"You deserve a better ending than that."
At the end of Autumn's words Vondra felt the volition come back to his bones, taking a moment to regain his balance after being frozen. He turned to face the two women, trying to hide the still-boiling anger inside of him.
Autumn Glass was smiling timidly, an expression which even he had to admit made it hard to feel bitter feelings towards her. She had a reputation for a certain... how was it the guards put it? Adorableness.
Rhonda, on the other hand, bore a stiffer and more self-satisfied smile on her lips. The one she always bore after using that tainted talent of hers. The one that she bore more and more frequently of late. She needed a reminder of her place in this town.
Keeping his eyes on the Epic, he determinedly walked closer to Autumn and whispered "You make a good argument, Glass. Guess I'll be staying put."
His voice, just loud enough for Rhonda to hear but not distinct enough for her to make out, wiped the smile off the Epic's face in an instant. Her face was scrunched up into a scowl, her fists clenched by her side. He met her gaze for a minute before she pulled a tablet from her bag and began diverting her full attention to it, muttering quietly under her breath.
Like every Epic in the city, the woman who called herself Redlight was on a tight chain. And just like all the others, every now and then she needed that chain jerked.
Just as he was resetting himself to the organization of a termination squad, a voice crackled over the radio again.
"Arsenal to Vondra," Dewhickey rasped. "The Deathwish situation has been resolved. I'm having him transported to headquarters on guard."
"Thank you, Daniel," Vondra replied through his own speaker. That was one concern out of the way. "Are you at the clinic yet?"
"Pulling into the place now," the man replied. "I'll report on the situation soon."
"Can't wait," Vondra muttered dryly. More clearly, "Over and out."
Pocketing his radio, Vondra sighed deeply and met Autumn's gaze again.
"Apologies for the distractions," he said with a hint of irony. "It's been a busy day for all of us. As for the matter with Shiny Sparkle..."
He sighed again, rubbing his brow as he struggled with his phrasing. "...I don't blame you for your actions today. I can't hold you to the same standards I hold from Dewhickey or myself. But from now on I will require you to meet new Epics only with a personal guard picked from one of the Epics currently in the city's employ. The consequences of your judgement being compromised as it was today could be disastrous. I hope you understand."
"Pulling into the place now," Arsenal stated through the radio. "I'll report on the situation soon."
If Game's anything like most of the civilian recruits working in this city, then there'll be quite a lot to report on, he thought irritably.
Vondra's voice was too low to hear for a moment, but a response came over shortly. "Over and out."
Arsenal gave a curt nod the commander couldn't see, then clambered out of the ambulance. His eyes cautiously scanned through the falling darkness of the city, and as a safety precaution he summoned a sturdy rifle to sling over his shoulder. If he actually had cause to fight, he'd of course need heavier firepower, but it was always good to begin negotiations with a show of force.
Stepping over the bodies of a few swine and squirrels scattered around the pavement, he made his way to the clinic door and entered without knocking.
The inside was a protocol nightmare.
The City Guards within were dispersed loosely around the building, fiddling with guns that appeared to have had their firing mechanisms badly warped. Not a care in the world for the new Epics in the city, who needed to be confronted with a united and firm stance rather than a troop of idiots who couldn't keep their rifles in proper order.
There was a cat casually roaming the room, undoubtedly shedding its unsanitary hairs all over the medical facility. A food bowl sitting in one corner bespoke the drain on resources the hairy little beast inflicted on the town. Game should have euthanized it the minute the city's dire predicament became apparent.
But as serious as those matters were, they were nothing compared to the Epics in the room.
Two of them he knew already. Reader was bruised and disheveled, apparently having to hold his pants up with one hand as he conversed with one of the outrageous new Epics. Scribbler, true to form, was doing absolutely nothing of value as she stood against a wall with all those outrageous tattoos of hers. Just because they had a purpose didn't make them proper for her to sport!
And the other two... the ones who were obviously Epics... he had trouble even knowing where to begin with how intolerable they were.
There was a young man in shorts and flip flops, an arrogant smirk underneath sunglasses he seemed to be wearing indoors.
And--outrage of outrages--there was a woman who looked like nothing so much as a Disney princess, standing awkwardly in the middle of the room as she listened to Reader talk. Her hair was platinum blonde and tied into a braid behind her, and she wore a glimmering blue dress that trailed behind her. Arsenal vaguely remembered one of his grand nieces having a lunchbox with a woman exactly like her on it. Some Epics went too far with their themes.
Striding into the chaotic clinic with a stern expression on his face, Arsenal glowered at the assembled ne'er do wells and raised his voice.
"Welcome to The Dalles," he announced loudly, making sure he had each of their attention. "First off, allow me to congratulate you for your peaceable entrance to the town. If you have lived this long here without forcing us to terminate you, then you may already possess the discretion that will allow you to prosper here.
"Also allow me to apologize for the sloppy introduction you had to our town. If you had arrived at any other time, you would have been immediately greeted by the best officers we have to offer, who were regrettably otherwise occupied in today's invasion."
Though he'd said that last part with his eyes on Doctor Game, he now let his eyes linger on the blue princess and the flip flop kid, boring into them with his stare.
"You may have been treated as royalty elsewhere in the world. Possibly even divinities. That ends now. In The Dalles, you are held accountable under all the laws of the United States. The penalties for breaking any one of them are severe. The choices for your kind upon entering this city are simple: either you agree to function as a contributing member of society, or you will be escorted beyond our borders by scores of armed men and some of the deadliest Epics in Oregon. The choice is yours."
