Lady Diamond
let the flickering flames of the fight reflect in her eyes. As her warriors
fought one another, their image danced on her eyes like a silver screen. She
let the instructions of Johnny Alpha trickle in her ears. The words of her
father, the voice of her father, the very soul of the man who had given life to
both her and the construct who channeled him now. Each note was a trigger that
recalled a different memory from her younger days. Each movement of a gladiator
exactly overlaid with an image in her mind. The bright light of these fighters
and the shadows of her past were one and the same. She observed her team with
childlike delight.
"Relentlessness,"
commanded Johnny Alpha to his partner, Gail. There was a slight irregularity to
his once pristine speakers, and his words skipped a little when he spoke. Yet,
he carried his words with the same air of authority Dasher Diamond had, and
they rang in Gail's ears as she landed fist after fist into The Kid's side. The
Kid dropped his guard further with each punch, and Gail started to hesitate.
"In
combat I wouldn't, but he..."
"You
may have to fight a friend in the arena. You may have to fight a former
teammate. You may have to fight The Kid someday. Personal survival is the key
to victory."
Gail grit
her teeth, grinding the top against the bottom. She shook her head, her long,
dark braids swinging like a heavy rope. Tears swelled in the corners of her
eyes. As the Kid cowered beneath the stream of blows, he resembled what she
must have looked like on the streets once upon a time. Now she was the bully
and could not help the sting of remorse. If only she could have seen The Kid's
smirk on his arm-covered face.
"Finish
him with a kick. The leg is an under-appreciated weapon. The P.S. I.
Gail lifted
her leg. She stood, wobbling, preparing to land the blow. The Kid whimpered.
Gail set her foot down, regained her standing, inhaled deeply, and went for the
kick. Captain Impressive gave a two-fingered salute to The Kid. He then jumped
to intercept the attack. Gail caught him just below the ribs, knocking the wind
out of him. Captain Impressive gathered himself on the floor. His face was
downward, but his human eye kept her insight.
The Kid
rose up behind him, grinning as he stroked the amulet around his neck.
"Stop, everyone," commanded Johnny Alpha. "We'll leave the
Doombringer for another day. Gail, no hesitating. Captain Impressive, it was a
poor choice to intercept just then."
Captain
Impressive defended himself, "I thought she was going to hu..."
Johnny
Alpha waved his left arm. "First, know your team. The Kid had some life
left in him. Second, that interception cost you at least one attack. You could
have caught her off guard. All you did was just spread out the damage."
Dreena
sighed. When had she last heard those words? How old had she been when she
snuck downstairs and from the shelter of the doorway watched her dad shell out
the same advice? Had it not been Johnny Alpha himself who had intercepted
incorrectly? And then what? He learned to take control, how to punch the
aggressor to throw them off their game, and attack again quickly. She watched
her father do this, following Johnny Alpha with her gaze.
"It
sound terrible to say, but there'll be times you have to sacrifice a member
for the good of the team. Now, while the opponent is focused here," he
gestured with his left hand to The Kid's feet, "you can just come up and
take her down like this." Johnny Alpha used Captain Impressive as his
punching dummy.
There was a slight discrepancy in Dreena's mind. She tried to recall her father landing his
famous right-hand assault into Johnny Alpha's breastplate. The puppet show
before her was Johnny Alpha throwing his left fist in Captain Impressive's
direction. Captain Impressive moved easily out of the way.
A still
silence lowered the temperature in the room. The Kid broke in with a flush of
embarrassment, "Maybe the Captain ought to be training you." The
silence lingered further.
"It is
just... you know, that Pol-tec arm of yours," blustered Captain
Impressive, "If you had your original arm... or if you'd used your
other... I'm sure it was just luck." Captain Impressive rubbed Johnny
Alpha on the shoulder, trying to help smooth his feelings, if indeed he had been
built with such.
Johnny
Alpha shook his head with a squeak. "This Pol-tec arm is the most up-to-date technology on my entire frame. This thing," he flayed his right arm
around, "it remembers the faces it cracked, the weapons it used... even
the minions it built and repaired. It doesn't pack the punch it once did."
"I'm
sure you've still got it," overly assured Captain Impressive.
Johnny
Alpha gave a demonstration. He jabbed at Captain Impressive, aiming for the
bridge of his nose. Captain Impressive would have escaped unharmed even if the
construct had completed the attack. With a grinding halt, Johnny Alpha's arm
stopped mid-punch. "Thank you for holding back," thanked Captain
Impressive.
"My
arm is stuck," informed Johnny Alpha, matter-of-factly. With his new,
Pol-tec appendage, he pulled at the jammed piece of machinery, a quick fix to
start it going. As it swung on its hinges once more, a blob of blackness
spilled out onto the floor.
"What's
that oil?" inquired The Kid. Captain Impressive nudged him.
"Not
exactly, it lubricates in a similar fashion..."
Johnny
Alpha was starting to clean up. Dreena came over and squeezed his elbow sweetly.
It was the elbow her father had built. "Training is over for the day. Why
don't you go to the market, see what parts you can find." Gail, The Kid,
and Captain Impressive hurried out.
"I
apologize for the mess, I did a quick patch up last time and..."
"Don't
you worry about it. Run a diagnostic, see what you can do. I'll take care of
this." Johnny Alpha did not argue. He left to give himself a checkup. Lady
Diamond covered the semi-liquid darkness in an absorbent dust. With the aid of
a robot designed for vacuuming, she carried out the task with dignified grace.
*
* * * *
In his
office, Magistrate Vellun discarded a bottle of Byrdarian Wine he had just
finished. He missed the receptacle at the sound of his name.
"Vellun," said Kashen, a command, not a greeting. "You
spilled."
"It
was empty," said Magistrate Vellun, "I'll have someone clean it
up."
"I
thought you were in a meeting with the lords," inquired Kashen with a hint
of suspicion.
"It
was postponed." Magistrate Vellun sipped his wine, unbuttoned his top
clip, and as if his lungs were free for the first time in a century, exhaled.
Conversationally, Magistrate Vellun asked, "Did you see Lady Diamond's
team the other night? Not bad at all. Maybe there is a lot of her father in
her."
"The happenstance of chaos. It'll only carry them so far."
Distantly,
Magistrate Vellun asked, "I didn't see, how did your team do?"
Kashen
stared Magistrate Vellun down until he’d forgotten his own question. "They
lost," sneered Kashen. He busied himself with meaningless tasks until
Magistrate Vellun finally left for his meeting. Kashen kept his eyes on
Magistrate Vellun's tightly bound shirt until it was out of sight. He moved
over to Vellun's desk and made a call on the communications device.
"This
is Kashen, of the Detrius Colony. I need you to find someone for me." He
paused to listen. "No, he's gone underground, for obvious reasons."
Kashen listened. "Slice." He waited. "That's right. Just tell
him to seek me out." Kashen nearly smiled. "No, I want him to fight
again." He disagreed. "No, Grakkan's Union .
He can name his own price." He listened. "Thank you." Kashen's
lip curled as he massaged the snake tattooed on his forehead…
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