June 1st, 2013
The Royal Palace
Victoria was smiling, a sight that would have frightened small children had there been any small children with X-ray vision watching her. She, in her Nicator-armor, stood three paces behind Pyre’s chair and one pace to the right; far enough back so that she almost stood by the wall, near enough so that she could, right this instant if she so wished, kill a quarter of the threats to the throne that should’ve been hers.
If she did she’d die immediately. She stood in the room of state, where met the Counts of Novapest in the hours when acts of state were required, paintings of great supervillains (every archvillain who’d ever visited America and the first count of each district) on the walls behind the circular table of wood and steel, thirteen identical chairs around it. Eleven counts were seated, each of them with two bodyguards - Captain Crush, to her left, was the other one flanking Pyre. The Fourth seat was open, since Bloody Lizzy hadn’t arrived yet - and there was a proxy in the Third seat, as Steelmind had dispatched one of his knights, Blinker, to sit for him. (Only a day after the co-monarchs were crowned, and already, Victoria thought, smiling, they didn’t want to be in the room together.) A surprise attack could kill half of them before they realized where it was coming from, but since the survivors would include Solaris and Heavyhand they’d kill her with very little difficulty. It was always better to fight people who didn’t realize they needed to fight back.
The atmosphere of ceremony filled the air, thirty-six people who knew just how important they were and just how many different books, documentaries and newspaper articles would say that they were there. Even the younger Counts seemed to be taking the situation seriously, Just frowning beneath his stern portrait and even Fear showing some smugness over his dignity, but Greenrose of the Thirteenth was trimming her fingernails as if there were no one else in the room. Apparently after the way her party had ended she’d given up on diplomacy.
“The least Bloody Lizzy can do is to arrive on time for a meeting she called,” grumbled Pyre. Fear rolled his eyes and Solaris turned to Whisper and murmured something to her and she laughed behind her hand, and yet no one spoke loudly enough to be heard.
And then the door slammed open to reveal Bloody Lizzy Balog in a low-cut red dress, one leg slit to reveal the powersuit beneath it, slowly strolling forwards, her hands clasped behind her back and a wide, wide grin on her face.
“Lords and ladies of the realm,” she said. “Distinguished officers.” She strolled towards the table slowly and menacingly, and then blurred into a floor-crackingly sudden leap, landing in her chair as her two knights strolled after her. Victoria looked at them. Were had had a bad reputation before Lizzy had hired him, but he’d given good service in the war. He had, in Nicator’s opinion, done extraordinary service. As far as Zero knew, none of Lizzy’s knights had ever killed any of Lizzy’s other knights.
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The other one was Mase, the shapeshifter. As powers went, shapeshifting wasn’t too uncommon, but Mase had the kind of control with it that even Victoria thought was impressive. Right now she looked exactly like Bloody Lizzy, but with hair and skin colors switched.
“As your Grand Duchess, I am now officially in charge of keeping peace and order in this room,” said Bloody Lizzy. “In this room, and everywhere else in Novapest that any of you counts are plotting, or scheming, or doing anything, really.”
Her hand went into a pocket, and it came up flipping a coin. Just and Fear blanched, and Pyre reddened, but others were made of sterner stuff.
“The power to buy,” she said, “or the power to take.” And, perfectly conversationally, “I could kill everyone in the room with my pocket change. Anyone who doesn’t think that’s true wasn’t in the war.” Her grin was, if possible, getting wider.
“But! I need to make a point, because you might have forgotten, or you might think you can slip things past me because I’m just a dumb brute. Now, none of you have done anything really unreasonable yet.”
Then the coins moved in a blur, and both of Count Proteus’s bodyguards heads exploded, and she was out of her seat and slamming him into the wall, grabbing him by his collar with one hand.
“Except for you.” The room was a sudden tableau of drawn weapons. Mase and Were, instead of sitting by Lizzy’s chair, had moved to flank her, Mase pointing a pair of laser guns and Were in beastform, claws out. Another four of Lizzy’s knights were walking into the room, but Greenrose had shown spikes and Solaris was standing, a shimmer around him suggesting his telekinesis was already active, Steelstorm’s pistol was out, Livia and both of hers had guns drawn - Victoria was calculating odds.
Proteus was hissing, and the wall behind him was deforming to his wishes. “What is this nonsense -”
“I had you tracked to my brother’s house,” she said. “We made a deal. The Counts are my business; he’s just supposed to handle robots.” She raised a finger. “He’s not supposed to be meddling in politics. What did you talk about?”
“He invited me for dinner,” said Proteus. “You crazy -”
“Ah!”
“-duchess,” he said. “For this you killed my men?”
“Yep! I’m also fining a sum precisely equal to the weregild I owe you for their bodies. And you’re going to apologize, or I’m going to throw you through that wall, right there, the one behind Count Heavyhand.”
“For what?”
“I’m a grand duchess,” she said. “Not just an ordinary duchess.”
“I’m... sorry,” he said.
“Great!” She dropped him and turned back over her shoulder to the door, calling back, over her shoulder, “Meeting dismissed!”
As Lizzy and her knights stalked out, Victoria studied the expressions on the counts’ faces. Prudence looked mildly irked, and Heavyhand looked grim. Solaris and Whisper were sending meaningful looks at each other. Bloody Lizzy does not have very many friends, she thought. Even fewer, now.
And then she looked at Livia. She was smiling.