Chapter 26 – Arwain, In the Dark

Arwain knew there was no time at all. Still, his first instinct was to protect the crew.

Jolly and all the times she held his hand and pulled him along as he learned how to fly.

Queen and her dirty candor, yet straight-laced professionalism he looked up to.

Jester’s showmanship, ready to give everyone a cheer and a hug every time he landed.

Sarge’s grace and beauty, refined by a lifetime of tutorship.

And Dingleberry, ever the eager teenager that had a bright future ahead of him.

These thoughts flashed in his head as he made a beeline for the closest entryway, willing to throw himself off the building to keep the others safe.

But suddenly, a strong grip yanked him by the collar, stopping his charge.

“Warghh!!! Jester, what the hell!? There’s no time!”

“Drop the bomb, you silly boy! Jolly, hit the switch!”

“Activated!”

A quick chop to Arwain’s hands caused the bomb to fall out of his grip and roll across the ground. Sarge dashed forward and kicked it to the corner where it stopped and pulsated before erupting purple.

Clenching his teeth, Arwain waited for the moment that everyone would lose their wings, when the feathers would crumble and fall.

However, seconds passed and he could still feel the tingle of feathers at his extremities. He opened his eyes to see that everyone around the room had wings around them.

“H-How? What?”

A slap on the back nearly knocked Arwain over, already knees shaky from anticipation.

“You can thank Jolly for that. She came through with her tinkering after all.”

Arwain looked over at her, who was holding a portable device. He only noticed it now, but shields had been deployed around the Silver Stream crew. They were the same ones that they had been told would block the detonation of Icarus bombs.

“Wait, I thought that was super-secret tech that the government could only offer a few?”

Jolly shrugged. “Well, they weren’t that hard to reverse engineer, and this proves it. That means we’ve been lied to.”

“B-But why? Why would they-”

A heavy thud landed at the front door, the cloaked figure that had left Arwain with the bomb having been tossed inside. Queen stepped through the doorway and dusted her hands.

“Phew, I really shouldn’t have gone for the nuts. I thought it was going to be a 50/50 chance of it succeeding, but I didn’t expect to hit solid metal.” She pulled off the cloak, revealing an unconscious female droid. “Remind me never to bet on black or red. My luck landed on double zero. Good thing I had this baby on me.”

Queen pulled out a taser which was powerful enough to short-circuit a robot. She waved it around with a sigh.

“I knew I couldn’t trust the guy. The vibes are all wrong about him. Not to mention the mustache. That’s just asking for doubt.”

Sarge walked over and turned the droid over.

“It’s the same model that the city council uses, a decades-old one.”

“No wonder the Icarus virus doesn’t work on it. It doesn’t even use the same script language. And all this time, we were told to be on the lookout for No-Flyers…,” Jolly mused, biting her thumb while thinking.

“Guys! Can someone please explain to me just what the hell is going on here? I am so incredibly lost!”

Arwain’s outburst caused everyone to pause and look at him. Finally, Jolly was the one to break the news to him.

“The mayor’s likely the one behind all of this, the bombs and stuff.”

That statement turned Arwain into a goldfish for the next ten seconds before he could finally spit out a retort.

“And you were going to tell me this when???” He looked around the room, the rest of his crew fidgeting listlessly while avoiding his gaze. “No, don’t tell me that you all knew, while I was happily playing the fool?”

“Don’t take it the wrong way. We thought it was best if we didn’t tell you until we were sure. After all, you have the worst poker face out of all of us,” Jolly said.

“How long have you suspected?” Arwain facepalmed, starting to understand her point.

“Since the mayor called all of us up for help. Think about it. Why would the person controlling droids for the city’s security and public safety need a bunch of winged deliverymen to personally retrieve and dispose of bombs?”

“Didn’t DeWine say something about the bombs auto-detonating if his droids came close?”

Jolly jeered at him.

“Maybe because my parents have taught me to be tech savvy, but that sounds like a bunch of BS to me. Sure, tampering with police droids might be possible, but why do something so simple as to have them trigger bombs to explode in proximity? If it were me, I’d have those droids deliver them personally, just like this one did just now. Someone that good at hacking should cause wayyy more trouble than forcing a city-wide goose chase!”

“Jolly’s explanation went right over my head, so I didn’t really believe it at first,” Queen added, “But it got me thinking. I had to pay attention to the words the mayor was using. Sure, his public speeches were meant to instill a sense of duty to our city, but if you really start to listen, he was trying to bully people into action in response to Daedalus. As someone whose been on the receiving end of it, it didn’t sit right with me.”

“As such, we began to investigate.” Jester came forward next. “I kept an eye on where the construction of netting and safety landings were placed. If you line up where the bombs had detonated, I was left with a sense that they were controlled attacks, meant to happen where people would have a high rate of finding safety. Such ploys cannot escape the eyes of someone meticulous when it comes to avoiding dangers.”

Arwain’s look of shock next turned to Sarge, who bashfully looked away. When he cocked his head in confusion, Jester explained why.

“Sarge was the only one with any luck snaring someone from the city council to spill the beans on the financials. That lover boy of hers had some loose lips after a few drinks, boasting about how he got a sudden raise for securing the necessary budget for building supplies, a timely coincidence that seemed to work out smoothly for damage prevention against the bombings.”

“Wait, that makes sense.” Arwain held up his hand. “But why is Sarge blushing over that?”

“Well, let’s just say that she feels a little guilty about playing tricks on a ‘nice guy’ so utterly devoted to her…”

“I can’t help but appreciate a man that managed to shave off thirty pounds just because I said his portliness inhibits his potential!”

Queen giggled and jabbed Sarge in the side with an elbow.

“Enough appreciation to do aerial suplexing in the bedroom, I heard. Couldn’t wait to test out the results of your strict action plan, could you?”

Sarge’s face went beet red. Suddenly, her whips were extended as she chased a cackling Queen around the room. Apparently, someone had managed to melt through her ice.

Arwain ignored all that and turned to Dingleberry, the last member.

“Ah, don’t look at me. I didn’t know nothing until you found out just now. So, at least we’re samesies!”

Arwain groaned and shook his head. He realized that his crew all treated him like a teenager. Some champion he turned out to be. But as he was throwing his discontent to the ground, five hands came down onto his back at the same time. He looked up to see everyone giving him a grin.

“Thanks for doing what you do best, Arwain,” they all said together.

“And what’s that?” he wondered aloud.

“Acting as if everything is okay, even in tough times.”

“Having complete faith in us, as different as we all are.”

“Possessing the guts to do what you feel is right.”

“Being someone for everyone to look up to.”

Queen, Jester, Sarge, and Dingleberry took turns in praising him. And then, Arwain was stunned even more by an earnest smile from Jolly.

“And for trying to protect us even when we have you covered. You’re at your best when you rely on your instincts. That’s why we thought it was best to let you become the city’s champion. Mayor DeWine’s intentions aside, this city certainly needs one. As we’ve told you time and time again, you just worry about what’s ahead. We’ll take care of the rest!”

Arwain nodded. Somehow, it felt like they were putting their hands together in preparation for a big fight. But then again, he knew exactly what the next course of action was.