“Butcher’s store,” said Sam. “Or deli. No one calls it a meat shop.”
He had to admit, she had a point, though. About the Beef Chief, that is, not the ‘meat shop’ thing. Sam wasn’t sure whether to be relieved about this or not. On the one hand, he was going outside in the middle of the night for nothing. On the other hand, it would probably mean not being beaten and killed by a supervillain. On balance then, it was probably a win.
Tired of standing around, Anna plodded over to where Randy was peeking around the corner. “See anything?” she asked.
Randy shook his head. “No,” he said, then: “Wait. I mean yes. That infernal robot’s right down there!”
“You mean Mari?” asked Sam. He leaned out a little to look.
Sure enough, Mari stood at the end of the adjoining corridor, beside a door that led to the way out. Her screen was mostly dark, aside from two horizontal lines that Sam guessed represented closed eyes.
“I think… I think she’s sleeping,” he whispered. “But we should probably go back.”
“Besides, there are cameras everywhere,” said Anna. “It’s not like they’re not going to know we snuck out.”
Randy grinned proudly. “I had one of my butterflies disable the camera feeds.”
Anna and Sam both regarded him blankly.
“Oh yeah?” asked Anna. She gestured to a camera fixed to the ceiling above Mari’s head. “Then how come the light’s still on?”
Randy’s grin became an angry scowl. “Duncan, you idiot!” he whisper-snarled. “You had one job.”
“Yeah, Duncan. You dick!” said Anna, shaking her fist. She lowered it quickly, then shrugged. “Well, I reckon that’s that. Back to bed we go.”
“Wait, look!” hissed Randy. The light on the camera blinked out. He shook his head admiringly. “Duncan, you’re the goddam best. I knew you wouldn’t let us down.”
“Bullshit a butterfly just did that,” said Anna.
“You keep telling yourself that, Nips,” Randy hissed.
Anna looked down self-consciously, then crossed her arms over her chest. “I swear, if you call me that one more time, I’m going to make you sneeze yourself inside-out.”
“Noted,” said Randy. “Now, stay close and stay quiet.”
He snuck out into the adjoining corridor, then stood his ground for a moment, waiting to see if Mari would open her digital eyes.
Nothing.
He made a beckoning motion with his right hand. “This means follow,” he said.
“We know,” Sam whispered back. “Everyone knows that one.”
They crept along the corridor, Randy doing an exaggerated tiptoe in front, Sam and Anna sort of shuffling along behind him. Neither of them were quite all the way awake yet, and Sam was secretly hopeful that this all might yet turn out to be a dream.
He pinched himself.
It hurt.
Damn.
“Almost there,” Randy whispered.
Sam successfully fought the urge to point out that they could see for themselves how close they were, and there was no ‘almost’ about it. They were still over half the corridor away from the door, and while Mari hadn’t yet woken up and made any move to stop them, he was confident it was only a matter of time.
“What if she, like, vaporizes us?” Anna wondered. “Can she do that?”
“I don’t think so,” Sam whispered.
“But we don’t know,” Anna pointed out. “Chuck couldn’t remember what her name stood for. For all we know it could be ‘Murderous Asshole Robot… Iguana.’”
Sam raised a questioning eyebrow.
“I couldn’t think of anything else beginning with I,” she whispered. “Except ‘igloo,’ and that didn’t feel any more appropriate.”
“I don’t think she’s going to kill us,” Sam said. “At most, she’ll tell Chuck on us. Then he’ll kill us.”
Randy jammed a finger to his lips and glowered at them. “This means ‘be quiet,’” he said.
“We know!” Sam whispered.
“Then why are you still talking!” Randy hissed back.
“Why are you still talking?”
“Because I’m the front guy. The front guy can talk,” Randy insisted.
“But you’re closer,” Sam pointed out. “It’s worse if you talk.”
“Maybe we should all just be quiet for a while,” Anna suggested. “Please. For the love of God.”
Randy pressed his finger harder to his lips and glowered at them both through his goggles. Sam opened his mouth to protest, but called it off at the last second.
Once he was sure nobody else was going to say anything, Randy crept on.
They were getting closer to Mari now, and could hear a faint electronic whine coming from somewhere within her metal frame. It grew and faded in volume, without ever becoming more than background noise. It was the sound, Sam realized, of a robot snoring.
Randy tiptoed on, holding his breath as he passed the dormant Mari. Anna went next, sidling past the robot and stopping at the door behind Randy. Sam hung back, waiting for them to get the door open before making his move.
“It’s locked,” Randy whispered.
“Of course it’s locked,” Anna muttered. “You didn’t anticipate this?”
Randy shook his head. “No. I anticipated every other possible detail, but not this.”
“This should’ve been the first thing you anticipated,” Anna hissed.
“Shh!” Sam urged, shooting a worried glance at Mari. Her eyes were still two horizontal lines on an otherwise featureless face, but they had brightened a little, like light was about to burst through them at any moment.
“We’re turning around,” whispered Anna. “We can’t get through.”
“No, wait!” Randy spat.
Mari’s electronic whining stopped. Everyone froze.
Sam held his breath. His heart thudded against the inside of the suit so loudly he was sure everyone else must be able to hear it.
His eyes met Anna’s. She looked more annoyed than frightened, but this hadn’t stopped her becoming a statue while they waited to see what Mari was going to do.
The whine returned. Mari’s eyes darkened, becoming almost black, and Sam almost sobbed with relief. He wasn’t sure why, exactly—he didn’t genuinely think either Mari or Chuck would kill them—but defying authority went against his every instinct, and the thought of getting caught was making the back of his supersuit damp with sweat.
Breathable my ass, he thought.
He jabbed a thumb behind him, indicating they should make a retreat, but Randy shook his head and placed his fingers against his temples. “I’ll summon a butterfly to help us,” he whispered.
“What’s it going to do? Bring a key?” Anna asked.
“Shh.”
Randy closed his eyes and focused, the pointer and middle fingers of both hands pressed to the sides of his head. His lips moved almost silently, his brow furrowing with the effort of concentration.
“This is stupid,” Anna muttered. “Let’s go.”
“Almost… got it,” Randy groaned.
Sam side-eyed Mari. Her eyes were still dark, but he could no longer hear her digital snoring. “Randy…” he mouthed, too quietly for anyone to hear.
He was about to try again when there was a soft clunk from the door. It opened, just a crack, and Randy clenched a fist in triumph. “Did it! Ha! I told you!” he quietly proclaimed. “Butterflies. Is there nothing they can’t do?”
The door opened further, revealing a dark-clad figure standing just beyond. Sam recognized the Mid-Western accent at once.
“There you are,” whispered Kapitän Nazi. “I wondered when you’d come.”
He opened the door all the way, beckoning for them to come through. “This way,” he urged. “And hurry. The cameras won’t stay deactivated for long.”
Chapter Seventeen
Kapitän Nazi led them through the network of corridors until they finally arrived at an eleva
tor they’d never used before.
“They don’t monitor this one,” he said. “They won’t know you’re gone. Not right away, at least.”
“So… wait. You’re helping us go out there?” said Anna. “Shouldn’t you be trying to talk us out of it?”
From the way she said it, it was clear she’d have been quite happy to have been talked out of it, and she could barely hide her disappointment when Nazi shook his head.
“Something’s not right,” said the Kapitän. “I worked with the Beef Chief a couple of times. The way he killed those people, it suggests he’s attained a whole new level of power.”
“All the more reason for us not to go!” Sam pointed out.
“You mean all the more reason for us to go,” Randy countered. “If he’s stronger then there’s no saying who he might kill next.”
“Yes, us, probably,” Anna said. She turned back to Nazi. “Seriously, dude, you should be talking us out of this.”
“Wait,” said Sam. “How did you even know where we were going? Have you been spying on us?”
He nudged Anna. “He’s been spying on us!”
“I know because I’m the one who told Randy where to find him,” said Kapitän Nazi, looking a little confused.
“I thought you said a butterfly told you?” said Sam accusingly.
“A butterfly also told me,” Randy insisted. “Two things told me—this ex-Nazi and a butterfly. You know what they say, don’t you?”
“Is it something about you needing psychiatric help?” Anna asked.
“Always check your sources,” Randy replied. “Kapitän Nazi told me, but I had a butterfly double-check.”
“Please, call me John,” Kapitän Nazi urged. He pressed the call button on the elevator and gazed anxiously along the corridor as the car began to rumble downward. “Chuck won’t be happy, but I’ll keep him off your trail for as long as I can.”
“Wait, you’re not coming?” asked Anna. “Why aren’t you coming?”
Kapitän Nazi shook his head. “I can’t. This isn’t my fight. Besides, Chuck has a tracking implant in my head. He’s still worried I’ll go rogue.”
Sam nodded vaguely, impressed by this. He’d thought Chuck was a fool for trusting Nazi, so it was reassuring to hear he didn’t fully.
“If I leave the complex without permission, the best case scenario is it’ll trigger the alarm and put the place in lockdown before we can get out,” Nazi explained.
“And what’s the worst case scenario?” Anna asked.
“My head will explode,” the Kapitän said. “And no, before you ask, that isn’t a joke.”
The elevator door opened. Nazi stepped aside and gestured for them to pile in. “Go. Go,” he told them. “Find out what’s going on and put a stop to it.”
“We will,” Randy growled. “In the name of justice!”
Anna rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.
“Good luck,” Nazi told them. He jammed his arm into the door just as it started to close, stopping it. “Oh, and when you catch up with the Beef Chief, you might want to activate Battle Mode.”
Sam frowned. “Battle Mode?” he said.
The suit shifted as if coming alive. Flexible metal plating unfolded itself from within the fabric, locking in place along the length of all four limbs. The molded muscles of the outfit’s chest vanished beneath a layer of glossy blue metal, and Sam gave a little yelp of surprise as an armored jockstrap fastened into position across his groin.
The figure-eight eye mask he wore wrapped around his head, becoming a darkened visor, just as several interlocking plates bloomed up from the throat, forming a layer of protection across most of his face, leaving only enough room for his mouth to move.
A shudder ran the length of Sam’s spine as the back of the suit’s neck grew up over his head, flattening down his hair as it stretched up and over his crown, then down his forehead, before eventually meeting the top of the eye mask-turned-visor.
“Holy shit!” he blurted.
“Is that Battle Mode?” Randy wondered.
Anna tutted. “I’d say that’s a pretty safe bet, Randy.”
“It uses a lot of power,” said Nazi. “You’ve got about an hour’s worth of charge before the enhancements shut down.”
“What then?” asked Anna. She tugged on her own sleeve. “It’ll go back to this?”
Kapitän Nazi shook his head. “All enhancements will shut down. It won’t augment your strength or speed, and you’ll no longer be bulletproof. I’d deactivate it until you need it.”
Sam flapped his hands in panic. “Quit Battle Mode,” he said, hoping that would do the trick. To his relief, the metal plating folded away and was absorbed back into the fabric of the suit.
In moments, he was dressed identically to the others, albeit in a different color.
“How long did you say we can use it for?” he asked.
“Depends on how much you’re doing with it,” Nazi said. “You’ll get a power display in the visor that’ll keep you updated. Heavy use? Maybe thirty minutes.”
“Thirty minutes?!” Sam yelped.
“Less heavy, over an hour,” Nazi continued. “Either way, only use it when you have to, or you could be in trouble.”
“Pretty sure we’re already in trouble,” said Anna, as Nazi withdrew his arm. “But thanks for the advice.”
“You can do this,” the Kapitän said. “Work together. Watch each other’s backs. Use your powers.”
He eyed Sam meaningfully at that, as the door slid closed. Sam groaned. “This was a bad idea.”
“This is it!” Randy growled, turning his gaze to the ceiling. “Evildoers, here we come!”
They waited, not moving.
Kapitän Nazi’s voice came muffled through the door.
“You have to press the button.”
Randy looked down. “Oh. Yeah,” he grunted, finding the elevator controls. He jabbed the top button. “Going up,” he announced. “For justice!”
“Oh, God,” Anna sighed, as the elevator began to rise. “Is it wrong that I kind of hope this Beef Chief guy kills us?”
Sam and Anna stood beside Randy, both hugging themselves self-consciously and doing their best to ignore the occasional gleeful honks of the late-night drivers who spotted the three of them as they drove past the bus stop.
Randy studied the bus stop’s faded timetable, hands on his hips, feet wide apart in one of his many practiced superhero poses. “Uh-huh,” he said, nodding. He clicked his tongue against the back of his teeth a few times. “Mm-hm.”
Sam peered both ways along the street, convinced one of the city’s gangs would come shambling around the corner at any minute, then proceed to kick the shit out of them.
“Aha!” said Randy.
“You found it?” he asked, his voice coming as an urgent whisper.
Randy shook his head and stepped back. “No. I can’t actually read,” he said in his usual throaty growl.
Sam and Anna both stared at him. For a multitude of reasons.
“OK, OK, first up,” said Anna. “Why did you insist on being the one to check the timetable?”
“Well, I’m the leader, so…”
“You’re not the leader,” said Sam.
“I’m kind of the leader.”
“You’re not in any way the leader,” Anna insisted. “Secondly… what do you mean you can’t read? Why can’t you read?”
“I was raised in the mountains by butterflies,” Randy reminded her. “They’re not known for their literature.”
Sam and Anna exchanged glances. “Well, no, but you haven’t always lived with butterflies,” Sam pointed out. “Didn’t Su Man Chu teach you?”
Randy straightened at the mention of his former mentor’s name, almost snapping to attention. “She trained me relentlessly. Honed my skills and sharpened my mind, turning me into a living weapon,” he said. “Su Man Chu taught me everything she knew.”
“Except how to read,” said Anna.
/> “Except that, yes. That, she left out.”
Stepping past Randy, Anna consulted the timetable. “OK, so we want to get to Stanswick and Third, right? That’s where the meat shop is?”
“Butcher’s store. And yes,” Sam confirmed. Another horn blasted. A driver jeered through his car window. Sam tried not to look.
Anna traced the rows of numbers with a finger. “OK. OK. Jesus. So, we’ll have to take the twenty-seven for, like, six stops, then get the… wait. What time is it?”
“It’s—” Randy began.
“Randy, if you say it’s ‘Justice Time’ again, I’ll give you a rash so bad your face falls off,” Anna warned.
Randy cleared his throat. “Four-thirty-three,” he said.
“Ugh.” Anna consulted the board again. “No, we have to cross the street and take the number eleven to West and Ward, then walk a couple of blocks and catch the…”
A bus rumbled to a stop beside them, then hissed as the doors opened. “What number is this one?” Anna asked.
Sam walked to the front. “Eight. It says ‘Airport via Romero Drive,’ if that means anything to you.”
“It means it goes to the airport,” Randy explained. “But first it goes via—”
“Right. I got it, Randy, thanks,” said Sam.
Anna leaned in the bus’s open door. A squat black woman with graying hair regarded her impassively from the driver’s seat.
“Uh, hi…” Anna consulted the woman’s name badge. “…Shanice. Ignore the costumes, we’re with the circus.”
Shanice’s gaze crept up and down, taking notice of the outfits for the first time. “Uh-huh,” she said in a distinctly non-committal sort of way.
“Do you go anywhere near Stanswick or Third Avenue?” Anna asked.
Shanice sighed. It wasn’t an angry or annoyed sort of sigh, more a sort of wheeze of resignation and defeat. “I go to the airport. Via Romero.”
“No, I know, but…” Anna shrugged. “Ah, fuck it. We’ll figure it out on the way.”
Hopping aboard, she fished in her utility belt until she found her credit card. “Three Day City Roamers, please.”
The Sidekicks Initiative Page 18
