Roundtable Rival

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  The fight had lasted through the night and into the day. It had traveled from the park across town and towards Lake Muh. The giant lake that connected the cities of New Tao and Davenshire stood as crystal clear as it always did. This time, though, it had a blue minotaur floating on his back near the piers. Most of Venatores Mali was trying to recuperate and get ready for Round 2. The Heroes, on the other hand, didn't look as if they were fairing any better. Jill was trying not to fall asleep. Valkadaidan was massaging his shoulders. Kiri was fanning herself,trying to not overheat in her suit. Only Deadguy seemed unfazed, staring down Zionus from across the way.

  “Deadguy,” Jill called out. “Deadguy!”

  Our Hero was shaken from his thoughts. “Wha-at,” he complained.

  “What's on your mind,” she asked.

  “Food,” he remarked. “I ordered a pizza but it hasn't arrived yet.”

  “Most pizza places don't open until Ten,” she said.

  “No wonder it's taking forever to get here.”

  “You're using humor to hide your feelings again,” their boss stated. “What's on your mind?”

  He was about to comment when he heard a faint, familiar voice calling out to him from the barricade. It sounded like 'Agrion'. He looked over to see Lilith trying her best to gain his attention. She made a grand motion for him to come over there. “If you'll excuse me for a moment, my adoring fans need me,” he replied, walking over to the necromancer before anyone could protest. “I though you said I wasn't Agamemnon,” he questioned.

  “Agrion,” Lilith corrected. “And it was the only way I knew to get your attention over everyone else calling 'Deadguy' over and over.”

  “Here to show moral support,” he asked.

  “No. Worse. There's an unseen force that manipulated other to cause this battle,” the necromancer answered.

  Our Hero leaned in. “What 'unseen force'?”

  “The kind that you can't see,” she answered.

  Deadguy began to say something, but stopped. He glared at her for a moment.

  Lilith smirked. “This all started after Samhain,” she explained. “Someone has been trying to get the Mayor to declare Venatores Mali and the Professional Heroes as terrorist groups. Someone who has it in for both teams.”

  “We're, at best, a glorified protection agency,” Deadguy stated. He thumbed over his shoulder at the group they were fighting. “Them, I can believe it. But we're the good guys. Says it on all our business cards.”

  Lilith shrugged. “A hero to some is a villain to others.”

  “Come on,” DG said. He grabbed Lilith and pulled her over the barricade.

  “Hey,” a police officer called out. “You can't do that.”

  “It's alright. She's part of the team,” Our Hero replied as the two ran back to the rest of the Heroes. “Alright. Tell them what you told me,” he said.

  “First, I regret we can't meet under better conditions,” the necromancer stated. “I am Lilith of the NecroShip. We have done business before.”

  “We have,” Jill questioned. “When was this?”

  “Les Morts Vivent,” she replied. “One of our many business fronts.”

  “What is the NecroShip's involvement this time,” Valk questioned.

  “We have nothing to do with this fight,” she answered. “We have our own issues with them.” She pointed over at Venatores Mali. “But that is our fight and no one else's. No, this battle has been manipulated from the start by their enemy and yours.”

  “Chaos,” DG questioned.

  “No. Someone else. It's hard to tell. We got all the information we could out of Ian before he passed from this world.”

  “Ian,” Jill asked. “The mayor's aide?”

  Lilith shrugged. “He's just as confused as the rest of us. All I do know is that the source of these machinations is coming from the Tower of Tears.”

  “Wait,” Kiri interrupted. “Wasn't that blown up a few weeks ago?”

  The necromancer pointed over her shoulder. Some distance away, the Tower of Tears stood unblemished. The top was in tact. “Huh,” DG said. “Think we can get whoever did that to fix the potholes on my street?”

  “That's not important right now,” Jill stated. “Looks like we're fighting a war on two fronts, which means we need to take out whoever has decided to hole up in the Tower of Tears while keeping Venatores Mali at bay.”

  “So what's the plan,” Valkadaidan asked.

  Jill stared at the other team. They were beginning to regroup and starting up for the next round. “Kiri? Take Deadguy and head over to the Tower. See what you can do about ending this madness.”

  “Uh, boss,” Our Hero questioned. “That's going to leave just the two of you against a god and his underlings.”

  “Three,” Lilith corrected. The Heroes turned to look at her. She pulled a skull out of her cloak as she threw it off to reveal her black battle armor crawling with curly runes. She closed her eyes and whispered an incantation. The skull's eye sockets emitted purple flames. It began to float up, resting above her head. She opened her eyes, now flooded with the same purple flame. Wisps of purple smoke seeped out from the handcuffs of her armor.

  Deadguy stood, mouth agape. “That was freakin' awesome,” he yelled. “Did you see that?”

  “Yes yes. Very cool,” Jill replied. “Now get going.”

  “Going.” Our Hero turned to Kiri. “You got the Guber app in that suit?”

  “Or we could just fly over there,” the Techie suggested. She held out her hand.

  He tucked Masamune under his arm and took her hand. “Don't drop me.”

  “I guarantee nothing,” she replied as the two flew off. The cityscape zipped by under them. Deadguy tried to hold on to his hat as best he could. “Uh oh,” Kiri remarked. “We're being followed.”

  “Who the hell would follow us this high up,” DG questioned. He looked back to see Vendetta with Megyn in his arms. “Oh.”

  “Think they're looking for a fight,” Kiri asked.

  “I don't know about you, but an air battle might not be a good idea for me,” Our Hero stated. “Let's get to the Tower and deal with it once we land.”

  The Heroes landed without any incident from their followers. The two members of Venatores Mali landed behind them, ready for a fight. Deadguy had his arms crossed. “If you two want to have a go, let's make it quick,” he said.

  “Why,” Vendetta asked. “What do you gain from working with Agonil?”

  The Heroes gave each other confused looks. “Aragorn who,” Kiri questioned.

  “Agonil,” Megyn corrected. “The leader of the Ombra.”

  “We're not working with Umbrella,” DG declared.

  Vendetta covered his visor with his massive hand. “Okay, so you're not working with the enemy. What are you doing here?”

  Our Hero pulled the Techie close and turned their backs to them. “What do you think? Should we tell them?”

  Kiri shrugged.

  The two turned back to their antithesis. “Fine. We got some report that whoever or whatever started this fight between us resides here.” He thumbed the tower. “How it was reconstructed in under two weeks is beyond me.

  “It's magic,” Megyn replied. “He knows many forms of dark magic.”

  “Make a note of that,” DG said to Kiri. “Fixing things quickly is dark magic.”

  The Techie nodded curtly, then gave him a confused look.

  “Anyway,” Vendetta said. “We need to at least get out of plain sight before something happens.”