by LE Barbant
Willa was using a powerful rhetorical move, and Elijah felt its impact. Apparently she had been rehearsing too.
“That’s why we’re going,” he said, trying to swallow the lump in his throat whole. “Strange things are afoot in the Steel City and Dobbs has the answers. But we need to get him to share that information with us. That’s not gonna happen if we…”
“What do you think, Elijah, we’re just going to walk into the Mayor’s office and get a confession about killing my mom?”
“Maybe. We can be persuasive.”
“Oh, I’m planning on being very persuasive.” A smile, cold enough to match her eyes, manifested on her lips.
“OK, so we persuade him. Then we call the cops or something.”
Willa let out an uncharacteristic laugh. If Elijah didn’t know better, he would swear that Willa’s evil twin sister was riding shotgun. “Don’t be naïve. People like Dobbs don’t pay for what they’ve done. They just keep on keeping on.”
The car was quiet. Too quiet. Elijah’s nervous drumming returned.
“Don’t get in my way, Elijah. I don’t want to have to go through you to get to him, but I will if I have to.”
He knew she wasn’t bluffing.
“Willa, we’ve been given these powers for a reason. We’re not their lords but their stewards. This is only the beginning—you know that—and we need to start this right, or we’re just those monsters that Dobbs is calling us.”
“With great power…OK, Uncle Ben.”
Elijah paused for a moment. He’d reached his last line of defense. “I didn’t learn it from the movies. I learned it from Sean.”
Willa stared out the window. Elijah could barely hear her response, but it sent chills down his spine.
“Sean’s dead, Elijah. And soon Dobbs will join him.”
I’m screwed, Elijah thought as he cursed out loud at the traffic.
****
“This isn’t right,” Elijah said.
Their footsteps echoed through the foyer of City Hall.
“It’s a weeknight,” he continued. “This place should be packed.”
Silence greeted them as they walked toward the guard’s desk. The scenes on a row of monitors jumped around to different parts of the building. “He’s waiting for us.”
“Yeah, he might be. And I think he’s pretty damned excited about the prospect of getting some of the monsters on candid camera.” Elijah nodded to the screens.
“Oh, ye of little faith,” Willa said, as she started to chant.
“All within is dark as night:
In the windows is no light;
And no murmur at the door,
So frequent on its hinge before.”
The screens went to static.
“That will do it,” Willa said. “Gives us about an hour, and it should have fried everything up to about fifteen minutes ago too. So, I’d say we’re in the clear.”
“Somehow that doesn’t give me much comfort.”
They paced toward the elevators. Inside, they pressed the button for the Mayor’s suite. A bead of sweat traced its way down Elijah’s spine. The elevator rose and he considered his training. He only hoped he could bring his powers to the fore if necessary.
“Remember you still have a choice in all this.”
Willa’s eyes were glued on the numbers lighting as they approached the floor. “I know you think that.”
The elevators slid open and Elijah had a flashback to PPG Tower.
This is not going to end well, he thought.
****
“Welcome, friends,” the Mayor’s voice met them as they entered his office.
It was a gaudy workspace. Gold floor-to-ceiling curtains and overstated chandeliers made it look more like an 80s casino than a 21st century political lair. It even smelled old, like his grandmother’s house in Rockland.
Unlike the office, the Mayor himself was more impressive than Elijah expected. On television the man looked good for his age, but in person he seemed downright regal. His suit was perfect, and it matched his hair and smile. The look in his eye screamed divine right of kings.
“Friends?” Willa sneered.
“I’ve known you a long time, Dr. Weil. What, you’re surprised I know who you are? I’ve been waiting for this moment for years. Just never thought it would come at such an opportune time. I always knew I was blessed, but this is almost too much.”
Dobbs directed his perfect smile toward Elijah. “And you must be Dr. Branton. I heard you were doing some amazing work on the history of steel for the Alarawns before your early termination. There’s been a lot of termination during your tenure in Pittsburgh, hasn’t there? Well, I’m glad you returned. I could use another pawn on the board.”
Dobbs stood from behind his desk and walked around it. A sitting area of a love seat, two chairs, and a coffee table separated the heroes from their villain.
“I should really thank you for that stunt at PPG Place. I mean, I was already trending down in the polls. I remember looking at Vinton—God rest his soul—and saying, ‘Bobby, unless something downright apocalyptic happens, we might find ourselves in a tight spot.’ And you know what? Armageddon arrived in the form of a couple of overeducated snots who don’t have the chops to work a full-time job.”
Elijah felt his temperature rise, even though he knew that was exactly what Dobbs was looking for.
The man needed a show, and this was the warm-up.
He didn’t need to turn his head; he could feel Willa’s lips moving. Shit was accelerating. He started his own centering, focusing on bringing out the power.
Willa paused her poem and spoke to the Mayor. “You killed my mother. And now you are going to pay for that.”
He laughed. “Technically, I’ve never killed anyone. But, you’re right. I called in the hit. I mean, best decision ever. Look at me now.” The man waved his arm, showing off his office like a model on The Price Is Right. “But maybe I should have killed that baby along with her. Might have saved me a headache. Anyway, I’m sure this will play out just fine.”
Heat rose in Elijah’s body. He struggled to manifest his power on command, but he knew that turning now, at least in part, would be no problem. Although the old spirit was gone, he could feel traces of him, and he was pissed.
“It’s time, Dobbs,” Willa said through gritted teeth.
“Oh, you thought I was just going to deliver a cliché villain speech before being killed? Come on. I should show you what Pittsburgh’s research budget is able to buy.”
Before he could finish the sentence, the doors opened.
Three men wearing serious DARPA-like battle armor rolled into the room. Elijah recognized the tank from earlier but with it was not one, but two men in the smaller exoskeletons. Elijah, Tim, and Rita had barely held off two of them. This wasn’t a complication they had planned on.
Oh, shit.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Rhett stood on large porch, a thin railing the only thing separating it from a line of nearly identical houses on either side. Pittsburgh row homes made him feel claustrophobic. A gentle rain splashed on the asphalt, adding a quintessential city smell to the night air. He knocked for a third and final time, then leaned against the railing. He would have to move to plan B if she weren’t home, though he had no idea what plan B was.
He exhaled as the doored open.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Jillian stood in the doorway. Baggy pajama pants and a hoodie with a faded college seal on the front were a stark contrast to her formalwear from the other day. Though she could have been sleeping in that outfit, Rhett could see in her eyes that she was wide awake.
“I see it’s blogger business casual today,” he said, looking her up and down.
Jillian didn’t say a word; she just turned up a middle finger in his direction.
“Sorry, I’m not here to give fashion advice. But you do owe me a drink. Grab your gear and let’s go.”
****
“You want the story of a lifetime?” Rhett asked between sips of his Dark and Stormy.
“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?”
Rhett was distracted by the red curls. Even though the biggest clusterfuck in Pittsburgh history was about to go down, all he wanted to do was play with them.
“Let’s just say I have a line on something big and I don’t trust anybody else…”
Jillian stopped the glass of Merlot before it got to her lips. “I’m glad I’ve earned your confidence.”
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far. In lieu of a trustworthy reporter of repute, I’m settling for you.”
“Bastard.”
Rhett could see the beginnings of a smile on her lips. It had only taken her five minutes to get ready, but he noticed subtle lipstick and some mascara that hadn’t been there originally.
“Go to City Hall at 6 p.m. You’ll get all the proof you need regarding our monster problem.”
Rhett threw a twenty on the bar. He pointed at it, and said, “You still owe me a drink.”
She grinned as he stood to leave. “That’s it? You’re seriously not going to give me any more info?”
Rhett smiled. “Don’t worry, you can trust me.”
“Like hell I can trust you. You’re Dobbs’ lapdog. This is probably just another ploy to distract the public.”
He stared at the woman. It was the rare person who remained unaffected by his words.
She must be more of a cynic than I thought.
He could hear Paul laughing in the back of his mind. His powers ineffective, Rhett settled for a more conventional tactic.
“Fine, stay home. I’m sure a serious news outlet like the Pitt Times will listen to me.”
He turned to leave, not waiting for her response. At the door, he offered one last word of warning.
“Oh, when you show up, keep your head down. City Hall might be a war zone by the time you get there.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Light pierced the room as their jailer returned. Rita had learned from Skylar that he rarely left her alone for long. He seemed to take joy in poking fun at her.
He headed toward Skylar’s cage, whistling tunelessly.
“You’re a dead man.” Rita gurgled under her breath with her head down.
The man stepped toward the cage. “What? Dead? Just you wait until we parade your body in front of the city. The sight of you is gonna make this city shit its pants.
In a flash, Rita’s clawed hand darted between the bars. The guard didn’t stand a chance of reacting. She grabbed a fistful of shirt and pulled with all of the unnatural strength her transformation had given her. The sound of the body smashing against the bars was sickening. A scream accompanied the first collision. Rita pushed, then pulled again. The second blunt force knocked him unconscious. The third, fourth, and fifth brought the blood. Red sprayed from the man’s nose and lacerations on his forehead, turning the artist into a walking canvas fit for the Warhol Museum.
Breathing heavily, Rita finally released the shirt and let the body fall into a mass on the floor. She reached through the bars and into the guard’s pocket; she found his keys.
“Thank you very much, kind sir,” she said, fitting one of the keys into the padlock on the door. Though her captivity was brief, she relished her freedom.
Rita ran to Skylar’s cage. For the first time the girl looked frightened.
“So, how do we do this?”
“Um, do what?” Skylar replied.
“Will it hurt if I carry you?”
Getting Skylar to safety and getting herself into some body of water were warring for number one and two on Rita’s top ten list. While her strength was extraordinary for her size, lack of nourishment and hydration had taken its toll. The girl’s dead weight, like a bag of mortar, weighed on her shoulder.
“How do we get out?” Rita asked.
“We can’t, not without my mom.”
The halls were narrow, dirty, and dimly lit. Rita tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together. When locked in the cage she thought she was in some kind of self-storage unit, but now it seemed she was wandering through the halls of a large warehouse.
Rita peeked around a corner and found a man wearing the same low-priced polyester uniform as the one who now sat bloody in his own prison cell. It was evident these were cheap hired guns, not the muscle of a highly complex crime syndicate.
Gently, Rita lowered Skylar to the ground, trying to honor her dignity by not allowing her uncontrolled body to fall to its side.
“I need a favor.”
“What’s that?” the girl asked.
“Give me five seconds, and then scream bloody murder.”
The girl just smiled as Rita slunk toward the corner in the hall. She looked back and gave Skylar a nod. Without delay, the screaming started.
“Help! Help! Please, I need help.”
Rita gave her a clawed thumbs up as the footsteps approached.
The element of surprise was Rita’s forte. The man turned the corner and she snagged his moving neck in her hands like a Frisbee.
Claws sinking into his flesh, she whipped the man into the air and then down onto his back. He landed hard, air escaping from this body.
Her dagger-bearing mouth clamped down on his right hand as it moved for a weapon fastened to his belt. The ruddy-faced guard tried to yell, but Rita cut it short with a tight squeeze.
Keeping her hand on his throat, she said, “Quiet now, love, or I’ll end it all.”
The man silently shook his head. Fear filled his eyes. “Good,” Rita let her claws dig in further. “Now, where will we find the girl’s mum?”
“End of the hall. Last door on the right.” Rita looked down and noticed his dark gray pants were darker around the crotch. Pity was the last thing on her mind.
“Get another job,” Rita said just before she landed a series of blows to his head, knocking him out. Zip ties conveniently hanging from his belt would keep him from causing trouble. She locked his wrist behind his back and to his ankles.
“Nice work,” Rita said, as she hoisted the girl back onto her shoulders.
They found the room without further delay. A locked door was their last barrier to freeing the girl’s mom.
Careful, this could be a trap, she told herself.
Three swift kicks knocked the door wide open, exposing a room that was more of a lab than a residence. Metal parts hung throughout, and a twenty-foot table ran the length of one wall. A woman in a lab coat turned and gasped as Rita stepped across the threshold. She grabbed a screwdriver off the table and raised it in defense.
“I’m here to help.”
Rita lowered Skylar off her shoulders and held her out toward her mother.
“Skylar!” the woman shouted, dropping her feeble weapon. “Thank God.”
“Let’s thank Him after we get out of here, lady.”
Rita only made it two feet before the prongs of a Taser sunk into her dry flesh. Volts of electricity swam through her body, knocking her to the floor. Skylar landed a second later with a sickening thud. Rita pitched herself over, trying to reach for the wires.
Have to get free.
The man holding the stun gun grinned as though he’d always dreamed of having an excuse to use it. He pulled out a nightstick and took a step forward.
His grin disappeared when a wooden Louisville Slugger connected with the back of his head. The guard dropped to the floor and Rita saw Chem standing with the bat resting on his shoulder.
“High fly ball to right field,” he called into the room.
Rita’s mouth dropped open.
“Come on, Aquagirl, you actually believed I’d leave you in this hellhole? I’m a better man than that, even though losing you would take care of plenty of my problems.”
“But I heard you. They had a tape of you talking with the others.”
“Shit, I can’t believe that actually worked!”
Chem knelt and gently pu
lled the prongs from her skin. Rita stared at him without blinking. “Elijah figured that the drone you found was spying on us. It’s how the Decepticons knew where we were. So we decided to try a little deception ourselves.” He gave Rita a hand and helped her to her feet. “So Willa and Elijah are running off to take care of the Mayor, and I came looking for you.”
He looked around the lab and his gaze landed on the middle-aged woman cradling her daughter. “Who’re your friends?”
The woman looked up, tears running down her cheeks. “I’m Sylvia, and this is my daughter Skylar. We’ve been trapped here for months. I don’t know what to say, except thank you.”
“You can get me a Hallmark card later. But what are you doing here in the Fortress of Ineptitude?”
“There’s no time.” Rita leaned down and picked up Skylar. Sylvia flinched watching her daughter being balanced on Rita’s shoulders. “Come on, we need to get out of here before those suits show back up.”
****
Chem, Skylar, and her mom stood next to the Allegheny as Rita eased herself in. The muddy water made her feel alive again. Fully submerged, she swam to the middle, letting the current take her a hundred yards downstream before making her way back to the shore. The ease with which Rita navigated the water still amazed her. It wasn’t a skill, but a deeply ingrained knowledge that had become a part of her when her new body took over.
She swam back to the edge and stood waist deep—feet away from Chem and their new companions.
“Feel better?” Chem said to Rita. “I’d offer to give you a physical but your weird fish body still makes no sense to me.” He turned to Skylar and her mother. “Don’t worry, we’re safe now. At least safeish. Wanna tell us what the hell was going on back there?”
The woman held her daughter close and kept an eye on Rita.
While her daughter accepted her, Rita could feel the mother’s suspicion. It wasn’t unreasonable, considering all that she had been through.
