Broker

The cataclysm of light and heat that ripped through the ceiling of the top floor of the hotel released enough force to crack and shatter all of the screens in the room. The lights went out, flames immediately caught on the beds that had been shunted over to the walls. The darksiders that weren’t immediately shunted into unconsciousness by the flash of electrical energy screamed. Sonya didn’t move an inch, her chin up, her expression firm, her hair fluttering behind her as sunlight shone down through the hole and the vision of carnage beneath the pillar of light.

Kera, short off-gray hair up in a punky style over her yellow eyes stuck out her pierced tongue and grinned with a wild expression. She glanced to the left, the right, then at Sonya. Her eyebrows shot up as if she were surprised to see her there, she wasn’t, she was just a little off. She straightened her spiked leather jacket and took a dainty step back before sweeping into a dramatic bow. “I’m here as called, Mistress,” She said with a snicker before glancing down at her feet and standing up straight. The burned and near-vaporized carbon chunk that was Masques’ corpse lay before her.

She barked out a laugh, “Ew! He looks like a twice-roasted burger!” She grabbed her sides and laughed a little more, “Gross!”

Sonya smirked and turned her head, the electricity in the air was throwing off her senses a little bit. She should probably check on the other one. I almost forgot about dear Grimman.

A hand appeared in front of her face and her eyes went wide. Fingers wrapped around her head and clamped down on skin. She stared through them into the frenzied, terrified face of Grimman. She opened her mouth just as Kera sprung into action. Too late. A terrible pulse erupted inside of her brain, a shock going up and down her spine as her brain trembled and sparked in her head. Her open mouth expression turned into a brief scream, and her world went dark.

–

From an outsider looking in, Sonya just went limp in his hand. In the dark room with only the single pillar of light from the sun above and the few flames that burned on fire-retardant sheets, she just hung there in his hand as he panted. Kera stood, stunned, her eyes wide. She took a step forward only to freeze as the temperature in the air dropped. Her tense shoulders relaxed and she took a step back, waiting patiently as the body hanging from Grimman’s grip twitched once. Grimman barked out a laugh, “G-got her! I-”

A petite hand snapped up and wrapped around his wrist. Pink light bloomed between his fingers and the pale woman’s mouth parted into a terrible, wicked smile. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“H-how are you still awake?” He gasped, trying to pull his hand away only to find it locked in her grip. He pivoted, trying to throw her off as she squeezed down, harder, harder, bone crunched, he screamed as he was driven to his knees. The playfully wicked smile of the woman staring down at him as he gurgled and shrieked, scraping at her fingers with his nails. She tilted her head and squeezed again, his arm bending and snapping. She let go and wiped her palm off before glancing at Kera who tensed, she smiled beatifically at her;

“Your timing is wonderful as always, Kera dear!” She said, “Good work.”

–

Ishtar was not just awake, she was fully in control. That idiot had knocked poor Sonya out. She’d gotten cocky, for a moment, with Kera’s arrival. Still so much to learn, but that was okay. She understood. It felt good to be on the top of her game again. She smiled brightly, it felt really good not to have all that extra weight weighing down on her. She didn’t think there was ever a time that she both had the reins and was in a good mood. Finally, a chance to have a little fun of my own. She looked down at the blubbering man at her feet, Now what to do with the man who hurt my dear Sonya?

Her smile widened, “Oh right!” She laughed, “Kera dear!” She turned brightly, “His powers are electrical, aren’t they?”

Kera was watching her from the side with a grin on her face when her eyes widened, she bounced on her feet, “Oh! Oh! Can I? Can I really?”

Ishtar took a sashay step back and gestured at the crippled man, “Be my guest, dear, enjoy your meal.”

Kera lunged, “Yum yum! Come home to momma!” She cackled and landed on the man. She dug her fingers into his chest and electricity danced between them, first light blue, then yellow, then a pale white that bloomed into a glow. He screamed and convulsed as Ishtar glanced around the room, several of the Darksiders were getting to their feet and staring at her with horror in their eyes. Ishtar glanced back lazily at Kera as she continued her feast. The others watching in silence as the screaming slowly stopped. Kera got to her feet and licked her lips, “Delish, thanks boss.”

Ishtar smiled at her, “The witnesses next, please,” She said and reached up to check her tie, Oh it’s loose. She thought as Kera turned into a living lightning bolt with a shriek of laughter. Screams broke out that were immediately silenced as the singular bolt of lightning ricocheted between them, bouncing around the room and leaving carbonized hunks in her wake. She slid to a stop in front of Ishtar and saluted. Ishtar fixed her tie and checked her cufflinks. All out of sorts, they really were too rough with her, poor dear. “Hallway,” She said as she turned her wrist over, and walked to the door, opening it.

Kera turned back into a bolt of lightning and lanced out as the two men who were guarding the door dashed away, likely realizing that the action inside wasn’t a positive thing for their side. Sonya stepped out into the hallway after her and fussed with her cufflink. Hm… still a little loose. She thought as light bulbs flashed and exploded, a cascade of ricocheting bolts of lightning spread down the hallway in a wave, killing and incinerating one masked man after another. She glanced up, “Careful around the elevator, dear!” Ishtar called.

Kera returned to human form long enough to respond, her hand around a darksider’s throat, “Yes ma’am!” She called back.

Such a good girl, Ishtar thought with a smile before brushing herself off. The wicked bolt of lightning launched past her face towards the other end of the room and more screams rung out as Ishtar turned to walk in that direction, lightning bouncing around her in a protective halo as it occasionally shot forth to slay another darksider that dared breathe in her presence. She held her head high, smile wide, as she approached the elevator and stopped. She stared at the button that was dim and the faint smoke that was coming out of it as Kera landed next to her.

“Kera?” Ishtar asked patiently, “What did I tell you?”

“Uh… don’t burn out the elevator?” Kera said with a nervous grin.

Ishtar kicked a carbonized body out of her way and turned to put her hands on her hips, “Kera! Now we have to walk down the stairs!” She chastised the woman.

Kera held up her hands, “Sorry Mistress!”

Ishtar straightened up a little and let out a patient sigh, “It’s fine, it’s fine,” She said with a wave of her hand before tapping the woman on the nose, “You were just having fun, weren’t you? How long has it been since you played?”

Kera tilted her head and counted on her fingers for a moment, “Guessin’ two weeks?” Kera said.

“Two weeks!” Ishtar sighed, “Poor thing, all cooped up,” She turned and started walking towards the door to the stairs, “Have you tried doing laps? Just to burn a little energy.” She asked as she pushed the doors open and stepped into the bare staircase. All chipped white paint and grimy floors. Ishtar wrinkled her nose, No place for Sonya at all. How could those ingrates possibly think it would be appropriate to bring her here? I should kill every single one of them.

.”So…” Kera trailed off next to her, clearly having similar thoughts, “What about the other floors? I’m guessin’ more of those guys are camped out down there?”

Ishtar glanced her way and shrugged, “Wipe them out.”

Kera broke into a wide grin and her body crackled durning once more into a living bolt of lightning. For a moment it had a vague humanoid shape as it stood next to her, crackling and twitching before it launched forward towards the rail leading down the stairs and through the door to the fifth floor. Ishtar brushed her hair back and straightened it up a little as she continued her descent, one floor at a time. By the time she was halfway to the fourth floor, Kera was done with the fifth, bolting out the door and winding down to the fourth floor door with eager gusto.

Ishtar hummed to herself as she reached up while pulling Hands of the Healer out of her warehouse, she touched her own head and felt the energy wash over her brain. Double checking, she thought to herself. Still out though, silly girl. I’ll take care of things while you’re sleeping, don’t you worry about a thing. You should probably wake up soon, though. I really don’t like being the only one present. She thought, arriving at the third floor and moving on. Didn’t we just have a conversation about this? She rolled her eyes, Oh well, I guess it’s not your fault this time.

Kera zipped past her again and she checked her wrists as the sounds of men screaming rang out from just a little ahead of her. Regalia? She pursed her lips, The helmet gets really hot though, she thought and crossed her arms, tilting her head, Why hasn’t Sonya asked Amos to fix that? Oh right, subconscious acts of self-destructive and self-abusive behavior. Note to self, Sonya, fix the damn helmet! She thought as she set a reminder for the evening with a note from herself to Sonya in the HUD.

‘...with love, Ishtar.’ That should do, She descended to just beneath the first floor and came to a stop at the door. 

Kera zipped in next to her and stopped as well, “Lots of ‘em on the second floor, all done!” She said with a cheery laugh, “Haven’t had this much fun in ages!”

Ishtar smiled approvingly at her, “Atta girl,” She said before resting her fingers on the door. “Hold back a bit for me, would you? The darksiders are already dealt with on the other side of this door it seems.”

“Huh? Aight, I guess,” Kera pouted and clasped her hands behind her head lazily while Ishtar opened the door,, “Shouldn’t you wear your mask, though?”

Ishtar let out a fae-like laugh at Kera’s petulant behavior, “You’re so cute! It’s fine, there’s only one person out there.” She crowed, her voice like tinkling glass as the door flung open. She stepped outside and smiled at the sole individual standing in the lobby, her head tilting to the right.

“Little Black Lotus, you’re far away from where you should be,” Ishtar said with a grin.

Black Lotus stood across from her, her eyes narrowed, “Ishtar, right?” She asked with an edge in her tone, “What happened to Sonya?”

“One of the guards got a little handsy and accidentally knocked her out, she’ll be awake soon and I’ll surrender control,” Ishtar said with a grin, raising a small eyebrow, “You got here fast.”

Black Lotus scowled, “So you really did split,” She sighed.

“Just a little,” Ishtar said, “If it’s any consolation, we had a long talk about why that’s a bad thing, dear. Honestly, she’s never been better. Getting away helped.”

Black Lotus looked like she’d been struck, she looked away with a frown, “She… I want to talk to her, not you,” She said finally looking back at Ishtar.

Ishtar raised an eyebrow, “You know, someone said the same thing to her recently,” She tilted her head, “Want to dance a little while we wait?”

Black Lotus narrowed her eyes, “Dance? What do you mea-”

“Kera,” Ishtar said and held out her hand. The woman behind her turned into lightning and launched herself at Ishtar before allowing herself to be caught in the supervillain’s hand. Ishtar marveled at the feeling. Kera controlled herself enough not to hurt her while still being a fully contained rod of electricity. She twirled the transformed woman between her fingers before pointing her at Black Lotus, “Allow me to introduce Kerauna, the master bolt,” Ishtar said with a sneer, “May we have this dance, little Hero?”

“You’re not wearing your mask,” Black Lotus grunted even as she got down into a fighting stance, drawing her sword.

Ishtar tilted her head, “Oh, I suppose this could draw some attention,” She pursed her lips and then brightened, “Oh, I have an idea!” She laughed and reached into her warehouse before pulling out the Masque of Oberon. She raised her hand to her face and pulled down, following the instincts of the ability. “That idiot Masque had no creativity, no concept of what his ability could do. Now it’s in good hands.”

A white mask with a twisted smile formed over her face as her white clothes turned black, her hair turning the color of night and appearing shorter. The ground at their feet shuddered and shifted strangely, hallucinations spreading off of her in a wave, bolt of lightning in hand, she struck a pose, “What do you think? Black Lotus vs Masque, the leader of the Darksiders! Another addition to your legend! Now-”

“He’s dead already?” Black Lotus asked, cutting her off.

“That sick sack of meat? Yes,” Ishtar said.

Black Lotus frowned, “Did you kill him, or did she?”

Ishtar tilted her head behind the mask, “Talk talk talk,” Ishtar sighed, “There’s no time for that kind of thing in a fight!” She declared, “Defend yourself, hero!” 

In an instant they met, Ishtar bringing Kera down over her head in an overhand swing while Black Lotus let out a misty breath as her fingers seemed to change color. She whipped her weapon up and blocked, lightning dancing around them. She’s stopping the flow of electricity through her hands. Good! She broke the lock and spun around with a laugh, dancing on her toe before swinging horizontally. Black Lotus blocked with a swipe of her own and Ishtar just bounced off the blow, changing the direction of her spin and delivering another thunderous blow.

Dance with me hero! Ishtar thought, Dance with me till it’s time for bed and I fall asleep in your arms!