SG: The League #5 (B of B)

[Whistling in the Dark]

[PART TWO IS HERE! IF YOU HAVE NOT READ PART ONE, YOU'RE IN THE
WRONG DAMN PLACE!]

      Elizabeth Tirkoff stepped into the lift, rubbing her eyes.
It had been a long day, full of travel, and she just wanted to
go to her suite and soak in the tub for four hours.
      So, naturally, she was going to the office. "MIKE, hie me
hence to administration."
      <<Hieing hence>>, the AI said cheerfully. <<How was
Kansas?>>
      "Cornfed. Where's Alice?"
      <<Doing rounds.>>
      "Gotcha." Elizabeth rubbed her temples with her thumbs.
Normally, she'd just use telepathy to catch Alice up, but this
would be better as a conversation. Especially since it wasn't
going to be a good one. Alice and Elizabeth almost never had...
*active* disagreements, but when they did they could be
legendary.
      The doors opened. Elizabeth walked to her office and
stepped inside. "When she finishes, ping me, would you? I need
to--"
      Alice was not as fast as the Dash had been, it's worth
noting. Oh, the theory was she could push to that speed when she
really needed to, but there were reasons she tried to avoid
that. But when Alice just suddenly *appeared,* and the rush of
wind only blew into the room after you had actually *seen* her
appear, it could be hard to tell the difference. "Susan!?" Alice
demanded.
      Elizabeth blinked. "O...kay," she said. "I didn't think I
was shielding so much I wouldn't sense you intending to--"
      "I can shield too. *Susan!?*"
      Elizabeth took a deep breath. "Susan," she said, simply.
      Alice stared, somewhere between enraged and flabbergasted.
      Elizabeth looked at her, then looked away, "I'm sorry," she
said. "She's ideal. Absolut--"
      "We agreed, damn it! We agreed we would keep her *out* of
this life!"
      "We did. She didn't."
      "What does *that* mean?"
      Elizabeth took a deep breath, and walked over to her filing
cabinet. She unlocked it, and dug back a bit, and pulled out a
somewhat thick file. She walked back to her desk and dropped it
in front of Alice.
      Alice stared, then dropped into the chair and blurred into
movement, reading through the thick pile of paper at rocket
speed.
      Elizabeth knew what was in the file, of course. She had
compiled it -- and specifically had kept it *out* of Academy or
Rogers Foundation databanks. MIKE had helped her do that, of
course, and had kept her abreast of the 'mysterious' activities
throughout New England and Upstate New York.
      Alice slumped back in her chair, shocked into silence.
      Elizabeth sat down, feeling the gulf between the two. It
seemed much wider than the desk, right this moment.
      "Five years?" Alice finally said, softly.
      "Yeah."
      "And you never told me?"
      "She made me swear not to, Alice. I told her to tell you,
but..." Elizabeth shook her head. "She knew you were against it.
She knew that... part of you hadn't accepted how far she had
come. That she wasn't the child in a woman's body any more."
      "And you... you let her do this? Let her become some
vigilante of the Northeast?"
      "I didn't 'let' her do anything, Alice. I'm not her doctor
any more, any more than you're her guardian any more. She made
her own choice. She followed the calling of her blood."
      "Fighting crime?"
      "Hunting." Elizabeth looked at Alice intently. "She's a
hunter, Alice. Her soul cries out for it. In all the ways you're
a musician, and a thief, and a healer... she's a dancer, a
provider... and a hunter."
      "We could have brought her in," Alice said, still softly.
"For all the same reasons we're going to take down the League we
could have stopped--"
      "She stayed out of Boston, Alice. She stayed out of the
entire exclusionary zone. And she didn't do anything to call
attention to herself. I was lucky I found out at all. And I made
a deal with her -- she agreed to carry a panic button. One Joel
and Jenny would keep an ear out for, ready to call me or Phobos
or someone else we trusted if she needed help. She agreed to be
regularly examined, just in case."
      "And you agreed not to tell me."
      Elizabeth looked away. "Yeah," she said.
      "And now you're going to use her. Use her to *hunt* the
League."
      "She's perfect, Alice. She's absolutely perfect. She's
beautiful but has almost as much presence as Bruce did. She can
train Lochaber as well or better than anyone -- even Rip. And
she's good at what she does, Alice. She's better than I was.
She's better than you were. She's... she's as good as Akane was
back in the day."
      "And look how great that turned out for her."
      "Alice... by having her come in... by having her do this...
we're not just making Lochaber work. We're making Susan's...
hunting... legitimate. We're giving her sanction and a badge,
and we're getting a measure of control over it I've never been
able to exert. And we're letting her be what she wants to be.
What she *has* to be."
      "And you're getting the perfect weapon to cut the League
down with." Alice looked away. *They're her friends, Lil,*
Elizabeth heard echo through her mind. And with that echo she
felt Alice's pain -- her pain at being protected from a hard
truth -- her pain at Elizabeth herself, as well as her sister.
*You're asking Susan to take her friends down.*
      *They were my friends too,* Elizabeth sent back. *And I
trust her, Alice. More than anyone else I could ask, I trust
Susan. I trust her to see this through, and I trust her not to
go too far.*
      *How far is too far? How do you even know?*
      *I don't. I have to have faith.*
      "It's not just the League," Alice said vocally. "Lochaber's
taking the streets back, remember? You're sending her out
against Scions and Scullers and--"
      "She's a hunter," Elizabeth answered, still softly. "And
the game is rich in this area."
      Alice looked away. "Kirby called in," she said. "Mandy's
got him. They're doing some kind of logic puzzle thing tonight
-- the sort of thing their big brains are good at. I called her
and she said she'd make sure he ate and stuff."
      "Good," Elizabeth said. "Alice--"
      "I... need to go jogging," Alice said, standing. "Work out
a few kinks. Sometimes, the world only makes sense when I'm
running, y'know?"
      "...sure. Do you know when you'll be back?"
      Alice shrugged. "Hard to say."
      *But you... will be back?*
      Alice looked at Elizabeth, and despite herself, her lips
quirked into a smile. *Moron,* she thought back. *You don't need
to ask that. Even now.*
      And Elizabeth relaxed. She still felt rotten, but somehow
it would be all right.
      You just had to have faith.

* * * * * *

      Trudi Rayvnn smiled a malevolent smile. She had spent
months working her way up the tangled threads to a position of
authority among the Trudis, and today she would cement that
position once and for all. The defenses surrounding the Mask of
Osiris were significant, but through care and effort, she and
her top aides had managed to eliminate them.
      "God," Trudi Syndi said. "That mask is, like, hella ugly."
      "It's not even made out of gold," Trudi Daphnii said. "I
thought, like, pharaohs had gold masks."
      "Osiris isn't a *pharaoh,*" Trudi Jodylynne said, shaking
her head. "Don't, like, be stupid. He was, like, a God."
      "So Gods don't get gold?" Trudi Daphnii demanded. "I'd be
like 'hello!' I'm *God.*"
      "...please shut up," Trudi Rayvnn said. "Please. Dark
powers and Mistress help me, please shut up--"
      There was an explosion, and a Trudi drone was blasted
through the exhibit hall doors, sailing a hundred feet and
landing in a heap, smoldering.
      Trudi Rayvnn whirled, in time to see the League coming
through the wreckage of the door. "Oh, thank you dark powers,"
she muttered. "Now I don't have to listen to this banal
conversation any more. TRUDIS! ATTACK!"
      "Weren't there like, a hundred Trudis in the last hall?"
Trudi Syndi asked.
      "How're we supposed to beat them now?" Trudi Daphnii
pouted.
      Trudi Rayvnn frowned. "You're right," she said. "We should
just surrender."
      "Yeah!" Trudi Syndi said. "Hey, League! Like, we surrender
and--"
      Inky black energy flowed out of Trudi Rayvnn's black
macrame. She work a black satin dress with ammo belt and doc
martins, rising in the air as the energy grew in strength,
surrounding Trudi Syndi and Trudy Daphnii. The pair screamed as
their macrame flared and released glowing white spirits that
slid into Trudi Rayvnn's shadowy powers, causing it to grow. "Or
we could fight!" she shouted. "TRUDIS! I SAID *ATTACK!*"
      "Should we have prevented that?" Iceweaver asked.
      "Nah," Capacitor said.
      The Trudis swept out, the drones leading the charge. The
League separated, Reflects sliding through and tagging the first
of them with a concussive mirrorforce punch that knocked one
drone into a second and putting them both down. Hazard blasted
into the air, peppering small concussive blasts of nuclear fire
throughout the pack of Trudis even as they tried to mindwarp
her. Parvenu rose up in the back, glowing with a deep crimson
light that flared into a dozen explosive charges that sought out
drones and Trudis alike. Ordinal shifted into a kata,
blue/silver light causing the frames of reference between League
and Trudis to shift, making the Trudis seem slow by comparison.
Iceweaver set an ice slick down that caused a wave of drones to
topple, unable to get their footing. Capacitor, being a simple
soul, just electrocuted some folks close to him.
      "Nice try!" Trudi Rayvnn shouted, sending tendrils of
darkness through the room. "But my braindead companions aren't
the real threat here -- I am! I will feast on your bright
thoughts and excrete your hopes and dreams!"
      "Um, ew," Ordinal said.
      "Get used to it! Mine is the--
      There was a flare, and the darkness seemed to shiver.
      "Er..." Trudi Rayvnn said. "That shouldn't be."
      With a burst of white fire, Incandescence slashed through
the darkness, her hand holding a white hot sword made of holy
flame. She swept forward, her wings burning with the same fires
as the rest of her, her eyes bright red embers as she dove for
Trudi Rayvnn.
      "....well, shit," Trudi Rayvnn said. And then the hurting
began.

* * * * * *

      "That was *amazing!*" Kirby shouted. "It was like they were
-- and then bababababang! And boom! And then there was like *ice
everywhere!* And then Reflects was punching and WOW!"
      "More or less," Mandy said, and picked up the microphone.
"League, Ops. Wrap it up -- we've got police swarming the
building."
      "Got it," Parvenu said. "What's our vector, Victor?"
      "We have four hot spots. Scullers at Fenway, the
O'Stereotypes are trashing a pawnshop on Boylston, the Scions of
the Phoot are at Pizzeria Uno again and there's a report of a
Lickmi incursion breaking through into Brighton."
      "Right," Ordinal said. "Give me coordinates and team
compositions."
      Ops sent the coordinates to Ordinal's L-phone, while
quickly assessing. "Ordinal, take high guard and transportation.
Capacitor and Parvenu, you're on Scullers. Iceweaver and
Reflects go for Scions. Incandescence -- feeling up to soloing
another pack of O'Stereotypes?"
      "God, I'm sick of O'Stereotypes."
      "As are we all. Hazard, take down the Lickmi. Ordinal --
stay on call for assistance if needed, but keep closest to
Hazard."
      "Works," Parvenu said. "But I wish just once I'd be paired
with my wi-- Oop. We got to motor -- hey, Officer Jeter. You're
looking well! Yeah, I know, we're under arrest. Hey, do me a
favor and resecure this mask for me, okay"
      Mandy cut her mike, letting the League banter with the
police while Ordinal transgated the groups to their specific
assignments. "Well, that went better than it could have."
      "Why aren't they more worried about the police?" Kirby
asked.
      "The police don't really want to arrest them." Mandy
replied. "They know that the League's on their side, and it's
the politicians giving them trouble."
      Kirby frowned.
      "What is it?"
      "Why doesn't the Rogers Foundation just recruit the League
into Lochaber? Make them all official, and that way no one has
to be stopped except the bad guys?"
      Mandy sighed. "In a nutshell?"
      "Please."
      "Someone doesn't want heroes coming back. They're making it
really hard on the licensed and legitimate heroes. If the Rogers
Foundation sponsored a new official hero team, they'd be bound
up into red tape, drafted into the armed forces for the Lickmi
Invasion, and kept entirely out of certain bad places. Until we
can figure out who's doing it and how they're getting away with
it, we can't go legitimate."
      Kirby nodded. "That's why Uncle Roger--"
      "Parvenu."
      "Yeah. That's why he wanted to investigate it?"
      "Yup. But with everything going on, we don't have the time
or resources to figure it out. I'm investigating as much as I
can without--"
      Kirby made a face.
      "What's that for."
      "You're fighting symptoms, when you should be treating the
disease. I mean, yeah -- there might be a day or two where the
Scullers or someone has a good day and people have trouble, but
if you can find out what's causing the *real* problem, you save
more people in the long run."
      "Well, I know it seems like that, but--"
      "It doesn't 'seem' like that. All your real problems come
from being locked away in a basement outside the system. If you
find out who's messing with the system *sooner* rather than
later, you can maybe get it dealt with *before* Lochaber starts
making your lives *really* hard. I mean, if Lochaber arrests the
League, then no one's gonna figure out where the real problems
are coming from, right?"
      Mandy opened her mouth.
      "Right?"
      Mandy closed it. "Okay," she said. "Tomorrow, we'll start
an in-depth investigation. But we need to do it hand in hand
with protecting the city."
      "But--"
      "No buts. People *die* when we're not on the streets,
Kirby. There are no acceptable losses. We can't just abandon
them. Not until we have a real idea of what's going on."
      Kirby pouted, but nodded. "Deal."
      "Good." Mandy glanced at the status icons. The different
teams were engaging their assignments now. She watched for
trouble as they fought. "So. Here's my offer."
      "Huh?"
      "We're negotiating, remember. Here's my offer: three nights
a week, after my work, I'll 'tutor' you the way we told Alice we
were doing tonight. On those nights, you'll help me down in the
headquarters. We'll have you train with the team where we can.
This will be... I don't know. An internship. Which means you do
what you're told and do some of the scut work we don't have time
to do, and in return you'll get experience and see how we do
things."
      "And help fight crime?"
      "In *support,* not on the field. Period."
      "But--"
      "No buts, kiddo. You stay in the base, and if you break the
rules, you're out."
      Kirby's lip curled. "Aren't you scared I'll tell Mom?"
      "Nope."
      Kirby blinked. "No?"
      "Nope." Mandy grinned. "You like the League. You like what
we do. You don't want to see us broken up any more than we want
to be arrested. You'd keep your mouth shut even if I just sent
you away and never let you come back. You're betting with a
busted flush."
      Kirby looked annoyed. "I *could* have told."
      "But you wouldn't, would you?"
      "...no."
      "Internship."
      Kirby sighed, and offered his hand. "Deal."
      Mandy shook it, grinning. "Welcome to the League, Kirby.
Now clean up the pizza boxes."
      "What?"
      "Jeez, kid. What do you *think* interns do? Later, I'll
teach you how to make coffee."


WILL KIRBY BURN HIMSELF ON THE COFFEE MAKER?

WILL THE LEAGUE FIGURE OUT WHO'S BEHIND BOSTON'S TROUBLES?

WILL ALICE GET OVER HER MAD?

IS SUSAN REALLY ALL THAT?

MACRAME? *REALLY?*


All this and more can be found in the next League! Only on
SUPERGUY! Er... someday. When we get around to posting it.