Broker-Side-Story: Vigilantes 3

Hellion caught his breath, hands on his knees. His entire body felt like it was burning. Ever since awakening his abilities he hadn’t experienced heat like this. Running through a burning building had been no different to a casual walk down a sunny path. This was a different kind of heat, though, a heat beneath his skin that spread like an infection. His lips curled down a bit at the thought and how accurate it was. He dropped to a knee and pulled up his pants leg, examining the spot where the villain had hit him. The skin had begun to turn a sickly reddish purple color.

“Fever,” he muttered as he sat down on the ground and leaned against the wall. He reached into his shirt and pulled out the device he’d been given by Max. It was some kind of hand-radio but worked with mana to send signals. He flicked it on as he stared at the shape laying on the ground in front of him in the abandoned studio apartment. “It’s me,” he said breathlessly, “I got him.”

The radio crackled for a moment before Addison’s voice came through, “That’s great news, Hellon. Your first solo mission was a success, great work. Are you alright?”

He frowned at his ankle, “Poisoned, I think. Got a fever.”

“Sending Faux your way, you’ll be alright. What’s the targets condition?” Addison asked.

He let out a breath of relief and leaned his head against the wall, “He’s not going anywhere. Still breathing too,” he said but kept his mouth shut from saying anything further. He didn’t want to jinx it.

Just a few feet away a rail-thin man with deep-set eyes and a shock of lime-green colored hair lay on the ground. Thick chains wrapped around his body, smoldering slightly each time he tried to move. His escape attempts were rewarded with brief moments of pain that elicited a sharp hiss, indicating he was still very much alive. The man turned his head towards Hellion and sneered at him despite his predicament. “Looks like I got you,” he laughed, “You’re a dead man, Hellion.”

Hellion let out a sigh and shook his head, “Uhuh, I haven’t heard that before,” he said and reached into the satchel on his hip, pulling a small transparent bead out and popping it into his mouth. It began to dissolve slowly, releasing water into his mouth that he swallowed that had far more volume than the size of the bead. He wiped his brow and savored the cool feeling for a moment, “How do your powers work, Hugo?” he asked.

The man scowled at him, “I am the Marais Plague-”

Hellion cut him off with a raised hand, “It’s a stupid villain name,” he said tiredly, “Makes you sound like a serial killer from an American crime show.”

Hugo spat on the ground and turned his head away, “Shut up.”

“Come on, Hugo, walk me through how your ability works,” Hellion asked again, rubbing his temple. “Not much we can do until my friend shows up.”

Hugo barked out a laugh, “You aren’t going to get a cure out of what I have to say. There is no cure. You’re gonna die.”

“You sound pretty certain,” Hellion said.

“Of course I do! I create poisons that target a person's strengths and resistances, turning them on the victim,” he said with a grin, “I dunno what your powers are but from the looks of you and these chains you got something to do with fire. Now you’re burning up inside, right?”

“So you have no idea what the poison is going to be, even if you use it?” Hellion asked.

Hugo clicked his tongue and looked away, “If I know the person's strengths and weaknesses my ability is far more potent.”

“What about on normal people?” Hellion pressed.

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“It varies based on their biology, I guess,” Hugo said with a noncommittal grunt, “Normally it just triggers anaphylactic shock.”

“Allergen,” Hellion said with a dismissive wave of his hand, “Sounds much better than ‘the Marais Plaguebringer’.”

“Says you,” Hugo snarled.

“You know, you should be thanking me,” Hellion pointed out, “Do you know what happens to villains that operate at night here in Paris that we don’t catch first?”

The villain went quiet and leveled a cold stare at him, his light-brown eyes turning yellow for a moment. Hellion smirked at him and shook his head, “Yeah that’s right. They get eaten by the demons prowling the streets. You had a pack hunting you for a while.”

Hugo scoffed, “You playing yourself up as a hero or something?”

Hellion frowned, “Not a hero.”

Hugo grinned, “Did I strike a nerve? Didn’t make the cut?”

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“If that was the case, you got caught by a wash-out,” Hellion shot back.

The villains eyes turned yellow again and he struggled against the chains, they turned red-orange and he hissed out a gasp of pain before stopping his latest attempt to flee. Hellion shook his head and closed his eyes. The heat beneath his skin was starting to get worse even after hydrating himself with the pill Max had given him. He reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose before taking a look around the room. The old dusty sofa in the corner was the only decoration besides the boarded up door.

He reached for the hand-radio again when he felt something off. He tensed and glanced around again, forcing himself shakily to his feet. The first thing he did was peer through the window that he had brought his quarry through. No demons. Definitely lost them. He thought before turning back towards the center of the room. He froze, his eyes going wide as he took in the dark shape looming over Hugo. He took a shaky step back and raised his fists. He tried to make out what the creature was, it was vaguely human-shaped but he couldn’t suss out the details. It was like a living shadow had appeared in the room.

He glanced down at Hugo who was staring up at him, wide-eyed, “What? What is it?”

“Don’t. Move,” Hellion breathed, “Don’t speak.”

Instead, Hugo started to struggle even more in his chains, his eyes going frantic as he tried to get a good look at whatever was standing over him. That was when the shadowy thing stepped down onto the back of Hugo’s head and pinned him to the ground. Hellion snarled, We’re not losing another one! He charged towards the figure that tilted its head as if perplexed by his behavior. The next thing Hellion knew he was falling through the coldest water he’d ever touched. A chill washed through his everything, even his bones before he hit the ground from a height. He gasped and rolled onto his back, shivering, his eyes flitting around.

Wait, I fell. How? His mind struggled to catch up as he took in the same room as before. It was like he’d fallen through the floor and then out the ceiling. He turned his head and looked up to see the shadow still standing there, eyeing him curiously. He met its gaze and he felt a cold lump form in his stomach. Nausea came next and he rolled onto his side and coughed, terror seeking to conquer his mind. He wanted to scream, to run away, but between the fever and the chill rendering his muscles useless he could barely think let alone move.

The shadowy figure strode towards him and looked down from above. He averted his gaze, shaking. “You are sick,” the voice of a young man came out of the shadow. It was distorted, wrong in some way.

He looked up at the shadow again, forcing himself not to look directly into its eyes, “Who are you?” He asked.

“A supervillain,” the figure said quietly.

“You’re a villain?” Hugo blurted, “Th-then we’re on the same side, right? Yeah! Get me out of here and we’ll kill this vigilante and get the hell out-” he was cut off as shadow stuff wrapped around his head, silencing him. Hugo squirmed and threw his head about, his chest heaving with screams that Hellion could not hear.

“Vermin,” the supervillain said before extending a hand towards Hellion. A violet colored needle extended from its fingertip before launching itself. It embedded itself in Hellions leg. Hellion let out a cry of pain and doubled over, gasping as the needle melted into his flesh. He could feel it spreading throughout his body. More poison. He cursed his luck, why was a supervillain here of all places? Now he was going to die and- he blinked. He felt… better? The shadow loomed over him, “Epinephrine,” the shadow said.

Hellion rolled onto his back, his breathing easing. He looked up at the shadow. “Who- why?”

“You work with Mimir?” the shadow asked. Hellion could only manage a mute nod before the shadow raised its hand and shadow stuff swirled above it. A moment later, a thick manilla envelope appeared in its hand. “I am here to deliver a message to him and his associates,” the shadow said and dropped the envelope on Hellion. Hellion grabbed it and scrambled up into a sitting position, he looked down at the envelope. It was plain with only the word ‘Vigilantes’ written on the side. It felt like there were papers and small objects inside.

He looked up from it to the shadow man and opened his mouth to ask a question, but he was gone.