Brass Ring Chapter 11: When Bad Fights Happen to Good Stores

In the sauna back at CAPES headquarters, Oliver and Cass were enjoying the steam.

“Having telekinesis means not having to move.” A dipper moved apparently of its own accord and splashed water on the rocks. As the steam went up the dipper went down.

Cass moved up a step. “This feels good. I can feel the tension melting away.”

Oliver smirked. “Better than Solomon Creek?”

She returned the smirk. “Different type of tension relief.”

Oliver sat up. “This feels good. I'm not sure we can win just yet, but today was a good start.”

She sat so that she could face him directly. “We may not win, but the enemy will know we fought.”

Oliver smiled. “I'm sure of that.”

She leaned into him. “Just remember one thing, Oliver. One thing.”

He leaned back. “Oh?”

She poked him in the chest. “Never. Never. Treat me different from everyone else.”

Oliver fell. “I'll keep that in mind.”

She pressed her finger in closer. “I may be you girlfriend, but you had better treat me just as poorly as everyone else.”

He frowned. “You know that's going to be difficult. Our relationship is a bit different.”

She smiled. “I hope so.” She withdrew her finger. A little. “But otherwise, if you need to sacrifice one of us, I need to be on the list of potentials.” She poked him a little. “I'll know, and you'll suffer for it.”

He smiled. “I could live with that.”

She pressed her fingernail into him. “Maybe, but you won't like it.” She leaned back. “Just so we're clear.”

He sat back up. “Very clear.” He smiled. “First chance I have to send you on a suicide mission, I'll do it.”

She sat back. “Good. Although I'd prefer if you sent Nishi in first.”

Oliver smiled. “And the claws come out.” He looked at her. “I was debating Teddy, actually. He is pretty tough, after all.”

She leaned back. “Northing personal, honest.”

He shook his head. “I still maintain my innocence. She had spilled something on her dress and I was just making sure she had something clean to wear.”

Her eyebrow went up. “By offering her your toga?”

He shrugged. “I had no secrets at that point.”

She punched him.

Kubwa ran in. She saw the two in their towels and abruptly turned around.

They smiled and sat up. Oliver went serious. “What's up, Kubwa?”

She gulped. “Osa Electronics. I received a vision that it may be in trouble.”

He looked at Cass. “Fine.” He stood up. “Okay, Kubwa, get everyone together. Looks we need to defend a retailer.”

Kubwa ran out. Cass stood up and leaned against Oliver. “We may need to do this again.” She walked out. Oliver watched her leave, then ran out himself.

* * * * *

Kung hated firefights. The chaos, the noise, the bullets and energy blasts filling the air around him; he designed his Pinball armor to help him avoid all of those. Valkyr was running behind his almost spherical armor, hating every minute; she wanted to bust heads not protect some cowardly fool. However, they were in a race: They needed to reach the fuse Kung needed before the heroes figured out that they weren't in this fight. Then again, Kung had no idea how they had known to arrive here when they did, so anything was possible.

Psyborg was the distraction, and he was playing his part well. He and the Brothers Boom were keeping the neophyte heroes on the ropes. He was laying down cover fire as Twid went after their soft targets while Yelling Yeth's sonic scream hurt their harder targets. Kubwa did what she could to counter Yelling Yeth's screams, using her command over harmonics to shift the phase of her sonics; while it partially muted his attacks too much of his energy still got through.

Cass was rocked in the Wraith armor; she kept having to dodge and deflect instead of attacking. Crusher wasn't doing much better. Oliver was doing his best to toss objects in the path of Twid but the man's acrobatics kept him from being hit.

Just when Oliver began debating retreat, he heard a ki yell as the twin blades of Nishimura were about to enter the fray. Her spinning blades deflected Twid's attacks, giving Oliver a moment to reformulate his strategy. “Kubwa, Ted: Go after the Yeth. Kubwa, just worry about deflecting his blasts while Ted grounds him. Nishi, Twid is yours. Close range and he loses part of his advantage. Cass, teleport ahead and engage Valkyr. I've got their leader.” Everyone nodded and engaged as directed.

This actually appeared to work out a little better. The two weapon masters kept each other busy while the Yelling Yeth was beginning to fall under the onslaught. Valkyr saw her phase in and gleefully attacked the target.

Oliver decided to use a straight out telekinetic blast against Psyborg. He was unphased. He tried again, but now his brother just grinned. Oliver had no idea what to do, but Psyborg just ignored him as he laid down some cover fire.

Before Oliver could adjust his attack, the bad guys began retreating. Psyborg saluted Oliver before running out himself. The CAPES crew tried running after them, but Twid and Psyborg leaped unto Kung's armor and grabbed some handholds. Kung rocketed into the sky far faster than any of the heroes could follow. Kung smiled as he looked at the fuse they had been sent to grab. Valkyr and the Yeth followed under their own power.

Nishimura turned to look at the devastated store. She then glared at the other heroes and pointed the way to the broom closet. “This mess needs to be cleaned up. We need to do it.” Everyone glared back but broke down under her glare. With the actal employees it would take hours to put the store anywhere near pristine condition, but everyone worked until Nishimura, the daughter of the owner, was satisfied.

Cass sidled up to a sweeping Oliver. “Thanks for sending me against Valkyr.”

Oliver smiled. “Sure. I always send my girlfriend into the jaws of death.”

She hugged him. “She appreciates it.” She walked off to help with some signage. Oliver shook his head.

When every speck had been cleaned, when every sign had been returned to its place, when every product was returned to its place, Nishimura walked over to her father. She bowed to her father. “Our apologies for disrupting your day. I hope our actions were acceptable.” He returned the bow. Nishimura walked away, smiling.

Outside, the team split into two vehicles. Oliver looked at Nishimura. “Any idea what they grabbed?”

Nishimura sighed. “There were a lot of items broken. Luckily our insurance will cover it, although Imago is going to hate the company's follow-up.” She looked at him. “However, it looks like they grabbed a package of high-capacity fuses. I'm guessing that whatever they needed it for, it's something that handles and projects a high-energy beam of some sort.”

Oliver thought for a moment. “Sounds about right. We're thinking that Don Pelegrine may be taking advantage of the chaos to pull off a heist. We're debating if a laser may be in use.”

Nishimura's eyebrow went up. “Interesting. Let me run some numbers; I'm curious now.”

Oliver nodded and started the van up. In minutes they would be back at the HQ.

[The last chapter is here.]