The Other Side of the Mirror
Inigo looked to Chris. "Hey, I've got a hypothetical question for you. Just shut me down if I'm reaching too deep. What if you knew where Desolator was?"
"I'd tell the pros and let them handle it." Christopher lied.
Fireworks exploded in brilliant flashes of light over the summer festival. Bonds were reaffirmed. Love bloomed. Dozens of lives were saved. And a white van trundled away.
The van was windowless and white with ladders lashed to its top. Stains from various shades of paint were splattered around its doors. An inattentive observer would dismiss the van as a painter’s conveyance. An attentive one would notice how deliberately each fleck of paint was splashed on each door. He would notice the hints of rust on the hooks lashing the ladder to the truck; indicating they had not been unfastened for months.
An attentive observer might notice these suspicious signs. These signs which indicated the van was not used for painting, but only designed to appear as such. However, a smart observer would never make his suspicion known.
A smart observer would know better.
Desolator examined his handgun in the passenger’s seat of the Five’s van. Tether sat at the wheel. Maddox was in the back, sitting atop the hard plastic floor, keeping their cargo company. Luccione, the fool that’d tried to turn a festival into a slaughter house, lay on that floor still unconscious.
Desolator fidgeted with his handgun. Something was bothering him. He got like this sometimes. Usually, when he got like this, it was when something was very wrong. His holster on his right side seemed to hang heavier than usual.
“He still asleep?” Desolator asked Maddox.
Maddox held up an empty syringe by way of answer. A syringe that had previously held enough tranquilizer to give a horse a nasty trip. Luccione wouldn’t be awake for hours yet.
Desolator fidgeted. That wasn’t it then.
“You okay boss?” Tether asked as he turned towards the Taizo compound.
“No.” Desolator answered. He looked in the back of the van. That great empty space decorated with naught but a hard plastic floor. Maddox looked at him quizzically as Desolator examined every square inch of the cargo area.
SOMETHING was wrong. Desolator always had a good sense for when something had gone wrong. Some people thought it was a quirk. Desolator knew better. When you do what he’s done for so long your subconscious starts picking up on things. Things that your conscious mind had no prayer of noticing. There was something that happened at the festival that had caught his subconscious’s attention. Something his consciousness wasn’t able to pick up on.
Desolator gave the back of the van one last thorough sweep, eyes focusing on every corner. He didn’t see anything.
Desolator turned in his seat. There WAS something wrong, but it didn’t have to be in the van. He looked in his side view mirror. The moon was full tonight. The explosions of fireworks from the festival painted the few clouds which lingered overhead in brilliant shades of reds and yellows.
THERE!
Just for a moment, Desolator was certain he saw the outline of a foot against one of those clouds. He rolled down his window.
“Boss?” Tether began.
“Sshhhhhhh.” Desolator hissed. He reached towards his side view mirror and began to point it higher in the sky. The fireworks bloomed behind them once again and Desolator clearly saw a shape cross an illuminated cloud. The shape was humanoid, tall, ridiculously tall, if Desolator had his distances right. It could be taller than Maddox.
Desolator continued watching, eyes tracking that shape.
“Turn left up here.”
Tether obeyed immediately. Maddox tensed ready for combat.
Desolator continued watching his mirror as the car’s turn caused him to lose sight of their probable pursuer. Moments later, the shape reappeared in the mirror. It was clearly following them.
“We’re being followed. Flyer. 234 meters, 83 degree angle directly from my mirror.”
“Want us to fight?” Maddox asked.
Desolator shook his head. “Best to assume the flyer’s not an idiot. He’s probably in contact with a hero’s agency. We turn and fight, we’ll have a dozen sidekicks and maybe a top 10 on our ass. We pretend we don’t notice him, he’ll follow at a distance.”
“Well I can’t take them back to base.” Tether complained.
“Don’t have to.” Desolator growled. He pulled out a burner phone and dialed a number from memory. The phone rang twice before Taizo’s voice came over the receiver.
“Hello?”
“We’re bringing pizza.” Desolator began, using the code for ‘we’re being pursued.’ “Do you want extra cheese or extra sauce?” ‘Do you want us to lose him or kill him?’
“Cheese.” Taizo answered without hesitation.
“Do you want to meet at your place?” ‘We need help losing him.’
“Sure. Do you want me to pick you up?” ‘You need to switch vehicles?’
“Absolutely. We’ll bring two pies and sides. Sound good?” ‘I need two vehicles and two drivers.’
“You getting meatlovers or anchovies?” ‘The garage next to the butchers, or by the riverfront?’
“Meatlovers.” Desolator responded.
“Sounds great. See you soon.” ‘Done.’
The line went dead and Desolator put away his phone. He looked over to Tether. “Did you get that?”
“Uh, garage by the butcher’s right?”
“Yes. Maddox, call--”
Movement caught his eye.
Desolator’s eyes fixated on the back windows. Had he just seen something? His eyes bored a hole through those windows. He was certain he’d just seen the light of a cellphone’s screen in the window. Maddox hadn’t gotten her phone out yet. He gave the back of the van one last, thorough look over. Nothing.
Desolator’d call it nerves if it wasn’t him. Maybe it was just his own phone’s afterimage in his retina? He kept his eyes fixed on that spot.
“Des?” Maddox asked.
Desolator didn’t move his eyes, but he answered.
“Call Nox. Tell her to grab Mercury and meet us at safehouse B.”
“Shit.” Tether hissed.
“What?!”
“Mercury was working with Marrow after the festival.”
“Of all th-- you know what? Fine. Tell him to bring the kid.”
“You sure about that Des? If we don’t lose this flyer…” Maddox trailed off. ‘This’ll turn into a fight and the kid might get hurt.’
“He could use the experience.” ‘Pain is an excellent teacher.’
“tttthhhhh, fine.” Maddox pulled out her phone.
Desolator watched her dial with one eye. His other eye was still looking at that same spot in the back window. The spot where the phone screen had flashed so briefly. Neither of his companions commented on his fascination with the back window. Probably supposing he was keeping an eye on their pursuer. Desolator fidgeted. He was missing something again. His subconscious knew it. Unfortunately, his conscious mind, weighted by the years, was too slow to catch up even if it had all the time in the world.
Desolator looked away. He couldn’t shake the feeling someone was in the van with them. Though that would be impossible. Even if Myoga’s paramour were in here she was merely difficult to notice, not truly invisible. Desolator had taken the time to confirm he could spot her after Myoga’s… outburst defending Miracle’s spawn.
A phantom pain spiked from Desolator’s severed leg. Miracle, the bitch that had taken out 3 of his men. Desolator rubbed his prosthetic. Her spawn was of the same make. Desolator’s finger started to hurt. A 14 year old. An actual child with no appreciable combat experience had caught Desolator napping and broken his finger. To say nothing of his humiliation at the hands of that drunken fool….
Desolator sighed, his anger evaporating into melancholy. Maybe he was just too old for this. How old was he now? He was 80 in 21XX, today was his birthday, that mean he was… 87? Had he really been killing for 72 years?
Had it really been nearly a century since his father had beaten Sam one too many times? Had it been so long since Sam had escaped punishment by joining The Master’s military? Had it been 69 years since Desolator plunged his dagger into the Master’s throat and went freelance? Several lifetimes worth of killing and now… now he was at the end of it. He knew it. He saw that end a few months ago, staring back at him from a child’s eyes.
Desolator turned and stared at the dashboard. He held a hand to his chin. When he was a young man he’d promised himself he’d retire by 60. He had kept that promise, but the boredom had been too much. He went back to the life. He tried retirement again at 70. He’d come back. He didn’t even bother trying when he turned 80. He’d never intended to keep going for so long.
Desolator rubbed his prosthetic again. Maybe he should’ve tried at 80, maybe it’d have stuck that time. Retirement would’ve spared him humiliation at a nobody’s hands and the vendetta of her son.
As Desolator was lost in contemplation they came to Taizo’s garage. An ugly squat rectangular brick building with nothing more than an open garage door to indicate it as their destination.
Desolator tensed. This would be the perfect moment for an ambush if their comms were tapped and code deciphered. Tether drove the van into the garage without issue. The inside of the garage was filled with used and useless vehicles. On one side was an ancient tractor, on the other a dissected sports car. In the middle, near the garage’s exits were the usable vehicles that the garage would occasionally ‘sell’ in order to clean money.
Even as the van struggled over the garage’s threshold, the aluminum door began to fall from the ceiling. When that door closed Desolator would breath easier.
The door was half way down. The garage was nearly deserted aside from a fat bald Japanese man in a suit and two high school kids dressed in blue jump suits and ugly yellow rubber gloves. Each clutched a jug of bleach and several rags.
Desolator tightened his grip around his .45. This was the moment he’d choose to spring a trap. The perfect opportunity. The weight of his holster tugged at Desolator. What the Hell was he missing?
The door shut.
Desolator sat there feeling like an idiot as he put his .45 back into his holster. Neither Tether nor Maddox seemed to notice his tension as they exited the vehicle. Desolator looked behind him one last time, as if he’d see some imperceptible shift in the vehicle’s weight to let him know there was an invisible occupant here with him.
He didn’t.
Desolator sighed. He shoved his .45 back into his holster and exited. The weight of that .45 was heavy today. Heavier than when he was a young man.
The short Japanese man approached and bowed to Desolator. “Desolator-san! Myoga-dono sends his congratulations on a successful extraction.”
Desolator returned the bow, doing his best to put the nagging uncertainty out of his mind. “It was a mission of no consequence Miyazaki-san, I’m only sorry we’ve allowed ourselves to be followed.”
“I’m honored that you remember me!” Miyazaki preened. Their introduction had been short, but Desolator had a way with faces. “As for being followed, THAT is truly of no consequence. So close to Shiketsu we’ve grown accustomed to shaking tails.”
With a snap of his fingers, two of his subordinates gathered at the back of the Five’s van and began to extract Luccione. Maddox looked like she was about to move to help but Desolator waved her off. Too many cooks and all that.
“We will send out your van first.” Miyazaki continued. “After we disinfect and bleach the interior of course, oh it’s tiring even remembering the details. Suffice it to say we’ll send it to a sister garage in Osaka where it’ll be scrapped immediately.”
Tether frowned at the fate of the van he’d been driving so long, but said nothing.
“Luccione-sama shall be loaded into the trunk of a black sedan with diplomatic plates, that’ll be departing last you understand.”
“Naturally.”
“As for your conveyance, we have a black SUV or a white sedan, your choice.”
“The SUV.”
“Excellent! May I suggest you wait in our break room while we ready the white van for departure? We find an hour after the first vehicle departs is best.”
“I’ll take you up on that offer. Thank you for your invaluable assistance Miyazaki-san.” Desolator bowed low at the waist.
“You are most welcome Desolator-san.” Miyazaki returned the bow.
With that, Desolator began to make his way back to the break room at the back of the garage. Sidling past the throng of dilapidated vehicles. Maddox struggled to get through the throng, following close behind Desolator. Tether followed at a distance, casting glances over his shoulder. Desolator surmised that Tether didn’t trust this garage, or its proprietor.
“Tether, supervise their work. Come to me if you see anything suspicious.”
Tether nodded crisply and returned to the white van, where Miyazaki’s subordinates were unloading Luccione.
Maddox tilted her head at Desolator, but said nothing as they arrived in the garage’s break room.
The break room was an ugly white walled mess with grease spots everywhere. The floor was an ugly black and white tile that did little to hide the haphazard attempts to clean spots where food had fallen years ago. There was a single red table with a pair of white plastic chairs on either side. In the corner was a vending machine which hung open slightly, displaying its sugary carbonated bounty for the world to see. That the light of the vending machine was off. Meaning that the carbonated bounty held within the machine would be disgustingly warm, but that did little to stop Maddox from walking over to it.
Desolator sat at the table, upon the cheap plastic chair with little fanfare. Maddox retrieved two bottles of room temperature cola and came to the table. She decided not to test her luck with the chair and just squatted next to the table, sliding one of the colas to Desolator. Desolator grimaced. She knew full well he wouldn’t drink that shit cold.
Maddox popped the lid off with a thumb and took a long drought of cola. She finished the bottle in one gulp. Disappointed, she grimaced. She looked at Desolator’s bottle. Without a word Desolator slid it over to her. She picked up the bottle gratefully and drained this one in another long drought. Two empty bottles of cola in her, Maddox looked at her companion.
“So what’d you want to talk about?” Maddox asked. Sending Tether to supervise a routine vehicle change wasn’t exactly a subtle tell that Desolator had something to discuss.
“Did anything strike you as off in the van?”
“Nope.” Maddox replied without hesitation. If she had, she would’ve said something.
Desolator grimaced. The weight of his gun hung heavily against his waist. So very heavy. Was he just getting old?
“Something’s bothering you. Spill.”
Desolator hesitated.
“It’s just us Des. Even if Tether were listening he’d know better than to say shit.”
Desolator wordlessly conceded that point. “I fear I’m past my prime Maddox.”
“This about that fight with the hobo last month? I told you if you want your getback--”
Desolator held up a hand. “Not that… well not just that. But in the van I was convinced something was wrong.”
“There was something wrong, some asshole was flying behind us. I mean I didn’t catch that. Tether didn’t catch that. You caught that.”
“And then I spent the rest of the drive paranoid that I was missing something else.”
“Okay this self pity shit ain’t like you, what’s actually up?”
“…”
“Des. It’s me.” Maddox repeated.
“Today’s my birthday.”
“No shit? Happy Birthday? But why’re you telling me? You’ve never told me before or… anyone really.”
“It’s not a thing to celebrate. Just another step I’ve lost on my way to becoming a liability.”
“You’re being melodramatic. What’re you anyway? Like 60? You’ve got a good 10 years before you--”
“I’m 87.”
“… no shit?”
“I was 78 when we met.”
“Yeah, yeah, I can do math. Just-- shut the fuck up for a sec… you’re serious? 87?”
“87.”
“How? How the Hell are you still… y’know?”
“If you’d met me in my prime you wouldn’t be so shocked. There was a day Maddox, when I could’ve killed anyone on earth with a pencil. Though now? I need distance. I need… surprise. I fear time has caught me. Even forgetting the ‘hobo’ last month. A child. An actual child broke my finger. Between those two humiliations and my paranoia today, I fear I can no longer deny the truth. It’s time to retire.”
Maddox sighed. She leaned back on her heels. She didn’t mince words. “I’ll miss you when you do. I don’t look forward to Tether being the other senior partner, but I guess with his death wish that problem’ll sort itself out.”
“Part of why I’m bringing my retirement up. Whom do you want as your senior partner?”
“Eh? Don’t we give everybody a chance to buy your shares out?”
“That’s my rule, you’ll be the reigning partner when I’m gone. You should make the decision on who gets priority.”
Maddox thought for a second. “Honestly? None of them.”
“What about Nox?”
“Especially not Nox.” Maddox glowered. “Don’t trust her.”
Maddox continued. “Mercury’s an imbecile and Tether’s got that fucking death wish. They’re kids Des. They just ain’t ready.”
“Then do you want to buy me out solo?”
“Me? Sole senior partner?” Maddox shook her head vehemently. “Not happening.”
Desolator sighed. He saw what she was trying to do. “You’re trying to talk me out of it.”
“Yes. You’re being a drama queen. Sure, you’re old, older than anyone in their right fucking mind would’ve thought. But you’re the Boss and no-one’s ready to take over for you yet, least of all me. Hell, none of them listen to me on a good day. Get one of our juniors up to snuff, make them somebody I can trust, and we’ll talk again. Sound good?”
Desolator frowned at Maddox’s statement. However, he could do little more than assent. As cruel as her assessment may be, she was right. Of the junior partners, Desolator had thought Nox the most ready for senior partnership, but if Maddox wasn’t willing to work with her on that level, there was little to be done.
Tether and Mercury certainly weren’t ready for it.
“Agreed.”
Desolator, Tether and Maddox entered a spacious studio apartment. The south wall of the apartment was a massive, expensive, one way window. Through it one could see the street below. In the corner was a large kitchen and dining area filled with handsome wooden furniture.
Mercury and Marrow were sitting on a leather couch playing on the newest game console. Nox was sitting at the dining room table, sipping Desolator’s wine while she read a book.
“Finally!” Mercury shouted from the couch. He paused his game, some inane thing he, Marrow and Myoga favored. The video game was called mecha-something or other. “You were gone so long I almost beat Marrow!”
“Yeah fucking right.” Marrow sneered.
“Let a man dream.”
“So where’s the tail?” Nox asked, ignoring the children in the corner.
“Lost him during the switch.” Tether explained.
“So we think.” Maddox warned.
Desolator nodded gravely. Maddox was nowhere near his equal when it came to experience, but the others might as well be babies next to her. “Best to assume that our switch didn’t work. Which of course means we’re keeping a watch. Watch order: Nox, you have first watch. Then Marrow. Then Mercur--”
“Oh come on Boss.” Mercury opined. “Give me second watch. I’ve had middle hump the last…” Mercury saw the look on Desolator’s face. Mercury clamped his mouth shut.
“Then Mercury, then Tether. Either Maddox or I will wake you up Tether.”
Tether nodded, unperturbed.
“Technically I’m not part of the Five.” Marrow pointed out. “Shouldn’t I just leave?”
“You’re welcome to.” Desolator said, not taking his eyes off of an increasingly uncomfortable Mercury. “Though if you do, do not expect to hear from us again.”
Marrow frowned. He nodded once. The boy had recently lost employment. The Five had, collectively, agreed to hire the boy on a night by night basis. He was mostly used as a gopher. Desolator had insisted that Marrow wasn’t to be involved in any official operation until this point, but circumstances demanded what they demanded.
Desolator moved his eyes away from Mercury. Mercury sighed and began to make his way over to his cot. His shoulders slumped.
Desolator looked at Maddox. In light of his age and his paranoia today, it was important to reaffirm that she was second in command. So, he let her choose. “You want last watch or second to last?”
“Last.” Maddox nodded. No-one in their right mind would’ve chosen differently.
“Then I’ll relieve Tether.” Desolator affirmed. “Any suspicious movement outside, wake me immediately. Nox, wake Marrow up in an hour and a half. As for the rest of you, I suggest you follow Mercury’s example.”
Mercury stripped off his shirt, kicked off his boots and lay on his cot.
“Get some sleep.”
“Desolator.” Desolator heard a whisper and felt a tug on his toe. He opened his eyes. In the dark it was a little hard to make out, but it was definitely Marrow was standing above him.
“What is it?”
“There’s a car that’s been parked down the street for twenty minutes, I haven’t seen anyone leave it.”
“Hrm.” Desolator rose without a word. Marrow fidgeted next to Desolator’s cot, as if nervous the car would drive away and he would’ve woken one of the most successful assassins in history for nothing. Desolator quickly put on his prosthetic and followed Marrow to the window.
“Where?”
“There.” Marrow pointed down the street. There, idling in the bright night was a black sedan, its plates unreadable from this angle.
Desolator watched the vehicle intensely. Suddenly, the doors opened. Out popped a little child, rubbing her eyes and dragging a teddy bear behind her that was twice her size. She was followed by a young man, presumably her father. Out the other side was a young woman, probably the girl’s mother. They were chattering. From Desolator’s own experience raising kids, they’d likely just watched her sleep a while.
“… shit, sorry.”
Desolator’s hand met the back of Marrow’s head.
“Never apologize for doing your job.” Desolator admonished. “If you hadn’t woken me, THEN I would’ve been upset.”
Marrow rubbed the back of his head glumly. He seemed to debate whether or not he should accept the correction. Would he come off as weak? Eventually, reluctantly, Marrow nodded.
“Was there anything else?” Desolator asked, ignoring Marrow’s reluctance.
“I spotted a flyer earlier, but they went right past us.” Marrow reported.
“Our van probably arrived at Osaka some time ago.” Desolator agreed, recalling where they’d agreed Taizo’s man should take their now unusable conveyance.
“Anything else?”
“… not really?”
“What is it Marrow?”
“The flyer, looked like he was holding something.”
“Something?”
“Yeah, I don’t know, there was like a blur under the flyer’s arms.”
“Hrm… well if he didn’t circle back I wouldn’t worry about it.”
“Yeah that’s what I thought.”
Desolator glanced at the clock. It was 4 minutes to midnight, nearly time for Mercury’s shift. Desolator frowned.
Desolator didn’t want to be seen rewarding whining, but he was up already. Mercury also hadn’t been wrong to complain. Desolator had assigned Mercury to middle hump duty almost on reflex. He really had gotten the worst shift too often.
‘Fine, I’ll take his shift.’ Desolator decided.
“I can close out your shift if you want.” Desolator offered Marrow.
Marrow shook his head quickly. “I’m fine.”
Marrow was misinterpreting Desolator’s offer as punitive rather than generous. Desolator didn’t correct him. IF he were to correct Marrow’s interpretation it’d just come off as defensive.
“All right. I’ll take Mercury’s shift so don’t wake him.”
Marrow nodded. A minute past. Marrow kept glancing back at Desolator furtively, like he was looking for something. Desolator quirked his brow.
“Something bothering you?”
Marrow looked out the corner of his eye, “Mercury-san talked about you today.”
“Did he?”
“He said you killed more people than live in Kyoto.”
Desolator snorted. “No. That’s an exaggeration.”
“Right, I thought--”
“I’ve killed 415 people.” Desolator continued modestly. “Barely enough to fill a small graveyard.”
“W—” a fleet of unmarked vehicles, including several APCs, screamed around the corner. They screeched to a halt in front of their building before Marrow could speak. Desolator hadn’t even heard them approach.
“Wake the others.” Desolator ordered. Marrow moved instantly. Desolator’s eyes narrowed. They were followed. That was fine, even if they’d spotted the building the Five had entered they wouldn’t have had enough time to pinpoint which room belonged to them--
The clock struck midnight and a phone’s alarm began to blare from Desolator’s suit coat pocket. The suit coat which was hanging next to the door. The suit coat he wore everywhere. The coat he’d worn at the festival.
Desolator froze. His subconscious mind finally revealing what had been bothering him since they’d left the festival. It’d been while he was supervising the pickup of Luccione. A blur had passed close to him. He’d thought it been a mosquito.
Desolator raced over to where his suit coat hang, even as the cacophony woke the other members of the Five. He reached into the pocket. He pulled out the phone. There in plain letters was the blaring reminder which read “time to sleep.” Below that reminder was a fresh text from someone named IniGOAT.
The text read: “Dude I got this weird text from Kaylee, you okay?!”
Desolator’s hand tightened. The phone’s screen cracked. Someone had slipped a phone on him, HIM! The phone bent under his grip, sparks gasping for life. Its alarm squealed as he crushed the life out of the infernal device. They’d even shoved this phone on the same side as his .45 so he wouldn’t notice the weight! He’d thought it’d been age!
Desolator tossed the phone away in a rage. The alarm finally dying as it hit the ground. Whomever did this was going to pay.
As soon as the phone broke, as soon as the authorities lost its signal. Spotlights illuminated the inside of the apartment. The voice of a woman Desolator recognized as one of the top 10 heroes in Japan, Rosethorn, came over a blow horn.
“We have you surrounded. Come out with your hands up!”
“… Boss.” Mercury’s voice cut through Desolator’s rage. He looked over at the youngest member of the Five, so recently awakened. Mercury’s back was straight. He was ready. “What do you want us to do?”
Maddox yawned while she put on her red light filtering glasses. Nox was resolute. Marrow looked like he was regretting every choice that led him to this moment. Tether looked like he was about to orgasm.
Desolator looked at the steel briefcase next to his cot. The one holding Olga, the .50 caliber rifle he used only for the most special occasions. She hadn’t gotten any exercise so far this year, poor thing.
Desolator smiled a smile that could’ve only come from Hell. “We introduce ourselves.”
NEXT TIME: A Fight