The Games of Supervillainy (The Supervillainy Saga Book 2) (8 page)

“Of course, my night couldn’t end on a high note.” I cursed under my breath.

The first of the newcomers was Sunlight, having apparently updated his costume to look like something produced in this decade. It was still ridiculously bright and sunny for a man who was supposed to be a vigilante, but it didn't look half as embarrassing as before. He was still way-too-old to be running wearing that costume, being a man well past retirement age even with the Society of Superheroes rejuvenation treatments, but he looked like an incredibly
fit
man well-past retirement age.

Sunlight a.k.a Robert Warren was the
other
superhero of Falconcrest City, barring the six-year-period where Ultragoddess attended university with me to get her Master’s degree in Unusual Criminology. The grandnephew of the Nightwalker, Sunlight had been the bright and cheerful costumed avenger of a city which was permanently in a depression.

Sunlight used holograms, gadgets, and Shambhala martial arts to fight crime in place of sorcery like his more-famous relative. In many ways, he was much more like Ultragod, who he'd modeled his costume than Lancel Warren. Sunlight was indirectly responsible for my getting the Reaper's Cloak but had tried to arrest me twice. I wasn't fond of him.

Following him, standing a foot shorter, was a girl dressed in an outfit nearly identical to mine. She had long blond hair sticking out from the back of her cowl and very familiar looking eyes. There was something familiar about her but I couldn’t immediately place what. The woman was shorter than me, of Asian American descent, and looked to be in her early twenties.

“Halt evil doers! It is I, the Nightwalker, here to stop you and your nefarious scheme!” The girl shouted before slapping a pair of handcuffs on the Ice Cream Man's wrist and forearm.

Mandy stared at her then looked over at me. “Is she kidding?”

“Amanda Douglas? What the hell are you doing here!?” I exclaimed, recognizing her voice.

The girl looked horrified. “I, uh... don't know what you mean, citizen.”

During my second outing as Merciless, billionaire Amanda Douglas had reacted to her kidnapping with courage and honor. It shouldn’t have surprised me she’d decided to take up the superhero mantle as so many rich athletic types had chosen to do. Her career might run into trouble now that I’d revealed her secret identity to a bunch of supervillains, though.

Oops.

“That's Merciless,” Sunlight whispered in her ear. “He's the most dangerous villain of them all. He’s already defeated Ultragod, escaped the moon prison, and defeated me twice!”

“And don't you forget it!” I pointed at Sunlight. I couldn’t believe this guy was still alive. Surely some other supervillain had the nerve to kill him? I mean, he couldn’t keep ruining my nights forever, could he?

“
He ruined mine for close to two decades
.”

“You’re a pretty horrible friend, Lancel.”

“
Family is different from friendship. You’re allowed to complain about them
.”

The Ice Cream Man leapt to his feet and tried to bite Sunlight's jugular. I would’ve welcomed it. Unfortunately, Mandy hurled her wooden stake like a throwing knife. The pointy end passed through one side of the zombie's head and out the other side. In an instant, the Ice Cream Man collapsed on the ground, deader than dead.

“Why do we keep saving this guy’s life?” I cursed myself.

“Because we're the good guys.” Mandy said, putting her hands on her hips. She was sweaty from her fight with Sunlight and I couldn’t help but admire the shimmer it gave her skin.

“You're
half
right.”

Diabloman shook his head. “In all my years as a supervillain, I have never met anyone as flippant about the job as you.”

“Thank you,” I said. “Okay, Sunlight, Amanda—”

“Nightwalker!” Amanda said, holding her cape up in front of her. “I am his heir and successor!”

I blinked, stunned she’d claim that title. “
She can’t do a worse job than you.”

I looked over at Sunlight before turning back to Amanda. “Where did you even meet this guy?”

“Defending the innocent!” Amanda proclaimed, proudly. “I vowed to never be weak again after my kidnapping and he promised to train me.”

I held my face. “Oh God.”

Sunlight then surprised me. “Merciless, we need your help.”

“Excuse me?” I said, not sure I'd heard that correctly.

“We need you rogues to defend Falconcrest City.” Sunlight clarified, pointing at each of us in turn. “The Brotherhood of Infamy, a secret conspiracy of the rich and powerful in Falconcrest City, has been secretly manipulating its history for centuries. Worshipers of the Great Beast Zul-Barbas, they have been attempting to make the city as miserable and corrupt as possible since its foundation. This was so they could gather enough negative energy so they could summon their evil god and remake the world into a paradise according to their whims and desires.”

Mandy looked enraptured, Amanda just nodded along, I was still confused, and my fellow villains were as put off as I was.

“This is why I don't trust apocalypse cults,” Cindy said, shaking her head. “They're always trying to make the end of the world come faster.”

“It's why I don't like Christianity,” Angel Eyes said.

Diabloman looked over his shoulder, guilty. “I've only tried to end the world a few times.”

“The cult almost succeeded in the Great Depression,” Sunlight said, shaking a fist in the air for emphasis. “The cult, led by Lancel Warren, and a team of six other followers used evil magics to penetrate the sanctum of Death in the Underworld and make off with her seven magic cloaks. Ones woven for her seven children with Cain, who would become the original Sorcerer-Kings of Acheron. With the cloaks' powers enhancing their necromancy, the Brotherhood's leaders could summon a host of undead which would give them the power to finish their plans but Arthur Warren persuaded his brother not to end reality. As such, the cult was thwarted and he would spend the rest of his life stopping their plans.”

“Wow,” Cindy said, eyes widened. “The Nightwalker was
evil
once? I have so much more respect for him now!”

“If only I'd known we'd had so much in common,” Diabloman said, looking guilty. “We could have been friends.”

“
Oh for Chrissakes
,” Cloak muttered.

“We know all this,” I said, sighing. I'd learned most of this from offhand remarks from Cloak as well as encounters with his former foes. Brotherhood of Infamy bad, making zombies, stop them. It wasn't all that complex.

“I didn't know any of this,” Cindy said. “Why can't I get a cloak?”

“Mandy is up first,” I said.

“Oh,” Cindy said, accepting that explanation.

“You may know all this,” Amanda interjected, “but what you didn't know the Nightwalker defeated the cult and retrieved all seven cloaks by the late Fifties. He couldn't return them to Death, however, given the magics he'd used to penetrate her sanctum required bloodshed and was afraid of what would happen if they were destroyed. He, instead, rendered them inactive and hoped their curse was ended. But the Brotherhood was not destroyed and merely inactive, waiting for his death so they could steal the cloaks back.”

“Which they did,” I said, getting bored. “Hence, why they're out there doing all sorts of evil nastiness with the other six cloaks.”

“Other five,” Amanda corrected, pointing to her attire. “My father was a member of the Brotherhood. After he was killed by the cult for resisting their plans at apocalypse, the Cloak passed to me. I intend to use it for good, unlike the rest of those nutcases.”

I blinked, looking at her costume in a new light. “Is she telling the truth, Cloak?”

“Yes,” Cloak said, sounding as surprised as anyone. “I do believe that is one of the other Reaper's Cloaks.”

“I'd already been training to be a hero but now I will avenge my father and bring peace back to the lands of Falconcrest City!” Amanda said, shaking her fist in the air.

I stared at her. “Please don't do that.”

“Do what?” Amanda asked.

“Say that without irony.”

“Um, okay.”

After the Nightwalker's death via aneurysm, Sunlight had been the only Society of Superheroes member to want to try to carry on his legacy. Unlike many heroes, the Nightwalker had made no proviso for who would take over in the event of his death. Sunlight had used computers to search through a list of probable candidates, found one, and sent the Cloak along with some other vital equipment to my house.

He'd been trying to send it to my wife.

Eesh.

Sunlight wagged a finger in my direction. Seriously. “Tut-tut-tut, Merciless, one should never be ashamed of taking pride in
justice
.”

“I swear to you,” I said, over to my wife. “Most superheroes are not like this. Please do not take him as a role model.”

Mandy rolled her eyes. “I know, Gary. Sunlight is... unique.”

“But kind of awesome,” Cindy said.

I stared at her.

Sunlight punched his left palm as if spoiling for a fight. “The thing is, the Brotherhood of Infamy's efforts have reached the misery saturation point of being able to summon their god. Amanda, due to her knowledge of the cult's inner-workings, has indicated the only way we might possibly stop the arrival of Zul-Barbas is the Book of Midnight. A mystical tome of darkness which contains all the black magic in the world, including the spells necessary to summon as well as dismiss Zul-Barbas.”

“So, you want us to help get the magic book?” I asked, hoping we'd gotten to his point.

“Indeed!” Sunlight proclaimed. He then frowned, looking a little annoyed. “I would have gone to Ultragoddess for help but she flies and it's rather difficult to catch up to her.”

“Maybe you could signal her, like with a big U-spotlight in the air,” Cindy suggested.

“That would draw thousands of zombies on us,” Sunlight said.

“Ooo, good point.”

I felt the bridge of my nose, wondering if I was seriously hearing this right. “Do you know where the Book of Midnight is?”

“Oh yes,” Amanda said. “It's in my house.”

I paused. “And the reason you haven't gotten it is—”

“It's guarded by a horde of cultists, wizards, and death machines.”

Good answer. “Okay, we'll go get it. Anyone have any objections?”

“Yes,” Angel Eyes, Cindy, and Diabloman said at once.

“No,” Mandy said.

“Mandy’s vote is the only one which counts,” I said. “You've got our aid, Sunlight.”

“Splendid!” Sunlight said, giving a heroic thumb's up. “May this help atone for your murder of Shoot-Em-Up.”

“What was that?” I said, my voice suddenly dangerous.

“But now I must go,” Sunlight said, turning around and posing. “To protect the innocent!”

A glowing flash of light from his hologram projector briefly blinded me and when my vision cleared, he was gone.

“So, he just showed up to give exposition and disappear?” Cindy asked. She searched the stage's remains for her picnic basket and found it under some boxes. “Lame!”

“The Brotherhood of Infamy has access to countless evil magics capable of killing even demigods,” Diabloman said, showing concern. “It might be a better idea to lay low rather than attempt to engage them directly.”

“Falconcrest City does not deserve my assistance,” Angel Eyes said, putting his hand over his chest.

“Am I getting paid?” Cindy asked.

“Double your share,” I said.

“I'm in,” Cindy said.

“Guys, I think you have forgotten the true meaning of supervillainy,” I addressed my henchmen. “It's about getting rich and busting heads. Neither of which is going to happen if the Brotherhood of Infamy succeeds.”

Neither Angel Eyes nor Diabloman looked convinced.

“I'll give you first crack at any supernatural loot we scavenge,” I added.

“Alright then,” Diabloman said.

Angel Eyes nodded. “The Chosen of Aphrodite is pleased.”

“Please top calling yourself that,” I said, feeling my face.

“Why?”

“You’re just coasting on a relationship from a couple thousand years ago.”

Angel Eyes blinked, then furrowed his brow thoughtfully.

“Thank you, Mister Karkofsky,” Amanda said, walking over and putting her hand on my shoulder. “Now that's two I owe you.”

“Just get your checkbook ready after this,” I said, staring at the billionaire. “I'm not doing this for free.”

Amanda nodded.

“Where did Sunlight go, anyway?” Mandy asked, looking at the self-styled Nightwalker.

“No idea,” Amanda said, shaking her head. She then made a circle gesture around the side of her head with her finger. “He's a semi-decent trainer but Coocoo for Cocoa Puffs.”

“Obviously,” I muttered. Turning back to everyone, I gestured to the door. “Okay, everyone, let's all pile into the Nightcar. We're heading to Stately Douglas Manor.”

“It's more of a castle,” Amanda said. “And not really very stately. More creepy and weird.”

“I have my own transportation,” Angel Eyes said.

“Good,” I said, not really caring.

I took a moment to look down at the late and unmourned Ice Cream Man's zombie corpse. It had a wooden stake jammed into its brain and didn't look like it was coming back. I proceeded to freeze his body to liquid nitrogen levels then conjured forth a sledgehammer made of ice to start breaking it up to pieces.

“Uh...” Mandy looked a little appalled.

“Just in case,” I said, sighing, and wiping my head off. I then dumped the sledgehammer on the ground. I then rubbed my hands together to warm them up. Noticing everyone else had left but my wife, I decided now was as good a time as any to make a confession. “I need to talk to you about something.”

“Yeah, so do I,” Mandy said, removing her earrings.

“Is this about replacing your wedding ring diamond with a death ray? Because that's actually pretty awesome.”

“No.”

As we stood there alone on the stage, I heard the cracking of thunder outside and the sound of a gentle rainfall. There were also moans outside, coming in through the giant hole in the wall from the Ice Cream Man's steamroller. I wasn't sure how to explain what I was feeling guilty over but I wasn't going to hide it either.

I took a deep breath. “I kissed Gabrielle.”

“
Technically, she kissed you
,” Cloak said.

“
I kissed back
,” I replied in my head.

Mandy popped her head up, staring at me. “I'm feeling both pissed and hypocritical.”

“Hypocritical?” I asked, wondering just how far she was willing to go to manipulate Angel Eyes.

“No, not him,” Mandy said, sighing. “Never him. I admit, I flirted a little but I didn't intend to go any farther. I, uh, kissed the Black Witch. She was with Ultragoddess' team when they came to help. Twice.”

Selena Darkchylde a.k.a. the Black Witch was my wife's ex-girlfriend. She was also a supervillain, which meant my transformation into one had to be messing with my wife's self-esteem. Mandy and Selena had been in love during their college years until Selena's increasing fanaticism led her to become a multiple murderer. Mandy finally turned against her and married me but I'd found out, on my journey to the moon, Selena had gone back to the side of the angels by becoming one of Ultragoddess' Shadow Seven. The world would never forgive Selena for her crimes but she might be able to achieve a measure of personal redemption despite it.

And yes, this meant that the Black Witch, Merciless, Nighthuntress, and Ultragoddess had all gone to school together before their other halves got married or joined the same superhero team.

The world was a strange place.

“
Eh, you're all in the same profession. It's not that strange
,” Cloak said.

“I disagree,”
I thought, trying to sort through my feelings. To my wife, I said, “I’m angry, jealous, and most of all curious what this means. How...how do you feel about Selena?”

“I love her,” Mandy said, causing my heart to sink. “I always will.”

She paused.

“But I'm married to you,” Mandy said.

I stared at her. “I love you.”

“Gary...” It was clear my answer wasn't enough for her.

“Together, until the end,” I said, smiling.

Mandy smiled back. It was like the whole room brightened up. “Until the end.”

I looked out the hole in the wall. “Let's go save this city before I don't have anything left to conquer.”

Mandy snorted.

“I'm serious,” I added, walking to the door. “I'm thinking of renaming it Mercilessville or the Kingdom of Mercilessland.”

We argued about it all the way to the car.