When Aurora arrived at the clubhouse-to-be, she wasn’t surprised that the Avenger was already waiting inside. She slipped through the narrow stairway up the corridor to the base with Utility slung over her shoulder. Just in case, Aurora gave Utility a little healing.
Aurora’s eyes fastened onto the brooding form of the Midnight Avenger to immediately note that he looked different. It was like he’d been working out. He was more built than typical. Not only that, his costume’s colors were composed of more gray and less midnight blue.
With a twist of her lips, Aurora greeted him, “Well, hello there! You’re looking positively buff today, MA. New power armor, maybe? It’s not a bad idea to go with an old school look when you’re taking on an old foe, right?” She grinned, her words hinting but did not overtly express her suspicions.
She’d worked closely with the Sentinels in her training, particularly in the simulations, but she of course had met them all personally at one point. She knew that there was something very old school about this guy, today. Being an avid superhero fan, Aurora recognized his costume.
Walking to the nearby sofa, the superheroine gently slung Utility onto it and got him settled. “He’s very much out cold. My healing abilities might not have done much for him. I don’t know if he’s in a critical state, because I can’t scan people to search for problems. I wonder if he’ll need medical attention, but taking him to a hospital would potentially compromise his secret identity and assuming we protected him by unmasking him in advance, we’d be the ones who invaded his privacy.”
Aurora turned her eyes on MA and her eyes widened when she noticed that he’d snuck up on her like some kind of a ninja. “His vitals are fine, if a little low,” the Midnight Avenger said, sounding ever so slightly more gravellier than usual.
Tilting her head, Aurora processed his words. He gave her little time to consider, when he continued, “He probably got a few broken ribs when he was taken and likely one of his arms is broken from the look of it. He’ll be out of action for a while. It’s for the best. This isn't a forgiving case for natural-types. I’m sure you can tell that your powerset sets you apart from these generic types. Luckily for you, I was here to prevent the robots from destroying the bridge.”
Aurora chuckled. Classic Midnight Avenger, even if this guy smelled a bit old. Aurora’s jaw dropped when MA pulled Utility's mask up. She sighed in relief when it was just enough to reveal his mouth. Utility’s mask covered his whole face. What he did made sense when he removed a small ampule from his belt and poured the contents of it into his mouth.
“This will keep him under and boost his healing process.” Midnight Avenger’s eyes turned to Aurora as he straightened. “We need to talk about Mechanical,” he said as he walked to a nearby chair and pulled it over to sit.
“Yeah… it’s weird. He was fixated on you and Vanguard when it came to how he spoke, but…” Aurora crossed her arms beneath her breasts and frowned. “He was actually very fixated on me, too. I’m not convinced that the original Harlan is behind this. The designs don’t jive with his style anymore.” She shook her head. “I hoped that taking out the lead unit away from the rest would do two things: assuming that one was controlling the others. The other thing I reasoned was that confusing it with a few facts would at least delay things and at best, it might disable them all. Thinking it would be so easy was probably a misstep. You can’t expect a villain to not learn from past mistakes. I could have just point blank blasted them all one by one, but at least I got a very miniscule bit of information from the leader, in exchange.” Aurora’s tone became wry as she shrugged.
Midnight Avenger’s face remained unreadable as he responded, “Yeah. I noticed that, myself. They’re not to his standard. However, he did try to modernize his designs in our last encounter. So, it’s not entirely unexpected that the man would be capable of changing. The interesting thing, however, is that you found something related to him. Did you not? A girl?”
Aurora smiled. “Ah… you overheard my attempt to short circuit the thing. I sure did a number on it.” She chuckled. “I tried to call Mocha out. Yeah, I got the clue back at Extensive Enterprises and the data I got pointed at her. Although, there’s something very suspicious about it all. It was as though the thing was being given to me. It was too easy. But, that doesn’t mean that it’s not an important piece of information.” Aurora went on to detail the steps she’d taken to get her name, though Aurora was sure that the Midnight Avenger would have already discovered all this.
She walked to the computer, took a seat and MA rose to follow. Aurora showed him all the files, even though she’d mailed them to him.
He commented, rubbing his chin. “I’m not sure if I’d use the term, ‘handed.’ Looks like several employees have some disciplinary actions pending against them. At any rate, I noted from my tap in your town’s police computers that they were looking up someone.”
Aurora sagged a bit. The poor guys did get in trouble for what they did. Could she make this up to them, somehow?
Midnight Avenger crossed his arms. “You suspect that someone is hijacking Mr. Mechanical’s tech, but whoever this is seems to be carrying out a vendetta against Vanguard and myself. It seems personal.” His eyes narrowed. “While the both of us have had dealings with Extensive, it’s a little too obvious, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Yeah,” Aurora sighed, returning their focus back to the immediate problem, she answered, “Would Mr. Mechanical be able to use Vanguard as a battery? Could they actually capture and hold him? Seriously?”
“Hmmmm…” MA mused. “Towards the end of his life, Mr. Mechanical moved away from atomic power to other sources. Vanguard, as you know, is a source of tremendous energy. I wouldn’t be surprised if he did try to develop something to do just that. In fact, the robots you encountered today came from Meridian City. I’d say that they were some of his last work, but they seemed too modern.”
The Midnight Avenger reached into one of his pouches to remove a small tube that was maybe the size of a cigar and asked, “Did you find out anything else?”
Aurora considered the question and pursed her lips, as she said, “They seemed to be confused about whether they were attacking Meridian or San Isidro. They knew the name of the bridge and weren’t confused so much that they named one over in Meridian. They insisted on calling me ‘Lady Vanguard’ after I set things straight. That was about as much as the thing would budge. I don’t have much else, except for the fact that the missiles were very much after me.
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“They know my energy signature and they’re after me for the same purposes as Vanguard. I just came from a situation involving one of the Padua Camp victims, but two of these missiles came at me and interrupted it. These things were intended to drain my energy, but they weren’t able to handle the job.” Did they lose patience with her? Were they demanding her attention, or was it something else? Aurora shook her head, her eyes misting a bit when she thought about Sarah’s face and her pleading.
Returning her mind to the matter at hand, Aurora struggled to make sense of things, but her thoughts were interrupted by MA’s gruff words, “I think I have enough information to actually solve this case,” he announced. “What I don’t know is what your next move will be, Aurora. I’m curious.” He tapped his temple and his eyes fastened on Aurora. “Tell me what you’ve deduced by now.”
It wasn’t a surprise per se that Midnight Avenger had already figured things about, but Aurora threw what she knew at him to see if something would stick, “I was going to chase this Mocha Haearnn down.” Aurora was nervous because the Midnight Avenger was turning up the pressure. “I’m convinced that this Mocha is behind the reactivation of the technology. I suspect that she’s related to Harlan. She’s responsible for the new developments, not him. In other words, she would be the daughter of the old villain or a grandchild. Short of being directly related, she’s his recognized successor, or someone who just wants to emulate him. Do I get to find out what you’ve deduced? Between the two of us, you’re the legendary detective.” Aurora laughed softly.
Midnight Avenger’s lips pursed and his eyes squinted. “Firstly, he has no living relatives. He had one female companion, but he was sterile, thanks to his exposure to toxins and radiation. But, here’s an interesting tidbit, do you know her last name basically is Irish for ‘iron?’ The bigger question is, what are your plans for this Mocha Haearnn? It seems that your suspicion has fallen on her. If she’s the culprit, what will you do?”
Aurora sighed, crossing her arms again. “I don’t know, yet. She’s put a lot of lives in danger, if I’m right. She’s kind of a terrorist. I want to do the best I can for everyone involved and that means, of course, stopping her. If she’s set on being a villain, I’d have no choice but to oppose her and bring her to justice. What other choice does a superhero have? It’s my intention to be a paragon like Vanguard. As much as I can be, in any case.”
The Midnight Avenger relaxed ever so slightly as he said, “I’ll let you handle this for now, then. Continue to investigate Mocha Haearnn. You’ll find if you haven’t already that she’s switched schools once already and doesn’t have much of a past to trace. With the other Sentinels busy, I’ll watch your back as best as I can. I’m not able to destroy the robots like you can, but I can at least help keep people safe while you handle all the flashy work.”
Closing the distance between them, he placed his hands on Aurora’s shoulders. “Vanguard has a lot of faith in you, Aurora. Furthermore, you have the respect of the Avenger.” He nodded affirmatively. “But that being said, you’re still new at things and make a lot of rookie mistakes. Today you could’ve gotten a lot of people hurt with your trick of dragging the robot away into the sky like that.”
He took his hands away and nodded again. “The missiles are a concern, however. That means that Mocha, or whomever, is getting a lock on your signature as you suspect. If the villain can use your energy, they may improve those missiles and make some that would actually manage to drain you. These were made to siphon Vanguard’s energy. Your signatures aren’t quite compatible with each other. Understand?”
Aurora nodded. “No matter what, as a superhero I’m always at risk. I know it. Having energy-based powers makes me a target for these types. I’ll do my best to not put myself in a situation where she can steal my energy,” Aurora murmured as her lips twisted. “Surrendering myself is pretty much what she wants. Everything so far has been directed towards netting me with the least effort. I know I can count on you to get me out of a bad situation if she manages to trap me.” Smiling, Aurora pressed on, “Honestly, I’m starting to think the best policy is to just shoot these things down before they can come anywhere near me just in case they start taking my energy more effectively.”
“Yes,” the Midnight Avenger nodded as he advised Aurora, “You need to get ahead of them. Because you didn’t get there quickly enough, we almost lost a hero.” He pointed at Utility. “Plus, I managed to knock out the cops before they drew the robots’ attention. The police here aren’t equipped to fight robots like this. Hopefully, the ARISE office will help this city get the tools they need for defense purposes. San Isidro is a pretty backwards place, no offense.”
Aurora laughed. The Midnight Avenger had even dared to knock out officers. Thinking back, Aurora wondered if she could have done the same thing when the officers came to get Sarah. But the Midnight Avenger hadn’t done what he did openly so they could report it. It wasn’t so simple for her. Her reputation was at stake. Would any of the choices she’d have to make be easier? Aurora answered, “I’m pragmatic enough to know that I can’t do everything. I appreciate having some good backup. If the police could contribute more and did the right thing more often, I’d be happier. I know that things could have gone poorly today. I prioritized the life of a young girl who thinks the world has forsaken her. It was to keep another supervillain from being born.” Although, she was biased where Sarah was concerned, not that she could say that.
“I can only stand by my choice, for the better or worse.”
Midnight Avenger nodded thoughtfully as he gravely spoke, “This job… is full of difficult choices. I’m not here to be your judge, so don’t feel that my statement is an indictment of your choices. You have to do the best you can. I believe you when you say that you had other matters to attend. No one lives forever, so balance yourself responsibly. Not just for the sake of the city, but also yourself.”
He turned sharply. “Have you seen the footage of when he was captured?” he asked, pointing to Utility again.
“No, I haven’t.” Aurora shook her head and frowned. “Honestly, this is the first I’ve seen of him since the last battle against Mr. Mechanical’s robotic clone. Is there something important to get from it? Do you have this footage?”
The Midnight Avenger held up the tube he’d removed from his belt and tossed it to Aurora, who caught it easily. “I got this from the building’s security cameras. The police didn’t get it. It was tied up by the building owners. Do you know who owns it?”
A building? What building, exactly? This guy was miles ahead of Aurora, as expected. “No, I don’t.” Aurora’s cheeks stained faintly. “Honestly, I think I could use a crash course in detective work.” She laughed softly.
“Ultimately, the owner is Extensive Enterprises. They hold the company that holds the company that holds the lease.” The Midnight Avenger’s statement made Aurora dizzy. “I’m a little surprised that you didn’t investigate the building after its burning. Rookie mistakes, like I said. When the other sentinels return from their mission, let’s see if we can get you some of that training you’re looking for, shall we? But for now, look at the footage. I have to go, because my city needs me, but I’ll return as soon as I can.”
Walking to the secret tunnel, he nodded to Aurora. “I can be very… critical. I’ll leave you with this encouragement, keep up the good work, and I’ll see you again as soon as possible.”
“Thank you, sir.” Aurora smiled, in awe of his skill. He was not the Midnight Avenger she was used to, but he was even more amazing. There was an aura of competence about him that Aurora hoped she would earn someday.
