"SIRION II: Strength Alone Is Not Enough"
Dec. 18th, 2024 11:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dochermesSIRION II: Strength Alone Is Not Enough
7/9/2024
I.
Timothy Limbo felt an oppressive sense of being overwhelmed by the three Melgarin in the car. It wasn't that the grey Toyota Matrix was cramped, it was that all three of the passengers were so much bigger than he was. Next to him, even Princess Valera was six feet tall, athletic in build like a tennis player and imposing in dignity even with her fine-featured face and golden hair. In the back seat, both Sulak and Galvan were well over that height and more than two hundred and forty pounds of hard muscle and bone. Their sheer physical presence was intimidating. Timothy himself was only five ten and wiry in build, but even if he had been a weightlifter, he would still be only Human. And they were not.
He had seen each of them in action. Their bodies were charged with sheer gralic force until they were almost impossible to harm and as strong as flesh and blood could possibly be. Sitting close to them felt like being next to a humming machine of immense power. It felt risky. Tim's own gift of distance viewing through his floating 'caspers' seemed so trivial in comparison.
"I'm still surprised that all three of you are in the real world together," he said. Tim was driving slowly through evening traffic on the main street of Poughkeepsie, with plenty of red lights. "In any other circumstances, having you assembled would seem like overkill."
In the back, Galvan responded. He knew Tim best, as he had been a member of the KDF team the past few years and they had worked together. Wearing a red flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled back a turn and faded jeans, with his curly brown hair and short beard, he resembled a stereotypical lumberjack. "To be honest, Tim, King Holmir keeps us separated most of the time in case we get killed. He doesn't want to lose all three living Champions at once."
Sulak added, "You see what a serious threat this is, Tim. Our liege feels all three of us may be needed. To fight Sirion...! I don't know what would compare in your culture. Seeing a respected, even venerated hero from earliest history alive today as a common criminal." Sulak was slightly taller and lighter in build than Galvan, with shaggy black hair and dark blue eyes in a rough, craggy face. He was wearing dark business suits without a tie, the top shirt button left open.
"That's the scene of last night's attack," said Timothy, pulling into a small parking lot at the end of a block. A one-story building with the sign COLLICK'S PHARMACY - THERAPEUTIC AND DISABLED EQUIPMENT. The store was closed and dark with only the minor lights on inside the window for insurance purposes. All four of them got out to get a look. Standing next to the Melgarin, Timothy felt uncomfortably like a young boy, which irritated him enough to deliberately focus entirely on the situation.
The rear door to the building was entirely missing. A heavy piece of wood had been fixed into place over the opening, and yellow police tape made an X over it. As they stood there taking it in, Timothy said, "Our sources with the police tell us that at two in the morning, silent alarms went off. The security cameras only recorded a brief glimpse of someone entering before they were smashed. Locked metal cabinets were pulled open and quantities of painkillers including Oxycontin and Fentanyl patches were taken, as well as some Amyl Nitrate."
Valera walked over to the low white metal barrier intended to keep cars from rolling into the side street. "Still some broken glass. The door was thrown twenty feet?"
Unexpectedly, Sulak made a disgusted growling sound and shook his head. "Obviously this is not Sirion, he can't be still alive all these thousands of years. It must be a new Melgar born with the Legacy of Malberon. We do not appear at any specific intervals. The lad displayed growing strength and some elderly rogue is exploiting him!"
"That may well be," Galvan grudgingly admitted. He seldom agreed with anything Sulak said, but even the bad blood between them was not enough to contradict the idea at this time. "No portraits or sculptures of Sirion have survived to the present. We have only the brief mention in an epic poem of a thin body and black hair."
Still standing where the door had been thrown, Valera asked, "What about the woman who was killed?"
The three men came over to join her. Timothy's voice had softened, "That was awful. The police identified her as a forty-eight year old insurance agent who was out walking her dog late. This is usually a quiet residential part of the city. The left side of her head was flattened by a single impact."
"She must have heard the noise and come closer out of curiosity," Sulak added.
Galvan lowered his head. "And this new Sirion...we might as well call him that for the moment... didn't want her to talk. So he swatted her like an annoying fly."
"This is NOT our ancestor Sirion," objected Sulak, "And I don't think we should use such a respected name for a common thief and murderer."
"Oh, seriously? It's just for convenience..."
Valera interrupted. Although she looked like a fresh college graduate in her early twenties, she was in fact over eighty. Melgarin enjoyed a lengthy life span. "Don't start another quarrel, you two. We must concentrate on this if we want to keep more Humans from being killed."
Leaning her head so she could whisper to Timothy, who was standing next to her, she said, "They have a grudge going back fifty years! I'll explain later." Then, to her fellow Melgarin, she continued, "This robbery is quite a distance from the first one. What does that mean?"
"That this Sirion imposter is on the move," Sulak offered. "He may be heading South."
"No, no," Galvan said. "We need a third crime to be sure. If it continues in a southerly direction, you have a point. But if it's within the same general area, the fake Sirion is probably operating within a convenient circle of his home base."
Timothy stepped in. "It's already ten. Our Trom scanners can pick up police broadcasts and called-in burglar alarms. We could be ready to head for the next crime as soon as it happens."
Everyone agreed. It was Princess Valera who said, "If I know my fellow Champions, they would like to roast a bull by now and eat it bones and all."
"I saw a diner on the way here, maybe ten minutes away," Timothy offered. "I might get a meat loaf dinner instead of half a bull, though."
II.
The RIVERVIEW MOTEL did indeed look down a steep incline at the Hudson River. In a room with a glorious view of the water sparkling in the moonlight, Frank Mills sat and worked at three devices set up on the desk. These resembled Hewlett-Packard laptops enough to fool a casual observer but were in fact Trom constructs far advanced of anything available to Humans.
For the past eighteen hours, Frank Mills had been working with these devices. Now he needed to get a few hours sleep or start losing efficiency. Trom kept their bodies in excellent condition and were strong-willed but they were physically still Human. He had eaten according to his strict regimen and was ready to take a break.
He was running programs that tapped into CCTV cameras, all the ones at red lights and the ones in stores, as well as the ring cameras that private citizens had installed on their front doors. Hundreds of hours of footage on hundreds of thousands of cameras were being reviewed and much more remained to be examined. Frank tapped the Link at his belt and was immediately answered by the voice of his captain.
"How's it going, Frank?" asked Lauren Sable Reilly.
"Nothing to report," the Trom said. "I will continue to search."
"You're looking for suspects that match the images on the credit union that was robbed, but it's going to take time. Keep at it, Frank. Our team has arrived in the area. Timothy came back with Galvan, Sulak and Valera."
He imitated mild surprise in his comment, so that he did not speak in a monotone. "That's unusual. The Melgarin policy is to keep at least one Champion in Androval to defend the realm."
"They're taking this seriously. Frank, all four of our members have their Links. You can contact each other as the situation requires." With a sigh, she added, "You're the only one of us in the field that I don't have to remind to be careful."
"How is Jocelyn?"
"Thanks for asking," came Sable's voice. "Physically, she's back to normal. But there's no sign of her Red Spectre returning. Naturally, she's upset and a little depressed. I've got her inspecting the CORBY and doing routine maintenance. To keep her busy."
"I understand. I will report in eight hours even if there are no developments. Anything else, captain?"
"Not right now. Frank, it's reassuring to have you up there. As powerful as our three Melgarin are, this may be a case where strength is not enough."
III.
At three AM, Timothy Limbo had just filled the tank on the Toyota and was pulling out onto the street again. "Driving in circles, getting nowhere because you don't know where to go..." he sang to himself.
Like her fellows, Valera had changed into the arena uniform of Royal blue tunic and snug pants, with short red leather gloves and boots. A red mantle reached from her collar across her shoulders, with three vertical white bars showing her ranking in the tournaments. The suit was tight enough and Valera good-looking enough that Tim had to make an effort not to stare. "Aren't you tired?" she asked. "You've been up since yesterday morning at dawn."
"Eh, the KDF is active mostly overnight," he said. "It's called the Midnight War for a reason. I usually get by on two naps of three hours each a day. Look at all the cop cars! Who's patrolling the rest of the State?"
From the back, Sulak said, "I wonder how much these officers know about what they're looking for? Do you realize how powerful this fake Sirion must be?"
Galvan made a scoffing noise. "Of course not! Human authorities never tell their police or soldiers too much. That's why it's so crucial that we three find this imposter first."
The screen in the center of the dashboard showed a grid map of the area, with a blinking green blip showing their location. Timothy was about to ask if they would be better off heading to the center of the city or circling the outskirts when all of their Links beeped at once.
"Frank Mills reporting," came the steady voice. "I have a likely sighting. A man and boy are walking onto O'Neil Field from the south. The man does not have white hair or a beard but disguise is possible."
"And what would they be doing out there in the middle of the night otherwise?" Tim replied. "We're checking it out. Thanks, Frank."
"I will be joining you as soon as possible. Right now, a burglar alarm on a Dietz Avenue residence is drawing all police attention. Mills out."
O'Neil Field was six square acres down by the river, used mostly for school soccer games and summer farmer's markets. It was ringed on three sides by widely spaced elm and birch trees, with redwood picnic tables and benches. The previous summer, a concert by Paige Polar had drawn a huge crowd. But it closed to the public at eight PM and no one had any business being there.
Across the street from the south end of the Park was a sprawling complex of brand new buildings, the EVERMORE APARTMENTS. Timothy pulled in and stopped the car in an empty slot, remarking at the notice about 'Resident Parking Only,' that getting towed was the last of their concerns.
The three Melgarin had each brought an ankle-length white topcoat to conceal their colorful uniforms. As they got out and pulled the coats on, Tim drew on his own gralic ability. Over his upturned palms, two barely visible tornados a few inches high materialized and swooped away. Through their perception, he could see and hear whatever they neared. His gift was not as dramatic as their immense strength, but he was invaluable for gathering information and checking out dangerous situations. In a few seconds, the caspers came whirling back and popped out of existence like soap bubbles.
"They're taking their time, the kid has an injured leg or something," he said. "I don't know, the man with him doesn't look anything like the guy with the white beard."
"He wears a disguise," Sulak said.
"What? More likely the boy is just with a different person. Maybe it's a family business," snorted Galvan.
Striding out into the dark street toward the Park, Valera called back, "Can you two agree it's Tuesday night?"
Following the Melgarin, Timothy lowered his helmet on but left the visor up. He was wearing the tough protective field suit with its inner layer of the flexible Trom armor. Instead of one of the anesthetic dart guns, though, he had holstered one of the resonance pistols. Those shells exploded hard enough to crack a rib or knock the wind out of someone but they were intended to be usually non-lethal. Against this faux-Sirion, he didn't expect it to be more than a distraction.
It was a beautiful night, he thought, warm but breezy. The stars were out full force in a clear sky. As Timothy walked over the damp short grass behind the three Champions, he found himself wishing he was out that night for something relaxing and fun. But this was the life he had chosen. He loved studying at Tel Shai, he loved his teammates and he enjoyed traveling into wild adjacent realms like Okali and Khebir. It was just the tension and violence he could do without.
Valera, Sulak and Galvan were striding ahead quickly, eager for a fight. He wished he shared their enthusiasm. Tim sent a casper ahead to recon. At night, no one could see the little manifestations. The tiny whirlwind came back to circle him like an excited puppy before vanishing. "They've seen us," he said. "They're waiting up ahead."
"Fine," Sulak replied. "Let's get this over with." He quickened his pace to just short of a run, bundling up his topcoat and carrying it in one hand. The current Champion of Androval was wide-shouldered but narrow-waisted, obviously muscular but in a natural way acquired by fighting rather than bodybuilding. When the two waiting figures were fifty yards away, he called out, "Stand your ground! We would have words with you."
Unexpectedly, lurid dark red energy crackled around the two figures. The older man now had long white hair and a beard that reached halfway down his chest. The boy straightened up and tossed his cane aside. He was wearing a blue cotton suit similar to the uniforms of the Melgarin. "Talk all you want," he sneered.
The three KDF members watched as Sulak reached the suspects and reached out to seize the blue-clad boy by the arm in a grip that would break granite if fully applied. There was a sharp cracking retort from a simple jab. Sulak came hurtling back to crash headlong into the others, knocking them all down.
IV.
Timothy was lucky to have been standing slightly to one side. Otherwise, he would have severely injured under six hundred pounds of steel-hard bodies. He was just brushed aside. The three Melgarin immediately were back on their feet.
"That actually hurt," Sulak said in disbelief. "He HAS to bear the Legacy of Malberon, there's no other explanation."
"Then I don't need to show restraint because of his age." Galvan charged the new Sirion, feinting low with a left and a split-second later throwing a textbook perfect right hook that snapped the boy's head to one side. But he was not harmed. He grabbed Galvan by one arm and began smashing at him with brutal pounding blows that sounded like a hammer striking rock. Galvan was too stunned to put up a defense. It seemed incredible that anything living could survive those punches.
"Hang on!" yelled Sulak. He rushed forward and was stopped dead by a grip on his neck that cut off his air. Sirion lifted both big men and clapped them together with a crash, then laughed and did it again. He dropped the dazed Melgarin at his feet...
And a white birch tree, swung like a baseball bat, exploded against his body and sent him spinning up and back fifty feet. The tree shattered into bits and pieces, and Valera let it fall. Behind her, a ragged hole in the dirt showed where she had uprooted it. Seeing the dazed expression on her friends' faces, she said, "I'm not going to let him get his hands on ME."
Blood from a flattened nose was running down over Galvan's mouth and chin. "We.. we certainly have our hands full."
"I wish I'd brought my spear," Valera said as she saw Sirion running straight at them.
Sirion was running full tilt at them, hands open and ready to grasp but he got a shocking surprise. Light on his feet as a dancer, Sulak faded to one side and blasted out a straight punch to the side of the jaw. The youth was set off balance, staggering with his defenses down, and Sulak immediately let him have a backfist from the same hand. Sirion fell onto his back and rolled over to get up. As he was rising, Sulak dropped to one knee and drove an elbow directly between his opponent's eyes with a sound like a rifle shot.
But although Sirion had been knocked down, he had not been hurt. He got to his feet, ignoring a full arc roundhouse punch to the side of the head but Sulak felt a jolt of agony run up his arm as the bones in his fist broke. He backpedaled, avoiding a vicious hooking punch from Sirion and getting out of reach. His right arm was pressed against his side, limp hand hanging down uselessly.
Sirion took this moment to smile gleefully. A rock the size of a bowling ball came down upon his head with savage force. The rock broke apart in halves and Sirion's knees buckled but he straightened up again. He whirled, swinging left and right, but Valera had leaped back out of reach.
"You're going to make me mad if you're not careful," laughed the boy. There was a surreal aspect of this thin youth with no marked muscular development easily thrashing opponents twice his size. His skill, timing and strategy were amateur compared to theirs, but his sheer physical superiority was all that mattered at that moment.
Valera demanded, "Who are you? What are you, really?"
"I am Sirion! The first and greatest Champion of our Race. How the mighty have fallen, if such as you win tournaments in this Age. He started closing in on her. From both sides, he was tackled and brought down by Sulak and Galvan working together. A tangled mass on the ground from which thumping impacts could be heard, the three of them rolled and squirmed. A second later, Valera dove onto the dogpile, getting on Sirion's back and managing to fix a classic full nelson. She made a determined try, not to subdue him but to break his neck.
Ignoring her efforts, Sirion got both hands on Galvan's right arm and bent it the wrong way until it snapped at the elbow. Sulak only had one good hand and was pounding away with it, to no noticeable effect. Sirion rose to his feet, hauling Valera up still clinging on his back, and backhanded Sulak with a slap that flung the Champion bodily away.
With the two male Melgarin out of the fight for a second, Sirion reached around and pulled Valera off him, flinging her down on the ground. "Heh, that felt kind of good, you know? Maybe we should do some wrestling instead?"
"What you really need is to be put over my knee and spanked!" Valera snapped.
"Oh, yeah, promises promises."
Valera shifted in closer and whipped out a left backfist and right cross with blinding speed. The first connected solidly and would have killed a horse, but the boy's head merely twitched. He caught hold of her wrist and forearm with both hands and broke her arm with an easy twist. The Melgar woman gasped and grabbed him by the throat with her good hand, tightening her grip but not causing him any discomfort. At this point, Sulak and Galvan had gathered their resolve and were closing in on Sirion from both sides. The boy threw Valera to topple Sulak, then wheeled around and shot out a jab that flung Galvan wildly back to land in a sitting position with his broken arm ruining any balance he still had.
"Sacred White Horse, you guys don't know when to quit!" Sirion chuckled. He snapped his fingers. "I'm giving you three a chance to walk away while you're still alive."
The badly injured Champions straightened themselves as best they could, determined to die on their feet. Valera shouted, "Do your worst, brat!"
But suddenly Sirion seemed to have lost his senses. He was gasping, pawing at his face, staggering back away from his enemies. The boy swatted the air for no discernible reason. "Malberon! My eyesight's going. Everything's a blur!"
The white-bearded man had run off during the fight and come back with a rusted old Accord, which he left running in the street near the edge of the park. He took hold of the boy's arm and pleaded, "Come with me. Quick now," as he pulled Sirion to the car. In a few seconds, they were roaring off into the night.
Timothy hurried up, holstering his resonance gun, and assisted the three Champions in standing up. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't think to use my caspers right away. I kept them passing right up against his eyes and he thought he was going blind. It was all I could think of."
"Feel no shame," Sulak said, gingerly holding his broken hand against his side and wincing. "All three of us could not even slow him down. You were the one who chased him away."
"I have to admit, I didn't want to try a resonance cap on that kid," Tim admitted. "If he came after me, I'd be dead in a few seconds. My Kumundu isn't good enough to duck his blows."
"Ah. Ah. I have never had a broken arm before," said Valera. "Oh, it hurts. I'd almost forgotten what pain is like."
Next to her, Galvan also was letting a broken arm hang down. "We need to get away from here. We may be seen and the police would certainly detain us. We cannot go to a hospital, our Melgar nature would be revealed. That is forbidden by royal edict."
"Right, right. Listen, you three start walking over to that street where they got away. I'll bring our car around." With that, Timothy took off at a full sprint.
VI.
It took forever to patch up the injured Champions. Sable's normal Human strength was not enough to move the dense Melgar bones and, since none of them had both hands working, two had to work together on the third in turn. Using Trom scanners instead of X-rays and instructing her teammates to assist her, Sable eventually had Sulak's hand in splints and the right arms of both Valera and Galvan set and in slings.
Everyone crossed the hall from the medical ward to the office. The three Melgarin claimed the black leather couch, while Jocelyn and Timothy pulled chairs over for themselves. Sable went behind her desk and dropped down wearily into her swivel chair. "I'm as exhausted as the rest of you," she admitted. "Mostly emotional. I'm not a doctor. Legally, I should not be setting bones or administering painkillers."
"We could all end up in prison the rest of our lives if half of what we do came to light," Jocelyn said in dismissal. "The CORBYs alone break a dozen laws every time we take off."
"Well, I admit I at least have been humbled," Galvan grumbled. "If this is not the real Sirion, he is certainly just as strong. I felt like a regular Human fighting a Melgar."
Sable straightened up from her slump. "Ashley's departure has been delayed. The Greek police want her to hold her to sign some statements, I guess she somehow wrecked someone's house catching the Goat-Eater. She won't be here for two days at least."
"That's not good news," Timothy said. "Her Unicorn horn might be the only talisman that can remove Sirion's power."
Valera was toying with her sling, unable to leave it alone. "We must face the cold truth. When Sulak and Galvan and I together can't defeat a single opponent, strength alone is not enough.
"I have a few ideas," Sable said with new conviction in her voice. "You don't fight fire with fire. You fight fire with water."
12/18/2024
7/9/2024
I.
Timothy Limbo felt an oppressive sense of being overwhelmed by the three Melgarin in the car. It wasn't that the grey Toyota Matrix was cramped, it was that all three of the passengers were so much bigger than he was. Next to him, even Princess Valera was six feet tall, athletic in build like a tennis player and imposing in dignity even with her fine-featured face and golden hair. In the back seat, both Sulak and Galvan were well over that height and more than two hundred and forty pounds of hard muscle and bone. Their sheer physical presence was intimidating. Timothy himself was only five ten and wiry in build, but even if he had been a weightlifter, he would still be only Human. And they were not.
He had seen each of them in action. Their bodies were charged with sheer gralic force until they were almost impossible to harm and as strong as flesh and blood could possibly be. Sitting close to them felt like being next to a humming machine of immense power. It felt risky. Tim's own gift of distance viewing through his floating 'caspers' seemed so trivial in comparison.
"I'm still surprised that all three of you are in the real world together," he said. Tim was driving slowly through evening traffic on the main street of Poughkeepsie, with plenty of red lights. "In any other circumstances, having you assembled would seem like overkill."
In the back, Galvan responded. He knew Tim best, as he had been a member of the KDF team the past few years and they had worked together. Wearing a red flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled back a turn and faded jeans, with his curly brown hair and short beard, he resembled a stereotypical lumberjack. "To be honest, Tim, King Holmir keeps us separated most of the time in case we get killed. He doesn't want to lose all three living Champions at once."
Sulak added, "You see what a serious threat this is, Tim. Our liege feels all three of us may be needed. To fight Sirion...! I don't know what would compare in your culture. Seeing a respected, even venerated hero from earliest history alive today as a common criminal." Sulak was slightly taller and lighter in build than Galvan, with shaggy black hair and dark blue eyes in a rough, craggy face. He was wearing dark business suits without a tie, the top shirt button left open.
"That's the scene of last night's attack," said Timothy, pulling into a small parking lot at the end of a block. A one-story building with the sign COLLICK'S PHARMACY - THERAPEUTIC AND DISABLED EQUIPMENT. The store was closed and dark with only the minor lights on inside the window for insurance purposes. All four of them got out to get a look. Standing next to the Melgarin, Timothy felt uncomfortably like a young boy, which irritated him enough to deliberately focus entirely on the situation.
The rear door to the building was entirely missing. A heavy piece of wood had been fixed into place over the opening, and yellow police tape made an X over it. As they stood there taking it in, Timothy said, "Our sources with the police tell us that at two in the morning, silent alarms went off. The security cameras only recorded a brief glimpse of someone entering before they were smashed. Locked metal cabinets were pulled open and quantities of painkillers including Oxycontin and Fentanyl patches were taken, as well as some Amyl Nitrate."
Valera walked over to the low white metal barrier intended to keep cars from rolling into the side street. "Still some broken glass. The door was thrown twenty feet?"
Unexpectedly, Sulak made a disgusted growling sound and shook his head. "Obviously this is not Sirion, he can't be still alive all these thousands of years. It must be a new Melgar born with the Legacy of Malberon. We do not appear at any specific intervals. The lad displayed growing strength and some elderly rogue is exploiting him!"
"That may well be," Galvan grudgingly admitted. He seldom agreed with anything Sulak said, but even the bad blood between them was not enough to contradict the idea at this time. "No portraits or sculptures of Sirion have survived to the present. We have only the brief mention in an epic poem of a thin body and black hair."
Still standing where the door had been thrown, Valera asked, "What about the woman who was killed?"
The three men came over to join her. Timothy's voice had softened, "That was awful. The police identified her as a forty-eight year old insurance agent who was out walking her dog late. This is usually a quiet residential part of the city. The left side of her head was flattened by a single impact."
"She must have heard the noise and come closer out of curiosity," Sulak added.
Galvan lowered his head. "And this new Sirion...we might as well call him that for the moment... didn't want her to talk. So he swatted her like an annoying fly."
"This is NOT our ancestor Sirion," objected Sulak, "And I don't think we should use such a respected name for a common thief and murderer."
"Oh, seriously? It's just for convenience..."
Valera interrupted. Although she looked like a fresh college graduate in her early twenties, she was in fact over eighty. Melgarin enjoyed a lengthy life span. "Don't start another quarrel, you two. We must concentrate on this if we want to keep more Humans from being killed."
Leaning her head so she could whisper to Timothy, who was standing next to her, she said, "They have a grudge going back fifty years! I'll explain later." Then, to her fellow Melgarin, she continued, "This robbery is quite a distance from the first one. What does that mean?"
"That this Sirion imposter is on the move," Sulak offered. "He may be heading South."
"No, no," Galvan said. "We need a third crime to be sure. If it continues in a southerly direction, you have a point. But if it's within the same general area, the fake Sirion is probably operating within a convenient circle of his home base."
Timothy stepped in. "It's already ten. Our Trom scanners can pick up police broadcasts and called-in burglar alarms. We could be ready to head for the next crime as soon as it happens."
Everyone agreed. It was Princess Valera who said, "If I know my fellow Champions, they would like to roast a bull by now and eat it bones and all."
"I saw a diner on the way here, maybe ten minutes away," Timothy offered. "I might get a meat loaf dinner instead of half a bull, though."
II.
The RIVERVIEW MOTEL did indeed look down a steep incline at the Hudson River. In a room with a glorious view of the water sparkling in the moonlight, Frank Mills sat and worked at three devices set up on the desk. These resembled Hewlett-Packard laptops enough to fool a casual observer but were in fact Trom constructs far advanced of anything available to Humans.
For the past eighteen hours, Frank Mills had been working with these devices. Now he needed to get a few hours sleep or start losing efficiency. Trom kept their bodies in excellent condition and were strong-willed but they were physically still Human. He had eaten according to his strict regimen and was ready to take a break.
He was running programs that tapped into CCTV cameras, all the ones at red lights and the ones in stores, as well as the ring cameras that private citizens had installed on their front doors. Hundreds of hours of footage on hundreds of thousands of cameras were being reviewed and much more remained to be examined. Frank tapped the Link at his belt and was immediately answered by the voice of his captain.
"How's it going, Frank?" asked Lauren Sable Reilly.
"Nothing to report," the Trom said. "I will continue to search."
"You're looking for suspects that match the images on the credit union that was robbed, but it's going to take time. Keep at it, Frank. Our team has arrived in the area. Timothy came back with Galvan, Sulak and Valera."
He imitated mild surprise in his comment, so that he did not speak in a monotone. "That's unusual. The Melgarin policy is to keep at least one Champion in Androval to defend the realm."
"They're taking this seriously. Frank, all four of our members have their Links. You can contact each other as the situation requires." With a sigh, she added, "You're the only one of us in the field that I don't have to remind to be careful."
"How is Jocelyn?"
"Thanks for asking," came Sable's voice. "Physically, she's back to normal. But there's no sign of her Red Spectre returning. Naturally, she's upset and a little depressed. I've got her inspecting the CORBY and doing routine maintenance. To keep her busy."
"I understand. I will report in eight hours even if there are no developments. Anything else, captain?"
"Not right now. Frank, it's reassuring to have you up there. As powerful as our three Melgarin are, this may be a case where strength is not enough."
III.
At three AM, Timothy Limbo had just filled the tank on the Toyota and was pulling out onto the street again. "Driving in circles, getting nowhere because you don't know where to go..." he sang to himself.
Like her fellows, Valera had changed into the arena uniform of Royal blue tunic and snug pants, with short red leather gloves and boots. A red mantle reached from her collar across her shoulders, with three vertical white bars showing her ranking in the tournaments. The suit was tight enough and Valera good-looking enough that Tim had to make an effort not to stare. "Aren't you tired?" she asked. "You've been up since yesterday morning at dawn."
"Eh, the KDF is active mostly overnight," he said. "It's called the Midnight War for a reason. I usually get by on two naps of three hours each a day. Look at all the cop cars! Who's patrolling the rest of the State?"
From the back, Sulak said, "I wonder how much these officers know about what they're looking for? Do you realize how powerful this fake Sirion must be?"
Galvan made a scoffing noise. "Of course not! Human authorities never tell their police or soldiers too much. That's why it's so crucial that we three find this imposter first."
The screen in the center of the dashboard showed a grid map of the area, with a blinking green blip showing their location. Timothy was about to ask if they would be better off heading to the center of the city or circling the outskirts when all of their Links beeped at once.
"Frank Mills reporting," came the steady voice. "I have a likely sighting. A man and boy are walking onto O'Neil Field from the south. The man does not have white hair or a beard but disguise is possible."
"And what would they be doing out there in the middle of the night otherwise?" Tim replied. "We're checking it out. Thanks, Frank."
"I will be joining you as soon as possible. Right now, a burglar alarm on a Dietz Avenue residence is drawing all police attention. Mills out."
O'Neil Field was six square acres down by the river, used mostly for school soccer games and summer farmer's markets. It was ringed on three sides by widely spaced elm and birch trees, with redwood picnic tables and benches. The previous summer, a concert by Paige Polar had drawn a huge crowd. But it closed to the public at eight PM and no one had any business being there.
Across the street from the south end of the Park was a sprawling complex of brand new buildings, the EVERMORE APARTMENTS. Timothy pulled in and stopped the car in an empty slot, remarking at the notice about 'Resident Parking Only,' that getting towed was the last of their concerns.
The three Melgarin had each brought an ankle-length white topcoat to conceal their colorful uniforms. As they got out and pulled the coats on, Tim drew on his own gralic ability. Over his upturned palms, two barely visible tornados a few inches high materialized and swooped away. Through their perception, he could see and hear whatever they neared. His gift was not as dramatic as their immense strength, but he was invaluable for gathering information and checking out dangerous situations. In a few seconds, the caspers came whirling back and popped out of existence like soap bubbles.
"They're taking their time, the kid has an injured leg or something," he said. "I don't know, the man with him doesn't look anything like the guy with the white beard."
"He wears a disguise," Sulak said.
"What? More likely the boy is just with a different person. Maybe it's a family business," snorted Galvan.
Striding out into the dark street toward the Park, Valera called back, "Can you two agree it's Tuesday night?"
Following the Melgarin, Timothy lowered his helmet on but left the visor up. He was wearing the tough protective field suit with its inner layer of the flexible Trom armor. Instead of one of the anesthetic dart guns, though, he had holstered one of the resonance pistols. Those shells exploded hard enough to crack a rib or knock the wind out of someone but they were intended to be usually non-lethal. Against this faux-Sirion, he didn't expect it to be more than a distraction.
It was a beautiful night, he thought, warm but breezy. The stars were out full force in a clear sky. As Timothy walked over the damp short grass behind the three Champions, he found himself wishing he was out that night for something relaxing and fun. But this was the life he had chosen. He loved studying at Tel Shai, he loved his teammates and he enjoyed traveling into wild adjacent realms like Okali and Khebir. It was just the tension and violence he could do without.
Valera, Sulak and Galvan were striding ahead quickly, eager for a fight. He wished he shared their enthusiasm. Tim sent a casper ahead to recon. At night, no one could see the little manifestations. The tiny whirlwind came back to circle him like an excited puppy before vanishing. "They've seen us," he said. "They're waiting up ahead."
"Fine," Sulak replied. "Let's get this over with." He quickened his pace to just short of a run, bundling up his topcoat and carrying it in one hand. The current Champion of Androval was wide-shouldered but narrow-waisted, obviously muscular but in a natural way acquired by fighting rather than bodybuilding. When the two waiting figures were fifty yards away, he called out, "Stand your ground! We would have words with you."
Unexpectedly, lurid dark red energy crackled around the two figures. The older man now had long white hair and a beard that reached halfway down his chest. The boy straightened up and tossed his cane aside. He was wearing a blue cotton suit similar to the uniforms of the Melgarin. "Talk all you want," he sneered.
The three KDF members watched as Sulak reached the suspects and reached out to seize the blue-clad boy by the arm in a grip that would break granite if fully applied. There was a sharp cracking retort from a simple jab. Sulak came hurtling back to crash headlong into the others, knocking them all down.
IV.
Timothy was lucky to have been standing slightly to one side. Otherwise, he would have severely injured under six hundred pounds of steel-hard bodies. He was just brushed aside. The three Melgarin immediately were back on their feet.
"That actually hurt," Sulak said in disbelief. "He HAS to bear the Legacy of Malberon, there's no other explanation."
"Then I don't need to show restraint because of his age." Galvan charged the new Sirion, feinting low with a left and a split-second later throwing a textbook perfect right hook that snapped the boy's head to one side. But he was not harmed. He grabbed Galvan by one arm and began smashing at him with brutal pounding blows that sounded like a hammer striking rock. Galvan was too stunned to put up a defense. It seemed incredible that anything living could survive those punches.
"Hang on!" yelled Sulak. He rushed forward and was stopped dead by a grip on his neck that cut off his air. Sirion lifted both big men and clapped them together with a crash, then laughed and did it again. He dropped the dazed Melgarin at his feet...
And a white birch tree, swung like a baseball bat, exploded against his body and sent him spinning up and back fifty feet. The tree shattered into bits and pieces, and Valera let it fall. Behind her, a ragged hole in the dirt showed where she had uprooted it. Seeing the dazed expression on her friends' faces, she said, "I'm not going to let him get his hands on ME."
Blood from a flattened nose was running down over Galvan's mouth and chin. "We.. we certainly have our hands full."
"I wish I'd brought my spear," Valera said as she saw Sirion running straight at them.
Sirion was running full tilt at them, hands open and ready to grasp but he got a shocking surprise. Light on his feet as a dancer, Sulak faded to one side and blasted out a straight punch to the side of the jaw. The youth was set off balance, staggering with his defenses down, and Sulak immediately let him have a backfist from the same hand. Sirion fell onto his back and rolled over to get up. As he was rising, Sulak dropped to one knee and drove an elbow directly between his opponent's eyes with a sound like a rifle shot.
But although Sirion had been knocked down, he had not been hurt. He got to his feet, ignoring a full arc roundhouse punch to the side of the head but Sulak felt a jolt of agony run up his arm as the bones in his fist broke. He backpedaled, avoiding a vicious hooking punch from Sirion and getting out of reach. His right arm was pressed against his side, limp hand hanging down uselessly.
Sirion took this moment to smile gleefully. A rock the size of a bowling ball came down upon his head with savage force. The rock broke apart in halves and Sirion's knees buckled but he straightened up again. He whirled, swinging left and right, but Valera had leaped back out of reach.
"You're going to make me mad if you're not careful," laughed the boy. There was a surreal aspect of this thin youth with no marked muscular development easily thrashing opponents twice his size. His skill, timing and strategy were amateur compared to theirs, but his sheer physical superiority was all that mattered at that moment.
Valera demanded, "Who are you? What are you, really?"
"I am Sirion! The first and greatest Champion of our Race. How the mighty have fallen, if such as you win tournaments in this Age. He started closing in on her. From both sides, he was tackled and brought down by Sulak and Galvan working together. A tangled mass on the ground from which thumping impacts could be heard, the three of them rolled and squirmed. A second later, Valera dove onto the dogpile, getting on Sirion's back and managing to fix a classic full nelson. She made a determined try, not to subdue him but to break his neck.
Ignoring her efforts, Sirion got both hands on Galvan's right arm and bent it the wrong way until it snapped at the elbow. Sulak only had one good hand and was pounding away with it, to no noticeable effect. Sirion rose to his feet, hauling Valera up still clinging on his back, and backhanded Sulak with a slap that flung the Champion bodily away.
With the two male Melgarin out of the fight for a second, Sirion reached around and pulled Valera off him, flinging her down on the ground. "Heh, that felt kind of good, you know? Maybe we should do some wrestling instead?"
"What you really need is to be put over my knee and spanked!" Valera snapped.
"Oh, yeah, promises promises."
Valera shifted in closer and whipped out a left backfist and right cross with blinding speed. The first connected solidly and would have killed a horse, but the boy's head merely twitched. He caught hold of her wrist and forearm with both hands and broke her arm with an easy twist. The Melgar woman gasped and grabbed him by the throat with her good hand, tightening her grip but not causing him any discomfort. At this point, Sulak and Galvan had gathered their resolve and were closing in on Sirion from both sides. The boy threw Valera to topple Sulak, then wheeled around and shot out a jab that flung Galvan wildly back to land in a sitting position with his broken arm ruining any balance he still had.
"Sacred White Horse, you guys don't know when to quit!" Sirion chuckled. He snapped his fingers. "I'm giving you three a chance to walk away while you're still alive."
The badly injured Champions straightened themselves as best they could, determined to die on their feet. Valera shouted, "Do your worst, brat!"
But suddenly Sirion seemed to have lost his senses. He was gasping, pawing at his face, staggering back away from his enemies. The boy swatted the air for no discernible reason. "Malberon! My eyesight's going. Everything's a blur!"
The white-bearded man had run off during the fight and come back with a rusted old Accord, which he left running in the street near the edge of the park. He took hold of the boy's arm and pleaded, "Come with me. Quick now," as he pulled Sirion to the car. In a few seconds, they were roaring off into the night.
Timothy hurried up, holstering his resonance gun, and assisted the three Champions in standing up. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't think to use my caspers right away. I kept them passing right up against his eyes and he thought he was going blind. It was all I could think of."
"Feel no shame," Sulak said, gingerly holding his broken hand against his side and wincing. "All three of us could not even slow him down. You were the one who chased him away."
"I have to admit, I didn't want to try a resonance cap on that kid," Tim admitted. "If he came after me, I'd be dead in a few seconds. My Kumundu isn't good enough to duck his blows."
"Ah. Ah. I have never had a broken arm before," said Valera. "Oh, it hurts. I'd almost forgotten what pain is like."
Next to her, Galvan also was letting a broken arm hang down. "We need to get away from here. We may be seen and the police would certainly detain us. We cannot go to a hospital, our Melgar nature would be revealed. That is forbidden by royal edict."
"Right, right. Listen, you three start walking over to that street where they got away. I'll bring our car around." With that, Timothy took off at a full sprint.
VI.
It took forever to patch up the injured Champions. Sable's normal Human strength was not enough to move the dense Melgar bones and, since none of them had both hands working, two had to work together on the third in turn. Using Trom scanners instead of X-rays and instructing her teammates to assist her, Sable eventually had Sulak's hand in splints and the right arms of both Valera and Galvan set and in slings.
Everyone crossed the hall from the medical ward to the office. The three Melgarin claimed the black leather couch, while Jocelyn and Timothy pulled chairs over for themselves. Sable went behind her desk and dropped down wearily into her swivel chair. "I'm as exhausted as the rest of you," she admitted. "Mostly emotional. I'm not a doctor. Legally, I should not be setting bones or administering painkillers."
"We could all end up in prison the rest of our lives if half of what we do came to light," Jocelyn said in dismissal. "The CORBYs alone break a dozen laws every time we take off."
"Well, I admit I at least have been humbled," Galvan grumbled. "If this is not the real Sirion, he is certainly just as strong. I felt like a regular Human fighting a Melgar."
Sable straightened up from her slump. "Ashley's departure has been delayed. The Greek police want her to hold her to sign some statements, I guess she somehow wrecked someone's house catching the Goat-Eater. She won't be here for two days at least."
"That's not good news," Timothy said. "Her Unicorn horn might be the only talisman that can remove Sirion's power."
Valera was toying with her sling, unable to leave it alone. "We must face the cold truth. When Sulak and Galvan and I together can't defeat a single opponent, strength alone is not enough.
"I have a few ideas," Sable said with new conviction in her voice. "You don't fight fire with fire. You fight fire with water."
12/18/2024
no subject
Date: 2024-12-19 04:35 am (UTC)Sulak, Valera and Galvan are all roughly equal in strength and resilience. Physical size and age don't seem to much affect the Legacy of Malberon. I'd say they are also on a par as far as fighting skill goes. A duel between any two of them could go either way. Valera usually carries the ensorcelled spear Brightbolt (Shai Tazam) with her but understandably felt it was a little too conspicuous to walk around with on city streets.
As far as casting for an unlikely time-and-space defying movie goes, I'd go with Mike Henry as Sulak, Reg Park as Galvan and Cheryl Tiegs as Valera (whoa!). Add Anthony Michael Hall as Timothy Limbo, Soledad O'Brien as Sable and the lead actress from RABBIT PROOF FENCE as Jocelyn. All when they were at appropriate ages. But no one could look the way I picture the Unicorn*. Ashley is on her own.
Oh, what the heck. Debbie Harry as Dandelion, Marvin Gaye as Ted Wright, Pierce Brosnan as Samhain, Nora Miao as Tang Ming. Gornak the demon animated by Ray Harryhausen, as is Khang (based on Gort and the Galaxy Being). No one in mind for Kelly O'Connor, Johnny Packard, Haley Lawson. A 1960 Oliver Reed as Romal the Mongrel. Don Megowan as Karl Eldritch. Who else... Shiro Mitsuru, Chen Wong-Lai and Sheng Mo-Yuan do not look like Bruce Lee, but I can picture them as different and distinct visuals. And Michael Hawk played by Charles Bronson, of course. Megan Salenger looks a lot like Winona Ryder but has a pointier nose and is not busty.
______*I'm sure she would agree.