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Chapter 04
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Mortar Mage ran into the lab as fast as he could. Someone with both teleportation and super speed couldn’t move fast enough, he thought. If what he feared most was true then there was never such a thing as fast enough.

One of the lab’s rooms was a holding area for a series of freezing tubes. Mortar saw that the tanks were in one piece, and that they continued to hold all of the androids within them, one in each corner of the room. He let out a heavy sigh of relief.

“The world lives another day,” he said. His hand rested on one of the tanks – the only one with a female android. “One more day.”

Kyra examined her visor while she say on the couch back at the mansion. “This thing is so fried. I think I’m going to need a new one now. That earpiece is gone too.”

The voice-type registered on her phone, which sat by her lap, and barely a moment passed before her informant sent a response.

“Understood. Be careful in the future.”

That was when Jackie and Mary walked into the room. Mary said, “Are you sure you won’t stay a while? I know we haven’t been the best siblings in the past, but it’s actually good to see you.”

Jackie shook her head with a faint smile. “I need some time to myself to think. I might stay in town for a couple days or more depending on how I feel, but this is your gig. Your life and burden.”

“I really wish you wouldn’t put it that way.”

“I know. Do me a favor? Find yourself a good man.”

Kyra had been telling her the same thing lately, but Maryann insisted on staying only with her, and then whining on a couple nights when Kyra was the only one to finish. Kyra loved Mary, but her girlfriend needed something that Kyra couldn’t give her, even with the toys that she refused to use on her lover.

Still, Jackie had some serious gall saying such a thing in front of her.

“I can’t do that,” said Mary. “I love Kyra.”

“You mean to tell me you don’t want to settle down and raise a family someday?” asked Jackie.

“I mean, um . . .”

“Or to feel the warm embrace of a man every morning?”

If Mary were any redder, Kyra would have sworn that her lover had turned back into a succubus. She was kind of cute when she was speechless.

Finally, Kyra cleared her throat and gave Jackie a stern look.

“She does love you,” said Jackie. “It’s not what I would have pictured, but don’t you dare lose her.” She glanced back and forth between Kyra and Mary. “Either of you. Things really are different now, aren’t they?”

“More than I can say,” said Mary.

“Well then, sister, take care of yourself. You know how to find me until I leave town.”

“And you know how to reach me after that.”

Jackie hugged Mary first, then stood over Kyra for a moment with one eye examining Kyra like some misbehaved puppy. Without warning, Jackie knelt down and hugged Kyra.

“You want her to do it as much as I do, don’t you?” Jackie whispered.

“If I told you, I’d have to kill you,” replied Kyra.

Jackie whispered one more thing more silently into Kyra’s ear, then stood up and said “Family weakness” all the while rubbing Kyra’s scalp with one hand. Kyra was too surprised and bewildered at the idea of every woman in Mary’s family having the same sensitive, vulnerable g-spot, or that Jackie would share it so candidly, to notice the woman leaving.

“What?” Kyra asked to an emptying room.

At some point, Warren entered the room, and it looked like Walter was about to give him some harsh words of his own.

Kyra, however, said to Warren, “Dude, what . . . the fuck?”

“Look, I’m sorry for throwing a fit and running off like that.” Warren was trying to explain calmly without giving too much away. Who would believe him if he told the entire truth? “Ghost Fracture said something impossible, and I freaked.”

Walter said, “The Vanquished something or other?”

“The Vanquishiri Bahitians. Gods, dangerous ones, outlawed by their own pantheons. They were responsible for many massacres, including one that should have destroyed the Earth. You won’t find any record of them. Not here.”

“You know about them.”

“Because . . . It’s because I . . . Damn it, does no one believe me?”

Maryann said, “We’re listening, Warren, but I don’t think you’re telling us everything. It’s hard to believe someone who’s holding back on the truth. Is this something you heard growing up in foster care?”

“No.”

“Is it something written by one of your journal’s authors?”

“Of course not. Mary, please stop. It’s hard enough even saying what I have. I heard this from my father.”

The few Leaguers present said nothing for a time. It was clear that Walter, Mary and Kyra were processing what Warren just told them.

Since the League reunited a few months ago, Warren only ever mentioned once that he met his parents, and even then with only a couple people in the room. It was all part of a longer tale no one would believe, so he acquiesced to running a major publication, putting together gadgets that outranked anything on the market, and saving lives.

“Your father,” Mary repeated. “You told me long ago you never met the man, and didn’t feel the need to find him. I think, maybe, you mentioned meeting him once in a sleep deprived craze.”

After a wince, Warren explained, “I met him about a year after we all split up. Him and my mother both. They were looking for me, hoping I was safe, curious to see how bright I was or how I was getting along in life, wanting so much to undo the fact that they gave me up. But they had to. There was a war going on, and that was no place to raise a child. Especially not a quarter god like me.”

“We’re not laughing.”

“I’m not joking! Or gloating about my ability. My father is a demigod, and my mother is a stubborn, mortal woman from the Victorian Era. The flow of time means so little in that place, the eternal realm, but no one there tampers with it here. There’d be consequences if they did.”

“Hey, wait a minute,” said Kyra. “We have gods and demigods here, or at least people claiming to be that way.”

“Some of them might very well be related. Immortality’s a trick from their own anti-flow of time. Their powers are matched by our own, though some are definitely stronger than we are. They still breathe, bleed, and die like any human being under ‘normal’ circumstances.”

“These Vanquishiri you spoke of, what about them?”

“If my father was correct, then every last one was either cast into the end of the universe or sentenced to countless eternities in imprisonment, but even he suspected that a few got away somehow. He couldn’t prove it, so he said nothing for certain, being the scientist that he is.”

Walter said, “We should speak with him.”

“Ah, we can’t. My folks are on the other side along with the vast majority of gods and goddesses still duking it out. We’d have to open the seal that separates us, and that would be catastrophic. This entire planet would turn to oblivion, and it would cause a chain reaction with the rest of our universe, as well as theirs.”

“So, there’s no proof.”

“There is. Do you know that crater north of Siren’s Gauntlet at the edge of city limits? That isn’t a crater. Not exactly.”

“A bite in the ground?” inquired Devon, who was interviewing a man that had surveyed the mysterious crater. It had taken a long time to track this man down.

The two of them stood around a cluttered table beneath the only light in the room. The windows were covered up for more privacy and darkness than the blinds provided.

The geologist said, “Yes, something like a bite. Look here at these papers. Here, at a crater, mass is moved in a number of directions because of the force of impact. This bite mark, however, is more like something chewed into our world, and took off with the mass into the unknown before it could take another. We were about to investigate further when we ran out of funding all out of nowhere. Then the others turned up dead or missing like one of those bizarre, fictional mysteries with the cover-ups.”

“Like a conspiracy, you mean.”

“Yes, that’s it.”

This, on one hand, made Devon think the man was a bit of a quack. However, he then thought about that letter he had received.

He then asked, “Do the initials W and M mean anything to you?”

Everyone nodded at Warren like some sort of madman. Warren said, “I knew it. This is why I didn’t tell you guys anything since we reunited.”

Walter said, “Look , Warren . . . Mortar . . . we might not be sure if we believe you. You haven’t exactly been one to lie to us in the past. For that matter, you’re not known for emotional outbursts like we saw or heard this morning. I just want to be sure you’ll have it under control in the future.”

“You have my word.”

“Good, because I think it’s lunch time.”

“I’m buying.”

“As long as you didn’t build it, I think my intestines can manage.”

Their laughter was short-lived when there was a knock on the nearby window. Warren barely recognized the man flying diagonally outside of the second story window.

“Hey, are we deciding on lunch now? I’m hungry.” Trash Knuckle, of course.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of any more help,” said the geologist.

“That’s alright,” replied Devon. “I’m closer to the truth now than I ever really thought possible. I just wish I knew who this person was that contacted me.”

A new man stepped into the light with heavy footsteps. He was dressed like a ranking soldier from ancient Rome, and his build and posture only made him look more serious rather than some joke cosplayer. Upon seeing him, however, Devon whipped his head around, looking for possible points of entry amidst the shadows.

There were none.

“Perhaps I can help,” said the alleged Roman.

“Who is this?” questioned the geologist, reaching into the drawer beneath the table. “How did you get in here? Have you come for me like you did the others?”

“Now, now, is this any way to treat a guest? Your lack of clout is the only reason you live.”

The geologist had a pistol, and he wasted no time firing it. The gun was emptied, and the soldier stood there shocked. Then he choked.

“I don’t believe it,” said the soldier. “Someone still has one of those revolvers lying around.” Now he was brushing off the bullets that crushed against his armor and skin. “What is this, the dark ages? Wait, no, I enjoyed the dark ages. It’s really too bad you’ve decided to die. Our mercy only goes so far.”

With more agility than Devon was capable of, the soldier lashed out and snapped the geologist’s neck in a single motion. The soldier dropped the limp body from his hand, and turned his gaze toward Devon, who was backing away and searching frantically for the door by patting down the wall.

“It would appear that you are looking for answers.” The soldier grinned.

“Go ahead. Kill me then. Surely someone else will find out the truth.”

“You are not a fighter. Besides, we’re not interested in covering up the truth. Not from you pitiful mortal, anyway. Come. It is time you learned more than any mortal has the right to know. If you still want the truth of what happened after that, then you can have it and die when the time comes. Or, if you wish, I can kill you right here and be on my way. It won’t matter to us in the end. What will be, death now or death later?”