Mayfield, two days earlier

Vincent Liedecker’s home office, where he received clients and business partners for his various philanthropic pursuits was a far cry from the implied threat and savagery of his corporate/criminal headquarters. Taking up the lion’s share of the third floor of his home in the prestigious Riverside neighborhood in Mayfield, it was constructed of glass on three sides, with an elegant glass dome that served as a roof, affording a panoramic view of the house’s courtyard, the St. Anne River and the Mayfield skyline. Inside, it managed to be comfortable and homey while remaining properly opulent.

The man himself lounged in a leather arm chair, casually flipping through papers while his house lady refilled his current guests’ glasses of sweet tea. He wore a cream colored silk jacket and a pair of reading glasses that took the edge off his icy star and granted him a more fatherly air that belied his forty six years.

His guests, none other than Laurel Brant and Alexis Keyes, in pink and white business suits respectively, thanked the servant for the refreshments before returning to the matter at hand.

“As you can see, sir, we’ve already taken the liberty to make prior arrangements for security and furnishing.” Laurel pointed out, knowing from memory and careful observation what page Liedecker was on in the proposal. “All that you’ll have to worry about is hiring staff and the building itself.”

“Of course,” Alexis couldn’t hold herself back, “We do already have some recommendations for the teaching staff.”

Nodding thoughtfully, Liedecker looked up from the proposal, which he’d gone over three times over the course of the meeting alone. “I’ve got to hand it to you ladies; you do have a lot on the ball with this. I’ve seen ten year veterans in business that couldn’t hand in a proposal half this well done.” He carefully stroked his chin. “And I’m going to be honest; this is what my daddy wanted done with that property. To tell the truth, with the zoning, a school’s just about the only damn thing you can put there. I tried opening an art gallery there, but would you believe that it’s not even zoned for that?”

“Your father did pull a number of strings to ensure the school could be built there, I recall.” Laurel nodded.

“That he did.” Liedecker nodded, “And that was his last project. Shame it’s been going unused for twenty years.” He laid the proposal on the cedar table before him. “But if I’m gonna keep being honest, ladies, I don’t know a damn thing about running any school. Especially not schools for psionics.”

“We can take care of all the operations.” Laurel assured him.

“That’s right.” Alexis added, “All we need is the property. Time is a factor, Mr. Liedecker, as we’ve said before.”

Liedecker gave them a sympathetic look. “Yes… this Project Tome thing I needed to get clearance from a branch of the government I haven’t heard of to even hear about. I can’t say that the threat of some rogue agency attacking one of my properties is much of a selling point.”

“But—“Alexis started to object.

With a gesture, Liedecker silenced her. “However, the old saying is true, ain’t it? The children are our future. From the sound of these Tome fellas, the future would be Hell on earth if they got their hands on them, eh?”

“Too true.” Alexis said, “And that’s why we contacted the ROCIC for help in security matters.” Before Liedecker could respond, she quickly added, “And we’ve been given assurances that the Descendants will offer their help as well.” Almost instantly, she felt Laurel’s outraged glare on her.

“The Descendants?” Liedecker had to work extra hard to keep his face schooled. “That seems like a tall order.”

“Yes, but they’re just as dedicated to protecting future generations as you yourself are.” Alexis soldiered on with her impromptu sales pitch.

Liedecker grinned, “If you put it that way, how can I possibly say no? But there are still some issues I’d like to discuss; staffing for example. Ms. Keyes, I did some checking into your background,”

Alexis and Laurel held their breath. Laurel had done a through job of doctoring their records; including expunging all mention of Alexis’s powers from the Academy’s public records, as well as her old middle school records and a newspaper article from her home town of Baton Rouge, but there was still a possible that something had slipped by.

“And you’re definitely the one who should be in charge of hiring the teaching staff. “ Both women sighed with relief on the inside. “I do, however, intend to supply administration and support services as a cost cutting measure.”

“I can understand that completely.” Alexis smiled.

Liedecker rose, smiling at the two and extending his hand. “Then ladies, I think we have a deal.” As Alexis shook his hand, he added, “When should I expect to hear from prospective students?”

“We have a… short list to extend invitations to.” Laurel embellished smoothly, “We should hear from them any day now.”

Sedona, Arizona. Now.

The engines of the ROCIC troop carrier made an audible whine that carried all the way into the passenger cabin as the craft made its way at supersonic speed to its destination. The Descendants minus Zero sat on the benches usually reserved for ROCIC Marines, watching General Pratt on the monitor along the far wall at the front.

“I want to thank you all again for participating in this mission.” Pratt was saying.

“No problem, General.” Chaos said, adjusting his cape. “We’ve come to see those kids on the list as kind of our responsibility. We’re happy to help.”

“It’s just too bad that Zero came down with that summer cold.” Said Alloy. “I know she wouldn’t want to miss helping out.”

“I still don’t get why you didn’t just heal her.” Facsimile gave Hope a sideways glance.

The redhead glared back. “I told you I can’t cure diseases.” She slumped back into her seat with a sniff. “It’s kind of fishy that she just happened to get sick the second we got word of the General asking a favor anyway.”

“Oh please.” Facsimile rolled her eyes. “Like the Sugar Plum Princess would miss doing good? She patrols even when we don’t. And because she can’t fly, that means hoofing it.”

“Guys, can we focus here?” Darkness’s voice cut through the chatter like a scalpel. “This is a very serious matter. There’s a twelve year old girl in danger. We can’t afford petty bickering.” She turned to Pratt’s image. “Is there any chance that this is a Tome job?”

“Very little.” Pratt shook his head. “Rose Abernathy has a history of running away over the past year. Her parents found a note from her that matches the other three she’s left before.”

“She ran away three times before? Kid’s got issues.” Hope said, twirling her finger in the air beside her ear in an unmistakable gesture.

“You’re one to talk.” Facsimile muttered.

General Pratt ignored the exchange. “The real danger from Tome is if they hear about this and find her before we do. The Abernathys alerted the local media before we could stop them. They’re already assembling their own search party.”

“If any civilian groups cross paths with Tome’s henchies, they won’t stand a chance.” Alloy intoned seriously.

“Exactly why we won’t let that happen.” Codex’s eyes were glued to her computer screen.

“What if this kid doesn’t want to be brought home?” Facsimile asked. When everyone looked at her oddly, she clarified. “I mean what powers does she have? Can she knock our blocks off for trying to bring her back to mommy and daddy?”

“That’s a very good question.” Codex praised. Facsimile swelled a little with pride.

“Actually, we know very little about Rose’s—or Arkose as she was called that the Academy—abilities.” Pratt admitted. “She’s a protomorph whose cell structure has converted to be silicon base. Basically, here body’s made of rock; very strong, very durable. The bright side there is that she doesn’t need to eat, drink or sleep, which is good for the rescue effort.

“Searches of her public Academy records show that she declined all power awareness and control classes, so the Academy never discovered any abilities she may have beyond the obvious benefits of density and weight.”

“Her class records say she took bojutsu and kendo, so she may still be able to defend herself with a weapon.” Darkness added.

“Then the big thing is actually tracking her down.” Chaos said. “Any luck? Codex, Ephemeral?”

“Ephemeral is trying to use his abilities through the ROCIC satellite network to scan the area for the girl’s mind.” Codex reported. “But he’s not familiar with her, the network wasn’t built to be used this way, and Sedona is a very big place. It looks like we’re on our own for now when it comes to tracking her.”

“Actually, you won’t be alone in this.” Pratt said. “The Abernathys’ public plea for help didn’t fall on deaf ears. Two prelates from Phoenix have insisted on helping with this and I couldn’t refuse them. They should be at your landing site when you arrive.”

Alloy’s head snapped up. “Wait; there’s only two prelates from Phoenix period…” Without waiting for an answer, he got up and bolted for a window.

The carrier had slowed considerably in its decent toward the landing zone. Still, the ground flew by below, as did the famous Red Rocks that Sedona was known for. Ahead, Alloy could see the landing area, just south of Courthouse Rock. The object of his search as clearly visible.

The machine stood on stout, bird-like legs, ending in wide, flexible feet. Its torso was humanoid, with articulated arms ending in five fingered, mechanical hands. Its wide shoulders bulged with a pair of missile racks and in place of a head; the eleven foot tall titan had a domed hatch, mounted with sensor systems. A stylized image of a Queen chess piece was emblazoned in red on its wide chest.

“I knew it!” Alloy said, excitedly. “The Queen’s Gambit, Majestrix’s powered armor! She and Zero Point are here!”

“Please don’t embarrass us by geeking all over them.” Hope sighed.

“Hey, leave him alone.” Facsimile came to his defense. ”He knows how to work with other prelates. We’ve worked with the Whitecoat twice!”

General Pratt gave Darkness, Chaos and Codex a sympathetic look. “Good luck, Descendants.” He said, “Rose Abernathy is counting on you.” With that, he severed the uplink.

“Don’t worry.” Alloy said, still staring out the window as the carrier angled in for a landing. “I know the score, okay? I’m not going to screw up just because I’m getting to work with some of my heroes.”

“I know you won’t.” Chaos backed him up. “Just keep your mind on what we’re here to do. We find this kid, we drag her back home, kicking and screaming if need be, and we make the pitch for the new school.” No one had time to agree or add anything before the bay doors on the side of the carrier opened, letting the bright sun of an Arizona summer cascade in.

Zero Point and Majestrix stood in the shade provided by the Queen’s Gambit. Both were in their late thirties or early forties, though it was hard to tell due to their costumes.

Zero Point was just under six feet tall, dressed in a form fitting white bodysuit with light blue stripes running up his legs, across his ribs and down his arms. A blue half cape attached to a blue cowl that covered his hair; left his eyes uncovered, and then covered his nose and mouth. A blue zero with a white P in the center was positioned over his heart.

Majestrix was half a head shorter than her husband and her outfit gave nothing away about her prelate status. Her pants were made of heavy, tan canvas and had pockets wherever it was feasible to put a pocket. She also wore a heavy duty handyman’s belt, stuffed with tools. Above the waist, she just wore a sweat stained white tank top with a poorly drawn cog symbol on the chest. On one arm, she had what looked like an over sized watch, with at least four faces, all of which were covered by small hinged plates. A pair of aviator goggles covered her eyes and pushed back a healthy nest of wavy brown hair that was only partially tamed by a long braid running down her back.

The pair waved when they saw the Descendants debarking from the carrier. “Hello!” Majestrix called in a cheerful voice. “You must be the Descendants General Pratt told us about.”

“We are.” Darkness said, feeling compelled to respond warmly as well. “Thank you for helping out with this, I know you were retired…”

“No need to thank us.” Majestrix replied as she and Zero Point came up to meet the newcomers half way. “When we heard about these Tome people and what may happen to the Abernathy girl, there was no way the General could dissuade us. We have reason to believe that Tome may be responsible for our daughter’s disappearance too.” Her sunny demeanor strained at that last part.

“Besides,” Zero Point said quickly, putting a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “We’ve been out of retirement for a while now. There’ve been weird things in the desert this last month.”

“Weird as in…?” Hope asked.

“Oh, a scaly shark… thing swimming in the sand; a group of winged women with sonic screams that knocked out my stabilizers…” Majestrix shrugged, obviously no stranger to the weird. “Things like that. The General said they’re not psionics.”

“Magical World.” Chaos said under his breath.

“Eh?” Zero Point asked.

“We’ll talk later.” Chaos assured, “After we find this girl.”

“You’ll like the story though,” Facsimile quipped, “It involves monkeys.”

Majestrix nodded sagely. “That does sound like something we can all enjoy. But he’s right; we need to find Rose first.”

-- • --

“2pm check in.” Codex’s voice came over the rescuers’ frequency. “Anyone find any signs of Rose or Tome activity?”

“I’m at three thousand feet and scanning the air with everything the Queen’s Gambit has.” Majestrix’s calm voice returned. “Unless they’ve got something very, very advanced, there’s no stealth aircraft within fifty miles.”

“Nothing here either.” Facsimile returned.

“I had to help some of the searchers about ten minutes ago.” Alloy said. “There was a rockslide. No one was hurt, but I’m going to have to search this section myself now. No one can get in here on foot anymore.”

“If she or anyone else came this way, they covered their tracks but good.” Said Chaos.

“Ditto.” Zero Point replied. “Nothing but a little pack of half starved coyotes.”

“She’s not going to show up in your heat vision, dear.” Majestrix reminded him, “She’s rock.”

“I know, hun. I’m using my plain old eyes.”

“Darkness, what about you?” Codex asked from aboard the airborne carrier with Hope nearby.

There was a pause before Darkness came back. “I’m not sure. I think I saw something; let me double back and take a look.”

“If you find something, give a ring.” Codex responded. “I’ll have Ephemeral check out the local Astral to try and find her.”

Darkness rogered back and looped around to the mesa she’d just passed. The top of the formation had long ago collapsed, creating a wide, shallow bowl that was open on one side. Cracks and fissures, some the large enough for a man to push through, disrupted the walls. At the center of the bowl, amid the rock debris, a pool of rainwater had formed.

At the edge of the pool, Darkness saw what she was looking for: a blue and red hiker’s backpack. Landing, she stooped to examine it. Something had torn two perpendicular rents in the canvas material and one of the straps has snapped. There was an tag clipped to one of the zippers. It read ‘property of Richard Abernathy’.

“I found her father’s backpack.” Darkness said over the com. “She’s somewhere near, but something may have attacked her; it’s torn up.”

“Think it could be one of Tome’s goons?” Codex asked, already triangulating Darkness’s position.

“Possibly. But these cuts… they look like someone was out to kill, not capture.”

“I’m closest to you.” Majestrix’s voice said. She had been receiving coordinates from Codex the whole time. “I’m coming to help.”

“Thank….” There was a scrabbling sound from the cracks above. Darkness immediately called a globe of black heat into her hand, the com forgotten. “Who’s there?”

“You gotta get out of here!” a girl’s voice called from one of the crevices.

“Rose?” Darkness asked, “Rose Abernathy?”

The scrabbling sound got louder. “Run!” the girl screamed.

“Don’t be afraid.” Darkness tried to say calmly, “I’m her to help you.”

“No!” the girl screeched. A reddish brown hand flicked out of the darkness of one of the crevasses and beckoned her forward. “Come on! They’re coming!”

Darkness frowned deeply. Then something caught her eye; a flicker of black in one of the larger cracks in the wall. Then another. Then another. Before she could ask something else of the screaming voice above her, the first scorpion emerged.

‘Scorpion’ being the closest earthly approximation to the creatures she saw. Each one was four feet long and half that in width, moving on eight legs that ended in two pronged pincers. Two more pincers, massive and prominent were held on either side of its chitinous, jackal-like head. The stinger arched above its armored body, ending in twin serrated blades that dripped with viscous, brown fluid. Strangest of all were the green, faintly luminescent geometric shapes imprinted on their heads.

As Darkness watched, at least two dozen of the little monsters crawled out onto the cliff walls, chittering and clicking as they came.

“Codex…” Darkness said, trying to stay calm even as she stoked the fires of the black heat globe in her hand to greater potency, “I think I’ve found Rose, but we’ve got a problem. There are… bug things.”

“Bug things?” Codex asked. She was already preparing to relay instructions to the others.

Meanwhile, the nearest scorpion ran down the rock face, shrilling and snapping its pincers together. Darkness let loose with a bolt of black heat that smashed it to green and black paste on the rocks. This only served to bait other creatures into the same suicidal charges. Four more met the same fate in rapid succession with more rushing forward.

“Lots of bug things!” Darkness let the black heat engulf her and lift her up just as the first creatures reached her. Their claws snapped uselessly at her boots as she pulled out of range. “Don’t worry, Rose!” She called out, “I’m not leaving without you! I won’t let them get you!”

“It’s Arkose!” the girl shouted back. “And they can’t get me from here.”

From her now elevated position, Darkness could see why. Arkose was standing at the entrance of a crevasse that was around two feet wide; too small for most people to enter, much less the splay-legged monsters. The issue would be getting her out of that space and to safety with all those scorpions around.

Darkness sent a thick bar of black heat ranging across the basin, burning and crushing any scorpions that it touched.

“It won’t work.” Arkose shouted with a melancholy tone. Her sandstone colored fingers pointed to the first casualties of the older woman’s assault; the broken and burnt husks were dissolving into green mist and running together.

Where the mists from two ruined spiders came together, something dark moved.

Before Darkness could get a good look at what was happening, an engine noise came from over head.

Riding two pillars of blue flame from its back and two smaller, orange flames from its feet, the Queen’s Gambit; Majestrix’s anthropoid gunboat looked like something from the Book of Revelations. The gattling gun concealed in its right wrist gleamed as it began to spin up.

Majestrix’s airy voice blaring out over the external speakers ruined the image or made it more menacing, depending on one’s point of view. “Should I use lethal or non-lethal rounds?” she asked.

“Lethal!” Darkness shouted, sending out another swathe of destruction. “Very lethal.”

“Switching to incendiary rounds.” Majestrix copied. There was a whir and a click, followed by the mecha’s arm leveling at a cluster of the little beasts and expelling fiery doom. Scorpions exploded in gouts of flame and showers of green ichor. Green mist began to rise.

“Stop killing them!” Arkose shouted from her hiding place. “You’re only making it worse!” No one could hear her amid the gunfire.

“What’s with the green fog?” Chaos asked over the com as he flew over the lip of the basin and into the war zone.

“We don’t know yet.” Darkness replied. “Some defense mechanism? Codex, I don’t think these are natural creatures. Any chance that the Book of Reason can help?”

“I’ll check.” Codex replied, “And while I’m doing that, Ephemeral, can you check out these creatures from the Astral side?

“I can and will.” Ephemeral replied.

“In the meantime…” Chaos landed on a little hump of dirty that formed an island in the pool of water. “Let’s see if we can’t clear them all out the old fashioned way.” He raised a hand and a pillar of liquid rose from the pool. A flick of his wrist sent it smashing down upon several beasties. Another caused the almost solid cylinder of water to roll out over another set. Chaos smirked at the devastation he’d wrought. “That worked so well.”

A chill wind blew in from the south, following on the heels of a blue glowing streak that resolved into the form of Zero Point as it reached the basin. “Monster scorpions? I guess it’s better than those robotic roaches. Right, dear?” He laughed as he descended.

“There’s a lot more of them, ZP.” The Queen’s Gambit had landed and was hip deep in bug splatter and green fog. “It wouldn’t hurt if you lent a hand.”

“Just waiting my turn.” Zero Point dropped to the deck and brought his hands up in front of him in a praying position. Just as quickly, he pulled them apart, unleashing a wide ribbon of bluish light that cracked along the ground, lifting and crushing the creatures where they stood.

He turned to his left and struck out with the heel of his hand toward another group of scorpions. A bolt of blue exploded out, tearing through them like a musket ball through rotten apples. As a finale, he made a grasping gesture with both hands, causing blue skeins of energy to encircle a handful of monsters and lift them into the air.

“This is how we catch crooks in Phoenix.” He laughed. “Though we put them in jail instead of – this!” With that, he clapped, creating a similar effect on the scorpions.

“Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap.” Arkose moaned from her hiding place. “They’re going to die…”

“Show off.” Chaos said good naturedly as he flew over to where Zero Point was standing. He used his power to push aside green mist as he went. “Now I know why crime in Phoenix is so low.” He extended a hand to shake with the living legend.

“Yeah, but it just wasn’t much fun without Wi—“

“ZP!” Majestrix scolded. “Codenames.”

“She doesn’t have a…” Zero Point muttered, “Our daughter.” He finished lamely to Chaos. “By now I would have hoped—“ He didn’t finish. Instead he pushed Chaos backward and flew upward at the same time. The two foot blades passed through the space they had both occupied.

A new scorpion; this one six feet long with a different glowing rune on its head and eight, glowing, red eyes stepped out of the fog. As he righted himself, Chaos noticed that the creature wasn’t moving out of the fog as much as absorbing it.

“They’re not done!” He cried out, throwing his power into a gust emanating in all directions. The mist was blown away to reveal more than a dozen such beasts.

Majestrix span in time to deflect a stinger headed for the Queen’s Gambit’s back. She returned fire with her gattling gun. The incendiary rounds exploded along its shell with no other effect. “Uh, ZP? They’re bulletproof now.” She said nervously. The mecha’s left arm whirred as it reconfigured.

The scorpion rose up to grapple the robot with it’s deadly pinchers, only to be answered by a sound of thunder. Green bug flesh was painted across the cliff face as the monster slid away from the Queen’s Gambit.

“Not tank shell proof though.” Majestrix noted as she queued up a reload.

“Black heat’s not doing anything to them.” Darkness fretted as a burst of her powers as big around as her waist glanced harmlessly off chitinous armor. “Chaos, Wind’s probably not going to hurt them either. Let’s focus on the environment.” With that, she sent a ray of black heat to incise some of the cliff face, sending rocks tumbling onto one of the scorpions.

“Gotcha.” Chaos replied. He thrust his power into the pool and forced it out over the rocks in a thin, slick sheet that slowed the scorpions’ movement. “It’s working, but it’s not much.” Another thunderous volley came from Majestrix’s direction and another scorpion fell. “We need to get a cannon like that.”

Facsimile’s laughter came over the coms at that. “Really?”

“Oh no…” Alloy said shakily. The pair glided up over the lip of the basin, Facsimile carrying Alloy under her arms. “Fax, come on, don’t—“

“Banzai!” Facsimile let her passenger fly from six stories up.

“Shit!” Isp and Osp snapped out in a protective circle to absorb the impact of the fall even as Alloy curled into a braced position. Seconds before impact, they realized what Facsimile was doing and extended spikes from the outer rim of the arcs they had formed.

Chitin didn’t stand a chance against orihalcite. Alloy, Isp and Osp cut cleanly through two scorpions before coming to a stop on the ground.

“Those kills count as mine!” Facsimile shouted as she went into a dive herself.

“Isp and Osp disagree.” Alloy said, getting his footing.

Green mist was starting to rise again from the bodies of the stricken monsters. “Another assist, if you please, Zero Point?” Chaos asked over the com.

“I’m trying.” Zero Point replied, sending fists of blue energy into the creatures with no avail. “But to tell the truth, I used up a lot of my juice when I thought we were cleaning up the last of the little ones. Guess I’m a little out of practice.”

“Get over to me, ZP!” Majestrix called, forced into laying into a scorpion with her mecha’s bare hands as it came too close for cannon range. “Core temp is eight hundred, a quick vent should boost you.”

“Juice? Boost?” Chaos wondered aloud.

“Quirky powers, quirky limitations.” Majestrix replied matter-of-factly.

Meanwhile, Darkness concentrated on using her powers to contain the monsters’ movement and was caught entirely off guard when a chunk of sand stone bounced off her shoulder. Instantly, she was facing the direction it had come from, ready to spew black heat at her assailant.

Instead she saw Rose Abernathy, also known as Arkose, pulling herself out of her hiding place and waving her hands frantically. “You can’t beat them that way!” She was shouting as loudly as she could. “I stepped on them when I got here! That’s why they were so big before!”

Darkness dropped down to hover near the stone girl. “We’ll have to find some way to contain them. But for now, I’m getting you out of here.” She reached a hand out for the runaway.

“Wait!” Arkose was watching the green fog rising from the twice defeated scorpions. “I know who you are—I know how you can beat them!”

-- • --

Rose Abernathy’s appearance would, in the most generous terms, be called unique. In basic terms, she looked almost completely alien. She lacked any hair at all atop her head and her eyes were opalescent orbs with no iris or pupil.

Standing just at the five foot tall mark, her body was composed mostly of what appeared to be smooth, red sandstone, interrupted by small extrusions of grey stone, which were equally smooth. The grey stone was most prominent around her eyes, chin and knuckles. The appearance of smoothness was interrupted whenever the girl spoke or moved as minute cracks formed and sealed to accommodate the movement.

Darkness only slightly registered the strangeness, having worked with protomorphs far stranger in her time as a teacher at the Academy. She also didn’t bat an eye about the idea of taking suggestions from the person she was supposed to be saving; she was just as used to that.

“It can only help at this point.” She said to the stone girl. “What’s your idea?”

“You’re Darkness, right? One of the Descendants?” Darkness nodded, “Well, you can’t kill them, it just makes them bigger. But maybe you could have the other woman, the ice woman… Zero? Maybe you could have her freeze them like they do blood and stuff.”

It did make sense; cryogenic suspension would stop the scorpions without killing them and hopefully without triggering whatever caused them to transform. It was worth a try, if not for one small caveat…

“Zero isn’t with us.” Darkness frowned. “She didn’t come.”

“Then what are we going to do?” Arkose asked in a worried voice.

The Queen’s Gambit caught the probing tail of a scorpion in both hands and used it to flip the creature on its back before pouring bullets into its exposed underside. Rounds ricocheted off the creature’s nearly impervious armor and again off a feebly flickering shield of blue force Zero Point erected as he flew in low to his wife’s side.

“Sorry, ZP.” Majestrix said when she noticed the shield. “These things are almost impossible to crack and I only loaded five shells. I mean I was expecting to look for a little girl, maybe fight psionic agents, not fight super bugs.”

“You load up five artillery shells when packing lightly?” Chaos asked over the com.

“I only have two rules.” Majestrix noted, sending a salvo of rockets into an approaching scorpion. They stunned it, but didn’t bring it down. “Number one; always show people the sunshine side of your personality. And Number two;” She ripped off another volley of rockets that managed to tear a hole in one of the monster’s pincers. “Always be prepared.”

“About venting, hun?” Zero Point asked, landing behind the Queen’s Gambit.

“Oh, right, ZP. Chaos, if you could distract them for a few minutes? I have to take my hands off the gunnery console to vent.”

“No problem.” Chaos threw his power into the water on the ground, compressing it all into a dense pillar in front of the Queen’s Gambit. The first scorpion to approach was on the receiving end of a blast of pressurized water that made the common fire hose look like a garden sprinkler. The second was hit with a gust of tornado force wind that span it around and threw it back onto one of its own.

“Darkness, Ephemeral just told me that these creatures don’t exist on the Astral side at all.” Codex’s voice came over Darkness’s com. “And it gets worse; I just found the symbols on their heads in the Book of Reason. You guys can’t kill those things.”

“We already know that, L.” Darkness returned, watching Chaos giving his all to slow the monsters. The winds he was kicking up buffeted the green fog around like a sirocco on desert sand. No new creatures emerged from it.

“No, I don’t mean you can’t physically kill them, I mean it’s a really bad idea. Every time you kill two or more, their essences will combine to create a stronger whole.”

“Already know that too, L.” Darkness frowned. “Rose found it out first hand.”

“Then let me tell you what she probably doesn’t.” Codex continued calmly. “The symbols are called the marks of Reteritas. It’s a magical punishment for powerful Faerie creatures; breaking their power up into multiple, weaker pieces that can’t recombine unless they’re killed.”

“What kept them from just killing their pieces?” Darkness asked.

“In Faerie, no native creature can die by the hand of another. It’s not just a rule; it’s more like a law of physics. But the point is that if you keep killing the pieces, those pieces will recombine into something incredibly powerful and dangerous.”

Darkness watched the green fog swirling in the winds created by Chaos as well as Facsimile’s beating wings. No new creatures had emerged from the billowing cloud since Chaos had started disturbing it.

“L, how do they recombine?”

“Let’s see…” Codex recalled the pages regarding that from memory. “The fog they give off at death congeals into the new creature.”

“Does it work in reverse?”

Codex chewed her lip in thought. “I see what you’re getting at. I think it just might…”

“Beginning vent procedure.” Majestrix said over her com. Zero Point stood at the back of the Queen’s Gambit, just under the heat vents. Nearby, Alloy and Facsimile had joined in the effort to keep the monsters back from the vulnerable heroes.

The shoulder blades of the Queen’s Gambit hissed and opened up from behind, revealing the hot, glowing radial fins they concealed. “Venting now, ZP.” Majestrix chirped. Twin blasts of superheated steam rolled out of the exposed vents and onto Zero Point, who raised his head and closed his eyes.

The blast of steam struck Zero Point and became frost on his chest and head. A small drift of snow began to pile up at his feet. The once feeble aura of blue that surrounded him in flight brightened and intensified. Less than thirty seconds later, the vents on the Queen’s Gambit closed and Zero Point rose over the mecha in a blue corona.

“That was… novel.” Chaos commented.

“Teamwork.” Facsimile observed. “He gains power and she bleeds off heat.”

“I can draw on the ambient free energy.” Zero Point explained over the com, “Hence ‘Zero Point’ as in zero point energy, but it’s a lot slower than taking a steam bath.”

“And I’ve got just the way to put it to use.” Darkness rejoined the conversation. “Stay here.” She told Arkose simply before rising into the air.

“Just tell me what the plan is.” Zero Point sounded significantly more animated.

“These creatures recombine from this green fog.” Darkness explained. “If we only let that fog settle in small amounts, we’ll get a lot of small, mostly harmless scorpions. Otherwise, they’ll just get bigger and more dangerous.”

“Controlling a big ball of gas?” Chaos said, taking to the air, “sounds like I’m your man.”

“You keep the fog cloud stirred up and I’ll section pieces off?” Zero Point suggested.

“And Alloy and I are on bug catching duty.” Facsimile indicated the carpet of shell casings cast off from the Queen’s Gambit’s guns.

“I know what we’ll be doing then.” Majestrix said, indicating the still active scorpions with her mecha’s actuators. “We make more smoke. And seeing as I’m out of tank shells…” A heavy blade extended from the mecha’s right wrist while The actuators on the left arm folded back to allow a pneumatic hammer to fold out into place. “We’ll have to do this manually.”

“Now that we have a plan,” Chaos called up a hurricane force above the rock bowl. “Let’s see how prelates do at pest control.”

It was over swiftly, with Majestrix and Darkness focusing firepower to create openings in the scorpions’ shells large enough for Majestrix to target with rocket propelled grenades, Chaos and Zero Point working in tandem to force the green fog back into the form of two inch long scorpions, and Alloy and Facsimile working to catch said creatures and seal them in an urn formed from spent shell casings.

The sun was perched on the lip of the rock formation by the time Facsimile flicked the last tiny scorpion in sight into the impromptu urn. Alloy quickly slapped the lid closed and fused it closed. “That’s all of them.” He declared, shaking the makeshift prison lightly. They they’ll build a special scorpion pit at Braddock Island?”

Facsimile pouted as she looked around the site of the battle. All that was left to indicate anything had happened were some bullet holes in the rock and craters from the shells. “It sucks that they dissolve. I could have made a kick ass helmet out of one of those stingers.”

“If you want a helmet, I can make you a helmet.” Alloy shrugged.

“A helmet made out of that critchon stuff?”

“Chitin? No… but you could couldn’t you?”

Facsimile shrugged. “Never tried. Never tried ivory either… hmm, people pay lots of money for clone ivory and scientists keep making all those giant monster bugs trying to harvest that chitin stuff. It must be worth a ton.” She gave him her ‘I have a plan smile. “Remind me to talk to Codex once this is done.”

Darkness scaled a short slope to reach the place Arkose had retreated to during the final push against the Faerie insects. She had left Chaos to talk shop with Zero Point and Majestrix while they were waiting for Codex and Hope to arrive in the carrier to bring Arkose back home.

“You okay, Rose?” She asked as she reached the stone girl. “Ready to go home?”

“I told you, call me Arkose.” Arkose said flatly, tossing a pebble down the slope. “And no, I really don’t want to go home.”

“Okay…” Darkness said, coming to sit down alongside her. “Arkose. Are there problems at home that we shouldn’t be sending you back to? Because if there is, we can call Child Protective—“

“No.” Arkose stopped her. One thing she credited her upbringing with; she hardly ever lied, even when it furthered her goals. “No. My parents, they’re good to me. They don’t… mind. But they just don’t get it.”

“Don’t get it how?” Darkness tried to sound soothing.

“They think they can fix it for me. They… they’ve bought me wigs, contacts, tried liquid latex to cover up the rock… And I wish it worked, I really do—I don’t want to be like this.” She shook her head, “But I know it doesn’t work. They should stop trying, they can’t afford it, but they keep trying.”

“It’s because they love you.” Darkness said softly.

“I know that.” Arkose lowered her head between her arms. “They shouldn’t.”

“You can’t mean that. Your parents love you and that’s a very special thing, especially for a young protomorph. I mean in—“

“In some countries, they kill protomorphs. Or they experiment on them to try and cure them, end up killing them.” Arkose stole the words from Darkness’s mouth. “I know that. But, my parents, they’re going to lose the house because they love me. It’s not just trying to make me look better either.” The tone of Arkose’s voice suggested crying, but no tears came, presumably because no tears could come.

“I weight a lot more than anyone else my age—probably any age because I’m solid rock. They’ve spent so much getting, you know, reinforced furniture, things that are scratch resistant because I scratch things up just passing by.” She grasped her shirt and held it out so it caught the light and called attention to its synthetic, almost plastic nature. “My clothes… these clothes cost like three hundred dollars. They’re made special because I tear everything else up.” She glared darkly down the slope. “Everything I do or need is like that.”

Gingerly, Darkness put her hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Arkose, listen. It’s very grown up of you to be concerned about your parent’s finances, but running away isn’t the answer to that. We… we can help with that.”

“And what about those people?”

“What people?”

“The army told my parents about these people… I can’t remember what they called them, but they said they were after me, that I was on some kind of list.” Arkose shook her head, “You don’t have the army watching you if the people after you aren’t dangerous.” She looked up at Darkness’s masked face. “Tell me the truth; if those people; if they come for me, they’d hurt my parents to get me, wouldn’t they?”

A lump formed in Darkness’s throat and she had to force it down to speak. “I’ll tell you the truth, Arkose.” She whispered. “They would. They’re very dangerous people, and… well, they want you and a lot of other kids.”

“Then tell me why I shouldn’t run away.” Arkose demanded harshly. “I should run away and never come back. Maybe even let them take me.” She rapped on her chest with her stony knuckles, making a loud, hollow noise. “It’s not like they can hurt me.”

Darkness shook her head. “No, they’d find a way. Arkose, you don’t know these people.” She felt the girl’s glare and averted her eyes out of shame and pity. “But there’s another way. Another school. A safe school. I just have to convince your parents to trust us with you.”

The carrier arrived with the thrum of engines and buffeting wind. Codex was standing at the top of the embarkation ramp when it finally came to a stop.

Facsimile and Alloy took Arkose to the front of the plane to try and cheer her up while Darkness, Hope and Chaos stayed in back with Zero Point. Majestrix would be flying the Queen’s Gambit back to the Abernathy House.

“Something on your mind?” Codex asked in the semi-privacy of the rear of the carrier.

“I think I just found the perfect student to make our first pitch for enrollment at the Institute.” Darkness said, leaning against a wall, head pressed against an arm.

“That’s good news.” Laurel noted, “But you don’t seem to think so.”

“It is good, but I just keep coming back to one thing, L; in a perfect world, she wouldn’t need us.”

“My grandfather once told me;” Codex said, putting a hand across her friend’s shoulders, “There is not perfect world; but we can build it every day, step by step.”

-- • --

“I can’t begin to tell you how much your help has meant to us.” Susan Abernathy said for probably the thirtieth time since the victorious prelates had returned their daughter to them. Rose had been sent upstairs to be kept occupied by the younger Descendants while her parents discussed her future downstairs in the living room. Codex had to stay with the carrier to arrange for the disposal of the scorpion jar with the ROCIC. Outside, they could hear the low murmur of a media caravan just waiting for the prelates and jubilant parents to emerge.

“We were more than happy to help, Mrs. Abernathy.” Majestrix said. Her full bodied hair had wilted in the oppressive humidity of the Queen’s Gambit’s cockpit and hung over her goggles and into her face as she contemplated the glass of lemonade she’d been served. “And thank you for inviting us into your lovely home.”

Darkness glanced around the home. It was so far from ‘lovely’ that the light from ‘lovely’ would only reach it a millennium after its sun had burned out. It looked more like an uncharacteristically homey pillbox. The walls were cinderblock, the floor bare concrete, and the furniture all low and robust; no doubt reinforced so Rose wouldn’t damage it.

“So you say you can help us with Rose?” Michael Abernathy asked, tipping back his own glass. Like his wife and half the city, he’d spent most of the day climbing rocks and combing desert in search of his only child. “N-not that we’re having trouble with her, it’ just that…”

“We know she’s unhappy here.” Susan finished for him. “We’ve tried everything to help. We reinforced everything in the house so she wouldn’t be embarrassed by breaking things.”

“Then we thought maybe it was a teenaged girl issue.” Michael added, “You know, worried about her looks and about boys. So we bought her all sorts of makeup and wigs. We even bought liquid latex to make a kind of skin for her. But it only seemed to make her more frustrated.”

“She’d complain about he reinforced bed, for example.” Susan picked it up. “She’d say ‘it’s not like I sleep anyway, why do I need a bed?’, and she’d complain about the cost of all the things we tried to help her change her look. The only things she seems to enjoy are reading and kendo and climbing.” The young mother smiled at a memory, “She loved climbing even before her accident.”

“She didn’t tell me anything about her accident.” Darkness said content to let the Abernathys make themselves comfortable by talking before starting her pitch.

Susan’s eyes fell to the floor and Michael put his hand on her knee to comfort her. “It’s all right, honey, I’ll tell them.” He looked back to the assembled prelates and began. “It was how we learned about Rose’s powers. We were too busy to take notice of the earlier clues; how she had more and more trouble sleeping, how she was eating less and less. The people at the Academy said those were the early signs that she was becoming what they call a silicon-based lifeform.

“But we didn’t notice until May of last year. It was a weekend and Rose took some of her friends climbing near the Mittens—uh, those are rock formations—and… she lost her footing and fell. By the time we got to the hospital, the doctors said she died on the table, only to turn into… the way she is now.”

“That was before the whole mess with what happened at the Academy.” Susan said. “Rose was so eager to go there and it crushed her when everything came to light.”

“Actually, Mr. And Mrs. Abernathy,” Darkness said, seeing her opening, “I talked to Rose earlier and it seems that her largest concern is that you’re spending so much money on her that she’s become a financial burden.”

“Of course we spend money on her.” Michael said, sounding a bit offended, “We’re her parents and she’s our only child; it’s our job. Frankly, anyone who would consider that a financial burden would make a poor parent.”

“Those aren’t her words, Mr. Abernathy.” Chaos came to Darkness’s defense, “Rose said that. I think you’re fit to be the patron saints of parenting based on what the news reports said. Is it true that both of you’ve taken second jobs and a third mortgage to pay for household upgrades?”

“That’s true.” Michael calmed visibly, “But it was worth every penny for our little girl.”

“I can’t fault you for that.” Zero Point piped up. “I’d make the same sacrifices in your place. But these people are offering to help and there’s no shame in accepting help in these matters. You have to put what’s best for Rose first.”

“Yes, the school.” Susan said, “General Pratt mentioned it when he contacted us about your involvement in the search. But how can we trust this Liedecker Institute when we couldn’t trust the Academy? The government recommended them as well.”

Darkness was ready for that question. It was the first and most obvious question for any parent of a child that had been at the Academy to ask. She could make a dozen excuses and assurances, possibly even appeal to her own authority as a nationally known prelate, but the truth was what the Abernathys and parents like them deserved.

“All I can give you is my word.” She said quietly. “I know that there are dozens of schools popping up all over the place, and some of them are probably just new faces for Project Tome and the Academy. But I’m telling you—promising you that we aren’t them. We aren’t even affiliated with the government if that’s a concern. While General Pratt is vouching for us, neither the Descendants, nor the Liedecker Institute are beholden to the government.”

“And I’ll vouch for her.” Majestrix cut in. “Both ZP and I will. We can tell good people from bad; we even forbade our own daughter from joining the Academy because we smelled a rat.”

The Abernathys glanced at each other, silently sharing the same apprehension and concerns.

“How about this then;” Chaos asked, leaning forward conspiratorially. “From what I remember, the Academy made a big deal about discouraging parental visits. On reflection, that was a giant warning flag, but it was easy to buy the ‘we don’t want our students to be distracted’ song and dance back then. How about we do the opposite; not only will we guarantee that you’ll always have unfettered access to Rose, but if you so choose, we’ll move you to Mayfield?”

Darkness gave him a sidelong glance. Despite being vocally in favor of the school concept, Chaos hadn’t contributed much to it, citing not having any knowledge that could help. At most he had made coffee and kept the kids occupied. But she had to admit he’d hit upon an elegant solution there.

Susan Abernathy cocked her head to the side, considering the offer carefully. But it was Michael Abernathy that finally spoke. “I think that sort of arrangement is acceptable – as long as we get to check the school out first.”

“Of course.” Darkness agreed, “The school will be ready to open in August, so we can schedule a visit for you any time after that. And don’t worry; we’ll take care of any special accommodation your daughter will need.”

“We look forward to it.” Mrs. Abernathy said and finally allowed herself to smile.

Vorpal picked up a picture on the desk in Liedecker’s home office and examined it causally. It showed a much younger Vincent Liedecker at a carnival, leaning down to be fed cotton candy by an attractive brunette with vaguely Asian features.

“Does it meet your inspection?” Liedecker asked without humor as he entered the room.

Vorpal replaced the picture, remaining casual under Liedecker’s steely gaze. It wasn’t her place to delve into her employer’s personal life, even if she was curious. “This place looks nothing like your office. I found that curious.”

“Not as curious as I found your asking to meet me here.” The crime boss went to take a seat in his chair. “I keep my real work and my public work separate for a reason, Vorpal. I don’t want to explain to the media why a masked woman was visiting my home.”

“I didn’t want to be overheard by anyone else in the organization.” Vorpal explained, taking a seat herself. “I wanted to ask you about the Institute.”

Liedecker cracked a grin. “Let me guess; you’re worried that I’m gonna do those kids like the Academy did; kidnap ‘em; maybe have my scientists get to work on ‘em like I’ve got them on magitech and the Solomon Center.” He took a bit of pleasure upon seeing the femme fatale’s hackles rising, but knew better than to actually imply he was doing anything of the sort. Pushing her too far had separated men from their heads.

He schooled his expression and shook his head. “No, I ain’t some kind of monster. God’s sake, they’re children, Vorpal.” He steepled his fingers. “But they are powerful children that are going to grow up into powerful adults. Adults who could some day work for me.”

“How is that any different from harvesting them?” Vorpal demanded, though her tone betrayed her understanding of the situation.

“Because they’ll have a choice.” Liedecker shrugged. “All I plan to do is give the right ones a little influence in the right direction; no worse than any other educator in the world would give. And most importantly for what you’re asking, Vorpal; I want smart, resourceful employees like you, not like Samael or Sky Tyrant. So it’s in my best interests to give them kids the best goddamn education money can buy.”

He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Does that put your head at ease?”

Vorpal nodded slowly. “It does. And it leads me to the piece of business I came to discuss.”

“Oh?”

She nodded again. “It so happens that there’s a young descendant I know who is in need of an education…”

Liedecker made an enigmatic gesture. “That may be out of my hands. See, Ms. Brant and Ms. Keyes have insisted that they be in charge of admissions… However, I think I can convince them… if I want to.”

“What is it you want?” Vorpal grit her teeth.

“It’s not much of a thing, really, Ms. Vorpal; but I’m in need of someone competent to keep an eye on things at the school. Problem is, everyone’s going to suspect a woman in a mask…”

Vorpal sat bolt upright, unconsciously touching her mask as if to make sure it remained in place. She hated her face, who she was beneath the mask. But she had made a promise and it wasn’t as if she wore the mask in her day to day, non-professional life. She was just uncomfortable with people who knew her seeing what she was beneath the mask…

It was a hard decision, but it was one she had to make for the sake of another.

Alone in his penthouse, Simon Talbot glared at the hologram in front of him. It displayed the homepage of the Sedona Herald, dated that morning. The headline was ‘Local Girl Rescued By Prelate Coalition.’

Someone had sent it to him from a spoofed email address. Somehow, they had managed to block news of Rose Abernathy’s disappearance and the resultant search from Tome’s information gathering on the remaining priority targets.

Talbot snarled wordlessly. Someone knew about the Priority List. That meant that Tome’s organization had sprung its first leak in almost sixty years. And it had happened right under his nose.

It was the latest in a series of near crippling setbacks he’d been forced to endure; the destruction of the Quinn Bluff facility, the loss of the Academy and most of the Enforcer Corps, Brother Wright’s betrayal and the subsequent hemorrhaging of scientific talent, the catastrophic failure of the Virginia Beach operation that led to Impact and Dervish being incarcerated, and now completely missing a prime chance to capture Rose Abernathy and her unique physiology.

Times were changing. There were more prelates appearing almost daily and the Descendants and that damnedable General Pratt at the ROCIC were spreading the knowledge of Tome’s existence far and wide.

Psionic agents had failed. The inugami had failed. Scientific method had failed. He sneered. It was time to try something dramatic and untested.

Fingers flying across the holographic display, Talbot banished the news site and instead called up the console for his high priority files. The machine scanned his face and fingerprints and then provided him with floating objects to choose from. He chose one that resembled a hooded falcon.

The screen rotated and changed to reveal a screen headed by the words ‘Enhanced Agent Program’ beneath it was a listing for the heads of the project; Brandy Dillinger and Roland Powell. Beneath them was a column of project listings and links to progress reports.

Talbot smiled as he found two that were ready for human trials.

End Issue #29