Sonya closed her eyes a her heart go out to the men and women who were w there and to the memories made in that pce, good and bad. It was the birthpce of ASTA and it was gone now.
“First the Ameri Gover steps onto my nd without permission,” Liberty said without preamble, her lip twitg, “Then some heroes e poking around uninvited,” She narrowed her eyes, “And now, on iional television, you call the members of my movement cultists and formally order heroes to trespass into my territory,” She announced with a snarl, “Disgusting, petty, stupid, and blind,” She said coldly, “It seems I was right to prepare for today.”
The Chairman steadied himself on the podium, “Are you Liberty?” He demanded.
“The people of the world cry out for Liberty, and I am here,” The woman said, looking down at him without blinking.
“You’re taking responsibility for these bombings?” He demanded.
“I and the people who pced them,” She firmed, “Someone had to build your shrio self-importance, you people never sider the masses, do you? Just cattle as far as you’re ed,” She squared her shoulders, “This is a reprisal, you and the nations of this world have nht to put restraints on the light-given powers blessed upon its people, nor do you have any right to curtail our movement.”
Sonya looked into the woman’s eyes, She doesn’t really believe a word she’s saying. Bitch, Sonya thought as she called Marta with her internal phone. <“Marta, what’s it look like out there?”> She asked, keeping her mouth shut.
“Not good, fires everywhere, security is in shambles. We’re moving as fast as we to get things under trol. There’s a lot of us heroes here but we’ve got holes now,” Marta said hastily, “I’ll keep you posted.”
The Chairman stood a bit straighter, “Liberty, this ittee must demand that you pull bad cease any further attacks. You are risking a war with your fa, do you uand the sequences of that?” He insisted.
The woman’s expression hardened a little, “Do I seem like I care?”
“You are a mythic, are you not? There are ws about-” He began.
“I don’t bend to your ws,” Liberty replied.
“If a war breaks out we will be forced to deploy Mythic heroes against you, Mythics fighting Mythi the open could trigger anas, or worse!” He barked, “You put not only yourself in danger, but your people, and all the is in the region!”
Sonya g the back of the Chairman’s head. He was saying the right things, of course, fighting Liberty that openly in a territory that was hard to manage because of her presence was just asking for a dungeon break, or several. Of course, She narrowed her eyes at the woman staring down at them, That’s exactly the point, isn’t it, Liberty? She thought and grit her teeth as her grin widehis wouldn’t be enjoyable if it wasn’t hard. e on, say it.
“That’s not my problem,” Liberty said callously, “You should sider that before entering my territory, because there will be further reprisals if you do not,” She leaned forward, “Mark my words, Chairman. I am not the only Mythi the movement.”
“You’re ihe Chairman growled.
“I am justified, I am Liberty!” She barked back, “And I have more than impudent politis and self-important heroes as my reasons,” She turned her head and looked straight at Sonya. Sonya returned her stare with a straight face. “I believe you have taken something that belongs to me, Sonya ovna. Return my property, if you don't mind?”
Sonya ched her fists, letting the rage boil beh her skin as she kept her tone even, “That young woman is a human being, an adult, and has every right to choose what she does with her life,” Sonya said as she looked Liberty in the eyes, “She made the decision to undergo hero training, I merely provided transportation after she escaped. I will see to it that she remains protected and out of your reach. You will not abuse her again.”
Liberty snorted, “Surprising, but I believe you, If she left on her own, she’ll choose to e ba her own. She knows her pce is at my side, seeing the sequences of her as will remind her,.” Liberty said, “What she had here was a beautiful thing, heir to my legacy when my time is up. I’ll keep it between sisters, then,” She said dismissively, “Besides, you have your own problems now I suspect.”
She turned her eyes to the rest of the ittee, “This is your final warning, stay off my nd or there will be further sequences, Liberty will prevail,” She growled and the feed cut.
Shouts rang out at the s and more than a few Representatives demanded an immediate retaliatory strike against Liberty. The Chairman looked around frantically, trying to figure out a way to calm everyone down. Sonya exhaled and pulled her hair back over her ear before walking doweps and back to the podium. She gently pushed the Chairman aside and cleared her throat befrabbing the microphone, “Enough!” She barked as the building tio shake.
Many of them fell silent and looked at her as she swept her gaze over the audience. “You are leaders not children, act like it. She wants a reprisal,” She said, “There are twelve active dungeons in that area, one of them is rare,” Sonya warned. “If even one of those dungeons goes up it could trigger a rea that could end in millions dead,” She straightened her back, “Yes, a response is necessary! She has killed thousands of people today without a doubt, and will tio act with impunity until she is punished, however-”
The building shook again and the lights flickered, “However! We are an anization that exists to protect mankind, not damn it! We will not be cowed into a mistake by a madwoman! I propose a full embargo on her cult and an iional ban of all members of that anization, a proposal to the UN to freeze all of her assets, and to open discussions about further a until she is arrested!”
She gnced up at the door as Marta tried to call her. Not now, not yet.
The Chairman quickly hurried to her side, “I sed the Proposal! Do we have three more votes t it to a full vote?”
The lights flickered again as Harman, who had fallen from his seat, got to his feet, “The Uates approves!”
“Japan approves of the measure!” The mao Harman shouted.
“Australia approves of the measure!”
“The United Kingdom approves of the measure!”
“Saudi Arabia approves of the measure!”
“Brazil approves of the measure!”
More and more enraged voices rang out in approval of a full embargo to cripple Liberty’s cult and isote it pletely as the building shook around them. Sonya restrained a smile and ined her head to the men and women gathered as she accepted the call from Marta on her personal phone. “What-”
“Darksiders!” Marta barked, “Those idiots are taking advantage of the chaos! They’re in the building!”
Sonya didn’t hesitate, she turo the Chairman, “Vilins are in the building, security is holding them back but we o get the representatives out, now. The building ’t take much more anyway, we’ve done what we .”
He nodded, “This meeting is adjourhe matter is settled, there will be sequences for today,” He anded, “All Representatives, please proceed calmly to the secure exits to the left and right of the stage!”
The representatives hurried doweps as Sonya shot a gnce up at the doors, they trembled ohen twice, she gnced over to Adam and Brent, “Do one of you have a knife?” She shouted as they made their way to the exit.
Brent looked up at her in fusion as she loosened her tie and gred at the door, “What? There were metal detectors at the-”
Adam reached into his coat and pulled a knife from a strapped pouch before tossing it to her, she caught it and spun it between her fingers, “It’s carbon fiber, monster bone edge!” He said, “I don’t have a gun, otherwise I’d stay myself!”
“It’ll do,” She said and g the Chairman, “You o go, sir.”
“What about you?” He asked, “What-”
“I am the hand to hand instructor for the camp, remember?” She said with a smile and hopped off the podium to face the doors from the base of the stairs, “I handle myself, go,” She said and brandished the knife, pulling bato a stance as the doors shook again. She sehe man hurry dowairs and towards the exit. Another pair of footsteps hurried up to her side, though, and she gnced over, “Really?” She asked, surprised.
Brent gred at her, “Like I’m going to let a tiny woman watch my back,” He grunted, looking away, “You really know how to fight?”
She smiled, Liar, she thought, “Of course I do, girl’s gotta stay in shape somehow,” She joked and popped her neck, unbuttoning her jacket.
“Funny way of staying in shape,” He growled and ched his fist before throwing it out with a andiure, “Stand guard at my gates!” He barked and a light not unlike Marta’s bloomed into life at his right. A seven foot tall woman stepped out o him, gleaming armor and wielding a spear in her hand. She wore a helmet over the upper half of her head. The valkyrie stepped out in front of the two of them and brandished her spear as the doors crashed open with a resounding bang.
The first thing Sonya heard was ughter and then the sounds of guns firing into the ceiling. Over a dozen men in masks came rag into the chambers as the Valkyrie charged them. The ughter turo shouts of fusion as the titania her spear across the group of men who had stumbled into a room they thought was filled with unarmed civilians. A few of the masked men lu the Valkyrie from the sides, ons in their hands as they tried to tackle her to the ground. She tossed one off while pig up another and smming him to the ground with terrible force.
Sonya’s eyes shifted left and right, more were ing in. I don’t think they suspected that their pn would actually work. Probably wouldn’t have without Liberty stirring up her own chaos. She’d never work with them, Sonya shook her head, A god damned ce, what a fine mess.
<”Marta where are you? The doors are open.”> She called.
<”At the -rggh! Doors, they’ve got a tough oh them, I’ll deal with him quickly,”> Marta barked bad there was a brief fsh of light from the atrium and a loud crash. <”He just keeps getting up!”>
“There’s ovna!” One of the vilins shouted.
“Haha! She stayed! Nice! Grab her!” Another shouted.
“Masque wants the pearly bit one piece, don’t hurt her too bad!” A third barked.
Brent gnced her way, “Looks like you’re popur.”
Sonya smirked, “So it would seem,” She said and twirled her knife as the Valkyrie hurled one man all the way across the room, leaving him dead in a crater in the wall. I wonder how patible it is with Baldur’s Body, she thought with amusement as another idea occurred to her. She tched onto something one of the vilins said, Masque wants me? Oh? She grinned impishly, Oh no, a personal meeting with the head of the Darksiders? How scary!
<”Marta, keep things busy, it looks like they want me alive to meet with their boss. Isn’t that terrible?’> She chuckled through the call.
There was a long pause, <”Oh absolutely awful, ma’am, it would certainly be a serious matter if you were kidnapped,”> Marta said sarcastically.
<”Put on a good show for me dear, will you?”> Sonya quipped as the first of the vilins who mao get past the Valkyrie charged at her. She kneed him i and brought her elbow down on his head. He hit the ground hard.
<”As you wish.”> Marta said and another noisy bang rang out.
Sonya g Brent arained a snicker, it was best for him not to get swept up in all this. He was a bit of a prick but he’d dohe right thing and stayed behind anyway. Maybe there was some hope for him after all. “You should go, your panion is fgging already.”
Brent looked at his Valkyrie that had half a dozen men hanging from its arms and legs now, trying desperately to pull it to the ground. The building shook again and he looked at her, tense for a moment before finally speaking his mind, “Wh-what about you?”
“My bodyguards the mythic that fought A Vegas,” Sonya said with a shrug, “She’ll be here shortly.”
To punctuate her statement, a ma flying through the doors and collided with the s that Liberty had been on. Brent looked up at the crushed s and then down at Sonya before noddiantly, “Fine, just, don’t die or anything, alright?” He griped, “I’m leaving Hilda with you!” He shouted and ran for the secure exit, throwing it open and rag through. It shut behind him and Sonya popped her neck again.
“Well now, I guess I ’t make it easy for you all, right?” She said pyfully as she tossed the knife up and down in her hand, more vilins started to crowd around her. She bore her teeth in a wicked smile a a little tiny bit of bloodlust out, “Who’s first, dearies?”