UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Part IV

By Desmond Reddick and Stuart Fairchild

Haysboro, Alberta

Heather looked up from the ground to see her protégés before her. She was winded and injured, probably a broken rib or two, since being sent flying into a tree.

It was only a matter of time before she would be overwhelmed by the sheer number of her attackers, but she couldn’t give up. She had to keep them busy while her family got to safety. Now that they were, Heather was prepared to go down fighting, but, thanks to Beta Flight, she had a chance of getting out alive.

“Beta!” Earthmover commanded. “Protect Vindicator and take these pieces of shit down!”

Beta Flight was young, but not necessarily green. Their experience in the field outdoes most other super powered operatives in their age range. They set quickly to work, with military precision, attacking this new Chess Set.

The obsidian and ivory automatons attacked ferociously, but quickly succumbed to strategy. Earthmover crumbled the ground beneath them by slapping the already weakened solid ground beneath the grass. Radius pushed his force field at the two black robots, knocking them off balance towards Zuzha Yu, who delivered a heavy, bounding, two-footed kick to send them falling into the crumbled mantle at their feet.

Major Mapleleaf dodged hammer strikes from the large Russian mercenary, giving him strong body blows when he had the time. He knew that he would likely be unable to get the chance to defeat Hammer, but he was only trying to keep him occupied.

Murmur, who had been doing her best to avoid the robotic attackers during the melee, snuck up behind Hammer and touched his cheek.

“Give yourself up,” she said.

Immediately, Hammer lowered his huge weapon and kneeled.

Murmur smiled in self-satisfaction, having felt like she was useless the entire battle.

“Nice work, Arle—look out!” Mapleleaf screamed, but he was too late.

The long, sharp crackling blade of Sickle’s weapon was already sticking through her chest.

“Muh-muh-muh-muh-muhmmm…”

Murmur’s final words died in her throat as she slumped forward.

The battleground fell almost silent, the only sound being Murmur’s blood sizzling on the end of the sickle blade as it dripped to the cracked ground below.

Earthmover was the first to make a sound. It wasn’t a word or an incantation; it was a guttural scream that shook the world around them. Shakes fell off of the roofs of older homes in the area, windows cracked and shattered, and car alarms went off.

Brass Bishop dove toward the Russian mercenaries and clasped their shoulders, disappearing in a flash of yellow light. The white robots moved back to back and began firing blasts of kinetic energy from their fists.

Tears streaming down his face, Radius manipulated a force field around the two robots. Zuzha Yu placed her hand on the force field and, using the building rage as a motivator, used her powers to affect change on kinetic energy in a new way.

The kinetic blasts funneled and swirled into the air above the robots and came crashing down on top of them, crushing them under the concussive weight of their own power.

In the aftermath, they stood silent; Earthmover shook with rage, Zuzha Yu leaned up against Radius’ eternal force field as the two wept for their friend, Vindicator held onto a tree for stability, Major Mapleleaf tried but could not rise from his knees.

“I…I couldn’t—” he began.

“Let’s go,” Earthmover said.

Department H
Later

“I really think it’s for the best, Heather,” Mac said. “With Michael in charge, Madison in Prometheus Division, Snowblind still unresponsive to therapy, the team consists solely of Puck, Lil, Walter and me. And Walter’s still only part-time, and much of that is spent coaxing Aurora back to the team.”

“I agree, James. I was already thinking I’ve been away too much before…this happened.”

The couple grabbed for each others’ hands instinctively. The world—their world—had been one of constant change since they met. After the incident with Romulus and his grandfather, everything felt to Mac as if it had been pre-determined for him. Everything except Heather.

“So that leaves us with you,” Mac said, turning his attention to the woman in the room with them. “Some old new blood is what the program needs, and I honestly can’t think of a better mentor for our Betans and Gammans than you.”

“Great! Where’s my team?” the plucky new team leader asked.

“Their post-mission psych evaluations are being overseen by Sasquatch and Director Twoyoungmen. Why don’t you head north to the ranch and get the lay of the land. Manbot and Gamma will show you around, and Beta will be back in a few hours. It’s going to be hard on them all. Murmur…Arlette was a dear friend, but I think someone closer to their own age will have an easier time of helping them through this.”

“I’m up for it!” Persuasion said with a mix of optimism and worry.

She’d never been given a true leadership position before, and the only significant time she’d had as a field leader ended in a vicious attack from the Jackal. This time, though, she would be overseeing a team where even those with the least experience in Gamma Flight make her time in Beta Flight look bush league.

Times had changed, and she believed that she was ready to take this step. Though, leading the team through a tragedy would certainly be a trial by fire.

“Sounds good! You start effective immediately.”

Department H
Prometheus Division

Madison was quiet, his thoughts lost onto themselves. His concentration was divided with the conversation he had previously with Michael and James while his rage reflected on his fist bloodying Scorpio’s face in revenge. His hands ached, but there was a sense of pride with that. He knew what he should be doing, but his pure hatred screamed loudly in his heart.

Lil was worried about him—hell, everyone was. It’s not like he’d had the best run of mental health. This thing with Zodiac allowed him to focus, though. It gave him purpose. Drive. Thoughts drifted to his bruised knuckles and memories of pounding Scorpio into the concrete floor with them. A thin smile stretched across his face.

Madison’s attention perked once he felt the descent of the lift halt beneath his feet. The chime of the doors welcomed him as he entered the large lower level room of Department H, or Prometheus Division as it was officially named.

The room bustled with scientists and engineers, robots and computers either worked freely or with aide from a human counterpart; either way, the compressed noise resembled that of a school cafeteria. Each one worked on what appeared to be two or more projects, each one going about their business, barely recognizing his presence in the room.

“Well if I live and breathe, it’s Madison Jeffries.” It wasn’t the most pleasant of tones but it was a greeting none the less even though a condescending inflection could be heard. The voice belonged to Myra Haddock, a short-haired woman in a long white lab coat with a temper to match. She had an annoyed look on her face which completely sold her reputation as program director. “Welcome to the Pitt.”

“Myra, how good to see you again,” said Madison. “It’s not very often I see you with fire and brimstone not protruding from your mouth.”

Myra merely smirked. “Give it time, Madison. Give it time.”

“Anything I should know while I’m down here?”

“You will be working with the Hudson clone and myself,” Myra replied.

“That should be interesting.”

“Yes it will be,” Myra jeered. “Yes it will be.”

Madison was uneasy looking at the cold-faced Prometheus Director. “How come I think you are going to enjoy making my reassignment down here miserable?”

“Depends on how useful you are, Madison,” said Myra. “In all honesty, I’m surprised it took this long for you to get reassigned to the Pitt.”

“Why is that?”

“The fact that you slept with Hudson’s wife not too long ago I think would have created tension,” said Myra. “Teammate or no.”

An astonished Madison raised a finger to stop the conversation. “We were engaged back then, and we both thought he was dead.”

“Don’t have to explain to me anything, loverboy,” Myra chuckled. “Do you know what you will be working on?”

“The powers up above tell me I’m here to unlock the Zodiac Key.”

Myra nodded. “It’s a fascinating piece of technology.”

Madison facial expression quickly morphed into a stern focus. “Let us get one thing clear, Myra. I could care less of the nuts and bolts that make that thing run. I want to find the man who used it. We clear?”

“Crystal,” replied Myra. “Follow me.”

“I’ll be honest with you, Madison. I wasn’t the most thrilled person when I heard about your reassignment to Prometheus Division. The fact that you actually cut dirt with Hudson and Director Twoyoungmen in Alpha Flight means that you have more pull with my boss within my own department. I like things running smoothly here and I thought your presence could possible disturb that.”

“What changed your mind?” asked Madison.

A wide grin etched its way onto Myra’s face. “I remembered you’re a transmutator, able to manipulate metal, glass, and plastic on the atomic level. Let’s be real, that is a useful ability in my line of work.”

“I’m overjoyed that I make you so happy.”

“Then allow me to return the favor.” Myra placed her hand over a palm scanner, opening another set of sliding doors revealing an isolated chamber within the massive room of Prometheus Division. “I believe this is what you are looking for?”

In the center of the room, suspended in midair by a bluish force field, was the ankh-shaped device known as the Zodiac Key. Prometheus Division had three computers connected to monitoring lasers, each device emitting a soft form of energy which barely scratched the surface of the Zodiac Key in their attempt to analyze the weapon.

There was a sparkle in Madison’s eye as he stared intently at the Zodiac Key. He could feel a rush of energy engulf him, his hair on his body standing straight in excitement. A devilish grin appeared on the corner of his face as he could think of only one thing.

“Let’s gut this damn thing.”

Thunder Bay

The Alpha jet hovered to a landing upon the worn grassy strip in view of the large wooden ranch. Their newly assigned training director, Persuasion, stood tall with the rest of Gamma Flight standing behind her as the rear doors of the aircraft opened.

“This is B-A-D,” Ouija uttered softly.

The massive Earthmover was the first to exit the craft, his head down in shame trying not to look at anyone as he headed toward the Barn. Zuzha Yu followed; her gaze diverted elsewhere, much like Earthmover, but the once-confident Betan now remained silent. Major Mapleleaf stood tall, yet Gamma Flight could see his bloodshot eyes as he tried to halt the tears from streaming down.

Radius remained seated in the dark, his head resting in his cupped hands barely moving. After an awkward silence, he rose slowly from his seat, biting his lower lip in anger as he stomped out from the craft.

“Jared…” his brother, Flex, called out.

“Not now, Adrian,” snapped Radius. “Not today.”

Ghost Girl rested a comforting touch on Flex’s shoulder. “Give him time, Adrian.”

“It’s just like last time, Lil,” Flex muttered as he fixed his gaze at his dejected brother. “I think it might even be worse this time.”

 It had been awhile, but Flex had seen this look from his brother before. They had just joined Alpha Flight under General Clarke’s tenure, and, during a battle with Zodiac, they thought they had lost Walter Langkowski in battle. It turned out to be another Sasquatch, more primal in its actions, yet the loss of a member still rested heavily on Radius. This appeared even worse. This time he seemed more isolated and dejected. They had both started in Alpha Flight with Murmur. The savage Sasquatch was just a co-worker they barely knew. Murmur had grown far past that definition. They cared about her, laughed with her, cried with her. And now, it was all just a memory.

Persuasion slowly walked behind Flex and Ghost Girl. “Radius will handle Murmur’s death in his own way. I didn’t know her, but I know she will be missed. It might not mean much, but I can guarantee that everyone in Alpha Flight will help Radius and everyone else through this. It’s what Alpha Flight is, a family.”

“So it will get better?” Ghost Girl asked.

Persuasion’s face didn’t turn. “I’m not going to lie to you, Lil. I’m not going to lie to anyone here. Sometimes it doesn’t get better. Sometimes it gets even worse. Sometimes you will wake up in the morning and ask, ‘why me?’”

Flex turned to Persuasion with a tear forming in the corner of his eye. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“It wasn’t meant to an empty platitude, Adrian. It’s the truth. It’s something many of us weren’t afforded when we joined.”

Flex nodded his head. “So when do we get back to work?”

“When you are ready,” replied Persuasion. “When we are all ready.”

Persuasion exited toward the Barn with the rest of Gamma Flight eventually following her lead. Each member of Gamma Flight passed the lumbering red mechanical mass known as Manbot on the way. The other members had now opened quite a distance in front when Manbot’s movements slowed dramatically, even losing height on his two mechanical legs to what could be defined as a slouch. No one was around to see the momentary shutter while a spark originated from the eye of Manbot.

“<CHK> Legacy <CHK><CHK> Initiate <CHK>.”

Westminster Quay
New Westminster, BC

The small municipality almost equidistant from Vancouver and its other closest suburbs is a bit of a cultural hub. A busy, upscale shopping area that provides as much a home for fisheries and lumber workers as it does those in the fiber-optics industry, New Westminster is as much a tourist destination as it is a residential area.

Though much of the commerce has shifted over the generations, the small West End area maintains much of its Victorian charm. Though, like any area faced with economic hardship, there is always the element of crime and effects of poverty.

As a result, not much activity can be found late on weeknights on the quiet, main drag of Columbia Street. With so little going on, Nemesis knew that Wild Child would smell her coming before she reached the rooftop of the five-storey commercial building. The whine of the Skytrain departing Columbia Street Station would make it difficult to hear her, at least.

Nemesis bounded from the fire escape on the building opposite the flat-topped brick meeting place with her two ninja companions. Only she made noise when they all landed on the gravel roof. Wild Child already knew where she was coming from. He crouched, growling in his black and purple costume. Flashback stood behind him in a battle-ready stance in a white-on-black costume.

“Why are we here? Don’t we have anything better to do than put ourselves out in the open like this?” Wild Child hissed.

“And who the hell are they?!” Flashback demanded, referring to the two white ninjas at her side.

“You’re here because I told you to be,” Nemesis said as she strolled towards her teammates, “and they are insurance.”

In on swift motion, Nemesis flicked her Soul Sword from its scabbard, cutting Wild Child’s throat deeply with her first slice. Before the super-fast mutant could put his hands to his throat, the sword had already been thrust into Flashback’s mouth, through his brain, and punctured his skull before being pulled out.

Blood exploded from Wild Child’s throat onto the gravel rooftop. It sounded like a mass of vomit hitting the ground, followed by the patter of the spray that came after the initial downpour. He clutched at his neck while blood streamed between his fingers and down his arms. Staggering, he finally fell.

Flashback, blood trickling slowly from his mouth, watched Nemesis cut down Wild Child for several seconds before realizing that he, too, was dead.

“Whuh—” was all that he was able to muster before he too collapsed into the gravel below.

“It’s done,” Nemesis said to the two ninjas. “Let’s go.”

They looked at the carnage she brought upon her former teammates, and they bowed to her before leaping off the roof and into the night behind her.