The Pantheon finally arrived at its personal headquarters. The garage was set up for the teens, with a pair of couches, an old TV set connected to a game console, and a small fridge with snacks and cans of soda. There was a mechanics bench that was meticulous compared to the rest of the space, filled with all of the tools one would need for any basic job, each clean and in its proper place yet still obvious that these tools were used.
The kids came in the side door, and each went silent the literal moment that they walked through it. Athena listened for a moment, then relaxed. "Okay, they're asleep. Just keep it quiet." They nodded, and all but Hermes went they places in the couches; he went straight for the fridge. He reached in and started throwing cans at each of his team mates. They caught them and popped them. He grabbed a handful of jerky, and crashed in his own place. He and Ares wrestled a bit over the jerky, but it was soon over and Ares had just over half of the jerky.
Athena slipped off her helmet, revealing red tresses braided to her shoulders and green eyes. Annabeth reached for her laptop and a USB cable, turning on the laptop and plugging in the cable in both her laptop and watch. She watched the file transfer and then pulled up the file.
As Annabeth played with the data, the boys pulled off their own helmets. Ares removed his breastplate as well, revealing the linebacker shoulders of Jonathan Taylor Swift, fullback for the Jack Kirby Wraiths. Hephaestus also removed his armor in order to change into a dirty T-shirt; Robert was thicker than Jonathan from years of lifting engines. Arturo removed his helmet so he scratch his unruly brown hair.
Annabeth smiled as she saved the file. The boys stopped whatever they were doing. After allowing her a few beats to savor her moment, Arturo was the first to break the silence. "And? How did we do?"
Annabeth flipped the laptop around so that they could see the screen. "Overall, we did pretty good. I'd like to see reaction time to their tactics go down a little, but once we did figure them out they were dealt with quickly and efficiently. One more mission like this and I think we're ready to start uploading our vids."
The boys grinned. Jonathan piped up. "Cool. Instant fame is almost ours!"
Arturo smiled. "Yeah, after a year of practice. Hopefully it's just what we need to create a demo reel for the Guild."
Robert started looking at his drone. "Looks I need to get serious about finishing the modifications to the equipment." He looked at Annabeth. "It'll be ready, but we'll need to finish the code for defensive maneuvers."
Annabeth looked at Arturo. "How's that going?"
Arturo pulled out his own laptop and fired it up. "Pretty good, actually. With Robert's help we should be able to test it this weekend." He glanced at Jonathan before looking back at Anabeth. "We are going to need the team jock's help. We need someone to throw balls at it in order to really give it a test."
Jonathan glared at Arturo before rolling his eyes and relaxing further into the couch. "I have practice Saturday from noon to four, and then I need a few hours Sunday to finish a report for Carter's class. Just give me a head's up."
Annabeth look at the other two boys. After an exchange of glances, Arturo looked back at her. "Sounds good."
Jonathan continued. "I can borrow a basket of balls from the equipment locker. Anything specific you two want to see in action?"
Another exchange of glances followed by a pair of smiles. Robert spoke. "Have fun. The more variety the better."
"I'll bear that in mind. I presume I am targeting for effect?"
Robert nodded. "Of course."
"Good thing I'll be warmed up then. We all wrapped up then?"
Annabeth looked at her watch. "Yeah, and it's late enough I'd suggest going to sleep."
The boys all nodded. Jonathan grabbed his shirt and headed out as Annabeth and Arturo powered down. They grabbed their laptops and walked out, with Annabeth locking the door after Arturo left; she closed it with just enough force to shut it as she walked through it. Robert turned off the light as he entered the house proper.
* * * * *
Don Pellegrino watched as his men filled the boxes with cement. Inside them were the feet of The Shrike, bloody but barely conscious. The remnants of his black and gray costume hung from his muscular frame, and thick chains held him where he was,even though he was beyond struggling. The men did not waste much time as they waited for the cement to set, checking the wires of their insurance device as they pasted them to chains with a thick rubber cement. The device would transmit a beep if any of the wires were cut or torn, letting them know if their prisoner had escaped from his bonds. (Don Pellegrino had gotten tired of heroes escaping only to come back later. This kept that from happening without him at least being notified of their escape.)
He didn't gloat, he didn't celebrate; he just watched the activities dispassionately. He just wanted to ensure that this hero was dead, and the sooner the better. They knew the risks of sneaking into his home looking for evidence, and sometimes they got caught. Those that got caught were interrogated for any useful information and then "disappeared", usually somewhere into the Adams River. He had debated posting their heads, or other body parts, onto a wall somewhere he knew that it would be seen, like his warlord ancestors did their enemies; the problem is that they then became martyrs that became rallying points for groups of heroes who then had evidence that could be used as excuse to attack him en masse.
"Disappearing" the invaders of his domicile eliminated those worries, just as the insurance device gave him notice if the invader in question escaped from his watery grave. So far it had been a very successful strategy.
The cements, rubber and stone, had both set and were beginning to dry. The wooden slats around his feet were removed and a harness put around The Shrike. He was soon lifted above an opening in the wooden floor, with the river below him. The harness was released and he fell into the cold river. The cold wetness woke him, and he struggled for a brief moment, but it was just token resistance; he had long ago given up hope that he was going to survive this, and he had never been given to think otherwise. He struggled more out of instinct than from any vestige of will, but his lungs filled quickly. In moments his heart was no longer beating and oxygen was no longer flowing to his brain.
The Shrike was unconscious long before brain activity had actually ceased. Don Pellegrino was satisfied that he was not coming back, even if immortality was one of his powers, and so retired from the scene. As he sat back in the Corinthian leather seats of his armored Hummer, his phone buzzed. He slid his thumb across it the biometrics unlocking it, and he saw that he had a text from one of his investigators.
He smiled.
He texted back to the investigator: "Bring him in. Make sure you wear the P-scramblers."
He loved it when a step in a plan was completed, and it looked like he could now move on to the next step of his plan to bring Tandem to its knees.
* * * * *
The sun broke as Wolf broke up. He let himself enjoy the sun for a moment before focusing. He had to act as "Lucas Prentiss" for the day, as much as it pained him. He got dressed and headed down to the dining room. A simple breakfast of eggs florentine waited for him, while a bowl of Chocolate-Coated Sugar Bombs and a gravy boat of milk waited for Yosef. He smiled; the boy was taking full advantage of not being in his strict sect. He read a few pages from the newspaper, looking at the financial section to keep abreast of what was happening in the local markets, followed a peek at the last half of the main section of the paper; he was interested in the small stories that filled the space of the paper, where scientific advancements, trivial items, and local crime stories were hidden. He made notes of the advancements, some to be investigated by a Prentiss Products intern later, as well as he crimes to be investigated by him later.
Yosef ran into the room, and plopped down. He poured the milk into his cereal and half ate, half talked, all at maximum speed. Lukas smiled as he caught up on all the gossip of Westchester Middle School, grunting and "Wow!"ing at all the appropriate points. He finished his eggs just as Yosef finished his cereal, and shepherded the boy to the car, grabbing the all-important backpack on the way. Just as they hit the car, he looked down at the kid.
"Do we have everything?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Sure?"
Yosef smiled sheepishly as he handed the backpack to his father and ran off. A few moments later the boy returned with his dinosaur diorama, out of breath but grinning as he noticed his father making a show of looking at his watch. "Fast enough?"
"Yes." He put the hand down and opened the car door for his son. His son entered and buckled up as he did the same. In moments they were speeding off, just so he could drop his son off a block away from school and not be an embarrassment to the kid. Smiling, Lucas was then off to work at his actual office.
The kids came in the side door, and each went silent the literal moment that they walked through it. Athena listened for a moment, then relaxed. "Okay, they're asleep. Just keep it quiet." They nodded, and all but Hermes went they places in the couches; he went straight for the fridge. He reached in and started throwing cans at each of his team mates. They caught them and popped them. He grabbed a handful of jerky, and crashed in his own place. He and Ares wrestled a bit over the jerky, but it was soon over and Ares had just over half of the jerky.
Athena slipped off her helmet, revealing red tresses braided to her shoulders and green eyes. Annabeth reached for her laptop and a USB cable, turning on the laptop and plugging in the cable in both her laptop and watch. She watched the file transfer and then pulled up the file.
As Annabeth played with the data, the boys pulled off their own helmets. Ares removed his breastplate as well, revealing the linebacker shoulders of Jonathan Taylor Swift, fullback for the Jack Kirby Wraiths. Hephaestus also removed his armor in order to change into a dirty T-shirt; Robert was thicker than Jonathan from years of lifting engines. Arturo removed his helmet so he scratch his unruly brown hair.
Annabeth smiled as she saved the file. The boys stopped whatever they were doing. After allowing her a few beats to savor her moment, Arturo was the first to break the silence. "And? How did we do?"
Annabeth flipped the laptop around so that they could see the screen. "Overall, we did pretty good. I'd like to see reaction time to their tactics go down a little, but once we did figure them out they were dealt with quickly and efficiently. One more mission like this and I think we're ready to start uploading our vids."
The boys grinned. Jonathan piped up. "Cool. Instant fame is almost ours!"
Arturo smiled. "Yeah, after a year of practice. Hopefully it's just what we need to create a demo reel for the Guild."
Robert started looking at his drone. "Looks I need to get serious about finishing the modifications to the equipment." He looked at Annabeth. "It'll be ready, but we'll need to finish the code for defensive maneuvers."
Annabeth looked at Arturo. "How's that going?"
Arturo pulled out his own laptop and fired it up. "Pretty good, actually. With Robert's help we should be able to test it this weekend." He glanced at Jonathan before looking back at Anabeth. "We are going to need the team jock's help. We need someone to throw balls at it in order to really give it a test."
Jonathan glared at Arturo before rolling his eyes and relaxing further into the couch. "I have practice Saturday from noon to four, and then I need a few hours Sunday to finish a report for Carter's class. Just give me a head's up."
Annabeth look at the other two boys. After an exchange of glances, Arturo looked back at her. "Sounds good."
Jonathan continued. "I can borrow a basket of balls from the equipment locker. Anything specific you two want to see in action?"
Another exchange of glances followed by a pair of smiles. Robert spoke. "Have fun. The more variety the better."
"I'll bear that in mind. I presume I am targeting for effect?"
Robert nodded. "Of course."
"Good thing I'll be warmed up then. We all wrapped up then?"
Annabeth looked at her watch. "Yeah, and it's late enough I'd suggest going to sleep."
The boys all nodded. Jonathan grabbed his shirt and headed out as Annabeth and Arturo powered down. They grabbed their laptops and walked out, with Annabeth locking the door after Arturo left; she closed it with just enough force to shut it as she walked through it. Robert turned off the light as he entered the house proper.
* * * * *
Don Pellegrino watched as his men filled the boxes with cement. Inside them were the feet of The Shrike, bloody but barely conscious. The remnants of his black and gray costume hung from his muscular frame, and thick chains held him where he was,even though he was beyond struggling. The men did not waste much time as they waited for the cement to set, checking the wires of their insurance device as they pasted them to chains with a thick rubber cement. The device would transmit a beep if any of the wires were cut or torn, letting them know if their prisoner had escaped from his bonds. (Don Pellegrino had gotten tired of heroes escaping only to come back later. This kept that from happening without him at least being notified of their escape.)
He didn't gloat, he didn't celebrate; he just watched the activities dispassionately. He just wanted to ensure that this hero was dead, and the sooner the better. They knew the risks of sneaking into his home looking for evidence, and sometimes they got caught. Those that got caught were interrogated for any useful information and then "disappeared", usually somewhere into the Adams River. He had debated posting their heads, or other body parts, onto a wall somewhere he knew that it would be seen, like his warlord ancestors did their enemies; the problem is that they then became martyrs that became rallying points for groups of heroes who then had evidence that could be used as excuse to attack him en masse.
"Disappearing" the invaders of his domicile eliminated those worries, just as the insurance device gave him notice if the invader in question escaped from his watery grave. So far it had been a very successful strategy.
The cements, rubber and stone, had both set and were beginning to dry. The wooden slats around his feet were removed and a harness put around The Shrike. He was soon lifted above an opening in the wooden floor, with the river below him. The harness was released and he fell into the cold river. The cold wetness woke him, and he struggled for a brief moment, but it was just token resistance; he had long ago given up hope that he was going to survive this, and he had never been given to think otherwise. He struggled more out of instinct than from any vestige of will, but his lungs filled quickly. In moments his heart was no longer beating and oxygen was no longer flowing to his brain.
The Shrike was unconscious long before brain activity had actually ceased. Don Pellegrino was satisfied that he was not coming back, even if immortality was one of his powers, and so retired from the scene. As he sat back in the Corinthian leather seats of his armored Hummer, his phone buzzed. He slid his thumb across it the biometrics unlocking it, and he saw that he had a text from one of his investigators.
He smiled.
He texted back to the investigator: "Bring him in. Make sure you wear the P-scramblers."
He loved it when a step in a plan was completed, and it looked like he could now move on to the next step of his plan to bring Tandem to its knees.
* * * * *
The sun broke as Wolf broke up. He let himself enjoy the sun for a moment before focusing. He had to act as "Lucas Prentiss" for the day, as much as it pained him. He got dressed and headed down to the dining room. A simple breakfast of eggs florentine waited for him, while a bowl of Chocolate-Coated Sugar Bombs and a gravy boat of milk waited for Yosef. He smiled; the boy was taking full advantage of not being in his strict sect. He read a few pages from the newspaper, looking at the financial section to keep abreast of what was happening in the local markets, followed a peek at the last half of the main section of the paper; he was interested in the small stories that filled the space of the paper, where scientific advancements, trivial items, and local crime stories were hidden. He made notes of the advancements, some to be investigated by a Prentiss Products intern later, as well as he crimes to be investigated by him later.
Yosef ran into the room, and plopped down. He poured the milk into his cereal and half ate, half talked, all at maximum speed. Lukas smiled as he caught up on all the gossip of Westchester Middle School, grunting and "Wow!"ing at all the appropriate points. He finished his eggs just as Yosef finished his cereal, and shepherded the boy to the car, grabbing the all-important backpack on the way. Just as they hit the car, he looked down at the kid.
"Do we have everything?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Sure?"
Yosef smiled sheepishly as he handed the backpack to his father and ran off. A few moments later the boy returned with his dinosaur diorama, out of breath but grinning as he noticed his father making a show of looking at his watch. "Fast enough?"
"Yes." He put the hand down and opened the car door for his son. His son entered and buckled up as he did the same. In moments they were speeding off, just so he could drop his son off a block away from school and not be an embarrassment to the kid. Smiling, Lucas was then off to work at his actual office.
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