Complications

The trio crept forwards. Marlo’s head swivelled from left to right, surveying the skies all around them.

“Any second now, a raven is gonna come through one of these walls.” He muttered.

“Are ye always so negative lad?” Wimund whispered.

“Usually.” Marlo admitted. He was so focused on looking around that he didn’t look where he was going, and almost fell into a pool. Nessa grabbed his Armpak, and he stopped, his face just a few centimetres from the water.

“Sorry!” He called up, face burning. “I wasn’t… I mean I was just-”

“Friend.” Nessa said softly. “Focus.”

Marlo looked at his own reflection and took a deep breath. “I just… really want this to work.”

“We all do lad.” Wimund said. “Being cautious is good. But ye’re overdoing it.”

Marlo stared into his own eyes for a few seconds. He inhaled and thought about everything that had happened in the past few days. That woman, her body bound and broken to the train tracks. The feeling of the train hitting his body, that microsecond of extreme agony. Waking up in Hermes’ domain, being stabbed in the eye, manhandled and dragged around for a reason he still didn’t fully understand. Being trapped in a cage of swords, escaping, and almost falling to his death. His first descent through the city, seeing those hellish factories churning out more and more meaningless goods, millions upon millions of people reduced to food-driven drones by super-powered monsters. That terrifying Raven creature, looming over him, the heart-stopping realisation he was going to die.

But worse even than that, there was the feeling of being betrayed, a person who he had just met and had believed was the first normal person he had seen there turned out to be anything but, everything she had said a lie, her one truth a death sentence for him. Then the dull horror at seeing his own face on a bounty poster on the front page of the internet, knowing his afterlife would never be normal again, that he would be strapped in this life forever. All these feelings welled up inside him and made it hard to breathe. He remembered lying on that hammock, feeling terrified and crushed by all the events that had so quickly, like falling dominoes, made his life spiral, forever out of his control. The seemingly endless terrible events, his string of bad luck and powerful enemies mixing in his head to make him feel helpless, and almost believe things would never get better and there was no hope. Almost.

But then, he remembered the other things that had happened. Nessa, a woman who had said upon meeting him that she didn’t believe in anything, praying to friends she knew were gone in the vague hope they would even slightly augment the equipment she had spent all night working on. Equipment made to keep him safe, to give him a fighting chance. Wimund taking him aside, and explaining things to him, shooting down his stupid ideas about heroes and villains, and showing him that the others were the same. Just trying to survive. And Monticello, giving him the equipment to keep him safe inside the Terro, the Monticello who had been beaten down endlessly not just in life but after it too. Monticello putting him first, even as he fought an impossible battle. The same Monticello who was holding off forces behind them right now, as he wasted time. The same Monticello who made this plan.

Marlo’s eyes narrowed. He blew out, and the arms on his back lashed out, punching into the water and pushing off the bottom, the ripples destroying his reflection.

“You’re right. I’m sorry. Let’s get this done and go home.”

“Attaboy.” Wimund clapped him on the back and fell in step besides him. The three of them marched, with renewed determination. They almost made it all the way to the Seancer, before having to stop and dive into the water as a rift opened in space right next to the console.

Marlo fought to remain silent as his heart thundered in his ears. He clung to the edge of the pool, his arms holding him and Nessa up so they didn’t have to swim, trying to show as little of himself as he could. Wimund was treading water in the other pool, hiding similarly. Marlo winced at all the water they had spilled, but before he could do anything to hide it, the rift twitched. He paled, and his blood went ice cold. The rift was strange, a purple swirling oval in open air, two-dimensional, barely able to be seen from the side. And out of it, an arm reached. The forearm was normal enough, but the hand was pure, jet black. Each of the nails was a ghostly, glowing white. Another hand came out, and this one was the opposite, the hand glowing and ethereally pale, and the nails perfectly kept cuticles of shadow. Then the owner climbed through, and Marlo’s heart dropped so fast he almost sank to the bottom of the pool.

A man, tall and rake thin. He had Asian features, tan skin besides his hands, and a flawless three-piece black suit, devoid of even a speck of grime, dust or lint. Each shoe was a beautifully shined leather loafer, the points tipped with glinting, polished skulls. But it was his head that drew Marlo’s attention. His hair was long and shining, a black curtain falling down his shoulders, moving far more than his head, in a way that drew the eye off it. But his face was wrong in two ways, ways that ensured Marlo couldn’t look away.

His mouth was much too large. His cheeks were sliced open on either side, giving him the look of a fixed grin, and where the mouth should have ended were two rings of metal, hooked through his flesh. This gave him the appearance of having three mouths, sharing one set of teeth. His nose was small, and his cheekbones were pronounced. But it was his eyes that were the worst. They were pure orange, with vertical black slits in the centre. When Marlo saw them he thought of fox eyes, having seen many foxes back when he was alive in the forest. But no fox he had ever seen exuded such an aura of intense cruelty. The relaxed manner in which he walked, the permanent grin on his face accentuated by the scars, the practiced ease in which he looked around… it all made Marlo feel sick just looking at him. This was a creature that looked human but was not even close. Just like Hermes. A Nephylite.

The man wasn’t alone. Stepping out of the portal behind him was a woman. She was shorter, with a shocking mas of red curls, falling in layers down the back, all the way to her waist. A wide-brimmed black hat balanced precariously on top of it. Every time she took a step, colours flashed on it. She was dressed in a similar style, eighteenth-century clothing. She wore a corset over a huge, wide-bottomed dress that looked impossible to move in, much less fight. It was a similar black design, and again, every time she moved, small multicoloured squares appeared, this time twice, around both the hem and her waist. A rapier hung at her side, and she was festooned with jewellery, pearl necklaces and bracelets and rings of all shapes and sizes.

“So…” The man’s voice was whispery and accented, each syllable hit as if it owed him money. “Where are they?” He swung his long, lanky body into a chair, and kicked his feet up next to the Seancer.

“If we got called out here for something so small the building security were able to deal with it…. I’m gonna lose it.” Every time the woman spoke, those lights flashed, many of the coloured squares forming undulating lines. Soundwaves, reflected on her clothes. “Do you know how hard it is to get into this?”

“Can’t be that hard, since you wear it every time you get the chance.”

“Not physically you idiot. Mentally. You think black is my colour? Blegh.” She stuck out her tongue.

“Nessa, who are they?” Marlo hissed.

“Knights of DVIN…” Nessa, for the first time he had ever heard, sounded genuinely scared. “Marlo, we should abandon this mission now.”

“What? No! We’ll never get a chance like this. Ever! We don’t have to fight them, just…”

“Marlo. That man is Loki. He is…” She shuddered. Marlo looked to Wimund, who, several metres away, was looking at him. Wimund nodded and motioned to keep watching. Marlo did so.

“Why couldn’t they send Moses and Cleo?” Loki hissed. “The old man really is a bastard for making me work.”

“Apparently they’re off in the desert on some top-secret mission.” The woman said, sitting in a chair of her own.

“What? I was never told about this.” Loki shook his hands up at the ceiling “I would love for a holiday in the sun like that. And I mean, look at this place.” He waved his arms towards the pools, making all three inhabitants flinch. “It’d be perfect for him.”

“Boss’ orders I suppose.”

Loki sighed “It’s always Boss’ orders. I’ve been following that old man’s orders for as long as I can remember. When will it stop?”

“Go tell him that then.”

Loki snorted “You want me dead that bad Julie?”

“I want you to stop whining. We just have to wait here for an hour or so. Even the Great Loki should be able to do that.”

“You were whining just as much as me a second ago.”

“That was a second ago, moron. Live in the present.”

Loki paused, then shook his head. He leaned over and looked at the Seancer. “Why do they even want this creepy thing?”

“Who knows? Something about taking DVIN down a peg I bet. The typical logic of cells. You’ve got rid of more than I have, so you should know all their buzzwords by now.”

Loki laughed “That’s it? Why the hell are we here then? If the Old Man had ever gotten to the point where something like this could take him down,” he picked up the head and tossed it up and down. “We’d be in dire straits.”

“I don’t know but-”

“Old man’s orders. I know.” He sat back. “Fine, I guess we should get started.”

The woman named Julie nodded and turned. For a terrifying second, she walked towards them, and Marlo was convinced she’d seen them. then she stopped, just a metre or two away, and plunged her rapier into the ground. It made a pure, resonant tone, which seemed to echo through Marlo’s body, making his bones vibrate. He fought to remain hidden as waves of that strange, violating sound hit him. Next to him, Nessa was grimacing. The soundwaves on Julie’s body danced up and down, going wild as she leant on her sword, prolonging that tone. The water all around them rippled, and the whole building seemed to be humming in harmony, the windows all vibrating in unison, making that noise even louder. Marlo grit his teeth, feeling his eyes shake in his body. He felt like screaming, like lunging at the woman, breaking the sword, doing anything to stop it. Nessa put a hand on his shoulder, but he could barely hear it through the shaking.

Then, finally, it stopped. Loki shuddered. “Hate when you do that.”

“Best way to find them, isn’t it?”

“For someone who can’t feel the effects, certainly.” Marlo was only half listening. He was fighting for breath as the vibrations in him died, while still trying to remain hidden. It felt impossible.

Loki snapped his fingers. “So, where are they?”

“There’s one a floor below us. Using stolen Umbramancy, he’s fighting off guards. As best as I can tell, he’s alone.” Marlo’s eyes widened. That sound pulse had scanned the whole building? That was insane!

“Surely these cells aren’t so stupid they’d send only one person?” Loki mused, staring out the window.

“Well, killing him will get the others to come out.” Julie walked onwards; gaze so set on the stairs that lead to Monticello that she didn’t notice his three teammates much closer.

“Don’t have too much fun.” Loki called. Marlo’s heart beat, fast. He stared at Nessa, and knew she was thinking the same thing. If this woman was a human working for DVIN, she’d be like Benkei. Maybe even stronger, if she had just scanned a whole skyscraper that fast. Monticello had no chance against her. Neither did they in a fair fight. But maybe if they jumped on her now, they could get her before she got Monticello. Of course, then this Loki guy would notice, but the four of them against him could do it, surely? Besides, he was looking out the window with his back turned. Maybe they could kill her… Marlo hesitated for a second then nodded. Yes, kill her. It was the only way. She was going to kill Monticello if they didn’t, and besides, she worked for DVIN. She was a terrible person. His arms carried him and Nessa to the other side of the pool, and curled up, preparing to launch the pair. Ness raised her fists, sighting a target as Marlo held up his fingers, signalling a countdown.

“Three… two… one… now!”

The pair launched, erupting from the pool in a fountain of water. They weren’t yelling a battle cry or anything, dedicating themselves fully to a silent takedown as they launched at the unknowing woman, fourteen hands drawn back. Instead, it was Wimund who yelled.

“Nessa, Marlo, What the hell are ye doin’?”

The pair impacted with the woman, and fell right through her as if she wasn’t even there. Marlo rolled, and came up to see Wimund, standing over them.

“Wimund, what the hell?” he yelled “We were trying to sneak up on her!”

“Who lad?” He grunted through grit teeth “There’s no one there!”

Marlo paled. He turned and saw that he was right. Nessa was looking around, but the back half of the room was empty. The woman they had been chasing, was nowhere to be seen. Then they heard her clear her throat.

“Hello.” The pair’s heads whipped around in unison. There, rapier point bent against Wimund’s cutlass was the woman called Julie. She was back in front of them, near where she had plunged her blade into the ground. The blade she now had in her hands, which she hadn’t had a second ago. She ignored them as they scrambled up and smiled at Wimund “I must say I’m impressed, old man. I’ve never seen someone as old as you look move so fast. If it wasn’t for you, I’d have ran them both through.”

“And I’ve met plenty lasses as gorgeous as you who turned out to be right bitches. Glad to see things don’t change!” Wimund swung his cutlass, and the woman hopped back, screwing up her face in distaste.

“How rude. And I’d rather not be called beautiful by an old man like you. I am the great Julie D’Aubigny.”

“But… how?” Marlo asked. Behind the sword-wielding pair, Loki stood up.

“That would be me, boy.” He snapped his fingers, and Marlo felt a hand tug at him. He whirled, and his Armpak lashed out, the fists pummelling the ground and cracking the floor tiles. But when the dust cleared, there was no one there.

“Wow.” The whispering, snake-like voice came from right behind him. Marlo leapt back, to see Loki standing right next to him. “Those are well-made kid. Much too well made for you.”

Marlo panted, hard. None of this made sense. The woman had been in front of him, but then hadn’t been there when he’d landed, and it sounded like she had been planning a trap. Then the tug on his arm, but without anything being there when he’d swung. And now Loki was right here, standing in front of him. In a place that should have been water. He looked down and saw that around Loki’s ankles were two small purple circles. More of those rifts. Below them, there was nothing at all. Loki had no feet whatsoever. He glanced back at where Loki had been and saw that there were two more of those rifts, a few centimetres above the ground. Sticking out below them, were Loki’s feet. He was standing on a floor several metres away, while the rest of his body watched Marlo coolly, like a snake waiting for its prey to die of a venomous bite.

“Teleportation.” He breathed. Loki’s face split into an even wider grin.

“You got that quicker than the last rebels I killed.” Nessa came in with a right hook, hurtling towards Loki’s smug face. The god snapped his right hand, the one which was all black, and a portal about as wide as a football opened in the path of Nessa’s fist. Another one opened next to her face, and she slammed herself in the jaw, her fist going into one and powering out of the other, sending her staggering.

“Oh good, you’re a moron.” Loki drew up a leg out of the portal and took another step. With a finger click, a new portal formed beneath it. This time its partner was right in front of Marlo’s face. He had just enough time to realise what was coming and widen his eyes before a boot stepped on his face, grinding it viciously. He felt his nose crunch, and fell back with a shriek, as Loki continued to click portals into existence, walking back onto solid ground. He dispelled the rifts, and looked down at Marlo, bending at the waist to get his face just a hair’s width from the boy’s.

“You haven’t imbibed any Nephylite flesh, have you kid?” He grinned. Marlo clutching his nose, tried to crawl backwards on his elbows. Loki clicked once again and followed. In fact, his face seemed to fill Marlo’s whole world. It shifted, the flesh bleaching, going bone white, and the flesh going gaunt, becoming little more than a skull. The eyes began to weep blood, the nose peeled into an oozing sore, and the rings holding the mouth broke apart. The mouth split into three, sharp teeth growing in each as they cackled in unison, forked tongues flicking in and out. Marlo screamed and his Armpak lashed, but when it made contact with Loki, he burst into smoke and disappeared. Marlo, hyperventilating, looked around frantically. Loki was five metres away, watching him calmly, sitting on a chair that wasn’t there before. The same chair he had been sat on earlier at the console. He looked the same way he had earlier. The ghoulish appearance was gone. No sunken skin, no bleeding eyes, and only one mouth

“You alright kid?” He sneered “Looks like you saw a ghost.”

“Calm down, calm down.” Marlo thought, scrambling to his feet once again. his nose was probably broken. It was gushing blood, and tears were filling his eyes, making it hard to see. His brain was screaming with adrenaline, but none of this made sense. Yes, he had teleportation, sure. But some of these things he was doing, they were impossible even with that. Making people just disappear, even when Marlo kept his eyes on them. The portals he had seen had been slower, taking at least a few milliseconds to appear, enough that the brain could process the distinctive shape and colour. Maybe he was slowing their appearance every time Marlo was looking to fool him, but then why would he? A normal person would kill him as fast as possible, and a sadist would show him that there was no hope, so he’d demonstrate the difference between them instantly.

Loki peered, a little closer, then his eyes widened. “Wait… shit! You’re the kid!”

Marlo froze.

“Yeah!” Loki called to the woman who was staring down Wimund “Julie look! It’s the kid Hermes lost.”

“Huh?” Julie tried to look around Wimund, but he held out a hand. All five mechanical fingers shifted, the tips caving in and opening up, the joint becoming more pronounced until there were five miniature cannons sticking from his knuckles. She backed off, holding her hands up “I’ll take your word for it.

“Shit… looks like a whole crew of morons. If I was in your position I’d hide under a rock in the middle of nowhere, not go after a prized DVIN artifact.” He leant back in his chair, laughing hard. He raised his right hand, the pure black one, and clicked. A portal opened behind him, and as his chair rocked back, half of the backrest with him on it went through. Marlo again felt something nudge him, and when he jumped back this time, he looked into the upside-down face of Loki. “Looks like you’re coming with me kid.”

“Stay away from my friend…” Nessa growled, wiping blood off her face. Loki sighed and lifted his hand. Marlo noted this time it was the left one, all white, with black nails. He clicked it, and Nessa suddenly whirled. She reached out like she was stopping something coming at her from overhead, even though there was nothing there. She swung a punch at nothing, and then shoulder slammed the air, diving into a pool.

“Not again!” Wimund yelled, not taking his eyes off the woman.

“Again?” Marlo thought. Was that what they had looked like before? Going after nothing, fighting the air? Loki had clicked with his left hand, and then Nessa had gone berserk. He had caught a glimpse of her face before she had dived in. She looked terrified, as if she was fighting for her life. Fighting a monster only she could see. His right hand did rifts, but his left hand…

“Illusions.” He whispered. Loki’s face fell, the grin stopping.

“Too smart for your own good, aren’t you? Fine. I just have to bring you back alive, so…” he rocked his chair forwards, and as the rift behind him disappeared, Marlo turned to see the Nephylite unfurl to his full height, towering over him, and drawing back a fist. With his left hand, he clicked. Time slowed down as Marlo watched the fist come towards him. His left hand did illusions, and it looked like for both of his abilities, he had to click to use them. That meant this might be one too. The fist hurtling right at his gut was an illusion. It wasn’t real. He was wanting Marlo to fall for it and defend himself. So whatever he did, he had to not…

Marlo caved, and the Armpak reached around, wrapping around his midsection just before the very real fist made contact. Even through the metal, the blow made him gasp and sent him sliding back, almost into a pool. He wheeled his arms frantically to stop from falling in and staggered to the side as Loki winced and blew on his knuckles.

“Agh… When did I last throw a punch without readying my target? I’m getting sloppy.” That was sloppy? Marlo was sure some of his ribs were broken. He looked to his right and saw that Nessa was still struggling underwater. His eyes widened, and his Armpak stretched out. It grabbed her, and hauled her spluttering, out of the water. Marlo ran to her and shook her.

“Nessa! It’s not real! It’s all illusions!”

“Illusions?” She coughed.

“Illusions huh?” Loki said, suddenly right beside them. He swung a kick at Marlo, and again his arms came up to block. This time though, the boot turned into mist upon contact with his arms. Marlo swore. He had to listen for the finger snaps, or he’d never be able to tell. He turned and saw the real kick coming. He blocked with his real arms, but there was no way his Armpak could defend him in time. So, he did the only thing he could. As the boot impacted into his arms, cracking his bones, the Metal arms rushed up his shoulders, and ten metal fists slammed into Loki’s chest, forcing him back.

The pair went flying, and Marlo landed hard, rolling. He came to a stop, and after a second, started to howl in agony. His real arms were in terrible shape, twisted badly. Why the hell had he done that? This time, it was Nessa who ran to him.

“Friend!” She yelled. She looked at his arms. “You have dislocated elbows and shoulders. I understand it will be painful, but you must have your Armpak reset them.”

Marlo nodded with difficulty and looked past her. Loki was straightening, looking down in shock at his suit. The impact had blown the buttons off, and as Marlo watched, red spots started to show through the shirt. But to his horror, it didn’t look like he’d done any real damage.

“Oh come on!” he groaned “That would have turned a normal person to paste. Not even one broken bone?”

Loki’s head snapped up, and their gazes met. Those horrid orange eyes narrowed, and his teeth drew back in a snarl. “You little shit. You got my clothes dirty.” He straightened up, and brushed himself off, his shirt immediately losing its creases, though the bloodstains remained, spreading and staining his otherwise perfect shirt. “Julie! Take the old man downstairs. Kill them both. I’ll deal with these two.”

“What?”

“You heard me!”

Julie sighed and bowed to Wimund. “Let’s take this downstairs.”

“Sure. Marlo! Nessa!” Wimund turned and smiled to them both “Give him hell.”

“Wimund!” Marlo yelled. Julie stabbed her rapier into the ground again, and with a blast of noise, the ground crumbled under the pair, and they fell out of sight.

“Let’s start again, shall we?” Loki spat. He snapped his black hand twice, and a rift opened under the pair. They fell through before they could react, and fell, on their feet, standing facing Loki. Behind him, was the Seancer.”

“You want this?” He growled. “Come and get it!”

“Stay behind me friend.” Nessa commanded. She slammed her hands together, and out of the hole in the ground between the pair and the God, the metal she had accumulated rushed up in a great mass, floating around them in a thick grey cloud.

“I’m right behind you.” Marlo grit his teeth and looked at his twisted joints. His Armpak grabbed all of them and twisted. There was a second of blinding, white-hot pain which made him shriek, and then it was gone. Breathing hard, he crouched low, and the Armpak unfurled around him, all ten arms locked on Loki. “Let’s go kill a God.”