***
Jude glanced over at Libertas and raised an eyebrow.
“You know Crystal Clad?” he asked.
“Wow. Small world.” Jude smiled as he drifted off into memory.
***
Stormspire
A few years ago
Stormspire wasn’t exactly the kind of place Jude had ever imagined himself being. Growing up in Chi-Town, being indoctrinated in the anti-magic rhetoric of the Prosek Youth and his training in the page corps still made him jump almost every time someone with techno-goggles whizzed by on a wingboard. It was enough to make Jude want to clothesline one of the reckless idiots.
But Jude couldn’t deny the flashy, gaudy appeal of the place. Chi-Town was a fairly high technology place to live, and Jude could see magical analogues here, but most of Chi-Town was fairly drab and dreary, enclosed in the massive fortress of the city. Stormspire was open to the sky, with high buildings brightly lit by colorful magic lights, blinking and flashing. It was almost enough to give one a seizure.
And Jude was loving it!
Jude didn’t have a lick of magic in him, though, so it made some things inconvenient. But he was picking up a few things here and there, doing odd jobs to get by. A lot of work was menial. Because of his lack of magic, he found he was distinctly unqualified for many of the jobs in the city.
But that was a concern for another night, because tonight he had managed to score some tickets in a card game to the Steampunk Zombies show at a club called the Soaring Griffon. He put on his best clothes and headed out for a night of music, dancing, drinking, flirting, and maybe a bit of grifting, gambling, picking pockets, and petty larceny.
Jude was leaning against the bar and sipping on the club’s namesake drink. He wasn’t exactly sure what was in a Soaring Griffon. Rum, he thought. Pineapple and coconut. It was blue-white like the clouds in the sky, but the bartender and poured in a packet of some kind of glittering powder that sparkled in the drink like stars. It must be pretty strong, because he already was feeling a bit light-headed after one drink.
Jude glanced up at the stage where the Steampunk Zombies were playing their first set. It was interesting music that he didn’t hear in Chi-Town -- well, at least if you were a good little Chi-Town boy like Jude had been. The female lead Nikki Mendeleyev was hot, in her Victorian corset. she had a set of translucent blue telekinetic wings flaring out from her shoulders as she sang, occasionally soaring above the stage at particularly dramatic moments. Obviously a psychic, which made Jude a little wary.
“Excuse me,” came a female voice at Jude’s elbow.
“Oh, sorry, love. I’m taking up space like a rock, aren’t I?” Jude apologized, turning toward the voice. He paused, lifting an eyebrow as he saw the gorgeous young woman.
“Please, let me buy you a drink.”
The woman flashed him a beautiful smile.
“Sure. I’ll have what you’re having.” She nodded to the Soaring Griffon in his hand.
Jude motioned to the bartender, who started to whip up the drink, and turned back to the woman.
“I’m Jude,” he said, offering his hand.
“Jude Maverick.” When she took his hand, he brought hers up to his lips and gave the back of her hand a kiss.
“And you are simply enchanting.”
The woman laughed.
“Does that line actually ever work?”
“More often than you would think!” Jude laughed with her. She had a nice laugh. She had gone with the band theme tonight, like many of the patrons of the Griffon, wearing a tattered black velvet corset dress that pushed up her modest cleavage to more generous proportions. Her skin had been powdered a pale, pale white, and dark eyeliner rimmed her pale blue eyes. Her lips were painted a blood red crimson, in stark contrast to her pale white skin. She had even added stitching marks to make it look like she was a stitched together zombie in Victorian dress.
“Well, it is early yet. I’m Crystal,” she introduced.
“Crystal Clad.”
“Nice to meet you, Crystal. I must say, this is quite the amazing place.” Jude looked around, too much like a wide-eyed tourist for his own liking, probably.
“First time in Stormspire?” Crystal asked, taking her Soaring Griffon from the bartender and taking a sip. She immediately smiled as the effects hit her.
“Nearly the first time anywhere,” Jude admitted with a chuckle.
“Sorry. I don’t mean to come off touristy. It’s just...I feel out of my depth around all this magic,” he admitted.
“Must be nice to have magic.”
Crystal chuckled.
“Sometimes. It isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be.”
Jude arched an eyebrow.
Crystal waved off his silent inquiry.
“I don’t really want to talk about workplace politics,” she said.
“Speaking of magic, though, you’re well on your way yourself.” She nodded to Jude’s drink.
“What!” Jude nearly dropped his glass, but managed to set it down on the bar, eying it suspiciously.
Crystal laughed at him.
“Nothing dangerous, or permanent,” she assured him. She pointed out to the dance floor. Jude had noticed earlier that the dance floor was rather sparsely populated, but that was because many of those dancing were actually...in the air!
“The pixie dust in the Soaring Griffon interacts with a magical flight field emanating from the dance floor. It allows non-flyers to be able to experience dance flight.”
“Okay. That is...kind of cool.” Jude picked up his drink, still eying it.
“It isn’t permanent. It will work out of your system with the alcohol,” Crystal reassured him with a chuckle.
Jude smiled.
“Well then, bottoms up!” He tossed back the rest of the drink.
“Now will you honor me with my first dance flight?”
Crystal smiled coyly and downed her own drink.
“I was wondering when you would get around to asking me,” she said, taking his hand and pulling him out to the floor.
“Just give a little jump.”
With a light step, Crystal was up in the air, releasing Jude’s hand.
“Whoa!” Jude gasped as he felt his feet leave the ground. He flailed his arms and legs a little, trying to figure out which way was up. Above him, Crystal laughed and pirouetted expertly. Jude had to smile as he got a look at her very Victorian bloomers beneath her petticoats.
“Think which way you want to be up,” Crystal explained.
“The magic will take care of the rest. It’s all a matter of willpower.”
“Right...easy for you to say,” Jude quipped. The experience was rather frightening for one raised to fear magic, but that was quickly fading with the pulse of the music and the lightheaded sensation of drunkenness from the alcohol and pixie dust. Jude soon figured it out though, and clumsily soared into Crystal’s arms.
“At least I can’t step on your feet,” he said with a smile.
“But I can’t impress you with my sweet dance moves.”
Crystal smiled coyly.
“So let me teach you a few sweet moves of my own,” she said, grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling him to her for a kiss as the spun around in the air.
***
Jude rolled away from Crystal’s pale form in the bed and went to her chiller to get them some water. Crystal smiled and rolled over to watch the naked young man cross her room and took the water, grateful to rehydrate after their recent bout of lovemaking. As he settled back on the bed, he set his water down on the side table, knocking a red leather bound book to the floor.
Jude picked it up and eyed the strange scratchings on the open page.
“What’s this, Crys?” he asked, turning to his lover of the last few months.
Crystal frowned.
“Nothing,” she muttered, snatching the book away.
“What is that? Some kind of code? It’s all gibberish.”
“Not gibberish. Techno-Cant. And it’s encrypted,” Crystal said.
“My father’s latest project.”
“Oh,” Jude said.
“Still upset about that scolding he gave you about your latest marks?” he asked, laying back down beside her and delicately caressing her bare skin.
“He does know that being second in class is still really good, right?” He kissed along her shoulder.
Crystal rolled her eyes.
“For Diamond Clad, second is just another name for loser,” she muttered.
“Fates damn him! Do you know how hard it is being his daughter?”
Jude smiled indulgently.
“You barely speak of anything else.”
Crystal gave him a cross look and Jude winced.
“Sorry. I know it frustrates you.” He leaned in and kissed her deeply.
“I wish I could help. But all I can do is take your mind off it.”
She sighed and pushed him down, her long platinum hair falling over her naked breasts as she straddled him.
“Maybe you’re the reason my marks are slipping, Jude Maverick,” she said mischievously as she leaned down, running her breasts along his chest to kiss him hotly.
Later that night, Jude stirred a bit in his sleep. Something felt...off. His neck prickled with the sensation of being...watched. Jude struggled against sleep, trying to come out of it. His eyes fluttered open and he saw a dark figure standing over them.
Jude tensed, a thrill of fear and protectiveness surging through him. He felt Crystal’s warm body pressed against him, her slender arm around his waist as they spooned. The figure turned, flipping through something. A book? His eyes went to the nightstand. No book. What--?
Sleep claimed Jude again. He wasn’t sure how long, but when he fought back from the blackness the figure was still there. It stood over the bed again. The book was back on the nightstand. Then the figure moved away to the door, detaching something from the frame before closing it behind him.
Jude felt the unnatural sleepiness lift from him as he surged from the bed with a soft exclamation. Fucking magic! He tugged on a pair of shorts and grabbed up some weird techno-wizardry device. He had no idea what it did, but it looked heavy enough to club someone on the head. He yanked the door open and looked down the darkened hallway.
The figure at the end of the hall was bathed in dim light from emergency lighting. It looked at him with a start, but its face was obscured by the glint of goggles and the hoodie. Jude thought he saw a shock of red hair before the figure darted away.
Jude chased it down the hall, but it had vanished outside by the time Jude reached the door of the shop. Jude frowned, considering what to do as he walked back to Crystal’s room.
“What’s wrong, Jude?” Crystal asked, sitting up wearily in bed and blinking at him groggily as he put down the device.
“What were you doing with that?” she asked, a bit shocked, and wide awake now.
“What have I told you about touching things around here?”
Jude looked sheepish as Crystal picked up the device and brushed her platinum hair from her face as she studied it for damage.
“Don’t,” he said apologetically.
“Exactly! Don’t! This could have been very bad! Do you know what this is?”
Jude gave Crystal a look that asked if she really thought he had any clue.
Crystal gave a huff of air from her jutted lip to blow a lock of platinum hair from her face.
“This is an arcane destabilizer. You could have turned this workshop into a dead magic zone!”
Jude frowned.
“Maybe you shouldn’t leave things like that lying around…”
Crystal gave him a cool look, andJude held up his hands.
“Look, there was someone in here, some guy. I think he was stalking you, Crys. It scared me.” He sat down on the edge of the bed and took the arcane destabilizer from her, putting it -- very carefully -- on the side table as he slipped his arms around Crystal.
“I was afraid he was here to hurt you.”
Crystal gave a small gasp and held onto Jude.
“Did you see who it was?”
“Not really,” Jude admitted.
“I was so tired. I think he used some kind of magic device to keep us sleeping. All I saw was a hoodie and some weird goggles. That could describe half the people in this city!” Jude gave Crystal a reassuring squeeze.
“Maybe he had red hair? I think…”
Crystal stiffened and frowned.
“That son of a brodkil,” she muttered.
“Libertas…”
“Who?” Jude asked.
“Guy at work,” Crystal said, shaking her head.
“So that’s how he keeps outdoing me at work!”
“I really think you should stay at my place for a few nights, to be safe,” Jude said.
Crystal gave him a look.
“Your place is a hole in the wall. Literally. I’m not giving up my penthouse!”
Jude sighed. He couldn’t blame her.
“Then I’ll look into some extra security.”
“Don’t worry about it. I can handle Libertas.”
***
“You do realize that’s kind of creepy, right, Goggles?” Jude asked Libertas.
***
Jude sat in his booth at Stumpy’s Diner, nursing yet another cup of hot black sludge that passed for coffee. The food was decent, the coffee exceedingly strong, but the best part was it had a view of the building housing the Red Vault. Not that anyone in Stumpy’s knew that, of course.
Jude or someone from the 13th had been scouting the place for the last few days as they worked out a plan on how they were going to bypass all the security Vector had detailed for them. It was some impressive intel, but it did little to actually form a plan for them. Jude was having trouble figuring out how he could help out. It didn’t sound like a place he could talk his way into, and starting a fire fight didn’t have much appeal.
Jude was feeling unusually helpless and off his game. Maybe it was the nightmares. He kept seeing Brittany, the hole he had put in her head. Some nights it wasn’t Britt, but Nikky, his sister. Those were the worst.
Jude sipped more of the coffee. That, at least, helped. The stuff was turbo-loaded with caffeine, and he needed it after the sleepless nights. He rubbed his eyes and smiled up at the waitress as she brought him another cup.
“Thanks, love,” Jude said before turning his gaze back out the front window and the guards on the sidewalk outside the door across the street. He saw sunlight flash on white and straightened in his seat, blinking. Now he was seeing things?
Jude slipped out of the booth and hurried outside. He caught up with the beautiful woman in the long trenchcoat and spun her around. A familiar face looked up in surprise at his as she pushed platinum blonde hair out of her pale blue eyes.
“Jude?
“Crystal!”
Crystal laughed.
“Wow. Jude. It’s been...a long time,” she said, hugging him.
“What are you doing in this back end of nowhere?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” Jude said with a smile.
“I was just passing through.”
“I’m here on a regular inspection of one of my father’s projects,” Crystal said with a shrug.
“You’re still working for him?” Jude asked.
“I would have thought you’d have set up shop on your own.”
She frowned.
“Turns out it’s harder to get out from under a shadow than you would think.”
Jude gave her a sympathetic look.
“Care for a cuppa?” Jude asked, gesturing to the diner.
Crystal eyed Stumpy’s.
“Not there,” she said.
“But how about your place?”
Jude’s eyes lit up a moment, but then he paused. He was supposed to be on Vault watch until this evening. But...if she was here about one of her father’s projects, that had to be the Vault, right? Maybe he could pump her for some more information.
And really, they had a lot of catching up to do.
“Sure,” Jude said.
“I’m at the Pinnacle.”
At the hotel, Crystal tossed off her coat, revealing the tight black dress she wore. Jude ran his eyes along her frame.
“I think you might have gotten even more beautiful, Crystal,” he said with a smile.
Crystal grinned.
“Flatterer,” she scolded lightly.
“Drink?” She went over to the mini bar.
“Sure,” Jude said.
“How about a Soaring Griffon, for old time’s sake?”
Jude laughed.
“There’s no magical flight field here,” he pointed out.
“That doesn’t stop the nice high, though,” Crystal chuckled.
“Sure, then. Hit me up.”
Jude moved around the room, tidying up a bit. He turned back to watch Crystal pour the pixie dust into the drink. He thought he remembered the glowing lights in the drink to be golden, but these were more blue. But it was years ago.
Crystal handed Jude the drink.
“Bottoms up.”
“You forgot your pixie dust.” Jude pointed to the glass.
“I only had the one packet,” she admitted.
“Sorry.”
Jude shrugged and clinked her glass. He sipped it and smiled at her, fondly remembering old times.
Crystal apparently was, as well. She stepped up and slipped her arm around his neck to pull him down into a hot kiss.
***
Jude groaned as his head pounded him awake. What in the seventeen hells had just happened? HIs mouth felt dry and cottony, and a stampede of rhino buffalo was in his brain. This wasn’t a hangover.
“You...drugged me…” Jude blinked blearily, wincing against the light as he looked around the room. Crystal wore nothing but one of his shirts, half unbuttoned and barely came down low enough for modesty. Jude found he was naked himself.
“Well, at least you made it worth it…” Jude quipped. He looked up. His wrists were secured to the bedposts with fuzzy pink handcuffs.
“You used my own cuffs?” Jude complained.
“That’s low, Crys.”
“Sorry, Jude,” Crystal said, upending his pack onto the floor. She kicked through his items, scattering the first aid kit and survival kit under the bed. Then she dug through the gear webbing on his armor.
“What are you looking for?” Jude asked.
“You don’t think I’m completely stupid, do you, Jude?” Crystal said coolly. He knew that icy tone of hers when she got mad.
“Obviously not, if you’re the most accomplished techno-wizard on the planet.” Jude paused.
“Well, second. Really, third, ‘cause didn’t that Libertas guy beat you out?”
Crystal spun around, glowering at Jude.
“Yes. Libertas,” she said coldly.
“Funny thing. I really am here on father’s business. And what should I see but you and Libertas Magicum palling around town. The same man who came sneaking around looking at my father’s journal, with my boyfriend at the time, who I bet gave him access to my rooms, and when I almost caught him claimed to be ‘rescuing me’!” she said with air quotes.
Jude winced.
“Yes, that...could look bad.”
Crystal glowered.
“So I squared the root of four and got two. The two of you have been planning this heist for years, I bet!”
Jude shook his head.
“No, it isn’t like that, Crys…”
She wasn’t listening anymore. She was knocking on the walls, listening for hidden panels. Jude pulled against his cuffs. Very secure. He tried wriggling his wrist around. No, that would likely require breaking his thumb. He wasn’t quite sure he wanted to do that.
“What are you looking for, Crys?” Jude repeated.
“Whatever you’re planning. Once I find it, I’ll check in with the Arcane Company and tell them all about it. They aren’t very...kind to industrial espionage,” she commented.
“Aha!” Her knuckles wrapped on a hollow space. With a little investigation she found a safe.
“What’s the combination, Jude?”
Jude shrugged, still working his hands around.
“I didn’t even know that was there,” he answered honestly.
“Right…” Crystal opened her bag that she had set on a chair by the door and pulled out a few devices. Jude watched as she quickly cobbled something together and put it against the safe. He heard the whine of the computer lock and then the tumblers popped, swinging open the safe.
It was empty.
“Told you, Crystal.”
Crystal turned to Jude with a frustrated look. Her lip jutted out in that cute way she had when she was stymied by a problem.
“So what is the plan, Jude?” she asked, putting her hands on her hips, looking sexy and intimidating all at the same time.
Jude smiled.
“The plan, my darling, is I am going to get out of these cuffs. Then we are going to make love again. And then you will help me and Libertas break into the Red Vault.”
Crystal stared at him.
“You are completely out of your mind, Jude Maverick!” she said in exasperation.
Jude just smiled.
“What!” Crystal demanded, coming over to the bed. She couldn’t help run her eyes over his nakedness.
“Your first mistake was using my own cuffs,” Jude said lightly.
“I’ve been in this position before, so I had them modified.” He wriggled his fingers around and flipped the hidden catch on the cuffs that released them.
Crystal gasped and tried to back away as Jude leapt at her, but she tripped over the gear scattered over the floor. Jude grabbed her before she could fall and threw her onto the bed, leaping atop her and pinning her. With a brief struggle, his weight pressed her to the bed, his hands gripping her wrists above her head, stretching her out beneath him. Jude tried to ignore just how her soft curves felt against him as his shirt rode up her naked body.
“Now you are going to listen, Crystal Clad, because I know you are fundamentally a good person, if a little selfish.”
“Selfish!” Crystal protested.
“Jude Maverick! Let me go!” She struggled against him.
“I’ll scream!”
As she opened her mouth, Jude kissed her. Crystal froze, but soon he felt her responding, and he broke the kiss with a smile.
“You are a bastard.”
“I’ve been called worse,” Jude admitted. He took his cuffs and cuffed her to the bed in the same position she’d left him in. Gods above, she looked so sexy! It would take her a while to find the hidden catch, and he didn’t need to keep her long.
Jude pulled on some shorts and lay down beside Crystal on the bed, his head resting on her lap, like old times when he would distract her while she studied.
“This Arcane Company is terrorizing this town with some group called the OTO. They have burned down buildings, including an orphanage. When the mayor tried to raise some money for a new orphanage by holding a benefit concert, they burned down the radio station and stole the gate money. That money is in the Red Vault, as well as whatever nefarious plans they have. We intend to return it to those kids.”
Crystal frowned, looking down at the handsome man.
“How do I know you’re telling the truth? I’ve seen you work that golden tongue before, Jude Maverick.”
“Oh, yes, you know how good my tongue is…”
Crystal blushed.
“Stop it! You know what I mean! Tell the authorities.”
“The authorities seem helpless to stop them,” Jude said.
“We -- they, those poor kids -- need your help, Crystal.”
“I can’t, Jude,” Crystal said.
“My dad…”
Jude grinned.
“Don’t you see, Crys? There’s the icing on the cake. Imagine what everyone will think when the glorious Diamond Clad’s inviolate vaults gets broken into? You might finally be able to set up your own shop, maybe take over from him.”
Crystal’s mouth opened to protest, but she paused.
“Well...dad has been resting on his laurels lately,” she admitted.
“And I have been doing all the work -- he puts his name on it.” She growled a bit in frustration.
“I bet he still berates you for any mess up, and blames you when something goes wrong?”
“Yes…” Another growl that would do Max proud.
“So why such loyalty to the old man? What’s he ever done but hold you back? You could be famous in your own right. Even more famous that Libertas…”
Crystal’s blue eyes flashed a bit of cold fire at his name.
“Finally he’ll realize I’m as good as him, or better.”
Jude chuckled. He was definitely sensing some good, old-fashioned rivalry attraction there.
“So how can you help us?”
Crystal sighed.
“Most of the security features are going to be controlled directly by the AC. Guards, cameras, the dark fire grid. It’s all pretty mundane, even if magical. No, it’s the actual vault itself and getting to it that is the ingenious part.”
Jude nodded.
“Tracks with what we know so far. We’re stymied by the red doors, how to pick the right one.”
Crystal grinned.
“Ah, I can definitely help with that.” She started to rattle off some techno-babble and Jude put a finger to her full lips.
“You’re forgetting the most important step in the plan.”
“What’s that?”
“Making love again. This time I want to remember.”
Crystal grinned.
“Oh, I’ll make sure you remember.”
“I’m not undoing the cuffs.”
“Great!” Crystal said, leaning forward and capturing Jude’s lips.
***
Jude knocked on the door to Libertas’ room.
“Hey, Goggles. You got a moment? I need some help with something way more in your line of expertise.”
Jude led the techno-wizard back to his room and opened the door. On the bed was a sexily disheveled Crystal Clad, dressed only in one of Jude’s open shirts, sheets and shirt hastily arranged to preserve at least some modesty.
“She’s willing to help us out,” Jude told Libertas. Then he leaned in closer to whisper,
“And really, I think she has a crush on you. You should go for it!”
***
Conditions:
I am taking the +1 Benny for the Crit Fail options. I'm not rolling, but I'm choosing Option 3: Honeypot