anything, and won’t hesitate to take your rudeness out on your boyfriend, got it?”
Polite. Respectful. I’d worked with the public for years, I could handle being polite. I’d handle anything if it meant getting Raul through this. I nodded jerkily. “Okay.”
“Smart man.” We stopped just within the edge of the shiny metal floor. “This is Edward Dinges, boss.”
“And right on time.” The man smiled, and it was ghastly—the sort of thing you’d expect to see on a body that had been left to molder in a cave for a thousand years or so. “I appreciate your sense of punctuality, Mr. Dinges.”
“I appreciate the invitation,” I said as levelly as I could. Raul rolled his head toward me, and I winced at the sight of his swollen face. His eyes were hazy, surrounded by thick black rings, and his nose was clearly broken.
“Nnno,” he slurred. “No, Edward, you shouldn’t be here, go.”
“I can’t,” I insisted. My heart felt like it was going to split in two and bleed out inside my chest. “I can’t go.”
“Well, actually you will,” Maggot said. “But not before we have a talk. Daya, give the man a chair.”
“You got it, boss.” She grabbed a cheap aluminum folder that had been leaned against the nearest wall and set it down behind me. I sat.
This close I could make out more of Maggot than his bulk. I saw the sallowness of his skin, and the numerous quarter-sized scabs that decorated his hands and neck. I saw the way his head practically lolled on his neck, which was strangely skinny despite the bulky sag of the rest of him, and wondered how this guy was even alive. But his eyes answered that question. I’d looked into the faces of fanatics before. Pinball had been like that. Raul was to a lesser degree. Neither of them had ever come close to matching the intensity of Maggot’s yellow-eyed stare.
“You seem concerned, Mr. Dinges,” he said. “There’s no need for that. I didn’t ask you here to hurt you; I asked you here for the chance to work with you. I’d like us to be colleagues.”
“You’re off to a terrible start,” I said, a little more honestly than I’d intended to. “You kidnapped Raul. You destroyed our home.”
“The pair of you are notoriously insular. How else could I motivate you two to meet with me? I assumed the Mad Bombardier would put up more of a fight. That was before I realized he’s not one of us.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“He’s not Super,” Maggot explained. “Such a high-caliber Villain, I expected him to be oozing with potential, and instead I get a normal, everyday civilian.” He shook his head. “It’s disappointing, but doesn’t mean he’s completely useless.”
“Give me elemental sodium and a chance to piss and you’ll see how useless I am,” Raul mumbled. He got a sharp slap across the face for that, which rocked him so far to the side he’d probably have fallen over if Eldritch hadn’t hauled him back into place. I almost stood up to go to him, but Vibro’s warning hand on my shoulder held me down.
“Pyrotechnic tricks,” Maggot dismissed. “Not real powers. Not like the rest of us have, although I have to say, for a while I thought I’d never get to reach my full potential.” He smiled again. “I was in solitary confinement in the Abattoir when you two blew it to pieces. I’d have invited you here to thank you for that, if nothing else. I escaped then, and so did most of the brethren carrying my little helpers.”
Little helpers . . . “What do you mean?”
Maggot’s eyebrows rose. “You haven’t caught sight of them yet? Daya, show him yours.”
Vibro bent down next to me and parted her lavender hair right above her ear. A white slug about half the size of my thumb rested against her scalp, its circular sucker securely attached to her skin.
“Little helpers,” he repeated. “My maggots. You didn’t think my name was merely fanciful, did you?”
Vibro let her hair fall and straightened up
Polite. Respectful. I’d worked with the public for years, I could handle being polite. I’d handle anything if it meant getting Raul through this. I nodded jerkily. “Okay.”
“Smart man.” We stopped just within the edge of the shiny metal floor. “This is Edward Dinges, boss.”
“And right on time.” The man smiled, and it was ghastly—the sort of thing you’d expect to see on a body that had been left to molder in a cave for a thousand years or so. “I appreciate your sense of punctuality, Mr. Dinges.”
“I appreciate the invitation,” I said as levelly as I could. Raul rolled his head toward me, and I winced at the sight of his swollen face. His eyes were hazy, surrounded by thick black rings, and his nose was clearly broken.
“Nnno,” he slurred. “No, Edward, you shouldn’t be here, go.”
“I can’t,” I insisted. My heart felt like it was going to split in two and bleed out inside my chest. “I can’t go.”
“Well, actually you will,” Maggot said. “But not before we have a talk. Daya, give the man a chair.”
“You got it, boss.” She grabbed a cheap aluminum folder that had been leaned against the nearest wall and set it down behind me. I sat.
This close I could make out more of Maggot than his bulk. I saw the sallowness of his skin, and the numerous quarter-sized scabs that decorated his hands and neck. I saw the way his head practically lolled on his neck, which was strangely skinny despite the bulky sag of the rest of him, and wondered how this guy was even alive. But his eyes answered that question. I’d looked into the faces of fanatics before. Pinball had been like that. Raul was to a lesser degree. Neither of them had ever come close to matching the intensity of Maggot’s yellow-eyed stare.
“You seem concerned, Mr. Dinges,” he said. “There’s no need for that. I didn’t ask you here to hurt you; I asked you here for the chance to work with you. I’d like us to be colleagues.”
“You’re off to a terrible start,” I said, a little more honestly than I’d intended to. “You kidnapped Raul. You destroyed our home.”
“The pair of you are notoriously insular. How else could I motivate you two to meet with me? I assumed the Mad Bombardier would put up more of a fight. That was before I realized he’s not one of us.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“He’s not Super,” Maggot explained. “Such a high-caliber Villain, I expected him to be oozing with potential, and instead I get a normal, everyday civilian.” He shook his head. “It’s disappointing, but doesn’t mean he’s completely useless.”
“Give me elemental sodium and a chance to piss and you’ll see how useless I am,” Raul mumbled. He got a sharp slap across the face for that, which rocked him so far to the side he’d probably have fallen over if Eldritch hadn’t hauled him back into place. I almost stood up to go to him, but Vibro’s warning hand on my shoulder held me down.
“Pyrotechnic tricks,” Maggot dismissed. “Not real powers. Not like the rest of us have, although I have to say, for a while I thought I’d never get to reach my full potential.” He smiled again. “I was in solitary confinement in the Abattoir when you two blew it to pieces. I’d have invited you here to thank you for that, if nothing else. I escaped then, and so did most of the brethren carrying my little helpers.”
Little helpers . . . “What do you mean?”
Maggot’s eyebrows rose. “You haven’t caught sight of them yet? Daya, show him yours.”
Vibro bent down next to me and parted her lavender hair right above her ear. A white slug about half the size of my thumb rested against her scalp, its circular sucker securely attached to her skin.
“Little helpers,” he repeated. “My maggots. You didn’t think my name was merely fanciful, did you?”
Vibro let her hair fall and straightened up
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