Chapter Thirty - Rising Expectations

The man bent down with a flourishing bow, like something out of a period drama. “I am Fabien the Fabulous, at your service,” he said.

Emily had no idea what to do with this entire situation.

Worse, she couldn’t just coast along and let others handle the social niceties here. Her sisters were looking up at her for guidance, she was trying to impress Sam and Alea Iacta (though she was hesitant to admit that) and she worried that if she didn’t act soon, one of her sisters might decide that they were the best choice to handle things.

That would only end in disaster.

Also, why was she attracting theatre kids. She was awkward enough on her own without them around.

“Hello, Fabien the Fabulous,” Emily said. She tried to keep any shake out of her voice and stood taller. It probably didn’t do much, seeing as how they were all in a dimly lit tunnel. “Do you mind telling us what you’re doing here?”

Fabien the Fabulous grinned, and Emily noticed that in the poor lighting, he was rather handsome. At least, for someone who was probably a threat. Hero or villain, she wondered, and which was worse. “I’m afraid you’ve caught me unguarded, young miss. I was merely taking a calming midnight stroll.”

“Through the abandoned metro system?” Sam asked. It was a valid question.

Fabien shrugged with an artful twirl of his sword. “It’s quiet. No traffic. The people you meet are all friendly. Or so I hope.”

“Are you a mask?” Emily asked. It could just be some guy who got lost while wearing a costume. It was highly unlikely, but the possibility was there.

“I do believe I am, yes,” he said.

“Wait,” Sam said. She raised her phone up, the light reaching a little further so that they could better see Fabien. “You’re the bank robber!”

Fabien smiled, though it seemed a little tense. “So, my exploits are known. I don’t imagine that you are fans here for autographs?”

Sam’s light revealed something else. Fabien’s costume was roughed up pretty badly, and what Emily could see of his skin was blemished and bruised. He was injured. Even his stance showed it, now that she knew to look. He was putting a lot of weight onto one leg.

She wasn’t sure what to think of the fact that they’d just run into a bank robber in the tunnels.

“You stole a bank?” Teddy asked. “That’s cool. Taking from the rich is great.”

“Ah, so fans indeed,” Fabien said.

“Nah,” Teddy said. “Never heard of you before, so there’s no way I’m a fan. Besides, you’re not even a proper villain.”

“Robbing banks doesn’t make one a proper villain?” Fabien asked. He seemed uncertain now.

Teddy shook her head. “That’s just getting yourself rich. Proper villainy’s about having ideals. A code, you know. Integers.”

“Integrity,” Athena corrected.

Teddy nodded. “Yep. You don’t smell like a proper villain.”

Emily sighed. “That’s enough, Teddy. Let’s not insult our new friend too much. Mister Fabien... the Fabulous, uh... normally I’d just say that we should walk past each other and forget that we ever even met.” That was her preferred method of meeting people. “But... you’re hurt, aren’t you?”

“I’m still able to put up a fight,” he said jovially. It was dismissive, but Emily read the threat under the surface.

“Are you able to go to a hospital? Do you know any clinics that can look after you for a bit?” Emily asked.

“I’m... afraid that I don’t,” he said.

Emily turned towards Alea Iacta. “What do you think?”

“What do I think?” he repeated, a finger pointing up to his own face. “I mean, I’m used to things happening around me that aren’t likely to happen. That’s just how it works, you know. It’s usually good things, but that isn’t always the case. But... yeah, I don’t know what his powers are, but we outnumber him pretty hard right now, so I kinda doubt he’d be a real problem to handle if he tries anything. No offence, my dude.”

“None taken,” Fabien said. He carefully slid his sword back into its sheath. “In my experience, limited as it may be in the world of masks, if people are talking and willing to negotiate, then violence will only occur if one side truly wants it to. This side,” he gestured to himself, “would rather avoid it.”

Emily smiled. If nothing else, Fabien was rather eloquent, if in a bit of an overdone way. “Fine then, we’ll stand down as well. But you still need healing. Um. I can’t heal you, I’m afraid, my abilities are too specific and you wouldn’t fit the, ah, criteria, but we have a base nearby. I think it has a first-aid kit.”

“I know my way around one of those,” Sam said. At Emily’s curious glance, she shrugged and explained. “Track and field for a few years. That and lots of hiking and camping. You need to know how to disinfect a cut or take care of a bruise.”

“Before we go on,” Fabien said. “And yes, I think I would rather like to accept your hospitality. Could you be so kind as to display your status?”

“Our status? You mean, the name plates?” Emily asked.

Fabien the Fabulous grinned. “Just so. Here, allow me to break the ice.”

Fabien the Fabulous, Level One

Scoundrel

The words were clearly visible and easy to read, even in the gloom.

Emily hesitated a little, then shrugged her shoulders and willed her nameplate to appear above her head.

The Boss

Level 1

Villain

Soon, Teddy and Athena and Trinity had their own nameplates out. Trinity’s was bizarre in that three nameplates appeared, all entirely identical.

“Uh, I’m not as impressive,” Alea Iacta said. His own marked him as a Mischief Maker of the same level as everyone else here.

Fabian whistled. “So many villains. Actual, bonafide villains.”

“Cool, huh?” Sam asked. She was staring up at the nameplate over Emily’s head until Emily turned it off. It felt wrong to leave it so visible. Like... exposing herself or something.

“We should move on,” Emily said. “And in the meantime, perhaps you could, ah, tell us about yourself, Mister Fabien the Fabulous.”

“Please, ma’am, just Fabien for you.” He gave another little bow, though it was obvious it hurt for him to do so.

Emily instructed Teddy to help Fabien walk, and the bear girl took to it dutifully. She didn’t quite understand what Emily meant though, and ended up grabbing onto Fabien’s hand the same way she held onto Emily’s when they walked.

Fabien didn’t seem to know what to do about that. Sam, at least, seemed to think it was funny.

Emily set a slow pace, giving the injured Fabien plenty of time and room. She didn’t trust him. Sure, he was handsome and well spoken--if in an overblown, theatrical way--but those were hardly reasons to trust someone.

Still, what they were about to reveal wasn’t something she cared overly much about. The mobile base wasn’t her creation, it was a convenience that had dropped onto her lap, and which could leave just as suddenly.

Sam pointed out which turns to take, not that there were many. The metro line was a rather simple route across the city.

Emily was just starting to wonder if the walk would ever end when they came upon the base. From the dark rose a wall of steel. The train’s engine wasn’t sleek or pretty, but instead was a boxy industrial thing, not meant for the public eye.

“Here we are,” Emily said. In a lower voice, pitched so that only her sisters could hear, she said, “Athena, Trinity, can you run ahead and clean the place up? Just pick up any trash and... maybe start dusting?”

“No problem,” Athena whispered back.

“Take care of trash, got it,” Trinity said.

The two of them ran ahead, one of Trinity holding a light which bobbed in the darkness.

“What is this?” Alea Iacta asked.

“This,” Sam said. “Is the Boss’s mobile base. It’s still a work-in-progress. We’re hoping that we can move it closer to, ah, our other base.”

Emily raised an eyebrow at that. Other base? Did Sam mean their dorm?

“That is really cool,” Alea Iacta said. “Is it just an old train?”

“No,” Emily said. “Come on in. We’ll give you a little tour. Alea, you’re looking for a place to stay, right? This should be relatively safe, I think.”

“And you can fix it up while we’re gone,” Sam said.

“I don’t know how to fix trains,” Alea Iacta pointed out.

Sam grinned and patted him on the back. “You’re a lucky guy, right? How hard can it be?”

“Uh, I feel like you’re overestimating how useful luck is,” he said.

They moved over to the back of the train, Emily studiously ignoring the bangs and clangs going on inside the train while her sisters cleaned. Then they stepped into the train and Fabien let out another low whistle. “Villains are really something else,” he muttered.

Emily wasn’t sure if she wanted to live up to his expectations or not.

***