Whoso comes from the dark ... - Part 2
The night air stank, but it was the most beautiful air Caitlyn had ever breathed. Through a mask. The most beautiful air breathed through a mask. It tasted of freedom. Freedom and shawarma as she swung over the take-out place on 8th and Snyder. The method of moving through the city shown to her by Pho-Boy was a lot faster than fast-floating, and more fun. Making the suit expand out as a grapple reduced its coverage of her body, but the suit Kyle had allowed her to keep filled those thinner areas well.
She had improved the swinging, too. By adding momentum through her fast-floating, she could release at the top of the swing and glide some distance before needing to grapple and swing again. She'd like to see Pho-Boy do that! But, the need to make Kyle envious aside, this was more than a celebration of freedom. She had permission to return to school after the weekend and Aunt Mary had opened the cage, but Caitlyn would have broken her grounding for this.
Up ahead, she saw the towering edifice of Ald-Tech headquarters fast approaching and, there, she had an appointment with Raymond Alden. He didn't know that, of course, but what was life without a few surprises? At the appointed rendezvous, she dropped to the roof beside Kyle and felt a little aggrieved that he didn't even flinch.
"We may have to choose a different time." Kyle offered the monocular scope, but, with her suit fully healed, she had no need of it. "It looks like he has his daughter with him. We don't need to complicate ... damn it."
"We're only going to talk." Caitlyn had already jumped, turning to face Kyle in the air and sending out the piece of the suit to grapple without looking. He still didn't look impressed. "No complications, just conversations."
She had to admit it, but only to herself, that her judgement may be a little compromised by the excitement of finally being outside for the first time in days. Regardless of what he thought of her impetuousness, Kyle soon caught up with her, matching swings as the streets blurred past them, below. Caitlyn released her grapple, looped in the air and landed on top of the stretch limo as Raymond Alden prepared to get in the long, black car.
The goon in the suit, who looked as though his muscles were about to rip the seams, reached into his jacket for a weapon, only to fall to the ground in an instant as a small pellet of gas popped before his nose. The guard writhed, thrashing arms and legs at things only he could see, his nightmares coming alive before his eyes.
"Sorry about that, Ray-Ray. He'll be fine in, ooh, ten minutes? I'll say ten minutes, but he's a big guy, he could shrug that off before then, which is good, right?" At the other side of the limo, Kyle leaned over the hood. "Oh, you remember me, right? Pho-Boy? My buddy and I stopped Komedy from killing you April Fools' day? About two years ago? Good times. Anyway, my new bestie would like to ask a few questions. Take it away, partner. Partner?"
Caitlyn would have started talking, she had rehearsed the questions, anticipated some of the answers and had worked on several rebuttals. What she hadn't expected was how she would feel seeing Rayna Alden standing beside her father, dressed in the most amazing, single-shoulder cocktail dress that appeared to be made entirely of chromatic sequins. Words failed her as the only thought that stuck in her head was 'wow'.
"Wow!" Caitlyn cringed behind her mask. That was supposed to have been an internal thought, not external! "I mean, greetings rich citizens. I apologise for the circumstances, but I doubt you'd have superheroes on your waiting list for appointments."
She waited for the laugh, but none came. No laughs at all, not even from Kyle, who she now considered a traitor. Worst of all, Rayna had the most vicious look in her eyes and Caitlyn had to wonder if she had completely misunderstood the venom with which Rayna had spoken about her father. Meanwhile, Raymond Alden had dug into the internal pocket of his dinner jacket, taking out a cell phone.
"Get it over with. You have ... thirty seconds before my entire security detail runs out of that building." He must have had a panic button on the phone. Returning the phone, he stood straight-backed, glaring at Caitlyn, at Blood Obsidian, his hands in his pockets. "Well? I don't have all night."
"We found Ald-Tech equipment, weapons and stuff, in the lair of the super-villain, Fiend, and we found out that you'd had break-ins at several of your facilities and we were wondering whether you could provide any details on what was stolen and whether you had recently fired anybody that may have known how to steal these things? It's really important." Caitlyn knew she should have taken a breath every so often there, and, perhaps, have broken up the questions. She had an excuse. Rayna was there, looking totally amazing. It put her off her game. "We'd appreciate any help."
"Look, Blood Obsidian, is it? You're new, and obviously young, so you don't know how this works, but I'll be happy to teach you." A hand came out of a pocket and pointed toward Pho-Boy, a diamond the size of a fingernail glinting from a cufflink. "This joker knows, but he's testing you. I will not give out any information about my business dealings. Not to our hard-working police, and certainly not to vigilantes."
"Aww, c'mon, Ray-Ray! For old time's sake?" Kyle moved around the other side of the limo, trailing a gauntleted hand along the paintwork, nonchalant and brash. "One name. You must know of one name that springs to mind? There must be, what, hundreds of people you've screwed over, but one name just came to mind, didn't it?"
Raymond Alden had a poker face that could beat the odds at any casino. His hand had returned to his pocket, his mouth had clamped shut and he allowed his gaze to pass from Pho-Boy and on to Caitlyn. Rayna, all this time, had never taken her gaze from Caitlyn. A hate-filled gaze that gnawed at Caitlyn's gut. Rayna had no way to know who was behind Blood Obsidian's mask, but she knew that it was the super before her that had helped cause the accident at the facility.
"You heard my father. And, rest assured, we will be informing the police of this harassment." Rayna's hand had clenched, but now it relaxed as she hooked her arm through her father's. "My father has some very powerful friends. You'd do well not to anger him."
"We're trying to help!" Caitlyn felt that that came out as a whine, instead of a commanding super-hero presence. "If someone gets hurt using technology stolen from you ..."
"Forget it, Blood Obsidian. He'd rather keep his secrets and pay people off if anything came back to Ald-Tech." Kyle raised his arm, ready to fire his grapple. "If Komedy comes calling again, give us a call. The number's 1-800-heroes4u. Twenty-four hour callout."
The sibilant hiss of the grapple firing told Caitlyn this pointless interview had come to an end. With one last look to Rayna, remembering the smiling, flirty girl from before, Caitlyn allowed herself to float upward. Once at a distance, she sent out the suit's version of the grapple and followed Pho-Boy up to the rooftops. They had wasted their time here and probably made an enemy. Perhaps two.
-+-
Raymond watched the two, so-called, heroes swing away into the night and then crouched down to check on the driver. The terrors created by the gas from Fear's sidekick had fallen away and the driver began to push himself to his feet, none the worse for his sudden affliction. Tomorrow, Raymond would fire the man, but tonight they had a gala to attend.
Inside the limo, he barely heard a word that Rayna said, though he could imagine. Since the incident, Rayna had complained often about the heroes that blighted the world and he couldn't blame her. They were as often the cause of problems as the solution, but they did have some benefits. Still, these two were right, he did have some ideas as to who had stolen all those experimental weapons, though he had not anticipated meeting the girl in her hero persona. Not so soon, at least. He took out his cell phone and ran through the contacts.
"Ditko. I need an update on that investigation we discussed. Yes, I am fully aware of the time. An update." As Stanley Ditko droned on in that annoying, insipid voice, Raymond listened intently. "And you are quite certain? Harlan Giordano? He's the only one? Very well, have our people hunt him down. I want my technology back before it brings the company into even more disrepute."
"Harlan Giordano? I remember that name." Rayna rested her head against his shoulder. "Didn't you fire him for performing live experiments? So, they were right. You do know who stole Ald-Tech equipment?"
"No. It's only a suspicion. I don't think it's him. Can't be, he's crazy, but not stupid." He patted his daughter's hand. "Why Blood Obsidian is interested, I'm not entirely certain. She may become a thorn in my side."
"She?" Her head lifted from his shoulder and he turned to her. So like her mother in so many ways. "You think that Blood Obsidian is a girl?"
"Just a hunch. Nothing more." He couldn't let Rayna know he had kept Caitlyn Carter under observation. Not yet. "Driver, are you still under the influence of that gas? Speed up! I want to get there before I'm supposed to give my speech, not after."
Raymond couldn't say anything about Blood Obsidian, or Caitlyn Carter. He had got what he wanted from her and that incredible Element that her suit was made from. Why, then, had he felt such rage at seeing her standing there before him. Were he a weaker man, he would have let that emotion slip. Were he a weaker man, he may even have acted on that rage.
-+-
High above that limo ...
"Harlan Giordano. We have a name." Kyle tapped at his ear, turning off the ear piece similar to the one given to her on the Bastion satellite. His grin could have lit up the night. "And that, my dear, is detectiving."
"That's not a word." Caitlyn held in the glee that she had created a brand new word. "So, that was the real reason we confronted Alden. Not to ask questions, but to plant a bug?"
"I needed you to act natural. How was I to know that 'natural' to you meant speaking in tongues?" He looked at her and the grin became a sly smile. "Someone likes someone. That's why you talked like an idiot. She is very pretty."
"Shut up." He was right, though. Rayna was very pretty. Beautiful, even. But that anger she held for Caitlyn's alter ego worried her. "So, we find Harlan Giordano before Alden does. It's time for this Fiend to be brought to justice."
Kyle nodded and Caitlyn felt oddly elated that she had said something really heroic sounding. Maybe she could make it as a hero, after all. If only Rayna didn't hate that hero, things would be looking a lot more rosy.