In Pursuit of the Siege pt. 1

Cedric Grey was relaxing on the couch in the main lounge of Guardians HQ.  He had the tiny brown gudari snuggled on his belly, curled up into a fuzzy ball.  On the news was a story about another Siege sighting, as well as a dragon and a young heroine fighting him off.

“Way to go, Matt,” Grey muttered, “Wonder who the heroine was.  I don’t think we have anybody out in the southside tonight.”

“We don’t,” another man’s voice confirmed from behind the couch.

Cedric looked up to see General Bardak, the time-travelling space commando.  He was out of his armor, instead walking about the headquarters in a black turtleneck and a pair of tan slacks.  He leaned against the back of the couch and poked the tiny bear on Cedric’s stomach, causing Sausage to perk up and look around in surprise like a cat.  He looked up at Bardak and panted happily.

“Read your report about that gas station robbery,” the general explained, “While I applaud the clever approach of lifting the car’s back end up to keep them from escaping, was it really necessary for somebody like you to handle it?”

“I was just there,” Grey replied, “If we don’t help where we can, then what’s the point of having these powers?  Be like Greek gods and fuck around?”

The commando grinned, his bright teeth contrasting nicely with his dark face, “Are you doing alright?  Since losing your magic axe?”

“Yeah, just fine.  I feel like I got some sort of dynamo inside of me, you know?  Like I could run forever or lift crazy weight like Olga or her wife.”

“Well, that’s good,” Bardak walked around the couch to sit in a nearby recliner, “So, you feel like you can get back into regular patrols?”

“Shit yeah, I do!” the big blonde man laughed, causing Sausage to get up on all fours so he could stabilize himself, “Hell, I think I’ve been good to go since the change, but, you know…  Safety first.”

“Well, with this Siege sighting, I know I’d certainly like to have somebody available who’s dealt with him before looking into it.  I’m planning on hitting the site tomorrow, you want in?”

“Sure!” Cedric chortled, “Guess that means I should get some sleep.”

He scopped the little bear up with him and rolled off the sofa.  With a quick salute, he headed off to his on-base quarters.  Bardak nodded as he went, glad to see his fellow hero wasn’t having a crisis of faith due to his change.

“I just hope he’s not lying about his abilities,” he said to himself as he took up the remote control and changed the channel.

=============

The next morning had Cedric suited up in the lobby in a blue T-shirt emblazoned with a golden, winged shield emblem with its prominent Big G.  His pants were a pair of gray camouflaged cargo pants and he was wearing a pair of well-worn combat boots.  Finally, he wore a baseball cap to keep his hair out of his eyes and was practically bouncing on his feet with impatience.

Bardak approached, now in his full black, silver and red powered body armor, his massive sword magnetically clapped to his back and a laser pistol holstered to his thigh.  Next to him was a woman clad in a blue robe, the magician Coventina.

“Expecting wizards and ghosts?” Cedric asked.

“Aside from the fact that it is always a good idea to have a varied loadout for the team, the police report indicated something about a golem on the site,” Bardak explained, “So, I tapped Morgana to assist us on this mission.  She recommended her lover, Coventina.  She has experience with golems and similar constructs.”

“While my experience is largely with water constructs, I can provide some basic analysis.  I still don’t know why you’re dragging me along,” she muttered, “You could have simply brought me some of the statue’s remains and I could have analyzed them in the comfort of my study.”

“I think you spend too much time down there, my dear,” the general replied, gently patting her shoulder reassuringly, “You need more exposure!  You need to explore this city you ostensibly protect and defend…  And it’s hard to do the last two if you keep yourself holed up in your study.  I’m also hoping that if you see how we function together, as a team, it would convince you to consider joining us.”

“I cannot argue with that logic,” the sorceress muttered, “If you would like, I can get us there promptly.”

“We’re waiting for one more,” Bardak replied, then nodded to the entrance, “And there she is!”

The front door closed behind Jessica Matthews, also known as Lady Liberty.  Her tall, muscular body was clad in her black-and-gold Guardians uniform that left much of the right half of her torso exposed.  It wasn’t the most “PG” of outfits, but then she was hardly a “PG” personality.  She was holding a white bear up to her cheek as she walked in, nuzzling him and kissing him before she set him down.

“You enjoying your time with Snowball?” Cedric asked.

“He’s so cuddly at night!” Jessica replied before she walked over and gave Cedric a hug, “It’s good to see you’re on mission again!”

“You too, babe,” Cedric replied, then turned to Snowball, “The boys are in Poly’s lab.”

“Hahn!  Hahn!” Snowball replied and shambled down the hall.

“Weird little thing,” Coventina grumbled as he passed, then turned to the rest of the team, “If we are done wasting time, I can get us to the crime scene.”

“Yes, please begin,” Bardak gestured and the sorceress pressed her palm to the wall.

There was the sound of rushing water as the moisture in the air was coalesced into a disc where she pressed her hand.  The disc began to swirl, like a sideways whirlpool, before it suddenly opened up from the center.  Through the aperture, they could see outside, in fact the very same site where a hole had been left in the ground by the Siege’s attack and the police transport that still sat on its side, looking like a torn open sardine can.  There were tape outlines on the ground where the bodies of the Raveners had been left, a couple spots indicating where limbs had been left discarded.

“Step right through,” Coventina stepped aside so the others could egress to the scene and she followed them, closing the portal behind her.

Cedric looked down at the pavement, then looked to the blue-clad woman.  He pointed to the wet spots all over the ground and chuckled.

“Same thing happen on the other side?  You know the janitors don’t like it when we muck up the base like that.”

“It is a little water,” she sighed, “I am sure their mops are capable of handling what little mess it makes.”

“Come on now, Grey, focus,” General Bardak announced, “Coventina, the forensic team over there should have the golem pieces.  Jessica and I will talk with the liaison officer.  Grey, get in the hole and see if you can find where the Siege ran off to.”

With their tasks assigned, the team members split up to find out what they could about the events that transpired the night before.  Coventina met with the investigators and kept her irritation out of her voice.  While she was agitated at being pulled out of her study, much more at the last-minute’s notice, she admitted to herself that the general had a point and that she kept herself sequestered from the city far too much.  Bardak and Lady Liberty met with a very tired Lieutenant Fargo.  While he’d had some sleep the night before, the visions of those men being ripped apart had haunted him.

“He seemed bigger than the footage showed,” the cop said between sips of coffee, “Like, bulkier.  Think he might be juicin’?  Does that work on you super types?”

“Some of them,” Jessica shrugged, “I never tried once I was empowered.  I already look great.”

“Anything you can tell us about the situation?” Bardak asked, “Is that spot over there where the golem poked into the wall?”

“Yes, if that robed lady is a wizard of some kind, she might be able to magic up some answers over there.”

“I don’t know if her magic quite works that way,” Jessica said worriedly.

“I’ll let her know, anyway,” Bardak replied then nodded toward the hole in the ground, “Go see if Cedric’s found anything.”

Jessica leaped down into the hole to find Cedric knelt in the dirt, scrutinizing it.  She walked up behind him and leaned over his shoulder.

“Any luck?”

“I called Matt before I went to sleep last night,” he muttered, “He said something dragged the Siege away.  Marks on the ground corroborate the story.  This dirt’s been flattened and there are some claw marks, like that big bastard didn’t want to leave.  See these lines here?  He got twisted around, and these straighter drags show that the struggling stopped.  All this fluffier dirt shows where it picked up speed, leaving a cloud in its wake.”

“What could have picked up something that big?” the heroine asked as she helped Cedric up.

“My worry?  The same kind of thing that disintegrated an armored car to break out a flying brick type supervillain.  Flying brick…  Like you.”

“I figured,” Jessica smirked, “So…  Should we just follow the tunnel?”

“That’s the most direct lead,” Cedric replied, “Let’s tell Bardak what we’ve got and see what he wants to do.”

Jessica flew up out of the hole, but remembered that Cedric didn’t have his axe anymore.  She turned around to fly down and carry him up when he hurtled past her, leaping over her head like a basketball player, complete with his arm outstretched for a dunk and his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

“I’m pretty sure you’re not Michael Jordan!” she laughed as he landed.