Broker

Liberty threaded her fingers together in front of her chest as she stared down at the Pandora Committee from the screen above them. Her luminous blue eyes twinkled with barely contained malice as she sneered at them in disgust. Sonya looked up into those eyes of hers and couldn’t help but feel a little vindicated. The woman had graduated straight to how she was as a fully realized Herald years in advance. Or perhaps she had always been this way. It didn’t matter really, it was clear who was responsible for the bombings.

<How’s the new building?> Sonya asked Amos as she steadied herself a little more. After Astaroth had made his comment the other day she wanted to make sure.

<It’s fine,> Amos said, <The Home Lab, the west coast lab, the chicago warehouse, and the new factory got hit hard though. The Home Lab looks like it got the worst, there’s nothing left, boss.>

Sonya closed her eyes and let her heart go out to the men and women who were working there and to the memories made in that place, good and bad. It was the birthplace of ASTA and it was gone now. <Alright, do what you can for the survivors, there are other companies that were hit too,> She said and glanced at Adam and Brent who were scowling at their phones. She looked up at Liberty again as the woman waited patiently for everyone’s attention.

“First the American Government steps onto my land without permission,” Liberty said without preamble, her lip twitching, “Then some heroes come poking around uninvited,” She narrowed her eyes, “And now, on international television, you call the members of my movement cultists and formally order heroes to trespass into my territory,” She announced with a snarl, “Disgusting, petty, stupid, and blind,” She said coldly, “It seems I was right to prepare for today.”

The Chairman steadied himself on the podium, “Are you Liberty?” He demanded.

“The people of the world cry out for Liberty, and I am here,” The woman said, looking down at him without blinking.

“You’re taking responsibility for these bombings?” He demanded.

“I and the people who placed them,” She confirmed, “Someone had to build your shrine to self-importance, you people never consider the masses, do you? Just cattle as far as you’re concerned,” She squared her shoulders, “This is a reprisal, you and the nations of this world have no right to put restraints on the light-given powers blessed upon its people, nor do you have any right to curtail our movement.”

Sonya looked into the woman’s eyes, She doesn’t really believe a word she’s saying. Bitch, Sonya thought as she called Marta with her internal phone. <“Marta, what’s it look like out there?”> She asked, keeping her mouth shut.

“Not good, fires everywhere, security is in shambles. We’re moving as fast as we can to get things under control. There’s a lot of us heroes here but we’ve got holes now,” Marta said hastily, “I’ll keep you posted.”

The Chairman stood a bit straighter, “Liberty, this Committee must demand that you pull back and cease any further attacks. You are risking a war with your faction, do you understand the consequences of that?” He insisted.

The woman’s expression hardened a little, “Do I seem like I care?”

“You are a mythic, are you not? There are laws about-” He began.

“I don’t bend to your laws,” Liberty replied.

“If a war breaks out we will be forced to deploy Mythic heroes against you, Mythics fighting Mythics in the open could trigger another Vegas, or worse!” He barked, “You put not only yourself in danger, but your people, and all the innocents in the region!”

Sonya glanced at the back of the Chairman’s head. He was saying the right things, of course, fighting Liberty that openly in a territory that was hard to manage because of her presence was just asking for a dungeon break, or several. Of course, She narrowed her eyes at the woman staring down at them, That’s exactly the point, isn’t it, Liberty? She thought and grit her teeth as her grin widened. This wouldn’t be enjoyable if it wasn’t hard. Come on, say it.

“That’s not my problem,” Liberty said callously, “You should consider that before entering my territory, because there will be further reprisals if you do not,” She leaned forward, “Mark my words, Chairman. I am not the only Mythic in the movement.”

“You’re insane,” The Chairman growled.

“I am justified, I am Liberty!” She barked back, “And I have more than impudent politicians and self-important heroes as my reasons,” She turned her head and looked straight at Sonya. Sonya returned her stare with a straight face. “I believe you have taken something that belongs to me, Sonya Chernovna. Return my property, if you don't mind?”

Sonya clenched her fists, letting the rage boil beneath her skin as she kept her tone even, “That young woman is a human being, an adult, and has every right to choose what she does with her life,” Sonya said as she looked Liberty in the eyes, “She made the decision to undergo hero training, I merely provided transportation after she escaped. I will see to it that she remains protected and out of your reach. You will not abuse her again.”

Liberty snorted, “Surprising, but I believe you, If she left on her own, she’ll choose to come back on her own. She knows her place is at my side, seeing the consequences of her actions will remind her,.” Liberty said, “What she had here was a beautiful thing, heir to my legacy when my time is up. I’ll keep it between sisters, then,” She said dismissively, “Besides, you have your own problems now I suspect.”

She turned her eyes to the rest of the committee, “This is your final warning, stay off my land or there will be further consequences, Liberty will prevail,” She growled and the feed cut.

Shouts rang out at the screen and more than a few Representatives demanded an immediate retaliatory strike against Liberty. The Chairman looked around frantically, trying to figure out a way to calm everyone down. Sonya exhaled and pulled her hair back over her ear before walking down the steps and back to the podium. She gently pushed the Chairman aside and cleared her throat before grabbing the microphone, “Enough!” She barked as the building continued to shake.

Many of them fell silent and looked at her as she swept her gaze over the audience. “You are leaders not children, act like it. She wants a reprisal,” She said, “There are twelve active dungeons in that area, one of them is rare,” Sonya warned. “If even one of those dungeons goes up it could trigger a chain reaction that could end in millions dead,” She straightened her back, “Yes, a response is necessary! She has killed thousands of people today without a doubt, and will continue to act with impunity until she is punished, however-”

The building shook again and the lights flickered, “However! We are an organization that exists to protect mankind, not damn it! We will not be cowed into a mistake by a madwoman! I propose a full embargo on her cult and an international ban of all members of that organization, a proposal to the UN to freeze all of her assets, and to open discussions about further action until she is arrested!”

She glanced up at the door as Marta tried to call her. Not now, not yet.

The Chairman quickly hurried to her side, “I second the Proposal! Do we have three more votes to bring it to a full vote?”

The lights flickered again as Harman, who had fallen from his seat, got to his feet, “The United States approves!”

“Japan approves of the measure!” The man next to Harman shouted.

“Australia approves of the measure!”

“The United Kingdom approves of the measure!”

“Saudi Arabia approves of the measure!”

“Brazil approves of the measure!”

More and more enraged voices rang out in approval of a full embargo to cripple Liberty’s cult and isolate it completely as the building shook around them. Sonya restrained a smile and inclined her head to the men and women gathered as she accepted the call from Marta on her personal phone. “What-”

“Darksiders!” Marta barked, “Those idiots are taking advantage of the chaos! They’re in the building!”

Sonya didn’t hesitate, she turned to the Chairman, “Villains are in the building, security is holding them back but we need to get the representatives out, now. The building can’t take much more anyway, we’ve done what we can.”

He nodded, “This meeting is adjourned, the matter is settled, there will be consequences for today,” He commanded, “All Representatives, please proceed calmly to the secure exits to the left and right of the stage!”

The representatives hurried down the steps as Sonya shot a glance up at the doors, they trembled once, then twice, she glanced over to Adam and Brent, “Do one of you have a knife?” She shouted as they made their way to the exit.

Brent looked up at her in confusion as she loosened her tie and glared at the door, “What? There were metal detectors at the-”

Adam reached into his coat and pulled a knife from a strapped pouch before tossing it to her, she caught it and spun it between her fingers, “It’s carbon fiber, monster bone edge!” He said, “I don’t have a gun, otherwise I’d stay myself!”

“It’ll do,” She said and glanced at the Chairman, “You need to go, sir.”

“What about you?” He asked, “What-”

“I am the hand to hand instructor for the camp, remember?” She said with a smile and hopped off the podium to face the doors from the base of the stairs, “I can handle myself, go,” She said and brandished the knife, pulling back into a stance as the doors shook again. She sensed the man hurry down the stairs and towards the exit. Another pair of footsteps hurried up to her side, though, and she glanced over, “Really?” She asked, surprised.

Brent glared at her, “Like I’m going to let a tiny woman watch my back,” He grunted, looking away, “You really know how to fight?”

She smiled, Liar, she thought, “Of course I do, girl’s gotta stay in shape somehow,” She joked and popped her neck, unbuttoning her jacket.

“Funny way of staying in shape,” He growled and clenched his fist before throwing it out with a commanding gesture, “Stand guard at my gates!” He barked and a light not unlike Marta’s bloomed into life at his right. A seven foot tall woman stepped out next to him, clad in gleaming armor and wielding a spear in her hand. She wore a helmet over the upper half of her head. The valkyrie stepped out in front of the two of them and brandished her spear as the doors crashed open with a resounding bang.

The first thing Sonya heard was laughter and then the sounds of guns firing into the ceiling. Over a dozen men in masks came racing into the chambers as the Valkyrie charged them. The laughter turned to shouts of confusion as the titanic woman swept her spear across the group of men who had stumbled into a room they thought was filled with unarmed civilians. A few of the masked men lunged at the Valkyrie from the sides, weapons in their hands as they tried to tackle her to the ground. She tossed one off while picking up another and slamming him to the ground with terrible force.

Sonya’s eyes shifted left and right, more were coming in. I don’t think they suspected that their plan would actually work. Probably wouldn’t have without Liberty stirring up her own chaos. She’d never work with them, Sonya shook her head, A god damned coincidence, what a fine mess.

<”Marta where are you? The doors are open.”> She called.

<”At the -rggh! Doors, they’ve got a tough one with them, I’ll deal with him quickly,”> Marta barked back and there was a brief flash of light from the atrium and a loud crash. <”He just keeps getting up!”>

“There’s Chernovna!” One of the villains shouted.

“Haha! She stayed! Nice! Grab her!” Another shouted.

“Masque wants the pearly bitch in one piece, don’t hurt her too bad!” A third barked.

Brent glanced her way, “Looks like you’re popular.”

Sonya smirked, “So it would seem,” She said and twirled her knife as the Valkyrie hurled one man all the way across the room, leaving him dead in a crater in the wall. I wonder how compatible it is with Baldur’s Body, she thought with amusement as another idea occurred to her. She latched onto something one of the villains said, Masque wants me? Oh? She grinned impishly, Oh no, a personal meeting with the head of the Darksiders? How scary!

<”Marta, keep things busy, it looks like they want me alive to meet with their boss. Isn’t that terrible?’> She chuckled through the call.

There was a long pause, <”Oh absolutely awful, ma’am, it would certainly be a serious matter if you were kidnapped,”> Marta said sarcastically.

<”Put on a good show for me dear, will you?”> Sonya quipped as the first of the villains who managed to get past the Valkyrie charged at her. She kneed him in the gut and brought her elbow down on his head. He hit the ground hard.

<”As you wish.”> Marta said and another noisy bang rang out.

Sonya glanced at Brent and restrained a snicker, it was best for him not to get swept up in all this. He was a bit of a prick but he’d done the right thing and stayed behind anyway. Maybe there was some hope for him after all. “You should go, your companion is flagging already.”

Brent looked at his Valkyrie that had half a dozen men hanging from its arms and legs now, trying desperately to pull it to the ground. The building shook again and he looked at her, tense for a moment before finally speaking his mind, “Wh-what about you?”

“My bodyguards the mythic that fought An Set at Vegas,” Sonya said with a shrug, “She’ll be here shortly.”

To punctuate her statement, a man went flying through the doors and collided with the screen that Liberty had been on. Brent looked up at the crushed screen and then down at Sonya before nodding reluctantly, “Fine, just, don’t die or anything, alright?” He griped, “I’m leaving Hilda with you!” He shouted and ran for the secure exit, throwing it open and racing through. It shut behind him and Sonya popped her neck again.

“Well now, I guess I can’t make it easy for you all, right?” She said playfully as she tossed the knife up and down in her hand, more villains started to crowd around her. She bore her teeth in a wicked smile and let a little tiny bit of bloodlust out, “Who’s first, dearies?”

 

---