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Working with Criminals

Chapter 7: Explanations and Escapades

For Taiko

By Draconicon

Nor ended up being right, and wrong. While the Lord in Lavender led Meshiah and the other heroes off to the side - including the other Nor with the control rod - the Man in Red led him off to the other side of the room. Undoing the restraints, too, thankfully. Nor rubbed his wrists and shook his head.

"You could have helped earlier, you know."

"And you could have avoided starting a civil war, but let's not point fingers at the moment. You might have done me a favor in the long term."

"You're welcome."

"I said 'might.' You still left the mind control rod in the hands of the other side, don't forget."

That was true, though he didn't quite want to admit it. The mule glanced over his shoulder, and realized that the other Nor had done the same thing at the same moment. They both looked away again, almost embarrassed. The fact that they were that in sync with one another was a bit worrying, and he wasn't entirely sure what to do about it.

The mouse, on the other hand, seemed quite determined. He continued to pull Nor over to the furthest corner of the room, and then tapped the walls and floor around them with his cane. The Man in Red even jumped up, hitting the ceiling with the gemmed tip, landing with a soft thump afterward.

"That will have to do," the masked mouse said, shaking his head.

"What was that about?"

"Reminding physics who's in charge. Now."

The Man in Red leaned forward on his cane, his eyes glinting slightly through the holes in the mask. For the first time, there was no little hologram glare between him and the mouse, none of the lenses that kept some of the view inside from coming through. For the first time, he was being allowed to look the mouse, even indirectly, in the eye.

And there was something to it that shook him. The Man in Red had been a bit sarcastic, a bit silly, even, during the operation so far. He'd been calm, yes, but with a slight edge of happy control that had lent the operation an air of silliness and even a bit of jolliness so far.

Now, that was gone. The mouse looked at him with complete seriousness, the laughter between him and the Lord in Lavender completely gone.

"What happened?" Nor asked.

"We had a conversation."

"There's gotta be more to it than that."

"Afraid not. There's just a lot to say between the Colorful Council."

"I'm never going to get much of an explanation on that, am I?"

"Only if you get invited to join it."

Nor shook his head. He doubted that he would ever have that happen, even if something did happen to his internal system to turn him into a villain. He had too much respect for the law and for what it did for the average person for him to turn against it on even a local level, let alone on an interdimensional one.

The mouse let the silence linger on for a moment or two, then shrugged.

"Anyway. We had a talk. LiL over there -"

"Is that his actual name, or are you saying something else?"

"His title. Lord in Lavender. LiL."

"...So are you -"

"You call me that and I will have a tigress put your head on backwards. Now. Are you going to let me explain?"

"Explain away."

"Good."

The mouse tapped the side of his mask, and a hologram appeared between the pair of them. It took Nor a second or two to realize that it was Novus Ager, or at least, this one. The rings along the outer edges of the city were slowly turning again, and he winced every time that he saw the pained, aching way that they moved, the city trying to be true to itself and fighting its restraints just to tweak the arrangements of the buildings.

Several structures glowed in the middle rings, some hotels, some business offices, one mall. The mouse gestured at them with his free hand.

"We've narrowed down where Nemean could be, based on the number of villains in these locations, as well as the number of patrols that are going in and out of the area."

"That won't tell you where he is," Nor said with a shake of his head.

"Probably not, but it narrows down where he could be."

"No, that's not how he works," the mule muttered. He shook his head again. "That guy's not the sort to rely on minions - even powerful minions - in the same way that you and LiL do. He'd be trying to pull himself back together, push himself."

"Why?"

"He's a lion, and he's got all the worst stereotypes of his species from all the tampering that he's been doing." Nor remembered the few times that they'd really fought before, and how hard it was to actually confront the lion physically. He remembered Nemean's attitude, and he remembered how it had been the only thing to give him a leg up on the other guy. "He has to be at the forefront of things. He doesn't command from the back. He has to see it being done, if he's not doing it himself."

"So, where would he be, then?"

The Man in Red wasn't being sarcastic, he realized. He blinked as he looked at the mouse, and his temporary boss shrugged.

"As if I'm going to ignore someone that has real information on this. Where is he?"

"Knowing him..."

He glanced back at the city. The layout was different to his home dimension, but there were landmarks that he recognized. There were several hotels that he knew, several labs, but those would probably be under different ownership here. There were restaurants that were used as hidden clubs for supervillains back home, but that, too, was probably different out here.

But there was one place that was exactly the same.

Nor tapped a shelter that was on the outer edges of the city, one that looked no different from the average building around it. Yet, he knew it well.

"Here. The Nemean back home runs a few soup kitchens in the city. It's a tax write-off, I think, something to allow him to look good. Take care of the homeless and the people don't believe that you're as bad as the papers say. But it was always a trap, a way to lure supers in that were looking for people to help, a way to keep them contained until he could come and collect them.

"Back home, he had a lab in one of them, filled with medical equipment. After Olag sent him flying, I'm pretty sure that he's going to be working on repairing himself until he can come after us again."

"...That makes sense, actually. And it would fit with the readings I was picking up."

"Why? Why are you looking for him, and what is this competition, exactly?"

"Ah, right. That."

The mouse shook his head, and this time it was him looking over his shoulder, glancing back at the Great Dane on the other side of the room. Nor could feel the tension shift, the mouse almost seeming to glare through his mask for a moment before turning back.

"That's something between the pair of us. And yes, we're...enthusiastic about it, but if you're worried that the anger's gone -"

"After that, I'm not."

"That?"

"That glare."

"...You're smarter than you look, Denith. I like that."

He wasn't sure that he liked having a criminal's compliment, but he took it regardless. The mouse tapped his cane a few times, his fingers dancing along the gem on top of it as he seemed to consider his words.

"Let me put it this way. We, as members of the Colorful Council, have certain rules that keep us from running into direct confrontation with one another. These rules can be suspended during certain events, but that's not something that we need to think about right now. What we can do is run our individual agents in competitions with one another, getting a leg up on each other, or getting revenge for past humiliations."

"And you're using me as your agent."

"Well, it's either you or one of my crew, and they would be hopelessly lost in the city."

"Aren't they already?"

"How do you think I know that they'd be completely lost in the city?"

"...Fair point."

"Now. Here's the important bit."

The mouse tapped his mask again, and this time, it wasn't a map of the city that he projected. Instead, he projected a crown, one that looked vaguely familiar. It floated up and down, bobbing in the hologram like some magical item out of a fantasy game, but it wasn't until the diamond-tipped crown was put on a lion's head that he hissed in recognition.

"You know it?" the mouse asked.

"Yes, I know it. The Nemean back home had...something like it, but not anything that intricate."

"That's what I was worried about. Do you know what it is?"

"I know what the Nemean back home was doing," Nor said, trying to keep himself reminded that just because he knew one Nemean didn't mean that he knew them all. "He was trying to make a crown that let him absorb the power of any hero that he came across. The longer he wore the crown, the more the powers were absorbed into it, and then into him. But it didn't work quite right, so he didn't bother keeping it. At least, he didn't try and get it back after it was taken from him."

"And who took it?"

"...You know, I actually don't know that..."

This time, both of them turned to look across the room at the Lord in Lavender. Nor had never seen him before this particular mission, but he knew that there was every possibility that the Dane had sent an agent of his own into the mule's Novus Ager, stealing it away. Maybe that had been one of the first bribes that this guy had given Nemean.

If that was the case, then it would explain why this one was stronger. If they perfected the crown - or even if they didn't - this Nemean would be leagues stronger than the one that he was used to dealing with. If he kept the crown, if he started using it on the twenty-four heroes that he was going to get from the mouse and the Dane...

A shiver ran down his spine. Nemean was not the most evil of the villains, but he was one of the most focused, the one that had the power and the will and the iron strength to push them to work together. Under the lion, they would be a force to be reckoned with rather than a disparate group of superpowered nuisances. The idea was not a happy one.

He bit his lip as he tried to think about how they would be able to deal with something like that. This Nemean had an attraction to him, yes, but that didn't mean that he would be able to actually handle him in a fight. The crown would make him stronger, but...

Did he have the crown back at the port?

Nor pulled up his memories, going through the databases that he had onboard. There were little memories of different little accessories that the lion had on him. There'd been a couple of rings that he wore that he hadn't worn before, as well as fancy shoes with buckles that looked a bit more old-fashioned than Nemean had in his world. There had been no costume, only a tight suit...

But there had been a few reflections of light in his mane. That could have been some costume jewelry or real jewelry, for that matter, but it was not beyond the realm of possibility that it was the crown, too. If that was the case, then the fight might just be winnable if they could keep the crown from their enemy.

The mouse tapped him on the nose with the cane, and Nor was pulled back out of his thoughts.

"You want to bring me that crown," the mouse said.

"What? Why? So you can use it to mess with people? Commit more crimes?"

"Because if you don't, then LiL over there gets this world, the mind control rod, and we aren't going to be allowed back."

"...Since when do you care about being allowed to do anything?"

"When the penalties for doing so are far more than I can pay. When it means that everything that I care about could be swept away in an instant."

"What are you talking about?"

Rolling his eyes, the mouse shook his head, but Nor grabbed him by the shoulders.

"No, this is serious. Tell me. Tell me what the hell is going on?"

"If I told you, I'd probably blow out that little processor of yours."

"Try me."

"Oh, you want to try it? You really want to risk blowing that mind of yours open with the realities of the sort of politics and dangers out there in the multi-verse, hmm? Do you really want to see every possibility that exists out there? Do you really want knowledge of the dangers that could threaten the whole of that reality?"

"..."

"I didn't think so." The mouse shook his head, ducking out of the mule's grip. "Just trust me when I say that everything that gives the Council their power also keeps them in check. I made a deal to give us a chance."

"You mean a deal that will fuck us over if we lose."

"Then we just don't lose."

Nor spluttered a bit at that, but the mouse was already running roughshod over his protestations. Instead of allowing him a chance to recover, the mouse had already projected the hologram of the crown over the building Nor had gestured at.

"You have an idea of where you need to go. If you can get the crown first, then we'll be set."

"And if the other Nor gets it?"

"Then we're going to be fucked. So, please get it first."

"What do you get if you get the crown?"

"I get the rod, I get the crown, and I get to kick LiL off this world and let it start sorting itself out."

"..."

"What? What now?"

"You're going to use the crown yourself, aren't you?"

"Oh hell no."

Nor blinked.

"No?"

"I have enough power already. I don't need more. That thing is going to be locked somewhere where nobody else can get to it. The last thing I need is for someone else to run around stealing power from everyone. A thief can only last as long as there's something to steal. The worst thing for us would be a power monopoly."

A thief using an argument of economics to actually state why stealing something was wrong. That was a first. Nor slowly shook his head, rubbing his forehead as he tried to think of a way to make this work out right.

Much as he hated to admit it, the mouse's plan was the only one that seemed workable right then. If he didn't get the crown first, then everything would go to hell, that much was true. However, if he did get the crown, then everything would be turned around. If the Man in Red was forced to go along with the terms of the deal, then he imagined that the Lord in Lavender would be the same. The Dane would be forced from the world, and...

Well, Meshiah would still be in charge, but he wouldn't have the backing from a hero that was in a relationship with a big criminal kingpin. Things could start going back to normal here, and they could start, maybe, fixing the city.

If I win...

"Why did you make this deal?" he asked.

"Hmm?"

"Why did you agree to those terms? It's a bad deal for you."

"Actually, it's a really good deal for me."

"How do you figure that?"

"Well, let's look at the situation, hmm? My crew is lost, spread throughout the city," the mouse said, tapping his fingers as he counted things off. "My mercenary of a hero had been captured, along with the rod that he was supposed to bring back to me. My actual ability to threaten anybody with anything is completely thrown out the window. My ability to get back to my ship is nonexistent. And I was completely surrounded by LiL and his various subordinates. Despite being in that situation, I not only avoided getting caught and locked up, but also managed to convince him to take a bet that would turn the whole situation around if we play our cards right."

It was...well, much as Nor didn't want to admit it, that was something of an amazing coup. The last that he'd seen of the mouse, he had been in the middle of a fighting retreat from the sheer number of villains that had been on his tail. Without Olag, without a lot of the forces that he had brought from his ship, he would have been somewhat vulnerable.

The more Nor thought about it, the more he realized just what the mouse had accomplished. He'd turned what should have been the end of the line into a possibility for complete victory, right under LiL's nose.

"How did you -"

"A little intelligence goes a long way, Denith."

"That's not an answer."

"No, it's not, but then again, I didn't plan to give you one."

"You're infuriating."

"Thank you!"

He could hear the smile behind that sentence, and he groaned.

Glancing back to the other side of the room, he saw the other Nor stepping out from the crowd of heroes. There was no more time for questions. It was time for action.

The mouse stepped out of his way as he moved to the middle of the room. Two mules, one purple, one blue and red, both naked. Their dicks hung down over fat balls, and they both glared at one another.

"You know where you're going?" Purple Nor asked.

"I know. Do you?" 'Real' Nor retorted.

"Heh. I know how to find the bad guy."

"So do I."

Their eyes narrowed at one another, not quite a glare, but more...more a certain sort of pride. Nor had been a hero for a long time in his universe, and he could tell that his counterpart had been hard at work here for just as long. They were more than slightly territorial, pushing to keep other people from getting in the way and making their job harder, and now, they were dealing with their exact counterparts.

The same talents, for the most part. The same determination. The same focus. The same ability to keep on going.

It's going to be interesting...

Despite himself, he actually felt a bit of competitiveness rising in his chest. He had been a good hero back in his Novus Ager. It was time to prove that he could be a good hero anywhere.

Hooved Nor and Barefoot Nor lined up next to one another, staring at one of the windows in the board room. The heroes lined up on one side, and the mouse stood on the other. Just behind them, the albino husky, Meshiah, cleared his throat.

"You will leave at the count of three. Whoever returns, I am told, with Nemean's crown will be the one vindicated."

"That will be me," they both said at the same time.

"You will depart at the count of three," the husky stated again. "One...two..."

For a split second, Nor felt the ground shift. He felt something gripping at his ankles, and then the same grip disappeared, almost like someone had been trying to cheat and had been countered. He didn't allow himself to be distracted, staring straight ahead instead.

"Three!"

They kicked off, but the 'real' Nor had the advantage with his hooves, able to propel himself forward faster than the other one did. They ran straight for the opposite end of the room, leaping through different panels of glass and falling down towards the city below.

They split in different directions, and Nor wondered just what his Alt would be able to find elsewhere.

He arrived at the disguised lab, the soup kitchen shut down for the night. He thumped onto the rooftop, almost collapsing through it before he took a few steps forward. Shaking his head, he hopped down to the sidewalk and moved over to the front door.

The lights were all off, but he could just make out the soft hum of electricity still running through the walls. Something further in the building was drawing on power, and a lot of it.

Let's see what you're up to, Nemean...

He pushed the doors open, half-expecting an alarm to go off. Nothing. That either meant that someone was careless, or no-one was here. He hoped that it was the former and kept walking, passing by the counters that were empty of the hot soup pots that he was used to seeing, the old machinery half-rusted here.

Maybe this Nemean didn't do this, either...

Nor shook his head. He had to hope for something. Besides, that electrical hum meant that something was here, and there was no doubt that Nemean's company, at least, had its hands on the kitchen. The logo was everywhere.

And Nemean wasn't nice enough to run one of these out of the goodness of his heart. He had other plans.

He reached the door to the kitchen, pushing it open and stepping inside. The one back in his world had one of these, too, but if he remembered right...

Nor opened the door to the third refrigerator in a line of seven, and just as he expected, it opened on an elevator shaft. He smiled, stepping inside. Four buttons, just like back in the other world, and he imagined that Nemean was down on the bottom floor, in the medical lab. Tapping the button, he stepped back, ignoring the way that the cold air caused a little shrinkage down below.

The elevator dinged, and the door opened onto a medical lab. Nor breathed in, didn't cough. That meant that it had been cleaned recently, so the lab wasn't abandoned. It was still in use.

And the hum was louder than ever.

The mule stepped inside, his hooves clopping quietly as he entered the lab. There were a few lights on, but the main lab was dark.

Dark, but not empty. He could just make out someone standing in there, someone that was moving around an exam table. The door was open, and he could hear the rustle and crackle of wires being moved, ground against each other, and the soft clink of metal on metal.

Someone was in there, alright. Nor walked into the room and flicked the switch.

"...Parlour?"

The stallion whipped his head around, the tattoo artist villain an exact replica of the man back in his own world...except that this one had a line in his arm, his blood being drawn and then turning into ink as it led down to a tattoo gun at the far end of the line. He was rather skinny, and more than that, he was hooked up to another IV, like he had to be fed blood at all times to compensate for the other draw.

"Parlour, is that you?" Nor asked incredulously.

"Who are you? How did you get down here?"

"I'm looking for Nemean. What the hell - why are you here?"

"What the hell am I doing here? What the hell are you doing here?"

"...I just said."

"...So you did." The skinny horse shook his head. "If you wanted Nemean, you just missed him. He's heading to the Hilton by the central train station."

"You're...just going to tell me that?"

"I don't owe him anything. Not when he does this."

"What...are you doing, exactly?"

Parlour arched an eyebrow, holding up the tattoo gun that was attached to his bloodstream. He pulled the trigger a few times, squirting ink in the air.

"What else? He wants my power."

"I thought you could only -"

"Why do you think he wants it? I can give anyone a power with the right tattoo. The closer the tattoo is to the right image, the more permanent it is."

So that was how the crown was being managed here. An inverted Parlour, able to tattoo the power of others onto other people, combined with a study of the power through the crown. If Nemean managed to figure out what the power actually was, using the crown to study it on a more intimate level than he could have ever done in Nor's world, then he could tell this Parlour what to tattoo on him.

Suddenly, the task of getting the crown off of him just felt that much more impossible. Yet, even with that difficulty...

"What did you tattoo on him?" he asked.

"What makes you think I did any recently?"

"Because you said he was just here."

"...Damn it. I did."

"Are you okay? Are you losing too much blood?"

"Maybe...been busy..."

"What did you draw on him, Parlour?"

"Bear...an ice bear..."

Then it was entirely possible that the lion would have some of Olag's powers, then. As if Nemean wasn't a dangerous enough opponent, now he would have ice powers. If he got the bear's sheer stamina, too...

Fuck. This was looking more difficult all the time.

Shaking his head, Nor turned away. He took one step before he heard Parlour grunting behind him, and he turned to see the stallion slumping against the exam table. He hurried back, helping the skinny horse back to his hooves.

"You're not well."

"No," Parlour admitted. "But...not much can be done for it."

"I should take you to a hospital."

"Heh...and what would they do there? Lock me up?"

"Probably, but -"

"You want to help?" The horse snorted. "Get rid of Nemean. Get him locked up. He's kept me a secret from everyone else, so it's not like they'll be able to use me once he's out of the way. Just...get rid of him, and I'll be able to take care of everything else."

Nor sighed. Much as he hated to admit it, Parlour was right. There was really nothing he could do without getting rid of Nemean first, and frankly, he was running out of time. He needed to get to the Hilton before the other Nor did, and hope that he had enough smarts to out-think the lion before he could use all his new powers.

Then again...

"Do you have the blood to give me a tattoo?" Nor asked.

As soon as he left the fake soup kitchen, Nor ran for the nearest train tracks. It was the one thing that he was thankful was stable in this version of Novus Ager, as the tracks seemed to follow the rings rather than going in and out through the middle of the city. It didn't take him long to find one, and he hopped onto one of the passing trains, using it to pick up speed.

With the wind rushing past him, he knelt down closer to the train, watching the city turn into a blur around him. The speed of the train was insane, and he doubted that he would be more than a few minutes away from the central station.

At least I know exactly where he is, now, Nor thought, staring forward. He's not going to get away...

At least, that was what he hoped. Parlour had been very unhelpful about what tattoos his boss actually had, now, and he doubted that it would be as simple as fighting Nemean in his own world. Even that wasn't particularly simple, he admitted, but it was easier than fighting someone that had this level of telekinesis twenty feet out from his body and who knew how many other powers at his disposal.

Nor clenched his fists against the top of the train as it turned, watching the tracks. They were taking one of the bridges towards the middle of the city, the train taking the connection while it was there. Nearly at the station, now.

Something flickered in the distance, and Nor turned to see what it was. As soon as he managed to pick it out through the blurred buildings, he grimaced.

The other Nor was there, riding a train the same way that he was, and both of them were on approach to the central station. The only advantage that he had over his alternate was that he was on the right side to find the Hilton. He might have a few hundred feet to his lead, but considering how they were competing, he had every reason to believe that the other Nor had a way to close that gap.

Well, looks like the competition isn't over yet...

Nor leaped off the train as soon as it started slowing down, hitting the street with a thud and a crack. He jumped out of the crater that he left behind, arms pumping as he ran for the Hilton. Nobody was on the streets to stop him, no cars passed by to form a barrier or an obstacle.

It was a free shot to Nemean, and that worried him. If the lion didn't have any of his subordinates or employees around, that meant that he wanted this fight, and if he wanted it, then he was prepared for it.

But there was no chance to slow down or stop, either. The other Nor would be just as eager to claim the crown, and that meant that he had to be there first, just in case.

This just couldn't be simple, could it?

The End