Wayward

by Skye Knizley

  “See you back here,” Cadence said.

  She stepped through the gateway and hurried down the corridor. The first office was empty, but the second contained two men hunched over a desk. One wore the white uniform of Specter guards, while the other wore a well-tailored black suit.

  Cadence opened the door and gave them a cheery smile.

  “Hi, has either of you seen Mr. Starr?”

  The Man in Black glanced at her, then straightened. “That is Dr. Starr, he’s indisposed. Who are you?”

  “Me?” Cadence asked, pointing at herself. “My name is Cadence, and I’m here to shut you bastards down.”

  She zapped the guard, knocking him unconscious, then faced off against the Man in Black, whose fists grew and looked as if they were made of granite.

  It was a short fight. Stonefist was strong, but slow and not the shiniest apple she’d ever encountered. Her shield and feet made short work of him, and she left him unconscious in a broom closet before heading toward the elevator. As she pressed the button, the tower’s sound system switched from soothing classical music to a tune she knew by heart. It was called Hell’s Bells.

  “Ethan,” she said with a chuckle. She didn’t know how he’d done it, but it was him wishing her good luck, she just knew it.

  The elevator doors opened on five surprised-looking Men in Black, who spread out to allow her to enter. She squeezed between the two gorillas in the doorway and took a place near the back. The elevator was half glass and she could see the city outside, all gold, white and pink. It was breathtaking. There were worse sights to enjoy before dying.

  The doors closed with a thump and the elevator began to rise at a slow walking pace. The men around her shuffled nervously and she could hear them whispering to one another, wondering who the woman in their midst might be.

  “Let me help you out,” she said. “It’s me.”

  One of the gorillas looked over his shoulder. “It’s you?”

  Cadence smiled encouragingly. “It’s me. The one you’re supposed to be looking for? It’s me.”

  The other gorilla did a double-take, then his eyes widened. “Get her!”

  He attacked with a wild haymaker that she would have ducked easily if not for the three men who grabbed her from the sides. The gorilla’s punch felt like being hit with a brick and she saw stars, but it didn’t slow her down. She let the three men support her weight and kicked the second gorilla in the face. He staggered into the first and she elbowed the guy to her right before stomping on the toes of the guy to her left. When they both let go, she flipped the one behind her into the staggering gorillas then summoned her shield just as another man extended a metal spear from his hand and attacked. It slammed into the shield and Cadence half-turned, using his momentum against him. The spear impaled one of the other men and she snapped it with her boot before kicking the wounded man through the glass. He screamed as he fell, but Cadence didn’t have time to feel guilty, one of his comrades was already wrapping snake-like appendages around her throat while another was punching her in the kidneys. She split her shield into two smaller ones and punched the gorilla still trying to get his big mitts into play then used them like small blades to slice through the things around her neck. She managed to draw a ragged breath before the other gorilla punched her in the side of the head and she went down to one knee. Before he could hit her again, she punched his toes with one of her shields then his crotch with the other. When he screamed, she kneed him in the chin and he fell backward through the door, taking the wounded man beside him along for the ride.

  Free for the moment, Cadence turned and screamed at the remaining two men. The high-pitched cry shattered ear-drums and blood vessels before knocking both men unconscious mere seconds before the elevator stopped at the upper deck.

  “Well, that was fun,” she said, dusting off her hands.

  She stepped through the broken door and made her way down the hallway. Originally, this floor hadn’t existed, it was added by Specter during their renovations. It was supposed to be a gift shop and restrooms, but it looked more like a listening post to Cadence. Banks of electronic equipment lined the walls, along with desks for the people who would normally be operating the radios and microphones. It was empty now, but the tang of sweat hung in the air. By the scent, she guessed the post was occupied at least sixteen hours a day. They could spy on the whole city and nobody would ever know.

  “When the FBI finds out about this, someone better lose their damn job,” Cadence grumbled. It offended her patriotic sensibilities that this much enemy activity could be carried out in one of the country’s biggest cities.

  Near the far wall, the corridor opened up and became a ramp to the observation floor above. She walked with caution, turning to check behind her and looking for any sign that there were more guards. Odds were good that the ones in the elevator were the ones who were supposed to be lying in wait, while the ones Ethan was dealing with were reinforcements. With any luck, there would only be a few guards and then Starr.

  The ramp became the second floor, and Cadence found herself in an enormous round room overlooking Seattle. In the middle was a wide spiral staircase that led to the third floor wrapped around another elevator, this one designed solely for the observation deck. She could hear voices coming from the upper floor, and started up, taking the steps one at a time to make as little noise as possible.

  When she could see the next floor, she stopped and peered around. This was the restaurant area, off limits to the public for the last fifteen years. Tables and chairs were arranged throughout, but none looked like they’d been used for diners in quite some time. Most were covered with sheets of plastic to keep the dust off.

  Nikki was seated at one of the tables near the windows. One eye was black and there was blood in the corner of her mouth, but she was otherwise unharmed. She hadn’t changed, aside from filling out in all the right places. She still had the startling blue eyes, amazing long, black hair and sarcastic twist to her mouth. She was wearing a Star Wars tee, jeans and what looked like combat boots, comfortable and serviceable.

  Also in the room were five of the Men in Black and a tall, thin man with greying hair. He was dressed in a grey Mandarin-style suit and was seated opposite Nikki. It was his voice Cadence had heard, he was talking into some kind of portable telephone.

  Cadence was trying to get Nikki’s attention with a series of waves and jumps, without much success, when the grey-suited man set his phone down and turned.

  “Miss Phoenix, please cease your antics and join us. It’s all my men can do not to point and laugh.”

  His voice held a hint of German accent, one that seemed familiar.

  There was no point in pretending, he obviously knew she was there. Cadence climbed the rest of the stairs and entered the dining room, keeping one eye on the men spaced throughout.

  “Let Nikki go,” she said.

  “Come now, Miss Phoenix, you really think after all this I’m just going to let you go?”

  “Ceej? Is that really you?” Nikki asked.

  Cadence smiled at her. “It’s really me. I’m not sure about the outfit, though.”

  “Dude, keep it. It makes your boobs look enormous,” Nikki said with a smile. She leaned back in her chair and folded her arms. “My girl’s going to kick your ass now. I told you that stupid werewolf of yours couldn’t take her.”

  “Indeed,” Greysuit said. “Miss Phoenix, do you know who I am?”

  Cadence was still watching the agents, who were slowly spreading out to surround her. “Mr. Starr, I presume.”

  “Doctor Starr, Miss Phoenix, yes. Do you know why I have been looking for you?”

  “Because you’re a sadistic bastard who likes to torture kids and turn them into mindless monsters who do whatever you say?” Cadence asked.

  In the opposite window she
saw Starr shake his head. “No, Miss Phoenix, because you are my greatest achievement. You are a one-of-a-kind specimen.”

  “Great, you get an A on your science project. Can my girl and I go now? It’s been a long-ass day and I couldn’t care less about your monologue,” Cadence said.

  Starr turned. “I’m sorry, Miss Phoenix, I need you. I’m going to feed you to your girlfriend and re-start the project from the beginning.”

  “Eww,” Cadence and Nikki said in unison.

  “You’re a disgusting human being,” Nikki said.

  “I’m not going to let you hurt her, Starr,” Cadence said, “Much less let you feed me to her. That’s just gross.”

  “Miss Phoenix, what makes you think you have a choice? Take her, but leave her alive,” Starr said.

  His people began to move, pushing tables and chairs out of the way as they went. Cadence remembered an old saying, the best defense was the best offense, and she leapt into action. She slid across the nearest table and kicked the advancing Man in Black, then raised her shield and used it to backhand him over the railing. He fell onto the stairs with a thud, and she was already fighting the next man, an agent with green skin and bright yellow eyes. His skin was thick and warty, which made it feel strange when she punched him. He also carried a stink like raw sewage that made her gag when she tried to get close.

  “Damn, what the hell happened to you?” Cadence asked.

  Rather than answering, Greenskin exhaled a cloud of gas that smelled worse than he did. Cadence gagged and backed away, trying to keep her shield between them and the cloud away. It was the worst stench she’d ever experienced.

  “Great job, Doc, you created monsters that can cast stinking cloud,” she coughed.

  “You always were the funny one, my little musician,” Starr said dryly. “Gentlemen, I’m growing impatient.”

  “Me, too,” Cadence said.

  She screamed at the Greenskin and he clapped his hands to his ears, which gave Cadence an opening. Her spin-kick caught him in the jaw, and she followed it up with a backhand with her shield that sent him tumbling over a table.

  She had no time to congratulate herself, however. A bolt of lightning struck her in the back. She screamed in pain and crashed face-first into a table that collapsed under the impact. She rolled over and looked up into the face of Jaz, who didn’t look happy to see her.

  “Hel-lo, Fee-nix,” Jaz said. “Master says I can’t kill you, yet.”

  “You’re not holding a grudge about the scream thing, are you?” Cadence asked.

  “I will enjoy beating you unconscious,” Jaz continued.

  “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  Cadence kicked her with all her strength and slammed her in the face with her shield, which gave Cadence time to climb to her feet. The remaining three, Jaz, a man with lightning dancing between his fingers and a tall, metal-skinned man who reminded her of the Tin Man were standing in a semi-circle.

  “You guys don’t fight like they do in movies, didn’t anyone tell you, you’re supposed to come at me one at a time?”

  “Funny. Surrender and you will get to see the sun rise one more time,” the electrical one said.

  “Listen sparky, I plan on seeing many sunrises with Nikki by my side. Why don’t you surrender and you might get out of here alive,” Cadence said.

  The three agents stared at her, then burst out laughing.

  “You barely beat me, Fee-nix,” Jaz said. “You cannot defeat us all.”

  “Watch me.”

  Cadence kicked Jaz in the face then spun and punched the metal one with her shield. He staggered backward and Sparky sent another lightning bolt echoing across the room. Cadence blocked it with her shield and directed the energy at Jaz, who tumbled head over heels through a table. She struggled to sit up, then fell back, unconscious.

  Cadence felt a moment of pride, and the Tin Man backhanded her across the face his huge metal fist. Sparks jumped behind her eyes, but she recovered quickly and used the momentum to snap a kick at Sparky, then punch him with her shield. The impact nearly decapitated him, taking him out of the fight, and she turned to face Tin Man again.

  “That’s one hell of a punch you’ve got there, Tin Man,” she said. “Want to try it when I’m looking?”

  Tin Man stepped closer and punched again and again, with the speed and agility of a prizefighter. Cadence blocked each punch, but her shield shimmered under the impacts and she felt blood running down her lips.

  “You are looking, and still losing,” Tin man said. “Drop your shield and I promise you won’t feel a thing.”

  He swung again and Cadence blocked, then split her shield and punched him with her off hand, hoping to knock the wind out of him. Her fist rebounded from his armored chest and he slammed his foot into her chest. Cadence flew backward and crashed through the observation window. She caught herself with one hand and looked down at the ground, five hundred feet below.

  “CJ!” Nikki yelled. “Oh Gaia!”

  “I’m okay,” CJ yelled. “Stay back!”

  She raised her free hand and tried to find purchase to drag herself back inside. The glass was slippery and the window frame was sharp. It sliced through her gloves and stabbed into her palms, making her hands slick with blood.

  As she struggled, Starr appeared in the window. He looked both pleased and annoyed, with a furrowed brow and a fatherly smile.

  “My dear Miss Phoenix, this is not one of your comic books. This is real life. Yes, you have powers, yes, you are strong, because I made you that way. But if you fall, you will die and there will be no coming back,” he said.

  He squatted and looked down at her. “Surrender and I will allow Vasily to pull you up.”

  Cadence glared at him, then looked around. There had to be a way back inside that didn’t mean giving up or letting Tin Man get another grip on her. Another punch from him was likely to kill her.

  “Do you yield?” Starr asked again.

  “Not in this lifetime.”

  Cadence gripped the window sill and screamed, chasing the scale from top to bottom. Vasily fell back, clutching at his skull, but Starr seemed unaffected. That didn’t matter, however. Time was running out, her hands were growing weaker. She pulled with all her strength and launched herself upward, through the window. Her knee hit Starr in the chin and he fell into a table, where she landed on top of him, a heap of grey fabric and olive drab uniform.

  Before she could do move, Vasily grabbed her from the behind and lifted her into the air, holding her as one might hold an irritating rodent.

  “I do not care about orders,” he said. “I’m going to kill you now.”

  Cadence punched him and he slammed his head into her face. She heard the sickening pop of her nose and felt the pain in her face, and part of her wanted to give up. It was a small part.

  “Kill me, you lose Starr’s greatest experiment,” She said, spitting blood.

  “I do not care. You have cost us many lives, many agents that can never be replaced. You must pay,” Vasily replied.

  “No,” Starr said. “Do not kill her. Not yet. We need her blood, and she needs to know she has lost.”

  “Ceej, you haven’t lost,” Nikki said, fighting to get loose from the bindings that held her. “You can fight these guys, I know you can.”

  Starr stood. “She has lost, Miss Bennet. Vasily is stronger than Miss Phoenix.”

  “She’s still breathing, old man. She hasn’t lost,” Nikki said.

  “You should listen to her,” Cadence said. “She’s not wrong.”

  She brought up her two smaller shields and slammed them into Vasily’s head from either side. The impact dented his metal skull and he let go of her to clutch at his head. Cadence fell to her knees and punched him in the side of the knee. He fell to the floor
with a clatter and she was up and on her feet. Her heel connected with Vasily’s temple and he sagged, unconscious, leaving her alone with Starr.

  Starr recoiled in fear and surprise. He tried to run, but she was faster. She caught the back of his neat little jacket and dragged him backward and over her hip so that he fell on top of a table beside her.

  “Do not kill me, I can give you your memories back,” he said, holding up his hands.

  “If getting my memories back means letting you live, I don’t want them,” Cadence said.

  Somehow, Nikki had gotten free, and she was suddenly there, by her side.

  “You can’t just kill him,” Nikki said.

  “I can,” Cadence replied.

  Nikki shook her head. “No, honey, you can’t. You’re the good guy, and you’ve beaten him and his little aluminum-skinned minion. Now, you leave them for the cops and ride off into the sunset.”

  Cadence looked at her. “Do you know what he’s done? The lives he’s destroyed?”

  “And he’ll be punished for it,” Nikki replied. “Listen to me, Ceej, if you kill him you’ll feel it later. You know you will. Let it go.”

  Every inch of Cadence wanted to kill this man. For destroying her life, poor Rachel’s, Dimitria, and countless others. He deserved to die and she wanted to be the one to watch the light go out of his eyes.

  Nikki was right, though. If she killed him now, she would regret it later. It would weigh on her soul. She already felt regret over Bishop.

  She screamed in frustration and punched her fist through the table, then straightened and backed away.

  “You’re right. We’ll call the Feds, they can deal with this piece of trash and all of his little secrets,”

  She turned and smiled at Nikki. “Have I told you I missed you?”

  Nikki rose on tiptoes and kissed her lower lip, coming away with blood on her chin. “Not so much, but I got that impression.”