“Here it is,” Jonas said, turning to the wall with a small device in his hand.
He was still dressed in his black, armoured uniform as The Seeker. Meryn, who stood to his right, was in her tight yellow outfit, the cropped sleeveless shirt, shorts, flat shoes and eye mask as well as her newly acquired belt. Mac, just to her right, was dressed in her usual black over coat and pant suit.
“You’re showing us the wall?” the raven-haired detective asked, lighting up a cigarette. Mac let the smoke drift around her head as she exhaled softly.
“It’s behind the wall,” Jonas said. “At the press of a button.” He pressed something on the device in his hand and the door buckled inward a bit in a perfect rectangle about the same size as an average doorway. The wall hissed and vapour poured from the room as though it were hermetically sealed while the door slowly slid downward.
It eventually disappeared into a gap in the floor and the vapour began to clear. Inside, Meryn gazed upon the striking, humanoid object standing there perfectly straight, unmoving, polished steel glimmering in the light. She stepped toward it and stared up at a helmet with a black tinted visor.
“How long has this been ready?” Meryn asked.
She could hardly believe what she was looking at. It was, in essence, a mech suit. That was what Saira would have called it, anyway, referencing all the comic books she read...
Jonas called it something else.
“It’s still not fully ready,” Jonas said. “It’s performed well in testing but we haven’t been able to perfect it and make it as nigh invulnerable as possible. But this, Meryn, is the Agency prototype Armoured Power Suit Mark VII.”
“Seven?” Meryn asked. “You’ve had six versions of this before now and didn’t tell me?”
“So far this is the only one that’s made it through testing. All the others would have hurt you if you wore them. But this one... it should work.”
Meryn smirked. “Is that why you’ve sprayed it with gold paint?”
The great steel thing stood a full foot taller than Meryn. Inside it, she would be three inches shy of seven feet tall. The helmet, with its black visor would reveal nothing about the operator unless they activated a control in one of the arms to raise it.
The suit had broad shoulders, painted gold, sitting upon a heavy, black steel frame that would enclose and adjust to fit any wearer, provided they were shorter than the suit itself. The padded arms were also black, protected by gold plating around the upper and lower arms, leaving room for an elbow joint which was also guarded by an armour plate. The hands looked mobile and robotic but they would fit the wearer just like gloves and were protected around the knuckles with heavy, golden painted armour. The palms, as well, were padded with tough rubber with an almost tire tread quality to them for grip.
The thing’s powerful legs, as well, had gold painted, steel armour covering the entire thighs, knees, and calves as well as the tops of both feet, leaving heavy treads on the bottom of the boot-like feet for excellent grip.
Armour fully encased the torso from front to back, leaving the shoulder joints and hip joint free to move, though the front and back around the hips and between the legs was also protected by steel, gold painted armour.
“I had hoped you would get some use out of it. But I haven’t fully tested it yet. It’s combat ready but we don’t know yet if it imbues the wearer with additional strength like the rest were supposed to.”
“How much additional strength?”
Jonas let out a short breath. “If it all goes according to plan, it should give the wearer enough strength to lift a car, punch through concrete, bend steel-”
“Just like Silver,” Mac said.
“That’s the idea, yes,” Jonas said. “But every one before this could never quite reach that level. Perhaps that’s because I was the one testing them and I’ve been designing this specifically for Meryn.”
“You... used yourself as a guinea pig?”
“I wouldn’t have anyone else do it,” Jonas said. “Wound up with my share of scrapes and bruises. Until I wore this one. But I haven’t had the chance to do the strength test.”
Meryn stepped up beside it and touched the armour’s right arm. “Well then I’ll test it. And we should make it quick. Silver still has Saira and my father. And Lanala, somehow.”
“I know...” Jonas said. “I’m sorry about-”
“Don’t. It’s not your fault. That kid you nearly killed set you up.” Meryn spoke her last sentence through gritted teeth.
“You... saw that?” Jonas asked.
“When I was in the cell, yes. Lucky Mac was there to stop you.”
“Suppose I was...” Jonas stepped up the power suit and inspected it. “Let’s get you into this thing, shall we?”
Meryn simply nodded and stepped up to the huge armour.
“Turn around,” Jonas said. “Hold your arms out and line them up with the armour. Do the same with your legs.”
Meryn did as Jonas instructed, turning her head side to side to check that her limbs were in place.
“Look forward and hold your head steady.”
She did as he asked and closed her eyes, letting out a short breath.
“Ready?”
“Do it,” Meryn said.
Jonas flipped open a piece of the chest and input a quick code on a keypad and the thing jumped to life.
The whole thing looked like it split in half as the front armour retracted, revealing the hollow gaps underneath to comfortably fit an average sized human body. The armour did the rest of the work then, as the floor in front of her raised up until she was level with the helmet, which flipped back and out of the way. The armour clamped on firmly yet comfortably around Meryn’s arms and legs, clamping shut around her torso, and adjusting itself to her body size before it finally settled and the helmet with its sleek visor slowly lowered over her head. A light flashed across the visor once it was fully in place and Meryn let her limbs settle down and stood up straight.
“How does it feel?”
“It’s good,” Meryn said, her voice coming through the helmet and echoing like two-way radio.
“Can you see the heads-up display in the visor?”
“Easy to read,” Meryn answered, checking over the instructions and how to control various functions. She clamped her right hand once, pressing in her index finger and the black visor raised up, removing the HUD and revealing her golden eyes and face beneath.
“You good in there?” Jonas asked.
“Fits well,” Meryn said.
“Try to walk.”
Meryn took two confident steps forward and Mac couldn’t help but step back from the steel behemoth that walked toward her.
She stopped and turned to her right to face Jonas, walking toward him while he slowly backed up and gave her space to move. She stopped after roughly ten steps and looked down at Jonas. “Solid movement.”
“Good. Now...” he turned around and picked up a heavy piece of a steel girder about four feet in length. He struggled to handle the heavy piece of steel with both hands and held it as high as he could for Meryn, grunting with each step.
“See if you... can bend... this...” he said between strained breaths.
Meryn reached out with one hand and Jonas felt the weight instantly relieved when she clamped her hand down on it. She picked it up and held there in her one hand.
“How much does this weigh?”
“A shade under 88 kilos. So pretty much around 200 pounds,” Jonas said.
“Hmm... Interesting. It’s like I’m holding a barbell. Feels like maybe...” She moved her arm up and down as though lifting a weight. “Five... ten pounds. Not too heavy, really.”
“Okay. That’s pretty promising. Doesn’t bode well for bending it, though.”
“I’ve never tried to bend a barbell. Sounds impossible to me.”
“Okay. Well there’s a setting you can adjust. Put the visor back down.”
Meryn tossed the heavy beam into her left hand and pressed her index finger on her right hand down again. The visor came down.
“Power ratio...” Meryn read.
“Yes. Set that to 150:1. See what that does.”
Meryn clamped her right hand down again and watched the number climb, opening her hand when she reached Jonas’ recommended target. When she did, she felt as though the steel beam in her hand got gradually lighter in her hand. With one motion, she tossed it in the air like nothing and Jonas ducked before she caught it.
“Sorry...” Meryn said.
“That’s better. How does it feel now?”
“Pretty light. Maybe... a pound or more?”
“Hmmm... I wonder... Do you think you could bend it now?” Jonas asked.
“With both hands? Probably. Let me see...” Meryn replied, taking the heavy steel beam in both hands, clamping down with a tight grip. She squeezed both hands and already could hear the steel groan as her fingers dug in and left indents.
“Holy crap...” Mac said from behind her. “You’re doing it...”
Without hesitation, Meryn pressed down on both sides and the steel groaned louder, bending into a U shape... before it just gave way and snapped into two curved pieces in her hands. The think creaked louder and the snap rang out in the ears of both Jonas and Mac. Jonas winced at the pain in his ears and Mac covered hers...
“Well... I’d say that did it,” Jonas said.
“My God, you snapped that thing like a twig...” Mac added.
“One more test. We don’t have the space for a car but, if you step into here...”
Jonas led Meryn into a seemingly empty part of his strange lab, stopping in front of a gap in the floor. A thick wall of concrete came up between them and Jonas stepped back, allowing bullet proof glass to raise in front of him as he re-entered the other side of his lab.
“Okay. Hit that wall with your best shot. As hard as you can. And make sure your visor is down. The debris will fly back into your face.”
“All right. It’s down already.”
“Good. Take that wall down.”
Jonas felt a knot in his stomach. This was always where the other suits had failed. So many dented pieces of knuckle armour, bruised hands, fractured bone, damaged circuitry...
But Meryn moved again without hesitation. Her left hand closed into a fist and she threw her full weight behind the strike...
A sound like an explosion erupted from the other side of the bullet proof glass. Meryn’s fist connected with the concrete wall and Jonas watched in shock as the other side split, cracked, and gave way. Chunks of concrete flew all around the room, clinking off the armour and visor of Meryn’s helmet. But the biggest chunks hammered against the heavier wall on the other side as most of the concrete collapsed and fell away, some blown back by the force of the hit.
When the wall finished crumbling and the dust cleared, Jonas stepped toward the glass. The wall was about half the height it had been when they started and he couldn’t help the smile on his face. “It works...”
“I’d say it does,” Meryn said.
“I can’t believe it works!”
“That was... holy hell...” Mac didn’t have any more words as she stared at Meryn, completely stunned.
“Just one more thing,” Jonas said. He walked to a computer and typed in a command. From the ceiling, a long gun barrel emerged and pointed straight at Meryn.
“Uh... Jonas?”
“Shield your face with your forearm. Keep the armour outward.”
“Okay...”
Meryn did as Jonas instructed and held her arm still.
“Just like that! Just to help you understand that you’re safe inside that thing...”
Jonas typed in another command and the gun thundered its ammo, rapid firing into the armour plate of Meryn’s arm... harmlessly bouncing off and leaving nary a scratch as the bullets ricocheted around the room, shell and bullet alike falling to the floor before Jonas input the final command and it stopped firing, retracting into the ceiling again.
Meryn lowered her arm and inspected it...
“Didn’t even damage the paint job... what... what have you created, Jonas?”
“The answer to Silver. That’s what. I have no doubt she knows how to fight but does she have your skill? What I do doubt is that she’s kept up her training.”
Jonas let the bullet proof glass retract into the ceiling again. “Why bother? When you’re stronger than any human being in the world, you can win any fight just by showing off. But if someone with your skill and her strength comes along...”
“You really think I can beat her with this thing?” Meryn asked.
“Easily,” Jonas said. “One thing, though. Don’t get into a grappling match with her. She’s strong enough that she could damage it pretty bad if she’s able to stay close to the suit for too long.”
“Right,” Meryn said. “So Ali then.”
“What?” Jonas asked.
“The shuffle. The dancing jab. Float, sting, you know...”
Jonas nodded. “Oh. Right. Yeah, do whatever you have to. And actually, there’s one other thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Don’t do it in here but, when you quickly squeeze and open your full right hand, you’ll get an aiming reticle in the visor. Then just point where you want to go and, well, you’ve got a modified grapple gun in your right wrist. From there, squeeze your right hand once to confirm launching the cable. It’s a bit shorter than a regular grapple gun so you might not be able to climb quite as high as normal. But it’ll do. That, and you can just jump down and survive any fall in that thing under 500 feet.”
“I can fall from that high up?”
“It’ll protect you, yes,” Jonas said. “No need to worry about hurting yourself when jumping to the ground.”
Meryn just shook her head. “You know what? I’ll hand it to you. Sometimes, you’re a goddamn genius.”
Jonas smirked. “Only sometimes?”
“Well, when you’re not almost getting killed anyway. You ready to go?”
“I’ll stick with Mac. You go find Silver and give her the surprise of her life.”
“I hope so. Stay safe,” Meryn said.
...
The city at night was quiet, as it always was. The populace feared the night and the types that stalked it gave them good reason.
A sound, thunderous footsteps, breaks the silence. A woman, dressed in a silver uniform with its sleeveless, tight top pleated skirt, shorts under that like a unitard, knee high boots and eye mask covering her pale eyes, stopped to turn toward the direction of the sound.
Her captive was above her, hanging from a chain wrapped around and street lamp.
The green-haired woman in silver shot her captive a glance.
The woman there was tall, with toned muscles, and a shapely figure. Her skin was the colour of caramel and her vibrant hair a shade of pink described as strawberry.
Her sharp, orange eyes darted back and forth between her captor and the heavy, rumbling footsteps. A web of chains held up her entire upper body, supporting her weight as she hung from the street lamp. More of them helped pin her arms to her sides and fuse her legs together around the ankles and above and below her knees. Her wrists were locked behind her by a pair of heavy, hinged handcuffs and a leather panel was pressed tight over her mouth in a tight gag, wedging a rubber ball between her teeth and strapped on tightly behind her head.
Though no worry entered the eyes of the woman dressed in black. Chained up and gagged as she was, Lanala remained almost disturbingly calm. Silver had wondered why as she was wrapping the chain around the street lamp post but now, with the sound of heavy, metallic footsteps she was distracted from those thoughts.
The golden behemoth rounded a corner and Silver simply stared, no emotion betrayed on her face. Lanala, from above her, let out a bit of a muffled gasp at the sight. It didn’t take Silver long to deduce who was inside the armoured suit.
“She found me,” Silver said. “Like I thought she would.”
Meryn kept her golden eyes upon her enemy, clenching her fists and walking forward with deliberate purpose. Silver took a few steps forward to meet her and they both stopped about twenty feet apart. Silver smirked and folded her arms while Meryn stood straight, tensing her muscles.
“Got yourself a new toy?” Silver asked.
Meryn refused to answer. “I’m giving you one chance to let her go.”
Silver chuckled. “Don’t waste your breath. You know damn well this was to lure you out. I just didn’t expect you’d go to such lengths to see me.”
“Adjust your expectations then,” Meryn said.
Silver just shook her head and stood wide, clenching her fists and planting herself. “I’ll be happy to give you another lesson in humility, Maiden.”
Meryn braced herself and remained as still as possible. “Go on. Teach me, then.”
Without warning, Silver launched herself at Meryn, throwing a light punch toward Meryn’s right shoulder. Her eyes widened when her arm was stopped dead in mid-air and she felt... pain. There was a pain in her right wrist. And when she looked up, the sight startled her.
Meryn had easily blocked the punch and deflected it to one side. The two women stood still for a moment, their arms still locked, Silver’s shock still evident on her face.
“That’s... new...” Silver said.
While she was still stunned, Meryn seized her opportunity and shut her left fist, throwing out a punch and catching Silver just below the chest. Her opponent grunted and soared backward, slamming hard into the brick building behind her before falling to the ground on her stomach.
She groaned in pain as she sat up, slamming both her fists into the ground and leaving holes in the asphalt beneath her.
"What… is that?"
Meryn still said nothing as she rushed in again before Silver could get up, slamming her right fist into Silver's jaw and sending her sprawling sideways. She came to a skidding halt about ten feet away, deftly clambering to her feet again.
"Been a while since I had a real fight,"Silver said with a menacing grin. "Thanks for making this interesting."
This time, Silver was on the attack, running in and shouldering Meryn in the stomach. She felt the impact, grunting a bit in pain as she was pushed backward into a parked truck, collapsing its body on the driver's side. Meryn was thankful, at least, that no one was inside.
She ran back at Silver and that's when the fight properly began. Meryn's strategy was as she described to Jonas. Her footwork was lightning fast and Silver could hardly keep up.
The armoured suit responded in kind and moved like it was a part of her.
When striking out at Silver, Meryn would hit both her body and her head while quickly circling her opponent and not giving her any chance to breathe or stand still.
Silver struck out at Meryn but The Maiden would just lean to one side or throw her head back to avoid whatever Silver would throw at her. Eventually, Silver got frustrated.
She overstepped herself and threw three heavy punches and launched herself at Meryn, trying to connect a well placed kick to the back of Meryn's knee. But her all out aggression left Silver vulnerable when Meryn jumped to one side and delivered a right and a left to both sides of Silver's head. One caught her in the jaw. The other was a collision with the armoured plate over Meryn's knuckles straight to the right side of Silver's forehead.
Silver stepped back when she felt the pain and something wet dripped down into her eye. She reached up to wipe and found blood on her hand. Meryn had opened a gash just above Silver's right eye.
"Good to know you can bleed…" Meryn said.
"Maiden… I'm going to make you bleed so much more when I'm through with you!"
Meryn was not prepared for the surge of power when Silver rushed at her managed to finally grab hold if her right forearm. She also managed a strong grip on the suit’s torso plate and picked it up off the ground before tossing it through the wall of a nearby brick building.
She exploded through the wall and crashed to the ground on her back and heard Lanala squeal into her gag in fright at the scene. But she had no more time to think as Silver was on top of her in an instant, slamming her fist repeatedly into the visor of Meryn’s helmet. It held on but the HUD started flashing red and trying to show her the damage that had been done to the suit.
Reaching up with both hands, Meryn simultaneously grabbed Silver’s wrist to stop the punching and shove her off, also tossing her through the air back through the hole in the wall and out into the street. Clambering back to her feet, Meryn was attacked again and, with the suit’s condition deteriorated, coupled with her own pain from taking so many punches, she wasn’t quick enough to react as Silver reached her and delivered a thunderous kick with both legs, flipping back away from Meryn and sending her to the ground again. But before she could do anything else, she stopped when she heard a strange sound from somewhere above them. It sounded like someone... snapping their fingers.
When Silver looked up, her chained up captive was suddenly nowhere to be found. Her eyes cast back to Meryn and she narrowed her gaze when she saw Lanala, free as a bird, standing over her friend. Meryn had managed to get back to one knee but the damage to the suit and her exhaustion operating it had taken their toll. But Lanala flashed Silver a cocky smile.
“All aboard the ruse cruise,” she said. “Didn’t see this one coming, did you?”
“Lanala...” Meryn said. “Did you seriously just say ruse cruise?”
Lanala shrugged. “It... sounded better in my head.”
“How did you do that!?” Silver growled.
“Do what? Oh, escape? I think you forget, Ms. Super Soldier, I’m the pink-haired witch. I can do anything my heart desires.”
“But... I beat you! I captured you!”
Lanala scoffed. “I let you capture me, you moron! Because I knew you’d want to use someone to lure Meryn out. Perfect opportunity to gang up on you with your guard down, don’t you think?”
Silver smiled. “Clever... but I’d ask your gold friend just one question. Do you know where your girlfriend is?”
Meryn scrambled back to her feet. “What are you talking about?”
“Seems I got my hands on her again. And your pink-haired friend there knows where she is.”
They looked at each other. “Is that true?” Meryn asked.
“Well, yes, but-”
“Then you need to save her.”
“Meryn-”
“Don’t argue with me! Just think. Roles reversed, what would you want me to do? Help you or rescue Artema?”
“But Meryn, you’re hurt...”
“It doesn’t matter what happens to me. You have to get to Saira. Now!”
Lanala relented. “For you... all right. But let me do something first.”
Waving her hands and snapping her fingers, Silver collapsed to the ground and fell unconscious. Lanala wavered a bit from the effort but Meryn felt... better. And the suit had stopped alerting her to damage.
“What... what was that?”
“You’ve got about ten seconds before she wakes up again. And you’re patched up. I’m going after Saira now. Stay safe, Meryn...”
Lanala closed her eyes and with another snap of her fingers, disappeared in less than a second. By then, Silver was already coming to and getting back to her feet. Meryn planted herself and tensed her muscles.
Silver growled under her breath but grinned when she saw Lanala was no longer there. “All right, Maiden. Where were we?”
...
The concrete room was completely dark, save for the gently swinging light bulb above her head, attached to the ceiling by a cable. And it was empty except for the chair Saira was tied to.
Why always a chair? I’m always tied to damn chair!
“Mmmmpphh!” she cried into her gag, her cries completely muffled.
Saira started to feel a bit useless this time since she could see her hands in front of her. They were tied together with strong rope and attached to her thighs, forced to rest in her lap by another rope that held her wrists to and wrapped around her thighs to hold them together.
More rope wrapped up her arms, framing her chest, and pinning them to her sides. The rest bound her legs just below the knees and at the ankles, which were tied to the left chair leg. The last bit of rope held her waist and back to the back of the chair so she couldn’t just reach up with her bound hands and remove her gag, nor lean down.
It might not have helped to remove the tight layers of duct tape wrapped over her mouth and behind her head, sealing in a ball gag as well. The gag made her jaw sore and rendered her almost completely silent.
All she could do was squirm and writhe around in her chair, trying and failing to free herself. One of her captors outside was the same blonde woman, the one she knew Meryn hated, that had kidnapped both she and Meryn along with a heavyweight boxer. Saira couldn’t recall her name but she really didn’t like what little she had seen of the rather attractive, tall and muscular woman with shining blonde hair and sharp brown eyes.
Farrah, meanwhile, stood guard outside the door of the makeshift cell they were holding Saira within. She counted her lucky stars that Silver had come for her and break her out of jail, and immediately give her the job of tying up Meryn’s girlfriend and holding her hostage in the hopes of drawing out The Maiden for one last time.
Silver seemed to have several plans for that but didn’t really fill in her top henchwoman on all of those finer details.
But Farrah had enough information to know that someone would likely come for Saira. Silver had hoped to pit the longtime rivals against each other once again but, though she didn't know it, Farrah wouldn't get so lucky this time.
Inside the room, Saira struggled and fought her bonds but nothing would give. She bucked and kicked, trying to reach up to her gag and remove it but the ropes restraining her kept her firmly in place.
"Mmrrgghh!" she growled. "Hmm!" Lmmt mm gghmmm! Mmmtmm mm ymm bmmg blmmnnd mmndmnnttt!! Hlllmmmpp!"
Her speech was completely muffled and stifled by her thick double gag and Saira slumped into her chair, exhausted from the struggling and beginning to sweat profusely.
The room went quiet and Saira could hear her own heartbeat, pounding in her ears and drumming against her chest at a steady rhythm.
Her breaths through her nose sounded especially loud through the almost deafening silence. Just to hear some sound, Saira began shuffling in her bonds again, grunting into her gag.
"Mmmph! Hmmmph! Mmm mmrrph!"
She had to stop and rest her tired muscles and her thoughts turned to Meryn. She could only hope her girlfriend was safe or at least unhurt in what would be an inevitable fight with Silver.
Saira's thoughts came to an immediate halt when someone suddenly appeared in front of her as if from nowhere. And she recognized the strawberry pink hair right away.
"Llmmnmmlmm!!"
Lanala opened her eyes and found the source of the muffled voice.
"I think we have to stop meeting like this," Lanala said with a chuckle.
Saira nodded and shifted her eyes toward the ropes on her body.
Lanala started to untie her, kneeling down and working on the knots around her ankles.
"You know, Meryn told me about how you two met. She rescued you from a similar situation, right?"
"Mmm hmmm."
"Well I can see why she was so enchanted. Sorry to say but you look pretty cute like this."
Saira furrowed her brow and Lanala chuckled.
"Don't worry. I'm not leaving you like this. Meryn could probably use us right about now. Although, I think you and I should take care of Farrah first. What do you say?"
Saira nodded again.
"All right. Let me just finish getting you untied."
Lanala snapped her fingers and the rope, tape, and ball gag all fell loose. The two women waited in silence as they crept up to the door.
On the other side, Farrah didn't suspect a thing. She still thought she was guarding a bound and gagged captive. Standing just outside the door, Farrah didn’t hear the two women inside prepared with rope and tape of their own.
Saira could only shake her head when Lanala snapped her fingers again and the materials they needed appeared in her hands. Now they just needed to grab their prisoner.
Before she knew what was happening, Farrah felt a strong grip on her from the door behind. A pair of arms took hold of the muscular woman; one around the waist and the other clamped one hand over her mouth. A second pair of arms pulled her into the room and, despite her strength, she was wrestled to the floor as though she had become temporarily weak.
Then she felt it. In her mind, there was something there. Something unnatural. It could only be some strange magic and it had been a long time since they had encountered each other.
But Farrah couldn’t even say her name as her wrists were quickly crossed behind her back and tightly bound with rope while Saira shoved the ball gag into her mouth and quickly wrapped duct tape around it. They tied a harness of rope around her chest, pinning her arms, before picking her up and placing her in the chair, getting her wrists behind the back of it. They tied her ankles and attached them to her bound wrists, also taking care to tie her legs at the calves and thighs. Two more ropes secured her upper thighs to the seat and her waist to the back of the chair, also keeping her wrists tightly pinned there.
“MMMMPPHHH!!! MMTMM MMM! NMMM!!!” Farrah screamed into her gag when her captors stepped back.
“Sorry, Farrah. Couldn’t pass this up,” Lanala said. “Can’t have you following us, now.”
“Dmmt lmmph mm hmmr, pllmmmpphh!”
“Oh knock it off, you big baby. I’m sure you’ll get out on your own. And if you don’t, I can send a certain detective friend of Meryn’s over to take care of you.”
Farrah squealed and shook her head, struggling wildly against the ropes but she couldn’t do anything to free herself.
“Lanala...” Saira said. “I wouldn’t mind if we got going. Meryn needs us.”
Lanala nodded. “You’re right. Hang on to me,” she said, holding out her hand.
Saira took a gentle grasp of Lanala’s hand and let the strange, powerful wielder of magic do the rest, making them disappear and whisk them off to the streets below where Meryn continued her endless battle with Silver. A battle that seemed to go on forever...
...
Meryn fell hard on her back, bouncing and skidding along the ground as Silver shoved her with all her might. The armour’s HUD was telling her of the damage that had been done as the two battled back and forth. Silver was an even stronger fighter than anyone thought. Meryn suspected that this was why she was chosen for the program when Weston began its super solider experiments.
Silver herself, however, wasn’t faring much better. She still had an open cut on her forehead and several welts and bruises from where Meryn landed several vicious hits with her powered suit. But now Silver had managed to regain the upper hand and strode toward her damaged and bruised opponent.
She just about managed to get herself to one knee when Silver reached her and took hold of the top of Meryn’s chest armour. Silver pulled her closer.
“Had enough?”
Meryn knocked her hand away and jumped back to her feet. She said nothing and charged at Silver again. Silver was backed against the wall of a nearby building and stepped to one side as Meryn reached her. The punch missed its target and crashed through the wall, taking a chunk of concrete with it as Meryn followed through and allowed her momentum to carry her toward Silver.
But Silver’s foot met her chest as soon as she did and sent Meryn to the ground hard on her back once again. She was quick to her feet, however, and this time Silver came at her. With a powerful jump, she launched herself at Meryn and looked to drive a heavy, flying kick right to her head.
This time, however, Meryn was much faster to react and grabbed hold of Silver’s leg in mid-air, stepping back and cracking the asphalt road with her body as she slammed her opponent down onto the ground. Silver groaned and rolled over as Meryn stepped back and continued holding her muscles tense.
“Once chance to give it up. It’s over,” Meryn said.
Silver growled and slammed both fists into the ground, quaking the very earth beneath her, and stood up tall again. When she did, she felt a sharp pain in her back and her left leg. Though she ignored the pain, Meryn noticed.
“You stop fighting right now and the pain won’t get any worse.”
“Idiot,” Silver said. “What exactly do you think it is that drives me forward? Pain is all I have. It feeds my wrath.” Silver leapt at her and shouldered Meryn to the ground again, bending down to pick her up and lift her high over her head.
Grimacing from the pain, Silver planted Meryn and the suit down on the ground as hard as she could, shaking the ground and shattering the road to pieces.
“Pain gives me strength!” Silver lifted Meryn again and threw her this time and she crashed through a street lamp, knocking it to the ground, and breaking a fire hydrant loose from it’s bolts before she skidded to a halt a few feet from the jet of water that was now soaking the broken street and Meryn’s powered suit.
Silver stepped into the stream of water and loomed above Meryn, her suit now badly damaged and she herself feeling the pain of every hit. Her opponent ignored the water that poured down onto her, soaking her hair, mixing with the blood and sweat on her face, and dripping down her skin.
“Pain is what made me...” Silver said, kneeling down and grabbing hold of Meryn’s chest plate. She punched the visor and cracked it, forcing Meryn to open it and reveal her face beneath it.
“You’ll know my pain, Maiden. You all will. For what they did to me...” Silver picked Meryn up again and slammed her to the ground.
“You think you’ve known pain!?” Silver ripped the helmet off of the suit and tossed it away. “They made me into a monster! They chose me and one other to play God with. You know who that other one was, Maiden?”
Meryn didn’t answer, trying to ignore the pain in her body but unable to break Silver’s grip anymore.
“I was supposed to marry him...” she said. “Soon as our tour was done. Discharged, back to society, and we could start our lives for real… But they!” She slammed Meryn to the ground again. “Fucking!” And Again. “Killed him!” And Again. “Whatever they gave us… his heart couldn’t take it. They ignored the signs and just kept on testing. And that big heart of his it just… it blew out! They broke it to pieces!”
“Silver...”
“Shut up!” Silver said, picking her up and tossing her away again. Meryn managed to stop herself from rolling but she was on her stomach now, trying to sit herself up. Silver picked her up and spun her around.
“But they made sure I lived. They didn’t want their damn test to fail. But they didn’t know what they made! They didn’t know what they brought into the world!”
Pulled inches from her opponents face, Meryn saw the tears of rage stinging Silver’s pale eyes. “This damn city… they see you as a symbol. A shield. You protect these bastards, knowing what they do.”
“I don’t protect people like them.”
“Oh, but you do. Every minute you stand in my way is protecting them. Every last person who works for me that you put away is another one of their greedy little lives saved. You are one of them. So… you think you know pain? Well I’m going to show it to you.”
Silver shoved Meryn down to the ground and this time the suit completely powered down. Its reserve power activated for the sole purpose of letting her eject so she did, crawling out as the armour unfolded around her and let her crawl out. But she didn’t get far. Silver grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and tossed her aside again.
“Bring them here!” she barked.
Meryn hadn’t noticed the subtle transmission Silver had received but the earpiece in her ear, despite their brutal fight, had not been damaged. And someone whispered in her ear that they had three captives on the way.
A dark van pulled up onto the broken road and several of Silver’s goons climbed out. They dragged out three people, all with their hands cuffed behind their backs, and brought them all forward. They forced them each to kneel and held guns to their heads, their hands only stayed by Silver’s lack of order.
Meryn managed to sit up, clutching at her stomach. “You wouldn’t...” she said.
“Wouldn’t I? I told you, I want you to understand pain. So... which one?”
Meryn narrowed her eyes.
“What?”
Silver strode to the three captives and stopped first in front of a raven-haired woman dressed in black.
“Your cop buddy? She’s good at rescuing you so I can imaging that would be a hard loss.”
“Silver stop,” Meryn said. Silver ignored her as she stepped behind the brown-haired, bearded man dressed in black and brown tactical armour.
“Your supposed sidekick. Looks like you two have a long history. I bet that would hurt, to see him take a bullet...”
“Silver, don’t you dare...”
She smiled wide as she stood behind the last one. He dared not look up and see the mix of rage and terror in his daughter’s gaze...
“I’ve heard tales of this one. Gathered intel, whispers from people... A heartwarming tale of a daughter and father reunited. And...” she raised her hand and made a motion to the man holding the gun to Drake’s head. The man did as she directed and stood in front of him, lowering the gun to point at Drake’s chest, right over his heart. “Even got him to tell me a neat little secret. Had to threaten to hurt you, of course. But he gave it up for his darling, sweet daughter...”
“Silver, I swear... if you do this-”
Silver smiled again and nodded to the other two goons who dragged Jonas and Mac back toward the van. “I think we’ve got ourselves a winner...”
Within her, Meryn felt such a mix of fear, pain, and pure rage that her heart... stirred. Something in her just seemed to feel like it snapped... She had lost her father once. And she wasn’t about to let it happen again.
As the scene unfolded, Lanala arrived with Saira but they both stopped dead. And, unfortunately for Lanala, she was starting to feel exhausted. Despite her power, it was far weaker in Weston and the extremes she had to go to in the past few hours had taken their toll.
“I see you over there,” Silver said. “You look tired. Think your little magic tricks can save them all in time? You move, you so much as flinch with your little magic... everyone here is dead.”
Though she thought about trying to save them, Lanala didn’t know if she had the strength to stop them all. And even if she did, there was still Silver to contend with and she could kill any of her captives with barely an effort. Knocking her out again would prove a difficult task. So all she could do was wait and watch Meryn.
“Pain, Maiden...” Silver continued, turning back to Meryn. “I can already see it. Now you’ll know what I felt when this damn city of yours took my whole life away...”
Meryn couldn’t explain what was happening to her. Her heart felt... stronger, somehow. Powerful. It thundered in her chest and she could feel all of her physical pain easing away. But the emotional pain, the anger, the fear, the utter despair at the thought of losing her father again... she grimaced and climbed to her feet.
“Meryn...” Drake said. “Oh, it’s happening...”
Silver noticed too and whirled around, grabbing him by the scruff of the neck. “What’s happening!?”
Drake would have smiled at the sudden fear in Silver’s eyes but he knew the legend all to well. The Dragonhearted of their homeland, when pushed to their limit, when their rage finally boils over...
“The Dragon’s Wrath...” he said.
“What the hell are you talking about, old man!?”
A furious cry, half human and half beast, erupted from behind her and something, a figure maybe, moved in a blinding flash of golden light and knocking the man with the gun to the ground. The other two holding Jonas and Mac fell just as quickly and another shout of pure rage spat forth as the golden figure became still.
Silver turned around to face it. Meryn was still Meryn, dressed as The Maiden. But her entire body seemed to glow with a golden aura. Sparks like flame danced from all around her body. Her golden eyes remained but there, in each pupil, burned a roaring fire.
She clenched her fists, face fixed into a permanent grimace of fury, flaming eyes boring straight through Silver’s.
“You’re still human. Too easy,” Silver said, rushing at her this time, not holding back and putting everything she had into her punch, aiming first for Meryn’s head.
Her eyes widened in shock when the lightning quick hand reached up and blocked Silver’s arm, knocking it aside, grabbing hold... and Silver couldn’t break her grip.
“What!?”
Meryn could not speak. Her mind was a blank. Silver was all she could see. She could not hear anything but white noise. The focus of all her fury stood before her, wide open...
Silver’s jaw cracked shut as Meryn’s fist met the bottom of it and the vicious uppercut laid her low. Meryn let her fall and Silver hit the ground hard, feeling the pain in her back again. But Meryn wasn’t finished.
With another beast-like cry of fury, Meryn picked Silver up and held her aloft in both hands. Drake watched in horror as he realized what she was about to do.
“Meryn, no!”
The movement was swift, brutal, and would have been deadly were it anyone else. As Meryn swung Silver downward, her right leg lifted and bent at the knee. Bending Silver over her knee from both sides, the woman’s spine came into direct contact with Meryn’s knee and everyone witnessing the scene winced at the sound of the sickening crunch and the cry of pain from Silver as she was discarded to the ground like nothing.
The pain for Silver was surreal and the anger she felt would have otherwise spurred her on... but she could no longer use her legs. Even her arms barely responded and she found herself short of breath.
Meryn stood still for a few moments, looking down at her defeated opponent, breathing heavily. But then she clutched at her chest and fell face down on the ground beside Silver. Lanala rushed in to catch her friend and laid her down gently. Saira rushed to her side as well.
“Oh God... is she all right?”
Lanala checked her breathing and pulse and nodded, watching the otherworldly glow fade away from around her body. “Whatever that was, it seems to have calmed down. Didn’t hurt her too bad just made her pass out.”
She looked up and met Drake’s eyes. “You’re going to have to explain that one,” she said.
...
Sitting on the bed with her head in her hands, Meryn could not believe what she had done when her friends had told her.
They had gotten Silver to a hospital with round the clock security and Lanala used the last of her strength to finally remove Silver’s strength from her so she was no longer superhuman. With her laying down to rest, Mac and Jonas both recovering a bit from their own ordeal, and Saira asleep beside her, there was no one else awake but her... and Drake.
Her father entered the room and noticed his daughter’s distressed state immediately.
“Little dragon... I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
“What the hell was that?” she asked, not raising her head. “How much control do I have over... that?”
“None, I’m afraid. That is the Dragon’s Wrath. It is very powerful but very dangerous. It only happens to the Dragonhearted when we are pushed beyond our limits. That takes a lot but perhaps, seeing what Silver was about to do-”
“Don’t bring it up again. I don’t ever want that to take hold of me again!”
“There is a way to... suppress it. Meditation and training with a master can help you to keep the Wrath held down. It nearly happened to me once. When... well, I need not remind you of that day...”
Meryn finally raised her head. “Oh, Dad... that was when-”
“Yes. When I saw that collector strike the girl you loved. I... I almost killed him. And I ruined your life that day...”
“No, Dad, no... You didn’t do that.”
“If I had just kept it in check...”
“It wasn’t your fault. I wanted to do the same thing to him.”
Drake smiled weakly. “I’m sure you did.” There was a pause and silence passed between them. “Can we agree on something?”
“What?”
“If you say everything that happened to you was not my fault... then neither was what happened to any of us. And what happened to Silver. That was the Wrath. Nothing more. It may be a part of us but... it is not who we are.”
Meryn sighed. “Fine, Dad. If that’s what it takes...”
Drake chuckled and put an arm around his daughter’s shoulders. “And yet here we sit, blaming ourselves anyway. We really are too alike, you know.”
Meryn managed a smile and leaned into her father’s hug, resting her head on his shoulder. They just sat there for a while, with each other, keeping each other calm. They both felt the bed shift as Saira stirred.
“Your lady love awakens, I suspect...” Drake said, whispering. “I will leave you two.”
Drake stood up but Meryn grasped his hand. “You don’t have to, you know.”
“I’m afraid I do, little dragon. Part of a father’s duty is knowing when to let his child live her life on her own. And this...” he gestured toward the bed where Saira lay. “This is your life. And I will leave you to it.”
“But... you’re my life too...”
Drake smiled and leaned down, kissing his daughter on the forehead.
“I’ll be around. As long as you’ll have me around, I will be here. For you always, little dragon.”
Meryn finally managed a smile. “Thank you. You two really should properly meet someday.”
“We will. And now, with a big job like that done... we may yet have time. Now go on. Live your life. See to your lady love, little dragon.”
Meryn just nodded and finally let go of her father’s hand to let him leave the room. When he shut the door, Saira finally woke up and sat up next to Meryn.
“You okay? I thought I heard voices...”
“Just talking to my Dad,” she said. “Nothing to worry about.”
“But you are...” Saira said, shifting closer and putting her arms around Meryn’s waist.
“I am... but it’ll be fine.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. You know why? Because we finally did it. Silver is done. Her influence is removed. People can maybe start to heal. And maybe... Weston might not need The Maiden as much anymore.”
“You think so?”
“Well, maybe that’s just wishful thinking but... it does help me free up some time.”
“Oh... it does?”
“It sure does. And I know exactly who I want to fill up all that time with,” Meryn said, leaning forward and planting a kiss on Saira’s lips, then just holding her gently in her arms. After a short while, she leaned back and met Saira’s eyes again.
“Thank you, sweetie...” Saira said.
“No, Saira. Thank you. You’re my entire life right now, you know that?”
“What about your friends?”
“They’re still important. But you... you’re everything.”
Saira smiled. “Well... same to you. My life. My everything.”
“Good. I’m glad we’re in agreement. And now that you’re awake... I had an idea. I’m still a little sore and I think I could use a break.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. Want to see where I came from?”
“You mean... your home?”
“Where I grew up, yeah. It’s... well, I’ll have to show you how to get there. It’s complicated.”
“I mean, sure. As long as you don’t run into any trouble.”
“Oh, honey, I’m hoping we do...” Meryn said.
“What?”
“Not that kind of trouble... you know what I mean. Our kind of trouble.”
Saira giggled. “Oh, okay. I get it. God, you’re the cutest when you’re flirting... but I get the feeling you’re just trying to distract yourself. You want to talk?”
“Not right now... I’ll let it all out when I’m ready. Right now...” Meryn pushed herself under the covers and laid down, taking Saira with her and cuddling her in her arms. “I’m pretty damn tired. Back to sleep, then?”
Saira nodded and snuggled up closer to Meryn. “Sounds like a plan,” she said, laying her head down and closing her eyes. “Sleep well, my superheroine...”
Meryn smiled. “You too, angel...”