“Okay, I’m here. Where is he?” She asked, waving her hands up at the security camera blinking at her.
The speaker in front of her face hummed to life, the soft melodic voice of the villain sounding bemused. “… Honey, I don’t know what you’re asking me.”
“Captain Tempus? You know, your rival? Wears a lot of gold for a man.” She lifted her hand high above her head, “about so high?”
“Not here, darling.”
“But… then, where is he? I haven’t seen him in over a week.”
“Maybe he’s ghosting you. You seem… needy.”
“It’s not needy to want – never mind. If he’s not here…, where is he?”
She heard the clicking of keyboard keys, almost seeing the small frown on the well-dressed bond villain.
“Come in.”
The door clicked open, a rush of warm air escaping to brush past her. Gingerly she walked in, unused to letting herself into a villain’s lair. This was no next-door neighbor’s house. The inside was very similar to a hotel lobby. Plush red carpet, expensive art hanging on the walls. Large windows ran along the side of the room, ignoring the fact it was situated inside an inconspicuous warehouse in the slums. Closer inspection proved to be screens projecting scenes from the nearby park.
The villain lounged in the reception chair, the decadent mahogany desk littered with computer parts, a very expensive looking laptop and paperwork. At her look the villain smirked, “even bad guys file taxes, Babygirl.”
“Where are all your…”
“Goons?”
“Exactly.”
The villain extended her hand to inspect her blood red nails, perfectly manicured. She wore a tailed three-piece suit, the detailed emerald green vest peaking out from the black coat.
“Scheduled breaks. Studies show goons are better at their jobs when provided benefits.”
“I didn’t know you cared.”
“Cheaper in the long run.”
The damsel flicked her finger, “there it is.”
“Now,” Professor Ink smiled, “lets find your hero.”
“He’s not mine!” Dotty Ellis admonished, “He’s just a side hustle while I finish school. The city pays me a salary.”
The villain looked up in surprise, “I never considered that. So… you represent the city’s people? If I kill you, what do they do?”
“Pay out my family, I suppose.”
“Fascinating,” The Professor murmured.
Dotty held up her bracelet, “this is like a beacon to villains. They can’t resist using me as bait. And no, you can’t take it off. It has a special DNA key.”
Ink eyed the hello kitty sweat band, amused. “The more you know. Now.” She turned her laptop around to show a glowing dot on the map of the city. “There’s your golden boy.”
“That’s… underground.”
“Sure is.” Ink smirked, picking up the oriental teacup nestled by her elbow, “what’s the plan D.I.D?”
“Villains really do use ‘D.I.D’, Damsel in distress,” Dotty mused, “I thought that was just conjecture.”
Ink shrugged, “easier for reports.”
“Um, okay. Well, I guess I’ve gotta go get him. Don’t suppose I could borrow a… gun?”
“Do you know how to use one?”
“Ahhh, a knife?”
“You’ll hurt yourself.”
Dotty made a frustrated noise, “what do you suggest?”
Professor Ink elegantly leaned downwards, grabbing a black business case from under the desk. She stood, walking around the desk. She was tall, dark brunette hair swept up in a graceful swirl at the back of her head. She arched a perfectly formed eyebrow, stalking past Dotty.
“Come along then, lets go get him out of the sandpit.”
Dotty trotted next to the villain, following her through another elegant archway. “You’re helping me?”
“Him,” Ink clarified with a finger, “he’s a hero that controls time. In stupid hands that could cause problems for my bottom line. Refined people such as I do not do well in apocalyptic scenarios. There’s never enough running water.”
Dotty held in a laugh, allowing herself to be steered towards a garage situated at the end of a long hallway. Ink quickly selected the keys she wanted, clicking it as she hunted down a very black SUV. She strutted past luxury cars, cars with water attributes, motorbikes.
Ink opened the back door, ushering Dotty in. “Yes, I’m letting you come. No, I don’t think you’ll be much help. But you might be able to convince Luke that I come in peace… this time.”
Dotty climbed in, strapping herself in as she looked out the tinted windows. “You know his real name?”
Ink curled herself around the front seat to smile at Dotty, a hint of irony in those startling blue eyes, “Darling,” she drawled, “I know everything about everyone. I seep into everything. I am Professor Ink.”
Then she started the car, slipping sunglasses on, “Dotty, if who I think has him. You mustn’t speak a single word. Every city has a collector. He would very much like to collect you.”
“Why?”
Ink adjusted the mirror, looking at her passenger through it, “Because Dotty Ellis, you just might prove some people right.”
.OoO.
He watched absentmindedly as a fly rested on his torn shirt. His hands stretched far up above his head, the rope not burning, but definitely numbing his wrists.
In the last hour he had watched as someone in a mask came towards him from within a crane carriage, spoon feeding him gruel. It wasn’t in his nature to refuse food, so he obediently allowed them to shovel it into his mouth. He tasted the dampening drug sliding down into his system. It coated the inside of his skin, making his thoughts blurrier than a fogged-up shower glass. He’d been here a day? A couple days?
At first, he thought it was Professor Ink, calling for her to come and see him. Waiting for her sharp high heel click to thunder down the passageway towards him. To see her curled smile, those incredible blue eyes. The way she purred at him as he rescued Dotty or stopped her from toppling a building into the city center. She would then twist into the shadows with a wink and a blown kiss.
He found his mind traveling up and down that blown kiss, The way her lipstick never smudged, her eyes bright. She never seemed put-out to be losing. Just that their fun had come to an end. She was too sophisticated to be a sore loser. Too… beautiful.
The thought jolted him. Forcing himself to open his eyes. He really should get out of this before his arms were ripped from his body. He wondered if Ink had been rampaging since he’d been… contained. He hoped Dotty was safe.
“This is what I get for not taking on a sidekick,” Captain Tempus muttered.
“I have a few suggestions,” a voice offered, mask lifted and resting upon his head. He looked aggressively like Ink. The same features, the same sophisticated airs. But he seemed… off. As though he was a poorly crafted replica of the original.
“Are you to thank for my hospitality?” The hero asked.
“I heard you were hoping for someone… different.” The man shrugged, “I’m sure she’ll indulge you eventually.”
“How…”
“Our sensors detected a GPS in your system.” He said flatly, “for a hero, you don’t seem very careful.”
“I get the job done.”
The man turned his head to the side in a deranged angle, a lop-sided smile leaking off his face. “Sure you do, boyo.”
Suddenly he was a chorus of beeps. His coat pockets vibrated, his pants pockets lit up like a coal miner’s lamp in the dark. He giggled, “oh, see. She was always amazing at knowing when she was being talked about.”
Captain Tempus turned his head to the side, forcing his ears to work through the drug. The rest of his body sagged as he drew energy from all sources.
The man flicked one of the phones open, flicking back his mop of black hair as he pressed it to his ear.
“Hello Sissy, ah yes. I know. I know. You wish to see proof of life? I could just have that edited. Ah, yes. True.” Begrudgingly he turned the phone around, pressing the speaker option.
“Tempus,” Ink said in a measured tone. “I trust you’re eating your drugs like a good boy.”
“I’m a gracious guest.” He said, his tongue stumbling over the words. He found himself oddly comforted that his adversary had thought to check in.
There was a brief moment of silence and then she replied, “good. I have a few errands, but I’ll come pick you up in a moment.”
The man, obviously her brother, turned the phone towards him, “you’ve had multiple chances to finish him! Years! I’m taking over.”
Ink didn’t hesitate in replying. Her voice was smooth and cold, a cobra waiting to strike.
“He is mine.”
A shiver ran through her brother as he flipped the phone shut. He looked at Captain Tempus, disgust coating his features. “Fine,” he snapped in a sullen voice, “I won’t.” A cruel smile twisted his mouth as he pressed a button, lowering himself to the floor, “please, hang around. Your hostess will greet you shortly.”
.OoO.
Ink sighed, hanging up on her brother. Dotty listened curiously, silently piecing it together.
“I am obviously part of a very extensive criminal ring.” Ink offered her back seat, “I was named leader around the time Tempus entered the scene. I have tripled our profits. And yet they still bray for unneeded bloodshed. Barbarians. I bought them their ivory towers, and yet they miss the caves they came from.”
Dotty looked up at the mirror in the front, seeing a sickening smile carve itself into the villain’s face. Ink’s piercing blue eyes were like cracked ice, calculations running miles behind them. Dotty suddenly felt more unsafe then ever before. Ink moved her gaze from the mirror and the car warmed.
“I have a few… calls, to make. Enjoy the refreshments and TV.” Ink smiled, the look from before melted away. At a click of a button a wall rose to separate the front and back seats, a screen descending from the roof. Dotty shrugged, reaching for the tv remote. She’d been a D.I.D for long enough to know her scene had ended for the moment. Waiting was what she did best.
.oOo.
That was a lot of screaming Captain Tempus decided, waking himself up. He could no longer feel his arms. But he had thrown up his last meal, letting it drip off his clothes. He smiled, feeling his energy and powers resting at the bottom of his consciousness. Ink had told him to stop being drugged. So, he stopped.
He mentally slid his power back on, feeling the buzz under his skin. He closed his eyes, narrowing on the time around his arms. His power didn’t allow him to use it on himself more than once a day. He turned back time for his body, returning to the time when he was first hanging there between the drugging. The screaming continued outside his chamber, his clothes magically clean from the time travel. Next, he turned back time for the crane lift, watching it ghostly rise until it was next to him. No little brother Ink, but his power only impacted that which he put his mind on. At the thought the man stumbled in, suit crumpled as though he had tugged it on in the dark. He blurrily looked at the crane, seeing with relief Tempus was still hanging there.
“Tempus,” He croaked, “what did you do? Why is she on a rampage? She has frozen our assets! ALL OF THEM! Police have discovered…” He vomited on the floor, a lot of undigested wine bleeding onto the floor. He wiped his mouth, grimacing.
“How is that…” He turned white, looking at the crane, and then up at the hanging hero. “Your powers are back.” He whispered.
In one moment, Tempus directed his powers at the bindings, making them over a thousand years old. They crumpled to dust in the same moment he grabbed the crane cage next to him.
“Did it ever occur to you your sister didn’t kill me for a reason?” Captain Tempus asked mildly, rubbing his wrists.
“Because she is weak.” Her brother hissed.
A laugh echoed around the chamber as men in black gear and masks jogged into the room. Followed by the sound Captain Luke Tempus had been dreaming of for over a week. The sharp sound of heels clicking against concrete. He closed his eyes as a smile gently dusted his face. She had come for him.
“Brother,” Ink smiled, looking down at the wine mess, then up at him with a raised eyebrow. “You need to work out your priorities.”
A figure streaked out from behind her, but Ink stopped it with a hand across the chest. Dotty looked up at her with frustration. But looked down at the clicked finger towards the floor.
“Ah. Yeah, okay.” She muttered, inching around the fall risk and then dashing towards the hero. Tempus smiled at her as she ran at him, smacking into him as she attempted to wrap her arms around him.
“You brought Professor Ink, didn’t you.” Tempus smiled down at his ferocious little friend.
“It seems…She doesn’t like to share.” Dotty shrugged, pulling off her pack to reveal his hero costume. It had been meticulously starched. He looked up at Ink who refused to look him in the eyes.
“Thankyou,” he said, gently squeezing Dotty, then looked up to look into Ink’s eyes. A ghost of a smile was there, under all the dignified posturing. Ink motioned with her head at the door behind the two, “I suggest you make yourself either presentable or scarce. There’s already a helicopter watching the building.”
“What about you?” Tempus asked, watching her pick her way through towards him. She offered her hand, and he took it, glancing at her grey faced brother before meeting her eyes.
“I’ll see you,” she murmured, “I’ll mop up here,” she said meaningfully, “and then, well. Maybe 8pm tomorrow? At the park?”
“It’s a date.” He whispered.
She smiled darkly, running her eyes from his eyes to his mouth and back again. Then she turned, once again the cool, collected villain.
She snapped her fingers, her back to the hero as he pulled Dotty away.
“Now,” she purred, eyeing her shivering brother, “Let’s leave the dogs to their bones.”
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