Modern Age Online

“Then we rushed out of the tunnels, got back in our car, and bee-lined it here.” Kaleb finished reporting.

Abby nodded next to him and watched everyone’s faces. Jar-lock was taking rigorous notes, while the others all looked at Kaleb. Each with their own mixture of annoyance and wonder.

“So you step out of the Hangar for a few hours and wind up in a fight with your Nemesis?” Two Gun asked incredulously.

“That’s not exactly what happened. But, yes.”

Claire huffed. “You’re a trouble magnet of epic proportions.”

“I am not. Besides, didn’t you get into a few scrapes when patrolling?”

“We stopped several muggings and foiled a… meat heist?”

“I still don’t understand why that man was robbing a deli.” Vivienne chuckled.

“His powers were meat-based, so maybe he needed to reload.”

Two Gun shrugged his shoulders and turned back to Kaleb. “Either way, it’s nowhere near Nemesis level. That type of shit is crazy, son.”

Kaleb waved them all off, trying to get the conversation moving again. Thankfully D34d-I’s robotic voice cut through the air.

*Quack*

“That’s not all. We even got the capture fee for Man-Rat…”

“Rat-Man.”

“and we got a bonus for him being outside our Tier Rating. Along with a slight reprimand for not notifying the police immediately when we spotted him. But they thanked us for dealing with him and sending him back to the Super-Max.”

“So is that the end of your Nemesis?” Jar-lock asked.

“Nope. If convention holds true, then he will get out again and come for me. And next time he will be even stronger than before. I’m gonna need to come up with some anti-strength gadgets or something.”

They all fell into contemplative silence as Kaleb guessed they were thinking how they would deal with Rat-Man. He thought that any one of them would be far better suited for the task. He needed an edge. That would mean more time in the workshop designing and brainstorming. But for now, they had bigger fish to fry.

“So, what about the detour you were sent on?” Kaleb asked Two Gun and Claire.

They both looked at Jar-lock, who looked a little sheepish as he rubbed his head. “I sent them to Windsor Park. Remember, our giant tree friend told us that one of its roots was out that way?”

“Unfortunately, when we got there the root was already siphoned and there was no trace of the Demon gang.”

“It should’ve been the first place we looked, but I fucking forgot all about it.”

Vivienne rubbed his shoulders and said. “We all didn’t think about it. We got so laser focused on the demon problem we forgot to come at it from another angle.”

“But now we can, right?” Kaleb asked.

“Yeah, and that’s what I’ve been doing.” Jar-lock tossed a heavy book on the table and opened it. “Typhanysor is a Vanity Demon like the professors at Vivienne’s school said. But the demon Malcolm had in the vial was a Befouling demon. One of pollution, corruption and infection. Normally, the pair wouldn’t be caught dead together. But with what Typhanysor is trying to accomplish, I’m thinking all bets are off.”

“So a Vanity Demon and Pollution Demon teamed up to punch a hole into this realm?”

“Correct. If I had to guess, it would be the Befouling Demon who was doing the heavy lifting. Vanity demons aren’t known for their work ethic.”

Kaleb nodded and rubbed his chin. “So, can we find spots of heightened pollution? I mean, with the sky-scrubbers, most of the air-borne stuff has to be taken care of. But for the ground level?”

“Yeah, Farrah did several fly-overs of various recycling centers. All are working at peak efficiency. Which tells me that our Befouling Demon isn’t the one crossing over.”

“It’s the Vanity Demon.” Vivienne nodded. “That makes sense. Typhanysor would not only be great at capturing the demon gang’s attention. They would want to be at the front of any demonic plans.”

“So we scan for this Typhanysor?” Two Gun asked, confused.

Jar-lock shook his head. “No. A Vanity Demon is a little harder to track. By design, they want to be in a place of leadership and adoration. But so do humans. So my bet is Typhanysor is the leader of the demons. Or maybe in an advisor position with a puppet leader.”

“So we are back to looking for a gang that’s gone into hiding.” Claire huffed, crossing her arms across her chest.

“Nope. Remember how Vivi and I were working on a spell to track the amassing magic the demons are collecting?”

“Sweet! So you found them?”

“Nope, again. There are no large amounts of magical energy being piled up anywhere in Austin.”

Kaleb rubbed his eyes. “Jar, just tell us what you found already.”

“The Tree!” Jar-lock said excitedly. “Remember, the demons are siphoning magic from the large magical tree. So all we had to do was find the thing’s roots. Which surprise, surprise, line up with Austin’s own Leyline map.”

Jar-lock swept a large beige poster onto the round table. He unfurled it and started placing weights on its edges as they all moved to look. Kaleb came around to Jar-lock’s left shoulder and peered down as Abby squeezed in beside him. Claire, Two Gun, and Vivienne were on the other as D34d-I simply stood on the table.

They all stared down at the fairly large map, which detailed the entire city of Austin and a few suburbs to the south. But along with the standard road layout and the topographical features, this map had three large blue bulbs in places on the map. One was located right under downtown, while another was right where the Hunter’s Magical Tree was. As for the third, it was further west and seemed to be near a tourist trap called the Aether Cave.

Kaleb pointed to it and raised an eyebrow at Jar-lock. But the mage shook his head.

“That’s an attraction for tourists. Apparently the Leyline broke the surface decades ago, and the magic crystallized for some reason. So now there is a solid chunk of raw magic just sitting out in the open for all to see.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Naw. The Leyline retracted a few years back and now the stone stands inert. But it’s pretty neat proof that magic can solidify on this plane. With enough force, that is.”

“We’re going to take a trip out there after this,” Vivienne said happily.

Kaleb rolled his eyes and looked down at the map again. From each blue blob, thousands of tiny fractures spread across the map like a spider-web. Narrow and thick lines of dark blue crisscross everywhere, and Kaleb sighed at seeing the amount of work they had before them.

“Yeah, Jar, this looks like a need in a haystack scenario.” Two Gun said, scratching his forehead. “How are we supposed to find the right Leyline?”

Jar-lock happily rubbed his hands together. “I ask it.”

Everyone went quiet and turned to the large mage. Kaleb could feel his face twist in confusion. But when no answer was forthcoming, he sighed.

“Jar, just fucking say it. This waiting for engagement shit is annoying.”

“A conversation happens when both parties participate!”

Kaleb rubbed his forehead and waited as Jar-lock explained.

“Look. We have our own branch of a Leyline coming down across our runway. If I can tap into it and send a pulse of magic through, I may be able to find what we are looking for.”

*Quack*

“By talking to a non-sentient river of magic flowing beneath the city?”

“It may be non-sentient, but it has a will. And if someone was tampering with the Leylines, it would want it to stop.”

“But are the demons tampering with the Leyline? I thought they were just tapping into the root system of a magic tree.”

Jar-lock nodded and traced a finger down a Leyline. “Yes, but the tree’s roots line up with the Leyline. This one went right through Windsor Park, which is where Gun and Claire found the remains of the tree’s root, right?”

“Big ole hole in the ground is what we found. Looked like it was formed by some great big tunnel worm.”

“Once could be a coincidence.”

“Either way, I can check in with the Leyline and see what’s what.”

Kaleb rubbed his eyes and nodded. “Fine. Jar can talk to a magical force of nature that may or may not fry his brain. What about the rest of us?”

*Quack*

“We’ve got several reports coming in from our district. From both the cops and the citizens. It appears that the news that the demons are gone has spread to the criminal element. Multiple gangs are trying to fill the demon’s spot.”

“Aren’t the police handling it? Since when do they call us for anything?” Abby snorted.

*Quack*

“I believe they are trying to keep us off the Demon case.”

Everyone froze at that and glanced up at the talking duck. His feathers ruffled a bit, and he seemed to shudder. Once he collected himself, he released another quack. Not for the first time, the duck’s mechanical translator took a while to parse everything D34d-I had said.

“I contacted the police about our suspicions and was told, in no uncertain terms, to keep my beak out of it. Caskelmore seemed adamant that the police department was on top of it. I went over his head and spoke to the chief of police in our district. But he also was reticent to hand over any information or help of any kind when it came to the demons. So I went further up the chain and submitted our findings to the SG Representative at City Hall. But, again, I was stone-walled… but only after the Rep confirmed we were a non-HLO affiliated Super Group.”

BAM

“Ha! I knew it! I fucking knew it!” Kaleb said happily after smacking the table. “The bastards ARE out to get us.”

The others all glanced at him with steely expressions. Kaleb always knew that the HLO was going to use its political pull to stymie Contract Heroes. Now they had almost definitive proof. Granted, it could just be city hall policy not to take Non-HLO heroes seriously. But Kaleb doubted it. D34d-I quacked again, bringing everyone’s attention back to the fowl.

“So I believe that in the absence of a standard chain of command. We are forced to work slightly outside the law on this one.”

Kaleb chuckled and placed a hand against his scaly cheek. “Oh no! We are going to have to color outside the lines? Oh dear, that’s an absolute surprise. Who could have seen this coming? How could we have known that the maniacal evil corporation that treats super heroes as a business would try to stomp out competition?”

A hard smack echoed in the hangar, and Kaleb felt his head jerk forward. A sharp pain flared in the back of his head and he turned to glare at Abby. The short woman was glaring back at him.

“Quit being an asshole and let the duck finish.”

Kaleb stuck his tongue out at the shorter woman. But turned to look at D34d-I.

*Quack*

“So my assumption is that the local PD is now shunting all or most calls to our SG. Like they should have been doing in the first place. But now it is being done with the express purpose of keeping us busy and off the demon case. So I propose we ignore the calls and focus solely on the demons for now.”

“We can’t take the Relationship hit though. We already have a Good standing with the locals. If we ignore them, we’ll go back to square one with a debuff to bringing it back up again.” Claire explained.

“Besides, we are still trying to be heroes. Let’s get out there and do some hero-ing while Jar-lock dives deep into the magical weave or whatever.” Two Gun added.

Kaleb nodded along in agreement. “We can increase our standing and gain some experience. All while showing the local police that we can do their job better than they can. I love it.”

As he finished speaking, he dodged out of the way as Abby swiped at him again. Turning, he smiled at Abby and moved further away. She was getting predictable. Glaring at him, the dark-clad woman nodded in agreement.

“It will be a good warm-up for a showdown with demons. When Jar-lock has a location, we can converge and go from there. While we’re out, we can also stock up on supplies. Viv, do you remember where that magical sundries shop was?”

“Out near Woodlands I think.”

They all started making plans as D34d-I got off the table. Kaleb followed the short duck with his eyes for a bit. But the duck simply walked into his office and returned with a bunch of keys. Placing them on the table, Kaleb immediately reached for his own.

“So, are we moving in teams or solo?”

*Quack*

“Let’s go ask our command staff.”

Kaleb nodded and turned as everyone broke apart. Two Gun and Claire rushed to the basement to grab their gear. Abby and Vivienne had their heads together and were making a shopping list. Jar-Lock was moving toward his library nook, head bowed in thought. Which left Kaleb and D34d-I walking to the back of the hangar. Lizards and teens were still moving about the place, stacking crates, training, and delivering messages.

They still housed both the teen Hunters and the Brute Clan guards. But they had become such a fixture that Kaleb barely noticed them half the time. As they stepped into Farrah’s section of the hangar, Kaleb marveled at how the woman commanded the room. Not to mention how much the area had expanded.

Her bank of monitors was the focal point of the room. But now she had multiple command stations. Each manned by a lizard or young teen. Off to the side, a few brute guards were placing an oblong drone on a bench. It looked slightly damaged, and Kaleb was about to walk over and help repair it when he spotted Daivor. The small gnome was on the table and seemed to be talking to a bunch of Hunters who surrounded the table. Daivor had a tiny clipboard in his hands and was pointing to various spots on the drone.

To the left was a small alcove of tables and chairs where six Hunters went over stacks of papers, reading and filing them one at a time. The large stack of papers made Kaleb think they were the requests for help. Farrah spun around at their approach and gave Kaleb a huge smile.

“Y’all done? My team is still filing the requests in order of urgency and location. I’ve got two drone teams on the most violent offenders, and we are tracking the runners to the edge of our district.”

“Do we have to hunt those down?” Kaleb asked.

“Nope. We hand off the report to the neighboring police department and list the event as still open until we get confirmation of capture.”

*Quack*

“The team is mobilizing, Farrah. We need the comms ready to go. Get all your drone teams ready and have them recording everything. We need a show of force here. One that the locals will think is just as efficient as the police. Preferably more so.”

“Finally decided to say fuck the Man, huh?”

Kaleb shrugged. “Better to ask for forgiveness than permission when people’s lives are on the line, right?”

Farrah nodded, her bunny-ears swaying with the movement. She moved to the center terminal at the center of the bank of monitors and reached down. She picked something off the desk and tossed it to Kaleb. He caught the small box and opened it. Inside was one of the earpieces he had made before Two Gun had bought them all cheap phones.

“I think this calls for some active comms. We have developing situations happening all over the district.”

Kaleb placed the comm unit in his ear and nodded at the tables to the side. “Are you going to be able to navigate us to the right places?”

Farrah scoffed. “Please, we’ve already got the crimes broken down. We just need you lot out there catching criminals. Let my team handle the paperwork.”

“When did you do all of this?”

“I’ve been working with the Hunters since you completed your deal with them. Then when the lizards came, everything just sort of fell into place. With some help from the duck here.”

*Quack*

“Ms. Kyneklos has been requisitioning credits from each payment we received and putting it toward the expansion of our command center. I’ve been helping her design and purchase the various bits of tech in here alongside Mr. Daivor. He has been extremely helpful in teaching hunters about electrical repairs.”

“Probably out of a sense of self-preservation. Otherwise, he would be required to do all our drone repairs.” Farrah chuckled. “But the Brutes have shown interest in other tasks as well. A few of them aren’t too interested in standing around and looking tough all day. So I’ve got them assigned to drone duty, repairs and even filing. They love it.”

Kaleb nodded as footsteps sounded behind him. He kept his eyes forward and smiled at his old handler. D34d-I handed out ear pieces as he started explaining the plan to the others. But Kaleb filtered out the duck’s robotic voice as he stared about at the bustling command center. They were well on their way to being a viable super group and soon the HLO was going to get a huge surprise.