Broker

Chapter 171

UUNS! UUNS! UUNS!

The thrumming beat rippled through the building, the base pounding against skin and sending the dancers into a frenzy. Men and women from all walks of life and backgrounds crashed against one another as the light flashed and a multicolored glow washed over them in the otherwise dark chamber. There were screams of laughter, gasps, shouts, and howls of excitement. The stage beyond the dance floor remained empty, a single spotlight hanging down above it as mist poured into the room. Above the stage, a tinted glass wall looked over them, the vague outline of a shape with glowing red eyes could be seen just past it. One of the men in the crowd threw a fist in the air, “Let's hear it for the Ferryman!” 

The roar in response was deafening.

The pair of glowing red eyes didn’t so much as blink, but the head they were attached to nodded once in recognition before turning away from the window. More bodies clashed, more madness ensued, the party kept going as the music began to slow down. A few looked up at the stage expectantly. The same guy that screamed for the Ferryman held a glowing wand over his head, “Tenebra!” he shouted. “Te Ne Bra!”

“TE NE BRA!” More joined him.

“TE NE BRA! TE NE BRA! TE NE BRA!”  The chorus grew and grew as more waved glowing wands over their heads, hopping and moshing about here and there. Their chant nearly shook the building until a cloud of black smoke boiled out from just off-stage. The sight of it caused it all to boil over, shrieks and shouts of delight rose to the ceiling as a woman skipped out onto the stage with a microphone in her hand. She wore a short puffy gothic skirt and long black stockings leaving just a bit of exposed skin. Her high heels clacked against the ground as she threw her incredible length of black hair back, her own iridescent red eyes gleaming despite the spotlight that fixated on her. 

She threw a hand up and waved, “Wassup Villains!” She called, “Riding the waves of the Styx?” She shouted and held a hand up to her ear.

“Drowning in ‘em!” Came a chorus of replies.

She threw her head back and laughed, “Yeah! That’s what I’m talkin’ about! How many henchies we got in here?” She held her hand over her eyes and pretended to scope out the audience. A sizeable number of them roared in response. “Woah!” She gasped and held her hands up to her mouth, “Do your bosses know you’re out partying?” she asked, feigning shock before cracking a wicked grin, “Solo acts! Sound off!” She crowed into the microphone and another rousing shout responded to her, “And where are the heavy hitters? Lets hear those supervillains roar!”

The whole building shook in response to a gathering of voices that bellowed in greeting. She pretended to stumble back, throwing her hands over her head, “Woah woah woah! There’s a lot of you guys here tonight! I wonder what the occasion is?” She asked, tapping her lips, “What could it be!”

“Top ten! Top ten! TOP TEN!” The crowd chanted.

She crossed her arms and nodded sagely before spinning and pointing at the wall behind her. The black space burst into life and turned into a live news feed of the Pandora Committee assembly. A number of stuffy people in suits and ties sat at tables speaking quietly to one another with the Chairman’s podium in the background, “That’s right folks! Top ten! New Chairman is revising the roster! Who’s it gonna be?” She scanned the crowd, “You all place your bets? Toss those coins! Get that money flowing! The Ferryman is watching!” she goaded them, “With the Queen’s Inner Circle quiet these days it’s anyone's game!”

She tilted her head and pouted, “I hope Blackrazor doesn’t get pushed out,” she said with a wistful sigh, “He’s so edgy,” she threw her hand up in a dramatic faint before standing up as the crowd shouted and some even booed. She smirked, “Keep it in your pants boys,” she sniffed and strutted across the stage, “Who all thinks Liberty’s gonna get the top spot?”

More boos, even louder this time. She cupped her ear with her hand and nodded gravely, “Yeah, yeah! I hear you! That bitch has got it comin’ doesn’t she! Who does she think she is?” She held her hand up to the side of her mouth conspiratorially as she spoke into the microphone, “Way I hear it, Ishtar herself is gonna place a bounty on that uppity holier-than-thou skank if she pushes her luck any more,” she rubbed her fingers together greedily, “That’s some real cash money right there, yeah? Who wants that money?” She shouted and held her microphone out to the crowd, they roared in response, stomping their feet.

“Well,” she turned and pointed to the herself, “Don’t just take it from me!” She said and threw her hands out, a wave of black mist washing briefly over the crowd. The roaring and shouting died down. She walked to the edge of the stage and sat down, swinging her legs, “Not just from me, maybe,” she swept her gaze over the crowd one more time, “Just maybe, you’d like to hear that kinda thing from the woman herself? Yeah? Yeah!”

The silence was deafening as everyone stared at her wide eyed, Tenebra sneered, “My boss has a very special guest upstairs right now!” She hopped to her feet and threw her hand up to the tinted glass wall that looked down on them, “Let's hear it for the queen bitch of the underworld! Ishtar!” 

Overhead, a pair of blazing pink eyes stared down through the tinted glass at the crowd and the response was deafening. The next moment all the lights went out, when they came back, Tenebra was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a solitary figure stood on the stage, in person, a dark gleaming helmet on her head with long glowing white hair fluttering out behind her. Her white armor shone in the light that beat down on her. The crowd went deadly quiet as the masked supervillain brought the microphone up to approximately where her mouth would be, “Hello my darlings,” she purred and the crowd went wild. She hopped into the air and floated, crossing her legs casually as she seemed to bask in the adoration before speaking again, “Looks like there are some big names in tonight! Is that you over there, Blight?” She called and a spotlight shone down on a man sitting on one of the upper levels, he looked youthful with dark hair and steely eyes. He nodded solemnly and raised a hand in greeting.

She pivoted and pointed to another part of the other level, “And my friend Erebus is here too!” she said delightedly and another spotlight shone down, the dark skinned supervillain’s body glittering like gold-dust as he rested his chin on his palm and winked at everyone who looked at him. “I don’t see Passage anywhere, you all don’t think he got arrested do you?” She asked and the crowd booed, “I don’t think so either,” she tittered out a laugh, “That guy’s elusive isn’t he? Drastic didn’t show up! Oh well, his loss,” she snickered before lowering her arms and growing serious, “And we all know why Masque and August aren’t here,” she said before lowering herself back to the stage as the crowd grew quiet.

“We villains operate with rules,” she said, “Some of those rules we make up for ourselves,” quipped and the crowd chuckled, “We have goals, ambitions, you run around like a maniac rocking the boat and pissing off the Committee and that causes problems for all of us, doesn’t it?” She pointed at a random villain in the crowd, “Ripsaw! I heard the PC presence has been getting tight over in South Africa, that right?”

The spotlight shone down on a burly man with enormous hands and a bald head that scowled up at her, he raised his voice, “Yeah! Some idiot went and attacked a hero guild directly now they’re swarming all over the place, business is tight!”

She nodded, “Damn shame, come see me later, we’ll talk options,” she said and turned to another, “Europe’s been swarming with heroes ever since those camps ended, haven’t they, Sconce? These kids are tough!”

A rail-thin man with flames for eyes clenched his fists, “They just came outta nowhere!”

The spotlight came back to her, “That’s right, more heroes and they aren’t like the first generation. They’re trained, powerful even if some of their tiers aren’t that high,” she pointed to everyone in the crowd, “It’s because people like Liberty are running around making a mess of things. If one of those dungeons goes off, it isn’t just the heroes and public who have to deal with it, right? We gotta deal with the monsters too!”

A roar of agreement responded to her and she nodded to them all, “That’s right, it’s bad for business and what are we in the business of making?”

“Money!” The crowd responded.

“That’s right, that’s right,” she said, “So here's the deal,” she said and feigned holding out her hand to shake with everyone, “War’s coming, her attack on the camps means it's inevitable, she’s started something that won’t end until either she or the committee are left standing,” she tilted her head, “So I figure we villains put our hands on the scale, what do you say?”

A rousing shout of approval was her answer and she waved a hand, words and numbers appearing in the air, “Destroy a cell of her group? One hundred thousand. Destroy a branch compound? One million. Destroy a major compound? Fifty million. Put down one of her henchmen, those ‘Round Table’ members?” she paused for dramatic effect, “Two hundred and fifty million.”

The roar started but she held up her hand, “Wait! Wait! I’m not done!” They all went silent and looked at one another, “I want her humiliated,” she said, “We’ll soften her up for the war with the heroes and let them do the heavy lifting on her main camp. No need risking ourselves, right?” she chuckled, “But!” she floated into the air, “If you get a chance to grab her alive and bring her to me,” she clenched her fist, “One billion is yours,” she gestured towards the portion of the Styx where most villains made purchases for gear. “There’s a contract waiting so you can get your money right away on completion of a task. Sound like fun, darlings?”

“ISH-TAR! ISH-TAR! ISH-TAR! ISH-TAR!”

As the deafening cries of excitement died down she raised the mic to her helmet one last time, “I know she’s got ears here,” she said, “I want her to know,” she tilted her head, “You asked if what you did was bad for business, Liberty. Here’s my answer. You’re not just at war with the heroes now, the villains are after you as well. Good luck!” She threw her head back and laughed wildly before turning towards the rear of the stage, “Tenebra, they’re all yours dear!”n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

With that she vanished into a flash of light. Tenebra hurried out onto the stage and caught the microphone suspended in the air for her before letting out a shaky breath, “W-woah!” she gasped into the mic, “One Billion! If there was any questions about whether or not Ishtar was pissed, there’s your answer! Now! With all that excitement! It’s about time now isn’t it!” She said and took a few confident steps to the side, gesturing to the screen, “The Committee has begun the vote! All bets are closed! It’s time ladies and gentlemen!”

The crowd cheered and grew quiet as the volume rose on the screen. A woman in a dark suit with thick glasses stepped out to stand behind the podium. She had a steely gaze that she cast over the entire room. She brushed her dark bob haircut back over an ear and began to speak, “Welcome, Leaders and Representatives of our new Heroic Age. Today we call into order a session of the Pandora Committee. This is the first gathering of its kind since the attack on our first meeting and the death of the previous Chairman. I'd ask for a moment of silence as we prepare ourselves for what we must discuss.”

Silence reigned on the screen as the villains in the crowd spoke among themselves, the new Chairman straightened her shoulders, “As is right and proper I want to thank those who made today possible. We have reorganized the holding structure of the International Team and it is now based out of this very building. This structure is now one of the safest in the world,” she continued, “All national representatives are present, this committee also recognizes the presence of several heads and representatives of the various support organizations from across the globe. According to our charter, they are here in a capacity to provide advice and submit proposals only.” 

She nodded to a few people off screen, “With that, may this session of the Grand Pandora Committee begin.”

“Our first order of business is the assessment of exigent threat levels amongst the villains of the world, in the past we held a vote during these sessions and discussed additions and changes. These can be reassessed during the open portion of this committee, however, in the months between the last session and this one, we have ratified a new process. The most wanted will be verified by international poll and submitted ahead of time,” she said before looking at the gathered representatives, “Are all representatives present satisfied with their choices?”

A chorus of ayes followed many of the representatives tapping a button on their desks. She glanced down at her own podium and waited several moments before nodding. “The ayes have it, it is unanimous. We will proceed with the updated listing as chosen during the out-of-session ballot,” she said, “The most notable change shall be the placement of the Supervillain, Liberty, in the position of most wanted. Her crimes against the public, humanity, and the pandora committee in general are unconscionable. She has declared responsibility for the assassination of my predecessor and sent a strike force against one of the hero training camps. With her growing organization and the dangers posed by her own powers, we have no choice but to prioritize her arrest over any other.”

“Following her,” she continued, “These adjustments have been made…”

With her words a list appeared on the screen and the night-club exploded with noise.

1. LIBERTY

Updated: Crimes against humanity, attacking government facilities, murder, war crimes, assassination, terrorism, high villainy.

1. THE COMPANION
2. SPICE KING EREBUS

Updated: Sedition, warmongering, acts of war, high villainy, open rebellion against a sovereign state.

1. SIR HALLOWAY

Updated: Capable of interfering with the Pandora Committee Portal Network. Assassination. Direct subordinate of Liberty.

1. KERAUNA

Updated: Identified. Previously: Unknown Electrical-type Mythic. 

1. BLACKRAZOR
2. BLIGHT
3. KINGSHARK
4. ARCHON

Updated: Human Experimentation, murder, high villainy, grand larceny, terrorism.

1. BLACK SONG TENEBRA

Updated: Encouraging acts of villainy, high villainy, murder, instigation of riots, terrorism, direct connection to the villain underworld leadership.

The shouts and laughter rang out throughout the club as money exchanged hands and a few ran up to the betting counter to either claim winnings or beg for mercy. Tenebra stared at the screen, shocked. She turned on her heel and stomped her feet, glaring at the crowd, “Oooh! I knew I shouldn’t have let you guys stream my concerts!” She whined. "The boss is gonna be so mad!" Above the writhing mass that was the dancefloor of the Styx, Ishtar looked down with Charon at her side. Behind her helmet, she smiled.

I’m coming for you, Liberty.