here. He left a note.”
“Do you have it with you?”
“Got it right here.” Detective Brogan
answered. He handed it to the hero. Spectreblade read the
note. It was an invitation to a showdown. In one week,
Armorbound would be at the museum from whence he came. If
Spectreblade did not show himself, he would make up for it by seeing
the place go up in flames.
At Onami Strike Force HQ, the team who drove back the Hellions planned their next move.
“Come on, Spectreblade. You gotta know this is a trap,” Voltech warned.
“Even so, we’ve been given an
opportunity to end this madness,” the knight answered.
“I don’t want to waste it.”
“But he’s sure to be well-prepared,” PhoenixHawk added.
“What if he whips out that toy of
his?” Voltech continued. “All he needs is a few
good shots and you’re toast – literally.”
“If he brings the Fire Scepter, then we’ll be able to recover it.”
Thauma Guard sat listening to this when a flash of
inspiration hit her. “That’s it!” she yelled.
Voltech gave her a surprised look. “Wow, what’d he do?”
“I just got an idea.” She said as she
stood up. “That scepter’s got a soul trapped in it,
right?”
“That’s correct,” the shrouded
knight confirmed. “Just like my armor and
Armorbound’s”
“Then my plan should work. It’ll
take some time to set up, but if my magic is as good as I think it is,
Armorbound’s as good as ours.”
A sign hung on the door of the medieval weapons
exhibit reading “CLOSED FOR RENOVATION”. Within, the
dark-skinned sorceress went to work. Museum workers moved cases
of armaments, making room for stone spires engraved with mystical
runes, one at each of the four walls of the chamber. The floor
had been repainted in an intricate pattern the day before, and today,
the displays were put back in place. Now, the museum was a trap
for both hero and villain alike.
At the appointed time, the museum was deserted
except for the unconscious guards. In the dim light of the
Ancient Rome exhibit stood terrible figures. A suit of
orange-rusted armor moved among the monuments, seething with power as
its owner seethed with thoughts of vengeance. Following it was
living death; a patchwork of disparate body parts wrapped in black
leather. The being spoke. “Are you sure about
this?”
The Armorbound replied, “I am certain,
Cauter. Spectreblade will be drawn to our flames like a
moth.”
“What if some other cape shows up?”
“If anyone else arrives, I shall leave them to
you and your men, but the knight is mine,” Armorbound told the
black form. Cauter was an eidolon, among Dr. Vahzilok’s
proudest creations, lacking the swarm of flies that the doctor’s
rank and file inevitably attracted. The eidolons still had human
intelligence, and this one, a luminous eidolon, possessed the body
parts of a fallen hero, and with them, an ill-gotten power over
radiation.
The rusted hunk of metal produced a long, thin box
and handed it to the eidolon. “I trust you will be able to
wield this scepter better than its last owner,” Armorbound said
to the black-clad undead as it leaned against a white marble column.
“Of course. Anyone could do better than
the Hellions,” he said with a malevolent green twinkle in his eye.
“Those fools don’t understand what
they’re dealing with. One of these days, some demon they
conjure up from some botched spell will show them first-hand just how
little they know,” the metal stalker laughed. Then his tone
became deadly serious. “Now, use that carefully.” His
voice resonated. “I was fortunate to be able to recover the
wand so quickly, but even so, Mammon’s bumbling tipped our
hand. We cannot risk the Onami Strike Force or any others
learning any more about the nature of the scepter, especially the one
with the dark skin. With someone that skilled in magic on their
side, they may already know too much. If she dares to play at
being a warrior by showing herself here, put her in her place.”
“Understood,” Cauter replied.
“Excellent.” Armorbound said as he
faded into invisibility. As he left, a statue of Venus shattered
from the impact of an enchanted fist. The stalker was soon alone
with his thoughts. “So,
the witch thinks she’s a fighter, does she? Soon
she’ll regret meddling in the affairs of men such as us.
Once I deal with Spectreblade, that trifling annoyance will know her
place.”
Once he had left, Cauter considered his words as he opened the black wooden box, revealing the scepter. “This guy has issues,” he thought to himself. “But I suppose as long as he keeps supplying the Doc with bodies, I shouldn’t complain.” He removed the wand from the box, gazing upon it in anticipation of the battle to come.
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