Sky High After Dark: Siren's song

"But..."

"I promise the next superhero base I go to, you're at the top of the list, okay?"

"Fine," Tazia sighed in annoyance. "But I better be going to the next one," she warned in her best wifely tone.

"I promise," Aron nodded, getting a quick kiss when Aminah and Carl appeared around the corner of the wall. "We'll be safe; I'll try not to cause too much trouble," he said, cutting off her retort, grinning madly at the huff that got out of her.

******

Meanwhile, somewhere off in a remote part of the world...

Crime lords, Kingpins, evil masterminds, and their underlings secretly gathered to discuss the threat they now faced. Something that they never thought they would ever face. A hero that is willing to kill. A hero who had taken out the strongest man in the world and survived. The man who foiled the plot in DC. The very same man who nearly touched space and lived.

"We need to stop this man?! We all know it's only a matter of time before we are like the syndicate that he took out over a week ago," shouted out a very volatile man as the barrel of his gun tapped on the table he was standing over.

The gathered men and women scrambled to their feet when they all watched how the speaker's face quickly sunk in; then, his once form-fitting suit was now hanging off his body before dropping onto the table. High heels clicked on the floor. The flash of silver caught the light as her pale, silky, tantalizing leg jutted out of the shadows. Her grey, bordering on white, purposely torn skirt swayed between her legs, and a belt of metal skulls lined her waist. Their eyes were captivated by those alluring hips the light illuminated, then fear once they were met with the face of the woman that had snuck into their meeting. They all knew who had come - The Banshee!

"Good evening, gentlemen and ladies," her cold, dead smile stretched from ear to ear, "do forgive my intrusion, yet the man irked me," Banshee hissed evilly. The buckle of the man's belt scraped along the table's surface as she pushed his dried-out corpse off of it. They all listened to that sickening thud when it hit the floor. "However, my employer didn't pay for me not to kill anyone, so..." Rolling her hand, gesturing for them to ask their questions.

"And why shouldn't we just kill you right now?" asked one of the more prominent crime lords.

"Seriously?" Banshee looked at him as if he was an idiot. "Do you honestly think I came here... alone?"

"And just why are you here in the first place, and who is this employer of yours?" asked a regal, middle-aged woman from across the room.

"You see, my boss has something in common with all of you," Banshee uttered indifferently as she checked her nails, ensuring she didn't crack a nail. "So he sent me and a few others down here to strike a deal. If not, well... I could go looking nineteen for a very long time," she said in a sinister tone.

"Well, speak, we are not going to be playing your little game," the mother-of-pearl glistened along the ball of the cane in the light as a towering figure stepped out into it. "I'm not one so easily cowed, so speak your peace or prepare to face your death."

"Cute little man," Banshee smirked wickedly as her eyes flashed dangerously, "very well, God knows I don't want to be here in this dank little hovel any longer than I need to. As to the deal, you and he face the same foe, the hero named Void; you and he have both failed to bring this hero down. However, if you and he joins up, your strength combined might be enough to overcome the strongest man on the planet."

"And just who is paying you to speak on his behalf?"

"The Collector," Banshee said factually.

******

"Thank you for coming," Nightshade greeted as best as she could, standing on one leg while her teammate held her steady and holding firm to her crutches. "Please, please, know I never once meant to upset you. I know how we reached out mustn't put me in a good light. But I assure you, Mr. Carter, that was never my intention."

"Yeah, got that; I take it that's either new or about to come off," Aron spoke, looking down at her right leg.

"Old, actually, it will be removed tomorrow. My tailer was working on my new suit before he passed; however, he didn't have an apprentice, nor did he pass down his techniques to anyone in his family. So, since then, I've been looking for a reasonable suit-maker, and as the days passed and I was having no luck with one, since before the events that happened with our mutual friend and the core members that formed this base. Since then, those that used to work with us have distanced themselves from anything to do with our team. Not that I can blame them, I would, too, doubt us if I didn't know exactly what those of us that remain; I know what lies in their hearts. I know you don't want to hear our woes; I only told it to you so you can understand why my comrades showed up as they did."

"Ah, I see," Aron mused. "And our mutual friend, just how did you get him to give you my number?"

"I would love to tell you all about it, but might we do this sitting down?" Nightshade asked sheepishly.

"Of course, lead on; I'm sure you don't want to be standing out in the open for too long," Aron spoke, gesturing for her to take charge before peering back, noting Carl and Aminah pushing the scanner and weaver on the reversed engineered gravity drives he had created that were stable under heavy loads since Aron was playing up the act that he was a powerless human.

"Thank you, you won't believe how bad I'm looking to get off these things," Nightshade sighed as she started off towards the front entrance of her base. "Well, to answer your question, it was about a week before I was injured when our friend and I had a conversation about his suit. I've been at his side enough to know how good his suit was or the material it was made out of. I know he's invulnerable; it's not the fact that bullets flatten against him. No, it's the fact that after all that abuse under gunfire, I know how tough it is. I know, given the tech in our friend's suit, you're an excellent maker. I'm just very thankful that you agreed to help me, given our rude greeting."

"So you're saying tailers around here are refusing to do business with you?" Aron's mind raced at what this prospect represented.

"Sadly, yes, I have your money if that's what..."

"Keep your money; I have a better deal for you if you and your team members care to hear it," Aron stated, pitching his spur-of-the-moment idea. He personally knew every one of them was a decent person. In a legal sense, he couldn't say about them personally. Noting the surprise on Nightshade's face, looking at him, wondering if he was joking or not.

"Okay, and what would that be?" Nightshade asked, seeing her friend stepping up to her side from the corner of her eye.

"You wear my suits exclusively, free of charge, of course," Aron said with a warm smile, noting how Nightshade's mind seemed to shut down.

"You mean... you'd work with us in ensuring we're fitted properly with the suits that are needed to handle such a life?"

"Yes, but such an undertaking will have to wait for a few months since my factory isn't up and running just yet. But I assure you that once it is, your suit needs will be taken care of." Aron said, clearly seeing that took Aminah and Carl by surprise. "But with a little advertising thrown in, of course."

"Oh?" Nightshade was not about to become some corporate lap dog.

"Just when anyone asks, you roll up the left sleeve and show off my maker's mark," Aron said, looking around when they entered her base. Seeing some changes since the last time he was there. "Are those terms acceptable to you?" he asked, looking around for somewhere private and large enough for him to operate in. "Can we use that room?" Aron inquired, pointing at it.

"You sure we have plenty of open space?" Nightshade gestured to their surroundings.

"Umm..." Feeling Aminah's and Carl's eyes on him when he got a little bashful, leaning in, "The normal way for this to work is for you to be nude, and I doubt you want your teammates to see you like that, plus I doubt you want your identity known. But seeing how you're probably not okay with getting nude, your underwear will be fine; I just have to program the scanner to accommodate for it," Aron whispered into her ear.              

"Ah, yes, then that would be the best place for it," Nightshade nodded in agreement, feeling her cheeks heat as she did.

"Here's my card, have your people get in contact with my people, but no more house calls, we clear?" Aron stated, holding out his business card that read: Aron Shawn Carter, Owner of Mist Manufacturing and Technology Corporation.

"Firewalker, mind taking that to her for me," Nightshade asked, nodding down to the card.

"Sure, Night, I'll be right back," Firewalker said low before bounding off to their agent, who handles such matters on the team's behalf.

"Might I inquire if we do decide to take you up on your offer and if we need a new suit, will you be able to help?" Nightshade asked as Aminah helped her down into a rather soft chair as she watched Aron typing on his phone to someone. "Thank you," she said softly, smiling back at Aminah's warm smile.

"Yes, in that case, I would, but you have to understand, the time it takes to make enough thread to make a single suit is two weeks, so until my factory is up and running, two is my limit given restraints I'm under. However, to do so, they will have to come to me; I'll get a nice little place, away from prying eyes, where you and your team can come and go without too much worry about being seen," Aron said, walking over to one of the crates that were on the same hover pad as his scanner was. The metal latches popped loose; their tinging sound filled the room before he opened the lid. Pulling out an eight-inch tablet from the form-fitting foam. Powering it on, so Veil could sync with it while he went to unpack his scanner. Directing Carl with his finger on what to move to give them the space he would need. Walking over to Nightshade with an extra tablet in hand. "Here, you might as well read on how to understand the suit's basic functions while you wait on us," Aron said, holding it out to her.

"Do what?!" Nightshade muttered in shock; while yes, she didn't like his tone of voice, yet it was the fact the suit had functions, to begin with.

"My suits have three basic functions built into them. A homing beacon in them that will go off, alerting any and all officials within the distance of it when you're in immediate danger of dying. The next one is the first aid feature that will apply some basic first aid to you, say should, and that's a very low probability, anything gets through my suit say a bullet, then the nano smart wires that are embedded throughout the suit will work to remove the projectile and suture you up, so you don't bleed to death while you're waiting on medical personnel. The third one is based on the subject's powers in how the suit functions in conjunction to said powers," Aron said informatively. "That is all I can manage on a portable device; however, that would entail you telling me how your powers function on the basic level, or I could disable that feature."

"Do you mean that the suit would do some special things if I tell you how my powers work?" Nightshade asked, watching how Aron pulled up a chair beside her while the woman that was with him went to shut the far door. Also, the nod the two of them shared as the woman, and her male companion moved past him and out the other door and closed it behind them.

"In a manner of speaking, yes, depending on how your powers work in the first place," Aron spoke in a warm tone as he brought up a short video of Isabel demonstrating how the suit responds to how it reacts to a metahuman's power.

"I know her; she's a part of that group our friend helps out, so you've worked with heroes before?" Nightshade asked, truly reading what this new suit of hers could do.

"I have, but on a small scale, with limited resources."

"I take it you're the one that made those... things?" Nightshade inquired, nodding to the hovering platforms, pondering how beneficial Aron would be to them.

"I did, although I'm just copying something from a friend of mine," Aron admitted.

"Still, never seen anything like that, hover cars, yes, that," flicking her dangling finger at it, "not so much, quite impressive," Nightshade praised.

"Thank you, Aminah, my R&D director, the woman that just walked out of here; she helped me to get the kinks out of it," Aron stated humbly.

"It activates by skin," Nightshade said out of the blue.

"Huh?"

"How my powers work, I mean."

"Oh," Aron mused, catching on. Quickly bringing up the suit matrix design interface. Opening up the program that dealt with how the nano wire would behave, "Okay, is it like a twitch? If so, is it like on a specific area of your body? This way, I can input it into the nano wire to only activate if they sense that tell in that area alone."

"Oh?!" Nightshade muttered, breathing out a sigh of relief, thinking he was trying to trap her. "It's more like my skin is tightening where your shoulder blades meet," she said, displaying the gesture to him. Looking down in confusion when Aron held out a digital caliper to her.

"I need to know the thickness of your mask; I didn't want to reach up and do it myself... that could go badly," Aron said, trying to lighten the mood as Nightshade nodded. "But I need to know the thickness of your mask to allot the difference in the scanner when I start to make your new suit," he spoke, waving to where the weaver sat hovering. "Just need a few measurements," Aron stated, pointing out where he needed them on his face when Nightshade took the caliper from him without another word once he had explained it to her. "There now, I'll go get Aminah; she can administer the scan just as well as I can."

"So, just my underwear and mask?" Nightshade asked for clarification as Aron rose to his feet.

"It's not ideal, but it will work," Aron assured her, walking towards the door when Nightshade's hands went to the buttons of her blouse.

"So, Aron, why did you bring me along on this trip when you know Tazia would love to be here?" Carl asked as they waited on Aminah to complete the scan.

"Well, if someone finds out who Void is, between now and the next time Tazia and I are seen out in public together once Saturday is over, it will keep her safe, and should anything happen to us, the kids will at least have one of us around. Plus, if I have to deal with a grumpy Tazia once we get back, you'll have to deal with Neil and Chery," Aron answered, lifting his eyebrows at his wicked plan.

"Now that's just uncalled for, Aron," Carl grumbled in a disproving voice.

"No, it's what you get for eating my strawberry turnover," Aron replied with a sinful grin on his lips.

"What?! You already had two of them; I thought you wouldn't mind. Not my fault Sara's turnovers are addicting," Carl said, shamefully looking away.

"Did you at least warm it up before you ate it?" Aron asked in a snobbish tone.

"Of course," Carl huffed. Looking down when Aron pulled out his phone and saw that smile form on his nephew's face knowing it had to be Tazia. He and Aron both turned their heads when the door inched opened after ten minutes.

"This thing can make any kind of suit?" Nightshade asked as she scrolled through the designs on the tablet as Aron worked to set up the weaver. Not seeing the sly looks, Aron shot Aminah as they worked side by side.

"Within reason, only so much I can do on my portable." Glancing down, only able to see Aminah's hands as she connected the power cable of the two halves as he held it. It was the reason it was in pieces to play up his sham of being powerless.

"My old suit had a cape; can this machine do that?" Nightshade inquired as she peered up from the tablet.

"Tap on the second tab on top, and that will take you to the cape/accessory page of the interface," Aron directed, holding the upper half steady as Aminah attached the last remaining wire and screws.

"Oh, wow, say if we were at your factory, would it be possible to get a suit as advanced as our friend's?" Nightshade spoke, never taking her eyes off the screen as she cycled through his cape designs.

"Yes, but that will cost you, I'm afraid," Aron said apologetically as he walked back over to his chair to help her with the rest of her customizing.

"I'm sure that kind of tech can't be cheap to make," Nightshade spoke in an understanding tone. "So, say if we can come to agreeable terms, just how far are you willing to go? I'm assuming the Technology part of your company pertains to more than just supersuits, I hope."

"It does."

"Would your company be willing to take over maintenance on the base's electronics if we're going to be exclusively wearing your suits? Why not take it further? We both know this has turned into more than an impromptu suit-making, and being seen as a donor to a superhero group does wonders for one's company; the tax deductions don't hurt either," Nightshade mused, flashing Aron a warm smile.

"That is true, but at the moment..."

"You're not ready to take on that kind of task, and I get that. Yet when you do, what do you think of that?"

"Hmm, I can't run this whole base's upkeep by myself; I'll have to hire two helpers, minus Aminah, to help me overlook this place. I'm guessing your people will want to run whatever checks on your end to ensure the people I bring with me are suitable to you're liking. Then yes, we can discuss this further," Aron said, helping Nightshade to make her own style of cape.

"How long will this take?" Nightshade asked, hearing the weaver going once they had sent her design to its mainframe.

"For you're suit, roughly two hours," Aron said, taking his tablet back from her.

"Then you won't mind if we discuss this offer in more detail, would you?" asked a suave, lean man as his knuckles rasped on the doorframe. There was no mistaking how his eyes lingered on Aminah as she was studying the screen of her tablet that she was holding. Leering at her sensuous curves, knowing who would be lining his bed that evening. "I'm Newman Walters," he said, introducing himself as he held out his hand to Aron. Mentally willing that stunning woman to turn her gaze at him. Unaware of how Aron had noticed, speaking with his mind to her, knowing she did tend to listen in on his thoughts, telling her to look at the man she wanted the most.

******

"Again, I thank you for coming out here," Nightshade said, shaking Aron's hand as they stood at the entrance doors of her base once the weaver had completed her suit.

"You're welcome, just no more house calls, alright?" Aron spoke in a friendly tone.

"Yes, no more of that," Nightshade agreed.

"You have my card; call if you need me," Aron stated, seeing her nod in response. "If there's some trouble with the suit once you get your cast off, call me, and we'll alter it if need be."

"Of course," leaning in, "sorry about how Newman acted; I hope your friend wasn't too upset by his actions; Newman is a good man, just a terrible flirt." Remembering how the sound of the slap that took her and Aron by surprise filled that room.

"Oh, I'm not worried about Aminah; she can take care of herself; plus, she'd kick my ass if I butted into her life like that," Aron joked, seeing how her smile reached her eyes when he said that.

"I hope the three of you have a nice flight home," Nightshade uttered her departing words as she waved to them.

"So, what did he say to get you to hit him?" She heard Aron's voice on the air as they walked over to their awaiting hover car.

"That I should follow him to his office, and he could acquaint me with a 'good time,'" Aminah replied, throwing up quotation marks.