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To the Victor… Entimangler
and HAAL returned from their recent stake out. It was pretty clear
that it had not been any more fruitful than the previous
attempts. It had been
nearly three months since Heather and Zach had been able to pin down the most
likely location of the tropical resort where the man they were seeking had spent
a week on vacation. From that information, they had managed to get
a list of 73 people that were here that week, and who traveled from the
north-eastern US. Of those, only 14 fit the general physical
description of the man, though Ent was unable to provide anything more than a
fuzzy general description, seeing him mainly in the ultra-violet
spectrum. In three
months, they had managed to track down twelve of the fourteen. All
twelve had been ruled out by Ent. Tonight, they scratched number
thirteen off of the list. “I’m not even
going to bother asking of you’re sure,” said Tog. “What if it’s
not this last guy? How sure are we that our guy is even on this
list?” “We can’t be
positive he is,” said Epim. But, Athena, Zach, and Heather all
agree that based on the pictures we recovered, it absolutely had to be Jamaica
in late February.” “Well,
couldn’t he have gotten there by private plane or sailed there on his
own? Off the books?” “We’ve
discussed this. We all knew it was a long shot before we
started.” Tog sat down
and rested his head on his fist. “I know. It doesn’t
make it any less frustrating though.” ~~~~~ “I really
wish you’d call me Ahm-ee,” said the small girl with the bright pink hair, dyed
to match her armor.” “But that’s
not a good hero name,” said Sliss. “Besides, I like this
name. It fits you. You’re fast. And
twitchy.” “Then why
does Kym get to go by her name?” “She’s meaner
than you. You fight good, and you’re all deadly and stuff, but Kym
will do stuff to you in your sleep and mess with your
food.” The girl
thought about this for a minute. “I can see that. I
guess being known as ‘Fast Twitch’ is just one of the many things I’m going to
have to get used to here.” “Ha!
Yeah. That’s the spirit. There’s the
entrance.” The pair
arrived at one of the many entrances to the sewers. Twitch had
been given an assignment to clear out all of the Vahzilok from this section and
return anything she found to her contact. The Vahz were a good
choice for her. Most of them were re-animated corpses, so she
could work on perfecting her non-lethal sword strikes without the hassle of
having accidentally killed a real person. Sliss was tagging along
to help her out, and to make sure she got out alright. Kym and Debi
rounded the corner of the building and approached the entrance.
They looked like total opposites with Kym in a black hooded cloak and
Debi in a pink and white cheerleader’s outfit. After the short
greetings were over, Kym spoke up. “Okay, there
are supposed to be a lot of them in here. We need to stick
together, but still work in pairs. Debi, work with Sliss.
Stay by his side as best you can. If he takes off, he’ll be
back in a second. Just wait for him; don’t
follow. “Twitch,
you’re with me. I’ll go after the real people and you go after the
dead guys. If you get in trouble, run to
Sliss.” The others
acknowledged the basic plan and they entered the sewers. Once
inside, they took a moment to let their eyes adjust while Sliss tasted the air
for anything dangerous, or possibly edible. “Everyone
ready? I’ve got point.” Kym started off through the
brick-lined maze. About fifty yards in, the passage opened to a
room with a large turbine on either side. In the room were at
least three different groups of seven to ten foes each. “Right side
first,” she said. Debi, you stick tight to Sliss and cover from
the entry way here. Twitch, you follow me in and stick to the
walls. We don’t want one of those other groups to see us before
we’re ready.” She checked
for nods, then moved off to the right. All was going well on the
approach until one of the Mortificators saw her and attacked. With
him came 5 of the walking dead and two more humans dressed in ghoulish surgeon’s
outfits. Behind them all was a tall male figure, dressed in black
leather. “Get the big
guy first!” yelled Kym. Twitch was
already in the air, over the crowd surrounding Kym, and behind the
Eidolon. A quick double slash across it’s back opened a pair of
superficial wounds. This earned her a blast to the face with some
sort of inky energy. It was a feeling that left her cold and
unable to see clearly. Suddenly, the
Eidolon lit up like a beacon. Sliss had done that thing again,
like he did with the selnar the day they met. Even through her
clouded vision, her target shone like a pillar of yellow-green light.
Another slash across the chest was followed by a quick double cut across
the lead leg, then a broad horizontal slash across the abdomen.
The Eidolon was losing much of its life sustaining fluid now.
A few more cuts and it would slip into unconsciousness. Or
back into death. Kym had been
working over the Mortificator with blow after blow of her shrouded fists.
Her efforts were backed up by both Sliss and his dark energy blasts and
the disrupting sound waves coming from Debi’s amplified voice. She
may have lacked the damage output of Ent, and even Twitch, but the black mist
that surrounded her kept her quite safe for as long as was
needed. “Well done,
guys,” said Kym. “Next group, same thing.” HAAL’s voice
came across the radio. “Kym, are you still in Atlas
Park?” “Yes.” “Head to
Steel Canyon gate. We stumbled across the man we have been
seeking. We need to arrange a capture, but we can’t risk him
seeing anyone he may know.” “Got
it. Okay all. Change of plans.
Exit.” The group
left the sewers and Sliss took off to find a safe place to teleport the two
girls. Kym jumped into the sky and contacted HAAL
again.” “You guys
have a plan? I’ve got two rookies and
Sliss.” “Mourning
Angel is headed your way. If she can subdue him before he gets a
chance to call for a teleport, we should be able to grab him. If
she can’t get there in time, I need for your group to try and take
him.” “This is
gonna make for bad press.” “It cannot be
helped.” Kym signed
off and turned to the others who had just arrived in the alley way.
“Okay, see the old guy in the blue suit? We need to take
him. He’s got people ready to teleport him away at a moment’s
notice, so Mourning is on her way to try and take him. If she
can’t lock him down, we’re the back up plan.” “And what is
our plan?” asked Twitch. “Not a
freaking clue.” “He’s heading
for the train,” squealed Debi. “We just need to stall him,
right? “Til Mourning Angel can get here?” “Yeah, if we
can stall him without spooking him that would be best, I just don’t want to have
to beat down a civilian in broad daylight.” “I can do
it. Let me do it.” “Debi, you
don’t really know what’s going on here. I don’t think this is a
good idea.” “I have about
20 seconds to get into position before it’s too late. Kym.
Trust me. Seriously.” Kym seemed to
take forever to decide. “Fine. Go! But
be careful.” Debi took off
on a dead sprint to the train platform. As she made the corner
around the large route map and vanished from sight, Twitch said, “I thought you
didn’t like her.” “I
don’t. Can’t stand her.” “And you
trust her? I’m confused.” “I don’t like
her. But, yes, I trust her. The two are mutually
exclusive. I like Sliss here, and while I trust him to be there to
save my butt in a brawl, I wouldn’t trust him to do something like this.
No offense there, Sliss.” Sliss looked
up with what appeared to be the tail of something sticking out of his
mouth. “Huh?” “Thus, my
point is made.” ~~~~~ Debi had just
turned the corner behind the map, when she realized that a key prop in her plan
was missing. She needed a notebook, or a clipboard.
It was too late, the man she was supposed to stall had just
appeared. “Good
afternoon, Sir. My name is Debi, and I’m here asking for the good
citizens of Paragon City to help save part of our school. As you
may be aware, there are a lot of programs in school that are getting the funding
cut. These are the same programs that can help give kids something
to do other than join one of the many gangs that plague our streets.
I just gave away our last flier, but I’d be more than happy to answer any
questions you may have, including where you go to make a
donation.” “I’m not
interested.” “Oh, but
sir…” she added a slight pout to her voice as she said it. She was
no stranger to fund raising in Paragon City, and this approach often seemed to
work on gruff, middle aged men. “Get away
from me. I’m not giving you any money. I’m not
giving you my name. Nothing. I get enough harassment
from the thugs on the street. I don’t need it here
too.” “I’m not
asking for any money. I actually couldn’t take it if you wanted to
give it. It’s not safe for someone like me to carry cash.
I just want to make people aware of the problems facing the kids in this
city. If you could just wait for the next train, I’m sure I could
convince you that the problem is a serious one. What’s two more
minutes? Please?” “All you want
is to talk to me. That’s it?” “Yes,
sir. Just talk. Not just to you but to everyone
here. See, the thing is. The Hellions, the Skulls,
the Outcast, and maybe even the Trolls, were all kids, like me.
Somewhere along the road, something happened and they got lost.
Ohh, maybe the Lost too. But they’re mostly older I
think. Anyway. If they had been in a sport, or a
music club, or any of the afterschool programs meant to give kids something to
do other than hang out and cause trouble, there would be fewer people in the
gangs, and life will be better in the city.” “And you have
proof of this? Something you can show me that would convince me of
this?” Debi began to
speak up, so the whole platform could hear. “Well, no.
But think about it like this. If each person on this
platform gave just ten dollars a month, that would come to…
about… um… sixteen… a hundred and sixty dollars a month for
a school program. That would actually pay for that one program for
the month. One hour a day, three days a week, and a teacher there
to supervise. How many people here lose ten bucks or more per
month to street thugs? See that. Half.
Now the truth is, we don’t know if it will make a difference for the
better, but it can’t make things any worse. And that’s just for
the people here waiting for one train in one section of the city.
If everyone that rode the train pitched in just one dollar per month, we
could fund a lot of extra programs to keep the kids out of trouble.
Like I said. I’m not asking for any donations now.
I can’t accept them even if you want to give them to me.
What I’m asking you to do, is to stop by City Hall, or any school in your
area and tell them you’re interested in contributing. It looks
like the train is here, so I’ll let you all go. Thanks for
listening.” As the man
began to board the train, she grabbed his sleeve. “Sir, one last
thing. This was my first time talking like that by myself.
You look like you’re in business, or maybe a lawyer. Did I
do okay?” The young
girl’s question caught him off guard. Was she really asking him, a
complete stranger, for approval? Even more strange was the fact
that he had been the only one that seemed hostile to her. His mind
flashed through some options. Was she hitting on him?
Was she genuine? Was she a pick pocket? Was
it a trap of some kind? As the last of the patrons passed him to
board the train, his answer came in the form of a lungful of soot and ash that
caused him to choke uncontrollably. Mourning had
arrived. Debi screamed
at the crowd, “Everyone get on the train! Thorns!
Circle mages! Get on the train!
Hurry!” There was
panic on the platform as Sliss and Kym appeared on either side of the big
map. Kym was yelling for everyone to get on the train.
Sliss was fully alert for the attack they said was coming.
Twitch had positioned herself at the bottom of the ramp to the platform
to better fend off the mages. The train
pulled away while the heroes set up around the choking man, in an effort to
protect him from the mages that weren’t really there. Once the
coast was clear, they called for a teleport and five vanished in a flash of
light. Debi was not among them. ~~~~~ Tog met the
group at the entrance to the base and took a quick head count while Ent and HAAL
escorted the man off to a holding room. “Kym, where’s
Debi?” “She got
pulled onto the train by someone trying to save her.” “Save her
from what?” “We had to
grab this guy from a crowded train platform, so we faked a Thorn attack to get
everyone on the train. One of them must have grabbed Debi because
he thought she was just a regular girl.” “Oh great!
How many people saw you grab this guy?” “Maybe
twenty.” “Any chance
at all that you got away clean?” Mourning
stepped forward in response. “Yeah. It’s
fine. It was actually really clean. Debi was really
good, and Kym followed her lead perfectly. They actually make a
pretty good team.” “Oh hell
no! No-no. I’m not working with her any more than I
absolutely have to.” Tog placed a
large hand on Kym’s shoulder. “Later. We’ll get it
all worked out later. Right now, we’ve got some answers to
get.” ~~~~~ “There was no
attack.” A sudden chill ran up Kym’s back as she realized the
implications of Twitch’s words. “You lied to everyone
there.” Kym turned to
face her, but kept the darkness in check. “Yes. I
did. So did Debi. There are times a lie has to be
made for the greater good.” “How was this
lie needed?” “You came
into this thing really late, so I’ll fill in the highlights for you.
There is a group out there who says that we heroes are abusing our
power.” “You did at
the train.” “Let me
finish.” Kym was watching the other girl’s hand as it hovered just
a little too close to the grip of her sword. “At the start, there
were no actual events like those described on the news. They
reported about 3 per day, but there was never a single shred of evidence that
any of it actually happened. This other group was lying about the
hero community and we don’t know why.” “So you
counter a lie with a lie and an abuse of power, which proves their accusations
to be valid.” “You could
see it that way, sure. Or you pull your head out of your butt and
see the full picture.” A moment of
nervous tension passed between them, which Kym took as an invitation to
continue. “They lied to
the people about us. This makes the people afraid of those that
take it upon themselves to protect them. In your world, do the
citizens fear the Enforcers?” “Citizens
have no reason fear them.” “Okay, now
imagine that someone started telling lies about the Enforcers.
This person started saying that Enforcers were killing people in the
street even if no crime was committed, just because they have to kill one a week
to remain certified. What would happen?” “We would
find the person telling the lie and kill them.” Kym felt the
momentum swing to her favor. “How would you find this
person?” “We would ask
the Citizens who they were.” “But the
citizens are avoiding you because they believe you will kill them on
sight.” “They know we
kill only those who commit crimes.” “But they’ve
been told that that is no longer the case, and since no one lies there, they
have no reason to think that is untrue.” Twitch
thought about this for a moment. Kym sensed her point was being
understood and pressed on. “Now, you
take our world. A world where lies are so much a part of life that
it’s not even noticed. If someone asks me how I’m doing, I’ll tell
them I’m fine, even if I’m not. Why? Because they
don’t really care. They basically lie by way of asking a question
they don’t have any interest in knowing the answer to, and I lie by giving them
the answer they expect, instead of the truth they couldn’t care less
about. These are called ‘white lies’ and we do them all the
time. “Now, we have
to investigate something, we can ask anyone we want about it, but we have
to assume they are lying unless they can support it with actual proof.
In this case, the actual proof might be the guy we grabbed.
The only way to prove our story to the public is to have real live proof,
and even then about 25% will think we hoaxed it. We had to grab
this guy before he teleported away, and the only way to do that was with a lie
that kept the rest of the people from seeing a group of heroes doing exactly
what we have been accused of doing. In the long run, we did less
damage to our reputation by doing exactly what we’ve been accused of, than we
would have if’ we’d told the truth and hauled him off
anyway.” “You’re
saying that the end justifies the means?” “In some
cases, yes.” Kym stood firm to her line of
thought. “But not
always?” “No.
Of course not.” “Then how do
you decide?” Kym felt her
momentum slip away. “Honestly, I’m not sure. Gut
feeling, evidence, instinct. A combination of all three
maybe.” “How about
personal bias?” “That can
certainly play a role in it.” “Then how do
you know your side is the right one?” “Honestly?” “If you can
manage it.” “I don’t
know.” Kym felt sick. She had talked herself into a
corner and there was no easy way out of it. “In your world,
everything is so black and white. There is right, and wrong, and
the line between them is clear and obvious. Here, there is no
line. It’s more like a fog. Right is on one side,
wrong is on the other, and the fog between them comes and goes.
Sometimes the right thing to do is further over the line than many of the
wrong things. Who knows how it will all play out for
sure?” “So you admit
that you may not be on right side of things?” “I admit that
it’s possible, but it’s complicated. Some times both sides can be
right when seen from their own perspective, even though the goals are exactly
the opposite.” “Can you
explain that?” “Actually,
yes. I think I can.” Kym felt a renewed
confidence. “Let’s say that you and I are the leaders of our
countries. You have a great deal of food; more than you could ever
use, and we have far too little. Now, in your world, I imagine we
could just take what we need and you’d be fine with it, but what if I decided
that the best thing for my people was to share your land so we could grow our
own food?” “If we had
too much, there would be no problem with this.” “Right. But now, let’s
say that I don’t recognize the Enforcer’s jurisdiction over my people.
I view any of my citizens, even those living on land you gave to us, as
strictly my responsibility. If one gets cut down by an Enforcer
for something I feel is petty, I would feel the need to retaliate.
In my culture, I am right and justified. In your culture,
you are right. There is no way we will ever agree on the matter,
and it may end up in a war. A war where each side feels it is
right.” “But in your
example, you are living on the land of my country, and would therefore be
subject to my laws and their enforcement.” “But would
that apply to every little bit of your culture? Say we each have
our own national dance. Would I need to abandon mine just to live
on your land?” “If you re on
my land, then yes. You may still have your dance, but the national
dance would the one of the nation itself, which is mine.” Kym smiled
briefly, though she would deny it if anyone ever asked her about it.
“So all matters of both law and culture should default to the version
that is most normal for the land?” “Yes.
Wait. Damn.” “I may not
know for sure that my side is the right one, but it feels like the right
one. The heroes as a community were attacked with lies and
deception. If those are the rules, then we’ll play by them until
we can change them. “Twi—Ahm-ee. I know it
must be hard for you to accept. And if knowing that this is how we
have to do things goes so strongly against your values, I can understand
it. I really can. I’d like us to be friends, but
more importantly, I’d like us to not be
adversaries.” “I do not
agree with your methods, but I think I am beginning to understand them.
I won’t stand against you for making your deceptions in time of need, as
long as you do not expect me to make them myself.” “Never. Principles are
too rare to ask another to compromise them. In truth, I admire
your resolve. I could never make it work for me, but you can, and
I’m very happy to know you. Just don’t ever tell anyone I said I
was happy. I’ve got a reputation to
maintain.” ~~~~~
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