Chapter 6

Plots and Plans

“No, you’re out of mind” Bulldozer said , draining the remaining half of his beer before slamming the empty stein to the bar counter. He adjusted his blocky domino mask as Eclipse and Hardstone let out a sigh of exasperation. He adjusted his dusky overalls and wiped some dribbling beer from his beard on his sleeve, the bar stool creaking underneath the muscle bound Alphas considerable mass. Bulldozer was almost as wide as he was tall, and it was a credit to modern carpentry that the stools held his weight at all. Even from a distance he gave off a "not to be fucked with" vibe, with his large hairy arms and broad muscled body and arms sending the rest of the message.

For the better part of two hours Eclipse and his partner Hardstone had been trying to recruit Bulldozer for their heist with beer and bar food. The large bruiser had come highly recommended from a few of Hardstones contacts, but he was playing hard to get. Hardstone tilted her mouth and gave Bulldozer a friendly pat on the back as she and Eclipse retreated to a nearby table.

This was only one of several such villain bars operating across the united state, a shabby and untidy hole in the wall that had more room for standing then sitting. Neon signage over the bar buzzed in crimson lettrs displaying the name "Secret Lair", the bartender and owner Jefferson thought it was clever. Bulldozer rapped his knuckles on the wooden counter and Jefferson quickly slid him a full stein with practiced ease. The alpha moved his head back towards the duo behind him as he spoke to the bartender "Still on their tab, yeah?" Jefferson nodded his balding head as he set about tending to his other patrons.

Eclipse rubbed his tempels in a circular motion, his expression mostly unreadable underneath his blackout mask. “Well, now what?”

Hardstone gave a quirky smile, she never bothered with a mask, far too many high profile acts of domestic terrorism for that at this point. The rest of her outfit looked like it had been assembeled mostly from military surplus. Black boots, fatigues, and a sleeveless top with elbow-length fingerless gloves all in shades of black and purple. She retrieved her cellphone from one of the pouches on her belt. “Hardball” she said with a wink as her thumbs set to work on the screen. “You see Bulldozer and my friend Corona used to be an item, I heard the breakup was...messy” she giggled as she sent her text, rubbing at the side of her shaved head with a frantic motion.

Eclipsed cocked his head, intrigued as not more than a few moments later Hardstones phone buzzed. He had known the villainess most of his criminal career, ever since he had first gotten his powers nine years back and in many ways she had stuck to him like glue. In this particular line of work there wasn’t much weight in loyalty, yet somehow Hardstone had stuck to him like glue. Apparently she was the kind of glue that would stick to anybody, and was a consistent asset for Eclipse when it came to knowing the right people for the job.

Hardstone let out another impish cackle as she stowed her phone and jerked her thumb over her shoulder “Round two?”

Eclipse shrugged “Sure.” He got up with steady and stoic movement, adjusting his black duster with equally black leather gloves. He walked with measured movements, each step taken carefully as he slid his arms into the duster. The villain gave off an aura of mysterious lethality, all of his body language practiced and precise in a way that implied a lethality honed by years of dark work. Even as he flanked Bulldozers right side there was a presence Eclipse that the mans time was valuable and his meaning distinct if someone tried anything. He tended to leave a wide berth in most crowds, the bar being no exception.

Hardstone rounded back to Bulldozers left, taking the lead this time as she danced her fingers up his hairy muscular arm. “Bulldozer ol’ buddy, you never told me you were a cook” she cooed into his ear. The man's body stiffened slightly, and Eclipse couldn’t help but smile underneath his mask. Hardstone was always quick to get results and right now she was in her element.

“I heard you were trying to open your own place, have a nice little corner kitchen where you can go straight and make an honest living” she rubbed his shoulders playfully “Going to need some startup capital for something like that big guy.”

Bulldozer grunted into his beer glass as he sipped at it, his long hair masking most of his face.

“Oh come on Dozer!” Hardstone squealed as she leaned in on him “It’s a smash and grab, and we need your smash!” she said punching her hand. “This is the last job you’ve been waiting for, your golden goose.”

Eclipse decided to step in at this point, grabbing a pen and scrawling a onto a cocktail napkin before sliding it in front of Bulldozer.

The large man's eyes glanced down, grabbing the tiny napkin and bringing it closer to his face. Bulldozer sighed and clenched his fist around the napkin. “A Guardian facility huh?”

Hardstone nodded “Yep!”

He turned to look at Eclipse, ignoring Hardstones outburst. “This number for real? Because people who haven’t paid me, they have a bad time breathing after I fold them in half.”

Eclipse passed over the inquirery, turning his experionless visage to the bartender. He tapped at the bar counter and held up three fingers. Jefferson poured a brown liquor into three clean glasses that stood in stark contrast to the bartenders paler skin. Eclipse had to give the man credit, he knew his patrons and what they liked no matter how long it had been since their last visit. Best of all was he understood the implicit trust at an establishment such as this, and what would happen to him or his family if that trust was ever broken. The glasses landed in front of the villains and Eclipse raised his glass high “To the start of a lucrative partnership” he toasted. Hardstone shot hers into the air next to her partners with a gleeful giggle.

“You better hope so” Bulldozer said, clinking his glass with the others.

===

A few hours later, Eclipse and Hardstone spilled out into the cool night air. Hardstone still recovering from several pints shared with Bulldoozer, while Eclipise had elected for the rest of the dark liquor bottle from Jeffersons stock. The door to the bar swung closed behind them and a solid brick wall shimmered into view, perfectly camouflaging it in the surrounding Newark alleyway. AS they headed for the street, Eclipse fished a pack of cigarettes from his coat and plucked one out, lifting up the bottom of his mask to facilitate its enjoyment. A stubble of five o clock shadow beginning to show on his chiseled jaw, and he licked at his chapped lips as he lit the cigartte and rounded the corner with Hardstone on his heels.

“See, he wasn’t that hard of a sell.” she said, bumming a cigarette off her friend. Eclipse held up his lighter to her face as she inhaled deeply, the cherry briefly casting her features in a soft warm glow.

Eclipse stuck his hands in his coats pockets as he paused at the street corner. “You say that, but we’ve lost a lot of time and money on this guy.” he said tersely, cigratte bobbing up and down as he clutched it in his mouth.

The villainess was back on her phone, thumbs quick at work as she replied without looking up from her screen. “Look, good help doesn’t come cheap and you’re asking us to risk some serious jail-time. You told me who we're stealing for, but haven’t even told me what it is we’re stealing.” She flicked some ash away from the cigarette clutched in between her fingers not at work on her phone.

“That stays confidential, for now.” he said as he pulled the cigaette away after a long drag. “We still need someone who can crack Guardian security.”

“Geez, all business with you this time huh?” Hardstone said putting one hand on her hip, the other rubbing the butt against the bottom of her boot. “You seem tense Eclipse, well, more tense than usual. You feeling alright?”

Eclipse waved off her question “There’s a lot to do and our window to plan is minimal. Do we have a destination?”

“Yeah, looks like we’re going to Chicago. There’s an Alpha out there that might want the job, thing is she hasn’t done much in the field. You remember that data leak a few months back when the mediterranean Guardians had their identities revealed?”

“That was her?” Eclipse asked as he dropped his butt to the ground.

Hardstone nodded “She failed her Guardian trials and has had a chip on her shoulder ever since, might be a way to sweeten the pot for her.”

“Chicago it is, ready?” Eclipse said as he unzipped his coat and fanned it out wide, using the street lights to cast a wide shadow.

“Yep!”

Eclipse focused his power and the umbral hue of his shadow darkened to a deep and inky black, the usual haze swallowed into total opacity. Hardstone approached the edge of shadow, sitting down and swinging her legs into it like entering a swimming pool. Her legs disappeared into the inky blackness and she pinched her nose before submerging entirely into the murky blackness and completely vanishing.

“You don’t need to do that” he said to the open air, shaking his head as he quickly sank into the feet of his shadow from the street corner.

===

The trip from New Jersey to Illinois didn't take more than a few minutes, with Eclipse and Hardstone rising out of the dark shadows of the tree's in Millennium Park, near the infamous Cloud Gate. It was mercifully vacant due to the colder weather in Chicago and the two supervillains soon made their way with the help of Eclipses shadow jumpting to a south side neighborhood. In front of them was an aging and dilalapidated apartment complex, looking faintly like the skeleton of something once great thta cast an ominous chill of its own though the night air. They entered the buildings vestibule and Eclipse looked at Hardstone as she pressed at a buzzer before double-checking her phone. There was a crackle of static from the speaker and a feminine voice slurred out of it. "Yeah?"

Hardstone gave a nod to Eclipse, the latter already growing his shadow. She cleared her throat “Hi, we’re here about the lamp shade listing...”

There was a brief pause before the door buzzer sounded. Instead of opting for the pedestrian entry the two travelled by way of shadow and found themselves inside of a cluttered studio apartment. The only light came from several computer monitors that were all glowing a dull blue with various screens and windows on them. The floor was littered with trash, mostly empty pizza boxes and an assortment drink cans and bottles. A small bark from a corner of the room showed a pair of reflective eyes as a dog padded into view, panting happily. Hardstone kneeled down and gave the dog some pets as it leaned into her rubs shaking it’s tail cheerily.

“You like Akitas?” a voice sounded from above them.

Looking up Eclipse saw the frame of a young woman sprawled out on a web like structure of wires, many seemed to be attached to her scalp. In place of hair was a ropey mass of cables and wire, some ending in usb jacks and audio ports. The light from the cimputer screens shined against her pale skin, wearing nothing more than a pair of shorts and a dark crop top. The mass of wire and cables gracefully danced to the floor and then lowered it’s owner from the ceiling shortly after. She was small, a scrawny thing where a lot of the volume from her silhoutte was the discordant cables and wires that flowed from and around her body. The youth stared at the Eclipse and Hardstone, crossing her arms as she tried to stare hard with her brown eyes and cherubic face. The dog looked between his master and the two villains giving another bark of approval.

“Wouldn’t know, but I like your dog.” Hardstone was continuing her pets with the animal “I’m Hardstone and this is Eclipse.”

“My name is Ma-”

Eclipse held up a hand, which caught the youth off guard. “Only the name you want to be called professionally.”

“...Shiver, you can call me Shiver." She leaned back, her hair tendrils forming into something resembling comfortable seating as she rested her weight on it. One of the tendrils rose and pointed at the dog. "This little ankle biter is Buster." Buster barked in agreement.

Eclipse continued “So tell me Shiver, do you think you can crack a Guardian bases security?”

Shiver gave a laugh, a loud belly laugh as she clutched at her stomach. After a few moments she wiped a tear from her eye and looked at the duo.

“Can I?” she asked “Why do you think I was washed out to begin with?”