The lance arrived at the Road-Way-Station in short order after meeting in the van. Vex had taken the wheel from Trouble. Because Vex was the one driving, the lance arrived within five minutes by breaking speed limits. Trouble knew the team would be safe. No one drove like Vex. While she was certainly a speed demon, Vex had precise control and reflexes only surpassed by his own. She handled the drive through the pouring rain well.
Yet, while Vex was an expert driver, Architallis still clung to his seat in sheer fright. Alex seemed unfazed by the blitzing ride. Meanwhile, Sin was strapped atop the equipment containers stored in the back, so he couldn’t fall out of the van yet again.
The van pulled into the lot with the rolling crunch of gravel. The team piled out one by one to stand among the rental vehicles, soaking in the rain yet again. “Hey, Ex, Archi.” Vex addressed the pair. “Can you and Tro join me for a talk with the sleeze-bag? I want to make a point he won’t soon forget.”
“I…uh…sure,” Alex said, clearly unsure of what Vex meant.
“I don’t know how I could be of aid in such a matter,” Architallis said. “But I can certainly be a presence if numbers for intimidation is your goal.”
Vex gave the Alchemyst a knowing and somewhat irritated look. “Archi, you’re a seven-foot-tall rat-wolf man who’s built like a Berzerker. Just flash the man those pearly whites when I make my demands.”
Architallis gave Vex a skeptical look with an arched brow. “You think that will be sufficient to get the desired result?”
“Definitely,” Vex replied with a mad grin as she led the way toward the key hut. “We need to show this guy that he can’t act like that and get away with it without some amount of payback.”
“If you claim so,” Architallis said in a tone that matched his skeptical expression.
“Um… Pardon me,” came Sin’s voice from the van. “Can someone please untie me?”
Vex rolled her eyes. “Tro, cut the man free, then join us.”
Trouble did as instructed, untying the Immortal who sat up as soon as he was free, rubbing his shoulders tenderly where the tightest straps had held him down, with both hands. “Thank you, Sir Neoform. You had best meet your sister before her anger rises even further.”
Trouble gave a single nod. “Agreed,” he said, then moved to catch up with the other three.
Vex had just flung the entry door open and stormed inside as Trouble caught up with Architallis, who was trailing the lot. “I’m back!” Vex called in an obviously false cheer, just barely hiding the threat of violence. Sparky hovered at the Hexxen Bane’s shoulder, chirping as it examined the space.
“Welcome ba…” the desk operator started with an amused smirk, but trailed off, and his smile dropped as soon as he saw the three accompanying Vex.
“So,” Vex started as she strolled up to the desk to slap a hand down again. “You want to give these lovely guys the same offer you gave me?” Vex wore her own mad smirk. “Go on. Ask em.”
“N-no. I think I’d rather not,” the Ceangar’s hands vanished under the desk.
“Great. So, how about a discount for me and my fine friends?” Vex looked over her shoulders at the others. “How about you boys give the man a nice big smile? We want him to like us after all.”
Architallis plastered on a plastic smile that showed his mouth of sharp teeth. Trouble, following suit, tugged down the collar of his jacket and revealed his shark teeth.
“Um… I kinda can’t.” Alex said in a chagrined tone.
“Not you, Skull Face,” Vex said in a deadpan voice without taking her eyes from the Ceangar.
“I…uh…yeah. Sure thing. I can give you a fifty percent discount on the Storm Raven.” The desk man’s eyes flitted between each of the members before him. Sweat beaded on his brow as he hurried to operate his therra and flick Vex his offer.
“Three-thousand credits to rent the thing for a day?” Vex scoffed. “You’re robbing people blind. Well, it’s not my money. So here,” Vex flicked the man the digital currency. “I added a little extra. The van we brought in is going to need some detailing.”
The Ceangar wordlessly opened a drawer and slid an ignition charm on a keychain across the table. Vex snatched it up, turned around, and walked toward the door with a blind wave back. “Terrible doing business with you.”
Trouble and the others hurried to follow Vex. “Detailing?” Tro asked.
“Yeah. I didn’t think it was that dirty,” Alex said.
“Oh, just give me a sec,” Vex said. “Ex, if you and Archi could pack up our gear in the new ride. Me, Tro, and Sin got a little work to do before we join you.”
Trouble and Sin gave Vex a confused look, but the other two did as instructed and collected the gear from the back of the van. Vex tossed the ignition charm to Architallis, who almost dropped it. With the gear removed, Vex pulled Potato from her hat and held him in both hands. She pointed her pet toward the open van doors and said, “Alright, Potato. Time to go potty.”
“You are going to have your pet defecate on the interior?” Sin asked.
In answer, Potato unhinged his lower jaw and projectile vomited a jet of thick and stinking black sludge across the inside of the van. The slime plastered across the walls, floor, and seats, clinging like tar. Trouble pinched his nose shut with one hand. He hated being around when Vex had Potato empty his bowels. The creature’s bodily processes weren’t anything akin to normal, and the aftermath was foul.
Sin gagged at the smell and stepped back, covering his mouth and nose with his freshly regrown hand. “What a fetidly foul stench,” the Immortal coughed out. “Are you pleased with your second part of petty payback?”
Vex tapped a finger on her lips in thought. “It could be worse. Hey Sin, you want to help make this mess even more nasty?”
Sin stood beside Trouble as he said, “Is that strictly necessary? The gentleman made a lude gesture. I think that should be enough.”
Vex gave Sin an irritated glare. “He tried to fleece us, talk me into sleeping with the creep, and he’s likely still going to find some way to stab us in the back. I want to scare him so bad he thinks twice before calling the guard and telling them we stole the ride.”
“Scare him with what?” Sin asked.
“Why with you, of course.”
“Wait. What?”
Before Sin could say anything else, Vex shoved him into the back of the waste-filled van. She then held up Potato to look him in the eyes. “You can eat half of him. Make it messy.” Then she threw Potato at Sin’s face before closing and locking the door. Sin screamed from inside the vehicle as it rocked back and forth, throwing himself around the interior.
“I think with how much gore my Potato is going to throw around, it’ll scare the guy straight,” Vex said with a scheming smirk.
“Mess,” Trouble replied.
“Yup. It’s gonna be one terrible mess.”
“No. Sin covered in mess,” Tro clarified.
“Oh… damn,” Vex said as she realized what she was going to be dealing with later. “Yeah. Maybe throwing Sin in there too, was a mistake. The man is going to stink something awful.”
Once the thrashing inside the van died down, Vex opened the doors back up to find Sin’s upper half lying on the floor, covered in black sludge. Splattering the interior of the van was just as much gore and viscera. A mostly eaten leg lay on one seat, while three feet of intestine hung from the ceiling, and what looked to be the Immortal’s stomach sat next to his head. Potato sat next to the rear doors, wearing a gore-stained grin of too many teeth, and his rat tail wagging happily.
“Tro, could you shoulder the Immortal and drag him to the Storm Raven and throw him in the sealed rear storage?” Vex requested as she picked up the messy Potato and slipped him back into her hat. “I don’t want him stinking us out of the cockpit.”
“I guess.” Trouble said in a mildly irritated tone. Trouble stepped forward and shouldered the remaining upper half of Sin before strolling over to where he could hear Archi and Alex talking as they loaded equipment. Tro passed around a large, brown painted Sky Orca to spot the Storm Raven. It was a sleekly designed, black, jet-like piece. Its wings and nose vaguely resembled the wings and beak of the bird it was named after. Mounted to the front of the aircraft were a pair of mid-caliber kinetic machine guns. The rear hatch of the Storm Raven was lowered into an extended ramp as Alex walked up it to set down a large plastic case from the van.
Tro walked up to the pair as they casually discussed the events in the key hut just a few moments before. “Do you really think scaring the guy was really necessary?” Alex asked the Alchemyst.
“I have my own worries about those choices,” Architallis replied, folding his arms over his chest. “Miss Vexxenna seemed on the warpath with the gentleman. Threatening him seemed more than a bit extreme.”
Trouble walked up to the pair, casually tossing the regenerating Sin into the trunk. “Vex offended. Yes, warpath. Maybe out of line. But is normal.”
“What the hells happened to Sin?!” Alex asked with a bit of panic.
“Why do you stink?” Architallis asked in a much calmer tone as he covered his nose with one hand.
“Went overboard. Made mess in van.” Trouble replied as he tried to wipe off some of the black sludge that stained his jacket.
“She made a mess of Sin is what it looks like,” Alex said as he pressed a button to close the hatch. Sin started groaning as the door sealed. That must’ve meant that his lungs had regenerated. That was a good start.
Vex joined the team with a proud smirk on her face. “Let’s get rolling.”
Vex flew the Storm Raven through the storm, northward. Sheets of rain sluiced across the aircraft in an unending wave. The downpour was thick enough to render the windshield wipers pointless. The only thing that could be seen through the enhanced glass was water, rolling storm clouds, and the spearing flashes of lightning. Vex was relying solely on the Global Positioning System to track their path and destination.
Vex sat back in the pilot's seat, bracing the control yoke between her knees as she petted Potato with her hands. “So…um,” Vex started nervously. She peered over the shoulder of her seat to eye the other three in the space. Trouble sat in the copilot's seat, toying with a mechanical component he’d borrowed from Archi. The Alchemyst sat in a passenger seat near the head of the jet, looking distinctly uncomfortable, his hands fiddling with each other in his lap. Ex was pacing the length of the passenger space, his Tomb Shell resting in the rear-most corner. All three of the lance-mates looked up to Vex. The flight had been silent since takeoff as everyone was caught up in their own heads.
“What’s up?” Ex asked as he walked up to plop down in a seat adjacent to Archi.
“Well…I…um…I just wanted to say sorry for my massive screw-up with the lantern. I was kinda outta line with that blow-up.” Vex apologized with a nervous note to her words. She was afraid of their responses. Would they hold it against her? How badly had she screwed up? Would this ruin the team dynamic? Vex was worried about what would happen if the others didn’t accept her apology.
“Well, I would like some answers about the torture thing Archi mentioned,” Ex said in a casual tone as he interlaced his fingers behind his head and kicked his legs out.
Vex gave a summary of the events she’d already gone over with Archi. Ex gave a nod of understanding. “That makes sense in my brain.”
“You don’t have a brain.” Vex countered with a playful smirk. She turned to look at the Alchemyst.
Archi shrugged as he said, “You and I have already made amends.”
Vex turned her gaze to her brother. Trouble rolled his eyes as she looked at him. Tro leaned halfway out of his seat to lean across and playfully punch Vex in the shoulder. “Knew you had reasons.”
Vex gave her brother a much gentler smile before the two rapped knuckles in wordless agreement.
“Now, this forgiveness and warm feelings is nice and all. But I want to know about what we saw in Rat-Man’s shadow.” Ex said, giving the Alchemyst a pointed look. “Turning people to goo and sobbing over some sick lady. I’ve got questions.”
Archi gave a weighty sigh before giving his own abridged explanation of his tragic past. Ex nodded along silently as the Alchemyst spoke. The Soulforged’s eyes expressed his growing heartbreak, digital pupils growing wide, and what looked like digital tears welling up to slosh back and forth with his head motions. “That’s…That’s so sad!” Ex exclaimed. He pulled his knees to his chest before breaking down into a sniffling fit like he was clearing his nose and holding back tears.
“Don’t be a baby.” Vex halfheartedly chided as she turned back to stare out the windshield. Lightning arced through the sky, near the vehicle; the rolling thunder felt through the hull as much as in the passengers’ chests. “This storm is slowing us down,” Vex muttered as she leaned forward in her seat to peer further through the glass. Potato hopped from Vex’s lap, and she traded her yolk control back to her hands. Vex had a bad feeling about this.
“Not natural,” Trouble said, an edge of caution to his words.
“I don’t like this,” Vex said to her brother.
“Don’t like what?” Ex asked.
“I think I have something I should inform you about before we enter another hazardous scenario,” Archi said, having completely missed what the others had been discussing.
Suddenly, the Storm Raven jumped in time with the hollow boom of something striking the vehicle. Vex and Trouble managed to keep their seats, but Archi and Ex were flung forward to splay across the floor. Trouble reached over to the central command console and flipped on the exterior cameras.
“What the hells was that?!” Ex demanded as he scrambled to his feet, pulling himself up by the back of Vex’s seat.
Vex cycled through the camera views on the main display screen before settling on the rear-view camera. Flying behind them was a team of three guard aircraft. Each was a fifth the size of the Storm Raven. Sharp, triangular pieces of metal painted blue, white, and black. Extending from each of the guard aircraft was a line of thick, woven metal cable attached to a magnetic clamp sealed to the rear of the Storm Raven.
“Looks like we’ve been fish-hooked by an Eagle Guard team,” Vex said just before the comms system crackled to life. “Attention, citizen, you are in possession of a stolen aircraft. Under legal authority, we demand you land your craft and submit for inspection.”
“Like hells we are,” Vex muttered as she buckled herself into her seat before she started flipping switches and pressing buttons. “Hold onto your asses.”
“Don’t you think we should-” Architallis started, but was cut off as the Storm Raven abruptly dropped into free fall. The Alchemyst and Soulforged slammed against the ceiling of the space.
Vex checked the rear camera again to find the three aircraft linked to their rear, trailing them, struggling to maintain a steady fall as they bounced off each other like cans behind a car. The Eagle Guard finally triggered their reverse thrusters, slowing the Storm Raven’s descent. Vex knew from experience that Eagle Guard aircraft had massively powerful thrusters for towing or slowing much larger vehicles. Vex intended to take full advantage of that extra engine muscle.
With the Storm Raven’s thrusters cut, the guard was only compensating for the falling vehicle’s mass. Vex swapped the camera view to the encroaching ground. Their fall was definitely slowing, and at the rate they were going, it would be a safe touchdown. But Vex didn’t want that.
The Hexxen Bane flipped another pair of switches and pressed a button to activate the Storm Raven’s directional thrusters at max output. The larger vehicle turned upside down, dropping Ex and Archi against the ceiling again. Vex thumbed on the main thruster and kicked it into full output. Upside down and streaking straight for the forest below, Vex shoved the yoke forward as far as she could. The Raven skimmed its back along several high trees before turning its nose skyward. Swiftly, the Storm Raven climbed into the churning storm clouds. With another glance at the rearview camera, Vex found the Eagle Guard struggling to maintain control over their vehicles, one of them striking the forest ground and breaking free.
“Hey, Archi!” Vex called back without taking her eyes from in front of her. “We could use some of that acid right about now!”
There was a sound of heaving breaths as Architallis climbed the passenger seats like a ladder to reach Vex. “I am deeply sorry to inform you that I can not help in that manner.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Vex demanded as she righted the aircraft and turned down the main thruster.
Architallis almost fell flat on his face again, but was saved by a firm grip on Vex’s seat, his claws buried up to the knuckles. “When you utilized the lantern on me, it drained all of my concocktions of power.”
“Then make more!” Vex shouted as she suddenly reversed the Storm Raven’s direction. Architallis was flung toward the windshield, but held his grip on the seat. Alex was not so lucky. The Soulforged had been bouncing around the space with the ringing of metal striking metal.
“I can’t!” Archi shouted back just before there was a massive slam against the rear of the Raven. Vex checked perimeter cameras to find a second Eagle Guard ship tumbling toward the forest below.
“Why can’t you?!” Vex shouted as she flung the Storm Raven back into forward momentum. Alex struck the rear of the space with a sound of denting metal.
“Because,” Archi started, but was stopped as he slammed his nose against Vex’s seat. “I suspect that Drake stole my pocket lab.” He rubbed his nose with his free hand.
“When?!”
“When I first collected him, I suspect,” Archi let out a sneeze as he rubbed his nose. “The device was missing when I came to give you support when you were between the guards and the two opposing lances.”
“Damn it, Archi!” Vex snapped. “You couldn’t’ve said something before we left the settlement?!” She checked the cameras for the last Eagle Guard and found the aircraft still attached to their rear. “Damned harpy,” Vex muttered to no one in particular as she set the Storm Raven to climbing higher through the clouds.
“We were a bit preoccupied with your outburst with the lantern, then Drake’s escape. I simply assumed I would purchase a fresh device when we arrived at the next settlement.” Architallis said as he gripped Vex’s seat with both hands.
As the Storm Raven climbed, the lightning intensified. Electricity traced cracks through the clouds. The air in the Raven grew thick with a charge of unspent power, building rapidly. Suddenly, lightning struck the climbing aircraft. Electricity lashed out at the metal bird again and again, and again, like a pit of enraged vipers. The Raven’s control console flickered, flashing with bursts of the coursing power before dying completely. There was a much more physical explosion from the rear of the aircraft. After the sound of what was likely a thruster rupturing, the Storm Raven toppled into a tumbling freefall.
“Trouble! Strap the Rat in!” Vex commanded. “We’re in for a tough landing!”
