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Chapter 06
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“Hey, Walter, you got a minute?” War Lagoon stood on a rooftop with a pair of night vision binoculars at his eyes, and one leg leaning on the raised ledge.

Walter’s voice came through the earpiece. “Sure, buddy, what’s up? You’re not planning to leave town, are you?”

“No, why would you think I am?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. I’ve just been hearing from a lot of people lately who say they’re leaving Paragon soon. All of them in the last five days.”

“I wouldn’t know anything about that. I was actually going to ask you if you were going to attend that Event charity on Friday. That’s all.”

“That’s coming up already? I must be losing track of time or something. And, to answer your question, I haven’t decided yet. I just heard that Mr. Reynolds will be there, so who knows? Maybe it’ll be interesting, maybe it won’t. I know Warren said he won’t be going because he’ll be too busy trying to get some of his major projects up and running. Still, though, it would be nice to settle the bet that he and I have.”

“What bet would that be?”

“Whether or not Mr. Reynolds is actually a hero. Not to get into specifics, but I’ve been telling Warren he’s wrong for the last few months. The loser pays a hundred dollars.”

“You’re both insane. There’s no way I’m risking a hundred dollars to prove something that’s none of my business. Wait, hold on, what do we have here?”

War Lagoon spotted a villain appearing atop a police station. This villain was high on the wanted list, and it was known that a couple of his buddies were being held at a couple different police stations.

“Walter, if you don’t hear from me in the next half hour, let everyone know I found Mega Tone.”

“And if I do hear back from you?” Walter asked.

“Then you can tell them I beat Mega Tone, and went to grab some breakfast before heading back to bed. Over and out.”

He put away the binoculars, and flew toward the villain, who had just punched a hole in the station’s rooftop using nothing more than concentrated sound waves.

Mega Tone spotted him, and unleashed sonic waves toward the incoming War Lagoon. The hero barely noticed this in time to open a dark hole in the air between himself and the sonic waves. The waves howled as they entered the hole, and the hole shook like it could barely contain the force of the attack.

The dark hole vanished on command, and War Lagoon could see the villain again, who looked as if he were stunned by something that hit him. That was good; it meant the second hole opened just fine behind Mega Tone and sent his own attack back at him.

War Lagoon continued to fly toward the villain. This time, now that he was close enough and the other man was recovering from hitting himself, War Lagoon fired off several short blasts of shadow energy through his fists. A good number of blasts hit Mega Tone before the villain came to his senses and brought up a forcefield of sound waves.

Ceasing his ranged attack of choice, War Lagoon settled for landing on the same roof as the villain remained standing.

“This doesn’t concern you,” said Mega Tone.

“It never does, but I also can’t have you causing any more trouble.” War Lagoon was often regarded as the most stern of the Dallevan League’s members, and those words were no exception to his reputation.

“Then I have no choice but to kill you.”

War Lagoon lifted his arms like he was picking up something of considerable weight. Then, a dark portal opened beneath Mega Tone, and equally murky tentacles shot up through it to bind the villain.

Mega Tone swiped and screamed at the vines, but half of them still grabbed him by the arms and legs. The villain tried one more time to hit War Lagoon with supersonic waves, but one tentacle caught him like a fish hook. Mega Tone was pulled back onto the roof where he was too bound to move, and positioned in such a way that his powers could not hurt anything that wasn’t directly above him.

The police officers arrived then, and they cuffed the villain with power suppressors. The two who went in did so carefully, uncertain if the shadow tentacles would affect them as well, but War Lagoon and an older officer assured them that they were safe.

When it was done, War Lagoon flew off.

It was dawn, and he needed to take one of his power naps after breakfast was done. Just another Wednesday morning, he thought.

Then he spotted her. A woman half as dark-skinned as War Lagoon stood on top of a shorter building in the Talos district, compared to the skyscrapers. Her hair and ankle-length dress blew in the light wind. War Lagoon saw her smiling glare a split second before she turned into a silhouette and then vanished completely.

“OK . . .” said War Lagoon. “Walter, I have good news and bad news.”

Walter spoke with his usual accepting voice, “Oh good, we’re always shopping for more bad news these days.”

“Mega Tone is down, that’s the good news. But, just now, I saw someone I never thought we’d see again.”

“Who might that be?”

“Do you remember that woman we met at the end of our first night as a task force?”

“Oh yes, the alleged medium.”

“Yes, her. I’m hoping it’s just nothing or some pure coincidence, but we both know how I feel about coincidences. Otherwise, this could be a bad sign of things to come.”

“Dear, oh dear. So now what?”

“Now, I’m going to go home to sleep for the next couple hours. I have to meet a new client at work today, so we’ll talk later. If she turns up, you can let me know.”

“You got it. Sleep well, and good morning.”

Devon was shoved upon entry to the underground temple somewhere in the northeastern outskirts of Paragon City. All around him, he saw rows of slouching people who all wore black skintight outfits and light-colored tiki masks.

He heard a thud beside him, and knew that it was the body of the dead geologist.

Another man appeared, dressed almost normal. He asked, “Nervaeus, what is the meaning of this?”

“I need not answer to you, Cingeteyrn,” said the overpowered soldier. “Where is she?”

“She does not wish to be disturbed.”

“She loathes the fools she surrounds herself with,” said a raspy-yet-feminine voice from somewhere out of Devon’s sight. Everyone looked toward the top of the temple, and a robed, bent figure appeared there. “It would appear you’ve brought company. And a living guest. Just when I got done examining the new body.”

“Does that mean you approve of the girl I found?”

“Yes. For once, you’ve proven yourself useful, Cingeteyrn.”

She defied her frail body, and glided down the steps on one side of the temple. The woman first examined the dead geologist for a moment. Then she kicked the body toward the bizarrely dressed minions, followed by pointing and grunting toward the body. The minions carried the body away as if they understood that.

“Foot soldiers,” she said, “so useful when you say so little to them. Now, for you, mortal. Tell me, would you believe this body belonged to a woman in her thirties some five years ago?”

The woman pulled down her hood, revealing a few strands of gray hair, which was the only hair she had. Her body was wilted worse than someone who spent a hundred and twenty years smoking.

“I honestly don’t know what to believe,” Devon said.

“A fair answer,” said the woman. “These bodies are lasting less and less because I can never seem to find one that is compatible. But, that has changed. Tomorrow night, everything will be ready, and this body you see before you will be replaced. Finally, I shall have beauty to go with my boundless knowledge, and it will last longer than you could ever dream to.”

“Why am I even here?”

“You are a seeker of knowledge, are you not? Yes, those men and women we took were as well, but we needed them for our other purposes at the time. You? Your quest to know the truth will be our platform from which we shall rise again in the world, and spread discord across this forsaken plane. Now, what is it you seek? What truth do you wish to uncover?”

“The same as those scientists, I think.”

“Oh no. See, they sought paychecks and answers regarding what caused a single crater. A match can cause a scorch mark, and they sought the head of the match. You seek the one who held it as it burned. You seek to know why it was held there, because somehow nobody remembers the arsonist who was taken away in plain sight. Does that sound about right?”

“That’s exactly right. How much do you know?”

“It is a gap in my knowledge. I do not like such gaps. But I know how to find the answer. After tomorrow night, I will help you so we will both know. Until then, you are our guest. You will be treated as such, only without the ability to leave. If you should try anything, though, then you're dead with nothing learned, nothing gained.”

“Lady, you are the closest I’ve been to knowing something far greater than myself. I’m not going anywhere.”

“We already are greater than you. And my name . . . is Vidnyanta.”