by Jamie Hawke
“Mowgli’s team,” Pucky said. “Fight toward them if you can, and…” She debated, then cursed and tossed me a pistol. “Remember, tranqs only!”
As she said that, a shot hit the ground at my feet. My adrenaline kicked into overtime with the realization that I was being shot at. Without much of a clue how to handle a pistol other than from laser tag and paintball, I ran for the cover of the building, shooting at the agents moving my way in the process.
“Let go of yourself,” a voice seemed to say, though I didn’t know where from, and halfway there, I realized I was growing in size, increasing in speed and power. The thoughts of tranqs or saving lives no longer lingered at the front of my mind but were floating around in some nebulous place that was my consciousness.
“Jack, no!” another voice said, but I was already gone, my new self leaping in through the shattered glass, shooting and clawing—yes, apparently I had claws—and roaring, and agents were actually retreating from my path.
“Protector!” a man shouted, and I recognized him as Mowgli but was too caught up in the fight, roaring for him to get out of my way or I’d knock him the fuck back too. “Not like this!”
An agent came for him but I pounced, slamming my pistol into his head and then kicking him away, and when I pounced again, this time claws at his throat, I realized my hand was covered in hair.
This was enough to stun me, to recall what they’d told me about the Big Bad Wolf, and I was staggering back by the time two men took me to the floor. One was a man with knuckles big and scary, a real thug type, the other more long and narrow, with a greenish tint to him.
“Get ‘im straight, Jiminy, or I will!” the thug said.
“He’s good,” Jiminy replied, waving a hand in front of my face. “Aren’t you, Protector? You’re new, you’ve been bitten—but you have the choice, and it’s yours alone. Resist… resist.”
It didn’t take more than that to fill me with hatred for what I had started to become. My mind flashed with images of me and Pucky running, of her laughing at some stupid joke of mine, of her hand in mine.
“He’s back,” Jiminy said, and then the thug had me on my feet, pointing me away from the main fight, to where three agents had Red and were moving to the area where the private jets were waiting.
I was about to take off after them when Pucky came jumping over the back of the closest ticket counter, shot over it, and then ducked down next to me.
“You sure you’re good?” Pucky said, signaling the other guys that she had this.
My breaths were coming hot and heavy, my mind swimming, but we had to get to Red. I knew that much, so nodded.
“Keep your shit together,” she said. “We’re going to train you on this, help you fight the wolf. No matter how much he huffs and puffs, don’t fucking let him in!”
“I’m good!” I shouted, seeing Red disappear from sight, and then pushed off in pursuit.
Pucky joined me, providing cover fire. Halfway there, a strange sight came from my right—more Legends, I supposed, in the form of flying monkeys!
“Stay on Red!” Pucky said as she moved to the nearest window and shot it out, then unloaded on the monkeys as people shouted and ran from the area Red had been taken. I went past them, amazed at the idea of how this would all look like some sort of terrorist attack. Running through the door, two airport security guys tackled me, but the thug from earlier came pounding in, slamming one of them off of me and then turning to tackle the other.
“Don’t wait on me, princess,” he said with a grin that revealed wooden teeth, then went about putting the guard in his own restraints.
I turned toward the jet and ran out after it, into the hanger where Red was almost at the jet’s stairs and a team was moving my way. They paused though, turning and making room for someone else. I slowed to a jog.
A man strode forward, emerging from the jet. For the first time, I felt something dark within. Not large, not intimidating in any traditional sense. He was grinning at me wickedly, his pointy ears barely visible under his green cap and mop of brown hair. Clearly a man, but like he was trapped in a boy’s body.
“Peter…?” I said, trying to understand this darkness.
His hand lifted and he made a fist, and that’s when I saw his shadow was long, reaching, connected to my own. Neither made sense as the light was to our right and so our shadows should’ve been to our left, not straight ahead. The dark sensation came strong now. As he stood there, two men approached his side, both dressed as pirates. One was a living skeleton, the other a man with a hook.
“Take him,” Peter said, and they came for me as the darkness fell over my eyes so that suddenly I was seeing the airport as if through a veil. But it was in flames, embers falling from the ceiling, a woman running in the distance looking more like dinner to me than an actual person. My size started to increase again, and I imagined the hair and claws as well.
“No,” I said, pushing back, the darkness fading and the veil as well.
“Before he has a chance to fight it!” Peter said.
The pirates charged me now, but I was already pulling out of the darkness and, taking my magic knife out of its sheath, squared off against them.
9
“Not today, Hook,” I said, lunging for him. The tall pirate sneered and drew his saber, deftly parrying my silly knife strike aside and kicking me to the ground.
“Snotty child,” he said as the skeleton came up alongside him, going to my other side. “What makes you think you can possibly stand against us?”
Shit. I had possibly bitten off more than I could chew.
As Hook pointed his blade at me, laughing and circling me, Peter approached. A taller woman was now at his side, and at the other was the woman who’d bitten me, only now with more hair, more claws, as if partially transformed.
“Why do you fight it?” Peter asked. “So much strength, so much power. If it was enough for her to sniff you out… well, let’s just say the potential is great, young one.”
That coming from him. What a riot. The sounds of fighting growing closer reminded me I wasn’t alone, so I glared up at him and said, “You’re on the wrong side. A mistake I’ll never make.”
“Come, new Protector,” Peter said, stepping forward and looming over me. “Don’t be foolish. You’re powerful, clearly. But also… not enough. However,” he gestured to the Big Bad Wolf, “if I were to give you her powers, that would be something. Let me in, stop fighting. Become her.”
The woman glared at him, but wouldn’t challenge him. They both turned to me. She seemed defeated, lost.
“Go to hell.” I drew my knife, lunging. I missed, but not exactly, because I took a gamble.
Remembering stories of Peter and his shadow, I put that together with the fact that my blade was magic, and struck—not at him, but at his shadow. The tip met a slight resistance less than an inch off the ground and Peter fell back, growling in pain, his two pirate accomplices stumbling back as well—a side effect I hadn’t expected. My best guess was that these two were tied to him somehow, maybe even not exactly real except by some magic of his, so I paid them no attention as I twisted my blade further into the shadow. This time Peter fell to one knee and the other two faded completely.
I turned just in time to see Pucky taking down one agent with a kick and then another with what I assumed was a tranquilizer shot, based on what she’d told me. And then Red was free.
“Run!” Pucky shouted to me, and I gave my blade one more twist before pulling it free and sprinting with all I had.
“Good to see you,” Red said with a nod of respect my way as I reached them,. “I see you’re kicking ass like one of us already.”
“Trying my best,” I said. “Why the hell is Peter Pan on the bad side?” A glance back to see he was up now, his companions back, and all were in pursuit.
“He went dark a few years back,” Pucky explained. “Ever since Wendy married Dorothy. I don’t know, but something about losing her to a woman made h
im kinda go mad.”
“Wendy and Dorothy?” Hey, it was California, but who would’ve known.
“I’ll fill you in later,” she shouted, checking back to see that Red was with us.
We ran, but as we reached the doorway Peter Pan’s shadow rose as if blocking us. Pucky said, “Don’t stop!” so we charged right through. It felt like leaping through a waterfall, but on the other side Pucky’s horns were glowing gold and we were unharmed.
“They have my hood!” Red shouted, and I turned back to see it was true, she was only wearing her revealing black top and tight pants. Looking damn good, but not quite complete without the red.
“Dammit,” Pucky cursed, already turning back. “We have to go back.”
“For a hood cloak thingy?” I asked, not wanting to run back out there in the slightest.
She nodded and was already running as Red said, “It’s not just any hood,” and then followed.
That left only me, cursing and wondering for the thousandth time how I’d gotten into this mess. But then as I watched them charge the line of Shades Pan’s still-detached shadow had sent out to meet us before retreating on board the private jet with the hood, I was suddenly thrilled by the whole idea of getting back into the fight.
It was like something took me over, in part, but it was more than that—there was the image of these two beautiful women, ready to fight and die for their survival but also to protect humanity and our world. I was one of them, and there was no turning back from that now.
Hell, I wouldn’t even if I could.
I charged back out, ignoring the shouts from the security guards behind us, ignoring the crunch of broken glass under my shoes, and the terrible sight of those Shades. Because fuck them.
We were taking the Shades on left and right, my blade cutting through them. I felt like a natural, green balls of energy floating into me, being absorbed and giving me more strength and confidence.
“Get me out of here,” one of the agents—a senior one, I imagined—shouted to Peter, and they were running up the stairs to the jet, the skeleton pirate staying behind with the Shades to guard their rear.
Fighting with Red and Pucky at my side was an entirely different experience than on my own, and especially compared to in games. It was like every misstep of mine they were there to correct. Every time I swung and left myself open, they’d use as bait to strike when the enemy tried to move in. Some they would hit and send my way so that I could land the final blow, whether for experience or confidence, either way it was working.
Except for the fact that the Shades were serving their purpose, which was to get in our way while Peter and the others escaped in the plane. I pushed harder, swinging my knife like a champion of every game I’d ever played. Oddly, some muscle memory kicked in from recent VR games I’d gotten into, and I found the slashing and stabbing to be much less awkward than I’d expected.
More green orbs flew into me and, even without leveling up yet, I felt energized. Soon a path was cleared with only the skeleton standing in my way, and I lunged. The blade hit his forearm and he cringed, stumbling back, but then came at me with a cutlass. Anyone who’s played a VR game with pirates and skeletons has a basic idea of what that moment felt like, but can’t begin to comprehend the eagerness of one’s bowels to empty themselves once you realize an actual, real skeleton pirate has swung a cutlass at your head.
Luckily, I was scared but not shitless, and had enough ‘training’ to dodge outside of the strike, cutting with my magic knife against bone and then bringing my blade back in for a quick stab between the ribs.
Apparently that was enough, because the skeleton turned its head to me, empty eye sockets lighting up red. The light faded, coming out through the spot where my blade had gone in, and absorbed into me.
“Fucking Ichor!” Pucky said, slaying two more Shades and clearing a path for us to the jet. “Nice one!”
“Upgrade after the fight,” Red shouted, and ran.
Whatever upgrade this would give me I was excited about, but they were right—we still had a chance, but needed to move. Pucky made it up the loading stairs first, but I was right behind her, and then Red. A kick sent Pucky back, but I caught her and pushed her back in, the sounds of others falling telling me she had it under control. I followed then, Red right behind me. As we cut down Shades and attempted to make it to the agent and Peter, the agent shouted to the pilot and the jet started moving toward the runway.
“We need to get the cloak, now!” Red said as the jet picked up speed. I was like a crazy person, taking hits as fast as I was giving them, only surviving because these two badass ladies were taking the Shades down much faster. In these close quarters, it was a bloodbath, if those things had blood. Instead, their green lights floated into me no matter where the kill came from.
Peter charged in, but both ladies met him as I turned to attack a Shade, and they pushed him back before his buddy, Hook, could do a damn thing.
“Thinking happy thoughts?” Peter said with a laugh, and the jet tilted as it began to take off.
“Red!” Pucky shouted. “You know I hate heights!”
Red lunged for Peter shouting, “Dagger!” and holding her hand out. That seemed incredibly dangerous, but I had to try. I paused for a split second, breathed in and threw the dagger to her, trying to keep the spin to a minimum —she caught it, settled her grip even as she swung, and slammed the blade into Peter’s shadow as she’d seen me do.
The shadow flickered. Her red hooded cloak appeared behind Peter. She spun, bringing the blade around so that he had to fall back to avoid getting hit. With that movement, she snatched up her cloak, kept turning, and threw the dagger at him as she leaped for us.
We didn’t even get a chance to see if it hit as Pucky slammed the door open. The air pulled at us, and Red pulled me with her as she ran for the exit.
“Are you nuts?” I grabbed hold of the side of the door, so that we were hanging on.
Pucky was there next to me, shouting, “Come on!
“You have to let go!” Red said, and then Pucky was already gone, Red cursing and screaming, “Now!” I didn’t hesitate, releasing my grip on the plane as she did too.
We didn’t exactly fall as I’d expected, but were wrapped up in the red cloak as it expanded, shooting out and just catching Pucky, too. The hood attached to Red’s head and then engulfed us so that, if I didn’t know better, I’d have thought we were all tumbling around in bed under the sheets.
There was a muffled thud, a distant pain in my shoulder that I barely processed, and then we were on the ground, flesh pressed to my face. Red pushed up and I looked, first seeing her black top and hanging breasts, then her face looking at me with a raised eyebrow.
“You were about to blow a raspberry on my belly, weren’t you?” she said playfully.
I groaned, realizing that maybe I hurt more than I thought I would. “You’re awfully chipper for someone who nearly died.”
She laughed. “Got my hood back. What more could I ask for?” Her eyes went wide and she moved over to me. I guessed she crawled over Pucky, based on a groan from her, then her head appeared a moment later.
Red’s hands were all over me, and I was starting to protest when she paused with my shirt up. I realized she’d just seen the edge of the tattoo and wanted to see the rest. She stared at the pattern on my chest and whistled.
“So it’s official then,” she stated. With a tilt of her head, she added, “Welcome to the party.”
“It’s not a fucking party, and get off me,” Pucky said, pushing her way out from under us, though I hadn’t realized until that moment that any of me was on top of her.
“Can be if we make it one,” Red countered, winking at me and then pulling us all to our feet only to see three security vehicles pulling up, and guards running at us across the tarmac. “Oh, shit.”
“Hands up!” one of them said, and then I noticed an agent approaching through the broken glass.
“Uh, ladies…”
I said.
“We see him,” Red said. “Pucky?”
“On it,” she said, grabbing the three of us and phasing us in that slow-motion crazy way so that we appeared behind the airport cops, instantly going into battle with the agent. He had a pistol aimed at Red but her cloak whipped it out of his hands. Then Pucky had him down with a good strike to the jaw, and we ran.
Mowgli and three of his Myths appeared ahead of us, beckoning us on, and Red’s cloak fluttered around behind us. A glance back, and I noticed the airport cops were looking around, confused, shouting and asking where we’d gone.
“That’s why we like the cloak,” Pucky said at my side, and then we were with Mowgli’s people.
We broke out through the airport entrance over by the baggage claim, where it was locked down. Guards stepped out of the way as Pucky’s horns lit up, and we were ushered into a vehicle that resembled a SWAT team truck by a panther-man in uniform.
I sat in my seat, totally amazed at how this was happening. The vehicle took off, leaving the mess behind. Mowgli and the others were there with us, and I couldn’t help staring at first the panther man, then the guy across the way…
“Not a complete loss,” Red said, stepping between us and using my seat for balance as the vehicle moved to the freeway. She was talking to Mowgli, in the seat behind me. “I got some info. Passing on now, sir… should lead to the enemy base.”
She opened up one of her leather wristbands, revealing that it wasn’t simply for style but actually had a screen that she used to input information. He nodded, then the vehicle swerved, moving to the first exit and pulling a crazy U-turn that shouldn’t have been possible.
“You did great,” Mowgli said, standing and moving past me, but pausing to clap my shoulder. “And… new guy? Keep it up.”
I nodded, confused, glancing around to see what we were doing, and held tight as the vehicle rounded the base of the freeway toward three other cars that were waiting there for us. Damn, this whole operation was put together so fast. It still managed to impress the hell out of me. Then again, I was just some college kid: an aspiring artist and bit of a nerd. Of course this was fucking awesome to me.
