Dashing Devil Omnibus 1: Books 1-3, page 47
“Fine,” Connor handed the chit over and Daisy slipped it into the pocket of the jeans she was wearing.
“We’ll go to the interview because, yeah, I need a job. But we are going to return the chit. That’s too much money to take as a handout,” Daisy said.
“But sis, he said…” Connor stated, looking indignant.
“I don’t care what he said, I’m saying we are returning the chit,” Daisy stated firmly. “Now go to your room and give me your view screen. You have homework to do. Go do that while I think of an appropriate punishment for pickpocketing.”
She was trying not to be angry with her brother for somehow getting them mixed up with a Hero, but that was becoming more difficult by the moment. Daisy had enough of a struggle dealing with her pushy ex-boss. Any ‘help’ this brought might be jumping from the frying pan into the fire.
Said ex-boss had tried to tempt her with a contract that had a signing bonus about the size of what was on that chit. Daisy was glad that she’d read the fine print then, and she certainly wasn’t going to blindly fall for a large sum of money this time.
Connor stormed off to his room after slapping his outdated viewscreen into her hand.
He was a good kid. She knew he was only trying to help, but being dumb led to problems. Daisy’ d had learned to be smart way too early in life. Being smart meant being slow to trust—at least in her experience.
She’d go to the interview. Then, she’d make her own judgment about this job offer from there. She’d see if this Dashing Devil really was a nice guy, or if he was just pulling the wool over Connor’s easily covered eyes.
Chapter 11
Boyd settled on a roof across from a jewelry store with one of its windows broken in. There were signs of movement within, so Kitsune and he crouched low to avoid silhouetting themselves against the sky. Silvie floated above the building, over an alley to its rear where there was likely an exit the criminals might try to use.
It was in a section of the city with mostly residences on the second and third floors, with small shops at street level. As with most of Glorith city, each building was a little different. Different materials had been used, they were each painted in different colors, and many had different windows.
The street and the shops were both empty—the shops likely closed as those who ran them celebrated with the crowds in the rest of the city. As far as the street went, the people of Glorith City were smart enough to stay indoors if there was a sign of a Powered Criminal. The Authority may even have broadcast a warning on the view screens in the nearby residences. They didn’t for most smaller threats, but three Powered Criminals may have been enough to justify the warning system’s use—even if they were all low-ranked.
“Eyes on the store. Movement within,” Boyd rumbled over the comms
“I see you,” Royce said. “I have the cameras in the area pulled up, including those in the store. Three men… I’m guessing low-ranked Powered. The big guy was strong, but not that strong and the tall, lanky guy was tossing fireballs about to break the glass. The little guy is their flier. These guys are amateurs... they are only halfway done ransacking the place. Luckily, they didn’t grab any hostages. Best bet is to engage as they leave.”
“I also have drones on the way.”
Tinker’s voice was clear over the comms. She was on the petite side and had a voice that matched her stature. It was soft and feminine, but smaller than it should be, given the mind behind the voice.
“That’s great, Tinker. Will they have combat capabilities or are they purely intelligence gathering?” Boyd asked.
“They have lasers that are designed for spot welding and light cutting work, but they could be used for combat in a pinch,” Tinker replied uncertainly. “Would have to get pretty close to be useful, though.”
“We will stick with using them for intelligence gathering,” Boyd decided.
From what she described, if the Powered Criminals had any sort of resistances, the laser would most likely be useless. With the drones having to get close, they would just become expensive collateral damage.
Kitsune shot him a look, her dark-rimmed amethyst eyes narrowed in warning.
It didn’t take long for Boyd to realize his error. “Which is still very useful,” he belatedly added. “Thank you, Tinker.”
Boyd was so excited to be in the field that he had forgotten about Tinker’s issues with validation. Although she had already proven her genius to Boyd by creating a weapon his Power could interact with, she had next to no self-esteem. He didn’t have a lot of details, but he believed it had to do with the prior team—who were mostly dead at the hands of Blast-Front. Boyd wanted to work on her self-image so mouthed a silent ‘thank you’ to Kitsune, who nodded with a pleased smile.
“No problem.” Tinker responded, still sounding unsure but at least she hadn’t said something like ‘it’s nothing’.
Boyd knew it would not be a quick fix for Tinker, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t worth doing what he could to build her up. Sometimes all you could do was acknowledge the contributions of others. He had a feeling she would bloom if her teammates only paid attention to her—in the right way.
Boyd scanned the street and the nearby buildings as he began putting together a plan. He knew Silvie would defer to his judgment—like she always had, starting with team training missions in their PAC. Kitsune was watching him more than the shop, which Boyd took to mean she wasn’t interested in the planning stage, either. That was fine by him, he’d always excelled in small group tactics, and this was a simple encounter. A second voice wasn’t really required.
Their primary goal here was the capture of the Powered Criminals. Their second priority was the recovery of the stolen goods. Tertiary goal was to mitigate property damage. All three objectives fell under the Heroes’ primary task of protecting civilians.
The easiest solution would be just to send Silvie in. It was unlikely that any of the three Powered Criminals posed a credible threat to his lover, even together. If they were credible threats, they wouldn’t be doing something as small time as knocking off a jewelry store.
Sending Silvie in would likely result in a lot of property damage, though. Between her blasts and whatever damage the Powered Criminals did while trying to escape, they would almost certainly fail at their third goal. There was also a decent chance of the stolen goods being destroyed that way, as well.
Sending Silvie in was only a viable plan if all they wanted to do was to accomplish their first goal. Royce was right, the best bet they had to achieve all three objectives was to wait for the criminals to exit the building and ambush them then. That still gave the Powered Criminals the opportunity to do a bunch of property damage or to destroy the stolen goods if they didn’t execute the ambush perfectly.
Their first goal was a forgone conclusion, but their secondary objective was best achieved by separating the stolen goods from the majority of the criminals. As Boyd considered all this, a plan began to cement itself in his mind. If properly executed, it would also achieve their third objective.
“Kitsune, can you use your illusions from here, or do you need to get closer?”
Boyd grumbled internally that he had to ask. He’d been too distracted by Kitsune yesterday to find out what he should already know about her Powers. It was an oversight he planned to remedy—and soon.
“Nope, this is good. Pretty much line of sight is all I need.” She answered him simply enough, still watching him instead of the shop or the Powered Criminals. “You get really focused, don’t you?” she noted.
“What?” Boyd responded absently as he ran through possible failure points in his plan.
He knew it’s impossible to be prepared for every contingency, but it didn’t hurt to look for glaring holes in a plan before pulling the trigger. Boyd felt something soft and warm brush against his wing, which was partially lifted due to his position crouched near the edge of the roof. It tingled pleasantly in a familiar way, so he leaned his wing into Kitsune’s playful tail as he turned to her.
She wore an amused expression, full red lips quirked at the side, with a twinkle in her emerald eyes. He felt her mirth through their Bond and sensed amusement coming from Silvie as well.
“She said, ‘You get really focused, don’t you?’, Darling,” Silvie cut in, her giggle sounding like tinkling bells in Boyd’s ears. “To answer your question, Kitsune… yes, he does. It’s almost always worth it, though. He was always picked to lead teams in training because he’s really good at small unit tactics. Even when the others were scared of him, they respected his tactics.”
“Speaking of…” Boyd decided that was a decent segue. They probably didn’t have much time. “Silvie, maintain position until Kitsune calls out the flier. He’ll likely bolt with the loot at the first sign of trouble. Take him down fast, secure the items, then return to us.”
He turned to his newer love. “Kitsune, as soon as they come out, I want you to make a copy of Silver—have your illusion fly down and tell them to surrender. That will take care of the requirement to demand they surrender, since they don’t have hostages, which should send the flier right towards the real Silver.”
“I can’t… wait, never mind. Yes, I can.” Kitsune laughed her velvet laugh.
A copy of Silvie joined them on the roof, crouching down next to them. She waved her fingers at Boyd before saying in a perfect impression of the real Silvie’s bubbly voice, “Hi, Darling.”
“Very nice.” Boyd smiled at Kitsune. “But the real Silver wouldn’t crouch like that. She would float a few inches above the roof on her belly like she was on a beach blanket.”
“Hey, we agreed no copying me when we aren't in the field.” Silvie complained over the comms. “I can see me over there next to you two.”
“We’re in the field, babe,” Kitsune responded with a velvet chuckle.
“Looks like they are finishing up,” Royce interrupted their banter. “Flier looks real skittish, too. Your plan should work.”
“Darn, drones aren’t quite there, yet,” Tinker grumbled cutely. Then she continued thoughtfully, “Faster drones shouldn’t be too difficult to make.”
“We’re fine this time, but more eyes never hurt, Tinker. If you are making improvements, make them tougher, too.”
Boyd tested something he had been meaning to with Tinker. He got the feeling that she was the type who enjoyed difficult projects. Adding on to one she thought was easy might help bring her out of her shell.
“Silver, you are on standby until the flier bolts, or I call out. Kitsune, ready for your illusion to act?”
“Yes, Darling,” the illusionary copy of Silvie chirped, excitedly wiggling her rear as she started to float into the air in a fair imitation of the real thing.
“Silver, you set?” Boyd asked.
“Yes, Darling.”
The real Silvie’s excitement could be heard in her voice and felt over their Bond. She never had much of a head for tactics, and had repeatedly wanted him with her in the field—for his ability to create solid plans quickly, if nothing else. Her general tactic was to hit criminals hard and fast—and her S-ranked stats allowed her to do just that.
She often worried about causing unnecessary damage doing so, though. Boyd was the one who had spent untold hours studying small team tactics just to have something to do. He could tell his lover was excited to take advantage of all that learning.
The wait was longer than Boyd expected—almost long enough for him to check in with Royce to confirm the criminal hadn’t gone down into the sewers or something.
Luckily, the first Powered Criminal climbed back out through the broken window a moment before Boyd revealed his impatience by asking his question. He looked like a pretty normal guy. Brown hair in a standard haircut, wearing khaki pants and a bright Hawaiian print button-down shirt. He had an orange bandana tied around his lower face.
This guy was on the larger side, likely somewhere in the six-and-a-half-feet-tall and three-to-three-hundred-and-fifty-pound range. He looked in both directions down the street before waving the others out through the broken window. A short guy in a purple shirt and blue jeans flew out next and settled down next to the big guy. He wore a blue bandana on his face and carried two overstuffed duffle bags. The third man stepped out holding a fist-sized fireball in each hand. He wore a blue shirt, black pants, and had a red bandana around his face.
“Yeah,” Boyd rumbled softly over the comms after taking in the group's demeanor, “these are rookies.”
The big guy was clearly the ring-leader but displayed none of the confidence that required. He looked way too nervous to be in charge of a group of Powered Criminals. The pyromancer looked a little too eager, too. Then there was the little guy, their flyer. Boyd could tell from here that he would rather be anywhere else. He’d been talked into this—a simple crime of opportunity.
“Alright Kitsune, you’re on.” Boyd shifted forward, preparing to leap into the air and dive to the ground.
As soon as the words left his mouth, the illusionary Silvie flew out in front of him, sticking her bum up and wiggling it at him. Boyd had to admit that Kitsune had certainly gotten all the important details right.
The very fine ass that he was oh so familiar with floated away, blurring forward to settle ten feet off the ground about twenty feet away from the criminals. “Drop the bags and lay on the ground with hands behind your heads! You are under arrest for breaking and entering,” the fake Silvie called out in a perfect imitation of her voice.
“Shit!” The pyromancer yelled as he threw both of his fireballs at the fake Silver, who easily blurred out of their path. Both fireballs splashed harmlessly against the concrete of the building behind the illusion. Boyd was concerned they might pack a bigger punch than they did, but reminded himself that these were small timers.
“You said she’d be busy!” the smaller man shouted, looking to the big man for order, though he was prepared to bolt.
“She shoulda been!” the big guy shouted back as he leaned down to rip a chunk of concrete as big as Silvie was tall out of the sidewalk. “Doesn’t matter! Run and stash the bags where I said while me and Kyle hold her off.”
He then lobbed the piece of concrete at the fake Silvie. Once again, the illusory Silver blurred to the side and avoided the missile.
Boyd acted quickly. He wasn’t certain whether or not the building the large piece of concrete had been thrown at was unoccupied. He was fairly confident the small fireballs the pyromancer threw wouldn’t hurt anyone, but a piece of concrete that size going through a wall and hitting someone most definitely would.
He dived from the building with a single flap of his massive wings to propel him downward. He timed it just right, punching the chunk of pavement into dust before flipping over and landing on the street with a thud in a crouch.
“Fuck! The Devil is here too!” the pyromancer yelled as Boyd landed.
“Jim! Run!” The big guy yelled as he charged across the street at Boyd.
The criminal dropped his head in a bull rush. The way he did so told Boyd everything he needed to know—this wasn’t a skilled fighter. He’d likely never been in a real fight in his life—and if he had, it had been nothing more than a pissing contest.
Boyd calmly observed the flier make a break into the sky as Kitsune called the movement over comms while he got his timing right. When the Powered Criminal was about halfway across the street, Boyd leaped into the air using his A-ranked strength. He snapped his wings open to control his trajectory as he lifted his right leg high.
As he closed on the Powered Criminal, who was foolishly charging at where Boyd had been with his head still down, he dropped the leg. Boyd’s heel connected solidly, slamming into the big criminal's thick shoulder. He’d been careful to pull the strike, not trusting this amateur's resilience enough to risk using his full strength. With his head already down and his center of gravity already well forward, the kick was particularly devastating.
The Powered Criminal’s face bounced off the concrete with a hearty thud. His back legs kicked up into the air as he slid for another three feet on his face. The big criminal likely had a higher ranked resistance than Boyd had thought, though, because he didn’t feel any bones break under the kick. Still, sliding face down across several feet of asphalt should have stunned him. He ended up coming to a stop four feet past where Boyd landed after delivering the kick.
A flash from across the street caught Boyd’s attention. Knowing what it likely meant, his wings snapped out and around, wrapping defensively around him. He felt two more fireballs splash harmlessly against the tough leathery exterior of his wings, barely registering as warm.
The big Powered Criminal started to push himself back to his feet, so Boyd jumped over and snapped a quick kick into the side of his head. The big Powered Criminal wobbled on his knees and toppled over as the strike robbed him of his consciousness. As soon as that was done, Boyd’s wings snapped up to block two more fireballs—it was mostly instinctive.
Boyd was fairly certain his B-ranked resistance was enough that he could take one of those fireballs to the face with only mild discomfort. It was almost a shame, really. If they’d caused Boyd any pain, he could have packaged it up and sent it back tenfold using his Mental Domination.
Boyd decided to take advantage of that. He lowered his wings and looked around, searching for the Pyromancer who looked about ready to shit himself and go home. The big guy had almost certainly been the leader of this little band. Watching Boyd make such easy work out of him had likely made the pyromaniac reconsider his recent life decisions. It was too late for that now, though.
Boyd marched towards the cowering criminal. He did not sprint at him. He didn’t even walk quickly. A bigger part of him than he approved of wanted to generate a little fear in this Powered Criminal. The fool had thrown his piddly fireballs at his Silvie after all, and for that, he had to suffer.
Boyd shook the dark thought away as un-Heroic. Criminals faced justice after a Hero captured them. A Hero did not seek revenge. Despite that, he still maintained his slow, methodical march towards the pyromancer who seemed to be struggling to summon another round of fireballs as he backed away.
