Sonya closed the door behind her and pressed her back against it. Her heart pounded in her chest. Her hands shook, her firembled, she chewed her lip and reached up to grasp at her chest. She closed her eyes and slid down a little in the empty hallway. Not a soul around, no eyes on her, privacy, for just a moment. She let herself feel. Why couldn’t you have goo the Asian camp? Why did you have to e here? She thought, Why ’t you leave me alone? Haven’t you already done enough? She slid down further until she was sitting on the ground, holding her head in her hands.
“Just go away. I ’t stop looking at you if you’re here,” She breathed.
Footsteps came around the er and she instinctively opened her eye on the wall. Marta. She thought with relief. Her friend came around the er and walked up, stopping at her side. The woma her hands at her p and looked down at her. Marta was wearing a dark gown that could be interpreted as a maid outfit. The veil was over her face again and her hands were spiked gaus. Sonya tilted her head and looked up at her between her fingers and hair, her meical eyes glowing brighter than ever. “Are they all asleep?” She asked.
“He is wandering, but nowhere nearby,” Marta said with a slight bow, “Is it time?”
“It’s been a few months, yes, I think so,” Sonya said with a frown and slowly got to her feet, her arms hanging at her sides. She looked up at the ceiling at one of her owhe digitized flickering gaze of her ‘madan’ as she called them. Her ‘judges’. She stared back at herself through both sides before slowly tilting her head to the right and looking zily at her friend. “Where is she?” Ishtar asked, her voice cold and chipped with malice, “I won’t have her missing her first time.”
Marta ined her head, “On her way, my dy.”
As if on cue, more footsteps echoed down the hall. The air grew tenser as more terrible powers drew towards the epiter that was the Queen of Vilins. First around the er was the pretty faephisto in his bck business suit, bck shirt, aie. He wore lipstid had powdered his face with a bit of a blush. His gaze was wicked as he whispered something and even their footsteps became silent as the dead. around the er was a young blonde woman who had styled her hair off to the side. She wore bck lipstid a tanktop exposing her waist. Long cargo pants ended in boots at her feet.
Cassiopeia walked straight up to Ishtar and looked up at her with barely restraiement, desperation, and something else, rage, “Taurus is here, mistress,” She breathed.
Ishtar brushed the girls hair bad gave her an approving smile. “Gd to have you, Taurus,” She murmured and Taurus’ lips twitched nervously. She gnced up at Mephisto, “Do you have everything?”
He dropped into a dramatic bow, “I am alrepared, mistress.”
She nodded, “Stay close to me, Taurus, you are my heavenly bull, my hammer to the panion’s shield.”
panion, of all the names for Marta to pick for her vilin persona, she had chosehat utterly threw aside all form of identity. With her ability to ge her appeara will, it t, and it carried a weight to it. Taurus nodded, her eyeshes fluttering up at Ishtar before she stepped bad bowed before standio Marta. Ishtar couldn’t think of Marta as anything but Marta, but she would use the name she’d chosen. She turned her head to the wall across from them and held out her hand palm up. Gaus formed on her hands in shifting ptes of metal that spread up her arm and across her body. As they formed her ste space opened and her helmet fell into her outstretched hand.
In a matter of seds, Ishtar in her full regalia stood on the sed floor of the East Coast Aspirants training building. She gestured and a regle of light appeared in front of her that hollowed out, the light i bending as space distended and gave way to her will. Her meical braihrough calcutions that took hard work, training, and seds if not minutes for the other person that possessed this ability. The portal stabilized and the faint sound of music came through. Ishtar crossed her arms behind her bad strode through, “We’re going,” She said in her cruel meical rasp.
“Yes mistress,” The other three said and formed up behind her.
Ishtar felt the rush of traveling through the bas, the dominion of non-euclidian, in a split sed. There was tug as she traversed a great distan such a short time, her body bending through spatil she stepped out onto plush carpet. The first thing that greeted her was rexing music, a mixture of jazz, swing, and teo. A faint cloud hung in the air from the many cigars and cigarettes smoked by those in the building. She was standing in a rather rge lounge, several couches set up along the walls and a private bar to one side. A single billiards table sat in the middle with a single light hanging over it.
She turned her head towards the space behind her and saw someoting on a couch with his legs crossed. A pair of milky-white circles glowed through the gloom and smoke. The others stepped through with her, Taurus coughing a little bit and waving her hand in front of her face. Marta and Mephisto were unbothered. “Charon,” She said, a small smile in her voice as she stepped towards the eerie, gaunt shape hunched on the couch, “How are you?”
The young man who had obtained ‘Patient Zero’ was long gone. ged by his role, his as, and more. He leaned forward and his face came into view. Bck cross-like stitches stretched up his cheeks to his ears and his jaw was discolored. His hair was short and bck, spiked a bit with white streaks. He brandished an eerily perfect white smile as he leaned forward, revealing the expensive vest and tie set over a white shirt. His sleeves were rolled up to reveal a too-long pair of arms that were also off-color, strangely bck. “Ishtar!” He cackled, his slightly cracked new york at still very present, “I’m doing great!” He held up his hand, “What do you think? Is it me?”
“Who’s was it?” She asked.
“Dunno, don’t really care, he skipped out on payments too many times,” Charon said and got to his feet, “I liked his power though,” He said and his fiwitched, a bd white fme appeared in his palm before it disappeared. “Nice, right? All thanks to you.”
Ishtar ined her head, “Gd to be of service to the vilins.”
“Callin’ a meeting?” He asked, a e appearing in his hand as he leaned on it, he ran those long gaunt fingers over the skull on it. “Been a while.”
“It has,” Ishtar said, “Yes.”
Charon nodded and closed his eyes for a moment, letting out a rattly breath, “Ahh… I let the cooks and staff know, they’ll make somethin’ tasty.”
“Always gd to work with you, Charon,” Ishtar hissed.
iled a toothy smile and turned his head towards the athered, “Mephisto, fu’ hot as ever. How ya doin’ babe? Give it any thought?” He asked.
Mephisto flipped his hair back, “I like where I work, thanks,” He said with a chuckle, “And I’m called for, I’ve said it already,” He added with a bit of warning in his tone.
“Yeah yeah,” Charon snickered before looking up at Marta, “The panion and… oh?” He tilted his head and took a step forward, “Who’s this geous thing?”
“Taurus,” Ishtar said without moving her head, “My heavenly bull. I’ve ehat she is fully capable of a city level event, minimum. She will be my hammer iure.”
“Where Bckrazor is your scalpel?” Charon asked with a gn her dire and a delicate step away from Taurus, “You always get the pretty ones don’t ya?” He barked out a ugh, “Figures!” He stalked past them, leaning on his e as he made his way towards the door leading out of the room. “Alright! Might as well call everyone else, it's time for a family reunion”
They followed him out the door and down the hall to a pair of enormous metal doors shaped to look like eborate wooden ones. He stepped towards it and rapped his e against the ground and the doors slid apart, revealing an enormous meeting room entirely made of post-pandora metals and filled with equipment. Ss hung in the air around the long table where several chairs were evenly spaced and waiting. One end held a high backed chair with a white cloth on it, the other held a simir chair with a bck cloth.
“It’s huge,” Taurus breathed o Ishtar.
“Mm, it is,” Ishtar said and strode inside, heading over to the chair with the white cloth as she mentally sent out the invitations. One respoer another came in and she flexed with her power, panels of light f around the room that distended and opened into portals. First to step out was Bckrazor a tight fitting jumpsuit, respirator mask, and hood. He bowed to Ishtar before moving to his seat. The portal unveiled the mountainous Kingshark, blue-grey skin gleamed and his many eyes flicked about the room. He bore his teeth in Charon’s dire as the nky ferryman sat in the bck adorhrone.
After him, anure stepped out. A young woman with a wide grin on her face. She wore a loose fitting shirt with sleeves that cealed her hands and a pair of breezy pants bound with a thick sash. She turo Bckrazor and raised a hand, revealing a long wicked knife. She g it, gasped, aracted into her sleeve before twiddling her fingers at him iing. He just ined her head to her and she puffed up her cheeks. Ishtar ined her head towards the young woman, “Kerauna, gd you could join us.”
The living master bolt of Zeus onown as Veloce turned a wide smile to Ishtar, “Anything for you, Mistress,” She said brightly before wandering over to her seat.
Another portal revealed a man in a polo with a baseball cap on his head. Yet everyouro look at the ordinary looking guy with messy hair. Amos cracked a grin and strode ih his hands in his pockets before hopping into his ow and leaning back. “Teocrat is here!”
The others began to sit down and Ishtar joihem. Marta, The panion, stepped up to stand behind her with her arms resting in front of her as usual. Ishtar sensed her gowards Kingshark for but a moment before returnitention to the hall. Taurus took a bit more dramatic approad hopped right into Ishtar’s p, throwing an arm around her ned resting her head under Ishtar’s metal ‘’. She kicked her feet as she looked out over the group. Ishtar didn’t turn her away.
The Queen of Vilins looked out over the table at the faces of those who had gathered to support her, who knew her true pns, two seats remaiy. Two more t into the fold and her little family would be plete. She doubted she would ever get Taurus to properly sit down in a chair.
“We have a new inductee,” Ishtar began, “This is Taurus, the Heavenly Bull.”
Amos leaned forward aed his elbows oable, his on his fingers, “Raw destru then, good addition. Wele to the family.”
“I could take that role,” Kerauna said petuntly, leaning bad crossing her legs, “Though I’d rather be in someone elses p.”
“Keep it in your pants nightlight,” Kingshark grunted.
“Ooh, someone woke up on the wrong side of the fish tank,” Kerauna teased, “Bite me.”
Kingshark turned his head and bore his teeth which grew in size, “Don’t tempt me.”
“Kera,” Bckrazor muttered, his voice quiet but somehow carrying, “Be o your family.”
Kera tensed and slipped ba her seat a little, bowing her head, “Sorry Sharkie.”
Kingshark grunted and shot a smile at Bckrazor, “It’s fine, we’re all a little heated. The Children of the Dawn are a pain in the ass and the Darksiders are just…” He rolled his eyes, “...a chore.”
Ishtar nodded slowly. The Darksiders were a fa of vilins that had formed separate from her own. They had a very campy and almost ingly ge-indug way of handling their work. Still, Ishtar tolerated them because they used the system that she had created through Charon, though they paid her absolutely no loyalty and would often try to press in oerritory of her group. The Children of the Dawn oher hand…
“My sister’s a piece of shit,” Taurus muttered, kig her feet, “That bitch has it ing to her, right mistress?” She asked, not moving from her tight g.
“Sister?” Kingshark grunted, “You’re reted to that nutjob, Liberty?”
“Unfortunately,” Taurus muttered, “Don’t worry about me, if none of you all get the ce I’ll happily turn her into a pretty little smear on the ground,” She said bitterly, “After I pull her arms out of her sockets and feed her fio her.”
“Calm down,” Ishtar said soothingly, reag up to stroke the girl’s hair, “You’ll get your reveaurus squeaked and chuckled, ging closer as Ishtar turo the others, “The heroes training is well under way and I will have a full dossier ready before I leave for the European vention. ents at the other camps will do the same. Remember that the point of this is to strike a bance,” She said, “Not to escate. Keep the heroes busy with the dungeons and with us and we will rake in the profits.”
“Ahe world turning,” Mephisto said with a frown, “Anas would be bad for all of us, not just our pockets.”
“Precisely,” Ishtar said and raised her head, “Our little cabal exists for one purpose. To elimiential threats that the heroes either ot or will not handle and curtail the other vilins,” She turo Charon, “How is our little ey doing?” She asked.
The undead middle-man of the underworld flicked his wrist and a blue appeared in his hand. He twirled it between his fingers and it hissed once before turning into a wad of ameri banknotes. “version has gone down, people like the new currenow that it has value. They’re paying for everything from favors from you, to gear from Teocrat, to hen from Kingshark. Whatever they get to achieve their hearts desires.”
“And the loaning operation?” Ishtar asked.
“You have a lot of debtors,” Charon ughed, “It’s fu crazy.”
Ishtar nodded slowly, “Very good work,” She said and turned her gaze over those gathered, “Now, let's talk about the Children of Dawn. It’s time to work out a strategy to deal with them and Liberty.”
