I've finally got off my lazy ass and hammered out a definitive list of Andy's powers, abilities, and skills. It's for my own reference, of course, but a general list can be found in the appendices at the end of the fic. I stole the ideas and terms from all over the place, but Tarandis, the Agenasi and Killer Angel concepts are mine, all mine!
The psionic powers are stolen from White Wolf's psion/Aberrant setting, while the disciplines were taken from Joe Dever's Lone Wolf series, with appropriate changes.
I've also found the perfect song for Andy Skye. 'Behind Blue Eyes'.
It's a thin red line between good and evil. A little good may lead to a lot of evil, and vice versa. Never forget that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
But don't forget that the road to heaven is paved with evil deeds either.
-Tarandis
"So how much do you remember?" Jake stared at Andy over the table in Jake's apartment above his shop.
The café was a mess, and they had only just managed to clear up all the broken glass shards and wooden splinters from the previous night's battle. Jake had spent the rest of the day calling up contractors to work on refurbishing the place. It would be costly, but Jake wanted to get back to business quickly.
The two men were now sitting around Jake's dinner table, with half eaten pieces of pizza in front of them. It was, in their own way, their debrief. Jorge, as usual, was confined to his soundproof room studying for his upcoming SATs. The Hispanic boy had been surprised in the morning when he saw the wrecked shop, and more than happy that he wouldn't have to work for the next few days. Jake had other ideas to keep him busy.
"Everything." Andy replied to Jake's question. "I remember everything." He sighed. "I wish I didn't."
"Strange that the Amazons didn't grill you for information…" Jake mused.
"So you're doing it for them?" Andy glared.
"Information is ammunition." Jake quoted a popular adage. "And doubly so when it's so scarce. You've been in the enemy camp, and that's a real advantage."
Andy took a sip from a can of coke. "Ares kept his cards very close to his chest. He didn't tell any of us his plan, or even his objectives."
"But you can guess, right?"
Andy nodded. "It's quite obvious. He wants all-out global war."
Jake whistled softly. "He doesn't think small, does he?"
"He's a god. They don't think small."
"How is he going to achieve all that?" Jake bit into another piece of pizza.
"If I'm not mistaken, he's got a foolproof plan. Each of us knew only a small portion, and mine was to eliminate likely obstacles."
"Like Wonder Woman."
"Yes. And the Amazons of Themyscira were to follow after I had 'turned' her."
Jake raised an eyebrow. "Turned?"
Andy shuddered. "Ares wanted me to torture her slowly, break her in mind, body, and spirit, and then use her to take the Amazons from within. It was a damn good thing I didn't." His mood grew dark, and Jake knew his friend was castigating himself for his weakness.
Better get back on point. "So what about his other lieutenants? Maybe if we knew who they were?"
"Only George Gecko and Edwin Murdoch's identities were known to everyone. Gecko's a high ranking player on Wall Street, practically untouchable. Edwin Murdoch controls the vast media empire of Faust International. He can't be touched as well."
"So we know who two of them were? Why not get them now?"
Andy shook his head. "It's not so simple, and I get the feeling there's more to the whole matter than just a mad god trying to increase his own power. Edwin Murdoch seemed like a reasonable man, and one look at his media outlets confirms it. He doesn't take sides, reports the facts, and steers clear of the right-left debate. I can't understand why he's working for Ares."
"Maybe Ares has something over him?"
"I don't know. Perhaps. Or maybe he has his own motives."
"Gecko?"
"He's out to increase his own wealth, pure and simple. I wonder why Ares bothers with him. But I seem to recall that he's the expert of the hostile takeover…"
"Business is war?" Suggested Jake.
"If that's the case, we're all in deeper shit than we ever imagined."
"Then what about the other goons?"
"Lord Conquest and Baron Blitzkrieg's identities were not revealed to us, but I think I can hazard a guess at who Conquest is."
"Yeah, if you know, tell me now. I'll let to take another crack at him after our unfinished duel." Jake slammed a fist into his palm.
Andy grinned, as though knowing something that Jake didn't. "You might just change your mind. One, he's a black man. Two, he knows the US military and its procedures like the back of his hand, which was probably why Ares wanted him in the first place. Three, he knows stuff which only general grade officers should know."
"So?"
"So, how many black generals do you know in the US military?"
Jake stared at Andy, aghast. "You gotta be shitting me."
Andy closed his eyes. "Jake, it tallies up. All of it. Back when I was under Ares' thrall, he dropped hints here and there that he knew me as Charade."
Jake refused to believe it. "Jackson Creed's always been a straight shooter. Why would he want to turn on his own country? Working for Ares?"
Opening his eyes, Andy said, "Good men can be driven by circumstances to do evil things."
"Maybe he was possessed, like you were?"
"No. I was the only one Ares mind controlled. The others served him of their own free will, or so it seemed."
Jake groaned, "So we have a US general, a media mogul, and a Wall Street financer, all working for Ares, who wants all out war. Is it me, or does it seem like we're fucked?"
"Maybe not." Andy leaned forward, pushing his plate of pizza away. "I intend to see Jackson Creed and find out what's going on." He paused for a moment, then continued, "Also, I'd appreciate it if you keep this from the Amazons."
"Why? They've legit reasons to go after Ares as well."
"I get the feeling that's what he wants them to do. Ares is a really deep one. I think he has a whole lot of plans and contingencies that'll get him what he wants no matter what."
"Then why not take him out? Head of the snake, and all that?"
"Jake, I tried. Dammit, I did my best, but he didn't go down." Andy stared at the table.
Jake stared at Andy. "You used it, didn't you?"
"I did." Andy said defensively. "Look, I had no choice."
"And you're not worried that…" Jake paused for a while, thinking of the name that Must-Not-Be-Spoken, "The enemy would detect it?"
"If Ares does succeed, the enemy would be the last of our worries. If we lose, Ares can deal with him if he does come. What do you think of Ares' odds then?"
Jake tried to ignore the cold chill that had suddenly appeared in the room as both men thought about it. He had seen Andy's father once, and that one glimpse on the battlefield had been more than enough. It was pure, unadulterated evil. Jake understood all too well why Andy had turned out the way he did. Growing up around that sort of evil, it's a miracle he didn't go mad, Jake thought.
"He'll probably be pissing in his breeches and begging for mercy." Jake smiled grimly. It was a nice, if somewhat pointless dream. He'll likely be a dead man on a dead world by then.
He decided to change the topic. "So, when are you returning to work? Bob was glad you're back from your 'vacation'." They had lied to Bob Simon, claiming that Andy needed a break from the work. Bob had accepted their explanation easily.
"I'm not." Andy replied. "Going back to the limo company, that is."
"Why the hell not?"
"Ares now knows I'm a threat. He'll start going after those around me. Bob's a good man. I don't want him and his kids caught up in my problems."
"And how are you going to take him out of the line of fire?"
Andy sighed, "I'm selling my share in the company, and I'm going back into the merc business. Nobody needs to get hurt."
"Andy, I'm telling you, don't do this. Don't be stupid all over again."
"Why not?" Andy challenged, shouting angrily, "Is there any goddamn reason why I should place Bob, you, or young Jorge in danger? If Ares wants war, I'll give him a war he'll never forget!"
"And you think going off Lone Ranger style will get you a win?" Jake roared back, knocking his chair to the floor as he confronted his headstrong friend, "You'll only get yourself killed!"
"If I die, nobody will mourn for me. So what do I care?"
Andy's face was drawn in a way familiar to Jake. It was the look of death, the one he would see on every soldier when they were convinced that they would die. And most of them did. It was a self fulfilling prophecy he had seen too many times, and often on Andy's face. But somehow, Andy always managed to stay alive despite throwing himself into the thick of the fighting. Jake also knew Andy hated himself for surviving when so many did not.
Jake started counting off his fingers. "Well, I care. So does Jorge and Simon, and Simon's kids. Vale Sharpe. And Darwin…"
Andy barked out a harsh laugh. "Darwin doesn't give a damn."
"Maybe he will if we tell him. He's just pissed then, now he should have cooled off."
Andy shook his head. "My life, my choice."
Jake let out a long suffering sigh. "What do you need?"
"Your contacts. All of them. I also need to get in touch with Vale."
"You will get them. For what's it's worth, good luck."
Andy scoffed. "Luck's what others call skill when they have none."
The two men fell silent, but Jake knew there was nothing more that needed to be said. He also knew why Andy had chosen this course of action. You seek death to atone for your sins. But has it ever occurred to you that they aren't your fault?
But he remained silent. I hope you can pull this one off, Andy, because I don't think your soul has awakened enough to defeat Ares…
Diana tossed and turned on her bed in the embassy, the nightmare of her ordeal still fresh in her mind. Her defeat in the warehouse, Ares' mocking laughter, her duel with Andy, no, the Marshal of Chaos.
Her rape at his hands.
Diana wanted to cry, to scream, at the cruel hand fate had dealt her. Even after the purple ray had healed her of her wounds, she still felt pain in her loins as she remembered Andy's cock plunging into her depths, tearing through her hymen and stealing away her virginity. Forever.
The purple ray could not heal that wound.
She sat up in her bed, holding her head in her hands, sobbing quietly at her humiliation. She wished she had somebody to talk to, somebody who really understood. Her fellow Amazons had tried, but it just did not work.
So many things had gone wrong for her recently. Her mother was dead. Her sister Donna was dead. Vanessa Kapetalis, who had been a younger sister to her, hated her. Trevor Barnes died to defeat the Shattered God. Nothing seemed to go right for her.
And now she was a victim of rape. She knew by Amazon law, she should go after Skye, make him pay for his crime, but she also knew it was not his fault. If anybody was to blame, it was her own weakness and Ares.
Unable to sleep, Diana got up, and changed into her costume. She had been defeated because she had relied too much on her gifts from the gods. She was far better than when she had left the island, but obviously not good enough yet. She needed to intensify her training.
Her thoughts turned to the erstwhile Marshal of Chaos. She had seen what had happened to the Areopagus when she had returned to rescue him, and while he had not told her the specifics of the situation, she also did not ask him for them. The scars on their psyches were still too fresh.
But she could not help but think of him. How was he dealing with this? Some part of her still yearned for his touch, his hands on her body as she pushed…
Diana shook her head. She was an Amazon Princess, the champion of her people. An example to all womanhood. What if her ordeal was revealed to the public? She could only hope that Ares would not take advantage of this.
After an hour of katas and gruelling mock fights courtesy of the state of the art simulacrums provided by her Wonder Dome technology, Wonder Woman was ready for another day of work, her nightmares temporarily banished by her workout.
She was to address the UN General Assembly, meet up with several Wonder Foundation members to organize relief programs for children in developing countries, and then a meeting with the Justice League in the evening.
Wonder Woman shoved aside her sorrow and pain. There was still a lot of work to do.
"You are Veronica Cale." It was a statement, not a question.
"Yes?" Cale looked over the man talking to her in her office. Tall, dark, and handsome. She smirked. She knew who this man was. They had interests in common. She only found it interesting why he had taken so long to contact her.
"I have something for you. You may find it useful." He placed a CD on her table. "Use it as you may."
"Sure." Cale smiled as the man left, as quickly as he had arrived. She picked up the CD, holding it between two fingers and looking at it appraisingly. Ares, what are you up to this time? And how can I use that little Psycho to take advantage of this?
"Bye, Daddy!" Young Sheila blew her father a kiss as she ran up the steps to the Wonder Scout clubhouse in Washington DC. "See you later!"
"Take care, honey!" Jackson Creed called out from his car. It was an off day from the Pentagon for him, and he planned to get back to the Areopagus and catch up on some of the reports streaming in from Ares' agents all over the world.
He smiled as he thought about the dichotomy of his daughter being one of Wonder Woman's greatest fans while he himself was supposedly one of her greatest enemy's loyal servants.
Supposedly, being the operative word. Jackson sniggered inwardly. Ares, for all his bluster and divine power, was easy to fool.
Jackson prepared to move off when he glimpsed a man standing beside the clubhouse entrance, and his blood ran cold as he recognised him as Andy Skye.
What the… Jackson turned his head to take a better look, but the man had disappeared. Am I hallucinating? Jackson thought, shaking as he gripped his steering wheel hard, I was sure that was Charade!
Letting out a long breath to hopefully calm his nerves, Jackson pushed into low gear.
"Moving off so quickly, Creed? Or should I say, Lord Conquest?"
Jackson jammed on his brakes immediately, blood leaving his face as he turned around to look at Andy Skye, sitting in the back of the car while having a Sig Sauer semi-automatic in his hands, pointed straight at Jackson. How the heck did he get in?
Andy allowed himself a slight smile, but his eyes remained cool.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Jackson asked.
Andy gestured with his gun, "Keep on driving. As for questions, I'll be the one asking them, not you. I know Ares gave you enhanced strength, but you're still vulnerable to lead poisoning, eh?"
Jackson got the car moving again. "Sure, anything you say."
"What is Ares up to?" Andy asked. He didn't expect an answer straightaway, and Jackson didn't disappoint him.
"Damn if I know, and damn if I'm going to tell you."
"Don't be too hasty, Jackson." Andy said conversationally. "That's a nice daughter you have back there. Let's hope nothing untoward happens to her in the next few days."
He could feel the anger boil out of Jackson immediately. "Don't you dare touch her!"
"What grounds do you have to say that? Do you think you could stop me if I wanted to kill young Sheila?" Andy injected as much venom in his voice as he continued, "I don't enjoy, and I won't, but I am willing to hold her well being over your head if it means stopping Ares."
"You can't win. It's impossible."
"I came damn close that day."
"Yeah, I know. I was there too, remember? I know what you did, and I'm surprised that you've managed to hide away your powers for as long as you did."
Andy laughed with a tinge of bitterness. "I'm not a meta."
"Then what the hell was that? You blew apart the coliseum, tore up the landscape around several hundred meters, and gave Ares a real fright. What else could it be?"
Andy shook his head, and he knew Jackson could see the motion in his rear view mirror. "You're not the one asking questions, Creed, I am. I ask again, what is Ares up to?"
He could almost hear Jackson gritting his own teeth. "He wants all out war."
"I already knew that. What's your role? Tell me everything you know, and even your educated guesses. Or else, that young girl of yours gets it."
Jackson sighed, and Andy knew at that moment he had the man. "All I'm doing since I signed on with Ares is going through reports from his agents from all over the world. If I'm not mistaken, he's got his hands in almost every country with a major military force out there."
"And the point is?"
"Those agents were probably soldiers like me. No sense trying to incite worldwide war when you have no idea who has what, right? Ares keeps wanting my recommendations on how to improve the military forces of these countries."
"Must be a real dilemma for you, Jackson." Andy said with sarcasm.
"Not really. I also got good intel that I wouldn't be able to get otherwise."
Andy pounced on that. "So you are playing a double game."
"I'm not."
"Jackson, I know you are. You're a good man, and loyal to your country. You don't seek power, which is what Ares offered to us anyway. So what are your motives?"
"Maybe being loyal to the USA doesn't contradict what I'm doing now? Maybe all out war is what I really want? Don't make wild guesses."
"Then tell me why."
Jackson was slightly angry as he replied, "You know Sept 11?" Andy nodded. "My wife died in the towers."
Andy was momentarily stunned, and he could only say, "I'm sorry."
"Yeah, the President is trying to do all he can, but you know Lex Luthor can never be trusted. So I went off on my own, and Ares contacted me. He told me that in an all out war, it was highly likely that those mother-fucking assholes in the Mid-East would get what's theirs."
"So that's why you're working for him."
"Ares gives us a lot of perks too, you know."
"I've noticed," Andy said dryly. "But in an all out war, those who suffer will be the common people, the innocents. Your daughter would be no safer in such a world."
Jackson snarled, "I'm fighting for a better peace, and if working for Ares gets me that, I don't care who thinks I'm doing the wrong thing. Those damn superheroes have all the power, but all they do is talk. Well, they want to stay clear, then fine. We humans will take care of this on our own."
"Jackson, you're making a mistake." _But I'm not so sure myself,_Andy thought.
"Speak for yourself, Andy." Jackson shot back angrily. "Threatening me by using my daughter? You sick bastard. That was low."
Andy sighed apologetically. "It was a ruse. I never intended to hurt her. I just needed to know what you know."
"I know. Your psych profiles indicated you would rather die than do such a thing."
Andy stared at Jackson. "Then if you knew I was bluffing, why did you still tell me what you knew?"
"I could be lying, you know." A slow grin appeared on Jackson's face. "Feeding false info, and all that jazz."
He grinned back as he began to realise what was going on. "Sure you are." Meanwhile, his mind was racing along. Jackson wanted me to know all that. Which means he's hinting at a method for stopping Ares, or minimizing the effects of such a war. He probably thinks I can do something. But what? Something to do with those agents?
"I'm going to my other office soon. Sure you don't want to drop by?" Jackson was saying with a smirk as they cruised down the highway.
And go another round with Ares? Andy snorted. "No thanks. Your boss will probably kill me."
Jackson pulled up near a bus stop. "Think about what I've said, buddy."
"I will. Thanks." Andy answered as he got off. Now what? He thought as he realized there was more to the matter than it seemed. I better look up Edwin. What does he know?
A trip back to New York was in order. And, Andy wondered, how does the Crystal of Calai fit into all this?
Diana resisted the urge to yawn as she sat through another long session at the UN, where some diplomat was espousing the importance of human rights. He would also be taken more seriously, if he didn't come from a military dictatorship.
The hypocrisy of Man's World sickened her at times.
Wonder Woman understood the value of the United Nations, yet it often seemed to encourage inaction rather than action, even when action was all but necessary to salvage a situation. When more than half of the nations represented were tyrannical regimes, Diana could very well understand the frustration from the democratic nations.
But she had to put up with it, because the United Nations was still one of the best forums available for spreading the ideals of peace and equality. And Diana was determined to contribute to the organization.
She noted that there was a great deal more sabre rattling this time round, as the various diplomas who'd just been rescued from the terrorists' hands accused each other of being behind the abductions.
Wonder Woman frowned. None of those responsible for the kidnappings had been captured alive, and nobody knew who was behind it in the first place. Whoever had done it had hidden their tracks well.
She couldn't be sure, but Diana suspected Ares' hand manipulating events yet again. She resolved to look up Andy when she felt comfortable enough. Or she could ask Artemis to ask Jake instead. The red haired Amazon had seemed extremely reluctant to return to Themyscira with a report of what had happened.
When the session ended, Diana left the United Nations building. She prepared to fly back to the embassy when a thunderous explosion on the street sent people flying.
What the… Diana shifted into combat mode, ready for anything. Then she saw Kobra soldiers running down the wide thoroughfares, their weapons held at the ready.
Wonder Woman sprang into action.
"Fuck!" Andy cursed as he saw the Kobra soldiers running towards him. They were yelling for all civilians to keep their heads down, or to depart the area immediately, and also firing their weapons into the air. The few cops on the street were already shooting back, while throngs of civilians streamed everywhere.
He ducked behind a car, while a storm of energy bolts passed by over the vehicle hood. He did not hesitate in the immediate lull, pushing off to one side and blazing away with his pistol. He felt a twinge of satisfaction as four Kobra troopers went down clutching their wrists. He would not kill unless he was really pressed.
Two shots zinged near his head, and Andy instinctively reacted. He saw three Kobra soldiers firing at him, and he allowed his training to take over, his pistol moving smoothly past each soldier, his finger squeezing off 6 shots as his arm glided through the motion They dropped their weapons as their arms were hit, and quickly withdrew.
Andy had just returned to New York, and was heading towards Wall Street when the Kobra troops had burst out of nowhere. They were all amassed around the United Nations building, and there were several massive vehicles hovering down the streets. He stayed in the dark alley, telling himself to stay out of it, that it was none of his business unless Ares was somehow involved.
As much as he was used to killing, it was always the aftermath, the realization that he had fulfilled what he had been bred for, that was the hardest to deal with. Which was also why he was using much more difficult location shots, aiming for the hands, the wrists, the arms, or the legs to incapacitate them.
Then he saw her.
Wonder Woman was throwing Kobra soldiers around like rag dolls, her fists and feet a mere blur as she fought her way through throngs of green and maroon clad soldiers. Gunfire filled the air, trying to bring her down. And Andy knew it was only a matter of time before they did.
He felt a wave of panic overcome him, before he forced it down. He looked around desperately for something, anything, that he could use. But there wasn't. Only his gun, and the guns of the fallen.
Fine then, Andy thought as he tried to quell the killing rage, and may God forgive me for what I am going to do.
Diana grunted as she threw another Kobra cultist against a whole group of his comrades, his bulky body acting like a bowling ball as they fell to the ground under his weight. Two soldiers shot at her, and Diana just managed to bring her bracelets up in time to block.
There were too many of them for her to defeat, and she knew it. She had seen the Kobra soldiers entering the United Nations building. She could guess what they were after. The diplomats and several high ranking officials. Why is everybody after the United Nations recently? She wondered.
Then there was no more time for thought as a series of bullets streamed in at her, and Diana brought her arms up to block the bullets. Then several bright lights suddenly flashed at her from the vehicles, as intense as the sun.
"Noooo!" Diana cried out as her eyes were blinded by the lights, and she stumbled, unable to see her way. There was a sound of air being released, and before she knew it, she felt something sticky hit her body, entangling her arms and legs. A net.
"Urgh!" She fell to the ground, and tried to break the net, but there were sharp tinges of pain all over her body. A wave of dizziness flowed immediately, and Diana guessed that those were tranquilliser darts to stop her. "Must… get up!" She summoned up her waning reserves of strength, all the willpower she could muster, but all that got her was a slight kick from her legs. "Can't stop… fighting," she panted.
Her sight was recovering, and Diana could make out the faint outline of a muscular man walking out from the large dark shape of a vehicle. "Wonder Woman. We meet again." It was Kobra.
Placing the makeshift mask over his face, Andy focused himself, feeling the cold metal of the Uzis in his hands, tempting him to use them. Here goes nothing. Then he slid out from his hiding spot, both weapons blazing. He allowed his conscious thoughts to fall away, letting himself become a thin knife edge against which nothing could stand. Where no enemy could touch him, no bullet could hurt him. Where he could not feel his pain, his hate. Where there was nothing but the joy of the kill.
Blood erupted all around him as he fired his weapons, every bullet sent unerringly into a Kobra trooper's arms, or legs to remove them as a threat. He moved like a shadow, the falling bodies around him acting as camouflage, the lights pulled into dizzying patterns to confuse his enemies. The sounds of the wounded a symphony to his ears. An animal grin came unbidden to his lips.
Cutting loose was always so much fun. Even if he was somewhat holding back from outright killing.
They tried to blind him with lights from the vehicles, but Andy had tuned it out, his eyes adjusting automatically for the intensity. All they accomplished was to blind their own men.
A trooper got close to him with a knife while he was reloading, and Andy focused his thoughts, imaging the man's bones breaking. The hideous scream told him all he needed to know. The Algesis mode was not easy to use, and he had been wary of using that particular power in case somebody realized that he could do a lot more than just shoot a gun. It was easy to miss that action in the midst of all the chaos around him.
It was also a very good thing he had been able to hide all that from Ares. His skill in Psychbending was only rudimentary, and it had not been enough initially to resist the God of War's mind control, but it had been enough to conceal much of his true abilities from Ares.
Finished with his reloading, Andy raised the Uzi in his right hand over his right shoulder, while his left Uzi was pointed in front of him. He began firing in both directions, turning 180 degrees through a half circle, reaping a harvest of blood and gore as the Kobra cultists around him exploded in a frenzy of bullets, all of them crumpling to the floor as they were hit, but not killed, by his uncanny marksmanship.
Surrounded by groaning cultists, Andy glanced up at the vehicles, one of which was lumbering forward at him. Come on then, he urged the vehicle, feeling out the electrical impulses running through the complex machinery. And then it all falls apart. He adjusted the energy flows.
The vehicle lurched to a halt. To its operators, all they knew was that the systems had just crashed. They stared at their monitors, which were all showing the Blue Screen of Death. And they cursed uselessly at Bill Gates, and their leader for trusting in unreliable Microsoft software. And then they found that even the exits were all locked shut. They couldn't get out.
There were still more soldiers around the building, but they were not attacking, simply standing by and watching him. Andy felt himself pulling out of the abyss of action without thought, and realised that they were waiting for orders from Kobra. He dropped the empty Uzis. They clattered onto the ground.
The tall hooded man in the costume of a snake held Diana near him, his right hand on her throat. Andy forced himself to remain expressionless as he saw that she was helpless, with a dozen guns pointed at her. She was conscious, but her weak struggles against Kobra indicated that she was drugged.Damn.
"Interesting!" Kobra shouted. "I expected her, but I did not expect you, old friend!"
Andy stayed silent.
"Charade, isn't it? Or maybe you've changed your name. It's been a long time." Kobra said, somewhat theatrically. "You could hide your face, but you cannot hide your skills. The ability to shoot without killing is extremely rare."
Andy's stomach lurched slightly as he saw the look of despair in Diana's blue eyes, as though he had betrayed her. She recognises me. And no, I haven't betrayed her. And I won't, he told himself.
"What do you want, Kobra?" Andy spat, as he walked nearer to Kobra. He was covered by a more than a dozen troopers, but he trusted Kobra not to order them to shoot at him. Not yet anyway.
"Why, total global domination, of course!" Kobra spread his left arm out wide, and at his cue, a dozen diplomats were brought out. "This is only the first step in my plan. With these useless politicians in my hands, I would be able to extract useful information from them. Secrets that would enable me to control the world."
"The Justice League would stop you!" Diana managed to say before Kobra's hand tightened on her throat, preventing her from speaking. Andy involuntarily took a rapid step forward, and he felt the fingers on the triggers of the guns on him jerk, just short of firing. He continued walking forward.
"Shut up, bitch!" Kobra snarled. "The Justice League is impotent against the secrets I can reveal. The mass graves, the biological weapons, the lies told daily that they have become truth. When these are revealed, the people of the whole world will rise up and invoke the Kali Yuga as they overthrow their corrupt rulers!"
"Oh really," Andy drawled, "Regardless of the fact that you're a tyrannical psycho with delusions of grandeur?"
"Tsk, tsk," Kobra chided gently, "How much you choose to forget, Charade. I am much more than that."
"Yeah right. Like when you got me to kill the ruler of Polistan?" Asked Andy. "Honestly, I don't see any damn difference between the two of you. I heard the reports when you took over. You were every bit as bad as he was." He stopped, mere meters away from Kobra.
"Then why didn't you kill me?" Kobra replied smugly.
"Because nobody paid me to. Same goes for your soldiers back there." He jerked a finger at the mess of incapacitated Kobra cultists behind him. "But that could change." Andy stared at Kobra, the challenge clear in his words. He also saw understanding dawn in Diana's eyes. I won't betray you. I could never betray you.
A diplomat got the hint, and shouted out, "A thousand dollars for Kobra!"
"Your wish is my command!" Andy shouted out, and he allowed the grenades in his sleeves to slide onto his hands, his fingers flicking away the pins in a smooth motion, then raised his arms with both grenades clear for all to see. The soldiers around him saw what he had done, and just managed to refrain from shooting.
"Come on!" He taunted them, looking around as he did so. "Shoot!" None of them dared to, not with their leader standing so close to him.
"So what now, Kobra? A dose of Willy Pete is a nasty way to go!" Andy walked next to Kobra, the two men almost face to face, with Wonder Woman held between them. "And so much for your dreams of ruling earth if you're dead. No corpse ever ruled the world."
Diana tried to twist out of Kobra's grasp, but she was still fighting off the effects of the drug, but they were wearing off quickly. She could hear the villain's harsh breath on her neck as he took in his situation. She looked at Andy, standing fearlessly with the grenades in his hands. His eyes burned with determination, even if the rest of his face was hidden by the cloth he had improvised as a mask to hide his features. She knew it was him, from the way he had fearlessly entered the battle, and the incredible ease he had with guns.
She had felt a sense of betrayal when Kobra had called him out. She recognised the uneasy familiarity both men had with each other. She had, for a moment, thought that he had betrayed her. But he soon showed her otherwise. He would never betray her. She felt shame at having doubted him for even a moment.
She could feel the tension in Kobra's grip as Andy approached, and she could feel something else as well from the way he was holding her. Kobra was afraid. Deathly afraid. Of what? Andy?
Yes, Andy was certainly dangerous. Any man selected by the God of War to be his mortal champion could only be a warrior of tremendous ability and skill. But Kobra had faced Batman before, and she knew that he had not been terrified to this extent. At least not to her eye at the time.
"Put Wonder Woman down, Kobra," said Andy.
"And my only remaining defence against you?" Kobra scoffed, "Not likely."
"Then how about this? You call off your dogs, I put down the grenades. We meet, we tussle, man to man, no weapons, to the death. Winner takes all. Prove your right to rule. If you're as superior as you claim to be all the time, you should win easily, so no reason for you to refuse, right?" She was sure Andy was smiling under his mask.
Kobra suddenly relaxed, which left her puzzled. Why? She closed her eyes, trying to centre herself and the power in her body. Just a few more minutes…
"Very well," Kobra said, gesturing with his other hand to his guards, ordering them to move away. "You trust me not to have my men shoot you in the back?"
"I don't need to." Andy carefully picked out two pins from his pockets and slotted them back into the grenades. He tossed the grenades to a nearby trooper, who nearly panicked and juggled the grenades for a few nervous moments before he was able to grab hold of them.
Diana understood what Andy meant. Andy had challenged Kobra, and Kobra had to defeat him by fair means, or his men would begin to doubt him. For a tyrant like Kobra, who relied on his aura of superiority and cult of personality to command his minions, he could not afford the slightest amount of doubt to ever enter their minds.
Or maybe not, Diana realised as Kobra handed her to one of his bodyguards. He lost his fear once he had heard Andy's solution to the impasse. What is he up to?
The two men gathered in a circle formed by Kobra cultists. Diana got the impression that this was not a new experience for Andy. She prayed to her goddesses to remove the drugs from her system before Kobra killed Andy. As it was, she was beginning to feel stronger. Just a little more…
"I will enjoy killing you with my bare hands," Kobra promised as he flexed his muscles.
Andy did not reply, and took up a fighting stance. Kobra did likewise. Then Andy said, "Let's go."
A Trial of Grievance, without the fancy name, Andy thought to himself. He noted Lord Naga's confident demeanour.And he's got an ace up his sleeve. But what?
They circled each other slowly, sizing each other up. Andy was tempted to cheat, but he fought down the urge. He would not cheat unless Kobra did so first.
And then Kobra swept in with an attack, which Andy parried easily. He held back from counter-attacking, stoically blocking each of Kobra's blows and observing his moves carefully. Ares had been very correct when he had pointed out that it was sometimes better to break an opponent's fighting spirit than to kill them outright. Kobra's cult of personality was one such instance.
He has a variety of moves from different styles, Andy discerned as he barely managed to dodge a deceptively swift kick aimed at his head, but he has a unconscious tendency to employ moves that emulate a snake's motion and guile. He could be really, really good if he had just merged those moves into a single unique style for himself, instead of mixing and matching. Nah, I won't tell him.
Having taken the measure of his opponent, Andy finally attacked, his very first strike a punch straight into Kobra's gut, followed by a vicious leg tap on the head as he flipped forward, knocking Kobra onto the ground. Lord Naga rolled away, and spun himself up into a standing position.
Weird. He should be tottering on his feet. The confidence on Kobra's face never faltered, even after those hard hits. Andy suddenly realised that something was wrong as Kobra charged forward, still full of vitality.
He's faster and stronger now, Andy recognized as he exchanged blows with Kobra. He grunted as one fist smashed into his face, nearly tearing the mask off. He spun around, using the momentum to sweep his own leg in for a devastating kick to Kobra's body, which the villain shrugged off immediately. Shit.
Kobra smashed a ridgehand onto his shoulder, and Andy cursed as he felt the bones there break under the impact of the unorthodox move. He kicked upwards, a move which caught the cult leader right on the chin, lifting his body up by several feet off the ground before he crashed back down.
Andy clutched his right shoulder, forcing his mind past the pain while his tongue tasted blood on his lips, the internal haemorrhaging caused by repeated hits to his torso. All right, let's see what you've got, huh? He reached out with his senses, feeling out Kobra's aura. And sure enough, there was the sign of unnatural chemicals flowing through Kobra's body. Performance enhancing drugs.
Andy grinned humourlessly. Kobra, you sly bastard, you cheated. That means I get to cheat too, and I've got far more ways to cheat. He could boost his speed, strength and stamina for a short while. He could use his limited biokinesis techniques to harden his skin or to shift his body mass for more effective blows. He could use the algesis mode to inflame the bruises and cuts on Kobra's body. He could heal some of the wounds he had suffered so far. He wouldn't have been able to hold off Ares otherwise.
So many choices, so little time, Andy mused as he watched Kobra shake off the effects from the kick and charge forward with an arrogant smile on his face. Time to wipe that smirk off.
Kobra swung, a vicious roundhouse that could be pulled back quickly if necessary. Andy didn't give him that chance. He boosted his speed, just enough to grab hold of Kobra's arm with both hands, and shifted his own body mass to prevent Kobra from pulling away immediately.
Then he stepped in and brought one hand against the trapped arm, breaking it in a single swift move. Kobra screamed, then brought up a clawed hand, slashing Andy right across the face, cutting though the mask and drawing blood.
"DAMN!" Andy staggered back from the hit, but he ignored the blood flowing down his face and the tatters of his mask obscuring his vision. He managed to grab hold of Kobra's good arm with the claws when Kobra swiped again, and broke that arm as well. Kobra shrieked, but Andy had no mercy, nor time left. The claw was tipped with poison.
He was about to plunge the claw on the arm into Kobra's own neck when there was a shout from behind him. "Stop, or we'll shoot!"
Andy turned around to see Kobra's bodyguards with their weapons pressed to Diana's head and neck, and many more in his direction. He saw a thin smile on her lips.
Diana had recovered enough of her own strength, and she kicked out suddenly, throwing Kobra troopers off in every direction. They toppled to the ground many of them losing their grip on their weapons. Diana flew over beside Andy.
"Are you all right?" She asked worriedly, looking at the vicious slashes across his entire face. The lines of blood crossed from beside his right eye down across to his jaw to his left cheek. But there was no sign of pain on his face.
He did not answer her, his next words directed to the Kobra soldiers, "Here is your supreme leader! You all saw him use his claw, he broke the rules! But I beat him all the same."
"You defeated him! You should be the new Kobra Prime!" A soldier shouted, immediately echoed by several other voices. "Usher in Kali Yuga! Lead us to glory!"
"I have better things to do than to lead a crazed cult of idiots!" Andy shouted back, "If you would put in as much effort into living honestly, using the discipline you've learnt as Kobra soldiers, what's to prevent you from attaining riches and glory on your own? You pin all your hopes onto one man," he lifted an unconscious Kobra up by his hair, "And see where that will get you." He spat out a clot of blood, disgusted. "Seeing your friends die at my hands, you want that? You think it's worth it? All this blood?"
The Kobra soldiers looked at one another, uncertainty written on their faces. Andy was about to speak further when she laid an arm on his left shoulder, "Let me speak to them."
"Soldiers of Kobra," She channelled her truth power towards them, "You know in your hearts this is not the way. None of you wish to fight, to hurt innocent people. You joined this cult because it offered security from the world. But ask yourselves, are you truly safer now? At the whims of a tyrant like Kobra?"
One by one, they dropped their weapons. Just then, the National Guard arrived.
Diana turned to speak with Andy, but he was gone.
Andy grimaced, holding his shoulder as he walked down an alley, leaning against the alley wall, exhausted by the energy he had expended in the battle. He had managed to check the poison in his body by using his limited healing abilities, but he still needed time and a secure place to meditate and focus himself in order to drive it out completely. He hadn't progressed to the point where he had full immunity. Maybe in a few more years, he told himself, if I survive that long.
He heard the sound of somebody walking behind him, but he didn't need to look back to know who it was.
"Wonder Woman, stop following me."
She took a graceful leap, landing in front of him, her face full of worry. "You're hurt. You need medical attention."
He shook his head to refuse the unspoken offer of help, but there was a spinning sensation in his head, and before he knew it, she was lifting him up, and flying in the sky.
"I don't care what you're going to say, but I'm taking you to the hospital."
"No… hospitals." He managed to say.
She flew even faster, as though she knew he was poisoned. "To the Themysciran embassy then."
"How did you manage to recover so quickly?" Diana stared at him. Andy was at the door when she had managed to intercept him.
The scars were gone. Colour, or what colour was possible on his pale deathly skin, was returning slowly to his cheeks. She also knew he had been poisoned; it was usual for Kobra to coat his claws with poison. But apparently the toxins have been neutralised.
She had left him in the guest room he had used just a few days ago. She had gone to look for the medical kit and the potions stocked in the embassy for emergencies, and she had spent a lot of time searching for the correct anti-toxin. When she had returned half an hour later, he had already left the room and was about to exit the embassy despite the efforts of the receptionist.
"I don't have to tell you." Andy lowered his blue eyes. "I'm fine now. Let me go." He looked fine, but Diana could tell that he was tired, and was about to keel over from exhaustion.
"No, rest here for a while." She wanted to speak to him, desperately so. She wanted to clear the doubt, the mistrust between them, and understand what each of them had felt in the Areopagus. She wanted to know why she had felt so much pain and despair when he had found his own truth. And why he had wanted to avoid her so much.
He sighed, "I can rest at home, Diana."
"Is this about what you did to me?" She asked softly.
He turned towards her, and he smiled sadly. "I can't face you, not after that. It'll be better if I stayed away."
She pleaded with him, "It doesn't have to be this way."
He was about to reply when the ground beneath them trembled. Then the trembling became a full fledged earthquake. But it was impossible, and Diana saw people outside on the streets walking as though there was nothing wrong. Magic! Her mind screamed at her.
"Be careful!" She shouted.
A keen wailing sound blasted through the halls, deafening them. Then everything blinked out.
Where the Themysciran embassy once stood, was now only barren ground.
Appendix A
To: All Sky Marshals
From: Tarandis
Re: Powers and Abilities
I've had enough bitching from you guys. Sheesh, people would've thought I was asking you to cut off your arms and legs from the way you all protested my requests for the reassignments of the 'special' personnel! Newsflash, folks! It's only about fifty people I'm calling out for special duty! Not your entire army!
All right, so now I'm going to explain slowly what I'm doing and why. These soldiers I've asked for special, but then you knew it already, or else you'd have given them up in a heartbeat. The more reluctant a commander is to release one of his men, the more important that soldier is. See? I was once a soldier too. I also know that they hold critical posts in the order of battle. Let's see now, a few generals, a whole bunch of colonels, and a handful of majors.
But these fifty odd soldiers are damn important. If they don't go on those assignments, you'll only lose out in the end. There's more to life than ordering tin soldiers around, which is what most of them had been doing the past few years. I say that's enough. It's time for them to get off their asses and see what the rest of life is about. They have to know what they're fighting for.
And don't worry, they're more than good enough to take care of themselves. Here is just the basic skills and abilities available to them. Take note that the Order of Light is also training folks along the same lines, and their trainees and graduates also have these abilities. However, in many respects a soldier of light with these abilities is considered baseline compared to the ones I've requested. Those are capable of much more. And their souls are… special.
But I digress. Here are the basics.
Disciplines
Disciplines are the manifestations of a soldier's experiences and attained wisdom. In essence, these are powered by their souls. As such, the more of life a soldier has experienced, the more wisdom he would have gained, and the more power and proficiency he has in the disciplines. There are ten disciplines, each discipline ranked into basic, intermediate, and advanced levels.
A soldier's experiences shape the disciplines he possesses. A soldier accustomed to the battlefield will have greater proficiency for weaponskill. A ranger will have more of the tracking and camouflage skills, and so on. But these disciplines are not static. All soldiers are capable of attaining all the disciplines at advanced levels.
Weaponskill/Weaponmastery/One with Weapons
This discipline enables the soldier of light to progress faster and further than other weapon users. At higher levels of weaponskill, it also enables distance striking with weapons. In order to wield spirit weapons, weaponmastery is required. They can also imbue normal weapons with their soul essence, increasing the attack ability of the weapon/s.
Hunting/Huntmastery/Lord of the Hunt
This discipline ensures that the soldier would be able to live off the land. It also enhances the soldier's five natural senses, and at higher levels enables nightvision, as well as improved hearing. Also enhances the soldier's movement speed, and agility in strange environments like high pressure atmospheres and shadow gates.
Healing/Curing/Deliverance
This discipline enables the soldier to heal himself more rapidly than normal. At higher levels, he can regenerate lost limbs, is immune to poisons, and can heal other people. At higher levels, they can use the skill to exorcise Horror Links and dark influences on a person.
Animal Kinship/Animal Control/Unity with Beasts
This discipline enables control over living creatures, as well as the ability to communicate with them. Highly useful when riding animals and other living creatures. At higher levels, they can summon a veritable army of animals to their aid.
Plant Lore/Plant Mastery/Green Connection
This discipline enables the soldier to identify plants and their uses, as well as limited control over plants. With this discipline, they can even communicate in a limited fashion with plant life. At higher levels, they can clear paths through forests and thick foliage, then restore the surroundings to their original pristine state.
Tracking/Pathmanship/Nowhere to Hide
This discipline enables the soldier to make the correct choice of a path in the wilds, to discover the location of a person or object in a town or city and to read the secrets of footprints or tracks. At higher levels, it allows them to detect ambushes and traps, as well as the ability to disarm or avoid them.
Camouflage/Invisibility/Assimilance
This discipline enables the soldier to blend in with his surroundings, whether in the wilds, or in the city. In the wilds, even the animals may have difficulty detecting a soldier with this skill. At higher levels, they can achieve true invisibility, move on snow without leaving tracks, and even block other forms of detection, like magical sensors.
Management/Leadership/Total Command
Leadership is important in any context, and this discipline enables the soldier to command larger groups of people with increasing effectiveness. It also enables his soul to connect to his followers and friends, enhancing his decisions and enabling him to make better judgments. At higher levels, they can have an intuitive feel of any situation where large groups are involved and the options available by the personnel they have.
Perception/Awareness/Soul Link
This discipline is more of an addition to the 5 senses already possessed by the soldier. With this skill, he can sense people and objects even if they blocked from him by physical, magical, or psionics means by sensing their lifeforce. At higher levels, the soldier can link himself to the item or person, much like a Horror Link, without the ill effects. It is different from hunting in that hunting focuses on the general environment; perception focuses directly on objects and people. It also enables blocking and deflection techniques.
Boost/Enhance/Full Potential
This discipline enables the soldier to increase his attributes for a short period of time by drawing on his inner strength. The time and extent of the increase depends on the level of the skill. At higher levels, the skill can be used to increase the abilities of other people.
Psionics
All soldiers possess the ability to control psi, the underlying subquantum energy which holds together the universe. Psi is traditionally split into 8 schools, each with 3 modes of application. Don't ask me why; the system was set up by the Agenasi even before my time.
As with the disciplines, use of psionic energy and study of their nature can allow a soldier to gain access to more psionic modes and improve the ones he already has.
Vitakinesis
Vitakinesis focuses on restoring the body to a healthy, even pristine state, but can also be used to acomplish the reverse.
Iatrosis: The soldier applies his will to mend physical injuries, from minor cuts and scrapes to massive trauma and loss of limbs.
Mentatis: The use of psi energy to remedy psychological derangements, healing the mind rather than the body.
Algesis: This mode is geared toward causing injury.
Clairsentience
Clairsentience is all about attaining information. To look behind the walls, see within the secret meeting rooms, and seek out enemies wherever they might hide.
Psychometry: These powers involve attuning to a subject's aura to learn of recent events and encounters.
Psychonavigation: This mode enables the soldier to find a subject by keying into its subquantum resonance.
Telesthesia: The soldier can project his senses through physical barriers and across vast distances by attuning himself to psionic energy wave-forms.
Psychokinesis
Psychokinesis is mostly concerned with the combat applications of fire, cold, and raw power.
Cryokinesis: The soldier uses cryo effects to slow down an object's molecular motion, simply cooling it or perhaps even freezing it solid.
Pyrokinesis: These effects excite molecules to generate heat and to cause combustion.
Telekinesis: The soldier lifts objects and even himself by moving an entire molecular construct with focused psi energy.
Telepathy
Telepathy allows people to communicate without sound, language, or actions. It can even enable control of a person's mind.
Empathy: The soldier can perceive and even control another person's emotions.
Mindshare: The effects of this mode allow for direct mind-to-mind contact that transcends all other forms of communication.
Psychbending: The soldier can assume control of another person's thoughts and memories through a concerted force of will. It also allows himself to defend against such attacks.
Biokinesis
Biokinesis involves the conscious manipulation of the body to suit the situation and environment.
Adaptation: The soldier uses this mode to protect himself against hostile environments (from being underwater for extended periods of time to being able to maneuver without danger in nonstandard gravity).
Psychomorphing: The soldier can manipulate his internal physiology, growing redundant organs and even subsuming bioware into himself.
Transmogrify: This mode enables the soldier to change the shape of his own body. Effects range from creating weapons from the soldier's own skin and bones to assuming someone else's appearance.
Electrokinesis
Electrokinesis offers command of photons and electrons, to control electronic devices, producing lasers out of thin air, and to generate energy fields.
Electromanipulation: This mode involves controlling electrical impulses in organic beings.
Photokinesis: This mode's effects are used to perceive and direct the flow of energy across the electromagnetic spectrum. A skilled soldier can create holograms spontaneously and can generate lasers by focusing his will.
Technokinesis: The soldier taps into and controls energy flow through mechanical technology, from computers to spacecraft.
Teleportation
Teleportation involves the displacement of objects and people using psionic energy. It also involves the deformation of the space-time continuum.
Translocation: The soldier is able to teleport himself from place to place instantaneously.
Tranmassion: This mode allows the soldier to teleport other objects.
Warping: Using this mode, the soldier can bend space through sheer force of will.
Quantakinesis
The most powerful of all the schools, quantakinesis invokes the very nature of reality and the ability to manipulate it.
Transmutation: This mode involves the shaping of matter, including changing matter from one form to another.
Radiakinesis: This mode enables the soldier to control subatomic particles and radiation, as well as changing matter to pure energy.
Subquantakinesis: With this mode, the soldier can even affect the very string of destiny and fate itself, as well as create objects out of 'nothing'. Nothing, as in, really nothing. Free lunches, anyone?
Other Abilities
Soldiers may possess innate abilities characteristic of their species, and they may also pick up other skills and abilities in a variety of circumstances. For example, a Ractori soldier would have some control over the 4 quantum forces. A Barrakan would have greater strength from growing up in a high G world. A soldier might be interested in magic and learn the Art, becoming a mage.
The possibilities are endless.
So, how about those assignments? Or do you want me to teleport into your offices and kick your asses personally? Get back to me ASAP, or ELSE!
Sincerely Yours,
Tarandis
Appendix B
Recorded conversation between Tarandis and Star Marshal Felix Sharpe, CO of Combat Region Govrin
Felix Sharpe: Tarandis, you asked for Andrew Skye a few days ago. I'm sorry, but he's gone. Jake Kabrinski's 37th Division just came back in pieces. They got the bad guys, but we lost General Kabrinski and Colonel Skye when they were holding the rearguard. My nephew Vale was with them. He's lost as well. Damn.
Tarandis: I know.
FS: There's something you're not telling me. Are they still alive?
T: Yup, but they're also right where I want them to be.
FS: You malfin bastard.
T: I'll take that as a compliment.
FS: But don't you think that you're putting them in way over their heads? I've heard your methods.
T: Skye can handle it. He'd better. And your superiors know, and approve of my methods. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
FS: What if Skye breaks?
T: He won't.
FS: You can't be so sure. You read his history. It's worse than a horror novel.
T: I know something you don't, and that's all the assurance I need.
FS: If what I read of the ranks was correct, he's only reached Bladeron. He can't possibly stand up to a mid-rank demon.
T: He won't have to. Not until he's ready. He'll reach Tutelary, and that's when the fun begins.
FS: I hope you're right.
T: I'm always right. Sometimes, I wish I wasn't. I'd be less of a bastard, and more liked everywhere that way.
FS: Yeah, right. Ever heard of pigs flying?
T: As a matter of fact, yes!