Desperate Times

by Tom Andry

  "Ohhh...he's not going to like that," I muttered. "I guess I owe him one now."

  I turned around, and through the opening in the top of the building, a figure wreathed in black flame slowly floated out. Beams and balls of energy, ice, and more assaulted him from underneath. I didn't wait for him to locate us again. I scooped up Nineteen and ran directly away from The Raven, which also happened to be away from my car. Well, Fire Arc's ex-car. But if I had any hope of getting out of here, I was going to need a ride. And I could think of three at the bottom of this side of the hill.

  If Nineteen was going to do something, it needed to be soon. As I sprinted the hundred feet or so to the side of the hill, I gently tapped her on the cheek. "Nineteen? Nineteen darling. I need you to wake up now. Now would be a good time." The girl was completely unresponsive. Her breathing seemed shallow, labored. But that could just be the dust. My breathing wasn't much better, but I'd been running. I reached the edge of the hill and glanced over.

  It wasn't so much a drop off as it was an abrupt change from the flat top. It was almost like a small mesa. Below, the blocks of the large opening were between me and the bottom of the hill. From one side, the hood of a black SUV peeked out. I smiled. With luck, the henchmen were either still inside or all dead. I wasn't great at hot-wiring cars, but I could manage. Chances were, I hoped, they left the keys in the ignition for a quick getaway. If they thought no one was in the missile silo, it was even more likely.

  I took a few short steps to the side and prepared to jump. A blast of purple-black fire cut the air directly next to me as I moved to the side and I fell, tumbling down the hill. I tried to protect Nineteen, but I felt her arm under my side as I rolled, maybe a leg too. I didn't want to think about how that felt as I rolled over the top of her, about what I might have done to her. I used a free hand to claw at the soil, bringing us to a stop a mere ten feet from the bottom. I coughed from the dust and picked up Nineteen gingerly. Her eyes were open, but her leg looked weird, askew.

  "Oh God, no. Nineteen. I'm so... Oh God..." I stroked her hair, crooning apologies and appeals to deities.

  From above, I heard yelling and the sounds of battle. I glanced up, shaking my head. Oh good, the supers had arrived. Just in time, like always.

  I backed down the hill, energy bolts of all kind soaring overhead like a multicolored meteor shower. A figure flew above me, seemingly consisting solely of electricity, bolts crackling out of it. A black stream of fire answered in return, enveloping the super and reducing it to a flying puddle of goo. It rained over the hood of the car next to me. I jumped back to avoid any of the molten ichor.

  "What the fuck?"

  With my back toward the car and the voice, I turned my head, trying to see the source of the voice and the battle overhead simultaneously. A black clad henchman with a gun on his shoulder rounded the open driver's door and was staring at the hood of the car.

  "You've got to be kidding me," I growled.

  The henchman looked over the hood and gave a slight jerk as he realized I was standing there. "Hey, guys," he pulled his weapon from his shoulder slowly, calling back into the opening, "we got a live one here."

  I kept my back to the henchman and looked down at Nineteen. Her eyes were open and wide, sky blue irises surrounding black pupils. "Good girl," I whispered, smiling. With her power in effect, this would be a lot easier. Her breathing still seemed too weak, but I didn't have time to worry about it. If we could just hold out a little longer, it'd all be over.

  "Fuck'em. Shoot him," a voice responded.

  I frowned. They hadn't forgotten me. I turned slightly.

  "Hey," the henchman responded, "he's holding something."

  An exasperated reply, "Good. Shoot him and take it. This goose chase is officially over."

  A third voice, also unseen, "I don't know, boss. Did you see those doors? Something's going on."

  I couldn't help but laugh, "You could say that."

  The henchman, apparently, was very used to following orders as he didn't waste any time. Thinking Nineteen would protect me, I stood frozen, overconfident. I gasped in surprise as he raised his gun and started to take aim. I barely managed to take two steps before I heard the shots, but didn't feel anything, which was either really good or really bad. I glanced back. Two projectiles were lying in the sand, still smoking. I smiled. Unlike the last group, this henchman had a projectile gun, something my Inertial Dampener could work against. This could work out. As long as they were focused on me, they might not notice The Raven until it was too late. I continued running as the henchmen all started yelling at once. I heard a car start and frowned. Could the Dampener work against something so large? Looked like I was about to find out. I chanced another glance over my shoulder as I attempted to weave between the dunes.

  Where there once had been seemingly impenetrable doors in the side of the mountain, the doors were now ripped completely off. Two of the SUVs were pushed up and to the side, crushed between the forced open blast doors and the side walls. It looked like eight of the henchmen were all piling into the lone, undamaged SUV and were pointing at me and yelling at each other.

  Behind them, on top of the hill, the battle raged on. I could see Nissa and a few of the supers I didn't recognize attacking The Raven from afar. Rod and Shawn were up close, beating on the brute with their fists. Another super I didn't recognize was behind Shawn, a constant stream of flame exiting his mouth and concentrating on the large, pink-clad super. The others seemed to be trying to fire around the supers known as Force and Fire Arc, but that didn't seem to be a priority. The Raven, from what little I could see, was doing little more than covering up and taking it. They were hitting him with everything they had...

  Well, not everything. Off to the side, Ted and Gale were bent over a metal box. Ted nodded and Gale called out. Everyone increased their rate of fire as Gale reached out. With an audible whoosh, Rod and Shawn were pulled suddenly away from The Raven. She called out again and everyone stopped firing. Her other hand shot forward and a swarm of the glowing devices exited the metal box and sped toward The Raven. They attached all over him and Ted pressed a button on a small device.

  The terrain abruptly changed and I stumbled. I cursed loudly, catching myself barely in time. I couldn't bear to hurt her again. I studied Nineteen's face and eyes. She was beet red and the whites of her eyes had blood in them. Suddenly, they fluttered and closed, her breathing a mere trickle. I think I screamed at that point, calling out to Nineteen. I didn't care about the supers above, even those I loved. At that moment, all I could think was that I didn't want her to die. Not after all we'd been through. All we'd endured. We were so close!

  The SUV bounced over the dunes to my side and skidded to a halt in front of me. The doors flung open, henchmen practically piled on top of each other struggling to get out. The ones nearest the windows froze as they finally noticed the battle that had been behind them. The others, unaware, pushed forward sending two sprawling to the ground.

  "Gale!" I screeched, my burning lungs unable to manage anything more. She must have heard me because a moment later the SUV shot up into the air twenty feet, rotated two and a half times, and landed on its roof. Inside, the henchmen were reduced to a mass of moaning, bleeding flesh. The two remaining henchmen, the ones that had been pushed from the car, turned slowly toward me.

  I managed a small smile, "Should have worn their seat belts."

  They dropped their guns and ran.

  At least they knew when to cut and run. I didn't seem to have that same ability.

  I turned back toward the battle, not sure what to do. The Raven had moved forward and was now at the base of the hill, about half the supers missing, either part of the growing number of bubbling puddles or sprawled out unconscious marking his path. The attack of the glowing teleporters may have torn that henchman in the missile base into pieces, but it was less effective on the huge super. Wherever they were connected, they had taken pieces of his costume and even smaller pieces of h
is flesh. He kept an arm out, drawing power from the supers around him while striking and shooting with the other. All the while, he walked toward me, steadily, inexorably.

  I swallowed hard and looked down again at Nineteen. Her leg was still horribly askew, but it didn't look broken. She was still unconscious and I didn't know how close she needed to be for her power to work. That was, if I could even wake her. I just hoped it wasn't too close because I turned to run.

  From behind, I heard a voice cry out, "Father, face me!"

  I stumbled, trying to run and look back and keep my jaw from hitting the ground all at the same time. I knew that voice. Nissa. She was floating, her palms pressed together surrounded by the green field. The field was a deeper color now; it seemed to have more sheen to it. Whatever training they'd given her in the last few hours, it must have helped. I looked over at The Raven. I'd seen it before, at Inhumanitas, the discolored skin. But now that I really looked, it was like connecting the dots. A piece here, a patch there, all down the top of his right arm, green discolored skin that I had first thought were bruises, matching the skin on Nissa's arm.

  That's why she had to be here. Why Gale needed her so badly. Why she was suddenly displaying the arm that she had so carefully covered before. What they couldn't tell me before. Hero, The Raven, was her father.

  I could see how it had happened. The Raven, the most powerful super on the planet, gets a girl pregnant. A tippy. Something that, back then, most thought could never happen. But he had access to all the world's supers. He would have known that cross-conceptions happened. Back then, they all "knew" the outcome. A miscarriage. His wondering about the origins of supers, his quest for how they were created, wasn't about some philosophical musing, it was about his child. The child that he must have thought was doomed to die, and probably the mother, the woman he loved, along with it.

  Shame. Fear of exposure. I've seen supers go postal over less.

  Heat surrounded me and part of the SUV in front of me was caught in a blast of purple-black flames and immediately erupted. In a second, the flames reached the gas tank and the mostly unconscious and trapped henchmen inside didn't stand a chance. The explosion rocked me back, hurtling toward the battle. I skidded to a stop on my back, Nineteen on my chest. I looked over and Nissa was once again protecting me with a field of green energy. Her hands were pressed together and, now that I was closer, the field looked larger than last time. She was definitely stronger.

  She called back over her shoulder at me, "Bob, stay behind me. I can..."

  Her voice faltered and sputtered as her masked eyes fixed on my arms.

  "Oh no, no," I moaned watching Nissa's eyes blink as the memories of the young telepath flooded back to her, her concentration broken. Her hands separated, one reaching to her temple, and the green field winked out of existence. "No!" I screamed just as Fire Arc jumped in the way of The Raven's blast.

  Nissa crumpled to the ground, smoke rising off her now tattered costume. I sprang to my feet and ran forward, setting Nineteen down next to Nissa, pulling my former assistant toward me. She was breathing, that much was sure, but she had burns all over her. Red welts and singed hair. The melted vinyl was doing more damage than anything else. Probably not the best choice for a costume material. Still, she got off lucky compared to the puddles of supers behind The Raven. Ahead of me, Shawn drew The Raven's blast away, but it was clear he wasn't prepared for that kind of power. His costume was glowing even more than usual and it looked like his hair might be smoldering. Still, he pushed forward, pain obvious in his expression, eventually coming within striking distance. He reared back and punched The Raven in the face with enough force that I could feel it in my stomach.

  His face. My God! I hadn't had a chance to notice before, but the teleporter attack had removed almost all of The Raven's costume. What was left was as much seared to the skin as it was stuck on by blood and Lord knows what else. He was a mess. The sores and discolorations I'd seen before at Inhumanitas were everywhere. His body looked like it had been used by a professional sadist as a torture device testing ground. Open wounds from the teleporters dotted his entire body and what wasn't open was either freshly healed or horribly scarred. There were areas of obvious damage that defied description. A super with his ability shouldn't have black, bubbly skin that looked rotten and puss-filled.

  But the worst was his face and his groin. He had little nose left and what was there was covered in black blisters. His ears were completely gone, as were his lips. His teeth, eerie in their contrast, were the healthiest looking part of him and were pearly white and straight as an arrow. But his eyes. His eyes were completely missing, the skin around the eye sockets ripped and torn as if by fingernails. Bettering that in scrotum-shriveling grossness was his groin. A scar stood where his manhood should have been. It was an injury too well healed. It had obviously happened years ago. Which could only mean one thing - he'd done it to himself.

  The Raven turned to Shawn after the strike, somehow smiling without lips. He backhanded Shawn casually, sending him flying through the air. I didn't bother to see where he landed as The Raven immediately turned to face me.

  "Fuck this," I laughed almost manically, "we are so out of here."

  I sat Nissa up, placed Nineteen on her lap, and folded them both into as compact a package as I could. As I did, I felt as much as heard a pop. From ten feet in front of me, a cry rattled my teeth. I looked up. The Raven was grabbing his head and screaming. The sound was like a lion being beaten with a sack of wrenches. His mouth was open so far that the corners of the skin where his lips had been, split.

  But still, he advanced toward me. Slower, for sure, but relentlessly.

  I looked around. Few supers were left and I didn't recognize any of them. From behind The Raven, I spied two hands clasped together to make a huge fist, which dropped on The Raven's head with a crack, pushing his feet four inches into the hard soil. I peered down at the two girls, now balled up as one. Nineteen's face was screwed in concentration, pain and fever. I pursed my lips and jammed my hand into my pocket, fishing. I threw the box with the button on the ground to my right and the two teleporters with it.

  Dammit, which one?

  There was only a moment's hesitation before I remembered that the ones at Ted's had glowed blue and the one I had synced to the base at home was red. But it was enough. Nineteen's eyes fluttered again and The Raven regained a bit of control.

  "Now!" Gale's voice sounded out over the pounding of my heart.

  I hadn't realized that she and Ted had left. But, apparently, they were back, and Ted was dumping another box of teleporters into a small tornado at his feet. In moments, it glowed a bright blue from all the devices, reminding me, sickeningly, of a certain water cooler from a few months ago. Gale pulled Rod back with a gust of wind and sent the teleporters toward The Raven. This time, they really did cover him from head to toe with virtually no part of his skin left exposed. The Raven, only one hand on his head now, dove forward toward the three of us.

  I grabbed the red teleporter, pressed the device so that it blinked, and shoved it into Nineteen's lap. I folded an unconscious Nissa over the top of her and pushed Nissa's knees up with my belly. I hugged them both close, Nissa's head on my shoulder, Nineteen between us. I squeezed them tightly and put my thumb on the button that would teleport us to safety.

  Well, if it didn't blow us up. At this point, it really didn't matter.

  His grip was like a vice on my right ankle. I felt the bones crack and break and the box slipped from a hand spasming with pain. If he had wanted to, he could have pulled my foot off; I'd seen him do worse. But he didn't. He wanted Nineteen.

  Or he wanted us close so that Gale wouldn't use the teleporters.

  I flailed and struggled, trying to get free through the pain. With a vicious jerk, he pulled my leg straight and out, dislocating my hip. Pain danced along my brain like a flame through dry pine needles. The only thought in my mind was that he'd just done to me what I'd done earlie
r to Nineteen.

  I'd caused her this much pain.

  Anger flared across my vision, an emotional backfire burning away everything else. I groped along the ground for the box, finally finding it in the dirt. The Raven pulled again, sending another wave of pain up my leg, but I held fast to the girls, dragging them with me. The pain wasn't nearly as bad. Either I was going into shock or my brain had already accepted pain as the new status quo.

  In the background, I could hear screaming. Some of it was Gale shouting orders, much of it was The Raven under Nineteen's assault, but no small part of it was me. Pain, rage, and loss. Loss as I watched Nineteen's eyes, only inches from my own, slowly roll back into her head, her eyes closing. I looked back at The Raven, hand lowering slowly from his temple, preparing to stand with my ankle still in his hand. He was covered in blue glowing devices, but his smile, such as it was, was clearly visible.

  "Abomination," The Raven growled, his voice not coming from his mouth, but, I realized, from some manifestation of his power.

  "Get a new line," I cried, and pressed the button.

  * * *

  "Call the police," I croaked as I shook my head. How long had I been out? My office smelled like someone had been cooking.

  "Don't you mean an ambulance?" Mind sounded far away, distant.

  "Sure, them too. Are you monitoring the fight? Did they win?" When was the last time I had eaten anything?

  "It appears so. Moments after you left. I'm contacting the police now. What would you like to report?"

  "Report?"

  "To the police?"

  "Um..." I couldn't keep the thought straight. Why did I want the police?

  "An ambulance is on the way."

  "Great. Nissa might need it." I attempted to stand, but lost my balance. "Ah, crap!" I exclaimed, falling to the right. "Mind, is it cold in here?"

  "No Bob. You should really wait for the ambulance."

  "Screw that, I've got to get Nineteen back there. I've got to get her to them right now. Ted said there might be a super to help her," I slipped again.