by R. J. Ross
“I don’t want to fight with you, little sister,” the concrete monstrosity says. “You just need to know that everything I’ve done, I’ve done it for you.”
“Pull the other one, it has bells on it,” she snarls, shoving her hair out of her face and jumping into the air. She staggers, letting out a yelp as she starts downward. “You’re kidding me! It even affects my AIR WALKING?”
The concrete monster raises a hand, grabbing for her. “We just need to—“ he’s cut off as Doris punches his hand, shattering it. Her eyes are glowing and her fangs are showing. I’ve never seen her look so terrifying, even during our fights with Ruckus and Doris. Her Jersey Devil form seems to pulsate once, twice, and then shoots up almost a foot in height. She’s as big as Tatiana, I think in wonder.
“Did you know she could do that?” Ariel asks as Doris launches herself at the concrete monster, crashing across the room and through the wall behind him, into the kitchen.
“That is SO AWESOME!” Skye says, forgetting for a second that she can’t air walk and jumping up and down.
“EVERYONE KEEP MOVING!” I yell as I realize that all of a sudden the norms are trying to get back into the building with their phones held high.
“Are you kidding me? Jersey Devil just EVOLVED!” someone shouts at me. “How can we NOT get this on camera?”
“By the ceiling caving in on you!” I say with my hands on my hips. “That’s it, I’m calling Century!”
The wall towards the street starts cracking and I turn, staring in horror as a hand made out of bricks appears, reaching for Skye. “Idon’tthinkso,” I say, rushing for it before anyone else notices and punching straight through it. The crowd starts to scream as the ceiling caves in entirely, almost falling through Ariel’s dome form. I find myself out on the street in front of the tiny restaurant, surrounded by broken bricks. Is he still here? Isn’t Doris supposed to be fighting him? They were in the kitchen just a second ago, so how did he appear in the wall?
The people continue pouring out of the building as the ground starts to shake, all over again. I turn, frozen in shock for an entire two seconds as I see what’s happening. The entire place is caving in, but it’s doing it strangely. Some parts are still standing up, while others start curving in—it looks almost like…
“It’s a hand!” the little girl that I had set on the street says, pointing at the store. “It’s a giant hand!”
I look back at the store, realizing that she’s right. Those parts that are still standing are fingers, and they’re closing into a fist as the norms desperately try to escape.
***
*SITEC Enterprises*
“He’s taking his sweet time about this,” Nico mutters as he and Superior stand in the waiting room. They’ve already turned down coffee and magazines. While they’d been told it would be ten minutes, it’s been well over twenty. It’s obviously starting to get on Nico’s nerves, because his eyes are glowing. Superior looks at him, and then looks closer, raising an eyebrow slightly.
“Really, should you be complaining when you’re obviously entertaining yourself?” Superior asks.
“Even if they’ve got the nanobytes, they haven’t connected them to any of their systems yet,” Nico says. “Trust me, I’ve checked them all.”
Superior coughs, hiding a laugh. “You realize that if Charles hears that you’re doing this, he might get a bit… irritated.”
“If Century finds out that they’ve got super created nanobytes without even telling him about them, he’ll be more than irritated. He’s got every acquisition that they’ve made logged into his system.”
“And how do you know that?” Superior asks.
“How do you think I know that? I rewrote his catalog system almost half a year ago. South is as much my branch as Central is, now.”
“So under the guise of ‘upgrading’ their systems, you’ve helped yourself to all of their information, hmm?”
“Are you saying that you wouldn’t? Of course, the guy they portray in the movies might not have, but really, Pop.”
“Who needs an excuse?” Superior asks. “Unfortunately, processing data like you do isn’t my strong point.”
A surprised look crosses Nico’s face as he turns to stare at his father. “So you’re saying there’s something I can do better than you can?”
“I didn’t put it like that,” Superior says, crossing his arms over his chest.
“But that’s what you meant, wasn’t it?”
“I’m just acknowledging the fact that your skills can be… useful. That’s obvious, so I shouldn’t even have to say it.”
“Jealous?” Nico asks, starting to smirk.
“Hardly.”
“A man that can manipulate anything around him on an atomic level is jealous of my computer skills,” Nico says, gloating. “I should have recorded this conversation. Oh wait, I did.”
“If you want, I can turn on the television,” the woman at the desk offers, a bit pathetically. She looks like her knees haven’t stopped shaking since they entered the room. And since they’re speaking too quietly for her to hear, it’s unsettlingly quiet. They’re just standing there, side by side. She can practically feel gravity getting heavier, and she has no idea why. “I think the news is on.”
Nico flicks his finger at the television mounted to the wall, turning it on for her. It starts flipping channels, even ones that she’s certain she shouldn’t get on this network, and then stops on the news.
“I’m reporting from the French Quarter, where unexpected super activity is taking place,” the woman on the screen says. Behind her are people screaming as a building starts to collapse. “While we’re still learning what’s happening, it seems that all of the civilians have been evacuated by the supers inside.”
Nico lets out a curse as he sees a familiar blur running around in the crowd. “It’s Carla,” he says.
“I’ll go,” Superior says. “You get the nanobytes.”
“She’s one of MY kids, Pop,” Nico says, rising a foot into the air without even realizing it.
“And you’re mine, which makes her a grandkid, in a way, or a grand student. Either way, you don’t need to freak out—”
“Here,” Nico says, grabbing Superior’s wrist. He starts tapping on the air with his free hand before letting go. “Go as me,” he says, tapping on the screen of Superior’s teleportation watch. Superior seems to pixelate for a second before he taps on the screen, as well, turning the illusion off quickly with a pointed look at the woman at the desk.
“I’ll accept this early Father’s day gift,” he says, looking so smug that Nico realizes what he’s just done.
“I’m planning on taking it away as soon as this is over,” Nico threatens.
“Now that I’ve seen how the system works, you can try,” Superior says before rushing out the door with a grin on his face. Nico turns to the woman behind the desk, who’s just staring at him.
“What was… um… that?” she asks.
“I need to talk with Cage,” he says, ignoring what she’s really asking about. “Either you show me to his office or I go in on my own. Trust me, I know there’s no meeting.”
“I’ll, um… call Ms. Mace,” she says, reaching for the phone.
***
*New Orleans French Quarter*
I have to get in there. I look at the gigantic brick hand with a frown, my mind racing even faster than usual. I can try punching through, again, but that doesn’t seem to be working for the three inside. I’m not as strong as they are. That leaves the option of looking for a gap between the fingers. I look at the crowd that’s somehow gotten larger, and almost groan as I see all the news reporters. Sure, they’re TRYING to sound serious, but this is practically a second Christmas for them, if the grins on their cameramen’s faces are any indicator. Century is going to have a LOT of cleaning up to do after this.
Well, that’s not my problem, I decide as I jump, grabbing onto one of the brick fingers and starting to climb.
I won’t lie, this is actually a bit exciting. I wish I was in my proper uniform, though. I could brag about this for WEEKS, if I was. “Oh, you SAW me save that restaurant from the giant brick hand? I don’t like to toot my own horn, but, well—“ As it is, I can STILL brag about it to Trent and Emily! They’re going to be so jealous!
The fingers move and I grab on tight to keep from being thrown. Ahh, man, maybe I can talk Sandra into doing something like this. It’s really fun, if you ignore the whole plummeting to certain pain.
I stop as I hear a roar from inside. It’s followed by Skye shouting, “DON’T YOU DARE!” Well, maybe it’s not ALL fun. In fact, I should probably be worried, right? This creepy concrete guy seems to be obsessed with Skye, and has a way to stop her powers from working. I reach the tip of a finger and start tugging as hard as I can to pry it open. I need to get in there and help! Skye could actually be in serious danger!
“I’m on my way, kid,” I hear someone say over my comm-bracelet. “Just keep him busy for me.”
I tug at the finger, hard, and the bricks break, leaving a hole just big enough for me to slip in. “Got it!” I say as I drop into the fist. “No need to fear! Hy-bo is here!” I declare dramatically as I land, even though I haven’t checked out the situation yet. I really should work on that bad habit, I think as I see Doris and Skye pinned to the wall by the strange, nasty mud that had been climbing Doris’s leg earlier.
“Hy-bo, get out of here!” Doris snarls in a deep, raspy voice.
“I’ve come to save you!” I say, rushing over and tugging at the mud. It’s hard, harder than the bricks that I’d punched through, and it feels oddly alive. As I tug, the mud grabs my hands, tugging back.
“Hey, hey, STOP THAT!” I yell, shoving against the wall with my foot to try and pull free. “Let go of me!”
“It’s him,” Skye says angrily. “He’s holding us. He’s stronger than Doris is, even with her super cool new form. That’s totally cheating! And every time I break free he hurts her! I’m SO going to stuff him in a pot when this is done! You hear that, mud man? You’re going in a POT!”
“Where’s Ariel?” I ask.
“He dragged her underground,” Doris says, jerking at the mud again. Her arm breaks free, only to be grabbed by the mud again. “I really hate this guy,” she mutters.
“You need to listen to me,” a voice comes from all around us, and the mud seems to vibrate with it. “Skye, you and I, we belong together.”
“Sorry, not interested,” Skye says. “I’m going to put you in a BOX! And then we’ll call you Schrödinger and pump in all sorts of nasty stuff! And then we’ll ship you into outer space where you can float for ETERNITY! Or until you get hit by a passing meteor and dragged even further out into space! And then you can land on an uninhabited planet and STARVE! And then—“
“That’s a rather detailed plan,” the mud says.
“You’ll turn into SPACE DUST!” Skye yells. “SPACE DUST, I SAY!”
“It’s also pretty redundant, but whatever,” he says after a few seconds of silence. “Skye, you and I have been through the same thing. We suffered the same, and that makes us the same! That makes us the only ones that will ever understand each other!”
“Oh, please,” Doris says. “Do you really think you understand her just because you were experimented on?”
“You!” the mud says angrily, “I HATE you!” The mud comes up, covering her face to try and suffocate her. “You can’t have her! She’s MINE!”
“STOP DOING THAT TO HER!” Skye bellows.
“LET HER GO!” I shout. I’m mad. Sure, I was planning on just keeping him occupied to give Nico time to get here, but he’s going too far! I grit my teeth and start to vibrate the hands he’s holding. Faster, I think, concentrating. I have to move faster. If I can move fast enough, I can break free of his hold. “Wait, you—“ the monster says as the mud starts to react to my actions. “STOP!” he yells, but I ignore him, moving even faster. I’m not going to stop just because a jerk that attacks Doris tells me to. I LIKE Doris. I didn’t really know her before this, but I’ve had a lot of fun with her! And she and Ariel make Skye feel happy and safe, like family SHOULD!
The mud that’s holding me starts coming off, floating in the air around my hands in droplets. I pull free, racing away to look for a pot. It’s probably not the BEST idea, but it’s the best one we’ve got at the moment. It’ll need a lid. Also, we need to find out what happened to Ariel! I really doubt getting stuck underground is enough to stop her. It doesn’t stop real water, right?
“HA! She got FREE!” Skye says, proudly. “She might be young, but she totally beat you!”
I hear Doris scream in pain a second later. “STOP THAT!” Skye bellows. “STOP HURTING DORIS!”
“He’s… got mud… I swallowed… it,” Doris says.
“You just wait until she poops that out!” Skye bellows.
“Skye,” Doris says, groaning. “You don’t yell that at a super villain.”
“We should have brought Chooperic,” Skye says. “He woulda bit you on the butt you pile of mud!”
“Then he’d have the same problem I’m having,” Doris says. I grab the biggest pot in the ruins of the kitchen, along with the lid. I’m going to go back in there, but I have to get all of him before he gets a chance to hurt Doris again. That means I need to get the chunk that’s in Doris’s stomach, right? I’m not sure how I can—
“Carla,” a soft voice whispers, making me look down. The floor is broken, even the concrete, so the sight of a trickle of water coming through the revealed mud doesn’t really surprise me. I mean, the water faucets are all broken and water is spraying everywhere. That this trickle turns into a hand, though, DOES surprise me a little, in a good way.
“Ariel!” I say in a whisper. “Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
“It took a little bit to put myself back together, but that turned out to be a good thing,” she says, her hand coming up higher and then pushing on the earth. Her head appears, grinning at me. “I found it,” she whispers, excitedly.
“Found what?” I ask.
“His core,” she says. “Unless we get that, he’s just going to keep going. And I will NOT have some nasty mud thinking they can beat pure water, like me,” she says, stubbornly.
“He’s been hurting Doris,” I whisper. Her eyes widen before narrowing, and suddenly I wonder if I shouldn’t have told her. If she has his core, she could probably break it, right? At least, she could try.
“Oh, he’s going to pay,” she says. Before I can reply, I hear Skye start to laugh. We both turn, looking in her direction.
“What’s so funny?” the mud man demands.
“You’re so out of luck!” Skye says, still laughing. “You’re SO SO SOOOOO out of luck!”
“What are you talking about?” he demands.
“Daddy’s coming,” she says. That gleeful tone is one that I’m going to hear in my dreams.
“Penski?” he asks.
“Oh, no, my REAL daddy,” she says. “Make sure you’ve got the pot ready, Carla! Daddy’s coming!”
“Got it!” I yell back, grinning.
“Explain what you’re talking about or I’ll make Doris wish she was dead,” the mud demands. A crash comes and light streams in, revealing Nico floating where a brick finger had once been.
“She means me,” he says.
“Technico is your father?” the mud asks, blankly.
“That’s not Technico,” Skye tells him in a stage whisper.
“I’ll go get the core,” Ariel tells me before diving back into the ground.
The crowd outside is shouting about Technico showing up, and I feel a bit confused, because he looks like Technico, and he sounds sort of like Technico, but Skye looks so confident—
Oh, I think as I look a little closer. I know Nico, especially how he tends to stand when he’s in the air, er... float when he’s in the air, I guess I should say. This version isn’t slouching nearly
enough. “Hi, Superior!” I say, waving and grinning up at him. “You made it!”
“I really thought I’d gotten the voice right,” Superior says as he comes in. “Oh well. Let my daughter and her little monster go, mud boy.”
“She is NOT your daughter!” the mud roars before pulling away from Skye and Doris and launching at Superior. He completely engulfs the man, wrapping around him tightly.
“I am not a little monster, you know,” Doris says, irritably. “He called me a little monster,” she says to Skye. “I’m perfectly fine being called a monster, but I am NOT a little one!”
“You’re my FAVORITE monster!” Skye tells her, throwing herself into Doris’s arms and reaching up to pat her on the head. “I’ll tell Mom and she’ll yell at him for the ‘little’ comment, I promise.”
“Thank you,” Doris says, just standing there letting Skye pet her hair for a second before abruptly turning and throwing up. “He tastes nasty,” she complains as Skye holds her hair out of the way.
“Should we, um, help?” I ask, motioning to where Superior is still covered in mud.
“You can hit him, if you want,” Skye offers, only to stop as the mud on Superior starts to twitch and then jerk wildly before being slung off. He splatters all over the room, and I grab a table to stop him from hitting me.
“I’ll give you a moment to pull yourself together,” Superior says, staring at the mud with a cruel little smile. “I want you to realize just how much you DON’T qualify to be part of Skye’s family, so…” he holds a hand out to Skye and millions of tiny sparks appear on her skin before an ash like substance falls off of her. “There we go. Feel better, kid?”
“SO much better,” Skye says, taking a step into the air. “Get that spray bottle for me?”
The spray bottle shoots up through a crack in the ground, landing in Superior’s hand. “This one?”
“That one,” she says before attacking the mud ruthlessly. Each punch sends the mud splashing, and whenever it tries to grab her, it goes straight through.
