Chapter 45: Chapter 45

Sonya sat in her apartment, staring out over the city beyond. Night had fallen, but the news was still rolling out. She reclined on an armchair, sipping at her drink, the faint clink of the ice and the sizzling of the bubbles within the carbonated soda satisfying to her ears. She ran her fingers over the helmet in her lap, tracing the surface and the various seams between the metal and the faceplate. A panel of light appeared and she set the cup down. Somewhere behind her a woman on the television spoke.

“The final death toll after the coordinated attack by the villains has been tallied, the confirmed loss of life has risen to two hundred and eleven people spread across the sixteen locations, the chairman of the Pandora Committee and the President have called for an international day of mourning tomorrow as questions mount about how the villains who were captured during the fight will be treated,” The woman said, her voice a little hollow. Sonya glanced towards the screen and saw bags under the woman’s eyes, she looked away and sipped her drink again.

“Sonya Chernovna, CEO of ASTA corporation and the ‘Voice of the Hero Movement’ was briefly kidnapped by the villains during the attack on the New York testing ceremony, she was reportedly taken to the headquarters of the self-proclaimed ‘Supervillain’ Kingshark. Licensed Heroes lead by Firestorm arrived at the scene shortly after Handmaiden, the villains retreated and Kingshark was nowhere to be found. Fortunately, Miss Chernovna was found exhausted but unharmed. She was debriefed and released a few hours ago,” The woman continued.

Sonya tapped her manicured nails against her helmet, “Along with Miss Chernovna were the bodies of several people who remain unidentified except for one who was identified as Park Beyol, a korean photographer who was presumed missing after the flash. Dental records have confirmed his identity.”

Sonya’s fingers stopped moving, “Photographer, mm? You have a hobby?” She asked the empty room.

Behind her, the dark coalesced, an inky mass that rose from the ground and took solid shape. The shadow wrapped in on itself, shimmering like when one folded hard candy. Soon it had arms and legs, a head, and then a pair of lavender eyes that stared down at the back of her head. Black hair fell down his face, “I dabble,” He said.

She sipped at her drink and let out a breath, “Your employer won’t be happy to hear you’re dead,” She said coldly.

“She isn’t my employer anymore,” He said flatly.

Sonya looked out the window for a long moment, “Have you given it any thought? What I should call you now?”

He drifted around the armchair and dropped to a knee next to her, lowering his head, “Please call me Blackrazor, mistress,” He said in a low voice.

Her lip twitched, “Edgy,” She said with a snort.

“Might as well embrace it,” He said with a hidden smile.

“That, I approve of,” She chuckled and nodded before her expression fell, “Your previous employer is a very dangerous man. His powers dwarf mine right now and he could even end Marta’s life with a touch,” She murmured.

He looked up at her, “The guy? Phan Duong?” He asked.

“Yes, don’t worry about him right now,” She commanded and looked up at the sky, “Your immediate goal is the Night Society.”

“You said you wanted them, but I don’t fully understand what you mean by that,” He said, looking up into her stoic face.

She glanced down at him, “What is there to interpret? You will go and take control of the Night Society.”

He blinked at her, “You-you’re serious?”

She looked him in the eyes, “Do I seem like the kind of person to joke about something like this?” She asked him coldly, “Can you not do it?”

He sat up on his knees, meeting her eyes, his gaze wide with something between wonder and terror, he looked down at his hands as purple metal seeped from his palms and took the shape of wicked looking knives, they melted again and returned to his skin. “Yes, I can do it, I’ll put an end to the Leader and take his place,” He said thoughtfully, “I won’t let you down, mistress.”

“I know you won’t,” She said, “I’ve invested a lot into you. Toxic Blood and Autarch of Shadow. You are a mythic-tier supervillain now, Blackrazor. Be sure to act like it going forward.”

“Yes, mistress.”

She sipped her drink and fixed her eyes on the glass again, “Escaping the country will be a good way to get a handle on your abilities,” She said, “You may go.”

He bowed his head and dissolved into the ground, his shadows spreading across the room for a moment before slipping away. She looked at herself in her reflection as he departed and brought her drink to her lips. It was empty. She looked down into it and then up at herself again, but it wasn’t her face she saw. She saw two digitized eye staring back at her, narrow bands of hot pink glaring back with unfeeling malice.

She sniffed, Feeling guilty now? She asked herself, You don’t have time for that, you made a promise and you’re going to keep it. She gripped the glass in her hand tightly a crack forming in it, This isn’t over until Otis is dead and the monsters are gone. No matter what you have to do, no matter what I have to do. I’ll walk over a million corpses if that’s what it takes. I’ll drag humanity kicking and screaming into the future.

She let out a breath and looked away from her reflection.

There was a pause,

She said.

He asked.

She said and ended the call. She looked back at her reflection and frowned again, What does it even mean to own a soul? She looked at her hands, I don’t feel any different…

–

The next day Sonya sat on the private jet next to Marta. Her dear friend was dozing, her head resting on Sonya’s shoulder. Sonya looked out the window and mentally flipped through a list in her HUD. Thousands of names appeared in front of her, each line a precious piece of information that she only possessed because of her position and influence. She doubted even Amos could get his hands on this kind of data without more than a little effort. The Pandora Committee was taking serious precautions with it.

The Licensed Hero Registry, she mused.

Every single name was a person who had registered, their tier, and their ability as described by them. There were plenty of names she recognized, over a dozen mythics listed, Marta included as Handmaiden. Her lip twitched into a small smile, So many hands to shake,

She chuckled and flipped through, Now… lets see how many of you bastards made it into the first batch… She thought as she began to filter through the data, looking for a few specific names.

“Mmm?” Marta murmured next to her.

Sonya closed out of her HUD and glanced towards her friend, “You up?” She whispered.

“How long was I out?” Marta asked, blinking rapidly as she looked around the plane, “Are we almost there?”

“About thirty minutes away,” Sonya said softly, reaching to pat her head, “How are you feeling? You slept a lot.”

Marta made a face, “It hurt, a lot,” She said numbly.

“I know it did,” Sonya said and reached to squeeze her hand, “I made him hurt for it.”

Marta looked down at her feet, “I’d do it again.”

“I know,” Sonya said and let out a sigh, “I can’t do this without you, Marta.”

Marta sat up and nodded, “I’m your shield, Sonya, this is the least I can do,” She said and gave Sonya her strongest look, her eyes sparkling with resolve.

Sonya grinned at her, “You’re so cute when you’re tough.”

Marta shivered and her face turned red, she hopped to her feet, “I thought I said no flirting! You know I don’t swing that way!” She barked.

“I’ve heard that before, changed their mind pretty quick,” Sonya teased.

Marta threw up her hands, “Way to ruin the moment you perv!” She griped, storming over to one of the cabinets set up inside the jet and pulled out a bottle of wine. She was about to pop the cork and froze, “Can I… get drunk?” She asked.

“Probably not,” Sonya said.

“Can you?” Marta asked.

“I don’t think my brain will allow it anymore, no,” Sonya said soberly.

Marta snorted and leaned against the counter, “What are you going to do once this is all over?” Marta asked, staring at the bottle.

“Probably pay for my crimes,” Sonya said with a sigh, “I’ll deserve it in the end.”

Marta closed her eyes and took a deep breath, “It’s just pain, it’ll pass.”

Sonya closed her eyes and nodded, “Yeah.”

–

Hyunh fidgeted in the car, tapping her foot. This is bad, she thought, looking up at the street ahead of them. I shouldn’t have left him alone, She chewed on her lip and glanced towards the driver who was sweating beneath his stylized cap. She frowned at him and leaned forward, “You better not be driving slow just because you’re a coward,” She snarled and felt the vehicle immediately pick up speed. She checked her phone, more texts coming in, more warnings. Phan Duong was becoming more violent, he could explode into real violence at any moment.

She had to get there fast, if he killed a bunch of people publicly, it would all be over. She ground her teeth, daring fate to put traffic in front of her at this crucial time. A deep breath, a steadying exhale, and she looked down a the small piece of amethyst in her hands. It was barely the size of the average pill, but it would be enough. She let out a sigh, Razor is dead, it beggars belief, but the autopsy came up positive almost immediately for his civilian identity. He’d been burned to death, almost unrecognizable. I would have thought it fake if not for his dental records.

She gripped the gem in her palm, Damn it.

She felt a charge in the air that forced her to look up. The driver’s hairs were starting to stand on end. She whipped her head to the left and spotted Duong’s home. An apartment building that had been refitted as a mansion for a single person. She pat the back of the driver’s seat, “This is fine,” She urged him and threw the door open as he came to a stop. She pulled her hair back and strode across the street, there were a few people standing outside looking up at the building in confusion and fear. “Move!” She commanded.

The bystanders scattered when they saw her, or rather, when they saw her broach. The mark of the syndicate. She strode past the fountains that spluttered water, the pumps were probably going to fail soon. She approached the doors and reached for them only to pull back as a spark leaped from one of the handles. She rolled her eyes and reached into her purse, pulling out an insulated glove and sliding it on. She grabbed the handle and pulled it aside to the noisy pop-crack of a charge jumping between the door and the frame. She waited for it to pass before slipping through, stepping into the hall.

The smell of burnt hair and flesh assailed her nostrils, she raised her hand to her nose and frowned, Idiot! She snarled inwardly and stormed down the hall, going from room to room looking for him. Not on the first floor. She ascended to the second, then the third, before finding a line of bodies in front of the game room. She closed her eyes and fought for patience, stepping out into the hallway. She felt something wash over her, touching her skin for a moment before retracting. She blinked, Did he just… check me?

She swallowed and marched to the door and looked inside. He was standing there at the foosball table, his eyes fixed on it, his hands moving so fast she could barely see them. He grunted now and then before disappearing and reappearing on the other side, continuing his game. When she crossed the threshold he stopped, his shoulders falling a little. He looked over his shoulder and stared at her with those dark eyes of his, “Hyunh.”

“Hello, love,” She said softly, walking inside.

“He’s dead,” Duong growled, “Your assassin died.”

“I heard,” Hyunh said, “I’m just as surprised as you are.”

“That’s it?” He snarled and grabbed the table, ripping it out of the floor where it had been bolted and flipping it across the room. It slammed into the far wall with a terrible crash before he whipped around and fixed her with a stare. “That’s all you have to say, after you assured me that she would be dead? Really?” She roared, “Do you have any idea how much time I wasted waiting for that idiot to do something about that woman? Do you?”

She raised her hands up in a loving gesture, “Duong, dear, you know nothing is a sure thing,” She said softly, inching closer to him. He seemed to be vibrating, the electric charge in his body literally making him tremble with how much pressure he’d built up. “I can’t hug you like that, Duong,” She said as she got within arms reach. “How can I apologize to you if you’re like this?” She asked,  “You want me, don’t you?” She murmured, trying to look as sad as possible.

He glowered at her and looked away, she watched his teeth clench. She narrowed her eyes a fraction and drew in a bit closer, “Duong, dear, if he didn’t work out we just have to try something else. Those villains from the United States interfered with the killing, they’re in the way, just like she is,” She whispered, “What we need to do is get her here, on your home turf, and deal with her that way, wouldn’t that be better anyway?” She cooed, “Yes?”

His shoulders shook but eventually they relaxed even more, the charge in the air began to fade and the hairs on her neck relaxed. She eased in a bit closer until she knew she could take his face in her hands. She ran her fingers through his hair and tilted her head, “You poor thing,” She murmured, “It really isn’t fair, isn’t it?” She cooed, “It’s okay, It’s okay, I’m here my love…” She said and pulled his head to her chest. The amethyst hidden between her fingers at the ready.

He let out a sigh, “I just want her dead…” He grumbled.

“I know,” She purred and slid her hand down, her fingers right behind his ear, “I know… it’ll all be over soon.” She said as she pressed the amethyst against his skin. “There you go, no more difficult thoughts now, dear. Let your beloved Hyunh take care of everything…”