H.E.R.O. - Horde (40 page)

I hugged her again and flew back to school.  On the way, I called Captain McCain and brought up the aliens' work on the cure and their need for a lab.  He said that he would find one for them.

I called Rayna next.  She answered, "Hello?"

"Hey Rayna, how are you doing today?"

"Unbelievably well.  How about you?"

"Good.  How's your dragon?"

"Awesome.  Only thing that sucks is that he can't fit through the tunnel to the house."

"Umm, even if he did, he wouldn't fit through your openings between rooms."

"Good point.  But it would be nice for him to hang out with my other friends."

"I suppose so.  I imagine he's too big to use a game controller, what's he doing?"

"Sitting in the garage with a TV.  It won't hurt for him to learn about some things."

I laughed, "I hope he doesn't see too many commercials and want to go shopping."

"Me too."

"Anyway, you mentioned that the band is doing Bang Time tonight, right?"

"Yep."

"Did you know that there is a Goth club not too far away called Spellbound?"

"Really?  Crap, that doesn't bode well."

"Since the other events happened around 10-ish, and the band shows at 9-ish, I'm thinking we should be there early to watch for this."

"Good idea, I'll pick up a few things and go as a metalhead."

"Don't most of them have tattoos?"

"Ooh, I could get a temporary one - good idea."

"I'm going to go, but I have to stay outside due to the telepathy - and I doubt that Andre is going to juice me up again out of kindness.  He pretty much hated the Goths already, and I'm sure he isn't happy with the heroes being as we chased him down."

"Well, you did, anyway.  Razorwing and I were pretty innocent there."

"Oh, nice, you sent me in!"

"Yes I did."  She laughed.

"Okay, so you'll be there, I'm going to call Diva and have her go - but I'll have her sit with the bricks on the building tops."

"Bricks are coming?"

"Yeah, Spartan's calling some in.  If there is an outbreak of the red guys we don't want to allow them to get out and hurt anyone."

"Good idea."

"You might want to have the dragon drop you off a few blocks away at the least.  Word of him being in the area could cause the person doing this to leave - whether it's a super or a drug dealer."

"Not a problem, I won't be seen nearby."

"Cool, see you tonight at some point then.  If I see you I probably won't go up to you, just so we don't attract attention."

"Right.  Hopefully I'll see you after we have a perp in hand, then."

"See you then."

I called Diva next and filled her in on the plan to meet at 9 P.M. on the rooftops.

I found that the rest of the day sped by as my mind went over possible scenarios for tonight.

Chapter 31 - Hopeful Allies

Razorwing's Viewpoint

The morning went by as usual - reviewing my stocks and breakfast with Maris.  I'd enjoyed the years of building my portfolio into the millions I had now.  Sadly, some of the luster had begun to fade on the activity.  It was being replaced with the excitement of adventuring, going after murderers and other criminals, and figuring out crimes.  Applying analytical thinking to crime solving was more interesting than the numbers analysis I'd done for years.

I looked at the young woman for a moment and asked, "Maris, I had a friend ask me something interesting yesterday, and I'd like your input.  She asked that if anything occurred to her - like death - that I'd be willing to take in her pets.  What's your thought on that?"

"I know you like dogs.  What kind of pets does she have?"

I smiled, "She's got some things that belong in a movie."

"Oh my gosh - is she the one that did the thing with the dragon yesterday?"

"Huh?  How did you know about that?"

"It's on some websites.  The news crews just missed you guys, but interviewed a bunch of people.  A lot of students took pictures, and some took videos on their phones."

"Shit.  Pull one up, would you?"

She tapped away on her tablet a number of times to pull up a website and slid it in front of me.  A video began playing of the two heroes and me while she created her dragon.  Fortunately, the dragon captured almost all the attention, as well as the beauties next to me.  My wings did stand out, however.

I said, "Crap, that puts me with heroes.  I need to find a way to ensure the Goths remain friendly."

Maris looked at me, "You know, at some point it was going to come out that you're stopping crimes.  You've mentioned yourself about wanting to make criminals fear you."

"True.  Well ... it's done.  I'll adjust."

"You could join H.E.R.O., you know."

"I don't need the money."

She stuck her tongue out at me.  "You could give it to me then.  Or to charity.  Plus you'd get one of those cool phones they all seem to have."

"Aye, that might be the most compelling argument.  You're right about the money as well.  You never answered my question about the pet thing."

"I'm not sure how I'd take care of a dragon, but strange pets wouldn't bother me too much.  Any idea what else she has?"

"No - well, some creatures shaped like a ball with eyes on stalks on the top of their heads, and a huge center eye and mouth.  She said she'd show me more, though."

"It would be cool if she had faeries."

"Why's that?"

"They would be cute, and you could get little kisses from them."

"Ah, interesting."

"Get some pics while you are there for me."

"I'll ask her."

We returned to eating breakfast, and I went to my study afterward to see if I'd missed anything with the current situation.

In the early afternoon, I received a call from Rayna.

She said, "Hey Razorwing."

"Hello Rayna.  How are you doing today?"

"Awesome.  So I got a call from Psystar - there's a Goth club pretty close to the club the Raving Lunatics are playing tonight.  It's called Spellbound.  You mentioned they are playing at Bang Time tonight, correct?"

"Right.  A bunch of heroes are going to sit on buildings in the area to be ready for the horde to show."

"I hope they stay out of sight."

"Me too.  Speaking of which, I'm going to dress up and go into the club.  I'm about to get some temporary tattoos now."

"You may want to hide your hair."

"Already planned.  But you can't go into the club; you look way too much like a Goth."

"I know.  I'll talk with Lady Celeste and hang out at Spellbound, I think, in case any get by the heroes."

"Ooh, good idea.  There'll be normal people at the club that could get hurt."

"Exactly.  So tell me, when do I get to see those creatures of yours?”

“Not today, I need to get my disguise taken care of, and I want to listen to their songs at least once so I can comment on them to others in the room.”

“All right, we’ll plan on it soon then?”

“Oh, definitely.  I’ve got two creatures for you - you’re going to love them.”

“Two?  And I don’t get to see them today?”

“Sorry, stopping this thing is more important.”

“I know, I agree with you.  Not nice to lead me on like that.”

“Well, gotta get these tattoos – see you tonight or tomorrow.”

“Will do.  Thanks, Rayna.”

After hanging up I put on my costume.  I left the tabard at the mansion.  I figured that I’d be dealing with the Goths all day and didn’t want to advertise the link to the heroes.

I took out an old, rusted Cadillac, drove about five miles into Metrocity and parked the beater in an unused parking lot before flying to Blacklight.  During the flight, I realized that Maris must be using the amount of rust on cars as a key point in buying them for these trips to reduce the chances of theft.

I landed in front of the building – a large sign stated that the club would open at 5 P.M. this evening.  I tried the door anyway – it was unlocked.

I heard talking from off to my right, so I walked that way, and in a few moments walked into the L-shaped room with the bar and large stage we’d been in Wednesday night.

Lady Celeste was there, wearing a different, yet still elegant dress.  Her hair was nicely styled - I wondered how long she spent prepping every morning to look like she did.

Lady Nocturne stood next to her.  The spider-like woman wore a blood red dress - one that covered only the front of the torso to allow her monstrous spider legs freedom to move on the sides, I imagined.  I'd chosen a style of shirt that was like a black tank top with buttons on the lower back myself simply to make it easier to get dressed with the massive wings.

Those two women were tall, but the pink-haired woman with elf-like ears was barely over five feet tall.  She was so slight, and yet I had a feeling that she was Lady Celeste's primary guard.

The seven-foot reptilian looking man stood with them.  He didn't stand off to the side, as the pink-haired woman did, so I assumed he was some kind of 'Lord' to the 'Lady' title these people affected.

Last was the gorgeous woman with the golden hair and wings.  I'd thought that she wore her scanty outfit only in the evening when the crowds were around, but she again wore something similar - although it was a different jewelry set this time at least.  It was no less scandalous than the previous outfit.

She smiled and walked toward me.  “Razorwing – to what do we owe the
pleasure
?”  She drew out the last word in a purr.

I smiled, “I’m hoping to help you.”

“I like the body-fitting uniform, too bad it’s neck to toe.  I guess I do get some arm and back skin though, hmm.”

She walked right up to me and ran her hand down my chest.  I raised an eyebrow.

I said, “I see you like your chains.”

“I do – do you like them?”

“Oh yes, they, ah, accent you nicely.”

“So … Razorrrwingg … what was it you wanted to help me with?”

I wasn’t sure if she was actively using powers or not, but much like the younger Psystar she smelled wonderful – far more so than normal, which led me to believe she may also have had pheromones or something like it.  Not that she really appeared much older than the young heroine, but I had a feeling that, like me, Rapture was perhaps in her upper 30's or even lower 40's.  While I'd changed into a super at that age, I guessed that she changed some time ago.  Fortunately, as pleasant as she smelled, my nose didn't appear susceptible to her pheromones either.

“I discovered that the same band played both nights at the locations where the red men changed into orcs, or at least just before they turned into orcs.  In addition, the band rather dislikes Goths, and I would assume their following would tend to as well.  Last – they play at Bang Time tonight, which apparently is fairly close to the Goth club Spellbound.”

Lady Nocturne turned to Lady Celeste and sharply said, “I told you they were after all of us.”

Lady Celeste said, “We still do not know that for certain.”

“What more do we need to know?  They strike my club, then yours, and now Rapture’s?  That cannot be a coincidence!”

“There were two other clubs that were roughly the same distance.”

“But they chose to attack
us
!”

“Yes, and we’ll be there tonight to stop this.  Our clubs are also the largest of those.”

Lady Nocturne looked at me and continued, “Do you intend to work with the heroes on this?”

She was hard to read - those star-shaped iris seemed to take her humanity and throw it out the window.

I raised an eyebrow, “I’m not sure….”

“You’ve been seen with heroes numerous times, we know you have relations with Rayna.”

“What?  Hold on a moment, I don’t….”

“I meant non-physical.  You’ve been with her numerous times.”

Rapture said, “Which of course, is too bad….”

Rapture leaned up against me, ran her hand up my back and then over the lower part of my right wing.  She was exceptionally distracting.  Even up close her gold hair was extremely similar to Psystar’s. 
Could they be clones?  Dopplegangers?  Sisters?  Cousins?  Alternatively, does the gene-set required to give one gold hair also give a certain body shape, eye color and scent?  Maybe there's something to the gold hair that goes along with being a succubus-type woman, as Rapture seems to be.

I looked back at Lady Celeste.  “They were hunting down what was behind this attack.  It was beneficial to be with them.”

Lady Celeste said, “Rapture ... please.  Will you leave him alone long enough to chat?”

Rapture looked back at her, then up at me with her amethyst eyes and blew a kiss at me before walking back over by the others.  I realized once she turned around that Lady Celeste was waiting for me to stop watching the golden-winged beauty.

She said, “So what are your plans, then?”

“I thought I would stay at Spellbound and ensure no orcs got into the building.”

Rapture grinned, “He
does
want to be with me.”

I raised an eyebrow.

Lady Celeste said, “Spellbound is Lady Rapture’s club.”

I nodded in understanding.  “Ah, I see now.  By the way, the band begins playing at 9 P.M.  I’ll be at Spellbound by then.”

Rapture said, "Wear something ... provocative ... if you wish to blend in."

I nodded to them, turned and left.

Chapter 32 – Dress Up

Diva’s Viewpoint

I hung up after Psystar called about the plans for tonight at Bang Time.  I had no intentions of sitting on top of a boring rooftop for an hour or two when I could be inside the club scoping out the guys.

Rayna and Psystar had joked at the University that I should just wear a wig, a tight t-shirt and a tiny mini-skirt, and no one would even notice my face.  They might have been joking, but her call made me think of it, and being right in the action seemed like a good idea to me.

I looked online for the band to see some pictures of their concerts to see what people tended to wear to them.  I just needed a version of that distracting enough to keep their eyes off my face.