Broker

Chapter 250

The train of cars made its way towards the airfield, just outside the Rotterdam Airport. Two were sedans, jet black like the rest of the vehicles, and moving in the center of the motorcade. The others were large black vehicles that were ubiquitous to security teams. Inside the frontmost sedan, Sonya leaned back and crossed her legs, pursing her lips and looking out the window. She pretended not to notice Marta’s irritable look, smirking a little to herself.

“You let him leave,” Marta sighed.

Sonya snorted. "He was so cute. I want to see what he had planned.”

“Hmph!”

Sonya burst into laughter. "He didn’t even try to use his power on me. Man! That was so funny,” she cackled and leaned forward. "Oh well,” she rested her elbow against the door and glanced at her friend. "Hey, don’t be so grumpy. We’re about to have a whole lot of fun!”

Marta’s frown wavered, and she huffed again, looking away and clearing her throat. "You’re ridiculous. Are you really going that far?”

“Colin’s already set up the meeting,” Sonya said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "It’s not like I’m short on manpower.”

Marta tilted her head. "You’re thinking of integrating the cult into your latest purchase?”

“Them, and some of Barry’s crew,” Sonya said with a shrug. "We’ll have enough room.”

The car came to a stop, and Marta rolled her eyes, slipping out and walking around to open the door for Sonya. Sonya plucked her sunglasses out of her storage and flicked them open, sliding them over her eyes as she slipped out of the car with the help of an offered hand from Marta. She beamed and struck a pose, her hands on her hips as she walked out to peer at the plane she’d been using ever since Vegas. Amos put a lot of work into it.

She turned to the leading vehicles. A dozen men in the gray uniforms and body armor of Pandora Security poured out and scattered, quickly taking a survey of the area as the doors to the other sedan opened and closed. Sonya threw her hair back and turned with a smug smile to face Leiandra and Chunhua. Leiandra was in her usual red suit and skirt. Chunhua was in her combat robes. There was a pensive look on her face as she stared off into space, her dark eyes not as hard as they usually were.

“Gonna miss me?” Sonya asked, leaning forward to look Chunhua in the eyes.

Chunhua straightened and cleared her throat. "I think I’ll be fine, Sonya.”

Sonya pouted. "Oh? It was that bad, huh?”

Chunhua flushed, her eyes widening. "Sonya!”

Sonya giggled. "Oh, come on, I’m teasing,” she said, waving her hand playfully and walking up to rest her hands on Chunhua’s robes. She tugged at the collar a little bit to straighten it. She looked down for a moment before flicking her eyes up at her. Her gaze lingered on her eyepatch. "Be safe,” she said, running her thumb up and down the hem. “Give Carla my love when you see her.”

Chunhua’s exasperation faded. "You aren’t going to do that yourself?”

Sonya chuckled. "She’s pretty busy right now.”

Chunhua took her hand and squeezed it. Sonya felt her heart skip a beat at the possessive gesture. She’d been taking the more aggressive role for so long she’d forgotten what that felt like. She missed the calluses. “Are you really okay?” she asked quietly.

Sonya flicked her eyes towards Leiandra, whose scowl had turned curious. Sonya sighed and looked up into Chunhua’s eyes. "You are…” She trailed off and bit her lip before cocking an eyebrow. "I’m not going anywhere, love. I promised. You know how I feel about my word.”

Chunhua nodded and gave her hand one more squeeze. "Sonya Chernovna never lies and always keeps her word,” Chunhua said and leaned forward. 

They shared a little kiss before Sonya took a step back and cleared her throat. If she lingered any longer, she wasn’t going to be able to tear herself away. She turned to Leiandra, who was even more stone-faced than usual. “Your poker face is incredible, and that’s saying something,” Sonya said and turned away. "Thank you for accompanying me out here, Miss Firth.”

“You really don’t plan to stay any longer?” Leiandra asked.

“Do you want me to?” Sonya asked.

“Heavens no,” Leiandra growled. "Please leave this country.”

Sonya laughed. "Okay! Bye!” She crowed and turned on her heel, raising a hand and making a quick ‘round up’ gesture. “Alright people, I don’t like pissing off air traffic control, so we’re on the clock! Let's pack up and get outta here. Don’t want to make Prosecutor Firth any more flustered than she already is!”

“Go to hell, Chernovna!” Firth called after her.

“See you there, Firth!” Sonya called back without turning as Marta fell into step with her. She checked her clock on her HUD. Alrighty, time for the show to start. She shot a look towards Marta, who kept her expression as calm and reserved as usual despite what they had planned. Ahh… you really are born to be an actress, she thought as she turned towards the aircraft. Three… two… one…

BOOOM!

The shockwave took Sonya off her feet, and she had to let herself fall hard. The rough part was the single piece of shrapnel that hit her in the side, digging into her kidney. She gasped as Marta threw herself on top of her while the private jet went up in flames. Shouts rang out, and then there was shooting. A pair of hands grabbed Sonya and started to pull her back and away from the ruined aircraft while her ears rang. The smell of smoke, burning fuel, and the heat of the flames beat against her skin as her eyes finally refocused on Chunhua’s face.

Chunhua’s brows were furrowed more in confusion than anything else. Sonya’s eyes fluttered as she cast her senses out, checking for Firth’s location before giving Chunhua an impish smile. "Play along. This is nothing,” she whispered and jerked her chin towards the action behind her.

Understanding bloomed in Chunhua’s good eye, and she let Sonya go with the faintest nod, turning around and drawing her sword. Sonya slid back a bit and sat up, resting her back against the car to get a better view. Above the ruined plane, a single figure floated in the air in gleaming white armor and glowing draconic wings. No pressure rippled off of her, nor did she start throwing spears of light around, but the look was good enough. Illusions are the best.

“Ishtar!” Chunhua bellowed. "You court death!”

Get this woman an Oscar.

Ishtar’s laugh rang out over the roar of automatic gunfire. The Committee-issued munitions weren’t quite enough to penetrate the marble body hidden beneath the illusion. It made it look like they were bouncing off her armor. “I came to say hello ,and look what I found: an infestation of pests!” Ishtar shouted. "You heroes are pathetic, and the Pandora Committee can’t even keep one prisoner safe. Disappointing.”

“Is that an admission of guilt?” Leiandra shouted as she waved for the soldiers to stop firing.

“Take it however you want,” Ishtar barked back before turning to look directly at Sonya. "My focus is Chernovna. Normally, I’d let one of my precious villains handle something like this,” she whipped her hand out and pointed at Sonya. "You have something I want, Chernovna. Something that doesn’t belong to you. You’ve worn out your welcome in my world as well. Consider this my greeting to you and a warning of what’s to come.”

“You aren’t going anywhere near her,” Chunhua snarled, while Handmaiden moved into position a short distance away, her knees bent and her fists clenched. She was ready to launch herself at Ishtar at a moment's notice. “If you were afraid to fight, you should have brought the rest of your goons. Where’d you send them, Queen of Villains?”

For a while, nobody moved. Sonya watched the drama with her best pained expression of stoic concern. In reality, she was on the verge of a fit of giggles. The whole play had turned out far better than she could have imagined. Her sister was really good at improvising. She watched Ishtar turn her head to look at Marta and then look back at Chunhua. She tilted her head up and started to rise in the air. Sonya concentrated on making the wings flap from where she sat. Making the motions look clean was harder than it looked.

Chunhua stood up straighter and brandished her sword. “Hoping your display during the war would intimidate us?” she bellowed. “You’re still recovering, aren’t you? We’re right outside The Hague. Euclidia will have an army here in a moment's notice.”

An awkward silence followed. Sonya was going to bust a gut.

Ishtar barked out a laugh. “Look who’s barking now,” she called down and waved a dismissive hand. “Trust me on this, Black Lotus, when I want you to die, you will die. You and everyone you know. It will be on my terms and on my stage,” she said with a predatory tilt of her head.

Sonya licked her lips. Okay, now for the tricky part. She set her jaw and activated Imperious, blasting it out as wide as she could and tuning it so it seemed like it was coming from everywhere. It wasn’t energy intensive, but it wasn’t the usual way she did things. Even so, it was effective enough.

The gathered security, Chunhua, Marta, and even Leiandra, dropped to a knee beneath the titanic weight. I’m gonna have to apologize for this later, Sonya thought as Ishtar raised her head high.

“A stage just like Vegas. Have you forgotten how I thrashed you then? Nothing will change,” Ishtar called before turning away. “Farewell, little heroes.”

With that, she darted away, using the Legionnaire body’s capacity for flight to carry her off at a rapid pace. Sonya did her best to keep a straight face as she held her side, releasing Imperious. Everyone let out gasps of relief and staggered to their feet, while Chunhua and Marta hurried over to her side. Leiandra looked at them in disbelief, her face pale. “What are you doing? You need to pursue her! She clearly doesn’t want a fight with both of you!”

Chunhua rounded on her. "We have bigger concerns! We need to get Sonya to a hospital!” she shouted and turned to Marta, who nodded. The both of them worked together to lift Sonya and lay her out flat on the ground. Sonya forced out a cough and gripped at her side. It hurt like hell, but it wasn’t anything near what she’d experienced before. Even so, she needed to ham it up a little, so she grimaced and squeezed her eyes shut.

“Just… get me a healer,” Sonya wheezed.

“Ma’am, you shouldn’t depend on healers. Natural recovery is-” Marta started, and Sonya cut her off with a frown, forcing herself to sit up.

“No!” she barked. "Get me a healer and call a press conference,” she wheezed before turning to look at Leiandra square in her red eyes. "I have a message for Ishtar.”

And… scene. Good job, everybody.

–

The noise outside the small room was anything but ordinary. Dozens of reporters who had been camped out for the Liberty trial were now piling in after word spread about Ishtar’s attack on the ASTA CEO’s private jet. Sonya adjusted the new coat and shirt she was wearing. The bloodstained ones had already been tossed out. She kept her expression focused, her eyes hard. A few feet away, Euclidia sat in one of the small chairs with a thoughtful expression on her face. She looked as she always did, a spunky Euro-goth with short brown hair and wild glowing eyes.

“Thank you for agreeing to this,” Sonya said.

The hero shrugged. "I don’t mind! You’re Chuchu’s friend after all, right?” She said brightly and kicked her feet. "Kinda ballsy to do this though. You really sure?”

Sonya chuckled. "I’m sure,” she said with a nod.

Euclidia shook her head. "There would be plenty who want to back you up, but the Committee needs boots on the ground right now,” she said with a sigh. "After everything, their image took a bit of a hit. You hear about the Middle East?”

Sonya nodded. "Spice King Erebus hasn’t been subtle in his conquests.”

“He calls himself Gilded King Erebus now,” Euclidia said with a roll of her eyes. "Villains, am I right?”

Sonya laughed. "They are an interesting group, aren’t they?”

Inwardly, Sonya cringed a little. Come on, Erebus, be more creative than that. I expect more from you. At least the heroes are going to give him a wide berth with how much ground he’s covered. Nobody knows how to deal with him, and that’s fine by me. I like my money safe.

“Miss Chernovna, they’re ready,” Marta said, stepping into the room with her usual serene grace. 

Sonya gave Euclidia a pleasant wave and turned to her friend, walking past her and patting her on the arm as she stepped onto the stage to a flurry of camera flashes and shouts. Sonya couldn’t help but smile a little at the attention. She loved it. 

“Miss Chernovna! Miss Chernovna!”

“A question, please!” 

Sonya ignored them and made her way over to the podium, turning dramatically and placing her hands on it. She reached up after surveying the room and pulled her sunglasses off, revealing her new eyes. A few people had spotted them while they were at the International Criminal Court, but this was the first time she was showing them off so publicly. She cracked a grin, and everyone quieted down. "Hey everyone, it’s been a while,” she said. "Anything interesting happen since last time?”

The gathered reporters laughed.

“I know, me too,” she quipped, and they laughed again. "Met someone pretty famous today! You guys have heard of Ishtar, right?”

She clicked her tongue and leaned on the podium, scanning the audience for a moment before her merry expression slipped into something a bit more serious. “I’m a businesswoman,” she said. "I make weapons and make money off of it,” she waved a hand. "Yeah, yeah, we do all those fancy luxury goods and…” She trailed off and pointed at one of the reporters. "I love your watch. That one of mine?”

The reporter, a middle-aged man with short, dark hair, looked at his wrist and back up at her, nodding with a bit of surprise on his face.

“Thanks for your business,” she said with a laugh. "Anyway, the point is, there are some people who may not like what I do for a living. Case in point, grumpy lady blows up my private jet,” she shook her head with exasperation, acting as if it was a mild inconvenience. "Someone doesn’t like fancy shoes.”

The reporters’ laughs were a bit uncomfortable this time. That’s fine. You can be scared of Ishtar all you want. I prefer it that way, she thought before leaning forward. "Let me be clear about something,” she added. "ASTA’s main business is supporting heroes, and it’s a good living, but it’s not without its risks. That won’t stop me, though,” she tapped her finger on the podium, emphasizing her next words. "This world needs heroes - well-equipped ones, well-supported ones. The Pandora Committee is a UN organization. They aren’t for profit. They need outside support to make what they do happen.”

She turned to one of the cameras and fixed it with a stare. "If you have a problem with that, Ishtar. Do something about it,” she challenged. "I’m announcing that I will be going on a world tour over the next few months to visit nations around the world and find the best of the best to sponsor across our fragile blue ball. Individual sponsorships to help foster the heroes who will stand up and fight the good fight.”

She leaned forward and glared at the camera as the camera flashes increased and voices started to rise up amongst the crowd of reporters, many of them getting on their phones. “You don’t scare me,” she declared. "Crusader and her team went from studying in a camp to standing up to Liberty during the war. Harbinger fought her toe-to-toe. Otis fought you directly,” she said. "And I’m going to make more like them.”

She stood up straight and looked at the reporters. “I’ll be releasing my itinerary to the public so that the nations I’m visiting will be ready. I hope to see some promising young heroes when I visit. Thank you for your time.”

With that, she made her way off the stage to the shouts of reporters and camera flashes, her smile growing wider and wider.

Alright, the stage is set. Let the games begin.