Broker

It had been almost eight hours since the team of four had entered the dungeon. If Sonya was being honest with herself she was feeling more anticipation than worry at this point. She glanced at the pillars holding up the portal, there’d been no reaction, no indication that the team had failed. That didn’t mean she wasn’t still worried, of course. There was little to no information about the Times Square dungeon besides the kind of monsters that had poured out of it and when it had occurred. Rare and Heroic tier devils that had rampaged over the city, killing, enslaving, and destroying anything that got in their way.

In fairness, she also knew that a dungeon break came with an increase in tier of all the monsters inside, so it was reasonable to expect the broad majority of the enemies were uncommon tier. That said, Lurkers were uncommon tier, and with the sheer number that had come out when the dungeon broke last time, she expected that the team would be up against hordes of them, many with leaders that were capable of directing them and creating an organized response to the attacks of heroes. An inexperienced team, even made of Heroics, would have been wiped out by now. 

She pressed her lips together as she thought of the photographs that had been taken of the boss from above during the many scouting missions to the ruins of New York and took a deep breath. 

She glanced up at Marta and smiled appreciatively at her when the woman passed her a hot cup of coffee. The woman had come and gone, getting a more comfortable chair for Sonya to sit in. More aides had come as well and now it was a full scale scientific study of the overall structure of the dungeon. Sonya chewed on her lip, she would have to report to the Chairman after this, she was already ignoring his calls. He’d probably found out about what she was doing. She sniffed and sipped at her coffee as her phone rang again, the name of the caller appearing in her HUD.

Beyol? What does Blackrazor want?

She answered it.

“What can I do for you?” She asked.

“I’m reporting in,” He said, his tone reverent but stiff, he sounded winded.

“You didn’t get in over your head already, did you?” She asked.

“Of course not,” He grunted, “Just some light exercise.”

Her lip twitched and she tilted her head forward, her voice dropping to a barely audible volume, “I trust you aren’t letting your new abilities go to your head, my dear?” She asked, her words dripping with an unspoken threat.

There was a pause and she heard someone gurgle out in pain in the background, “Hardly,” He said, “Just acquiring some information from an old friend. He’s a tight lipped guy so I had to put on a bit of pressure. Marathon conversations can be exhausting, mistress,” He paused and added, “My head is clear, I won’t make the same mistakes I made in New York.”

She pursed her lips, “See to it that you don’t,” She said and tilted her head, “What do you have to report?”

“The society practices brainwashing on the majority of its agents, preventing them from remembering the location of the headquarters. There are ways to get messages back to headquarters through the chain of command. Since I’m ‘dead’, I’m no longer privy to that method. I have a way to locate my previous superior, I’ll be making arrangements to see her soon,” He said. “After that I will use her to make my way back to headquarters.”

“Good work,” Sonya said, “And your friend?”

“Will disappear into the South China sea,” He said.

“Well said,” Sonya nodded, “Keep up the good work.”

“I will,” He said and ended the call.

Sonya stared into space for a moment, her mind working on what was to come next before letting out a breath. So much to do. She thought and turned her eyes back on the portal, sipping at her coffee.

–

The elevator kept moving for a while, much longer than the past few times, and it gave Firestorm and his team a few moments to breathe. They’d been going non-stop for a while and it was beginning to show. Firestorm himself still felt like he could unleash more than his fair share of firepower if it came to it, but his stamina wasn’t endless. He wondered if maybe they should have stopped at the previous floor and taken a break. Then he thought of the piles of roasted corpses and the smell and shuddered, shaking his head. He glanced at the others.

Lifesaver was still leaned against the wall of the elevator, his arms crossed. He seemed alert but Firestorm really couldn’t tell with the mask on. Bandit was sitting on the ground and appeared to be nodding off. Bluestar wasn’t much better, her eyes looking a little unfocused as she stared at the door in expectation. He cleared his throat, “Besides the first one, have any of the monsters come into the elevator on our way up?” He asked.

Bandit frowned and looked up at him before exchanging a look with Bluestar who shrugged, “Not that I’ve noticed,” She said, “Why?”

“Let’s take a break once we’ve made sure that the area surrounding the elevator is clear,” He said after another moment of consideration. “Just to eat and recharge.”

Bandit let out a sigh of relief, “Oh man I was hoping you’d say that…” He sighed, “I think we got lucky with that bad match up with the incubi and you,” He rubbed the side of his head, “I’m a little worried about what we’re going to find in this next room.”

Lifesaver nodded, “I could restore your stamina but that’s not exactly healthy,” He said and turned to Firestorm, “I’ve tried it on myself before and I crashed hard after it wore off. It’s better if we rest naturally.”

“That’s new,” Bluestar said, “Since when could you do that?”

Lifesaver shook his head, “I started to figure it out recently, it’s like a precision form of my ability. I’ve been testing it on myself, staying up late and then charging myself up. It’s like downing half a dozen energy drinks.”

Her nose wrinkled, “Yeah, no thanks.”

Firestorm smiled, it was a relief they were all in agreement on this. He turned his attention towards the door just as the chime rang out, the doors opening. He readied another blast of flame but paused, there was nothing there. He squinted and glanced at Bandit who nodded after a heartbeat. He got onto his back and slid across the ground, a trail of darkness forming behind his back acting like a slick surface. He narrowed his eyes as he peered around while laying on his back, inspecting the ceiling and areas on either side of the door.

“...looks clear to me,” He said and slid back inside, finding a corner to sit in.

“Then we rest,” Firestorm said and sat down, “Let's take turns keeping an eye out just in case. I’ll take first watch.”

To the surprise of the entire group, nothing happened as they spent nearly another eight hours resting. Each of them managing a good six hours of sleep with their own turn at watch. They hadn’t brought anything with them to eat besides a few trail bars that Bandit kept with him all the time. They each had one to at least fill up a little bit and all agreed that next time they went into a place like this they would pack a lot better. No one blamed Firestorm for the lack of supplies, this was likely the first time anyone on Earth had gone into one of these things. It was a learning experience.

Rested and fueled up as much as they could be, they got into formation and checked outside the door one more time. Just like last time, there was nothing outside the door-at least immediately-that they could see. They made their way out and got a good look at their surroundings. The space was not unlike the ground floor. A large open space taking up the area of several floors on its own. There were doors on the walls around them that they knew lead to nowhere. More interesting was the large window that oversaw the city, which the guys looked at for the first time. They could see a large swath of New York from this height, but it looked strange.

It looks fake… Firestorm thought, Like a model.

CLANK!

The sound shook the team out of their consideration of the world beyond the building and they spun to face it and froze. Firestorm’s eyes went wide, Bluestar moved to her position at his rear, Lifesaver’s hands went up, and Bandit’s jaw fell as he slowly inched to the right.

CLANK!

It had to be at least one and a half stories tall, its red-skinned body rippling with muscle. A wide mouth stretched across its face with four long fangs jutting out from its upper lip. Its long hooked nose was adorned with silver rings that looked very much like the metal the weapons they’d collected were made of. Its eyes were completely black, with no sign of pupils to give any indication of what direction it was looking in. It stood on its massive hind legs that were adorned with thin plates of armor down the thighs and a heavy looking belt around its waist.

Its barrel chest heaved and the leathery wings on its shoulder flapped uselessly, unable to lift its own bulk as it stood to its full height, its horns were far more impressive than the incubi, tall and only partially curved with a wreath of flame around them. It looked down at them, its head tilted just enough to give away the direction of its attention. But it was the item in its hand that held the greatest bit of attention for them. A hammer made of that same silvery metal was longer than Firestorm was tall with a head that looked like it could crush an entire human flat with a single swing.

“Holy shit,” Bandit breathed.

Its nose wrinkled and its chest heaved again with anger, “Bandit move! Get to high ground!” He shouted, “Bluestar, barrier!” His voice rang out just as the massive devil threw its entire chest forward along with its head, its jaw open in a terrible roar that rattled the windows behind them and sent a cone of fire in their direction. The sound was enough to rattle Firestorm’s head. He gripped his skull and tried to concentrate on canceling out the creature’s flames but couldn’t focus. Bluestar’s barrier came to the rescue, though, and the flames splashed just as the creature launched into action.

With each footfall creating a boom that shuddered through the building, it crossed the distance in less than three seconds, already rearing back with its weapon to drive it into Bluestar’s barrier. It brought the weapon up against the shield with a golf swing, the monster’s enormous strength being put to the test against Bluestar’s barrier. Bluestar let out a gasp as the attack stopped but not without piercing part way through the shield, a few inches of hammer poking through the transparent blue sheet. 

It’s strong! Firestorm thought and immediately concentrated his flames into points, throwing his hand up in the direction of the confused looking creature’s face. As he did, three black arrows struck it from the side, only their heads puncturing into its toughened hide. The ray of heat lanced out and hit the creature between the eyes. The devil let out a earth shattering howl of pain and with a flex of its muscles ripped the hammer out of Bluestar’s shield in order to resume its attack. “Spread out! Don’t let it get too close to you!” Firestorm shouted, already conjuring another concentrated blast of flame as Bluestar and Lifesaver darted away in opposite directions.

The creature rubbed at its eyes angrily and squinted through the pain, looking first down at Firestorm and then at its shoulder that now had six arrows sticking out of it. It frowned like someone who just realized they were getting bitten by an ant. Firestorm blasted it again, the flames striking the side of its head and drawing its ire back on him. Firestorm began to retreat, pulling back a few steps and getting ready to launch himself into the air. “Bandit! Aim for joints if you can!” He shouted, “I think-”

He didn’t get to finish his statement as the monster snarled and lunged in his direction, reaching forward to snatch him up in its free hand. Firestorm swore, blasting backwards to get some more distance only to slam his back into the windows behind him. They didn’t even budge. The next moment he felt a sharp pain as the creature’s entire palm slammed against his chest, his bones creaking beneath the force. He coughed up blood, his vision swimming and tried to summon up his flames on his body. The creature only pressed down harder.

“Nick!” Bandit shouted and Firestorm saw through his blurry vision as a hail of arrows began pelting the monster on the back. He could see the creature wince but barely noticed it otherwise, its focus entirely on the threat that was Firestorm. He felt his bones creak again, his ribs breaking, pain ruled his mind as he tried to summon up enough focus to use his flames. He felt a wave of healing wash over him that only served to keep him alive and conscious through the pain. He threw his head back in a scream, trying to heat his body up as much as he could.

Hotter, come on, hotter! He begged his body, begged his powers, Work! Focus! He growled inwardly, clenching his fists as his bones were broken and healed in an endless cycle of agony.

That was when he heard it, a shrill sound, like an engine winding up far too hard. Even the boss seemed to notice as it hesitated and started to turn its head in the direction of whatever it was only for a flash of blue light to explode in Firestorm’s vision. The next thing he knew he was falling, the sensation of Lifesaver’s healing washing over him as he hit the ground in a heap, the mace in his hand clattering out of reach. He coughed and squinted, looking up at the monster and spotted a bloody hole in its abdomen, perfectly circular.

“Huh?” He mumbled, his thoughts still muddled as the creature stared bewildered at the grievous wound before turning around. Behind it, Bluestar was on one knee, breathing hard, burn marks on her fingers as blue light gleamed from her eyes. Firestorm’s eyes widened as the monster snarled at her and pulled up its hammer. Blue, what are you doing? He thought, unable to get his jaw to work as the creature brought its hammer down. Bluestar didn’t move, her body trembling, Blue! MOVE!