When Nick reformed inside the museum, after having insisted on crossing the doorway in a quivering lump of sand, Colinaude had to hold back a gasp. The man known as Silt couldn’t achieve a complexion with any moisture, as if his skin had long ago dried out, which gave him an unearthly appearance. Even his eyes were dull, and this Colinaude wasn’t sure if it had to do with his strange molecular properties or because the life of him had spread out through the years, gradually becoming irrevocably lost. From the few words Nick had spoke, he even sounded hollow, a shallow shell of a man who had entertained possibilities and had all but used them up. What was left survived out of shear force of will. He apparently still had things to do.
"We have drawn ourselves a trap even now," Nick said. "This hour draws the Viper toward us."
"That is what we had hoped," Colinaude said, Cassie nodding in agreement, "yes."
"It is not something to be taken lightly," Nick said, resting against a pillar inside a building made to resemble Roman architecture. His was a resigned stance. "I told you Rancor was murdered. The Cad has thusly exceeded his grasp, and by this we are to assume we were all wrong about him from the start. He was waiting in ambush for us, and we have all fallen into the trap."
"I just don’t see him as accomplishing all this by himself," Colinaude said. "Perhaps it was Neville alone who pushed him to this new plateau, but that seems unlikely."
"Why?" Nick said. "What do you know of Neville?"
"Maddeningly," Colinaude said, "very little."
"He’s a wild card," Cassie said. "A spoiler. An enigma."
"That’s what he was supposed to be," Colinaude said. "He has achieved everything I have always striven for, in terms of anonymity. And I thought you had done that."
"By necessity," Nick said. "Here is what I know: Neville, until he surfaced six months ago as the most recent agent assigned to you, was entirely off the charts. Other agents I have managed to converse with, including my own, know nothing of him."
"You may be the first hero I know who has done that," Colinaude said. "Talk with an agent, let alone your own."
"I don’t have one," Cassie said. "Do I?"
"You were never a hero long enough," Nick said. "And you have not returned long enough to merit one. I doubt even the government is that good. Unless there are things you are not telling even me."
"The Eidolon drew Calypso out of retirement," Cassie insisted.
"But not before Calypso realized she was not really vanquished," Colinaude suggested.
"True," Cassie said.
"What is also true," Nick said, "is that we are not alone. There should be no one else here, yet there is. I have felt it."
"Through his connections," Cassie said, pointing downward for Colinaude. "No matter how good the janitor is, he always leaves just enough behind."
"Yes," Nick said. "And there is rumor that this dust is from my own person. I believe the rumor is your own."
"Guilty as charged," Cassie said. "But technically you just spread the rumor yourself."
"Where is Viper now?" Colinaude said.
"Not far," Nick said. "Fortunately, he is unaware of our presence. He walks without caution."
"I have never known Viper to use caution," Colinaude said.
"Nor have I," Nick said. "It should have made him more vulnerable, but he has always seemed to compensate well enough."
"He’s a real scumbag," Colinaude said. "Yeah. A scrappy scumbag. And unfortunately I have to give him a measure of respect for that."
"I have a proposal," Cassie said. "Let’s ditch the respect and Viper along with it."
"Sounds good," Colinaude said. "He never was much of a dancer."
"I beg you to not take him lightly," Nick said. "That is the first step toward underestimation, and defeat."
"I’ve fought enough times to know what he’s capable of," Colinaude said. "He doesn’t have anything to surprise me with."
"He would no doubt say the same," Nick said, "about you."
"It would make a good piece by Peter Cooley," Colinaude said. "If the paper would print it."
"What name did you say?" Nick said.
"Peter Cooley," Colinaude said. "He’s a reporter. You should be more than familiar with him. He somehow manages to get in good with every hero."
"I have never—" Nick began, just as Viper struck, which sent the Sand Man splashing away in a most effective defensive gesture. Colinaude and Cassie were ready before Viper had a chance to recover.
"I’ve fought you enough times to see how you do against one," Colinaude said. "How do you fare against three?"
"Better than you’d think," Viper said. "Did you know Rancor’s Three Kings each have Achilles’ heels? I could only suppose you would. You encountered them enough times with Godsend. How did you fare?"
"Better than they did," Colinaude said. "Better than you will."
"Don’t count on that," Viper said, before firing off a shot from his wrist rocket at the sprinkler overhead. "That should take care of your friend Silt. Does he fight well as mud? Not that I’ve heard."
"You monster," Cassie shouted, clearly shaken as she watched Nick’s form, which had only just begun to take shape again when the shower broke out, fall again, crashing against the tiled floor and splattering against the walls. She threw herself at Viper.
"No, he is," Viper said, easily fighting off Calypso as Colinaude attempted to make his own move, only to be blocked by Cassie’s hurtling body. "Or at least he was. There’s no telling now."
"Do yourself a favor," Colinaude said, looking after Cassie, "shut up for once."
"I’m afraid I never could do that," Viper said, now facing off against Colinaude alone, each stalking the other as Cassie tried to compose herself. "I never could take a hint."
Colinaude launched himself at his foe, and as at Mad Jack’s they began a back-and-forth that saw no clear superior. Cassie revived herself enough to rejoin the fray, and Viper seemed to back off a little, but not for long. He compensated with weapons, which neither of the heroes had at their disposal. He fired a few more shots from his wrist rocket, throwing each in turn off balance, and pulled out a few sharp objects as well. He was an accomplished marksman with these, but Colinaude with his instincts managed to avoid them, and Cassie appeared to have comparable skill. But this kept both on their toes, and swung the advantage back toward the middle. Nick was not showing any signs of recovering, and this had an obvious continuing impact on Cassie.
Perhaps the advantage was Viper’s after all. He caught both with his dagger, sending them back, but Colinaude responded by kicking it free of the assassin’s hand, and Cassie followed up with blows that dizzied Viper. He flicked a few more blades their way in a successful bid to regain his footing. He seemed to have a never-ending supply, and relish the thought of it, sporting a wicked grin through setback and triumph. In contrast to Nick, his eyes also seemed to glisten with delight, as if he was never going to have his fill. This Colinaude supposed was Viper’s driving force. The eyes were the only part of his face visible, the rest of it and his person clad in a modified ninja’s outfit, seeming to be made of scales in an attempt to make good on his moniker. He was able to pull it off through sheer force of personality. Viper gave off an aura of venom, which seemed both natural and an effort at the same time.
But it was more than his aura that Colinaude and Cassie were battling now. The corridor they fought in was free of any priceless displays, since it was a back entrance away from even the archives. Cassie would have recognized it as the loading area for her ad projects, the stepping stone for their journey to presentation. But Colinaude doubted she was concentrating on that aspect of her life right now. Calypso was undergoing a rebaptism of fire, and the trial had begun with the disablement of a mentor-figure, perhaps the reason the hero had returned in the first place. She seemed to be growing more confident, more formidable, by the minute.
And yet so did Viper. He was indefatigable. Nothing the combined efforts of Colinaude and Cassie threw at him unsettled him for long. This was more than a little distressing. Nick had been right. There were new things to learn about him. Colinaude tried not to think about the fact that he was doing this against two opponents.
"You will be forgiven if you beg mercy," Viper said. "You may even surrender."
"Not on your life," Cassie said.
"Maybe yours," Viper said. He shot another wrist rocket as he said so, and it struck Calypso square in the torso. She collapsed into a heap, blood pouring from her. Colinaude screamed, let loose a savage blow to Viper’s head, which connected. And yet, even beneath the hood he visibly smiled. "I seem to have hit on something."
Colinaude was seething, but he wasn’t moving, and neither was Viper, who despite his cocky words had not expected to hit Cassie. He almost seemed to have remorse in his eyes, but Colinaude was not about to feel sorry for him. Perhaps it was the adrenaline still pumping through his veins, but the Eidolon still managed to hold his composure, even though he had all but been defeated here in the museum. "We finish this now?" he managed to ask, and it came out almost as a plea.
"Perhaps," Viper said. "It would be a shame if the moment were spoiled by indecision."
"It’s not indecision you should be worried about," Colinaude said.
"That attitude," Viper said. "Could that be the resolve you were never able to muster before? Should I fear for my life? Hero?"
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