Chapter 33

Chapter 33

The tour had been largely uneventful and frankly boring as far as Sonya was concerned, she’d observed the gymnasium and found that they were reinforcing it as best they could for whatever might come up when they tested the first round of potential heroes. She’d endured as long as she could before having Marta make up an excuse to get them back to the lab. Sonya had bemoaned not going back to the apartment but Marta had reminded her, again, that what they were planning to do was probably best done behind secure walls.

Specifically, in the room that had been set up for the task.

The room was on the smaller side, only large enough to walk around comfortably and spar a little. What was more impressive were the walls made entirely out of layers of steel, concrete, and lead. There were no cameras permitted in this room and the only way in or out was through a hidden door that could only be accessed by Sonya’s inner circle. It was the place where Sonya could merge her powers with peace of mind while still being within reach of Marta or Amos in case she overdid it like last time.

Right now, though, she wasn’t here to merge her powers. Not yet. Instead, she stood across from Marta who was looking more than a little excited. Sonya smiled at her, “I want to apologize, first, I should have done this with you sooner,” She said, “I’ve actually been thinking a lot about what I wanted to give you.”

Marta pulled her brown hair back and cracked a rare smile herself, “You’ve been busy, Sonya. I have just been regretting not being stronger when it mattered.”

“You’re already crazy strong,” Sonya laughed, “But what I have in mind borders on the unfair.”

Marta raised her eyebrows, “Huh?”

Sonya just extended her hand, “Let’s make a deal, Marta.”

Marta looked at her hand in trepidation but nodded, “Yes, lets,” she said and took Sonya’s hand.

“As before, I want to give you a new power as a reward for your dedication,” Rehashing the statement she’d used last time she’d done this for her. I just hope Broker allows it...

<Broker Deal: Deal Ready!>

<Party: Marta Daphne, will receive a reward from Party: Sonya Chernovna, with the gift of the ability Baldur’s Body as the selected product.>

<Warning: Granting a full, permanent ability from your warehouse will remove it from your warehouse.>

<Checking... services rendered are insufficient to act as payment, calculating additional costs...>

Sonya froze, Insufficient? What the hell? Is there anything I can do?

<Payment must come from recipient, calculating...>

Marta tilted her head, “Is everything okay?”

Sonya shook her head and smiled a bit sheepishly, “It would seem the power I want to give you is pretty valuable.”

Marta blinked, “If it’s so valuable why not keep it for yourself? Sonya!”

Sonya laughed, “Oh come on, what kind of boss would I be if I kept all the good stuff for myself, besides, having you around is as good as having the ability anyway, right?” She teased with a wink, “Now give it a moment.”

<Calculated, suggested payments are as follows;

One LimbOne SenseOne Notable Biological Function5 Years of Lifespan

Please suggest the options to the recipient.>

What the actual fuck? Are you kidding me? What about a financial transaction? Property? Anything other than that!

<Recipient’s personal property is not sufficient for payment. Also, Recipient is Broker’s subordinate and receives payment from Broker, financial sacrifice is insufficient.>

Well shit, you got me there.

She let out a sigh, “My ability gave me some options, but none of them are pretty,” She said hesitantly.

“Just spit it out,” Marta said, squaring her shoulders and squeezing Sonya’s hand tightly. She wasn’t going to back out, clearly.

Sonya sighed, “A limb, a sense, a ‘biological function’, or five years off your lifespan.”

Marta paused, her eyes going wide for a few heartbeats before they settled and she eased into a relaxed smile, “Alright.”

“Alright?” Sonya blurted, “What do you mean, alright? How is any of this-”Diiscover new stories at novelhall.com

<Broker Deal: Deal Ready!>

<Party: Marta Daphne, will receive a reward from Party: Sonya Chernovna, with the gift of the ability Baldur’s Body as the selected product. Party: Marta Daphne will sacrifice the ability to procreate as part of this transaction.>

<Warning: Granting a full, permanent ability from your warehouse will remove it from your warehouse.>

“My skin is like diamond now,” Sonya explained, “Feel a little better?”

“You’re still not invincible and you can’t regenerate like I can,” Marta cautioned.

“Better than nothing!” Sonya laughed in response, clenching her fists, “Lets see that assassin stab me now.”

“You still want to deal with him?” Marta asked.

“Actually, no,” Sonya said, “I’ve changed my mind, I want you to handle it.”

“Really?” Marta asked, elated.

Sonya shrugged, “It’s time I started acting like a proper supervillain.”

Marta crossed her arms, “As long as you don’t call me a henchman,” Sonya gasped, bringing her hand to her heart and giving Marta an aghast look. Marta narrowed her eyes, “You aren’t saying anything.”

Sonya winced, “Just once?” She asked, trying to look cute.

“No,” Marta grunted and raised an eyebrow.

“Okay fine, I won’t do it,” Sonya whined.

Marta shook her head, “You’re a real handful, you know that?”

“Guilty as charged,” Sonya laughed and got to her feet, “Let’s go.”

–

Park Beyol stepped out onto the airport terminal and scanned his surroundings. He fixed the coat around his shoulders and straightened his cap, he hadn’t been back in the United States for a long time. He was glad that he’d at least taken the time to pick up the language despite most of his work being in Asia. There were just some jobs that the other members of the Night Society couldn’t handle, so they’d sent him on occasion.

This isn’t a Society sanctioned job, though, don’t forget. He reminded himself, walking out to departures with nothing but his suitcase in hand. He didn’t need anything else now that he had his abilities.

He glanced up at one of the televisions as he passed through, frowning. The Villainy enhancer... He rumbled inwardly, So I’m a villain now, huh? All because of this smart mouthed Russian. She schooled his expression and kept walking, Not that it changes how I do my work, but the label irks me.

He waved down a taxi and hopped inside.

“Where to?” The driver asked.

Beyol handed him a slip of paper with the address of the hotel on it, the man nodded and started driving. He pulled out his phone as the vehicle made its way into traffic, Heroes are popping up everywhere, he thought, they’re just as arrogant as that woman. Crazy too, who in their right mind would run around dressed like that? Some of them don’t have any business fighting monsters either. He glanced at his wrist, Guess I can’t fault them for trying. I’m curious about my limits too.

He glanced up from his phone, “Any monster attacks recently?” He asked, causing the driver to jump a little before settling back down.

“There was one on sixth avenue yesterday, heroes took care of it pretty quick,” The driver said absently, “None today though, thank god.”

“Heroes, huh? What do you think of all that?” Beyol asked.

“It’s a mixed bag,” The driver said, “Some of those folks like Firestorm really are doing it for the right reasons, some of them are in it for the kicks though and once licensing starts I hear they’re going to be paid for it. Every Light-touched and their mom is gonna come out for that.”

Beyol blinked, “They’re paying them?”

“Well yeah, would you fight those things for free if you had a choice to get paid?” The driver asked incredulously, “Seriously, way I hear it, if you’re really good at it and make a name for yourself you might even get sponsorships and business deals. That’s corporate America for you.”

Beyol crossed his arms and leaned back into his seat a little bit more, “And the government is funding this?” He asked, glancing out the window. On an enormous screen overlooking the street there was an image of the hero Firestorm with the words ‘I want you to join me in protecting humanity. Get licensed, hero!’. Beyol snorted, drawing his thumbnail across his wrist.

“Pretty much as I hear it, they finally did something about that bloated defense budget, threw a whole crapton of money at the Act,” The driver said, taking a quick turn. “Coming up on our destination.”

Interesting, maybe the Night Society should get in on this after all. If we start our own guild then we could move a bit more freely, He frowned at the thought, I wonder if those old farts would even consider it, though?

“We’re here!” The driver said, “The fare is-”

SHINK

Beyol got out of the cab and shut the door, pulling his hat down over his face, I’ll worry about that later, he thought, leaving the dead man behind him, First thing’s first, you need to die Miss Sonya Chernovna.