Isoko had been very eager for the last 10 minutes of talking and she was doing a passable job of hiding it, but she smiled brightly when she started walking this way, and Mark knew that Isoko was ready for everything coming down the line. She bowed as she reached them, saying, “Archmage.” And then she took a seat across from Mark.
Eliot was professional as he sat down opposite Blackthorn.
Sally was doing everything she could to hide her displeasure. She bowed and mumbled a thanks for the breakfast and hospitality, and then she sat down next to Mark.
Tartu’s still image flashed away, and Mark wondered what it had been about. Just a preview of the upcoming story, he hoped.
“The top story today is about the gate project,” said the blonde woman on the screen, as an image of the gate held in the background. The gate itself was well lit, almost shining white against the night sky of the background. The reporter continued, “Last night the gate was opened and the completion team from Daihoon walked onto Memphi soil, to the grand applause of those of us lucky enough to get a seat in the stands. The ceremony went off well, with Kraigen Steele showing up on the arm of Mayor Ramirez and the aloof Archmage Blackthorn making a rare appearance. On the other side of the gate there was the Grand Mage Rekaro Solari and the enigmatic General Aurora Valen, who is a dragon hunter of grand renown over on Daihoon.
“To much applause, the young Builder Eliot Cybersong appeared and was ready to work on completing the gate on this side.
“But then there was a disturbance in the walk off, and the Villain Mark Careed and his team, which includes Mister Cybersong, ran away, when the Collective and various other entities from Daihoon merely wanted to ask them some questions about recent trades in material goods.
“As you can see in this video of the event, the groups from Daihoon walked with the Mayor to the check in bunker of the gate district, but they paused, and then Mark Careed, also known as the Villain Blackvein and a member of the Hero/Villain Program, took off into the sky, hauling his team with him. It appears that he kidnapped Eliot Cybersong, but Eliot Cybersong is also a registered villain, along with the registered Platinum Princess, and an unregistered fourth member, seen here.
“As for what caused Mister Careed to take off into the sky, dragging his team along, we have the leader of the hero team on record as saying this:”
The camera shifted and then there was Tartu standing on the grounds of the gate district, his team arrayed behind him, as he spoke to a reporter who was off camera and holding up a mic. They had a weird name for Tartu at the bottom of the screen, but Mark didn’t really read that at all. All he saw was Tartu’s furious face.
“What do you think caused the villain’s flight?” asked the reporter.
Tartu harshly said, “The villain Blackvein wanted more money and power, far above his station, and when push came to shove he decided to kidnap Mister Cybersong and force his way rather than cooperate with the authorities who wanted him to honor his original contract. He had to resort to underhanded measures to ensure that the gate project would continue as he wanted.”
Mark watched, poleaxed.
What the fuck did Tartu mean? ‘Force his way to cooperate’ how ‘he wanted’ the gate project to go?
The video continued regardless of Mark’s sudden inner turmoil.
The reporter asked, “What do you say with regard to Blackvein’s trafficking in illegal goods?”
“When I found adamantium outside of Mark’s control, he stole it from me, so I absolutely believe he is a thief, liar, and he is better off relegated to the hands of authorities, for he can no longer be allowed outside of the supervision of cities.” And then Tartu took the mic from the guy’s hand and stared right into the camera, saying, “We’re getting Cybersong back and saving the gate project from your greedy claws, dragon’s brother, and you’re going to jail. Count on that.”
The program returned to the news station.
The blonde reporter said, “Strong words from a young hero in the Program.” And then she added, “Of course Mister Careed is innocent of all charges in all things until proven guilty in a court of law.”
The other reporter picked up where the first left off, saying, “The viewers may recognize the name Mark Careed, for he has been in the news before. When the Archmage Addashield had his issues, Mark Careed saved him from certain death, resulting in the adamantium dragon, Addavein. That dragon, who has named himself brother of Mark, is currently finding himself out there in the world, and we all pray that he becomes like his father before him. As we reported last week, Addavein was last seen traversing through the Southern Crossing, to parts unknown. As he had done months ago, but without trying to ask for anything in return this time, Addavein dropped off at least 50 tons of adamantium in the care of various world powers before he left. The actual number could be much higher. But trading in dragon parts is still highly illegal, and all of that metal has been confiscated and destroyed.”
“Destroyed?!” Mark exclaimed, “I don’t believe that for a fucking second!”
“They labeled it a ‘strategic resource’ and no one is allowed to buy it,” Blackthorn said, “But it is locked up somewhere on Earth and I think a minor shadow war is going to happen over it soon. I plan to be nowhere near any of that.”
As Mark took that in, from the fact that the Addavein part of the story on the news was ‘real’ in any sort of way—
The first reporter spoke up, “Conspiring with dragons was made illegal in the Humanity Accords, of which Addashield was a signer, and which his son, Addavein, tries to circumvent at every opportunity. Because of this law, traffic in draconic goods carries heavy penalties. Humans are not allowed to work with, trade with, or bring into cities, any sorts of dragons at all. For now, and for all the right reasons, Addavein is a forbidden hero to humanity. But Addavein is a young dragon, still very close to his roots, and he tries to help.
“It is no doubt in this reporter’s mind that Blackvein has taken metal from his brother, out of the goodness of his brother’s big dragon heart, and begun to try and sell it on the open market for his own material gain, and thus involved a great deal of powers in a great deal of compromising positions.
“And that is the real story. Blackvein, the villain, is wanted for questioning for the trade of illegal goods, made illegal by the Humanity Accords—” The reporter collected herself.
She looked to be having trouble.
Mark was having a lot of trouble, too.
The reporter’s co-reporter, a man in a suit, looked at his colleague and reached over to touch the table beside her. He quietly asked if she was okay.
The woman reporter collected herself and stared at the camera, saying, “I have a lot of family from Daihoon, and to hear that Mark Careed is trafficking in dragon parts is quite upsetting. He was such a good boy. Addavein couldn’t possibly know what his brother was doing, either!” Her gaze turned darker as she added, “So it should come as no surprise that Mark Careed’s villainy already has him posing as a dread tyrant, and he has taken the name of ‘Blackvein’. Here are some clips we have found of Blackvein doing various evil things here and there.”
“What the fuck was that transition?” Mark openly asked, at the practical non-sequitur. “ ‘Shown here are some various clips’?!”
“You’re being painted as a villain, Mark,” Isoko commented with a shrug, like this was expected.
And then there was an AI video.
Mark had already seen the video of himself flying away from the gate district, carrying his team away. That had been an AI video, for sure. Blackvein had been there, at the gate, to lift them up and away. But the video shown earlier hadn’t shown that. Mark hadn’t really recognized that lie back there, but he certainly recognized the lie now.
An AI-Mark floated above a crowd of people, wearing full-black armor with a crown of black spikes floating above his head. He lashed out at the crowd with his lightning, and the people fell over, and then Mark started flying around and plucking wallets out of pockets. He even grabbed some candy from a sleeping baby—
“Oh COME ON!” Mark exclaimed.
“Really ashamed you stole the candy from the baby,” Sally said, shaking her head.
Isoko put on an affronted face. “I can’t believe you didn’t steal the formula, too! It was right there!”
Eliot was smiling way too much.
Blackthorn commented, “I have a confession. This is not really a news program. It’s an entertainment program.”
Mark stared. “… What?!” And then he looked at the ‘news program’ again. He blinked. He said, “The FUCK?!”
Like a flash of lightning, Mark remembered what Battles in Memphi Mornings was.
It was the morning news program for Weekly Showdown in Memphi, which was Memphi’s franchised version of the Hero/Villain Program main product. Weekly Showdown was in its 50th-something season, but it was also a current show in tens of different cities with each city having its own, personal Weekly Showdown.
This Weekly Showdown was the Hero/Villain drama stuff, and every major city had its own arm of that whole production.
So there were a lot more than 50 seasons. It was more like 25 different shows, each having 50 seasons, and only some of them were actually made weekly. Some, like the seasons from the cities of Britain, consisted of maybe-6-or-8 heavily dramatic episodes every year. If that. New London’s production value was rather high, though, so a lot of people watched that one and they never watched any of the other ones, because most Weekly Showdowns were… not that great.
They were schlock, really.
Hyped drama for drama’s sake. Mostly, it was superhero fights, with the barest bit of story necessary to get to those fights.
“… Oh,” Mark said to himself.
Mark’s uncles Alexandro and Gabriel loved that shit. They were total hero and villain nerds, just like certain other people in the room with Mark right now.
Isoko eagerly asked, “We’re getting this week’s Weekly Showdown? Memphi version, of course.”
“International version, actually,” Blackthorn said, nodding.
Isoko made a very high, very happy little whine.
Blackthorn grinned, and then he looked to Mark. “This program is a lot better for you than the truth, which was Crystal Tower’s goal in doing it this way. Most of the truth is still here in the broadcast, but it’s been massaged. Now, no matter what happens, as long as you don’t actually kill or seriously injure anyone, you’ll be legally free to defend yourself from the actions of the Collective. Crystal Tower and Memphi are on your side, and that’s all you really need.”
Mark felt… slightly better.
A whole lot better, really.
The story had continued to play on the news.
Now it was back to the video of last night’s flight from the gate district, but it was all stylized.
Mark saw the Hero/Villain Program at work, now.
Tartu was on the screen, shaking his fist at Blackvein, while Blackvein had Eliot wrapped in adamantium, Platinum Princess hauled Eliot on her back, and Sally, known as ‘Unknown’ and heavily silhouetted, was currently crossing swords with the guy Mark assumed was Shawn. Apparently Shawn’s hero name was ‘Reflect Man’. The mud mage, Lenny, who was named Earth Defender, was firing bolts of stone (He should be shooting MUD!) at Blackvein, while Blackvein countered with jolts of black lightning, and Kardi, who was named Luckygun, shot off bullets that pinged off of Blackvein’s helmet. It was a very active scene, and it was supposed to be what had happened last night at the gate ceremony.
Mark had apparently ‘broken truce’ between his team and the ‘good-aligned’ ‘Team Solari’. And so ‘Tartu’ was out to get him. But he wasn’t named ‘Tartu’ in the broadcast. It was only now that Mark picked up on the guy’s hero name, because somehow it just didn’t seem like a real hero name.
Which suited Tartu perfectly, Mark thought.
Mark frowned, saying, “His hero name is ‘Spherix’? The fuck kinda hero name is that? Stupid fucking name is what it is.”
Sally burst out laughing.
Isoko said, “You were way too easy to kidnap, Eliot. Need to work on that.”
Eliot said, “The benefits to being captured outweighed the cons.”
Sally asked, “You didn’t know his hero name?”
“It wasn’t anywhere near anything I ever cared about!” Mark said, in his defense. And then Mark looked at Sally. “What’s your villain name?”
Mark already knew the answer.
Sally sheepishly, quietly, said, “I didn’t pick one out yet.”
Isoko exclaimed, “Let’s help you pick one out right now!”
The program was still playing, though.
The report finished with the gate project news, saying, “As a reminder: All videos of the events seen in this broadcast are available on our website. Moving on:”
A special news bulletin exploded across the screen, one that Mark had seen many times before, but never in this particular way.
Sentinel, the big hero of Memphi and wearing all of his golden armor, flew in from the right side of the screen and smashed forearms against Credenza, a female villain with the power of Luck. Credenza had been on the up and up last time Mark had heard about that sort of thing, and she had been fighting Glorious Man himself, and now, here she was, acting as the villain to counter the ‘Embodiment of Memphi Itself’.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Words flashed across the confrontation; ‘Heroes and Villains!’
And then the animation receded.
The blonde reporter said, “Credenza continues to build her world-wide criminal empire, while attempting to stay low on Crystal Tower’s radar…”
Blackthorn lowered the volume, saying, “Credenza will be back in Memphi for this week, just so you’re aware. If you want to meet her then I can make an introduction.”
Mark’s first question was not about any of that. Mark asked, “How much of all of that propaganda will actually affect my life? My decisions?”
Blackvein said, “It is very possible that you and your team make it out of this very well. What the shape of that ending looks like is completely up to you four.
“Mark, you would be able to remain your own person, instead of being stuffed into a farm for adamantium monsters.
“Eliot, you would be allowed to decorate the gates to the worlds however you wish… within reason, I am sure.” Blackthorn looked at Eliot. “… Which seems to be something you want.”
Upon hearing that he could get complete artistic freedom, which, in Mark’s opinion, was probably what Eliot was hearing and not what Blackthorn was saying at all, Eliot’s vector focused and he grinned, perhaps too much.
Blackthorn continued, “And as for Isoko and Sally, I am not sure what you want, but you could speak on those desires in the ‘sale’ of the gate back to Memphi, when you four assault it and sell it back to us. Of course, if you fail at any step of the way, then Mark is probably locked up in some farm somewhere. It would be a very nice farm, of course, but it would still be a farm.”
Mark only had one major question left, “Why is Memphi going along with this? Why did you step in yesterday to help us, at all?”
Blackthorn seemed to have a lot of things he could say, his vector going inward and backward and then finally settling on a subject. He looked at Mark, and said, “Back during the Reveal, the Old World crumbled and what appeared out of the ashes was tyranny incarnate. You have no idea how good things were, and how bad they became. Sure, we had issues, and I’m sure you learned about a lot of those issues in school, but...
“Civilization crumbled under the arrival of kaiju, and in a lesser way, to the Skills of new powers in the world.
“The Empires of Daihoon were well acquainted with the Tyranny of Skills, and soon Earth was reforging itself in that tyranny, too. The poor and the good died. The rich and lucky and those willing to do great evil thrived. Everyone else simply struggled and made whatever deals they had to make to survive. There were so many people and most of them were turning into monsters, and most of those monsters still looked like people.
“It is a story told so many times that I am not going to tell it again. It was World War 3. It was the Reveal.
“It was bad.
“And then… things got better. We thought we were pulling back from the horror, you know? After Addashield’s assault on the moon, on Arakino, and the installation of Malaqua as the Stone God of the System, things were looking up. Monsterizations sharply decreased. People stabilized. Freyala was pretty close behind Malaqua in Ascension, and the paladins of Freyala did a lot of good, very fast, and everywhere.
“But then some people wanted more, and things got a whole lot worse.
“You probably know the story of General Alexander Volkov, the man who would become the God of War and Murder, Drakarok. It is one piece of the story of the Pantheon, and historians argue to this day who was really the first New God. Some say that Freyala was the first New God, and she helped Malaqua take control. Some say Malaqua helped Freyala.
“No one really argues when Drakarok happened.
“General Alexander Volkov ascended to divinity six months after Malaqua’s Ascension, because that’s how long it took people to decide they wanted to be assholes to each other, and for one man to do something about it.
“The short version is that there were a group of people about to start World War 4 because they wanted to control what came afterward for the rest of all time. They wanted to rule the Earth. Perhaps they would have been ousted eventually, but it wouldn’t have happened in hundred years, or more. And possibly never. Big powers have inertia once they start, even if the heads of the hydra are all cut off. Well this was a new hydra growing right in front of us all.
“The people who live in the Empires of Daihoon are still trying to pull out of the Tyranny of Imperial Aluatha and Imperial Okuana. Xerkona can only do so much, and they’re working on timescales of hopeful centuries. Very hopeful centuries. As in ‘good luck!’ and ‘don’t plan on it!’.” Blackthorn almost snorted, but he refrained. He continued, “There was a similar group of people who would have been in charge of Earth, but for Drakarok. That’s what General Alexander Volkov truly accomplished.
“The man who became the God of War and Murder Ascended when he killed the worst 4 global leaders and 250 of their staff and prevented the collusion which would have put those people at the top of an Earth Empire. There was still a World War Four, but they called it World War Not, because of how bad it should have been compared to how bad it was.
“Turns out, when you kill the worst offenders of polite society, then yeah, it’s still bad, but the healing process can actually begin when there is no longer an infection to make everything worse.
“Great guy, that Alexander Volkov. His mortal lover is still alive. I think the only one of you who hasn’t met Redwolf of Wolf Bayou is Eliot. You should fix that sometime.
“Anyway.
“I went through all of those bad times as a mortal and mostly divorced from all of the big events. I was scared shitless all the time. Family dead. Living off of mushrooms in the woods outside of the burned and bombed and kaiju-stomped husk of Memphis. We had tech and we communicated with others, but it was bad. When things finally started coming back together, I was determined to never again go through any of that horror, and if I had to go through it, then I was going to be high as fuck and so powerful that nothing ever bothered me or the people I cared about ever again. And that includes the other nations of the world.
“I have a very good home and life here in Memphi, Mark. Friends. Family again, though my son is rather a killjoy way too much. And a governing body that is as close as it can be to what America used to be, before the kaiju came both mountain-sized, and person-sized. The land of the free, the home of the brave.
“It’s so easy to lose that, you know? Doesn’t take much to lose it.
“Takes a lot to get it back.
“So that’s why I took you out of there last night, so that the Empires of Daihoon could not get you. Like… I’ll work with them. But fuck them and their tyranny. The Collective is alright, even if they’re pricks most of the time, too. But at least I can understand them. Demons and Magefalls are damned terrifying. That’s what the Collective works to stop.
“But the Empires? There are only two big empires on Daihoon, Mark, and that’s just fucking insane to me. With how many people there are over there, there should be hundreds of different nations. But no. There are empires. And those empires do as empires do; they control everything they can. And, quite frankly: fuck that shit.
“Memphi and Mayor Ramirez agree with me.” Blackthorn added, “I’m sure that Congress will disagree, of course, but these are wartime acts, and we have a whole lot of leeway when it comes to this stuff, as long as Memphi ends up better off at the end versus where it started at the beginning. The main thing to know, there, is that Memphi needs to showcase itself as not willing to take shit it doesn’t want to take, which is what we’re doing here, with you and yours.”
Mark listened to Blackthorn speak about his history and the goals of Memphi, and it was easy to see how much the man cared. He was not high right now, which seemed sad to him. His answers were easy to accept as true, though, and Mark was glad he wasn’t high right now.
Of course, Mark was absolutely sure that Blackthorn was ‘massaging’ his message, too, just as the ‘news’ this morning had ‘massaged’ what had happened at the gate last night.
But that was fine, really.
Mark made an easy decision, which was made easier because he already made the decision earlier. Mostly, he reaffirmed his decision.
Mark said, “Isoko and I are trying to work on Protect magic and Fly magic, and Elaria Valen of House Valen is already helping us. We haven’t gotten to actual training yet, but if you could help us with what to do next, or shortcuts with the Powers we already have that might help us, we would appreciate that.
“I am not sure what Sally and Eliot would want, but I am sure they can tell you themselves.
“But in the meantime, I would like to be able to call a representative of the Collective here and try to hash this out under your auspices.” Mark asked, “Can we do that?”
Blackthorn looked a little happy to hear all that, which gave Mark some hope. And then he said, “I know Elaria Valen, and she’s a good teacher. We can go over what she is teaching you, and where you look to be headed, but to actually learn magic is the work of at least 6 months of intense study. You bought magical training, though, and I can still help you in a measurable way while you’re here in Memphi. Unless I’m mistaken, you still have a limitation regarding the body/astral connection? You can’t spin metal faster than you could move it normally? I would prefer to help you with that.”
Mark felt a whole lot better about what Elaria was teaching them, just by virtue of having a secondary recommendation from a reputable source, so he was fine with Blackthorn’s denial of magical instruction, for now. Mark already paid for it, but Power instruction was in the same wheelhouse, so this was fine… Mostly. Mark clarified, “If that’s the magical training you’re giving, then I want training for everyone.”
Blackthorn grinned. “I won’t nickel and dime you, Mark. I’m also not a miracle worker. So do you want my help with better Adamantiumkinesis, or not?”
“I do.”
“I can certainly set up a meeting with a representative from the Collective, as well, but probably later in the day because something else is going to be happening soon.” Blackthorn looked to the others and asked, “What about the rest of you? Got a desire?”
Isoko said, “I want Protect.”
“Impossible given the time constraints. Pick again.”
Isoko paused just a little, and said, “Help with becoming a great villain.”
Blackthorn grinned. “You’re already 80% there by associating yourself with me and Mark. Play your cards right in front of the camera, and you’re there. Eliot?”
Eliot said, “I was already planning on vandalizing the gate with our names, but now I want the vandalization to stay when we win.”
Blackthorn smiled. “I knew I liked you kids. How about you, Sally?”
Sally had been vacillating in the seriousness of her vector for a little while now. There had been moments when she wanted to speak up, to argue, or to run away. But now she focused, and her vector turned combative, her words laced with certainty, “I want answers to demonic questions about Leash and his goals. I want to know how to permanently kill him or any other demon.”
Blackthorn’s vector had been joyful.
Blackthorn turned dark, and though Mark was only to the side, he still felt like a bug focused on by a True Power. Sally’s skin sparkled gold and spiky, her eyes focused and unafraid.
… And then Blackthorn relaxed, pulling himself back. It took him a lot to do that, but he pulled back anyway.
For a moment no one spoke.
And then Blackthorn said, “You’re too weak to ask the big questions right now, Sally, and you risk death by approaching them at all. When you can summon a demon and torture them for information and not be tortured yourself, then you will find the information you seek. I warn you now that this action is something only the most foolish or most powerful ever attempt. Until you can reach that level of power yourself, you will go without any of the answers you truly desire to grasp.”
“… Then that is how it will be,” Sally said.
Blackthorn took a moment. He seemed tired after that moment passed. With a flick of his wrist he conjured a very professional-looking joint from elsewhere. It was made of practically see-through paper and it had a filter. It looked like the joints in the bag that Blackthorn had tried to give Mark last time, but which Mark had thrown away far, far outside of Blackthorn’s sight… but probably not far enough.
Blackthorn puffed on the joint once, lighting it and taking a drag at the same time, and then he breathed out smoke as he said, “Now with that out of the way, I believe I promised you kids some fights every day against Tartu. The first one starts in 30 minutes—” Blackthorn glanced at the wall, at a clock. It read 9:29. He turned back and nodded as he said, “In 30 minutes. 10:00 AM start time. Tartu and his crew are in their prep rooms several miles— kilometers away, and you kids need to break into the bank across the street and steal some shit from them. Standard first-time-villain stuff.”
Mark blinked. “… What?”
Isoko stood, ready to go, only one question on her lips, “Do we have a writer? A plot to follow?”
“Yes, you do, but I forget...” Blackthorn lifted a hand and a phone appeared, floating— “Ah! Some guy named Noel Oliphant. He showed up an hour ago— Oh? He’s from the settlement. Looks like Crystal Tower picked him up from Daihoon and delivered him downstairs.”
Isoko was excited and ready to go. Eliot was breathing a little hard and his mind was going a hundred different directions. Sally focused on Blackthorn, trying to figure out his ‘real angle’, which is what she had been trying to do for a while. Blackthorn had only bit back at her when she directly asked about demons, though. Right now, Blackthorn was smoking his joint and looking better by the second.
Mark was vaguely freaking out in a distant sort of way.
“I don’t have a real costume, yet,” Mark found himself muttering.
Blackthorn was unconcerned about that, or anything, really. “Noel will figure that out, I’m sure. I haven’t bothered to pay attention to the exact details. Personally, I think this whole timetable is ridiculous, but the HVP works fast. Now, if you’ll excuse me—” Blackthorn flicked his joint and the joint elongated into a cigar-sized monstrosity. The tip was cherry red with flames as Blackthorn puffed twice. A small cloud drifted out as he said, “It’s probably gonna go poorly from a narrative perspective, but the audience wants fights, I want to see fights, and the Collective will be out there but hamstrung. Expect treachery, but don’t break the kayfabe if you can help it!”
