⚡️THUNDERFANG S3 #26

⚡️THUNDERFANG S3 #25: Zugzwang

Zugzwang: a situation wherein a player is put at a disadvantage because of their obligation to make a move.

GXYZTavon Gatling

Conspiracy Awaits

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“So, is anyone going to tell us what we missed last night?” Kaisa cut her eyes to each of us as we sat in the common area the next day. We’d all slept or kept to ourselves until almost noon, and despite the bright sunshine and pleasant weather outside, the tension from the previous day was still quite thick among us. Kaisa and Fletcher—just back from their rendezvous to Port Wreck—could sense it plain as day as we anxiously waited to see why Yelena had summoned us.

Tick held a cup full of his steaming caffeinated sugar water that was only technically still coffee in one hand and idly drew on whatever he’d been working on for the last few days with his other. He seemed more or less back to himself, though there was still a bit of joy missing from him that I’d come to expect. 

Michael was nowhere to be seen, which I was grateful for. I was doing my best to cement myself in the reality that I was thankful that he’d meddled in my life, and done what needed to be done to reunite me with Ira—and to save the Forge, I guess. But I didn’t want to test my resolve and was more than grateful for the time apart from my Hivebranded brother.

Everyone—except Ira—must have felt the same towards me. They gave me a bit of a width berth. They still said good morning and didn’t shy away from typical pleasantries and small talk, but it was obvious that they were doing their best to not set me off. 

How had I become that guy? I hated that I’d done that to them—made them cautious around me. They were walking on eggshells and the sight of it made me cringe. But I couldn’t apologize for feeling the way I felt. My entire life—not even just Akim being Hivebranded, or Michael killing Amari Wade—had been filled with manipulations, controlled by what felt like everyone but me. I was right to feel a little anger.

But as far as I knew—or could stand to believe for the moment—they had nothing to do with any of that, and they didn’t deserve my wrath.

“Sorry about last night, you all.” I gripped Ira’s hand for strength, wishing I could borrow some of his Heart to add to my words. He sat next to me in the mostly-aligned seats in the common area. “I’ll do my best to repair whatever I’ve broken between us.”

Yelena stepped out of the lab before anyone was guilted into responding. She held a tray in both hands draped with a cloth, her face beaming with pride and excitement. She sat it down on a table near the crime board and stood to face us. “I did it.” It felt like I was listening to Tick, the words leaving her mouth quicker than my brain could process.

“It’s finished?” Blackstone sat up in her seat, a wide smile leaving her mouth open.

Yelena dramatically pulled off the cloth and gestured to the tray. Watt floated in close for a better look. Three irregularly shaped pieces of metal sat evenly spaced. They shined just like the automaton did. Dull and yet somehow shiny.

“I haven’t put it together yet,” she said. “I know Lestrade hasn’t been near the vault—and I guess Tick, too? I didn’t want to combine it and it suddenly activate. We’ve had enough unwanted visions.”

We sat in awe and silence, taking in the reality of what she’d done. Then Kaisa jumped from her seat and hugged her comrade, following by Fletcher, Jane, and the others. We congratulated her, eager to make headway into whatever awaited us next. 

Finally, something was going right. She’d done more to ease the tension than I ever could.

“Should we try it out now? Would hate to wait until the critical moment only to realize it doesn’t do what we hope,” Yelena said with an awkward laugh. She picked up two of the pieces and combined them. They formed the basic shape of a cube with a large portion of one side missing. The third piece—pyramid shaped—remained, and looked like it would slot in with ease.

I looked to Tick, hoping that he’d forgiven me enough. “When’s your last save point?”

He’d just sat his now empty cup down and he gulped loudly. “Two—two, two days ago.”

That was…odd. He normally repeated the occasional word—an interesting quirk of his. But this was…different. 

What was he hiding?

“Well,” I said, choosing to not pester him about it now. I’d already yelled at everyone and threatened to quit, and I didn’t want to hound him about it in this moment. “Can you update your save point? That way, if something goes wrong, we can get a heads up.”

He nodded and pulled out his black iron pocket watch and began muttering to himself.

“Alright, so we should combine this once Tick is done and see what it does to each of us, if anything. Especially the Branded among us.” I stood and approached the crime board and looked over the details for the umpteenth time. “We don’t know what kind of power this automaton had or what its parts might still possess. But I’m sure that whatever it can do, we’ll be able to use it in some way to get a bit of an advantage against Jack and—”

“WE NEED TO GO RIGHT NOW!”

Tick flew from his seat, knocking over his cup in the process. He grabbed the remaining piece of the automaton and looked me directly in the eyes.

Pure fear. It sent a chill down my spine.

“What’s wrong?” I gripped his shoulders, trying to get him to calm down and breath. But he was mumbling so much, it was hard for me to understand anything he said.

“FUTURE BOY!” Jane shouted, snapping a few times as well. “We can’t understand you!” 

“THE MORIARTYS!” he yelled, squirming free from my grasp to look out of a viewport. “They’re on there way here, RIGHT! NOW!”

Fuck.

Everyone scattered, erratically performing only the bare minimum preflight checks.

“How much time do we have, Tick?” John shouted as he threw himself into the co-pilot seat and pulled up flight plans.

“Minutes! Maybe less if I glitched!”

Fuck fuck fuck.

“Locke!” John pointed to the blips on the screens in front of him. They were closing in on our location. Fast.

. . .

Fuck it.

“Yelena, Tick, Watt: stay here and guard the device,” I said as cracked my knuckles. If this had been months ago, I would have considered this bad luck. Of course they found us—I practically told them that we were on planet.

But, no. Now, we were lucky.

We knew they were coming. And we wouldn’t be caught off guard.

“Fletcher, Kaisa, Irēn, Blackstone: make sure we have a ship to come back to.” I tapped my inner lightning—it was decent enough. “You three,” I said, pointing to Ira, Jane, and John. “Let’s go kick some ass.”

“Holmes, that sounds like suicide!” Lestrade gripped my arm. “You should let some of us come with you, too. You need all the help you can get.”

“You’re right. I do need you.” I put a hand on her shoulder. “That’s why you’re staying here. If any of them break through, handle them. And if it looks like you need to flee, do it.” They began protesting but I didn’t give Lestrade or the others another moment; we were losing our advantage, quick. I pulled Ira into a passionate kiss and we rushed out of the Scarlet Adler. I heard the lock hiss once the four of us all touched the barren dessert of New Bohemia.

“You sure that’s them?” John asked over the comms. Tick confirmed. “Good.”

John stepped ahead of the four of us and cracked his neck to the side, then firmly planted his feet onto the ground. In the distance, small dots in the air began to grow. John gestured, his hands shifting in front of him before he brought both hands out to either side. The air around him swirled violently, then twisted sharply, kicking up dust that obscured the bright sun overhead. Those of us not Cyclonebranded brought arms up to shield our faces.

He brought his right hand in front of his face, his entire body encased in a funnel of wind. And with a sharp swipe of that raised hand, a gust of wind tore off and seconds later one of the three ships flying towards us was knocked out of the sky.

“Well damn,” Jane exclaimed.

“Show off.” Ira stepped forward as the wind died down. The remaining two ships broke formation, presumably to try to outwit us.

But I knew my fiancé quite well.

Ira raised his right hand, fingers splayed and palm facing the ground. The ships were much closer now; they’d be here any moment.

Jane huffed, arms crossed over her chest. “What are you going to do, make a cactus poke their eye out?”

“Something like that.” In one swift motion, he flicked his hand up in sync with a wall of vines that burst forth from the ground. They swirled around each other, forming one large tentacle of roots and foliage. It whipped and struck one of the ships, clipping it and sending it hurtling towards the ground.

Jane stumbled back, hand covering her mouth. I nudged her with a smile. “I helped him plant all of those, just for situations like this.”

The final remaining ship landed and a group of nine individuals disembarked. Most of them were clearly soldiers, even from this distance. But at the helm, a woman wearing a red pantsuit began shouting in an annoyingly grating voice.

“So the little Detective is fighting back?”

“Turn back now, Jillian, and we won’t hurt you.” I stepped in front of the others, making sure that if any of us would be hit, it’d be me. The Moriartys—and the Benevolent, and pretty much anyone else—were looking for me. The others were collateral.

“It’s a little too late for that, isn’t it?” She snapped her fingers and the eight soldiers with her raised rifles, all aimed at us.

This wasn’t going to be easy.

Behind me, John inhaled comically loud. I instantly set my feet as I heard him exhale, the wind around us blowing fiercely in the direction of our opponents. More dust picked up than before, obscuring the landscape.

To my surprise, various vines and roots jutted out of the ground as well. Not only did we have decent visual cover, but a bit of difficult terrain.

Okay, maybe this wasn’t going to be as hard as I thought.

Thrill and adrenaline took over. I found myself dashing through the vines and dust, speeding towards Jillian. “Path please!” Ira was already on it, the ground before me clear of obstacles meant for our enemies.

My heart raced, but not out of fear. Out of exhilaration. I needed this. After the bullshit that we’d been through recently, I needed this outlet. I needed to punch someone who actually deserved it. I needed to make someone pay for all the hurt and pain I’d been experiencing. 

I rushed forth and downed one of the soldiers with just a few punches.

They fired but lightning literally moved my feet. I downed the second, the third, then the fourth. Jillian stood behind them, eyes wide with fury—and was that a hint of regret I sensed?

I skidded to a halt, smirk wide across my face.

She deserved to be punched, too.

As I kicked up dirt, heading for the fifth and sixth soldier, I happened to catch a glimpse of something moving off to my left. A soldier—the second, perhaps?—was climbing to their feet.

“Oh no you don’t!”

Jane landed on top of them and punched him in the face, knocking them back out before they could properly stand. She stood, dusted herself off, and joined me in the fray.

Good. She deserved to punch things, too. Might keep her from killing someone.

Five and Six dropped easily—Seven deserted Jillian, leaving her with Eight and Nine. 

“Stand down, Jillian,” I said, covered in the desert dirt of New Bohemia. Eight and Nine stood in front of her, rifles aimed at Jane and I. 

“You think this is all it takes to beat me, Detective?”

Jane’s hand plopped on my shoulder, and she breathed heavily next to me. “Shall we?”

I nodded.

Her hand slipped down and I took it in mine as we began to take off into a run towards Jillian and her goons. They fired shot after shot. I winced at the oncoming barrage of bullets, even shielded my eyes at one point, but they harmlessly passed through us, courtesy of Jane’s Ghostbranding.

The fury and regret in Jillian’s eyes was replaced with fear as we neared. We ran through Eight and Nine; I raised my fist to bring it into contact with Jillian’s jaw.

Jane let go and—

A shot rang out through the air.

I tumbled to the ground, cast aside by a sudden burst of wind. As I tumbled, pain blossomed across my arm as dirt dusted my face.

“I warned you, Detective,” Jillian spat as she lowered the handgun I hadn’t seen her pull from her suit. Had she had that on her the entire time?

The wind died down as I stood to my feet, letting the full unobstructed heat from the sun bear down on the battlefield. John, Ira, and Jane rushed to my side. I gripped my arm. It only grazed me, but it forced me to realize the gravity of the situation I was actually in.

I was fighting against Jillian Moriarty. Not Curtis. Not Althea. Not even Dr. Hendrix or Akim Salvi. A Moriarty. They’d already proven to be quite dangerous; I doubt I would survive underestimating her again.

“Are you okay?” Ira asked, gently inspecting my wound.

“Yeah, it’s just a scr—” 

Movement from Jillian caught my attention.

She pulled out a second handgun and stepped in front of her useless soldiers. All three opened fire on us without another warning.

John jumped in front of us and threw his hands in the air, a wall of wind encircling us in the blink of an eye.

But he winced and fell to his knees. He struggled to keep one hand up, mentally supporting the barrier he’d erected as he dealt with…

Fuck. He’d been hit, too.

“Okay, that got bad really fucking quick!” Jane rushed to his side and inspected his wounds. It looked to be slightly more than a graze, but nothing immediately threatening. 

Fuck. I had been cocky. I exposed all of us to danger. And if I didn’t do something about this, she was going to overwhelm us.

“Jane, the moment the wall drops, Ghost me. I need to get in close again.”

With a nod, she moved into position beside me as Ira moved in front of John to protect him.

“Ready?” John said, our voices clear despite the surge of wind whipping around us.

“Yeah.” I gripped Jane’s hand in mine once more and we bolted, the wind wall dispersing.

Shot after shot rang out across the desert, but Jane and I dashed through the vines and roots across the desert floor. Jillian and her two remaining soldiers continued to fire, but it was as if they didn’t learn from mere minutes ago when we’d just done this. 

Once again, we slipped past her useless soldiers, but this time Jane didn’t let go as I raised my fist. She watched carefully as we ran. Jillian fired what seemed like her entire clip into my face, but it all passed harmlessly through. She gritted her teeth as Jane and I swiveled around her. Then, once I felt Jane’s touch leave, I punched Jillian in the gut just in time with Jane grabbing me once more.

Jillian flopped to the ground, dirt scuffing her red suit.

She spat off to the side. “KILL THEM!” Eight and Nine shifted their focus from us to Ira and John. They began firing.

“Jane, go help them!”

“What about you?” She recoiled her head back. “John can—”

“Just go! I got this.”

She rolled her eyes and huffed and ran through Jillian as she returned to her feet. Jane took care of Nine before turning her focus on Eight.

“So you’re finally facing me one on one,” Jillian said, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. And—I should have expected this, honestly—before letting me retort, she was charging at me, a dagger from stars-knows-where in her hand as she sliced the air around me.

She was skilled, I’ll give her that. Much more trained in hand-to-hand combat than I was. I was all about shocking brute strength, but Jillian fought like she’d been trained for this. She rarely let up, and when she did she made sure she was far away from me and my hands. If I could just find a way to slip in there…

As Jane sent Eight hurtling towards the ground, their weapon fired, sending a shower of bullets everywhere. Jillian and I managed to avoid them while still focused on each other—though Nine’s lurching body showed they were not as fortunate..

And Ira screamed out in the distance.

Completely taken out of the moment, I screamed out as well as Jillian’s dagger finally found purchase, but I was already too scared to care. John cradled Ira in his hands and for a second, I imagined the worst.

The absolute worst.

And even though I saw Ira continue to wince and erect a wall of plantlife to shield them, the worst had taken root in my thoughts.

Ira was dying. Was dead. Is dead.

If Ira died, there would be nothing left for me. No reason to hold back. No reason to care.

Jillian’s knife once again found purchase in my side, but…instead of me screaming out in pain—I was too numb to feel—it was her who let out a shrill shriek. Dead inside, I craned my neck to see what had happened.

She was being electrocuted, her hand stuck holding the dagger in my flesh.

And when did it get so dark outside? The clouds had rolled in, and they did not look friendly. Thunder boomed directly overheard as lightning leaped non-stop from place to place. The storm above looked menacing, like it was going to tear the world apart.

Tear the world apart…

That was a good idea.

Lighting crashed. Not in the sky, but on the ground. All around Jillian and her already downed soldiers, thick bolts of lightning struck the ground sending chunks of dirt into the air. Holes the size of meteors were left in the place. Another bolt struck the ship they’d flew here on, sending it up in flames.

Electricity crackled off of my skin as Jillian was finally able to let go of her dagger. I pulled it out with minimal pain and tossed it off to the side. Jillian scampered back, falling on the ground once again and shambling backwards more.

And for once, the fear in her eyes was real.

“You have taken everything from me!” My voice boomed, the thunder in the sky seemingly echoing my words all around. More lightning struck as one of the soldiers, their number forgotten, began to run away. Jillian’s eyes were glued to me.

It would be so, so easy to just kill her now. She was going to do the same to me, right? And if I didn’t, she would return eventually to finish the job. Being a hero had no place here. Jane had been right—she couldn’t threaten my life or anyone that I loved if she was turned to dust.

I stepped forward.

The lightning in my body swelled. It danced off of my skin, striking Jillian. Fern-like patterns marred each place of contact. Her screams were drowned out by the thunder and lightning. And…it made me smile.

I raised my right hand and prepared to snap my fingers. This would all be over in a—

“Locke, no!”

Part of me felt angry at Ira, his yell piercing through the darkness I was reveling in. Lightning struck near him as I turned to face in his direction. He was standing now, John and Jane supporting him. Yes, he’d been injured, but he was alive—he was going to live and he would be fine.

Fuck, I thought, lightning striking the ground near Jillian. Her screams were once again muffled under the sound of thunder rumbling across the land. I turned to face her again, struggling to remember everything I stood for.

I was a hero, right? A Bleeding Heart—I could make her heart bleed…No. I cared about people. I wasn’t going to kill someone on purpose, especially not like this.

I swallowed hard. This was harder than it looked for some reason. Like once I let myself succumb to this power, it was hard to claw my way out of it.

But, I had Ira. And my crew.

“Leave, now,” I spat at Jillian.

KILL HER WHILE YOU HAVE THE CHANCE.

SHE WON’T STOP COMING AFTER YOU.

She scrambled to her feet, eyes full of fear and rage, and she turned to run away. I was expecting a snarky quip from her—I was actually a little disappointed.

The clouds in the sky rolled away just as quickly as they’d come, and I made my way over to Ira and the others, the pain in my body suddenly making it very, very difficult to do so.

Jane didn’t help. She punched me in the arm, face scrunched up in confusion. “SINCE WHEN THE FUCK COULD YOU DO THAT!?”

Next week on ⚡️THUNDERFANG:

In the conclusion to Arc 2, the crew finally earns a name.