It Only Takes One to Nemese

Iarumas crouched on the edge of a rooftop, peering down into the alley below. The night vision of his sunglasses-like visor allowed him to see perfectly, even in the dim light. He could see the person who’d just entered one end, clearly on the way home from work. He could also see the guy standing between a few boxes in the middle, absently twisting a knife in shaking hands.

The vigilante rested one hand on the hilt of the sword on his belt, but didn’t draw it yet. He scooped up a rock and dropped it into the alley. It clattered to the ground. The sound echoed very faintly. Only the guy with the knife heard it. He looked up and around, frantically examining everything he could find.

It was the guy with the knife who found Iarumas first. He could tell the exact moment the guy registered the glowing blue lenses of his glasses. He didn’t make a sound, but he did stiffen considerably. He didn’t move or look away from Iarumas. Even as the other person walked in front of where he was hidden, he didn’t move.

Once they were out of the alley, Iarumas flicked his head to the other side. The guy dropped the knife and ran away.

“Not bad,” Oriceye’s voice crackled through Iarumas’ commlink. “You’ve definitely got the ‘Terror in the Night’ down pat.”

Iarumas hummed and stood up. “Easier than jumping down into the alley,” he pointed out. “You got anything else for me?”

“I don’t.”

“I do,” the other Oriceye chimed in. “Word on the police radios is there’s a heavily illegal weapons deal going on just a few blocks away from you. Funnily enough, the officer who responded to the anonymous tip said there was nothing suspicious.”

“You don’t believe it, do you?”

“Not one bit.” Oriceye hummed. A map appeared in the corner of his visor, with a route highlighted. He’d already started moving by the time she spoke again. “Think you can get there in time?”

“Already on the way,” Iarumas promised.

“Good. Let us know everything that happens.”

“As if you’re not always watching my feed.”

“Not always. I have to blink sometimes.”

“Magnetism’s tied up with a bank robbery in sector eight,” Oriceye added. “They ran into the sewers and he has to track them down before he can get away. So be careful, you won’t have any backup. And remember:”

“There’s no shame in making a tactical retreat to save your own butt,” Iarumas finished.

“I was going to say strategic retreat.”

“Sure you were, cupcake.”

Iarumas pulled himself up the last fire escape and onto a roof. He was now right across the street from the address Oriceye had given him. He stared at the building for a long moment. “Are you sure this is the right place?”

“Well, I was.”

“A deal on illegal weapons,” Iarumas began flatly. “Being held inside of a children’s hospital.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Want to bet there’s an underground casino in the basement?”

“No.”

“Nah.”

“This is almost definitely a prank,” Iarumas decided. Still, he vaulted over the edge of the building anyway. He latched the claws on the palm of his glove into the wall and slid down to the street. He landed smoothly in the darkness.

The darkness didn’t extend all the way across the street, thanks to a few well placed streetlamps. Iarumas waited a few moments to make sure the street was empty before crossing unseen.

Taking the front door was obviously out, as was the backdoor. Instead, Iarumas went to the side of the building. There were no doors, but there was a window on the fourth floor. Iarumas held up his hands and pressed his thumbs against the buttons built into the sides of his gloves. The claws popped out of his palms. He dug them into the walls and started pulling himself up.

Once off the ground, he kicked the walls. More claws poked out from the bottom of his boots. He shifted to pierce those into the walls. He adjusted his sword and began to climb the wall in earnest. The window was thankfully unlocked.

Iarumas dropped through it and landed in a dark and empty room. Leaving the window open in case he needed a quick escape, Iarumas began wandering through the dark hallways. He relied on the night vision of his glasses to see what was going on around him. Not that there was much to see.

“Don’t suppose you’ve been able to tap into the cameras?”

“No,” Oriceye admitted.

“Not yet,” Oriceye corrected him. “Give us a few minutes. They’ve been turned off, which is both annoying and suspicious, but we’ll be able to get them back on.”

“Should be able to.”

“Will be able to.”

“Right. In the meantime, I’ve pulled the schematics of the hospital.” Another map with another highlighted route popped onto Iarumas’ glasses. “Looks like they have one of those amphitheater operating room things. You know, with the rows of seats above it? Can get popcorn and a hot dog while you watch people rearrange someone’s guts.”

“Gross,” Iarumas muttered as he started following the map.

“Yeah, I know. But hot dogs are the go to snack for a reason. Anyway, if I were a less moral criminal, that’s where I’d set up shop. Plenty of room, lots of vantage points and exits, plus it’s far enough into the hospital that you’ll have plenty of warning in the case of invaders. I’d definitely set up there. Huh. I wonder if I can get us this building?”

“Not worth it. Turns out it’s not just the cameras that are off, but the whole building has been disconnected from the power grid.”

Iarumas let the short conversation die there. He silently navigated through the building until he got to the amphitheater. The door he found let him up into the rows of seats above the room itself.

The amphitheater was not empty. Freestanding lights were set up around the lower section of the room, each connected to a generator. Crates and duffel bags and even a single barrel were piled up in the room. And throughout the room were people, all holding weapons that Iarumas would really rather not have pointed at him. Mostly rifles.

Iarumas carefully descended the stairs to the barrier around the operating room. He crouched behind it and peaked over the edge to get a closer look at the people below. Each person wore an identical tan jacket with a brown hood. Some wore their hood up over their heads, while others let it hang back over their shoulders.

“Lions,” Iarumas whispered.

“That doesn’t make sense,” Oriceye immediately responded. “This is way out of their territory.”

“And yet they’re there.”

“I know that! But why?!”

“Obviously to deal weapons.”

“Don’t get sarcastic with me.”

“Is it possible they’re the buyers?” Iarumas asked. “No, that wouldn’t make sense. Look at them, they’re clearly waiting for someone.”

“It could be a setup.”

“You think they’re trying to encroach on the Bears’ territory?”

“It wouldn’t be out of character for them.”

“There have been no reported sightings of Bears tonight. That doesn’t necessarily mean anything, though.”

“I haven’t seen any either,” Iarumas added.

“What are we looking at?”

Iarumas jumped to the side, pivoting and grabbing the hilt of his sword. He didn’t draw it, but he was ready. He landed in a defensive stance, facing the speaker.

They were dressed in a miniskirt and a red t-shirt with a graphic of a mandrill holding up a lion cub. Black boots extended up to the middle of their thighs.

They had the remains of a tan jacket on their shoulders. It had no sleeves, just rings of fabric to wrap around their arms. Not one but two brown hoods were sewn onto it. One hung behind them and the other was pulled low over their head. The rest of the fabric had been sloppily cut away, judging by the frayed and choppy edges.

A black strip of fabric sewn to the inside of their hood wrapped around the top half of their face as a mask. Their mouth and chin were visible, including a rather prominent scar going over their lips.

“I was hoping you would be the one to show up,” they said in a rather light voice. “Glad you could make it. It was the police scanners, right? I thought you listened to those, but it’s good to know for sure.”

“Who are you?” Iarumas demanded.

They tutted and shook their head. “Really? That’s your first question?” They sighed and let their head shaking get more aggressive. “Right, fine, whatever. I’ll indulge you, I guess.” They spread their arms in a very vague ‘look at me’ gesture. “Iarumas. Allow me to declare myself: your Nemesis.”

Iarumas stared at Nemesis for a long moment, eyebrows raised so high they were visible over the frames of his glasses.

“You’re not my nemesis.”

Nemesis tutted and wagged their finger. “Au contraire, enemy mine. It may take two to tango, but it only takes one to nemese. And do you want to know why?”

“No, not re-”

Nemesis surged forward faster than Iarumas could track. Their fist collided with his chin, sending him stumbling back. They hooked their foot on his ankle, tripping him up and sending him crashing to the floor in front of a row of seats. Nemesis pressed their foot to his chest.

“Because all I have to do is attack you,” they hissed. “Either you defend yourself, and I win. Or you don’t defend yourself and, well…” Nemesis giggled and lowered their voice. “I win.”

They began to twist and grind their foot into his chest. Iarumas groaned and lashed his arms out. One caught his ankle to stop it from moving. The other latched onto the leg of a chair.

Iarumas pushed Nemesis’ foot up. At the same time, he yanked on the chair. It was bolted to the ground, and thus didn’t move. Iarumas was not bolted to the ground, and thus did move. He slid across the floor. He shoved one leg up, his knee knocking against Nemesis’ leg. It was their turn to stumble and nearly collapse. Iarumas shifted and rolled into a crouch. He jumped to his feet and pulled his sword from its scabbard.

Nemesis righted themself. They leaned against the railing and lifted their leg. They bent it back and absently stretched the limb.

“Not too shabby,” they admitted. “Don’t misunderstand. Still shabby, but not too.”

Since he was actually ready for it this time, Iarumas saw the moment Nemesis tensed to move. He swung his sword to the side, slicing through the railing. He grabbed one end of it and bent it to the side. As he jumped back, Nemesis slammed right into the bent railing. They huffed as the wind was knocked out of them.

Nemesis pulled back and rubbed their stomach. They took a careful breath and grabbed the bent railing, intent on pushing it out of their way. It didn’t budge. They sighed and hopped over it.

“You know, I really wasn’t expecting you to last this long.” They started to go for another punch. Iarumas held his sword in front of him. Nemesis diverted and pulled their arm away to rub the back of their head. “Like, look at that. You barely know how to hold that thing.”

Iarumas grit his teeth and pointedly avoided looking at his sword. Nor did he adjust his grip on the hilt. It felt fine to him, and that was that.

Nemesis sidestepped and climbed on top of the chairs. They stood one foot on the seatbacks and the other on the armrests. One of their own arms was held out to balance themselves while the other kept rubbing the back of their head.

They sauntered along the chairs, stepping closer to Iarumas. He didn’t back away. He let Nemesis get closer and closer. When they were on the seat directly in front of him, he swung his sword. It slipped harmlessly past the leg on the armrest and sliced through the seatback.

Nemesis had already jumped up, vaulting over Iarumas. They landed behind him and kicked him in the back. He stumbled against the side of the chairs. The blade of his sword slipped into the gap between the seat and the cut back.

Instinct more than anything had Iarumas abandon his sword and roll to the side, fully intending to dodge another hit from Nemesis. When he landed on the floor, he saw that there had been no attack. Instead, Nemesis reached for his sword. They pulled it out and held it in one hand, idly spinning and slashing it around.

“Not bad,” Nemesis mused. “A bit unbalanced. The hilt could use replacing. But it’ll do for now, and the irony of using your own sword is just too good to pass up.”

Iarumas didn’t bother to stand. The movement would’ve left him way too open. He shifted so his left side was in the shadow of the seats and reached down to his scabbard. With his thumb, he flicked off the clasps keeping it on his belt.

Nemesis spun the sword around, pointing the blade down at Iarumas. “Any last words? Actually, I don’t care.”

They plunged the sword down. Iarumas slashed the scabbard to the side. It caught the flat of the blade, diverting it just enough that it stabbed into the floor beside his face instead.

Nemesis huffed and moved to pull it up again. Iarumas slapped the scabbard against their wrist. They yelped and let go of the sword, pulling away. They cradled and rubbed their wrist.

“You little…” They shook their head and turned their attention to the Lions on the floor below.

Iarumas didn’t stick around to find out what they would do or say next. He jumped to his feet, yanked his sword out of the ground, and ran back the other way. He skidded out into the hallway and retraced his steps through the dark building.

As he ran he slid his sword back into its scabbard, though couldn’t take the time to reattach it to his belt. He just held it in one hand. He burst back into the room he’d first entered. The window was still open, letting in a slight draft.

Iarumas dove out of the window. He caught the sill to swing down, ejected his claws, and latched onto the wall. He slid down, leaving four deep and long gouges in his wake. He roughly hit the ground and kept running, soon disappearing into the shadows across the street. Not that he slowed down.

“Tactical retreat?” Oriceye asked.

“Strategic,” Iarumas panted. “Were you watching?”

“Yes. That was…”

“A lot, stressful, kinda cool in a detached kinda way,” Oriceye listed off.

Iarumas swung up onto a fire escape and finally stopped running. He slumped down and sat back against the brick wall. “I couldn’t stop them.”

“You had to get out of there alive.”

“So, you know, priorities.”

Having more or less caught his breath, Iarumas finally twisted to put his scabbard back on his belt. He let himself stay sitting for a few moments.

“Did you get hurt in there?”

“Not really. A few bumps and bruises, think I scraped my hand when I fell. Nothing major.”

“Good. I mean, no injuries at all would be better, obviously, but you know what I mean.”

“Sometimes.”

“Maybe a third of the time.”

“Hey!”

“Okay, okay. A quarter of the time.”

“That’s not better.”

“I will keep going down.”

Silence reigned over the commlink.

“That’s what I thought.”

Iarumas grabbed the rusted railing and hauled himself to his feet. He turned to look in the direction of the hospital, though he couldn’t see it through all the buildings between them.

“Think we’ll see them again?”

“Almost definitely. They have some tie with the Lions, and considering they all but admitted that was a trap to lure you in, I’d say it’s all but a guarantee.”

“Guess you really do have a nemesis now.”

Iarumas sighed and closed his eyes, letting his chin drop onto his hand. “I don’t want a nemesis.”

“I hate to say it, but they were right. I don’t think you have much of a say in the matter.”

“I know. And I hate it.”

“Still, though. A nemesis. Can I be in the room when you tell Compound?”

“And can I get advanced warning so I’m not in the room when you tell Magnetism?”

Iarumas groaned again, this time burying his face in both hands. “No and no,” he decided. “If I have to suffer through Nemesis, you suffer with me.”

“Challenge accepted.”

Iarumas let himself wallow for a couple more minutes. Because for however much he might deny it, there was no doubt that it was true. Nemesis had officially claimed their position as his nemesis. There would be no getting out of it. He’d just have to put up with it and properly take them down next time.

He really hoped it was the next time. He didn’t want this to become a recurring thing.

A nearby scream pulled Iarumas from his musings. He perked up and hopped off the fire escape, already moving in the direction of the scream. He could worry about Nemesis later.

For now, he had work to do.