I felt like quibbling about the “greatest inventor on this or any other planet” part of the statement if only because it might distract his attention from Rachel and everyone else.

  Despite generally believing that sassing your opposition was more trouble than it was worth, I turned the suit’s PA to the maximum possible volume and said, “Greatest inventor? You’re nothing more than a second-rate copy of the original Rocket. Heck, you might even be a second-rate copy of me or the Rhino for that matter.”

  I also activated the sonics as weapons on the off chance it might do any good since I was pointing at the copse of trees anyway.

  As for the comment about the Rhino, I didn’t know if Rook ever realized that Larry had taken him out during his visit to the Metafight Games, but I knew that Man-Machine was there. Man-Machine might not have revealed Larry’s secret identity, but from Larry’s description, it sounded like he might have been pissed enough to rub Rook’s nose into which superhero he’d been beaten by—twice: in person and powered armor.

  Honestly, I figured even if he hadn’t, Rook might be angry to be compared to someone generally regarded as the Rocket’s sidekick.

  It’s an understatement to say that the Rocket suit’s PA is loud. At maximum volume, I could see the branches of the trees move ahead of us, small ripples appearing in the lake to the left—not to mention the hum I could feel in my forearms where the sonics were attached.

  Still, for a moment I could only wonder if anyone heard. The announcement telling intruders how wonderful Rook was had sounded automated. Maybe no one was listening?

  It turned out that that was not true.

  For one, as I finished, I realized that I was hearing a cracking noise through my suit from the direction of the trees. They might have been out of phase in part, but enough of them had been in phase that the sonics broke something.

  Whether because I broke their phase modulation devices or the devices’ power supplies, five figures in Rook suits appeared in the trees.

  “Whoa,” Marcus said, “there we are. By the way, I don’t think that’s a copse. A copse is made of small trees, more of a thicket. Those are some decent-sized evergreens.”

  Jaclyn glared at him, “I don’t think this is the time.”

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  I might have said something, but I didn’t get the chance.

  Rook’s voice issued from the five guys in front of us and also spots all over the room, “The Rhino? You’re saying I’m less than the Rhino?”

  Switching to the PA which was still on maximum, I responded, “Well, I’ve never seen you fight, so I don’t know about that area, but in terms of straight-up creating things, the Rocket put a lot of time into teaching him. He’s brilliant.”

  Given his spluttering earlier, I expected an immediate response but got only silence.

  In that silence, Cassie said, “Oh my God, you’re loud. My suit mutes it, but fuck… Even the gun’s complaining, but he’s also impressed. Do you want to hear him?”

  Still watching Rook’s henchmen in the trees who hadn’t moved yet, but seemed to be talking, I said, “No.”

  “I get it,” Cassie said, pointing the weapon at the trees.

  Into that silence, Rook’s voice blasted the room, “I’ll kill you! And I mean I will personally kill you! You don’t deserve what you have. Whatever relation to the Rocket you are, whatever you have from him, I deserve it more than you.”

  Rook delivered every word in a nearly hysterical scream, telling me two things. First, that Man-Machine probably had told him that he’d been defeated by the Rhino twice. Second, I’d underestimated how much jealousy Rook felt at my (and Larry’s) connection to Grandpa.

  As I realized that, Rook added, “No one will ever find your bodies!”

  Rook must have been close to my volume because when he stopped it felt as if the world had descended into silence. Oh, and if it matters you know how we’d been seeing animals and birds when we walked in? No animals could be seen and the birds were streaking across the lake away from us.

  I couldn’t blame them.

  Checking the horizon, Jaclyn said, “Everyone prepare to be attacked. Rocket, I hope you were trying to get him to murder you because if you weren’t, you have a talent.”

  Cassie laughed.

  “Thanks,” I said, “I’ll have to explore that one later.”

  I must have absorbed enough of what Kee taught me because I hadn’t fully dropped an Artificer’s view of the world—which was good because it meant that I had a good look at what was coming.

  Fuzzy shapes flew out of the forest aiming in our direction. My implant counted 17. That wasn’t all though. A fuzzy purple sphere appeared in my vision before it became fully visible in everyone’s—Victor: purple skin, breastplate and all, appearing to be in his 20s instead of 40s and not dead.

  Marcus sighed, “Again?”

  Next to Victor stood Rook and five more of his henchmen, all of them wearing powered armor that made them appear to be large black feathered humanoid birds. Rook had a large “R” on his chest.

  “There are more in the air invisible,” I told everyone over the comms as Rook’s group appeared and then sent a picture via implant.

  “I see them too,” Cassie muttered.

  “Not so talkative now, are you?” Rook laughed. “I don’t know what the original Rocket taught you, but you’re never going to see your death coming.”

  “You mean the 17 invisible guys,” I asked. “What about the five in the copse of trees back there? Why are you leaving them out?”

  Rook stared at me, “Copse? You idiot, a copse is a group of small trees, more of a thicket. That’s not a copse.”

  So, I punched him, hitting him in the head just above his beak. I already knew I wouldn’t be talking my way out of this fight.