A Momentary Lapse of Ethics 02

"Jackal Girl, is there any chance you can track Princess Bloodstone's portal?" Crimson Veil asked.

"I can try, but I'm more likely to be one step behind them," she admitted. "Hang on." Jackal Girl took out some small statues from her pouch and began arranging them in a circle.

She intoned the ancient spirits of Egypt for assistance and this time Anubis didn't answer; Ma 'at appeared instead of her patron. Ma 'at was miniscule, maybe ten inches tall and ghostly, but she laid out a series of hieroglyphs for everyone to see. That done, she returned into the dust from whence she came. Jackal Girl seemed disturbed.

"She tells us we have four days before we face ruin," Jackal Girl prophesied.

"Does she tell us what we are going to be facing?" Lady Dynamic asked. Jackal Girl shook her head.

"Well, of course not. That would actually be useful," shot Technetronic angrily. Jackal Girl looked at him with a hurt expression on her face.

"Gods are rarely forthcoming with direct answer – something about us having free will. They gave us a timeline so let's use it," Crimson Veil directed. "Technetronic, start assembling a list of all the places the Regents might need Shadow Gloves help getting into. Dr. Life and T-Rex will take Day watch from here on out. We can make excuses for a five day absence from affairs."

"Lady Dynamic, you are with me on the Night watch. Jackal Girl, go after the magical angle. Shadow Glove is slippery where magic is concerned, so what sites can't Princess Bloodstone not blast her way into? Why would she need a thief?" Jackal Girl gathered up her idols and nodded. "Then let's get moving people," she ordered. The team split up and began counting down the last four days before something happened.

(Saturday Night 4 Days Later)

"Dr. St. Johan," an older woman with short white hair said, "it is pleasure to see you. Who is this wonderful woman on your arm?"

"Mrs. Whitaker, this is Paige. She's a friend of mine," he answered smoothly. Paige worked hard not to glare at the woman. Conrad had asked her to be polite and the performance was fantastic.

Of course if the high society types knew they had one of the Tri-Cities most notorious villainesses in their midst they would panic like so many chickens with a fox in the coop. She grinned inwardly at that. She also wondered how many of the she had robbed at one time or another.

"I have a rare medical condition that requires the doctor's personal attention," Paige smiled.

"Nothing terminal I hope," Mrs. Whitaker sympathized.

"Death is something we all must face," Paige grinned.

"I think we are making great strides in getting Paige to a state she can live with," Conrad clarified.

"Paige, I wish you all the best of luck," Mrs. Whitaker smiled and moved off.

"If you had told me that socializing with these people was part of the itinerary I would have come as Princess Bloodstone," Paige whispered.

"Do you like the ballet?" Conrad countered.

"It's wonderful, but intermission is driving me nuts," she hissed back.

"Let's return to our seats then," Conrad offered. The made their way back to their seats and waited for the show to resume.

"So, why didn't you bring your girlfriend here instead of me?" Paige asked.

"Still fishing eh? Saturday nights are for you Paige," he explained. That made Paige's heart twinge.

"Do you want to be with her right now?" she said softly.

"Of course, but I want to be with you too, so I'm here," he smiled to her.

"Maybe you, me and your mystery woman could triple date some time?" she suggested.

"Triple date involves three couples so what I think you meant is a three-person date and wouldn't that be awkward?" he answered.

"I'm still not sure she exists," Paige pouted. "Maybe she's a dodge you created to not have to be with me all the time."

"Paige, we are enemies six days out of the week," he chuckled. "You have a hard enough time putting up with me one day a week as it is. I'd like more time, but I don't see how as things stand now."

Paige kept quiet after that. The show was beautiful, elegant, and breathtaking just like she'd hoped it would be. Part of her wanted to round the whole ballet company and keep them for her private pleasure but another smaller, newer part of her knew that would taint their magic and eventually consume them. Not everything you grabbed you could hold on to.

Back at Conrad's place Paige had two choices to make and both involved matters of trust. One was something entrusted to her, and the other was entrusted to him. Before she transformed she put a hand in Conrad's knowing that created a bridge that he could use to destroy her.

"Conrad – Dr. Light, I want you to leave the Alliance. Go away somewhere and let tomorrow pass without you being here." There, she'd done it. Now he could take her down easily.

"It's okay Paige," he smiled knowingly. "We know tomorrow is the big day for whatever you have planned. I can't leave; you can't leave. Each of us will do the best we can."

"Don't you get it? We are going to destroy you. Tomorrow is it!" she shouted.

"I understand. You've warned me and I thank you for that, but that's not why we are here tonight," he responded calmly.

"Didn't you hear me?" she sputtered.

"Of course I did, but tonight Paige I'm here for you, and only you. If tomorrow you feel you have to destroy me, well, that's tomorrow. Do what you have to do. I've never put constraints on you concerning your deal with the Regents."

"You are an idiot," Paige declared.

"No, I'm a hero. Heroes don't betray people. Heroes do their best, especially when things look their worst. Being a hero doesn't mean you are going to win, but it means you won't give up trying," he informed her.

"Trying? Like how you are trying to help me?" she sighed.

"Precisely," he confirmed. "I help you because I think you are a good person, because I think you could use some help, and because I can be of use to you, but in the end all that matters is what you are willing to do."

Paige felt the transformation coming on. Even she could tell the pain was diminished somewhat after each 'normal' time. Each time she felt alive a little longer and she knew she was throwing that all away. She removed her evening gown and donned her costume. Once more she noted how the doctor watched her exquisite body move. She'd miss that.

"I could take you with me now," Princess Bloodstone announced.

"That would break our deal," he responded.

"I am Princess Bloodstone and I decide what deals I will and will not keep," she declared. "You are coming with me."

"No," replied Dr. Life.

"Conrad ... I want to keep you safe," surprised that she found herself pleading.

"I know, but that can't happen," he answered. Princess Bloodstone lashed out with twin energy tentacles, but Dr. Life dodged them both. Two pieces of furniture paid the price. She notices that he was trying to get to something in the kitchen so shot a blood red blast in that direction.

Only when he popped a cylinder out of a vase did she realize he'd faked her out. Before she could stop him, he slammed the object into the ground and the whole world started shrieking. Bloodstone managed to erect a sonic barrier after several long and painful seconds. Now she wanted to punish Dr. Life.

She saw him moving to one of the glass windows and she thought she had him ... right until he threw himself out of the nonexistent barrier. The sonic grenade has shattered the surrounding glass and now there was nothing to stop him from leaving the building except for the fact they were eight stories up.

While not of much use in the fast paced world of combat, Dr. Life had the ability to channel energy into exposed body parts he knew were going to get hurt. It took time and concentration and he had enough of both as he sprinted out the window and dropped to the ground. Instead of breaking both his legs, amongst other things, he felt a sharp slap to his feet and he was off running.

Princess Bloodstone looked out of the broken window and saw her quarry running away. She screamed in rage. She wanted to hunt him down and make him suffer for defying her. She also hoped he would somehow get away. She tried opening a portal but it failed; Jackal Girl's wards still held. Instead she summoned up the energy and flew into the night sky. The Regents' plan was too close to completion to waste time on a pointless super-powered struggle.

(Alliance HQ – Sunday Morning)

Any lump-head with a stealthy superpower could imagine themselves a thief, but a true professional honed both natural and supernatural talents. Shadow Glove was one of those exceptional people. Anyone of the multi-million dollar high tech thieves could have found a way past Technetronic's defenses. A few could have found their way past Jackal Girl's wards, but only Shadow Glove could do both.

Mind you, Shadow Glove was hardly inspired to do this performance. It had no grace and charm, it wasn't particularly profitable – she doubted the Psychic King would reward her with anything but a slow and painful death – and well, there was that matter of dying. She wasn't afraid of the defenses killing her; Technetronic was famous for his non-lethal gadgets and those would be the front line of defense.

She was afraid of the implications of what she was doing. For one of the few times in her life she was worried about the moral implications of her work. She knew she wasn't doing the right thing; she was rarely doing the right thing, but now she was worried about doing the wrong thing. Unfortunately life wasn't being kind enough to throw her a morally ambiguous bone, so she did what she did and moved on.

The first target was a real bear and it took her four hours to get to. She set up the timer and moved to the second location. She had two hours to get there and it took all of her not-inconsequential skill to pull it off in time. She set the large bloodstone into the heart of the Egyptian octagon and watched the fireworks begin. Actually, she began running for her life.

At the center of the Alliance HQ the team had gathered as a reaction force to any attack on the various guarded facilities around the city that could be the focus of the Regents of Wrath's attack. The alarms went off and Crimson Veil turned to Technetronic.

"Where is the attack going down?" she barked. Technetronic check his systems.

"Here," he answered right as the main power went down. Emergency lighting kicked in but Technetronic's systems were mostly blank.

"Crimson," Jackal Girl whispered, "I've lost control of the magic in the area."

"What? How bad?" Crimson Veil asked hurriedly.

"I'm checking," Jackal responded.

"All my systems seem to be compromised," wondered Technetronic. "That could only happen at the core."

"Shadow Glove," muttered Crimson Veil. "People, we are in the wrong place. We need to get out of here."

"Wait," Technetronic called out, "I can fix this. Give me a second."

"Lady Dynamic, Dr. Life, move out and check on civilian personnel. We need everyone out of this building." As they moved to the doorway, the large metallic blast doors slammed into place.

"I don't like the look of that at all," T-Rex said at which point he turned into small swift two legged creature with big eyes and a darting head; a creature built for agility and speed.

"What about the door?" Lady Dynamic asked.

"Break it down," Crimson Veil ordered.

"Wait, I can ..." Technetronic began.

"No time," Crimson Veil responded. "Something is going on and we can't learn about it staying here." Lady Dynamic flew at the door with all her might. Her first blow stung her hand and dented the door but she kept at it.

"Crimson, all the magical wards have been turned against us. I can dismantle them as we run across them, but the only way to reverse the process is to get to the shrine," Jackal Girl reported.

Crimson Veil now had three things to do; get to the computer core, the shrine, and get the people out and her instincts were telling her she was missing something. She cursed under her breath.

"We are going to gather people as we go along, but we are all getting out of here now," she ordered. Technetronic blanched.

"How are we going to get back in?" he asked.

"They've taken the building away from us. We have to get and figure out how they did what they did before we can attempt to get back inside," she explained. "We don't want to get captured by our own defenses."

The door came crashing down and the heroes began exiting the control room. Lady Dynamic hadn't covered five meters before five grabbling wires surrounded her and held her fast. With a quick flex she snapped them.

"That wasn't so bad," she started to say as a blast of gas hit her in the face and made her crash to the ground.

"Sorry," Technetronic shrugged. "This place is loaded with defenses and they seem to be turned against us."

"Technetronic, you designed the system. Navigate us through it," Crimson told him. Technetronic took point but they hadn't traveled ten meters more before he barely managed to miss being seared by his own creation.

"It is not supposed to do that," he exclaimed. Lady Dynamic attacked it and tore it out of the wall. Technetronic examined it and his brow furrowed.

"Holy shit this thing is lethal. Something has ... the nanites! We are infested with nanites," Technetronic growled.

"What does that mean?" Jackal Girl asked.

"It means the systems in this building are being altered," he answered.

"And that means we have to get out of here," Crimson Veil said.

"We have company," pointed Dr. Life at a section of the wall. Lady Dynamic ripped open the section and a slightly singed Shadow Glove rolled out.

"Pleasure to meet all of you here," Shadow Glove chirped happily. "A funny thing happened on the way to the office – it tried to kill me."

"What was your role in this and what did the Regent's promise you?" Crimson Veil snarled.

"Why are they trying to kill us in our own home?" Lady Dynamic added.

"Oh, they don't want to kill the rest of us, Lady Dynamic; they only want to kill you. It seems that no matter what they throw against you they can't beat you, so they are hoping this building can do it for them," Shadow Glove grinned. "Sucks to be the rest of us though, since this building is going to try and kill all of us while trying to kill you."

"Why me?" Lady Dynamic moaned.

"The bad part about being unkillable is that people create new ways of trying to kill you," Crimson Veil answered.

"Give the lady a cigar," beamed Shadow Glove. "Everyone else they've taken down, but they've never been able to take down Lady Dynamic and what's the use of taking over the city if she comes along and takes each one of them down in turn."

"So they are really getting my building to kill her," muttered Technetronic.

"Well, it is the most heavily fortified building in the city," Jackal Girl consoled him.

"But I designed it to be non-violent," he groaned.

"Thus the need for the nanites," Dr. Life pointed

"Technetronic, what is the least defended section of this complex? That will give us the best chance of survival," Crimson said.

"The closest place would be Food Storage," he immediately answered.

"Let's go there then," Crimson Veil states and the team moved off. Two more near-death traps later and they were safely absconded in the larder.

"Shadow Glove, is there any contingency for Lady Dynamic leaving?" Crimson Veil asked.

"That derails the programing I think. They wanted to take over the complex once she was dead, so if the system can't find her for any reason, it should deactivate," the thief informed them.

"We need to split up. Lady Dynamic and I will make for the lobby. Once she escapes the program trying to kill her should stop and we will need to regain the facility before they attack," Crimson Veil decided.

"No," Dr. Life countered, "I go with Dynamic. I'm better at keeping her alive so she gets out." Crimson and Life locked gazes for a moment then she nodded. Lady Dynamic and Dr. Life raced from the hidey-hole.

"We aren't going to make it are we?" Lady Dynamic asked the veteran once they were moving.

"Not likely," he observed.

"Why did you come with me?" Dynamic chuckled as she ripped another water cannon turned into a hydraulic drill out of the wall.

"I wanted her to have the best chance to survive," he told her.

(Aftermath)

Psychic King kicked the deceased body of Lady Dynamic and smiled. His perfect plan had been executed with precision. Princess Bloodstone knelt by the body of Dr. Life.

"He's not dead yet," she told him. Razor Claw whirled in anger.

"Spare him," the King commanded. "He may yet prove to be an asset once he is brought around to my way of thinking." Princess Bloodstone carefully hid her smile.

"Let's go round up the rest of them," Psychic King laughed. The rest of the team surged into the complex. Corpse Wail's minions would stand watch over the bodies until the Regents returned. They caught up with Jackal Girl and T-Rex in the Control Room where they fought ferociously buying time for Technetronic to ... almost get to the computer core and thus regain control of the system.

Only when they had him in custody did Princess Bloodstone note that Crimson Veil had gotten away.

"Want me to go after her?" Shadow Glove asked as she stepped up behind the group. Psychic King and Razor Claw rounded on her angrily.

"Why didn't you stop her?" King growled.

"You didn't ask me to go toe-to-toe with her," Shadow Glove said with a Cheshire cat grin. "So, when do I get my reward?"

"Consider your life reward enough," Psychic King scoffed.

"Can I go then?" Shadow asked. Psychic King returned his attention to the captured band of heroes and gave a regal dismissal. Shadow Glove made to step away but found Princess Bloodstone barring her path.

"Can I help you with something Princess?" Shadow Gloved beamed up at the taller woman.

Bloodstone glared at her for several seconds then dismissed her as well. Shadow Glove ghosted out of the fallen fortress, noticing the still bodies of Lady Dynamic and Dr. Life. She didn't stop shadow stepping until she was safely hidden. She was still coming to grips with what she'd done and what she was planning to do.

Princess Bloodstone shook Jackal Girl's head by the chin. The young mystic's hands were bound behind her back with bloodstone energy. Jackal Girl's eyes struggled to focus. When she finally did her eyes crackled with hate.

"He trusted you," she seethed.

"He's alive but Dynamic is dead," Princess Bloodstone whispered. "You would be wise to obey me if you want to stay alive. Once Psychic King has no more use for you, he'll end your life."

"Save it for the man who cared about you, Witch," Jackal Girl spat. "If I get the chance I'll claw your eyes out and exile you to the Western Desert." Princess Bloodstone backhanded her and instantly regretted it. Jackal Girl licked the blood from the side of her mouth but the intensity of her eyes didn't dim.

"Listen to me Dog Girl, I'm trying to save your life," Bloodstone hissed.

"Why?" Jackal Girl snorted.

"Because he'd want me to," she said before the words really impacted on her. Jackal Girl gave no response and Princess Bloodstone went back to watching the rest of the prisoners.