Kurtis’s heart hammered. His hands shook. But he remembered Auggie’s voice: “Speed is a lie. Precision is truth.”
Kurtis felt the old shame crawl up his spine. The basement. The screaming. Auggie forcing them to strip and reassemble sonic rifles blindfolded. Chris had loved it. Kurtis had thrown up.
“Another Smith,” the Butterfly said, its voice layered with insectile harmonics. “I was told the violent one was indisposed. But you… you feel different. Quiet. Like a bomb that forgot to explode.” peacemakers brother dc comics
Auggie Smith, the original Peacemaker, didn’t flinch. He just stared at the cracked television, where a news chyron read:
“Hero,” Auggie spat, the word a curse. “Boy couldn’t tie his boots without a mission plan.” Kurtis’s heart hammered
“Chris.”
“Kurtis Smith?” a crisp female voice asked. “This is Emilia Harcourt. We have a problem only a Smith can solve.” He met them in the back of a diner that smelled of old coffee and newer lies. Harcourt sat across from him, eyes like rivets. Beside her, John Economos nervously cleaned his glasses. Precision is truth
“Who is currently in a sensory deprivation tank trying not to see his dead father,” Harcourt said flatly. “You, however, have the same hands. The same muscle memory. You grew up in Auggie’s basement, same as him. You know the White Dragon’s manuals. You know how to rewire a sonic disruptor.”