by Mia Archer
I could've followed her down and exacted some more revenge, but I didn't have time, as tempting as that was. No, what I really needed right now was a good old-fashioned prison riot. Prisoner against prisoner. Something to distract the guards while I picked their pockets.
"Let's get them!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.
19
Prison Brawl
There was a pause. A moment when I worried the other villains might not go along with this. Where I worried that Night Terror had finally and truly ceded all of her villainous cred by hanging back and being all mopey and depressed.
Thankfully that moment only lasted for a breath before all the villains surged forward screaming at the top of their lungs. Some of them were screaming something that sounded like they were talking about biting rocks, I can only presume that had something to do with the guy Firebrand had eliminated in that gladiatorial arena, while others shouted my name.
It was odd hearing a bunch of avowed villains shouting my name as a rallying cry while they went into combat, but it was also kind of nice. I'd always been a lone wolf, but having other people doing my bidding was convenient at the very least.
My eyes were mostly on the edges of the room though. On the guards who were frantically pulling out comm devices and calling for backup. Comm devices, I might add, that looked an awful lot like my trusty wrist computer that had to be locked up somewhere around here.
Good. They were calling in reinforcements. Exactly what I needed.
I did my best to look like I was participating in the fight while not actually doing much. After all, there were superpowered punches being thrown, not to mention a bunch of random energy blasts flying through the air. I even saw a chunk of ice in the shape of a spear that lodged into the wall a few inches from my head, but I was pretty sure that came from a villain whose aim was off.
Then a hero who'd been about to jump me from behind slammed their head into that ice at full speed and went down. I hadn’t even seen the bastard. I mouthed a quick "thank you" to the villain who'd thrown the ice spear. He saluted, then waded back into the fight by encasing one of the heroes in a block of ice.
It was an all-out melee, and it wasn't pretty. Heroes and villains alike were going down all around. It was the kind of scene that would’ve looked really impressive if it was happening in a more open space like, say, in a mysteriously abandoned airport or something.
What am I saying? A battle would look fucking stupid at an abandoned airport. What kind of asshole would ever decide to have their big climactic battle in a place like that?
Shouts filled the room. Doors opened up all around. Secret doors I hadn't even realized were there in the commissary walls. Guards dressed like jackbooted thugs streamed in, filling the room with both their shouts and the sounds of their boots slamming against the floor.
They fired their weapons, designs stolen from me thank you very much, into the crowd indiscriminately. Some of them were blasts to stun, while others were clearly anti-Newtonian bubbles designed to slow people down. I noted they were using the anti-Newtonian bubbles on some of the larger and more powerful heroes and villains. The kind who looked like their nervous system wasn't going to go down for something as simple as a stun blast.
I grinned. This was what I'd been waiting for, but I had to be careful. I didn’t want to get hit with a stun blast. I really didn’t want to wind up in an anti-Newtonian bubble.
I needed to get at that sweet, sweet tech those guards had dangling from their belts, and I needed to get it without them realizing what I was doing.
I dodged, dipped, ducked, dove, and dodged my way through the melee of villains and heroes until I stood at the room’s edge. I sidled up to one of the guards who was firing their weapon and completely ignoring the rudimentary wrist computer attached to the arm they weren’t using to fuck shit up.
They all wore their wrist computers on their left. Which seemed ridiculous to me, but then again my wrist computer was also my wrist blaster and so many other things that I needed my dominant hand to operate, whereas it seemed like these guys were mostly using their wrist computers for communicating.
They did the shooty stuff with their guns, which was something I’d always tried to avoid because it seemed so distasteful and low class for the greatest villain Starlight City had ever seen.
I still didn’t like the idea of using an obvious gun, even if that “greatest” title was up for debate these days.
I had to be quick. Thankfully, one of the many things I'd practiced in addition to the fundamentals of combat was the fundamentals of other elements of crime. Old-fashioned stuff that a lot of villains in my shoes never would’ve thought of. Like sleight-of-hand.
It was made easier by the fact that it seemed these assholes were definitely using a design they'd stolen from me. Which meant the release catch for the band was in the same place on their wrist computers as it was on mine. Another stroke of luck.
Then again, if these wrist computers hadn’t been based on my designs then I was going to be in a world of trouble anyway. This whole scheme sort of relied on them using tech I could easily manipulate precisely because Dr. Lana was the kind of lazy person to straight up copy my designs without bothering to change any of the underlying software I’d created to make that design work.
I just had to steal the thing and hope for the best.
The thing fell off the guy’s wrist and I quietly took it and tucked it into the back band of my prison jumpsuit. It wasn't exactly comfortable there, but I figured it was a hell of a lot more comfortable than sticking it inside the hiding spot immediately to the south of the back waistband on my prison jumpsuit which seemed to be the traditional hiding spot for prison contraband.
Now I just had to hope they didn't check me on the way out. Though something told me with as busy as they were at the moment they weren’t going to be doing many spot inspections of people trying to get away from the fight rather than join it.
"You look like you could use some help Miss Terror," Ron said.
I jumped and wheeled around. His eyes were down on my ass. Were his eyes looking at my ass because he’d been checking my ass out, I did work out as I've already covered many times, or had he seen what I was hiding down there?
"Ron," I said. “I’m surprised to see you. Haven't seen you around the block lately.”
"They've been rotating me around with all the weirdness going on,” he said. "But something tells me you don't want to be around here any longer than you have to. Someone like you could get hurt, after all."
I licked my lips, suddenly nervous. Suddenly wondering if all those bribes I'd paid out over the years were going to be worth nothing now that Ron had proof I was trying to pull something. He might be too simple to realize what I was planning, but he had to know I’d be planning something if I was stealing a wrist computer.
If he knew I had a wrist computer. He could’ve been checking out my ass, after all. He was a man and I was a hot woman, even if the combination he was no doubt imagining as he stared at my ass was never happening in a million years. He wouldn’t be the first dude to get hot and bothered by a girl who was into girls, after all.
He wouldn’t be the first dude to be disappointed for barking up that particular tree and coming up empty, for that matter.
"What are you saying Ron?" I asked.
He grinned, his eyes darting down to my ass again. And again I couldn't be sure if he was checking me out because he saw something, or if it was because he saw something he liked. Hey, he could look, even if he was never touching.
"Why don't you go ahead and come with me Miss Terror," he said. “I’d hate for you to get hurt, or have to go through the search they’re no doubt going to subject everyone to when this is all done.”
As though to punctuate his warning another laser blast went through the air. This time it was shot out of someone's mouth. I winced. That struck me as being a damned inconvenient place for lasers to come blasting out of. In fact, the onl
y hole that seemed like it would be more inconvenient for lasers to come blasting out of would be…
Well, I think you get that picture without me painting it too explicitly.
Besides, Ron had been clear as day about what he was doing. He knew I was up to something, and it would seem that all those bribes I’d paid over the years were paying off in a big way.
"You know what," I said. "I'm inclined to agree. Can you get me the hell out of here?"
"Sure thing Miss Terror," he said.
He slapped the wall behind him and a secret panel opened up revealing a bright white tunnel that looked like I was in a store designed to hawk the wares of a certain fruit-based computer company.
"Nice digs," I said as we stepped into the hall and the door slid shut behind us. "Do they have secret passages like this running through the whole place?"
"Sure do Miss Terror," Ron said. "They're all unmarked to make it a little more difficult for people to get out if one of the inmates finds’em. At least that's the idea."
"Seem like it's not doing a very good job of confusing potential escapees considering all the people who used to get out of this place on the regular,” I said.
"Haven’t had an escape since the new regime took over," Ron said.
He sounded proud of that fact. Though it seemed to me that he shouldn't be proud of the fact that they hadn't had an escape now versus having lots of escapes before. After all, the revolving door here at SuperMax was so much of a joke that even Firebrand had mentioned it when she was trying to make me feel bad about still being here.
It was a pretty effective insult when you got down to it. I was such an ineffective villain that I couldn’t even escape SuperMax.
Whatever. If there was any justice in the world that bitch was getting her ass handed to her right now. Or she was getting trampled, considering I’d knocked her out cold.
"So they took me through something like this when they brought me in?” I asked.
Ron shook his head. "Actually that was the damndest thing. Fialux landed right in the middle of the outdoor exercise yard and deposited you right in front of us."
"That doesn't seem as damned as you might think," I said. “She pulled the same thing on me back when she was new to the city. I guess she hadn't heard of due process back then."
"It's not like they have due process now," Ron said, sounding annoyed. "It's whatever those two ladies say, goes, and they don't seem to give a damn what we think about it."
"Why Ron," I said. "That's a surprisingly civil libertarian attitude for a cop to have."
"You can have a job where you're bringing in criminals and villains and still not like it when somebody goes changing the rules," Ron said. "Those rules were there for a reason, after all. Doing what they're doing makes us no better than… Well I don't know. But it's not good."
“Color me surprised Ron," I said, slapping him on back. "So which way to my cell? I never thought I'd hear myself say it, but I'm actually looking forward to getting back there."
I barely cut myself off before I mentioned that I was looking forward to getting back there and doing some work. That wasn't the kind of thing I should be mentioning right in front of a cop. Especially a cop who seemed to be so far on the lawful good side of the scale that he disagreed with the powers that be, even if he was doing a little bit of chaotic good right now.
Or maybe chaotic neutral, considering he was helping a villain who was a tad on the chaotic evil side of things lately. Maybe even lawful neutral, if he really was that upset about the current abuses of the legal system and looking for a way to restore some semblance of those rules.
Whatever. I did not have time to apply black and white morality compasses from a fucking dorky game to a prison guard. That was mental capacity I could be applying to something useful. Like figuring out how to get out of here now that I had access to some of their tech.
"Sure thing Miss Terror," he said, looking down at my ass again.
I was fairly certain he wasn't being so obvious about staring at my ass because he liked what he saw. Though I liked to think that maybe that was a side benefit he was getting out of looking down there.
Hey, you can not be interested in someone and appreciate being appreciated at the same time.
"Right," he said. "This way if you don't mind Miss Terror."
I walked in front of him, and pointedly avoided reaching down and touching the spot where I knew there had to be a wrist computer sized bulge in the back of my pants. Never had I been more glad than in that moment that I'd kept quietly upping the average salary of Starlight City’s finest even after I got involved with Fialux and stopped doing the villainous thing on the regular.
I smiled as we walked down that nondescript hall. Phase one of my plan was in play, and all I needed was a convenient excuse to activate phase two.
20
Arena
"Look up at the big screen,” a cruel looking guard said.
From the way he strutted around in his uniform, practically preening as he walked around the block, he was enjoying the fuck out of this.
The warden, for his part, seemed uncomfortable with what was going down. Uncomfortable, but once again he wasn't lifting a finger to stop it so that made him complicit in what was going down here as far as I was concerned.
"Repeat. If your name is up on the big screen then that means you're going off to the arena to please our new overlords!"
My eyes ran across the board in a panic. I wasn't ready for this. Not yet. I hadn’t had nearly enough time to prepare. I didn't…
Need to worry. My name wasn't up there. I wasn't one of the people going into the arena. This was the second time they'd called for people after the fight with Firebrand and that Rock Biter guy.
Which I was pretty sure was a name he'd taken from an old ‘80s movie. I mean sure, it worked, but it was a little on the nose. Whatever. The guy was dead now. Not my concern. His choice of ‘80s kitsch for his name wasn't my concern.
The heroes and villains who'd been selected, equal numbers of each because that’s what you needed for a good show, tried to fight. Only there wasn't much they could do. Anyone who resisted was hit with the stun setting, and anyone who tried to use their powers to resist was hit with a stun blast and then caught in an anti-Newtonian bubble.
I was really starting to wish I’d never let that particular cat out of that particular bag. Watching the things they were doing with my inventions, well, it was horrifying. I was going to burn this place to the ground and destroy every last one of those weapons before I was done.
Assuming, of course, that I could even get out of here in the first place to return and exact my revenge. That was a pretty big “if” right now.
I leaned against the bars and breathed a sigh of relief. I also felt like a piece of shit as I was breathing that sigh of relief. After all, all those names up there on the big screen were being carted off to their certain death. Or at least half of them were going to be carted off to their certain death, and there was a chance more than half of them would die if there were wounds inflicted that they eventually succumbed to.
Either way, at least half of them were going to walk into that arena and never come out. Perfectly balanced. Which wasn't as it should be.
“Sucks for them," the girl in the cell next to me said.
I turned to her and narrowed my eyes. Sure she was pretty, but that didn't make it any less annoying to know she could get out of here any time she wanted and she chose not to.
“I don't see you doing anything to stop them," I said.
She shrugged. “My power doesn't exactly lend itself to doing something about big city changing events. You, on the other hand…"
“That's it for the heroes and villains appearing in the preliminary round," the people on the Starlight City News Network said.
The prison didn't even bother to put up a list of their own. They just piped in SCNN who'd quickly become a propaganda arm of the new regime, apparently. Still no Na
ncy Norris either.
My ears perked up at that. Preliminary round? What the hell were they talking about?
“And then later we’ll have the main event. The one everyone has been looking forward to. The favorite in the arena, Firebrand, going up against Starlight City's most notorious villain!"
“Oh," the girl next to me said.
I forced myself to look up at the screen even though I had a pretty good idea of what I was going to see up there.
Sure enough there was Firebrand on one side of the screen like this was a professional sports matchup or something. And there was someone else on the other side of the screen. Someone very familiar to me, because that someone was me.
"Yes that's right Cotton," a pretty girl said to a vapid male anchor. "It sure looks like it's going to be a bad day for Night Terror. No one has seen her since she was apprehended on the first day of the Glorious Revolution, but Sabine the Conqueror assures us it will be a spectacular show where Night Terror finally answers for her numerous crimes against Starlight City!"
Sabine the Conqueror? She’d changed her name again? I swear, that woman went through villainous names the same way Imelda Marcos went through shoes.
Look it up.
“Right you are Janice," the guy, Cotton, said. "And as a special added bonus, we’re being told that Night Terror is going to be appearing on her own. None of her special toys or anything."
"Should be a great match Cotton," Janice said, smiling a vapid smile of her own.
I felt sick to my stomach. I looked around in a panic. Particularly at the guards, but none of them were coming for me. Not yet, at least.
If I went out there without my usual stuff then I was as good as dead. I needed to do something about this. I needed to put my plan into action.
Things were moving fast, but then again when things started moving fast was when I did some of my best work. I just had to plan on the fly and make shit up as I went along, and hope for the best.
