Red and white fabric stretched and flexed, small rips appeared and accompanied by a terrified scream, the Longbow Agent’s arm started to pop out of its socket. A brief flash later and his emergency teleport implant whisked him off to some Paragon City hospital, leaving only a few bloody stains on the Assault Bot’s shining chest. Those teleport-implants were threatening to put Tinkerer in a very bad mood; that was the third Longbow Agent today!
“Master: Target lost,” grated the Assault Bot, its optics swinging back and forth vigorously as it hunted for its quarry. Tinkerer liked them big and stupid, and the Assault Bots were as stupid as they came. Far from being towering pillars of intellect - Tinkerer had spared no space in their programming for higher cognition – the Assault Bots were pure muscle, heavy-hitters that served only one purpose; to enforce Tinkerer’s will upon a disagreeable world.
“Stand down,” Tinkerer commanded and six shining and solid combat robots crunched in synchronised two-step back to their default patrol mode. Optics swinging, the robots re-formed into a phalanx of flawless steel behind Tinkerer’s enigmatic figure, a terrifying sight guaranteed to drive fear into the hearts of mortals and Heroes alike. Gears clicked, combat hatches closed and capacitors recharged in preparation for the next engagement.
“Follow,” instructed Tinkerer before leaping from the ground and taking flight over the urban landscape of Warburg. Twin fires ignited beneath each metallic colossus, sand and crushed brickwork was blasted aside while loose organic material combusted as Tinkerer’s robotic horde rose into the air behind him. An almost sub-sonic rumble followed them across the island, shadows blotting the sun briefly as they sped on their way, Tinkerer’s red and umber armour shining in the sun.
Combat! The essence of Warburg, and below the flying phalanx of steel Tinkerer’s attention was drawn to a horde of Longbow Agents, flamethrowers, grenadiers and officers rushing towards a lone figure who appeared to be … turning cartwheels on an exposed hillside? As Tinkerer watched, the lone figure cast a chakram with a sudden motion of a single slender limb at the approaching agents, a brilliant violet penumbra following it through the air. The chakram veered and dodged, appearing almost alive, dodging gouts of flame and the explosions of launched grenades like a glistening dragon fly before finally executing a sharp u-turn and slamming into the Longbow battalion as they struck a defensive formation. Two, three, four Longbow agents were sliced cleanly in half, the chakram losing not an iota of velocity as it bifurcated their bodies, before it rebounded off the raised arm of a single red and white caped figure. The chakram skirled backwards and dove for a fresh assault.
The Longbow Ballista raised both hands and with a shattering blast of force drove the chakram backwards, one side crushed in, its perfect circular geometry dented and deformed. Wobbling, the chakram returned to the hand of the colourful figure who had cast it. A scream of outrage rose to Tinkerer as he initiated a swift descent.
“You vile, dog-kissing VERMIN!”
Elene was not pleased, but her choice of insult brought a smile to Tinkerer’s face, even as he centred the Ballista in his targeting reticule and spoke a single word.
“Attack!”
The Ballista raised a single hand in Elene’s direction, palm open, fingers flat as he built up power for his signature strike, a bolt of force that would surely rend Elene’s soft and warm figure asunder … if it connected. That was never going to happen, Elene was far too quick and Tinkerer was far too incensed to allow that to occur. As the late afternoon sun struck shards of scattered light from Tinkerer’s diving horde of mechanical minions, sprinkling the garbage strewn ground with motes of brilliance, Tinkerer raised both fists together. A brief moment later, the Ballista was driven from his feet and cast helplessly through the air like a rag-doll, limbs flying and cape fluttering before crashing down in a tangled heap. Tinkerer had to give the man credit, despite such an inglorious landing, he flipped back onto his feet before the dust even settled. By then, of course, it was too late.
A blinding violet luminescence erupted from Elene’s feet as they impacted the Ballista’s chest. As the robotic horde touched down behind him, and above the chattering sound of blaster doors opening and the guttural rumble of rockets extinguishing, Tinkerer clearly heard the crunch of bones as the Ballista’s chest collapsed. Blood fountaining from his mouth, the Ballista vanished in a flash of teleport activity before he even hit the ground.
“They never want to stay and play, do they,” commented Elene as she rolled to her feet beside Tinkerer, “Hi lover!”
Elene stood on tip-toes to plant a swift kiss on the side of Tinkerer’s helmet, giggling briefly before she looked down at her deformed chakram hanging from its hook at her hip.
“Dammit, now I’ve got to fix it,” Elene whined in her best spoiled-sorority-queen voice.
She lifted the chakram before her and held it there with the focus of her mind. It hung, like a buckled wheel before her, a faint violet nimbus shimmering around it. Elene examined it closely, and the chakram rotated slowly in the air, her eyes flowing over it as it slowly gyred. The dent that the Ballista had crushed into its perfect curve twisted, clicked, shuddered and finally popped back into the familiar deadly circle that Elene used so well. Elene reached out and retrieved the chakram from the air, replacing it on her hip.
“Ready lover?” Elene asked as she turned to face Tinkerer again.
“Master: Assertion, Barbed Cable approaches. Estimated time until arrival, 10 minutes,” grated the mammoth Assault Bot from behind the multi-coloured couple.
“There is no time to waste. We must test the device before Barbed Cable arrives. Find me a Longbow Agent,” Tinkerer commanded, tapping the weapon unlock codes on his cybernetic arm even as his robotic horde turned and stomped into the surrounding city. While they had all combat systems activated, the robots had strict programming orders to fight a retreating battle, drawing any Longbow Agents encountered back to the two villains…
It didn’t take long, scant minutes later the robots returned, two persistent red and white uniformed agents in hot pursuit, flamethrower spewing billows of fire, grenades detonating in quick succession as the robots drew the longbow onwards. Somehow, the robots were never struck, in their defensive mode, they were remarkable agile. New enhancements Tinkerer had installed in both their armour and force-field technology had greatly increased their longevity and battle hardiness. As Tinkerer and Elene watched from hiding, a grenadier scored a direct strike against one of the smaller robots. Shrapnel and flame should have shredded the droid, yet a hemisphere of blue shimmering energy coruscated about the metallic figure as the force of the strike was deflected harmlessly away. The droid paused in its retreat to return fire with a flurry of quick energy bolts, peppering the air surrounding the agent and riddling him through with holes. As the agent began to collapse, a flash of teleport activity transported him safely away, a mute testament to the accuracy of the droid’s targeting systems. That left one Longbow Agent remaining, Tinkerer grimaced, one would have to be enough.
“Suppression mode activated,” droned the metallic horde in unison in response to Tinkerer’s swiftly taped codes.
Three droids closed quickly on the Longbow Agent, weapons retracted, while the Assault Bot and Protectors attempted to distract their quarry with near-miss blasts of ruby red energy. Only at the last moment did the Agent realise how close the Battle Droid were, and bathed them in liquid flame. It was too little and too late. Still dissipating heat from the flamethrower’s assault, the Droids surrounded and captured the Agent, laying hot metal fingers on his arms, flesh sizzled and the man stiffened in pain.
“Bring him to me,” commanded Tinkerer. In lock-step formation, the Droids dragged the still-struggling Longbow before Elene and Tinkerer, who now stepped from hiding. The Agent’s eyes widened as he recognised Tinkerer.
“T-Tinkerer! We’ve found you! Your days are numbered Villain! You can do what you like to me, but when I’m teleported back to Hospital, you can be sure your whereabouts will be broadcast to every agent in the Isles,” the Longbow Agent spat in Tinkerer’s face.
“I very much doubt that Sir,” Tinkerer said as he thumbed a control on his belt. A faint whine filled the air and the robots quivered as the device interfered with their sensors.
“There will be no teleport for you. Elene! Strike!”
Elene flung her chakram into the alleyway in which they sheltered, shattering a fire-escape and raining shards of twisted metal on the pavement. Telekinetically, she lifted a metal spar and flung it at the Agent. The Agent smirked as he saw the missile cast in his direction, and sub-vocally triggered his teleporter. Nothing happened.
The spar struck home, sinking deep into the Agent’s chest and piercing his heart. The look of surprise on the Agent’s face as he crumpled to the ground, life draining quickly from his body, brought a smile to Tinkerer’s scarred and tortured face.
“Yes! It works! The teleport-suppression field works! Barbed Cable will FALL!”
Tinkerer punched the air in jubilation, just as the Assault Bot intoned, “Master: Barbed Cable has entered Warburg, permission requested to activate weapons.”
Tinkerer’s breath quickened, “Granted!”
The island lay beneath a calm blue sky, faint wisps of high-level cloud provided only the smallest hint of variety in an otherwise uniform and sunlit afternoon. Warburg was surprisingly clean, rumours of a build-up of arms and covert armies abounded and you’d expect the island to be war-torn and desecrated as every Hero and Villain fought for supremacy and ownership of such arms caches. But this was not the case, the island city glowed in the mid-afternoon sun like an alabaster sculpture. Glowed that was until one looked closer and saw the myriad Arachnos and Rogue Arachnos troops patrolling streets, and watched the Longbow Agents rush, harried, from one makeshift cover to another, skirls of fire and energy blasts following them.
“It is a good day to be a Hero,” thought Barbed Cable as he soared through the air, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, his hydraulic legs pounding the concrete like two jackhammers, launching him again and again through the crystal clear air. Much as he’d like to set upon the numerous minor villains below him, he was here on a mission, Warzone Agent Goddard had contacted him, a startling new power had arisen, and needed to be put down swiftly. Even in the halls of Paragon City these names were known, Tinkerer and Elene.
An unlikely duo, mused Barbed Cable, apparently Elene was one of the Sisterhood of the Carnival of Shadows, and more rightly called Seneschal Elene of the Flame and Blade, but such overblown titles did not befit a lowlife scum like her. Barbed Cable had heard rumours of her beauty and looked forward to seeing her in the flesh, even as he drove his talons through her before transporting her to the Ziggurat for incarceration. The other, Tinkerer, he had heard much about. This particular Villain made no attempt at disguising his open hatred of Barbed Cable, although Cable had no idea what he had done to earn such enmity. Tinkerer had grown in power at a truly alarming rate, carving a swath of carnage through the Rogue Isles, and accelerating his climb through the ranks of Arachnos’ “Destined Ones” when he joined forces with Seneschal Elene. Still, Barbed Cable was cocky, he had learned some new tricks, made modifications to his own skill-set and answered the call from Goddard in full confidence.
Agent Goddard … now there was a strange character. He seemed too old to be controlling Longbow’s forces in Warburg, but perhaps age brought with it a modicum of common sense, or skill… Regardless, when Goddard called to report that Tinkerer and Elene had staged a major coup and were assembling a Nuclear Bomb in Warburg, with plans to launch it against Paragon City, Cable was quick to volunteer. Goddard had seemed quite worried, distracted and not himself, perhaps even vague when he made the call, this Cable put down to the stress finally getting to the old man.
There, in the distance he could see the place, a small underground laboratory, little more than a submerged tin shed, on the edge of the edifice known as The Web. How dangerous could this pair of Villains be if they couldn’t afford a more impressive lab? How likely was it that they were constructing a Nuclear weapon in such small premises? Barbed Cable scoffed and leaped from the building ledge down to the shed’s entrance.
A crimson and umber helmet watched him go, heat radiated from the flames that billowed from the eye sockets as they turned to follow Barbed Cable’s progress.
“Now,” spoke a single male voice, and an armoured gauntlet thumbed the button on the remote detonator it held.
The shed split open like an abstract steel flower, billowing smoke and flame in all directions, at the same time a glittering hemisphere of ball lightening expanded outward, faster even than the shockwave which ripped Barbed Cable from the ground and flung him violently through the air, cape in tatters, flesh burned and torn, to land in a …. bloodless heap? What was this? A green radiance briefly illuminated the hero’s prone form before he vaulted back to his feet, claws drawn and couched in a combat stance.
“Now! My Mistress of Mayhem, attack now! Before he recovers!” Tinkerer barely restrained himself from screaming the order as he rapidly tapped attack orders on his left forearm and heard the answering whine of servos and hydraulics as his robot horde emerged behind him. Quickly thumbing the interference generator at his belt, Tinkerer took to the air, quickly projecting a sphere of force about each robot, then about Elene and finally himself.
“Will do lover!” called Elene as she giggled and flung her two chakram in differing directions, curving them through the air to converge on Barbed Cable from two sides. She vaulted quickly up and began an acrobatic somersaulting approach towards Barbed Cable’s unprotected back just as the robot horde brought their weapons to bear.
Time seemed paused for a brief moment as Tinkerer curved upwards through the air and prepared to commit himself to battle. What had gone wrong? Barbed Cable’s shattered corpse should be bleeding even now on the smooth concrete of the plaza, or preferably dispersed over a volume of air wide enough to paint half of the city pink! The funds he and Elene had amassed had gone towards the development of the interference generator, and more than sufficient funds remained to allow the creation of that bomb. No mere explosive, the detonator had incorporated all the prime elements of destruction, fire, force, concussion and he’d even managed to incorporate a synapse-frying electrical discharge! Barbed Cable should by all rights be a pasty smear on the ground, not this remarkably youthful and battle-ready pretty-boy with sharp claws. It was the first time that one of Tinkerer’s well planned schemes had failed to move flawlessly to completion, and it bothered him.
Tinkerer brought his Energy Rifle to bear, and while still on the move, fired his first salvo of blasts at the hero. The blasts converged with all six robot blasts and Elene’s thrown chakram. Barbed Cable spun and sliced both chakram from the air with his claws, an impressive display of accuracy and skill, but the movement left him open, wide open, arms outflung, and unable to defend or dodge the energetic bolts. All twelve bolts struck him mid-chest and together scorched a hole through his body before exiting the hero’s back and crushing the concrete sidewalk into powder. Barbed Cable stood perplexed for a moment, and looked down at the wound, pavement clearly visible through the strangely bloodless hole, then shrugged briefly and was again enshrouded in a green lambent glow. The wound closed, tendrils of flesh first reaching out from all sides to join and merge in the middle like multitudinous tentacles performing some mass hand-shake, then thickening and solidifying until smooth muscular flesh rippled behind the torn leather bodysuit that encased Barbed Cable’s torso.
“You, you’re a HEALER!” gasped Tinkerer, then quietly to Elene and the robots, “Target his head!”
“Foolish villain! You’ll have to do better than that to defeat justice!” taunted Barbed Cable as he launched himself into the air in a gravity defying leap, “The sweet taste of VICTORY!” he shouted as Elene arrived moments too late at his previous location. She shook her fists up at him as he curved smoothly through the air to land on the edge of a nearby building, several floors above the ground.
“Tinky dear,” Elene called over as she picked up the shredded remains of her chakram, “That shiny man broke my toys… I think I’m going to sulk.”
Tinkerer knew what was coming next, and quickly disengaged the auditory circuits from his robot horde with a quick tapping of fingers and immediately disabled his own helmet’s sound amplification module.
Elene started a low moan, like a child’s sulking whine, face hunched over her midriff, miming tears flowing off her face onto the ground.
Barbed Cable crouched in preparation for his next leap.
“aaaaaawwwww…” Elene’s voice slowly increased in volume, her whole body shaking as she mimed sobbing over her broken chakram.
Tinkerer could hear none of it, and tapped combat commands urgently to his robot horde as Barbed Cable began to uncurl like a taut spring. Twelve robotic arms tracked the hero’s crouched form, minute adjustments were made for his projected trajectory.
“..wwwwwwwWWWWWW…” Elene’s voice increased in volume again, and she began to straighten up, casting her arms out to her sides.
Bolts of energy and a torrent of micro-rockets erupted from the robot horde’s armaments, carving tracks through the air as they converged on the edge of the building.
Barbed Cable’s legs straightened and leapt sideways from the building top.
“..WWWWWWWWW…” Elene threw her head back and her chest out, her mouth wide as the sonic blast escaped in a barely focussed stream of super-energised air, shockwaves cascading outwards, compressing and shattering the atmosphere and breaking windows all around.
Rockets and ruby red beams of energy slammed against the edge of the building, demolishing it utterly, sending gouts of dust and detritus into the air where they briefly obscured Barbed Cable’s leaping form. Fully a quarter of the building began to collapse, floors tumbling through each other as the brickwork and masonry began to slide out into space.
Elene guided the sonic blast with the formidable powers of her mind, compressing and warping the air in front of the concussion to arc it after the hero’s fleet body as he exploded out of the clouds of dust and flame.
Barbed Cable, mid-air, could do nothing to dodge the assault. The compressed shockwave and sonic blast crashed against Barbed Cable with the force of a speeding vehicle, smashing him aside and into an office block before dumping him on the ground, several floors below and showering him with crushed stone and metal. The normal susurrus of the surrounding city sounded like the deepest silence after the sonic attack dissipated. Elene sagged from the exertion, briefly spent and vulnerable for a few moments. With a quick thumb press, Tinkerer re-engaged all the auditory circuits and spoke, “Capture him.”
A chorus of “Affirmative” rose from the robot horde and six brightly polished metal hulks surrounded Barbed Cable’s fallen body and leaned forward to pick him up.
“You’ve destroyed me once Cable, now it’s my chance to return the favour!”
A flurry of flashing steel followed quickly by the scream of metal on metal was the first indication that the hero was not as incapacitated as he had first seemed. Claws raked down the polished armour of the nearest Battle Drone, sparks flew yet the bot remained undamaged. Barbed Cable spun and whirled as the remaining bots reached for him.
“What are you talking about Villain?” he yelled as he fended off the encroaching circle of robotic hands. “We’ve never met, or I would have defeated you long ago!”
Tinkerer paused to glance sideways at Elene, she looked up and waved him onwards, one hand to her head, motioning that she required only a few more moments to recover and join the fray.
“You LIAR!” Tinkerer fired a volley of smaller bolts towards the hero as he prepared a larger force blast with his force-field generator, “Attack him!”
The robots took a single step back and brought their blasters to bear, the two protector bots launched a trio of seeker drones each, the battle drones peppered the air with crimson beams of energy and the assault bot unleashed a billow of blistering flame.
Barbed Cable spun and jerked as several blasts hit home, scorching and scarring his skin, the leather bodysuit shredded in numerous places. Flame swirled around his body, blackening and cracking the leather in places. Claws and steel-shod boots flew as Cable backflipped out of the worst of it, and struck a solid blow to a protector bot in passing. The strike barely caused a scratch.
“You LIE! Stupid Costumed Vigilante! Do you remember a citizen of Paragon assaulted by the Clockwork?” Tinkerer fired a quick photonic grenade towards the hero, and watched it get swiftly swatted away. Two battle drones attempted to trip Barbed Cable only to have him leap shortly into the air and strike downwards with his claws, destroying an optic sensor on one. The damaged bot staggered backwards briefly before re-routing function to its remaining sensors and charging back in. “You ‘rescued’ me from the Clockwork, but your carelessness crushed me under a metal leviathan’s corpse!”
In the corner of his eye, Tinkerer could see Elene straighten up, kink her neck and reach over her shoulder for her fire-staff; she was about to rejoin the battle. “I was a citizen that day, under your supposed care, but you left me for dead! It was proof that so called ‘Heroes’ are nothing but street thugs!”
The assault bot raised both arms and fired a two-barrelled blast directly into Barbed Cable’s back, crushing the spine and sending him flying. Even as the hero was flung through the air, a green radiance bathed him once again and the wounds healed. Barbed Cable twisted mid-air and landed deftly upon his feet.
Six seeker drones spiralled in from different directions, buzzing and hissing as the sliced the air, Tinkerer brought two fists together and projected a disabling bolt of force at the hero before soaring around the fray to shout further accusations.
“You are no paragon of justice! You have no right, no RIGHT to meddle with people’s lives! I will SEE you DIE!”
Barbed Cable brought up and arm to deflect the force blast, which allowed him only one arm with which to defend against the seekers. Swatting two from the air, the remaining four darted beneath his guard before detonating. The hero’s frame was jolted by the explosion, and propelled straight up. Scorched leather fell in tatters from his chest as the leather suit was pushed past its limits. Bare-chested, the hero executed a mid-air flip before landing in a defensive crouch. Jagged shards of shrapnel from the explosion sliced cruelly beneath his ribs, blood flowing down his pale side.
Tinkerer noted with satisfaction that the hero grimaced in pain before the wounds more slowly began to heal, blood first ceasing to flow over the smooth contours of muscle before the wounds knit closed. The only remaining evidence of the wounds existence was the bloody tracks left on the skin.
“Enough accusations Tinkerer, they do not excuse your villainy! I saved you that day! The Clockwork take no prisoners! You would have died had I not intervened! Better perhaps that I had turned a blind eye that day!” Barbed Cable was incensed. “I tire of this, it will end now!”
Elene screamed as she cast her fire staff before her, flame billowing from both ends as it spun end over end towards the hero’s unprotected flank. She was fast, but Cable was faster. Quicker than Tinkerer could have believed, Barbed Cable leaped upwards, arching through the air to land amongst four of the robot horde. Their cold circuits were not fast enough to react to the hero’s sudden proximity before he spun into a frenzy of slicing, stabbing and slashing. Slivers of metal and segments of wiring spun off into the air, one, two, three of the robots collapsed under the assault before Tinkerer and the Assault Bot brought their weapons to bear. The combined blast enveloped Barbed Cable in a blinding detonation of light and heat, scorching him to the bone.
Barbed Cable collapsed to his knees and fell forward onto his hands, steam rising from his body even as flesh knit back together, covering exposed bone and sinew while the hero gasped in pain. The remaining three bots moved to surround him, weapons raised. Tinkerer set his pulse rifle to maximum charge. Elene held her flame-staff before her, flame flowing smoothly from each end, and began to spin it, quickly increasing speed until it was a blur, the flames merging into a single white hot disk.
“Your excuses mean nothing Hero! Now, you will perish,” Tinkerer breathed slowly to himself, his words barely audible over the hiss of hot metal on flesh and whining of the robots’ hydraulic joints.
“Strike!”
Tinkerer fired, but Barbed Cable was already on the move. Before Elene could launch her attack, Barbed Cable was in motion. Arms whipping about him, the hero executed a wild spinning attack that shredded the three remaining robots, sundering first their weapons, then their arms, then their chest cavities in blinding succession. Only the Assault Bot remained standing, both arms mangled, when Barbed Cable leaped for his final strike. As the hero swung an arm overhead for a ripping slash to the robot’s unprotected head, Tinkerer’s bolt struck him in the shoulder, taking one arm completely off and thrusting the hero backwards. Barbed Cable screamed in pain, even as the wound closed over. The claw-strike missed. Barbed Cable’s severed blades made a quick fluttering sound as they whickered through the air to bury themselves deep in Elene’s chest. Blood welled from the wounds and gushed from her mouth as her lungs filled with fluid, three slow tracks of blood flowed down her back where the points of the blades protruded on either side of her spine.
As she crumpled to the ground, a scream was torn from Tinkerer’s mouth.
“ELENE!!”
As Barbed Cable lolled against the wall, sagging with exhaustion and shock, Tinkerer flew to his lover’s side, thumbing the control for the Interference Generator as he did so.
“Transport! Transport damn you! Why is your teleporter not triggering?!”
Tinkerer lifted Elene’s limp form and cradled her head in one armoured gauntlet while his other hand searched for the teleport circuitry he had double checked before entering Warburg. He found it, neatly sliced through by Barbed Cable’s claws which still extended like accusing fingers from her pale and bloodied chest.
“You! You did this! You destroyed me, and now you’ve destroyed her!” Tinkerer’s voice was raw with emotion as he rounded on the stricken hero, agonised passion could be heard in every rough syllable.
Elene coughed, blood flecking her lips and sliding slowly down her cheek. She lived yet!
Barbed Cable caught his breath in retching gasps, the pain of his wounds slowly abating. He watched Tinkerer gently cradling Elene’s body, observed the tenderness with which he stroked her face, saw the racking sobs that shook him. As the hero watched, Tinkerer removed his helmet to reveal his horribly burned and scarred face and then leaned forward to plant a tender kiss on Elene’s full lips with his own uneven and lumpen flesh.
Elene painfully raised a hand and placed it against Tinkerer’s cheek. “M-My handsome p-prince,” she whispered only just loud enough to hear, “I l-love .. love you…”
Tears stood in her eyes and Tinkerer stroked her forehead as she gasped in pain.
In a sudden motion the assault bot, both arms shredded and useless, lurched forwards as Barbed Cable’s shadow fell over the lovers. Servos whined and shuddered as its missile rack was brought to bear.
“Let me help,” wheezed Barbed Cable, “Let me take her to hospital.”
“Stand down!” Tinkerer ordered the robot.
“Back away Hero!” he screamed as he protectively sheltered Elene’s bleeding form.
“We have hospitals! You think I’d give her up to you and your ‘gentle ministrations’? You’d brainwash her, interrogate her, use her! Send her back to me a broken woman, if you sent her back at all! I’ll not let you take her! Our own Black Heart hospitals will heal and RESPECT her, not cruelly use her as a test subject!”
Tinkerer looked at the broken circuitry in his hand; all that remained of the teleportation device that should have whisked her to safety and medical care. There was no way to fix it in time to save her. He clasped her close to his body, enshrouded in her arms, and cancelled his own protective force-field.
Anger flared as he looked up at the one-armed hero, his nemesis that he could crush if he chose, but only if he were willing to sacrifice Elene, who even now was racked with shivers as the cold of death closed in. Decision made, Tinkerer kissed Elene once on the forehead then looked back at Barbed Cable.
“Strike me now ‘Hero’, strike me now and my teleporter will take us both to safety. Strike before she dies, but know that our business is not yet finished, a reckoning shall come. Allow her to die and know that all the Hells and the Heavens cannot stop me from wreaking bloody vengeance against you and the citizens of Paragon City. Strike now and let this remain between us two, allow her to die and I’ll keep you alive long enough to watch Paragon fall.”
Barbed Cable gaped in amazement for a brief moment and then struck, one steely talon driving downwards, piercing Tinkerer’s armour and slicing deep within, piercing a lung and flooding it with hot blood. Tinkerer coughed up a froth of blood and barely contained a scream of agony, then abruptly, there was a blinding flash of light, and he and Elene were gone.
Machinery beeped and flashed about him. Opening his eyes, he could see his full suit of armour, repaired and damage free, hanging on a rack against the wall, the feeling of the cool and sterile air of the hospital drifted over his exposed skin. His helmet sat on a table beside the bed, crimson and umber against the white. White? This was not the Black Heart Hospital he anticipated! Tinkerer moved to get up and found himself bound, aching and torn, to the bed by thick metal restraints. About him red figures moved. Red? Tinkerer had a terrible feeling about this.
The red figures moved closer and resolved themselves into lithe, willowy female figures with tall headpieces. Fortunata Seers! A dark figure detached itself from the doorway and strode into the room. Numerous wickedly bladed arms stroked the air and two terrifying eyes blazed like coals beneath the darkness of the helmet. A white and dark dappled fur ruff draped around his neck descending to an armoured chest emblazoned with a brilliant white spider. Tinkerer knew this figure, but had never met him in the flesh.
“Lord Recl- !” before Tinkerer could finish, the figure spoke.
“You failed because you are impetuous and undisciplined, still these are minor flaws and you show potential. Your capacity for hate and your capacity for mercy I find most conflicting, I will allow you to live. You will prove to be an …. interesting subject.”
Lord Recluse turned to the red figures beside him, “Proceed.”
Tinkerer gasped and looked about wildly; unable to see Elene he struggled violently against his bonds.
Before he could voice a protest, a red-suited Fortunata stretched her glowing lavender hand over Tinkerer’s forehead; Tinkerer arched his back and screamed.