Sunset that night was at 8:13. He always knew that these days. Although he had always been a man fascinated by the sun. It’s golden light gave the world around him everything. Light, life, warmth... it truly was everything. The sun was more than just a star to him. It was part of who he was, of that he was certain. And he always knew when it would rise over the eastern horizon... and when it would set down over the ocean horizon to the west.
Taking in a long breath, Hanson “Sonny” Davis turned in sync with the sinking sun, watching it just dip below the ocean out the window. He exhaled again and looked to his right hand, clenching it into a fist. It glowed with a sort of golden light, though it dulled as the sky darkened outside.
Sonny was not an especially tall man. Though he did have broad shoulders and thick, strong limbs. He dressed in a mostly black suit, save for the orange vest over his black shirt and the golden yellow tie, held in place by a bright red tie clip. On his black jacket he wore a golden pin in the shape of the very sun he had just watched disappear into the night.
“I never imagined this would happen,” he said, turning his head to one side.
Behind him a short, athletic woman with cropped blonde hair and in a nearly identical suit to him stood behind a chair with a manic grin on her face. She held a switchblade in one hand, her thumb hovering over the switch.
In front of her, tied to the chair, was a former crime boss in the city of Weston. She once ran the Trenton twins gang with her twin brother, Max.
Duct tape wrapped thoroughly around her arms, trapping them at her sides, while her hands were cuffed behind her back. More tape ensnared her legs from the ankles to just below the knees while another thick wrapping of duct tape held her thighs together just above the knees. Yet more tape held a thick cloth inside her mouth and was wrapped around her mouth and the back of her head.
Dressed in a brown, pinstripe jacket and pencil skirt, black high heels, a black shirt and dark red tie, the dark eyed, dark haired woman with pale skin was as stone faced as ever. Despite the smaller woman behind her having captured her and threatening her with her own switchblade, Kara Trenton, once known on the streets of Weston as simply ‘The Knife’ glared at her former underling.
Sonny Davis had once been a top hitman for the Trenton twins. Though Kara never liked him and, much to Sonny’s chagrin, he never could quite one-up her skills. It was a sticking point that she often rubbed in his face. Still, though, they once had loyalty to each other. Because, as both Kara and Max had once put it “loyalty is everything.”
But that had been broken the second Kara and Max went into hiding, leaving their former gang to the wolves. In prison, Sonny thought about his vengeance on a daily basis. Once he got out and the woman who called herself Silver offered him a chance to not only reclaim his former glory but even make himself better off... he couldn’t help but think of the Trentons.
Max had been easy. The big brute never did like to have anyone watching his back. It was just before sunrise the morning he had done it. 17 minutes before, to be exact. Because the man who now called himself ‘Mr. Sun’ always knew when the sun would arrive. And when it would leave.
With Max dead and buried, her turned his attention to Kara. With her, he wasn’t sure that death would suit her. He toyed with the idea but he wanted his revenge to be... sweeter. So he wanted to finally one-up her. To show her that he, Sonny Davis, Mr. Sun, was the most feared assassin in Weston.
“Mmmpph...” Kara grunted, glaring daggers at Sonny.
Sonny finally turned around, golden fire dancing in his eyes. “It is out of respect that you are not yet dead, Ms. Trenton,” Sonny said.
“Come on, boss,” the woman behind her said. “Let me give the knife to... ‘The Knife’...”
“Not this time, Hina,” Sonny said to the short haired, blonde Asian woman still holding Kara’s switchblade.
“But boss....”
“Step back, Hina,” he said, gently. “Your time will come.”
The smile fell from her face and she pocketed the switchblade, exchanging glances with Kara as she stepped aside.
“Thank you, Hina.”
“Mmmpphh...” Kara grunted, nodding toward Hina. With her hands cuffed behind her, she was still able to make her signature threat. With a single snap of her fingers, Kara usually followed up with a Latin phrase to mark the person for death. But with the gag on, she couldn’t. But the snap of her fingers was enough to get the message across. Hina scoffed.
Sonny stepped forward and knelt down, meeting Kara’s eyes. “Your threats mean nothing anymore, Ms. Trenton,” he said.
“Mmrphh...”
Reaching forward, Sonny laid a gold plated pistol on her lap. “You remember this, right?” he asked.
Kara growled under her breath.
“Yes. It’s the gun your mother had made for me. You know, when she ran things, I had some measure of respect.”
He picked the gun up again, standing up and pressing it against Kara’s forehead. “The only reason I never put one of these into your skull... was out of respect for her. It would have broken her heart, rest her soul, if I had harmed one of her children.”
Sonny stepped back again, revealing that the gun wasn’t loaded. “And I am a man of honour, if nothing else.”
He holstered the gun inside his jacket, kneeling down to meet Kara’s eyes again.
“You may be wondering, then, why I killed Max. It’s because he never respected Elizabeth. Always an insolent, spoiled brat. That’s why she gave you... everything. You knew enough to give the woman the respect she deserved. But had none of it for the people she nurtured. The people she cared for. Like me.”
“Mmph...”
“And you both did something she never would have... you left us to twist. Fractured us. Made us collapse. You undid everything she accomplished. That is something I cannot forgive, Kara. Never.”
Kara continued to glare at him, nodding once, and then snapping her fingers once behind her back. Sonny nodded.
“Assuming you get out of here... message received, Ms. Trenton.”
“Mmmph.”
“Before you find yourself abandoning this mortal coil... I want you to witness something. Do you remember that deal you were supposed to make with Trent White? The one you cut me out of? Of course you remember...”
Kara growled beneath her gag again.
“You had that PI dead to rights. The deal was all but done... but you let your guard down. You let that woman.... you let her beat you. She broke the deal. She broke White. And without his money... she broke your spine.”
“Mmmph!” Kara said, shuffling a bit against her bonds. The tape held firm and, for the first time, the cracks of emotion broke through her steely facade. A grimace of anger behind the tape on her face.
“I remember then you said you would kill her. What were the words you used? Oh right...” Sonny snapped his fingers. “Oculi autem auri, quod lucere amplius...”
“But that was the first time your threats meant nothing. Each time, she sent you back bruised in ego and body. Each time, she refused to end your miserable life and instead imprisoned our people. Each time... she beat you. Again and again and again. There was nothing you could ever do against her.”
Sonny stood up again, looking out the window. “And since she’s so intent on saving lives, preventing deaths... we need her to believe that you will die, Ms. Trenton. So she can ‘save’ you. And then you can watch as I... destroy The Maiden. And do something you could never do.”
“Mmmph...” Kara grunted.
“It’s too perfect,” he said. “Vengeance... and repayment. To the one who gave me... this...”
Sonny flexed his hand again and it glowed like the light of the sun. “She gave me something you never wanted for me, Kara.”
He turned around again, his eyes now fully forming into golden flames. Sonny’s whole body glowed with bright light and Kara squinted as though looking directly at the sun itself.
“Power. And respect.”
...
The message came in that evening just after sunset. Whispers in the street, travelling through those in the know, until Detective Sarah MacGinnis, ‘Mac’ to her friends, finally arrived at Meryn’s doorstep.
The two had developed a working relationship of sorts. Ever since Mac saved Meryn’s life on that rooftop, she couldn’t get the detective out of her mind. Maybe she really was a cop trying to help. And that was an impossible find in a city like Weston...
They had an agreed upon meeting place, as Meryn still refused to divulge her identity to Mac, but she did give Mac a direct line to her via an encrypted cell phone that Aurora had made for her. One simple text had brought them together on the rooftop where Mac had saved Meryn’s life.
The tall detective had her hands in her pockets, finishing off a cigarette and tossing it from the roof. She wore a loose fitting, all black pantsuit and flat shoes. Her hair was long, down just below her shoulders, also black and held out of her face by a narrow brimmed fedora. Her pale blue eyes shone with a cool confidence and her stone-faced expression betrayed nothing but calmness.
A breeze tossed her long coat, making it flutter. She reached into her coat and pulled out another cigarette, managing to get it lit in spite of the light rain falling from the dark sky above.
“You know those will kill you,” a stern voice said to her from the right.
Mac didn’t even bother turning, letting a puff of smoke dissipate into the air above her head. She could already picture The Maiden in her mind’s eye without seeing her. Tight, cropped sleeveless shirt, shorts, flat shoes, all coloured a deep, golden yellow, the black belt on her waist, the long gloves on her hands, the eyemask... and the golden eyes behind it. Her striking bobbed, red hair only made the vigilante heroine of Weston stand out more.
“So I’ve heard,” Mac replied, pushing smoke out her mouth and nose. “You come to lecture me or did you want to know what’s up?”
Meryn stepped closer to her. “You know why I came.”
Mac drew in a deep breath and let the smoke pour from her mouth again. “Kara Trenton.”
“The Trentons are back? Seriously? That’s what you wanted to talk about? We have bigger-”
“Solaris,” Mac said, finally turning to look at Meryn. “That’s the name of one of Silver’s experiments, right?”
Meryn had a moment of confusion but she started to put the pieces together. “Are you saying Kara Trenton is... like Silver?”
“Not her,” Mac said. “You remember the name on the file, right?”
“Sonny Davis...” Meryn said. “One of their goons.”
Mac chuckled, bemused. “Not just a goon. Before Kara... he was their dagger.”
“And after Kara?”
“Still dangerous. But almost everyone knew they didn’t like each other.”
“So then... what?” Meryn asked.
“Sonny has her. He’s got his own little gang now. Had one of his thugs grab her.”
Meryn furrowed her brow. “So what? Let them settle their stupid feud.”
“Maiden... you know Sonny is more than just a hitman now. Silver gave him this... ability. He glows like the sun. He can just melt a building with his bare hands. And he has. He fights with skills that, I mean, I’m pretty sure he’s faster than even you. And I’ve never seen someone faster than you. Worse, he was always good. So he’s got knowledge and power on his side. He’s at least as much trouble as Silver.”
“But why do I care if he has Kara?”
“Because he’s going to kill her.” She handed Meryn a singular gold coin with Kara’s initials carved on each side. “That was his old calling card. Got sent to my desk this morning.”
Meryn turned the coin over in her hands. “I should let him kill her, by all rights. Kara’s as much of a murderer as he is...”
“Could you do that? Just let someone die?”
Meryn growled under her breath. “No... not even her...”
“You ever ask yourself why?” Mac asked, taking another drag of her cigarette.
“Because I have to believe... I have to give everyone a chance. A chance to do better.”
“And if they don’t? What then?”
“I didn’t come here to debate philosphy. Where is he holding Trenton?”
“The Arrow,” Mac said, nodding toward the centre of town.
In Weston, one tall, tapered tower stood above all the rest. It was built long before any of the others and none dared to reach its height. At one point, it was a tourist attraction with a revolving restaurant at the top. But it had long ago been taken over by the Trenton family and was inherited by them and it, like them, fell into utter disrepair when Meryn started her work. It seemed Sonny Davis had now made it their de facto headquarters once again.
“So you are going to save her?” Mac asked, staring out at the tower beside Meryn.
“If I’m going to stop him and Silver... yes.”
“What if she tries to kill you?”
“I’ll deal with that.”
Mac chuckled again. “You know this smells like a trap.”
“Of course it is. It’s always a trap,” Meryn said.
“But you’re going anyway. To make them think you haven’t figured them out, yes? The old double bluff.”
“Guess I’m getting predictable.”
“And that’s bad if you’re in this business,” Mac said. “Because Sonny will know that.”
Meryn just shook her head, pulling a grappling hook gun from her belt. “He doesn’t know half of what he thinks he knows.”
She fired the grapple gun at a nearby rooftop and was gone in seconds, running off to The Arrow. Mac sighed to herself and pulled out her phone. “Time to make another call...”
...
The former brains behind the Trenton twins struggled hard against the tape that bound her, unable to break herself free. She was strong, certainly, but Sonny’s henchwoman had wrapped at least two rolls of tape around her arms and legs, and had used at least half the roll on her gag. Not to mention the tight handcuffs on her wrists...
This was unfamiliar territory for Kara. She was always the one putting people in these situations. To be relegated to the role of bait, a helpless damsel.... she growled into her gag and struggled again, breaking out into a heavy sweat, still unable to free herself.
She was completely alone. Placed in front of a wide window at the top of The Arrow. Kara would be in full view, with a light shining right on her, for The Maiden to see when she scaled up to the top.
With The Maiden still in her thoughts, Kara spotted a flash of movement out the window and watched a golden yellow shape rush past. Her eyes narrowed and she growled into her gag. Still struggling with the tape, Kara gave up for the time being and waited...
It felt like an eternity. But no one came in. She knew Sonny and his new goons, especially the Asian woman who had captured her, were waiting to pounce on The Maiden. But she simply didn’t appear.
Kara renewed her struggles, straining against the tape, rattling the chain of her handcuffs, and grunting into her tight gag. The struggling was fruitless, however, and she made no progress toward escape. As she continued fighting her bonds, she heard something metallic hit the floor beside her. She looked and saw it to her right, knowing exactly what it was...
She took in a deep breath through her nose and turned away, shutting her eyes tight. With a small pop, white smoke began filling the room and Kara let out a long breath. There was no way this would work. Sonny was just too prepared this time...
And indeed his favoured goon, the small woman called Hina, pounced immediately as soon as she saw the smoke. She had been hiding herself away in the ceiling ventilation. Assuming The Maiden had entered the room, she jumped down, ready for a fight.... but there was nothing. Just a smoke bomb.
A few more seconds passed and both women turned to their left when they heard something else metallic clank to the floor. Kara spotted it through the smoke and recognized it, too. Hina had yet to see it and Kara smiled to herself beneath the gag. Hina would never see it coming...
Shutting her eyes again, Kara heard a percussive explosion followed by a sharp ringing in her ears. Hina, on the other hand, was blinded by a bright flash of light and tried to shield her eyes but now her head was pounding from the sound. Frantic, she searched the room but all she could see was smoke. It filled her lungs and she coughed, stumbling around completely disoriented. She didn’t even see the heavy fist that contact her forehead and sent her tumbling to the floor. And she only caught a brief glimpse of the second fist, followed by immediate darkness.
Meryn stood up, over the fallen henchwoman and flexed her hand. She was feeling a bit wary that knocking the woman out had proven far too easy. Her instincts were right, as usual, when the fans came on in the ventilation in the ceiling above and sucked the smoke from the room. Meryn whirled around at the sound of someone slowly clapping and heavy footsteps...
“Well done,” a man’s emotionless voice said. She narrowed her gaze and remembered his face. They hadn’t crossed paths many times but Meryn never forgot a face. And Sonny Davis was far too well known.
“Hina’s tough,” he said. “And smart. I had the odds at 3 to 1 she would plant you as soon as you walked in here.”
Meryn said nothing, noting the golden glow that seemed to follow Sonny as he entered the room.
“I see my message got through to your cop friend,” Sonny said. “Nice of you to show up.”
“I can’t let you kill her,” Meryn said.
“I know. Still, it is a strange choice. To save the life of a murderer.”
“You’re one to talk.”
For the first time, Sonny let out a single, low chuckle, flashing a brief smirk before his stone faced expression returned. “I never claimed otherwise Ms....”
Meryn remained silent.
“All right. No names. I understand. Secret identity and all that.”
“What do you want?” Meryn asked.
“I think you know,” Sonny said, pointing to Kara. “Her. Dead.”
“Then why haven’t you killed her yet?”
“I wanted to meet you. For real this time. Now, I would ask you... what do you want?”
“What?”
“Isn’t it odd, that you’re not attacking me on sight? That you’d be willing to risk your life... for an enemy?”
“I know what Silver did to you... Solaris.”
“We all know you saw the lab,” Sonny said. “So I guess that means you know about the things I can do.”
Meryn again said nothing.
“Well... maybe I should show you...” With a snap of his fingers, Sonny became engulfed in bright, golden light. It came so fast that both conscious women in the room had no time to shield themselves and were immediately blinded. The intense heat made Meryn feel... tired...
She tried to fight the feeling and keep her footing but someone kicked out her feet from under her, sending her sprawling to the floor. And much like Hina, she only caught a brief glimpse of the fist that connected with her forehead sending her into the dark...
...
Fully armoured, Jonas had a great deal of trouble keeping up with Mac. “Can... can we at least slow down... a little?” he asked, taking in heavy breaths.
His brown shirt and pants underneath, black, tactical armour covered his chest, shoulders and biceps. Thick plates of the hardened material covered his upper and lower legs, bending at the knee, and held on with white straps. With black, fingerless gloves, combat boots, an eyemask and a long, black cape, the broad-shouldered, bearded man adorned the uniform of Meryn’s self-appointed sidekick, calling himself ‘The Seeker.’
Tired, grey eyes peered out from behind the mask and sweat dripped from his thick, cropped brown hair.
“Your girlfriend’s in danger,” Mac said. “And I’m not slwoing down. That’s your fault for wearing such heavy stuff.”
“She’s not my-”
“Yeah yeah, whatever. Please keep up. We’re almost to The Arrow.”
“Why didn’t we just take a car?”
“Sonny’s people have eyes on this place. And he knows my car. Probably yours, too. And any cabs showing up are probably screened. Which means he’d see us coming from miles off. That’s no good.”
Jonas finally caught up to her, heaving breaths, but struggling to keep pace.They were just across the street to the ground floor entrance of The Arrow. Mac finally stopped and pointed to the door.
“You see there? Just as I thought...”
Jonas squinted and stared at the glass double doors. “I... I don’t see anything.”
“That’s the point. No guards. He thinks she came in alone.”
“And he’s right,” Jonas said.
“But he’s not banking on us,” Mac said, reaching into her coat and drawing her pistol. Jonas, catching his breath, eyed her carefully.
“You intend on using that thing?”
“If I have to. It’s for the threat of it more than anything. What about you?”
Jonas reached to the grey pockets of his belt and found a holster there, pulling out his own grapple gun.
“See you at the top?” he said.
“That doesn’t seem fair...” Mac said.
“The place has an elevator, right? And if The Maiden’s in danger, like you said-”
“All right. Go and rescue your girlfriend. I’m behind you.”
“I told you, she’s not my-”
“Shut up and get up there, sidekick.”
Jonas sighed and fired his grapple gun toward the top of The Arrow and it launched him upward. Mac, in the meantime, ran for the front door with both hands on her pistol. “All right,” she said to herself. “Back on my own then...”
...
Her head pounded when she awoke and her vision was still clearing as though she had been staring right at a bright light. Meryn tried to reach up to rub her head but something held her wrists in place behind her back.
She took in a breath and found something blocking her mouth. Her entire body felt like it was being pressed in, held tight by... something. Meryn’s memories started to come back to her and she jolted, coming to much faster. Though her head still hurt and her vision was still blurry.
“Took you long enough,” a cocky woman’s voice said to her. “We’ve been waiting here for so long.”
“Hina,” a man’s voice said. “I know you’re eager after all that. But this is my show. Understand?”
Hina let out a long sigh. “Yeah, boss... you got it.”
“Sorry but I need to do this. You understand. I’ll let you have her gadgets when I’m done, okay?”
That seemed to brighten the shorter woman’s spirits somewhat. “Okay, boss.”
“Good. Now, Ms. Maiden....”
“Mmmpphh...” Meryn groaned, her vision beginning to clear. Though she didn’t need to see much to understand her predicament. A blurry shape sat beside her, though it looked vaguely like a woman. She was bound and gagged on a steel chair... similar to the one Meryn knew she was currently sitting in.
Kara Trenton she remembered, even her thoughts pounding against her aching skull. But sitting next to her meant...
She tugged her wrists and found they wouldn’t move, held together by a pair of heavy steel handcuffs. Squirming a bit, she found that she had duct tape on her body as well. Based on the feeling of, she must have been taped up the same way as Kara, duct tape wrapped around her arms, her ankles and calves, and finally her thighs. Meryn was also gagged the same way, with tape wrapped around her mouth and holding a cloth inside.
As her vision cleared, she also noticed her belt was missing, held by the short-haired, Asian woman she had knocked unconscious.
“No toys for you, pretty lady,” Hina said as soon as Meryn looked her way.
“Mmmphh!”
“Step back now, Hina,” Sonny said, crossing the room. He had been standing by the window with something in his hand, arms folded, watching the two captive women in front of him. He stopped in front of Meryn and his henchwoman, Hina, finally stepped back and let Sonny begin.
“Silver was right,” Sonny said. “You’re tough. Tougher than even I was expecting. But, without power like this...” Sonny clenched his fist again, causing another glow of golden light. “You’re a step behind.”
“Mmmph!” Meryn said, struggling against her bonds. “MMMPPHHH!!”
“I know, you want to bust my skull. But I’m not letting that happen. Not with Kara watching. You busted her skull enough times, eh?”
“Mmmrgghhh...”
“But now I’m going to do something she never could. And I’m going to make her watch.”
Sonny walked around to the back of Meryn’s chair and she struggled harder, unable to escape her tight restraints. Sonny tipped the chair back and began dragging it toward the window spinning Meryn around so her back was to the window, and rested the chair just a few inches from the edge of the glass. He stepped back and held up what he had in his hands: a small remote. With the press of a button, the window behind Meryn opened up and a gust of wind blew in behind her as it did. Sonny smirked and stepped toward her, having to raise his voice above the sound of the wind.
“Not quite my trademark,” he said, reaching into his pocket and flipping a coin in his right hand. “But makes a fine enough message.”
He tossed the coin onto Meryn’s lap. It was much like his regular gold coins but, instead, this one was silver and simply had the letter ‘M’ engraved onto it.
“’M’ for Maiden,” Sonny said. “You like the colour of it?”
Meryn growled beneath her gag, staring down at the coin. Silver....
Sonny stepped forward again, lifting one leg and pushing Meryn gradually backward with his foot. The back legs of the chair caught the ledge and dipped downward a bit. Meryn mewled a bit into her gag from the shock of the sudden movement. She could feel the rushing wind now and she glared up at Sonny, now with a wide grin on his face.
“Should have learned to fly,” he said.
“Mmmph!”
“Well... it’s been real. I’ll remember you, Maiden. Time to go...”
With one hard shove, the chair finally tipped over backward and Meryn was sent plunging downward... but she barely had time to fall.
Everyone in the room heard someone shout from up above and a steel cable shot out from the roof above them. It stiffened with the sudden weight of something and another shout, of a man in pain, rang out from above them.
“What the goddamn hell...” Sonny said.
He saw him then, dragged downward by the weight of Meryn and the chair. Holding on with one hand, anchored to the building with climbing gear, Jonas had a tight grip on his grapple gun with his left hand. He grimaced at the tremendous sudden pain in his shoulder. He knew he had hurt something. But he managed to get a hold of the gun with his right hand and begin to winch Meryn back up.
He slowly climbed his way up to the roof, attaching the gun to his belt and securing it to his back. With the added weight it was hard going but, eventually, he climbed up to the old maintenance walkway at the top of The Arrow, climbing up and over the railing, collapsing to the metal grating. But he had no time to be injured as he stood up tall, burying the pain like always, and pulling the grapple gun from his back. He used every ounce of strength to lift Meryn and the chair to the walkway and pull her up and over the railing. Setting her down, he helped unlock her handcuffs, using the last of his effort to cut Meryn free of the tape. Finally, the pain took hold and he fell to the ground, clutching at his left shoulder.
Ripping the tape free of her mouth, Meryn bent low and checked him over.
“Separated shoulder?” she asked.
Jonas nodded. “Probably...”
“Or you aggravated that old fracture.”
“That too...”
“You’re... you’re an idiot...” Meryn said.
“I know. But...”
“Don’t. I need to get you out of here. They’ll be coming.”
“You’ll need this...” Jonas said, handing her his grapple gun.
“Can’t believe you made one for yourself.”
Jonas chuckled, still grimacing from the pain. “Hey... I need to keep up with you...”
Meryn tried to stifle a smile but she just couldn’t. “You really shouldn’t have done that...”
“Blame Mac. She called me...”
“That damn cop...” Meryn said. “You both risked your damn lives.”
They heard someone pounding on the locked roof hatch behind them, trying to break it open.
“Let’s table this,” Jonas said.
“Agreed,” Meryn replied, heft Jonas up and over her shoulder. His sheer size made it difficult and the weight was a bit much to handle... but Meryn stood tall and stepped to the edge of the tower, grapple gun in hand.
“What’s the weight capacity of the cables again?” Meryn asked.
“500 pounds... should be enough...”
“Barely...” Meryn said, unable to stop the wry smirk from curling her lips.
“Hey... I don’t weigh that much,”
“Shut up, sidekick,” Meryn said.
Jonas chuckled again. “That’s the first time you-”
He was interrupted by the sound of the grapple gun firing off and launching them both downward toward a skyscraper. It took all of Meryn’s strength to keep their momentum and swing forward, landing on a roof about half a block away. But they were still too high. So Meryn had to swing again, getting them closer to the ground.
She continued on like this until they were in an alleyway, safely on the ground, and she leaned Jonas up against a brick wall. She handed the grapple gun back to him. Once again, she couldn’t help the smile that crossed her lips.
“Damn it, Jonas...”
“What?” Jonas said.
“I should say thanks.”
“Probably. But are you going to?”
Meryn paused for a moment and rolled her shoulder, realizing that hers, too, was now sore from all the swinging.
“Thanks,” Meryn said with a nod.
“It’s-”
“Your job. Like you haven’t said that a thousand times.”
Jonas chuckled again.
“So where is Mac, anyway?”
“She went into the building. Ground floor... I haven’t seen her since.”
“Don’t tell me you’re worrying about me now,” a voice said from behind Meryn. She stood up and turned around, facing the dark-haired detective standing tall and proud, holding a heavy, black belt in her hands.
“How did you-”
“Misdirection,” Mac said. “While he was pulling off the rescue, I went in and got this back while they were all scrambling up there to get you two.”
“Well... thanks. For coming after me.”
Mac smiled and rubbed her ears. “I’m sorry, I must be going crazy. Did I hear you just say the word ‘thanks?’”
“You did. I mean it. If you hadn’t come... I guess I was less prepared than I thought.”
“We do still need to deal with him, you know,” Mac said. “He’s way too dangerous to just leave behind.”
“I know,” Meryn said.
“I... actually have a plan for that,” Jonas said from the ground.
“What?” Meryn asked, turning to look at him.
“Before we left, I made a few calls. To a friend.”
“Which friend?”
“My best friend,” Jonas said with a smile. “Because there’s no way in hell I was going to get this help without her.”
Meryn furrowed her brow. “What do you mean?”
Jonas tried to sit up straight. “This guy, Davis, I heard they’ve got a nickname for him. It fits, too. Nowadays they’ve started calling him ‘Mr. Sun.’ So, how do you fight that?”
“I don’t follow, “ Meryn said.
“You know the old saying ‘fight fire with fire?’ That’s stupid. You fight fire with fire. Darkness with light. And the sun...”
“With the moon,” Meryn said. “Luna.”
Jonas nodded. “Celia’s bringing her from Esterlin as we speak.”
“Esterlin? Where in the hell is that?” Mac asked.
“Long story,” Meryn said. “Let’s just say it’s nowhere near here.”
“Well, how long will it take them to get here?”
Her question was answered when a loud pop went off behind her, followed by a rushing sound and a wide, purple vortex opening up. Mac backed away and watched as two women stepped through.
One of them, a short, pale woman with long, light brown hair, blue eyes and dressed in brown, looked to Jonas on the ground and rushed over to him. “Oh, what have you done to yourself this time?”
“I’ll explain later.” He peered behind her at the second woman. Her ebony skin, pale grey eyes, emotionless expression, long, pale blue hair tied back in a braid and tight, light blue clothing... stared at him.
“You called for me.”
“To help Meryn,” Jonas said. “To, well, fight the sun, I guess.”
Meryn sighed and stood up. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m sure you’re busy back in Esterlin. But I really could use your help.”
“That’s what we do,” Luna said. “We help each other. Just explain the situation and I’ll be there beside you.”
Meryn nodded. “Thanks, Luna. Tell me, can you hear the moon here?”
“It’s call is faint but it’s there. Yes.”
Meryn smiled. “Good. Then let’s go fight the sun...”
Story Theme Song- Locking Up the Sun