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Chapter 26
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Diamond Grace kicked down the door. The people inside the warehouse were surprised, or at least they were now scrambling for any combination of weaponry or hiding places. This was the last place in Paragon that the League said they needed checked today, saying I had something to do with crystal smuggling. What Diamond Grace saw instead was signs of crystal meth production.

Ohm Wire and Psi Wizard followed her into the warehouse, and the three of them took down the handful of people working or defending the lab. Diamond Grace worried that the bullets might penetrate her ice armor, but her sister had told her once that she could make it extra dense if she tried. The bullets that came her way stopped halfway into the ice.

She was, ironically, frozen stiff by how close she came to having her first gunshot wound, and her second, and her tenth. She felt a pat on the back through the ice armor, and Diamond Grace found a smiling Psi Wizard nodding to her.

Her armor came down instantly once she let it go.

“Walter,” Ohm Wire said into her earpiece, “this one was a bust as well.”

Walter said, “What was it?”

“Just a meth lab. They probably wouldn’t know where to look for the Vanquishiri if we asked them.”

“Very well. At least we removed a large number of criminal operations from the city. It could always leave room for more, of course, but good work. We’ll just keep an eye on these areas in the future.”

“Now what are we supposed to do? It’s already one in the afternoon, and we’re no closer to finding those guys or stopping them.”

“Yes, and Mortar’s tracking spell didn’t work when he tried it on Judy using, well, Judy. He said that might be the case before we tried it. Oh well. Peter’s offer still stands for tonight. The least we can do is relax while we wait for something to come along.”

“Right. I’ll call Adamast to let her know.”

“Diamond Grace, we’re welcome to join us this evening. We’re going to have dinner with Peter to celebrate his and Warren’s magazine reaching a major milestone.”

She had been helping the other heroes in the room tie up the lab workers when she pressed a finger on her ear. “Thanks for the offer, Walter, but I’ve made plans. I met someone in town the other day, and we’re spending some time together.”

“Look,” Kyra said as she and Mary walked into the mansion, “all I’m saying is that I’m happy you found someone. The way I see it is that you have such a huge heart that it takes more than one person to love you.”

“I’m just not used to the idea of having multiple partners,” Mary insisted.

“I’m aware.” She stopped and grabbed Mary. “Look, I love you. I really do. I also think this Saelum person sounds like a good guy. I can’t speak for him, but I think we’ll both be here for you until we’re all old and gray and telling the young kids about the good ol’ days that never really happened the way we remember it.”

“Longer than that, I hope.”

“Obviously.” Kyra embraced the love of her life. “No more complaining about your sex life, OK?”

“I wasn’t complaining about it.”

“Yes you were,” Kyra jested. “In all honesty, though, I need you to promise me one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“If you and Saelum Blaster . . .”

“Quentin.”

“Quentin! If the two of you ever discuss having kids, include me in the conversation?”

Kyra pulled away from the hug to find Mary blushing, her eyes widened. After a few months and menstrual cycles, the thought of having kids must have finally dawned on her, or finally hit some register in that beautiful head of hers with a mallet. The expression on Mary’s face made Kyra giggle.

“Not funny,” Mary groaned.

“Come on,” Kyra said, “I think you’d be a great mom.”

They continued walking when Kyra heard rapid, heavy footsteps coming from upstairs. Judy entered the room with a panic. She was wearing a nice semi-casual dress.

“Looking cute there, Judy,” said Kyra.

“Thanks, but . . . um.”

“What?”

“I might have, maybe, accidentally told my mom that I knew how to put on makeup, sort of, when I talked to her on the phone earlier, and she’s on her way here.”

“So, do you?”

Judy made an embarrassed aversion with her gaze. That said everything that needed to be said that moment. The poor girl. How did she not know how to do something that Kyra knew how to do since age twelve or earlier? Well, maybe not knew in the strictest sense, but she tried.

And she cried. Clowns were fucking scary.

Mary walked up the stairs and rested a hand on Judy’s back. “Come on. I’ll help.”

“Are you sure?” Judy asked.

“Yeah, I’m sure. Where’s the bucket of face paint you’re using?”

All Kyra could do now was watch from a distance as Mary once again proved herself to be the most endearing person in the room, with or without her sarcastic quips. She could see the bond there between the two women after so many years that Kyra had missed, but now she was a part of it all.

Mortar Mage wandered through the underground tunnel network with a gas mask to go along with the spell he’d activated to keep a number of . . . not-fun stuff . . . off of his clothes. Not all tunnels were bad. Still, he was ready for them, and he lugged a sack over one shoulder as he treaded through the subterranean space.

He turned a few corners into one of the better tunnels, and Tunnel Hound was there waiting for him.

“The big man, himself,” said Tunnel Hound.

“How’s your progress going?” Mortar asked.

“It’s done. I just finished five minutes ago.”

“Down to the letter?”

“Man, it’s down to the grain of sand. Everything is how you asked for it.”

“Good, good.” Mortar pulled a check out and gave it to Tunnel Hound. The former minor villain examined the check and nodded before stuffing the check into his back pocket. “I have a question for you. Do you have any friends or family in the Paragon area?”
“I might know a few people. Why? You got another job for me?”

“Something big is about to go down. I don’t know if leaving state lines will be far enough, but if you have anyone in Paragon that you care about, I suggest you head out of town as soon as possible.”

“Is it anything to do with the digging job you had me do?” Mortar only gave Tunnel Hound the coldest glare he could, which probably wasn’t cold enough to scare a baby. “Say no more. Thanks for the tip.”

Tunnel Hound left through his signature method of jumping into anything made of dirt or stone, leaving a disheveled spot in the wall behind him.

Now, Mortar thought, it was time to get to work on something he needed. He gave the sack over his shoulder a good heft, and then he walked to the first location.

Devon closed the old book, his mind and body feeling weary from the minimal sleep and the few scraps of food those Vanquishiri gave him. He wanted to read and learn more, but he couldn’t take in any more if he tried. College was never this bad.

Back then, he could choose more comfortable places to read, larger meals or more frequent snacks when he could remember them, and showers. When was the last time he bathed? A man with his degrees should never have to ask that.

He looked toward the sound of feet crunching against the sand and small twigs. Vidnyanta and the other two had finally come out of their little cave.

“It is time,” was all she said.

She took the full force of a hug that she could barely see coming. Judy’s mom embraced her, and placed a wrapped box on her lap before sitting down in the seat next to her. Their party had been seated toward the middle of the restaurant.

“What’s this?” Judy asked.

Her mom said, “It’s a little something I picked up. Your aunt strikes again.”

“Remind me to ask her her secret.”

“Feel free, but I’ve been trying since before I wedded your father. Now I know why she never sent anything for your funeral.”

“Let’s not talk about that.”

“No. Let’s not. You look good, by the way. Where did you learn how to put on your makeup?”

“A friend taught me.”

Before their conversation went any further, there was a tapping of silverware against a glass of wine. Peter was standing, and everyone else at the dinner table fell silent.

Peter said, “Thank you, everyone. Warren said he’d be a little late, so I’m going to go ahead and say a few words for the both of us. Six years ago, this summer, we embarked on a journey to reconcile the gap between science and magic most people believed to exist. Science and Mysticism grew faster and greater than we dreamed it would. Take it from me, I’m half-dragon, and the result of several scientists’ dreams. I would like to thank you all for being Warren’s friends, and my favorite guests to have ever graced the house we grew up in. You have all been an inspiration to keep going, just as much as our many subscribers in the US.”

He tipped his glass to a cheer around the table, and then he drank from it.

Judy wished she could at least try alcohol tonight. Something told her that her mom would tell her no, even though her twenty-first birthday was only a few months away, assuming months continued to exist in another day or two.

She looked over to where Mary was sitting. Kyra and a man Judy had never met before were assaulting her with playful gestures from both sides. Apparently, Kyra was the one to call and invite Quentin, while Mary wasn’t looking, and his arrival was a surprise for Mary. Five or more years ago, Judy would never have imagined David to be in a relationship like this, but now here was Mary, fully realizing this revelation for herself.

“So, sweety,” said Tatiana, who sat across the table from Judy, “are you going to open your gift? Not to pry, but I’m pretty curious as to what it is.”

“Knowing my aunt Takako, it’s probably some embarrassingly cute dress that I’ll end up loving no matter how much I kick and scream about it.”

“Haha, I remember my mother doing the same for me when I was a teenager. Where does your aunt live?”

“She’s in Japan. Somehow, she manages to make and send us things when we say so little. Like, Mom, what did you tell her after I came back?”

Her mom had just ordered a glass of wine when she asked that question. “I was working up the courage to tell her. I called her, but the words wouldn’t come. She told me that it was alright, and something was in the mail.”

“Does Patrick know?”

“No, but I told him that whatever he hears, I still don’t want him stepping one foot outside of that prison. At this point, I think he’s tired of the threats he gets from people, but that’s too bad. You deserve better than what he did.”

Judy raised her eyebrow at her mom. So far, this was the most anyone told her about what had happened. Judy felt like she might have written something about it somewhere, but that couldn’t have happened. Walter whispered something in her mom’s ear to the effect of her not remembering that day, and it prompted an “Oh.”

Judy shook her head, and went about opening the light box on her lap. The wrapping was nice while it lasted. The box was beige and plain as, well, a box. If she commented on as much, she wondered if Wyatt would suggest boxing the designer over it if she were to have commented out loud. She removed the lid, and there was the last thing she expected to see right now.

With a gasp, she lifted the outfit from the box. It was a new costume modeled after her old one. The fabric was a little different. A cape had been attached to where the neck and shoulders would meet. It was probably her size, knowing her aunt.

The waiter, who had returned and handed Judy’s mom her wine, gaped.

Devon followed the others past an upended car toward a group of people laughing in the middle of the street by a couple of small fires. Half of those people looked like they had just gotten out of prison, and the other half looked like they at least had time to scrounge up their clothes.

“Hey, who’s this?” asked one woman, still garbed in prison grays. Devon thought people stopped dressing like that in the 90s.

One man—with dark skin, and braided hair running against his scalp and falling behind his neck—said, “It’s that one fool who appeared on the bridge when I tried to leave.”

Cingeteyrn said, “I see you took my advice. Is this all the party you can muster?”

“The fun’s only started. Isn’t that right, Dreamreaver?” He looked back toward a man who was holding a police officer with one hand, and raising his other hand while holding eye contact.

The officer looked petrified. The officer’s face streaked forward for a moment, and he screamed. Dreamreaver grinned before dropping the officer to the ground, leaving the officer twitching and drooling on the ground. The villain’s grin turned toward Devon’s group, and Devon averted his gaze out of instinct and disgust.

He had no doubt in his mind that they were all villains. Who they were and where they came from wasn’t important.

Just then, the first woman who’d spoken out about their presence screeched out in laughter and pointed up toward the early evening sky. A strange line shot from her finger as she did so. The line vanished in seconds, and Devon had no idea how or why in addition to what it even was.

“This is what we like to see and hear,” Vidnyanta said. “Yes, I have no doubt that this city will burn because of you, because of all of us.”

A big man, who twirled some sort of spike or thorn in his hand, said, “You sound like a psycho nutcase. What’s with the spider mask?”

Vidnyanta flicked her wrist, and something thick and white shot out at the man. It yanked him forward into her grasp. “That’s because I am, on a good day, and I think these sheep are all out of good days.”

She let him go before his stunned look could wear off. Then she walked forward to join the gathering of villains. Her feet lifted a few feet into the air, her arms spread.

“Tonight,” she said, “you all have an easy choice to make. I know the choices and actions you’ll take, but they’re yours. Tonight, we burn this city and ravage the hearts of those who call themselves heroes. Days ago, I set out to find a curious truth that shielded itself from me before I destroyed everything around it. My companions and I have prepared for this moment to rise to our greatest glory. So, who among you will deny this chance? Who among you thinks you want nothing to do with tearing this disgusting, marvelous city and its people apart?”

“How about the man with the answers?” asked a man from several yards behind Devon.

Vidnyanta whipped around to face him, and Devon turned as well. There stood a hero that he recognized, but wasn’t sure of the name.

The big man with the thorn is his hand hissed, “Mortar Mage.”