Accidental Villainy 35 (Patreon)

As Tara dashed upstairs to change into her costume — a quick process thanks to her power — I turned my attention to the camera feed once more, examining the movement of the blurry figure. The most important thing was their movement pattern. 

A spiral with occasional pauses, sometimes slipping in and out of the buildings, trying to get a better sense of what was going on through scouting, thinking that their quasi-invisibility kept them secure. A dangerous assumption, I thought even as I pulled my gun … even though I had doubts about it working. 

The target moving too fast to be just running. They either had multiple powers, or some of their powers were reliant on a device. “A power armor,” I muttered loudly after catching the outline. I spoke out deliberately, to test if they had some kind of long-range listening capability as well. If they did, the mention of a power armor should have at least made them react in a way I could catch with my power. 

A simple bluff, but effective. 

The figure continued to move around the bar slowly even as Tara returned, once again dressed in her modified biker costume. “Our enemy is wearing a power armor, and likely has at least one weapon that might hurt you. You need to be ready to engage,” I said. “Do you remember the codes we agreed?” 

“Yes, sir,” she said even as tensed with anticipation. She was afraid of the potential fight, but her submissiveness worked to her benefit. She looked at me, my confidence giving her the courage she needed. 

Naturally, I was nowhere as confident as I was trying to look. An armored superhero was more than I expected. I pulled a simple ski mask on to make it look like I was trying to hide my identity even as I started to go through the possibilities of exactly who decided to probe us. 

A solo hero or villain was the simplest explanation considering the low-value location we were living in, but I was reluctant to just assume that. It could just be a probing attack from the Elite Syndicate, or even a move from one of the smaller guilds if they realized the true owner of the warehouse, and wanted to start with the softer target first. 

It wouldn’t be the first time a guild prioritized their targets absurdly. 

I continued watching the blur, trying to get a sense of their movements despite the headache building. Soon, I realized it was a man who was piloting the suit, a deduction that I only made thanks to my power. It wasn’t entirely trivial, as it affected how he would react once he was confronted with a female super. 

I was hoping that he would underestimate her. 

 At the same time, I was able to get a better understanding of the limits of the power suit. It was fast-moving on a straight line, and as far as I could read, it couldn’t turn that fast. Also, the arms weren’t exactly mobile, and it was bulkier than expected. 

“… always try to stay behind the suit once engaged, and make sure not to drop your earset,” I said, finishing a detailed explanation of how she should engage with our enemy. “However, I might have read something wrong, so listen to my commands, and never delay if I call for you to dodge,” I said. 

“Yes, sir,” she said, her fear dwindling as I confidently explained some weak points of our enemy.  

“Good, be ready, we’re going to move out in half a minute,” I said. His movements had changed. Rather than going in a loose spiral, he started moving in a straight line, barely faster than a walk, showing confidence while also allowing us a way to engage. “I want you to walk toward him directly. Say nothing but show confidence, and allow me to approach from the side.” 

I didn’t like the idea of sending Tara as a distraction, but I couldn’t just walk behind her and hope he wouldn’t target me. She had semi-invulnerability. I did not. My best hope was to attack from the side, maybe taking down a sensor or two. 

Tara left from the main entrance, while I used the back door, my pistol raised. I didn’t hope that I would stay undetected, which was the reason I raised the gun. Ironically, when attacking an unknown target, someone with a pistol was less threatening than someone unarmed. 

After all, unarmed implied a dangerous mystery box of superpowers. 

Once Tara walked a while, the blur around the figure faded and revealed a power armor at the other end of the street. It took all I had to suppress my desire to curse because I recognized the figure. 

Chrome Defender. 

One of the newer members of the New Giant Force. 

I barely held back my desire to curse. I didn’t expect to see the biggest guild of the city to be the one to attack me. My first instinct was to believe that his presence was about my visit. I was already considering how to reach Emily to make sure she left home safely if they targeted her. Until I caught a very important detail thanks to my power, currently in overdrive. 

The suit was made by the same person who was responsible for the puzzle. 

It was hard to pin down exactly how I came to that realization. When overdrive, my power made some connections that were hard to comprehend easily. Maybe it was the type of material, or maybe there was something about the elegant, perfect lines of the power armor. 

That realization made the guess about his intention more troubling. Was he really here because of my own visit, or whether they somewhat discovered that I had the puzzle. 

Or, neither was the case, and they just wanted to deal with the bar before dealing with the warehouse. I wanted to deal with the third possibility first. “Move to the left, about fifty feet, act like you want to use the building to take cover,” I ordered Tara even as I moved further away from my bar. 

She followed that even as the Chrome Defender spoke, his voice modulated. “Surrender, and you won’t be harmed,” he declared. Even with his voice modulated, his arrogance was clear, the kind only a rich person could develop easily. 

He was a new hero indeed, and I suspected the assignment of power armor was more about his family's money than his potential. Maybe I was guessing wrong … but I didn’t think so.  

“Throw a dumpster at him,” I asked, and Tara followed. He dodged the attack, but it was a close call, and when he landed, he was unbalanced. A good first test about the capabilities of the suit. 

“Fifty-two,” I followed, almost immediately, which was an order to take a big jump to the left, one that I gave when I noticed his weapon being charged. I didn’t know the explosion range of his weapon, but there was no point risking it. 

It turned out to be a bit excessive. His weapon was some kind of laser blast, with little area damage. Still, it took down one of the empty buildings around us. 

He wasn’t holding back. “Throw him a rubble, even faster, then move back,” I added, and Tara followed my request. He dodged again before aiming his suit arm, but before he could attack, I noticed something even more important … one that gave me another, even more problematic possibility about his presence. 

He paused his attack, right at the moment when attacking risked damaging Elite Syndicate’s warehouse. 

It was not good news. 

I asked Tara to move around him and dodge deliberately a few more times, watching him act. He was more than happy to damage the surrounding houses, but whenever his aim could endanger the warehouse, he paused. 

It was not good news in the long term. Even the most innocent explanation meant that the New Giant Force wasn’t ready to deal with the Syndicate, and wanted to target me instead. Also, there were worse possibilities. 

Like it was the Elite Syndicate arranged the attack to test my backing … or worse, they were cooperating in some capacity, and they were here to help their allies. None of the possibilities were good ones. 

“Move to thirty feet to the right, then charge forward, aim for the arm and leg joints,” I ordered Tara, a position that would leave her aligned with the warehouse, forcing him to use less dangerous weapons. 

At the same time, I raised my gun, and aimed at the weak points of his suit — an achievement that was made much easier thanks to my power, not only allowing me to pick the weak points, but also making it much easier to aim — and fired, damaging what I assumed to be the detection equipment. 

It wasn’t enough to take them down — that required a much stronger gun — but his inexperience worked to our benefit. He flinched in panic as the bullets hit his camera, allowing Tara to complete the rush. 

She kicked twice, each taking down a leg joint, and then she grabbed the laser weapon that was attached to the arm. With a pull, it came off. 

“I’ll be back!” he shouted even as he activated some kind of jet pack … and promptly retreated. 

“Return to the bar, but walk slowly and confidently,” I said to Tara. She followed my request, but I stayed outside, watching both the warehouse and the horizon, wondering whether there would be a follow-up attack. 

There was no other movement … but that didn’t mean I was happy as I returned. 

My bar was getting more and more troubling.