Talyesin's Tales

Previously on Squirrelman - Sins of the Past:

In order to deal with the UnSeelie Seeming on the outskirts of Downtown, the Crimefighters' League, through Doc Sterling's wife, Julia, Princess of Avalon, contacts the Seelie Court in England and asks for their aid in dealing with the UnSeelie.

With the Claremont Act repealed, and the Crimefighters' League attracting negative publicity and even violent reprisals for their involvement in Mayor Ross-Carter's accidental and unfortunate death, the team's morale is at an all-time low. Several members have already found prior engagements or resigned altogether.

In order to gain some sense of purpose for his team, Squirrelman enlists the aid of Doc Sterling to find the Mole...



Starring

Matt Mattheson ......... as Squirrelman
Kimmy Sinclair ................ as Ragdoll
Rick Duncan ........................... as Ace
Lisa Dumont ................... as Physique
Anna Kimble ................. as Darklight
Stephanie Cooke ............. as Blue Jay
Jay Allen ........................ as Red Bolt
Mike Washington ............. as Dragon
Trevor Andrews ............... as Phenom
Jessica Wagner .............. as Rapunzel
Katie McCormick ............ as Superia
Hank Scott .................. as Powerband
Wayne Masters ... as Midnight Avenger
Jill Suzuki ........................... as Naiad
Steven Rand ............... as Showdown
Hannah Cohen ................... as Psifire
Kyle Drake ........... as Troubleshooter
Jackson Archer ............ as Moonbow
Alistair Crombie ............. as the Mole
Cricket ............................... as herself
Max Mattheson ....... as Captain Hero
Missy Mattheson ........ as Squirrelgrrl
Elizabeth Walsingham .... as Diamond
Gareth King ................ as Lightbringer
Rob Ross ....................... as Ultraman
Rosie Ross ................as Ultrawoman
Ryan Ross .......................as Ultraboy
Rory Ross ....................... as Ultragirl
Melody Johnson .............. as Decibelle
Tony Juarez .................. as Redeemer
Samantha Timmons ... as Speed Queen
Kathryn Hardy.......... as Nightwoman

Guest starring

Reed Sterling ........... as Doc Sterling
Julia Sterling ........ as Princess Julia

and

Augustus Octavian Steele ... as Doc Steele



The trip to the brownstone Downtown yields nothing. According to Cricket it's one of Peter the Great's hideouts, a place he keeps for his goons to party in, bring their girls to, get stoned in, whatever. We search the place top to bottom, leave no flea-infested ratshit-covered mattress unturned, but nothing.

The Mole's gone. Just gone. Anna goes into a clairvoyant trance, trying to see if he'd been there, and yeah, he had been - one minute there, searching for something, the next minute gone. Just vanished. Teleported away, with no way to trace where to, or why.

Next day, a bunch of other cities across the country start declaring the same thing Mayor Bendis declared - that any unsanctioned, unofficial crimefighting will be considered vigilantism, revoking - or at least ignoring - the rights the crimefighters had under the Samaritan Act. Not illegal, so much, but definitely unwelcome, not to be tolerated, dealt with harshly, etc, etc. ad fucking nauseum.

A hell of a lot of crimefighters decide, in Action City and otherwise, not to submit to the officially-sanctioned meta units. If we had wanted to become cops, we would have become cops. And a solid percentage of the ones who don't report, just go underground. Stop crimefighting completely. If their efforts are unwanted and unappreciated, they figure, then let the city see how it is without their efforts altogether.

It's petty, but understandable. We put our lives on the line, just like cops, but cops generally go up against assholes with guns, and we go up against assholes who have lasers shooting out their eyes, or who can throw trucks at us, or who can turn the ground under your feet into boiling mud and cook you. And we're being told that putting our lives on the line for the city we love, because pretty much no one else can do the job, isn't appreciated. Well, fine.

I understand the reaction, but I'm not one of them. Way I figure it, my predecessor got into this job back when masks weren't popular. He got into the job because it was the right thing to do, not the fun thing, not the easy thing. When I came here, I inherited that responsibility. When I chose to stay, I accepted it. I've been living with that responsibility the last two years. I'm not going to turn my back on it, just because the going gets tough again.

Team Title declares an amnesty for any metas wanting to emigrate to the Citadel. It's a sovereign nation, after all. A lot of metas and masks take them up on the offer, so many that the members of Team Title who are also members of the League get called up. TeenSupreme relocate up there, too. Decibelle, Nightwoman, Superia, Blue Jay all report in, but Steph and Katie come back. Let us know the Ultras are at the Citadel, say hi. Don't say why they chose to come back, why the others chose to stay. Everyone's got choices to make.

We get some good news. The Ministry of Unexplained Phenomena have contacted the Seelie Court, who have agreed to send the Wild Hunt. Doc Sterling, Julia, Doc Steele, me and some of the Crimefighters' League, what's left of us, decide to be there when the Wild Hunt arrives. We're told they'll be arriving at Dawn, next day, in Ditko Park.

I'm there. Ragdoll, Ace, Darklight, Superia, Physique, Phenom, Dragon, Red Bolt, Cricket, Blue Jay, Showdown, Midnight Avenger, Rapunzel, Troubleshooter, Max, Squirrelgrrl.

Naiad's "too busy" in Little Atlantis. Diamond and Lightbringer talk to me privately, "couldn't justify staying," they're heading for the Citadel. Psifire tells me she's relocating to the Citadel, too. Same with Powerband. Redeemer says he needs to see to his family, make sure they're safe, doesn't know when he'll be available again. Speed Queen doesn't even tell me face to face, just leaves her nanobead in the lounge with a note apologizing. Moonbow tells me he's going vigilante, doesn't want to implicate the League in his actions, never was much of a team player anyway. I argue with him on that point, but accept his resignation.

Decibelle and Nightwoman, gone. Mole, missing. We've lost almost half our people, thanks to the stupidity and shortsightedness of petty government officials who were looking to fix the blame instead of fixing the problem.

I'm trying not to think about it too much. If I do, I'm liable to say or do something I'll regret.

Dawn that day is clear and crisp, the perfect autumn dawn. We're all there, and everyone, completely without planning it, we're all wearing our Crimefighters' League jackets we all have, even Max and Missy. When I ask them about it, Max tells me that Moonbow and Psifire gave them theirs.

Julia tells us we all have to face east, and watch the horizon. From where we're standing, due east is a bit of a hill, our backs to the manmade pond at the centre of the park.

The sun comes up over the hill, blindingly bright, and suddenly they're there, maybe two dozen of them.

The Wild Hunt. They're tall and thin and dressed in leathers and chainmail and furs, all armed with long swords and short bows. Males and females. Tattoos on their faces in swirls and spirals. Hair colour is pretty varied, reds and blondes mostly, but every last one of them has eyes that are almond-shaped and dark. Not black, not brown, but some dark absence of colour... and what stares out of those eyes is very definitely not human, never was human, never could be confused for human. The only stereotype that does apply to them is their pointed ears, but these elves never mended a shoe, never made a toy or a cookie. Their horses, tall and thin too, like horses distorted in a funhouse mirror, look like they eat raw meat and piss out acid, their hooves sparking like flames whenever they stamp at the ground.

Julia steps forward, says something in a language that sounds like it's mostly phlegm and anger. Troubleshooter fiddles subtly with something on his belt, looking more and more annoyed, as she and the leader of the Wild Hunt, a big broad-shouldered elf with a helmet that has twelve-point deer antlers sticking out to either side, talk about the UnSeelie. At least, that's what I'm assuming they're talking about.

After a bit, not long but long enough for the sun to have completely crested the hill, Julia turns to me and says, "Lead the way."

We all head Downtown. Somehow, the Wild Hunt get their horses down an old flight of stairs, through a long narrow tunnel, and into the caverns under the city, without ever dismounting. It's very mindfucking.

Leading them to the UnSeelie Seeming, everyone's nerves start to get up. No one's talking, but the elf-horses are starting to chomp at the bit, and the Wild Hunt is having a tough time keeping them under control. We're about two, three hundred yards away when the leader of the Hunt calls for a halt, dismounts, and walks ahead of us maybe ten paces, then sniffs the air, knees down, sniffs the ground, turns to face us, and grins.

There's nothing, not a single damn thing, pleasant about that grin.

As he walks back to us, Julia turns and says, "Everyone, please listen. You must understand that their ways are not our ways. What's about to happen has been happening since the elder days, before humans ever came down from their trees, ever walked out of their caves."

The Hunter mounts his weird elf-horse, pulls out a horn, and blows hard on it. At first, there's no sound, but every single muscle I have screams at me to twitch, to run, to hide. Then the sound comes, as though from far, far away, a horn announcing a hunt, the Hunt, the first, primal Hunt from which all other hunts are pale shadows. Squirrelgrrl lets out a little shriek and hides her face against my chest. I put my arm around her, fighting hard against the fear, the panic that's growing in me, but I find myself pushing Ragdoll and Squirrelgrrl behind me, find my son next to me, just as afraid as I am, just as determined not to let anything happen to his family.

The horn sounds louder and louder and louder, until all of us have our hands over our ears, and the Wild Hunt is let loose, charging past us. I feel a relief so intense I almost faint. Not me, not mine, we're safe, not me, not mine.

"Julia what the fu- what the hell did we just let loose on the UnSeelie?" I very nearly yell at her.

"The Wild Hunt has jurisdiction over all matters pertaining to the Fae Realm," Darklight answers. "We've only done what is just and fair in their eyes."

"Jesus fucking Christ," Physique says.

"Totally," Cricket agrees.

"There are women and children down there," Troubleshooter says.

"UnSeelie women and UnSeelie children," Julia counters.

"And the Wild Hunt will, what, kill them all, every man, woman, and child?" Showdown asks.

"You can't kill the Fae," Julia explains. "They are functionally immortal. Their forms here on this plane will be disrupted, and their essence will return to the Fae Realms. In a hundred years, or a thousand, or ten thousand, or perhaps longer, they will be allowed to return to this plane. Or perhaps not. I got the impression that the Prince of Thorns has very few friends in the Seelie Court, judging from the reaction the First Hunter had when I told him who they were facing."

"Angry, was he?" Red Bolt asks.

"Thrilled. Happy... no, ecstatic."

"Nice."

Superia gives a little gasp, then closes her eyes and says, "It's begun."

Maybe a few seconds after that, we start hearing the screams. It's everything I can do to keep from rushing in, trying to save those poor defenceless people, but then I remember that those so-called defenceless people have claws and fangs and can probably rip me in two. Julia's face is cold as stone, Reed's is concerned for his wife, Steele's lost in thought. The League, every last one of us, looks unhappy as hell.

The screams stop and the yells start, the sound of angry people shouting out their rage and pain and fear, the sounds of metal against metal, against stone, against wood and leather and flesh. The sounds of war as it was fought a thousand years ago, before black powder from the inscrutable East made killing a thing of mere seconds and great distance, amplified by being trapped in a cavern, bouncing off the walls and ceilings and floor, until we can't tell the echoes from the originals any more.

Soon, but not soon enough, there's no more sound coming from the cavern. We head in, expecting something out of a nightmare.

Nothing. No blood, no bodies, no buildings even. Just the Wild Hunt walking around, checking things left on the ground, furniture, chests, buckets, clothes. Seeming very calm, considering what they just did.

"What... where's... how did..." Blue Jay says, looking around.

"As her Highness explained," Darklight answers. "The Wild Hunt disrupted their forms here on this plane. They were... banished, once more, to the Fae Realms."

"What happened to the buildings?" Dragon asks.

"The buildings were cognitive constructs held in place by inherent thaumaturgical resonance fields generated by-"

"Doc."

"They disappeared, too."

Julia's talking to the First Hunter, thanking him and his people, I guess, for their help. He looks over to me, and I nod back at him. He snaps his fingers without ever taking his eyes off me, and the Wild Hunt mount up again, without a word, dropping the UnSeelie loot where they found it.

They leave, but not the way that we came. They start riding away from us, but instead of actually getting further away, they seem to ride in place, just getting smaller and smaller as if in perspective, like they're getting further away while staying right there, until they're out of sight, gone. More mindfuckery.

I turn to Doc Steele.

"Well, Doc, where's the entrance to Subterra?" I ask him.

"Over here," Max calls. He's standing in the middle of hundreds of broken old plates and glasses and cups, and a bunch of second-hand-store chairs. He's pointing at a hole in the floor of the cavern.

"That it?" I ask Steele.

"That's it," he answers.

Everyone heads over, crowding around the tunnel. It looks just barely big enough for Dragon to squeeze through.

"I'll go first," I tell my team. "Superia, you're last. Looks like we're single file for a while, so keep it spread out. Don't bunch up."

"I'll go first," Steele says.

"Look, this isn't-"

"I'll go first," he repeats.

"Fine."

Steele crouches down, lowers himself into the hole. Reed hands him a light to clip onto his belt. He clips it on behind him, so that he's not staring at a light on his way down, ruining his night vision completely. Ace is handing out glow-cards to anyone who needs a light, Superia's glowing faintly, Troubleshooter's got more clip on lights, Darklight conjures up a couple of spheres of glowing yellow light. We're good for light.

I follow Steele. It feels... Going down that little tunnel, more like a crack in the floor, alone... it feels like we're running away, going into hiding. We've got responsibilities topside. As the leader of a team of masks and metas I should be defending our rights in the public eye, making a stand for masks and metas everywhere, working to clear the League's name, show the people what we're made of... but this is something we've been working on for over a month now, and you can't abandon something like this. The public will never know, can never know, how hard costumed crimefighters work, just to keep the world relatively normal. If they knew how often we repulse Gardner Violations and invasions from space or from other dimensions or from lost civilizations, how often we thwart schemes that risk the safety of everyone in the city, if not the world, how often we are the only thing standing between them and being turned into slaves under the heel of some despotic madman or some nightmare Thing from beyond time and space, maybe they'd be reacting a little differently than they are now... but none of them would ever sleep soundly ever again.

So I lead my team down that tunnel, knowing that the public will eventually turn this against us, claim that we crapped out on our responsibilities, especially if something goes wrong topside while we're investigating whether or not the leader of a subterranean civilization has anything to do with a Boost lab suddenly appearing under the city, a Boost lab that just happens to also have been growing a clone of the worst metahuman serial killer in history. So we'll keep working on this, and deal with the flack later.

That's what I tell myself, anyway. To keep from feeling shitty about running and hiding.

The tunnel's more of a deep, thin crevice, and above me I can hear Mike grumbling the whole way - it's not exactly roomy for me, it must be tight as hell for him, even if he's got his wings as folded as they'll go.

We get to the bottom of the tunnel, which opens on a cavern. Doc Steele's a little ways ahead, I climb the roof, trying to scout ahead a little. Nothing. Steele and I wait for the others, assembling at the bottom of the tunnel. Eventually, we're all here, except for Julia. Reed explains she headed back topside to tell the Squad and Team Title what we're doing, where we're going, and when to come looking for us.

Doc Steele and I scout out our path. There isn't much to say, other than we walk, crawl, or fly for hours. Lucky for us Doc Sterling's got hydration pills - dehydrated water, Phenom calls them as a joke - and when we get hungry, Anna's able to summon up some food to eat - bread, cheese, simple stuff - and little floating balls of water for us to wash it down with.

More hours of travelling. Nothing bothers us, except a few tight spots that Mike has trouble getting through. It's creepy, and more than a little suspicious. Doc Steele says so more than once, and I agree with him every time.

We've been travelling most of the day when Doc Steele stops suddenly.

"What is it?" I ask in a whisper. Noise does funny things when you're surrounded by earth and stone.

"This is where I was taken, when Smythe backstabbed me."

"Okay," I say to him. I turn to Ragdoll, tell her quietly, "Pass the word back. Extra careful, here on in."

"Too late," she tells me, pointing over my shoulder.

The darkness comes alive.