by Ramy Vance
Abby raised her hand as she continued to scan the area. "We aren't picking up any objects of interest, and we do have the ability to scan for magical illusions. We just can't do anything about them."
Terra, who had wandered a few steps ahead, suddenly stopped like she’d bumped into a wall and let out a quiet "Umpf" as she crumpled to the floor. "I'm okay! In case anyone cares."
"What the hell was that?" Anabelle shouted.
The lights suddenly cut on, illuminating a giant box. It was about the size of a single-story house and was made of metal. There were heavy grooves that looked similar to runes carved all over it.
As Abby and Anabelle helped Terra to her feet, the grooves of the metal box began to glow pale yellow. The light made the box look as if it were cracking open from the power as a sound like thousands of gears gurgled out of it.
Sarah's eyes narrowed. "Oh, I don't think this is good."
The box exploded, breaking into four different sections, two of which lodged into the ceiling, the other two striking the walls on either side of the room.
From the bottom two sections of the box came four humanoid robots that shone in the light.
One raised a mechanical arm. "Intruder alert. Intruder alert. Annihilate intruders."
Abby's armor flowed over her body, covering every inch of her in sleek black metal. She raised her hand as she charged a plasma blast in her palm. "Seriously? That's a little bit on the nose. Destroy humans, destroy humans. Cliché much?"
Terra cracked her knuckles. "I really don't give a shit as long as I can hit those fuckers." She sprinted toward two of the robots and tackled one of them to the ground. "Hey, this fucker didn't break." Terra's excitement was cut short as an energy blast from the other robot sent her flying.
It was preparing another attack on Terra when Anabelle, who had raced after Terra, slashed it across the neck with her hand.
The robot stumbled forward, somehow managing to stay on its feet. Its head whirled around, and it looked at Anabelle. "Hm. That usually does the job," the elf mused as she dodged the robot's plasma blast.
Across the room, two more robots emerged from the second hunk of box.
Sarah pulled out her plasma rifle and fired as she backed away, looking for cover.
Anabelle and Terra had natural defenses against most attacks. The elf was able to instinctively deflect most weak magical attacks, and Terra's body compensated by growing denser the deeper she went into a blood rage.
Sarah was the only person on the team who worried about getting shot.
Abby blasted her thrusters and skidded forward with her arm out in front of her as she fired at one of the robots. Then she shifted to the right and headed over to Sarah.
She slammed her hand into the floor in front of Sarah, causing a jagged piece of it to shoot up. "Good enough cover?" Abby asked.
Sarah pressed her back against the slab and pointed in the direction of Terra and Anabelle, who were fighting the two new robots. "Could you cover my six? I don't want to get tapped in the back of the head."
Abby fired a sonic wave from her shoulder, sending a seismic shiver through the ground as another section of floor shot up, providing Sarah with cover.
"You want to take these two with me?" Sarah asked.
"Why don't you guys just go all Super Saiyan on everyone like you used to?" Abby asked.
Sarah reloaded her rifle and attached a scope to it. "Don't know what we're up against down here. Don't want to get too tired and find out we got four Groks on the other side. Strong's not the same as being smart."
Terra slammed into the side of cover Abby had created as a robot leaped on her chest and kneed her in the sternum. Terra laughed as she head-butted the robot.
The robot grabbed her head and slammed it into the stone slab.
Abby pressed her hand to the side of the robot's head and fired a concussive blast, shattering its skull.
Terra yelped, "Wait, what are you doing?"
Abby's mask peeled back so she could look Terra in the eyes. "Uh, we’re helping?"
Terra sighed. "Dude, that's the first close-quarter fight I've had in like a month."
"It was winning."
"Nah. I was using some basic techniques for practice. You know, keep up with the basics."
Sarah looked over her shoulders. "Same here. Why do you think I put the scope on? I need the practice too." She fired, not even bothering to look over her shoulder, and nailed one of the robots in the head. "We haven't had a challenge for a while."
"Yeah," Terra said. "We aren't goofing off. Well, we are goofing off, but with a purpose."
Anabelle, who had a robot’s throat gripped in her hand, turned around to partake in the conversation. "Seriously, what were you thinking, Abby? Terra literally caught a bomb last week."
Terra sheepishly looked at her feet. "Well, I mean, I didn't catch it so much as got caught in it."
Sarah fired again at the other robot, taking its head off. "Yeah, well, I can't get to the level of power output Terra and Anabelle can manage, but even I don't have to worry about simple human tech and shit."
Abby stood up as one of the robots fired at her. She absentmindedly raised her hand, blocking the attack and sending it back with a reflective plasma shield. "Is this what it's going to be like from now on? Did we peak already?"
Terra shrugged as the members of the DGA started to make their way through the room, walking under the pieces of the metallic box that had launched into the ceiling. "Don't know? You never see the in-between things from action movies. Like, what was John McClane doing between Die Hard 1 and 2? Did he take a vacation, or was he really bored, going through police reports and shit? Maybe we should be bored for a bit. We’ve done a lot. We deserve a bit of boredom, don’t you think? Sarah, especially. She just got married."
The two metallic sections fell from the ceiling, extending metallic legs from their sides. Rocket launchers snapped onto what seemed to be a cockpit as two machine guns detached from their bottom sections.
The DGA split, Sarah rolling to take cover behind a piece of debris. "True, but that's got its own list of problems."
A rocket flew toward Terra, who grabbed it. She kept it from exploding and sent it back at the ceiling, where it blew up and tore open a huge hole. "Wait, is there trouble in paradise?"
The machine gun from one of the box hunks blasted Sarah's cover apart, forcing her to flip backward to avoid the bullets heading toward her. "Hardly. Everything with Kravis is great. But there's all this extra bureaucratic shit we have to do with work visas and other bullshit paperwork, and because Kravis can’t get a work visa, he can’t run his own missions. He’s getting antsy."
Terra shuddered as she slammed her fist on the floor and levered up a person-sized piece of rubble. "Ugh. Paperwork. I’d rather be tortured.”
Anabelle smirked. “That what you and Cire do in your free time?”
She tossed the debris, and Anabelle magically covered the rock with flames until it was molten slag. She kicked her lava-hot creation at the spider-like robot, tearing a simmering hole through it.
Sarah grabbed a grenade from her side and tossed it into the hole.
The spider-robot stumbled as Terra slid beneath its body, snatching one of its legs out from under it and driving it into its body. "I'll have you know we are the model of a perfectly normal couple. All of our bruises are consensual."
Abby pretended to shudder as she walked past the exploding bot. "Ew, gross. We didn’t ask for details."
Terra walked past the scientist and clapped her on the back. "One of these days, someone is going to have to give you a talk about the birds and the bees. Or is it just birds? Or maybe just bees and stingers. I certainly shouldn’t be the one giving that talk."
"We went to high school," Abby muttered. Terra dug her knuckles into Abby's scalp before the scientist vented kinetic energy from her suit, pushing her away.
Sarah pointed down the hallway. "God, two weeks without a world-saving m
ission, and you guys turn into the Golden Girls."
Anabelle shook her head. "We should all be honored to be compared with Betty White."
"I didn't know elves watched much human television."
"We don't. Terra showed me Golden Girls. It was life-changing, to say the least. I still find it hard to imagine how elves got so philosophically advanced without the great Betty White's influence."
Sarah and Abby burst out laughing while Terra tried to keep it in. "Didn’t think you had such a savage sense of humor, Abby. Now come on, let's hurry up and finish this up. I think it’s anime night. Right, kiddo?"
Abby smiled as she looked over her shoulder at the destruction she and her friends had left behind. "Yeah, and I haven't even read the manga for this one.”
Terra shoved Abby lightly. "All you got to do is say anime around her and she's a completely different person."
"What? Anime is great, and I know you guys aren't watching it ironically anymore. Let's get this over with."
Chapter Three
The Dark Gate Angels continued making their way through the dim underbelly of the restaurant, talking to pass the time. Since the release and nearly immediate destruction of the security robots, there was nothing to do other than walk.
After a considerable amount of pestering, Terra had finally got Abby to tell them what Persephone was working on.
Abby went into detail about her lover’s new job as a cultural sensitivity trainer for the different races trying to integrate on Earth.
Terra pretended to snore loudly. “Yawn. This is what the great heroes of the war against the Dark One have been reduced too? Sensitivity trainers? And that’s only if they can get a work visa? What about us? I haven’t been decently stabbed in months.”
The darkened halls were filled with far too much laughter for a serious mission.
Abby didn't care. Terra was right. There hadn’t been a real challenge since the Dark One. Missions like this and the others they had gone on could have been completed by other agents.
But Myrddin wanted to keep them in the loop and in the field.
Eventually, the conversation turned to Anabelle. "So, how have things been going with you?" Terra asked. "You keep such a tight lid on everything, we would have assumed you're living in a cave someplace off the map."
Anabelle shrugged as she scanned the area. "No different than anyone else. Most I can say is, I've gotten in touch with a couple of cousins of mine. It would be nice if they weren't the most annoying people in all the Nine Realms. I'm supposed to take them to Santa Monica next week."
Sarah groaned. "Sounds tedious. Glad I don't have to entertain any family. I think I would kill myself."
The pathway they were following stopped abruptly at a large steel double door, much like the freezer door they had initially entered.
Terra pressed her ear to it and listened. "Do you think this place is sturdy enough to contain a bomb?"
Sarah reached into the bag hanging loosely at her side and pulled out a small detonator. "That's what we've been trying to figure out for the last few weeks. This might be an assembly plant, a place for pieces to come before they're shipped out to be put together somewhere else. Step back."
She placed the detonator on the door and secured it with a yellow gel.
Anabelle leaned against the steel and rested her hand on it. "Why don't you let me blow it?"
Sarah motioned for everyone to step away. "Because not everyone can just barrel through each situation in front of them. Maybe you guys should look into diversifying your own skill sets. Not every job needs to end with punching something in the face."
Terra raised her hands in the air. "Oh, can you cut the holier than thou act? You end up either punching or shooting someone in the face, regardless of what you're doing."
Sarah pulled out the switch for the detonator. "I'm just saying, sometimes warming up to face-punching can be the engaging part. Like foreplay. Cover your ears."
Terra, Anabelle, and Abby did as they were told, and Sarah blew the door open.
Thirty men stood in a steel room, some of them wearing exo-suits and others armed to the teeth with plasma rifles and pistols. Many of them were wearing black suits and sunglasses; it looked as if the room were filled with middle-aged pallbearers.
Even though they were all facing the Dark Gate Angels when the door blew open, they seemed to be surprised by the sudden intrusion. A handful of the men were still sitting at a table, playing poker.
A seated man who was wearing the largest exo-suit coughed uncomfortably. "Oh, blimey, didn't think you'd make it here."
Abby glanced at Anabelle. "Wasn't this an Italian restaurant? What’s a Brit doing here?"
Anabelle nodded slowly, boredom evident on her face. "Yep, Italian and elvish."
The man spat on the floor and then stomped on the spittle. "Don't mean only Italians and elves work here. Don't mean they won't hire no British chaps, either."
Anabelle clenched her fist and flexed, shooting out sparks of mana. "Glad to hear your boss is inclusive in his hiring practices. Now, what the hell are you guys up to down here?"
The man looked from Anabelle to the squad behind him. "Yeah, we got all kinds of people here. And as for what we’re doing, ain't it obvious? We're here to stop you."
Terra looked around the room. "I don't know how to say this politely, but you guys are going to get fucked up. We tore through your robots without even getting close to thinking about sweating. And you guys have, what…guns?"
One of the men at the table, who was wearing a fedora along with his exo-suit, stood up as he slammed his fist on the table. "Do you think we can't hold our own? Come on, give us a try!”
Sarah stepped between the rest of the DGA and the armed goons. "Hey, we can settle this without all of you leaving without your teeth. We're here to see where you're getting all this tech from. Tell us, and we can let you walk away. Or you can try to fight us, get the shit kicked out of you, go through a less than pleasant interrogation with me, and then tell us. What is it going to be?"
A man near the back pulled out a rocket launcher and fired.
Abby raised her hand and sent a signal to neutralize the rocket, causing it to hit Terra in the chest and fall dead on the floor at her feet.
"That means we get to kick their asses, right?" Terra asked.
Sarah nodded solemnly. "We gave them a chance. Do you want to—"
Terra leaped into the crowd of men, knocking over three of them as she belly-flopped onto them. She grabbed one by the hair, yanked him up, and headbutted him, breaking his nose while laughing loudly. Then she swung him around by his feet, knocking over a few more of the guards.
Anabelle closed her eyes and created flames around her body, forcing the guards back from the heat.
One fired his plasma rifle at the elf. She dodged to the side, ran up the wall, and flipped down onto him, breaking his clavicle.
Abby busied herself with scanning the enemy’s tech. Their rifles hadn’t come from Myrddin's forces or any of the caches left over from the Dark One, either. Someone else was supplying the mob with weapons. She transferred the data to the rest of the team.
Sarah glanced down at her wrist as she checked out one of the mob guys. "Wait, where the hell are they getting the guns then? This tech shouldn’t be on the market."
Terra flipped over a goon and brought her arm down on the one behind him, breaking through his exo-suit. "You mean, not even on the black market?"
Sarah turned around and shot a guard in the chest. "You don't have to take that tone."
"I'm just saying. Obviously, wherever the mob is getting their guns is the most illegal of illegal places."
Anabelle broke the jaw of a guard, then dropped to one knee and sent a shockwave of electricity through a handful of guards. "Why don't we just ask someone?" She picked up one of the stunned guards. "Who are you working for?"
The guard trembled as he spoke, looking around at his fallen comrades, who were writh
ing in pain on the floor. "He's in the back. Jesus, please don't hurt me."
Sarah walked up to the guard Anabelle was holding and punched him in the face, knocking him out. "Ugh. Even the interrogations are boring." She pointed at a door in the back of the room. "Come on, he's probably in there."
Abby looked around the room. All the guards were lying on the floor, groaning as they clutched their broken limbs. "What do we do with all of these guys?"
Sarah pulled up her HUD. "I'll send in a team once we finish all of this. They're waiting upstairs. I wanted to make sure we didn’t send anyone into anything dangerous. I doubt these guys will give the clean-up crew any trouble." She knelt and pinched the cheeks of one of the guards. "Isn't that right? Because the clean-up crew is ordered to shoot on sight."
Terra was already at the door leading to the mob boss. She threw it open theatrically and peeked in. When she turned to face the rest of the DGA, she looked worried. "Uh, this is kind of a weird door."
Abby and Anabelle walked over to Terra. "Looks like a pretty normal door to us," Abby said.
Terra pointed at the black emptiness behind it. "Most doors don't open up to nowhere. I mean, most non-magical human doors don't."
Sarah joined the rest of them and gestured at a fingerprint pad next to the door. "Gimme a minute." She walked over to one of the guards, who strained up and spat at her. "Okay, I was just going to ask you, but then you had to do that."
She grabbed the guard's hand and pulled out her knife. He screamed as he tried to pull his hand away, but Sarah was too fast. She severed his index finger and walked back to the fingerprint pad.
"Probably should have asked which finger they use," she muttered.
Terra shook her head. "Dude, you gotta stop the psycho stuff all the time. Abby's here. Try to be more child-friendly."
Abby glared at Terra, who smiled widely. “We are not—"
"I'm just fucking with you, kid."
"We’re not sure anymore. You joke about it so much, we're starting to think this might be a not-so-subtle dig at us for embodying your lost youth."
