Yesterday's Heroes (Consortium of Chaos Book 1) by Elizabeth Gannon

desire
the ‘friendship’ of such a life-form any more than I would seek the ‘friendship’
of an insect which I was preparing to step on .  I am above the mortal
concepts of friend or enemy, good or evil, darkness or light.  I am Megaris ;
illimitable and amaranthine.  I have existed since before the very concept of
time itself; ceaseless and unrepentant .  I will look upon this world
when it is nothing but a hollow and burned out husk, utterly devoid of life,
and the fetid stench of the race of man is long forgotten.  I tire of
you, ‘ J. Wyatt Ferral .’  Do not speak to me again.”
    Cynic put his head back and laughed
hysterically.  “Meg’s a pip, ain’t she?  Always flirtin’ with the fellas.  That
one?”  He pointed at her again.  “She breaks legs… and hearts .”  His
smile disappeared instantly and his voice took on a serious tone.  “…But we all
respect her contributions to the team, and love having her stay here with us. 
Truly an honor.”  He waved at her.  “Thanks for not killing us yet, Meg!”
    She ignored him and slowly put her
ear down to the table as if listening to it.  “…The table is angry …”
    Wyatt ignored her, and glanced down
at the large bearded man dressed in a black scale mail tunic, and holding a
golden trident in one gloved hand.  The man’s expression was one of someone who
was obviously trying to look far more regal and important than they actually
were.
    “Code Name: Lord Sargassum.  Real
name:  Lord Julian Thalassic Sargassum.  Age: unknown.  Hair:  Black.  Eyes: Turquoise. 
Claiming to be the son of Neptune and a human woman, Sargassum has declared
himself ‘Ruler of the Seas’.”  He looked up from the file.  “Yeah, that’s a
completely useless thing to declare yourself the ruler of.  At least
pick someplace that’s important in some way.”
    Sargassum’s eye’s narrowed.  “For
your information, mortal, 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered by
water.”
    Wyatt rolled his eyes.  “Yeah, but
unfortunately none of that is part of the 29% of the Earth’s surface
that people actually give a shit about.”  He returned to the file.  “Abilities
include being able to breath underwater, control seaweed, and communicate with
fish.”  He looked up from his papers again.  “…I’m just not really seeing how
that can be put to any effective use?  I mean, do fish really have anything
that interesting to say?  Because the only time I want to order fish around is
when I’m searching for a restaurant that does a really good beer batter.”  He
shrugged.  “But whatever.”  He turned the page.  “Currently oversees … if
you’ll excuse the pun… the C of C’s underwater base in the North Atlantic…”
    Cynic scoffed.  “Which was a
fucking waste of money.  It’s at the BOTTOM OF THE GODDAMN OCEAN!   I
mean, who in the fucking hell wants to be down there besides, Jules?  What
crimes could we POSSIBLY commit?  Huh?  Unless those weird aliens from The
Abyss show up, we’re shit out of luck in the crime department.  We can’t
even access the internet, just watch the fish float by and worry about the
pressure making our heads explode.  It’s boring as FUCK! ”
    Wyatt ignored him and continued. 
“Claims to be responsible for….”  He blinked at the words.  “… sinking the Titanic .”
    Julian regally buffed his
fingernails on his tunic.  “It got in my way .”
    Gurrier blew some dust off of the
sculpture he was working on, his voice taking on a slightly bored
conversational tone.  “It was an ugly boat anyway.”  He shaved off another
splinter of wood.  “And the food was terrible .  Too much salt.”
    “…and is wanted for 254 counts of
international piracy and crimes on the high seas.  He claims to have diplomatic
immunity based on his lordship over the oceans, but thus far his assertions
have not been recognized by any governing body.”
    Cynic rested his hands behind