by N. K. Quinn
“Don’t you worry, sweetheart, we’ll find Rags,” he said. “Then I’ll be sending you and your loser boyfriend straight after this Enforcer scum.”
A crash from above was followed by a shower of glass and Baz raised an arm to shield himself. There was a red and black blur of motion and something flung him back ten feet. The man slammed into some other ex-Scorps. The blur sent them scattering like bowling pins and stopped the assault on Damian. Izzy’s father slumped to the floor, and she was by his side in an instant, pulling the whip free of his neck. It had cut deep ridges into the skin and the tissue beneath was bleeding freely.
“You’re going to be okay now,” a voice at her side said.
She looked up at the figure in the red and black armoured suit and her eyes came to rest on the stylised red falcon symbol on his chest. He turned to her and she could see his eyes sparkling with bright blue energy behind the visor.
“The Steel Falcon is here to protect you,” he said with a wide grin.
7
Malevolent Intent
The Steel Falcon's face was mostly obscured by the large visor he wore, but she could see that he was young, maybe even younger than her. He suddenly relaxed and leant close to her.
“Tell me honestly, that was too cheesy right?” he said. “You know, the whole ‘the Steel Falcon is here to protect you’ monologue?”
“A little... I suppose…” she ventured with a shrug. Up close it was hard to imagine the vigilante being as dangerous as her father had said.
“I knew it!” the Steel Falcon said. “What I need is a battle cry, something alliterative like ‘Falcon Force’ or ‘Steel Strike’!”
His tanned cheeks reddened, and he turned away, muttering to himself but loud enough that Izzy could hear him.
“I told you!” he said, “Now we look and sound ridiculous. Nice going!”
Across the foyer Baz had got to his feet. He shook his head like a dog coming in from the rain. The look on his face was the embodiment of fury. The leather handle of his whip creaked as his grip tightened.
“Kill them all,” he said.
“Run!” the Steel Falcon shouted as he ran at the crowd of ex-Scorps. Damian moved too, scrambling to drag the children back into the auditorium. Izzy grabbed her father by the wrist and dragged him in the same direction. He was unconscious, a dead weight especially with all his Enforcer gear on. Izzy gritted her teeth and dug her heels. Somehow she got him moving, but it was painfully slow. Around her, the foyer was lit up with the rat tat tat of automatic gunfire and the acrid scent of gunpowder filled the air. The Steel Falcon was a whirling blur, darting and weaving in and out of the way of the ordinance. A flurry of bullets tore up the ground next to Izzy and she let out a scream. The Steel Falcon’s head jerked around and Izzy could almost feel him scanning her. Then he shifted to the side, drawing their aim away from them. With gravity defying agility he launched off a wall and wrapped his arms around the neck of two of the thugs. Throwing himself forwards he drove them face first into the wall and Izzy heard the cartilage in their noses take the brunt of the impact. The vigilante didn’t pause, vaulting back up onto his feet. He was talking the whole time, chattering away like a madman. Bodies fell in his wake as he unleashed fury upon his foes.
“I...I...tol..told you he wa...was awesome.”
Izzy spun to find Damian at her side. He was struggling to get his words out, but his rabid rage was fading at least. Doc was there too. He was limping and had somehow retrieved his guns but otherwise uninjured. He levelled them at where the Steel Falcon and the ex-Scorps were fighting and then looked at Izzy and stowed them beneath his cloak. Izzy saw the features in the shadow of the hood shift as they turned to regard her father’s semi-conscious form.
“Let’s get this Sentech scum out of here before I change my mind,” Doc wheezed.
Izzy’s father moaned as Doc and Damian helped her drag him back to where the children had taken cover behind a row of seats. Doc slumped against a wall and slid down to the floor leaving a streak of red as he did. He reached under his robes and pulled out a thin silver pen-like object. Ripping the lid off with his teeth he exposed the long needle and then plunged it into his thigh. Nothing happened for a moment and then Doc went rigid and then his limbs jerked spasmodically. Izzy went to him and his head snapped up as he let out a cry of pain. She tried to reach out to him but he waved her away as he got to his feet.
“Combination of anticoagulants and adrenaline,” Doc said. “One stops the bleeding, the other stops the pain.”
“Watch them,” Damian growled as he pointed to the children and got up to go back out. Some clarity had come back to his speech and his eyes were less clouded over. His hands and face twitched, a sign that the effect of the Aug was wearing off. Izzy put out her hand to stop him and he flashed her an angry look. Izzy recoiled and Damian softened when he saw the fear in her eyes.
“Sorry…” Damian said. He rubbed his eyes and shook his head. “The Aug… I can’t think straight. But he needs my help.”
“Who needs your help?” a voice from the doorway said.
They turned to see the Steel Falcon dusting himself off in the doorway. He looked down and tutted when he saw that the symbol on his chest was smeared into an unrecognisable blur.
“Oh great!” he lamented. “That’s going to be a nightmare to fix! This design's new you know.”
There was a sharp crack, and the whip snagged around the Steel Falcon’s boot. His feet were yanked out from underneath him. Instead of slamming into the ground the vigilante corkscrewed through the air and landed in a crouch. His gloved hand closed around the whip and he pulled, grunting with the effort as he did. The whip, with Baz attached to the other end of it, flew into the room. Baz recovered quickly and lashed out with the other whip, three fast strikes in one motion. The leather tail sliced out across the vigilante’s cheek, drawing a thick line of red there, and a scream of pain from the vigilante.
“So you’re the ‘Steel Falcon’ then?” Baz said making condescending air quotes seem. “I’m not scared of you.”
Steel Falcon touched his fingers to his cut, and he looked at the bloodstained glove. As he stood he grew in height and his muscles rippled, stretching against the limits of his costume.
“You will be.” The vigilante growled back.
Baz struck with his whip again, but the Steel Falcon swatted it aside as he walked towards him. Izzy and the others stayed low, cowering between the rows of seats. She watched as the vigilante passed them. His demeanour was the polar opposite to the slightly awkward, geeky hyper kid who had crashed through the roof. Each stride echoed throughout the auditorium like a death knell.
“Are you scared yet?” the Steel Falcon said. His voice sounded wrong. It was raw, angry and full of malevolent intent.
Baz replied by thrashing out in a frenzy, but the Steel Falcon didn’t even bother to block. The whip took chunks out of his costume and flesh, but the wounds repaired themselves, healing over in front of Izzy’s eyes. Next to her, her father stirred. He pulled himself upright, grimacing with the pain and effort. Then he went silent as he saw the Steel Falcon and his hand reached up to the patch that covered his missing eye.
Baz dropped the whip and pulled twin knives from behind his back. Their serrated blades glinted, looking vicious in the low light, as Baz twirled them in his hands. He threw himself forwards, slicing and twirling as he struck. The Steel Falcon flicked his wrists and metal batons extended from his gauntlets to parry away the blades. They came together and clashed like spinning tops. They were too fast for Izzy or Damian to follow and they made sure to stay out of their path. Baz lunged at the vigilante again, but the Steel Falcon held his ground until the last instant. Then he executed a sharp, tight backflip that smashed the toe of his boot into the underside of Baz’s chin. The blow landed with sickening force and a sound like a wet branch snapping rang out. Baz landed awkwardly with limbs splayed at odd angles. The Steel Falcon crouched a few feet away a low rum
bling feral growl in his throat.
“It’s him…” Izzy’s father mumbled. Izzy turned to him, but the Enforcer Commander snatched his hand away and covered his face and began to rock on the spot, repeating the same phrase over and over again.
Somehow Baz had made it onto his feet again, staggering from side to side. The Steel Falcon took off like a cheetah zeroing in on its prey. Jumping, he used the backs of the chairs as stepping stones and launched himself through the air, scissoring Baz’s head between his legs. A twist of his hips sent the man tumbling.
“Where’s Doc?” Izzy said to Damian. They scoured the room, but he was nowhere to be seen. Izzy’s father was now staring into space, mouth slightly ajar, despite his daughter’s best efforts to rouse him. A high-pitched scream reverberated in the auditorium and they turned to see that Baz had one of the children by the throat. He backed up the stairs towards the exit, dragging the screaming child along with him.
“I’m taking the Augs, the guns, and the children. And you’re going to let me or I’m going to open him up like a present on Christmas morning,” Baz said spitting up blood.
The Steel Falcon stalked up the steps, keeping pace with Baz and then stumbled. He took another step and stumbled again. When he looked up, something had changed in his face. It looked calmer, less animalistic than before.
“I… I can’t let you leave with the children and those Augs are dangerous,” the Steel Falcon said, his voice returning to normal. His leg gave way from underneath him and he had to pull himself back up using the bannister.
“Not now! Not now!” the Steel Falcon muttered. He used the baton from his gauntlet to prop himself up. Baz sneered at him and stopped retreating. He peered out from behind his human shield and after a moment’s hesitation pushed the child aside. Damian reached out from the aisle and pulled the child away and they disappeared into the shadows.
“They say you swoop in, bust skulls, and disappear,” Baz said. “My guess you can only do, whatever you do for so long then?”
The Steel Falcon’s legs betrayed him again, and he dropped to one knee. Baz scooped up one of his fallen blades and twirled it around his fingers, and he approached like a shark smelling blood in the water. He hammered the hilt down onto the vigilante’s head, flattening him. Baz’s laugh rang out, cold and harsh as he pointed the tip of the knife at the Steel Falcon’s chest plate. It dug a groove as Baz placed more weight onto it.
“Me and the other Gauntlet fighters thought you’d be a challenge,” With a grunt he levelled a kick at the vigilante’s head that nearly decapitated him. On the ground the Steel Falcon looked so small and vulnerable to Izzy.
“We have to do something,” Damian said at her side. “We’d be dead if not for him.” The haze around him had dissipated and his brown eyes were clear and focused.
“Your Aug's worn off," Izzy said. "You can't fight him."
“I have to,” said Damian, scratching his head. “The Aug heightened my senses, made me feel strong, invincible, but I was born an NC, I've been scrapping my entire life. I can still fight.”
They could hear Baz using the Steel Falcon as a punch-bag and the grunts of pain leaving the vigilante sounded like he wouldn't be able to take much more abuse.
“Get them out,” Damian said.
Before Izzy could grab him, he was sprinting towards Baz. The ex-Scorp turned in time for Damian’s shoulder to slam into his face. He staggered back but remained standing. He lashed out with his blade, a long diagonal strike that bit through Damian’s top and took a sliver of flesh along with it.
Damian clutched his chest but didn’t back down, he pressed forward, but Baz grabbed him by the throat and hammered him into the wall. Damian’s eyes widened as he saw Baz draw the blade back and thrust forward. He closed his eyes and braced for a flash of pain, but it never came. When he opened them, he saw the Steel Falcon standing in between himself and Baz. The knife had gone through the vigilante’s gloved hand and was buried all the way to the hilt.
“No… no one dies,” the Steel Falcon said.
He closed his bloody hand around the hilt of the blade and Baz’s finger and yanked him towards him. Then he propelled himself up, the top of his head slamming into Baz’s chin. The man’s head snapped back, and he teetered on his feet for a moment. The vigilante cried out as he pulled the blade free, its serrated edge causing more damage as it exited. He threw it aside and closed the gap between the two of them. He unleashed a barrage of body blows that peppered the thug, but Baz refused to go down. With a roar Steel Falcon spun through the air, leg whipping around like a tornado. His foot smacked into Baz as he did and the impact drove him off his feet. The ex-Scorp landed on his back where he lay unmoving. The Steel Falcon collapsed next to him, gasping for breath. He grimaced and pressed his palms into his temples as if he was afraid that his head would roll off his shoulders if he let go.
“Are you okay?” Damian asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.
The Steel Falcon managed a grin but then winced as he held up his hand.
“Oh, man,” he muttered, “Kal’s gonna kill me for this.”
He closed his eyes concentrating and Damian gawped as he saw the wound close and the flesh knit back together.
“How… What are you?” Damian asked.
“I’m the Steel Falcon,” the vigilante said. “Hero of the people.”
“You’re no hero. You’re a monster.”
They turned to see Izzy’s father levelling an Enforcer rifle at them. His eye was bulging and finger twitched on the trigger.
“You did this to me,” he said and with his free hand he reached up and flipped his eye patch up revealing the gory socket beneath.
The Steel Falcon opened his mouth to speak, but the Enforcer Commander raised the rifle and let loose a few rounds that cut into the ceiling, making debris rain down on them.
“The way you moved… I’ve only ever seen one other person move that way, the night the Sentech research lab was attacked,” he whispered. “I still see it in my nightmares.”
“He saved our lives,” Damian said, looking at the Steel Falcon and then back to Izzy's father. “You can’t just gun him down in cold blood.”
“I can… and you’ll be straight after,” Izzy’s father snapped. “Filthy NC, you’ll never be good enough for my daughter.”
“You’ll have to shoot me too,” Izzy called from the top of the auditorium. She came down and stood in front of the Steel Falcon.
“You know what he did!” her father shouted gesturing with the barrel of the gun at the Steel Falcon. “He took my eye! He cost me my rank! Your mother left because of what he did!”
“She left because of you!” Izzy shouted back. “Because of the person you’d become. We tried to love you, but we were the only thing left that you could throw your anger at. Mum fought to stay by your side, but your darkness was killing her a little day by day.”
“Izzy, that—” her father tried to protest, but Izzy cut him off, her voice reaching a crescendo.
“I saw her that night you hit her, you were passed out and she tried to cover up the bruise with makeup, but I knew. I had a knife to your throat while you slept and I told her if she didn’t get out I’d open you up.”
Izzy’s voice threatened to break, but she forced her pent up anger through the sadness.
“You taught me too well. She believed me and once I took her TRIST I knew there was no way she’d be able to come back even if she wanted to without Sentech finding out that she was an NC all along.”
Damian came to her side and their hands found each other. They stood resolute together, united and unmoving. Behind them the vigilante was using the wall to keep himself upright. Izzy glanced at him over her shoulder and saw how pale and gaunt he looked and realised that Baz had been right about the Steel Falcon having limits.
“After she left I stood over you wishing that whoever hurt you was in that chair,” Izzy said as she turned back to her father. “That I was standing over them
with the knife. I was in a dark place and Damian was the only thing that pulled me back into the light, and now you want to take him away too. You’re not the man who raised me, you’re not even a shadow of him. I don’t see him anywhere.”
Izzy’s words hit her father like a punch to the gut and something seemed to snap inside the grizzled old man. He opened his mouth to speak but couldn’t quite seem to be able to find the words he needed.
There was a sound from behind them as Baz got back to his feet. He shook his head and grunted.
“Round two,” he spat and stepped forward.
Doc appeared from nowhere, his bandages whirling around with a life of their own. They wrapped around Baz’s arms and neck, halting his advance.
“I’m going to… kill you all,” Baz growled, his voice muffled from under the bandages. Izzy heard her father shift and turned to see him moving so that she was out of the firing line, leaving him a clear shot at the Steel Falcon and Damian. She barely had time to scream before the shot rang out.
8
Blood and Dust
Time seemed to hang, holding them all in the moment. Baz lurched forwards, stumbling whilst his legs tried to catch up to his body. Doc released the bandages and they unravelled at his feet. Baz fumbled in his pocket pulling out a gunmetal grey cylindrical object with a red button on its top. Baz held it high as he fell to his knees and flashed them a bloodstained toothy grin. Then he pressed the button and let out a laugh that turned into a wet gurgle. They all braced themselves for something to happen but nothing did. A puzzled look crossed Baz's face and he pressed the button a few more times with the same result. His face contorted into a sneer and with a final gasp he fell and lay still with a pool of blood spreading beneath him. All eyes turned to Izzy’s father and the wisp of smoke leaving the barrel of his rifle. He kept it trained on Baz’s body until he was certain the ex-Scorp wasn’t going to move again and then lowered it slightly.
