Chapter Sixty-Two – Imposing

Glamazon’s expression shifted, from a bit of reluctant fear, to a sort of arrogant sneer that immediately made Emily’s stomach twist. “You wouldn’t dare,” she said. “You have any idea how much your morality would drop if you pulled that kind of thing?” Glamazon pointed a finger right at Emily’s face. “I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but it won’t work with me.”

Emily almost took a step back to move out of the way of Glamazon’s finger.

Almost.

Instead she smacked the hand away, the pain in the back of her wrist almost as surprising as the flash of guilt that ran through her. “D-don’t,” Emily snapped. She swallowed, reined in the sudden outburst of anger. “Don’t poke at me like that. And don’t… do whatever it is you’re doing.”

Glamazon glared and stood a little taller. The woman was imposing, in a way that no one wearing colourful spandex should have been. “You just made me lose that jerk. I would have caught the bastard by now.” She poked Emily in the chest.

Emily took a deep breath and ignored the sore point right where Glamazon’s finger had struck her. “Did you pay for that opportunity?” Emily asked.

“What?” Glamazon asked.

“Did, you, pay?” Emily asked, every word enunciated carefully. “Alea Iacta is low key, for the most part. He’s been hiding for some time even, keeping his head down. But he got an offer that he refused. And then you appear out of nowhere, knowing where he was even when out of costume.”

“Wait, do you know him?”

“Shut up,” Emily said. Her hands shook by her side until she felt Athena grabbed one and squeezed. “Are you with them? The Cabal?”

Glamazon looked to the side, just for a moment. The same kind of look Emily’s sisters had when they were lying flitting across her features for just a moment. “What are you on about?”

“How much did it cost you?” Emily asked. “Or what did it cost you? Did you have to pay at all? How did it work? Did they just tell you where to find him?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Glamazon said.

Teddy growled, low and rumbling from right behind Glamazon. The woman jumped and seemed to notice for the first time that for all intents and purposes she was surrounded.

“Tell me,” Emily said. “Now.”

It was strange seeing someone twitch back, just as if Glamazon was one of her sisters caught with her hand in the cookie jar. “What are you on about?” Glamazon said.

Emily felt her brows knitting together. “I won’t ask again.”

The factory’s darkened corners grew deeper and the low rumble from Teddy’s throat amplified, drowning out even the faintest of noises from outside.

“God, what the hell is wrong with you?” Glamazon whispered. “W-we’re meant to be on the same side.”

“That’s what I thought too,” Emily said. “But I’m not so sure now. Not when you might be one of those people that paid for a little glory. What did Alea Iacta do that was such a big threat to you, or anyone else for that matter?”

“He’s a villain!” Glamazon said.

Emily’s teeth snapped together and she bit back a growl of her own. “You chased him down across a few blocks, while he was hiding after being blackmailed by the Cabal. You fired off those sparks of yours all over the damned place, in public. I’m sure you know how distracting those lights are. Did you make sure there was no car traffic around?”

The flash of guilt suggested a ‘no’ to that question.

“As far as I can tell, you’re the one acting like a menace here,” Emily said. It wasn’t quite true, but she had Glamazon in a bind, and while Emily knew that pressing harder wasn’t the wisest thing to do, she couldn’t think of anything else. “So, tell me about the Cabal.”

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Glamazon said.

Emily stepped forwards, dropping Athena’s hand so that she could stand right up in front of the heroine. She was shorter than Glamazon. She didn’t feel it though. “Jezebelle. Tell me.”

The heroine cursed under her breath, but her shoulders deflated as she did. “Look, they said I had to keep things to myself.”

“If you don’t tell them that you told me, then it won’t be a problem,” Emily said.

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“Why do you want to know?” Glamazon said.

“Because they’re villains, villains operating in my… in this city.”

Glamazon shook her head. “No, no, they’re not villains. Silver Fox told me about them. They help heroes for a small price.”

“And they help villains too,” Emily said. “They’re playing both sides.”

“I don’t believe you,” Glamazon said.

“That’s your problem,” Emily returned. She almost let out a very inappropriate laugh. It was such a dismissive thing to say. She should have been mortified, instead she felt a thrill running down her spine as Glamazon flinched.

“God, what is your problem?” Glamazon said.

“I’m beginning to get tired of being messed with,” Emily said. “I’m thinking that maybe I should start doing something about it.” She licked her lips. “We can start by having you tell me what you know.”

“I don’t know much, alright,” Glamazon said. She crossed her arms and glanced around. “Just, they texted me. I asked Fox about it, and he said they were legit. They wanted me to do this sponsorship thing. The price was… I mean, not the best, but not bad either? And they told me where that luck guy would be today. And they were right.”

“You’d really go so far to protect someone that only gave you that much?” Emily said.

Glamazon huffed. “At least one of us understands the concept of loyalty.”

The heroine twitched, her breath started coming in gasps, and her eyes widened to an almost comical size before they rolled up into the back of her head and she crumpled to the ground.

“What.”

“Ah, oops?” Athena said.

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Emily blinked at the prompt, then waved it away before eyeing the still-breathing form of Glamazon on the ground before her. “Did… did you just knock her out?”

“Not my fault,” Athena said. “She’s all weak and stuff. Barely even pushed.”

Teddy warped and shifted, turning back into a girl in a butter-yellow sundress and plastic bear mask. “Bit of a coward that one.”

Athena nodded. “Weak.”

With a sigh, Emily stepped back and shook her arms. There were pins and needles running through her whole body, as if she’d been on the verge of fainting herself.

“You were really cool though, big sis,” Athena said. “Super scary.”

Teddy nodded. “I thought she was going to poop her capitalism right out of her,” she said.

“I… what does that even mean? No, don’t answer that, it’s rhetorical,” Emily said. “We should probably leave.”

Athena gave Emily a big thumb’s up and Teddy skipped forward to take Emily’s hand in hers. “Home it is! We can call that idiot guy and tell him he owes us one.”

“Right,” Emily said.

She’d have to call Handshake, trade that bit of information for something or other. And he’d promised her the location of a safehouse. That might come in handy.

As for Glamazon, Emily figured she could take care of herself.

Emily wiggled her hand towards Athena. As soon as the girl’s hand was in hers, Emily turned and started making her way out of the factory.

The sky had darkened while they’d been inside, turning to the deep blue of approaching night.

Home wasn’t far away, just a few blocks to the college, and then a walk over to the dorms. Still, she couldn’t just walk over dressed the way she was. They found a spot near another factory, just as abandoned as the first, and with a broken down bathroom on the first floor. Changing in a hurry still left them walking home in the dark some minutes later.

Emily swiped her phone over the panel next to the dorm’s door, then she practically stumbled to the elevator and up to her room.

The moment she saw her bed she crashed into it and just gave up. Life was too much sometimes.

She could figure out what to do with the sinking realization that she was more of a villain than she expected in the morning. Or maybe, if she was clever about it, she could do nothing about it and pretend that she didn’t turn mean when under pressure.

She doubted it was going to be that easy.

***

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